Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

T hree days later, Zed reflected that standing up in front of a crowd of reporters was a little easier the second time around. He knew what to expect, how he'd be treated by the media. But more than that, he also knew where he stood, with his family, with the AEF, with the Guardians. With Flick.

The truth will set you free.

He managed to keep that statement out of his speech. Barely.

Behind him stood his whole family—the ones related to him by blood and the ones he'd adopted at various points in his life. His parents, his brothers and their wives. The crew of the Chaos , with their newest additions—Marnie standing proudly at her husband's side, Ryan's skin dotted with minute scars instead of electronics. Off to the side, a representative from the Central Alliance of Planets and Stations and her aides stood without fidgeting or looking at Zed much.

And directly behind him, a few steps back, was Flick. Guarding his six, as always.

"I'll take questions now." He'd told them everything, the truth, and he expected a barrage of queries. Silence greeted him instead.

Tanis Nejem—the reporter from a tiny, unimportant network who'd actually treated him like a human being at the last media scrum—was the first person to raise a hand. He nodded at her. "So…you're an ambassador for the Guardians?"

He shook his head. "Emissary," he corrected. "There's a subtle difference, and it's closest to their meaning."

"They communicate with you telepathically?" Tanis seemed to be warming up. More questions spilled from her lips. "How? Have you seen them? Do you know why they're here?"

"I don't think I could explain the telepathy with any justice," Zed hedged. He'd described it to the crew of the Chaos as a warm brush of his nana's hand, but he was reluctant to say so before all these strangers. "I've never seen any of the Guardians. But they have assured me that our name for them is accurate. They are interested in helping us, protecting us, but also in letting us make our own choices. More than that…I just don't know." If he'd stayed with them after they'd fixed him, instead of returning to the Chaos , he would've learned more—but that hadn't really interested him. Not when the price was Flick.

Especially not now, when things were finally falling into place. He shot a glance over his shoulder at his lover, offering him a small smile. Flick didn't seem quite as stiff as he had in the days leading up to his sudden departure, but it was clear standing in front of a crowd would never be on his list of favorite things.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" another reporter demanded. "So far, all we've got is your word, no proof. That cuff could be anything."

The amplification field caught the Central rep's words as she spoke. "I am Amelia O'Day, Zander's appointed liaison to the Central Alliance of Planets and Stations. I can confirm that Zander Anatolius is the emissary of the Guardians. His status is recognized by the Central Alliance of Planets and Stations and he will be accorded the same privileges and respect as emissaries and ambassadors from other species."

"Is he still considered human?" The question carried more than a small amount of sneering.

Amelia's gaze met Zed's briefly and her perfect stance faded into a small fidget. "The Central Alliance of Planets and Stations recognizes that Zander Anatolius is both human and not human," she said, her voice a bit softer. Apologetic? Zed didn't really know her yet, though he suspected they would get a chance to become better acquainted over the next few months. He focused on that rather than the cold that spiked through him at her words.

Not human.

It was one thing to have suspected that would be how he was viewed, another entirely to hear it spoken as his official status. It took all his concentration to keep his face impassive, unresponsive. No one needed to know how deeply that proclamation sliced.

"What about the other Project Dreamweaver participants?" Tanis called out.

"We've tracked down the remaining survivors. I'm not going to give their names, and I'm not going to tell you where they are, other than to say they're safe and being well cared for."

"Anatolius Industries has committed funds and resources to their ongoing care, for as long as they need it," his father said.

Zed's worst fear—Anatolius Industries going head to head with the AEF—hadn't materialized. Not because his family hadn't wanted to collectively bodyslam the military. He'd heard Dad and Brennan talking plots and strategy one afternoon, ones that sounded as though they'd been discussed at length. In the end, they'd decided that helping the remaining survivors of the project was a better use of the company's resources.

And publicizing their attempts to mitigate the effect of the experimentation was more annoying to the AEF—more damaging too.

A reporter in the back lifted her hand. "Will the Guardians step in to save them, too?"

"No. I asked if they would, and they told me they had no need for an army. In addition…" He trailed off, staring at the podium for a moment before raising his gaze again. "My teammates are not doing well. I don't think even the Guardians' assistance would make a difference now."

Not doing well—what an understatement. Kinley had deteriorated to the point that she was no longer breathing on her own. Brain scans showed no activity, and not even scrambling to apply what they'd learned on Ashushk Prime had made a difference. Zed knew the time to make a decision was coming up quick—and it would be up to him, because Kinley had no family to make it for her. Dieter, on the other hand, went blank more often but the rate of his deterioration remained slow. Zed hoped that he could hold on long enough to help them find a solution—but he had a niggling fear that no matter how much brain power they devoted to the task, or how many resources his father threw at it, they weren't going to be able to work their very own miracle for his remaining teammates.

"I heard reports that Juston Dell is under investigation by the AEF in relation to the lift-tube incident you and your crew were caught in, and that he's fled Central space. Is that true?"

Zed kept his smile to himself, but it was a near thing. With Marnie as their secret weapon, it hadn't taken much to get that rumor rolling. He particularly liked the part where Special Forces were hunting Dell down. It wasn't true—but it could be. "You'll have to ask the AEF about that."

"Another question?—"

"Zanderanatolius."

The soft, warm voice in his head never demanded attention—it requested it, and Zed saw no reason to deny it. He closed his eyes. Not a conscious decision, but he couldn't very well hear the Guardians speak when there was so much else happening around him. The questions and murmurs of the crowd diminished as though someone had wrapped him in a blanket. He was vaguely aware of the reporters trying to get his attention, and the murmurs that arose from his crew and family. Then in the distance, he thought he heard Marnie calling his name, and something that sounded like "new gate," which couldn't be right—but soon, he couldn't hear anything.

"I'm here."

As soon as he acknowledged the presence in his mind, his cuff tingled and images flooded his thoughts. Pictures, concepts, ideas. Nothing concrete, nothing that made sense. Above it all, one emotion trembled. He felt it in his gut, in his head, in his chest.

Anticipation.

With a final stroke of warmth, the Guardians retreated. Zed opened his eyes to see the crowd of reporters in front of him, still, watching. Turning to catch Marnie's gaze—had he imagined her words?—he noted the holo hovering over her bracelet wallet. In seconds, the wallets of everyone else in the crowd pinged. All of the reporters scrambled to pull out their devices and watch a report coming in from the Hub.

"For those of you just tuning in, a previously inert gate at the Hub was activated at sixteen-hundred hours Standard time. AEF ships are standing by with ashushk and stin counterparts to greet any new species that exit the gate, but there has been no activity as yet. This will be the first new species introduced to the galactic community since humanity came through the gate and built Hemera Station over a century ago. An AEF spokesperson stated that no further information was available at this time, but a press conference is scheduled for ? —"

Zed tuned out the report and instead eyed his crew. "Looks like we've got new neighbors."

A smile flickered across Marnie's lips. "Looks like."

Some of the pictures and images put into Zed's mind by the Guardians started to make sense. But however the new species might appear, he had no idea. The images were too jumbled.

"They told you. Before the holo came up." Flick moved forward, apparently having forgotten the crowd of reporters milling before them—though the majority were on their wallets, trying to determine next steps from their individual media outlets.

"Yeah."

Flick slipped his good hand into Zed's, the touch as vocal as words of support would be. He was here. He wasn't going anywhere. Whatever Zed needed to meet head-on, Flick would be there too. "So, what else did they say?"

One corner of Zed's lips twitched, a concession to the weirdness of the conversation. Then he drew in a deep breath. "They said to be ready."