Chapter Four

Four

Eyes closed, Renee sat with her knees to her chest, cold from the chill air and the shadow of the huge exhaust stack. The wind was a bare hint lifting through her hair, and the sky, when her eyes opened, was blue and pink and white, tending to gold at the horizon where the sun had yet to rise. August sat beside her, both of them enjoying the view, the installation peaceful in the predawn stillness apart from the brumm of a Jeep and the faint singsong chant of a troop in motion.

She shivered, wishing she'd brought a blanket to put between her and the cold roof stones, but moving out of the stack's shade wasn't an option. August's deep red color should protect him, but she wasn't willing to risk him being seen.

"I've never witnessed so long a horizon," August said, clicking to give his words emphasis.

A sigh slipped from her as the fatigue of staying up all night strengthened its grip. "It's amazing, isn't it? The desert is like this, too, and Indiana, though the corn gets in the way in the summer."

There was the soft sound of sliding fabric as he turned to her, the faintest hint of gold in his wide eyes, nictitated as the light grew brighter. "Corn?" he said, wing knuckles dropping. "Gets in the way?"

She smiled, gesturing as if it lay before them instead of the rooftops of the barracks. "Acres and acres of it," she said. "Just nothing but sky and corn, taller than me. Science keeps telling the growers to break up their mono-species fields with other plants, but the big farming industries don't listen, intent on ease of chemical application and harvest instead of the health of the ground. They don't care that by breaking up the fields with other crops or a naturalized strip, they'll need less pesticides and might even keep the topsoil from blowing away in the offseason. Not to mention cut down on the possibility of plant plague."

Wincing, she glanced up at August. "Sorry," she added as she began to fiddle with the river-smooth rock. "It's a bit of a sore spot with me."

August blinked, his second eyelids remaining closed in the bright sun. "Nextdoor farms don't have an offseason. Plant again right after harvest."

Renee squinted at him as the light brightened and the gold in his eyes grew more pronounced. She'd seen them turn gold when his wounded kin had returned, too. It seemed to be their version of tears. "Here," she said, taking her sunglasses off and extending them to him. "Try these on. I think they will fit your face."

Renee's Ray-Bans dangled from his fingers. "Don't you need them?" he said, blinking profusely.

She shrugged, her grip around her knees tightening. "I'll be okay. You need them more."

Her smile widened at his whistling sigh as August awkwardly worked the earpieces until, with a click of surprise, he froze, staring out at the world as if never having seen it.

"Sunglasses are great," he said simply, and she chuckled, thinking they appeared odd on his long, triangular face. Odd, but somehow right.

"They look good on you," she said as she tossed a stone to ping against the intake vent. "When you get your walking papers, I'll take you sunglass shopping, but until then, keep them. I'll get another pair from the PX." They wouldn't be Ray-Bans, but a demon out walking the streets shouldn't be in Wally World specials.

August whistled, the low tone almost an mmmm of sound. "I thought human eyes adapted to light," he said, taking them off and squinting.

"Not this bright, no," she admitted. "We've needed to see in the dark too much in our past. We've been both predator and prey for most of our species' history. You can't have everything, and hey, we can always make sunglasses."

August put them back on, smoother this time. "Perhaps that explains it."

Renee looked askance at him. "Explains what?"

His wing hem curled. "Why you protect what you fear. You empathize with both prey and predator. That is…unusual in sentient species."

"Is it?" Shoulders slumping, she stifled a yawn, chin dropping to her upraised knees. "There it is," she said as the first piercing drop of gold sun pushed over the surrounding buildings and spilled over her, warming her shins.

August sat silently, almost glowing in the new light, her Ray-Bans black as he studied the orange light before looking straight up, whistling as if he saw more than the faultless blue.

Which he might, she thought, remembering Will mentioning they were sensitive to ultraviolet waves that humans couldn't see. Never, she mused as she watched him enjoy the sunrise, would she have ever thought that she'd find herself sitting on the roof with an alien who looked good in her glasses. A smile lifted the corners of her lips, and she sighed, stifling another yawn.

August's wings rustled in concern. "You need to sleep."

"Yes, but it can wait. It's good to feel the sky over me," she whispered, fatigued. "Is the light too much?"

"No." He took the glasses off, silent as he studied the pinks and blues stretching from horizon to horizon. "I've not seen a sunrise except on the holo. They get them in the mountains, but we don't live there. It's too cold to be comfortable." He hesitated. "Do you watch the sunrise often?"

She shrugged, her focus following the soldier running on the track. "Every morning when I worked in the desert. This one is about an eight on a scale of ten." She smiled. "Company helps."

"The desert." August put her glasses back on. "Where you charmed snakes."

She laughed, tossing her head just to feel the wind in her hair. "You heard Tayler call me that? I guess it's sort of accurate."

His wings shifted in a soft sound of leather. "If Han, Raphael, and Mikail are free, maybe they see many sunrises. Know there is beauty here."

The three missing Neighbors, Renee thought, suddenly uncomfortable. She'd almost forgotten them. Clearly August had not. "Maybe," she whispered. "August…"

August turned, her sunglasses hiding his eyes. "I'm not riding a thin updraft. I know there are many chances they are dead and few that they live, but if they were not caught by Hancock, they could still be in hiding." His foot knuckles popped. "I can make a message for them. Hancock can put it on…internet. No one understands whistle-clicks. I can tell them to come here. They see me on the roof and believe they are safe."

Renee hesitated, her initial protest melting away. "That's a great idea. We have to ask Jackson."

August bobbed his head. "Good. We can ask him now," he said as he turned to the roof door. "Good morning, Jackson," he said even before Renee could see who was opening the door. "Sunrise is an eight on ten."

"How do you do that?" Renee whispered as the tall man headed their way, roof stones crunching under him in no-nonsense rhythm. "I know. No words." But what words did he need that he didn't already have to explain it?

"Eight on ten?" Jackson said wryly, glancing at the sky before making the gesture of greeting to August. "Always pushing it, eh, Caisson?"

Renee shifted to make room for him. "We are still on Nextdoor territory. You said they had the entire quarantine zone."

"You are on the roof," Jackson protested. "Where anyone doing a flyover can see." But he, too, was smiling as he scuffed to a halt and sat on the rim of the intake tower beside her.

"We're in the shade," she grumped. "No one can see us. Hey, August just came up with a great idea. He wants to record a message to the missing three to tell them to come in. That it's safe. He suggested the internet, but I'm thinking if we incorporate the message into a piece of popular music and use the government pull to push it to the top ten, we could send a message to them from coast to coast without anyone ever knowing what it was."

"That's…actually a really good idea," Jackson said, his initial reticence melting away as he thought it over. "August, go ahead and have Will help you work something up. We have a recording studio here, so the logistics shouldn't be hard. I'll work on getting it past Hancock."

"Thank you, Jackson," August said as he shifted deeper into the shadow of the stack.

"I'm sorry if it looks as if we have forgotten them." Jackson eased himself down on the shelf about the stack. "It never occurred to me to use the language barrier as a way to broadcast a hidden message." He went silent, squinting over the air base. "This is nice. I never have the time to watch a sunrise."

August made a small click as if in understanding. "Sunrise is a pair-bonding ritual?"

Jackson and Renee both jerked, eyes blinking as they stared at each other. "Ah, in the right situation," Jackson said, but the rest of his explanation went unheard as two jets took off in quick succession, the noise reverberating between the buildings until it faded.

"That's what that noise is," August said, his eyes following the two jets roaring into the air.

Jackson's lips pressed as he followed them, too. "Ah, you can't be here with jets in the air."

"Fine." Renee stood, smacking the dust from her backside. "You are just a fun sponge, you know it?"

"Inside," he insisted, and August rose, his eyes tracking the dwindling shapes.

"You fly," the imposing mer said as his wings extended, angling to catch the breeze.

He looks like a charismatic devil, she thought in shock as he closed his eyes and leaned into the wind…as if tasting it.

"August?" Jackson said, the threat in that one word crossing the language barrier cleanly.

"I cannot fly here." August shifted his wings closed behind his back. "I tried when I was captured and failed."

"Well, maybe you just need a bigger updraft," Renee said, not liking how low he was holding his wings. He looked depressed. "I bet a beach wind could lift you."

"What are you doing?" Jackson almost growled at her as he pointedly waited for them to head for the door. "You know you can't take him to the beach." But August seemed to have perked up, even as he looked at his fingers and hid them in a fist.

"Inside. Now," Jackson added as he opened the stairway door and held it for them. She went first, smiling as both "men" sighed as the dark took them, each for different reasons.

Silent, they kept to their own thoughts as they wound down two flights. The air seemed dead when they came out into the empty hall beside the elevators and, as one, turned to quarantine.

Jackson frowned as they passed the courtyard, three Neighbors sitting in the damp under the tree. "Camouflage canopy," Renee heard him mutter, and then louder, "August, is there anything I can arrange for your people? Other than a couple of hours in the recording studio?"

August shortened his stride. "Is the observation lounge ours?"

Jackson nodded. "The lounge, the courtyard, and both the north and south barracks. Oh, and the lounge and associated rooms attached to the south barracks, too. You have the entire circle. If the code I gave you won't open the door, then that's the limit of your free movement. Don't go on the roof anymore, okay?" he added, and Renee nodded ruefully. "We can't lock the stairway due to code, so you're on your honor. Don't make me put a guard on it."

"Understood," August said, whistling mournfully.

"Let me or my engineers know your power needs," Jackson continued, his pace making Renee breathless. "I'm sure we can get it regulated to whatever your equipment requires."

August hesitated, taking one long step to catch up. "Everything is on…" He whistled faintly. "Battery?"

They'd reached the door to the lounge, and Jackson gestured for August to punch in the code. The tall Neighbor pointed one long finger, gingerly touching each number until the door panel glowed green.

"Great. Your code is working," Jackson said, pulling open the door and gesturing for him to go through. "Renee, if you have a moment before you grab some rack time, I'd like to talk to you."

August turned, wing hem drooping.

I don't have to sleep in quarantine anymore, Renee realized, a hand going to her face as she warmed in embarrassment. God, that would have been dumb. But she had liked living with the Neighbors, waking up to their whistling chatter and the scent of that sweet drink they had every morning. "Ah, sure." She hesitated in the hall beside Jackson. "Um, I just need to know if August has some time today to help me set the lab up for two people."

Jackson shifted his grip on the open door, adding his foot as an alarm began to sound in the distance. "Today? You've both been up all night. Take the day off. Both of you. Get some sleep. I'm still working on the logistics of August getting from here to there. We might have to make a few doors."

August clasped his hands, his wings politely flat against his back. "I would appreciate some…rack time. We can discuss our lab tomorrow."

"Sure." Renee took a rocking step backward, wondering if perhaps she'd worn out her welcome. He'd been looking after her for two weeks solid. "Okay. Get some sleep," she said around a yawn. "It will be nice to crash in my own bed." She glanced at Jackson. "After our meeting."

Jackson nodded once, a faint smile showing. "You want some breakfast? We can talk over food. Two birds, one stone." His grip on the door faltered, but August was still standing there, and Renee could tell he was reluctant to simply let go and have it slam in his face.

"Two birds," August whispered, trying to puzzle it out.

"Yeah. I should probably eat." Renee half turned toward the hallway, suddenly hungry.

"Good." Jackson nodded at August, but the Neighbor didn't step away. "I know a great place for steak and eggs."

"Not the cafeteria?" Renee said, and Jackson shook his head.

"You need to get out." Seeing that August hadn't moved, Jackson made the farewell gesture.

Renee touched her hair, hating that she was flushing again. "That sounds great, but I'm not fit for visual consumption."

"Visual consumption?" Jackson echoed, then got it. "Good Lord, you scientists talk funny. You look great. It's just down the road. A nice bar, not a five-star restaurant. Trust me. You'll be the sexiest woman there. It will do my reputation good."

Renee arched her eyebrows. "Glad I'm here to up your street cred, soldier boy." Smile lingering, she turned to August still standing in the hall, his wing hem curled as he struggled with the new words. "I don't want to call today an entire waste. You want to check out the lab after you get some sleep? Maybe around three?"

"Three," August said, his eyes nictitating briefly. "I will see you then."

"Three," she confirmed, and August turned and walked away, wing knuckles low in thought.