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Colin suddenly grabbed his upper arm and spoke in a friendly, upbeat tone completely at odds with how hard he dug his fingers in. “You know, I just thought… We should grab you another gun. Maybe a different type that’s less likely to jam.”
“But I’m still eating! Can it wait?” Sebastian’s stomach roared in protest as Colin tugged and pulled his fork, loaded with gravy-covered meat, away from his mouth.
“No, because we have to go to the barricade soon and the good guns might be gone.”
Colin clearly wanted something and it wasn’t to get a new gun. Usually Sebastian could accept that, but he really was starving. “No, Colin, seriously—”
“No, Neumann, seriously, come with me.”
With a stubborn last-ditch effort at sustaining his meat suit and his sanity, Sebastian grabbed his plate and fork and carried them with him as Colin hauled him out of the mess hall. He shoveled more food into his mouth as they walked toward the armory, Colin’s hand still on Sebastian’s arm. No one seemed to understand that a torvar had as much bodily need for food and sleep as the next person.
“Alright, Sebastian, what was that?” Colin finally let him go when they got to an empty corner of the huge basement room they used as an armory. Sebastian glanced around to make sure no one could hear them, but Colin was at least mindful of his cover.
“What was what? I was being friendly with your cousin. Who, by the way, you’ve never mentioned before.”
“You were not being friendly. You were being interrogative.”
“She didn’t notice.”
“I noticed.”
“Well, that’s because you know me. She doesn’t. Which is interesting.”
“It’s not interesting, Sebastian. You don’t know everyone.” A woman with a data tablet started to walk past them, and Colin grabbed a gun from a shelf. “This one here doesn’t hold quite as much ammo, but it’s real smooth and easy to reload so rookies like it—” he set it back on the shelf once the woman was passed. “Why were you interrogating my cousin? And why are you pretending to not be you?”
Sebastian pressed his lips together but restrained from waving his fork around as he talked as he normally would have. He quickly loaded the rest of the food in his mouth and set the plate aside as he chewed and swallowed before answering. “You know there’s only one reason I’d be hiding among our own men.”
“My cousin is not a traitor.” Colin jabbed his finger into Sebastian’s chest.
Sebastian gently pushed Colin’s hand back down. “I didn’t say she was. But Joan thinks someone is, and there isn’t a lot of time.”
“There’s no time.” Colin shook his head. “The Klah’Eel are just over the Kuval Ridge. We’ve seen the lights from their ships.”
Sebastian grimaced. “I know.”
“If Joan was worried about a traitor, you should have been here days ago, weeks ago!”
“I was a little busy starting this whole thing a week ago!”
“And where were you yesterday? Or the day before?”
“I”—Sebastian thought about his long trip to the factory and then lying in wait, seething about how he had wanted to be here and how Hess had sent him out there instead—“I was doing something important.”
“Ugh, I know.” Colin sagged and scrubbed his hands over his face. Then he straightened, a tired and determined look in his eyes. “Well, where do we start?”
Sebastian smiled gratefully. Good old Colin. As solid a comrade as anyone could hope for. “Have people left to the defenses yet?”
“Some, but not most.” Colin glanced at a man with a data tablet and picked up a gun, turning it idly in his hands and pretending to study it. “We’re not expecting the attack for several hours, so most are here getting fed, getting supplied, getting ready, you know.”
“How are the food stores?”
Colin shrugged. “Fine, I haven’t heard anything, and I walked past one of the ration rooms yesterday, and it looked good. Maybe too full, if anything.” He frowned and squinted at the gun in his hand. “This is a shit piece of hardware, though.”
Sebastian leaned in next to him to get a better view. “Is it?”
“Yeah, look at this.” Colin passed him the gun and pointed to a line of rust and cracks. Then he turned back to a shelf and grabbed another one. “This whole rack is like that.”
“Interesting. Martha wouldn’t usually let something like that get past her.” Sebastian lifted the gun to his shoulder and peered down the sights at a blank wall. “Balance feels off too.”
