“Puck,” she growled, gesturing to the doorway.
“With me, soldiers,” Puck called out, spinning one finger in a circle and heading for the door. Snyder and the others fell in line behind him and disappeared into the hallway, leaving Adequin in the control room with Jackin, Mesa, and Cavalon.
Adequin looked at Cavalon. His cheeks were beet red, glower focused on his feet—either embarrassed, mad, or some of both, but she didn’t care. Her reserve of patience was dwindling very, very quickly.
“Mesa?”
“Yes, Excubitor?”
Adequin nodded at the golden pyramid in the Savant’s hands. “Please take whoever you need and look into that.”
“It would help if I knew more about its origins.”
“Probably Viator tech. That’s pretty much all I know.”
Mesa glanced down at the device. “It certainly appears that way, but where did you obtain it?”
Adequin hesitated only briefly—too tired for subtlety. “The Drudger ship. The captain was reviewing the data on it after receiving a recorded video message from a Viator.”
Jackin leapt to his feet, but she held up her hand to shush him, continuing to stare at Mesa. The Savant’s mouth dropped open.
“It produces a holographic interface,” Adequin explained. “It looked like schematics. Please, just see if you can unlock it.”
Mesa’s large eyes blinked rapidly a few times, then her shoulders drew back. “Very well, Excubitor.” She stepped to the doorway, then stopped to look back. “Cavalon?”
Cavalon snapped from his reverie and looked at her. “Uh, yeah?”
“With me, please.” She sauntered through the doorway, disappearing into the hall.
Cavalon looked at Adequin, eyebrows high. She nodded her assent, and he followed Mesa, leaving Adequin alone with Jackin.
“Rake?” Jackin said, voice wavering.
She put her hands on her hips and looked at her boots, not turning to face him. “Jack?”
“Care to give me a quick sitrep on what the fuck is going on?”
She took a deep breath and turned to look at him. “There was a video message. Instructions sent to the Drudgers on how to do something. I don’t know what.”
“Sent from a Viator?”
“It appears so, yes.”
“Appears so, or is so?”
“It was a recorded message. There’s no way to know for certain.”
Jackin’s eyebrows sunk low over his dark brown eyes. “I’m getting really sick of hearing that shit come out of your mouth.”
“Watch yourself,” she warned.
“Wake up, Rake!” he yelled. “The time for delusions is over.”
Her cheeks burned, and she clenched her fists, then looked away to keep from punching him.
“The Legion abandoned this gate—and at least two others—without telling us,” he continued, voice harsh. “They withdrew from the Divide without telling us. And now we have a Viator giving orders to Drudgers. And, oh yeah,” he added wryly, “the universe is shrinking! You gonna come up with a reason how that might not be real too?”
“None of that follows, though, Jack,” she yelled back. “None of it. I can’t connect them. It makes no sense.”
“Why do they need to be connected?” he growled. “It’s shitty thing A, B, and C. Let’s not pretend like any or all of them won’t get us killed. Together, or separate.”