2.25.1

Astrid’s Plan

Astrid jammed down a protein bar while Dell and Romo swarmed her. They hunted for places to hide an extra device.

Captain London, Anders, Tenya, and Ramsey, all stood close. But this time, they were joined by Eames and Celeste.

“Are we sure this is good idea?” Tenya pressed.

Astrid stripped down in a hurry to execute her plan.

“Celeste,” she called shortly.

The teen, now dressed herself in some spare clothing from Tenya’s wardrobe, passed off her simple Channeler tunic and pants to the specialist, who slipped into them as easily as her own.

“I’m not going to sit here for another few days playing defense while we wait for this thing to explode on us,” Astrid told her scowling companions. She drew her music player from the pocket of her fatigues and passed it to Dell. “Keep this safe for me?”

The technician smiled. “Of course.”

The captain approved. “She’s convincing. This is our best play. For now, she’s relatively unknown. They know her name, but not what she looks like. Celeste says the crew that’s guarding them isn’t the same as those that hauled them in. Which tracks with what we saw of the Alfirk. All Maxwell will know is that they’re missing a body. We’re going to give one back.”

“They don’t even call us by name,” Celeste informed while Astrid pulled her old slippered shoes over her toes. “My tag is ‘Fifty-Eight A’.”

Romo finally located a decent place to tuck their tracking device, but rather than plant it himself, he simply held it out to her with a quick nod to her chest.

Astrid tucked the thing into the small pocket formed between her breasts by the shapeless sports bra she wore.

“You might need to charge it up once a day. Which I figure won’t be a problem for you,” Romo ribbed while he explained. “Ramsey and I will stay in the colony while the Aldebaran moves on. Stick with the kids, and we’ll be able to follow wherever they take you.”

“Are you going to have access to a ship if we move out?”

“I’m on it,” Ramsey butt in. “The Castor is going to help us out. It’ll be here as soon as it can.”

Astrid only nodded to the man.

“What about those?” Tenya pointed at the flash of metal on Astrid’s necklace. Her dog tags.

But the specialist tucked those, too, against her skin. “I’ve worked way too hard for these.”

“If she gets caught with them, the jig is up,” Eames warned.

“If she gets caught without them, they have no reason not to kill her,” Romo countered. “Those tags mean she’ll be missed. They can’t just murder her without repercussions.”

“Yeah, a whole shit-ton of them,” Anders added.

London reminded them, “You are all here because you are capable of things like this, even Astrid. This isn’t the first time we’ve utilized an agent for infiltration.”

He then turned to her specifically.

“You are Specialist Hale of the Earthen Military Service. And more than that, a black ops agent. You’re not a civilian anymore. Not a student, and not a victim. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.” She quirked a smile for his concise pep talk.

”We’ll stick around a few hours, just until we’re sure they’ve accepted you and don’t suspect anything. Then we’ll leave, pick up our reinforcements, and follow where they take you. We’ll meet you, and the Castor, there.”

“I’ll walk her out,” Anders offered.

“I’m going to need you up here. Nothing else has changed. Too many people know you’re my officer.”

“We got it,” Ramsey assured the lieutenant-commander, with Dell at his side.

The man still followed the last few steps down the hold platform, and daringly reached for Astrid’s hand just before she climbed into the shuttle.

“Anders, it’s going to be okay.” She told him firmly. “I have to do this.”

“I know you do,” he replied. “I do. I just… Suddenly it seems like just yesterday we brought you out of Endra. And now we’re sending you in there alone.”

“I have never felt more ready than I do now.” Astrid could almost feel an invisible tie pulling her back to her fellow Channelers. Everything in her longed to race to them. “I know I can do this. I can handle it. You guys gave me that.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Anders insisted anyway.

“Yep.”

She wanted to kiss his cheek, but with so many eyes, she settled for a playful zap through their fingers instead. Delivered with a wink.

The grin that rewarded her made it worth it.

Romo, once more, took post at the shuttle’s controls, and Dell and Ramsey flanked a Channeler now dressed in proper Sanctuary garb.

Astrid waved to her captain, and the crew cleared the area for the shuttle to rise from the port.

“I don’t suppose either of you wanna take bets on how this turns out?” Astrid asked when they pulled back out into the sunlight.

“No way. This is a plan with testicular heft.” Ramsey grinned. “You pull this off, and it’ll make a lot of people seriously reconsider their position.”

“This will change things,” Dell contributed. “In a big way. No matter how this goes.”

The Hill sprawled beneath them. Astrid watched the Aldebaran grow smaller and smaller, before the shuttle headed out over the plains to Maxwell Academy.

She rotated to their newest crew member. Grey eyes regarded her with a hint of a smile on his lips while they both clutched the rail over the door.

“Didn’t know what you were getting into, did you?” She ventured a tease.

“Things in the Fourth are definitely a lot calmer,” he said. “Exploration, star-mapping. Reserves. We don’t get called into the action too often. I feel like I’ve already done and seen more in a week than months on the Rim.”

“Exploration sounds fun,” Astrid considered. “New discoveries. New life.”

“You’ll have to forgive the Lightning Bug,” Romo called from his seat. “Behind all that power still lies our nerdy little bookworm.”

He spoke affectionately, and even Dell softened the jest with a smile.

“How did you wind up out here?” Ramsey asked. “How does one become the first ever Service Channeler?”

Astrid, too, felt a sense of gratification that eluded her over the previous weeks. But now that they flew for their target, ever closer to the abducted Channelers, she finally felt delivered on the promise that brought her out in the first place. That she could make a difference.

She was in a position to save them. And she could.

“The Service needed a Channeler’s help. Captain London offered it to me. Looking back, I was scared. And I should have been. Both he and the Keeper informed me I could have no idea what lay in store.

“But my Keeper,” Astrid recalled fondly, “she phrased it in such a way I realized it wasn’t a choice. She asked what I could live with. What I would regret living with.”

Ramsey took in her words. “If you would most regret leaving, or most regret staying…”

Astrid nodded. “Precisely.”

At that, Ramsey looked to the window, and the plains that spanned below. Astrid could almost feel the pieces fit together behind his eyes, in a picture he recognized.

“I know it’s selfish,” he shared after a pause. “I know it hurt Ava when I left, but it still feels right. Like it was what I supposed to do. I don’t regret it.”

Astrid listened.

Then he added, “Just because it’s the right thing doesn’t mean it’s always easy to bear.”

The specialist agreed. “No. No it doesn’t.”