Chapter 28

"I must insist you rest and recover from your travels. You are showing signs of dehydration," Kira-217 said.

Page rolled their eyes. "Come on, I've been ready for this for months. Butcher's been killed by the Hive so we can't lose a second."

Freyja couldn't ignore the flush of Page's otherwise pale skin, and the lack of sweat. They leaned heavily on the fence's metal gate.

"Kira-217's right. You're close to heatstroke. We need to get you inside and cooled off. Odin, help me."

She didn't wait for permission to move and instead stepped forward to roll the gate open. Odin was quick to her side, putting one shoulder under Page's right arm. They didn't look particularly happy about the offer, however and shoved themself away, right into Freyja's arms.

"You're the Commander, right? Part of that job is taking care of yourself so you can maintain Unit safety properly," Freyja said.

"But I'm fine," they said.

"Great. Then walk into the house and cool off. Kait has some Sporterade we can get in you. You know it's the smart thing to do, right?" Freyja asked.

Page narrowed their eyes at her, looking her up and down for a moment, then huffed out of their mouth. This close, she could tell their Roman nose had been broken at one point or another, making it difficult to breathe through. The scar across their face was paired with a few others in the shaved portion of their scalp.

"Fine. Let's go inside and cool off," Page said with a resigned shrug.

"Someone else's coming," one of the Brothers of Fervor said as he took out his handgun.

Freyja turned her attention back to the road in time to recognize Gunner's car. She stepped between the biker and the road, then took a few steps toward him to make sure she blocked his aim.

"Put that away. That's my brother."

Everything slowed down as the black hatchback rolled toward them, kicking up dust behind it as it went. She lost track of time staring until Gunner parked in the grass next to her car. Damien helped Zoe out of her car seat then he and her brother hurried through the gate.

"We got here as q-q-uickly as we could," Gunner stuttered.

"You shouldn't be here."

"You t-told me to come. In your texts," he replied, confusion clear on his face.

"You brought my family here. You pretended to be me and lured them here?" She growled through grit teeth after turning to confront Kira-217 who replied by putting her hands in the air.

"The safest location for your family at the moment is near you," Kira-217 said.

She hissed then took in a deep breath. "Laurence, is your house cat free?"

The older biker scratched his beard. "Yeah. Much as I love 'em a few of the guys can't handle being near them."

"Can my family crash at your place? My brother's super allergic to cats," she explained.

Page let out a sad laugh. "Your bro's not the only one."

"What?" Odin asked.

The Commander is allergic to cats, great, Freyja said over the Link. Which means they can't even go into Kait's house.

That explains why they didn't want to go inside, he replied.

"What's going on?" Damien asked. "You didn't text us?"

She shook her head. "The alien thing got more complicated. Laurence, if you would be so kind to let us crash in your house so the Commander here can cool off and I can make sure my family's safe, that'd be great."

"I concur," Kira-217 said.

"That or we could all go cool off in the spaceship," Sam said meekly. He'd begun alternating which hand was holding his phone up some time ago, yet was still trying to stream what was going on.

"I know Chat wants to see inside the warship. They won't get to," Kira-217 said. "Too dangerous."

"Just a little peek?"

"No." Kira-217 glared at Freyja. "Freyja's right. We should cool off in the Brothers' house before pairing the Commander with their Hive member."

***

Sprinkles's mind was calm for once as he napped in the shade of a bush outside while everyone squeezed into the old farmhouse owned by the Brothers of Fervor. The inside was cleaner than Freyja expected and the bikers did their best to straighten things up so it would be safe for a toddler to run around. One of their bikes was parked in the living room, which quickly caught Zoe's attention. Damien and Laurence did their best to keep the child entertained. Page alternated between sipping an orange Sporterade, and holding the cool bottle to their head.

"I just lost the internet," Sam said suddenly. "Phone's about dead."

"The network is down. There is no service," Kira-217 observed.

"We need to know your plan," Freyja said.

Kira-217 winced, then crossed her arms.

"It's out the window, right? We have two weeks before the big ship gets here. No guarantee people will show up to join our little Unit, and open season has been declared on aliens," Freyja said.

Odin leaned against the side of the couch. Freyja could feel his desire to scratch non-existent claws against the burlap-like fabric.

You turn into a cat now and people will start sneezing, she said.

I will remain human.

"That's why we hired Page. They're great at strategy and adapting quickly. They've helped us plan so far. Unfortunately, they can not pair with a Hive member until their body has recovered sufficiently from overheating. We will postpone their becoming a Spark until tomorrow," Kira-217 explained.

"You sick?" Zoe asked. She'd toddled over to where Page was sitting and lost balance, catching herself on their knees.

"Yeah, just got too hot."

Page had removed their jacket and shirt, but still wore a beige colored binder over their chest. Freyja didn't want to ask them to strip completely, but doing so would have helped them cool off. She left the living room, finding her way to the Brothers of Fervor's kitchen, then dug around in their cabinets until she came across a gallon storage bag. She rooted through their freezer for some ice, and finally added some water to the bag. No one tried to stop her, which was good, because she wouldn't have let them. She'd used the same trick when the AC went out on her car in the past. Then she learned how to replace the air conditioner.

"Here, use this under your armpits or between your legs. Hit the femoral artery if you can. It'll help cool your core temperature down faster," Freyja said as she presented Page with the jiggly ice bag.

Page took it with a silent nod then placed it in their lap. Zoe, had moved to sit next to them on the couch, along with Damien. The house felt cramped even though it was bigger than Kait's home next door. The two buildings were the only thing for a mile at least, which was good, but not very defensible if someone were to attack them. The smart thing would be to take the cats somewhere else but then the people Kira-217 had called to reach them wouldn't know where they'd gone. Not that those people would be able to find them as it was. Everyone was reliant on their phones for directions these days. The number of people who'd be able to use a paper map to reach them would be low. It would be zero if they moved locations.

"You're thinking pretty hard," Page said weakly.

"Trying to find a way out of this mess."

Zoe reached over and slapped the bag of ice water, then giggled. She managed to drum on it a few more times before Damien pulled her into his lap. Then she kept trying to reach for it.

"Sorry about that," he said.

Page smirked. "It's fine. She's adorable."

"So, w-we're screwed?" Gunner asked. He'd sat down in a chair off to the side of the couch. Freyja hadn't told him Odin was a cat, but she suspected he could somehow tell. Maybe being near him bothered his sinuses despite the alien passing for Human?

"No. If you all pair with a Hive member your chances of survival increase a great deal," Kira-217 said.

"But my brother's allergic to cats. So is Page, for that matter," Freyja pointed out.

"That won't matter once they're a Spark. My tests have shown that allergies such as that resolve themselves. The failure rate of a Human Spark to remain stable is only two percent."

Odin slipped out of the front door without a word. Freyja didn't ask over the Link why he was leaving. Maybe he needed to pee? Maybe shit? Did he even have to do those things now that he looked human? Would he turn back into a cat? She didn't want to know.

"Two percent?" she asked.

"Yes."

"So, with over a hundred cats there's going to be at least two people who don't make it, right?"

"Correct."

"Those numbers are pretty good," Page noted.

"Indeed. The Hive does not have solid data on how long a Spark can survive without reaching madness, but from what data I was able to acquire, a two-percent failure rate is astonishingly low," Kira-217 explained.

"Two people," Freyja repeated.

"What's she mean 'failure rate?'" Sam asked. He'd given up using his phone and slipped it into his shirt pocket next to his vape pen.

Freyja hung her head. "Two people out of one hundred will lose their minds."