Part 2
Behavioral Drift
After a while you are more a unit than a group of individuals.
The interactions between you change to work for that unit.
Patterns change.
Chapter 19
“So. You and Zane.”
Wraith looked up from her data pad where she had been reading about the Void Cult. The original one, not Shade’s group of irregulars.
It didn’t look like it had changed much in five years. Still preaching the coming of the end; the enfolding of this universe into the Inbetween where only the righteous would remain untouched.
They had no Void-damned idea what they were talking about. But somehow it seemed to be gaining followers.
She was sitting on the bench by the large viewport in the officers’ mess. The Major was leaning against the wall nearby.
He’d managed to sneak up on her—she wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned.
“You know he was just fucking with you, right?”
He shrugged, unreadable.
They hadn’t spoken much since that night on Perdition. He’d been giving her space. She’d needed it. Didn’t mean she liked how readable she’d been.
Now, they were back on the Eventide.
Hound had swept in to rescue them, and made absolutely no attempt to hide the fact that he’d have been far happier if they had both died Inbetween.
The Major had argued with him the entire trip back. They had shut themselves on the Hopper’s bridge, but the plasteel wasn’t that thick.
He seemed to be waiting for an answer. She considered ignoring him, but like it or not, she needed his help to find Phantom.
And while she ostensibly retained her Captain’s rank, she had none of the clearance she needed to access their files.
She set her data pad down; invited him to join her with a sweep of her hand. He sat slowly, warily.
But she wasn’t Shade.
“Zane and I knew each other before we were part of Ghost Command. Went through Basic together, then Flight.”
The Major nodded. Yes, he probably knew that already.
“We were occasional hook-up buddies. Nothing more.”
“And after?”
She studied him. Puzzled over why he was so interested.
Maybe if she could explain a little of what it was like, he might be slightly more receptive the request she had to make.
“After, we were a team. A unit. All of us. We were Ghost Command. And no, we never hooked up again after that.”
“Why not?”
“Have you ever been part of a long term, tactical unit, Major? The kind that spends more time behind enemy lines than in front of them?”
He shook his head, slowly.
“Not in the way you mean, no.”
“It’s… different. After a while you are more a unit than a group of individuals. And the interactions between you change to work for that unit. It’s not that you don’t have conflict or that you are somehow subsumed. But patterns change.”
She looked out at the stars, thought of Phantom.
“When Zane became Shade and I became Wraith, there wasn’t room for that anymore.”
“And Phantom?”
She turned her head to look at him, eyebrow raised, feigning indifference. Chest too tight.
Helios looked away, then back at her, “You called me Tom by mistake.”
That, she didn’t remember.
“And you assumed I meant Phantom?”
He looked away, guilt flickering across his face.
Zane, you bastard! You fucking told him.
“Phantom and I were… complicated. But if you’re hoping to use our former… connection to bring him in, I think you’ll find you’re out of luck.”
Kael hoped his Void-damned shock wasn’t showing on his face. Of everything he’d rehearsed for, raw honesty was not on the list.
She wasn’t giving much detail, but what she wasn’t saying spoke louder.
Why the shift? Why now?
“Why do you say that?” he asked gently, as if the universe hadn’t just sucker-punched him in a way he didn’t fully understand. Or want to interrogate too deeply.
“Elijah was always the most grounded of us all,” she said, meeting his eyes. “The calm to the chaos the rest of us brought in. The most tactical, the least sentimental.”
She paused, and he could almost see a memory passing in front of her eyes.
“If he’s still alive, he’ll consider all the angles before committing to anything. He won’t give in to emotion or impulse like me or Spook or Shade.”
Another pause. Longer.
He waited.
“Is he alive, Helios?”
“As of three months ago, yes. He pops up onto the radar and disappears again, if you’ll pardon the bad pun, like a damn ghost.”
The slight drop of her shoulders showed relief.
Whatever their connection had been, it was strong. At least on her side.
“You want me to find him.”
It wasn’t a question. He answered it anyway.
“Yes. The Others hit three outposts while we were on Perdition. They’re escalating. Spook and Shade are off grid. We’re still looking, but—”
“Good luck with that.”
“Yeah. So, we need to find Phantom.”
She nodded slowly, “I’ll need his files.”
He considered her. Considered protocol that clearly stated that her request was out of the question. Then pulled his data pad from his pocket, tapped.
“Done.”
Fuck protocol.
Alone in her quarters, Wraith’s fingers trembled over the screen. Desperation to know warred with fear of what she’d find.
In the corner of the room, the whispers started up.
Eerie. Echoing.
The crew claimed it was haunted, but a few hours with the ship’s schematics had shown it was just an anomaly in the way sound carried through the cable access space above the maintenance corridors below.
Some days it was soothing. A reminder that she wasn’t alone in a cell.
Today, it grated against her bones.
Wraith closed her eyes. Bent backwards until her hands touched the ground, and put herself through the calisthenics routine she hadn’t performed since Helios had opened the door of her cell.
It was still meditative.
And easier, now she had more muscle and energy stores.
When she had finished, her hands were no longer shaking, and her heartbeat was steady.
Emotions buried below a layer of calm.
She picked up the data pad and opened the first file.
SID ARCHIVE // CLASSIFIED DOSSIER // GHOST COMMAND // PHANTOM // REDACTED
SUBJECT
- Call Sign: Phantom
- Real Name: [REDACTED]Rank: Captain
- Clearance: [REDACTED] EYES ONLY
- Evaluator: [REDACTED]
- Status: MIA [CLASSIFIED: PRESUMED ACTIVE]
- Location: Unknown.
PSYCH PROFILE SNAPSHOT
- Disposition: Calm under pressure. Unemotional.
- Primary Function: Heavy weapons, exfil.
- Secondary Function: [REDACTED]
- Weakness: [REDACTED]
- Strengths: Tactical detachment. Emotions do not influence decision making.
TACTICAL HISTORY
- Mobile Infantry. Force Recon.
- Last to join Ghosts. Bonded fast.
- [REDACTED]
- Unexpected fit with team.
- [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED]
BATTLEFIELD NOTES
- “Spiritual tank.”
- Quiet. Unshakable. Spoke when it mattered.
- [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED]
- Post-final battle: multiple sightings. None verified.
- Inbetween [REDACTED]
CURRENT THREAT LEVEL: UNRANKED
Evaluator’s Notes:
Given subject’s strengths and weaknesses, should [REDACTED] then threat level should be raised to maximum level immediately.