“You and your brother are all I have left,” Sam recalled her father speaking to her over an uncomfortably short call that day, and that line rang in her head over and over again as the memory startled her from her unintended nap. She snapped up from her spot curled up next to Sebastian on the sofa, startling him as well in the process.

“Sam, are you okay?” he asked in concern as he tossed his mobile aside to reach out to her.

She spent a moment to catch her breath and fully come to, realizing the ringing that startled her was a cacophony of distant horns from an apparent traffic jam. “I saw it again,” she mumbled in response once she could process his question, now pulling her hands over her face. “It’s always him,” she continued through her fingers. “Always looking back at me like I’ll never get back at him, like he’ll always own me.” She let Sebastian pull her in as she tried to wash away the afterimages of her short-lived though reoccurring nightmare. “And my dad was saving him this time, like he’s on his side all of the sudden.”

Other than the two of them, the room was empty and relatively quiet outside of the news turned on low volume. The distant blaring of car horns died down as Sebastian let Sam continue to fully wake up, always hoping she could get any sleep in when she could despite knowing each slumber was anything but peaceful.

Sam broke the silence again as she halfway mumbled through the shirt covering his chest. “I wonder if that’s the reason I haven’t heard from him since then… or gotten any calls back.”

It had been three days since the expected contact at 2:50, and being the Friday before the big SAU Senatorial session they were expecting, it would be the last 2:50 to roll around. Each day passed with less and less sleep for all as the anticipation and anxiousness continued to mount, leaving Sebastian no choice but to roll along and worry only about what he could change while Sam had no choice but to continue training as she never knew when she’d be thrown out from their safety net and back into chaos.

“Big crowds are coming together at the Plaza de Mayo and the Obelisco in the Capital,” Sebastian switched gears as he stayed leaned back into the sofa’s cushion, head leaned back. “Nothing violent. It’s… strange. Strange to see gatherings so organized without fighting or pushing back from police.” He let out a sigh as he turned his head to look out the window. “I wonder if this is all just everyone being… ahn, well, scared, and that maybe nothing is going to happen.”

“Everyone reading into this thing wrong would be a miracle for us,” Sam concurred as she snuggled in a bit more, trying to relax. “I’m more worried about what my dad said over the phone.”

“You know, that does make me think.” Sebastian leaned into her a bit more as he recalled a moment from earlier that year. “I recall me saying, what was it… your family seemed so cold. But now that I think more, it’s not cold.”

“Not cold?” Sam laughed at the perceived irony. “What isn’t cold about everything to my situation with them? Because you got me real lost there.”

He chuckled at her reaction before answering. “I think it’s all not normal, especially your, well, relationship with your mother and father, but they both are going through maybe some real danger to save you and your brother-” Cutting himself off the second he could tell Sam had a retort, he put a hand up: “-No, no. Your father tried many times to get you to quit since Bogota a long time ago, right? And he never made you to feel stupid. Now he says to use his contact with that big man at Hexa, what was his name?”

“Mr. Lucian?”

“Him. And your mother, she is trying to stop you from fighting or getting killed by your own brother, and the same for him, if he gets killed by his own sister, you know… What is a mother to do if not?”

She thought to decline that possibility but was held up by her sudden curiosity, that perhaps he had a point. Mostly sour memories of her mother stifling any attempt at forging her own path were never black and white, always with a varying degree of contempt altering the actual situation, and it had been since leaving Akkadia that she would attempt to look at them from the other side.

Mom always made me so sick inside, but maybe Sebastian is sort of right. Maybe it’s not just her trying to save Isaiah, maybe she’s trying to save… us… But how the hell am I supposed to know for sure if she just disappears like always and never tell us a damned word!? Her thoughts instantly darkened as her rationality crumbled as always, shaking her head as if to free them from her thoughts. And now it’s like the same thing with Dad…

An unexpected rumble from her stomach awkwardly interrupted their thoughts before the two of them laughed in unison.

“I know you have no appetite- which you know I understand, but you can’t keep working like this if you don’t eat a bit more,” Sebastian advised, straightening his face. He then peeked at the time, noting it was not quite noon. “Let me call the others, maybe they can bring us lunch.”

.

.

.

●　● SAU Curitiba Airbase, Brazil

Adrian donned an SAU officer’s uniform with his name on his badge, revealing his position as a senior technical advisor. He and a group of others had deboarded their train and made their way through various checkpoints en route to the control center of the station.

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As for the train, long after checking scans were supposedly complete and container movement clearances were taken care of, the entirety of the heavy-gauge freighter’s cargo was undocked and put on transports that took them into the heart of the base’s storage facilities.

And from the control center, several staff and administration members looked on with impatience. [What took Liotta so damned long?] One of the administrators spoke with a frown, standing out from the chatter around him through his local Portuguese tongue. [Acting like we had all day for these parts.] His eyes then fell upon the changing display screen that brought up a contents list of the cargo vessels, most showing Allied A-7 parts. [Get them put away. The last thing I want to hear is another earful from DOD.]

A set of doors opened from behind them as Adrian and his cohort hastily walked in as if mindful of their tardiness. [Apologies, but we will take things from here, Lt. Colonel,] he stiffly opened with his remarks before flashing a smile.

Much to the Lt. Colonel’s visible chagrin, he curled his lips and gave the crew a few looks before scoffing: [Pardon me?] He answered within his own abilities in Spanish, returning the gesture. [I hope you aren’t making a mockery of this contract, officer.] His tune changed the next instant, however, as the removal of several holster straps made their audible, easily recognizable clicks. And with a whirl back towards his staff who stood behind him, he noted several of them had their hands at their sidearm holsters. [What the hell do you think you’re doing?!] he seethed, turning red.

[Two-Fifty, Lt. Colonel,] Adrian smugly replied, confidently approaching the main control panel. [We all remember that day. Each and every one of us here in this room, as do all others in our presence below.]

The Lt. Colonel immediately caught on, recognizing the reference to the catastrophic failure to respond a decade ago to the devastating attacks the SAU suffered, making the realization his staff on rotation were majority Argentine. He began to tremble, having only now starting to truly fear his life. [This is Brazil, you fools!]

[No. This…] Adrian huffed, bringing up a technical spec sheet on screen before turning to look the Lt. Colonel in the eye with a straight face. [This is The Big One, and before nightfall you will have helped us rebuild it.]

The Lt. Colonel grew pale as he looked over the screens brought up, trembling even more. [What on God’s Earth are you planning to do with that?! Why-… why that thing!? What kind of sick traitors are you!?]

[This is Bender,] Adrian turned to speak over his headset, ignoring the interrogation from behind. [The Big One is in and secured, and command has been handed over. All stations have checked in. All ready to go.]

.

.

●　● Palermo District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, SAU

Isaiah placed his headset down after readjusting the encryption on their communication’s control panel, letting out a nervous sigh. “That was the second go-sign from Bender,” he spoke aloud to a relatively cramped, poorly lit room, accompanied only by two others who were also manning communications equipment. “We are good to pack up operations once they clear the third.”

“We still need to move the jammers, though,” one of the others replied through a slight accent over the humming of the building’s cooling and ventilation system they were housed behind. “I’ll head up there while we are on radio silence.”

“Both of you head up, just in case,” Isaiah suggested as he turned back to his spread-out chart he had been working on. Several moments of footsteps and door locking actions soon led to absolute silence, aside from the mechanical noises he had grown accustomed to. It was always when he was alone that he could focus best on his planning, hence he requested the two of his men head up.

He didn’t make it long, however, before a frustrated shake of his head broke his thought process. “None of this is right,” he mumbled to himself as he looked over what looked like a script to the right of his chart paper. He reached for his pencil, but something had him freeze in place just before touching it. His breathing even came to a standstill that instant, tuning his ears in to his surroundings.

Nothing, only the continuous murmurs from the ventilation system.

No door opened, no footsteps were heard, yet he was convinced. That next instant, he thrust his hand under the desk and whipped around, pointing his pistol at the figure standing down the narrow walkway from him.

“Mother,” he coldly spoke, unable to make out her face yet he couldn’t be more convinced.

“I know for a fact I taught you better on three things, Zay,” Amelie’s voice calmly arose from her obscure silhouette. “One-”

“-I knew you were coming,” Isaiah cut in as his hands quickly began to sweat and fingers began to quiver. “So, don’t think pulling your usual routine will-”

“-You know I never carry a sidearm, and you never did, either,” Amelie pressed on, unfazed by her son’s implied threats, yet staying still where she stood. “Two-”

“-Rules don’t apply where we stand.” His trigger finger hesitated. He knew this moment might come one day soon, and he knew exactly what it meant if he did. “Neither do blood relations.”

“You know your little plan I’ve discovered is nothing more than blasphemy, spitting on the graves of your brethren scattered across Space- something we raised you to be better than.” She then took a slow step forward, emerging from her shadow with a dim light illuminating her raised hands of surrender as she noted Isaiah’s pistol with a suppressor aimed at her.

He still couldn’t fathom hurting his own mother, but with so much on the line, he couldn’t let her go too far, either. And by now, he had subconsciously measured up her attire, noting no apparent body armor past what might be around her vitals. “I control this place as do each of my men here with me, mother. Leave. Now.” His heart beat out of his chest. He wasn’t ready for this as he once imagined he was, and it all came far too soon. He knew exactly what the consequences would be if he let her continue as she pleased.

“Three,” she spoke with a now visible look of disappointment. “You helped raise and protect Sam all those years, and yet you chose to hurt her in ways she’ll never heal from. How is her shoulder you injured with my knife, Zay?” She then took another step forward. “How are her friends?”

“Don’t take another step!” He felt a raised voice leave his vocal cords for the first time in what felt a lifetime as his breathing grew heavier by the second.

She paused, only to weakly smile with a shake of her head. “I just want to bring you home. We can end this fiasco before you cross that point of absolutely no return, Zay.” She watched the grip on his sidearm grow weaker as the seconds passed, and she remained still throughout. “If I ever knew that Vincent Vrey character could have ever planted such foolish seeds of contempt in your head, I would have never allowed you to go work for him those years back.”

He remained silent, fiercely holding back his tongue as she inched closer.

“Isaiah,” she spoke his full name in a way that grabbed more of his attention away from his aim. “I am so sorry,” she added with a sigh and drop of her shoulders. “This is all really my fault. Please, let’s just go home, and I promise to fix all of this.”

*PTAFF!!*

Rang the blast of hot, suppressed gases from the chamber of the pistol.