Free Legion Lost by K.C. Finn Page A

Lucrece and I. Apryl flaunts the tray at us, making
the packets rattle.
    “You
must be starving,” she says eagerly. “Take your share, stock up for later. Go ’head.”
    Lucrece
is the first to reach for the food. Her eyes rove over the tray as she counts
out all the packets, then she dumps half a dozen in my lap for me, a perfect
half share. Apryl smiles at her the whole time, and I know now that she must be
older than she looks. Her smile looks like the one my mother uses when she’s
proud of me or my brothers. The dredged-up memory cuts into my heart again, and
my expression falters just at the moment when Apryl meets my eye.
    “I’m
Lucrece, and this is Raja,” Lucrece tells her.
    Apryl
reaches out, putting a warm hand on my shoulder.
    “I
know it ain’t perfect here, by anyone’s standards,” she says, “but we’re a nice
little family once you get to know us. Don’t mind my boys, they’re all talk and
no hoo-hah.”
    From
the far corner, I spot Stirling open his mouth, like he’s going to argue with
her, but he stops himself abruptly. That fact makes me like Apryl all the more.
She sits herself on the floor in front of us, throwing packets at Goddie for
him to catch. When she does the same for Stirling, the passes are fast, long,
and high, but he doesn’t miss a single one. I find myself wondering how someone
so agile could end up in the rejects’ tower. Goddie might have too much
personality for the S.C. to handle, but Stirling’s arrogant, capable demeanour
should have had Briggs training him for second in command.
    “This
is a hell of a lot of food, Apryl,” Stirling remarks, juggling two packets in
one palm. “Something’s up. Come on, out with it.”
    I
wish for the red-haired boy to be wrong, but Apryl’s mouth squirms in apology.
She looks back at me and Lucrece with a small sigh.
    “You’d
better eat ‘n’ get your strength up,” she explains, “’cause we ain’t playing
waiters in the canteen tonight.”
    *
    An
hour later, we’re walking back to the Bastion. The late winter sun is on the
verge of setting as we wind through the dark corridors to reassemble in the
lecture hall. The news report is no longer scrolling on the big screen; instead
I find myself staring at a large, detailed map as I take a seat. I’m surprised
to find that it’s Sheila who has called us in. The white-coated woman perches
on the edge of a desk, looking down at a small computer screen in her hands.
When she glances up, her eyes find Lucrece and I right away. For a moment, she
looks genuinely sad to see me, but then she sweeps the expression away in
favour of her pasted-on smile.
    “There’s
five of you now,” she observes. “That’s good. This would have been tricky with
only three.”
    “Whatcha
got for us, Doc?” Apryl asks eagerly. “Do we get to go outside and play?”
    “If
you want to call it that,” Sheila answers coolly.
    She
focuses on the map, her fingers moving over the small screen in order to change
our view on the bigger one. I recognise the overhead picture of the Legion at
once, my eyes roving over its straight walls and circular towers. All around
the Legion, the map displays the arid, reddish land that Reece and I traversed,
with the dense forest emerging to its left. Where the forest spreads upward to
the top of the map, a series of small, yellow X marks have been made on
the screen. Sheila points to them one by one.
    “These
markings indicate where our helicopters have spotted a rebel presence in the
northern woods,” she explains. “We control the area of woodland to the south of
this river here, but the strangers in the north are getting a little too close
for comfort.”
    “The
Highlanders are coming,” Stirling says suddenly.
    I
don’t know why, but everyone else in the room seems to be trapped in an awkward
silence by his words. I turn to Stirling, surprised to see his expression has
become grave and serious.
    “Sorry
. . . ” I mumble. “The Highlanders