It was a good thing my truck had an autopilot, because there’s no way I would have been able to fly back on my own. My mind was so preoccupied by what I learned in the meeting that I probably would have crashed into something if I had to fly it back myself.

  When I got back to the Shelter, I just sat in my truck, thinking, until I saw Sharron’s RV pull into her spot. As soon as I saw her get out, I sprinted across the area to intercept her.

  “You want to talk about what we heard?” she asked quietly.

  “Don’t you? We heard some crazy shit in that meeting, and I’m still trying to process it all,” I replied softly.

  Sharron bit her lip and nodded. “We should probably avoid the residence. I don’t want to risk someone accidentally overhearing us. Let’s go up to my apartment instead.”

  “After you.”

  We didn’t say anything as we made our way across the garage or in the elevator. As soon as we stepped into her place, I exploded. “Can you fucking believe this? The antithesis not only managed to colonize but terraform a planet in our own fucking solar system. It’s an entire planet of those fucks just next door!”

  “It’s hard to believe. I knew there was some sort of intelligence behind the swarm. There would have to be in order to open a portal to other planets and start incursions, but I never expected them to have the ability to terraform a planet.” Sharron slipped past me and headed into the small living room area. She collapsed on the couch and stared at the roof for a couple of seconds before speaking again. “Do you think we even have a chance of taking them down?”

  “It won’t be easy: it’s an entire planet full of antithesis after all, but I expect the Family is asking all the heavy hitters to participate. We’ve been through some shit, and we’re fairly well geared compared to a lot of other samurai, but I doubt we can hold a candle to the Class IV and V samurai,” I replied. “So… yeah, I think we’ll have a chance. A good one too.”

  I slowly made my way across the room and slumped into one of the easy chairs across from Sharron. “Have you decided whether you’re going to participate or not?”

  “Of course, the fate of the world is at stake. Why? Aren’t you?”

  “I’m considering it,” I started. “But… if I can be completely honest, I’m not quite sure how helpful I can be up there.”

  Sharron sat up and stared at me suspiciously. “You don’t know how effective you’ll be? What is this bullshit you’re spouting right now?”

  “I’m serious! You saw the intelligence; there are already Model Forty-Ones on the surface. I’m sure Bob might be able to hold his own against something in the Thirty to Forty range for a little while, but the rest of my forces? They struggled with the Twenties in the tunnels. My forces excel at dealing with a large amount of fodder, but against monsters like that? They’d be ripped apart in seconds. I’ve always been better at holding the line than punching upwards.”

  “That’s not the only reason you’re hesitating, is it?” Sharron asked.

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  “Of course not. I’m also worried about my family and what’ll happen to both Sector Eleven and the city if I leave. Let’s face it, the city’s not in great shape right now. Not only did we just overthrow the previous government, but I may have crushed a large percentage of the city’s defense forces. The new council hasn’t had time to rebuild yet, so right now my bears are the only ones capable of keeping an incursion contained,” I explained quietly.

  Sighing, I tilted my head back and stared at the roof. “As for Sector Eleven, it may appear relatively stable right now, but that’s only because my bears are there to keep the peace. The instant they back off, I have no doubt that the gangs and corps will try to muscle their way back in. Even if I left a garrison behind, I’d worry that they could be overrun and something happen to Jane and the kids.”

  “Nothing would happen to them,” Sharron scoffed. “Your bears fought off two different armies simultaneously and took minimal casualties. As long as your matter reconfiguration machines stay active, I can’t see anyone breaking through your defenses.”

  “I know the chances of someone messing with my family are infinitesimally small, but that doesn’t keep me from worrying,” I muttered.

  “Honestly? I can’t be too surprised,” Sharron sighed as she lay down again. “Despite your grumpy exterior, you’re someone that’s always worried about protecting and improving the lives of the people around you. A samurai of the people. It’s hard to look after everyone when you’re on another planet.”

  “True,” I muttered. “While I doubt I’ll participate in the expedition, I still plan to send troops. Even though I’ve never really stepped off the front line, the bears have always been my real strength. They can back you up on Mars, while I concentrate on keeping things together here on earth.”

  “Sounds like you’ve already put some serious thought into this,” Sharron said, staring at the ceiling.

  “Well, as much as I possibly could in the thirty minutes or so we’ve had since that meeting,” I replied.

  The two of us fell quiet for a minute.

  “You think anyone else is going to sign up for this shitshow?” Sharron asked, breaking the silence.

  “Honestly? I’m pretty sure everyone at the meeting understood what was at stake, so it’s probably easier to discuss who wouldn’t sign up. Angeline probably will stay to be with her daughter. Zetta isn’t much of a fighter, so unless they need him for data processing or command purposes, he’s probably not going, and I can see either Benedict or Charlotte staying behind to keep both their businesses and faction under control.”

  “That would leave… Dreamer, Hel, Whisperer, and myself,” Sharron said.

  “There were a couple of people at the table I didn’t recognize; you might get a couple of them too,” I mused.

  “Maybe. It’s strange that I didn’t recognize any of them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them around the Family HQ while I was there.”

  “They could be from out of town. There are a lot of small communities outside the city. At least some of them must have their own samurai protecting them,” I exclaimed.

  “That’s possible. I guess it really doesn’t matter where they came from, only if they’re planning on participating in the assault or not,” Sharron muttered.

  “Hel said she wanted our answers as soon as possible, but I’m going to sleep on it. I need to make sure I’m making the right decision before pulling the trigger,” I said, leaning back and sinking into the chair. “I wish that I could talk to Jane and Alan about this, but I understand why the Family wants to keep everything confidential right now. There would probably be riots in the street if people knew there was an entire planet of antithesis right next door.”

  “You don’t think they can keep a secret?” Sharron asked, surprised.

  “Jane could, for sure, but with Alan’s anxiety issues, I’m sure he’d be obsessing over the idea for weeks,” I explained. “And while he’s fretting, all it would take is a single careless conversation, and word would get out. Better to keep it to myself for now.”

  Sharron nodded.

  “I can’t believe that in less than a week an army of samurai are taking the fight to another world,” she said softly.

  “That actually doesn't give us a lot of time to prepare,” I said. The realization made me sit up straight in the chair. “I need to do an inventory of my troops so I can decide how many I can send, and we should also get in touch with everyone to make sure they’re prepared.”

  “You know everyone that’s going is a responsible adult, right?” Sharron asked. “That’s probably not necessary.”

  “Even a responsible adult can forget things, and I’d hate to find out that one of my friends fucking died because they weren’t fully prepared,” I declared, hopping out of the chair. “This fight is going to be beyond anything any of us has experienced before, and even if I don’t go, I’m still going to do everything I can to ensure you all make it back here alive!”

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