The Ice Warrior

Chapter 21

Rose took the lead of their small group of rebels, and for the first time, Silv didn't care. After all, it appeared as if her grandmother was far more familiar with the workings of sector 15 than Silv had initially assumed.

Though everyone in the military had some contact with that particular, rebellious sector, Rose was the one who had taken advantage of her position to make illegal contacts.

Even at the height of her rebellion against any form of authority Silv had when she was a teenager, she never considered resorting to sector 15 visits.

"My lady, are you faring well?" Arthur asked as he fell in step with Silv.

"I am fine Arthur. Though, I am a bit annoyed with you for not telling me about Rose's plan." Silv said.

"Mistress put in security measures, child safety measures. I was incapable to convey any of the information to you until given the instructions to do so. Still, I understand why she did what she did." Arthur said.

"Really? Please, enlighten me!" Silv said as they followed after the others down the long corridor of the bunker.

"My young mistress is simply a dreadful actress," Arthur said.

"Excuse me? I am not!" Silv said, shocked.

She was mostly astounded by the fact that Arthur would phrase his opinion the way he did. Furthermore, the fact that he even could form a judgment of his own was a shock to Silv.

However, the fact that she was a terrible actress was clear to everyone who knew her. That was one of the main reasons she did a lot of field work, far from the Government for whom she failed to show adequate respect that would pass serious scrutiny. She wasn't as fanatic about it as most of the military personnel, and some layers of civilians were, which forced Rose to secure her more outside assignments.

Arthur gave her such a human look upon hearing her words that she couldn't help but let out a silent laugh.

"Fine, I might be a bad actress, but I still can't see what that has to do with making me believe in her betrayal," Silv said.

"It has everything to do with it. Everyone had to believe that Rose betrayed you. What better way to achieve that than to have your honest reaction to her betrayal displayed in front of them?" Arthur asked.

Silv was shocked to note how reasonable and strategic what Arthur said sounded. Yet, she didn't want to forgive Rose since no one had ever hurt her as much as she did, no matter how necessary it might have been.

"I see what you mean. Perhaps Rose did what had to be done. However, I need time to process everything." Silv said.

"I understand," Arthur replied, as he hurried to catch up with the others, leaving Silv alone with her thoughts.

"Silv, is this it?" Rose asked after some time.

They were standing in front of another door, waiting for Silv to catch up.

"Yes, I think so," Silv said.

"How sure are you?" Rose asked.

"Ninety percent," Silv answered.

"All right, that's good enough for me," Rose said.

As Wir Eis moved towards the door planning to utilize his considerable strength to fling it open, Rose stopped him.

"Wait, I just remembered something," Rose said.

The whole group looked at her with a curiosity that in Silv's case was tinged with agitation. All the time spent near the hand of the Government was making her anxious, wondering if they would ever manage to escape.

"Did you get the navigation watches as I told you?" Rose asked Arthur.

"Yes, ma'am," Arthur said.

Upon saying that, he rummaged through the accumulated technology and swiftly pulled out the said watches.

"All right, let me check," Rose said.

Then, she started frantically typing at the watch's virtual display, searching for something. Silv was getting more annoyed with each passing second, but she tried containing her irritation as best as she could.

"Yes! These are the newest models I had heard so much about from some of the other soldiers. They have in them an appearance modulator for invading the enemy territory." Rose said.

"I thought these were just a myth," Silv said.

"No, not a myth, just a couple of prototypes. That's why I can't guarantee the function will work perfectly, but at least it's better than nothing." Rose said.

"But there are only two of them here. Who will use the watches?" Silv asked.

"You and Wir Eis. People will start asking questions if we turn up with an enormous alien on their doorstep." Rose said.

"What about you? Won't you get in trouble there in your current uniform?" Silv asked with worry.

She might have been furious at her grandmother, but she didn't wish for her to get hurt. Rose was still family, the only one Silv had left that showed her any affection.

"I'll be fine. I have my camouflage uniform on." Rose said as she pressed a small button on her shirt that turned her regular clothes into rags.

It was clear those were the regular clothes among Lower Stratans. However, Silv still found them extremely extravagant with too many layers that seemed unnecessary because of the heating possibility military clothes contained. However, Rose's clothing was perfect for where they were heading. She was bound to fit in since all of the Lower Stratans wore similar outfits as they didn't have the military-grade garments.

"Arthur, can you please initiate a random hologram algorithm?" Rose asked.

"Random hologram algorithm initiated." Arthur instantly said.

The hologram he therefore created was so effectively made that Silv was in awe. It seemed as being on different missions all the time had caused her to miss quite a few innovations and new programs.

Placing the watch on her hand and barely managing to squeeze one on Wir Eis, Silv was astonished by how instant the change was. Her alien friend looked like an average blond-haired, blue-eyed human, and she couldn't help but stare in shock.

"Do you have technology like this at home?" Silv asked.

"No. This attack technology. We not have attack technology." Wir Eis said, looking at his newly human hands.

"Are we ready to go?" Rose asked.

"Yes," they replied.

"Silv, honey, you need to slouch a little, relax your stance. It's too military." Rose advised while Wir Eis proceeded to open the door.

As they stepped into the narrow alley in sector 15, Silv was once again overwhelmed by the unique personality that permeated the place.

All her senses were attacked simultaneously, and nothing was optimal the way it was in the other sectors. Everything was too much to bear.

Nevertheless, they went on, deeper into the heart of the sector, looking for only Rose knew what.