Chapter Twenty-Four: The More You Know

I was still sitting by the fire with my brother when Willis and his pilots finally arrived at the keep. I got the message from Major Delaney first, as my husband had thoughtfully remembered to let the Marines on patrol know that friendlies were inbound, so as not to get shot. Rather than go greet him, I waited for him to come find me. Mostly because I wasn't about to leave the warmth of this place anytime soon.

As he approached, I watched him sling his SMG behind his back and pull off his helmet. He'd just tugged off his gloves and stuffed them in his pockets when he saw me, then Mark - and did a double-take.

"Hey, man," Willis said in surprise. "You're here?"

"I'm here," my brother affirmed.

"And you're our contact?"

"Yup. I'm the spook."

My husband let out a sigh of relief before giving me a look I wasn't sure how to interpret. Maybe something along the lines of, We got lucky. "Well, it's good to see you, man."

"You, too, Willis."

My brother got up to grab my husband's hand in a fist and they clapped each other on the back.

"Listen, we'll catch up later," Mark said to him. "I've got to go update Lloyd on the state of things before I hit the sack." He gave Willis's shoulder a squeeze. "Be good to my sister. Nat, I'll see you in the morning."

I stood too to give my big brother another quick hug. "Goodnight. Love you."

"Love you, too, little sis."

After he left, I sat back down in front of the fire again, and Willis did the same.

"Not a bad setup here, huh?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"Nope. It's...a little intimidating with the guards, but overall, it's more relaxed than I thought it'd be."

"Feels safe."

"Yeah."

We were quiet for a while before he stretched his arms out towards the flames. "Fire's nice. The kids would've loved this."

I smiled at the thought, but still snorted. "I don't think I'd want them anywhere near here. I miss them, though. So much."

"Me, too."

He scooted closer and I allowed myself this small moment with him, since no one else was around. I finally rested my head against his shoulder as we stared at the fire.

"You doing okay?"

I nodded. "Reasonably. Although I did have a run-in with Murphy earlier."

My husband frowned. "He still giving you a hard time?"

"Yeah. But it's par for the course, I guess." I sighed. "I knew coming back after the trial was going to be hard. I'd like to think some are still...adjusting."

"I'm sure things will settle eventually."

I took in a deep breath then. "I...wanted to ask you something. Feel free to say no."

"Shoot."

"I was offered my own quarters while we're here." I chuckled nervously. "Well, it's more like a small building to myself, really."

"So modest."

I gave him a playful shove, still smirking. "It's true. No point skirting around it." I swallowed. "But I was wondering if you'd stay with me."

He was silent for a while, as I'd expected. I didn't know what was going through his head at the moment, but I did feel his body stiffen as he pulled back a bit. I mentally prepared myself for the letdown when he heaved a sigh, turning to face me.

"I'd be okay with giving it a try."

"Okay. Good. Then maybe we should - "

"Ma'am, Hawk," Cal said then, suddenly reappearing. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow the colonel for a sec."

Willis and I split further apart and stood.

"Right. You two need to talk shop, huh?"

"Yeah."

My husband nodded to the spook, then turned back to me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be in our room. Which building?"

I pointed it out to him, and he started to head in that direction. Once he was gone, Caleb glanced over at me.

"That didn't sound so bad."

"Only because Eth - Lieutenant Ackerson's not here." I sighed again. "Baby steps. We'll get there. What did you want to talk to me about?"

My buddy changed his stance, his expression sobering. "I just spoke with your brother. It sounds like we've got a lot of work to do here, ma'am. The attack on the LZ was...unexpected. Even for him." He ran a quick hand over his face. "He said it's more aggressive than the rebels have been up to this point, at least that close to the keep."

"Has anything changed? Other than our arrival, I mean."

Lloyd swallowed. "Actually, yes. The commander's been keeping tabs on the rebels' communications. There's some rumors going around that Laraza and his daughter might be here, somewhere on-planet. We may have finally found them."

I didn't even get a chance to digest that before Caleb was speaking again.

"There's nothing we can do about it tonight. Commander Cooper wanted to wait till morning to tell you, but...I thought you should know."

"Thanks, Cal."

The spook nodded, then took his leave. I stood there in front of the fire for a minute longer before snuffing it out.

This wasn't exactly how I'd planned on ending the evening.

It was great to share a space with Willis again, and wake up together, too. Still, I couldn't help but feel uneasy - and not just because of how early it was. I was eager to start the day now that we'd finally landed, but even more so, I wanted to talk to Mark about Cal's news.

I found the door to his quarters and knocked, just about fed up when he answered.

He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and his short brown hair was mussed. Clearly he'd been asleep.

"Hey, Nat. What's going on?"

"Laraza?" I said to him, skipping right past the pleasantries. "Cal had to come tell me last night? Why didn't I hear that from you?"

My brother ran a hand over his face and blew out a breath. "Shit. You'd just gotten dirtside yesterday, and I didn't want to stir the pot already. I know what that name means to you, Natalie, and what he's done."

"That doesn't matter," I said sternly. "I'm in charge of this operation, Mark. I cannot be your little sister here. You can't coddle me. If you know something that big, you need to tell me. The moment you're able, so that I can make an informed decision. Please don't try to spare my feelings, or put something off because you think it's unpleasant. I need to know."

Mark held up his hands, definitely awake now. "Okay. You're right. I'm sorry."

"So why don't you give me the scoop here, then," I said in a softer tone.

"I will. Promise. But I'm not exactly prepared right now, and you've got a meeting with Sennu, right?"

I glanced down at my watch. It was almost 0600. "Yes."

"All right. Come get me afterward. I'll get you up to speed."

"Let's hold a briefing instead. This afternoon. I need my battalion commanders in on this, too. And Willis."

"Fine. It's your show."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean it?"

"Yes. Now go." A corner of his lips curled upward slightly. "You don't want to be late and give her a terrible impression of the human race."

At that I snorted. "Well, just remember, big bro: you were here first."

After checking in briefly with my XO, ensuring all was well with the regiment and that our patrols hadn't reported any activity overnight, I finally went to meet with Sennu in the courtyard. Our agreed meeting place was actually right by the fire pit we'd all seemed drawn to the night before, and I looked down at the blackened earth now, missing the heat. The air around the keep this morning was brisk, but it seemed poised to warm up later in the day. I hoped.

The female Elite arrived with only two guards this time; I'd come by myself. I was dressed in full gear, including my body armor, but I'd left my helmet and rifle in my quarters, with just my sidearm on me. I wanted to show our hosts that we trusted them, and didn't fear them - but even that trust only went so far.

"Colonel Cooper. Good morning."

"Good morning, ma'am."

She quickly beckoned me forward. "Come. You only saw one part of our keep last night. I would like to show you more."

I gave her a slight nod and followed.

"It is...interesting to see a female of your species in charge," Sennu commented as we walked.

I shrugged. "Not so strange for us, really. Women and men have been in charge of military units for centuries where I'm from."

"Ah. The same cannot be said for us. Our men are our warriors. We maintain the keep and the children - as well as occupy a good deal of the assembly." She paused then, saying her next words very carefully. "But that does not mean we do not know how to fight."

I wasn't sure if there was a veiled threat in her words or if it was just information. In any case, I let the comment slide.

"The other human - Commander Cooper - he has been here six weeks already. It gave us some time to get used to the idea of having more of your species around before your arrival."

"I see. I hope he made a good impression on you."

"He has been capable and pleasant." She cocked her head, turning slightly to face me. "You share the same family name."

"Yes. He's my older brother."

"Is that typical among humans? To serve in battle with one's family?"

"Not particularly. Our leadership tries to avoid that when possible, but - " I chuckled. "My family's pretty big. I have one more brother, and a younger sister. My older sister is...deceased."

Sennu clicked her mandibles. "Are those the only children you grew with? Only five of you?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's quite a few by human standards. My dad was in the Navy and my mom was a scientist, so I'm not sure they could've handled much more than that. They were both very busy in their careers."

The Elite continued to stare. "You knew your father?"

"Yeah. Why?"

We stopped at the edges of the courtyard, on the opposite end of my regiment's housing.

"Our cultures are very different, Colonel."

I wondered what she meant by that, but before I could process her words, we were moving on.

Sennu told me a bit about the hierarchy of the keep, about how big it was, and how that compared to other keeps on Sanghelios. My understanding was that this wasn't one of the largest, nor most significant, but its central location to the Swords movement made it very important for us humans. In the meantime, we passed what looked like a sizable common hall, as well as a grassy training area.

And then I let out a gasp, because I finally understood what she'd meant earlier - in part, at least.

Beyond the grand assembly building were even more living quarters - but it seemed that these had been purposely separated from where my Marines were staying, and the area us humans were allowed to roam. There were twice as many guards around, all male, and they even had their own sparing grounds nearby. In the center, however, were about four dozen odd-looking Sangheili - shorter, and anatomically a little different than other members of their species, most notably due to what looked like extra scales around their necks. It hit me before Sennu said it aloud.

"These are our younglings. Hejer and Valek are mine. Both males." She turned to look at me. "They do not know their fathers."

I shook my head, trying to wrap my mind around that, wondering if she was telling me their dad was a deadbeat - which probably meant not 'Vettel's. "I'm sorry. I don't think I understand."

"All the keep's children are raised together. They know the identity of their mothers, yet not their fathers. Certain names carry great weight among our species - a youngling may not be judged on their own merits that way, but on those of their father. We have sought to eliminate this advantage, so that each young Sangheili may stand on his or her own."

This presented a problem in my mind, although I wasn't quite sure how to ask in a diplomatic way. "Does anyone keep track of their lineage, then? So that they don't...you know..."

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I do."

Before I could say anything else - as I continued standing there in awe, absorbed in watching my former enemies' progeny at play - she asked, "Do you have children, Colonel?"

"Yes," I answered. "A girl and three boys."

"You said you knew your father. Do they know theirs?"

I nodded, folding my arms across my chest. "My husband is their dad. It's very typical for human kids to stay with their own mothers and fathers, and they know exactly who they are." There were exceptions, of course - single parents, divorced parents, adopted kids, foster kids, orphaned kids, or women who'd never really known who the father of their baby might be. But I thought that was getting a little too deep into the subject for this conversation.

I frowned in thought then as I realized something. "Your kids don't know their fathers? Is your husband - Shipmaster 'Vettel - not one of them?"

Sennu nodded. "He is. It is difficult to miss the resemblance in Hejer. He is nearly fully grown." Then she turned to a smaller but very aggressive Sangheili, one I assumed was the youngest. "Valek, on the other hand - he has the true tenacity of a swordsman. Just like his father."