E-DAY plus 14 YEARS, 36 WEEKS*

[Port Farrall, 0530 hours]

The rows between the blankets and pads that the nomads slept on were just wide enough for one person to walk. Dom was standing in one of these rows, chewing his thumbnail down to the quick and staring at Maria as she slept. Her hair was getting back its shine and her cheeks had begun to fill in. She looked better every day. And now he had to leave her.

He was supposed to go with Marcus, Anya and Sam to Vectes in one of the Ravens this morning. It didn't take off until 1030, but he was leaving the tent extra early on Sharon's advice. He heard her voice call softly over the slumbering bodies. "Dom."

He ignored her. "Dom," she repeated. He finally turned his head to look at her where she stood at the tent flap. "Come on out. When she wakes up and you're gone, she won't think to ask about you until later. But if she sees you leaving..."

"I know, I know. If she sees me leaving she'll be upset." It was 'out of sight, out of mind' with Maria. Sneaking away while she slept was the best thing for her emotional state. For Dom's, however...

Dom looked at Maria again and went back to chewing his thumbnail, something he hadn't done since Maria had first disappeared. His forehead hurt from being furrowed for so long and his feet felt like they were encased in concrete, rooting him to the spot. 'How can I leave her?' he thought. 'What if something happens to her? What if she wanders off? What if there's another Locust raid? God, what if the ship sinks on its way to Vectes?'

"Dom," Sharon said again. "I won't let anything happen to her. She's got three hundred and twenty-five people looking out for her, not to mention four badass robots. I promise to keep her safe. Every adult in this tent would lay down their life for her, just like they would for any of the children."

Dom breathed in shakily. "Okay," he said. "Right. Let's go." He kept to the narrow pathways, taking care not to step on anyone's hands, and looked back when he got to the flap. "Sleep tight, sweetheart," he said softly.

Sharon walked him to the dock where he would help with the loading for an hour or so until his appetite came back and he could eat breakfast. Right now it felt like he had the flu, and the thought of food was less than appetizing.

Many of the younger Gears were helping with loading supplies onto pallets that the cranes would shift over to Sovereign's cargo holds.

Sharon surveyed the hard-working soldiers. "Baird told me about the testosterone boosters. Exactly how young are the boys when they start getting the injections?"

Dom cast down his eyes. "Ten. They start active service at fifteen."

"You're shitting me."

"Unfortunately, I'm not. Increasing testosterone production kick-starts puberty, and the younger they start the injections, the faster they develop." He gestured to the Gears loading crates. "A lot of these soldiers are much younger than they look." Dom's chest tightened up for a moment. "Anthony Carmine was seventeen when he got sniped. You know about Benjamin, who died in the Riftworm? He was fifteen." He pointed to a helmeted figure on Sovereign's deck. "Clayton is only twenty*."

"Well, that would explain the libido."

Dom chuckled, grateful for the humor. "Yeah, it's like he's trying to repopulate the planet all by himself." He raised a fist in imitation of Prescott giving a speech. "For every Carmine that falls, a hundred shall rise!"

Everyone within earshot burst out laughing. Clayton's sex drive was becoming the stuff of legend.

Sharon clapped Dom on the shoulder, still giggling. "Well, I'm going to go borrow a welding torch from a certain surly blond. Will you be okay here?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm feeling better now." He managed to smile for her.

"Good. Maria and I will see you in five days, when Sovereign gets to Vectes."

"Looking forward to it." That was an understatement. He still had to suppress the urge to sprint back to Maria as soon as Sharon was out of sight. Dom turned on his tracker so that as he worked he could watch the blinking green dot that represented his wife. He kept it on right up until the chopper carried them out of range.

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* I am constantly updating timelines and facts in these chapters, so when you subscribe for alerts, any "such-and-such chapter has been updated" messages are only minor edits for perfectionism. I'm going to set the move to Vectes at 4 weeks before 15 A.E. begins, and henceforth Sera will have 40 weeks (10 months) per year. I also made Clayton a little younger.