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the
same
Link, just a trip between the same two points. And even then, there had to be some temporal or geographical differential. Therefore, how many Pieces connected here, to this very spot? And, more importantly,
why
?
    I turned to Pike and, from the wideness of his eyes, it was clear he also couldn’t believe it—we’d finally agreed on something.
    We were being played. Big time.

    I hung back with Major Pike as Dr. Hill and Sophia talked to Germay on our way to the Council’s chambers. We didn’t speak, but my proximity to him, the irony of my falling into step alongside Pike’s long, military strides, spoke volumes.
    When Trevor and I had first come to TAO, Major Howard Pike hadn’t exactly liked us. Then I proved my worth with a gun… in that I could aim it better than most of TAO’s soldiers, even if I refused to use the weapon unless absolutely necessary. Pike and I didn’t take to each other like I did with Captain Marks. Pike’s a severe man, hardened by years of combat. He was also one of the very few soldiers at TAO. Many of the scientists were civilian-contracted, like on SeaSat5. Only the small team of engineers and the handful of security guards were actually Army-bred military officers. Which made me question how Pike got assigned to TAO in the first place, something I knew I’d never find out.
    Pike had put us through training hell, which didn’t mesh well with me. But what had really put a wedge between Pike and I was the first anniversary of SeaSatellite5 being taken by Lemuria. I’d shown up to a mission half-plastered. We’d traveled anyway, with a prominent TV archaeologist in tow, trying to keep him from spilling the Atlantean beans he’d been so luckily shown. Me being a tipsy-idiot-bitch was
probably
—almost—acceptable. But me being a bad shot for the first and only time in my life was absolutely not. A stray bullet had struck Pike and the TV archaeologist had almost died because of it. That was twelve months ago, and I was still regaining his trust.
    But now, walking in time with him, I sensed the missing trust rebuilding itself. I couldn’t be sure Sophia read the situation the same way as us. Maybe she was just playing along with the role Germay wanted us to play. But I was sure Trevor and Dr. Hill didn’t pick up on the eerie feeling in the air. Like the atmosphere here was thinner, barely enough to breathe, while being electrified at the same time.
    We came to a stop outside two large marble doors. Germay knocked quietly and someone opened them from the other side, revealing a large chamber with a tiny table on the far end. Silence echoed. The only disruption was the noise of Pike’s even breaths beside me, a calming technique I recognized from our training days. Being stuck inside a large room filled to the brim with people who appeared to be Atlanteans, or at least people who sided with them, didn’t sit well with either of us. Why? We were allied with Atlantis. That shouldn’t have been a problem, and yet something slimy crawled down my throat. Even as strangers, Germay should have treated us like allies, without suspicion.
    Sophia turned to me, one eyebrow lifted in question. I answered her with a quick motion of my eyes toward Pike, to the room at large, and then back to her. Sophia’s nod was almost unseen. She sensed it, too.
    “Welcome!” came a loud voice from the far end of the room. “What brings you visitors to our time?”
    Dr. Hill stepped out and explained our research regarding Link Pieces, how the Waterstar map had led us here, and about our search for an Atlantis-allied vessel.
    I didn’t really listen. My eyes traced a path along the walls, laden with gold on the bottom and stripped bare of adornments on the top. The ceiling arched wide and high, encasing a large room that had only a single, open window perched high at the center. If clouds flew above it, I could pull water down if need be. Probably.
    I shifted my gaze, trying not to make it