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give it a second thought.
    “I know what this is about,” Darius tried. “I know it’s not easy, the things required of us.”
    “You don’t need to coddle me. That’s not what this is about.”
    “Then what
is
it about?”
    “Everything. This whole system. Us. The Republic.”
    “What’re you talking about?”
    Dale walked over to his inventory chest at the foot of his bunk, removed an old textbook and held it up. “You remember reading this in the Academy?” He tossed it on the cot beside Darius. “The Siños Uprising. You remember what happened? The massacre? Why it happened? That course was all about how we stopped them. But no one ever talks about how it started.”
    “I know how it started. The mining corporations.”
    “
Meredian
mining corporations. We started it. The Shaldea are no different from the Siños Nacional Movement. It’s just a different era, different people, different resources.”
    “The Shaldea? You’re talking about the Shaldea? We’ve got a warmongering pretender to the throne rallying his army to the north, and you’re talking about sandworms?”
    Dale realized there was no reasoning with Darius. He shook his head and started for the latrine. Darius followed.
    “You know what your problem is? You’re a romantic. You have unreasonable expectations of life.”
    Dale stopped, appalled by the accusation. “Wait,
I’m
a romantic?”
    “At some point, you’re going to have to just accept it for what it is and stop living with these silly ideas of how you think it should be—”
    “You’re the one talking about glory and sacrifice, and you’re calling
me
a romantic?”
    “You’re not a kid anymore.”
    Dale threw up his hands. “No shit.”
    “Calm down.”
    Nothing made Dale more upset than being told to calm down.
    “I am calm!”
    Trailing him into the latrine, Darius persisted. “You think working at the breaker will make you any happier?”
    “Maybe.”
    “It won’t. You know why? Because you’re the kind of guy who can’t be happy unless there’s something to be unhappy about.”
    Dale scoffed and squared up to the toilet. “You going to watch me piss?”
    When he had finished relieving himself, Darius was waiting back at the bunk.
    “Look, you know I’m being transferred to the Ancile.”
    “Yeah, I know. Congratulations.” Dale resumed packing.
    “It’s only a matter of time before Bale invades. You know that too. The Ancile is going to be the front line.”
    “Well, I’m not worried. That thing is supposed to be impenetrable.”
    “My point exactly. It’s where you want to be when the shit starts flying. You should come with me, Dale. I can put in a word for you. It’s not too late.”
    “Dare—”
    “Just think about it, all right? This isn’t about protecting corporate interests. Duke Merrick Thalian is a real threat to our world. They invade, you can forget about Dad’s breaker and you can forget about your quiet little life. It’s up to you whether you’re going to do something about it or not. But you can’t just ignore it. So think about that before you get on that train. All right?”
    “I’ve already thought about it.”
    “Dale! Just think about it, for God’s sake!”
    “All right! All right. Calm down.”
    And Dale thought about it. He thought about it as he was debriefed and decommissioned in the days that followed. He thought about it on the Groveland Express, watching the world change outside his window, bound for Carnaval City. Bound for the quiet life.

CH 07
     

ON THE GROVELAND EXPRESS
     
    On the second morning of the two-day trip from Pharundelle, the Groveland Express pulled into a small station in a rural village called Lumarion. A handful of passengers boarded. During the stop, Dale stepped off the train to stretch his legs. He snacked on some candied ginger that he had purchased from a local vendor and had a smoke before returning to his seat, content. With two-thirds of his journey to Carnaval City behind