With Eudora asleep in the spare bedroom, Ryker paced his quarters, raking his fingers through his hair repeatedly.

Kanden was taken. Not home or safe. He was somewhere else, possibly scared, injured, and most definitely in an unfamiliar place.

When someone knocked at his door, Ryker nearly kicked it down in his agitation. Instead, he flung it open, ready to tell off the person on the other side.

"What?" he snarled as he clenched the knob and stared straight into Bastion's dark, tired eyes.

The older man blinked—not at all intimidating like Ryker had become accustomed to over the years—and asked, "May I came in?"

Ryker released the handle with a disgusted snort and retreated deeper into his unit, allowing Bastion to do as he would.

Kanden's father entered far enough to close the door quietly behind him, standing within until threshold as he kept his head down. He made no effort to remove his scuffed boots.

"Yasmin has been to see you?" he asked in an uncharacteristly soft tone.

Ryker clenched his teeth. "Yes. She came the moment she heard the news. Where were you?"

Hands in his pockets, Bastion kept his head down and shoulders hunched. "I didn't think you'd want to see me."

He wasn't wrong about that, but Kanden was his son; Bastion should have been the first to come to Ryker.

"I should tell you to fuck off," Ryker growled, still considering it.

"It won't bring him back," Bastion countered mildly. "We need to determine a plan of action to retrieve him."

Ryker rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "How did this even happen? Why was Kanden taken but not Rhonin or Linnea? Do we even know anything about these people?"

Honestly, Ryker had never considered the possibility of people on the surface. The entire point of the bunkers was to preserve humanity after the Overland had become uninhabitable. So, how were people alive on the surface if everyone who hadn't gone to space had been forced underground?

"Rhonin described some kind of vessel hovering overhead," Bastion said tiredly, as if he hadn't slept in days. He looked terrible, with dark circles under heavily lined eyes. "It bathed them in white light before disappearing. They immediately headed back toward the entrance, but several new, smaller flying objects returned, shooting small projectiles. Linnea and Arlo were hit, but the devices missed the others. Kanden picked her up and gave her to Rhonin before attempting to drag Arlo back inside. He was darted as well, but he gave Rhonin time to safely return to the vault."

So, Kanden had been taken to help the others. Horror and pride for his husband's selfless actions warred for space inside Ryker's mind as he stumbled toward the couch.

"Take a seat," he commanded, rubbing his head.

Bastion complied, taking a chair from the kitchen and bringing it into the living room so he could sit across from Ryker. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees while clasping his misshapen fingers.

"Where is Eudora?" he asked, glancing about the room with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"Down for a nap," Ryker replied as he forced himself to keep his tone calm and even. The last thing he needed was to panic and startle the baby. He also needed a cool head to process everything happening.

Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Alright, so what about Linnea after Rhonin brought her inside? Is she okay?"

Bastion nodded. "Marina examined her, and is currently studying the dart inside her lab. Linnea woke up after a few hours. Aside from being frightened, she seems fine. She's also asking for her "brother" Kanden," he finished with a humorless smile.

The last part made Ryker's noise twitch with amusement. Of course, Kanden would connect with her. Though he never seemed to notice, children loved him. He understood how to soothe and make them feel heard.

Ryker made a mental note to visit her later.

"If they were hit with sedatives, that means whoever took them wants them alive," Ryker reasoned, returning to the matter at hand. Has anyone been outside the vault since to search for them?"

Bastion pursed his lips and inhaled deeply. "There's a window to the surface on the upper level. We also activated an AI—artificial intelligence thing—that apparently has access to outside sensors. They don't all work since they've been degraded by time and elements, but the system has picked up some results. Kanden and Arlo were definitely moved. We saw a..." Bastion gesticulated his hands and frowned as he searched for words. "Uh, a projection on the window screen of figures clad in dark suits taking them away. It was difficult to get a clear image though because it was dark when the group went topside."

Taken, but not dead. "For now, they're alive, so I'll try to take that as a sign to hope, however slim that may be," Ryker replied softly. "Does anyone plan to return to the surface to see if recovery is possible?"

Bastion finally met Ryker's eyes, frowned, and shook his head. "Not yet. Only the Council knows, and we can't seem to agree on what to do. I want to go after them, but Rhonin disagrees. At least for my presence. The AI needs mine, his, and Linnea's DNA signatures to access certain features. Until we can distribute that access to others, Rhonin said it needs to be someone else. Marina believes we should research our options. Yasmin doesn't wish to send anyone into the unknown and inadvertently cause someone's death. Without Arlo, we're deadlocked on a decision."

Everyone's reasoning was valid, but something needed to be done. Ryker scratched his beard. "Let's look at this logically. It is true we don't have much information about Overland. Obviously, someone survived up there, or they wouldn't have possessed the technology to so easily take our people down. But their actions seem to suggest Kanden and Arlo were kept alive for a reason. Whether good or bad is up to speculation, but hiding here won't solve anything. If someone goes, it would have to be on a voluntary basis. But we also shouldn't keep it from the public."

He said the last part with conviction, nonverbally emphasizing the impact of the riots the last time the council held back something big.

A moment passed where Bastion bit his lip and narrowed his eyes, staring into an unknown space. Finally, he nodded. "I agree. Even if the Overlanders weren't a factor, we can't sustain ourselves down here forever. We need to send someone topside. The problem is we don't know who to dispatch or where to start looking."

Ryker's first instinct was to volunteer, but he couldn't take Eudora with him, nor was he willing to leave her with anyone else. He didn't trust Ember's parents not to intervene, and he wasn't sure if he'd orphan her yet again.

Heaving a deep sigh, Ryker suggested the next thing that came to mind. "Will you take me to the top level? I want to see this artificial intelligence for myself and try to find a solution."

Bastion blinked, then slowly nodded before bracing his hands on his knees to push himself up. His boots thunked against the metal floor as he went to put away his chair. "I can take you once I gather Rhonin and Linnea. Kanden is your husband after all, and you deserve a say in how we go about our next steps."

His unexpected kind attitude unnerved Ryker; Bastion used to ignore him or sneer, and this strange turnaround felt like either an attempt to reconcile with Kanden or that another shoe would drop at any minute. People didn't change overnight, and Ryker planned to maintain his guard.

"Thank you. And Bastion?"

The older man met his eyes with a questioning stare.

"Next time you come into my home, please take off your shoes. Eudora doesn't need to crawl around on dirty floors."