Chapter 630

"All right. I guess I’ll head home."

With the gravitonium safely contained, the mission was truly over. There was no reason for Evenson to linger at the Fridge, so once everyone had returned to the aircraft, he announced that he was leaving.

Getting home was hardly complicated for him. A quick teleport would do the job, so nobody needed to rearrange the flight plan just to drop him off.

Before he left, however, Coulson’s team gathered around him.

Evenson had been invited along to help with the operation. The least they could do was see him off.

"Here."

May approached him with her usual unreadable expression and handed him a plastic bag.

Evenson opened it.

Two bottles of good liquor.

Several packages of premium beef.

He looked up.

"We know things aren’t exactly easy for you," May said matter-of-factly. "Your salary isn’t bad, but you’re supporting five people. And now you have a girlfriend, so your expenses have probably gone up."

She paused.

"We asked you here to help us. We’re not going to let you walk away empty-handed. If you need something in the future, just ask. We’ll help where we can."

May’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"That way, you won’t have to steal it yourself."

"Oh. Thanks."

Evenson quietly slipped the bag into his storage.

He wasn’t quite sure what to say.

He had certainly taken more than this in the past.

But after she’d put it that way, stealing supplies directly from the aircraft was going to feel considerably more awkward.

He looked around.

"Hmm?"

Something was missing.

"Where’s Skye? Don’t tell me she’s still mad at me."

Most of Coulson’s team was here. Even May, who had been piloting the aircraft, had come over since they hadn’t taken off yet.

Only Skye was absent.

Evenson assumed she was still sulking.

He’d saved her, after all. He’d explained exactly why he’d thrown her into that pool. Surely she couldn’t stay angry forever.

Johnny Blaze had survived much worse without complaining.

Evenson had once thrown him from a plane.

Later, he’d even chained him to the aircraft’s tail and flown him thousands of miles.

Johnny hadn’t said a word.

"She’s training."

Ward answered from the side.

Then, perhaps anticipating the obvious question, he added, "She asked for it herself."

"Really?"

Evenson smiled.

"I thought she hated physical training."

Apparently she’d learned something from the mission after all.

"Tell her I’m looking forward to seeing how much she improves."

With that, Evenson vanished.

Those who learn a lesson are fortunate.

Those who actually learn from it are wiser still.

The latter meant change.

And Skye was changing.

She was in the aircraft’s lower-level training room, her hands wrapped in fresh bandages as she drove her fists into a heavy punching bag.

This was nothing like her old training.

Before, she’d thrown punches because she was supposed to.

Now every strike was deliberate.

Hard.

Focused.

Sweat covered her face. Her wrapped knuckles burned with every impact, and there was already a sharp pain spreading through her hands.

She kept going.

Once she’d calmed down and replayed the mission in her head, she had realized just how badly she’d performed.

And almost every reason had been her own fault.

If she’d possessed the discipline of a real field agent and simply followed orders, she would never have put herself in that position.

If she’d possessed proper field skills, Quinn’s bodyguards wouldn’t have been able to catch her so easily.

She had neither.

May had warned her about operational discipline more than once.

Skye had ignored her.

Ward had trained her seriously, even arranging specialized preparation specifically for this mission.

Skye had barely taken any of it seriously.

She’d treated the lessons like suggestions.

Now she was paying for it.

I really did this to myself.

Skye threw another right hook.

The heavy bag swung violently.

For someone her size, it was a solid punch.

She still wasn’t satisfied.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and reached for the cup of water beside her.

Then she noticed something.

A thin streak of red had soaked through the bandage on the back of her right hand.

She’d hit the bag hard enough to split the skin beneath the wrappings.

A few weeks ago, she would have immediately gone looking for Simmons.

Now she simply stared at the blood.

Then she smiled.

Skye lifted her head toward the upper level of the aircraft.

I’ll make you change your mind about me.

And next time, I’m throwing you off the plane.

After activating his teleportation spell, Evenson didn’t go home.

Instead, he went to see the Eredar Twins.

"I’ve got something."

He reached into his storage and pulled out a large mass of silver material.

It rolled slowly between his hands like living mercury.

Gravitonium.

All of it had supposedly been handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Supposedly.

The mass was considerably larger than the amount Coulson had seen in the Fridge.

Evenson hadn’t merely skimmed a little off the surface.

He’d hollowed out the middle.

The sphere Quinn had discovered had been a solid mass of gravitonium, dense all the way through. The piece Evenson had surrendered to S.H.I.E.L.D. had not only appeared smaller.

It was hollow.

Of course, there was no way to tell from the outside.

Quinn had escaped.

Hall was dead.

And Hall’s soul was already in Evenson’s possession.

Unless Evenson volunteered the information, who was going to prove whether the original sphere had been solid or hollow?

Evenson gave a sly grin.

"Coulson thinks I’m the kind of guy who strips the feathers off a goose as it flies past."

He gestured toward the gravitonium.

"He’s underestimating me."

Evenson’s grin widened.

"When I’m finished, the goose doesn’t get to keep the feathers."

The Eredar Twins had been watching the substance with growing interest.

Lady Alythess touched her chin and studied it carefully.

"That is geosoul marrow."

Her eyes settled on Evenson.

"Yes. That’s definitely what it is."

Lady Sacrolash was more interested in another question.

"Where did you get it?"

"I picked it up during the mission."

Evenson smiled.

"A very wealthy human named Ian Quinn had mined it. S.H.I.E.L.D. confiscated the material after discovering what he intended to do with it."

He shrugged.

"I took a little for myself."

The Twins exchanged a look.

Neither of them congratulated him on maintaining the proud Warlock tradition of helping oneself to unattended treasure.

Instead, their expressions became troubled.

"Humans mined this?" Alythess asked.

She sounded incredulous.

"Where?"

"From Earth, obviously," Evenson answered.

"Human technology isn’t advanced enough to mine minerals from other planets yet."

"Idiots."

"Fools."

The Twins said it almost simultaneously.

Evenson blinked.

For half a second, he thought they’d insulted him.

Then he realized exactly who they meant.

"What’s wrong with it?"

He looked down at the gravitonium.

He’d actually been considering doing some mining himself once he had the opportunity. If the Legion considered the substance a high-grade material, and it had the potential he’d already seen, why not collect more?

Alythess sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Geosoul marrow. Whatever humans choose to call it, that is its formal name within the Legion."

"If your fundamentals are really as solid as we believe, you should already know what it is."

"I know the basics."

Evenson nodded cautiously.

"It can be used in Warlock magic and gan’arg technology to create gravitational fields. It’s considered a fairly advanced material."

"Exactly."

Sacrolash gave him a cold smile and tapped him on the forehead.

"A high-grade material used by the Legion."

She leaned closer.

"Now use that head of yours for a moment."

"Think."

"Of all the materials used by the Burning Legion, how many of them are actually good for the planet you’re standing on?"

That stopped him.

Evenson’s expression slowly changed.

The Legion did have a certain reputation when it came to materials.

Souls.

Burned life.

Corruption.

Things that poisoned the land so thoroughly that nothing grew there for ages.

The list went on.

"Right."

He looked back at the gravitonium.

"That’s a fair point."

Alythess nodded.

"Geosoul marrow is a versatile material. Warlock magic can use it. Gan’arg technology can use it to establish gravitational fields."

"The reason it works is because the material itself can alter gravity. The magic or technology merely provides the appropriate stimulation."

Evenson’s eyes narrowed.

"So it’s connected to a planet’s gravitational field."

"Very closely."

Alythess stopped smiling.

"That is what makes it valuable."

"And dangerous."

Sacrolash finished the thought.

"In the Legion, obtaining it is remarkably simple."

"You find a planet."

"You reach its core."

"And you extract the geosoul marrow."

Evenson stared.

Alythess continued.

"As for what happens to the planet afterward..."

She gave him a thin smile.

"Consult the latest edition of the Alythess-approved Guide to Destroying an Unsuspecting Native World. Chapter One: there are many ways to ruin a planet. Pulling out the heart of its gravitational field is one of them."

"Destroy it?"

Evenson stood there for a moment.

Then he nodded slowly.

If geosoul marrow was genuinely tied to a planet’s gravity, perhaps even forming part of the mechanism that generated and maintained it, then removing too much would be catastrophic.

The planet would lose the gravitational equilibrium it had existed under.

Evenson’s eyes widened.

"Planetary fragmentation."

A planet was constantly rotating.

Remove the gravitational force holding everything together, and the centrifugal force alone would be enough to begin tearing the surface apart.

The result would be less a collapse than an explosion on a planetary scale.

"Exactly."

Alythess looked at him.

"Some things are fundamental to a planet’s existence. They should never be mined."

She shook her head.

"Extracting geosoul marrow from the world you actually live on is one of the most idiotic things I’ve ever seen."

A hint of amusement entered her expression.

"Humans really are a fascinating species."

"And according to you, this Quinn only extracted a small amount. That’s why Earth’s gravity hasn’t been meaningfully affected."

"But if he keeps mining..."

Her smile vanished.

"Think about Dreadscar Rift."

"Think about the Fel Scar Rift."

"Niskara."

"Mardum."

"Look at what those worlds became."

Evenson stared at the gravitonium in his hands.

For once, he had nothing clever to say.

...