“We’ll be back to check on you later,” Bereth said, as I stepped off the boat and onto the shores of Rockport.

I turned to face the two of them.

“This could be the last time we see one another. I can’t thank the two of you enough. You’re the true heroes of this mission. Without you two to ferry me around I could’ve have accomplished anything here.”

Bereth smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Nonsense, Taylor. This is the most excitement we’ve had around here in forever. You helped this old man experience a bit of adventure before the end of his days, and Isaiah here has stories to tell when he’s old himself.”

Isaiah nodded, extending his hand. I took it firmly.

“I hope the people here are better off when I leave than before I came,” I said.

“I think they are,” Isaiah said. “Consider the damage the virus was already doing.”

“Thank you. Please remember everything I told you on our way here. Take care, you two.”

“We’ll follow every instruction to the letter. Take good care of her, Ghost,” Bereth said.

“My mission is even more difficult than hers,” he said, prompting a chuckle from the old man.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Bereth said, still grinning.

They waited there to see us off, waving as we walked away.

It was storming here on Rockport. Poor timing, but little came down to luck when PanTech was involved. Though it probably had less to do with anything I had planned and more to do with the fact that they just had it out for the people here.

Splashing my feet along the muddy dirt path, I felt that familiar sense of excitement. The feeling of walking into extreme danger, facing it, and walking toward it. It got my blood pumping. Maybe I was becoming more like Frelya after all, though I’d have given anything to have her by my side right now.

I placed my hand on the tavern door, but hesitated. There was no music coming from inside, nor singing. No one had greeted me at the shore.

I placed my hand on Twisted Key, slowly pushing open the door with the other.

As it finally gave way enough for me to see inside, I pulled in a deep breath and sighed with relief. There were several men, including Jeremy, sitting around a large table in the middle talking.

“What did I miss?” I asked.

Jeremy laughed, but the relief was clear on their faces.

“We were just debating on whether we should try to rescue you. Gregory believed strongly that we should, but Resnir and I think that’s because he’s sweet on you. He’s never met a woman who could slap him around before and I believe he’s grown fond of the idea!”

Several of the men laughed, and Jeremy slapped Gregory on the back.

“That isn’t the reason!” Gregory protested, a little louder than he’d meant to, then his face grew even redder, prompting a chorus of laughter again.

“Well regardless of the reason, it looks like it won’t be necessary anymore,” I said. “Though maybe we should discuss how you’ll rescue yourselves.”

Jeremy narrowed his eyes at me, tilting his head forward a bit.

“Why? We’ve no need of rescuing, aside from taking care of the sickness. Though you’ve already done all you can there. Seems our days are numbered here on Rockport, and we’ve half a might to go down with a fight if we’re going down soon anyway.”

I nodded along as he spoke.

“Not a half-bad plan, but not half-good either. Depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist.”

“The point of the plan isn’t living, so how can it fail?” Jeremy said, prompting a surprisingly enthusiastic toast from the men gathered around the table.

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“Wow, all of you are awfully eager to die, huh?” I asked, crossing my arms, trying to hold back my grin and failing.

“Sounds familiar,” Ghost said. He was not inserting himself into the joke. It was just an observation on his part.

Jeremy’s lips formed a grin of his own.

“Okay, I’ll admit… the faces you’re over there making have got me curious. Have there been any new developments since last we spoke? I know you’ve been in an awfully big hurry these past few days. You’ve hardly had a sip of our famous ale.”

“Sorry, I’ve been a bit too busy for your famous ale, I’m afraid. Perhaps you can spare a tankard for me now. We’ve got a lot to talk about, so make room,” I said, squeezing myself between Gregory and Resnir, opposite the table from Jeremy.

Gregory somehow blushed hard enough for it to be noticeable in the lantern light. I guess Jeremy wasn’t kidding about his crush on me, but that wasn’t my concern right now. I doubted love was ever meant to be, given my luck with it thus far.

“What’s changed, then?” Jeremy asked.

“I still can’t leave and bring vaccines in. They’ll know what I’m doing and they’ll stop me immediately. I could get reinforcements from my Explorers League and bring them back, but I don’t know if you’re familiar with the game Rock, Paper, Scissors? I’d be feeding my units into a death funnel by putting them up against a fortified Adversity Management.”

“Okay…” Resnir said, his enthusiasm already beginning to fade. “That doesn’t exactly sound promising.”

“It’s not promising. I only have three vaccines on me, and I already know what all of you will say. You’ll tell me to use them on the women and children, and it’ll change nothing.”

“There are about eighty-eight of us on this island. It’s mostly men left. I’d say less than forty are women and children, but we’d do anything to save them,” Resnir said.

“I’ll not prolong this explanation,” I said, taking heed of the somber mood falling over those gathered at the mention of how few women and children remained. “I’ve found a mole over on Adversity Management’s island. Someone like me, who is a bit of a black sheep when it comes to them. She’s given me critical information that we can use to sail your largest ship toward the island, looking ready for war.”

“So, war it is!” Jeremy said, slamming his tankard on the table. The rest of the men joined him in a chorus of cheers.

“Goodness, gentlemen, you’ll want to let me finish before you start your applause. We’ll sail into a narrow blind spot that the island’s artillery fire cannot reach. You can imagine why it’s a blind spot.”

Jeremy nodded, understanding without the need of an explanation, though I explained anyway for the sake of the others.

“This is difficult terrain to sail through. But… more than that, it’s a one-way trip. The narrow path through the shallow rocks will lead us to the coast.”

“You’re forgetting something,” Jeremy offered with a sigh. “PanTech’s diving monster.”

“Ah… the submarine,” I said, tapping a finger on my chin. “Yes, I’ve been perplexed about that little thing too. Since the moment I’ve arrived. It’s hard to know where the thing is until it surfaces, which is too late. If it were to rise beneath a ship, they could easily blast a hole directly through the bottom without the least bit of resistance.”

Jeremy tilted his head. “But… you’ve discovered a weakness?”

“Its weakness is one of its strengths. The thing can last over a week on the sea floor without running low on oxygen. Seems whoever designed it had a paranoid fear of it being stolen, for whatever reason, although such a thing is extremely unlikely. There is a remote kill switch that will sink it, and it cannot be overridden for twenty-four hours so long as the oxygen levels are good on board, giving them plenty of time to go out and recover it. Genius design to prevent it from being stolen, but what if someone were to wait for it to be just beneath us, while everyone is good and distracted, and kills it in the water?”

“That would allow us the chance to storm the island, Taylor. Why aren’t we doing that?”

“Sorry, but it’s time to move on. There’s nothing left on this island for any of you. The people on Redbank are happy picking fruit and worshiping the stars, and PanTech is happy to let everyone here die for the crime of not playing along. There are fewer than fifty of their forces remaining, but that only means that we can disable them enough to escape. Not win a direct fight. Not even close. Not even with the submarine down and the artillery out of play. Escape is the only option. There is a zone nearby that will take you. If not for yourself, do it for your women and children. If you’re so eager to die, consider the fact we may need to fight them to cover our escape if they respond quickly enough and have some means to come after us.”

An uncomfortable silence came over the table. No one dared to speak, or even to make eye contact with another person there. Nothing but silent contemplation.

I wanted so badly to tell Jeremy about Clarise, but she had begged me not to. She’d have to be the one to hit the kill switch on the submarine herself, and she hadn’t wanted him to learn the truth only to discover she’d sacrificed herself to allow them to escape.

Jeremy finally raised his head.

“Men… a vote. All of those in favor of Taylor’s grand plan, say aye.”

He waited, giving each man an opportunity to struggle with the weight of it.

“Aye,” he called out. It was not spoken with enthusiasm. It sounded weak and defeated, yet determined.

“Aye,” all the other men offered in somber agreement.

“Good,” I said, nodding grimly. I was relieved. “We have little time. We must prepare everyone to board and depart tomorrow. Travel light. Only the necessities. I have supplies on my vehicle once we arrive on land that can get us through the journey, including enough vaccines for all of you. We just have to get there.”

“Very little notice, but we’ll make it work,” Jeremy said. “And… thank you, Taylor. I understand you could’ve just left us here, to our fate, and others are in need of your help. You stuck your neck out for us, and many here will forever be in your debt.”

I smiled, offering a firm nod.

I only hoped that all that effort would pay off.