Someone was banging on the bay door.

We were all tired from the fight we’d just gotten out of and Cass had started to go hoarse from all the yelling that she’d been doing at Brute. I was starting to think that the man might be mute considering that I’d never heard him speak.

Garlin was eyeing the blonde woman as she fell onto the ratty couch and covered her eyes with her right arm.

“Would someone make it stop?!” Cass growled.

“I believe you are the caretaker now.” Garlin was still staring at the green woman.

That got her to sit up. “Why?”

“You killed Nova.”

She motioned at me as she dropped back onto the cushions. “He killed her, I just collected the experience.”

I was about to object, but Gall started walking over to the door. Nyssa leaned into me since her father wasn’t able to help steady her. The golden woman was able to stand now that she had mana in her, but she was still pretty weak. I almost moved out of the way as she grabbed my left arm, but that would have made her fall.

“It’s the Ferris.” Gall tapped on a screen on the right of the doors and the two large bars that were holding it closed parted, allowing the doors to part in the middle and start sliding open.

It was Rhastin.

I felt Nyssa tense as soon as she saw the three rat-people. I took that as her being as surprised as I was.

It was two females and a male. They were each wearing tan cloaks that covered most of their short gray fur. The older female pulled off her goggles to glare at us with her beady red eyes.

“Do you know how long Key has been banging?” Her voice was a high pitched squeak. I hadn’t met but a handful of Rhastan, but in my experience they either had very high or very low voices, nothing in between. She scanned over all of us. “Where’s Nova?”

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“Not here.” Cass got up. “By the gods, why do you all have to speak like that?”

“We..!” The other female had a very low voice.

“Lair.” The older one silenced her and reached under her cloak as her red eyes focused on Cass. “If you don’t like our voices…” She pulled out two purple stubs about the size of the first knuckle of my pinky. They were connected by a thin purple cord. She threw them at the green woman, who caught them. “Don’t listen.”

Cass smacked Brute in the chest and started walking towards the open doors. “I’m going out.”

That was when I realized that there were three other Chasers and five cycles parked on the other side of the door. The space out there was huge, easily able to fit six of the bunkers and it looked like there was a tunnel that went to the south east, which I assumed was where the exit was.

Cass dropped the earplugs on the ground in front of Lair. The female Rhastan growled under her breath, but didn’t do anything but tighten her long fingers into a fist.

“You might want to just leave.” The matriarch looked over at Gall. “This meeting isn’t going to happen.”

Garlin touched his CB, causing Lair and Key to reach under their cloaks. Cass got a huge grin on her face. Nyssa tried to stand up straighter, but I used her leaning on my arm as leverage to move in front of her. She was holding my left arm, but I had my sword still on my back if I needed a weapon. I thought about pushing her into the gateroom, since she would just be a liability if this became a fight, but no one had drawn a weapon yet, and I wasn’t going to be the one to start a brawl by making a sudden movement.

“Why?” Gall looked bored as he folded his arms.

The older Rhastan held out her left hand then touched it with one finger. A news article shone out of it above her. I couldn’t read the article, but the headline was clear:

Sipher Gar Arrested!

“Sipher is going to be executed in three days.” The matriarch banished the article. “I was hoping he might have told Nova what he knew, but since she’s dead..?”

Cass’s smirk confirmed her question.

“Then there isn’t a reason to stay here, unless you’re planning on claiming this bunker.” She eyed each of us and I could tell that was exactly what she was planning on doing.

Her veiled declaration had made the situation even more tense and the silence was deafening as Gall ignored the rest of us and began reading on his CB.

“I’m not staying.” Cass started walking. “Have fun with this dump!” She blew me a kiss. “Thanks for the experience!”

The tension died down once she and Brute got into one of the Chasers and drove down the tunnel.

“What about the rest of you?” The matriarch turned her attention to Gall.

“The meeting will still happen.” The bald man looked at me. “We’ll go get him.”