{Lukemore}

“X. This is Pipe Bomb. Have you located it? Over.” They broke out the super discrete Enki-tech earpieces for this one. In all black, Lynn tried to blend into the acres of open silo field. Only the mills operated above ground, releasing pollution into the pale yellow sky. It smelled terrible. Fabric and wood pulp. Nasty.

“Pipe Bomb.”

Lynn startled and rounded with the confiscated Imminent rifle aimed at X’s chest.

His kelp dreads and jellyfish cap for a kilt made squishy sounds as he approached. Luks, inhabitants of Lukemore, spoke everything in a whisper. “Sorry. Don’t kill me.”

With a sigh, she dropped her sights. “Did you find it?”

“Yea.” He waved for her to follow. “It’s halfway across the field. The purple silo. That one holds all the textile labor. The people that require sunlight, anyway.”

Shit. “Can we evacuate it?”

He shook his head. “It’s the most populated. Nothing short of a bomb threat would shift that herd.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose with a gloved hand. Think. “X?”

“Yes?”

“What exactly did you see?”

The squishing amplified as he held out his palm. A digital feed played back on his implanted device. Two hundred and eighteen floors. Twenty-eight bunks, apartments, or whatever they called them on each floor. The laborers retired for the evening, all worn and drab from their hard work. But the eighteenth floor made her double-take. Soldiers dressed in the same gear as their recently deceased Imminent captive. Rifles. Enki tech. Carbon fiber jumpsuits and decorated jackets. The Shadow still wasn’t clear on the rank system. Hell, they weren’t clear on anything. Wait a minute…

“Son of a bitch. Is that Abresson?” Lynn took no offense to X shushing her. She knew better. But it was hard to hold in all this rage as the same Tritan requesting the nacre disabler and fortification virus walked among Imminent troops looking suspiciously comfortable. Smug, even. “That bastard. All right. I’ve got an idea.”

Ten minutes later, they squared that away. In one minute, T.a.o. arrived to Seamswalk them to the rendezvous. To pass the time, Lynn brought up a possibly inappropriate topic with X. “I’m sorry about your sister.” Sister-in-law, but Luks referred to them as brother and sister after union.

X’s body wriggled before restoring to a rigid state. A sign he was emotional. More hoarsely, he whispered, “After the mudslide, we excavated the bodies…”

“And you found it then?”

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“Imminent carved into each of the windows? Yes.” X looked up from his feet with sadness straining his pink glowing eyes. “R raised the children. They weren’t home at the time. A playdate with the neighbors saved them.”

The pair walked along the silo’s shadow as the suns traveled across the sky. Waiting. A thought struck Lynn, and she frowned. “Where was R when it happened?”

“He—”

“Ready?” T.a.o. Seamswalked onto the field. “Smith and Kyle finished on Reipon. I’ll retrieve Cypher and Andrew from Lacceirus-Capra.”

Lynn remembered from Nox’s Verse that the Icari and Enki poisoned L. Capra’s atmosphere. It rendered the Caprents into a life below ground. Eventually, the sky detoxified enough for resurfacing, but they liked their existence below ground. She worried about team members in the caverns, given the Shadow’s luck with cave-ins lately. The chain around her neck weighed heavily. Each link may as well represent a person she loved. Kissing the pendant for luck, she nodded for T.a.o. to take them.

They stepped into a plaza on Pil. Lots of brick domes set in rows, and walkways lined in pavers. The Dwarves originally traded as masons, and they took pride in their heritage. Now, they specialized in physics and engineering. Their sky came the closest to Earth, but without a Sphere of nacre glass between them and all that blue. Cooked meat permeated the air. Surreal, Lynn reminded herself this was an alien world, and she was standing on it—

“Hey!” Kyle whisper-shouted across the concord.

Time to apply the mask again. Professional. Earnest. They rushed to his location, and she led with, “Did you find anything?”

“No, you?”

Lynn and X exchanged a look before she answered, “We found it. It’s all prepped.”

“I must fetch Andrew and Cypher. One moment.” T.a.o. disappeared.

Smith rounded the dome and nodded at Lynn. “You good?”

She blew out a shaky breath. “Tense.”

“Tell me about it.” He chuckled and leaned against the building, arms folded and ankles crossed. Relaxed.

Two quiet seconds passed before T.a.o. returned with Andrew and Cypher. They collected into a huddle as Andrew reported, “A heavy Imminent presence on L. Capra, but I don’t think the civilians are aware. They’re posing as Yu researchers, testing the soil.”

That set off alarm bells for Lynn. Wasn’t their soil—post atmospheric contamination—an ingredient for the progenitor? The one that eventually led to Xelan creating the First Wave Progeny. She glanced at T.a.o. who lingered beside Kyle.

Something felt wrong.

“Let’s return to base and ask Legir if he’s heard of a similar project. Who knows? It might have a legitimate basis.” Kyle sounded awfully casual regarding a stack of coincidences ready to topple over and land on the Shadow.

“Agreed.” T.a.o. said before reminding everyone, “I’m halfway out of the light. Not much longer before I retreat.” They formed a chain to Seamswalk back to the Ecology.

Beyond the glass lobby and passed the cliff’s edge, twelve tornadoes formed over the ocean. Andrew muttered, “Rayne.”

Lynn took a step closer to the clear wall. Rain and hail pounded on the glass ceiling. Lightning flashed against the dark night, illuminating the storm. Unable to contain her concern, Lynn asked, “Is she all right? I mean… Should we check on her?”

Kyle assured, “The new Tritan guard and Colton are with her. She’s fine.”

“I miss that spitfire,” Smith confessed. He even gripped his chain.

Pablo climbed the suspension staircase from the lower floor. A beautiful sight. Until he frowned and confirmed, “Cinder looks worse.”

Andrew clutched the pendant on his chain, silent and thoughtful. Lynn wondered how many Probabilities included the treasures meant only for the Shadow. X regarded them with respectful silence. He and T.a.o. shared a similar expression, confusion mixed with intrigue.

“King Rayne misses him,” Cypher quietly offered.

No need to name “him.” They all glanced at the Iona Medical Ecology sign above their heads. They’d forever miss Xelan. And in his name they continued to do good. Here’s hoping he’d approve of their measures this day.

Or Elden save them all.