“Two silenced pistols will be enough,” Kayla said, as she passed one back to Thandi and holstered her own. “If we get any kind of attention, we’ll run.”

“Let me drive you up there,” Jack said.

“No, that’ll raise suspicion,” she said. “Can you tell the others that we went down to Byford to see my father’s grave?”

“Alright. Most of their on-duty guys will be at the main gate, with maybe one or two small patrols. I could be wrong, but I’ve seen the Larue cartel use that setup on Misian.”

“Thanks,” she grinned. “Looks like I’m following in my dad’s footsteps.”

Jack hugged her and kissed her forehead. “Just be careful.”

“Your father’s super cool,” Thandi said as Kayla drove them towards Rackeye. “I would probably have been handed over to the police.”

“That sucks. But your parents were so nice when I met them.”

“They were just happy I found a female friend for once.” Thandi chuckled. “What really sold it was telling them you were an agriculture student. They wouldn’t have been so nice if they saw you doing some fighting moves with me.”

Kayla laughed.

“I really appreciate you sticking with me on this one.”

“I’d follow you anywhere Thandi, you know that. I’m just surprised by Christie. I didn’t expect her to follow us; she doesn’t have the skillset, but she didn’t have to be so hostile.”

“Did it occur to you that she expresses fear through anger?”

Kayla tilted the wheel into a long turn, and for a moment she only focused on the road disappearing into blackness. “No,” she said eventually. “Which is weird because I probably do the same thing.”

Thandi nodded. “But you know, what she went through was much worse. She was there, holding Rose’s hand at the end.”

“Yeah. I know.” Kayla sighed.

She couldn’t imagine how painful that must have been. And Christie liked to act like she was unaffected by suffering, which only made her harder to read.

“I think for all the fury, she doesn’t want to lose another friend,” Thandi said. “And besides, in her unit she doesn’t seem to make many.”

“They spend most of their time alone, surrounded by bad guys,” Kayla said. “I can’t imagine what that takes out of her. I just hope she’s wrong about that whole generations of war thing.”

“Your father seemed pretty convinced.”

“I mean I hope she’s wrong that it’ll be our fault.”

Thandi laughed.

“You really think this is going to work? What if we don’t find anything?” Kayla asked.

“Then at least we tried.”

They pulled into the parking lot of the passenger terminal at Rackeye starport, and Thandi consulted a satellite map of the area. Warm rays of sunlight were already beginning to peak over the canyon walls that enclosed the old town to the west, casting the clouds above with blood-red shades.

“The container yard is four miles down the end of the starport,” Thandi said. “We can wait until night, and move down there within an hour.”

Kayla examined the map. “Sure, we can stay alongside the rail line. It’s kind of exposed for an emergency exfil though.”

“Maybe, but if we jump the fence into the industrial yards that run alongside it, there’ll be plenty of cover.”

“That’s not an option if we’re escorting a bunch of kids.”

They fell silent as they contemplated the problem.

“Well,” Thandi began. “If we retrieve the kids, and we have people following us, we’ll have no choice but to deal with them.”

“You mean kill them?”

Thandi hesitated. “I didn’t really want to think about that up to now.”

“You know something? I don’t care. If they’re working for this dockyard, alongside cartels that smuggle kids, they’ve made themselves legitimate targets.”

“I suppose you’re right. I just hope it doesn’t come to that, because we are both twenty-one and have spent less than a day thinking this through. We are far from experts on rules of engagement.”

Kayla raised an eyebrow. “What happened to god’s will?”

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“Um… He doesn’t like to be specific. Sometimes I think He enjoys seeing us confused.”

“Sweet.”

They slept in the car until the sky darkened again, ate some of the food Jack had packed for them, then set out towards the distant towers of shipping containers. The rail line was quiet, and they made easy progress. Whenever a train ran past, they dove into a nearby ditch and stayed still until they were clear. Soon, the shadows brightened as the lights of the immense storage yard drew closer, and they had only to climb over the outer fence to get inside.

Once they had darted amongst the steel canyons, Kayla slowed down. She kept to the shadows, and waited, listening to be sure no one was nearby before she moved. Thandi followed in her footsteps as they circled around the main stacks, until they saw a new set of fencing, and a host of warning signs.

“Lord, forgive us our trespasses,” Thandi quipped softly.

Kayla studied the area. “Up to the top of this stack, then we can do a long jump onto the other side,” she suggested.

Thandi said a short prayer. Though their battalion spent much of their training time climbing mountains, she had never acquired Kayla’s comfort with heights.

“Follow my lead,” Kayla said.

She hauled herself up the side of the containers, using attachments on the doors as hand and footholds. The climb was straightforward, and when she reached the top, nearly fifty feet in the air, she paused to wait, to watch, and to listen. A murmur of voices drifted past on the still air—no doubt the guards Jack had warned her about.

Thandi hauled herself up beside her, and Kayla waited while she caught her breath. Near the distant canyon walls, she could make out a black needle between the blocky buildings—the belltower she had spent her youth climbing. It was good to be back.

A running jump carried them over the gap to the next container wall, to land inside the fence of the maximum-security zone.

Thandi moved ahead, produced a small monocular device, and scanned the dark avenues beneath them. They traversed two more stacks before she stopped and pointed.

“There’s a cluster of portacabins down in the center of the zone,” she whispered.

Kayla took the eyepiece. “Looks like it’s dark for now.”

“But three guards on patrol on the eastern side, and on the northern side. Plus a group of six clustered around the front gate.”

Kayla nodded. Nice one, Dad. “We can circle around the back and drop down. It’s pitch black there.” She produced a laser device. “I brought this for the security cameras. Burns through wires in seconds.”

They didn’t rush the descent, and arrived without incident in a dark passageway behind their target. A few minutes of quiet observation passed, and Kayla started neutralizing cameras where necessary.

Then they approached the portacabins. Thandi boosted Kayla up to an elevated, unlit window. A man dozed on a sofa, while a television flickered softly against the far wall. Kayla climbed inside as carefully as she could, then crept over to the dozing man. A quick chokehold knocked him out, before she secured his wrists and ankles with flexcuffs, and tore his shirt into a blindfold and gag. Then she darted back to the window and reached down to help Thandi climb in after her.

Kayla pointed out a hallway containing several shut doors. None of them showed any lighting under the jamb, but they would still have to be careful and check each one as quickly as they dared.

The second doorway contained another man, sleeping in a bunk room, and he was quickly restrained. Through the fourth door, they found what they were looking for.

Two small forms lay together on a mattress, arms tied to the bedframe. They were asleep, but Kayla didn’t want to take the chance of waking them up and producing any sudden noises. She stared at Thandi, hoping for a suggestion.

Thandi waved her off, and motioned for her to watch at the door. She approached the sleeping forms, then lay her hand over their mouths and gave them a small shake. There was a brief moment of struggle, but Thandi must have convinced them not to make a sound. Kayla heard her cut their bonds with her knife while she whispered a contrived explanation to them. Private investigators, sent by their parents—that was good enough.

Kayla peered out at the lounge and the tied-up form on the sofa. He had regained consciousness, and was beginning to struggle. She scampered over and grabbed his hair, before pushing a knife against his throat.

The blade nicked his skin, leaving a wet rivulet. Kayla inhaled slowly. Gang rivalries led to bloodshed all the time. Her captive and his friend had been sat in this stinking hole, while they sold the innocent bodies in the next room. On her world they had dared to do this. Kayla felt her arm almost shake with rage, and for a moment wasn’t sure what she would do.

A knife kill would be silent, and it would send a message. Two would be even better.

Feet scraped in the hallway, and she thought about the kids. They would have to walk through the scene, and they would see the horror of it. Hadn’t they been through enough? Besides, Kayla chided herself, they might lose trust in their new guardian angels.

With a sigh, she put the knife away, but pushed the metal of her pistol against the man’s cheek in case he got any ideas.

Thandi appeared leading the two girls. They were dressed in old, filthy clothes—probably the same they had been captured in. Kayla wanted to grimace when she saw their miserable, terrified faces, but kept her expression blank.

“Okay,” she said softly, “Let’s—”

A raucous burst of laughter erupted outside. She moved to the cabin window and looked out. A group of men, obviously not sober, had emerged from the containers and were heading slowly in their direction.

Kayla cursed. If they tried to hide, all four of them would be trapped inside while the men discovered the trussed-up prisoners. They would have to exit via the window as quickly as they could.

A loud bang broke the silence as a doorway down the hall flew open. The second prisoner had apparently been hiding a knife and had managed to cut himself free. Kayla mentally kicked herself for not having thought to check.

He stumbled forward, the blade flashing in the darkness. Thandi grabbed the two girls and threw them to the side. Kayla’s pistol snapped up, the red dot sight moving smoothly to rest on the man’s head as she broke the trigger. A muted snap filled the room as the silenced weapon fired, and her target collapsed like a heavy sack.

The silence that followed seemed to stretch for an eternity. Kayla offered a prayer to the goodwill of the universe, and hoped Thandi was doing something similar.

“What the hell was that?” said a voice from outside.

A chill ran down Kayla’s spine, and she flashed a significant look at Thandi. She motioned to the girls to stay low, then moved quickly to one of the cabin’s windows as her own pistol appeared in her hand.

“Jumping at shadow’s, Pikey?” a slurred voice said mockingly.

“No man, I’m sure I heard something coming from the shack.”

“Probably just Darv taking a turn,” the drunken voice said and snickered.

“Then why are the lights out? Come on man, we need to check on this.”

Adrenaline flooded Kayla’s body. The men were already too close; escape was out of the question. There was no option now but to fight.

She met Thandi’s wide, questioning eyes, and finger mimed shooting a gun. Then she slowly cracked the main door open, and raised her pistol. Thandi stepped back from the window and took aim, obviously intending to shoot through the glass.

Kayla felt a void open beneath her. There would be no going back from what was about to happen.