The guards looked at Sara as if she had grown another head. One almost laughed.

“You can’t break into there,” said the guard in charge. “Anything that flies gets lazed, it would take a cannon to get through the wall, and Voit hunts anything that does happen to get inside relentlessly. You’re better off going around.”

“If you wanted to get in there, how would you do it?,” asked Sara.

“I would call up a platoon with a squad of blockbusters. Shoot a hole through the wall. Then clear the levels out, moving more men in to take positions where I could cover sightlines,” said the guard. “Then I would use the blockbusters to shoot through any wall that was put in my way.”

“She could try the approach from Belsin’s control area,” said another guard. “That would take a little more finesse.”

“What do you mean?,” asked Sara.

“Belsin and Voit are among the few Dark lords that get along,” said the guard.

“Belsin helps Voit with machinery, and Voit makes sure a heavy presence is

discouraged and helps hunt freelancers in the area. If you take on one, the other will come as part of their deal.”

“So I’ll have to try to get through both of them to get to the gate to get to the tower,” said Sara.

“You would have to go through Belsin’s factory,” said the guard.

“There is a side entrance,” said the third guard. “I don’t know how guarded it is.”

He pointed at the factory. A small diamond lit in her vision. She could see the door standing behind a set of waste receptacles. She would have to cross the open field, force the door, and then work her way through the factory to where it ran up to Voit’s wall.

“What happens if I can take both of them out?,” said Sara.

“The Light would try to at least claim some of their territory,” said the leading guard. “We assume that some of the Dark lords would do the same.”

“Voit’s wall would be a hazard for us,” said the second guard. “We would have to rush in, try to overcome any automatic defenses, and clear out any minions that didn’t run.”

“I guess get ready to move the borders,” said Sara. She looked at the diamond still floating in the air. “I’ll see if I can clean them both out of their roosts.”

“Don’t try to take them both on at the same time,” said the leading guard. “It’s better to stick one, then the other. If you can’t handle either one, just retreat. We can’t help you fight a duel, but if they step over the line and start an invasion, we can open up and call for backup.”

“Got it,” said Sara. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, freelancer,” said the guard.

Sara headed for the door. The stone plaques should give her an edge. She just had to be ready to use them when she needed them. She felt eyes on her as she reached the short fence just inside the Dark bubble. Two shots from the blaster got her an opening to squeeze through after the metal cooled down.

She scanned the open ground as she jogged to the receptacles. Nothing moved. She didn’t trust that.

She tried the door, frowning at finding it locked. She pulled the sword from her lion paw. She sliced through the lock. She shouldered the door out of the way as she entered the factory.

Which way should she go? She decided to work her way to the left. Voit’s tower should be that way. She might be able to get through a wall and into his domain without seeing Belsin at all.

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Skittering clicked around her to let her know she wasn’t alone. She wondered what was making that noise. It was too alive to just be chains clinking against a floor somewhere.

She took out the dog talisman and dropped it in her boot. That one healed her. She wanted it ready to be pulled and used faster than searching for it in the bag. She dropped the horse in the other one.

The mental exhaustion she had started to feel from worrying about how she was going to complete this stupid run vanished. Energy flowed through her. She felt like a kid again.

She listened as she moved forward. The tapping sound came from all around her. She was surrounded by whatever security Belsin used.

She decided to make her way down to the connection into Voit’s bubble. Maybe they would leave her alone. She didn’t need, or want, a fight when she could just keep moving.

She heard sizzling ahead. She paused and drew the blaster. She didn’t see anything at first. She raised the weapon and looked through the scope. A large swarm of insects made from blended metal and chitin danced at the other end of the hall. Their mandibles clicked as they waited for her to try to force her way through.

Sara decided to turn at the next cross corridor and go down to the next intersection. She wanted to go around instead of stirring up the security.

She had no doubt they could swarm her faster than the zombies she had dealt with when she had arrived. And being smaller targets meant more effort to kill them as they attacked.

She reached the intersection and looked around. More insects blocked her path to the left. How did she get around them? Were they above her? Could she go over them?

Could there be a window she could use for an exit? She hadn’t seen one from the outside. She might have to cut her way through a wall if she wanted to get outside.

Sara looked around for a stairwell, or ladder, to get to the upper floors. She didn’t want to chance an elevator. That could lead her to being trapped and she felt she needed to be able to drop away from any enemy that might come for her.

She found a spiral ramp in a cubby. She started up, checking each floor as she went. She hoped she didn’t run into Belsin. The last thing she wanted was a fight.

Machinery did things as she watched. She couldn’t figure out what the process could be from where she stood. Workers moved up and down the assembly line completing their tasks.

She decided to keep climbing and stay away from the workers. She doubted they would help her and she didn’t want to start shooting and causing an alert to be sounded.

She doubted Belsin would let her wander around for long. Eventually she needed to be ready to fight her way out of the place.

She decided that the machinery would be a good target if she needed to wreck things to get away. She doubted whatever he was building would be good for the rest of the rim, and for her personally. Doing enough damage to it so that it had to be fixed before it could be restarted was a minor win if she couldn’t get clear.

Blowing him up with his own technology was a major win that would allow the Light to tighten the noose around Mosk and Voit.

She reached the top of the staircase. She looked around from the landing. She noted a multitude of electronic eyes scanning the cluttered workspace in front of her. She should go back down.

“Ah, a visitor,” said a voice from the other side of the room. “It’s been many years since anyone but my partner has stopped by. Come in so we can talk.”

Sara didn’t point the pistol at the source of the voice. She let it hang at the end of her arm as she advanced into the room. She didn’t want to start a fight when she didn’t need it.

She looked around the room. The cyborg bugs shifted slightly as she moved. If she tried anything, they would chew her to pieces.

Belsin reclined on a couch, wrapped in a red dress. Rings glittered on her fingers. Sara couldn’t identify the jewels in their settings from where she stood. Three gold necklaces hung around the Dark lady’s slim neck.

“I’m Lady Etriga Belsin, mistress of the Dark Machinery,” said the lady in red. One hand pushed back dark hair from her narrow face. “And what is your name, trespasser?”

“Sara Flowers,” said Sara. “I’m trying to reach the gate and enter the inner

courtyard.”

“You know that is impossible,” said Belsin. “Lord Voit destroys any freelancers that breach his walls.”

“The gate is neutral territory and belongs to the freelancers,” said Sara. “We should be allowed to go back to our lives.”

She didn’t know if that was true, but it felt right. The Dark had seized the neutral areas to deny freelancers their basic privileges, and to use them as fodder for their cold war. The Light wouldn’t protect anyone not signed up with them, but they allowed access for those that didn’t want to fight for them.

And of course, freelancers had to fight the Dark just to get access to moving off the outer rim and into the hub to reach the Tower to get home.

“Even if that were true, it’s been years in the living world,” said Belsin. “You don’t have a life to go back to at this point.”

“I would still like to try instead of staying in this pit,” said Sara. “Are you two

romantically involved?”

“What if we are?,” asked Belsin.

“Can you ask him to let me by without an incident?,” said Sara. “That will make things easier for everyone.”

“What if we don’t want things easier for everyone?,” said Belsin.

“Then I guess we’re fighting,” said Sara.