The next day, we prepped for our mission.

The first thing we did was acquire some long-range communication devices, which Vomero hacked to create a secure channel only we would be privy to. Now that we were all able to stay in contact, we split up on different tasks.

Cash and Ryuuk went to scout out the palace hub. They were hoping to nail down a guard count and rotation schedule, as well as identify any possible routes inside. Vomero and the old man worked on a scheme to circumvent our tracking bracelets, while Dick made a final push to get the transport as ready as possible to leave in case the whole mission went south.

He was also still sulking since the orb absorbed itself into his body and, so far, refused to emerge. Every now and then, a round glow of light would appear somewhere on his body to indicate the entity was moving around.

That left Matthew and me to check out the warehouse where we would pick up the Malunites and come up with a good way to get them through the city without being detected. Since the Queen’s souring economic policies toward the Malunites began, they had become increasingly unwelcome in Veridi. I guessed that might be the reason Owen’s backers wanted us to find a way to sneak them in past the regular visitation channels.

Visually, Malunites and Syreni were essentially the same species, and as such looked the same. The differences between the two were largely ideological and cultural.

We quickly rejected the idea of smuggling them through the city inside something. It would draw more attention than it averted; plus, it would slow us down and be an unnecessary encumbrance we would have to work around. Rather than smugglers, like Owen had originally categorized the mission, I saw our job as more escorts and thieves. We were essentially breaking into the palace and escorting our charges to the designated location.

Matthew and I scoped out the warehouse, making notes of any entrances and exits we might need if the whole thing was a trap. On our way back, we procured several sets of Syreni-style clothing, nothing flashy, just the type of casualwear anyone in the market might don.

That evening, we spent hours going over our route from the warehouse to the palace, solidifying a method for getting around the guards and making contingency plans in case something went wrong. Most of us slept in the next morning, as our job wouldn’t begin until dark.

As the hour approached to meet the Malunites, we made final preparations.

“Remember, you need to make it look like we’re doing normal things. Don’t just wander aimlessly through the city, but also don’t stay in one place for a long period of time,” Vomero briefed the old man.

Vomero had found a way to transfer all our tracking bracelet signals onto the old man’s bracelet. His job was to make it look like we were having a night on the town. He was also instructed not to come anywhere near the transport unless we had to evacuate. We didn’t want anyone looking for us there based on our tracking signals.

“Ok, kid,” Dick said to Matthew. “Let’s go, you’re with us.”

Dick, Matthew and Vomero would be the ones to get past the security measures and provide a way inside. Cash and I, being the strongest two fighters, would act as the muscle and escort.

“I’m off too,” Ryuuk said. “See ya’ll on the other side. Holler if ya need anythin’.”

He tapped the communication device lodged in his ear and left. Ryuuk would play scout and give some overwatch cover with his marksmanship skills.

“Time to go,” I said. “Good luck, everyone.”

***

Cash and I arrived at the warehouse an hour early, but didn’t go inside. We waited on a nearby rooftop that offered a view of the building’s main and back entrances.

“Does anything feel odd about this job?” I asked him. “We both made our living at some point taking contracts and jobs of various types. Does anything about this one seem off, to you?”

“This one has seemed off from the beginning,” Cash said. “But like most things that have happened to us in the past week and a half, we don’t seem to have any choice but to move forward the best we can.”

“So, do you find yourself in these types of positions a lot?” I continued.

“No. Not anymore,” he said candidly, never taking his eyes off the warehouse. “When you get to the point I’m at, people don’t often demand anything of you. They ask. Politely. And they always pay upfront. That’s not to say the early days of my career didn’t see a lot of sketchy deals like this.”

“And how did you deal with those? How did you make sure you would make it past those jobs to get where you’re at now?”

“By always putting myself first,” he said. “And by being really good at killing people. In my business, if you let someone shit on you and get away with it, you’re just opening yourself up for the next guy. When all the people who tried to fuck you over on a job start turning up dead, however, people start to notice and adjust their behavior accordingly. That’s my method, at least. What about you?”

“I know it sounds kooky and amateur,” I said, “but I’ve always relied on intuition. It helps me avoid the unwinnable situations. And even when things go south, it’s like I just know what I need to do to find that one scenario that will pull me through to a win.”

“And what’s your intuition telling you now?” Cash asked.

“It’s telling me to take in this view one last time,” I said, pointing at the kaleidoscope of luminescent marine life dancing in the faux night sky the dark water created beyond the dome high above us, “because it will probably be the last time I see it.”

Cash looked like he was about to respond, but stopped. He motioned to the warehouse where a delivery vehicle had just pulled up. It unloaded something that looked like one of the large metal cylinders stored in this warehouse. I had seen these in various places throughout the city and knew they acted as resupplies for fresh water tanks. Yesterday, Matthew and I had noticed this warehouse seemed to store the tanks of treated water for redistribution.

“Looks like the package just arrived,” I said through the coms. “We’re headed down to check it out.”

I nodded at Cash, and we made our way to a side entrance of the warehouse. Matthew and I had rigged the lock on this door yesterday so that the access panel popped off easily and could be opened. Making our way inside, we waited for the delivery truck to finish unloading and pull away.

Approaching the metal cylinder, Cash tried scanning it with his eye but shook his head.

“Steel is too thick,” he said and knocked on the outside of the container once.

We waited. Nothing happened. I shrugged and knocked again, this time giving three rapid knocks. After a moment, we heard a single, heavy thud from the inside of the container.

I climbed on top of the container to a fill valve. The opening would barely be big enough for an adult to squeeze through. Unscrewing the lid, I removed it and peered inside. It was dark.

“Supernova,” I whispered, and put just enough power into the corresponding tattoo to produce a singular point of light.

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Unlike the last time I had used this ability, the light gave off a strong but manageable glow, like a lantern or torch. I could adjust the brightness slightly and control where the light hovered in the air within a certain range of my body.

I directed it to the hatch on the tank. Just as it passed over, two eyes caught the sheen of the light and glowed just beneath the surface.

“Shit!” I said, startled, and took a quick step back.

I watched a hand with a webbed fin on the forearm emerge. Reaching down, I grasped the hand and pulled one of the Malunites out of the tank of fresh water. Two more followed suit.

“I’m Tor,” the tallest one who had emerged first said. He was obviously the leader. He then indicated the other two Malunites, a woman and another man. “This is Par and Celo. You’re here to escort us to the palace, yeah?”

His accent was much less formal than the Syreni, and it had a noticeable lilt to it that would be a dead giveaway if they were stopped.

“Better let us do any talking as we make our way,” I said. “We can’t risk someone recognizing your accent. You’ll also need to put these on.”

I handed over the pack I was carrying with local clothes. They were still dressed in what I surmised was a Malunite style. The clothes were loose fitting and flowing compared to the clingy wet-suit material favored by Syreni. Despite the casual fit, the clothes still seemed constructed from a water-repellent material. Although they had just come out of a water tank, their clothes were barely damp.

“You’d think this would be an obvious way to sneak in,” I commented. “I mean you people all breathe underwater.”

“Syreni can’t last long in the fresh water stuff,” Celo said, “on account that they don’t really have much of it down here, ya’ know? There’s plenty of fresh water up in the sky islands, and we Malunites learn at an early age to adapt to fresh water breathing.”

Celo gave a friendly smile as he explained their decision to sneak in through the freshwater tanks. He had a jovial attitude that was hard not to like. It was a stark contrast to Tor’s all-business attitude, but I respected a leader who didn’t take their responsibility lightly.

There was a lengthy window of time between our pickup point and the best time to make it through the palace security. So, we made our way carefully through the city, taking our time. We traveled mostly on foot, which ate up a lot of the time but was less risky than getting on public transport.

We had one close call while making our way through the market district. Local enforcers were there serving one of the merchants with a cease-business decree. Their license was being revoked after the crown discovered affiliations one of the owners had with the sky islands. It had been that same story for nearly a week since the attack on Mandala. More and more merchants were losing their business for sympathizing with or being related to Malunites.

The woman running the stall wasn’t handling the news well and started arguing with the enforcers. They resorted to tasing her into compliance before removing her forcefully from the area. At the commotion, I felt the three Malunites with us tense. Par clenched her hands in anger and Tor put a restraining hand on her shoulder, guiding her away from the scene and following Cash through the market.

When we emerged into a more vacant area, I heard Tor speak quietly to Par.

“That’s not what we came here for, Par,” he said, and the woman nodded. “We can’t stop injustice by taking on enforcers one at a time. Both of you remember what we’re here for, a larger purpose, one that will help more than just that poor woman.”

Celo grunted agreement from where he walked next to me.

“You’re here to stop the Queen, right?” I asked.

Cash was taking a more silent approach, trying not to engage with the three more than he had to. I supposed that was often how he operated on a job since his jobs all involved killing people. But I couldn’t help wanting to find out more about our Malunite charges and their mission.

“Yes,” Tor said simply.

“You don’t seem like a bunch of assassins,” I said, flicking a glance at Cash. “Not the ones I’ve met, anyway.”

“We’re not killers,” Celo said. “It’s the crown we’re here for, not her life. Without it, she’s weak and her influence over our people is gone.”

“So you’re thieves, then?” I responded good-naturedly. “I can respect that. Not that I’m opposed to killing people who use their power to slaughter innocent people who depended on them for protection. But that’s just me.”

“She deserves it, for sure,” Par said, angrily. “And I for one will not go out of my way to spare her life if it comes between that and failing to secure the crown.”

“She had family in Mandala,” Celo said quietly.

“We all did,” Tor said. “That’s why we were chosen for this mission. Our leaders knew we would be motivated to succeed at all costs.”

“I lost an uncle and grandmother,” Celo continued, solemnly. “Tor’s brother was a banker in Mandala, though he never married. But Par...her son and daughter-in-law lived there. They just had a little girl over a month ago. Par never got to meet her.”

There wasn’t much I could say that would have any significance, so I chose to say nothing. The next leg of the journey had to be made on the transport. There was no efficient way to get through the connecting tunnels without using the transport. We tried to stay quiet, so as not to draw attention or have the Malunites’ accent trigger any suspicions.

When we emerged from the tunnel and exited the transport, we were entering our final leg of the journey. I found a secluded spot and relayed our position to the others.

“Standby,” Dick said sounding out of breath. “We’re nearly clear for you to approach.”

“Skye,” Ryuuk said over coms, “You’ve got a couple of people who followed you off the train.”

Ryuuk had been tailing us, flying from building to building and using the scope of his rifle and keen Avian vision to scout our route as we traveled.

“Are they official looking? And are you sure they’re following us?” I asked.

“Definitely followin’ ya. They look like a couple thugs tho, not enforcers.”

I looked at Cash, and he nodded for me to go. Slipping into the shadows as the rest kept walking, I waited for the two men, one was Syreni, the other looked human. They were following at a sedate pace but obviously trying not to lose us. As they approached I heard them whispering furiously to one another.

“Don’t lose them idiot! This could be the biggest score we’ll have tonight,” one of the men said. Apparently they were common thieves looking to rob what they believed to be unsuspecting tourist.

“I’m not going to lose them, but if you spook them they’ll see it coming,” the other said.

“They’re not going to see it coming,” the first man said, but nobody answered him. “Urnak? Where the hell did you go?”

“Sorry, he didn’t see it coming, either,” I said, and incapacitated the second man with a swift punch to the throat to silence him and a downward kick from my foot to knock him out cold.

I hauled his body along with his buddy’s, who I had injected with a strong sedative, into a nearby trash crate. I pushed another syringe of sedative into the second guy just to make sure he wasn’t waking up any time soon.

Rejoining the others, I relayed to the team that it was just a couple of thugs and that I had taken care of them. We had reached the southeast gate, one of the smaller ones, where we would make our way into the palace grounds. A purple and black portal opened next to us, and Matthew stepped out. Watching him use void magic still gave me the creeps, but I ignored it.

“They’re set,” Matthew said, pointing at the gate.

There was a Syreni guard at the gate post. We walked up to it and waited for clearance to enter. The guard looked suspiciously at us for a long moment, to which I rolled my eyes.

“Cut it out, Dickhead,” I said, and the Syreni smiled as he pushed the button to let us through.

“It’s just Dick, ma’am. Enforcer Dick,” he said, and met us just beyond the entrance.

Vomero also emerged from the security room.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“Smooth,” Vomero answered.

The plan had been for Matthew to teleport in behind the guard and incapacitate him with the same sedative I had used on the thugs. Then he let Dick and Vomero into the facility. Vomero wiped the security footage and looped it to look like nothing was happening. Dick assumed a Syreni form and used the guard’s uniform to replace him, just so nobody would come by and wonder why the guard was gone.

Apparently though, the Syreni guard he had replaced was of much smaller stature than Dick’s Syreni form. He was practically bursting out of the uniform, looking more like one of those strippers people paid to dress up in costume.

“Where do I put the credits?” I teased, and Dick smirked.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he said with a wink, “I’ll show you where to stick them later.”

Cash made a gagging sound that seemed very strange and juvenile coming from such a large, burly looking guy.

“Ok guys,” Vomero said, keeping everyone on track. “Cash and Skye have to get these three to the interior room location Owen gave us. It’s just a series of corridors that I’ve mapped out for you. You’ve got five minutes to get in and five minutes to get back out before the next patrol comes through. If it takes you more than ten minutes, you’ll need to wait until we give you the all clear to come back.”

I nodded and we set off in the direction Vomero’s map indicated. As we made our way through the corridors to the interior chamber where we would leave Tor, Par and Celo, something kept bothering me in the back of my mind. There was something I was missing.

We reached the room easily and quickly, making good time. Upon entering the room, I realized what had bothered me.

“Our job was to deliver you and your crew here,” I said to Tor, suspiciously. “After that, we were told we could leave. But if your job is to steal the crown, how are you supposed to get out?”

“Skye, we don’t really have time to worry about that,” Cash said. “It’s not part of our job.”

“We’re not going to steal the crown,” Tor admitted. “We’re going to destroy it. We always knew we would have to find our own way out, if we make it out at all. Now, go. As your friend said, your job is done.”

“Thank you,” Par said, stepping forward, “I know you weren’t doing this for the same reasons we are, but thank you anyway for getting us this far.”

Celo just nodded his agreement as he smiled at me.

Without another word, I turned and followed Cash back the way we had come. We emerged with minutes to spare at the guard station, only to find that it was empty.

There was no sign of Vomero, Dick or Matthew.

“Guys,” I said, touching the com device in my ear. “We’re out, where is everyone?”

Suddenly, an electric shock racked my body with pain and the world went dark.