The next morning, we made a show of parting ways. We had chosen various methods of leaving Kalo-Mahoi because it seemed easier to make six people disappear from different transports undetected than for a group to do the same.
The plan was for each of us to board our mid-range transports or long-range starships as if we were actually leaving, then find a way to slip back off, leaving authorities and anyone tracking our credentials none the wiser. Since most of us had different departure times, we would be arriving periodically into the hideout Cash had established for us.
I waited on a metal bench at the transport terminal. My booking was for one of the direct, long-range flights to one of the outer Pact Worlds, Tauros. I’d selected it because I knew Tauros wasn’t a world that kept close tabs on people’s comings and goings. Even if it took weeks for us to track down Owen, nobody would be checking to make sure Skye Alnasi arrived on the planet.
My attention appeared to be glued to the holofoil news blast in my hand, but my senses were focused on the area around me for anyone who might be watching to make sure I got on my transport. Despite remaining actively aware of my surroundings, I never sensed the elderly woman who sat down beside me a moment later.
She pulled a sandwich of some type from a paper bag she held, unwrapped it and took a bite. The woman was human with gray hair coiffed neatly at the back of her head. She was dressed in casual Malunite loose garments, looking like someone’s granny on vacation in New Horizon City. Yet, I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck the moment she sat down.
Abandoning my faux perusal of the holofoil, I laid it casually on the bench beside me and stared straight ahead, affecting a bored, people-watching demeanor. To anyone observing or passing by, we looked like two common-place travelers waiting for their transport.
“Come to gloat?” I asked, never looking at the old woman.
She continued to chew thoughtfully, finishing her bite before she spoke.
“And what would I have to boast about, hmmm?” she said, pondering which side of the sandwich she wanted to bite from next. “Killing some old geezer? Letting a national treasure fall into first your, then Koraf’s filthy hands?”
She took another bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly.
“I guess when you put it that way...” I said in a flat tone. Remaining detached was the only way to keep the rage I felt boiling under the surface from showing in my face. “I supposed you can kiss your merit raise goodbye this year. I can’t imagine your benefactors are too pleased with your performance.”
Swallowing her bite of food, the old woman put the sandwich away, cleaned the crumbs from her clothes and folded her hands primly in her lap.
“It is quite a conundrum I’m in, a nasty little mess to clean up,” she said. “Katra was in charge of the Veridi mission. So, that failure falls on her, luckily she isn’t around to feel the full weight of my sponsors’ displeasure. Fixing what she screwed up, however, falls on me. And I don’t intend to make the same mistakes she did.”
Of all the people I had thought I might encounter while departing Kalo-Mahoi, I honestly hadn’t thought Owen would be so brazen as to show up himself, even in a ridiculous disguise. His personal attendance told me two things: first, he was desperate, and, second, he was here to make me an offer.
Though my hands itched to plunge a light dagger into his throat, I knew he had picked this very public venue, which was no doubt being watched by Koraf’s men, as well as Owen’s own operatives, to deter me from just such an action.
“You think you’ve got everything figured out, don’t you?” I said to him, “that you’ve got me figured out.”
For the first time, I turned to stare directly in the old woman’s eyes.
“You’re so sure that I won’t risk slitting your throat right here in the open with everyone watching. I’m too smart for that? Too cautious? Too diplomatic? Let me guess. You need someone to get close to Koraf and find out where he’s keeping the crown, maybe even help you steal it back. You’re here to offer me the information you dangled in front of me like a carrot back in Veridi in return for my cooperation, and you’re so sure that, above all, I’m a reasonable person, an Outlaw who never passes up an opportunity to get what she wants. The problem is, you don’t really know what I want, Owen.”
My fist clenched by my side as I continued to stare unblinking at him until I finally saw a moment of uncertainty appear on the old woman’s face. I smiled predatorily.
“There it is...now you’re really starting to understand just how done I am with your games,” I said, leaning forward slightly. “Let me let you in on a little secret, Owen. My Outlaw affiliation isn’t urging me to be reasonable, right now. It’s reminding me that, at this moment, you’ve put yourself within striking distance of my daggers, and your life is mine to take.”
I jerked toward Owen slightly and watched the old woman flinch involuntarily. I laughed as I pushed myself to my feet.
“Fuck your offer, Owen,” I said. “Fuck you, and fuck your planet. You’ll have to figure out how to get the Diadem back from Koraf on your own. Either way, I don’t really care. I’m leaving.”
As much as I wanted to do exactly as I had threatened and kill him right then and there, damn the consequences, the only real thing that held me back was knowing that vengeance wasn’t only mine to take. Owen would get his. In fact, he had made it infinitely more inevitable by showing himself to me today. In the meantime, he could run around in desperation trying to recover the Diadem.
I grabbed my luggage bag and walked toward my terminal without another word. As I handed the boarding host my ticket, I cast a side glance back at the bench but found it empty. Owen had already melted into the crowd.
The Malunite woman manning the check-in counter smiled as she scanned the holofoil tab in my hand.
“Welcome aboard, Miss Alnasi,” she greeted after scanning my travel credentials.
After boarding, I went to the lavatory with my bag. It was a decoy stuffed with random bits of clothing and devoid of anything identifiable. The bag was handy because it had a feature that let it expand to nearly two times its size.
Pulling a much smaller shoulder bag from inside, I quickly switched to more traditional Malunite attire. Both Syreni and Malunites lacked hair on account of their aquatic nature. While the traditionalist Syreni preferred to embrace the beauty of this feature, Malunites, especially the women, chose to wear various head pieces as an expression of style and fashion. The most common was a simple headwrap, which I also used to complete my local ensemble. I stuffed my own clothes into the small shoulder bag.
Unhooking and unzipping various panels to expand the larger bag, I reached inside and inflated a cheap travel pillow I had bought for just this occasion. By the time I was done, the bag was large and bulky. Perfect, I thought.
As I emerged from the bathroom, I made a show of struggling with the unwieldy bag. Opening different compartments, I attempted to stuff the bag inside with no luck. Finally, a steward came by and noticed my struggle.
“Excuse me, Miss, but your bag is too large to be kept in the interior compartments,” he said, “You’ll need to remove anything you’ll need for the journey and let me stow it with the other cargo.”
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“Oh!” I said, seeming surprised. “I’m sorry, nobody said anything during check-in.”
A look of frustration crossed his face, as if he was used to his fellow employees not doing their job properly. Yet, his demeanor with me was nothing but courteous.
“So, sorry, ma’am. I’m sure they simply overlooked it,” he said. “If you’ll allow me, I’ll make sure it gets in the cargo hold.”
“That would be great, thank you,” I said, affecting the most relieved and appreciative demeanor I could muster. Playing the helpless waif was not my favorite, but I had always found it highly affective, unfortunately.
I watched as the man took my bag and headed to a side exit. He spoke into an earpiece as he did, notifying the pilot that he was opening the door to stow a bag and leaving the sliding hatch open so he could return through it. It was the moment I needed to slip silently out of the exit behind him.
I took care to walk at a sedate pace so as not to draw attention to myself. I couldn’t be sure if Owen or Koraf would have people watching our departures, but I had to assume that both probably did. More importantly, I had to make sure nobody was following me back to our new lodgings.
Knowing Owen himself was around made that task even trickier, and I had to be extra vigilant to spot someone who could shapeshift. My attentiveness paid off at least in one respect as I spotted one of the Malunite men who worked closely with Koraf. I recognized him from the night we searched The Elysian Skyline. He never noticed me. In fact, he seemed bored waiting on my transport to leave so he could confirm I was on it.
Once I cleared the transport terminals, I could move more efficiently. I kept the Malunite attire on as I hailed a hover vehicle and gave the AI driver an address several blocks away from our hideout. From there, I made my way on foot, making sure to check my surroundings and take a meandering route as opposed to a direct one.
The hideout was a non-descript building in the shipping and manufacturing district of New Horizon City. I wasn’t sure exactly how Cash found out about it, but he had assured us that nobody would ask any questions about our stay here. The building had previously been used as an office space for some small tech company that relocated to the main commerce district once they hit it big.
As such, there were various offices, a small kitchenette, passable bathroom facilities and a large open loft that served as a work area. As I let myself in using the code Cash had given us, I noticed Vomero and Dick had both arrived. Their transports were scheduled for earlier in the morning, so they had probably been at the hideout for some time.
“Everything go smoothly?” Vomero asked, looking up from a data pad he had acquired for our operations. He was sitting at one of the work tables sipping a cup of coffee. With a nod of his head, he offered me the rest of the pot that he had brewed.
“For the most part,” I said, and Vomero looked up at me questioningly. “Owen showed up at my terminal before departure. Disguised, of course. He was no doubt trying to offer me some deal to help him get the Diadem back.”
At the mention of Owen’s name, Vomero went very still. I could tell there was still some residual trauma he was dealing with from his ordeal. After a long moment, he seemed to pull himself together enough to speak calmly.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“Told him to shove his offer up his ass, for one, and threatened to skewer him through the neck, for another.”
“I bet that was tempting,” Dick said, emerging onto a loft balcony that lead from the upstairs offices and overlooked the work area. “The urge to kill him, I mean. Not the offer.”
I shrugged.
“Revenge is an enticing temptress,” I agreed. “But she’s not worth dying over. I know I could have killed him. I’m not so sure whatever goons he had hiding in the wings would have let me live afterward. I knew as long as I didn’t make a move on him, they wouldn’t tip their hand. Koraf had people watching the terminal, too.”
Vomero nodded.
“Yeah, I saw some of his guys this morning, too, at my departure port,” he said. "I can’t tell if he’s wanting to make sure we leave this planet for good or trying to make sure we get off safely. My penchant for mistrusting authority tells me it’s the former, but he’s seemed to deal with us straight, so far.”
“My guess is he was hoping Owen’s people did exactly what they did with Skye,” Dick added. “Expose themselves so that they could grab them. Remember, he has just as much reason to want Owen’s people caught and brought to justice for killing Tor, Par and Celo.”
“Well it’s too bad they missed their opportunity,” I said. “And before anyone asks, I’m not sorry I didn’t tip Koraf’s people off to Owen’s disguise. Even if they managed to catch them, they’d no doubt lock them up in some cell and wait for their justice system to decide what to do with him.”
“No, you’re right,” Vomero said, nodding again as his tone took a hard edge. “Nobody’s getting due process as far as I’m concerned.”
“Agreed,” Dick added. “It’s better to let him walk for now until we can put him down for good ourselves.”
The three of us sat around and talked plans for a while longer as more of our crew rolled into the hideout. Cash was the next to arrive, followed by Ryuuk and, finally, Matthew. After rehashing my encounter with Owen for the rest of the group, we made plans for the next day’s operations.
“The fact that he showed himself to you, Skye, proves he’s desperate,” Cash observed, confirming my earlier feelings on the matter. “It means he’s not sure exactly how to go about getting past Koraf’s defenses without getting his hands dirty.”
“I don’ know why that should stop em’ now,” Ryuuk said. “He’s got plenty of dirt and blood on his hands, already.”
“True,” I said, “but I get the feeling Owen hates doing something himself when he can get someone else to do it for him. Hence his deal with Katra, not to mention his original dealings with us.”
“It’s sort of a shapeshifter’s nature,” Dick agreed, adding some insight, “especially mimics. They don’t have the advantages that changelings have by taking a new form, the inherent abilities and strengths that come from biologically transforming. All they really have are smoke and mirrors, and those attributes are best suited for manipulating others into doing your job for you, rather than doing it yourself and risk exposure.”
“One thing is certain,” Vomero added, “we were right to take this approach. There’s no way we would have been able to track down Owen and his group any other way. He’s too slippery. Hell, he sat right down beside Skye in the middle of a transport terminal with no one the wiser. Not even Skye who was looking for something out of place.”
I nodded agreement.
“In fact,” I added, “I wouldn’t have even known it was him except for the fact that I was being so vigilant. What tipped me off was the fact that this old woman evaded my notice until she was right up on me. It wasn’t that I was able to identify him, but that I hadn’t noticed him that stood out. Finding someone like that when they’re not trying to reveal themself would be impossible.”
“So, the plan is still the plan, then?” Dick asked. “We sit on Koraf and the Diadem and wait for Owen to make a move.”
“We’re going to need to be very stealthy,” Matthew said. “Otherwise they’ll figure out what we’ve done, and we’ll never catch them unawares.”
“The kid’s right,” Cash said. “All we have going for us at this point is that everyone thinks we’re off the board. They won’t be looking out for us, focusing instead on catching each other out.”
“I can monitor some of Koraf’s communications remotely and discreetly,” Vomero said. “I’ve spent the past week gently prodding their system until I found just the right combination to watch while remaining unobserved.”
“We’ll need someone with sharp eyes to keep an eye on his movements physically,” Cash said.
“I can do that,” Ryuuk said. “Not only are my eyes the sharpest, my genetic abilities let me focus from far off. Add a high powered scope to it and I can watch Koraf’s movements from three blocks away. Not to mention, I’m the most mobile, besides Matthew here.”
We all nodded in agreement. I knew how much it meant to Ryuuk to participate in this operation fully.
“I can also do some recon up close with the right form,” Dick said. “I’ll think of something.”
“That leaves Skye and Cash free to do the most important work,” Vomero said.
“What’s that?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Figuring out our next steps once we do find him.”
“That one’s simple,” Ryuuk said. “You know, after meeting all of you, I started to realize how stupid I had been because of Fable, believing in a world where everything was good or bad, right or wrong. The more I experienced in real life, the more I realized there aren’t any true heroes, or villains. People are complex, that’s what Gramps taught me. Then someone like Owen comes along...”
He stopped for a moment in his explanation, overcome by emotion and choking back tears as he stared across the room toward the window. I saw the moment play out on his face, the moment he decided to let his anger bolster his fragile emotional state. He clenched his jaw and his eyes seemed sharper. As he turned back to face us, his expression was resolute.
“For the first time since leaving Gunslinger, I feel like I'm in my element. I’m no hero, but I played one once. And Owen is about the closest thing to a real-life villain as I’ve seen. So, like I said, it’s simple. When we find him, we kill him. And by God I hope he begs for mercy when we do because he won’t be findin’ any from me.”