The man stared. Winnie hoped they were hidden, but of course not. They were on a vast, featureless tarmac. He stepped up and crouched by them.

"Huh? How the hell did you get up here?" He leaned closer. "Are you the queen's turtles?"

No, Winnie thought, we're tortoises. And no we're not. Go away.

The man reached. Winnie turned and snapped at his fingers. A miss, but he yelped and recoiled. Helena hissed. Together, they plodded toward him, mouth's agape and ready to clamp.

The man stumbled away. He hurried back inside and shut the door. Now their time was limited. Winnie scanned around with her mind. The spire they'd emerged from was near the center of the citadel. Any direction would take about the same time to reach the edge, but some edges were closer to the mainland. She picked one, and they were off.

She and Helena were walking across the open deck. Even at night, the citadel had enough light that anyone looking would plainly see them, but there was no point to stealth anymore. In her mind, she saw that civilian talking to the exemplars upstairs. When Alexander heard, he lurched from his chair. He, Christof, and several exemplars raced down the stairs.

Winnie and Helena were half way to the edge once the others got outside. The smoking man pointed out the spot near the door.

"They were here," he said. "Looks like they walked off."

"How long ago was this?" asked Christof.

"Two minutes?"

"And they were headed this way?" Alex pointed toward the direction the civilian had seen the tortoises heading. Good. It wasn't the way Winnie had ultimately chosen.

"I guess so," the man said. "They looked pretty lost to me."

"But how did they get out? At all?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. They were already out here when I stepped out."

"But someone had to... nevermind. Look at me." Alex peered at him.

The man looked back, confused. "What?"

Alex threw his hands up. "Oh. My. God. You goddamn imbecile."

"Hey. Who the hell are you?" the man replied.

"You leave the door to the imperial spire cracked open? Unattended?"

"No, I don't."

"I will see you executed."

"Listen, kid. I told you those tortoises were already out here. I was the one who reported them. They weren't—"

"Arrest him now." Alex said to an exemplar. "Take him to a cell upstairs."

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The exemplars seized him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the man said.

"I work directly with the queen. Arrest this man for violating security protocol."

"I never violated anything."

"Let him go," Christof said.

Alex spun to him. "This man let the tortoises out."

"He will be reprimanded. He will not be arrested."

Alex looked like he wanted to yell something back, but instead, "Fine. Just take him back inside." As they carried him off, Alex turned to the remaining exemplars. "Can any of you sense the tortoises?"

"What?" one asked. "You can sense them?"

Alex gave up and slapped his hand on the man's plaque. Winnie held her breath as he concentrated. She wasn't certain they were out of his range.

Fortunately, he didn't detect them. "Just split up," he said. Pointing to one exemplar, "You go to the barracks. I want everyone on the deck."

"You want me to wake the barracks?"

"Yes. Jesus Christ. What is wrong with you people? Get everyone. Find them. The rest of you split up. Search the deck."

Everyone split off.

"Winnie," said Christof. "I'd like to speak with you privately."

"In a minute." Alex looked around. He made up his mind which direction to check. Whether he followed the same logic as Winnie, or by chance, he headed straight for them.

Winnie just had to circle one last spire and the ledge was would be right ahead. Get over that, and live or die, they'd be free of Alex.

Christof was chasing after him. "We can't wake the entire base. Those tortoises are supposed to be just tortoises."

Alex didn't slow. "We'll say it's for sentimental reasons."

Only a hundred feet to go now. Winnie hurried. From the shadows of the last spire, she raced to the edge, but Helena wasn't. She didn't realize how little time they had left, and now Alex was in view.

Of course, Alex spotted her immediately. He sprinted. Winnie charged. He dived. She cleared the ledge.

And his hand hooked her shell.

"Hah! There." He eased her back in. "Almost had it, didn't you? Almost had it." His body—Winnie's body—was covered in scrapes from diving onto tarmac. Winnie kicked and thrashed, but her limbs reached nothing.

Alex got to his feet and secured his hold on her.

Christof walked up.

Alex held her triumphantly. "She almost got away. Almost."

"Not quite," Christof replied, though he didn't seem nearly as pleased. He frowned and glanced about.

Helena had backed into the shadow of the nearest spire. At a glance, she was hidden, but one good look would spot her. If she sprinted right now...

"Where's the other, huh?" Alex turned Winnie to look her in the eyes. She snapped them shut and pulled into her shell. Alex pinched her tail, hard. His nails dug between her scales. All she had to do was hold out long enough.

Helena must realize that the plan was. She just saw Winnie try to jump off.

While Alex pinched harder and harder, Helena crept from the shadow toward the ledge, almost into Christof's view.

"Come on. Come on." Alex said, pinching harder. His and Christof's attention were on her. Helena was by their feet now. All they had to do was look down. All she had to do was take another few steps. Why wasn't she?

"Give it up," said Christof. "She probably already jumped."

"No. She's still here." Alex even glanced up and down the edge of the deck. He neglected to look right behind his feet.

Christof didn't. He seemed to glance right at Helena.

"Why?" Christof said. "All you need is this one. She's the important one."

"I need that one for this one."

"You said it yourself Paul will crack soon. It doesn't matter. One day without farseeing won't kill us."

Alex spun to face him. "Because they're mine, Christof. They belong to me. I want my things back."

"Listen to yourself. You sound like a lunatic."

"Don't tell me—" Alex cut short and screamed in pain. Helena had her jaw clamped about his achilles heel. Alex let go of Winnie with one hand and grabbed Helena, yet she held on like a vice. His grip on Winnie was loose. She managed to find purchase against his arm with her back legs, and she scraped hard. Hollering, he dropped Winnie. She bounced against the railing. The world spun as she tumbled.

She could only await the crack against the tarmac. Thoughts of glistening, red mess filled her mind. But she kept falling, and spinning, and falling, and everything was dark. She must have cleared the ledge. Water waited below. She pulled into her shell and braced for impact.