Winnie, Josephine, and Oni sat together in the Venezia mess deck. Oni fiddled with a tablet he'd printed out on the onboard assembler. He sometimes glanced at the television the other soldiers watched. Josephine and Winnie sat across from each other, staring into on another's eyes. To an outsider, they probably seemed to be in a staring contest lasting hours.

Mentally, Winnie was watching Christof enter a grid terminal in Fortaleza, Brazil. It bustled with traffic. Families struggled to keep themselves together. Solo travelers hurried. Police manned all the exits and security points. Exemplars watched idly over traffic. Wanted posters were on the walls in every security office, as well as covering the odd pillar.

Except Josephine and Winnie had already mentally passed through the station before Christof and Zauna even parked outside. To everyone there, none of them had seen those posters before. Yet Winnie kept an eye out. All it would take was a glance and a good eye. Anyone could still spot him.

Christof got into a long line to purchase tickets. There weren't any bulletins near him. Winnie risked looking away for a moment. Her mind was now in Fort Alston, a military base north of Sao Paulo. Hundreds of unshielded soldiers went about their duty. Winnie sought out a group she hadn't seen before and held them in mind while staring down Josephine.

Josephine closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "How about we stop for now? Let me know if Christof needs us."

"Victoria wants us to do this."

"Those soldiers don't know anything."

"They might."

Josephine gave her a pained glance. "Those men are exercising. How are pushups going to threaten us?"

"It can't hurt."

"It's starting to."

"We're supposed to be buying time."

"And if you find any soldiers doing something remotely related to us, let me know." Josephine rested back.

Winnie scanned through the HIMS Manakin again. Thousands of people manned that ship. She didn't bother Josephine to work their memories. A quick check showed everyone had a small stone around their neck or buried in their pocket. One briefing at a time, they were all relearning about "the terrorists in the sky" and Winnie couldn't do a thing about it. Soon the entire army would be mentally untouchable. The Venezia could not come out of the sky again.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She brought her mind back to the travelers she was watching over. Zauna waited in a car in the parking lot. In the back seat, sitting on top of a pile of stolen goods, was Helena. She was active for once, and poking at a piece of beef jerky, not an approved tortoise diet. Winnie wanted to call and tell Zauna to stop that, but Christof had the phone. Not that it mattered, as soon as they got to a safe place in Europe, the Venezia would pick them up and Winnie would make Victoria uphold her bargain and give Helena a human body. Besides, it was good to see Helena eating again.

She returned her attention to Christof just as he stepped up to the ticket counter. Winnie got Josephine's attention.

Christof requested tickets. The seller asked a few questions, then for ID. Christof handed one over. It was of a balding middle-aged Venezuelan that Zauna pick-pocketed yesterday. It looked like Christof only to the most glaucoma-ridden senior. The ticket man looked repeatedly from it to Christof. Winnie could sense Josephine peeling his memories away. The seller's expression never changed, nor did Christof's, yet the exchange took an awkward ten seconds. Finally the man handed it back as though nothing was amiss. Christof got the tickets and headed back to the parking lot.

He dialed the Venezia as he got into the car. Winnie answered part way through the first ring.

"What now?" he asked, switching the phone to speaker.

"Go. They're already boarding."

"Any exemplars?"

"No, but all the guards have glyph cards."

"Mmh."

"You'll be fine."

"There are posters of us everywhere."

"I know. Just don't look at anyone too closely. Now go."

"Okay." Christof moved to hang up.

"And don't forget Helena," Winnie yelled.

Within minutes, the three were in the station making their way to the security checkpoint. Winnie suspected they could have walked through it without stopping, but Josephine had warned against that. As it was, Christof and Zauna waited in line like everyone else. People glanced at the tortoise in Zauna's hands. The guards eyed Christof from across the checkpoint.

Winnie didn't dare take them out of her view. To everyone with glyph cards, Christof was practically glowing since he was a genuine flair. Several times, guards moved to intercept them. Josephine would pull memories away, and they would putter to a stop. A moment later, another would move. Josephine would repeat.

Christof and Zauna reached their shuttle, found seats, and settled in just as the doors were closing. Josephine broke eye contact, yet Winnie continued watching until the shuttle began its trip along the TransAtlantic chute. They were as good as free now.

Winnie turned her mind back to the military base and found another group of soldiers. She caught Josephine's attention. Josephine gave her a sour look, though despite her exhaustion, they continued to work.