Seera pulled another stone out of the bag. She had taken a tour around Vasily's work vault and grabbed up all the stones she felt would help her. She tapped Shanahan with the vaguely brick looking thing. He looked at her before taking it.

“Press it against your leg,” she said. She took another stone out of the bag. It was shaped like a ball with a button on the top. “It should help with that.”

Shanahan did as she told him. He didn't take his eyes off Emil. Seera knew he didn't have a chance. Only Emil's ego kept them from open death at the moment.

On the other hand, she knew that wouldn't stop her companion from trying. He just didn't fear the same things ordinary people did. Maybe it was the waves of anger he gave off that kept him from backing down when a sane man would throw in the towel.

She admitted she wasn't ready to give up either.

“Vasily's colleagues will want some kind of restitution for this,” said Emil. He gestured at the body with the face facing the wrong way.

“The Master Carver can look for me in my new city,” said Seera. “I think you should go before things get much worse than what they are now.”

“What about Donald and Eric?,” asked Emil.

“You can send me a bill,” said Seera. “We're leaving. Don't get in our way, and we'll be glad to let bygones be bygones. I didn't want to come back here, and I definitely didn't want to see you again.”

“What about you?,” said Emil. He didn't try to smile at Shanahan. The smaller man was giving off too much hate to be charmed.

“We should make sure you're dead,” said Shanahan. He let the crumbling brick fall to the ground. He stamped his leg to get blood flowing through it.

“Are you sure the two of you want to do that?,” asked Emil. “All I need is a bit of your time and some muscle. I feel that's a fair recompense for killing two of my assistants.”

“Your two assistants should have left a note,” said Seera. “It's obvious this has something to do with the cavern facing the Wu Chi. Why did you think I would go down there? You have the Eye too. You don't need me at all.”

“You're expendable,” said Shanahan. “Why risk himself when he has someone to go for him? The four musketeers were supposed to go with you, to make sure you made it to the cavern and take you down to where they wanted you to go.”

“Also to give her protection and relay reports on her progress,” said Emil. “That was the general plan before you ruined it.”

“Gaunt attacked me before I got here, and the Fist didn't back off when he had the chance,” said Shanahan. “You shouldn't have trusted those meatheads.”

“Still I feel something is owed to me,” said Emil.

“Something is,” said Shanahan. His hand clenched into a fist.

“Don't,” said Seera. “What are you getting from the Wu Chi, Emil?”

“They are giving me the services of one of their masters, who will provide a map of the bottom of the cavern if he makes it that far,” said the master weapon.

“And?,” said Seera.

“We are allowed any artifacts that may be claimed if there are such in the cavern,” said Emil.

“What would Mister Shanahan and I get out of this?,” said Seera. “You were already going to try to make me work for free. That's not even on the table any more.”

“What would you like?,” said Emil.

“You cover for us with the Master Carver,” said Seera. She indicated the corpse. “We take fifty percent of what we find. You get the rest per your agreement with the Wu Chi. We go in alone when we're ready.”

“I can't allow that last condition,” said Emil. He shrugged at their expressions. “The Wu Chi want one of their masters to find the bottom to see if he can close the cavern for good so they can do the same for their own cavern. And I don't trust you to not pretend you're going in and then running off.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“So you want to send someone with us?,” said Seera. She looked at Shanahan. He remained motionless.

“I think that would be for the best,” said Emil.

“We get to pick the one we take with us,” said Seera.

“I would have assumed Morehull would be a given,” said Emil.

“I don't think that's such a good idea,” said Seera. “Would you mind stepping outside?”

“Why would I do that?,” asked Emil.

“Because I would like to talk to my partner before we think about doing anything for you,” said Seera. “A little privacy will do wonders for that.”

“How do I know you won't try to flee?,” asked Emil.

“Because we said we wouldn't,” said Shanahan. “Leave the door open.”

“You're not nearly as scared of me as you should be,” said Emil.

“It's easy when you don't care,” said Shanahan.

“Ten minutes, Emil,” said Seera. She took off her watch and tossed it to him. “We'll have an answer for you at the end of that. We'll still be here whether you leave the door open, or not.”

“Really?,” asked Emil.

“If I wanted to kill you, I would have,” said Seera. “A little trust is what you want to show to people who are not inclined to trust you back.”

“Ten minutes,” said Emil. He looked down at the watch. “How does this work?”

“When the longer arm moves ten dots, it will be ten minutes,” said Seera. “Go ahead.”

Emil walked to the door. He looked at the two of them. Seera didn't know what he saw. Maybe he decided that Shanahan would never run from him the way the marine glared at him. Maybe that was what made up his mind. He stepped out and moved far enough away to give them a semblence of privacy while being able to watch them. If she tried to use the gate stone, he would be on the attack within seconds.

“Do we go along with this?,” Seera asked.

“Master Carver?,” asked Shanahan. He stamped the foot of his injured leg to test it again.

“The Master Carver is Emil's counterpart for the Shapers,” said Seera. “Killing Vasily means that he would have to build another gate stone to track us down, but it's possible he could do it. Then we would be back here dealing with the Shapers and Emil. Possibly also the Wu Chi, depending on what kind of deal Emil struck.”

Shanahan nodded. They would possibly be facing three factions, and none of them would feel merciful about how to deal with the pair of them.

“I can give you the gate stone so you can go home,” said Seera. “You'll be out of this. Once that's done, I can deal with Emil.”

“No,” said Shanahan. “We go together, or we don't. Killing yourself is not a viable choice.”

“What do you know about it?,” asked Seera.

“Everything,” said Shanahan. His expression softened for a moment. Then the anger came back and shut everything else down. “We have a chance to walk away. Killing yourself to kill Emil isn't going to do anyone any good.”

“What would you do?,” asked Seera.

“What Marines always do, regroup and attack from a better position,” said Shanahan.

“Do you really want to do this?,” asked Seera. “The caverns are supposed to be dangerous.”

“We just need supplies,” said Shanahan. “Firearms would make a big difference if nothing here is bulletproof.”

“Emil is,” said Seera. She smiled. “Do you really want to do this? It's a lot to ask of you after everything you have already done.”

“Twenty percent,” said Shanahan. A small smile crossed his face for a moment.

“All right,” said Seera. “How much time do you think we'll need to get what we need?”

“Depends on if we can find the firearms dealer who'll sell to us,” said Shanahan. “We're pretty disreputable.”

“I have a pistol,” said Seera. “It's in the rental.”

“Let's ask for two weeks,” said Shanahan. “We'll have to buy lights and ropes among everything else if we're going underground.”

“Let's ask for three to give us plenty of time,” said Seera. “Then we'll see how long he'll give us. Also if I drop this, run away in whatever direction is the fastest. It'll be bad for you to be close by when it opens.”

Shanahan glanced at the ball of stone in her hand. Now that she had said something, it looked like a grenade to him. How big an explosion did a TARDIS grenade have? He doubted he could outrun it.

Would Emil know enough to teleport away if he saw her drop it? She hoped not.

“So we go ahead with this?,” asked Seera. She wanted Shanahan to get clear but she knew he wouldn't leave now.

He wanted to fight, and this was something he knew he could do without any gray areas to make decisions murky. She didn't want to fight, but felt this was the only way forward. She wanted to have her own path instead of walking on other's.

“It's up to you,” said Shanahan.

“What would you do if I weren't involved?,” asked Seera.

“Kill them all,” said Shanahan.

“I can't disagree with that because that's what I want to do,” said Seera. She wiped her face with her free hand. “So we go ahead.”

She went to the door and gestured for Emil to come closer. He walked over, extending the watch for her to take back. She put it in the bag.

“We're going to take the deal,” said Seera. “We want three weeks to get ready in the other world before we take on your cavern.”

“I only have a week from the Wu Chi,” said Emil.

“Tell them that we're arming ourselves and we'll meet you at the cavern entrance in two weeks,” said Seera. “Tell them we'll take their representative in with us then.”

“You'll still have to take one of us also,” said Emil. “I'm willing to extend some trust but not much.”

“We'll take Everett Blacknight with us,” said Seera.

“The Spider?,” asked Emil. “Are you sure?”

“We'll need someone who can fight, is fast, and a natural climber,” said Seera. “Whitehouse is my second choice, but he's a coward.”

“I'll let Everett know to meet you at the cavern entrance,” said Emil. “Anything else?”

“We're going to do this for you, and then we're done,” said Seera. “I'm going back to my new life, and you won't bother either one of us again. I don't want to see any of you again after this. Got me?”

“If that's what you want,” said Emil.

“Step outside,” said Seera. “I have one last thing to do.”

Emil backed up as she pulled the gate stone from the bag. She activated it and shooed her partner through the whirling disk in the air. She dropped the stone ball and stepped into the gate.

The faux cabin vanished into a point of light, then nothing as Emil and his weapons watched.