It was supposed to be an easy job.

Stay hidden in the alley across from the house. Wait until the couple who lived there went out to visit their friends—as they always did on Fridays. Go to the back and use the keycard they kept under the plant pot by the door—people could be so predictable. Walk upstairs. Crack the safe. Take the cube. Run.

But too many things had gone wrong.

They left two hours later than usual, and then the keycard hadn’t been where it was supposed to be.

He hated breaking in—it just made the whole thing too obvious, not to mention the risk of the sound drawing in curious neighbors to their windows.

Improvising was part of the job, but he didn’t have to like it.

He walked around the house, making as little sound as possible, trying to find some other way in.

That was when he noticed a window on the first floor that had been left slightly ajar.

A tree rose next to the house. He glanced at it, then back at the window. If he climbed up and crawled along that branch, he could probably jump to the ledge right under the window. From there, it’d be easy to push it open and slide in.

He looked at the neighboring house but saw all the lights there were turned off. It felt safe enough, but he still was nervous as he started climbing.

When he reached as far as he dared on the branch, he considered the ledge and had second thoughts. That damn thing was really narrow. Jumping didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. He doubted a fall would kill him—it wasn’t that high—but it’d hurt like hell, and he could still break some bones.

But what other option did he have?

He had to get that cube.

Taking a deep breath, he let himself hang from the branch, holding it with both hands over his head. He started swinging back and forth to give himself momentum. When he felt he had enough of that, he let go.

It was a strange feeling, flying through the air. He could feel himself falling, with nothing to hold on to around him. It was as if everything was suddenly going in slow motion. He saw the ledge coming toward him, as if the house itself was in movement—which was ridiculous, of course. Houses don’t move.

He held out his hands just as his feet hit the ledge. His fingers slid into the gap under the window, and he held tight as his feet slipped. He felt his whole body drop, but his hands gripped tighter.

Taking another deep breath, he pulled himself up and scrambled with his legs until he was standing on the ledge. Only then did he release the sigh that had been caught in his throat.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

With one hand, he pushed the window up, then slid in.

The room was dark. Darker than he’d expected.

He bumped into a chair and cursed.

Though his wristpad could have lit the way for him, he dared not turn it on for fear of drawing attention. The neighbors across the street were likely sleeping—the lights were still off, at least—but you never knew what little sound could wake them... or they could get up to get something to drink, or to use the bathroom. He really didn’t want them noticing a light in this room when they most likely knew the people who lived here were gone for the weekend.

So he stopped and waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Then he looked around.

He saw a small table and some chairs—including the one he’d bumped into. Far against the wall was a large bed with a chest at its feet.

It wasn’t the right room... Of course it wasn’t. That would have been too easy.

He grunted and headed for the door. Once in the hall, he turned to his wristpad and brought up the blueprints of the house. They had been surprisingly easy to find.

Now, with a better sense of where he was and where he needed to be, he turned to his right and walked a couple of doors down. He opened the one on the left, leaned his head through the opening, and took a peek inside.

A desk, bookshelves, more chairs, with some paintings on the wall.

He smiled and stepped in, closing the door quietly behind him.

Walking around the desk, he stopped in front of the painting that hung behind it. He stared at it for a moment, then lifted it gently off its hooks and set it down on the floor, resting against the wall.

Doing this had revealed the door of a small safe.

People didn’t hide safes in such obvious places anymore. You only saw that in old films that dated from old Earth. There were better ways now. Some might argue that it made this more unexpected and safer, as no one would have expected it.

Well, no one who didn’t know about it in advance.

He’d done enough research on this house to know all of its secrets.

He cracked his knuckles and went to work.

It took him about ten minutes to find the right combination. Though, to be fair, it was his wristpad that had done all the hard work. He’d set it against the safe’s digital screen and a special routine he had coded some years ago had done the rest.

Inside, he found the cube.

Half its surfaces were red, the other blue.

It stared at him, as if to taunt him, daring him to do something about it.

So he did.

He reached in and grabbed the item, tossing it quickly into his bag.

For some reason, he was now a lot more nervous than he’d been while creeping through the halls.

With quick gestures, he closed the safe and hung the painting back in place. He then hurried back to the window he’d gone through. He paused and stared at it.

Was he really going to go through that again? There was no way he’d be able to jump back onto that branch. He’d have to jump down. It was only the first floor, but he still didn’t like the idea of doing that.

He wrinkled his nose and brought the window down, making sure he left it exactly the way he’d found it.

After that, he quietly made his way back into the hall, then downstairs.

He went to the backdoor and opened it.

How was he going to lock it up again once he was out?

He grunted and walked out. As he was about to close the door behind him, his eyes fell on the kitchen table. There was something shiny there... small, flat, triangular.

Could it be...?

Stepping back in, he reached for the object.

It was the keycard!

He held back his laughter, shook his head, and walked out.

After locking the door, he slipped the keycard under the plant pot.

They’d think they’d hid it there, as they always did.

He’d left just as quietly as he’d come.

No one ever noticed him.

Still, something had bothered him then, as it still bothered him now.

He sat on his bed and frowned.

Reaching for the bag, he opened it and slid a hand in.

Gently, he brought the cube out.

Kaine stared at it for a long time as Starrider sped through space.