The dome was translucent. It rose high above the city, smooth and daunting.
Why was it even there? It wasn't like there were any dangerous animals on this world—at least, not more than on any other world. And the air was breathable.
Val approached the gate warily. She only saw local officers manning it, but she suspected Imperial soldiers to be nearby.
“What's your business here?” asked one of the officials as he scanned her wristpad.
“Fell from the sky,” she said. “Ship's wrecked. Need a fixer.”
The man frowned. “You flew through the battlefield? Why would you even risk that?”
She could have told him she hadn't had a choice, but that would have led to more questions she didn't want to answer. She already regretted having shared as much as she had. The last thing she needed was for Imperials to dig into her records.
Maybe she could try a diversion.
"Speaking of the battlefield, what is that about? Thought I'd die up there."
The man frowned. "Do I look like a TriVid screen? Answer the question."
Well, that didn't work...
“I have an urgent message to deliver,” she lied.
That would lead to questions too, she knew, but at least it'd move them away from the truth.
“Who is the intended recipient?”
She took on the most imperious tone she could muster.
“That is not for me to say, nor for you to know. The powerful do not want the likes of us meddling in their affairs.”
The official blinked, taken aback. He looked at the displayed data on his retina and cleared his throat.
“Fine. You have one hour to deliver your message. You are granted five more to find a fixer. If you need more time, you must apply for it at the Regency.”
The man pressed two fingers against her wristpad, and the timespan was digitally recorded.
Walking through the gate and into the city, she decided she'd have to thank Nim for hacking her credentials. When he had first suggested it, she'd thought he was overreacting. She knew better now. Without this, she'd likely have been arrested.
The gate opened into a tube with transparent surfaces. It slanted up, toward a transit station. The floor moved under her feet, carrying her faster than she could have walked.
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There were no streets in Uthyn. Only airwaves and tunnels. Pedestrians used the walking tubes while gliders and shuttles filled the sky.
When she reached the platform, Val paused at the Holscreen Terminal to search for a fixer. Several addresses popped up, which she downloaded to her wristpad. The list appeared for a second before the display glitched. She swore and tapped on the mini-screen. It went black, then lit up again. She sighed when everything went back to normal.
She'd have to talk to Nim about this.
The device calculated the closest address and determined which shuttle she would need to take to get there.
Ten minutes later, she got off the flying vehicle and headed down a tube toward a large structure made of glass walls—though they were tinted black so that you could not see within.
When she entered the building, she froze.
There were Impies all over the place. Their green and red uniforms glistened under the rays of the sun.
None of them were paying any attention to her, though, as they were busy moving large cages into the back of a shuttle.
And there were people in those cages!
She stared for a moment, then averted her eyes, clenching her fists, and moved on, headed toward the fixer's location. He worked somewhere around here.
The place, she realized, was a vast hangar—likely owned by the Imperium—with various areas rented out to private enterprises that needed the space. Mostly merchants needing a place to store merchandise... and one fixer.
To reach her destination, she had to walk through a large empty room... though it was not completely empty. She spotted a few more cages here and guessed this was where they had all been stored while waiting for a ship to move them to whatever prison they were to be thrown in.
As she approached, she heard soldiers talking. She hadn't noticed them at first, as they were hidden by one of the cages.
“Freaking scum! We should just dump them all in space. I don't understand why the Imperium even bothers with them.”
“To keep us busy,” snorted another, “that's why.”
The voices faded as the soldiers walked out of the room.
“Looks like we have something in common,” said a voice from behind her.
She turned and squinted at the man.
He had short black hair, a two-day beard, and twinkling blue eyes.
More importantly, he was locked in one of the cages.
She snorted. “Oh? And what would that be?”
He motioned with his chin in the direction the Imperials had gone.
“You dislike them.”
“Doesn't everyone?”
The other chuckled. “Don't let them hear you say that, or you might end up in a cage too.”
“I need to go,” she said as she turned away.
“Hey! Hang on. Maybe we can help each other here... They're gone now. They'll be back soon, but you could break the lock before—”
“No.”
“No? What do you mean, no?”
“Which part of 'no' do you not understand?”
The man grimaced. “It's not like I'm asking you to marry me...”
She frowned. “Only to risk my life for you. No thank you.”
“Come on, princess! Get me out of here. It'll only take a second.”
“Princess?”
“Isn't that what every little girl dreams of becoming when they grow up?”
“I haven't been a little girl in a very long time. And, for your information, I wanted to be a pilot. Which I am.”
“So we have a way out? Awesome!”
“There is no 'we.' Goodbye.”
She turned to leave again, but he called out.
“Wait, prin—” The word got caught in his throat when he saw the glare she threw at him. “Alright, alright, how about we start over? My name’s Kaine. What's yours?”
She squinted at him. “Val.”
“Nice to meet you, Val. Look, all I’m asking is for a little bit of compassion...”
There were three other cages nearby. Two of the prisoners held within were asleep, but the third was staring at them.
“I don't have time for this,” she said.
Kaine glanced at the eavesdropper and lowered his voice.
“What if I told you I could pay you?”
That got her attention.