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  Abial scrapes her hair off her face, pulling it into a firm horsetail. “Right, we’re gonna need an evac plan, and a safe house other than this one. Can’t risk coming back to the same place. I vote we get some food, put a plan together, and bounce ASAP. If you guys are right, we don’t have much time.” She slaps her hand on her hip to check her zap, then realizes she isn’t wearing it, and sighs. “Weapons would be nice, too. Leaf, could ya try and pull something together for us?”

  But he’s already sliding toward the door, moving like silk. He pats his hair back into place, and suddenly the guttersnipe is gone, replaced by a self-confident, affected young gentleman. The chameleon effect is impressive; Serena would never guess that he was the same pickpocket who’d been entertaining them for the past ten minutes. He grins at them, and the mask disappears for a second. Then he listens at the door, waits a few beats, and slips out of it without a sound.

  There’s a beat of silence, and then Abial breaks it.

  “He’s kinda creepy.”

  Serena blurts a laugh at the idea of Abial being creeped out by their new friend. She’s usually so unflustered, taking everything in her stride – something Serena has always been envious of. “Eh, pretty neat trick, changing it up like that. I wonder if he can do any other characters. Maybe he can give us some pointers.” Then she nods, jerking her head at the map. “We’d better get to it. Like you said, we don’t have much time.”

  They settle in at the workstation, anchoring the holo map to the wall so they can refer to it as they start pulling information from the city archives and nets, working together seamlessly to formulate a plan that will get them to the right place, and then get them out of the City. Preferably with their lives intact.

  WHEN LEAF COMES back, he slips down the stairs at the side of the room without making any sound whatsoever, scaring the nuke out of them. Some slight change in the room alerts the girls, and they whirl simultaneously, thrusting power at him. Serena herself – and she expects Abial as well – intended to slam the intruder into the wall, but he just slides sideways untouched and snickers, raking his now-messy hair off his forehead again.

  Serena’s heart is in her throat, hands outstretched from the failed attack. Blanks are notoriously difficult to affect with telekinesis. Without the implicit understanding of their body position that comes with the reading of minds, it’s impossible to wrap mental ‘muscles’ around them. Which means that half of her martial training is useless against him. That pisses her off, as well as the fact that he caught them by surprise when they’re supposed to be on high alert.

  “Blank or no, you’d be a splat on the wall if we had zaps, idiot,” she snarls at him, dropping her hands and turning back to the datapad she’s been using to familiarize herself with all possible routes to the sites they’ve designated as likely targets.

  He doesn’t wilt under the hard stare he’s receiving from Abial, Serena notes, watching from the corner of her eye as she pretends her muscles aren’t juddering from the rush of adrenaline. Instead, he just chuckles again.

  “Nah if ya had zaps, I’d have taken the back door and disarmed ya before ya got a shot off at me.”

  “Or you could have knocked, like a normal human being.” Abial’s tone is scathing, but a smile lurks around the corners of her mouth. Serena scowls at her; her own hackles are still up, leaving her totally on edge, but Abial seems to be over it already, which only serves to irritate her more. Don’t you think we should be taking this a little more seriously?

  Leaf hops up onto a handy set of plastic crates and grins broadly at them both, clearly pleased by their reactions. “Well, that’d only work if we had a secret knock, wouldn’t it? Else ya’d never have answered. 'Cuz yer not supposed to be ‘ere.”

  His matter-of-fact ridiculousness breaks through Serena’s frustration, and she sighs, throwing her hands up in defeat in the face of his unshakable smugness. “Fine, sneak in, make us, trained soldiers, jump, but don’t come complaining if we accidentally hurt you. Deal?” She looks across at him, deadly serious. It wouldn’t do any of them any good if they accidentally crippled or killed their only ally in this City, but they’ll need at least some cooperation from him to keep from doing that.

  “If ya got extremely lucky!” He looks so unbearably cocky that she clenches her fist and uses her powers to yank the crate he’s sitting on forward. He lurches, teetering dangerously before regaining his balance, and purses his mouth in wry acknowledgement. Her point made, she shoves the crate back into its place telekinetically, and raises an eyebrow at him in challenge.

  “Yeah, alright. I’ll knock. Don’t want ya throwin’ a table at me pretty face! What’s the plan?”

  Satisfied that he understands that they’re not here for fun and games, she leans on a table, waving her hand at Abial, who spins in her seat and gestures, bringing the map around so it’s in front of her where Leaf can see it better. It’s still vertical, though, and his face is lit up with an eerie blue as he leans in, emphasizing his rather feminine jawline and casting ghostly shadows that hide his eyes.

  “As far as we can figure it, our best shot is to wait and find out where the soldiers are heading next, and then get there first. Knowing where they might be heading is all well and good, and if we had a whole crew we could hit up each joint at the same time, but we don’t have that. So we have to beat the bad guys to wherever they’re going. And then we should be golden.

  “We’re working on the assumption that someone has stolen something, and that the Institute wants it back pretty badly, which means it could be something that damages them. It could be equipment, but it could also be intelligence. Anyway, the plan is that we lend whoever they’re chasing a hand, if we can and should, and then get them out of the City. Quick as we can. Without getting killed.

  “Of course if they don’t want to cooperate, we might have to rethink our aims.”

  Her face is hard in the cold lighting, and Serena twists her mouth unhappily. They just don’t have a lot of good options, but kidnapping sounds a little too much like the methods the Institute uses. Whoever they’re after might not welcome their help, and it’s all too possible that he or she won’t want to go back to ARC at all.

  In which case Serena and Abial will have to relieve them of information and possible items. And she’s not exactly comfortable with that.

  But it would be irresponsible to leave a weapon that could help ARC behind, no matter the cost. War brings impossible circumstances with it, and sometimes all the choices are bad, but she truly hopes it doesn’t come down to hurting someone that they could, instead, form an alliance with.

  Whatever happens, she’ll have to deal with it. This is the hand they’ve been dealt, and combat training has prepared them for high-risk situations like this. If they leave the person behind to be captured, it could compromise their chances of getting out of the City safely. And if Serena or Abial is caught – because the person they’re chasing refuses to come with them, and knows too much – their minds will be plundered; the chances of them being able to resist for very long are low. That’s why ‘Ways to Commit Suicide’ is a class she’s been taking since she was fourteen. If they’re out of touch for more than a day, the rotating entrances to the ARC headquarters will be destroyed, presumed compromised by their capture. Of course, they’re not privy to everything; ARC, by necessity, keeps information as compartmentalized as possible. In the hands of a skilled Reader, a captured operative could spell the end of the entire resistance.

  Taking her own life, if it comes to it, is something she thinks she’s accepted. But murder? She pushes away the unwelcome thought that they may have to kill someone who could be an ally. There’s no point in worrying about that before they even manage to catch up. Besides, she can’t imagine being alone and hounded by the Watch and Institute alike and not wanting help.

  Everything will be fine. That’s the idea for right now, and she’s sticking to it.

  She clears her throat, wanting to pull Abial’s
thoughts away from killing. “They’ll probably be happy to cooperate with anyone that can keep them alive. By the looks of the track so far, they’re only one step ahead of the soldiers, which means they’re either hacking comms or the cameras, to see where the bad guys are headed. If the Institute goes dark and turns off the city cams, whoever it is will be flying blind. He or she could end up surrounded without even realizing it. So we don’t have much time. If it was me in charge, it would already be a dark op, just because it’s so obvious that the body they’re after is tuned in to their approach.”

  A strange rumbling noise abruptly fills the room, interrupting her, and the girls react like the soldiers they are, immediately ducking and covering, hands up and looking for the source. Leaf balances, crouched on the crates, and when the sound comes again, louder this time, he leaps, catlike, to a less exposed position.

  Serena flicks a thought form to Abial, adrenaline pumping through her veins, calling her to combat. Explosions? Close! We need to get eyes on. Can you check the camera streams?

  On it, Abial responds tersely, tapping her fingers together without looking at her datapad, still scanning the room. All is quiet now, and Leaf slinks along the wall, pressing his eye to a crack in the metal-shuttered window. A strange pattering sound permeates the heavy silence, gradually getting louder, and then Leaf laughs, his whole body visibly relaxing.

  “It’s just a storm!” he crows over the noise, voice pitched perfectly to carry to them.

  Serena blinks stupidly for a moment, and then her mouth drops open in surprise. What? A storm? There hasn’t been a rainstorm in over a decade!

  “No way!” She races over to Leaf, almost shoving him out the way so she can plaster her own eye to the crack. An actual storm! Nuke us all, now? That’s either the world’s best or worst timing. It’s gotta make it harder for cameras to pick anything out, and help to erase our trails ... But it’s also going to make the trip a lot more unpleasant.

  “Oh, Google! This is incredible!” She can hear the awe in her voice, and feel the huge grin on her face. For a moment, she forgets about the mission as she gazes into the streaming rain.

  Outside, the City is suddenly bustling. The sunshields over the road are retracting automatically, sheets sliding over each other and sinking down into waiting pods on the sidewalk. People are hauling covers from long-unused reservoirs on their roofs, and kids are already splashing in the rapidly forming puddles. The rain is heavy, and the roads starting to flood, shining silver water slicking the solar panels.

  Abial pads over. “For real, a waterstorm?” She sounds equally excited, and Serena reluctantly moves to let her take a look.

  They stand for a few minutes, trading places to look through the gap in the shutters, and then Leaf clears his throat. “Should we, ya know, take advantage of the storm and get ta rescuin’ yer damsel in distress? Might not have rained in eleven years, but I’m sure the bad guys ain’t gonna stop blowin’ stuff up so as they can splash in the puddles ... probably.”

  Serena sighs and nods, tucking her unruly hair behind her ear, and already regretting her slip into childish excitement. She’s on a mission here, and if she messes it up she could die. Along with the rest of the team, and possibly everyone back at home, if they really nuke it up.

  Finally, satisfied she has her professional face back on, she clears her throat. “Yeah, you’re right. So what did you score for us?”

  He slopes across the room and hauls a large duffle bag out from behind the stair railing; she assumes that he managed to put it down before they even heard him enter the room, and puffs air from her nose in unspoken admiration. Man, he’s like a ghost.

  Now in possession of the bag, he sits on the bottom stair with it between his legs and delves into it haphazardly. The girls catch each other’s eyes for a moment and share a smile, but then Abial clearly remembers whatever has her so angry and looks away, eyes slanting downward. Serena clenches her jaw and squashes the urge to physically shake the other girl until she gives up and just tells her what the nuke is going on. Instead, she throws a thought at the sullen girl: Whatever it is, you need to get over it. We don’t have time to hash it out, but we will ... After this mission I’m gonna pin you to a wall until you spill.

  But Abial keeps her face studiously blank, ignoring the message.

  Leaf, oblivious to the interplay, is still rummaging. “’Nuff food for two days, ‘nuff water for one, but we’ll get ya set up somewhere ya can find fluid,‘s too heavy ta carry any more. Ya can always drink the rain, anyhow.” There’s a laugh in his voice as he finishes, and sets a few packages on the floor.

  He tosses the next item out of the bag at Serena, quickly followed by one to Abial. They both field them easily, reflexes honed by hours of training, and Serena looks down. Zaps! Nice.

  “Pinched those from a Watch patrol ‘cross town. They’re registered, so ya’ll have ta tinker with ‘em, but I figured ya knew that when ya asked for ‘em.”

  She grins in appreciation, holding the zapgun up to get a good look at it. The handgrips are moulded black plastic lined with strips of metal, gleaming dully in the gloom. On the side, a fingerprint reader is clearly visible in the depressions where a hand would curl around it. Abial beckons for Serena to pass hers over, and then sets them both down on the table. She starts fiddling with them, attaching wires to the sensors, and clearly not paying any more attention to Leaf and Serena as she works.

  Serena’s happy to leave her to it, since she never excelled in the tech classes. Abial used to be a solar monkey, wriggling through the narrow passages under the roads to replace broken wires. She grew up with technology, and Serena knows she can take care of it.

  Meanwhile, Leaf continues going through the bag, and Serena pads over so they can talk without disturbing Abial as she concentrates. She turns her attention to the ever-growing pile at Leaf’s feet, hoping to see weapons and armour, in that order. They’ll need them if they’re going to succeed on this mission.

  Ten minutes later she’s encased in the high-quality shock pad armour he’d brought. It’s heavy and gelatinous, sculpted to her body shape and attached with a strange adhesive. It’s also unfamiliar, enough that she needs his help attaching the back piece and trimming down the over-large edges. When he’s done, her whole torso is coated in a faintly gleaming, ominous-looking substance that blends with the shadows behind her. She looks down at herself, twisting to and fro to check her flexibility.

  She’s practically invisible.

  She looks amazing. Er, professional. She clears her throat, wiping the happiness from her expression.

  “Pretty good. This is a half-inch, right? Which means it’ll stop penetration from anything more than twenty-four inches away, and decrease impact forces by .5 percent for each metre travelled prior to contact. Should be able to shrug off anything more than fifteen metres!” She’s basically muttering to herself as she walks her fingers over the coating, but Leaf cocks his eyebrow at her anyway.

  “I’d have just said ‘this’ll stop my insides from becomin’ my outsides!’ But I’m sure what ya said makes sense too.”

  She shrugs at him, refusing to be embarrassed, and then pulls her civilian long-sleeved brown shirt over the top. This time, she does the clips up all the way to her neck to hide the black body armour underneath, then sighs, looking down at herself.

  “Well, I look like a lumpy prude, which I suppose is as good a disguise as any.” She can’t believe how thin the armour is – thinner than anything she’s every worn – and presses her hands against her belly, feeling the weird give of the flexible armour. It will harden instantaneously with impact, dispersing force across her torso instead of localizing the hit. It’s pretty brilliant.

  Abial chooses this moment to snap the power cell back into the zap and flick it on, grabbing Serena’s attention. She literally feels her eyes widen as the grip turns red – usually a precursor to a localized explosion, which would rend anyone stupid enough to try and use a registered zap ha
ndless. She relaxes a second later, though, as no explosion follows, and the grip turns green. Abial flips it in the air and catches it with a solid thunk, grinning happily.

  Serena’s relief translates into a bit of silliness; for a moment she genuinely thought Abial was about to lose a hand. She jerks a thumb at her and smirks at Leaf. “She’s the tech guy, I’m tactics.”

  He grins in response. “And I’m the tour guide, I get it. So, Tactics, what’s the genius plan once ya find the feller in question?”

  Genius plan ... not much of one. But it’s the best we can do right now. She finger combs her hair back and straightens her clothing over the armour, making sure it’s unobtrusive. She starts to put some of the gear Leaf brought into the small satchel that had held her ‘citizen’ gear, which now sits abandoned on the table.

  “We go and fetch, then we get out of the City. We’re too easy to find here. If you can find us a place to go in the outer slums, we’ll go there after we pick up the runner.” I hope. “We’ve gotta be out of the City before dawn.”

  He furrows his brow at her, his confused, dark eyes flashing. “Yeah, I got a place. Here’s the coordinates, and a knock rhythm. Like this.” He knocks out a pattern on the table, and Serena obediently copies him. She gets it right the first time, and he gestures for her to repeat it. Smirking a little she does so, getting it exactly right. Then he gives them a list of numbers, which Abial copies down. The coordinates, Serena realizes. Important.

  He snorts. “Very impressive. Shock me again, tell me how yer gonna get past the checkpoints on t’Wall.”

  She grins slowly at him and jerks her hand at the altered zap, which flies through the air and slaps into her waiting palm. A bit showy, sure, but she has the anticipation of a fight buzzing through her now, and her instincts are singing. She’s on edge, and it’s making her act before she really thinks about it. Gotta stop that. Chill. At this rate your power’ll be popping out of you. Determined to get herself under control, she closes her eyes for a second, then opens them, refocused on their mission. She tucks the zap into the back of her waistband and pulls her civs down to cover it.