“We’re in,” Abraham said. “Both guards are down. Dead, I’m afraid.”
I breathed out softly as Megan restored the lights. Two dead guards. Reckoner protocol was to minimize such things, as Prof had always said we wouldn’t get far killing our own. The guards weren’t innocent; they implicitly condoned Tia’s capture, and likely her torture. But in the end, two normal people—just trying to survive in the new, terrible world—were dead because of us.
Let the prize be worth the cost.
“Tia?” I whispered.
“She’s here,” Mizzy said. “Abraham’s freeing her from her bonds right now. Doesn’t look too bad.”
A short time later, a familiar female voice spoke over the line. “Huh. You slontzes actually did it.”
“How are you?” I asked, sharing a relieved look with Megan.
“He said that some members of his team were ‘growing impatient’ and had me tied up to think about my answers. But he didn’t hurt me.” She paused. “There’s still a lot of Jon there. I wouldn’t have assumed…I mean…”
“I know,” I said, turning to watch Prof interact with his Epics, though I wasn’t angled right to catch what he was saying.
“I almost believed him, David. Believed that he hadn’t turned, that this was all part of some necessary ploy to fight the Epics…”
“He knows what to say,” I told her. “He’s not fully gone, Tia. We’ll get him back.”
She didn’t reply as Megan and I started toward the elevators. If anyone questioned us, I’d pretend to be feeling ill, and we’d take the next ride down. They wouldn’t check us against the guest list down there, like they would have if we’d tried to go up that way.
Easy up, easy down. I almost felt like I’d been slacking through the mission, with Abraham and Mizzy doing the difficult work. “Objective achieved,” I said. “Full extraction, everyone.”
“You have the data already?” Tia asked.
“Data?” I said.
“From Jon’s computers.”
“No,” I said. “We came for you, not for that.”
“And I appreciate it. But David, I’ve been talking to him, and I got some things out of him. We were right. Regalia left a plan for Jon to follow. He’s here at her bidding. Coming to Ildithia, it’s part of some kind of master plan. One we need to discover.”
“I agree, but…Wait.”
Behind me, the room had suddenly hushed. Megan’s hand tightened on my arm, and we turned around.
Prof had stood up, quieting everyone around him.
Tia started to object to what I’d said, but I cut her off. “Something’s wrong. What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Mizzy said. “We just stepped out of Tia’s rooms. We’re on our way to the elevator shaft.”
Prof gestured sharply toward the elevators, saying something I couldn’t make out. The urgency in his motions was unmistakable.
“Abraham, Mizzy,” I said. “You’ve been discovered. Repeat, you’ve been discovered. Get to an exit, right now.”
I pushed toward the main guest elevators, but was surprised when Megan held me back. I looked at her, and she in turn nodded toward Prof’s team of lackeys. They were moving in the same direction. They’d have priority; we’d be shouted out of the way.
Stairs? Megan mouthed.
I nodded. They were in the hub of the circular chamber, so we began to move in that direction, trying not to look conspicuous. If Abraham’s team had been spotted, then it was even more imperative that Megan and I remain hidden.
“Backtracking for emergency escape,” Abraham said, breathing heavily. “Those cameras are going to spot us. Even if they’ve been alerted, I’d rather they not know which hallways we’re in.”
“Killing the lights,” I said. “Move to night vision.”
“Roger.”
I turned off the lights with the mobile, causing a general outcry in the restaurant.
“What tipped him off?” Mizzy asked.
“He must have planted a bug of some sort on me,” Tia said. “One set to trigger if I left my room.”
“He could be tracking you!” I said.
“I know,” she said. “Little we can do about that right now though.”
I felt so helpless. Megan and I sidled up to the room’s inner ring, moving toward the stairwell.
“David,” Tia said, “Jonathan’s chambers are on this level. I’m going to take Abraham and Mizzy and go get that data. We can grab it during the blackout confusion; they’ll never expect us to be going that way.”
I stopped in place. “Tia, no. Abort. Get out.”
“Can’t do that.”
“Why?” I said. “Tia, you’ve always been the careful one! This mission is going to hell. We need to extract.”
“You do realize what’s in that data, David.”
“Regalia’s plans?”
“More than that. She saw Calamity, David. Regalia interacted with him, or her, or whatever it is. Jon boasted to me of what he’d seen. David, there are pictures.”
Sparks. Pictures of Calamity? The Epic?
“All the secrets we’ve been hunting could be on that data drive,” Tia said. “The answers we’ve been chasing all our lives. Surely you, of all people, can see it. My plan got you this far; we need to take the last step. That data is worth the risk.”
From this angle I could see through a glass window on the outside rim of the building. Calamity was there, of course. It was always there, heaven’s bullet hole. Calamity…an Epic. The ultimate gifter? Would we find answers in that spot of garish light? Would we find out why all this had begun?
The meaning of Epics…the truth?
“No, Tia,” I said. “We’ve been discovered, and my team is in serious danger. We can’t grab that data right now. We’ll get it later.”
“We’re so close,” she said. “I’m not leaving it, David. I’m sorry. This team is mine, and as the senior Reckoner, I—”
“Senior Reckoner?” Megan cut in. “You abandoned us.”
“Says the traitor.”
Megan stiffened. She stood beside me, my hand on her shoulder, but I couldn’t see much of her. The room was completely black, with partygoers knocking into things, voices raised in confusion. Across the room, an Epic burst into red lightning, giving the place a glow. Soon a second Epic started glowing with a calmer, blue light.
“Tia,” I said, trying to be rational, “I’m in command of this mission, and I’m telling you to extract. That information isn’t worth risking my team. Abraham, Mizzy, get out of there.”
Deathly silence came over the line. I could imagine them one floor down, looking Tia in the eye, considering.
“Roger that, David,” Abraham said. “Team Hip extracting.”
“I’m with him,” Mizzy said. “This isn’t the time for a power struggle, Tia. Let’s get out of here.”
Tia muttered something inaudible but made no further argument. Megan tugged on my arm, leading me the l
ast distance toward the door to the stairwell, which we could now make out by the light of several glowing Epics. Unfortunately, with the power out, Prof’s team was gathering there as well, and blocked the way.
“David?” Mizzy asked over the line a short time later. “What about you two?”
“Keep on with your emergency extraction plan,” I said quietly. “We have false identities. We’re safe up here.”
“We’re ready,” Abraham said. “Won’t need the inflatables. Regrettably, we have something superior.”
“Go,” Cody said. “You should be clear.”
I thought I heard a window being blown open below, or at least felt the vibrations.
“Parachutes!” someone in our room shouted. “Outside!”
People rushed for the windows; Megan and I backed away. Prof’s Epics shoved past us to a window, and then the blonde woman I thought I recognized waved over several guards. She glanced at Prof, who stood with arms folded, lit by the glowing Epics nearby. He nodded.
“Bring them down,” the woman said, pointing.
The guards started shooting. The window shattered amid the cacophony of indoor weapons fire. It was like firecrackers, if they’d been stapled to your head and stuffed in your ears.
Muzzles flashed, illuminating the dark room like strobe lights. I winced, backing away as the guards filled Abraham’s parachutes with holes. Fortunately, the action at the window had drawn everyone’s attention that way. Megan and I were able to retreat toward the stairwell at the center of the room.
“Parachutes down, my lord,” the blonde Epic said, turning to Prof.
We didn’t have long until they discovered that the chutes were attached to the corpses of the dead guards. Abraham, Mizzy, and Tia would be using the distraction to reach the elevator doors, then ride their wire climbers down the cables and exit the building.
“We’re at the elevators,” Abraham said.
“Go!” Cody said.
“Right.”
I waited a tense few moments.
“We’ve hit the second floor,” Abraham finally said, out of breath. “Stopping here.”
“That was quuuuiiite the ride,” Mizzy added. “Like a zip line, except straight down.”