Breakeven

by Michelle Diener

  He walked to the edge of the building, Dee right behind him, and they looked over the wall.

  The building with the secret tunnel was surrounded by guards.

  Sebastian could see people in the windows of the building, looking down with confusion and horror. A woman with two small children opened the front door to leave, freezing as a few of the guards turned their weapons in her direction, then scrambled back inside.

  “I think they know about the tunnel.” Dee's voice was dry.

  “Someone told them, between us leaving last night and now.”

  The mole was burning his or her bridges. Maybe they saw the end was coming, one way or the other.

  There was a sudden ripple in the attention of the guards. Most of them turned, some lifting a hand to their ear, and one fired off a shot down the road.

  “Darren.” Dee pointed to the left, and Sebastian caught a glimpse of Darren returning fire, and then he disappeared.

  “They're on the run.”

  Dee leaned out over the wall a little, trying to see where they were headed, but Sebastian pulled her back, fearful one of the guards would notice them.

  More of the guards around the building started moving, running after Darren and the others.

  “Let's go.”

  When they were back in the lift, dropping down, he pulled out the crystal he'd stored the video footage on. Held it out.

  She tilted her head to the side, looking at him with deep suspicion.

  “I need to go help Vahn. It's the absolute least I can do. But I don't want to risk the footage not getting through to Caro. You need to take it for me. The guards are leaving the building wide open. Go around the back, slip in through the hole in the wall you used last night, and use the tunnel. Don't trust anyone on the other side. I don't know who the mole is, so never let your guard down. Get this to Caro, and get her to put it up on the board.”

  She didn't take it.

  “Please, Dee. We need to split our focus here. I can help Vahn if I come up behind the guards. Cause some confusion. I might be able to give them a chance to go to ground.”

  “And what about you?” Her voice wavered, just a bit.

  “I'm up for a holiday. I'm not going to do anything stupid.”

  “And yet, that's exactly what you're proposing.” She stared at him steadily, then with sigh, took the crystal. “I'd do it for my team, so I understand. But . . .” She lifted an arm, sliding it around him and pulling him close. “Be careful. Please.”

  He kissed her, then pulled back as the lift suddenly stopped, the door opened and a surprised resident stepped in. They stood close together in silence to the ground floor, then walked out the front entrance behind the man, who looked back at them twice in suspicion.

  “I'll see you at Jamari's. Go there as soon as you've given Caro the crystal. Don't tell anyone where you're going.”

  She nodded, gave him one last quick kiss and jogged away.

  Sebastian turned in the direction of the gate, which is where Darren had been headed, most likely with Ruanne and Vahn in tow, and blended in with the foot traffic that had started to emerge from the buildings as the sun rose higher in the sky.

  Chapter 33

  Dee didn't know if any guards were left out front of the building, but there weren't any left at the back.

  She wriggled through the gap--it was harder getting in than getting out--and quickly stood when she heard footsteps up ahead.

  She paused at the foyer entrance, looking out, and caught sight of a woman standing at the foot of the stairs.

  “What are you doing?” The woman turned to her, her voice strident.

  “I was looking out to see if the guards were still there.” Dee hunched her shoulders.

  The woman seemed to deflate. “Me, too. They're gone, though.” She turned away and walked out the front door, and Dee waited for it to swing closed before she moved across to the basement door and quietly stepped inside.

  If they had left anyone, it would be down here, or somewhere along the tunnel.

  She didn't turn on the lights, but slid down the stairs with her back against the wall, taking each step carefully.

  She was halfway through the boxes and crates when she heard someone clear their throat.

  She sank down and moved forward even more cautiously.

  The person ahead scuffled their feet and she tried to make them out in the darkness.

  She could just see a darker shape against the gloom, standing against the far wall, blocking her exit into the tunnel.

  He moved again, restless, and most likely bored.

  They didn't expect trouble. Which was their mistake.

  She'd set her laz to incapacitate rather than just stun, and she took aim and fired.

  The guard fell back, smacking his head on the wall behind him and then sliding down it in a heap.

  The secret door was wrenched open as Dee straightened up, the guard who'd pulled it open outlined perfectly against the faint light coming from somewhere in the tunnel.

  “I said not to make a sound--”

  She shot him and he collapsed.

  She winced as she heard his head crack hard on the tunnel floor.

  She didn't bother to try and close the door, or move the guard she'd shot, but she did check on the one in the tunnel, to make sure his face wasn't in the water.

  Then she ran, keeping to the edges so she splashed less water, not just to reduce the noise she was making, but also to make it easier to hear if someone else was up ahead.

  Her mind jumped to Sebastian, up above in a city swarming with guards, and it helped her push through the exhaustion that seemed to have a hold on her limbs.

  She hadn't slept in too long. Hadn't eaten very much either. But Sebastian was up there, most likely under fire. She would get through, get to his friend Caro, no matter what.

  Things were coming to a head, here, just as they had done a week ago on Garmen. She could sense it.

  And it felt good.

  She'd worked her whole life toward the goal of ending the Cores.

  If she couldn't be there at the end on Garmen, she'd accept having a meaningful role in the Lassa takedown.

  And she would enjoy every moment of it.

  There was no one waiting inside the tunnel exit point like there had been when she and Sebastian had come through with Karr, but the ladder was impossible to miss because the lid wasn't flush over the hole and light streamed down, dancing on the water.

  Dee pulled herself up, and shoved at the lid, tilting her head up to come face to face with a laz-wielding resistance member.

  He blinked when he took her in, with her maintenance uniform and empty hands, and stepped back so she could come up.

  “The tunnel's compromised,” she told him. “The building was being guarded, and there were two guards in the basement, waiting at the entrance.”

  “What happened to them?” he asked, and she tapped her pocket.

  “Laz.”

  He put out his hand, as if she should give it to him, and she laughed and shook her head.

  “No.” She looked out of the enclosure door, saw there were people already gathering in the square in front of the board, waiting for the jobs list. “Where do I find Caro?”

  He was frowning at her. “I don't know you, so I can't let you come through with a weapon.”

  She sighed. Nodded. Took it out, lifted it up and pointed it at him. “Where. Is. Caro?”

  His eyes widened, and she wondered if he had been put on duty by the mole, because he was clearly incompetent.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “I have a message for her from Sebastian.”

  He blinked, and then pointed a finger. “You're Sebastian's . . .” He cleared his throat. “You're the woman from Garmen.”

  “That's right. Now, please tell me, where do I find Caro?”

  He thought about it. Nodded. “She’s at headquarters. Just ask someone in the front room, they'll tell you where sh
e is.”

  “Thank you.” She stepped out and ran across the open space toward the crumbling building with washing strung across the windows.

  She glanced back, but the guard hadn't followed her out.

  Because everything about the situation made her suspicious, she skirted the front entrance, made her way around the building and came in through a side door.

  The place still appeared to be an apartment building, with flowers growing in a pot in front of an apartment door.

  Because she liked the look of it, she knocked, and Laschka opened up.

  Dee guessed her face looked as surprised as Lasckha's did.

  “Who is it?” Koan stepped into view behind her, and his eyes widened, as well.

  “I've got a message for Caro. Where is she?”

  Laschka's head jerked back in surprise at the lack of preamble, but she stepped forward.

  “Come with me.”

  Dee followed her up wide stairs, could hear Koan following behind.

  “How did you get free?”

  “Sebastian and Darren helped me.”

  Laschka seemed to sag with relief. “Where are they?”

  “Helping Vahn and Ruanne get out of the city. We had to split up.”

  Laschka stopped, mouth open. “Vahn is alive?”

  She nodded. “They were keeping him in the same place as Lucia.”

  “Lucia would have told us if Vahn had been there.” Koan tried to grab Dee's arm and she slid out of his reach.

  “Lucia was never conscious, from the time she was taken, to the time she was returned. She didn't know Vahn was there with her.”

  “How do we know that's true?” Koan's lips formed a thin line.

  “Dee gave herself up to the Cores to save Lucia. I saw her do it myself. I believe her.” Laschka turned and kept going, then knocked lightly on a door just off the top of the stairs.

  She opened it without waiting for a response. “Someone with a message for you, Caro.”

  Dee stepped in behind her, found herself in a room that looked like an electronics workshop. Caro was sitting at a workstation in from of a comm unit, and she turned to greet them.

  She was tiny, her dark hair shot through with silver, the color even more striking against her dark skin.

  “What's the message?” Her voice was rough, like she'd been shouting for hours.

  “Vahn and Ruanne were being held in the Tree, and there is footage of them being beaten up while being questioned. But the really interesting part is at the end when Hanran Fattal admits he's selling out everyone but the top Cores execs to the Caruso. And even the top execs are being manipulated by him.”

  Lascka blew out a long breath. “You have that on record?”

  “Yes.” Dee didn't reach into her pocket for it, though. “Sebastian wanted you to put it up on the screen. So everyone in the settlement can see it. So they can wake up and understand what's going on. Without their involvement, the whole planet is about to fall.”

  Caro looked at her, saying nothing, and then turned to the comm unit, began to fly her fingers over the board. Then she gave a decisive nod. “Give me the data.” She held out her hand, and Dee took the crystal out, and placed it carefully in her palm.

  “Hmm.” Caro inserted it, and suddenly from the speakers on the screen across the square came the sound of someone being struck. “Draw them in with the senseless violence, and they'll stay for the political emergency.” Caro's voice held a hint of humor, despite the situation.

  Koan and Laschka had turned, and were both standing at the window, looking out at the board themselves.

  Dee held her hand out, and eyebrows raised in surprise, Caro pressed the crystal to release it, and gave it back. Dee put it in a front pocket and then walked to the window herself.

  “The tunnel's been compromised.” She spoke to Laschka, not bothering to even look at Koan. “There were two guards waiting in the basement, and before that, the whole of the building was surrounded by guards.”

  “How did you get through?” Laschka asked, eyes riveted to the screen.

  “The guards caught sight of Darren and the others, and went after them. That's when Sebastian and I split up. He went to help Darren and Vahn.”

  “What about the two in the basement?” Koan asked.

  “I shot them.”

  Laschka looked at her sharply. “Dead?”

  “No. I don't kill if I don't have to.” And she'd had to far too many times.

  She looked below, saw the crowds were growing around the screen. They were silent, which was more disturbing than if they'd been muttering to each other.

  She'd thought the number of people she'd seen there yesterday was a lot, but the crowd had swollen to at least double that, and it was still growing.

  “What are we going to do about this?” Laschka murmured, gaze fixed below. “We need to give them a useful outlet. We need to be on the front line.”

  A ripple went through the crowd, and Dee realized someone had started firing from the gate.

  “Are they shooting into the crowd?” She craned her neck to see, but she was at the wrong angle.

  “Laschka, you go down there, find out what's going on. I'll find everyone in the building, call them in to help.” Koan turned to Caro. “Will you try to reach everyone out in the field?”

  Caro nodded as Laschka took a last look below and then ran out the room.

  “Caro, is the unit here capable of interplanetary comms?” Dee guessed the answer was no, or she and Sebastian wouldn't have had to go to the lengths they had to contact Leo, so she wasn't surprised when Caro shook her head.

  “I wish.”

  On the screen outside, the long clip of Vahn and Ruanne being beaten was coming to an end. The crowd was more restless now, and making some noise at last. Dee could hear more firing, but it didn't seem to be aimed at the crowds, which made her wonder, who was it being aimed at?

  “Go forward to the last ten minutes,” she said to Caro. “That's the important part.”

  Caro's fingers flew, and suddenly there was Dee on the screen, laz pointed at Hanran Fattal, and he was spilling his secrets.

  Koan had paused at the doorway, still looking out the window at the screen. He'd been murmuring into his comm set, quiet enough she couldn't hear what he was saying, but he turned, and there seemed to be almost a look of panic on his face. “This is going to bring down the Cores.”

  “I think you're right.” Caro leaned back in her chair with satisfaction.

  “I'll go down and help Laschka.” Dee had done everything she could here. “Maybe there's a way to help Sebastian from this side of the wall.”

  “I still have to find everyone in the building.” Koan moved with her.

  When she reached the stairs, he put a hand on her shoulder.

  “There's an office along here with a better view of the gate, if you want to see what's going on before you go down there?”

  She nodded. “I would. They're firing on someone. I'd like to know who.” Although she had a horrible suspicion.

  He led the way, opened the door, and stepped back, as if leaving her to it while he went on his own way. She saw he was right, the view was better from here.

  She'd just reached the window when the door slammed behind her.

  She turned as the lock engaged.

  “Hey!” She ran to it, pounded on it, but Koan was gone.

  She spun around, leaning back against the door, and banged her head. Guess she'd just found the mole.

  Chapter 34

  Dee forced herself to think past the fury at herself for being so careless.

  She took stock of the room. It looked like an office, but the desk was bare.

  She sat on the chair and began opening draws.

  One was locked, and she stood and looked around for something to break it open with.

  She found a metal doorstop on the floor near the door, and used it as a lever to snap the lock.

  There was a comm set inside, and
she pulled it out and clipped it into the power source, heart beating a little too fast.

  She clicked on the holo screen, tapped in the code for Leo's firm, and then, too anxious to sit still and see if she got through, she moved back to the window.

  Most of the guards at the gate were now watching the screen, she saw. Caro had it on a loop, and she'd edited a little, showing shorter clips of Ruanne and Vahn's beatings, and then going in to Hanran Fattal's devastating confessions.

  There was also a group of guards on the Dar Raca side, standing on the street leading through the gate, and they looked confused. Some were pointing their weapons down the street, others were trying to see the screen themselves.

  A hover swept down the hover track--she could feel the hum from the window--and then stuttered to a stop close to the building, still on the settlement side.

  Dee wondered whether someone onboard had decided to stop so they could watch the screen as well, or whether they were going to put it in reverse, after looking at the way things were going down in Dar Raca.

  There was a faint sound from the desk, and she ran back to it.

  “Leo.” She collapsed into the chair at the sight of his face, and her hand shook as she pulled out the crystal, and clicked it into place on the side of the unit. “I don't have time. I'm sending you something, and you need to get it out, especially to the Bodivas, but to the VSC in general. Especially the last part of the recording.”

  “What is it?” Leo didn't waste time asking unimportant questions, something she'd always admired about him.

  “It's a confession by the top Cores exec here about his deal with the Caruso. What they're planning, and that the plan includes a kind of neglectful genocide. There's some footage of him beating up Ruanne and the previous head of the Lassian resistance, as well.”

  Leo leaned back, eyes open wide. “It's coming through.”

  She put her hands on the desk, and had to fist them to stop them shaking. “I'm hoping it'll force Bodivas to act, and soon. The Caruso already have landing pads here, they're already stealing the resources.”

  “You get somewhere safe, Dee. I'm going to make such a stink, the Bodivas will be begging to pick you up. Where are you now?”