“Cody?” I said.
“All looks good. Proceed.”
“Give us a count of three,” Abraham said.
I took a deep breath and pressed the mobile in my pocket, activating the device attached to the generator. Any of us could do it, as it was connected to all of our mobiles, but we’d decided that Megan and I should be in charge of it. It would be easier for Mizzy and Abraham to vocalize what they wanted than to get out their mobiles, risk the light involved, and activate the device on their own.
As soon as I pushed the button, the lights flickered off and the revolving restaurant ground to a stop. Voices murmured and dishes clattered as I counted to three, then removed my finger.
The lights came back on, and the machinery whirred to life. We started to move again. Nervous, I watched for a sign of alarm.
None came. Apparently one of the difficulties in working with machinery that had been hacked together a day ago was that breakages and brownouts were common. Tia’s plan made use of this.
“Perfect!” Abraham said. “We’re past the first bank of cameras.”
“No alarm on any radio frequency I can find,” Cody said. “Only some security guards grumbling and hoping Prof doesn’t blame them for the brownout. Tia, lass, you’re a genius.”
“Let’s hope you can give her the compliment in person soon,” I said to Cody. “Abraham, let us know when your team is at the next camera. We’re on a timer now. The chefs are going to start wondering where their pastry makers went, and people are eventually going to go inspect the generators.”
“Roger.”
Megan and I remained in position. From here on out, the plan was supposed to take under ten minutes. It was tough to wait. Mizzy and Abraham were crawling through guard-infested hallways, while the two of us were supposed to stand up here and look innocent. We’d tried—and failed—to work out a way to get down and meet them, so Megan could use her powers to help with the last portions of the infiltration.
Perhaps that was for the best. Megan was looking haggard, rubbing her forehead, growing testy. I fetched us some drinks from a servant standing near the bar, but then realized that they probably had alcohol in them, which was a very bad idea right now. We needed to be alert. Instead, I grabbed a cupcake off a passing tray. Might as well sample an alternate-dimension David’s handiwork.
I stopped halfway to our table. Had I heard…
I turned around, trying to pick the voice out of those chattering in the crowd. Yes. I did know that voice.
Prof was here.
I was mildly surprised; socializing wasn’t exactly a Prof thing. Yet that deep voice was unmistakable.
There was ample reason to stay far away from him, but at the same time I was wearing a new face—and our experiences on the first day showed that he was fooled by Megan’s illusions. Maybe it would be worth scouting to find out where exactly he was and what he was saying.
“Prof’s here,” I said over the line.
“Sparks,” Cody said. “You sure?”
“Yes,” I said, moving to where I could see him standing beside one of the windows. “I’m going to approach with care and watch him. If the guards spot Abraham and Mizzy, he’ll be alerted first. Thoughts?”
“I agree,” Megan said over the line. “The two of us aren’t doing anything else useful up here. This could give us important intel.”
“Yes,” Cody said. Then he paused. “But be careful, lad.”
“Sure, sure. I’ll be careful as a diabetic slug in a candy factory.”
“Or, you know,” Megan said, “a slug in Ildithia.”
“That too. You going to back me up?”
“On your tail now, Knees.”
I took a deep breath, then crossed the room toward Prof.
I slid up to a tall table near where Prof was speaking. A cluster of people surrounded him—lesser Epics, judging by the ones I recognized. Prof had a notepad out, and had settled down at a table.
Others gave the group a wide berth. I leaned on the tall table, trying to look nonchalant. I scratched at my ear, flipping on the directional audio amplification on my earpiece.
“Larcener must be found,” Prof said. I could barely pick him up. “Until we accomplish this, we can do nothing.”
The others in the group nodded.
“I want Fabergé and Dragdown to spread rumors,” Prof said, writing on his notepad. “Claim there is an underground resistance movement against me, and it’s looking for a leader. Surveillance is your duty, Inkwell. You’ll watch the various powerful family neighborhoods. One of them has to be sheltering him, like the Stingrays were doing for our captive below.
“We attack in two ways: the promise of a rebellion to draw him out, mixed with the threat of discovery. Fuego, I want you to keep working with your dowser, doing sweeps through the city. We’ll make a big show of where we’re looking and expect Larcener to move—we flush him out like dogs in a field scaring pheasants.”
I leaned against my table, suddenly feeling as if I’d been punched in the gut.
Prof had put together a team.
It made sense. Prof had years of practice organizing and leading teams of Reckoners, and he was very good at hunting Epics. But hearing him talk to these people like he’d once talked to us…it was heartbreaking. How easily he’d replaced his friends and freedom fighters with a team of tyrants and murderers.
“We’re at the next corner,” Abraham whispered through my earpiece. “Tia’s maps show hidden cameras here.”
“Yeah, I spot ’em,” Mizzy said. “Conspicuous pictures hung on the wall, to hide a hollowed-out section of saltstone. Hold this one until we give word.”
“Roger,” Megan said. “Dimming on Cody’s mark.”
“Proceed,” Cody said.
The lights flickered, dimmed, and went out.
“Again?” Prof demanded.
“Engineers must have messed up the installation,” one of the Epics said. “Could be grinding against the old salt gears and machinery.”
“Through,” Abraham said.
Megan let go of the button and the lights returned. Prof stood up, seeming dissatisfied.
“My lord Limelight,” said a young female Epic. “I can find Larcener. Just give me leave.”
Prof turned to study her, then settled back down in his chair. “You were slow to come to my service.”
“Those quick to give allegiance are quick to change it, my lord.”
Do I recognize her? “Cody,” I whispered, “is there anything in my notes about a female Epic in Ildithia with blonde hair? Wears it in a braid. She may be twenty to twenty-five years old.”
“Let me see,” Cody said.
“And what would you do,” Prof said to the woman, “if you found him?”
“I’d kill him for you, my lord.”
Prof snorted. “And in so doing, destroy everything I’m working toward. Fool woman.”
She blushed.
Prof reached into his pocket, taking something out and setting it on the table. A small cylindrical device, perhaps the size of an old battery.
I recognized it. I had one in my own pocket; Knighthawk had given it to me. I reached in and felt it, to reassure myself it was still there. A tissue sample incubator.
“You have my leave to hunt him,” Prof said, “but if you do find him, do not kill him. Get me some of his blood or skin in this. He dies only after I know that the sample is good. If anyone kills him before that, I will destroy them.”
I shivered.
“You there,” he said louder.
I jumped, looking to find that he was pointing right at me.
He waved me over. I checked behind me, then looked back at him. He was looking at me.
Calamity!
He waved again, more impatiently, expression darkening.
“Guys, this could be bad,” I whispered, rounding my table and walking toward Prof.
“What are you doing?” Megan demanded. She’d set up nearby, leaning agains
t a railing and sipping at a drink.
“He called for me.”
“We’re at Tia’s door,” Abraham said. “Two guards. We’re going to have to engage them.”
“Prepare for another blackout,” Cody said. “David, what’s your status?”
“Crapping my pants,” I whispered, then stepped up to Prof’s table.
He gave me a brief glance, then pointed at my hand. I frowned and looked down. Only then did I realize that I was still holding the uneaten cupcake. I blinked, then handed it over.
Prof took it, then dismissed me with a wave.
I was all too happy to obey. I scuttled back, then leaned against the table, trying to relax my strained nerves.
“Situation stable,” Megan said, sounding relieved. “False alarm. Abraham, you ready?”
“Yes. I’ll give a mark.”
“Proceed,” Cody whispered.
The lights went out again, causing Prof to curse. I closed my eyes. This was the moment. Would Tia be behind those doors?
“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.”
Calamity Page 20
