“My father’s second-in-command? How?”

  “You really don’t want to know,” Tee said.

  “I don’t suppose you know the password to get into your father’s data store?” Matt asked.

  “No,” she replied. “He never⁠—“

  The rest of her words caught in her throat as Matt suddenly dropped her rifle and grabbed her wrist, turning her around as he yanked her toward him. He held onto her wrist and wrapped both her arm and his around in front of her, holding her tight to his chest as he put his plasma knife to her throat. “Are you sure you don’t know the passcode?” he growled in her ear. “Because in case you haven’t guessed already, getting home is pretty damn important to us.”

  “I don’t,” she cried. “I swear. He never shared the password with me. He never shared much with me at all.” She paused, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. “Levain is my step-father, but he’s also the only father I’ve ever known. We didn’t have the best relationship. He always told me that I was too weak to take over for him once he was gone. I suppose that’s true. Zariv will take over now, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him.”

  “You were strong enough to come in here and wave a gun at us,” Matt charged.

  “I got the rifle from my father’s bedroom after I saw the guards were disabled,” she explained. “I barely know how to fire it, as if that weren’t obvious by now.”

  Matt let her go, taking a step back. “You seemed pretty upset at us for not helping a guy who didn’t like you.”

  “He was still my father,” she replied. “He still provided for me. The finest clothes. The best schools. Everything I could ever want.”

  “If he rarely spoke to you, why did you come to see him?” Matt grilled her like the police officer had questioned me in the hospital. “How did you know something had happened to him?”

  “I came to ask him for quark,” she replied. “I saw the disabled guards. Only five people have elevator access to this apartment. It seemed like an obvious deduction.”

  “So you only care because he isn’t here to refill your paystick,” Tyler said.

  “What? No. That isn’t true at all. He may have been disappointed in me, but I cared for my step-father. And now he’s gone.”

  “If Levain doesn’t have any other children, who was supposed to take over for him?” I asked.

  “Jaffie, of course. I suppose that won’t happen either. Everything he built will fall right into Zariv’s greedy hands.” She shook her head sadly.

  “I’m really sorry about that,” Ally said. “I am. But if you don’t know how your father traveled between here and Earth, or where he built a space station to keep one of the Warden’s ships he found, then you’re kind of useless to us, too.”

  “Like a third nipple,” Matt added.

  “Man, that’s harsh,” Tyler said.

  “We have our own problems, Tee,” Ally replied. “And we’re wasting time chatting when we should be making ourselves scarce.” She looked at Levain’s daughter. “No offense. You seem sort of sweet for someone who was raised by a crime lord and threatened to burn us to ash, but like I said, we should go.”

  “You only asked me about the password for the terminal,” Levain’s daughter answered. “You never mentioned the Warden’s ship. That one, I might be able to help you with.”

  CHAPTER 16

  “So you know where the station is,” Matt said, still doubtful.

  “Yes,” the Levain’s daughter replied.

  “Really?” I questioned, sounding more surprised than I’d intended.

  She nodded. “Father needed someone he could trust to act as the courier. Not that the documents weren’t sealed in a tamper-proof case. And who would have suspected a spoiled, sixteen-year-old rich girl to be helping Daddy keep one of the biggest secrets in Warexia.”

  “And what’s to stop us from forcing you to take us there?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing, I suppose. But I don’t get the feeling the criminal life is one that suits you.”

  “We’re pretty desperate,” Ally reminded her.

  “That may be,” she answered with the hint of a grin, “but you don’t need to force me. With Father gone, I’m the only one who knows about the station. It’s up to me to decide whether or not to take the secret to my grave.”

  “Is that what you’re going to do? Take it to your grave?”

  “I don’t see the point in that. Not when I can use it as leverage to get what I want.”

  I was afraid to ask, but I did anyway. “And what do you want?”

  She smiled maliciously. “Why, Zariv’s head on a stick, of course.” she replied, her tone as though she had channeled Levain to say it.

  “We aren’t really in a position to help you go up against Zariv,” Matt said. “Your father couldn’t, and he had a lot more clout than we do.”

  “You’re only half-right. Zariv has many robots at his disposal. Clearly, you’ve already deduced that he can track you through facial recognition.” She lifted her hand to the hood of her cloak, suggesting she had used it for her own evasive purposes. “Robots can be disabled. Once they are, what does Zariv have? Only himself and his inner circle. A small contingent I’m sure we could defeat. And once Zariv is out of the picture, you’ll gain both a powerful ally and access to the station.”

  “I take it that you know how to disable his bots?”

  “They’re all connected to the same network. If we gain access to the network, we can upload corrupt firmware that will propagate to the bots and cause them to shut down. It’ll take time for Zariv and his team to figure out what happened. By the time he does, it will be too late.”

  “Didn’t you say Levain thought you were too weak to replace him?” Ally said.

  “I’m quickly finding that nothing provides more motivation than revenge.” She turned back to Matt, judging him the leader of our group. “Do we have a deal?”

  Matt sighed and glanced at the three of us. “What do you think?”

  “Desperate times,” Tee said. “I’m in.”

  “Me, too,” Ally agreed.

  “Noah?” Matt asked after I hesitated.

  I hated the idea of jumping into something out of desperation that we didn’t completely understand. But wasn’t that what had brought us here in the first place? “Yeah. I’m in, too.”

  Matt looked back at Levain’s daughter. “I guess you’ve got yourself some mercenaries.”

  “Excellent,” she replied.

  “Hold up,” Tyler said, regarding Matt with wonder. “We’re mercenaries now?”

  “We just agreed to overthrow a dictator of sorts in exchange for payment,” I said. “That sounds mercenary to me.”

  “So cool!”

  “Noah,” Levain’s daughter said, likely addressing me because she knew my name. She held out a delicate hand. “I’m Nyree.”

  “Nyree,” I repeated with a shake. “Nice to meet you.” I motioned to each of our team members. “Tyler, Alyssa, and Matt.”

  “Hey,” Tyler said.

  “That’s such a pretty name,” Alyssa responded. “It’s good to meet you.”

  “A pleasure,” Matt said flatly, also not thrilled with where this road had led us. “We really should get out of here.”

  Nyree nodded. “Agreed. We can leave in my transport. This way."

  Before we could move, the Aleal began flapping its tentacles, tapping urgently on my cheek to get my attention.

  “What’s up, bud?” I asked.

  It swung its tendrils toward Nyree before curling them in on itself.

  “Such a strange creature,” Nyree said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. Is it your pet?”

  The Aleal drooped as though she had shot it.

  “No, a friend,” I replied.

  “I see. Does it have a name?”

  It perked up again, gesturing enthusiastically toward Nyree.

  “It…uh…” I stammered. The Aleal’s tendrils waved at me in a manner that suggested disappointment.

  “Alfonse,” Ally said.

  The Aleal drooped again.

  “Its name isn’t Alfonse,” I told Nyree before she could repeat it. It’s…” I trailed off. The Aleal picked itself up, gesturing at me again. It seemed to want me to give it a name. “…Archie,” I decided spur-of-the-moment. The Aleal seemed excited by the name, waving its tendrils animatedly in the air. “Its name is Archie.”

  “We already had an Archie on the crew,” Matt said.

  The Aleal’s reactive posture suggested it wanted to hug Matt’s face again for complaining about its name.

  “What happened to him?” Tee asked.

  “You don’t want to know. It wasn’t pretty.” He glanced at the Aleal. “It’s not like two different entities can’t have the same name. If it likes Archie, then it’s Archie.”

  “A true pleasure to meet you, Archie,” Nyree said.

  It relaxed again, waving tendrils at her before climbing down my shirt and vanishing into my pocket.

  “Can we go now?” Matt said impatiently.

  We exited Levain's office to the elevator, immediately stepping inside. Rather than direct the lift back down, Nyree tapped on the controls until the indicator pointed up.

  With a soft chime, we reached our destination. The doors swept open, revealing a brightly lit parking garage for flying cars. Open-air on three sides, with landing lights to indicate how the transports should approach the enclosure, it was half-filled with all manner of airborne vehicles—sleek racing shuttles, chunky personnel carriers, and fancy flying machines. Flanked by a sharply dressed robot chauffeur, a freight shuttle rested nearby, a pair of worker bots unloading its cargo. Neither bothered looking up at us as we passed by, but that didn’t stop Nyree from raising her hood to cast her face in deep shadow. Weaving between parked vehicles, she didn’t slow as she led us toward a nondescript shuttle farther across the garage.

  “I thought you were a spoiled rich girl?” Tyler said once he realized which transport belonged to her.

  “One who likes to keep a low profile,” she replied. “It’s safer that way, especially now.”

  “Good poi⁠—”

  Tyler was cut off as the garage suddenly exploded into chaos. The freight shuttle's worker bots suddenly abandoned their task, twin barrels emerging from their side panels to fire blasts of energy our way. Across the garage, the ramp of a cargo transport slammed open. Yellow combat bots poured out, rifles tracking our position, preparing to fire.

  How long had Zariv's forces been tracking our movements through Portus, waiting patiently for this vulnerable moment? Or had Nyree just led us into a trap?

  Nyree moved quickly, erasing concerns about her loyalties as she shoved me toward Tyler. My mouth still open with a warning shout, I bowled him over, the two of us tumbling behind a sports shuttle. She flung herself flat, a blue energy bolt cutting through the air where we’d both stood mere seconds ago. Scuttling like a crab after me, she rolled onto her back beside me as Matt yanked Alyssa down, shielding her slender form beneath his own.

  “Just when things were starting to look up,” Tyler groused, the sizzle of plasma and energy blasts systematically shredding our cover..

  Ears ringing, I sprang over Tee and rolled through the gap between the shuttle and the next vehicle over, a sharp crack announcing a hit right over my head as more firepower hissed through the air. Another round sparked off the vehicle behind me. The bots kept us pinned, lethal energy promising death if we broke cover.

  Matt's shouted warning jerked my attention to my left as an enemy combat bot broke cover, armor ablaze with light. It whirled in my direction, my mind filling in its blank features and turning the machine into a vicious monster about to blow me away. Frantic, I swung my pistol up but way too slowly. Ready for discharge, the muzzle of the bot’s plasma rifle glowed with blue heat. I reflexively shut my eyes, unwilling to witness the shot that ended my life.

  A wet crunch followed instantly by the bot's heavy crash jerked my eyes open. Shocked, I stared directly into its face, its head laying motionless inches from my own, sparking and spilling fluid onto the tarmac from where it barely clung to its neck.

  Nyree stood poised several yards away, arm extended, slender fingers wrapped around the grip of a compact pistol. Her hood had fallen away, loose hair spilling over her shoulders. The weapon held rock steady, tracking the movements of additional bots attempting to outflank Matt and Alyssa as they took up position behind a nearby transport.

  Before she could pull the trigger, one of the machines lunged from cover, charging Matt and Alyssa. Nyree smoothly adjusted her aim, letting loose with a burst of rounds that impacted the bot center mass. It kept coming.

  Focused on protecting Matt and Alyssa, Nyree never saw the second bot coming at her from behind until cold metal fingers locked around her slender throat. She struggled in vain as it effortlessly lifted her off her feet. It wrenched her weapon free with its other hand, sending it skidding across the tarmac. She clawed and kicked at the bot’s unyielding fingers, breathing a liquid gurgle as the bot turned and swiftly hauled her off toward the open cargo shuttle.

  "No!" I shouted, rising to bring my blaster around. I didn’t have a chance to fire before another strafing volley ripped up the tarmac as it tore toward me. “They’re taking Nyree!” I cried, ducking back down. I hoped one of the others might be able to get a shot off at the bot before it was too late.

  Tyler’s rocket fist failed to materialize, as did Alyssa’s headshot or Matt’s blaster fire. The overwhelming numbers trapped us behind quickly disintegrating transports that wouldn’t offer protection for much longer.

  Just before Nyree’s captor reached the ramp, Tyler’s rocket fist slammed into its shoulder. It stumbled, tightening its grip on her as it hauled her roughly up the boarding ramp. She vanished into the shuttle’s shadowy interior, and the ramp retracted with the hiss of hydraulics before launching away from the garage.

  “Oh, come on!” Tyler exclaimed in disbelief as his fist snapped back to his wrist. He held it up, looking down at it in utter defeat. “They stole our freaking guide!”

  CHAPTER 17

  The remaining robots continued peppering our area with blistering plasma, keeping us pinned down. I crouched low, staying behind the protection of the vehicles in the garage as I made my way back to Tyler.

  “What do we do?” Tee asked. “If they get away with her, we lose our only shot at getting home.”

  “We have to follow them,” I replied, pointing toward Nyree’s transport.

  “Yeah, okay.” Tyler nodded before drawing his blaster with his right hand, his left one maintaining its full metal jacket. “I’ll cover you. I just hope you can fly that thing.”

  “Me, too,” I replied.

  “Go!” Tee shouted, rising from cover and opening fire. “Rocket fist!” he cried as I leaped up and sprinted for the transport, wondering what I thought I was doing. I had no experience flying Cacitrum shuttles. What were the odds I could figure out the controls?

  Energy bolts flashed past me, and I heard the loud clang of the rocket fist hitting one of the bots. Ally followed it up with a “headshot!” that forced me to risk a glance over my shoulder. My suicidal maneuver had apparently convinced the bots that we were about to get away. When they moved into the open to target me, the others took advantage. Ally had already downed three of them while Tee worked on his second.

  I found Matt on the hood of one of the sporty flyers, unable to look away as he leaped off, leading with his blaster and following up with his plasma knife. He planted three energy blasts in the murderbot’s head, the flashes disrupting its aim. Coming down, he hit the bot with his full weight, stabbing where he had shot and tearing through the bot’s head. While the machine collapsed, he popped back up and raced for the transport, crying out as a plasma bolt struck him in the back of the shoulder. The offending bot dropped a moment later, hit simultaneously by Tee’s fist and Ally’s blaster to the head.

  I made it to the transport’s hatch, swinging my gaze in the direction Zariv’s cargo shuttle had gone. It was already a mirage in the distant haze.

  “Katzuo, wait up!” I heard Tee shout. Looking back his way, I was shocked to see all the enemy bots were destroyed, wisps of smoke marking the spots where each had fallen. Tyler charged toward the shuttle, mask discarded, a huge grin spread across his face. Ally and Matt weren’t far behind.

  “All aboard!” I shouted, turning my attention back to the transport. If Nyree hadn’t unlocked it before the ambush, this would have been the worst rescue attempt ever.

  Fortunately, the hatch slid open when I touched the door control, allowing access. I climbed aboard, heading to the flight deck and dropping into the pilot’s seat. The entire transport shook as Tyler jumped in, pausing at the entry to look over the first-class cabin. “Nyree really rides in style.”

  “Get your butt inside, T-Bone,” Ally snapped. He found a seat as she climbed aboard, joining him in the rear.

  Matt jumped in next, pounding the control to seal the transport before joining me up front. "Have you lost your mind? We know next to nothing about flying this thing!”

  “We don’t have a choice!” I shot back, giving him a stern look. “I need you to help me with this. If we lose track of that cargo shuttle, Nyree may be gone forever.”

  "We don't even know which way they went!" Matt protested. “Besides, with or without Nyree, going after that shuttle is suicide.”

  “She knows where Levain’s station is. She may be the only one who knows. We need her.”

  Matt’s pained expression succumbed to resignation. “You’re almost as bad as Ben,” he said, shaking his head as he dropped into the co-pilot’s seat. “Let’s see if we can figure out these controls.”

  We both looked at the active displays. For whatever reason, the Warden’s pill refused to translate the alien symbols for us. For a brief moment, I wished I could contact the Warden to ask him to explain the nuances of his universal translator before deciding it wasn’t worth it to have to see his stupid grin again.