"Kloth!” Matt said. “Just the tall, dark, and hairy we’ve been looking for. We need to speak with the princess about an opportunity we believe she'll find interesting."

  Kloth hesitated, weighing our previous association against the risk we might pose to his mistress. Finally, he nodded. "Follow."

  The hulking werewolf guided us to the checkpoint in silence. My heart leaped into my throat as we approached. We had sent Head Case through the checkpoint, high overhead and unnoticed, out to the landing bays for a reason.

  I needn’t have been concerned. Kloth took the lead, stopping directly in front of the bots so that his large body blocked most of their view of Matt and me.

  “Princess Goloran has visitors,” he said. I thought I picked up the growl of his true language behind the translation the Warden’s pill provided.

  The bots didn’t reply. Kloth jerked his head forward, directing us to follow him through the doors and out to the bays.

  “How did you do that?” I asked, hurrying to catch up to him, his long strides brooking no laggards. As usual, the grithyak didn’t look at me, much less reply.

  It turned out Matt had been right. Goloran’s ship waited in Bay Four. I whistled softly at first sight of it. The ship’s aggressive curves spoke of speed and maneuverability beyond anything I had witnessed in the skies above Cacitrus. Still, as the doors parted, giving me a look inside of it, I would have expected Goloran to possess, if not a larger, more opulent craft, at least one befitting her royal status.

  “That’s just her shuttle,” Matt pointed out, leaving me in further awe.

  Kloth stalked silently toward the lowered entry ramp. Matt and I hurried after him into the ship’s shadowy interior. The bodyguard waved us into a finely decorated compartment before disappearing deeper into the craft.

  Matt and I settled onto a wraparound couch beside a screen that ran along the fuselage. Currently, it displayed an underwater scene from a planet that definitely wasn’t Earth. I barely had time to observe the strange, alien creatures swimming around in the scene before Kloth reappeared, standing stiffly near the door he had just come out of. I thought Goloran would be right behind him, but a few minutes crawled past without a word spoken on either side until finally Goloran herself swept into the compartment.

  “To what do I owe the honor?” Her sly half-smile twisted full lips. “I thought you’d be planning to leave by now, not crawling back to me.”

  "We're working on it,” Matt countered. “And we’re not exactly crawling. But we have an opportunity we believe you'll find mutually beneficial.”

  The princess settled leisurely in the chair across from us. "I’m listening.”

  Matt quickly outlined everything that had happened to us after separating from the princess, all the way up to our plan to rescue Nyree. Goloran listened intently, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as Matt finished his recounting.

  “It seems your little friend has come in quite handy,” Goloran said to me before looking back at Matt. “I’m intrigued by your story and the potential benefits. The question then is, what is it going to cost me?”

  “The engineers we found are willing, but they don't come cheap. We’re nearly tapped out after paying the headhunter. We need you to cover their fees if we want to move forward.”

  The princess sat back, steepling slender fingers beneath her chin. “And just how much are these fees?”

  I cleared my throat when Matt looked my way. "We, uh, settled on two hundred thousand. Each."

  Goloran's finely shaped brows climbed toward her hairline. "Two engineers at two hundred thousand quark apiece? That's quite an investment, even for myself."

  "We know it's a lot. But non-robotic programmers are a dying breed on Cacitrum. The number of them who don’t already work for Zariv, including the ones he scooped up after killing Levain, limits the talent pool even more. And only so many are willing to take on a risk like this.”

  “Which is entirely understandable. How did you gauge their aptitude?”

  Matt and I looked at one another, stumbling to come up with an answer that didn’t sound ridiculous.

  “We didn’t,” I said. “They’re the only two living engineers we could find.”

  Princess Goloran studied us for a prolonged, uncomfortable moment.

  Finally, she let out an elaborate sigh. “Very well. I suppose the amount is reasonable, given the circumstances. And I am curious what you might discover. Of course, I’m not just going to give you nearly half a million quark with no strings attached.”

  “Of course,” we both agreed at the same time, growing tentatively excited by her willingness to front the rescue. Still, I could only imagine what kind of terms she would request for that much money. Especially knowing she had us over a barrel.

  “What do you want in return?” I choked out.

  She laughed. “Relax. I’m not going to make you surrender your firstborn to me. This time. You say that what Levain told me about the Wardenship is true, yes?”

  “The documents we collected from Levain’s secret room suggest it is,” I replied. “But we can’t guarantee it until we recover Nyree, and she leads us to the Warden’s shipwreck.”

  “You’re smart to hedge a little,” Goloran said. “Assuming you find the Warden’s ship when you reach it, I want live access. I’ll provide visual and audio transmission equipment to take with you to monitor your findings in real-time.”

  “I didn’t realize you had instant data transmission over infinite distances in Warexia,” I said.

  “While I would love for that to be true, we don’t,” Goloran replied. “Our best technology can pass signals much faster than light with quantum tunneling, but each light year adds ten seconds or so, primarily because we need to duplicate the stream to ensure an uncorrupted exchange. But that’s all technical detail better left to engineers. Once you have the coordinates, I expect you to pass them to me. I’ll join you in the same system as the station, but I will remain at some distance to avoid detection.”

  Matt hesitated. I understood his reluctance to reveal too much to the unpredictable princess, but we needed her financial backing. Besides, transmitting data from within the Wardenship shouldn't pose additional risk. We had to take the chance if it meant getting Tyler and Alyssa home.

  "Fine. We'll carry transmitters inside the station and link you to whatever we discover there,” Matt said.

  The princess's smile returned. “Excellent. Kloth!"

  Her bodyguard stepped forward at the sharp summons. "Yes, mistress?”

  “Transfer four hundred thousand quark to our new partners. And arrange for surveillance equipment to be prepared for them to take aboard Levain's mysterious station."

  Kloth bowed. "As you command." He approached Matt with the same paystick transmitter he’d used before, quickly loading the bar with the quark we needed as if it were pocket change. Maybe it was to her. Her parents ruled an entire planet, after all.

  With that done, he marched stiffly away.

  “Of course, we can’t purchase anything like that here on Cacitrum. It would look too suspicious. Once you have Nyree, you’ll need to stop to retrieve it.” The princess’ gaze fell on me, reading me like an open book. “I assure you, Noah. This is no trap to lead you into Zariv or the Warden’s hands.”

  “Of course, someone planning to trick us into another ambush would say that,” I replied, drawing a laugh from her.

  “Have you always been so cynical? It doesn’t suit someone so young.”

  “No. Only since I came to Warexia,” I replied.

  “I have no motivation to turn against you. Zariv has nothing to offer. You do.”

  It wasn’t an enthusiastic rejection of my accusation, but it was a logical one. I gave up the argument, sagging against the cushions while the tension faded. It had been easier than expected to convince the temperamental princess. All that remained was springing Nyree and using Lantz and Tarvik's skills to cripple Zariv's robot army.

  “Thanks for backing us on this,” Matt said. “I know it's asking a lot."

  The princess shrugged. "Consider it an investment in my quest for more knowledge.”

  “And by extension, more power,” I said.

  “Now you’re getting it. I’m eager to see what you discover."

  "We should get back to the others and finalize plans with our new engineers," Matt said. “We’ll be in touch the instant we have Nyree.”

  “Excellent,” Goloran replied, ascending elegantly to her feet. “It is a pleasure doing business with you. I’m sure you can see yourselves out?”

  “We can,” Matt agreed. “Until next time.”

  I offered a simple wave, and we headed back the way we had come, angling for the shuttle’s exit. I felt Goloran’s inquisitive stare boring into my back until we were completely out of her sight.

  "Well that went better than expected,” Matt huffed out a breath and mopped the sweat from his brow. “Now we just need to avoid getting ourselves killed breaking into one of the most secure compounds in the sector to kidnap a high value target."

  I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”

  Matt laughed. “We got the quark we needed. Maybe our luck is finally turning for the better.”

  “The last time that happened, it lasted about ten seconds,” I replied. “Do you really think we can trust the princess?”

  “I don’t know if we can trust anybody here. But we need to trust someone, and so far, she seems like the best candidate. Trusting her is a risk we need to take.”

  Together we retraced our steps through the spaceport, and then back to downtown Portus via robo-carriage. We rode in silence, each of us consumed with our own individual thoughts. I don’t know what was on Matt’s mind. Worry about Ben, maybe. I couldn’t picture him harboring any anxiety about what we planned to do. He seemed as calm and composed as ever.

  If only I could say the same about myself. My nerves frayed, my stomach churned. My heart raced. I would have given anything to be back home in my room, staying up late on a school night playing Fortnite or some other inconsequential game, knowing all Mom would do was chastise me for it in the morning.

  Of course, life was hardly fair. While anxiety still gnawed at me, another emotion rose up, helping to quell the storm.

  Determination.

  CHAPTER 22

  Twelve hours had passed since Matt and I met with Princess Goloran. After retrieving Tyler and Alyssa from the tavern and paying our two new engineers, we returned to the motel while Tarvik and Lantz diverted to pick up what they called a few supplies. Within an hour, a robo-carriage pulled into the alley behind the old motel, and the two men set about unloading an astronomical load of equipment that Tee, Matt and I humped into Matt and Tee’s room for them to hook up. When we were done, a tangle of cables snaked across the room’s stained carpet to a custom-built router patched into the single data port.

  Lantz hunched over what looked like an ancient terminal, eyes glued to lines of incomprehensible code scrolling past. His focus excluded everything else, fingers dancing nimbly across the keyboard, seemingly of their own volition. He’d claimed that while the board inside the machine was slow compared to modern kit, it predated some networking standard I didn’t really understand and, as a result, would be much less likely to trip alarms across Zariv’s firewalls. I was sure it would be more difficult to tie the computer back to Lantz if things went sideways.

  Tarvik leaned against the wall near the foot of the bed, studying something on a separate tablet and occasionally tapping out notes while munching on a bag of chips. I’d had a handful of them and thought they tasted like salty spinach. Four empty takeout containers and multiple drained boxes of snacks and drinks littered the table where the engineers had eaten dinner, evidence of the long hours already invested.

  The rest of us lounged tensely around the room's periphery, trying not to distract the programmers. Hzzt paced with his spindly arms crossed.

  "This is taking too long!" he fretted. "We should leave before trouble finds us."

  "Chill out!” Tyler said from his spot in the corner armchair. “You’re making me nervous just watching you pace like that."

  Hzzt speared him with a glare. "Perhaps that means you should listen! I warned you this scheme was risky!”

  "Hzzt, maybe you should take your ten thousand steps outside,” Matt suggested from his seat at the foot of my bed. “Let's try to keep tensions low so these guys can concentrate. We don't want to disrupt their focus."

  Hzzt made a soft chittering noise before settling on the bed. Silence but for the engineers’ rapid-fire typing again claimed the cramped room. Lantz hadn't spoken a word in over an hour, his features set with fierce determination. His intensity almost made me believe we had a chance.

  Almost.

  My gut still insisted we were doomed to fail spectacularly. What chance did a couple of washed-up boozers have against Zariv? The man’s network was likely defended by impossibly complex encryptions and intelligent counter-intrusion measures, all managed by undoubtedly high-end AI.

  I shifted restlessly where I sat, leaning against the headboard of Tee’s bed. The Aleal poked its head from my pocket, tendrils questing. I shook my head faintly. Nothing to report. It drooped before withdrawing. Hopefully, it wasn't hungry. My thoughts wandered back to Earth and how much simpler life had been only a few weeks ago. No killer robots. No megalomaniac wanna-be gods. No risk of imminent death with one slip of the keyboard.

  Mostly, I missed my parents. Mom, with her playful smile and sparkling eyes so full of love. The house was filled with warmth and light, even on the rainiest days. Dad, with his can-do attitude and corny sense of humor. Thinking of them left me heartsick, a physical ache having hollowed out a spot beneath my ribs.

  Damn you, Jaffie.

  Eventually, Lantz let loose a triumphant bark, jolting me from my melancholy memories. He threw both arms skyward, nearly upending a can of juice perched precariously near his elbow.

  Lantz roared with victorious laughter. “That, my friends, is how it’s done!"

  Matt bolted upright, relief flashing across his features. "You're in?"

  "I'm in! Cracked the outer gate wide open." Lantz shook out both hands before diving back to the keys. "Just have to navigate the maze and locate the servers that handle bot updates.”

  Hzzt wrung his hands, anxiety doubled. “If they catch you now, we’re all going to die.”

  "Can it, chicken little,” Tyler shot back. “Let the man work."

  Barely able to contain my nervous excitement, I slid off the bed and shoved my way in front of Tee to get a better look over Lantz’s shoulder. As he tapped out quick commands, my focus jumped rapidly between the data streams cascading down his display screen. Every so often, I got a half-second view of the code in English, as if the translator in the Warden’s pill was trying but failing to keep up. It didn’t tell me much, but if he could actually gain access, perhaps we had a chance to get home after all.

  "How's it looking?" Matt asked.

  Lantz glanced back at us. “I'm poking around the least-restricted areas first, trying to map things out. Lots of environmental monitoring, facility operations, pretty boring stuff. Hang on..." He typed more rapidly before offering a satisfied hum. "Well now, that looks useful! Hold on.” He kept typing, his fingers tickling the keys like a master pianist. “Yes! I’m into one of the ancillary security servers."

  "Like cameras and stuff?” Tyler asked.

  Lantz nodded distractedly, attention already back on the screen. "Building access systems, active monitoring, facial recognition feeds, that sort of thing. If I can pull up current credentials, we may be able to just walk right in."

  "Outstanding!” Matt said. “You’re earning your quarks, my friend.”

  Lantz typed another quick command string to download credentials before pushing back from the console with a satisfied grin. “We have clearance codes! I can grant you access to anywhere except high-security labs and control rooms. Getting wherever they might be keeping Nyree shouldn't be a problem."

  “Incredible,” I said, in awe of his capabilities.

  “Let’s see a code-bot pull that off,” Lantz added, voice thick with mocking venom. “Oh, that’s right. They can’t. It’s against their directives.”

  “Can you find out where they’re holding her?” Matt asked.

  “Sure thing. Standby.” He did some more typing. A video feed popped up on the screen beside the flow of code. “There she is. Wow, she’s kind of attractive. I expected Levain’s kid to be big and ugly like him.”

  “She’s actually his step-daughter,” I told him, staring at Nyree, sitting at the end of a king-sized bed covered in fine linens. She didn’t look all that concerned to be Zariv’s prisoner, which pulled my thoughts back to Ally’s concerns about Nyree’s allegiance. If we hadn’t seen the bots grab her and carry her away, I probably wouldn’t have known she was there against her will.

  Or was she?

  "Dude, you rock!” Tyler laughed. “We're so busting her out of there!"

  Even Hzzt managed a hesitant smile. "Well done," he allowed grudgingly.

  “She looks pretty content to me,” Ally said.

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” I replied.

  “She’s Levain’s kid,” Matt said. “I don’t think she would give Zariv the satisfaction of seeing her sweat.”

  “True,” Ally agreed. “I still don’t have a great feeling about any of this.”

  “And I was just starting to feel better about this plan,” Hzzt said.

  Nyree’s head turned, eyes flashing up toward the camera. They lingered there as if she expected us to be working on an escape plan and was trying to ask what was taking so long. She looked away suddenly, just before a bot carrying a tray of food approached her.

  “I have her position in the compound,” Lantz said. “I’ll export it to a tablet for you.”

  Tarvik glanced up from his tablet. "Just don't forget the next part. I need current robot firmware before I can build our countermeasure."