“Okay,” I said. “So what do we do now? Go to their headquarters and cause some trouble?”

  “I don’t think that would be the most efficient use of our energy,” Keep answered. “At least, not yet.”

  “So where do we start?”

  “Bill, can you drop that corporate address into Maps? Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

  “On it,” Bill said, navigating to Maps and entering the address from the EMG website. “It looks like a small industrial park in San Bernadino. Exotic Mining Group is in suite 405. Top floor of a small office building.”

  “Bingo!” Keep said.

  I looked at the building on the map. It was one of a cluster surrounded by parking lots. Nothing special. “And here I was expecting some kind of major conglomerate, headquartered in a big glass skyscraper downtown. Exotic Mining Group. Do you think they’re literally mining for material to make their own exotic catalyst?”

  Keep nodded. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I think.”

  “You said the catalysts are alloys. I always assumed at least one of the chemicals they use isn’t available on Earth.”

  “Why would you assume that?”

  “Because we don’t have sigiltech on Earth?” I offered with a shrug. Why had I assumed that? Earth could be the most mineral rich planet in the universe for making catalysts. Without technological advancement, we would never know it.

  “In this case, you’re right,” Keep confirmed. “The primary elements needed for exotic or hemolytic catalysts isn’t on the periodic table, so if it does exist on Earth nobody else has found it yet.”

  “So how did they find it? How did they even know it was here?”

  “They may be digging for the mineral. That doesn’t mean they’ve actually discovered it. If they were able to manufacture a pure exotic catalyst they wouldn’t need Flippy to get back to the Spiral.”

  “Good point.”

  “That’s the good news.”

  “What’s the bad news?”

  “We can’t risk that they’ll find the mineral they’re looking for. Ever. We can’t just recover Flippy, take back our catalyst, and call it a day. We have to shut them down.”

  “Shut them down? Just the two of us?”

  “I can help,” Nick said.

  “No,” Keep and I both replied at the same time.

  Nick flinched but didn’t argue.

  “You’ve still got me and the jarhead,” Bill said.

  “No,” Keep repeated. “You’ve done enough. You have a family to take care of.”

  “You didn’t say that before.”

  “You stayed in the helicopter before, the risk was totally different.”

  “George didn’t stay in the chopper.”

  Keep opened his mouth to argue, coming up short on an excuse. “The answer is still no.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Avelus, but it’s my decision to make. And if you’re saying this stuff will give the bad guys the sort of magic you gave the Black Hawk, and that whatever happens in your galaxy might spill back here, then I have a vested interest. And I’m helping.”

  Keep didn’t look happy, but he also stopped fighting. “Okey dokey.” He paused, his tongue moving around in his closed mouth as he thought. “I think it’s a pretty safe bet for us to go with the idea that they’re running a mining operation. Probably making profits to keep the business going by selling the minerals they collect that they don’t want. With that in mind—”

  “We need to know where they’re mining,” I said. “If they found any of the catalyst minerals, if they’ve been able to make any catalyst, and where they’re processing it. One site? Many? We also need to know where they took Flippy.”

  Keep smiled. “Not bad, kid.”

  “I’ve played a lot of strategy games. Warcraft. Starcraft. Age of Empires. Command and Conquer.”

  “No wonder you’re so pale. You ever try going outside? Playing sports?”

  “Too much physical effort. Besides, all those games are what led our paths to cross.”

  “Fair enough. In any case, we also need to see if they have any portion of the Grimoire or any other information about sigiltech beyond the catalyst recipe, and if so destroy it. They’re betting they can stay hidden from us the way I kept Head Case hidden from them. And by sending Flippy’s catalyst back to the Spiral, they plan to strand us here. Did I miss anything?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Colette Dellacqua is an archon. Or at least knows how to use sigiltech to some extent. If Alonzo is really her father, I’d say the odds are good he does too.”

  “Good point. We need to be cautious.”

  “This all sounds like a pretty tall order,” Bill said. “It could take months to track down and dismantle everything you just mentioned.”

  “We don’t have months,” I said.

  “Nope. I could be mistaken, but I don’t think it’ll take that long. Exotic Mining is operating under the assumption that no one will ever suspect or care what their ulterior motives are. They don’t need to be sneaky or defensive, which suggests they’ll keep their operations streamlined. Even if they have multiple mining locations, there’s a good chance they only have one processing facility. Since that office in the industrial park isn’t big enough to hide Flippy, we can probably find her at that same facility.”

  “And if they transported Flippy there on the Super Stallion, it can’t be that far away,” Bill said.

  “Exactamundo,” Keep replied. “We’ve still got a horse in this race.”

  “There’s still one problem,” I said. “They can see everything we do and follow us everywhere we go. They fell for the misdirection once. They won’t fall for it again.”

  “That’s why we’re going to take their eyes in the sky out of commission.”

  “How do you propose we do that?”

  “Exotic Mining must have an intranet, and that intranet must connect to the satellite. I know a hacker on 4chan. I bet he can get-er done. Badabing badaboom. Bill, do you mind if I drive?”

  CHAPTER 33

  Keep’s hacker went by the name of Goethe. From our perspective, little more than an invisible hand entering characters on a screen, he replied to Keep’s post on the messageboard looking for him within ten minutes. Keep paid for two days of his services, whatever we might require, within thirty by passing him fifty thousand dollars worth of the cryptocurrency, Monero.

  Forty minutes later we were connected over a private Discord server, with Keep explaining exactly what we needed: figure out how Exotic Mining Group accessed one or more satellites and shut them down.

  Goethe didn’t ask any questions. He asked for some time, and then disappeared, his status on the server suggesting he had gone offline.

  “You really just paid some random dude on the Internet fifty-thousand dollars to break multiple federal laws,” Bill said. “He probably just ran off with your cash.”

  “Au contraire,” Keep replied. “I presented the challenge. He accepted. What I sent is his prize money. Now he’s doing it for the cred. Badabing badaboom.”

  “We should start prepping, too,” I said. “We want to be ready to move out as soon as he reports back.”

  “Are you sure I can’t help?” Nick asked. He sat on the other side of the desk, still looking glum.

  “We’re just trying to keep you safe,” I said. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “I don’t know. It was before. But then Sheri told me I needed to man up. Then she dumped me. Whether she’d take me back or not, I don’t like the way the whole thing’s made me feel. It seems like all of this is pretty serious, and I want to help.”

  “Do you realize you might need to kill people?” I asked.

  “Bad people, though. Right?”

  “Presumably,” Keep said.

  “Believe me, it’s not an easy thing to come to terms with,” I said. “At least, it wasn’t for me.”

  “But now you’re okay with it?”

  “Not really. But when the consequences of not doing it are worse…I try not to think too much about it.”

  “I think I get it,” Nick said. “I still want to help. They put innocent people in danger, and it sounds like they want to do a lot worse to a lot more people.”

  I looked at Keep. He nodded. “I’m sure we can find something for you to do.”

  “Awesome,” Nick said, his mood shifting. “I won’t let you down.”

  “We should head back to the barn,” Bill said. “Tell the others what’s going on and get the Black Hawk ready for another ride.”

  We filed out of the office, coming across Kyrie and Sally in the den downstairs, playing Super Smash Bros. I smirked as Bowser sent Toon Link blasting off the screen.

  “Sal, why aren’t you outside helping your grandma clean up?” Bill asked.

  “Carol and Sheri are helping her,” Sally replied. “She said to go have some fun.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yup.”

  “Well, I’m going to be heading out with Avelus and Ben again. You be good while I’m gone.”

  “Okay, papa,” she replied without taking her eyes off the screen. “See you later.”

  “Kyrie, do you want to come say goodbye to your father?” Bill asked.

  She glanced at Sally, biting her lower lip. I could tell she wanted to come, but she also didn’t want to disappoint her friend by giving up the game. “Can you tell him goodbye for me?” she decided.

  “He might not come back,” Bill pushed. “I might not come back either.”

  “Yes, you will,” Sally said. “You came back before. You always come back.”

  “You always come back,” Kyrie parroted.

  Bill shook his head and we left the house. “Don’t tell me you were ever so obsessed with games like that, Ben.”

  “Mom worked three jobs and couldn’t be home for us a lot of the time,” I replied. “I had responsibilities, and I was happy for any time we could spend together. But screens were always an efficient babysitter.”

  “I’m too old for this world,” Bill decided. “Hopefully she’ll grow out of it.”

  “I turned out okay,” I said.

  “You turned out great,” Bill agreed, giving me the warm fuzzies.

  Gloria, Marie, Mom, and Sheri were packing up all of the leftovers, trashing the debris, and cleaning up the area around the workbench when we arrived back in the barn. I noticed Sher give Nick a surprised eye when she saw him with us, his body language more confident than before.

  “Hey guys,” Mom said. “You’re back.”

  “They aren’t staying,” Marie replied. “You have that look in your eye again, Bill.”

  “We found the folks who attacked the Frasiers and abducted the Murdocks,” Bill replied. “A mining company. They’re digging for the minerals they need to make more stuff like Avelus’ bracelet. To make their side stronger.”

  “And you’re going after them,” Gloria said. “Does George know?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I’ll go tell him. Excuse me.” She hurried off to find George, still keeping watch outside.

  “What about the satellite?” Marie asked. “Do we need to try to lead them away again?”

  ‘Nope,” Keep answered. “I’ve got a guy working on that right now. It might take him a while, but we don’t have as tight of a deadline as before.”

  “It’s still tight though,” I said.

  “I’m coming with you,” Mom said.

  “Me too,” Sheri added.

  “No you aren’t,” I said. “You two are both staying here with Gloria and Marie.”

  “Why, because we’re women?” Sheri hissed. “Is Nick going with you?”

  “Yeah, I’m going,” Nick said.

  “What the hell, Ben?”

  “Nick is coming because I don’t care if he dies.”

  “Thanks, man,” Nick said.

  “You volunteered,” I reminded him. “I want you two to stay because you’re my family and I love you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “What about Bill and George?” Mom pressed.

  “They’re both retired military,” I said. “Keep is… well… Keep. And I’m already dying, so the worst that can possibly happen to me isn’t that far off in the future anyway. If you came with us, I’d be more focused on protecting you than completing the objectives. I appreciate your willingness, but it’ll do more harm than good.”

  Mom’s lips pressed tightly together, indicating her silent displeasure and acceptance.

  “Nick, you don’t need to do this,” Sheri said. “It’s not just one thing that made up my mind.”

  “At first, I thought I was doing this for you, Sher,” Nick said. “But now I’m doing this for myself.”

  Gloria came back into the barn with George. He had the energy rifle propped against his shoulder, a serious look on his face. “Once more into the breach, Chief?” he asked.

  “That’s right, Gunny,” Bill replied.

  George looked at Gloria, who smiled. “It’s okay. You need to go.”

  “Yes, ma’m.”

  “I’ve got a couple more flight suits and helmets in the trunk over there,” Bill said.

  “And there are more rifles in the van,” Gloria added.

  “Marie, when we’re gone, hole up in the house and be ready for anything, just in case,” Bill continued. “They said they were done coming after us, but I don’t know what they’ll do once their satellite feed goes kaput.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Mom said. “Let them come.”

  “Ben, can you help Nick with his flight suit?” Bill asked. “I need to refuel the helo. Avelus, are you going to put your magic bracelet back in its bracket?”

  Keep pushed up his sleeve, showing he had wrapped the sleeve around the outside of his arm, the needle digging into his wrist. “Nope. Not this time.”

  “Fair enough. If we have time, I’ll repair the hole.”

  I led Nick to the trunk holding the gear, getting him suited up and prepped. Bill headed for the corner of the barn and started up a fuel truck hidden in the shadows. He didn’t have to drive it far, stopping just outside the back of the barn beside the chopper. Gloria and Mom climbed into the back of the van and retrieved the energy rifles, four in all. They gave a pair to Nick and me and kept the other two for themselves.

  Equipped and with a plan of action, all I could do was hope Keep was right and Goethe hadn’t run off with the payment. And that the hacker had the skills to do what he promised.

  All we could do was wait.

  CHAPTER 34

  We didn’t have to wait long. A little over an hour passed before Goethe reappeared on the Discord server. His comment was short and sweet.

  JUST SAY WHEN.

  “How do we know he’s really going to shut down the satellites?” Bill asked. He had repaired the hole he’d made in the Black Hawk to carry Keep’s sleeve while he waited, a makeshift patch that would offer a little more protection and less drag than an open hole in the belly. He had said he needed to fix it before we started calling the chopper Smaug.

  Which we did, of course.

  “He isn’t going to shut the satellites down,” I replied. “The satellite feeds send encrypted video signals to secured servers. He said breaking the encryption or getting access to the servers could take a day or two, which is too long.”

  “How do you know Goethe is a he?” Sheri asked.

  “Don’t know, don’t care,” Keep replied. “His handle is male, so he’s a he unless he states otherwise.”

  “It’s not really important right now,” I added.

  “So if he isn’t shutting them down, then what?” Bill asked.

  “Denial of service attack,” I replied. “He’s going to overload the servers with so many requests they can’t serve the feed from the satellite. Even if they manage to get a little data through, it’ll be so pixelated and choppy as to be completely useless. He said it was a lot easier to arrange a botnet of a few million computers than to get a password.”

  “That’s horrifying on so many levels. But how do we know he’ll actually do it?”

  “We’ll know if he doesn’t do it,” Keep said. “But he will; he’s got an incentive. Another payment that won’t be made if I don’t make it back alive. Call it a bonus.”

  Bill laughed. “In that case, if he’s ready, then we’re just about ready. It’s time to load up and move out.”

  “Let’s kick this pig,” Keep said, heading for the edge of the barn near the back doors. We wouldn’t board Smaug until the satellites were offline.

  “Ben, come back safe,” Mom said, putting a hand on my arm. I turned to look her in the eyes, and being my mother she realized right away what I hadn’t said. “You aren’t coming back, are you?”

  “No. If everything goes right, Keep and I will be going back to the Spiral. If everything goes wrong…” I trailed off. We both knew what that meant. “I said goodbye before not expecting to see you again. I’m glad things are going to work out for you here with the Ackermann’s. You deserve it.”

  She smiled, eyes moist. “I hope you get everything you’re looking for out there. I’m proud of you, and I love you.”

  I wrapped her in a big hug. Of course my eyes were moist too. “I love you too, Mom.” Another quick goodbye to Sheri, and I crossed the barn to Keep and Nick. “You ready, Nick?”

  He nodded. “Let's go," he said, looking the part of a soldier with his headgear, flight suit, and rifle, his muscles bulging underneath. Fatigues would have been better, but we worked with what we had.

  We waited another minute or so for George and Bill to say their second round of goodbyes and promises to see you soon. Then Keep pulled out his phone and typed WHEN.

  The reply came back instantly.

  DONE.

  “Let’s go,” Bill said, leading us from the barn and across the short distance to the Black Hawk. He dropped into the pilot’s seat, put on his headgear, and immediately began flipping switches. The engines came to life, the rotors spinning slowly at first, gaining speed as we took our seats and strapped in.