Jazz looked at Jessica and Garrett again. “I don’t know.”

  “You heard he’s dealing arms, right?” Cassidy said.

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t want in on that?”

  Jazz laughed. “Shit, you know how to hit me where it hurts, don’t you?” He raised his voice. “Get your asses in the back before anyone else sees you in here.” Jessica and Garrett hurried over to the counter, and they followed Jazz into the back of the shop. “While you’re at it, since you’re here, maybe you can explain this shit to me too.”

  He pushed open the door to his office. Brie and Shell occupied the two seats on the near side of the desk.

  “What are you two doing here?” Cassidy asked them as their heads turned in his direction. He glanced at Jazz. Had Brie outed him in coming here?

  “What are we doing here?” Brie replied. “Maybe you can tell us why about a hundred UDF agents came into the hotel with a search warrant, looking for you. I barely got out of there before they reached your room.”

  “Why did you decide to come here?” Cassidy asked.

  “I heard you talking to Mister Jazlin before you left for your meeting. I wanted to know who he was, so I took a voice sample and ran an analysis through the UDF database. No criminal record, but he’s on the watchlist.” She looked at Jazz. “You’re on the watchlist, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he replied. “Brando here has always managed to keep those dogs from sniffing too close though.”

  Brie raised her eyebrows at the name. Cassidy relaxed a little. She was too professional with her own clandestine work to give him up like that.

  “When the bureau showed up, I figured if you were going to surface again, it would be here. I was right.”

  “Who are you?” Jessica asked, confused.

  “Brie,” she replied, simply. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out Cassidy’s ClearPhone. “I thought it would be a good idea to power this thing up and cut the circuit to be extra sure. I can fix it, if you want.”

  “No, it’s fine,” Cassidy said. “Shell, why are you here?”

  “I wasn’t sure how safe I would be at the hotel,” Shell replied. “And I saw Brie leaving and knew she wasn’t one of our guests, so I figured she was with you. I tailed her here.”

  “I knew you were following me,” Brie said. “I let you.”

  “I really do try to stay under the radar, my friend,” Jazz said. “I don’t appreciate you bringing someone in to spy on me during our meeting.”

  “I wasn’t spying,” Brie said. “I was working and none of it had to do with you. You just happened to be there. But the last thing I expected was the UDF to show up to arrest you. I assume it has to do with him.” She pointed at Garrett.

  “It has to do with a lot more than that,” Jessica said.

  “What do you mean?” Brie asked. “Like Leonidas?”

  “Who’s Leonidas?” Jazz asked.

  “Not who. What.”

  “Fine. What’s Leonidas?”

  “Can we all just...stop for a second?” Cassidy said. All eyes turned to him. “I can explain everything, but just so we’re clear up front, what I’m going to tell you is going to put you front and center in the crosshairs of the UDF and you aren’t going to like everything you hear. Brie, Shell, if you don’t want to be involved, you should go now. Jazz, we can do this in the vault so you don’t have to hear it.”

  Jazz looked at him, mouth pursed in consideration. “This all sounds real juicy, my friend. Between the Dragons and the UDF, it’s like half the city’s suddenly looking for you. I’m both greatly terrified and horribly intrigued. And you did mention guns.”

  “Brando,” Jessica said. “I’m not sure we can trust—”

  “You don’t have a choice,” Cassidy replied, cutting her off. “You wanted an entire cadre of Silver Dragons because you know we can’t do this on our own. I’m putting everything on the line for you. We need the help.”

  Jessica nodded wordlessly.

  “It’s high-risk,” Garrett said. “So high-risk that I made an offer to the Dragons and they not only turned me down, they wanted my head for even suggesting it. I can make a similar offer to you.”

  Jazz laughed. “Now I’m even more terrified. And more intrigued. What do you need from me?”

  “We need you in the field,” Cassidy said before Garrett could answer. He turned to Brie. “We need you working remote network interference.” He pointed to Shell. “And we need you coordinating it all.”

  “Me?” Shell said. “I’m just an assistant hotel manager.”

  “Maybe, but I know I can trust you,” Cassidy replied. “And keeping everything organized is one of the most important jobs we have. I know you’re good at that too.”

  Shell blushed. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it sounds dangerous. What’s in it for me?”

  “Or me,” Brie said.

  “Or me,” Jazz echoed. “Field work means the risk of death is non-zero.”

  “Worst case, you’ll get the entire cache of arms I took from the Dome,” Garrett said.

  Jazz’s eyebrows went up, his eyes wide. “Did you say the Dome?”

  Garrett nodded. “Are you familiar?”

  “I’ve heard things.”

  “Then you know what kind of stuff I have to offer.”

  Jazz rubbed at his chin. “That’s an extremely high reward. That means you’re talking extremely high risk.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “What about me?” Brie said. “Sorry, Brando, but this goes way beyond what I owe you, and even further past any kind of tab.”

  Cassidy paused to consider what he could offer.

  “You’re a hacker, right?” Jessica asked.

  “A Miner.”

  “Really? I always wanted to be a Miner. But I never lived in the Sunshine Towers. In that case, if you help us out I’ll give you access to the Leonidas source code, plus a Unity Mobile Interface.”

  “You have a UMI?”

  “Mason,” Jessica said. He turned his pack toward her, and she unzipped it and lifted the slab out.

  “Oh, shit,” Brie said. “Where did you get that?”

  “The Dome,” she replied. “Help us out, and it’s yours.”

  “Deal.”

  “Shell,” Cassidy said. “The only thing I can offer is coin.” He looked at Garrett. “How much?”

  “Half a million.”

  Shell’s eyes nearly popped. “Half a million? Fine, I’m in. Whatever it is we’re doing.”

  Cassidy nodded and turned back to Jazz. “What’s your final verdict?”

  Jazz wrinkled his face, struggling to decide. “You don’t have to tell me everything up front, but can you at least give me a clue what we’re getting into?”

  “We need to infiltrate Bizrathi Praan’s Golden Tower,” Garrett said. “We’re looking for something there.”

  Jazz sighed. “Shit. Brando, I’m not convinced this raiding party is nearly big enough.”

  “That only adds to the reward,” Cassidy replied.

  The dealer laughed. “Isn’t that the truth, my friend.” He threw his hands up. “I could use a little more excitement in my life. Why not?”

  “So,” Brie said. “What is this all about?”

  Chapter 42

  Cassidy let Jessica explain the situation, taking a seat on the corner of Jazz’s desk while she and Garrett went through everything they had told him earlier. The story sounded as wild the second time around, though he also found he believed in it more, probably because of how desperately the UDF had turned out to capture them at the Dikon warehouse and how many agents had shown up to grab him at the Agora. While it was clear to Cassidy that Nevis wanted him to locate Garrett and hopefully bring him in, the Initiative had taken a calculated risk using him to go after the rogue Marine and Jessica, with the understanding they could potentially win him over to their side.

  And so far, they had.

  Of course, Nevis was playing with house money. No matter what else Cassidy did, he could only help this small pocket of the so-called resistance for so long. He and Hall would expire in a handful of weeks regardless of the actions they took. The only question was whether or not they would increase their efforts to put a stop to the group’s immediate plans.

  It left him to wonder if Nevis knew what their immediate plans were. She had known enough to use him to track down and assassinate Dorne even though he had been in the same time-limited boat. But that was also to prevent him from any preconceived ideas about who Garrett really was or what he represented. But did Nevis even know? Unity had kept the truth from Dorne, using the archon to manipulate reality. He still didn’t know the full extent of the alterations to the embedded processes in his previously filtered consciousness. He wasn’t sure he ever would. He also didn’t know if Nevis was a shadow of a repo or fully human. All he had ever seen of her was a projection.

  A heavy silence fell over the small assembly as Jessica finished her story. She purposely withheld the part about needing Cassidy because he was a Shade in order to help keep up his appearances with Jazz. Instead, she had claimed Praan had access to a special computer network she had discovered during her work on Leonidas. One that permitted a select few to communicate with one another across the planet. If they could reach the computer, if they could access the network, they could get to the truth.

  “This is crazy,” Jazz said, the first to speak. “And even if it’s true, who cares? Whether it’s Unity making the rules or guys like Praan, it doesn’t change anything.”

  “It changes everything,” Shell said. “We accept Unity based on the premise that it’s always acting in the best interests of the masses. That its decisions are based on unbiased data for the good of all humankind. We surrendered our freedoms to the idea that Unity is incapable of acting in an unfair manner. That doesn’t mean crime, poverty, violence or racism just go away, but at least the top of the system is clean. But if someone or a group of someones are controlling Unity, then all of that goes out the window. Whether it’s a single authority or a cabal, we can be pretty damn sure they aren’t acting in our best interests.”

  “If more people knew, more people would resist,” Garrett said.

  “So why don’t more people know?” Brie asked. “I’ve been swimming in data since I was eight years old, and I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

  “Because the resistance is neutered before the truth can get out. Unity controls everything. All of the communications. All of the networks. The military. The media. Everything. When we try to organize, the UDF shows up and shuts us down.”

  “Which is why I created Leonidas,” Jessica said. “So we couldn’t be silenced. There are small pockets of resistance across the planet. People like each of us who are still fighting to discover how deep this all goes. But we have the best chance of any of them.”

  “What makes you so special?” Jazz asked. “If there have been others, how can you be so sure you’ll succeed where they failed?”

  Jessica glanced at Cassidy. He could tell she wanted to point to him as the reason they had a chance to succeed, but she didn’t want to be the one to reveal his secret.

  “Maybe you aren’t special,” Jazz continued when she didn’t respond quickly enough. “I’m not trying to shit on your parade, but you’re asking me to risk my neck because you have a crazy notion Bizrathi Praan has authority over Unity, and that there’s some huge conspiracy to keep us all under his thumb, like we have so many other options anyway. My life is pretty good. I’m not all that keen on rocking the boat or biting the hand that feeds me.”

  “So you’re going to fall back on the ignorance is bliss defense?” Garrett said.

  “Maybe it is bliss,” Jazz replied.

  “You already said you were in.”

  “I told you I was in on helping you bust into the Golden Spire. I’m still good with that. You pass me your guns, I don’t really care why we’re there. I’m just saying, for the record, I don’t agree with the story that goes along with the job. I don’t really believe it, and even if it’s true, I don’t really care.”

  Brie laughed. “At least you’re honest.”

  “An honest thief,” Shell said. “It’s easier for me to believe Unity is screwing us over than for me to believe that.”

  Jazz glared at her. “What are you trying to imply?”

  “I think she’s trying to say that the UDF has put a lot of energy into catching up to Brando,” Brie said. “Whatever payday Garrett can deliver, you might be able to get a lot more straight from the source.”

  “Oh, you’re saying I’m going to sell you out.” Jazz smirked. “Screw you. I might not be the most upstanding citizen, but I do have some morals. And I’d never out someone who’s had equal opportunity to do the same to me and never used it. That’s not just bad for business. That’s downright evil.”

  “You have to wonder why the UDF is trying so hard to catch us,” Garrett said. “Even if I’m wrong about Unity, I’m convinced there’s something they want to stop us from learning. There’s something the UDF is trying to keep secret.”

  Jazz laughed. “You mean like the Shades? Everybody knows that’s all just bullshit to keep us on our toes. It’s like the boogeyman, but for criminal enterprise instead of kids.” He lowered his voice mockingly. “Nobody meets a Shade and lives to tell about it.”

  Garrett side-eyed Cassidy, but didn’t respond to Jazz’s retort. “Brie, what about you? What do you think?”

  “I told you before that I’m in,” she replied. “If there are secrets out there, whatever they are, I want to know them. It’s kind of my job.” She smiled.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Jazz said. “You’ll be tucked in here, nice and safe.”

  “No she won’t,” Jessica said.

  “I won’t?” Brie replied.

  “You need to get into direct line of sight with the Golden Spire,” Jessica explained. “Otherwise all the bureau needs to do is destroy the UnityComm towers you’re bouncing from.”

  “I thought they needed to at least track the source,” Brie replied.

  “Normally, they do. But if this is as important to Unity as I think, orders will come down to destroy every comm array in the city before we’ll be allowed to win, no matter how badly that hampers the UDF response.”

  “Line of sight shouldn’t be all that hard at least,” Shell said. “The Golden Spire is visible from almost any rooftop in the city.”

  “I’ll still be exposed if the UDF sends anyone searching for me,” Brie said.

  “We both will,” Shell agreed. “I assume I need to be up there with you.”

  “You do,” Jessica said.

  “I know how to use a gun, but I’d rather not kill agents. My late husband worked for the UDF.”

  “You might not have a choice,” Cassidy said.

  Shell stared at him for a long moment before sighing with resignation. “I’ll just hope you can do whatever you need to do before they spot us.”

  “We’ll do our best,” Garrett said.

  “Next steps?” Brie asked.

  “We need to plan how we’re going to get into the Spire and then get up to the top floor,” Jessica said.

  “Why not just land a roto on the roof?” Shell asked.

  Jazz laughed. “You’ve never been up through the clouds, have you?”

  “No. It’s restricted airspace.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I thought with a Miner here we could get around that.”

  “We probably could,” Garrett said. “But the wealthy don’t take kindly to unexpected guests, and their homes are well defended enough to take down an unconfirmed roto before it can get close.”

  “Is there any chance we can confirm a roto?” Cassidy asked.

  “Not without getting into the Spire’s security system,” Jessica replied. “Which we can’t initiate externally. We need to be inside the spire to open the network to outside access.”

  “Once we’re inside, we might as well make that happen. Maybe we can grab a roto to make our escape.”

  “Yeah. We might be able to take a roto off the spire, but entering in one is a no-go unless you can convince Bizrathi Praan to invite you over for tea.”

  “It’s too bad we don’t have our own Shade,” Jazz said. “We could get someone on the inside no problem.”

  “That would be nice,” Shell agreed.

  “It’s not that simple,” Cassidy said, his heart beginning to race as he spoke.

  The reaction was uncustomary for him, but then, he had never considered giving up his cover before. It was the most alien situation he could imagine, and at the same time, he couldn’t picture going into Praan’s spire, trusting his life to these people and them trusting their lives to him without coming clean. He had been a Marine long before he had become a Shade. While one was a singular role that eschewed most help as a matter of course, the other relied on teamwork. For now, he needed to get back to that.

  “I know, my friend,” Jazz replied. “Where are we going to get a Shade?” He laughed.

  “We already have a Shade,” Cassidy replied. “But without a transfer unit, I can’t change repositories.”

  Jessica and Garrett reacted only with a measure of surprise that he was admitting to the truth. Shell stared at him in shock, while Brie seemed more intrigued than anything, like she wanted to ask him a thousand questions in the span of the next few heartbeats. Jazz’s face darkened, his hands curling into fists.

  “Say what?” he said. “Brando, are you saying you’re compromised?”

  Garrett shifted to step between him and Cassidy, ready to defend Cassidy, who put out his hand to hold him back.

  “I’m telling you now because we need to work together. I need you to trust me.”

  “Are you kidding?” Jazz said, growing more angry.

  “Hold the indignation a little longer,” Cassidy said. “Because there’s more.”

  Jazz looked like he was going to burst, but he didn’t move, keeping his eyes locked on Cassidy.

  “This repo,” Cassidy said. “My host. He wasn’t completely honest with you either. His name is Detective Jeffrey Hall, UDF Special Investigations. He’s with the bureau. He has been for as long as you’ve known him.”