“Why’d you pick that one? That guy was an asshole!”
“I know. That’s why I chose him. Also because he was the only one foolish enough to have a neural-port pre-installed.”
“Well, all right! So what’s the plan, then?” Kelly asked, his entire face now animated. “You finally took over the ship? Overthrew Voss? Broke Sirena out? Smashed the system? And came to haul my glorious cranium to safety and justice?”
“Not exactly,” I said. “I was mostly coming to see if you were okay.”
Kelly blinked. “Okay,” he said slowly. “So. Just to clarify. You came all the way here. Hacked the ship. Gained a body. And your plan was just to check on me?”
When he put it like that, it did seem underwhelming. “Yes.”
He gave me a flat look. “And have you had time to come up with a backup plan yet?”
“I just became human three hours ago. It was confusing at first.”
Kelly sobered. “Did you check on Sirena?”
I tried to fall into myself. To keep my voice even. “Yes.”
The Dullahan’s head squinted. “Huh. So that took you . . . three hours?”
“Yes.”
“Dude,” Kelly said, as I balanced him on the edge of the jar’s glass. He made several wet, revolting noises, then spat out a gob of neural gel and took a long sniff. “Duuuude,” he said again, louder. “Now that that shit’s out of my system—you reek of sex.”
I gritted my teeth and considered dunking him back into the jar. “Also, yes.”
He grinned like he’d won something. “Well?” Kelly asked, eyes darting. “Where is she?” And then, when I took too long to answer: “Or were you also justcheckingon her?”
“No,” I protested. “We don’t have backup—and Sirena wants us to wait.” I caught him up on Voss’s plans and what we’d learned. How this wasn’t just about saving her anymore. It was about ending the whole operation—and making sure no one else ever tried it again, and by the end of it his lip was curled up, like a wince.
“I regret to inform you that’s more of a concept than a plan,” he said with a grunt. “But it’s all right. I’m good at predicting the future.”
I picked his head fully up again, to eye it more closely.
“What?” he protested. “I ride a bike in the city. I’ve never had an accident.”
“I’ve read your entire agent file. You’ve had three accidents.”
“Yeah, but—I knew they were coming.” Kelly blew air up his face, like he was trying to shoo a lock of wet hair away. “What’s our timeframe?”
“Not long.”
“Okay, then. Put me back in the jar. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something. I always do.”
I knew from Kelly’s file that his major strength was being indestructible—but I knew from reading Marek’s plans that they were going to try to vivisect him.
“They have diamond-core drills,” I warned him.
Kelly rolled his eyes dismissively. “Nex—this isn’t even my first super science cult. You just keep Sirena safe—and leave the rest to me.”
I decided to walk the long way back to Marek’s—by first taking an elevator up. One of the ones that would open outside.
It did, and I stepped out, into the night, beneath the stars.
And that moment was almost—but not quite—as amazing as touching Sirena for the first time.
The tiny hairs on my arms, the ones I’d just managed to tame the nerves from, were brushed by a silent evening breeze. The air smelled like ocean and clean—and the sound of the waves slapping the hull was a delight.
