Vex’s gaze lingered on Christian a moment before he turned to Ahna. “You came,” he said, voice hoarse. “Didn’t think you would.”
“We don’t have time for banter,” Ahna snapped. “You have information. Talk.”
Vex slipped his hands into his pockets and relaxed into the stance of a man used to getting whatever he asked for. Christian subtly slipped on his grav knuckles.
“What do I get in return for my information?” Vex asked.
“What do you want?”
“Freedom from Reva. Clean papers. Citizenship, Systems-issued. I’m done scraping by in the shadows.”
Ahna didn’t flinch. “Wait here.” She pushed between the members of her team, keying her comm.
Claude and Yosef kept their scrutinizing stares on Vex without falter, their years of military service shining in their stances. Christian’s hands shook at his sides, desperate for vengeance against the man who’d manipulated and used him for years in the ring.
Christian turned his attention to Ahna’s call to distract himself.
“It’s possible, sir, but I think we should play it safe. This is our only lead.” A pause. “Affirmative.”
Ahna returned. “Your request is approved,” she said to Vex, and Christian couldn’t help but notice the subtle flinch of pain on Hawk’s face. The governor would provide papers for a criminal, but not his own family.
“But if you flake,” Ahna continued to Vex, “if you try to warn this contact of yours and they disappear, you’ll wish you never crawled out of your hole.”
Vex stared at her, his expression impassive and unreadable as always, and Christian lifted onto the balls of his feet, ready to pounce at the first sign they’d been betrayed.
But Vex spoke at last. “The Dissent’s been moving gear through the old shafts. One that most folk think collapsed decades ago. But there’s a way through off the main lines, east side of the mining sector. It’s narrow, but it works. Only a few of us even remember it’s there.”
Ahna looked to Christian. “You know where he’s talking about?”
“I have an idea.” It wasn’t the same tunnel where he, Imara, and Hawk had found the previous cache—the Underground’s tunnel systemwasvast. But it wouldn’t take him long to figure out exactly which specific one once they were close.
“Who’s been running trade on their side?” Ahna asked Vex.
The man lit a cig before answering. “Woman. Tattoo across her throat. Doesn’t talk much. I think her name’s Mira.”
“Got it,” Claude said, pulling up a holoscreen from his forearm band to document the info.
“I’ll set up a trade,” Vex continued. “Make it sound like I got something good. She comes in, you give her the stuff. Follow her, you find the Dissent.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Ahna asked.
“We have a code, lingo. She won’t suspect anything if I say the right words.”
Ahna paused for a moment to think. “When?”
“Tomorrow. Twenty-one-hundred hours. That spot I told you about off the main line. I’ll send the message tonight. She’ll be there.”
“Very well. You follow through, you get your papers.”
With a dip of his head, Vex turned and vanished into the tunnels without another word. The light of his battery lantern faded with him.
Silence stretched between the six of them, though the air surrounding them buzzed in anticipation. They were so close now.
“Let’s head back,” Ahna said. “We’ve got just a little over twenty-four hours to prep.”
By the time they left Gallowood House for the meet with Mira, all six of them were rested and had a solid plan in place. Both Hawk and Imara were excited to finally test out the tech Claude had made special for them in a real scenario.
Imara’s drone and tactical interface, small enough to be worn around her wrist, had been created by Claude, and he had developed a special earpiece to alert Hawk whenever an attacker approached behind him or on his blind side. Hawk had been offered a bionic eye when he’d first lost it, but it had given him migraines so horrible that he’d asked for the patch instead.
