“Ensure her cooperation,” Philip spoke from behind Christian. “Promise her whatever she wants.”
Ahna turned her attention to Mira. “What would it take for you to lure Nadine to your drop point?”
Mira scoffed. “You’re not fucking serious. She’d kill me. Literally.”
“We can guarantee your safety. And in exchange for helping us, you can have whatever you want. Just name it. I can’t promise we’ll make an offer like this to you again.”
“Doesn’t mean she’ll get it,” Claude mumbled as he typed furiously into his electropad.
Mira ground her teeth while sizing up Ahna, as if looking for honesty behind Ahna’s blank stare. She was right to do so, Christian realized with a sharp pain in his chest. Mira couldn’t believe a single word the Systems said. They were just another tyrant, like every other person with power and too big of an ego.
What did that mean for Gemma, then?
“I just want to get off this fucking rock,” Mira said at last. “You make that happen, and I’ll get you Nadine.”
“Done,” Ahna said. “Where is this drop point?”
“Citizenship first. Show me you’ll uphold your end of the bargain.”
Ahna shook her head. “That’s not the way this works. We hold the leverage right now, and we can’t trust you won’t stab us in the back. We will protect you while we arrest Nadine and get you back here safely afterward. Then you will get your citizenship.”
Mira wiped her tongue across her upper teeth as she held eye contact with Ahna. At last, she sighed. “Fine. We use one of the old smelting tunnels.”
Imara gasped. “Is she fucking insane? Those places are toxic.”
“Only if you don’t know where to step,” Christian murmured.
“Does that mean you know the area well, Mister Holm?” Philip asked.
Christian nodded.Unfortunately.
“Patch in so you can feed Ahna information.”
Christian tapped on his SARTF earpiece. “Ask Mira which tunnel.”
If Ahna was startled by his voice, she didn’t show it.
“Which one?” Ahna asked Mira.
“Old Sector 6. Northeast quadrant. Near the old runoff tanks.”
Imara let out a breath between clenched teeth. “That one is bad,” she spoke through her earpiece. “Ask her how they avoid the toxic run off.”
“Isn’t that tunnel toxic?” Ahna asked Mira.
“It was, yeah. But you wear the right gear, you’ll live.”
“And she chose this place. Why?”
Mira snorted. “She says the stink keeps the cowards away. Systems pulled their drones when they started corroding. Nadine calls it her ‘dead zone.’ No eyes. No ears. No surveillance.”
“They’re insane,” Imara said. “They’re all literally insane.”
Christian spoke through his earpiece. “Ask her about the gear.”
Ahna did, to which Mira answered, “You need a sealed breather mask with a HUD that shows your oxygen level. Some sort of suit resistant to heat, chemical burn, and corrosion. We usually wear the outfits the refinery workers had. Make sure you’re wearing slip-resistant boots, and you definitely want gloves coated with a protective layer. Oh, and probably somesort of stim for exposure recovery. Just in case.” Mira’s grin was smug.
So that was the catch. Mira didn’t think they’d even bother to go, given the dangerous nature of the mission.
