The van’s air conditioner whirred, coughing occasionally as it fought a losing battle against the dry desert heat. Kat wasn’t sure where Whip had bought it, but it was hard to argue that it didn’t look the part, beat up and sun-bleached, just like dozens of other vehicles in the expansive parking lot, she doubted it would draw any attention.

Sandy orange adobe walls passed by on the smartglass display as Jasper and Iris walked through the ruins. Ahead of them, a tour guide, more there to ensure that visitors didn’t wander off and take artifacts from the painstakingly restored buildings than to actually provide information, led their group through the remains of the Pueblo city.

“Any signs?” Davis asked impatiently. Although he wasn’t a huge man outside of his armor, he still had to bend over slightly when standing in the back of the van. “We know the entrance is either in the old city or in the reenactment village. They’ve already walked through the village, so unless we’ve missed something, it has to be in the ruins.”

Kat shot the old man a bemused look. Somehow, even crouched over he managed to look stiff and formal. It was like every muscle in his body was clenched tight as he stared at the smartglass.

“I don’t think we’re going to find it on the first pass,” Kat said, trying to soothe the tense samurai. “The entrance to the factory is almost certainly concealed, otherwise someone would have found it by now. Remember, the plan was mostly for them to drop off the drones on their first pass. If we spot something through Jasper’s feed, that’s great, but the real search will take place after the park closes.”

A shriek from the smartglass display halted their conversation. Davis, Emma, and Kat all crowded around the monitor where Whippoorwill was hard at work. The strained moment evaporated with a giggle from Emma and a groan from Kat.

Apparently, Iris had been startled by one of the long eared rabbits that prowled the reconstructed city, living off of the sparse native vegetation and handouts from tourists. As they watched, the view from Jasper’s smartpanel had switched to him looking down at the woman as she tried to coax the animal out of its hiding spot with a handful of peanuts.

“Can’t they at least try to take this seriously?” Davis grumbled unhappily, running a hand shakily through his hair. “We’re deep in enemy territory right now. NeoSyne is bad enough, but with the stallesp backing them-”

“Relax.” Kat gently touched her hand to his forearm. “They need to look like they’re on a date or they’ll draw attention. I’m pretty sure this is the sort of thing people on dates do.”

“I understand.” Davis caught himself. Rather than continue immediately, he exhaled shakily, trying to steady himself. “On some level I realize that Jasper will be fine, but on another, I can’t help but believe that he will never be ready. The Haupt family has done so much for me, after losing his father, I’m not sure that I could stand losing Jasper as well. The boy can be dumb at times, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t important.”

Kat shifted uncomfortably, trying her hardest not to think of her role in the aftermath of Jasper’s father’s death.

“Don’t worry Miss Debs.” Davis chuckled without any real mirth. “I know of our mutual friend’s… involvement in that affair. I have not forgotten what happened, but I’m wet behind the ears. I know better than to drive a wedge between myself and my allies when a conflict of this magnitude is on the horizon.”

“I’m sorry for what it’s worth,” Kat replied unhappily. “The entire situation left a bad taste in my mouth, but at the end of the day-”

“Your hands were tied then as surely as mine are now,” he replied smoothly. “Disasters make strange bedfellows. One day there may be a proper accounting and settling of grievances, but if that day comes it will be once the company is stable enough to withstand it, a prospect that seems to grow more and more distant with each passing month.”

Emma pushed in between the two of them, her eyes shining. Kat swore she saw the woman lick her lips as she interjected herself into the conversation.

“I couldn’t help but notice that the two of you are purposefully not mentioning specific names or events with regard to these dark secrets you are discussing. It would make this conversation a lot easier to follow if you spoke more openly.”

“You’re the reason I’m being opaque, girl,” Davis said with a bemused snort. “Even if I tell you not to talk about the situation, you’ll let something slip. Jasper knows that I know more about the death of his father than I’m letting on, but he’s a smart boy. He also knows that I’d tell him everything in a heartbeat if we could act on it. I’d prefer that you not accidentally talk about something you shouldn’t even know about and upend the entire delicately balanced status quo.”

“Drones away.” Whippoorwill’s declaration ended their argument before it could get started. “Initiating their scramble and hide protocols now.”

On the smartglass, four small squares, each showing a slightly different ground-level view as the tiny robots bolted for cover on their treads. None of the five vantages displayed anyone nearby, and each of the surveillance bots successfully scurried out of sight before extending their solar collectors and settling in for nightfall.

Before the guide came back to check up on the two of them, Iris threw her handful of peanuts to the rabbit. The animal sniffed the food dismissively before scampering off into the ruins, leaving Iris and Jasper to rejoin their tour group.

The rest of their walk through the historical sight went off without a hitch. Jasper and Iris laughed at little inside jokes while their smartpanels fed them facts about the age and design of the buildings. Finally they exited the reconstructed city, really more of a large village built into a scar scooped out of a cliff face by millenia of windstorms, and descended to the site’s gift shop.

After purchasing a poster and some shirts, the two of them left hand-in-hand through the ‘reenactment village’ where employees pretended to live under the same conditions as the original Pueblo. It was near the end of the day, so many of the ‘maize grinding’ and ‘clothes making’ exhibits were more than a little halfhearted, but Iris and Jasper barely noticed as they finished their date, whispering and blushing over nothing as they returned to the van.

The back door opened with a blast of heat that taxed the struggling air conditioner, and soon the entire team was gathered in the rear of the vehicle, sitting on narrow benches as Whippoorwill manually drove the observation drones into better hiding spots.

Finally, after almost a minute of silence, Emma spoke up.

“So Jasper and Iris managed to release the drones when no one was paying attention and got back to the van.” She shrugged. “Now what?”

“Now we search for the entrance while we plan out our raid,” Davis replied, nodding to the smartglass near the front of the van. “Or at least that’s what we do once we don’t have to worry about park staff spotting the drones. For now? I’d suggest a nap. If we find an entrance, we’ll probably have to go in tonight. We wouldn’t want the security forces to notice us and ramp up their defenses. We’re undermanned enough as is.”

“That makes sense to me,” Kat agreed, glancing at the smartglass. “We should probably have Jasper and Iris stand watch while everyone else gets some rest. They’ll need to be on hand to drive in case we need a short notice getaway, but other than that, this mission isn’t a great place for them to stretch their wings.”

“But we want to help!” Iris blurted out, her hands clenching into fists as she leaned forward. “Last time you said that we’d have a chance to help with this mission. That’s why Jasper and I agreed to be distractions for the attack on Neon Dome. I get that the rest of you have more experience with this sort of thing, but I don’t want to be left behind.”

“This isn’t going to be some half asleep security for a subsidiary company,” Kat said, trying to soothe the upset woman. “Everyone in this factory is going to have serious chrome, levels, or both. That’s not even talking about the differences in experience. Right now we have a scout, a caster, electronics, and a heavy combatant. That’s a classic combat team. Emma’s a little new, but she’s good at keeping herself alive. We’re going to be stretched thin in there. There won’t be any safety net if Jasper or you end up out of position and under heavy fire.”

“Davis has had Jasper and I doing corridor drills,” Iris protested, glancing from Kat to the older man. “I have a 75% completion rate on the 50 meter course, and my last three times have been under 20 seconds. I can fight. We can help.”

“Honey.” Jasper put a hand on her arm, shaking his head gently. “We’re getting better, but we’re not there yet.”

“Kat,” she jumped slightly as Jasper turned his attention to her, startled at suddenly being the focus of the conversation. “Have you done a corridor drill in the Grand Canyon house’s firing range yet?”

She nodded, unsure as to where exactly the conversation was going.

“What is your time and completion rate?” He asked, patting Iris’ knee.

“She only went once to calibrate the course,” Davis chimed in. “Twelve seconds flat, and only two of the dummies even got a shot off. Neither was anywhere near her. Hell, the only reason it took her that long is that she insisted on using her damn knives for most of it. She fired two shots in total, and even then it was only because one of her targets was too far away for her to get it with a knife properly.”

Iris deflated, eyes sinking to the floor of the van. “Twelve second?” She muttered. “I’ve never done better than eighteen.”

“Don’t worry about it too much girl,” Davis replied gruffly. “I’m honestly not sure who would win in a fight between Kat and I. The girl is unbelievably quick, but most of her ranged weapons lack the punch needed to get through my combat armor. I’m not sure I like my chances at close range, and I don’t doubt that she’d be a hard target to hit as she charged in. There’s a reason she’s racked up an impressive body count.”

“I hate to say next time,” the older man continued with a sigh, “because I do appreciate your willingness to help. Not every executive is willing to provide covering fire. That said, I promised Jasper’s father that I would keep the boy safe. That doesn’t mean sheltering him forever, but it does mean keeping him out of fights that are over his head.”

“Fine,” Iris whispered, putting one of her hands over Jasper’s. “Next time. But I mean it. No matter how dangerous it is, I want in. If that means you triple our training in order to get us ready, I want you to do it. You’re probably right that we’re unprepared, but that just means that you have to work twice as hard to prepare us.”

“That’s the spirit girl,” Davis nodded, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. “I’m sure both Jasper and you will regret that sentiment given a little time, but I’ll get you ready. That’s not to say the prep work you’re doing right now isn’t important, but if you actually want to be in the thick of it and risk your life, I’ll give you the skills you need to accomplish that, even if I have to drag you across the finish line kicking and screaming.”

“Proper training is pretty miserable by the way,” Whippoorwill spoke up, her eyes still on the smartglass as the shadows began to lengthen. “Xander would make me run until I was about to collapse before he would even let me start on hand to hand exercises. I was designated as support, so he only made me work out twice a week, but I don’t think I ever got out of one of those sessions without bruises.”

“He was a good man,” Davis said somberly. “I often tell my trainees that bruises prevent bullet holes. Those that focus on their training tend to survive and earn names. The cocky ones that assume that winning a couple back alley fights made them a samurai? There is a reason samurai aren’t given names as soon as they start running the streets. All too many die before they can ever amount to anything.”

“I would simply avoid anyone with a gun,” Emma replied, her face a mask of faux seriousness. “That seems to be well into the realm of ‘someone else’s problem.’ I’m pretty good at moving around unseen, but I think I’ve my fill of trying to take actual samurai in open fights. Chrome limbs tend to out-perform batons.”

“Noted.” Kat smiled at the girl. “Now everyone that’s on standby should take a nap. If we’re going in tonight, we want to be at our best, and I don’t want any of you yawning when you’re supposed to be shooting at a target.”

“Yes Mom,” Whip said, drawing groans and rolled eyes from the rest of the van.

There was some general shifting about as everyone changed places, Jasper and Iris taking spots near the front of the vehicle while everyone else tried in vain to find ‘comfortable’ spots on the benches and floor.

Then, Kat closed her eyes, trying to drown out the litany of concerns that raced through her mind. Even if they found the entrance to the NeoSyne factory, they didn’t know the first thing about what they would face. Davis seemed focused on terrestrial security, but Kat couldn’t help but remember her experiences in Chiwaukee and Dorrik’s warning about the breeder reactor.

The stallesp were far from shy about using their technology. Even if her team had what it took to defeat NeoSyne’s defenses, she didn’t even know what the aliens had available. For all Kat knew, they’d make it halfway to their objective only to run into a forcefield, impenetrable to any weapon produced on Earth.

She rolled to the side slightly, shoulder bumping into Whippoorwill. They didn’t know how many people worked there or what tech they would have available. Hell, all they knew is that the factor was producing and storing military equipment that could outstrip any military on Earth.

What if she couldn’t protect her friends? What if she couldn’t protect herself? They needed to prevent NeoSyne from building an unstoppable army, so making a move on the factory wasn’t exactly a choice, but at the same time, maybe it would be worth their time to hold tight until a larger force arrived.

Of course, bringing more samurai into the area would also mean additional risk of exposure. Even now, it was entirely possible that a security sweep picked up their mostly dormant drones, and the minute that NeoSyne knew that their secret factory was under attack, the situation would change dramatically.

Davis was probably right. Their best bet was secrecy, a small team moving fast and leaving bodies in their wake. There was no question that they would be outnumbered once they got into the factory itself, but with any luck Whippoorwill would be able to sabotage the facility or take over their defenses.

Of course, luck was hardly-

A hand gently touched Kat’s shoulder, awakening her with a gasp. The van was dark other than the quiet glow of the smartglass. Two of the screens showed aerial views as the drones in question had sprouted rotors and taken to the air. A third whirred along through an abandoned adobe building.

The final drone was parked at the bottom of an empty water reservoir made from dried mud bricks, its tiny camera focused on a metal door that gleamed in the hints of starlight visible through the circular aperture the drone had used to descend into the chamber.

Kat exhaled, cold sweat beading on the back of her neck as Whippoorwill handed her the hood for an infiltration suit.

“Sorry we didn’t wake you Erinyes,” her friend flashed her a quick, apologetic smile. “You looked like you could use the sleep, but it’s time.”

Outside the van, she could hear the heavy thump of metal and ceramic on the blacktop as Davis put on his heavy combat armor. Emma opened the double doors to the back of the vehicle, stepping outside in her infiltration suit.

Kat closed her eyes, blowing out a breath as she centered herself, stilling the roiling storm of worries that still hung over her.

She opened them again, flashing Whip a tight smile.

“Thanks,” she said, slipping the hood over her head and tucking the ends into the neck of her suit. “There’s one more thing I need to do before we get started. I’ll be outside and ready to go in a second.”

Whippoorwill opened her mouth to say something, indecision at war with… something else on her face. Finally, she gave in, smiling weakly at Kat and nodding before jumping out the back of the van.

She watched her friend go, worry almost immediately resurfacing as Whip rounded the corner. Kat blew out another breath, reaching into the backpack she’d brought with her and brushing her fingers over a smooth plastic box she’d been keeping hidden since the trip on the maglev from Chiwaukee.

A quick glance confirmed that Jasper and Iris were both still occupied with the drones, and Kat’s Tower enhanced agility was put to the test, hands almost blurring as the small, rectangular box was transferred from the backpack to her bag she’d be using for her equipment on the run into the factory.

Kat stood up, having to crouch slightly due to the low ceiling of the van, and stepped out into the clear desert night. She wasn’t sure if she was ready, but it hardly mattered. It was too late to turn back now.