Lysalya frowned as she sat in the seat which had been moved to the edge of the deck, a pair of binoculars glued to her eyes as she stared at the hulking black monolith in the distance. Recon duty had never been something that she particularly liked, but then again nobody else in the team had a fondness for it either. The fact that she had an umbrella over her head and a cocktail by her side made it slightly more bearable, but constantly staring at the same scenery was almost as mind-numbing as the contents of her glass. At least she was comfortable, her combat gear discarded in favour of a white singlet and a pair of yellow shorts so that the salty breeze could finally run over exposed skin. Ormain hadn’t said anything about her choice which was all the approval she’d needed, and the fact that Lieutenant had to begrudgingly cart her gear around made it that fraction sweeter too. The group needed a replacement Artel for mundane tasks now that he was dead, and if Lieutenant already knew his place then it would save them all from Shalan having to teach him the hard way.

“So, was it worth it?” she finally asked without turning around.

“Do you think it was?” Ormain replied with a question of his own after stewing over it for a moment. Unlike Lysalya he didn’t have an umbrella over his head or a pair of binoculars either, instead lying shirtless on a sunbed as he gazed at the clear sky above them. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips when he thought about how their fortunes had turned, but at the same time the gears in his head were continuing to whir. It was true that he had paid a lot for them to be out here, but the payment had given them a seat at the table where the game was about to play out. Whether the opposing side made their move today or a week later he didn’t know, but whichever way it was, now that they were here they would be ready with a move of their own.

“I think it’s like you rented a metal detector only to find that what you dug up didn’t cover the fee,” she said before dropping the binoculars into her lap, looking over her shoulder before scowling when she saw him casually relaxing without paying her any attention. “Couldn’t you have picked something a little closer where I wouldn’t need to strain my eyes so much? The island over there would have been perfect.”

“If we were that close you’d need a sniper rifle, not a pair of binoculars,” he said with a sigh. “And considering the fast one that our informant over there has pulled on us, it’s not something that I want to risk.”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

The question didn’t come from Ormain, but Shalan instead as she stepped outside with a cocktail glass in her hand that could probably double as a fishbowl. Lieutenant may have already told Lysalya that she was dressed inappropriately for combat if they needed to mobilise at short notice, but Shalan had simply laughed in his face by opting for a black bikini. Ormain and Vesche certainly hadn’t complained, although the latter had been understandably subtle about his appreciation because he valued his eyes being where they were. Lieutenant, however, hadn’t been moved in the slightest by her figure on display, but as surprising as it was the others weren’t going to waste time on dwelling on it. If anything, the amount of alcohol she had guzzled her way through during their stay on Areinis was the primary concern, but it didn’t seem like Ormain was going to stop her from treating the expedition as a holiday any time soon either. Whether she was drunk or not when it was time for them to move would, unfortunately, probably come down to chance.

“He’s playing both sides,” she continued as she sat down in the seat next to Ormain, fiddling with the lever behind her for a second before reclining down to a comfortable angle. A thin silver necklace which was against SuTSU regulation hung around her neck while her glossy black hair was tied up in a ponytail, a smile appearing on her face as Ormain shot her an openly admiring glance. “He already made a fortune from us by selling them into a problem, and now he’s going to try to make another one by selling them a way out of it.”

“If we set up on that island like you were suggesting, we’d only have one rifle that can hit anything at that kind of range,” Ormain added as he pointed to the closer island in question. “It’s the first place they’ll look for us, and I’ll bet you that right now that the guy is trying to sell them a one-up on what we’ve got. That’s if he hasn’t managed to do so already. For all we know he could have armed them to the teeth by now and they’re out there waiting for us to walk up to their front door.”

“Maybe it’s a bluff,” Lysalya said with a frown.

“He’s an arms dealer Lys,” Shalan scoffed. “He plays both sides of a conflict like this for a living, and don’t forget that his boat had a damn turret mounted on the front either. A few rifles are nothing to him, and if he’s been engineering this from the start like we think he has, I’m pretty sure he’s going to have what they need on offer.”

Shalan’s words were sobering, although the reason that they were was because she was right. Their informant, now that she considered the situation from all angles, had played them like a fiddle. Ormain had already forked over enough money to ensure that they would remain committed to playing a hand, but their need to do so was exactly the thing that would enable the man to drive a harder bargain with the other side.

“If they cut a deal, we’re outgunned,” Ormain said with a yawn, reaching for Shalan’s glass before taking a sip. His nose wrinkled at the taste, but maybe something strong was what he needed after he’d put the pieces together. “And if they don’t cut a deal, it’s probably because they think that they can still give us the slip without any help. Whichever way it is, they’re going to come out on what they think are their own terms.”

“So, you’re saying that there’s nothing we can do?” Lysalya asked with a tinge of frustration. She was sick of playing catch up, although she had felt the same way since their first encounter with the group in the Badlands. Being outplayed once was difficult enough to swallow, but twice had left her nothing short of bitter. “Why am I watching out for them then, so we can wave goodbye as they leave?”

“You’re watching them because we’re still going after them,” Shalan stated matter-of-factly as she hid a smile behind her glass. Lysalya didn’t like it when she played the role of superior considering that her own rank was technically higher, but she also knew that there wasn’t much she could do about it. Ormain didn’t say no to Shalan very often, and her half-naked figure sprawled out in the chair beside him probably wasn’t going to help change his mind either.

“Stop bickering,” Ormain said with a sigh. “Yes, he caught us out, but this isn’t over yet. We’re right between them and where they need to be, and we still have cards to play. By now our ‘informant’ has probably told them that he invited us to the party, but how they react to that is something that nobody can predict. Knowledge that the net is tightening tends to make people panic, so stay vigilant. The moment that a boat leaves the island, I want to know about it.”

Lysalya considered pointing out that their target had escaped his net twice already but held her tongue. Third time lucky was what they usually said, and for once she was inclined to agree. Not because she was superstitious of course, but simply because you could only flip heads on a coin so many times in a row before things finally went the other way. Soon enough they would have the stroke of luck that they needed, and one chance was all that they needed for their hard work to finally pay off.

“Shalan, it’s your turn on watch,” she said with a hint of satisfaction after taking a glance at the clock. At least her shift was over for now, and the nearby pool wasn’t looking so bad. Their equipment was set out neatly inside in case their target decided to make a break for it, so if Shalan was going to use the opportunity to relax, she was too.

“I’m not watching anything,” Shalan said with a smile as she took another sip of her cocktail before turning her head in the direction of the restaurant behind them. “Lieutenant, bring out the boys. It’s time for them to earn that meal.”

Ormain smiled, while Lysalya grimaced. Not because she thought that it was the wrong thing to do, but simply because she was bitter over the fact that she hadn’t thought of the idea in the first place.