Seven days had passed since the owner of the hangar agreed to repair the Dusty Maiden. She was nearly ready to go now. The deck on both the starboard and the port sides had been completely repaired, though Niles thought she could still use a good finish. But he said nothing. The repairs were meant to be utilitarian, not cosmetic.

We have a job to do, he thought. We can make her nice and shiny when this is all over.

What was better, was that James was mending well—but he still wouldn’t be able to join them later. Niles moved across the top deck to inspect the patch that had been stitched in place of the gaping hole that had been there three days earlier. “Looks good,” he said.

“The only thing left,” Andrea said, smiling impishly, “is that hole you nearly fell through last week.”

“I didn’t almost fall through,” he said indignantly. “I was being careful.”

“Right...”

“How’s James doing?” he asked.

“Well you saw him,” Andrea said.

“I know... but will he be well enough to travel tomorrow? It’s going to be costly for him to stay here.”

Andrea made a face. “I’m sorry, Niles. I don’t think so.”

“We’ll have to leave him while we continue on,” Jon said as he walked closer. “We can come get him when this is finished.”

Damn, Niles thought. He was tired of leaving people behind. “Now we’re down to six.”

“We should be okay with all of this,” Emma said, indicated some of the weapons and gear she’d obtained while out with Andrea. “And this isn’t even the best of it.”

Spread out over the deck on a large sheet of canvas was half a dozen armored vests as well as nearly a score of various pistols, assault rifles, and a large sniper rifle.

Jon bent down to examine the pieces. “You did well in acquiring these,” he said. “They should come in very useful when the time comes.” He stood up.

Niles pointed at the small arsenal, his kaw nearly dropping. “Where did you get the money for all that?”

“I brought some long,” Jon said, “for just such an occasion.”

“So you lied about my payment.”

“I didn’t lie,” Jon said. “I merely streteched—“

“Uhuh.“

“It’s the truth.

“Well, in any event,” Andrea said, “it’s good you had the money, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to buy much. I even pitched in, Niles.”

He didn’t know how he felt about that.

“We’re going to need all this for what’s to come,” Andrea added. “You know it.”

“Speaking of which,” Jon said, “I think it’s time I informed you all on our next plan of action.”

Niles and the others followed Jon down the companionway and into the galley. It was cramped for six people, but it was the best place not to be overheard by anyone.

“So...?” Niles said. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to sneak into a secret Guardian research facility,” Jon said.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Walter said, “Sounds dangerous.”

“It will be,” Jon said. “Which is why I believe the best course of action is for myself and Emma to enter the facility alone.”

“What?” Niles said loudly.

Jon turned to look at him. “We’re Guardians,” he said. “Our best chance is to get in unnoticed so we can acquire what we need without having a pitched firefight on our hands.”

“What about when you took me into the temple?” Niles said. “I passed off as a Guardian then.”

“Yes,” Jon said. “But this time we won’t just be walking through the front doors. Our approach will be highly clandestine and I’m afraid you don’t possess the necessary skills required.”

Niles cocked his head back. “To hell I don’t.”

“Look,” Jon said. “We can decide who’s going in and who’s not after surveying the base from a safe place. The point is, this task will be very dangerous, and our route will lead us into the wastelands where war barges will no doubt be patrolling.”

“How do you know that?” Sudney asked, stuffing his face with some of the food taking from the strores.

“Because they were when I was there. It’s safe to assume the area is being guarded.”

“Why were you there?” Andrea asked.

Jon met eyes with their very skilled and very beautiful pilot. “At the time I was the director of the research division that uncovered the artifact.”

“The weapon?”

“Yes,” Jon said. “I was removed from the project soon after—before the Order found the control room.”

“So, what?” Niles asked, “we sneak in there, get the location of this control room, and then just cruise on over to its location?“ It sounds easy, he thought. But it never is and probably won’t be either.

“The control room is no longer under the scrutiny of the Order, so yes.”

“Jon,” Emma said. “Can you be sure?”

Jon took a seat at the edge of the room. “The aliens will be here in a matter of weeks, so yes, I am fairly certain the control room has been evacuated. The Order doesn’t want to tip them off that we’ve been sneaking around their weapon.”

“And once you’re in the control room, you know how to activate the weapon?” Andrea asked.

Jon shrugged. “Not precisely, though I believe I can figure it out with Emma’s help.”

“This sounds a little too easy,” Niles said. “Are we supposed to believe that these off world beings—who are far more advanced than ourselves and who knows how much magic they posess—came to our world, created this massive weapon, and just left it all unguarded?”

Jon had his hand to his chin now. “I’m sorry, Niles,” he said. “I don’t have all the answers. Perhaps it is guarded.” He shrugged. “There’s so many things we don’t know.”

“I don’t like the way that sounds,” Sidney said.

“Maybe they expected we’d have been wiped out by the scorg horde by now,” Walter added.

“Perhaps,” Jon said. “We may never know. Not knowing used to fill me with a thrill—but now that we need to know, it’s a great burden.”

“Enough with the speculation,” Niles said. “How exactly are we going to get the location of the control room?”

“Well,” Jon said. “After we enter the facility, we’ll make our way into the director’s private office. That’s where the information will be kept.”

“Are you sure?”

“If not there, where else?”

“What if you get caught?” Andrea asked.

What would happen if they did get caught? Niles wondered. Would Jon and Emma be able to escape the facility? Even if it was possible, there’d be war barges all over the place. the Dusty Maiden was a cargo hauler, not a war barge, and not a racing barge. Even though she now had leather weave, Niles knew that their chances of surviving an assault by Guardians was very small. The only reason they’d defeated the Vertigo was because of ample cloud coverage which gave them the element of surprise. And even then they had gotten lucky. If they ran into trouble again they couldn’t count on cloud coverage to save them. Chances were that there would be more than one barge in the immediate area as well.

Jon was about to speak but Niles said, “It doesn’t matter, because we won’t get caught.”

Jon nodded to Niles.

The best way to get this done is to be careful and keep a positive attitude, he told himself. Fear will only get in the way. He stood on his feet and said, “Jon, will you be comfortable leaving tomorrow?”

“I believe so.”

“Good,” Niles said. He wanted to be underway as soon as possible so they could get this whole “saving the world thing” over with. A barge captain, that’s what he was. He was only sorry James had gotten hurt and that they would be continuing on without him. “Does anyone have any objections about leaving tomorrow?”

Sidney stood up. “What about James?”

“We have to leave him, Sid,” Walter said.

“We’ll leave him enough money to get a barge back to the capital when he’s feeling up to it,” Niles said.

Eyes downcast, Sidney didn’t say anything.

“If you want to stay,” Niles finally said, “I understand.”

After a moment the furnace boy stopped looking at his boots, looked up at Niles, and said, “No. I want to come.”

“Good,” Niles said. Then to the rest of the crew he added, “Make sure you say your goodbyes before tomorrow morning.”