A few days later, Kayla was underground. Against Veridian’s advice, she snuck out of camp and headed back to the ruins. Veridian grudgingly followed her, unwilling to let her scavenge alone. She knew he was apprehensive about making Leo angry.

In Kayla’s opinion, she’d stayed above ground long enough. Sitting in camp made her stir-crazy, and she found herself snapping at people left and right. She figured Leo wouldn’t be all that upset at her leaving. In fact, she reasoned he would probably end up welcoming a more relaxing day without having her yell back and forth with him.

“Dropping down to level four,” Kayla announced over her headset. The cable lowered her into the ruins in Sector Twelve. Once her feet touched the floor, she pressed the button to signal she’d stopped her descent. Kayla unhooked the harness and looked around the room again.

This is where I belong.

Most other ruin rats might look at scavenging as a way to survive, but there was something eerily calming about being in the ruins. Walking through rooms forever frozen in time allowed her a glimpse of another world. She could almost get lost in other people’s memories.

Kayla smiled to herself as she moved through the old bedroom and spotted the empty jewelry box she’d thrown in the corner. She picked it up and stuffed it into her bag. It probably wasn’t worth much, but it might get them a few credits.

Making her way across the room, she climbed over a partially collapsed wall separating the bedroom from the hallway. Working her way through the hall, she was careful to check the stability of the ground before each step to avoid another collapse.

She came to a large hole in another wall, which appeared to lead to another bedroom. This room was remarkably well preserved and appeared to have belonged to a child. Kayla began sorting through debris for any salvageable items.

She moved to the other side of the room and discovered what looked like an old toy chest in the corner. Grinning, she knelt on the ground. It might not look like much from the outside, but sometimes the contents were in decent shape.

Kayla pried open the rusted lid and discovered a few old-fashioned toys inside. One looked like some sort of worn, plastic music player. She put it in her pack and picked up a ceramic doll wearing a long, faded red dress. It was in better condition than she expected. She added the doll to her pack as well.

The rest of the items looked like trash. She doubted they would bring in many credits but made a mental note in case she ever wanted to come back. There wasn’t much else in the room she could carry, so she headed back to the hallway.

“Kayla,” Veridian’s voice called over her headset, “we’ve got a problem. I’ve got three riders on approach. It looks like Carl again.”

“Shit. That guy is seriously becoming a pain in my ass. It can’t be a coincidence he knew we’d be here today. How long do I have?”

“Less than five minutes. If you get up here now, we might be okay.”

Kayla dashed to the harness, strapped herself in, and hit the button for the cable to lift her to the surface. The time would be close, but it was possible. “Disengage the UV guard and get the hell out of here, V. I’ll take care of the cabling device and meet you where we discussed.”

“On it,” he replied.

By the time she climbed out of the hole, Veridian was already driving away. She grabbed the cabling device and attached it to her bike. Glancing up, she saw three bikes rapidly approaching. She leaped on to her speeder and fired up the engine.

With a grin, she pulled back on the throttle and took off speeding over the landscape with the three bikes following her.

Leaning forward, she pulled back on the thrust lever. The bike engine roared and shot forward at near breakneck speed. Let’s see how well you can ride, Carl.

Kayla crouched low, the wind rushing around her as she pushed the bike to its limits. Angling into a turn, she shifted herself slightly toward the edge of the seat and brought the bike nearly to the ground before pulling out of the turn. She glanced into her mirror and saw she’d left the other bikes far behind.

Kayla continued driving for another ten minutes until she was sure she’d lost them. She and Veridian had designated meeting locations for those times they needed to outrun traders and their crew. She turned her bike around and went the long way back toward Sector Three, one of the few cleared sectors, making sure not to cross Carl’s path.

When she arrived, Veridian was already waiting for her under the UV guard. He was clearly agitated, pacing under the artificial shade. “You lost them?”

Kayla pulled off her helmet. “Of course. I drove around making sure before heading here.”

She removed the cabling device from her bike and handed it to Veridian to reattach to his bike. “I didn’t think they’d be onto us so quickly. Carl must have known you’d try to go back into the ruins before the week was up.”

Kayla shrugged and opened her backpack to make sure the artifacts hadn’t been damaged. A beep from Veridian’s bike radar made her look up.

“What is it?”

He stared at the radar. “Shit, we’ve got three bikes headed this way. They must have followed you.”

She shook her head in denial. “No freaking way. I lost them.”

“Could they have gotten back into our comms?”

Kayla considered the possibility for a moment. “I don’t see how. Why the hell are they chasing us down for a couple of stupid artifacts? He’s worse than a rash that won’t go away.”

“Do you want to take off?”

“Nah.” Kayla stretched her arms over her head and leaned against the bike. “Not much point if the bastard is tracking us. Let’s find out what he wants.”

Veridian frowned but didn’t object. They waited while the three bikes pulled up and Carl dismounted, along with Xantham and Cruncher.

Xantham pulled off his helmet and stared at Kayla. “Fuck me sideways. Where the hell did you learn to ride, girl? I’ve never seen anyone with moves like that.”

She grinned and winked at him. “You pick it up quick when you have to outrun traders and their crew.”

Carl tucked his helmet under his arm. “Kayla, we need to talk.”

She yawned. “Nice to see you, too, Carl. But I’m a little busy right now getting my much-needed rest. You see, I’m still technically grounded, but I thought the fresh air might do me some good.”

“You sure looked pretty damn healthy for someone flying out of Sector Twelve earlier.”

Kayla blinked at him. “Business for you traders must be really slow if you’re willing to chase me across half the district. If you need the credits so bad, go ahead and search us, but keep Leo out of this. He didn’t know I was coming here. I waited two days, which was more than fair.”

Carl shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I need to talk to you about Ramiro.”

Kayla’s shoulders tensed. She wasn’t about to discuss Ramiro beyond what she’d revealed the other day. “There’s nothing to talk about. The guy’s an asshole, and I plan on staying as far away from him as I can get. I’m more interested in knowing how you knew I’d be here. I know for a fact my comms and Leo’s system are squeaky clean. I spent the last two days—” Kayla’s eyes widened as a thought struck her and she jerked upright. “You sneaky bastard. You put a tracker on my bike when I came to your camp the other day, didn’t you?”

“Kayla, that’s not important right now,” Carl began.

She ignored him and crouched next to her bike, pulling a flashlight out of her pocket. If there was a tracking device somewhere, she’d find it.

“Ramiro’s gone off the deep end. He’s looking for you.”

Kayla ran her fingers along the underside of the engine, wondering what it would take to get him to drop the subject. “Yeah, yeah, what else is new?”

“Dammit, Kayla.” Carl sighed, then walked over and pulled the miniature tracking device off her bike. He handed it to her, taking away her distraction. “Will you please talk to me now?”

She looked at the device and pouted. “I would have found it.”

He nodded. “I know. I’m trying to save some time. We have a problem with Ramiro. He’s been trying to access my comm system.”

“That sounds like your problem, not mine.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants.

“I’m afraid it’s not. Xantham went ahead and let him into our system enough to find out what he was looking for. He’s looking for you. Cruncher did some checking and found Ramiro’s put a price on you.”

Kayla paused while she tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying. Her brow furrowed, and she gave a slight shake of her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. He might have gotten a little worked up the other day, but the Aurelia Data Cube incident happened a year ago. Why would he bother doing something now? Besides, he already knows he hurt—” She pushed away those thoughts and straightened her shoulders. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. It’s done. It’s in the past. I stay out of Ramiro’s way, and he leaves me alone.”

A look of guilt flashed across Carl’s face but disappeared so fast Kayla wondered if she’d imagined it. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple anymore. Ramiro broke the rules. You may think that as a trader we can do whatever the hell we want, but that’s not the case. Based on his own admission, I petitioned OmniLab to have his trader status revoked.”

Kayla’s eyes widened. “Why the hell would you do a thing like that? Shit, Carl, he’s going to blame me. If he didn’t already want to permanently dump my databanks, he will now. If you wanted me out of your district so badly, you could have at least given me a head’s up to get the hell out of OmniLab territory.”

Veridian ran a jerky hand through his hair, looking worried. “Can you call OmniLab and tell them you made a mistake?”

“I can’t,” Carl said simply. “The other two traders have signed off on the petition, and OmniLab is investigating. But even if I could call it off, I wouldn’t. As it is, you don’t trust us. The only way we’re ever going to be able to repair the relationship between traders and ruin rats is if we’re held accountable for our actions.”

“At the risk of getting Kayla killed?” Veridian demanded.

“Not if I can help it.” Carl turned to Kayla, holding out his hands in apology. “I wasn’t expecting Ramiro to respond this way. For that, I take full responsibility. I know what you think of traders, but I can protect you. Ramiro’s going to be throwing all his resources into hunting you down. He seems to think if he gets rid of you, he’ll eliminate the threat of being removed as a trader. If you accept the offer I made, I can help you. I can keep you safe.”

Kayla’s eyes narrowed. “How?”

“If you join my crew, you’ll be in a secure base. You’ll have my resources backing you. Otherwise, you won’t last more than a couple of days on your own. Look how easy it was for me to track you down. It’ll be just as easy for Ramiro.”

She gaped at him. Were they really back to that again? She didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in her voice. “Oh, isn’t that convenient? Forget it. I’ll take my chances with Ramiro. At least if he kills me, there’ll be some poetic justice in that.”

“Kayla.” Veridian’s voice was soft but insistent, his eyes full of concern.

She shook her head. “Oh no, V, don’t you look at me like that. You know I can’t. I won’t do it.”

Veridian walked up to her and took her hands in his. “Carl’s right. You need to do this. I’ve been trying to help you pick up the pieces for the past year, but I can’t help you with this. You owe it to Pretz to accept this offer. Don’t let Ramiro hurt you.”

Kayla tried to pull away. “Don’t you dare bring him up.”

Veridian gripped her tighter, not letting go. “I can’t lose you, Kayla. You’re the only family I have left.”

His pained words tore through her, and she bowed her head, closing her eyes tight. She wanted to scream in frustration. The thought of hurting Veridian was like a knife in her gut, but she didn’t know how she could reconcile her emotions enough to work for OmniLab.

As though sensing her need for movement, Veridian released her. She stepped away, feeling conflicted. Pacing around the small area under the portable UV guard, Kayla kicked at her bike. Running her hands through her hair in agitation, she contemplated her options. Sadly, there weren’t many. She turned to Carl, who seemed to be waiting for her to come to the conclusion he’d already reached. She swallowed and hung her head. “How long?”

“The contract would be for a year,” Carl replied and exhaled as though he’d been holding his breath. “It’s an OmniLab contract and their requirement, not mine. You can leave after that if that’s what you still want.”

She turned away and stared off into the horizon. The sun was beginning to set. Fitting.

“Kayla, I’m not trying to force you into this. I honestly had no idea Ramiro would target you. If anything, I figured he would have gone after me. It was never my intention to put you in danger. If I could protect you at Leo’s camp, I would. I wanted you to join my crew willingly, not like this.”

“I know,” she said in annoyance and turned around to look at him. “Dammit, I know. For what it’s worth, I appreciate it. You’re not a bad guy, Carl. You’re a pain in the ass, but you’re not a bad guy.”

Veridian looked hopeful. “So you’ll agree to join him?”

“Yeah,” she said in dejection, shoving her hands in her back pockets. “Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice if I want to keep breathing.”

Carl nodded, and Cruncher handed him a small computer tablet. He pulled up the contract and offered it to her.

“It’s the same contract you reviewed the other day,” he explained. “Just press your thumb on the bottom panel. It’ll scan your thumbprint and take a small blood sample to record your DNA.”

Kayla took the tablet from him. “And Veridian?”

Carl nodded. “His contract is already prepared. It would be in his best interest to join us too. I’m sure Ramiro knows the easiest way to get to you is through Veridian.”

Kayla looked down at the tablet. The moment she pressed her finger against the panel, her fate would be sealed. Even Leo wouldn’t risk taking her back if she broke an OmniLab contract. She hesitated, lifting her head to meet Veridian’s gaze, silently asking if he was sure. He gave her an encouraging nod. Dammit. It was going to be a long year.

She pressed her thumb against the bottom panel until she felt a slight pinch. The tablet beeped its acceptance of her sample. It was such a small thing, but she felt like she’d just signed part of herself away. Struggling to keep her hand from shaking, she handed it back to Carl. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. He pressed a few buttons before passing it to Veridian.

Veridian scanned the document and pressed his thumb against it. When it beeped, Carl took the tablet. “Well, it didn’t happen quite the way I hoped, but I’m glad you’re part of the team. I’ve sent your contracts directly to OmniLab to be recorded. You’re now authorized to act on my behalf throughout this district.”

Cruncher grinned and shook Veridian’s hand, then gave Kayla a big bear hug. “Welcome to the dark side, kiddo. I’m glad you came around.”

She couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “Yeah, well, let’s see if you’re still saying that after a year.”

Xantham grabbed her, picked her up, and swung her around. A laugh bubbled out of her before she could help it. He kissed her cheek. “Shit, girl, this is going to be great!”

Carl smiled at them. “If you don’t mind, I think it might be safest if you came directly to our camp, Kayla. Veridian, Cruncher can go with you to pick up your things and escort you back.”

Kayla and Veridian exchanged a look, and Veridian shook his head. They both knew Leo was going to lose his shit when he found out. Bringing Cruncher to the camp would put him directly in the line of fire. “That’s okay. Take Kayla with you, but I think I should go alone. I need to talk to Leo and explain it to him. It’ll go better without someone from a trader camp there. I’ll stay there tonight and come over tomorrow with our things.”

Carl nodded in agreement.

Veridian hugged Kayla. “Thanks. You’re doing the right thing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered but squeezed him tightly as she returned his hug. After she pulled away, she picked up her helmet and glanced back at her bike where the purloined items were hidden.

“So, now that I’m part of your crew, do I have to turn over the loot I scavenged earlier?”

Cruncher and Xantham chuckled while Carl closed his eyes and shook his head in exasperation. Kayla gave them a small shrug. Did they really think she’d been taking in the view?

“We’ll figure it out,” Carl said with a sigh. “It’s getting late, and I want to get back to camp and find out what’s going on with Ramiro. They’ve been monitoring his chatter back at camp. I had to bring Xantham with me to help track you.”

“All right,” Kayla agreed and mounted her bike with the others. Veridian disengaged the UV guard and gave her a wave before taking off toward Leo’s camp. She hesitated a moment, wanting to follow him but dutifully turned her bike to follow Carl and the others back toward their camp.

When they arrived, Kayla dismounted and followed Carl inside. Even though she’d been to his camp a few days ago, things were entirely different now. It was strange to think she’d return here each day after scavenging in the ruins. She’d spent so long avoiding traders and now she was living with one. Steeling her resolve, she followed the example of the men and hung her helmet and jacket at the entrance.

“Let me show you where you’ll be staying,” Carl offered. She bit her lip but nodded in agreement. Her feet felt heavy as she trudged behind him into the crew’s quarters.

Someone had already set up two additional sleeping areas, complete with privacy dividers. Enclosed within each area was a bed, storage locker, and desk. The personal areas were about three times the size of what she had at Leo’s camp. She couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the sight though. These areas hadn’t been there a few days ago.

Cocky bastard knew we’d accept before he even came out to find me.

Her first instinct was to snap at him for his assumption. But when she looked up at him, his brows were furrowed as though he was unsure about her reaction. She faltered, wondering if she could be reading him wrong. Most traders wouldn’t have cared about what happened to someone like her, much less sought her out and offered to protect her. Biting back her retort, she said, “Pretty nice.”

Carl gave her a warm smile, looking relieved and somewhat pleased by her comment. “If there’s anything else you need, let me know. I want you to be happy here, Kayla.”

She looked up in surprise, the intensity of his gaze making her stomach do a neat little somersault. Oh, crap, he’s got the most incredible eyes.

“Thanks, Carl,” she managed with a weak smile. “I can’t imagine needing anything else.”

“She needs some spare clothes,” Jinx called out from her private area, making it obvious she’d been listening to their conversation. She popped her head out with a grin, her eyes twinkling. “I’m glad you decided to join us. I know you probably weren’t ready to make the leap, but we’re happy to have you on the team. You can borrow some of my clothes until you get your things. I’ll leave them in your locker.”

Surprised, and a little touched by the offer, Kayla nodded her thanks.

Carl cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. “Kayla, if you want, I’d like to take you over to the tech room. You should become familiar with our system, and we need to configure your commlink for our frequencies. We can check with Xantham, too, and find out what’s going on with Ramiro.”

“Sure.” With a wave at Jinx, she followed Carl out of the crew’s quarters and into the tech room. Cruncher and Zane were in the room working on one of the systems.

When she walked in, Zane stood up and greeted her. “Welcome to the crew.”

Xantham came skidding into the room. His face lit up at the sight of her and he flashed a huge grin. “This is going to be great! Kayla, wait until you see some of the toys we’re getting in the next few weeks.”

Kayla laughed at their enthusiasm. Although she still felt a little uncomfortable, they seemed to be going out of their way to make her feel welcome. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.”

Carl and Xantham had disappeared and left her with Cruncher, explaining they needed to configure their communication settings to allow her access to their frequencies. Cruncher was in the process of giving her an overview of their system map, and she leaned over to get a closer look. It looked like a security grid around the camp.

Kayla had to remind herself she was playing for the other team now as Cruncher pointed to the screen and launched into an explanation. “These systems track any movement within range. Any guests, invited or uninvited, are picked up. Our bikes have monitors that let us know when it’s one of us approaching or someone else. We’ll install one on your bike tomorrow morning.”

She nodded. The system appeared much more sophisticated than what they had at Leo’s camp, but there were some similarities. She made a mental note to investigate it more fully later on. For research purposes, of course. After all, her contract was only for a year.

Cruncher moved over to another computer that monitored the camp’s UV guard, air flow, temperature, light, and energy. Kayla looked at it and frowned, pointing to some numbers. “You guys are using way too much energy on your cooling unit.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Oh? You think you can do better?”

“Pfft,” she said with a grin, unable to resist a challenge. “Watch and learn.”

He turned over the controls to her and watched as she rerouted the energy fields throughout the camp. After about thirty minutes, she turned the controls back over to him.

“Damn, girl,” he muttered as he reviewed her work. “Where did you learn to do this?”

She gave a small shrug. “Our cooling system is always crapping out on us. I had to get creative. You know, when I was rerouting the power, I noticed some potential conflicts with the new gizmos you’re testing. I think they might be causing a few hiccups in your system. A few months ago, I wrote a program that can help smooth some of these out. Mind if I upload it and run a scan to fix the problems?”

“Not at all.” He pointed to another monitor. “You can set it up over on that screen.”

Kayla scooted over to the far side of the desk and pulled up an additional monitor. Scrolling through the data on her commlink, she found the program and uploaded the file. As she went to put down her commlink, an old video file caught her attention. She’d never been able to bring herself to delete it.

Glancing up, she saw Cruncher was still engrossed with whatever was on his screen. She slipped on her earpiece and watched the video in silence. A soft smile crept on her face, and she blinked back the tears that threatened when the video ended.

With a sigh, she unplugged her earpiece and put her commlink on the desk. If this was going to be her new life, she needed to fully embrace it. The best way to start was with a project. Kayla rolled her shoulders, determined to focus on her task and find trouble spots in Carl’s system.

* * *

An hour later, Carl walked back into the tech room. He was anxious to find out how his newest recruit was getting along. Cruncher was hunched over a monitor reviewing the security system data.

“Where’s Kayla?”

Cruncher turned to look at Carl and put a finger to his lips, motioning to him to keep his voice down. He nodded over to the corner of the room where Kayla was sitting with her head in her arms on the desk. She’d fallen asleep at the computer.

Carl’s mouth twitched in a smile. She was always so fiery and passionate. It was strange seeing her like this, and he felt as though he were witnessing some forbidden rite. Some of her dark hair had fallen over her face, accentuating the paleness of her skin. She appeared almost angelic in her repose. He knew once she was awake, though, that devilish glint would reappear in her eyes and make the current sight a dim memory.

Cruncher’s whisper cut through his musing. “That girl is freaking unbelievable. I showed her the systems, and she jumped right in. She’s got some serious tech skills. Within minutes, she ended up recalibrating the cooling system here in camp. It’s some damn nice work too. She’s got it running about thirty percent more efficiently. When she finished that, she reconfigured a bunch of our new equipment that was causing glitches.”

Carl rubbed his chin in thought. He’d known she was talented, but Cruncher didn’t hand out praise lightly. She must have really impressed him. “She’s definitely a find. Thanks for your help today, Cruncher.”

“Did you hear anything more about Ramiro?”

Carl bit back a curse, thinking about the unscrupulous trader. “Yeah, he got the notification from OmniLab about Kayla joining us. Xantham tapped into his comms and heard him yelling about it. He’s going to start targeting us, so we’re going to have to focus on security here and out in the field. I want groups of at least four people at every scavenge site until this is done. He’s getting desperate.”

Cruncher nodded and turned back to his monitor. “I’ll get started on it.”

Carl glanced at Kayla again, debating whether to disturb her. She’d been through a lot over the past few days. All things considered, she’d handled it well. He tucked her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trail along her cheek. She didn’t stir.

Making the decision to let her sleep in her own bed, he picked up her commlink off the desk and tucked it in his pocket.

“It’s bedtime,” he whispered before scooping her out of the chair.

At the sound of his voice, she snuggled into his chest. He felt a moment of surprise at the feeling of possessiveness that coursed through him. Something about her got under his skin. Her intriguing mix of contradictions fascinated him. She seemed to have no problem going toe-to-toe with him and anyone else, but he also sensed her vulnerability below the surface.

He carried her to the crew’s quarters and gently laid her on the bed. She curled up in a ball as he pulled the blanket up over her, tucking her in. Unable to resist, he brushed a small kiss along her temple before activating the privacy setting for her personal area and leaving.

Carl headed toward his office and sat down at the desk, the movement making him realize he still had Kayla’s commlink in his pocket. Determined to give it back to her in the morning, he dropped it on the desk and pulled out his own to scroll through his messages.

In addition to his daily trader responsibilities, he still tried to maintain an active presence within the towers. It was difficult, but he was determined to eventually move up into a director position at OmniLab where he could try to make some real changes. He was the youngest trader to have ever been recruited, a fact which had earned him some notoriety.

Carl sighed and rubbed his forehead, feeling the beginning of a headache as he read through his messages. The corruption and animosity on the surface between the ruin rats and OmniLab seemed to be reaching a crescendo. The latest situation with Ramiro and Kayla seemed to reinforce his concerns. Something needed to be done before the situation deteriorated even more.

It took him almost an hour to finish corresponding with his contacts and set up necessary appointments. When he finished, he pushed away from the desk and stretched his tired muscles.

His gaze fell on Kayla’s commlink and he picked it up, considering the worn device. It was an older model, and he wondered if she’d enjoy receiving an upgrade. He still chuckled at the wonder on her face when she’d seen their newly acquired prototypes. So much for her being a hard-hearted thief.

He flipped open her commlink to get a better idea of which model style she preferred and noticed she’d been watching a video file. There was a moment of hesitation before his curiosity got the better of him and he hit the replay button.

The video had been recorded down in the ruins some time ago. It was obvious Kayla had been the one filming since she was laughing while a young man with shoulder-length brown hair tried to explain how to pick a complicated lock. Carl smiled at the sound and wondered about the identity of the young man whose eyes twinkled as he tried to keep from laughing.

“Kayla, knock it off and pay attention. We don’t have a lot of time down here. Ramiro’s going to be pissed if he catches us.”

Her teasing voice came over the audio. “I can’t help it, Pretz. You sound so serious.”

Pretz cleared his throat and tried to maintain his composure. “This is the 8600, and it’s tough as hell. When you can crack this baby in under a minute and a half, this will be worth it. Now here we— Damn you, Kayla! You look ridiculous.”

His face broke into a grin and he laughed, tossing his lockpick aside. “You’re impossible.”

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he made a grab for the camera. There was a squeal from Kayla and more laughter as the video ended.

Carl flipped the commlink closed, a wave of mixed feelings coming over him. He’d seen a hint of Kayla’s playful side when they battled wits against each other, but there was an edge to it that wasn’t present in the video. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was a trader or if there was something else.

Veridian had mentioned the name Pretz when he was trying to talk Kayla into joining earlier. Carl rubbed his chin, recalling her agitation, but he’d assumed they were talking about another ruin rat from Leo’s camp. There were too many of them, and they were much too secretive for him to know all their names. Some memory tickled in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He frowned and headed out of his office toward the tech room.

Cruncher looked up when he entered. “You’re still up, Boss?”

Carl handed Kayla’s commlink to Cruncher. “There’s a video on her commlink she was watching right before she fell asleep. Do you know a ruin rat named Pretz? I keep thinking his name is familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before. He mentioned Ramiro on the video.”

“Just a second. I’ve heard that name before.” Cruncher turned to his computer and entered in a few commands. Almost immediately, an image appeared on the screen.

Carl leaned over to get a better look at the screen and saw the young man in the video. His name appeared, along with an OmniLab contract and identification number. “He’s not a ruin rat. He’s part of Ramiro’s crew.”

Cruncher shook his head and pointed toward the bottom of the screen. “Not anymore, Boss. According to this, he was killed in a scavenging accident about a year ago. His body was discovered by Ramiro.”

“That’s around the same time the Aurelia Data Cube incident happened,” Carl mused, considering the potential implications. “I wonder if they’re connected.”

Cruncher leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the desk. “I still have a contact in Ramiro’s crew who might talk to me. We go way back. I could ask him about this guy and find out what he knows. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

Carl nodded. “Yeah, if you can trust him, go ahead. Let me know what he says. My gut says there’s more to this story.”