Time and space gradually asserted itself and when Kik opened his eyes again, he was greeted not with seizure-inducing colours, but instead with the normal star-dotted blackness of space. The planet of Elaris-I hung in the viewscreen, its orbital paths studded with tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of floating stations. Its colour was a pale green and brown, spotted with bluish steel webs of inhabitation.

Behind it hung the moon, Elaris-I-I. Although partly in shade, its green was far lusher and the blue of oceans covered a fair portion of its surface.

Kik was cut off from his observation by a message on the command console. “Approach path received. Accept? Yes/No”. The same message that he had missed when entering an approach to Lanos.

Pressing “Yes” on the touchpad, planetside computers took remote control of the ship, guiding them onto a safe path towards their assigned landing site on the surface of the planet’s northern hemisphere. There was no space elevator here as their destination was too far away from the equator for it to stand upright.

Kik buckled himself in as the fires of reentry scorched across the cockpit, radioing a warning to his passengers to do the same. The shock of air braking was not a kind one. As the atmosphere thickened and the ship’s velocity slowed, it switched from standard engines to its backup turbojets. Wings unfolded from the side of the ship, doubling its width.

The spaceport they were guided to was on the planet, near the capital, El City. Once the viewport was clear, he could see that the entire structure was built into the side of a solitary mountain. Rows upon rows of small hangars crisscrossed one half of the mountainside like seats at a playing field. The other half was completely dug out, rows upon rows of heavy landers, space planes and other craft stretched across it, visible at even this distance.

Beneath the mountain stretched a city. Further than they eye could see in every direction, glittering towers of dark silver metal and glass or crystal wove around and through the natural topography.

To the north, the towers surrounded a large lake, dotted with floating platforms. To the south, pipes spewed out smoke into the cloud-strewn sky. To the west, the buildings grew shorter and the space between them greener. All through the city, small flying vehicles dotted the sky, directed by flashing lights attached to thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of floating buoys.

To the east lay the spaceport they were approaching. They were guided to the section given over to Corvette-class vessels, before control was returned to Kik for the final landing sequence. He was directed by a mechanical voice to land at Hangar W-17, written in large letters on the floor of their berthing space.

The hangar was a simple affair, a large open space set into the mountainside, roofed and walled so it could be quickly covered by a simple sliding door. It was currently deserted as the crew waited safely behind sealed doors, away from the burning engines outside.

Kik eased the ship to a halt and slowly rolled up the wings, relying on the jets for lift. Before they quite touched the ground the ship was grabbed by a set of robotic arms and brought to a halt. Kik killed the engines. A final groan sounded through the metalwork of the ship before it settled.

Shutting down the ship sensors and control screens, Kik dismissed the landing confirmations and local tourist brochures popping up. He left the cockpit to find his passengers.

The four of them were unclamping themselves from the wall. It seems Edmon hadn’t been as diligent about keeping hold of his bag, though, as Lucas was holding on to it with a red bump on his chin. Edmon was frantically apologising.

“So where to?” Kik asked them, breaking up their argument. “Change out of your spacesuits, I’ll let some fresh air in. Let me know what you want me to bring as well so I can prepare.”

“Sure,” Ivan replied. “There’s a room in the business district that we’ll be heading to, northwest of the spaceport. We’ll quickly fly there and set up our base of operations. I’ll let you know what to bring in a minute.”

Kik nodded and left the room as they all started opening their bags and pulling clothes out. Nemel pulled down a screen in the corner of the room for privacy.

Kik went to the port airlock and opened both doors, the sensors not interfering after detecting atmosphere outside. Opening up his helmet visor, he enjoyed the hint of a cool mountain breeze on his face for a moment before opening up the other airlock.

Kik pulled out clothes from the storage room and tried them on. Many no longer fit, but he found a green shirt with long black sleeves and long, multi-pocketed pants in a dark-grey colour. He changed into them, emptying out a few screwdrivers and old ration packs from the pockets. Pulling on a pair of boots, he joined the other four as they, finished changing, pulled together three of their bags into the centre of the room. Edmon’s was left behind.

The four of them were in several different styles, alternating between tight and baggy for the most part. Their colours were obvious but muted, brick reds and dark purples mixed with midnight blues. Alongside Kik, they looked like a colourful family, if perhaps with a few too many adults.

“So what do you need me to bring?” Kik asked the group.

“No weapons,” Lucas instructed. “A few tools could be useful, it’s up to you. All you really need is a few changes of clothes, toiletries. Anything else you can come back here to retrieve.”

Kik nodded. “I can get that together in a few minutes. They should be setting up a way out via one of the airlocks. Head over there and I’ll join you soon.” He dashed out of the room as Lucas nodded.

They met by the port airlock, where the ground crew had wheeled over a ladder. Ivan climbed down first, and the others followed, Kik last in line. Ivan held a brief conversation with the foreman before handing over his ID card for a funds transfer. The two shook hands and Ivan returned as the foreman went back to work.

“I handled the berthing and inspection fees, as well as our fuel. Check-in is outside in the larger hangar area, but Lucas needs to pass a bag to someone before that.” Lucas nodded the affirmative. “He’ll handle that while we go ahead and find a taxi.”

Passing through a tunnel deeper into the mountains, they entered a large open space. Small groups of people, exiting from different tunnels, were talking and stretching as they headed towards a large set of open metal gates arbitrarily set in the opposite wall.

At this point, Lucas slipped off through the dim lighting, and Kik lost sight of him as a group of tall void dwellers walked past. They were still in their vacuum suits marked with repeated diagonal crosses. Once they had passed, he could see him walking towards some slot, presumably parcel delivery, on the side wall of the room.

Ignoring Lucas and pressing onwards towards the doorways, the area became slightly congested as they approached. However, the flow of traffic joining the lines was only a trickle, and the line was moving quickly, so evidently they arrived on the tail end of one or more large groups.

As they considered which line to take, Lucas returned. “Ok, let’s move on,” he told them. “I’m done here. Let’s head outside and catch a ride.”

They passed through the leftmost gate, the one with the least traffic. Making their way through, it turned out the inside of the gate was actually more of a metal-lined tunnel four metres long, with dark stripes lining the walls and ceiling every half metre. It was wide enough for the four adults to all walk abreast.

On the other side, they were stopped by a security guard in a very pale grey uniform with a pistol at his belt. He pulled the group of them to the side and spoke quietly to Lucas, gesturing to him and Kik. Edmon, Nemel and Ivan frowned, while Kik watched suspiciously. As the conversation dragged on and got more heated, Kik began to worry.

Trying not to get flustered, Kik inspected the guard’s equipment. Besides the obvious holstered pistol, on the front of his belt he was carrying a stun baton and several small sealed capsules. He also had a radio at his belt connected to an earpiece. His head was shaved beneath a cloth cap.

They spoke for two minutes, with the few passersby giving the group some odd glances. Kik was growing more nervous as time passed. Eventually, Lucas pulled back the hair from behind his ear and twisted his neck around, showing a patch of skin to the security guard. He nodded and waved them on, turning back to his post, a chair by the exit to the tunnel.

Lucas glanced at Kik, then back to the group. “No big deal. We can talk properly when we’re at the room.”

“So what did…” Kik began.

“Now isn’t the time,” Ivan cut him off.

They moved a little further into the mountain before finally reaching a bank of about ten elevators operating between this floor and the base of the mountain.

As their air taxi shot out of one of the exits dotting the mountainside, their route was dictated by a line of beacons with a pattern of yellow and green stripes, weaving between the triangular towers. To each side, and presumably above and below, other vehicles were following a different path and a set of markings of their own.

Peering out the side of the vehicle, Kik could see below that all of the buildings were triangular. The city was divided into square blocks of varying sizes, which were each divided along the diagonals into four triangles.

Further out to the west, Kik could see a huge building, one of the few rectangular constructs in the city. It was dotted with greenery, both gardens and climbing plants, so it hadn’t been visible from above, but now it dominated the skyline in that direction.

“What building is that?” he asked Edmon, as the three others chatted about the flight to Elaris. He pointed to the west.

“Have you never been to Elaris before? That’s the council chambers, the reason why this planet is the sector capital,” Edmon replied, peering through the window in the direction of the pointing finger. “One of thirteen in human space, it’s where dignitaries and councillors from across the sector meet and discuss sector policy.”

Kik nodded, staring at the building until a row of skyscrapers blocked his view.

Soon enough, the taxi descended to a spot along a street where automated ground cars slid by on rails or wheels. Getting out and carrying their luggage, they paid their fare before the taxi picked up a passenger waiting at the stop and took off again.

The people around wore a mix of vivacious colours in alternately baggy and close-fitting items of clothing. Some wore baggy tops with tight pants, others wore baggy shorts or skirts past their knees which flowed out behind them alongside skin tight singlets. Glancing around casually, Kik could also see a pair of grey uniformed policemen walking by. Groups of people parted before them as they strolled, but they didn’t give anyone a second glance.

Ignoring the people nearby and walking around the block, they came to a small concrete building of five or six stories. Walking up to the front door, Ivan pulled out a key and opened it. They all filed through, locking the door behind them.

They made their way up the central staircase to an apartment on the fifth floor. Opening that door and making their way inside, they all dropped their bags by the wall before surveying their room.

The apartment had a small sink and electric stove, lights, three bunk beds, a toilet and shower, a compartmentalised fridge and a scarce few more amenities. It was enough to live in but not too much more. Kik quickly chucked his small bag on the top shelf of the bunk closest to the door.

With his place claimed, he looked around and realised that one wall actually contained several blacked-out windows. Pressing a button to turn one transparent, he looked outside, seeing several other buildings and not much else. He did have a decent view of the footpath on the other side of the street, but there weren’t many details to pick out there. He cleared out the rest of the windows to let light in.

“Close those,” Lucas told him. “The fewer people can see in here, the better. We’ll have to use artificial light in here.”

Kik nodded and blacked them out again. “Is it that bad? You can’t see in from the street.”

“It’s not the street that’s the problem,” Lucas said. “Police flights and satellites could scan us at any time. This house is old enough to be free of bugs on the inside, but on the other hand that means they’ll pay extra attention to us if they find anything wrong. Security is serious in this sector, especially on this planet’s moon, Elaris-I-I.”

Kik nodded. “But then wouldn’t it be better to just stay in a monitored house and hide among the crowd?”

“Uh. That would be true, but the minute we unwittingly speak any forbidden words their surveillance will be all over us. It might happen before then too, considering we came from off-planet. This place is run by Erstine, so it’s less likely for the police to do anything overt here. And this way it’s less likely for them to find out who we are afterwards.”

“Doesn’t sound completely logical, but whatever. So why is it so important that they don’t see in? What was going on at the airport? And am I helping with whatever you’re doing, because if I do then I need to know what’s going on.”

Ivan stepped forward. “Elaris is heavily police controlled. As you may have guessed from our association with Erstine, we’re not aligned towards strictly following the law. We prefer to operate in grey areas.”

“More like completely black,” Edmon said.

“Black as your mother. Don’t interrupt me.” Kik raised his eyebrows at the pair while Lucas and Nemel smiled. “Now, we’re more or less here to…”

“What does my mother have to do with this?” Edmon had a frown fixed to his face.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Lucas said, stepping in before Ivan could reply. “This is going nowhere. I’ll answer your questions. What are we doing here? We’re not sure of the exact details, we’ll get the full plan later. More or less we have to kill a man. He’s someone pretty important, by the name of Benedict Odell. He’s a close aide to the sector governor here on Elaris. If that was his only feature, though, then we wouldn’t care less about him. What we’re concerned about is that he’s got his hands in a few too many pockets, and a few too many people’s money in his own pockets.”

“So he’s corrupt?” Kik asked.

Edmon stepped in. “Corrupt, actively corrupts others, has his hands in the underworld… He’s not a good person. But who is?”

“Alright,” Lucas continued. “With that sorted, now we need to talk about that incident at the airport.” He pulled back the hair behind his ear and pointed to a metal disc embedded there. “Now, this implant here is an audio receiver. Put bluntly, it vibrates inside your ear directly, letting you hear things in a vacuum or without any external sound.”

Kik nodded, but Lucas still had one major point. “However, it’s mostly used alongside concealed transmission equipment or the sound systems of augmented reality, most commonly found in powered armour or military targeting systems.”

“So what does this have to do with me?”

“Don’t act stupid. You didn’t tell us you had them.”

“What?” Kik was honestly surprised. Feeling behind his ear, there definitely was a circular metallic object where there should be smooth skin. “Huh.”

“You could have gotten us all killed. I had to make up some story about you being deaf to explain them.”

“I honestly didn’t know that I had one. I never…”

“The process of implanting one of these takes several hours in an above average medical laboratory, and then a week of rest before you can stand without dizziness as your vestibular system heals. I should know, I went through it. So when could you have had one stuck in your head?”

Thinking back, Kik stroked his chin. “Oh. It was Erstine.”

“What do you mean?”

“When he was growing my muscles and bone structure. It was probably then.”

“Oh. You… Ugh.”

“Something wrong?”

“Why’d you let… ah, forget it. I suppose I can’t blame you for not knowing. I just want to know what you would use an implanted audio receiver for.”

“You said augmented reality, right? Probably for my glasses, then,” Kik said as he pulled them out of his bag and passed them to Lucas.

“Yeah, these would use it alright,” Lucas inspected them. “But did it never bother you that they are glasses, and you could play sounds from them? It’s not like they have speakers.”

“Hey, enough talk, I found our orders over here,” Nemel interrupted. “Finish later.”

Walking over to Nemel at the door, she was holding a sheaf of paper taken from an envelope strapped to the back of the door.

“Isn’t paper a bit old-fashioned?” Kik asked, looking at it.

“Paper can’t be hacked into,” Nemel replied. “So, from this… more or less… that part’s for me to… alright. We’re using two-part poison. I have no idea what we’re doing with the second part, but the first part we have to insert into his house’s water supply. He’ll be at home for a day three days from now, so we have to make sure that we do it then.”

“Who does what?” Edmon asked.

“I’ll figure out the poison. You get me schematics of the water system. Lucas can scout out the target’s home and watch our backs, I think you had a few chores to run too. And Ivan, once the target arrives on the second day I’ll want you to keep an eye on him.”

Matters were moving too quickly for Kik to follow, but he blocked out stray thoughts. As long as he focussed on the job at hand, he would be fine.

He spoke up. “What do I have to do?”

“No idea. You’re a kid and our getaway driver, we can’t put you in much danger. We need you alive.”

Kik sighed. “At least I’m only waiting for a few days. Do you care if I bug you when you’re working on the poison?”

Nemel rolled her eyes.

The worst part about the wait was knowing what was coming after. The idea of killing someone was hard enough, even if he wasn’t directly doing it. But what was worse was the premeditation, and the self-doubt and the anxiety that came with it. In the end, he was pacing the room and reading specks of information from his glasses, not really taking anything in.

He was looking for any distraction, which was why, during the second day, he was happy when Lucas asked for somebody to accompany him out. By his local time watch, it was currently late morning, four hours after sunrise and seven to sunset.

“Hey, Kik, I have two packages to collect. Want to come with me?”

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind,” was the extent of their conversation.

Walking out the front door and locking it behind them, Lucas turned left and Kik followed. He attempted to break the awkward silence between them. “So what is in these packages?”

“We can discuss that when we arrive or get back to the apartment. Now isn’t a good time.”

“So. Where are we going?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

“So. How far is it?”

Lucas turned his head away and kept walking. A ground car drove past, masking a sound he made. It could have been a groan, a chuckle, or perhaps just a cough.

A few minutes later, once Kik had gotten bored of staring at the traffic, human and otherwise, he decided to ask another question. “What have you been doing so far?”

“I’ve been walking around the city. Acting like a tourist, chatting to a few people that I know. Visiting the exchange to get a few credits transferred to a local account. Setting the groundwork up in case something unexpected happens. I also had a look at the Odell estate, walked past yesterday.”

“How did that go?”

“It’s pretty underwhelming, for El City at least. It’s a plot about half the size of many of his contemporaries, which is still needlessly large, and surprisingly not excessively tall. Rumour is, though, he’s dug into the ground beneath his house. Nobody knows exactly what he’s doing down there.”

“I doubt anybody really wants to find out.”

“Mm. Well, despite its size, it is only his surface dwelling. He has another private estate on the moon, like many rich Elarians.”

“He certainly sounds like he wants to flaunt his wealth.”

“You get like that if you spend too much time with rich people. I should know.”

Lucas led them through a maze of streets, left, right, left, straight, straight, diagonal right, diagonal left, straight, right. Eventually, about half an hour later, he turned into a small gap between buildings. Facing the entrance side-on, he squeezed his somewhat overweight frame through the narrow alleyway.

Kik walked straight after him with the nimbleness of a void dweller. Nobody paid him any attention as he vanished off the main street. Inside was dark and overshadowed by skyscrapers above. Machinery hummed in the walls and a fan sucked air through a vent overhead. It was almost like being on a spaceship, except for the crowd murmuring in the street behind him.

Squeezed into two different alcoves as they passed were a homeless man and woman, both sitting against the metal wall, covered in multicoloured patchwork blankets. Lucas nodded to them and they nodded back. Passing on through the claustrophobic space, the two emerged into a more open area with a little bit of light coming from above. It was a little early to shine down on them, but it shone on the windows above.

Before them was a single door. Unusually, it was made of wood, with a brass knocker set into the middle and no other handle or knob. It also had a single sliding panel set into the centre, at around Kik’s eye level. Lucas stopped at the door and rapped once with the knocker.

“Last time I was here, it was ‘Men in Tights’, if I recall correctly,” he called out to nobody in particular. The panel in the door opened and a pair of eyes shone from the darkness inside.

“Lucas, so it is you,” a voice whispered. “I have your package. You should have come around earlier if you were on planet. Unfriendly, your behaviour is.”

“I just don’t want to be associated with you,” he replied casually. “Do I need any more reason?”

“Well, you know, if you don’t have anything nice to say... Come in, come in.” The door opened, revealing a well-lit corridor panelled with wood and carpeted in black. Stepping inside, the door closed again and Kik realised the darkness on the other side of the vision slit came from a black box hung over the back of the door. Pulling his head out from under it was an old man with a large bald patch on his head. He was wearing an archaic red butler outfit.

“Good to see you, Belwin,” Lucas told the man, hitting him on the shoulder. “It’s a shame you don’t leave Elaris any more.”

“I would if I could, Lucas. Money’s been a bit tight for a while.”

“Fine. What is the password nowadays, by the way?”

“It’s still Men in Tights. We haven’t changed it in a year. We tried to once but nobody could remember the new one.”

Walking down the hallway, the three of them entered another room through a doorway cut off by a curtain of beads. This room was filled with small tables garnished with flowers. The lighting inside was dimmer than the hallway, with electric chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Scattered among the tables were a variety of people sitting, talking quietly and drinking from ornate ceramic cups, stylized with various floral patterns.

“Through this way,” Belwin told them, leading them through yet another closed door. This one opened onto a spiral staircase leading both up and down. He pulled a torch out of his pocket and led them down the stairs. Kik took out one of his own and followed.

At the bottom, Belwin turned off his torch and turned on the light switch. It was a bare room with a few pieces of plain metal furniture stacked along one wall, with the other wall covered by a set of lockers. The walls, floor and ceiling were plain concrete, with lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. Pulling out a table and some chairs, he turned to them.

“So, before I give you your packages, tell me what you’re doing on Elaris this time, and who this boy is.”

---

“So that’s how it is,” Belwin commented, resting his hands on the table and leaning back in his chair. Lucas had briefly informed him on the target of their mission and their reason, and how Kik was their transport out. “You’re further into the radzone without a suit than I imagined. I’m honestly not too happy to hear things turned out this way, but you’re obviously set on your path, Lucas.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t do something like this without sufficient resolve. You know how bad it’s become and I’m sure that you want everything back as much as anyone. Edmon is with me, he’s of the same opinion about this.”

Kik looked on, not really understanding what they were saying, while Belwin continued talking. “While I understand how much you lost, there are more important things you have to think about. What about your father and Sol?”

“They’re who I think about the most as I do this. You think I’d go through all this just for my own sake? We all have things we’d be willing to lay our lives down for. I found those things.”

Kik cleared his throat. “So what did we come here for in the end?”

The two started, remembering there was a third person in the room. Belwin stood up and brushed imaginary dust off of his outfit. “Alright, just wait a moment. I’ll bring them out for you.” He pulled a key card out of his pocket and walked over to the wall of lockers, running a finger down the line as he searched for the right one.

“So, what was that about? Looks like you two are old friends?” Kik asked Lucas as they waited.

Lucas just shook his head and didn’t reply. After a moment, Belwin spoke up. “Found it!” He swiped his card on a locker and pulled a pair of cases out. One was the metal case that Lucas dropped off at the spaceport, matching the one he had carried through normally. The other was an opaque white plastic bag, with the shape of several rectangular boxes poking out from the inside.

Lucas quickly took and opened his case, but did so against his chest, out of Kik’s view. He hefted it as if it was considerably heavy, but he only took out a pair of wristbands and a pen from inside. Closing the case up again, he slipped on the wristbands next to his watches and put the pen in his right pocket.

He opened the bag and pulled out three translucent boxes, similar to tackle boxes, full of different wood and plastic parts.

“I had to get that specially fabricated for you,” Belwin told him. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good craftsman willing to work without asking questions? I really earnt my pay on this one.”

Lucas opened up a few of the boxes and took a look inside. He pulled out a trigger piece, a scope and a piece of thread, before replacing them. “Alright, this seems functional. Be aware that Edmon will be coming for you if he has problems. He’s got a bit of a temper.”

“He’s the same as always, then. It doesn’t seem like I need to worry about that fool. The slightest hint of danger and he’s always out of there. You, however…”

“I’ve changed,” Lucas protested. “Edmon has too. I’ve been considered an adult for more than half of my life now. I’m not the boy that you taught when…” he fell silent, conscious of his surroundings.

Belwin chuckled. “Sounds like seeing an old face has gotten you remembering. It’s not good to forget. Even if much of the memories are painful, there were certainly good parts too.”

“Ah forget it. The dust in this basement is making my eyes water. I’ll come have a cup of tea with you and tell you some stories, old man, so stop bothering me before I change my mind.”

“Good, good. Don’t die before I see you next.”

Returning up the stairs, Belwin beckoned Lucas up the stairs beyond the exit and motioned for Kik to wait there. Lucas passed him the bags and the pair ascended, leaving Kik in the dark as the torch’s light faded away.

“We should talk about that boy,” Belwin said to Lucas after they reached his small office and turned on the lights. He picked a pair of magnetic balls off the table and started to fiddle with them. “If he follows you around, he or somebody else is going to get killed. Either he’s going to die or somebody is going to die protecting him. For all your sakes, send him home.”

“This is his home now, Belwin,” Lucas told the old man. “I know how you feel about children in danger, you were like that to me before too. As a teacher, it’s admirable. But you’re not a teacher anymore. And if you think that just being a child, he’s not going to last, I think you’d be wrong there too. I feel like he’s tough. He’s been to Lanos.”

“He doesn’t have the eyes,” Belwin continued. “People like you can have a few kinds of eyes. Bored or disinterested is one type. Determined or resolved is another. His eyes are too hopeful. I’m afraid that when his hope shatters, so will he - and then his eyes will be dead.”

“I’ll say it again, he survived Lanos. I’m not about to send him into combat, but I don’t think sending him home is right either. If he has a home at all, that is.”

“Lanos doesn’t mean anything. Sure, there are more criminals there than honest folk, but the small ones mostly behave themselves and he wouldn’t have drawn the notice of the big ones. A rat is perfectly safe in a corpara’s den, because anything big enough to eat it would never come near.”

Lucas strode over to the wall and looked at Belwin’s shelves of curios. He picked up a double bell-shaped glass half-full of sand and tipped it around, inspecting it. “I don’t know what happened to him, but he has his own reason for fighting. I don’t know how old he is, but he’s mature. Something or many things have happened to toughen him up. Now he’s not just going to keel over that easily. He’ll push back first.”

Belwin sighed. “As flawed as your arguments are, I have to agree that my sense for people is probably inferior to many. I did hold you back too much when you were young. You became who you are today in no small part because of that.”

“Are you saying you’re disappointed with me? Although if it finally gets you to admit your mistake, after all these years, I suppose I can take half an insult.” He laughed. “Let’s talk about old times for a bit.”

“Shouldn’t you get back to that boy?”

“Oh, I suppose.”

The pair returned to the room at the same time as Edmon. As they dragged their bags to the top of the final flight of stairs, he dashed up behind them, taking the stairs two at a time.

“Come inside, I’ve got some information,” he told them.

“Before that, you can carry this now,” Lucas told Edmon, passing him the bag of boxes. “Put that away somewhere. You can look it over later.”

Spotting the group entering, Nemel closed up the Petri dishes on her workspace and slid them into an incubator. “Lucas, you’re back. You too, Edmon. Have any news?”

“I have one or two things to tell you. I managed to get a look at the water system’s surface facilities.”

“Good. Have you got the complete plans?” Nemel asked.

“Not plans, no, just a few locations. I have figured out a few things though.”

She stared at him quizzically. “Well hurry up and get those. We don’t have forever.”

“I’ll have them for you tomorrow. I’ve already found a guy who knows a guy.”

Pulling up a map of the city on his datapad, Edmon placed it upright on the table and projected the image across the surface with the light. Pulling out a stylus from the datapad casing, he tapped a few buttons in the corner of the projection, overlaying a set of red lines interspersed by occasional blue dots.

“These are the streets of this city,” he said, “and these are the entrances to the water system,” pointing to the red lines and blue dots respectively. “The area’s water storage and production are in these places,” overlaying a set of black shapes in several blocks. “Our target’s house is here,” overlaying a single spot with a white square.

“Now, the water has to get from these places to this house, and the plumbing will pass underneath the various access points. So, since they want to pump water as short a distance as possible, the water pipes will follow something like this route.” He drew an almost straight line between the white square and the closest of the black shape, passing through three of the blue circles. “This would be the connection between the water supply and the Odell household. One of these three entrances are our way to the water supply. Unfortunately, these two are on main roads, so our only choice is the one in the middle - in an alley.”

Lucas nodded. “That sounds fair. Someone will have to go check the area out tomorrow. Ivan is out right now, but he should be able to take care of it.”

“Kik, can you go meet him there?” Nemel asked. “We need you to come back after and tell us everything you find. Don’t try and go beneath street level this time. You just need to take a look at the surroundings and tell us if it’s feasible.”

“That should be fine. Just mark the spot on my map and I can find it, no problem.”

The location was an hour jog from their lodgings. Kik managed it quickly, accustomed to long treks from his vast amounts of experience training with Vist. Running on paved or tiled paths was more familiar to him and far easier to tread than the shifting sand dunes he had grown accustomed to.

Even near midday, the sun didn’t shine into the back alleys of the city. The illumination all came from reflections off the tops of the glass, iron and crystal buildings far above. These alleys ran diagonal to the normal streets, through each block, with only pedestrian access along them. Surveillance cameras peered down from here and there.

In stark defiance of these cameras, graffiti was lightly sprinkled across the walls of the alley. “Callum File, a good man, for Minister”, “The Silent King is always watching”. Down near ground level, nearly hidden by a packaging crate, was written, “All the lights in the sky are police landing craft”.

Looking around the alley, there was nobody else here but a few people hurrying past, some eating a rushed meal before they returned to work. It seemed that people stuck to the main roads unless they were late.

The flow of people around dwindled as the midday meal came to an end. Kik kneeled by a wall and pretended to tie his bootlace.

After three minutes, Kik noticed Ivan walk up. They nodded to each other and stepped down the road in unison.

Ivan spoke first. “The access hatch is over there. We’ll walk past, try and get as good a look as you can. Don’t stare for more than about three seconds, it might draw attention. I’m not sure what to look out for but there will be some writing or something.”

“Sure. I read quickly.”

Ivan talked quietly about some nonsense planet he had once visited on holidays. Kik stared at his feet, glancing at the circular plate from the corner of his eyes.

The cover was a no-nonsense metal block, with a few words stencilled onto the top in paint. “W-Access 215N-017E. Sector 001403.”

“I got it, although we should write down the inscription,” Kik said to Ivan after they had passed the cover. “It’s a sequence of numbers and letters.”

Pulling out a datapad, Ivan handed it over. “Record it on that.”

Kik transcribed the number to the best of his memory. “There might be a small mistake or two, I’m not perfect.” He handed the datapad back.

“Keep it,” Ivan said. “Hand that over to Lucas or Nemel and tell I’ve approved the area. They’ll understand. And check with Edmon that the access hatch has the correct identifier. We wouldn’t want to end up with the wrong location.”

Back at the room, Kik passed the pad to Lucas and related Ivan’s message.

“Good. I have no idea what the markings mean, I trust Ivan’s judgement on the area. This pipe looks like our best bet. We’ll just wait on Edmon’s contact before we make our actual move. We’ll need to get in and out quickly, as it’s quite possible that we’ll be discovered straightaway. I’m not sure how strong the alarm system on the water supply is.”

Lucas pondered. “I think I’ll try and acquire us some transport for the rest of the time we’re here. I think a groundcar would be the best idea, as it will blend in easier. I’ve hesitated about getting one until now, but soon we’re actually going to need it.”

“I’ll hurry up and finish my part,” Nemel said. “The bacteria are almost done cultivating the first part. I’ll be bottling it within a few hours.”

“So what do I do?” Kik asked.

“You get some sleep or something. We don’t have anything for you to do for now.”

Kik sighed and went back to reading and pacing.

Four hours later into the afternoon, hours of walking aimlessly, sitting down and getting up again and occasionally helping Nemel set up equipment, she finally held up a test tube containing perhaps fifty millilitres of a pale yellowish liquid. “Part one is complete,” she called out to nobody in particular, before sealing it, placing it in a case and spraying its surroundings with shock-absorbent foam. She started to clean up the fractional distillation setup, petri dishes and various other containers and implements. Kik went over to help.

“No, not those,” Nemel said, directing him away from the incubation cube. “I’ll need that for part two. I need to grow the next set of cells. Grab those instead.”

Kik dumped the layers of mold-encrusted petri dishes she pointed to into the sink and scrubbed them out. Meanwhile she pulled out her datapad and began to search through it.

“So how is that small amount of liquid going to affect an entire household if it’s that diluted by the time it’s drunk?” Kik called over. “We’re putting it in the water pipes almost three blocks away from his house, you know.”

“We’re going to try and drop a drone in to carry it closer. Either way, less than a drop actually needs to be drunk. This half is just the hormones needed to activate the second half. Once you get a few of those cells going, the rest start too.”

Kik scratched his cheek. “If you say so.”

Nemel looked over. “You should really learn more about this. The endocrine system is quite…”

“No thank you! I’ll stick to my machines, and you can mess with your… cells. They’re too icky for my taste.”

Nemel shrugged. “You’re free to think that way.”

Late in the evening, Kik was woken up by footsteps on the stairs. Raising his head from his spot on the floor to peer at the opening door, he realised it was only Edmon. Nemel was back at her spot, working on the next batch. Neither Lucas nor Ivan were back yet.

“Stop making noise and let me sleep. A ramjet’s got nothing on you.”

“Get up. I’ve got a bit of… bad news.”

Kik instantly rose to his feet. “What happened?”

“I could have made a mistake with my assumptions earlier.”

“What?” he asked.

-----

“So the water pipes run north-south, and the purification chemicals run east-west. The pipes don’t actually follow the shortest route like you suggested earlier.” Kik’s teeth ground.

“That’s right.”

“And since Benedict’s house is south of the lake, which holds much of the city’s water…”

“The water flows from there. Yes.”

“So our reconnaissance was meaningless.”

“Yes. Although you were hasty to act on a hunch of mine. You should have awaited confirmation.”

Kik sighed as another person knocked on the door. “I’m back,” Lucas called. “I got us a car for… what are you all doing in here?”

After the explanation, Lucas laughed out loud at Edmon’s face. “Don’t be so disappointed. We’ll just have to do recon again.”

Edmon sighed. “Yes, but we were meant to conduct the op tomorrow. It’s not a good idea to recon on the same day.”

Nemel wandered over. “It’s not that bad. You’ll just have to head over and take a look now.”

Edmon brightened up. “Yes, that would work. Nemel, do you want to come with me? You should get outside.”

Nemel yawned. “No thanks. I need to finish up for tonight then get to bed. Take Kik with you instead.”

Kik groaned. “I always have to go. Can’t I get some sleep? I just got woken up.”

Lucas shook his head. “You just need to go there, look around, and come back. It’ll be good for you to get some night air before bed. Besides, it’s less suspicious if there’s a child than one or two adults.”

“In that case, Nemel and Edmon would be fine. They can just pretend they’re married.”

Edmon turned a deep scarlet. “No, I couldn’t…”

“Then it’s settled,” Nemel finished. “Kik, you’re going out with him.” She returned to her table.

Ignoring Kik’s protests, Edmon pulled him outside. “Let’s head off.”

Peering into Edmon’s face as they walked down the stairs, Kik came up with an answer. “You like her.”

“I… well, I… yes.” He turned an even darker crimson. “Don’t tell Nemel. Or Lucas. I’ll seriously kill you.”

After a minute of silence, they reached the outside. “So I kind of understand Nemel, but why shouldn’t I tell Lucas?”

“Just don’t. Alright, look, I used to work for him. So did Nemel. Even worse, I think he likes her. It makes sense too. It’s close to a sausage-fest with our group, and she’s the only woman he’s been around for a long time. She… well, I’m not sure how she feels, but…”

“It doesn’t seem to me like she even thinks anything of him or you.”

“When you say it that way, it really stings, you know that?”

“I’m twelve. Of course I don’t know.”

“Oh. That seems fair enough.”

They lapsed into silence again before Edmon broke it. “So, as I was saying, Lucas used to pay for her research.”

“He was her sponsor.”

“Well, yes. His family was, at least. He was responsible until something happened on his side and he got the boot. Whether it was his replacement’s fault or not, she ended up getting framed and had to stop researching.” He rubbed at his ear, looking away. “That was a pretty big hit for her. I can say for sure, most of Lucas’ family’s a lot worse than him.”

“What happened to him?”

“The usual for nobles. Heir issues. A few people died and eventually it got worked out. His mother was one of the few that took a hard hit. Something happened to his father too, although he’s still alive. When he decided to make some noise about his parents they felt like sending a message to the other complainers, so they kicked him out and forced his wife to divorce him. He just about lost everything except for his son.”

“So where do you come into this?”

Edmon didn’t talk for a little while, until Kik had almost thought the conversation was over.

“I just lived on his land. We rented a small room in a building he owned, me and my family. Both of them just turned up at our doorstep one day.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad for you.” Kik tilted his head.

Edmon murmured so softly that he almost couldn’t be heard. “It was fine until Lucas’ family decided we were giving too much support to an outcast. They sent us a ‘message’ too. Ours was a little bloodier.”

Kik decided to give Edmon his privacy.

The lake was a mere fifteen-minute walk from of their house, as centrally located as they were. Reaching its southern bank, they realised how vast it was. Little seating platforms and their connecting pathways stretched kilometres around the edges of the lake, forming a grid of hexagonal pools separated by supporting columns. A few larger structures sat towards the centre, reachable only by boat. Railings stretched around the edge except for the gates onto the platforms. Darkness hung in the air, and lit skyscrapers seemed to grow out of the horizon on the other side. Little craft zipped overhead, and Kik wondered how many of them really did belong to the police.

“Wait, where are the stars?” Kik asked. “We’re in the planet’s night cycle right now, so shouldn’t there be lights in the sky other than man-made ones? Or is it different to space?”

“Isn’t a lack of stars normal on a populated planet? Right, you’ve been spending your time on Lanos. It’s mostly desert there, isn’t it? The lights of the city cancel out most of the stars here, and the atmosphere gets the rest. At night we’re practically inside our own cloud with an artificial sun. Most people in this city will never see the stars in their lifetimes. It’s one reason why homes on the moon are so popular. You can see the night sky in full up there.”

Kik sighed. “Isn’t that a little sad, having such scenery there and never being able to see it?”

“Sure, if there weren’t factories maybe the skies would be clear enough to see the stars. But if there weren’t all these factories around building stuff we’d never be able to visit the other stars in the first place. You lose one thing, but gain another.”

As they walked to the edge of the lake, Edmon pulled out his datapad from his jacket. “Now, the entrance we’re looking for is about one and a half kilometers along the shore. We’ll walk there by the platforms, that way we can keep an eye on the depth of the lake and so on.”

They moved onto the wood and plastic platforms over the water, which rocked slightly as they moved past. This was the most natural building material that Kik had seen in one place so far in this city.

The water was clear and gave off a cold breeze. Looking at the bottom, the depth was mostly uniform at around four metres, at least at around thirty metres from land. Once they passed onto a branch further out into the lake at sixty metres from shore, it deepened to five.

Continuing along these hexagonal pathways in as straight a line as possible, eventually Edmon called Kik to a halt.

“Somewhere on the bottom should be the water pipe. Keep your eyes on the left. I’ll watch the right. There’s nobody around right now, so don’t worry about being seen. Just make sure you find it.”

Looking over the edge, Kik could see nothing resembling the end of a pipe. A few tiny aquatic creatures darted around the bottom of some of the poles, but there were no man-made protrusions in the water. “If we don’t spot it should we go take a look along the bank?” he asked Edmon.

“Don’t worry, I just found it. Come over here. Look, the support column with the wider base.”

Indeed, one of the columns holding up the platform they were standing on had a cylindrical base which extended back into the mud at the bottom. “That would be what we’re looking for,” Edmon said. “It will be sealed off, but our probe can probably cut through whatever barricade is over the entrance.”

“Then is that all we came for? I want to get back to sleep.” Kik yawned, glad that the fuss for tonight was over.

“Sure, sure. Just let me get the position marked down.” He tapped the centre of his datapad screen, then a few other points. “Fine, we’re done here. It’s good this trip was fairly uneventful. It’ll be a busy day tomorrow.”

Kik smiled in tired relief.

On the morrow, everyone but Ivan piled into the small car which Lucas had obtained, capable of carrying four passengers in the back and one driver in the front. The seats around the back were arranged along the walls of the vehicle, facing inwards. Lucas drove and the remaining three sat in the back, using the spare seat as storage.

Nemel had two cases open by her, one containing the serum, the other the drone. The drone had apparently been held in the case that Lucas had carried through the spaceport. The probe was a small metal object with a similar size and shape to a slightly shrunk, oblong football, where the top overhung the bottom slightly. Four spiked foldout legs were set into its top and bottom, eight in total, allowing it to hold itself in place inside enclosed spaces. There was a shut aperture at both the front and back, whichever was which.

She poured the contents of her test tube down one end of the probe, probably the back, cleaning out the tube with a spray of water which she also poured down. Wasting none, she sealed the drone before setting it by the case and pulling out a datapad attachment, which she handed across Edwin.

Kik peered at Edwin next to him as the device was plugged in. “What’s that?”

“It’s the controller. It sends commands on the right frequency and gets back camera footage. The drone is remote-controlled, not autonomous. It’s not that expensive.”

Opening some program on his datapad, the screen turned to black with the images of a pair of joysticks, each with a red button on top, at the bottom. “Wakey wakey,” he muttered, tapping on the screen. The drone’s legs folded out and the aperture at the end away from Nemel opened, showing a camera in the space.

“Looks like it all works,” Edmon told them. Looking over at the screen, Kik could see an image of the wall of the car, and as Edmon manipulated the joysticks the view shifted with the drone, showing the two of them sitting at a chair, Kik looking into the screen. Kik stretched over and picked up the drone, staring it into the datapad, and an endless array of windows popped up, each showing nothing but the edges of Edmon’s hands and another window within.

“Alright, that’s enough playing around,” Nemel told the chuckling Kik, taking the drone back. “It’s a precise instrument, not a toy.”

“Fine. What do the buttons do?” Kik asked, reaching over to press one.

“DON’T! What did she just say?” Edmon slapped Kik’s hand away.

Kik jabbed him in the side of the ribs with the other elbow. “Her knight in shining armour, are we?” Edmon blushed slightly and glanced across the car, but Nemel wasn’t listening. She was putting the drone away in the case. He breathed out in relief.

“Alright, fine. I’ll tell you, just don’t press them. This really isn’t a toy. This button,” pointing to the right, “is a cutting laser. Simple but dangerous. The other button opens the storage container, which would currently spill the serum vital to the operation.”

Kik withdrew his hands. “Fine. You’re right. It’s not a toy. I bet it’s fun to play with though.”

Edmon grinned. “Is it ever. Maybe we should have it crawl into the front and annoy Lucas.”

Lucas slid a small vision slit between the driver’s seat and the passengers open. “I can hear you, you know. Luckily for me, and perhaps you, the time for games is over. We’re there.”

Kik leaned forward. “So what’s the plan? How are we going to get the drone into the lake without anyone seeing? There should be a fair few people around now.”

Edmon and Lucas looked at each other through the driver’s seat and spoke in a dissonant chorus.

“So what’s the plan, Lucas?”

“So what do we do now, Edmon?”

Staring at each other they realised how much planning had been put into the operation so far.

“Dictator’s computerised asshole.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Nemel glared at them. “So I have to do all the work and now the planning too? Why is Ivan not here?”

After a few minutes, Lucas drove the groundcar down the street. There was a wide road around the outside of the lake and a small park. Nemel directed him from the backseat. “Look for a spot with bushes across most of the park. Proximity to the actual inflow doesn’t matter. Once it’s inside it can move there underwater. Over there should do.”

Edmon nodded. “Proxymi… what she said. Yes, that’s what I would have done too.”

“You be quiet,” Nemel told him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Once they had stopped the groundcar by the edge of the road, Nemel spoke to Edmon. “Alright. Kik and I are going to get out and walk around for a few minutes. Get the probe into the bushes ASAP. After that move slowly through, try not to shake the bushes. Cross the path only when we can confirm nobody is looking.”

Edmon nodded. Next she turned to Lucas. “Once we shut the doors drive along a little further and park there. Keep an eye on where people are in the area.” Lucas nodded.

“Alright, Kik. Let’s move out.”

Popping the back doors open, Nemel got out and stretched, Kik following. The drone scampered down onto ground level and into the shrubbery, rustling it slightly but quickly vanishing beneath the plants. Kik looked around to see if anyone had spotted them but they hadn’t attracted any looks in particular. Nemel grabbed him by the arm and gently pulled him forwards. “Walk,” she hissed at him.

Wandering around, the crowd here seemed to be mostly elderly folk or children and their parents. It obviously wasn’t this planet’s rest day, and it was too late for work traffic and too early for the lunch break so most of the workers were still inside.

Nobody really gave them a second glance, even if Kik was around three times the age of the youngest child there. Nemel walked confidently and purposefully, and Kik was pulled into her pace, walking without really thinking about where he was going. Ten minutes later Nemel moved them onto the lakeside paths and they returned to the groundcar. Fifteen minutes later and they were back. Kik opened the rear doors and they both climbed in.

Edmon was hunched over the controls, tapping at the joysticks and buttons. Looking in at the screen as Nemel shut the doors behind them, he saw a view of the concrete pipe from close up and above.

“This void-consumed cover won’t come off,” he said to Kik.

“How’s it held on?”

“The mesh cover is worked into the scaffolding. I’d have to melt the entire outside if I wanted in. I’m not sure we’d have enough power in the fuel cell for that.”

“Well why don’t you just cut a hole in the centre and go through there?” Kik asked.

“Right. That would work.” Directing the drone over the edge he aimed the camera just above the centre of the mesh and pressed the left red button. The screen exploded in a swarm of floating dots.

“Balls. I can’t see anything with all these bubbles in the way.”

Nemel sighed in frustration and leaned over. “Did you really just fire a cutting laser from there? Move the drone in as close as possible before you shoot anything underwater.”

Edmon did as she said and the visibility drastically improved. A small circle on the mesh glowed cherry-red before deforming. The filter layer behind it tore from the heat of the laser. A tiny flow of bubbles came out of the gap before slowing down. Edmon shifted the screen over and started to cut the next section.

Repeating this fire-and-move, Edmon slowly cut a circle through the interwoven mesh. Finally, as he was down to the last few strands, the middle section deformed and was pushed back. A flow of water pinned the drones against the hole, held back only by its extended legs.

“Quickly, retract the legs before they break,” Nemel said to Edmon, tapping open a control panel with eight switches on it and pressing them all to off. The view from the camera in the background swiftly changed to a plastic pipe, the probe shooting down from the water pressure behind it.

“Isn’t this bad?” Kik asked. “With this water pressure, somebody is sure to notice.”

“But they’ll notice after we’re done here, right?” Edmon smiled.

“That’s not the sort of attitude you should be taking. This is serious. You should try and reseal that mesh.”

“It’s too late,” Nemel said. “True, it could be a problem, but trying to push the barrier back into place will only damage the drone, drain its battery, and is more likely to break the damaged part off completely. As soon as it was bent it couldn’t be put back into place properly. Even worse, if we attempt to somehow seal it with the laser cutter the connection will just be broken again while it’s weak.”

“Sure… what she said.”

“Shut up, Edmon.”

“Yes ma’am.”

All of them watched as the drone whizzed down the chute. Suddenly the tunnel curved up and it was sucked that way and then level again until it almost hit another obstruction. Luckily, the water before them had backed up before it, and they slowed down before the blockage. This time, as Edmon pointed the camera forwards again, was a filter, encrusted with mud and dirt.

“Alright, time to cut through again,” he said, redeploying the legs. Nemel, however, stopped his hand.

“Wait a moment. There’s enough water pressure to break through. It’ll give way in a second.”

The flimsy paper-like material was indeed bending and straining, and mere seconds later it tore. The water flooded through, slightly dragging forward the probe which was currently pinned against the floor and ceiling of the pipe.

“Before you let it go again, where is the drone currently sitting?” Kik asked.

“It’s a hundred metres inland. It’s probably sitting in a pipe just beneath some manhole. Obviously it’s below the lake’s water level or there would be no water pressure in the pipe.”

“What’s the range of the signal?”

This time Edmon replied. “About two kilometres, maybe a bit less, when the target is underground like this.”

“And how far away is Benedict’s house?”

“About twelve kilometres.”

“So which of you see the problem?”

Lucas stuck his head into the back. “I do. Lookout’s uneventful, by the way, thanks for asking. I’ll start moving us towards the house. You two, get the probe to move, but don’t let it get too far ahead. Track its distance from us. No more than half a kilometre, you hear me, Edmon?”

“Yes, I hear you.”

Working their way through the city, the probe and the car leapfrogged each other as they passed through the water system. Once they were past the first filter, every few dozen metres along the pipe was an offshoot tube above, angled forwards with a similar filter over it. They also passed one or two unfiltered pipes angled the opposite direction, possibly for delivering chemicals into the water system.

Finally they reached the space just before the O’Dell household. Almost half an hour had passed of opening and closing the drone’s legs, waiting by the side of the road for it to catch up to their vehicle, and bypassing normal traffic the whole way. They deployed the legs and stopped before they reached the end, then slowed down to a more normal pace.

Looking at the screen, the three in the back breathed in relief.

“Alright, Edmon, turn this probe around and line it up,” Nemel said. “You don’t need to remove the filter. The solution should be fine enough to get through.”

Edmon nodded and leaned towards the screen. “I’ve got it.” First placing the camera right up against the blockage, he turned the probe 180, filling their vision with a closeup of the base of the pipe.

“Inserting serum in three… two… one…” Pressing the button on the left, the whole carriage sat there tensely for a second, before they all let out a breath.

“Was that all there was to it?” Kik asked.

Nemel grinned. “If every job was this easy, we could go into retirement in a month. Edmon, we’ll send you off to pick up the drone at the end of the pipe. Close all the apertures and turn it off, it’ll just be a metal box floating through the pipes.”

Edmon nodded, fiddling with his datapad. Lucas moved over a hand to slide closed the open partition between the cabins. “Get yourselves seated and I’ll get us home.”

The four of them walked up the stairs triumphant, the car left in the garage beneath the building. “We can take this,” Kik said to the others. “I don’t think this is going to be so bad after all.”

“I don’t know,” Lucas said. “I can’t shake a nagging feeling that it’s been going too well so far. I’ll bet you that what comes next won’t be as easy.”

Pushing open the door to the apartment, Ivan was sitting on the couch reading a piece of paper.

“Mission 1 complete!” Kik posed with one hand pointing to the ceiling in the centre of the doorway, blocking the others from entering. Eventually Lucas pushed him aside and they moved in.

“That’s good, that’s good,” Ivan muttered, turning over the paper. “Next orders are here. That’s good, that’s good.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well, we have to sneak into somebody’s house before a meeting there and plant the second part of the poison into Benedict Odell’s wine before he drinks it. Then, during the meeting we have to shoot somebody else so Odell’s death is blamed on a heart attack.”

“No, really,” Kik said, a half-smile fixed to his face as the others stood there with grave faces. “That’s a poor joke. What are the real orders?”