“Slim, man! Let us in! It’s me.” Jack beats on the reinforced door to Slim’s place. Actually, calling it a mere “place” doesn’t quite do it justice. Slim’s building is nestled down in the corner of Lower Bule, one of the only buildings that has two of its sides touching the canyon walls. In fact, Slim had expanded his available space by digging away at the rock. At this point, a greater percentage of his floorspace is burrowed into the cliff than within the building. With the heavy reinforced door at the entrance, it’s probably the most secure location in all of Bule, second only to the siege caves.

Of course, none of it does Jack any good if he’s on the wrong side of that door.

Jack stops hammering on the door with the bottoms of his hands and kicks it in frustration. He steps over to the comm box and jams his thumb on the talk button. “Dammit, Slim. I know you’re in there. We’re mid-raid here. You just gonna sit in there an’ let me get got?”

“Pin. He’s not here. We should just get going.”

Jack turns his head back to Lyia. “Naw. He’s here. He’s just—”

There’s a scratching sound on the comm box, like the person on the other end suddenly made the decision to take up juggling radio gear as a hobby. “Lee—Lyia? Is that you, babe?”

Jack looks at the comm box and pulls his thumb from the talk button, frowning. He eyes Lyia. “Babe?”

Lyia doesn’t respond, doesn’t even really look at him. There’s no chance to prod further, though. A heavy chunk sounds on the other side of Slim’s door before it slowly cracks open. Through the breach, a wiry tendril sticks through and regards Jack and Lyia through the glass hemisphere at its tip.

Jack puts his hand over the lens and shoves his way in through the door. “Cut it out, Slim. You know it’s us.”

The tendril retracts to its coiled base mounted over the door. The room is dark. The sliver of light from the partially open front door is the small room’s only illumination. Jack’s shin collides with the corner of some large block of something. “Fffffuuuh! What in the world is that?”

At the back of the room, a door slides open. Bright light pours around the silhouette of a tall, lanky figure. “You could be hostages, coerced into getting me to open my door.”

“For shit’s sake, man. Just fix the vid on your comm box.” Jack steps to the side to allow Lyia to come in. “Then you wouldn’t hafta be so damn paranoid.” He peeks back through the open doorway into the hallway before slapping the door close button on the wall. The moment the door reseals itself shut, lights glow up throughout, brightening the whole place.

“Fixed cameras can be tricked. Besides, my neighbors steal any decent gear I set outside my door.” Slim steps through from his back room, tapping a sequence with grease-stained fingers across a tattoo on his forearm.

As Slim works his tat, Jack spins around the room, watching an array of small red lights on the wall blink to green. A length of dark wire twists a haphazard route across the wall connecting each of the little lights. Tiny scorch marks pepper the wall’s surface along the wire. “You were gonna use your room incinerator? On us? Really?”

“Can’t be too careful. Especially since I didn’t even know there was a raid. Was, um, engrossed with something in the back.” Slim finishes tapping and proceeds to rub the palm of his hand across the top of his shaven head. He raises his eyes, darkened by the signature bags of someone who hasn’t slept in a couple days, and smiles at Lyia. It’s the warm, open-mouthed kind of smile that a person gives to someone they care about, but haven’t seen in a while. Or at least that’s how Jack sees it.

Slim takes two long steps into the room and wraps his arms around Lyia. “It’s been too long, Lee. No matter. You’re safe now.”

Jack clears his throat as Slim completes his hug, allowing Lyia to take a step back. Keeping his arms on her shoulders, he turns to Jack. “Damn, boy. You two look like a shit that took a shit. And is that a chembraid? When’d you get that?”

“Been a shit morning.” Jack can feel the grunt’s blood on his head drying, caking. The chembraid still itches where it’s mounted on his skin. But there’s no time for feeling uncomfortable. “You about finished with my pieces of kit?”

“Well, yeah. Both things. Ain’t tested ’em yet, though. The one set was a right sombitch to get sorted out. Never woulda thought there’d be two layers of traps on—”

“Good. I need ’em. Now.”

“Wait.” Slim trades a look with Lyia before giving his full attention to Jack. “I thought you said there was a raid goin’ on. You’re not headed back out there, are ya? And with untested gear? You’re not making any sense.”

Jack stares at Slim’s hand, still sitting on Lyia’s shoulder. Yeah. There’s a lot not makin’ sense right now. He turns his face to Slim. “And we’re gonna need some cave gear. Rope an’ some lights, mostly.”

“Dude. What’s going on?” Slim takes a step over to Jack and squats down so they’re eye to eye. A thick odor wafts down with the movement. Whatever’s been occupying Slim’s time has also prevented him from bathing. No wonder Lyia took a step back.

But Jack won’t let himself be distracted by a bit of stink. There are bigger things in need of attention. “We’ve still got two out there.”

Slim lets out a low whistle. “Who? Your new bar girl?”

“An’ Zeke.”

The words hang in the air awkwardly as Jack catches Slim exchange glances with Lyia. Slim leans forward and puts his lanky hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Look, man. Zeke is clever. He knows how to hide out during things like this. I’m sure they’re going to be fine.”

Disagreeing, Jack shakes his head. He can’t even get the words out.

Lyia steps forward, addressing Slim. “It’s too late for hiding. For them, anyway.” She turns to face Jack. “Pinny. I know Zeke means a lot to you, but there’s nothing you can do. You just got healed. Both you and Zeke. He and that girl—”

“Corva.”

“Yeah, Corva. They’re done. Death took them. Death, Pinny! And even if he hadn’t, Bule’s overrun with the horde. If those two are smart, they’ve already killed themselves.”

Slim bolts upright and takes a step to the side so he can see both Jack and Lyia. “Whoa, whoa. What the hell kinda raid is this? Death is here? Like the guy, Death?”

Ignoring Slim, Jack stares at Lyia. “How can you say that? After what you seen? I can’t even—ah!” Jack starts pacing. Frustrated, he runs his hands through his hair, inadvertently clearing out some of the crusted blood. It half drips, half sprinkles on Slim’s floor. “You know they ain’t goin’ down so easy.”

He pauses, noticing the continued confusion in Slim’s face. “It’s a long damn story. I don’t even know all of it. I ain’t askin’ for help. I just want the kit I already paid you for.”

“And the stuff for caving.” Slim crosses his arms in front of him, his “ready to do business, but not a fan of this deal” pose.

“Yeah. That, too. We’re taking that crevice you tapped into during your last expansion of this place, but we’ll probably still need the gear after that. So I’ll hafta tab that one. Just have it ready for when I come back with them.”

“Then you better not die.”

“In that case, best hope your work holds up.” Jack turns back to Lyia, scowling. “You wanna stay safe, babe? Then stay here. I got employees to take care of.”