Maren had several ideas for how she could get into Sekko Research’s development division, all viable and her favored ones even above the books. Most of them, however, were dashed the moment the skyscraper came into view.
The building blended into the crowd of matching edifices on a normal day. But Maren assumed that security guards didn’t usually form barricades around the building, waving passersby and curious onlookers away. All were armed with batons, riot shields and... were those miniature flamethrowers?
A quick search informed Maren that power outages had occurred in this area for the last hour. The outages stretched over a mile radius; Sekko Research was near the center of the cone. Most of the reserve power was directed to a nearby hospital on its edge, which meant...
Maren opened a new browser on her tablet and did another search. She smirked. Sekko’s security cameras were offline. In fact, all the cameras in the area were blank.
Finally, a break. Maren ducked into a side street several blocks from Sekko Research’s building, following her map. A manhole lay unguarded on a deserted street. A quick glance didn’t reveal random people staring at her from the surrounding buildings. Plan five it is.
But where were the guys when she needed them? Frowning, she squatted over the manhole, gripped the edges, and heaved. Arms trembling and back threatening to bend, Maren’s legs did the literal heavy lifting. She raised the cover a couple inches, then scooted it to the side.
Her breath escaped her as she set the cover down. The putrid sewer smell smacked her in the face. Grimacing, stomach roiling, she lowered herself into the stench’s source.
Didn’t matter where on Talam, whether it was the humblest hamlet or the mightiest metropolis, sewers still smelled like shit. That was all she could focus on as the only light source was the manhole she’d removed – all ceiling lights were dead due to the power outage. The revolting brown-green waters churned, blessedly not lapping over the edge onto the platform Maren had landed upon.
And, according to the map, she had to walk against the bastardized water’s flow. Even while dry on the platform, facing the rushing sludge seemed to send the stench directly into her nostrils.
Holding in gags, she followed the map’s route, lit by her tablet’s flashlight. She made a right and then stopped several hundred feet later at an indistinct wall. There should have been a door leading to the tunnels that companies used to bring their waste to the dumpsites. But even shining her light on the wall, no visible creases or grooves to outline a doorway were illuminated.
Clever bastards.
“It’s likely more obvious on the other side,” a voice said.
Maren flinched, shining her light on the new arrival. Koda stood, nonplussed, staring at the door.
Maren placed a hand on her chest, her suddenly rapid heartbeat calming with a deep breath. “I didn’t even hear you.”
“Helps for covert missions,” Koda said. His stare became distant, then he nodded. “That brick can be removed, revealing a lock.”
Maren investigated where Koda pointed, but the brick in question looked just as firmly in place as the rest.
“You able to get us in?” Maren asked.
Koda nodded. “But we’re really close to Sekko Research’s basement. They have some tech that’s messing with my sight, so I can’t see what’s beyond the door.”
“Most of the power from the outages should be going to the hospital. How do they have enough to maintain that spatial tech?”
“Probably diverting some of that power to themselves. Just another crime to add to the list.”
“And because of that, we don’t know if there’s chaos in there, or a whole lot of nothing.”
“And anywhere in between.”
“We waiting on Mav?”
Koda shook his head. “He’s backup. I want to get this done as quietly as possible, and he...”
“Right.” Those explosions she’d heard hours ago had been the opposite of subtle. “So, what are we waiting for?”
“You.”
“Really? I know I’m a civilian, but I’m doing this job and there’s –”
“Not what I meant. How’d you know about the secret tunnel’s location?”
Maren gulped, thankfully inaudibly. So he was suspicious. “I don’t see what that has to do with this.”
“And the lawyer barely gave you a glance. I thought it could’ve been because you’re a civilian, so she didn’t care. But then you updated your map, knowing that if she accessed that data, it could be used against you in court. If she had access to my comms, clearly it means she could get into your device, right?
“Unless she couldn’t.”
“Thought a lot about this, huh?”
“I wasn’t mulling over strategies for two hours.”
“You could’ve just asked me about it. I have this,” she displayed her tunnel map, “because I was a member of Radiant Dawn. Being a part of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most profitable guild gives one certain advantages.”
She was impressed with herself. Her voice wasn’t level, nor was it cracking easily. Her intonation was the same as always, just like her eye contact whenever she spoke casually: direct for a few seconds, with occasional glances away. She’d practiced these responses a thousand times, but never with a real person, nor with her heart thundering in her chest.
“You’re not in that guild anymore,” Koda said. “And I doubt they’d give any member this much access. Even I need a warrant to download the city’s secret grid.”
“You looked at my file. You know I’d lived at Radiant Dawn since I was five. I’m not just any member. And you’re not even a private yet.”
“But you’re no longer a part of Radiant Dawn.”
“I left on good terms with everyone. They’re still precious to me, and I to them. They let me keep my access to their privileges, as a parting gift.”
“Which means you can look into information Hicks wouldn’t be able to access?”
“Not without royally pissing off one of Talam’s most important entities, all to guard the privacy of a relatively new tech company. Again, I wasn’t in the lower tier of Radiant Dawn.”
Koda’s eyes bored into Maren’s. She held them, trying not to waver. If he hadn’t turned away when he did, however, she might have folded. His glare was so intense!
“Fine,” Koda said, looking at the wall. “Either you’re telling the truth, or as good a liar as me.”
With a small hiss, a door slid open, revealing a pitch-black hallway. And various noises Maren couldn’t make out.
“Guess it’s not a ‘whole lot of nothing,’ huh?” Maren said.
Koda stepped into the hallway. “Grab my shoulder and turn that off. We don’t want to lose our element of surprise.”
Maren huffed, but did as he said. His shoulder piece was solid, smoother yet sturdier than most fabrics she’d felt. Even with how skinny Koda was, it gave the impression of strength beyond his physique. And that strong shoulder led her through the blackness, toward the sounds that Maren could now recognize.
Screams and grunts. A violent whirl of air and flame. Renting metal and fizzles of sparks. Wet, guttural growls.
The last of which grew closer at an alarming rate, rapid pounding footsteps echoing about them.
“Give me a light,” Koda commanded.
Maren turned the tablet’s flashlight on and passed it to Koda, who jutted to the side and shined the light down the baren hallway. Well, baren aside from those monstrosities hurtling toward her.
“Deal with them,” Koda said.
Maren’s mouth was already parching. Rivulets of water rushed down her arm and up her palm, forming pressurized streams that diced the three monsters before her. Before she opened her mouth to inform Koda about their regenerative ability, the pieces were suddenly spread apart and forced against the wall.
Right. Koda knew that from her report.
“More incoming,” Koda said, shining the light down the hallway. “And so’s a man.”
The two following bulging beasts were as simple as the first. It was the man – tailed by three other deformities – that made things a little more troublesome.
“Don’t send this one to the ER,” Koda said.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Maren said.
The man was tall, more than a foot taller than her, with broad shoulders and arms large enough to seamlessly carry two full-sized flamethrowers. He turned back periodically, firing a wave of flame toward the monsters, but continued charging toward Maren.
Water swirled around Maren from her skin. The man snarled at her.
“Who the hell are you?” he roared, pointing the barrel of his flamethrower at her.
Her water formed a wall before he touched the trigger. Steam filled the corridor as the water hissed. Maren’s mouth continually dried as she replenished the shield, waiting for the monster to reach him.
However, the large man simply turned to the side, one arm sending flames toward Maren, then pointed his other at the beasts edging up on him. Soon flames shot from both sides of the man.
“Little help?” Maren asked.
“You got this,” Koda said.
Maren took a swig of water from her canteen. She wasn’t too dehydrated, but the heat was beginning to make the world shift around her. All she had to do was remove the man’s weapons and he was as good as beaten.
Mouth drying more, she sent a stream of water along the hallway’s ceiling, away enough from the fire to not evaporate, and gathered it above the man. Curling her fingers, she pressurized the ceiling water at four points, then shot them downward.
The man wailed, four streams of water smacking into his arms and shoulders. Not powerful enough to sail through them, but definitely painful.
The fires receded as the flamethrowers’ barrels hit the floor. Maren sent her wave forward to envelop him as the beasts charged. His scream was drowned out by the water covering his face, as were the guttural growls behind him. Even in the water, the beasts reached for the man.
“He’s not for you,” Maren mumbled, splitting the water and dragging the man toward her, leaving the monsters in their own floating bubble down the hallway.
Koda stepped forward as the man’s water bubble neared, delving his hand inside it and wrenching a flamethrower free. “Let them go.”
Maren released the water holding the monsters back, but kept the man in his bubble. He thrashed, attempting to escape, but Maren held the water together. The flamethrower hissed, drying and then quickly scorching the sliced pieces against the wall. The full-bodied monsters, however, took longer to burn. All the while, the man’s movements slowed.
Now. Maren released the water right before he ceased moving. He hit the ground, coughing and drawing in deep breaths. Maren knew it wasn’t sporting to kick a man while he was down, but it was smart. She got him good on the temple, sending him into the wall. He lay, groaning, fumbling, but awake. At least he won’t need the hospital.
Koda removed the cylinder which fueled the flamethrower, then threw the weapon to the ground. Most of the beasts were now crisps, the smell of their singed goopy skin twisting Maren’s nostrils. One, however, was curled in on itself, its limbs practically melding into its torso, held against the wall.
“Thanks for the help,” Maren said, voice dry.
“Conserving all the energy I can,” Koda said. The fumbling man jerked to Koda, then rested next to the grotesque creature. “Interesting. He’s wearing a Trulson Tech uniform.”
Maren took her tablet and shined the light on him. “Same kind I saw at the dumpsite. And you called me conspiratorial.”
“You were, but you were also correct. Do you know if Sekko and Trulson have any major disputes?”
“Not apart from the average small dog nipping at the big one’s heels.”
Another crash sounded from the distance.
“More are coming,” Koda said, kneeling to physically grab both the man and the monster. “Get out of here, quickly. I have all I need.”
“Why don’t we go to the police together?” Maren asked. “With all this, it should be –”
“I’m not going to the police. Not yet.”
Flames spurted down the hallway and winds roared alongside the guttural calls of the creatures.
“Go,” Koda said.
What he did next made Maren pause, if only for a second. One moment he was illuminated by Maren’s light, the next he, the man in the Trulson Tech uniform, and the monster were gone.
Not only had she met an Ethereal Leader. She’d met one who can Fold.
Then that second ended, and the thunderous sounds of footsteps neared her.
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