Deadly Games

CHAPTER 16

There was water in Amaranthe’s boot. Withevery step, her toes sloshed about in it. At least she couldtake steps. The size and heft of the suit on dry land hadworried her, but the air inside her pack and helmet made hersurprisingly light as she walked-sloshed-down the lake’ssteep slope. Indeed, the suits required weights to keep one fromfloating to the surface.

Maldynado, Books, and Akstyr strode at herside. Well, it wasn’t “striding” exactly. Between the swords beltedat their waists and the harpoon launchers in their arms, they werenot the most agile creatures moving about in the lake. Bookscarried his keg instead of a launcher, but that was just asawkward, and he had already stumbled twice. Each time somebodyslipped, Amaranthe’s heart jumped into her throat. If anybody cutthemselves on the harpoon tips, the poison would kill them asquickly as it would kill a kraken-much more quickly infact.

The helmets made it difficult to speak toeach other-though sometimes a muffled curse reached her ears assomeone slipped on the seaweed-slick lake bottom-but they weremanaging with Basilard’s hand signs.

When they reached the cliff, Amaranthe creptto the edge. A dark expanse yawned below. She had little feel forhow far the viewer had dropped, but no hint of the orange glow sheremembered seeped up from below. Since these suits wereself-contained, there was no tube connecting them to the surface,and the idea of stepping off and falling a hundred feet or moremade her hesitate.

Four hundred feet, Books signed.

To the bottom of the lake? Amarantheasked.

It’s a thousand at its deepest, but thisfirst ledge has been measured as a three- to four-hundred-footdrop, depending on where you step down. He tilted his head.We’ll be fine, but we should go slowly to acclimate our bodiesto the pressure change.

I was more worried about coming backup, Amaranthe signed.

Just remove the weights when it’s time, andyou’ll float up.

If there wasn’t a kraken waiting in themiddle to eat her.

Amaranthe took a deep breath and stepped offthe ledge. She kept her gloved fingers near the cliff, using therough stone to slow her descent.

Time trickled past, measured in the softinhalations that echoed in her ears. Fresh air whispered into thehelmet, brushing her cheek, while her used air escaped through anexhaust vent, creating tiny bubbles that floated away. Her earspopped, and pressure built in her sinuses. Had this been a trip formere fun or adventure, she would have turned back.

An orange glow grew visible below, and sheexhaled in relief. They were getting close.

She touched down in a bed of silt, stirring acloud of fine dust. The strange, two-story fortress waited sometwenty-five meters away. Translucent fish still swam about theperimeter, but Amaranthe did not see the kraken. With luck, it andthe crew of the vessel had turned their focus toward theSaberfist.

Something ticked against the back of herhelmet. Maldynado. He pointed overhead.

She tensed, expecting the kraken, and flexedher finger on the trigger of the harpoon launcher. No tentacleswaved in the distance though; Maldynado was pointing to diversdescending. Six of them. Two carried waterproof lanterns and woreswords. Two others bore weapons she could not name-they had theappearance of arm-sized cannons, but black powder would be uselessdown here. The final two carried harpoon launchers.

Did they believe us and come expectingtrouble? Amaranthe signed. The nearby illumination providedenough light for the hand gestures.

They’re marines, Maldynado responded.I bet that’s their typical underwater exploration gear.

She snorted, fogging her faceplate with thebreath. Probably true.

Akstyr came up between them and pointed at aschool of the guardian fish. Amaranthe grimaced, remembering howone had charred some sea critter into a blackened husk. She hopedthey lacked the firepower to harm full-grown humans.

Let’s try to find a door, shesigned.

Little seaweed grew this far down, so theirboots stirred sand and silt as they advanced. Amaranthe kept an eyetoward the ground, thinking that those fish would blend in againstthe beige surface.

Even prepared, it caught her by surprise whenone swooped up from the sand right before her. Golden scalesshimmered, and an inner light pulsed, building toward adischarge.

Figuring the poison-smeared harpoon would beoverkill, Amaranthe slid her sword free and slashed at the fish.The water drag slowed her swipe, and the foot-long creature flittedaside easily.

Maldynado lunged, his rapier leading. Pokingwas faster in the water than swinging, but the agile fish stillslithered away, undamaged. Its tail fins fluttered, and it swamback a few feet before facing them again. It started pulsing again,more rapidly now.

Amaranthe pushed off the bottom, sword raisedagain. She tried to be subtle, to hold the weapon back so the fishwould not see the attack coming, but it moved again. Or startedto-it froze in the middle of a fin flap.

Quick to take advantage, Amaranthe skeweredit. The fish’s inner light winked out.

You’re welcome, Akstyr signed.

She removed the creature from her sword andgave him a salute. You’re turning into a useful youngman.

I know. I should get more respect.Akstyr glowered, not at her but at Maldynado.

It’s hard to respect someone who can’tgrow a decent mustache, Maldynado signed.

Akstyr pointed at Amaranthe and propped hisfists on his hips.

True, Maldynado signed, hers hasn’tcome in yet either.

I imagine you’ll stop trying to set me upwith men when it does. Amaranthe continued forward. She lefther sword out, but she hoped no more trouble hid on the lake floor.She would hate to admit to Sicarius a fish had gotten the best ofher.

The thought of him sent a twinge of anxietythrough her. She had missed him more than made sense these lastcouple of days. It was not as if he were some cheery, warm presencein her life. Certainly the group had survived a few adventureswithout him, proof that, for all his skills, he was not somenucleus they could not do without. Professionally, she knew theycould go on without him, but personally… Her heart cringed at theidea of infiltrating this structure, only to learn they were toolate.

They neared one of the tunnels of thestructure, and she pushed stray thoughts from her mind. “Focus,”she told herself.

They had no trouble creeping up to the hullof the fortress, and Amaranthe worried that things were going tooeasily. She sidled over to a porthole, pushed off the ground, andrested a hand on the metal, intending to peer in.

Energy surged up her arm, thrusting her backeven as an electric jolt surged through her body. Spasms wrackedher muscles, she couldn’t breathe, and she swore her heart stopped.Panic flashed through her.

The convulsions ended as abruptly as theybegan, and her heart started beating again. She recovered with agasp, the experience leaving her shaken.

“Too easy?” she muttered. “I take itback.”

A hand gripped her shoulder. She realized shehad fallen back to the lake floor-and that she was clutching herchest as if to keep her heart from bursting out of it. She loweredher arm and nodded to Maldynado before he could ask after herhealth. Or perhaps after her sanity for presuming to touchsomething here.

I sense energy about the exterior,Akstyr signed.

Now he told her.

Amaranthe grabbed a rusty tin can sunken intothe silt and tossed it against the hull. Lightning crackled aboutit as it bounced off.

“Probably should have done that first,” shemuttered, picking up the can and tossing it again, this time at theporthole.

It clunked off without any sparks ofelectricity. She grabbed it and pushed off the bottom again. Withit in her hand this time, she prodded the clear window material-shewas hesitant to think of it as glass, since it might be somemagical creation. No lightning coursed through her body, so shedropped the can and rested her hands against the surface, kickinglightly to stay in place.

An empty, dimly lit corridor stretched ineither direction. She waited for a moment, in case a crew memberwalked through or something otherwise enlightening happened. Itdidn’t. She dropped back to the lake floor.

Maldynado had moved a few meters away and waslooking around a bend. He waved and signed, There’s a hatch overhere. Maybe we can get in.

Without getting electrocuted?Amaranthe signed.

Maybe…not.

I’ll look at it, Akstyr signed. Stillcarrying his keg, Books trundled after him.

Amaranthe popped back up for another lookinto the porthole. A naked woman darted into a nearby intersection,and her hopes rose. Was that one of the kidnapped athletes? Surelythe practitioners wouldn’t be running around nude.

She tried to press her cheek to the portholefor a better view, but her helmet clunked against it. The womanmust have heard the sound, for she crept closer. She came forwardin a slow, wary crouch. Snarls and knots tangled her hair, and herwide, wild eyes darted from side to side. Fresh scars marred herabdomen.

Amaranthe tapped on the glass.

The woman spotted her, and leaped back, eyeswide. She sprinted down the corridor and disappeared around theintersection.

Emperor’s bunions, that woman better not setoff an alarm.

Maldynado tapped Amaranthe on the shoulder.He was treading water beside her and grinning. You do look likea scary monster in that helmet.

Even without a mustache?

Oh, yes. Maldynado’s grin widened.

A tapping noise came from inside, andAmaranthe spun back toward the porthole. The woman had returned.She crouched in the corridor like a rabbit poised to flee. Narroweyes regarded Amaranthe with suspicion, but hope, too.

“We’re here to help,” Amaranthe said,exaggerating her words in hopes the woman could read her lipsthrough the face plate. “Can you let us in?” She pointed in thedirection of the hatch.

The woman sprinted away, not toward the hatchbut back toward the intersection, and disappeared around thecorner.

Amaranthe sighed and clunked her head againstthe porthole.

Maldynado patted her back. They’reathletes. They don’t have to be bright to win the races, justfast.

Several moments passed, and Amaranthe wasabout to give up and check other portholes when the woman joggedback into view with a crowbar in her hands. She nodded curtly andcontinued past, heading toward the hatch.

Amaranthe pushed away from the porthole andswam in the same direction. When she rounded the bend, she foundAkstyr sprawled on his back in the sand, a dazed expression on hisface.

Problem with that energy you sensed?she signed.

He struggled to sit up. I got a littleclose.

Amaranthe helped him to his feet. Thefive-foot-wide square hatch in the hull had a wheel-style dooropener, so it seemed one could get in if the defenses weren’t up.She wondered if the woman would be able to bypass them. Her snarleddark hair and bronze skin had appeared Turgonian, so she probablyknew nothing about the Science.

Scrapes and clunks came from the other sideof the hatch.

If she opens it, Maldynado signed,won’t water flood in?

Amaranthe shrugged. I don’t know. It’s myfirst underwater-fortress infiltration.

A shadow passed overhead. Dread sprang intoAmaranthe’s limbs, and she knew they were in trouble before shelooked up.

The kraken glided over the structure, itstentacles streaming out behind it. The creature had to be more thanseventy-five feet long from arrow-shaped head to tentacle tips. Aneye the size of one of the dive helmets rotated until it fixed uponthem.

Something that might have been a string ofcurses came from Maldynado. Amaranthe almost grabbed the wheel onthe hatch in a vain hope the woman had turned off the defenses, butshe did not need more lightning knocking her on her backside.

The kraken’s great mantle flexed, and itstentacles flared outward, allowing it to alter course towardthem.

Wait by the hatch, Amaranthe signed,then pushed off the lake floor before the men could object.

Books shouted something. The helmets and thewater made it indistinguishable, so it was doubtlessly herimagination that she heard the word “prudent.”

Amaranthe kicked and paddledone-armed-holding the harpoon launcher made her strokes awkward-tothe porthole, then treaded to maintain a position in front of it.She waved her arm, trying to draw the kraken’s attention. She neednot have made the effort. The beast had already spotted her. Hungryblack eyes bored into her soul, as if they might freeze her by themight of their stare alone. The tentacles spread out, suction cupslining the dark purple flesh, and two long limbs stretched towardher.

On the floor below, Maldynado and Akstyrraised their harpoons. Though Amaranthe knew they would not likeit, she lifted a hand, telling them to wait. She wanted to see ifher idea worked first. If not…they could fire everything they hadinto those tentacles. Each one was as thick as Maldynado’s chestand could wrap her in a grip she could never escape.

One darted toward her. Amaranthe kicked out,pushing off the porthole glass, angling down toward her men.

The tentacle clipped the fortress wall.Lightning streaked up the purple flesh, and sparks danced over thesuction cups.

A high-pitched squeal assaulted Amaranthe’sears. The tentacle jerked away. Black ink clouded the water, andthe kraken retreated.

Two harpoons flew from below. With the krakenalready swimming away at top speed, Amaranthe did not expect much,but one blade did clip a tentacle. It was hard to tell if thepoison had any effect on the creature.

She landed on the lake floor beside the men.Got that hatch open yet?

We were busy trying to protect you.Maldynado frowned at her.

Yes, Books added. Didn’t we discusshow you were going to partake only in prudent actions goingforward?

Is there a prudent way to fight a giantsquid? Amaranthe signed.

Hide behind someone tastier looking thanyou? Akstyr suggested.

Before they could discuss it further, asucking noise sounded-a seal being broken. The hatch swungoutward.

Amaranthe started for it, but Maldynadobumped her aside with his hip, gave her a pointed look, and wentfirst. Feeling protective, was he?

She followed right after, careful not totouch the outer frame of the hatchway, lest it be electrified aswell. They entered a tiny chamber full of water. Another hatch,identical to the first, waited on the inside.

Maldynado reached for the wheel-shapedopening mechanism, stopped with his hands inches away, drew backand poked it with his sword. No sparks or branches of lightning ranup the blade.

Metal conducts electricity, you twit,Books signed. If the door had been charged, thatwouldn’t have helped.

Maldynado sheathed his rapier and managed toelbow Books in the process. He tried the wheel, but it did notmove.

Maybe we have to close the outside doorfirst. Books eyed the walls. There must be a way to make thewater drain out before one enters the main structure.

Akstyr pulled the outer hatch shut. The lightfrom outside disappeared, and blackness dropped over them.

“Well, that’s lovely,” Amaranthe said.

Since the helmets and the water precludedtalking, she had to imagine the sarcastic comments from the others.It was a strange sensation, being in the dark with water swirlingabout her. Inside the helmet, her breaths echoed in her ears.Somewhere in the distance, a throbbing woo-wah noisepulsed.

A clunk sounded, reverberating from within anearby wall. Water tinkled, as if running down a drainpipe, butnothing happened quickly. When she reached up, Amaranthe found onlya two-inch-high pocket of air at the top of the chamber.

When the water lowered to chest level, sheremoved her helmet, figuring it would be better to talk to thenaked girl looking like a human being, not some mad tinkerer’sperson-shaped walking machine.

With the helmet off, the woo-wah soundrang more loudly in her ears. An alarm? And if so, was it for herteam, or for the marine ship overhead? The latter she hoped, butthere could be a squad of guards waiting with rifles on the otherside of the hatch, especially given how long it was taking thechamber to drain.

Water splashed behind her-someone elseremoving his helmet.

“Are we shooting people?” Maldynado asked,and Amaranthe imagined him hefting the harpoon launcher.

“We should save the poisoned harpoons for thekraken,” she said. “We don’t have many, and I suspect we’ll have todeal with it before this is over.”

“Are we stabbing people then?”Maldynado asked. “Or is this like with soldiers and enforcers whereit’d be bad for our image to kill them?”

Amaranthe winced at the idea that it was onlytheir image that kept her from killing people, but she knew what hemeant. “I doubt we’ll run into any enforcers down here, and we canassume any soldiers have gone rogue.” She thought of the messagethese people had sent to the enforcers, claiming they would beturning a dead Sicarius in for reward, and she had little troublehardening herself toward them. “We don’t need to go out of the wayto butcher anyone, but…we’re going to be outnumbered. Don’t letmercy get you into trouble.”

“Understood,” Books said quietly.

When the water level dropped to her knees,Amaranthe figured it was low enough. “Time to go,” she said, thoughher fastidious streak made her wince at the idea of water gushinginto the corridor, leaving the enemy’s floor in need of amopping.

Maldynado grunted a few times. “The wheel’snot budging. How do we get out?”

“Never overlook the obvious.” Amarantheknocked.

He snorted, but the hatch creaked open. Afoot of water flowed into the corridor. Though dim, the lightingwas bright after the darkness of the chamber, and Amaranthesquinted. After a few blinks, the nude woman came into focus. Shestood in the corridor, ignoring the water dampening her bare feet.She alternated glancing both ways down the passage and plyingAmaranthe with questioning looks. One of the men stirred, and thewoman jumped away, pressing her back to the wall.

Lowering her harpoon launcher, Amaranthestepped into the corridor and raised a friendly hand. “We’re hereto help.”

The men crowded out behind her. Maldynado andBooks had the maturity not to gape openly at the naked woman-evenin her frazzled state, she had a tall, athletic form with curvesenough to interest any man-but Akstyr was another matter. Amarantheelbowed him, and he closed his mouth.

“I’m Amaranthe,” she told the girl. “I assumeyou’re one of the kidnapped athletes?” The alarm going off made herwant to grab the woman by the arm and demand to be taken to theothers immediately, but they would get farther with a cooperativeguide.

“Yes, I’m Merva.”

“A pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” Maldynadomanaged a graceful warrior-caste bow even in the confiningcorridor, with the bulky helmet beneath his arm. “Are youperhaps-”

“Able to show us where the other prisonersare?” Amaranthe asked, giving Maldynado aplease-wait-to-seduce-her-until-later look.

“And can you let us know,” Books added, “ifthat’s an alarm? Are they trying to find you?”

“I-probably.” Merva touched her mouth withher fingers. “I think they’re after those two men though.”

Amaranthe stood straighter, eyes riveted onthe woman. “A blond man and a scarred one?”

Merva shrugged without dropping her hand.“I’m not sure. I’ve been…” She touched her head with her otherhand. “I don’t remember anything since… Two men grabbed me in mybunk at the athletes’ barracks and thrust a vial under my nose.After that… I don’t know how long I’ve slept. I woke up a littlewhile ago, like this. Someone had cut straps holding me to atable.”

Someone? That sounded too beneficent forSicarius, but Basilard perhaps? She wanted to pump the girl foranswers, but they had best find someplace less open for planningthe next step.

Merva leaned past her and pointed into thestaging chamber. “Can I get out that way? We’re underwater, right?Are we in the ocean?”

“Nah,” Akstyr said. “We’re just-”

“We can help you escape,” Amaranthe said,cutting Akstyr off before he could reveal how close to the citythey were. She did not want the girl swimming out there, only todrown trying to reach the surface. “But let’s get all the prisonersout first. Have you seen others since you woke up?”

Merva tore her gaze from the chamber. “Westarted out together, several of us, but then we ran into thosesoldiers, and one of them fired at us. Everyone scattered,and-”

A man in military fatigues jogged around thecorner and skidded to a halt. His eyebrows flew up when he spottedthe diving suits. “Intruders!” he shouted and grabbed for a pistol,but he seemed to realize he was outnumbered. Instead of shooting,he whirled for the cover of the corner.

Grimly, Amaranthe fired her harpoon launcher.They couldn’t let him run off and gather reinforcements.

The projectile zipped down the corridor andsliced into the man’s shoulder before he disappeared around thecorner. He stumbled and landed belly-first on the deck. His pistolflew free and clanged against the bulkhead, going off with anechoing bang.

Amaranthe winced at the noise.

Maldynado ran past her and checked thecorridors leading from the intersection. “No one else. Yet.”

The guard tried to crawl away. Maldynadostepped on his arm to pin him. The man scrabbled for a knife at hisbelt, but Maldynado took it from him easily.

“Want me to…?” He made a throat-slashingmotion.

Amaranthe sighed. The poison should kill theman in a couple of minutes, but she had no idea if that would be amore merciful end than a dagger to the throat.

The man twisted his neck to look at her. Fearhaunted his eyes.

“Sorry,” Amaranthe said quietly.

A part of her was tempted to ask Akstyr if hecould do anything to keep the man from dying, but there was notime. Someone would come to investigate that shot.

“Leave him,” Amaranthe told Maldynado. “Afterthat entrance, I’m sure the whole vessel knows we’re here.”

She waved for Merva to come forward. Theyounger woman gave her the same wary look Amaranthe had seen somany people use on Sicarius. Having such an expression directed ather made her uncomfortable. I’m not a monster, she wanted to say.I’m just trying to do the right thing….

“Can you take us to the navigation area?” shesaid instead. Finding the captain-or whoever was in charge of thisplace-would be better than wandering around randomly. If they foundsomeone important, perhaps they could use him or her as a hostageand avoid more bloodshed.

“I think it’s on the second floor,” Mervawhispered.

They hid the harpoon launchers in thetransition chamber, drew their swords, and headed away from thefallen guard. They passed numerous closed hatches and ducked underand around knots of pipes. Another four-way intersection came intoview ahead of them, and, beyond it, a ladder rose to a secondlevel. Voices drifted from the corridor to the left of theintersection. Agitated voices.

Amaranthe lifted a hand for silence andpassed Merva. As if by magic, the clomps of her men’s heavy bootssoftened to imperceptible footfalls. She glanced back, intending tosign an order for someone to watch their hindquarters, but Bookswas already doing it. He stalked backwards, his sword at theready.

At the intersection, Amaranthe poked an eyearound the corner. She almost yanked her head right back. Not tenfeet away, six white-jacketed men and women stood before a closedhatch marking the end of the corridor. Only the fact that all theirheads were turned away from the intersection kept her there for alonger look.

Their hair ranged from blond to black,straight to wiry and tightly curled. Representatives from severalnations and, Amaranthe feared, practitioners as well.

They were gesticulating and talking, morethan one at a time with frequent, emphatic points at the hatch.Were her men inside? Or other escaped prisoners?

Symbols were etched in a plate above thedoorway. Amaranthe waved for Books to take her spot and decipherthe language.

Engine room, he signed after apeek.

Amaranthe fingered the hilt of her sword, butshe did not want to attack practitioners. They would have far moretricks than Turgonian guards. Besides, she did not know if what laybehind the hatch was something that should concern her or not.

Let’s sneak past, Amaranthe signed,then put a finger to her lips and pointed to the ladder for Merva’ssake.

She waited until all of the practitioners’heads were turned and eased through the intersection, figuringsudden movement would be more likely to draw someone’s eye.

A clang sounded down the corridor behindBooks. Guards searching the vessel? The practitioners were tooengrossed in their argument to notice.

Amaranthe waved for Maldynado and the othersto follow, one at a time. A bead of moisture slithered down herribcage. More than nerves made her sweat; now that they had leftthe icy water, the suit kept her far warmer than she needed.

Akstyr slipped across without incident.Good.

Out of habit, Amaranthe lifted a finger toher mouth to nibble on a nail, but the gloves stopped her. Bookscrossed, and Merva stepped into the intersection. Amaranthe curledher fingers into a fist. It was working. Everyone would-

A thunderous boom erupted, and the corridorheaved.

Amaranthe stumbled back and threw an arm out,trying to keep herself from falling, but the smooth walls offeredno hand holds, and the suit affected her balance. She hit thefloor, her helmet flying from her fingers. It clanked down thecorridor, bouncing as it went, and she cursed under her breath.

Quakes rattled the fortress. Half of her teamhad fallen to the floor as well, making her glad for her decisionto leave the harpoon launchers behind; someone might have cuthimself on a poisoned blade.

Curses in foreign languages-multipleforeign languages-spilled from the adjoining corridor.

Amaranthe rolled onto her knees and grabbedher helmet. She waved and pointed toward the ladder, silentlyurging her team to hurry. She hoped the commotion had kept thepractitioners from hearing them.

Merva and the men filed up the ladder.Amaranthe went last, her oversized boots making the ascentawkward.

Clomps sounded in the corridor she wasleaving. The practitioners? No, Turgonian words punctuated thefootfalls. Those were guards coming.

Ignoring the awkward boots, Amaranthe flew upthe last few rungs. She rolled into the corridor above just as aman below demanded, “Have you seen the intruders?”

Her first ludicrous thought was that he wastalking to her, but the voice was not that close. The guards had tobe at the intersection. She was tempted to stick around to listento the conversation, and see if she could find out what was goingon in the engine room, but those men would soon move on with theirhunt.

At the top of the ladder, anotherhatch-filled metal corridor stretched.

“Which way to navigation?” Amaranthewhispered.

Merva spread her hands, palms up.

“That way.” Maldynado pointed down onecorridor. “Or that way.” He pointed the other direction.

“Twit,” Books said.

Amaranthe chose a direction at random. Thepassage angled to the left, and a well-lit chamber opened up at theend. Something shimmered in the air before it. Some sort of magicalhatch?

Books pointed to a plaque above the doorway.“Navigation.”

Amaranthe slowed as they approached. She didnot see anyone inside yet, but such an important station should bemanned.

Another boom rocked the fortress, though notas fiercely as the first, and she remained upright this time.

What is that? she signed to Books.Some kind of attack from the marine ship?

Charges dropped in a waterproofcontainer? he suggested.

Amaranthe inched closer to the chamber. Thefar wall held an eight-foot-wide oblong porthole above a consolefilled with levers, gauges, and a head-sized illuminated dome.Water pressed against the porthole, and an orange glow from thelights outside bathed the silt and rock of the lake floor. A schoolof the translucent guard fish flitted past.

One man walked into view from the side, and asecond rose out of a high-backed chair that had hidden him fromsight. They leaned over the controls and argued in their ownlanguage. One pointed at the porthole. Muskets leaned against theconsole between them.

Amaranthe used their distraction to inchcloser, though she was careful not to touch the shimmering field.Energy crackled in the air and nipped at her cheeks.

On a side wall, an open weapons locker heldcutlasses and the empty musket slots. A row of yellow vials hung ina small rack. If those contained the same concoction that hadrendered so many people unconscious, they might prove useful.

The voices of the two men grew more agitated.Outside the porthole, a metallic box floated into view. It couldn’tbe heavy since it drifted down instead of plummeting. Amaranthesquinted, trying to decipher a black stamp on the box. An oil canover crossed swords, the symbol representing the army’s engineeringdivision.

Books grabbed her arm and tried to pull herfurther back into the corridor, but too many others occupied thespace. Before they could organize a retreat, the metallic boxexploded with a blinding flash.

The force hurled her backward. Someone caughther, but they tumbled to the deck in a tangle of limbs anyway.

In the chamber, the navigators also toppled,and their muskets clattered to the floor. One man lunged to hisfeet and pointed at the porthole, curses flowing from his lips. Atleast, Amaranthe assumed they were curses. Nobody said happy thingsin that tone of voice.

She spotted the reason for their ire: ahairline crack streaked across the porthole glass.

Amaranthe climbed off of Books, and hetouched her arm, nodding for them to retreat to speak. The rest ofthe group followed.

“You know what they’re saying?” she whisperedwhen they had backed to the ladder. Voices still floated up frombelow, but she could not tell if any belonged to the guardssearching for them.

“They’re cursing the Turgonian devils outsideand the blond devil inside,” Books whispered.

Blond. That had to be Sicarius.

“They want to move this vessel,” Books wenton, “but he’s killed the engineers and barricaded himself in theengine room.”

Those were her men inside, givingthose practitioners trouble. But if they were trapped, they neededher help. Amaranthe rubbed sweat from her brow and ignored an urgeto claw off the stifling suit. They might need to flee outsideagain.

“All right,” Amaranthe said, “here’s theplan: you and Akstyr take Merva and find the rest of the athletes.Maldynado and I will get inside navigation and deal with thosetwo.” And maybe the practitioners in front of the engine room, too,if she could pilfer a couple of those vials.

Books lifted a finger, as if he meant toobject-or perhaps warn her of the lack of prudence in herscheme-but shouts came from the level below, and he dropped hishand. “Very well.”

“One more question,” Amaranthe said. “I knowthese helmets are waterproof. Are they air-proof, too? If one choseto wear them in here?”

Books’s brow crinkled. “I imagine they’d haveto be. So long as you don’t run out of the air in your dedicatedsupply, you should be fine.” He nodded to the tank on her back.

“Thanks.” Amaranthe waved for him to take offwith the others. “Be careful.”

Books, Akstyr, and Merva left, leavingAmaranthe and Maldynado alone to face the practitioners. She took adeep breath and pointed toward the navigation room. “I’m going todistract those two while you grab a couple of the yellow vials inthe weapons locker, got it?”

“Got it, boss.”

Amaranthe returned to the barrier and knockedon the wall. The two men, who had been arguing over the crack,whirled and gaped. She spoke quickly, wanting to head off anylunges for weapons-or magical attacks.

“Greetings. It looks like you gentlemen coulduse some help. Do you speak Turgonian?”

“Help!” one man yelled. He wore spectaclesthat rested so low on his nose that Amaranthe could not imaginethem offering anything more than an enhanced view of his ownpores.

“Was that a question,” Amaranthe asked, “or acall for assistance?”

“Are you with them?” He stabbed afinger toward the ceiling with such vigor that his spectacles fellthe rest of the way off his nose. He caught them with a growl andthrust the frames back over his ears.

The second man, a rangy fellow with pale haircombed over a balding pate, watched the exchange in silence. Long,bony fingers flexed at his side, as if he might be thinking ofhurling some spell at Amaranthe.

“With the marines?” she asked, her eyes wide.“No, they want us dead. I’m Amaranthe Lokdon. I run The Emperor’sEdge mercenary outfit. Haven’t you heard of us?”

The two men exchanged blank looks. That wasfine. As long as they weren’t thinking of attacking her.

“I assumed you had,” Amaranthe said, “becauseyou kidnapped two of my men.”

“Oh,” Spectacles growled. “Sicarius. You runwith his group?”

“He runs with my group.” Amarantheturned to Maldynado. “I make all the decisions and do all theplanning. Why is nobody ever aware of that?” She hoped her whiningmade her sound innocuous, like someone who wasn’t a threat, likesomeone who could be invited in to chat further….

“Because you’re friendly and nice, andhe’s…someone who likes to kill people who are friendly and nice?”Maldynado suggested.

“That must be it.” Amaranthe faced thepractitioners again, empty hands spread. “Gentlemen, it looks likeyou’re in a dungeon with few prospects for escape. Am I correct indeducing that my men are making trouble in your engine room?”

“We’re taking care of them,” Spectaclessaid.

Another boom rattled the fortress. The men’swary eyes lifted toward the ceiling. If the marines kept droppingcharges, one was bound to land on top of the vessel eventually.

“I could get them to walk out right now,”Amaranthe said, “and you people could amble in, fix up thoseengines, and escape this lake before the marines get lucky.”

“The kraken will handle their ship,”Spectacles said. “Even now, it’s attacking them. They will eithersink or flee to the docks, wetting their trousers on the way.”

“Uhm,” Amaranthe said, “you speak Turgonianvery well, but you don’t seem to understand the warrior mentalityof our people. The captain will be tickled at the idea of facing akraken. A training exercise, if you will. If they thought the beasta severe threat, they’d be too busy facing it to drop charges overthe side.” That story sounded plausible, anyway. In truth, therewere probably a couple of lowly privates up there, assigned thetask of sending the explosives down in hopes that destroying thefortress would make the kraken lose interest in defending it. “Oncethey dispatch your little pet, they’ll be able to focus all theirattention on this vessel.”

“We’ll be fine on our own,” Spectacles said.“We-”

The balding man stopped him with a raisedhand, and Amaranthe wondered if he, despite being the quiet one,might be in charge. “What are you proposing, woman?”

“Amaranthe,” she said, figuring they’d bemore likely to see her as an ally if they were on a first namebasis. “May we come in to discuss this? Some of your guards havebeen looking for us, and we’d rather not get shot in the back whilewe’re talking to you.”

The men frowned at her. Despite her attemptat wide-eyed innocence, they seemed to think she might be up tosomething. Annoying when the villains had a modicum ofintelligence.

Spectacles murmured a few words to his bossin their language. Amaranthe hoped it was something like, “They’resimple fighters and not a threat to our magical greatness.”

“Drop your weapons and kick them back intothe tunnel,” the leader finally said.

“Kick?” Maldynado said. “One doesn’tkick a Teldark and Brook blade.”

“Ssh.” Amaranthe tossed her short sword ontothe floor behind them.

Maldynado gently laid his rapier next to herweapon.

Spectacles walked to the wall to the left ofhis side of the barrier where a box emitting a soft green glowperched at face level. He lowered his spectacles and leaned forwardto stare into it. The barrier shimmered and winked out.

Amaranthe waited for the man to step back andgesture for them to enter. She eased inside, hands open and spread.Maldynado did the same, but he stepped to her side, a couple offeet closer to the vials in the weapons locker.

“Stay there,” the leader said. “What’s yourproposal?”

“I’ll get my men to leave peacefully,”Amaranthe said, “and you let us walk, or swim, out of hereunmolested.”

“Sicarius is worth a million ranmyas.”

“Yes, and if you wanted that, you should havekept him unconscious.” She assumed that was how they had capturedhim in the first place, no doubt thanks to her sending him off tosnoop. Someone must have caught him with a whiff from one of thosevials.

“Litya woke him up,” Spectacles said. “Wetold her not to. She paid for it, too. Your men have killedmany of our guards and some of our practitioners. Letting them walkaway unpunished isn’t acceptable.”

“I see. Are you two in charge?” Amarantheasked, wondering if she was negotiating with someone who had thepower to do anything.

“We’re on the committee.”

“Committee? As in shared powers? Andvotes?”

“We’re not savages like you Turgonians,”Spectacles said. “We run a democracy here.”

“Well.” Amaranthe clasped her hands andstrolled to the porthole. Their gazes followed her, leavingMaldynado unobserved. “I’m not going to talk Sicarius into walkingout if your intent is to capture-or shoot-him,” she said.

“Suppose we take you prisoner and use yourlife to barter with the assassin?” Spectacles mused.

“That’d be a gamble on your part.” Amarantheleaned her back against the console, ostensibly so she could chatface-to-face with both men, but she was more interested in checkingon Maldynado’s progress.

He was leaning on one arm that happened torest on the wall near the weapons rack, but his quick headshakesaid he had not yet palmed the vials.

“The problem for you, gentlemen,” Amaranthewent on, “is that Sicarius doesn’t care enough about anyone in thegroup-about anyone at all-to risk himself on their behalf. He’slike that kraken out there.”

She twisted and leaned toward the porthole,gazing up as if she had spotted the beast. The men leaned forward,too, no doubt worrying their prize kraken was idling about insteadof terrorizing the marines.

Amaranthe thought about signaling toMaldynado to sneak up on the men and bash them both on the backs oftheir heads, but practitioners seemed to be good at sensing bodilythreats.

“Sicarius is pragmatic and practical and outfor his own interests. He’ll crush you if you inconvenience him.”She faced the men again and, in her peripheral vision, sawMaldynado nod once. She hoped it meant he had the vials, not thathe agreed with her assessment of Sicarius. “Don’t let greed leadyou to disaster,” Amaranthe urged the practitioners. “Money isn’twhat brought you here in the first place, is it?” In truth, she hadno idea, but it sounded like a promising guess.

“Our research requires funds,” Spectaclessaid. “Ultra modern mobile labs don’t build themselves.”

“Why do you need to be mobile?” she asked,figuring the more they chatted with her, the less likely they wouldbe to hold a knife to her throat as part of a bargaining ploy.

The men’s lips grew flat.

“Your research isn’t sanctioned by yourgovernment?” Amaranthe asked, her tone not one of accusation. No,she gave them her bestbrotherhood-of-folks-beleaguered-by-oppressive-government-policiessmile.

“You could say that,” Spectacles said. “Mostof our funds won’t come through until we deliver the babies, andthat’s a long-term project, obviously.”

Babies? What were these people doingdown here?

“A project that will be more difficult tocomplete without Litya,” Spectacles added.

The quiet man whispered something in a stringof vowel-rich syllables. A warning not to reveal so much? Whateverit was, both men scowled at her. Litya must have met the sharp sideof one of Sicarius’s daggers.

“Out of curiosity,” Amaranthe said,pretending not to notice their flinty stares, “were you hired ortold to come here by a group called Forge?”

The men exchanged sharp looks.

“We have Turgonian customers, but your peopledidn’t fund our mission,” Spectacles said.

That…wasn’t quite what she had asked. Thatthey recognized the organization told her much though.

“Forge is just a client, then?” Amarantheasked.

Spectacles shrugged. “Who in Turgoniacouldn’t find a use for a child gifted enough to win at theImperial Games or excel on the battlefield? That’s the only way tojoin your archaic aristocracy, is it not?”

Amaranthe said nothing. Was that whatthe miners had been planning? If they combined funds to buya son who could one day gain entrance into the warrior castethrough merit, the parents would share the family honors: land,entitlements, access to the emperor. Though businesses had broughtcommon citizens many opportunities, no amount of money could buywhat the warrior caste received as a birthright.

Something clunked against the hull of thevessel. A flash of light appeared outside the porthole, and amassive boom coursed through the fortress.

Amaranthe grabbed the console and managed tostay upright, but Spectacles tumbled to the floor, cracking hishead on the seat. A wailing reminiscent of an injured bird startedup, creating a cacophony as it competed with the ongoing alarm. Therangy man gripped the console with both hands, and his eyes closedto slits as he concentrated on something.

Maldynado crept toward Spectacles. Amaranthenodded, thinking this might be a chance to subdue these two.

From his hands and knees, Spectacles flunghis fingers outward. An invisible force hurled Maldynado back, andhe hit the wall with a resounding thump. His helmet dropped fromhis hands, hitting the floor with a clatter. He slid down the walland onto his backside, then slumped into a stunned heap.

Amaranthe bit her lip. Maldynado looked likehe would survive, but if his crash had cracked one of the vials,they might all end up unconscious.

“I’ll thank you to keep your bodyguard by thedoor,” Spectacles growled. He had his feet under him and wasstraightening his jacket.

“That wasn’t necessary,” Amaranthe said. “Itold you we’d work with you if you release my men.”

“That brutish behemoth was going towork my face into the floor.”

“Brutish?” Maldynado had recoveredenough to manage an indignant tone. “Brutish? I’m a child ofthe warrior caste, descended from generations of noble warriors anddistinguished matrons of exquisite manners and taste. I’m nobrute.”

“I’m sure he was only coming to help you,”Amaranthe told Spectacles.

“Er, yes.” Maldynado staggered to his feet.“That’s right.”

“Stop blathering,” the rangy man said. “Thehull has been breached in the upper port wing. I’ve closed it offfrom the rest of the Areyon, but if we take on too muchwater, we’ll never be able to leave the bottom of thisAkahe-forsaken lake.”

“It’s time to accept your losses and escapewhile you can,” Amaranthe said.

The two men argued with each other in theirown tongue. Another explosion went off, this one too far from theporthole to view the flash, but Amaranthe felt its power in thetremors that rocked the vessel. The accompanying groans and creaksof the structure sounded ominous. How much damage was thefortress-no, laboratory was the better term-designed totake?

“We agree,” Spectacles told Amaranthe. “Youcan have your two men, but we will keep the rest of the testsubjects.”

If you can find them, Amaranthe thought, butshe kept her sneer inward and shrugged. “I’m only concerned aboutmy people.”

Spectacles strode to the barrier again. Heleaned into the box, and the field winked out again. “You first,”he said.

“Very well.” Amaranthe lifted her helmet andfastened it as if it were a typical Turgonian thing to do. Shecaught Maldynado’s eye and gave him a nod. He put his helmet on aswell.

Spectacles watched with a frown. “What areyou doing? We’re not going outside to get to the engine room.”

Amaranthe pointed at the ceiling. “With thosemarines dropping charges, I’m not taking any chances. What if onelands right on top of us?”

The men gave her exasperated looks. That wasfine. So long as they didn’t find her suspicious.

“Mind if we collect our weapons?” she askedbefore the group started down the corridor.

“Yes,” Maldynado said. “It’d be unforgivableto leave my fine blade on that grungy floor.”

“No weapons,” Spectacles said. “Walk.”

Though the two practitioners stood more thanan arm’s length away from her, Amaranthe felt a nudge of pressureagainst her back. The sensation sent an uneasy tingle down herspine, and she worried they could do much more than “nudge” herwith their powers.

When they reached the ladder, Amaranthe wavedfor Maldynado to descend first. The helmets made it hard to seeone’s feet, and she had little trouble feigning a clumsy climb. Atthe bottom, she deliberately missed a rung and tumbled intoMaldynado. He caught her and pressed a vial into her hand. Thankhis ancestors for hiding a brain beneath all that arrogance.

She straightened before the practitionersreached the bottom. “Perhaps donning the helmets wasn’t such a goodidea after all.”

“Nah,” Maldynado said. “This way if you tripand hit your noggin, it’ll be protected.”

“Stop dawdling,” Spectacles growled.

Amaranthe headed for the intersection. Low,excited voices came from around the corner. She imagined theforeigners saying, “We’re almost in….”

She stopped to wait for the two practitionersto pass her, but Spectacles said, “You first,” and applied anotherinvisible nudge of force.

Unwilling to walk into a den of wizardsunannounced, Amaranthe called out, “New allies coming around thecorner. Don’t shoot or incinerate us or do other unpleasantwizard-ish things, please.”

That drew snorts from the men behind her.Arms spread, and the vial pressed to the underside of her hand withher thumb, she stepped around the corner.

Six faces stared at her. Sixpractitioners’ faces, she reminded herself. Suddenly herplan with the vial seemed ridiculously simple and doomed tofailure. As soon as she dropped it, they would figure it out andraise magical defenses.

“Good morning, all,” Amaranthe said. “I heardyou could use help getting a couple of pesky escaped prisoners outof there.”

“Just talk to your men,” Spectaclesgrowled.

The practitioners parted to let her pass. Theman closest to the door held some sort of baton that was spouting astream of fire. It had burned three sides of an access panel intothe hatch, leaving smoke drifting from perforated singe marks.

Amaranthe tried to see through one of thetiny holes, but the room appeared dark behind it. Or maybesomething else blocked the door. If her men were barricaded inside,it would take time for them to come out and help if a fracasstarted. She had to assume she and Maldynado were on their own forthis.

As she drew closer to the door, she wiggledthe cork loose with her thumb. The gloves stole some of herdexterity, and she fumbled, almost dropping the vial.

Inside the stuffy helmet, a bead of sweatrolled down her nose. Too bad she had no way to wipe it.

The cork came free in her hand. Yellow smokecurled between her fingers, and she lowered her arm, swinging it tohide the evidence.

She pointed at the hatch. “Should Iknock?”

“Stop him,” someone blurted behind her, thenswitched to another language.

Cursed ancestors, they must have seenMaldynado opening his vial. Two men reached for him, and a womanstepped back, her eyes growing glazed.

Amaranthe threw the vial at her nose. Itbopped her between the eyes, breaking her concentration. The twomen had tried to grab Maldynado’s arms, but he thrust them away. Hedid tower like a behemoth over these people. Too bad itwasn’t going to be a solely physical confrontation. But if theycould keep the practitioners busy until the smoke kicked in…

A man grabbed Amaranthe’s wrist even as aprickle on the back of her neck alerted her to a magical attackfrom elsewhere. She kicked her captor’s shin and twisted her arm,yanking it free from the man’s grip. She jammed her knee into hisgroin and spun about, seeking the practitioner targeting her.

The man with the baton torch lunged at her.She ducked and whipped her arm up in a hard block. The baton flewfrom the man’s grip, hit a wall, and spun into the fray. Someonescreamed.

Nearby, a glassy-eyed male practitionerraised a hand toward Amaranthe. She lunged and launched a punch,twisting her hip to put her whole body into the maneuver. Her fistsmashed into the man’s nose with bone-crunching force. He hadn’tmade an attempt to block, and he went down like a brick. He wasn’tthe only one with slow reflexes.

The vials. They were working.

Relief welled and caught in her throat. No,not relief. Something was tightening her airway. Though the helmetprotected her neck, a force pressed in from all sides, as ifsomeone were strangling her.

Amaranthe stumbled back, fighting the urge toclutch at her throat. That would do nothing. She whirled about,searching for her attacker.

Six of the eight practitioners were sprawledon the deck. Maldynado had crumpled to his knees, his facecontorted in a rictus of pain behind his mask.

The rangy navigator stood in theintersection, his focus on Maldynado. A gray-haired woman had afist clenched as she stared at Amaranthe with fierce concentration.Neither appeared affected by the smoke that wafted from thevials.

Lightheadedness swept over Amaranthe. Lack ofair scattered her thoughts, and desperation crept in. She wheezed,groping for a plan while her body cried out for oxygen.

She tried to stalk toward her attacker, tostop the assault, but she bounced off a barrier protecting thewoman. Hadn’t Akstyr always said practitioners could onlyconcentrate on one thing at a time? That they couldn’t attack anddefend simultaneously? That was why Arbitan Losk had conjured upthat deadly soul construct to watch his back. Maybe someone downhere was working on protection tools-artifacts, that’s whatSicarius called such things-and the woman had some physical objectthat could be destroyed.

Blackness crept into the edges of Amaranthe’svision as she squinted, searching for some sign of a tool on thewoman’s person. There. A blocky square jutting against the fabricinside her jacket. Little good the knowledge did. As long as thetool was inside the barrier, Amaranthe could do nothing toit.

A tight smile curved the woman’s lips. Shehad Amaranthe and she knew it.

We’ll see, Amaranthe thought. She glancedtoward the fire baton. It had gone out when it hit the deck, butmaybe she could turn it on again. And maybe one artifact couldfight another.

She dropped to one knee, pretending defeat-itwasn’t much of a pretense-and rested her hand near the torch. Shegripped the smooth material, using her body to hide the action.

Involuntary gasps for air tore through her,but they were ineffective and nothing could pass her constrictedthroat. She did not have long. If her attack failed…

Another charge exploded near by, and thecorridor rocked. The lights flickered. For an instant, the pressureon Amaranthe’s throat disappeared.

She gasped and jumped to her feet, forcingair-deprived legs to support her. She thumbed the only thing thatfelt like a switch on the smooth baton, and a six-inch flamestreamed from the tip. Amaranthe jabbed it at the invisibleshield.

The baton didn’t pierce the barrier, but theflame flared in a brilliant flash, startling the woman. Shebackpedaled, tripped over a fallen comrade, and crashed to thedeck. Something crunched beneath her. The tool?

Amaranthe dove in, hoping the shield hadfailed. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a dark shapearcing toward her-the male practitioner’s boot.

She flung herself to her belly, but hurriedto find her feet again as soon as the kick whispered overhead. Shedropped the baton and caught the man’s boot as he was retractingit. She sprang up, heaving his leg into the air. The man tumbledonto his back.

“Maldynado,” Amaranthe rasped through heraching throat. “Keep that one busy.”

He was on his back, panting, but he rolledonto his side to obey.

The woman had found her knees and was tryingto rise. Amaranthe planted a foot on her back-the barrier haddisappeared-and forced her flat on the deck. She snatched the batonand raised it, but paused. Maybe she need not kill anyone else.

She spotted the vial Maldynado had dropped,grabbed it, and held it to the woman’s nose. Already thepractitioner’s eyes were glazing and her struggles were weak, sothe effects of the powder must not have faded yet.

A thump sounded behind Amaranthe. She leapedto her feet and whirled, baton in hand, ready to thrust the flameup an attacker’s nose.

“Easy, lady grimbal.” Maldynado raised hishands over his head. The male practitioner lay at his feet,gasping-and inhaling-the lingering odor from the other vial.“You’ll need that for getting in if Sicarius won’t answer thedoor.”

“True.” Amaranthe lowered her hand, but shedid not relax until she had ensured nobody was in a position totrouble them. The practitioners all lay prone. One was snoring.Good.

“You might want to do it before this stuffwears off and these magic-spewing people wake up,” Maldynadosaid.

“Yes, but how do we know when the air isclear? We don’t want our men to walk out and pitch over,snoring.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Sicarius snore,”Maldynado said.

“Do you want to sling him and Basilard overyour shoulders and tote them out of here?”

“I could. I’ve carried many women on thesebroad shoulders.”

“Many women at the same time?”

“On occasion, yes.” He winked.

“Just watch them, please.” Amaranthe noddedto the slumbering people and knocked on the hatch. “Sicarius?Basilard? You can come out now. We’re pushing the unconsciouspeople into neat piles.”

The clomp of footsteps came from around thecorner, and she winced. Maybe calling out had been foolish. Ifthere were still guards around, someone must have heard thatbrawl….

The people who tromped around the corner werenot guards however. Books and Akstyr led the way, wearing theirsuits but not their helmets. Seven, no, eight nude men and womentrailed them. More than one naked body sported smears of blood, andseveral people gripped knives or pistols. Books carried a familiarblack belt full of daggers.

Amaranthe lifted a hand, intending to warneveryone to stay back, but she did need to know if the airwas still tainted. Nobody dropped to the ground and startedsnoring.

“What took you so long, Booksie?” Maldynadoasked.

“We took the tour and beat some heads in.”Akstyr grinned at one of the girls, but she showed no inclinationtoward returning it.

“Why are you wearing…?” Books started, butstopped to study the inert forms. “Should we all be wearinghelmets?”

“I think it’s worn off.” Amaranthe unfastenedher helmet. “Tie these people up, will you? No, we need more thanthat. They can use their minds to choke us-as I have reason toknow. Akstyr, is there a way to keep them unconscious?”

“Shoot them?” Akstyr said.

“You’re supposed to be a Science advisor,”Books told him, “not a Sicarius acolyte.”

Maldynado cleared his throat. “For therecord, that would have been my response, too.”

“How surprising.” Books handed Sicarius’sknife collection to Amaranthe.

She struggled to hold all the blades and thebaton, so she settled for dumping them into her helmet.

“We can strap these bastards to the tablesand sedate them the way they did us,” one young man said.

“Can we cut them open, too?” anothergrowled.

Amaranthe grimaced, wondering what manner ofexperiments the practitioners had been conducting to create thosefuture warrior-caste babies. Thoughts for another time.

One of the young women caught her eye, a tallblonde with facial features similar to Fasha’s. She must be Keisha,the athlete whose disappearance had started everything forAmaranthe and her team. Keisha would need to know about hersister’s death, but now wasn’t the time.

She knocked on the hatch again. “Sicarius, ifyou don’t come out, we’re leaving you here.”

The athletes stirred and traded whispers of,“Sicarius?”

Something scraped on the other side of thehatch. Equipment or furniture being moved? Bangs, thumps, and morescrapes followed. A light poked through the perforations in thehatch.

Amaranthe crouched and peered through only tofind herself staring into a dark eye that gazed back from the otherside. She twitched in surprise, but did not draw back. Wasthat-

“Basilard believes we should have code wordsyou could speak so we would know if you were giving us legitimateorders or talking under duress.” Sicarius spoke the words asblandly as if they were discussing the men’s training regimen, andno hint that he had missed her or was relieved to see her seepedinto his tone.

By now, Amaranthe should have known betterthan to feel stung, but the emotion encroached upon hernonetheless. She pushed it aside and conjured a smile. “Basilard isa wise fellow. We’ll schedule it for discussion during the nextteam meeting.”

The eye disappeared, metal squealed, and thehatch tottered open on wobbly hinges.

Basilard exited first, his legs and feetbare, though he wore some guard’s fatigue shirt. He grinned andstopped to give Amaranthe a one-armed hug before moving on to greetthe others. Blood stained the back of his shirt.

“Basilard, did you get shot?” she asked.

Yes. I fashioned a bandage. It is fine fornow.

The pain lines creasing the corners of hiseyes belied the statement, but they did not have time to performmore extensive first aid, so Amaranthe let it go.

Sicarius strode out, utterly naked except fora technical manual in his hands. He didn’t bother to wield itstrategically to hide…anything.

Amaranthe gaped at him. After a startledmoment of surprise, she forced herself to keep her eyes focused onhis face. Mostly. “Sicarius. I, ah…” Have always wanted to seeyou like this, she thought. No, she couldn’t say that. Waswondering if you were blond all over. No, definitely not that. “Ihope that’s not your suggestion for the team uniform,” she decidedon as she handed him his gear.

“The lack of a place to hold weapons makes itimpractical,” he said in his usual monotone.

Behind Amaranthe, Maldynado leaned close toBooks and whispered, “So many jokes the man could have made, and hegoes with that.”

Sicarius strapped on his weapons belt, which,combined with the throwing knives sheathed on his forearm, createda style that would have earned anyone else a round of mocking.Nobody made a comment.

Sicarius lifted the manual. “If the way isclear, we can adjust the ballast tanks to bring this craft to thesurface.” He opened the manual to a diagram. “They’re located here,here, here and here.”

Straight to business. No hug or, “Thanks forcoming for us.” Professional as always. But then, she was the onewho had sent him on a task that resulted in his capture. Maybe hewas holding a grudge.

“Do you know how to do it, or do you needBooks?” Amaranthe asked him.

“I can do it,” Sicarius said.

“All right. Books, do you want to take yourteam to handle the practitioners?”

“My team?” Books eyed the young,bloodthirsty athletes. “How lovely.”

“Akstyr and Basilard, go with him, please.Maldynado, you’re with Sicarius and me.”

“Double lovely,” Maldynado said after aglance at Sicarius’s nude state, or perhaps at the streaks of driedblood smearing his arm and shoulder.

“Wait,” Books said. “The plan is to go to thesurface in this? The enemy vessel? With the marines sitting upthere with all their weapons firing?”

“We’ll surrender,” Amaranthe said.

“We could swim out before we get to the top,”Maldynado said.

“With the kraken waiting out there?” Booksasked.

“Kraken?” Sicarius asked mildly.

“Er, yes,” Amaranthe said. “Did you not knowabout that?”

“I thought you’d have to slay it to get inhere.”

“No, the kraken-slaying is still on my to-dolist.”

Sicarius’s eyebrow twitched.

“Don’t worry. We have a plan. Sort of. Books,meet us back at the transition chamber once you have these peoplesecured. Sicarius, let’s go see to these tanks.”