Lyle could barely breathe while they walked down the stairs. Kate seemed calm and relaxed, not at all bothered by what they were doing. Once they reached the bottom floor of the stairwell, they hid around the corner and waited.

She finally allowed them to stop for rest a few hours later. Traq was exhausted, and she’d pushed them at a heavy pace. She had a headache from using her implant and it was throbbing just behind her eyes, making them water.

Kate sat on the edge of the bed, pondering her next move. They were hiding out in a hotel off an exit ramp outside Phoenix. A little remote exit well out of the way. She had booked it early that morning and been careful to keep her face off any of the cameras.

The little ship touched down inside the hangar bay in Delphi with a gentle thud. Vivian wasn’t the greatest pilot, but she knew enough about flying to do a half-decent job, and she was pleased she managed to land without breaking anything.

Jack awoke groggily, opening his eyes in the dim lighting of his holding cell. He was on a hard-backed bed with almost no padding. His head hurt, and he felt as though he’d been decked in the temple.

“Another group is leaving,” Jayson said. “Tomorrow, from the sounds of it. They’re going off world.”

Lyle finally decided it was late enough to vacate his hotel room.

Abdullah sat in the common eating area where enlisted men took their meals, down in the belly of the beast. He was sitting arm to arm with men well below his rank and station aboard the Capital Class warship Denigen’s Fist.

“Which Casino do you want to hit next?” Beck asked as they found their way back to the main thoroughfare. Jack shrugged, pleasantly tipsy and enjoying the atmosphere. The lights, the music, the action. He felt like dancing, like months of excess stress were being scraped away.