The gun strapped to Abdullah’s hip felt like it weighed at least a thousand pounds.

They climbed down the cliff face the next morning to the structure below. It seemed quite a bit larger up close, and they were forced to walk another kilometer around the outside before they found an entrance they could use.

Abdullah lay back on the cot in his spartan chambers and rubbed his face, trying to come to terms with everything that had happened in the last few weeks. His bed was basically just a rigid board built up against the wall, the kind he’d grown used to in his years of being a common soldier.

Vivian woke Traq up early the next morning, hoping to make it to Delphi and onto their ship, Junker, before they had to seek shelter again. She knew from the previous night and seeing the scouts from the city that they weren’t far from their final destination.

Oliver watched his friend disappear into the garishly decorated hover car with his new bride, waving at the wedding guests who cheered them on. Jim was smiling.

“It’s been weeks,” Alyssa bemoaned, standing in the doorway to Alexander’s private quarters. He hated having her around and was thoroughly fed up with her; she was a spoiled child who was never properly disciplined and felt that the world owed her something.

When Crater arrived at the noblewoman’s manor, his mood soured even further. The frivolity of the Cortet family was disgusting; they wasted money on useless things.

Oliver was bored.

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.