As we descended the steps to Granny’s parlor, I pushed Mack’s revelations from my mind.

No matter what I wanted to believe, he couldn’t be certain. There couldn’t be anything between us but friendship.

My heart clenched at the thought, but at least we would still have that, right?

People choked the narrow hallway, coming in and out of the hive. I stood on the landing, watching. Mack’s hands rested on my shoulders.

“What do you make of it?”

I watched for another moment, spinning my theory. “People come in, excited and curious. Most of them leave, still curious. A fraction are leaving with a different gait to their walk. Excited, maybe, but determined.”

“The air reeks with adrenaline,” he added. “Probably enough to bottle it.”

“That’s odd,” I mused. “No, not about the adrenaline, I believe you. But everyone who looks like they’re heading out on a mission has a bit of red cloth somewhere on their clothes.”

“Maybe it’s today’s fashion? We can ask Gozer when we find a way to check in ‘upstairs’.”

Maybe. But I would have bet that they didn’t have it on them when they came in.

A half-grown kid came and found us in the crowd. “She wants you now.” I couldn’t help but notice he had a red sash tied around his arm. People fell away from him, making a path for us.

At the door to the treasure lair, he stopped, looked up at a corner of the ceiling.

“Cams,” I muttered as the door clicked open, and then I blushed. If there were cams in our bedroom, I’d have words with Granny, childhood hero or not.

But my words died on my lips when we entered her lair. She flipped through an old holo cube, her sharp face softened by sadness. She paused on one, three generations of a family, I’d guess. An older couple stood next to a younger one, all four peering at the infant in the younger woman’s arms.

“Live long enough, and you start to think it’s time to withdraw from the world. Let the younger folks handle things.”

She snapped off the cube with a decisive wave of her hand. “But I know better, don’t I?” Her crafty smile slid back into place, and I could almost believe she was the legendary pirate queen.

“I need another favor.”

“I’m happy to take The Queen out any time,” Mack answered with a grin.

“I’m sure you would be, son, but not today. Today I need a different type of errand run.”

She slid a small, carved, black token across the table. I picked it up, rolled it over in my hand. Something like a modified rectangular prism, chunks carved out of the top so that the line went up and down, up and down all around it.

“What is this?”

“A message. The person at the location I'll give you will know what it means.”

When she told us where she wanted us to go, who she wanted us to find, I took a step back.

“You're crazy.”

“Probably, but that's not the most polite comment to make.”

“Really,” Mack looked down at me, “how bad can it be?”

“This is the Lowers. She wants us to go to the Under.”

“And that's why I saved this little task for you. I have no doubt that, between the two of you, you can get through to my man.” She tapped her fingers on the table and, with a jolt, I recognized my own little tell.

“And once you're down there, you might find out that he has some talents that you want to use yourself.”

She handed us two strips of red fabric. “Stick these on somewhere. Those in the know will leave you alone.”

“And those that aren't?” Mack grumbled.

“I'm sure you’ll teach them manners soon enough.”

Once we were on the street, I leaned against the side of the hive.

“What's so bad about the Under?” Mack asked.

I stared at the black abstract form in my hand, musing. “If she sent a code, any sort of message that could be intercepted, someone could break it. Something like this, the meaning could've been decided years ago. It’d be virtually uncrackable.”

“Can I see that?”

I handed it to him and he turned it over in the light and then set it down in the palm of his hand, level. “I think it's a chess piece.”

“A what?”

“Chess, it's an old game. Doc liked old things, figured it was good for us to learn every strategy game out there. Chess, Go, you name it, she had it on board.”

He stopped, and then wrapped his fingers around the piece. “Doc, I remember Doc now.”

I wrapped my hand around his fist. “Is that a good thing?”

“Yeah,” he let out a long breath. “That's a good thing. Anyhow, let’s see where you’re so unhappy to go.”

To get to the Under, we went back through the bazaar towards the hub of the station. I'd heard of how to get down, but it wasn’t the same as firsthand knowledge. I would rather have had a guide. But right now, there were too many games going on, and we didn't know who we could trust. We’d have to figure it out on our own.

Behind a half-torn-down stall at the dingiest part of the bazaar, I stopped by a rusted metal panel. “It should be here.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t, exactly.” I kept looking for a catch, a sign, anything. “Before I took the assignment, I studied the plans for the station, listened to reports of smugglers that had been captured, tried to learn everything I could. I still don't know how I was caught.”

“That can be tomorrow's mystery.” Mack rocked each corner of the panel, loosening it until, with a ‘pop’, it slid free. “We’ve got our hands full for today.”

We started down the narrow stairs, steep enough to almost be classified as a ladder.

“This can’t be the only way to get to this place, not as stiff as that entrance was.”

I shook my head, knowing that he would be able to see me just fine in the dark.

“It's just the one I know about. An old maintenance passage that connects all the levels, or at least did, once upon a time. I'm sure there's more ways to get down, but I’d expect them to be closely guarded.”

“If the Under is as bad as you say, you'd think they'd be more interested in getting out than stopping people from getting in.”

I focused on my footing for the next few steps. “It’s not that it's bad, just that it’s dangerous. But everything I've learned makes me think that they're not that welcoming to strangers. They’ve made their own world down there, with their own rules.”

“Like Jado and Ardelle plan to.”

I shivered. “I hope.”

Legs aching, we emerged from the stairwell. Mack slid the panel shut behind us as I scouted the area.

We’d left the bazaar in full day shift, here, all was kept in twilight. I looked around, got my bearings, and then wrapped my hand around Mack’s and headed off.

The Lower levels mimicked the layout of the Uppers - straight lines, at least the pretense of order, a sense of striving for prosperity, even if you knew you’d fall short.

The Under mirrored all of that. Women dressed in elaborate costumes that called to mind triD dramas, but made of tatters and wiring. Silent children raced out of narrow alleyways, then faded back from us, too quickly for me to make out the strange painted marks on their faces. The streets curled around in maddening spirals, with no addresses, just landmarks to guide us.

As we passed through the district, people looked at us curiously, then looked away, as if deliberately forgetting our intrusion. There was no way to disguise that we were strangers, but no one seemed eager to challenge us. I wondered if their indifference was due to Granny’s red tokens, Mack’s size, or apathy.

I stopped at the final intersection, reran the directions in my head, and swore under my breath.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

Mack followed my gaze and grinned. “Another nightclub?” He cocked his head. “I’ve some pretty good memories of the last time you took me to one of those.”

His thumb brushed my lower lip and, for a moment, I turned to hot liquid thinking of the kiss in the Down Low that had somehow set us on this path together.

And then I shoved the feeling away. “Let's go deliver a game piece.”

Calling the place a nightclub might be overstating things. A dingy bar with a few people halfheartedly humping on a makeshift dance floor in the corner would be more accurate.

I pushed through to find a place at the bar. A guy with a reddened, blotchy face, dressed in multiple stained and torn layers, turned and grinned at me.

“Hey, sweetie.” His breath was rank. “You look new. You really need to have a guide down here.”

He leered towards me until Mack’s arm landed casually on the bar between us.

“Thanks for saving me a seat, honey.” He dropped a light kiss on the top of my head, then turned his attention to the bartender.

The drunk’s eyes widened and he leaned away. “Just offering to be a guide, just being friendly.”

“Sure.” The approach of the bartender sparked a different thought. “We’ll buy you a drink, if you can tell me where to find Mulligan.”

“That old kook? What you want with him?”

I turned my back to him, trying to figure out what in this place would be safe to drink.

The bartender stood waiting for our order. Mack rubbed his jaw. “Two of whatever won't kill me.” He glanced down at me with one eyebrow raised, as the bartender moved off. “It probably won't, right?”

“True.”

“I can take you to him, really. Don’t care why you want to go there, he’s a loon.” The drunk behind me kept muttering, a pleading, wheedling tone woven in his words. “None of my business. But I’d take you.”

I nodded to Mack to call the bartender back again.

He reached and filled the barfly’s glass from a bottle of a thick greenish liquid. Mack slid the credits over with a slight shudder of revulsion.

We left our drinks on the bar, untouched while we waited for the man.

“Just lemme finish this,” he took a quick slurp, then started wiggling away from the bar.

My arm shot out and I grabbed him by the elbow. “If you screw with us…”

“I get it, I get it. He’ll beat the crap out of me.”

Mack laughed. “You don't get it. I’ll let her get to you first.”

The man's eyes widened and his head nodded in a quick twitch. “Come on, it's back here.”

We made our way through the tables, crowded with people even at this time of day. Though I guessed, if you kept things at a permanent twilight, time of day kind of lost its meaning.

The man stopped at the back of the room, twitched again. “So, even if it’s a real easy job, if I do what I said, you’re not going to do anything, right?”

I leaned back, thinking. Of course we weren’t going to beat him, but what sort of reputation would get us the farthest down here?

I didn't have enough information to guess. “Only if you screw us over,” I repeated. “Keep going.”

He took three more steps, then rapped on a door frame. The entryway itself was covered in layers of thick cloth that must've been a plush red once, but now was faded and gray with dust.

“Who’s there?” A thin surly voice called out.

“Company.” The drunk bobbed again, nodded towards the door. “He's in there. I guided you. I'm done.” And with that, he scuttled back to the bar.

“Well, I guess we just knock again.” Mack’s knock held considerably more force.

“What the hell do you want?” came the same surly voice.

“We've got a message for you.” I called back.

“Leave it with the barman.”

“I don't think you want us to do that.” I ran my finger over the sharp edges of the chest piece.

“Someone thought you might want to play a game, that you might be missing some pieces.” Mack paused for a reaction. “But she's got The Queen.”

I looked up at Mack, startled. He leaned against the wall to wait. “Seemed worth a try. Not sure I’d trust us either, darlin’.”

Only silence answered us. I finally turned away, shoulders thrown back in anger, chin high. “We don’t even know if this is the right guy. Let’s go.”

As we stepped away, we heard a flutter of fabric. I fought my grin down. Apparently, Granny wasn't the only one that had cameras waiting outside her lair.

“Wait. Wait. Show me what you have first.”

I held the game piece out, but only let the bottom half show. He’d have to let us in to see the details of the top. If I guessed right, that’s what would define the meaning of the piece.

“Hold on, hold on. I'll be right there.”

Quickly, I handed the token to Mack. We didn't know who was coming, or even how many.

I trusted Granny, or, at least, I mostly trusted Granny. But, on the off-chance that our jittery friend had led us to a trap, an enemy would have a harder time getting the token from Mack than me.

I stretched my shoulders. Not that I was planning to go down easy.

The curtains pushed aside in a cloud of dust. In the shadows, we could see the bent figure of a thin man, not as old as I’d thought from his voice, but someone who had spent far too long out of the light, even for a station dweller.

“Alright, hand it over,” he croaked.

“No.”

I could feel Mack’s surprise, but he said nothing, backing me up.

Granny had said that once we were here, the man in front of us might have something we’d want. But, until we knew more, I couldn’t tell what that would be.

“I'm learning how it works down here. Our favor for Granny was to bring the token to you. But I want something from you to complete the delivery.”

He laughed, the deep sound echoing in the dark-shrouded corner. “What exactly do you think I have?”

“I don't know. That’s why I want to see what's down there.”

He looked at us, evaluating, then straightened, suddenly turning into a much younger man than I had first estimated.

“She wouldn't have sent you here if she didn't trust you, come on.” Mulligan turned back into the passageway. “Don’t fall behind. If she sent a message, something's going down, and soon.”