Once the warehouse tunnel sealed behind us, Geir sprinted ahead. “Stay here,” he called over his shoulder. “I want to be sure no one found us.”

My breath caught. Just because Rhea thought no one knew about this place, we couldn't be sure.

I sent Abril and Caze to stand by the door, while I remained by the lock plate, ears straining for any sound, any warning.

But in moments Geir was back. “Just Doc.” He grimaced. “I should warn you. She's been tinkering.”

“Is that a problem?” Abril asked.

“Not necessarily. But sometimes,” he ran his hand through his hair. “Sometimes she gets a little carried away.”

Whatever Doc been doing she had it well tucked aside by the time we made it into the main body of the warehouse.

Chairs had been pulled into a rough circle and she busied about, handing warmed drinks to everyone.

Geir watched her, a bemused expression on his face. “This isn’t exactly like you. What's up?”

Doc glared at him from narrowed eyes. “It's not like I poisoned them.”

I put my drink back down quickly.

“But if you boys are bringing women home I'm going to have to brush up on my social graces, aren't I?”

Her face contorted and I realized she was trying for a smile. She turned to a confused looking Abril.

“How’s the weather?”

Geir set his face. “Doc, I promise you’ll have time to practice pretending to be normal later. But for now, how about we figure out ways to destroy everything General Malchior has, alright?”

She leaned back in her chair, rigid smile relaxing. “Oh that's much easier. Come on kids, I've been making bombs.”

As she led Abril and Caze away I hung back.

“Is Doc...” I trailed off trying to find the right word. Hopefully one that wouldn't offend him.

He nodded. “I never really thought about it, but she didn't leave the lab much. Raised us with teaching vids and strategy games. Besides a few other scientists and clients that half the time she was running a scam on, I'm not sure how many social interactions she's actually had in the last,” he paused thinking, “twenty or thirty years, maybe?”

“Well, this should be exciting. Let's go see what she’s showing them.”

“You’ll want some of these,” Doc handed a stack of small films from the table. “Thin enough to slide between door panels. Tear this corner and it should blow them apart nicely. Try to stay back.”

“Oh,” her face brightened when she saw Geir. “I made you some new keys.”

She brought over four tablets, larger than the one Tianna had given me.

“They're not really keys, because I don't know what the codes are. More like crackers. They'll run through every combination, should get you in to any place soon enough. It’d be better not to have anybody shooting at you while it’s running, though.”

She handed one to each of us and I noticed that Caze’s face looked a little pale.

“Maybe we should go back, make some plans and then see what else we’ll need.” I patted her shoulder. “Thank you so much for building these for us.”

“It’s good to stay busy”. For a moment, her face froze, eyes distant. “Nothing to be done about that right now.” She snapped back. “So get to planning, and I’ll get tinkering on it.”

I thought about what Geir had told me, how his brothers had died.

She must know.

Everyone had their way of working through grief, I supposed. I glanced back at the workbench and shivered. Apparently, hers involved vengeance, and lots of explosions.

I thought about my own sisters, about what Rhea had suffered.

Maybe mine did too.

* * *

“You have two missions,” Geir started to explain. “Locate others who are ready to resist, even in small ways. And-”

Caze interrupted. “Kill the cadre.”

Geir tilted his head to the side. “For someone who didn't want to come back and get involved, you're kind of jumping the gun a bit. No. We shake them up first.”

I picked up the thread. “Father, Stanton, the cadre, there's not that many of them, not really. They've kept everyone in line because we don't know who to trust. It all seems like this huge, monolithic entity that there's no point in fighting against.”

Abril nodded along. She got it. “It seems impossible.”

“That’s your job. Show them it’s possible, that other people are fighting back.”

“But be careful,” Geir cautioned. “It's too easy for a cadre member to pretend. Just test the waters a little and then say nothing. If they want to join in, they’ll make their own noise.”

“Make disruptions, jam the replicators, clog the sewer lines,” I joked.

Abril grinned. “I went to work with Mom enough times. I think we could create plenty of mischief.”

“Just make sure that people know that it's on purpose,” Doc said. She tossed Abril a small canister and I went still.

“More explosives?”

“Nope. Paint. Sometimes a bit of graffiti can be the most effective weapon there is. Tag where you’ve been. Tell everyone you’re resisting.”

“Doesn't seem like this is enough to bring the General down,” Caze argued.

A wild grin spread across Geir’s face. “Doesn't have to be. Just has to be enough to get them shaken up, make his troops a little off balance, make the rest of the compound a little slower to fight at his side.”

He tossed another can at Caze. “Instead of everyone blindly following a dream, make them think, make them question. And then we can take care of the rest.”

“But what about my mother,” Abril asked. “None of this gets her out of the cage.”

“We’ll save her, I promise. You need to be the ones to talk to the other scientists, the sons and daughters that don't want to be here anymore. They know you. They don't know me. They'd never trust me.”

Abril smiled and reached to grab my hand. “Maybe you should give them a chance.”

* * *

“You won't be able to see each other under the scatter cloaks,” Geir explained as we helped Abril and Caze get theirs on and adjusted. “Remember, just because no one can see you, doesn't mean they can't hear you. So, make your plans before you head out.”

“A rendezvous point in case you get separated probably isn't a bad idea,” I added. “We should have one, as well.”

“Maybe,” he pulled me to him, “except I plan to carry you to the cage. It'll be faster.”

“You can't carry me everywhere. I have functioning legs, I'm an adult.”

“But I like it,” he pouted.

“What if you have to fight? Are you going to do that while holding me?” I looked at him sidelong. “That sounds dangerous. I thought you wanted to protect me.”

He scowled. “That's a low blow.”

“No, that's being practical.”

“Fine.” He sighed, then refocused. “If we get separated, don’t let anyone touch you. I’ll find you. If you have to leave the area, go back to the side entry to the Hall.”

Before we activated the cloaks, I grabbed Geir’s hand, wrapped my fingers around his. “Reasonable compromise?”

He leaned over for a kiss before flicking out of view. “It'll do,” came his disembodied voice.

We moved slowly across the campus, shifting to avoid people as they walked around, doing their daily tasks.

So many of them that I'd never really paid attention to before. So strange to be in the middle of them, and still, so separate.

Geir tugged my hand and I fell back into pace behind him, focused on our mission.

I couldn’t stop from wondering. How many were faithful to the plan, faithful to my father? And how many were trapped here, just like I had been?

We slipped through the campus towards the execution grounds. A hilly cliff not far from where I had first perched down and seen the tattered remains of Geir’s vest blowing in the breeze, and made the decision that changed everything.

Normally the grounds were an abandoned spot. But today a line of cadre stood guard, weapons lowered but at the ready.

I pulled Geir back around the corner of a storage building. “That's new,” I whispered as softly as I could, knowing he'd be able to hear me. “They've never needed guards before.”

I felt movement and his warm breath on my ear. “You said Tianna was valuable. Maybe they've had some trouble with this particular decision to remove someone.”

“But how are we getting through the guards?”

“Don't worry, it'll be even better this way.”

Silently we approached the line.

Geir squeezed my hand twice and I froze as per our prearranged signal.

The softest clink of rocks hinted at where Geir was, but I could only guess his plan.

Clank! Clank Clank!

Helmets rocked backwards with the impact of each thrown rock as Geir hurled them at the line. Before they recovered he had returned to my side, his hand wrapping around mine.

“Stand firm!” shouted the cadre leader, but several had dashed three or four steps forward already, anxious to discover who had attacked them.

By the time they reformed their line we had slipped through and approached the cage.

I glared at the giant crane as we passed it. Maybe that should be a target for one of Doc’s little devices.

No crane, no lowering the cage down.

I glanced back at the cadre’s line. They'd find other ways though, may be less showy, but just as deadly.

This time I squeezed Geir’s hand twice and slipped away from him to circle around to where Tianna's body would hopefully block me from view.

I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

Tianna's face was a mottled mass of gashes and bruises, one eye swollen so badly I doubted she could open it. She lay, curled on her size, staring unblinking out to the sea.

“Tianna,” I whispered.” Oh Void, don't let her already be dead.”

I pulled the facemask down from my eyes, crossing fingers that no one but Tianna would be able to see me.

“Tianna, listen to me. We're here to get you out!”

A slow blink was the only sign she'd heard me.

Fine. She was alive. I could work with that.

I pulled my facemask back into place and pulled the second scatter cloak from where I’d tied it around my waist. Flicked it on and began feeding the fabric through the bars.

“I'm going to push this through. But I need you to grab it, cover yourself.”

No response still. “Do you understand me?”

Another blink. “Val?” She croaked.

“That's right, come on. Just get it pulled over you.”

“Get what?”

I pushed more of the fabric through until it bunched, then slid over her hand. She blinked again, refocusing on her vanished fingers.

“Interesting.”

I smiled. That was the engineer I knew.

“It's all in now. Pull it over you and stay still.”

Once she had disappeared from view I hurried back to where I'd left Gier.

“How long do we wait?”

“Shouldn't be much longer.”

We watched people roam across the campus, glaring at the line of cadre and glancing over their shoulders at the cage.

He was right. Only minutes passed before a young man mocked the cadre. “Guarding the empty cage? Don't you have something else to do?”

As one, the line of guards pivoted, saw Tianna had gone, and scattered.

“Fan out!” Shouted their commander. “Find the traitor and any who helped her!”

Everyone cleared from the campus at the charge of the cadre, reluctant to be caught up in the sweep.

The scene was completely clear.

Geir’s hands appeared from thin air on either side of the lock, caught, ready to tear it apart.

“Here, even better.” I held out Docs device, waited. It did take longer than Tianna's codes, but soon enough the door swung open.

“Let's lock it behind us,” I added. “Really give them something to think about.”

Geir gathered Tianna up from the bottom of the cage and she moaned softly.

“We'll get you fixed up in no time,” he soothed.

He stood still, waited for me to reach under his cloak and grab his waistband. “Let’s get out of here before they come to their senses, return for a closer look at the cage.”

“Run ahead,” I begged. “Let Doc start working on her.”

“We can't get in without you,” he reminded me. “Just keep walking.”

Slowly we made our way back to the warehouse. I held my breath that Tianna's muffled groans of pain wouldn't give us away.

Once we were inside I pulled the scatter cloak off, desperate to be out of its confining hood.

“Turn it off before you drop it,” Doc clucked. “You'll have a heck of a time finding it again until the battery wears out.”

But it fell from numb fingers as I waited to see how badly my friend had been hurt.