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Q WOKE, LASHTAR SNORING softly next to her. Her whole body ached. She rolled out from under the poncho and got up. She used the sani-mod and checked her e-torc—it was fully charged. It was early, but Q didn’t think she could sleep any longer; the desks were just too hard. Instead, she put her e-torc on and started reactivating net programs one at a time, carefully preventing any transmissions.
She found a local open net with a basic news feed but saw nothing about the two of them except a note about a city traffic delay caused by what appeared to be a malfunctioning local control node. It was fixed in less than an hour, although the backup took three hours to clear. There was nothing about fugitives or any be on the lookout notices.
Q bit her lip. Anything she did now had the potential to give them away. She walked to the auto-bev and drank a couple more glasses, debating if it was worth it to try for coffee. Probably not a good idea. There was no telling how long this place had been abandoned.
Lashtar sat up, yawning, and put her hands on her lower back. “Ugh. I’m too old for this stuff.”
Q snorted. “I’m too old for this stuff. Water?” She filled Lashtar’s cup and brought it to her, along with the remaining bars. They ate and drank in silence.
“I’d love some coffee, but I wouldn’t trust that,” Lashtar motioned toward the auto-bev. “I’m grateful the Mother provided water and food.”
Q chuckled under her breath. “Thank the Mother. And thank whoever was too lazy to clean this place out entirely.”
“So, what do we do next?” Lashtar asked on her way to the sani-mod. “Other than leave. With the water and power usage, we might get noticed.”
“I think it’s stored power, not grid, but I could be wrong.” Q sighed. “Maybe check out the shuttle? See if anyone’s watching it. If they are, we find a way to get by them and inside.”
“You said the delivery guy was friendly,” Lashtar reminded her. “Maybe he’ll help?”
Q shrugged. “Maybe. If we get there and see a way Saul can help, I’ll ask.”
“He could just as easily be the person who turned us in.”
“True.” Q grimaced. “I really want to check messages, but I don’t think it’s wise to do that here. We need someplace with a lot more net traffic to prevent notice.”
“Somewhere we can blend into a crowd, maybe.” Lashtar looked down at herself, a long, lean, gray-blonde Norsk warrior. “Although, we need different clothes for that. I wonder if Rosia can be trusted or if she’s the one that tipped off...the bad guys, for lack of a better definition.”
“There’s no way to tell,” Q told her. “If we’re lucky, Watson is looking into this mess. That’s why I want to check messages.”
Lashtar stared at the ceiling for a few moments. “On that map you downloaded, can you search for outdoor markets? Or maybe a local news source for individual local sales, whatever they call them here, or a second-hand store? I’ve got some local currency. We could get Traveler clothes and blend in a bit better.”
Q nodded. “Although neither of us fits the Traveler norm, we’re not entirely outside of it either.” She handed the coins she’d found to Lashtar. “Add these to your stash.”
Lashtar nodded. “Clothes make a big difference. I think you should be the one to do the shopping unless we see evidence of Familia. You’ll stand out less than I will.” Lashtar ran a hand up her body, clad in a plain black shipsuit.
“Unless we end up in an area with a lot of Norsk people, that’s probably true.” Using the local net, Q pulled up the map. She did a text-only search of the map for “market,” coming up with several entries, but they were all much closer to the city than she wanted. She searched the local news and found a huge list of sales, but again, most were closer to the city. But...aha! A thrift shop on the edge of the industrial area. “Got it. Second-hand store, about five kilometers from here.”
“Perfect. Good job.” Lashtar pulled the little stunner out of her leg and walked to the back door they’d entered. She pulled the chair away and untied the rope she’d used to secure the door. They peered out and seeing nothing, exited. Lashtar pulled the door closed as much as she could then used the same rope to secure the door shut. “This should keep the wildlife out.”
“If you feel bad and we get away, we can always pay for the damage later,” Q said. “It should be easy enough to find the owners.”
“When we get away, Q.” Lashtar gripped her shoulder for a moment. “Always think positively. We will get away. It might take time and effort, but we will make it.”
“Good point.”
Lashtar walked along the building and peeked around the corner then came back. “I don’t see anything, but since we’ve got a clear path out the back, let’s use it.”
“They could have infrared sensors up on drones, looking for body heat.”
“In that case, we’re smashed like a sand flea.”
Q grinned. “Well, we’ll just have to jump like one too.”
Lashtar led the way from the building, walking from tree to tree, looking up into the trees before stepping under them. That habit came from Secundus, but it stood them in good stead now too. Q kept an eye on her rear holo and off to the sides, trusting Lashtar had the front and top.
They reached the walkway and turned toward the thrift shop. Eventually, the empty lots disappeared, and the warehouses became more prosperous looking. As they walked up to one, they found a small group of people crowded around a medium-size transport with a flashing holo reading “Coffee Cart,” so they joined the queue.
Q faked a Traveler accent to ask for two coffees and two specials, which got her an odd look. Guess the special came with coffee. She added, “With water, please.” Q still got a side-eye from the proprietor, an older, dark-haired woman, but she handed over a bag and the coffee. Lashtar paid with her local coins, which didn’t cause any issue at all. Q noticed lots of people doing the same.
They sat on a low, decorative wall in front of a business, near the workers but not too close. Whatever the workers did, it must be dusty because their blue-gray coveralls were covered with a white powdery substance. But their heads and hands were clean, like they wore some sort of hood and gloves. The name of the company, McCarty Manufacturing, gave no hint of what they made.
Q drank her strong, bitter coffee quickly, interspersing it with bites of the surprisingly good sandwich. She sipped the water slowly.
“More coffee?” Lashtar asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Q nodded a little frantically and handed her cup over.
The workers were rising and gathering their things; their break was probably over. A smaller line had formed in front of the cart, so they fell in at the end of the line. They got coffee and water refills for no additional charge and walked away before anyone could start asking them questions. It wasn’t long before the coffee transport passed them then slowed. The owner poked her head out a window. “I’m heading toward town. Do you want a ride?”
“That would be very nice, thank you,” Lashtar said.
They entered the small cab, squeezing in beside the woman. “Where are you headed?”
“Thrift on Second,” Lashtar told her.
The woman turned in her seat. “Trying to blend in better?”
Q scowled but Lashtar simply said, “Yes.”
“I’ll take you someplace cheaper. It’s on my way.” She held up a hand. “No, I don’t want to know who you are or why you’re here. But I’ve been on the run, and if I can help, I will.” She turned back to the front of the transport and started driving. “Devil take bad partners.” She clenched her fist, extending her forefinger and little finger, and thrust it forward.
Q couldn’t help but snort. The woman thought they were running from an abusive relationship. Which, in a weird way, was true.
Lashtar said, “I’ll agree with that.”
They traveled several kilometers, made a few turns, and ended up in front of a shop with a sign reading “Helping Hands.”
“Here you are. You can get a free meal here in the evening too. Good luck.”
“Thanks for the ride; we appreciate it,” Lashtar said as she climbed out.
“Go with God,” Q told her, copying the Traveler phrase.
The woman drove away without a second word, and the two of them walked inside. A small counter with a sales terminal stood on their right. Racks of clothing filled the center of the space, and open doorways were labeled “Furniture,” “Children,” and “Housewares.”
“Welcome to Helping Hands,” a cheerful voice called. “I’m sorting, so just let me know when you need to check out. There’s coffee and water available, free if you have your own cup. Please finish it before you shop. The net here is safe and anonymous.”
They thought their net was safe, but it probably wasn’t. “Thanks,” Q yelled back. She turned to Lashtar. “Coffee before we go?”
“Seems reasonable,” Lashtar said quietly. “Working clothes for this area and a set of Traveler clothes for the city. A pack to hold everything. A towel, because it’s the most massively useful thing you can have, and I’ll get a few basic toiletries.”
Q grinned. Finally, a chance to own the layered Traveler skirts like Dika and Vai wore! She found the smallest sizes and quickly found one of the skirts in shades of blue and green and a matching shirt. Work coveralls were harder, but she eventually found some that fit in the boy’s section. She got dress shoes in the girl’s section, then met Lashtar to pick up a towel. “We need some jewelry, too, or we won’t look right.”
Lashtar nodded and led her to a small area with belts, small carrysacks, jewelry, and hair decorations. They found cheap, layered necklaces, and Q insisted Lashtar get a few hairclips. Lashtar would look a lot different with her hair down, but Q knew she wouldn’t want it in her face. They took their items to the front, where a cheerful young woman checked them out and didn’t blink an eye at Lashtar handing her coins.
“If you’d like to change here, feel free to use the rooms back there,” the woman told them, pointing at a couple of meter-square closets with curtains ready to pull shut.
“Thanks,” Q told her.
“Work clothes, Clove,” Lashtar said.
“Of course,” Q told her, winking. She shimmied out of her shipsuit and put the coveralls on. The rough, dark blue material seemed sturdy, and the patches on the knees made them look realistic. Velcro tabs cinched in the waist somewhat, although the coveralls were still baggy and a little too long in the body.
After putting everything else in the pack, Q left the cubby. The attendant stood there with a hat in hand, and Q stopped.
“If you wear this, you’ll look more like a boy than a girl.” The woman held the hat out, a knit cap in dark blue with a tight band and an oddly bulbous top.
“Great idea, thanks,” Q told her with a smile. “What do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” she said. “We have dozens of these. They were the big fashion last year.” She snickered. “We literally can’t give them away.”
“Well, double thank you then.” Q grinned. She pulled the cap on and tucked her hair back behind her ears.
“Of course. Stay as long as you’d like,” the woman said over her shoulder, returning to the back of the shop.
Lashtar came out, dressed in dark blue pants and a slightly lighter blue long-sleeve shirt. She’d put her hair up. Looser around the face, she’d gathered it on the top of her head in a twisted knot, using a couple of the clips Q had insisted on. The hairstyle changed the shape of Lashtar’s face and made her look a little softer. Not that Q would ever tell her that.
By mutual, unspoken agreement, they got coffee, buying keep-warm mugs with the store’s logo on them, and sat at a table in the back. Q took a deep breath and connected to the store’s net. Surprisingly, the net was using the latest security protocols, so barring a full infiltration, they should be fairly safe. Q downloaded her messages and shut everything down again, doing the same for Lashtar. “Okay, your messages are downloaded,” Q said.
Q opened the last message from Watson. “Q, I am buying some relay capacity so we can communicate in real-time when you are able. Beckett’s Leap security doesn’t show any break-in attempts. I launched a small remote from the shuttle under the cover of darkness and found some watchers. There is at least one inside the Print It Now! building on the edge of the shuttle field and another person roaming outside the field. There are also vehicles with at least six more people nearby. If you can find another, safer spaceport, I can remotely pilot the shuttle and pick you up. Doc was indeed captured, but Porter is still free. She is surveilling the location where they have taken Doc. When she contacts me, I will direct her to local law enforcement that appears to be honest. I recommend you contact these same law enforcement personnel; the list is attached. If you contact me directly, I can send multiple remotes, with stunners, to assist you. If it’s dark, I can do it undetected. Please let me know you are both safe when you can.”
“Did you get a message from Watson?” Q asked Lashtar.
“Yes. Nothing from Porter. We need to help her.”
“Do you trust his assessment of the locals?”
“I don’t know. Either way, it’s worth the risk to contact Watson, so we can get that remote support he offered.”
The store attendant checked the auto-bev and came over to them. “Do you need help? Are you running from a bad situation? We can help.”
Q grimaced. “We are, but not the kind you’re used to, I think. I’m sure you know we’re not local. We need to know if any of these people are trustworthy.” Q copied the list of law enforcement people Watson gave her and pushed it to the woman.
She scanned it. “Most of these, I don’t know. This one is good, and this one is an abuser. These two, I wouldn’t trust.” She sent the list back to Q.
The list now had a green checkmark by the name Elijah Baley, a black line through J. Dredd, and yellow lines through two more. Q said, “Thanks. Is this Baley guy anywhere near here?”
She grinned. “Yes, indeed.” She motioned with her fingers. “Come on.”
Q glanced at Lashtar, who shrugged and followed the woman through the store, winding through the furniture shop and out a door warning “Employees Only.” They stepped into a workshop. A man in coveralls similar to Q’s was rubbing a table with a rough pad, the scent of oil, citrus, and sawdust hanging in the air.
“Love, these two might need some help,” the woman said. “Meet Eli Baley, local domestic abuse investigator.” She turned and left.
Interesting she didn’t stay. Deniability, perhaps. Q turned back to see the man, with the typical Traveler look, standing. “You don’t look like an abused woman,” he said to Lashtar.
“I’m not,” she replied. “I’m more likely to be the protector. She’s not either, but she is running from someone. Off-worlder criminals with a lot of credits and power.” Lashtar thrust a thumb over her shoulder at Q. “One of our friends has been captured, we think by the people looking for her, and we need to get him back and leave your planet, so everyone here stays safe.”
Eli tilted his head, clearly considering Lashtar’s story, then pursed his lips for a moment. “We’d appreciate that. What kind of help do you need?”
“The other people in our party are retired Gov Human military. The woman is free and surveilling the location of the captive, a man. We need to get in touch with her and help her rescue him. We didn’t want to make that contact here because this organization doesn’t need trouble from outsiders.” Lashtar twisted her mouth to one side. “We know you have enough trouble already.”
Investigator Baley nodded. “You can contact your person from here. We have people keeping this net secure, and you’ll be leaving soon, right?”
“Yes.”
Q enabled her messages and attempted to contact Porter. Surprisingly, the contact went through. “Are you safe?” Q asked her.
“Yes,” Porter muttered and turned around, showing the environment around her. She appeared to be on top of a large building.
“We’ve got a good contact with local law enforcement, and we’re both safe. What do you need?”
“Power, weapons, and you two. This wasn’t an entirely professional operation. But a woman who appears to be in charge just showed up. She worries me. She’s brought more muscle and some definite organization.”
“Do you have pics or vid of these people? We can share them with the locals, see if they have common tactics or weaknesses. Send me a location to meet you, and we’ll get everything you need,” Lashtar told her, peering over Q’s shoulder.
“Send me an ETA via text.”
“Is your e-torc secure?” Q asked her.
“Yes. It’s the same one I had. It’s in limited transmission and acceptance mode. Porter out.”
A location popped up on her map. Ten kilometers from here, north of their location. Q shared the map with Eli.
“Mostly abandoned warehouses and storage units, and lots of cover for approach,” Eli told them.
“I’ve got some pics,” Lashtar said in return.
Eli made a grabbing motion with a grim smile. When Lashtar pushed them over, he quickly flipped through them. “Yes, I recognize at least one of these people. The woman is a Familia organizer.” He made the picture public. The woman, who had the Familia look, was yelling at a man twice her size, making him cringe. “Every couple of years, they make a push to get control and get smacked down. This woman, who we know only as Queen, always escapes. We’d love to take her down.” Eli rubbed his hands together. “Let me gather a couple of my people. We’ll put a few eyes on the territory then make a good plan. I’ll keep it off the books and your names out of the reports.”
“That would be amazing,” Q said.
Eli sat down and paged through something on his holo. She and Lashtar moved to the side of the small room.
“I think we can trust this guy,” Lashtar muttered. “At least on this. He really wants this woman; you can see it.”
“Yup.” Q sent a message to Watson with the particulars and asked him to send it to Porter. “If this Familia agent is that good at escape, there’s either a lot of people being bribed, or she’s got some decent tech.”
“Or a lot of muscle and fall guys, or all of the above. I’ll send that to Porter too.” Lashtar fiddled with her holo.
Watson replied to both of them quickly. “I agree with your assessment. I’ve advised Porter to move immediately. From what I see, your local contact is honest, to the point that it’s cost him some promotions. His associates appear to be honest as well, but I’ve only done surface checks. I need to investigate further. I believe local law enforcement will be better suited to provide surveillance. Any remote on the shuttle large enough to fly the twelve kilometers from here to the operation and still be useful could be easily spotted during the day. As soon as darkness falls, I will deploy additional assets, assuming it’s still necessary.”
Q glanced over at Lashtar. The valley between her eyebrows was deepening. She finished reading and met Q’s gaze, scowling. “Rad-blasted Familia.”
Eli said, “Good. Sounds like a plan.” He beckoned to them, and they joined him. “I’ve got a friend with a remote surveying business. She’s getting eyes on your target, legally, by asking one of her friends, a property broker, to provide a cover story as a possible buyer. Another has a friend of a friend who works in the area; he’ll take a walk at lunch and see if he can see anything interesting. Your friend on the scene should back off, leave it to us for a while. Even better, she should join us here.”
“Here?” Lashtar asked. “Are you sure?”
Eli nodded with a small, satisfied smile. “We use Helping Hands as a planning site all the time. Usually to rescue someone from a domestic situation, but this is close enough. They won’t mind, and nobody will blink an eye at strangers. Follow me.” He walked to the back door and out.
They followed, exiting directly to a vegetable garden. They walked around the outside to a small building labeled “Tool Shed.” Entering, they found lots of tools and another door marked “Employees Only.” Entering that one, they found a table for eight almost filling the small room, a screen on the wall, and nothing else.
“Have a seat. The others will join us shortly. They’ll bring coffee.”
Lashtar chose a seat on the far side of the table, and Q took one opposite her. If this all went bad, they could both duck under the table, lift it as a shield, and Lashtar could kick her way out of the building. Maybe. It was the best plan Q could come up with on the fly. She met Lashtar’s eyes, who confirmed her plan with a few head motions. Q almost smiled. All those years of living and working together paid off in situations like these.
It wasn’t long before people filtered into the room. Eli greeted each one at the door with a quiet, “Thanks for coming.” Q used her e-torc to listen in and make sure that’s all he was saying and got nothing but ringing ears for her trouble when he turned to them and spoke. She turned the gain back down.
None of them wore uniforms, but all three newcomers had the bearing of law enforcement: upright, wary, and a slight air of invincibility. They all seemed experienced, and they all carried weapons, somewhat concealed under jackets.
“Here’s the situation,” Eli said, flicking something from his e-torc to the screen. An overhead pic of an area, showing building roofs, roads, and overgrown lots full of half-seen junk. “We’ve got one captive, male, status unknown, in this building.” A red circle appeared around a building in the center. One end of the building appeared to be falling down. “You remember the setup the Sztoka clan had in a warehouse like this? There was a smaller building inside the warehouse, one with power, water, and net connections. And dozens of alarms, traps, and tripwires between the building shell and the interior building.”
He scanned his fellow law enforcement people, two women and a man. “You all know that operation destroyed the interior building and caused the death of several people.” He turned slightly to look at Lashtar then Q. “We’ve seen the same thing several more times. A smaller building inside a large warehouse, alarmed and trapped.” He scrubbed at the back of his head. “My guess is we’ve got something like that here because Familia helped the Sztoka build that first deathtrap. Even if it’s just a bare warehouse, we’ve got to get eyes inside somehow.” He threw something else at the screen, and a vid played, showing the remains of a shed and debris everywhere inside a larger building. Several people were lying on the floor, one in a uniform.
No wonder Eli was willing to help them. They’d lost a colleague, maybe a friend. Q looked at Lashtar with her brows raised, and Lashtar gave her a grim nod in return. “What about coming in from the top or bottom?” Q asked him.
“Top was trapped too, and the bottom is dirt,” one of the women said.
Q chuckled. “Ah, but you said there were water, sewer, power, and net connections. That’s a big building. Any chance any of those connections are routed in cableways or tunnels so repairs or inspections can be made?”
The woman, with skin as dark as Loreli’s and short black curly hair, said, “Maybe. But it’s not likely to be big enough for people to crawl in.”
Q smiled. “Most people.” She stood. “I can get in really small places. I do it a lot.”
The other woman, with short, curly bright red hair and moss-green eyes, said, “You don’t look old enough to have done much.”
Lashtar snorted. “You’d be wrong. Clove has done a lot more in her short life than I’d like.”
Eli raised both brows. “I wasn’t going to ask for your names.”
Lashtar chuckled. “I didn’t give you her real name. Call me Sister. The woman surveilling the building is Chief, the man inside is called Doc. Chief and Doc are ex-Fleet special forces, I used to be a mercenary, and Q is a net expert.”
Q flickered a smile. “Yours is good.”
The other man, who was very thin with cinnamon-brown skin topped by slightly darker hair above stooped shoulders said, “Thank you,” in an unexpectedly deep voice. “I’m Hedji.”
The redhead said, “I’m Jahive, and she’s Tsura.”
Eli said, “While normally, we’d take charge of a situation like this, you may have more expertise than we do.”
Q got a text from Porter. She said, “Chief is outside.”
Despite Q’s words, the knock at the door made Eli jump. The women drew their weapons, both stunners, and the man swept frantically at his holo. “Do you know this woman? She looks like you, Clove.” A vid appeared, with an impatient-looking Porter looking around, fist raising, undoubtedly to knock again.
Q snorted. “Like I said, that’s Chief. Let her in.”
Eli opened the door, and Porter walked in, glancing around. “Not a bad setup, but you’ve got a hole in your surveillance.”
Hedji scowled. “It’s a business first.”
“Maybe it shouldn’t be if you use it for operational planning,” Porter retorted.
“Later, please,” Eli said. “As I was just telling your compatriots, the building you were surveilling is probably heavily trapped and secured. Your Clove said she might be able to infiltrate through conduits for sewer or water.”
Porter shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe. If there are any.”
Hedji said, “Here’s the original building plans from the planning department. Clove, there is indeed a meter-square plascrete utility run built as part of the plans. However, the utility pipes and conduits take up the majority of the space. After we leave here, I’ll get some small remotes and see if I can infiltrate that and the larger warehouse.”
“Without getting spotted,” Tsura said.
“Of course.”
Eli said, “Even if Clove can get in, what can she do? That will only get her to the larger building, not the smaller one inside.” The vid popped back up again.
Porter said, “If you have knockout gas, she could put it in the net conduit and push it through with some compressed air, but that can be noisy. Or, if you’ve got the equipment, she could place a few remotes inside the sewer pipe, and they can take a load of sleep gas up through the sani-mods.”
Q winced at the thought of sitting on the sani-mod while something came up and gassed her. Next time she used one, she’d be nervous as a squirrel in tree snake territory.
“You military-types have all the fun stuff,” Jahive said. “We don’t have anything like that.”
“I’ll give you the name of the company,” Porter told him.
Q said, “Or I can get inside the building, set a flying remote or two going, and fly knock-out gas inside the smaller building. Or just go in myself. I’m good at finding tripwires.”
Lashtar snapped, “Not without armor.”
Q rolled her eyes, but she knew Lashtar was right.
“We could send some remotes in, cut their net connection, and start comm blockers,” Hedji said.
A message from Watson popped in, and Q read it. “Hey, all, we can do this. I didn’t realize it until now, but we have some remotes on the shuttle that will do this job.” They didn’t yet, but with Watson’s help, the two of them could adapt a few of their current remotes to work the same way. “We don’t have any gas, though.”
Tsura smiled. “I can get that. But this assumes there is a sani-mod.”
Eli barked a laugh. “Oh, there’s a sani-mod. Can you imagine the would-be Queen making do without one?”
“Good point. But in a large warehouse, the gas might disperse too much.”
Eli said, “True, but I’d rather be prepared than caught short.”
Tsura nodded.
Porter said, “So, assuming we can bring the remotes and the gas together, I’d like to do this today. They’ll be more alert after dark, watching for an attack. If we can get this together now, we’ll take them off guard.”
“Good point,” Eli said.
“If you can get the watchers off our shuttle, we can get the remotes now,” Q told them. She flicked the pics Watson sent her of the shuttle surveillance to Eli, including the muscle waiting in vehicles.
He snorted. “These two? Cheap day labor. One of them is probably asleep already. If we pick these guys up and make it noisy, the people in the vehicles will leave. If they don’t, we’ll get them too. I’ll get the patrol to pick them up now, and you’ll be good to go as soon as you arrive.”
Porter said, “Okay. So, we get to our shuttle and gear up. Can you send a transport for us?”
Eli said, “Yes, I’ll borrow the one from here. Then we travel to here.” He put the map of the area back up, with a yellow star over a spot three streets from the warehouse. “Tsura, you borrow a maintenance vehicle from utilities. We’ll sneak Clove in here, in full utilities gear, including breathing apparatus.” He put a red star over the maintenance tunnel. “Once she’s in the tunnel, close it up and drive to the next tunnel. If someone asks, we’ll say we’re investigating a report of strange odors and checking everything in the area. Jahive, you’ll be in a maintenance uniform, at the maintenance hatch to the south. I’ll be at the one to the north, across the street. Chief, Sister, you can take the back, work your way in through here and here.” He drew lines on the map in dark blue. “Hedji, stay in the Helping Hands van and coordinate. Once the sleep gas is deployed, Tsura, Jahive, Chief, and Sister will infiltrate. I’ll be rescue if needed. Clove, you’ll keep eyes on the inside via remote from where you are. Hedji, you keep them from getting messages out or in. Does that make sense?”
They refined the plan, coming up with real utilities people to work one street over, looking for the same “problem” of strange odors, and made sure the utility records reflected the complaints properly.
Finally, Eli said, “Sounds like a plan.” Everyone else agreed.
Q would have liked to go in, but without armor, she’d be stupid to enter the building.
Eli said, “We’ll meet outside Print It Now! in an hour. Work for all of you?” He scanned his coworkers. “Good. Thanks all.” Hedji, Tsura, and Jahive left. “Well, ladies, come on. I’ll take you to your shuttle.”
She followed Eli out, hoping this was all on the straight and narrow. If one of these people was under the influence of Familia, she was lizard food. If only they’d had time to buy her some armor. Well, she’d make getting armor a priority after this.