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“Just thought you might have a driver who takes you around everywhere?”
Castor grunts a reply.
Holter hasn’t looked up from the tracking radar I gave him. If we get stopped, he’s the least likely to be searched. The Hero of Hestertåtten isn’t capable of doing anything evil. If Nico hasn’t tarnished him in all these years, nothing will. He’s also got Bellucci’s journals tucked into the back of his pants.
Castor drops down a level. The thoroughfares are spookily empty, with only emergency omadas and solos zipping around on the upper levels.
We make it halfway to Zaffiro, which unfortunately is absurdly close to the destroyed Maelstrom, before a solo pulls up on our six. The comms crackle, “Omada GL92987-P. State your business. All non-essential travel has been banned. You are up for termination.”
I glance at Sunshine.
“GL92987-P, Castor Drakos, acting Glyden governor. I have emergency business in the Zaffiro dome.” Castor actually sounds calm. Maybe the golden prince won’t fuck this up.
“Stand by.” The comms go silent for a moment, and then, “State your business.”
“I’m a governor, and you don’t have clearance for what I’m doing.” He has that edge of an entitled prick in his voice.
“Clearance F103603 acquired. State your business,” the solo repeats.
Castor takes his finger off the button.
“Do it,” Nico grumbles.
“Relocation of Annabelle Portsmouth to Zaffiro for her protection.”
“Stand by.”
Annabelle’s eyes are wide. She’s got a hand on my leg.
I smile down at her. “It’s fine.”
“Up for termination?” Sunshine’s voice shakes.
“Castor is still acting governor. It’s okay.”
Castor doesn’t move. I hope he doesn’t blow this. Sure, he’s the CEO of a large corporation. But this is a different type of stress. With a lockdown, they could blow us out of the water and there would be no one questioning them. Governor or not.
“You’ve been cleared for movement. I will follow you to Zaffiro. You must stay there until the lockdown is lifted. No exceptions, even for a governor, will be made again. Out.”
“You okay, Sunshine?”
“Yeah. What would they have done if we hadn’t been cleared?”
The omada goes quiet.
“Oh, that’s not okay. This place needs a big overhaul.” She looks at the back of Castor’s head and then out the window. Because that’s exactly what Castor plans to fix. That and so much more. At least, that’s what we talked about last night while Sunshine slept. He thinks Nole can do the same thing. But I don’t know—he’s not as charismatic as Castor. And he doesn’t have the same sort of guts as Castor.
“Okay, a few more minutes and we’ll be there. You holding out okay, Annabelle?” Holter reaches over to Sunshine.
“I’m good. I can almost feel my heart again. It was going so fast, I thought it might come out of my tunic.”
“We’re okay,” I say.
“We’re okay. But are you going to tell me what the next thing is?”
“Getting you safe to my apartment.” I wink at her. Because while I don’t think there is any advanced tech in the sector, you never know and the last thing we need is for someone to hear. I’m about to get my shielded solo and head out to the silos to see if Michio is there with the Stele governor. If he’s not, then it’s a codfish trap and I’m a dead male again for the 20th time in my life. Once I get there, Nico and I are going to figure it out on the fly. Did I ever imagine myself working with Nico on the second most important mission of my life? Fuck no. But it is what it is. The omada doesn’t have any extra weapons—those we’re going to have to get at my storage facility. There’s always the chance that the message wasn’t sent by Michio, but rather someone laying a trap for me. A damn good one. But I don’t assume anything until I get into the situation.
“Oh. But what do I do there?” She blinks at me.
