Page 89 of The Only Way Out Is Up

Star is picking through these as we enter, sorting a stack of disembodied joints with his fine manipulators. His head swivels round to watch us, big optics gleaming.

[Understatement: this is a treasure trove.]

No kidding. You should see the rest of the house.

[Conclusion: burgling Yesod was setting our sights too low.]

I doubt getting in here would have been quite so simple. If those harrowing climbs can be called simple.

[Suggestion: bonk Ky on the head, load up, and run for it?]

I smile to myself. I think we can do better than that.

[Query: what could be better than this much loot?]

Living here. Belonging here. With no Arbiters trying to catch us.

He clicks and whirs thoughtfully.

“Well?” Ky says. “Sufficient for your purposes?”

I laugh. “You know it is. If I’d had a place like this before, I’d…” I trail off, because there’s really no good conclusion other than not have to do this in the first place. “When do I get started?”

“After the Ascent official arrives.” She glances at Star. “We still want him looking incomplete.”

“Why?”

“He’s going to tell everybody all about us. These bureaucrats love to sell gossip, and we’re going to be the big unknown here. Every other runic in the Ascent has probably been on Hod for weeks getting ready, which gives the spies plenty of time to poke around.”

“So everyone else is going to know what they’re up against, and we won’t?”

“That’s about the shape of it.” Ky sighs. “On the other hand, they won’t know what you are up to, as long as we stay quiet. The way you’ve built Star helps a lot, too—without standardized parts, it’s hard for anyone to guess—”

“Miss,” Bradley says from the door. “A Master Nurow is here to see you.”

“Give us one minute,” Ky calls back. “Star, get back in the stall and don’t move. We don’t want to show off how… you you are.”

[?] Star sends, his equivalent of an interrogative raised eyebrow.

You’d better do it. She knows what she’s doing.

Star obediently pads back to the stall and settles into immobility. Ky raises her eyebrows and whistles.

“He really does understand me, doesn’t he?” Ky says. “Starshit, Taj, you have no idea…” She pauses, shakes her head. “Later.”

Bradley arrives with the bureaucrat, an older pinch-faced man with spectacles and a gray topknot, dressed in an impractical purple robe. Ky gives him a slight nod, and he inclines his head in return, then directs a suspicious look at me. Eventually he clears his throat.

“Miss Tranto. Allow me to express my pleasure at your safe return.”

Does everyone on Hod know her? I hold my tongue while Ky smiles politely.

“Master Nurow. If I’d known how pleased everyone here would be to see me, I wouldn’t have stayed away so long.”

The old man’s sour expression doesn’t flicker. He adjusts his spectacles and produces a clipboard from within his robe.

“Your application is”—he coughs—“somewhat irregular. The same could be said of your circumstances.”

“Because my father was murdered?” Ky says sweetly.