The Chapters

Chapter Thirteen

Whoa, OK. Hooold on.

Can't, sorry. I'm already sputtering at Keon. "We're going to the Death Tower Kin. Are you insane?"

"I'm not insane," he states. "You're insane if you think that things will just go on normally - well, maybe not normally, but alright if we don't get Vettie."

I'm a bit out of the loop here. Who's Vettie?

Vettie - or Yvette, that's her real name, but I'm not sure which she prefers - is the person we came to transport. She wouldn't be able to make the trip on her own, and Rey couldn't take her back without a full vehicle.

That was the mission that Rey was so embarrassed about? Why is she moving Kins anyway?

She's Rey's girlfriend.

Oh.

"Hey, stay with me here, alright?" Keon shakes my shoulder to regain my attention. "Jesus Christ. Yes, we're going to the Death Tower Kin. We're not going to try and tear it down or anything. Just a little infiltration to figure out why they attacked Frozen Turf and if they took anyone with them."

"Even if they did take someone, you think they'd have brought them to their Kin before even finishing destroying them?" I insist skeptically. "I find that hard to believe."

"I find it hard to believe that a couple hundred people in that place are brainwashed to do what they do, but it still happens."

"Judging by your secrecy, the others aren't coming."

He shakes his head. "Karla would never go for it, Zahara has to stay with her, Amias is needed her, Isak would be useful, but make too much of a scene, and Ivo's already against any encounter with the Death Towers. It's just you and me."

"Yeah, but why do I have to go? The Death Towers are still looking for me, remember?" I remind him. "On top of that, I'm probably the least useful for a job like this. If you're breaking in, shouldn't you take someone else?"

"I already told you,  I can't take anyone else. You'll be plenty useful if you keep your gear with you, and the Death Towers wouldn't dream of one of their targets matching right up to their doors." He pauses. "Unless they have, and that was their main objective of attacking the Frozen Turfs. Shit."

"You see? It's not worth it."

"There might be people in there, Mica! You think that's 'not worth it'?"

There's no guarantee that there are people there. They're likely all dead and Keon is sending us on a suicide mission. At the same time, on the off chance that there is someone worth saving, I don't really want to forget about them. Blame it on my conscience.

I thank your conscience wholeheartedly. Least you have some optimism left.

I ignore that and look back up at Keon. "You'll definitely need a better plan."

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"Okay, new plan is this." The two of us are seated opposite to each other  in the hall, my back against the wall and his against the bottom stairs. Apparently this time-lapse was only a few seconds long. I'm the one talking. "There's no easy way to sneak into the Death Tower Kin, even if you're invisible. They have all sorts of sensors around them - heat sensors, motion sensors.... Some other things, I think. I don't know where they keep prisoners, but it's most likely underground."

Keon gives me a surprised look. "You remember that?"

"Somewhat." I actually have no mental image, but everything I'm saying feels like it right. "They also have ID numbers and uniforms."