The Starlight Lancer

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Mission Begins

"Pre-mission jitters always fuck me up. You'll get over it quick. Or we'll have one less way to split."

—Treida the Thief Queen to her rookie apprentice, Fylarl

Zaina stood and made sure everything was adjusted properly. She stretched her legs and back. Then she closed her eyes.

If ever there was a time to summon my cipher, now's it. Come on—

She focused all her energy on manifesting the blade. When Zaina's eyes opened, they were met with an empty palm and Reida's confused stare.

"Is that some weird lancer meditation or something?" she asked.

"Yeah," Zaina replied, "we'll go with that."

Reida walked over to the turbine and motioned for Zaina to follow. "Okay—we only get one shot at this. We have to go through at the same time—got it? If we trip the sensor at intervals, it'll draw more attention from the system."

"What, it'll think we're some kind of weird bird or something?"

"Yeah, maybe. But with what's going on below, it won't care about a single instance. This turbine shaft goes down about five hundred feet and terminates at the start of a ventilation system—from there, we'll be able to locate an employee who can get us access to the central elevator terminal."

"You think we're gonna have company?"

Reida smiled. "It wouldn't be a party if we didn't. I'd expect security droids. The lancer's fifty-fifty; he might stay and guard the crystal, but if the captain creates enough ruckus, he might leave his post to help. Let's hope he leaves."

"Okay," Zaina said with a nod. "So—how long do we have?"

"A little over two minutes."

"Right. Can I ask you something?"

"As long as it's quick," Reida said, still focused on her vis-screen.

"Why—why me?"

"Huh?"

Zaina clasped her hands behind her back. "Well—I don't get it. Why choose me over someone you know? Someone you trust?"

Reida pursed her lips. "You're strong, you're fast—and you saved me. That counts for something."

"You don't care that I'm—you know—" Zaina sighed and pointed at her eye.

A chuckle escaped Reida's lips. "No, not at all. I was surprised at how nice you are, actually. The captain's told me a lot of stories. You know, she offered me a whole team for this, but I turned her down—she said it was either you or them. I chose you—and I did it because you're exactly the kind of person I want to work with."

Blood rushed to Zaina's cheeks as she smiled and looked away. "Thanks, Reida."

"Don't thank me yet," she replied. "All right, let's get into position. We're going in in thirty seconds."

Reida climbed to the top of the turbine's casing, and Zaina followed. Their eyes met, and they both nodded. Once the timer reached ten seconds, Reida counted it down aloud, her finger hovering over her vis-screen.

"Nine—eight—seven—six—five—four—three—two—here we go!"

Everything unfolded in slow motion: a massive boom broke out below, shaking the entire building; Reida tapped her vis-screen, and a jolt of electricity ran through the turbine's engines and shorted them in an instant. The spinning blades stopped. Reida grabbed Zaina's arm, and they both jumped through.