Book One: A Storm of Glass and Ashes

Chapter Twenty Five: The Reluctant Trade

Kaiser provided a flight home. He was, in fact, almost eager to offload Hawk on the outside world. Alex helped by glowering and lingering and acting like he didn't want her to go. Hawk, having been married to her husband for a while, took a cue from his behavior and acted like she was pissed with him. It was easy enough. No talking. No long loving looks. Snapping at each other was a must. She'd never really tried to play-act like her marriage was dissolving, and decided that it was rather fun, as long as both she and Alex understood it was all fiction. She was so good at it, in fact, that before she got a helicopter to the airport, Em pulled her aside.

"Are you and Alex, like...okay? You're acting—"

"It's acting," she whispered. "Keep it on the down-low." And Em knew her well enough to let it go.

The helicopter ride was brief. Hawk wished she could say the same of the plane ride. Kaiser hadn't bothered getting her anything better than commercial economy, which she read as part of his discard process. Which she was happy to participate in. She'd never thought she'd be this eager to get away from someone. Kaiser Willheim had managed to reorganize her entire worldview. The plane ride gave her enough time to think about the best way to hide the Orb.

By the time she landed in Phoenix, she knew exactly what to do. Which started with getting an Uber home, seeing as how her car was still sitting in Emile Yong's front yard.

Arriving at her house felt strange. Almost alien. As if the person who had seen and done the things she'd endured, the last few days, had no business living in Hawk West's home. Not even Hawk West herself. She had to ignore the feeling, pay her driver, and walk up the short walk to her front door.

She froze when she opened it. Because her house should have looked like the proverbial bull stopped by on his way to the china shop, and instead it was perfectly neat. Military trim, almost. And there were roses on a counter. A huge bouquet of several dozen perfect red blooms, with a red ribbon and a card. She already knew who had sent them—Alex would have sent her peace roses or a bouquet of lilies. Indeed, the card proved it was from Kaiser...and he'd included money.

Dear Ms. West, the card read, Please forgive my intrusions into your humble home. I hope this check will provide you with due compensation for my transgressions. Be at PEACE, Ms. West.

Your loving friend,

Kaiser.

She nodded to herself. Picked up the bouquet by the vase, as if it were rabid. Carried it to the trash can. Dropped it in. The vase broke in three large pieces, water gushed across the bottom of the garbage can, and Hawk knew she was going to have to clean it out before she could put a fresh bag in there. She rolled her eyes at her own theatrics; she felt better, having jettisoned the roses. Now it was time to hide the Orb.

It was inside her purse. She walked it into the garage, set it on a bench, and then went through her fish tank graveyard. She had several tanks she'd either purchased for old, dead colonies, or gotten for free off the internet. Usually she was careful at this stage, but Hawk didn't have time to be choosey...and the species she intended for this wouldn't care one iota for the flavor of fish tank she chose. The nearest, largest would do. She hauled it down, set it on a work bench, then rummaged through a box of tubing and feeders and other Anting supplies, until she found her tiny bottle of fluon.

One of the first questions anyone asked Hawk, once they got past the WTF effect of ants, was how did she keep them inside the terrariums? Most of them didn't even have lids. And, like most ant-keepers, her answer was "I have a barrier". She'd tried lots of them over her career as an ant-keeper. Oil, baby powder and rubbing alcohol, Vaseline. Any line of something an ant either couldn't cross, or wouldn't. But the best, in her experience, was fluon suspension. She applied the milky liquid to the top two inches of the tank, on the inside. Normally she did one inch, but not with this species.