The race was scheduled for early morning. Very early morning. Suns-not-up-yet early morning. Well, sun, technically. Kronos was on the far side of the star Gemma now, so Myni wouldn’t be visible for a couple more months. Or a season. Or whatever time system this stupid planet used.
Even after all these years, Jasper still ran through everything in Earth time. Keeping the Earth clock and calendar in the corner of her vision certainly wasn’t going to help her break that habit anytime soon. What good did it do her to know that Earth was entering August of 2020?
She rubbed her forehead and took another sip from the sweet blend of coffee and Nova Cora in her mug. Focus. Get it together. After her Mota Mart video took off, Attom had piled more and more tasks onto her plate, and he’d even requested that she stay late the night before to finish them.
Jasper had done harder things in worse condition, but she would have preferred to get some more rest before the big day. She’d been forced to settle for the brief evening nap she’d just woken up from an hour earlier.
The race was essentially in the middle of the night, and the Starchatter party started late. Hence, the necessity of Jasper’s plan to clear out the office so that the team could get into Ringmaster’s hideout.
Plus, she had her other plan to worry about.
Jasper leaned against the wall of the living room while the others made their preparations for the final night at Starchatter. Holly stood in front of the mirror that hung on the wall, making minor adjustments to her facial features so that no one at the office would recognize her.
Grace frowned as she watched Holly. “Your shapeshifting,” she realized.
“You thought I was human?” Holly asked, lifting an eyebrow as it changed from red to dark brown. She’d also narrowed her nose and shortened herself by a couple of inches.
“You’re not? I mean, Jasper and Thea and Dax are.” Grace’s gaze flickered to the couch where Dax and Thea sat. “They are, right?”
“They are,” Holly said. “I’m West Kronosian.”
Many members of the species had shapeshifting abilities, to varying degrees. Holly was far better than most. Probably one of the few that could not only take on a form that appeared entirely human, but also maintain that form long-term.
“West Kronosian?” Grace asked. “Like the Fayes?”
Holly’s gaze darkened. Before she could respond, Jasper stepped forward. “Everyone ready?”
“Ready to get crammed into a tight space with Dax and Grace?” Thea asked.
“Aw, it won’t be that bad.” Jasper pulled her fake glasses from her pocket and slid them on. “Good team bonding.”
“Why is Grace coming with us, again?” Holly asked. “You’ve had her by your side this whole time.”
“I’m the only one with a party invite.”
“Attom likes you. You could have persuaded him to let you bring her.”
“He likes my work,” Jasper muttered. She took another sip of her drink. “Look, after the run-in with the Blades at Mota Mart, I think it’s best we keep her out of sight. Once we head to the next race location, we won’t have to worry, but I need you three to protect her in the meantime.”
“Maybe she should learn to protect herself.” Holly folded her arms.
Jasper sighed. “Great idea. Think we can train her up in the next five minutes?”
Holly’s eyes narrowed.
Point made, Jasper continued, “We don’t have time for this right now. Now, come on. Time to go.”
Holly grabbed a tie, the last piece of the suit that made up her catering uniform, as she and the others headed for the door. Jasper followed them out.
They parked in the same roof lot they’d been using the past few days. It was emptier now than it was in the mornings before the workday.
With the last rays of Gemma still kissing the atmosphere—though the sun itself had dipped beneath the horizon—the sky above was a vibrant purple dusted with stars that shone bright enough to be visible, despite all the city lights. The lights below were a shifting blend of neon colors, reflecting off nearby skyscrapers and flying vehicles to make a sort of artificial aurora.
“Let’s stand up here for a minute,” Jasper said as the team climbed out of the car. “We’re a little early.”
Thea and Dax moved to sit at the edge of the roof with their legs hanging over the edge. Grace watched them, looking a little apprehensive, but the expression faded as she settled down next to Thea. Holly stood behind the three, and Jasper moved into position at her left.
Grace glanced toward Thea, hesitation on her face. Finally, she asked, “So, Thea, do you need tablets and stuff to be able to access your power?”
Thea shook her head. “If I’m close to a device, I can almost always manipulate it using my mind. I’m not the only technopath in the Janus System, though, and programmers are always coming up with new ways to keep us out.” She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a shiny gold smartsphere.
“They usually use complicated strings of code meant to delay us,” she continued, tossing the sphere up into the air and catching it. Her gold eyes glinted in the ambient neon. “Anyway, computers and smartspheres help me work faster and let me do multiple things at once. And they let me access systems that are farther away.” The sphere went up again. “Even when it looks like I’m just typing, I’m usually interfacing with the code mentally, to some degree.” She caught it.
Dax leaned forward and waved a hand. “My turn? Are we explaining our powers to the new girl?”
Grace shrugged, a small smile crossing her face. “I wouldn’t mind. Do you do anything other than healing?”
“I have a form of bio-energy manipulation,” Dax explained. “I’m not exactly healing; I’m speeding up the body’s own healing process.”
“Oh,” Grace said. After a moment, she added, “The blue glow is pretty neat.”
Dax beamed. “Thanks!”
Grace glanced over her shoulder at Holly, but her gaze didn’t linger, and she didn’t ask any questions.
“Your wings are pretty amazing,” Thea said. “There’s no code for me to interface with, but I can sense all the wiring and circuits that make them work with your body. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Thanks.” Grace kicked her feet idly. “I just wish I was better at using them. Starr never gave me any time to practice flying.” A wistfulness overtook her expression, and Jasper pursed her lips. It would be hard to get Grace some flying practice in a city full of people that wanted to kill her, but maybe once they were off Kronos they could make time.
Holly folded her arms and glanced away from the three, her usual annoyed expression sliding into place.
Jasper elbowed her. “Come on,” she said quietly. “She’s pretty likeable.”
Holly huffed. “I guess.”
Holly had warmed up to Thea and Dax pretty quickly, though it might not have looked that way to outsiders. Jasper hoped that even if the walking embodiment of teenage angst continued to fight her at every turn, she’d at least start showing some kindness to Grace. In her own Holly-esque way.
Jasper looked up one last time at the glittering violet-blue sky. Then, with a glance at the time and a heavy sigh, she cracked her neck. “All right, crew. It’s about time we headed in.”
Grace, Dax, and Thea climbed to their feet, and the team set off. Skywalks and narrow metal stairways led them to the office building.
As they approached the exterior doors, Jasper glanced at Holly. “Where’d you leave the food cart you and Dax stole this morning?”
“A storage closet down the hall from Starchatter’s entrance,” Holly replied.
“Great. You guys grab that. I’ll head in to the party and look for the gap.”
They split up after entering the building. Jasper headed to the back offices alone, to room 72-7A, where the badge Attom had given her let her join the crowd filling the room. She found a spot near the wall that gave her a good view of the ceiling.
Thea’s scans—Jasper wasn’t sure what exactly she’d been scanning. Something about local signals? X-rays maybe?—had picked up an anomaly in this vicinity, but Thea hadn’t been able to get close enough to this room to be precise. All she’d been able to discern was that there was a gap in the galaxium wide enough to let an average-sized person squeeze into the ceiling, and that it was somewhere in this room.
“You all right, Galax?” Attom walked up to Jasper, a drink in hand. “You look like you’re thinking.”
“You could say that.” Jasper switched to X-ray vision. Her eyes swept the ceiling, taking in the thick layer of what had to be galaxium panels. They’d been nailed into place, preventing them from simply being slid aside by someone with unusual strength.
“Have you thought about your future here at Starchatter?” Attom asked.
“I’m a bit busy having a midlife crisis.”
Attom laughed. “I don’t think you’re the right age for that.”
“Good point.” Jasper sighed. “I’m too old.”
“Jasper, you got a location on that gap yet?” Holly asked over comms. “I need to know where to park the cart when I come in.”
It was hard to read Attom’s expression in X-ray mode. Ignoring whatever look he was giving her, Jasper leaned to the right to scan the far end of the room.
“The food being brought in looks good,” she said. “Especially the fruit platter.”
“The gap’s above the fruit?” Holly asked.
“You a fan of fruit?” Attom asked.
“Yes,” Jasper said.
“Help yourself to some.” Attom waved a hand toward the food table. “You should see the genetic engineering they’re doing with citroids these days.”
“Sounds exciting.” Jasper switched back to her regular vision, gave Attom a lie about going to look at drinks, and headed across the room.
“How long until you evacuate?” Holly asked.
“Half an hour,” Jasper replied.
“I’m sorry, did I hear that right? Why do we have to wait so long?”
“You’re not the one who has to sit in a cramped space,” Thea added under her breath.
“I have some other plans to lay out,” Jasper said. “I might be able to do twenty minutes.”
“So, you’re going to overcomplicate things as usual?”
Jasper heard Holly’s voice twice this time. Once in her ear, and an echo somewhere behind her. She turned around as Holly pushed the food cart into the room.
“I need that fruit table out of the way,” Holly said. “Thea needs to be as close as possible to get a preliminary look at Ringmaster’s tech.”
“Got it.” Jasper made a beeline for the fruit table, noting that one of the ceiling tiles above it was slightly out of place. “Before you start those, Thea, I need you to send me a photo of—what was his name? Avior Roiva?”
“Why do you need—?” Thea started.
“Just do it.” Jasper stopped short and rested her hands on her hips. If she moved the table herself, someone was bound to ask what she was doing.
“Excuse me, Miss Galax?”
Perfect. Jasper smiled as she turned. “Karren, right? Karren Kassioson?”
“That’s me!” Karren smiled. “I was wondering if you would be interested in co-writing an article with me—”
“I would love to talk business with you. But could you help me with something first?” Jasper gestured to the fruit table. “I’m doing an article on the effect of a room’s layout on, uh, the energy level of the different…brain types.”
“Oh, I’m an expert on brain types!” Karren exclaimed.
“Of course that’s a thing,” Jasper said. “I mean, that’s why I’d love your help. I thought we could put the fruit table in front of the drinks.”
Karren nodded as if that made complete and total sense and picked up one end of the table. While Jasper grabbed the other, Karren asked, “What brain type are you? I have a quiz on the Starchatter website you can take. It’s the most accurate.”
“I’ll have to try it,” Jasper said. The table lifted into the air. “Say, I heard you have a mild solnut allergy.”
“I do,” Karren said as she began taking steps backward.
“‘Mild’ meaning you wouldn’t die if you ate one, right?”
“No, I just get a rash. I can take medicine, but lunberries help, too.”
“Oh, good,” Jasper said under her breath.
“What was that?” Karren asked.
“I heard the Electroswinger has a new lunberry drink! That would work, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Seeing Karren’s odd look, Jasper quickly added, “My cousin recently found out she has a solnut allergy, too. We’ve been trying to figure out what remedies actually work.”
Karren and Jasper set the table down in its new position. “How are we going to do the article, then?” Karren asked.
“Oh, huh. Well, how about you stand here and take notes on people we can use later?” Jasper suggested. “Since you’re an expert, I’m sure you already know everyone’s…brain type.”
Karren beamed. “I do.”
“Great. Do that, then. Say, would you like a drink? I can bring you one.”
“Sure!”
Jasper made her way to the drink table, greeting other employees here and there and ignoring periodic glares from Holly, who guarded the cart to make sure no one found the rest of the team hiding inside. After careful consideration, Jasper picked a warm glass filled with dark liquid and reached into her coat.
The solnut candy quickly melted into the hot drink. Jasper handed it over to Karren before searching the crowd for the guy who matched the photo Thea sent. She spotted Avior standing with a large group, holding a sandwich.
Her next stop was the table with the sandwich platters. The tarantula eagerly left its box to sample the various meats laid out. While it began its feast, Jasper drew a match from her pocket, swiped it on the wall, and used it to light the candle she pulled out with her other hand.
“How do you know this is going to work?” Holly asked.
“I don’t,” Jasper replied as she set the candle on the table. “But statistically speaking—”
“Never mind. Just get everyone out of here.”
Jasper bumped into Avior with enough force to knock the sandwich to the floor. “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “I would get you another one, but I’m in a hurry.” She moved past him and continued through the crowd. To her comm, she said, “Holly, could you keep me updated on Avior?”
“He’s just staring sadly at his sandwich on the floor—oh, wait, he’s moving. He’s headed for the table.”
“Great. And Karren?” Jasper circled around to the drink table, dropped to the ground, and crawled underneath the tablecloth.
“People are starting to gather around her. She looks mildly distressed. Wait, what did you do?”
“What’s happening?” Dax asked. “Is everyone okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jasper replied. “Thea, do what I told you to do with the sprinklers. Holly, make sure the fire stays away from the cart when that table flips.” She crossed the gap between the drink table and the dessert table.
“The what?” Grace yelped.
“Don’t worry about it.” Jasper was under the sandwich table now. Her hand slipped out from under the tablecloth and reached for Avior’s approaching shoes.
Moments later, Avior shrieked in fear and jumped back from the table. Well, he tried to. His right shoe had mysteriously wound up tied to the table’s leg, causing the whole thing—flaming candle included—to crash to the floor.
Before the flames could touch Avior, Jasper sliced through the shoestring with a knife and gave him a push away from the table. She popped up on the other side. Smoke detectors triggered the alarms, which blared over the sounds of shouting and people stampeding toward the door.
The sprinkler system also suffered a strange malfunction, which only encouraged people to move faster when Jasper casually pointed it out.
Jasper paused next to Holly. “Put out the fire, then follow us outside.”
“I really appreciate you giving us these very important instructions along the way, rather than explaining the entire plan in advance,” Holly said sarcastically.
“You’re welcome.” Jasper followed the crowd out of the offices.
The party regrouped outside the building. Jasper lingered at the edge of the crowd to make sure no one was stupid enough to stay behind or reenter. It only took a minute for Holly to appear at her side.
“Stand guard and make sure no one tries to go back in,” Jasper told her quietly.
“Where are you going?” Holly asked.
“I’m following them.”
“You think they’ll go somewhere else?”
“Why not?” Jasper shrugged. “Party’s still in full swing. We’ll regroup. And I’ll make sure no one leaves to come back here,” she lied.
Holly folded her arms. “You sound confident.”
“When do I not?” Jasper jogged over to where the party crowd was shaping into a loose circle, leaving Holly behind to keep watch. “Are the rest of you good?” she asked into the comms.
“Besides a few cramps, we’re good,” Thea replied. “Are you ready for me to disable the fire alarm?”
“Let me get everyone away from the building first.”
“Be fast. I stopped the alarm from alerting the fire department, but someone else might call.”
Jasper moved to Attom’s side. “Looks like everyone made it out. What’s the plan?”
“Someone should be here when the fire department arrives—” Attom began.
Jasper pointed to where Holly was standing. “She said she would handle it.”
“One of the caterers?”
“I mean, we’re paying them to take care of things while we have fun, right?”
Attom laughed. “I like the way you think. A few people were talking about walking to the Electroswinger. I think it was Karren’s idea.” He leaned forward. “Maybe once we’re there, we can discuss appointing you to a more permanent position at Starchatter. There’s been a lot of controversy around your journalism style, so I’d love to have you stick around. Keeps eyes on us. Which keeps revenue up.”
“Great.” Jasper smiled, but as soon as Attom turned his back, her expression fell. At least she wouldn’t have to put up with him much longer. Which reminded her…
“Thea, could you do me a favor when you get a sec?” Jasper asked.
“Besides the dozen favors I’m already doing for you?” Thea replied.
“All I need is for you to get me backdoor access to the Starchatter netsite so that I can post whatever I want from my smartsphere.”
“Oh, is that all?” Thea sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. If I have time.”
“Great. Keep me posted.”