It was tempting to think the hard part was over, but Jasper knew better than to let her guard down.
“Should we have heard from Holly and Thea by now?” Dax asked.
Jasper grabbed a piece of blue fruit off a passing tray. “I don’t know. How long did Thea say it would take to download the data?”
“She didn’t,” Dax replied. “But it’s been almost half an hour. What if they ran into Ringmaster?”
Jasper was feeling a little uneasy herself. “Well, we can’t access the basement without Thea.” She popped the fruit in her mouth and swallowed. “Maybe there’s another way in—wait, South Siren’s here?”
Dax and Grace scanned the crowd. “Where?” Dax asked.
“Front entrance.”
Grace frowned. “Isn’t that Sarena Trench?”
“They’re the same person!” Jasper rolled her eyes as the celebrity strolled into the crowd, a silver dress shimmering against her teal skin. Her long waves of brown hair rested in an updo on top of her head, exposing the gills in her neck. “Why would Sarena Trench be on this side of the star system if not for the races?”
“Maybe she’s legitimately here for the party,” Grace said with a shrug.
“Yeah, quite a few celebrities showed up,” Dax added.
“Whatever.” Jasper’s shoulders sagged. “Let’s take the stairwell we were planning to leave through. There might be a less secure way into the basement.”
The three didn’t make it far down the stairs before the sound of footsteps coming up reached their ears. Multiple sets of footsteps, mixed with the sound of metal thudding against metal. Jasper grabbed the railing and peered over the edge.
“Ha!” Jasper grinned. “Look at that. Five sirens coming our way.”
“What?” Grace yelped.
“Why are you excited about that?” Dax asked.
“Duh. That must be why Sarena’s here.” Seeing the distress on their faces, Jasper said, “Never mind. Also, three of Grim Machine’s henchrobots are with them. I wonder why he’s mad. Or how they found me.”
Jasper pulled off her police jacket and drew the sword strapped to her back. It was a smaller one from her collection, with an iridescent blade that had already taken a beating. Hopefully it would hold up through one more fight.
“Have you had the whole time?” Grace asked.
“Yeah.”
“I want to try something,” Dax said.
“Great,” Jasper replied, only half-hearing him as she gave the sword a few test swings. “Just stay behind me.”
“Wait, I think I can use my powers—”
Jasper charged down the stairs. The narrow stairwell would make it impossible for more than one, maybe two goons to attack her at once. This would be an easy fight.
She swung at the first siren with the flat side of the sword, and the siren went down. The second lifted her spear to meet Jasper’s blade and fended off the first few blows. Jasper swung at the woman’s head. While she moved to block it, Jasper landed a kick to her stomach, sending her crashing into everyone behind her. Jasper lunged and slashed at the next siren in her path.
Despite the wound in her abdomen, the siren swung her spear and smacked Jasper in the skull. Wincing, Jasper clapped a hand against her head and slammed the hilt of the sword into the siren’s forehead.
While the siren collapsed, Dax rested a hand on Jasper’s shoulder. The stinging cuts and bruises around her body glowed blue in unison with hands, then faded.
Then, Dax darted around her, taking her by surprise.
“What are you doing?” Jasper exclaimed, alarmed. Dax usually did fine in combat, but he didn’t have any weapons.
Dax threw a punch at the fourth siren. She grabbed his wrist and pushed him into the wall. Jasper jumped in and kicked her into the last siren, sending them both tumbling. “You okay?” she asked Dax as he found his balance.
“Yeah,” Dax said. He looked at his hands. “I’m still not sure how—”
The first of the grimbots—which looked like smaller, thinner versions of Grim Machine—stepped over the fallen sirens and fired a bright blue-green blast from its palm. Jasper raised the sword to block. It worked, but the blade exploded, sending iridescent metal fragments raining down on the concrete stairs.
“I need you two to brace yourselves,” Jasper told Grace and Dax as she tossed aside the hilt.
“For what?” Dax asked.
Jasper grabbed him and tossed him over the railing, onto the landing a floor down. There was a thud, followed by an “ow” that was more annoyed than pained.
“You good?” Jasper yelled.
“Yeah!”
Jasper looked at Grace, who moved to the railing on her own. “I’ll fly, thanks.”
While Grace went over the edge, the grimbot in front fired at Jasper again. Jasper ducked and drew three small throwing knives. When the bot prepared to fire a third time, she flung the first knife into its blaster opening, interrupting its firing components. Then she hit the second bot, and the third.
Jasper climbed onto the railing. The nearest bot grabbed her leg, ripped her off the railing, and slammed her against the steps. Jasper rolled. The bot’s fist smashed into the ground where her face had been.
The bot drew back its arm to strike again, but the one behind it toppled forward, knocking them both down. Grace’s wings pounded against the air as she kicked the last bot to the ground.
“Hurry, before they get back up!” Jasper shouted as she climbed to her feet. She and Grace raced down the stairs to meet Dax.
“I think I found a way into the basement,” Dax said when they reached him. He gestured to the door in front of him. “But it’s locked.”
Jasper looked back at the bots coming down the stairs. “Ugh. I have an idea. It’s not great, but it’ll be the fastest way in.”
“What is it?” Grace asked.
“You two get out of the way. Get ready to help me knock the bots down.” Jasper positioned herself in front of the door. “Their blasters are strong enough to destroy the lock. Maybe even the entire door.”
“Yeah, and also your face,” Dax pointed out.
“Yes. Also my face. Now get out of the way.”
Dax and Grace reluctantly obeyed. As the grimbot leading the charge approached, it ripped out the blade Jasper had thrown into its blaster and took aim. She watched the bot slow, waiting for the first flash of light to appear in its palm. When it did, she would have a split second to move.
She almost made it out of the way. Almost. The blast grazed her upper arm, leaving her with searing pain. It also shattered the lock on the door.
Jasper hit the ground. Shrapnel shot over her head. “Now!” she yelled.
Dax and Grace each lunged at a bot. Jasper sprang to her feet and kicked down the third. Her next move was to throw open the basement door. “Hurry!”
Dax and Grace ran through. Grace paused on the other side. “Are you coming?”
“They’ll chase us if someone doesn’t distract them,” Jasper replied.
“But—”
“I can get away from them! Let me know when you find Holly and Thea.” Jasper threw the door shut, wincing as the pain in her arm flared up again. No time to focus on that. The bots were getting back up. She turned and flung herself over the stairwell railing.
The landing was one of the worst she’d had in a while. It took her a moment to catch her breath and get back on her aching legs. Bots thudded down the stairs above her, but she was only a few feet from the parking garage entrance.
She burst into the garage and scanned the vehicles. A sleek black motorcycle caught her eye. It was nowhere near as cool as hers, but it would do. She hopped on and set to work on hotwiring it.
The grimbots were almost to her when the motorcycle shot forward. Jasper moved fast enough to stay out of reach, but not so fast that she would lose them.
At the exit, she hopped up onto the concrete wall lining the road that spiraled out of the parking garage. One of the grimbots fired. Jasper hit the brakes. The blast missed, leaving a sizeable hole in the wall.
“Is that all you got?” Jasper taunted. She hopped off the motorcycle, leaving it to fall onto the road next to her. “Too afraid to fight me hand-to-hand?”
The grimbot in front stalked toward her. “You want to fight a robot, you sack of flesh?”
“Eesh, I didn’t know you’d been programmed to be so rude.” Jasper lifted her fists and took a step back toward the gap in the wall.
The bot charged. The other two followed. Jasper waited until the first was a few feet away before dropping, grabbing its legs, and chucking it as far as she could.
The grimbots were lighter than she expected. She’d feared the bot might not make it through the hole in the wall, but it went sailing off the parking complex. The other two stopped and stared.
“One of you gets to go that same route, the other gets to answer my questions.” Jasper turned and rested a hand on her hip. “What’s it gonna be?”
The bot on the right took aim. The end of its blaster glowed blue.
“You it is.” Jasper grabbed the motorcycle and used it to shield herself from the blast. Once the light subsided, she tossed the vehicle’s slightly melty remains at the left bot before grabbing the right one and throwing it off the complex.
Jasper walked to where the pile of motorcycle pinned the last bot to the ground. “Were you working together with the sirens, or did you just happen to show up at the same time?”
The bot didn’t answer. Jasper rested a foot on the motorcycle and pushed. The grimbots might not be able to feel pain, but she was pretty sure they had some sense of self-preservation programmed into them.
“South Siren approached us!” the bot exclaimed, its robotic tone managing to sound frantic. “She asked Grim Machine if he wanted to help attack you. He agreed and sent us.”
“How did you know I would be here tonight?” Jasper asked.
“Luck. She was here for the party, recognized you, and called us in.”
“Anyone on comms?” Jasper asked.
Grace replied. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Jasper picked up the robot and flung it into the night with its brethren. “Just thought I’d mention that my new friend confirmed South Siren was here for the party—”
“Now’s not the time for your stupid theory!” Holly snapped.
“Oh good, you’re okay,” Jasper said, straightening up. “I was beginning to worry.”
“We’re a little banged up,” Thea said. “I downloaded the data, but Ringmaster got away with a copy.”
Could have gone better. Could have gone worse. “Okay,” Jasper replied. “I’ll meet you all behind Moon Hall.”
After regrouping, the team made their way to Sera’s spaceport. Warped to Si Hera. Dragged themselves to the car. Drove to the shack.
Shortly after their return, they sat on the floor, gathered around Thea, watching numbers and text scroll down her screen.
“What does that mean?” Jasper asked.
“I don’t know,” Thea said.
Jasper pointed to a diagram. “What about that?”
“No idea.”
Dax rested his arms on his knees. “If we can’t understand it, maybe Starr and Ringmaster won’t, either.”
“Wait, look here,” Thea said, pointing to a new box of text. “Dr. Prime included a summary of her findings.” She frowned. “The warps output high levels of energy. Ridiculously high. She notes if it could be harnessed, a single spacetime warp could potentially power all of Kronos for half a starcycle during the time it’s open.”
“That’s a pretty big ‘if.’” Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “How would you even go about harnessing that energy?”
“If it’s possible somehow, that must be what Starr wants, right?” Grace asked. “To power Kronos?”
“Kronos has problems, but an energy crisis isn’t one of them,” Jasper replied. “It’s certainly not enough of an issue to warrant messing with something so dangerous. I think Starr’s after something bigger.” Maybe it was connected to his lab experiments.
“There is one other thing I want to bring up,” Thea said.
Jasper rested her hands behind her and leaned back. “Is it important?”
“Kind of.” Thea tapped the screen, and a still from a security camera popped up. “This is the footage that shows Mechwell leaving the alley after the gunshot. At least, according to the timestamp.”
“And?” Jasper asked.
“I sensed something off about the video file, so I went through the code. Turns out it was manipulated. Mechwell did leave the alley.” Thea brought up an identical image, but the time was marked as ten minutes earlier. “However, he left the alley before Prime was killed.” She looked up. “I’m pretty sure we arrested the wrong guy.”