Arden walked through the atrium of the skyport beside Colin. The design resembled a starburst with the atrium at the center. From there, spokes led out to the berths where the ships docked. The domed ceiling overhead, created from thousands of tiny triangular pieces of glass, used the small bit of light that was able to creep through the gray static to refract rainbows across the travelers.
She couldn’t shake her tension. Her body vibrated. Meets were usually faced with a high degree of confidence, not unease in her gut that told her this didn’t feel right. Mariah being taken had attached a level of alertness to her actions, keeping her ready for danger at any moment. So she couldn’t tell if what she felt was based on the actual situation, or if it was lingering anxiety.
Strangers flowed around her as they made their way to assigned berths to board jumpers that would take them around the planet’s surface. Flying was cost prohibitive, so passengers were usually only the elite: the Solizen and their top-paid employees. The majority of citizens never left the city zone. Not that anyone from Undercity would have the opportunity for escape, they remained locked up tight.
There were also berths that docked large transfer shuttles that connected with embargo vessels anchored in space, and smaller space pods that could travel between planets. Most citizens didn’t know there were spacecraft that could carry them to other planets. There was no public access to records of any kind, so it was widely accepted that ways off the planet surface had long been shut off, or at the very least, could only be accessed through another city.
Being inside the skyport always reminded her that there were other places in the universe. Not that she’d ever be able to afford a ticket off-planet. She couldn’t even afford one to city hop. Even so, when times got rough, she considered that option, thinking that maybe she could apprentice herself to traders in order to escape. Colin’s pressing had reignited that line of thought.
Each brush of passengers’ bodies against hers as they hurried on their way made her jump. The reaction was the complete opposite of the blending in she was supposed to do. One particular group jostled her so completely that she stopped moving, waiting for them to pass before getting her bearings back. She found herself standing still, right there in the lobby of the skyport like a target.
“Arden,” Colin hissed from beside her, “walk.”
The harshness of his words startled her into moving. She exhaled, telling herself to get her act together.
Her face felt hot under the synth-mask, so different from the masks they wore at the club. This one was part hologram, part tissue, and it gave Arden a different face rather than just covering it. She still kept her head down, though, letting the bobbed black wig swing forward to cover her new features and hide her eyes from retinal scanners. No matter how good the synth job was, there was potential for the cameras to get a lock on them and decode their true identity with facial recognition software.
The Lasair didn’t use synths often. They were far too expensive and could easily be disrupted with an electrical current. But in cases like this, it became a necessity. Not only were they trying to stay off the govies’ radar, but the traders they were meeting were untrustworthy too. They were, after all, smugglers of stolen and illegal high-level goods, which made them dangerous criminals. She was sure they weren’t showing up wearing their real faces either.
Sometimes Lasair traded Shine in exchange for items that were easier to buy than to steal. This time, though, it was strictly a cash transaction. Arden and Colin should theoretically meet their contact, check the goods, and be on their way before the govies noticed that they didn’t have legitimate business in the skyport.
“What is wrong with you?” Colin asked under his breath as he covertly scanned the area.
“Nothing.” Everything.
Arden hated feeling this way. It wasn’t the job. With Colin beside her, she’d be fine even if Kimber ran comms. It was everything else. She couldn’t stop feeling her frustration over Mariah’s situation, and guilt about Dade didn’t do her any favors either. Thinking about him put her back on the cycle of want and exasperation that she desperately needed to end.
Normally things didn’t affect her. She could be cutthroat and cold when she wanted to be. Since she’d met Dade, her world had begun to thaw, and Arden had to be ice. It was the only way to survive. She blamed him for softening her, but she blamed herself more.
Except if she worked it right, she figured she could do the two things she wanted most: to see him and to help Mariah.
“Do you see them?” Colin asked.
“No.” Though it was difficult to get a good look at anyone. There were more people than normal traveling today. Add to that, the govies had doubled in number. They walked the atrium in their govie-greens, hands at the ready on phasers and stun-sticks. The entire city’s security forces had been switched to high alert over the last week.
In her ear Kimber said, “Sun, Arden, get it together.” Her voice was snippy, which was to be expected. It was clear she blamed Arden for Mariah’s capture. Arden had thought Kimber had been difficult to deal with before. Now it was on a whole other level.
“I hate her,” she said under her breath, knowing Kimber would hear her.
“She could be here with you instead of me,” Colin suggested, laughing. He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’d be happy to listen in on that.”
Kimber broke in. “You’d better be nice, or I’m gonna leave you without backup if anything goes down.”
Arden rolled her eyes and huffed. Like she wouldn’t anyway.
The situation reminded her to get rid of listening ears so that she could talk to Colin about her plan. Time was running out. If she had any hope of following through with the crazy idea she’d concocted, she needed to get Colin on board before the meet went down.
Arden looked at Colin and gestured to the comm.
He nodded, his mouth in a straight line.
“I have to use the bathroom,” Arden said into the comm. “I’ll be off mic.” Then she clicked off her comm.
Colin raised an eyebrow and gave her a flat stare before he turned off his as well. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to ask me to do something foolish and insane?”
Arden put on her best smile, teeth and everything. “Because I am.”
“What do you want?” He acted like he wasn’t amused, a scowl on his face, but she could see the small quirk to his mouth.
It was enough to tell her that she had a shot. She gathered up her courage and said, “I want to break into Sky Tower Two.”
Colin sputtered, “Are you crazy?”
“Maybe?” She’d already asked herself the same thing many times.
“Is seeing that siskin so important that you’d risk death? And I don’t mean from the govies. If Niall catches you, he’ll skin you alive.”
“If you’re in charge of the op, he won’t find out,” she said sweetly, batting her eyes. Sometimes she could sell a crazy plan as a fun joke. She hoped this would be one of those times.
Colin didn’t buy it. “Why do you have this obsession with him? He’s getting married, M-A-R-R-I-E-D.”
“I’m not an idiot. You don’t have to spell it out for me.”