Page 53 of Blightfall

“That’s a terrifying thought,” I said. We came here hoping to find allies, but perhaps we were even more outnumbered than we thought.

Nedd finished the last bench in his section and wandered over, his rag tossed over his shoulder. As the others finished their own sections, we gathered our cleaning supplies and packs and headed back to the custodial office, where we collected metal coins from the attendant.

We left by way of the main gates, pausing on the front steps. Arturo motioned for us all to step closer so he could speak without being overheard.

“We need more information before we can determine if it’s safe to reveal ourselves to these humans,” Arturo said. “We’ll split into teams. Alanik and I will wait for most of the coliseum staff to finish work and leave, then we’ll use Hoid’s illusions to sneak back in and look behind that gate. If it’s a way off the planet, we might be able to use it to escape. Gilaf and Suki will watch our backs as we go in.”

“I’d complain about not getting to see the depths of the arena,” Suki said from her hiding place in Arturo’s pack, “but danger isn’t exactly my specialty.”

That left me and Nedd without a role. I was afraid to hope for what I thought this meant. “Do Nedd and I get to go to the pub to talk to the gladiators?”

“Yes,” Arturo said. “We don’t know exactly when the third shift is, but you’ll need time to locate the place. Once you get there, ask around and see if anyone knows when the gladiators will arrive. If you catch them, find out what they know about Elysium. If not, find out what time you need to return, and we’ll all meet back here when we’re done scouting the arena. But don’t—”

“Blow our cover,” I said. “I know.”

“I was going to say don’t take unnecessary risks,” Arturo said. “Something nefarious is happening here. These people aren’t simply prisoners and we don’t know if they’re in league with Ivy, so we can’t be sure they wouldn’t also attack us on sight if they knew who we were. If anyone acts suspicious of you, get out of there. Don’t drink anything alcoholic, or anything that might make you sick.”

“Aw,” Nedd said, “and here I thought we’d be more diplomatic if we got staggeringly drunk.”

“You won’t have illusions,” Arturo said, pointedly ignoring Nedd, “because we need them to break into the coliseum. Take some of our money and buy clothes. Find a scarf to cover Sadie’s hair and a glove for Nedd’s prosthetic.” Arturo looked from me to Nedd. “Can you two handle this?”

It was a fair question, given that neither of us was a trained spy. But if there was anything I had experience with, it was asking awkward questions. I nodded.

“I’m more worried about you guys breaking past the coliseum security,” Nedd said. “You realize you’re leaving Sadie and me to launch a rescue mission if the four of you get caught?”

“I do,” Arturo said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Sixteen

Sadie

I was going to a pub with Nedd.

I was going to a pub with Nedd!

And our flightmates weren’t with us, so I didn’t even have to mentally edit them out to pretend we were alone!

Of course, we were on a very serious mission to gather information, not to hang out with each other. And we were only going because Arturo ordered us to. And I was expected to do more talking…which meant I had to be sharp and helpful and coherent. At a pub. With Nedd.

Arturo must not know about my crush or he would have realized he’d just increased our odds of failure tenfold.

We found a shop not far from the coliseum where we used some of the metal coins we’d earned to buy clothes and a pretty blue headscarf, though we had to ask directions to a shop that sold work gloves so Nedd could find a pair that fit both his hand and his prosthetic. Before we got too far away from Hoid, we used a public restroom to change and stash our flightsuits in our bags. With no way to disguise them, we removed our earpieces—we wouldn’t need them to translate at the bar anyway. I tied the headscarf over my hair. I felt festive with it on, and the color matched my natural hair in case the cloth slipped.

I asked one of the food vendors for directions to the Angry Badger. “Down the main road there for about a kilometer,” she told us. “You’ll see the mill on your right. Walk around the building and take a left just over the bridge.”

“Thanks,” I said. We didn’t seem to have aroused any suspicion yet, so I chanced another question. “How long until third shift?”

The woman looked at me sharply. “Third shift started an hour ago,” she said. “Are you late for something?”

“Yep!” I said. “I better go!”

Nedd fell into step beside me as I hurried away.

“How awkward was that?” I asked him.

“On a scale of FM to Alanik, I’d give you a solid Jorgen,” Nedd said.

I laughed. Being compared to the admiral couldn’t be a bad thing. “Come on,” I said. “We don’t know how long third shift lasts, so we’d better hurry.”