out, disoriented, as if she had lost her grip on the roof and was tumbling through the air.
"He's gone."
The voice came from just beneath her, and she went very still.
Vannie.
Fury swept through her. This woman had killed--
"We're going to have to go after Sugotti." Simon stepped into view, out from under the roof's eaves on the far side of the loading bay.
Go after him? Hana had to make herself listen over the roaring in her ears.
"Linnel just took out Oniba with a laz, and all you have to say is we have to go after Sugotti?" Vannie's voice sounded thin and brittle.
Simon sighed. “I don't think Oniba's dead. I'm guessing Linnel is taking him to a medbay. Linnel may be behaving strangely, but he's not suicidal. He wouldn't have risked himself with that laz. He probably had it on the lowest setting.”
Hope began to bloom inside Hana's chest. She'd come here to rescue Iver, but it looked like he'd rescued himself.
Vannie was shaking her head. “Even so, it can kill in the right--”
“I know, Van. What do you think this is? People are getting killed all the time. Lancaster is dead. We've killed others indirectly. Just because we haven't pulled the trigger ourselves yet doesn't mean we weren't involved. And what were we going to do to Sugotti and his pilot? We were going to kill them."
She was silent. "I don't like this anymore. It sounded like such a great idea in the beginning. But now--"
"Bit too real for you?" Simon's voice was derisive.
"Yes." She stepped out to join him. "And now we've got our own people turning on us. We've lost the advantage. Sugotti isn't just not dead. He's on the loose. I don't think he saw Banyon's face, but the pilot did, and Sugotti has certainly seen ours. We have to go underground now. No more hiding in plain sight."
"That was always going to happen. It just came up a bit sooner on the schedule."
“But Linnel--”
“At least it wasn't the Protection Unit. I can deal with Linnel.” He lifted a comm device. "It's me. Sugotti got away." He held the device away from his head for a beat or two, a dark look on his face. "Blame Linnel. He had a fucking laz, and he tried to shoot Sugotti with it. Took out Oniba instead, and Sugotti got away. Sugotti's still in restraints, and he's on foot. Vannie and I are going after him now."
He widened his stance, looked down at the ground as he listened. "Linnel got away on a dru-dru, not sure where he's going, but he's got Oniba with him. He's probably taking him for medical help. Get one of those people you were going to call to stop the pilot and have them grab him. They'll have enough to lock him away, what with the unconscious body in his trailer and the laz in his possession, and all."
He paused, then lifted the comms device away from his ear and looked at it. “Fuck you, too, Banyon.”
The sound of a vehicle coming up the street had Hana turning her head, but instead of looking nervous, Vannie moved past Simon toward the sound.
“Cribo's got a lander for us.” She didn't check to see if Simon was following her.
He stared after her for a beat, then headed for the lander himself.
Hana waited for them to disappear and then wriggled down the side of the building and stood in the darkening alley between Simon's warehouse and the one next to it, thinking about where to go next.
Where would Iver go?
Her heart caught a little just thinking about the question, because he was alive and she had been so sure he was dead.
Relief washed over her, not in one big wave, but smaller, choppy slaps of emotion.
She leaned against the wall to collect herself.
Vannie and Simon didn't know where he was any more than she did, so following them would be a waste of time. She needed to use what she knew of him to work out his next move.
The council offices were a good guess, but Vannie and Simon would probably think so, too. And if Banyon had come through with his promise to have people in place to stop them both, Iver would need her help if he went there.
It was as good a starting point as any.
She'd already started moving through the shadows before she noticed the man blocking the end of the alleyway.
She couldn't see his face, but his shape was outlined in the fading