Renewed in body and spirit—my hands fresh and tight against John's innards, my spine nubile, my focus honed on the players below—I wait for an opening.

Two Guilded walk past. They've been patrolling this area for a while and haven't changed their route yet. Perfect.

We've been watching. Waiting—so much waiting.

When they turn the corner, we move. As the last glimmer of their armor disappears from view, I relax. "All clear."

Without a noise, John drops from the wall and lands on four nimble legs. He releases us. Coodi and I crouch down and haul ass toward a tucked-away passage on the other side of the hall. We find cover behind a towering marble pillar that stretches to the vaulted ceilings of the ornate corridor. John leads us to an empty, darkened access-way.

Locked. The door doesn't budge when we approach.

The Guilded are due to approach any second. When they return around the corner, they'll spot the three of us hunched around the entryway like it's a campfire on a chilly night and boom—we're toast.

When they turn the corner again, I take the left soldier out with an elbow to the face and throat. As quietly as a ghost, Coodi's swift work of the right soldier returns us to our objective. We drag one of the heavy bodies to our hidden corner, rubbing parts of his armor near or on the door. Nothing unlocks it.

"Fuck," I whisper as I let the unconscious soldier's body slip from my arms to the ground. "Any thoughts on how to open this thing?"

On delicate, nimble legs, John taps his way toward us. Holding my breath, my hope on mute, I egg him on with my eyes.

Yes, John. You can do it. If anyone can find a way in, it's you.

Using his enormous front claws as drills, he spins them against the door. The metal screams. It shrieks, piercing the swollen silence of the mausoleum-still corridor. The high-pitched shrill of his metal claws sparking against the barrier echos until I'm sure the entire galaxy is aware of our position.

When he retreats from his impromptu project, there's a hole big enough for the three of us to crawl through. John backs away, a tiny bubble popping in his neck.

"Are you serious?" I hiss into his stump. "Are you trying to get us caught?"

"Commander, hostiles approaching at our nine."

Over my left shoulder, four Guilded storm the halls. Their spears are lowered and pointed directly at our heads.

I turn and dive into the opening while being careful to avoid the hot, jagged metal protruding from it like teeth in a snarling, wide-open mouth. Coodi carefully maneuvers herself in after me. Once John climbs through, we look to the room to continue our journey.

Stone stairs curl up and down. No one is around—we'd hear the clap of their boots against the cold mineral if there was anyone here. Coodi and I find a nook near the door and disappear into the shadows. John scuttles ahead.

Golden helmets pop through the door and groan as the small opening tears the skin not covered by their cumbersome armor. When they eventually make it through, they wait for noise.

In the distance, John makes a ruckus loud enough for them to assume we've gone up. They rush away and through another door on a different floor. When it slams shut and silence permeates the hall, Coodi and I gaze at each other and grin.

We take a quick second to catch our breath. Collapsing onto one of the cold steps, I shake my head and laugh. "They could have opened the door and have walked through." I snort. "Moon was right. They're brainless."

Coodi drops to the seat next to me. She shakes her shaggy head and shares in my levity for one quick second. Where the small burst of humor comes from isn't a huge mystery. Seeing Kai has always had that affect on me.

We wait again. When the next moving part completes, we can initiate the next step, but until we get Ledi's word that Moon is in place, we wait.

This is killing me. If this is how strategy works, I'm still not a fan. I want to leap into action—to skip steps two through ninety-nine so I can start working on the grand finale. This waiting is going to kill me.

A few minutes later, Ledi's words whisper through my blue botton. "New location incoming. Sending to Xani Rover now."

John ticks his way around our heads. Back from his field trip, I pet his steely leg as he passes. He's ready to go and so am I.

"Roger," I say. "Waiting for signal."

I lean forward, my elbows on my knees, and pick at the dry cuticles around my nails. Coodi sits straight, her ever-watchful gaze scanning our surroundings. In the silence, my mind races.

"Do you think he'll show?"

I don't lean back to look at her, but I can feel her gaze on my back. "Commander Kamalani? I think so."

"We did the best we could."

"It's devastating news to drop so suddenly, Commander. He most likely needs time to process. Maybe?"

My body is steady. It doesn't jostle like it used to when I was nervous. Instead, I become statuesque. "He better. Or I'll go back there and kill him myself."

Coodi laughs quietly. "Holy heap."

"Yep."

We return to silence. A nagging need surfaces from my heart to scratch my sweaty palms. Hiding in this room is something so un-Janika Lorn, it tears at my skin, urging me to action. But with Coodi here, her calm energy radiating toward me like two arms enveloping my body, I remain in place. I look over my shoulder at her dark eyes that are straight ahead. Her strands of black hair slicked back fall to the sides, parted down the middle of her head, framing her gaunt face. She is so severe now. She's what I need.

"Thank you," I say.

She shakes her head as if surprised. "For what?"

"For having my six."

I don't want her to say something that will remind me of our positions—of the fact that I'm her commanding officer and it's her duty to follow my ass around, so I cut her off when she opens her mouth to speak.

"For being there when you didn't have to be. I want you to know that I'm glad we're friends."

She softens. Her shoulders curve in as she leans forward to put her hand on my knee. "I'd follow you anywhere."

"Don't let Moyra hear you say that."

She grins and faces away. "She knows my loyalties are different but equal for both of you. I..."

"You love her?"

Her grip tightens on my knee. She squeezes me as if the words are painful to say. "I love her."

I know the quiet agony of that sentiment so well—how it feels like an unpatriotic flag to bear in these turbulent times of our dwindling population. The eradicated poetry, literature, and all other bits of love's propaganda to keep it from us so we wouldn't know its divine torture. But love found a way to seep through the cracks and return to us again. Coodi and Moyra are proof of this. Maybe Dean and I are too.

Draping my arm over Coodi's bony shoulders, I pull her in to lean on my side. "This will work. We're on our way to a really happy ending, Coodi. I can feel it."

We're interrupted by static emitting from my collar. The blue button glows with soft light.

Someone activated the transmission.

Coodi gazes at me with the same confusion.

This isn't the signal.

Voices garble through. I can barely perceive them until one loud, angry word cuts in.

"Moon."

It's Juno's deep purr.

I sit straight and hold my collar out to help Coodi listen in. Moon and Ledi aren't supposed to be near Juno yet. That's not until phase five. My body hollows with the sudden realization that we are way off course.

The plan is fucked.

The plan is gone and Ledi is sharing this transmission to let me in on the fact that all hell is about to dance on my grave.

If Moon is there in the room with Ledi, he doesn't make a sound. Juno's rolling, mocking, thunderous laugh continues.

"Juno's Little Moon. You seem to have caught yourself in another woman's sticky web. What a pity."

The voice is distant as if she's standing far from the communicator. Tiny, tinkling metal clinks like jewels raining on a sheet metal. The sound of bare feet padding across stone floors echoes through the line. She must be approaching.

"Commander Janika Lorn." She closes in. Her deep, throaty speech booms as if up against my ear. Ledi must still be disguised as me if she's addressing me directly. "Juno has heard much about your adventures and has seen your triumph during the games. Your skill is admirable. It is no wonder that you have caught Juno's Moon's..."

There's a pause. Clothes rustle. Moon groans.

"...attention."

The naked mockery in her voice incites a tongue of anger to flare up in me. How could he love someone who hurts him like that? How the fuck is he letting her touch him, berate him, handle him when every time I've even come within inches of his body, he lashes out.

"Give me the hostages, Juno. Then you can have this sad piece of work and we'll be out of your hair for good," Ledi says in my voice.

"That's not the promise Juno made to the others."

Coodi and I turn to face each other as Ledi digs deeper. "What others?"

"The man and the woman from Earth. A deal is a deal. Juno's word is her honor."

Moon scoffs loud enough to drag my attention away from the questions firing off in my mind.

"What is wrong, Little Moon? Do you not agree that Juno's honor is impregnable? That what Juno promises, Juno delivers?" Each question digs a deeper trap for him to fall into.

He doesn't say anything. For someone who says a lot of stupid shit, when in her presence, he's speechless.

My voice cuts through the tension. "Listen, Juno. I don't have much time. Do we have a deal or not?"

"Juno did not ask for Moon. She asked for you, Commander Lorn. Give up yourself and your people so that the innocent may live. You do not get too bargain. This is not your deal."

"Hey!" Ledi shouts as me. "Get off! Let me go."

The line fills with the scraping of clothes, of my grunts through a struggle. Suddenly, it all goes quiet.

My voice returns, strained. "You... can't... get away with this, Juno."

"Juno will retrieve your ship since you did not have the courtesy to bring it to Juno."

"No!" Ledi screams.

More shuffling emits. I bite my nail too far. A drop of blood curls around my thumb and plummets to the floor, but I barely notice. My eyes are fixated on the door ahead while my heart and soul are in the room with Moon, Ledi, and Juno.

A baby cries.

My body tenses. I grab Coodi's arm and squeeze it tight, attempting to stay grounded as the child's wails pierce the stairwell.

The sound of feet against stone returns. Fabric rustles. The crying subsides. "Oh, Love. Juno's Love, do not cry. Mother is here."

I shoot to my feet, my arms and legs trembling.

"Juno," Ledi says in my strained voice. "Release the people. Or else."

Juno doesn't respond. She coos and hums the beginning of a song I don't know.

"Juno!" Ledi screams again.

"What will you do, Commander Lorn?" Juno speaks gently as if her words could shatter the delicate items in the room. "Captain Moon will never harm me."

"Moon..."

Silence. The desperation in Ledi's plea resonates with my own soul's clenched worry. Please, I throw the prayer into the Olympi hoping somehow Captain Shin-Hyun Moon can telepathically hear me. Please save my baby.

Ledi asks again, my voice wavering and broken. "Captain?"

Something heavy drops. In my mind, I see Moon falling to his knees. "I'm sorry, Lorn."

In my heart, I know he is speaking directly to me.

"No! No. Don't do this. You promised. This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Take her away," Juno orders.

Through Ledi's protests and screams, I hear Juno's fait but damning, "Welcome home."

The line dies.

I don't realize how badly I'm shaking until I collapse where I stand. I raise my hands and grab fistfuls of my hair.

Breathe.

"Commander?"

He betrayed us.

Breathe.

"Commander Lorn? Are you okay?"

He chose her. Of course he chose her over me. He hates me. The show on my shuttle was a ploy. It was all to get him back here to her good graces. I was played.

"Janika."

I raise my gaze through my fists that trap my face. "What, Coodi?"

"What do we do now?"

My rage is undefinable. It has replaced all the moving parts of my body and is my fuel more than blood, love, hope, or maternal instinct.

He will pay.

He will fucking pay for this.

"Ledi," I whisper into the button. "Who else was on that line?"

In his ship-voice, he responds. "Only you."

"We stick to the plan."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ledi. Thank you."

He doesn't respond. He doesn't need to. I know Ledi is on his way, off to perform the duty that was assigned to both him and Moon. I trust that he'll be able to accomplish it alone, even if I hate that he has to. Umpire will be there. My friends.

Now I know who they are and who they aren't.

I jerk my head toward the door, unable to articulate my need to plow forward with this ridiculous plan now that our main player has fucked it all to hell. We rush down the stairs, jumping two three at a time, the flights disappearing above us until the air thins, the cold seeps through my jacket and pimples my neck. When we are encased in darkness, I know we've reached our destination.

My old friend. The brig.

**A/N**

For my game of two truths and a lie, so many said that the dreadlocks were my lie...

Sorry, friends. I had dreads.

My lie: I've never been skydiving. Not once. This is a huge pain-point in my life. I've ALWAYS wanted to go, but I live among a troop of very safe, very worried people, so many of my adventurous excursions have been shot down, or I've had to do them in secret. Sound familiar? 😏

As for the Zac Efron movie, I was on the set of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. I watched them shoot in the hotel I was visiting in Hawaii when I was living on-island. My friend and I were there for a beach-side horse ride and we ended up staying to watch Zac Efron check into the fake hotel. It was a wild ride.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? Shit is getting real on the Olympi. As always, thanks for your love and support ❤️