Teorin awoke to a jolt. He looked around wildly for a second, and Lev just raised an eyebrow at him. Still in the car. Still driving. Lev. Oh stars, he wasn’t supposed to fall asleep. He was supposed to watch Lev. He’d promised Heidi.

  “I’m alive,” Lev said. “No need to panic yet.”

  Teorin’s heartbeat slowed a little, but Lev being okay didn’t make it right. Still, he took a deep breath, glancing out the windows. The jolt had just been the turnoff to the base. They were almost there.

  Straight ahead, Teorin could see a warehouse through the trees. As they got closer, an entire cluster of buildings appeared, all leading towards the beach, where a wharf stretched into the bay. The wharf itself had two ships docked there, and through the trees, Teorin could see what looked like a runway. It wasn’t in the city proper. Crisuma was miles away still, but the base was a settlement of its own.

  Still, it was usually a sparsely populated settlement. That wasn’t the case now. There was motion everywhere: people rushing about, trucks being unloaded, ATVs parked around the area. It was still early morning; the base wasn’t even at full hum yet. This wasn’t a base he’d visited, but the layout seemed similar to other Novem compounds. He’d just never seen one so busy. “What’s going on?” Teorin asked as Jeron pulled into a garage.

  Jeron shrugged. “I told you we were moving fast on this one. They’re preparing for the expedition. We head out as soon as possible.”

  Teorin glanced at Lev. He was staring out the window, watching the hustle and bustle with a frown on his face. “Did your team already figure out where you’re headed?” Teorin asked Jeron.

  Jeron nodded. “Our botany team has been doing some digging. That plant grows in a very specific region. I’m sending a team by plane later today. They’ll try to pin down an exact location to begin our search, and everyone else will join them there.”

  Teorin got out of the car. Jeron said something to Lev, and Teorin slipped out of the garage. He wouldn’t go far. He just had to get a look at everything going on. Most his assignments were solo or with small teams. Never like this. This was the kind of expedition that he dreamed of going on as a kid. A big team, all setting sail to make a big discovery, to change the world.

  Someone called his name, and Teorin spotted a scruffy man, perhaps a decade older than himself, jogging towards him. Dane.

  Teorin smiled as Dane weaved through the bustle of people, his dark green and black wing jacket distinguishing him from the crowd of Luminars. It had been ages since he’d seen Dane, not since that assignment last year in the northern rainforest. They’d got pinned down in a cave by a sombralho. The thing’s teeth had been the size of his finger. “What are you doing here?” Teorin called.

  Dane guffawed. “What do you think? I’m here to join this very prestigious expedition of course.” With his decade of experience, Dane was probably a good choice for something like this. Dane continued, “I think the better question is, what are you doing here?”

  Teorin’s excitement wilted a little at the question. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m here with Jeron.”

  Dane grinned at him. “Ah, it’s all about who you know. You’re a lucky bastard. Headed out with us then?”

  Teorin bit his lip. “Jeron wants me there, but we’ll see.”

  “Well, if Jeron wants you there, I have no doubt you will be,” Dane said with a wink. “Jeron usually gets what he wants.”

  It was true, but maybe this time that was the wrong path. Even if, deep down, Teorin sort of wanted Jeron to win.

  “Speak of the devil,” Dane said. Teorin glanced back to see Jeron waving for him to come back. “Guess you’d better be going, but I’ll see you around.” Dane clapped Teorin on the shoulder and jogged off to finish whatever task he’d been doing before.

  Teorin walked back to the garage where Jeron and Lev were waiting. Lev was leaning against the car, and Teorin flinched, realizing he should have been there to help. He’d just… he’d gotten distracted. What was he doing?

  He approached Lev, feeling a little like a dog returning with its tail between its legs, but Lev didn’t scold him. He just seemed relieved when Teorin offered his shoulder. They both trudged after Jeron, who was waiting at the door. It led them out into another courtyard.

  They passed several people checking off lists, loading boxes, and generally keeping busy. This whole base seemed to be in motion. Their path wound through a walkway between two warehouses that seemed to be one of the few places devoid of motion. Jeron unlocked the door and held it for them. The lights flicked on as they stepped inside. Shelves lined the walls inside, packed with wooden crates and burstproof metal bins.

  “What is all this stuff?” Lev asked.

  Jeron glanced around at the shelves. “This is our western storage facility. Lots of the artifacts that we find aren’t of much public interest and end up in storage for a long time.”

  Lev snorted. “So, why exactly do you want it?”

  “I’d think you could guess,” Jeron said, “considering your family tree. You never know what the scholars might want. The general public doesn’t care, but the scholars certainly do.”

  Lev scowled.

  Jeron led them to the back of the warehouse and gestured to some tables and chairs. “You two can wait here. Heidi’s on her way. There are some things that I need to check on.” He gave Teorin a look that basically said, Watch Lev, before disappearing through one of the back doors.

  Teorin helped Lev into a chair. Lev’s breath caught at the motion, and it almost seemed like he was holding his breath. “Lev?”

  “I’m fine.”

  He wasn’t fine. That much was obvious, but Lev just scowled at the far wall, avoiding his gaze. There was a distant, restless edge to him, like he wanted to pace, but couldn’t.

  After a moment, Teorin pulled out a chair for himself. “You sure you’re alright?”

  Lev glanced at him and shrugged slightly. Teorin waited for some other response, but Lev just kept watching the wall. I should probably just let him be, Teorin thought.

  They sat in silence. Teorin started tracing out patterns on the table. It was granite, not some folding table like he usually saw in Novem warehouses. Why did they need a stone table in here anyway? Maybe for working with the artifacts?

  He glanced at the burdened shelves. So many artifacts, and yet not one of them had brought them closer to their goal. Could this time really be different?

  There was a window cracked open somewhere Teorin couldn’t see, but the sounds from outside drifted in. It was almost like the sound was teasing him. Everything he had helped Novem find before ended up shelved in some warehouses like this. Forgotten.

  But this expedition? It mattered. And Jeron wanted him there.

  No, Teorin thought. Don’t think about that. Think about finding Kara.

  She was gone, and it was his fault.

  But at the same time… was he even equipped to find Kara? Novem had people who were much better equipped to deal the da Silvas. He had no real leads. Staying would just mean waiting, while everyone else sailed off toward the discovery he’d dreamed of since he was old enough to understand his father’s stories.

  His finger brushed past a spot on the table that almost looked like a star. Last week he’d been out under the stars with none of these worries. But even then, it had just been worries of a different kind.

  His father’s disappearance was always lurking somewhere at the back of his mind. And now this had all come crashing together, a way to finally finish his father’s work.

  Which duty was more important? The mission he’d been training for his whole life or helping Lev find Kara?

  He could still see the way Lev had collapsed, still hear the scream. That wasn’t going away anytime soon, but guilt didn’t make someone useful. He had nothing to show for all his frantic research last night, and beyond that, he hadn’t saved the pages. Lev had.

  All Teorin had managed to do was get Lev burned and lose Kara. What difference would it really make if he stayed?

  Maybe if he just got Lev access to Novem’s resources that would be enough. Maybe that was sufficient to make amends. There had to be someone else who would be more useful than Teorin.

  Lev sighed, interrupting Teorin’s thoughts, and said, “Jeron seemed to imply that he’s leaving soon.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Yeah,” Teorin said. “He’ll probably head out soon, but…” I’ll stay. That’s what he’d intended to do, but honestly? Lev would be better off without him. Lev needed someone who actually stood a chance against Marcus and Isi and the rest of the da Silva Clan. “We can get you resources to find your sister,” Teorin finished.

  Lev turned back to the wall and nodded grimly.

  Teorin bit his lip. He owed Lev for last night, and he was doing miserably at making it up to him. “You seem angry.”

  Lev stiffened before turning to fully face Teorin. “Really? Well, pardon me! Am I supposed to be all smiles after someone kidnaps my sister?”

  Teorin winced. “No. You’re not.” Maybe that hadn’t been the best way to get Lev talking.

  “Oh good. Because if you told me I was, I’d have to sincerely question your sanity.”

  “She’s a translator. I doubt they will hurt her,” Teorin said.

  “Oh, very comforting,” Lev said with a glare. “Sure, they need her alive. That doesn’t mean unharmed, and you know it, especially if she refuses to tell them anything.”

  Teorin wasn’t sure what to say to that.

  Lev stared him down. “It seemed before like you intended to help. What changed?”

  “It’s not that I don’t. I’ll find someone. We’ll get you any resources—”

  Lev cut him off. “What changed, Teorin?”

  The words hit harder than they should. What had changed? Nothing. Everything. Teorin swallowed and forced out, “I just had time to think about it, and I’m not the right person for the job.”

  “So, who is?”

  “I have no idea, but Novem has plenty of people who are way more qualified than me when it comes to dealing with the Clans.”

  Lev tapped his fingers against the table and let out a shaky breath. “I can’t disagree, but you did say that it was your brother and his girlfriend who kidnapped Kara. Is there anyone who understands them better than you would? Is there someone who would be more likely to find them?”

  That was actually a good point, but it wasn’t like Teorin knew Marcus that well anymore. And Isi… Jeron had made it painfully clear that Isi was off limits. “Sure. I know things about them, but finding them is a different story. You’d be better off with someone else.”

  “Is there a reason that it can’t be both?” Lev asked. “I agree. Someone else should probably come, but I also think that you are uniquely qualified to try to find my sister.”

  Teorin snorted. “Yeah, right. Qualified to fail perhaps.”

  Lev cocked his head to the side, studying Teorin for a few moments. “That's what this is really about, isn't it? On that expedition, you're just one more Pulser, but if you stay with me, the stakes are higher. You have a real responsibility, and you're afraid of failing again.”

  Teorin closed his eyes, and a playlist of his greatest hits from the last couple of days flashed through his mind: the burst breaking the comm band after he forgot to put it away, Marcus knocking him out, Kara’s scream drifting up from the stairwell, Lev falling to the ground.

  Yes, he’d certainly had enough failures these past few days. Was it wrong to think that if he stayed here with Lev, it would just be a continuation? Clearly, he was in over his head.

  Besides, it seemed crazy that Lev of all people would want him around. “I messed up that last mission so thoroughly that it's almost comical,” Teorin said. “I failed spectacularly, and the person who paid for it wasn't even me. It was you. Twice, if you count your sister and the burns. Why would you want my help?”

  Lev shrugged. “Call it a gut feeling, desperation, whatever you want, but I don’t think I can do this without you. We need to find my sister. You know the players. You know the situation. You’re neck deep in this already.”

  Teorin just stared at him. A gut feeling, really?

  Lev sighed. “Look, you messed up, made a bad call. You think I don’t ever do that? I’ve made plenty of bad calls, and then I learn from them. You fail, and then you try again. That’s how life works.”

  “And when the stakes are this high?” Teorin challenged.

  “When the stakes are this high, you want someone who cares,” Lev said, crossing his arms. “There are plenty of high stakes to go around. I need someone who cares not just about high stakes but about Kara.”

  “And you think I’m that person?” Teorin asked.

  “Yes,” Lev said with such conviction that Teorin wondered where he got it from.

  Teorin looked back down at the table. “It’s not just failing, Lev. It’s more than that. I do care about Kara… I just care about the rest of this too.”

  Lev hummed like he wanted Teorin to go on.

  Teorin continued to trace a pattern in the granite. “Everyone is getting ready to leave and…” He glanced up at Lev. “My whole life I’ve wanted to do something like this. My father died looking for a way off-planet, and this is the closest we’ve ever been.”

  Lev let out a long breath. “In a different circumstance, I’d probably admire your determination to honor your father’s memory… but I can’t.” Lev was silent for a few moments before continuing, “Teorin, I need you, not just Novem’s resources. You. I don’t think I can find Kara on my own, and there’s no one else here who seems to even remotely care about my sister.”

  “Jeron—”

  Lev cut him off. “Jeron was quite clear that if it comes down to risking Kara or having a slight edge with those pages, then it’s only worth going after Kara if Jeron can gain something.”

  They must have talked in the car, and it sounded like Lev’s conversation with Jeron had been much more direct than Teorin’s own. “And you don’t think he’d gain anything?” Teorin asked.

  Lev leaned forward against the table. “No, I think he would, but would it be enough to convince him? That’s a different question.”

  “We’re trying,” Teorin said. “We’re looking for her. I spent hours last night looking.”

  “And yet, Jeron refuses to go public with the fact that my sister is missing.”

  Teorin paused. That one he actually agreed with Jeron. Marcus was careful. A public announcement of Kara’s involvement was unlikely to do any good. It would only draw suspicion. There was almost no upside.

  “Jeron is just doing what he thinks is best,” Teorin said. “He thinks the fate of the world rests on finding that lab.”

  “And what about my sister’s fate?” Lev asked, eyes drilling into Teorin.

  It was almost like a slap in the face. Teorin had said something similar to Jeron only a few hours earlier. Teorin’s silence went on a little too long, and Lev’s earnest expression melted into anger.

  “What an astounding moral code you people have,” Lev said sarcastically.

  “Lev—” Teorin started, but he didn’t know how to finish.

  Lev looked Teorin up and down, and the glare finally broke, replaced by worry tinged with pain. It was a jolting reminder that under the loose medical jacket he was wearing, Lev still had severe burns along with the worry he was carrying about his sister’s safety.

  Lev rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Look, as it stands, we don’t know where Kara is. Jeron seems to believe we won’t find her, and he’s planned accordingly. So, it doesn’t matter if we find where she is because by then everyone equipped to deal with the situation will be gone. You’ll all leave, and this whole mess will fall by the wayside.”

  Lev drummed his fingers on the table and then continued, “This isn't me trying to pick and choose my favorite option. This is me desperate for any kind of help, and yes, you would be helpful. You know how Novem works. You know something about Kara's kidnappers. Is it ideal? No, but I believe that you’d at least sincerely try. You owe me that much. I don’t know if that would be the case with someone else. Besides, it seems like Jeron intends to take a lot of his most capable people with him.”

  That was true. Jeron had tapped a lot of his best operatives on this coast, and the other stuff…

  Teorin could see why Lev was desperate. But would Teorin staying really change anything? Lev broke the silence suddenly. “Why do you trust Jeron so much anyway?”

  Teorin gave him a long look, gauging Lev’s sincerity, but based on the earnest stare, he seemed genuinely interested in Teorin’s answer. “Jeron was a close friend of my father’s. He was almost like an uncle when I was a kid, and after my father died, he stepped in to do what he could. We needed it.”

  “We?”

  Teorin weighed Lev’s gaze. He didn’t want to share his sob story. It was just…personal, but he didn’t know how else Lev would understand. “My family. I’m the youngest of five boys. Marcus, my oldest brother, was almost 17 when my dad died. I was 9. His death left my mom with a house full of kids who didn’t know how to deal with their grief. Jeron did what he could to help.”

  Lev stared off at the wall for a few moments before responding, “Well, he doesn’t seem much inclined to help my sister.”

  “Jeron is complicated. He has devoted his life to this.”

  “And you?” Lev asked.

  “I…” He was acting like a coward, and deep down, Teorin knew it.

  Maybe he wasn’t the best person in Novem to find Kara, but… did it matter? If it was no one or him, he was by default the best option. On the expedition, Teorin would just be one more Pulser.

  He knew what he needed to do. It just hurt.

  But Lev was right. Jeron didn’t think they would find Kara, not soon to matter. Jeron was very possibly right, but in the end, that was basically giving up on her.

  And Jeron had already made it glaringly clear that no one was to look into the Isi connection. The politics there were too messy. Even so, Isi was probably their best shot at finding Kara because she might not have gone into hiding. The authorities weren’t looking for her.

  The politics were messy, but Teorin had his own connections to Isi, family ones. Jeron wouldn’t like it, but maybe… maybe Teorin could use those. He’d let the order to leave Isi be slide earlier. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it was a problem because…because it was Jeron.

  Teorin inhaled slowly, staring at the table without really seeing it. If he stayed, they might find nothing. Weeks of waiting, grasping at threads. But if he left?

  If he left, there’d be nothing. No chance at all.

  And if he didn’t stay, then who would?

  Teorin looked up. Lev was still watching him. Expectant. Determined.

  It wasn’t just about the mission anymore. It wasn’t even about Kara. It was about proving—to Lev, to Jeron, to himself—that he could get something right, even if that was only choosing to stay.

  Because in the end, even if this expedition was his father’s dream…

  He didn’t think he could look his mother in the eye and tell her he’d let Kara go.

  “You were right up on the roof,” Teorin said, running a hand through his hair. “I know I’ve been a jerk. I didn’t mean to be. But this week has been a lot, and there’s so much at stake, and…”

  He met Lev’s gaze. “You’re right. And I’m sorry. For everything. I shouldn’t have risked your life that way.”

  Lev nodded, but his gaze stayed fixed on Teorin, unwavering, waiting for more. For a promise.

  Teorin took a deep breath and gave it to him. “I’ll stay, not that it will do much good, but I’ll see what I can do. I’ll talk with Jeron about getting more resources. I can’t guarantee anything from him, but I’ll stay. We’ll see what we can do to find Kara.”

  Lev’s whole bearing seemed to soften a little. “Thank you.”

  Teorin just nodded.

  Lev steepled his fingers as he leaned against the table. “And you never know, maybe Kara will have worked out something vital to your expedition. It’s always a possibility.”

  That or Teorin’s problems would only grow. He hadn’t fared so well going up against Marcus last time. Finding out where Kara was would just be the first step. A whole mess of problems awaited them after that. However they went about it, they were going to need help.

  There was a bang as the two doors on either side of the warehouse opened at almost the same time. Jeron walked through one. Heidi and her assistant, both carrying a box in their arms, appeared from the other one. “Looks like Gregory knew what he was talking about. What are you two doing in cold storage?” Heidi called to them.

  Teorin opened his mouth to respond, but Jeron beat him to it. “How did you get here so fast, Heidi? We didn’t expect you for at least another 15 minutes.”

  Heidi grinned and set her box down on the table. “I drive fast.”

  Her assistant nodded and muttered, “Way too fast. I thought I was going to die.”

  Heidi’s grin widened for a moment, but her expression shifted to worry when her eyes landed on Lev. “But that means, you don’t have to wait. I have some techs getting all the equipment set up. I can get you all fixed up soon.”

  Lev shot Teorin a glance that was half worry, half warning. His gaze seemed to say, If you don’t keep your word. I will hunt you down. Whether that’s here or in Torolt.

  Teorin met Lev’s gaze and nodded once. He’d given his word. He didn’t intend to break it.

  Heidi helped Lev up, and they disappeared out the door, leaving Teorin and Jeron alone.

  once per week, in a consolidated update. Shorter documents, reports, and minor recovered artifacts will be catalogued and published earlier in the week as they are verified.

  It was not.

  ?? Major files/chapters → Fridays

  ?? Short, non-optional articles → Tuesdays

  ?? Supplementary Materials → designated as [BONUS] as available

  ?? Unsupervised additions from certain individuals → designated as [CHAOS], still permitted (for now)

  Archivist

  [Lev] To be clear: I didn’t break anything. The under-archivists broke everything. I merely encouraged them. Speaking of encouragement, I encourage you to read the following archive. It seems almost like a reconstruction of perspectives too. Lianne should approve.