The Bruckhaven trolley squealed to a stop at the Industrial Zone’s station. Kaelis hovered at the doors, nearly pressed up against the metal, raring for them to open. The instant they did, she burst out of the car like a bullet, with Sheah glued to her heels. Dodging past the packs of early morning commuters, the two women hustled straight to the exit stairway. They bound up the steps two at a time, emerging onto the city streets above.

  “This way!” shouted Sheah with a wave of her hand. She took off towards the abandoned factory dominating the district in the distance.

  “You don’t—have to keep sayin’ that,” huffed Kaelis as the two of them kicked into a full gallop.

  The pair whipped down the block, past the factory fence and around the corner, coming to the row of quaint brick storefronts lining the far side of the street. Kaelis smiled with relief as they neared their destination—soon they’d be at the broker, and this whole mess would finally be behind them.

  Sheah pointed to the shop occupying the corner of the block, its large display window catching the morning light. “There it… is…” All at once, her voice trailed off into a whisper. She puttered to a dead stop, staring at the building with deepening distress.

  Kaelis slowed, joining Sheah’s side, growing equally troubled at the sight before her. Surrounding the store across the street were the slate-clad silhouettes of a half-dozen police officers. They milled about the entryway, taking notes, inspecting the shop, and casually conversing with one another. Large wooden barricades had been set up about the facade, keeping back the morbidly curious bystanders hoping to glimpse of any potentially grisly goings-ons.

  “That’s the place?” asked Kaelis, double checking to make sure they hadn’t stumbled into yet another disaster. To her dismay, Sheah rushed straight towards the crime scene. She sprinted across the road with abandon, narrowly dodging a cargo landship rolling down the way. “Hey, hold on!” Kaelis shouted, rushing after her.

  Sheah made a beeline towards what appeared to be the ranking police officer at the site: a grizzled, indifferent-looking man in a dusty trench coat standing near the building’s side alleyway. He was slouched over a frayed notepad, listlessly scribbling onto its pages.

  “Ex—excuse me, constable,” Sheah wheezed, struggling to speak between deep gasps of air.

  “Inspector,” corrected the man, refusing to even look up from his writing.

  Joining Sheah and the inspector, Kaelis threw her hands on her knees, struggling to catch her breath after such a long morning of sustained motion. “What—what’s goin’ on here?” she puffed.

  “Was there a burglary of some sort, Inspector?” asked Sheah.

  “Move it along, ladies,” the man flatly replied, face staying buried in his notes.

  “I trust it is nothing too serious,” said Sheah, clasping her hands together.

  The inspector snapped his fingers and pointed down the road. “I said beat it.”

  “Is the broker here?” asked Kaelis.

  Grumbling, the man finally looked up from his scribbling. “If I gotta tell you ladies one more time—”

  “Please, sir,” said Sheah. “We have a meeting with the proprietor of this establishment. Is he in? I very much need to speak with him. He is my uncle, you see. Please, it is urgent.”

  The inspector dropped his arms. He let out a sigh, glancing at Sheah with a saddened, almost sympathetic grimace. “Oh, er, I see…” he mumbled, fiddling with his stylish sideburns. “Look, I, uh, I don’t know how to tell ya, but… well… your uncle, he, uh… he punched his own ticket.”

  Sheah blinked at the man, his blunt answer passing over her like air. “I… I beg your pardon?” she said. “What… what do you mean?”

  “Oh. He, uh… He’s dead. Killed himself.”

  Kaelis reeled, the man’s words churning in her head for several seconds. The broker, he… was dead? The more she repeated it to herself, the more her stomach shriveled. She looked to her comrade, unsure of what to even say.

  Sheah just stood there, stiff as a statue, managing only a twitch. She stared wide-eyed into nothing as her entire body slowly drained of its color. “…D—dead…?” she finally rasped, barely able to speak.

  “Yeah,” said the inspector. “I, uh… I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Sheah’s eyes fluttered. At once her body turned limp, her legs buckling beneath her.

  “Sheah!” Moving fast, Kaelis caught her teammate before she collapsed to the pavement. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” she said, trying her best to comfort her comrade as she carried her back to her feet.

  The inspector resumed his scribbling. “Are you, uh, both relations?” he asked.

  “Huh? Uh, n-no, not me,” Kaelis answered while propping Sheah upright. “Just her.”

  “Right,” said the man. “Well, either way, best you know about this before the papers get ahold of it…”

  “A—ahold of what?” squeaked Sheah.

  The inspector frowned. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your uncle there, he was caught selling inside info from one of the companies in order to steal from them—real shady stuff. And from the looks of the scene, once he was found out he took his own life rather than face the consequences. It’s a sad business, but this kinda thing happens every now and then.”

  Sheah sputtered, at a loss for words. Very slowly, a dreadful fear seemed to seep into her eyes. “…Hh… How?” she wheezed.

  “How what?”

  “How did he do it?”

  “Oh.” The inspector grimaced. “Ah, I really don't think you wanna—”

  “Please,” Sheah implored. “I must know.”

  “Right, well, uh…” the inspector muttered, rubbing his eye. “He, um, cut his throat. Fwsh—right across the jugular, he was gone in a flash.”

  Sheah recoiled, her face pulled long. She staggered backwards, hovering her hands over her mouth in horror. “No…” she whispered. “No…” Little by little, her face began to contort with shades of anguish. The color rushed back into her skin as her lips trembled and her eyes welled with tears. Unable to keep herself together, she shoved her way past Kaelis and recklessly raced back across the busy road, slipping through the gates of the old factory.

  “Sheah!” Kaelis shouted after her. She took a step into the road to pursue, only to be stopped by a wall of angry horns. “Ah, shit!” With a yelp, she leapt back onto the sidewalk seconds before a caravan of small cargo landships blasted down the road towards the mainland.

  Huffing, Kaelis threw her hands on her hips and paced around, waiting for the traffic to clear. After a few seconds, she looked down the row, only to see, to her frustration, that the lengthy convoy wasn’t about to pass any time soon.

  “My condolences again to your friend,” said the Inspector. He finished his scribbling with a slight flourish and then stuffed his notepad into his coat. With that, he marched over to the storefront. “Alright, let's wrap this up!” he shouted, wrangling up the rest of the officers.

  Kaelis stood by, waiting for the last few ships in the convoy to pass, confusion rattling her brain. Something was beyond wrong here—had the broker lied to Sheah, was he really just using them to steal from the companies? No, that didn’t seem right, seeing how much she seemed to trust him. And even if he had lied, there was no corporate presence at that temple, no claim of any kind—so how could they have possibly stolen anything?

  Just then, Kaelis sensed something out of the corner of her eye—movement, coming from beside the brokerage. Glancing over, she found a figure skulking in the shadows of the alleyway, watching over the crime scene. It was a woman: a striking beauty, prim and exotic, adorned in tight, adventurous clothing with a braided ponytail trailing down to her lower back. Leaned against the wall, she took a long draw on a slim cigarette, its glow revealing her eyes—they were locked squarely on Kaelis.

  Kaelis stiffened. Instantly, she spun back around, acting coy, pretending to not have noticed. She returned her attention to the convoy, fighting the urge to glance back at the woman. Was she being watched? No, that’d be ridiculous. Even so, there was something weirdly familiar about the woman, something Kaelis couldn’t quite place. She’d seen her before, somewhere. Kaelis was sure of it. But where?

  Regardless, her hunt for the woman’s identity would have to wait—catching up to Sheah was all that mattered. Straightening her bag of loot, Kaelis stepped to the edge of the sidewalk, watching as the last of the caravan rumbled past. The moment the road was clear, she pushed off from the curb and bounded across the street, heading towards the abandoned factory in pursuit of her companion.

  As she reached the factory gates, an uneasy feeling rippled up her spine—was that woman still watching her? She quickly paused to take one last hurried glance back at the alleyway. To her relief, the mysterious woman was gone. Kaelis shook her head—she was probably being paranoid, frazzled by all of the traumatic news. There was absolutely no way anyone was spying on her. Tabling the thought, she slipped through the gap in the gates and sped off towards the building.

  The factory’s dented iron door was already cracked open when Kaelis arrived. Pushing her hands against it, she crept her way inside. “Sheah? You in here?” she softly called as she moved deeper into the building.

  The quiet sounds of sniffling answered her, echoing out from the back of the massive, empty hall. The factory floor was truly enormous, taking up nearly half of the city block, with a high, raftered ceiling and rows of grime-encrusted windows. Mounds of dust and small scraps of industrial debris littered the ground. All around the room were remnants of great machines, their outlines and fastenings still visible on the ground like an erstwhile crime scene. But despite its derelict state, the building itself was largely intact, with clear signs of having only been shuttered recently.

  Kaelis took a step deeper into the empty production floor. A sharp scraping sound suddenly rattled under her toe. She glanced down to see a flat strip of metal beneath her foot, its layer of dust loosened by her kick. Printed on it was a faded logo, reading: ‘Ziedler Motors’.

  Kaelis frowned, the pieces all clicking into place. With a wistful sigh, she carried on, zeroing in on the muffled sounds of sobbing. She followed them over to the base of a raised office overlooking the factory floor.

  “Sheah?” Kaelis cooed as she climbed the office’s slender iron steps. Reaching the top, she peeked her head inside.

  Sure enough, there sat Sheah, slumped on a half-broken stool in the middle of the otherwise barren room. She wept into her hands, gasping for breath between deep, harrowing sobs.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Heyyy…” soothed Kaelis.

  Stirring, Sheah looked over, her eyes red, her face stained with tears. “Kaelis…” she whimpered. “My—my Uncle Karsten, he… This is all my fault!”

  “Hey, no, don’t say that,” said Kaelis. She slid in and laid an awkward hand on her teammate’s back. “These things happen, and I, uh… Everything’s gonna be okay, I promise.”

  “I… I should have turned him down,” croaked Sheah. “I should have just accepted my fate. And now, because of me he’s… he was…” Sucking in a deep breath, she glanced up at Kaelis, fear and anger dancing on the edge of her eyes. “Kaelis… he was murdered.”

  Kaelis twitched, taken aback. “Wait, what? Murdered?” she sputtered. “Hold on, why would you think… That inspector said—”

  “The crime scene is a forgery; a lie. I know my uncle, and he would never do such a thing, least of all out of cowardice. No, this was vengeance, carried out by the same company who now claims to have been robbed.”

  “Wait,” said Kaelis. “So you’re saying…?”

  Sheah nodded, dead certainty in her eyes. “Verloren Industries.”

  Kaelis clenched her eyelids, reeling at the outlandishness of the accusation. She shook her head, stammering, “Sheah, that’s—I’m sorry, but that’s insane.”

  “Is it?” Sheah retorted. “The run on the temple, the capital ship we saw, company suits sweeping the docks—everything points to them!”

  “Okay, sure… maybe,” said Kaelis. “But… murder? Veroren’s just a landship manufacturer. They got a lot of power, sure, but… I just can’t see it.”

  “That is because you do not know them as I do!” Sheah insisted. “They take, and they take, and if you get in their way, they will make it seem as though you never existed!” She gestured toward the office’s bay window, and the empty factory that stretched on below it. “Just look—look what they did to my family, what remains of our legacy! Naught by dust!”

  Holding back her tears, Sheah bowed her head. A long moment passed in silence. Finally, she spoke again.

  “Verloren would be nothing if it were not for us…” she croaked.

  “What do you mean?” said Kaelis.

  Expelling a mournful breath, Sheah brought herself to her feet and drifted over to the window. She pressed her hand against the glass and gazed longingly at the factory floor below. “Leviticus Ziedler, my grandfather, he was one of Verloren’s founders,” she said with restrained pride. “He designed and built their first ships. You won’t hear much about it these days, though—the Metzer family had it erased from the public record after they muscled him out. But that did not dissuade his passion for the craft. He went on to build Ziedler Motors, and used this factory to produce some of the finest ships this world had ever seen. And then, when I was young, he passed, and the company became my dad’s.”

  She exhaled another wistful sigh as she gazed at a passing memory, a pleasant ray of remembrance shining through her gloom. “I used to beg my dad, plead with him, to bring me along whenever he would come to Bruckhaven on business.” She cracked a soft smile. “And if my schooling allowed it, he never refused. I would spend hours up here, watching them assemble the test ships. The floor would start empty, and then in a matter of hours a machine of true beauty would coalesce before my very eyes. It was… like magic. There used to be so much… so much life here…” Sheah’s smile faded away. “And then one day it was gone.”

  “What happened?” asked Kaelis.

  Sheah took a moment to answer, softly wringing her hands together. “…It was during the speed test of the Rioza model—projected to be our fastest yet. My parents were aboard the test ship, when… when suddenly it…” She released a wavering breath. “A ‘catastrophic accident’ the papers called it. There was… there was nearly nothing left… Only… pieces…” Shaking her head, she chased away the memories. “Then… with dad gone, and the Ziedler name in tatters, Aurik Metzer and his Verloren cronies swooped in and consumed the company for a song. And all I could do was watch…”

  Little by little, Sheah’s sorrow seemed to fade, hardening into a righteous anger. “But the speed test was no accident!” she fiercely declared, her firsts clenched with a fiery passion. “I am certain of it!”

  Kaelis took a stunned step back—she’d never seen Sheah so sure about anything before.

  “The Rioza was rife with safety features,” Sheah continued. “It had a half-dozen redundancies, it could never have failed in such a way. It had to be Verloren sabotage, I know it in my very soul. For years Chairman Metzer had been trying to knock us down, poaching our brightest and spreading slander of our name. And yet we endured in spite of him. And when we showed we could not be beaten, he and his revealed their true depravity. They… they took my parents from me, my home… And now they’ve taken the last family I had…”

  As Sheah’s tale trailed off, Kaelis felt a rush of sympathy swelling her throat. She moved in and put a warm hand on her teammate’s shoulder. “Sheah… I’m… so sorry,” she expressed.

  Sheah quietly nodded, appreciating her comrade’s condolences.

  “…Look—how about we head back to the ship?” said Kaelis after a pause. Slipping out a subtle grimace, she chose her next words delicately. “Ya know, we can take a breather and just… think some things over.”

  Gingerly, Sheah removed Kaelis’s hand from her shoulder. “You don’t believe me…” she muttered, offended.

  Kaelis waved her palms around. “I mean… I don’t not believe you. It’s just… Okay, sure, maybe Verloren did your family’s business dirty, but how can you be sure everything hasn’t just been… bad luck?”

  “It isn’t,” Sheah asserted. “I know it isn’t. They killed my parents, they killed Uncle Karsten, and when they discover our involvement in this plot, they will come for us as well.”

  Kaelis pinched the bridge of her nose, growing frustrated at her teammate’s insistence. “Look, I’m sorry,” she said, “but what you’re sayin’—it just sounds a little bit crazy. Say what you will about ‘em, but Verloren Industries, they’re just a company, and companies don’t have people killed. It's not like this is some kinda grand conspiracy—”

  Slam!

  A loud clang suddenly echoed through the factory. Kaelis and Sheah promptly froze, snapping their attention towards the office window. Together they scanned the production floor, searching for the cause of the disturbance.

  At the far end of the factory appeared a woman, long-haired and striking—the same woman from the alleyway. Stepping through the door still swinging from her kick, she prowled deeper into the building, a silver pistol leveled in her grip.

  “I said: the two suspects have entered the old factory on State and Industry,” she irritably reported into her radio. “Don’t worry, I’m on it. They won’t get far.”

  Kaelis and Sheah immediately dropped out of sight, throwing their backs against the wall below the window.

  Kaelis bit her lip, aghast—she really was being watched. “Lords above,” she panickedly whispered. “This is some kinda grand conspiracy!”

  “See? I told you!” Sheah softly scolded.

  “Okay, you win.”

  “You having faith in me is not a contest!”

  “Well, whatever. I’m sorry for doubting you, gosh.”

  Moving together, the pair furtively peered back over the windowsill, studying the woman as she aimed her pistol into the factory’s corners.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Sheah.

  Acting fast, Kaelis reached under her skirt and whipped her revolver out of its hidden holster. She brought her gun to a ready position, cocking back the hammer.

  “Where did you get that?” Sheah demanded to know.

  “I brought it. Obviously.”

  Sheah shook her head. “We mustn’t escalate this. We don’t yet know what she wants.”

  “But she has a gun!”

  “We should refrain from violence until absolutely necessary.”

  Frumping, Kaelis holstered her pistol. “Fine, then what’s your plan? You remember the best way to get outta here?”

  Sheah thought for a moment before nodding. She peeked through the window, looking towards the mouth of a lengthy hallway just a few meters from the office. “That corridor leads to the administrative wing,” she said with a flick of her nose. “We can lose her in there. This way.” Without further warning, she grabbed Kaelis by the wrist and pulled her to her feet.

  Suddenly on the move, Kaelis let Sheah lead the way. Together the two women raced from the office, slid under the stair’s railing, bounded down a pile of wooden crates, and took off towards the long corridor.

  “Hey!” the armed woman instantly shouted in the distance. “Hey, I see you! Stop!” She burst into a full sprint, chasing the duo down.

  Kaelis and Sheah spilled into a drab corridor with taupe tiles and beige walls. A few narrow hallways split off from the path, trailing off to places only Sheah would know.

  BLAM!—Just then, a thunderous warning shot rang out down the corridor, followed by a plume of dust erupting out of the ceiling above Kaelis’s head. The two women jolted.

  “Ah! Shooting! She’s shooting!” Kaelis yelped.

  A look of resolve fell over Sheah’s face. She fixed her sights on one of the upcoming side halls. “I have a plan,” she revealed. “Keep going!” Abruptly, she broke away, ducking into a branching passage.

  “Sheah, wait!” Kaelis called, attempting to follow. Just then, another warning shot exploded into the wall close beside her. Cursing, she leapt back and quickly resumed her flight down the hall.

  Kaelis wheeled around the corner at the end of the corridor, following the signs to the administrative wing. She slid to a stop. To her great dismay, the set of double doors leading to the wing were sealed shut, bound together by a thick chain. She was at a dead end.

  “Aw, ass.” With no time to waste, Kaelis pulled out her pistol. She whipped back around, taking aim just as the woman turned the corner.

  Slowing to a stop, the woman steadied her grip on her gun. She hovered there, studying Kaelis with deadly intent. The pair became locked in a bitter standoff.

  Now in the light, Kaelis could see the woman clearer. She had definitely seen her somewhere before—if the woman didn’t kill her, then the question was going to. Embroidered on the woman’s loudly-colored jacket was her only clue: a Verloren Industries logo. Whoever she was, she wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill security guard. She was a field agent, no doubt about it.

  The agent put on a fake pout. “Aw, looks like your fwiend abandoned you.”

  “I’m used to it,” Kaelis retorted, realizing too late how lame that sounded.

  “Alright, come on,” said the agent, making an effort to be diplomatic. “Drop the gun, don’t be an idiot.”

  Kaelis thought about it for a moment. “Mmm… No.”

  The agent took a step forward, growing annoyed. “I’m not giving you a choice,” she hissed, leveling her aim at Kaelis’s chest. “Some of you Expos stole something important from us, and I'm thinking you know all about it. So, you’re coming with me back to headquarters for questioning, and if you don’t put down that ratty six-iron in the next five seconds then I'm going to shoot you in the heart. How's that sound?”

  “Eat glass, corporate stooge.”

  The agent flared her nostrils. “I only need one of you, and your little friend won’t get far,” she growled, cocking her gun as a final threat. “Last chance.”

  Kaelis tensed her body and wrapped her finger around her trigger. If she could time it just right, she could dive out of the way and fire, and maybe, if she was lucky, she wouldn’t get shot anywhere too important.

  The two women eyed each other dangerously, waiting for the other to make the first move. An electric tension crackled through the air, the eruption of bloody violence threatening to let loose at any moment.

  Crack!

  “Bwa—!” The agent suddenly let out a breathy cry as a wood plank snapped in half over her head. Tipping over, she crumpled to the ground in a heap.

  Standing over her limp body was Sheah, broken length of wood in hand.

  “…That was your plan?!” Kaelis shouted. She threw her gun into its holster, feeling equal parts relieved and annoyed.

  “Well, not exactly,” Sheah admitted. “I had intended for something more clever, but I ran out of time.”

  “You don’t say!”

  Sluggishly, the Verloren agent began to show signs of life. She squirmed on the ground, breathing out a pained moan. Kaelis casually stepped over the agent's body, studying her bloodied face as she did. She was positive she knew this woman—it was on the tip of her brain.

  Finally, it hit her. “Oh, no way!" Kaelis excitedly declared. “I almost didn’t recognize her without her armor. Boss, do you know who that is?”

  Sheah tapped her cheek. “She does look somewhat familiar…”

  “That’s Seras Pfeiffer,” Kaelis revealed, watching the woman writhe. “The Seras Pfeiffer. I can’t believe it took me this long—she was just in the news for taking out a bunch of pirates. She’s one of Verloren’s Executive Agents!”

  Sheah soberly nodded. “Ah, I see. Hmm.”

  After a beat, Kaelis’s excitement at the wounded celebrity in their midst quickly crumbled away. “Oh…” she breathed, realizing what an agent’s presence meant. “…We’re, uh, in real big trouble, aren’t we?”

  “Quite,” said Sheah, pursing her lips. “We should vacate.” Kaelis nodded in agreement, and together the pair briskly made their way down the hall.

  “Still, I’m surprised you got the drop on a field agent,” Kaelis said as they fled. “That’s not easy to do. It’s a good thing she thought you were a coward, I guess.”

  “I am not a coward!”

  “Well, I know that, but she—Forget it. Let’s just get back to the Red.”

  “No,” said Sheah sternly. “The Redland Runner is no longer safe. If they knew about Uncle Karsten, then it is only a matter of time before they learn who we are as well.”

  “Well, then what’re we gonna do?”

  Sheah mulled over their options. “We need to get a hold of Captain Sirroza. She has been in situations far worse than this, I am certain. She will know what to do.”

  “Okay, but—,” said Kaelis, shaking her head. “How exactly are we supposed to get to her if we can’t go back to the docks?”

  Sheah thought for a moment. “What day of the week is it?” she asked.

  “Uh, Ashday?”

  Sheah firmly nodded. “I think I know,” she announced. She threw open the exit doors and took off down the city streets. “This way.”