Manny could almost hear the wheels turn in Sasha’s head as she caught her thoughts up with what was now, apparently, her reality. To her credit, she responded in short order.

“That’s probably the case,” she nodded. “There are armed guards outside of each cell. And there’s a real disgust for those captives among the Martyrs. They probably would shoot those women rather than let them escape.”

“And what about the guy?”

“I never saw him. I dealt with the women: Marigold and, oh, what was her name… Tule! But I assume he was in the same jail.”

“He is,” Roland confirmed. “Or at least, he was, last time I sniffed around there.”

Manny’s mind finally spun up to full speed. The pain in his guts had subsided, as had the light-headed bloodless feeling he’d woken up with. He felt comforted by the mere fact of having a simple problem to solve. At its core, this question was a logistical one, just like the problems he faced every day as a fixer. He needed to deliver his team into a certain location—the jail—in a limited time frame. So Manny’s first job was to figure out what connections he’d need to make in order for that to be possible.

“Sasha,” he asked, “who can help us get inside that jail? Do you know anyone who has the authority to come and go from there with impunity?”

“Dr. Brandt,” she replied. “He’s a good man, I think. But he’s committed. He’s not going to work with us to betray the Kingdom.”

“He doesn’t need to,” Manny assured her. “I’m going to guess he’s a smart guy, right? He has to be somewhat worldly to be an actual doctor.”

Sasha nodded. “He’s not a mindless zealot, if that’s what you’re asking. Most of us aren’t, you know. There was a reasonable case for supporting the Heavenly Kingdom. It just…” She trailed off, and Manny put his hands out in a placating gesture.

“No, no, that’s not what I’m getting at. I want to make sure this guy has a sober, realistic understanding of what someone like Roland can do.”

Sasha’s eyes went cloudy, but she nodded. “He talked about them with me, a little,” she said. “I would say he has a healthy respect for post-humans.”

“Good,” Manny said. “So we find him, and we’ll make him an offer. Either Roland tears the heart out of the Kingdom or Dr. Brandt helps us get those captives out of the jail. If he’s a sensible man he’ll have to see the reason in that.”

Sasha didn’t look so sure about that. But after some consideration, she nodded and agreed that it was, at least, possible.