“Oh, you beautiful bots!” I run a finger down Pilot Bug’s back, making its wings flutter. “I’m so glad you guys are safe.”

The bugs snap their mandibles and spit sparks, letting me know how they feel about LI taking over their base.

Gem shakes his head in amazement. “They must’ve been hiding in the ducts this whole time.”

The ductwork.

An idea starts to tingle at the base of my brain. I look at the bugs, then the monitor, then the AC vent. “Gem, do you have any nonlethal grenades?”

“Sure, but why… ?” His eyes gleam. “Oh, I get you.” He pulls one of his alt-tech baubles from his bandolier. “Pilot Bug, could you fly with this much weight?”

Pilot Bug’s wings buzz indignantly. He spools out his copper tongue and coils it around the grenade.

“Perfect,” Gem says. “One bug can carry; another can pull the pin. That’s a short-burst EMP. It won’t hurt people, but it should knock out anything electronic in an enclosed room. Pilot Bug, as soon as you drop it, you need to get away from there quick.”

“Hold on,” I say. “Will it work on their Leyden guns?”

Gem tilts his head. “I think so. Usually a thin metal sheath is enough to protect a piece of electronics. Our Leyden bullets are encased in carbonite inside a nemonium magazine. If we’re outside the room when the blast goes off, our weapons might be okay. But theirs…those harpoons carry the charge on the outside of the projectile. An EMP blast should at least short-circuit them, make them less dangerous. It might even make the weapons malfunction altogether.”

“Might.”

He spreads his hands. “I can’t promise.”

“We’ll need something more, then. Something to disorient the guards…” It’s difficult to think with my side throbbing and adrenaline jackhammering in my temples, but I recall how the LI commandos attacked the Varuna when we were leaving San Alejandro. “Gem, you wouldn’t happen to have…”

Apparently, his mind is working along the same lines. “A Nemo version of a flash-bang?” He pulls another grenade from his bandolier and grins a very Shark-like grin. “Why, yes I do. And payback is my favorite dessert.”

Chapter Fifty-Seven

“WE GIVE UP!” I yell.

This seems like a good way to open negotiations.

Gem and I have pressed ourselves against either wall of the corridor, just outside the dining room. The door is closed, and it’s a good thing I’m not standing in front of it, since the tip of a Leyden harpoon punches through the wood the moment I speak. The guards inside must be getting jumpy. Being left behind on an enemy base to watch hostages so their classmates can make a break for it probably isn’t doing wonders for their morale.

“STOP FIRING!” I shout. “THIS IS ANA DAKKAR! I WANT TO SURRENDER!”

Silence from the dining room. No more harpoons pierce the door.