Mollie had always thought Belgians were supposed to be levelheaded international diplomacy wonks. But they pretty much lost their shit when they realized Bruckner was the target of the jailbreak. It seemed as though every prison guard in northern Europe wanted to keep Bruckner in his cell. Mollie could only guess, but she imagined “time off for being a shitbag” wasn’t part of his sentence.

Michelle leaned around the corner and sprayed the guards with exploding bubbles large enough to blow chips from the masonry. That seemed a little extreme until Mollie glimpsed a foolhardy guard who charged around the corner; in the moment before Ray sent them sprawling, she saw they’d anted up with riot gear. Good. Nobody wanted to kill them. They were just doing their jobs, after all.

“Wotcher!” Bruckner flinched from the explosion. He crouched, fingers in his ears. “Are you lot going to faff about all night?”

Michelle ducked back into cover. She touched Mollie’s shoulder. “Anytime you’re ready, sweetie.”

“Uh-huh. Working on it.”

Mollie tried again to picture the Cosmodrome. The brutalist Soviet architecture, the echoes in the cavernous hangar, the bloodstains on the concrete where she’d dropped a Winnebago on some poor fuck—

Four guards rushed their hiding spot. Ray put his fist through one guard’s Lexan face shield, twisted, and planted his heel just above the other guard’s navel. The body armor absorbed the worst of it but it still knocked the man down. Michelle threw down another line of bubbles, deftly knocking back the other two guards.

Ray said, “Seriously. Now would be a really good time to leave!”

Oh God oh God oh God they’re depending on me oh God and I couldn’t even get a shortcut to Brussels right and don’t think about Half Moon Bay don’t don’t don’t think about the sound of teeth hitting the ceiling fan and now I’m supposed to get us out of here and I can’t concentrate DON’T THINK ABOUT THE BABY—

A hole opened in space. It was dark on the other side. Clearly audible through the gunshots and explosions came the lowing of frightened cows and the overpowering odor of manure and cow piss. Mollie suddenly wondered who had been taking care of the livestock while half the family was hospitalized. Son of a bitch, she hadn’t even thought about helping—

Ray said, “That’s not the Cosmodrome!”

“It’s fine, sweetie, it’s totally fine,” said Michelle. “That’s plenty good for now.” She ducked around the corner to toss a few more bubbles, shouting, “Everybody in! Go!”

“You’re not bleedin’ serious, doll,” said Bruckner, pinching his nose. “Stinks worse than a spearchucker’s bunghole in there.”

Ray grabbed him by the collar and physically tossed him through the portal to Idaho.

“Babel, your turn,” Ray said.

There was a chatter of gunfire from near the gate, and pouts of dust erupted near the truck. She heard the whine of a bullet passing overhead and the t-chink of several hitting the metal of the railings. “I’d hurry if I were you,” Ray added. Aiming high, he let out a one-handed burst from the rifle he’d taken from the guard while still holding on to Bruckner’s arm.