“So he’s either drugged or being shielded,” Havil said. He took a deep breath. “I will need to accompany the assault group in case it’s the former.”

The Valoffs offered him sympathetic looks. As an empath, being in the main assault group would be miserable, but he still planned to do his duty.

“Cien might not be there,” Lexi pointed out. “Just because this exists doesn’t mean that it’s the answer.”

It was the bucket of cold reality we all needed, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant to hear.

“We still have to check it out,” Kee argued. “It’s too much of a coincidence to ignore.”

“I don’t disagree,” Lexi said. “But I don’t want you to be heartbroken if all we find is dust and rats. Temper your expectations.”

Kee grinned at her. “You know I won’t.”

Lexi’s sigh covered a grin of her own. “I know.”

“Assuming we don’t want to get permission from the empress to enter from the palace side, how do we get in?” I asked.

Nilo and Lexi both pointed at the same corner of the building. Nilo gestured for Lexi to explain. “There is an access ladder here,” she said, “but it wasn’t meant to be the main entry. The landing is twelve meters down. Our best bet will be to skip the ladder entirely and fast rope in.”

I squinted at the blueprint, trying to see what they saw. “Where’s the door? I would’ve noticed an unexplained door, but there wasn’t one. It’s just a room full of old equipment.”

Lexi pointed at a tiny squiggle on the blueprint. “The hatch is in the floor. If you didn’t notice it, then it must be controlled remotely. This blueprint doesn’t include a wiring diagram, but Kee and I can find the control.”

I rubbed my eyes and tried to think of all the things that could go wrong. “If the bunker is supposed to be an emergency shelter for the palace, then the monitoring station will likely be under surveillance. We need to figure out how and where so whoever is downstairs—if anyone—doesn’t know we’re coming.”

“I’m on it,” Kee said. “Though if it’s truly an emergency shelter, then it may be a closed system. In that case, I’ll need to be nearby to figure it out.”

“I can take you,” Varro said, speaking for the first time. The weapons specialist seemed content to remain in the background, observing everyone around him, and I got the impression that he saw more than he let on.

And it did not escape my notice that he volunteered every time it involved spending time with Kee. I wasn’t sure if he was still trying to make up for his terrible first impression or if he had an entirely different motivation, but Kee smiled at him. “Thank you.”