“How many pulse bombs are already in my city?” Caledonia asked, crouching to study the man’s face. Wrinkles creased the skin around dark ringed eyes, and gray scattered through his russet brown hair. This close, Caledonia could see just how hard he worked to keep his gaze level and alert, obscuring the effects of the Silt that doubtless coursed through his blood.

“I only brought the one,” he said with an awkward shrug of his bound arms.

“What were you planning to do with that one?” Caledonia tilted her face closer to his, letting him feel the threat of her presence.

“I—” He paused, as if unable to find the lie he needed.

“Who were you supposed to meet with?” she pressed. “And when?”

This time he didn’t even try to find a lie. He smiled, shrugged, and tilted his head to one side. “Doesn’t matter now, does it?”

Before Caledonia could respond, Oran cast an urgent look in her direction.

“Take him away,” she said to Pine, and then to Oran, “What is it?”

“Captain, if he’s already missed his check-in, or if there are others in town, it won’t be long before they know he’s been caught. And if that happens—”

“Oh, hell.” Was it already too late? Caledonia dismissed the question. If she wanted to save Cloudbreak, there was only one way to do it. “We need a full sweep of the town. Pi, Hime, wake the crew. Only people we know we can trust. Amina, I need you to make sure they know what they’re looking for; Tin, organize the teams; Hesperus, create a city-wide search pattern.”

They were gone as soon as the orders were given. In their wake, Caledonia’s mind reeled with the possibilities. How many bombs had they missed? She had to assume there were others. Should she order an evacuation just in case? They’d always predicted Lir would attempt to infiltrate the city. Every layer of security they’d added was in preparation for that inevitability.

But no plan was ever perfect.

“Oran, I need to get on the ground, I need to—”

Before she could finish her thought, a thunderous bomb shook the ground beneath her feet.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dust rained down from the ceiling and cracks appeared in the columns supporting the domed roof above. The rumble that shook the ground settled, then the entire structure began to quake. Outside, the horn released a constant stream of staccato beats signaling one thing: evacuation.

“We need to move, now!” Caledonia looked from Oran to Nettle. Everyone else was gone.

They dove down the stairwell, dodging increasingly large chunks of stone shaken free by the vibrations pulsing through the massive building. Nettle took the lead and Oran pulled up the rear, keeping Caledonia between them as they joined the rush of people now trying to flee the crumbling stronghold.