“We believed it was for a future game of theirs. Something for you humans to discover. Lucky for you, the layer of water protects it from the EMP. The cockpit will be flooded, and there will be a space suit for you to wear to help you breathe while flying it out of the atmosphere, but it should remain fully functional.”

“Wait, wait wait,” Cade said, holding up his hands. “You want me to fly it into space?!”

The Gray trilled again. “I have prepared a disguised tool for you to use.”

Song withdrew something from his simple, white robe. It looked for all the world like a carved Gray, made from the same purple wood. A child’s toy. “If Abaddon questions your possession of it, you must claim it is a memento of your victory here.”

He lifted the toy and pressed a delicate digit into its eye, which clicked down after some gentle pressure.

“Press the left eye once to set off the EMP. Twice to command the ship to lift from the pool and land beside it. The right eye three times to command it to land on the pantheon’s ship. Both eyes four times for it to detonate, which you must do when pressing it to the tip of the atomic bomb.”

Cade swayed on his feet, though whether from shock or exhaustion he could not tell. He tried to commit the instructions to memory, but he was also trying to process what Song was saying.

“I land on their ship?” Cade whispered.

“Yes,” Song replied, gesturing with his hands once again. The screen changed.

Now it depicted a giant structure. It could not be called a ship so much as an enormous mass. Clearly aesthetics had not been a concern of the pantheon’s ancestors when they built it. The structure was an uneven mass of metal, a jumble of pylons, panels, dishes, and girders.

It was floating above the planet Acies.

And what a planet it was. This was no random mess of continents and oceans. Rather, it was a world divided into thousands of near-perfect squares, parceled out like a patchwork quilt. Territories for the various species the pantheon had played with in their cruel game.

“We have found an ideal point of entry, as close to the center as possible. The route inside will take you direct to the heart of the ship. It is there where you must detonate your bomb. Only there will it do enough damage to destroy them for good.”

“Inside…,” Cade muttered, his mind spinning.

He’d had his share of risky plans. But this one was something else. Another thought dawned on him as he processed the information.

“Did you say detonate? Not set a timer?” Cade asked.

Song shifted on his feet. “It is the only way. If the pantheon come online before the timer runs out, all will be lost.”

Cade gritted his teeth. “So the best-case scenario ends with me dying?” he demanded.

The Gray took a step back and held his hands up in peace. “And for me?” he asked. “What is my best-case scenario?”