“We don’t believe in gods,” he said. “We gave them up a long time ago.” He shifted his weight, and fabric twitched as he tucked an arm in more closely. “Next time you arrange an escape attempt, could you pay a little more attention to the diversity of needs among your crew?”

“Me? I’m not the one that arranged this. I’m not sure who did.”

He lowered his voice, eyes flickering over to Milly. “You think it’s some kind of setup?”

“I think that this is pretty easy and it could be one,” she said. “My danger sense isn’t tingling any more than it already was, being in the heart of the IAPH and all.”

“Point taken. Watch your back, sir.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Time for the next two,” Milly said.

Dabry and Gio exited, the former moving awkwardly under the constraint of the suit, the latter more fluid.

“He must have been hell on wheels in combat,” Milly said.

“Which one? Dabry’s got four arms, sure, but Gio’s got the equivalent, the way he can use his feet.”

Milly nodded.

Niko said, “When you interviewed for the position of pastry chef, you said you were military. That was one reason I hired you, because I figured you’d get along with the rest.”

“I was. Right now I’m a pastry chef who needs to deploy a few old skills.”

“As for those skills—how good were you?”

“That’s not the question to ask,” Milly said.

“Then what is?”

“Don’t ask how good I was. People learn. They learn all the time.” She flipped over her palm and a knife slid into it, turned her hand over and back again to show the blade gone. “Ask rather, ‘How good are you?’”

“I’ll bite. How good are you?”

“Pretty damn good.”

“Here’s hoping you don’t have to prove it.”

Niko actually thought that they might make it, actually thought that they might get to the ship without incident. They saw no signs along the way that the others had met with any sort of struggle. All around them, pirates continued on their daily life.

They didn’t speak to one another, simply kept their heads down and walked along at a rapid pace, side by side. As they progressed, Niko could feel her heart not slowing as she might have expected, calming as they came closer and closer to the place where they would be out of danger, but rather speeding, quickening as though in anticipation.

That was why, when they rounded the corner and found themselves faced by a gang of pirates, she felt unsurprised, thinking, Oh, of course something like this was coming.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” a burly woman shouted. “We’re celebrating Beto’s birthday! Got rum, old-style! Lucky to drink, unlucky to refuse.”