Nearing the hour mark, three couriers finally reported in. They were out of breath and barely able to get a word out. One of them was bleeding from a cut on her forehead.

Elise, alarmed, rushed over to her. "What happened? Are you all right?"

The girl struggled to get the words out of her mouth. "The enemy saw the fights approaching from the north and were ready for them as they tried to cross the bridge. The fights were unable to close the distance. Instead, Teacher Maanx made much noise and played decoy. The Co-op left their positions and gave chase. Then the rest of our defenders came upon them from behind. The enemy were all captured or killed. However, our hurt was higher. Large Krisa of the schnauzers report that they suffered fifty-six injured but only nineteen deaths."

The relief on Elise's face was visible as a cheer escaped her lips. The other leaders in the room congratulated her on her victory, as they did after every battle. Elise thought that too was strange, since she wasn't the one fighting and dying. She honestly didn't do anything other than pace around in a room safely far away from battle.

There was a commotion at the door, and a new figure darted in. It took her a moment to realize that it was Knick. His shirt was wet with blood, and he seemed disoriented and terrified. He was panting heavily and ran to Kamyke.

"They have my brother and sister!" he sobbed.

Kamyke dropped to one knee and held the boy by the shoulders. "Who does? What happened? Are you injured?"

Knick was having a hard time getting the words out, but eventually, they were able to piece together the whole story. It seemed on their way back, the three children were captured by a Co-op hound pack.

"They shot Kris," Knick wailed, tears flowing down his face.

Kamyke swore. He saw Elise's furious gaze and bowed his head. "I am shamed, Mist Queen. Perhaps you are right about the children..."

She bristled. "Worry about that later. Knick, come here. Do you know how many? Can you show me on the map where they took your siblings?"

Knick nodded, and she led him to the table. He was so small, she had to ask Murad to hold him up so he could see the map. Elise pointed at the white queen chess piece. "This is where we are. Where did the Co-op soldiers find you?"

He pointed at a location on the map. "Floor sixteen, near sky bridge two. I saw four."

Elise looked at the others, alarmed. "That's only two blocks away. If we hurry, we can reach them."

The six tribal leaders exchanged worried glances.

Hans, the Grand of the Lenox tribe and oldest among them, shook his head. "With the guards, we are only eight. I am far too old and all of us far too valuable to risk on two children. I do not doubt the council's prowess, but against four Co-op, it is dangerous."

Elise gritted her teeth. "I'm not abandoning one of our own, especially a child. Besides, you forget I'm here as well."

"Please, Elise," Murad said. "You are many things to the Nation, but a defender you're not."

"Maybe not." Elise looked over to the corner where she had parked Aranea, the scout mechanoid she used to get around Manhattan. She had spent every spare second she had riding and practicing with it. It was not just like riding a bike again, but like riding a bike that was better in every way. Aranea was head and shoulders more advanced and easier to pilot than Charlotte. She had capabilities that Elise had never thought possible in a machine. She glanced at its shoulder-mounted cannon. She had yet to fire the laser gun, but was assured by Titus that the thing worked.

"I'm getting our kids back," she said. "You're all welcome to join me."

Elise pushed a hidden button on the side of the mechanoid's body and the torso split down the center and slid open. She got in, and a few seconds later was heading out the door, the mechanoid's eight legs clicking softly on the hard concrete floor. She had worried that she'd end up going alone, but was joined a few seconds later by Murad on one side and Kamyke on the other. Following close behind them were the remaining three leaders and two guards.

"I hope you know what you're doing, and risking, Oldest," Murad said. "The Nation falls apart without you."

"I don't know what this nation stands for if we don't protect our children," she replied.

The small group hurried east across six buildings, crossing the sky bridge over Tenth Avenue on the twelfth floor of a corner building. According to Aranea, she was moving at fifteen kilometers per hour. She was shocked to find that everyone was keeping up with her with little effort. They were hardy folks, these wastelanders.

It took them only a few minutes to reach the sixteenth floor of the building where the Co-op field team had nabbed the children. The group spread out and checked the area. One corridor had small amounts of still-damp blood and signs of struggle, blaster marks on the walls, but no sign of where the team had gone.

"They must have gone east," Kamyke said. "Probably to avoid our northern forces by circumventing the Central Park jungle."

"Which floor?" Murad said. "They could be anywhere. This is like searching for a grain of rice on a sandy beach."

Elise despaired. She knew the children were close, but they could be anywhere, on any floor. East might be the right direction, but this was a fool's errand. Just then, she saw a shadow moving in one of the side rooms. She motioned to her group and shot Aranea in. A second later, she towered over a terrified wastelander who was balled up in a fetal position covering his face.

"Please," he cried. "I have nothing."

Elise recognized the markings on his arm as belonging to the Ansonia Wigs, one of the larger tribes native to this neighborhood. She had personally tried to recruit them several times over the past few weeks, but had been rebuffed. Their leader, Tao Jan, had told her that the Co-op had not bothered her people yet and naively believed they wouldn't. Elise wondered if the Tao's mind had changed with the events over the past few days.

"We are from the Manhattan Nation," she said, backing away a few steps. "We are looking for some Co-op who stole our children. Have you seen them? Please help us."

The Ansonia Wig refused to speak with her, not that she blamed him. Aranea must be a terrible sight for some of these people. She waited outside as Kamyke, whose tribe had a relationship with the Ansonia Wigs, spoke with him. He returned a few minutes later.

"What happened to his people?" she asked.

Kamyke shook his head sadly. "Everywhere. Nowhere, he says. Attacked by the Co-op and now to the winds. They are no more."

"Did he see the children?"

He nodded. "He says they are moving east along the main passage on the fourteenth floor, parallel to Fifty-eighth Street. It's one of the more commonly used roads."

"Let's go," she said.

Her group took off in a full sprint, moving north a block, up several floors, and then east across a double-wide passage that cut through several other buildings. It took nearly thirty more minutes before they caught sight of a small group of people near the other end of a building. Elise, using Aranea's scoped vision, was the first to see them. They were dragging a smaller person by a rope and carrying what looked like another. Elise slowed the group down and glanced up at the ceiling.

"Close ground as quietly as you can," she said. "I'm going to come in from above."

She maneuvered Aranea up the nearest wall and began to climb it nearly as easily as if she were walking on the ground. This new functionality was the biggest upgrade over Charlotte. It took Elise several weeks before she was able to work up the courage to climb up a wall, and several more before she walked upside down on the ceiling, but now it was one of her favorite pastimes.

The passageway had a high vaulted circular ceiling, so she was able to climb up the very center and follow along the top undetected until she was nearly on top of the Valta field scouts. They didn't have much time left. The scouts were almost at the end of the building and about to enter a bridge. Once on the bridge, there was a lot less room for her to maneuver.

She looked behind her and saw that the rest of her people were still about two hundred meters behind. They weren't going to make it. In fact, the last portion of the passage had little cover. Half of her people would get cut down before they got close enough to engage the field scouts. All the field scouts had to do was look back to see them approach.

As if on cue, one did just that and signaled to the others. Another pulled out a monoscope while two raised their rifles. The last one dropped Kris and threw Karol to the ground. Elise cursed. This was an awful plan. She had obviously not thought this through very well, and now people were going to die because of her stupidity. She decided to do the only thing she could think of. She struck first.

Hastily activating the laser cannon mounted on Aranea's shoulder-she hoped she was doing it right-she aimed the reticule, which popped up at one of the Co-op soldiers below. "Fire," she whispered.

Aranea complied and fired a green beam that missed her target by about three meters, blowing a small shower of marble into the air.

"Beam engaged," a man's deep voice said with a sexy British accent-it was one of the options during the setup. She had chosen this over the French woman. "Lock was not acquired."

"I didn't know you had to acquire one first," she grumbled, trying to match the reticule again to one of the Valta hounds. However, they had noticed her on the ceiling and had returned fire. Elise found out the hard way that trying to avoid blaster fire while aiming was really difficult. One of the blaster shots struck Aranea in the leg, and all her systems went fuzzy for a second. Elise nearly panicked as she moved the mechanoid out of the way. There was something about being shot at that really disagreed with her.

She skirted Aranea across the ceiling with more blasts from below exploding around her. Suddenly, the small explosions and orange beams stopped. She scanned the ground again and saw that her people had reached the enemy. She activated the reticule, but there was too much chaos below for her to get a clear lock. Instead, she dropped down from the ceiling and charged into the melee.

By the time she got there, however, the fight had ended. It was a brutal and short firefight. In the end, both Manhattan guards were seriously injured and Kamyke had suffered several broken ribs and a bad burn on his shoulder.

However, all four of the Valta soldiers were slain, and the children recovered. Elise jumped out of Aranea and checked on the boy. He was breathing but pale. The Valta troops had triaged his injuries and had probably been going to interrogate him once they got back to base.

She turned to the others. "I can carry two of the injured on Aranea. I'll meet you all back at the All Galaxy."

Murad nodded. "Get them home quickly. Well done, Elise. I was wrong about you not being a defender. My apologies."

"I didn't do anything," she said. "If anything, I messed up."

"You distracted the enemy long enough for us to engage them," he said, bowing slightly. "You saved many lives today. All hail the Mist Queen."

The rest of the room echoed the sentiment.

"Shut up, you guys," Elise said, blushing furiously. She climbed back into Aranea and picked up the boy Kris and the most seriously injured of the guards. "Get back to base, everyone. And good job."

Elise gave her people one last look before hurrying off to the All Galaxy Tower. Aranea moved at a fast clip, using the auto-navigation system to move across the three-dimensional maze of Manhattan at nearly forty kilometers an hour. They should be back at home in minutes.

She checked on Kris and the guard. Both were unconscious, but seemed stable. She made sure the mechanoid was holding them close to her body as she crossed through the last final buildings toward the All Galaxy. Within minutes, she had dropped the two patients off at the infirmary and was telling Titus to prepare for more injured.

"How many of ours dead from the main fight?" Titus asked as he ordered more cots to be brought in.

Elise smiled. "Nineteen."

He turned to her, surprised. "That's all? Well done, Mist Queen."

"Stop calling me that," she said, but she had to admit she liked it just a bit. For the first time since she'd become the Oldest of the Elfreth, she actually felt like a leader. Between the victory today and the successful rescue, things were finally starting to look up for her people. Now, if she could figure out what to do with James- "Oldest," Rima said, running up to her. "Please come quickly!"

"What is it?"

"Just come! Hurry!" The girl took off before she could say another word. Elise ran after her as they went down a level to the barricade floor and headed toward the north end of the building. A crowd had formed near the main barricade. They parted ways before her until she saw the source of the commotion.

Elise gasped. "What in Gaia is going on!"

THIRTY-EIGHT.

ROCK BOTTOM.

James grimaced as he tilted his head back and held the flask upside down over his open mouth. It was the last of the shine from their excursion at the garage. No matter; he knew Chawr and the rest of his crew were rationing their portions. They wouldn't mind sharing with their mentor. Why should they? They looked up to him.

He stood up and hummed to himself, feeling the room sway under his feet. He closed his eyes and enjoyed this sensation of falling, of not being in control. The drink was hitting him a little harder than usual. He leaned against the wall as he stumbled his way down the stairwell toward the Elfreth mess hall. His AI band told him he was two hours past last meal, but he was an elder. They'd find something for him.

A few of the tribe passing by shot him awkward glances and then averted their eyes. It reminded him of the treatment he had received at the Tilted Orbit and Never Late during his chronman days. He scowled. He was no longer a chronman. Why did people keep treating him so poorly, as if he was some sort of outcast? No matter where he was, people were just so unkind. James's veins boiled and he began to get angry.

He thought he had left those judging eyes back in that supposedly more civilized previous life. However, here among the savages-no, he wasn't supposed to call them that anymore-they treated him with just as much distrust. James spent the trip down the stairwell working himself into a rage at the unfairness of his life. Would any place ever accept him?

James made a last-minute decision as he passed the fifty-sixth floor to detour inside and find his flyguards. He didn't need food right now, he needed another drink. He continued along to the smithy, where the flyguards bunked with a few of the other specialized groups. He really should have gotten food first, but he had other priorities right now.

Bria and Dox were in their shared quarters going over the construction schedule for the elevator bank Grace and Titus had designed for the building. The two of them stared as he stumbled in. They looked worried. Worried and mistrustful. That set James off even more. These flyguards were supposed to be his people, his crew. For them to look at and treat him the same way the rest of the Elfreth did was a betrayal. He was their mentor!

He was about to dress them down when he decided to get to the point. "Where's the rest of the shine we brewed back at the garage?"

Neither would meet his eye. Bria looked down at her hands in her lap while Dox stared hard at the ground. Neither said a word.

"Well?" he demanded.

"Elder..." Bria began.

"Oldest Franwil told us we weren't to give you more," said Dox.

The simmering anger that had been nipping at James since he left his quarters increased. However, he kept it in check and forced a smile. "Come on, guys, it's me. I've taught you everything you know. Help your elder out."

"But Oldest Franwil said-"

"Who cares what Franwil said?" James snapped. He stopped himself and struggled to remain calm. "Just give me a little of the shine. My back is acting up. That's all I'm asking." Indeed, his back had been hurting all morning. The little tweaks of pain sometimes became so debilitating it hurt to get out of bed. Only the booze helped him get through some of the worse moments. He took a step toward them. Bria and Dox, twenty and sixteen, respectively, looked frightened.

Finally, Bria pointed at the desk. "Bottom drawer, Elder."

James opened the two bottom drawers and rummaged through the contents until he found a dented flask. He hefted it in his hand and swished it around. Half-filled at best. It would have to do.

"Thanks, my flyguards." He grinned. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

James waited until he left the room before taking a swig, feeling the warmth flow through his body and the edge in his nerves pulled back. He took another swig and stuffed the flask in his pocket. He had barricade duty now, whenever now was. He just knew that he was supposed to report down to the north barricade tonight, and looking out the window, it was dark outside. Barricade duty was just another job that he was way overqualified for; one more indignation on the long list stacked upon him.

Smitt appeared at the stairwell exit leading to the barricade floor and held up his hands. "Look, my friend. I'm dead, so listening to me might just mean you're crazy, but heading down there is a straight-up-awful idea."

"I'm fine," James said. "I'm needed at the barricade. Finally some people around here need me."

"Not like this they don't."

The Flatiron fight standing watch at the bottom turn of the barricade-floor stairwell looked at him and then averted his eyes.

"What the abyss are you staring at?" James snapped, his anger lighting up in an instant. Everyone was giving him attitude these days. What a bunch of ingrates. Sure, when he could salvage, at a huge cost to his health, they made him an elder and looked up to him. Now that he couldn't, they all turned on him as if he were a pariah.

"Look, James," Smitt said. "This isn't why they're all avoiding you."

"And you!" James turned on him, yelling. His voice carried up the tall narrow stairwell. "This is all your fault!"

James brushed past the fight and kicked the rusty metal door, his foot passing through Smitt's body, slamming the door open with a loud crack. Dozens of eyes followed him as he stomped his way through the hallway to the north barricade. At first, he tried to ignore them, but with each passing step, his anger reached new heights, and he began to throw those looks back in their faces. He stared them down until they looked away and pretended he didn't exist. That was the way he liked it.

The north barricade was silent when he got there. He walked up the stairs to the ramparts and nonchalantly nodded at the five others manning the parapet. No one acknowledged him, including the two Elfreth guardians. It was just another insult to gnaw away at James. This time, he chose to ignore the slight and do his duty. He looked over the side at the wide bridge connecting the All Galaxy to the adjacent building and overlooking the tri-section of Broadway and Twenty-second Street.

On the other side, seven tribes were camped on the bridge. They were spread out all the way across and occupied half of the floor of the River Ford building on the other side. Most of the allied tribes had moved to the lower floors or taken residence in the buildings surrounding the All Galaxy. The new ones-and they streamed in almost daily-were placed here until more permanent arrangements could be found. All in all, it was bound to be a quiet, slow night.

"You, Elfreth."

James heard footsteps approach as someone walked up the stairs. He turned and saw Maanx, the little snot. James had met the man a few times, and his disdain for all things Elfreth had been obvious from the beginning, worse now that Elise had become the center focus of this budding alliance. The self-important young man-he had to be in his early twenties-walked down the parapet, nodding to his three people and looking dismissively at the three Elfreth.