"Any signs of the temporal anomaly?"

"Not yet."

Kuo pulled up the blueprint of the building on her AI module. "Take a team up to the seventy-ninth floor. The traitor says the temporal anomaly has a high probability of being there."

"Your will, Senior."

Kuo watched as Ewa left with her pod. Then she looked at the lead monitor, still dangling from her trunk. His arm flailed at the translucent white bonds wrapped around his neck. His face was turning a deep crimson. She dropped him and watched as he gasped for breath.

"See to my orders, Lead Monitor, or I will find someone who can."

Kuo turned around and motioned for the shock pod to follow as she headed to the opposite end of the massive floor. Pockets of savages were still fighting in small groups and had to be cleaned up. She was about to leave this section of the floor when she paused, and waited.

Then she heard it, the lead monitor's voice. "All right, boys. Let's get this bullshit over with. Squad one, line the prisoners up in a row." His voice cracked. "On my mark."

Following orders was important. If you allowed disobedience once, you invited disobedience again. Kuo powered on her exo and shot toward the sound of the nearest battle.

FIFTY-TWO.

THE FREE NATION.

Elise watched as Bria picked up Sasha and scurried to the higher levels. She could tell that James was fighting the urge to follow them. There was another explosion. The building groaned and swayed as dust drizzled from the ceiling. People screamed. Somewhere below, a baby wailed. So much pain and suffering in the air. Elise couldn't help but feel responsible for all of it. She had to do something, but what?

James grabbed her by the shoulder. "You should go, too. Hide in the blood corn fields. I'll find you when this is over."

"No, she replied. "You go. She's your sister, James. I can't hide while everyone else fights and dies for this thing I started." She didn't give him a chance to reply as she bounded down the stairs.

He caught up with her and spun her around. "Elise, please. They're looking for you. Look at the big picture. You're the key to everything. You'll be no use in the fight, and you're definitely no use to anyone dead. Stay alive and find a way to cure the Earth Plague."

She knocked his hand away. "Don't start with me, James. Help me or get out of my way."

She reached the fifty-sixth floor, where a large crowd of the Elfreth had gathered. It was chaotic. Most of the guardians were on one side of the floor near their headquarters, equipping weapons and waiting and organizing into groups. The war chief was barking orders, but looked frazzled.

She pulled him to the side. "Eriao, are you all right?"

He nodded, but she could tell he was flustered, sucking in deep breaths as he spoke. "The Co-ops have found us. Couriers report fighting in every building. The Flatirons are trying to hold the barricade floor as we speak. Several floors in between also report enemy units. Many of the team aren't here yet and," he pointed at the other end of the room, "we have to move the rest of the tribe to safety."

"Take a deep breath," she said. "One thing at a time."

"You should be taken to safety," he said. "I'll have a team of guardians escort you to the higher floors."

"Don't you start, too," she snapped. "And no escorts for me. I want all the guardians fighting and saving lives."

Eriao looked grim. "Without backup, it's only a matter of time before we fall. Since the initial attack, we've been cut off from the other buildings."

She swore. The situation was worse than she expected. "We need to hold the stairwells," she instructed. "Organize the guardians. I'll handle the civilians."

"They will be ready soon, Oldest."

Elise looked back as Eriao walked to the mass of guardians milling around the floor. She had doubts he could get everyone under control. Well, he was her war chief, so she had to trust him to do his job. For now, she had her own job to do. She ran to the other side, where the civilians huddled together. Many seemed in shock from the rumbling and shaking of the building. Others were only half dressed, some still blinking the sleep from their eyes.

Elise climbed on a chair and shouted instructions at the top of her lungs. Fortunately, everyone on this side of the floor followed directions a lot better than the guardians. Within a few minutes, she had split them into groups and assigned each to a separate, higher floor to hide in the farming fields. She didn't know where the enemy was, so wanted to spread the groups out as much as possible.

She looked back at the other side of the room and winced. Eriao was not getting the guardians under control. She hopped off the chair and went to help him. The poor man looked utterly lost as he tried to merge partial teams with other partial teams, and pairing the teams without leaders to others without a team.

She tapped him on the shoulder. "Elder Eriao-"

An explosion rocked the building, and then all the windows on the east side of the floor shattered. Eriao pulled her down as glass shards blew inward. A Valkyrie hovered just outside, strafing the side of the building indiscriminately, mowing down anyone who was unfortunate enough to get in its crosshairs. A few brave guardians crept up to the window and returned fire. Their bullets bounced harmlessly off its hull.

She watched in horror as the attack ship finished pivoting and came back, spraying more red-lit death across the floor. Pieces of hot metal, plaster, and concrete exploded and melted all around them. A testament to their courage, the badly outgunned guardians tried to attack the ship. One of them charged forward, only to be cut clean through the waist, spraying blood across the floor. Several more who made it to the windows shot at the ship ineffectually with their rifles.

A large blast to the flank of the hovering ship suddenly tilted it sharply to the side. Another followed, spinning it around. The ship tried to pull up, but a third blast knocked it into the side of the building. It bounced off the wall, taking out another set of windows, and then careened down into the fog. She looked off to the side as James, holding a big, wicked-looking gun almost as long as she was tall, leaned over the edge of the building and studied his handiwork.

Satisfied, he turned and addressed the room. "Valkyries are heavily armored in the front and rear. Their sides, though, are easy to crack open." He hefted the big gun in his hands. "Next time, don't even bother unless you have one of these babies. All right, gather up. The troopers and monitors, you all know how to deal with. I give all of you fair odds against them any day. The real pain in the ass will be the exo-powered and shock troopers."

He must have realized he was overstepping his bounds, since he glanced over at Eriao, who just motioned for him to continue. James planted the big gun vertically on the ground and leaned on it. He scanned the room and continued in a loud voice, "For shockers, you need to make sustained blows to their armor. For those wielding exos, you need to either drain their levels or temporarily overwhelm their shields. This is how you do it. When fighting, it's important you spread out as much as possible. The reasons are twofold. One, depending on their skill, exo-wielders have limited control over their coils. Securitates usually only create a large one, called a trunk. You split up so the asshole can't take out more than one of you at once. Two, shielding is based on focal density, meaning it directs its energy toward points of impact. You can overwhelm an exo with concentrated hits on opposite sides."

He had the complete attention of the room as he launched into a demonstration. The guardians were completely silent as they processed his instructions, many nodding as they gripped their weapons. Others began to whisper to each other and compare notes. A few minutes later, James took charge of all of them and organized them into teams.

Along with everyone else, Elise couldn't take her eyes off of him. For a split second, the James she knew, the person she had sorely missed the past few months, was back. The confidence, strength, and control had returned. He seemed lighter, as if a large burden had lifted off him. She would almost say he glowed, but to be honest, that was going too far. James never glowed. Still, she wasn't going to lie; she wanted to jump him right there.

The war chief of the Elfreth had his arms around his chest and an unreadable expression on his face. Elise whispered to Eriao, "I hope you're not upset he just took over like this. I'll talk to him."

Eriao, whose eyes were still locked on James, grunted and replied, "Do you know what I used to do before you made me war chief, Oldest?"

"What?"

"I was the mapmaker." He cracked a smile. "I liked to draw as a boy. I learned to fight from many years of exploring the land so I could draw good maps. I would gladly offer the honor of war chief to the chronman and return to my drawings."

She put an arm on his. "Maybe after today, not before. We need you more than ever today."

Soon, the hundreds of guardians had organized into teams and were being assigned responsibilities, some escorting the civilians up into hiding, others holding stairwells and sweeping the floors, and the rest heading down to the barricades to assist the Flatirons.

Elise headed to her private room and threw on her control suit. A few minutes later, Aranea was powered up and ready to go. She moved the mechanoid out of her stable and toward where James had set up an impromptu command center.

He looked up from his work and stomped toward her, his face hard. This was getting old. She knew his overprotectiveness came from a place of fear and guilt, but she still wished he'd get over himself. Elise braced herself for a dressing-down and readied her retort.

He looked the mechanoid up and down. "It's seen battle. First you lock me up, then you take over my job."

"Someone had to man the fort while you got better."

James pursed his lips and pointed at a team of guardians waiting at the stairwell's exit. "Take that group over there," he leaned in and whispered. "I don't know anyone's names."

"Kat, Sutt, Comi, Idivi, the short guy-name starts with a 'Yosh'-something-the grumpy guy who mumbles a lot, and the rest I don't remember," she said.

"Not helpful. Go to the lab and check on Sasha and the Geriatric Brigade. Make sure they're all right. Listen, if things go poorly, grab Sasha and make a break for it. Use Aranea and clear to the south building. It's close enough for the mechanoid to make the jump, got it?"

"I promise I'll keep Sasha safe." Elise actually didn't want to make that promise, since that sounded an awful lot like running away. Still, if things got really bad and she could save Sasha, she knew she would. Before James could step away, Elise opened Aranea and threw her arms around his neck. She planted a big kiss on his mouth and squeezed his body close to hers. "Don't do anything that doesn't bring you back to me, you hear?"

"Not death, not time, and not a bunch of megacorp assholes will keep me away from you," he replied, squeezing her back.

"That wasn't exactly romantic but I'll take it." It was what she had come to expect from James. Words of affirmation and love had never been his strong suit, but his love for her was without question.

"I love you, Elise." He raised his voice and looked at those assembled nearby. "Guardians, let's move! The enemy shall not step one level higher toward our homes, you hear me?"

"Yes, Elder!" they shouted in unison.

FIFTY-THREE.

THE COUNTER.

James watched as Elise took one of several smaller groups of guardians up to the higher levels. He didn't like having to send her into possible danger, but sending her toward the sky was much safer than down to the hell below. The reports from the survivors of the barricade floor were that the battle had been a massacre.

He waited until he could no longer see the mechanoid before turning his attention back to leading the counterattack. The small army of guardians and volunteers with him now filled the floor to capacity, with several of the volunteers waiting for orders in the stairwells. James consulted with Eriao before they agreed on a strategy. It would be impossible to protect every floor, but they had to do their best to keep a single front in order to minimize the enemy's chances of hitting their people from the rear. To do so, they would have to maintain control of all the stairwells.

James was finishing sorting the groups when he came across Maanx. He pulled the young commander aside. "Shouldn't you be with your fights?"

The young commander looked anguished. "I was with Chawr practicing your teachings when the enemy attacked. I was unable to reach my people in the chaos. It would be too easy and small a death to try to reach the barricade floor on my own."

James nodded. "We can use another commander to lead the guardians."

"Put me where I'm needed, Elder," said Maanx.

James and Eriao divided the guardians into four groups led by Eriao, James, Maanx, and a guardian named Tidhar. Each group was composed of approximately equal parts guardians and volunteers who wanted to fight rather than hide in the fields. James turned nobody away.

It warmed him to see several familiar faces flock to his group, including all the flyguards. He nodded to Chawr and Hory, and patted young Dox on the shoulder. Laurel snuck in a few minutes later. When they were as ready as they were ever going to be, he signaled for everyone's attention.

James felt awkward standing before these people, these supposed savages whom a year ago he had disdained. He received a few uncomfortable glances, but that wasn't unusual. He had gotten those ever since he joined them. It was different now. Before, he didn't care what any of them thought of him. Now, he wanted to earn their respect, especially after his recent weakness.

"Today, you are all guardians," he said in a loud voice. "You are all that stands between the Elfreth and those who wish to harm us. Each floor that the Co-op climb is one floor closer to your mothers, fathers, and loved ones. We will not allow them a chance to climb. We will not allow them any floors. We will push them down to the waters. We will drive them out of the All Galaxy. We will chase them until they leave the Mist Isle, until they no longer stand on Manhattan lands. Do you understand, guardians?"

"Yes, Elder!" they roared in unison.

James nodded. "Good. We meet at the barricade floor or not at all."

The mass of guardians and volunteers cheered and then separated into their groups, each moving toward their assigned stairwells. James led the ones in the north, Maanx the south, Tidhar the west, and Eriao the east. Every stairwell group's orders were to go down a level and send teams of five out to scour the floor. Once that team reached the opposite stairwell, each would send a courier to the adjacent stairwells. Once everyone received two couriers, they would continue down another level.

The groups went down one at a time. Surprisingly, they found minimal resistance until they reached the infirmary floor just above the barricade floor. Thick Co-op presence stalled their progress. Because they controlled all four main stairwells, the Elfreth were able to surround the enemy who had taken over the medical rooms and rush them from all sides. After twenty minutes of heavy fighting, to his surprise, the remaining Co-op forces surrendered.

James walked through the floor as the dozen or so Valta and ChronoCom personnel were rounded up. There were also three dozen injured Co-op troopers, a near equal number of monitors here, and twice that number from the Nation. He was encouraged by the relatively light casualties among his people until he realized the majority of the Co-op were doctors and medical personnel.

He walked over to one of the injured Elfreth. "Did they mistreat any of our injured in any way?"

The elderly man shook his head. "They moved some of us away to the sides but otherwise left us alone. When Baala over there needed her medicine, one of them administered it."

"Thank you," James said, patting the man on the shoulder.

The enemy were lucky they had treated the Manhattans with care. Otherwise, James would have no other choice in how they were handled. He walked over to the small group huddled in the corner. He recognized one of the prisoners, Cail, an agency doctor who commonly administered the miasma regimens to the chronmen. They acknowledged each other, but remained silent.

"Listen here," he said to the group. "You're no longer involved in this fight. Stay that way, and no harm will come to you. If you wish to care for the wounded, we'll allow it, but only if you care for everyone, your and my people both. Agreed?"

The prisoners exchanged hesitant looks before the ChronoCom doctor he recognized stood up. A few seconds later, the rest of the agency medical staff followed suit. Only the Valta personnel stayed sitting on the floor. James nodded to Cail and watched as they got back to work.

He signaled to the nearest guard watching over them. "None of them are to leave the floor."

He met with Eriao, Maanx, and Tidhar in a corner room as they planned their assault on the main barricade floor. They didn't know the enemy's strength and had to assume the Flatirons were completely wiped out if the Co-op controlled all four of the stairwell entrances.

"What about the rest of the Manhattan forces?" he asked.

"Unknown," Eriao said. "We lost contact once the barricade floor fell. That floor is our only way out. However, the sounds of battle echo all around the block."

"We can hold the stairwells forever," Tidhar said. "Why don't we make them come to us? We still own the farming floors. We won't starve."

Eriao shook his head. "The barricade floor is the only way out of this tower. The enemy could just wait us out. Besides, they have already proven that they can reach any of the higher floors if they choose."

"Then we have to take it no matter what," Maanx said. "Four entryways. We hit them all at once. Hard. Connect our lines, and push them out of my home."

"They'll bottleneck us where we can't use our numbers. It'll be a slaughter," said James.

"What can we do, then?" Tidhar asked.

James stood up and paced. There was so little room for his people to maneuver. The damn Co-op could effectively trap his people up here forever. Hell, the bodies of his dead would clog up the stairwell if the Elfreth launched a frontal attack. He walked up to the blown-out window and looked out at the fog.

It was at least a thirty-meter drop straight down, and the bridges below were barely visible through the haze. He stuck his head out and looked around. The window openings above were just a few rooms over. He checked the bridges on the west end. The nearer one was far enough away he couldn't even see the bridge.

He turned to Eriao. "How much rope do we have?"

The war chief shrugged. "We use rope for many things. The farmers harvest vine from the bean husks and use them for binding shelter. The elderly use the same to weave clothing and blankets. It shouldn't be too difficult to gather up."

"Grab some. As much as we can," James said. "I have an idea."

It took longer than he liked for them to gather all the rope from the upper levels, but in the end, they had enough to send a third of the guardians over the side. James himself would drop with the group at the northeast bridge. Five guardians to a vine. Seven vines to a bridge. James would have preferred to send more, but it would have to do.

Eriao patted him on the shoulder as he got ready to go over. "Five person beats, my friend. Be ready." The Elfreth didn't have a solid understanding of time, and their math was based on persons, feet, hands, and individual toes and fingers. One person was twenty beats. In a way, it made perfect sense. It just took James a while to get used to it. My friend. As always, that phrase triggered thoughts of Smitt, and he glanced around. This time, the hallucination was nowhere in sight. Not seeing him made James sad, in a way. He knew it wasn't real, just a product of his alcoholism and lag sickness, but every time that apparition spoke to him, it felt real. He wondered if he would ever see Smitt's face again.

"Are you all right, Elder?" Eriao asked.