As the antigravity unit lost power, the purple-skinned woman began to slowly descend. With the Aamaranth fully in Alec's veins, he could see it all at once. The woman T'sala's eyes were wide with shock and grief seeing her brother on the ground bleeding out. Maywil had fired her repeater in that moment, and Alec watched the bullet extend past him and shatter the control device before slamming Madam Zelsim to the ground with the force. Alec was discarding his jacket in mid-run, and he pulled the clips that allowed his impact suit to release. He ignored Zelsim on the floor and continued to remove the harnesses of the impact suit.

  He held the suit out like a bag for a corpse, with the antigravity slowly lowering the woman in a protected force, allowing Alec to direct her gently into the suit. One leg, then the other; her frail form, then each arm. The look on her face was one of further confusion and defiance. Alec was sure that if she had not seen him enter with Tusong, she would be fighting as it happened, sending them all to the afterlife.

  The suit powered itself to life as her feet touched the ground, and the final stages of shutdown darkened the antigravity unit. Madam Zelsim was bleeding out like Tusong, but the Teretha man had grace. This woman was sputtering and begging for life while her intended victims looked on. The Teretha mothers looked on in stunned silence as Tusong's sister, the Aamaranth woman, stood tall. Her royal visage defied what she had become, as did the suit that allowed her now to walk free. She was not weak, and there was no muscle atrophy. Similar to Alec, her explosive modifications had preserved a perfected form. She stepped over the gasping Zelsim and moved quickly to her brother's side.

  Preacher was there, cradling Tusong's head. He told the man he did well and that it was ok to rest. Alec could see why. The wound in Tusongs chest was pulling at the air and gushing a volume of blood that no living creature would survive. T'sala took her brother's head and began to hum a song that came with a deep sense of mourning. It was half tune and half wail. The other Teretha mothers began to share the tune with her, creating a song that celebrated and cradled the warrior off to death.

  The non-Teretha members of the room stood in respectful silence while the women continued the song. Doc waved Alec over to the door, where other members of the town and Teretha alike were gathered.

  "He ain't here," Doc stated in a low, frustrated tone. "We've combed the place, and there is no sign of the baron, his closest soldiers or any Aamaranth."

  Alec tried to show no sign of disappointment at the last statement. There were such larger stakes at hand. Still, a part of him lamented the box of vials he had seen on his last trip to this room.

  Maywil showed up beside them and leaned in to the conversation. "The servants told me they were confined to quarters this afternoon. It would appear the baron has left and has fortified the rift-station."

  Alec cursed. Of all the possible outcomes he had gone over, this was the most daunting. With the rift-station under his control, the baron could call for reinforcements from any world. Had Alec been thinking with more of his mind and less of his heart, he would have attacked the station first. That also would have trapped him here forever, and Alec wasn't ready for that kind of sentence yet. After all he had promised Quip a retreat planet. That tingling in the back of Alec's mind that told him he missed something was alarming. This time, Alec decided to listen to it. "What was the state of the place when he left?"

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  "Like I said, the servants say they were confined to quarters, and the women were brought here. I believe the children were taken to the rift station with the baron. The transports and any viable unmined Aamaranth is also gone." Maywil answered, but didn't seem as if she had all the details. He looked to Doc,

  "I helped clear the basement myself. It was all unlocked and open. All except Zeslim's office." The Doc looked matter-of-factly at them both as if it made complete sense that only one room was locked. Alecs' mind went to the vault he had seen her take his Aamaranth vials from. Was there a chance it was still there? The Doc continued, "We are taking the door off as we speak to clear the place."

  Alec excused himself and walked towards the lift to go down to Zelsim's office. He found a small group of townsfolk, two of whom were cutting the hinges of the solid doors with arcing plasma torches. The group parted for Alec, and the door fell flat to the floor. Inside was the soft beeping of machinery and a green glow from the electric lock of the vault.

  Alec used all of the vision modes available to him to check for any kind of trap. He saw none but still waved the group to the side while he cautiously entered the room. He made his way carefully till he was standing in front of the safe. Outside of the viewport, he saw the empty workroom now devoid of children. The tunnels, however, seemed to waft a gentle dusting of Aamaranth into the room, making it look like ghosts were dancing unseen.

  He examined the safe. It was not that secure; with a little Aamaranth in his system, he could pull the door off the hinges. It must be why this place was locked, that woman truly thought she could intimidate them into giving up, and knew that keeping Alec from her Aamaranth supply, he would not be well equipped to fight. He swallowed in anticipation and ripped the door from its hinges.

  There was no refined Aamaranth inside. There was a soft blue-purple glow, but it fluctuated and came from a crystalline rock. Unstable Amaranth. Connected to it was an electronic device with a countdown clock running down five minutes. The final knife twist stopped the alarm bells in his head. Why had he not taken his time? If he made it out of this, he had some deep consideration to get to regarding his self-belief. Perhaps taking on a more questioning approach to his own motives may save more lives than just his.

  He hollered and ran. The group of townsfolk followed his orders and also took up the cry. They took to the main door, and Alec found the stairs. "Clear the mansion, get in the tunnel and keep moving. This place is about to blow." The people began to move in an organized emotional chaos. T'sala was swept up with Preacher and four men carrying the body of Tusong. Madam Zelsim was left where she lay. Alec ushered everyone out in a terrified run and signalled Quip to run who he could to the tunnel, then get out of the town, Sinclair. It listened and whisked off Doc, T'sala and Preacher off to organize the tunnel evacuation. Maywil and Alec stayed behind to lead the faster-moving on foot.

  Alec hoped against hope that the tunnel was deep enough to shelter them from the worst of it. What kind of man was Sinclair to destroy this operation simply to quell an uprising? The baron must have a special kind of pride.

  They entered Doc's place with the last of the people and rushed into the hatch. As Alec closed it behind him, he heard a massive explosion as the mansion went up in a volume of amaranth dust-infused fire. The tunnel rocked and shook as they made their way to the camp. Alec was once again planning to balance and needed to take a moment to figure out a way for him and everyone to get out of this. He exited the nearly two-hour journey that had continued in silence. As he broke into the cavern, he saw a circle gathered around T'sala and the corpse of Tusong. The song of mourning echoed off every wall as townsfolk and Teretha alike shared in the funeral rites of the leader.