Daiko awoke to the sound of blaring horns as light tunneled into his office downhill.

  His office door opened, and a voice spoke to him from the endangered shadows.

  “Long night?”

  “Mm.”

  Daiko knew this feeling. A tautness around the eyes, pulsing at the temples, and a thirst that could kill a camel. All the while the sound of horns kept on. Joyce handed him something.

  “Had I known you planned on joining the celebration I’d have made it a double espresso.”

  “Had I known, I would’ve asked you to remind me of my age.”

  His outburst from the night—not hours earlier—echoed in his head like nails in a washing machine. He went to take a sip of his coffee when another series of horns came from outside the garage.

  “What the hell is that?” Daiko looked at his desk clock anc cursed, “How long have those trucks been waiting?”

  “Oh, about thirty minutes.”

  “And you’ve got a problem opening the doors, or just waiting for the pleasure of my company?”

  Joyce strode toward the window overlooking the main floor. Her reply was self-satisfied.

  “Both.”

  Heaving himself out of his chair, he made his way toward her, stopping to shade his eyes and peer out the window overlooking the street. Half a dozen shipping vehicles lined up outside the garage doors, packed in such a way that regular traffic was piling behind. The world was beginning to spin, but all he needed to do was open the garage and point in the general direction then he could rest.

  “Well, no point sitting around. Give me a hand, will ya?”

  “Oh, I’m not sure there’s anything I can do.”

  “What do you—” Then Daiko saw what she’d been smirking at through the adjacent window overlooking the garage interior.

  The crew was all there, sprawled across various surfaces. Their posture and gaze informed Daiko they were just as hungover as he was, but it wasn’t their demeanor drawing his focus. It was the large chain fastened to the shipping doors. The chain was meant for securing mecks to transports, but they served well enough to barricade all five of their garage doors together.

  Mark leaned against a bench on the first floor, perhaps moments from sleep before he saw Daiko standing frozen on the catwalk. He elbowed his sister next to him, who may have actually been unconscious. She wobbled awake and looked blearily in the direction Mark was pointing. Alarmed, she pulled a wrench from her overalls and threw it hard against the shipping gate. The resounding crash shook the crew to attention. Mark just put his head in his hands.

  “What?” Val asked. “You said that was the signal.”

  “Who said anything about a signal?” He paused and begun massaging his temples. “ I said not to throw a wrench into things—just forget it. Morning, sir.”

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  Daiko put both hands on the railing and gave them all a scathing glare.

  “Right,” Mark went on, “the crew stayed up a bit talking about…well, you know. And we, uh—”

  Roman cracked his neck and said, “we’ve come to bargain.”

  The sound of liquid being fired into a pail at high speeds echoed on the catwalk opposite Daiko. Arthur’s head popped out of a bucket, raised his finger as though to make a point, then shoved his face back in. All the while, the horns outside demanded entry.

  “Bargain? For what?” Daiko asked.

  “For the right to go wherever we want and have you boss around when we get there!” Cenn hobbled onto a step ladder, perhaps intending to gain the high ground as she did the night before, but Daiko was still a floor above her.“Last night we told you we’re going with you, and after your little tantrum, we spent some time thinking about it to make sure we were serious.” She looked around the group nodding, “we meant what we said.”

  Joyce stepped beside him, “where are we going?”

  Daiko’s anger bubbled and roiled, threatening to implode and immolate everyone in sight…and then, like a mistreated soufflé, it simply deflated. He clutched the railing for support. Maybe it was the hangover devouring his rage, maybe it was guilt.

  “Number one,” he started with a heave, “I’ve been offered the position of Arcomeckanist. I—and only I—have been invited to Jupiter.”

  He looked at his watch and then wished he hadn’t.

  “Gods, it’s been less than twelve hours since he and I chatted and I barely had time to think about it myself before you all jumped on me last night.” He waved his hand at Mina as she readied an argument she no doubt spent hours preparing, “now that’s the truth; honest.”

  There was a long stretch of silence. Just as Daiko wondered what happened to all the trucks outside, Cenn continued.

  “It’s about time the Empire asked you back.”

  “Here here,” Arthur said with a belch.

  Daiko took in the state of his crew, all of them were tired as hell but resolute. Despite his lashing, they stayed up all night and barricaded his exit just in case he really was going to leave without saying goodbye. And now, they were reiterating their stupidity by agreeing to leap across the system if he asked them to.

  “So you’ll take us,” Arthur said, “if you go.”

  Even now Daiko could see the fight in Arthur’s eyes, not for the first time did Daiko wonder what Arthur could’ve been had it not been for his condition.

  “I’ll say this, I’ve never been more proud than I was last night, watching all of you up on that podium. So for that, I’ll think about it, and…” he summoned every ounce of regret from the previous night to bear, “I’m sorry for how I reacted and spoke to you last night, and especially to you Cenn, and you Roman. I don’t intend to punish anyone for having spirit, or wanting to do the right thing,” he swept Arthur into his gaze especially, “and I was wrong to do so last night.”

  Cenn shrugged, and Roman held his sharp stare, both an approximation of forgiveness to come. Meanwhile, a bit of color returned to Arthur’s face then, but immediately fled as he turned back into the bucket. Snake put a hand on his back and placed a water bottle next to him.

  “Now remove that chain, will you?”

  “Yes, sir,” Cenn said with a mock salute.

  Daiko turned, retreating into his office but paused to tell them one more thing, “Oh, and thank you kindly for coming in on your day off. Please see the shipments, and any backorders from the weekend.”

  Their groans were music to his ears.

  Joyce joined him in his office and closed the door.

  “Did you know about all this?” he asked.

  “You think I would put this together?”

  He studied her then scoffed, “I’d never be able to tell, you’re as slick as the rest of 'em.”

  He began tapping his fingers on the desk, gazing at nothing. Then he caught Joyce staring at him.

  “What?”

  “Do you want me to get his number?”

  “Whose number?”

  She rolled her eyes, “the circus, Daiko. Who do you think?”

  “I was hoping maybe you lost it.”

  “Maybe I have. Just say the word.”

  Daiko chewed on his cheek as he considered her offer.

  “Find it if you can, but take your time.”

  She gave him a wink and left. After a moment, he got up from his desk and returned to the window. In the distance, he could see the spires of downtown, the crowning reaches of the Imperial palace dark on the skyline.

  What have you gotten yourself into again, old man?

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