“I should tell you though, you’re wasting your time.” The librarian patted the shelf next to him. “Gotta lot of stuff here, but nothing about any ancient transmission myths I’m afraid.” He shrugged. “But anyway, feel free to keep browsing. Might find something even better, y’know?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Addy laughed, still sounding far too uncomfortable.

“Thanks!” Cyrus added, pretending to be helpful while internally cringing at himself for ending up in that situation to begin with. As soon as the man was out of earshot, he turned to Addy and said as much. “Shit.”

“It’s fine,” Addy assured him, though she looked just as unnerved as he felt. “It’s fine. He was just trying to be helpful. It’s not a big deal at all.”

Cyrus frowned at her. “You’re sure? Corra specifically said–”

“I know what she said,” Addy snapped, running a hand through her hair. “But she was just being cautious. What’s he going to do? Nothing will happen, it’s fine.”

Cyrus was not convinced, but now that they’d already been caught in a compromising situation here once, he didn’t want to repeat the incident. Hopefully she was right. Hopefully he was just a local looking to ‘help’ some misplaced tourists. And hopefully he could just let it go.

“Maybe we should get back to reading,” he suggested at last and Addy nodded as she took his arm and they started down the aisle back to their desks.

They only took a few steps though before something rolled out onto the floor in front of them.

“What’s that?” Cyrus asked, and it was the last thing he was able to do before gas started to spew from the device and his vision turned black.

—————–

“One. Two. Three!”

Corra heaved in a breath and held it as she pushed against the heavy stone slab one last time. Finally, at long last, it shifted out of the way. She practically choked the air out of her lungs and leaned over, bracing her tired hands on her knees. Finn, also exhausted, sat down heavily on the offending rock and ran the back of his wrist across his sweaty brow.

“I take it back,” he breathed through gasps. “Maybe none of the locals have come snooping around here after all.”

Corra couldn’t spare the lung capacity to give more than a half-hearted laugh. When she’d pictured the two of them exploring this archaeological dig site, she had expected a gate, probably a lock she could pick, if they were super unlucky, someone would have installed some additional security after Eriaas had abandoned the place, but probably security that could be overridden.

What she hadn’t expected was a rock.

It had taken nearly half an hour to get that thing to budge and another fifteen minutes to get it clear of the entrance. The entrance which now, finally, she stood up to give her complete attention to.

At first, her eyes blinking through the daylight, she couldn’t see much of anything in the dark shadow beyond the slab. It wasn’t a large hole in the ground. Maybe five feet in diameter all around. There were layers around the immediate edge, old floors of long-gone buildings, brick, concrete, one might even have been marble. But finally, the floors gave way to something else. Stairs, by the looks of it, that lead downward and beyond what Corra could see from up on solid ground.

“Well that’s not creepy at all,” said Finn, peering down into the hole himself.

Corra glanced up at him. “Hope you’re not claustrophobic.” She held out her hand. “Give me your lighter.”

“Think you’re gonna need something bigger than that, cap’n.”

He handed it to her anyway as she carefully lowered herself through the centuries of flooring and onto the stone steps beneath. A cool breeze hit her legs and made a shiver run up her spine. Maybe she was a little more claustrophobic than she thought. Still, she’d done way worse lately than go cave exploring.

Regardless, she growled, “You better be right behind me,” to Finn as she lit the lighter and started her descent. He was right, the lighter barely illuminated anything because, she found quite quickly, this staircase was massive. Even holding the lighter as far from her body as she could, she couldn’t catch glimpse of any walls or floors. Just stairs, as far as the orange flickering light could cast.

She heard Finn’s footfalls behind her and soon he entered the flame’s circle. He looked around into the darkness with her for a moment then casually placed a cigarette in his mouth, plucked the lighter from her hand, lit it, and handed it back. “Shall we?”

Corra started down the stairs, but cast him a nasty glare as she did. “Still haven’t kicked that habit yet?”

“You weren’t here to reprimand me for it,” Finn remarked, exhaling a plume of smoke into the darkness.

She rolled her eyes and made a mental note to scold Daelen for not taking up the gauntlet in her absence. For now, though, she contented herself to glare at him as they continued down the steps into the black abyss below. The further they got from the hole they’d come through, the more her eyes began to adjust. The dirt and debris that had coated the entrance started to let up and reveal the true deep blue-grey hue of the stone they walked on. And ever so slowly, the stairway narrowed and Corra caught glimpses of shining pillars lining the walls.

“Can you imagine this place when it was new?” she breathed. Images of proper men and women in delicate post-Division War garb sweeping down these steps flashed across her mind. Meetings in the depths of the archives to plan a whole new colonization effort. Taking stock of their ancient artifacts and–

“It’s hard to imagine it even now,” Finn commented bluntly and Corra shot him another glare.

“Well if you’d been taking better care of the Beacon’s stock, we would have a generator and an actual light to use,” she shot back and he chuckled.

“Good thing I still smoke then, huh?” He gestured to the lighter. Corra opened her mouth to retort before realizing she didn’t actually have one. He took the pause as his opportunity to change the subject, “So let’s say we find this thing. This Transmitter thing. What’re you gonna do with it?”

“Get it out of here and put it somewhere safe,” she guessed.

Finn nodded thoughtfully. “No intents to use it then? Try out that little shiny tube thing. The Transmission.”

Corra laughed indignantly. “Really? You think I should use an ancient device to transmit a message whose contents I don’t know to an unknown party? Does that seem like a good idea to you?”

“No,” Finn admitted, but then he grinned. “Could be fun though.”

His smile was contagious. “Yeah, maybe a little.” The thought had certainly crossed her mind. There was nothing Corra loved more than tales of the distant past, of the Origin, of the Ark and the Great Crossing of the first colonists. And sure, if she was being honest, that love was at least part of what had driven her here at all. She didn’t want someone she didn’t trust having some potential power, of course, that was the real reason. But curiosity certainly had something to do with it too.

“But no, I’m definitely not messing with anything unless I know exactly what it is and what it’ll do,” she decided at last. The last time she’d tangled with ancient technology hadn’t turned out so well. “We’re just making it secure. That’s it.”

Finn nodded slowly, exhaling another cloud of smoke. “Beneath a big shitty rock isn’t secure enough as is?”

Corra shot him a look. “When you and me are able to move it with just the two of us?”

He scoffed and flexed his bicep. “Hey I’m pretty strong.”

“You’re pretty out of shape.” She prodded his arm with her index finger.

A long laugh erupted from his throat, echoing throughout the dark chamber. “And you’ve been checking me out apparently?”

It was her turn to laugh. “Just taking stock is all.”

“Well. You’d think a team of archaeologists would have had more sense than to just stick a rock on it and call it a day,” Finn concluded as they finally seemed to reach the bottom of the stairs. They stepped down onto the solid ground, an intricately tiled floor that spread out before them. in all directions, the walls forming a vast circle.

“Y’know what I mean?” Finn went on. “This place is centuries old. Wouldn’t someone want to better protect it?”

Corra walked in a wide arc through the room, holding the lighter out as high as she could put as much of the contents into her vision as she could. But no matter how far she cast the light, she never saw anything. A layer of dust covered the floor, brushing up into the air as she walked across it, and she could see patches where it was thinner. Patches in very specific, geometric shapes.

A sigh passed Corra’s lips as realization set upon her. “Not if there’s nothing left to protect…”

Cyrus looked up and nearly jumped when he found Addy suddenly right in front of him, leaning forward on the desk. She had a mischievous smirk on her face. “Just saw you reading so intently over here, thought I might come over and see what was so fascinating.”

Cyrus blinked back at her, unsure if there was something he was missing. “You know what it is, you picked it out for me to go through. And it’s not fascinating. It’s really dull.”

Addy rolled her eyes. Okay he was definitely missing something.

“Just thought I might come over and see what a handsome stranger like you found so fascinating,” she said with more force.

“Ooooh.” Cyrus pointed at her, nodding in understanding. “Got it.” As Addy narrowed her eyes at him impatiently, he cleared his throat and matched her lean on the desk. His lowered his voice an octave or so when he answered, “I’m afraid that’s top secret, miss.”

Addy barely held back a snort of laughter. “You do your top secret research in a public library?”

Cyrus glared at her briefly, but pulled himself back into character and leaned back in his chair casually. “Gotta do what ya gotta do, miss.”

“That so?” she mused, walking slowly around the desk, letting her fingertips drag across the surface as she made her way to his side. She kept her head held high as though admiring the library’s massive overhead windows, but he caught her sneaking a glance at the notebook still laid out in front of him. Dramatically, he snapped it shut and pushed it aside and she let out a ‘hmph’ of indignation.

“Top secret,” Cyrus said again, importantly.

“Right.” She was eying the book again, held beneath his palm. “But it is public property. So surely you wouldn’t…mind…” Cyrus watched her closely, ready to defend the useless book against this imaginary threat. He could see Addy’s fingers twitching in preparation. He pushed the book further out of her reach. “If I read this.”

In a flash, she seized a completely different book from his pile and fled with it.

“Hey!” Cyrus called after her, forgetting for just a moment to keep quiet as he stumbled out of his chair and chased after her all the way into the nearest row of shelves where she was frantically pretending to read what he recognized as a scientific journal dealing with a study of local metal foundries. It was enough to make even the most enthusiastic metal researcher fall asleep. But of course, it was top secret.

He seized her wrist and pulled her towards him, wrenching the book out of her hand, a scolding already on his tongue, but she got there first.

“I knew it!” she exclaimed in an excited whisper, seizing his wrist as well and pulling him even closer. “You’re researching the Transmitter, aren’t you?”

Cyrus gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “Hush, someone might hear.” He glanced over both his shoulders at the empty row of books and then looked back at Addy, his glare narrowed in on her. “How do you know about that?”

“It just so happens,” Addy began, delicately unraveling herself from their tangle of limbs from the succession of dramatic poses, “that I,” — she took two steps away from him and then snapped her head back his way — “am researching it too.”

“No,” Cyrus gasped, stepping after her as she started to walk away. “That’s too big a coincidence.” He grabbed her wrist again and pulled her back towards him. “Who sent you?”

She refused to look back at him, choosing to admire the ceiling insistently. “I can’t say.”

Cyrus growled and gripped her a little tighter. “It doesn’t matter. You know too much. I can’t let you leave here.”

Now, she turned to him with overwrought shock and dismay, sliding her arm out of his grip. “And what do you intend to do with me then?”

Cyrus hadn’t actually thought that far through the story in advance, but he steeled himself and said in utmost seriousness, “Whatever I have to do to keep this intel safe, miss. It’s too important.”

Addy regarded him with suspicion and then skepticism and then, finally, a smile. “I have a proposition for you, my good sir.” She pointed her finger at his face and started to circle around him. The finger trailed across his shoulder and along his back. “Spare my life and I’ll tell you everything I know about the Transmitter.”

“And if you know nothing?”

“Then you can kill me.” She stopped behind him and slid her hands onto his shoulders. Leaning forward, she whispered in his ear, “But I don’t think you’ll need to.”

Cyrus scoffed and shook his head. “Or I can just take care of you and go back to my reading.”

She continued her circle and this time stopped in front of him. “You could do that.”

“But?”

She pressed her palm to his chest and leaned in close. “But then you’ll never find the Transmitter,” and even closer, “Agent Soliveré.”

A third voice suddenly joined the conversation. “Excuse me?”

Cyrus immediately swallowed the line he had on deck (‘how do you know my name?!’) and jumped backwards at the interruption. Addy, also, stumbled a few steps backwards, straight out of their little fantasy. She straightened her hair with her hand and was bright red when she faced the man who had spoken up at the end of the aisle. Cyrus knew he was too red to even look at him…

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” the man said, his footsteps coming closer. Cyrus carefully glanced over at him. An ordinary looking guy, holding a stack of books. A local, probably worked here, by the looks of it. Probably wondering what these off-worlders were doing acting out noir scenes in his library.

“Oh no, that’s okay,” Addy said hurriedly, shaking her head and holding out her hand. “We were just–eh–” She glanced at Cyrus, hoping he might jump in with an explanation. He did not. “No worries,” she settled on at last.

“It’s just, I heard you guys mention the Transmitter,” said the man and suddenly Cyrus didn’t feel embarrassed so much as incredibly worried. There was one thing Corra had made very clear to him, if nothing else. No one was to know what it was they were looking for. Why, she didn’t say. But the ‘no one’ part. That, he’d understood.

“Is that what you two had all those books out for?” the man asked and Cyrus noticed Addy also had gone suspiciously pale.

“Wha–no, I don’t know what–no, that’s not,” she stumbled but the man laughed heartily.

“Hey, it’s okay, you’re not in trouble.” He smiled. “We get tourists and legend-seekers snooping around every so often. Used to it by now. No big deal.”

Cyrus tried to say, “Okay,” but what came out was more like a high-pitched, nervous sigh.

Finally, she reached her quarters and slid open the door. She’d only be gone for the day so there wasn’t much packing to be done. She threw a bag onto the bed and started to gather what little she needed. A few snacks, a supply of water, a tablet to reference what she found, she could probably borrow a gun from Corra. And of course, before she left, she’d have to make sure everything for Kalli was squared away.

Currently, the little girl was across the hall with Cyrus. Cyrus, who was a whole other can of worms right now. Fleetingly, Addy paused to look out into the hallway and the closed door, a knot in her chest.

They hadn’t fought about staying aboard the Beacon for the time-being instead of returning to Archeti. They hadn’t even talked about it. Gods, they’d barely talked at all since that one awful fight back at Eriaas’ mansion, except about their daughter. Kalli, as always, was the one safe subject, the topic they always agreed on and understood entirely. It only became so blindingly apparent when they agreed on absolutely nothing else.

Neither of them had said anything about how long they would be staying. Neither of them had brought up the fact that Cyrus had quietly chosen quarters separate from hers. Neither of them had commented that they had seemed to be taking their meals at different times. They spoke for over an hour while trying to find Kalli’s lost purple dragon toy, but neither Cyrus nor Addy seemed willing to address the fact that their relationship was quietly falling apart.

Addy was still frozen in place, staring at Cyrus’ door when that very door suddenly slid open and Cyrus emerged from inside. Quickly, she looked away, but not quite quickly enough for him not to notice.

“We got a landspout,” he said, leaning in the doorway. Code for when their tiny tornado had worn herself out into a far lesser threat. Kalli was asleep. Addy smiled.

“What did you two get up to this morning?”

Cyrus shrugged and meandered a few steps into the room, his fingers still trailing on the doorframe. “A spaceship landed on a remote planet covered in dirty laundry and was eaten by a three-headed monster. We avenged it.”

“The usual, then.”

“The usual,” Cyrus agreed, but then his eyes traveled down to where her hand was still halfway in the bag she was packing. “You, uh, going somewhere?”

“Uh, yeah,” Addy answered, hesitantly closing the bag. “Corra’s got this mission, I’m gonna help out a bit.” Cyrus eyed the bag, then her and nodded slowly, his lips held a little too tight to be natural. He was hiding something. Not very well, when did he ever? But there was something he was holding back. Something he was doing a lot lately. Anger, maybe. Frustration? Disappointment? It made Addy’s heart wrench more than she’d anticipated, seeing whatever words and feelings he held go unspoken, unaddressed. And suddenly she did something she wasn’t expecting.

“I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come too.”

Cyrus looked up at her, surprised as she was at the invitation. “Come with you?”

“Yeah,” she said, sticking to it regardless. “It’s a simple thing. Just reading some old books, digging for information, the likes. Nothing all that dangerous, just research.” She let out a chuckle. “All us nerds are good for.”

Cyrus returned the laugh half-heartedly, but shook his head. “I should stay here and look after Kalli.”

Of course he should, that was Addy’s plan after all. In the end, there was no better babysitter than Kalli’s own father while she was away. But without thinking, she shook her head and said, “Alyx can watch her.”

He was now eying her warily. “I don’t know, she might be a bit much for Alyx…”

“Well there’s Daelen or Cai–”

“She’s a bit much for anyone who’s not used to her.”

“Then they can trade off.” Addy dropped the bag back on the bed and walked over to him. “Come on. Come with me. It’ll be fun.”

He wasn’t looking at her at all anymore. Instead, he was staring at her bag with a slight crease in his brow. Finally, he glanced her way and asked, “Do you really want me to come with you?” in the kind of tone that implied he couldn’t possibly believe that she did.

The question drove a spike of pain through her chest. They truly were falling apart. And as little as she’d recognized it lately and as little as she’d allowed herself to care, suddenly she cared. She cared a lot. Cyrus was by no means perfect and as of late, he’d been so far and distant from her, she had started to forget how deep that caring went. Once upon a time they’d been two happy fools falling madly in love as they ventured across the Span, facing danger at every turn. It seemed so long ago now, but for the first time, it occurred to her that maybe she didn’t want to have an adventure in order to get away from Cyrus. Maybe she wanted an adventure to try and get Cyrus, the one she’d fallen for, back.

Carefully, she stepped towards him and took both his wrists in hers. “I do,” she told him, meeting his stare. “I really do.”

She tried not to smile as his cheeks turned a shade of pink she hadn’t seen in years and he looked down at his feet. “I dunno, Adds, it could be dangerous, I mean–”

“A library?” She scoffed. “Dangerous? Cy.” She lifted a hand to his cheek. “What happened to the fearless ‘terror of the Span’ who used to call me from the middle of secret anti-Society missions? Or write me messages from the far edges of space? Or take me on dates to dangerous gang-ridden areas of town?”

Cyrus sputtered his indignation. “That was an accident!”

Addy laughed and cupped his other cheek. “Please, Cy. Come with me. On this daring trip to the library. Please.” The smile dropped a little from her face as she said, “We need this…”

He still looked reluctant. He definitely didn’t look happy. He didn’t even look like he agreed. But finally, to Addy’s great relief, he slipped his arms delicately around her waist and kissed her forehead. “Alright. If it’s that important to you, I’ll come.” She grinned and was about to pull his face towards hers for a real kiss, when he grinned mischievously and added, “But you get to break the tornado warning to Alyx.”

Corra lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Carthis doesn’t have allies themselves, but they’ve made no indication they’re outright opposed to them either. If they want to take Ellegy and, more importantly, hold Ellegy, they’re gonna have to leave some things alone to appease its people. What easier thing to leave than the centuries old system of power and abuse they love so much?” Finn opened his mouth again, but Corra cut him off, “And no, Fiear’s supporting the Ellegian rebels who want to keep the place exactly as is sans Society control. There are a lot of sides in this conflict, but none of them care about my side.”

Finn propped his head in his hand and frowned thoughtfully at her. “Y’know, for someone who’s been gone five years, you sure as hell know a lot about what you missed.”

Corra just chuckled. “I wasn’t around, but I wasn’t gone. This territory war isn’t my concern, but the human impact is. And my friends’ lives are. I’ve helped out where I could.”

“Helped? Raisa said you were buried deep in the ally trade, getting yourself sold and bought by top-shelf assholes.”

“I was. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t slip some intel the Dionysian’s way here or there. Or that I couldn’t convince a contact to send some work to the Beacon.” Her small smile spread into a grin. “Or have Leta convince Fiear to attack the absolute perfect diversion for my own missions.”

Finn returned her grin. “Devious. I like it.”

Corra released a long sigh and leaned back against the couch. “I mean, you can’t just abandon your flock entirely. Who knows what they’d get up to without you?”

“S’pose that’s true. When I left Fiear alone, he started a war.”

Corra grimaced. “That he did.” A moment of silence fell before she finally mustered up enough courage to ask, “You two doing okay?”

Finn looked amused. “You make us sound like a bickering married couple.”

“Aren’t you?”

“We’re fine, as far as I know.”

Corra leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand. “He doesn’t mind your –uh– less than enthusiastic feelings about that war you mentioned? Couldn’t help but notice this ship’s steered pretty clear of any battlefronts.”

“Being able to do so is a luxury I’m not willing to sacrifice,” Finn muttered. “Besides, this boat is a mess, you said it yourself. What help would we be to the great Soliveré fleet?” He let out a laugh that Corra got the feeling held a tinge of bitterness, but whether or not that bitterness was aimed at the fleet or the state of the ship, she couldn’t begin to guess.

“We’re still friends, if that’s what you’re asking,” he went on. “We talk, occasionally meet up, though less than we used to. Busy man and all. But does he hate me for wanting to keep my nose out of it all? I don’t think so. He asked us if we were interested in helping exactly once, many years ago.”

“And what’d you tell him?”

“That I’ve lost my taste for violence.” Finn smirked darkly.

Corra couldn’t ignore the lump that formed quite suddenly in her throat. She didn’t need to hear him say why. She knew why. The day still played out in perfect recollection in her own head every so often, just as it was now. The day Archeti fell, at the time, felt like a blur, but years later every detail was in focus. Every mistake she had made. And everything she could have done to change the outcome.

She forced herself to swallow the lump, but when she spoke, all she managed was, “That’s understandable,” and even those words came out dry and brittle.

Finn’s face flashed momentary realization and for a second she thought she saw a hint of apology, but he hurried onward, “But really, how much good could we do, anyway? The Beacon’s barely afloat as it is.”

“Yeah,” Corra agreed instantly, nodding perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “Definitely.” An awkward silence hung in the air as Corra tried to recompose herself. She could feel Finn watching her with interest, but she couldn’t meet his stare, instead locking her eyes on her own hand, tense and clenched at her side.

Finally, at last, she drew a deep breath. “Well. I did a little research on this archive and the Transmitter and all. Want to help me draw out a plan of attack?”

She could have sworn she saw brief disappointment cross his face, but Finn smiled and leaned forward in his chair. “Let’s do it. Tell me what you got.” The smile grew a little wider. “I gotta say, cap’n. I’m lookin’ forward to working with you again.”

Corra regarded him curiously, but then a mischeivous smile formed on her own face. “Yeah? Let’s get through this briefing and see how you feel after, hm?”

—————

Addy trotted down the stairs to the lower deck, purpose in her step. She was full of energy, more than she had been in weeks — months, even. For the first time in ages, she was excited for something. Something that wasn’t just another boring budget meeting or planning committee negotiation or even the grand opening of a new business which was, pathetically, the most exciting event that happened on Archeti as of late.

No, for once, she was excited for something different. An adventure, like the old days. Corra had just finished laying it out to her: the Beacon would be touching down on the very moon they’d only escaped from days previous, though fortunately the other end of it. Finn and Corra themselves would seek out the mysterious archive Eriaas had mentioned to search for the artifact the Society had been so interested in. But as they did that, they needed someone to scour the archive itself, the books, for clues.

Addy had said yes before Corra had even finished asking.