Maria Snyder - Dawn Study

* * *

Janco arrived in Longleaf late the next morning. Instead of trying to go undercover in the garrison, they’d decided to rent a small house in the nearby town and keep an eye on the flow of traffic going to and from the base.

With a sudden burst of energy, Janco sprinted to the narrow wooden house wedged in the middle of a row. He rushed into the front room and was about to shout his good news, but Ari’s tense posture stopped him in his tracks. Ari wore his I-want-to-strangle-someone expression. One that was usually aimed at Janco, but was directed at a young boy. Poor kid.

At six feet four inches tall, Ari loomed over most others. The skinny-mini standing next to him appeared tiny in comparison. Must be one of Fisk’s...spies. Hard to call kids under the age of fifteen spies, but the little tykes had come in handy since the Cartel decided to take over Sitia. And the guild members had saved their asses back when Bruns had them. Gotta give them their due.

Sensing trouble, Janco asked, “Something wrong?”

“We’re being recalled to the Citadel,” Ari said. Frowning, he ran a big, beefy paw—er...hand—over the short curls of his blond hair.

“Who and why?”

“Valek’s orders. Tell him,” Ari said to the boy.

Janco braced for bad news as Skinny-Mini detailed Yelena’s capture and her agreement with Cahil—which explained Ari’s murderous glare. Despite the results, using lamplighters for an ambush was a sweet move. He’d never look at them the same way again.

“I need to inform the others. Master Fisk is pulling all agents from the garrisons,” Skinny-Mini said.

“Go,” Ari said.

“Wait.” Janco grabbed his shoulder. “Are you returning to the Citadel after this?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Tell Fisk we’ll be delayed a few days.”

“We can’t disobey a direct order,” Ari said.

“Don’t worry, Ari. Valek will forgive us. He’ll probably give us a medal.”

“Why?” Ari and Skinny-Mini asked in unison.

He told them about the complex. “We can’t return without checking it out. It might be the key to stopping the Cartel.”

Ever cautious, Ari asked, “How many guards are there?”

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll be like ghosts—invisible.”

“Ghosts aren’t... Oh, never mind. We’ll check it out, but I’ll decide if we go into the complex or just watch from a distance.”

“Hey, who put you in charge?” Janco asked, outraged.

“Valek.”

“Oh, yeah.” All his annoyance disappeared. “No problem. I know you’ll want to take a closer look. It’s irresistible, like candy and babies.”

“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but you find candy and babies irresistible?” Ari asked.

“Hell no. They’re both sticky.”

His partner waited.

“Some people find them irresistible. And, you know...” Janco waved his hand. “They’re easy to steal...or something like that.”

“I was right.”

“About what?”

“I regret asking that question.”

Janco clapped him on the shoulder. “But you’ve learned something. Never pick up a sticky baby, ’cause you’ll never be able to let go. And I—” he yawned “—am going to catch a couple z’s while you go shopping and pack.”

As Janco shuffled off to bed, Skinny-Mini said to Ari, “I thought you were in charge.”

“Only when it counts.”

* * *

It was almost sunset by the time they saddled Diamond Whiskey and The Madam. While Janco missed his horse, Beach Bunny—named after a beloved pet rabbit—he had to admit The Madam’s calm demeanor was a nice counterpoint to his own fiery personality. Unconcerned, she watched Janco with gray eyes that said nothing could surprise her anymore. He stroked her neck, smoothing the hair on her gray-dappled coat.

Now with Whiskey, Ari had finally found a horse that didn’t look like it would collapse under the big, muscular man’s weight. The large dark brown horse had a white diamond blaze on his forehead. Strong and quick despite his size, Whiskey shifted, ready to go.

“After you,” Ari said, sweeping a hand out.

Janco hopped onto The Madam and retraced the route to the hidden complex. Once the sun set, they’d have to slow down, so he set a fast pace. On horseback, it would take half the time to reach the spot Janco had marked to leave the horses. No doubt there was a magical alarm on the road closer to the facility. He hoped their null shields would prevent them from triggering it.

They set up a base camp deep in the forest. Infiltrating an unfamiliar location took time. While the size of the place was in their favor—an unknown face would not cause alarm—the efficiency with which everyone bustled about was not conducive to blending in. Ari said they would follow the standard three-stage plan.

Stage one—observe. Janco hated this one. For the next twenty-four hours, they took turns watching the facility from different angles, making notes of...well, everything possible. Boring, but necessary. If they planned to go undercover, they’d spend a week or more studying the complex and seeking the perfect place to insert themselves. But for information gathering, this part wasn’t that time-consuming—thank fate.

Stage two—forays. More fun than sitting still for hours. Plus, Janco preened because he’d known Ari wouldn’t be able to resist. Forays involved making short trips into the complex at different times to clarify their observations. For example, the long rectangular building in the southwest corner could be housing for the workers or a canteen or could contain offices. They wanted to avoid people and find information, so they needed to know where the offices were located.

Since Ari’s size tended to draw attention, Janco completed the forays while his partner watched. He strode into buildings as if he belonged there, nosed about the factories, confirming they were indeed producing both Theobroma and Curare, and took a closer look at those huge glass hothouses. Condensation coated the inside of the glass, blurring the contents into an indistinguishable mass of green.

Workers carried long loops of vines from the second hothouse, so Janco headed toward the ones near the end. Checking that no one paid him any attention, Janco ducked into the seventh house and walked into a slice of the jungle. Thick, humid air pressed on his skin with the scent of living green. Insects buzzed around his ears.

A narrow dirt path cut through the plants. He followed it and recognized Curare vines snaked around the trees and hanging from limbs. Underneath the green canopy, pods heavy with beans grew from the trunks of the Theobroma trees. Janco couldn’t identify the other plants, so he broke off a few leaves for Leif and shoved them into his pocket.

Knowing Ari was probably having a fit, Janco headed for the exit. The door opened a few feet before he reached it. A middle-age man with dark skin entered. He carried a long pair of pruning shears.

Startled, the man demanded, “What are you doing in here?”

Janco kept calm. “Just looking around.”

The gardener peered at him. A shock of recognition zipped through Janco. He’d met this man before, but at the moment, he couldn’t recall his name or the place. Bad enough, but if the man recognized him, that would be even worse.

Unaware of Janco’s turmoil, the man said, “You’re not part of the gardening crew or the harvesting crew, so you’re not allowed in here.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough. Many of these plants are very delicate.”

“I didn’t touch anything.” Janco stepped to go around him.

The gardener held up his shears, pointing the tips at Janco’s chest. “Not so fast. You look familiar. What’s your name?”