Copyright J.B. Norman
As the tourists bound for the Crystal Labyrinth disembark from the hypertram, Kathryn, Amarantha, and Dunstella do their best to blend in with the crowd and elude their pursuer.
For his part, their pursuer snaps out his reverie wondering how angels wear shirts just in time to slip through the tram’s doors just as they slide shut.
“You cad!” the old Eleftherian lady Amarantha gave up for seat for cries as Operative Slyce pushes past her. “I never!”
She takes a swing at him with her purse.
Hastily retreating from the old woman’s purse, Operative Slyce looks around the platform, simultaneously trying to find any sign of the three targets he’s supposed to be tracking and keeping a cautious eye out for the old Eleftherian lady.
“Oh,” he groans.
He sighs heavily.
“Lieutenant Crem is going to vent me out of the airlock,” he says, momentarily no longer concerned that it’s pronounced ‘leff-tenant.’
Meanwhile, Kathryn, Amarantha are in the gift shop. Kathryn and Amarantha are trying to act inconspicuous, pretending to look through the local artisanal jewellery, commemorative t-shirts, humorous mugs, and stuffed toys in the likeness of the Ledu Tourism Board’s mascot for the Crystal Labyrinth, a snowball with adorable googly eyes named Icebert.
Dunstella, for her part, is treating it like a trip to the gift shop. She eagerly makes her way through the shop, picking up all the commemorative t-shirts, humorous mugs, and Icebert toys that catch her fancy.
“Okay,” Kathryn says, peering around a rack of magnets. “I think we lost him.”
“And what now, Captain?” Amarantha asks. “I mean, I did want to see the Crystal Labyrinth, but I never imagined there’d be a gang of mercenaries stalking me when I got here.”
“It’s a labyrinth, right?” Kathryn offers. “Like a maze? That means it’s not going to be easy for him to follow us, right?”
“So, you’re saying we go on a tour anyway?” Amarantha asks.
“Not exactly,” Kathryn answers. “I’m saying that if we go in and take enough turns, we can probably lose him, double back to the exit, get on the tram, get back to the Dolphin, and get out of the system before he even knows we’re gone.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Amarantha muses. “And I don’t when I’ll get another chance to be back here. So I may as well try to enjoy myself while we’re here. And—”
Her face falls.
“—somebody’s going to be shooting at us in the next few hours, aren’t they?”
“Yeah,” Kathryn mutters. “That’s usually how these things go.”
She claps Amarantha on the shoulder, trying to lift her spirits.
“But, hey. Perspective is important in a situation like this. Look on the bright side — how many people are there out there who can say somebody’s shot at them inside one the natural wonders of the galaxy?”
“That’s not really reassuring, Captain,” the Alvaraean princess says.
“I want these,” Dunstella declares, looking up at her sister from behind a pair of snow goggles that cover most of her face.
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