"So, we've lost him." Grayson shook his head after Drake had been gone for a few minutes. "I'm not sure I won't go after him unless you have a real plan."

  Commander Milton sighed, clasping his hands behind his back as he looked over the screens. He would trust Drake to capture the ship; that was enough on that front. His troops, whom he had spread around the ship to watch, would already be delaying Ortega's crew's attempt to escape. That left the ones who had come into the base. He needed to know where they were going, and he needed to do it quietly.

  His reputation rested on their being caught and detained without incident. In just a few short hours on the island, Ortega had managed to sneak inside his base; however, Milton had no idea why.

  He had cameras on the docks, assuming Ortega was after a ship. He would know immediately if the man stole one. However, no one had assaulted one of the vessels yet. The only ones to leave were Captain Drake's lieutenant after the captain had exited the room to give out his own orders. So far, there hadn't even been a peep from the infiltrators inside Tartarus.

  "We need to step outside," Commander Milton said, turning to the door.

  While inside his observation room, he was deprived of his Path of Will. The room was entirely turned over to the power of technology, the Path of Man in his mind. He hated to admit it, but he needed more. He needed to breathe in the aether of the world and extend out his senses. Then, maybe, he would know what he was missing.

  "You know will, right?" he asked as they walked up to the door, and Commander Milton pressed the button to open.

  "I haven't mastered it, but it is one of my two." Grayson nodded, his hands stuffed in his pockets as they waited.

  Hiss.

  "It's in this room where I realize how dependent on it I am," Milton said, taking a deep breath as the door opened. "The effort I put into cutting off the entire room from aether, but it also kills one of my best tools as a commander."

  "I can't say I know the trouble," Grayson said. "But I've never but on nullifying cuffs. I'm not sure why you need that room emptied of aether to begin with."

  "I have my reasons." Milton sighed as the door opened, and they stepped outside.

  The door closed immediately behind him, and soon, he would start cycling the little air that passed out of the room through filters. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best he had come up with outside of building an extra room to cycle air in and out. The problem was making a perfect vacuum.

  He took in a breath and opened himself to the Path of Will. All around him, he had a sense of the base. It opened up to him along the streams of aether entering his body, and he extended his senses to create a model of the base in his mind. Like a multi-level chessboard, he could see the individual movements of each person in the base. He saw his soldiers going about their tasks and daily routines. It all looked completely normal. No one was consuming a large amount of aether as they snuck through the base, and no person was actively using a curse.

  He wished the Path of Will allowed him to sense individuals. Perhaps there was another stage of development beyond mastery. For now, he let his instincts take over and thought through Ortega's possible movements.

  Realistically, there were a few reasons to enter Tartarus. Either Ortega was after a ship or something far more secret. The obvious choice, WPN One, made no sense. No one knew about the WPN Project beyond the top of the Military Police.

  However, there were precious few reasons to be in the base otherwise. Milton opened his eyes and turned to Grayson. He would have to extend a level of trust to the captain unless he went to the island himself. He doubted it was Ortega's destination, but it paid to have pieces in reserve.

  Besides, Ortega infiltrating the facility might remove WPN One from his list of problems. That was a boon to Milton more than anything else. It would give him the excuse to expand his monitoring program.

  "Take your subordinate and go to the island out in the dome," Milton said. "I don't know for sure, but Ortega might come there. I will begin a search of the base myself. We'll find him before he causes any trouble."

  "The island, sir?" Grayson asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

  "Do not go inside unless it is compromised," Milton said. "You're strong enough to hold off a few outlaws and raise an alarm, correct? The bunker there has an alarm that goes to me and no one else. If the alarm is raised, I will be there before anything can happen."

  "I think I understand." Grayson shook his head. "I'll do as you order, but don't underestimate Ortega."

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  Grayson saluted and left down the hall, leaving Milton to his thoughts. Once he was certain that Grayson was out of earshot, he raised a small stone to his hand to call for Secretary Eaton. He would need a few of his most loyal men to help him search the base without alarm. She would be able to get them together quickly.

  He imbued aether into the stone and waited. However, after a few minutes of no response, he grew concerned. Where exactly was Secretary Eaton?

  Erin followed Wen as they ducked through the nearest door in the hallway. There was nothing they could do about it. They had to find the best hiding spot they could until the captains passed. Erin wanted nothing to do with fighting a captain in the middle of the base. That was a suicide mission.

  Thump.

  Wen put her back against the door as Erin went out into the room. The entire room was dark, the same as the office they had entered before. Erin paused in that darkness, hoping she wouldn't stub her toe on a desk as Wen fumbled along the wall for the switch for the light stones. Breathing was the only sound that echoed in the dark room.

  No, that wasn't right. Erin closed her eyes in spite of the lack of light. Her heartbeat and breathing dominated her hearing. Wen's breathing was a close second. However, there was a third noise—a heavy deep in and out with a slight snort that echoed through the dark room. As Wen flicked the switch, Erin knew they weren't alone.

  Click.

  Light flooded the room, and Erin opened her eyes. She blinked away the dots from the bright lights on the walls. In front of her, Wen had her back against the wall, her hand out, and she touched the switch for the lights on the device that held the stones. Wen looked back at her, her eyes wide. No, that wasn't right either. Wen wasn't looking at her. Wen was looking behind her.

  Erin gulped down the lump in her throat. She knew she didn't want to turn around, but the moment she did, she would have to acknowledge the reality of the room behind her. Something had to be hiding in the room. By how it sounded, it was a giant sleeping bear. However, she couldn't deny reality forever. She had to turn around and face whatever it was.

  She turned and saw a massive man sleeping on the floor behind the single desk in the room.

  He was larger than he had any right to be. It was like a small hill behind the desks, rising from the horizon in a rounded curve. The only hint that it wasn't just a misplaced piece of landscape was his stomach's steady rise and fall with each breath. Erin froze. Her eyes scanned down to the floor where a large black jacket sleeve poked out from beneath one of the desks and a long, bare, pale arm wrapped around the side.

  She slowly turned back to Wen, careful not to make a noise. Wen had frozen on the side of the wall as well. Erin nodded toward the door and started to walk toward it. She took careful strides, making sure not to make a noise as they snuck back to the exit. Neither dared to say a word lest they wake up the sleeping man.

  Knock. Knock.

  "You wake up in there, Lieutenant Cade! You can't shirk your job anymore!" a man's deep voice echoed through the door. "The commander's given us a job to do, and you're going to help me do it whether you like it or not!"

  Snort!

  "Bacon?" the massive figure rumbled and shook awake, stretching his arms out and taking in a big yawn in response to the voice.

  Thump. Crack.

  The massive round man called Cade rolled up to a sitting position, sending one of the desks crashing to the ground threw out his arms. He was bald, with rosy pink cheeks and whiskers sprouting from his chin. Two beady glints looked out on Erin and Wen as they stood on the far side of the room.

  "Meet me at the docks in five minutes, lieutenant!" the man on the other side yelled.

  His black jacket still lay on the floor, leaving him a bare-chested, flabby man sitting behind the two desks. At least he wasn't naked. Erin already had to deal with enough mental scars. With a jump, he was on his feet, far belying his size. He looked down at the two of them before reaching up with his pinky finger to pick his nose.

  "You aren't breakfast."

  Erin's eyes widened. They had been caught. There were two real choices. They could fight and hopefully take out Cade quickly. Or they could trust in their disguises. Whatever they chose to do, they would need to do it quickly. Erin chanced a glance at Wen, and Wen's hands were already going into her pockets.

  "Hey there." Erin raised her hands, stepping between Wen and Cade. "We were sent to help make sure you made it to the docks."

  "You were?" Cade asked.

  He looked down as he said it, his gaze locking onto his jacket before he reached down with one arm. Erin thought he would bend over to get it, but his arm stretched instead. His fist slapped against the ground before the arm recoiled back to its normal length, carrying the entire jacket with it. One hand threw it over his shoulder as he returned his gaze to them both.

  "Yes." Erin did her best not to let her thoughts show on her face.

  She knew he had to be cursed, even though she didn't know what it was. That could explain why he seemed so strange. She had never seen a member of the Military Police with his build. Aside from the rank and file, most of the ones she ran into at least looked strong. This man looked more like a massive ball of dough than anything else.

  "What about breakfast?" Cade asked, stepping forward with a heavy footfall so that he now towered over Erin. "Breakfast comes before anything else."

  "But—"

  "The man said five minutes," Wen said, stepping in next to Erin, finally catching on to her plan. "We need to get you to the docks in less than five minutes. Breakfast will have to wait."

  The man frowned down at them, his shoulders sagging forward as he took in a deep breath through his nose. He then went back to breathing with only his mouth. Erin noticed that a single line of snot fell out from his nose, and his eyes began to shimmer as tears welled up.

  Grumble.

  "But I'm hungry!" Cade yelled, his stomach grumbling as he wiped at his tears.

  Erin was at a loss for words. Never in her life could she imagine a grown man, much less a lieutenant in the Military Police, acting like that. It was like they were dealing with a massive crying baby. Erin turned to Wen, but she didn't seem to be any better off. Erin would have almost preferred a fight over what they were looking at now.

  They needed to figure something out quickly before the other man from outside realized Cade was late and came looking for him.