Crack-boom!


    Rain fell in a torrent around Benji and Kye as they stood beneath the nearest patio to the warehouse. They looked out down the narrow alley, where the rain came down like a funnel. All sides of the building were being watched. Those inside who disturbed the peace could not escape.


    "I hate the rain, Benji," Kye said as they looked over the warehouse.


    "I hate it too, Kye." Benji shook his head, reaching up and adjusting his white mask.


    "My brother is in there!" the man, Kye thought his name was Roy Harper, yelled out from the side of the patio, held at bay by the rest of the Cleaners. "Why are you all just standing here?"


    "We''ll handle Cleaner business, sir!" Benji yelled before returning to his stance, his arms crossed over his chest. "You have to love civilians telling you how to go about your job."


    The other Cleaners formed a wall between Roy and Kye, making sure that he didn''t come too close while Kye planned the assault. In reality, Kye was debating the best way not to run out into the heavy rain. It would be better to lay siege than rush in. The criminals had no escape.


    "So, are we going to run in?" Benji asked, rubbing a line of water off his clothes from the run over to the warehouse. "We''re already wet. I hardly see the harm in getting more wet."


    "You''re not wrong," Kye said, squinting through the torrent.


    "I''m just not seeing why we''re standing here waiting, other than the rain," Benji said. "Not unless there''s something you''re not telling me."


    The reality was there were a lot of things that Kye wasn''t telling Benji. The reality was that Kye thought Roy just had a captured person escape, and it was likely someone who had been kidnapped on Dry Trutle. Kidnappings happened often enough in the back alleys of the West District, but he had just heard a report of one earlier that day, and the culprit matched Roy''s description. But without proof, the Port Authority would side with the brothers. The more he delayed, the more time there was for something to go wrong.


    Kye didn''t like slavery, but it was a fact of life. His idea of justice considered that.


    So, he stood and waited, looking out into the rain and trying to guess what would happen. Would they try for the front entrance? Would they try for the back? Or would they try something clever?


    "Hey, Benji," Kye said, looking at the other man as he crossed his long-sleeved arms. "I''ve never really asked, but how do you feel about all this business?"


    Kye waved over the area in front of them, trying his best to encompass the West District without actually saying the words. Saying the words left him feeling dirty as if he''d just stepped in dog droppings. Slavery was a part of life, but it was one he''d rather not look at. So long as it happened out of his sight, he didn''t care much about it.


    "It makes you a lot of money if you''re willing." Benji shrugged, eyeing the long, wet path down the alley. "I never had the stomach for it. I joined up with the PA before I ever thought about working in the West District."


    "They tried to recruit you?"


    "Not until they noticed my curse." Benji flexed his arms. "Being able to bind people up in metal locks would be a fine way to handle slaves. I was lucky they didn''t know about it until I was older. Otherwise, I might have been one of those guards they hire or a slaver myself.


    Kye grunted, cracking his knuckles. It wasn''t easy to imagine Benji as a slaver. He didn''t have the sleaze that Kye had come to expect from those kinds of men. Benji might have been a lazy slob who never did his job well or completely, but he had some restraint.


    "Every time we have to come here, it''s the same story," Kye said. "Someone''s broken free, there''s no sign who owns them, and we just have to return them to those who say they do."


    "What else would we do?" Benji asked. "Turn them loose?"


    "No." Kye sighed. "Can''t have people running around without some order to it. The West District might not be pretty, but it''s still part of Dry Turtle. We still have to maintain order."


    "The order of things is what keeps this place together," Benji said. "So, are we going in or not?"


    "Not," Kye said.


    "You know the boss is going to come down on us if we sit here twiddling our thumbs," Benji said, giving him a sidelong glance.


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    "We''ll make sure nothing gets lost in the end," Kye said. "If they were just busting out, they would have come out by now anyway."


    "That''s assuming they didn''t run out before we got here."


    "He rang the bell fast, and we got here in less than five minutes," Kye said. "If they''re all gone, the brother would have come out already."


    "Assuming he''s not dead."


    It was a good point, but it didn''t match with Kye''s instincts. The Harper brothers had a reputation of sorts, and they weren''t weak. Unless they bit off more than they could chew with a kidnapping, there wasn''t anyone who could just take them down.


    Either the problem was bigger than they could handle, or Roy was hiding something. Kye guessed the latter. He didn''t want anything to do with the entire area if it was the former. There were dangerous people in the world that not even the Cleaners could handle if push came to shove.


    "So, are we going in?" Benji asked again.


    Kye sighed. It was going to be a long day. "When the rain lets up. Then we''ll go in. Until then, have everyone keep under some cover and stay dry."


    <hr>


    Knock. Knock.


    Jean knocked on the door of the metal building on the ship''s repair lot. A light shone from inside out into the night, and occasionally, he heard the sounds of people talking, laughing, and cheering inside. Above him, outside the small canopy over the door, rain continued in its relentless torrent. The clouds above were ever-dark and promised an even darker shade as night marched on.


    "It is as if this storm is bearing down on Dry Turtle in punishment," Jean whispered as he heard someone approach the door. "I only hope fate protects Erin while Sayed and Alex find her."


    Creak.


    The door cracked open, and Gel Tob peered out at Jean through the wan light from the room. Jean smiled at the man, holding his arms wide to show he meant no harm. Gel nodded and quickly waved him in. Jean hurried to get out of the rain.


    Gel was in more casual clothes than what he had worn before, and several men across the room were similarly dressed. They wore simple white shirts with very short sleeves and patched canvas pants that looked well-worn. Several of the men were talking across the room and only stopped to nod before continuing.


    "You waited on the thick of it to take me up on my offer," Gel said as Jean stepped inside the warm room. "We still have a few leftovers if you want to eat with us."


    "I''m afraid that is not why I have come." Jean shook his head, tucking his hands into his robe''s sleeves. "Though I also bring good news to balance out the scales."


    "What''s that?" Gel raised an eyebrow, leaning back.


    "I have brought the payment for your work, and if my estimation is right, we might also be able to pay extra for expedited work tonight."


    Crack-boom.


    "Tonight?" Gel looked to the door as lighting shook the walls. "You want my men doing work in this storm? Why in the abyss would you want that?"


    "You see." Jean looked both ways before waving in Gel for a whisper. "How much can I trust you and your men to keep confidence?"


    "You can trust me, so long as we get paid and you''re not doing anything too illegal." Gel smiled, leaning closer. "The key here is the ''being paid'' part. If you stiff us on the bill, we''ll have no reason to keep any secrets."


    "I can understand that rule very well." Jean nodded, placing his fist against his chin as he continued. "Well, understand that my comrades might have run afoul of some of the more… unsavory sorts in Dry Turtle. One of our members was captured, and two of us are currently on the move to the city to rectify the situation by any means necessary."


    "Slavers?" Gel asked.


    "Yes," Jean said. "Therein lies our problem. If they can retrieve our friend without being molested, then we should have no issue, but if the kidnappers were to contact the Port Authority or attempt to chase us down themselves, well, we are without a working ship to flee the danger while things cool off."


    "I see the problem," Gel said, mimicking Jean''s stance and raising his fist to his chin. "There''s a simple solution to that, though."


    "What''s that?" Jean asked, feigning ignorance.


    "We could do a rush job on your ship and get it ready to roll in case you run into any problems. So long as you were willing to pay a twenty percent upcharge, I''m sure we could work extra hard in this rain to get your ship moving before this storm is over."


    Jean nodded, reaching into his pockets and pulling out much of the money that Wen and Alex had brought back with them. It would be a steep price to pay, but getting the ship ready to move was more important. They could find supplies on any nearby island. Ship repairs needed to be done in a dock, and with only one operating engine on the Nighthawk, they couldn''t just go elsewhere to get those repairs.


    Jean almost wished they had someone knowledgeable in ship repairs, but that kind of thing was a long way off, considering that the plans for ships like the Nighthawk had just recently become available in the last three days. It would be some time before experts spread far and wide who could work with the newer ships.


    "We''ll be over soon. We just need to get suited up again," Gel said, heading over to his workers. "Get up, boys. We''ve got work to do."


    Several of them groaned, but most ran off immediately to separate rooms to change. Jean smiled as Gel returned, his hands sticking out of his pockets as he looked at the door.


    "While they''re getting ready, let''s go ahead and settle the terms," Gel said. "We''ll do the work for twenty percent more, but I''m not a monster, so I''ll also give you a five hundred doler discount. We change what work is charged for depending on your people''s exit time frame. If they need to leave earlier, we can arrange to charge for less if the job isn''t completed."


    "Such easy terms." Jean smiled, holding out his hand.


    "We here at Dry Turtle understand how people see us." Gel shrugged. "They think we only care about short-term profits, and that''s only partially true. We care about it, so long as we have our skin on the line, but when the going''s better, we can afford to be innocent. Being nice creates all sorts of new customers to make money off of."


    As he said it, Jean couldn''t help but nod. "I can see why so many want to work with you."


    "Yeah, me and the boys are good for that." Gel smiled. "Now, let''s head back to your ship. I can start picking out the critical areas first and have them run those to make sure your ship''s ready."


    Jean couldn''t help but chuckle as they walked out. While they had come to Dry Turtle completely unprepared, it looked like they would have a leg up on those wishing to track them down. Whether the captains of the Military Police or the slavers on Dry Turtle, none of them stood a chance.