Free On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance by Alex T. Kolter Page A

state. Just as the door was sliding back open, he ran round to the other side of the desk, and sat down just as the good doctor and a remarkably composed Talyah came back into the room. Nero calmed himself, and sat there as if he’d been patiently waiting there the whole time.
    “Are you feeling better, Staf?” Nero asked.
    “Much, thanks to Ludovico here,” she flashed the doctor a smile.
    “Great, well, Doctor, I think we’ve mostly got what we need here. Me and Gae agree that the first option is probably the best. If you could give us some information on that to show our mother, we’ll leave you alone for now.”
    “Certainly,” the doctor agreed, making his way back around behind his desk, and retrieved a digital information sheet from one of the desk’s drawers. “If your mother wants to visit when she's feeling better, then I’d be happy to discuss the process in more detail with her,” he said, handing over the info sheet.
    “Perfect, I’m sure she’d love to. Thank you for your time Doctor. We’ll be in touch.”
    Not wanting to wait around any longer than they had to, the three of them headed towards the door, Nero still feigning concern for Talyah, or Staf, for the doctor’s benefit.
    “You managed it then, Nero?” Talyah asked, as soon as they were back in the corridor.
    “Yep.”
    “Only just, though,” Nate added, “there was like, no time at all between his butt setting down on the chair and you stepping back in the room.”
    With Talyah frowning at Nate’s choice of words, the lift doors opened and the three of them got back in, ready for the ride back to the roof.
    ****
    In the cave, Nero stood before his men, carefully watching their faces. Would they go along with his plan? Was it too risky? He wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t think of a better way to break in. After studying the details he’d brought back from the Scraper, he could see that the aug storage room was well secured, on the floor just above ground level. He needed a daring plan to get in there, past lots of people, and out again. He just hoped it would work.
    There were about twenty people stood before him, mostly human, though Nero had also recruited two vacsos recently. Much like Dr Ludovico, they broadly resembled humans in their anatomy, walking on two legs, with two arms at their sides, though they appeared misproportioned. They also had pitch-black skin that was incredibly hard, often able to withstand knife attacks - a trait that made vacsos particularly attractive to the Nostra.
    Now, though, they were considering Nero’s proposal just as intently as everyone else. “So, really, we just fly in with all guns blazing?” queried Ty, who was never the sharpest tool in the shed.
    “Quite,” replied Nero. “The security is so tight, we’ll never be able to simply sneak in and get all the stuff out. And they won’t be expecting anything, so we’ll have the element of surprise; we just have to do everything quickly before they can organise a big response.”
    “Is that all...?” Nate said, a grin spreading across his face. “Well, you can count me in; I’m ready for a bit of fun. When do we leave?”
    Smiling to himself at Nate’s constant positivity, Nero looked at the others. “What do the rest of you think? Are you with me on this?” Glancing at Col evaporated Nero’s good mood just as quickly as it had come, however. He hoped Talyah was wrong, but he’d find out soon enough. If Col tried anything on this job, Nero would be ready for him.
    After a moment’s more consideration, everyone agreed, even Ty. This was, after all, what they lived for. And if they pulled this off, then they stood to make a lot of money; augs sold for huge amounts on the streets, in part because they were so rare, and in part because they could be the difference between life and death. Everyone would be able to retire, at least for a few months until they got bored again.
    “Well then, get prepped. We move out in five