Sable Koro's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

Sable found the supply clerk in a loading bay under the factory floor. He sat behind a scarred desk, stamping crates without looking up. She dropped the stolen manifest page in front of him. "You signed this. Antiviral stock, headed for a private lab. Not for the sick." The clerk glanced at the page. His face stayed flat. "I sign a lot of things." He kept stamping. "That paper proves I do my job. It doesn't buy you anything." He was right. Sable had the proof and no coin, no favor, no threat that would move him. Marvin Nowcast slipped in behind her, beads clacking, purple robe dragging on the concrete. The skinny fortune teller had followed her from the docks. He could see twenty-four seconds ahead, no further. Useless for planning. Sable had brought him anyway. "Wait," Marvin whispered. He held up a finger, counting under his breath. "Something drops. Big. From the ceiling." Sable looked up. A crane rail ran across the bay. Bolted to it hung a machine the size of a truck. It was shaped like a whale, black armored plates layered over its body, blue lights glowing along its flanks. A cargo lifter. Marvin's count reached zero. The rail groaned. A cable snapped. The armored whale swung loose and dropped toward the clerk's desk. Sable grabbed his collar and yanked him back. The machine slammed into the concrete where he'd sat. Dust and sparks burst up. His stamps scattered across the floor. The clerk stared at the wreck, then at her. His hands shook. "How did you—" "Doesn't matter." Sable pulled him upright. "That thing was rated safe this morning. Somebody up top wanted your desk empty. You saw the manifest. You know what's hidden in that lab. You think they'll leave a clerk who signed for it alive?" He wiped his mouth. He looked at the broken machine. He looked at the page in her hand. "They told me it was routine restricted stock. I didn't ask." "Ask now," Sable said. "Help me move the crate, or wait for the next cable to snap." The clerk was quiet a long moment. Then he crouched and dug through the fallen papers. He pulled out a plastic card and pressed it into her palm. "Lift access. Upper levels. My code opens the cold vault where they keep the antiviral crate." He swallowed. "But it logs every entry. The moment you scan it, they'll know. You'll have maybe ten minutes before they seal the whole floor." Sable closed her fist around the card. She finally had the way in. She also had a clock that started the second she used it. Marvin peered at the wrecked whale and grinned. "Told you something was coming." "Yeah." Sable pocketed the card and turned toward the lift. "Now something worse is."