As a clock struck 16th, we met again at the inn. Tasha and Astra lounged on a bench in front of the inn, standing as we walked up.

"Thanks for coming," Tasha said. "M... moving these around can be dangerous."

Astra nodded in agreement.

"Are we expecting trouble?" I asked, noting her nervous stutter again. Tasha shook her head no, but looked away from me.

"Can't be too sure, you know," Astra filled in with a bland expression.

Foreboding filled me as I wondered what would make the usually strong and confident Initiate trip over her words several times that day. It had also seemed like Nilo was dodging my questions earlier about why they'd ask for the two of us in particular. Something was off. Something was going down, but I still couldn't put my finger on what.

High alert time.

"Okay," I replied, "but something is making you two nervous, and as a professional, I need to know if there's a threat I need to watch for."

Tasha and Astra turned to look at each other, but they said nothing, and I could read nothing from their poker faces. Nilo, on the other hand, was always ready to play the light-hearted clown.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile. "They always get nervous like this when we're nearly done. I mean, surely you must know by now that all of this is not... squeaky clean."

The last two words were spoken with an exaggerated whisper. Tasha gave him a sharp look, but he went on.

"What? If she's half the warrior she seems to be, she's already figured that much out. Anyway, if I were the constables, the wharf is probably where I'd make a stand. And there's not much room for an army. We need our best in place, and the two of us aren't half bad, if I may say so, myself! So, are you still in?"

He finished with a shrug as if it were already an old matter. At my nod, he turned around, and the two of us waited for Tasha to channel Mana to levitate the crate of Tear Stones. We walked along either side of it and pushed it along with us as they led the way down to the waterfront. The leaves of the trees lining the boulevard leading down to the docks were rustling in the cool breeze.

All I could do at that point was to go along with it until I could finish puzzling it apart, and hopefully make the first move. I was nearly "done" there, myself, after all. Just a little bit more.

Fifteen minutes or so later, we walked up to a building with a dilapidated sign reading "Senshen Wharf" in rusty letters. Not Xien. Once again, I was unsurprised by the duplicity displayed by this pair, taking their goods to the "wrong" wharf. But who would trouble the comings and goings of a full Relian Initiate, the next thing to nobility in that nation?

The pair of women preceded us into the building as we walked along a dim corridor lit by ailing Tear Stone globes. The quiet of the hallway felt unnaturally intense compared to our footsteps on the dusty floors, and a mustiness in the air threatened a sneeze I didn't want to inject into the silence.

Ideal place for an ambush, I thought, but who would ambush our group? Constables? In this case, that's me. Rival terrorists?

There's too much I don't understand, too many variables.

I felt dubious about Nilo's cover story. I was tensed to the bursting point, yet holding the most relaxed outward appearance I could manage.

Those two certainly seem to be expecting something specific.

This large waterfront building is probably a major centre of operations for the terrorist group, I thought, and very likely Tasha and Astra are high in their ranks. Maybe Tasha is even their leader.

And then there had been that disturbing conversation I overheard during the caravan. They "moved in time"? They'll "have their target"? Maybe this is the final shipment of Tear Stones they need for their scheme?

At last, all of the neurons fired at once, all of the lines crossed neatly, and the answer was clear as crystal.

Their "target" is me.

Someone selling out Agents, Agents disappearing...

Tasha's nervousness...

Astra studying me...

Nilo getting close to me, disarming my suspicion...

And just like that, it was too late.

Tasha spun around and finished casting Mana on me, to paralyze me. Nilo grabbed me by the hands and pinned them to my back. All three of them looked at me without a trace of malice. Perhaps a trace of sadness, even. Just doing their jobs, I guessed.

Nilo's voice came from somewhere around me.

"Careful, careful! Sheesh!"

Everything is too late.