Fuck.  I kept imagining uglier and uglier possibilities.

You need to keep that imagination in check.

“They’re going to be waiting and ready.  We’ll need help, I think,” I said.

But how? Most of the help you could find are in an alliance that’s only not against you by a technicality. Although… the Protectorate might be persuaded to help, I suppose, and the Crew are being paid by Coil anyway.

…please bring in the Crew.

“Help?” Trickster turned my way.  “You’re forgetting that the rest of the factions in the city have made a pact against us.”

“Not everybody there agreed,” I said.  “There was one group at the meeting that didn’t agree to the pact.”

It’s the Crew, right? They just agreed to follow the money, which appeared to be on the pact’s side.

Please be the Crew.

“Am I remembering wrong?”  Trickster asked.  “Coil, Merchants, Chosen, Faultline’s group…”

“That’s right,” I said.

If you hadn’t noticed, I am very on board with bringing Faultline’s Crew in on this.

Y’know, if I was being too subtle about it.

“What are you thinking, then?”  Sundancer asked.

“Coil,” I said, “You got some surveillance gear for Tattletale, right?  Can I see it?”

…hm?

■

Dammit.

Now where were we…

I doubted anyone believed what the three were saying.  At the same time, nobody here was in a position to walk away in response to this unconfirmed information.

I suppose not.

“Tattletale, see to the interrogation,”  Coil ordered.

“Okay.”

“That leaves the remainder of us to decide on a way of rescuing the others.”

Planning time!

“That’s enough,” Coil said.  He signaled his men.  “Take the prisoner to the coastline and find a spot to depart.”

Cherish was dragged off to a point further down the catwalk.  Her shouts reached us well after she was out of sight, “Your boss is screwing you!  All of you!  You have no idea how badly!  You’re cogs in his machine, and he’s only steps away from pulling it all together.  Get rid of the Nine, stage the final play with everyone in their proper spots, but then he doesn’t need you anymore!”

Man, her tactic when not allowed to directly manipulate people’s emotions really is super similar to Lisa’s.

And yeah. Coil is absolutely the kind of guy who would do it like this.

In Taylor’s case in particular, she’s supposed to prove herself as more valuable than Dinah in order to have him release her when his plans are finished, but when his plans are finished, if he doesn’t need Skitter anymore, how is she supposed to do that, even if she did a fantastic job while she was needed?

“Sowing dissension in the ranks,” Coil said.  He sounded remarkably calm given what Cherish had been saying.  “Nothing more.”

Yeah, right.

I mean, sure, it’s that too.

“Right.  She could be lying,” Trickster ventured.

You don’t sound so sure.

“She is.  Mostly,” Tattletale said.

…but you do.

Hm. I suppose she would know a thing or two about Coil’s plans, but it is possible for her to be wrong. She might be just wrong enough to still be working for Coil.

But she might also be right, in that Coil might not be as close to victory as Cherish is suggesting, or that he doesn’t need them anymore afterwards.

“We can talk about that later,” I told him, “My priority right now is Grue.”

Coil nodded.

Good, let’s focus on the here and now.

I glanced down at Cherish.  “Hope Bonesaw reinforced your teeth while she was fixing you up.”

Trust me, Cherish, Skitter just went easy on you. She could’ve brought a whole swarm of bugs down on you if she wanted to, but she wasn’t going to give you the satisfaction of such a big reaction.

“She did,” Cherish muttered, one hand to her mouth.

Heh.

I kicked her in the head once more for good measure, and then turned away, my hands raised to assure the others I was done.

Skitter has come a long way from the good girl who helplessly hid in bathrooms.

For better or worse.

“Can we talk without her in earshot?” I asked.

Coil nodded and gestured for us to leave.  His soldiers moved to Cherish’s side and gripped her arms.

Aw, I guess it’s the end of backstory hinting hour for today.

“No point!”  Cherish grinned, “I’ll know what you’re talking about.  Can’t keep secrets from me!”

She’s sounding more and more crazed as this chapter goes on.

“But you won’t be sidetracking us,” I replied.

“You failed, you know,” Cherish said, changing tacks.

Time to manipulate Skitter, huh?

I guess the failures she’s going to bring up involve both her territory and Dinah, and maybe some of the lives she tried to save along the way.

“When someone has an obsession like you do, it’s like a giant neon sign to an empath like me.  All it takes is for me to peek into Coil’s head, peek into the hearts of everyone else in this base, and I know you’ll never get what you want.  You won’t save her.  You can’t.  Window of opportunity is long gone.”

Yeeah, I think she’s right. At least as long as Taylor sticks to the method she’s been trying so far.

I jabbed her where the bullet hole was.  The strength went out of her legs and she fell to her hands and knees.  I stepped back, drew in a slow breath and then kicked her in the face.  She fell to the ground.

I was hoping for a simple “fuck you”, but this works too.

I like how calm and measured it feels, despite everything.

“Skitter.” Coil’s word was without inflection.  There was no admonishment or warning to it.  I took it as a reminder of where I was, which might have been his intent.

Yeah, probably.

“Tattletale.” Coil spoke, “Can you gather the rest of the details from her before we secure her offshore?”

“So long as she doesn’t get stupid and try to do something more than talk.”

Sounds good!

Cherish decided to speak up.  “Who’s next?  Who should I dish the dirt on?  Feeling homesick, Trickster?  Scared little boy pretending to be a leader.

Ooh, now this is an interesting one. Homesickness suggests that he can’t go home. Why? Would something at home lead to ill consequences, possibly involving Cauldron?

It’s your fault, you know.  She blames you.  Everyone does.

Who, Noelle?

I don’t know enough about her situation to say if it really is his fault, but it does seem like he feels responsible for it.

They’re even starting to hate you.”

Ouch.

And the sad thing is, I don’t know that she’s lying. There are definitely interpersonal issues in the Travelers, and Trickster’s behavior does seem to be at or close to the core of it.

There was no response from our prisoner.

“Hmmm,” Tattletale said.  “She’s cornered, and she’s probably contemplating something like suicide by cop.  Or whatever the term is when the other group aren’t cops.

Um. Suicide by foe?

She’d rather die than have us turn her over to her teammates, so she’ll try a gambit like using her powers, knowing we’ll probably gun her down.”

Bonesaw really puts a scary spin on things.

“Got any ideas?” Trickster asked her.

“She liked the dead man’s switch for her suicide collar.  Why don’t we set up something similar?  Put a soldier on guard somewhere nearby.  We schedule it so he receives a note  from us every fifteen minutes.  If he doesn’t get it, he passes a message to the Nine telling them exactly where to find Cherish?”

Mmm. I don’t think that’d work. She could mess with his head and force him to not send the message.

I could see Cherish tense.

“How do we get a message to them without them killing the messenger?”

Good point.

“We can work it out.”  Tattletale shrugged.  She looked at Trickster, “You think Oliver could handle it?”

What, setting it up or being the guard?

Trickster nodded. “I’ll get him on thinking up some way to arrange this.”

Setting it up, alright.