“I want my name on the Grab list.”
The alderman blinked. “You want me to put your nameonthe list?”
She nodded. “I know how crazy it sounds, but I have my reasons. I need my name on that list. It’s of the utmost importance.” She took a step closer to the man. “I happen to know your daughter’s name is on the list.”
His expression grew solemn. “She is.”
“Give me her number. It’s an easy fix. It’s been done plenty of times. You give me her number and put me on the list. She takes my number and stays off the list. That gives her at least another year of freedom before the Grab comes back to Connor’s Run.”
The alderman looked shocked. “Why?”
“Because I made a promise to a friend,” Naya replied. “I never break a promise.”
“She’s big on that whole honor thing,” Dankirk murmured.
“It’s an admirable quality,” Alderman Crane remarked. “I’ll do it, Naya. I’ll switch the numbers.” He hesitated. “How much do you expect me to pay for this transaction?”
“Nothing. I want a favor,” she said simply. She gestured toward Dankirk. “You’ll owe us a favor.”
“Us? The Red Feather?”
“Yes,” she clarified. “Someday, someone will come to you and ask for help. You’ll do whatever you can to make it happen. You’ll remember how I helped your niece and your daughter and you’ll pay it forward.”
“Of course,” Alderman Crane promised. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Naya shook his hand and slipped the piece of paper with her identification number against his palm. “Thank you.”
He squeezed her hand before pocketing the paper. “Good luck with whatever it is you have planned. May you find happiness in wherever this takes you.”
Dankirk walked the alderman outside. When he returned, he sighed loudly. “Well that’s that. You’re going to be on the list. You’re going to have to run.”
“That’s the plan.” Naya tried to ignore the wobbling anxiety burning in the pit of her stomach.
“It won’t be easy to get from the surface of Calyx to the colonies,” Dankirk warned.
“We’ve got our papers.” She touched her pocket. “Jennie’s boyfriend will land his surface-to-sky cruiser in the woods just beyond the safe zone. Jennie and I know the woods like the backs of our hands. We’ll evade the Harcos men, get to the safe zone and make a mad dash right to the waiting ship.”
“Why not run now? Run tonight. Run tomorrow. Don’t wait, Naya.”
“We can’t. You know the government has this place clamped down tightly. Those damn riots in The City have made it impossible to even travel between towns. Even if we could evade the local police force and get Josef’s ship into orbit, those guys?” She pointed toward the sky and shook her head. “They keep a close watch on the planet leading up to their Grabs. They’ll never allow two women chosen by the lottery to make a run to the colonies. They’d probably arrest Josef for trying to steal something they consider theirs. It’s too big of a risk.”
Dankirk rubbed the back of his neck. “What about Jennie’s boyfriend? Does this guy have the necessary permits to get to the surface?”
Naya nodded. “He’s a research scientist from the colonies. He’s got a permit to fly his surface-to-sky cruiser in and out of Calyx airspace four times a week. His end of things is squared away.”
“And yours? What the hell are you going to do with your shop?”
“What I should have done years ago when Nattie left me here,” Naya replied, the memory of her older brother’s betrayal still so painful. “I’m selling out—lock, stock and barrel.”
He chuckled. “I see what you did there.”
She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t run weapons in a long time, Danny. Once the Splinter terrorists came here and their civil war with the Harcos,” she pointed skyward again, “started to spill into our world, I gave up that rather lucrative side businessrunning cargo for the Sixers. Once those two groups got into bed together, it wasn’t worth the risk or the hassle. I need to get tangled up with their insurgency problems like I need a hole in the head.”
“Agreed.” Dankirk shuffled his feet. “So—you headed home?”
Naya’s chest tightened. “I’m sorry, Danny. I just… We can’t.”
“Not even once? For old times’ sake?”