“I’m counting on that fact to cover my escape,” I said. I had already sent out half a dozen false calls to notorious pirates I knew from my old days, purposefully increasing the interstellar chatter to cover any trail Evie and I might accidentally leave.
I passed a couple holding long-stemmed glasses full of golden liquid; they smiled indulgently at me. Probably thought I was someone’s daughter at my first dress ball or something. I smiled back, showing teeth. Suckers. Little did they know.
“Which way?” I asked Evie once I’d cleared the foyer.
“The exhibit hall of artifacts is forty paces straight ahead and to your right. Then another fourteen paces before another right. Once there you will have to pass through security once again. That should place you directly in front of the sacred objects you seek.”
“Cheers, Evie.”
“My pleasure.”
I tapped off the comm in my ear and made my way down the hallway, counting my steps and exchanging bland but appropriate smiles with passing strangers. I took the right turn Evie had instructed me to, and then, after fourteen paces, the second right.
“Invitation, miss?” a tall, bulky man in a dark uniform asked me.
“Of course.” I handed over the card with its fake information chip to the security guard, who ran it through a handheld device.
He frowned, brows creasing on a face a good half meter above my own.
My heart rate jumped. Nothing could go wrong now. I was so close. “Is there a problem?” I asked airily, hoping I sounded properly rich, annoyed, and innocent at the same time.
“My apologies, but…”
I held my breath. “Yes?”
“I referred to you as miss, when your proper title is princess.”
I stifled a groan. Oh, stars. I’d almost had a heart attack for nothing. “It’s fine, really,” I said. I let a small smile spread across my face. “Just don’t let it happen again.”
“Of course not.”
And then I was breezing through security, trying desperately to force my heart rate back to normal.
* * *
I wandered through the artifact exhibit holding back tears. Everywhere I looked were the treasures of a whole civilization—my civilization.
The first hall was full of jewels, some raw from mines and some exquisitely shaped by artisans into bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. The wealth of generations.
The next hall was labeled ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS. Walking through it made my stomach roil uncomfortably. Here, the items were encased in glass with a tiny holographic plaque that described them in insultingly simple terms.
MASK. CEREMONIAL ITEM. RECOVERED AT MOUNTAIN 32B. IMPERIUM YEAR 1598.
RATTLE. CEREMONIAL ITEM. RECOVERED AT MOUNTAIN 32B. IMPERIUM YEAR 1598.
CHILD’S SKULL. FUNERARY OBJECT. RECOVERED AT VALLEY 12. IMPERIUM YEAR 1599.
That last one made me gag. A human skull? What was it doing in a museum? Why had they taken it off-planet to begin with? My wave of nausea gave way to rage. I would return all these items to what was left of my people, if I had to spend the rest of my life searching the galaxy for them.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” a voice asked. A boy stood behind me, his expression mildly curious.
“Amazing? It’s barbaric,” I growled without thinking.
“Is it?” he asked, looking at me through long black lashes. He passed a hand across his golden hair, pushing his already impeccably coiffed bangs back into place. He wore a long coat of bright blue that matched his eyes, and a solid ruby sparkled on his middle finger. I startled. That ring was worth more than the My Heart Will Go On.
“And you are…?” he asked.
“Princess Amaryllis,” I supplied haughtily. Inside, I was kicking myself. Why had I said anything to this boy? He was clearly Imperium born and bred. Would a princess really call the Imperium barbaric?
His smile was small and thin. “A princess? Never met one of those before.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That ring and that jacket say otherwise.”
He fingered his lapel as if noticing it for the first time. “Do they?” He shrugged broad shoulders. “Well, nice to meet you, Princess. Do enjoy the barbaric exhibit.”
And then he was taking his smile and his ruby ring with him as he moved on to the next exhibit.
I frowned. Thought to shout out to him, say something more. But what? I should be glad he was gone and I was spared whatever that interaction would have been. It was one thing to pretend to be a princess for a security guard and a few random moments of intrusive questioning, but if the stranger had asked me more about my supposed kingdom, I wasn’t sure what I would have said. Still, there was something about him. Something that seemed familiar. But how many blond-haired, blue-eyed Imperium rich kids did I know? Thankfully, none.
“Focus on the mission,” I muttered.
The lights blinked above me, a sign that the exhibit was closing. I scanned the room, gaze roving over tables, stands, and glass boxes. And there, in the far corner, exactly where Evie said it would be: an air vent.
I did another circuit to make sure the room was empty, nodded at a few stragglers who were wandering out, and then made my way back to the vent. I slid on my gloves, checked the antigravity booster on my boots, and took a deep breath.
In one leap I was even with the vent. Two breaths and I’d used my screwdriver to remove the vent, three breaths and I’d slid my body inside. Four and the vent was back on, and all I had to do was wait.
* * *
I may have dozed a bit, because when I opened my eyes, the exhibit was dark, all the lights off except the security grid on the floor and the floodlights over the exhibits. Satisfied I was alone, I clicked my comm back on.
“You there, Evie?”
“Affirmative, Vi.”
“Can you disable security on the glass boxes in the exhibit room I’m in?”
“Processing. Please stand by….”
While Evie did her job, I got ready to do mine. I slipped my tools from the secret pocket in my ball-gown sleeve. Basics of the profession: a multifaceted lockpick in case Evie couldn’t disable the lock, a pair of printless sensory gloves, vibro pliers, my trusty screwdriver that had gotten me into the vent, and a lot of nerve.
“Evie?”
“Negative, Vi. The lock system is not attached to the network. I’m afraid you’re on your own.”
“Got it.” I carefully removed the vent, wiggled my body out of the small space, and dropped into an unlit square on the floor. I froze, waiting for a security wail telling me I’d picked the wrong place to drop, but the only sound was the low hum of the system still in place. Exactly how I wanted it. I would be in and out before they even knew they’d been robbed.