Waves. The sound of waves; something I hadn't heard in years. The old colony didn't have many major bodies of water, and rain was even rarer a sight. We'd have to dig deep, with massive drills and machines for the life-giving springs and cool nectar of life.

Not like this place… wherever 'this place' was.

Several days before, we'd stopped at some one-off planet while traversing further toward the Core Systems, meaning to refuel and get some much-needed respite. I used the opportunity to migrate from the cargo hold to the main area of Hermes's craft, much to his chagrin. He wasn't too thrilled about it, but there wasn't much he could do to stop me. Not without causing a scene, at least, which was precisely what he wanted to avoid. Seemed to change his tune once we began to near the system he originally spoke of, considering the voyage had passed largely without incident… and without conversation, on that note.

This planet, somewhere in the Freeport system, was visually stunning to say the least. Hermes had landed the ship quite precariously on a large sand bar, in the middle of a wide, serene river walled by massive cliffs of soft, porous gray stone. Though the water flowed fast enough to lap against the sand and spray the sides of the ship, and create the sound of waves that I'd heard, its flow was rather smooth: slow, but soft, in a way. Almost looked like baby blue paint, reflecting and somehow intensifying the hue of the clear sky above.

Hermes, already having exited the craft, leaned against the hull, one hand on his hip and the other massaging his opposite shoulder. Gotta hand it to him, I thought, he did pilot us all the way here in only two full sessions, staying completely alert and attentive the entire way. As far as I was aware, anyway; he very well could have been asleep the entire time just as I was. Wouldn't have put it past him.

"You coming, or what?" Hermes shouted, craning his neck back to look through the front of the viewport at me.

"Not exactly dressed for wading," I said back to him, keeping my overall volume low.

"Exactly. So get out, stretch your legs a little."

What? "...I said 'wading'. Like 'wading in water'!"

"Whatever. Stay on the sand then. Someone'll pick us up soon."

I shook my head. This was most he had even said to me the whole trip. Then again, nothing he could've said would have distracted me from my loathsome attitude, and I expect he knew any conversation he would have tried to make would have ended quickly and awkwardly. The events at our old backwater colony were all too fresh in my mind.

Leaning over the side and out the port, I looked down at the sandbar upon which we rested. It seemed dry enough, but I was sure as soon as I took a step, my foot would sink into the spongy ground and send mud cascading into my boots. So much on my mind already, soggy socks was certainly something I didn't need. Always hated that mushy feeling.

"Hurry up. I can see 'em."

Sure enough, as I squinted out the ship's viewport, I spotted a wavering shadow on the horizon, distorted by the heat and spray rising off the surface of the water. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a skiff, or some other sort of small boat.

I hopped over the the cockpit controls to land in the pilot's chair. The racket caused Hermes to quickly take a look back at me, shooting a look in my direction full of disgust or disdain. He scowled, then returned to leaning against the hull, crossing his arms and turning back toward the skiff, rapidly approaching on the horizon.

"So who exactly are these friends of yours?" I grabbed the top of the side port, pulling my torso to lean out of the ship and talk directly to Hermes.

"Friends?" Hermes turned to me again, his look of disdain returning with a hint of confusion. He scoffed and turned away, saying "I never said I had friends."

"Fine. People you know, then."

"Never said that, either." Hermes pursed his lips, squinting and keeping his gaze on the small craft coming at us.

No way. What was he trying to pull over on me? "Well, then, what the hell are we doing here?!" My incredulity must have been rather obvious, if his slight shudder away from me was any indication.

"...I'm beginning to wonder that more and more." Not sure if he meant for me to hear that, but after a moment, he pushed his body away from the ship, his arms coming to his sides in a tense pose. "That's not good."

"What? What?" I felt anxiety beginning to build.

"These ain't the same guys I'm used to. Something musta happened." Hermes shook his head, taking a step forward and leaning, trying to squint and get a better look at the operators of the approaching vessel.

"I thought you said you didn't even know them!"

"It was business! I'd fly in, make the exchange, maybe grab a quick beer, and fly out. We didn't exactly all sit down for tea time," said Hermes, growing more aggravated. "These guys don't look as friendly as the usual guys, anyway." His tone was grave. "I've got a bad feeling."

We exchanged a short look, and watched on in silence as the skiff made its way to our meager shores. Three men rode therein. One was a sickly looking lad: strong enough for the rowing he was doing, yet pale, with numerous scars and new surface wounds adorning his bare torso. The other two were clad in typical Militia Titan Pilot outfits (the likes of which I'd seen pass through our colony on a few occasions), though they were neither contiguous nor uniform: they seemed to be pieced together from old plundered spoils, each piece of battle-worn padding sutured onto the next with makeshift bits of cord and fiber. The helmets were cracked and beaten, the glass-like visors shattered and partially revealing the angered faces of the men inside. The sickly man stayed in the boat, hunched over, while the pilots hopped out in tandem approached us side-by-side.

"Well, well," the pilot on our left chided. "What brings ya by, gents? Got anything…" Though their eyes were mostly obscured by the battered helmets, I could tell their eyes were looking Hermes's ship up and down. "...particularly nice for us?"

"That depends," said Hermes. He seemed to also note the men's interest in his ship, and he pulled himself closer toward its hull protectively. "You're not the guys we usually deal with." I could tell he was choosing his words carefully. Simply by saying 'we' instead of 'I', he had potentially shifted the minds of the men before us to believe that I was no stranger to this place; that could potentially have given me a slight advantage.

The man on the right took a tentative step toward Hermes's ship, watching and gauging Hermes's reaction. Hermes, of course, tensed a bit, looking like he was readying himself to draw a weapon. The right pilot stayed put, cocking his head to the side as he spoke.

"There's been some… recent changes in leadership in Smuggler's Cove." The way the right pilot spoke exposed his euphemism; I was sure we had only just missed a violent struggle. Men like this disgusted me; men like this had taken everyone I'd cared- no. Had to stay focused. Alert. No telling what these guys were liable to do.

"Wasn't aware there was any leadership," stated Hermes.

"You'll be doing your business wit' us from now on. The old traders and syndicates are long gone." The left pilot seemed to smirk beneath the veil of his helmet.

Hermes stowed his hands in his pockets, moving away from the hull of his ship. He was trying to act casual, or at least somehow calm or collected. The pilots stood resolute, though, unphased by his display. "Oh really?" He took a stilted step toward them. "Then… just who do you answer to?"

"We don't answer to no one no more," retorted the left pilot quickly. "We respect and honor the strength and fortitude of the Pirate Queen Baranova."

Hermes's face contorted. "Never heard of 'er. Plus, I'm pretty sure 'strength' and 'fortitude' are basically the same thing-"

"You'll either submit yourselves and your ship for inspection…" The left pilot's hand quickly grasped his belt, shifting his trousers and provocatively revealing a revolver tucked into his waistband. "...or you'll have to deal wit' us." He cocked his head to indicate the right pilot.

"You really don't want to have to deal," came the low growl of the right pilot. I could have sworn I saw the sickly man wince, and hunch forward even more as he heard this.

"We're already 'dealing' with you." Hermes pointed back with his thumb towards his ship's cargo hold. "Look, we got a shipment o' Backwater Ale that's liable to go off in there. We been through here hundreds o'times. Thousands, even. If you got issues with us, maybe we should just start takin' our stock somewhere else."

I hadn't seen any ale when I was holed up back there with the Titan. He was bluffing. Normally, I wouldn't have condoned it, but we had little choice in the matter. After giving each other a sly look, the pilots adjusted their stances, though to be more aggressive or more passive, I couldn't tell.

"You know, I know that ale," said the right pilot. I caught a slight glimpse of his tongue as he licked his lips beneath the broken helmet. "Come to think of it, my throat's a little parched right now. Mind if we, uh…" He began to move purposefully toward the port to the cargo area. "...sample the merchandise?"

"Hey!" It was all I could do to shout, and jump out into the sand behind the pilot; no doubt, if they found the Titan, someone's blood would be shed. Though I couldn't see him now, I could hear the other pilot moving forward, prepared to counter me if I tried anything. I stopped dead, and so did he. The pilot near the cargo hold stopped short of the port controls, and slowly turned to look over his shoulder at me, the anger in his eyes piercing straight through me like daggers. "It's, uh…" Had to think of something. "It's all… wrapped up. Like, on pallets and stuff. Would take too long to get into; just wait for someone to come and take it all in, and… y'know, we can all find a place to have a proper drink."

Hermes's lips were pursed tight, his eyes wide. Boy, if looks could kill: everything on his face just screamed 'shut up'!

The pilot in front of me slowly turned completely to face me. He looked me up and down: sizing me up, no doubt, or perhaps quickly evaluating whether I may have had a weapon on me.

"...ya know what? You're right." His voice was cold as ice; about as cold as it had been in the cargo hold there with the Titan. The pilot in front of me leaned to the side to shout over my shoulder at the one behind me. "Bernard? Why don't you call a full recovery squad out here?" I could hear the one behind me take something from his belt or pocket, as the pilot in front of me quickly approached, standing with his face mere centimeters away from mine. "...'cuz I think they're hidin' somethin'."

Suddenly, a cold sensation encircled one of my wrists, then the other. I turned my head to see the other pilot behind me, forcing me into some kind of shackles. Hermes acted quickly, but not quickly enough, moving forward to disarm the pilot but being swiftly knocked down and shackled as well. The pilot pulled Hermes to his feet, while Hermes spit out a bit of sand and the other pilot made for the rowboat again with hands behind his back.

"We'll see what Baranova thinks your 'ale' is worth." The left pilot… or right pilot, or… hell, couldn't really keep 'em straight at this point… climbed into the boat, while the other pilot held Hermes and me by the napes of our necks, one in each hand, corralling us in the same direction. "And, hell, maybe we'll even let you have a drink with us." Both pilots burst out laughing, this artificial squeal of a laugh that made it sound like it was their first time doing so. "Long as yer not IMC, at any rate."

The remaining pilot threw us down onto the edge of the skiff, causing the sickly man within to recoil away a bit. Hermes and I were both expected to climb into the boat of our own accord, which we of course did, both with an extreme, disdainful lethargy.

All five of us pressed into the boat, shoulder to shoulder, was a far cry from the now spacious-seeming craft of Hermes. Sitting directly across from me, Hermes kept his gaze fixed on me, his brow furrowing more and more angrily by the second.

Once we forcefully shoved off from sand bar, he gave my shin a swift kick in the commotion. I winced. Water splorted out the top of my boot. Wet socks. Damned mushy feeling.

It was a bit much, I thought, for the pilots to have to throw us into a full-on cell, complete with dank, moss-infested walls and hard sooty floor. Hermes seemed to already be quite taken with our new abode, immediately retreating to the back corner, and sitting against the wall, defeated.

I was not quite so easily shaken, though. Immediately, once the door was closed on us, I grabbed the bars and jostled them violently, shouting whatever vague, foreboding non sequitur I could think of. "You'll never get away with this! You won't keep us in here forever!"

"Would you just shut up already?" Hermes finally piped up, sounding even more massively annoyed than he had back at the landing site.

I turned away from the door, letting my arms swing loosely to my sides. "Well, it's true. There's no way this is fair-"

"You should have just let me handle it." He cut me off, no doubt trying to divert me from saying anything else needless. "What the hell was that supposed to be, anyway? Butting in like that." He adopted an over-exaggerated mocking voice. "'Oh, it's on the pallets, man. 'Ss the pallets. It's all covered in plastic and shit, dude. Don't just go in there and grab a beer, you gotta wait for someone to take the pallet out…'" His mocking voice gave way to spouting anger. "'...bring it into town, open it up in some industrial process, distribute it to all the taverns in the area-'"

"Look, I get it. Alright? Trying to decipher the logic of a bullshit bluff I made under pressure isn't going to help us." His ire only served to amplify mine as well.

"Yeah, neither is making more o' those claims in a dungeon filled with vicious pirates!" Hermes was right, but that said, I hadn't seen anyone else occupying the other cells when we'd been brought in. "And ya didn't answer me. Why'd you have to get in the way? I had it handled. We're supposed to be trying to lay low, remember?"

I did a quick, obvious glance around us at the low dungeon walls. "Well, you can't lay much lower than this." Turning away from him, and back toward the cell door, I continued. "Besides… I had to do something." I turned back toward him. "I'm tired of just letting things happen. My family was spirited away somewhere, I don't even know if they're alive…" I could feel a lump in my throat beginning to swell. Swallowing through it, my speech continued. "...you brought me here, sure, but I didn't do anything. I had to step up, for once, man. If they had opened the cargo hatch, they would've been face-to-face with that Titan."

Hermes stood up behind me slowly, taking a step toward me and adopting an incredulous and sarcastic tone. "Why would that be such a bad thing?!"

"Well, there's two ways it could've gone. Either it coulda still been in low-power mode from the trip, or she woulda grabbed us and flat out murdered those two guys."

"Sooo… we'd either be in the same exact position we're already in, or our captors would be dead and we'd have an active Titan protecting us in an unstable den of criminals. Again, where's the disadvantage?" Hermes still sounded as if he was in complete disbelief. He didn't understand that the way I acted was derived straight from how we'd come to be there in the first place.

I shook my head, looking down and bringing my hands together nervously. "...the only reason I'm even here and not still at home with my sister and my dad is because of just… complete…" I struggled to find the words, and the lump in my throat grew. "...senseless, gruesome bloodshed." I turned back toward him, resolute. "I'm not gonna contribute to that if I have the choice."

Hermes's mouth sat agape, as he slowly crossed his arms and fell backward to lean against the damp wall again. It was clear he didn't like what I was saying, but knew there was nothing he could do to change my stance. Sighing, he shook his head, defeated again. "Look, you wanna take real action? Take matters into your own hands for once?" His knees bent, and his back slid down the wall so he could sit down again. "Then maybe find some way to break us outta here," he said quietly, barely above a low whisper.

I squinted at him. He caught my gaze, and flapped his hand around him, motioning to the entirety of the cell itself. Nothing more to say, I supposed.

I turned back to the cell door, grabbing on and rattling it as before, although to a lesser effect. It was thoroughly rusted, that much was true, but undoubtedly resilient enough to withstand anything I could throw at it. Dead end.

The rest of the cell didn't fare much better; I checked every stone in the wall, every soft spot in the floor, and every slight crack in sight, and found no trace of any kind of escape route. Not that I'd be able to tell, anyway; there was no window, and the only light was coming from the dusty, flickering fluorescent tubes adorning the hallway outside. What a contrast: full electric lighting, and a completely archaic dungeon. Was surprising that bringing even a shred of technology into the midst of all this didn't completely destroy the place-

"Wait…" My thoughts escaped me under my breath. "Maybe… just maybe…"

Hermes leaned forward. "Got somethin'?"

I folded my arms, then reached a hand up to my chin ponderously. "What do you know about Titans? The whole 'neural link' thing?"

Hermes frowned. "What does have to-" He stopped suddenly. Didn't take him long to catch on. "No. Bad idea."

"It's the only thing I can figure that has a sure chance of getting us out of here quick enough to be worth a damn."

"You don't even have a gen chip!" Hermes tried to emphasize his words, as if they were supposed to mean something to me.

"What does that even mean?"

Hermes sighed. "A gen chip. The thing they stick in pilots' heads to track their progress and shit? That's also what gives 'em the ability to control their Titan from the outside." He shrugged. "I dunno much about the whole 'neural link' thing, but you sure as hell don't have one. I know that much."

Come to think of it, he wasn't wrong. My plan had been to simply will the Titan to come and get us out, but this would be the first time I'd tried anything of the sort.

Or was it…? Perhaps it was something more primal. Had it been my resolve, my very will to survive, that had made the Titan able to find me back at the colony, when those robots were all over me? Was that what had hailed it? Granted, the colony wasn't all that large, but she'd sure picked a hell of an opportune moment to show up.

Slowly, the pieces started to fall into place. I remembered now: she wasn't able to establish a full neural link, but she'd done some kind of brain scan. That, and given how she'd been able to show up at just the right moment-

"Hey!" Hermes must have caught wind of the wheels turning in my mind. "Mind letting me in on what's going on in that brain o' yours?"

I nodded, dropping my hands to my sides, causing a slight twinge of pain to emanate from my shoulder. Maybe the injury wasn't as bad as I'd originally thought: it had healed well enough in the time since we'd left home. That said…

"Hit me. In the shoulder." I turned and looked down at Hermes's curled form, a stern look on my face.

He slowly stood to look me in the eye. "What?"

"Just do it. Me being in pain or in danger might serve to call the Titan."

He scoffed and looked away, crossing his arms again. "You can't be serious with this…"

"Just do it! We don't have much time!" My nostrils flared as I stared him down. Hopefully, he could tell I meant business.

He sighed, and uncrossed his arms. "Alright. Which shoulder, and how ha-" Suddenly, he struck out with a right cross, coming over and striking my shoulder hard and fast. I could feel the cartilage and bones shifting again, as my hand whipped up to grasp against the pain.

My mouth hung open for a moment as I began to recoil away. "Ow!" I slowly stood up to full height again, still favoring my uninjured side. "Asshole!"

"You deserved that one." He stepped back, shaking his hand as if to wick the pain of the punch away. Maybe he was right; I did deserve it. But if that was true, then he deserved at least five for bringing us to this planet in the first place. "Stuck in a... friggin' medieval dungeon 'cause o' you…" He moved to my injured side. Hermes meant to flank me, and continue the fight. "Makin' me do all this crap to hide you an' that Titan… now you want it to rip straight through Smuggler's Cove to save us…" True. Hell, maybe I deserved another punch for thinking starting a fight with him was good idea. He raised fists into a fighting stance, guarding his face.

I spun to keep him head on. "Yeah, like hell!" I bounced between my feet, also raising my fists to my face. "If they'd seen that Titan in your cargo bay, they would've killed you on the spot!" It was all I could do to throw a hook out from my good side, but Hermes anticipated it, dodging it adeptly.

"Never woulda had a Titan back there…" he strained, moving forward and putting all his weight behind another cross. I pulled to side, trying to dodge the blow, but it skimmed against my now pain-filled arm. If anything, I took comfort that the sensation now pulsating through it wasn't quite as bad as it could've been. "...if it wasn't for you! Should never have brought you with me."

That may have hurt more than his first punch did. I didn't have any particular attachment to Hermes, but at that point, I still thought he had a shred of decency. It faded once he'd said that. He'd crossed the line. In my rage, I suddenly lunged toward him, knocking him to the ground and falling down onto him. Soot and sand kicked up into my eyes, but I persevered, holding his wriggling form down.

It didn't last long, though. He managed to drive an uppercut straight into my armpit, of all places, on my bad side. Even more searing pain went through my shoulder, but it soon passed; in fact, I think he knocked back into place whatever he had jostled with the first punch. Still, it sent me rolling off of him, switching our positions so that he was on top of me, his hands pushing my shoulders against the ground. Both of us simply stared at each other, panting and reeling.

"...hit me, then," I whispered, looking up at him.

He lifted his hand from my bad shoulder, wiping some saliva or perspiration from his chin. "...think that's enough for now."

"Wha'ss goin' on in 'ere?" The voice came from outside, somewhere beyond the cell. Whoever it belonged to must have been just meters away. Luckily, judging by the cockney accent, it wasn't one of the two that originally picked us up.

Hurriedly, Hermes rolled off of me, crouched and tried to help to my feet… not hurriedly enough, though. Just as we regained our bearing, the source of the voice rounded the corner. Another sickly man, scarred and half naked, though not the same one from the boat. The 'dungeon keeper', I presumed. Just as we stood to face him, I caught a disgusted look on his face. He was taken aback.

"What ya think ya doin'?" He asked us this, although his face betrayed him: he had it twisted in his mind. The guard gave his head a thorough shake, as if trying to dislodge the thought physically. "Er… Baranova desires to see you." From his belt, he produced a large ring of massive keys, worn and rusted to match the cell door. "Now." Forcing it into the lock and strenuously turning it to the side, he flung the door open and stepped in, leaving the way completely unguarded behind him. "Up against the wall," he stated, routinely but with some fervor.

Hermes and I both slowly turned our heads toward each other. We didn't have to say anything: we were both thinking the same thing. My good arm tightened, preparing to lash out and strike at the guard. By the way Hermes's breath quickened and sucked in hard, I could tell he was rearing to do the same.

Chooom. From somewhere behind us, outside the dungeon walls, a blast that shook the very ground upon which we stood emanated. Dust and debris fell from the decrepit dungeon ceiling. The guard immediately widened his stance, the sound of the keys on his hip jingling violently. Hermes and I, still looking into each other's eyes, watched as both of our expressions went crestfallen. We both turned and looked over our shoulders, somehow expecting to see something behind us other than the dank dungeon wall.

"...what was that?" Thus came the whisper of the guard, who was looking side to side frantically.

Silence. Even our breathing seemed muffled beneath the deafening calm. For a few moments, we all stood there, communally waiting on whatever followup was to give credence to the earth-shaking uproar.

Was it my Titan? Had she gotten out of the cargo bay, and made her way in? She hadn't any weapons, so was someone firing on her? Moments passed, and still, we waited. Would my Titan burst in through the wall? Would she tear the very roof from this horrid place, bringing us-

"Musta been nothing," said the guard, righting his stance and relaxing his arms. Slowly, I brought my head back around to face him, noticing his hand reaching behind his back and the jangling of our old shackles ringing in my ears. "Guess even the cannon men are on edge an' all, since Baranova took ov-"

It was the only opportunity. I lunged forward, fist extended, straight toward the guard's jaw. Only managed to knock his chin to one side slightly, but it was disorienting enough for him that he didn't notice my swift knee to his groin. Behind me, I listened for Hermes springing into action. He, too, leapt forward, and while the guard doubled over clutching at his crotch, Hermes swung his foot straight upward, connecting with the guard's nose and sending him flying back in a crumpled form.

"Jesus," I shouted instinctively at his display. "That really necessary?" Through a beat of otherwise dead air, I could hear the guard still breathing. Good. "That could've killed him!"

Hermes, once again giving me a 'tired of your shit' look, raised his hands. "We're breaking out of a prison! Whaddya want me to do, bitch-slap 'im?" He kneeled down next to the guard, retrieving the ring of keys and some kind of metal-tipped baton from the guard's belt. "...'sides, only reason we have to break out ourselves is 'cause your whole Titan plan didn't exactly pan out. Just like I thought."

"Look, it's certainly bad luck that the Titan isn't coming, but it's good enough that this guy-" I motioned to the guard, still unconscious on the stones. "-was enough of an idiot to let his guard down when that blast sounded!" I made my way to the door and began to scan the hallways, left and right, for… well, anything, friendly or otherwise. As I suspected by the relative silence we'd been hearing our entire time locked up, there was no sign of anything. I turned back to Hermes, who was busy dragging the guard into an out-of-sight corner.

Hermes struggled as he dragged the man. "Got nothin' to do with luck." He let go, and the guard slumped against the wall with an unceremonious thud. I began to think Hermes was going to blame me again, and state that we wouldn't be in this situation had I not spoken up, and reiterate that we wouldn't need to break out if my Titan had made her way over. But, it seemed he knew as well as I did that furthering that talk wouldn't have served any purpose in our present predicament. "What was that blast, anyway? I can only figure-"

Right on cue, another blast. The ground shook, the gate to the cell reverberated, and Hermes stumbled as he approached behind me.

"-AA cannons, I think. Or rather, just a single one… not firin' at any kinda incoming fleet, or we woulda heard more of 'em by now," continued Hermes. "Either just one ship is doggin' this place… or they're firing at something planetside."

I knew all too well what he was implying. If they'd actually sent a team out to the ship… that Titan would have no choice but to defend itself. And if they were firing on her… more than once, at that… there'd likely be nothing left but scrap metal, by now. For a moment, my mind immediately shouted 'good riddance'... but I still held out some hope. She could've survived… or, still be functional, as it were, and we may just have had need for her.

I glanced back at the motionless guard. "Or these idiots could just be fuckin' around on the cannons." I gave Hermes a look, a smug glimmer of hope in my eye.

He nodded. "Let's hope. Would be a damn shame to have to give up our only ace in the hole." He pushed past me, and began running down the hallway through which we'd been brought in. I followed close behind him.

It took a few minutes to navigate the labyrinthine dungeon halls, especially since we were both so on edge about being caught. Eventually, though, we surfaced between two large collections of tanks… some kind of water processing plant, by the looks of it, fenced in and housed under a massive metal canopy. It wasn't where we'd first been brought underground, and under the canopy, it was impossible to discern our true location relative to our ship. We'd have to expose ourselves, straight out into the open amongst the cannonfire, not to mention whatever action had stirred it up in the first place.

Hermes quickly ran forward and crouched, clinging to the edge of a nearby fence. He cocked his head, motioning for me to follow. I fell in behind him, making sure to crouch below the fence line, just as he was.

Creeping forward, we managed to get to edge of the canopy without issue. Not that grand an accomplishment, considering what we saw there.

"Shit," whispered Hermes, peeking around the corner. He pulled his head back in, and shook it sheepishly.

"D'you see the Titan?" I asked him.

Again, he shook his head. "Didn't see anyone… but I can tell, we're on the complete opposite side of Smuggler's Cove. We'll have to run the full distance to the ship. Let's just hope they don't get even more cocky with those cannons, and try to off us in the middle o' the street."

"What happens if we get there, and they've taken my Titan away somewhere? We can't leave without it."

Hermes gave me a skeptical snicker. "Like I said, it'd be a damn shame… but I'm not gonna throw my life away for a robot while I got the chance to get out." He looked back at me, widening his eyes. "While we got the chance."

I thought to protest, but Hermes's mind was already elsewhere. He was spying a building across the way, or rather, a low wall that protruded from the side of it. Perfect cover, if we could get across the width of the street between us and it. Seemed easy enough from where we were, but the emptiness of the street, the cannon blasts… it all put me on edge. Perhaps unnecessarily.

Hermes began shakily pointing, twisting his wrist up and down to emphasize his direction. "Y'see that wall over there? I'm gonna make a break for it. I'll see if it's clear, and then wave ya over. Got it?"

Simple enough. A fleeting thought flew through my mind: I saw Hermes making his way around the wall, crouching, turning back toward me. A smirk crossed his face, his eyes narrowing. He turned away, and disappeared into a wisp of shadow. From behind me, more of the jackal robots - named Spectres, so I'd learned from Hermes on the flight over, and had remembered from the colony - approached, weapons drawn, their eyes glowing brighter and brighter as they approached, their malice overtaking my vision-

"I said, are you ready?" Hermes was doing his best to sound like he was yelling while staying at a whisper. I snapped back to reality, my vision refocusing on him. Genuine concern inhabited his eyes, but it was fleeting; he turned back to the opening. "Alright…" He stood and began to run, uttering "I'm goin'," under his breath as he took off across the way.

It never struck me to ask, or to even think about, how old Hermes was. He didn't seem young or spry by any stretch, but he was definitely younger than my father. The only reason I thought of this is then because, at whatever age he was, I don't think there was a person on the entire damn Frontier who could've run that fast under normal circumstances.

It was just as I'd foreseen: he crouched, looking side to side. An aura of confidence came about him. He smirked.

But, this time, shattering my illusions, he nodded at me from across the way, beckoning me to come once he'd checked his surroundings.

I peeked around the corner myself, ensuring there was, truly, no threat in sight. Sure enough, not a soul wandering the streets. Wasn't this supposed to be a bustling bazaar? Had the change in 'leadership' really completely wiped this place of all commerce, even local? We'd seen a few people when those pilots were ferrying us in; not a lot, but definitely not so few that they'd all seem to be completely absent now.

No time to ponder now. I saw the urgency in Hermes's eyes, even from all the way across the street. I primed my legs to make the run, then-

It was a whisper. Not of a voice, but of some sound I couldn't discern. Indescribable. My instinct was that, truly, the Spectres were behind me, but this noise was far too subtle for them. It sounded… like a pop? Followed by some kind of spray, kind of like an aerosol can.

I whipped back, quickly scanning left and right for the source. Nothing… better than Spectres, I supposed, but… something about it was too unnatural.

Back across the street, Hermes was pursing his lips, eyes wide, while continuing to wave me over with urgency. Taking one more nervous look to each side, I bounded over, my footsteps slamming into the pavement and reverberating through the intersection. After what seemed only a few massive steps, I was kneeling next to Hermes.

"Could you have been any louder?" Hermes whispered to me sarcastically.

I threw him a skeptical glance, though still keeping my eyes scanning the intersection through which I'd just run. "Yes, I could have." I shook my head. "There was something back there."

"Back where?"

"By- by where I just was!"

"Did they see you?"

"What? No, it wasn't-" I found myself sighing, realizing that putting such a miniscule thing into words must have sounded completely stupid to him. "I didn't see anyone, and no one saw me. I just… heard a noise," I said reluctantly.

"A noise? What- whaddya mean? Are we being followed?"

"It was just… like a pop, and a sweep." I shrugged, sighing again. The vague manner by which I could describe it wasn't helping. "Look, it sounds dumb, but was unnatural. Something's up. Haven't you noticed there's no one around?"

Hermes shook his head. "I call it lucky. And look... the noise was probably just those water tankards we passed." 'Tankards'. Of course he'd misnomer them that way. "Maybe a valve or something. Let's just focus on getting out of here."

Couldn't deny it; he was right. It was time to get out, one way or another, even if we really were being followed.

"Follow me," Hermes whispered, crouch-walking parallel to the wall of the building. He only stopped a couple of times, as we passed by open ports and windows. Finally, we reached the end of the row of buildings, completely unmolested.

Hermes stopped, once again checking the corner. Ahead was a shipping and receiving area we'd spotted on our way in. At least we recognized something; these streets weren't exactly welcoming in the way they were laid out.

"Alright," he whispered. "I need you to move up, and cling to that rock face." He motioned to a wall of stone on our left, extending along the side of the shipping area and wrapping around into the river. "Once got a drunk pirate to show me this hidden passage in the wall. Gives anyone transporting contraband a quick way out of the settlement in case the IMC shows up."

I scoffed. Quietly, of course. "Aren't you just a little better qualified to open this passage than I am?" Checking our surroundings, I added, "Also, speaking of the IMC… are we sure whatever they were firing those cannons off at is gone?"

"Well, they haven't fired 'em off since we've been topside. Whatever it was, they prob'ly scared it off." Hermes turned his neck back to me, speaking to me over his shoulder. "And it's not a passage you'll need to open; it's just a big hole in the wall, covered with a fake layer of moss and plants and shit. Just stick to the wall, and you'll know it when you find it." He looked back forward, also trying to assess our surroundings again. "Plus… the reason I'm sending you is 'cause we'll be in earshot… or, auditory… sensor… shot… whatever - what I mean is, if ya holler, your Titan's bound to hear ya at this distance." He turned back to me again to add, "...if it's still at the ship, that is."

"Here's to hoping," I said quietly. Again, I had no real attachment to the thing, but as a defender? Or maybe even a bargaining chip in a tight spot? Like Hermes had said, if it was gone… damn shame.

"Alright, move up. Go on my signal."

Pushing past him, I took my position poking out from aside the corner of the building. In the few seconds before Hermes called for me to go, I could feel my heart racing, the friction of my breath screaming in my ears. A sudden urge to just… get out washed over me. This was the first step. Had to go.

"Whaddya doin'?" Hermes leaned forward next to me, trying to look me in the eye as I stared forward, determined. An incredulous look was on his face.

"What?"

He lifted his first two fingers, and waved his hand forward and back repeatedly. "I- I did this! That's the signal!"

I squinted at him. "My head wasn't even pointed that way, wh- why didn't you just say 'go' or-"

"Fine, fine, just go! Now!" With a swift push forward, Hermes evacuated me from our cover, as he retreated back behind the building. Using that momentum, I began to run, my left hand sweeping along the rock wall as I moved.

Only a few steps had I taken, when I heard it again. That same sound I'd heard a minute ago, back at the water treatment area. I stopped dead in my tracks, frantically turning and checking every direction for the threat.

"What are you doing?!" Hermes screeched over, trying to yell with a whisper's timbre.

"I heard it again!" I responded, in the same fashion.

He shook his head incredulously. "It was just the leaves or somethin', man! Get moving!" He shooed me away with his hand dismissively.

I pursed my lips at him, before making one more quick look around, then turning and continuing to run forward, still skimming my hand along the rock wall.

Once again, only a few steps more was it before I found what I was looking for. A slight divot in the wall, that quickly sloped into a smooth curve that caved into the wall. The opening, exactly as Hermes had said. Had you not known it was there, you'd never have looked twice at the spot, but having seen and felt the opening, it was unmistakable now, even below the thick foliage. Frankly, being so cognizant of it now, I was surprised we hadn't noticed it on the way in.

I hurriedly pushed aside some of the vines and branches, creating a space large enough to slip through, but small enough to re-conceal later. Who could know? Maybe some other poor souls would be in the same situation as us, someday.

Speaking of 'us', I thought. I turned back and ran to the corner, just past where the rock face took you out of sight. Hermes's face was still hopefully peering over from cover. I waved him over, and he quickly broke cover and roadie-ran over next to me. Didn't even check both ways before leaving cover. Figures.

"I take it you found it," said Hermes anxiously.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Next thing I knew, we'd both crawled into the tunnel, being sure to re-disguise the entrance upon getting inside.

The tunnel had obviously been carved by some machinery, but given the overgrowth and bugs therein, it obviously hadn't been used in years. I mentioned it to Hermes.

"For emergencies, basically," he said, trudging along. "Or whatever they define as 'emergencies' in a place where everyone wants to kill each other."

The walls tapered outward as we continued, and got rougher. My guess was that they had fashioned this passage out of an existing cave or crevasse that simply didn't go all the way through. How many other tunnels were there like this, on the whole planet? Were there any more beneath Smuggler's Cove? Speaking of Smuggler's Cove, how were they going to deal with-

Dammit. It wasn't working. I was consciously trying to think of anything to keep my mind off our present situation, but my thoughts always ran anxiously back to the Titan. It wasn't even just a matter of whether we had our 'ace in the hole' or if she'd hurt anyone; it was more just the fact that she could've gotten taken away. Even if she was just a big hunk of metal, I wasn't sure if I could deal with that. Not again. No matter who it was.

"Up ahead," said Hermes, pointing to the shimmer of the water refracting off the walls of the tunnel ahead of us. "Let's move. Double time."

As best we could, we wade-jogged through the low water and rounded the corner out of the tunnel. Sure enough, a ways off, we saw it: Hermes's ship.

"There she is... " He shrugged. "Doesn't look any worse for wear. Let's get off this rock."

Shwiff-pop. The sound again. It had followed us, reverberated off the walls of the tunnel. Hermes, this time, whipped around as quickly as I did. Managed to catch a look of bewilderment and fear under his usual gruff veneer. He's a believer now, I thought.

"...run. Get to the ship," he said, under his breath. His normal timbre was gone; he was genuinely concerned.

"That's what I was telling you about-"

"Go!"

Didn't have to tell me twice. Or, I suppose he did. I ran forward, and felt his hand touch my shoulder, pushing me past him as he stood in bewilderment.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" He was yelling frantically, like he was almost comically trying to brush the issue aside. "Just get to the ship, fire it up, and let's go!" Yep, something was definitely wrong.

Finally, I reached our little sandbar once again. Hmph. Right back where we started, and we had done nothing but draw more attention to ourselves. Hermes had been right. If those two pirates, or guards, or whatever they were supposed to be hadn't captured us… if I had just kept my mouth shut…

Wait… the footprints. The ones from the pirates, and from us. I could still see them. Our initial jump out of the ship, the ragged lines from where they'd forcibly been pushing us to their skiff, the very indentation left by their craft - it was smoothed over, the wounds healed by the river washing over them, but still fully visible. And that was it - no one else had been there, or we'd be able to tell. So, my Titan was still in there, right? Damn, I had to check!

"Whaddya doin', kid?" Hermes was speaking with a desperate tone. "Get in! Now!" His voice was cracking - not a good sign. Whatever he recognized that sound to be, it was scaring him shitless. Maybe even literally; he certainly hadn't 'gone' during all those hours in the cell.

But a moment later, Hermes rounded the corner from behind the ship's thrusters. "Move! Move!"

Hurriedly, I yanked the side port open, waving him in. "Go on! I'm gonna check on the Titan!"

"No time! We gotta-"

And there it was again. The same sound, but louder. Heavier. With something... more behind it this time. We didn't even need to turn around, and we knew.

We weren't alone.