The next day, Evelyn and Will set up a makeshift command center in the hotel room, with their own VPN, direct comms to Wilkeson in Japan and to the offices in Dallas, and a cache for the quick storage and dumping of intel. By the time Levi entered the shared space, their command center was already up and running.

"Where are the others?" Levi asked.

"They went out." Will leaned back in his chair. "Want some coffee? There's a fresh pot in the kitchen."

Levi frowned to himself, but he nodded and fetched himself a cup of joe while thinking on the problem. On one hand, going out to canvass the city had been his plan as well; he just would have preferred that the others not leave before him. On the other hand, if he allowed the team to do as they wanted, they would continue to take liberties, and potentially endanger the mission—or, more likely, endanger Levi himself.

He could be the bad guy now or he could be the bad guy later.

"I think I'm going to take a look around myself," Levi remarked casually as he returned to the command center, as if he hadn't spent most of the past night doing just that.

"You should, while you have the chance. I'm jealous," Will replied. "Bring me a souvenir or something, will you? For the hero who sat around watching computers compute."

"Sure. I'll get you something special," Levi drawled. "See you in a few. And let me know if something happens."

"Will do." Will gave a little salute and spun around on one leg of his chair. Somehow, he remained upright.

It wasn't difficult for Levi to guess where each of his team members had gone. His first stop was the capitol building, which happened to be a nearby skyscraper. All of the official buildings, including Fosterman's residence, were said to be within that single, soaring tower.

Qumenee was nothing if not beautiful. With the deep blue lagoon not far off, the crispness of the cool air, and the quiet but pleasant chatter of the locals around him, Levi could have fooled himself into thinking he was on vacation. The beaches were idyllic; the houses were neat and colorful, each placed by careful design. The trees were manicured with care. Even the government offices looked like they'd been pulled out of high-fashion travel brochures.

"Ayala," the lobby receptionist said to Levi, and Levi quickly wove a translation spell. At least here he didn't have to worry about being seen using magick; in fact, the use of it probably worked in his favor. He could seem more as if he was one of them.

"—I do for you?" the receptionist asked. Levi could now hear him in English. Unfortunately, the spell didn't make the words sync with the man's lips. Oh, well.

"I'm just looking for someone," Levi replied. Fortunately, he would look and sound as if he was speaking Almajoyese. "A business contact. Is there a restaurant or food court here?"

"Yes, sir. Keep going down this hallway and you'll run into it."

"Thanks." Levi gave a small bow and headed down the indicated hallway. Following a brief pit stop at a sushi stand, he crossed the broad open court to where Hector was sitting at a high table, watching the Antemystics come and go.

The man looked up from his swirly ice cream cone and scowled when he saw Levi.

"What the fuck, dude? Can't I eat in peace?"

"No," Levi replied. "Not when you're outside when—What even the fuck flavor is that?"

"It's lemon and strawberry," Hector sniffed. "And what's wrong with me being out here? I'm gathering intel."

"You're eating an ice cream cone that's covered in sparkles," Levi returned, "and you don't have permission to be out here. Or did you miss when Wilkeson said only Ryder and Grant were meant to be doing this?"

Hector shrugged. "He didn't really mean that. He and I go way back, you know. He knows I'm gon' run shit the way I want to run it."

"How many of your peers have you gotten killed while running shit the way you want to run it?"

"None, creeper." Hector glowered at him.

"Really? I'd be surprised." Levi shrugged. "If Wilkeson wanted you to run shit, he would have put you in command. And yet."

"Fuck off." Hector nearly leapt out of his seat and stormed toward the elevators.

Levi hurried after him. "Where the fuck are you going?"

"To learn more about this pansy-filled shithole. That's what 'gathering intel' is." Hector reached out to punch the elevator's Up button.

"No." Levi knocked his hand away. "It may not look like it, but this entire building—and probably the whole city—is under surveillance. It's not just the guards. Any civilian who sees someone who looks out of place is gonna report it. That's how this society works."

Hector chuckled. "You think I look out of place?"

"You're dressed like an American. You're speaking English and sound like an American. Your aura has no magick to it. And not least of all, no one here has ever seen you before."

"That's why we have cover stories," Hector hissed. "Stop being such a baby. Besides, what are you gonna do? Make me go back to the hotel?"

"Now that you mention it," Levi said.

With a wave of his hand, he banished Hector to the hotel suite.

"Now," Levi said to himself. He left the capitol and headed two blocks over to a similar but shorter building. Within were the offices of Antemyst's Stellar Operations. It looked more like a lunch lounge than a government bureau.

Across the street, he spotted Grant and Ryder sitting on a bench. One was tapping away at a laptop while the other sipped a warm beverage.

"Hey there," Ryder said, seeing Levi cross the street. "Who pissed in your pudding?"

"Why," Levi said, "are you casually sitting outside of the same offices we need to convince to let us into the spaceport?"

"Because we're curious businessmen," Grant replied. "While we wait for a response, we're checking out the place, in case we learn something that'll help our petition."

"Fair enough," Levi said. "That's not a thing that normal people do, but fair enough."

Ryder chuckled. "And what do you know about what normal people do, creeper?"

Levi rolled his neck. "More than you know about how to go unseen among nonhumans, apparently."

"Ha!" Ryder threw his head back and laughed heartily. "That's a good one! Grant, he's a funny guy, isn't he? He almost makes it sound like recon on pansies and creepers isn't seventy-five percent of our job."

Exasperated, Levi waved his hand, and all three of them appeared in the hotel suite. Will and Evelyn were at the command center, while Hector was beating his fists against the door.

"You're gonna cause a scene," Levi said.

Hector spun around. "You! You little bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Your commanding officer," Levi replied. "Next time you want to go on a mission, run it by me first."

"More like I'll—" Hector tripped forward when the door suddenly slammed into the back of his head. "Fuck! What the fuck was that for?"

Across the threshold, a tall young man frowned at the group. He was dressed in the tidy uniform of the hotel's security guards. "My apologies. Is everything all right here?" he asked in Almajoyese.

"Everything's fine," Grant replied quickly in the same language. "Adigato." The security guard bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

"I have an idea," Evelyn said from where she sat near the back of the room. "Why don't we all settle down for a moment, have a quick bite to eat, and hear what Levi can share with us about fitting in with the locals better."

Levi shot Evelyn a grateful look, but the other men gave her glares. "I'd love a bite to eat," Will remarked. "Anyone got any ideas?"

With a small flourish, Levi revealed a large bag full of sushi burritos. "You did ask me to get you something nice."

"Ah, sweet!" Will sprang up and helped himself. The others did as well, albeit with some hesitance.

"All right. Here's the thing," Levi began once everyone was settled in with their food. "We should assume that literally everyone knows we're here now. Gossip seems to spread pretty quick around here, and the presence of normal humans is always big news."

"Why?" Ryder asked. "It's not like we humans hemorrhage every time a pansy shows up."

"You kinda do," Levi said under his breath. At a normal volume, he answered, "For one, like I've said, humans are technically forbidden from being here. Any that are allowed in are assumed to have an important reason, usually business or diplomacy. For another, the mindset here is that humans always cause some sort of trouble, so everyone keeps an eye on any such visitors, just in case they do something dangerous."

Most of the humans present shrugged. "I mean, technically they ain't wrong," Hector said with a sneer. "And I don't see what that has to do with me sitting in a food court and checking out the local trends."

"You did it in the capitol building," Levi pointed out. "That isn't a place where regular folks hang out. Everyone we saw in that food court probably works for the government. You stood out, and you had no reason to be there." Levi glanced at Ryder and Grant. "Same for you. The cover story is that we're businesspeople, right? But you have to conform to the idea of what Antemystics expect of businesspeople, especially if we're supposed to be Almajoyese."

"And what is it that they expect?" Evelyn asked.

"That we keep to our general space, apart perhaps from meetings and lunches. So if you want to sit somewhere and study people, you should do it as a group while, I dunno, looking at your laptops or something. None of this hanging around in spaces that Antemystics believe belongs to them."

Hector snorted. "Belongs."

"Yes. This is their home. We are the ones who are out of place. If you can't respect that, then stay in this hotel suite until we figure out a plan for the spaceport."

"And you're the authority on this shit?" Ryder remarked. "You're as Antemystic as the rest of us."

Levi shrugged. "I talked to folks last night. They're much more likely to open up to me because I'm a mage."

"Fine," Hector said. "Then go get us more intel. We'll work from here."

Levi was already heading for the door. "I'm so glad to have your permission, Hector."

Once he was gone, Will turned to Hector, Grant, and Ryder. "Are you really planning to stay here? We've still got the whole afternoon, and there's nothing special happening here, I can tell you that."

"Much as I hate to say it," Grant replied. "I think Levi's right. What he said is more or less what I was picking up on and what I've seen in other descriptions of the people here."

"Maybe we should check with Wilkeson," Will offered.

"Why?" Hector scoffed. "All he's gon' say is that we should follow the creeper's orders. I ain't down for that."

"He's our boss," Ryder said. "And we're soldiers. We follow orders. Even if we don't like the guy who's giving them."

The others sighed.

"Now might be a good time for me to mention," Hector said. "I'm sittin' on some info about him. Knew he had somethin' up with him."

Evelyn frowned. "I thought I told you--"

"What I look like to you, Evie?" Hector laughed. "Taking orders from the techies? No, thanks. Besides, you were wrong then, and you're wrong now."

"Hey, hey!" Will held up his hands. "Cool it! Evelyn, let's go check on the data. Why don't the rest of you map out the island for Wilkeson? I'm sure he'll appreciate being able to bring a more accurate map to the Prez."

"That's a good idea," Ryder said before Hector could brush Will off. "Let's do that."

The team worked in quiet division through the afternoon.