What did the Changelings want? I wondered. What had they gone to so much trouble with the base for? How could I use that information for our benefit?
When the answer came to me, the plan formed immediately at the front of my mind. It was simple, fast, and risked the fewest number of Yayora lives.
But would it work?
I explained it to Stari, who was busy organizing living arrangements for the mass of Yayora still arriving.
“No way,” Stari said. “We’re not putting you at risk. You’re our best hope of finding a way out of this. If anything happens to you, we’re done for.”
“If we don’t act soon, Chax will be done for,” I said.
Stari sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I know he’s important for you,” she said, “but he’s only one Titan. We have thousands of Yayora down here to worry about. Never mind the millions spread across the rest of the planet. We have to be levelheaded about this.”
“What kind of state do you think I’m going to be in if he dies?” I said. “You won’t get a recognizable word out of me for months. I thought I already lost him once. Next time, it will be even worse.”
“But you would still be alive,” Stari said. “We could build a plan. If the Changelings get their stinking hands on you…”
I expected this response from her. My best plan came with the greatest level of risk but also the greatest payoff if it was successful.
“It’s the best idea I came up with,” I said.
“So keep thinking,” Stari said.
“We’re out of time already,” I said.
Stari had set herself up in a large room carved into the rock. She was supposed to sit in the stone throne at the center of the room but she had never been the type to stay in one place for long. She moved to a desk where soldiers squirreled at sheets of paper, issuing and receiving orders at a frenetic pace.
This was where their resistance started and it was where they would have to begin all over again.
“If you have a better idea, I’d like to hear it,” I said.
Stari turned toward me and rubbed her eyes. Day one, and she was already exhausted.
She didn’t like the plan. It wasn’t like I loved it. But there was nothing else we could do. Not unless she wanted to spend her entire life pursuing it the way her Grandpa had.
“If your plan fails…” she said.
“Then you can always repeat what your Grandpa did,” I said. “This plan doesn’t leave your base here exposed. You can still keep fighting.”
“Grandpa spent his entire life building an elaborate underground base right under the Changelings’ noses,” Stari said. “What you’re suggesting… It’s so simple. The Changelings will know we’re coming.”
“Not necessarily. You can be patient and fight long term the way your Grandpa did or you can take a gamble and have victory within the next few hours. It has to be worth trying, doesn’t it? And the window is closing. It’s not going to be open forever.”
Stari shook her head and braced her hands on the desktop.
“Your life will be on the line,” she said. “Are you sure you accept that?”
“Chax put his life on the line for me,” I said. “The least I can do is the same for him.”
“Fine,” Stari said. “We’ll do it. But I’m coming with you.”
“No,” I said. “The Yayora need you.”
“I’ll leave my best officer in charge,” Stari said. “There’s nothing I can do that he can’t. And he’s got a lot more patience than me. He won’t blow everything just because he gets a little antsy.”
I looked Stari over. She was being serious.
“I’m a fighter, not a leader,” Stari said. “My place is beside you on this mission. And you’re not doing it if I’m not allowed to go with you.”
I raised my hands in surrender.
“It’s your decision,” I said. “So, we’re really doing this?”
“We are,” Stari said. “I’ll get my seamstresses onto it. I’ll make sure they don’t make my ass look big. If I’m going to die, I want to die in style.”
“And I don’t want to die at all,” I said.
We shared a nervous smile.
Boy, did I wish I didn’t have to do this.
Stari met a lot of resistance when she told her generals our plan. It took some finessing, but finally, they relented. Short of tying Stari up and forcing her to lead from a cell, I didn’t think she was the kind of person to change her mind by consensus.
After that, everyone leaped into action. I was given a new set of clothes—haggard and torn, with holes and dirt rubbed into the pants and t-shirt. A makeup expert rearranged my hair and added dirt on my cheeks and nose.
I got off easy. At least I didn’t have to go under the knife as Stari and her comrade did…
Then we were bundled onto a device that reminded me of the winching machine people used to clean skyscraper windows. A pair of workers took us up the sheer rockface to a door at the top. Then we moved through endless dark tunnels. Stari and her friend, V’Sen, led me through the tunnels until I thought we would never reach the end.
Finally, a pinprick of light beckoned in the distance like the first star out at night. We stopped short of stepping into its warm embrace on the fringes of the outside world. I could smell the fresh air on the cool breeze that blew into the cavern.
“Are you ready?” Stari said.
“No,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.”
Stari attached the restraints to my wrists and hugged me.
“Try to stay calm,” she said. “We’ll be okay.”
She wore a plain skintight suit with a shaggy brown cloak over the top. The hood hid most of her face in shadows. I’d already seen her face after the surgeon had finished. He’d done an
