Alex had to squash the guilt that built up inside his chest when he saw Erick enter the home. In retrospect, he saw the problem. The three of them had entered Erick's house, with Klaus inside, without warning. Alex didn't need to imagine coming home to that situation. It had happened to him once, back on Earth, right before his trip home to Buenos Aires.

  However, what was done was done.

  Click.

  "How are you all here?" Erick asked, swaying back and forth as he entered the room, carrying the door closed behind him.

  "That's a long story." Alex shrugged, helping Erick to the nearest chair and allowing the man to sit down before he fell over. "What's important is we need your help to get into Tartarus."

  "This is…impossible," Erik said, falling into his chair and slumping his shoulders in the dim lamplight. "What makes you think you can get into the base at all? They'll catch you."

  "So, your problem is that we might get caught," Alex said, leaning on the top of the chair and looking down at Erik. "You'd be willing to help if we don't get caught."

  "I…" Erik paused, looking at his hands. "I owe you guys for helping me and Klaus escape Cragg Hollow. If you hadn't been there, we would have died. Both of us would have been like Captain Hawkins and Lieutenant Tanis. We'd have one of those crabs creeping through our face with those tentacles."

  "Hic."

  A small noise echoed through the house from the door to Klaus's room, but it was immediately silenced. Alex didn't mind the kid listening; he would have done it in the same situation. Having Klaus there was a good reminder, a bit of leverage from the past that Alex hated using, but he had no doubt he would push on if necessary.

  "We don't know the base, but we have a means to hide ourselves," Alex said.

  "I picked up uniforms from your washeteria," Erin said from her chair. "So long as we don't make ourselves obvious, I think they'll do to hide us."

  "Your barracks watch was full of holes," Li Wen added, tapping her fingers on the arm of the couch she sat on. "I was surprised at how easy it was to sneak in."

  "The problem isn't getting caught." Alex looked down at Erick. "The problem is knowing where to go. If you can help us there, we'll be in and out before anyone knows what happened. No one will be the wiser, and we'll get on with all our lives."

  Erick didn't move for a long time, bowing his head in his chair as he sat in contemplation. Alex wished he could give Erick more time to think. He wished that he didn't need to use Erick at all. However, the man could get them into the base.

  "Let's say I get you in," Erick said. "What happens if something goes wrong?"

  "We have a plan for that," Alex said, holding up the 'radio' that wasn't a radio. "Worst to worst, we can get you and Klaus out of here and off to the People's Revolution to get into hiding. Right, Erin?"

  "Oh, so when it's about helping you, you're alright with it." Erin sighed. "But yes, we can take them in if the worst happens. However, I doubt that will be necessary. We're not going to attack the base. We just need to get in and out."

  "It isn't that simple," Erick said, clasping his hands tight. "Commander Milton isn't an ordinary man. It feels like he's constantly watching everything inside Tartarus. He even has a nickname."

  "What is it?" Alex asked.

  "'Chess Master' Milton." Erick's hands shook. "He knows everything about what's going on around him. You can feel him watching you when you're in the base like you're just a piece on the board."

  Alex looked over to Li Wen, raising an eyebrow to see if she caught it, too. Bad enough that there were so many crossovers with Earth across the nightsea, but chess as well? He didn't voice it, but she nodded back to him.

  "Okay," Alex said. "We'll ignore the implications of that for the moment. However, I can tell you that I have a plan for this, and if you don't help us, I'm not sure how it will go. I can't force you to help us, but I would appreciate it, and we'll do everything we can to protect both of you."

  Erick remained quiet for a long time after that. Alex gave him the time to weigh the options. While it seemed simple, he knew that what he asked of Erick wasn't light. While they had saved Erick and Klaus back on Cragg Hollow,

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  "I'm scared, but at the same time, I know it's the right thing to do," Erick said. "You guys helped us when you didn't have to, and we both owe you for that."

  Alex hated to ask it of him. He tossed another malignant thought toward the thing that hid in the base. If he thought they could get away with just running, he would have dropped it then and there. They would leave Klaus and Erick be, and that would be the end of it.

  However, the fact that the thing knew they were connected and were willing to leverage Erick and Klaus to escape was a threat within itself. Alex didn't like the idea of leaving those two in the hands of such a monster. If they left, what information could it leak about Klaus and Erick?

  "Alright," Erick said. "But your plans better include a way out for Klaus. I don't care what happens to me, but that boy has seen enough."

  "It will," Alex said.

  "It's too early for Klaus to be at school," Erick said.

  "Ideally, we'll be back in less than an hour," Alex said. "The more time we spend in the base, the more likely we'll get caught doing something we shouldn't."

  "You don't understand how big it is," Erick said, his eyes distant as he looked at his hands. "But sitting here and doing nothing isn't solving anything."

  "So let's get this going," Alex said, standing. "We'll get in the uniforms and get out there."

  ***

  After they all left, Klaus didn't waste a moment. He ran for his wall, placing his hands up against the cold stone and pressing his face against it. He trusted in Alex and Erik, but that didn't change the fact that he knew what they were doing was dangerous. They would need help if they were going to come back, and he would be that help.

  He was terrified, but he needed to go after them.

  He pressed against the wall and opened the gate resting in his heart. Power raced through his limbs like a jump rope, waving back and forth through his arms and legs from his heart all the way to his fingertips. He didn't know precisely how to describe it.

  Klaus had a power, a way to hide when he was scared to places no one could find him. He first found out about it when at school, running away from the boys who always chased after him during their play times. He had been so afraid that he hadn't thought about it then, but given time, he had taken the power and used it more.

  He knew that it was a curse. That was what people called those powers. His teacher told stories in class about how people became cursed. They were people who offended the Scions and were given the powers to mark them as fallen individuals who would hurt the weak. Only the strong of will could push back against that. It tested the chosen of the Erth and showed who deserved to be saved.

  Klaus didn't think he was that bad. He might have a strange power, but he never recalled doing anything wicked. All he had ever done was run from the bullies, and he had never hurt anyone.

  He also knew that others had a curse. Alex, Sayed, and Erin weren't bad people, so he didn't worry about it. He figured all the problems with the Scions were something adults worried about.

  He focused on the surge of light that poured through his heart, letting it run through his body like water running from a faucet and onto his hands. The power coursed through him, making his body invisible. He leaned into the wall, pushing with all his might on one hand as he squinted his eyes and clenched his teeth.

  His hand passed through the stone like it wasn't there at all, a sharp prickling feeling going through his arm as it reached the other side. He brought the rest of his body through the wall with a step, extending the prickling sensation through his chest and then through his other arm and leg. Finally, his head went through the solid stone, and he stood on the other side, the prickling gone from his body.

  Pop.

  He closed his gate on the other side. His form lost its transparency as the moonlight rushed, filling his vision with the buildings around him. He stood in the yard, bereft of the warmth of his home. His hands dropped to his knees as he caught his breath and closed his eyes. The sounds of the world returned around him, and he regained his focus on where he was.

  Of course, he didn't have time to waste. Alex and Erik would already be down the street, heading toward the shuttle stop. He needed to hurry if he hoped to get on the ship and ride up to Tartarus. He didn't think he could push himself through the thick stone walls of the base's exterior.

  With a huff, Klaus pushed himself up from his knees and started running toward the shop, keeping the other homes between him and the streets as he darted between shadows.

  He knew where the shuttles left because, on the days that he wasn't in school, Erick would allow him to watch the shuttle leave before he came back to the house alone. Klaus took the quickest path, knowing that the adults could move faster than he ever could. To his surprise, he arrived before them all.

  The shuttles rested on the ground. They were large, flat metal ships with four stones attached to them and a single pilot on top. There were three at the stop beside a small open shelter. As Klaus watched, Erick and Alex approached the shuttle with the two others, climbing on board as Erick talked with the pilot.

  Klaus licked his lips as he waited for his moment. When he was sure one was looking, and the ship began to hum loudly, he ran for the side of the ship, pressing into it the moment he was close and opening the power inside his chest again. He turned invisible as he pressed into the hard metal, and with a pop, he fell into the darkness inside.

  Shadows hissed around him as he reappeared in a smaller place, the metal burning the air around him. Klaus looked around widely in the dark but could see nothing. His breath caught in his chest as the ship shook beneath him, and only a faint rush of hot air across his face told him that he wasn't completely trapped.

  He wanted to run, to reactivate his curse, and to pop out of the ship, but if he did that, Erick would be too far away for him to help. Klaus curled in on himself, closing his eyes. A loud hum and shaking muted the hisses around him, and the ship stopped shaking.

  He reminded himself why he was there: He wanted to help Erick. Nothing else mattered. He waited until the ship shook again, and the humm reduced back to the hisses from the darkness around him. With a deep breath, he opened the power again and dropped out of the ship, hoping it would be on solid ground.