KISMET ─ vento aureo.

▹ THIRTY-ONE ;

☆ ⁺ « THAT MAKES THINGS DIFFICULT

★˚⋆ CIOCCOLATA WAS SCOWLING AS YOU left the room.

"And where would you be taking them?" he asked Rati pointedly.

"They have an appointment with Dr. Polnareff. I've been told to escort them."

"What business do they have with him?"

"Whatever it is, it's none of yours."

Cioccolata sneered. "This group? Are you sure they have the clearance for that? Dr. Polnareff is a busy man. He doesn't need to be bothered by—by—"

Rati showed him something on his holopad. The contempt in Ciocacolata's eyes morphed into shock.

"What? But how is that possible?"

"It's above your pay grade," replied Rati. "Please excuse us. Feel free to go back to whatever it was you were doing." He brushed past Cioccolata and you'd be lying if you said didn't feel pleased at the dumbfounded look on the tech's face.

Rati led your crew down the corridor and then into an elevator. It was surprisingly large enough to fit everyone, and you supposed that came in handy when they were wheeling down specimens and equipment between floors. Once the elevator doors opened, Rati led you down several more winding corridors, the frosted glass and soundproofing in all of the rooms preventing you from discerning what was going on inside.

You felt slightly nervous despite yourself. More nervous than when you had been going to meet Pericolo and Polpo. You truly didn't know anything about Polnareff. His age, mannerisms and appearance would all be a surprise to you. There was no one to coach you about how to act around him. Even Rati seemed more like a messenger than a close associate.

You found yourself running scenarios of how the meeting might turn out. You hoped Polnareff would hand over the Stand Arrow without difficulty, but who could say? It seemed more likely that he would refuse outright, seeing as you were space thieves and not a genuine research group. In that case, Zero's pin would do better talking than you ever could.

"You sure you know where Polnareff's lab is?" Mista asked, directly behind Rati. "How long have we been walking, anyway?"

"You're welcome to lead if you think you know better," Rati said.

Mista jabbed a hand into Rati's back. "Listen, if you're planning on ambushing us or something, I'd suggest you think twice. We didn't get this far just for some visor-wearing flackbag to stop us."

"I don't know what you mean."

Mista snorted. "Yeah. Sure you don't."

You felt someone brush your arm and turned to see JoJo.

"I had a question. Captain," he added belatedly.

"Shoot."

"What's going to happen after we find the Stand Arrow? Has Zero specified a drop-off point?"

"Not that I know of," you said. "We'll contact him directly after we get the Arrow. See what he wants."

"Do you have any plans for . . . afterwards?"

"I'll be honest and say I haven't let myself think that far yet." When you thought of the future beyond the Stand Arrow, all that came up was far-off, golden mist. Whatever happened afterward would be glorious, you were sure.

Huh. You never used that word.

"Why do you ask?"

JoJo scratched beneath his jaw again. "It's just that . . . I was wondering if my position on the crew was a permanent one. I would completely understand if . . . I had to leave once this job was over."