Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mercy was pulling on the last of her builder's gear when she heard the explosion. Running outside to her gate, she saw flames and smoke rising from the water tower - or at least, where the water tower used to be. 

The sound of hoofbeats echoed along the tracks, and she caught her first glimpse of Logan, the bandit who had been terrorising the town. Was the explosion his doing? 

He rode past her workshop, passing within feet of her gate. He turned and looked at her, his steely blue gaze drilled into her, and despite his reputation Mercy found herself intrigued rather than scared. He nodded at her, then tore off down the tracks, as Justice and Unsuur arrived on foot. 

“Mercy!”  Justice panted. “Did y’all see anythin’?”

“Only someone I assume was Logan, flying past like a panbat outta hell.  What happened?”

“Water tower got blowed up!”

“Logan blew up the water tower?”

“Sure looks that way, was hopin’ for a witness?”

“Nope, sorry, just came out when I heard the noise.”

“Well, Unsuur an’ I’ll follow the tracks.  You’d better get over to the water tower, they’ll be lookin’ for all you builders, I reckon.”

When Mercy approached, the townsfolk had congregated near the site, and Burgess was sitting on the steps of Water World, shaking.  Matilda had a hand on his shoulder, comforting him.

“As long as no-one is hurt, it’s OK.  We can rebuild, you know.”

Burgess gave her a wan smile, then looked back at the smouldering wreckage.

Justice, Pen and Unsuur appeared from various directions, shaking their heads.

“He got away,” Justice admitted.  “Mind you, if he’s on that goat of his, we’re no competition on foot.”

There were mutterings from the crowd, most of whom had known Logan as a boy.  Many of them were in disbelief that he could act that way, while some expressed that Logan’s pa, Howlett, would have been disappointed in him, had he still been here.  Mercy kept quiet as she didn’t know the man, but considered that Howlett no longer being here was a big part of why Logan was acting like this.

“I think we have to face the truth,” Matilda announced to the gathered crowd.  “The Logan we knew is gone.  We’ve given him a break, out of respect for his pa, but after this!  No, I say we make him pay!”

Pen’s eyes lit up, and he started shouting orders, much to Justice’s obvious annoyance, but the two lawmen and the self-proclaimed Protector of Sandrock headed off to plan.

“Now, Yan, we need a new water tower.”

Yan, normally lazy and obnoxious, jumped to attention as soon as Matilda spoke.

“Of course, of course, I’ll have them working on it by tomorrow.  Hey Newbie, and… the other one… where is she?  Anyway, Newbie, find her and tell her to get ready, you can expect the plans tomorrow!”

Mercy headed back into town towards Mi-an’s workshop.  She found Mi-an with Elsie, lurking in the alleyway next to Amirah’s shop.  They were looking at the empty building across from the pottery shop.

“Hey guys,” she said.

“Shhh, don’t be so loud!” Elsie hissed.  “We don’t want everyone knowin’ what we’re doing!”

“And what are we doing?”

“Breakin’ into Logan’s house, we need to find evidence to prove his innocence!”

“Seriously?  He looks pretty guilty from everything I’ve seen.”

“That’s why we need to find more evidence!  You believe me Mi-an, don'cha?!”

“Well, I believe that you believe what you’re saying.”

“That’s good enough fer me!  Now c’mon let’s get inside afore anyone else comes along!”  Picking up a rock from the ground, Elsie smashed the pane next to the latch, and opened the window.

“You’ve done this before, I take it?” Mercy asked.

“Yeah, I been in here before.  I need y’all to look through with fresh eyes,” Elsie explained.  “I musta missed something!”

Between them, Mercy and Mi-an found a few things that Elsie had overlooked - a drawing of Logan and Haru by Jasmine, some cosmetics that Haru appeared to have made for Arvio’s store, weapons from Hugo’s store, but nothing out of the ordinary.  The one unusual thing that they did find hidden on a bookcase was a torn photograph.

“Lookin’ at the date, that’s Logan’s ma and pa,” Elsie explained.  “I never met her, she left town shortly after Logan was born, his pa never really recovered.”

“Hey, is that Owen?” Mi-an asked, pointing to a young boy in the background.

“Looks like it,” replied Mercy.

“Yeah, my ma said they used to hold a lot of weddings at the Blue Moon.  Wonder if he remembers it?”

Overall, there was no new evidence, nothing to suddenly prove Logan’s innocence.  They snuck out the same way they came in, and Mi-an fixed the window behind them.

“But I know he’s innocent!” Elsie wailed.

“Look, I’ll ask around,” Mercy said.  “I might pick up something from stories you’ve heard before.”

Elsie perked up at that idea.  “Once you do, we can meet at the saloon and discuss the evidence!”

“Yan says the work orders to replace the water tower will be out tomorrow, so it might not be straight away.”

“Yeah, yeah, just as soon as you can though!”

Heidi got the blueprints for the new water tower to Mercy the following morning.  The engineer had already given Mercy an idea of what she’d need, so she’d been able to get a head start on the basics.  Once she knew exactly what she needed, she spent the day at Gecko Station, gathering iron and bits and pieces like fibre mesh for the filters.  On her way home, she called into the saloon for some dinner, and started asking a few questions, but no one was willing to talk much, not even Owen.  He had just glanced at the image and told her he’d been too young to remember much.  She also tried asking Hugo about the weapons.  The blacksmith was normally one of the most laid back people in town, but his reaction was so aggressive, so out of character that Mercy took an early leave from the saloon.  

As she settled down in her workshop for the evening, she could hear her machines working away in the yard processing the resources she needed.  She found the noise relaxing, and often left the door open so she could hear them.

Since there wasn’t much she could do until she had enough steel bars and iron plates processed, she was spending the evening collating the notes from her investigations into Logan.  Well, that’s what Elsie insisted on calling it.  It was really just gathering up some town gossip.  It didn’t really add up to anything that would help though, any more than the evidence in his house had.

“Ought to keep this door locked at night, there’s a lot of bad people about,” a voice drawled from the back door.

Mercy screamed and jumped up, scattering her notes as she tried to find the gun Justice had given her.

“You lookin’ for this?”

She finally looked round and saw Logan leaning against the wall by the door, her holster and pistol swinging from his hand.  It was the first time she'd got a good look at him. He was taller than she expected, with broad shoulders. He still wore a mask across the lower half of his face, as he did in the wanted posters round town.  They were a fair likeness, but what they didn't capture was the intensity of the gaze that focused on her from beneath his hat. 

“What… what do you want?” she asked, shaking.

“Heard you were askin’ questions round town about me, thought I’d answer them in person.”  He held the holster out to her.  “I ain’t here to hurt you, so if you feel safer, take this back.”

Mercy snatched it off him but didn’t draw the gun.  She stepped back, putting a chair between them.  It wasn’t much, but she felt better for it.

“What do you want?” she repeated, her voice a little steadier.

“Just to talk, I swear.”

“So, talk.”

“Wanna tell me what you know, and I’ll fill in the details?” he offered.

Mercy stopped and thought about what she'd learned. She folded her arms across her body, mimicking Logan's posture, and blew some stray hairs out her face as she considered where to start. 

“Your pa caught some virus when he was monster hunting. The church quarantined him, which you didn’t like, so you blew up the church to rescue him, only he was killed in the explosion.  You’ve been on the run ever since, hijackin’ trains and blowing up the water tower.”

“Hmm, totally correct and completely wrong at the same time.  Ain’t no way the bombs Haru and I used coulda done that much damage, and I swear to the Light I didn’t blow up the tower.  That’s what I wanted to warn you about.”

“So if it wasn’t you, who was it?”

Logan shook his head.  “Need to know I can trust you, first.”

“So how…?”

“I’ll be back in two days.  If the corps or Pen are here, well I’ll know you can’t be trusted,” Logan replied with a shrug.  “If you’re alone, we can discuss things further. Have a think 'bout who you can and can't trust round town.”

He turned and headed out the door.  “Just promise me one thing.  Keep your door closed and locked.  Like I said, there’s bad people about, and I don’t just mean me.”  With that, he disappeared into the night, leaving Mercy sitting on her chair, shaking.

She made sure both doors were locked though, something she hadn’t considered since moving to Sandrock the year before.

The following morning, Mercy was relieved to be able to put the parts together for the water tower.  Mi-an had finished her parts as well, so with help from Hugo, who seemed to have forgiven her for her questions the previous night, they dragged them across and got the new, Logan-proof, water tower built.

“Phew, we did good work!” said Mi-an.  Mercy grinned back at her.

“Yeah, we did pretty good!”  Mercy replied.  The hard work had quelled a lot of the nerves that Logan’s sudden appearance had left.

Matilda and Yan walked over to join them.

“Mighty fine job there, builders, just in time for our next water delivery.  Builders, our town owes you a debt of gratitude.  Yan, ensure these ladies are handsomely rewarded for their efforts!”

With that, Matilda turned and strode off towards City Hall, leaving Yan glaring in her wake.

“Yes, yes, well done and all that, here’s what the city promised to pay you and a whole FIFTY GOLS bonus on top.  Don’t let it go to your heads!”  He stormed off, leaving Mercy and Mi-an looking at each other.

“Probably just pissed that Matilda being involved means he can’t skim off the fee,” Mercy said with a shrug.

Mi-an gasped.  “I thought it was just me!”

“Nope, but he’s a problem for another day.  Let’s find Elsie, I promised an update, although to be honest, she won’t be happy.”

“What do you mean, there’s not much?” Elsie cried when they met up in the saloon.

“Keep it down, please, Elsie!” Mi-an hissed.

“What I mean, is that no one seems to know much about it, beyond what we already know.  Or they’re not talking.  Hugo didn’t want to answer any questions, seemed quite offended I’d asked.  I even asked Owen about the wedding, or at least about Logan’s ma and pa marryin’ at the saloon, and he says he was too young to remember much.”

“Which seems fair, from the photo,” Mi-an chipped in.  “He couldn’t have been much more’n four or five in that photo.”

“I’m not sayin’ we’re gonna abandon it, Elsie,” Mercy added, “but we need to be careful about this, not rush into anything.”

“Ok, ok,” Elsie grumbled, “but I swear, Logan. Is. Innocent!”

Saturday night, Mercy headed to the Blue Moon for story night. While she was still worried about Logan's statement that he would return - she wasn't sure if that was a promise or a threat - she didn't want to let him interrupt her normal routine. 

He was about all anyone could talk about, and Mercy took the opportunity to listen carefully, not just to what people were saying, but what they weren't. While everyone agreed on the basic story - the same one Mercy had repeated to Logan when he had surprised her - there also seemed to be an undercurrent of disbelief. They knew Logan, had watched him grow up, or grown up with him, depending on who you spoke to. They all seemed to agree there was something missing in the story. Even Owen's story time that night, a highly fictionalised version of recent events, drew the same conclusion. While she knew she should be wary about him at the very least, she couldn't help finding herself intrigued by the bandit. 

As she walked the short distance from the saloon to her workshop, Mercy turned over what she knew and had heard, and had to agree.  There was something missing.

After checking her machines were full of materials, water and fuel - she really needed to get that generator Qi mentioned sorted out - she let herself in.

“You took your time,” said Logan, causing her to jump.  “Still, at least you listened and kept your doors locked.”

When she'd left to go to the saloon, it was still light out, so Mercy had only left a small side light on. Logan sat in the chair next to it, watching her intently. The light flickered on his face from below, leaving his eyes in shadow. 

“Fat lot of good it did, you still got in," she retorted. 

“Better me than some of the others round here.  I ain't damaged the lock, but you might want to replace it with a more secure one anyway.”

“You gonna tell me who to watch out for?”  Mercy asked.

"You've been here a spell, tell me who you think you need to watch out for." 

Mercy left the lights low and sat on the other chair.  She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Where to start, she wondered.

"The people who are actually from Sandrock seem decent," she replied thoughtfully. "People who have moved here, and I appreciate that includes me, seem harder to pin down." 

Logan nodded. "Interestin’ take.  You’ll recall I’m Sandrock born an' bred.  So, who's on your list?"

"If I start with the guild, there's me, Mi-an and Yan. I'm not plotting against the town, and Mi-an is all about telesis and seems just as invested as Elsie in proving you innocent. Yan is weaselly and selfish, but I don't know if that makes him evil. I sure as darkness don't trust him, though."

"So far we've not found any evidence to implicate him," Logan said, "but that means nothin'." 

"Sounds like you think there's a bigger plot going on? And who is 'we'?" Mercy asked. Logan just raised an eyebrow in response and gestured for her to continue. 

"Amirah and Arvio are from Barnarock," she went on. "I'd discount them as they seem too self-involved to be plotting anything. Though I'm already watching my back around Arvio for other reasons." 

"Oh?" 

Mercy waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing, the guy just thinks he's all that and a bag of crisps. Keeps hitting on me and not taking no for an answer. I've got it handled."

Logan frowned but said nothing. 

"So that leaves the Church. Burgess and Dan-bi are both local, and while they can be quite evangelical, I don't think they mean ill. 

"Matilda, Miguel and Pen have all been sent here from Meidi.  They're harder to get a read on. My head says that as Church representatives, they must be good people. My gut…" She stopped and sighed.

"Sometimes you need to listen to your gut." 

"Matilda is nice, but almost too nice, if you follow. That makes me suspicious in itself. Pen is full of himself. He told me he was having problems with his palmar interosseous muscle the night of the temple incident." Mercy sniggered. "Do you know what that is?" She made a rude gesture, and Logan choked as he realised what she meant. Mercy smirked at the fact she'd finally got a reaction from him. 

"Anyway, I trust him about as far as I can throw him. That leaves Miguel. He's slimy, but in a different way than Yan. I feel like I need a shower after listening to one of his sermons." 

"You're pretty on the mark," Logan agreed. "Anyone else not local?" 

Mercy thought for a moment. "No, I think that's… Oh, wait, Grace from the saloon, and Unsuur from the civil corps. Both seem pleasant and straightforward - Unsuur almost to a fault.  Ernest the writer recently arrived from Atara.  He’s a bit of a fanboy of yours, wants to make a fortune from your life story, and Catori is determined to help the town grow for her own selfish reasons.  But I don’t get bad vibes from any of them." 

Logan stood up - sitting this close, Mercy was suddenly struck by just how tall he actually was as he towered over her - and headed towards the door. 

"Remember to lock up behind me," he said. "You're thinking on the right lines." 

"So what do I do with the information?"

"I'll be back in a couple of days. Think on it.  You’re a smart woman." 

With that, he disappeared into the night, leaving Mercy confused and frustrated.  Her instinct was to trust him, although she couldn’t be sure why.  She was also becoming curious about what exactly was under that mask. 

The following morning, Mercy headed along Main Street doing some errands, with the eventual goal of hitting up the commissions board at the Civil Corps. As she passed The Breach, she saw Grace and Justice involved in an argument.  While no-one had ever got them to confirm they were involved, the argument had all the hallmarks of a lovers' tiff.  Mercy tried walking round the long way to allow them some privacy until Grace called her over. 

"Mercy, you've been through The Breach a few times now, haven't you?” Grace asked.  “Can you please tell Justice it's safe for me to go in? I need relics from it for research!"

"For Peach's sake, Grace," Justice groaned, "I'm tellin' you this as the local sheriff. The Breach is classified a hazardous ruin.  I ain't lettin' no civilians in there. It's not personal, it's policy!" 

"Fine!" She threw her hands up in defeat. "Mercy, can I commission you to search for some relics there for me, please? I don't trust this bozo to know the difference between a techno calendar and a sundial!" 

"Hey!" Justice protested, then backed down as Grace glared at him. "OK, OK you have a point." 

"So, Mercy, commission?" 

"What do you need?" Mercy asked cautiously. 

A couple of hours later, she was back in the Blue Moon, complete with the relics Grace needed for her dissertation - "Old World Utilization Theory: A Case Study on Sandrock's 'The Breach.'" 

"Great, Mercy, thank you, these are exactly what I was after." She handed over the agreed fee for a ruins dive, along with a tip for getting it done so promptly. 

"Say, why don't you come by the saloon tonight, I can buy you a drink or two as a thank you?" 

"Sounds good to me," Mercy replied. "Now the water tower’s finished, I could do with blowing off some steam!!" 

"Owen's on close, I finish at 8, so I'll see you about then?" 

Mercy was right, she'd needed a night out. She spent the evening gossiping with Grace, Heidi and Pablo until people started to drift out. As she made to leave, Grace poured her another glass of sand wine and insisted she stay a little longer. 

Eventually the bar was almost empty.  Mercy and Grace were giggling over another glass of wine.  Owen was wiping down the bar counters while chatting to Justice, and Hugo was finishing his drink at end of the bar. As the clock struck eleven, Grace looked up at Owen, who nodded, and they each went to the closest door and locked them in. 

"Wait, what's going on?" Mercy asked. 

Just then, the cellar door opened, and Logan walked into the bar, accompanied by a shorter man that Mercy assumed must be Haru. 

"What the actual fuck?" Mercy stood and shouted, now totally confused. 

"Welcome to the gang," Logan said. 

Mercy looked round at the others in the room. Owen, Justice, Grace and Hugo were smiling. Logan and Haru may have been, but it was hard to tell under their masks. 

"You've proved yourself trustworthy," he continued, "and we reckon you'll be useful."

They all gathered around the table Mercy and Grace had been sitting at. Owen brought over a bottle of spirits and some shot glasses and passed them round. As they settled down, X flew in from an open window somewhere and landed on Logan’s shoulder.

“Late! Sorry!” he squawked.  

“Even X is involved?” asked Mercy.

“Well, it’s an easy way to pass messages,” Grace responded.

“Someone want to tell me what’s actually going on here?” Mercy asked.

"So, coupla months ago," Owen began, "I noticed my inventory was low. Not a massive amount, but consistently just under where it should be. Mentioned it to Hugo, seeing as how our places back onto each other. He'd been havin' the same issue. Mostly bullets, and other sundries. 

"With help from Justice, we set up watch one night, and caught this pair of fine upstanding citizens helpin’ themselves to some necessary supplies." He nodded at Logan and Haru. 

"Bitch," Logan replied, although the humour was evident in his voice. 

"Jerk." Owen retorted. 

"Anyway," he continued, "most of us in town never believed the official version of events, so we took this as an opportunity to get to the bottom of things." 

"Like I told you," Logan picked up the story, "the basics you know are correct, but the details ain't. I don't believe my pa coulda been so careless as to catch an old world virus. He was good at what he did. But, Miguel wouldn't let me take him for a second opinion. Wouldn't let me bring another sawbones in to see him, neither. So, decided to take matters into my own hands."

"I still feel bad about that," Haru said softly. "I must have messed up the ingredients for the bomb." 

Logan shook his head. "I keep tellin' you, weren't your fault. Nothin' we used in those bombs should be able to do that much damage.

"Anyways, the wall of the church was badly damaged, came down on us and my pa was killed. Before he died, he had a coupla last words. "Logan... protect Sandrock... Duvos..."  Whatever he found was bigger than any of us suspected.”

“Duvos?” Mercy gasped.  “What would Duvos want with Sandrock?”

“That’s a good question,” Grace replied, “and one my bosses want answers to.  I’m not an archeology student.  Not for a while now, anyway, however, it’s still a hobby of mine.  I work for Alliance Central Intelligence, and I’ve been sent here undercover to investigate rumours we’ve been hearing for a while.

“Logan and Haru fancied living up to the name of bandit they’d been given after the temple incident, get the world’s attention focussed on Sandrock.  Once I convinced them it would be a bad idea, we started looking to see what we could find.  My bosses are convinced there’s a Duvos spy in Sandrock as part of a nefarious plan involving the entire region.”

“Sorry for gettin’ riled up when you were askin’ questions the other day,” Hugo added, “I ain’t much of a secret agent, and I worried you’d blown my cover.  But when we got talkin’ we realised you could be a strong addition to our team.”

Mercy looked at the faces around her, and silently held her glass out to Owen for a top up.  He filled it half way, and she downed it, the heat of the spirit hitting her throat as she thought everything through.

“OK, if Logan didn’t blow up the water tower, who did?”

“Let’s go back a bit, first,” Grace said.  “A while ago, HQ intercepted telegrams about someone called ‘Tiger’ carrying out missions in Sandrock.  Further messages suggested that they were stealing water, planning to dry up the town and force everyone to leave.”

“Why would they do that?” Mercy asked.

“Sandrock’s in a very strategic position.  If there’s a war, then destroying Sandrock would destroy the link between Atara and Highwind, giving Duvos a huge advantage.”

“You think there’s gonna be a war?  I thought we were at peace?”

“The papers don’t tell you everythin’, you know.  There’s been low level skirmishes on the border with Duvos for years, they’ve never really stopped.  But yeah, they seem to be ramping up again.”

Mercy looked round the others in shock, and they all nodded in agreement with Grace.

“That’s a lot to take in.”

“I know, I’m sorry to drop this all on you, but there’s more.  We intercepted further messages, suggesting that they had been successful in hiding water.”

“So, I decided to go and check out the water tower for myself,” Logan added.  “Only, Pen showed up on patrol.”  Logan sighed and ran a hand over his face.  “He’s got a relic weapon, Mercy.  Took out the water tower, and then aimed at me.  Which is when you saw me heading down the tracks.”

“Pen?”

“Yep, Pen,” Grace replied.  “With the plot involving water, it was clear the church was involved.  We’re not sure if he’s operating alone, or if the others are involved.”

“So, what now?”

“We keep this between ourselves and keep our eyes and ears open.  Owen and Hugo are essentially our quartermasters, organising supplies of food and weapons as needed.”

“Yeah, officially now, rather than you having to sneak them away!” Hugo grumbled affectionately, cuffing Logan round the ear.

“Logan and Haru are still wanted men, so have to stay hidden.  X passes messages as required, and Justice and I - and now you - are ears to the ground in town.  So we just wait now for the next move.”

Chapter Text

Mercy was still reeling from the revelations the following morning.  She took her time over breakfast and pottering round her machines before checking her mailbox.  Zeke had sent a message asking if she could get him some more algae samples from the shipwreck ruins out in the desert.  Beating up some starbies and sandponies sounded like a good way to work out some of the tension that was built up.

As she hopped off the yakmel cart and waved to the driver, Mercy said a silent thank you to the city for commissioning this stop.  She didn’t come out here often, and Mi-an even less frequently, but it was better than having to walk to and from, especially with a backpack full of resources.

“Psst”

Mercy looked up and saw no one.  

“Mercy!  Over here!”

She looked round again and saw Logan step out from behind the ruin. 

"Should you be here?" Mercy asked. 

"It's fine, you know now we've got a man inside with the Civil Corps, who currently has Pen helping clear out AIs from Paradise Lost." 

"You mean the AIs I cleared out a couple of months back, when I went looking for a power core for Qi?" 

"Yeah, that's the one." Even with a mask on, Mercy could tell he was grinning at that one. 

"So, why are you here?" Mercy asked. 

"Thought we could go for a ride on Rambo, help establish some trust between us." 

"I can't," Mercy said, biting her lip. "It's not that I don't want to, but I promised Zeke a fresh supply of algae samples from the shipwreck." 

"Tell you what, having a monster hunter with you might make that go faster. If'n I come round the ruin with you, will you come for a ride after?" 

Mercy paused. Running a ruin together would be a good way to get the measure of each other. And if she didn't know better, she'd swear she'd seen Logan blush above his mask when he asked. 

"OK, but on one condition." 

"What's that?" 

"Once we finish in the ruin, you take your mask off. Everyone else knew you growing up. I didn't. That would go a long way to establishing trust." 

"Grace didn't." 

Mercy snorted. "Oh please. If she's ACI, she knows what you look like, your first pet's name and your inside leg measurement!" 

"That's a good point. OK, we do this, you agree to a ride with me on Rambo and I'll take my mask off for the afternoon. Deal?" 

"Deal," Mercy replied, holding her hand out to shake his. 

Although Mercy knew her way round the shipwreck ruins, going round them with Logan was a revelation.  It was like watching a ballet as he spun round the rooms with his gun and daggers.

They climbed the stairs to the second level where the algae room was and cleared the first room there.  

“Let’s just take a minute here,” Logan suggested.

They leaned against the desk - it looked like it had been the customer service desk in an old amusement arcade.  Catori would love to see this, Mercy thought. 

Logan detached a canteen from his hip and pushed his mask up slightly as he took a mouthful.  Mercy noticed some stubble on his jawline, a little darker than his pale blond hair, and watched his throat bob as swallowed the water.

Their eyes locked as he handed the canteen off to Mercy who took a drink.  The intensity of his stare made it hard for her to swallow.  Finally, she looked down and handed the canteen back.

“So, you’re pretty good with your daggers,” Logan commented.

‘That’s fine,’ Mercy thought, ‘if he wants to ignore that moment, I can too.’

“Thank you, been training with Heidi, she’s an absolute devil with those things!”

“That explains a lot,” Logan replied with a laugh, “Heidi and I grew up together, she used to train with me’n my pa, at least until she went off to Atara to study.  Glad to see she’s kept up the skills.”

“They just feel right,” Mercy explained.  “The sword and pistol make good back up, but these feel like second nature.”

“Yeah, your pistol.  You were so keen to find it the first night I stopped round, but you don’t seem keen on using it?”

Mercy shrugged.  “Prefer my rifle, but it’s a bit much in here.  Justice threw the pistol at me in Gecko Station, and while some of the basics are the same, it just doesn’t feel natural.”

“Fair enough,” Logan replied.  “If we get a chance, are you up for some coaching with it though?”

“That would be good, thank you.”

The rest of the ruin was relatively straightforward, and Mercy got more than enough algae for Zeke’s commission.

“What do you need all that for anyway?” Logan asked as they left the ruin.

“Zeke’s trying to find a way to improve the soil enough to allow trees to grow.  The research is promising so far, but he needed some more, so, order fulfilled.”

“So it is.  Now, you owe me a ride on Rambo.”

“I do.  And you owe me a look under that mask.”

“Didn’t you see enough when you were watching me drink?” Logan teased.  Mercy blushed.  “Thought I missed that, din’t ya?”

“Well, you had a good look when I was drinking, too!”

“Ain’t gonna deny that.  Guess I promised.”  He reached behind his head, and untied the knot holding the bandana in place, and pulled it away.

The stubble she’d spotted earlier covered a strong jawline.  A roman nose was set over kissable lips - where had that thought come from, she wondered - and fit well with the eyes that were already so familiar.  The scar through his brow stopped him looking too perfect.  Without thinking, she took a step forward, and cupped his cheek, wanting to know if the stubble was soft or scratchy.

Logan caught her wrist and moved her hand away.

“Bad idea, darlin’,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on her knuckles before putting her hand back by her side.

He stepped back, put two fingers in his mouth and let out a whistle.  A moment later, Rambo, his goat, came trotting into view.

“Ever ridden a goat before?” he asked.  Mercy shook her head.

“Ain’t too differnt'n ridin’ a horse,” he explained.  “Just hold on tight and let me do the work, ok?”

Logan helped her into the saddle and showed her the grip rail on the front.  He then swung himself up behind her and settled into place.  Mercy flushed as he realised how tightly she was pressed against him, her back flush to his chest.  His thighs and arms caged her in as well.

He took it slowly until she was comfortable.  “Ready for some speed?” he asked.  Mercy nodded.

“C’mon Rambo, giddy up!  Faster!”  He squeezed Rambo with his thighs, and the goat took off.

They rode deeper into the desert than Mercy had been before.  Eventually, Logan slowed Rambo to a walk, and then stopped him near a small copse of trees.

“There’s a few places like this out here,” he explained.  “No one quite knows how stuff survives here when it don’t elsewhere.”    

One of the big box trees had a thick branch at the right height for sitting, so they let Rambo wander and nibble on the sandgrass while they hopped up onto it.

“When we head back, I’ll drop you off back at the ruin,” Logan told her.  “Might be worth fighting a couple of boxing jacks on the way back to town though.  Even a goat as well behaved and looked after as Rambo smells, so it’ll act as camouflage.  

“Good idea.  So, why did you bring me out here?” Mercy asked.

“Seemed like a good idea,” Logan said, shrugging.  “If I brought you out here, and got you back safely, it shows I’m not a danger to you.”

“That’s true.  I think I already trusted you, though.”

“Yeah?  On what basis?”

“Gut instinct,” she replied, echoing back their previous conversation.

They sat in companionable silence, until Logan dropped off the branch and stretched.

“Better get you back to town before anyone realises you’ve been gone,” he said, holding out a hand to help her down.  She landed closer than either of them expected, and for a moment, Mercy thought she might kiss her.  Light, it was taking all herself control not to stand on tip toes and initiate it.

The moment was broken when Rambo nudged them, clearly impatient to get moving again.

Once Logan was out of sight of the yakmel stop, Mercy found a couple of boxing jacks that were up for a fight - weren’t they all - and added their loot to her bag, before getting a yakmel cart straight to the moisture farm to drop off the samples.  If Zeke noticed anything odd about her, he didn’t mention it.

Cutting through Cooper’s ranch allowed her to get home without running into anyone else.  She needed to get cleaned up and have a night to herself.

Once her machines were topped up and her loot sorted away, Mercy made herself some dinner and curled up with a book.  And that was where her problem started.  

Heidi regularly took delivery of new books from Atara and passed them round.  Mercy hadn’t read the blurb for this one when she picked it up the day before, and she now realised it was a mistake.

It featured a big hunky yakboy, teaching the damsel in distress how to defend herself.  It wasn’t clear why she was in distress or who she needed to defend herself against, but Yakboy was determined to teach her to shoot.

Mercy’s mind slipped back to Logan offering her pistol lessons earlier that day, and as the hero wrapped himself round the damsel to correct her posture and slipped a leg between hers to widen her stance, she imagined it was her and Logan.  He’d let her finish shooting the clip, each shot pushing her harder back against him, before taking the gun off her, setting it down safely and turning her round in his arms, where he’d…

“Grah, Mercy, stop it!” she shouted to herself, tossing the book onto the empty chair next to her.  “He told you himself, bad idea.  Now stop it!”

She stomped up to her bedroom, determined to try and sleep.

It didn’t help.  She woke about 1am, moonlight streaming in across the bed, the sheets a messy, twisted tangle round her legs.  Of course, the thoughts had continued into dreams, and now she was awake, tired, frustrated and horny.

“Maybe some warm yakmel milk might help,” she muttered to herself, heading back downstairs.

If she hadn’t been passing the door, she might not have heard it, but there was a clear, distinct knock on the back door.  Grabbing her daggers, she waited until she heard it again, before gently opening the door.

At first, she thought there was no one there, until Logan stepped out the shadows of the sand eagle statue next to the door.  Knowing that the longer he was there, the greater the chance of him getting caught, even at this time of night, she stepped aside to let him in and closed the door.

“Not like you to knock?” she teased.

“Yeah, well, wanted to do this real proper and gentleman-like,” Logan admitted, taking his mask off.  “Was hopin’ you’d still be awake.”

“Wasn’t really, couldn’t sleep, so thought a drink might help.  What about you?”

“Couldn’t sleep, neither.  An’ I’m hopin’ it was for the same reason?”

“What reason would that be?” Mercy asked, stepping closer.

“Regret.  Wishin’ I’d kissed you this afternoon, hopin’ for another chance?”  he wrapped an arm round her waist.  “Please?”

Mercy nodded. “Yes please,” she whispered, as he lowered his mouth to hers.

Mercy woke the following morning and stretched, realising she was alone in the bed.  The sun streamed in, suggesting she had slept later than she normally did.  She figured Logan had left to get back to wherever he was hiding before it got light.  The only reason she could be sure he had actually been there, and it wasn’t just another dream was the rosestone sparkling on the pillow next to hers.

The next few days passed in a haze.  Mercy took commissions, dived in the abandoned ruins, and chatted to her friends, life during the day continued as normal.

At night, Logan would appear at her workshop as soon as it was safe to do so and spend as much of the night as possible.  The first couple of nights, all they did was kiss, but as they got more comfortable with each other, things progressed.

Tuesday morning, Mercy woke to a message in her mailbox from Grace, just saying “Drinks, 8pm”.  Butterflies took flight in her stomach.  If this was code for another meeting, it would be the first time she and Logan had been together in public.  They hadn’t discussed how to handle that.

As before, once the bar was clear of everyone not included, Owen and Grace locked the doors, and let Logan and Haru in via the cellar.

To everyone’s surprise, including Mercy’s, Logan walked straight over to her, and pulled her up into his arms, claiming her mouth with a kiss that left no doubt about their relationship.  Sitting down, he pulled her onto his lap, and buried his face in her neck.

“Hi to you too,” Mercy said, giggling in his ear.

“Thought it was better to get it out in the open,” he murmured, “hope you don’t mind?”

“Have you two lost your minds?” Grace exclaimed.  “Logan, you’re still a wanted man, remember?”

“Looks like Mercy definitely wants him!” Justice joked.  Grace glared at him and continued her rant.

“We’re in the middle of Darkness only knows what, and you two are busy catching feelings?  You realise how much danger that could put you both in?  If someone put a gun to Mercy’s head, Logan, could you think clearly, do the right thing, or would your emotions get the better of you?  Mercy, what if someone had a knife at Logan’s throat, what would you do?”

“You’re the last one to talk, Grace,” Mercy retorted.  “How long have you been screwing Justice and thinking no-one knows?”

Grace started to splutter out a denial, until Justice walked up and wrapped his arms round her.

“C’mon, darlin’, ‘bout time we were open, at least with these guys.  Don’t know about you, but I’m getting mighty sick of havin’ to pretend I ain’t interested and keepin’ my hands off you in public.”  

Mercy watched Grace’s emotions battle across her face, before she relaxed into Justice’s arms.

“Fine.  But the big difference is, Justice and I have been trained to put our emotions aside in high risk situations, you haven’t.”

“Well, let’s try and not get into any situations where that might be an issue, then?” Owen chimed in from the corner.  “Now, can we get on with this meeting?”

“Fine,” Grace said, sitting down.  Justice sat on the arm of her chair.

“We’ve uncovered plans that show there is something going on in the Sandrock Storage.  We knew the church was involved, this confirms it, and it seems like Yan is involved as well.”

“Always knew he was a sleaze,” Mercy commented.

“Yeah, they needed a builder on board,” Grace replied.  Looks like he built a lock to a secret chamber, so I need a builder to make the key for it.”

“Can you get me in to look at it?” Mercy asked.

“I can do one better; I’ve got the plan for it!”

Everyone gasped.  “HOW?”

“Well, Yan being the double-crossing sleazebag we know he is, he kept a copy of the plan - for insurance purposes no doubt.  Did you know there’s a hidden drawer in his desk at the guild, Mercy?  All I’m saying is once his replacement arrives, you may want to make sure they know about it.”

Mercy looked over the blueprint Grace handed her.  “I think I’ve got everything I need; I can get it to you tomorrow.”

“Great stuff.  Meet me at the Sandrock Storage at midnight tomorrow night then, we can go take a look.”

“Can you stop by the Civil Corps in the morning?” Justice asked Mercy.  “Got some Corps business I want to discuss with you.”

“Sure thing.”

They all got up to leave.

“Just remember, Logan, you can’t be seen walking your girl home,” Grace snipped.

“I trust her to get home safely,” he replied, not rising to the bait.

The following day was a long one.  Mercy made the key first thing in the morning and hid it in her pocket.  It was small, but it felt heavy there.

When she headed to the Corps, Justice had a surprise for her.

“After everythin’ you’ve done for the town, Mercy, figured it was ‘bout time to swear you in as an honorary corps member.  If you’re willin’ I mean.  And besides,” he looked round to make sure that no one, even Unsuur, was in earshot, “figure giving you Corps powers might come in useful.”

He handed her a uniform - jacket, trousers and boots.  “You don’t need to wear ‘em, but if you know we’re tapping you for anything official like, then it’ll be handy to have ‘em.”

Mercy pulled the jacket on over her t-shirt and was surprised how well it fit.

“Spoke to Vivi,” Justice said, “she’s got your measurements from the last order you got, so it should be a perfect fit.”

“You’re proud of yourself, aren’t you?” Mercy teased.

“Yup, but figured you deserved it.”

Mercy headed back towards her workshop with a spring in her step.  Unfortunately, her mood was soured when Pen spotted her in Martle Square.

“Oho!  Skinny Arms!  You’re a member of the Civil Corps now?  How interesting,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes, thank you.  Justice swore me in this morning.”

“Need to watch the company you keep if you’re in the corps now, won’t you?”

Mercy blinked.  Did Pen know?

“You’re right Pen, I’d hate for someone to see me talking to you.  Best be off!”

She spent most of the day in the salvage yard and the mine, trying to avoid talking to anyone just in case.

Just before midnight, she slipped out of the workshop and headed towards the storage.  Grace was waiting just inside and as they started to plan, Logan and Justice appeared as well.

“Seriously, guys?” Grace asked. “We were trying to do this quietly.”

"We can be quiet!" Justice protested. 

"Just do as you're told, then. And no funny business, either," she snapped as Mercy felt Logan's hand on her back. “Now, let’s get on with this hidden door thing.”

Mercy looked up at him and grinned.  “Later, then?” she asked, before walking over to the bookcase Grace was pointing at.

“Go on, pull that box there,” she said.  Mercy did, and they watched as the bookcase whirred and slid to one side.

“Decent smooth mechanism.  If Yan built this, it’s a shame he decided to mess about rather than actually build,” Mercy commented.

“Yeah, but he’s a bastard, so there is that.  Keyhole is there, pretty well hidden, you see it?”

“Mercy squinted and spotted the slot Grace meant.  She pulled the key out her pocket and looked.  So far, they seemed a perfect match.  Holding her breath, she inserted it in the lock and turned it.

There was another whirring noise, and the hidden door slid open.

The four of them stepped through the door, and Mercy jumped as the doors slid back into pace behind them.

“Only way to go is forward then,” said Grace.

They made their way down the corridor, avoiding the security lights that flickered on and off.  At the end of the corridor was a control console.

“Guess we press the big red button?” Logan joked.

“You got any better ideas?” Grace asked, pushing it.  This opened another door at the end, leading to a large room.  What they found there was something none of them expected.

The middle of the room was dominated by a large water tank that went down several storeys below, with pipes leading upwards.

“Reckon we’re about under the oasis here,” said Justice.  “Is that thing feeding the oasis?”

Logan picked up some paperwork from the table near it.  “Got the motherlode, here,” he said.  The rest of them crowded round.

“A user manual?” Grace said, incredulously.  “Mercy, this looks like builder stuff, what do you make of it?”

Mercy flipped through the book and walked around the tank a few times trying to make sense of everything.  She knew what it looked like, but surely not?

“So,” she said carefully, “this looks like an Old World relic that’s designed to supply water.  I know Qi has mentioned stuff about Sandrock being on a hub for space exploration, so that would kind of fit.  Would want him to have a look at it to make sure that is what it is, and that it’s working, because the handwritten notes suggest it’s failing.  But between him, me and Mi-an, if that’s what it is, we should be able to maintain it.

“This manual is mainly for Builders” she read aloud.   “I know some newbie somewhere is reading this right now! Just check the diagram and do whatever's asked of you! Keep your head down and maybe you'll even see a pinch of these profits I am pilfering!

“NOTE: The regulator valve control that controls the amount of water going into the oasis is attached to this Old World doohickey that seems to create water like magic! DO NOT FIDDLE with the Old World relic! We have no idea how it works!  Break this thing and our whole scam goes belly up, Sandrock'll be dried up in a week!  The older this thing gets, the less water it seems to be generating. I don't know why, but who cares! ”

“That sounds like a confession from Yan if ever I heard one,” Justice commented.

“You’re right,” replied Grace, “and it sounds like he’s in it for the money.  But the messages we intercepted suggested something more sinister.  Let’s keep looking round, see what else we can find.”

A poster on the wall confirmed the schematics linking the tank to the Peach statue in the oasis above, and in a small room off to the side, they found some partially burned letters.

“I recognise that writing,” Mercy said.  “Pen sent me a few letters when I first arrived, trying to woo me.  It was painful, but I recognise the writing.  You almost expect it to have love hearts over the ‘i’s!”

“I recognise the codes, too,” said Grace.  “Looks like we’ve got the evidence needed to prove Pen’s involvement.”

“Let’s get back up top and go after them!” said Justice.

As the left the side room, they heard footsteps approaching them.

“Hide!” hissed Grace.  She and Mercy slipped back into the room, and pulled the door mostly closed; Logan and Justice faded into the shadows in the corners of the room.

They watched as Pen strode into the room, followed by Miguel.

“I’m telling you,” the older man said, “someone has been in here.  The main lock has been tampered with and the door to the tank room should remain closed at all times!”

“Oh, pulease,” sneered Pen.  “Are you sure you haven’t just been in here and forgotten?”

“I would never be so careless!  It must be Logan!”

“That boy is useless.  There’s no way he’s figured it out.”

“Don’t be so sure, search the premises!”

“I don’t take orders from you, old man!”

“No, but you will take them from the Empire.  Don’t forget your place, Knight.  For the Empire.”

“For the Empire!”

Grace took out a camera and snapped a few pictures.  “More evidence!” she explained, grinning.  “Now, how do we all get outta here?”

“Um, I think the guys might have other ideas, Grace.” Mercy whispered.

They watched with bated breath as Logan and Justice snuck round the sides of the room, each ready to overpower one of the Duvos agents.

Justice easily took out Miguel, hitting him hard enough on the head to render him unconscious.  Pen, on the other hand, was not such an easy target.

“Well,” drawled Pen, “if it isn’t the bandit, here to save the town.  What a shame they’ll learn how I caught you and the sheriff here trying to tamper with the water supply.”

Pen punched one fist into the opposite hand, before letting loose a beam of light from his palm, as Logan and Justice dived out of range.

“Shit,” hissed Grace, “his relic weapon!  How do we solve this without doing anything stupid?”

Mercy looked round the room they were hiding in for inspiration.  It looked to have been an old washroom, complete with an old mirror that had once been on the wall.  “Don’t know if it’ll reflect the beam back,” Mercy suggested, “but the man is in love with his reflection.  Might be able to distract him!”

“Best idea we’ve got,” Grace replied.  “Now, let’s move.”

As they were about to leave the room, the women stopped as Logan let out an anguished cry.

“You killed my pa?”

Pen laughed.  “Yes, and it was so easy.  Poor deluded fool thought I was there to help him.  It was so simple to inject him with that virus.  Then you thought to try and rescue him.  Couldn’t let the old man escape when he knew what was going on, and those bombs of yours, well, barely more than firecrackers, so I finished the job myself.  And now, I can't wait to send you to join him!”

“You killed my pa!” Logan yelled again, advancing on Pen.  He had no weapons drawn, but looked ready to beat the man to a bloody pulp with his bare fists.  Justice took advantage of Pen’s attention being focussed on Logan to sneak up behind him, but before he could get a swing of his hammer in, Pen turned round and knocked him flying.

“Weapons out,” Grace said, as she and Mercy ran out and flanked Logan.

“Oh, the fry cook and the builder, too?” Pen laughed.  “This gets better.  While you won’t be missed,” he nodded at Grace, “taking out one of the builders will decimate the town!”

He grabbed Grace’s wrist, trying to wrestle the gun from her, having decided she was the weakest link.  As Grace reached for the gun in her opposite holster, Mercy held up the mirror.

“Hey Pen!  Got someone here you’ll want to see!”

He looked round, and for the briefest of moments he was distracted, gazing at what he claimed was chiselled perfection.  It was enough, though.  Grace brought the butt of her gun up against the nape of his neck, while Logan delivered an upper cut to his jaw.  Between them, they knocked him out.

Once they were satisfied that both Pen and Miguel were still out cold and effectively restrained, and that Pen had been divested of his relic weapon, Grace rushed over to check on Justice.

“Guess that means I’m allowed to do this then,” Logan said, pulling Mercy in for a hug.

“I can see you, you know!” Grace called over, but there was no malice in her tone as she helped Justice to his feet.

“I saw a cart in back,” Logan said, “can probably dump both of them in there to get them back to the civil corps.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Justice, “lock ‘em in the cells, then contact the Alliance, and Meidi.”

Chapter Text

The noise of the cart on the cobbles woke a few people up, and by the time they got to the civil corps, Hugo and Owen were on hand to help drag the two traitors up to the cell.  Grace had faded into the background to ensure her part in their adventure stayed hidden. 

“Guess we need to go deal with Yan now, too,” Justice said once he’d locked them up.

The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon as Mercy walked down Main Street with Logan and Justice.  Grace had snuck into the building and joined them but chose to stay back at the civil corps with a rather surprised Unsuur to watch over the new cellmates.

“Been a long time since we’ve had so much excitement in town,” Justice said.

There was a light flickering in Yan’s front window, so they didn’t even bother knocking, just opened the door and walked right in.

One suitcase sat next to the door ready to go, with a second one open next to it.  Yan stood with a handful of clothes ready to drop them into it.

“Newbie!” He squawked.  “Sheriff - and the Bandit!?”

He stepped back and started looking round for an exit.

“Not so fast, Yan.  I’m here as sheriff to arrest you for your part in the plot against Sandrock.”

“I don’t know what you mean!”

“Yer’s sayin’ you know nothin’ ‘bout a plot to dry up the oasis and steal the town funds?” growled Logan.

“Sheriff!  Are you going to let a bandit accuse me of such heinous crimes?  Me, the fine upstanding President of the commerce guild?”

“OK, how about your newbie accuses you of it?” asked Mercy.  “Along with asking about every fiddle you’ve run at the guild, every penny you’ve skimmed off our commissions!”

“You can’t prove a thing!” Yan sneered.

“I think we can.  It’s all in the hidden drawer in your desk, isn’t it?” Mercy guessed.

Yan went pale and tried to push between them to make it out the door.  He shoved Mercy to the side, but Logan grabbed his arm as he passed and twisted backwards, using it to push him to the floor.

“Does that count as assaultin’ a member of the corps as well?”  he asked Justice.

“Well, I swore Mercy in yesterday, and she’s got the jacket on, so I’d say so.”

They manhandled Yan up to the corps and threw him in the cell next to Pen and Miguel.  None of them looked happy to see each other.

“So, what now?” Mercy asked.

“Well, first thing we do is check in with City Hall, let Matilda know.” Justice said, “Then we need to inform the Alliance, the Deacon of Meidi and the head of the commerce guild.  It’s gonna be a whole lot of paperwork!”

“I’ll need to let the ACI know as well,” added Grace.

The town was abuzz with the news and Martle Square soon filled up.  Mercy was exhausted but knew there was one last thing they needed to do before she could relax.

She and Mi-an placed planks from the edge of the oasis over to the statue and started looking round the base.

Eventually they found it, a small gap where the sides of the plinth didn’t quite line up.

Wedging the end of a pickhammer in, they worked it back and forth until it came loose, allowing water to bubble out and fill up the oasis.  They hadn’t realised how many people were watching until they heard the cheers.

“That’s the proof, at least,” Mercy said to Mi-an, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.  “I need to get down there with you and QI to look over the relic, and make sure it’s working properly, but that can wait until tomorrow.”

“I can’t believe the water comes from an Old World relic!” Mi-an replied.  “Have you told Qi yet?  He’s going to explode!”

“Nope, thought I’d leave that to you.  Just keep him outta there today please, do whatever you need to do to distract him!  The three of us can get down there first thing tomorrow morning.”

Mi-an giggled.  “And what’s this about you and Logan?” she asked, looking at the man leaning on the fence watching them.

“That story can wait til tomorrow, too.” Mercy replied.  “I promise to fill you in on all the gossip, but right now, I need my bed.”

With that, Mercy walked over to Logan, who slung an arm round her shoulders as they headed to her workshop.

By the time they woke up, the sun had started setting, but the noise of the celebrations from the Blue Moon were still going strong.  Mercy cuddled into Logan as they lay in bed.

“I really don’t know if I want to face the party tonight,” she sighed.  “I’m not a party girl at the best of times, and there’s gonna be too many people asking too many questions.”

“What’d ya have in mind?” Logan asked, running a finger up her spine and making her shiver against him.

“Quiet evening in.  I’m not a bad cook, not as good as Owen, better’n Grace.  Least I now know why Owen tolerated her being quite so bad in the kitchen.”

“Sounds good to me.  I reckon I need to face everyone about what I’ve done on the run, but Pen set me up for the worst of it.  But I’d rather do that talkin’ to Matilda at City Hall, rather’n face a saloonful celebrating.”

They’d just finished eating and were curling up together on the couch when there was a knock at the door.  Mercy was in pyjamas, Logan in his undershirt and boxers.

“Do we need to answer that?” Mercy groaned, just as the knocking resumed, and she heard Grace shouting, “C’mon you two, we know you’re there, just make sure you’re decent!”

“This is as decent as I’m getting,” Logan grumbled, as Mercy headed for the door.

“Kinda busy, Grace,” Mercy said as she opened the door, “what’s up?”

“Well, you didn’t come to the party,” Grace said, pushing in, followed by Justice, Mi-an and Qi.

“Otherwise occupied!” Logan shouted over.

“So, we thought we’d bring the party to you!” Grace finished, handing over a bottle of liquor she’d liberated from the Blue Moon.

“And I want all the details!” Qi exclaimed.

“Pardon?” asked Mercy, as Grace and Mi-an sniggered.  “All the details of what, exactly?”

“Of the relic, of course.  What else is of any importance to discuss?”

“We don’t have a lot of details right now, Qi,” Mercy explained.  She glanced at Logan, who shrugged and went over to the cabinet to rummage for glasses for them all.

“So why are we not there now?” 

“Because, Director, I needed sleep.  This is of vital importance to Sandrock, and I didn’t want to do something stupid because I was tired.”

“So, what exactly do we know?” he pushed.

Mercy shook her head.  “You’re not gonna let this drop, are you? Fine. Let’s get comfortable, shall we?” she suggested.  

Mercy and Logan cuddled up on one armchair, and Grace and Justice took the other, leaving Mi-an and Qi to take the loveseat.  Mercy chuckled as they sat very carefully next to each other.  They were at that awkward stage where they weren’t quite ready to jump each other but were trying not to look as if they were keeping their distance.

“I give them til the end of the week,” she whispered in Logan’s ear, before turning to address the room.

“So, Director, we found a large water tank designated ‘Tank 01’ with pipes and a valve going up to the oasis, and more pipes leading underground.  We do not, as yet, know where the pipes underground go, nor do we know if there are any further tanks.  The valve is modern, looks to have been created by Yan.  The tank is old world technology and appears to be creating the water somehow.  The only other writing on it said ‘Project Olympia’.  Now, tomorrow’s plan is…”

Mercy stopped.  At the word ‘Olympia’, Qi’s eyes had grown large as saucers.

“Uh, Director?” Mercy prompted.  “Mi-an, give him a knock, percussive maintenance works on people, too.”

“Do you know what this means?” Qi gasped.  “It means they did it.  The Olympia project was real.  You *do* know what the Olympia project is?” he asked, looking over the top of his glasses at them all.  They shook their heads.

“The Olympia project has long been the subject of rumours, it was the old world’s plan to put man amongst the stars.  No one has ever found evidence of it being anything other than theoretical, but you’re basically telling me that Sandrock is built on the site of it!”  He laughed maniacally.

“Uh, Director?” Grace said carefully, “are you ok?”

“OK?  No I am not ok, I am way beyond OK!  We need to get down there, now!”

“Tomorrow, Director,” Mercy said.  “Not tonight, tomorrow.  You, me and Mi-an can go down, check the water tank, and see what else is there.  Now, if you don’t mind, Logan and I had plans before you arrived.”

“What could be more important than this though?” Qi cried.

Logan ran a hand up Mercy’s leg.  “You want the details, Director?” he asked with a grin.

“Hmm, point taken.  The fry cook and the sheriff look as if they have similar plans, as well,” Qi pointed out, frowning.  “I suppose some celebrations can be allowed.  Very well.  We can meet at the Sandrock storage 8am tomorrow, and investigate.”

Finally, Mercy managed to chase the visitors out and lock the door behind them.  Logan wrapped his arms round her waist.  “Now, where were we?”

The following morning, they left to go to meet the others, but were greeted at Mercy’s gate by a woman she’d never seen before.

“Mornin’ Trudes”, Logan greeted her, “‘bout time you got back.”

“Didn’t expect to find you here, Logan.  We’ve got a lot to talk about, I understand.”  She sighed and turned to Mercy.

“You must be our new builder, I’m Mayor Trudy.  I believe I missed a lot of excitement over the last few days.  I’ll be working with Minister Matilda though to make sure that everything is handled appropriately.”

Mercy found herself liking the mayor immediately, more so than she did Matilda.

“Glad to see you back, and nice to meet you.  Did you accomplish anything in the desert?”

“Sadly, no,” Trudy replied with a sigh, “but we have ideas.  I understand you’ve been supplying Zeke with research samples, and it’s looking promising, so thank you.  We’ll be having a fireside tonight to discuss all the recent happening, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how important it is you attend?”

“We’ll be there,” Mercy replied, “but right now I need to go and investigate exactly what we’ve got under the town.”

“Please come and see me once you’re finished then.  Logan?”

“I’m goin’ with Mercy.  After what happened last night, don’t think letting her, Mi-an and Qi there without back up is a good idea.”

“Very well, I’ll see you both later.” Trudy smiled and walked off.

“Back up?” Mercy asked.

“We?” Logan replied, grinning.  “Yeah, back up.  I’m serious, we don’t know what else is down there.  I would be much happier if y’all let me come with you.”

“Well, if nothin’ else you might need to keep Qi under control.  He seems way too excited for this!”

“This is a booster tank,” Qi announced as he walked round the water tank.  “A water generator should work indefinitely, though, so I surmise that this only being the booster is why it is starting to fail.”

The valve on the water tank controlled the flow of water into the oasis, or at least it should.  

“It’s rusted,” Mi-an said.  “What as Yan thinking?”

“Probably just about the money, rather than the build quality,” Mercy replied, shaking her head.  “You got any grease?”

Between them, the two builders were able to repair it and add washers to prevent future issues.

“We still need to figure where the water is coming from though,” Mi-an pointed out.

“Well, if my research is correct - and it usually is,” Qi stated, leading to eye rolls all round, “and this is from Project Olympia, then that means there should be a full atmospheric water generator nearby.”

“A what?”

“An atmospheric water generator.  If they were heading to the stars, they needed a reliable source of water.  Think of the hydrogel that takes moisture from the air to water the plants, then amp it up by several magnitudes.  It’s not the same thing at all but it’s as close as I can explain to you.”

Mercy and Mi-an rolled their eyes at each other again.

“So where is this likely to be, then?” Mercy asked, but Qi had taken off towards the tank.

“There’s a ladder here, leads underneath,” he said, climbing over the fence around the tank and heading down.

“Better go after him,” Logan said.

“Want me to stay up here in case you need back up?” Mi-an offered.

“Might not be a bad idea.  If you don’t hear from us in an hour, go get Justice and Grace.”

“No problems.  I’ll keep tinkering with this valve, look for any further improvements.”

Mercy and Logan followed Qi down the step ladder, and along a narrow corridor. Mercy found herself mentally cataloguing the various ores and resources she could see, and resolved to come back with her pickhammer later. 

They found Qi in what looked like an old office. He was lost in paperwork, while some old AIs limped around behind him.  Mercy and Logan took them out easily, before going to find out what had Qi so enraptured.

“Oh, you’re here,” he said, almost surprised to see them.  “This documentation confirms the existence of the Atmospheric Water Generator.  There’s no real technical details, this is merely a tourist leaflet, but it appears to be  rated for 100 tonnes a day, which should be more than enough to supply the town.  We just need to find the maintenance notes.  Oh, and the generator itself, which should be in this direction.”

He took off down another corridor.  Mercy and Logan looked at each other and followed.

“Does he have any sense of self preservation?” Logan asked as they ran.

“Nope, at least not once he get his head into his work.”

They came out in a large room, which appeared to be an old workshop.  Tool shelves lined the walls down one side, with file cabinets along the opposite wall, and a power console sat in the middle.  

“Have a look around,” Qi ordered, “there must be notes somewhere.”

Mercy found a few files tucked under one of the shelves.  “Is this it?”

Qi flicked through.  “Yes, this confirms it.  It’s been set to sleep in between routine maintenance, and this power console there should put it back online.  Mercy, do you want to do the honours?”

Mercy walked over, checked round the console for any obvious traps, and pushed the button.  After a moment of silence, there came the sound of running water in the background.  The three of them looked round, trying to find the source of the sound.

“Here!” Logan called, pushing a button to open a door.  

They walked through and the door swung closed behind them.  Mercy and Logan looked at each other in concern, but Qi was oblivious.  He walked over to the thick glass wall, and gazed upon the source of the water.  

“That’s it, it’s working!  We did it!”

“Great, now we need to get out of here.”

They searched round and found another door, hidden between two bookshelves.  The panel opened the door, leading them onwards.

“Wait a minute,” said Mercy, “I know where we are!”

Logan and Qi looked at her.

“We’re in the Breach, level 5 or 6, I think.  We just need to get through the AIs here to get to the exit.  Qi, I’m not joking, stay out of the way, leave this to me’n Logan.”

Thankfully, they were fairly near the exit, and got there easily.  As they left the ruin, and were heading onto Main Street, they ran into Mi-an running to the civil corps.

“Oh thank goodness, you guys, I was starting to get really worried!  You weren’t back, then the water level started rising in the tank.  Did you find it?”

“Yep,” Mercy replied.  “And you know that door on level 5 we could never open?  I found out where it leads!  We need to get to City Hall and update them.”

As they walked into city hall, Matilda and Trudy were in the midst of a heated discussion, but as soon as they walked in, both women turned to them, all smiles.

“Well, the builders, the director and the bandit,” said Matilda, “what brings y’all here today?”

“We’ve solved your water problem!” Qi announced.

“What!  That’s fantastic news!” cried Trudy.  Matilda, however, looked less than enthusiastic before schooling her face and smiling.

“That’s wonderful.  How have y’all achieved that?” she asked.

Between them, they explained how they’d spent the morning.

“And this is an ongoing supply?” Trudy asked.  “We will no longer be reliant on imported water?”

“Exactly, Mayor,” Qi replied.  Again, Mercy noted a grimace flit across Matilda’s face.

“Well, this is good news.  And just what the town needs after discovering this terrible plot within our very heart.”

“Yes, Trudy,” Matilda said, shaking her head.  “I’ve been in touch with Meidi, Pen and Miguel will be dealt with severely.”

“Yes, they will.  By the Ataran council, Matilda.  They’re sending people out as soon as possible.  If Pen and Miguel were working for Duvos, I’m afraid this goes well beyond what the Church can deal with.”

Trudy turned to the builders.  “Mercy, Mi-an, thank you.  You too, Director.  Do you think you can get the supplying running fully by tomorrow?  I know it’s short notice, but…”

“Not a problem, Mayor,” Mercy replied, enjoying the wince from Matilda.

“Logan, I need to talk to you and Haru.  Technically, you’re still wanted men, but since you appear to have been instrumental in foiling the plot, and saving the town, I think we can work with that.”

“Now, Trudes, I don’t need letting off.  I still did some things I ain’t proud of.”

“And we can work with you on those.  But the big things we thought you did?  Destroying the church, blowing up the water tower?  It’s clear you were framed.  Some community service round town, help restore everything, something like that?  We can work it out.”

“If’n you say so, Mayor.”

They wandered down to the saloon, where Owen and Grace joined them.

“So, the water is sorted?” Grace asked.

“Yep,” replied Mercy.  “And from what the Director says, it’s a limitless supply.  However, I want to get some sort of security sorted out.  There’s access from both the storage and the Breach, if you know where to look.”

“Yeah, I saw those looks from Matilda an’ all,” Logan added.  “I don’t trust her one bit.”

“Nor do I,” replied Mercy, as the others at the table muttered their agreement.

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” said Grace.

The following day, the town gathered on the boardwalk next to the oasis.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumours,” Trudy announced, “so I’m going to clarify everything before things get too out of hand.

“There has been a Duvos plot foiled that was trying to dry up our water supply and destroy the town.  Why, we don’t know, but we’re working on that.  It’s true that Pen and Miguel from the church were involved, along with Yan from the commerce guild.  They are currently under arrest in the civil corps cells, and will be dealt with by the proper authorities.”

She paused as the murmurs flooded the crowd.

“Now, the main reason we are here today.  While investigating this, our builders and director Qi located an Old World relic, a water generator.  This has always been the source of Sandrock’s water it appears, but the work the criminal element had carried out had impacted its effectiveness.  I am pleased to report that the builders were able to get it working again, and from today onwards, we no longer rely on imported water.”

The crowd cheered.  Well, most of them, there were few gasps that the water came from a relic.  Mostly from Burgess, who didn’t know whether to be relieved the water problem was solved, or upset about the source.

“Finally, as part of the investigations, it has become clear that Logan and Haru, while still guilty of minor infractions while on the run, are not guilty of blowing up either the temple or the water tower.  As such, we have agreed that they will complete community service over the next month but are otherwise free to resume their lives.”

There were cheers from the crowd, most of whom knew both men of old.

“Now, I would like to ask our builders to come forward and push the button to refill the oasis.”

Mercy and Mi-an looked at each other, and walked up to the button they’d set up earlier in the day.  It was more for show than function, but they agreed with Trudy that the visibility of the thing was important.

“Ready?” Mi-an asked.  Mercy nodded.  Together they pushed and immediately the water level in the oasis rose, and poured out the overflow, filling the creek down to the canyon.

The entire town headed towards the Blue Moon to celebrate.  While Mercy normally  tried to blend into the background or even avoid big parties like this one, there was no luck on this occasion.  Everyone wanted to talk to her about what had happened.  She kept her answers bland, sticking to the official line that Trudy had publicised in her speech.

Finally, she managed to find her way to a corner next to Logan.  

“So, you’re a free man now, huh?  What’s your plans?” she asked.

Logan sighed.  “I have no idea.  I was so focussed on avengin’ my pa, I gave no thought to what would happen after.”

Grace wandered over, interrupting them.

“Well done, guys!” she said brightly.

“Well, you did…” Mercy began, but Grace shushed her.

“I did nothing.  Only a few trusted people know, so I can still keep my cover.  I don’t think it’s all over.”

“Matilda?” Mercy asked.   

“Maybe.  But, yeah, I did nothing, know nothing.  So, well done!”

With that, she headed back to work.

Mercy and Logan looked at each other.  “This isn’t gonna end?” she asked.

“Sounds like it,” Logan replied.

“C’mon, let’s sneak out while it’s quiet.  Spend the night at mine, we can figure it out tomorrow?”

“Now, that’s the best idea I’ve heard for a while.”