Nine

After a contemplative morning walk, Zakalwe receives word that Tsoldrin Beychae will meet him. Sma briefs him remotely: if extraction becomes possible, he must use a concealed capsule and a waiting module, with emergency fallbacks via phone. A sealed-window car driven by Mollen takes Zakalwe deep underground to Beychae’s hidden archive.

In a vast library, a black-robed handler introduces Zakalwe to Beychae. Zakalwe hints at his true identity, removes his glasses, and signals covertly that surveillance is present. Beychae, intrigued and wary, proposes an excursion to the surface. Ubrel Shiol, Beychae’s assistant, prepares him for the cold, and the group departs in the same car with their minders.

On the surface, Zakalwe orchestrates diversions—flowers, a ferry—while noting a trailing half-track. At a junction near a fair, he snatches a concealed pistol from Shiol’s clothing, shatters the driver’s screen, and incapacitates Mollen. He knocks out the black-robed handler and subdues Shiol when she attacks, then engages Mollen in a brutal fight, finally disabling him and destroying his voice box.

Seeing an imminent threat, Zakalwe calls his capsule. An exchange of fire erupts over the Flower Market as the capsule arrives through an explosion, then returns fire. With time collapsing, Zakalwe retrieves a plasma rifle from the capsule and shoots down a fast-approaching aircraft, clearing the immediate pursuit.

Amid the chaos, Zakalwe tells Beychae the escort intended to kill him and that immediate extraction is necessary. With the attackers repelled and the capsule on-site, Zakalwe moves to evacuate Beychae, shifting the operation from contact to full extraction under fire.