Dom found himself inside of Rahn's undercover dwelling again. He had to be missing something.

While the guards and the Premier were off doing their standard search procedures, he was the one who knew Rahn's patterns over the last several weeks the best. He was the one who had actually witnessed some of her interactions with people from the group. So he was the most likely to find her. And for not the first time, he cursed himself for not pushing her for more information. She had wanted to just be given a free reign to do her job, and he had given her that. Besides, it's not like he didn't have his own responsibilities.

Despite that, he somehow felt like he had let her down. He knew she was probably still working the undercover angle, but that could always be compromised. He had no idea if she was still being treated as one of their new recruits, or if she was thrown in with the other prisoners they had. Not to mention all of the others that were taken and in danger.

He had read through every single file, every note, every detail she had saved on the tablet countless times. But still nothing new stood out to him. Her dwelling was so basic, it could've been anyone living here. Other than the punching bag hanging in her bedroom, of course.

He was standing there leaning with his back against her bedroom wall, his arms crossed as he stared at the large bag of beans she had turned into a punching bag. Trying to think of any other clues she might have given him. Even if it was something she hadn't realized was a clue herself. With nothing new coming to mind, his eyes zeroed in on the label on the bag.

With no other leads to pursue, he might as well go check it out. Dusk had settled and darkness had taken over nearly an hour ago. The place that sold her the bag was probably closed, but it wouldn't hurt to look.

As he made his way through the dark streets, he kept his ears alert and his eyes open for any signs of movement. Just as he thought, the Mercantile was closed for the day. As most places were. No matter what part of the world you came from, or what status your family held, all Qarthans were conscious of nature and the effect they had on it. Instead of burning needless electricity or candle supplies, most places simply closed up shop by dusk. And even at home, they relied more on their keen eyesight in the dark than they did anything else. Only on the blackest of nights could you see lights glowing through windows all throughout the homeland.

This was such a night. There was no moon to be had, and even the stars were hidden by the thick clouds in the sky. Dom was thankful for this, as it was likely the only reason why he was able to spot the lone lit window as he circled the building. As he snuck closer, he could hear voices coming from just inside.

"I hate hauling sacks of dry goods all day. My back is killing me." A male said grumpily.

"You'll get used to it." Another male's voice said more quietly.

"Yeah I don't want to though. I plan to switch to a different job as soon as possible."

"You'll do as you're told, just like the rest of us."

"Too many rules. I got involved in all of this because I didn't like all the rules."

"No." Dom listened as the older male paused to yawn. "You got into all of this because you didn't like their rules."

"Feels like I just traded an oligarchy for a dictatorship." The younger man complained.

"Shh! Don't be heard saying such things."

"See, I can't even speak my mind when no one else is even around!"

"Lower your voice. Let's just get finished so we can go. Help me lift this crate."

"Fine by me. I'm ready to go home."

Dom risked a glance into the window. The two males had their backs to him, loading a crate into some kind of large opening in the wall. Soon the men finished loading their items and the older man pulled a lever. The goods began lowering down as the man closed the opening. Dom realized if he hadn't just seen the opening himself he would have never known it was there. It blended seamlessly into the wall.

He ducked back into his hiding spot when the men turned. Patiently, he waited for them to exit the building. He would sit in the shadows a few extra minutes to make sure they were truly gone and then he would alert the guards to come investigate. There was enough suspicion in this place, based on what the young male had said and the hidden wall panel.

"At least we don't have to deliver more supplies in the dark of night for at least a few days."

"That I can agree with you on. How they stay down there for so long is beyond me." The older man admitted.

"Yeah. And coming here is such a headache. The fact that the access code auto-updates every few hours and we have to call in and go through all these hoops to be given the new code. They're so paranoid."

"They have good reason to be."

Dom tensed. He knew it was smart to go get reinforcements and let the professionals handle the search. But if there likely wouldn't be anyone unlocking this accent point for a while...

He sighed. He wouldn't risk losing this chance. He didn't know if the group that was kidnapped had that kind of time. And for all he knew, the access code could change in the next few minutes. So when the men exited the room and put their code in to lock it, he risked inching close enough to get a clear look.

As soon as the men were out of earshot, he punched the code in and quietly rushed inside as soon as the door unlocked, quietly closing it behind him. Without turning a light on, he opened the access door and was relieved to see the hoisting dumbwaiter had returned up to this level.

He returned to the exterior door and propped it slightly open. Using a stick he grabbed from a nearby bush, he sketched a symbol in the packed dirt where the walkway to the door met the street. To any civilian it would look like children's gibberish, but to any member of the guard they would know what it meant. He could only hope they'd find it if this whole thing went sideways.

He went back inside and quietly closed the door behind him before climbing into the large delivery dumbwaiter. With a deep breath he pulled the lever and quickly pulled the door closed as the apparatus began its slow descent.

The entire way down, he knew this was a bad idea. He was going in completely blind and had no real strategy. But it was simply a risk he had to take. They had been taken days ago and who knew how long they had until they were killed or tortured? Or who knew how badly they already were. He may not get another chance. He just hoped there would be no one around when he reached the destination at the bottom.

With a lurch, he stopped and heard a ding. Of course! He felt like a fool. It would alert those below they had a delivery. He quickly pushed on the door until he managed to open it from the inside, and let out a breath of relief as he saw no one in the room. However, his relief vanished as he heard the door being unlocked and voices entering the room. His heart pounded from moving so quickly and almost getting caught as he hid behind one of the larger delivery crates in the room.

"Did they forget something?"

"How should I know? Wait..."

He held his breath to see what the male and female Qarthan would do next. He held back a curse. In his haste to hide, he had not closed the door.

"Dumb machinery, always doing weird junk." The male said as he closed the door to the empty dumbwaiter and moved to leave.

"Yeah..." the female said skeptically as she eyed the room. But she too turned to leave after a moment. "This place gives me the creeps. I can't wait for my two week shift to be over so I can go back topside."

"Agreed." The male said as they closed the door behind them as they left.

He waited for a couple minutes, making sure they had enough time to get further down the hall before he cracked open the door and made his way out.

His heart pounded as he rushed down the hallway. He was too exposed here. And he was going in completely blind. He had no idea where he was going, where he needed to be, and what security measures they had in place. Or where any other potential exits were. He was pretty sure the people weren't coming in and out using that service dumbwaiter.

He came upon a door that was unlocked, and did a quick glance before going in, closing the door quietly behind him. It appeared to be some type of office. Considering it was open, he had to assume it was for no one of great importance but hoped he would find something here.

He quickly rummaged through the desk, taking care to make sure nothing would appear disturbed once he left it. And he could only hope that since it was night time, no one would be entering here anytime soon. He quickly found a tablet and started searching through it. The fact that it was unlocked seemed weird, but he wouldn't complain. He just hoped that didn't mean he wouldn't find anything useful on it.

"Come on." He said quietly as he looked through files. Nothing useful. Nothing to show this place was doing anything illegal. Or that they were holding hostages. Mostly supply lists. Food, linens,...

Wait. He breathed out a sigh of relief as a map lay out opened up on the screen.

"Welcome, and congratulations on your new position."

A monotone voice came across the screen and he quickly muted it.

Dom chuckled. This office was for a newbie. No doubt he would be in great trouble if they discovered he had left his office unlocked and his tablet with no security code. But this was exactly what he needed, the quick rundown on the facilities. It took him through where the more common areas were. Dining, kitchens, rec rooms. Good to know, so he could make sure to avoid those places that would likely have more people bustling through them.

But this was taking too long. He needed something of significance. Where might they keep hostages? Or where might they keep more information that would help him?

One thing was clear. This place was massive. It would take him a week to comb through it by himself. And there was no way he wouldn't get caught. He minimized the map and opened a communication channel. No doubt they would monitor correspondence to anything going outside of the facility, but he would have to risk it. Chances are he would get caught down here, and then what? No one knew where he was, which would make all of his efforts useless.

He wasn't a tech expert, but he knew enough about covert missions to add some security measures to his message. It should at least slow them down and buy him a little more time before they discover it was sent, and where it was sent to. He sent a quick message to Commander Dran, letting him know where he was and what he had discovered. He knew once the commander saw it, they would have guards storming the place within the hour. But he needed more time. He couldn't risk this group tightening down security while he was still inside, or transporting the hostages before he had a chance to find them. So he sent the message to go out in half an hour, along with images of the map files.

He then did his best to memorize all of the maps he could. Exits, elevators, storage closets, places he could hide. Places that seem so vague he might need to go explore to see what they were hiding there.

Given how sloppy this particular person seemed to be, he was tempted to remain in this office until they came here, and then force him to answer all of his questions. Something told him it wouldn't take much to get the newbie to spill everything. But he didn't have that kind of time, so with a quick glance up and down the hall through the cracked door, he left the empty office and rushed down the hallway again.