When they emerged, they found Bertilak standing still, taking deep appreciative breaths. “Fresh air,” he muttered.

Velvet ignored him and headed directly for a box on the ground that seemed to be wired into the mining rig. “I thought so!” she said. “It’s a transmitter.”

“For what?” Sun asked.

Octavia gasped. “Oh, that’s right! We detected an encrypted CCT signal and figured the Crown had turned it into a pirate signal station.”

“Perfect,” Velvet said, hands on her hips. “Just what we need.”

“To call for help?” Octavia asked.

“Exactly. But I can’t unlock the station without a password.”

Sun looked closer at the box. “Can’t you hack it?”

“I’m really better at building and wiring things,” Velvet said. “I know how to configure the settings on the relay station because I recently had a chance to read through a service manual.”

“And you remember everything?” Sun asked.

Velvet’s right ear twitched.

“Oh yeah. Photographic memory.”

Bertilak strolled over. “Not that I was eavesdropping, or have any desire to help you, but … Malik.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sun asked.

“That’s the password. I told you, I heard everything while I was down there. It’s the name of the—”

“Malik the Sunderer, first king of Vacuo,” Velvet said. “I remember now.”

Velvet tapped away at a little keyboard, pausing to read the screen, her brow furrowed.

Bertilak suddenly bellowed. “All right, Red! Where are you?”

“Where are you going?” Octavia called. “We got Carmine for sure, and the city’s the other way.”

“There’s no way she went down that easily, and she’s not going to the city. When things get rough, Carmine cuts her losses and runs. I’m gonna find her. See how she likes being hunted by the best Huntsman in Vacuo.”

“Headmaster Theodore?” Sun asked.

“No! Bertilak Celadon.” He climbed out of the sandpit surrounding the tower and disappeared over the ridge.

“Almost done.” Velvet’s ears drooped and she wiped sweat from her face with an arm.

“Who are you going to call, anyway?” Sun said.

“Everyone.” Velvet looked up. “You gave me the idea. All those people you rescued.” She nodded to the people huddled in the entrance to the cave.

“That we rescued,” Sun corrected her.

“No, you’re the one who fought to find them all along. No one else cared. And then they all helped you rescue me. I might be—” She swallowed. “Still buried in there if not for all of them. We need that kind of help if we’re going to defeat Jax and Gill. We aren’t going to win this with strength, but with numbers. And how accepting of a new monarchy will people be if the Crown attacks ordinary people?”

“You’re going to have a hard time convincing the people of Vacuo to rise up and do something to save themselves,” Sun said.

“I agree.” Velvet held up her Scroll, which was wired into the terminal. “That’s why you’re going to do it.”

Sun’s mouth fell open.

- RWBY: Before the Dawn, Chapter 19