We’d arranged that signal within my first week. If the door was ajar I could be disturbed. If not, I needed to focus. Out of habit I minimized the spreadsheet and turned to her. “Any word on our other team members?” I asked out of habit. There were to be four, maybe five of us, though as with Starina it sounded like until the unit became fully operational they would still continue other duties. As I was with the boring spreadsheets. They were a manifest that’d been intercepted by Armis, the larger agency of which we were a part, and I, as I’d done before being called here, was to go through the list and see if there was anything of interest. In other words, make sure there were no stolen magical goods. I didn’t quite keep a full inventory in my head, but I had an inkling of what I was looking for, and I wasn’t the only one who would review these files.

“Not quite yet. There’s someone we want to talk to, but let’s just say she’d rather freelance than work for Armis again. And frankly, I don’t blame her.” Miram said with more candor than usual.

“I haven’t seen any information. Perhaps I could help by talking—”

Miriam shook her head. “She’s been in Ohio. She’s become friends with the Auxilary director in Akron, so hopefully that connection will work. Otherwise, we may have to look elsewhere.”

So there was a reason why they weren’t pushing, or rather doing what Armis usually did and demanding someone get reassigned. Interesting. I filed that information away. “So what brings you? I thought we’d discussed everything during our meetings.” And I notice you didn’t mention this potential agent then either. That, too, I filed away for future use.
The doors next to Freckles’s stall opened, and he came in from outside. He didn’t come to the desk, just went to his stall and stared at me as if to be ready just in case.

Thank you, I told him. You didn’t have to come inside.

His ears flicked back and forth as if listening.

My nap was almost over. He nibbled on the hay in his manager, and I knew that, too, had brought him indoors. The pens outside weren’t big enough for long-term grazing, just snatching a bite or two.
I turned my attention back to Miriam.

“What do you know about Apollo’s Chalice?”

I thought for a moment. “There’s a constellation in the southern hemisphere, Crater, or Cup, that’s said to be the cup of Apollo. It could be real, but I haven’t seen any references to it in my research.”

“It is the cup of Apollo used by an ancient priest of Apollo. His socius, presumably, a raven, flew off with it, but got distracted and the cup was lost. I suspect the constellation’s myth, created by the Greeks, came from that story or some variation on it. We have a lead on where the cup may have been discovered.”

She set an old leather-bound journal on the desk. I swore she could conjure, though undoubtedly she took it from the messenger bag she’d taken to wearing with her at all times as she bustled about our magical archives. “This came from the archives. There’s information here that someone has been compiling about the chalice. I suggest you read through it. Starina is due back soon.”

And no agents go out alone. That had been drilled into me along with all the other rules of time travel. Don’t mess with the timeline; don’t make changes that could erase your existence. And always wear your uniforms, so the locals can perceive you in whatever clothing they think is fitting. I’d just gotten my uniform fitting so no doubt I’d be well-attired when I went out soon.

And it looked like the first time went out, I’d be going after Apollo’s Chalice.

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