muscles I’d tensed went limp.
“None of this makes sense,” I told Lillith. “It’s like they’re out for an evening stroll.”
There was no answer.
“Lillith?” Incipient panic tinged my voice.
“Wait.” She was silent for another second as the twilight deepened. “I think I know what’s happening.”
“You want to clue me in?”
“A ship just came out of hyper-drive and is approaching the planet. No Federation markings, and the outer lights are off. It’s armed to the teeth.”
Alarmed, I straightened. “Can they see you?”
“No. I’m parked beside a large asteroid. If they used detectors, they’d think I was part of the rock. But so far, they haven’t scanned the area. I’m betting King Politaus ordered everyone to stay inside tonight so they wouldn’t see the ship land.”
“The soldiers will see it.”
“Yes, but he can control them better than he can the entire population. He probably wants to keep rumors to a minimum. Unless he’s stupid, which I doubt, he must know the Federation has spies in the city. The good news is, the soldiers don’t expect anyone to be out, so their guard is down. If you stay in the shadows, they’ll never see you. Now, go right.”
I slipped away from the door, clinging to walls and darting across the open spaces in the descending darkness. Twice more I had to dodge soldiers, one pair coming so close my cloak fluttered in the wake of their passage.
Long before I reached the castle, full night arrived, and the huge building was more something I felt than saw. It loomed over me, deeper patches of darkness indicating the many angles and ells that made up its exterior.
Instead of approaching the front, with its wide stone steps, colonnades, and well-lit massive doors, Lillith directed me to the western side. At this point, my only plan was to get inside and hope the Imadei would let me know where the Sumantti was hidden. With that in mind, I tiptoed along the wall, searching for an unlocked door.
“The ship landed,” Lillith told me.
I paused in a pool of shadow, a locked door behind me.“Did they unload any cargo?” For a fleeting moment, I wondered if they might be bringing the Sumantti, but they couldn’t be. The Imadei wouldn’t have indicated this star system if the stone hadn’t been here yet.
“No cargo. Three men and two female children got off. They entered the castle through a door in the back. Without a full medical scan I can’t be one hundred percent positive, but it appears that the larger girl was drugged. She wasn’t unconscious, but acted dazed and sluggish, as if she’d just awakened and was still disoriented.”
I pondered the information, not sure what to do with it, if anything. Before I could reach a conclusion, the door behind me swung wide and a man stepped out, flooding my hiding place with light. Blind panic swept over me as he halted, his gaze locked on mine. His mouth opened to yell, but he didn’t get the chance.
Abruptly, my reflexes took over and time slowed to a crawl. My cloak and pouch went flying as I spun, lashed out, felt my foot connect with flesh and bone.
He crumpled at a snail’s pace, the words still trapped in his throat, his body giving the appearance of a rag doll with part of the stuffing removed.
Frantically I looked around for other attackers, only to realize something odd was going on. Off to my right, the cloak and pouch were inching their way through midair, and Peri’s wings moved in slow motion on the beginning of the down stroke she’d started when she first launched herself from my shoulder.
Damn.
I inhaled a shuddering breath and shut my eyes, convinced I was imagining what my sight insisted was true.
Damn.
Slowly, I got my heart rate under control and relaxed muscles primed for action.
Damn.
Immediately, everything around me resumed its normal pace. Peri gave a squawk of surprise just as I heard the pouch hit the cobblestone.
“You went into overdrive!” Lillith’s
“None of this makes sense,” I told Lillith. “It’s like they’re out for an evening stroll.”
There was no answer.
“Lillith?” Incipient panic tinged my voice.
“Wait.” She was silent for another second as the twilight deepened. “I think I know what’s happening.”
“You want to clue me in?”
“A ship just came out of hyper-drive and is approaching the planet. No Federation markings, and the outer lights are off. It’s armed to the teeth.”
Alarmed, I straightened. “Can they see you?”
“No. I’m parked beside a large asteroid. If they used detectors, they’d think I was part of the rock. But so far, they haven’t scanned the area. I’m betting King Politaus ordered everyone to stay inside tonight so they wouldn’t see the ship land.”
“The soldiers will see it.”
“Yes, but he can control them better than he can the entire population. He probably wants to keep rumors to a minimum. Unless he’s stupid, which I doubt, he must know the Federation has spies in the city. The good news is, the soldiers don’t expect anyone to be out, so their guard is down. If you stay in the shadows, they’ll never see you. Now, go right.”
I slipped away from the door, clinging to walls and darting across the open spaces in the descending darkness. Twice more I had to dodge soldiers, one pair coming so close my cloak fluttered in the wake of their passage.
Long before I reached the castle, full night arrived, and the huge building was more something I felt than saw. It loomed over me, deeper patches of darkness indicating the many angles and ells that made up its exterior.
Instead of approaching the front, with its wide stone steps, colonnades, and well-lit massive doors, Lillith directed me to the western side. At this point, my only plan was to get inside and hope the Imadei would let me know where the Sumantti was hidden. With that in mind, I tiptoed along the wall, searching for an unlocked door.
“The ship landed,” Lillith told me.
I paused in a pool of shadow, a locked door behind me.“Did they unload any cargo?” For a fleeting moment, I wondered if they might be bringing the Sumantti, but they couldn’t be. The Imadei wouldn’t have indicated this star system if the stone hadn’t been here yet.
“No cargo. Three men and two female children got off. They entered the castle through a door in the back. Without a full medical scan I can’t be one hundred percent positive, but it appears that the larger girl was drugged. She wasn’t unconscious, but acted dazed and sluggish, as if she’d just awakened and was still disoriented.”
I pondered the information, not sure what to do with it, if anything. Before I could reach a conclusion, the door behind me swung wide and a man stepped out, flooding my hiding place with light. Blind panic swept over me as he halted, his gaze locked on mine. His mouth opened to yell, but he didn’t get the chance.
Abruptly, my reflexes took over and time slowed to a crawl. My cloak and pouch went flying as I spun, lashed out, felt my foot connect with flesh and bone.
He crumpled at a snail’s pace, the words still trapped in his throat, his body giving the appearance of a rag doll with part of the stuffing removed.
Frantically I looked around for other attackers, only to realize something odd was going on. Off to my right, the cloak and pouch were inching their way through midair, and Peri’s wings moved in slow motion on the beginning of the down stroke she’d started when she first launched herself from my shoulder.
Damn.
I inhaled a shuddering breath and shut my eyes, convinced I was imagining what my sight insisted was true.
Damn.
Slowly, I got my heart rate under control and relaxed muscles primed for action.
Damn.
Immediately, everything around me resumed its normal pace. Peri gave a squawk of surprise just as I heard the pouch hit the cobblestone.
“You went into overdrive!” Lillith’s
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