to the elderly councilman.
“Manderlin, what do you want?” Ristèard asked bluntly.
Chapter 7
Ricki leaned forward in front of the small mirror to make sure that she looked her normal, efficient self. Hair pulled back into a bun, check. Lip gloss touched up, check. Dress… Well, there was not much she could do about the wrinkles, but she had cleaned the smudges of dirt off from where she had climbed the tree. That had not been her smartest decision, but it had been the only one that she could think of when she realized how close the man had been to catching her.
“Not that it had mattered in the end,” she said to her reflection. “This will just have to do. Now, to try to figure out what is going on.”
Ricki started to close her purse when she saw the small crystal disk with the information she had downloaded to read. Biting her lip, she pulled it out and held it in the palm of her hand, staring at it with a frown. Glancing back into the cabin, the familiar outline of an information tablet caught her attention.
Picking up her purse, she walked back into the main area of the cabin and over to the long couch. The room was about the size of a large hotel suite back home. It contained a bed slightly larger than a super King-size bed, a small narrow table with two chairs, the couch and a matching chair positioned near what looked like a window, but upon a second glance proved to be just a screen to make it look like one and a large bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower.
The entire thing was rather utilitarian. It was obvious it was built and designed for efficiency, not relaxation. Ricki adjusted her glasses, thankful that they hadn’t been lost during her kidnapping. Crossing the room, she picked up the tablet before moving over to the table where she sat down.
Tapping it, she frown in frustration when she saw it was locked. Biting her lip, she frowned. She had the same issue back on Kassis when she was trying to access information from the archives. Indecision held her for several seconds before she opened her purse again and pulled out a second crystal disk.
She had mentioned to Stan her frustration at always having to ask for assistance from the Master Archive Librarian. The next day, Stan had given her this disk with a wink and told her to never leave home without it.
“If you want information, Ricki, this program is the magic key,” Stan had teased. “Pop it in any terminal and it will open any doors you want.”
Ricki didn’t think it would really work, but it had. Whatever coding Stan had written, it appeared to know how to ‘talk’ with the coding in the archive files. She didn’t know if it would work here, but it was worth a try.
Sliding the thin disk into the side of the tablet, she watched as the familiar symbols flashed across the screen. Her eyes widened in surprise and delight when she saw that she had access. She opened her purse and pulled out the slim scanner that Jazin had given her. She loved the way it worked, translating the symbols of their language into English. While it wasn’t always perfect, it was close enough that she could usually comprehend what the data meant.
She glanced up at the door, suddenly feeling guilty, before shrugging. She didn’t ask to be kidnapped and the tablet had been left out in the open, so it wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong. Besides, she was smart enough to know when to use the resources around her to get the information she wanted.
Slipping Stan’s miracle chip out, she placed it back into its protective sleeve and returned her attention to the document that was opened on the screen. It looked like some type of report. Frowning, she ran the scanner over the smooth surface, reading the words that appeared on it.
“Status: Critical,” she murmured. “Generators in zones four, eight, ten, sixteen, and twenty-one are showing beginning signs of failure. Shield capacity down to forty-three percent. Additional failures expected to
“Manderlin, what do you want?” Ristèard asked bluntly.
Chapter 7
Ricki leaned forward in front of the small mirror to make sure that she looked her normal, efficient self. Hair pulled back into a bun, check. Lip gloss touched up, check. Dress… Well, there was not much she could do about the wrinkles, but she had cleaned the smudges of dirt off from where she had climbed the tree. That had not been her smartest decision, but it had been the only one that she could think of when she realized how close the man had been to catching her.
“Not that it had mattered in the end,” she said to her reflection. “This will just have to do. Now, to try to figure out what is going on.”
Ricki started to close her purse when she saw the small crystal disk with the information she had downloaded to read. Biting her lip, she pulled it out and held it in the palm of her hand, staring at it with a frown. Glancing back into the cabin, the familiar outline of an information tablet caught her attention.
Picking up her purse, she walked back into the main area of the cabin and over to the long couch. The room was about the size of a large hotel suite back home. It contained a bed slightly larger than a super King-size bed, a small narrow table with two chairs, the couch and a matching chair positioned near what looked like a window, but upon a second glance proved to be just a screen to make it look like one and a large bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower.
The entire thing was rather utilitarian. It was obvious it was built and designed for efficiency, not relaxation. Ricki adjusted her glasses, thankful that they hadn’t been lost during her kidnapping. Crossing the room, she picked up the tablet before moving over to the table where she sat down.
Tapping it, she frown in frustration when she saw it was locked. Biting her lip, she frowned. She had the same issue back on Kassis when she was trying to access information from the archives. Indecision held her for several seconds before she opened her purse again and pulled out a second crystal disk.
She had mentioned to Stan her frustration at always having to ask for assistance from the Master Archive Librarian. The next day, Stan had given her this disk with a wink and told her to never leave home without it.
“If you want information, Ricki, this program is the magic key,” Stan had teased. “Pop it in any terminal and it will open any doors you want.”
Ricki didn’t think it would really work, but it had. Whatever coding Stan had written, it appeared to know how to ‘talk’ with the coding in the archive files. She didn’t know if it would work here, but it was worth a try.
Sliding the thin disk into the side of the tablet, she watched as the familiar symbols flashed across the screen. Her eyes widened in surprise and delight when she saw that she had access. She opened her purse and pulled out the slim scanner that Jazin had given her. She loved the way it worked, translating the symbols of their language into English. While it wasn’t always perfect, it was close enough that she could usually comprehend what the data meant.
She glanced up at the door, suddenly feeling guilty, before shrugging. She didn’t ask to be kidnapped and the tablet had been left out in the open, so it wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong. Besides, she was smart enough to know when to use the resources around her to get the information she wanted.
Slipping Stan’s miracle chip out, she placed it back into its protective sleeve and returned her attention to the document that was opened on the screen. It looked like some type of report. Frowning, she ran the scanner over the smooth surface, reading the words that appeared on it.
“Status: Critical,” she murmured. “Generators in zones four, eight, ten, sixteen, and twenty-one are showing beginning signs of failure. Shield capacity down to forty-three percent. Additional failures expected to
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