“You go first.” Ravindra drew the pistol and stood back.
Walking calmly, heart pounding, Morgan approached the skyvan. It was locked. She found the sensor and the door slid open. She had one foot inside when a hand grabbed her shoulder.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She tried to twist in his grip, but Unwyn was strong. “Professor.”
Unwyn’s grip lessened and his eyebrows rose, but he didn’t let go. “Suri Selwood. What are you doing here?”
Ravindra appeared beside Unwyn and pressed the pistol against the man’s throat. Unwyn’s eyes widened as Morgan said, “Don’t hurt him. I don’t think the Professor is any real friend of Asbarthi’s either.”
“Then he comes with us. Get in. And remember I’m right behind you.”
Unwyn slid into the driver’s seat while Morgan climbed in beside him. Ravindra sat behind Unwyn, gun in hand.
“Asbarthi’s started his revolution,” she said.
Unwyn grimaced. “I heard. In the bar.”
“Well, we’re escaping.”baut
“Escaping? But you’re the Orionar Queen.”
She sighed. “You’re a smart man. Asbarthi’s the one calling the tune. Jones and I were just performing dolls. You can’t believe all Devagnam’s guff about equal opportunity. Asbarthi’s got his hand up Devagnam’s back. He wants power for himself and his Vesha co-conspirators. Not even all the Vesha are going to be allowed to play in his pool. You think you’re in Asbarthi’s little plan?”
The professor swallowed.
“Asbarthi is inspiring his foot soldiers with Jones and me. The last of the Orionar, the Great Round-eyed Hope. All manesa were once created equal; that’s what you found in your cavern, right?” She grinned at the flicker in his eyes. “I imagine your wall art is mainly just as you say. With a few small alterations. Asbarth’s Emporium, a few people with round eyes.”
Unwyn scratched his ear.
“The Professor has a site up in the mountains,” Morgan said for Ravindra’s benefit. “Asbarthi took me there to prove his ‘round-eyed Orionar’ theory.”
“I see. That explains a lot,” Ravindra said.
Morgan glanced at him. The way he said the words. He understood. “It wasn’t my idea, Admiral. I was abducted from Electra.” Although she had gone along with it. The very thought made her squirm with embarrassment.
She turned back to Unwyn, hunched over, frowning. “Even I could see you weren’t comfortable about the whole thing.”
“He was prepared to pay for the excavation. Do you know how hard it is for academics to get money?” Unwyn growled the words.
“I can imagine.” She stared at her fingernails. No need for her to say any more.
Unwyn fidgeted, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t want to do it. But without Asbarthi’s money...”
“Do you think, now, that it was worth it? That he’ll let you tell the real truth?” she asked.
Unwyn mashed his lips. When he spoke his voice was low, the words reluctant. “He told me he’d get an artist to paint over the figures. It would be temporary, I could clean it off later, when he’d made his point. There should have been round-eyed people there.” He paused to suck in a breath. “At least, it’s what we believe to be true. It’s just, it wasn’t obvious. So I agreed to let him bring in an artist to do the work. It was well done, too. They analyzed the old material, copied it. I didn’t find out until later that the original image had been excised. It couldn’t be restored.”
He sighed. “I was furious, confronted him with it. He just laughed; said if I said anything about it, I’d ruin my own reputation, either way. He was right. I couldn’t prove what he’d done, so I’d look like a demented fool. If I could prove it… well, I’d be a charlatan, a vandal.”
She placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Asbarthi uses people. You’re one of many, rest assured. Have you seen what Asbarthi’s thugs did in Murag’s palace?”
“Murag?” Unwyn spat the name. “Whatever he got, he deserved.”
Ravindra smiled. “So true.”
“Not a nice man from all accounts, I grant you. Here. Special images for the amusement of Asbarthi and his lordly colleagues. They were having jolly laughs over this. It was when I decided I’d take my chances. I doubt Krystor’s going to be better off with the Hai Sura in charge.”
She directed the images from her implant to the skyvan’s display screen. Unwyn went rigid with horror, jaw dropped, while Ravindra watched with interest.
When it ended, Unwyn sighed. “Where did you get this?”
“I copied it from Devagnam’s entertainment systems. I thought it might be useful evidence.”
Unwyn stared, his mouth an oh. “But how did you get it? Where do you store it? How—”
Ravindra interrupted. “It’s classified. Suri Selwood works for me.”
“Ah.” Unwyn moistened his lips. “And who are you?”
“I am Admiral Ravindra.”
“Oh. They said you were dead, killed in the attack on the palace.”
“No. Abducted by Asbarthi. I would have been dead tomorrow if Suri Selwood had not rescued me.”
Unwyn hesitated, glancing between her and Ravindra. “What are you going to do?”
“We’re going to Zaffra Bay,” Ravindra said. “You’re going to take us.”
The professor started the skyvan’s engine. The instruments glowed green, throwing strange shadows over his face as, with the merest jolt, the vehicle lifted from the ground. He nodded. “And then what?”
“We return to the fleet. We have other things to think about than what’s happening on Krystor. I will release you once we reach the base.” Ravindra leaned back in the seat but he still pointed the pistol at Unwyn’s head. “I cannot take the chance you will alert pursuers.”
“I won’t, Admiral. I feel guilty about the part I’ve played in misleading people. I’ll do what I can to help you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wensar’s stolen skimmer cruised on steadily through driving rain, following the main road to Krystor Central. Asbarthi frowned. Either Selwood hadn’t noticed her pursuers or she didn’t care. He hoped this diversion wouldn’t cost him time.
“Shoot it down,” Lakshmi said, her eyes on the moving dot on the display.
“Now, now, my dear.” Asbarthi put a restraining hand on her arm. “Maybe there’s a simple answer to this. Remember, she has skills we can use.”
Lakshmi turned on him. “She isn’t going to help us. She’s gutless, afraid to upset her Mirka friends. We don’t need her help, so why—”
“Enough, Lakshmi.”
Good. At least she’d shut her mouth. He pushed down his own irritation. She had a savage streak, had Lakshmi. And a tendency to run off at the mouth when annoyed. “Get close enough to set up a link,” he said to the driver.
They sat in tense silence for a few more moments as the distance closed.
“You have a link, Sur,” the driver said.
Asbarthi cleared his throat. Being aggressive wouldn’t work. Settling his expression into mild interest, he opened the channel. “Suri Selwood. Not a night to be out driving, surely?”
No answer.
He tried again. Either she was deliberately not responding or the system was faulty. “Get along side,” he snapped at the driver.
A swift burst of acceleration brought the vehicle alongside Wensar’s, matching speed. Ignoring the beeping complaint of the proximity sensors, the driver eased as close as he could, leaving not half a meter between the skimmers as they raced along the highway.
Asbarthi peered through the rain across the gap to the other skimmer, aware of Lakshmi’s weight against his back.
“It’s empty,” she said. Just in case he hadn’t noticed.
“Bring it down, but don’t destroy it.”
A pulse of energy slammed into the skimmer’s propulsion system, sending up an arc of sparks. It slewed and skidded on the grass at the side of the main road,
leaving a long gouge in the soft ground. The driver settled their skimmer just behind.
The squad leader ran down, leaned inside the driver’s door and ran back. “No one inside. It was running on auto,” he said, wiping water from his face. “I didn’t think they’d do that without a person on board.”
Asbarthi swallowed his resentment. This was the first time the woman had shown any of that ability he’d heard about. But then, he had been careful to ensure she didn’t have access to any real technology until he was sure of her.
“Check the track back to the village,” Lakshmi said. “She slowed down there.”
He rolled his eyes. “Skimmers always slow down through villages.”
“Yes, but this was a bit too much. I was going to say something but it sped up again.” She frowned at the screen, staring at the blip. ‘See?” She jabbed a triumphant finger. “I’ll bet she jumped out there.”
Lakshmi was probably right, but… “So what? It doesn’t help us much. She’s supposed to be in Krystor Central tomorrow. We’ll just have to do without her.”
She scowled at him. “I’m beginning to wonder if you want her for yourself. Hm? She can be Queen of the Orionar and you can be the king. Is that the idea? You think you don’t need me anymore?”
Women. Why were they so contrary? Especially this one. If he didn’t need her father’s support, he might handle things differently. “Don’t be foolish, Lakshmi. Of course I need you.” For now, anyway. “But it’s in our interests to find her. We’ve offered her to the people and we should try to deliver.”
“I’ll find her.” Lakshmi’s voice was a low-pitched growl.
“You don’t like her at all, do you?”
“She’s pathetic. And you’re pushing her forward, praising her up as the People’s Savior. It’s enough to make me vomit.” She curled her lips in a sneer. “Anyway, if she thinks she can outsmart me, she can think again. She doesn’t know anybody on this planet except us and Unwyn. Unwyn’s not exactly playing his role as intended.” Lakshmi bent over the map, frowning in thought. “If she could get from the village to here,” she pointed at Unwyn’s base camp.
Whatever else Lakshmi might be, she wasn’t stupid. “No, not there,” he said, his head beside hers. “That doesn’t go anywhere. But if she goes here…” his finger traced a little-used road through the mountains, “she can head for Zaffra Bay.”
Lakshmi flung her head around so quickly her hair whipped his face. “We have the military base secure?”
“Not yet, my dear, but my people are working on it.”
She sat back, grinning. “Let’s go and see what Professor Unwyn can tell us.” The smile faded but the feral glint in her yellow eyes was undiminished.
Chapter Thirty
Rain fell steadily, driven by the wind. The skyvan’s lights reflected from the droplets, creating glittering sheets across the road. Trees tossed leaves and branchlets into the air to join the manic dance.
Morgan shivered, cold to the bone in her sodden clothes.
Unwyn noticed. “There’s blankets in the back, behind Admiral Ravindra.”
She scrambled over the seat and rummaged. A jacket and a blanket. She wrapped herself up, rubbing a rather scratchy, not very clean blanket through her hair. She must look a sight.
Beyond the village Unwyn increased altitude, flying a little above the forest. “This way is not a scheduled route. Anybody following wouldn’t expect it. It goes quite close to my dig. The road goes through a High Pass in the mountains that leads to the Fasgael Plains and then across them to Zaffra Bay.”
She gazed ahead, enhancing the view on her implant. Thick cloud covered the peaks. The wind had strengthened and snow had replaced rain, making it impossible to see much. She turned her attention to the instruments, checking the long range sensors.
Ravindra turned on a news channel. A female newsreader explained that the Mirka security forces had been replaced with troops loyal to the new regime. In the background a squad of armed men in electric blue uniforms swaggered past, hands on the butts of their weapons.
“I was a little bit surprised the village was unaffected,” she said, half to herself.
Unwyn grunted. “I’m not. Only Hai Sur Devagnam’s picked people get to live there. The rest live in terraces in the backstreets. I must admit, I wondered why I hadn’t seen the usual two heavies strutting around. I asked in the bar when they told me about the revolution. I’m a bit cut off from things at the dig.”
“What did they say?” she said.
“Karimh—he’s the publican—said they weren’t needed anymore. Now I think about it, he had a rather unpleasant smile on his face when he said it.”
“Dead, then,” Ravindra said.
“I expect so.”
She glanced at Ravindra’s profile as he gazed out at the rain, the dim light reflecting from the planes of his face. The hair curled up where the missing ponytail used to be. Hair grew back but she wondered if it mattered to him. Well, she’d ask him later. When they were alone.
“I’m glad to be out of it, really,” Unwyn said after a few moments of silence. “Maybe I can come with you? When you go?”
Morgan shared a glance with Ravindra.
“You’ll come with us as far as Zaffra Bay,” he said. “From there, we’ll, see.”
Unwyn smiled, white teeth gleaming in the green light. She turned back to the sensors. And tensed. “Looks like company on the way.”
Ravindra straightened, all attention. “Where?”
“A distance at the moment. The database says they’re police copters. Two of them, coming toward us.” A weight settled on her shoulders. Fuck fuck fuck. “Gaining fast.”
“We can’t outrun them. Any ideas?” Ravindra said.
How could he sound so calm? “We can’t hide the skyvan. They have its ID now.”
“We can go to the dig,” Unwyn said. “I have a camp there so I can stay overnight if I want to. So I’ll just have gone home. They’ll search and then we can move on when they’ve gone.” He laughed. “It’s the last place they’d expect you to be.”
“Why?” Ravindra asked.
Unwyn laughed again. “She’s afraid of holes in the ground.”
Ravindra grinned at her. “I’ll look after her.”
She curled her lip at him. Look after her indeed. She didn’t need looking after. But Unwyn might. “If they catch you with us—”
Ravindra cut her off. “Let’s make sure they don’t.”
Yes, let’s make sure they don’t. If they were lucky, the pursuers would give up. She kept an eye on the sensor data.
She could only just make out the road beneath them. The snow thickened, buffeting the weather shield. The skyvan’s stabilizers whined, fighting a battle against the wind. Maybe the police would give up the chase. It was madness, after all, flying in this weather. The red blips followed, a little closer by the minute. They were over the highest point of the pass. As they descended the snow disappeared, but the wind remained. Unwyn dropped into the gorge, the walls invisible on either side and shaped the vehicle to land.
On the screen, the two blips came on, closer now. Damn it, they’d have to hope Unwyn could talk his way out of it. “Where can we hide?” she asked.
“Hurry,” Unwyn said. “Hide in the dig.”
She paused in the act of shoving the skyvan’s door open against the wind. Hide in the dig? Her stomach lurched at the thought. Unwyn was gone, opening the back and lifting out boxes.
Ravindra took her arm. “Quickly, woman. They’ll have heat sensors.”
The tent flapped, surging and swaying like some obscene bird trying to take off. Fumbling in her rush, she unzipped the entrance and slipped inside, the admiral at her heels. Refastening was even harder. Ravindra had to do it for her. The hatch to the underground was a malevolent eye staring at her back. Her mouth dry, she turned. It lay there in the middle of the tent, blank and innocent. Ravindra pulled back the handle and lifted the hatch.
; She swallowed. Even with her enhanced vision the pit was black as space. It laughed at her and lured her, pitiless as a black hole, a looming absence of light.
Don’t think about it. There’s nothing there. It’s just a ruin. Her foot refused to move.
Ravindra snorted, exasperated. “I’ll go first.” He clambered down into the dark and stood at the base of the ladder.
A vehicle. She heard the swish as it slowed to land. Her foot reached out, settled on a rung; and another.
“Move. Now.” Ravindra’s voice was a whisper.
Faster, move faster. Voices rose.
“Hello, Unwyn. What are you doing here on a night like this?”
Lakshmi. That was Lakshmi’s voice, she’d swear to it. What in all the hells of all the universe was she doing here?
Unwyn’s reply floated down. “I could ask you the same question, Hai Suri. You can hardly be just passing through.”
“I’m looking for Selwood. She’s bolted. Stolen a skimmer and headed off.”
“Here?” Unwyn’s voice oozed disbelief. He did it very well.
“You’re the only other person she knows.”
“Well, you can see there’s nobody here but me. I had some equipment to pick up and I’m not going back on a night like this.”
“So you won’t mind if we take a quick look downstairs?”
Morgan reached out a hand and drew down the hatch.
Darkness. Absolute, total darkness engulfed her. She couldn’t see anything, even with eyes wide open and vision enhancement set to maximum. Terror, sheer primeval terror gripped her heart in steel talons. Her lungs contracted and her bones turned to jelly.
“Quickly, woman,” Ravindra said, his irritation obvious in his tone.
It’s just dark. She switched to infrared and saw her own hands, bright white where they clutched the rungs. She breathed. She was all right. A few more steps and she could stand on a floor. Come on, move. Her foot searched for the next rung. She sighed with relief as the ladder took her weight. Another, then another, in excruciating slow motion. Now, she hung in the void between the floor and the ceiling. She pictured it; pictured the floor, the room lit up with its murals all around.
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