Chasing the Shadows (Sentinels of the Galaxy Book 2)

by Maria V. Snyder

  When I go to pick up another floodlight, Beau is waiting at the base of the ladder. Dangling high above us is the next tripod.

  “Anything?” he asks me.

  “No. It’s…nice.”

  “Nice?”

  How to explain? “I haven’t felt this comfortable in a Warrior pit since Jarren attacked. And to see them all…whole. It reminds me of when I was younger and…” Safer.

  “And what, Mouse?” Niall steps from one of the rows and joins us.

  “And when I used to hide behind them, avoiding my mother and the long list of tasks she wanted me to do.” I put my hands on my hips. “Sound familiar, Toad? Hiding in the Warriors?” He’d done the same thing to avoid me when we first arrived on Yulin.

  “Ah… Look, here’s the next light. Love to chat, but I gotta work.” He grabs it and heads deeper into the pit.

  “Chicken,” I call.

  Beau laughs, but then sobers as he studies the statues. “The way they stare straight ahead is kind of creepy. I can’t imagine growing up surrounded by Warriors.”

  “Strange, I can’t imagine my life without them. My brother and I used to play around them—hide and seek, tag…” A sudden pang of grief hits me.

  “Brother?”

  “Yeah, Phoenix, he’s in a time jump to Earth.” And here’s another quirk of living with the time dilation. No one asks you about your family for fear of upsetting you. Instead they wait until you mention someone and then ask, figuring since you brought the subject up, it should be safe.

  “That’s rough. Why did he leave?”

  “He wants to be an archeologist like my parents.”

  “Why couldn’t he stay and learn from them? Aren’t they the best?”

  “They think so.” My smile fades. “But anyone who wishes to be more than a tech has to study at the site on Earth.” My parents were thrilled and devastated at the same time. Sad days, indeed.

  “You can always catch up to him.”

  True, but that means leaving lots of other people far in the past.

  The next light arrives and Beau snags it before me. I stick my tongue out at him.

  “Brat,” he says.

  While I’m waiting, I scan the shadows. Still just normal shadows.

  “How’s it going?” Mom calls.

  I glance up into the brightness. A dark silhouette peers down at me.

  “Good so far.”

  “Wonderful. This next light needs to be installed in the center of the pit. It’s multidirectional and should work well there.”

  “Okay.”

  She disappears and the light makes its slow descent. Nothing moves fast in archeology. Unlike navigating the stars, but that’s unlike anything else I’ve done. And, if I survive Jarren and whatever he has planned, I can become a navigator. But is it worth never seeing my family again? The next Interstellar Class space ship doesn’t arrive for another three and a half E-years, so I’ve plenty of time to decide on my future.

  Once the light settles on the sand, I unhook it and pick it up. Ugh. It’s heavier than the others. I head toward the center of the pit. There’s a gap there. It’s another mystery. At the very core of the rows and columns of Warriors is an open space. It’s octagonal and about two meters wide. No one has figured out why it’s there. Just like no one knows why the Warriors are standing in an octagonal-shaped formation, or why there are about a dozen other differences between the alien sites and the one on Earth.

  I pause. Or why they have hearts. Unless Lan’s theory is correct, then we do know why, but not how it works. It seems the more we learn about the Warriors, the more questions pop up. It’s frustrating, which is why archeology isn’t high on my future career list. At least we can check to see if these Warriors have hearts. Actually…I glance around, I know they do have hearts. I’ve no idea why I’m so certain, but these Warriors are…not alive, ’cause that would be beyond crazy, but…ready.

  When I reach the edge of the gap, I slow. The statues around the gap might have special symbols on them and I don’t want to disturb anything. Not that I can knock a Warrior off its feet—they weigh about 295 kilograms. But after a lifetime of being careful, it’s a hard habit to break.

  I’m looking at the ground so I don’t trip over a drift of sand when I spot them. I freeze. Astounded is too mild a word, but I’m at a loss to find a better descriptor. Coherent thought is difficult.

  Wait. There has to be a reasonable, scientific explanation. I scan the surrounding area. Nothing but undisturbed sand. I’m staring at an impossibility.

  Setting the light down, I swallow to dislodge the knot in my throat, and take a deep breath. “Beau, Niall, come here!” I shout. According to Radcliff’s specifications, this isn’t an emergency—it just feels like one.

  “Where are you?” Beau asks from my left.

  “Center of the pit,” I say. “But don’t go past the Warriors.”

  “Why not? Are there HoLFs?” Niall asks from behind me.

  “No.”

  Niall reaches me first. He halts at the edge. His pulse gun is in one hand, a flashlight in the other. “What’s wrong?”

  Beau joins him a second later. He, too, is armed. “Talk to us, Lawrence.”

  Instead, I point to the exact center of the gap. Surrounded by the smooth and undisturbed sand is a single set of boot prints.

  Eleven

  2522:214

  “That’s it? You got us all worried over footprints?” Beau holsters his gun, relaxing. “Radcliff and I have been walking all over the pit.”

  But Niall remains alert. “I haven’t been in the center, have you?” he asks Beau.

  “Well, no, but—”

  “Look closer,” I say. “There’s no other prints.”

  “So? There’s sand everywhere. Must have covered them up.”

  For some reason Beau is being particularly dense. “No one’s been in here in over two thousand years. And the ridges of the prints are well defined.”

  “So you’re saying someone has entered this pit recently and didn’t make any tracks except for smack dab in the middle?” Beau’s tone suggests I’ve lost my mind.

  Considering what happened last night with the Q-net he’s probably not wrong.

  “Think about it, Dorey,” Niall says.

  “What’s there to think about? Lawrence is playing a trick on us. Nice one, you did a great job erasing your tracks. Can we get back to work now?” Beau heads off muttering under his breath.

  I turn to Niall. “I didn’t—”

  “I know. They’re much bigger than your feet. Stay here, let me check something.” Niall points his flashlight at the ground as he weaves through the Warriors, doing a loop around the gap. “There’s no other prints like that one. Did you see any others when you were setting lights?”

  “No, but I wasn’t really looking for them.”

  “I was, and I didn’t see any. And if someone did erase them, then why leave one behind?” Niall asks.

  “Maybe he missed it? Could it be from one of Jarren’s looters?” I ask, still a bit flabbergasted.

  “Then there would be lots of destruction.”

  Good point. A scary thought pops into my head. “What if it’s a scout checking out the pit and he’s planning on returning with reinforcements!”

  “If that’s the case, how did he get in here?”

  “Through one of the walls. Have we checked them all?”

  “I looped around the back, but let’s look again.”

  I leave the light and follow Niall. We inspect the walls of the pit. They’re all the same sandstone with no evidence that anyone tampered with them. Unless Jarren’s thugs can walk through walls, no one entered through them. We return to the center. The set of prints is still there.

  “What do we do next?” I ask.

  “Report this to your parents.”

  Beau isn’t happy about interrupting the plan. “We haven’t confirmed it’s safe yet.”

  “There’s no HoLFs. And no
one else is down here,” I say.

  “Are you sure? The person who made that footprint could be hiding in here.”

  I refrain from asking him how this person entered the pit. Beau orders us to do another two sweeps of the pit before he allows Niall to call up to my parents.

  “Dr. and Mr. Daniels, can you please join us?” Niall asks.

  “What’s the matter?” Mom immediately asks.

  “There’s no need for concern. We’d like to get your opinion on something.”

  Something. Talk about vague.

  Fortunately, my parents get the hint and stop asking questions. My mom mounts the ladder, followed by my dad. They join us at the base.

  “What’s going on?” Mom asks.

  “We found something,” Niall says. “Come on, we’ll show you.”

  As soon as my mom sees the first Warrior, she exclaims and stops to inspect it.

  “We’ll have plenty of time later, Ming.” Dad pulls her away.

  “But—”

  If I wasn’t so freaked, I’d be amused watching my father tow my mother through the Warriors like she’s a misbehaving child.

  When we arrive at the center, I let Niall explain. My parents’ confusion doesn’t last long and they ask all the same questions we did. We show them the walls and they circle the gap, searching for more prints.

  My mom swipes a strand of long black hair that escaped from her braid. “The only explanation is that a person appeared in the center of this pit, stood there, and then disappeared. Of course, it’s impossible, but that’s what fits.” Her tone is practical as if this type of thing happens every day.

  No one argues.

  Dad looks at Beau. “Do you think we’re in danger?”

  Beau takes off his cap and runs a hand over the limp strands of his hair. “Let’s say you’re right and the person just popped in and popped out. The biggest danger is if the person returns and has a weapon. Or more than one person arrives and surprises us.” He gestures to the center with his cap. “Since teleportation is impossible, the odds of that scenario happening are very small. However, I think it would be prudent to have Officer Lawrence stationed in this location during the day. She can watch for HoLFs and for the magician.”

  “Magician?” Mom asks, giving Beau a sharp look.

  “Yeah, you know. Now, I’m going to disappear before your very eyes.” He waves his hand in a grand sweeping gesture. “Presto!”

  Dad laughs. Mom’s still not amused. Niall and I cover our grins. What else can we do? It’s crazy and yet another mystery added to the long list of unknowns. Might as well have some fun.

  Mom leads the way back to the ladder. Once there she calls up, “Fred, tell Regan to grab a 3D digitizer and come down here.”

  Two more floodlights have arrived and Niall and Beau take them. We’re almost done setting them. Regan soon climbs down. She’s clutching the digitizer to her chest as if it’s a shield. The tech looks at me.

  “It’s safe,” I say.

  She loosens her grip and the tense line of her shoulders relaxes. Mom leads her to the center. Curious, I follow.

  “I want you to scan that print in the sand. Once you finish, return to the surface so you can send the image file to Officer Tace Radcliff. Have him check it against the boots of his prisoners.”

  Regan gives my mom a wide-eyed stare, but recovers and starts fiddling with the switches on the digitizer—it resembles an oversized camera.

  I lean close to Mom. “That’s a good idea. Do you think Jarren’s looters might have been in here?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s worth looking into. Even if they don’t match, we’ll still know more than we do now.”

  True.

  The rest of the floodlights arrive and the three of us set them. I move the multidirectional one closer to the prints, but not in the very center. The pit is ablaze with white light from all directions. The Warriors’ shadows are either short or diffuse. The shadow-blobs would have to work really hard to hide in here.

  I walk through the Warriors until I find the General in the first row. His official position is R1, C21 (there are also forty-two columns). Standing in front of him, I study him. The generals are always the tallest of the Warriors. He’s clasping his hands in front of him with his coat’s sleeves pushed up. Like all the generals in the army, he’s wearing a pheasant-tailed cap, which resembles one of those fancy folded napkins that are placed on the table during special dinners. This general’s mustache looks like a flattened letter M with the ends curled up. He has mutton chops and a square-ish shaped head.

  The General gazes forward, as if watching for the enemy. I sense all is well with the Warriors. It’s…calming. Strange, I know.

  “Thirty minutes to sunset,” Elese calls down.

  That is the agreed-upon time for everyone to start exiting the pit. Regan finished her scan and has already gone to the surface. My mom straightens from her inspection of one of the Warriors. She wipes sand from her knees. Frowning, she marches up to Beau. This ought to be good.

  “There’s plenty of light down here. Ara said it’s safe, I want to—”

  “No.” Beau uses his I’m-in-command voice. “We won’t be deviating from protocol, Dr. Daniels.”

  She stiffens. “I’m in charge of the expedition.”

  “And I’m responsible for everyone’s lives.”

  “We’re safer down here.” Mom gestures to the lights. “It’s dark at night. Plenty of shadows in camp.”

  I wonder if Mom planned this all along.

  “None of the research field teams has reported an attack in the desert,” Beau counters with ease. “All our experience with the HoLFs has been in the Warrior pits.”

  Did Radcliff anticipate my mom would try something like this?

  Mom crosses her arms. “In the destroyed Warrior pits.”

  “Irrelevant. Please evacuate or I’ll have you escorted out.”

  I freeze in place. Would I have to draw my weapon on my mother? More importantly, could I? I am a security officer and it’s my job to ensure everyone stays safe. But she’s my mom! Except, this time, she’s not considering what’s best for everyone. So…yes, I could. Mom glances at me and then Niall, who has joined us. She must see something in our expressions because she relents.

  “Come on, Spencer. We need to brief the teams for the morning.” She grabs the ladder and climbs up.

  Dad gives us a little salute and then follows her.

  When they disappear above, Beau lets out a long breath. “You two go up, I’ll be last.”

  Niall gestures for me to go first. I put my foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. The lights will stay on even though the pit will be empty. Seems a waste of batteries. But preventing shadow-blobs from invading while we’re sleeping is worth a few batteries. What about invading boots? I stop as an idea occurs to me.

  “What now?” Beau asks.

  “I think we should erase those boot prints,” I say.

  “Why?”

  “If the person returns tonight then we’ll know.”

  “You don’t think he will leave another set?” Niall asks.

  “He could, but this way it’ll be clearer.”

  “All right, I’ll go.” Beau hurries off.

  Niall and I wait for him.

  “Did you notice the symbols on the Warriors around the gap?” Niall asks, tilting his head toward the center of the pit.

  “No. I was busy being freaked out by the magical boot prints.”

  He smiles. “At least they weren’t alien footprints.”

  Good point. Except… “We can’t assume that. Aliens might wear boots.” I gesture to the Warriors. “The aliens chose them to act as protectors. Why? Perhaps because they are similar in appearance.”

  “Or the Warriors could be the aliens’ equivalent to guardian lions.”

  “Oooh. Nice!” We share a grin. And then I remember. “What about the symbols?”

  “I recognized a bunch of the ones that corre
spond to the different Warrior planets that Lan discovered. If I give you some paper and chalk, could you make some etchings of them while you’re waiting for the boot-wearing magician to reappear?”

  “Yes, I can.”

  Beau joins us. He’s wiping his hands off on his pants. “I’ve a feeling I’m going to hate sand by the end of this assignment.”

  “No doubt about that. Those little grains manage to get into everything and then they find their friends and soon you’ll have handfuls in your boots, pockets, underwear.”

  “Speaking from experience?” Niall asks.

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Fifteen minutes,” Elese calls down.

  We climb up the ladder and my dad seals the hatch. The air is dry compared to inside the pit and it’s cooling. Bright orange, yellow, and gold paint the western horizon. Next to the dig site the techs are prepping for tomorrow, assembling equipment and planning work shifts. The heavenly aroma of cooking food drifts from the mess tent like invisible tentacles reaching out to grab the unwary. Caught, saliva fills my mouth as my stomach growls loud enough for the others to hear. I haven’t eaten all day.

  “Didn’t you pack some energy bars?” Niall asks me.

  “I…didn’t know I should.”

  “Rookies,” Elese says, with a smile.

  “Good thing I have plenty.” Beau hands me a bunch.

  “Thanks.” I tuck them into the various pockets in my tactical pants. Handy.

  He grunts. “Okay, time for a team meeting. We have sixteen hours of darkness to cover between the four of us. We’ll each cover eight hours. Lawrence and I will team up and Radcliff and Keir will be the second team.”

  I glance at the mess tent with longing then at the portable washroom.

  “Relax, Lawrence. It’s not a consecutive eight hours. After spending all day in the pits, you’ll get two hours to eat and clean up,” Beau says. “Then you’ll have six hours on duty.”

  Whew.

  Beau glances at me and then Radcliff. “Tell you what. You and Niall get dinner now. Kier and I will keep an eye on the camp. Then Radcliff can fill in for me the next two hours while Keir and I take a break. Sound good?”