Remnants
Page 26
“Motion passed,” I said with a tired smile. “Dah’lil, what else needs to be done?”
“Reports, mostly,” he answered with an illustrative sweep of the hand to cover the cavern. “Anything of value has already been taken to the ship. The Coast Guard has promised to post a sentry here until we can completely clean the area. For now, we’re clear to retreat back to Lalani.”
“Sounds good,” I answered because ‘oh thank deities’ would have sounded a little pathetic. Feeling twenty years older, I urged, “Let’s go.”
“I still can’t believe they’re using a dart board to determine which building Toh’sellor goes into next,” I groused to no one in particular.
Bannen shrugged, mouth quirked up in amusement. “Hey, it ensures it stays totally random, right?”
“Well, yes, but…” They’d even let Bannen be the one to throw the dart. Of course, we’d had to cover his eyes because he was far too accurate with his aim. Even then I wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t picked Sira on purpose. We hadn’t even considered letting Chi do it for that reason.
I sat down on the edge of the bed to pull my boots on, the last step before heading out the door. Which meant I was that much closer to putting Toh’sellor in a safer, more secure place than Mary’s garden shed.
It might have taken three months, but the MISD and the leaders of the world were good to their word. They made sure three different facilities were built that could properly contain Toh’sellor. Each facility had its own dormitories attached in an adjacent building, and every part of that building had enough alarms on it so that if Toh’sellor grew even an inch larger, I would be immediately called and stronger barriers would fall into place until I got there. I couldn’t fault the care that had gone into these buildings. I just found it questionable how Toh’sellor’s destination was selected, that’s all.
The trials for the rogue mages had all finished by this point. I understood from Nora that normally the law worked slower than that, that it should have taken a good two years to try that many people. But no one wanted to linger over this case. The judge and juries presiding over the cases were Not Happy with mages stupid enough to steal and run experiments on Toh’sellor. I’d been half-worried about repercussions of me stripping them of their magic on-site like I had, but Maksohm had put it down as ‘safety concerns’ in his report to the bosses, and no one had chosen to argue. We all shared the opinion that the bosses were more inclined toward punishment than leniency in this case.
We’d learned quite a bit during the trials, as some of the rogue mages were very chatty. Or desperate to explain themselves, really. We’d learned of their fears of Toh’sellor and how enraged they were when they thought the world was content to just leave it up in Z’gher under barrier and guard. We learned that they’d literally sacrificed everything in order to steal it, take it down to Sira to experiment with it. I’d expected most of them to be unlicensed, but while some of them had been, others had failed to pass the Tests due to mental instability.
What enraged me all over again was that their familiars had tried to stop them. They’d balked and rebelled when Toh’sellor was first brought into the cavern. The mages, frustrated, had done the unthinkable: they’d put a block about their familiar bond so they could no longer feel their familiars and then turned them into the first test subjects. Most of them were considered to be ‘failed experiments,’ barely better than cannon fodder. The mage who had admitted that in court had been immediately sentenced to execution. I hadn’t been present for the trials themselves, only hearing of it second hand, and remained very grateful for it. If I’d been in court while hearing all of that, I might have lost what was left of my temper and done the execution for them.
The rogue mages, every one, were sentenced with life imprisonment in the most secure facility the world could make. I hoped they lived a very, very long time to reflect on what they’d done. However, I wasn’t likely to get my wish. Between losing their familiars and their magic in one day, most of the mages had suffered physical trauma and their health failed them. One of them had already committed suicide. Odds were, none of them would live out the next decade.
None of that bothered me, as I felt they’d crafted their own end. I’d marked the trials as they happened, keeping track of it all, but other things demanded more of my attention. Namely all of the facilities being built and getting Toh’sellor into one of them. We were here not only to make sure that everything went smoothly, but because I think we all wanted to see for ourselves Toh’sellor land in a secure place.
We were, in fact, at the dormitories in the Siran facility at the moment. The dormitories were made with the idea of long-term housing in mind, so they were constructed like townhouses with three bedrooms to each unit. That meant we had a unit to ourselves, giving us the run of the house. Much to Maksohm’s dismay. Apparently, when Chi and Vee were not in mission mode, they were very…affectionate. And not always aware of their surroundings.
From the hallway, I could hear Maksohm call down the stairs in warning, “I’m coming down, there better not be any hanky panky!”
Two sets of laughter mixed before Vee responded, “Well, if you throw the gauntlet down….”
“Challenge accepted!” Chi crowed.
“Maksohm’s going to need another vacation after this,” Bannen observed in amusement.
“Probably,” I agreed ruefully. Since Bannen was more or less dressed, I opened the door and stepped out, heading down the stairs on Maksohm’s heels. To our mutual relief, Chi and Vee were cuddling on the couch but all clothes were on.
Chi was ever so much better now that Toh’sellor was under constant surveillance. We all were, of course, but him especially. We’d all caught up on sleep after Mary took Toh’sellor in hand, and in between writing up reports, I’d gone from one meeting to the next, helping to design and oversee the construction for each facility. It had meant a lot of traveling the past three months, but for this, I didn’t mind. None of us even considered arguing. Emily wasn’t quite with us as a formal team member yet; she still had some orientation training to get through, but I’d put in a formal request for her to join, and it had been granted. We’d have her with us in another month or so.
Maksohm’s eyes swept over us, counting his ducklings, only satisfied when Bannen thumped down to the main level. Pleased, he waved us out the door, and we went.
It took exactly a minute to cross the distance under the covered walkway and through the side door into the main building. I’d seen this place on blueprints, of course, I knew how the building had been designed. But seeing it in actual brick and mortar was a different thing altogether. Shaped like a pentagon, each section of the walls were joined by walkways that wrapped around the top, with five different staircases leading up to it from the ground floor. On paper it had looked large, but actually standing in it, I felt dwarfed. It might have been large enough to house even Toh’sellor at its largest height. Well, alright, that was an exaggeration. Perhaps half of its original height. I knew intellectually they’d had to do that, to give the upper walkways at least fifteen-foot clearance from Toh’sellor at all times, but it still looked impressive.
I inhaled deeply, smelling paint and sawdust. The place had barely been finished three days ago. We’d literally waited for them to ship in the necessary support personnel before telling Mary we were ready to transfer Toh’sellor. I was only on hand in case something got botched during the transport process and to give Toh’sellor a good going over once it landed.
Agent Isak flagged me down as I entered, and I went to him immediately. “Problem?”
“No,” he assured me. “I just heard from Master Mary, she’s already sent Toh’sellor our direction. We expect it here within the next few minutes. If you could stand here next to me and make sure that Toh’sellor stays shielded?”
I didn’t blame his nerves, I shared them. “Of course.”
My team fell into line next to me, all of us with ou
r backs to the walls, staring toward the center of the room. The three agents on duty stood nearby, watching with equal interest. The shielding on the building wasn’t in place yet—it couldn’t be, as it would prevent a portal from opening inside of here. Now was the most dangerous part of the transfer, because if anyone had figured out the destination of Toh’sellor, they could slip in through our open defenses. I certainly wasn’t the only one holding my breath.
A portal opened, and every agent in the room put a hand to their grimoires or weapons, ready to fire. They didn’t stand down when it was our own agents that stepped through. Agents Maksohm came out with Toh’sellor being towed between them, and they looked distinctly ill at ease to be that close to it. Not that I blamed them.
I stepped forward, moving briskly, as I wanted this all over with. “Tow it there, to where the round tile is in the center.”
“Yes, Agent,” they chorused, barely glancing up at me.
To their credit, they didn’t rush, moving steadily toward the spot I indicated and then staying put as I gave it a good study. I went over it twice, top to bottom, before I relaxed. “Master Mary’s done an impeccable job, as usual. There’s not a single grain of anything in there. Excellent work, Agents.”
They grinned back at me and lost no time in getting some distance between them and Toh’sellor. I turned sharply and went straight back to Isak. “Raise shields.”
He looked all too relieved to do so, and the shields snapped up around the building with an audible hum. Another set was raised by Agent Rowe, who’d pulled the duty of the Siran branch, and he put his directly around Toh’sellor so that the other Agents Maksohm could release the one they maintained. It was all so smoothly done I could tell they’d worked together before.
My team leader called Mary to inform her that we had Toh’sellor and nothing bad had happened, and I could hear her laugh in relief. She wasn’t the only one. Chi rocked back and forth on his heels, grinning like a demented jack-o-napes, and…giggling?
Vee looked down at him with a quirked eyebrow. “Are you giggling?”
“I did not giggle,” he denied, affronted.
“If it makes you feel any better, it was a very manly giggle. I’m as disturbed as I am intrigued about how it came out of your mouth.”
Not that I blamed him, I felt like giggling too. Euphoria did that to a person. “Dah’lil, tell me we can go celebrate now?”
“On that,” he declared, linking his arm with mine, “I insist. You too, Mr. Giggles, come on.”
“I didn’t giggle,” Chi maintained.
“Twittered?” Bannen offered ingeniously.
“Chuckled,” Chi countered instantly.
“Too high pitched for that,” Bannen disagreed with that mischievous grin on his face I knew well. “Sniggered.”
“Chortled,” Chi argued.
“Cackled,” Bannen retorted.
Ignoring the debate behind me, I asked Vee and Maksohm, “Where should we go for breakfast?”
Honor Raconteur grew up all over the United States and to this day is confused about where she’s actually from. She wrote her first book at five years old and hasn’t looked back since. Her interests vary from rescuing dogs, to studying languages, to arguing with her characters. On good days, she wins the argument.
Since her debut in September 2011, Honor has released over 30 books, mostly of the fantasy genre. She writes full time from the comfort of her home office, in her pajamas, while munching on chocolate. She has no intention of stopping anytime soon and will probably continue until something comes along to stop her.
Her website can be found here: http://www.honorraconteur.com, or if you wish to speak directly with the author, visit her on Facebook.
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