“ Don’t let your people touch anything on this one,” she said.
“ Security?” Lancecrest perked up. “Weapons?”
“ Cleaning service. What’s down that tunnel?”
“ Labs. What do you mean, cleaning service?”
Tikaya nodded. “We’ve seen them so far near the labs.”
Despite her own words, she prodded an “open” symbol. An invisible door swung outward, and her breath caught. Four stacked cubes waited inside, their deadly orifices pointed her direction.
Lancecrest cursed and jumped back. Tikaya stood frozen a long moment before her thoughts could push past her first instinct of fear. The cubes were dormant for the time being. A complicated drawing on the inside of the door caught her eye. A schematic? A label on top, a grouping of numbers and symbols, nagged her mind. There was something familiar about the arrangement. Oh, it looked like the codes on the instruction sets in the sphere.
“ Can I get some paper and copy this?” she asked.
“ If it’ll help. I can get you the goggles, too, if you want to take a good look.” He pointed at the top of the butte.
If she wanted to take a look? Strange, Lancecrest was treating her better instead of worse since Gali blabbed.
“ Do I have a choice?” Tikaya asked. “I’m used to Turgonians threatening me or my family to ensure my help.”
Lancecrest studied her for a moment. “Starcrest’s a tricky devil on the water, but he’s no asshole who would play mind games with a prisoner. If he says you’re his woman, you are.”
“ And that means something to you?” she asked, not sure whether to be hopeful or not.
“ I respect him. If he’s between me and getting out of here alive, I’m still going to shoot him, but I’m not going to torment you.”
“ Is that a Turgonian tenet? It’s fine to shoot a man you respect, but you don’t mess with his lady?”
A faint smile stretched his lips. “Something like that. My little brother…destroyed things for our whole family. All I’m hoping to do at this point is get out of here alive with some weapons to sell. Ideally, I’ll get those weapons and get out of here before Starcrest shows up.”
“ What happens to Parkonis and the other archaeologists? I assume selling weapons isn’t what most of them signed on for.”
Lancecrest’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t what I signed on for either, but we’re all stuck in this together now. My brother didn’t make his choices alone. Everyone here is going to be wanted for crimes against the emperor. We’re all working for a split of the profits. And if you want Starcrest-and Parkonis-to walk away from this unharmed, you’d best get to work opening that weapons chamber up there. You can make sure there’s no bloodshed.”
No bloodshed. Right. Until whoever he sold the weapons to used them.
Better to let him think she would go along with him though. “Get me the goggles.”
“ Lancecrest!” someone called from the other side of the butte. “The Turgonians are over the chasm!”
“ Already?” Lancecrest cursed and jogged toward the speaker.
As he trotted away, Tikaya eyed the tunnel near the cube cabinet, wondering if she could slip away before someone caught up with her. But, no, it would not take Lancecrest long to notice she did not follow, and for all she knew the tunnel dead-ended. Besides, she wanted to copy that schematic, examine the door symbols, and talk to Parkonis.
She jogged after Lancecrest. He disappeared ahead of her, but she expected that by now. She kept going and between one step and the next, the camp appeared. Crates, backpacks, bedrolls, muskets and bows, and food sacks sprawled about her. The scent of stale sweat mingled with the pervasive guano stench.
Twenty people, several wearing marine uniforms, stood around the wispy-haired fellow, who hunkered over a bowl of water. A clairvoyant, she realized when she spotted images of Bocrest’s men moving on the still surface.
“ How’d they get across?” someone asked.
“ Built a catapult.”
A marine whistled.
“ I wouldn’t have joined this team if I’d known we’d be against Admiral Starcrest,” a woman muttered.
“ Isn’t he dead?”
“ We’ll be dead if we tangle with him.”
“ He’s just a man,” Lancecrest growled. “We’ve laid your wizard traps, and we know the terrain best. The advantage is ours.”
Tikaya edged closer to the bowl, hoping to catch sight of Rias. She wished she could communicate with him somehow, let him know everything that mattered. For the moment, the clairvoyant showed them Bocrest and Ottotark as they removed their parachutes and gathered their gear.
“ Find Starcrest,” Lancecrest said. “Let’s see what they’re planning.”
The image shifted, focusing on Rias and Sicarius. Tikaya wrestled with the urge to kick the water bowl over. Even if she did want to see Rias, it was better if Lancecrest did not know what he planned. She took a step toward the bowl. Lancecrest gripped her forearm to keep her back.
“ How was the ride?” Rias asked.
“ Exhilarating,” Sicarius said in a monotone.
“ I thought we might get a yell of excitement or at least a smile out of you, but I see the emperor has trained you well.”
“ Yes.”
It was like conversing with a rock. Tikaya wondered why Rias bothered, especially when he ought to be worried about her. Not that she wanted him to fall apart, but a little agitation would have been flattering.
“ Scouts will go ahead,” Bocrest said, somewhere beyond the edges of the vision. “See what we’re up against.”
Rias took a step.
“ Not you, Admiral. We need you back here planning brilliance, not wandering around looking for your misappropriated camp follower.”
Rias’s jaw clenched and the tendons sprang out on his neck. There was her agitation. And then some. He looked like he might tear Bocrest’s head off.
Sicarius stopped whatever might have come next in the conversation, raising his hand and saying, “Hold.”
He tilted his head, as if listening to something, but his cool eyes stared straight through the water. The clairvoyant flinched, and the image evaporated.
“ What is it?” Lancecrest asked.
“ That young one has unexpected perception for a Turgonian.”
“ He knows we’re watching? So, what? Get them back. I want you on their every step, so we know when they’re coming.”
The clairvoyant closed his eyes and draped his arms across his knees, palms up. Nothing happened. “I can’t. He’s blocking us somehow.”
Lancecrest’s fists clenched and unclenched. “Who is that boy?” he asked Tikaya. “He’s not in uniform, and he’s too young to be giving orders.”
She shrugged. “The marines didn’t tell me much.”
Lancecrest considered her, and she thought he might call Gali over, but the marines and relic raiders were watching him, and he turned to them instead.
“ Time to get ready for company, people. Morrofat, take your squad out. Your job is to delay that team.” Lancecrest dug in a rucksack and pulled out a clunky pair of goggles that reminded Tikaya of the eye protection she had worn on the tundra. He tossed them to her. “You know what your job is. We’ve found dangerous relics that we can throw at Starcrest. If you care about him, you’d best get me those weapons before he gets within range.”
CHAPTER 20
