Heart Fortune

necessary. We’re not supposed to be here.”

The fox snorted. You sound like Glyssa.

“Look fox, if you got caught in here, they might send you and Glyssa home immediately, and might not let you come back next year. Might cancel her contract and shares.”

The Elecampanes wouldn’t do that! They LIKE us.

“They could banish the both of you. This venture is more important to the owners than you, or their liking of you and Glyssa. If they sent you home, Glyssa would fail at her jobs. Her Family would be ashamed of her and not let her work in the main PublicLibrary of Celta.” The Licorices would be tough minded enough to do that. “Her Family might even throw you both out of the Residence.” That might be stretching it, but Jace figured living as a failure with the Licorices would not be pleasant.

A pause as Lepid thought, then he said, Uh-oh. I like the PublicLibrary. I like chasing those cats. Not playing there would be bad. I have my own bed in the Residence! And I am the only Fam in the Residence now. I would always be First Fam. Being sent home would be bad.

“That’s right.” Jace banged his fist against the panel and it popped off. Lepid shot out, not smelling too good himself. No doubt somewhere in the walls were fox markings and turds.

Oh, oh, oh! I am FREE! Lepid inhaled deeply and nibbled Jace’s toes. Jace danced away, laughing, then, stink and all, swept him up.

“What’s that sound?” Jace asked.

What sound?

“The ticking. I think it started when I opened your panel.”

Thirty-six

I don’t know what that ticking is. Lepid nudged Jace’s hand close to his nose, slipped his head under it. Jace chuckled, the Fam wanted cuddling, petting. So holding him close, Jace stroked him. Lepid hummed in approval, licked under Jace’s chin.

With a jaunty step, Jace headed toward the door.

The ticking stopped. A small explosion came from the door’s control panel, fire surged. Flames flashed outside the door, too, before it sprang shut, cutting his boots in two.

Lepid shrieked and leapt from Jace’s arms, ran to the closed door and threw himself against it, then subsided, coughing at the smoke in the air.

Jace stood staring at the blackened area where the door control panel had been, his thudding heart nearly drowning out Lepid’s barking and the final sizzle of dying circuits.

He inhaled and coughed himself as acrid air scraped his windpipe. He’d never smelled anything like the Earthan tech. But Earthan tech didn’t run on psi power, Flair. Most everything on Celta had an element of Flair. Only the Elder Family and Nuada’s Sword, the starship in Druida City, knew how to work pure Earthan tech.

Forcing himself to calm, he was not trapped, he shouted at Lepid’s renewed frenzy at the door. “Quiet down.”

We are trapped.

“No, we aren’t.” He had to repeat that just to hear his own words. “No, we are not. I took stock of my tent before I left.” Not really, but he could probably bring it up in his mind’s eye. He knew where the items he moved around lately were, even if Lepid hadn’t been able to chance teleporting.

Oh, oh, oh. THANK YOU, FAMMAN. Lepid jumped at him and Jace caught the young fox. Bigger than he’d been when he first arrived, but mentally and emotionally still more like a child than an adult.

“Just let me steady myself.” Jace strode over to look at the panel. Nothing but melted black stuff. The crank handle was gone, disintegrated by the explosion or falling into the hole that had opened behind the wall. And there was no sign of the gear or whatever the crank had been attached to.

Looks bad, bad, Lepid said. He wrinkled his nose. Smells terrible.

“Yeah.” Jace was breathing from his mouth. Turning to the wall opposite the control panel in the corridor, he put his hand against it, yanked it away from the burning heat.

Lepid sighed. This is not so good. We WILL have to teleport.

“Yes.” Jace squeezed the fox, for his own comfort as well as Lepid’s.

He went to the middle of the room, stood and began to calm his body, let his mind drift, squelching thought . . . then quieting, shifted Lepid who’d relaxed in his arms. The fox had faith in him. That was great.

FAMMAN! LEPID! Zem cried.

What? asked Jace, blown out of the beginnings of serenity.

What, Zem? called Lepid. We are teleporting to FamMan’s tent. See you soon.

Fear struck Jace, jolting through the bond he had with Zem.

NO! screamed the hawkcel, and Jace thought he heard the echo of the real sound from his Fam as he’d wailed into the sky. Our tent is not there!

WHAT? yelled Jace mentally.

It is gone, as if you packed everything up and left.

A terrible dread prickled along Jace’s skin. He squeezed down his own fear into a small ball, shut it behind a closed door. Breathed for control. I don’t like the sound of that.

No, Zem said.

No, Lepid said.

I had a spellshield in place. Someone got through it. Jace rolled his shoulders, setting that fact aside to be dealt with later.

Lepid looked up at him with big eyes. Will we get out of here?

“Yes,” Jace replied through clenched teeth.

I wish I could tell those in charge. None of the guards can hear me, Zem said sadly. Not even Mistress Cornuta Holly. My bonds with the Elecampanes are not strong enough for them to hear, and their minds are full of busy noise.

Jace loosened his jaw, made his telepathic tone even. Zem, I want you to fly to Glyssa’s pavilion. I know she was rearranging some furniture this morning. Because she’d wanted him gone, and she’d left herself.

Teleporting somewhere we don’t know is safe is VERY bad. Lepid shivered. All the Fams told me a man teleported into some furniture and it killed him.

Jace had heard about that incident a few months ago, too. He continued steadily, Zem can look at the sitting room. Jace knew that better than her bedroom, could guess at the light—the most important element in teleporting. When you are there, you can send us images of the room.

Send to me, too! Lepid said.

That’s what I said, Jace agreed. Between the three of us, we will put together a good picture. Good enough, he hoped, but they had little choice.

Very well, FamMan, Zem said.

Pain! Zem’s pain.

Someone shot at me with a blazer! Zem cried. Jace sensed him zooming high up into the sky.

Lepid squealed in sympathy. Jace hugged him tight, eased up.

Are you all right? Jace asked Zem, struggling with his own panic at the thought of losing the Fam.