“In essence, the killer arranged for this attack to occur at a time when the rest of us would be preoccupied,” said a voice behind me.
I turned to find Endow standing to my rear. It was unclear when she had shown up, but it had obviously been long enough for her to pick up on the conversation.
“That said,” Endow continued, “it only took a minute or so for us to get here, but by that time…”
She didn’t have to finish for me to understand: by the time everyone arrived, it was all over.
“I’m going to guess that there’s no way to recreate what happened here,” I said, “the way you did with Gamma?”
“No,” Mariner confirmed. “The killer took away that option when he left this giant crater.”
“What about inside?” I asked hopefully. “The place where this particular incident first started?”
“Same story,” Mariner remarked. “The murderer blasted it, the way he did the area where Gamma died.”
“Not to be callous,” Static suddenly interjected, “but can we forget about what the murderer did and focus on what we need to do now?”
“No,” Rune stated flatly. “I know what you’re asking, and the answer’s no.”
“Come on, Rune!” Static argued. “Two of us have been murdered. We need the Kroten Yoso Va.”
“That’s you taking a shortcut again,” Rune shot back. “We’re not there yet.”
“Really?” Static muttered skeptically. “With two Incarnates dead?”
“All of us will be dead if the wrong person gets the Kroten Yoso Va,” Rune argued. “So, bearing in mind that one of us is the murderer, which of us would you propose as the person to take possession of it?”
Static didn’t have a ready answer for that. Instead, he looked away in impotent anger, broadcasting a frustrated vibe that you probably didn’t have to be empathic to pick up on.
“Look,” Rune said after the silence had stretched out for a few moments. “If and when it becomes necessary, we’ll use the Kroten Yoso Va. But for now, I wouldn’t worry about it.”
His statement obviously didn’t sit very well with Static, who was about to comment but didn’t get a chance.
“How about a compromise?” Pinion hastily suggested. “Rune, you could tell one of us — anyone you like, at your discretion — where the Kroten Yoso Va is. That way, if something happens to you, we’ll still have the ability to utilize it, if necessary.”
“Sure,” Rune acquiesced. “I’ll tell all of you, right now.” He then looked around at the other Incarnates conspiratorially and said, “It’s in good hands. That’s where it is.”
Chapter 36
Rune’s statement about the Kroten Yoso Va essentially brought our investigation of Reverb’s murder site to a close. He then transported the two of us back to our suite, at which point I made a beeline for my apartment. Once there, I went straight to the bathroom (tossing my clothes onto the bed along the way) and then took a long, lingering shower.
By the time I finished, I felt clean again. After turning off the shower, I phased; with my body now insubstantial, water fell from me to the shower floor, leaving me dry. I then hurried to the bed and got dressed.
One of the articles I had removed before showering was the badge Rune had given me. I regarded it for a moment after putting my clothes on.
Thus far, no one had questioned my comings and goings (although I was usually in the company of someone else when traipsing through the castle). That made the badge a bit of a superfluous item. In addition, I wasn’t accustomed to wearing necklaces or anything along those lines. In short, I was tempted to simply leave it off.
However, Rune had given it to me to alleviate concerns that I had. That being the case, it seemed slightly disrespectful to simply discard it. (Moreover, I barely noticed the thing when I was wearing it, so it’s not like it was a burden in some way.) Mind made up, I somewhat reluctantly put the badge back on and again tucked it down my shirt.
No sooner had I done that than I heard an odd rumbling noise. It seemed vaguely familiar, and a moment later, I realized where I had heard it before: the room with the frescoed walls.
Cerek! I thought.
The sound seemed to be coming from my bathroom. Eager to speak with the laamuffal, I hurried back in.
In addition to the shower, the bathroom also contained a double vanity and a sizable mirror, which was still steamed up from my shower. That said, I thought I saw motion in the fogged-up glass that did not match anything I was doing. A moment later, Cerek came out of the mirror like Alice going through the looking glass.
As before, he immediately and anxiously began trying to communicate with me. Similar to our previous encounter, I couldn’t hear him or reach him telepathically. His emotions, however, were much along the same lines as before, revealing trepidation and longing, among other things.
“Cerek!” I blurted out. Hearing his name apparently got his attention, because he suddenly stopped trying to speak. “Where are you? What happened to Gamma?”
He gestured wildly, and once again tried to communicate with me by speaking.
“I still can’t hear you,” I declared, making him once again pause in his antics.
Looking around apprehensively, he suddenly stared at the steamed-up mirror as if seeing it for the first time. Almost in conjunction with this, the rumbling sound (which had continued almost unabated up until this point) seemed to somehow alter, shifting in volume and tone. At that juncture, my eyebrows shot up in surprise, as — amazingly and unexpectedly — I recognized what the sound was.
Cerek, who had listened in dread as the rumbling noise changed, abruptly seemed to be on the edge of panic. Still, raising both hands — with fingers outstretched and pointing toward the mirror — he appeared to focus as a look of steely concentration settled on his features.
As I watched, words began to form in the steamed-up mirror. They appeared as one
