“Where did you get that?” she asked as she gently touched the handle with a finger. “It’s Void-tech, isn’t it?”
I nodded and pulled Spirit-Watcher from under my shirt. “So is this, I think.”
The priestess gasped and stared wide-eyed at the device. “May I?”
I looked around—there were no thrums from approaching hovertanks, and there was no evidence of approaching troops. We had a little time, and, more than anything, I if she could make sense of what she saw through the thing.
“Priestess—” I started to say as I handed Spirit-Watcher to her.
“Call me Nyna,” she interrupted. “Only the Ish-Nul call me a priestess. They’re baffled by the tech I…” Her voice trailed off as she placed the visor-shaped device over her eyes.
She turned her head left, right, up toward the sky, then back to me. “You’re Void-touched,” she whispered. “I can see it. So are your companions. You’re all Void-touched.” She turned to the forest. “Oh, and the fires in the forest are out, but it looks like the main powerplant is gonna burn to the ground, you know? Yeah, you really messed it up good, but that’s fine with me. Screw them, you know?”
“Yes,” I said, “we are Void-touched. I was led to believe you could help us get some information. When I asked the Ish-Nul about you, they said you’d been taken. That’s how we learned you were here.”
I wasn't sure she was paying attention to my words. She was digging in her backpack again, which I could then see was covered in intricate beadwork, painted shapes, and runes. The biggest, most prominent shape was the two-pronged trident, the symbol of hope.
When she pulled her hand from her bag, I reflexively grabbed the muzzle of the pistol in her hand and twisted it from her grasp.
“Ouch!” she complained. “It’s not loaded. I was going to offer it in trade for the… what do you call this?” She pointed to the visor.
“Sorry,” I said as I inspected the pistol. “It’s called Spirit-Watcher. The previous owner said anyone who looks through it can see into the spirit world. It looks like some kind of scanner to me. Or a data terminal, maybe.”
“Oh,” she said in a dreamy voice as she continued to look around, “it’s so much more than that.”
The alien pistol she handed me appeared to be a mixture of Void-tech and well-constructed local technology on par with the electronics on the inside of Skrew’s mech. I suddenly thought of Skrew heading straight toward the Ish-Nul, who would have no warning. A sinking feeling hit me right in the guts.
I aimed the pistol at a nearby building and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. There was nothing about it—not the weight, no electronic indicators, or even a dial, to tell me whether it was ready to fire.
“Told you it was empty,” Nyna said, “but the Fex in your pocket should power it just fine.”
“How did you know?” I asked as I retrieved the small orb.
She smiled and tapped the visor. “It’s amazing what these things reveal.”
“Can they reveal a quick way back to the Ish-Nul? We need to get there before Skrew and make sure they don’t panic and attack him.”
“No worries,” Nyna laughed. “We’ll get there long before he does. I’m looking at the data from four hoverbikes right now. They’re in that building over there, and they’re already powered up. Look like fresh charges, too, so we won’t have any problem with them. Oh, and they have spare batteries as well!”
I pressed the Fex against the pistol as we followed Nyna’s indications. A moment later, thin, blue lines along the barrel and frame began to glow, before going out. I took aim at the burning central building and pulled the trigger. I was not disappointed.
A white-hot ball of energy blasted out from the pistol and burned a two-inch hole through the metal. I aimed again and held the trigger down. Instead of firing like a machine gun, though, the blue lines got brighter, and the gun grew warmer. When I let go two seconds later, the white ball of energy that erupted from the pistol was as big as my fist. When it struck the building, a six-foot-wide section of the wall dissolved into white-hot ash.
“Stop playing with your new toy?” Reaver scolded. “We need to go.”
“Agreed,” I said, admiring my new hand-cannon. I missed having a ranged weapon.
Reaver was looking better. Part of the benefit of being Void-touched was our ability to heal quickly. Plus, the rocket had burned off enough of her shirt that I could see the bottom edges of her breasts, which was always a pleasure. She caught me looking and feigned shyness as she covered them with one of her arms.
When we got to the building a few seconds later, she and Beatrix ripped the door off what turned out to be a fully equipped hangar. I hoped we’d also find a nice hovertank, fueled up and ready for the taking, but there were only hoverbikes inside. They all already had a security matrix inserted. We each selected one and took off toward the quarry to pick up Yaltu.
“Oh, nice, that’ll spare our legs,” she said as she waved a hand at my transportation. She hopped on the back, holding me tightly, and offered a small wave to Nyna, who returned it with a smile. A few seconds later, we were on our way.
Instead of trying to go through the forest, dodging trees and avoiding the hidden wildlife, we opted to take a slightly longer path to the beach. From there, we’d be able to see threats from a long way off and travel faster.
The sea air was a little cold, especially at our speed, so Yaltu was holding me tight, warming herself against my body.
On the beach, Nyna slowed down until she was riding alongside me. “Thank
