In front of her, Corian snorted and shook his head.
Chapter Sixteen
The high-speed shuttle waiting for them in Hangivol’s lowest level, Halter’s Deck, was a lot more modern than the one Cheyenne had ridden with Persh’al. The doors opened seamlessly without anyone having to poke and prod the commands, and they filed into the compartment.
“Wow. Somebody sprang for the luxury seats in this one, huh?”
Corian went to the control panel at the front of the compartment. “The transports that get used the most are the ones that need the most updates. Honestly, if I were the one in charge of updating these things, I’d get rid of the one-track-per-shuttle system. It’s a complete waste.”
While everyone else flopped down on the roomy seats covered in soft, cool fabric and arranged like a lounge in the back half of the cabin, Cheyenne set her backpack down on the closest seat and joined Corian in the front. “It is a little weird that something with this much juice only goes one way.”
“Juice.” The nightstalker laughed dryly and scanned the blank panel in front of him.
Cheyenne watched his indecision and leaned forward to catch his gaze. “Having trouble figuring out where to start?”
“I spent all this time getting ready to bring you here for one reason. Didn’t expect to be heading out of Hangivol with an alternate purpose, and I seem to have forgotten the need for an activator of my own.”
“I’d offer to lend you mine, but…”
“No, thank you,” Corian said to her. “You sure you know how to drive this thing?”
“It doesgo in a straight line.”
“Very funny.”
“I got this.” Cheyenne nodded toward the seats in the back, and the nightstalker turned swiftly to take one for himself, scratching the back of his head. “Everyone good to go?”
“No.” L’zar slumped in his seat at the very back, both legs stretched out in front of him with his ankles crossed and arms folded, and glared at the slick metal floor. “It’s not too late to open those doors again.”
Cheyenne slid her finger along the starter sequence the activator neatly lit up for her on the control panel. A low whine filled the shuttle, quickly rising to a high pitch that faded into silence again. Lights blinked on, the device powering the cabin with a mix of magic and tech thrummed to life, and the doors let out a soft hiss as they sealed from the inside. “Whoops.”
L’zar looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t pretend to make mistakes, Cheyenne.”
“Why not? Does it insult you?” She turned back to the control panel and activated the rest of the powering sequences.
“No, it makes you look like you’re trying too hard. Insulting me is a lofty goal, though.”
Cheyenne chuckled and braced her feet before swiping the panel one last time. The shuttle hummed louder and tore out of the transport station at top speed.
“Whoa.” Ember slid against Maleshi, gave her an apologetic smile, and shifted back into her own seat. The general grinned at her before sharing a glance with Corian across the compartment.
“Way smoother than the last one.” Cheyenne’s eyes widened as the activator pulled up the hundreds of extra commands her first transport shuttle hadn’t offered. She played around with it, swiping up on the display and changing the walls from shiny silver to black, then white, then a panoramic view of a forest wrapping around the shuttle.
“Hey!” Byrd cringed in his seat and stared at the trees around them.
Lumil burst out laughing and pointed at the goblin. “You thought this shit was real?”
He chuckled nervously. “Some updates. Damn, it looks real, though.”
“I’m pretty sure no one would build one of these things through a forest,” Cheyenne called from the front, now fiddling with the ambient lighting. “Or if they did, the forest wouldn’t exist after a shuttle’s first trip through. Anybody know how fast we’re going?”
“Do enlighten us.” Maleshi leaned forward and propped her forearms on her thighs, grinning at the halfling who was enjoying herself so much up front.
“No problem.” Cheyenne wiggled her fingers over the control panel and shrugged. “I mean, seeing is believing, right?”
She selected the shuttle’s invisible walls, and almost everyone in the party let out shouts of surprise when the floors, walls, and ceiling disappeared around them. Even L’zar sat up straight in his seat, drawing his feet back toward himself to peer beneath the shuttle at what looked like nothing but dirt and dry grass whizzing past beneath them.
“This is so cool,” Ember muttered, her luminous violet eyes locked on the wall behind Corian’s head. He turned slightly to see what she found interesting, then clenched his eyes shut and shook his head.
Cheyenne turned, and her smile faded when she saw the massive pillar of magic bursting out of Hangivol far behind them. “Wow. That looks bad even from here.”
“The decision’s been made, Cheyenne.” L’zar waved his hand, feigning indifference and failing to pull it off. “No use in looking behind us if we’re not headed that way.”
“Uh-huh.” She turned back to the console and managed to return the opacity to the back wall alone while the rest of the shuttle remained transparent.
Foltr chuckled, both gnarled hands resting on the top of his cane. “Your daughter’s skills rival your own, L’zar.”
Cheyenne stuck her hands in her pockets and stepped slowly toward the back of the cabin to take the empty seat beside Ember. “Old-world magic versus the new generation of tech advancement, huh?”
“The two aren’t comparable.” L’zar stared at her, but the corner of his mouth twitched in a tiny smile.
“I don’t know.” Maleshi sat back against the cushion and crossed one leg over the other. “I never saw you pull up anything quite like this, and we’ve taken plenty of shuttles.”
“Just the two of you?” Corian looked sharply at Maleshi and raised an eyebrow. “When?”
She
