“What’s in that direction?” I asked.
“Gordett’s Hill, and not much else.”
If there was a hill to the south, I couldn’t really see it. “Where?” I asked.
Kira pointed. “It’s more of a mound than anything else. The researcher who worked with my parents before me was a guy named Gordett, and the hill, or mound, or whatever was his special place. Apparently he liked to hang out in the ruins. Don’t ask me. I never met the guy. But the name stuck.”
Hill or mound, it seemed to me like a good place to stage an attack from.
We followed the trail south by southeast, maybe a quarter of a kilometer until we got to the hill, which was so thick with vegetation, you could barely tell it was a hill.
But it turned out I was right.
On the far side of the hill the jungle gave way to a grassy area. And that was where we found indentations in the ground.
“These were definitely made by landing gear,” I said. “Not a big craft, judging by the spacing.”
“A land dasher, if I’m not mistaken,” TenSix said. “The CE-E7 probably, or a modified CE-9.”
“You know anyone with a land dasher?” I asked Kira.
She didn’t say anything. Just sank to the ground. Her face drained of all life—or hope.
I sat down next to her and put my arms around her. We stayed that way for a long while. TenSix was respectful enough not to say anything. Instead he moved around the area, scanning, taking measurements, and collecting other data about the site.
Finally, Kira wiped her eyes and asked, “What do we do now?”
“To be honest, I don’t know. We need more information.”
“They’re gone, aren’t they? Gone forever.”
“Not necessarily. My company has contacts. Maybe we can ask around and find out if there were any mercenary outfits operating in this system. You also need to report this to Oeri. Who knows? It could have been a kidnapping for profit. Maybe there’s already been a ransom demand.”
“Doubtful,” TenSix chimed in. “Because samples were also taken along with the Doctors Lark, it’s probable that whoever took them also requires their specific knowledge. Otherwise we would have found bodies instead of bootprints.”
“TenSix, that’s not cool,” I said. “What you really need is a sensitivity module.”
“It’s all right,” Kira said. “He’s right. This has got to be industrial espionage. Related to our project.”
“Those larchion things?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Which you can’t talk about?”
“Yeah.”
We scoured the area around the hill again, just to make sure there were no other tracks leading away somewhere else. And to make sure that there were no bodies, I thought to myself.
Then, because we had no other options, we headed back to camp. But about a hundred meters away from the hill, I caught a glimpse of something fluttering in the underbrush. Just a flash of color. A pink that didn’t look like any of the native flowers.
As I moved closer I saw that it was a piece of cloth.
A scarf, to be specific.
11
“That’s my mother’s!” Kira squealed.
She squeezed through the brush and snatched up the scarf. Her eyes widened in surprise. The scarf was tied around something.
I peeked over her shoulder as she unwrapped the little bundle.
Inside the scarf was an AuraView.
“Holy shit,” Kira said. “My mom did this on purpose. It’s a clue. It’s got to be.”
“How are you going to get in?”
“My mom never locks her Aura during research trips. Thank Dynark.” She activated the device and started flipping through the screens.
“A voice recording from twenty-nine hours ago,” she said.
“Play it,” I said.
Immediately we heard Biella’s voice, scared and frantic. “This is Biella Lark of Oeri-USV. We are being taken by the Mayir. Against our will. I’m not sure where they are taking us or why, but we—”
The recording ended abruptly.
“That’s it?” I asked.
Kira played it again.
“The Mayir,” I said.
“I knew it!” TenSix said.
“This makes perfect sense,” Kira spat. “They have inferior scientists so they kidnap ours! We need to report this to the state department. They have to send in Rangers to find my parents.” Her eyes were wild and she was starting to hyperventilate. “This is an act of war.”
“Hey, calm down,” I said.
It wasn’t an act of war. And the Imperial Rangers were not going to be deployed. But I couldn’t tell Kira that. The fact was that we were on MCP sovereign territory. The Empire wouldn’t get involved—especially on behalf of private citizens who willingly put themselves in danger.
“We need to get to Ganga Kos,” Kira said. “Transmit this to Lussix. C’mon, what are you waiting for?”
I didn’t say anything and neither did TenSix. There would be time for discussion later. We just followed Kira as she practically ran back to camp.
She made a beeline for the garage and surveyed the hover-sleds there.
“Hmph.” Kira climbed on top of one of the sleds and started pulling items off of it.
It looked like she was removing recently loaded stuff, so I couldn’t quite figure out what she was up to.
“Are you going to help or just stand there watching me?” she snapped.
“Sure. What are we doing?”
“We need to clear all this off.”
I climbed up and helped her unload.
“We need to travel light,” she said. “We’ll just take the remaining samples, some weapons and gear, and the tribute for the Naba-Sa’im.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Short Stuff, you know how to clone an HDD workstation?”
“Of course,” TenSix replied. “With the proper access credentials, of course.”
“Good.” She hopped off the sled. “Jannigan, you keep going. I’ll be back in a sec.”
Then the two of them left for the lab. I continued to remove equipment crates, machinery, and boxes of personal effects. It kind of felt a little weird.
I wondered what Kira was thinking. She was definitely channeling her fear about her parents into action—which had to be good. But I was worried for her. I knew she was not going
