Torran nodded and we continued deeper into the forest. The trees were tall, with glossy, deep green leaves and pale bark. Straight trunks branched into wide canopies at the top, and the dense foliage prevented any view of the sky. All in all, it was an excellent place to disappear, given the right equipment.
We continued deeper into the forest, until I could see nothing but trees. Unease slithered down my spine. This would also be the perfect place for an ambush.
I tapped Torran’s shoulder. “Is this area under surveillance now? Did you tell anyone we were coming here tonight?”
“We’re monitoring the entire area. No one has returned. My team knows that we’re out.”
Torran’s team seemed loyal, but most traitors seemed loyal right up until the hidden knife slid between your ribs. My unease crept higher.
We stopped at a seemingly random point. The only thing that differentiated it from the rest of the path was the trampled undergrowth. The lev cycle settled to the ground, and we climbed out.
The soft sounds of nature filtered through my helmet. I opened the visor and gave my eyes a minute to adjust, then waved my hand in front of my face. I couldn’t see it. I could hear Torran moving around, but I couldn’t see him, either. It made me worry about what else might be creeping through the dark.
I hurriedly closed the visor, and the night vision returned, brightening the night to daylight once again.
I waved my hand at Torran and asked, “Can you see without your helmet?” I knew Valoffs had better natural night vision, but I wasn’t sure how good it actually was.
Torran’s helmet clicked open, then a moment later he said, “Not much.”
“I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. How much better is ‘not much’ than that?”
There was a long pause, then he said, “I will show you, if you are willing.”
When I murmured my assent, an image formed in my mind, much like when Luna sent me a picture of her empty bowl. The night wasn’t nearly as dark for Torran, but while he could see somewhat, the details were hazy. It took me a second to figure out that the person-shaped blob in the middle of the image was me standing next to the lev cycle.
No wonder Valoffs had such excellent night-vision tech. They could definitely see better than humans, but with so much of their time in the dark, boosted night vision helped fill in the details.
“Thank you,” I said. I tilted my head as I considered the trampled plants. “So even if the soldiers had Valoffs with them, the team had to have night-vision gear because neither of us can see well enough to change vehicles quickly.”
“The moon was up that night. In moonlight, a Valoff could see well enough to navigate the trees.”
I looked at the thick canopy and shook my head. “Then the humans, at least, had night-vision tech. That doesn’t tell us too much, because it’s pretty common, but they had to get it somewhere.” While we sometimes caught a lucky break, most of our cases were solved by dogged pursuit of the details.
I circled the lev cycle, looking for tracks, but the trees were far enough apart that a transport could’ve left in any direction. Rather than waving at Torran again to get his attention, I tried to think loud thoughts. “Which way did they escape?”
It took a couple of tries, which hopefully meant he really wasn’t listening to every thought, but eventually he turned to me and waved an arm off to the left side of the route we’d been following.
“Their getaway vehicle was hidden off the main path. After that, we were unable to track them.”
“You don’t have any thermal satellites that might’ve caught their engine exhaust?”
“We checked, but the tree canopy reflects so much heat that it would hide a small transport engine.”
“Seems like a security issue with the palace so close.” It was also data the FHP would probably find very, very valuable.
“The palace is well protected,” Torran said, his mental voice cold and stiff.
“Show me where the other vehicle was.”
Torran waved me closer, then headed deeper into the trees. I was glad for the Valovian armor because the sharp undergrowth slid past the synthetic material without catching—or cutting.
After a few minutes, we came to another area where the plants had been trampled. The tree trunks were far enough apart that a good pilot could navigate through them without too much trouble, but they wouldn’t have been moving at a great deal of speed.
“How long did it take you to find this after Cien was taken?”
“Four hours, but three of them were wasted because no one knew he’d been kidnapped until I returned and reviewed the backup footage. The primary surveillance system had been disabled, likely the bodyguard’s doing.”
“He didn’t know about the backup system?”
Torran shook his head. “No one did, until now. It was the last line of defense.”
I briefly wondered if Kee had us under some sort of secret backup surveillance before chuckling to myself. Of course she did. There was no question.
“So the trail was already cold by the time you arrived,” I said, returning to the conversation.
Torran dipped his head in agreement.
Four hours was certainly long enough to put the kidnappers out of sensor range, even at the slow speed navigating the forest required.
But they wouldn’t know that Cien’s absence would be undiscovered for so long.
So if they’d made their plans on the assumption that they’d be tracked within an hour, that limited their options. Still, with no idea what kind of vehicle they’d taken—or how many—tracking their return to the city was impossible.
“Was the forest searched?” I asked at last.
“Yes, from the air. Ships with sensors designed to penetrate the canopy were deployed to scan the entire area, even farther out than the kidnappers could’ve possibly made it. They found nothing.”
So that left the city or the monitoring station. “Are there other monitoring stations like the one nearby? And were they checked?”
“They were all searched,” Torran snapped, frustration evident. “We did everything right. We still failed.”
I approached him slowly, like I would a wounded animal. When I was close enough, I opened my arms and waited.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m offering you a hug, no strings attached.”
His helmet turned away. “I don’t need a hug. I’m not a child to be coddled.”
“First of all, hugs are for anyone who wants one. Second, I’m offering you comfort, not coddling. And finally, ‘no strings’ means exactly that. You don’t have to explain why you want a hug or what’s bothering you or anything else. I’m just offering one hug, freely given. Here.” I opened my visor and blinked at the resulting darkness. “Now I can’t even see who I’m hugging. Could be anyone. Maybe a bear wandered by. No one knows.”
Torran eased into my arms, body stiff and not just because of the armor. I let him settle for a second, then pulled him closer and gave him a gentle squeeze. Slowly, so slowly, his arms crept around me.
We stayed like that for a long minute. When Torran straightened, I let him go. “Thank you, cho udwist diu,” he whispered.
I recognized the middle word was stubborn, but I didn’t know the rest. From the tone, it was likely an endearment rather than an insult, so I let him get away without explaining it.