CHAPTER 18
It was just getting dark when Marcus finally made it back, and we had taken full advantage of every moment, barely getting dressed and back in the front room before he came through the door. And our save was due mostly to Peri. I picked up an image of Marcus from her mind, strolling down the main street of Bastion City, looking very pleased with life in general. It was much the same expression Reynard was wearing as we rapidly dressed.
Bim had returned sometime that afternoon, and I’d just sent him to fetch food for the three of us when Marcus walked through the front door.
“What did you find out?” I asked him, uncovering the lamps to brighten the room.
He moved to the table where Reynard was sitting, trying to look innocent, and pulled out a chair. “Zeller is dead. Apparently it wasn’t an easy death, so I won’t go into the details. He told Lowden everything he knew before the end, but all that did was verify what we already know. He had no idea where the girls or the crystal are hidden.”
“What about Strand’s plans for me?”
He shook his head. “Strand didn’t trust him enough to go into details. He only knew it involved stealing your knife. Nice ring,” he added, eyeing my hand.
“Thanks.” I held it out so he could admire it better. “Reynard gave it to me.”
“Good. Since you’re promised now, I don’t have to worry about my responsibilities as your guardian.”
I looked at him blankly. “Promised?” My gaze went to Reynard. He was practically whistling at the ceiling in an effort to appear nonchalant.
“Yes. Didn’t the commander explain?”
“No, he certainly did not.” I scowled at Reynard.
Marcus grinned gleefully at the commander. “Well, on Madrea, there’s no such thing as divorce or short-term marriages. When a man gives a woman a promise ring and she accepts it, you’re as good as married. The only thing left to do is the formal ceremony, which is mostly a celebration of the union, not a legal joining like it is in the Federation.”
“Neglected to mention that little detail to me, didn’t you?” I said.
He shrugged, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “You aren’t Madrean.”
“No, but you are,” I reminded him.
“Yes, I am.” His smile widened. “And you are mine now, no matter where you go.”
My fingers drummed the table. “Yeah? You can be sure we will talk about this later. People can’t just go around claiming other people without telling them about it in advance, pal.”
There was a scratching sound outside before the door opened and Bim came in carrying a tray loaded with food. We all unloaded it, and then filled our plates.
“Eat up,” I told the commander. “You’re going to need your strength tonight.”
“Oh?” He wiggled a brow, and I rolled my eyes.
“Not for that. We’re going to search under the castle.”
Both he and Marcus promptly choked.
“What?”
“Well, it was your idea,” I told Marcus. “And I know the girls are there somewhere. I got that much from the hall outside their room. It stands to reason that if they’re being kept under the castle, so is the Sumantti, and I have to look for them. If you’d prefer not to get involved,” I told the commander, “I can do it alone.”
“You aren’t going alone,” he practically growled. “Do you have any idea how extensive the network of rooms under the castle is? Even I don’t know my way around half of it, and I grew up exploring those passages.”
“Why are there so many of them?” I asked, puzzled. “I mean, I know you’ve had wars with the Bashalde in the past, but surely you didn’t need that many dungeons. There wouldn’t be any Bashalde left.”
“They aren’t dungeons, for the most part,” Marcus told me. “The theory is that the first settlers lived there until they could get crops well established and the planet supporting life on an individual basis. It was a commonsense way to keep supplies and medical care in a central location. The castle was later built on top of the quarters, but they extend outside the castle’s foundations.”
Suddenly, I sat up straighter, an idea occurring to me. “Are there outside entrances to this place, so a person could get in and out without having to go through the castle?”
“Probably,” Reynard said. “It would make sense to have multiple exits, although I’ve never seen one.”
“Lillith, do you have access to scans of the area around the castle from five cycles ago?”
“Yes, of course. The original teams were very thorough.”
“Great. I want you to compare them with the most recent scans you’ve taken of the same area. Look for anomalies like paths that seem to end in the middle of nowhere, and weren’t there before. Or maybe a place where the ground has been disturbed recently. Or a big boulder has vanished. Anything that’s noticeably different.”
“Checking.”
We continued eating and were almost finished when she spoke again. “I think I’ve found what you’re looking for. There’s a faint path leading from the direction of Strand’s ship. It ends in a grassy area to the rear left of the castle several kilometers from the gathering field, and there’s a patch of ground that looks yellow and dead.”
“She found it.” I told Reynard what the ship had discovered. “That’s where we’ll start. I’m betting the girls won’t be far from the entrance, and they’ll keep the crystal close to the girls.”
“Echo,” Lillith spoke again. “I’m not sure this is a good idea. That path is entirely too clear from above when you’re looking for it. Why didn’t they hide it better?”
“Probably because they didn’t think it would occur to me to check. After all, this is my first mission. Strand would know that.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“We’ll be extra careful,” I promised the ship as I scooted my chair back. “Marcus, sorry about your clothes, but I need to borrow them again. I’ll be right back.”
Peri was on the window ledge grooming her feathers when I went into my room and closed the door. She’d left as soon as Marcus had earlier and stayed out later than usual, but then she’d been tired last night, too, and had slept most of the morning away just as I had.
“Don’t go to sleep,” I told her as I changed. “We’re leaving again.”
She gave her feathers one last fluff, and then looked up with interest, giving an excited chirp as she picked up my thoughts.
I finished changing into the dark shirt and trousers, then attached my sheath to the belt, filling it with the knife I’d gotten from Lowden. It wasn’t as well balanced as mine, but it was sharp and well cared for. If I had to use it, it would get the job done, and that was what counted.
“Let’s go,” I told her, waiting until she was on my shoulder before going back to the front room. At once, both men stood.
“Marcus, I think you should stay here,” I told him. “If I’m not mistaken, my chip won’t work underground, so I won’t be able to communicate with Lillith. And since she doesn’t have human DNA, I can’t pop in on her. If it is a trap, I may need you on the outside more than I need you with us.”
He scowled and then sighed. “Fine, but I don’t like it. What am I supposed to do, sit here and twiddle my thumbs?”
“Go to work,” I said. “You’ve got a tavern to run. And it’ll make the time go faster. If I need you, it won’t matter where you are, anyway. But truthfully, I figure this will take a while. You’ll probably be in bed, fast asleep, when we get back.”
The look he gave me was wry. “Don’t count on it. I won’t sleep a wink until I know you’re both safe.”
Reynard slid the cylindrical covers over two of the lamps and handed one to me. “We’ll need these. It’s dark in those passages.”
I took it, and then gave Marcus a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back before you know it.”
He grumbled as we went by him, then stood with his hands on his hips as we went out the door. And ran headlong into Bim.
The big man took one look at the way I was dressed, spread his feet, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at me. He’d trapped me again, and there was obviously no way out of taking him with us.
Making the best of the situation, I pasted on a smile. “There you are, Bim. We want to know if you’d mind coming with us on a little adventure.”
Reynard arched a brow at me, but I concentrated on Bim. He looked downright suspicious, his gaze going from me to Reynard and back again. But really, what could he do? There was no chance he’d let me go off without him. Not when he felt semi-responsible for Zeller’s arrow piercing my shoulder, and not when he knew we were trying to help his people.
Finally, he nodded, and we started in the direction Lillith indicated. From the main street came the sounds of shopkeepers closing up and hurrying home for the night, and the laughter of children, stretching their playtime for as long as possible before their mothers called them in to supper.
It should have felt serene, normal, calming. Instead, an uneasy feeling of dread washed over me, causing my skin to pebble.
Was it percipience, a sense that we were walking into something that would change this idyllic world forever? A shiver ran over me and Reynard glanced down.
“Cold?”
“No.” I forced a smile. “Just dire thoughts. They’re gone now,” I lied, forgetting about his ability to detect the truth.
“No, they aren’t.” He took my free hand. “But we will prevail. You need to believe that. Fear of failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we accept we’re going to fail before we start, why try? You might as well sit down and wait to die. This is something all soldiers know deep inside.”
“You’re right.” I squeezed his hand. “Thank you for reminding me.”
We went the rest of the way in relative silence. Since most of Bastion City stretched out in front of the castle, there was little in the way of habitations after we got on the other side. Lillith made minor adjustments in our direction until we stood in the area she’d indicated, up to our knees in green, healthy-looking grass dotted with wildflowers that gave off a slight glow in the darkness.
Once upon a time, this must have been part of the forest. Here and there, large tree stumps poked up from the ground, their bark dark and dry looking.
“Okay, where is the dead spot?” I asked her.
“About twenty paces to your left, closer to the tree line.”
“This way,” I gestured at Reynard and Bim.
We went slowly, examining the ground until we found the place Lillith indicated. I could see why she thought it suspicious. The grass was much shorter here, stiff and so yellowed that, from her vantage point, it must have looked like a signpost that said, “Enter here.” It was also way too symmetrical, measuring three meters by three meters square, with the edges sharply delineated.
The hair stood erect on my nape as I studied it, and I paused to check our surrounds. Had I heard something, or was my imagination running on high? Peri gave no indication that she was aware of a human near our location, but I wasn’t convinced. It felt like we were being watched.
“Lillith,” I said subvocally. “Are there any heat signatures in the woods large enough to be a person?”
“No. If there were, I would have mentioned it before now. And I still don’t like this.”
“I’m not thrilled about it, either,” I told her, walking slowly around the square of ground. “I’m pretty sure you’re right. They know we’re coming, watching for us, even.”
“How would they be watching? There’s no one near.”
“A vidport on one of the trees, maybe?” I commented.
She went silent for a second. “I found it.” Her tone was grim. “It’s operating off a very low voltage battery. That’s why I didn’t pick up on it before. You should abort this operation now.”
“I can’t, Lillith.” I stooped and ran a finger under the edge of the dead grass. What I found was a two-inch-thick metal hatch, heavy from the weight of soil on top, but light enough that a Natural could lift it if they strained a bit. “They are undoubtedly using those girls and the crystal as bait. But at least we know Strand is expecting us, and if we’re careful, this could be our best chance of retrieving them.”
Sliding both hands under the trapdoor, I tugged. Reynard and Bim joined me, and together we set the metal plate aside. Below it was a set of narrow stone stairs leading downward into stygian darkness.
“I’ll go first.” After a brief hesitation, I uncovered the lamp and started down. It wasn’t like I was giving away our presence, after all.
Behind me, Reynard followed suit, and then Bim. I could tell from his gait that Bim had removed the axe from his back and now carried it at the ready. Reynard did the same with his sword.
I counted forty steps before we reached the bottom, and realized they had gradually angled back toward the castle. From somewhere ahead water trickled, and the walls I touched were damp and slick with moss.
“Anything look familiar?” I asked Reynard, pausing a few feet beyond the steps.
“No, I’ve never been here before. I think it’s below the level I explored growing up. The main passageways weren’t this deep. We didn’t even know there was another level.”
“Great.” I lowered the lamp and studied the floor. “Too damp for dust, so no footprints. Looks like we’re on our own.” I meant that literally, too. I’d had no communication with Lillith since we were about halfway down the stairs. It was odd, not having the ship to rely on for information, and a little bit lonely.
“On the other hand, the hall outside the girls’ room looked like this, too, so it’s a good bet they’re down here somewhere. Let’s keep going.”
The hall seemed to stretch forever before we ran into an intersection. Here, we stopped again and with lamps raised, looked in both directions.
“What do you think?” Reynard asked. “Right, left or keep going?”
“All of the above,” I told him. “There are doors down each side hall. We need to check them all. It will take longer, but we stay together. Left first, and hope the doors aren’t locked.”
They weren’t. Most of them weren’t even completely closed. We checked each one and discovered the dust that was missing from the hall. Dust that hadn’t been disturbed in hundreds of years, from the look of things. Otherwise, the rooms were empty.
The other hall yielded the same results, as did the next set of corridors we came to, and the set after that. Several hours passed, and I was beginning to get bored by the time we reached the fourth intersection along the main passage. Immediately, things got more interesting as I peered down the right hall.
“It’s not stone,” I told Reynard, running my hand down a wall.
He stepped up beside me, gazing over my shoulder. “Neither are the floors. It looks like some kind of metal, but I don’t see any seams.”
“They must have cast it all at once,” I told him. “Either that, or this is part of the original ship that brought the settlers to Madrea. It makes sense that they would scavenge the living quarters and continue to use them, although I’m not sure why the section would have been buried down here.”
“Do we need to search this section?” He asked. “You said the hall outside the girls’ room was stone.”
I thought about it and then nodded. “Yes, because the Sumantti could be anywhere.”
This time when I stepped into the hall, my footsteps rang slightly, and instinctively, I slowed down, being careful where I put my feet. There didn’t seem to be as many doors here, and they appeared closer together.
On my shoulder, Peri shifted restlessly, and I picked up a feeling of unease from her as I stopped between the first set of doors. The one on the right was almost completely closed. The door on the left was wide open. I raised the lamp and took a closer look inside, then caught my breath.
“Look,” I told the men. “There are metal shelves built into the walls.” But what really held my attention was the lack of dust, combined with numerous black metal cubes sitting on the shelves. Stasis boxes. I’d recognize them anywhere, had even used them back on Centaurius to keep food fresh for weeks or months on end.
Excitement surged through me as I walked into the room and glanced around. Reynard moved to one of the shelves and reached for a box, but I stopped him. “Don’t open them. If the Sumantti is here, we don’t want her lashing out in anger. Maybe I can tell if she’s here from just touching them. Her container should be the only one that’s actually turned on, and the box will be expending a lot of energy to keep her captive.”
From my shoulder, Peri muttered darkly, her gaze on the door. I paused, head tilted. “Did either of you hear something?”
They listened for a second and then shook their heads.
“Must have been my imagination.” I put my lamp on a shelf, went to the first of the boxes and put my hands on the sides. Nothing.
“How do you tell if they’re on?” Reynard asked, depositing his lamp across the room from mine for maximum efficiency.
“There will be a very low, very faint vibration,” I told him. “You can’t hear it, but you should be able to feel it.”
With a nod, he moved to another box and put his hands on it. Bim stayed in the center of the room, as though reluctant to mess with things he knew nothing about.
I was reaching for the next box when suddenly Peri screamed in rage. Already on edge, I went into overdrive, spinning toward the door to confront whatever danger had alerted her.
But even then, it was too late. The metal door was already closed, and just as I slammed into it, I heard the distinct thunk of a latch clicking into place.
To save energy, I dropped out of overdrive, but that didn’t stop me from pounding on the door hard enough to leave dents in the metal. From the other side I heard the muffled sound of laughter, and a speaker on the wall crackled to life.
“Temper, temper, Agent Adams. Even a Gertz GEP can’t tear open solid metal.”
Reynard moved up beside me on my left, Bim on the right, axe at the ready. “You won’t get away with this, Strand. The Federation knows you’re here. My ship even has vid of you loading sunstones. Everyone will know you’re responsible for our deaths.”
“Ah, but you see, I have no plans to kill you or your friends, Agent Adams. All I have to do is keep you locked away here and wait. Eventually, you’ll starve to death, of course, but it’s fair punishment for criminals like you. As for the Federation, I’ve broken none of their laws. I’m here at the invitation of the king. Your vids are worthless.”
“What are you talking about? We aren’t criminals.” My words were interrupted by the deep vibration of huge bells tolling mournfully. The noise was muffled and faint, coming as it did through the many passages under the castle. But not even distance could stop the disturbance it caused in the ground, and I felt it all the way from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.
Instantly, Reynard stiffened, and from my other side, Bim growled.
“What is it?” I asked, alarmed by their reactions.
“Something has happened,” Reynard said. “Something bad. The bells are only rung under dire circumstances.”
That evil chuckle came again. “The commander is correct. I’ll leave it to your imagination to wonder what it is. Now, I must go. It’s almost time to put the final part of my plan into action. Good-bye, Agent Adams, and thank you for falling so readily into my little trap. It was most obliging of you.”
The static coming from the speaker cut off abruptly, and I turned to Reynard. “Schite. This was a setup from the beginning, and I walked right into it. I’m sorry. They should have sent someone who knew what the frag she was doing.”
He pulled me closer, wrapped his arms around me. “You had no reason to think Strand would trap us this way. Even I was expecting a face-to-face attack, not this cowardly trick. How could you know?”
“I should have. At the very least, I should have had Lillith run probabilities, gone over all of them and planned for each accordingly.”
“There must be something we can do.” He released me and went to examine the door. “There’s no opening mechanism on this side. It looks as if it’s been removed.”
I joined him and checked the spot where the handle had been. Only fresh tool marks remained to mar the metal surface. “If there was something I could get a grip on, maybe I could pull it from the frame.”
The commander ran his hands around the edge of the door and then shook his head. “It’s smooth. I can feel the seam where it opens.”
Bim stepped forward, his axe drawn back, but I put a hand on his arm before he could use it. “It would only dull your weapon,” I told him. “The metal is too hard for an axe, and you may need it to be sharp later.”
He looked at me, a heavy brow arched, and I grinned. “I just thought of a way to get us out of here.”
“How?” Reynard asked.
“Good thing he doesn’t know about my psi ability. Catch me,” I told Reynard, already shuffling through the DNA I had stored. “I’m going to find Marcus.”