She took a running start and scrambled up the side of the bin to perch on its edge.
The Hiru followed her, holding the ornament gently in his fingers.
“He is a tari,” Moonlight said quietly. “His family doctored the trees.”
“What did your family do?” Any crumb of information was helpful.
“We studied the pathways between the stars.” Her head swiveled toward me. “We came to tell you that you don’t have to help us anymore. We put you in danger. We put everyone in danger. The next Archivarian is in a place from where it cannot be retrieved. You don’t have to fight anymore.”
“That isn’t up to the two of you. You are my guests. I have duties and responsibilities and you can’t cancel them. Where is the next Archivarian?”
“In the Sanctuary of Eno. Only a select few gain access to it. We are not welcome. You are not welcome. Those of the Sanctuary will not release the Archivarian to allow us to continue.”
I looked at my Christmas decorations and sighed. The last thing I wanted to do was to leave now.
“She’s right,” Sean said.
Moonlight made a little hop. She mustn’t have realized he was there.
“The Sanctuary is run by some sort of cult,” he said. “They kill anyone who enters uninvited.”
“They’re not cultists,” I told him. “They are prophets. They see into the future. They won’t release the Archivarian, but it doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
“Inconceivable,” Sean said. “What do you think it means?”
“It means Holy Seramina wishes to see me,” I told him.
*
“You’re not going alone,” Sean said.
“Arland is injured. He put on a good show for his uncle, but he’ll need all the help he can get.”
“You’re an attractive target,” he said. “They take you out, they take out the inn’s greatest defense. Kiran Mrak is scum but he isn’t stupid. You need protection. Maud can’t come with you, because she’s the only other innkeeper we have. Arland is recovering. That leaves me. This is my judgment as a security operative.”
I told him I would follow his lead. It was time to step up. “Okay.”
He nodded.
“To get to Eno, we’ll need a transgate.” I rubbed my face.
“You can find one at Baha-char,” Moonlight said. “It will cost you many money.”
“Wilmos has one,” Sean said.
“Would he let us use it?”
Sean just looked at me.
“Okay,” I said. “Wilmos it is.”
I pulled up a screen and thought of Maud. My sister appeared on it. She was in our kitchen. Caldenia and Lord Soren sat at the table next to her, sipping something out of steaming mugs.
“I have to go out,” I told her.
“Where?”
“The Sanctuary of Eno.”
Maud whistled.
“I know it’s a lot to ask with Arland still recovering, but can you hold the inn for several hours?”
Lord Soren squared his massive shoulders and bared his fangs in a happy grin that would give most people a lifetime of nightmares.
“Yes,” Maud said. “We’ll hold it. Dina, you might want to look outside. At the driveway.”
“Front window,” I murmured and the screen changed into the image of the street. On it, a black and white cruiser sat parked at the mouth of the Avalon subdivision. Two figures in gray hoodies stood on the sidewalk. Officer Marais loomed over them.
Oh no.
“Enlarge.”
The screen grew to take up half the wall.
“…in violation of Article 3, Subsections 1 through 3, 7, 12, and 16 of the Earth Treaty,” Officer Marais said with methodical precision. “You’re endangering Earth’s neutral status by facilitating the discovery of outside civilizations and contributing to a breach of said Article which will result in a permanent ban of your species from this waypoint. Move along.”
The two Draziri made no effort to move.
A truck drove by, followed by a Ford Explorer. Nobody paid the scene any mind. The presence of a black and white was like magic - everyone concentrated on driving under the speed limit and punctuating their stops at the stop signs.
Officer Marais sighed and pulled a metal baton out. It snapped open in his hand, individual parts moving and sliding to reveal an inner core of golden light. I almost did a double take. The two Draziri froze.
“Disperse,” he ordered.
The hooded killers spun around and sped off down the sidewalk.
“Sean Evans?” I asked. “How did Officer Marais get his hands on a subatomic vaporizer?”
Sean smiled.
*
We slipped into the streets of Baha-char wrapped in two nondescript brown cloaks. The day had come to an end and a short Baha-char night was just around the corner. Lights ignited on the terraces, some golden, some white, others lavender and blue. Garlands of tiny lanterns traced the contours of the stalls and elaborate lamps marked the entrances to the shops, each lamp more odd than the last. The trading was still in full swing. Life at Baha-char never stopped.
We turned the corner and blended with the multicolored crocodile of shoppers crawling through the street.