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furiously.  Those two packs are supposed to be among the best in that forsaken
space. Useless! Bloody useless, the lot of them!
 Putting a pack against a Guardian isn t perhaps the wisest thing to do. Yaltan
followed him inside the room.
 Bloody fools only have to stay out of arm s reach and shoot them. That s it.
Crossing to the window, he snatched the heavy curtains in one hand and yanked
them aside.  I still see no new skulls on those pikes, Yaltan. I want those pikes
filled. I want every Guardian skull lining those walls, and I want every Guardian
kyrat mounted on my wall! Is that too much to ask?
Yaltan could only stare at him. Are you for real? Getting a Guardian s head
isn t that easy. Not at the price to be paid. But all he said aloud was,  No, Sire.
That s not too much to ask. Fool.
~ * ~
He watched through the painting, the eyes giving him access. Miness was
recovering from the mental thrashing the High Emperor had given her in the
process of trying to extract the secrets. The suns knew what he d learned from
Miness.
Slipping back through the corridors, he stopped at Miness s door. All was silent
behind it. Wondering what Yaltan knew, he turned and retraced his footsteps.
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Evil was afoot, and evil knew no bounds.
Did Yaltan know his boundaries?
~ * ~
It waited. It could feel the unravelling of the thread. Blood soaked it, dripping
down. Reaching out, it caught a drop, watched as it disappeared and it felt the loss
coming upon it.
It still wasn t time, not yet, but things were happening fast. There was only one
more now, one more to stand up. One more.
It looked out, saw the forests. Heard the voices. It knew the threat.
~ * ~
Standing outside the control cabin, Heddam watched Tasi sitting near the
viscomm. She was biting her bottom lip, her gaze on the galaxy map as she studied
it. Now and again she d frown, angle her head and peer intently at it. Yet when she
had that expression, she wasn t really seeing the screen but something beyond it.
Something no one else could see.
 Weird, Shamon murmured from beside him.
 It s to do with this mental thread. Heddam frowned in turn.  Or whatever
 tis.
 So when she finally comes up with the co-ordinates, I ll key them in. Simon
appeared on Heddam s other side.  We ll see exactly where this Balfour is.
Heddam gestured to him to follow. Once further down the corridor out of
hearing, he said quietly,  I m going with her.
 Never thought otherwise, Simon replied.
  Twas quite obvious anyway, Shamon added.  No Daamen has ever let his
wench walk into danger alone.
Heddam looked at them both.  Once on the planet, I ll get a spaceship and
accompany Tasi to where she indicates. I m sorry, Simon, I have to leave. I can t
continue on knowing she s facing unknown dangers. I m going with her.
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Simon s calm expression didn t change.  You re not going alone, either. We ll
transport her to where she needs to go in this ship.
Heddam wasn t surprised by his words, but he was worried.  Simon, the Aoras
don t come under the IPC. Security isn t going to like us sticking our noses in.  Tis
why I need to go with her alone.
 Nay, Shamon said abruptly.  I m going with you.
Simon arched one brow.  We re merely providing transport, Heddam. Why
waste time trying to find a spaceship on another planet when we can simply fly
straight to the problem? Besides, if you think I m going to allow one of my friends
and a member of my crew to simply leave and walk into danger alone, you have
another think coming.
 Simon 
 Nay. Besides, it might be a good opportunity to find a new trade route.
  Tis bullshit, Heddam replied.
 But it sounded good. Simon smiled slightly.  Do we really need to go through
this every time one of us falls for a wench in trouble?
 Why not? Shamon said.  It s all part of the ritual now. Go on, Simon, point
out the obvious. He smirked at Heddam.
Heddam knew exactly what they were going to say, but before he could protest, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]