Lost and Sound (7 page)
The com chirped again and she answered. “Yes?”
“We are tracking this signal. We will get our goods back.”
She grinned. “Come and get them.”
She disconnected and locked the com.
“Now, Dr. Kliask, this is the reason I have been so eager to return here. It was a surprise.”
Yllin knelt and ran her hands up the wall, seeking and finally finding the switch. A wall and the floor slid back, and Dr. Kliask was trembling with eagerness as he followed the hidden stairway into the city under the city.
Nearing brought up the rear, and from the bottom of the steps, she closed the hatchway.
Dr. Kliask and his team were staggering forward and grinning like fools as the merchant sector of the city was exposed to living gazes for the first time in a thousand years.
“How did you know this was here?”
She laughed and led them through to the next surprise. “Since day nine of my installment here. My radius began expanding, and since there was something to see, I went down.”
“What is this level?” Nearing was as amazed as the others.
Dr. Kliask answered. “This is the commerce area. That means that the area above was strictly for the use of visitors.”
She grinned. If he got more enthusiastic, he would explode. His eyes were all batting randomly, and the rest of the crew was busy saying that they wished they could take notes.
She kept them moving. “I promise I will bring you down here again, but we need to get to safety and that isn’t quite here. Not yet.”
One of the assistants asked, “Are there more levels?”
“More than I can count. From here, I can sense two more than I could from the surface.”
The gathering got more excited. “Enough! I will get you safe and in a defensible position, and then, we will be able to chat about the city as long as you like.”
Nearing was snickering in the blue light that cast his features into a hellish glow.
She glared at him. “Shut up, demon.”
He dissolved into hoots, so she led her charges to the next set of hidden stairs. The citizen quarters were neat and well arranged, but this is where signs of habitation truly began. Vehicles and children’s toys were in the street and Kliask wanted to root around, but she dragged them deeper yet.
“But, Yllin, if they follow us, they will find all of these treasures.”
She snorted. “You haven’t seen the treasures yet. There are huge universities below, research centres, power plants and water plants. A level for hydroponic farming. This was a completely self-sufficient community.”
“I can spend years here. Years!”
“You can, as long as I can get you to the spot I have chosen.”
Nearing finally took charge by bodily hauling the good doctor after Yllin. The crew followed.
Down the stairs, she entered the tower she had seen, and they clambered inside, up the steps and into a wide room filled with weapons.
Nearing blinked. “You found the armoury?”
She chuckled. “Yes. From what I can guess, they are short-range stunners. Everyone take at least one. It is unlikely that they will follow us down here, but if they do, I want to be ready.”
They sat around and waited. Nearing checked his com and nodded. “Backup is entering the atmosphere.”
Yllin sighed with relief. Now, she just had to wait.
They huddled in the dim light and shared the ration bars that Nearing had stowed on his very-useful belt. The water was shared as well, and they waited.
When Nearing got a “Where the hell are you?” note, they got up and started the trek back to the surface with the artifacts in tow.
The traps made short work of those who had tried the front door. Sector Guard base Udell had sent in the troops, and no one was left standing. All of the would-be collectors were on their knees, and the men who had manned the ship were also under arrest. Arrangements for looting charges were planned, and the guilty were being delivered to the nearest facility for processing.
Dr. Kliask had his permits for exploration from both the Imperium and the Alliance ready to display upon request. No one knew who owned Webar, so he was taking no chances with his find.
Yllin turned her com back on and checked in with Dispatcher Nearing. She skimmed over the finer parts of the day and promised to forward a complete report.
She collected her duffel from the shuttle and trudged back to her quarters. It was the end of a very long day.
Nearing knocked on her door just after sunset. “May I come in?”
She had just been settling in to doze. She was still wearing her suit though she had removed the boots and weaponry. “Come in.”
He walked in, and she finally noticed that he looked as rough as she felt.
“I can’t take off until the morning. I have a diplomatic mission and need to get some sleep before I leave. The crew quarters are off limits, so I have come to beg a space for the night.”
She sighed and scooted back. “Come on. They didn’t know how big I would be, so I got the double-wide version.”
He dropped his weapons and the belt, crawled in next to her and curled against her.
Yllin paused for a moment, but he began to breathe heavily and his arm went limp. He was out and she had a living wall of warmth at her back.
The next morning, the vid cameras were flying everywhere, and after wedging his body into the solar shower, Nearing joined her for breakfast.
It was going to take her a few days to feel secure again, so she was wearing her blades.
She sat across from him and stared him down. “I still have one question.”
“What?”
“What is your actual name?”
He grinned. “Don’t you want to guess?”
She flicked her spoon at him, landing a wad of hot cereal on his shoulder. “I hate guessing.”
“But have no objection to wasting food.”
He scooped the cereal off his shoulder and popped it into his mouth. “There, now it is not wasted.”
“And I still have no answer.”
“Hexor. My name is Hexor Nearing.”
She smiled and finished her breakfast. The team wanted to get started on some of the new levels, but Dr. Kliask was going to have to send for more students and assistants.
She tried to follow her team, but Nearing grabbed her for a quick kiss that turned into something quite elaborate. If she hadn’t pulled a knife on him, he might still be kissing her at this very moment.
Lorada Gerocard took the image she had been sent and smiled. It wasn’t something she had anticipated, but it brightened her day to see her daughter grinning up at the man who held her so carefully.
The placement of Yllin’s knife at her friend’s groin might have had something to do with his careful handling.
“Ah, Ylli. You are never going to change.”
High Prefect Hercot Gerocard entered and smiled at his wife. “Have you seen the business news?”
“No, darling.”
“She has gotten nineteen worlds to help supplement her trade school fund for women. She is taking over the universe one welder at a time.” His pride swelled his chest.
Lorada came over and gave him a hug. “I suppose this was the right thing for her after all.”
He sat and pulled her into his lap. “It is a shame that she can’t give us grandchildren, she would have been a creative mother. Why didn’t we get her that shot?”
She sighed and snuggled against her husband of the last forty years. “She bit the pediatrician, drew blood and stabbed the nurse with the syringe. She has always gone her own way.”
“We are lucky she decided to use her powers for good. If she had world domination in mind, I am pretty sure I would be out of a job by now.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.
Lorada smiled and wove her hand with her husband’s. “You are going to have to take that sign off your state vehicle.”
“Why? I am very happy that it now says,
My Daughter is a Citadel Specialist.
”
Pride in all their children had been there from the beginning, but understanding their youngest had taken time. Now that her program had come to public and interplanetary light, her work at the Citadel had brought her acclaim for her work at saving people and helping discover things long gone, it was easy to see that she needed to take care of others.
“She would be embarrassed if she knew that we knew about her exploits. Her letters to us are tepid in the extreme. She obviously doesn’t want us to know what she is doing, but I am glad that her new friend’s mother is keeping us informed.”
“New friend?”
“Check the picture on the mantel.”
He glanced over and stiffened. “Is he bright red?”
“I would call it scarlet.”
He squinted. “Does she have a knife aimed at his crotch?”
“Yes, she does.”
“That’s my girl.” He squeezed Lorada slightly and sighed. “I hope they come to visit.”
“So do I. She has finally found someone who will hang onto her despite the danger. When you find a man like that, you have to grip him tight. I am still clinging to you and you haven’t tried to run away in years.” She nuzzled his jaw.
“There is no sense running from the one person who makes you happier than anyone else in the universe.” He kissed her and they enjoyed the silence of being alone in a very large space. Having an empty nest had never felt so good.
So. I thought it was cute. I never got to use her close-range attack, but there are so many more books; we haven’t seen the last of Yllin and Nearing.
The next release date celebrates my 300
th
single-author title. I have chosen my alter ego’s book
Snow Time for Love
as book 300. Yay!
Honestly, I never thought I would go this long, and I know I still have some stories yet untold. They might be hits, might be misses, but I will do my best to make them entertaining.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.
Listening to readers has gotten her this far, and with her 300th short story looming before the end of 2014, she will continue to listen in the future.