Chasing the Shadows (Sentinels of the Galaxy Book 2) by Maria V. Snyder

Author:Maria V. Snyder [Snyder, Maria V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Maria V. Snyder
Published: 2019-11-17T18:30:00+00:00

“Thirty minutes to sunset,” Elese calls down.

That is the agreed-upon time for everyone to start exiting the pit. Regan finished her scan and has already gone to the surface. My mom straightens from her inspection of one of the Warriors. She wipes sand from her knees. Frowning, she marches up to Beau. This ought to be good.

“There’s plenty of light down here. Ara said it’s safe, I want to—”

“No.” Beau uses his I’m-in-command voice. “We won’t be deviating from protocol, Dr. Daniels.”

She stiffens. “I’m in charge of the expedition.”

“And I’m responsible for everyone’s lives.”

“We’re safer down here.” Mom gestures to the lights. “It’s dark at night. Plenty of shadows in camp.”

I wonder if Mom planned this all along.

“None of the research field teams has reported an attack in the desert,” Beau counters with ease. “All our experience with the HoLFs has been in the Warrior pits.”

Did Radcliff anticipate my mom would try something like this?

Mom crosses her arms. “In the destroyed Warrior pits.”

“Irrelevant. Please evacuate or I’ll have you escorted out.”

I freeze in place. Would I have to draw my weapon on my mother? More importantly, could I? I am a security officer and it’s my job to ensure everyone stays safe. But she’s my mom! Except, this time, she’s not considering what’s best for everyone. So…yes, I could. Mom glances at me and then Niall, who has joined us. She must see something in our expressions because she relents.

“Come on, Spencer. We need to brief the teams for the morning.” She grabs the ladder and climbs up.

Dad gives us a little salute and then follows her.

When they disappear above, Beau lets out a long breath. “You two go up, I’ll be last.”

Niall gestures for me to go first. I put my foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. The lights will stay on even though the pit will be empty. Seems a waste of batteries. But preventing shadow-blobs from invading while we’re sleeping is worth a few batteries. What about invading boots? I stop as an idea occurs to me.

“What now?” Beau asks.

“I think we should erase those boot prints,” I say.

“Why?”

“If the person returns tonight then we’ll know.”

“You don’t think he will leave another set?” Niall asks.

“He could, but this way it’ll be clearer.”

“All right, I’ll go.” Beau hurries off.

Niall and I wait for him.

“Did you notice the symbols on the Warriors around the gap?” Niall asks, tilting his head toward the center of the pit.

“No. I was busy being freaked out by the magical boot prints.”

He smiles. “At least they weren’t alien footprints.”

Good point. Except… “We can’t assume that. Aliens might wear boots.” I gesture to the Warriors. “The aliens chose them to act as protectors. Why? Perhaps because they are similar in appearance.”

“Or the Warriors could be the aliens’ equivalent to guardian lions.”

“Oooh. Nice!” We share a grin. And then I remember. “What about the symbols?”

“I recognized a bunch of the ones that correspond to the different Warrior planets that Lan discovered. If I give

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