City of Diamond by Jane Emerson

Author:Jane Emerson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy Fiction, American
Publisher: DAW BOOKS
Published: 1996-09-14T23:00:00+00:00

Tal had never seen a gun like that one. It was small, but definitely not a Keith. He considered whether he should ask whether it was lethal or only a stunner, but decided not to waste either of their times on minor points. He stepped over the Transport supervisor and followed his Graykey out, hearing a distant explosion and people shouting as he did so.

They passed three City Guards on the way to detention, all of them running as though in answer to an emergency summons. None of them spared a look for Tal's group. None of the Graykey spoke; they had never assumed that getting in would be the hard part. They strode grimly through the decks and took the civilian lift banks as though born to them.

The maps were good enough to get them to the detention places, at least. Tal looked up at a sculptured facade that rose five intradeck levels. An angel of repentance clung spread-eagled to the front, ten times the height of a

man, the wings brushing either side of the roof. The prisoners in there must number in the hundreds. How was he ever going to find Keylinn in that place?

The cadets didn't even break stride. They passed through the front doors, always open in case any citizen wanted to report on another. Tal checked the time; they had about ten minutes to locate Keylinn if they wanted any margin of safety in getting out. They managed to pass the front desk as though they knew where they were going, but in fact it was guesswork from this point on. There were no maps for the inside of the detention center.

The advance party met them at the lift bank, and they crowded inside. At least the inner lifts here only went up from this level, not down—the first clue as to direction. The doors opened on the next level to show a corridor of cells with one-way glass. More corridors joined it in the distance. A Graykey boy said, "We can look for her—it's glass." He started to step out, but Tal grabbed hold of his sleeve.

"We don't have time to do it that way." He motioned for them to continue, and they tried the next level. It was the same.

But the third level up opened onto a large room with a big curving desk, people running back and forth, and a scattering of black-clad EPs with prisoners. "A processing center," said Tal. "They would know."

The girl cadet raised an eyebrow. "Should we just ask them?" Clearly she did not mean the question seriously. Tal stepped out of the lift, and his cadets emerged behind him. The girl said softly, "If you weren't a gathrid, I would have overruled you for your own good. I hope you know what you're doing."

Yes. One did hope that. He went to the desk, motioning with a slight inclination of the head for them to fan out inconspicuously through the room. They did so. He thought briefly that

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