Clarity's Dawn (The Skyward Saga Book 3) by A.R. Knight

Clarity's Dawn (The Skyward Saga Book 3) by A.R. Knight

Author:A.R. Knight [Knight, A.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Key Books
Published: 2018-12-14T07:00:00+00:00


10 Deals and Danger

If the Junkyard’s Rest looks every bit the workmanlike bar, Nova fails in its attempt to be a restaurant of class.

Sax’s experience with these places is limited - Vincere craft aren’t known for their upscale dining options - but he doesn’t have to look hard to see the many cracks in this operation.

Nova is nestled among a residential spoke, surrounded by the slim apartments every space station provides. Sax guesses, from the sizes and number of doorways, that this spoke is the lesser of the two Scrapper Station offers.

That opinion is seconded by the lighting, which strives for the bright blue of a healthy planet but settles for a hazy yellowed version instead, as if someone had released a cloud of mustard in the sky.

Nova announces itself by a spinning, bursting globe over its front doorway, a design that casts alternating white and sapphire-blue balls to the outer edges of its spiral.

The light show continues inside, where tables, chairs, food pits and other layouts meant for specific species dazzle Sax’s eyes with their constant effects.

How could anything survive in here without going insane?

“Interested in grabbing a seat?” a young Flaum, looking entirely bored with everything, asks him as Sax walks into the place.

“Looking for the owner,” Sax replies.

“She’s in back,” the Flaum says. “But if you’re going in, you’ll want one of these.”

The Flaum points to a basket of what look like rubberized bandannas.

“Those are?”

“Easier if you just try one on,” the Flaum, who’s showing no signs of fear at the sight of Sax’s clawed, scarred, monstrous self, tosses one of the black things at him.

Sax catches it with a claw. Stares at it. It looks just like a strip of clothing.

“You’ve got eyes, right?” the Flaum says. “Put it over them.”

“Is this a trick?”

“Nah. It’s part of the show. Twillo bought a whole container of these on a whim, which is why the restaurant looks so bad.”

Sax hesitates, then figures that it’s unlikely the restaurant would have some method of incapacitating an Oratus right at its entrance, waiting for him.

So he slips the bandanna on. The rubber seems to come alive as it slides onto his head, growing to match his dimensions and settling over his eyes.

Which changes everything.

Now the glaring lights aren’t blinding, they’re mesmerizing. They don’t simply spin on the backs of tables and chairs, but seem to lift off and glide through the space, and when Sax takes a step, it’s like he’s walking through a world of stars.

“Pretty neat, right?” the Flaum says. “Bet this place would be doing better if Twillo could get people to put these on first.”

“How?” is the only thing Sax can think to ask.

Beyond the floating stars, Sax can see streaking comets, the occasional bursts of light too - as if one of the stars happens to go supernova.

“Different spectrums, projections and mirrors, I think,” the Flaum says. “Don’t really know, but it’s cool.” She hesitates while Sax takes another long look around the space. “You, uh, still want to go find Twillo?”

Sax gives an absent nod.



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