Deliverance (Killswitch Book 2) by Warwick Eden

Author:Warwick Eden [Eden, Warwick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

THE BODIES PILE UP

<Almost there,> I said as I wriggled my way towards the final turn of the ventilation duct. <Approaching the corner and Sovran’s bedroom should be right… about…her—Chahk!>

<What?> said Mace.

<I’m looking at a wall,> I said. <A flippin’ wall, Mace!> I pressed the palm of my hand frustratedly against it.

<A wall?> said Mace.

<Yes, a w-all,> I replied with emphasis. <Solid solenite one too.>

<Well, that’s not on the map,> said Mace.

<Of course it’s not on the map!> I said. <I wouldn’t be heading for a solid solenite wall now would I? And don’t say I’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere; I used my positioning system to navigate the route shown on the map. Chahk!>

<Any ideas, DeXA?> said Mace.

<The wall you see in front of you is probably a recent addition,> explained DeXA.

<Recent? How recent?> I asked.

<Recent as in anything from fifty-three years ago,> said DeXA, <because the maps we have are pretty old.>

<And why haven’t we got more up-to-date maps?> I asked through gritted teeth.

<Well, we just don’t have anything newer than that lying around,> explained DeXA. <Remember, Pachinko City isn’t part of our Tribhuvan network; I have no direct access to it. And besides, it’s not like Sovran Raja to freely issue blueprints of his pad out to the public. The wall also makes sense. Someone like Sovran Raja would have measures like this to keep his private wing, including its ventilation system, completely isolated from the rest of the palace.>

<You mean, like a precaution against gas poisoning or something?> asked Mace.

<Correct,> said DeXA, <and in case of decompression or breaches, the isolated chambers act as a spare life support emergency shelter, albeit one that is larger than normal. But then Sovran is someone who can afford an emergency shelter the size of an entire palace wing.>

<Well, great. Just great,> I said. <Now how by Dyaeus will I get into his bedroom? Correction, any of his bedrooms?? There are about ten ‘royal bedrooms’ listed on this outdated map.>

<Actually, more than that,> said DeXA. <In addition to the ten royal bedrooms, there are six ‘master bedrooms’ listed on the map—>

<And let’s not forget the five more listed as ‘sleeping quarters’,> added Mace.

I seethed in silence.

“… no, no, no!” The sharp, caustic voice of Chenselor Kotapi floated up through the nearby pin-holed duct covering.

I peered through to have a look.

The ventilation duct I was in was just above a corridor. The Chenselor had just entered it from Sovran Raja’s private wing (yes, through that wall) via a set of electronically-secured doors. Behind the lanky Chenselor trundled a rather breathless Chief Prahari, trying to keep up. Periodically, Chief Prahari would do a boxer slip, dodging comically to one side in order to avoid being slapped in the face by the Chenselor’s flapping robe.

“This is one complication we cannot afford,” said the Chenselor Kotapi severely. “If it becomes a precedent, it will bankrupt Pachinko City.” He paused in his stride and turned to regard Chief Prahari with iron sternness. “We cannot allow

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