New Star Rising by Tracy Cooper-Posey

Author:Tracy Cooper-Posey [Cooper-Posey, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction Space Opera
Publisher: Tracy Cooper-Posey
Published: 2017-07-13T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Cardenas (Findlay IV), Findlay System, Eriuman Republic.

The house AI woke Sang with a screamed alert that made Sang tumble out of their cot while still half-asleep, trying to instantly assess the alarm and fumbling for clothes.

Dressed, Sang ran for the library, from where the house AI stated the weapons alert had originated. There were no other weapons in the house—at least, not traditional weapons. There were any number of innocent-looking objects and devices Sang could use as lethal weapons, thanks to Bellona’s training. Until they had assessed the alarm for themselves, there was no need to signal their intent by picking up anything.

They were not the only ones woken. Family members were hurrying through the suddenly daylight-bright house, flinging on garments and suitable layers, shaking their heads, trying to orient themselves as they hurried to the library.

Sang met Iulia at the door and was startled to see her hair loose and brushing the back of her hips.

Then Sang looked into the library and shocked slithered through them.

Reynard Cardenas sat in the big green chair. He was fully dressed, in the clothes he had been wearing earlier in the evening, although his overshirt was rumpled. His face was devoid of any color. Sang wondered if more than shock was affecting him. He gripped the arms of the chair and did not move.

Bellona stood in front of him, a single-hand ghostmaker pointing at her father’s chest. Her face was as pale as Reynard’s.

“Tell them,” she ordered him. Her voice was strained.

Reynard licked his lips. “There is no need for this. Put the gun down. We can speak freely without it.”

Bellona laughed. The sound held no humor. “You don’t talk. You avoid. You deny. You pretend everything is just fine. But you do not talk. This is the only way.”

Iulia put her hand on Sang’s back and shoved. Sang tripped forward and regained their balance, to find the muzzle of the ghostmaker pointed at them. They held their hands up as the household gathered at the door gasped.

“What do you wish your father to speak about?” Sang asked, keeping their voice calm and reasonable.

“He knows.” Bellona swung the ghostmaker back to her father, who had been rising to his feet.

He sat down again. “She is hysterical,” he said flatly. “Babbling about thugs and cologne and freeships. It’s all nonsense.”

“I’m not hysterical,” Bellona said. “I’m calmer than I have been for a long while, because now it is very clear.”

“See?” Reynard said, spreading his hands. “She has ransacked my room, now she babbles inanities.”

Sang glanced at the wall next to the big chair. A section of the paneling had been slid aside. There were such pockets of storage all over the room, most of them innocent. A stranger looking at this cupboard would consider the contents just as benign. Fluted decanters, squat bottles of spirit. Sitting in front of all of them was a smaller bottle that with a quick glance would be mistaken for more spirits, perhaps a rare hand blend.

The seal had been removed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.