The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj

Author:Mary Anne Mohanraj
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-61390-085-7
Publisher: Circlet Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-10-07T16:00:00+00:00

"Chieri?" Narita leaned forward, put her hand on Chieri's arm. Narita was warm, almost feverish. Chieri wanted to pull her close, drop kisses on that fevered brow. But the concern—no, the fear—in Narita's face steadied her. They had asked her a question, hadn't they? Where was Mikash, the boy?

"He didn't say a place, exactly." He had been making so little sense, and at first, she hadn't even been trying to listen. Chieri had focused on what her body was conveying, what she could read of his exhilaration, his anxiety. "He had driven the missile somewhere, on a test run? That was when he set it off, by mistake.”

Gaurav was nodding. “Yes, they tracked the path back to where the rocket launched, and found an abandoned truck there. That part of the story makes sense.”

Narita said, “I don’t see anything about a truck on the net.”

“They haven’t released that information to the public yet,” Gaurav said, impatiently. “Go on, Chieri. What else?”

She said, slowly, “I think he talked about tunnels, and maybe a door?" That hadn't been words, actually, more of a picture. Sometimes her empathy slid almost over into telepathy; Chieri would get flashes of images sometimes from the worshippers. That wasn't anything she cared to advertise, though—she had already told them too much, far more than the Council would approve of, if they knew. Let these three believe the boy had said the words. "Yes—a huge wood-and-metal door."

Narita bit her lip. "I think I know where that must be. The science complex has a shielded set of tunnels underneath it, almost a maze. And at the center of the labyrinth is one of the oldest buildings on campus. They brought it from Earth, rebuilt it here, piece by piece. Those doors are a thousand years old."

Gaurav was nodding. "The students call it Kali's Gate."

"Why?" Amara asked.

Narita answered, "Some long-gone artist shaped intricate patterns, depicting the goddess at war, out of forged iron. It's beautiful—you would like it." She said that last reluctantly, as if she didn't want to admit to even that much between them, that she would know what Amara would like. Chieri wondered how long Narita would fight the pull she could feel between the two of them. Maybe forever. People could be stubborn that way.

Gaurav frowned. "It's strong, and worse, it's going to be fucking impossible to get to it. It's a maze to get in there. A series of underground tunnels, with blast doors at various points, all controlled by a complex security system. A lot of people have access to the blast doors, since there are classrooms behind them, but Kali’s Gate guards the deepest labs."

Narita continued, "Normally, all the blast doors are slid open, and the students wander freely, right up to the Gate—that's how I've seen it. But in case of emergency, they all slam shut to protect the computer and science labs on the lower levels."

Gaurav said grimly, "I'm pretty sure tonight counts as an emergency; the blast doors, Kali's Gate, and the labs behind it will be locked down tight.

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