The Song in the Stars by J.F. Narnett

Author:J.F. Narnett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J.F. Narnett
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three

Loph

Chapter Nineteen

★☆★

The first sign of their arrival into Loph came from the window, as a soft, blue-gold light broke through the glass. According to the time on Yara’s dying comm, it had been a few hours since they had fallen into a comfortable silence. Lumi hadn’t noticed it pass. Instead, she had become enveloped in the puzzle of the Songbird device, pushing the tiny pieces together without the help of her magnifying glass or her tweezers.

Usually for this kind of intricacy she would outsource the work to a professional, but she’d always enjoyed the moments when she could zone in on the smallest details to get a commission done. It had often led to a rise in her word of mouth, so she had to know something. Besides, she wasn’t hiring anyone to work on this thing.

The train rattled violently before a high-pitched squeal ground it to a halt. A static voice spoke over the speaker system, the language broken by more static against the base of her ear. She poked at the disc on her neck, but it did little to help.

‘It has trouble with interference. It’s on their side, not yours,’ Loukas explained. He turned to Yara. ‘Can I borrow your comm?’

As Yara passed it to him, Lumi picked up the Songbird - now in one piece - and gently pushed it into the corner of her case. She made sure it sank down into the velvet and stayed there before clicking it closed. Loukas unfolded the comm to its full size, but even then his large fingers were slow and precise. She wondered if they made these devices for someone his size, or if they were strictly a human thing.

‘What are you doing?’ Lumi asked.

‘I’m ordering a pickup of the Haim for an unmanned dock,’ Loukas said. ‘If things go bad here, I want a way for us to get out, because it’ll be a lot harder here.’

‘You say that like you’re expecting us to be shot as soon as we get on the ground,’ Yara pointed out.

‘Just being careful,’ Loukas said. He folded the comm closed and passed it back to her. ‘Let’s go.’

Spike woke up as they made their way down the length of the carriage. He shifted in Lumi’s pocket and made a soft clicking noise as he yawned wide, flashing pointed teeth. Lumi scratched his head and he trilled happily, not minding as she kept her hand over him, pushing him firmly into her pocket. He wouldn’t be a bother, but with how Yara had reacted to seeing him the first time, she didn’t want to risk causing a scene.

The cold sliced through her skin as they stepped off the train, though only in her face and hands, nowhere near as bad as it had been in Galadria. The port was closed off, an egg-shaped hub of smooth white material that reminded Lumi of porcelain. The stairs showed no joints or creases, and were slightly rounded at the edges. As she made her way down, she kept her hand on the rail and was surprised to find it was warm.

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.