Hostile Legacy (The Afterwar Saga Book 2) by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

16

IN THE SHADOWS

“I have never sensed such affinity for Iskstar in any before,” Tolimar said, having brought us into a well-lit chamber. It was a whole lot more inviting than the stone beachside of the lake.

There were three divisions of Nodari. Those on the priest track, those who watched over the priests, and rank-and-file badass tribesmen with long rifles.

“What is Shala Tobek?” Olivia asked, accepting a glass of some sort of juice.

“All of this. The people, the cavern, the grotto,” Tandra said. “Are you not offended by my subterfuge on Paradise Station?”

“Does it help that I knew you weren’t who you represented?” Olivia asked.

“You knew?” Addy asked before Tandra could answer.

“Only that much,” Olivia said. “I didn’t know her role. I suppose I still do not.”

“Cards on the table,” I said, not appreciating the slow tap dance of diplomacy. “This has something to do with the Noctisid that showed up in Stoneville. Is that why we’re here? You need help, right?”

“Quinn,” Olivia said, irritated that I skipped ahead.

“Is that why you’ve come?” Tolimar asked.

I wasn’t sure why some questions were asked or answered by the priestess as opposed to Tandra. I thought Tandra reported to the priestess, but there wasn’t quite as much deference as I expected.

“You don’t know, do you?” Olivia said. “It was impressed upon you that we were coming. Faint images and feelings but nothing of certainty.”

Tolimar smiled like someone who was about to impart mystical wisdom. My skepticism was leaking through because I got a sharp look from Olivia who didn’t appreciate my cynicism.

“The ways of Iskstar are mystical and beyond our understanding. This humble vessel has interpreted your arrival with enough clarity to ask the priest’s guard to preview your visit,” Tolimar said.

I closed my eyes, searching for patience. She was babbling like a nutcase. “That’s quite a lot of clarity to get it down to the right ship at the right time on the right space station,” I said.

“The well-attuned share their experiences. By listening to all that is observed, we sometimes get lucky,” Tandra said. “It didn’t hurt that one of the younger acolytes envisioned the tail numbers on Bandit. We only had to be patient to wait for a flight plan from Grünholz with that designation.”

“Oh, and then with an internal scan, you figured out how to get us to bring a shipment down, so you could … I’m lost there, why the shipment for Carace?” I asked.

“It was impressed upon us to do so. We don’t know why,” Tolimar said, with directness she’d lacked before.

“And the whole walk through a dark cave with only Iskstar light was to prove we were on your side?” I asked.

“Are you?” Tolimar asked. “Are you on our side?”

“No,” Olivia said. I tried not to chuckle at the awkward silence that followed.

“I don’t understand. Have I offended you?” Tolimar asked. “Tell me how to make amends.”

“We side with Iskstar,” Olivia said.

“As do we.”

“Iskstar are not gods to be worshiped,” Olivia said. “The Iskstar struggle to thrive with you.

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