Quantum Tangle by Chris Reher

Author:Chris Reher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Is that an Aikhoran yast?” Khoe asked. “It’s so huge!”

“It is,” Seth said, touched by her excitement and even more amused by the way Caelyn was hiding his. Although she had studied the more common species of Trans-Targon found in his data bank, actually seeing them at such close range left her in awe.

The Delphian peered from under his hood at the lumbering beast being led down the narrow street, every bit as entertained as Khoe by the variety of people and species that converged in this Magran harbor town. Caelyn, too, had seen some of these only from a distance, if at all.

He stepped carefully around a pile of something left behind by the animal. “Why are we down this way,” he said after a glance at his mapper. “The air field is to the east.”

“Which is why were over here,” Seth said. “Smells like Air Command.”

“Oh? Air Command on Magra Torley? And how do they smell?”

“To Khoe, like someone tied to the base station cruising around back there over Magra Alaric. She’s been tracking some of their com signals since we left the tower.” He tapped his data sleeve. “She’s been able link through this.”

They stood aside as a congregation of locals surged past them, dressed in somber robes that hid all but their eyes, on their way to whatever required such procession. Seth watched them move through the alley and out of sight. “Whoever they have poking around here will be suspecting rebels under every one of those cloaks. Very convenient. For us, anyway.”

“They’re just civilians,” Caelyn pointed out.

“Armed like bandits, like everyone else is here. That sort of hardware will have our friends running in circles. Why do you think Torley is so popular among my supposed confederates?”

“I thought Air Command isn’t welcome on this continent,” Khoe said. She pointed at a towering metal structure from which small cable cars slid, soon disappearing beyond the rooftops into the direction of the shore. “Can we ride one of those? Those look like fun.”

Seth looked up, thinking that the framework for the gondolas looked even more rickety than the last time he had seen it. “Expect agents in plain clothes,” he said.

He led the way through a gate and into a cobbled courtyard walled off from the street. A portly Human sat on the ground before a grill upon which several shallow pans sizzled and steamed. From an open doorway behind him drifted the sound of a flute. The man kept time with the tongs he used to stir his concoctions.

“Kada!” He waved them closer when he finally noticed them.

“J’saa. Hello.” Seth smiled when they approached.

“That’s my second daughter playing like angels singing in the mists of Mount Avelar.” The man named J’saa closed his eyes while they listened to a few more plaintive notes. “Have you ever heard such sweetness?”

“Not in recent memory,” Seth said with a wink at Khoe. She was no doubt thinking of the long argument they fought to a draw aboard the Dutchman when she decided to study music.

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.