Renaissance: A Novel of Azdhag Survival by Boykin Alma

Author:Boykin, Alma [Boykin, Alma]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: science fiction, human wave, military sci-fi
ISBN: 9781927967720
Published: 2016-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

After the meal, Dak-lee and Tartai returned to their rooms. They’d already agreed to meet at dawn the next morning to begin their investigation. As they parted company, Tartai flashed Dak-lee the forefoot sign for caution and had pointed his tail back toward Kalaki’s domain. Dak-lee replied with a quick affirmative. He’d already started wondering about his uncle’s management of Pokara, and the changes to the palace did nothing to allay his suspicions. The governor, as the King-Emperor’s proxy, should be magnificent but still warm, the wise and just Pack leader, head of all Lineages. He should lead through skill and wisdom, not brutal power. Instead, the reception room and halls suggested that the governor, and the King-Emperor he represented, ruled with steel talons.

Speaking of talons, and Dak-lee closed his eyes as he removed his robe, wondering if his uncle ever thought about how others saw him. He’d explained the half-gauntlets as protecting his cracked talons. But that’s not what the crowd had seen, and after Tartai reported what he’d heard from the crowd, Dak-lee wondered why Kalaki had not spared a thought for the impression he was giving to the gathered Azdhagi. It’s almost as if he’s close to the prey’s track, but not on it. And the dimmer the tracks and scent become, the faster and faster he runs in the wrong direction. Dak-lee turned out the light and fell asleep, wondering how best to proceed.

The next morning he and Tartai went to the Peacekeepers office and read over the accounts of the museum blast. Dak-lee focused on the witnesses’ accounts and recorded data, while Tartai read through the technical reports. He’d worked with explosives and had experience in construction, as it turned out, because of having to sort wood for structural uses. Tartai made notes and asked the supervising engineering officer a number of questions about the structure of the museum building and the work that hand been going on there.

Dak-lee rubbed one steel-tipped talon under his muzzle and stared out the window, tapping the floor with his tail tip. Most of the witness inside the museum recalled smelling a bad, “fusty” smell. A few of those outside had reported the same thing, especially close to the building. Now, Dak-lee well knew that they could be repeating what one person had said, or running the scent of the fire after the explosion in the wrong place in their accounts. Azdhag memory tended to be scent-based, and people recalled scents far better than anything else. But the smell fit in with the work orders for testing and refitting the building’s heating system. And the gas pipes ran directly over the places that suffered the most blast damage, and under where the fires had been.

And no one had claimed responsibility for the explosion. Dak-lee had asked Kalaki, and the older reptile admitted that the lack of a claim colored his own opinion, but he’d refused to say what that opinion was. “I do not wish to prejudice the investigation,” he’d explained.

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