CHAPTER 36

“I want to see Jhudur, please.” Because somehow the Kirich knew something more than what he had revealed the night before.

“Who?” Her guard asked.

“The man that's being held prisoner. He returned from the city with us last night.”

This time her request did not inspire wary looks and soft placating smiles. The guard's face went cold.

“Even if Draven wouldn't have my neck for such a thing, I would never allow it. The Kirich are liars and thieves. You are lucky to have survived your first encounter.”

“I'm not asking to go alone. You will be with me, all three of you. Hell, bring friends if you want. I need to ask him some questions.”

“No. I will not negotiate on this.” Mia looked at the other men. “Neither will they. This is not happening, Mia. And the Prime will not be happy if you keep pressing this avenue.”

Yeah, well there were a lot of things the Prime wasn't going to like. She bit her tongue on a sharp retort and tried to breathe through her frustration. It wasn't working.

“Alright,” she conceded at last. She smiled a little to disarm them. “Maybe I can visit Phoebe instead, I haven't seen her since I fell ill.”

“Yes, that, at least, is a reasonable request,” he told her.

She smiled sweetly, because punching him probably wouldn't get her the results she was looking for.

They turned, heading in the opposite direction of the dorm. Mia studied the compound around her. The day was sunny, but wind whistled through the streets and alcoves. A small group of birds passed over and through the energy field as if it wasn't even there. Mia watched them, envying their freedom a little. Then again, she had seen some of the world's predators; a little confinement was not out of line.

The apartments were lined up neatly a little deeper into the compound area. They consisted of several buildings with four units in each. All identical white cubes, long windows and wooden doors the only thing that broke the surface.

Phoebe's unit was in the fourth cube. The guards led her through the main entrance and indicated a blank space in the wall about three quarters down.

When Mia stared at him blankly, he only chuckled and placed a hand on the smooth stone. A faint blue light lit up beneath his palm.

“Yes?” Phoebe's disembodied voice echoed down the hall.

The guard didn't answer right away, and Mia stumbled over herself a little realizing he expected her to announce herself.

“Oh..uh...hi, Phoebe, just wanted to know if you were up for a chat.”

“Mia?”

The wall separated, bisecting and disappearing seamlessly, forming a doorway.

“Oh, God!” Phoebe rushed out. Her mass of red hair had been pulled up away from her face, green eyes filmed over with tears. “We were so worried, Mia!” The woman crushed her into a hug.

Mia hugged her back, really hugged her, fighting tears of her own.

“Come in,” Phoebe pulled away from her, wiping at her face and snorting a bit at her own reaction.

Mia followed her through the doorway. And Phoebe took note of her entourage for the first time, frowning. “You can wait here in the hall, there's not enough room for all of you inside, and girls need time to talk on their own.” With that she palmed the wall next to the doorway and shut the wall in the guard's face before they could protest.

“Wow,” Mia muttered. “I wish I could get rid of them so effectively.”

“The trick is to be firm,” Phoebe ginned at her. “Or else they will smother you with their protective instincts.”

“A lesson learned through experience?”

To her surprise, Phoebe blushed a little.

“Well,” she encouraged after a moment. “What do you think?”

Mia studied the apartment. The tall windows that had been visible from outside lined one side of the large room, warm light pouring in through them and landing on comfortable looking chairs and throws that decorated the space. It seemed so much bigger, cozier than the empty units she had explored in her wanderings. The ceilings were at least nine feet and having the bedrooms and bathroom hidden behind their wall sections gave the space an intimate feeling. The kitchen was the only room in view, and the shelves and counters Mia had guessed at on her trips through held opaque jars and baskets with fruits. Was there a stove in the units? She didn't think that was something the Livarians would be able to hide, but they had surprised her with their designs before.

Colorful fabrics hung in varied places on the wall, like tapestries of old. She studied them, noting the way some of the threads shifted and shimmered in the light.

“It looks like it's from a magazine.”

Phoebe grinned. “It was our...wedding gift, for lack of a better term, from the Prime. He had a team furnish the unit as soon as word that I chose Huntak got out.”

Mia looked around the place with a new eye. The Livarians had good taste, that was for certain.

“I will miss home...I do miss home,” she announced unbidden. “It's just...I couldn't have left without giving Huntak a chance. I woke up one morning and realized that, even if there was a way to get back to Earth, I would have wanted to try.”

“I'm happy for you,” Mia told her. But the memory of the bodies, and the knowledge something was hunting the men had burrowed its way into her mind and she couldn't rid herself of the feeling of impending doom. And by the sounds of it, Phyn hadn't left the compound, which would mean that whatever it was was inside.

“You don't seem happy, Mia.” The change in Phoebe's usually perky voice made Mia look up and she realized she had been frowning, staring at the floor, trying to come up with impossible solutions.

“I am happy for you,” she insisted. “I'm so happy you found Huntak and it brings you joy. I want to keep it that way.”

“What do you mean?” Phoebe grew suddenly wary. Mia hated being the one to intrude on her newfound peace. Phoebe deserved long weeks of adjusting to her new relationship with no outside worries banging down her door, but such wasn't the case.

“How much can be heard through the walls?” Mia nodded to the section where the door would open, where she had left her guard.

“Nothing. The units are soundproof. It would be awkward having four couples in a building otherwise.”

Mia steadied herself with a large breath and then began a rundown of what had happened to her in the last few days. What had really happened, including her newfound fears.

“I don't know, Mia. I think the Kirich are probably the biggest worry. Yes, something might have come through the portals, but nothing like that can get in the compound.” she shook her head. “The shield is so advanced, I don't think anything can get through undetected.”

“The drone did,” Mia pointed out.

“Okay, but they've compensated for that now. And the drone can be explained. It has no DNA of its own, so when it mimicked the Galoo, the little squirrel things, the shield didn't recognize it. Any creature, large or small, has its own DNA. Anything not programmed to be allowed through the shield would set off an alarm immediately.”

Mia grunted. She wasn't very versed in this stuff.

“And then we have the possibility that it would enter unseen. The boarder is guarded, you know this. If something large enough to kill a Livarian did make it through the shield unharmed you would think someone would have seen it by now.”

“Yet somehow Jhudur managed to escape without notice.”

Phoebe shook her head.

“He was definitely noticed. It just took some time to figure out what caused the shield to fail.”

Mia sighed. “I get it. I know it sounds like a far-fetched idea, but I have to be sure. Would you want to take the chance? Any chance, at all, that I might be right?”

Phoebe frowned. “What do you want me to do? I cannot hack the light-tools, I've only just started learning that aspect of the system.”

“What? No. I just need information. There's something more to this, if I could just figure it out. I need to know where they're keeping Jhudur. I have a feeling he has the answer. I figured since you are helping with the security aspect of expanding the compound, you might have an idea.”

Phoebe gave the door-wall a wary expression. Mia's excitement picked up. She knew something, Mia was sure of it.

“Just a hint, Phoebe...and, if you can manage it, a distraction for the three stooges out there.”

“Mia, he's crazy. He tortured and kidnapped you. I don't think it's smart to trust him at all. And the Livarians would have access to him, so, in theory, they have any information he does, anything that you would be able to get from him, anyway. I just don't see why you would risk it.”

“The Livarians think he's crazy. They've taken that and refused to listen to anything he said. Despite how horrible it was, Jhudur went through a lot of effort to get us to that door. I'm also not so sure that he's as much of a danger as they think. Listen,” Mia faced her friend again, “I'm not going to trust him, I just want to ask him a few things. The Livarians are too biased to trust him.”

“You think? You don't understand, Mia. If I get caught, they'll shut this down. We won't work with their tech ever again, they would never trust me. Huntak will never trust me.”

“Then don't get caught, because if I'm right, their tech won't matter. And I know you care about them. Phoebe, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't certain.”

“I do care...but I think you do, too.” Phoebe sighed. “He's being kept in the fifth apartment block, unit A. I know because I heard Huntak talking about programming the door lock so the Livarians can enter but no one else can leave. All I can do for you is pretend to make a mistake programming the energy shield. I'm supposed to be working on getting the Galoo genetic code put in so that they do not harm themselves when they run into and out of the compound. A small mistake will have the field alarming the Livarians every time one of the critters passes through. I can have it ready for about an hour after the lunch meal.” She looked at Mia. “I hate looking incompetent.”

Mia hugged her. “Good enough. Thanks, Phoebe.”

“You'll need to be programmed into the entrance for Jhudur's apartment, as well. That, won't be easy to hide as a simple mistake.”

“You're a life saver. I'll do my best to get this sorted out.”

“I hope so, because I feel like I just ended my new life before it had a chance to begin."