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“My sister is intrigued by the possibilities and says she can have one of the spaceborn she’s studying meet you enroute to Aletheia as she’s already on her way there,” Airini said. “I’ve met her a time or two. Her name’s Kyla and she’s an exploration navigator out of Vaia.”

“Ugh, Vaia,” Amanpreet said. “That place is like some kind of historical throwback to the worst of history. Is she a religious nut? Every Vaian I ever met was trying to convert me to their sect, and last time we went there the Whisper had to leave rapidly because they didn’t like my books.” Read the rest of this entry »

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“If everyone agrees, I’d suggest you take her to Indaturan now before she wakes up,” Matthias said. “You can pass the message to Sal to come back while you’re there. We’ll need to question her eventually but I want to find out more about her link to Kayleigh first. Talk to Kyle and Darya – see if they can help with the scrying.”

Adrian tilted his his head questioningly, then his mouth made an oh. “You’re thinking it might work both ways and if we try to peel Dialdra’s mind open we might hurt Kay? That’s actually very possible if she was using Kay as some sort of reference. I’m glad you thought of it. It didn’t even occur to me.” Read the rest of this entry »

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“What do you mean? Who is she, Lianne?” Adrian had gone pale at the girl’s words.

“You know what I mean,” Lianne replied sympathetically. “Or you wouldn’t have gone that colour. This woman wasn’t just pretending to love you. She isn’t Kay. I know Kay and that’s not her mind I’m feeling.”

“Are you sure?” Hannah had pushed her way through the gathering to stare at her. “I mean she’s been in a box…”

“I understand that but… for heaven’s sake, she’s your sister and she can’t have been in that box for more than a couple of years, Han! Look for yourself.” Read the rest of this entry »

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A/N: Unfortunately my beta reader isn’t very well at the moment so this installment is un-edited. As soon as she’s better I’ll replace it with the edited version.

“What’s our status?” Amanpreet asked when she woke from her nap a couple of hours later.

“We’re making good progress,” Kane said over the intercom. “We’re clear of the Transit and should be at a good point to drop back into normal space near Talis Station within the hour.”

“We’ll need to be quick to reassure Talis base that the Fish isn’t there to attack when we leave hyperspace,” Amanpreet said. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Well I guess that tells us who the traitor was.” Sonia shook her head. “What an actor. He didn’t leak a hint… and what he did to this girl.” She knelt down where Adrian and Tara were calming Ella. “We’ll still have to check her, you know.”

“Of course you will.” Ella’s face was still tear streaked but the distressed squeak was fading from her voice. “I understand. It could be a double bluff after all.”

“We’ll have to check everyone – even me and my family,” Alexandra said. “Robert’s flight could be a second layer of deception, though I doubt it.” Read the rest of this entry »

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In attempt to avoid more conflict, Alexandra had sent several members of her family to intercept Kayleigh and Garrett before they reached the gym. No one was naive enough to think they’d come peaceably, so everyone at the meeting was sitting in tense silence waiting for the inevitable sounds of combat. Robert was wringing his hands and chewing on his lip, obviously still unable to believe this was happening. Karen almost felt sorry for the twerp.

The silence stretched into long minutes before Alexandra gave a sharp gasp.

“They’ve fled from our ambush!” she exclaimed. “Somebody warned them.” Her eyes narrowed and she glanced around the table. “It seems there is another traitor in this room. No one is leaving until we find out who it is.” She tutted to herself. “And they won’t get far with my family tracking them. We’ll find their co-conspirator while we’re waiting.” Read the rest of this entry »

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“Storm says this one will come with us,” Niobe said. “The others will watch and see what happens because they don’t entirely trust what she’s telling them.”

“Who can blame them,” Amanpreet replied blandly. “I’d be distrustful in their position too.”

Niobe grinned at her. “I know what you mean. Storm does too, so she says she’s staying aboard the Fish, at least until we reach Talis.”

“Staying aboar-” Amanpreet hesitated. “Will she be okay here? Obviously they have supplies because of the pilots but…” Read the rest of this entry »

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Julie gave a half smile and tilted her head at Alexandra in a way that suggested she was enjoying herself. “I might have known that you’d realise, Alex. You were the only person outside my family who knew my secret.”

Alexandra gave a soft chuckle. “Your secret? You mean that trick you’d somehow learned. I know resonants sometimes come back but you aren’t resonant.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Interesting, Julie said. I wonder why Adrian’s revelation caused them to do that. Kayleigh could get away with it but not Garrett. A family head leaving a meeting without explaining to the prolocutor is a massive breech of protocol. Alex will not be pleased. She gave a slight smirk as Alexandra held up a hand to pause whatever Marian had been saying and frowned at Garrett’s empty seat. And it looks like she’s noticed.

“Robert,” Alexandra said sharply. “Where did your uncle go?” Read the rest of this entry »

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“Well, that’s one way to get inside,” Niobe said blandly as the bubble floated into the darkness of the Fish’s gullet. “A bit disconcerting maybe.”

“Yes,” Amanpreet agreed. “But I just wish we could see where we are going.”

“Give it a moment,” Niobe said. “It probably works at Mez typical light levels.”

It seemed that Niobe was right because Amanpreet’s eyes adapted to the gloom and she realised that a faint bioluminescent glow was coming from the walls of the Fish’s gullet. It wasn’t really enough to see by properly but things were visible as vaguely identifiable lumps. At least she wouldn’t bump into anything. Read the rest of this entry »