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Lydia missed whatever Adrian said next – she was too busy staring in shock at Kelly. Alexandra’s grandsons had reached her, and one of them checked her pulse – though she surely couldn’t have survived both impalement and being smashed into the wall, could she? He said something to his brother and they carefully removed the icicle and lowered her down from the wall in a way that suggested she was.

What bothered her most, she realised after a moment, wasn’t the casual violence – Adrian had been defending himself after all – but the fact that no-one else seemed bothered at all. Even the woman’s family had mostly remained in place – only one young man who Lydia suspected was Kelly’s son, accompanying her from the room. The rest of them were glaring at Adrian but rather than anger, Lydia sensed a peculiar mix of resentment and speculation from them. She took a breath and mentally reached out for Karen. Read the rest of this entry »

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A surprised whisper rippled around the table when Tara took the Laverne seat at the table with Marian, Carl and Adrian seated just behind her.

“Why are you giving the seat up to her?” Someone yelled from the end of the table, where Karen had said the satellite families sat. “She betrayed your family!”

Adrian stiffened and turned towards the speaker but Marian was on her feet before he could respond. Read the rest of this entry »

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Amanpreet opened her mouth to respond to Niobe’s revelation but instead sat there in silence as she tried to assimilate it.

“I told you it couldn’t be an hallucination, Am,” Mark said.

Amanpreet opened and closed her mouth a few times before she managed to gather herself enough to speak.

“Apparently not,” she said. “But why can I hear their songs when you and Kane can’t?” Read the rest of this entry »

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“I’m coming with you!” Marian was waiting for them outside the door. Her jaw was set and her mouth compressed into a determined line.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Marian,” Matthias said. “You’re not well yet.”

“You need me there,” she said.

“Is that a premonition, mum?” Adrian asked.

Marian nodded. “I didn’t catch all of it; it was fleeting. But I’m going to have to tell them what happened to me.” She hesitated. “And I think some of them may want to check that Matthias hasn’t had me brainwashed into changing my mind.” Read the rest of this entry »

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“I wish I could attend today,” Sarah said. “But I promised to start work on studying Talira’s mother.”

“It’s fine, Sal,” Matthias said. “Just keep an ear out in case we need you.”

“Of course.” She looked over at Darya. “Are you coming too? She wants to meet you.”

“Huh…” Darya looked like he wanted to disappear into his seat. Read the rest of this entry »

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Amanpreet stared at the approaching Fish for a long moment before slamming her hand on the emergency system and dropping them out of hyperspace, or trying to anyway. There was a soft whine and the Whisper stayed firmly in hyperspace.

“Shit! I can’t drop us out of hyperspace.” She banged it again. “Work, damn you!”

“It won’t,” Vanna said. The engineer sounded stressed and Amanpreet didn’t blame her. “The computer is detecting this region so it thinks we’re in normal space. There are safeties to stop dropping from normal space. I don’t know how this area exists but you could probably leave the dome without worrying.” Read the rest of this entry »

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The next morning Karen pushed Lydia into a chair in front of the dressing table in their room.

“Right. How do you want your hair for the meeting?” she asked.

Lydia scowled at her. “Does it matter? We’re there as backup, not to make a good impression.” Read the rest of this entry »

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“So what did you think of Indaturan?” Matthias asked as they compared notes on the meetings.

Lydia made a thoughtful sound. “You’re right, I like him and yes, I think he’s potentially dangerous. But right now he’s on our side, more or less. Kind of like his alran over there.” She cocked her head at Adrian, who chuckled.

“It’s a fair comment and neither I nor my mirian claim otherwise.” He sobered quite suddenly. “But he wanted us to give you a warning. He and Ystelyan think you’ve made a dangerous enemy.” Read the rest of this entry »

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The Whisper had been in hyperspace for only a few minutes when Mark’s voice came over the intercom. “Okay, I found the trail.”

“So soon?” Amanpreet couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ve never saw a more obvious trail in all my time as a tracker. It’s almost as if it’s leaving a trail deliberately. But I don’t like where the trail is leading us.” Read the rest of this entry »

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“No argument there,” Karen said. “Keeping the government panicking more than it already is needs to be one of our primary objectives.”

“Well said, Kaz,” Matthias said. “Or failing that, we need to keep their panic aimed in the right direction. Which makes me like Naria’s plan even more.” He smiled at the dragon girl. “You have a good head on your shoulders. Can I put you in charge of this?”

Naria gave a warm smile. “Your trust honours me.” Read the rest of this entry »