CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The beacon shut off, and the soft glow that had filled my sleeping room disappeared. I gave my eyes two minutes to adjust to the faint starlight coming in through the windows, then got to work.
I’d already pulled my last knockout pill from my left arm’s hidden wrist compartment and set it on the floor beside the bed. Now, settling the thumb and first two fingers of my right hand on the arm’s quick-release points, I squeezed and twisted. The artificial skin unwove from the genuine skin of the elbow and upper arm, the forearm came off, and I was free.
I sat up and pulled off my shoes, then picked up the knockout pill. My bedroom/prison had come equipped with a small collection of Icari books, and during the past three hours I’d studied the selection and picked out the one that seemed the best size for what I needed. I pulled it from its shelf, then padded silently in my stocking feet to the meal-prep area on the floor’s west side. Huginn had led me past it earlier on our way to the sleeping room, and I’d again visually picked out which of the drink tubes would be easiest to get to. Unscrewing the cap with only one hand was a bit tricky, but by wedging the tube in my left armpit I was able to get it open. I dropped the pill into the liquid, gave it a quick swish to make sure it dissolved, then gave the cap a single turn back on just to make sure nothing leaked out. I made my way back to the ramp and crouched down by the wall beside it, drink tube under my arm, book gripped in my right hand.
Bracing myself, I cleared my throat. “Guard!” I called, adjusting my volume to sound like my voice was coming from the far end of the floor. “Guard! You—Amme! I need the bathroom. Guard? Come on, I need the bathroom.”
I paused to listen. I didn’t know whether everyone on Nexus Six spoke English or it was just the fancy-hat leadership. But surely Rozhuhu had told the guard that the prisoner would need a bathroom break somewhere along the line and to be ready for such a summons. I filled my lungs to try again.
And paused as I heard the faint sound of approaching footsteps. One set of them, just as Huginn had recommended. I resettled my grip on the book, made sure the tube was secure. A darker shadow appeared in the opening, framed against the background of the ramp area…
Then he was there, stepping off the ramp and turning toward my sleeping room. He had a lightning gun slung over his shoulder, one of the hand weapons I’d seen on the Ammei by the portal room belted at his waist.
In his left hand he carried a small bucket.
I smiled tightly. So much for my bathroom break. Rozhuhu had accepted Huginn’s warning that the raid on the Alainn portal would require as many soldiers as First could spare, but he’d also apparently decided I was too dangerous for a single guard to unlock and escort to the bathroom by himself. The bucket, a time-honored option for prisoner relief, was his compromise.
The guard got four steps before I came up behind him and slammed the book as hard as I could against the side of his head.
The impact sent him staggering sideways toward the windows. But he managed to stay on his feet. I hit him again as he tried to turn around, the blow throwing him still further off-balance, then slammed a kick into the back of his knee. The combination finally brought him down, landing him heavily on his side. Quick as a cat he rolled onto his back, hand fumbling for his sidearm. I tossed the book at his face to distract him and dropped on top of him, landing with my knees pinioning his arms. A quick turn of my wrist got the cap off the tube, and as the guard opened his mouth to shout a warning I dumped in the contents.
He gagged and tried to spit it out. But it was too late. Enough of the drug had gotten in to hopefully do the job. I pressed my hand over his mouth and held on grimly as he bucked and twisted beneath me. Then, abruptly, his muscles loosened and he went still.
I stayed where I was another thirty seconds, listening for any sign that we’d been heard. But there were no sounds from below. Huffing out a relieved breath, I drew his sidearm from its holster and stuck it into the back of my belt. I rolled off him, unslung the lightning gun from his shoulder, and slid it as far as I could across the floor.
The key to the cuffs was in the upper left chest pocket of his tunic. Leaving him sleeping peacefully, I hurried back to the bed, unlocked the cuffs, and retrieved my arm. Reattaching it was tricky even in a brightly lit room, and it took me a couple of tries before I was able to line everything up. After that, it was just a matter of enduring the unpleasant tingle as the artificial nerves and motor systems reconnected with the flesh-and-blood ones.
Finally, it was done. I put my shoes back on and went back to the sleeping guard, dragging him around the floor to the other sleeping cubicle. I cuffed him to that bed frame, returned the key to his pocket—making his friends find bolt cutters or a torch in order to free him would just be petty—and returned to the ramp. Senses fully alert, I headed down.
The caution proved unnecessary. Huginn’s warnings regarding the upcoming raid had stripped the upper Tower of any security except for my lone guard.
The vine rope Huginn had made was still where I’d left it under my bed in our former sleeping room. A long and nervous climb later, I was once again on the ground outside the Tower.
And here was where it would start to get tricky. If Ixil was where I’d left him, or even if he’d just stayed in that general vicinity, I should be able to find him quickly enough for what I had in mind. But if I had to search the whole city for him—or worse, if he’d gone back to Alpha—my plan would die on the vine. Mentally crossing my fingers, I crossed the lawn, slipped into the subway tunnel, and headed outward.
I didn’t know if the upcoming mission had drawn the usual guards away from the portal ring, but I wasn’t in the mood to take chances. I eased past that access ramp as quietly as I could, then resumed my soft jog. One more stop, I decided, and I’d go back to the surface and continue my search.
I was approaching my chosen ramp when I spotted a small movement by the opening.
I came to a halt, staring into the darkness and wishing I still had those Ammei enhancement goggles. The movement came again, and this time I could see that it was something small. Probably a wandering tensh, standing right where I’d planned to come up. Possibly with an Ammei controller within view.
Or, if I was lucky and Ixil had anticipated my movements…
I eased toward the figure, aware of the weapon still tucked away at the small of my back, even more aware of the fact I didn’t have the foggiest idea how to use it. Even if I did, odds were it would be loud enough or bright enough to bring the whole city down on me. I closed to five meters of the ramp…
And felt the tension drain out of me as I heard a familiar squeak. “Pax?” I whispered.
There was a soft flurry, and a moment later Pax was nosing at my outstretched hand. “Good boy,” I murmured. “Take me to Ixil?”
I’d never figured out whether or not the outriders could understand English. But Pax clearly had his orders. He gave my hand one final sniff and scurried away, turning into the opening and heading up the ramp. I followed, pausing at the top to check for Ammei, then continued on across the debris field. I spotted a couple of tenshes rooting through the plants, but as usual they barely paused to give me a curious look before returning to their hunting.
Three minutes later, Pax squeezed through a wall crack in yet another of the run-down buildings. I found a broken but navigable window and went inside. “Ixil?” I called softly.
“About time,” Ixil said quietly from a darkened corner. “Are you all right?”
“For the moment,” I said. “But it’s about to hit the fan, and there’s no time to explain.”
“Understood,” Ixil said. “What do you need from me?”
“From you, nothing,” I said. “Two questions. First: You said Pix and Pax had an agreement with the tenshes. Do you think they could get a group of them to play follow-the-leader?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Good,” I said. “Second question…” I hesitated. “Are your outriders claustrophobic?”
* * *
I’d wondered earlier if the Ammei would continue their night guard on the portals. I still didn’t know the full answer to that question.
What I did know now was that they were definitely keeping watch on the portal at the four o’clock position, the one Selene had told me led to the Patth base. That only made sense, especially since Uvif had probably told them which one they would be traveling through.
Still, there were only four guards, a low enough number that Ixil and I should be able to take them out without too much trouble.
Unfortunately, a physical attack would almost certainly end up with one or more of the guards dead or wounded and the rest of the city on full alert. Hopefully, my plan would entail considerably less violence.
“There,” Ixil murmured, pointing to his left around the bush we were crouched behind.
I peered in that direction. I couldn’t see anything but debris and shadows. “You sure?”
“He’s there,” he assured me. “You sure you don’t want a plasmic?”
I shook my head. “The knife will do.”
He nodded, understanding or agreement, I didn’t know which. “Get ready.”
Just as I couldn’t see Pix, so I also didn’t hear his distant squeak. But the half dozen tenshes prowling around the base of the portal clearly did. All of them simultaneously turned or raised their heads toward the sound.
Their movements were relatively subtle, but the Ammei guard on that side was instantly on it. He muttered something, and the other three hurried quickly to his side from their respective duty posts. For a moment they all peered off into the darkness, lightning guns raised. Then, abruptly, the tenshes loped off in Pix’s direction.
The guards were ready. Another muttered order, and three of them headed off behind the animals, leaving the fourth to maintain his vigil.
I winced as they headed into the darkness. Right now the remaining watchman was standing directly between me and the portal. If he stayed put, I would have to circle around to the other side, which would cost time I was pretty sure I didn’t have.
Fortunately, whoever had given him his orders was too smart to leave that much of the portal unguarded. For a couple of seconds he watched his fellows head away, then started walking a quick sentry circle around the portal.
“Looks like you’ll have twenty seconds,” Ixil whispered into my ear.
I nodded. That was the estimate I’d also come up with. “Soon as I’m gone, get back to cover,” I whispered back, handing him the weapon I’d taken from the guard.
“Understood,” he said, tucking the weapon away in his belt and drawing his plasmic. Neither of us wanted any bloodshed here, but if the three Ammei unexpectedly turned back, he was prepared to give me cover fire. The fact that such an action would probably cost him his life was something that had also surely occurred to him. “Good luck.”
Pax was crouched on the ground beside me, dressed in the little vac suit I’d seen him wear on our first trip onto Alpha’s outer surface. I gathered him into my arms and got ready.
And as the guard’s path took him out of sight around the side of the portal, I rose from my crouch and charged.
I made it to the portal in five seconds flat. A quick check of the surface to locate the nearest hatch, a couple of seconds to find and trigger the release, and the hatch popped open to reveal the usual soft glow. I reached in and dropped Pax onto the deck, then leaned my head and torso through the opening and pulled myself the rest of the way in. Ignoring the brief vertigo as gravity shifted, I reached down and closed the hatch.
I exhaled loudly. “We’re in,” I murmured to Pax as I looked around. I’d wondered if the receiver module would be set up as a staging area the way Kinneman had done with Alpha. But the sphere was empty.
Mostly empty, anyway. Two blackout tents had been rigged, one of them three hatches over from where Pax and I had come through, the other at the top of the sphere. Entry point and surveillance, I tentatively identified them. “A good five or six seconds to spare, too,” I added. “Come on.”
I made my way around the curved deck to the interface, Pax trotting along beside me, and looked cautiously into the launch module. Again, the Patth hadn’t left anyone to watch over this end of their portal.
And really, why should they? With the other end of the pair locked down, there was no need to have anyone on duty here. Rolling over the interface, I crossed to the extension arm, with Pax again at my side. “Wait here,” I told him as I got a grip on the arm and was pulled gently upward. “Miracles do still happen.”
But apparently today wasn’t one of those days. I reached the luminescent gray section, hovered there a moment, then began an equally leisurely descent. “Yep, it’s still blocked,” I confirmed. “I guess it’s your turn.”
I reached the bottom and once again got Pax into my arms. “Let’s just hope Huginn’s grinning hint about their portal lock wasn’t just some general disinformation smarminess. Otherwise, this is going to be a really short trip.”
Pax squeaked encouragingly. I held him across my left arm, keeping hold of the extension arm with my right hand as we headed up. I watched our ascent closely, trying to judge the right time. Half a second to the gray area…
I swung Pax around, pressing his paws against the extension arm and pulling away my own hand. He reached the gray.
And vanished.
I took a deep breath as gravity reversed and I again floated downward. I hadn’t gotten through; Pax had. That strongly suggested that the Patth were using the same sort of balloon technique, and roughly the same size balloon, as the Icarus Group was. Great for keeping human-sized intruders out, but it left the center of the receiver module perfectly accessible to something the outrider’s size. That left Pax sitting right now in the center of their balloon.
The crucial question was whether the balloon was made of a material that his claws could poke through.
That was the true gamble here. Ixil hadn’t had a knife or anything else we could equip Pax with, and while he’d assured me that outrider claws were sharp enough and strong enough to handle anything the Patth were likely to use, I still couldn’t shake the mental image of Pax floating helplessly the middle of an impenetrable tomb until his suit’s air gave out. I reached the deck, grabbed the extension arm, and started up again.
Only to reach the top, float there a moment, then start back down.
Just relax, I ordered myself firmly as I started another trip. Ixil had warned that the balloon might take a minute to slowly deflate after Pax punctured it and might still be adequately in position to block me until my third or fourth attempt. I hit the deck and started back up, muttering a mix of curses and prayers. Once again I reached the luminescent gray—
And this time the world around me vanished.
A portal trip typically only took a couple of seconds. But these particular two seconds seemed to last forever. Just because the Patth receiver was open didn’t mean I was in the clear. If there were Iykams on duty in there, they could easily have realized what was going on, incinerated the balloon and Pax with a couple of blasts from their corona weapon, and were waiting for me to appear for a repeat performance. The universe reappeared—
I found myself in the center of a Gemini-sized receiver module, not a single Iykam or Patth in sight. At one side, off to my right, one of the hatches was open, letting in diffuse light and the sound of quiet conversations. Below and to my left, a slightly deflated balloon was drifting toward the deck.
I exhaled a sigh of relief. A premature one, certainly, given how much of the road still lay ahead. But at least now I wouldn’t have to live with the thought that I’d caused Pax’s death.
Because from this point on, if Pax died I probably would, too.
The balloon was still softly hissing its air out when I finally landed and crossed over to it. A couple of careful slashes from my knife, and Pax was free. I sheathed my knife, picked him up, and headed toward the hatch. I reached it, dropped onto my belly by the opening, and eased my eyes over the edge for a look.
I’d expected the sort of gadget-heavy research facility that I’d seen at the first Patth portal I’d visited a couple of years ago. To my mild surprise, spread out before me here was less like a science lab and more like the base camp of a wilderness expedition. Transport and exploration, not research, was apparently the plan of the day. Five Patth and a round dozen Iykams were seated at various tables, standing guard by the mouth of a tunnel, or working their way through stacks of equipment, all of them completely oblivious to my presence.
For a couple of seconds I mulled over the question of whether it would be safer to call to them from inside the receiver or to drop in on them in all my unarmed glory before getting their attention. The latter, I decided. Taking a deep breath, I again gathered Pax onto my left arm, grabbed the edge of the hatchway with my right hand, and swung my legs out and down to the deck half a meter below me. “Hello,” I called, displaying my open hands. “Don’t shoot—I’m unarmed.”
As surprises went, it was easily in the top ten entrances I’d ever been a part of. There were at least three startled squeals from the occupants, and three chairs went skittering across the floor as their former owners leaped up and spun around to face the horrible threat that had suddenly appeared in their midst. “I’m unarmed,” I repeated, raising my voice to be heard over the fresh ruckus. “I’m here to talk to Sub-Director Nask. Someone please tell him that Gregory Roarke is here and needs to see him right away. Tell him it’s urgent.”
I paused, looking at the ring of corona weapons that had suddenly sprouted around me. Then, giving everyone my friendliest smile, I lowered myself carefully to sit cross-legged underneath the portal hatchway. “While you do that,” I added helpfully, “I’ll just wait here.”
* * *
The last time I’d seen Sub-Director Nask he’d been cocooned in the Patth version of an intensive care pod, slowly recovering from the bloody hijacking that had nearly killed him. He was still far from looking his old self, but at least he was moving around mostly on his own.
Of course, should he happen to stumble, there were plenty of helping hands in his vicinity ready to break his fall.
Two of those hands belonged to Muninn, Nask’s other Expediter. He was bigger than Huginn, and a lot less talkative. But I’d seen him in action, and he was just as agile and deadly as the smaller man. The other twelve hands belonged to the six Iykams who had crowded into the interrogation room ahead of Nask’s arrival and spread out around the walls. They were even less talkative than Muninn, but the looks they were giving me were every bit of expressive as fancy oratory would have been. As far as they were concerned, I was a loathsome insect they really, really wanted to step on.
The fact that they were probably in charge of the portal security that I’d just breached was likely a good percentage of that animosity.
Nask himself seemed a few degrees friendlier than everyone else in the room. But that was probably just because he wanted to hear my whole story before he gave the order for those shoes to go splat.
At least he did let me give him the whole story. Or rather, as much of the story as I was willing and able to tell.
I finished, and for a moment he stared at me in silence. Finally, he stirred. “And you expect me to believe all that.” It was a statement, not a question.
“I expect you to believe me far enough to take some serious precautions,” I said. “Was there anything I said that didn’t make sense?”
“There was quite a bit that seemed to be absent,” he said pointedly. “How you and Colonel Ixil T’adee arrived at Nexus Six, for one. I assume the outrider you brought in is one of his?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. The first thing Nask had done when he arrived in the portal chamber was order Pax to be taken away and put into isolation. Given that the outriders were essentially living recorders, I couldn’t really blame him. “Sorry to have popped your balloon, by the way. But as I said, I needed to get to you before your next routine portal opening in”—I consulted my watch—“one hour and forty-two minutes, at which point the Ammei attack force comes charging in.”
“Yes,” Nask murmured, his face clouding over. “And all this to protect us and our portal. Yet you have stated in the past that you don’t like the Patthaaunutth in general and me in particular. Why take our part against a people you’ve barely met and know nothing about?”
“I know enough,” I said. “I know that they’re megalomaniacs who brag about bringing back old glory, which is never a good sign. I know they have Icari tech. I know they demanded our help instead of asking for it.”
“All of which you could reasonably suggest describe the Patthaaunutth,” Nask said calmly.
“I suppose,” I said. “I also know that they’re holding Selene against her will. And Huginn and Circe and Conciliator Fearth. Right now I need allies to get all of them back safely, and you’re the best I’ve got.”
“I sympathize with Selene’s situation,” Nask said. “As for the others, members of the Patthaaunutth Directorate know the risks their positions may subject them to. Expediters are even more aware of the dangers.”
I frowned. That didn’t sound like Nask at all. “Are you saying you’re not interested in rescuing them?”
“Not necessarily,” he said. “I merely state that there are other considerations.”
“Fine,” I said, clamping down hard on my impatience. The clock was ticking, and we didn’t have time for this ridiculous verbal sparring. “Let’s talk about Tirano, then. He is here, I assume?”
“He is,” Nask said. “But he’s in a safe location. Even if Conciliator Uvif has turned traitor, the Ammei will not get to him.”
“Are you sure?” I countered. “You haven’t seen those lightning guns in action. Besides, even if you keep him safe, they’ll still have Selene. They’ve already got Uvif on their side, which seems to be two thirds of the winning combination.”
Nask’s eyes seemed to flash as the mention of Uvif’s name. But his voice remained calm. “Selene would not accede to their demands,” he said. “Her people surely remember their time among the Ammei.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But memories aren’t much good when your life’s on the line. Especially when your stalling has a good chance of leaving her in their hands for a long time.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that if you let the Ammei charge in, even if you counter with force in the receiver module, all those lightning guns blazing around raises the possibility of the portal taking damage. If that happens, you’ll be permanently locked out of Nexus Six.”
“You have a pathway there.”
“Which you can’t get to.”
“Perhaps,” Nask said, his eyes intent on me. “That’s twice you’ve mentioned the power of the Ammei lightning guns. Yet you’ve not said where or when you saw them in action.”
I felt my lip twitch. I’d hoped to skip over Kinneman’s incursion fiasco. “Kinneman sent in some soldiers,” I said reluctantly. “The Ammei slaughtered them, one shot per, from a pretty good distance. I have no doubt they can do the same here. End of story.”
“Interesting,” Nask murmured. “And a Patthaaunutth force might expect to receive a similar reception?”
“If you wait for them to be ready, yes,” I said. “If you go now, you’ll hopefully take them by surprise. Huginn has as many of them as he can tied up with their attack plan, which should reduce the number of sentries. I trust you have weapons that are less obvious than those?” I gestured toward the line of corona weapons pointed at me.
“We have several,” Nask assured me. “Lethal and nonlethal both.”
“Let’s go with nonlethal,” I said. “I don’t know how it is with the Patth, but in the Commonwealth killing someone comes with a horrendous pile of paperwork.”
“It also leads to irreversible results,” Nask said.
“There’s that,” I said, wondering if he’d missed my attempt at humor or simply ignored it. “Either way, you should be able to get to the Tower before they’re aware of you.”
“The Tower that, according to your reasoning, is where the bulk of their forces will be found?”
“Well, yes, there’s that,” I conceded. “But lightning guns seem to be designed mostly for use in open spaces. Inside rooms and corridors, they may not be as useful.”
“They will certainly also have hand weapons.”
“They have some kind of sidearms, yes,” I again had to admit. “I haven’t seen them in action, though.”
“I have no doubt they’re as dangerous as the lightning guns,” Nask said. “I also note that your scenario would place the Patthaaunutth in the position of aggressors.”
I frowned. “Seriously? With your portal and your lives at stake, you’re worried about that?”
“The Patthaaunutth always prefer to hold the higher moral ground.”
“Since when?” I demanded. “You kidnapped Tera and me, your Talariac Drive has forced small shippers out of business all across the Spiral—” I broke off. “Wait a minute. Are you afraid of the Gold Ones?”
“The Builders,” Nask corrected stiffly. “Only the Ammei call them the Gold Ones.”
“I stand corrected,” I said, looking hard at him. “The question remains.”
Nask hesitated. “The reign of the Builders is the past,” he said, picking his words carefully. “The Patthaaunutth do not fear ghosts.”
“Sure,” I said. Nice statements, both of them. Unfortunately, neither was actually an answer to my question. “Well, you need to make a decision on that, and you need to make it fast. Kinneman and EarthGuard got their collective nose bloodied today, and they’re not going to be in a rush to try again.”
“Even with you and your colleagues in danger?”
“You vastly overestimate our value to him,” I said bitterly. “The only people at risk are Selene, Ixil, and me, and Kinneman doesn’t especially like any of us.”
“A curiously self-defeating point of view,” Nask said. “But that’s his affair. Your conclusion, then, is that their lives are solely in Patthaaunutth hands?”
“It is,” I said, feeling a familiar tightening in my stomach. There’d been something in his voice right then. “Let’s cut through the ground clutter. What exactly do you want?”
Behind Nask Muninn stirred, as if the question had been a little too blunt for his taste. But Nask merely favored me with a small smile. “You said earlier that the Ammei were building a full-range portal?”
“A partial one, anyway,” I said. “I assume it’s a full-range from the curvature of the sections they’ve got, though there’s nowhere enough room in there for a complete sphere. I also didn’t see any sign of a receiver module.”
“There’s no particular reason the receiver couldn’t be located elsewhere,” Nask said. “Regardless, if they’re building a portal, they must be working from the ancient plans.” He paused expectantly.
I sighed. “And you want me to grab them for you?”
“Yes,” Nask said. “I will take the plans in exchange for Selene’s life.”
“And mine?”
“You’ll be going into danger alongside the Iykams,” Nask pointed out. “They will protect you to the best of their ability, but I can make no deeper promises.”
“No, I suppose not,” I said, my eyes flicking across the silent Iykams. They still didn’t like me, but I’d never seen one disobey a direct Patth order. “All right, it’s a deal. One final question: Do you know what the Ammei are up to?”
“According to you, they’re building a portal.”
“Portals are a means to an end,” I said. “I’m asking if you know what the end is.”
“Why would I?”
“Because I suggested to the First of Three that I might have a full-range portal to offer him in place of the slapdash one they’re building.”
Nask’s reaction wasn’t very big. But it was definitely there. Muninn’s was even bigger. “I see,” I murmured. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Nask asked.
“For confirming that Selene’s assessment of Huginn’s reaction was correct.” I raised my eyebrows. “You’re not just worried about the Ammei. You’re genuinely afraid.”
“Sub-Director?” Muninn said, his expression gone dark.
“It’s all right, Muninn,” Nask said, his eyes steady on me. “Mr. Roarke knows nothing crucial. Certainly nothing he should disappear for.”
I worked some moisture into a suddenly dry mouth. “Besides which, you need me to get those portal plans?”
“There’s that.” Nask smiled faintly. “And truly, we’ve been informal colleagues through many trying events. I would not wish a hasty end to that association.”
“Neither would I,” I said. “Especially since the Patth usually make out pretty well at the other end of those events.” I looked at my watch. “And now we’re wasting time. If we’re going to get ahead of the Ammei, you need to start assembling your force right now.”
“Please,” Nask said in a self-satisfied tone. “The force is nearly ready. Its preparation began the moment you appeared in the portal chamber.”
“Ah,” I said. I should have realized that Nask would have a military option already in place. “What do you need from me?”
“If you can give us any idea where in the Tower the prisoners might be located, that would be helpful,” he said.
I smiled. “Oh, I think I can do a little better than that,” I said. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the dirt-stained map Selene had given me. “The last time I saw them was in the throne room on level nine,” I continued, catching a whiff of the almost-lavender dirt as I handed it to Nask across the table. “Or they might be in the portal room—level three, north end, across from the library. We might as well stop in there on our way up.”
I’d noted in the past that it took a lot to surprise or impress Nask. This time I’d managed both. “Excellent,” he said, glancing at the map and then handing it up to Muninn. “This will make the assault much easier.”
“Glad to hear it,” I said. “Then if Muninn will kindly show me to my combat suit, we’ll get this thing moving.”