Alisa groaned and dropped her face in her hands.
“I see you’re looking forward to confronting him,” Abelardus said.
“This isn’t my war. Why am I in this war? Why am I not out in space, teaching my daughter to fly while we deliver fun cargos that can’t threaten the system in any way?”
“What constitutes a
fun
cargo?”
“We hauled maple syrup once. I got to lick one of the bottles that cracked.”
“Your childhood wasn’t as exciting as I imagined.”
“You’ve spent time imagining it?” Alisa asked.
“Some. Don’t tell me you’re not flattered.”
Alisa pulled her hand away from the comm panel. She would take a look and
then
try communicating with Tomich, once she had something to report. An energy reading on a sensor panel wasn’t proof of much.
“We’re going in to take a look around,” she said, wishing the ship had an invisibility shield so she could scout without risking retribution.
“Can you tell if our people are there?” Yumi asked, looking to Abelardus. “Can you sense them?”
“Actually, I can’t sense anything now. Not even the staff.” Abelardus peered at the map. The volcano was still there, but the red blip had disappeared.
“Uh,” Alisa said.
“Maybe they realized they were trackable and hid their energy signatures,” Yumi said.
“Or maybe they flew that temple out into space where nobody can find them.” Alisa kept on her current course, assuming that couldn’t happen.
“I suppose that’s possible,” Abelardus said, “but we should have seen them leaving.”
“It’s
possible
?” Alisa gaped at him. “That thing is spaceworthy?”
“Supposedly. It’s been several generations since it left the Northern Mists, but it was originally crafted out in the Avalon Shipyards near the Kir Asteroid Belt. It flew to Arkadius.”
“It’s a castle. With a courtyard.”
“And with engines and thrusters. The forcefield can make it spaceworthy.”
Alisa groaned again, imagining the
Nomad
flying to the volcano and finding nothing. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe the temple and the staff would disappear for a decade or twenty, and she could pretend none of this had ever happened and go back to her mission of finding Jelena.
Unlikely,
Abelardus thought.
A clang came from the direction of the cabins, followed by Beck shouting, “Stay where you are. I’ll stun you again if you don’t stop making trouble.”
“Unlikely, indeed,” Alisa murmured.
Chapter 16
As the
Nomad
approached the volcano, Leonidas joined Yumi, Abelardus, and Alisa in NavCom. One of the suns had risen over the equatorial continent, but the thick haze outside made it feel like perpetual twilight. They were less than a mile from the volcano before the dark shape finally came into view. Plumes of smoke drifted from the caldera, and molten lava oozed down the naked slopes in many places. The jungle had died away all around the base of the volcano, evidence of past eruptions.
“Any trouble in sickbay?” Alisa asked Leonidas.
“Stanislav is unconscious again.”
“I’m starting to question the doctor’s abilities. Shouldn’t more of his patients wake up eventually?”
Leonidas grunted. “Beck quashed a breakout attempt involving two soldiers and the screws and legs from the fold-out desk in the cabin.”
“Admiral Hawk is getting an invoice from me before he leaves,” Alisa said.
“I’m still not sensing anything,” Abelardus said from the co-pilot’s seat, his gaze toward the view screen, his chin on his fist.
“The computer isn’t reading anything, either, other than the volcanic activity itself.” Yumi leaned away from the sensor panel. “I’ve studied active volcanoes before. If I weren’t worried about my mother and sisters, I would tell you interesting trivia.”
“Just tell me if it’s safe to fly over the top of it.” Alisa pointed to the caldera. She had already flown around the exterior and had not seen anything manmade on the slopes.
“We should be fine,” Yumi said. “You can fly with your shields up if you’re worried about the ship’s belly being braised. Mount Diablo is known for frequent eruptions, but it’s not due to blow for another three years.”
“Diablo? That means devil, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m definitely raising shields then,” Alisa said. “Belly braising, indeed.”
She banked and flew toward the smoking rim. She couldn’t imagine the temple being inside of the volcano, but there wasn’t much else to check.
Abelardus gasped and gripped the edge of the console.
“What?” Alisa asked. “Cramp?”
Leonidas snorted.
“It was as if we went through some kind of barrier,” Abelardus said. “I can feel the staff now. And people. But not nearly as many as there should be.” He frowned. “What’s going on?”
“I would be the last person who could tell you.” Alisa felt disappointed rather than exulted at his proclamation that the staff was nearby. It was selfish, but she had started to hope that they wouldn’t find the artifact or the temple, that there would be no trail of breadcrumbs to follow. Then the men wouldn’t be able to talk her into taking more time to help them with their quest.
Abelardus turned his frown in her direction, no doubt surfing through her thoughts again.
“You know,” he said, “it’s possible that the
chasadski
caught up with the children and they have your daughter and the prince with them.”
Alisa glared at him. “Don’t say such things. There’s no evidence to support that. Besides, Stanislav didn’t say anything about the children.”
“Right, and he’s a totally reliable source.”
“No worse than you.”
“
I’m
not a thief. Or a murderer. Or someone who either helps destroy a city full of innocent people or stands aside so it can be done in front of his eyes.”
“You don’t know what happened.” Alisa snapped her mouth shut. Why was she defending Stanislav? She had no idea if he had spoken a word of truth to her since they met.
“Damn,” Leonidas whispered.
Alisa turned her attention back to the view screen. They had flown over the lip of the caldera. Smoke bathed the ship, obscuring the view, but they could glimpse bright orange lava below, a lake of it. The Starseer temple floated just above the center of that lake, its castle-like courtyard, towers, and walls the same as Alisa remembered.
“A cozy new home,” she said, glancing at the tiny thermometer that displayed interior and exterior temperatures. “A
toasty
cozy new home.” The temple, parts of which were covered in ice blocks, couldn’t have been there long, or it would be looking far different now.
Abelardus, his face pinched with concentration, did not respond.
Alisa flew the
Nomad
along the inside of the caldera’s lip, prepared to take them back over the rim quickly if the temple fired at them. She well remembered the artillery weapons perched on some of those towers.
“They’ll know we’re here,” Leonidas said.
The smoke made it hard to discern details, but Alisa did not see the Starseer darts on the landing pad she had once used. Had the missing Starseers used them to flee the temple at some point?
“I’m sure they’ve known for a while,” Alisa said. “That’s why my fingers are twitchy and the shields are up.”
“I thought the shields had to do with belly braising.”
She looked over her shoulder. Had that been a joke?
He smiled quickly, but his gaze remained on the view screen.
“Braising can come from lava and also from blazer fire,” Alisa said.
“I sense twenty, twenty-five people,” Abelardus said slowly. “There should be over two hundred.”
“My sisters?” Yumi asked. “My mother?”
He shrugged. “I can’t pick them out.
Few
of the people down there are familiar, for that matter. My temple is full of strangers.”
“And a staff?” Alejandro asked from the corridor.
Was
everyone
up here now? Alisa hoped Beck was still guarding the soldiers.
“And a staff,” Abelardus agreed. “I think my people may have fled. They might have been
forced
to flee. Those who are down there must be
chasadski
.”
Or his people could be dead, Alisa thought, eyeing the smoking lava. What if those who hadn’t gone along with the
chasadski
’s wishes had been tossed from the towers?
“My people are powerful,” Abelardus said. “They wouldn’t have been easily killed, not even by someone with the staff. The ships are all gone. I bet they took off.”
“Should I try to get the Alliance down here?” Alisa asked, looking toward Abelardus and also Leonidas. This time, she wanted advice before she jumped in with both feet. “Maybe they’ll attack, and we can slip in and you fearsome men can try to get the staff.”
Abelardus rubbed his jaw.
“I doubt the Alliance is going to believe you if you call them and ask for help,” Leonidas said.
“I wasn’t going to ask them to believe me. I was thinking of taunting them and letting them know where we are, then hoping they’ll divert to attack the temple when they see it.”
“They probably know where we are already. They’ll be keeping tabs on their kidnapped people. It may only be their presence on the ship that’s kept them from swooping in and annihilating us.”
“Well, you two tell me what you want me to do,” Alisa said. “This is your mission. I’m just the pilot.”
“We fight,” Alejandro said from outside of NavCom.
Alisa could barely see him past Leonidas’s broad frame. “By
we,
you mean Leonidas, right?” she asked, almost growled.
It would be suicidal to send Leonidas in against someone as strong or stronger than Stanislav, someone with a powerful artifact in hand and however many henchmen at his disposal. Even if Abelardus helped Leonidas, she couldn’t imagine it being enough. And by his own words, Stanislav wasn’t capable of standing up to his brother now. If he ever had been.
“I’ll go along,” Alejandro said. “I can bring my kit with some drugs in it. If I can get close to the thief, I can inject him with a sedative.”
“But there’s more than
one
of them, right?” Alisa said. “It’s not just a matter of charging up and taking one person by surprise.”
“As I said, there are more than twenty people down there,” Abelardus said.
“I have Mica making explosives,” Alisa said.
“I don’t think it’ll be enough,” Abelardus said. “I’d hoped my people would be here and could help us… Perhaps if we find them…”
“But is there time to go looking for them?” Yumi asked. “Remember the increased energy reading? Since we flew over the rim of the volcano, I’m able to read it again. It hasn’t diminished at all.”
“It’s odd that they aren’t reacting to our presence,” Leonidas said. “Do they not fear us? Or is there a reason they’re not firing?”
“Stanislav is here,” Abelardus offered. “Maybe he’s a spy rather than a victim, and they don’t want to kill one of their own.”
“He didn’t fake his injuries,” Alejandro said. “I’m amazed he was conscious when you found him and that he was able to fight.”
“But maybe his injuries weren’t received in that clearing,” Alisa suggested. “Maybe the
chasadski
did battle with the other Starseers before attacking the city. It might have been hard for them to take over the temple. Maybe our buddy Tymoteusz was wounded too.”
“That could be,” Abelardus said. “If so, and if the
chasadski
are
all
weakened, it would be a good time to attack.”
“We won’t find out anything from up here,” Leonidas said. “I’ll get the rest of my weapons and prepare to go down and fight.” He met Alisa’s eyes. “I’ll take a few tricks along, but I’m sure I won’t be enough against them. I’ll trust you to do something surprising to distract them to give me an advantage.”
Alisa blinked a few times. His faith in her warmed her, but it put pressure on her, too, as if keeping him alive was her responsibility. Didn’t anyone remember that this wasn’t her war?
“I’ll be ready in two minutes. You can land or fly low so I can jump out.” Leonidas brushed past Alejandro, heading into the ship.
“Guess that means I’m getting ready too.” Abelardus grunted and stood. “If you’re taking votes, I’d prefer the approach that doesn’t require me jumping out of the ship.”
“Moonpuff,” Alisa said reflexively, her mind still dwelling on Leonidas’s request.
Abelardus blew her a kiss as he left. Alejandro walked down the corridor with him, leaving Alisa with Yumi.
Alisa felt like grabbing her braid and beating someone with it. She supposed that would be an unfair thing to do to Yumi.
“I’m not sure how everything got decided so quickly there,” Alisa said, “but relying upon me for a surprise sounds like a shitty plan.”
“You think so? I’ve found most of your plans to be surprising. If not startling. And appalling.”
Maybe beating Yumi with her hair wouldn’t be a bad idea after all.
Alisa growled and turned to the comm. “Mica? Get your explosives ready and meet me at the cargo hatch in ten minutes.”
“No please?” Mica replied.
“Sorry. Please get your explosives ready, and please make sure they’re amazing.”
“What do amazing explosives look like?”
“They make extremely big booms with extremely big smoke.”
“So long as the casings don’t have to look impressive, because I’m recycling some of Beck’s green bean cans.”
“I can already imagine our enemies cowering at the sight of them.”
Alisa switched from the internal comm to the external messaging system. She didn’t have much time, but she knew they would need help, no matter how surprising her plans and how amazing Mica’s green-bean-can explosives. She tried to get in touch with the
Storm Fury
, Tomich’s ship. If most of the native Starseers had abandoned their temple, and the only ones alive down there belonged to the
chasadski
, then she need not worry about innocent people being hurt if the Alliance swooped in to attack. She would just have to make sure to get Leonidas out of there when they appeared on her sensors.
Unfortunately, the call did not go through. The sys-net access was down too. Everything was down.