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Chapter 16
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“Think they’ll be happy to see us?” Ralion asked, looking over at Sheed as the transport settled down inside the landing site in Trophan. The walls rose around them, cutting off the early morning light as the ship descended. Returning from their mission to Cobalt, and with the Ahrelds safely ensconced at the Galar mansion, Ralion was eager to get back to the field, wishing he could forget the reasons they’d left.
“Worried Dain might have been serious?”
“I was thinking more about the guards, Sheed.”
“They’ll be relieved, if nothing else. Let’s go.”
The door hissed open while the two men gathered their packs, slinging them over their shoulder to carry. The Port entrance opened before them. They paid the landing fees, walking out into sunlight, growing as the sun rose and welcome.
“Let’s get a bite to eat at the inn there,” Sheed said. “If we’re going to walk in, I need something more than that snack we had for dinner last night.”
“Sure. I suppose it’ll be all right to make them wait for us.”
“We’ve got all day, Ralion. Carryn’s message said they’d wait until sunset.”
“And you think Dain will care?”
Sheed stopped at that. “Right. We’ll make it quick. They’ll be there.”
They entered the common room of Trophan’s only inn, found a table and were soon served. They sat and enjoyed the food, listening to the hum of conversation around them. Ralion soon noticed several people glancing their way. The looks weren’t friendly. He frowned at that for a moment, about to comment to Sheed when a man approached, coming from the long bar to their right. Ralion saw by his insignia that he was the local Constable.
“You’re strangers here,” the Constable said, eyeing them in obvious suspicion.
“Yes, we are,” Ralion answered, keeping his tone even and pleasant, but he was confused by the man’s behavior. “We’re on business; passing through.”
“Business here? What sort?”
“No, not here. We’re catching the next transport to Marciena, but we wanted to get some food.” He volunteered his forged identification card along with the transport passes and schedule. The Constable took them, looking everything over carefully.
“You’re from Thylin?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right. All this looks in order. See that you go on the next transport.”
“Is there a problem? We’ve been through Trophan before and—”
“Two men were murdered here yesterday, by strangers, much like yourselves. Has the whole town on edge. You’d do well to move on quickly.”
Ralion nodded, but sudden fear made it difficult to keep his voice even. “We’ll do that. Have you caught the man who did it?”
“There were several men and they apparently had a leader. Dark man, about your height but slighter in build with strange eyes I’m told, though I don’t know what that means. You see anyone like that since you’ve been here?”
Ralion swallowed, hardly able to keep his hands from visibly shaking. “No and hopefully we won’t. Bad business for you, sir. Our condolences to the families.”
“Can’t find any family. Can’t find out who they are either.” He frowned slightly, eyes narrowing at Ralion. “They looked a bit like the two of you, strong men, with the look of some training to them, and they were armed. What business did you say you’re in?”
“I didn’t say, but we deal in manufactured goods,” Ralion said. “I hope you catch the men who did it.”
“It’s not likely. Witnesses saw a midrange ship leaving the area, just after midday yesterday. No, who ever did these deaths got away, but they’ll not likely escape the System. Central Control will be waiting for that.”
“What kind of ship?” Ralion dared to ask, hoping the man wouldn’t think his interest a cause for suspicion.
“An X-class. Haven’t been able to trace the registry yet.”
“Well, hopefully they won’t escape Central Control. Good luck to you, sir.”
“Good day then. See that you’re on that transport.”
Ralion nodded agreeably, while Sheed sipped his drink, smiling in farewell. They sat silent for a moment, waiting for attention to leave them. Ralion spent the time trying to calm his racing heart.
“He’s still in the System,” Sheed said, pushing his plate away.
“Who? Maralt, or Dynan and Dain?”
“Maybe both.”
“We don’t know if the X-class midrange was the XR-30. It could just as easily be Maralt’s Zephron. No registry, same thing.”
“Zephrons aren’t usually classified in the X-group, or mistaken for one,” Sheed said.
“The only way to know for certain is to go to our set coordinates. If the Constable finds out, we’ll deal with him then.”
Sheed nodded tightly as he stood, dropped a few silver coins on the table and hoisted his pack. Ralion followed him, nodding pleasantly to the Constable as they moved by him for the door. They spent an excruciating amount of time pretending to window-shop. The Constable didn’t appear. Ralion didn’t doubt the man was watching them through the big open windows of the inn. Slowly they drifted from shop to shop, moving in the general direction that would take them back to Port. It was also the same direction that would lead them out of town.
At an opening between two buildings, far enough away from the inn that they couldn’t be seen, Ralion glanced casually around, and saw no one paying them any particular attention. He nodded, and Sheed led the way to the next street, pausing there to look out. They turned right, taking that road out of town, moving quickly into the wood.
They found a path recently beaten through the thick tangle, following the track. When they reached the clearing, they stopped. “There were a lot of men here,” Ralion said, leaning to examine the ground.
Sheed pulled in a sudden breath. “Take a look here.” He nodded down before him and Ralion saw a pool of drying blood. “There’s more over there by that log. Let’s get out to the coordinates.”
Ralion nodded, but he had little hope that the XR-30 would be there. His only other slim hope, more a fervent wish, was that the XR-30 never landed and none of this had anything to do with Dynan and Dain, or their guards.
After following the beaten and trampled path, they found the field. They found patches of blood just inside the wood line that stopped abruptly on open ground. Faintly in the bent grass, they saw the unmistakable imprint left by the ship’s ramp. The trail of blood led to it, then stopped.
“We’ve got to get a message to Carryn,” Sheed said.
“We’re going to need to hire a ship too. Let’s move.”
They made it back to the Port landing, trying to find both a ship and a way to communicate with Carryn, which required the use of a comterm. The Port Captain wasn’t inclined to help them with either.
“The Constable was here looking for you two and told me to see that you were on board your transport. It’s loading now, so you’d best be on your way.”
Ralion nodded, glancing at Sheed. He reached in his pocket. “Our plans have changed. No offense to you, but we really don’t have time...” He pulled out a dermal injector and stuck it against the Captain’s neck, “...to argue about it.”
Sheed helped catch the man as he collapsed, quickly checking his pulse after he eased him down to the floor just inside the doorway. While Sheed kept watch, Ralion crossed the room to the comterm and started entering a bypass code that Allie had given him. A moment later he had the access he needed.
“All right, message sent. Now for that ship. There’s a midrange in Bay three.”
“What happened to hiring one?” Sheed asked following Ralion out.
“The same thing that happened with Port. He’s going to wake up soon enough and we don’t want to be here when that happens.”
The midrange sat, engines warming in a small, cramped bay filled with crates. Unlike the XR-30, this ship was basically a rectangle with engines strapped to either side. Ralion and Sheed hurried on board, knowing there was just the pilot to contend with after checking the crew roster. The pilot, startled at their sudden appearance, gave them only a moment of difficulty.
“We need to go now,” Ralion said.
“I’m waiting for Port authorization,” the man said, backing into the pilot’s seat.
“Port’s a little preoccupied right now. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
“Look, I can’t leave without notification.”
“You have to make this hard,” Ralion said, then had the man out of the seat, sleeping peacefully. “Let’s go.”
“What are we going to do with him?”
“Next Port, we’ll drop him off. The XR-30 was last tracked heading for Trenmar.”
“They could have changed course since then. Landed and gone.”
“I know, but it’s all we have.” Ralion punched up the engines and they were soon on their way.
“Why would they go to Trenmar?” Sheed asked, watching the scanners for any pursuit. “It’s not on the route. Ralion, Trenmar is the Capitol City. They’d never go there.”
“Not unless they had to. I’m not saying that’s where they are, but in Trenmar, we might be able to access Central Control and find their trail from there.”
“If they left the System—”
“The Constable said they hadn’t. The XR-30 is hard to track, but this time Central Control is looking for them. I think they’re still here.”
“I hope you’re right. One or both of them are hurt. They’re alone and Maralt is here.”
Ralion looked at him, feeling an unspeakable dread fill his heart. Since his parents’ death, everything had gone wrong. He closed his eyes against sudden realization. “We never should have gone to Cobalt. Maralt knew we would. He knew we had to. That’s why they were murdered, Sheed, to get us away from Dynan and Dain. Maralt didn’t believe for an instant that we wouldn’t go. Now, he’s out here after them.”
