Gateways 07_ What Lay Beyond - Diane Carey [6]
Tasm will be rewarded with our highest honor. She will take her place in the birthing chamber and will be fed the royal gel. She will make a fine addition to our birthing world….
Kirk sat straight up, his heart pounding. Now he couldn’t hear anything. But somehow the words had formed in his mind.
His hands felt the slight curve on the floor at the end of the cell. It was made to fit his skull. The concave surface felt warm.
It was an information feed. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. Just as he knew the matriarchs used it to distribute their orders and information to Petraw throughout the galaxy.
Kirk hesitated for only a moment. Then he lay back down, placing his head in the curve. He breathed deeply, trying to relax. If this thing provided information, that’s exactly what he needed.
His fatigue helped. In spite of his surprise, his mind started to drift. Then he saw Luz. Her face had been transformed, too. Now she had mere dips for her eyes, with an abbreviated nose and a bump for a chin. She was fully Petraw.
Apparently Luz had already given her version of events. Kirk was disappointed; he wanted to know what had possessed her to steal the interstellar transporter from her own commander. He was certain now that Tasm had been surprised and appalled by Luz’s betrayal. Apparently that was the consensus. Luz is defective and must be put away from the Petraw. The defenders will put her into the deep.
Kirk could see Luz crying out, her gloved hands reaching up to something he couldn’t see. She was apparently protesting her innocence. But he couldn’t hear what she said.
Two of the larger Petraw took her by each arm, and Kirk couldn’t see her anymore.
He lay there for a few moments longer, but he got no other information. It seemed like a haze hung over his thoughts.
Kirk resisted, sitting up. They were going to kill Luz. If this was happening in real time, they were going to do it any moment. Not that he had any affection for Luz. Quite the contrary, it was because of her that he was trapped so far from home. But the Petraw defenders had made the first move against him by sealing him in that cell. Their enemy was his potential ally.
Tasm was clearly out of the picture, now that she was a favored member of the ruling clan. He would never trust her again.
Kirk slid forward to the edge of his cell. He had slept for a while, to judge from the cramp in his shoulder. Now where, in this huge complex, is Luz?
It would be easier to figure out where they were taking her. The deep… He was sitting at the edge of what was certainly a deadly plunge, but he wouldn’t call this the deep.
It had to be the giant fissure outside. They were going to throw Luz off the platform.
Kirk rapidly climbed down the cells. There was still a lot of movement over the latticework. After sleeping in the information feed, it made more sense. As if he had been listening to routine orders given throughout the night. He now knew there were thousands of workers in this one block who kept the factories and shipyards functioning. Other vast blocks of cells catered to the guards they called “defenders,” and the scouts in training.
Kirk hurried through the tunnels, slowing down only when he spotted a Petraw ahead. He had been careful to memorize the tunnels he had used, and was able to find his way back with only one wrong turn. After pushing through the first barrier, he knelt down to check on the cell where he had been sealed in. It was difficult to see that the seal had been broken unless you got close. So they might not know yet that he had gotten away.
Feeling his way along the wall, he went toward the outer barrier. It opened for him more easily this time, and he was outside again. The orange light was bright.
Kirk leaned over the edge. The beige polymer sort of dripped over the edge,