Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [53]
Jo-Jo made a throaty noise at the derogatory term for astro-surveyors. ‘Mineral scout,’ he corrected. ‘We get our hands dirty.’
The tension eased between them a little, and they were back in a place of understanding. Jo-Jo knew it could – would – change at any moment, but he let himself relax. Crux, they’d been through enough together, and Randall owed him. He didn’t exactly trust her, but he knew she wouldn’t forget what he’d done.
The three walked back to the galley and ate the last of some rehydrated butter beans. Then, by unspoken consensus, they took up seats at the back of one of the bigger offices that faced out onto the plains, to watch the sun go down.
‘For a merciless lump of rock and sand, it’s a shittin’ pretty sunset,’ Catchut proffered.
Jo-Jo and Randall stared at him. For Catchut, that was close to poetry.
‘Yeah. It also means we should be heading out,’ said Randall. She stood up and stretched, overly lean but still taut. Her hair had grown and had begun to curl around her shoulders. In the weeks that Jo-Jo had known her, he’d never once thought of her as a woman. He didn’t know what that meant. It just was.
‘Keep the home fires burning, Cat,’ said Randall.
‘Don’t think so, Capo. Less you want to trash the whole mountainside.’
She nodded. ‘Damn good place to breathe decent air. Damn terrible place for fires.’ She hooked a water bottle onto her belt and beckoned Jo-Jo. ‘Remember that.’
He crawled behind Randall until they reached the rocky scree they’d seen through the ’scope. From there, she split off from him and headed down, towards a modest villa that appeared only partly damaged by fire.
Jo-Jo continued upward in a straightish line, his sights set on the huge shadow of the Araldis studium. The gardens were so immense that he reached them a long while before the buildings.
Before the invasion, Randall said that they had been protected by a climate bubble. Since the Saqr landed, the bubble had been disengaged, and the once-lush gardens were now a series of dead tree trunks and dusty grottos. The water had evaporated from the recycled fountains, and the lawns had returned to their natural state: slippery screes of rock.
He threaded between the fountains, using them as cover to watch for Saqr. Their observations through the ’scope had told them that the creatures seemed to randomly move among the Latino ruins. Not organised patrols, Randall said. There was little enough to do but forage on a planet like this, once the first ready food source was gone. Which meant that any Saqr they encountered would be hungry.
They’d timed their foray to travel before the moons had risen, and it was hard to see any detail on the facade of the main building. There was a portico, he thought, judging by the columns, which meant inside stairs or lifts.
The last stretch of garden seemed to be open space, perhaps even a games pad or informal gathering area. The ’scope didn’t reveal any boulders or ditches, so he risked jogging toward the portico, making it to the first arch without incident.
The exertion had him breathing hard though, sweating copiously onto his fellalo’s insulation. He stopped to catch his breath, and then felt his way along the wall until he reached a set of narrow stairs. A servants’ entry, perhaps. He stepped onto them, and a dull light flared, sending him jumping back.
Sweat poured from him. He could feel it running down his arms and legs as the robe worked to redistribute it and cool his skin. If the Saqr saw the light, they’d be here soon. He turned and hurried back along the portico to the huge main doors. They were slightly ajar and he cursed himself for not trying them first.
He stepped inside and waited for his eyes to adjust. The biggest staircase he’d ever seen dominated the circular entrance hall, and grand carved doorways led away from it. He walked along them, trying to decipher the signs.
BIBLIOTECA. Randall had suggested he try the library ports to access the data banks. ‘There might be some life in them yet, if they’re not damaged. Most things here are solar powered,’ she’d