Lost and Sound by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

nodded and took her meal tray and her empty cup to the galley for recycling.
    With a happy smile, she went to her duffel and withdrew her wrist com. It snapped into place, and she flexed her hand, enjoying the feel of it against her wrist. It reminded her of armour.
    She activated it, checked in with Ohkhan dispatch to update her location, and then, she began to prepare a mission report for Vicorran.
    It took her longer than she thought to put in all the details, but when she sent it through the secure relay link, she felt relieved. Her daily reports from Webar were very short and not interesting at all.
    She rejoined Nearing and he was filing his own report.
    Yllin settled in and waited to return to her base camp.
     
    After he settled the shuttle on the surface, she paused in the open hatch and looked around. “There is something wrong.”
    She looked around and didn’t see anyone at the base.
    “Wouldn’t they all be in the tunnels?”
    “There should be someone cataloguing in that warehouse over there.”
    “No one is lost.”
    She shook her head, and on impulse, she sent out a seeking blast across the barren landscape.
    “Damn it. There is someone else here. Can you call for assistance?”
    “First, explain what we are dealing with.”
    “There is a ship twice the size of the shuttle, loaded with personnel and hidden under the sand.” She turned and read the underground city. “That is strange. There are a half dozen people underground but there are eight on the excavation team.”
    “Only six underground? Are they all together?”
    She nodded. “It looks like they have been locked in the library.”
    He scowled. “What do you think is going on?”
    “One way to find out.”
    She put her bag on the ground, put on her gun, lifted her shock sticks and slid them into a harness across her chest, settling them along her ribs.
    Nearing came up behind her, and he was wearing the same style of gear with a longer blade across his back. He cocked his head. “Shall we?”
    Yllin led the way into the underground city, and she kept her senses open and wary of any incursions into what she already considered her territory.
    “They are alive but they aren’t moving.”
    It wasn’t the best situation, but she led him down into the tunnels and kept her senses working to alert her to any danger. The archway that led into the library was wide open, but that is when she saw the map of wires along the floor, all leading to the large box in the centre of the room. That box hadn’t been there when she left.
    The crew was lined up against the walls wearing cuffs. Dr. Kliask saw her and he waved his bound hands. “Don’t come in! It is rigged to explode.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Where are Domi and Yavo?”
    Hlisa had tears in her eyes. “They did this. They are having an auction for the finds from the city. The ship landed last night and they gassed us and we woke up here.”
    Yllin looked to Nearing and he shrugged. “It is your call.”
    “Will you all be comfortable here if I try and keep the artifacts from leaving?”
    Dr. Kliask said, “Comfortable, no. But do it. We will be fine as long as we don’t try to leave. Don’t forget to come back for us.”
    She smiled tightly. “Help has already been called. Even if something happens to us, someone will come and get you out.”
    It pained her to leave them, but the options were slim if they were to keep the find out of the hands of private collectors.
    Nearing nodded, and she pressed a finger to her lips, beckoning him down the hall and into another corridor.
    “The ship is resting on the tunnels. We can use the blaster to cut a hole in the hull or several. I don’t know of many ships that can take off without pressurizing.”
    Nearing grinned. “I like the way you think. It is exceptionally devious.”
    “Only if it works. Right now it is just imagination.”
    “How well do you know these tunnels?”
    “I have deactivated many of the traps that were