bridge, eliminating anything that obviously wasn’t a comm unit. She was left with two possible areas. Both almost bare except for a panel, like the ones that opened the doors, so she deduced they were activated by pressing her palm to them.
She couldn’t decide between the two and in the end, she picked at random. She pressed her palm to the panel. For a moment nothing happened, and then the screen straight in front of her came to life. It took her a moment to realize what she was looking at. The view from the back of the ship. There wasn’t a lot to see, though. The light was dim, but she could just make out the entrance to the tunnel, then as she watched, Milo and Dylan came into sight, Milo holding his “torch” in front of them. They were of a similar height and both moved with an easy grace.
Dylan said something, but she didn’t have sound and so couldn’t pick it up. Whatever it was, Milo didn’t like it. He snarled and walked on, ignoring the other man. They disappeared into the tunnel and were gone, taking the light with them.
She swiped her hand over the screen, and it broke up into smaller screens. Some showed the view from outside, others the various parts of the ship, the galley, the sleeping quarters, the engine room, which was directly below the bridge.
Useful, but not the comm unit.
She turned to the second console, held her breath as she placed her palm on the panel. At first it seemed like nothing had happened. Then lines formed on the console. Two button shapes and some sort of dial. She ran her fingers over it. Nothing. She tapped one of the buttons and heard a faint continuous crackle.
Next, she pressed the dial. No change. She sat back and studied the shape, then moved her fingers in a circular motion. The crackling got louder, and her heart rate sped up. She turned some more, and it got fainter. She frowned. Then experimented with different movements. Swirling, stabbing, zigzagging. At one point she lost the static completely. After a few minutes of experimenting, she surmised that tapping the button moved between big areas of frequencies. The dial then narrowed it down. She tapped until she got a crackle, then rotated her finger slowly around the dial.
Finally, at last the crackle morphed into words.
“Yes, sir. We’re leaving now. We’ll maintain a perimeter but let them through if they approach. The shuttle is set to blow.”
“Good. Report in if there’s any change.”
She sat, staring at the console. The shuttle was set to blow? Could it be a different shuttle? Maybe. But she couldn’t take that chance.
How long had they been gone? Over an hour.
She needed to warn them.
Her gaze settled on the pile of grenades Milo had pinched from the weapons room. She shoved a couple into her pockets and then she was off and running.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“That is a dream also; only he has remained asleep, while you have awakened; and who knows which of you is the most fortunate?”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
“I think they’ve gone,” Dylan said.
They were standing in the cover of a small cluster of trees about half a mile from the shuttle. They’d been watching for an hour now, and as far as he could see, whoever had been guarding it was gone. In fact, he hadn’t seen anyone move the whole time. No work crews. No one coming or going from the Trakis Four, which loomed close to the shuttle. The lack of movement was unnatural. Milo didn’t like it. “But why?”
Dylan shrugged. “Maybe they got bored. Or changed their minds or… Who the hell knows? Let’s just get what we need and get out of here before they decide to come back.”
Milo thought for a moment, but the truth was, there was no more risk than if there had been a guard set. Less. There had always been the chance that Dylan’s diversion wouldn’t have worked. Or not totally. And he’d been prepared to take out any guards who were left. This was better. Though there could be someone left inside, but he’d deal with them if he had to. “We probably don’t need the diversion. Better not to risk it. You stay here.”
Dylan nodded, his gaze still on the shuttle.
Milo pulled his wand from his belt and cast the cloaking spell.
“Impressive,” Dylan said.
He didn’t answer, just headed across the open space to the shuttle. He saw