Sentinel - Cyndi Friberg Page 0,56

of his face with one hand. He paced the limited space behind Salvo, too anxious to sit still.

Salvo just smiled. They were in a large storage room to one side of the community market. The arena was within the boundaries of Elburu Obak, so Salvo asked Serpent for permission to set the trap. His agreement with the urbanite leader didn’t mean much if Salvo disregarded it the first time the conditions were tested.

Luckily, Serpent had been in a generous mood. Not only had he allowed them to access all the areas of the arena reserved for staff, but he offered six of his best warriors to scatter among the crowd and protect Natalie and Kara. Malik wanted to have some of his soldiers milling about as well, but the urbanites would draw less attention. After a long heated debate, Malik agreed to only two.

Salvo repositioned one of his camera-bots then refocused the image. He’d returned to Lake Walker Village and retrieved the portable surveillance equipment from Aunt Mirra’s house. He had other units, but this was by far the best, and ensuring that the mission went off without a hitch had never been more important. The primary image showed Natalie and Kara as they meandered through the market. Five secondary displays featured views of their surroundings. He knew most of Serpent’s warriors, so they were easy to spot. They were nearly as large as Malik’s soldiers, each unique, obviously mutants. Serpent’s followers routinely monitored the market, so no one would think twice about their presence. Malik’s soldiers were trying hard to be inconspicuous, but their muscular bodies and healthy pallor identified them as villagers so they turned heads wherever they went.

“Who is that?” Malik reached over Salvo’s shoulder and pointed to a tall, cloaked figure on one of the periphery displays.

Many of the urbanites were unusually large, and some hid their faces even while surrounded by other urbanites. Salvo data marked the figure so the drone would follow him and tightened the image in an attempt to see the male’s face. It was shadowed by the deep hood on his cloak, but his hands were an odd yellowish shade. That might also be explained by mutation, but tension gathered in Salvo’s belly.

“There’s another one.” Malik pointed toward a different display.

“This is it,” Salvo agreed. “Team leaders,” he said into the tiny transceiver nestled inside his ear. “Bring your teams to full alert. Look for large cloaked figures making their way toward the females.”

“Understood,” one of Malik’s soldiers responded.

“We’re on it,” the lead urbanite said.

“Tighten your perimeter, but don’t intervene until they make their move,” Malik ordered and both team leaders acknowledged.

Salvo’s heart thudded as he watched the cloaked Cretzians move ever closer to the females. The market was a crowded collection of tables and carts arranged in uneven rows. If either female was aware of the danger they didn’t allow it to show. They chatted happily, stopping to inspect wares as they moved along the vendor stands. They reached the end of one aisle and paused to admire the colorful fabric spread across the end stand before entering the next aisle. They were in the center of the market now. It was a more defensible position, but the Cretzians didn’t seem to care.

“Should I warn Kara?” Malik asked, uncharacteristically anxious.

Salvo shook his head. “The Cretzians might pick up on her heightened emotions. They could be empathic for all we know.”

“Damnation,” Malik muttered. “I feel like a new recruit. I haven’t felt nerves like these for decades.”

Without taking his gaze from the displays, Salvo said, “Your mate is in danger. It’s natural.”

“Then why aren’t your guts tied in knots?”

Salvo glanced at him with a good-natured scoff. “What makes you think they’re not?”

There were five Cretzians in all. Two approached from one end of the aisle, two from the other. The fifth hid between two carts not far from the female’s location.

Natalie stopped at a display table and Malik groaned. “They’re killing me. I want this over!”

Salvo did too, but he forced himself to scan the displays, to identify anything unexpected.

After thanking the vendor, Natalie motioned to a cart farther down. Kara nodded and they started walking again. Not walking, strolling. Malik wasn’t the only one being tortured by their leisurely pace.

The urbanite warriors appeared at each end of the aisle. They hurried toward the Cretzians, but stayed back far enough to avoid detection. Salvo didn’t see Malik’s soldiers, but they were doubtlessly nearby.

The fifth Cretzian stepped out from between the carts