Threshold of Annihilation (The Firebird Chronicles #3) - T.A. White Page 0,33
best to steer me away from any information dealing with Kira and her former team."
Yukina raised an eyebrow. "And yet somehow you managed."
Baran sketched a mocking bow. "I have never been one to consider myself ordinary. The task took some doing, but the results speak for themselves."
Yukina suppressed her smile, unwilling to stroke the man's ego any further.
"You've found quite the monster, little storm." Yukina rose from her chair. "I hope she doesn't swallow you whole."
With those words as a farewell, Yukina strode through the field, the door opening without a touch from her.
The man beside her nodded farewell to Graydon. A hood rose from his synth armor, a small disturbance field shielding his features as he followed the Emperor's Face.
"What now?" Solal asked.
"We find Kira," Graydon said.
"That's not going to be easy. She could be anywhere in the universe."
Graydon's lips spread in a wicked smile. "Nothing fun ever is."
SIX
LANDING ON THE planet went smoothly.
It didn't take long for the passengers to disembark, Kira and Finn purposely lagging behind.
Jace paused to touch his fingers to the brim of his hat in a brief salute. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rounded his shoulders, his stride quick as the crowd swallowed him in seconds.
"Status update," Kira said, joining the slow-moving pedestrians as they made their way off the landing pad and into the city proper.
This wasn't Kira and Jin's first visit to Zara, the capital city of Jettie. They were prepared as they stepped out of the space port, diverting around the clumps of first-timers overcome by the view.
"Elena and Odin have left the Wanderer. If they kept to the timeline, they'll just be reaching the dropship," Jin whispered.
"Any problems?"
"Not yet."
One could only hope it stayed that way.
Kira took in the roofless colonnade, its columns supporting arches every third opening. Beyond those arches, visitors could glimpse the more modern architecture of the city proper.
That was breathtaking enough, but it wasn’t what caused visitors to stop and stare. That was the avenue the colonnade framed.
A flat road of water stretched into the distance, its color changing depending on the season and weather.
Today, the sky was bright and clear, small fluffy white clouds high in the atmosphere.
The water acted as a mirror, creating the illusion of a never-ending sky, the columns appearing to float upon clouds.
"Looks like the Haldeel spared no effort in welcoming their guests," Jin observed as Kira stepped onto the avenue.
Instead of her foot sinking into the deep water beneath her, she walked across it as if it were solid land.
Beneath her, countless flowers in every shade of red and pink floated in the still water. Brightly colored fish darted among the flowers.
The columns of the colonnade were also decorated in the same shades, ribbons and banners wound around them, threaded through with more flowers.
Water was a sacred concept to the Haldeel, whose home planet primarily consisted of oceans. They'd evolved in its depths, and they held that memory close even as they journeyed into the stars.
Zara's avenue wasn't unique. Nearly all planets in the Haldeel empire had something similar.
That didn't make it any less impressive.
Kira's pace didn't pause as she bypassed those who'd stopped to take in the beauty of their surroundings, Finn a silent shadow behind her.
She tailed Devon and the rest as they continued along the avenue, traveling deeper into the city. When they turned off the avenue, stepping through one of the arches and into the city, Kira did too.
Growing more modern the further they traveled from the avenue, the city sprawled around them. Water gardens and parks were abundant, smaller shops and homes crouching in their shadow.
The juxtaposition of nature versus man-made, new versus old, was an interesting one. Kira could have spent hours wandering the streets and not getting her fill of the unique surroundings.
Sadly for her, she was on a deadline.
She turned her feet toward the registration building, leaving the more interesting residential districts behind.
The gardens and water ponds became scarcer as the crowd thickened around her.
"So many people," Jin complained.
"The quorum is quite popular. Every major power attends, to say nothing of the smaller powers hoping for their piece of the action." Finn was never still, continuously studying their surroundings as if anticipating the possibility of an attack.
A tall, expansive building loomed in front of them, its grounds inundated with a crowd.
Kira hesitated on its edge, allowing Devon and the rest to disappear into its depths.
Finn shot her a sharp glance. "You're not going to follow them?"