Linnea Sinclair Wintert

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friend s identity, but it s my opinion you re jeopardizing safety for
privacy.
Tobias knows who our friend is.
Rand shot an appraising look at Tobias. And he doesn t have enough to keep
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him busy? He s going to be running that tracer in addition to everything else
he s doing now.
She s right, Mack, Janek said.
It s not totally up to me. Mack opened his hands in obvious frustration.
He d promised Gillie he wouldn t tell anyone, other than Tobias, of course.
A strange, and short, conversation that had been, when he told Tobias he d
found out Gillie was Raheiran. His second in command had seemed elated, then,
suddenly, had become very quiet. But Fitch Tobias often had strange moments.
Mack brushed the memory aside, turned to Rand. Our friend set this condition
of anonymity.
Then he, or she, is a fool. Begging the admiral s pardon, Rand said, but
she was smiling.
I ll take your wise words under advisement. He placed his palms on the
tabletop. Anything else?
A series of negative nods followed. Good. You all know your projects for the
next twenty-six hours. Keep in touch with me, with Tobias. He shoved himself
to his feet. May the Lady guide you and protect you.
Datapads snapped shut, chairs swiveled, boots thudded softly away on thick
carpeting. All except Doc Janek, who leaned back in his chair and regarded
Mack in much the same way he had in Mack s office weeks ago, when he d teased
about the breach in defenses.
Problem, Doc?
Janek shook his head. It s Gillaine Davr�, isn t it? Our, or should I
sayyour, friend.
Mack forced his expression to remain neutral. I can t answer that.
You just did. You didn t say no.
Doc
I was going to tell you something, but you ve been busy. He motioned to the
chair Mack had just vacated, indicated he should sit. Something odd happened
when she was in sick bay. I didn t pay much attention to it at the time. But
when I was going over the logs for the week, it stood out. Puzzled me. When
you said we had a Raheiran on station, it all fell into place.
Mack leaned his elbows on the chair s armrest. Tell me.
We had two critical cases come in just before Captain Davr� arrived. That
worker who fell down the lift shaft when the doors opened unexpectedly. Again.
And a girl, no more than fifteen, with a serious congenital heart problem.
They were in sick bay with Davr�.
He shrugged, followed the movements of the droids working on the sound
mirror for a moment. In a top-notch sick bay, both were solvable. But you
know I ve bitched about the state of my equipment for months. It should have
taken that worker over a week to recover. The girl, I thought all I could do
was make her comfortable. Hope to transfer her to a better facility
in-system.
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What does Gillie have to do with this?
The worker recovered two days later. The girl s scans show no defects at
all.
Mistakes. You said your equipment s faulty.
Not that faulty. And not good enough to fix those things.
Neither can Gillie, Mack said quietly. She doesn t have any mage powers.
Janek arched one eyebrow. Should I thank Rigo for the healings?
Mack remembered how he d found her at Rigo s healing service, worried over
the little boy with the flute. Izaak. The child just had a bad case of
bronchitis, she d told him. She d given him some herbal teas, a ward stone for
strength. She wasn t, she d insisted, a mage. And definitely wasn t a
sorceress.
He didn t want to believe Gillie would lie to him. She
wouldn t lie, but she would omit. Had omitted being Raheiran until he d
opened the case with his grandfather s crystal. Had omitted what she d known
about Rigo, working instead on her own. He closed his eyes for a moment, shook
his head.
Gillie, Gillie. You have no reason to lie to me.
He opened his eyes. He didn t want to ask the question, but knew he had to.
And damned that part of himself that gave him no choice. Tell me everything
you know about a little boy named Izaak Neal.
20
Gillie splayed her hand against the access panel and deactivated its lock.
Her heart pounded, but that was more from her mad run down the stairs than
from fear. She knew what she had to do. She knew she could do it. All she
needed was time.
Izaak was on top of the stalled lift, bruised but alive. His father, Jared,
was a more serious matter. Somehow he d tumbled from the flat roof of the lift
and wedged against the shaft wall. Gillie eased onto the narrow walkway on the
other side of the panel, crouched down in the darkness. Light from the open
door above filtered down weakly. She could see Izaak s outline. But only with
her Raheiran senses could she find Jared, his father. The lift blocked not
only the light but, fortunately, anyone s view from above.
Izaak? It s Gillie. Mister Toby s friend who gave you the flute. She
dropped part of her mental shields, took another scan of the child, as she was
closer now. He was terrified, but nothing his mother s arms couldn t fix.
G-G-Gillie? I lost my flute.
It s up there in the corridor. We won t worry about that now. I m going to
try to help your father, okay?
Okay.
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You stay there. Don t try to come down here. Understand?
Understand.
She pulled her belt from around her waist, held it in both hands. Softly
recited ancient words, drawing spellforms into being. The belt lengthened,
took on metallic form. She hooked one end on the metal railing edging the
walkway, lowered herself down.
Jared? With one hand she moved her fingers over him until she found his
shoulder, then his neck. His life essence was weak.
She opened her senses further. Massive internal bleeding, broken arm. Pain.
Intense pain. She adjusted her grip on her cable, inched down further.
The life stones in her pocket called to her, but he was almost beyond their
help.
G-Gillie? Is my father okay? Izaak s voice caught in a sob.
His mother s screams, and the angry shouts of stationers, echoed down the
shaft.
Simon. This is not an easy decision.Saving Jared meant she might risk being
seen, identified. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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