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without us!
 He s done that already. Simon held up one hand when Shamon s face started
to go red.  And we re not leaving him. We re heading for Aora as fast as we can,
and we re going to try and get an idea of what  tis happening on that planet.
 How? No one really knows. And he ll get there before us.
 Aye, he will. Simon s face was grim.  But we can get there as soon as
possible. We have to be careful, Shamon. Heddam s right. A universal incident
could blow right up in our faces if we re caught getting involved in the fight.
Frustrated, furious, Shamon swung away then swung back. Hurt was in his eyes.
 I m his best friend. He could have told me. I would have gone with him without
hesitation.
Simon laid a comforting hand on his friend s shoulder.  Aye, you would have,
and  tis precisely why Heddam didn t mention it to you. You have Gabie now,  tis
more than just yourself to think about. Most of us have our own lasses, and those
who don t are young Torkra, Mikal... Heddam did what he thought was right. He
acted as a true friend.
Shamon didn t bother to hide the sheen in his eyes.  Bastard.
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 Aye, he is. Simon gave a small, strained smile.  And when he finally gets
back to us, you have my permission to beat the living daylights out of him.
Shamon shoved a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, trying to calm
himself. He paced over to the door and back again.  Now what?
 Now we inform the crew of what has happened, we set course for Aora, and I
see what I can find out. And you try to contact Elyse s ship.
Neither trader was surprised when there was no answer from the Predator. Nor
were they surprised when there was no sign of the spaceship on the radar.
Simon waited until Shamon had gone to wake up and inform the rest of the crew
of what had happened before he keyed in the personal code for Security and asked
for his wife.
Knowing Des, she was going to start yelling. But it was all he could think to do.
He wasn t going to leave his friend now, but he couldn t hope to catch up to them
in time either. He had no idea what Security knew, if anything.
He couldn t raise Des or Sabra. The Security communications officer informed
him they were on a mission somewhere and he didn t know when they would be
contactable, but he promised to send out a message and when one or the other
heard it, they d get back to Simon as soon as they could.
Thanking the officer, Simon cut communication and sat back in the chair.
Looking out at the space beyond the shield, he murmured,  Heddam, you fool.
You ll get yourself killed.
And it was exactly what he would have done in his place. And exactly what
Shamon would have done. What they all would have done.
Sometimes loyalty sucked when you were the one left sitting on the sidelines
while your friend hurtled full head into danger. He just hoped there d be something
left of his friend to pick up at the end. Meanwhile, he had to discuss things with the
crew, try to come up with some plans, and try to find out what they could about the
happenings on Aora.
It was time the crew knew what was really happening on Aora with Tasi. The
Daamens would keep it to themselves, Simon knew not one word would leave the
trade ship. But they had to know they faced uncertainties if they landed on Aora.
Hell, he needed to talk to Des or Sabra.
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~ * ~
In the control cabin of the Predator, Heddam read through the information that
Elyse had coming through from he had no idea where. The first bit was basic two
Guardians were still being hunted. What wasn t basic was the fact that unrest filled
the cities. The palace wasn t stable.
 Where did you get this from? he asked.
Shaque just looked at him before returning his attention to the book he was
reading.
Shaking his head, Heddam looked back at the screen. Nothing else came on and
he glanced again at Shaque.
The man was creepy. Cold, quiet, he hardly spoke a word. Elyse was just as bad.
He d never known two people who could spend hours just reading. The only [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]