Chapter 23 #2
I met her blue eyes and gave a curt nod to let her know I’d hit the highlights.
“Reid is going to be all right, but it will take time, so we’ll have to return for him in a few weeks.
The Thunder Rock Queen is dead, and Corin has been named the official Caretaker of Ahoshaga.
He will fix this.” I had full confidence that he would.
There was no way my brave, clever mate would ever let anyone down, and he knew more about our home than anyone else; even his elders had recognized that.
I answered a few more questions and got the low-down about the situation here, but my eyes were searching for Corin.
He wasn’t by the ship or huddled with Zathar and Iave to talk to them.
No, a row of Naga stood in front of the entrance, clearly guarding the way, but there was no sign of my silvery-blue mate.
It sounded scary when Vera explained how the water and power had gone out first, and then Aks had gotten trapped in his apartment.
They had to break down the door to get the male out.
Then Artek had been locked out of the med bay and the control hub, and not even Zeidon had been able to open the doors.
That’s when Zathar had ordered everyone out, and the camp of tents had sprung into existence against the cliff wall.
“Corin will fix this,” I said again, but I was feeling worried when I still couldn’t see him.
Had he already gone in? Alone? I wrenched myself free from the safety of our little group and moved closer to the row of Naga warriors.
Zathar was at the front, Iave flanking him, and several more were lined up with their spears or knives at the ready.
Their watchful eyes were on the cave opening, watching for danger.
But they were also there to keep anyone from going in; that much was obvious.
“I have to go in,” I said to Zathar when I strode up to our leader and he moved to block my path. He shook his head, but I gave him my most determined look. “He needs me, Zathar. I won’t come to harm, but I have to be there for him.”
It was Iave who gave his friend a nudge with the tip of his tail, his large ax lowering in his hands.
He jerked his chin in the direction of the entrance, his dark gray eyes meeting mine, and then he moved aside.
Zathar hissed, but he did the same. “Corin is going to kill us,” he said, but then he grinned, as if he looked forward to it.
I didn’t give them a chance to change their minds, breaking into a run to pass them in a hurry.
The tunnels were dark. I should have expected that, but it still caught me by surprise.
There was no soft tinkling of water from the fountain down below, and my footsteps echoed loudly as I raced toward the one source of light I could see in the distance.
The door to the command hub sat open, and when I got closer, I could tell it had been wrenched in the frame—it had been opened by sheer force.
The light came from the many lit viewscreens inside; those still had power, apparently.
In front of them, Corin sat on one of the swivel chairs, his hands on the keys as his mercury eyes flicked through data after data on the screen.
“Careful,” a voice said softly, a pale hand shooting out to block my path further into the room.
I nearly screamed in surprise, managing to hold the sound back at the last moment.
Artek. It was only the Shaman, nothing to fear.
I couldn’t help but compare the opalescent glimmer of his white scales to the sickly pale strips I’d seen on the robot's corpse. For a second, I thought it was Vrash’s hand, reaching out to snatch me.
Artek was against the back wall, right next to the door, and he drew me to his side so I could watch Corin work.
“He’s gotten further than I did. The system turned on.
Don’t distract him.” Right as those words left the Shaman’s mouth, Triff beeped and bumped against Corin’s coils, doing exactly that.
Corin tilted his head down to glance at the cleaning bot with a nubbed eyebrow raised, then flicked his eyes unerringly my way and offered me a confident grin.
My stomach unclenched from the tight ball it had formed in my belly.
If he looked that confident, it was going to be all right.
It had to. What could a stupid disembodied head do anyway?
Slamming doors and locking people out could be the entire extent of its abilities.
Then he spoke, his voice issuing from the central computer inside the room, the one Corin was using.
“Ahoshaga is mine! You heathens cannot have it!” the voice growled.
“I control everything, and now you are going to die!” With a screech of metal, the warped door slammed shut, locking us in.
And vents hissed above my head as gas was pumped out of them.
Triff squealed loudly and spun away, careening through the room and then into a tiny bot-tunnel.
Oh, no, did Vrash have control of him too?