Morgan's Choice (18 page)

Hanestran stiffened, bowed and marched to the
exit. No need for Ravindra to tell him what they’d lost. Some sort
of punishment was in order but he should be calmer for that. “Well,
Prasad? What are your initial thoughts?”

“
At first glance,
Srimana
, it looks as though she has been abducted. Which
would mean she was followed. However, perhaps she contrived to make
it look like she was abducted? Clearly she wanted to go down to the
planet. And I take it you did not give approval.”

“
No. But then,
Bunyada
is almost certain to know what she can do since
Jones disappeared. They would follow and wait for a
chance.”

“
Indeed,
Srimana
. Or she could wait for a chance to join him.”

A surge of jealousy swept through him.
Foolish. All the evidence indicated she cared not a jot for Jones.
“And we still have no report of where Jones is?”

“No. Mahanadi has been scoured, so has
Sayvu’s home planet, especially her father’s estate. We have no
leads and no ideas.”

“
But you still think
Bunyada
has him.”

“
Yes. And it would be my guess they would
also want
Suri
Selwood.”

Yes, a valuable resource for anybody.
“Find her, Prasad. However she disappeared, I want her back and I
want answers.” For the fight against the
Yogina
, first and foremost.

Prasad departed.

Deliberate defection to the enemy or an
abduction? She’d seemed so comfortable working with Hanestran on
the Yogin ship. True, their early relationship had been rocky but
she’d mellowed and last night… last night; she hadn’t been
pretending. She enjoyed it as much as he had.

“Is everything all right, Admiral? Anything I
can do?”

Fohrai stood beside him. He hadn’t noticed
the Governor’s approach. “No.” He licked his lips. “Let’s… let’s
proceed with the dinner.”

Chapter
Twenty

The nurse brought breakfast up to Morgan’s
room. She ate with relish, savoring the fruit and bread. The
night’s sleep had done her good and she felt much better. Better,
but not perfect. Her mind felt a bit like an unused attic, with
cobwebs and dust over everything. More clothes had been added to
the wardrobe; pants and jackets in gaudy colors and a number of
elaborate dresses. Morgan picked burgundy pants, a silver-grey
shirt and short boots. Pity about the pointed toes but you couldn’t
have everything.

She was sitting in the crowded sitting room
when the nurse opened the door to a discreet knock.

Jones came in, accompanied by a man she
didn’t know.

Tallish, yellow eyes, a dark green outfit
that looked a bit like a uniform, except for the lace at collar and
cuffs and the knee-high boots. The long hair with streaks of bright
green through it wouldn’t be regulation, either. He stared at her
as though she’d vanish if he stopped looking.

“Feeling better?” Jones said.

“Yes. Thank you.” She looked at his
companion.

“This is Sitivan Asbarthi, who rescued me
from Mahanadi.”

Rescue, not escape. He’d told her all about
his dramatic snatching from the University. Jones was in this right
up to his eyes.

The man bowed. “I am delighted to meet
you
Suri
. And I
apologize for the rough treatment you have received. It was not our
intent. I trust you will forgive us and join our bid to free
ourselves from oppression as
Sur
Jones has.”

Both men sat.

“Jones says you have some evidence?” Morgan
said.

“We have. Do you feel up to an
expedition?”

“I do. It will be nice to get some fresh
air.” And wasn’t that the truth?

“
I must ask one thing,
Suri
,” Asbarthi said. “Your… er… unusual appearance
attracts interest. Will you darken your skin before we set out? I’m
not expecting anything untoward, you understand. I just don’t want
to ask for attention.” He smiled at her, face open and
honest.

She might not quite believe him but what
the hell; she’d already decided to play along, if only to find out
what the game was. Besides, the precaution was understandable;
everyone here was as curious of her appearance as the crew
of
Vidhvansaka
had
been. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” He handed her a jar. “We must
take a picture for your ID card before we leave.”

When Morgan came back from the washroom, face
and hands suitably darkened, Jones was gone. Asbarthi inspected her
makeup job and had a guard take a picture, which the man took with
him when he left the room.

“He will make up an ID card. Meanwhile, if
you will come downstairs to meet the others?” Asbarthi opened the
door for her.

Well, that was a change. Different rules in
the Vesha world, it seemed. She stepped out into the corridor in
front of him.

The guard glanced at her and directed a bow
at Asbarthi.

Morgan scanned the passage as she walked.
Ornate ceiling, pale green carpet with a curling pattern in a
darker green, deep red walls hung with pictures, all with their own
little light on top of the frame. The ceiling soared into gloom but
an enhancement of the image revealed the same intricate artwork
that embellished her bedroom. No sensors, just a few security
cameras. This society certainly wasn’t big on technology.

The corridor led to what became a mezzanine
above a wide hall. A stairway curved down to the ground floor. A
chandelier cast fractured light that bounced off the walls, glanced
off golden statuettes and vases and picked out the lines of the
engravings in the tiled floor. Three faces looked up at her as she
descended. Curiosity, anticipation and veiled hostility. A mixed
bag, then.

She smiled politely as Asbarthi introduced
her to an older couple,
Hai Sur
Devagnam and
Hai Suri
Indira
Devagnam, the owners of the house. They were as over-dressed as
Jones had been yesterday. Tight pants tucked into high boots was
obviously the height of male fashion at the moment, but His
Lordship’s purple ensemble wasn’t entirely flattering. His wife
dripped with jewelry; earrings that banged around her shoulders, a
tiara affair woven into an elaborate mountain of hair piled on her
head and several strands of necklace.

“
We’re so delighted to have you here at
last,”
Hai
Suri
Indira trilled,
holding Morgan’s arm with talon-tipped fingers.

“I would like to add my deepest regret at
your rough treatment in traveling here. We certainly never intended
that you should come to harm,” her husband said.

The tall young woman in red pants and
jacket pushed forward, casting a meaningful glance at Asbarthi. He
took the hint. “And this is their daughter,
Hai Suri
Lakshmi Devagnam.”

“Nice to meet you,” Morgan said. Although she
wasn’t sure about that. You could always tell a bitch when you met
one. She’d noticed the other woman’s quickly stifled affront when
Asbarthi introduced her to Morgan, not the other way around. A
woman with a high opinion of herself. “Where’s Jones?”

“
Sur
Jones will not be joining us for this expedition.
He has already seen the site and did not care to attend,” Asbarthi
said.

Fine by her. She hadn’t liked him much
before. Now… she didn’t trust the man at all. He fitted right in
here, with the fancy clothes and the opulent wealth.

“I’m sure you’ll find the site interesting,”
Asbarthi said. “Lakshmi and I are looking forward to showing it to
you.”

“It will be nice to see a bit of a planet,”
Morgan said. That was absolutely honest. “I haven’t seen much but
the inside of a space ship for months. If you don’t count the quick
visit to Electra.”

Asbarthi escorted them out tall front
doors, opened for them by a servant wearing yellow and blue livery.
Outside, broad steps of blue and red stone led to a graveled
driveway that curved between hedges in both directions. Further
from the house, large old trees cast long shadows over neat lawns
and border plantings. A man in the same livery as the servant
waited beside a long, bronze skimmer.

“Lovely garden,” Morgan said as she descended
the steps.

“We employ ten gardeners,” Lakshmi said, her
feet crunching on the gravel as they approached the vehicle.
Elaborate golden earrings dangled to her shoulders, winking in the
sunlight as she moved.

“
It’s a large estate,” Asbarthi said. “What
you see here, within the walls, is the hall.
Hai Sur
Devagnam owns the surrounding farmsteads
and the township, too.”

“And I govern all of it on my father’s
behalf,” Lakshmi said.

The man opened the door for them and Morgan
entered an enclosed cabin fitted with benches facing each other.
She sat opposite Asbarthi and Lakshmi.

“The skimmer will take us to Professor
Unwyn’s base camp,” said Asbarthi as the car rose and pulled away.
“From there, we’ll need something a little tougher to take us to
the site.”

At least she’d get to see a little of the
countryside. The skimmer cruised gently around the drive and out of
gates set in high stone walls. The road passed between cultivated
fields, some carrying livestock, others filled with crops. In the
distance a plough worked a field, throwing up dust as it
went.

A village appeared suddenly, round a bend in
the road. A row of identical houses built close together, each with
its own small front garden behind a neat fence, lined both sides.
She craned her head, noting children playing, men and women in the
streets; ordinary manesa leading ordinary lives. The vehicle
slowed, cruising between shops. She glimpsed goods in the front
windows, colorful crates of produce under awnings outside, people
with shopping carts. How quaint. How old fashioned. Where she came
from, you ordered goods on your communicator. Or your kitchen
ordered them for you when you ran out of milk or whatever. And the
shopping carts here had wheels.

Two people in black uniforms sauntered along
side-by-side, fingers in their belts. The man and woman stopped and
stared at the skimmer as it slipped past them.

“Are they police?” Morgan asked.

“
Governor Murag’s enforcers.” Asbarthi’s
nostrils flickered as though he smelt something bad.

Morgan turned her head to see. He wasn’t the
only one who didn’t like them. The townspeople seemed to be
deliberately avoiding them, getting out of their way.

Outside the town the skimmer increased speed,
following a well-made main road. The forested slopes of the
foothills marched to their right, the mountains towering above the
treetops. Morgan slipped into the vehicle’s navigation system and
learned this was the main road to Krystor Central. That was worth
knowing.

After some time the skimmer turned right
along a little-used track that climbed up through pasture, then
thickening forest into the high country. The trees were left
behind, replaced by rugged rock and low, scrubby vegetation.
Mountains dominated the skyline, rising ever higher; stern,
impenetrable with a stark beauty of their own. Snow on the higher
slopes dazzled the eye. And would no doubt freeze the feet.

At last the vehicle slowed, stopped and
sank down onto a level space like a platform cleared in the lee of
a cliff. The mountains rose all around them, steep and bare. Morgan
climbed out onto rough dirt. A cold blast of grit-laden wind had
her fastening her coat. Far below, reddish-grey slopes merged into
the soft purple of the forest.

A man approached, snug in a thick,
dark-brown jacket. His eyes were bright blue, almost glowing
against his dark skin and he smiled when he saw her. He would have
scored top marks for sex appeal on any planet. A very, very
attractive man.
No, not as attractive as Ravindra. Shut up.

“Ah, Professor Unwyn,” Asbarthi said in
response to the bow. “I would like you to meet Morgan Selwood, the
woman I spoke of.”

He stared briefly at her eyes before he
bowed. “A pleasure,
Suri
. You and
your companion are indeed the stuff of legend. If you will all come
this way.” Producing a key tag from his pocket, Unwyn led the way
toward a flat-roofed building nestled against the rock
wall.

Lakshmi slipped her hand around Unwyn’s arm.
“I hope you have something warm to drink in there, Raj. I’m
perishing.”

“
It’s only been a few hours since
breakfast, Lakshmi,” Asbarthi said. “We should get on to the
dig.”

Morgan grinned. So the lovely Lakshmi wasn’t
averse to a bit of extra-class messing about. She could have a bit
of fun with this.

A wide door slid up and lights flickered on,
revealing a heavy-duty skyvan parked next to a neat pile of drums
and packing cases stacked against the exterior wall. Unwyn unlocked
the skyvan and climbed into the driver’s seat. Morgan darted
forward, beating Lakshmi to slip up beside him, leaving Asbarthi
and a pouting Lakshmi to take their places behind. Morgan turned to
smile at them, wondering what Asbarthi thought about his intended’s
behavior. He sat silent, a slight smile curving his lips. Maybe he
didn’t care.

The skyvan slid out of its bay, sending dust
swirling around the ledge as it rose into the air. No luxury
vehicle, this one. The fittings were strictly utilitarian, two
seats in the front and three behind with a large goods compartment
at the back, but at least the passenger cabin was
climate-controlled. Unwyn turned the vehicle away, off the ledge
and down into a long gorge. All around them the mountain range
climbed higher, bare reddish walls topped with snow that glittered
in the sun. Between them, deep chasms lay in darkness.