Zutobi nodded at his words. “Then she's in for an unhappy time.”
“Look, they're leaving.” One of the Garmman delegates pointed toward their Tecran escort.
Sure enough, the two at the back had broken away from the other three, dropped down out of sight, and then Dray felt the faint buzz against his skin that told him they'd both light-jumped away.
He turned at the sound of voices, saw Dimitara was following a comms officer out of the viewing area toward the comms station.
Most likely, the Tecran wanted to smooth things over with her.
But they were already at a significant disadvantage with the UC leadership team now.
They had shown themselves to be a nation divided.
Bane drifted up and then over the remaining three Levron. He stayed directly above them for a long beat, and then lazily rolled back to his place next to the Urna.
As the crowd watched him, Dray thought he could sense awe, rather than fear, this time around.
Chapter 5
A shaft of light woke her.
Lucy opened her eyes on a shiver.
She had spent a restless night, waking often, cold to her bones from the hard, icy floor and the sharp wind blowing through the door. Sometime around dawn she must have fallen into a deeper, exhausted sleep, because the Tecran sun had risen high enough to hit her in the face.
She closed her eyes and let warm orange light bloom behind her eyelids as she tried to absorb every bit of its meager heat.
The wind seemed to change, to find a newer, sharper cut, and she shivered again and stood.
She moved cautiously, stiff and achy from being curled up all night, and saw for the first time what was in the room she'd taken shelter in.
It looked like climbing gear, but higher tech than anything she'd seen on Earth. There were grapple hooks attached to what looked like crossbows hanging from hooks on the wall, along with loops of rope and strange gloves with small hooks on the palms and fingers.
She opened the door a little wider, and stepped out, cautiously pressing up against the high wall of the building as she eyed the narrow walkway and the sheer drop beyond it.
Now it was light, she could see for the first time that there was a small platform right near the storage room she'd hidden in that protruded out over the clifftop.
This must be where the Tecran suited up before climbing down the cliffs.
She shuddered, and brushed at the dust on the cloak she wore. She didn't do well with heights, although she had to admit the view was amazing.
The fog had completely dissipated and she could see everything. The sparkle off the water, the black rock of the cliffs, the green of the grass on the plateau and the astonishing, breathtaking buildings that grew out of the cliffs.
In what she guessed was the middle of the city, a massive statue rose up, set a little back from the cliff, with no buildings in front of it. It faced the sea, arms held out with palms cupped.
It stood head and shoulders higher than any of the buildings around it.
It represented a hawklike figure, hooded, and something about the positioning of its arms and hands made her think it was waiting for benediction as it gleamed silver in the morning light.
She'd seen something like it somewhere before, and then she remembered the small figure above the doors of the building she'd glimpsed last night. A tiny imitation of the real thing.
She stared at it in amazement for a long moment before the wind gusted a little harder and forced a cough from her.
She was still in her pajamas, and her feet, now she'd stepped out of the blanket she'd wrapped them in, were already freezing.
Before she went anywhere, she would have to find a solution to her footwear problem.
She pulled the door wider, letting in as much light as possible, and looked over what was inside the tiny space.
She found what looked like a soft shoe, and after a few minutes of searching, found its match.
She stepped back out to look at them properly, and decided even though they looked too big, she didn't have much choice but to wear them.
She sat down and pulled them on over her thin slippers and then yelped in fright when they tightened around her feet. After a moment of panic, she felt them loosen a little, so they fit her perfectly.
She stretched out both feet to look at them more carefully, and had to admit they were warm, but they looked strange, with tiny hooks all over them.
The Tecran must be mad if their idea of fun was hanging from a cliff with nothing but shoes and gloves with little hooks holding them up.
At least the soles were thick, and when she stood, she bounced a few times, enjoying the cushioning.
The wind shifted again, and she went still as she heard the murmur of voices.
The door behind her banged shut, and she winced as the voices cut off suddenly.
She dithered, torn between whether to hide in the tiny storeroom, knowing she'd be trapped if she went back in there, or stay where she was.
Suddenly, two Tecran stepped around the corner of the building, and came to a startled halt at the sight of her.
They didn't stick close to the wall as she had, and after a moment's hesitation, one of them, the man, began walking toward her right on the edge of the drop-off.
It seemed like he was coming at her fast.
Panic seized her, and she opened the door of her hidey-hole, leaned in, and grabbed one of the crossbow devices.
When she turned back, the Tecran was much closer, and his face was slack with astonishment, the feather-like protrusions around his face standing up like a surprised owl.
Her scarf had slipped down around her neck, the hood of her cloak was off her head, and she realized he could not mistake her for a fellow Tecran. Her hair, the thing about her that seemed to most fascinate the Tecran scientists she'd come to know at the facility, was dancing around her head in the breeze.
She held the crossbow tightly to her chest, the grapple dangling awkwardly from the front of it.
“Be calm, we won't hurt you.” He spoke slowly, as if he didn't expect her to understand him. His gaze kept moving from her face to her hair and back.
A woman came up behind him, her own expression wide-eyed with surprise, her beak-like mouth open. It occurred to Lucy that their very alien features no longer had much impact on her. It was all she'd seen for so long.
The woman blinked. “She's one of the ones they said . . .”
She trailed off, and the two exchanged a panicked look.
“What does 'I'm one of the ones' mean?” Lucy stared at them. They knew something about her?
They flinched in surprise when she spoke.
“You speak Tecran?” The woman's voice was soft with shock.
“I've been here for months.” Lucy lifted her shoulders.
Again, the two shared a look.
“Can you tell me how you seem to know something about me?” Lucy clutched the crossbow a little tighter as they both shuffled back a few steps.
“The explosion. Last night.” The woman ignored her, spoke to her companion as if she'd just realized something.
“Yes.” He drew the word out. “That was a military facility.” The man turned wary eyes back on Lucy. “This is not something I want to be mixed up in--”
The woman hesitated, then gave a nod.
They shuffled back a little more.
“Please, just tell me what you know.” Lucy took a step toward them, and it seemed to galvanize the man. He turned, took hold of the woman's shoulders, and turned her as well.