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in her bronze ;* leather armor. With a flourish, she whipped out an iu sword
and dueled her opponent up and down the mi thrusting at the air until she
vanquished her invisible foe. she dropped to the ground, laughing and gasping
for inTI!
I should bring a real sword, she thought. It would make i game even better.
Then again, how would she explain why was walking around Dahl with a sword?
Better to bring Wn thing she could hide under her shirt, perhaps a blunt-edged
!.' cus in a sling. You couldn't fight a duel with it, but ((Mil were always
good for knocking down enemies while you , skulking around in the shadows.
She wondered why the ancient queens made these ijaaa Secret escape routes, in
case an enemy took the Estate? B warriors prowled around down here engaging in
w, intrigues. Or perhaps a queen made this passage so she ,
__ The Last Hawk 43
sneak into the bedroom of her concubine. Ixpar smiled. No wonder her imaginary
opponent had fought so hard. She was protecting her lover.
But won, Ixpar thought. I get to claim the prize.
The tunnel took her to a dead end that she already knew was a secret door.
Easing it open, she peered into the room beyond. Her prize lay fast asleep,
unsuspecting of the warrior queen sneaking into his boudoir, his gold chest
rising and falling in deep breaths.
Ixpar smirked, remembering how Kelric's guards had gaped when she walked out
of his room yesterday. She had enjoyed it immensely. Still, it was best not to
do it again. Hacha was probably trying to figure out how she managed it. She
doubted the captain would solve the puzzle, but she intended to take no
chances.
Leaving the door ajar, Ixpar slipped into the skyroom. She went over and sat
on the edge of the bed, contemplating Kelric's sleeping form. Faced with the
reaity of him, she had no idea how to proceed with her courtship. In fact, she
was so discreet about courting him, she suspected only she knew she was doing
it. But how could she make her intentions known with guards hulking around her
all the time? She couldn't pay suit to him with an audience.
Voices outside the door brought her jumping to her feet. She ran into the
tunnel, barely managing to close it up before the skyroom door scraped open.
With her ear pressed against the wall, she could just hear Dha's voice as she
talked to Kelric's guards.
Pah, Ixpar thought. If she didn't make her intentions known to Kelric soon, it
would be too late. Deha was also courting him and doing a much better job of
it.
4
Orb Starburst
Moing sun filled the skyroom as Kelric's nurse pushed ; the curtains. An
autumn breeze fluttered the boy's shirt u° rippled through the pants he wore
tucked into his a' boots. The gentle picture he made only added more jolt to
words.
"Exploded?" Kelric pushed up on his elbow. "What do ' mean, exploded?"
|
The fires after the crash," the boy said. "Like when W tanks on a windrider
catch fire."
"Starships don't run on petrol. And if the antimatter on if ship hadn't
properly deactivated, it would have taken half i' mountain range when it
blew." |
"The mountain is still there," the boy said. "But your ?.. did blow up.
Captain Hacha said so herself." I
The hell it did. What his nurse described was 'mgjI unless someone set the
blast after the crash. What was ? to? He pulled away the quilt and swung his
cast-covered off the bed.
His nurse tensed. "What are you doing?" ;
"Getting up" t
"You can't get up."
Kelric leaned on a chair and stood up on his l'gTgT feet. Then he grinned.
"Care to bet on that?" ;
"You have to stay in bed"
"Why? Every time I get up you people tell me to lie R Every time I talk about
my ship the subject gets changed one will tell me a thing. So I'm going to
find out for u
"You can't," the boy said. "Not with plaster on your R|
"Good point." Kelric sat down and banged his legs :M
_ The Last Hawk 45
the metal rim that bordered the bottom of the bed. Plaster sprayed out over
the floor."
"Stop it!" The nurse grabbed his leg in midswing. "You'l break the bones
again."
"Not bones." He tugged away his leg and unpeeled strips of plaster in powdery
chunks. "Just casts."
A grating noise came from the wall.
Kelric stopped. "What was that?"
His nurse turned to the wall. "I don't know."
The noise came again. Then a panel in the wall opened and Ixpar stepped into
the room.
"Hey," the boy said.
Ixpar pushed the panel closed, leaving a smooth blank wall. She spoke to the
nurse. "Get the guards. Now."
As the youth strode to the door, Kelric went back to work, peeling the last
chunk of plaster off his legs.
"Kelric, stop," Ixpar said.
"Not a chance." He stood up and tried an exploratory step. His legs held up,
so he limped across the room to a long mirror with Quis designs etched around
its edges. A man in blue leep clothes looked back at him, a thinner man than
he emembered.
When the increased flow of blood tingled in his legs, at first -t puzzled him.
Then he almost laughed in relief. His janomeds weren't dead; they were
responding to his weakned condition, trying to help him.
"What are you doing?" a voice said.
Kelric turned to see Captain Hacha in the door arch. "Standig," he said,
She used what was apparently meant as a placating voice. We don't want you to
hurt yourself. Why don't you get back tobed? I'll send for the doctor"
eiric limped toward the door. "I don't need a doctor."
1 rn sorry." She blocked his way. "You can't leave."
Why not?" He looked around as Rev, Llaach, and Balv epped into the room. "Why
are you keeping me locked up?" you need to recuperate," Hacha said.
No I don't"
The last semblance ofplacation disappeared from SS "Get back into bed."
Combat mode toggled, Bolt thought. .|
Kelric caught sight of Ixpar inching toward the door. R' ing with enhanced
speed, he grabbed her arm. When all ffl guards whipped out their guns, he
didn't have time to if* at the vehemence of their response. Bolt's reflex
libraries RT over and bypassed his brain, sending commands straight to !
hydraulics that controlled his body.
As the guards fired, he dove to one side, swinging Ixpar 'i?
both she and the boy stumbled back into the rii
Although he avoided most of the shots, one caught him in p shoulder. When the
tiny needles punctured his skin, sffl thought: Alert: injection of chemicals
into bloodstream. iin* sizing possible antidotes
,
As Kelric staggered Rev wrenched his arms behind f back while Llaach leveled a
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