Nissa made a choking noise. “Ahh?—”
Justyn tugged her into his side, but she felt the tension in his body. “Thanks again, Tonald.”
“I’ll also note the strange story one of the caravanserai maids told me this morning, of clothes scattered outside one of the lake cottages.”
Nissa choked again, but this time laughter was trying to break through.
Justyn didn’t bother to hide his chuckle. “I hope the memory also notes that the woman in question was smoking hot and hard for a man to resist.”
“I’m old, son, not blind.”
Nissa’s mouth dropped open, but Justyn was already tugging her back out into the sunshine.
“What did you see in the paintings?” he asked.
She turned toward him. “A monster and a ship. You?”
“The same.”
Her heart started beating double time. “Just like Anderson Chan said. Justyn, the third picture looked like a planet. A gas giant, maybe. Although I’ve never seen a green one.”
“A gas giant? If the ship got pulled in, the pressure would have destroyed the ship. There’d be nothing left.”
That was true. “People escaped. Whatever happened to them, and I’m not ready to believe that the ship was attacked by a mysterious space monster, it happened near a green gas giant.Maybe in orbit. Maybe theNerodid end up destroyed, but the final painting showed a moon.”
“Shit.” His eyes widened. “If theNerocrashed on the moon, the wreckage could still be there!”
Excitement itched under her skin. “We need to find that gas giant.”
Suddenly the glow of red lights on her chest caught her eye. She looked down, frowning.
Justyn lunged and tackled her to the ground.
“What the?—?”
Laser fire hit the ground around them.Crap.
“Move!” He pushed her ahead of him and together they scrambled on hands and knees behind a nearby low stone fence.
The quiet street was empty. She peered around the fence, trying to pinpoint the shooter. “Can you see anything?”
“Nothing—”
More laser fire arced above them, leaving burn marks on the nearby cottage.
“Dammit.” She hadn’t worn her pistol. Stupid of her. She heard doors opening, frantic voices. “Stay inside!” She yelled as loud as she could. “Contact theSky Nomadfor help!”
Doors slammed again.
“Shit. We’re pinned down here.” Justyn’s steel gaze scanned the area behind them. “We need to move.”
There was only one path leading back to the caravanserai and the ships.
And behind them was the lake.
“No transports?” she asked.
“No. Everyone in Meni walks or rides cycles.”
