Page 50 of A World Enough

“Everyone knows the legend of the Map Keeper, Kack. Do you think you can get a better price for this information than your life?”

Again Kack said nothing.

“Drazani guards, go and kill everyone in the bar.”

“Yes,” they replied.

“Please, not my barmaid.”

But within seconds they heard gunfire.

Kack’s head fell to his chest. “I found something. Please let me live, and I’ll show you.”

Cardo let him go, and he went to a concealed safe on the wall. “This computer scans for signals continuously.”

“As I thought. Now give me the message.”

“The message simply said, I have her. I have the Map Keeper.”

“Where did it come from?” Cardo asked.

Kack’s hesitation made Cardo grab him again around the throat. “Where? Was killing your whole bar not enough?”

“Ziggy’s, it came from Ziggy’s Place.”

“The gaming moon?”

“Yes,” Kack managed through his struggle for breath.

Cardo smiled and patted him on the cheek. “Now, was that hard?”

He felt Kack’s body relax, and just when it did, he ripped out his throat. Cardo could have drained him of his blood, but he surely tasted foul.

So he left him to bleed out on the floor. Ziggy’s Place was two days away, without a portal. A day and a half if they pushed it.

Cardo would get that girl and her mutt protector.

The RR opened its doors, and a fresh wind hit them both. Brogan immediately felt better. She took a step in, and suddenly she was there, in a place so like home. Her stretch of beach was waiting for her.

She couldn’t wait to get down there and start to run.

“Camber, this is like magic, but none I’ve seen before.”

“Well, they do say that technology is like magic to those that have not experienced it before. That’s why the Abnobians can behave like gods to people who are at a less developed planetary advancement,” Camber said. “It’s not like having the power to change into a wolf, be a witch and cast spells, or be a shapeshifter or a fae. This is purely tech. Is this landscape what you had in mind?”

Brogan was moved, excited, and emotional. “Yes, it is. I feel like home right now, in my pack lands, in Ireland. I’ve been away from it for far too long.”

Camber touched her softly. “Go on, then.”

“I…” Brogan sounded apprehensive. This all must be overwhelming. “If I run, do I hit a wall?”

Camber laughed. “No. The room keeps up with you. It creates what you need in front of you and behind you. So just think of it as a big open space, not the RR. Look at me,” Camber said.

Brogan turned, and Camber took hold of the two lapels of her dressing gown. “Think of it as home. On you go.”

Being so close to Brogan made her want her so badly. Her reactions to Brogan were desperate, and these feelings were dangerous. Vorka had always said this would be a lonely life, because she couldn’t trust anyone enough to get close to them, but day by day, she trusted Brogan a little bit more.

“Would you come in with me? This is all very new,” Brogan said.