Page 79 of King of Serpents

“It is risky,” Jathella pointed out, and he snapped his gavo in agreement.

“My mother’s entire life was devoted to bringing a change—this alone will always carry considerable risk. Regardless, how is it any riskier than remaining here?”

“But the queen—”

“He is right, Jathella,” Zathexa interrupted with another weak laugh. “You are eager as ever to protect me, but he is correct. It seems that this is the only route forward.”

“Perhaps we can rally the hunters in the colony. If they can return to the upper caverns and wait for our sign, it may also help us.”

“The Algatha has done them no favors, and many likely harbor deep resentment in their hearts,” Zathexa murmured doubtfully. “They are more likely to burn the Aglatha shinara down than save it.”

“So, they may need some creative re-direction,” Alex countered wryly, drawing a ragged laugh of surprise from the queen. “Believe it or not, justified anger doesn’t necessarily mean that those who have been wronged want to literally destroy everything. There are many non-gratas who harbor deep resentment toward Earth, but most would never wish harm to our homeworld or our extended families still residing there. Likewise, there may be those within the colony who want to be part of the change that the Aglatha needs so that young males will never suffer the pain they suffered.”

“Perhaps so,” Zathexa murmured thoughtfully. “Very well. You have my permission and support to address them with this request—as if you required it,” she added with surprising humor. “Now go and do what needs to be done. Jathella, take Kitanara with you and tell the guards stationed near the comm to see to a disturbance outside my nest. You can tell them that I heard something suspicious.”

“Shall I go to the balcony and be obnoxiously ‘helpful’ for the guards in pinpointing the source of the odd sounds we heard,” Elder Goyu offered gleefully. “My Waena and I are too old for adventuring among the Uralial, but I can be obnoxiously doddering and hopeless. It would be exceptionally amusing.”

“Go on,” Zathexa laughed. “All of you, go to it. We must begin now. We have limited time.”

The queen’s rapidly declining health was the part that was being left unsaid. If she passed within the palace without securing the passage of royal lineage—and Therxian was captured without any of the rapidly collapsing and overlooked legal protection traditionally afforded to males—the future of the shinara would be left to the will of the council, and the influence of those who supported the measures of cruelty that had increased within the shinara over the last several generations since abandoning the elder palace.

“After we contact the colony, I will start investigating a way into the Uralial waterways,” Therxian added as he turned and extended a hand toward Alex. “We think we know their access point into the palace, but from there it is a mystery. There must be some clue within the elder palace. But we must start now.”

Chapter 54

Therxian’s eyes slid over the corridor, his gavo lifting warily as he curled one wing around his mate who clung close to his shadow. Jathella broke off from their little group, leaving Kitanara to take point at their side, her velkat raised menacingly, as Jathella moved ahead to speak to the two guards stationed a short distance away. He went completely still as he studied them, weighing the situation as Jathella made her approach.

Would they take the bait? It did not appear to be a certain thing. He had seen his share of lazy and mindlessly obedient guards over the revolutions, and many since coming to the shinara as well, but it appeared that they would not be so fortunate with this pair. The females possessed powerful frames, their weight balanced alertly on their coiled tails, and they were highly attentive. The moment Jathella entered the corridor, their eyes followed her, studying her as if cataloging every detail of her mannerisms as they waited motionlessly for their orders. If Jathella betrayed herself, they were unlikely to miss it. He had a feeling that everything depended on the captain’s ability to give a convincing performance.

Fortunately, Jathella’s bearing showed no hesitation as she struck toward them purposefully, her posture rigid with what appeared to be genuine urgency. Both guards straightened at her approach, and he watched as they bent their heads deferentially. The captain’s face was tense as she leaned forward and quietly relayed her orders. Therxian did not hear what she said, but the guards immediately straightened in unison with matching expressions of concern as they snapped their gavo and quickly departed down the opposite corridor that led to the exterior passage. She rested on her tail, her velkat extended at her side, the weight of the shaft balanced where it rested on the ground in an alert position. Her head turned slowly in their direction, and she hummed a long, sharp note.

The way was clear.

He exchanged a glance with Kitanara, and they moved forward quickly in synchronization, keeping Alex shielded between them. Although his wing covered much of his mate, they were taking no chances as they silently slipped past Jathella, exchanging the smallest of nods with the female before entering the chamber.

The chamber was small, smaller than the average nest, and yet it seemed vast with all the emptiness that filled the space aside from a flat mechanical device set on a table in the center of the room. Therxian peered at it curiously. Was that it? It seemed less impressive than he had imagined. Although he had seen some examples of comms the humans had when they first initially arrived in the Vir Mountains, he had expected the small, personal devices to not compare at all in size to an official communication unit from a human colony.

Was it not supposed to take up more of the chamber than that? It seemed that a device meant to communicate with far reaches of the planet would command more space for required operation. He regarded it with some puzzlement but startled when his mate suddenly bolted toward it eagerly and began to flip on numerous switches, making the machine light up unnaturally. He recoiled uncertainly, but his tail jerked in reaction when Alex squealed quietly with obvious delight.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered to herself as her fingers flew over it.

Therxian cleared his throat, and he drew nearer as he eyed it skeptically. “This is the comm unit you wished to use?”

She jerked her head in a rapid nod. “This is it. With this baby, I will be able to get a hold of my superiors at Raza. My identification code will put me in contact with the hangar, but they can transfer me as soon as they have verified my clearance,” she explained.

“I see. And this is all of it?” he asked, as he scanned the rest of the chamber.

His mate looked up from the machine and gave him a confused look. “All of it?” she echoed.

“Yes. Surely there must be more to such an important system,” he stated as he gestured to it. “Do we need to locate any missing parts?”

Her eyebrows flew up expressively. “No. This is all of it.”

He stared down at the small flat machine in aghast. “You are certain? You have seen one in working condition before?”

Alex’s lips twitched, and she nodded again. “Many times. The hangar has its own unit, as do most of the major centers within the colony. This... this is a pretty basic system, Therxian,” she explained. “It is just a flat holographic panel. I merely type in the channel for the hangar followed by my credentials and then press this button here.”

She tapped a glowing blue button, and Therxian drew back warily as blue light gathered above the device and then spread out in a flattened field before reorganizing in the shape of a human face. It squinted suspiciously, but then its gaze shifted to Alex, and a look of surprise registered on its light-created face as its eyes widened.