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“What he’s made of?” Torin thought of the thick, black ooze—pure poison, that’s what the bastard was made of! But how could he trap him and restrain him like the Goddess said?
Suddenly, his eye fell on a space-vacuum strapped to the wall of his ship. It had a long, metal cylinder canister attached to a sucking nozzle.
The vacuum was a piece of emergency equipment—only to be used if the artificial gravity generator failed and there were liquids or particles that had to be sucked up. In Zero G, a liquid spill that was easily wiped up in regular gravity could become extremely hazardous, with liquid blobs floating everywhere and possibly getting into electronic equipment and shorting it out.
Torin felt ludicrous, taking a vacuum to fight the most evil and dangerous foe he had ever faced. But when he grabbed the small but powerful piece of cleaning equipment, he felt the Goddess’s approval.
“You have chosen well, Warrior,” she told him. “Now go—the female I have chosen for you and the ones she is guarding are in danger. Hurry!”
Torin didn’t have to be told twice. He’d been a fool to leave Sky’lar here in danger—a fool to let his self-doubt keep him from the woman he loved.
He was going to save her now or die trying!
FORTY-SEVEN
SKY
“Get up! Get up, Neen’ya—hurry!”
Sky shook the Serpentine girl by the shoulder, whispering as loudly as she dared in her ear. She didn’t want to alert the puddle of ooze, which she was certain was going to form into the killer at any moment, that she was awake. She just wanted to get the acolytes up and together so they could get the High Priestess to a safe place.
“Huh? What?” Neen’ya blinked, her slitted eyes blurry with sleep.
“Get up!” Sky hissed in her ear. “We have to get out of here—we’re in danger!”
“What?” Neen’ya sat up at once, looking around her. “Where? What danger?”
“Shh!” Sky hushed her. “Get Soon’ya up. We have to get out of here and warn the High Priestess—the killer is coming for her!”
“He is? But I thought he was dead? Lunk’or killed him!” Neen’ya protested, but at least she lowered her voice.
“No he didn’t. He—look, it’s too hard to explain. Just get Soon’ya and let’s get out of here!”
Sky cast a look at the door where the puddle of black ooze was getting bigger. This must be how the killer had entered locked rooms in the other crime scenes. Or else, he could have simply formed himself to look like a trusted guard. His victims would have had no idea who he was until it was too late!
“Come on—come on!” she urged the two acolytes. “We have to go!”
But go where? The door that led outside was the one where the killer was slowly seeping in. And the only other door in the room led into the High Priestess’s sleep chamber.
“The High Priestess won’t like it if we wake her for no reason,” Soon’ya protested, when Sky made it clear where she intended to go.
“This isn’t for no reason,” Sky snapped. “Her life is in danger too. Now come on!”
They snuck through the door as quietly as possible and then Sky found a rug to jam under the crack. Would that keep the killer out? She didn’t know but she sure as Underworld hoped so!
“What is this? What is the meaning of this, girls?”
The imperious voice of the High Priestess cut through the whispers and shuffling of the two acolytes behind Sky.
Neen’ya went to the High Priestess’s bedside, peering at her anxiously in the gloom.
“Oh, High Priestess—we’re so sorry but Special Agent Sky’lar seems to think we’re all in danger!”
“What? What danger? Lights!” the High Priestess exclaimed.
As the lights came on, Sky saw that this chamber was much more plush than the bare bones room the acolytes shared. The bed was a puffy, floating mattress and the stone floors and walls were covered with rugs and richly woven tapestries depicting the building of the Shrine. There was a glow-globe chandelier hovering near the ceiling which must be voice activated.
Now that the lights were on, she could see there was an auto-lock on the door they had come through as well. It too, must be voice activated—she could see the mechanism blinking red, showing that it was locked at the moment.
“What is the meaning of this, Agent Sky’lar?” the High Priestess demanded. She was sitting up in bed with her hood spread and her tongue flickering in agitation. “Why have you woken me from my peaceful slumber in the middle of the night?”
“The killer—he’s still out there,” Sky told her.
“What? But I thought Lunk’or killed him! How do you know—did you see him?”
Sky didn’t know if she ought to try to explain the puddle of black ooze. It might sound too far fetched.
“The Goddess warned me,” she said—which felt right, somehow. Hadn’t a voice woken her from sleep?
