‘Sure,’ Rowe responded, with another sweet smile. ‘Good luck,’ she added, as he marched away.
Once Ash disappeared from sight, Rowe slouched and allowed her face to relax. She was getting nowhere with her brother, and her father still refused to speak with her. She hadn’t been allowed within ten meters of his tent since she’d been freed from the post, and she was about as close to planting the bug as she was to becoming a master swordsman.
She huffed out a breath and rested her chin on her hands as she stared up at the shuttle that was nearing the ground. She didn’t even want to think about how many soldiers were aboard the vessel, but her mind kept trying to hazard a guess. She highly doubted it was only military, as the people selected for the Aeris mission were generally those with a mix of skills that could help with colonisation. Rowe knew there would be a significant number of soldiers though, based on the size of the ship alone. There might even be civilians who wanted to fight. Aeris was a paradise compared to Earth, and it was clear that no one wanted to give it up.
There were already a lot of men in the camp who were ready for battle—especially after her father’s speech the other day. It was all anyone was talking about. Nobody had uttered a word of complaint that their shifts had doubled and no one seemed to care they were being worked into the ground. The Captain was readying the settlement for battle, and everyone in the camp couldn’t wait to help.
Rowe let out another breath before she stood and started making her way towards the landing site. At least her father currently seemed to be focused on setting up adequate defences for the camp rather than mounting an attack against the Unfaih. That might be about to change now that the ship had arrived though. As Rowe moved through the growing crowds of people who were heading in the direction of the ship, she could hear them speculating about the new arrivals.
‘I hope there are more farmers on board,’ one woman said.
‘And livestock,’ added another. ‘We need more food.’
‘We won’t be worried about eating if the aliens attack,’ a man snapped back. ‘There better be guns on that ship. I need to be armed.’
They were only guessing what the ship had brought to Aeris, but it was clear that the whole camp was desperate to find out. If it were anything like the ship she had arrived on, Rowe suspected there would be equal numbers of individuals from all the different areas of speciality required for colonisation. What use was a settlement filled with men who could fight, when no one who knew how to build a shelter or grow food? As the crowd surged towards the ship, Rowe felt an uncomfortable mixture of anticipation and fear churning in her stomach.
The ship had landed in a large area of the woods that had been cleared of trees, beyond the edge of the camp. The metal vessel was almost double the size of the ones that had already arrived, and Rowe knew there had to be hundreds of people inside.
Rows of men in uniform waited in perfect lines in front of the ship. Rowe could see her father standing proudly before them, with Ash close at his side and Lieutenant Dean positioned right behind him.
The people of the camp gathered as close to the soldiers as they dared, and Rowe silently moved through the crowd until she found a good vantage point to look at the ship. She tried to ignore the chatter going on around her, but it was hard to disregard some of the men’s comments as they guffawed over the prospect of the shuttle being filled with women.
Rowe rolled her eyes, silently willing the men away from her. Even if there were women on the ship, she highly doubted they’d want to be anywhere near the likes of the guys behind her. Some of the men on Aeris had become a little barbaric since arriving on the alien planet.
‘Anyone come out yet?’ a whisper sounded in her ear.
Rowe smiled and glanced at Jack who had snuck up beside her. Her heart gave a small, happy flutter to see him standing there so close to her and she could feel a slight blush warming her cheeks. Every time he left her to disappear into the camp, she feared he might not make it back to her.
‘Not yet,’ she murmured. ‘Though I sincerely hope there are no women inside.’
He raised an eyebrow at her comment, but she merely shook her head. ‘Don’t ask.’
‘I had an interesting visitor before,’ he said, keeping his voice low.
‘Sloane?’ she guessed hopefully, trying to ignore the sudden twinge of disappointment she felt at the thought of missing the chance to talk with her sister.
‘No.’ He shook his head in response, dropping his gaze to the floor. ‘It was Rhyn.’
‘Oh.’ Rowe’s disappointment only grew as she heard that Sloane was nowhere nearby. She hadn’t seen her sister since they’d parted ways several nights ago, and she had no idea where Sloane was or what she was doing. She desperately missed her and worried about her constantly.
‘What did he want?’ she asked.
‘He was checking up on us. He wanted to see you were all right, but I told him to leave you to it. I didn’t want to risk you getting seen with him.’
She gave him a smile in thanks. ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Did he say anything about Sloane?’
‘No, he was mostly asking about you and the camp.’
Rowe sighed and turned to look back at the ship again. She tried not to feel sad that there was no news on her sister. No news was good news, after all. She would have liked some hint of what Sloane was up to though. Knowing her, it was probably something extremely dangerous.
‘She had better not be doing anything stupid,’ Rowe muttered, trying not to think about it too much.
‘Who, Sloane?’ Jack asked. ‘Never.’
Rowe frowned at him, hating that he appeared to agree that her sister was most likely getting herself into trouble. ‘What do you think she’s doing?’
‘Probably trying to tame a hrul so she can ride it into battle,’ he replied, without missing a beat.
Rowe shot him a worried look, but he laughed in response.
‘That’s not funny,’ she said. ‘If you suggested that to her, she’d probably think it was a great idea.’
‘True,’ he replied.
They both fell silent as the excited noise of the crowd suddenly became a low murmur. Lights began to flash around the ship’s entrance, and a loud hissing sound broke the silence as the door began to open. Rowe gritted her teeth, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she watched.
The door lowered to the ground, creating a ramp that led down from the ship, and one by one the people inside began to emerge. Her stomach tightened as men and women in military uniform started to appear. Their faces were hard, and none of them paused to admire the beauty of the new world they were entering.
The queasy feeling in Rowe’s stomach only grew worse as the soldiers continued to pile out. ‘There’s so many of them,’ she murmured to Jack.
He took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, but his silence told Rowe that he agreed.
Hundreds of people poured out of the ship, and Rowe gripped Jack’s hand tighter as they continued to watch on. Excitement and hope buzzed in the crowd around her, but all Rowe could feel was despair. The human force had a least doubled in size, and she had no idea how they were going to tell Rhyn that his chances of defeating the humans in battle had just severely decreased.
Rowe felt a small hint of relief when the people in uniforms stopped flowing out, and men and women dressed in regular clothing began to appear. While the soldiers' superiors ordered them into lines, the Captain stepped forwards to greet the civilians.
Even from a distance, Rowe could see her father putting on a happy face as he welcomed the newcomers to Aeris. He spoke warmly with people, and he genuinely appeared to care about them. He waited until the shuttle was empty before he turned towards the group as a whole.
‘Welcome to the newest members of our colony,’ he said, his voice booming over the crowd. ‘It is a great honour to receive you here today, and your arrival will give us the strength to build our new home on this s
pectacular planet.’
Claps and cheers rose from the crowd, but Rowe stayed quiet as she waited for the moment her father would bring up the Unfaih.
‘This world is both beautiful and bountiful,’ he continued. ‘We have found a place to start a fresh new life, and I hope you will grow to love this place as I have.’
He cleared his throat, and the smile pasted across his face faltered slightly. ‘I have been in contact with your captain over the last few days, and you will all have been made aware that we are having some difficulties with the unexpected local inhabitants of this land. There is no need to be concerned with the matter though. The colony is well protected, and we will deal with this the problem soon.’
A few of the newcomers shared concerned looks with one another, but none of them appeared overly worried by the Captain’s words.
‘But today is a day for celebration,’ he added. ‘Tonight we will commemorate your arrival with a feast including some of the fine food we have foraged on this new world of ours, and a few drinks we’ve brought from our old.’
More loud cheers rippled through the crowd. Rowe wasn’t calling out in excitement like the others though. Instead, a frown graced her features, and she looked at Jack with concern. Her father had added to his army, and she would have expected him to immediately start organising his attack on the Unfaih, not planning a celebratory feast.
‘A feast?’ she murmured. ‘What is he doing?’
Jack glanced at the Captain with a look of worry that mirrored Rowe’s. ‘I have no idea,’ he replied. ‘But he’s definitely up to something.’
As she followed Jack’s gaze to her father, and she saw the look of satisfaction on his face, Rowe couldn’t help but agree. The Captain was one step ahead of them, and it was clear they were running out of time. She needed to find out what he was planning if they wanted a chance at stopping him.
The last few days had proven there was no way her father or Ash were going to tell her anything useful. The only way she was getting the information she needed was through the listening device that Jack had given her.
She put her hand in her pocket and lightly touched the tiny bug. As she thought about sneaking into her father’s tent, her hand began to tremble, and she gripped the microphone tightly to stop the shaking. She shook her head at her fear and gritted her teeth as she tried to stay strong. One way or another she had to get the bug planted in the Captain’s tent, and she needed to do it today.
Chapter Eighteen
Once the Captain finished speaking, he quickly turned and headed back towards the tents with Ash, Dean, and two newly arrived officers right behind him. The crowd erupted into excited chatter, and discussions of the new arrivals and the upcoming feast drifted through the air.
Rowe and Jack were silent though as they stood frozen to the spot, clutching one another by the hand. People began to push past them as the crowd started to disperse, but Rowe and Jack only had eyes for the Captain as they watched him leave.
‘I have to go after them,’ Rowe whispered, letting go of Jack’s hand as she turned to face him.
His eyes flickered down to look at the space where their hands had clasped together. There was almost a look of sadness in his eyes as he lowered his hand to his side. He took a breath in before looking back up at Rowe.
‘You’re right,’ he nodded. ‘What can I do to help?’
‘Go and see if you can find out anything about that feast,’ she replied. ‘I’ve got the bug you gave me. We need to hear what’s going on inside my father’s tent now more than ever.’
‘Okay.’ Jack agreed, but he didn’t seem sure of himself. He paused, and his eyes clouded over as he considered the situation. It was clear he didn’t like the idea of leaving Rowe to plant the bug alone. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. Instead, he let out a breath and looked into Rowe’s eyes. She had no idea what he saw in them, but whatever it was it appeared to reassure him.
‘Okay,’ he repeated, more firmly this time. ‘Be careful.’
He spun around and jogged away without waiting for her reply. He moved towards the camp, weaving his way through the crowd of new arrivals who were slowly walking towards their new home.
Rowe watched him for a few moments before she turned to focus on her mission. She looked over to where she had last seen her father. Her eyes scanned the area for several seconds, and she spotted his group just as they disappeared between two tents.
As she lost sight of them, Rowe launched into action. She raced across the open ground towards the tent they had walked behind and peeked around the corner. Again, she caught sight of her father just as he led his officials behind another tent.
She continued to follow them through the camp at a distance as they wound their way through the tents and partially constructed buildings, but Rowe stopped as soon as the Captain’s tent came into view.
As her father and his group walked through the entrance, Rowe counted five guards standing out in front of the tent. She knew there would be more loitering around its perimeter. She needed to get in there, but she had already tried several times over the past few days with no luck. Ash still hadn’t taken her inside since he had released her, and she knew the guards would only stop her if she attempted to walk in through the front entrance on her own.
Rowe sighed and sat in the shadows of one of the buildings that were under construction across from the tent. If Sloane had been in her position, Jack’s bug would have been planted no more than an hour after she had received it. No matter how hard she tried though, Rowe couldn’t think of a solution as quickly as she knew her sister would.
A part of her wished that Jack could be there to help her, but she felt much safer knowing he was nowhere close to her father. He couldn’t go near the tent for fear that Ash or the Captain would see him. He’d been keeping well out of sight, and while it was a relief to have him close by, Rowe knew she was on her own. Planting the bug was all down to her. She just hoped she wasn’t already too late.
Her father was planning something, and she knew it somehow involved the feast he was throwing to welcome the new arrivals. The people in the camp had been working non-stop for days, following his orders to prepare the camp’s defences. Now he was telling them to take a night off and enjoy themselves. It didn’t make any sense.
He was supposed to be readying the settlement for war, and instead, he was celebrating. Rowe couldn’t understand it, but she felt certain that the feast was essential to understanding her father’s plan for the Unfaih.
She walked by his tent several times, trying to figure out a way inside. She thought that if she could make it to one of the tent walls, she might be able to lift the canvas an inch and place the listening device inside. There were too many men guarding the tent though, and there was no way to guarantee she would be placing the device close enough to catch the sound of her father’s conversations.
She debated her options for what seemed like hours and began to feel increasingly nervous as the suns started to lower in the sky. Sounds of the celebrations drifted up from the common area of the camp, while the area around her had grown quiet.
As the evening grew darker, she could hear the party growing louder in the distance and it sounded like everyone in the settlement was there. She was feeling more and more worried that the chance to spy on her father’s meeting with his officials was slipping from her grasp. What if their plan was already in motion and she was too late to stop it?
Rowe was about to make her move to try and get close to the tent when she caught sight of one of the women who ran the kitchens walking towards her, struggling to carry a number of trays in her hands. The trays were large and laden with food and drink. There was only one person who would have their food brought to them, and it was the man she was after.
Rowe hurried over to the woman without giving it a second thought. ‘Here, let me take one of those for you,’ she said, lifting one of the trays from the woman’s arms.
‘O
h, thank you, sweetie,’ the woman said. ‘Seems everyone’s too busy celebrating already to help out around the camp tonight.’
Rowe nodded politely and followed the woman towards her father’s tent. Her pulse was racing as they drew closer to the entrance, and she tried to keep behind the woman so she wouldn’t be noticed.
One of the guards stopped them as they approached the tent.
‘We’re just bringing Captain Avery and his officers some dinner,’ the woman said.
The guard nodded and stepped back to allow them through. Rowe kept her head down and hurried closely after the woman, disappearing into the tent before she was recognised.
Rowe immediately heard her father’s voice as she entered the tent, but it was difficult to make out what he was saying as several other male voices filled the room.
She glanced up for a split second to see five men hovering around a table at the far end of the tent. They were engaged in what looked like a heated discussion, pointing at each other and at whatever was on the table in front of them as they debated with one another. Rowe quickly averted her eyes again as she kept her head down and tried to stay close to the woman she was with.
She instinctively paused though when she looked up at the large screen that took up the centre of the room. Aerial images of the rift and Rhyn’s warriors in the clearing were flashing across the screen. Rowe’s mouth dropped at the sight and it took her a moment to remember to keep walking.
The woman didn’t seem to notice the images and walked right past the display without a second glance. Rowe quickly moved to catch up with her as they continued deeper into the tent and closer to her father. She tried to give the table the men were gathered at a wide berth, but the woman headed straight for the Captain’s desk, which was only a few feet from where her father was standing.
Rowe hesitated as they walked past the men. Her father and Ash both had their backs to her, while Lieutenant Dean had his eyes focused on the table they all surrounded. She didn’t recognise the other two men, but she knew they had just arrived on the ship.
The Oblivion Stone (The Liftsal Guardians Book 3) Page 18
