The Oblivion Stone (The Liftsal Guardians Book 3)

by Alexandra Moody

  The men were deep in conversation, and they didn’t seem to realise that anyone had even entered the tent. Rowe took in a deep breath and kept walking, carrying her tray to the Captain’s desk where the woman was already waiting for her. There was no going back now; she was in too deep, and she was terrified that she was about to be caught. But with her father so close by, Rowe knew that she couldn’t let the opportunity to plant the bug go to waste.

  She stopped when she reached the table and slowly tilted her head in her father’s direction to see if he’d noticed her. He still had his back to her, and the other officers remained deeply involved in their discussion. It sounded like they were talking about their ammunition stores, though Rowe wasn’t sure how much that information would help her.

  She turned away from the men and placed the tray down on her father’s desk, scanning the surface for somewhere to hide the listening device. It was the perfect area to plant the bug because her father was close enough to be overheard. But his desk was so neat and tidy there was nowhere for Rowe to hide it.

  She chewed on her lip as she considered her options. She didn’t have time to find the perfect location for the device, but she also couldn’t risk it being found. Her heart started to beat faster as she tried to figure out what to do. The longer she stayed in the tent, the more chance there was that she would be found out.

  She glanced down at the floor around the desk, and her eyes landed on a rubbish basket on one side of it. There was only a scrunched up bit of paper in it, and she knew her father wouldn’t have it emptied until it was full. If she could get the bug into the rubbish basket, it would be days before it was disturbed. It wasn’t the best location, but it would have to do. She dug a hand into her pocket, grabbed the bug and slowly began to pull it out.

  ‘That’s it, we can go,’ the woman next to her suddenly spoke, causing Rowe to jump. She let go of the device and pulled her hand from her pocket. The woman’s voice seemed to echo around the tent, and Rowe shot a glance back towards her father. Ash had turned around and was staring right at them. A look of shock flickered across his features when he saw his sister, but he quickly smothered it.

  ‘What are you doing in here, Rowe?’ he asked, walking over to her.

  ‘She was just giving me a hand Commander Avery, weren’t you sweetie?’ the woman said. There was a flirting lilt to the woman’s voice as she eyed up Rowe’s brother.

  Rowe probably would have shuddered at the sight on any other occasion, but her heart was pounding, and her pulse was racing. Ash had discovered her, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before he sent her from the tent. If she didn’t plant the bug soon, her opportunity would be gone.

  ‘Rowe?’ Her father turned to face her with a mixture of shock and anger on his face before marching over to his desk.

  Rowe felt her skin go pale as she slowly nodded back at him. ‘I was just helping to carry the trays,’ she stuttered, her gaze dropping to the ground. ‘Everyone’s so busy celebrating. I was just trying to help.’

  Her father’s eyes darted to the woman. ‘You can go,’ he said coldly, and the woman hurried towards the exit without a word. The Captain watched her leave before he turned back to Rowe and grabbed her arm, yanking her aside. ‘You shouldn’t be in here.’

  ‘I-I know,’ Rowe replied. ‘Like I said, I was just helping out. And, well, I missed you and Ash. I just wanted to check you were both okay.’ She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes, but even that didn’t seem to melt any of the ice in her father’s stare.

  ‘We told you not to come in here,’ he said, his voice growing stonier by the word.

  Rowe’s eyes flickered over to the two men who had arrived on the ship earlier that day. They were studying the encounter with her father closely. The Captain seemed to sense them watching, and he regained a little more control over his temper.

  He dropped her arm and stood back. ‘We’re very busy, Rowe. It’s time for you to run along,’ he said. His voice was far gentler, but his eyes betrayed his annoyance with her. It was obvious he didn’t want the new officers seeing his true colours, but Rowe could tell he was furious, and she didn’t want to imagine how her father would have acted if they hadn’t been there.

  She nodded in agreement with the Captain, but her eyes were quickly scanning the room as she looked for somewhere she could hide the bug. Everyone in the tent was watching her now, and she knew she would raise suspicion if she did anything other than walk straight to the exit. Her heart hammered harder as she considered what to do, and she dug her hand into her pocket and clasped her fingers around the listening device.

  ‘Now, Rowe,’ her father added.

  She nodded again and turned away from him to face the entrance on the other side of the tent. She felt a rush of unease in her gut as panic began to set in. She could feel his eyes on the back of her neck, and she knew he’d be watching her the whole way out. There was no way she could plant the bug unseen.

  As she slowly started to walk towards the exit, her eyes locked onto the large monitor in the centre of the tent. At the base of it, she could see a collection of thick cords and wires snaking out from the bottom of the screen. The cluster of wires was so large that Rowe knew they could easily obscure the listening device from sight.

  She was about to walk right past the screen to get to the exit, but she couldn’t exactly bend over and shove her hand into the cords to plant the device. She was going to have to do it in a way that would not raise suspicion, and her eyes lit up brightly as she came up with an idea.

  She slowly continued on her way towards the exit and pulled her hand from her pocket, the bug gripped tightly within her fist. She was just about to reach the monitor when she tripped over her own feet, throwing herself to the floor. In one swift movement, she reached out her hand and tucked the bug behind the cords, before she groaned and began to try and push herself back to her feet.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Ash asked, rushing to her side.

  Rowe was almost surprised by how quickly he came to help her, but she slowly nodded, took his offered arm and he pulled her to her feet. She rubbed her knees as she stood, shaking her head at her fall. ‘Why am I the only one who got the clumsy gene in our family?’ she mumbled.

  Ash laughed at her comment, and for a brief moment his face lit up with a smile that reminded her of the brother she had always known and trusted. The moment passed though, and his expression became serious once more. ‘Are you sure you’re not hurt?’ he asked.

  She waved his comment off with one hand. ‘I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘And I better get going if I want to get to the celebration before all of the food is gone. Will you be coming at all?’

  Ash shook his head. ‘Like Father said, we’re really busy.’

  She nodded and pouted slightly as though the news disappointed her. ‘Well, I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.’

  ‘Sure,’ he said, patting her on the shoulder. ‘You better go.’

  Rowe nodded and turned away from him to face the exit. As she began to walk away, she glanced at the cords out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t see the bug at all, and she tried not to smile at her small victory.

  She rushed from the tent, not looking back as she hurried past the men who stood guard outside. Now that she had planted the bug Rowe needed to find Jack so they could listen in together.

  The suns had been setting when she’d first entered the tent, but darkness was now descending on the camp. The sounds of people celebrating had magnified and filled the usually peaceful Aeris night.

  Once she was out of sight of her father’s tent, Rowe started to jog in the direction of the revelry. She wasn’t sure where Jack would be, but she figured her best chance of finding him would be at the feast.

  The bonfires were larger than ever in the open communal area near the kitchens. There were people everywhere, drinking, eating and laughing. Some were dancing while others were singing and chanting.

  There was an ambience of joy about th
e celebration, but it only made Rowe more concerned. She had thought the Captain was worried that the Unfaih could attack the camp at any moment, yet he had chosen to let people get drunk and relax. She still couldn’t work out what he was up to.

  A hand grabbed Rowe’s arm, and she jumped in response. She quickly relaxed though when she saw it was Jack. She couldn’t wait to tell him she’d succeeded, but concern filled his face.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  He looked at the people partying around them before he pulled her away from the crowd and into the shadows of one of the tents.

  ‘What?’ she repeated.

  ‘None of the military are taking part in the celebrations,’ he murmured under his breath.

  Rowe frowned and moved to the edge of the tent to look out at the crowd. All she could see were people in plain clothes, and there wasn’t one uniform in sight.

  ‘But why?’ she asked, facing Jack again.

  ‘Why do you think?’ he responded. ‘The Captain must know the Unfaih have scouts watching the camp. It’s a distraction. He’s readying the troops to march on the rift.’

  Rowe’s face dropped, her lips tensed and she felt queasy as the truth of Jack’s words washed over her.

  ‘We have to warn Rhyn,’ he said.

  Rowe shook her head. ‘I planted the bug in Father’s tent. He’s been in there all afternoon with Ash, Lieutenant Dean and two officers from the ship. They have aerial footage of the rift, and they know how many warriors Rhyn has defending it. You’re right, they are clearly planning their attack, but we’ll need more information if we’re going to help the Unfaih. We have to listen in.’

  Jack looked torn, but then he finally nodded. ‘Go to my tent. The receiver is stuffed under my pillow. It’s already tuned to the correct frequency, so just turn it on, and you can listen in straight away.’

  ‘But what about you?’ Rowe asked.

  ‘I’ll be there soon. Rhyn has scouts in the woods. I’m going to warn them that an attack could be coming at any time.’

  ‘Good idea,’ she said. She was about to turn away and start running towards Jack’s tent, but he grabbed her by the hand, stopping her in her tracks.

  ‘What—’ she turned towards him, but before she could finish her question, he pulled her in close and softly kissed her.

  His lips only brushed against hers briefly, but her skin buzzed at his touch, and her insides fluttered as a feeling of warmth spread throughout her body. Rowe barely had a moment to process the kiss before Jack stepped back and grinned at her.

  ‘You kissed me,’ she accused.

  His smile only grew wider, before he turned and disappeared into the night.

  Her body was pulsing with adrenaline, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to slap Jack or kiss him again. But she didn’t have time to wonder. Instead, she ignored the butterflies that were churning wildly in her stomach and sprinted off as fast as she could in the direction of Jack’s tent. She could feel the pressure of everything that had happened already that night squeezing at her heart, and she knew that one way or another things were about to come to a head. It was down to her to find out exactly what her father had planned before he unleashed his war upon the Unfaih.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The night grew quieter as Rowe raced through the camp, away from the celebrations. The noise of people partying began to fade into the background until all she could hear was her own heavy breaths and her feet thumping against the ground as she ran.

  There were only a few people scattered through the camp who weren’t enjoying the festivities, and they all eyed her strangely as she sprinted past them. She didn’t pause to worry about them though and barely gave their odd looks a second thought. A sense of panicked urgency pulsed through her veins, and she knew that every minute she was delayed was a minute less she’d be able to overhear the Captain’s plans.

  When she reached Jack’s tent, Rowe ripped open the entrance flap and burst into the darkened room. She could just make out the outline of his bed in the shadows, and she leapt over to it, throwing his pillow to the side to reveal the receiver underneath.

  She huffed out a relieved breath when she saw the small rectangular device. She quickly grabbed hold of it and turned to sit on the bed. Though it was dark, she could just make out a knob on the front of the receiver and several buttons down the side. She squinted her eyes to try and see them more clearly. She didn’t like the idea of putting a light on in the tent when most of the camp was supposed to be celebrating. It was much better if no one knew she was there at all.

  The receiver had a long antenna, which Rowe extended as she tried to work out which button would turn it on. She could tell the device was homemade, because wires were sticking out at random angles and the casing mostly consisted of tape. She finally found a small switch on the side of the receiver and flicked it up.

  The scratching sound of interference started broadcasting from the device. Rowe could almost hear voices on the other end of it, but they weren’t clear enough to decipher anything that was being said.

  She cursed under her breath as she tried to figure out how to make the broadcast clearer. There was a chance she was too far from her father’s tent to hear anything, but perhaps the receiver was tuned to the wrong channel.

  She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to decide what to do. Jack had set the device up and told her that all she had to do to get it working was turn it on. She didn’t want to do anything that might mess it up. She could wait for him to return, but there was no way to tell how long it would take him to find the Unfaih scouts, and she didn’t want to miss anything in the meantime.

  Her insides clenched as she thought of her sister. Sloane would have known exactly what to do. She probably could have rebuilt the device from scratch if she needed to. But Sloane wasn’t there, and Rowe knew she had to figure it out on her own.

  She huffed out a breath and looked at the device again. Jack would have told her if she was going to be out of range in his tent so that probably wasn’t the problem. As she sat there, Rowe realised the antenna was pointing in the wrong direction. She moved it to point towards her father’s tent, and the sound came in a little clearer. However, it was still too indistinct to hear actual words being traded.

  She eyed the knob on the front of the receiver uneasily. She didn’t want to alter the frequency and make the reception even worse, but perhaps all it needed was a little tweaking.

  ‘Please work,’ she whispered, as her fingers clasped the knob. She slowly adjusted the signal by turning it anti-clockwise a fraction. The crackling broadcast descended into pure static and Rowe gasped, instinctively returning the knob to its original position. She took a deep breath and moved the dial a fraction in the opposite direction, and suddenly the voices came in as clearly as if the men were in the tent next to her.

  She grinned widely at her triumph but was quickly distracted by the discussion on the other end of the transmission.

  ‘Your soldiers know the terrain better,’ said one man. ‘They should be the first wave of attack against the aliens.’ Rowe didn’t recognise the voice so she assumed it must be one of the officers who had just arrived.

  ‘They may know the terrain, Denton, but your men are well rested. They have been relaxing on a spaceship these past months while we have been toiling hard and building this settlement,’ her father replied.

  ‘I still don’t understand the urgency of this fight,’ Denton responded. ‘And I don’t feel comfortable sending my men straight into a battle when these aliens have shown no signs of hostility and have not attacked the settlement.’

  ‘Are these aerial shots you obtained not proof enough that they are amassing to attack?’ The Captain was beginning to sound frustrated.

  ‘There’s hardly enough of them gathered to pose any real threat to us…’

  ‘Look, Denton,’ the Captain interrupted. ‘You may have had command over the men on your ship, but I hold the authority on this planet. It
is up to me to decide if the aliens are a threat to this colony and I can assure you that they most certainly are. They’ve already captured and killed some of our men, and we are lucky Ash was able to escape their clutches alive and warn us of this threat. We will be confronting them whether you like it or not.’

  There was a moment of silence before Denton replied. ‘You may have authority here Captain Avery, but my men report to me alone.’

  ‘And you report to me!’

  Rowe sat back and stared at the receiver as the men continued to argue back and forth. There seemed to be a leadership conflict between her father and Denton. The Captain obviously wasn’t telling his men the whole truth, and Denton didn’t share his desire to run head first into battle. But she didn’t feel like the information was something that would help Rhyn. She had no doubt her father would wrestle control from the newly arrived officer eventually. It was almost surprising the man was still putting up a fight.

  She wished they would move on from their quarrel though. She needed details on when the soldiers would deploy or what weapons they were planning to use. Instead, she was listening to a disagreement that she knew her father would end up winning. He always did.

  Rowe continued listening intently, but as time went on, she became increasingly concerned that Jack hadn’t returned already. She needed him with her because half the time she couldn’t understand her father’s military talk, so she wasn’t exactly the best one to be listening in as the men strategised. It sounded to her like the Captain was planning to attack soon, but the men were still arguing about how to do it.

  Rowe jumped as the tent flap opened. She hadn’t heard anyone approaching from outside, and the sound of someone entering had her scrambling to turn the receiver off.

  She only paused when she heard Jack whisper. ‘Don’t worry; it’s me.’

  She let out a relieved breath as he closed the flap shut behind him.