The elevator door dragged itself open and let her into the simulated daylight of the corridor. She blinked hard and rubbed her eyes. Perivar’s door stood open at the end of the hall. The gesture of welcome where he came from. She smiled and strode toward it with something like relaxation in her movements.
But as she approached the open doorway, the air filled with the smell of ozone and rot. The doorway was dark and the place beyond was silent. Nothing hummed or buzzed or clinked.
Arla hesitated. Run, said part of her mind. Get out of here now.
Run where? Iyal won’t be at the lab now, or maybe ever again. I can find the port all right, but what’ll I do once I’m there? She set her jaw and unhooked the cattle prod from her belt, wishing she’d thought to steal a couple of knives from the lab.
Arla stole forward, placing each step silently on the tiled floor. A glance into the dim room showed no movement. She slipped across the threshold and pressed her back against the wall, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness.
All the machines that filled the space were quite dead. No one moved between them. The door to Perivar’s living rooms hung open. No sight or sound of movement came from in there either.
Her gaze tracked across the silent machinery to the portal that divided Perivar’s home from Kiv’s. Its door was also open and the threshold was draped in grey rags left from whatever substance had kept their atmospheres free of each other. Beyond it waited nothing but shadows and pale, grey light spilling in from the windows.
Arla gasped and swore and backed toward the door to the hall. The sudden breeze and the firm click told her it had shut before she could even whirl around and see it for herself.
She pressed her palm against the smooth surface of the reader. Nothing. Arla cursed bitterly. It was locked and she couldn’t do anything. She’d never seen how the door opened without the reader. She cursed again, this time for not being bright enough to realize that all the Vitae had to do was look at the destination list for the bus to find out where she had been planning to go.
She bit her lip, bothered. Why weren’t they here already? She looked at the remains of the inner portal. Maybe this was supposed to look like an accident. If the authorities arrived before she had entered the trap and they found the Vitae there, their presence would be difficult to explain. Now, though, the Vitae would know she was here. They’d have some Skyman’s trick. They’d be on their way for her.
Hide, Arla. Where? Near the door? Assault them as they enter? Too obvious. They’ll be ready. Hide in the corners. Make them come digging for me. She glanced around. Perivar’s private quarters were small and nearly useless. She remembered that. Maybe Kiv’s.
Hide in the darkness, maybe even find a weapon and a defensible position. Keep your back to a wall and at least they can’t sneak up on you.
With one eye toward the hallway door, she sidestepped through the inner doorway into the shadows. The room was nothing but knobs and bumps and mounds of blackness. She slid between them carefully, making sure her feet were flat on the floor and her balance was sound at each step. She could not afford to be shocked into falling over.
The main walls of Kiv’s room were set in a minor configuration of Perivar’s with the door to the private section in the far wall. When Arla reached it, she froze.
Draped across the threshold lay Kiv’s long corpse. His arms lay wrapped around three smaller corpses. Three of his daughters lay dead with him.
Arla swallowed hard. Horror and fear took her over as a wretched thought reminded her how the Vitae came to find this place. Anger came fast on their heels.
You don’t do this to the children. If your quarrel is with the parents, you bring it to the parents. You do not claim the lives of the children. The Nameless forbid it. Expressly, firmly, with every breath.
You are not in the Realm of the Nameless. The Skymen may do what they please.
But not this! There is no power that can excuse them for this!
She steeled herself and climbed around Kiv’s cold body.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the little corpses as she stepped around them. “Nameless Powers preserve me, I truly am.
Her foot kicked something and it screamed. She jumped backward, missed her footing, and fell against Kiv’s clammy hide. With a screech of disgust, she scrabbled across the tacky floor. The thing on the floor screamed and whistled and buzzed, but didn’t move. Arla peered at it. It was about the size of her torso and it … writhed.
The capsule. It was the capsule that had dangled from the overhead cables and carried Kiv’s children between the rooms. Inside huddled one … no, two of the children.
They screamed at her. She fumbled with the disk in her ear. “Come on, you fool thing, work!” She tapped it impatiently.