Sea of Stars(31)
When he faces me again, I say, “If I were a better psychic, Geteron, I wouldn’t be here.”
“I thought you didn’t know me,” he says in a surprised tone.
“It took me a second to recognize your voice. You’re the one Minister Telek called for after I’d poisoned him. You were the first one in his office.”
“You admit you poisoned him?” he asks with some degree of astonishment.
“Telek murdered Minister Vallen and threatened to use me as a scapegoat. I call what I did self-preservation. Are you in charge in his absence?”
“I’m his second in command. I’m in charge until he recovers.”
I raise my chin. “Congratulations on your promotion.”
“Apparently, I have you to thank for that.”
“You’re welcome. Now let me down.”
“I don’t think so. I have a few more questions for you.”
“I have one for you too. How long have I been unconscious?” My mouth is dry, as if I hadn’t almost drowned recently.
“Why is it important?”
“There’s going to be an Alameeda attack at sixteen parts on Fitzmartin. It’s an aerial assault. You need to prepare for it.”
“I’ve heard the rumors you started regarding this attack from a few sources.” He checks his watch. If what you told my soldiers is true, then we only need to wait a couple more parts to see if you’re correct.”
“It’s Fitzmartin?” I ask in a panic. I try to pull my hands down, but the chains holding them merely rattle and clang.
“It is a little earlier than midday. We found you less formidable unconscious.”
“There will be an attack soon!” I warn. “You can’t afford to refuse to act on what I’m telling you. It’d mean the destruction of this entire floating fortress—your military headquarters.”
He gives me a skeptical look. “There has never been an attack like the one you describe in the history of this ship.”
“This ship will be history. Please save us.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because you can’t afford not to!”
“Give me something to build my trust.”
“What do you want?” I ask in desperation.
“Tell me where they are.”
“Where who are?” I ask.
“Your companions.”
“Trey?” I ask in confusion. “He was in the cell with me—did he escape?”
“He did, and so did the other one.”
“What other one—Jax? Wayra?” I ask.
“Your accomplice: the Comantre Syndic who tried to rescue you.”
“He’s not my accomplice and he wasn’t trying to rescue me! He was attempting to kidnap me, and when he failed, he tried to kill me.”
“Who is he?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I reply, “but he’s not Comantre. He’s something else entirely.”
“He picked up my men and threw them without touching them.”
“I know. I saw that. He has gifts.”
“Is he Alameeda?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Did you lose him?”
“He escaped from his cell when you created a diversion for him.”
I scoff. “It wasn’t my plan to almost drown in my cell. The diversion was created by someone else.”
“It wasn’t our plan either. Something went wrong. Your cell was set to rain—nothing more.”
“Someone changed the setting to tsunami.”
“So it wasn’t you trying to distract the guards?” he asks.
“I don’t have any abilities like that, and if I did, I would’ve picked a different way to distract them,” I retort. “I can’t swim.” I want to ask him about Trey, but I can’t. I don’t want to give him any information that may lead them to Trey. If he’s hiding on this ship, I need to find him. “What about the other Cavars? Did they escape as well?”
He mulls over what I said, approaching me with caution. “No. We still have them—your bodyguards from the palace. They’re still tucked away safely in their cells. When we locate the other two, they may not be so fortunate.”
“What do you want to know? I’ll tell you anything—just don’t hurt Trey. He’s only trying to protect me, nothing more. He loves this house. He’s loyal to Rafe.”
Geteron steps into the ring of light I’m in. “How do the Alameeda get past our defensive shields?” he asks.