Empress of Eternity by L. E. Modesitt

senior staff this afternoon will prove most enlightening. You need not go into all the details, but perhaps an indication of the potential—suitably and cautiously presented, of course—would indicate to them the reason for your continued efforts there.” Hlaansk smiled broadly.
    “I think I can manage that, sir.”
    “I knew you would.” Another smile followed. “And how is your lovely wife?”
    “The climate there has been most beneficial to her continued recovery, sir, as I’m certain you knew it would be, for which we are both grateful.”
    “I’m glad to hear it. Very glad.” With a smile, Hlaansk stood. “Until this afternoon, Maertyn. We’re all looking forward to your briefing.”
    Maertyn stood. “I’ll do my very best to provide the information everyone needs.” He inclined his head.
    The minister returned the gesture.

17
    27 Quad 2471 R.E.
    Two days had passed since the priority pulse announcement of the government restructuring—or coup—by The Twenty. While general announcements continued, no comm pulses had been directed specifically at the station or at Eltyn or Faelyna, and certainly not one of the cyan frequencies of TechOversight. Neither had the satellite transmissions from MetCom nor any geosat resumed, and MetCom did not acknowledge any transmissions. From the station there was no way to determine whether MetCom had been shut down or destroyed.
    While Faelyna worked on modifying the shadow-tracking equipment, Eltyn had checked the emergency solar-powered three-wheeler. It was operable, but the narrow tires restricted it in practice to the top of the canal, since they would quickly bog down in the sand to the south and east of the station. There was no way to widen the footprint of the tires. Even if he could have, the extra weight and the need to carry water—and the lack of a viable destination—would have turned flight through the sand near suicidal. The supply wheeler had not arrived on its scheduled oneday delivery, unsurprisingly, given the coup and a moderate sandstorm, but they did have over three months’ worth of dried rations, barely edible as they were. The solar still and the independent power system insured that they’d have more than enough water and energy.
    What else could they do but pursue the TechOversight project? Pursue that project, and see what defenses they might mount beyond the stunners and the two projectile rifles that were their sole protection against feral sandcats and anything else wild that might appear outside the station.
    Slightly before midmorning on threeday, Faelyna adjusted her equipment, now focused on one of the unused and closed ducts on the station’s lowest level. They had already scanned and shadowed-tracked all of the main doors and windows in the station, discovering essentially two patterned “shadow” responses, one for doors and one for windows.
    How long before scan? Eltyn knelt on the hard stone, hands on his thighs, bending his head forward to stretch tight neck muscles, then waiting.
    Two minutes , replied Faelyna. Interrogative probability of airlifted team inspection?
    Low. If priority, the team would already have been here. Most likely a canal wheeler or an SEV from Apialor.
    No supply run on oneday or yesterday. Suggests problems for The Twenty in Apialor. She recalibrated a setting on the focal head.
    More 2 problems for us. Armed team likely to conduct “compliance inspection”…if they even bother.
    Sooner/later they’ll bother. Stand by. One minute.
    Standing by. Eltyn forced himself to wait. While Faelyna had always been precise in each examination, he still found it unsettling to know that his hand and fingers were within centimeters of both high power and an enigmatic and ancient control system that certainly had the power to remove both fingers and hand. Although there was no record of anything like that, there were stories about disappearances. Also, no one had probed the station walls with equipment nearly