Abomination.”
She shivered. “Rebekah?”
“That’s the logical assumption,” I said. “We know the Modhri was tracking Lorelei, and those offworld searchers Karim mentioned were probably also walkers. Coordinated by Veldrick’s meditation-room coral, no doubt.” I frowned as something suddenly struck me. “Interesting.”
“What is?”
“I was just wondering when the coral was brought in,” I said, trying to think this through. “It’s possible Veldrick himself isn’t actually a walker.”
Bayta shook her head. “I doubt the Modhri would set up an outpost without a walker here to watch over it.”
“Oh, I have no doubt Veldrick’s on his way to becoming one,” I said. “But if the Modhri just recently figured out Rebekah is here, he may have brought in the outpost solely to coordinate the search. In that case, Veldrick’s polyp infection may not have grown to full colony status yet.”
“I suppose that’s possible,” Bayta said, still sounding doubtful. “Especially if there were other walkers here he could use in an emergency.”
“Right,” I said. “ My question is why bother with a coral outpost at all? Why not just use walkers for the search?”
“Shall we go back and ask him?”
“Thanks, but I’ve had enough socializing for one day,” I said. “Let’s go check out this Hanging Gardens place and see what it’s like.”
Bayta was silent for another half block. “What about Rebekah?” she asked.
“For now, we leave her where she is,” I said. “In fact, now that you and I are no longer flying under the radar, we should probably steer clear of the whole Zumurrud District for a few days.”
“I suppose,” she said. “I wonder what’s in all those boxes.”
“Probably her shoe collection,” I grumbled. “That’s going to be a major headache all by itself.”
“You’ll figure something out.”
“I appreciate your confidence,” I said. “Speaking of figuring things out, how did you figure out where she was?”
“I don’t know,” Bayta said, shaking her head slowly. “It just seemed… I don’t know.”
“Oh, well, that clears it up,” I said, trying not to be too sarcastic. “Come on—work at it a little. Did you hear her, or smell her, or what?”
“I don’t know ,” Bayta said again, starting to sound a little exasperated.
“Okay, okay, take it easy,” I soothed. “But if the details ever surface, be sure to let me know.”
We reached Broadway, pausing on the corner as I looked both directions down the street for the traditional green-and-yellow banner of an autocab stand. But there wasn’t one in sight. I focused my attention on the traffic flowing briskly along, wondering if autocabs simply roamed the streets like they did in some of the cities I’d visited.
But I couldn’t see any of them tucked in among the streams of private cars and trucks, either. “I guess you have to call them,” I said, pulling out my comm and punching up the city directory
“We could just walk,” Bayta offered, pointing to our left. “If I remember the map right, Third and Chestnut is only five or six blocks away. Probably be just as fast as calling a cab.”
“It won’t take long in a city this size,” I assured her. I found the number and punched in a request, glancing up and down the street again. A block away to our right, a middle-aged man in a jogging suit trotted to a stop at the corner, peering closely at his reader. Checking the news as he ran, I decided, or else he had a map of the city pulled up and was trying to figure out the next leg of his urban walking adventure.
I frowned, red flags going up in the back of my brain. I’d noticed a man in similar garb a block away in that same direction as we were leaving Veldrick’s house. If this was that same man, and if we’d reached Broadway half a minute before he did, he had to be the slowest jogger in the business.
Or else he was making sure he didn’t get ahead of us.
“On second
She shivered. “Rebekah?”
“That’s the logical assumption,” I said. “We know the Modhri was tracking Lorelei, and those offworld searchers Karim mentioned were probably also walkers. Coordinated by Veldrick’s meditation-room coral, no doubt.” I frowned as something suddenly struck me. “Interesting.”
“What is?”
“I was just wondering when the coral was brought in,” I said, trying to think this through. “It’s possible Veldrick himself isn’t actually a walker.”
Bayta shook her head. “I doubt the Modhri would set up an outpost without a walker here to watch over it.”
“Oh, I have no doubt Veldrick’s on his way to becoming one,” I said. “But if the Modhri just recently figured out Rebekah is here, he may have brought in the outpost solely to coordinate the search. In that case, Veldrick’s polyp infection may not have grown to full colony status yet.”
“I suppose that’s possible,” Bayta said, still sounding doubtful. “Especially if there were other walkers here he could use in an emergency.”
“Right,” I said. “ My question is why bother with a coral outpost at all? Why not just use walkers for the search?”
“Shall we go back and ask him?”
“Thanks, but I’ve had enough socializing for one day,” I said. “Let’s go check out this Hanging Gardens place and see what it’s like.”
Bayta was silent for another half block. “What about Rebekah?” she asked.
“For now, we leave her where she is,” I said. “In fact, now that you and I are no longer flying under the radar, we should probably steer clear of the whole Zumurrud District for a few days.”
“I suppose,” she said. “I wonder what’s in all those boxes.”
“Probably her shoe collection,” I grumbled. “That’s going to be a major headache all by itself.”
“You’ll figure something out.”
“I appreciate your confidence,” I said. “Speaking of figuring things out, how did you figure out where she was?”
“I don’t know,” Bayta said, shaking her head slowly. “It just seemed… I don’t know.”
“Oh, well, that clears it up,” I said, trying not to be too sarcastic. “Come on—work at it a little. Did you hear her, or smell her, or what?”
“I don’t know ,” Bayta said again, starting to sound a little exasperated.
“Okay, okay, take it easy,” I soothed. “But if the details ever surface, be sure to let me know.”
We reached Broadway, pausing on the corner as I looked both directions down the street for the traditional green-and-yellow banner of an autocab stand. But there wasn’t one in sight. I focused my attention on the traffic flowing briskly along, wondering if autocabs simply roamed the streets like they did in some of the cities I’d visited.
But I couldn’t see any of them tucked in among the streams of private cars and trucks, either. “I guess you have to call them,” I said, pulling out my comm and punching up the city directory
“We could just walk,” Bayta offered, pointing to our left. “If I remember the map right, Third and Chestnut is only five or six blocks away. Probably be just as fast as calling a cab.”
“It won’t take long in a city this size,” I assured her. I found the number and punched in a request, glancing up and down the street again. A block away to our right, a middle-aged man in a jogging suit trotted to a stop at the corner, peering closely at his reader. Checking the news as he ran, I decided, or else he had a map of the city pulled up and was trying to figure out the next leg of his urban walking adventure.
I frowned, red flags going up in the back of my brain. I’d noticed a man in similar garb a block away in that same direction as we were leaving Veldrick’s house. If this was that same man, and if we’d reached Broadway half a minute before he did, he had to be the slowest jogger in the business.
Or else he was making sure he didn’t get ahead of us.
“On second
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