shadowrun 40 The Burning Time by Stephen Kenson

three times, then secured it to the Microskimmer’s hull with the tape. The drone listed slightly, shimmering and distorted like something seen through a haze of heat, then vanished from sight.
    "Frag," Hammer said softly. "I never get used to that." Though the drone was now invisible, the hum of its engine and the breeze from its fan were audible.
    "Val?" Talon said.
    She spoke slowly, her senses caught up in the experience of merging with the drone.
    "All systems still go, Talon. No interference from the spell. This is wiz." She smiled, her eyes closed and her hands dancing absently over the remote deck.
    "Okay, Hammer," Talon said. "Let it out, and we’ll get going."
    Hammer climbed out of the van and made sure the coast was clear before opening the rear doors. The invisible Microskimmer hummed its way out. Hammer shut the doors and got back in the van. Talon was stretched out as best he could on the blanket in the rear of the van, a small Japanese pillow under his head.
    "Aracos," he said in his mind
    "I’m here," Aracos said instantly.
    Talon settled easily into a trance, leaving his body and focusing his senses on the astral plane. His heartbeat slowed and his breathing deepened as he loosed his astral form from his physical body, slipping into the astral like an amphibian sliding into water.
    The astral plane unfolded around him as he escaped the bonds of physical reality. The van seemed the same as before, but he could see glowing auras of light around Val and Hammer. Their auras revealed to him their emotions—excitement and nervousness combined with the control and restraint of true professionals. He could see Aracos hovering near the roof of the van in the form of a golden eagle, his aura glowing with mystic power. Talon’s astral body wore clothes much like his regular street gear, and on his hip was a shimmering dagger. A fire opal gleamed from the pommel of its golden hilt. A silver chain with a dark, silver-wrapped crystal hung around his neck, duplicates of items worn on his meat body.
    "Let’s go," he said to Aracos. They passed easily through the van’s armored doors, for those doors were only shadows of the physical world. To Talon’s astral senses, the Microskimmer hovering outside was perfectly visible, surrounded by the telltale glow of his invisibility spell. So long as his enchanted ring remained in contact with the drone, his spell would keep it hidden from the physical world.
    As the Microskimmer began to move, and Talon and Aracos followed. The drone traveled quickly, but two beings impeded by neither gravity or matter had no problem keeping up. Val piloted the Microskimmer expertly toward the Cross facility, a short distance away.
    "Stay with the ‘skimmer," Talon told Aracos. Then he shot forward, the world around him becoming a blur as he moved at the speed of thought toward the building, arriving almost instantaneously. The exterior looked the same as when he’d scouted it in astral form for the run. Dull and blocky, it radiated a heavy feeling of apathy built up by the workers who trudged through their jobs day to day. He did not note any magical defenses, but that didn’t guarantee none awaited within.
    Talon hadn’t dared investigate too far inside the building for fear of tipping off security too soon. Security was the main reason he and Aracos were along on the run. Before the Awakening, it used to be possible to penetrate security using just technology, but now that security included magic, you needed magic to counter it.
    The Microskimmer and Aracos arrived shortly after Talon did. The drone took up position close to the roof of the facility, hovering over the bulky air-conditioning system. There was a faint pinging sound as a small metal object detached itself from its underside and dropped onto the rooftop. It was domed, oval-shaped, and about ten centimeters long. While the Microskimmer hovered, the small metal object sprouted legs. It was a Shiawase Kanmushi, or "beetle"