there, following Jessit and the girl.”
The general nodded more to himself, slapping both hands on the conference table. “Put the girl in a dress and give her to Jessit with my compliments. Then find me these gods. We need to get to them before the Alturians do.”
***
Jack Chavez waited for Denman outside Sorinsen's office. When Denman stepped out of the conference room, they didn't acknowledge each other openly. Chavez simply fell into step with him, sidling up next to him like a prowling cat. His dark hooded eyes, veiled in perpetual shadow, didn't give away much.
Denman examined his manicure, never once glancing at Chavez. “What did you find out?”
“The girl is clean, sir. No criminal record, no inconsistencies.”
Denman's eyes narrowed into thin slits. “Why is it you don't sound convinced?”
Chavez grunted, scrunching his shoulders forward as if he were shaking off a coat. “I don't know. Maybe she's too clean. It's just a hunch I have.”
Denman scanned the corridor and motioned Chavez toward his office. He locked the door behind them after they entered. “Talk to me.”
Chavez pulled out a tattered little notebook. Denman sheltered a grin. His security chief preferred paper to electronics.
“She was adopted at three days old. Her Jane Doe mother gave birth in a small town hospital then literally disappeared into thin air. One minute she was nursing her baby, the next she was gone. Every single security camera in the hospital malfunctioned at once.” He showed him a photocopy of the Sedona Express. “It made the papers.”
“Who adopted her?”
“An archeologist and his wife. Raoul and Rubia Cruz,” he said, rolling his R s. “They're clean too.”
“You sound disappointed.”
Chavez shrugged. “A pretty girl like that…I expected to find a lot of boyfriends, maybe a little drug use. But it's like she's lived in a convent her whole life. No social life. No longtime friends. She doesn't even drink. I've got nothing suspicious.”
“Which is exactly why you are suspicious.” Denman sat down, feeling equally annoyed at Rachel's unremarkable life. “Who does she work for?”
“The University of Cairo is funding her expeditions. She's been working the Egyptian pyramids since graduate school, but when they found the cave drawings, they flew her here special.”
“The cave drawings. Jessit found them interesting too.” Denman's thoughts drifted. Did that mean something? Jessit had studied the symbols as if he could read them and ordered every inch of the petroglyph scanned and recorded.
“Get that inscription translated. I think it odd that an alien looking for gods and an archeologist from a foreign university are finding the same things worthy of note.” He rose smoothly even though it hurt. He couldn't afford to look weak. “Perhaps it's time I had a little chat with Dr. Cruz.” Denman wrinkled his brow at Chavez. “Contact me if you find anything unusual, no matter how minor.”
“Affirmative. I'm on it.”
Chavez fingered a tiny crucifix attached inconspicuously to his silver wristwatch. Catholic, Denman noted. A very special kind of Catholic. His barracuda was on a witch hunt.
Chapter 9
Jessit winced when El'asai, the Malyan's staff physician, flushed his wounds with a light acidic spray. This was the easy part. They'd put him in the hole next. Never mind that it was a clear glass tube, it always felt like a rat hole when El'asai released the slurry of ketzels. The black oily worms were champion at cleaning out necrotic flesh. He only wished they weren't quite so unpleasant.
The finger-sized parasites deposited a green slime of antiseptic in their wake, medicating open sores and delivering a powerful pain reliever directly into the blood system. Perhaps he was wrong to criticize Rachel's plant medicine. In retrospect, the ketzels were far more dreadful.
Rachel. He should have insisted that she return with him, but it was too soon. He didn't yet understand what
The general nodded more to himself, slapping both hands on the conference table. “Put the girl in a dress and give her to Jessit with my compliments. Then find me these gods. We need to get to them before the Alturians do.”
***
Jack Chavez waited for Denman outside Sorinsen's office. When Denman stepped out of the conference room, they didn't acknowledge each other openly. Chavez simply fell into step with him, sidling up next to him like a prowling cat. His dark hooded eyes, veiled in perpetual shadow, didn't give away much.
Denman examined his manicure, never once glancing at Chavez. “What did you find out?”
“The girl is clean, sir. No criminal record, no inconsistencies.”
Denman's eyes narrowed into thin slits. “Why is it you don't sound convinced?”
Chavez grunted, scrunching his shoulders forward as if he were shaking off a coat. “I don't know. Maybe she's too clean. It's just a hunch I have.”
Denman scanned the corridor and motioned Chavez toward his office. He locked the door behind them after they entered. “Talk to me.”
Chavez pulled out a tattered little notebook. Denman sheltered a grin. His security chief preferred paper to electronics.
“She was adopted at three days old. Her Jane Doe mother gave birth in a small town hospital then literally disappeared into thin air. One minute she was nursing her baby, the next she was gone. Every single security camera in the hospital malfunctioned at once.” He showed him a photocopy of the Sedona Express. “It made the papers.”
“Who adopted her?”
“An archeologist and his wife. Raoul and Rubia Cruz,” he said, rolling his R s. “They're clean too.”
“You sound disappointed.”
Chavez shrugged. “A pretty girl like that…I expected to find a lot of boyfriends, maybe a little drug use. But it's like she's lived in a convent her whole life. No social life. No longtime friends. She doesn't even drink. I've got nothing suspicious.”
“Which is exactly why you are suspicious.” Denman sat down, feeling equally annoyed at Rachel's unremarkable life. “Who does she work for?”
“The University of Cairo is funding her expeditions. She's been working the Egyptian pyramids since graduate school, but when they found the cave drawings, they flew her here special.”
“The cave drawings. Jessit found them interesting too.” Denman's thoughts drifted. Did that mean something? Jessit had studied the symbols as if he could read them and ordered every inch of the petroglyph scanned and recorded.
“Get that inscription translated. I think it odd that an alien looking for gods and an archeologist from a foreign university are finding the same things worthy of note.” He rose smoothly even though it hurt. He couldn't afford to look weak. “Perhaps it's time I had a little chat with Dr. Cruz.” Denman wrinkled his brow at Chavez. “Contact me if you find anything unusual, no matter how minor.”
“Affirmative. I'm on it.”
Chavez fingered a tiny crucifix attached inconspicuously to his silver wristwatch. Catholic, Denman noted. A very special kind of Catholic. His barracuda was on a witch hunt.
Chapter 9
Jessit winced when El'asai, the Malyan's staff physician, flushed his wounds with a light acidic spray. This was the easy part. They'd put him in the hole next. Never mind that it was a clear glass tube, it always felt like a rat hole when El'asai released the slurry of ketzels. The black oily worms were champion at cleaning out necrotic flesh. He only wished they weren't quite so unpleasant.
The finger-sized parasites deposited a green slime of antiseptic in their wake, medicating open sores and delivering a powerful pain reliever directly into the blood system. Perhaps he was wrong to criticize Rachel's plant medicine. In retrospect, the ketzels were far more dreadful.
Rachel. He should have insisted that she return with him, but it was too soon. He didn't yet understand what
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