[LEGACY VERSION] The Enemy of Time (Book 2 - The Kaireyeh Chronicles)

Chapter 26 - Talina, Landon, Damon, Barenin

In the mess hall of the Resistance ship, Talina's guards pushed her toward an empty seat at a back table, not bothering to be nice about it. She wanted to curse at them, but she wasn't an idiot. So she sneered, which was about the best she could do with her hands shackled in front of her. Her gaze flitted downward. Or maybe she could give the male guard a swift kick to the groin. Put Lovich's lessons to use.

She sat and looked up to see Luc's eyes on her as he came around the other side of the table to take his own seat for the meeting of the Resistance Council.

In her cell in the brig, Luc--Landon--had explained between her bouts of shouting at him that they'd had to brig her. No one knew who the enemy was, and she'd hooked up the Kaireyeh engines--never mind that she'd been given orders by Campa and had them confirmed, and never mind that her following those orders had gotten them out of a scrape. Even if they were now travelling in Kaireyeh.

Talina suppressed a shiver. Her nerves were on edge, and she didn't think it was just the screwed up situation. Kaireyeh travel did things to people. It could heighten emotions, make people a little crazy.

Luc had told her to be patient. She was an outsider here. But whatever had happened, he'd said, they'd get to the bottom of it.

Now, Luc gave her a tight nod and turned as someone sat down beside her.

Talina glanced over, and her attention snapped to the man beside her. He tilted his head and met her gaze, his pale gray face expressionless.

Alexi? The one they'd brought back in a coma?

"Damon," he said, as if correcting her.

Talina's eyes widened and she swore. She'd seen Landon's son a few times since he'd decrypted, but she'd only known who he was from the scuttlebutt of the crew. They'd said he looked like Alexi, and they'd been spooked by it. She'd chalked it up to the usual superstitions of a ship's crew--the man they'd brought back from Andavar had been deathly pale, his hair silver. After decryption, Damon had been olive-skinned, his hair black. She hadn't seen the resemblance.

But she looked now into golden eyes--not amber, but sharp, metallic gold. He was pale gray, his hair metallic silver, but she could see the features that had been olive before. Worse was his utter lack of expression. Talina didn't know Damon beyond what she'd seen at Andavar and the days after, and they'd all been at their worst then. But she couldn't imagine the timid slave they'd bought in the market at Andavar as this man who projected such casual intensity.

Damon's attention shifted from her as someone sat on his other side, at the head of the table. She'd have thought the newcomer was Damon if she hadn't just been told otherwise.

The man nodded and gave her a tired smile. "Talina. It's good to meet you, and thank you for helping us escape from Andavar."

This was Alexi. Talina felt cold prickle up her arms. She didn't know what the Void was going on here, but she wanted off this ship.

Campa breezed in with the rest of the Resistance Council, and anyone still standing took their seats. Campa took her place beside Luc, directly across from Talina.

Talina debated whether she should ask the captain to take the cuffs off, but bit her lip. Campa had given her the order to connect the Kaireyeh drive, and it was likely Campa who had ordered her arrest. This was, as her mother would say, "a time best used by biding it."

Campa held up her hands, and the trickle of conversation quieted. There were nine people around the table; some Talina knew, some she didn't. Luc had said this would be a Council meeting to understand what had happened at the Countess' station, but would it also be her trial? Did the Caelians need a trial before they convicted someone?