Page 312 of Seer Prophet

Chapter58

Contingency

Jon gasped, swaying under the slam to his light.

He got hit by an immediate echo as the wave knocked into Wreg at the same time it knocked into him. The double shocks disoriented him, knocking his equilibrium off center. Gripping the strap of the weapon he wore on his back, he dropped to one knee in the sand, putting out his free hand for balance as his vision flashed to white.

Most of the remaining members of their team stood and sat on the same stretch of dune, hunkered down about three clicks east of the outer edges of Dubai’s construct. Several went down on one knee on the sand like Jon. A few gasped and held their heads where they already crouched under organic structures meant to hide their presence from any surveillance that might fly overhead, including satellites.

They all wore camouflage, but only a few remained outside the tents.

Jon was one of those. So was Wreg.

They knew there was a good chance their presence would be picked up out here eventually, so the main goal was to hide their numbers, and to do their best to resemble a caravan of refugees in the event they were seen.

Since Bedouin still lived in pockets out here, in addition to the several refugee encampments left outside the Dubai wall, their presence shouldn’t raise any red flags, providing they didn’t do anything to gain the security team’s attention. Those locked out of protected cities were part of the landscape at this point, and not only in the UAE.

Even so, Jon wore a traditional, sand-colored robe and a white turban, both of which were surprisingly comfortable in the heat of day. The clothing still served multiple functions after dark, as the wind kicked up sand and the robes kept in his body’s warmth.

Now he found himself struggling with the unfamiliar clothing, however, fumbling to bring his rifle around through the folds of cloth as he rose back to his feet. He saw Wreg touch his headset as he did. He followed his mate with his eyes as Wreg moved further up the ridged dune, presumably to get a better signal.

“Adhipan.” Wreg growled the word.

Jon followed him along the crest of the dune, turning his headset to the same channel.

He heard Balidor’s voice right as he found the signal.

“I felt it,” Balidor confirmed.

“No shit,” Wreg snapped. “What the fuckwasthat?”

“The Sword,” Balidor said. “His light just spiked off the grid.”

“Where are they?” Jon said, cutting in.

“The Waterfront,” Balidor responded.

Wreg glanced at Jon, scowling.

Jon understood the meaning of the look.

He’d studied the maps along with the rest of them. Revik was all the way across the city, almost in a diagonal line from where he’d told them to wait, at the northeast edge of Dubai’s main wall. Even if they managed to get through the checkpoint at record speed, they were at least an hour out from where Revik was.

“Is Allie with him?” Jon said, turning his mind back to Balidor.

“Unknown,” Balidor said. “Her light hasn’t hit the construct. If she’s with him, she’s still operating under the radar. In theory, at least.”

“Or she’s incapacitated,” Wreg muttered.

“Or she’s incapacitated,” Balidor agreed.

“…And Menlim hacked his light,” Wreg added sourly.

“We all knew it was a possibility, my brother,” Balidor said.

His words were careful, but Jon felt the heaviness in the older seer’s light.

“What does Yumi think?” Jon said.

---