Page 7 of Stars in Umbra
‘Where am I?’ he rasped in Standard.
‘You’re on my parents’ farm,’ she murmured. ‘In Rambasa Province.’
He blinked, trying to sit up as the word clicked into place.
‘Dunia?’
‘Naam.’
She smiled. ‘Looks like you had a rough night. I found you here asleep in the hay when I came to feed and water the horses. I thought you were dead. Till I touched you and you freakin’ groaned. I almost jumped ten feet in the air, you scared me.’
‘Sorry,’ he grunted. ‘Didn’t mean to.’
Her eyes traveled over his face and head, pausing at the bandage.
‘Where did you come from?’
He tried to remember.
All he got were rushes of images tumbling into each other; the fall from an immense height, the iciness of the water, the chilling darkness.
His mind gave him nothing more.
Until an agonizing pain burst behind his eyes.
A pulse of light flared in the corner of his vision as a quietpingsounded within his skull.
As if written in mid-air, but only appearing in his mind’s eye, came a series of commands:
COORDINATES LOCKED.
RENDEZVOUS: 07:00 LOCAL.
OBJECTIVE: PHASE ONE INITIATION, ACTIVE.
PROCEED IMMEDIATELY.
He flinched.
How the hell did he have a neural interface buried inside his head?
As if by instinct, his hand flew to his head, to the bandage, and he understood.
There was no escaping his present reality.
He tried to rise, but his limbs refused to cooperate with him.
The pain was instant. His arms trembled. His legs gave out. He collapsed back into the hay with a hiss of frustration.
‘You’re too weak,’ she murmured, kneeling beside him. ‘You need food and rest. Then you can go on.’
He shook his head. ‘You don’t understand. I have to get going.’
‘Idounderstand,’ she muttered, her don’t-mess-with-me tone unbending. ‘You’re not OK. You might think you are, but your body says otherwise. I’m not letting someone die in my family’s barn, and certainly not an Iccythrian. Your folks are notorious for disappearing people just for glancing at them.’
He stared at her, marveled at the fierceness, the conviction, and a wall inside him cracked, just a little.
‘Wait here,’ she murmured.
