The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

As inconspicuously as I could, I removed the chain from the U-bolt. Several links clinked against each other and the guard on my right glanced my way. I ignored him, my gaze on the door, as if waiting like everyone else for Julius’s next witness to be revealed.

When he was no longer looking at me, I switched the chain to my left hand and placed my right on the door. It moved fractionally but thankfully made no sound. Tension ran through me, and I barely restrained the desire to just get the hell out of the cage.

Footsteps began to echo in the hallway beyond—one set strong, the other less so. My gaze switched to Dream. There was just the slightest flicker of unease running through her expression, but she didn’t look ready to run.

“You cannot keep bringing in witnesses without previous approval of the court, Chief of Home Securities or not.” Her voice held just the slightest hint of rebuke. “This is an unwarranted action and the speaker should—”

“I cleared my actions with the chancellor before this trial began,” he replied equably. “And she is the only authority in this court that I have to answer to.”

Dream spun around. “Is this true? What game is being played here?”

“No game but justice,” Karlinda replied. Though her back was to me, I didn’t need to see her face to envisage her contempt. It was very evident in those four words.

“I wish to lodge an official protest—”

“So noted,” Karlinda replied calmly. “Now please remain quiet until the next witness arrives.”

Dream’s gaze narrowed but she swung away from the chancellor and returned her attention to the door. But the first people through were guards. They walked up to the dais and silently moved around it, until it was completely surrounded. Three then moved up the stairs and stood either side of Karlinda.

The murmuring got louder, Dream’s unease stronger.

Her fingers were flexing and the foul caress of magic began to stain the air.

She’s gathering her magic, I warned Jonas.

She won’t be able to do much, he said. Not with the spells around this room.

Are you sure of that?

Nuri is.

The footsteps drew ever closer, until, without any sort of fanfare, Nuri stepped into the room.

And with her was Hedda Lang.

She was pale, gaunt, and so unsteady on her feet that she continued to lean on Nuri, but it was unmistakably her.

“Now what game do you play?” Dream snapped, even as her fingers began to move faster. The threads of foulness were gathering around their tips, gradually forming a pulsating ball not dissimilar in feel and look to the shields that protected her rifts.

“No game,” Julius replied, as half the guards surrounding the platform turned and raised their guns, covering Dream as much as protecting Karlinda and the speaker. “Although I, the Department of Home Security, and even Karlinda herself, have certainly been the targets of a most heinous one.”

“I don’t like what you’re implying, Chief Director,” she said, as her fingers stilled. “I have given the department nothing but the utmost loyalty for the majority of my life, even at the cost of my own personal life. I will not have you besmirch my reputation by bringing this wretched look-alike—”

“I am no look-alike,” Lang said, as she and Nuri stopped beside Julius, “and I’m willing to take whatever tests are necessary to prove it. Are you, dear impersonator?”

Dream’s eyes narrowed, and the ink-like foulness she’d gathered to her fingertips began quivering, as if it was about to be launched.

Jonas, warn Nuri Dream has gathered what I presume is some sort of energy weapon to her fingertips.

“Usurping my life and keeping me prisoner is one thing,” Lang continued. “But you also attempted the same on my sister, and for that I cannot forgive you.”

“This is insanity itself!” Dream’s voice held an edge. “Chief, I demand you provide whatever proof you might have for believing this charlatan, or stand aside and let this court proceed.”

“As you wish,” Julius said. “Control, play the tape.”

A light screen shimmered into existence. On it was a rather luxurious bed; in that bed was Karlinda. For several seconds there was no sound other than Karlinda’s soft snores. Then somewhere beyond the camera’s range came the sound of a door swishing open, and then Hedda Lang appeared on screen. She walked across the bed and for several seconds simply stared down at the woman who was her sister. Then she drew a syringe out of her pocket, gently pulled Karlinda’s right arm from under the sheets, and withdrew blood—blood she subsequently squirted into her mouth.

A riot of denials erupted. Dream didn’t move, didn’t twitch. Her face was hard and her eyes narrowed. She was ready to move—to react—and yet still she waited.