He topped a ridge and looked around, in awe of the wonder of nature. Even Alvia Prime hadn’t been able to match this new planet for the sheer vastness of its open spaces and the majesty of its vistas. Then again, Alvia Prime had many more people living on its surface before it was destroyed. Now all those souls were scattered across the galaxy, trying to colonize a handful of worlds that were capable of supporting their unique needs.
When he felt the first of the sensors, Grady Prime made the conscious decision not to hide his approach. Coming in openly was a risk, but a calculated one. Prime Past already knew someone was on the way due to the Patriarch’s interference so the element of surprise was out. Grady Prime also had a history with the people he’d last seen living in the belowground complex. If they were still there—and he thought it likely they were—he’d gain more by approaching openly than by trying to sneak up on them.
Decision made, Grady Prime sought out the sensors. He deliberately tripped the heat and motion detectors, then smiled and waved to the miniscule cameras. If anyone was monitoring the system, they had to know by now that he was on his way to pay a call.
He liked the challenge of finding all the well-camouflaged sensors and cameras. The game was afoot as the human detective Sherlock Holmes would say. He’d enjoyed reading the adventures of the mythical sleuth when Mick O’Hara loaned him the books. Now that he had emotions, he found true joy in testing his tracking skills, and in the game itself. If his grin for the cameras was a little wider than a normal Alvian’s, well, that couldn’t be helped. He was having fun. Fun! It was a new and thrilling concept.
Grady Prime got about ten yards from the hidden cave entrance before the greeting party made itself known.
“You have a hell of a nerve showing up here again, Grady.” Michael, one of the human mates of Jaci 192, stepped out from behind a boulder, a weapon pointed at Grady Prime’s heart.
“I gave you enough warning. I wasn’t trying to sneak in. Thanks for coming to meet me.”
“This isn’t a welcoming party. This is a get off our land and don’t come back meeting.” Jaci’s other mate, David, moved in from the side, flanking him. Grady Prime held his hands up, palms outward in a show of peace.
“I need to talk to someone I think may be living with you.”
“Son of a bitch.” It was David that spoke, lowering his weapon slightly. “You can feel.”
Grady remembered this man had healing talent and some empathy. He was no doubt sensing Grady’s feelings of exhilaration, trepidation and sheer joy in the hunt.
“As your mate recommended, I took the treatment. Officially, I’m retired from active duty. Unofficially, I’ve been sent to find a former Prime I believe may be hiding out with you.”
“Don’t you mean you were sent to kill me?” A new voice spoke as the man in question strode boldly from the cave entrance.
Grady Prime was shocked to see how Prime Past had gone native. He dressed, walked and even sounded like a human. Even his pale blond looks no longer set him apart as Alvian. Long hair masked his pointed ears and his pale skin had started to tan with exposure to this planet’s yellow sun.
“I was,” Grady agreed easily, earning new vigilance from the two humans who raised their weapons once more. “But like you, I’ve got a mind of my own now. I came to talk to you, Sinclair Prime Past.”
“Call me Bill.”
Grady Prime shouldn’t have been surprised, he supposed, that the Council’s best assassin had reinvented himself. He was well trained to blend in to whatever came his way. He’d outdone himself in this case. Grady Prime wasn’t sure he would have recognized him had he run across him in the open.
“Bill.” He tested the name on his tongue and found it strong. “The Patriarch hinted I might find you here.”
Bill held his hands out to his side and shrugged. “Found me you have. Speak your piece, Grady.”
“The Council wants you dead.” Grady Prime’s voice was harsh in the light of day. “But you already knew that. They sent me to kill you, but I’ve had much time to think and to talk with your brethren, especially Ronin Prime. What I seek is your knowledge, not your death.”
“If that’s the case, then be welcome. I’ll talk with you, but I won’t put my friends in danger. I want your word that nothing about our location or this facility will make its way into your report.”
“You have it.” Grady Prime relaxed a little, letting his weariness show. “At this point, I’m not even sure I’m going back. I find it hard to live among them now. Even harder than it was before.”
Bill walked over and put a hand on Grady Prime’s shoulder, surprising everyone with the compassion in his gesture. “I understand, brother. Let’s talk and we’ll see what strategy we can devise. You may yet be able to do much good from within Alvian society.”
A short conference between Dave, Mike and Bill ensued, during which it was decided that Grady would be given access to the facility on a limited basis. As they walked to the cave entrance, Grady felt the animosity coming off the human men. He’d have to make an effort to show them he wasn’t the same man who’d hunted them down and captured them so many years ago.
“I hope your Jaci is well,” he began hesitantly. The human men gave him dirty looks, but Bill seemed surprised.
“You know about her?”
“I’ve been here once before, when they sent me after her,” he admitted to his fellow soldier. He was very conscious of the humans listening as they all walked. “I found the three of them in a hot spring some way into the mountain. They Hummed so sweetly, it made my heart stutter. That was what decided me to take the treatment. I have to thank you for that, David and Michael. I also have to apologize for capturing you those many years ago, though you have my admiration for your evasive skills. I remember that mission more than any other. You were worthy opponents and earned my respect.”
“You still caught us,” Michael said in disgust. “We must not have been that good.”
“Oh, I assure you,” Grady chanced a smile, “you would have gotten away had it not been for the snow. I had the advantage in such weather.”
“But you came after us on foot. You didn’t have a ship to protect you. We figured the odds were even,” David spoke at Grady’s side.
“Our higher body temperature allows us to move more quickly in cold weather, with less protective gear. Surely you’ve noticed Bill only wears a thin coat in the cold?”
“I thought that was so he could—” Michael broke off and looked at Bill apologetically.
“It’s all right. Since he’s been working with my men and the Patriarch to find me, I think he knows I can fly. Don’t you?” Bill shot him a knowing look.
“I do,” Grady admitted. “And you have my admiration for that ability.”
Bill only shrugged off the compliment as they entered the tunnel that would ultimately lead to the underground facility. Grady had been here before, but he’d never been as far inside as they were going to take him now. He was eager to see what the humans had built—both the facility that had been wrought before the crystal bombardment and what the current occupants had done with it.
The tunnels were as he remembered them, twining around the mountain as if following ore deposits. In all likelihood the outer section of this facility had probably started as a mine and only later turned into the underground city that Grady assumed he would find below.
He wasn’t disappointed. When they rounded the final curve, well past the grotto where his search had ended before, Grady saw a massive steel door standing open. Through the doorway he could see a very large manmade corridor that terminated in another steel blast door.
As they walked along the corridor into the facility proper, Bill walked beside him making conversation.