Free Lovers of the Galaxy: Book Three: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Trinity Blacio Page A

just trying to figure
out a couple of things. How are you feeling?”
    “I’m fine, but tired. Have you forgotten about the
passageways below us? Those might help you move around the city
more easily.”
    Venus handed her Gram a bottle of water and shook her
head. “Drink this—and what? Tunnels? Neither Dad or Mom ever
mentioned anything about city underground passages.”
    Her Gram nodded at the table. “Bring me your map.
I’ll show you the entrance to one of them. They were dug when
everything began to go crazy. The mayor wanted a way for people to
get out of the city in a hurry if the weather got any worse, or
other weird creatures attacked. After that first incident…” Grams
laughed. “You should have seen it. There was a big meeting in the
square. All of the sudden, behind the mayor three deformed skunks
showed up. I never laughed so hard. Not only did the skunks spray
the mayor, but they shoot out this nasty green crap. Little did we
know it paralyzed its victims. The mayor found out the hard way, he
was paralyzed for three hours. He should have listened to the
townspeople when we told him there was a population explosion of
skunks. Anyway, the mayor wasn’t taking any chances. I don’t know
how many corridors he finished, but I know the downtown area was
completed. Your mother told me about them, before…” She glanced
down at the bottle of water.
    Venus patted her hand. “Don’t worry about it, Gram.
It happened to most everyone. I’m just glad I have you back.” She
rose and checked the security relay box on the table, all green
lights across the board. She grabbed the atlas before she sat down
again. The Bone Eaters were quiet now after their earlier surprise.
Six of the male B.E.s had been killed when they’d attacked the
fence. One was brought in to study, but Venus felt that the smart
one had gotten away. She shivered again. Her nightmares were so
real.
    “It was too early for them.” Her Gram took another
drink of water. “They don’t start to move until it’s cooler or the
sun is low.” She placed the bottle on the floor. “Come, let me
see.”
    She spread the large chart out on her Gram’s lap.
“We’re here in the Fifth Fourth Bank.”
    Gram scanned the paper. “If I remember correctly, the
mayor had his office in the top of this building, didn’t he?” She
glanced up at Venus, who nodded.
    “Yep, we’re in it now. It was equipped with all the
latest appliances and things, so I made it my home.”
    “Good. Go down to the next floor below us by the back
stairs. If what your mother told me was true, there should be an
entrance here in the back of the walk-in safe. It should be behind
one of the big metal shelves.” Gram smiled.
    “The little weasel, the mayor, bragged to your mom
all the time about the hidden tunnels and government secrets. He
had his ‘own personal elevator’ to them. Do you know, before your
dad married your mother, the mayor actually proposed to her once?
Anyway…” She waved her hand and looked once more at the drawing.
“You’ll have to look for the switch to move the wall. Knowing how
he liked all the new toys and such, it has to be something stupid.
All the downtown tunnels come to the middle of the commons, here.”
She pointed to the town fountain’s location.
    “Why there?”
    “It was supposed to serve as an extra layer of
protection, but the Mayor didn’t inform any of the people of it and
kept if for himself. Under it there should be another storage room.
There were supposed to be supplies for over a thousand people, and
a larger tunnel leading out from there, past the edge of the city.
I don’t know if that one was finished before… Gram glanced up at
her. “Anyway, I don’t think Bone Eaters are smart enough to get
down there. Each tunnel had a special access code.”
    “I’ll be right back, Gram. I need to check
something.” Venus ran out of the room and down the back stairs to
where the mayor’s safe was located. She