Free Hammer of Time (The Reforged Trilogy) by Erica Lindquist, Aron Christensen Page B

else. Somewhere with the rest of the Devourers… With the Arcadians she had gathered from Mir and who knew how many other planets. A terrible thought occurred to Maeve, but she could not say it to Gripper. It would only compound the poor young alien's pain. She resolved to ask Logan about it later.
    The intercom light flashed on and Maeve heard Duaal's voice, but could not make out a word he said. She slid from the workbench, went to the speaker and held down the button. "Please say that again. Louder."
    She had to lean close to hear over the noise of the laboring engine. "We're heading back to New Hennor to get Panna," Duaal said, enunciating each word. "Should be there in about twenty minutes."
    Maeve promised to be in the cargo bay by then to help retrieve the other Arcadian and returned to Gripper. "Do you wish to stay here?" she asked.
    "Yeah," he said. He wiped his eyes and nodded. "I… I should start on the repairs, I guess."
    Maeve embraced Gripper and made her way down to the cargo bay. Logan and Xia were already there. Maeve's stomach felt made of lead, heavy and toxic. "How many do you think were aboard the Oslain'ii when it burned?" she asked.
    "Probably just the pilot," Xia said. "Why?"
    "You do not think that any Arcadians recruited from Mir were on the ship?"
    "No," answered Logan. "The Oslain'ii wasn't big enough. It was expensive, but meant for personal use. There's only room for maybe ten or twenty Arcadians, even if they crowded in. And that only works for a short flight. Calathan was only there to talk, I'd bet, to get them primed for the real pickup."
    Maeve hoped that Logan was right. "That would mean that another larger ship must be nearby," she said. "Not far from Sunjarrah."
    The Blue Phoenix landed suddenly and sent a jolt up Maeve's spine. Black carbon scoring streaked the viewport, obscuring the view until Xia opened the airlock. Duaal had set down not far from where they landed only a little over an hour before. It was darker now, a deep blue-green twilight, but there were the dilapidated settlement houses, the collapsing common building and the withered cornfield.
    But there was something new. Several, Maeve saw when she stepped from the Blue Phoenix. Three banded police cars, with lights flashing on top, and a fourth vehicle that she didn't immediately recognize. It was only when Logan paused and frowned that Maeve looked again and read the letters stenciled on the larger, darker vehicle's side: CWAAF.
    "They came!" Xia exclaimed.
    "Gripper's call finally went through," Logan agreed. He did not sound pleased.
    "Is this not what we wanted?" Maeve asked. "The authorities are here."
    Logan's gaze remained fixed ahead. He stalked toward the compound. Maeve and Xia hurried to keep up.
    The police had rounded up what seemed to be every Arcadian living outside New Hennor. The winged fairies huddled together beside one of the broken-down gray houses, surrounded by armed and scowling police. The Arcadians kept their blonde heads down and murmured to one another. Maeve was not close enough to make out the words.
    Panna stood to one side, flushed in the flashing police lights and arguing with a tall Ixthian woman in a neat green Alliance uniform and a starkly white braid falling down her back. When Panna saw Maeve, she broke off and called out.
    "Can you please talk to the lieutenant?" she shouted. "Tell her what happened!"
    The CWAAF officer turned to Maeve, but looked right over the small fairy's head and nodded to Logan and Xia. "Good evening," she said. "I'm Lieutenant Xal. We came out on a disturbance alert, but the call was dropped before we arrived."
    "That was Gripper," Xia told the other Ixthian. "We had to leave before he could talk to you."
    "We found an Arcadian body next to a scorch mark in that field there," Xal said. "Are you telling me you left a murder scene before the police arrived?"
    "That knight was not the only one here!" said Maeve.
    "There was a Devourer, as well, and another