The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(100)

‘That is great! I can pick up some plant specimens there for research,’ Nilo said.

Nilo was obviously excited, but the gang and I were surprised at his choice of words. We knew very well that while Nilo may be an accomplished botanist, he wasn’t joining the mission just to pick up a few plants. No. There was more to it. We preferred that he say he wanted to use his awesome projection skills and perhaps to tick off Zane even a little bit. That would have better matched his youthful impetuosity.

Still, the die was cast. Nilo knew now. If we cut him off now, he could go blabbing to King Trazuline. He was our only hope. We had to keep him close.

I saw Liam lean over to him and I heard him hiss, ‘I will be watching you like a hawk.’ Liam always issued few words, and they usually were to instill fear.

‘Stop it, Liam.’ Mariah walked in between to two. She softly spoke, ‘We’re all in this together. Either we trust each other, or we do nothing. Clear?’

‘I guess,’ Liam grumbled, still glaring at Nilo.

Nilo stood passively, still beaming like a dog holding a leash in its mouth to go out for a walk. He obviously wasn’t deterred.


Lincoln spoke, resigned. ‘Okay, so one thing you need to know about me, Nilo, is that I crunch numbers. I need to know what you bring to the table, so that I can find a way to fit you in.’

‘I am a Rangier. I can project images. My skill is confusion and distraction. Plus, I am a semi-experienced pilot,’ Nilo said.

‘Okay, I need a moment to figure this out. Wait, I have an idea. We leave tonight, and here’s how,’ Lincoln said and that was it.

“Cool! I was elated beyond anything else. We were finally going to make our move, and only in a few hours. As we huddled like a football team, Lincoln let us in on his mastermind agenda. It was a rough start to a smooth plan, and at the same time, a smooth transition into rough times ahead. That doesn’t make sense. Whatever! Let me tell yah, it was intense.”

“That was a great story. You will have to tell me sometime about the sand surfing competition, but now our meeting is over. Guard. Take the prisoner back to his cell,” the warden says. I leave behind my befriended guard, and head back to my cell.





19 LINCOLN: KARSHIZ





“I was the missing Linc. That was what they called me.”

We were so woven into the time continuum—now the playground fought over between Zane and Odion—that all we did, right down to a sneeze, affected everything.

The sand whips of Karshiz were dying down, and the red star found cover behind the planet’s body. I could not believe that Dan brought that outsider into our group. I didn’t think that he would have taken Mariah seriously about recruiting a Rangier. I fit him in adequately. I told Liam to monitor him regardless.

With the sand whips absent, the visibility of our actions needed to be disguised by the projections of Nilo.

Sand whips were like miniature whirls of sand. They were slightly larger than dust devils, but not as threatening as a sandstorm. I was tickled to see that they were dying down, because even during the several minutes en route to Trazuline’s palace, they were enough to leave a layer of dirt in my nostrils.

Today’s scheduled meeting of Trazuline’s executive council began, and so did our plan. Everyone knew their part. The pinnacle of our mission was to escape undetected, so that we would have more time to put distance behind us before anyone could chase us.

Our plan hinged on one major contribution from our new recruit, Nilo. We needed a masterful projection from Nilo to mask our escape ship’s status, because from where the captain was attending to his mistress, there was a possibility that he could see us approaching his ship, the ZF-Targine. While there were dozens of other ships docked close by, we preferred the ZF-Targine, because we obtained a familiarity with it when we boarded it from the Uriel to land on Karshiz. We needed as much comfort as possible given our newness to this universe.

As if on cue, Nilo approached our sleeping quarters.

He hissed to the three guards in our area. ‘I’m taking them in personally to train at the Amphitheatre.’

‘We will assist you.’ One of the guards stepped forward, challenging his authority.

‘Trazuline sent me,’ he scowled at them, quickly swooping his hand from waist level to head level in a show of anger. ‘Now vamoose!’

Cowered, the three guards walked away, looking over their shoulders as they did so.

We were jubilant at Nilo’s stature in this palace. He was really vital for our mission. Perhaps it was a good idea to enlist him after all. After we rallied our gear, we looked as we should—warriors equipped for a battle. We failed at trying to be inconspicuous, but we did not have to worry about that now.

We split up into two groups: Dan, Liam, and Nilo in one, and Mariah and I in the other.

Nilo didn’t have our full trust, and that left us extremely on edge. A part of me believed he was the one contracted to kill Theodore. Thus, Dan and Liam, being the bigger guys, could probably take care of him, physically if need be.

‘Godspeed,’ I said to the other group.

‘Good luck,’ echoed Dan and Liam.

‘If anything happens to us, well…’ Mariah started, but composed herself. ‘I just want to say that I love all of you.’

‘Not to worry.’ Dan grinned. ‘We’ll make it.’