She was slimmer in build compared to the Balcoans but a similar height to most Balcoan women, and hopefully people would see what they wanted to see. Their clothes were both dark and utilitarian, although her jacket had Eazi’s crystals on them.
She swung back onto the vehicle and turned it toward the base, taking a moment to study the lay of the land before she moved forward.
“You’re going back?” Eazi asked.
“I can’t stay out here, and there’s no rescue in my immediate future. I’ll try to get Baruke and hide until there’s someone close enough to come get us.”
“I don’t like it, but you’re right. You can’t stay out here. You don’t have any water and even if the anti venom did work on you, you don’t have any.” Eazi did not sound happy.
“I look enough like Vira from a distance to get back into the base,” Fee assured him.
“Be careful,” Eazi whispered as she revved the engine and then started flying back.
Up ahead she noticed the runners were moving down from theUnhilagain and she guessed they’d finished reattaching the cables.
Any moment now, the big battleship would begin to lift the frame. Or try to.
That might be a very good time—while everyone’s attention was elsewhere—to sneak back into the base and find Baruke.
CHAPTER 40
“One of theGrihan rescue team runners has managed to break cover. I’m watching them from the drone. They’re headed for the base while it looks like the other group is keeping the Balcoans distracted.” Eazi’s voice came just as Fee was parking the mover next to the other two sitting near the base’s desert landing pad.
She swung off the seat, keeping her head down, and strode to the top of the amphitheater stairs.
“Where are they headed?” she asked, pausing to look out across the desert before she swung down the steps.
“The original plan was to make entry at the air tunnel entrance and infiltrate the base to extract you,” Eazi told her.
Someone near the landing pad hailed her, and she waved an arm and began to jog down the stairs, trying to look like she was in a hurry.
Which she was.
She reached the bottom, relieved she’d managed it without meeting anyone on the way up.
She thought she heard Nukolo call Vira’s name, and hoped he thought she just hadn’t heard him as she crossed the amphitheater and pulled open the base door.
“I think I have to make sure Baruke is here first before I head down the air tunnel again,” she murmured in English to Eazi. “Can you ask them to wait for me outside?”
“I’ll try.” Eazi cut out.
She kept the scarf on as she headed left. Kilmar had implied there was lens feed in the med bay, so hopefully she’d fool any watchers into believing she was Vira for a little longer using her disguise.
She lifted a hand and pulled the silver rod out of its holder but didn’t flick it to extend it yet.
There were a few rooms off the passageway here, and she opened one up, gripping the rod nervously as the door swished aside, only to find an empty office.
She stepped back and ignored the others, looking for the wider double doors that most med bays seemed to have.
When she found it she paused for a moment, steeled herself, and then stepped up to activate the auto opening.
Inside, on a raised bed, was Hi-Lan Baruke, lying quietly, eyes closed, hooked up to numerous machines. The steady hum of equipment was the only sound.
Okay. This was a problem.
She moved toward him, her gaze sweeping the room, but it looked like he was alone.
She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “Baruke.” She kept her voice low, but he didn’t so much as stir.
