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Chapter 13
Sinclair MacNeal sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. The swivel chair tipped back until the seat
hit a 45° angle, and Sin s feet dangled in the footwell of his desk. Aside from the backglow of the
computer screen and the harsh glare of his desk lamp, the office he had been given in theLoricaTower
remained dark.
He closed his eyes for only a second as numbers scrolled up the screen, but he still saw the glowing
figures racing through his brain. No matter how many times he ran the numbers, the answers came up the
same. While that precision was to be applauded, the numbers it produced meant the expedition to the
dimension code-named Turquoise would be a lot tougher than they had originally imagined.
A penny for your thoughts, Sinclair.
Sin sat bolt upright and spun his chair around, narrowly avoiding a collision between his kneecaps and
the edge of the desk. Standing in the half-light, a vision of dreamlike seduction, Rajani smiled at him. Her
golden hair spilled over the shoulders of her light bluejacket. The padded shoulders helped emphasize her
slender waist, while the white blouse contrasted sharply with her jet-black flesh. Her gold-lozenge pupils
struck him as reptilian for a second, but her almond eyes and smile bore him no malice. Blue jeans and
white sneakers completed her casual outfit, yet on her it seemed elegant.
Sin smiled openly. You re thetelepath, you tell me what I m thinking.
Rajani shook her head. I only want to know if you want me to know.
Okay. Right now I m thinking you re a vision of beauty.
That broadened the smile on her face. She looked beyond him toward the computer. I sensed some
worry when I came in. Is something wrong?
Sin stretched and stood up. Not really. The place your father and Will Raven found is probably the best
we re going to do for a staging area for the invasion, it is stable, not overtly harmful and enough like Earth
that we can probably avoid giving our workers nightmares when they get there. For our people, it is close
to ideal.
He threw an arm over her shoulders and relished the warmth of her closeness. Sin steered her toward
the office s conversation alcove, then dropped onto the brown leather couch beside her. He put his feet
up on the coffee table, displacing a stack of printouts and leaned his head on the back of the couch. It s
perfect for our people.
Rajani tucked one leg under another and leaned back against the couch s padded arm at the other end.
Then there must be other problems or you would not be so disturbed.
Sin nodded. Nero Loring gave me the numbers on how much power we d need to actually activate the
dimensional gateway. It s the rough equivalent of having Hoover Dam running at full, which would be
great if Turquoise had a river we could dam and tap for power.
It doesn t?
Not even close.
But I thought my father said it had wind. Rajani s eyes glowed catlike in the shadows. We can use
wind-generators, can t we?
We can, we want 5000 of them running in a gale. Sin closed his eyes and rubbed wearily at his
temples. It s not quite that bad, but the breeze in Turquoise averaged five miles per hour, and we need
at least four times that to give us the minimum amount of power Nero thinks he needs.
He heard her shift around on the couch,then felt her gently tug on his shoulders. Come here, Sin. She
pulled him around and toward her, letting him stretch out on the couch. Her bent knees pressed gently
against either side of his chest as he lay back, and she slowly massaged his neck and shoulders. There
may be a number of solutions to this problem. Vetha has gone off to Plutonia to take a census of the
creatures there and, for all we know, they have some ability that will help us.
Sin slowly rolled his head around as her strong fingers unknotted his muscles. A bit lower and to the
left...yes, right there. Sure, from what Bat said about the Plutonians they ll makefine beasts of burden,
which cuts down on our need for heavy equipment. I don t think they have the technical skill to create
more efficient generators, though.
Not what I was thinking. There might be a seasonal change coming in Turquoise that will pick the wind
up. There might be a way to tap the energy of the Toussaud dimension. My father and Will are out
looking for more places to get the power we ll need.
Sin felt a shiver run through Rajani and brought his head up. You okay, kid? Your father will do fine.
I know, but that s not really what I m worried about. She traced the knuckles of her right hand down
his spine. You know why I went into stasis, right?
He nodded. You spent the time in isolation so you could attune yourself to Fiddleback and eavesdrop
on his thoughts. The fact that he got close to coming through inPhoenix last July brought you out early,
because he was very close and you picked him up. You re our secret weapon.
I may not be that much of a weapon, Sin. Rajani s fingers dug into his neck and worked over a stiff
muscle. What I don t like is that I ve been picking nothing up from Fiddleback lately. I have to assume
that when he s out of my range, he s plotting against us. We all know he cannot be trusted,then I get
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