The Starlight Lancer

Chapter 123: Tracking a Ghost

"The Nova Rim is so vast, with so many little crevices and corners so far out of the way of anyone who would ever bother to look. Some may try, many, even—but there's always more places to hide than there are people willing to look."

—Thief King Dandra Vyert on how he avoided capture for decades

The white blanket of the void receded from Zaina and Baeus's rental ship as they exited into regular space within Calkhor's orbit. The planet was gorgeous, a mixture of greens and blues, with the occasional tan patch of desert or silvery cluster of tundra.

"Calkhor," Baeus said. "A wayward place, to be sure."

"What's that mean?"

"It's hardly industrialized," he replied. "That's not such a bad thing by itself, mind you—but Calkhor's placement in its sector and lack of a native sentient species make it perfect for, let's say, invaders, specifically those from the criminal underworld."

A surge of anger flushed through Zaina's body and then dissipated. The last time she'd encountered someone from the criminal underworld, it hadn't gone well. "You think we'll find trouble?"

"We may, but I find it unlikely. Atlande isn't known to be a hub of that sort of activity. Though the Order tends to not know much about the comings and goings of the criminal underworld."

Zaina snickered.

"What's so funny?"

"You guys know so much about everything, but not that? Sounds like kind of an important blind spot."

Baeus sighed. "Call it what you will. We do try—we have informants on payroll in many different organizations, though most are like to give us bad information or none at all. We keep ears to the ground where we can."

"Still," she said, "it's weird, isn't it?"

"Well, it's not like they enjoy volunteering information. And it doesn't help that much of their history is oral, only told amongst trusted members. Besides, lancers have had little trouble in the past infiltrating whatever underworld scene they need to. That's our advantage—the underworld is much bigger, so it's easier for us to sneak through the cracks."

Zaina shrugged. "Well, my leg's out of commission, so let's hope it doesn't come to a fight."

Baeus gave her a concerned look. "I never hope it comes to violence."

They were close to landing by now, pulling toward a circular patch of dirt carved into the forest. There were numerous such dirt circles arranged in neat lines, though most others had a ship parked on them. Not far from that was a small settlement made up of haphazard wooden structures with thatched roofs.

That must be Atlande.

The ship landed atop the dirt, a softer touchdown than Zaina was used to; then, Baeus and Zaina departed. Once they stepped out, Zaina took a deep breath of the fresh, forest air—the crisp, minty scent of needle trees filled her nostrils.

A sad chord plucked at her heart. It smells like home.

Baeus's voice snapped her out of it. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, no, it's fine. Where are we going again?"

He chuckled. "It's a good thing I came along, isn't it? We're looking for Pilizara's Wellstop. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

She took in the small settlement—there were maybe ten total structures. Atlande made Demelia look high-tech. "Should we go building to building or ask a local?"