Kill by Numbers: In the Wake of the Templars Book Two Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Loren Rhoads
an antique hand torch. Kavanaugh recognized it as the Imperial-issue torch he’d tripped over the day his men had opened the tomb. Revan’s men hadn’t left it behind; the Emperor’s had, when they imprisoned Raena Zacari there.
The documentary’s narrator was a spindly creature with a pinched mouth and oversized black eyes, as much a bug as the Templars had been. Kavanaugh could see that the barely restrained anger evident in his voice wasn’t feigned. “Did the Thallians steal or destroy the Templar Master’s body?” the narrator asked. “Wasn’t the genocide of the entire Templar people enough for them? Did they have to desecrate the lost people’s graves as well?”
Kavanaugh had another drink. He knew who had been in that tomb, because he had been the one to let her out.
He watched the documentary to its end, then watched it again from its very beginning. All throughout, it remained solely focused on the Thallians, blaming them and no one else for the desecration of the tombs. Kavanaugh, Sloane, and Raena Zacari were never mentioned.
Kavanaugh was tempted to call Sloane, to tell him to watch his back. If the Thallians had been able to trace the archaeological dig back to members of Kavanaugh’s crew—and thereby identify Sloane and find Raena—then others might be able to do so, also.
Except that Kavanaugh and Sloane weren’t on speaking terms any longer. Kavanaugh certainly owed the older man no more loyalty. Anyway, even if he did, he told himself he didn’t know how to go about reaching Sloane easily. He’d have to do his own searching around. It wasn’t as if Sloane wanted to be found by anyone other than Raena.
Kavanaugh skipped back in the documentary and watched the collapse of the Templar Master’s tomb again. Raena had rigged that, he was certain of it. It must have been in the interval between the time Kavanaugh’s men roused her and let her out of her prison cell and later that night, when she’d showed up outside their bunker and asked for Kavanaugh’s help to get off the tombworld. He hadn’t known where she’d gone in the meantime, but he’d assumed she had been attempting to steal their hopper. Sloane had trashed it to keep them planet-bound. Once she’d seen the damage, she would have known she couldn’t escape without help from above.
Now Kavanaugh understood what Raena had done to occupy herself in the interim. She’d set the booby-trap, knowing that the Thallians would follow her to the Templar tomb planet. As soon as she’d escaped her imprisonment, she was already scheming not to be taken back in again. The level of justified paranoia she'd perfected was inspiring.
Where, he wondered, had the video of the Thallians come from? While his men worked in the Templar tombs, Kavanaugh had known about the old Imperial surveillance cameras, but most of them were damaged by the constant gritty winds. At least, the few he’d bothered to test hadn’t worked. He wouldn’t have put it past Sloane to repair some of the cameras in order to spy on the looters in his employ, but why would Sloane release the footage of the Thallians on-world to the news? Why would he want to draw any attention to the looting at all? As a matter of character, Sloane was wily enough to keep himself beneath the radar.
Kavanaugh sped ahead to the credits of the documentary. Among the experts thanked were the crew of the Veracity .
That rang a bell. Kavanaugh keyed in a quick search and found the connection. The Veracity had been the first ship to pick up the distress call from Thallian’s homeworld. The Veracity had saved hundreds of lives, all the soldiers who had survived hidden for decades after Jonan Thallian took his Imperial warship into the depths of his home ocean and enslaved its crew. After all the Thallians were dead, the Veracity had been the ship to break the news of the collapse of the domes of Thallian’s underwater city.
Kavanaugh reached into the octagonal metal box on his desk.
The documentary’s narrator was a spindly creature with a pinched mouth and oversized black eyes, as much a bug as the Templars had been. Kavanaugh could see that the barely restrained anger evident in his voice wasn’t feigned. “Did the Thallians steal or destroy the Templar Master’s body?” the narrator asked. “Wasn’t the genocide of the entire Templar people enough for them? Did they have to desecrate the lost people’s graves as well?”
Kavanaugh had another drink. He knew who had been in that tomb, because he had been the one to let her out.
He watched the documentary to its end, then watched it again from its very beginning. All throughout, it remained solely focused on the Thallians, blaming them and no one else for the desecration of the tombs. Kavanaugh, Sloane, and Raena Zacari were never mentioned.
Kavanaugh was tempted to call Sloane, to tell him to watch his back. If the Thallians had been able to trace the archaeological dig back to members of Kavanaugh’s crew—and thereby identify Sloane and find Raena—then others might be able to do so, also.
Except that Kavanaugh and Sloane weren’t on speaking terms any longer. Kavanaugh certainly owed the older man no more loyalty. Anyway, even if he did, he told himself he didn’t know how to go about reaching Sloane easily. He’d have to do his own searching around. It wasn’t as if Sloane wanted to be found by anyone other than Raena.
Kavanaugh skipped back in the documentary and watched the collapse of the Templar Master’s tomb again. Raena had rigged that, he was certain of it. It must have been in the interval between the time Kavanaugh’s men roused her and let her out of her prison cell and later that night, when she’d showed up outside their bunker and asked for Kavanaugh’s help to get off the tombworld. He hadn’t known where she’d gone in the meantime, but he’d assumed she had been attempting to steal their hopper. Sloane had trashed it to keep them planet-bound. Once she’d seen the damage, she would have known she couldn’t escape without help from above.
Now Kavanaugh understood what Raena had done to occupy herself in the interim. She’d set the booby-trap, knowing that the Thallians would follow her to the Templar tomb planet. As soon as she’d escaped her imprisonment, she was already scheming not to be taken back in again. The level of justified paranoia she'd perfected was inspiring.
Where, he wondered, had the video of the Thallians come from? While his men worked in the Templar tombs, Kavanaugh had known about the old Imperial surveillance cameras, but most of them were damaged by the constant gritty winds. At least, the few he’d bothered to test hadn’t worked. He wouldn’t have put it past Sloane to repair some of the cameras in order to spy on the looters in his employ, but why would Sloane release the footage of the Thallians on-world to the news? Why would he want to draw any attention to the looting at all? As a matter of character, Sloane was wily enough to keep himself beneath the radar.
Kavanaugh sped ahead to the credits of the documentary. Among the experts thanked were the crew of the Veracity .
That rang a bell. Kavanaugh keyed in a quick search and found the connection. The Veracity had been the first ship to pick up the distress call from Thallian’s homeworld. The Veracity had saved hundreds of lives, all the soldiers who had survived hidden for decades after Jonan Thallian took his Imperial warship into the depths of his home ocean and enslaved its crew. After all the Thallians were dead, the Veracity had been the ship to break the news of the collapse of the domes of Thallian’s underwater city.
Kavanaugh reached into the octagonal metal box on his desk.