The Star Plume Read Online Free PDF Page B

is no terror in a bang, only in the
anticipation of it,” said the Dark Spectrum.
    “No, your Excellency. No one acquired it from
her. Wrangler and the Princess escaped with the help of a Hybrid
star.”
    There was a long silence, during which the
guard waited. He was anxious. He had heard that guards had been
destroyed when they reported bad news to the Dark Spectrum. He
pressed against the wall.
    Finally, the Dark Spectrum replied: “Mother,
did you have to build it SO high?”
    The guard nodded and continued. “We don’t
know sir, where they have gone. We do know that Star Wrangler has
successfully used a Night Prism in the past.”
    The guard waited for instructions. Then he
heard:
    “The night is calling, I have to go. The wolf
is hungry, he runs the show. He's licking his lips, he's ready to
win. On the hunt tonight for love at first sting…Here I am…Rock you
like a hurricane…Here I am…Rock you like a
hurricane…111000010001010001010001010000101111000…”
    The guard turned and hurried away, relieved
not to be punished for the bad news he had delivered. He needed to
find the others and warn them. He had never heard the Dark Spectrum
so angry.
    *******

Chapter 7
    Igneous was nearly empty. The traders had
drunk their fill and returned to the Star Plume to ply their trade.
Dim blue light shone from gas lamps lining the slate walls. Usually
starlight lit the bar, but no more.
    Flo collected glasses and cups from the bar,
wiping the bar top with a dirty rag as she moved from one end to
the other. She skirted around an overturned chair and headed to the
back, her hands and arms full of dirty glassware.
    Per stuck his foot out from his table as she
walked by, nearly tripping her. She stopped in time, but one shot
glass flew from her grip, smashing to the floor with a crash. Per
spoke, his voice low with anger and want.
    “Wrangler didn’t even know that girl had the
Night Prism, did he? But he knew one was liberated. That’s why he
was here, wasn’t it. Who was it told Wrangler about the Night
Prism?”
    Flo gave him a sour look. She was tired of
Per and his brusque ways. But not many places would hire a woman
like her. She adjusted the load in her arms. Amber liquid dribbled
out of one half-empty glass, down her forearm. She nodded her head
toward the bar, directing Per’s attention to a lone trader sitting
in the shadows at the far end of the empty bar, slumped over, his
head on the stone, snoring softly. Several empty glasses lined up
along his head.
    Per scowled. “Breen? What would he know about
the Night Prism? He’s useless. Look at him, he’s addicted to Carbon
Tablets.”
    “I only know what I know,” Flo said, stepping
over Per’s legs and continuing to the back.
    Per lifted his significant weight from the
metal chair, which creaked as he stood, and lumbered to the bar. He
was a wide man, with a strong taste for sugar freight. A wide
forehead and large dark eyes gave him an air of foreboding, which
helped to keep the peace among the drunken Traders.
    Reaching the bar, Per grabbed Breen by his
not-insignificant shoulder and shook him awake.
    “Wake up, you addict. What do you know about
the Night Prism? How did that lady get a hold of it?”
    Breen stopped snoring and he snuffled his
discontent at the unexpected disturbance. His eyes squeezed more
tightly shut. He’d been dreaming of naked flying Princesses and did
not want to leave them unattended for even a moment. He tried to
pull his cowl over his head but Per grabbed his hand and shook him
again.
    “Fool, wake up or this is the last time you
drink in my bar.”
    His face still flat against the bar, Breen
opened his eyes to stare sideways at Per. Seeing Per’s glowering
face above him, never a good sign on waking, Breen lifted his head.
His eyes were bloodshot, his pupils wide from the Carbon Tablets
he’d washed down with the several punches he had consumed. He
cradled his head in his hands, his long dirty locks entwined in