Timeless (The Cartographer Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he found it difficult to breathe. Unable to control himself, he fell to one knee, dropping his dagger in the process. Calypso and Hark-Kalech moved in cautiously, not taking their adversary for granted.
    “We don't plan on killing you yet,” Calypso assured him. “We have some questions that need to be answered.” Hark-Kalech uttered a menacing chuckle.
    Moro collapsed to the floor. The Insurgents had rolled the dice in the hope they could end the conflict before it blossomed into a full-scale war. They gambled on his ability to infiltrate the most difficult of areas and assassinate his targets with discrete precision.
    They had gambled and lost.

The Descent
    “ We are past the Harmus Asteroid Belt and are making our final approach to Gliese ,” Lianne announced over the loudspeaker.
    My eyes snapped open and I leapt out of bed. After grabbing my things, I hurried to the door, but in my haste I almost ran face-first into it. I was eager to see the planet from space so I sprinted to the observation deck. Luckily, it was located on the same floor as my room so it didn't take more than five minutes to get there. I did, however, bowl over two startled crewmembers in the process. Surprisingly, when I reached the observation deck, Gard and Kedge were already there.
    “ I have been here since the ship launched from the Gordian Knot ,” Gard explained, noticing my surprised look.
    Kedge shrugged. “What can I say? I'm a light sleeper.”
    The panoramic window was guarded by a railing to prevent people from falling between it and the area where the floor ended. I grabbed the railing and peered into the great beyond. The planet Gliese was just coming into view and it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. The resemblance to Earth was eerie. Continents lined the surface, split by vast oceans. White swirls of clouds covered most of the continents, and one in particular appeared to be the beginning of a hurricane. This is where the similarities ended. Unlike Earth, a purple metal ring surrounded it. The ring was wide, and when we approached it, I could see small satellites embedded in its surface. The view from the Stellar Horizon was breathtaking.
    “It sure is pretty from a distance,” Kedge muttered.
    There seemed to be something ominous in his tone. When I looked at him, his face was stony, as if in deep concentration. I had only seen that look once. He had that look when we were preparing to confront Calypso.
    “Is something wrong?” I asked.
    His knuckles formed white dots in contrast to the dark gray railing. He chewed on his bottom lip before answering. “Something just doesn't feel right.”
    Gard turned toward him. “ What do you mean ?”
    “I came across the Order of the Sun one time as the leader of the Lumagom,” Kedge explained. “We were short on supplies and had just lost a battle with the Defense Fleet. At the time, Gliese was a true neutral planet, pledging allegiance to no one. My desire at the time was to trade some of our excess technetium as well as our extra supply of yellow pearls from Exorg-7 for medical supplies, fresh food, and clean water. Their leader at the time, the Prophet Ereto, agreed to our terms rather quickly.” Kedge let go of the railing and ran his hand over his face, wiping a thin veil of sweat from his eyes. “They commanded us to remain in the bay where we landed. I thought it was strange at the time, but did as they asked. The docking bay connected to the other districts by monorail and at that particular moment a train had just rolled in from their Riverlands District. When the doors opened, several soldiers stepped out, guarding five people who were shackled hand and foot. They had forlorn looks and followed the soldiers reluctantly. When they passed me, they glanced at me, and I could have sworn I saw fear in their eyes. They boarded the train heading to the Temple of the Sun so I just wrote them off as prisoners, but later on, I learned they were actually slaves.