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.“Easy.We just ask.”“Excuse me!” I cal ed, jogging up to the elf, who jumped and gave me a nervous look over the tangle ofcomputer wires.His huge black eyes, with lines of green numbers scrolling across, whirled anxiously.“Diode,right? I was wondering if you could help me.”The hacker blinked, shuffling his feet.“Glitch has informed us that we are not to engage you oldbloods inverbal communication,” he said in a nasal voice.“I just have a question.” I smiled at him, hoping to make him less nervous.It only succeeded in making himsquirm more.Sighing, I held up the rowan branch.“I found this by the oak tree.Do you know what it is?”Diode narrowed his eyes.“That is a sorbus aucuparia, more commonly known as a European mountain ash,or rowan tree.Yes, most of the natural flora and fauna has since been overtaken by ferrous influences, butthere are a few places where you can find them stil clinging to their natural state.”I understood only half of what he was saying, but got the general idea.“Where?” I asked, and Diode blinkedagain.“The nearest stand of sorbus aucuparia is two point seven miles due west from the tower,” he said, nodding inthe general direction.“Of course, you won’t be able to see it, being forbidden to leave the compound and all.Oh my!” He stepped back from me, and his eyes whirled.“You’re not planning to escape, are you? Glitch willfind out, and the trail would lead back to me, and I’d be an accomplice to a crime.Please tel me you’re notplanning an escape.”“Relax, I’m not planning an escape.” Not entirely a lie, since he just told me to tell him that, rather than asking me if I was.But it must’ve worked, because he breathed a relieved sigh and relaxed.“Well, that’s nice, but I have to get back to work.” The hacker elf backed up, nearly tripping over his own feet, and gave me a shaky smile.“I have to…be somewhere else now.It was…um…goodbye.” Clutching hiscables, he fled into the ruins.“Did you two hear that?” I asked as Puck and Ash appeared behind me.Ash made a thoughtful noise andcrossed his arms.“Three miles due west,” he murmured, gazing after the fleeing elf.“Not far, but do you think it’s wise to let him go? He might run straight to Glitch.”“Then we should move fast.” I checked my sword and my armor, making sure al were in place.“We’re gettingout of here, now.”Puck’s eyes gleamed.“Need a spectacular diversion of some sort, princess?” he asked.“No, let’s not burn any bridges before we have to.” I started into the ruins, looking for a certain flight of stairs that would take us where we needed to go.“We might want to come back here, and I don’t want to fight ahorde of angry rebels because you blew up their base or something.We’re sneaking out nice and quiet.”“Um, but if we’re sneaking out, shouldn’t we be looking for the back door?”“Hide.” Ash suddenly grabbed my arm and pul ed me behind a pil ar, crushing me to his chest, as Puck dovebehind a rock pile.A split second later, Glitch appeared on the far side of the room, with Diode at his heels.“I don’t know, sir,” Diode was saying.“But it seemed suspicious.You don’t think she’s planning an escape, doyou? She told me she wasn’t.”“That doesn’t mean anything,” Glitch said.I could feel Ash’s heart against my palm, though he had goneperfectly stil , hardly breathing.“You haven’t met a human in your life, Diode, so you don’t know that they’re al capable of lying through their teeth.”Diode gasped, and Glitch blew out a long breath, running his hands through his spines.“It might not beanything,” he said, as they continued walking.I held my breath as they passed behind our pillar.“But go aheadand find her, all the same.The last thing we want is that girl throwing herself under the false king’s wheels.”“Of course, sir.” Their voices faded as they continued into the ruins and out of sight.Puck popped up from behind the rubble.“If we’re gonna leave, we should do it soon.Like, now.Beforesocket-head figures it al out.”“This way,” I hissed, and we hurried on.After a few more close cal s, I finally saw the base of the stairs to the tal est landing, the one that gazed out over the plateau.Unfortunately, it was also guarded by a burly dwarf with a mechanical arm and an iron-tippedspear.Several hacker elves crouched nearby, repairing wires and other electronics.“Want me to take them out?” Ash muttered as we crouched in the shadows [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]