Sharon Ede www.magethenovel.com © 2023 all rights reserved
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NECRO FOUND HIS mother in the vault of the library, a smaller, separate room in the restricted section, where the classified annals of Nautilan history were kept.
There was an acrid smell of smoke, which he only recognised from his trips to Terra, as the use of fire — a form of Terran light — was banned in Nautila. Fire would cause serious injury to pale Nautilan skin just from exposure to flames.
Necro spotted the remnants of around a dozen books that had been recently burnt.
His eyes narrowed. He resolved to discover which books she had burnt and why later, but for the moment decided not to acknowledge what Nefaria had been doing.
Instead, he briefed her on the outcome of his Mumbai trip, including the exchange with The Jeweller, and his impending journey to a remote island in the frozen north.
‘She is shrewd,’ said Nefaria, with a hint of admiration. ‘Yes, so much so that she now has one of our more valuable assets, whereas I only have a piece of information to find what we need,’ said Necro ruefully.
‘She will follow her own interests, which will more than serve our purpose,’ observed Nefaria.
She motioned to Necro to approach her. ‘Now that we have ensured the release of only certain elements of Lightstone’s research, we have another, more pressing issue to contend with,’ she whispered. ‘The Terrans are working on a classified project far to the north, in the polar lands. Our intelligence has yet to confirm exactly what it is. However, it is a device that needs a large — one might say, extraterrestrial — power source.’
Necro grasped his mother’s meaning in an instant. ‘The Saturnian diamond — it must be! The Jeweller’s information is that a superconductor will be used for a project inside the Arctic Circle. Your intelligence says the Terrans have a top secret…
