The Last Narkoy: Gathow: Book 2 by Elizabeth Price (find a book to read txt) 📕

Danstu held up the com watch, smiling like a madman. “This is why I came to look for you. I need a way to reach people without having to track them down all the time. How many of these do we have and can we adjust them to work with the computers to know who is who?”

Dranium held his up to the light, nodding as he thought. “I believe they’re capable. I’ll get right on it,” he offered.

“Also,” Danstu spoke up before the man had a chance to get too far away, “how do I gain access to the main government building?”

Dranium shrugged. “The Capital building? To open the doors requires level five security clearance. You’ll have to talk to Sortec about that,” he mentioned.

Danstu grumbled under his breath. “I want to arrange a meeting of all the departments tomorrow. Have you started working on your list yet?”

Dranium nodded several times. He waved for Danstu to follow him down one of the aisles. “I managed to find an office down here, so I kind of took it over. Not that Sortec cares. As long as I work on fixing her systems, she ignores me,” he explained as they entered a rather spacious office, or at least it would have been if it wasn’t for several pieces of machinery and parts lying about. He cleared off a seat where several old manuals were being shelved and offered the seat to Danstu.

Over twenty different computer pads covered the top of Dranuim’s desk. He frantically searched through the computers, suddenly relieved to find the right one. “Here’s some of my list, to start. As you probably noticed, I don’t have a lot of free time—which is good. I don’t like to think.”

Danstu gave the man a questioning glance. “Have you been here awhile?”

“Only a few months. Sortec rescued me along with Zion, Evolanc… and, well, Garric. I don’t know why she keeps him around,” he admitted, his voice trailing off.

“Who is Garric?” Danstu questioned.

“Zion calls him Sortec’s pet. He was the Marisheio responsible for transporting us. He was also responsible for killing the other’s companion, um… Asa I think her name was.”

“Asa Daveric?” Danstu questioned.

“Yeah, yeah. She was some princess or something like that. I don’t know. I was mostly unconscious during it all,” he explained. “It was pure luck the Marisheio were transporting me that day. If it wasn’t for Sortec, I’m certain I only had days to live.”

From his desk, a small disk spun up into the air and remained hovering about a foot above Dranuim’s head. He reached up, snatching it out of the air without looking at it and quickly stuck it into a metal box on his desk. Two more jumped up into the air and hovered above Danstu. Dranium reached above Danstu, grabbing the disks. “Crazy things. I have no idea what they are yet, but they do seem to have a mind of their own. They’re either a highly sophisticated scanning device or a child’s toy,” he explained.

Danstu stood, tapping the computer pad with his forefinger. “Well, this has been… interesting. So, I’ll see you at 08:00 tomorrow.”

A loud noise brought Dranuim to his feet. He waved back to Danstu as he ran into the warehouse. Danstu followed, keeping his distance when he saw Dranuim and two other men attempting to hold down a four by six-foot crate from jumping around. He desperately wanted to know what was inside, but he had so much more to tend to.

Three quick turns and an uncomfortable walk back down the alleyway led him directly to another bank of elevators. He entered the elevator. As the doors closed, he could hear a small squeaking coming from the corner. To his surprise, a small gray tof was sitting in the corner, grooming his fur.

When the tof realized Danstu was on board, he rushed up his leg and perched on top of his head. Danstu struggled, attempting to get the tof off of his head. The doors opened to a mildly amused Sedom.

“Carwavo!” she scolded to the tof. She held out her arms and the tof jumped off his head onto her shoulder.

“Your pet, I presume?” Danstu questioned. He smoothed his stiff hands over his messy hair.

Sedom held back her giggles. “He was here when I came to the city,” she explained. “I see you’ve managed to figure out the elevators,” she mentioned.

“I needed to speak to Dranuim,” he said.

“He’s on level four, right?” she asked. Danstu nodded. “Thanks.” She continued on board.

Danstu slipped in right behind her before the doors could close. “Chadon, I’m arranging a meeting with all the department staff heads for tomorrow at 08:00. Would it be possible if you could attend?” he requested.

Sedom stared at him for a long moment, making him uneasy. The doors opened to level four again. “I don’t see why not. It certainly makes me curious. I wasn’t even aware we had any heads of any departments, let alone any departments. How many departments do we have?” she questioned.

“Eight,” he returned smugly.

“Hah,” she returned with an amused chuckle. She nodded, pleased at his accomplishments, as she walked on.

TWELVE

At 08:00 the next morning, Sedom peeked inside the boardroom. To her surprise, the monitors were all online and glimmering with images of Gathow. Up until two days prior, there was no power in this section of the city. Now it was as if Gathow was a functioning city again. Looking at her, no one could tell Sedom was surprised, but Lolum could because of her excessive blinking.

Eight people stood from around the table, five which she knew. A few years prior she would have had no problems standing in front of the table. Today, her legs quivered at the thought of having to speak. She adjusted the back