Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📕

“Are the Aku nearby?”

“No. Lower.”

“In the mines?”

“Yes. Aku mine and fix stuff. Lumar protect and fight. But not fight now.”

“Right,” Chelsey agreed. “No fighting now.”

“Fight soon. Zuul. Not these Zuul.”

“Right.” Chelsey patted the arm closest to her. “These Zuul are Silent Night.”

“Silent Night and Big Strong Fist same contract.” The translator managed to convey the satisfaction in the Lumar’s words. She watched the Lumar talk. It wasn’t like a slow or mentally challenged Human; the Lumar was operating at their own level. No straining, simply what they could manage. Sonya toyed with her breather, taking short breaths. The further they walked down the hall, the stronger the smell became.

Sonya craned her neck to distract herself with what was ahead. The hall branched into several more, each lined with doors, and as they moved around the curve, their path emptied into a large room full of Lumar.

“Iban,” Ulan said, pointing to a Lumar across the room. Iban had food in each hand and alternated eating and shouting with the other Lumar at his table.

Were they singing, or arguing? Sonya’s translator gave no help at this distance, and she had no idea how to read Lumar body language for cues to their mood.

Chelsey walked at ease, so Sonya decided no one was going to attack them, at least not yet.

“Silent Night Zuul, not fighting Zuul,” Ulan said to no one in particular, or perhaps the general crowd, making a spreading gesture with an upper and lower hand on each side. “And Silent Night Human, wanting talking to Iban.”

Sonya gave up on small breaths and took several deep ones, hoping over-exposure would do what restriction had not. The smell in here registered differently than from the hall—the burnt tinge flattened, though every instinct told her it should have intensified in such a crowd. She flipped her ears attentively forward and moved forward with her siblings, taking in the room with her wide peripheral vision.

There were more than fifty Lumar, all of similar build—large—and sound—loud. Most were eating at variously sized tables, some clustered around Tri-Vs displaying Lumar in hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand combat, and others watching what looked something like, but entirely not, rugby. Iban sat at a long, semi-curved table with five other Lumar, though his ongoing conversation involved his compatriots throughout the room.

At Ulan’s words, some of the shouting lulled, and Iban chewed meditatively as they approached.

“Silent Night partners in contract.” Iban gestured to a plate of foodstuff. “Joining for meal?”

“That’s very nice, Iban, thank you.” Chelsey made a small negative gesture behind her back, which Sonya understood to mean Lumar food would be no good for them. Or Humans, at any rate. “We just want to join you to talk about the contract. Is that all right?”

“Join. Eating better, contracts fine.” Iban moved his shoulders in what might have equaled a shrug, and a Lumar from across the room, perhaps a hair smaller than the others, jumped up and tossed some stools toward Iban’s table, each of which was caught by someone different and placed around the table.

“You’ve been on this contract for a long time?” Shadow picked out a spot at the table and sat. Other than having a tail, the general build of the Zuul and Lumar weren’t all that dissimilar. He managed to fold himself into the seat without too much difficulty, and his siblings and Chelsey followed.

“Yes.”

Shadow tilted his head and glanced at Sonya. She pointed her nose toward Chelsey, and Shadow gave the barest nod of acknowledgment.

“Chelsey, you were saying the Lumar have been excellent partners while Silent Night has been here. How long has that been now?”

“Feels like forever, doesn’t it? But we’ve only been here six months; the Lumar have been here for years, at least. Right, Iban? You’ve done some modifying of the shelter structures to be perfect for your company.”

Sonya’s ears flickered in surprise. The Lumar had done modifications? She hadn’t heard they were handy with technology. They could handle basic maintenance of their own weapons and gear, but often hired other races as armorers for more detailed work. But then, she hadn’t heard half the things about her own kind that she’d learned since actually meeting some, so GalNet and vids were hardly comprehensive.

“Modifications done much time ago.” Iban nodded, reaching for more food. “Lumar have been here since mines. Big Strong Fist here since before everyone.” He chewed, giving them all a good view of the mastication process, then slashed out a hand. “Not before Aku. Or Engineering. Everybody else.”

“Do you work with the Aku?” Shadow reached for the closest platter of meat-resembling food, then caught himself and placed his hand flat on the table instead.

“No. Not very. You ask Aku questions? Aku know.”

“Aku know…what?” Sonya asked, her left ear twitching.

“Know. Aku know. Ask them.”

“The Aku are meant to be quite smart, if very shy,” Chelsey said. “They handle every bit of the mineral refining on the planet, as far as we can tell. The Zuparti don’t like for them to be interrupted.” Chelsey made a slight movement, leaning her leg against Sonya’s. The corporal had more experience communicating with the Lumar, and was either commiserating, or warning. Either way, Sonya checked her growing impatience.

“Work important.” Iban tapped an empty hand on the table before refilling it. “Aku do the work. And Aku know.”

“Can you introduce us to one of them, Iban? Someone it wouldn’t interrupt the work too much to talk to? We don’t want to upset the Zuparti.”

Iban wriggled each arm in what amounted to a large shrug. “Work for Engineering, not Zuparti. Ulan take you to Niss. Ulan eat?”

Ulan, who had peeled off from them to join a smaller table heaped with platters of food, leaned back. “Eat.”

“Yes. Ulan eat, then take you to Niss.” Iban nodded, waggled