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Celeste peered through her binoculars toward the entrance of her father's magnificent city. She was perched atop a small hill about three hundred yards away and well hidden from the cover of night and a small grove of pine trees that surrounded her. She was sure that the guards in their towers wouldn't be able to see her.
She continued to watch as Colonel Jantear guided the assault vehicle to the city gates. She looked around and counted approximately twenty-two guards within the vehicle's immediate vicinity. One of the guards held up his hand to stop the hovercraft and waved for the driver to step out. Jantear stopped the hovercraft just as the side entrance slid open.
Celeste adjusted the focus on her binoculars so she could get a better visual of what was going on. As she did so, Jantear exited the vehicle from the side entrance and returned a salute the guard had given him. "So far so good," she said softly. She was relieved; at least for the moment, the Gnol's officer's uniform that Jantear wore fooled the guard.
Her earpiece crackled, and she could hear the guard speak. "Uh ? General ? we were not expecting any troop movements today. What is your business?"
"We are returning from Ciminae," Jantear said. "We have standing orders to report directly to Lord Chast himself, and for you to not ask any questions. Understood?"
"Uh ? yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Do you have your identification codes?"
Celeste smiled and was impressed with Jantear's playacting. From his performance, Celeste knew that he came across as a legitimate and condescending Gnol officer. She watched as Jantear handed the guard the disk that contained the authentication codes. The guard inserted the disk into the small computer he was holding and examined the information.
After a few seconds, the guard looked up and then back to his screen. Again, he examined the information. He then looked back at Jantear and gave him a confused look. "Okay. It all checks out. You may enter."
Celeste watched Jantear return to the driver's seat. Once Celeste saw the vehicle enter the city and hover its way to the palace, she spoke to Jantear through the small communication devices they had on their collars and in their ears. "What was that all about?"
"What?" Jantear replied.
"That guard did not seem convinced about those codes."
"What are you talking about?"
Celeste was confused. She knew what she had seen and could tell from the look on that guard's face that he was not sure about the information he was looking at. "Jantear, you saw that guard's face just as I did. And I could tell he was not convinced."
"You're being paranoid, Celeste. It worked, didn't it? We're in."
Celeste knew Jantear was right, but couldn't escape the feeling that something was amiss. She looked at her computer monitor that was next to her and could see that Jantear was nearing the palace gates. She continued to watch as Jantear went through the same actions he performed previously that got him into the city. The only difference this time, however, was that every one of his troops exited the assault vehicle and left it parked near the entrance of the palace walls.
She continued to watch through the small camera attached to Jantear's uniform as he and his troops neared the main entrance of the palace. "Okay, Celeste. We're at the main entrance," he said softly into his comlink. "Where do we go from here?"
Celeste looked at her monitor and could see that Jantear and his troops were about to enter the entrance to the temple that honored her father and the goddess of light. She also thought that it was odd that there wasn't another Gnol in sight. In fact, the entire palace courtyard and temple floor of the palace, which was usually abuzz with activity, was strangely empty.
"Okay, Colonel. Enter the temple and scan the floor for any activity."
"You got it," Jantear replied.
Celeste heard Jantear issue the order and then saw him enter the temple from the camera on his uniform. She saw Jantear and his troops scattered about the floor with weapons raised, scanning for any Gnol activity. "It's clear," Jantear said.
"That is strange," said Celeste.
"What's strange? I'd say we're pretty lucky so far."
Celeste wasn't convinced that luck was on her side. She shook her head in doubt and responded. "That's strange because the temple floor is usually open to worshipers until midnight. It is only ?" Celeste paused as she looked at the watch on her wrist. "? it's only nine thirty-two."
"Well, maybe your father closed the temple because of the attacks on the base and the pending attack on Earth."
Celeste thought for a moment. Jantear's reasoning made sense, but she still wasn't convinced. "Yes, maybe you are right, but I know my father. He always has a secret."
"Well, maybe," Jantear said. "But don't you think if he knew about this rescue mission, he would have stopped us by now?"
"Perhaps."
"Okay then, Celeste, quit being paranoid and just tell me where to go from here."
Celeste looked at her monitor. "All right. You see those two huge statues to your right?" Celeste saw that Jantear's body had turned, and she could see the statues of the goddess of light and her father. "Behind the statues is where you need to go."
Celeste watched as Jantear and his troops walked to the statues. She could see the thirty-foot tall and twenty-foot wide Omutx walls that connected the heavy statues to the temple wall.
Her earpiece crackled, and Jantear's voice came through. "There's nothing here, Celeste. It's just a wall."
"My father's statue ?"
"What about it?" replied Jantear.
"Put your hand behind his left foot and feel."
Celeste saw Jantear place his left hand on the foot of her father's statue. He felt around the gold of the statue for a few seconds and responded. "What am I looking for, Celeste?"
"Keep feeling."
Jantear continued to rub the gold on the foot of her father's statue. Suddenly, Jantear jerked his hand away, and the wall connecting the statues to the temple wall dropped down into the floor. It always amazed Celeste how such a heavy, solid wall could drop down into the floor of the temple without so much as the sound of a pin drop.
"Impressive," Jantear said. "Now what?"
"You and your troops enter the compartment."
"Are you sure all of us will fit?"
"Trust me."
Jantear and his troops entered the secluded compartment behind the statues. Once everyone was in, the wall that had dropped to the floor for their entrance sprang back up, and the lights came on. Celeste saw Jantear's body turn as he looked around the compartment. "Now what, Celeste? There's nowhere to go."
"Look at the wall directly ahead of you."
"I'm looking. There's no door. No keypad. Nothing. It's just made of stones and cement. I hope you didn't get us trapped in here."
Celeste smiled. She enjoyed keeping Jantear on edge. "Just stand next to the wall and find the center stone."
After a few moments of looking the wall over, Jantear said, "Okay, I've found the center stone."
"All right. Get the hand that you took off the general you killed from your ambush," Celeste said. She watched as Jantear motioned for one of his troops to give him a black leather bag he was carrying. The soldier tossed Jantear the bag. He caught it, placed it on the floor, and unzipped it. He reached in and pulled out a box. He opened the box and pulled out the hand.
"I was wondering why you had us cut that hand off," Jantear said. "Let me guess. I place the palm of it onto the center stone."
"Yes," Celeste said. "Every general or above in my father's military has access to these secret passageways. The only way to get in and out is from a palm print."
"Celeste, if it was as simple as this, why didn't we just go over what I was supposed to and do it, instead of you guiding me?"
Celeste ignored Jantear's question. She knew the answer, but didn't want to tell him. When Celeste had first planned the rescue attempt, she informed Adrian of the secret passageways of the palace and how to access them. Adrian told her t
hat he didn't want anyone else to know about what she had told him because he was suspicious that her father had planted a spy amongst his ranks, but he couldn't figure out who it was. As a result, he didn't want her to tell Jantear about it, only to guide him. "Just put the hand on the stone," she insisted.
She watched as Jantear placed the palm of the severed hand on the stone. She saw the familiar lights scan the palm and the voice of the computer she had heard so many times before. "You may enter, General Otholos."
Celeste noticed that Jantear backed up a bit as the stones folded up into the ceiling of the compartment. As soon as the wall disappeared into the ceiling, Celeste saw a bright flash of light and her monitor screen went blank. "Jantear, what happened?"
Jantear didn't respond.
"I repeat. Colonel Jantear, come in ?"
Again, there was no response.
Frustrated, Celeste grabbed the cloak she had brought with her just in case she had to infiltrate the palace on her own. She put it on and pulled the hood over her head. She then looked into her binoculars to the entrance of the city. Instead of twenty-two guards as she had previously counted, there were now only eight.
Before she left, she had decided to try Jantear one more time. "Jantear! I repeat, Colonel Jantear, come in!"
She waited a few moments for Jantear to answer. With no response, she sprinted toward the city gates.