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.Ilyan adjusted the blanket, which had started to slide off my shoulder and put his arm around me again and.I drifted into a dreamland of sweet long grass and honeysuckle and blood.****The ride passed quickly.For me anyway, knocked out most of the way.When we got to Handathar, Maiga, Rish, and Rin nipped off to meet someone they'd contacted earlier and the rest of us ate and waited for them.They came back with spoils."Do we have this much luggage?" I asked, sitting in the doorway of the transport, getting some fresh air.Two big travelling trunks stood behind the vehicle in the alley where we'd parked up.And I mean big, a couple of meters long, at least a meter wide and deep.Maiga frowned at me."We are booked onto a commercial transport, but I'm not taking the chance that spies are watching the port for Ilyan and Tesla.""You're not suggesting…" Tesla stared at the boxes horrified as he twigged on to her plan.Must be claustrophobic.I can sympathise.I don't much like tight places myself."These aren't just ordinary trunks," Maiga explained."They're 'smuggle boxes'.They're not only shielded from scanners, they also reflect back a fake signal to make it appear that they contain something innocuous.""How clever," Ilyan said, sounding fascinated."And how do they breath?" I asked, not sure I liked this plan."We'll seal the boxes at the last possible moment.There's a porous membrane to allow some air in and we'll put in oxygen tanks." She looked at me and grinned."Oh and it's not just 'they', Jadeth, it's also 'you'.""What?" Now I really didn't like the plan."A wounded man would draw too much attention," Maiga said.She shrugged."Sorry.""Hey, no-one has to know I'm wounded." I stood up and dizziness struck, instantly.Black spots and bursting lights.I would have fallen but Rish and Diliph grabbed my arms and sat me down again."Yeah, real convincing." Maiga snarked.Bitch."I… I don't think I can do it," Tesla said.He'd been staring down at the boxes this whole time, white as a sheet."I can give you all something to relax you," Tanashi said."It will stop you panicking and also slow your breathing, so you need less oxygen.""Just see it as a chance to get some peace and quiet and time to yourself," Ilyan said to Tesla."My… myself?" Tesla gulped."There are two boxes and three of us to go in." His voice took on a whining tone."Can't we share, Ilyan?""Sorry, Tes.I need to share with Jadeth.To make sure he's okay."I looked up at him slightly surprised.Hard to say what I felt about that.Would having someone sharing with me make the close quarters better or worse?"Let's discuss this on the way," Maiga said."We need to get to the port.I've hired us a private shuttle to take us to the liner.""Spending a lot of money today, aren't we?" Ilyan said with perhaps a tiny hint of reproof.He had a point.Those boxes must have cost a pretty penny."Sorry." She shrugged.She sounded unrepentant.They loaded the boxes onto our transport and we headed out to the shuttle terminal.We would have to get in the boxes before we got on the shuttle, to keep the paperwork straight.The pilot could be a tad suspicious if three people who boarded apparently didn't disembark with the rest.They packed blankets, tents and other soft stuff into the smuggle boxes, to make beds and keep us from rolling about too much.Vim ripped seat cushions out of the transport too.Smart lad.The weapons went into the boxes.Then the tanks of oxygen and masks to help keep us alive.The rest of the luggage went into some perfectly ordinary trunks.Everyone changed into civilian clothes the better to look like they were on leave, to match the new fake IDs Maiga had obtained.More of Ilyan's cash.The moment came for us to be packed away.Tanashi gave us the relaxation shots and I soon decided that travelling in a nice box on a comfy nest of bedrolls and towels sounded like the most fun thing to do ever and I couldn't wait to get in there.Ilyan had a soppy grin on his face that suggested he thought the same.Didn't work on Tesla though.He was pale and sweating and looked ready to start crying."It's time," Maiga said quite gently to him."I can't [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]