Page 15 of Shadows of Stardust

She keeps to the sand, walking down the moonlit beach in front of the row of bungalows. I keep to the shadows, ducking behind structure after structure, staying out of sight.

With a brief tap on the heavy black comms band around my wrist, I send the remaining cameras following her away.

It barely took an hour to hack the custom-built device into the show’s hovercamera and security systems.

Hardly a challenge, given that the generally lax security protocols here extended to the networks. And why shouldn’t they, I suppose, when the threats on this planet are so low?

At least until now.

To anyone else, the band looks like a standard watch and comms device, but I’ve spent years designing it to be able to link up to a variety of systems. Security, weapons, even ship command consoles, if need be. It’s served me well on more than a dozen reconnaissance missions.

Still, using it here is a risk.

While producers don’t have eyes on every video feed at every minute of the day and night, making it too obvious the cameras are being diverted will draw attention I don’t want.

But Idowant to see what Roslyn does when she thinks she doesn’t have any eyes on her. I want to see where she goes, what trouble she might get herself into.

Almost as soon as the cameras hover away, she takes note. Her body stiffens and her step falters as she realizes she’s alone, unwatched.

Slowly, she comes to a standstill on an open stretch of beach in the middle of two bungalows. She peers into the darkness around her, spinning to take in her surroundings.

It gives me the opportunity to get a better vantage point, to dart from one set of shadows to the next before she can—

“Enough.”

The sharp razor cut of Roslyn’s voice stops me dead in my tracks.

Hands balled into fists at her sides, shoulders squared, jaw held defiantly aloft, she stares down her unseen pursuer without a trace of fear or hesitation.

A begrudging smile tugs at one corner of my mouth.

There’s a fierceness to this little human. A foolishness, too, as she boldly demands my attention, but it’s a move I can’t help but respect.

“If you’re going to keep following me, you can at least have the decency to do it out in the open instead of skulking through shadows.”

5

Roslyn

My heartbeat pounds in my ears as the guard steps out of the shadows.

He’s even more intimidating in the dark, barely making a sound as he materializes behind me. Without the Eritin moons shining above, I’m not sure I’d even be able to see him, the grey of his skin and the dark clothes he’s wearing blending seamlessly into the night.

He stops just a handful of feet away from me on the beach—legs braced wide, arms crossed over his chest—and I make myself hold my ground. I mirror his posture and hope to hell I come across as more self-assured than I feel right now.

“Good evening, Roslyn.”

“How do you know my name?”

The guard’s arrogant smirk reappears, the same one he was wearing earlier today, back on the landing strip. “Is it supposed to be a secret? You’ve been the talk of production, it would have been hard for me to miss it.”

My stomach twists. Like I needed the reminder of just how many eyes have been on me.

“And they’ve got you on my security detail?”

“No, they don’t.”

He doesn’t elaborate, and my defenses raise another few inches.

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