Beneath the Fallen City by Jamie A. Waters (chapter books to read to 5 year olds .TXT) 📖

expected as much. “That’s fine. We’ll contact her directly after our other business is concluded.”

The woman hesitated and then nodded. She motioned for the guards to step aside and let them pass.

Carl headed out of the entrance area and into the main tower. Xantham and Cruncher looked around in amazement as Carl led them to an elevator.

Veridian frowned when they stepped inside. “Where are we going? This isn’t the same elevator Kayla and I took yesterday.”

“We’re going to my family’s quarters. Notification of our arrival has already reached the Inner Circle and High Council. I’m guessing someone will contact us fairly soon to find out why we’re here.”

The elevator stopped, and they stepped out. Carl led them down a long hallway and stopped at a door. He pressed his palm against the panel, and it slid open.

The living area was decorated in a waterfall of color, somehow complimenting the otherwise minimalist design. He couldn’t help but smile at the contrast. It represented his parents’ relationship completely. They were vastly different, but it worked. Not for the first time, he believed their differences made them stronger.

He waved his crew inside and called out, “Hello? Is anyone here?”

“Oh my word! Is that you, Carl?” a woman’s voice answered. A huge smile spread over his face when his mother emerged from another room. She was tall and slender, with light streaks of gray in her dark hair. It was grayer than the last time he’d seen her, but it was hard to tell. She had it pulled back in a bun, as it often was when she worked on her art. Her brown eyes twinkled, lighting up at the sight of him.

“Carl!” she exclaimed, rushing over to give him a hug.

Hugging her tightly, Carl pressed a kiss against her cheek. He caught a whiff of nuts and varnish, confirming that she’d been painting. “Hi, Mom. I’m here for the traders meeting. I’ve brought some of my crew with me.”

She stepped back, ran her hand over her hair, and chided, “Shame on you, Carl. You didn’t tell me you were coming today, and you brought all these handsome men with you. What are you thinking?”

Carl laughed. “You’re beautiful, Mother. I can tell you’ve been painting though. I’d like you to meet Xantham, our communications expert, Veridian, our newest recruit, and Cruncher, our amazing tech and former scavenger.”

“I’m so glad to meet all of you. Please, call me Rina. If there’s anything I can get for you while you’re here, let me know.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rina,” Cruncher said and kissed her hand.

She beamed at him. “Oh, I like your friends, Carl.”

Veridian gave her a polite smile. Xantham piped up, “Thanks, Rina. Maybe while we’re here, you can tell us all the embarrassing stories about your son?”

Carl gave Xantham a dark look. “Don’t count on it.”

Rina laughed in delight. “Well, come on in. Carl, you can stay in your room. We’ll get your friends set up in some of the other guest rooms.”

Carl followed his mother down the hall. “Where’s Dad?”

“Oh, he’s over at the school. He can’t seem to stay away. Seems like he’s constantly taking on new students.”

Carl nodded. His father was a scientist and professor at the school. Learning was his passion, and even when home, he was usually engrossed in some sort of project. His office was frequently scattered with a wide assortment of projects in various stages of completion.

“Here we go.” Rina opened one of the doors. “Maybe two of you can share a room, if you don’t mind. We’re a little low on space right now. Your father’s taken over one of the other rooms with more of his projects.”

“That’s fine,” Carl replied. “Xantham and Veridian, do you mind staying together?”

Xantham chuckled. “Works for me. Cruncher snores.”

Cruncher scowled and made a move to swat him, but Xantham quickly ducked away.

Rina smiled at them. A strange chime sounded at the door and she faltered. Her smile fell and her eyes grew large. She turned to Carl, not bothering to hide her shock.

“Someone from the Inner Circle is here? What’s going on?”

“I’ll handle this, Mom,” Carl replied, returning to the entrance. He opened the door to see Alec and Director Borshin.

“Master Tal’Vayr, Director Borshin,” Carl greeted them and invited them inside. “I was wondering if a representative from the Inner Circle would be showing up. I wasn’t expecting anyone quite so quickly or so notable though.”

Alec entered and looked around the room at Carl’s crew. When he spotted Veridian, his eyes narrowed. “I received a report you had arrived early and brought unexpected guests, Trader Carl. Your attendance was not required until tomorrow. Is there a problem?”

Carl kept his tone casual, not wanting to confirm his real reasons for arriving early. “Not at all. I have some inventory to pick up, and Veridian was having second thoughts about leaving Kayla. I thought it might be a good idea to come a little early to check in on her and see how she’s doing.”

“Mistress Kayla Rath’Varein is no longer your concern,” Alec replied coldly. “I’ll let her know you asked after her. She may contact you if she wishes.”

Carl frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Kayla. She wouldn’t have cut Veridian off like that. What’s going on?”

“You overstep yourself, Trader Carl Grayson. As a courtesy, I have tolerated your questions, but that ends now. You are free to remain here and conduct your trader business. But after the appointment of the new trader within the next two days, you are to leave and return to the surface to fulfill the terms of your contract. I suggest you focus only on your trader business while you’re in the towers, or we may find ourselves looking for someone to replace you too.”

“I see.”

Alec nodded, seeming to be satisfied he’d made his point. He turned and left with Director Borshin following him.

When the door closed, Rina stepped forward. “Carl? What’s going on? That wasn’t just anyone from the Inner Circle. That was Alec Tal’Vayr. He’s to be appointed to the High Council any day now.”

“Politics,” Carl muttered in disgust. He was beginning to think Kayla had a point in not trusting OmniLab. He’d originally hoped to join the political arena to make some changes, but if the corruption went as high as he feared, he wasn’t sure that was possible. At the very least, Alec Tal’Vayr’s presence confirmed the High Council’s knowledge of Kayla being held against her will. He turned to his mother. “Everything’s fine, but I think it would be best if you knew as little as possible.”

She frowned. “All right. But you’re going to have to explain how you know Mistress Kayla Rath’Varein. The entire tower has been talking about her return and how she was living on the surface all these years.”

“Up until yesterday, she was living in your son’s camp and working as a scavenger for him,” Cruncher volunteered with a chuckle.

Rina gasped, her eyes lighting up at the gossip. “She worked for you? What’s she like?”

Carl ran his hands over his face. “Yeah. She was only a member of my crew for a few days, but she’s been a pain in the ass since I first met her.”

Rina’s eyes widened in shock. “Carl!”

Xantham laughed. “It’s true. If you meet her, you’ll understand. But she’s wicked-good at what she does. She’s got some crazy skills.”

Veridian nodded. “Yeah. Kayla tends to get into more trouble than anyone else I’ve ever known.”

Rina looked at her son with a knowing expression. “Trouble, huh? Is she pretty too?”

Xantham grinned. “She’s got to be the finest-looking ruin rat I’ve ever seen.”

Carl gave Xantham a warning look. “She’s not a ruin rat anymore. Be careful what you say about her. If anyone in the Inner Circle or High Council hears you, it won’t end well.”

Xantham made a face but didn’t make any more comments.

Veridian rubbed the back of his neck. “What happens now? How can we find her?”

Carl turned to his mother. “Mom, do you mind giving us a bit of privacy? I don’t want you involved in this.”

She hesitated but agreed. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Carl. Be careful.”

After his mother left the room, Carl turned back to Veridian. “Do you know how to get to Kayla’s family quarters?”

“Yeah, but we have to take that big elevator up.”

Carl looked at Xantham. “Run through our system comms and files over the past few days. When Alec Tal’Vayr was in our camp, he used a palm print and override code to get into Kayla’s file. I’m hoping he hasn’t changed his code yet.”

Xantham pulled out his commlink and started working on Carl’s request. Carl turned to Cruncher. “Do you think there’s a way you can get into the OmniLab system and find out if they’re holding Kayla somewhere?”

“I can try to have a look. I’m sure they have all sorts of safeguards in place though. I’m good, but I’m not an expert. Kayla would be better at this.”

“Do what you can but don’t get caught. Kayla’s got to have access to a computer if she sent me that message. Maybe she’ll reach out to us again.”

Xantham looked up from his screen. “I’ve got it, Boss. I have the voice recording.”

“Okay,” Carl said and took a deep breath. Once they did this, there was no going back. It could end very badly for all of them. “Cruncher, stay here and work on locating Kayla. Xantham and Veridian, let’s go pretend to be a member of the