“I’ll grant temporary permits, but regulations forbid modern weapons outside the compound.” He drew out a scented sani-chief and wiped his forehead. “You will have to check your weapons with Security and sign a release.”
Heyoka caught Mitsu’s eye and they turned as one to leave.
“Two weeks!” Eldrich called after them. “That’s all I can give you. I don’t care who you are—I have my research permit to protect and this is still an Interdicted world.”
The flames, though little more than banked embers, cast shadows which stretched up the curved wall, as though they would escape through the narrow smoke hole high overhead. The chamber was thick with the musk of a dozen males, all of them mature, and the air was pleasantly mellow with the smoke of gynth, which made it comfortable for them to share such close quarters. Nisk scratched absently at one ear with half-flexed handclaws, ignoring the weight of the priest’s fervid eyes on his unprotected back.
“I tell you, it’s impossible!” A deep snarl escaped the priest’s massive dark gray chest. “More than that, it’s blasphemy!”
“But he was there.” Nisk felt the notch of a long-past e