Read Online Starship's Mage 2 Hand of Mars by Glynn Stewart - Free Book Online

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    “Two guards on the staircase at all times,” he told them calmly. “Two more at this end,” he gestured toward the doors to their rooms. “None of the staff leave this section without an escort - neither of you leaves without at least two Marines.”
    Damien smiled at the determined soldier and glanced over at Alaura.
    “Who is in charge of this little party again?” he asked.
    “I thought I was, but I see I have to reconsider this assumption,” she replied.
    Mitchell had the grace to look somewhat abashed, but he didn’t waver.
    “My job is to make sure you both survive, ma’am, sir,” he told them. “I won’t tell you how to do your jobs, but I will insist you do them escorted.”
    “It’s fine, Sergeant,” Damien replied, still smiling. “You’ve swept for bugs?”
    “The place was crawling ,” Mitchell replied. “We’ve cleaned them out, but expect the terminals to be tapped. Keep anything confidential on your PCs.”
    “Let’s not assume we’re clear yet,” the Envoy told him. “I’ll sweep for runic artifacts. The Governor would expect us to clear the technical bugs, but magical ones are rare and hard to find.”
    “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” the Marine in charge of their bodyguards admitted. He didn’t sound like he disbelieved Damien; he sounded more frustrated that there was a threat he hadn’t been aware of.
    “They’re still rare,” Damien replied. “We’ve tried to keep the matrix designs under wraps, but I tend to assume we fail at such things.”
    He open the door to his room and glanced in. A king-sized canopy bed held pride of place amidst a cushioned display of luxury that made him uncomfortable just looking at it.
    “I’ll sweep for them,” he concluded. “Then we can talk.”

    #

    Wandering through the plushly carpeted halls of the rooms they’d been provided, Damien kept his eyes open for the energy flow of magic. Finding something like this wasn’t something that Alaura could do - while the Hands had runes tattooed into their flesh to make them stronger than other Mages, they still lacked the ability to see the flow of magic that separated Rune Wrights from the rest of the Mage population.
    There were a few technological ways to detect runic artifacts - usually looking for heat signatures - but a cleverly designed rune matrix could avoid those. No matrix Damien had yet encountered could hide from him or the Mage-King; nor had any of them proven impossible to understand.
    In the end, he found four ‘decorative’ ivory rods, each tucked into a flower vase in the corner of a room. He laid them out on the table, studying the meticulous hand-carved silver etchings on each of them.
    “This is impressive work,” he told Mitchell. “It’s almost a shame.”
    He removed the skintight glove on his right hand and held his palm out over the ivory rods. Before the Marine could ask what he was doing, energy flashed from the silver runes inlaid into his palm. Each of the ivory rods glittered with lightning for half a second and then a faint scent of burning enamel, reminiscent of a dentist’s visit, wafted into the air.
    “Why can you see them and Alaura can’t?” Mitchell asked quietly, watching the smoke of burning ivory float through the air.
    “Because exactly five people in the galaxy can,” Damien told him. “Two are minors.”
    Mitchell, he knew, was cleared to know about the existence of Rune Wrights. His squad had been filled in before the mission - briefed from necessity, seeing as how protecting a Rune Wright was now part of their job.
    “So that’s going to be a rude awakening for the Governor,” the Sergeant gestured at the ivory rods, now marked with a surprisingly attractive pattern of ash and silver.
    “Indeed,” Damien glanced up as Alaura entered and waved her over. “We’re clear now, no eavesdroppers of any kind.”
    “Good,” she said briskly. “What was your impression of Vaughn?”
    “He’s hiding something at