Read Online The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2) by C. R. Daems - Free Book Online

over ten thousand pipes, and
we add hundreds every year. Its sound is beautiful and becoming magical as new
pipes are added. The Holy One will sit in the ornate chair with the gold
padding and red cross. I will sit to her left, and Sanaz will sit to my left.
At some point I will rise and kneel before the Holy One. She will hand me the
scepter containing the original Book on which we base our way of life. She will
rise, and I will take her chair and Sanaz will take mine. Atefeh, the then
ex-Holy One, will take Sanaz's chair. I will say a few words and the ceremony
will be over. Of course, there will be a lot of pomp and ceremony before,
during, and after we shift chairs." She smiled, but her eyes were sad.
"Atefeh is a saintly person and truly close to godly, but she enabled the Gurk's
rise to power, fearing to do otherwise would lead to civil war. Now I must risk
the destruction of our way to stop it ... or it will surely lead to the
destruction Atefeh feared."
    I left Nastya with Corporal Toch, the senior Guard on her
current security, and I called the Crouching Tiger and was connected to Colonel
Berger.
    "Need help, Sapir?" he said with a hint of
concern.
    "I'm hoping you have some bomb sniffing equipment
with you."
    "Wouldn't go anywhere without it. You think the Gurk
have had enough of your marksmanship demonstrations to resort to bombs?"
He gave a wry snort. "It would prove they aren't stupid."
    "No. It's personal, so they feel they have
something to prove to themselves, if not to Nastya. But the ordaining of Nastya
tomorrow is tailor made for anyone with a cause to taint the beginning of her
rule, to show she doesn't have universal support, and to intimidate her, the
next Holy One."
    "I was hoping you needed us. The troops could use a
bit of excitement, so don't be a martyr when it starts raining doss. I'll send
the equipment with Master Sergeant Kame, who's the expert. It should be there
in a couple of hours. Good hunting." He cut the connection.
    Three hours later, the shuttle from the Jax cruiser set
down on the landing pad several hundred meters behind the palace. I went out
with Sergeant Nadel.
    "Captain Sapir, I'm Master Sergeant Kame,
compliments of Colonel Berger. Where would you like me and my equipment?"
    "I'd like to understand the capabilities of the
equipment and then check out the Sanctuary to make sure there isn't already
something there. Tomorrow I'd like to use it on the people entering the
Sanctuary."
    "The sensors literally sample the air for the chemical
elements traditionally used to make bombs. They can be tuned to sniff specific
elements if you know what you are looking for. The equipment has an effective
range of fifteen meters and will show the direction of each element it detects.
I could teach you to use it ... but I'll be faster and that could make a
difference."
    "I agree, Sergeant. The job is yours." I wanted
every Guard focused on the people, not on equipment.
    We spent the next two hours in the Sanctuary. First,
Kame took out several small boxes containing explosive material in the form of
powders, black and yellow lumps, and liquids. He placed them several meters
apart from each other, then turned on the machine. It looked like a small
flying saucer on a three-foot pole, except it had no lights or moving parts you
could see.
    "Those are the most common explosives you are likely
to encounter. It doesn't really matter, because the machine—which is a
combination mass spectrometer and gas analyzer—is looking at the
individual elements, not the specific compounds." He turned and played
with a laptop he had on his knees. A hologram appeared, with multi-colored
arrows pointing to the containers. "There, the arrows show the direction
and the colors designate the chemical elements. My laptop shows the exact
ratios and even the name of the explosive if it's in my database."
    "Excellent, Sergeant Kame. If you detect an
explosive tomorrow, tell whoever is standing next to you immediately. Now,