Chronicles of the Invaders 1: Conquest by John Connolly, Jennifer Ridyard Page B

Military control, which included all matters relating to security. The Securitats were permitted a small garrison in the Lower Ward, and a larger base off the Royal Mile, but they had no part in the actual running of the castle. Syl had never before seen so many of the security police inside the walls. And yes, Vena was leading them, her helmet held beneath her right arm. The twin silver streaks above her left ear always made her easy to spot. Syl knew that Lord Andrus privately called her “the Silver Skunk.”
    There was some jostling with the regular Military guard as the Securitats took up position around the landing pad, and a confrontation seemed in the offing. Soon Peris, the captain of the castle guard, appeared. He made straight for Vena, and an argument commenced between the two officers. It seemed to get quite heated at one point, because Syl could see Peris jabbing his finger at Vena, his face reddening. In response, Vena produced a document from the pocket of her dress jacket and handed it to Peris. He read it, simmered for a while, and then conceded defeat. He signaled the guard to withdraw, leaving the courtyard in the hands of the Securitats.
    A shuttle approached from the north. It was colored a golden red, as though caught in the light of a setting sun, and shaped like a trident, with the central tine forming the cabin and those on either side housing the propulsion systems. It bore the distinctive interlinked black circles of the Diplomatic Corps, but contained within the overlapping of the rings was a single red eye, a variation that Syl had not seen before. The ship hovered high above the landing pad, but did not descend. Its windows were dark, but she sensed the presences behind them taking in the courtyard and the castle. The ship seemed to Syl both beautiful yet unsettling, like an elegant weapon waiting to be fired.
    Vena put a finger to her right ear, activating her tiny communicator. She listened for a moment, raised a hand, and summoned two guards to her side. More discussions followed. Still the red ship waited. The guards ran back to the castle, and seconds later a white canvas arch began to extend across the courtyard. It was the sheltering device used to protect honored guests when rain was falling, but the rain had stopped. It seemed that whoever was in the trident ship simply did not wish to be exposed to the curious gaze of onlookers, although the arch was thin enough to allow shapes and colors to filter through, if not faces.
    Vena stepped in front of the arch and walked along beneath it as it was unfurled, so that she was gradually lost from Syl’s sight. Only when the shelter was at its fullest extent did the ship begin its descent, the pilot landing the craft perfectly so that the cabin door was concealed by the canvas.
    The engines died. All was silent for a time. Syl found herself holding her breath. Where was her father? she wondered. Clearly there was someone important on the ship, and her father usually greeted all visiting dignitaries personally. It was a mark of respect, on their part as much as on his. Either this was someone to whom he was giving calculated offense by not being present—which was so unlike her father as to be unthinkable—or he had not been aware of the ship’s impending arrival, which was stranger still. Yet Vena had known, and whatever authority she had used to dismiss her father’s men from the courtyard was significant, for only Andrus should have had the power to replace his own guard.
    Vena’s figure was visible to Syl through the canvas, a patch of darkness against the white. So too was the outline of the cabin door, and Syl saw it turn from red to black as it opened. Shapes emerged: two soldiers with guns, followed by three robed figures, two in pale yellow and one in white, and finally a sixth figure, tall and almost triangular in form, its robes a deep, dark red. The rich fabric cast a faint glow over the interior of the canvas, dancing on the