“Unbelievable,” Lukai said aloud.

  “I knew it!” Si exclaimed, “I was sure it was not that easy for the City to have developed something like this out of nowhere. Because if they could, then why couldn’t they do it again? Awesome, something finally cleared…”

  Lukai was surprised by how excited Si was.

  Weren’t Shadows aware? Or were they, and Si didn’t know yet? His father was Shadows Lord; but Si hadn’t taken over yet.

  Whatever the reasons Si wasn’t informed—Lukai was.

  “Did Anders take eight Crystals and give them to Riggs? Riggs is known to be the inventor of the spaceship navigation; he is considered one of the greatest scientists thanks to that. What you are telling us can diminish his invention. Taj, could you tell us more about what you know?” Lukai asked.

  “Correct, Anders took all our Crystals and intended to work with Riggs exactly regarding space navigation. Anders was as if intoxicated. But he went missing, and later he was found dead. I still feel sorry for him that it ended like that. Wei, the Sect Leader, insisted that Anders store materials securely. But it was gone, lost in the logistics process—” Taj was interrupted.

  “How silly! It was the courier; he lost the package!”

  Si’s words made Luna gasp.

  “Truly? No way! Although right, how else to lose something important?” she asked, more murmuring to herself.

  Taj decided to continue.

  “About Riggs, I cannot comment; I do not know the details. There were seven spaceships sent. Clearly, the navigations from the Sect were used; I am certain. I sensed Lan’s energy in the terraforming on Planets Two, Three, Four, and the moons. I see your faces—correct. Six places, but seven spaceships sent, with one lost. It leaves one Crystal as if unused, no? And this one, I guess, was taken by someone and used in the attacks,” he said.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Everybody went silent.

  “Commander said not once. We could have energy in huge amounts, but what made it a weapon was the way to steer it. These navigations, seven, were used in a good cause. The eighth, though… I can see you are thinking about it now. Good. We have a problem. Someone has a navigation that is still active and can direct energy to kill. It is powerful, you all know,” Taj added.

  The silence was deep.

  He continued. “The other concern is me. My existence is not a secret. Before, there were ideas about how to use my Crystal. I am inside and conscious, so nobody can use me as they did with the eighth navigation. But some have ideas that they could succeed and take the knowledge out of me or cut me and use it for experiments. For sure, many other ideas are there as well—”

  Lukai interrupted.

  “What you are saying is that our main concern should be figuring out what to do about you?” he asked.

  “Correct, Lukai, exactly,” Taj confirmed.

  “So…” Si started to speak slowly. “What if I told you that I gave it a thought? As I was thinking about how to protect Luna because I think that her having Taj is not secure. Her life is in danger all the time, Taj; do not misunderstand. So, I was thinking. What do we think about the Gates net?”

  Lukai wasn’t sure what Si could mean or how it could work. But he noticed, Taj; he visibly was not surprised.

  Seeing this, Lukai felt uncomfortable for the second time during this meeting. He was one step behind, constantly.

  “Si, o, I also thought about it. I think we could try. Lukai, you may not be aware. The Gates net was created based on the design that Lan had prepared. I was recently thinking that if there was no other solution for me, the best would be to store my consciousness and energies in a safe place. Here, Luna, no offense, but a place from which it wouldn’t be so easy to steal me. We created Gates, I mean the Sect. I did take a look; I should be able to transfer myself there. I would need to try to be sure.”

  “Lukai? I was thinking. What if Taj controlled Gates? Wouldn’t it help us with the communication and data mess? Wouldn’t it also help you, as we were looking for some kind of additional argument for you to have? Let’s call it that way. We could at least try. I think it would be a win-win,” Si said.

  “A win-win?” Lukai asked.

  What could Si mean by this?

  “So, yes, a win-win. Taj would be safe there. You would have control over Gates. Communicate with Taj—and then you have the best political leverage. And I would have Luna free from the danger so I could focus on marrying her,” Si said.

  “Wait, what?” Luna gasped. “Si, right, but truly, why do you say things like that so they sound so silly?”

  Lukai noticed; she smiled. Taj nodded.

  “I agree,” Lukai said; he decided quickly.

  It was settled.