A blank-mask leaned over her, a woman judging by her slender neck and the swell of her breasts. Two others stood behind her, their faces also hidden, tension visible in their stance. A gash of blood ran diagonally across the woman"s forearm, trickling over a tattooed representation of a winged heart adorning the inside of her wrist. The gallop of their real hearts was loud to Selene, the labouring of their lungs elevated.
The newcomer lifted her finger to her concealed lips in a gesture that meant the same on any planet where people spoke through their mouths. Selene remained crouched in shadowy darkness while a squadron of City Guard troopers racketed past in the passageway outside.
When they were gone, the woman waited a few minutes more, then visibly relaxed, the tension in her post
