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Pushing open a wooden door on the third floor of the tower, Anna found what must have been Valeth's sitting room. A big blue chair was positioned in front of the fireplace, oriented to face the door. That fit with what little she knew about this Valeth. Melissa had said that she was cautious. Someone like that wouldn't like the thought of an unwelcome guest sneaking up on them.
In sharp contrast to the centuries-old décor, half a dozen Keepers in modern body armour stood in a haphazard ring around the room. One was Operative Chas Ilori, a bald man with a stubbly black beard who stood in the corner. Anna was relieved to see him. He had been assigned to Shuttle Two.
“For the first few minutes after we went down,” he said, “we were just trying to get comms working. We were afraid that t
