In the distance, tall, glass-encased buildings stretched into the pale sky. The taller buildings lost a lot of the ornate, organic architecture of their shorter counterparts, so at this distance, Zenzi looked like any large city on a human-populated planet.

Ten minutes later, we exited the expressway and entered a residential neighborhood. At least, I assumed it was residential. The streets were wide and lined with greenery. Tall, spiky hedges and elaborate gates blocked the view, but a few roofs were just visible. Traffic was light and all of the shuttles we passed were shiny and well maintained.

As we delved deeper into the neighborhood, the gates got farther and farther apart. We finally turned onto a block with a single gate on it. It bore the same sapphire insignia as on the side of the shuttle, and it slid open as we approached.

My comm couldn’t communicate with Valovian networks or positioning satellites, so I couldn’t pull up a real-time map. Just before we’d left, Kee had sent us all offline maps of Torran’s house and the directions to return to Starlight. I hadn’t realized just how big his property was from the satellite imagery. We were close to the Imperial Palace and all of the estates on the surrounding blocks were reserved for high-level diplomats and advisors.

The shuttle slipped through the gate into a deep green paradise. Vibrant flowers nestled in lush foliage, and trees with long, draping branches hid the view of the house. I caught sight of the edge of a gravel path and I wanted to explore where it led.

The house, when we finally arrived, wasn’t what I’d expected from something with a guest wing. On Earth, it would’ve been tall and stone and square. Here, it looked like it had sprung up from the greenery surrounding it. A sweeping green roof was held up with thin curved supports.

The front of the house followed the arc of the circle driveway, like two arms open for an embrace. The main entrance was clad in sapphire glass around two enormous wooden doors inlaid with the same looping insignia that was on the shuttle and the gate. The rest of the facade was a pale, translucent material that obscured the view inside.

The shuttle came to a stop directly in front of the entrance. Torran shrugged out of his harness and stood. “Welcome to my home. My staff will move your supplies while I show you to your rooms.”

I stood and grabbed my personal bag, then patted my shoulder for Luna. She joined me with a questioning chirp.

Our gear crates were locked with the strongest locks Kee and Lexi could find. If Torran’s people could get through them in the few minutes the transfer would take, then they deserved to poke around in our stuff. Anything we didn’t want searched was already in our personal bags.