Easter excerpt

Hello writers and readers, wishing you a nice Easter in family, i will enclose another excerpt of Hyperearth  

“Bear, what exactly do we know about Artemis?” Mary asked.

“Artemis isn’t a city, as you probably think,” Bear explained. “It’s a summer residence that was inherited by Darden. A few years later, he surrounded it by a moat to make it less accessible.”

“A moat? Well, that complicates things,” Martina interjected.

“I’d forgotten that there is water in the moat,” he added with smile.

“It means absolutely nothing to me since I can swim,” Mary replied sarcastically. “Well, I supposed that’s why you’re always here in the library. To study how to get to Artemis.”

“Exactly,” Bear affirmed.

“Artemis reminds me of – or rather, makes me think of – the Osaka Castle in Japan. It was surrounded by a moat filled with water, and was shaped almost pentagonal,” Martina explained. “Even if I’ve never visited either place.”

Bear listened but didn’t comment, and instead bowed his head again to return to the book he was looking at.

“There doesn’t seem to be much information about Artemis on the map. Or am I wrong?” Martina asked.

“Yes,” he affirmed. “It’s a general map and Artemis is only marked by a dot. The book I’m looking at is more comprehensive, and also contains drawings.” He directed their attention to the open page.

“I see that the only bridges leading into Artemis are west and south,” Mary observed.

“We’ll enter through the south,” Bear replied. “The residence is isolated and nearly devoid of plant life. There’s only a few trees behind in the north.”

“So that’s a problem, since we’ll be visible if we cross the bridge. Plus, it will be heavily guarded,” Martina speculated.

“I’m sure you’re right,” Bear agreed. “But I don’t think Sathon’s expecting an attack. He’s a presumptuous man who thinks he’s invincible.”

“Then we have all the advantage,” Mary blurted out optimistically. “If he’s not expecting us, we can win based on the element of surprise.”

“I’m glad you have faith in this endeavor,” Bear replied. “However, passing the bridge is easy, though getting inside Artemis is the problem. Even after entering, we could be discovered.”

“We can enter from the cellars, like we did in Sathon’s castle,” Mary proposed, but Bear didn’t see it being quite that simple.

“It’s a possibility, but we can’t guarantee it. We’d need an informant to help us get into Artemis.”

“What a shame that we couldn’t even take Sathon as prisoner when we attacked the wagon,” Martina said remorsefully.