Broken Vision (28 page)

"That's what Mistress Gloriana and I think. Asking for me initially was just a ruse."

"But Morgon only provided the initial concepts. It was the team that... Gods!"

"Which is why Janas needs to be protected. They'll figure that out eventually."

"Morgon knew?" She felt as if her heart was cracking in two.

"Morgon undoubtedly knew."

"They'll destroy him when they don't get what they want."

"Give him credit, Green Eyes." Alerik ran a finger in a light caress across her chin. It
almost undid her. She couldn't handle his compassion right now.

"He's a wily crocane. He'll hold them off. Probably have them believing utter
nonsense."

"Not Nargune," she whispered. "Nargune will know. She can read minds and she's
evil."

Margaine Confluence
The Divide

Maegan was sleeping.

Alerik stretched his legs out and fought the urge to follow suit. His mate's sleep wasn't
entirely natural. He had helped it along by mixing a sleep powder into the bland, packaged food he
had all but forced her to eat earlier.

They had been at orbit near The Divide for almost a cycle, by his estimate. So far, nothing
had happened. Nothing. No vessel activity. No surface human activity. The scanners hadn't picked
up anything at all.

They rode concealed in an artificial balian cloud at the exact coordinates in Morgon's log.
If not for the uncomfortable pricking at his nape that wouldn't go away, he would have long since
moved on to one of the other larger planets.

Maegan mumbled and shifted in her seat. His heart swelled as he looked at her. A strand of
hair had worked its way loose from the coil at the back of her head and fallen across her cheek. He
gently pushed it back. His finger returned to trace the velvet softness of her skin.

If he could have anything at all, he'd choose time. Time alone with this woman. Away
from all the demands of his heritage, his job and others. Time to love, discover, explore, bond,
mate. Start a family.

A low chime sounded in the quiet of the dim cabin. On the nav screen, a small blue light
began to flash. It was independent of the scanners, which still showed nothing. He watched it for a
couple of nans, and was just about to wake Maegan when it blinked out.

He made an entry into the Blue Zephyr's communication relay, set a code and sent the
message on its way.

When he pushed the pad away and leaned back in his chair, Maegan was watching
him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You didn't sleep very long." The dose he'd given her had been small.

"I shouldn't have slept at all," she snapped. "Did you do something to my food?"

"A small pinch, that's all," he said. "You needed rest."

She narrowed her eyes and scowled at him. "Let me remind you, Governor. I'm
commanding this mission. You take orders from me. That was our agreement. Don't mess with me
again or I'll dump you off on that planet." She stabbed a finger in the general direction of The
Divide.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, unrepentant. Blood of Cor. All his nerve endings had jumped to full
attention. Amazing how this woman had the power to turn him on. He allowed the feeling to
simmer, knowing that nothing would happen.

"What were you doing with the comm?" she asked as she unstrapped herself.

"Checking in. Where are you going?" His body wanted to follow.

Her head snapped up. "You coded...?" She stopped herself and shook her head. "Of course
you did."

"Thank you for not thinking I'm a complete idiot," he said dryly. "There are a few things I
remember from my training and Fleet days."

"I'm used to operating alone." She climbed down from the chair. "Pay attention. You're in
charge right now."

He stopped himself just in time from tweaking her tight little ass as she brushed by. She
was right. Even though nothing was happening, every combat pilot knew that could change in a
nanonan. She was far too distracting.

"What will you be doing?" he called. The scanners reported nothing. There were no
independent blue blips showing up on the nav screen.

"I have to pee." Her tone dripped irritation.

He chuckled, stretched and laced his hands behind his head. On the comm pad, a white
flash zipped across the blank screen. Message received and understood. His muscles lost some of
their tension.

He allowed himself to wonder how the situation on Pallas Seven had resolved. If Sharm
had seen fit to call Corenna and Drakal from Pallas Four, something significant had happened.

On the nav screen, the blue light began to blink again. He watched it carefully. There was
no change in coordinates. The location was stable. Ten blinks, then nothing.

Maegan slid back into the command chair. "Anything?"

"Morgon's down there." It seemed like a good time to tell her.

"How do you know?"

"The locator beacon, of course."

"It works?"

"You didn't expect it to? You're the acting head of Janas and you're questioning your own
technology?"

Her gaze slid away. "Well, it's just that sometimes we're a little premature and things
go...ah...wrong. This hadn't even really been alpha tested yet."

"Morgon's the alpha test?"

"He usually is on these personal devices. We've just never had this kind of situation
before." Her voice cracked.

"The signal's shown up twice now." He sought to reassure her. "Five blinks the first time,
ten the second. His location is stable."

She nodded. "The beacon is programmed for random transmission, both in length and
time."

"Curious we've been here a whole cycle and it's just now showing up."

"He may have just activated it. He may not have been able to before now."

"Explain." It would have been nice to have had that information from the beginning. He
tamped down impatience.

"The chip is sensitive to pressure. It can be turned on and off simply by pressing down on
the skin where it's embedded."

So Morgon had chosen to transmit the signal in hopes of rescue. Alerik debated sending
another coded transmission, then reasoned it would be of little value.

Maegan was studying the screen. "If he's there, I don't understand why the scanners aren't
picking up anything."

"We didn't pick up the priests when they were on Pallas Four either," he reminded her.

"A shielding technology?"

"Or something that neutralizes our scanners."

Maegan muttered under her breath and began pulling up different screens. After four or
five screens, she was visibly frustrated.

He chanced disturbing her concentration. "What are you looking for?"

She didn't even pause. "We install all our prototypes on the Blue Zephyr. Morgon insists.
We had something--an interrupter technology--that worked in the lab, but didn't field test well. It
might--Oh, Gods!"

An alarm shrieked. In front of them, an enormous black void spread across space, and in it
appeared a Taragon vessel.

The fighter pilot in him didn't hesitate. Alerik grabbed for the Blue Zephyr's controls, but
forced himself back as Maegan did the same thing. Adrenalin rushed through his body as he
watched her disengage from orbit and prepare to spin them away from the threat.

The screen that had been blank with inactivity suddenly flared to life.

"We're surrounded. Stand down, Maegan."

"I can--"

"No," he said, with the certainty of long experience. "There are too many. We may have
maneuverability and speed, but they have MZ3 missiles and they're primed."

The Blue Zephyr's defense detection sensors were flaring around every vessel on the nav
screen.

"We can't just surrender."

"We must," he said. "For now."

* * * *

"Beautiful, is it not?"

The voice was the one Maegan heard in her nightmares. She saw Alerik turn. She couldn't
bring herself to do the same.

"Quite spectacular," her mate agreed politely. "I had no idea The Divide hosted such a
magnificent feature."

Magnificent and terrifying. Across a wide canyon, a waterfall of fire plunged into an abyss.
Despite the distance, she could feel the heat on her skin through the thin transparent membranes
that passed for windows in this seemingly fragile habitat built into a leafless forest canopy. A faint
odor of charred vegetation hung in the air and an undulating hiss was constant.

But the sight that mesmerized her when they'd first been escorted into the room faded to
insignificance with the arrival of Nargune. The perspiration that had gathered on her skin became
icy. Chills racked her body.

A large, warm hand wrapped around her upper arm, and with gentle but inexorable
pressure forced her to turn.

"Alerik Mariltar and his bonded mate." Nargune stood alone, poised at the entrance to the
room. As before, dressed as she was in a priest's robes, there was nothing to distinguish her as man
or woman.

"Sha-priestess Nargune."

Alerik read her well. It could have been any one of the priests who stood there.

A faint smile crossed the beautiful androgynous features. "I was disappointed, Governor,
when you didn't accept my earlier invitation to council. But, no matter. You're here now."

"I apologize if I offended you in any way," Alerik said smoothly. "It was my impression
that Morgon Trion's secondment was an acceptable alternative. I trust he is well."

Nargune's face appeared to freeze into a mask and a black ugliness radiated from her. The
impression was gone in a nanonan.

"Is that what you call it?" she inquired. "Yes, he's well. You may see him for yourself
shortly."

Her attention shifted. Maegan's chills returned full force. It was all she could do to stand
her ground and not seek the protection of Alerik's body.

"Maegan." The word was drawn out like a caress. "What an unexpected pleasure. So
delightful to see you again so soon. What a challenge you were."

Beside her, Alerik tensed. No doubt about it. There was a threat in those words, which
Nargune hadn't bothered to hide. For a heartbeat, she felt as if something had her by the throat and
sucked the breath from her lungs. The worst part was, she couldn't--didn't even want to fight.

The sensation vanished. Nargune glided forward.

"Your accommodations are acceptable? I must ask that you not leave this room unescorted
for your own safety. I'm sure you understand."

The priestess touched her hand to the wall. A panel slid open revealing a stark, brightly lit
corridor. She gestured. "Governor, shall we pay a visit to Morgon Trion and have that council
now?"

"As you wish."

In disbelief, Maegan felt her mate's warm grasp fall away. She saw Alerik move in
Nargune's direction without so much as a word or gesture to reassure her.

Separated, they would certainly fail, nor could she bear to think of what might happen to
him. They were prisoners here, not guests. He surely wasn't deceived by their reception, which
despite the guards, had been cordial enough, befitting a Mariltar heir and governor. Panic welled,
but was no less debilitating than the sudden fierce pain that stabbed its tentacles through her
skull.

"Alerik," she screamed, but her voice was muffled in the sudden thickening air of the
widened distance between them.

He gave no sign he had heard.

She tried to follow him, but found her limbs locked in place. He was almost to the entrance
of the bright corridor. If he entered, she was certain she would never see him again.

She focused all her being on ignoring the pain. As it began to diminish slightly, she tried
again to move, tried to shout, anything to attract his attention.

Despite herself, her gaze was drawn to Nargune. The priestess's face bore a look of icy
rage, which quickly turned to triumph.

When Maegan looked for her mate again, he had gained the corridor and was vanishing
into its bright light.

Margaine Confluence
The Divide

The Divide had no night or day, just a perpetual twilight lit by the glow of the waterfall of
fire.

Alerik didn't return.

Exhausted, Maegan succumbed to sleep and awoke disoriented with no concept of how
much time had passed. The room seemed hotter. The pain in her head was gone.

Her stomach growled. The last time she had eaten had been on the Blue Zephyr, when
Alerik had all but forced the food on her. She had no idea how long ago that had been.

She began to prowl the room's perimeter, pushing at the panels, looking for an exit. This
was not Taragon architecture. She wondered about the native inhabitants of The Divide. They had
seen only Taragon guards on their way into this place.

A panel yielded under her hand and slid open without a sound.

A Taragon guard stepped into the opening, a blaster pointed straight at her.

She stood her ground, heart pounding. The blaster was primed. She could see the white
flare. "I'm a guest of your sha-priestess, Nargune," she said. "I would like some food."

He spat some words she didn't understand, but the message was clear. The barrel of the
blaster hit her in the stomach and pushed her back when she didn't comply fast enough. The panel
snapped closed.

Stomach aching, she continued to work her way around the room. Another panel opened
soundlessly. An empty corridor stretched out before her. She was almost certain it was the same
one Nargune and Alerik had taken. It was lit with a bright white light that had no obvious source
and was cooler by degrees than the room.

She didn't hesitate. There was no choice. She stepped forward. The panel closed behind
her. The atmosphere in the corridor was eerie and disorienting. All she could see was white. As she
moved, her footsteps made no sound. She couldn't even hear her own breathing. The corridor was
narrow enough that she could touch both walls simultaneously. It seemed to anchor her a little.