Broken Vision (31 page)

The light danced, flared more brightly, and prodded a memory. The memory struggled to
surface. She sensed it was one of her most cherished, and just that knowledge obliterated the siren
call of the light. A full memory bloomed of The Lichs, the day when Alerik had taken her there.
Though her emotions had been raw and ugly, the peaceful, primitive beauty of the place had
imprinted on her mind forever. It calmed her now like nothing else could, and it refocused her.

The dizziness faded.

The voice was silent. She had no sense of Nargune's location, but now the green flame
pushed back the darkness enough she knew that the sha-priestess wasn't nearby. On the other side
of the chamber, beyond the green flame, she thought she saw a flicker of movement.

She began to move, with no particular plan in mind. She had to find Alex and Morgon. The
only logical place for them to be was in the large alcoves. The ones she had seen before Nargune
had plunged the chamber into darkness had been empty.

Her fingers slid across the walls, gathering a peculiar sticky dampness.

An odd pulse disturbed the air. There was no sound, just a push of angry air, a concussion
as if from a massive explosion. And then nothing again.

Her searching hand encountered open space. An alcove. Pulse racing, she felt around. The
alcove was empty. So was the next. She squashed her disappointment and rising panic and moved
on. The green light still danced, sometimes close, sometimes at a distance, but she no longer felt its
pull. Nargune remained silent.

Her fingers slipped and sank into a soft membrane. She pulled them back, until they again
rested on solid wall surface. With more caution, she moved her hand forward again and
encountered the same soft membrane. When she pushed, it dissolved under pressure. Her hand
thrust through empty air. For a nanonan, she thought she had found another empty alcove, then her
hand connected with smooth fabric and underneath it warmth.

Blazing starpits! Adrenaline and excitement raced through her. She used both hands to
explore. The shape under the fabric was a body, definitely alive, standing upright without restraints
as far as she could tell, but unresponsive to her touch. She felt a chin, bristly with new beard
growth, traced the outline of the lips, then the nose. Morgon.

Wary of making any sound, she poked him hard.

No response.

She reached up and grabbed his head with both hands and gently shook it from side to
side.

No reaction.

She could hear him breathing, could feel the soft expulsions of air on her own face.

She again felt an angry air-pulse in the chamber. It reminded her that Nargune was still at
large, still a deadly danger. She had to find Alerik.

Leaving Morgon for now, and using the wall to guide her again, she continued around the
chamber's perimeter. The next alcove had no membrane seal and was empty. So was the next one,
and the next. Panic was curdling her stomach again when she encountered the edge of the fourth
alcove. She felt inside and almost screamed with frustration. Also empty. Urgency clawed at her.
She had no idea where Nargune was or why she had gone silent.

Her own breathing sounded loud and harsh to her ears. She forced herself to take some
deep breaths and moved on to the fifth alcove. The membrane that covered the opening wrapped
around her searching hands, but she knew with a soaring elation she had found her mate.

He was as unresponsive as Morgon. But he was alive! For a few nanonans, she allowed
herself to rest against his chest, delighting in the beat of his heart, in the warmth of his skin, in the
caress of his breath against her upturned cheek, all proof of life.

What now? She had to find a way to rouse him. And Morgon. Shadows still danced on the
chamber's ceiling. The green flame still burned, but the lure of it was gone.

Beyond the bright flame, the darkness hid anything and everything. She saw no one, had
no sense of movement, of anyone else, except for her acute awareness of Morgon and Alerik. If
Nargune was still present, she was invisible.

A third pulse, stronger than before, rocked the air of the chamber, as if a massive,
soundless blast had occurred. The entire room seemed to tilt before settling back to normal. A
shriek of rage raised the hair on Maegan's nape.

"What have you done?" Nargune's voice cut through the darkness. "What have you brought
here? This is sanctuary. Nothing disturbs it. Nothing disturbs me!"

If Nargune didn't know what was causing the odd pulses, then it had to be a rescue team.
She sincerely hoped they were close. Nargune could decide to destroy them all in a nanonan.
Maegan didn't doubt her power to do so.

"Your sanctuary doesn't exist anymore," Maegan called, her voice sounding faint and
insubstantial. Perhaps it was unwise to reveal anything to Nargune, but the distraction might buy
her some time. "The world you've created doesn't exist. It's all gone."

This time the sound that echoed around the chamber was the harsh false laughter from
Maegan's nightmares. "You imbeciles have no concept of my abilities or of what I've created here.
The Coalition Council is weak, so easy to influence, and even easier to infiltrate."

Nargune's vindictive voice sounded at a distance again, but Maegan wasn't about to trust
anything in this place. The sha-priestess could be right beside her. She forced that thought to the
back of her mind while she continued to prod at Alerik, hoping for any reaction.

"I have four of their own and soon will have more."

This time, Maegan jumped and had to clamp down on a scream. The voice had been close,
too close. She froze and listened intently, but heard nothing but Alerik's soft breathing. Blazing
starpits! What was Nargune talking about? Four? There were others like Alerik and Morgon?

The Council was infiltrated?

She drew several deep breaths to calm her pounding heart. If she listened to the rantings of
a power-hungry crazy woman, she'd be sucked into her fantasies. She had to focus on how to get
out of this place with no obvious exits with two unresponsive men.

"If you can hear me at all," she muttered softly to Alerik, "just cooperate. We need to
move."

She lifted his arm over her shoulder and slid her own around his waist. With a pull and a
tug, she took a step forward. To her utter amazement, he moved easily with her. Another step, then
another. She moved him along the wall, past the empty alcoves to where Morgon stood.

The membrane had reattached itself, but yielded easily under her fingers. With her free
arm, she urged Morgon from the alcove, then sought the green flame. It was possible they could
leave this place the same way she had arrived, through the circle of columns. She would have to
leave Alerik and Morgon within the circle, while she tried to set off the trigger mechanism. Her
biggest fear was the circle held the odd green flame. She had no idea what, if any, danger it posed
to them.

She maneuvered her docile charges between two columns. The space between seemed
tighter than she remembered. The larger bodies of the two men barely fit.

A sudden eerie glow filled the chamber as the flame flared higher. Beneath its light, in the
center of the ring of columns, the sha-priestess stood clearly revealed. Arms spread wide, she faced
them. All around them the columns moved, crowded together. There was no escape.

Nargune threw back her head and seemed to grow. Maegan's chest ached as air was sucked
from her lungs. A pulse, stronger than any before, rocked the air. No sound accompanied it, but an
excruciating pain stabbed through her head. She staggered, lost her grip on Morgon.

And the floor dissolved beneath their feet.

Margaine Confluence:/First Rising
Pallas Five

"No change?"

Maegan looked up. Deep in thought, she hadn't heard Sharm Foster enter the healing
chamber.

She shook her head. "The medtechs are estimating another two cycles or so."

"Then there's no need for you to be here. You look exhausted," he said. "You should go
back to the habitat and rest."

"I know. I will." She turned her gaze back to the two healing pods. "I talk to him...to
them," she said. "I like to think they can hear me. Any news?"

Sharm came to stand beside her. He was dressed in the formal uniform of a Mariltar
commander of the Seventh Fleet. "No. We've suspended the search. There are no life signs. She
was standing in the center of that chamber when they opened it up, Maegan. She was likely
vaporized."

"I don't believe that." Maegan felt as if an enormous weight was holding her down. She
really did need to get more sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she found herself reliving the
nightmare.

The rescuers had breached Nargune's sanctuary by tearing through the floor with a laser
blaster. They had taken a risk. While they'd known Maegan and Morgon's location from their
tracker beacons, they'd had to assume that Alerik was with them. When the floor gave way, the
columns had provided some support for the three. In the chaos of sound and falling debris, Maegan
had seen Nargune simply disappear from the center of the chamber, along with her green
flame.

The disturbing part was no trace of her body had been found. Now she haunted Maegan's
nightmares, very much alive. In every one, she had Alerik tethered to her with an unbreakable bond
of chainflesh forged into his brain.

With every dream, Alerik faded a little more. The last time she had slept--and
dreamed--he'd been just a pale shadow. When Maegan called for him, he hadn't acknowledged her,
hadn't reacted at all.

"I don't think you believe that either."

Sharm sighed. "I have to accept the evidence. She couldn't have left that place alive. Come,
Maegan. Let me take you back to your habitat. I'm rather fond of my testicles, and I fear Alerik will
separate me from them if he finds you nothing but a wraith when he wakes up."

"He will wake up, won't he?" she whispered. She desperately needed the reassurance
again. The medtechs were certain that he would. This coma-like state that both men were in had
been medically induced to allow their brains some healing time. But the images from her dreams
still terrified her and left her with a deep uncertainty.

"He will." Sharm's voice was firm. He put a hand under her elbow and urged her to her
feet. "He's strong and has much to live for, including a project he referred to once as 'creating
miniature Aleriks.'"

"What?" Outraged, Maegan yanked her elbow out of Sharm's grasp. "Miniature Aleriks?
He told me he was on blockers."

"What a surprise. Thought he might have told you about that." Sharm's bland expression
indicated he thought anything but. "Are you pregnant?"

"No! I don't know! It's certainly none of your concern." Maegan swung around and
marched over to the pod where her mate lay. "You!" She jabbed at the plexicover. "Wake up! If I'm
pregnant, I'll kill you." She whirled and pushed Sharm aside. "Where's the medtech? I want a
test."

"Later," he grabbed her elbow again. "If he told you he's on blockers, then he's on blockers.
Let's go. You need to get some rest. Both his parents and yours are on their way here."

"What?" This one came out several decibels higher.

Sharm winced and clapped a hand over his ear. "Balls of Sortor! You're certainly not as
much slieking fun to torment as he is. I just received the comm. Came straight over to tell
you."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I thought there was a small chance you might want to know."

He yanked her out of the healing chamber and marched her through the med center, past
techs and monitors.

"No, you imbecile." Out of patience, Maegan slapped at his hand. "Why are our parents
coming?"

"You might want to keep the insults and blows down. Just on the off chance you're not
aware of it, I am the acting governor of The Grogon Belt. The name-calling and assaults won't
inspire much confidence."

They passed a tech who did look slightly shocked.

"Oh, sorry." She lowered her voice. "So why are they coming, dimwit?"

"Well, they said it was to check on Alerik and Morgon for themselves. And you, of
course," he added as an apparent after thought. "Personally, I think it's to check up on the miniature
Alerik project. I've noticed when people get to be a certain age and their offspring are mated, there's
a certain expectation about the miniature issue."

"When I was at the academy, I actually thought you were nice," Maegan muttered. "When
do they get here?"

"Three cycles. Alerik and Morgon should be wide awake by then. You thought I was
nice?" They'd reached the shuttle tube, and Sharm manhandled her into an empty car.

She pulled away and scowled at him. "Don't get too excited. I've changed my mind."

"Excited? I'm insulted. Nice? I wasn't trying to be nice."

He sounded deeply offended and Maegan felt the weight that held her down lighten a little.
A bubble of amusement worked its way up her throat and burst from her mouth. Her companion did
not need the extra encouragement, but she couldn't stop it.

Sharm rolled his eyes. "And she thinks that's amusing. Sagar's Crystals, you and Alerik
deserve one another."

Maegan didn't know why, but this comment set off a cascade of giggles. To her horror, she
couldn't stop, even when another couple entered the tube. They were polite and pretended not to
notice as Sharm made small talk with them, but Maegan caught the woman's amused glance as he
hauled her off at the next stop. He was muttering something under his breath about Corenna and
Drakal.

And that killed the giggles. Suspicious, she stopped in her tracks at the entrance to the
governor's habitat. "What about Corenna and Drakal?"

Sharm took her hand and held it against the scanner to release the door lock. "Corenna's
been cleared for duty and I've assigned them both to you again, at least until Alerik is released from
the med clinic."