Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 (35 page)

“You
swore you’d give us a cure for the warriors that are possessed by the demons of
the Black Planet if we came out to Orthanx to see you,” she said, frowning.
“Instead, you’ve been playing mind games with us and probably watching while
we…” Her cheeks began to get hot. “While we all…connected.”

“As
for your joining, I would never presume to view such private things,” Vashtar
said gravely.

“You
didn’t?” Becca really hoped he was telling the truth. The idea that the rotund
little man might have been hovering, invisible but watching somewhere in the
room while she and her men went to town made her feel ill and vaguely violated.

“I
didn’t,” Vashtar promised. “As soon as it became apparent you were going to,
eh-hem,
merge
, I ‘tuned out’ and did not return until I was certain you
were finished. And as for my other promise, I am more than prepared to keep
it.”

“You
are? How?” Becca asked.

“Is
the cure for the possessed warriors somewhere on Orthanx after all?” Truth
rumbled.

“Oh,
no, my dear Truth—it left our planet long ago. Along with those few of my
people who chose to leave the slime tanks and try life outside the Mindscape.”

“Well
what is it?” Far asked

“And
where in the Seven Hells can we find it?” Truth growled.

“Why,
right on your own home planet, Truth—on Pax.” Vashtar smiled widely. “Remember
I said that some of my people chose to leave the slime tanks? Well, that was
after Orthanx had settled into orbit around your sun. And Pax, being the
closest habitable planet, was where they went.”

The
dark twin frowned. “But…there are no other people than the Rai’ku and a few
Kindred on Pax.”

“And
who do you think are the ancestors of the Rai’ku?” Vashtar said.

“No,
that can’t be,” Truth said firmly. “There is evidence of primitive
civilizations that date before the time before your planet came to rest in
orbit around our sun.”

“Primitive
being
the key word,” Vashtar emphasized. “Primitive but with the potential to be
more—much more than what they were. My people interbred with them in an attempt
to civilize and tame them—but not to
change
them. The Rai’ku still
retain their ability to shift to a second, animal self when they so desire.”

“A
deeply important ability to my people,” Truth said, nodding. “Though I do not
possess it myself, my half-blood Rai’ku brothers do.”

“Check
your records—you will see that true civilization began when my people arrived,”
Vashtar said proudly. “Before that the Rai’ku were living in trees, spending
more time in their animal forms than as thinking, conscious individuals.”

“Why
are they not a society of three as your own society on Orthanx was, then?” Far
asked.

“It
has to do with their second or animal nature,” Vashtar explained. “The Rai’ku
mate for life and they are extremely territorial about their mates. A third
party
cannot
be introduced, no matter how hard we tried.” He smiled
sadly. “Did I mention that it was mainly the unmated among my people that chose
to make the move to Pax?”

“I
am not surprised,” Truth muttered. “None among my people would share a female.”
He cleared his throat. “Unlike…”

“The
Twin Kindred,” Far finished for him. “Unlike
us
, Brother.”

“Yes.”
Truth nodded. “Unlike us.”

“Okay,
so that’s all well and good but what about the cure?” Becca said. “Sorry, but
we seem to keep getting off track.”

“Ah,
yes—the cure.” Vashtar rubbed his hands together, making absolutely no sound.
Probably because he was a hologram or whatever you called a mind projection,
Becca thought.

“Yes,
the
cure,”
she said pointedly. “Where is it? How do we get it? How do we
use
it?”

“In
order to understand the cure, you must understand the disease,” the little man
said, his voice assuming a lecturing tone. “For that is what this possession
is—a disease. An infection. And the agent which carries this particular
infection—the vector if you will—is the shadow stone from the Black Planet.”

“Yes,
the human scientist who used to be Maggie’s fiancé dumped a lot of shadow stone
dust into the air vents in the Unmated Males area,” Far said. “It circulated
through the entire area, allowing the Kindred who had no bond with a female to
be possessed.”

“Exactly.”
Vashtar nodded.

Truth
frowned. “So are you saying we should simply wash off those that have been
infected or possessed? Would that drive the demons out?”

“I’m
afraid it isn’t that easy. The shadow stone must be neutralized and only one
substance can do that—truthonium.”

“Truthonium?
What’s truthonium?” Becca asked blankly.

“A
very rare element,” Far said, frowning. “Made only in the heart of the hottest
supernovas. And only then in infinitesimal quantities. It’s incredibly hard to
find—some say the rarest element in the known universe.”

“It
is that,” Vashtar acknowledged. “Its purity is honed in the blazing inferno
that is the death of a star. Only truthonium can neutralize the impure and
corrupted essence of the Black Planet—which is what the shadow stone is.”

“And
you say your people had some of this element and they brought it with them to
Pax?” Far asked. “In quantities large enough to counteract the vast quantities
of shadow stone which were used on the unmated males?”

“Gracious,
no!” Vashtar exclaimed. “It took us ages to gather even a tiny amount and that
was shaped by our master craftsmen into a pendant which may be worn around the
neck.”

“One
pendant?
That’s your solution?” Becca demanded. “We have hundreds of possessed males
back on the Mother Ship. Maybe more than a thousand. How can one necklace help
all of them?”

“Do
let me finish, my dear,” Vashtar said quietly. “The pendant’s qualities are
transferable to a liquid medium. Were you to submerge it in a large quantity of
say, water, you would be able to make an antiseptic, if you will. Something to
fight the infection.”

“So
we use this thruthonium pendant to make a kind of…of holy water?” Becca asked,
frowning.

“Oh,
nothing quite so mystical as that.” Vashtar laughed. “As I said, the truthonium
water will act as an antiseptic. It will wash the infection clean. And as it
does, the demons within the possessed men will feel the effects upon their skin
like acid. They
cannot
stand its purity. It will drive them out. When
that happens, be certain you have quite a large chunk of the shadow stone to
trap them in. When all are imprisoned within it, simply eject it into space and…”
He spread his hands. “Your problem is solved.”

“Sounds
remarkably simple,” Far said.

“Don’t
say that yet, Brother,” Truth growled. “We still haven’t heard where this
mystical pendant is to be found.”

“It
is buried in a cache under the roots of one of the elder trees in your home
forest, Truth,” Vashtar said. “I can give you coordinates though the cache may
have shifted some over the past two thousand years. You will probably have to
do some digging.”

“Digging
is simple. Going back to my home forest may not be.” The dark twin frowned.

“What?
Why?” Becca asked—she could feel his anxiety loud and clear. “Did you leave
under, uh, bad circumstances?”

“No,
but I will be returning under them,” Truth muttered.

“He’s
talking about bringing us—me specifically,” Far said quietly. “His people don’t
believe in the kind of relationship we have. The Twin bond we share will seem
like the worst kind of perversion to them.”

“That’s
true enough, Brother.” Truth sighed. “But it can’t be helped.”

“Yes,
it can,” Becca objected. “You go alone and Far and I will stay on the ship. Or
else you and I can go and pose as a couple.”

“That
won’t work, I’m afraid,” Vashtar said. “The cache can only be found by a bonded
triumvirate. Only the OneMind can locate it.”

“Well,
then…we can just keep a low profile,” Becca said. “I mean, there’s no reason we
have to rub people’s noses in the fact that we all…you know.”

“That
we all made love together, you mean?” Far raised an eye brow at her.

“Exactly,”
Becca said and cleared her throat. “Truth can just introduce us as his brother
and his girl friend and leave it at that.”

“That
would work very well if it weren’t for the Rai’ku sense of smell,” Truth said.
“It is incredibly sensitive—even more so than a Kindred’s which is saying
something." He gave a bitter laugh. "What did you say—we don't have
to 'rub their noses in it?'"

"Well,
yes—"

"But
that is exactly what we will be doing. The minute we walk into my home forest,
everyone within a fifty click radius will be able to tell that the three of us
have fucked just from our scent. Apologies—
made love.”

“Oh,
my!” Becca put a hand to her mouth. The idea that everyone in Truth’s home town
would be able to tell she’d been having three way sex just by smelling her was
awful.
“We could…take a shower?” she suggested weakly.

Truth
shook his head. “Some scents linger. Far and I marked you very thoroughly. The
evidence will not fade for a solar month, at minimum. And we do not have that
time to spare. They need this cure on the Mother Ship as soon as possible.”

“I’m
sorry for this, Brother,” Far said. “I do not wish to cause you trouble.
Especially since our bond is still so new.”

“The
fault is not yours
or
mine
or
Rebecca’s.” Truth lifted his chin.
“We have done nothing wrong. And just because our bond is new does not mean it
isn’t strong. This will be a good test of it.”

Far
sighed and Becca could feel his unhappiness and worry. “I wish it didn’t have
to be tested quite so soon,” he murmured. “We just…found our way back to each
other.”

“And
we’ll stay together,” Truth promised. His eyes flashed fiercely. “I refuse to
hide what I am or who I love. I am not ashamed of myself or either of you. I
hope you feel the same.”

Becca
bit her lip. Truth really was amazing. He had fought every step of the way to
keep from having anything to do with his brother but now that their bond was
forged, he was completely committed to it and willing to do anything to defend
it—even publicly defy everyone in his home town.

I
wish I could be that brave,
she thought, watching the defiant tilt of
his chin and the dangerous glint of his pale gray eyes.
I wish I could do
exactly what I wanted without worrying about what anyone else would say.
Without disappointing my family.

She
had a sudden mental image of herself talking to her shocked parents.
“Guess
what, Mom and Dad? Not only am I never going to become a nun—I’ve also decided
to marry two guys at once and neither of them are Catholic. What do you think
of that?”

What
they would probably think was that she was either crazy or morally bankrupt.
And neither of them would ever talk to her again.

I’d
be disowned,
she thought sadly.
I’d never be able to see anyone in my
family again. I—

“Well,
I must be going now.” Vashtar’s projection was beginning to fade in that
Cheshire cat-like way of his. “I will send you the coordinates for the cache.
Oh, and be certain to follow the instructions included with the pendant for
activating it. Otherwise it will do you no good.”

“Activating
it?” Far said. “I thought it was just a matter of dipping the thing in water
and then spraying down the unmated males who have become possessed.”

“There’s
a bit more than that to it, I’m afraid.” Vashtar was completely transparent by
now. “But never fear—read the instructions and follow them and you’ll figure it
out. It isn’t hard.”

“But—”
Becca started, but Vashtar had vanished completely by now, leaving only his
third eye to hang in the center of the room for a moment before it also
disappeared and there was nothing left of him.

Nothing
at all.

* * * * *

“You
did
what?”
Kat stared at her in obvious disbelief.

“Shh!”
Becca hissed at the viewscreen, putting a finger to her lips. “I formed a
partial bond with them. Or, I
think
I did, anyway. It was by accident,
though. I didn’t think we were really doing what we were doing.”

Kat
raised one auburn eyebrow. “That’s kind of hard to follow. How can you not know
when you’re—”

“It’s
a long story,” Becca said miserably. “Look, can you just give me some advice
quick? The guys are getting ready to go down to Pax right now and I’m supposed
to be getting ready too.”

Kat
sighed. “Well, the first thing you’re going to need to do is keep in contact
with both of them. Touch them a lot—and I do mean
a lot—
or you’re going
to start getting sick.”