Elemental (7 page)

Someone laughed and as it didn’t sound like
Malik or Meir, I guessed it was the Inspector. “I didn’t know you
had such trouble controlling your slaves, Malik.” His tone turned
serious. “Perhaps we should postpone this trip until you can find
more suitable guards.”

Malik spoke through his teeth. “I can handle
my slaves. You worry about your job and get the inspection done.
And don’t even think of postponing this delivery. I don’t care what
the Council says, the Kofra wants this sent to Soltak, and his is
the final word.”

“Does your father know you’re so eager to go
against the Council’s wishes?”

“Does the Kofra know you are so eager to go
against
his
?”

The Inspector mumbled something—a few oaths
and curses. He quickly composed himself and continued with ice in
his voice, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to let any ship leave
Talia while the Shadra is on the loose.”

“Shadra?” Malik hissed.

I strained my head to look up at him. The
blood rushed to my head again as my heart worked overtime. He
glared at me. The utter rage behind his grey eyes made me gasp. His
face turned stone cold and he kicked me in the side. “Get up, you
lazy fool.”

I was lucky that time. The kick was barely
more than a tap. I struggled to my feet, nearly collapsing again a
couple of times. My burning lungs started to cooperate. Sweet air
moved in and out with ease. I stood up and leaned against the wall.
That was all I could do. Malik couldn’t expect more, especially not
if I was dead anyway.

“The report came in this afternoon.” The
Inspector grunted. “The felon that escaped
Sho’ful
yesterday
had been named the Shadra to Manoo earlier this week. They were
going to take her to Kalhandthar for the ceremony when repairs were
finished.”

Malik said nothing for a long time and it
seemed to me like he didn’t know
what
to say. “I…I
didn’t—”

“You didn’t know?” The Inspector feigned
surprise. It was clear he enjoyed this very much. “Well, I’m not
surprised. I am privy to more information than
you
.”

Malik’s teeth snapped together. “Well,
apparently certain information failed to reach you. The Shadra is
not on this freighter, and you are supposed to be inspecting the
Luminarium, not gossiping about the affairs of the Fiefdom.”

“Gossiping?” The man started sputtering
again. “If your father wasn’t on the Council, I would—”

Malik stepped closer to the man so the
Inspector was forced to look up at him. “You would what?”

The Inspector took a step back, doubt
written all over his face.

“Sir.” The second Inspector interrupted the
exchange. “I’ve finished the inspection. Everything is in
order.”

The head Inspector turned slowly to face his
underling, his eyes still on Malik. “Finished?” His voice dripped
with gratitude. “Then by all means, we should go.” He nodded to
Malik and continued, “We’ll see our way out.”

The two men left through the same doorway
they’d come in by, leaving us alone with Malik.

Malik waited several more moments to say
anything. He stared at the doorway with cool calculation. I was
suddenly terrified for Meir and me to be left alone with him. I bit
my lip, waiting. When he did speak, his voice was dead. “I’ll
inform the crew we have permission to leave. When we get into
hyperspace, I’ll bring you something to eat. Make yourselves
comfortable in here.

“Oh, and Meir,” he continued with venom in
his voice, “you and I are going to have a talk when I come
back.”

Chapter Six
:

Loyalty

Meir and I stood side-by-side; neither one
of us moved as Malik left the cargo hold and the door slid closed.
Malik
knew
. I didn’t even want to think about what
this would mean— although, it was pretty clear. Malik already had
said he wasn’t bound through the Oath.

He was going to turn me in. I only hoped he
would let Meir go.

The room started spinning again. I slid down
the wall and wrapped my arms around my knees, pulling my legs tight
against my chest. This had to be the longest day of my life and it
wasn’t even close to finished. I found it hard to believe I’d slept
through most of it. I prayed Malik would act quickly. I couldn’t
take any more.

Meir also seemed to sense our situation was
hopeless. When his frozen body finally thawed, he didn’t even
bother to comfort me. He walked off to rest by the open hatch at
the other end of the room.

After a few minutes, I couldn’t stand the
silence anymore, so I walked over to him. His mask rested on the
floor next to his feet. He leaned his head against one of the metal
crates with his eyes closed. I knew he’d heard me clomp my way
over, but he didn’t look at me.

I pulled my mask off and set it on the floor
next to his. I wanted to break the silence, say something. Meir
looked like he wanted to be alone, though, and I was pretty sure I
was in no position to be offering any comforting words. Still, I
needed to hear his voice. I needed
something
to keep my mind
off what Malik was about to do, so I slid to the floor and stared
at his too-still face.

I knew he was angry, and very likely angry
with me. Fate had screwed him over right along with me. There was
no doubt in my mind the invisible hands and the voice from my cell
had intended for Meir and me to come together, but my original
assumption had been wrong. I had thought I was to be saved and Meir
was my savior. Instead, it was pretty clear that Meir’s life was
meant to be destroyed.

And I was the destructor.

A hysterical giggle escaped my lips. It
wasn’t enough that everything in my life crumbled around my feet; I
had to be the tool to bring everyone else down with me. Well, at
least I had a purpose. And here I’d thought my life meant nothing,
that I’d waste away in
Sho’ful
and no one would even know.
Now it looked like my bad luck might extend to single-handedly
bringing about everyone’s downfall. All because I’d dared to
leave.

I wanted to cry, I really did, but I was
empty. The person I’d actually come to care about was the one who
would suffer the most. He’d given up everything to help me, and for
nothing. Manoo would kill me, and Meir would die for standing in
his way. Everything else was meaningless next to that.

The hatch rumbled closed as the ramp slid
into the confines of the ship’s underbelly. I hadn’t even noticed
the ship’s engines come to life, although they hummed steadily,
vibrating the floor beneath me.

I looked at Meir again, and though I didn’t
think it could be possible, his features were even more frozen. He
didn’t even look like he was breathing. I stopped breathing as
well.

The engines grew steadily louder and soon my
bones began to vibrate with the floor. Suddenly—and it happened so
fast I didn’t even have a chance to grab onto anything for
support—the ship took off with its nose pointing skyward. I tumbled
along the floor until my body smacked against the closed hatch.
That’s when I noticed Meir had strategically placed himself against
one of the metal crates to avoid what had just happened to me.

We rose and floated above the floor for
several seconds before settling back down as the ship leveled out.
I crawled back to him. His eyes were open and he was breathing
again, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“I didn’t think we were actually going to
leave,” he said. “I was waiting for the guards to come to take you
away.” His eyes pierced mine. “I wasn’t going to let them.”

I gulped. Meir’s NK-4 was lying across his
lap, and the light was green.

“Meir…”

Meir looked away, his eyes glazed over,
staring at something in the distance—something that wasn’t in the
room. “You know, you remind me of my daughter. She had these eyes
that made me think she could see into my soul.” His eyes rested on
me again. “Very similar to yours.”

I couldn’t speak.
Daughter?

Meir sighed. “I wasn’t always like this.” He
pointed to his scraggly beard. “A long time ago, I was one of the
seven Leaders of Talia. I was far too ambitious and obsessed with
my position. I had a daughter—a beautiful daughter—but she wasn’t
enough. I was getting older and my line was going to end. Talia had
never had fewer than seven Leaders and I was failing in my most
important duty: providing an heir.”

Meir dropped his head into his hands and
started shaking. My hand reached out to comfort him, but I drew it
back. I knew somehow his pain and I were related. I didn’t want to
add to it.

Without looking up, he continued, “Then my
wife told me she was pregnant, already pretty far along. She’d
wanted to wait to tell me because she didn’t want me to mourn if
she lost the baby. I knew this was the son I had been waiting for,
but I wanted to be sure. So I took her and my daughter to Izbet to
see the doctor there. After the ultrasound, my hopes were
confirmed: my title would live on. And he was so beautiful. His
face… I still remember it.”

He groaned. “It was late, but I wanted to go
home and celebrate. I thought we could make it home in time. I was
wrong.”

I gasped and shook my head. I didn’t want to
hear the rest of this story. I already knew how it was going to
end.

“They didn’t even touch me. I was ripping
them off my wife and daughter, but they ignored me. In the
morning…” He looked up at me then, and I saw that his eyes were
rimmed red with tears. “Well, the Shakai leave nothing.”

“Meir…”

“I can still hear their screams when I go to
sleep at night.”

I brought my hand up to my mouth to hold
back the sobs. I thought I knew what pain was, but in that moment I
realized I knew nothing.

Meir’s teeth shut with an audible snap. “So
you see—I will
never
let anyone touch you.”

“You don’t have to do this, Meir.” I shook
my head. “Don’t let me be the one to take away what little you have
left.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and drew
me closer to him. “I was a Mamood when this happened. Now I am a
Praeori.” He cupped my face in his hand. “Every day I asked El why.
Now I know. I lost my wife and children for you. I survived for
you
.”

I thought I understood what he meant, that
these horrible things had happened for a purpose. All the stuff
that had happened the day before surged to the front of my memory.
Sho’ful
landing for the first time ever. The unlocked door
that should have been locked. The opening at the bottom of the ship
when the landing gear dropped. I wondered why, though. What was the
damn purpose in getting me out?

If there was a reason behind it all, I
didn’t want any part of it. The weight of what it could mean
crushed me. I didn’t want to carry all that responsibility. I shook
my head again. “Who would do this, Meir? And why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“No.” I wanted it to be obvious. I wanted to
know the truth. I wanted it so badly, my insides hurt with the
aching for it.

“Then I can’t tell you. This is something
you need to discover for yourself.” He smiled. “Just like I
did.”

That irritated me. Why couldn’t he just say
what was on his mind? I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to tell
him I had a right to know everything, but Malik’s voice came over
the intercom.

“Meir, punch in your code.” His voice wasn’t
quite as venom-filled as it’d been when he’d left, but it wasn’t
quite dead either. It lingered somewhere in between. I guessed he
was showing a lot of restraint, and wondered what was going on in
his mind.

Meir let go of me and walked through the
maze of crates to the keypad. He put in the same six-digit code as
earlier and the door slid open. Malik walked through with two
silver containers, set them on the closest crate, and walked out
the door again. He returned moments later with two folded cots and
rested them against the wall.

I stood next to Meir as Malik punched in a
different code and the door slid closed. When he turned around to
face us, I suddenly wished I had my mask on. I wasn’t ready for him
to see how I really looked. I knew the disdain he already felt was
just a small fraction of what he would feel when he saw my wasted
and decrepit face. But I was too late.

His eyes rested on me and he gasped. His
reaction only lasted a moment before he turned to Meir, but it was
enough. The blood rushed to my cheeks, and tears started welling up
in my eyes. I was a hideous wraith, and having that confirmed by
Malik was too much. It was funny how my own vanity—or complete lack
of self-confidence—could be more important to me in that moment
than the fact that Malik knew the truth and my very life was in his
hands.

He acted as if he hadn’t just nearly vomited
at the sight of me and glared at Meir. His face was too stiff as
his piercing eyes bore into my savior, and I had the sneaking
suspicion that he was trying
not
to look at me now.

A lump formed in my throat.

“Well?” Malik said, ignoring my crumpled and
pathetic glare.

“Well what?” Meir had completely regained
his composure. His tears had been wiped away, and he stood straight
and tall, not the crumpled form of a man he’d been just moments
earlier. I almost felt sorry for Malik, having to face this firm
and indestructible giant.

“Damn it, Meir. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that Manoo must be getting
pretty desperate to find enemies if this little girl scares
him.”

Malik glanced at me out of the corner of his
eye for a fraction of a second. He didn’t gasp this time, but I
could still see his face twitch ever so subtly. “That means
nothing. Everyone who becomes even remotely connected to her escape
is dead now.”