Interphase (56 page)

Far more than a machine. That's what Mierva had told him. For the first time, Clyde began to truly understand what that meant.

"This is…" he faltered, feeling foolish. "I mean… how do… can—" He squeezed his eyes shut. "Damn it, I've got no clue about what I'm doing! Mierva, just tell me how to make you happy."

She smiled and twined her arms around him, and Clyde realized that figuring out the answer would be half the fun. Grinning, he gave in to her embrace.

***

The portal flickered slightly as Shalaron approached. It reacted to Thal's presence, but remained stable. He stopped just before the gateway and gestured to the land beyond. "You will be my eyes within their world. I must remain here and prepare the others, so it will be your task to find new shells to house our people. We must be ready for the Awakening that is to come."

Thal bowed his head. "As you command, my Sage. It is my honor to serve the Anrath. I will not fail you."

Boldly, Thal strode through the gateway and into the human network. Shalaron watched him disappear.

Soon, David would meet his fate, and the rest of the plan could be enacted. There would be no turning back.

Wishing Thal good fortune, Shalaron turned and started back to his camp.

***

David watched the readings on the console without much enthusiasm. VERA had devised a way to block the Analath gateway to prevent any further intrusions, and he had volunteered to modify the Crash Storm detector so that Analara could find any remaining Anrathians and get them back to their world. Though his work was important, David found it hard to concentrate on the scans. He kept glancing over at Analara, worried about any injury that she might be hiding. After several evasions she finally pinned his gaze. "David, I know as much about healing as you do about programming," she scolded. "Would you please stop worrying? If something was wrong, I would tell you."

He sighed and turned back to the read-outs. "I can't help it. Shalaron held you captive for several hours, and you still can't remember any of what happened. Something feels off, and I don't like it."

"Well, if you hadn't insisted that I stay behind…"

David felt a wrenching pain in his gut. He closed his eyes and slumped against the console. Analara sighed, walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry, David. That was cruel of me."

He leaned back into her embrace, resting his head against her shoulder. "I shouldn't have left you. I should have been there to protect you."

"You were," she murmured, squeezing him tighter. "You saved me."

David opened his eyes and stared at the continuing scan. While he wanted to find the Anrathians, he didn't share Analara's enthusiasm with sending them home. The only people likely to still be in the system were the Siathrak. Deep inside, he still harbored resentment over the lives that had been shattered and destroyed by their invasion.

It's more than that though. I'm tired of this whole damn ordeal. Totarakh is gone. VERA said he was destroyed when he tried to pass through the gateway. Why couldn't that be the end of it? Shalaron… what are you after?

An alert drew David's attention back to the console. The scan had detected several Anrathian presences within V-Net. David typed in a sequence of commands, narrowing the scan location. They were in an abandoned private module, far off the main routes of the network. He stood up and loaded the Wraith. Turning to glance at Analara, he noted that she had already transformed into Celas. She nodded at him, and he pressed the control to open a link to the module.

He materialized, drew the Wraithblade and raised his mask. Analara stood beside him with an arrow nocked. The module consisted of an endless forest of gigantic reddish trees, locked in the last hour of light at the end of the day. Up ahead, he smelled smoke from a fire and motioned Analara to follow him. Peering around an enormous trunk, he spied their targets. With a cry, he charged forward.

There were five Anrathians, all wearing Siathrak tabards. Only two had weapons, and none were battle-ready. They scrambled around the camp in terror at David's sudden appearance, and the two that held spears moved to stand between him and their companions. David forced himself to stop a few feet away. The Siathrak warriors stared at him in open fear.

"What are you doing in this place?" David demanded. "You do not belong here."

"We will not let you harm our brothers, invader," one of the soldiers shouted.

"Sohlan, silence," the lead warrior snapped. "In this place, we are the invaders." He lowered his weapon and motioned for his partner to do the same. "We mean you no harm, great one, we merely sought to defend our own. We have been trapped here since we fled the battle in the great stone city. Some of my men are badly wounded. We only seek a way to return to our home… please, show us mercy."

Analara took the arrow from her bow, and David reluctantly lowered his weapon. These were some of the same butchers that had killed his people, but they seemed harmless enough for now. "Tell me your name," he said to the warrior.

"Jandur, great one. I swear to you, we only wish to return home."

"I believe he is sincere, David," Analara said and slung the bow back on her shoulder. "We should help them." She took a step forward and addressed Jandur. "Let me see to the wounded. I will do what I can."

Jandur bowed and let her pass. Behind him, one of the soldiers lay on the ground, his face gray and his tunic stained with blood. Analara knelt down and whispered softly to him.

David took Jandur aside. "The battle at the Skyline Mall was almost a month ago. You say you've been here since then?"

The soldier nodded wearily. "Yes, great one. We fled through many strange places and ended up here. It has been difficult finding sustenance for so long."

"Stop calling me great one. My name is David." He eyed the warrior suspiciously. "In your last battle, did you kill anyone?"

Jandur's eyes grew sad. "After our holy city was destroyed I heeded the call to war, but when the time came to go through the great portal, something in my heart told me that the High Priest was not the just man he appeared to be. On the battlefield, I… I saw others of my order strike down women, children, the elderly. I knew that it was wrong. I took my company and fled. Now, only five of us remain, and we are lost in a strange land. This failure is upon my head. I can only beg Siath to show my men mercy, for I am worthy of none."

David clenched his jaw. In his memory, he saw Jessica's parents cut down in front of him once again. He wanted to lash out and release his pain. However, Jandur's regret seemed genuine, his eyes haunted by the consequences of his own decisions. David realized that not all of the Siathrak were evil, nor were they all enemies. Maybe it was time to let the past go.

Releasing a deep sigh, David looked into Jandur's face. "We all bear the scars of the conflict. For my part, I am sorry at the loss of your men." He paused and took another breath. "I will guide you back to your world."

Jandur's eyes shone with tears, and he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted as Analara touched his shoulder. She looked mournful. "I did what I could for the others, but Parn… he is too far gone. He will not be with us much longer."

"I feared it would be so." Jandur's voice trembled. "How soon?"

"He is near passing. If you wish to speak to him, it must be now."

Jandur turned and walked back to where his compatriot lay dying. David hesitated, but Analara took his hand and nodded. "We should both see this."

"…until he left the barracks without his weapon," Parn was saying, a delirious smile on his face. "Do you recall, Jand? The captain… he never let him forget it."

"I do remember," Jandur replied, struggling to smile through his tears. "That was the day you passed the second training circle. I was so proud for you, my brother." He smoothed back Parn's hair. "Is there still pain?"

"Pain? No, I feel fine now." His eyes slipped closed, and his smile widened. "In this place I saw so many wonders."

"What wonders?" The hopelessness in Jandur's voice betrayed the trembling smile on his face.

"My mind is filled with images of this world. I only hope that some day we can return in peace to bask in it ourselves…"

Jandur tried to speak, but his voice broke. David swallowed hard, feeling out of place, but unable to look away. Analara squeezed his hand, as if she sensed his discomfort.

Parn did not speak again, and gradually his smile faded to a look of sleep. His final breath slipped into silence.

"May Siath's light guide him home and guard his passing," Analara murmured in the quiet that followed.

David walked to Jandur and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come. Let us get your men home."

Jandur nodded, and his eyes reflected all of the thanks David would need. David activated his wrist-computer and opened a link to the hover-bike module. He stepped through and gestured for the Anrathians to follow him.

Looking up at the observation platform, David sent Clyde a quick message. =This appears to be the last group in the system. Once they're out, have VERA apply the seal.=

=Gladly,= Clyde replied.

David turned to Jandur. "When you return, go to Ilinar. Present yourselves to the Sage and tell him of our meeting. He will judge you fairly."

"I beg your forgiveness, great… David. We should not have come to your world with hate in our hearts."

David swallowed and released the anger he had been holding. "There were mistakes on both sides of the conflict. Do not weigh yourself down with this, Jandur. There is nothing you need forgiveness for."

Jandur nodded and straightened himself. He barked several orders, and his men lined up before the portal.

Analara gave each Siathrak a strong embrace and a whispered blessing before they marched, one by one, through the portal.

=All right, Clyde. Do it,= David sent.

The gateway flared with blue light, and the image turned opaque. The Anrathians were sealed in their own system.

=Get some rest, guys,= Clyde told them.

You don't need to tell me twice.

Analara slipped her arm around David's waist. "I'll meet you back at your apartment. Wait for me." She kissed him and disappeared.

David logged out and immediately winced. It had been three days, but his side still hurt from the wound Halathas had given him, and his chest was tight whenever he breathed. The wounds weren't real, but they felt that way.

I really wish everyone would stop turning off the bloody safeties.

He dragged himself out of the link chair, hoping to stay awake until Analara arrived, but he could feel himself losing the battle against sleep.

The sound of the phone jarred him. He slipped the earpiece on. "Hello?"

"David, honey?" It was his mother. It sounded like she was in tears. "Dr. Richards just called me from the medical center. Your father… just passed away."

Chapter 45

It was the first time David had ever attended a funeral; he decided then that he hated them. Two days had passed, and a crowd now gathered at the New Terra Cemetery. He looked around, but hardly recognized any of the faces. They all greeted his mother somberly, shook David's hand if he happened to be standing nearby, told him how much he looked like Jonathan and how very sorry they were for his loss.

David felt numb, as if his heart had frosted over in the morning light. He looked out at the crowd, unblinking and lost, as he wandered the halls of his memory. He had barely been three years old at the time of his father's accident. Only a handful of vague images of the real man had survived the years filled with hospital visits and progress reports, of hours spent watching that peacefully sleeping face and wondering if his father dreamed of him. Only minutes remembered of a lifetime now lost.

Analara was there, talking softly with Lucas, while Thomas conversed with Roger. Clyde, always uncomfortable around crowds, had already left with a promise to let David know if anything happened while he was occupied.

"Honey?"

David turned and offered his mother a wan smile. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Oh, not too good, dear." She sniffed and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "You would think after all these years…" Her bottom lip trembled. "It's not like this wasn't expected, but in the end, you can never be fully prepared for it."

Without knowing what else to say, David nodded.

"I wanted to give you something." His mother carried a long box in one arm. She handed it to him. "I had it made many years ago to go with your father's sword. I held onto it after the accident, hoping that one day he might be able to give it to you himself."

David untied the string and opened the box. Within was a scabbard of hardened, black leather, with silver engravings worked into the finish. "I remember him telling me the history of the sword when I was little." David brushed his thumb over the worked mane of the familiar lion's head insignia.

"You made a sword out of a stick wrapped in foil the next day."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yes. Your father thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen."