Mission To Mahjundar (31 page)

Woozily, she attempted to stand, frantic to find something else to use as a weapon. Hand on the door, Ishtananga laughed at her efforts. “Although I’ll probably bear the scars of your madness, your goddess should have selected a stronger champion than you, girl.”

The door shifted under his hand and he moved aside. “Good, my guards have arrived.”
 

He was turning to direct the men he expected when the panel flew open, knocking Ishtananga to the side. Johnny came in, crouched low, face painted with mud, hair hidden in a cap, blaster in his hand. Pressing the muzzle directly against Ishtananga’s side, Johnny fired and the priest fell, his face frozen in an astonished grimace.

Wasting no time on the dead or dying adversary, Johnny came straight to Shalira. “Are you okay?” Helping her rise with one hand, he glanced over the chaos in the room. “By the evidence, you put up a pretty good fight, Your Highness.” He held her awkwardly as she wept, overcome by what she’d done and relief the priest was dead. “We’ve got to get out of here,” he said even as he gave her a hard hug. “You have any idea where Mike and Saium are being held in this place?”

Shalira took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. Tears wasted precious time. She nodded. “In the other wing. The priest said there were guards on duty.”

“I hope to hell they didn’t hear the shot or don’t come investigate,” Johnny said. “We need our luck to hold tonight, princess.”

She broke away from his loose grip, off-balance from the blows she’d received, and hurried to the shelves to select another knife. Having a weapon was of the utmost importance to her right this moment and her heartbeat calmed a bit when she grabbed a larger, sharp-bladed dagger.

“Got your sight back? More magic potions?” Moving to assist her as she staggered, Johnny didn’t sound surprised.
 

“It’s complicated,” she said.

“I look no gift horse in the mouth. Makes my job easier tonight.” He held up a gloved hand as she was about to open the door. “Let me go first. Keep close behind me.”

Blaster at the ready, he slid out the half-open door and along the corridor wall. Shalira did her best to manage his soundless, smooth glide, taking a second to pull the door closed behind her. Counting the steps in her head, she knew when they were approaching the large chamber where the effigy of the god sat. Surprised, she nearly bumped into Johnny as he slowed.

“In case you haven’t already seen,” he whispered, “I gotta warn you, there’s some pretty awful stuff in this room we have to cross ahead. Try not to peek, okay? Put your hand on my back and follow me.”

“I sensed the evil when the priest brought me though earlier,” she said. “I didn’t need to see it.”

Despite the urgency of their situation, he didn’t budge for a moment, swallowing hard. As if he was talking to himself, he said, “The worst part? That thing in there is carved a lot like a Mawreg would look. Not exactly, but close enough to make me think the sculptor had met one.”

Surprised to realize he was fighting himself about entering the sanctuary, she squeezed his hand. “Mike spoke to me of these aliens. They menace the Sectors, yes? Are they so terrible?”

“We liberated an experimentation camp once. I’ve seen the Mawreg and lived. Most humans don’t.” He rolled his shoulders and stood taller. He got a better grip on the gun. As if giving orders to himself, he said, “All right. We’re moving now.”

Shalira got a grip on his shirt and copied his pace. The evil emanating from the room ahead was already taking her breath away. The sensations were much the same as when Ishtananga had led her past the statue, but now she was more nervous because she and Johnny were vulnerable, so much depending on their success in finding and rescuing Mike and Saium. She closed her eyes tight as they crossed the threshold, knowing she could make her way perfectly well without seeing the horror they were walking past.

She thought she heard a voice, whispering just below the threshold of her hearing, urging her to open her eyes and behold the glory of Tlazomiccuhtli. Horrified, she let out a little gasp and bit her lip, fighting the effects of the mental assault. The temptation to peek, a little bit, at the effigy they were passing became more than an irritation, then a compulsion she had to actively combat. She realized Johnny was barely walking.

“What’s the matter?” she whispered.

There was no answer, and he stopped.

“Johnny.” She shook his shoulder, horrified to find his hand was now at his side, blaster pointed at the floor. With her abnormally keen hearing, she was positive no one else had entered the room. Opening her eyes, she tried again to jar her companion into speech or movement. Following the direction of his gaze, she beheld Tlazomiccuhtli for herself and fell to her knees, retching at the sheer horror. Arms crossed over her gut, Shalira raised her head to take another cautious glance in the torchlight.

After a single, horrified glance, Shalira forced herself to look away from Tlazomiccuhtli, shaking her head, trying to clear the dizziness.
 

She stood, checking on Johnny who seemed locked into position, literally transfixed, either by the dark powers Tlazomiccuhtli wielded or his own memories, or both. Shalira glanced at her hands and realized she was projecting pale green light from every pore. Startled, she stepped back, losing contact with the sergeant. Instinctively she clutched her amulet and found it warm to her touch.
Pavmiraia must be protecting me, as much as she can in this horrible place.
Frantic with the need to move, Shalira tugged harder on the paralyzed Johnny but couldn’t rouse him from the trance or traumatic state he was in. Unblinking, he stared straight at the effigy, his body rigid.

Dizziness was overtaking her senses, whether from the smoke or the influence of Tlazomiccuhtli she wasn’t sure. Reaching a decision, she closed her eyes and took off her amulet, which she looped over Johnny’s head. The end of the chain slipped from her fingers as if pulled and she heard the locket clatter onto the stone floor. Kneeling, Shalira swept the floor with her hands. Frustrated, she risked opening one eye and immediately felt the pull to turn toward Tlazomiccuhtli and worship him. Fortunately she caught a glimpse of her locket, shining with the pale green glow, half-hidden under a table supporting a cage of hissing snakes. Forcing herself to move away from the statue, praying the snakes couldn’t escape the enclosure, she crawled to retrieve the locket and brought it back to Johnny. As soon as she fastened the chain around his neck, he jerked and blinked, rubbing his forehead.

“Can you walk now?” Shalira asked, closing her eyes against the hypnotic pull of the god, but not letting go of his sleeve. “Close your eyes and lean on me, soldier.”

He mumbled something in Basic that she took for agreement.

She led him out of the chamber, counting the steps and listening to the echoes, although it was hard to hear over the voices in her head, calling her to return to Tlazomiccuhtli’s embrace.

CHAPTER NINE

Once she knew she was out of the chamber, and the pull of the voices lessened, Shalira opened her eyes, and she and Johnny leaned side-by-side on the wall for a moment. Sweat was pouring off the sergeant and his hands were shaking.

“Are you all right?”

Cradling his blaster as if to anchor himself in reality, he nodded, swallowing hard. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

“I owe you more than one,” she answered. “Let there be no accounting between us.”

“The Mawreg held me prisoner briefly, initiated their interrogation, not long enough to do real damage. Mike and a squad of operators rescued me, took down the base.” He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “It’s a hard thing to get over. I’ve had all the standard military treatment, but I still have nightmares sometimes, which is the real reason Mike and I are retiring. I can’t do the job any more. No one dreamed we’d come close to triggering a flashback on this backwater planet, begging your pardon.”

“You appear to be doing all right to me,” Shalira said, choosing to ignore the less than flattering reference to Mahjundar. “I know what it’s like to have screaming nightmares, to not be able to remember what was done to you but knowing it was bad. You don’t owe me any explanations, Sergeant. The important thing is to keep going, and I have a feeling we’re both accomplished at that.” She squeezed his arm.

“Speaking of which, we better locate Mike and Saium and get the hell out of here before someone finds the priest’s body.” Johnny straightened, face settling into the stern lines of a warrior. He brought the gun up. “You good to go?”

Shalira showed him her knife. Her hand was steady as a rock. “Ishtananga told me the guards took Mike and the others down this corridor.”

Johnny set off in his smooth gliding walk again and Shalira followed. The corridor took a bend to the left, and he stopped her with an upraised hand. He risked a quick glance around the corner, eased back and whispered, “Two guards, bored as hell. Simple enough to kill, but this blaster is goddamn noisy in enclosed spaces. We’re in trouble if reinforcements arrive. Can you distract them, so I can take them out from behind quietly?”

“No problem.” Shalira handed him the knife as she had no place to conceal a weapon, ran one hand through her hair to restore some order, and sauntered into the hall.

The two men, who’d been playing a dice game, scrambled to their feet, staring at her with jaws agape.

“I’ve been given permission to talk to my warriors,” she said imperiously, pulling on her memories of Empress Maralika’s attitude. “I have messages from Ishtananga for my men to carry to the gods in the morning.”

The man who was probably more senior checked the hallway beyond her. “How is it you’ve regained use of your eyes? Where’s the high priest, Oracle? He gave strict orders no one was to see the prisoners tonight. They don’t even receive the ritual dinner.”

“Well, obviously he’s changed his mind, because here I am.” Shalira reached them and kept walking, stepping daintily over the dice and the coins, to stand at the other side of the door, fingering the handle. The younger warrior appeared to be in awe, staring at her. The older man was frowning, shifting his grip on his spear and shuffling his feet. She gave him her most beguiling expression, tilting her head and batting her eyelashes. “Use of my eyes comes and goes as the god wills it.” Remembering how the village women had treated her, what they’d all wanted, she tried another tack to disarm the suspicious guard. “I’m to tell your fortunes while I’m here, in recognition of your service standing guard in the temple at night. Do you want to know what your future holds before I speak to my men?”

They were staring at her, backs to the hall. Shalira kept herself from glancing at Johnny as he slipped soundlessly toward them. She held out her hand to the younger man, but the warrior yanked him away.

“Is that blood on your dress, Oracle?” he asked, pointing.
 

She grabbed at his spear, taking both guards by surprise, giving Johnny the opportunity he needed to cover the final few feet, killing or knocking out the younger man with a blow to the head and then wrestling the other to the floor, locked in a chokehold. Too horrified to close her eyes, Shalira backed away, fighting her emotions as the life-and-death struggle played out in front of her. She couldn’t see any way to help Johnny, who didn’t require her assistance in any case. The battle was short, and the guard fell limply to the side.

Rising like a lithe cat, Johnny took the key ring from the man’s belt. “You okay?” he asked, shooting her a sideways glance as he fumbled with the ornate lock. “You did a terrific job.”

“Are they dead?” she asked in a whisper.

Turning the key, he nodded. “We’ll drag them into the cell as soon as I get Mike free.”

The sound of the heavy door creaking across the stone floor brought Mike instantly awake, adrenaline jerking him up tight in the restraints. He hadn’t realized he’d drowsed off. A quick glance out the window reassured him it was not yet dawn. The night sky was dark and quiet outside, with no sign of the rising sun. He tensed, ready for anything.
Let them make one slip, give me any kind of openin
g—

The sight of Johnny, blaster in one hand, dragging a dead guard behind him over the threshold, was the best thing Mike had ever seen on any planet. He gawked at Shalira hastening into the cell right behind his cousin, running to his side. Her luminous eyes gleamed and he realized she’d fully regained her sight. Relief flooded his heart at seeing the two people he cared most about standing free and whole in front of him. “How did you—?”

“Thought we'd never get here,” Johnny said, hauling the guard's body another yard or two into the room before dropping it unceremoniously on the cold stone floor. Hands on his hips, face expressionless under the camouflage paint, he surveyed Mike. “You all right?”
 

“Basically.” Mike closed his eyes for a second, thanking
the Lords of Space he wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. Shalira threw herself at him, taking care not to jostle his ribs, but pressing herself to his good side, demanding a kiss which Mike was only too happy to supply. He broke the caress off after a minute, when a grinning Johnny unlocked the shackles. Rubbing his wrists before embracing Shalira, Mike said, “We've got to hurry, we only have till dawn and they'll be in here, wanting to make me the first sacrifice.”
 

“Got one more guard to drag out of the hall.” Johnny went to free Saium and Everett. “Can you take care of the chore?” he asked over his shoulder.