Moonbeams and magic (40 page)

In the transmuted form of Eick, she said in a rush in Eick's voice, "Iverk, we have a complication and somebody's going to catch Karlee! The Security Force at the mine is acting strange, asking many questions." She saw anger mingle with worry in Iverk's round gaze. The thin lips of his small mouth almost vanished as he tightened them. Anxiety was flowing through his body, as veins along the pale-green covering on his semi-divided braincase enlarged and protruded.

"What kind of questions? What did you tell them?"

Eick glanced at the three men and asked, "Can we talk here?"

"Yes, tell me everything; these are trusted friends. What is wrong?"

"They said there should be more crystals, hinted some are missing, but I don't see how they could know how many and what colors we found. They questioned everybody several times, asking the same things over and over. They strip-searched us and examined the mine twice, even used a

device to see inside us to make sure we hadn't swallowed any to smuggle them out. They've been acting suspicious ever since your visit when I gave you those crystals to sneak out." She noticed that disclosure alarmed him; the size of his round eyes increased and their shade darkened, veins on his cranium pulsed rapidly, and he straightened to his full height and stiffened.

Eick gave a dramatic shiver. "I could feel them watching me and I heard them whispering about using truth serum. I took my leave when it was time and came here. I made sure I wasn't followed. I can't return. I need the payments you've been holding for me; you have to get me somewhere safe to hide, maybe to Karteal or Maffei. Find somebody to alter my hair to blond and my eyes to aqua. Since I'm not Uluxan like you, I can be disguised. I'll change my name, maybe to Galen or Raimi. But I don't want to escape on no weapon's transporter and have one of them androids with silver eyes monitoring me. I want to go some place warm and pretty; I'm tired of dark caves; they're dangerous. You said if I helped you steal those crystals and put them signal boxes on the transport vessels, you would protect me and pay me good. I thought we had a future together, but things have changed. I don't want no I-GAFqt or no elite squader chasing me down. I don't want to be put in no coma or put down forever. It's over, Iverk; our plans have changed. This new one has to work for all our sakes."

"Calm yourself, Eick; you can go with my friends when they leave soon. They will take you to the haven where they live. You can find work there until it is safe for you to come back and return to Kian."

"Not me, never. Find somebody else to help you steal moonbeams."

"Do not worry, Eick, I will protect you and help you. Auken," Iverk said as he faced the Icarian, "I want you to take good care of Eick for me. His loyalty and assistance deserve a reward and sanctuary from your leader."

"I'll take Eick where he needs to go," the spaceki said.

The disguised Starla perceived the unspoken message that passed between the two villites: Eick was to be taken away and disposed of en route to Noy. As Eick, she pretended to be duped and thanked Iverk and Auken, and hoped Dagan was intrigued by the many clues she was dropping for him.

"Sit down, Eick," Iverk said, "and relax while I finish speaking with my friends before they must depart. A long journey awaits you soon."

Eick took a seat, then leapt up and asked, "Can I have a drink? Do you have any mumfresia; it's my favorite?"

"Yes, the refreshments are there," Iverk replied, motioning to a bar.

"Anybody else want one?" Eick asked. "How about you, space rogue?" she added as she neared the place where her lover was standing.

The others said no, but Dagan requested a container of water. He wondered why the miner kept using words spoken between him and Starla, and wondered if the man was sending him clues about something. Perhaps Eick's mind had been programed by chemicals or the exposed man had been coerced into helping them ensnare Iverk. Yet, he reasoned, why wasn't the talk that had been taking place and being recorded by Cypher revealing enough to provide sufficient evidence? Why was Eick there?

£'zcA/Starla poured the two liquids and handed one to Dagan. "Look at my back," she mouthed to the baffled Kalfan, then presented it to him. She pressed a button on her beh which made a message appear, one hidden from the others' view by her position. She prayed her lover would believe what he saw. After she allowed him time to read it, she concealed it and gulped down the drink, a small one. "I'll have another," she murmured and went to get it, surreptitiously passing a special weapon to Dagan as she did so. She filled the container, went to her seat again, and sipped it.

Dagan held the weapon out of sight as he studied the situation. The astonishing message had said: I'm Bree/Starla/Yana. Shapeshifted. Have a plan. Help me capture them. Trust me, love. Cypher-T on alert. He glanced at the miner nearby as he took a swallow. Was it possible, he mused, that was his beloved Bree-Kayah in Eick's form? He remembered how different Yana was from Starla. But, Eick was a male! Even so, only his cherished woman could know the things just revealed to him and related the clues "Eick" had spoken earlier. What strategy did Starla and Yakir have in mind? How could he credibly explain the captures of Iverk, Auken, Sach, and Eick and his sole escape when he reached Noy, when only by returning could he get close enough to Tochar to defeat him? He concluded that Starla and Yakir must have come up with another way to destroy Tochar and his awesom.e weapons; surely they would not jeopardize the crucial mission when victory was at long last within reach. He hoped they were right, because after they took action, it could not be changed. He bided his time as he awaited an attack signal from . . . "Eick."

Iverk handed Auken the container of moonbeams and said, "Without Eick's help in the mine, we canjiot get more until I find a replacement. Tell Tochar not to worry, I will find another helper soon. Eick, it is time to leave. Go with Auken and the others. Here is your payment."

Eick took the bag and thanked Iverk, who nodded his large head. As the traitor and Icarians clasped wrists in a farewell gesture, she retrieved her special weapon, pressed it against Sach's back, and stunned him with haste. She was elated when Dagan did the same to Auken without delay.

As both golden-haired men sanJc to the floor, Iverk gaped at the miner and Kalfan. "What are you two doing? This is treachery. Tochar will hunt you down and slay you both. These are his friends and crystals. There is no place in the universe you can hide from him. You have slain yourselves."

"Tochar will be defeated and powerless soon," Eick said.

"as you are defeated and powerless on this deega, Iverk, Traitor to Seri and the UFG."

Iverk looked at their weapons, then their faces. "Your brains have been destroyed, just as your bodies will be when Tochar finds you."

Eick walked to the door and opened it; Raz Yakir and four cyborgs were standing there. She watched the regal man approach Iverk and stare at him for a moment before shaking his head in revulsion.

When Iverk started accusing "Eick" and Dagan of breaking into his chamber and threatening his life, Yakir lifted his hand and said, "Silence! I know what you have done. The evidence of your greed and treason is recorded and it is undeniable. You are the first traitor Seri has known in over two hundred yings. You will die for your betrayal and dishonor."

"Your intelligence has left you, Yakir. I am the Ysolte! You cannot take me prisoner and terminate me. Our people will not allow such an evil deed."

Without raising his voice, Yakir refuted, "I am Raz; I am The Law. Your own mouth has sealed your dark fate. The incriminating words you spoke in your chamber to the vil-lites who lay at your feet and the confession of Eick will be played for the High Council. No Serian will argue in your defense or protest your termination after the dark truth is heard. Have you no shame and remorse for endangering your people, endangering all who live in the United Federation of Galaxies, and perhaps those beyond it? You knew the powers of the moonbeams and crystaline weapons; yet, you gave or sold them to Tochar. That is unforgivable, high treason. You must die."

"No, Yakir, you must die!" Iverk shouted in a madness bom of defeat and desperation as he drew a weapon and fired a lethal beam at the ruler.

Starla sensed the crazed man's reaction and flung herself

in Eick's form between the two Serians as Dagan simultaneously sent a laser blast into Iverk's chest.

The witnesses stood stunned in place for a few moments as two lifeless bodies collapsed to the floor.

<::y\ind:E,E,n

Starla gazed at the cyborg who had shoved Eick aside and taken the direct hit from Iverk's deadly blast; she realized the unit had saved her life, just as—from instinct and training—she had attempted to save Yakir's. She assumed the cyborg's advanced sensors and programming had allowed it to scan Iverk's physiological ftinctions, to analyze their meanings, to deduce the man's impending response, and to react to the threat much faster than she was able to do. As she had staggered backward, Dagan had seized her arm and prevented a fall. She pressed herself against him, forgetting her strange image at the time.

Dagan embraced her and held her tightly for a preon, relieved and overjoyed he had not lost her forever. He leaned back his head, gazed into "Eick's" eyes, and suddenly began chuckling. "Great stars, this is weird to be hugging and about to kiss a man. It is you, isn't it, my love?"

Eick laughed and said, "It's me, Dagan, Bree-Kayah. I'm glad you believed that message and aided me, but we didn't anticipate Iverk's death."

Dagan looked at the ruler and said, "Nor did I, sir. I wasn't close enough to use this stunner Starla passed to me, and Auken ordered me and Sach to set our weapons on the highest level to be ready for trouble. It was the only way I could disable him when he became reality-impaired."

"Do not worry, you did the right thing. Iverk sealed his own fate."

Dagan's gaze went from Yakir to Eick. "What's going on, Starla? Won't this obstruct our mission? How will I explain their losses to Tochar?" he queried, motioning to the unconscious Icarians and the Serian's body.

"That will not be necessary," Yakir replied for her. "Sach and Auken will be returning to Noy with you."

Dagan stared at the smiling ruler in confusion. "I don't understand. How is that possible? They won't turn against Tochar." His gaze brightened as he asked, "You're sending replacements transmuted into their forms?"

"No, they will go with you and do your bidding. We will discuss our next ruse in my chamber after this matter is tended." To the other cyborgs, he said, "Take the two prisoners to the holding room and Iverk's body to the cremation unit. Make certain no one sees them." He turned to Dagan and Eick. "Come, we have much to prepare and do. After your departures, I will reveal Iverk's treason and assassination attempt to the High Council, but it will not be announced publicly until after Tochar's defeat."

Later in the Raz 's chamber, Eick swallowed the reversal chemical to return to Starla's form.

As she did so, then changed clothes in an anteroom, Yakir explained to Dagan the reason for using that tactic. "We obtained a sample of Eick's blood after he was seized; it is necessary to have a person's body code before he can be reproduced by another. Every race and person have their own unique colorings, features, and traits. Another chemical is added to complete a particular person's current image. That is how Bree-Kayah became Yana and Eick, using their blood codes and appearances. Perhaps she has already told you the tragic tale of Mayoleesee Bargivi of Asisa."

After Dagan nodded, Yakir disclosed, "That same method

is how you will trick and capture Tochar; you will appear to him as Iverk to lure him into your trap. Auken and Sach will be programmed by a mind-controlling drug from Trilabs to assist you. After all three are your prisoners, you will enter the defense sites and destroy the crystaline weapons; then the cloaked force standing by will attack the settlement. All villites will be caught for punishment. Other inhabitants will be ordered to evacuate before all colonies on Noy are razed. It will no longer be a haven for nefariants. Our assault in the Free-Zone will be justified because those who hide there invaded our sectors and provoked it. We have a right to protect our citizens and their possessions. Surely no other galaxy will protest our action."

"Even if they do, it will be too late to prevent it. But how will I get a transmutation phial made without Tochar's blood? Will your scientists be going with us and make it there after he's apprehended?"

"Starla stole a sample before she left the settlement to come here; the phial is ready for your use."

Dagan looked at her in amazement. "It's a good thing Yana won't have to return and try to excuse her absence, but how did you pull off that feat?"

She explained how she had handled Yana's absence in case Yana's return had been necessary. "We couldn't attempt this ruse before because I didn't know about the blood storage until recently, when Auken told us to place ours there in case it was needed. Remember?" He nodded. "Also, I needed to gather enough knowledge about Tochar to dupe his men before he could be detained and substituted, if a way could be found to remove him from sight before he was replaced. Since I was never trusted with their secrets, I couldn't be certain whether or not a password existed for gaining entrance to the sites and for exposing an impostor. That's also why I never tried to become one of his Enforcers. Before we depart, you will review tapes of Iverk to help you play him convincingly. Auken and Iverk will lure

Tochar to the Adika where you and I will take him prisoner.*'

She said with a grin, "This time, it will be Tochar who is subjected to Thorin. If there is a code word, you will have it before you leave the ship. Cypher and I will confine them and monitor you while you go to the surface as Tochar to destroy the weapons. Then we can join the final battle or allow the force to handle it." She was delighted when Dagan praised her intelligent planning.