The Kallanon Scales (36 page)

Skye smiled,
knowing he meant well. She bossed her father, the only man she felt
secure with to do so. If there was a reason for ensuring her
presence on this mission, this might be it right here. Torrullin
needed someone to take charge of him, someone who would do so only
out of love.

“Torrullin,
you need to sleep now.”

His face
remained covered. “When this is over.”

Skye looked at
Vannis. “Will you take Lowen for decent food? Leave me here a
while.”

Vannis smiled.
He underestimated this young woman - a thread of pure steel ran
along that backbone. “Come, Lowen, food, bath, bed.”

Lowen stared
up at Skye.

“It’s fine,
love. Go with Vannis and I’ll be along soon.”

Lowen followed
Vannis out, who drew the door closed. Skye turned to Torrullin, to
find him watching her.

“You were
meant to come, I think. I had not realised how much like your
father you are.”

“My father was
a brave man.” Meaning, there could be no comparison.

“Indeed,”
Torrullin smiled, meaning the opposite. “Despite all, here you are.
I must take that to mean you must be with us.”

“Maybe to get
you to take care of yourself.”

He caught her
wrist. “Skye, stop. You are my heart’s daughter, not my
servant.”

She swallowed
and patted his hand. “I know, but still you need a bit of
tweaking.”

He released her and lay back on the bed, kicking papers off.
“I
am
tired.”

“You have used
healing sorcery to stay awake. It can’t be healthy, Torrullin. You
need all kinds of rest now.”

“Too many
dreams. They do not let me in peace.”

She sat beside
him and took his hand. “Can I help? Maybe if you talk about
them?”

“No,
sweetheart, these are my devils, but I thank you, and you are
right, I need to sleep. Maybe I am finally fatigued enough …” He
was gone, the oblivion of the weary. His fingers slackened and fell
away.

Tears pricked
at her eyelids, but she blinked and rose to remove papers from the
bed. She undid his laces and slid his boots off, before peeling
socks away. She loosened his clothing, marvelling at the firm skin
and muscle under her fingers. Six thousand odd years, and a young
man. Would she ever understand that? She found a soft coverlet in a
recessed closet and tucked him in as if he was a little boy.
Smoothing untidy hair off his forehead, she whispered, “Sleep
well.”

Skye set to
work. She stacked papers neatly on the horrible table, retrieved
his clothes from the floor, sorting clean from dirty, and tossed
those she considered soiled down the laundry chute. She was unsure
if someone did laundry, but resolved to check. Next she headed into
the miniscule bathroom cubicle. Better.

She let
herself out.

Skye found
Vannis and Lowen in the mess room.

The Xenian
crew rotated, four coming off, four going on, although of Matt
there was no sign. The crew did a double-take on seeing the
stowaways.

“Torrullin?”
Vannis raised his brows, catching sight of her.

“Sleeping.”

Vannis
whistled. “Good for you! I have been trying for days. Can I get you
something to eat?”

“Not right
now, thanks. I think Lowen wants to see Matt.”

The girl
nodded and raised her bowl, drinking down the last cereal. She
stood licking lips.

Vannis
laughed. “Fine, come with me.”

Matt was on
the bridge. Like to Torrullin, he barely slept. Cat usually dragged
him away. Cat did not go through the mess room and she was not on
the bridge.

Matt spoke
with Shane, and Vannis waited until he straightened. They learned
the hard way the captain was king on the bridge, even Torrullin.
Matt had earned their respect.

His face
relaxed into a welcoming grin. “Lowen!” He held his arms wide.

She squealed
and launched at him.

“How is this
possible?” Matt demanded, arms enfolding her. “I thought I’d said
good-bye to a surly youngster back on Valaris.” Vannis explained,
causing Matt to laugh harder. He squeezed her. “You are a Dalrish,
all right!”

Lowen wriggled
out of his arms, proud. “Skye helped.”

“Good for
her.” Matt winked at Skye, who blushed, and his gaze lingered on
her face. “Bet Torrullin wasn’t too thrilled,” he mouthed at
Vannis, who shrugged. He hunkered and was serious. “Lowen, what you
did was dangerous, for the entire mission. You added two heat
signatures.”

She looked
down at her feet. “I had to.”

“Why?”

She
shrugged.

“One day soon
I will answer to your father.”

“My father
wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Don’t rely on
that, sweetheart, to get around me at every turn.”

She smiled,
recognising the softness in him. “I’ll be good.” She brightened.
“Can I see outside?”

“Sure,” Matt
grinned and rose. He pushed a button, the visors lifted to reveal
dark and dead space.

Lowen gasped
and found a spot to press her nose against the transparency. Skye
swayed. A feeling of dread overcame her so quickly she had to grab
onto something to steady herself. Matt gripped her shoulders from
behind, thumbs digging expertly into stiffened muscle.

“Relax,” he
murmured into her ear. “Yours is a normal reaction. It’s the
vastness, the sense of mortality, and we could be travelling
upside-down for all the difference it makes out here.” His voice
was soothing and his hands worked magic. Vannis’ eyebrows raised a
notch and he noticed the crew studiously looked elsewhere.

Skye sagged
against him. “Sorry, unsteady.”

“It’s okay,
take your time,” Matt whispered and brought an arm around to clasp
her.

“Where are
we?” Lowen demanded. The young, obviously, had no problem with
spatial disorientation.

“Let’s see,
we’re currently moving through the no-man’s-land between Dantian
and Galahan Galaxies. Ahead, three days to viewing, is Neo, but we
won’t be going that far, we’ll curve to Glucano.” He grinned.
“Sorry, love, not much to see.”

“But there
will be?”

Matt squeezed
Skye a last time, knowing he held her beyond the bounds of decency,
and let go, and frowned at his cousin’s daughter. Out of the corner
of his eye he noticed Skye raise a hand to her cheek and wondered
if that meant what he hoped or whether she suffered the effects of
space. “Yes, there will be more. Unfortunately, for it’s not
safe.”

“I told you, I
had to be here.” She glanced at Skye. “She has to be here,
too.”

Vannis
approached. “Lowen, is there something you need tell us?”

She looked up
at him, unafraid. “I must tell Torrullin.”

Skye asked,
“What must you tell him, sweetie?”

Her answer was
decidedly unsatisfactory. “I don’t know yet. I’ll know later.”

Vannis pinched
the bridge of his nose, feeling a shiver on his skin. “Gods, out of
the mouths of babes.”

She glared.
“I’m not a baby.”

“No, you are not.”
You have had a
moon cycle, you are on your way to womanhood and the sight is
strong inside you. Dear gods, how will what you see affect
Torrullin?

Shane
interrupted. “Cap’n! I have a bogey off starboard twenty-two
degrees, approx sixty thousand and closing!”

Matt cursed
and dragged Lowen from the visors. Cruper punched a button and they
closed. “Are they hailing?” Matt demanded, leaning over the nearest
screen.

“Nothing,
Cap’n.” Shane looked up from his console.

“Stay put, old
man, this is why I needed you.”

Shane nodded -
evasive manoeuvres were his forte. His fingers flew nimbly before
him. “Fifty thousand.”

“Skye, Lowen,
off the bridge!” Matt yelled.

Vannis marched
them to a soldier outside. “Take them to an empty cabin and explain
how to secure themselves when the alarm sounds.”

As the
elevator doors closed, that alarm shrilled. They drilled on
Valaris, and Vannis now thanked Matt for his foresight. He raced
onto the bridge.

“Get
Torrullin!” Matt shouted over the alarm.

“He is
sleeping, he needs it.”

“He’ll not
thank you for it! It’s a Murs vessel and it’s on a collision
course!”

Vannis swore.
“The Murs have no vessels.”

“Then tell me
what that ship out there is with bright Siric-looking wings.”

“How long?”
Vannis asked, retreating.

“Six minutes,”
Shane murmured.

As Vannis
turned, the other four rushed in, sliding into unoccupied stations,
and he heard Matt tell Agen to ready weapons. Vannis hurried away,
only to stop. Torrullin emerged from the elevator looking
haggard.

“A Murs
ship.”

Torrullin
swore and entered the bridge. “Matt?”

“Good, you are
here. We believe it wants to ram us, a suicide mission. We can
shoot or we can run.”

“Shoot.”

Matt whirled
around. “Agen, as soon as you are locked on.”

“Aye, aye,
Captain!” Agen said. Cruper chuckled. Nobody appeared unduly
ruffled.

“Shoot?”
Vannis demanded.

“Running now
will give our game away. Matt, annihilate her. No trace.”

Tense minutes
ticked by.

“Moses, it’s
gone!” Cruper screeched.

“The screens
have gone crazy!” Shane blurted.

“Weapons are
locked down!” an astonished Agen yelled. “I can’t access them!”

Vannis swore.
“Gods, we are dead.”

“Lift the
visors!” Torrullin ordered.

The visors
recessed and Matt and Torrullin crowded closer.

“I don’t see
…” Matt began, but Torrullin cut in, “Where is Cat?”

“Here.” She
answered for herself.

“Tell us what
you see,” Torrullin pointed, standing aside.

While fingers
flew over consoles that would not respond, Cat strode over. Her
hair was untidy, eyes sleep-ridden, but she leaned over Matt’s
shoulder, looked around and shoved him out of the way with an
incredulous, “Moses Mother Mary Jesus!”

Torrullin
burst out laughing, drawing amazed looks. Only Cat stared out into
the vacuum, glued to the sight.

“I got my
wish,” Torrullin spluttered, and then sobered to send his senses
out on a tentative probe.

“We’re in the
Glucano Galaxy,” Cat stated. She peered over her shoulder at Matt.
“How did you manage that?”

“It wasn’t
me,” he muttered and stared out into the vacuum with troubled
eyes.

“Cut that
noise,” Vannis said to Shane, who shut the alarm off. Blessed,
deafening silence. “Torrullin?”

“All
clear.”

“How?” Matt
demanded.

“Seems someone
wants us here in one piece. We just had our butts soundly
saved.”

“I’ll be,”
Santori whispered.

“And then
some,” Fats muttered.

“Reset the
computers to Cat’s co-ordinates for Glucano,” Matt said, and
watched the crew get to work. “When you are done, the previous
shift can head out. Shane, you have the bridge.” Matt took one last
look around and slammed out.

“I will talk
to him,” Vannis murmured and followed the Xenian pilot.

Torrullin
faded into the background, half watching the crew at work, half
watching the spectacle outside. Periodically his gaze lingered on
Cat before again moving on. She ignored him.

They hurtled
through space at incredible speed and appeared not to move at all,
the distances were that vast. Now he no longer saw the deep, dark
nothingness of the past weeks; there were many points of light,
each a star, a system of some sort. Glucano was at the heart of the
Forbidden Zone and contained many systems, among them Tennet. One
of those points of light was their destination.

Close now, he
mused, after infernal waiting. What lay ahead? Murs and Mysor.
Valleur? Kallanon?

Are my sons
there?

Is she
there?

“
We are not
the first to discover this range of hurtling galaxies, but we will
be the ones who will map it for future settlement. The entire human
race could thrive here, in peace. We are here to stay.”

~ Human
pathfinder logs

Aboard ship

B
eyond the elevators serving the
bridge was a sizeable chamber for councils with a long table and
ten chairs on revolving stumps.

Cat’s star
charts adorned one wall, an enlarged Mysor Map of Lines
opposite.

Torrullin sat
facing the door, with Quilla and Phet standing on either side, the
three waiting with an air of tension that set pulses racing.

Krikian and
Camot were opposite Matt and Cat, with Vannis and Taranis adrift
along the length. Bartholamu wandered the narrow space on one side,
preferring it to the confines of a chair.

“At our
current speed, how long before we sight Tennet?” Torrullin
asked.

“Nineteen
hours,” Cat said, staring at the star charts.

“Maintain
speed for the next sixteen and then slow to half for a stealthy
approach. Matt?”

“Doable,” the
Xenian replied. “It’ll add a few hours.” Torrullin nodded and Matt
spoke into the commset on the table.

Torrullin
leaned forward. “The time has come to put you in the picture.” His
gaze touched on Matt, Cat, Camot and Krikian, and his tone was
decisive.

“You’ve kept
us in the dark?” Cat said.

“
I
was in
the dark, until Quilla revealed certain facts. Quilla?”

“Thank you,
Enchanter. Another force removed us from the Murs danger earlier.
They are known as the Kallanon.”

“Never heard
of them,” Camot growled.

“They are not
of this universe.” Quilla held a tiny hand aloft. “Allow me to
continue. Like to Margus, they inhabit an alternate and we believe
they came through a Rift recently, not long before the twins were
taken. They are a race of giant Dragons, kin to the Valla Dragon,
and desire to have him brought to them. Simply, they want Torrullin
in the Zone.”