The Tigrens' Glory (28 page)

Movement caught her eye and she turned toward it.  It was Kyerion!  And just behind him was Kirk, and yes, there was Cade!  They were far below her, but she’d recognize them anywhere, from any angle.  There were many people with them.  Some humanoid, some not.  They were moving from tank to tank, opening them as quickly as they could.  Behind them, others helped the newly released prisoners as they coughed up the breathing fluid before taking air into their lungs for the first time in untold millennia.  There were no white sections left, and only a few blue ones, but there were at least a hundred people down there, and the number grew with every tank they opened.  They needed medical assistance, food and water.  But how could she get help to them?  Where were they?

Ah
, she thought, understanding at last.  That’s why she was there.  She needed to find out where this place was, and let the Jasani know so the people below could be rescued.  She turned slowly, looking for an exit, then shook her head at herself.  She didn’t need a door.  She had no physical body.  She looked up to the high ceiling and rose upward.  Just before she passed through the metal ceiling she closed her eyes.  She felt a little silly about it, but the thought of passing through solid objects made her queasy.  After a few moments she dared to peek through one eyelid.  Relieved that she wasn’t inside anything solid, she opened both eyes and gazed around herself, trying to understand what she was seeing.

It was very dark, the only light coming from two moons that seemed far too close.  She looked down at the enormous black structure that held the hibernation tanks.  It was too large for her to see beyond it, so she rose higher, and then higher again.  Finally, in the distance, she saw the edge of the building so she drifted toward it.  She was confused to see that there was nothing beyond the building but pitted rock that curved out of sight much too sharply, as though it were an impossibly tiny planet.  She looked up, but the feeling that everything was too close persisted. 

She studied her surroundings, carefully noting the moons, a distant sun, the pattern of stars and planets from her position, in particular one that was quite large and dark red.  When she was satisfied that she’d seen all there was to see, she closed her eyes and focused on leaving the Dream Walk.

One moment Saige Lobo was dreaming that she was running through the rolling hills of Dracons’ Ranch in her loboenca alter-form, her Rami surrounding her.  The next moment she was surprised to find herself in a familiar fog filled space.  “Riata?” she called as she turned in a slow circle.  She frowned.  When she went in search of Riata she sometimes had to wait a few moments for the Spirit Guide to appear.  But when Riata pulled her in she was always nearby. 

“Saige?”

Saige spun around in shock.  “Glory!” she gasped.  The other woman appeared strangely faded and gray, almost as though she were a part of the fog that surrounded them. 

“Where are we?” Glory asked. 

“In my mind,” Saige replied.  “Or my dream.  I’m not really sure.  This is where I meet my Spirit Guide.”

“Why can’t I wake up?” Glory asked.

“You’re in a healing tank,” Saige said.  “You sustained a serious injury while trying to free the Tigren and have been unconscious ever since.  We don’t even know for certain if you succeeded.”

“I did succeed,” Glory said.  “And I know where they are.  I tried to wake up, but I couldn’t, so I’ve been trying to find one of you dreaming so I could try to speak with you.”

“It’s the middle of the day right now, so no one is sleeping except for the ginormous pregnant woman,” Saige said. 

“Lucky me,” Glory smiled faintly.  “How much time has passed?”

“I’m not sure exactly since I don’t know how long I’ve been sleeping,” Saige said.  “About one full day.  A little less, maybe.”

“That’s good,” Glory said.  “I’m afraid my strength is about gone.”

Saige had no doubt of that since Glory was fading with nearly every word she spoke.  “Tell me what you know, and I’ll pass the information along.”

“They’re on an asteroid, I think,” Glory said.  “That’s what it felt like to me.  It’s too small to be a planet, and there’s no atmosphere outside of the structure they’re in.  They’re releasing as many of the other prisoners as they can, but the systems are failing fast.”

“Can you tell me more about where they are?” Saige asked.

Glory’s forehead creased with obvious effort.  Suddenly, they were surrounded by an image of two moons, a dark planet, and a pattern of stars above her overlaying the gray fog.  Below her sat an enormous black structure. 

“I’ve got it,” Saige said, worried when Glory’s hands flew up to her head.  “You need to return to your body now, Glory.  Don’t try to Dream Walk any more.”

“Save them, Saige,” Glory said, openly pleading.  “Please.”

“We will do everything we can,” Saige said.  “I promise.”

Glory’s expression returned to the calm that Saige had come to expect from her, but her eyes spoke eloquently of her true emotions.  Then she faded away completely, melting into the gray fog.

Saige closed her eyes and willed herself to wake up.  Moments later she sat up in bed and swung her legs over the edge.

“Saige?” Faron asked from the table in the corner.  “Is something wrong?”

“I just spoke with Glory,” she said. 

“What do you mean?” Faron asked.

“She came to me in my dream,” Saige replied.  “She successfully freed the Tigren, who are releasing as many of the other prisoners as they can before the remaining tanks fail.  They’re on an asteroid, or maybe it’s a small moon.  I’ve no idea how she did it, but she showed me images of the surrounding stars and moons.”  Dav hurried to help Saige climb off the bed.  As soon as her feet hit the floor she hurried to the closet, reached in, grabbed a pair of loose lounging pants and yanked them on.

“Where are you going?” Faron asked. 

“To the map room,” Saige replied.  “Will you call the Dracons, please?”

“Why the urgency?” Dav asked while Ban reached for his vox.  “Are you sure it can’t wait till later?”

“No,” Saige said, looking around for something to put on her feet. 

“
Amada
, please,” Faron said gently, guiding her to a chair, holding her shoes in one hand.  “Tell us what’s happening.”

“The hibernation tanks are losing power very quickly.  It’s reasonable to assume that the other systems within the structure will begin to fail too, if they haven’t already.  There’s no atmosphere outside.  If the atmosphere generator goes, as is likely, the integrity of the structure will deteriorate.  Time is short.”

Faron slipped Saige’s shoes onto her feet, listening as Ban spoke to Trey on the vox.  He scooped Saige into his arms and hurried out of their room, Dav and Ban at his heels.  The Dracons were in the map room by the time they reached it, the maps of Xantara already displayed. 

“I should have known Glory would find a way to let us know where the Tigren are,” Lariah said as she went to hug Saige after Faron set her down.

“She has a very strong will,” Saige agreed.  “She found the place where I meet Riata, and I can’t even begin to imagine how she did that.  Are all the ships through the jump point?”

“Yes, and we’ll reach Xantara in a couple of hours,” Garen said.  “We’ve sent the
Megalodon
and a few escorts ahead to scout things out.  What did Glory tell you?”

Saige repeated what Glory had said, and her concerns.  “She showed me what she saw from above the structure,” Saige finished as she studied the hologram filling the center of the room.  “There were two bright moons, and a dark red planet on the opposite side.”  Saige shook her head in frustration.  “I don’t know how Faith does this.  There are so many planets that I can’t make sense of what I’m seeing.”

“The dark red world is Xantara,” Garen said. 

“Okay, that helps,” Saige said.  “So which of those things are supposed to be the two moons she showed me?”

“Val, zoom in on this area, please,” Garen said.  Val nodded and a moment later, Xantara was much larger and positioned right in the center of the room. 

Saige moved next to Xantara and studied the pattern of planets around her.  “There,” she said, pointing to a tiny round object with no label.  “That’s it, I’m certain.”

Val increased the magnification several more times and they all crowded around it.  It appeared to be a gigantic rock, roughly round, with an enormous black structure covering a large portion of it.  If there were other structures on the asteroid, they were too small to be seen.

“We have a problem,” Trey said, one hand tapping the vox in his ear. 

“What is it?” Garen asked.

“The
Megalodon
has just sent us a status report,” Trey said as he joined Val at the map’s control console and began making adjustments.  “The barrier protecting Xantara is a lot bigger than we expected and, apparently, far stronger.”  As he spoke, the planets around them shrank, and the view changed.  A transparent reddish shield appeared, encompassing Xantara, its moons, and the asteroid.

“Can you speed-travel into it?” Lariah asked, rubbing her arms to chase away the chill the sight of the thing gave her.

“I doubt it,
Sharali
,” Garen said.  “That shield is an object of Narrasti magic, so it will repel us, and our magic.  But don’t worry.  All is not lost.  This is precisely why we brought Jung Del.  He’ll find a way through that shield.”

***

Liddari
Darck of the Narrasti stood on the Observation Deck of the
Eyrie
with Thelba at his side, the Admirals and their Arima, Faith, nearby.  There weren’t nearly as many Xanti ships in the area as they’d expected, and with Blind Sight mysteriously down, the Jasani task force was having little trouble handling those that approached.  As good as the Xanti shields were, they had no effect on the Jasani’s magic. 

“I don’t understand why they don’t have more patrols guarding their world,” he said to Tristan.  “It makes no sense.”

“Actually, it makes a lot of sense,” Tristan said.  “The Xanti are both arrogant, and paranoid, an interesting and conflicting combination.  They
know
that no one in the Thousand Worlds has the technology to reach their galaxy in force, and since they’ve already conquered their own galaxy, they have nothing to fear.  Therefore, there’s no need to keep a large contingent of ships hanging around doing nothing when they can be in the Thousand Worlds causing trouble.  That’s their arrogance.

“On the other hand, they keep a shield around their world at all times, even though they’re certain of their own safety.  That’s their paranoia.”

“Is paranoia the reason all of their power plants are on the two moons within the shield rather than on Xantara itself?” Darck asked.

“Probably,” Tristan replied.  “It’s hard to tell with Xanti.  If we can destroy those power plants, I think we’ll pull much of the Xanti’s stinger at the same time.”

 “We can’t do anything until we get that shield down,” Gray said.  “We can’t even approach it with our ships.”

The Observation Deck fell silent as they all watched another barrage of missiles leave the
Megalodon,
streaking straight toward the nearest of the three sugea space swimmers responsible for the shield.  Even though they’d all seen the same thing happen repeatedly over the past couple of hours, everyone was disappointed anew when the missiles exploded before reaching their target.

“Neither magical nor mundane weapons are going to break through that shield,” Jon said. 

“There’s got to be some way of bringing that damn shield down,” Tristan said.  “Or better, some way to turn it off, or deactivate it.”

“Those are living creatures,” Gray pointed out.  “I doubt they have
Off
switches.”

Thelba gasped softly, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, but for once, shy as she was, she barely noticed.  She stared at Darck, her mouth open slightly in shock. 

“What is it, my love?” Darck asked softly.

“I think...I need a moment,” she said. 

“Shall we go elsewhere so you have some privacy?”

“No, this is fine,” she said.  Everyone watched as she went completely still, her eyes glazing over slightly.

Tristan opened his mouth to ask Darck what was going on, but Faith touched his arm and shook her head.  “Don’t break her concentration,” she whispered.

Tristan smiled and leaned down to kiss her.  Bubbles raised herself up and made popping noises at him, clearly wanting her share of affection.  Tristan grinned and scratched the
raktsasa
on the chin.

“What a fool I am,” Thelba hissed, surprising everyone.  She was always so calm and soft spoken, which made her current frustration all the more meaningful. 

“You are no fool, my love,” Darck argued.  “What did you learn?”

“You are
Liddari
,” she said, her irritation falling away as she smiled proudly at Darck.  “Acknowledged leader of all Narrasti.”

If Darck could have blushed he would have.  He didn’t understand why the Narrasti had chosen him to be their leader after Marqex’s death, but they had.  He worked as hard as he could to be a good leader, but he still felt like an imposter.  He had no idea why Thelba was bringing that up now, though.

“You are
leader
,” Thelba repeated, putting stress on the last word.  “Leader of
all
Narrasti.”

Darck’s eyes widened and he turned to glance at the sugea space swimmer through the viewport.  “You are certain?”

Thelba nodded.  “Positive.”

Tristan cleared his throat.  Darck looked at him and grinned for the first time in days.  “I am
Liddari
of all Narrasti, and those three brainless space swimmers are Narrasti, no matter how long the Xanti have been using them.” 

“Are you saying those things will obey you if you give them an order?” Tristan asked doubtfully.  “They have no idea who you are.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Thelba said.  “Darck is
Liddari
.  He holds the lives of
all
Narrasti in his hands, and all with the blood of Narrasti will recognize it.  If he gives them an order, they’ll have no choice but to obey.”