Venus Rising (28 page)

“One of Halvo’s men called from the first
level,” Kalina replied. “I could tell by their voices that
something has happened, but I don’t know what it is. Halvo said for
us to stay here until they are ready to leave for the Assembly
chambers.”

“Did he mention me? No? Then I had better go
see what it is they are doing. I am on duty now.” Narisa left the
secure room and made her way along the oppressive red corridors and
wide stone stairways to the main hall at the first level. There she
met several guards, none of them men she had seen before. These
were no doubt from the new contingent that Leader Tyre had sent to
guard Almaric’s house.

“I am Admiral Halvo’s aide,” Narisa said
boldly. “Where is he?”

“Through that door.” There was respect in the
guard’s response. Even Tyre’s men felt a certain deference toward
the hero of so many battles against enemies of the Jurisdiction.
Narisa turned smartly and marched to the door the guard had
indicated. She knocked and entered without waiting for a reply from
within.

“I said, no one comes in here!” Halvo whirled
upon her, furious at any disobedience.

“I understood you required my presence at
once, sir,” Narisa said for the benefit of the guard outside the
door. Once she had closed and sealed the door, she advanced a step
or two into the room. “I apologize for interrupting, Admiral Halvo.
Your parents are very concerned. I thought I could find out what is
happening down here and reassure them. Why, it’s Jon Tanon.” She
moved toward the figure lying on a couch.

“It was Jon.” Tarik was supporting his
elderly former teacher by the shoulders, trying to make him drink
from a cup filled with distilled spirits. “There’s not much of him
left.”

“He looks all right to me.” Narisa knelt next
to Tarik. “I thought he stayed aboard the Cetan ship.”

“Apparently he left it.” Halvo’s angry voice
sounded just behind her. “Somewhere between the ship and my
father’s door, Tyre’s men took him.”

“Took him?” Narisa regarded the perfectly
blank face resting on Tarik’s shoulder, and the staring, unfocused
eyes. “What’s wrong with him? Can’t he speak?”

“With great effort,” Tarik said, `’he can
make sounds, but no sense. His mind has been drained, Narisa.”

“Drained? Do you mean like the Jugarians used
to do centuries ago, with their dreadful machines? Mind-draining
was outlawed, and all the machines were destroyed when Jugaria
joined the Jurisdiction.”

“I would not be at all surprised,” Halvo told
her, “to learn that Leader Tyre has such a machine, or possibly the
equivalent drugs, which are also illegal. Whatever method was used,
Jon has all the symptoms of a man whose mind has been emptied. How
much did he know, Tarik?”

“Everything.” Tarik gave up his efforts to
encourage Jon to drink. He laid the elderly man down on the couch,
then turned to face his brother. “More than we told you, Halvo. The
ancient settlers we mentioned were telepaths, exiled by the Act of
Banishment.”

“Telepaths.” Halvo stared at Tarik with the
strangest expression, as though he did not want to believe what he
was hearing. “You star-blasted, romantic idiot, always pushing the
laws you don’t like to their outermost limits. Telepaths! And what
else? I’m sure there is more to this story.” Halvo’s gray eyes were
fixed on his brother’s face.

“There were intelligent, semi-telepathic
birds on the planet. I thought Jon should know about them for his
historical research.”

Halvo swore a long and colorful Demarian oath
that made Narisa want to cover her ears.

“You can understand,” Tarik said calmly, “why
we did not inform the Assembly of this.”

“I do understand.” Halvo was trying hard to
control his temper. “I only wish you had not told Jon, because now
Leader Tyre knows. With a weapon like that to use against us, our
attempt to depose him will be infinitely more difficult. You two,
along with your two friends upstairs, must have broken almost every
Jurisdiction law there is.”

“Except the one about not keeping a Demarian
leopard-wolf for a pet,” Narisa said, hoping to break his furious
mood. Halvo glared at her for a moment, then gave a sharp
laugh.

“You may have broken that law, too,
lieutenant, when you tamed my brother. I do admire a person who can
see humor in a bleak situation.” He sobered as he looked at the man
on the couch. “Tyre had Jon’s mind drained and then had him
delivered to my father’s door. That action was intended as a direct
threat. We won’t have long to wait before he makes his next move
against us.” He spun around at a loud banging on the door. With a
jerk of his head he indicated that Narisa should answer it. When
she did, an irritated Almaric strode into the room.

“Kalina insisted on leaving the secure room
to check on her communications equipment. I warned her not to, that
you had told us to stay where we were, but she wouldn’t listen to
me. She said she would be safe with Gaidar for protection. Well,
she was, I have to admit that. She intercepted an urgent message
for you, Halvo. I would not let her come below stairs; I said I
would bring you the message myself. Sometimes I wonder who is the
head of my family, that woman or me.” The torrent of aggrieved
words stopped as Almaric saw Jon. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Mind-drained, at Tyre’s command,” Halvo said
shortly.

“That’s illegal,” Almaric protested. “All
these broken laws. It’s disgraceful. I won’t tolerate it, I tell
you, and neither will the other Members. Something must be
done.”

“What’s the message, Father?”

“Oh, yes, the message. Kalina says the Cetan
attack has begun, concentrated in the Beltan sector. Belta is
completely destroyed.”

Narisa closed her eyes. The Belta she had
once known had been gone for long years, yet still it hurt to hear
those words. Tarik put his arm around her, and she leaned against
him, drawing strength from his sensitive understanding.

“Projected Cetan movement?” Halvo
snapped.

“A direct line for the Capital,” Almaric
replied. “The first ships vanished from the Beltan Sector two hours
ago.”

“Lieutenant Narisa,” Halvo barked. Narisa
made herself stop thinking about ruined Belta and respond to his
clipped phrases. “You are the navigator here. Projected arrival
time?”

“At Starthruster speeds,” she replied after a
quick mental calculation, “they can arrive here by late tomorrow,
assuming they don’t stop to destroy any more planets along the
way.”

“Why should they?” Tarik asked. “It would
only be a waste of time. Once they have taken the Capital, the
Jurisdiction will fall apart. After that happens, they can plunder
and kill on any planet they choose.”

“That, I suppose, is a lesson learned from
your ancient history studies,” Halvo observed dryly. “We will have
to postpone our plans to deal immediately with the Assembly. This
is more important, and for the moment we need the Assembly whole
and functioning. Lieutenant Narisa, my private guards have been
quartered in the eating room. I assume you know where that is. Send
half of them here to me. Take the other half to the secure room to
escort the people there to this room. Remember the eavesdropping
devices and do not expect an explanation. Stay well away from the
other guards, those posted in the main hall and at the
entrance.”

“I’ll go, too,” Tarik offered.

“I need you here.” Halvo’s tone brooked no
objections. “We are going to clear out those unwanted guards.”

It took only a few minutes for Narisa to obey
Halvo’s orders. His guards surrounded Kalina, Suria and Gaidar with
a protective cordon as Narisa led them down the stairway to the
main hall. There they found the second half of Halvo’s men holding
back Leader Tyre’s guards and forcing them toward the door.

“Outside the entrance, all of you except my
own men,” Halvo ordered. A moment later the door slammed on the
last of Leader Tyre’s people. At the same instant Narisa heard the
throbbing sound of a transporter coming from the garden.

“Halvo, what is going on?” Kalina
demanded.

“We are leaving before Leader Tyre can
capture the entire family,” Halvo responded. “Once you and Father
are safe, I’ll deal with the Cetans.”

“I can’t leave with no notice. What about the
servants? What will Tyre do to them, out of spite, if he can’t
reach us?”

“Call the servants on the communicator. Tell
them the men I leave behind will take them to a safe place until
this danger is over. They are to assemble here in the hall at once.
Do it quickly, Mother. You are going to be on that transporter in
less than three minutes, if I have to carry you myself.” To Narisa,
Halvo added, “We have a little more time than that, I think. Tyre
will have the message about the Cetans from his eavesdropping
devices in this house, and I don’t doubt he’s too busy looking for
a safe place to hide to bother himself with us just now.” He left
her to give more orders to his men.

Kalina had gone to the nearest communicator
to call the servants’ quarters, and Narisa went looking for Tarik.
She found him bending over Jon, while two of Halvo’s men looked
on.

“Surely we aren’t going to leave him here,
Tarik?”

“These men are going to carry him aboard the
transporter. I am trying to get some response from him, but there
is nothing, no sign of recognition.” He motioned to the men, who
came forward and gently lifted the frail body, carrying it out of
the room. “It’s my fault he’s in that condition, Narisa. If only I
hadn’t told him so much.”

“If you hadn’t confided in him, Leader Tyre
still would have had him captured and his mind drained, just on the
chance you had said something important to him. It isn’t your
fault, Tarik, it’s Tyre’s.” She put her arms around him, holding
him close, trying to comfort him. “I love you.”

He crushed her to him in a fierce embrace,
and his lips met hers in a hasty, desperate kiss.

“No matter what happens,” he whispered into
her ear, “I love you, Narisa, and I always will. I’m only sorry you
have been put into so much danger.” His mouth was on hers again
before she could tell him there was no danger she would not dare if
he were by her side. She forgot what she was going to say in the
glory of his kiss. They both knew it might be their last. It was as
though a lifetime of love and joy and passion and laughter was
being exchanged, savored, and then slowly relinquished in that
kiss, and when it was over, there were tears in both their
eyes.

“Tarik, Narisa, we’re leaving.” That was
Halvo, tactfully remaining outside the door. Tarik’s hand lingered
on Narisa’s cheek, touching her with one last lover’s caress before
they joined him.

* * * * *

Narisa was astonished at Halvo’s arrangements
for his family’s safety. He had judged Gaidar’s character during
their short meeting and never doubted his assessment. He sent
Almaric and Kalina, along with the still-catatonic Jon, aboard the
Cetan ship docked at spaceport. He put Gaidar in command, with
Suria and two of his personal guards for crew.

“I know something of Cetan customs about
hospitality and gratitude,” he said to Gaidar. “I am making you
responsible for my parents’ lives. I have given you an experienced
first officer and an engineer in my men, and an excellent navigator
in Suria. Replace that missing part and use Starthruster to remove
your ship to a safer sector of the galaxy. Return in three days. If
the Capital has been destroyed and you are unable to contact me or
Tarik, take my parents away from here, find a peaceful planet, if
such a thing exists, and let them settle there.”

“I know just the place,” Gaidar said. “It’s
in the Empty Sector, where nothing is where it should be, but if I
need to, I will find it somehow. You may depend on me, Halvo. I
won’t fail your trust.”

Tarik and Narisa were ordered aboard Halvo’s
ship, Narisa as assistant navigator, Tarik as personal aide to
Halvo. Both were instructed to make available to Halvo’s crew all
the information they had about Starthruster. Then the admiral’s
flagship left spaceport to take up a defensive position among the
other ships Halvo had called together to prevent the Cetans from
reaching the Capital.

The waiting was a tension-filled time. Narisa
tried hard to keep busy with work. She talked with the Chief
Navigator, explaining how the Cetan ships might function using
Starthruster and suggesting alternative maneuvers for the Service
ships. All messages between the ships were being sent in code, so
she spent a good amount of time with the cryptographer, helping to
draft the information about Starthruster into precise terms. When
she had a few moments free, she thought about Tarik. He was with
Halvo all the time, and his feelings for her, like her own for him,
had to be put aside until the Cetans were defeated. And the Cetans
had to be defeated. She could not think of any other possibility.
In the meantime, during occasional flashes of fear or loneliness,
she ached to feel Tarik’s arms around her, longed for the two of
them to be safe on their lost planet.

The Cetans arrived on schedule. So quickly
were they able to travel that they were invisible until they slowed
to less than Starthruster speeds and suddenly appeared in battle
formation before the sparse grouping of Service ships. They took
full advantage of their situation, blasting at the nearest Service
ships before they were fully visible. Those first shots went awry,
allowing Service ships to fire and disable a few of the smaller
Cetan vessels before the largest Cetan ships recovered enough to
retrain their armament and begin anew.

At Halvo’s command defensive shields had been
raised, but still his ship rocked as every Cetan salvo found its
target. Narisa had been called to the bridge. She found it
difficult to get there. She was buffeted about in the passageway
until she stumbled onto the bridge, bruised and with her previously
injured knee hurting again.