by R S Penney
“For Leyria, perhaps.”
“What do you mean?”
Instead of answering, Keli gestured to the sidewalk as if she expected him to get a move on, and then started walking herself. Despite his mild irritation, Ben found himself rushing to keep up.
The woman wore an expression of grim determination as she focused on something in the distance. “I can get in contact with my people,” she said at last. “No easy feat, but I have a knack for getting into trouble. Telepaths are highly valued among my people, and I am sure they can find a use for a man of your talents.”
Ben put himself in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders. He leaned in close to gaze into her eyes. “Are you serious?” he whispered. “Did you really just tell me that you want to commit treason?”
Keli flinched as if someone had splashed cold water on her face and then growled at him. “Take your hands off me,” she said. “Restraint is not one of my virtues, Tanaben.”
He released her.
“Now then,” Keli said. “It's no secret that we both feel stifled by Larani Tal and her rigid interpretation of Leyrian ethics.” The last two words were accompanied by a sneer. “I believe we can both do better.”
Pressing his lips together, Ben studied her for a very long while. “Really?” he said, arching one eyebrow. “Your people threw you in a cell for most of your formative years. Is that something you want to go back to?”
“That was a rogue faction.”
“And you think the Antauran government will treat you differently?”
“I think,” Keli began, “that the Overseers are returning, and that we don't have time for the kind of half-measures that Larani and her minions insist on employing. I, for one, am tired of being called a murderer simply because I am willing to do what is necessary to win, and I know you feel the same.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but words failed him. Did he feel the same? He had asked this very woman to rip the information they needed from Isara's mind. Now wasn't the time to get squeamish. But…
Shutting his eyes, Ben shook his head. “No,” he whispered, backing away from her. “That's not me anymore. Larani might be a sanctimonious harpy, but there are some lines I won't cross.”
Keli's lip trembled, and he braced himself for some sort of outburst, but she simply turned her head and let out a breath. “As you wish,” she said, turning away from him. “If I were you, I'd keep this conversation to myself.”
“Threats, Keli?”
The telepath stopped in her tracks and stood there without looking back at him. “If that is how you choose to see it,” she said. “Just remember, Tanaben; I don't let anything stand between me and my goals.”
She marched back to the subway station at a brisk pace.
When the SlipGate bubble came to a halt, Leo found himself in what appeared to be a room with walls of stone. Two blurry, black shapes stood right in front of him. Guards in uniforms, unless he missed his guess.
The bubble popped.
A window in the wall to his right looked out on a clear afternoon, and the pair of guards stood in the rectangle of light that it cast on the floor. Both men were tall and well muscled, though one was fair-skinned and the other dark.
The one with a darker complexion seemed to be the leader as he stepped forward and looked Leo up and down. “I've been ordered to bring you to the Mistress,” he said. “You will come with me.”
A wicked grin was Leo's answer to that. “If you insist,” he said. “But I was hoping that you and I would have a chance to get to know each other.”
The SlipGate was there behind him: a tall metal triangle with its top-most corner almost touching the ceiling. These new sensations from the Drethen that he now carried would take some getting used to. From what he had been told, the experience was a little different for everyone, though most perceived this 'spatial awareness' as misty images in their mind's eye. Leo saw nothing. He simply knew that the Gate was there.
The lead guard turned his back and started walking toward a set of stairs on the other side of the room. “Keep up,” he said in a gruff voice. “You are a guest here in the Mistress's home, and you will show proper respect.”
Crossing his arms, Leo frowned at the man's back. “Do you have any idea who you are speaking to?” he asked, eyebrows rising. “I have killed men for showing half as much disrespect.”
The guard froze, glancing back over his shoulder. “I really don't care who you are,” he answered. “I serve the Mistress, and through her, the Inzari. Now shut your petulant mouth and follow me.”
Exasperation made Leo comply. From the moment they had released him from his cell, he had been caught up in one of Slade's webs. The ship that had brought him to this world was manned by a small crew. He could have killed them and taken the vessel for himself, but he suspected that Arin would have stopped him if he tried. Slade had this all planned out.
Now, he was forced to meet someone called the Mistress. Most likely, it was Isara; he still cringed at the thought of crossing paths with that demon of a woman, but here he was. He suspected that if he ran, Isara would hunt him down.
The steps led up to a long hallway with unlit torches on one wall and arch-shaped windows in the other, and he began to suspect that he was in some kind of castle. He had heard of those back on Rathala, relics of another time. Most of the historical monuments on his world had been leveled to make room for Ragnosian colonists.
Another turn brought him to a second set of stairs and then a narrow corridor that was lit only by lanterns with flames that gave off an oily smell. All the while, the guard moved at a slow, steady pace.
“You're not the least bit afraid of me, are you?”
“I serve the Mistress,” was the man's only response.
At the end of the corridor, a heavy wooden door opened into a room where a fire burned in the hearth. A single chair that was far too modern for this musty old castle was occupied by a petite woman who sat with her ankles crossed.
Her face was a perfect oval of olive skin marked only by a mole on her cheek and framed by dark hair that fell to her shoulders. “Very good,” she said when she saw him. “You've arrived.”
Thrusting his chin out, Leo narrowed his eyes and held the woman's gaze. “You're the Mistress,” he said with a nod. “I was wondering who could have whipped these men into an admirable state of compliance.”
Her smile was beguiling, and her laugh as cold as an arctic blizzard. “Come,” she said, gesturing to the small rug in front of her chair. “Kneel before me and pledge your devotion to the Inzari.”
“Perhaps you don't know me,” Leo began. “I have a unique distaste for authority figures.”
The woman closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. “Lord Slade said you would be trouble.” Gracefully, she rose and retrieved a small device from a pocket in the skirt of her simple blue dress. Some sort of remote control. She pointed it at him and then pushed a button.
Instantly, he felt the pain of a swift kick to the gut. The kind of merciless cramp that made him think his insides were being shredded. He bent over with a hand pressed to his stomach and then sank to his knees.
Squeezing his eyes shut as hot tears ran over his cheeks, Leo tossed his head about. “What are you doing to me?” The words came out in a desperate pant. “Release me now, whore, or I will-”
Standing with one fist on her hip, the woman threw her head back and roared with rich, dark laughter. “Honestly, Leo,” she mocked. “That particular threat would be more frightening coming from someone who could stand.”
“How have you done this?”
“Three days on board a cargo hauler,” the woman explained. “Three days in which you ate and drank everything we put in front of you. Your water was laced with nanobots small enough to enter human cells. They have embedded themselves in the lining of your stomach, and I control them.”
The pain! It would kill him!
“Now,” the woman said in a silky smooth voice. �
�Are you going to be a good boy, or do you require further instruction?”
“I…will obey!”
“Excellent.”
The pain went away, but he was still gasping for breath, still doubled over on his knees and hugging himself. “What do you want?” The words felt like dirt in his mouth. “Mistress…”
Once again, she threw her head back and laughed a rich, satisfied laugh. “No need for such formalities, Leo,” she said. “I am Valeth. You may address me as such so long as you do as you are told.”
She turned her back and flowed back to her chair with impeccable grace, pausing for a moment to admire the fire. “What do you think of Leyria?” she asked. “I must say it's not what I expected.”
Red-faced, Leo craned his neck to stare at her and tried to ignore his humiliation. His hair was drenched with sweat. “You expect me to make idle conversation?” he said. “Tell me what you want!”
Valeth turned gracefully and eased herself into the chair, gripping the armrests with her hands. Her face was stern. “Do you require more discipline already?” she asked. “I'd have expected more from you.”
“I haven't seen any of Leyria.”
Setting her elbows on the arms of her chair, Valeth steepled her fingers and watched him. “I grew up on Earth,” she said. “Israel, to be precise. When I first read about Leyria, I pictured glittering buildings and mag-lev trains; it never occurred to me that this world would have castles, but it seems they're willing to preserve some of their history.”
“I see…” He wanted to scream at her to get on with it, but Valeth had done a very good job of making the nature of their relationship clear to him. All he could really do was humor her and hope to eventually get his hands on that remote control.
“Yes, I see you don't care.”
“I mean no offense but-”
Valeth stood up in a regal posture, heaving out a sigh of exasperation. “You want to know why you're here?” she asked, dark eyebrows rising. “Grecken Slade commands you to kill Jack Hunter.”
“Kill Hunter,” he spat. “I would be delighted to kill him, but I'd rather make him suffer first.”
“Equally acceptable.”
“I don't understand.”
Valeth dropped to one knee before him, reaching out with one hand to gently touch his chin. “My dear boy,” she whispered. “Isn't it obvious? You're a distraction. Hunter is not our real goal, but he and his friends have become a nuisance. You have something of a personal hatred for him.”
Leo growled like a dog and shook his head forcefully. “No one humiliates me!” he shouted. “No one!”
“That's the spirit.”
“Why not just kill Hunter yourself?”
Tilting her head to one side, Valeth pouted at him. That sultry expression…Oh, how he wanted to beat the resistance out of her. “Our resources are not infinite,” she said. “As I told you, Hunter is not our real goal. He and Lenai and Carlson and the rest are nothing but a nuisance. Go after one, and the rest will band together to protect their friend.
“Make every effort to kill him – our lives would be much easier without Hunter's constant interference – but failing that, keep him and his friends distracted. While they focus on you, we can accomplish our real goals.”
“What can you give me in terms of resources?”
“Not much,” Valeth said. “But I'm willing to provide you with a few weapons. You have wanted revenge for over a year, Leo. I say it's time you got your wish.”
Chapter 8
This small hallway on the first floor was filled with maybe half a dozen people who scurried about, reading tablets or talking with one another. All his life, Jack had said that that the air in office buildings was stale, but today it smelled sweet. Maybe that was just his cheerful disposition.
In blue jeans and a polo shirt, Jack walked along with his arms swinging, a smile on his face that he just couldn't shake. Isn't it a lovely morning, Summer? he asked. The kind that makes you expect little cartoon birds to start flying around.
His Nassai was happy.
Jack paused to lean against the wall.
Shutting his eyes, he tilted his head back and took a deep breath. The cynical part of me says I shouldn't get too comfortable, he told Summer. And chances are something will come along to ruin my day, but for now, I just want to enjoy it.
The emotion he felt from his symbiont was complex; Jack could only describe it as an intense desire to kick him in the butt. That made him laugh, and when several people gave him odd looks, he shouted, “What? Don't you ever talk to your Nassai?”
On his right, he found a glass door that led into one of the smaller workrooms. A quick peek made him pause to take a closer look. The room was all but empty, but there was a SlipGate positioned in front of windows that looked out on the garden.
The tall metal triangle seemed to drink in the morning sunlight that glinted off its top corner. Well, that was odd…Why would anyone be examining a SlipGate? He got his answer when Anna stepped into view.
In shorts in a light blue tank-top, she dropped to her knees in front of the thing and hunched over with her back turned. She was tapping at her multi-tool, conducting some kind of scan unless he missed his guess.
He decided to let her be and started up the hallway.
A moment later, his own multi-tool beeped to signal an incoming call, and when he checked the screen, he saw Anna's name blinking in bright blue text. He swiped a finger across the screen to answer. “Hi?”
“What? You're just gonna ignore me?” she teased.
His face was on fire as he bent over to rub his forehead with the back of one hand. “I didn't want to bother you while you were working,” he explained. “I thought maybe I should just let you finish and catch up with-”
“Get in here, dummy.”
When he pushed the door open, Anna was sitting on a table and gripping its edge with both hands, shaking her head slowly. “You know, this isn't gonna work if you slink away every time you see me.”
“I'm sorry.”
She looked up at him with those gorgeous blue eyes and blinked once. Heaven help him, why did she have to be so lovely? “Don't be sorry,” she said. “I know I've been the scary dragon lady these last few months; so a little cowering is to be expected. Frankly, it does wonders for my ego.”
“Making the mortals tremble, huh?”
Anna hopped off the table and strode toward him, reaching up to thread her fingers through her hair. “When you're short,” she began. “It's important to establish dominance early on. Prevents uprisings.”
“Can I…” Jack fumbled for the words, suddenly very much aware of how silly he felt. “Can I have a hug?”
“Of course!”
Cautiously, Anna stepped into his embrace, slipping her arms around him. And she squeezed for all she was worth. It wasn't the meek hug of two old friends reuniting after a long time apart; no, it felt more like she was trying to protect him.
Only then did Jack realize that he was holding her just as tight, that he was filled to bursting with a need to shield her from harm, to soothe away her pain. By instinct, he put a hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair. I love you… The words almost leaped out of his mouth, but he stopped himself.
No need to scare her off.
Anna stepped back and looked up at him, blinking slowly. “I've missed you,” she said softly. “I know things have been pretty crazy but…Oh look, the words are failing me yet again.”
Jack crossed his arms with a soft sigh and made his way across the room. “So, what are you working on?” he asked. When he got near enough, he could see his own reflection in the SlipGate's metal surface. Useful as it was, Overseer tech always gave him the creeps. “I'm guessing it's not an attempt to see how badly this thing screws with the Feng Shui.”
“If only,” Anna muttered. “No, this is the Gate that Isara used to make her escape after fighting Melissa in the park.”
“Ah. So, you're t
racking her.”
“Failing to track her.”
In his mind's eye, Anna started pacing, marching to the wall, then turning on her heel and heading back in the opposite direction. “I'm one of the most tech-savvy Keepers you'll ever meet, and I've got nothing. You wanna take a crack at it?”
Pressing his lips together, Jack squinted at the Gate. “Permission to mansplain?” he asked. “For the purpose of getting myself up to speed.”
“Granted.”
“Did you try that trick you used to find Keli? You know, where you download the travel logs and see which Gate was active at the same time as this one.”
“I did, and zero joy.” Her exasperation told him that was probably the first thing she tried. Truth be told, he could understand. He was skilled enough with tech to rip the guts out of a laptop and replace a faulty part, but with Leyrian devices, he was at a loss. And Overseer devices were out of the question. Jack could fly a shuttle; he could activate a SlipGate, but the kind of creative flair one needed to be an expert with these things was just beyond him.
“So, what does that mean?”
Behind him, Anna stood with her arms crossed, staring with frustration up at the ceiling. “Several things,” she said with a shrug. “First, that whatever Gate received Isara is no longer on the Network.”
Jack spun to face her with hands clasped behind himself, heaving out a deep breath. “The report said there was a Gate on board the shuttle,” he said. “Could she have Slipped to that one?”
Anna scrunched up her face, trembling as if she had been forced to swallow some vile-tasting medicine. “It's possible,” she said. “But we believe that Gate was active just before the shuttle exploded.”
“Meaning they fled.”
“Yes.”
Jack strode over to the table, leaning forward and bracing his hands on its surface. He shook his head in dismay. “I'm guessing you've already tried to determine if any other Gates were active when that one was in use.”
