by Lauren Esker
*Meri, stay away from him! He'll kill you!*
*But I have to help you!*
*Meri!* A new mental voice—Tamir's—intruded on their link. *If I throw you something, can you get it to Lyr?*
*Yes!* she said, though in truth she was far from confident. Catching and throwing things had never been her strong suit. She dropped her club and got ready. *Go!*
Tamir scrambled backward, putting some distance between himself and his opponent. Shifting back to human, he unclasped one of the gold cuffs around his wrist, leaped and threw it at her.
His aim was excellent. She held up her cupped hands and it dropped right into them. It was warm to the touch; she'd never handled one of these things before. *Lyr!* she called. *Catch!*
She hurled it with everything in her. It was probably the very definition of throwing like a girl, a clumsy and untrained throw, but at least she got some distance to it.
It was still going to fall short. Lyr dived for it, hitting the ground with a painful-looking impact, and his hand closed over the cuff's golden gleam.
Yes! Meri fist-pumped and picked up her club again, looking for somewhere she could be useful.
***
Lyr slid the cuff over his wrist and snapped it into place. Summoning a shield, he felt it spread tingling across his body, and with it, a renewed feeling of strength and power.
All right, bastards. I'm not as vulnerable as you think I am.
The most important thing was to get the collar controller. Until he did that, Zef could still reduce him to a helpless, pain-wracked heap at the touch of a button.
Lyr took a moment to focus his mind like an arrow and aimed it at Zef. He really didn't want to do this. In the early days of his captivity, when the Galateans were trying to train him to use his mental powers as an assassin, he'd learned that any damage he tried to visit on his targets rebounded onto him. But at least he would be expecting it. Zef wouldn't.
Holding onto that, he punched Zef's mind as hard as he could.
Rebounding pain made him stagger, but it also drove the centaur to his knees. Lyr leaped forward. The dino Zef had been fighting took advantage of his distraction to beat its wings and clear the battlefield, and Lyr sprang onto Zef. He grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the collar controller, and focused all the energy in Tamir's cuff into hitting Zef's shield with everything he had and breaking just that part of it open.
For an instant, he almost had it, but then Zef shook off the lingering confusion from the mental stun, and squeezed the controller viciously.
No—damn it—
Lyr crashed heavily to the ground. This time Zef wasn't messing around; he'd cranked the pain setting on the controller to its maximum extent, the lethal setting, and Lyr's back arched as white-hot pain blotted out his world.
***
Meri ran up from behind and bashed the centaur with her club.
It glanced off his shield, sending a shock through her arm and all the way down her body. The centaur turned to stare at her, as if he genuinely couldn't believe that this tiny, annoying creature had attacked him.
She could no longer feel Lyr's agony, but she couldn't tell if that was because he was no longer being tortured, or because he'd passed out. He lay on the ground at Zef's feet, twitching occasionally.
Zef backhanded her across the face with casual strength. She hit the ground with a bruising impact and lay half-stunned; the club flew from her hand.
A shadow fell across her. She blinked up at the sky and the blurred shape of Zef looming above her. One of his hands hovered over her and, with a weird sense of déjà vu, she saw the green gleam around the cuff. He was going to kill her, and there was nothing she could do, no jump accident to save her now. She couldn't even move. All she could do was stare up at the clear blue sky, knowing her last sight was going to be the cool, distant beauty of the planet's rings arching overhead.
Well, she thought, finding herself oddly clearheaded, I can definitely say I had an interesting life, at the end anyway.
At first she thought the sudden flash across the sky was the flash of Zef's cuff, ending her life. But ... she didn't die. She was still breathing, the sky was still an inverted blue bowl overhead, and now Zef was looking up too.
Out of the blinding brilliance of the sky came a shape. Something flying.
Another dinosaur? she thought fuzzily, but no, it was too big, and it didn't have wings. It was another ship, a truly extraordinary ship.
The ships she'd seen so far were sleek and silver and very sci-fi-looking. This one, as its unknown pilot guided it into the mountain pass and its shadow fell over them, looked like someone had taken one of those ships and gone nuts decorating it. Swirls of purple, orange, yellow, and electric blue turned it into a crazyquilt of color, and it was also decked out with lights—rows of colorful running lights along its fuselage and wings and the stubby vanes projecting outward around its engine end.
It looked like a giant Christmas tree ornament.
Apparently she wasn't the only one who had never seen anything like it before, because she heard Zef mutter, "What the hell is that?"
The ship stopped and hovered completely stationary in the air, about fifty feet above them. A door opened in the side.
Meri caught only a glimpse of the creature standing inside before it sprang out of the opening and dropped to land in the midst of the pirates. Meri sat up in time to see it land directly on top of a pirate, smashing him to the ground. It scrambled to its feet, aimed both hands at the pirate's head, and blasted him with a bolt of green light.
The newcomer was at least seven feet tall and built like a brick wall. The only clothing it wore were a pair of dark pants and boots on an oddly small lower half; its bare, overmuscled torso burst upward from these like the Incredible Hulk, bristling with warts and spikes. The only good thing she could say about the face was that it had the usual human number of eyes, nose, and ears, but the eyes all but vanished beneath an overhanging brow ridge, and its huge lantern jaw had a pair of tusks twisting upward from a half-open mouth. It had no hair, just a bunch of spines like a cactus. Its entire body looked prickly in the same way.
It laid into the remaining pirates around it. Meri boggled for a minute and then, since Zef was distracted, crawled across the rocks to Lyr.
"Lyr!"
She reached for him mentally through the link; there was no response. With shaking hands she checked his vitals. There was a pulse, weak and thready, and he was breathing, but his eyes were closed and she couldn't rouse him. Silver blood glistened at the corner of his mouth and trickled from his nose and ears.
Meri fumbled with the hated collar. Her fingers slid off it. If only she could get her hands on a controller!
"Please be safe," she whispered, kissing Lyr's forehead. "Please wait for me." Then she staggered to her feet.
The huge alien might have waded into the fight for reasons known only to it, but it seemed to be getting the better of the pirates. At least it was distracting them. Meri managed to locate a blood-covered heap of tiger fur and stumbled rubbery-legged across the battlefield to Tamir.
"Tamir!" She thought at first, for a terrible moment, that he was dead, but his side was rising and falling with quick, panting breaths. She shook his shoulder until he shifted back to a panting, blood-covered naked man.
He lifted his head, swiped sweaty hair out of his face, and stared at the enormous alien as it picked up a pirate and flung him into a pile of boulders. "Who the hell is that?"
"I don't know, and right now I don't care! Can we get the collar controller? Lyr said you lost yours. Please tell me you have another one!"
Tamir shook his head. He tried to get up and then sank back down, his legs trailing limply.
"You rebroke something," Meri guessed.
Tamir grimaced and nodded.
"Stay there, then. You're probably bleeding internally." His skin was ashy under the fur; he must be in extreme pain and mostly likely shock.
"Be carefu
l," Tamir panted. "We don't know if that creature is helping us or—dammit!"
He flung out a hand and grabbed Meri's wrist. A shield blossomed around her just as green energy splintered off it.
Zef reared above them, furious. Meri had a split second to realize he was about to trample them before his hooves crashed down and met Tamir's shield with a green flash.
Zef reared and stamped again. He'd lowered his own shields, and Meri remembered how Lyr had to drop his shields in order to use handheld weapons properly. Zef's own shields would sap the energy out of his attacks if he kept them up while trying to stomp them. There had to be a way to use that to their advantage, she thought—but just then Tamir's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, and the shield around both of them died. His hand slid limply off her wrist.
"Tamir! No!" She shook him desperately, and then cried out in pain as Zef caught hold of her hair, yanking her toward him.
It was horribly like the way all of this had started out. Once again she was terribly aware of the centaur's strength; it was like being caught in a vice. She screamed and clawed at his hand, tears springing to her eyes from the pain.
His other hand clamped down on her shoulder, and she realized in a moment of breathtaking horror that he was strong enough to break her neck, and it seemed that was what he had in mind.
—until he stumbled back, dropping her. Meri fell to the ground and looked up, shocked, to see Lyr swaying on his feet, with his arm blades buried in the centaur's glossy flank.
"Get away from her," Lyr croaked.
Grimacing with blood-stained lips, Zef twisted his human torso to wrap an arm around Lyr's neck. The two of them grappled in grim silence, punctuated only by grunts and wheezes. Zef steadily bore Lyr down to the ground, but Lyr's blades were buried in Zef's body. Lyr wrenched them out and stabbed him again, this time in his human torso.
Meri averted her eyes. This time, she did not intend to ask Lyr to show mercy.
When she looked up again, it was over. Lyr stood above Zef's body, staring down at his dead enemy with a blank look on his face.
"Lyr?" she said.
*Give me a minute.*
Meri busied herself checking Tamir's pulse. It was weak, but steady, and he was breathing evenly. With her hand on his arm, she looked around.
It was almost over. The only fighting still going on was at the far side of the battlefield, where the huge alien was putting down the last of the pirates. Lyr looked that way too, and then tottered over to collapse near her, leaving a space between them.
Meri edged over to lean against him, heedless of the blood. He hesitated before putting an arm around her.
"You should be lying down," she managed at last.
"I'd rather sit up." He looked down at her, and smiled briefly, a silver-edged smile. "If I lie down I'm not sure if I can get up. But before I do either, my mate, would you help me with a small task?"
His blood-sticky fingers unfolded from a small gray box.
Meri took it very carefully. Her very skin wanted to shrink from contact with the horrid thing. "How do I use this?"
"Flick that switch—" Lyr indicated it. "—as you touch it to the back of my collar."
After all of that, it was somehow anticlimactic. The controller clicked against the back of Lyr's collar, and the collar visibly loosened on his neck and split along a fine seam. Lyr yanked it off and threw it away from himself with a shudder.
Meri started to drop the controller as well, then tucked it into her pocket. They would need it later to help the villagers.
Lyr was fingering his neck. There were visible burn marks where the collar had contacted his skin. Meri laid a gentle hand beside the injuries. "This is horrible. Those things—" She felt Lyr tense under her hand. "What's wrong?"
"Company," he murmured. "Stay here."
Meri looked where he was looking. The huge alien, having bested his last enemy, turned and strode toward toward them. He was surprisingly quick and light for someone so huge.
Lyr shuddered, and with a visible effort he got to his feet. The blades deployed from his arms as he stepped between Meri and the newcomer.
The alien stopped about ten feet away from them, and smiled, which was a horrifying effect on its twisted, hideous face.
"Oh, don't be like that," it said in a voice that was disconcertingly light and youthful.
With that, its entire body seemed to melt and collapse. As Meri stared, the huge, monstrous shape collapsed into a much smaller and more human-looking form: a man of about average height, well-built and handsome, with waves of dark red hair flung back over his muscular shoulders and purple skin marked with swirling white tattoos. Impossibly, though she had never seen anything like him before, Meri felt a sense of familiarity, as if she knew him from somewhere.
Lyr huffed out a breath like he'd been punched in the stomach.
"Well, now you've met my battle shape," the stranger said in that same light, laughing voice. "I call him Tank."
"Skara," Lyr breathed.
Now she knew where she'd seen him: in Lyr's memories.
"You've led me a merry chase, brother," Skara declared. "First to some backwater end of the galaxy, then you vanish off to the middle of fuck-all nowhere and then when I finally intercept a signal on the pirate 'net and figure out what planet you're on, you end up gallivanting all over that too. Are you trying to avoid me?"
"... what?" Lyr said. He looked dazed.
Before she could stop herself, Meri exclaimed, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
Skara's eyes sparkled, vivid green against his violet skin. "There was a plan to that effect, yes." He swept a deep bow. "Who is this lovely lady? Brother, aren't you going to introduce us?"
"What do you mean, that was the plan?" Lyr demanded. Sudden anger flared on the telepathic wavelength. Meri could feel it like the heaviness in the air before a thunderstorm. She'd never seen him this angry at anyone who wasn't actively trying to kill them.
"How else does one escape from slavery? Faking my death seemed like a perfectly sensible plan to me." Skara took a second look at Lyr, and the manic humor dancing in his eyes died. "You look terrible."
"And you are an asshole," Lyr gritted out. "You died. You vanished! I couldn't feel you anywhere."
Guilt flashed across Skara's face, so quickly that Meri almost thought she might've imagined it, before Skara's expression locked down into belligerent stubbornness. "It was necessary. Or would you prefer that we stayed in captivity until we died?"
Lyr looked like he was gearing up for a counterattack. Meri stepped in quickly. "Listen, before we argue about this any more, do you have medical facilities on your ship? Lyr is hurt, and we have another friend who's badly hurt as well."
"Yeah, of course." Skara tore his gaze off Lyr and prodded Lyr's inert collar with his boot, with a look of revulsion on his face. "And this abomination, of course. May I do the honors, brother?"
"Do as you like," Lyr said tightly.
Skara aimed his wrist at it and melted it to slag with a blast from his cuffs. "Ah," he exclaimed, brushing his hands together. He was smiling again, but this time Meri was aware of just how much of his manic cheerfulness was a facade, now that she'd seen under the cracks for a moment. "That felt good. And now, shall we get out of here?"
Meri looked up at the ship hovering overhead, but Skara didn't even look in its direction. Instead he made a flamboyant gesture in the air and flicked his hand down as if he was unzipping something invisible. And the air itself unzipped behind his hand, peeling open. Beyond the slowly widening gap, edged with a vibrating border of violet-blue too intense to look at, was a white room full of equipment that looked like some kind of medical bay.
"What the—!" Meri exclaimed. Lyr was now giving Skara a very puzzled look.
"The only person I ever met who could do that was Selinn."
"Yeah, I've got my very own teleporting symbiote too," Skara said cheerfully. "Long story. Very long story. There's been a lot happen
ed to me since you last saw me. C'mon, let's get you lot on the Discordia before any more little friends show up."
He picked up Tamir, staggering a bit, as Tamir was considerably bulkier than Skara's slim but muscular frame. "Go on, quick," he added, gesturing with his head. "It won't last for long."
Meri took Lyr's hand, and ducked as she stepped through the portal, trying not to touch the edges. There was no sense of transition. It was like walking through a doorway. One minute she was standing with rocks underfoot and the mountain breeze teasing her hair; the next she was in the sterile environment of the ship.
Skara followed closely, nearly stepping on their heels as he stepped out of the portal; there wasn't much room. The portal collapsed, natural daylight winking out and leaving only the bright white lights of the medbay. Skara deposited Tamir on the room's one small bed.
"I'm going to go set the ship down somewhere," he remarked, leaning over the bed to draw something gossamer and weblike across Tamir. "I saw a nice beach, flying in."
"Trust you to scope out the beach while the rest of us are getting our asses kicked," Lyr muttered.
"You really are siblings," Meri couldn't help saying as Skara left the room.
"What?"
"Never mind. What is this?" She lightly touched the filmy web covering Tamir. It seemed to consist of a large number of hair-fine tubes crisscrossing each other. When she looked closer, they had extruded slender filaments that burrowed beneath Tamir's skin. It was eerie, like watching him taken over with a fungus.
"It's a life support web. It'll keep him stable and help his body heal itself."
Wow, that'd sure be a nice thing to have back on Earth. She turned to look at Lyr, taking in his exhausted and bloody condition. "Do you need one of those?" she asked, reaching out cautiously to brush his arm with her fingertips.
"I'll be fine. I could use a sealant for the worst of these cuts."
He dug into drawers in the medbay and came up with wipes and something that looked like a hand-held perfume spritzer. "What's that?" Meri asked as he started to apply it to himself. It sprayed something like purplish plastic onto his wounds.
