“I’m not sure we can agree to take that same risk,” Landor said.
Rayne tensed. “That’s easy to say from your position.”
“I suppose it is,” Landor said. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
Rayne pushed herself away from him and climbed off the bed. She paced the room for a few moments, trying to imagine herself in their place.
“I understand how you feel, I really do,” she said, turning so she could see all three of them sitting on the bed, watching her. “Believe me, now that I’ve found you, the last thing I want to do is lose you. But I made an informed decision, and I gave Wolef my word. I will keep it.”
“Why can’t we bring your other body over to the Armadura before we destroy the Facility?” Ari asked.
Rayne shuddered. “It’s an empty shell, Ari. Why would you even want to do that?”
“To ensure that you remain alive,” Landor answered.
“No, I don’t want some…some…backup version of myself existing on machines forever,” she said. “I lived that way for nearly a year, remember? No. It’s a disgusting idea and I’ll never agree to it.”
“We could simply refuse to destroy the Facility,” Con said.
“Then the Doftle will have my body, with all of its DNA, and eggs, to do with as they wish, for as long as they wish. The four embryos that they absolutely will create will mature, and whatever they turn out to be, they’ll be under the control of the Doftle. And, I will have failed to keep my word to Wolef.” She saw the stubbornness in the set of their jaws, and the way their arms were crossed over their chests. She understood what she had to do, and it made her sad. But they weren’t leaving her any choice. She could not allow those events to come to pass.
“As a princess of the royal house of the Nine Clans of the Jasani, and the highest-ranking Clan Jasani onboard, and in the face of clear and present danger to all Klanaren, I formally assume command of this vessel and order that I be taken to Jasan with all possible speed.”
“Princess Rayne, we acknowledge your authority and will loyally obey your orders, but, may I ask what purpose this will serve?” Landor asked. “What about Salene?”
“The closer we get to the Doftle, the greater the risk that they’ll discover us,” she said, refusing to let her tears fall. “If they suspect our presence they’ll move the Facility, and since you will not help me do what I must, it is a chance I cannot take. The only path open to me now is to get another ship from Jasan, and come back here with it. That will put me beyond the eight days so if history repeats itself, there will be no point in trying to rescue Salene. If an ordinary cloaking device will let me get close enough to the Facility to destroy it, thereby preventing them from creating those four embryos, then that’s what I will do.”
“There must be some way around this,” Ari said. “A way for you to destroy the experiments, save Salene, and keep your word without risking your life.”
“If you can think of one, I’d love to hear it,” she said, then sighed. “I’m sorry, but stopping the creation of those monsters…monsters grown from eggs that should have become our children…is more important than your feelings, or mine. The Facility has to be destroyed for the good of all and I will see it done.”
“I almost wish I didn’t agree, but you’re right, Kisu,” Landor said heavily. “It must be destroyed.”
“I don’t agree,” Con said stubbornly, following Landor and Ari as they climbed off the bed and stood facing her. Landor looked at Con for a long moment, then reached out to place one hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Con,” he said softly. “Imagine, for just a moment, the monster that will emerge from the embryos Rayne spoke of. Part Rayne, part us, but also part Clan Bearen, part dragon, and part Xanti.”
Con squeezed his eyes shut against the image that appeared in his mind, then opened them and looked at Rayne, his jade eyes bright with unshed tears. “It cannot be allowed.”
“No, it can’t,” Rayne agreed, then stepped forward to wrap her arms around his waist. “I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry. But we have no choice. We have to stop this before it happens. Before the first embryo is created.”
“We will do what must be done,” Landor said. “And your word will be kept.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“My agreement comes with a condition,” Con said.
“Which is what?” Rayne asked warily.
“I want to know more about this Doftle you killed.”
Rayne looked up, smiling at the deliberately playful tone of his voice. “I’ll agree to that, but I have my own condition,” she countered.
“Which is?” Con asked with an arched brow.
“Food,” she said. “Lots of food.”
“Agreed,” Con said at once. “Do you want to go to the cafeteria?”
“No, thank you,” she said. “I prefer to stay here, with just the three of you. Do you mind?”
“Of course not. What do you want?”
“What don’t I want would be easier to answer,” she said wryly. “I’d love a salad. A big salad. And a sandwich. BLT on whole wheat. And dessert. Chocolate. Cake, cookies, or ice cream, I don’t care which, just as long as it’s chocolate.”
“To drink?” Ari asked, smiling down at her.
“Hmmm…iced tea,” she decided.
Con bent down and kissed her on the forehead, then stepped back so that Ari could kiss her too. Her breath caught in her throat at the gentle warmth of their soft lips against her skin, and then they were gone, moving too fast for her to see.
“My turn,” Landor said, then bent his head to kiss her on the forehead too. When he raised his head his eyes were so bright they seemed to glow as he stared down at her.
“I’m sorry for threatening to make you break your word,” he said.
“Don’t be, I understand,” she said. “I would have done the same thing if our positions were reversed.”
“I guess that means you love us,” he said, moving to the chiller they’d installed for her sasuna. He poured her a glass, then handed to her quietly, noting the thoughtful expression on her face. She looked like she was trying to work through something in her mind. He went into the bathroom and washed up, and by the time he came out she was obviously ready to talk about it.
“I almost forgot. I relinquish command.” When Landor nodded, she continued. “I remember something, but I’m not sure what it means, or if it means anything at all.”
“Do you want to wait for Con and Ari?”
“Do you think I should?”
“Not necessarily,” he said. “We can fill them in when they get back if you want.”
“If it was a personal thing, I’d wait, but it’s not,” she said, then sipped her drink while he pulled a chair out at the table across from her and sat down. “I was in a cell in a lower level of the Facility,” she began. “That’s where they put me when they took me off of the machines, and that’s where Wolef was held. There were two rows of cells in an L shape, twenty cells altogether but less than half of them in use.” She looked at Landor who nodded that he was following her. “Neither Wolef nor I knew what cell either of us was in, but in order to send me back in time he needed physical contact with me. Since he couldn’t move at all, I had to escape my cell, then open the other cells one at a time to find him. That’s how I found Salene. But before I found her, I found others. Six others, actually. None of them were coherent, most were like Salene, with what Wolef called a void where their minds should have been.”
“Is that why Wolef didn’t tell you sooner that your sister was a prisoner, too?” Landor asked gently.
“Yes,” she replied, nodding. “I was angry with him about that at first, until I realized she was brain dead. He had no idea who she was.”
“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Landor said. “Please go on.”
“One of the voids was a man, human I think. Maybe humanoid. He was bald and thin like the rest of us, but there was something fa
miliar about him. I remember taking a few moments to study his face, committing it to memory, and I can see him clearly in my mind. But I still can’t remember why he was so familiar.”
“You think he’s important somehow?”
“I think identifying him is important somehow,” she clarified. The door opened and Con and Ari came in carrying loaded trays. Rayne excused herself and went to the bathroom. When she returned, Landor had filled Con and Ari in on what she’d told him.
“Thanks for doing this,” she said to Con and Ari before taking her seat at the table.
“We prefer having you all to ourselves anyway,” Con said, smiling at her. She smiled back and they ate in silence for a few minutes.
“Can you describe the man you saw that you think is familiar?” Ari asked.
“No, I don’t think that I can,” she said. “He had no hair and his eyes were closed. He was also lying down, and was very thin. I know the face in my mind, but I don’t think I could describe it. I’m sorry.”
“I have an idea,” Con said, setting his fork down and reaching for the hand terminal at his belt. He turned it on, tapped a few keys, then smiled when he found what he was looking for. He handed the device to Rayne, who took it, then looked down at the screen. Her eyes widened.
“Is that the same man?” Con asked.
“Nearly,” she said, studying the enormous, bald man on the screen. “It looks very much like him, but it’s not. He wasn’t this big, even accounting for the weight difference, but it’s close.”
Con held his hand out and she returned the hand terminal to him. He tapped a few more keys, then handed it back to her. This time the image was of a handsome man with sandy colored hair, blue eyes, and what appeared to be a warm smile, though it gave Rayne the chills. There was something in the man’s eyes that was downright scary. “That’s him,” she said, handing it back. “I don’t honestly know how I know that for sure since the guy in the Facility looks so different, but I just know it’s him.”
“I’ve no doubt whatsoever that you’re right,” Con said. He noticed that Landor and Ari were both giving him impatient looks so he held up the hand terminal so they could see. “This man, that she identified, is Eric Kick.”
“Now that’s interesting,” Landor said, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
“More interesting than you know,” Con said as he lowered the hand terminal and again began tapping at keys. “We received an information packet before leaving Garza that I forgot about until this morning. When I opened it I discovered that Arima Faith Falcoran had transported over to the Ugaztun to comfort Princess Lariah after learning about Rayne’s disappearance. While she was there, she saw this man in the transport room. He was being taken down to Garza, under guard, for some exercise.” He held the hand terminal up and showed them the first image he’d shown to Rayne, which was of the sole surviving Nomen of Garza. “Arima Faith thought he was Eric Kick at first, before realizing he was too big. The Falcorans agreed.”
“This proves that the Doftle are connected to the Nomen,” Landor said.
“The man in the Facility is the man that was stranded on Buhell?” Rayne asked. They nodded. “The one who almost murdered Aunt Faith?” They nodded again.
“I suddenly don’t feel so sorry for him anymore.”
“No, neither do we,” Landor said. “So, the Falcorans strand him, and the Doftle decide to use him as the template for their newer, enhanced clones, and keep his body alive just in case they need more source DNA.”
“They then send the clones to Garza because they need that liquid metal for the Controllers they’re planting everywhere,” Ari said.
“Well, it’s nice to know that we’ve connected the Nomen to the Doftle, but it still doesn’t tell us what the Doftle want, or what their ultimate goal is,” Landor said. “Unless you remember something that might help with that?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” Rayne admitted. “Wolef told me that after five hundred years of eavesdropping on the little blue thugs, he didn’t know the answer to that question, either.”
Chapter 15
The next morning Rayne stood before the enormous floor to ceiling viewport in the Armadura’s observation deck with the Bearen-Hirus, looking out at the moon known as Buhell III C in the distance. “We can’t get any closer until we have a better idea of the Facility’s location,” Con said.
“Have you felt Wolef’s call yet?” she asked.
“Not yet, but we’ve only been here for an hour,” Landor said. “Would you like to get some breakfast?”
“Yes, I would,” she replied, then grimaced. “At this rate, I’ll be too big for you to carry soon.”
Landor laughed softly as they left the observation deck and headed toward the cafeteria. An hour later they were on their way back to the observation deck when all three men stilled right in the middle of the corridor. Rayne turned around and stared at their distant eyes and pale faces. “Wolef,” she whispered.
Her voice broke the spell they seemed to be under, and their eyes grew fierce as they stared down at her. Without warning, Landor grabbed hold of her, his heart racing as he pulled her against his chest in an iron grip. Ari and Con were both growling as they crowded close, and when she looked up at them she was startled to see that their teeth were bared.
Their reaction to her call for help healed the old wound she’d been carefully hiding from them, and brought tears to her eyes. She brushed them away impatiently and reached out to touch her men. “I’m right here,” she said. “I’m not in danger. Feel me, please.”
As she watched, the light of anger in their eyes dimmed and they made visible efforts to relax. Just when they were beginning to look more like themselves, Wolef must have repeated the call because they all tensed again, and Landor’s arms tightened around her to the point of discomfort.
“Wolef,” she called silently, reaching for the familiar path in her mind. “We’re here, Wolef. Can you hear me?”
“Of course I can hear you, Solin,” Wolef said sniffily, but she knew him well now, and caught the strong undercurrent of relief and worry. “Did you bring your bears with you?”
“I did,” she said, “and your calls are working a little too well. Please don’t send out any more.”
“Of course,” Wolef replied. “I hope their reactions were everything you hoped they’d be.”
“And a bit more,” she replied.
“Rayne?” Landor asked.
She opened her eyes. “I’m speaking with Wolef. I thought it would be good if he stopped sending out those calls.”
“Yes, thank you,” he said, setting her on her feet before they resumed walking toward the observation deck.
“I am quite glad that you returned so quickly,” Wolef said.
“Wolef, what’s wrong?” she asked, speaking out loud so her men could hear at least half of the conversation. “You’re tense and worried.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I can feel you, Wolef,” she replied. “Tell me, please.”
“Very well,” Wolef said after a short silence. “I’m afraid I have some rather difficult news for you.”
“Then it’s best to get it over quickly.”
“I’m not sure I see the logic in that statement, but I don’t suppose this is the best time for a debate.”
“Stop stalling, Wolef,” she said. “You’re scaring me.”
“I apologize,” Wolef said. There was a short pause, then he said, “Your sister is here.”
Rayne’s entire body jerked hard as though she’d been struck. She locked her knees, refusing to give into emotion. “Which one?”
“Salene.”
“How did this happen?” Rayne demanded. “I don’t understand.”
“How did what happen?” Landor demanded, fists clenched at his sides in an effort to prevent himself from snatching her up into his arms again. They could feel her shock, and knew she was holding on to a thin semblance of calm with everything she had.
<
br /> “Salene is there, in the Facility,” she said, her face white. “It makes no sense. The orders weren’t supposed to go out for another two days.” She held up one finger when he started to ask a question, then reached for Wolef again. While she spoke silently, Landor guided her into the observation deck and Con closed the doors behind them.
“Everything is different than before,” she said after a long silence. “Wolef says she just arrived at the Facility yesterday, less than twenty four hours ago.”
“We made good time getting here from Garza,” Con said. “The Doftle’s ships must be much faster than ours.”
“What else is different?” Landor asked.
“She doesn’t have a head injury this time, and they’re trying to force her to shift. That’s what they did to me.” Her eyes widened in sudden understanding. “Sukari!” she hissed. “This is my fault. When I came back in time, my soul came with me, leaving a mindless shell behind. They couldn’t torture a vegetable into shifting, so they abducted Salene sooner than they did in the other timeline so she could take my place.”
“That doesn’t make it your fault, Rayne,” Landor said. “Don’t worry. We’ll get her back. Con?”
Rayne turned to Con who was doing something on his hand terminal. He looked up and nodded. “Wolef’s calls were successful. We can feel him strongly enough to use him as a transportation target. We’ll need him to call again two or three times when we get to the transport room so that we can plot the Facility’s orbit.”
“And then what?” Rayne demanded.
Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) Page 23
