Avery kissed her head in appreciation, managing to appear far more at ease with the situation than he felt. ‘Back in Atlantis I was granted a vision of Viper,’ Avery mumbled, as the image of Viper in stasis flashed before his eyes. ‘I feel he is in trouble at this time.’
His statement made Lirathea smile and brought Gazelle creeping out of the background.
‘What kind of trouble?’ As Viper’s sister she was concerned for him. ‘Has that witch betrayed him?’
‘That witch is now a warlock, and a very cunning one at that,’ Lirathea informed those who were a little hazy on the issue.
‘Not En Noah?’ Sparrowhawk nearly choked on the suggestion, having finally got the gist of what had happened.
Lirathea nodded. ‘This represents the negative impact of the Atlantis mission —’
‘You idiots!’ Sparrowhawk couldn’t contain his protest any longer. ‘The most learned man in the known universe and you two have damned his soul?’
‘En Noah was Aegisthus,’ Rhun retorted loudly so as to be heard over Sparrowhawk’s seething anger. ‘Avery was pushed to the limits of his endurance several times over back there —’
Avery grabbed Rhun’s shirt to bring his defence to an end. ‘Please, you’re scaring the women.’ He motioned with his eyes to Fallon beside him, her concern mounting once more.
‘Pushed to the limits of your endurance?’ Fallon squeaked.
‘Ah, what I meant to say was,’ Rhun backpedalled furiously, ‘um, that Avery performed magnificent feats of Otherworldly magic, which quite frankly defied my humble imagination. But at no time was the situation beyond his control and at no time was he in any danger.’
Sparrowhawk was left gaping. If Rhun would say this about Avery then something truly phenomenal had taken place during their mission.
‘Tell me of the trouble my brother is in, please.’ Gazelle stepped into the pause in the argument to appeal to Avery.
‘In the image I perceived,’ Avery obliged Gazelle as gently as possible, ‘Viper was frozen in stasis.’
‘And immortals don’t need stasis, so Viper has no reason to put himself under.’ Sparrowhawk figured why Avery suspected foul play.
‘Exactly,’ Avery confirmed with a click of his fingers, and Sparrowhawk was rather impressed with himself.
‘So is this new warlock in league with my brother, or against him?’ Gazelle raised another of her unanswered questions. ‘Because, quite frankly, I can’t think of anyone else powerful enough to contain my brother like that … present company excluded, of course.’ She gave a shy smile.
‘I’m guessing Mahaud’s replacement is working against Viper.’ Avery looked to Rhun for his opinion.
‘Of course!’ Rhun frowned. ‘Aegisthus probably thinks Viper is you.’ He shook his head, unable to wipe the smile from his face as he considered how vexed the creature had been with them by the time they’d parted company. ‘Viper’s in trouble all right.’
‘Then help him,’ Gazelle demanded in her usual tough-nut fashion, but realised how rude that seemed, and fell on one knee before Rhun to implore him: ‘Is it not our duty to defend everyone. It’s not Viper’s fault that he is the way he is —’
‘Gazelle.’ Rhun crouched down to stop her. ‘Of course we will help your brother. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Viper is now our primary objective.’
Everyone nodded, in accord.
‘How do we find him?’ Gazelle wondered, hoping that one of the Dragon’s sons would know of a means.
Everyone looked at Avery. ‘If he’s in stasis, that’s as good as wearing a NERGUZ and I won’t be able to teleport myself to him. I could seek the Count. He might know of a way of locating him?’
‘I hate to sound egotistical,’ Lirathea suppressed a grin, ‘but I know where you may begin your search.’
All the dragon boys were taken aback by their little sister’s claim, but smiled proudly as they waited to be enlightened.
‘It must be a very evil force containing Viper —’ she began.
‘The Orions,’ Rhun stated bluntly. ‘They are still on Gaia?’
‘It would seem so,’ Lirathea said. ‘The reason that Gaia’s consciousness has not been progressing as well as could be expected is because her etheric body has been dammed.’
Avery didn’t believe it. ‘No, the Night Hunter would never let that happen.’
‘We all make mistakes,’ Lirathea told him. ‘Shamballa releases energy to the ley grid … follow the etheric matrix to where all ley lines cross on the opposite side of the planet and see if I am wrong.’
‘So, can En Noah be trusted?’ Sparrowhawk wondered why their mentor had been sent from the room. ‘I think he has a right to know what has happened, and we may need his help to fix this.’
‘The warlock will know no more about En Noah’s movements than Mahaud did about our parents,’ Lirathea clarified. ‘However, if this creature is now in league with the Orions, Yahweh Aris does have the know-how to separate him from the demons, but only if Yahweh knows the secret name that Shamash dubbed the creature upon its creation.’
‘So what you’re saying,’ Rhun rubbed his brow to ease his distress, ‘is that Yahweh Aris could have the power to damn Noah’s soul forever.’
‘Who knows,’ Lirathea shrugged and attempted to look on the bright side, ‘Aris might suddenly find compassion, and upon separating the elemental force from the wizard he might send Noah’s soul back to the light and save us the trouble of a rescue.’
Everyone looked very doubtful of this ever happening.
‘There is also the possibility that the Yahweh doesn’t know the creature’s secret name.’ She added another positive note.
‘But Viper must know it,’ Avery reasoned. ‘And if Viper spills the beans … which, if betrayed, he surely will,’ he concluded. Avery turned his fearful gaze to Rhun, feeling responsible.
‘Strategy time.’ Zabeel clapped his hands to dispel the fear in the room and then looked at Avery, having read his mind. ‘It is not your fault that En Noah’s soul-mind was once the darkest sorcerer known to man … so don’t blame yourself for this.’
‘Good call,’ Rhun agreed, calming himself also. ‘This is what I propose.’
If Viper was being held in stasis somewhere on Gaia, then he was not on the Aten and Rhun saw this as the perfect opportunity to reclaim the space station and search it for Rainer Ingram. Rhun appointed Doc, Bast, Sparrowhawk, Gazelle and Fallon to see to the recapture of the time hopping space station, but of course there were objections.
‘But my father ordered me to stay with Avery,’ Fallon said.
‘I want to go to my brother’s aid,’ Gazelle told Rhun.
‘Do you girls think that Commander is just a nickname I go by?’ He didn’t have to raise his voice and smiled as he asked. Neither woman wanted to take the issue further. ‘Avery, Zabeel and myself will take care of Viper and the wizard. Gazelle, I need you on the Aten to try and persuade your people to surrender peacefully.’
Gazelle nodded to agree with his reasoning, and yet she obviously had doubts that she dared not voice. This dilemma was written clearly on her face.
‘Out with it,’ Rhun demanded.
‘How can I be sure that you will fight as hard to save Viper’s life as I would?’ She swallowed hard, feeling that she had some nerve after all these folks had done for her.
Rhun could not think of an assurance that would satisfy her and looked to Avery for an answer.
‘The fate of the future rests on me reconciling myself with your brother,’ Avery informed the girl who still looked like his sister did in school. ‘He is my initiation and I will not fail it. Do you believe that?’
The Dragon’s sons had done everything they had said they would since Gazelle had fallen into their company. ‘Of course,’ she stated with certainty, to emphasise her faith in them.
Avery gave a slight bow. ‘You have just assured our success,’ he told her with a large smile; Gazelle was unsu
re whether to take him seriously or not. ‘If you do not doubt yourself through this trial, I swear by the Logos that your faith shall be rewarded. Can you do that?’
Gazelle was rather put out by the request. ‘I think so.’
‘Not the answer we were looking for,’ Rhun announced, as all present got into the game, shaking their heads with disappointed smiles on their faces, which reduced Gazelle to nervous giggles.
‘I absolutely believe that this entire mission will be an unprecedented success,’ Rhun said, to rally the troops. ‘Do you believe that?’ He asked everyone present in turn and each of the Chosen responded enthusiastically in the positive. ‘Do you believe it?’ He came to Gazelle, who’d sobered somewhat.
She pulled her sleek new weapon, loaded with gold Orme darts and hit the load button. ‘We’re going to save some souls, Commander.’
‘So be it!’ they all cheered in accord.
Horace was getting hungry and he knew that was bad. Immortals didn’t need food, so by his own reasoning he concluded that the she-devil, Bast, was starting to wear down his resistance to the righteous path.
No one had ever gotten inside his head like she had; no one had ever wanted to. Why did this mighty ruler care how he felt about his past and his identity? He’d cursed her, insulted her and attempted to repulse her in every way he knew how and not the slightest rise did he get from her. It seemed there was not an angry atom in her whole body.
The door to his containment cell opened and Bast came striding in, decidedly determined. ‘All right, my lovely.’ She came to stand over the prisoner to stare into his eyes. ‘Time to be the righteous cat that you took yourself for, before Viper messed with your priorities. Now, in your own personal opinion, Horace,’ she tried a different approach to her interrogation, ‘do you think Rainer Ingram is still alive, yes or no?’ From the way the question was phrased, she knew he couldn’t answer with his standard ‘I don’t know’.
‘Yes,’ he conceded after a moment.
‘Why?’ Bast backed off a little.
‘I like it better when you’re close.’ He avoided the question nicely; there were ways and means around the restraint of the NERGUZ.
Bast straddled his lap and drew his face close. ‘Why?’ she repeated.
‘Such a prisoner could come in useful in the future.’ Horace tried to fight the admiration that was welling in his chest for this magnificent woman who knew no fear.
‘The Aten is a big ship, so where, in your personal opinion, would Viper have stashed Rainer?’ She ventured a slight smile to show that she appreciated his co-operation.
Horace shut his eyes and leaned away from Bast. ‘I was never on Viper’s security staff.’
‘Wimp.’ Bast climbed off. ‘You nearly showed a glimmer of promise then, Horace.’ She backed up slowly, so sure that she’d been getting through to him. ‘I must have been imagining it.’ Bast turned to exit and Horace released a pained cry, whereafter he, and the chair he was bound to, fell backward to the floor and then onto one side.
Bast’s faith in him lightened Horace’s heart, but pained his groin terribly. Horace didn’t want to let immortality go, as he was much older than his present guise. He liked the attention that Bast awarded him as a younger man and he knew she’d never look at him twice were she to see him for the middle-aged cat he was. And yet, he wanted to help Bast and make her proud of him.
‘Are you all right?’ By the sound of his moans Bast knew that this was a stupid question and rushed over to see if she couldn’t make him more comfortable.
‘Viper has a room of summons on the Aten and off that one is another.’ Horace gritted his teeth and spoke his mind. ‘This was where they took me to be converted.’
Bast dismissed Horace’s bindings with a thought and leaned down close to look in his face, desperately trying to think of something that might distract him from his pain. ‘Would you like me to kiss it better?’ she offered, sporting a cheeky grin.
Even in agony this mental picture was amusing to Horace. ‘Yes,’ he replied, hoarsely, and Bast planted her lips on his.
‘Bast, I really don’t believe you sometimes!’ From the open doorway, Fallon objected to her sister seducing the prisoner. ‘Can we go?’
As Bast moved to rise, Horace gripped her vest. ‘Don’t hurt my people … some of them deserve a break.’
‘Our people are safe with me,’ Bast assured him, as she backed up and left. ‘I’m going to make all their dreams come true,’ she boasted, blowing him a kiss on her way out the door. ‘Everything is going to be fine, you’ll see.’
‘For some, perhaps,’ Horace uttered, having mixed feelings about this conversion. He may have been left less than a man for his efforts, but he felt better, more human, than he had in some time.
He’d never believed in a Cosmic Logos, or, rather, he’d never believed any divine force was watching over him or his people. His father had beaten Horace all his young life, so if a higher power was watching over him, it did a lousy job in his opinion, and being blackmailed into joining Viper’s cause had really confirmed Horace’s disbelief — until he’d witnessed the divine at work in Bast.
He began to consider that, were it not for his misfortune, he would never have met her. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that his private parts were disappearing, or that he was again physically ageing into his mid-fifties. All that mattered was embracing the wonderful warmth in his chest; his faith in the divine was beginning.
A couple of Doc’s eldest sons, Luther and Morgan, joined the Chosen team who were out to reclaim the Aten. In everyday life these two were prominent players in secret security forces on Gaia. Luther was American secret service and Morgan was British secret service; no one on Gaia’s surface knew the men were related. The brothers were very excited to be joining Lahmu’s task force for this mission, as the event seemed rather like a promotion from international security agents to intergalactic warriors.
The members of Doc’s team all assumed their true appearance before manifesting in the security station of the Star Chamber complex on the Aten. Viper had doubled the personnel since Noah and Candace had rescued Cordella, because four men were now manning the surveillance room. Still, as their team now numbered seven, the four men were outnumbered. Viper’s men sweetened somewhat once hit with a light Orme dart. As Lahmu and no one else had the right to deem any of Gazelle’s kindred one of the Chosen, the darts contained only enough golden Orme to counteract the effects of the dark Orme that Viper had administered to his people. To avoid any retaliation, Viper’s people were rendered unconscious with a laser bullet and laid safely out of the way.
‘Now,’ Sparrowhawk waved Gazelle forward to use her palm print to access information from the security database, ‘where are the rest of your kindred hiding out?’
‘They’re probably in the closest bar,’ she commented, sarcastically, requesting a view of the quarters that had once been the private abode of the Lord Marduk. Sure enough, a large gathering of her kinsmen and women were partying hard therein. ‘What did I tell you?’ She sounded disappointed to be proven right.
‘They may have allowed themselves to be led astray,’ Sparrowhawk granted, ‘but if they know no better you can hardly blame them.’
‘I managed.’ Gazelle felt the Chosen lord was too easy on them.
‘Which only proves how extraordinary you are,’ he complimented, and Gazelle’s attitude softened. ‘And now the Logos is granting you the opportunity to show your kindred that there is an alternative to the life they have been leading.’
‘We’ll need to take the leader to control the masses,’ Doc suggested. ‘Who would Viper have left in charge in his absence?’
Gazelle commanded the database to pan around the room, and she zoomed in on a Leonine-Nefilim woman who was dancing on the bar. ‘That’s her … Tareena. She was Viper’s choice to play host to the witch, until the witch could have Lirathea’s body. Tareena’s time at one with the witch was probably voluntary, as she always was a n
asty piece of work.’
‘Perfect.’ Bast eyed the competition on the screen and noted that their target was now leading several men out of the room. ‘She’s exiting the crowd. Let’s get down to the corridor and surprise them.’ Bast was eager to get on with it.
‘Morgan, Luther,’ Doc instructed his sons. ‘Stay here. Keep this station secure and your eyes on us.’
‘You got it.’ Luther took a seat in front of the numerous soft-light screens which Gazelle had instructed to keep track of her movements.
Lahmu’s people manifested in the corridor behind the party that had just exited Marduk’s quarters.
With Tareena were four men, one of whom carried a young Leonine girl under his arm; she couldn’t have been older than seven.
‘Time for you to learn a few of the facts of life, my pretty,’ he informed the struggling child as he slapped her on the butt.
‘No, father,’ the child pleaded as she struggled, and was unexpectedly released as her father cried out in pain, along with everyone else in their party.
‘Shit!’ The large Leonine pulled the dart from his butt, and then grabbed hold of his child’s arm as she attempted to flee. ‘Come here, you little —’ He became aware of a pulse laser in his face and the woman behind it.
‘Let her go, or I shall make you,’ Gazelle threatened, so committed to her cause that her voice went hoarse.
The Leonine laughed heartily at this. ‘We are all gods now, Gazelle.’
‘Then why don’t you disappear?’ she suggested, struggling to suppress her confident grin.
‘We can’t.’ Tareena tried to break free from the hold Bast had on her. ‘What have you done to us, you fucking traitor!’
Gazelle was still focused on her target, and willed her pulse laser to switch from stun to kill. ‘Let the girl go, or die.’
‘Gazelle.’ Sparrowhawk worried for her mental state, as she could have just achieved her goal by blasting the Leonine unconscious. ‘I know this man’s intent has angered you, but he cannot learn better if you kill him today,’ he reasoned.
The Cosmic Logos Page 44
