by Jaleta Clegg
The sunlight was fading to orange when the cloth finally parted. His hands fell to his sides, numb and bleeding. He stared stupidly down at the cut on his palm. It took a while for his bruised brain to make sense of things.
He lifted his hands to the gag, pulling it free with an effort. He left streaks of blood on his chin and cheek. He spit out the cloth in his mouth. He needed water now. No, he needed to get his legs free.
Footsteps crunched on the sand below him, farther down near the mouth of the canyon. Tayvis stared towards the mouth of the canyon, too spent to even try to hide. Whatever was about to happen, was going to happen. He resigned himself to fate.
Heat made the air dance and shimmer. His concussion didn't help, he couldn't focus his eyes. The person climbing up the canyon looked familiar. Tayvis wasn't certain until the figure came closer.
Will paused, studying Tayvis where he sat against the rock. Tayvis blinked tiredly at him.
"You look awful," Will said.
He handed Tayvis a water skin. Tayvis took it and drank, washing the water around his mouth before swallowing.
"You missed your ride," Will added after a long moment.
"They're gone?" Tayvis asked, scrambling to his feet. He swayed, catching himself on the boulder before he fell on his face.
"Take it easy." Will offered a hand in support. "We've got a camp up beyond the ridge."
"We?" Tayvis asked stupidly.
"Not all of us want to go to the Empire with the Patrol," Will said. "Last I heard, I'd be facing some serious charges if I did. Can you walk? I really don't want to try the climb after dark."
Tayvis started down the canyon, stumbling over rocks. Will leant him his arm when he needed it, though he limped on his own sprained ankle.
"You want to explain yourself?" Tayvis asked when he stopped to rest, leaning on the boulders at the mouth of the canyon.
"It was easy to overlook, while we were all slaves. Quite a few of us are from the Federation. I don't think the Empire would look too fondly on me right now, considering I helped several systems secede and join the Federation."
Tayvis pushed himself back off the rock. They started walking again. Will guided them up the hillside, around the clumps of bushes.
"What about Dace?" Tayvis asked. "Is she still here?"
Will shook his head. "She was picked up by the Patrol. Since they were calling her Admiral, I figured she would be all right with them. I had my hands full, hiding from the Trythians and the Patrol."
Tayvis closed his eyes, his mouth set in a grim line. "That's what she didn't want to tell me. Lowell made her enlist."
"From what I heard, she volunteered."
Tayvis grimaced. "She'd die first. I could kill Lowell for this."
Will whispered, "He wasn't given a choice."
Tayvis rounded on the shorter man. "What do you mean? Lowell answers only to the Emperor and I don't see him caring one way or the other about Dace."
Will's face settled in tired lines, his eyes holding the pain of centuries. "Have you heard of the Hrissia'noru? Lowell sits where he does because of them. They pull his strings. The Hrissia'noru want Dace on Tivor."
"How would you know that?" Tayvis stared him down. Or tried to. Will didn't budge. Realization dawned slowly. "You work for them, too."
Will scuffed his foot through the gravel at the base of the cliff. "I didn't get to choose my parents. Neither did Lowell."
"Tivor will kill her."
"Or help her find herself again. I don't know why they want to send her back to her home planet. I can't do anything to stop them. All I know is that the situation with Jericho and Babylon shook them. Hard. They're scrambling and not sharing what they know or plan with any of us. I promise I'll do what I can for Dace."
Tayvis accepted that with a mute nod. "How are we going to get off this rock?"
"If we can last another week or so, Roland will be sending troops after me. We have to climb. Are you up to it?"
"Are you?"
Tayvis braced himself on a boulder, staring up at the cliff face. It was rougher here, a series of giant steps instead of a sheer face of stone. Sunset highlighted shadows and ledges all the way up.
"Give me a few minutes."
Will handed him the water skin again. "Roland gave me one year. If he didn't hear from me by then, he said he'd send ships out to see what happened to me. They should be here within a week, especially after he hears from the Empire about Trythia."
"How many spies has he got?" Tayvis asked, mostly out of habit.
Will grinned. "I'll let him answer that question."
"Meaning either you don't know, or you're smarter than I gave you credit for being." Tayvis got to his feet with a grimace. "And what will the Federation do to me?"
"Offer you a job, most likely."
Tayvis paused, turning to look back down the slope of the hill to the plain below. He frowned. "You didn't ask who left me tied up in the canyon."
"It wasn't the Trythians and it wasn't the Patrol. It wasn't me, either."
"It was Vance. I can't understand why." His frown deepened. "More conspiracies. How fast can you get me back to the Empire?"
"It's going to take at least a month."
"Then we'd better get moving." Tayvis pulled himself up to the first ledge.
Will watched him climb for a long moment, his face wrinkled in thought. "What about Dace?"
Tayvis stopped halfway to the next ledge. His hands trembled where they clung to stone. He glanced back at Will, his eyes haunted. "She's going to have to wait. Vance is up to something. I can't let him succeed, whatever it is."
"Personal vendetta?"
"He's involved in the plot against the Empire. Why do you think everything's been falling apart lately? Someone wanted Lowell's teeth pulled. That's how I ended up here." He pulled himself to the next ledge.
Will scrambled up beside him. "I'll do what I can for Dace, but I can't promise much."
"Ask Roland to help her. He owes her."
"For burning down his home and destroying his world?" Will grinned. "He'll do everything he can to help. Are you sure Dace will forgive you for not riding to the rescue?"
Tayvis rubbed the scrape on his palm. "She understands duty. She shot me over it not too long ago. Let's go catch your ride."
Chapter 47
The door to my cabin slid open. I didn't move. I lay on my back on the bunk, staring at nothing. Lowell crossed the cabin and stood over me.
"Get up," he said.
"Why?" Apathy had taken over. I didn't care and never would again. Tayvis was gone. There was nothing left for me. Maybe Jasyn and Clark and their baby. They should have had it by now. But Lowell wasn't going to let me go. I wore Patrol Enforcer black now. I wanted to die.
"Do you want me to make it an order?" Lowell asked. "Again?"
I sighed and sat up. "The medic said I had two weeks of leave."
"It's been over three." Lowell shoved a hand through his hair, more disturbed than I'd ever seen him. "You've got one hour to clean up and report for duty.".
"You won't do that to me, Lowell."
"Yes, I will, Admiral." He put the emphasis on my rank. His face was hard. "So Tayvis is dead. That doesn't mean the universe is at an end. I need you, Dace."
"For what? Let me go, Lowell. I've done what you want."
"I need you to go to Tivor."
"No."
"It's an order. You have a choice. You can go to Tivor or you can face a firing squad."
"That isn't a choice and you know it." I was on my feet shouting at him. I was angry and still in pain. He had cracked my numb shell. "I'm not going there."
"Then you're under arrest," he snapped.
"You've done that before, Lowell. It didn't work then and it won't work now. Shoot me, I won't care."
"I think you will, Dace." He stepped back from me, calm again. "One assignment to Tivor and you can go."
"You promised me that before, without Tivor being part of
it."
"Before you forced me to enlist you. Jasyn is trying to find you. She heard you were safely back."
"And you're keeping me from her? I hate you, Lowell." I was fighting tears again.
"Tivor, Dace, and you can go." His face was stony, a mask that gave nothing away. But I saw the pain in his silver eyes.
"You don't need me, Lowell. You never really did." I shook my head, moving away from him to stare at the viewscreen on the wall. Anything to avoid the pain I saw in his face. He cared about Tayvis, too. "Did you know he asked me to marry him?"
"I'm sorry. More than you'll ever know. But I have no choice. I need you to go to Tivor." I heard the regret in his voice. "We'll be there in three days."
"Why me?" I closed my eyes, shutting out tears and his face.
"Because of your mother. You're the only one I can send."
"What does she have to do with me now? She's dead. She has been for twenty three years." I wanted to lash out at him. I wanted him to hurt as badly as I did. He already did. I could see it in his eyes. The anger drained away, leaving me hollow and empty. I sank back onto the bunk.
"She started a rebellion," he said. "Events caught her up. She never meant to. I need you to finish that rebellion."
"Haven't I started enough wars? Haven't I left enough planets in flame? Haven't I destroyed enough worlds?"
"One more. And I'll be there to back you up. But I can't move in until you start it."
"You don't want me to lead them to victory?" I couldn't keep the sarcasm from my voice.
"Tivor is a pivotal position now. The Federation is growing. A full dozen Patrol battle groups have joined forces with them. They're threatening the stability of the entire Empire."
"And Tivor is supposed to stop them?"
"If they get Tivor, they control shipping for most of three sectors. I need Tivor. I need the Patrol on Tivor. The current government has to fall for that to happen."
He stood over me, his gaze intense. I looked at my hands, lying in my lap. A scar ran out from under the cuff of my uniform, crossing the back of my hand.
"One assignment, Dace."
"And after that? One more assignment, and another, and another. It will never end."
"Only if you choose. I'd send someone else, anyone else, if I could. I need you."
I sighed heavily.
"You've got one hour. Otherwise I'll send the purser to drag you to my quarters." He forced a grin. "That would really cement my reputation."
I nodded.
He left, the door sliding shut behind him. I pulled my feet up on the bunk and wrapped my arms around my legs. I rested my chin on my knees.
I didn't want to live, not without Tayvis. He'd been the anchor in my life for longer than anyone else. But I still had Jasyn. And Clark. And Darus. My father would never understand if I curled up and died. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't. Survival had become too much a part of who I was.
I'd go to Tivor. And face the last of my childhood nightmares. It didn't matter. Nothing could hurt me more than Tayvis' death. I wiped a tear from my cheek and got up to change into a clean uniform.
Chapter 48
The plain was hot and airless. The ruined shell of the council building stood in mute testimony of Lilliasa's treachery and the Patrol's visit. The space port was littered with the wreckage of ships. One stood just outside the field, a tall gleaming shape of silver that reflected both heat and light.
Lilliasa waited under a makeshift awning at the top of the hill. The house she'd stayed in for High Festival was gone, only a trace of ash marking its foundation. She turned back to the people waiting patiently for her decision.
"You will send help for my people? But you do not want our worlds. You do not make us slaves." She studied the short man in front of her suspiciously.
Roland smiled benignly. His round face was streaked with sweat. He bowed to Lilliasa. "Just as we agreed. You join our Federation. You pledge a certain percentage of your ships and people. In return we help protect you. We send aid to help you rebuild. And no more slaves. For you or anyone else." He cocked his head to one side. "Your economy functions well enough without them. They cost more than they were worth."
"I know that," Lilliasa said, pouting. She looked very young in that moment. She sighed and straightened her tunic. "Then on behalf of the Electoriate, and the people of Trythia, I will sign your papers."
"Welcome to the Federation," Roland said and grinned. "My advisors will settle here, for now. We hope to establish a permanent presence on your world within a year or two. And you are welcome to visit our other worlds."
"You will forgive us for holding your people as slaves? For hunting them down?" She still sounded unsure. Such an insult would result in generations of hate for the Trythians.
"You didn't know better," Roland said. "You do now. Don't make that mistake again. Don't ever assume we're weak." There was a threat in those bland words, a threat that Lilliasa believed all too well.
She bent over the table and signed her name to the papers with a flourish.
Chapter 49
"Mail call," Beryn announced as he came through the open hatch.
Jasyn looked up from the piles of paperwork she sorted. The mess spread over most of the table. Beryn handed her a thick envelope.
"Business summaries from Leon," she said with a sigh. There were shadows in her face that had nothing to do with missed sleep.
Clark paced the floor, a small baby nestled against his shoulder. The child watched solemnly with dark blue eyes.
"Three for you, Twyla," Beryn said cheerfully. He passed the letters to her when she came out of the cockpit where she'd been running checks on the systems. "A letter from home," he said, studying the next envelope. "Proud grandparents sending their congratulations." He handed the envelope to Jasyn.
She made a face. "It's probably another five page letter from Clark's mother telling me space is no place to raise a child."
"More business," Beryn said as he handed another official looking envelope to Jasyn. "And one for Darus. From a sweetheart?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise. The envelope was pink and scented.
Darus looked up from where he sat on the steps down to the engine room. Filter parts were spread around him. He looked old, worn and brittle. He moved slowly to take the envelope when Beryn handed it down to him.
Beryn moved back to the center of the lounge on the small ship. "Another business message," he said as he finished sorting through the mail. "And one from the Independent Traders Guild." He hesitated, the thick envelope wavering in his hand. "It's addressed to Dace."
"She was the one with the membership," Jasyn said. Her voice came out harsh. She took the envelope from Beryn. She dropped it in front of her, on top of a pile of papers and stared down at it.
"There was also a special delivery," Beryn said with forced cheerfulness. The rest looked at him, all except Darus. Beryn turned to the hatch.
The woman standing there was tiny, short and petite. Her dark hair was cut close, curling over her head like a cap. She held herself with confidence, despite the generic gray of her shipsuit. She beamed.
"Ginni," Jasyn greeted her. She swept the other woman into a hug. "We weren't expecting you for at least a month."
"I finished early," Ginni said, returning the hug. "You've done some remodeling," she added as she looked around the ship.
"Some," Jasyn said as she sat back down.
Ginni's attention was drawn to the baby Clark held. "He's cuter than your pictures. He's absolutely adorable."
The baby gave her a wide toothless grin.
"We named him Lohys, after my father," Jasyn said.
"May I hold him?" Ginni asked.
"Be my guest," Clark said and handed the child over. "His middle name is Habim."
Ginni cradled the baby against her, smiling at him. "Good name." She looked back at Jasyn. "Do you still have that job offer open?"
"You have to ask, Ginni? Of course we
do."
"Because I found out I have no aptitude for navigation," Ginni said quickly, her confidence wavering. "I got a pilot's certification instead. And an assistant cargomaster rating."
"You can balance the cargo. I won't mind giving up that job," Clark said. "And we can always use another pilot."
"Is everything all right, Darus?" Beryn asked.
Darus' face was white. He looked up from the letter, staring at the others without seeing them. He slowly rose to his feet, the center of attention now. He stumbled towards the table. "She's alive," he whispered. The letter fluttered from his hands. "She's alive," he repeated as he slumped into a chair at the table. He pressed his hands over his eyes.
Clark snatched the letter as it fluttered to the floor. "It's from Paltronis, Lowell's bodyguard," he said as he glanced over the letter.
"Read it," Jasyn ordered. She was standing, drawn to her feet by Darus' reaction. She stood next to him, her hand on his shoulder. He sobbed into his hands.
"You're her father, you should know," Clark began. "She made it back, a lot later than we expected. She found where the ship on Vallius came from."
He stopped and cleared his throat before continuing. Jasyn's hand tightened on Darus' shoulder. The three of them had been on Vallius with Dace.
"She had to go back. Lowell wouldn't let her because she isn't Patrol. She is now. But at least she's an admiral." Clark stopped again.
"I'm going to kill him," Jasyn said. "After making him hurt for a long time."
"She made it out, she's safe," Clark said, staring at the paper. He looked up at Jasyn. "Tayvis didn't."
"Then where is she?" Beryn asked.
Clark looked back down at the paper. "Tivor, Lowell sent her to Tivor."
Jasyn slumped, the anger in her burning out. "We can't do anything there."
"Paltronis promises to bring her home, as soon as she's done," Clark said. "Three months, this time. She promises."
"Lowell promised before. Three weeks," Jasyn said. "How could he do this? We're going to Tivor and we're going to find a way to get her out. No matter what it takes."
