by C. A. Farlow
Once seated, the prisoner’s blindfold and shackles were removed. He looked around, confusion etched on his tired face, blinking against the harsh light. The Comin prisoner was tall and extremely thin. His brown face was crisscrossed with scars. These, they knew, were self-inflicted. Ones he would cut into his face after each successful battle. Why am I unbound? Foolish.
Merilyn focused her mindspeak to Lauren. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes.”
That was too easy. Merilyn’s concern rose. She sent a thought to MacDonald. “Please have the technicians increase power to our planetary shields. Ask that they tune the satellites to look for incoming objects the size and density of the Comin probes.”
“Your name, Comin,” McLaran shouted from the darkness. The prisoner jumped, but not far and not high. He was held in place by an invisible shield. So I am bound.
Merilyn smiled. Alex was right. Lull him into thinking we are giving something away and maybe he would give something away. Having an invisible shield around the chair rather than physical bindings tricked the prisoner into revealing his mind skills. She sent a thought to McLaran. “Compliancy caught him. He thinks we are weak. He has no idea that we have mind skills as well.”
“Your name, Comin,” McLaran again commanded but this time in the Comin language.
“Ak’nood Al Skzov,” the man replied, turning his head to track the voice.
“Rank!”
“L’ften’isk,” the prisoner answered.
“Why are you in Terran space?”
Silence.
“How did you get into Terran space?”
At the same time, Merilyn asked the same question in Terran via mindspeech. The prisoner jerked against the shield as Merilyn penetrated his mind.
“Why and how?” McLaran’s baritone seemed to fill the room and come at the prisoner from all sides, hammering him. Out in the main hall, Ice and Snow growled, while Ffrwyn struck the floor with a shod-hoof, steel ringing on the stone. The companions added their weight to Merilyn’s mindspeech.
“Stop, I beg you, stop!” The prisoner shrank into himself and began to shiver. He grabbed his head and covered his ears.
No one spoke, and by agreement waited for the prisoner to speak next. If he did, they would continue the questioning in a civilized manner. If not, then McLaran would enter his mind and take the answers.
After five minutes of silence, the prisoner hung his head. “We followed the Terran witch. She broke through our shields and stole information. We needed to have her and the information back. We do not know how she was able to breach our world’s shields and enter the repository.”
Silence stretched again. Hmm…he must not know about nexi. Did they blindly follow Alex through the nexus?
“She took information about our world, about our science, about us. We know you are planning an attack on us.” Merilyn arched an eyebrow at McLaran “Well?”
McLaran answered, “Let him ramble. He is afraid, but is he afraid of us or his Comin superiors?”
“She took information to disable our shields and weapons. We are told of the evil of the Terrans. You refused to help our dying world. My family died in the last plague, poisoned because you would not help. You will shut down our shields and the desert will kill us.” Tears fell and he closed his eyes.
“Merilyn?”
“Yes, Lauren?”
“Ask him about the desert. How is that related to the plague, and how did his family die.”
Merilyn did so, “How did they die?”
“They died alone like all the others. Blind, eaten by tumor. When the shields failed around the domes, the desert came, they died.” Sobs racked him. It seemed like he blamed everything on the Terrans.
Lauren interjected again. “Ask about the specific symptoms.”
“Did they get sick?” Merilyn asked.
“When the water-filtration plant failed in their city and the air-scrubbers went off line, the power plant could not be cooled, the shield failed. The dust came in with the next sandstorm. The sickness came with the dust. I do not know what it is. The city died. They all died!”
The prisoner slumped in the chair, his body shivering uncontrollably. Merilyn gasped and grabbed her head. Horrible images filled her mind: dead and dying bodies littering streets, animal and human, insect and bird, bloated fish floating on the river.
Merilyn’s knees buckled at the horrendous sight, unable to take more in, but McLaran grabbed her. “We must get out of here. He is caught in a memory vortex.”
McLaran threw open the doors and dragged Merilyn out. Guards pushed the shielded doors closed. The wall shook, but the shields held as the prisoner’s mind exploded, releasing an immense blast of psi-energy. An internal suicide device. The device, a common Comin failsafe against capture and torture, triggered as the levels of his adrenaline and stress hormones rose exponentially from his despair.
Feeling Lauren disconnect from the link suddenly, Merilyn pushed herself from McLaran’s arms and rushed to the eastern solar. Alex, Ice, and Snow bolted after her. They found Lauren on the floor. Alex sank to her knees beside Lauren. “Easy there, Dearheart. It is over.”
“The images were horrible.” Lauren sagged into Alex’s shoulder.
McLaran the Elder, Newkirk, and MacDonald arrived. “Is she all right?”
Merilyn shook her head. “It was a horrible experience, and I fear I exacerbated the situation as she received images reinforced by my distress. They may be our enemies, but obviously the common people are as much a victim as we were.” A whiney could be heard from the boulevard below the solar. Ice nudged Merilyn’s knee. “Ffrwyn desires to be here with us.”
“Ice, that is not possible. She will not be able to navigate the stairs.” Just as Alex said that, hoofs pounding on stone echoed from below. “Let me in this instance!”
“Let her in McLaran, or she will breakdown the doors. I have no idea how we will get her down.” Alex cradled Lauren in her arms and descended to the formal living room on the first level of Lauren’s quarters. Merilyn followed, the rest after her. Newkirk and MacDonald pushed furniture to the center of the room, the companions took up positions flanking the cold hearth, and Ffrwyn settled beneath the spiral staircase against the outer wall. The rest found places to sit amidst the jumble of furniture.
“Well, that was unexpected. I thought we had removed the failsafe device.” Alex rubbed her temple in frustration as she pulled Lauren closer.
“We did, but there must have been a backup, one not detectable to our scanners,” Merilyn stated.
“It was organic, implanted in his brainstem. I felt it activate as he became more agitated about his family. I think it was some sort of organism.” Lauren shuddered. “I don't think he even knew it was there.”
Merilyn sat back, stunned that Lauren had entered his mind so completely. “We warned you against entering his mind. He could have attacked you through such a link.”
“I didn’t actively enter his mind. I was trying to search out anything about the desert disease. I was passively searching.” Lauren rested her head on Alex’s shoulder. “I got sucked in as he got more upset.”
Stunned by the events of the interrogation and by the immense cruelty the Comin were capable of, even against their own people, the group sat in silence.
Lauren settled in Alex’s arms. “I think we can use the information we got about his family to help us.”
“What are you saying? It was a morass of death,” MacDonald gruffed.
“The fact that the disease came in from the desert, carried with the dust, tells us it is an organism of some sort. Water might trigger its activity,” Lauren speculated.
“Perhaps that is how they activated the device on our Homeworld, remove all the water to kill the planet, and disperse an inert agent to attack the surviving populace,” Merilyn said.
“His images showed that all life is affected by the desert pathogen. The existence of a naturally occurring organism would explain
why they don’t venture out into their deserts. Why they lived in domes.” Lauren continued to mentally sort through the images about the Comin desert disease and propose hypotheses.
“Why wouldn't they have an antidote available?” Newkirk asked.
“There is mention of a series of treatments in the information on the datanode that Alex brought back. But it was only dispersed in a limited trial in the capitol city.”
“Perhaps they are unwilling to share the antidote with the general populace?”
Everyone sat back to contemplate a government that withheld a cure from own their people. Merilyn realized they would never be able to negotiate a truce with the Comin. Alexandra’s Grand’Mere was right. They must maintain isolation from the Comin. The threads of their moral fabrics were too disparate to find a starting point for discussion.
Over the following week, the boys created a disguise so Lauren could access the archives. Newkirk brought up a set of hunting tartan from his family stores. The two were about the same height, though she was much slimmer and the kilt needed to be taken in. Her auburn hair was hidden beneath a flat-cap. From a distance, Lauren could easily be taken for Newkirk. They decided that Alex should accompany Lauren to the archives each night and pick her up when she finished. The wolves would provide protection if Lauren was ambushed while in the reading room of the central archives.
Lauren quickly learned to navigate her way to the central archives building. The archives occupied an immense multistoried building in the central part of the Keep. It had floors for hard copy books and scrolls. Massive mainframes were isolated below ground and held the digital data from the central core. Terran knowledge accumulated through time was held there, along with the databases salvaged during the exodus.
The main reading room occupied the central part of the building. It was an open rotunda that rose five stories and was capped by a rose-colored oculus. Around the periphery of the room, stacks radiated from the wall out into the reading room at regular intervals. Like truncated wheel spokes, these short stacks created niches between them. A researcher could leave their research undisturbed within one of these niches while working on longer projects.
Lauren selected one of these niches for her nightly visits. She used Newkirk’s identity chip to gain access to the stored digital data. One night, Lauren was so lost in her work she didn’t notice someone was approaching her niche, until she felt Ice’s teeth grab her boot. That was their signal for danger. Lauren stiffened in her chair. Who is coming?
Lauren shifted and gathered herself to face the intruder. No one had disturbed her late night research before. “Lauren, keep your eyes on your work. We will call Alex.” Snow sent a message to Alex, which Lauren overheard. “Someone is coming toward Lauren. We are under the table. Shall we attack?”
“No, let us see if they will pass by.”
Merilyn’s voice filtered through Lauren’s mind. “Lauren, the lights will come on in one minute. Shield your eyes, please.”
Dropping her head to her chest like she was dropping off to sleep, she closed her eyes. A flash of bright light lit her eyelids. The intensity of the light hurt. Lauren opened her eyes after the light stabilized.
Lauren felt the boys and Merilyn enter the rotunda: Merilyn through the main entrance and MacDonald and McLaran through a side door. She would recognize their stride anywhere. As they advanced into the room, Lauren passively searched the space using a focused mindsweep. The two boys, Merilyn, and the furkids were easily recognized, but she didn't immediately feel anyone else. Merilyn and the boys were making their way around the room in a counterclockwise physical search pattern. Lauren sensed that the intruder had stepped into one of the niches along the exterior wall. Unless the searchers actually passed the niche, they would never find the person.
Snow and Ice stood guard, their teeth bared, a silent snarl curling their lips. Lauren stood, a dirk in one hand and a rolled scroll in the other. McLaran and MacDonald stepped into her niche and Lauren breathed a sigh of relief.
“What are you playing at, Newkirk, trying to kill us with knowledge?” McLaran joked as the two motioned for Lauren to stand down and gather her things. “Come on, lad, let us be off. You have wasted enough time on studying this night. I am sure Alex is still up and would welcome a visit. What do you say?”
Lauren stowed her materials in her satchel. Nodding, she slung the bag over her shoulder and slid the dirk into the sheath tucked in her knee-high sock. Just as they moved to exit the niche, Merilyn’s voice rang out. “Gregor, there you are. I heard an alarm sound that the archive had been breached. What is going on here? I do not like my sleep interrupted.”
“My pardon, Your Grace,” another voice replied. “I was woken by your call, but the alarm did not sound in my quarters. Let me turn on the floor system.”
Lauren knew that the floor security system was an intricate web of sensors that used a crisscrossing wire grid that sensed weight changes. Anyone standing on the floor would be identified and the location noted on a holographic map projected at the reference desk analyzer.
Gregor suddenly said, “There!” A scuffle took place right outside Lauren’s niche. She peeked out and saw a burst of light hit Merilyn. Lauren gasped and tried to run to her friend, but the boys restrained her.
“I’m the reason she’s injured. I need to help,” Lauren hissed as she continued to struggle.
McLaran held firm and whispered. “No, Lauren, getting you captured or hurt or worse would just fuel the rebellion.”
Alex mindspoke to everyone. “Send Newkirk in. Ice, Snow circle to the left. McLaran and MacDonald, you stay with Lauren, and stay in that niche! I will get to Merilyn.”
The wolves shot out of niche, just as Newkirk ran into the rotunda. Again Lauren peeked out.
Blade in hand, Alex stepped out into the open. Ice and Snow quickly appeared and flanked her. Newkirk turned his back to Alex and drew his blade. Lauren could clearly see a partially charred table and a destroyed chair.
The four advanced slowly on the central reference desk where Merilyn was attacked. Alex peered over the desk. “No one!” Alex exclaimed, her voice lingering in the large space.
“That is impossible!” Newkirk was dumbfounded as he peered behind the empty desk.
Seeming to be out of danger, Lauren rushed over to where Merilyn and the librarian lay. McLaran skidded up beside her just as Merilyn sat up. Merilyn looked around. “Newkirk, I need you to have a look at that blast mark. Take the wolves with you.” She turned to McLaran, a raised eyebrow her only communication. He grabbed Lauren by the elbow.
“We must get out of here. Someone will notice you are not Newkirk. That alarm will have the Guard outside in moments.” As his warning died on his lips, his father burst into the rotunda with a cadre of Black Guards on his heels. “Spread out. Cover the exits, including the windows. No one comes in or goes out without my permission.”
Lauren struggled to get out of McLaran’s grasp and tend to Merilyn, but he held her fast. Her heart pounded in her chest. As adrenaline seeped out of her system, she began to shake, and she slumped in McLaran’s hold. Fear rose in her throat. Her chest constricted. A panic attack. Come on, Lauren, deep breaths.
McLaran the Younger flipped Lauren over his shoulder and ran out the side door toward the eastern solar. “Once we are safely away, I will go back. Newkirk will be able to participate in the investigation, as if he was there when the intrusion happened.”
Alex rubbed the back of her head, wishing she could go with Lauren but knew she should stay here with the investigation. Snow turned to her. “I can smell something. I have smelled this before, but I do not remember where.”
Alex turned away from the wolf. Merilyn sat quietly while the healing technicians completed their examination, concluding that a concussion weapon created the blast that hit her. The physical destruction to the reference desk radiated outward from the central point where the blast hit.
Ice joined Snow and began to circle the de
sk, but Alex shooed them away. “I need you guys out of here. I need you to accompany the Seneschal back to her solar and keep watch over her there.” Mentally, Alex ordered them to keep watch over Lauren.
Merilyn winced as McLaran the Elder gathered her up in his arms and exited the archives with the wolves on his heels. Merilyn grabbed a handful of his shirt. “We must stop meeting like this, people will start to talk.”
McLaran laughed. “Let them, Your Grace. But you must promise me, that you will stop charging into dangerous situations without help. I must ask that you stay in your solar until the investigation is concluded.”
“You cannot keep me a prisoner in my own home. I must be seen out and about or there will be talk that I was hurt or killed and Alex is hiding my health from the Keep.” Lauren held open the doors to her rooms as McLaran swept in. “But your safety is critical to the Keep. Let the Guards do their job. While we try and figure out what I heard and saw and who attacked you.”
He gently deposited Merilyn on the sofa and covered her with a throw. “You are far too important to this Keep.” And to me.
“I know. And you to me.” McLaran looked down in shock when he realized that she heard his silent comment. “Sorry, but it seems when you are close enough, I can hear all your thoughts.”
The wolves charged into the solar, interrupting them.
“What?” Lauren turned toward the pair.
Merilyn picked up on the wolves’ tension, and she knew something important was being communicated. She remained quiet while the conversation continued.
Lauren knelt before Snow and pulled her head forward touching their foreheads together. “Slowly now, Snow, what did you smell?” Lauren closed her eyes. “Good, Snow.” Releasing her grip and raising her head, Lauren said, “She smelled something spruce-based or pine maybe. I could almost smell it too. And then a specific metallic scent lingered beneath everything else. She thinks it was a woman.”
