“My word of honor as an officer of the Imperial Military Police that my duty is to escape and warn my superiors of your threat to the stability of the Empire.” She assumed a posture as arrogant as Loki’s even with the force bracelets inhibiting her arms.
“The bracelets stay.” Loki insisted.
“I wish I had Dalleena’s tracking talent. Then I could find her,” Konner said. He set off toward the fields beside the village. She was supposed to have watched the IMP intruders from a safe distance.
(Listen to your heart,) Irythros said into his head.
Konner stopped short. He paid no attention to his siblings as they plowed into his back.
“Speak plainly, Irythros,” he commanded.
(Be still. Listen.)
“Basic technique for working magic,” Kim whispered into his ear.
“You heard him?” Konner did not think anyone could overhear a private conversation with a dragon. Unless the dragon wished.
“That was more than just one dragon talking. I still have a minor connection to Iianthe. Through him, I heard them all speak.” Kim shrugged as if listening to dragons was an everyday occurrence. For Kim and his Tambootie, it might be.
Kat came up beside them and rolled her eyes. “More mumbo jumbo. Why not use the sensors to isolate groups of people. Surely the natives have had enough separation from humanity to have a slight DNA variance.”
“Tech doesn’t solve every problem,” Konner nearly shouted at her. “The locals are as human as you and I. Three hundred years isn’t enough for genetic drift.”
“Don’t be so bushie defensive,” Kat snarled. “I didn’t intend it to be an insult.”
“We have to do something with the king stone, Konner.” Loki placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Soon. Probably before we can look for Dalleena. This is the first place the IMPs will look for it, as soon as they realize we’ve left the ship.”
A moment of panic grabbed Konner. He had to find Dalleena. But the entire future of this planet depended upon keeping the king stone out of IMP hands.
Why hadn’t he just smashed it?
Because it was alive and he could no more kill the crystal than he could murder a human.
“You may have to choose between saving the king stone and saving Dalleena,” Loki reminded him.
“I’ll scout the village.” Konner checked the position of the sun. Still plenty of daylight. “You three transfer the stone to Rover and recharge the fuel cells. I’ll be back in an hour. Then we’ll look for a place to secrete the stone.”
“What kind of place. I’ll review the maps . . .” Kim said.
“I’ll know the place when I see it.” Konner stalked off. A plan nudged his brain. But he couldn’t do anything about it until he knew Dalleena was safe.
He began walking.
“Take me with you, Konner.” Kat hurried to catch him.
“Why? So you can escape?”
She answered him with silence.
“You stay here where our brothers can keep you out of trouble.”
“Define trouble.”
“Mari Kathleen O’Hara Talbot.” He turned his back on her and kept walking.
The distance to the village had never seemed longer. Before the circle of huts came into view, Konner angled south to keep small hills between him and the intruders. Then he crawled through tall grasses to the edge of the plowed fields.
The moment he dropped to all fours, he heard/ sensed frantic movement off to his left. He risked a peek above the tasseled tips of the wild grass. Five uniformed IMPs carried something away from the bull’s pasture. Medic Lotski forged ahead of them speaking rapidly into her comm unit.
Konner wished he were closer. At this distance he could not identify the injured person. Too many people crowded around the inert figure to determine clothing, size, or coloring.
A terrible feeling gripped his gut.
He crawled closer, using the distraction of a serious injury or illness among the IMPs to move faster than he would if armed patrols still swept the area.
He noted a number of natives bound with force bracelets and crude rope on the far side of the fire. Taneeo among them. Yaaccob, the village elder from the neighboring community hunched in the middle of the group, working silently at his rope bindings.
Konner watched the IMPs carry the limp figure into the largest cabin, the one he shared with Loki. The home he had invited Dalleena into last night. As the men carrying the burden maneuvered through the narrow doorway, Konner caught a glimpse of dark leather trousers, the legs stuffed into crude boots. Above the waist, he saw a white homespun shirt and leather vest.
His heart leaped to his throat.
Dalleena!
CHAPTER 32
MARTIN FORTESQUE faced his mother.
In person.
No hiding behind a computer-enhanced vid screen. He had to do this in person.
”Mother . . .”
“I told you to call me Melinda.” She continued working at the stack of messages on her personal desktop. The entire surface was nothing more than a compressed vid screen that allowed her touch point corrections. A miniature electronic pencil dangled from her subdued earrings. She detached it from the molecular adhesive of the gold jewelry and highlighted something on her desk, then returned the tool to its resting place. “You are nearly grown now. Soon I will train you to help me run the corporation. In business circles we must appear as equals even though I will always hold a controlling share of stock and votes on the board of directors.”
“Mother, will you look at me when I speak?” Martin couldn’t keep the childish waver out of his voice.
Something in his tone must have startled her, for she looked up sharply, narrowing her eyes to look directly at him. And only at him.
Perhaps she had a scrap of motherly emotion in her after all.
Before she reverted to corporate coldness, Martin plunged forward with his planned speech.
“Mother, I need access to systems beyond my tutorials.”
“Why? So you can interfere with my shipping manifests again?”
“No.” That was strictly true. Martin had no intention of messing with shipping manifests. “It’s for a school project. I need to do some research.”
“Such as?” Melinda touched a corner of her screen.
Martin had no doubt his full curriculum spread before her in minute detail.
He had to make this sound good.
“I . . . ah . . . I’m doing a report on the changes in shipping lanes since the advent of the armed conflict with the Kree.” The only other sentient beings humanity had encountered since entering space had proved belligerent in territorial disputes. So far, those had been few and far between. However, the GTE had taken pains to stay out of sectors now claimed by the winged creatures.
Most of the population went about their lives as if the Kree did not exist and nothing barred the expansion of the almighty GTE. Those who lived near the border prepared for all-out war. Corporations that built their fortunes on interstellar trade had to be aware of the constantly changing boundaries and currencies.
“An admirable project, Martin. I shall review it when you are finished. Our business will benefit from such a study.” Melinda made an adjustment to Martin’s curriculum. “You are now free to use the system. But if I discover you tampering with anything, there will be repercussions.”
Martin backed out of his mother’s office as rapidly as he could and still remain upright. The moment the door whispered closed, he turned and ran back to his own suite.
Time had grown short. He had to remove port restrictions for Martin Konner O’Hara quickly. (And hadn’t he and his friends had a time hacking his father’s full name out of an obscure database on an even more obscure bush world.) Those port restrictions were the only things keeping Martin’s father from coming to claim him. He was certain of it.
“Martin.” Melinda’s voice chimed through his personal chip embedded behind his ear.
“I have ordered you a new suit for your birthday. Be available for a fitting at seventeen hundred hours.”
“Why do I need a new suit? I have six that still fit very well.”
“We have an important appointment on your birthday. You must look your best.”
“What appointment.” Martin knew. But he had to play along as if his mother was as omnipotent as she pretended.
“An appointment that will ensure our future together. Never forget that you are my only child and heir.” Melinda disconnected with a slight popping sound.
Martin was left with a vacancy between his ears from the absence of sound.
Come and get me, Dad. Please come and get me soon. We can’t let her win this one.
(South.) A dragon voice spoke directly to Kim.
“Iianthe, greetings,” he said. He peered at the cloud cover seeking the only purple-tipped dragon in the nimbus. No mistaking the deep, sonorous tones of his old friend.
(What you seek is to the south.)
“Loki, I think we are heading back toward the volcano,” Kim told his brother. They stood beside Rover, waiting for Konner.
“More magic and hoodoo voodoo?” Kat asked sarcastically. She lounged against the shuttle as if she had no cares. But she worked at the force bracelets continuously. Her wrists looked like raw meat.
Kim spotted a flash of sunlight on a transparent wing. “Maybe we should let her ride the dragon who guides us.” Kim looked at her levelly, with a half smile.
She blanched but returned his gaze with courage. Her chin lifted just a little in defiance.
For a moment Kim was proud of her. He just wished she recognized the family connection and cooperated more.
But if she capitulated too easily, would she be a true O’Hara?
“Loki! Kim! They have Dalleena. She’s hurt. Bad.” Konner pelted toward them, gasping for breath between words. ”They’ve also captured Taneeo and about two dozen men from the other village.
A series of sharp feedback squeals brought him up short. He whirled around to face the direction he had come from.
Flashes of red pain filled Kim’s vision. He felt the hot burst of energy against his skin and his thick skull. A need to bellow, paw the ground, and charge filled his being.
Then nothing. A great emptiness spread outward from Kim’s navel.
“St. Bridget, they’ve killed the bull.” Kim’s mouth hung agape.
“Are you certain they shot the bull?” Konner started toward the pasture, then stopped short.
What could any of them do? Why would the IMPs intentionally kill a living animal? Supposedly they considered all life sacred. Civilized members of the GTE did not eat meat because they refused to take a life. Any life.
“How civilized are the Marines among your crew?” Kim turned slowly to face his sister.
Kat shrugged. “Many are bush born. Sergeants Duggan and Brewster are barely civilized.”
Bushies ate meat in order to survive. The GTE demanded nearly all of their grain, fruits, and vegetables as payment for protection, medicines, and technology among the far-flung worlds. Bushies lived as exploited colonists. They could not enter the GTE as full members with voting rights or self-rule until they industrialized, gave up their uncivilized dietary habits, and domed their cities.
How could these IMPs appreciate the value of a single bull beyond a meal for the troops?
“They won’t get away with this,” Kim vowed.
“You can’t stop them,” Kat reminded them.
“I can make them pay.”
“How? You have only a few weapons and fewer numbers,” Kat continued.
“We have the king stone,” Konner said. His voice was cold. For the first time that Kim could remember, his brother sounded mean.
Then Konner looked back toward the village. His face crumpled with despair. “I have to go to her.”
“As much as we hate the IMPs,” Loki said, placing a hand upon Konner’s shoulder. “They have better medics, equipment, and medicines than we do. They won’t let her die. Lotski is one of the good guys. She won’t let a patient die.”
“But what if it’s the plague?” Konner balanced on the balls of his feet, ready to run toward Dalleena.
“We sowed the entire area quite liberally with selenium this summer,” Kim reminded him. “The bioengineered virus is now inert. You found the cure, Konner. You know we eliminated the plague.”
“What if . . .”
“No. Do not think about it. We have work to do. You have to tell us what to do with the king stone.”
“He could give it back,” Kat offered.
None of the brothers listened to her.
“Without the king stone, Jupiter’s orbit will decay and the ship will crash. Your people are stranded here, Kat. They invaded and lost. They have to learn to live among us on our terms. We can’t let any of you leave. The GTE must never be allowed to pollute our home,” Kim told her.
Konner stepped into Rover. “The dragons say we need to go south. Let’s fly.”
Kim placed his hands on Kat’s shoulders and pushed her to follow Konner.
“Irythros spoke to you?” Kim asked Konner as they settled into their familiar places in the cockpit.
“The entire nimbus told me to find what I seek in the south.”
“I got the same message. Do you think they mean for us to return to the volcano?”
“The strange magnetics would certainly help hide the crystals,” Loki agreed. He gave Kat’s force bracelets one more check before taking his place in the pilot’s chair.
The cockpit only had three chairs. The brothers had never anticipated needing a fourth. So Loki placed their sister on the deck and restrained her with various cables crossed around her chest and hooked to the bulkhead of the cockpit. In a moment of compassion, Kim placed a cushion from the lounge behind her back and neck. She sighed in relief but said nothing.
“I have something better in mind than that haunted volcano.” Konner looked smug.
“Do I dare ask what?” Kim asked as Loki sent the shuttle forward into takeoff.
“A place to hide us as well as the entire crystal array.”
“Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?” Loki looked both pleased and pained. He shook his head and set course due south.
“The cloaking I developed for both Rover and Sirius is nothing more than a confusion field,” Konner explained.
“Like those nearly invisible dragons?” Kat asked. “I should have guessed. They warp light rays defying the eye to look anywhere but at them, at the same time they challenge you to look nowhere else. Damn. Now I know where you hid your ship in orbit. I looked right at it and forgot I’d seen it.” She hit her forehead with both palms.
She grimaced and eased her hands back into her lap.
Kat would be looking to steal the key to the bracelets at every turn. Being an O’Hara, she’d likely find it.
Kim reminded himself to keep a closer eye on her.
“If you are using the entire crystal array, then we need a roughly circular place,” Loki mused, biting his lip in thought.
Kim took his eyes off Kat long enough to load maps and surveys onto his screens.
“If we were riding dragonback, we could fly lower, spot the place with our eyes,” Konner said as he leaned over to check Kim’s charts.
“There.” Konner pointed to the top of one of the foothills to the Southern Mountains. A pass through the chain of peaks ran close by.
“Far enough east and north of the volcano that the volcano’s EMF won’t mask it from sensors,” Loki objected.
“I don’t need EMF to hide us. That’s the right place. I can feel it.” Konner sounded triumphant.
Kim felt a nod of agreement in the back of his mind from the dragons.
Loki shrugged and corrected course. The land beneath them began to rise as they
neared the mountains, leaving the river plains behind.
“I’m willing to bet that when we get there, we find a confluence of ley lines,” Kim said. He couldn’t help but smile. With ley lines under his feet and Tambootie trees in the nearby woods, he could experiment with magic to his heart’s content. Who knew what powers he would develop, pass on to his children. Perhaps even teach Hestiia to share in the powers.
“Ley lines?” Kat sat up straighter against the bulkhead. Her improvised crash harness strained against her shoulders.
“Think of theoretical transactional gravitons,” Konner offered.
Kat’s emerald-green eyes did not light with recognition.
“A web of energy that holds the universe together,” Kim explained. “King stones use the lines of the web to maintain contact with the mother stone and facilitate faster-than-light communications. Ley lines are similar, but on a planetary basis. We don’t know if they are connected to the gravitons or not. I suspect that we tap into them for energy to fuel our psi powers. The number and consistency of the lines here augment our talents more than anywhere else.” Even more so with a good dose of Tambootie. Kim dug in his pocket seeking a scrap of a leaf, anything to help him think straight.
He came up empty. His hands began to shake and his head ached. He clenched his fists and bit the inside of his cheeks to cover his aching need for more of the drug.
Kat slumped against the bulkhead where she sat. “More magic. You three are really giving in to bush madness.”
“We don’t see it as madness, Kat,” Kim said quietly. “We see it as salvation for ourselves, the family, maybe even for the entire GTE. The exploitation of people and resources has got to stop. We won’t let it come here.”
“The emperor is trying,” Kat replied defensively. “He has introduced legislation to allow bush planets membership in the GTE without doming and industrializing.”
“But he hasn’t succeeded in reversing the mind-set of six hundred billion people,” Konner added.
“Not even a majority of the six thousand members of Parliament,” Loki finished.
“When I can see a transactional graviton, or ley line, or whatever and feel the energy coursing through my body, then I might begin to listen to you.” She set her face, O’Hara stubbornness written all over it.
The Dragon Circle Page 25
