Circle's End

by Lisanne Norman

  “Annuur,” said Kusac, calling their Cabbaran friend on the translocator.

  A hologram of him appeared in front of them. “Friend Kusac, what can I be doing for you?”

  “We need to get to the Prime world instantly. Shaidan has gone missing. I might be able to find a clue to where he is there.”

  “Can send you and others there by translocator,” agreed Annuur. “In barracks courtyard you will materialize. Will this be acceptable?”

  “Just send us now,” said Kusac, his voice harsh with worry and anger at whoever had taken his son. “Do you know anything about him? He appeared suddenly to bypass that matter transformer.”

  The world around him began to fade, plunging him into nothingness where all that kept him focused was his link to Carrie. Just as suddenly, he materialized in the barracks courtyard, as Annuur had said he would.

  Prime world, midmorning.

  M’Nar’s first stop was the library where he found a high shelf at the back of the room filled with what he considered boring books. He hid Shaidan’s journal there. Then he went to the pool room and, stripping off, headed for the showers. It was a token shower, and then he was running down the slope into the pool and swimming strongly toward the island where the small jet pool was. Luckily, there was no one else there at that time of day.

  Once there, he hauled himself over the ledge into it, waded across it, and climbed out on the other side among the ambient greenery. He tried to look nonchalant, just in case anyone was looking, as he felt along the wall behind the plants, searching for anything that just didn’t feel right.

  He found it, a tingling sensation under his fingertips. Unity, he sent, hoping that the fact he wasn’t a telepath wouldn’t stop him contacting the AI. Unity, are you there?

  An adult Sholan? The voice in his head was clear and totally unexpected. On the sand-dweller world. Not a telepath. M’Nar is your name. I have heard Shaidan speak of you.

  I’m in the Brotherhood, and a friend of Shaidan’s, he thought back, unnerved by the way it knew his name.

  A sensitive, though. You will want to know about Shaidan, won’t you?

  Yes! Where is he?

  He is here, on Ghioass, but where on this world I do not know. His location is hidden from me.

  Who took him? demanded M’Nar.

  I did. The matter transformer had been damaged by the sand-dweller Emperor. A bypass was needed. He also sensed that his parents needed help. Shaidan offered to do the bypass if I took him to his parents.

  Sand-dwellers? asked M’Nar, confused.

  You call them M’zullians.

  Wait, you took him from here to M’zull? M’Nar was incredulous. What gave you the right to take a cub away from his family and minders like that?

  Would you rather I had let his parents die? They would have had he not intervened. Shaidan didn’t wish that, and I had to take his wishes into account.

  Look, I just want to know where Shaidan is! sent M’Nar. Can you tell me?

  No, I am unable to tell you. His location is hidden from me.

  M’Nar could swear he heard regret in the mental tone. Can you only be reached from here?

  Shaidan has a transponder braided into his hair so he can reach me from anywhere. His captors are blocking him, preventing him from reaching out mentally to me or anyone.

  Can you give me a transponder? M’Nar sent eagerly. This was the first piece of good news he’d heard.

  You cannot keep it on you as you are not a telepath, but you can place it in a safe spot for me to create a web so that we can contact each other.

  I can live with that. Give it to me.

  You will have to return here in an hour. I cannot manufacture it instantly; it takes time, replied Unity.

  I’ll return in an hour, M’Nar sent.

  He let his hand fall off the wall and took a deep breath. This was almost beyond comprehension. He’d just been talking to an AI on a planet Vartra knew how far away! And one who had at least a starting point for their search for Shaidan. Now it was time for him to go and tell Jerenn.

  * * *

  “You left me and N’Akoe to deal with the cubs on our own for over an hour, M’Nar,” said Jerenn, polishing his sword with the feline-headed pommel.

  “Are you even listening to me?” asked M’Nar. “I told you I have a lead to where Shaidan is!”

  “We have a crisis on our hands with Shaidan missing and you go tearing off on your own, chasing after blue jeggets! It’s not appropriate, M’Nar! You’re the one with the parenting experience, yet you leave it to me and N’Akoe. Shaylor and Vazih were crying they were so upset that you weren’t there.”

  “Jer, stop polishing your damned sword! I get your point, you’re mad at me!” M’Nar pulled the oily rag from Jerenn’s hand and flung it across the room. “Will you at least come with me and make up your own mind? We’ve nothing to do right now for the next hour or two.”

  “If it means you’ll shut up about it, yes! Secret passages and alien voices in your head—I don’t know what you’ve been drinking, but it’s far too early for it!”

  “Do you want to see Shaidan’s journal first?”

  “No, because it will only turn out to be a story he’s writing for himself. Trouble with you is sometimes you can’t tell fact from fiction!”

  “I’m going to make you eat your words,” said M’Nar as Jerenn followed him out of the door of their common room. “I don’t understand why you are so skeptical of what I’m telling you! This is not like you.”

  “You don’t usually go off and leave me to do the work alone. You did this time and then came back with this unbelievable tale. It’ll turn out to be nothing, mark my words,” he said as they entered the pool room.

  * * *

  This is Jerenn? You share a close bond, sent Unity.

  “What the hell . . .” began Jerenn, almost falling into the jet pool as he backed away from the wall. “You’re . . . it’s real!”

  No need to talk. Just say what you want in your mind instead. I can hear it.

  M’Nar says you took Shaidan from here to M’zull to help his parents, sent Jerenn.

  I did, but I am not responsible for him vanishing from M’zull. He is now somewhere on my world, but I don’t know where. I have been asked to search for all the Isolationist houses and track their orders over the last few days to see if one of them is expecting a prisoner and planning for the inhabitants to lie low for several months.

  Last few days isn’t long enough, said Jerenn. Look for longer, at least over the last month.

  If you took Shaidan to M’zull, can you take us to Ghioass? asked M’Nar.

  I can take a small group of you, yes.

  How many? asked Jerenn.

  No more than twenty.

  Any restrictions on weapons or armor?

  No, but I must warn you that I will defend the Camarilla, myself, and my people.

  What about Shaidan? asked M’Nar. Will you defend him?

  He is my . . . friend. I will defend him, yes.

  Good enough, said M’Nar, satisfied. Who lives on Ghioass?

  The world belongs to the TeLaxaudin, but on it live Cabbarans and U’Churians. The Camarilla is comprised of only the TeLaxaudin and the Cabbarans.

  “We need to go see Brother Dzaka,” said Jerenn. “Let him know we have a lead on where Shaidan is.”

  “That’s going to be a fun conversation, given how difficult it was to persuade you I was telling you the truth,” said M’Nar dryly.

  “There was a reason for that,” Jerenn reminded him.

  “Agreed,” M’Nar admitted with a sideways glance at his sword-brother. Will you talk to Brother Dzaka, our superior?

  No. Enough people know about me for now. Here is your transceiver, with a device to enable me to speak if need be.

  A
slim palm-sized device fell to the soft earth just below the node.

  Place it down before you try to contact me, Unity said.

  M’Nar picked it up. We have to go now and alert our superiors, tell them we know roughly where Shaidan is.

  When I have news, I will tell you the next time you contact me.

  Till then, thank you, Unity.

  “Let’s get moving,” said M’Nar, turning to jump into the jet pool. He hesitated. “Do you think this device can get wet?”

  “I doubt it,” said Jerenn. “Carry it in your mouth, why don’t you? You put your foot in it often enough.”

  “Very funny,” said M’Nar, gripping it carefully with his teeth before entering the water.

  * * *

  They tracked Dzaka down to General Kezule’s office.

  “Should we wait until he’s done with the General?” asked Jerenn. “Might be easier to talk to him alone.”

  “No. Every minute we waste is another one that Shaidan is in the hands of an enemy we can’t reach,” said M’Nar. He took a deep breath, then with the smallest of hesitations, he pushed open the door to the General’s office.

  “General Kezule, Brother Dzaka,” began M’Nar as he walked right into the room. “We know where Shaidan is.”

  “We’re listening,” said Kezule grimly as Dzaka turned round to stare at them.

  “Shaidan told me about a journal he was keeping,” began M’Nar.

  “Too long-winded,” interrupted Jerenn. “We found out he’s on the TeLaxaudin world of Ghioass. His journal told us how the TeLaxaudin have been watching us all here.”

  “And they left a node in the King’s swimming pool room, so we went to it and talked to their AI called Unity,” said M’Nar.

  “It told us he was kidnapped from M’zull by a group called Isolationists.” said Jerenn

  “Unity couldn’t tell us exactly where on the world he was, but it was busy looking for him when we left it to come and tell you. It will tell us when it does find him,” said M’Nar, grinding to a halt as he saw the incredulous looks on the faces of the General and Dzaka.

  “Let me see this journal,” said Kezule, his tone clipped and businesslike.

  “Shaidan trusted me with it,” said M’Nar, then he saw the look that Dzaka was sending his way.

  “Give it to them,” hissed Jerenn, digging him in the ribs.

  M’Nar reached inside his tunic and pulled out the blue-bound book. As both Dzaka and the General reached for it, he put it on the edge of the table and slid it into the center.

  Kezule got it just before Dzaka and began reading it.

  “A summary, if you please,” demanded Dzaka.

  “Seems your two here were teaching Shaidan how to fight,” said Kezule, looking up from the journal.

  “You were doing what?” asked Dzaka.

  “Shaidan was afraid of being in a situation where he would need to defend himself and be unable to do it. He got really worked up about it, so we gave him extra lessons; that’s all,” said M’Nar.

  “Extra lessons with firearms and throwing knives,” said Kezule, putting the journal down.

  Dzaka snatched it up and began reading.

  “You taught a ten-year-old child how to strip down and fire energy weapons?” demanded Kezule. “You were supposed to be looking after children, not young warriors!”

  “With respect, sir, it shows that our training may have been of use to Shaidan. He was right,” said Jerenn. “He was abducted by alien people and was taken to an alien world. Right now, all that may have kept him alive is his knowledge of hand-to-hand and weapons fighting! What would you have done had we told you? Put a twenty-six-hour security detail on him and made him a virtual prisoner?”

  “Somehow Shaidan had a premonition that something would happen,” said M’Nar. “We just helped him face his fears by teaching him what we thought was appropriate for his age.”

  “You should have told us,” said Dzaka angrily. “The decision wasn’t yours to make. You are not his guardians—Kitra and I are!”

  “If he’d come to either of you, what would you have said?” demanded Jerenn, looking at both of them. “Disbelieved him and told him it was his imagination, when events have now proved it wasn’t! You’d have had him living for weeks terrified of the future whereas we helped him put his fears to rest. Besides, you were brought up in the Brotherhood from a very young age, weren’t you, Brother Dzaka? I bet you were learning unarmed combat and other skills by the time you were ten, along with the other sons and daughters of the Brothers and Sisters.”

  Dzaka looked away and went back to reading the journal while Kezule looked ready to snatch it away from him.

  “You say you’ve talked to this Unity,” demanded Kezule.

  “Yes, we both have, but it says it won’t speak to anyone else,” said M’Nar. “It took him from here to M’zull to run a bypass on the matter transformer that was needed to switch on the nanites. The Captain saw him then and when he helped save his mama from . . .”

  “. . . possession by an ancient Valtegan Entity,” said Jerenn smoothly. “It was after this that Shaidan was kidnapped.”

  “So not only do we have Shaidan missing, but we have his father on M’zull aware he is missing, and unable to do anything about it!” said Kezule.

  “Captain Kusac Aldatan and his team have returned from M’zull,” said ZSADHI. “They are on their way up here.”

  “Wonderful,” hissed Kezule. “I promised him his son will be safe here while he’s away on a mission, and here we are with his son kidnapped!”

  “But we do know which planet he’s on, and we have a way to get there,” said Jerenn.

  “Explain yourself,” snapped Dzaka, passing the journal to Kezule.

  “Unity said it can take a small group of up to twenty people and weapons to Ghioass.”

  “And it is looking for him on the planet,” said M’Nar. “I know it will find him and tell us where he is.”

  “Why should this AI help us? It’s bound to its owners, unable to act independently, unable to do anything it isn’t programmed to do,” insisted Kezule.

  “Unity isn’t like that,” said Jerenn. “It has been talking to Shaidan as you can see from his journal, making friends with him. It offered all this information on him to us; we didn’t ask for it. I think you’ll find it has gone beyond its programming in many ways.”

  “I think we better get ready for Captain Kusac,” said Kezule, putting the journal down.

  Still gripping the Zsadhi sword in one hand, Kusac took the stairs two at a time, Carrie not far behind him.

  “Where’s the General, ZSADHI?” he demanded. “And Dzaka?”

  “They are in the General’s office on the third floor.”

  “Is Shaidan here?”

  “Shaidan hasn’t been here since he went missing just over two hours ago, Captain.”

  “Are the other cubs safe, and my sister and Dzaka?”

  “All are safe, Captain. Brother Dzaka is, as I said, currently in the General’s office.”

  “Kusac, slow down,” said Carrie as he took the staircase to the third floor at a run. “You’re leaving us all behind. Shaidan isn’t here.”

  They might know something we don’t, sent her life mate. Perhaps they know how he managed to travel instantly to M’zull. I need to know what they know, Carrie.

  Security tried to stop them, but they backed off after one look at Kusac. It helped that Cheelar was there with them and they recognized him as well.

  They came to a stop at Kezule’s office. “Carrie, Kaid, come with me. The rest of you wait here,” he said and opened the door.

  “Welcome back,” said Dzaka, getting to his feet. “We know Shaidan’s missing, but we have some leads on where he might be, thanks to Brothers M’Nar and Jerenn.”

  Kusa
c nodded to them and Kezule. “Everything is well on M’zull,” he said, “except that my son suddenly appeared to do a bypass we needed on the matter transformer. He then helped his mother,” he indicated Carrie, “and disappeared. You have some leads?”

  “Yes, your son wrote a journal which he entrusted to Brother M’Nar,” said Dzaka. “It told of an unlikely friendship he struck up with an AI on a world called Ghioass, the home world of the TeLaxaudin, and host to the Cabbarans and some U’Churians.”

  Kusac sat on the edge of the desk. “Go on,” he said, staring at them intently.

  “They have been watching us by setting nodes at various locations,” said Jerenn. “Shaidan found one in the King’s swimming pool which is how he was able to talk to Unity.”

  “Why were they studying us?” demanded Carrie, resting against Kusac’s uninjured leg,

  “That we don’t know, but we know that the two main races, the TeLaxaudin and the Cabbarans, formed a group called the Camarilla. They’re bound into the fabric and life of the Primes,” said M’Nar, “and with the U’Churians as well, they form an Alliance that is arguably more powerful than ours.”

  “They knew we needed help with the matter transmitter through Annuur,” said Kusac, his tone taking on a deep growl of anger. “His people gave us translocators to move from place to place on M’zull instantly, and when asked, they brought us here! He has to have been in contact with Shaidan!”

  “Surely, if he had been, he would have told us,” said Carrie, reaching out to touch his arm. “How does this AI fit into all this? Can we talk to it?”

  “It was Unity that sent Shaidan to you, not Annuur,” said M’Nar. “Unity admitted that Shaidan contacted it, saying that you, Sister Carrie, were in danger and he wanted to help you. It told us that in return for sending him to you, Shaidan would apply the bypass to the matter transformer.”

  “So who took Shaidan off M’zull?” demanded Kusac angrily.

  “Unity said it didn’t know who, but that he was taken to Ghioass,” said M’Nar. “It’s been searching all the known Isolationist houses for one buying large amounts of provisions and supplies that could hint at the inhabitants wanting to lay low for some time, perhaps even expecting a prisoner.”