by Unknown
"Then they know about the demons?" She felt it all closing in on them now. It gave her little solace to know that he hadn't given away her secret. It would all come outespecially since they knew about the encounter with the demons.
He nodded, reaching out to take her hand, but not trying to draw her back to him. "I made it sound as though I was the one who rescued us from them."
She detected something in his voice, either a reluctance to admit that he hadn't saved them or guilt over having lied to his superiors.
"That isn't all," he went on, his eyes never leaving hers. "The Warlock is dead. He was killed by Federation troops on Kerbut not until after he'd managed to preach his message of revolt. And now, thanks to some trigger-happy soldiers, there's a full-scale rebellion going on there."
Jalissa was horrified. Of all the Outer Ring worlds, Ker, the sole source of crystal in the galaxy, was the one world the Federation could not afford to lose.
"But why did they kill him? I thought you had issued orders."
"I issued orders on Gavon, remember?" he said. "Apparently, he managed to steal a spacecraft on Gavon. Don't ask me how. We're still trying to figure that out. Maybe he had help from someone loyal to the Coven. He took the craft to Ker, where he ran into federation troops. Apparently, he tried to use the fire against them, and instead of using stunners, they turned the laser weapons on him." Miklos sat up now too, and ran a hand distractedly through his golden hair.
"The commander there is a damned fool. It apparently never occurred to her that by killing the Warlock, she made a bad situation even worse. The rebels have taken over the base, aided by Federation troops that are now proclaiming their loyalty to the Coven. They shot down a ship bringing a regiment of special Vantran forces."
Jalissa swallowed hard. She'd known that there would be a price to pay for their few days together herebut she'd never expected this.
"It's not our fault," Miklos said, still holding her hand. "The commander on Ker should have known better."
"But we've been blamed," she said dully, her mind awash in horror.
Miklos shook his head. "No blame has been attached to either of us. A copy of my warning not to kill the Warlock was sent to headquarters. They hold the commander on Ker fully responsible."
"Then why have we been summoned back to Vantra?" she asked, confused. "The Council itself has summoned us. They want a firsthand reportespecially about the demons. A U- will be here to pick us up by this afternoon." He paused briefly, then went on in a very different tone of voice.
"I'm not going back now," he stated firmly.
"You're not?" Jalissa was stunned that he would disobey an order from the Council. He might be able to get away with ignoring an order from the Special Agency, but to disobey the Council? The Council was composed of members from all worlds of the galaxy, and given the fact that most of them already resented the Vantrans. . . . .
"Miklos, you can't do that! Many of the Council's members already resent the Vantrans. They'd demand your resignation! They might even send you to a penal colony."
"I'll take my chances. The Council will dither and delay as they always do. And in the meantime, the situation could get worse. Finding the Coven is the only hope we have of preventing full-scale war, and it may already be too late."
"Then I'm going with you."
"I want you to come with me," he confessed. "But that's selfish. You have your own career to think of. Besides, there's the danger."
"There's more danger for you than for me," she pointed out. "The Coven might not be very happy with me at the moment, but they won't kill me." "How can you be so sure of that? If the gods order them to . . ."
"They won't," she stated succinctly. "If the gods wanted meor usdead, we'd already be dead. They were only trying to prove to me, or to both of us, that they exist. That's why they sent us to the world of the demons."
"Maybe they thought the demons would kill us, and spare them the trouble."
She shook her head. "Neither the demons nor their master could kill me. If they'd been able to do so, they would have. That . . . creature feared me, Miklos. That's why it let me take you away."
"Did you know that at the time?" he asked curiously.
"No. I've never known much about the Dark World. Only the Priests have studied it."
Miklos shook his head ruefully. "You might have spent a lifetime denying your heritage, Jalissa, but it's there."
"What do you mean?"
"Your fearlessness. In the past couple of days, I've recovered most of my memories of what happened thereor at least enough to know that you showed more courage than most people would have under the circumstances."
"You forget that I grew up in a world that accepts the supernatural. The demons and their master frightened me, but not as much as they would have frightened most people. I'm going with you, Miklos." He got out of bed and drew her into his arms. ''I'd feel a lot better about it if I knew that I could keep you safe."
"We'll keep each other safe," she said, stretching up to kiss him.
"Promise me one thing," he said. "Promise me that you'll let me take the blame for this. If we get hauled before the Council, I'll tell them that I kidnapped you and forced you to accompany me so you couldn't tell them where I was going."
"All right, I promise." But it was a promise she hoped not to be forced to keep.
They went off to bathe in the big tub that was set amidst a garden of fragrant shrubs and flowers and open to the soft sea air. For the next hour, they held the world at bay, luxuriating in the scented water and in each other. And even now, when they both knew what lay ahead for them, they were gentle with each other.
Miklos explained that he'd made arrangements for a private spacecraft to pick them up before the U- could arrive. They would take it to Gavon, where he would acquire one of the small craft they'd used before.
"But what if they have orders to capture us?" she asked.
"That won't happen. The Special Agency would never order the regular military to capture one of its Agents. It's a matter of pride. If they come after us, it'll be with other Special Agents, and by the time they can get there, we'll be long gone." "But they might follow us."
"That's why I'm going to take a craft they can't track, and I'll file a false flight plan just in case."
An hour later, Mafriti was a rapidly diminishing blue and white orb in the vast darkness of space. Jalissa sat in the small passenger compartment, while Miklos remained in the cockpit with the two-person crew.
Was this a fool's errand? Miklos seemed certain that the one remaining world they hadn't explored must be the home of the Coven, but if he was wrong . . .
And even if he was right, would the members of the Coven allow themselves to be found? Jalissa knew that the entrances to their underground sanctuary were protected by powerful spells. Even if he found the right world, Miklos could never find them unless they permitted it.
The spells wouldn't work on her, but they could still refuse to permit her entranceor at least she thought they could. It had never happened before, to the best of her knowledge, but then no one had ever posed such a threat to them. She was more than ever aware of her precarious position, straddling two worlds.
Miklos appeared and told her that he'd overheard a communication from the U-, which had apparently entered Mafriti's orbit only minutes after their departure. Long before they reached Gavon, the Special Agency would know that they'd fled.
He continued to insist that no one would try to stop them on Gavon, but by the time they landed at the base there, Jalissa was prepared to find a whole army awaiting them. What they found instead were two young Special Agents.
Jalissa and Miklos both spotted the gold braid that distinguished the two men from the other officers the moment they disembarked. Miklos muttered a curse, then told her to remember that she was supposed to be with him unwillingly.
The Agents greeted them politely, then asked if they could have a word in private. Apparently Miklos w
as right when he said that the Special Agency would want to keep the arrest of one of their own under wraps.
As they walked through the terminal, Miklos questioned the two men about their presence. It turned out that it was mere coincidence. They were returning from a mission to another Outer Ring world and awaiting transport back to Vantra. But it was soon apparent that the Special Agency had turned this fortuitous happenstance to their advantage.
Both Agents were clearly uncomfortable as they explained that they were to "remind" Miklos that he had been summoned by the Council.
"I'm aware of that," Miklos said coldly. "They will have their report in due time."
"But . . . but, sirI mean, Agent Panerayou can't just ignore a summons from the Council," one young Agent sputtered.
"I canand I will. And I'm taking Specialist Kendor with me."
"We have orders to keep you both here until the U- arrives," the other Agent said, though in a very uneasy tone.
"And do you also have orders to use force against us?" Miklos asked in that same cold voice.
Jalissa saw Miklos's hand move toward the stunner at his belt, and saw one of the two Agents make a similar move. Quickly, she stepped between them.
"Please!" she implored. "I want to go back to Vantra. Don't let him take me with him!"
Confused, the two Agents stepped back. Miklos drew his stunner and leveled it at all three of them.
"You're coming with me, Whisperer! I can't let you go back now."
Still holding the stunner, he reached out and grabbed her roughly, then fired at the two Agents before either could reach for his own weapon. Both men instantly fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Good thinking," Miklos said, smiling at her. "That'll take care of them for a while."
"But how can we get past all those soldiers?" she asked.
"We'll just have to take the chance that they don't know what's going on," Miklos replied as he opened the door to the small office and drew her out into the terminal.
But before they'd gotten far, they both saw another Special Agent headed toward them. The man had already spotted them, and his hand began to move toward his stunner.
Jalissa and Miklos turned and ran down an intersecting hallway, with Miklos gripping her arm to keep up the pretense that she was his captive.
"What will we do now?" she gasped, having a difficult time keeping up with him as they ran through the corridors. "Surely he'll call in the troops now."
"He probably will," Miklos said grimly, turning onto yet another hallway in the labyrinthine terminal.
"Find a place where we can hide," she told him, suddenly seeing a solution to their problem.
They began to try the various doors, and finally found one that was unlocked. Behind them, they could hear the rapid steps of their pursuer, although he wasn't yet in sight.
The long, narrow room was lined with shelving containing supplies of some sort. There was no way to lock the door and no place to hide, but Jalissa wasn't planning to hide.
"We can't risk it," Miklos said, having already guessed what she was planning. "Remember what happened last time."
"That was over a hundred miles," she reminded him. "This is a much shorter distance. Besides, it's our only chance. Just tell me which direction and how far."
Miklos pointed, though he clearly didn't like the idea. "That way, about two miles or so. But"
He never had the chance to finish his protest. Jalissa wrapped her arms around him and 'ported.
They landed in an untidy heap on the ground between two large cargo transports. Miklos got quickly to his feet and surveyed the immediate area, then returned to her as she struggled to get up.
"I'm just a little bit dizzy," she told him, then laughed. "Maybe it would help if I were bigger or you were smaller."
He chuckled as he circled her waist with his arms. "Maybe you should cast a spell to change that."
Even in the midst of their problem, Jalissa did not fail to note that he could laugh about her powersa very good sign, given what lay ahead.
"Now we need to find the craft I requisitioned," he said, keeping an arm around her as they made their way cautiously around the huge cargo ships.
They spent the next five minutes weaving their way through the huge parking area. Fortunately, they were able to avoid the soldiers who were loading and unloading and performing maintenance tasks. Then, just when Jalissa thought she couldn't manage another step, Miklos brought them to a halt.
"There it is!" he said, pointing. "Just walk to it as though we have every right to be here. They aren't likely to have raised the alarm yet, because they wouldn't expect us to have gotten all the way out here this quickly."
They walked calmly toward the small craft, passing several soldiers who stared at them and then returned to their tasks. Then, just as they were about to board the craft, a voice called out.
"Sir, you have to sign the requisition."
Miklos turned as the young woman approached, and took the electronic tablet from her to punch in his code. "Sorry." He smiled. "We're in a hurry. Is it ready?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you." She took back the tablet and disappeared.
Jalissa sank gratefully into the comfortable seat as Miklos ran through the checklist, then picked up a mike and requested permission to take off. They both held their breaths as they awaited an answer.
But it seemed that once again, he was right. The Special Agency didn't want to involve the rest of the military in their problem. They were spacebound within minutes, since the craft Miklos had chosen was capable of very short takeoffs and landings. He filed a flight plan for Ker, even though that wasn't their destination.
"They'll probably believe it, given what's hap- pening there," he told her.
Seconds later, they received a warning that landing on Ker was impossible right now. No explanation was given, however. Obviously the Federation was trying to keep the rebellion under wraps.
"The warning is noted," Miklos said into the mike. "But our destination remains Ker."
Then, scant moments later, one of the screens lit up and a warning bell chimed. Miklos glanced at it and told her that the message must be from the third Special Agent, who'd apparently discovered their abrupt departure. Jalissa watched as he punched in a code that turned the unintelligible words on the screen into Vantran.
"Agent Panera. You are ordered to return immediately to Gavon. Special Agent Kundera. Authorized by General Maleda."
Miklos switched it off without replying. "They'll come after us, but they're going to have trouble tracking us in this. Besides, I think they'll assume that we are going to Ker."
And as he spoke, he began to re-program the computer, to change their destination. Jalissa sank deeper into the seat, exhausted from the ordeal of 'porting them both. She was already drifting off to sleep as Miklos kissed her.
"We make a good team, Specialist Kendor."
She smiled sleepily. "I doubt that the Special Agency and Trans/Med share your belief."
The meeting was historic. Never before in the history of the Federation had representatives the Special Agency and Trans/Med met alone in secret together. Despite the urgency of the situation, considerable time was wasted in determining just where they should meet. They finally chose the neutral territory of a retreat in the forest that was used by various Federation agencies for training purposes. Now they sat across a long table, glaring suspiciously at each other.
"You've lost them?" the Director of Trans/Med asked.
"Yes," replied Shar Holota, the Director of the Special Agency, in a tone that indicated someone would pay dearly for this error. "They took a small craft that can't easily be tracked. They filed a flight plan for Ker, ignoring the warning, but they obviously didn't go there."
"I must protest this strongly," Mara Tendit, the Trans/Med Director stated. "One of your agents has kidnapped our best Whisperer."
"That remains in doubt."
"What do you mean?"
"We have r
eason to believe that despite her statement to the two agents on Gavon, she has accompanied him willingly."
"That's ridiculous!" Tendit sputtered. "Jalissa Kendor"
"They spent five days together on Mafriti," Holota said, cutting her off. "They were seen to- gether several times, and they did not appear to be unhappy in each other's company."
"Are you saying"
"I am saying that they chose to stay in a secluded beach house, rather than in one of the hotels, and when they were seen together, they gave every impression of being lovers."
"That's absurd!" Malvina stated, speaking for the first time. "Jalissa Kendor is both a Whisperer and a Tevingian. She would never become involved with a Vantranlet alone a Special Agent."
But even as she defended Jalissa, Malvina knew that it must be true because she alone knew that, if Jalissa had wanted to get away from Miklos Panera, she possessed the powers to do just that.
Malvina quickly guessed what they must be planning. They were trying to find the Coven. If so, then that meant either that Jalissa really trusted Miklos Panera, or that she herself had turned against the Coven. She could only hope that it was the former.
"If they didn't go to Ker, then where could they have gone?" Tendit, the Trans/Med Director, asked.
"We think they're trying to find the Coven," the Director of the Special Agency said.
"You're assuming that they exist?"
"Yes," Holota admitted, but very reluctantly. "Before he was killed, the Warlock clearly dem- onstrated his supernatural powers.'' At their shocked looks, he went on to describe what had happened. "And there is more."
He signaled an aide, who withdrew from his case some papers and handed them, with obvious reluctance, to the delegation from Trans/Med.
"This report was filed by Agent Panera before the two of them went to Mafriti. The Council has already received copies."
Trans/Med had already heard rumors of some strange encounters by the pair, but all of themeven Malvinawere shocked by the detailed report of their encounter with the demons and their master. According to the report, it was Miklos who had slain them and then managed to save the two of thembut Malvina knew differently. She suppressed a shudder as she thought about Jalissa doing battle with their ancient foes.
