"He's brainwashed the people who were with him. Their concern for him is... pathetic. He might have the power of mind control."
"We could tranquilise him."
"Good idea." She turned away. "I'm going to get some rest. Call me if anything happens."
The soft beeping of her alarm clock woke Nikira, informing her that she had completed her eight-hour rest cycle undisturbed. She washed, dressed and ate a light meal, wondering why the dra'voren was still comatose. After a brief visit to the bridge to ensure that everything was as it should be, and the ship drifted back towards base, she returned to the containment room. The atmosphere remained tense, the contechs uneasy with the latent threat of a dra'voren so close at hand.
After gazing at him for several minutes, she roamed the room, studying the various screens that held information from the scanners set up around Bane. One showed a complete body scan that monitored his vitals, including his brain function, which was negligible. The image of his brain was drawn in cool blue with occasional yellow flashes. Enyo came in, looking refreshed after his off duty time, and approached the observation window.
"Still nothing."
"Maybe he'll stay comatose until we return to base. The techs there can examine him."
Enyo nodded, then glanced around as a soft alarm sounded on one of the consoles. "No such luck, commander."
"He's waking up?"
"Looks like it." He turned to a contech. "Close the door and stand by with the stunner."
The shredder room door slid shut, and Enyo studied the body scan screen while Nikira gazed at one of the video feeds that gave a close up of the dra'voren's face. Her stomach knotted and bile stung her throat. For the umpteenth time, she wondered if she had made the right decision by allowing the dra'voren to live. If he got loose, he could kill all of them and tear her ship apart.
"Wow, look at this," Enyo said, and she turned to his screen. The cool blue image of the dra'voren's brain was turning yellow, and some parts brightened to orange with flashes of red.
"He's definitely waking up this time. His heart rate and respiration are increasing and his temperature just rose two degrees."
Nikira gulped, her heart pounding, and wondered if she should trigger the blade that was poised over his heart before he killed them all. Allowing him to wake up had seemed like a reasonable idea when he had been deeply unconscious, but now that it was about to happen it struck her as suicidal in more ways than one. Turning away from Enyo's scanner screen, she stared at the video image on her own. A muscle in the dra'voren's neck twitched, then his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. Dra'voren destroyed worlds, and their power was apparently limitless. Now she held one captive, but for how long? An aeon seemed to pass while they waited, and her neck grew stiff from her tense, uncomfortable position poised over the monitor.
"Whoa!" Enyo muttered, and Nikira swung around to stare at his screen. The image of the dra'voren's brain was now entirely red, with flashes of white in it.
"What does the white mean?"
"It means the scanners can't measure that amount of activity. It's off the scale. A normal brain is never more than a third active, but look at that. He's using all of his."
Nikira turned back to the video image. The dra'voren's Adam's apple bobbed again, and his eyelids flickered. His brows drew together and he licked his lips. Nikira gripped the console with white-knuckled hands, fighting a strong urge to order the blade deployed.
"He has a name," she muttered to Enyo, partly to distract herself from her terror. "He's called Bane."
"A fitting name for a dra'voren."
Nikira tensed further as the image on her screen showed the dra'voren's eye lids flicker again, then open briefly to reveal his clouded eyes before they closed once more.
"He's awake."
"He seems groggy," Enyo commented.
"That can only be good."
The dra'voren's neck muscles tensed, and he raised his head, making Nikira recoil. After a moment he relaxed, his head falling back on the steel table with a tinny bonk that came through the intercom. He frowned, and his arms tensed, testing the cuffs. He grimaced and turned his head towards his left arm. An alarm from a nearby console made her jump, and Enyo turned to it with a frown. The scanner screen, which had been a blank green, now showed the shadowy image of the dra'voren's hands, and the darkness was spreading up into his arms.
"He's drawing in dark power!" Enyo cried. "Deploy the lodestones!"
A contech ran his hands over his console while Nikira stared at the scanner screen. The image of the dra'voren's hands faded, and she let out her pent breath and turned back to the video screen. The dra'voren's frown deepened, furrowing the smooth skin between them, and he looked puzzled.
"Look at this!" Enyo shouted, and Nikira whipped around to stare at the scanner screen. The image of the dra'voren's brain was filling with white areas.
"That's incredible," Enyo hissed. "It's off the scale, but how far?"
Nikira swept her gaze over the array of video screens, and one that showed an image of the scars on the dra'voren's chest caught her eyes. Three of them glowed dull red.
"I hope all this is being relayed to the data unit aboard our distress buoy," she muttered. "If he gets loose I want people to know what happened."
"It is. But we'll kill him before that happens."
"If we can."
The light in the scars dimmed, and the dra'voren writhed, arching his back as he strained at the clamp around his right wrist. The tip of the steel blade brushed his chest, but he did not seem to notice it.
"Deploy the stasis field," Nikira ordered, and a wide-eyed contech tapped his console.
A web of glowing yellow lines sprang into being over the dra'voren and slammed him back onto the table. He strained against it, the muscles on his chest and belly bulging, then relaxed, turning his head from side to side. Nikira studied his face, surprised by the new expression on it, one she had never thought to see on the countenance of a dra'voren.
"He's afraid."
"He can't get free," Enyo muttered. "His brain function is dropping, and his heart is speeding up. He's given up."
Nikira released her grip on the console and turned to stare through the observation window, where the dra'voren lay gasping. "If he'd drawn in the dark power, it would have been a different story. Keep the lodestones active."
Enyo came to stand beside her. "What do you want to do with him now?"
"He's tried to escape, and he can't. Perhaps it's safe to talk to him."
"I doubt he speaks our language."
"If he speaks the same language as the people he was with, our linguistics personnel are working on it. They might be able to translate it soon."
Enyo nodded, then glanced around as an alarm beeped on the scanner console. "He's trying to draw in the dark power again."
The screen showed shadows creeping into the dra'voren's fingertips despite the lodestones, and Nikira bit her lip. "Get ready to stun him."
She glanced at the video screen that was focussed on the dra'voren's chest. Five scars glowed with dull yellow light. "He's trying harder this time."
The shadows on the scanner screen vanished, and dra'voren's head loll to one side. Enyo consulted the body scan, where the brain image rapidly turned blue. "He's passed out."
Nikira slumped with relief. "That was intense."
"But we did it. We held him. We've captured a dra'voren, commander."
"An injured, mortal dra'voren."
"Still a great accomplishment."
Nikira nodded, rubbing her aching hands. "I must go and write a report. Let me know if anything happens."
Chapter Twelve
Destroyer
Six hours later, after Nikira had eaten a snack, finished her report and checked on the running of the ship, her beeper went off, and she raced down to the observation room.
"He's woken up again," Enyo told her as she ran in.
"What's he doing?"
"Not much
." Enyo waved at the array of screens. "Mostly he seems to be thinking. Look at that."
The image of the dra'voren's brain was filled with white sparkles. She stared through the observation window, where the he lay like a statue, his eyes closed.
"Bloody hell!" Enyo shouted, and she whipped around. The dra'voren's brain image had turned pure white, and she swung back to the observation window. The man on the table had turned his head towards his left arm, and, as she watched, the metal clamp oozed off his wrist as if it had turned to liquid. Beside her, Enyo swore. Nikira stood frozen as the dra'voren turned his head to the right, and the clamp around his right wrist retreated like quicksilver.
"Deploy the stasis field!"
The yellow lines of force sprang into being, holding him to the table, and a faint frown puckered his brow. Nikira glanced at his brain image, which had returned to red with white sparkles, but as she watched, it became pure white again. Sparks flew from the stasis field generator under the table, and the field collapsed. The dra'voren raised his right hand and rubbed his eyes, then grimaced and lifted his left arm to cradle it against his chest.
Enyo muttered, "Bloody hell. He's free."
Nikira watched the dra'voren, biting her lip. He seemed to have lost interest in freeing himself, and rubbed his broken arm. After a moment, the brain image turned white again, and the ankle clamps oozed away into blunt nubs, releasing him.
"Stun him, commander. Give the order now," Enyo said.
Nikira's heart pounded in her throat, and her mouth was dry. Terror numbed her brain, but she could not tear her eyes from the man on the table. "Let's see what he does first. What can he do without his power?"
"Hasn't he already done enough?"
After rubbing his arm for a few more moments, the dra'voren ran his hand along the table, exploring it. He encountered the brace that held the dagger and investigated it, found the blade and fingered its razor tip.
"That's right, dra'voren, one wrong move and you die," Nikira muttered.
"Commander, give the order."
The dra'voren's fingers closed around the dagger, and with a deft twist, he bent the blade at a ninety-degree angle.
Nikira gasped. "Stun him."
A frightened contech touched his console, and the room shook as the stunner activated in the shredder chamber with a dull thud. The dra'voren went limp. Nikira stared at him, and Enyo swung away to pace the length of the room.
"We've got to kill him, or keep him unconscious."
"He really is blind," she murmured.
"What?"
"He's blind. He had to feel his way about."
"Commander, he bent a stainless steel blade without effort. He melted metal with his mind! Did you see the brain monitor?"
"I saw. He's amazing."
"He's bloody dangerous."
"I know." She shuddered. "But why didn't he do anything other than free himself?"
"Perhaps he was considering his next move."
"We have the stunner, and now we know we can stop him from using the dark power even when he's conscious."
Enyo paced around again. "So what now?"
"Replace the clamps and the blade, then let's see what he does next."
"He'll bend them again."
"Perhaps, but now he knows we'll stun him if he does, so if he's clever he won't."
"It's too dangerous. We should kill him now."
Nikira shook her head. "Not yet. If he does it again, maybe. Put the clamps back, and use ordinary steel, since it makes no difference. When he wakes up again, I'm going to try to talk to him."
"He won't be able to understand you, and you can't reason with a dra'voren."
"The lingtechs should have figured out that language by now. Just do it."
A team of contechs entered the shredder chamber and replaced the clamps on the dra'voren's limbs, then straightened the steel blade with a great deal of effort. After the techs had finished and filed out, Nikira settled down to wait, but several hours later she gave up and went to bed. When she returned, refreshed and fed, Enyo turned to her with a grim smile.
"The stunner seems to have a profound effect on him."
"Still nothing?"
"Not a flicker. But we've made some more interesting discoveries."
She sat down on a chair, and he took one opposite. "What?"
"His beard doesn't grow."
Her brows rose. "And that's significant how?"
"Think about it. He has a very short stubble, almost non-existent, but in all the time he's been here, it's stayed the same. Somehow, he's controlling it. I'll wager if he wanted a beard, it would grow."
"Interesting."
"Also, he's not passing any body fluids."
"He hasn't had anything to eat or drink."
Enyo nodded. "True, but even so, he should have passed something by now. His metabolism remains high, so he's not suffering from the lack of food or water."
"And what does all this mean?"
Enyo shrugged. "He's weird?"
"He's a dra'voren."
Montar came in and joined them, glancing through the observation window. "Any more fun?"
"No. And I wouldn't call it fun," Enyo snapped. "If not for the lodestones, we might all be crisped to charcoal."
"Yay for the lodestones. The way I heard it, he got free without using the dark power, so where does that leave us?"
Enyo frowned. "In a dangerous situation. Just because the stunners work is no reason to become complacent."
"I assure you, I'm not complacent," Nikira said. "He terrifies me."
"Good, he terrifies me too."
"Yet he's blind and injured."
Enyo's brows rose. "You're feeling sorry for him now?"
"No. But I'm a lot more comfortable knowing he can't use the dark power."
"So am I, but considering what he can still do, and we don't know the extent of that yet, I'm still convinced we should kill him now."
"I'd rather study him. We can learn a lot from him."
Enyo sighed, then swung around as an alarm beeped on the body scan console. "Here we go. He's waking up again, so we're about to find out what he's going to do next."
Nikira stood up, her heart pounding, and gazed at the screen that showed his face. His Adam's apple bobbed and his eyelids flickered. After several minutes she glanced at the body scanners, which showed a gradual increase in the dra'voren's brain activity. It rose to a solid red image filled with white sparkles, and stayed like that. His eyes opened briefly, allowing her to glimpse their clouded whiteness. He tested the clamps again and raised his head, making her heart leap. Once more his head fell back with a dull bonk, and he sighed, grimacing.
"He doesn't seem happy," Enyo muttered.
"Who would?"
The dra'voren's brain activity remained the same for almost half an hour. Nikira studied the monitors, but he lay immobile, and finally she sent for the lingtechs.
"Time to see if we can talk to him. He seems to be waiting for us to do something."
"Be careful, commander," Enyo warned. "He may seem helpless, but we know he isn't. He might be waiting for an opportunity to strike."
"I'm aware of that. Watch the bio scanner, and the moment he does anything strange, no matter how slight, stun him."
Enyo nodded. "Of course, commander."
Two nervous looking lingtechs arrived, and Nikira ordered the door to the shredder room opened. Two guards armed with projectile weapons entered first, and Nikira followed them, her heart pounding in her throat as if it would burst. The lingtechs looked ready to drop from terror, but sidled in after her, keeping as far away from the dra'voren as they could. Nikira clasped her shaking hands and approached his head, stopping a few feet away.
"Do you understand me?"
He turned his head towards her, and she stepped back, trampling on the toes of the guard who stood behind her, his weapon gripped in white-knuckled hands.
"Yes." The dra'voren spoke in a deep, husky voice.
Nikira was too stunned to think for a moment, then she signalled to the lingtechs that they could leave, and they almost got jammed together in the door in their haste. She stepped closer again, determined to show no fear.
"If you attempt to harm us, or to get free, we'll kill you."
He sighed. "Why do you not just use that diabolical thing that gives me a splitting headache again?"
Nikira hesitated, amazed that he spoke her language with the fluency of one born to it. "How do you know my language?"
"It is a talent I was born with."
"Do you intend to try to harm us?"
"If I was, would I tell you?"
She frowned and glanced through the observation window at Enyo and Montar, who watched her with deep concern. "Probably not, but if you want to live, you should co-operate."
"I will not harm you so long as you do not harm me."
"Fair enough."
"What do you intend to do with me?"
She hesitated, unwilling to alarm him. "We wish to examine you, that's all."
"Why?"
"Because you're a dra'voren, and the first living one we've encountered."
His brows drew together. "I see."
"It's no good denying it, we know you are one."
"I had no intention of denying it. Will you release me when you've finished examining me?"
Again she paused, wondering how the interrogation had got switched around. "Perhaps. First I want some questions answered, and I advise you to be truthful."
"Very well."
"How did you become a dra'voren?"
"I was born this way, but dra'voren means destroyer, and I am not one of those."
"You command the dark power," she said.
"Yes."
"If you're not a dra'voren, what are you?"
"I am tar'merin."
Nikira signalled to Enyo to search the database for the strange word. "I don't know what that means."
He sighed again. "Few do. I have said that I will not harm you, so will you undo the bindings? They hurt."
"No, not yet."
"You fear me."
"We have good reason to."
He inclined his head. "I suppose you would think so. Could I have some water then?"
Demon Lord V - God Realm Page 19
