“The mission will not be completed until we return and discover the reason Joon pursued her in the first place,” Vee reminded him.
Tal tucked the braid under Vee’s blanket, hating his helplessness. “You’ve taught me to be resourceful. You’ll see Ontariese again.”
Vee opened his eyes, one corner of his mouth curving in a weak smile. “You have a plan?”
“There are only three people in this dimension capable of Summoning the Storm. You are too weak at the moment so that leaves two.”
“But how will you get him to…” Vee’s eyes drifted shut, too exhausted to go on.
Tal could sense Vee’s faint heartbeat but tension still gripped his soul. Vee was far more of a father to him than Roe Aune had ever been. Tal’s devotion to his mentor never wavered. He simply refused to lose Vee now.
“My spirit is yet in my body, Tal Aune.” Tal detected amusement in Vee’s tone and tried to relax. “You must not let my condition distract you. How do you expect to get Joon to assist you? Why would he not kill you instead?”
“This isn’t as simple as wanting me dead. His ambitions are more complex. He wants me bested. Until he’s proven that he is the better man, this depraved competition must continue. So I will convince him the next round of the competition must take place on Ontariese.”
Vee made a nondescript sound, assuring Tal he understood.
“With your permission, sir, I’d like to put you in stasis as well. You need to be strong enough to accept the Mystic transfusion once we return to the Conservatory.”
“And if your plan fails, you wish me a peaceful death?”
Tal didn’t argue. Vee deserved that much at least.
“I will see you once we reach Ontariese.” Stubborn authority rang through the directive and Tal smiled.
After casting Vee into stasis, Tal searched for his brother. Trey wasn’t on the bridge and he wasn’t in the lounge. Tal needed to know if the repairs to Trey’s ship had been completed. What he had in mind would need to be set in motion quickly.
Much to his annoyance, he found Trey in Charlotte’s room, standing beside her sleeping station.
“She is in stasis and will remain so until I release her,” Tal said. “How did you get in here?”
Trey’s coppery brows drew together over his expressive amber eyes. “It’s my ship.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“How can she be a descendant?” Trey stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his interest apparently less licentious than Tal had first thought. “She doesn’t even look Ontarian.”
“I have just as many questions as do you, but the answers await us on Ontariese.”
Trey turned from the sleeping station and followed Tal from the room. “How is Vee?”
“In stasis.”
Nodding in silent understanding, Trey asked, “So, little brother, without Vee, how do we get home?”
“Simple,” Tal said, and smiled. “I go pick a fight.”
* * *
Everything was ready. Tal had rehearsed what he would say a hundred times but still his heart pounded and his blood boiled. He had to calm down. Even Dro Tar’s best “poker face” wouldn’t fool Dez dar Joon.
Emotion can work to your advantage, Vee was fond of saying, but only if you control it.
“All coms are open, little brother.” Trey’s disembodied voice encouraged. “Just give the word.”
Tal stood in the middle of the lounge, every viewport open, dreading what he must do. Drawing Mystic energy into the center of his being, Tal sent out a com pulse. Nothing happened. Digging deeper, he strengthened the pulse and tried again.
Joon’s image gradually came into focus. His surroundings remained obscured. His turquoise eyes revealed his anxiety.
What do you want? Joon sneered. I wouldn’t bother responding to your call but I’m dumbfounded by your stupidity.
Tal emulated his brother’s nonchalance, suddenly thankful for a quality that had annoyed him for cycles. He leaned his hip against the edge of a table and crossed his arms over his chest. That sounds far more interesting than what I intended to say. Please explain my dumbfounding stupidity.
Was the fire an accident? Joon’s face rippled, his fury so acute it nearly caused him to shift.
Drawing strength from his enemy’s weakness, Tal smiled. The simple answer is no. The fire was intentional, but it was not what you think.
Joon’s turquoise eyes narrowed. And the detailed answer?
Charlotte Layton committed suicide.
Joon moved so suddenly his image blurred. Why would she do that? I don’t believe you.
Tal laughed. Time to change tactics. Coil the spring and let him go. I don’t care what you believe. You obviously didn’t know as much about your quarry as you thought you did.
I know more about Charlotte Layton than you will ever know, thanks to her suicide, Joon sneered. What drove her to it, seyati? Did you try to comfort her after I joined her in the bath?
Turning, Tal leaned against the edge of the table and stared out the viewport indifferently. Oh, I comforted her, all right. She allowed me a full-body joining and restored my energy levels. The problem was, she played me for a fool. While I slept away the night, she snuck out the window and returned to her cabin. Apparently, you heard about the fire.
Joon’s nostrils flared and his eyes spun. Why would she let you take her body? Why would she—
Don’t I always get them first, seyati? Tal mocked, sneering the title with obvious loathing.
She let you or you took her? Joon demanded.
I’ve never had to rape a woman, Dez. Tal let the insult sink in for a moment. This is all beside the point. All I wanted to say is, I have a sample of her DNA. Once the Symposium has analyzed it, I might be interested in exchanging what I learn for what you know.
The Symposium! They are required to remain neutral in all matters of politics, Joon shouted. They are required to share the Wisdom of the Ages freely. You cannot…
Joon’s image blinked out and Tal cried, “Now!”
Thunder violently shook the ship as Joon Summoned the Storm. Tal flew across the room, his body slamming into the wall. Pain forked down his arm and across his shoulders. He tuned it out.
Searching, frantically searching, he found the pattern of Joon’s energy. Six simultaneous lightning strikes showed him the way. He turned the ship as the interdimensional portal yawned. Trey engaged the thrusters, propelling the ship into the portal before Joon could guess their purpose.
Very clever, Aune!
Tal didn’t let Joon’s angry words distract him. He poured energy into the portal, maintaining its stability, keeping it intact. His muscles strained, his brain ached, but he had to continue. He had to find the strength. Unable to stand, he slid down along the wall, focusing entirely on the metaphysical exchange.
“There it is.” He heard Trey cry. “We’re almost out.”
Collapsing, Tal released his link with the portal and felt the world spin out of control. Colors swirled before his eyes. His body rolled across the floor. His head hit something especially hard and lights exploded within his vision then he saw nothing at all.
* * *
Charlotte awoke in darkness. A rush of adrenaline swallowed the comfortable silence of sleep. Her entire body came alive, humming with warnings and fear.
Something was wrong!
She held perfectly still, assessing her surroundings. Not a shape or shadow interrupted the velvety blackness spread before her eyes. Blinking repeatedly, she raised a hand before her face. She could discern no movement, nothing.
Don’t panic. Not yet. Slowly she sat up and felt for the edge of the bed. Her hand sank wrist-deep into the mattress. She gasped as the surface conformed to the shape of her hand and then gently provided resistance.
She moved her leg and the mattress immediately accommodated her new position. As she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, light flooded the room.
Too st
unned to move and not quite afraid enough to scream, Charlotte sat there, trying to accept the reality of her surroundings. She was on Trey Aune’s spaceship.
The room was small, the arrangement utilitarian. The adjust-o-bed protruded from one wall and the light source was recessed within the ceiling. Smooth, perhaps metallic, the walls gleamed with an iridescent cast that subtly changed color as she moved.
With one final poke at the changeable surface of the bed, she stood and took a tentative step. The floor, though iridescent like the walls, had a distinct texture.
“You wouldn’t want to go slipping and sliding as you zoom through outer space,” she muttered.
Her mind was muddled, a jumbled mixture of memories and imagination. But one fact remained inescapable. She’d been kidnapped. The Ontarians had burned her cabin to the ground and Tal had carried her into the portal, indifferent to her pleas.
She moved to one of two doors. The portal slid open silently as she approached, revealing a tiny bathroom. She turned to the other door but it didn’t move. There was no button or lever to activate it. The other one had opened automatically, probably triggered by some sort of motion sensor. She waved her arms and moved forward and back but nothing happened.
“Hello,” she called out. “Is anyone out there?”
The door slid open and Tal stood in the corridor, looking calm and—at home.
Charlotte stared at him, waiting for a surge of anger. This was the man who had destroyed her life. Why wasn’t she contemplating violence? She leaned forward and glanced down the hallway. All she could see was iridescent walls.
“May I enter?” Tal asked.
“May I exit?” she countered. “The door wouldn’t open for me.”
“Privacy panels are activated by voice command and your voice has yet to be imprinted. It would be best if we speak before you go wandering about the ship.”
She continued to stare at him.
“May I come in?” he asked again.
She stepped out of his way and his tall form absorbed the limited space. The door slid closed behind him. She suddenly realized the only place to sit was on the bed. She decided to stand. Tal moved to the bed and uttered an Ontarian phrase. The bed slid into the wall and two chairs slid out.
“Oh, an entire adjust-o-room,” she said as he sat.
“Flexibility is crucial on the smaller spacecraft. Dro Tar is programming English phrases into the computer so the ship will recognize your commands.”
Charlotte nodded but remained standing.
“Please sit,” Tal coaxed.
“You’re not going to be here that long.”
He stood. “I thought you would be interested in our present location, our destination and your options once we reach Ontariese, but apparently I was wrong.”
She glared at him but sat. “Once we reach Ontariese? Then returning to Earth isn’t an option?”
“Do you understand why we started the fire?” He reached for her. She leaned back so he returned to his seat.
“It’s not hard to figure out. You wanted everyone to think I was dead. Where did you get the body? Did you switch dental records, maybe even plant some DNA? I wasn’t asleep that long. How did you accomplish all of that in—”
“Dro Tar has been monitoring your entertainment broadcast programming so we knew what your society would require. My abilities made it possible to facilitate the arrangements in a short period of time.”
“You didn’t kill someone to—”
“No!” he objected, clearly appalled. “The woman was indigent and her life force had already left her body.”
“I still don’t care.” She crossed her legs, kicking him in the process. “You had no right to do this to me. I worked hard for my law degree. I had plans for my life. Everything and everyone I care about is back on Earth. I demand that you take me back.”
He leaned forward and his hair coiled, brushing across her calf. Retribution? She shivered.
“It’s not that simple. The interdimensional portal that brought us to Earth is extremely hard to control. Even if I attempted to return you, the chances of our arriving anywhere near the same period in time would be—”
She shot to her feet. “The portal allows you to travel through time?” Could he take her to before Victor and Stephen had died? Snippets of every time-travel movie she’d ever seen were suddenly flashing through her mind.
He stood as well. “Using the portal to visit the same geographic location is relatively simple. It is the position in time that presents a challenge.”
His hand cupped her cheek and she didn’t pull away. Somehow she knew what he would say.
“Temporal adjustments can only be made into the future. No one can change what has already been.”
“And if you’re dissatisfied with what has already been, it’s just too damn bad.” She shook her head, too drained to cry but too angry to let it go. “A drunk driver took my husband and son last New Year’s Eve. Is this how I get to start every New Year from now on?”
“Charlotte,” he started.
“Don’t! I’m not interested in anything you have to say right now.”
“Joon wouldn’t have stopped. He would have hunted you down until he found you. I couldn’t protect you on Earth. I couldn’t—”
“You did this for me?” She laughed, a harsh scathing sound. “You reduced my life to ashes and I’m supposed to thank you?”
“No, Charlotte, I don’t expect your thanks. But I want you to believe that there was no other way. What we did was done to protect you.” He paused for a long, frustrated breath before he went on. “Joon was in contact with you so I know he imprinted your energy pattern. I had to put you in stasis so your pattern became undetectable.”
“Can he detect me now? Will he continue to hunt me once we reach… Wait a minute. How long was I in stasis?”
“Twelve cycles of—days. And I’m shielding your pattern now so Joon still believes you’re dead.”
Leaning against the wall, Charlotte fiddled with her sleeve. “Why didn’t you just shield me from him before? Why all the subterfuge?”
“It’s a long story. Suffice it to say, Joon is back within his fortress. He has elaborate shields that prevent us from detecting his activities but they also limit his ability to detect ours. If he were not within Fortress Joon, I would have left you in stasis until we reached the Conservatory.”
Her anger fizzled, leaving her weak and restless. So much had happened so quickly, she just wanted to catch her breath.
“I’m truly sorry you were hurt by all of this. I wish there had been some other way.”
He took her hand and pressed something into her palm before he turned and left the room.
Confused by his earnest, almost pained tone, she opened her hand and examined the object. Disk-shaped and slightly larger than a quarter, the pendant was solid, yet translucent. A braided chain ran through the intricate eye at the top of the disk and a subtle etching decorated the outer edge.
Charlotte thought it was a sweet gesture until she held it up to loop the chain over her head. Light passed through the disk and her heart slammed against her ribs. Captured within the disk, in three-dimensional detail, was the exact image of Victor and Stephen in their identical suits. She could see the pride in Victor’s dark eyes and the mischief in Stephen’s expression.
Darting for the door, she remembered too late that she couldn’t open it. How had he known? How had… He’s a Master-level Mage, she thought for the hundredth time. When would she realize what that really meant?
Her hands shook as she put on the pendant, slipping it under her shirt. The disk came to rest over her heart and absorbed her body heat.
Just when she thought she had Tal figured out, he did something unexpected.
“Thank you,” she whispered, hoping he would sense her gratitude.
* * *
Dro Tar Nex arrived a short time later to give Charlotte an orientation of the ship.
“Nothing
is really too wacky,” the other woman said. “The bathroom works like you would expect a bathroom to work, but the mist that comes out of the showerhead is shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer and deodorant all in one. I can’t believe you guys have put up with so many separate personal hygiene products for so long.”
“You’re serious? The shower mist does it all?”
Dro Tar laughed. “No, darlin’, you’ll need a man for some things but the mist will get you ready for one.”
Charlotte scrunched up her face. “That’s not a problem. I’m not interested.”
“Sure you’re not,” Dro Tar said airily. “Now, how about makeup? Do you wear cosmetics?”
“When I’m going somewhere. If I’m just lazing around the house, I don’t see the point.” Charlotte had done an awful lot of homebound activities in the past year. In fact, she preferred avoiding crowds altogether.
“Well, you’re going to love this. Have a seat.”
Dro Tar pulled a case out of a compartment in the utility room wall and motioned toward the tiny table in Charlotte’s cabin with her chin.
“What’s in the case?” Dro Tar seemed nice enough but she was still an Ontarian.
“These cosmetics only have to be applied once every lunar cycle. There are parlors in Frontine where they have tints that last a full cycle, but these are pretty cool. Do you trust me?”
Charlotte looked at the assortment of applicators, powders and pastes and shook her head. “No way.”
“Look at me,” Dro Tar objected. “Do I look like a clown?” Dro Tar’s cosmetics were tastefully applied, Charlotte had to admit. “Besides, there’s a built-in safety period. If you hate it, scrub it off before it sets.”
Dro Tar went to work on Charlotte’s face, talking all the while. “So if we hadn’t rudely interrupted your life, what would you be doing?”
The casual question caught her off guard. She had been doing everything she could not to think about what she had left behind. “I’d been offered a job in a place called Seattle.”
“Home of rain and Starbucks?” Dro Tar supplied without taking her gently swirling hazel gaze off Charlotte’s face.
Taken by Storm V3 Page 10
