thefiremargins

by Lisanne Norman

  He nodded, unable to speak. Her touch had been the final trigger that released all the memories that had been hidden— by himself scant minutes before. Reaching up, he touched her cheek.

  "I remembered your tears," he said softly. "The echo of them, the memory of you— even though I didn't know who you were— kept me going during those dark days after I arrived at Vartra's Retreat."

  "We'll get home safe," she said, touching his fingertips to her lips. Then she was gone.

  He did as she told him, trying to ignore the sound of the debris falling around them. The crystal warmed to his touch as his mental contact with it strengthened. Against his chest, he felt an echoing pulse from the one he still wore.

  Instead of the rose tint, it began to flush red, brightening and darkening till it glowed the color of new-spilled blood. Overhead he could hear the squeal of tortured metal. He risked a glance upward in time to see the roof begin to crumble as giant blocks of masonry and metal beams crashed to the ground just meters from them. Fear leaped into his mind to be instantly caught and stilled by Carrie. He looked at her, a tiny figure standing between the flame red pillars, their reflected light washing over her like blood. Before her, the vortex was building again, and he could feel the energy she was drawing through him and Kusac from the ground beneath their feet— the ground that still heaved and bucked.

  Now! she sent, calling them to her side. Kaid was there, holding her right hand as the air gusted toward them from between the pillars, blowing her hair backward, plastering her robe against her body. His right hand gripped Kezule by the scruff, the body of the unconscious general lay slumped against his leg.

  At her other side, Kusac grasped her firmly by the hand, his other holding on to Kezule. His last coherent thought was fear for their unborn cub. He suddenly knew the medic at Stronghold had been right. He felt her triggering their gestalt in one mighty outpouring of energy directed at the gateway. Above them, the sky was ablaze as glowing cinders from the meteor's tail rained down through the vanished temple roof. Flames flared upward as fuel lines underground fractured and caught light from the blaze already engulfing the far end of the temple. The crystal pillars cracked then shattered, unable to bear the weight of the beams. The power of the vortex began to falter as its heart took on a dark, ominous glow. Shot through with purple, roiling streamers of energy flicked toward them as it began to shrink and pulse.

  The gateway! It's collapsing! sent Kusac, fear making him tighten his grip on her hand.

  As the shards exploded outward in every direction, the gases within the temple ignited. The noise of the eruption was heard throughout the city. For a moment the Temple of Varza seemed to rise in the air before its walls were blown asunder.

  * * *

  The castle loomed in front of them, a darker shape against the blackness of the night sky. There was no moon tonight, a fact for which Kris had been extremely grateful. Jo crouched beside him, comfortable at last in her grey trousers; she hated wearing skirts. Concealed behind the low clumps of undergrowth, they waited silently for Davies to return. Around them the snow had been churned to almost nothing with the constant traffic of people and carts in and out of the castle. At least they didn't show up against the muddy background, Jo thought.

  A small stirring of air, the faint outline of a moving shape, and he was back beside them.

  "All clear," he whispered. "It's just as it's shown on the map and I couldn't see any guards."

  Kris nodded, and crouching low, he and Jo followed Davies round to the side of the building.

  They stopped in the lee of another clump of bushes, crouching low while Jo pulled the rope out of Kris' backpack.

  The castle was built on similar lines to those of Earth. A series of buildings either backing onto the inside of the outer walls, or free standing within them, provided housing and protection for the Lord's family and retainers. The barracks for his small army of guardsmen was there as well. Lord Killian's castle was unusual in that it had an extended rectangular building on one side. Built outward from the curved walls, this was the main keep, or dwelling for Lord Killian. With its thick outer walls and the protected castellated sentry walk, it formed part of the outer defenses. This was where they planned to go over.

  "Here," whispered Jo, handing him the coiled rope. Kris took the grapple from the clip on his belt and quickly tied on the rope.

  In his gray clothing, they could hardly see him as, keeping low, he ran toward the wall. Stopping a few meters away from it, he sized up the distance and readied his grapple. It arced up into the night, then began to curve down toward the top of the wall. Jo held her breath. If it missed, it could clatter off the wall on its way down, alerting the guard. It caught first throw!

  Jo let her breath out in a rush. First stage out of the way. She watched as Kris shinned up the rope, pausing to check the sentry walk. They'd spent a couple of nights just watching the castle, getting to know the sentries' rounds and their shift changes. Their entry had been carefully timed to coincide with the changing of the guard when this area was unguarded for at least ten minutes.

  Kris stuck his head through the crenellations and waved for them to follow. Doubled over, Jo ran toward the dangling rope, Davies close behind her. He took hold of the end, giving her a boost up.

  The rope was knotted but even so, climbing up wasn't easy. By the time she reached the top and grasped Kris' outstretched hand, she felt as if she couldn't have climbed another foot if her life had depended on it.

  Davies swarmed up like a monkey, pulling the rope up behind him. He recoiled it and when Kris turned round, put it back in his pack, handing him the grapple.

  Clipping it back on his belt, Kris crept along the walkway, keeping in the dark shadows close to the wall. Ahead of them were the rough wooden steps that led down to the castle courtyard.

  The sound of harsh voices calling out orders drifted up to them from below. Kris signed for them to stop, and flattening themselves to the walls, they waited, barely daring to breath, until they heard the sound of marching fade.

  Kris signaled them on again, letting Jo know mentally that it was only the interior guard changing shift.

  Are you sure the area we want won't be guarded? she asked.

  Shouldn't be, he replied, filing away for later the fact that she was getting better at communicating mentally.

  They crept toward the stairs, checking that the courtyard was indeed deserted. Like shadows they made their way down the steps, doubling round immediately to hide underneath them.

  "Where now?" whispered Davies.

  "Across the front of this building and round to the other side of it," said Kris, mentally checking through the remembered details on the map. "There's a small side entrance, one that leads to the stillroom. Lady Killian uses it when she's been out collecting her herbs. We'll go round the front of the building one at a time. Go straight to the section next to the outer wall and wait for me. You first, Davies."

  Davies nodded, and in single file, they crept out from under the steps to the corner of the building.

  "Wasn't there an easier way in? One that didn't go past the front door?" muttered Davies, carefully peering round the corner.

  "No. Now go as soon as you can! We've only a few minutes left," said Kris.

  Davies hesitated, then left at a run, keeping low until he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

  "You now, Jo."

  She nodded and carefully moved out, keeping close to the wall. She wasn't going to run like Davies, she preferred to slowly edge her way round, only dashing past the doorway when she had to. Slowly she inched her way along, freezing to the spot when she heard loud voices approaching. Crouching down, she curled into as small a shape as possible, pressing herself so hard against the wall that she was sure she'd fall through it. There was a gust of warm air, then the area in front of the door was flooded with light as someone stepped out. Calling back over his shoulder to the person still within, he walked straight past her. The d
oor shut again with a loud, hollow bang.

  She waited, listening to the retreating footsteps as he walked across the courtyard to the barracks. Another door opened, then shut, and silence returned. Cautiously she lifted her head up and peered around. It was clear again. Getting carefully to her feet, this time she ran like the devil himself was on her heels and arrived round the corner, almost knocking Davies flying as she crashed into him.

  Staggering, he caught hold of her arm, bringing her to a stop and preventing her falling over. "Got you!" he whispered. "Though he'd see you for sure!"

  "Me too," she whispered, trying to catch her breath as she pulled away from him.

  Kris arrived, slewing to a stop in the slushy snow. "Where's the door?" he demanded. "Have you checked it?"

  "Waiting for you," said Davies, turning and walking round the last corner to the small wooden door. He took hold of the round metal handle, giving it an experimental twist. They could hear the grating of the latch moving up on the other side.

  "It's open," he said, surprised.

  "Why lock it in a castle this well protected," said Jo with a faint smile. "Besides, locks will be expensive in this tech level society. They'll be used for important things."

  "Like strange gray boxes," muttered Kris. "Let's get moving, people. We not only have to get in, we've got to try and get out."

  Davies pulled the door open a crack, checking to see that the corridor was empty. "Hey, you check it out, Kris," he said quietly. "Carrie used her telepathy for that when we worked together on Keiss."

  "Got a point," he murmured, sending a quick mental probe out to check the way ahead. "Clear, as you said. I don't like relying on it, though, it's too easy to depend on your mind and forget your other skills."

  Privately, Jo agreed. Relying on hunches was one thing, but a fear of self-delusion was one of her constant worries. Briefly she envied Carrie with her certainty that what she sensed with her mind was true and accurate.

  Closing the door behind them, they crept along the passageway. It was dimly lit by the spillover of light from the main corridor ahead of them. All was quiet. The normal number of lit torches in the wall sconces had been halved. With the Lord's family and retainers asleep for the night, there was no need for costly illumination. This was to their advantage.

  A short way along the main corridor was a junction to their right. The room at the bottom of this passage was where the box was kept, according to Railin's information.

  "Last leg," whispered Kris. Once they were in the room with the box, they'd be safe for a while at least. "Davies, you go first."

  As they made their way carefully down this last passageway, Kris drew their attention to fresh score marks in the walls.

  "Whatever it is, it's solid enough to gouge marks in stone," he whispered.

  "This door will be locked, Davies," said Jo quietly as they came to a stop outside it. "I'd take money on it."

  "No deal," said Davies, bending to examine the handle. "There's a keyhole right here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small roll of waxed cloth. In it were his collection of lock-picking tools.

  "Hold that," he said, handing the open roll to Jo. Turning back to the door, he carefully inserted his piece of wire into the lock.

  As Davies gently twiddled it, Jo began to fret.

  "You'll only make him nervous," said Kris quietly, bending toward her so his mouth was close beside her ear. "Then he'll get clumsy."

  She grunted in reply, shuffling her feet in an effort to keep warm.

  The click, when it came, sounded far too loud for safety.

  "We're in," said Davies, grinning up at them as he pushed the door open.

  Jo closed the door behind them, looking in awe at the alien object that Kris' torch illuminated.

  "What is it?" she asked of no one in particular.

  Kris began to walk round it, reaching out gingerly to touch the surface that seemed to defy light itself.

  "It's solid," he said, coming back round to his starting point. He blinked, trying to focus on it. His eyes seemed to want to look away, to slide off the surface. The faint light from his torch flickered across it, only to be bounced off the wall alongside them. "It's also very much here, it just doesn't look like it!"

  "Davies?"

  "Beats me," he said, running his hands over the surface in front of him. He bent down to look at the lower edge. "This is way beyond our tech level, Jo, and the Sholans, too, I'm betting. Aha! What have I here?"

  "Well?" she demanded.

  "The base has controls set into it. Let's see what it's like on the other sides."

  He crawled round the cube, prodding and poking at the base unit, but leaving the control depressions alone.

  "Well, it's Valtegan, going by the look of the recessed controls. They match others we've seen on Keiss and in the crashed ship," he said, looking up at Jo and Kris. "I'm not sure what the controls do, though. That's going to be a matter of trial and error, I'm afraid."

  "Just don't touch anything without my say-so," Jo said quickly. "We don't want to go setting off any alarms that could be built into it."

  "Hey, folks, I've no more wish to get caught than you," he said, lifting his hands up to show his good intentions.

  "Kris, try a mental probe. See if you can find anything."

  Kris nodded. "Stand clear, Davies," he said as he handed the torch to Jo. Putting both hands on the surface, he began to concentrate, trying to find the natural resonance of the object.

  "Jo, give me a boost," he said quietly. "This one's a toughie. It's taking more energy than I thought."

  "What do I do?" she asked.

  "Just hold my hand and relax," he said, taking one hand off the cube.

  Though she felt rather foolish, she did as he asked. She couldn't feel anything happening.

  "Hush. Stop thinking so loudly," Kris murmured, squeezing her hand gently. "There's something inside it," he said. "Organic, but no life signs— no mental activity. And things," he said.

  "Things," said Davies. "Very descriptive. What kind of things?"

  "Various. This is still an inexact science, Davies. We're writing the rules as we go along. Ah. Interesting. Electrical activity."

  "Electrical?" queried Jo.

  "A device. Hold on. With a little more energy from you, I might just be able to ..."

  Jo felt a sudden surge followed by an overpowering sense of exhaustion, then Kris' hand fell open and he slumped against her. Stumbling backward, she fell against the wall, Kris landing at her feet. She recovered her balance and bent down to help him up. Dazed and blinking, he stood there rubbing his eyes.

  "Hey, you've activated it!" said Davies. "Look!"

  As they watched, the lights along the base unit flared into life, beginning to hum gently. Gradually, the sides of the cube began to waver, becoming more transparent until they could see through them.

  "God! There're people inside! Sholans!" said Jo.

  Kris watched fascinated as the sides began to recede until they could plainly see the two Sholans standing frozen within. The taller figure stirred, gasping for air as his arms clutched protectively round the female held with them. He staggered, about to fall. Kris leaped forward, grasping hold of him, calling out to Jo.

  "Jo! Catch the female! She's not breathing!"

  Jo ran to his side, reaching up to take hold of the female Sholan as Kris pulled the male's arms free of her. She collapsed limply against her, her weight pulling them both down to the ground. Kneeling beside her, Jo put her cheek to the female's face, praying for a breath from her, but there was none.

  Kris was having problems with the male who was still struggling to catch his breath and was beginning to suffocate.

  Jo glanced over at him, realization dawning. "They're Leskas, Kris! Start resuscitating!"

  She spilled her Sholan onto the ground, quickly stretching her limbs out and tipping her head back. Sealing her nose and opening her mouth, Jo began to force her own breath into the female's
lungs.

  It was hard work, but at last she began to cough. Raising her arms, feebly she tried to bat the Human away.

  As Jo sat back exhausted, she looked over at Kris and the male. He'd recovered and was attempting to sit up.

  Leaning over the female, she pushed the blonde braids back from her forehead. "It's all right," she said in Sholan. "You're safe. Your Leska's fine. He's right beside you."

  Her eyes flew open, taking in the alien face and the Sholan words as she tried to sit up. Jo helped her, an uneasy feeling of deja vu gripping her as she looked into the amber eyes.