Halcyon Nights (Star Sojourner Book 2)

by Kilczer, Jean

  I stayed back. Lisa! Wake up, baby. Daddy's here.

  She didn't.

  Lisa! Wake up. Now! Daddy's here.

  ”Daddy?” she said aloud. “Are you here?”

  I picked it up through her thoughts. Quiet, baby. Talk with your mind.

  Willa's awake. She wants to know where you are.

  OK. Tell her I'm outside the door. Tell her to come out with you. Quietly!

  The door opened and Willa peeked out suspiciously. Her large hazel eyes were wide with fear in the light from the door lantern.

  “It's me, Jules,” I whispered. Bring Lisa out.” My heart pounded with the expectation of seeing my daughter again.

  “They know you're here,” Willa said shakily.

  “What? How?” I looked around quickly. “Where are they?”

  Lisa squeezed out from behind Willa. “Daddy!” She ran out and threw her arms around me.

  I scooped her up. “Baby.” I hugged her close. “Where are they, Willa?”

  She looked around. “I don't know.” She put a hand to her mouth and stared at the main building, looking like a frightened child herself.

  “It's OK, Willa,” I said. “C'mon. Climb up the wall and take Lisa. I'll follow.” There were tears in Willa's eyes.

  “We'll never make it,” she said. But she climbed easily from jutting stones with her slim, boyish body.

  I handed Lisa up to her and followed, then scanned the grounds from this vantage point.

  Empty.

  “Daddy, I – “

  “Stay quiet, Lis'!”

  We crawled along the wall.

  “How could they possibly know I was here? The manta was still parked where I'd left it. Perhaps there were no traps and Willa was just another scared kid. I eased Lisa down the outside of the wall and jumped after her. “Willa!” I helped her down and we ran to the manta.

  I opened the door and was about to slide Lisa inside when a voice came from the interior. “Going someplace, amigo?”

  I almost dropped Lisa. I hugged her against me as two warriors trotted out from the wall's open gate. Floodlights flashed on.

  “Put the kid down,” a warrior ordered.

  I did and she clung to my waist. I rubbed her back to comfort her.

  Willa sobbed. “I told you.”

  I put my other arm around her. “I'm sorry, Willa.”

  “It's not your fault.” She cried against my chest.

  The short compact man who emerged from the pilot's seat was dark, bearded, with rolled sleeves that showed his muscled, tattooed arms. A call unit was stuffed inside one sleeve, a pack of Puritans in the other. His eyes were intense and perceptive as he watched the warrior pat me down and take the knife.

  “Daddy! It's the dragon.”

  The czar. I thought so. “He's just a man, Lis'.”

  He lifted his brows. “Just a man? And is that your weapon, cabrón?” His accent was Spanish. “You were coming to free your daughter with a knife that makes decorations in zucchini slices?”

  I was in no mood to parry smartass remarks. “How did you know?”

  He leaned back against the manta with his arms folded, obviously savoring the moment. “As a telepath, you should have known that throwing your thoughts…” he flicked a glance at Lisa, “will show up on the right machine. Your daughter's bed was rigged with such a machine.”

  Neurons, spectrograms, frequencies. Earth creds. The trap door had been sprung so softly I'd never heard it close.

  I studied him. This was the man I was sent to Halcyon to kill. Now I was his prisoner.

  This is not good, Spirit sent.

  You think?

  A tall woman with long red hair, dressed in a robe trimmed with white fur, real fur, I imagined with a twinge of anger, swished through the open gate, walked up and stared at me. Her cheeks were chiseled. Her eyes slanted, or was that makeup? Her mouth was wide and ruby red as she smiled and tapped my cheek with an open palm.

  I drew away my gaze and picked up Lisa.

  “I'm so tired, Daddy,” Lisa murmured and rested her head on my shoulder.

  “I know, baby.” I stroked her hair back off her forehead and felt my throat tighten. “I know.” I kissed her cheek.

  “You should only kiss a child when she is asleep,” the czar told me.

  “Thanks for the fatherly advice.”

  The rebel forces are approaching, Terran, Spirit sent. Your escape was well planned by the doctor and Rache.

  They planned it? So they could follow me here? You might have mentioned that earlier, Spirit.

  I wanted you to lead them here.

  Perhaps they'll destroy the ravager and his compound for you. Then you won't need me and Lisa at all.

  “Move!” a warrior ordered and nudged my back with his rifle.

  I walked through the open gate still holding Lisa. She was asleep. Willa followed close behind. Beyond the net canopy a milky sky materialized.

  “What the hell is that?” the czar commented.

  I could have told him. Spirit had fogged the sky for the approaching RECOIL mantas. It would hide them, while they had clear shots with missiles that would shred the canopy and destroy whatever was under it. And Lisa and I… Once and for all, I knew I was on my own to save my child. “Do you have a bomb shelter?” I asked the czar.

  He squinted at the opaque canopy. “Do we need one?”

  ”Yes.”

  The whine of approaching mantas came from the direction of Laurel.

  “Diablo!” he said to me. “You brought them here to my home.”

  Su casa e their casa, I thought but didn't say. I didn't want to get hit. ”Would I bring them with my daughter here? They followed me.”

  Lisa squirmed and I loosened my grip.

  “Tell my warriors to roll back the canopy!” the czar shouted to his guards, “and to man their stations. And shut off those goddamn floodlights!”

  The guards turned and were trotting toward a small brick building. I held my breath. The czar was unarmed!

  “Wait!” he yelled. “Your rifle,” he told one warrior.

  Goddamn…

  The warrior trotted back and extended his rifle. The czar yanked it from his hands. “Imbécil!”

  The floodlights snapped off. The red-haired woman ran to the main building. I assumed that's where the bomb shelter was located.

  “What about my daughter and Willa?” I asked the czar.

  He studied the sky as the whine of mantas grew. “We stay here.”

  “Let me take her to the shelter,” Willa begged the czar. “I'll come back and stand with you if you want me to.”

  “Now there's a woman,” the czar said. “While the puta thinks only of herself.” He glanced at the building the red-haired woman had run into. “Whore.” he spat on the ground.

  “Let Willa and my daughter go to the bomb shelter!” I urged. “When they're safe, I'll do whatever you want me to.”

  “You'll do it better,” he answered, “with your child right here.”

  “I'm sorry, Jules,” Willa said. “I tried.”

  I nodded. My throat was too choked to talk. The lead manta shined a beam that encircled the four of us like a theatre spotlight. I saw a white flag fluttering from the manta's underside. They didn't come all this way to surrender. Rache wanted to negotiate.

  The czar unsleeved his call unit and flicked it on. Mis hombres,” he told his men, “hold your fire. They are under a white flag. Maybe we can deal with this pack of scuks.”

  A sense of relief washed over me. I lowered my head to touch Lisa's cheek and pressed her against me.

  “You want me to hold her?” Willa asked.

  “OK.”

  Lisa squirmed and kicked as I handed her over to Willa. I felt heat in my nose.

  Cut it out, Lis'!”

  She giggled and my nose cooled.

  “She ain't heavy.” Willa smiled sadly.

  The lead manta landed on the grounds in a cloud of dust while the rest of
the aircraft circled above. I saw Rache in the passenger's seat as the manta taxied closer to us. He still wore his scarf, his dark glasses, and his officer's hat. The rest of his face was stark shadows and starker features in the manta's harsh interior light.

  The engine wound down. The craft cruised to a stop. The door swung open and two armed guards jumped out and took up positions on either side of the steps. A big man, bald and square-jawed, broad and intimating in stature, though unarmed, went down the steps and strode up to us. He towered over the czar. But if the czar was intimidated, he didn't show it.

  “That's Commander Rache of RECOIL,” the guard told the czar in a gruff voice.

  “I know who he is,” the czar answered. “Now tell me what he wants.”

  “He wants to make you an offer,” the big guard said.

  “Why doesn't he come here himself and we'll talk.”

  “We can talk.”

  It was a physiological slap to send an underling, as though the czar wasn't all that important.

  He stared up at the guard and remained silent.

  “My commander,” the guard said, “is willing to offer you a free ticket to Earth. You have one week to clear the compound. Then it will be destroyed. On your end,” he jabbed a beefy finger at the czar, “he wants your word, on your mother's grave, that you will not attempt to return to Halcyon.”

  The czar crossed his arms. “Now you can give him my offer. I remain on Halcyon for one more year, undisturbed by your commander or RECOIL. After that, I will leave and never return to this dirt ball again.” He raised his brows. “On my mother's grave. Tell your commander that if my offer is not agreed upon, I will make shreds of your white flag and blow your mantas out of the sky.”

  The guard stared him in the eyes, grunted, and strode back to Rache's craft.

  The czar's offer is not acceptable! Spirit sent. In one year he will destroy most of my being with his damnable mines. Then he will bring in more mercenaries to destroy RECOIL and run Interstel himself. He is not to be trusted. Have you been scanning his mind?

  Uh, no. He intends to run Interstel itself? I sent. Was I dealing with a narcissistic personality? I glanced at the czar. A man whose delusions of grandeur were all out of proportion to reality? Or was Interstel even more corrupt than I'd heard? How can I stop him? I sent and watched the guard talk to Rache and gesture toward the czar.

  Lisa squirmed and whined in her sleep. She must have been receiving from Spirit and me.

  Use your tel power, Spirit sent. What are you waiting for? Convince the czar to return to Earth in this time cycle. Not the next one!

  My mind suggestions don't last long enough to accomplish that.

  Then you must execute him.

  I glanced around at the compound. Any suggestions?

  Only to take advantage of each opportunity as it arises.

  I'll keep that in mind.

  You are arrogant, Terran!

  I know. It's the arrogance of slavery. But to keep my master happy, I'll give it a try.

  I stared at Rache's manta as though I were interested in what was being said there, and imaged the hot coil of a powerful tel command spinning inside my head. I willed it to grow, pictured a tornado rising from the center of my chest, imbued it with an imperative, and mentally flung it at the czar. Leave Halcyon! Go back to Earth. You are a powerful man. People on Earth will glorify and honor you as you deserve. Earth women will throw themselves into your bed. I watched him sway. His lips parted. That last one should get him where he lives.

  Lisa lifted her head off Willa's shoulder. “Daddy? Are you talking to me?”

  ”Uh, no, Lis'. You dreamed it. Go back to sleep.”

  “But you said go back to Earth. You said that people will gorify you. What's gorify, Daddy? Are we going back to Earth now?”

  “Cabrón!” The czar's mouth twisted with rage as he swung at me with his rifle. I stepped out of the way and charged him while he was off balance.

  “Take Lisa to the manta!” I yelled to Willa and knocked the rifle spinning from the czar's hands.

  “No,” I shouted to her when she headed for Rache's manta. “The ambulance!” I wanted us to escape from both their houses!

  The czar turned and hit me faster than I thought he could move. I staggered as pain flashed through my head, but I maintained my balance.

  He went for the rifle. I threw myself on top of it and kicked his legs out from under him. He fell. I tried to raise the rifle with all intentions of burning a hole in him. He leaped on me and we fought for the weapon. We were too close for Rache's soldiers to fire, and I decided to bet my life that his warriors had orders not to kill me.

  Willa put Lisa down and they ran outside the gate, where the czar's men couldn't target Willa. I doubted they would've anyway while she was so close to Lisa. They wanted us both alive.

  I tore the rifle from the czar's grip and got to my feet. He grabbed it and rammed it against my stomach hard. I fell backward, still gripping the weapon.

  He got to his feet and ran for the small building. One of Rache's guards fired but missed as he rolled behind an abutment.

  I headed for the gate and felt a hot beam warm my right boot. Close! They might not have wanted me dead but a telepath without a foot was still useful.

  The RECOIL mantas swung low and scattered the czar's troops with laser flashes as I threw myself through the gate. I climbed into the ambulance's pilot's seat. Lisa and Willa were beside me. I turned on the engine and careened through blackroot to keep low for the protection of the wall. Dead telepaths were better than escaped telepaths working for RECOIL.

  But this was one of two ambulance mantas and with the battle raging behind us, RECOIL would need both ambulances.

  “Where can I drop off you and Lisa where you'll be safe, Willa? I want to bring back the manta.”

  “Can't you just program it to go on back by remote?” Her voice was full of concern.

  I shook my head. “Remotes aren't that accurate. It could land anywhere inside the compound. I might be giving the czar another manta.”

  Once we were out of range of the compound's missiles, I lifted the craft into the sky. It was quiet up there, with Halcyon's three moons lighting the trees and a meandering silver stream below.

  “How you doing, Lis'?” I rubbed her shoulder.

  She just nodded, unsmiling. I glanced at Willa and shook my head. “I guess that means OK, Squiggles?”

  She didn't answer.

  “Well, where to, lady?” I asked Willa. “The ride is free and you know the routes better than I do.”

  “How about my ranch? I'll bet my horses haven't been fed or watered since I was caught. An' those scuks wouldn't look for us there. They'd figure on Laurel.”

  Lisa was falling asleep again. The poor kid was exhausted. A quiet ranch, with horses, and Willa's gentle hand to care for her might be just the therapy my daughter needed.

  “The ranch it is, lady.” I turned the manta in that direction. Being with my daughter and Willa made me feel as though I had a family. It was a good feeling, I realized. I smiled at Willa. She smiled back. I felt drawn to her, and not just sexually. There was a gentle expression in her large eyes, so like a young doe's, a softness in her features, and an honesty in her tone and manner. Under different circumstances, I would have pursued her until she caught me. If she wanted to.

  But I had obligations and miles to go. Anyway, I had to tell Rache about the czar's plans to strip the rest of the mines and take over Interstel. And that little thing about controlling the minds of powerful people with crystals. Maybe the czar wasn't narcissistic after all. Maybe he really could bring it off.

  I am withholding my actions, Spirit sent. For now.

  What? What actions? I was afraid of the answer.

  I will not allow the ravager to continue weakening my being and that of my people. I did not invite your race of humans to my world.

  I'm doing the best I know how, Spirit, and you'd be killing a lot of innocent pe
ople!

  They are killing us!

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was easy to find the compound on my return trip. There was only one blazing fire in the wilderness that was crowning from tree to tree, unlike natural brush fires that burn off old undergrowth and open seed pods. Welcome to the home of the ravagers, I thought.

  Mantas flew above the fire like black moths. What could I do to help RECOIL? The ambulance was unarmed. The large red crosses would make good targets for the czar's warriors. I took a chance and circled above the battle to let them know an ambulance had arrived. Below me flashes of hot light snapped out in the darkness as RECOIL and czar warriors fired from hiding places. I heard shouted orders, then a cry of pain. Smoke drifted from crumbled walls and flaming avacodo trees. I coughed and rolled up the window. I guess neither side was interested in the other's offer.

  Dammit! I watched a RECOIL soldier stagger out into the open. He was probably in shock and didn't realize where he was going. I took a breath and landed the craft near him in the wide courtyard, and sprang the door.

  “Over here, tag!” I shouted.

  He stumbled toward the ambulance, holding his chest, as I opened the automatic door. He was a young man with long, dark hair that stuck out from under his helmet, and a bony face, contorted now in pain.

  “C'mon!” I called from the pilot's seat as I engaged the vertical thrusters and idled them for takeoff. “You can make it.”

  His knees buckled and he rolled to the ground, still clutching his chest. “Help me,” he gasped and reached an arm toward the ambulance.

  I jumped out of the seat and ran to the door, but a continuous laser beam from a flashrod sliced the man at the waist. I will never forget his scream or the way his smoking torso rolled in different directions.

  I retreated back into the ambulance, my hands at my throat. I've got to get out of here, I thought numbly and fell into the pilot's seat. This is insane! I stared at the control panel and suddenly it didn't make sense. Just a bunch of dials and flashing lights. Think, Jules. Think!