She shrugged and looked reluctant to try. “Why?”
“I was barely conscious when you did it, and I’m curious.” He’d tried to keep his voice casual, but she knew him so well.
She narrowed her eyes, her expression thoughtful. “Why are you curious?”
“Your shield saved my life.”
“So now we’re even. I haven’t forgotten how you pushed me out of the way of the Kraj blast in the shuttle bay. But I still think you owe me a truthful answer about your psi shield.”
“I am curious.” He turned onto his side, bent his elbow, and propped his chin on his palm. “While I appreciate Frie’s efforts on my behalf, I’d like to try and replicate the shield so I can protect myself. Since I can’t make a shield like that,” Kirek admitted, “and I don’t know anyone else who can, I thought …”
Her eyes widened, as if she hadn’t realized that she’d done something extraordinary. “What are you saying?”
“I have a theory I’d like to test. If you would build the shield for me, I could give you better answers.”
“Fine.” She closed her eyes and appeared to focus inward. The silver shield again popped into place around them, shimmering and crackling.
Wow. She’d created the shield with apparently much ease and little effort.
During his time in the coma, Kirek’s psi had healed along with his damaged nerves. Perhaps the nerves had helped generate his psi, no one really knew for sure. But he’d recovered enough of his own powers to examine her shield. It was pure energy. Dazzling.
Tight, controlled, and yet immeasurably powerful, Angel was generating a psi field he’d never seen before. Woven, spinning, it appeared to reflect back anything that touched it—air, light, dust, or psi thought.
“How long can you maintain it?” he asked, trying and failing to erect such a shield. But he’d suspected as much. He couldn’t teach someone to see or hear or to slow time in a crisis or calculate complex equations in their heads, either. It was simply a skill he had due to a fluke in his DNA. Sure, he’d learned to use the skill, but he couldn’t teach someone to mimic his abilities since they didn’t possess the proper genetic makeup.
“Most of the effort is in building the shield,” she answered, awe in her own voice at what she’d done. Angel snapped it off and stared at him. “All right. You had a chance to examine it. Can you do it?”
“No. Whatever you are doing, I can’t replicate it.”
“So … what … does that mean?”
“It means that your psi is much more powerful than you … or I thought.” Kirek debated how much to tell her and decided to come clean. She deserved to know. “During my last mission, I met two Perceptive Ones, members of the ancient race who built the machines that make our suits and who created the Sentinels.”
“I thought they’d vanished eons ago?”
“The Perceptive Ones left their bodies behind eons ago. They are beings of pure energy and thought.”
“Are they immortal?”
“I don’t know. But they hinted they are trying to help us evolve.”
“Evolve?”
“It’s generally thought throughout the Federation that because I was born in hyperspace, my psi is more powerful than other beings. But the truth is that I had a powerful psi before I was born.”
She didn’t look surprised by his revelation. “When you told me about the Endekian invasion and when your parents had to leave Rystan, you sounded as if you remembered it yourself. But you were only a baby.”
“I was born with almost adult mental awareness and maturity. Even when I was in the womb, during a healing circle—which is when a group of Rystani merge their psi—I could speak with my mind and had vast psi power.”
She honed in on the important point. “So if being born in hyperspace can’t account for your psi, then what made your psi so strong?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps it was simple genetics. But I now believe the Perceptive Ones helped alter my chromosomes on an electromagnetic level. It simply cannot be a coincidence that I’ve just happened to meet you, the one other woman in the galaxy with a psi as unusual as mine.”
She snorted. “Maybe other women can also make a shield. But even if what you say is true about my psi, I’d think the Perceptive Ones would have better things to do than pick me and you as partners. It’s likely lots of people have a strong psi but don’t use it. I mean I’ve gone an entire lifetime without suspecting I was any different from others.”
“What about the way you sense trouble? How you always happen to be in the right place? Right before the Kraj swooped out of the ceiling, you rolled into the best position in the shuttle bay to take them out.”
“So I have good instincts.”
“What you have are extraordinary psi powers.”
She grimaced. “You make me sound like a holovid superhero.”
“Your psi has probably kept you alive and allowed you to leave Earth behind. Perhaps your luck at cards isn’t luck at all.”
“Do you know how outrageous you sound?”
“My theory isn’t so far-fetched.” He searched her face and could see that what he’d told her about her psi hadn’t sunk in yet, not on an intellectual or emotional level. “The Perceptive Ones need us to keep the Zin out, so they are helping us evolve so we’ll be strong enough.”
She gave him one of those do-you-really-think-I’m-going- to-believe-you-looks. “The Perceptive Ones told you they are making us evolve?”
“They mostly told Xander and Alara, and I heard enough directly from the Perceptive Ones to guess the rest. The moment I saw you, I felt as if you were my destiny.”
She threw up both hands into the air, clearly aggravated with him. “You’re scaring me. Ranth, is his brain healing okay?” Angel quipped, but her eyes looked uneasy as the implications of what he’d been telling her began to sink in.
“Kirek’s brain is functioning at his usual efficiency,” Ranth replied.
Kirek could only hope she’d embrace her newfound abilities—not run from them.
Being different wasn’t always easy. Being very different set one apart. Those who didn’t know Kirek well tended to treat him as an oddity. If he hadn’t come from such a loving family, he could have easily resented how his psi caused others to be wary of him. Friendships and trust took a long time to build. For Angel, who didn’t have loving parents or a stable childhood, it might be hard for her to accept what she was and how much potential she had because of her psi.
He suspected she wasn’t using but ten percent of her capacity. When she fully explored her psi, she might be more powerful than him. He only hoped she would appreciate the gift.
Kirek spoke openly, telling her much of what she must have already realized on her own. “With my psi burned, I didn’t trust my judgment, but I never changed my initial impression. It’s almost as if I’m compelled to want you. I can’t imagine ever being with anyone else. Ever.”
He knew his words would frighten her. She stiffened, refused to look at him. “Are you saying you have no choice? Because I do. I’m not going to make babies with you because you think some ancient race wants us to combine our DNA. Forget it.”
“Hey. I didn’t say they want us to make babies.” Kirek hesitated. “Maybe they saw to it that we have what we need to defeat the Zin. Or maybe they saw to it that we would meet and hoped we’d work together. Or maybe our meeting is a cosmic coincidence. Maybe everyone has our psi potential—”
“You don’t believe that.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not right.”
She rolled her eyes. “Very likely it’s the first time you’ve ever been wrong.”
He shrugged. But he sensed the fine hand of the Perceptive Ones. They’d been a presence in his life for a long time. He’d ridden on one of the galaxy-guarding Sentinels they’d built. He’d had the Perceptive Ones urging him on when he’d blown up the Zin wormholes and rid the Federation of a deadly virus. He was accustomed to them messing with hi
s life.
Angel wasn’t. Clearly she didn’t like the idea of possibly being created and used by an ancient alien race. Once again Kirek tried to give her time to adapt and adjust to what he’d just revealed.
He turned his attention to the psi device and tried to reconfigure the power to enhance energy. All the while, he told himself that he had to have faith in Angel to accept what she was—what she could become. He fervently hoped that future included him.
ANGEL HAD SO much to think about, when the Raven jumped out of hyperspace, she was still learning her new systems and mulling over all Kirek had told her. While she now admitted that she cared a great deal for the Rystani warrior, she wasn’t accepting his we-are-fated-to-be-together story.
After Kirek had healed she’d made it clear she’d welcome him back into her quarters. Almost losing him had made her realize how strong a bond they had, and although she was still upset every time she thought about what he’d done to her ship, she’d forgiven him. Besides, she missed making love. But he’d been working almost ‘round the clock on his psi device with Ranth and Frie, trying to finish before they arrived at the portal. When he staggered bleary-eyed to his quarters, she feared he’d suffer a relapse if she interrupted his sleep.
So she was on the bridge with Petroy when they exited hyperspace into the K-5 Solar System. She peered at the small orange sun and the five planets, which all had moons. “Any sign of the Kraj?”
“None, Captain.” Petroy checked his sensors. “The northernmost continent of Jurl, the second planet, is our target. Should I set a course?”
“Proceed. Inform Kirek of our estimated time of arrival in orbit. We’ll take the shuttle down to explore before attempting to bring the Raven through the portal.” She turned from Petroy to her own vidscreen. Jurl was comprised of mostly salty oceans. There were only two continents, and the southern one was swampy and appeared to flood in the lowlying areas. Extreme weather systems, hurricanes, swirled around the southern continent, but the north seemed oddly stable. “Ranth, scan both continents and the oceans for life.”
“There are no life forms with advanced intelligence.”
“Anything dangerous?”
“Not unless you eat one of the poisonous plants.”
“Any sign of the portal?” she asked.
“There are ancient ruins and an interesting irregularity near the northern pole.”
“What kind of irregularity?”
“I’m uncertain. There appears to be a large fissure between two marbalite mountains. The fissure sucks in dust particles, air, and light. Even at extreme magnification I can’t see much.”
Had they found the portal? “Is anything coming out of the fissure?”
“Not at this time.”
“There’s only the one anomaly?”
“That’s correct.”
Kirek joined them on the bridge, greeted her and Petroy with a nod, and flicked on the science vidscreen. “Ranth, does the anomaly contain technology that works on the same principles as the Perceptive Ones’ technology?”
“Clarify, please.”
Kirek responded with a mathematical equation that she suspected had something to do with the space-time continuum and wormhole theory. Since she didn’t understand theoretical physics, she stopped listening and focused on Jurl. The world looked old. Barren.
She wondered if the Perceptive Ones had once thrived on the planet or had simply used it as an outpost. If the anomaly was the portal and if it still worked, she worried over who had originally constructed it and why. Had wars been fought over the portal? Was it a technology that had altered the course of civilizations and the entire future of the Perceptive Ones? Or had it been abandoned and considered useless?
And if they entered the portal, was their trip a one-way voyage to Andromeda? Because nothing was coming out.
When they landed on Jurl, would they find and comprehend the instructions or the controls that they needed to steer them to Andromeda? Because otherwise they could end up anywhere. Like in a black hole. Or a parallel universe.
The unknown should have been frightening. Instead, excitement and adrenaline had her eager. She couldn’t wait to go through to see where they ended up.
She caught Kirek’s gaze, and he didn’t smile as she expected. “What’s wrong?”
“We couldn’t power the psi device with enough energy for it to be reliable.”
“You don’t need it until we go through the portal, right? The Raven’s new shields will prevent the Zin from detecting your psi. So you have more time to …” That’s when it hit her. “Damn you. You intended to go through the portal alone. Without the Raven.”
“Just to check things out. To make sure it was safe and that we could return.”
She swore and drilled him with a fierce stare. “Did you ever consider that I’d want to go?”
“Did you ever consider that it’s dangerous and you might get killed?”
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to believe there’s a fairy-tale world just sitting there waiting for us to salvage? With no risk? No work? Do you see stupid written on my forehead?”
“Stupid? No. Reckless, yes.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She took immense pleasure in tossing words he’d used on her back at him. “You need me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I do?”
“If your device doesn’t work, I can engage my shield to mask your psi.”
“You’re not that strong.”
“We don’t know how strong I am,” she countered.
He shook his head. “I’m not risking the fate of the Federation on—”
“You may not have a choice.”
His tone remained gentle and very certain. “I appreciate your offer, but it’s not an option.” He held up his hand to delay her protest. “The passageways I must go through are very narrow. You wouldn’t be able to stay close enough to me to maintain the shield.”
“So if you don’t fix the chip—”
“I’ll make it work.”
“—Then we aren’t going?”
“I’ll make it work,” he repeated.
“And if you don’t succeed?” she asked, her pulse racing.
“Let’s worry about that later.” Their gazes locked.
Angel could see he still had another plan if his original didn’t work. But before his gaze dropped, she read fear there—whether for him or her or the Federation she didn’t know. But Kirek was a man who’d survived astral extension and a wormhole blast into the Andromeda Galaxy. He’d seen what was waiting for them. The Zin were obviously formidable.
So if he was frightened by his alterative plan, she supposed she should be shaking—but Angel couldn’t manage to even worry much. Right now Jurl waited for them, and she couldn’t wait to explore the new world.
KIREK SLEPT DURING the shuttle ride down to Jurl. He awakened when Angel landed near the anomaly they’d noted from space. The brief nap had revived him and allowed him to recover from some of his exhaustion, but he remained irritable. Lack of sleep and sex tended to do that to him, especially when he still hadn’t found a workable, portable power device to hold his psi.
But he put aside the problem and hoped his unconscious mind would come up with a solution as they explored the surface. Millions of years of weather had eroded what had probably once been high mountains, leaving gently rolling hills. Sharp edges from volcanic action were now rounded and smooth.
To reach the fissure in the bottom of a canyon was an easy walk over moderately sloping dull brown rock.
Overhead, the sky was blue, the atmosphere too thin for clouds. Without their suits, the temperature would have caused hypothermia to set in. But the lack of life and the cold didn’t bother him as much as the silence. Kirek was accustomed to birds in the sky, insects chirping, rivers running, a gentle breeze rustling the trees, and this part of Jurl was flat and dry and dead.
They strode past ancient ruins, the bendar foundations of g
iant buildings long gone. If the planet’s dwellers had once possessed a superior level of technology, there was little evidence left behind. Then again, this was a very old world.
They followed a path that had been carved by the erosion of wind, ever so slowly treading down toward the fissure. Their steps echoed oddly in his ears, their breaths somehow a violation of this dead world.
Kirek wasn’t usually given to a fanciful imagination but between the ancient barren hills, the failing orange sun that barely heated Jurl, and the lack of life, he was reminded that failure to complete his mission might allow the Zin to destroy every world in the Federation, burning all life out of the galaxy, leaving not so much as a grave behind to mark the passing of trillions.
Kirek wished he could check in and find out how the Federations’ planet cores were doing. Had more worlds exploded? Yet, he didn’t dare. Communications could be traced.
“Is that the portal?” Angel spoke, her tone soft, almost reverent.
Kirek peered at the strange sight. Two thick marbalite columns rose toward the sky and abutted stone cliffs. Their view of the valley, a stone floor between two cliffs, ended at the columns. Kirek had never seen anything like what stretched between those columns. The atmosphere appeared to fold in on itself, like an out of focus vidstream. Shadows and indiscriminate shapes kept changing, the edges blurring, preventing his eyes from discerning a pattern. The entire portal rippled like gray waves of water, only vertically and without reflecting light.
“It’s some kind of space distortion,” Kirek finally answered. “We’ll have to go closer to see if we can find the mechanism to operate it.”
“It’s wide and high enough to easily fit the entire Raven through it.” Angel sounded irritatingly curious and cheerful, as if the dying world had no effect on her. “Do you think we can fly around the back?”
“Let’s check out this side first.”
As they walked closer, the air around them seemed to go dead, as if a giant filter sucked the life out of the atmosphere. Kirek knew his notion had no scientific merit, but the portal felt very alien, and his nape itched.
Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest Page 23
