Valerian’s golden brows drew together over gray eyes that suddenly reminded Jake of a storm at sea. “What have you done?”
“She wasn’t ever supposed to be in his head in the first place,” Rosemary retorted, getting to her feet and glaring at the emperor’s son. “The protoss got her out.”
“Where is she?” Valerian demanded.
“Hell if I know.”
Valerian swore and ran a hand through his hair. “Take them to the ship,” he told the marines who remained. He turned his eyes to the protoss, as if noticing him for the first time. “You…are you in charge of this place?”
Krythkal inclined his head. “I am Krythkal, the alysaar’vah of the Alys’aril.”
“I’ve been instructed to claim this site for the Dominion,” Valerian said. “Your people will not be harmed if you do not resist.” He glanced around briefly, and Jake didn’t need to be a telepath to read his thoughts. His hunger and regret were plain on his face. Still, it was as Jake had expected. Valerian, knowledge-seeker, had claimed the site for—
Jake blinked. Had Valerian really just claimed to have been instructed to do something? Who could possibly…his eyes widened.
“I’m sorry it was damaged in the fighting. Very sorry indeed,” Valerian was continuing. His gray eyes darted to Jake’s. “Professor, Rosemary—you will come with me.”
Jake had never thought he’d be face-to-face with the emperor of the Dominion. But then again, a lot of things had happened over the last several months that he hadn’t ever dreamed would happen.
He, Rosemary, Valerian, and Starke were in Valerian’s private quarters. Of necessity smaller than the room in which the Heir Apparent had entertained Jake what seemed like a lifetime ago, the rooms still painted a picture of their inhabitant. There were still ancient weapons on the walls, showcased by good lighting; a cabinet of fine carved wood that doubtless stocked rare and delicious liquor; four leather chairs instead of the sofa Jake remembered.
Arcturus Mengsk’s face was oversized on the viewscreen. Jake knew that was intentional and provided Mengsk with an advantage. There would have been a time when he would be sweating bullets, but now Jake was just simply so weary that he looked the emperor right in the eye, which seemed to irritate the man.
“My son has told me a little bit about your situation, Ramsey,” Arcturus said. “And I hear that you’ve cheated us.”
Beside him, Rosemary tensed, but had the good sense to stay quiet. Jake glanced over at Valerian, but the younger man’s face was a careful mask of neutrality. He would get no cues there. He—
Don’t worry. Answer him honestly.
Jake recognized the mental voice as Devon Starke’s, but didn’t give the former ghost away by glancing in his direction. “Sir,” Jake said, “Zamara’s presence in my head was killing me. If she’d stayed there I’m not sure there’d be even this much left of me. As it is, I will require an operation to remove several tumors.”
Arcturus laughed, his oversized face easy and inviting. “Well, I will take what I can get. I’ve ordered Valerian to claim the protoss temple for the Dominion, and now he’s given me you.”
Valerian started. “Father, what do you mean?”
“You came to me for help. I gave it to you—gave you the best vessels and pilots I had. You were to bring me the protoss intelligence you were so desperately hunting. You failed, so I’m taking the professor instead. There won’t be much left of him when I’m done, I’m sorry to say. But we’ll pull out everything we can.”
Valerian paled, then flushed. But before he could speak Jake had blurted, “There’s no need for that! I’ll happily tell you everything I know! This information—it’s not just for the protoss. It’s for all of us!”
Mengsk’s eyes narrowed and he regarded Jake speculatively. “Of course you will, son. You won’t have a chance to hide a damned thing.”
The old bastard…he lied to Valerian and to me, came Starke’s voice. Professor—the deal was to let you go. I’m sorry.
So am I, Jake thought.
“And so we’re back where we started from, when you were headed for interrogation on the Gray Tiger,” Mengsk said with an incongruous joviality.
A muscle twitched near Valerian’s eye, but Mengsk the Younger had composed himself. He sighed, straightened his shoulders, and gave a self-deprecating smile. “It’s as you wish, Father. I couldn’t have done it without your help. Don’t suppose I could have a few of those vikings for my own use?”
Jake stared, first at Valerian, then at Starke. Starke looked disappointed, but resigned.
“I knew Jake shouldn’t have stayed,” Rosemary snarled. “You despicable, lying, cowardly—”
“Perhaps you’ll excuse us, Father,” Valerian said. “I’ve got a tiger by the tail here.”
“Feisty little thing,” Mengsk said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Valerian said, smiled his easy smile, leaned forward, and switched off the viewscreen. He whirled, all humor gone from his face. “This isn’t good. I thought this might happen, but I didn’t know you’d need an operation beforehand, Professor.”
Rosemary stared. “You mean—that was an act?”
“Of course. I had to let Father think he’d won. He’s like a bulldog—won’t let go unless he knows he’s the victor. Now that he thinks I’m bringing the professor to him, he’ll leave us alone for a while.”
Jake stared, openmouthed. “I…I give up,” he said, laughing and throwing his hands in the air. “Tell me what happens now.”
Valerian sighed, running a hand through his blond hair. “Well, I’m not quite sure. I have had to stash people away before now, of course, but never anyone Father wanted as badly as he wants you.”
“I meant it, you know,” Jake said quietly. “I’d have told him everything. He wouldn’t have had to—to rip it out of my brain.”
The Heir Apparent smiled softly. “I know that, but he doesn’t believe anyone would be that honest, Professor. He’s so used to mistrust and double dealings he can’t understand something that you and I understand very well—that sometimes knowledge is only useful when shared with all who want to learn it.”
“The discovery of wonders,” Jake said softly, remembering the conversation. Valerian’s smile grew, and as he nodded they held each other’s gaze for a moment.
“Hate to interrupt this touching moment of male bonding, but Jake has tumors in his brain and he needs a good place to escape to,” Rosemary said.
“As usual, the charming Ms. Dahl has put her finger on it,” Valerian said. “I always travel with the finest medical staff. They don’t need to know the details of why you need to stay alive—just that you do. Come.”
“Sir—” Devon Starke’s voice was as pleasant and remarkable as his physical appearance was unremarkable, deep, and resonant. “Sir—you cannot do this. I can’t permit you to.”
Valerian smiled, but there was a glint of steel in his gray eyes. “Devon, I’m fond of you, but you do not get to tell me what I can and cannot do.”
“Pardon, sir, I mean no disrespect, but—you are caught in a terrible situation.” He glanced at Rosemary and Jake, seemed to make a decision, and continued. “You must either give in to your father and surrender Rosemary and Jake to them, or defy him outright. I know you do not wish to do, either.”
Valerian scowled slightly. “Yes, well, I don’t really have a choice.”
“Yes, sir, you do. You cannot hope to stand against the emperor. And you will not let the professor and Rosemary be destroyed. There’s a third way.”
Jake and Rosemary exchanged glances. Once, Jake could easily have read the thoughts of anyone in the room. Now he was as he had always been—a non-telepath. Hell, he wasn’t even good at reading faces or body language. He shrugged at Rosemary, who frowned and turned her blue-eyed gaze back to Starke.
“I’m listening,” Valerian said quietly. “Will I like this third way?”
“I doubt you will, sir, but you’ll ha
ve to take it.”
Suddenly Devon Starke was in Jake’s thoughts again. I felt what you did, when you escaped the first time. When you linked us in that place where we were all a part of each other. When we felt each other’s thoughts and feelings, when there was no separation.
He continued in words that went deeper than words, and Jake felt tears sting his eyes as he remembered the connection himself. He thought of Zamara’s words to him, and shared that conversation with Devon:
This changed the protoss, he had said to her. What will it do to us?
And her reply…Oh, Zamara, how he missed her, how he would always miss her.
That moment was never intended to be shared beyond our own species. The Khala is for us, not you, and it is sacred, not a toy…. Truly, Jacob, I do not know what will happen. Your species is…young yet to grasp the true significance. Most likely, most of those who experienced it will discount it, scoff at it, and dismiss it as a momentary fancy.
But…not all?
No. Not all.
Devon Starke’s mental voice, alive with pain and joy and hope and longing: Not all, Professor.
Jake stared at Devon, opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a word he felt the former ghost dive into his mind. There was little pain; Starke knew what he was doing, and this was a linking of human to human rather than protoss to human. But it caught Jake off guard, rather as if he had been suddenly seized, and he gasped slightly in surprise. He felt Starke rooting around in his thoughts, taking something, discarding something else—
Thank you, Professor. Thank you for everything. I’m sorry for what I must now do.
And then there was pain—lots and lots of it. Jake cried out sharply, stared at Starke in shock and betrayal, and slumped unconscious to the floor.
CHAPTER 23
“STARKE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Valerian’s normally modulated, smooth voice was deep and rough with anger as he rushed to the fallen bodies, checking for pulses and then lifting his gray eyes, storm clouds now, to the former ghost.
“They’re unharmed,” Starke assured him. “And you’d best get the professor into surgery as soon as possible.”
Having assured himself that both Ramsey and Dahl were all right, the sharp edge of Valerian’s fury was tempered, but only slightly. “I assume you’ve got a reason for doing this.”
“Indeed I do, sir. I do what you cannot.”
Valerian rose. “Explain.”
“Your father wants a pound of flesh. Let it be me.”
Valerian’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Sir, there’s no way that you can defy your father and come out of this well. I made a vow to serve you to the utmost of my abilities, and that is what I intend to do.” He hesitated, a self-deprecating, almost shy smile curving his lips. “You saved my life, Your Excellency. I’ve been on borrowed time ever since. I believe in you, sir. In you and in Professor Ramsey. Let me trade my life for the three of you—for your continued safety and freedom. Give me to your father and his ghosts.”
Valerian had been trained from childhood to play the fine game of politics. He had carefully schooled himself to not reveal his emotions. But for the second time in almost as many minutes, his veneer of poise was shattered.
“What?”
“I dived deep into Professor Ramsey’s mind. I extracted quite a lot of information. Arcturus will send ghosts to get that information, and there’s enough there that they’ll think they’ve learned all there is to know. I’ll put up enough mental barriers so they’ll have to really dig for it—that way it will seem believable, and also buy you, Ramsey, and Dahl some time. You’ll have the chance to hide them somewhere far away, where your father won’t find them. I fear I caused the professor quite a bit of pain—do apologize for me, won’t you?”
“Devon…if they are forced to extract the information with you fighting them…that’s going to kill you, isn’t it?”
The former ghost shrugged his thin shoulders. “Possibly. At the very least, it will shatter my mind. I’ll be quite useless to anyone afterward.” He said this with only the faintest tremor. Anyone who didn’t know him well would have thought he was discussing the weather.
“As for you, sir, I’m a trained ghost. Any memories I have of this conversation will be so scrambled and disjointed by the time they reach them that they won’t be sure what’s a lie and what’s the truth. You’ll be completely off the hook and able to claim that I acted totally independently.”
“There has to be…we could find another way.” Even as he said the words, Valerian realized that they were nothing more than wishful thinking.
“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t think so. You needed to call on the emperor to recover Professor Ramsey. We’re here at the crossroads, and this is the only viable path.”
Slowly, Valerian nodded. “Is…well, there’s no one I should notify, is there?” Devon Starke had been separated from his family since he had been conscripted for the ghost program. No one would miss him—except for Valerian.
“No, sir. But if you’d do something for me, I’d be most grateful.”
“Name it.”
“That bonding that Ramsey did—it’s part of why I’m doing this. That, and my loyalty to you. Don’t forget about that. We can become better than we are, sir. I know this. I’ve tasted it.”
Valerian extended a hand and clasped Starke’s. “I won’t forget, Devon. Not that, nor you, nor what you’ve done. I promise.”
Jake blinked awake. He was lying on a small bed in an alcove cut into a wall. The sheets were comfortable and he was tempted to close his eyes again when a soft voice said, “Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”
He turned to see Rosemary sitting curled up in a chair, smiling at him. Her chin was propped up on her hand and her bangs fell into her face. His heart turned over.
“What happened? Devon—what did he do to us?”
“Turns out Devon Starke had a bit of a knight-in-shining-armor complex.”
“Had?”
Rosemary’s grin faded a bit. “Well, he’s still alive. For now. He took information from your brain and volunteered to distract Arcturus long enough for Valerian to get us safely away.”
Jake stared. “He’s…they’ll kill him.”
“He knew that. It was his idea.”
“But why?”
“Loyalty to Valerian…and something about that mind-link thing you did to us all really got to him.”
Jake nodded slowly. “I understand.”
“On a happier note, the tumors were removed. You’re well on your way to a full recovery. Although you’re bald now and you’ll have quite the wicked-looking scar.”
Jake’s hand flew to his skull. Rosemary was right—his head was smooth as a baby’s bottom, and there were bandages on it.
“Guess now I’m an egghead in all meanings of the word,” he deadpanned.
The quip caught her off guard and she laughed, as much in surprise as in humor. His smile, tinged with sorrow at the loss of Devon Starke, grew a little.
“Come on, Eggy,” she said. “Mr. V is waiting for us.”
Soft music was playing and their erstwhile captor, now host, had his back to them as they entered. Valerian turned, smiling, and Jake saw he had a glass of a golden liquor in his hand.
“Professor. I’m told the surgery was an unqualified success. They’ve assured me that you’ll be able to travel within a day or two. It’s even safe for you to have a drink with me, if you like.”
Jake inclined his head. “Thank you, sir. I will.”
“I’m having pear brandy, but you may have whatever you like.”
“That will be fine, thank you.”
Valerian himself poured the drinks. At Jake’s curious look, he said, “Remember, you’re technically prisoners. Whittier shouldn’t see us sharing a celebratory glass together.” He grinned as he handed the small glasses to Rosemary and Jake. Jake took a whiff of the fragrant liquor;
it was almost achingly sweet and made his mouth water. He sighed softly as he remembered another moment, seemingly so long ago now, when he had been about to taste something new.
“Sammuro fruit,” Rosemary said quietly.
“What, now you’re the mind reader?” Jake said jokingly.
“No. I was thinking of it too.”
Jake wondered if the protoss would ever return to Aiur. There were some protoss left, he was certain of it, even in the wake of zerg and Ulrezaj and the horrific grip of Sundrop. They were survivors.
Valerian lifted his glass. “The day I’d hoped for has finally come,” he said, smiling at each of them in turn. “We are about to sit down together—not as employer and employees, not as perceived enemies—but as friends. I’ve looked forward to this day.”
“It’s been bought at a cost,” Jake said. Rosemary lifted an eyebrow and nodded slight approval at his boldness. “I understand Devon Starke is being a decoy for us…and that he is likely not to survive the undertaking.”
Sorrow flitted across Valerian’s patrician face. “This is true. I wasn’t expecting that from him. It was a brave gesture.”
“And you’ve taken control of a protoss sacred site,” Jake continued. “Forgive my boldness, sir, but after being as close to them as I have been—that doesn’t sit well with me.”
“Nor with me. Unfortunately it was necessary at the time, if I was to find you. However, you’ll be pleased to hear that a few hours after you went into surgery, your protoss friends returned. With lots of company.”
“They came back for us,” Rosemary said. She directed her gaze toward her glass of pear brandy, but the corners of her lips were turned up. “Huh.”
Jake’s heart soared. They hadn’t abandoned him, or the dark protoss. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised—although he was very happy.
“They did indeed. I was forced to return Ehlna to their control or have my father’s lovely and very expensive ships blown out of the skies.”
“But…all that knowledge…that’s exactly what you’ve been looking for,” Jake said. “Hell, it’s what I’ve been looking for.”
Twilight Page 24
