Rainscape

by Jaye Roycraft

  Other books by Jaye Roycraft

  Dance With Me, My Lovely

  Rain Series

  Rainscape

  Crimson Rain

  Image Series

  Double Image

  Afterimage

  Shadow Image

  Immortal Image

  Hell Series

  Half Past Hell

  Hell’s Warrior

  Rainscape

  Rain Series: Book 1

  by

  Jaye Roycraft

  ImaJinn Books

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or locations is entirely coincidental.

  ImaJinn Books

  PO BOX 300921

  Memphis, TN 38130

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61026-044-2

  Print ISBN: 978-1-893896-31-4

  ImaJinn Books is an Imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.

  Copyright ©2000 by Jeanette Roycraft writing Jaye Roycraft

  Printed and bound in the United States of America.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  ImaJinn Books was founded by Linda Kichline.

  We at ImaJinn Books enjoy hearing from readers. Visit our websites

  ImaJinnBooks.com

  BelleBooks.com

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  #10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  Cover design: Patricia Lazarus

  Interior design: Hank Smith

  Photo/Art credits:

  Patricia Lazarus

  :Erdf:01:

  Cast of Characters

  Mondina “Dina” Marlijn—A rookie investigator with the Interplanetary Investigation Bureau, and a telepath

  Karjon “Jon” Rzije—Dina’s partner

  Rayn DeStar—a telepathic dens from B’harata, leader of the Desert Dailjan

  Myrr Chandhel—Minister of the colony on Exodus

  Maris Iridino—Minister Chandhel’s assistant

  Avvis Ranchar—the first Minister of Exodus

  Kaz Katzfiel—Commander of the Aeternan Enforcement Agency

  Kim Khilioi—A Corporal of the Aeternan Enforcement Agency

  Hrugaz—a Sergeant of the Aeternan Enforcement Agency

  Jalena Lumazi—a doctor

  Gillique Samek—a miner, the latest homicide victim

  Dais Johnter—a miner, the first victim

  Kilist Marhjon—a miner, the second victim

  R’ke Kai-Men—a miner, the third victim

  Jai Hwa-lik—Mother Lode Mining’s Executive Director

  Rum Ctararzin—Mother Lode Mining’s Operations Manager

  Faitaz Chukar—Mother Lode’s Attorney

  Quay Bhelen—Mother Lode’s Chief Financial Officer

  Karsa Hrothi—Mother Lode’s Chief of Security

  Kalyo Rhoemer—a Mother Lode Security Officer

  Rukhyo Nastja—a Mother Lode Surveyor, now off-planet

  Kindyll Sirkhek—an ex-miner, now a Dailjan

  Trai Morghen—en ex-dock worker, now a Dailjan

  Raethe Avarti—an ex-miner, now a Dailjan

  T’gaard Kai-reudh—a Dailjan

  Alessane Sorreano—Rayn’s Dailjan woman

  Xuche—a mantis, captured and deported from Exodus

  Gyn T’halamar—a dens

  Ryol—Rayn’s brother on B’harata

  Flyr—Rayn’s brother, deceased

  Daar—Dina’s former lover on Glacia

  Roanna—Dina’s former partner, killed by a dens

  Glossary of Glacian and B’haratan Words

  agherz—dawn

  al—beyond, after

  albho—white

  angwhi—snake

  bhel—flame

  chayne—chain

  dailjan—desert dweller, literally “leftover”

  dens—mental force

  dher—to muddy

  dheru—truth

  ghe—gate

  ghel—glass

  gwer—mountain

  kap—haven

  kathedra—chair

  kel—mine

  kewero—north

  krek—derogatory term, literally “fish spawn”

  mercari—merchants

  merkwia—twilight

  m’riri—reflection

  pelag—basin

  pur—fire

  spithra—spider

  uz—leader

  wespero—west

  wiara—twist

  yegwa—power

  Dedication

  To the fierce alien

  who now rocks my world.

  One

  The Arrival

  SOMETHING SHATTERED the calm, but there was no sound.

  Awareness was the intruder, Dina’s relaxation the victim, and she didn’t like it one little bit. She called tired limbs and senses to alert, and her now open eyes widened further when she saw the cause of the disruption. The man staring at her was hardly someone Agent Mondina Marlijn expected to see in the spacedock’s quarantine module high in geostationary orbit over Exodus.

  He was dressed in neither the dark blue uniform of dock personnel nor the pale green tunics of the medical staff, but rather had the appearance of an escapee from the brig. Long, inky hair fell from either side of a sharp widow’s peak, like the wings of a crow, and black stubble shadowed skin already darkened by the sun. A brown leather vest half covered a bare chest, and soot-colored leggings that hugged the skin vanished into high, well-worn leather boots. Brown bracers on his forearms trailed long suede fringes that snaked past his wrists to tease his fingertips. The lean-muscled body thus revealed lacked only a weapon in hand to complete the outlaw image.

  Dina rose slowly to her feet, curiosity and caution banishing the wake of exhaustion left by the final two frenetic days of spaceflight.

  “Who are you? What are you doing here?” she challenged.

  The man’s only answer was a cocked smile and a deep bow from the waist which climaxed with a flourish of upturned arms, sending the bracer fringes undulating in a silent dance.

  Dina was about to call for Jon, her partner, to join her from the examination room next door, when the stranger winked an amber eye at her and was gone.

  She stepped forward and cast her gaze around the small waiting room. There were few places to hide behind save several chairs, a table, and a narrow bed. She tried the door leading from the quarantine module to the curving corridor accessing other modules strung on the circular dock, but the door, as expected, was locked. The only other door was to the room where Jon was being scanned for infectious microbes.

  Dina keyed the door and poked her head into the room, sweeping her gaze from wall to wall. Both Jon and the quarantine assistant raised their heads and looked at her. There was no one else in the room.

  Dina pasted on a smile. “Excuse me . . . much longer?”

  “As I said before, Agent Marlijn, a couple hours. You’ll just have to be patient,” replied the assistant.

  Her smile jerked upward. “Thank you.”

  She closed the door and paced the waiting room. It had not been
a dream. Tired as she was, she’d been awake. Nor had she imagined the man. He’d been too real. A thought came to her. Spacefever. Sleeplessness, disturbing dreams when sleep did come, dizziness, and hallucinations were all symptoms of the “fever” that plagued men and women on spaceflights not made in hypersleep.

  She drew in a deep breath. She should report the hallucination to Jon and the quarantine master. It was required by Rules and Regulations. But if she did make the report, it would mean more tests. A longer quarantine. Planetfall would be delayed. The start of the investigation would be delayed. She released the long breath slowly. No one had seen the image of the man but her. The investigation was too important to her. There could be no delays. There would be no report.

  RAYN DESTAR FELT his consciousness spiraling downward at a speed to rival that of the fleetest star cruiser. Elation, wonder and anticipation swirled around him in a vortex of pure emotion. Uncontrolled, the feelings sang to him like the keening of a fierce wind, and Rayn rode the storm with abandon until his ethereal self reached his physical body, slowed, and reentered it.

  Whole again in body and mind, he took a deep breath and raised his arms, not only to stretch cramped muscles, but to celebrate. The experience of an out-of-body projection always gave Rayn a sense of freedom that was impossible to achieve encased in his physical body, but this projection had been especially sweet.

  A telepath! And a female, at that! After more than five years of projecting his etheric self to the spacedock to look over new arrivals, his travels had finally paid off. He had all but given up on another dens coming to this world. He had waited patiently for the bans to be lifted that forbid his people to travel to Synergy Worlds, but knew in his heart that the bans would most likely outlive him. There were many more telepaths in the galaxy than just the dens, though, and Rayn had held out hope that someday one would come to this godsforsaken sand heap.

  Someday was here! This barren world had finally sent him a challenge. Oh, it was true that just surviving in the desert day after day was a formidable task, but he had mastered survival years ago. No, this challenge was worthwhile, and one that made his blood run hot.

  His race had been bred to control, born to dominate, and even though he had shunned his home world of B’harata, he couldn’t change the blood that gave him life. Yes, he had sorely missed the sweet satisfaction that surrender to his power gave him.

  Who was she? Whoever she was, she would provide gratification. She had the ability. She was receptive to the energy of thought in a way that no other visitor to Exodus had been for many years. Once on the spacedock, his ethereal body had felt it immediately. Her powers were undeveloped and undisciplined, but the gateway to her mind was there for him to enter whenever he desired.

  MONDINA MARLIJN had arrived, in every sense of the word. Her booted feet—her very tired booted feet—were finally on Exodus as her ship, Justitia, had berthed at the spacedock above the city of Aeternus the evening before last. Her head, though, in spite of her exhaustion, was in the heavens, where it had been since she’d gotten the word she would be assigned to field duty with Karjon Rzije, Specialist extraordinare. It was a promotion, a chance to travel to places she had only dreamed of, and best of all, she was with Jon.

  It had been al-merkwia, past the twilight, when Dina and Jon’s shuttle landed at the city’s port, but there was no lack of light. After the low light of the ship’s interior, Dina found herself squinting at the floodlights that adorned the outside of the port facility. The two moons of Exodus—Foraii and Egnis—hung low in the sky, adding their radiance to the night.

  It had been a relatively short trip from her home world of Glacia, too short for hypersleep, and Dina had been busy every waking moment. But even so sleep had been elusive. And now, as much as Dina tried to forget the stranger in the “hallucination,” she hadn’t been able to. She was hoping that with the end of the flight and her feet planted firmly on the ground she would be visited by no more disturbing images.

  All the pride and nerves of an actress stepping on stage for the first time fizzed through her body in an adrenaline rush when Dina’s heels rang against the stone-paved outer entrance to the port facility, and the cool night air snapped around her like applause. The fact that she’d been without sleep for more than two standard days was lost in the rush that elevated her. She beamed in the spotlight of her enthusiasm until a young liaison officer strutted toward them. Colorful flags, rippling languidly in the glow cast by carefully hidden ground lamps, bordered each side of the walkway that stretched before her and framed the approaching officer as if he were a work of art.

  He rivaled the flagpoles in height, color, and pomp. His smooth, tanned face was as bright and shiny as his polished sable boots, and his lustrous, dark hair reflected their rich color. He sported a tan military cap, its glossy visor pulled low over his eyes, loose tan trousers and a matching shirt that shone almost silver in the night light. A burgundy sash slashed his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip, where a similar circle of color banded his trim waist. The ends of the sash were fringed and danced from his left hip. Gold insignia flashed from his cap, his shoulder sash, and the front of his shirt. A long tan coat, paled to pearl by the moonlight, draped perfectly from his wide shoulders, the buttoned-back lining of red darkened to the color of claret. The man’s booted legs were impossibly long, and his white teeth gleamed in the bright light of the city night.

  “Good evening, sir, ma’am. Corporal Kim Khilioi of the Aeternan Enforcement Agency. Assigned to be at your disposal for the length of your visit.”

  “Evening, Corporal. Karjon Rzije, Specialist First Class of the Interplanetary Investigation Bureau, and my partner, Mondina Marlijn, Specialist Second Class. We appreciate the efficient docking and unloading protocol. If you could show us to our quarters, we’d like to get some sleep before meeting with the administrator tomorrow. It’s been a long trip.”

  “Understood, sir. However, I must ask you to come with me to the Medical Center. Minister Chandhel and the Commander are waiting there for you.”

  “Corporal, can’t a meeting wait ‘til tomorrow? It’s been a very tiring trip.”

  “Apologies, sir, but no. There’s been another incident.”

  Jon’s thick eyebrows drew together, almost touching. “Another homicide?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Once, Dina would have sighed, but not now. It was always this way. What was needed for the job always took precedence over personal considerations. Little things like exhaustion and hunger simply didn’t matter. Besides, she was on Exodus, and she was with Jon.

  Her fatigue forgotten, Dina braced herself for the unpleasant task ahead of her as she matched the men’s strides to the all-terrain hugger. Watching Jon’s broad shoulders and the slight swagger he had to his walk, she smiled.

  Her gaze slid to the Aeternan officer, and something familiar about his expression shadowed her enthusiasm. It was a look she had seen countless times—a smile as bright and cold as artificial light, and eyes as unreadable as dark ink spilled on blank paper.

  Except for the brief “ma’am,” he hadn’t acknowledged her at all.

  Dina reached her mind out, feather light, and touched Khilioi’s, and the smile that had risen at the joy of her arrival deflated quickly as she felt the unmistakable disdain. Whether it was because she was a female or simply IIB, Dina wasn’t sure, but it was nothing new for her. That never made it easier to bear, though, and Dina’s head suddenly felt too heavy for her neck, her boots too heavy for her feet.

  Unbidden, a memory from four years before, as if newly experienced, surged to the front of her mind. It had been just three weeks before the end of academy training, and she recalled how high her confidence had been. The most grueling training was behind her, graduation was clearly in sight, and she had thought to be accepted by her classmates. She had espec
ially looked forward to that day of high-risk training scenarios, not only as a welcome change from the classroom lecture, but to reinforce her feeling that she was as capable as, if not more so than, anyone else in the class.

  But then she remembered how those positive feelings had drained away as she stood and waited for another recruit to choose her as a partner for the exercise. It seemed like an hour, but it had taken only seconds for the males in her squad to partner up with each other, laughing in anticipation and slapping each other on the back. She remembered turning, at last, to Roanna, the only other female in her squad, who was also standing alone, and seeing her own humiliation mirrored in the other girl’s eyes. She remembered shrugging and smiling, as if it made no difference—male with male, female with female—but she had cried herself to sleep that night, asking the gods for the hundredth time why she was different.

  Dear Jon. Even though he was her superior, he treated her like an equal. For years females had held the same positions as males did within the Bureau, but there was still, and probably always would be, a trace of prejudice toward female members. Overt prejudicial comments and actions were, of course, prohibited by Rules and Regulations. That didn’t stop many from making their feelings clear in subtle ways. She normally didn’t dwell on such matters, but tonight her tired mind had no power to keep the memories at bay. Not with Khilioi beside her, turned only toward Jon. Making small talk only to Jon.

  It certainly didn’t take any telepathic power to sense the contempt of such men, but Dina was especially aware of their attitudes, since her telepathic abilities had rated the highest in the Academy for five years running. She never bragged about her ability, in fact, made it a rule of hers never to mention it to other bureau members. In this way her telepathic power had become one of her strongest assets. Jon, of course, was well aware of her ability. It was one of the reasons she had been chosen for this assignment.

  As the hugger jounced forward on its wide tires, the fairy city before her spun its enchantment and lifted Dina’s mind from its somber musings. She was nearly blinded as a myriad of mirrors flashed their faces her way, as though the prospect of new adoring admirers was not to be ignored. Crystal pyramids, glass bubbles and mirrored cubes, all lit from both within and without, vied for her attention. The effulgence enveloped her, bound her, and she heard not a word of what the corporal said.