Laura Jo Phillips (11 page)

“Well guys,” she said, “I’m not sure who you are, why you’re on my bedroom wall, or why you’re in my head.  I think that I was supposed to meet you on Jasan, but I didn’t, and I’m tired of trying to figure it out.  So I don’t want to look at you any more.  I’m going to sleep now, and when I wake up, maybe I will just paint over you and be done with all of this weirdness.”

With that, she closed the blinds to block out the sunlight, climbed into bed and promptly went to sleep.  She slept without moving for the rest of that day, and all through the night.  Just as the sun began to rise she sat straight up in bed, instantly wide awake, a new image in her mind.

“
Gamoto
,” she swore, glaring at the three men staring down at her from the wall.  “I am not doing this again.  Absolutely not.  No way.”

Chapter
15

Former Slave Compound, Li-Hach-Cor

Stalnek was furious.  And scared, though he would never admit that to anyone.  He walked through the deserted compound, searching for some sign of what had happened there, but he found nothing.  He had never actually visited the compound on Li-Hach-Cor before, but he was very familiar with its layout since he, or rather, the Brethren, had paid for most of it. 

He stepped into the room that he knew had been William’s office, though there was nothing there now but bare walls and a scrap of carpet on the floor.  He had seen the room countless times on the vids that his son had sent him regularly each week for all of the years he had been here, so he knew how many vid screens, terminals, computers, status boards, sensor readouts and control stations the office had once held.

Not only William’s office, but the entire compound, was completely stripped of all computers, security systems and other electronics, which, since those things were expensive, made sense.  What he didn’t understand was why they had stripped William’s office down to the furniture and wall hangings.  That made no sense to him at all. 

Another thing that bothered him was that if someone had attacked the compound in order to steal the female slaves, there should be signs of a battle at least.  William would never willingly abandon the compound.  Stalnek was certain of that.  But there were no signs of a battle anywhere.  There were some odd scents in the courtyard that he wasn’t able to identify with any real certainty. They were too old, and there were too many other scents mixed in with them.  He caught a whiff of blood, but it wasn’t clear enough for him to begin to identify who it belonged to.  He certainly scented William, but William’s scent was everywhere. 

Stalnek could almost feel his son in this room, but there was no sign of what had happened here.  Finally, he turned and left the vacant office, closing the door behind him.  He made his way quickly out of the building, across the courtyard and out to where his yacht had landed in a large clearing, looking neither right nor left as he went.  He had seen everything he needed to see and wanted only to leave this place.  As soon as he was aboard his ship he began snapping orders.

“Take us to the other side of this planet,” he ordered the Captain.  “I want to talk to the Aki.  They may know something of use.”

“I’m sorry, Sir, but I’m afraid we can’t do that,” the Captain said nervously.  “The Li-Hach have just arrived with several cargo ships.  Looks like they’re here to collect the harvest, which may take several days.”

Stalnek growled softly but did not destroy the man for the bad news as he might have had they been on Earth.  He needed him to pilot the yacht.

“Is Blind Sight activated?” Stalnek demanded.

“Yes, Sir,” the Captain replied.  “We are completely invisible to anyone not standing on the ground within twenty yards, Sir.”

Stalnek relaxed a little.  The last thing he needed right now was a battle with the Li-Hach.  His yacht was armed, but he wouldn’t last a minute against one of Li-Hach’s formidable war-cruisers.  Purchasing Blind Sight from the Xanti had been the best investment he had ever made, regardless of the expense.  It kept their compounds and vehicles hidden on Earth, and their vessels hidden in space.  For that kind of security, he would have paid twice the price.

“Get us off this damn planet,” he ordered the Captain.  “Inform me as soon as we are out of this system.”

“Yes, Sir,” the Captain replied briskly.  “I’m sorry Sir, but there is a message for you marked Urgent.”

“Who is it from?” Stalnek asked irritably. 

“Xaqana-Ti, Sir,” the Captain replied.

Stalnek turned to Kevlin.  “Come with me to the comm room,” he said. 

Kevlin nodded, his heart sinking.  He neither liked, nor trusted the Xanti, and had never agreed with Stalnek’s decision to partner with them. 

As soon as they entered the comm room and the doors closed behind them, Stalnek turned to Kevlin again.

“We must send a message to the Redoubt.  It’s time to move Darck home and put him under guard,” he said.  “He’s not the most genetically pure, but he’s the sanest of the three we have to choose from.”

Kevlin was surprised.  He hadn’t thought that Stalnek would admit the possibility that William was dead until forced to.  Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face, as Stalnek’s expression grew even sterner.

“I am not a fool, Kevlin,” he said coldly.  “I recognize that William may be dead.  Until we know for certain, it is important to protect the one who will take his place.”

Kevlin scrambled for something to say.  “We will not give up looking for William, will we?” he asked, sounding as though that was his biggest concern.

Stalnek’s frown eased.  “No, my friend, we will not.  In fact, I wish to send a message to Xaqana-Ti at once inquiring whether the promised
berezi
was ever delivered to William.  Perhaps she will be able to provide us with some clues as to what happened here.”

“Good,” Kevlin replied with what he hoped was a relieved nod.  “I will prepare a message with your orders concerning Darck at once.”

“Let’s listen to this message from Xaqana-Ti first,” Stalnek said. 

“Very well,” Kevlin said as he sat down at the vid terminal and pulled up the newest message.  A moment later, the message began playing.

“Greetings, Stalnek, Brethren Leader,” Xaqana-Ti said, her high pitched voice causing both Kevlin and Stalnek to wince.  Kevlin paused the message and adjusted the tone to lower the pitch, then started it again.

“I am afraid that I have some unpleasant news for you, Stalnek.  My informant on Earth has advised me that the Directorate has become aware of the Brethren.  There are Jasani warriors on their way to Earth even now to assist the Intersystem Forces in their efforts to locate and eradicate your people.

“I have already ordered one of my ships to Earth, along with the leader of the Onddo Narrasti.  I have not given them instructions to remove your people from Earth, Stalnek.  That is a decision you must make.  Please let me know your decision as soon as possible so that I can recall my ship should you decide to remain on Earth, and do battle with the Jasani and their allies on Earth.

“Whatever you decide, you have my best wishes, and any support I am able to provide.”

Stalnek was stunned.  Could this be true? 

“Do you believe this?” Stalnek asked Kevlin.

“I don’t want to,” Kevlin replied slowly.  “But it is terrifying to imagine not taking it seriously, and having it turn out to be true.”

“Xaqana-Ti has urged me to consider joining forces with the Onddo Narrasti before,” Stalnek pointed out.  “While it is true that they are closer to their Narrasti ancestors, it is also true that we, the Brethren, are descendants of the Sugea.  The Onddo are descendants of gilea, the lowest of the low.  Their ancestors had the least magic, the least power, the least of everything.”

“Why would she care one way or another?” Kevlin asked.  “What difference is it to her whether the Brethren and the Onddo Narrasti combine forces?”

“That is a good question,” Stalnek replied.  “And one for which I do not have an answer.”

“Do you think she would go so far as to fabricate a situation that does not exist in order to get the Brethren to Onddo?”

“You trust the Xanti far less than I do,” Stalnek said.  “Tell me, do you think she would go so far?”

Kevlin shook his head.  “No, I do not,” he said.  “I do not trust the Xanti, nor do I trust Xaqana-Ti, or her motives in this matter.  However, it would be far too easy to prove, or disprove, what she has said.  She is intelligent, if nothing else, and she will know that.”

“I agree,” Stalnek said.  “I think we must respectfully thank Xaqana-Ti for her aid, without specifically agreeing to the evacuation.  At the same time, inform my brother of the situation.  Jarlek can make some inquiries to determine if things are as Xaqana-Ti has presented them to be.  If they are not, then there is nothing to say we must take any action.  If they are, then we must do what is necessary to preserve the Brethren.  There are so few of us left, and there is no possible way we can hope to win a battle with the forces the Directorate could bring to bear against us.”

Chapter
16

Earth, Los Angeles, California

Darck Winicke studied the four photos laid out on his battered old desk before picking one up and turning it over.  Each photo was of one woman, with the woman’s name and address, as well as information regarding known security at the woman’s home and her usual daily schedule written on the back.  There was far too much print on the back of each photo for Darck to waste his time trying to read it.  He just checked to be sure it was there.  This was his first chance to handle a pull unsupervised, and he intended to do it perfectly.

After checking that all of the photos had information on the back, he gathered them up and carried them over to the transfer machine in the corner of his living room.  He entered Lenny’s code, waited for the confirmation tone, then fed the photos into the machine one by one.  After that he typed his instructions;

Pull within 24 hours.  Deliver to site 2.  Await contact
.

Perfect, he thought.  It has just the right tone of command to it.  Pleased with himself, he hit the
SEND
button, then waited for another confirmation.  He was just beginning to worry when, finally, the confirmation appeared on the machine’s screen.  Satisfied, he turned off the machine, leaving the photos in the feed tray, and headed for the kitchen.  He deserved a drink.

His vox beeped in his ear and he reached up to tap it as he pulled a beer from the chiller and popped the cap off.  “Darck,” he said.

“Um, Mr. Darck, er um, Mr. Winicke I mean, sorry,” Lenny mumbled in his ear. 

“What is it?” Darck asked irritably.

“Well, it’s about your instructions, um, Sir,” Lenny mumbled.  “I was just wondering, or I mean um, Garid was wondering, and he wanted me to ask you if um, well, are you sure about those instructions you sent us?”

Darck ground his teeth.  Why had Uncle Stalnek insisted that he use Garid?  The man had disgraced himself, and as far as Darck was concerned, he did not deserve a second chance.  Darck took a long drink of his beer while he told himself to watch what he said.  Uncle Stalnek clearly wanted Garid on this job, and Darck was not going to say anything against Uncle Stalnek, or Uncle Stalnek’s orders.  But at the same time, he wasn’t going to have his underlings questioning his decisions.  In fact, now that he thought about it, having Garid question his decision was probably a test of some sort. 

“Yes, I am sure about the instructions,” Darck said clearly after swallowing his mouthful of beer.  “I want them followed to the letter without deviation or exception.  Is that clear?”

“Yes Sir, Mr. Winicke, Sir,” Lenny replied quickly.  “Very clear, Sir.”

“Good,” Darck said.  He reached up and tapped the vox off, then removed it and tossed it on the table.  He emptied his beer container, tossed it in the general direction of the trash disposal unit, then opened the chiller and grabbed another one.  On second thought, he took two.  They made the things so damn small. 

He popped the top on one and headed back into the living room.  A few minutes later, sprawled comfortably on the couch with the remainder of his third beer, Darck began scrolling through the catalog of high-end luxury ground-cars on his vid terminal.  He still couldn’t make up his mind which of four models he liked best, or whether he preferred the red ones, or the black ones.  Now that he was moving up in the organization and getting more responsibility, it wouldn’t be long before he’d be rolling in credits.  In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared so that when he had the money, he would know exactly what he wanted to buy with it.  Here was a model with a built-in chiller for his beer.  How convenient.

****

Earth, New York, New York

Garid waited for Lenny to tell him what Darck had said, though the look on the other man’s face was easy enough to read.  Nevertheless, he needed to be sure.

“What did he say?”

“He said that he wants us to follow his instructions to the letter without...without...,” Lenny frowned as he struggled with the unfamiliar words.  “Without deviousness or exc..ex...excitings.”