Redemption of Light (The Light Trilogy) (40 page)

CHAPTER 42

Amirah flexed her bound hands and feet, trying to relieve the ache. Cole had explained in great detail what had happened the night before, but all she remembered were flitting glimpses of a probe chair and a little girl asking:
“Are we finished for today, Magistrate?”
The pieces of the puzzle grew ever more frightening. A hazy picture had started to form: Grandmama screaming at her not to be a pawn; Baruch’s notion of a trigger; the terror of the Devouring Creature of Darkness pursuing her; the curious words about the “holy serpent” and her horrifying delusion of being suffocated by the snake. But what did it all mean?

She carefully studied the multicolored computer screens in the oval command cabin. Baruch and Tahn sat riveted to their control consoles, murmuring softly to each other. Cold cups of taza sat languidly beside them; brown drink rings had formed around the lips. Despite their diligence in letting one another sleep as much as possible over the past two days, they both looked dead tired. She suspected they’d each spent most of their “sleeping” time in their quarters running calculations on every possible permutation of strategy. As Tahn scanned his console, his blue-violet eyes gleamed alertly. Baruch had his back to Amirah, so she couldn’t see his face, but his blond hair shone darkly with sweat and the muscles of his shoulders bunched anxiously beneath his purple and gray uniform.

“We’ve got about fifteen minutes,” Cole announced. “I think I’ll pull out the suits.”

“Good. I’ll prepare the systems.” Baruch spun around in his chair and began inputting data.

Amirah’s eyes narrowed when the weapons screen began to pulse green for ready, then the emergency systems kicked on, the ship compartmentalizing to shield each section against decompression.
They expect a fierce battle. Why? Or perhaps they’re preparing for the worst, just in case?

Cole got up from his chair and went to the supplies closet beside Amirah. He gave her only a bare glance as he opened the door and pulled out three suits and helmets, then ransacked the compartment, removing two rifles and four new pistol charge packs.

Grabbing a suit, Cole called, “Jeremiel?”

Baruch turned and Tahn tossed him the garment. He caught it deftly and stood up. Unfastening his belt, he removed his pistols and slipped into the white jumpsuit before pulling his belt around his waist again.

Amirah’s nervous gaze slid to Tahn. He stood tall and slim beside her, fastening up his suit. The white fabric shimmered like layers of opalescent satin in the harsh glare of the lustreglobes. Sweat dotted his straight nose. He looked at her and she saw the smooth line of his jaw tighten. The action told her more than he realized. The stakes, whatever they were, were too high for intimacy between them—and he regretted it.

“Cole?” she asked softly. “Why the vacuum suits?”

He slipped each of his pistols from their holsters and slapped in new charges, then he pulled the belt around his waist again. He tucked his Wind River fighting knife in his boot and adjusted the location so it didn’t irritate his ankle. He gave her an insolent smile “Jeremiel and I are fussy. We don’t even like surprise birthday parties.”

He exchanged a grimly amused look with Baruch and it took every ounce of strength Amirah had to suppress the qualm of panic that rose in her.
What the hell’s going on?

“Coordinates for vault exit are in the system, Cole,” Baruch informed. “Ready?”

“Just about. Give me another sixty seconds to help Captain Jossel into her suit.”

Cole knelt down and removed her hand and ankle restraints. She rubbed her wrists furiously to get the circulation going again, watching him cautiously stand up and step back. Grabbing the last suit, he tossed it to her and quietly instructed, “Better hurry, Captain. You might need that sooner than you think.”

Amirah stood on wobbling legs and stepped into the suit, fastening it all the way up. Were they expecting to be fired upon the instant they exited vault?
Who
would be firing? She tucked her long blonde hair into her collar and exhaled unsteadily. Cole observed her nervous movements and his face softened a little.

“Here,” he said gently. He handed her a helmet. “Better put this on now, too. The last thing we want is to have you killed accidentally.”

She took it from his grasp. “You’d rather have it happen on purpose, right? When it’s most advantageous?” She’d meant it as a taunt, but the cold expression on his handsome face made her stammer, “Is—is that what you’re—”

“You just tell your people to behave and we won’t have any problems.”

The helmet in her hand trembled. She almost dropped it. The
Sargonid?
“What do you mean,
my
people?” He didn’t answer and a dark impenetrable fear blanketed her. “Cole, is the
Sargonid
out there?”

Tahn put on his helmet, and handed one to Baruch. Amirah stood like a sleepwalker while she watched them. Why wouldn’t he tell her? She was impotent. She couldn’t possibly affect their plans now! Was he afraid she might try something desperate anyway?
Just like he would have done?

When Amirah hadn’t moved after several moments, Cole came back and gently pushed her into her chair. She roughly shoved his hands away and reattached the restraints herself, fastening them around her ankles first, then her wrists. Cole scrutinized the action, then bent to double-check them. He gently settled her helmet over her head and clamped it down. She heard the muted clicks.

“I’m initiating exit,” Baruch said. He hit several patches on his console and leaned back. The luminescent tunnel of yellow formed, wavering like windblown flames around the pointed nose of the fighter.

Amirah longed to scream or lash out in rage, but she only stared, waiting to see if a battle cruiser waited on the other side of vault.

Cole straightened up and caught the look on her face; he stopped. Hesitantly, he leaned forward to gaze through her visor into her anxious eyes.

“Just do what I tell you to,” he instructed. “Don’t be heroic. I don’t want to hurt you, Amirah.”

“I don’t have a heroic bone in my body, Cole.”

He cocked his head disbelievingly. “All those medals are for good looks, huh?”

“Pretty much.”

He rose, then, almost as an afterthought, playfully bumped helmets with her before going back to the copilot’s chair. An age-old symbol of camaraderie in space, the bump made Amirah’s throat go tight with the urge to shout or cry out. Why had he done that?
Because he’s a good soldier, Amirah—damn good. He knows you’re terrified and on the verge of doing something crazy. He’s trying to defuse your terror before you lash out. Sure. Right. It’s not because he likes you and doesn’t want you to feel so alone.

The rectangular forward screen began to flare with more purple than yellow and the ship lurched when the stars burst to life, streaking the heavens. Amirah frantically searched the blackness, seeking the object of their concern, but she could only make out the known configurations of the Mainz galactic environment.

Tahn leaned sideways, scrutinizing one of the screens above Baruch’s head. “On the money, Jeremiel. Good work. ETA is twenty minutes. No other ships on scanners.”

Baruch nodded, but the motion reeked of tension so powerful it felt palpable in the narrow command cabin. “Run a gravity wave search. They might still be on their way in.”

Cole’s fingers danced over the console. “No. Nothing. Looks like …” he exhaled a relieved breath, “like maybe we’ve just got one to face.”

“Affirmative. I’m magnifying. Maybe we can tell something from the ship’s external appearance.”

He input the commands. Through the portal, a battle cruiser appeared, its triangular wings gleaming silver in the pale starlight. The vessel sat quiet and unmoving. All its shields were down. It looked dead.

As they got closer, Amirah could read the numbers, IOD-45. She fell back against the wall, praying Jason still lived and had organized a countermove. Her gaze riveted to her cruiser. But the longer she stared, the more certain she grew that something strange was happening. She studied the unnatural cant of the ship, the darkened bridge.
What is this, Jason?

Baruch hit the communications patch, inhaled a deep breath and called, “Fighter
Yesod
to
Sargonid.
Do you read us, Mikael?”

They waited breathlessly, until finally a youthful voice announced, “Yes, Jeremiel. Thank God you’re here. We almost lost Engineering yesterday.”

Baruch glanced at Tahn, but Cole only glowered uncertainly at the com unit. “We’re here, Mikael. Can you open bay twenty-three for us?”

“Hold on.”

They all watched, Amirah sitting on the edge of her seat.
Who was Mikael? Mikael…
Calas?
Must be. Jason had captured the youth after all. How had Calas taken over Engineering?

For another fifteen agonizing minutes, Amirah watched as they sailed in silence for her ship. The bay doors edged open as they approached, revealing a brightly lit expanse of white deck tiles. Baruch piloted the fighter toward the entry and Amirah saw Tahn grind his teeth, eyes squinted.

Abruptly, irrationally, Baruch pounded a fist into the reverse thrust patch on his console. The
Yesod
lurched, throwing Amirah backward so suddenly her helmet banged the wall.

Jeremiel swiveled around in his chair to face Tahn. “She’s not ours—if she ever was.”

“How do you know?”

Baruch glared out the forward portal at the cruiser. “The sound of Mikael’s voice and the cant of the ship. Even on incremental power, Mikael would have had no problem keeping her upright. It’s supposed to look like an inexperienced hand is at the helm.”

Cole grimaced indecisively, then spun back around to take a hard look at the
Sargonid.
“Yes … maybe. This is too perfect. If I’d recaptured my ship and knew I had the chance to nab two top Underground leaders, make it look like there wasn’t anybody competent within parsecs.”

Tahn leaned back in his chair and Amirah fought to keep her breathing even. Almost as though he sensed her effort, Cole gave her a deadly look. “Well, Amirah, what do you think? Are we flying into a trap?”

She forced a wry smile and shrugged. Tahn smiled back, but the gesture felt like a knife against her throat. While they stared each other down, Baruch accessed the com again. “Mikael, put Yosef on.”

A few moments later, a feeble elderly voice responded, “Hello, Jeremiel.”

“Hello, Yosef. I’m looking forward to seeing you. Things are not well on Gamant planets around the galaxy and it will be good to see a familiar face.”

“What do you mean, things aren’t well? Horeb was so isolated we heard very little.” The old man’s voice quavered.

“We’ll discuss it tonight, Yosef. Suffice it to say that I heard from Nelda and the Magistrates have begun a major assault on Hinvoy.”

“Nelda?” Yosef asked uncertainly.

“Yes, Zadok’s wife.”

A long pause ensued. The com unit crackled as though staticky. Baruch and Tahn exchanged a knowing look, as if they suspected Magisterial delaying tactics.

Finally, Yosef’s voice came back. “Sorry, Jeremiel, we’re having problems here with the communications systems. Zadok’s wife has been dead for decades, I don’t understand what—”

“Thank you, Yosef. Please hold on.”

Baruch hit the patch to turn off the audio and pinioned Tahn with his blue eyes. Cole lifted a hand. “If Yosef had wanted to tip us off about a recent debacle, he could have simply played along.”

Jeremiel smoothed a glove over his knee. “If he had a choice. Would he play along if Woloc’s holding a gun to Mikael’s or Sybil’s head?”

Amirah watched the two men for a moment, then shifted to studying her cruiser. If Jason had managed to take the ship back, he’d have certainly set up something exactly like this. For the first time in fifteen years, she sent a prayer to Epagael begging Him to let it work.

“Let’s think of something else to ask them,” Tahn insisted. “Something more obscure.”

Baruch bent over his control console and hit the com patch. “Yosef? Put Sybil on, please.”

A long, long wait occurred, so long that Baruch’s face contorted. Finally …

“Jeremiel?” a frail feminine voice called. “I was down the hall. How are you?”

Baruch tipped his chin toward the ceiling, focusing on the overhead panels. “I’m fine, Sybil. Are you all right?”

“So far. We’re waiting for you and Captain Tahn to come and give us a hand. Lieutenant Woloc has attacked us three times. The last one was close. Without the hypinitronium vials, I’m sure we would have failed. Uncle Yosef threatened to drop one and Woloc backed off.”

Baruch once again searched Tahn’s face. Cole shook his head as though to say, “not good enough.”

“I understand. Sybil, I need to ask you a question. Do you remember the night you had the nightmare and you came to my room in the subterranean chambers of the Desert Fathers?”

“Yes, Jeremiel.” She laughed so sweetly, so fondly, that even Amirah reluctantly smiled. “You patted me to help me go to sleep. I haven’t forgotten.”

“Tell me again, what was your dream about that night, Sybil?”