Salene's Secrets (25 page)

“Here goes,” he said, holding one finger over a key for a long moment before pressing it firmly.

“How long will it take?” Jon asked.

“It depends on how far away she is,” Kar replied.  “We should give it a minute at least.”  Forty two seconds later a green dot appeared at the bottom of the vid screen and began flashing.  “We got it,” Kar said with barely restrained excitement. 

“Where is it?” Talus asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Kar said as he began typing again.  “That green dot just tells us that the activation signal was accepted by the tracking dot.”  He hit another key and once again they waited.  Twenty two seconds later the green dot moved from the bottom of the screen to a spot somewhere in the center of the star map Kar had pulled up.  “There she is,” Kar said, his heart racing in his chest with a combination of fear and relief.  He hit the same key he’d hit before, sending the ping once again to be sure.  Then he began trying to identify the origin of the initial response ping.

“What is it?” Talus asked when Kar stopped typing and sat staring at the screen.

“I’m not certain,” he replied slowly.  “Give me a minute, please.”

“At least tell us what you’re thinking, Kar,” Talus said.

“A return ping originating from a person in a life pod in space would arrive here essentially unchanged from the way it was transmitted.  But this signal had a definite refraction gradient and is slightly redshifted.  The first response ping was not sent from a pod drifting in space.”  Just then the second ping caused the green dot to flash faster, indicating it came from the same source, in the same location as the first one.  Kar went back to work while Talus and Jon forced themselves to hold their tongues and be patient. 

“It’s been refracted by a large, nearly spherical object,” Kar said.  “The redshift is an Einstein shift caused by gravity.”

“And that means what, exactly?” Talus asked.

“It means that she’s on a planet.”

“Why in the seven hells would a life pod land on a planet?” Jon demanded.

“I have an idea about that,” Kar said with obvious reluctance.  He raised one hand and pointed to a spot on his vid screen.  “This is her location.” 

“We can see that, Kar, and we can also see that there’s nothing there,” Talus said.  “Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake with that profile?  Because it looks to me like she’s still floating around in a life pod.”

“No mistake,” Kar replied flatly.

Jon gasped as the pieces fell into place.  “She’s on a planet hidden by Blind Sight.”

“
Demii
!” Talus swore.  “That’s why that space station was in this area.”

“It also explains why the pod landed,” Kar said.  “It wouldn’t have detected the planet until it was too late to avoid it.”

“How long will it take us to get to the source of that ping?” Talus asked.

“Dragging that space station behind us, about eight hours,” Jon replied. 

“Then we best get moving.” 

Jon nodded and turned away while tapping his vox to speak with Captain Royce. 

“Good work, Kar,” Talus said, squeezing his shoulder. 

“I’m just glad you remembered it,” Kar said.  “I might have caught it when I opened the data package, but we’ve been so busy searching for Salene that I probably would have waited another couple of days before doing that.”

“Captain Royce is altering our course,” Jon said.  “Is there anything else?”

“Yes, there is,” Talus said.  “I remembered the conversation we had after Salene fell asleep that night.  Do either of you remember it?”

Kar and Jon both frowned as they cast their minds back.  After a moment Kar shook his head.  “I don’t, sorry.”

“I do,” Jon said, still frowning.  “We were trying to weave a shield around her and our first attempt failed.  After Salene fell asleep I said something about feeling like we were being dishonest with her.”  He looked at Talus.  “You didn’t agree.”

“I agreed it felt wrong, but not that we should change what we were doing,” Talus said.  “I think I’ve changed my mind, though.”

“You
think
?”

“My gut is telling me that we need to wait until we actually see Salene before deciding one way or the other.”

“I agree,” Kar said and, after a moment, Jon nodded his agreement as well.

“However,” Talus said pointedly, “It occurred to me that it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared, just in case.”

“Prepared how?”

“With a set of rings, gold preferably.”

Jon’s mouth stretched in a slow smile and his eyes darkened with barely restrained excitement.  “I can certainly manage that.”

“Good,” Talus said.  “While you make the rings, Kar will monitor the ping, and I’ll go back to my room to send an update to Uncle Olaf.”

“With pleasure,” Jon said, already moving toward the door.  After he was gone Talus looked down at Kar. 

“Let me know if anything about that ping changes in the slightest, would you?”

“I won’t take my eyes off of it, I promise.”

Chapter
11

Salene awoke the next morning feeling fuzzy headed.  She was surprised to find that the fire was burning and she was pretty sure she smelled tea which was nice, but not nearly as nice as coffee would have been.  She sat up slowly and checked the children who were both still sleeping. 

“Good morning Jinjie, Tonka,” she said in a low voice so as not to wake the children.

“Good morning,” Jinjie and Tonka both replied at the same time.  Salene winced and looked at the children again.

“Do be not worry for noise.  Me do be putting silence bubble on them what will break after they wake.”

“That’s good,” Salene said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes while wishing, just for a moment, that she could take a long, hot shower.  When she looked up again there was a wooden cup with steam rising from it floating just in front of her.  She plucked it out of the air.  “Thank you.”

“Do be welcome,” Jinjie said.  “You no do be sleeping good?”

“Not really,” she replied before sipping her tea.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,”
Tonka said, rising to his feet.

Salene nodded, already knowing he was heading for a small cave further along the tunnel that they’d been using as their bathroom.  It was cold and dark, but it beat going out into the snowstorm.  If they planned to stay in the cave for a few days, Salene knew she’d to have to dig a trench or two.

“You do being tense,” Jinjie commented after Tonka was gone.

“I woke up sometime in the middle of the night with a strong feeling that the Gryphons were coming toward us, and I still feel it,” she said in a low voice.  “It’s confusing because Wolef said my psychic ability would be overwhelmed by the dragon power.”  She frowned.  “Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I also remember him saying that I
might
be able to feel traces of it.  Maybe that’s what’s happening.  I don’t honestly know.  Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.”  Jinjie remained silent and she glanced up at him in time to catch his expression before he could hide it.  She wasn’t completely surprised by the grimace she’d caught since she’d seen it before, but she’d never asked about it.  This time, she decided, she wanted to know.  “Why do you dislike the Gryphons so much?”

Jinjie set his cup down on the log beside him, then looked Salene in the eyes for a long moment.  “Do be sure you do be wanting answer.”

“I’m sure,” Salene said, confused by the warning. 

“On
Armadura
, Landor Bear do be worried for you.” 

“He asked you to keep an eye on me?”

“Me do be keep eye only if you do be leaving room.  When you do be visit Gryphons, me do be stay out.”

“How good is your hearing?”

“Jotunn do be hear good,” he said, then picked his tea up again without looking at her.

“You heard, didn’t you?”

Jinjie dipped his head once in a single affirmative nod.  Salene tensed, her breath catching in her throat.  Jinjie noticed and raised one hand, palm out.  “Do be not worry.  Me do be not speaking on what do be private.”

“Thank you, Jinjie,” she said, relaxing.

“Salene do be welcome, but do be no need to thank for what do be right.”

“Nevertheless, I thank you.”  Salene sipped her tea, looked toward the children, and then turned to Jinjie again.  “There’s something I need to tell you.”  Jinjie looked at her expectantly.  “Do you know what a Controller is?”

Jinjie hissed and his brown eyes went cold and dark.  “Evil.  Controllers do be evil.”

Salene nodded in full agreement with that.  “The reason I suddenly decided to go to Garza is that I think the Gryphons had, or have, Controllers.”

Jinjie thought about that for a few moments.  “They do be prisoners for many days,” he conceded.

“There’s more,” Salene said.  “A few days ago I got a message from Aisling Gryphon.  The gel I collected from the tanks the Doftles put the Gryphons in got misplaced, but after we left Jasan they found it and sent it to be analyzed.  I’ve always had a bad feeling about that gel, beyond the radioactive particles that were in it.  I was waiting for the results of the analysis when Captain Jake ordered us to the launch bay.  I wanted something more solid than a
feeling
before I told anyone about this, but time ran out.  So I sent a message to my sister Tani on Garza before we left the map room.”

“Yes, me do be remembering that.  What do be message?”

“I asked her to force the Gryphons to shift.  I didn’t have time to tell her more than that, but Tani wouldn’t have worried about details.  She’d want a full explanation later, but she would have done what I asked
if
my message got through the meteor shower, and
if
she got it before the Gryphons left Garza, and
if
I’m right and they had Controllers.”  Salene sighed heavily.  “It’s a lot of
ifs
, I know that, but that’s better than no
ifs
at all.”

“Me do be sorry, Salene,” Jinjie said, his tiny shoulders slumping. 

“What are you sorry about?” she asked in surprise.

“My should do be checking at Gryphons’ Controllers,” he said, his Standard slipping in his distress.  “Magic do be weak then, but after do being at Jasan and strong growing, me do be should checking.”

“Jinjie, this isn’t your fault,” Salene said gently.  “I should have suspected something was wrong when they told me they didn’t want to link.  I should have had more faith in them.  But I didn’t.  I didn’t see it until long after I should have.”

“Do be not your fault, also,” Jinjie said, but he saw that his words fell on deaf ears.  She insisted that he not blame himself, but refused to do the same on her own behalf.  “Why do be asking on shifting?”

Salene took a moment to decipher that.  “Oh, why did I want them to shift?”  Jinjie nodded. “Because shifting is a kind of magic that comes from inside each living cell of a Clan Jasani.  The Jasani changes and transforms, altering and moving every cell in the body, but the magic doesn’t change the Controller to fit the new form.  This causes the nano-bots the Controller is made of to return to their liquid metal state, which the Jasani’s body rejects as an inert foreign mass.  As such, it’s forced out of the body during the shifting process, and ends up being left behind in a puddle on the floor.”

“That do be good to be knowing,” Jinjie said.  “Problem only do be they have Controller, or do be they not?”

“Exactly,” Salene said, then an idea hit her.  “You said that Controllers are evil, and you can sense evil.  Does that mean you can determine whether or not they have Controllers if you see them?”

“Yes, me do be can if do be close enough,” Jinjie said.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a while,” Salene said as she rose up on her knees and reached for the leftover stew and set it on the fire.  She sat back down just as Tonka returned.  “How did you two sleep?” 

“Jinjie do be sleep fine.”

“
As did I.”

Salene finished her tea and set her cup down, then reached for the survival pack and began rummaging through it until she found the signal transponder.  It appeared to be inactive, but it was the only item in the pack that would logically contain a tracker.  “Maybe they’re pinging this somehow,” she said doubtfully, then put it down to fix herself a fresh cup of tea. 

“What is
pinging
?”
Tonka asked.

“It’s when one device sends a signal to another device, then isolates the return signal to see where it came from.”

“
Is this a good thing?”

“That depends.  There are three men who I think are heading toward us, but I don’t know how they’re doing it.  I’m not even sure they
are
doing it.  It’s just a feeling I have.”

“You are nervous about these men,”
Tonka observed. 
“Are they your enemies?”

“No, they’re my destined mates,” Salene said.  “I have reason to believe that the Doftles put something in their brains that made them act differently than they should have, but I didn’t figure it out until recently.  I think the Controllers have been destroyed, if they existed at all, but I don’t know for certain.”

“If they’re under the control of the Doftles, I will not allow them to cause harm to you, Jinjie, or the children,”
Tonka said with a distinct growl in his voice.

“Thank you, Tonka,” Salene said.  “If they do show up Jinjie will be able to determine whether they have Controllers or not.  If they do, we’ll just have to find some way to force them to shift.”

“Jinjie can be doing that, Highness.”

“
Highness
?” Tonka asked in surprise.  “
You’re royalty?”
  Salene wrinkled her nose at Jinjie, who gave her an apologetic look. 

“I am,” she admitted.

“
I hope I’ve not offended you by being too informal.”

“Not at all,” Salene assured him.  “We Jasani don’t much care about things like that except in formal situations.”  She used one of the big wooden spoons to stir the stew while trying to maintain an outer calm that she didn’t feel.  She needed to divert herself.  “I don’t really know if the Gryphons will show up here, or even how they’d find us if they did.  But if they DO by some chance show up, or if anyone else does for that matter, the first thing they’re going to want is for us to leave this world.  It would probably be best if we decide what we want to do before that happens so we can present a united front.  Tonka?”

“I want to leave this place and all of its ugliness behind and never look back.  But I can’t.  I must fulfill my promise to Oberto.”

“And I cannot turn my back on the people being held here,” she said.  “At the same time, keeping the children with us if we have an opportunity to see them safe wouldn’t be right.”

“We want to stay with you, Salene,” Mali said, surprising her.  She looked over to see the little girl lying with a sleeping Tab curled against her.  “We won’t get in the way, I promise.  Please?”

Salene looked into Mali’s frightened eyes, her heart twisting in her chest at the thought of sending them away.  She’d been kidding herself, she realized.  From the moment she’d seen Mali and Tab in that dank, dark pit she’d felt connected to them.  Something inside of her had known all along that she needed to find these two children.  That’s what the yearning sensation had been about all along.  She didn’t know where it had come from, or how, or even why, but it didn’t matter.  It didn’t matter that she’d known them for only a day.  It didn’t matter that she had a power bond with a dragon.  It didn’t matter that she was sworn to fight the Doftles.  It didn’t matter whether the Gryphons had Controllers or not, or even if they approved or not.  Unless Mali and Tab had objections themselves, she was going to keep these children and raise them as her own. 

“First of all, you and Tab will
never
be in my way,” she said emphatically.  “I want you to try to remember that.  If you’re ever in doubt, ask me and I’ll remind you.  Okay?”  Mali’s eyes widened in surprise but she nodded her head.  “Good girl.  Second of all, if I do send you up to a ship it will
only
be because I want you to be safe.  Not for any other reason.  As soon as I can I’ll come and get you, or I’ll come and join you so we can all leave this world together.  All right?”

“All right,” Mali replied softly, the corners of her mouth turned up in a tiny smile.  Salene helped Mali to sit up without waking Tab, gave her a kiss on the forehead, then made her a cup of hot apple juice.

When Mali was settled she returned to her place and checked the stew again, her stomach growling hungrily.  “How far did you say we are from the silo, Tonka?”

“It took three full days, and sometimes part of a fourth for Oberto to reach the silo from the clearing where you found us yesterday.  But Oberto had a bad limp which required that he walk slowly and rest often.”

“We could probably walk it in half that time,” Salene said.  “Do you think that’s about right?”

“I would agree except that the snow will slow us down. I took a quick look outside this morning and it appears to be quite deep.  I think it’ll take us nearly as long as it would have taken Oberto without the snow.”

“Good point.  What do you think Jinjie?  Do you want to come and see what the Doftles are up to here?”

“It do be risky.  But, Jinjie do be prisoner for hundreds of your years.  If you do be making trouble on Doftles, Jinjie do be helping.”

“That’s a very long time to be a prisoner,”
Tonka said. 
“Are you sure about this, Jinjie?”

Jinjie met Tonka’s gaze and nodded firmly.  “Me do be sure.”

“And you, Salene?  Are you certain this is what you want to do?  I can go alone as long as I know the children are with you.”

“I’m definitely going,” Salene said. 

“In that case, I have something to tell you that you should know before you do this.”