Summoning Light (24 page)

That was the site of Morden's third contact with Shadow technology. Unfortunately, Elric knew nearly nothing of this final expedition, except that it had ended in the explosion of the archaeological team's ship, the Icarus, and the alleged death of all aboard. The records had been removed completely from the system, existing only as hard copy in a government safe. Elric now believed it was on this third expedition, six months after the death of his wife and child, that Morden had made actual contact with the Shadows and had become their servant.

If that was the case, then perhaps the Shadows had bought him with the promise of revenge against the terrorists. As far as the official records showed, the perpetrators had never been captured. But that didn't mean they had not been caught privately, and killed. That would make the necklace a sign of remembrance and love. But how could that be possible? How could a servant of the Shadows, an agent of chaos and death, feel love?

Perhaps Morden wore the necklace simply out of habit. Elric remained uncertain, a state he disliked.

"You will not hold us here," Elric said. "You destroyed our ship, but you will not stop us from leaving." He scanned the dark corridor for any signs of static. His sensors revealed a strange energy emanating from the smiling Morden, but nothing else. He continued to scan, recording his findings in case they might later be of use.

Morden's hands unfolded, palms up. "This plan of yours is madness." His voice was smooth, threatening. "At first we didn't believe you'd go through with it. Now: Do your people want to die so badly?"

"Do your masters need us so badly? Or is it that they fear us?" There, at the upper end of the infrared spectrum, he found them, just as Galen had described. Two bodies of static, behind Morden, one on each side. Their angled silhouettes, crawling with white dots of unresolvable interference, somehow seemed to convey malice. So there were at least two Shadows on the station. Had they come to kill him, if he refused their offer, so that the rest would be frightened into accepting?

Morden brought his palms together, and his smile grew. "Creatures who break and run are more vulnerable than those who remain in their places of power."

Elric inclined his head. "Yet those who stand in the way of a stampede are trampled." The energy coming from Morden was similar to what Galen had detected on Zafran 8, from a Drakh. The Drakh had been receiving a communication from a nearby Shadow. Elric realized Morden must have some sort of receiver implanted in his brain. The Shadows were communicating with him, perhaps telling their puppet what to say. It was strange, Elric thought, that they were so insecure in their control.

"Your threats are empty," Morden said. "Your people are weak. You've crippled yourselves. It's a tragedy, really. So pointless." Morden lowered his hands, and his face contracted with false concern. "You don't look well, Elric. When was it I saw you? Only a few months ago. You've aged twenty years. " Morden approached him, and the shapes of static came forward as well, their motion suggesting, somehow, the solid, structural movement of bodies – one area momentarily resembling a limb, another a head. They were blocking him from seeing them, yet they could not block him completely. "Wouldn't you like your health back? Your power?"

Elric stood his ground. "I made my choices. I live with them. And I will die with them."

Morden stopped, very close now, the Shadows right behind him. "Perhaps you aren't concerned for yourself. But what about those in your care? You're one of the great Circle that leads the mages. Do you want to lead them all to their deaths?"

"We lead them where we must."

"And you'll decide for all of them? Make no mistake, Elric; this is our last offer. A mutually beneficial alliance. Accept and they live. Refuse and they die."

"Then they die."

In the dim light, Morden's even white teeth seemed almost to glow. "You say that so easily. What about your apprentice, Galen? You trained him exceptionally well. We've been watching him, and he shows great promise. Do you want him to die?"

Fear froze Elric into silence. He could not tell if Morden knew where Galen was, if Morden knew Galen was not on the station.

"Does he know your secret, Elric? What do you think he would do if he were told? Who do you think he would hate most?"

Elric's fear turned to fury, and his voice boomed in the narrow passage. "Stay away from him."

"Is that a request? Because I'd be happy to do that for you, if you would do something for me."

Elric conjured a fireball in his hand and seized the back of Morden's neck with that same hand, grinding the heat into the Shadows' servant. "It is an order! From one with the power to teach you obedience."

As Morden screamed out, the chain of his necklace melted, and the stone dropped down his chest into Elric's free hand. Morden failed to notice it, preoccupied as he was with pain.

Elric shoved him to the side and took a few quick steps past the Shadows, toward Down Below.

Morden hunched over, gasping. His eyes glittered with black anger. It was not only Morden's anger, Elric realized, but the Shadows' as well. They were enraged that he would treat their messenger with such contempt. Well, Elric had anger of his own. Let them learn what it meant to threaten Galen. And let their rage blind them to his designs.

"That was a mistake," Morden said from behind the twin figures of static. After a few moments he straightened, and again he smiled, though this time the smile seemed more labored. "If you want our silence, then work with us. No one needs to know. With your cooperation, you can buy the lives of all the mages."

"And what did you buy with your cooperation?" Elric held up the necklace. "Whose lives? Whose deaths?"

The smile vanished from Morden's face. "I want that back." Those words, Elric sensed, came from Morden alone.

"It means nothing to you," Elric said. "I read your article on the Anfran love incantation. You translated the key line as 'The love that abides no borders.' You loved them, once. Yet they are dead and here you are. If you truly loved them, and you truly abide no borders, you would have killed yourself to be with them." Elric allowed the stone to swing slightly from his fingers, and Morden's eyes followed it. "You are not what you once were," Elric said. "They have changed you. You are their slave."

Morden's eyes shifted from the stone to Elric, and his expression darkened. "You're as much a slave as I am. You were bought, just like me."

"I am not a slave," Elric said, "so long as I can do this." He tossed the stone toward Morden, turned, and walked away.

As he set one foot after the next down the dim passage, he waited for the Shadows to attack.

No attack came.

Of course a murder here could be messy, and noisy, and draw the attention of the captain. It would be better for the Shadows to kill them all together, after they had boarded their ship and cleared the station. A malfunction could be blamed, and no wrongdoing suspected.

Elric descended another steep, narrow staircase, finding his legs shaking with either exhaustion or fear, or both. He had rejected the Shadows' final offer of alliance. They would turn their full efforts to the destruction of the techno-mages.

His plan was all that stood in their way. The success of that plan was now in doubt, with Shadows on the station. He would have to make certain they were kept away at the critical moment, so they could not uncover the mages' illusions.

Elric's legs gave way, and he stumbled down several stairs before he regained control. He sat on the bottom step, unable to continue. He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. His heart was pounding in time with the throbbing in his head. He had many things to attend to, yet only a single thought penetrated the pain: Galen. He was in danger.

Gowen appeared at Elric's side. "May I help?"

Gowen had been waiting for his return. Elric straightened, though he felt he could not safely stand. "How is Ing-Radi?"

"She is weak, but improved. I left her resting."

"The Crystal Cabin has arrived?"

"Yes. Just a few minutes ago. The Zekhite is on schedule to arrive tomorrow."

"And Londo?" He could check himself, but he did not have the energy or the focus.

"Alwyn sent the computer demon into his datasystem as soon as your meeting ended. His money is being reinvested into worthless companies, and his files are being destroyed, all in a very loud, obnoxious way. He's very unhappy with us right now."

"Galen asked you to watch over me."

Gowen looked down, embarrassed. "Yes. Just as I asked him to watch over Blaylock."

Elric pushed himself to his feet. "You have fulfilled your promise. But know that Ing-Radi needs your attention much more than I do."

Gowen said nothing, his anxious eyes on Elric. Elric continued toward their place in Down Below. Gowen followed.

Blaylock, Elric knew, would watch over Galen to the best of his abilities. But what if Blaylock was incapacitated? Galen had no power to heal. He could be left alone.

And now, Elric had angered the Shadows. What better way for them to strike back at him than through Galen? If they knew where he was. After Morden's threat, Elric felt compelled to take some action. He had given up everything for the mages, except Galen.

And Galen he would not give up.

Galen and Blaylock wound their way through the maze of streets toward the City Center. Through their probe, they watched as the Drazi Rabelna Dorna walked a few blocks ahead, briefcase in hand. She seemed to know her way.

As the day had not been bright, the night was not dark. The city lights reflected off the smoke and soot in the air, giving it an eerie grey glow. The height of buildings, the narrowness of the streets, the concentration of beings all increased as the two of them neared their goal. Despite the late hour, the area was filled with activity, and Shadows were plentiful.

Here, at last, Galen found some pattern to the city. The curved streets revealed that it was, at its core, a circular maze, with the City Center its protected heart. Many streets ringed the area, while only this one, perhaps, allowed admittance.

As the massive black building came into view, Galen shivered. It stood two hundred stories tall, a dwarfing tower of glittering blackness against the glowing night sky. Rabelna disappeared inside. They would follow.

While Galen had finished his dinner, Blaylock had reviewed all that he'd learned over the afternoon. He had followed Rabelna from the port to the City Center. Through his probe, he'd watched as she had ridden to the top floor and met with a Drakh. Rabelna had offered information to report, information about techno-mages. The Drakh had told her to return that night.

Blaylock had lingered outside the building for most of the afternoon, attempting to penetrate the city's datasystems as he planted probes on many of those coming and going from the Center. It was then he saw a young woman coming from the building. She had long blond hair and wore a short pink dress. Blaylock had said he sensed some odd electromagnetic radiation coming from her, and when he studied it, he found the three frequencies in the ultraviolet in which mages hid signs. A microelectronic emitter had been planted on her forehead, and when Blaylock combined the three frequencies in the way known only to mages, he found encoded in the signal a rune, the rune signifying Killer.

Blaylock had searched for information on her, had found that her name was Bunny Oliver. She was twenty-eight years old, a P12 telepath supposedly held in the Greenfield Internment Camp on Earth because of "severe sociopathic disorders."

Blaylock had concluded she must have been the telepath chosen by Elizar, and she must have aided in Kell's death.

At this Galen had objected. Elizar had killed Kell, not a telepath.

"No," Blaylock had said. "Elizar was surely the one to flay Kell, yet that was done after Kell's death. He died of a heart attack, one so massive I believe he must have induced it himself, to prevent the telepath from gaining information."

Galen did not like the idea that Kell had killed himself. He'd been sure it was Elizar. Yet if Elizar had engineered the situation, and had flayed Kell afterward, what difference did it make? He knew Elizar was a murderer. He had seen it with his own eyes.

Blaylock believed Kell had planted the emitter, possibly as his last, dying act. Yet Elizar and the others would certainly have seen the signal, would have realized what it was. Why had they not removed it?

Perhaps they had no fear of other mages finding Bunny here, on the rim. Or perhaps the signal was meant as a lure for any mages who did find their way here – a lure to bring them to Elizar, Razeel, and Tilar.

Blaylock had kept his distance from Bunny, and directed Galen to do the same. Her powers were strong, and if she suspected them and tried to scan them, she would quickly discover they were techno-mages. Yet somehow they must learn all they could of her plans. If other techno-mages were to be captured, questioned, or killed, Bunny would likely be involved.

For Galen, Bunny's appearance was the best news he'd had since arriving on the planet. If Elizar's telepath was here, then Elizar might well be here. Though he could not sense Elizar's mage energy, Galen believed he might be close. Perhaps in this very building. If Bunny was a lure, Galen would gladly take the bait.

Energy raced through him, ready, eager to be used. Perhaps, finally, the time would come to release it.

Galen's attention was drawn to the narrow street before him. Ten feet ahead, among the passersby, an angular body of static stood motionless, blocking his path. Galen approached the Shadow with even steps, maintaining his direction. He could not reveal that he knew it was there.

The shape subtly shifted, and Galen was suddenly certain that it was looking at him. Would it sense his mage energy?

He forced his heavy feet forward. The Shadow was eight feet ahead, six, four. At last, with the hint of some strange, scissorlike action, the shape moved to the side, and Galen passed by, nearly brushing against it.

They still knew little about the Shadows, not even what their enemy looked like. The Shadows had lived for tens of thousands of years. They were far more ancient than the Taratimude that had given birth to the techno-mages; their powers were vast. Blaylock had said that the moment he and Galen were recognized as techno-mages, they would have only one chance – to run. He had purchased two tickets on a transport leaving at dawn.