Virri was not on the high command throne either, looking down at his ranks of pathetic workers. Instead, the fat, hulking form of a Leemuk, its green skin slick with slime, slouched there, staring at him with its weak, widely-space pink eyes. The enormous snaggled teeth clacked together as a swollen tongue snaked out to moisten the wide expanse of its exposed gums.
Disgusting creatures; its presence was just one more indignity he was forced to bear.
He was very nearly ready again to abandon this subtle game and take his chances with violence when a door off to the side hissed open and a pale figure stepped out, hurrying at him.
It was all Taurani could do to keep his eyes steady as the diminutive Iwa’Bantu female approached. So much like the plaything he had left in his chambers.
Her skin was alabaster pale, like all of her race, with a tracery of fine lines, like cracks in fine porcelain, running across it. It made them look like delicate statues that had been roughly handled, and he had always found himself drawn to the effect. Her features were refined, with thin, nearly nonexistent lips beneath a small nose. Her eyes were huge for her face, their ill-defined irises like pale blue stains on white ceramic. It was the only feature about the Iwa’Bantu he found off-putting. Their eyes seemed to radiate weakness and lack of purpose.
The female approaching him, wearing a dark tunic and loose pants that blended in with the almost-uniform of the rest of the control room staff, was Administrator Virri’s assistant and deputy, Iphini Bha. It had always been hard for him to read Iwa’Bantu faces, with their perpetually straight mouths and their big, sad eyes. If he had to guess, however, he would have said that Bha looked nervous, skipping between the work stations toward him.
Bha stopped and bowed slightly, her big eyes flicking from side to side. She was holding a metal stylus loosely in her hand, fidgeting with it as she bent low. It was a gratifying moment, as the bow was far deeper than anything Virri would have given him, if the beast had been present.
Taurani’s eyes flicked with memory, and he straightened from his own, minimal, nod. “Mistress Bha. Always a pleasure, but I believe my arranged and approved appointment was with Administrator Virri?”
Did her eyes flare at the name? It was so hard to tell. She nodded several times, her dainty hands clutched over her chest the stylus shivering in a way that seemed nervous to him. “Yes, Ambassador, of course.” She looked back over the room behind her. “If you would come with me to the administrator’s day chamber?” He was sure he caught her glancing at the hulking Leemuk, and he thought he saw the creature avert its tiny eyes.
Something was amiss within the control center, of that he was sure. And there was probably no way he would find out what it was without following Bha deeper into the mess. He wrinkled the patch of skin beneath his eyes and shrugged. Signaling for the Ntja guard to remain by the main door, he turned to follow the deputy back through the tangle of desks and stations at a more stately pace.
When the heavy door had hissed closed behind them, Bha turned to stare at the ambassador with her huge eyes, no expression on her pale, lined face. She was waiting for him to speak.
Taurani took a slow and measured turn about the room. It was cluttered, with items of cloth and paper scattered about in a haphazard manner. Images on the walls showed serene underwater scenes that moved with the living pulse of reality. In the corner was the heavy desk of the administrator, behind which sat the ugly grey tank-like seat that Virri could often be found sleeping in.
The tank was empty.
Taurani kept his demeanor calm as he turned slowly to regard Bha, who had pivoted in place to follow his move through the room. Her face betrayed nothing.
“He’s not here.” It was not a question. The administrator’s habits were well-known to the Ambassador. Taurani had been sent, after all, in part to oversee the creature’s downfall. He knew more about Uduta Virri than probably anyone else in this accursed city.
Bha’s head gave a slight shake, as if against her will. He made the hacking sound in his throat again. Such gestures were vile to him, and he could not fathom why any denizen of the galaxy, never mind an Iwa’Bantu such as Bha, would allow herself to use them.
“Speak, please. I can’t abide such head-bobbing.”
Bha swallowed visibly, then straightened. “Administrator Virri is currently away, Ambassador. He is expected back soon, however. I regret that he did not return in time for your appointment.”
Taurani stared into the weak, pale eyes. “He’s off again on one of his little adventures, and you did not think to inform me, despite my scheduled appointment?” His voice was soft and dangerous, and this time he was sure that Bha’s eyes had widened.
She broke eye contact first and moved to the desk, drawing one delicate finger across the surface. “No, I did not. I do apologize.”
Taurani almost nodded in satisfaction before he caught himself. “Might I know where he has absconded himself to? When might he return?”
Something occurred to the ambassador that he had been too agitated before to notice. “That Tigan mercenary of his is gone as well.” She could normally be found haunting the outer chamber, looking after the questionable well-being of her master.
Bha nodded again, unaware of the effect it was having on the tall ambassador. “Angara Ksaka accompanied the administrator on his current jaunt.”
Taurani was well-aware of the effect his lipless, cold expressions had on weaker beings, and he took great pleasure in using that now. “No, Bha, she did not.” Yes, those eyes were wider and wider. “Your entirely estimable principal has once again fled his responsibilities here, and your resident wanderer has had to take it upon herself to take to her precious ship and go off to drag him back.” His tight features shifted as he saw his barbs strike home. “Tell me, was he so incredibly short sighted as to be wearing the Skorahn when he ran away?”
The string of gems with its enormous central sapphire was the key to the entire city’s operation. If the Council found out Virri had left the protection of the city with the Skorahn, and he had not been informed in enough time to dispatch a team of Mnymian mercenaries or Ntja soldiers to try to wrest it from him, his stock would suffer. If any agent of the Council could get their hands on that little piece of jewelry, the entire elaborate structure they had spent so long putting into place would, in a moment, be rendered useless and unnecessary, and this place would fall without so much as a whimper.
“Where did he go?” The words were sharp, even in his own ears, and he cursed himself for not concealing the sudden rush of eagerness.
Bha, for her part, proved more resolute than anticipated. “The administrator is away, Ambassador. Anymore, I cannot say. Angara is with him, as I told you, and I am sure he is quite safe, wherever he might be.”
Taurani stared into her eyes. Within the brain behind them lay information that would see him elevated to the loftiest heights of the Council, and perhaps beyond, if only he could coax them from her. But alas, in the here and now that was his sorry lot, there was no way to do that. The best he could do was to intimidate her into giving something away. Anything that might reveal Virri’s whereabouts would be invaluable.
“I have every right to know where the administrator fled to, Bha. You know that.” He moved toward her, his shoulders hulking forward menacingly. “The diplomatic relationship between your little outpost here and the Council is tenuous at best. You would not wish to damage that bond, and see a Peacemaker fleet appear over your head, now, would you?”
She stared back at him, her huge eyes once again unreadable. A moment of silence stretched on, and she did not move. He tried his heavy stare again, but this time there was no reaction. He might well have been looking at a statue, forgotten in some far off garden.
Without warning, her shoulders slumped and she looked away. When she spoke, there was a break in her voice that soothed his frustrations of the day. “The administrator is gone, Ambassador.” She looked small, curling in upon herself. “I don’
t know where he went. Ksaka followed as soon as we realized he was gone.”
His sense of victory fell into cold ash in his mouth at the words. He knew he could trust Bha when she was so obviously reduced. Virri was gone, and the slippery eel would have left no trace of his intended destination. He could be almost anywhere.
Taurani sighed. He folded his long hands against each other and brought them slowly up to his chest as he calmed the tempest rising within his mind. Not only was he not going to be able to assess the advancement of the Council’s intentions with the bloated Virri, but the sudden, unforeseen opportunity to see them rushed to a hasty and satisfactory conclusion had been both offered and denied him, almost in a single breath.
It was nearly enough to cause even a seasoned diplomat to scream.
The Ambassador gave Bha another calm look, this time trying to warm it slightly, and inclined his head even deeper than he had when she first greeted him.
“I understand, Mistress Bha. Please accept my apologies for the … forcefulness, of my reaction.” He moved to the armored door, which hissed back at his approach. “These are difficult times for us all, and it would be much easier for me to do my job if your administrator were to better maintain a professional schedule. I shall have Iranse make arrangements for a meeting when Virri has returned, and is more inclined to discuss important matters.”
The female did not move from her position by the desk, only nodding again in her infuriatingly innocent fashion. The stylus whirring busily away.
As soon as he stepped through the hatch, the door slid shut behind him. The creatures at the stations around him studiously avoided his eyes as he strode toward the main hatch, which was once again closed. At least he understood that, now. Any hint of the administrator’s absence would be enough to tip the entire city into paranoid anarchy. Taurani considered himself an enlightened, steady-souled creature, but the thought of that necklace being away from the city for any length of time, while he himself was still stuck in it, was very nearly enough to drive him to thoughts of panic and retreat as well.
The Njta was where he had left it, of course. The big brute stood by the closed door, beady eyes lost in the middle distance, and made no sign of recognition as he walked past. The door opened, thankfully, as soon as he neared, and he strode through without slowing his long-legged pace. Behind him, the bodyguard followed in its customary silence.
So. Uduta Virri was away. Annoyance began to give way to excitement, as further possibilities began to present themselves in his mind.
Chapter 4
There was nothing beyond the view screens but utter, unrelieved blackness. Marcus slowly released the malleable arms of his chair, barely remembering the tight hold it had taken of him before they dropped into the … His head rose, and he stared upward. He could not pull his eyes away from the starless expanse that stretched off all around them. Beside him, Justin seemed equally absorbed by the view, and equally unwilling to break the heavy, deathly silence.
Their kidnapper, however, felt no similar restraint. The strange woman pushed herself from her seat and rose before them, the glowing orb of light dispersing behind her. She stretched in a way that would have been quite distracting, if Marcus had not been busy accounting for an entire life left behind, and a physics-defying plunge into what should have left them all dead, their atoms stretched across the solar system.
She turned and looked down at the two silent men, a slight smile on her dark lips. Marcus noted, with some cold part of his brain still functioning despite the shock, that the white teeth peeking out from behind that grin seemed to be inordinately sharp.
After a moment’s fluttering blink, the woman looked back down at them with the same smile and spoke a single word. “Thirsty?”
Marcus thought for a moment. His last drink, in the comedy club, watching second-rate comedians to take his mind off his problems while Justin played poker in the high stakes back room, had been several hours and what felt like a lifetime ago. Even so, right about then he thought he would have almost killed for another of those watered down vodka tonics. Somehow he doubted that anything so ordinary was in store, but his throat had gone dry at the thought, and he remembered all the smoke, dust, and terror that had ravaged it in the recent past.
He nodded quickly, looking over to where Justin was making the same gesture with equal energy. There was something about the woman’s smile that scratched painfully at the back of his mind, but he knew he couldn’t focus on anything much for long at the moment. His eyes drifted back out to the darkness beyond the strange ship. The longer he stared, the more he felt as if he could almost see colors swirling around deep within the empty void. He was shaken by an involuntary shudder as he realized that he could not name any of the colors he thought he might be seeing.
The woman pushed aside a curtain and came back up onto the deck. She was still smiling that disturbing smile, but his eyes were locked on the clear cups she held. Whatever was inside them was clear as well, and as he reached out for the offered vessel, he stopped, eyes narrowing, and looked up at her. Flicking his eyes between hers and the glass, he tilted his head in a silent question.
She paused, her face tight, then blinked, looked down, and spat out, “Water.”
If he didn’t trust her about some things, he was soon going to starve or die of thirst. While he was torturing himself, though, Justin grabbed for the other glass and tossed the entire contents down his throat in one convulsive throw.
Justin lowered the empty glass with a smile, his good humor returning, and tilted his own head toward their host. “Got any more where that came from?”
She smiled and took the glass while Marcus accepted his own. He sipped. It was cool, and wet, and clear. There was no aftertaste, or anything else he imagined he might experience from a poisoned drink. He took another sip, screwing up his face as he tried to ascertain if he was suffering any numbness in his mouth. There was nothing. His throat felt better already, and with one last glance between Justin and the woman, he tossed the rest of the water down.
She took the glass from him with another smile, and his feeling of unease grew. Rather than take the glasses back behind the curtain, or put them down, she merely took a step back, away from them, her smile growing wider.
Her teeth were definitely pointed.
He turned to ask Justin how he felt, when his stomach clenched as if he had been sucker punched. A sudden, terrible burning swept from his belly outward to the very tips of his fingers and toes at incredible speed. His back arched painfully, slamming him against the soft chair, and he felt himself slowly lowered backward, every muscle in his body immobilized in one massive cramping seizure.
He rolled his eyes wildly, taking in his strange surroundings as fear and anger boiled up in his mind. He found the woman, standing above him, her smile unchanged, looking down. She raised one of the glasses in an unmistakable salute, and he fell back, lifted and dropped by the traitor chair that had held him safely through their entire ascent.
It seemed as if he fell forever, but then there was an impact, a cold, rushing sensation and a crashing sound that filled his ears and his world. He was swallowed by a frigid reality that shocked all other thoughts from his already battered mind.
Water. Where had water come from? The floor behind his chair had been solid when he walked across it not that long ago.
And then there was only darkness.
*****
Angara watched the two Humans fall into the hibernation chambers with a smile she did not try to hide. She felt filthy just having such creatures walk the deck plates of the Yud’ahm Na’uka. This had never been a dream job, but it had at least promised legitimacy of a certain kind. Watching over a personage such as the administrator, even a cretin like Uduta Virri, had lent her purpose. It had been a stepping stone to earning herself a place in a society that might come to accept her as more than just a Tigan, and a Tigan outcast at that.
She knew her people were not well-regarded in the mor
e mainstream currents of galactic society. She had once thought that maybe being an exile from such a reviled race would lend her a certain amount of legitimacy. Instead, most of those she encountered assumed that, because the wandering Tigan had cast her out, she must be even lower than they were! It had made her life as difficult as exile was intended to be.
Securing a position as the personal guard and security specialist of the administrator of Penumbra had been the best she could have hoped for. Those wishing to deal with Virri had been forced to put their contempt for her aside if they wanted to get anything done in his domain. It had almost been worth all of the grief he had put her through since she had accepted the position.
She went to put the glasses away. She did not usually carry such nanite cocktails, but Virri had insisted she have some on hand in case he wished to … liaise … with any aboriginals he encountered during his many forays away from home. She was glad she had them now, of course. They had not been intended for use with Humans, but she believed they would do the job adequately. She hoped so, anyway.
Returning to the command deck, she crouched down between the two hibernation chambers the Yud’ahm Na’uka had brought up behind the Humans while they were distracted by her wormhole jump. She could just make out their outlines beneath the frosted surface of the observation ports. Somewhere within was Uduta Virri’s most prized possession. She couldn’t believe it. She knew if she returned without the administrator, she might as well not have returned at all. But returning with the Skorahn, she might just be able to salvage something from this whole debacle. And as tempting as putting the damn thing on herself might be, she had seen how miserable it had made him, and had no desire to join him in his suicidal search for distraction and release.
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