TL burpled to her.
“No, thank you, I don’t need any help.”
He bipped.
“Yes, TL, I’m sure.”
But with her compost bio-waste bags left on New Earth in her backpack, maybe . . .
“I’ll call you when I’m done and you can sanitise with your lasers.”
She did the necessary then cleaned up with a couple of anti-B wipes from a pocket. TL appeared when she’d barely readjusted her clothing, and she shuffled out from behind the boulder.
“Ready?” T’Hargen asked.
“I am. Where to?”
“Your drone has sent coordinates of the location of the abductees to my scanner.”
“Lead on then.”
“We will proceed with all caution, Kathryn. I have no way of substantiating the veracity or trustworthiness of the information.”
She sighed.
It’s in his nature that trust must be earned. And in all fairness, in his line of work, it’s a survival trait.
Besides, it was altogether possible she was being a tad cavalier placing all her faith in her instincts. It was probably best that at least one of them was on the que vive, and she couldn’t think of a better candidate than T’Hargen. She nodded her understanding and fell in beside him as he walked away. Her boots pressed into a hard surface, and through occasional clear patches of the mist swirling around her legs, she glimpsed pastel-grey pavers, edged with—she squinted in the pale light—rose.
Lovely.
Fifty or so feet away, bare trunks, mere shadows in the fog, bordered the area on three sides.
“This looks like a town square.”
“It certainly appears to have been designed to withstand traffic,” T’Hargen agreed, striding forwards and gazing about.
Ahead, bright, colourful pinpoints of light flickered through the mist. Whizzing about at extraordinary speed and halting mid-flight with abrupt stillness, they seemed to remain within a few feet of a focal point. Desiccated leaves crunched beneath their boots as they neared. Resting on a three-foot pedestal, a white stone basin, filled to the brim with water, supported a— Yes, that was definitely a nymph, flowing hair and all. Every now and then, one of the bright dots zipped to the water, and delicate ripples fanned out from contact with the surface. She halted and turned to T’Hargen, curving her lips in delight.
“They look like fireflies.”
“Fireflies?”
“Mmm. Small, bioluminescent, winged insects from Earth, though ours don’t come in so many colours.” She turned her gaze back to the fantasy creatures. “It’s like they took on the shades of a rainbow.”
“They are indeed . . . pleasurable to gaze upon.”
She sent him a querying glance. “That sounded dubious. Don’t you like them?”
“I have not paused to appreciate such beauty in a long time.”
Oh.
“Thank you, Kathryn.”
“For what?”
“For opening my mind again to all that there is.”
A great surge of compassion welled within her for the dreadful things he’d endured and what he’d done to himself to cope with those events.
She gave him a cheery grin. “Hey, you want your mind opened, I’m your girl.”
Intense possessive calculation condensed within his stare. Heat rose from her belly in a prickling rush and invaded her breasts with sensual fingers.
“I will keep that in mind, Kathryn.”
TL pipped a—
Frenzied buzzing filled the air, overriding his comment. The fireflies swarmed upwards, banded into a solid formation—no, a solid form, half again as large as TL—and pulsed orange-red. Needle-like shafts bristled from its cone-like shape.
T’Hargen gripped her elbow as she took a step back. Angry-sounding susurrations threatened from their left. Their right. She spun towards the nearest.
TL faced down a creature twice his size. The aggregate insect, like the one before them, darted up, then down. TL tracked its motion. T’Hargen’s hand firmed on her elbow, pulling her towards him.
“Come, Kathryn,” he murmured. “Make no sudden movements.”
She let T’Hargen guide her, unable to drag her eyes from the creatures’ threatening postures. The second creature lunged towards them. TL fired. The organism exploded into fragments. Some dropped to the ground and lay inanimate. Most reformed and speared towards them. Her heart leaped to her throat as though it would flee without her if she didn’t leg it.
“Run!”
Chapter 7
T’Hargen’s bellow mingled with Kat’s, spurring her on. He shot at a creature before them. It scattered into myriad individuals. The buzzing increased in volume. Adrenaline erupted in her veins. Arms swinging, legs pumping, she barrelled side-by-side with T’Hargen across the paved area and into the trees as he fired at the attacking creatures. She dodged round a trunk and risked a glance over her shoulder. TL flew backwards, firing repeatedly. Half a dozen composite insects charged in their wake.
Her foot snagged on something. She stumbled, fell to her knees, then leaped upright. A huge conglomeration of fireflies rose before them. More insects spiralled up to join the main body from—she dropped her gaze—a small, mutilated mammalian form. Blue life-blood pumped from horrible wounds. A dreadful wheeze underscored its agonised and laboured breathing.
She swallowed bile. “Oh, God, it’s still alive.”
T’Hargen swung his laser and fired at the poor beast. It shuddered then stilled. An incandescent screech rent the air from the composite insect. White light speared over her shoulder in a broad beam and slammed into the thing. It staggered mid-air. TL streaked by her side and fired again. Again.
The insect exploded in a rain of green and dirty-yellow goo. Fireflies dropped to the forest floor like scattered ash. She spun her gaze around the clearing. The other creatures backed off, though their aggressive posture persisted.
“What frequency are you employing?” T’Hargen growled.
Frequency? Me?
TL muttered a low reply.
Oh.
“This way, Kathryn,” T’Hargen murmured.
They backed into the woods. T’Hargen and TL closed in before her, maintaining a defensive line between her and the insects. She flicked a glance over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t heading into more trouble.
“Turn and walk away, Kathryn.”
She followed T’Hargen’s instructions, placing her feet with careful precision, and picked her way through the undergrowth of the wood. The skin on her back twitched and her ears strained to detect the slightest increase in aggressive buzzing.
The mist lifted, visibility extended. Details became clearer, sharper. For long, intense minutes they retreated. Her heart felt as though it beat as fast as the wings of the creatures shadowing their departure. All sound, except the terrible buzzing, seemed to be sucked from the air as though every living organism knew predators of unmitigated callousness stalked nearby.
And it’s not us.
Splashes of vivid red and gold shone between the trunks a short distance ahead. She tightened her mouth in wary disgust.
Now what?
The underbrush thinned then disappeared, replaced by fallen crimson leaves so vibrant they almost seemed to glow. On mottled-white tree trunks, fine, lacy foliage glimmered like horizontal yellow-gold hand-fans. She took a cautionary step onto the scarlet leaf-carpet. It gave a bit, like cushioning, but remained stable. Nothing brimming with wrathful indignation leaped at her.
Bonus.
Over to her right, camouflaged by a layer of red leaves, a flat, clear, gently winding section of the woodland floor suggested the existence of a path. She advanced towards it, stepping over exposed roots and rocks in
the sea of scarlet and ducking under golden, filigree leaves.
“We are safe, Kathryn, the insects have abandoned the pursuit.”
Muscles she’d wound into tense knots released.
“Are you injured, Kathryn?”
Firm hands grasped her shoulders and spun her around.
“Did you experience any stings? Bites?” T’Hargen demanded, his gaze focused and examining her bare skin.
“No, T’Hargen, I’m fine.”
He detached his scanner and ran it over her.
TL fluted a short good-health report for her.
“You’ll forgive me,” T’Hargen muttered, continuing his scan, “for not trusting your judgement.”
And here we go again. Hang on . . .
“You can understand TL now?”
T’Hargen glanced up at her as he reattached his scanner to his belt.
“Apparently when he wishes me to do so.”
Ah.
They turned and continued side-by-side. A few bell-like tweets rang through the wood and leaf mould squelched beneath their boots.
“Well that should come in handy.”
“If he chooses to continue the arrangement.”
She glanced at her little friend. “What about it, TL?”
He swung from side to side, portraying the unlikely image of a sashaying bird of prey, and then whistled a short refrain.
“When it’s necessary.”
T’Hargen rolled his eyes. Actually rolled his eyes. She stared. Heck, she gaped. Never in a million years would she have thought he’d ever relax enough to permit such a mundane action.
“Is something wrong, Kathryn?”
Her brain kicked into gear. She went to speak, realised her mouth hung open, and shut it with a snap.
“Nope. Not a thing.” She gave him an innocent smile. “Are we heading in the right direction?”
“We are.”
She stared back over her shoulder from whence they’d come.
“So much for beauty,” she muttered with disgust.
“A very deadly beauty.”
She shrugged philosophically. “Ah well, before they formed a vicious mob they were pretty.”
“Indeed. As is this area.”
“Yes, I’m just waiting for something to jump up and try to take a bite out of us.”
“My scan indicated the presence of some life, though hopefully not the sort to take exception to us.”
“No?”
“No. Some avian life forms, possibly the predators of the, er, fireflies, that could explain their reluctance to pursue us into this area. Fungus in the rotting leaves is creating the glow effect.”
Nice. I think.
“Did you manage to programme your laser to TL’s frequency?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You asked TL what frequency he used to destroy the bugs.”
“Ah. No.”
She raised a querying eyebrow.
“Your drone used a resonance to disrupt the . . . bugs’ molecular coherence that my weapon is unable to imitate.”
~ ~ ~
T’Hargen shuffled the toe of his boot in the leaves, scuffed some aside, and surreptitiously scanned Kathryn again. Just to ease his mind. All appeared well.
The same pale-grey and rose pavers from the square peeked through the clearing he’d made. He cautiously inspected the warm spark, birthed by Kathryn, nestling in the heart of his soul. It had grown, gained strength with a rapidity that startled him, and at the same time, invigorated him. g’Nel, she invigorated him.
He rubbed a hand over his jaw-plates and massaged the muscle beneath. How would her touch on his plates affect him? Eugen admitted losing all capacity for rational thought when Sandrea caressed him thus.
Would it be the same should Kathryn stroke her fingertips across his eye-ridges, down the line of his ear? A shiver, vibrating with carnal electricity, leaped down his neck and ignited a sensual wash through his chest-plates. They softened towards sexual compliance. A prick of interest, like the flick of a ground-deer’s ear sensing a treat, half-lifted his shaft.
g’Nel’s pits, he needed to concentrate on their objective, had to get his mind on something other than her bare skin glistening with a sheen of moisture as they . . . He swallowed and grasped at a thought.
“Tell me how you came by your knowledge of the Vi-tru-vian Man, Kathryn.”
She turned a smile on him so full of joy his spirit seemed to expand into the cosmos.
“Matthew.”
His joy deflated a little. She cocked her head enquiringly at him. “I told you he was my husband, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
She nodded. “Matthew loved to read, to broaden his horizons. We’d sit for hours discussing books. Even if I hadn’t the time to read them myself, we’d snuggle on the couch at night”—happiness brightened her face—“in front of the fire if it were cold, and he’d tell me his perception of them.”
Utter delight relaxed her every feature. Dreadful realisation skewered his gut.
She still loves him.
T’Hargen drew in a long, fortifying breath.
So be it. He is her past. She is my future, I will be hers. I will ensure it is so.
Last night, her warm weight in his arms had given him the fortitude to look his ghosts in the eyes when they’d come calling in his dreams. They’d seemed less . . . accusatory. The dead had voiced no cry of culpability against him. He now realised that he had done that, projected his own belief of failure onto them. Realistically it was not an accusation he could in all truth accept as his.
The villagers had died because the Bluthen murdered them, not because he hadn’t argued strongly enough for the Alliance not to attack. Their blood was not on his hands. Never had been, but his guilt and remorse had burrowed into his heart and woven into his soul. In a misguided attempt to avoid opening himself to despair, he’d buried himself in the past, and so instead of avoiding the torture of failure, he’d relived it every day.
g’Nel’s Fool.
He pulled a self-aimed derogatory grimace. The reason the endless psych analyst sessions hadn’t worked was most likely because he hadn’t embraced them, hadn’t applied the very appropriate advice.
Maybe he hadn’t been ready to.
Now Kathryn gave him the power to free the oppressive blade-wire confining the passion of his heart, to lift his life from the stagnation it had become. He slid his gaze to her, feeding his soul with her nearness. Yes, she attracted him like the Tal’Nari moth to flame, and the like the moth, he would transform into something stronger in her fire.
~ ~ ~
T’Hargen’s intense gaze sent a slow burn of cautious hope through Kat.
Maybe tying him down and, hmm, ‘encouraging’ him to consider a future together, with all the compromises that would entail, wouldn’t be a necessity, but it was still well worth considering! Top of her negotiation tactics list, in fact. If their circumstances were more appropriate she might even do just that this very moment. For now, she’d celebrate his interest and focus on rescuing anybody that may be held prisoner here by the Bluthen.
Occasional, luminescent, lime-green patches of grass bordered the path, a startling highlight in the sea of fallen red leaves and the veil of the golden canopy. They strode up a shallow rise and veered to the right. Seventy or so yards away sunlight streamed through an arched opening in the thick foliage.
They hurried forwards and stared out over a large expanse of numerous, lavender-coloured ponds sunk in a smooth, golden-brown ceramic-looking casement.
Here and there atop stacked, rounded, copper-coloured stones, perched small, shapely trees. Their exposed ebony roots reached down to the liquid, their smooth olive b
ark a beautiful counterpoint to their surrounds.
Three tall, metallic towers, reflecting the colour of the stones, drew her eye across the pools. Their winding, exoskeleton-type outer architecture formed teardrop-shaped holes behind which the smooth surfaces of round towers shone in the morning sunlight. Some cataclysmic event had cleaved one down the centre from the top to roughly halfway from the base. Ripped, jagged edges left its internals exposed.
Big, strong fingers encircled her bicep and dragged her sideways into the cover of the trees and she stumbled after T’Hargen. He kept her upright and she queried him with raised eyebrows.
“My scans are unable to penetrate the exterior of those structures,” he explained. “We don’t know what or who they might conceal.”
She turned to her friend. “TL?”
He hummed a negative and admitted his continued inability to communicate wirelessly with the masterframe computer on this planet that could provide such information.
“Can you detect any indication of Bluthen or other races?” T’Hargen queried.
Hooray, they’re communicating.
TL burbled another negative, with a rider that he suspected he would have to make a hard connection with a masterframe data outlet to access any information.
“Do you recognise these structures?” she asked him.
He warbled an apologetic negative then offered to search the undamaged towers for a data port.
“I will join you,” T’Hargen said, staring hard at TL.
She squelched a sigh of disappointment at the suspicion lacing his voice.
He still thinks TL has some nefarious agenda of his own and wants to conspire in secret with . . . whomever he’s supposedly conspiring.
She dragged her patience to the fore. “Right by your side.”
T’Hargen turned to her. Hot denial and concern wrestling with—Good heavens—diplomacy contorted his features. She straightened a smile from her lips.
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