She turned and looked through the window at Colonel Razine, who nodded and opened the door. Tal stepped into the corridor and snapped, “Free him.”
“What?” Razine was so stunned that it took her a piptick to get her front back in place.
“You heard the Lancer.” Parser emerged behind her, followed by a murderous-looking Micah. “It appears that my detention was an unfortunate mistake.” He looked at Tal. “The vid?”
Gritting her teeth, Tal said, “Get him the vid of our meeting.”
Razine looked between them, her eyes narrowing. “Yes, my Lancer.”
“I’ll accompany you,” Parser said, stepping to her side.
Razine stalked away without acknowledging him, and the two of them vanished through one of the many doors in the corridor. Tal heard raised voices, then a sharp order, and a moment later they reappeared. Parser was insufferably smug, and Tal would have given almost anything for the chance to kill him. Herot had no idea what he was costing her.
“Process him and get him out of here,” she told Razine. The colonel clearly wanted answers, but she pressed her lips together and silently walked away.
“Have the announcement at my house by eve-three,” Parser reminded her. “If it’s not there by then, I’ll assume you’re breaking our agreement.” He gave her a mock bow. “Good day, Lancer. It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. Oh, and one more thing: be glad it was Herot. My original target was Jaros, but Herot made himself far more useful.”
He turned and caught up with Razine, leaving Tal faint with fury as she watched them disappear around the corner.
“What are you going to do?” Micah asked quietly.
Tal was still staring down the empty corridor. “Make two announcements,” she said. “And pray that we can find Herot in time to air the right one.”
PART THREE:
PLAYING TO WIN
CHAPTER 30:
It’s still magic
On the return flight, Tal ordered Micah to redirect Salomen’s entire Guard unit to Hol-Opah, retaining only her Lead Guard. While he was doing that, she made a vidcom call to Shikal explaining why.
“Well, at least Jaros will enjoy this,” she said bitterly after ending the call. “He gets his own personal Guard at last. Shikal and Nikin aren’t quite as happy about theirs.”
Micah couldn’t think of a single appropriate reply. Instead, he busied himself with his own order to Tal’s Guards, instructing them to return to the training room in half a hantick. Tal would produce the announcements by that time and rejoin them for their next attempt at finding Herot. At this point, every tick counted.
When Tal tapped her earcuff, Micah knew who this call was going to and why she wasn’t using the vidcom. In the four-seater transport, he had little room to give her privacy, so he looked out the side window and tried not to listen to Tal’s strained voice.
But it was impossible not to hear. Salomen wasn’t taking it well, and when Tal finally tapped out the call, she simmered in a tense silence that lasted the rest of their flight. Micah felt guiltily grateful when she vanished the moment they landed. He had seen her this tightly wound only once before, and felt just as helpless now as he had then.
When she was late for the next Sharing, Micah used the opportunity to fill in the Guards on what he could. As he expected, they immediately channeled their anger into a cold determination. What he hadn’t anticipated was that Salomen would do the same thing. His respect for her rose another notch; the woman really did have a warrior’s heart.
Tal arrived ten ticks later. Her expression was thunderous, and she swept into the training room as if she planned to walk right through the wall on the other side. The hum of conversation ceased instantly as every Guard stood alert.
“Has everyone rested enough to try it again?” she asked without preamble.
The general affirmation didn’t change her expression.
“Good, because we need to finish this. Right now. Salomen, are you ready?”
“We’re all ready,” Salomen answered.
“Then get in position, everyone. We’ll go straight to Whitemoon and start from there.” She turned to Salomen and whispered something to her as the Guards formed their huddle. They made a curious picture as they stood there, a motionless island in the center of the shifting Guards. A few pipticks later the shifting ceased; by now the Guards had this down to a routine.
Micah watched carefully while Tal and Salomen made their connection, and this time he saw it from the start. It began with their hands, which first glowed red, then orange, then the yellow-white color of molten trialloy. The streaks of light shot outward, swiftly merging with others and weaving themselves into the rippling curtain of fire he had seen during the previous Sharing.
He had asked Salomen about it while they waited, learning to his surprise that she had never seen it before, either. The glow was a visible form of the energy being channeled by their Sharing, she said. It was tremendously boosted by all the Guards focusing their own powers and manifested itself in this extraordinary, all-enveloping flame.
A perfectly sound explanation, he thought. But it was still magic.
Tal’s face showed no signs of her prior anger; she had slipped back into whatever mental state allowed her to guide the combined energies of twenty-three people. In the silence, Micah settled himself against the wall, preparing for a wait. He prayed to Fahla that it wouldn’t be too long.
CHAPTER 31:
The payoff
Parser tightened the belt on his robe as he walked into his study. He had taken a shower immediately after arriving home, needing to wash off the stench of the holding cell. It had been a necessary part of the game, but that place was more unpleasant than he had anticipated. A single bunk, no chair, a toilet in full view of anyone watching from the corridor—how could a person be expected to live in such conditions?
He popped the top off a bottle of Tollisan and poured himself a glass. It was still early in the day, but he deserved this. After ten moons of patient waiting, his plan had come to fruition. By the time he went to bed tonight, he would be the most powerful man on Alsea.
And that was just the beginning of what he planned to accomplish. Even after he spelled it out for her, Lancer Tal still didn’t know what she was dealing with.
But she had a clue now, didn’t she?
He sipped his Tollisan, appreciating the fine flavor, and smiled to himself. If he lived to be a hundred and twelve, he would never forget the look on Lancer Tal’s face when she realized the trap had closed on her. That alone had been worth every bit of his planning and investment. That she had lost control to the point of trying to kill him…
He rubbed his throat and laughed.
“And the best part,” he said aloud, “is that I have it all on vid.” Sipping his drink, he crossed the room to his desk, where the vid chip sat in the exact center. It was another insurance policy: proof of the Lancer’s corruption. She had let him walk out of prison despite his confirmed guilt. Of course, it was proof of his corruption as well, but in certain circles, that wouldn’t matter. What did matter was the evidence of his ability to control her.
He picked up the chip and held it to the light. An insurance policy and a source of endless entertainment, all in one. In fact, he was going to watch it now and relive one of the finest moments of his life.
Right after he gave the order to let Herot Opah live for one more day.
CHAPTER 32:
Plan of action
Tal lost all track of time. The effort of focusing so much power from such diverse sources took every bit of her concentration; she had none left to be aware of anything outside their link. For that matter, she had none left even to help Salomen search. If Salomen had any doubts about the strength of her own gift, this would surely lay them to rest. She was single-handedly leading
all of them, taking the energy Tal poured into her and flying all of their minds high over Pallea, methodically eliminating one sector after another. It was painstaking work, with none of the pleasure they normally found in a Sharing. But it was also covering more ground in a single morning than an entire army of investigators could cover in a moon’s time. They were already at the midpoint of Pallea, and since this part of the continent was sparsely populated, they should be able to cover it quickly. Tal just hoped she had the strength to keep going. The first Sharing today hadn’t been nearly as taxing as this one, so she guessed they had been in the link quite a bit longer.
The directed pattern of their flight suddenly shifted. Salomen was doubling back, taking a closer look at something. She had done this several times already, and Tal wearily waited for her to satisfy herself and move on. But now Salomen was circling, homing in, and the hope that blossomed in her mind touched every person in their link.
“Is it…?” Tal whispered.
“I don’t know. I think, maybe… Oh, thank Fahla! It’s him! It’s him, oh, Herot…” Salomen’s emotions overwhelmed her, shattering the concentration that had enabled her to guide their Shared search.
With the sudden disappearance of a focused receptacle, all of the power Tal was channeling ricocheted back and crashed into the power still coming in from the Guards. The opposing streams detonated in a white-hot storm of energy that roared through her, immobilizing her limbs and burning out her empathic senses in an agonizing flare. Her body flew backward, slamming into Gehrain and the Guards behind him and sending three of them down in a pile with a stunned Tal on top. Still paralyzed, she could not even put out her hands to stop her fall. She rolled to the floor, landing at an awkward angle and fighting her sluggish lungs as she tried to breathe.
“Andira!” Salomen was next to her, an arm around her back, her panicked voice loud in Tal’s ears. “I’m so sorry! Are you all right? Please, please be all right!”
Much as she wanted to, Tal couldn’t answer.
“Everyone step back. Give her some air,” Micah said from somewhere above her.
Thank you, Micah, she thought. And perhaps it was simply the knowledge that she wasn’t so hemmed in, but as the press of bodies moved away, her rasping breaths eased. Now if only her head would shrink back to its normal size so she could lift it.
“Talk to me, anything, please! I can’t tell if you’re—” Salomen stopped with a small gasp, and the sheer terror in her voice gave Tal the strength she needed.
“I’m all right,” she said thickly, and tried to push herself up. Unseen helpers pulled her into a sitting position, but her head was still too heavy and she cradled it in her hands. “Damn, that hurt. Let’s not do that again.”
Salomen moved closer, reaching out with shaking hands. “No, never, I didn’t mean to,” she said in a rush. “I didn’t even think—” She stopped again, and even through the throbbing in her skull, Tal knew this wasn’t just about her.
“It’s all right. I’m fine. Really.”
“Are you sure? I can’t feel you.”
“I’m sure.” With an enormous effort, she lifted her head. “But I have to tell you, that was the biggest shekking flash of all time.”
Salomen’s laugh was too harsh and higher than normal. “Fahla, you scared ten cycles off the end of my life!” She laughed again, then sucked in a breath as Tal leaned over to rest her pounding head on her shoulder. Holding Tal’s head with one hand, she kissed her hair and whispered, “I’m sorry, tyrina.”
“Don’t be,” Tal mumbled into her shoulder. “You found him. That’s the important thing.”
“I can’t believe it. Honestly, I didn’t think we would.”
“But you did.”
“We did.” The emotional overload was easing; Tal could hear it in her voice. “But I lost it. Andira, he was hurt and frightened. They’re hurting him.”
“That’s about to end.” Tal took a deep, grateful breath of air and straightened. The throbbing was beginning to fade. “Do you remember where we were?”
“In general, yes, but we lost the link before I could really focus on it.”
“Micah?”
“I’m right here.” He knelt beside her.
“We need a topographic map of central Pallea,” she told him. “Detail to one hundred paces.”
“I’ll have one here in two ticks. Anything else?”
“How about a new head?”
He smiled. “Sorry, my friend. You’ll have to make do with that one. But I can bring in some food and water if that would help.”
Come to think of it, she was starved. “What time is it?”
“Mid-one and twenty.”
“We’ve been in the link for two hanticks?” Great Goddess, no wonder she was tired. She looked up, seeing for the first time the ring of concerned faces around her. “You must be ready to eat the practice mats in here.”
“Well, the black one was starting to look pretty good,” Gehrain said, causing a ripple of nervous laughter among the other Guards.
“Micah, while you’re getting the map, contact the kitchen and get a midmeal sent down.” At his nod, she looked back at her Guards. “We’re taking a break. It’s past time to eat, but we’ll have to make it fast. Hopefully, by the time we’ve gotten some food inside of us, I’ll have a normal-sized head again and we can go back for another look. Now that we know where Herot is, we need to examine his location more closely. I want to know how many Alseans are there, what they’re feeling, and where they are in relation to Herot. I want all of you to pick up as much detail as you can, because we’re going on a mission. Herot will not be spending one more night as a hostage.”
CHAPTER 33:
Fear and failure
Their assessment of Herot Opah’s location revealed three warriors in close proximity: one in a holding area with him and the other two posted just outside. They hovered as long as they dared, waiting to see what the nearest warrior was doing, but to everyone’s dismay, he did nothing at all. Vellmar watched in sympathy as Lancer Tal explained to her bondmate that there were only two reasons to put a warrior inside the holding area with a prisoner. One was to question or intimidate him, but this warrior had done neither.
The other was to ensure the prisoner’s instant death in the event of a rescue attempt.
Given the situation, Raiz Opah took this news surprisingly well.
They found five other warriors in the near vicinity, most likely the second shift, and a careful examination of the surrounding area revealed two additional guards posted at a perimeter. Both external guards were posted at high points in the topography, giving them good views of a large area. Parser was taking no chances with his valuable hostage. Lancer Tal said she was not surprised; her interview with the man had made it clear that he believed in covering all possible options. While he had never expected Herot to be found, he had taken precautions just in case.
Their best option was immediately ruled out. They had the numbers and weaponry to simply overrun the building where Herot was being kept, but the threat to him made that impossible. Instead, they would need to land their transport at a distance, hike in unseen and unheard, take out the two perimeter guards, and then send in two teams. One would silently disable the guards near Herot and extract him, while the other would neutralize the five guards off shift.
Since the off-duty guards were spread throughout the building, it would be difficult to coordinate the two mission objectives. Until Herot was secured, the team in charge of neutralization would not be able to act for fear of raising an alarm. Nor would any use of disruptors be possible until then. That left knives, and as the best blade handlers in the group, Lancer Tal and Vellmar were natural choices for the primary mission.
There could not be a more perfect vindication against all the warriors who had ever looked
down on her for having subpar accuracy with a disruptor.
After her practice session with the Lancer, Vellmar had mere ticks to pack for the mission. She hurried to her quarters and gathered her gear with glee. Perhaps it was inappropriate to be so excited when the Bondlancer’s brother was in danger, but she couldn’t help it. A covert mission her first day on the job? And as the Lancer’s chosen second? Life did not get better than this.
When Lead Guard Ronlin caught her on her way out, she remembered that not everyone was so fortunate. Opah’s new Guards had just sworn their oaths and then promptly been left behind. Not that keeping the Bondlancer’s family safe was a bad assignment, but…it certainly wasn’t a rescue mission.
“Where are you going with that?” Ronlin crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Vellmar shifted her bag over one shoulder. “You know I can’t tell you.”
“That’s dokshin. You think I don’t see what’s happening here? You’re going with my oath holder! I’m her Lead Guard, not you! She’s my responsibility.”
In his indignation, he pushed himself into her personal space, making their height difference clear as she looked down at him. But he was built like a cargo transport. With his arms bulging and his face nearly as red as his hair, he looked as menacing as the Bondlancer’s Lead Guard should.
She would have been just as angry in his place. Lowering her voice, she said, “It’s a covert mission. Only those trained for it are going. It’s no reflection on you, just that you’re too new on the scene.”
“And you’re not? I was here before you. Don’t try to feed me that fanten food.”
Without a Front: The Warrior's Challenge (Chronicles of Alsea Book 3) Page 23