by Jaleta Clegg
"You're welcome," Clark said.
"Hold my hand," Doggo said and winked at Jasyn. He'd slipped into the chair between Jasyn and Senshi. He squeezed her fingers.
"Why are we holding hands again?" Reeco asked. He was between Jerimon and Fitch.
"To channel the energies," Larella said. She moved to stand behind Scholar. "Be quiet."
She closed her eyes and started to hum. It was low, a monotonous melody repeated over and over. She leaned forward, her hands sliding over the clasped ones on either side of Scholar. The air in the ship seemed to grow fuzzy, a mistiness that Jasyn couldn't explain other than to say it was blue. She relaxed, watching Larella and wondering how different her life would have been had she been raised a true Gypsy. She would understand what was going on, at least.
Nothing happened for a while. Larella kept humming. Jasyn watched as eyes glazed over around the table. Senshi hummed along. Reeco's head slowly nodded forward until his cheek was on the table. His eyes were closed. Jasyn felt something then, a tingle of power that swept around the circle.
"Now," Larella said softly to Scholar. "Bring up the data." She freed Scholar's hands without breaking the circle. Her hands took his place, she leaned against his back. The humming continued. Senshi, Fitch, and Jerimon hummed, eyes rolled back and oblivious to Scholar's blooming display.
The colors washed together, swirling and breaking and reforming. Jasyn watched, fascinated despite herself. Scholar's hands danced through the light, plucking and weaving strands in complex patterns. The pattern froze, an intricate swirl of blue and white. Scholar sat back, his face pale and eyes huge. He looked young and frightened by what he saw.
"Hot bam," he whispered.
The humming ceased. Larella broke the circle, pulling her hands free and stepping back. The others dropped hands. Reeco sat up, blinking and looking bewildered.
Jasyn rubbed her hands together. She could still feel the power tingling in her fingers. "What did you do?" she asked Larella, all trace of cynicism gone from her voice.
"Focused your energies," Larella said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Synergistic power coupling," Clark said and laughed. "I thought it only applied to engine mechanics."
"It clears the aura and promotes connections." Larella swayed, her eyes fluttering closed. Jerimon leapt out of his chair and caught her before she hit the floor. Clark wasn't far behind.
"She'll be fine," he announced after a minute. "She just fainted."
"What did you find?" Jasyn asked Scholar.
Scholar looked up from the spinning multidimensional crystal of light hovering over his pad. His eyes were haunted. "More than I wanted." He turned to look at Larella where she lay behind him, her head cradled in Jerimon's lap. "Whatever she did, it unlocked all the files. And did something to the data. Cross connections. I couldn't have done this if I'd had ten years to work on it."
"And what exactly is it?" Clark asked. He stood behind Scholar, staring at the slowly rotating display.
"I don't think even Lowell realized what was here," Scholar said. "The colonists at Jericho were genetically changed to enhance their psychic powers. The raid was to get their genes." He reached into the crystal and gently tugged a single strand of crystalline white. "The Emperor's cousin is behind it. He's the only one possible. He wants to make his own army, clone the colonists and take over the Empire. And he'll do it if we don't stop him."
"Us?" Jasyn looked around. "Nine of us against the Emperor's cousin and all his resources?"
"Don't forget," Clark said, "we've got Dace and Lowell on our side."
"Dace could do it bare handed," Doggo said. "She's one mean chick."
"With Dace on our side, how could we possibly fail?" Jasyn sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears. "At least Lowell has resources."
"Bad news there," Scholar said. "He's out of the loop. He's wanted for treason."
"Then what do we do?" Jerimon asked.
"Go to Jericho and look for answers," Clark said.
"And hope Mart has some locked in his head that will help Dace," Jasyn added.
Chapter 28
I sat, curled in a corner of the cushioned bench that ran around the perimeter of the common area of the ship. I'd barely moved, except when necessary, for the last two days. I'd cried myself out, but it didn't help the pain. I'd shot Tayvis, I'd betrayed him. I'd broken his heart and my own. And all for Lowell. Because he said it was important and made me believe him.
Lowell sat in front of the single table, the papers and data cubes I'd stolen strewn in front of him. He worked steadily, scribbling notes in the margins as he read, cross referencing the data cubes when he could. Most of them were encrypted and none of us had the skills to break the files open.
I was only dimly aware of the others. It was like I was slowly waking up, and I didn't want to. I wanted to hide in a numb gray place where I felt nothing.
"Lunch?" Beryn offered, holding out a tray to me.
I shook my head.
"Then we'll start force feeding you if you don't eat it." Beryn put the tray down in front of me on the blue cushioned bench and walked away.
"He's right, Dace," Lowell said, rubbing at his eyes. "You've brooded long enough. Get over it."
His words were worse than a slap. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around myself, shutting him out.
"I don't know who's worse," Lowell continued, "you or Mart. You deserve each other."
That really hurt. Mart was the only one who offered me any comfort at all. He was the only one who understood my pain, mostly because he felt it. And I felt his.
I cursed Lowell in a tired voice.
"You already said that, dozens of times," Lowell said. "At least you aren't screaming at me anymore. Eat your lunch or I'll get Paltronis to hold you down while Beryn feeds you."
It wasn't an idle threat. I poked the food with my fork. He watched me, his silver eyes opaque. I lifted a bite to my mouth and forced myself to eat it. I wanted to gag. My stomach growled, my body betraying me. I was hungry, I hadn't eaten for two days. Lowell watched me eat. I finished and dropped the fork on the tray.
"Feel better?" Lowell asked.
"No," I answered. "Tayvis said you'd gone rogue. That you were insane. He was there because they knew you'd go after that information." I'd put the pieces together, unwillingly, but my mind wouldn't stop picking at it.
"What better way to discredit me? I'm the only real threat left."
"Threat to what?"
Lowell grinned, his smile tinged with pain and regret. "That's more like the Dace I know." He started shuffling his papers again.
I looked around, really seeing the ship for the first time. It was a yacht, not one of the luxury ships that cost hundreds of thousands of credits, but a lower end model for those who were only moderately rich. It had a common room, with the bench that wrapped around two walls and most of a third with breaks for doors. The ship had two cabins, small and crowded. The galley was automated, a narrow cabinet set in the curve of the bench. The cockpit was up front, barely separated from the common area. Paltronis sat in there, talking with a woman I didn't recognize. I felt Mart, sitting in one of the cabins and concentrating on something. Beryn came out of the aft cabin and collected my tray. I watched him shove it into the disposal slot.
"Want more?" he asked.
"Don't push it," I answered. "Where are we going?"
"Zanius," Lowell answered. "Just the other side of the Dinias Nebula."
That meant nothing to me, I'd never heard of either. I couldn't make myself care. I ran a hand through my hair and grimaced. I was still wearing the catering outfit.
"There are clothes in the forward cabin," Lowell said without looking up from his papers. "We'd all appreciate it if you'd change."
"I should hate you," I said tiredly.
"I thought you did. You said it, repeatedly. Are you saying you don't?"
"Tell me it's worth it, Lowell, make me believe what
I did was right." I needed something to justify what I'd done to myself and Tayvis.
"You do what you have to, to protect the rest of them."
"You do, Lowell, not me."
"Go change," he said more gently. "I'll explain later."
Paltronis followed me into the cabin. It was more luxurious than I expected with a double wide real bed, not a bunk. And closets. It looked almost like a hotel room.
"We put your clothes in here," Paltronis said and opened one of the closets.
"They aren't mine. Mine are still on the Phoenix."
"Then go naked," she said. "You aren't the only one who's been hurt. If Lowell didn't think he needed you, I'd shove you out the airlock."
"Right now, I'd rather be dead."
"We're probably going to be, before we're through. We're all wanted for treason." She sighed. "I hate working like this. Sneaking around and hiding. Give me something I can shoot. I'm sorry," she said at the stricken look on my face.
"I wish I hadn't had to shoot him. He's never going to trust me again."
"Don't be stupid."
"If you're trying to help me feel better, you're failing miserably." I fingered the clothes. "Is Lowell sane? Tayvis said he'd gone rogue, that he was working on his own."
"He's more sane than anyone I've met."
"Then what is going on, Paltronis? He told me what Jericho was. How does that make him a traitor? And what is Babylon?"
"Where we're headed, as soon as Lowell figures out where it is. I don't know the answers. I do know this is bad. Someone with a lot of power wants Lowell out of the way, permanently."
"He said someone was trying to overthrow the Emperor."
"Treason at the highest level," Paltronis agreed. "And Lowell is the only one with the information to stop it before it's too late. Tayvis will understand. Once he has the facts."
"But will he forgive me?" I pulled out a clean outfit, not caring what color it was or even if it was mine or not. It didn't matter.
"If he doesn't, he's an idiot. I still don't understand why he wouldn't believe you, unless he was being watched."
Her words were scant comfort. I crossed the cabin and locked myself into the bathroom.
Mart's presence flooded my soul with warmth. He knew what I felt, and I knew what he felt. We shared pain and in some way, lessened it for both of us.
They were gathered in the common room when I came out, hair still damp and feet bare.
I took a seat next to Mart. He took my hand, warmth and understanding flowed both ways through the contact. Paltronis saw, and pretended she hadn't. Lowell finished stacking papers and sat back, eyeing each of us in turn. He was measuring us, calculating what skills we had and which he needed.
"I don't think you remember being introduced, Dace." He nodded at the woman I hadn't recognized and a man I didn't know. They both had sandy red hair and freckles. "This is Lydia and her brother Marshal. We're going to Zanius to visit their grandmother. This is their ship."
Beryn dropped the wiring connector he was fiddling with and shot a sharp look at Lowell. "Making social calls?"
"You've met their grandmother, Dace, at least once. Sector Chief Suella Querran." Lowell waited for my reaction. It wasn't long in coming.
"Patrol? Isn't she going to arrest us the minute she sees us?"
"Suella and I go way back," Lowell said. "I'm hoping she'll listen to me before she acts."
"And how is this going to help us?" I asked.
"We have to find Babylon," Lowell said. "That's where they took the people from Jericho. I really hope I'm wrong about why."
Mart squeezed my hand painfully hard. I felt him come to attention, every sense focused on Lowell. "Why?"
"Genetics," Lowell said. "Think of it, an army of telepaths and empaths at your command. Who wouldn't want that kind of power?"
I felt sick.
"With Shara off the market, the only way to get them is to make your own. And the best genes to work with were on Jericho. And now in Babylon."
"Shara?" Lydia asked.
I tuned out Lowell's explanation. I'd had personal experience with the psychic enhancement drug. It was my fault it was off the market. It wasn't entirely Mart's fault that Jericho had been raided. If I hadn't interfered on Dadilan, there wouldn't have been a need. Mart squeezed my hand again and I broke off my thoughts. What was done was done and I couldn't change it now.
"Who?" Paltronis asked when Lowell was done.
"There are only three people I know with the resources to pull off a coup of this magnitude. I'm one of them." He fell silent, staring at his stack of papers.
"Who are the others?" Paltronis prodded.
"Iniuri Shiropi, Speaker to the Council of Worlds. I don't think he'd do it. He's very good friends with Maximillius. The Emperor," he added when he saw my blank look. "Speaker Shiropi has no motive." He dug a finger in his ear. "The only other possibility is Roderick Medallis. The Emperor's cousin and host of the party we crashed."
"Why?" I asked, puzzled.
"Because he wants to be Emperor," Lowell said. "Think of it. Unlimited wealth and power. Supreme ruler of most of known space. Whatever you want is yours just for the asking. At least that's what he thinks. It doesn't work that way. Not really."
"Did we steal the right papers?" I asked.
"Most of them. I've got a fairly complete list of his accomplices. And enough information to piece together his plan."
"If he's building his own army of psychics, it's going to take years," Lydia said.
"Unless he steals one ready made," Lowell countered.
"Jericho," Mart said, stiffening. "He's found a way to force them to help him. Did I give it to him?"
"I don't think so," Lowell answered. "From what I read, you're as much a victim as the others from Jericho. Did you give him information voluntarily? Did you sell it?"
"I don't remember."
"Try, really hard."
Mart didn't want to. I squeezed his hand. We had to know. Although if Mart had betrayed his people willingly, I doubted he would now. He was not the person he had been before someone messed with his mind. And if I couldn't have Tayvis, at least I had Mart. I squashed that thought. I didn't want Mart. I wanted Tayvis.
Mart caught that emotion, although I knew he couldn't read the thought behind it. He sighed, and slumped on the bench. "I have tried. I don't remember money, I don't remember telling anyone about Jericho. Except—" He stiffened again and sucked in his breath. "Maybe I did. I didn't mean to, I didn't." He stared at Lowell, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. "My first trip to Meerkus. We were taking a load of textiles to trade for seeds and equipment. We went to a bar, me and three others from the crew. I'd never been before and wanted to know what it was like. I must have talked too much. I can't remember more. I'm sorry."
The room was silent. Mart's guilt was fresh and raw in my heart.
Lowell finally sighed. "It was bound to happen. They knew where Jericho was. And eventually they'd learn what it was."
I squeezed Mart's hand. It was the closest he was going to get to an apology from Lowell.
"How did you get to Verrus?" I asked. "Meerkus is on the fringe, a frontier world. Jericho is beyond that?" I looked at Lowell for confirmation.
"Jericho is abandoned by now. The location no longer matters."
"There was somewhere else." Mart shook his head, frustrated at the gaps in his mind. "A long ship journey, we were packed in the holds. I don't remember much besides it was cold and there were babies crying. And then somewhere hot and humid. And lots of green." He frowned, fighting the blocks and blanks in his head. "I remember hurting and being in a dark place. The voices burned."
"Where did you get the necklace, Mart?"
He shook his head. "I only remember a voice telling me not to lose it. And to run." He was sweating, big drops of it standing out on his forehead. He laced his fingers tightly through mine, hanging on as if I was his last tie to sanity. Maybe I was.
"You t
old me once you knew me. How?" I prodded. This was more information than he'd ever volunteered before. I wasn't about to let him retreat into silence again, not if it was going to help us. Not if it could help me get Tayvis back.
"Your face, a picture, someone said you would help. I don't remember more, I don't!" He rocked back and forth, shaking his head, his eyes squeezed shut.
"Yes, you do," Lowell said. He'd moved while I was grilling Mart. He knelt in front of Mart and took his head in his hands, forcing him to look into his silver eyes. "Tell me all of it."
I felt the tingle of power run through my hands, a different flavor than Mart's emotions. This was silvery and cold and tasted of Lowell. Mart's hand went slack. Tears ran down his face.
"I can hear them screaming. I hear the ships coming. They're laughing. The defenses are useless. They've bypassed them. They knew the codes. Nothing we do touches them, they were prepared for us. They laugh and tell me I was so helpful to them. I want to kill them but they know. They lock me with the others. It's my fault." He folded over, sobbing brokenly.
Lowell shifted his hands, smoothing them from Mart's face to his shoulders. "You didn't mean to. You're only guilty of being young and gullible."
"They died because of me," Mart said through his sobs. "Why did you make me remember?"
"You remembered yourself, Martin," Lowell said gently.
"Not all of it." Mart used my hand to wipe his face, still clutched with his own. He sat up. "There are still holes. I don't know where they took us. Or what they did to us. I only remember the screaming. And babies crying."
Lowell patted his shoulder then stood, turning away. "They were taken to Babylon, a secret lab somewhere near Cygnus Sector. Which is why we're going to Querran. One reason anyway."
"They aren't just necklaces, are they, Lowell?" That had been bothering me. Why had Mart been given a necklace and my face? Why had Lowell passed me one through Lady Rina?
"The red one I gave you was more, the others are just jewelry." Lowell picked up his papers. "Where is the red one?"
"Jasyn and Clark have it. I left it behind with them."
"Where are they?"
"They were going to meet me on Ophir. I sent them to Scholar."