by Ann Durand
Another dangerous silence. And then: I am sending a takatak for you. You will return at once.
"I don't have a harness…"
I'll have one strapped to the takatak's leg.
"As you wish, Master."
With a fading hiss, the Voice disappeared. Katera looked numbly at Shamana.
"You're shaking," Shamana said, grabbing Katera's hand. "What happened?"
"We've been discovered; we must go back."
Shamana's eyes widened, and she dropped Katera's hand. "I'm not going back," she said, her tone rigid.
Katera stared, her thoughts tumbling over each other. "You don't have to. Askinadon is not missing you. I've told you where the caves are. Go there with Rorken. Mikolen will join you and take you both to his world with our parents. There, you will all be safe."
Shamana looked into Katera's eyes, searching. "And what of you, Katera? And Adrella? What will happen to you? And what will Askinadon say if you do not return with Rorken?"
Katera bit her lip. She had no idea. She'd make up some lie about Rorken, and maybe she could soften Askinadon-somehow-and save Adrella in the bargain. Most likely, though, she was returning to her death.
"I'll think of something," she told Shamana, smiling.
From above, the shrill cry of a takatak drifted over them. "Go now," Katera said, waving her on with both hands. "Hurry."
Shamana scrambled down the trail. Katera watched as she disappeared around the next bend with the sleeping Rorken, his small head bobbing loosely in the backpack. A moment later, a long shadow appeared over Katera. She glanced up to see the takatak descending onto the trail from above. It landed ten feet in front of her with a harness strapped to its leg.
She edged toward it, eyeing the enormous beak. The bird blinked and turned its head to study Katera, but otherwise did not move as she struggled to release the harness with fumbling fingers over a tight knot. The bird squawked impatiently. Finally, she managed to untie it and free the harness. She slid her arms inside the straps and fastened the clips in the front. Walking around the bird to face it, she lay down on her stomach. The takatak lifted into the air forty feet and hovered over her, its large wings pumping furiously. She felt the wind on her back increase as it descended upon her. Its large claws connected to the harness with a jolt.
Suddenly, she was rising. She looked up into the expansive underbelly of the bird and a sea of feathered blackness. The feathers were almost indistinguishable from each other. She was six feet off the ground when she felt something heavy grab onto her feet. She yelped and looked down.
Mikolen. He was gripping both ankles, hanging on. The takatak, now doubly burdened, wove uncertainly through the air, dipping dangerously before shooting straight up, almost out of control. For a moment, Katera thought it would drop them both. Then, to her relief, it stabilized and leveled off. With the extra load, however, it seemed unable to fly any higher than fifteen feet over the trail. Mikolen's feet cleared the ground by only a few feet. He grinned up at her sheepishly.
"Thought I'd catch a ride the rest of the way up."
"Mikolen!" she cried, overwhelmed with relief. "What took you so long?"
"It took some convincing to get your parents to leave their hosta and come to the caves. I persuaded your father to let your mother carve the VisiOrb out of his head. That did it. Then he carved hers out, and now they're safely hidden inside the caves."
Katera choked back a sob. At least some people she loved were safe. "Thank you." Her gratitude vaulted inside her, and she almost laughed until she remembered her own sobering news. "Mikolen, Askinadon knows. He found out that Adrella and I switched. He must have found the Orb in her ear."
Mikolen grimaced. "I know. I just met your friend on the trail. Shamana gave me the quick version, and I rushed right up here."
"What should we do? He's got Adrella, and she's being punished."
A shadow of concern flicked across Mikolen's face. He nodded. "I'll find her. Do you think you can stall Askinadon? Do whatever you can to keep him busy." He paused. "As long as it's not in his bedroom."
Katera smiled. "And how will you find Adrella?"
Mikolen looked up with a blank expression, and Katera realized that he didn't know. "Just be ready," he said. "Keep Askinadon off guard. I'll find Adrella, then I'll find you." They were nearing the summit and Mikolen surveyed the ground below. "This is where I get off." He looked back at her. "Don't worry, you'll be all right."
Katera noticed a longing in his eyes. "Thank you," she said. "Oh, and Mikolen?"
"Yeah?"
"You've really got to stop grabbing my feet-first the river, and now this?" Mikolen was laughing as he released his grip and dropped onto the dusty trail below. "Ne Kamana Ya!" she called after him, in the old language.
I could love you…and maybe I already do , she realized as her Lan Ma Ke crackled inside her like a newly lit fire in its hearth.
With the lightened load, the takatak shot up into the sky, up, up, and up until the castle came into view. The bird reached the courtyard and circled above it. Katera spied Askinadon waiting in the middle with his arms crossed. He wore a snarly look. Ah, here goes , Katera thought, as the takatak swept low into the yard and released her over the pad. She fell with a thud, rolled, and stood up with her head bowed, as Adrella had taught her.
"Master, I have lost Rorken," she announced, breathlessly. "He has fallen from the harness onto the path. I fear he has perished."
Askinadon paused, and Katera's heart skipped a beat.
"Is that right, Katera?" he said, his voice soft and menacing. Inside her chest, a chill gripped her. With an inner twinge, Katera realized that he meant to harm her. She looked up in time to see two Kastaks rushing toward her from behind Askinadon. "Take her to the pole with her sister," Askinadon instructed, eyeing Morchison. "Then we'll find out which Kastak modified those orbs." He turned and walked away.
Chapter Sixteen
Mike dashed between the trees and into the empty courtyard of the lab complex, and then bolted for the door in the northern wing. There was just one item left to seize from the second floor of the lab before he gathered Katera and her sister and fled Parallon forever. One last item.
He needed the EM Sphere. With it, his stargate would be complete. He'd named it Silver Gate after its slender silver walls. Silver Gate was ready-it had everything except for the sphere-the one item necessary to power it.
Mike knew the exact location of the sphere from his previous raids, but never had he dared to lift it from its sealed container. It would have been missed immediately. The sphere alone powered Askin's control center and the insidious Voice. He knew Askins had a spare EM sphere, which meant the VisiOrbs would not have been disabled for long. Even so, Askins would have sought the thief with unparalleled aggression. Mike doubted he would have been able to steal anything else for his project after an event like that.
No, it had been better to work in secret and let Askins use the exotic matter in the EM Sphere to power the control center, until Mike was ready for it. He was ready now. The EM Sphere, though it held more energy than Askins would ever use, would provide enough to send Mike and his small party to their destination.
It was the first time Mike had sneaked into the lab in broad daylight, and he'd never done it without casing the area thoroughly for Kastaks. Ten years ago, the Kastaks had been technicians working in Tescali Lab, but since their abduction into this world, Askins had transformed them into cruel and churlish men intent on their own survival. Though their loyalty to Askins was questionable, his control over them was not. He had wasted no time implanting VisiOrbs into their heads after they'd arrived in Parallon. Now, many of those peaceable men had turned into competent killers who would slit another man's throat in a heartbeat.
Mike was not familiar with their daytime schedules and stations, and as he ducked inside the building, he half expected to run into one or two of them. Getting caught could ruin everything. If Askins knew that Mike was alive,
he'd know who'd modified the Orb for Adrella. He'd realize that Mike was helping Katera and her sister. Nothing Katera could say to Askins would assuage the rage he was sure to feel after learning she'd partnered with his archenemy. Not only would Mike lose his opportunity to flee from this god-forsaken place, but his incentive for survival would evaporate if he lost the one person who, lately, made it seem worthwhile.
The hall was empty, and Mike sprinted soft-toed to the end where he turned right up a staircase. On the second landing of the stairwell, he poked his head around the corner into another hallway. It, too, was empty. A true sign of uncontested power, he mused: a lax guard policy. Askins had little to fear. In this primitive civilization, no one existed with enough knowledge to challenge him. Only the Kastaks posed any semblance of a threat, and Askins kept them tightly reined. The spoils of his conquest were his for the taking. Human spoils, Mike thought grimly, and now Katera was with him.
With renewed haste, he sped to the third door, the one he'd visited so many times before, the one Askins called his control room. Swiftly, he played the sequence of numbers on the combination lock that had kept everyone in Parallon out of the room, except Askins…until now. Mike had created the sequence as the new Director of Research at Tescali Lab twelve years ago. He'd entrusted it to only a few of his lead scientists who'd worked on Star Gate One with him; including Don Askins, his primary Associate. He punched the final number and heard a click. The door opened. He slipped inside, and closed it behind him.
In front of him, a large, transparent and luminous panel blinked with various icons. Several seats positioned before it reminded him of its former purpose in 2275 AD. Here, qualified social workers obtained entry in order to deliver their gentle prompts to patients of Alzheimer's and dementia. All this in the days before Askins had twisted the entire operation to suit his needs.
Mike slid into one of the seats and stared at the panel, wondering if he could use it to speak to Katera before he snatched the EM Sphere and temporarily disabled the network. It'd be good to find out that Katera was safe. Probably, Askins had seized her modified Orb, but in case he hadn't, there was no harm in trying. Scanning the labels on the icons, he found one for Kastaks, one for Parallonian males over twelve, one for the elders, one for females between seventeen and twenty, another for wives, and dozens more revealing his system for control over thousands of people. Mike reached up and touched the one labeled 'wives'. The numbered names of thirty-four women flashed onto the panel. Katera's name was at the bottom, Askins's latest acquisition. Mike's temples tightened as he stared at it.
It'd be a pleasure to defrock this creep, if only he could. Askins had a spare Em Sphere. There'd been two in the original stargate, and Askins had removed both minutes before the stargate was destroyed in the struggle between them. All other sources of energy were severed when Tescali Lab, with everyone inside it, was yanked into the wormhole. The EM Spheres alone powered the lab in Parallon. Without them, Askins had nothing. Obviously though, he would dump the second sphere into its home in the control center the moment he found this one missing. The crazed pervert would live on terrorizing the lives of every Parallonian.
Mike reached up and laid a finger on Katera's name. The icon blinked. The channels were open to her Orb, and if she still wore it, she'd hear him.
"Katera. Hello, Katera. Are you there?" A moment lapsed, and Mike heard a dull roar escape from the speaker. "Katera!" he called, feeling desperate. "Please, respond."
And then a small, frightened voice, asked, "Is that you, Mikolen?
"Yes. Are you all right?"
A screech filled the background, and Mike recognized the terrifying roar of a rocsadon fixed on a new scent.
"I'm being escorted," she whispered.
"Where?"
"To the rocsadon's den. We're outside it."
A silent cry erupted in Mike's head. He bit down on his fear. "I'll be right there," he said.
Without waiting to hear her response, he moved swiftly to the container that held the EM Sphere. With shaking fingers, he played the combination of numbers and watched as the metallic sections opened like a blossoming geometric flower. Inside, a translucent ball two inches in diameter glowed on a customized pedestal. A perfect sphere, Mike thought as he plucked it from its throne and slipped it into his pocket.
Dashing past the VisiOrb panel and out the door, he noticed all icons were flickering and disappearing from the surface. If only they were disappearing for good, he thought, as he scrambled down the stairs.
On the other side of the lab complex, a shrill screeching from a throng of rocsadons was shaking the walls.
Chapter Seventeen
Katera wrinkled her nose at the stench coming from the other side of the high stone wall. It was pungent and acidic like urine, only riper, as if it had been collecting and steeping in the dirt for days. Kastak Morchison tossed her a gleeful look as he slid the bolt from the tall gate.
"After you," he said, bowing gracefully, one arm flung toward the pen.
Katera swallowed hard and stepped forward. Stretching her neck through the gate, she peered around the corner and spied dozens of rocsadons snorting and kneeling on the ground, secured between posts with thick chains. She'd never seen more than a few of the monsters at a time, and only from a distance. She stared in awe at the huge bodies as they shifted and swayed. Frozen to the spot, she gawked with a dark fascination.
A shriek-a human shriek-split the air. Squinting, she shielded her eyes and gazed toward it. What she saw nearly caused her heart to stop.
Adrella was standing on top of a pole fifteen feet high and a few feet in diameter. Katera watched in shock as several rocsadons thrashed their long necks toward her, gnashing their teeth with a ferocity that only beasts fixed with a scent displayed. Obviously, they'd been fixed with Adrella's. From her high perch, Adrella was eye level with them.
Ma Lan Kena Lupana. Oh, Merciful Lupana. She must be looking into their open throats. Each beast had chains around their back legs that led to large winches managed by Kastaks, who kept the rocsadons out of range. The animals flung their gaping mouths six feet from Adrella, but could not get any closer, she noted with some relief.
Then one Kastak threw his weight onto a handle and released a length of chain. In the next heart-wrenching moment, the rocsadon at the end of it roared and leapt toward Adrella, coming within two feet of her face. Adrella screamed, and in desperation, Katera shouted her name. Adrella cast a furtive glance in her direction, but was distracted by a second rocsadon, who had also gained a length of chain. This time, Katera screamed.
Kastak Morchison grabbed Katera's shoulder and pitched her forward onto the ground. While he turned to close the heavy gate, she scrambled to her feet and sprinted toward Adrella. Instantly, she heard Morchison's heavy footsteps behind her. He grabbed her around the waist and they crashed to the ground together. She landed on her face with Morchison on top of her.
"What's your hurry, whore?"
He jumped up and pulled Katera up by the silken shipunta wrapped around her waist. It unraveled as she stumbled to her feet. Morchison tossed it to the ground and clamped his fingers around the back of her neck. He shoved her forward, tightened his grip and shook her head back and forth at the scene in front of them.
"Is that where you want to go? Huh? Like what you see? Want to join her? That's fine with me, because that's where you're going." He marched her toward the other Kastak. As they neared, Morchison called out, "Timoton, rein 'em in. I got another one."
Timoton nodded, and tugged the winch handle in the opposite direction. Every time one of the rocsadons paused after a lunge, he'd pull in a little more chain until all three were ten feet from the pole on one side. Timoton ran wide around the animals to a ladder that he picked up and carried to the pole, with Adrella trembling and whimpering on top. Morchison leaned the ladder against the pole, which Katera could now see was the trunk of a tree. He shoved Katera toward it and gave her neck a final shake.
"Climb, whore," he ordered.
Katera blinked up at Adrella, who was staring down with a look of grief. "Katera," she cried. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."
Katera stepped onto the ladder and climbed. As she neared the top, Adrella held out a hand. Wobbling dangerously, Katera placed one foot onto the platform while Adrella steadied her. There was no room to stand without both of them splaying their feet as they faced each other. Morchison lowered the ladder. Kater and Adrella clasped hands, struggling to keep from swaying.
"Rorken is safe," Katera whispered hoarsely, bending her knees for better stability. "Shamana has taken him to the caves. He'll leave with Mikolen and our parents to a safe place." Adrella struggled to swallow a sob, and Katera knew her sister's heart was relieved. "He'll be fine. He's going to grow into a man in a world where there is no Askinadon or Kastaks or rocsadons. He'll be free and happy." Tears leaked from Adrella's eyes-tears, Katera imagined, both bitter and sweet.
"Thank you, dear sister," Adrella said, and kissed her cheek. "For that, you have every ounce of my gratitude." Adrella reached one hand behind her head and lifted up a long necklace. Katera recognized the simple wooden crescent moon that Adrella had carved years ago from the wood of the ternok tree. It was threaded with a single leather string. With one arm gripping Katera's waist, she raised the other and let the string slip over the back of Katera's head. The crescent moon fell on her chest. "This will bring you the luck of Lupana," she said, fingering the moon.
The luck of Lupana? "Oh! You had it blessed. But you should wear it, Adrella."
Adrella pressed two fingers to Katera's lips. "No. I would leave this world satisfied, except for the fact that I got you involved in this horrible mess. This will give you a chance, otherwise, you will surely perish. Askinadon has promised me the rocsadons shall have their treats."