by Ann Durand
"Please," Mike whispered. "I'm begging you. You don't need to do that. She's not going to run away. Let her sit up and ride. Or at least walk. That position is going to kill her."
Morchison blinked stupidly at Mike, as if he couldn't fathom what he'd heard. Then his expression contorted into a scowl, and Mike felt a sense of dread rise like bile in the pit of his stomach. Morchison spun around, still carrying the spear, and walked over to Katera. He snatched a fistful of her hair with his free hand and used it to wrench her head back.
"You want to walk, bitch?" he said, pressing his face into hers. "Would you like to walk? Tell you what, I'll tie your sorry ass to the hoshdel's tail, then you can dodge his kickin' feet all the way down the mountain. Would you like that? You want to walk?" Katera shook her head, grimacing, and Morchison shoved her face back into the hoshdel's neck. Mike's blood sizzled as he watched Morchison stroll back toward him. "She doesn't want to walk," he said, shrugging, as if he'd just given it his best try. "However, you may walk, though I think a small adjustment is needed first."
Morchison pointed a finger upward and painted a circle in the air. Still seething, Mike turned around and offered his clenched fists behind his back. Morchison motioned for Tonnelly to grab a length of rope from the hoshdel's barn. He wound it tightly around Mike's wrists. When he'd finished, he gestured grandly toward the trail.
"Shall we go?"
Without daring to look back at Katera, Mike turned and stumbled onto the path that led them to the caves at the bottom of Kan Mountain. Morchison fell in behind him, aiming the tip of the spear at his back. It was mid-afternoon, and the hike normally took most of a day. Leaving at this hour would place them at the caves around midnight. That gave him plenty of time to think. He needed to think.
He didn't believe Morchison and Tonnelly were planning to take him and Katera with them to the future, nor did he believe they planned to leave them behind. He had little doubt that as soon as the EM Sphere was in place and Silver Gate ready to go, these two men would make short work of killing them both, if only for the sheer pleasure of it. He had to come up with a plan before then. He had to think.
To keep him focused, he reflected on the bloody finger tucked gingerly inside his fist, and a slow rage seethed inside him.
He would find a way.
Chapter Twenty-One
Katera, doubled over the hoshdel's back, squirmed in agony. A searing heat ran up her arm from her wounded hand. She could see the dark, silhouetted shapes of Mikolen and Morchison on the trail ahead. The hoshdel leapt over a large rock in the trail, and a sea of nausea rose inside her, filling her throat. Struggling to keep it at bay, she lifted her head off the hoshdel's neck to breathe.
"Mikolen," she called, weakly.
There was a scuffle on the trail ahead, and she heard Mikolen's voice. "She sounds feverish. Let me go to her." Who was feverish? Was he talking about her? "Katera? Hang on!" he called to her.
She heard a smack and realized that Morchison had pelted Mikolen-probably slapped him. She resolved not to speak again as long as Mikolen had to take punishment for it. She lay her head back down, but the nausea surged into her throat again. This time, she couldn't hold it back and heaved over the hoshdel's side.
"Oh, crap!" yelled Tonnelly. "She upchucked all over me!" Trembling, Katera lifted her head. Tonnelly hopped off the clean side of the hoshdel and rummaged through the pack on the hoshdel's hindquarters. "I smell like shit," he cried. "Great way to return home, smelling like a sewer!"
He produced a torn cloth from the satchel and stood back to wipe his pants. In the meantime, Morchison tied the length of rope around Mikolen's wrist to the branch of a tree, and headed back to her and Tonnelly.
"Okay, you can sit up, bitch. And you can walk, Tonnelly."
"Fine. I don't want to get back up there. It's contaminated." Tonnelly tore the top off the water container secured to his waist and spilled it onto his pants. "Damn stink."
Morchison ignored him as he pulled Katera off the hoshdel and hoisted her upright into the saddle. She struggled to keep her balance as her head went swimming. Morchison reached around her back and fiddled with the knot on her wrists.
"You're going to let her ride free?" Tonnelly asked, looking up.
"Yeah. She's not going anywhere," Morchison said, under his breath. "She's delirious, got a pretty serious infection. It might kill her, maybe soon. We've got to keep her alive long enough for Leno to give us what we want. That's two more hours." He looked up at Katera. "Think you can handle that? Two hours, that's all we need. Then you can keel over. Okay?" He grinned and patted her bottom, then fed the reins back over the hoshdel's head and handed them off to Tonnelly. "Watch her closely. If it looks like she's going to pass out, throw her back on her stomach over the hoshdel, so Leno doesn't know she's lost it."
Tonnelly flashed a thumb's up. "Got it." He gave an excited laugh. "Man, I can't wait to get home. They probably think we're dead back there at Tescali. Won't they be in for the shock of their lives?"
Morchison sighed, as if he were dealing with a tiresome child. "They won't think we're dead. They won't have had time to think that. We'll be returning only one day after Askins disappeared with the entire lab. So there'll be no Tescali Lab when we return. It's on the top of Kan Mountain, remember? They'll be in shock from that, and from the disappearance of every scientist who happened to be inside the lab at the time. And when we show up, we'll be ten years older. They'll be so dizzy with it all, they'll eat up whatever story we feed them." Morchison cast a surreptitious glance at Mikolen, who was struggling with his bindings. He turned his back and lowered his voice. Katera leaned forward in the saddle. "We can tell them anything we want. We can say Askins killed Leno after Leno built another stargate, and we escaped just in time. Of course, we can't have Leno around telling them he's alive."
"We're not bringing him with us?" Tonnelly looked worried. "But we need him to configure the stargate."
"I know something about it. I was one of the original technicians that helped send Askins off on his first trip into the past. I need Leno to lead us to it and dial in the settings, then I'll double-check them. If they're off, I'll know it. We'll use this little beauty here to motivate him, if we need to."
They both glanced at Katera. She let her chin wobble onto her chest, as if she were losing consciousness.
"She doesn't look like she's going to make it that far," said Tonnelly.
Morchison scowled. "She'll make it. Give her water. Give her whatever she needs. We'll be there soon."
"All right…so, we're not going to let them live?"
Katera opened one eye to see Morchison silently drawing a finger across his throat. So, that was it. They planned to kill them both at the caves. Well, let them try. There was help back in the caves. These men were not aware that her parents, Shamana, and Rorken were already there. Mama and Papa would help. Shamana would help. They'd see them coming, then they'd surprise the creeps and overpower them. Simple.
Tonnelly reached up and shook Katera by the arm.
"Hey, you. Wake up," he said, gruffly.
Katera let her eyes flutter open. "Huh?" she asked, feigning confusion.
Tonnelly thrust his water container at her. "Drink," he commanded.
Katera took it and sipped. She would make it, she thought, as she handed the container back. She pressed one hand against the wooden crescent that lay against her sternum under her panna. She would make it.
She slumped into the saddle as they set off into the cool night. She would pretend to be weak, so they would not suspect it when she hurled something at them-maybe she would be able to grab Tonnelly's knife if she was fast enough. Maybe…
Katera felt her head spinning and grabbed the saddle horn for balance. She missed and caught a fistful of hoshdel hair. The momentum propelled her forward. Unable to stop, she slipped up onto the hoshdel's neck, then over and onto the ground where she rolled onto her back. Tonnelly kneeled beside her and pressed his fingers ro
ughly into her neck to take her pulse.
His breath smelled foul, like a rotting piece of meat. She tried to turn her head away, but it felt too heavy. She wanted to rest, to nap for a little while; regain her strength, so she could help Mikolen. She would rest just a little.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"They're coming. I hear a hoshdel," Shamana whispered excitedly to Katera's parents, standing behind her as she peered through the mouth of the cave. They strained forward to examine the dark shapes moving through the brush outside. "It's Mikolen…and others are with him. Quick. Turn off your lanadiks."
Moreesha and Rinden switched off their lights, plunging the cave into darkness. Mikolen's voice drifted toward them from the advancing party.
"I want to check her. Let me see her." His tone held a blend of insistence and desperation. "I'm not doing anything for you unless she's okay."
"Take my word for it. She's okay," said another voice, one that sent an icy shudder through Shamana. She knew that voice. Kastak Morchison. What was Mikolen doing with him?
"We have to hide," she spluttered, stumbling away from the entrance.
"Who is it? Who's out there?" Moreesha asked, looking alarmed.
"It's a Kastak," Shamana said, her voice trembling. "A really bad one."
Moreesha jockeyed in front of Shamana and peered into the night, struggling to make out the figures as they approached. Then she gasped.
"Merciful Lupana. It's Katera…or is it Adrella? Oh, she's hurt! Look, Rinden." Moreesha pointed an unsteady finger at the silhouette of a hoshdel with a body draped over it. "That's one of our girls."
Moreesha charged out of the cave, stumbling blindly toward the hoshdel that bore the shape of a young woman bent over the saddle.
"Moreesha!" her husband called after her, and then he, too, barreled out of the cave.
As Shamana edged away, she heard Moreesha's shrill scream outside, then the muffled shouts of men. She heard a brief struggle, and then silence. She froze with the stillness and waited breathlessly. More shuffling, more voices. Whose?
Morchison's harsh voice sliced through the blackness. Shamana felt panic grip her in the gut. Twirling around, she spied a box used for storing tack and other hoshdel gear. She opened it and scrambled inside, pulling a saddle and blanket over her. A small crack in the boards gave her a way to see out, and she pressed her eye against it. Her entire body trembled as she struggled to stay calm.
A moment later, Mikolen entered the antechamber, followed by Morchison. He lit the wall lanadik. Rinden entered next with his hands in the air. Tonnelly followed, brandishing a knife under Moreesha's chin. A hoshdel lumbered in after everyone, bearing Katera's body.
"Get over there against the wall," Morchison said, signaling with his spear to Rinden.
Morchison approached the hoshdel and pulled a length of rope from the animal's satchel, which he used to secure Rinden's hands behind his back. As he worked, Moreesha babbled, her chin poised over Tonnelly's knife.
"Please, help her. Help Katera. She's very sick. Look at her arm. It's red and swollen. And where is Adrella? What have you done with her?"
"It's not what I did with her," Morchison said, as he yanked the knot behind Rinden's back, tightening it. "It's what a rocsadon did with her."
Shamana detected a demented satisfaction in his voice. A pregnant silence fell over Moreesha as she struggled to absorb the information. She looked at Katera, then back at Morchison. Gasping, Moreesha drove her chin into the air and let out a long wail.
"Noooo!"
"Shut-up!" Morchison yelled, but she either didn't hear him or didn't care. Tonnelly held the knife under her chin as wracking sobs shook her body. Morchison looked at her with disgust, yelled "shut up" again. When she didn't, he closed the distance between them with a couple of swift strides. He shoved his face into hers. "Shut-up or the other one gets it, too," he spat. Then, he lowered his voice so that Shamana couldn't hear what he said next, but whatever it was, it reduced Moreesha's cries to a whimper. Morchison sneered at Moreesha and turned around, tossing his head in Mikolen's direction. "I'd really like to keep Katera alive." He flashed a wide grin. "If you'd like her to stay alive, I suggest you fix those settings on that time machine of yours."
Mikolen nodded and turned halfway around to show his bound wrists. "Can't do much with these."
Morchison motioned for Tonnelly to untie Mikolen while Morchison guarded Moreesha. When Tonnelly finished, Morchison used the rope from Mikolen's wrists to tie up Moreesha, who was still sobbing, though more subdued. Next, he secured Rinden and Moreesha to a wooden bar used for the animals. After tying Katera's hoshdel to the bar, he straightened and turned to Mikolen.
"Let's go," he said. "I want to see your stargate."
"Lemme come, too," Tonnelly said, and pointed at Rinden, Moreesha, and Katera. "They're not going anywhere. C'mon. I gotta see this thing."
"All right," Morchison said, obviously feeling generous. "Let's check this jewel out."
They left, pushing Mikolen ahead of them. Shamana listened as their echoes faded away. When she could no longer hear them, she lifted the lid on the box and peered out. Moreesha and Rinden stared at her. She lifted a finger to her lips, crawled out of the box, and tiptoed across the floor to them.
"I'm going to get help," she whispered.
"Take us with you. Untie us." Rinden sounded harsh.
"If I do that, they'll follow. And we can't get Rorken, who is asleep in a cave room near the stargate. If he wakes up and cries, it'll be all over. Plus, we only have one hoshdel, and Katera's on it. Mikolen's hoshdels are outside, but I doubt we have time to round them up and get them saddled. We're sure to attract attention if we try. And think about it…one person will have to ride with Katera, and two of us will have to walk, one carrying Rorken, so we can't go very fast. They'll catch up for sure, and I don't know what they'll do to us," Shamana said. "They don't know I'm here. I can run like the wind and get to the village in an hour. I'll return even sooner on hoshdels with lots of help."
Rinden raised an eyebrow. "Why would anyone want to help? It's dangerous for them. Askinadon punishes treachery with torture and death."
"I'll show them the VisiOrb and how to take it out of their heads." Shamana tilted her head. "Do you think they will resist this freedom?"
Rinden fell silent for a moment. "No," he said, finally. "They should go for it."
"You did," Shamana reminded him. "And I did."
"Yes, but we believed we could escape to Mikolen's time," Rinden said, sounding doubtful.
"I would have done it, anyway. I would have fled through the mountains."
Rinden nodded. "You may have something there. But if it takes two hours to get back here-that's one and a half if you're quick-it could be too late. We may be all be dead."
"It'll be too late for all of us if they catch us on the move," Shamana said. "At least this way, it is guaranteed that I will reach the village to get help. And they don't know Rorken's here. He can go undetected until he wakes up tomorrow morning. There are many rooms in this cave. They have no reason to investigate them. Rorken is safe. If I am not discovered, I am free to come back and get him." She didn't add: In case everything else goes wrong.
Rinden looked thoughtful. "Okay, but please, for the sake of Katera, hurry."
They both glanced in her direction. Her head lay motionless on the hoshdel's shaggy neck. Shamana drew in a deep breath and placed a hand on Rinden's shoulder.
"Ne pak falennik o Lupana," she whispered. "I go on the wings of Lupana." Then she placed her other hand over her heart. "Lan lukora pak ya."
"And truth and light go with you, too, Shamana," Rinden said. "Taka Ra. Good luck."
Shamana smiled, then turned to Moreesha. "Don't worry. I'll be back."
Moreesha, who had been staring at Katera's motionless form, turned to Shamana with a glazed look in her eyes, adding to the sense of urgency that Shamana felt. Shamana reached over and held her hand against Moreesha's chee
k.
"I will bring the herb doctor with me. He will help Katera."
Moreesha smiled feebly. Interpreting this as sanction to leave, Shamana rose and stole out of the cave.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mike led the former Kastaks to a chamber far back in the heart of the tunnel system-the chamber where he'd labored for ten years collecting and assembling materials to recreate the greatest device ever known to his planet. As they turned the corner, Mike lit the wall lanadik. In the sudden flood of light, a giant silver cylinder in the center of the chamber cast a brilliant glow into the room. Equipment and tools, set on and around two long wooden tables, lined the periphery of the chamber. Silver Gate looked deceptively simple. The walls were fifteen feet high and fashioned from a shiny, polished metal. There were no portholes or roof, and the walls curved in a single elegant line, broken only by a two-foot wide opening that reached from top to bottom and served as a doorway. Within, a translucent panel blinked with numerous icons.
"It looks like Star Gate One," Tonnelly said, sounding disappointed.
"It was modeled after it," Mike said. "I built the first one, so I figured I could build another one like it, providing the lab had the materials I needed. And it did."
"Good," Morchison said, shoving Mike toward the opening. "Go set the time. I want our arrival to be one day after Askins escaped with us in 2275." Morchison watched him as Mike manipulated the controls. "We don't want to arrive before that. We'll go spiraling into another universe if we do."
"Yeah, we already had that happen once," Tonnelly snorted, stepping inside, "when Askins came back to Parallon while he was still in it. Started up this whole new universe with those ugly rocsadons." He gestured to the walls around him as if rocsdons were waiting on the other side. "If that's what happens with a universe warp, count me out." He turned to Morchison. "You think rocsadons will still be around when we get back home?"