He took his time, taking note of his bearings and searching. He spied no cities or sign of civilization or life. But then a uniform mountain formation caught his attention. The ridge line appeared unnaturally straight and smooth. Wind and rain oddly hadn’t worn down the ridge in what should be a natural asymmetrical formation.
Nature didn’t normally form straight lines.
On Mystique, the Perceptive Ones had carved out a mountain and placed their ancient machines inside—machines that even now guarded the galaxy from the Perceptive Ones’ ancient enemy, the Zin. Perhaps the Perceptive Ones had built another complex here, hopefully much more recently than the machines they’d left behind at the galaxy’s center.
Xander soared straight to the mountain, aware that the setting sun limited his time. He needed the sun to see and to find his crew, but before journeying over a difficult trail across the jungle, he wanted to make sure the mountains ahead were their best option.
When he arrived, he was certain of only one thing—the ridge line wasn’t natural.
YOU CHEATED.
It’s impossible to cheat when there are no rules.
You’re actually helping them to evolve.
So? Did you think I’d let all my work end without guiding them in the appropriate direction?
You said they would evolve on their own.
I said they would evolve. They would have done so on their own given another few thousand years. But we don’t have another few thousand years.
Isn’t speeding up the process dangerous?
Yes. If they die, it may take too long to reintegrate the right combinations into my sequence.
So don’t let them die.
That’s the tricky part. To prematurely force evolution to the next stage, they must stay right on the edge of disaster.
So?
So, I’m juggling millions of details. Do you think creating an entire world is simple?
Yes.
Well, maybe one world, but I’m balancing a galaxy of millions. A little too much pressure here, a little less there, and they will all die.
If they don’t die during evolution, they’ll die of the virus. They simply can’t go as far as you want so quickly.
Was that an admission that they have evolved?
Their minds aren’t capable of such developed thinking.
The raw material is there. It just needs sculpting.
You can’t forge bendar from water.
Sure I can. I heat the water and mix the steam with castrabonine, throw in stardust, let it sit under the pressure of a moving continent for two decades, then—
I get the idea. But you’re running out of time. The next time the Zin open a wormhole—
I haven’t forgotten.
The glow stones aren’t even near the nexus.
I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of everything, but it wouldn’t hurt you to pitch in.
Me? Work? Not anytime in this millennium.
Why not?
Work is . . . so . . . pedestrian.
No. Work is fascinating. Watch.
ALARA WISHED SHE had her laboratory equipment because she didn’t trust her eyes or her judgment. How could she when the planet seemed to have kicked her into the beginnings of Boktai? Xander’s ability to leave his body had surprised Alara, but although his talent was unusual, she had heard of such skills—although she hadn’t believed they existed until now. She only wished that instead of staying behind, she could have joined him and explored this world. But she couldn’t have been more pleased by his astrally extending. Shannon was in no condition for a strenuous hike.
The planet was affecting Alara, too. She supposed it made sense in a weird kind of way. The plants here grew at fantastic rates, so why shouldn’t her metabolism also speed up? However, she wasn’t a plant. The foliage had evolved here, she hadn’t. Wondering whether their growth would slow to more normal rates if she took the plants out of this environment didn’t stop her from worrying about Xander. Not even her humming blood and her burning flesh could stem her tide of concern.
He should be back by now. It was almost dark. As the minutes passed slowly, anxiety fueled her hormones and stirred her passions. Krek. She had no idea when Xander would return to his body, and her biology was already making clear thinking difficult, drenching her with the demand to regenerate. Even if Xander returned, there was no privacy.
Worse, they were in danger.
But with her cells shouting for regeneration with an urgency that left her suit hard-pressed to maintain the shield and cool her heated flesh, she prayed Xander would return quickly, for his sake as well as hers. Closing her eyes, she tried to meditate, attempted to impose calm on her rebellious biology.
Of all the planets in the universe for her to land on, why did it have to be Saj—one that speeded up Boktai? Or was she simply adapting more quickly to Xander than she’d thought possible? Perhaps it was merely worry over his absence that had started Boktai. Filled with frustration, worried for his safety, she waited for Xander to return. And recalled how her father had made her mother wait for him.
The spineless mudsucker.
Alara had only been five or six, but when she’d come home from school, she’d heard her mother on the holovid, her voice low and pleading. “Come home, Speker.”
Her father’s cruel laugh had shocked Alara into silence. “Surely you don’t think I’d leave my work in the middle of the day for you?”
Her mother trembled, but she’d held her chin high. “If you’d done your duty last night, I would not be in such need now.”
Her father glared, his lips twisting into a mean grin, and then he punched the console, ending the holovid conversation. Confused by her father’s abrupt refusal, Alara, the child, didn’t understand what had caused her mother to beg. Or why her father had been so nasty and refused to come home. After all, he often took time off from work.
When her mother had collapsed into her chair, Alara had run to her, climbed into her lap, and flung her arms around her neck. She’d never forgotten how her mother had tried to hide her tears, but several had fallen onto Alara’s neck, branding her with the belief that her mother shouldn’t have been crying. Alara had vowed to do whatever she could to make her better.
Although it was years before Alara had fully understood the significance of her parents’ argument, when she had, she’d chosen to study science in the hope of finding a solution. She would fix the biological problem. However, her promising work had been cut short.
Now she found herself in the same biological nightmare as her mother.
Calm yourself.
There were differences. Her father had enjoyed tormenting her mother, but if Xander knew of her need, he would find a way to ease Alara’s suffering. His kindness was only one of the reasons she worried about his safety. She liked the way he treated his crew. She liked the way he treated her. Unfortunately, her extreme anxiety was provoking her lust. If she knew he was safe, she could slow her descent into Boktai.
But she had no way to contact him. Although this was the first time she’d seen astral roaming, she understood the principle. His mind was gone. Tapping his shoulder would do nothing. Talking to his limp body would do nothing. He wasn’t in his body. He’d left her behind, and she longed to join him.
By the holy order of the universe. Maybe she could follow him. There were legends on Endeki of women whose need for their husbands and regeneration had been so great that they’d become comatose, and when their delayed husbands had returned, they’d inexplicably awakened. Could those women have left their bodies?
Dregan hell. For all she knew, they may have taken a sleeping potion.
Still, if Xander could leave his body behind, why couldn’t she do so, too?
“Do you know how Xander leaves his b
ody?” she asked his crew.
Although weak and swaying on her feet, Shannon gave her a sharp-eyed look. Of them all, only she knew Alara’s secret. Alara nodded slightly, signaling, yes, she needed Xander now.
Vax’s very male voice slammed her hormones. “Why?”
Alara refused to look at him. She dared not. He was male. Too male. But she wanted Xander.
The thought startled her right down to her toes. Vax was the safer choice for regeneration. Her cells might adapt to Xander if she absorbed his essence too many times. While she knew Xander would be furious if she mated with Vax, it was not concern about Xander’s customs that drove her.
She wanted Xander.
Only Xander.
The knowledge burned to her core, and she stumbled. Shannon’s and Cyn’s hands tightened on hers, their strength holding her up. She wished she could blame Boktai. She wished she could blame her yearning for him on the fact that she disliked Vax—but she didn’t. Vax was a fine officer. An honorable warrior.
But she wanted Xander, wanted him badly enough to try and find him. So although she refused to look at Vax and risk that the mere sight of him would enflame her hormones to burn even hotter, she spoke firmly and hoped he wouldn’t see through her lie. “If I could also leave my body, we could scout twice the area.”
Vax answered immediately, dismissing her idea. “Leaving your body is dangerous.”
As plants looped over them and blocked out the sun, Alara tilted her head back. “Staying here is dangerous. Besides, Xander might need my help. He and Malk should have returned by now.”
“We need you to help maintain the shield over Xander’s body. Besides, when he returns, he may require care. Last time after he came back, his body needed time to recuperate.”
Shannon, bless her Terran heart, defended Alara. “Vax, let her try. It’s possible Xander is lost, and she may be able to point him back to his body.”
Vax remained stubborn. “Xander is a hunter. He’ll mark his path and follow it back.”
Cyn squinted at the sky that could barely be seen between the canopy of overhead plants. “It’s difficult to mark a path that is ever changing. Besides, the sun is setting. In the darkness, he may truly need Alara’s help.”
“If she goes, she may also become lost.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Vax still sounded determined, yet she heard the thinnest thread of indecisiveness enter his tone. “Even if you succeed, he may not be able to see you.”
“I don’t even know if I can do what Xander does. But if I can, I’ll go straight up and come back. I won’t get lost, and perhaps I will be able to—”
“Alara rescue Xander,” Clarie interrupted, inserting himself into the conversation with his childish yet insistent voice that oddly carried weight.
“Clarie,” Vax asked. “Can you teach Alara what you taught Xander?”
“Clarie teach. Alara learn.”
At finding this unexpected ally, Alara felt her heart speed. Between her real concern for Xander and the need for regeneration, she gritted her teeth and prayed she could focus on Clarie’s instructions. “What should I do?”
“Use Boktai.”
Alara’s jaw dropped in shock, and she jerked her gaze to Shannon, who shook her head. “I’ve said nothing.”
“Nothing about what?” Vax demanded.
“Hush,” Clarie ordered with a wisp of impatience. “Use the Boktai.”
“Boktai?” Vax asked.
But Alara ignored him and honed in on Clarie. He spoke in a singsong incantation that almost hypnotized. “Gather the energy in body. Pull energy to center. Let the energy froth and bubble. Collect the burn. Hold it close. Embrace the blaze.”
Collect the burn.
Hold it close.
Embrace the blaze.
Alara tried to do as he suggested. Never had she embraced Boktai. All her life she’d fought her physiology, battled the spiraling out-of-control thoughts, resisted the submersion into her senses. But if Xander needed her, maybe even more than she needed him, she would draw on the energy of Boktai.
Electric arcs raced through her body, and she coaxed and collected them, forced them to coil upon themselves. Her core felt like an explosive lightning ball. Currents energized and sizzled. The sensation escalated and coalesced. If she’d been in space, her speed would have been hyperdrive. If she’d been a storm, it would have been a planetwide event. If she’d been a star, it would have been a supernova.
“Now release the energy and ride it.”
Ribbons of energy surged outward, and she latched onto a streamer. By the stars. At first she thought she’d simply stood up straighter, but she wasn’t tall enough to elevate her head beyond the shielding and the branches.
She’d done it.
She was floating. She had no weight. No body. Yet she could see—even though she had no eyes. She could hear the wind whistling through the branches, although she had no ears.
She glanced down and saw them move her body into the protected circle. Clarie had taken her place to help reinforce the shield. Free to worry about Xander without inciting her body’s lust, she soared straight up.
But she saw no sign of him.
17
IN HER ALTERED state, Alara didn’t know what Xander would look like, but suddenly she discerned his presence. Without doubt, she knew he had joined her, and oddly, she identified him in a way similar to how she’d recognize rain on her face—even if her eyes were closed. Although they weren’t touching in the physical sense, she could feel him on a level she couldn’t name. It was almost as if she had developed another sense—a second vision. Xander glowed with a pure molten bronze aura that she instantly recognized.
Alara?
She heard him speak into her mind. Telepathy? In this altered state could they communicate mind to mind, or was she imagining things that couldn’t possibly be?
Alara, is that you? The bronze aura approached.
Yes. Clarie helped me leave my body, so I could search for you. When you stayed away for so long, I was worried you might be lost.
So you came after me? Nuances of emotion came through the mind link. Although she couldn’t hear his voice or see his face, his words broadcast straight into her mind, with warmth and curiosity attached.
Floating serenely above the planet, holding a stationary position, she slowly adjusted to her altered state. On the horizon, the last rays of the setting sun splashed golden-red streaks across the lush vegetation below, reminding her they had to return soon—but not just yet.
My body is going into Boktai. She wasn’t ready to admit more to him than that her cells required regeneration.
Your timing could have been better. Amusement and irony sizzled through the link along with molten male heat.
Tell me something I don’t already know.
He tamped down his potent interest, replaced it with . . . responsibility. How long can you hold out?
My biology seems to have adapted to this planet’s abnormally rapid development. I’ve never experienced such a quick-paced change. So answering your question is impossible.
The crew?
Are holding the protective shield around our bodies. There is no privacy. She admitted her lesser concern. She didn’t mind that the others knew they were mating as much as she hated them knowing that she had no control over the timing—which was totally inappropriate. They were in danger. Cut off from their ship. Without supplies. Yet lovemaking could not be put off much longer.
I’ll take care of the logistics. With all these plants, we need only be a few steps away to remain out of sight. But we have another problem.
Malk?
I haven’t seen him but that’s not—
What?
This out-of-b
ody experience taxes physical strength. We need recovery time. So here’s the plan. I’ll report my findings and then we’ll “nap.”
As he sent the thoughts into her mind, he glowed brighter, as if he looked forward to their coming physical union as much as she did. With business taken care of for the moment, she loosened hold of her curiosity. What do I look like?
Huh?
To me, you look like a glowing bronze aura in a ball-shaped form.
Really? In the mind-to-mind connection, she noted his surprise. You appear ghostlike, golden. I can see every feature.
How odd that we see each other so differently.
Perhaps we see only what the other wishes to display. Or how we think of ourselves?
You would have made a good scientist.
At her comment, he laughed. He had no vocal cords, but nevertheless, his laughter rang in her head. Considering the possibilities is one thing, having the patience to test them is another.
And exactly how are we communicating? she asked. Will the mental link continue once we reenter our bodies?
There’s one way to find out.
He dived toward his crew. And sliced right through their psi shield to reenter his body. The moment he linked his mind with his flesh and bones, their mental link severed.
Left behind and feeling all too alone, she hastened to follow. The reintegration process was smooth and natural, like pouring milk into a glass, but taking only fractions of a second. After the transition into her body, her first instinct—to reach for Xander’s hand—revealed her lack of energy. Never in her entire life had she felt this deep, numbing exhaustion. Sapped, totally drained of all energy, she focused simply on taking her next breath, very aware that the mental link she and Xander had shared was gone. Too bad her hormones were raging.
Beside her, Xander exhibited more strength than she and shifted to a sitting position. Vax kneeled beside him. “Are you all right?”
“I found evidence of the Perceptive Ones on a mountain ridge.”
“Evidence that they’re still alive?” Shannon cut right to the major point of the mission. Her mind was still sharp, but she trembled all the time now.
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