Even as she heaved through the door, she recovered enough to use her vocal cords. “Kirek. It’s Dora and Zical. We came to get you out of here.”
The boy backed away from them, his arms raised to block his face. “I am Tirips’ Oracle. Do not strike me.”
Stars. He was out of his head. His eyes unfocused. He didn’t recognize Dora or Zical.
She made her tone gentle. “Kirek. It’s Dora, sweetie. We’ve come to free you.”
“Dora?”
Kirek lowered his forearms. At the sight of the black circles below his eyes and his shaking frame, Dora barely held back a gasp. She didn’t know what they’d done to him, but he was clearly weak and totally exhausted.
“They wouldn’t let me sleep.”
She scooped him into her arms. “I’ve got you now. Sleep all you want.”
FROM THE MOMENT Zical had heard Kirek’s pathetic scream, he’d known they weren’t leaving the boy behind. Even if he’d wanted to try to talk Dora into leaving and returning again with Avanti and Deckar to back them up, the stubborn hardness in Dora’s eyes told him she’d never abandon the child. He adored her loyalty to Kirek. So her attitude was more than fine with him. Besides, holding back his fury would have been next to impossible. Anyone who would hurt a child didn’t deserve to breathe another minute.
While Zical didn’t take life without reason, he had no compunction about killing the Pirinja. As he led Dora, who lovingly carried Kirek, from L’Matti’s building, he remained alert. No one would stop their escape.
Earlier, Dora’s performance had been brilliant. She’d thought on her feet, using her charms and intelligence to get them close enough to take out the guards. She hadn’t hesitated to back him up in the fight, either, displaying a physical courage that revealed just how much she’d grown from the woman on Mystique who’d been afraid to leave her room.
So when Dora suddenly staggered on the stairs, almost dropping the boy, he took Kirek from her arms, fearing that killing a man had finally caught up with her emotionally. But he was dead wrong. She had that glazed look in her eyes, a soulless expression that told him she’d sent her mind elsewhere. Holding the boy over his shoulder with one arm, he wrapped his other around Dora to support her.
Meanwhile, his concern fed his anger. What in Stars was she doing linking with the computer system now? She needed to focus on her arms and legs and getting out of here before anyone discovered the dead guards they’d left behind. They couldn’t remain undiscovered for much longer, and he couldn’t carry her and Kirek, too, never mind fight if he must.
He set Kirek down in the stairwell. Then he shook her. “Dora. Come back.”
She didn’t respond, and the thought hit him that every time he figured that she’d made forward progress in her humanity, she did something to make him question her. But this was the first time she’d placed their lives at risk. Concern and anger battled within him. By now he knew her well enough to know she had good reasons for her actions, and that left him with nothing but anxiety. Had something outside gone awry? Had Avanti and Deckar betrayed them?
He chafed his hands up and down her arms. “Dora. We need you with us. Kirek needs you.”
Nothing.
Zical covered her mouth with his. At first, she didn’t move. But ever so slowly, her lips began to respond. Her eyes fluttered open. She jerked, spasming, and he realized that during their journey she’d gradually ceased her uncontrollable ticks and spasms. He wasn’t sure when she’d gained full control of her body, but now was not the time to discuss it.
“Dora?”
“Mmm.” She tried to draw him back into the kiss.
But once he was certain she was all the way back and wouldn’t fall down, he bent and picked up the sleeping Kirek. “We’ve got to go.”
He considered it a measure of restraint that he didn’t stop and demand to know what she’d been doing. This was no time for discussion. They had to get out of here. The sooner the better. He was about to climb the next set of stairs and return the same way they’d come.
“No.” She pointed to the door on this landing. “I altered the security system. The guards expect us to leave the way we came. This way.”
Zical didn’t know if she was strong enough to carry the boy. But if he had to fight, he’d need his hands free. “Are you up for carrying Kirek?” he asked, and when she nodded, he handed the boy back to her, and then started to open the door.
“Wait.” She drew a deep breath. “Ranth and I contacted Vax. He and Dr. Laduna have gathered at the ship with all our crew and scientists. The moment we are ready to leave, Avanti and Deckar will shut off the dampeners. Vax will fly the ship to this city’s spaceport to meet us.”
“You arranged all this?” He eyed her.
“With Ranth’s help.”
Dora had special abilities and a great mind. He’d been wrong not to trust her judgment, especially since she may have just saved his ass. Again.
“Okay. Which way?”
“Left.”
Dora’s plan went down as smooth as Osarian whiskey. They bypassed the employee entrance and walked out of L’Matti’s building as if they’d been invited guests. Only one guard questioned them and Zical took him out before he sounded the alarm, leaving him in a closet.
“The dampeners are gone,” Dora reported as they walked away from L’Matti’s building. “Ranth is back at full strength. With the security codes Deckar just gave Vax, our ship will land without attracting attention. Their computers will scan our ship, and the readings will show a Kwadii ship returning from space.”
“Good. How far to the spaceport?”
“Too far to walk.” Dora peered to her right. A skimmer pulled alongside them. “Ah, right on time.”
Avanti opened the skimmer door. Deckar was driving. “Need a ride?”
Within moments they were settled inside the skimmer. The hard part, rescuing Kirek, was over. But Zical couldn’t let down his vigilence. Until they left Kwadii and he was once again at the helm of his ship and in hyperspace, he wouldn’t relax. Although Avanti and Deckar had made some kind of alliance, he couldn’t miss the tension between them.
“How long until we reach the spaceport?”
“Ten minutes,” Avanti said.
“Except we’ve got a problem,” Deckar turned sharply to the right.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s an armed skimmer ahead. I’m changing our route.”
But the course correction did no good. A net dropped over their skimmer, stopping forward movement. A voice came over the skimmer’s speaker. “Exit the vehicle and keep your hands behind your heads.”
DORA COULDN’T CARRY Kirek and place her hands behind her head at the same time. “Let’s stay right here. Make them come to us.”
“Why?” Avanti asked.
“Maybe we can negotiate.”
Deckar shook his head. “They’re as likely to blow us up as negotiate. Selgrens are violent.”
Zical pulled his knife, his expression fierce. “If they want violence—”
“Put that away,” Dora snapped. She peered at Avanti and Deckar. “Can’t you two claim we’re on secret and official business?”
“One check into the computer,” Avanti said, “and that approaching guard will know the truth.”
“Let me handle the computer.” Dora and Ranth went to work. Since Ranth was now free, he needed little guidance from her, allowing her to monitor the conversation around her in a way she’d never done before. It was like listening to a conversation while a holovid program played in the background and she caught pieces of each.
While she and Ranth plunged into the Kwadii system and eradicated all efforts to capture them, she held on to Kirek, who stirred in her arms. As a Pirinja yanked open the door, she and Ranth quickly and efficiently erased the soldiers’ orders to capture them.
“Why have we been stopped?” Deckar asked with all the authority behind him of the class who’d ruled Kwadii for ten thousand ye
ars.
“Orders, sir.”
“I suggest you recheck your orders,” Deckar demanded in a tone of command that expected immediate obedience. “We are on a clandestine mission of vast importance. You’ve drawn attention to our presence and placed lives at risk.”
Avanti added her weight to the order. “I’ll hold you personally responsible if you delay our departure another minute.”
The Pirinja swore under his breath, apologized, and waved back a squad of men. However, he kept his weapon aimed at the skimmer, checked his wristvid for orders, and frowned. “Something must be wrong.”
“Something’s very wrong,” Zical snarled. “You, soldier, are stopping the Oracle.”
The Pirinja’s gaze went from his vidscreen to Zical. As if sensing his presence was required, Kirek opened his eyes. “Dregan hell. Why has my sleep been disturbed? Is there no rest for Tirips’ messenger?”
The Selgren soldier’s skepticism pulled his lips into an ugly sneer. “My missing order is highly unusual. I must check with my superior—”
“We have no time.” Zical tried to reach out and close the door.
The soldier placed a boot in the way and consulted his holovid. “You will please wait one moment. I could lose my rank if—”
“Here.” Kirek flipped the man a credit chip.
The Pirinja caught the credit chip in midair. He eyed it suspiciously, then as he saw the credit amount on the chip, his eyes widened, and Dora wondered where Kirek had acquired a large amount of Kwadii credits. He backed away and motioned them to shut the door. “Sorry to have delayed your trip.”
As the Pirinja stepped back smartly from the skimmer, motioning his men to raise the net, she surmised the bribe worked. Relief flowed through Dora as Deckar punched the engine and they zipped toward the spaceport. She hugged Kirek against her, smoothed his hair, and hoped he’d return to sleep. When she gazed down at his sleepy face, a smile flitted across his lips. When she looked up, she caught Zical’s burning gaze on her.
He was looking at her with a hungry expression of approval and need. She’d waited so long for him to look at her with that kind of regard that for a moment she’d thought she was imagining it. But no. The burning in his eyes remained steady, and she realized that despite all the problems on Kwadii she would remember the planet with fondness.
He’d picked a fine time to allow his passion to show. While in a crowded skimmer. While she held a child in her arms. While they fled for their lives.
During the last few days, she’d had little time to dwell on their personal relationship. This was not the time, either.
Deckar expertly parked the skimmer at the spaceport. As they all exited the vehicle, Dora linked with Ranth and monitored communications. They’d already sent the spaceport’s security detail to the far end of the tarmac to check out a bogus smuggling operation.
So far, no one appeared to have noticed their alterations to the Kwadii computer systems. They remained alone on the pavement. As their starship landed, she held her breath, half expecting someone to stop them, or worse, shoot the ship out of the sky.
When Vax opened the portal, they rushed toward the ship.
Kirek surprised her by waking completely and wriggling from her arms and stopping. He held out a hand to Deckar and Avanti in a gesture of welcome. He gazed into their faces, his words solemn. “If you truly seek to find Nevanna, you must come with us. Join our mission.”
“Join you?” Avanti asked.
“On the starship,” Kirek told her.
Kirek’s words took Dora by surprise. Until now, she’d believed Kirek was playing a role to help them escape Kwadii. But now she was no longer sure. Why would he invite Kwadii from two warring factions to join their mission?
Did Kirek believe that unless the two leaders were aboard the ship that the Kwadii would stop them? Or could Kirek’s mind have snapped during his sleep deprivation? Had he insisted that he was Tirips’ Oracle for so long that he now believed it?
Fear for him enhanced her every protective instinct. But Kirek didn’t need her protection. His words had stunned Deckar and Avanti, their faces paling.
Deckar recovered first. “If you will have me, I will be honored to accompany you on this mission.”
“We seek to reprogram the Sentinel and stop the Zin, not find Nevanna.” Zical told them as a boarding ramp uncurled. “However, if you wish to join us, please understand you will be under my command and must abide by Federation law.”
Dora was surprised that Zical hadn’t refused to take these strangers along, but then, he’d held the boy in high regard since long before he’d been born. She remained silent, wanting to talk to Kirek in private.
Deckar and Zical strode up the ramp and into the ship. Dora waited for Kirek, who still clasped Avanti’s hand. The child gazed at her with wisdom too old for the eyes of a four-year-old. “You do not believe in Tirips, do you Selgren Avanti?”
“No.”
Kirek winked at her. “But, apparently your belief is not necessary, only your presence.”
At Kirek’s mischievous wink, Dora didn’t know what to think. The child was asking Avanti to leave her world, to go on a mission of faith when she had none.
Zical and Deckar were already motioning them to hurry. “We must go. Before the authorities realize we’ve escaped.”
Kirek didn’t move. “It is difficult to leave one’s world behind,” he told her. “But sacrifices must be made. You have been chosen for the task.”
“Come.” Dora tugged on Kirek’s hand. “We can’t linger. You are only the messenger. If she chooses not to listen, it’s not your fault.”
“You are correct.” Kirek released Avanti’s hand.
Dora and Kirek hurried to the ship, leaving the Selgren leader behind them on the tarmac. Dora glanced over her shoulder once and caught a pensive expression on Avanti’s face. With Kirek and Dora about to climb through the portal, Avanti had mere seconds to change her mind.
Chapter Twenty
“CLOSE THE HATCH,” Zical ordered, not the least bit surprised when Avanti stepped through the portal and onto the bridge at the last second. She’d never struck him as a coward. He nodded in her direction. “Welcome aboard.”
The portal clanged shut. After boarding, Zical had taken a moment to change into his suit and to temper his elation at bringing his people on board. Although he’d always wish he could have saved everyone, he considered losing only the one panicked scientist after they’d first arrived a major victory—a victory that would allow him to continue his mission.
His responsibility to the Federation and Mystique was never far from his thoughts. With his mission back on track, he renewed his determination to find the Sentinel, to reprogram the machine so all peoples in this galaxy would remain safe from the Zin. With renewed purpose, he strode onto the bridge, pleased that his crew’s determination hadn’t wavered. No one had even suggested they go home.
With the Kwadii dampeners off, their engine worked and so did their psi controlled suits. It felt great to be clean again and able to move at the speed of thought. Living on Kwadii without their suits had been like living without one of their senses, and it was a measure of crew discipline that they hadn’t complained. In fact they’d adapted, and he was proud of them all. Especially Dora. He’d begun to realize just how difficult it must have been for her to adjust not to just the lack of a suit, but to human form.
There was much he wanted to say to Dora, but right now his priority was to lift his ship back into space. Put the mission back in the groove of hyperspace.
Zical glanced to his chief engineer. “Cyn?”
“We’re ready to go, Captain.”
“Vax?”
“Dr. Laduna and his staff are set for departure,” his first officer summarized. “Cargo and supplies are exactly as we left them. Water tanks have been topped off.”
The exhausted Kirek had departed for his quarters, but Dora remained at a computer station. She no longer needed hardwa
re to tap into Ranth with her psi. But by the blank expression in her eyes and the lack of emotion on her face, she was linked, monitoring the Kwadii communications to ensure their liftoff would not be challenged.
His communications officer, Shannon Walker, sat at her station, but she had no job to do, since they planned to keep the Kwadii in the dark about their departure. Instead of asking for permission to depart, she instructed Avanti and Deckar how to web in for liftoff. Since the pair had yet to learn how to use their psi or their new suits to nullify the g-force, they would require additional protection.
“Dora?” Zical prodded her into giving a report.
Her tone was flat, indicating her attention was split between the ship and her exalted computer. “Captain, the Kwadii dampeners were developed by a race as old as the Perceptive Ones and as technically superior to ours. They power their machinery by converting both solar power from their sun and geothermal power from their lava flow, transforming it to negative energy on their moons. The result is a hyperspace defense system that can also be employed to enhance our journey as effectively as our initial boost from the Osarian black holes.”
His hope rose to joyful that they might complete their mission much sooner than he’d anticipated after losing their original momentum, but he kept his tone even. “Are you saying the Kwadii system will accelerate us back to our former speed in hyperspace?”
“Affirmative, Captain.”
“Will the Kwadii be able to come after us again?”
“We intend to drain their power almost dry. By the time they can recharge, we’ll be long gone.”
“What’s required?” Determination to place them back on track filled him.
“Ranth and I will perform the calculations.” Dora spoke in a voice so flat he had to refrain from wincing. The contradiction between his excitement and her cold mechanical-like aura vexed him. Now that he knew how warm and giving she could be, her return to efficient crew woman irked him.
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