“Captain.”
Arm around Mara’s shoulders, Nick glanced at the D’nvannae. “Khevan?”
“There may be another possibility. We shouldn’t abandon hope of escape yet.”
Counting the obstacles off on his fingers, Nick frowned. “No suits, no atmosphere in the shuttle bay, no way to close off the outer doors from here. What am I missing?”
“This is my task, as sending the fastlink call was yours, and shielding you from the pirate torture was Damais’s. I can call upon She Whom I Serve, I am an Intimate Initiate –” Khevan smiled at their blank faces. “This means nothing to you, I realize, but I can call directly upon the Red Lady’s own energy. Not often, not lightly, but it can be done.”
Mind busy exploring the possibilities of this unexpected suggestion, Nick had one question. “This far away from D’nvannae?”
Khevan nodded.
Nick remained skeptical, which must have been obvious from the expression on his face, because the Brother made further arguments. “I can summon the power of the Lady, wrap myself in it –”
“And what? Walk safely – unsuited – across a shuttle bay open to the vacuum and activate the door controls?” Nick’s response was grimly negative. “I know your Brotherhood has a lot of legends built up, but come on, man, you’re talking impossible. Even the Mellureans can’t do a trick like that.”
Although one muscle twitched in his jaw, Khevan maintained his calm demeanor. “The Red Lady is not a Mellurean. She’s not bound by any constraint of our universe. Quite the contrary. If I go into the shuttle bay, can I activate the doors?”
Nick considered the question. Khevan’s one stubborn guy. But what do we have to lose at this point? “Okay, if we leave aside all the other problems, yes, probably. I doubt if Bonlors took the time to jam the door controls inside the hangar. They’re simple open/shut devices, so you wouldn’t need any access code. But if the pirates notice the doors closing, they may scramble their light attack craft. Lay an ambush for us by the time we get the shuttle powered up and are ready to open the doors again.”
“Or they might not,” Khevan counter argued. “They’re busy looting and pillaging the upper decks. The AI is incommunicado, so they will learn nothing from it. We go out hot on the shuttle, in a burst of speed.”
“No problem,” Nick said. “Get me to the shuttle. I can rev the drives past redline and then let her go. Bad for the shuttle bay, but at this point, who gives a damn? SMT can sue me. I’m sure as hell going to be suing them.”
“I say we go for it.” Mara unexpectedly chimed in. Nick stared at her, surprised. Hands raised palms up, she shrugged. “Well, he knows what he can and can’t do, just like you knew what the fastlink would and wouldn’t do, okay?”
Nick gave up. “All right, we’ll try it. What do you need from us?”
“Privacy. And I will require Twilka’s help, if she’ll give it.” Khevan hesitated, looking at Mara and then away again, projecting an air of embarrassment. “To invoke this level of tazlin, or connection with the Red Lady, is rarely done away from D’nvannae, you are right. I shouldn’t try to minimize this for you. Perhaps it’s never been done. And when the ceremony is conducted on our home world, there are many Brothers of the five highest ranks assembled, to give support to the chosen Brother as he strives for the tazlin.”
“And you’ve done this?” Nick peered closely at Khevan. “You’ve had this tazlin with the Red Lady?”
Gravely, the Brother nodded. “I have been so honored, yes, which is how I attained my current rank in our Brotherhood.”
“Some day remind me to ask you what in the Seven Hells you were doing on a backwater planet like Glideon,” Nick said, half seriously.
“I might even tell you, if we survive,” Khevan answered with a smile. “But to do this now, here, on my own, will be difficult. I am – depleted. Lending Lady Damais strength as she fought to guard you was hard. It goes against the teachings of my Order, to freely give the inner strength to another’s purposes. Even with the Red Lady’s permission.”
“And you need Twilka for – what?” Mara was curious.
Khevan stared at her for a long minute, evidently debating how best to answer her. Mara blushed as she reconsidered her question, but Khevan was already speaking, opting for minimal disclosure and maximum discretion.
“The details will have to be between Twilka and myself, if she’ll help.”
“And if she won’t, can you do this on your own?” Nick asked.
“I’ll have to.” Khevan ticked off the possibilities on one hand. “Gianna is too young. I wouldn’t touch such a pure one in any event. You, Mara, well, you’re too thoroughly spoken for to surrender any part of yourself to what I need. Not even if you and the captain agreed to let you try.”
Mara blushed even more furiously, staring everywhere but at Nick.
He cleared his throat. “Guess more than a few of the rumors people spread about the secret D’nvannae rituals are true.”
Khevan shook his head in instant, fierce denial. “Do not misunderstand me. Do not assume what I am asking of Twilka will be physical, bodily surrender. But I need – I must have – a female spirit at my side, to draw the Red Lady’s power to this spot, so far from D’nvannae. It’s a gathering of energies, a focusing of will and desire – I would never speak of even one smallest part of these subjects to you, non-believers in the Red Lady, if our situation wasn’t so desperate. I break oaths, terrible oaths. The Lady may refuse me, based on my oath-breaking alone.”
He’s working himself up into quite a state. Nick held up a hand. “We don’t have to know anymore about it. Don’t distress yourself. But Khevan –”
“Yes?”
“Twilka has to be a willing participant in this ritual of yours. I can’t agree to let her be coerced or forced into anything, not even to have a chance at saving us all. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Khevan winked. “You forget, she is a Socialite, after all, and they hunger for the novel, the incredibly unique experience. This, I can promise her.”
“And she’s, um, drawn to you,” Mara said shrewdly.
“As you are not, having given your heart to the captain,” Khevan finished, his tone equally pointed. “We waste time. Would you send Twilka to me so we may speak in private?”
“We waste time, all right,” Nick said. He took Mara by the elbow, ready to escort her away. “Come on, let’s give the man some space to work his magic.”
“Once Twilka has consented to participate in the tazlin ritual, give me another ten minutes before you return. My supplication will either have worked by then, the Lady granting my plea, or it is not going to happen, and we may as well proceed to the engines and invoke our fate.”
Nick nodded, his face grim and serious. He held out a hand. “Good luck.”
Solemnly, Khevan shook hands with him. “I’ll need it.”
Hand in hand, Mara and Nick walked along the corridor to the grav-lift entrance.
“This is one weird damn voyage,” Nick said, his voice raspy from the hours of tortured agony.
“I certainly never had any other business trip like it, thank the Lords,” Mara agreed, with a small smile. “Nick?”
He gazed at her, a matching smile spreading itself across his face. Just looking at this woman makes me happy. I don’t care if that sounds hokey. “Yes?”
“Even if we don’t make it out of here, I’m not sorry I took this journey with you.”
Nick stopped, swinging her to face him. “Neither am I, lady, neither am I.” He bent his head to kiss her, gently, but with rich promise for later, should they somehow survive the current impasse.
Resuming their stroll after a long minute, they quickly arrived at the grav-lift entrance. Then Nick began explaining to a fascinated Twilka, at the highest level, how Khevan had said only she could help him. Mara added some commentary of her own. Twilka watched their faces as they tried to explain something of what Khevan had told them about the tazlin ritual, wit
hout saying too much in front of the interested children. Laughing, she held up her hands to stop them.
“You’re much too serious, man,” she chided them in her old, artificial, chirrupy ‘Lite voice. Nick was actually glad to hear it, under the circumstances. “This sounds like one stellar party Khevan’s invited me to, exclusive and all. Now when have you ever heard of a high-living Socialite like me refusing such an event?”
She spun on her heel to go down the corridor to the hangar access. Nick grabbed her by the wrist. “You can change your mind, Twilka, any time.”
Her face softened at his obvious concern for her, and she gently disentangled herself from Nick’s grasp. “I was wondering when it would be my chance to save the day, soldier. I’ll be okay. Tougher than you think I am.”
“Twilka –” Mara said softly, “Thank you.”
The two women exchanged a quick hug and then Twilka was running away from them, going fearlessly to help Khevan.
“Why do I suspect he’s asking her for the one thing she’s wanted to give, ever since she first saw him in the waiting room, before we even got on the shuttle?” Mara sat on the deck next to the grav-lift door and invited Gianna into her lap.
Nick did a double take. “She noticed him then?”
Mara laughed. “Men! Of course she did. Who wouldn’t?”
“Oh, so you noticed him, too?” Only half teasing, Nick caught her up on the comment. “Should I be jealous?”
Giving him a mock frown, gently rocking the tired urchin she was holding, Mara didn’t deign to answer.
Nick stayed on his feet, leaning against the bulkhead, blaster swinging easily from one hand. “I am one tired guy, let me tell you. Long, long day. Or days. Who knows?”
“Funny how the last ten minutes we have to wait feels longer than all the hours we’ve already been chasing all over the Dream since it ran into the meteor field,” Mara agreed softly. “Although nothing will ever be as long as the hours we were imprisoned in the storeroom, listening to them torture you.”
“Yeah.” Nick closed his eyes for one second.
Only to find he had drowsed off, standing there. Mara was shaking him with a gentle touch, afraid of triggering his self-defense reflexes. “Nick, wake up. I think we can go check on them by now. We should go see if his idea worked or not.”
Groggily, he shook his head. “Right, yeah, let’s go. Comets in orbit, I can’t believe I fell asleep. And on my feet, no less. Sorry.”
“Hey, you’ve been through a lot more than the rest of us, between the fastlink and then the torture.” Mara wouldn’t let him apologize.
They moved quickly toward the shuttle bay, Nick slightly in the lead. He waved Mara and the children back, to wait at the last curve, going on alone, unsure what he might find.
Hands neatly folded across her stomach, Twilka was stretched on the deck, next to the blast door, as if laid out for burial.
Swearing under his breath, Nick sprinted the last few yards, kneeling beside the young woman. A moment later, he was relieved to discover she was only unconscious, her pulse regular, her breathing even. Studying her face for a second, he was unable to decide what, if anything, her expression should be telling him.
Of Khevan there was no sign, not on this side of the blast door. Rising, Nick moved to the barricade, staring into the shuttle bay through the observation window. What he saw defied belief.
“Mara?” he yelled, checking over his shoulder. “Mara!”
“Yes?” She came in a rush, bringing the children in her wake. “What happened to Twilka?”
“She’s fine. In a trance, I think. Come see this.” Gesturing, Nick urged her to join him.
Out in the shuttle bay, Khevan walked steadily toward the open space doors, surrounded completely in a fiery red glow. As Nick concentrated, he could see the D’nvannae Brother was not actually touching the deck, but was striding methodically about a foot above it. From moment to moment, small bursts of intense red flame lanced out from the corona surrounding Khevan. It was as if he stood at the center of a miniature red star moving on its appointed orbit. The whole interior of the shuttle bay was bathed in harsh, scarlet light.
Mara shivered. Nick glanced at her.”Pretty uncanny, huh?”
Wrapping her arms around herself as if chilled, Mara said, “This Red Lady he serves must be something.”
Nick checked the readouts on the door, next to the observation window. “Strange, these don’t show the airlock as having been activated since the door was shut for the first shuttle’s departure.”
“You mean, Khevan went through the door? Literally through it?” Mara recoiled a step. “How could a person do such a thing?”
Nick didn’t shift his attention from the hangar. “Teleportation, I guess. It’s not totally unheard of. About one in five thousand Mellureans can do it, for example, although they don’t like the fact to be widely known. But remember, he told us his Lady wasn’t constrained by the physical laws of this universe. She isn’t a person, not as we’d define it.”
Mara glanced into the shuttle bay again. “Too bizarre for me, I’m sorry. I think I’ll check on Twilka.” She walked away, calling his name a few seconds later.”Nick –”
There was something odd about Mara’s voice. Half prepared to find himself facing a squad of the pirates again, Nick turned. But there was only the empty corridor, Mara, the children, and himself.
“She’s glowing,” Mara whispered.
Walking a few steps to where Twilka lay on the deck, he observed a pale imitation of the fiery glare surrounding and shielding Khevan in the shuttle bay was washing over the ‘Lite’s body. Nick put out a warning hand, pulling Mara back.
“Better leave her alone until Khevan finishes what he’s doing. Maybe they’re linked, like Lady Damais and I were, up on the First Level.”
“Children, stay where you are,” Mara said.
An alarm klaxon sounded. Twilka stirred restlessly at their feet, but didn’t wake.
“Now what?” Mara asked. “I’m not ready for another crisis so soon.”
“Relax, the alarms mean the shuttle bay doors are closing; his crazy plan is working.” Nick returned to the observation port. Khevan was standing on the lip of the shuttle bay, staring away from them, out into the starry void of Sector Seventeen. Even as Nick watched, the Brother took another step. “Oh fuck.”
“What?”
“The doors are closing all right, but he’s outside. He’s left the ship.” Staring the length of the shuttle bay, to where the small star that was Khevan had clearly and deliberately moved outside the safety of the Nebula Dream, Nick swore. “Damn it!”
Mara raised her eyebrows. “Why would he go outside?”
“I don’t know. But if he doesn’t get inside before those doors close, we aren’t going to be able to help him. No way to retrieve anyone from a shuttle.”
Joining him at the window, she squinted to make out the details. “Hasn’t the red glare faded somewhat?”
In a slow trajectory, Khevan stared at the ship he was drifting away from. The huge space doors moved inexorably along their tracks.
“Maybe his Lady didn’t appreciate him asking for help,” Mara said. “I’ve heard she’s a jealous bitch.”
Surprised by her choice of words, Nick glanced at her. Gives me an idea. Holstering his blaster, he walked to Twilka, unconscious on the deck, bathed in a faint red glow. Going to his knees beside her, he hesitated a second before taking her by the shoulders, leaning in nose to nose.
“Twilka, listen to me,” he said, trying to penetrate her semi-conscious state. “If you’re linked to him, call him back now. Tell him he’s got to get inside before the doors close. No more sightseeing.”
He recoiled, almost toppling over.
Twilka had opened her eyes, but the face Nick was staring into was not that of the Socialite any longer. It was the Red Lady herself – it had to be. Alien, imperious, and angry. The eyes were huge, limpid pools of scarlet and golden fire, surr
ounded by lashes so darkly red as to be black. The face, superimposed on Twilka’s, was terrifyingly beautiful but exuded evil, malicious intent. Nick’s skin literally crawled as the pupil-less eyes locked onto him. Standing up, he gave ground, barely conscious of doing so. Rapidly growing in size, the apparition detached itself from connection with Twilka’s body. Moaning, the ‘Lite curled into a ball.
Nick retreated another yard or so, as the Red Lady’s representation floated and expanded, filling the corridor with heat and scarlet light. Her hair became living flame, undulating gracefully, framing the harshly beautiful face. She continued to stare at him with those inhuman eyes, studying him.
Damaged throat suddenly parched, he swallowed hard.
“Call him,” he said to the alien mistress of the D’nvannae Brotherhood. “You obviously heard his request, you must have agreed to help us, don’t punish him.”
“Maybe he broke some rules of your order, but surely your decision to let him close those shuttle doors must absolve him of any wrongdoing?” Mara came to stand beside Nick, fumbling for his hand. Gratefully, he closed his fingers around hers. The deity fixed those stark eyes on Mara, who didn’t flinch.
“We’re fighting a bigger battle here.” Gotta draw the Red Lady’s attention to me, away from Mara.
The heat in the corridor intensified, the air shimmering.
Those awful eyes stared at him for another long set of heartbeats before the ghostly apparition floated past, through the blast door, and was gone.
The klaxons shut off.
“She’s not a nice lady.” Paolo’s declaration left no slightest doubt how he felt. “But her sister was good.”
“Sister?” Nick was confused, puzzled.
“What did you see?” Mara asked, gently.
Paolo pointed to the wall behind where Nick and Mara had been standing. “There was a reflection, like in a mirror, but it wasn’t the terrible lady in red. It was a lady all in white, and she smiled and nodded, and then the other one drifted through the door and left.”
Nick checked behind him but saw nothing reflected in the corridor now, if ever there had been something. He went to the blast door. “Time to pick our ride and get out of here,” he said, activating the simple controls which would slide the big doors open for them now the hangar was no longer open to space.
Wreck of the Nebula Dream Page 20