"It comes from the Larentii," Vik whispered with a grin.
"A Larentii," I corrected.
"I've never seen a Larentii," he confessed. "Although we do have some information, it is far from complete."
"You may have seen one, you just didn't realize it," Travis said. "The chances in your case are very good, as you're from such a small race, number-wise. They have a habit of studying those races."
"That's frightening, to think a Larentii may be watching you in the bathroom," David sniffed.
"Stop it," Vik smacked David's arm.
"He hit me," David whined.
Travis suppressed a snicker; laughter boomed from Miz's throat.
"Miz, do you know this person?" I handed a comp-vid to him later, after going through all available images of those who'd disappeared. I'd found images recorded just as the parade was beginning—before the casino recording it exploded.
I was grateful the casino had the foresight to transmit recorded data to a secondary location in real time, so there'd be more than one copy if the first were compromised.
He frowned at the image of his sister, standing next to a man who was speaking to her at the time.
"Le'Vestar Limn," a growl rumbled in Miz's throat. "What's he doing there?"
"I think he was taken, too," I said. "Miz, this isn't the time to delve into Or'myr politics; we have to get your sister back. What I really want is this—that Le'Vestar thinks quickly on his feet."
"If I find him, he's a dead Or'myr," Miz wasn't holding back. Long, well-shaped fingers clenched into fists as he glared at the image before him.
"I can't tell you everything I see in this image—not yet," I told him. "But right now, whether you like it or not, I hope Le'Vestar is with her and doing his best to get both of them away from the Prophet."
When he turned his eyes toward me, they looked feral—as if he were considering the turn to his alter ego. "You'll have uniforms by the end of the day, Special Agent Keel," I said, snapping him out of his mood. "We'll be underway shortly after that, and I'll have Chief Markus teach you how to use weapons during our travels."
"What are you going to do in the meantime?" he asked as I pulled the comp-vid away and tapped off the power.
"I need to have a conversation or three with Teeg San Gerxon, Jett Riffler and Kooper Griff."
"I wish I could go with you," he began.
"I'm sorry, but that won't happen," I held up a hand. "I know you want every scrap of information you can gather to get your sister back, but in this case, it's not just about her. Practice patience, all right?"
I folded space, leaving him with a stunned expression on his face.
I'd just handed his deceased father's words to him—practice patience. They were all I had at the moment to calm him.
"What do you have?" Teeg asked after I'd greeted Jett and Kooper, then taken a seat in his private study.
"Hope, mostly," I said. "For the Or'myr involved, and for some of the others."
"What sort of hope is that?" Jett asked.
"We destroyed many of the Prophet's soldiers, and I'll wager that some of them were more than just expendable grunts. I think he needs engineers, information specialists, technicians—all kinds of people. He may sort through this latest batch, to keep what he needs before ah, destroying the others."
"Mae'Sandar is a technical engineer," Teeg nodded as he digested that information.
"The one she was with—the other Or'myr at the parade who shouldn't have been with her—is an engineer and a weapons expert, who worked at one time for Ruther Kend."
"So, we have obsessed experts who, if allowed to live, will do anything the Prophet tells them to do?" Kooper asked.
"I hope not," I said. "Yes, they're infected with the Prophet's disease, but their physiology is different from humanoids, as you may have guessed already. Their brains are capable of partitioning and compressing information, and I'm hoping they can partition the disease, too. That ability makes them excellent scholars—they have the best and most powerful memories in all the shapeshifters I've ever met."
"What are you hoping for, then?" Jett asked.
"That they'll have enough sense to cooperate to save their lives, while keeping their secrets safe from the Prophet. If that isn't the case and things turn sour, well, then you have to offer a trade."
"A trade?"
"He's already looking for me—you know that," I pointed out. "He recently upped the reward. This may require a great deal of thought on our part, but we can offer a trade—through the Or'myr. They won't like it I'm sure; it will be outing a very secretive race. But, to get their future Queen back, I think they'll try anything."
"Then let's hope it won't come to that," Kooper grumbled. "When are you under way?"
"At midnight," I said. "I have a few loose ends to tie up before then."
"What loose ends?"
"I've gotten DNA samples from all the ones interviewed," I said. "Standard procedure—you accomplished all that for me, for identification purposes," I nodded to Jett. "I just took part of what you have. Between now and midnight, I have to devise a recognition spell combined with DNA codes and load it onto everybody's comp-vid."
"I don't understand," Teeg frowned.
"I think the Prophet will send his lackeys to gather food and supplies—as he usually does," I said. "Once I load my altered program into ASD and CSD comp-vids, should any of the Prophet's newest slaves take a ship or appear on any Alliance world, then a monitor may pick them up and send an alert to all of you. It's a spell, combined with the technology we have. We detain the ones the computer recognizes, and then DNA codes can confirm it, once they're in custody."
"I'll take anything at this point," Kooper said. "It sounds quite useful, if you can get it to work."
"I'll do my best," I said. "I'll need uninterrupted time to do it."
"Whatever and wherever you need," Teeg waved a hand.
Vik
"He's working on something special," Dori told us as we sat at a long table inside the San Gerxon Casino. It had been rebuilt, and in record time, too.
We'd been given a private room for dinner, so we could meet with X's crew and talk.
"Can you tell us what it is?" Zanfield asked.
"No. I don't understand it myself. He only said it was a combination of power and technology. That's all I know, other than it's supposed to help if any of the missing are seen by Alliance vid cams."
"From a logical standpoint," Miz began, "That's not possible."
"Most of what Randl does isn't possible—from a logical standpoint," Travis pointed with his fork. "He sees everything with his mind, not his eyes."
"The first time I saw Randl," Chief Markus said, "He accomplished more from questioning an informant than anyone I've ever seen. I was shocked and pleased enough to send in a request; I wanted to offer him a position with my department. You see how I'm working for Randl, now, don't you?"
"Has he always been physically blind?" Miz asked.
"Born that way," Trent replied. "Didn't stop him, though."
"Do you know where we're headed, once we leave Campiaa?" Miz wasn't finished asking questions.
"Randl hasn't said, yet," Dori replied.
"She's the Captain," David jerked his head at Dori. "If she doesn't know, then nobody knows."
"We're going to make a stop at Le-Ath Veronis, first," Randl said, appearing behind Dori and placing hands on her shoulders to give her a massage. "There are a couple of things we need to take with us."
"What things?" Zanfield asked.
"A couple of dead people who used to work for the Prophet," Randl shrugged.
Randl
Food was brought and set in front of me. I waited until the server left before answering unspoken questions.
"What do you want with Akrinn and Lorvis?" Sabrina's question came first.
"I want to know how the Prophet finds those infected with his disease," I said. "I'm also waiting to see whether those two tw
itch, once we remove them from Queen Lissa's dungeon."
"To see if they were zombified?" David grimaced. "Sounds spooky."
"The Prophet is a necromancer," Chief Markus informed Miz, who gaped at David's words.
"Among other things," I agreed.
"You haven't seen anything until you've seen an army of the undead marching down the street," David offered.
"Those vids are hidden—for a reason," Dori explained. "That's how your sister was ah—infected."
"Much of the Prophet's living army died in a battle off-planet," I said. "They'd taken a fleet of ships belonging to two well-known criminals, and thought to beat back the ships and crews of the ASD and CSD. We'd called in extra ships because we worried they'd strike that way, and it was fortunate we did. We took out a lot of his soldiers that day."
"This is classified information, isn't it?" Miz asked.
"Yes. Remember that, please, as you currently work for the ASD."
"It will go no further," Miz dropped his eyes to his plate. "I've never been to Le-Ath Veronis."
"Then it's time you paid the Queen a visit," Vik said.
He wanted to see his mother—I understood that. He also didn't want to point that out, so I stayed silent on the matter. "Did Charla stay at the cabin?" I asked, changing the subject.
"She didn't want to leave," Dori said. "I tried telling her we had a private room, but she wouldn't budge. I ordered food for her and Vik picked it up."
"I think she probably needs more help that we can offer," I sighed. "I'll see if Quin can take her in while we're off across the Alliances and beyond."
"Quin has wings," Susan pointed out. "You know—like a bird's wings?"
"I know. I'm hoping to get Charla past that. Quin can be quite convincing."
"Charla has ornithophobia," Chief Markus struggled to hide a grin as he described Charla's troubles to Miz. "Susan's hen got all sorts of information out of her, when we needed it."
"Kooper said he'd never used a chicken as a threat before. It was epic," David snickered.
"You sound as if Charla's a criminal," Miz stated.
"Hmmm," David cleared his throat.
"You may as well know," I told him. "Charla is Jewl Yarro's daughter. I assume you know who Jewl is?"
"One of the Big Three?"
"Exactly. We had to find Jewl before the Prophet did, and we were forced to use Charla to do it. Susan's hen attacked, and here we are," I held out my hands.
"Where is Jewl now?"
"Ah—that's really classified," Vik's laughter rumbled.
"Really, really classified," Trent grinned.
"Above your pay grade," Travis agreed.
"It's a long story," I said. "One I can't tell you for now. I will say this, though—I have an antique desk in my study aboard XIII that used to belong to Jewl. It's quite voluminous."
"There's pay?"
"Yes—as much as you're making at your current job—it's the least we can do," I answered Miz's question. "You can report to David, our engineer, if you want to keep your mind and hands busy during our voyages."
"X will be flanking XIII on this journey," Travis said. "If you'd like to work alongside Sabrina, that can be arranged."
"Sabrina?"
"Sabrina," Travis pointed toward her—she sat between Travis and Trent.
"Sabrina Kend," I added as Miz appeared to be confused. "Ruther Kend's daughter."
Miz's indrawn breath was unmistakable, and anticipation bloomed in his eyes.
"Looks like you may have to take him back and forth," I told Travis. "After Chief Markus teaches him to handle weapons."
At ten before midnight, we were loaded aboard our respective ships and waiting on the station's permission to depart. X was given permission first, so we waited for it to clear Campiaa's orbit before we received the go-ahead.
"Have you done much space travel?" David asked Miz as we stood at the windows in the galley and mess, watching as the dock receded from view.
"Some," Miz admitted. "I've gotten used to it."
"It'll take two days to reach Le-Ath Veronis," I said. "We'll arrive late at night, so you have permission to keep sleeping if you want, or unload with some of the others. Beds will be waiting, if you choose that option."
"I'll disembark," Miz said right away.
"That's the spirit," David grinned. "We can stay at the Queen's palace, light or dark side, or at Avii Castle if you want."
"Avii Castle?" Miz was interested immediately.
"I think we have a winner," Vik laughed.
"I'd like to meet with Zaria, there," I said. She was Quin's adoptive mother, and could be easier to find through the Avii Queen. Plus, sending mindspeech to her directly felt uncouth.
"We're clear of Campiaa's orbit. Course and acceleration engaged," Dori announced to the crew ten minutes after we got underway.
"Get to bed," I advised those not manning the bridge. "Breakfast is at seven bells."
"What about you?" Dori lifted an eyebrow at me.
"What about me? You staying up or coming to bed?" I asked.
"I think I can get a short nap in," she grinned.
Chapter 3
Le-Ath Veronis
Randl
I wasn't surprised to find Drake and Drew, Travis and Trent's fathers, at the space station to greet X and XIII when we docked. They'd transport us to the Queen's palace, where we'd meet with Lissa.
I wanted to ask her in person before taking Akrinn and Lorvis' bodies with us—we had to make sure they were in a sealed and shielded transport container before loading them onto the ship.
Too many things could go wrong if we didn't.
"Are they dragons too?" Miz asked, his voice soft as he stared at Drake and Drew.
"Yes. They're two of Queen Lissa's mates. Travis and Trent are her sons. Their father, Dragon, was the Dragon Warlord on Falchan."
"That was thousands of years ago," Miz sounded stunned—and suddenly quite interested. "His name is held in such high honor that no other warlord is allowed to take it as his own."
"Very true," I agreed. "Ask Travis and Trent to introduce you to their grandfather, someday. Perhaps, if you're lucky enough, they'll introduce you to their step-grandmother, Grace. She's the lace-feathered eagle that women warriors on Falchan hold in the highest esteem."
"I feel as if I've walked inside legends," Miz breathed.
"You may become part of those legends, unless I miss my guess," I turned to give him a smile.
"Will I survive it?"
"No idea."
We were delivered to the palace library, where Lissa waited for us, accompanied by Winkler and the twins' nurse, Sandra.
"I'll take them," Sandra offered. She already held one child on her hip, and expertly took the other onto the opposite hip when Winkler handed his small daughter over.
Sandra L'Thorpe, one of those ageless women who would always remain calm, steady and beautiful, walked out of the library before anyone began discussing bodies and current events on Campiaa.
The nurse made me smile—she already knew far more than anyone suspected, and accepted it with grace and aplomb.
"I hear you want Lorvis and Akrinn," Lissa got right to business.
"As a barometer," I shrugged. "Those two, even dead, may have a final use that will benefit us."
"I think we can shield them well enough, and provide proper containment," Lissa agreed. "Erland offered to create some of the shielding."
"I will be grateful for Lord Morphis' assistance," I said. Erland Morphis was King Rylend's father and a powerful warlock, in addition to belonging to the Hierarchy.
"When do you plan to get underway?" Winkler asked.
"Tomorrow," I replied. "Dori and I will be working out our course while we're docked."
"How's your father?" Lissa asked. He now resided on Campiaa, with his identity hidden so the Prophet wouldn't make him a target again.
"He's fine. He's wondering when things will go back to normal. I don'
t have a good answer for him."
"Nobody does," Lissa huffed. Her eyes lost focus, as if she were looking into a distance no other could see.
I recognized that look, as I often had it myself.
"I suppose you'll be visiting Avii Castle while you're here?" Winkler's grin lit his face.
"That's part of our plan," I smiled back at the werewolf. "I want to see Quin, and I hope Zaria will come—I'd like to speak with her."
Lissa didn't ask about what—she merely nodded. "There are beds here, and Quin has more than enough room. You'll be welcome either place," she said. "Make yourselves at home," she added.
"Miz hasn't been to Le-Ath Veronis before," Chief Markus spoke up. "With your permission, Captain, I'd like to show him around."
"It's your shore leave," I waved a hand. "Just stay out of trouble."
"He thinks we're young and stupid," Markus grinned at Miz.
"When we're old and stupid, instead," Miz laughed. Lissa hid a smile.
Avii Castle
Quin
"I think X's crew will be staying at the palace," Randl said. "XIII's will be staying here, with your permission."
"You're more than welcome," I smiled at Randl. "It's good to see you. Zaria says she'll be at dinner tonight if you want to talk."
"I do." He almost let his shoulders sag in relief. Zaria was someone Randl couldn't predict—or read. She was also someone he trusted completely.
"What will you do if Akrinn and Lorvis are reanimated?" I asked, motioning for him to sit on a bench on Justis' and my private balcony. We were at the highest level of Avii Castle, and far below, I could see the small dots that were tourist boats floating in the water. Visitors would be recording images of the massive, glass castle where the Avii lived.
Too bad nobody could give them an accurate history of who'd built it and why—rogue gods were never a topic of discussion on the tour boats.
"Zaria killed him, you know," I released a measured sigh.
"Killed who?" Randl took a seat on the bench and leaned against the back. Lifting his face, he closed his eyes and soaked in the sunlight of a beautiful day.
"Liron. The rogue god, not Justis' nephew," I explained. "Young Liron doesn't know he's named after a rogue. So many people still believe Liron to be benevolent, when he was anything but."
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