Broken Vision

by J. A. Clarke

  "We can't!" Maegan was genuinely shocked. "It won't--"

  "It's the only way we're doing this." Alerik took her hand in an iron grip and stepped forward. As he lay down on the tube pad, Maegan wondered wildly if she could push the control, and how bad a dislocated shoulder would feel. But then it was too late. He was pulling her face down on top of him.

  "Let's do this." His breath warmed her ear. His body cradled hers. The comforting familiarity of it blended crazily with her heightened apprehension.

  "Maegan?" Sweet tiug leaf scented the warm space at his neck.

  "Blazing starpits," she whispered. Her fingers found the control. She paused, gritted her teeth and pushed.

  The pad moved slowly, then gathered speed. With her face pressed into Alerik's neck, it was almost a pleasant experience. She waited for the terrifying burst of speed. Nans into the ride, she realized it wasn't going to come. The pad had adjusted to the weight it bore. She also realized that Morgon had probably never had the crazy speed experience she had had.

  Beneath her Alerik shifted and adjusted his grip on her. His hand smoothed down across her bottom. Awareness dawned. There was burgeoning pressure on her thighs. The man was turned on!

  "Unbelievable," she spat.

  He chuckled and wriggled his fingers between her clenched thighs.

  "Stop that!"

  "Can't," he murmured. "The possibilities are too mind-blowing. Lift up a little. Too much in the--"

  The pad slid to a halt. It took her a nanonan to realize they were already at their destination. She rolled off him. "You're insane," she yelled, and turned to punch the outside door control.

  "Whoa." Alerik could actually be impressed by something, it seemed. It didn't soothe her frazzled nerves at all.

  She stalked out onto the smart dock. "Hope a batriel doesn't get you." It was full daylight. Batriels hunted at night.

  Alerik wasn't paying attention anyway.

  "Morgon is going to have to give up this technology. We couldn't find this at all on our sensors. Amazing."

  "You can stay here and admire it as much as you want." Maegan stepped onto the lift platform. "But I have things to do."

  He was beside her before the platform started moving. For such a large man, it amazed her how quickly he could move. He curled an arm around her waist, which just irritated her more, and rotated his head to study everything he could as they moved up the smart dock.

  On the Blue Zephyr, she half expected him to demand the pilot's chair, but he settled without comment into the secondary seat and gave his full attention to the view.

  It was a sight that never failed to awe her either. Even as she went through her pre-flight check, she spared the time to watch as the smart dock lifted the Blue Zephyr past the jungle canopy.

  The vessel was exposed and vulnerable in pre-launch stage. She half expected to see Mariltar scouts on her nav screen bearing down on them. She still didn't trust that Alerik had fallen in with her plan so completely. Not only that, he had demanded to accompany her.

  She opened her nav program and searched for the last routes Morgon had flown that included The Divide. It appeared he hadn't erased anything. Two routes showed up, one from a planet she'd never heard of. The route from Pallas Four was almost identical to hers with the exception of the destination.

  The Divide consisted of three small planets strung along the border of the Crestar System. Intelligence had placed the Taragon activity on two. The third remained uninhabited. It had been Morgon's destination.

  "Why?" she muttered.

  "Why what?"

  She glanced at her passenger. He was studying the screens as well. She wasn't used to a collaborator, but she might as well use him. In this, at least, he was on her side. "Why did he go here..." She pointed to the third planet. "...when all the activity is on the other two?"

  "Try his log."

  "He always erases the vessel's log after he arrives home and transfers the data to his vault."

  "Try it anyway. Do you--?"

  "I don't have access to his data vault." The log opened and, to her surprise, there was a string of entries.

  Alerik grunted. "Nothing of note." Then he voiced her growing suspicion. "Seems fabricated."

  She nodded. "But--"

  Alerik's communicator released a low buzz. "What?" he barked. "We're about to launch here."

  "Corenna, sir. We're being called to Pallas Seven. More trouble."

  "Acknowledged. Inform Mistress Gloriana and have her send additional security to Janas Corporation. Get back there as soon as you can."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Why does Janas need additional security?"

  "I don't know. Why would Janas need additional security?" Alerik impaled her with a cold sapphire gaze. "Could have something to do with half the staff being involved in Morgon's covert operations." He reached for his strap. "Did you know that Mistress Gloriana used to be a Taragon temple slave?"

  "What?" The news was shocking, but what did it have to do with Janas?

  Alerik finished strapping himself in. He reached over and grabbed her strap. "I think I understand now why the Taragon priests gave you up so easily for Morgon. They asked for me initially. It didn't take long to convince them to take Morgon instead. Think about that. A Mariltar heir or an all-but-exiled rebel, and they chose the rebel. If they wanted a bargaining chip, why give you up at all?"

  Strap in hand, he began to lean across her. She snatched it from him, anger growing, questions spinning through her head, and secured it herself. "Why?"

  "My meeting this morning was with Mistress Gloriana."

  Maegan squeezed her eyes closed, gripped the arms of her chair and took a deep breath. Nothing made sense, and Alerik was pushing her past the edge of her frayed patience by providing answers that had no relevance to the questions.

  "Who, Maegan, is the brainpower behind the Janas technology?" Alerik's breath whispered across her face. His words hovered in the air. Time slowed. She felt like she was struggling to emerge from a dream of nightmarish qualities. Alerik touched her arm.

  "Blazing super fried starpits! They wanted Morgon all along. They want the technology," she gasped.

  "That's what Mistress Gloriana and I think. Asking for me initially was just a ruse."

  "But Morgon only provided the initial concepts. It was the team that... Gods!"

  "Which is why Janas needs to be protected. They'll figure that out eventually."

  "Morgon knew?" She felt as if her heart was cracking in two.

  "Morgon undoubtedly knew."

  "They'll destroy him when they don't get what they want."

  "Give him credit, Green Eyes." Alerik ran a finger in a light caress across her chin. It almost undid her. She couldn't handle his compassion right now.

  "He's a wily crocane. He'll hold them off. Probably have them believing utter nonsense."

  "Not Nargune," she whispered. "Nargune will know. She can read minds and she's evil."

  Chapter 22

  Margaine Confluence

  The Divide

  Maegan was sleeping.

  Alerik stretched his legs out and fought the urge to follow suit. His mate's sleep wasn't entirely natural. He had helped it along by mixing a sleep powder into the bland, packaged food he had all but forced her to eat earlier.

  They had been at orbit near The Divide for almost a cycle, by his estimate. So far, nothing had happened. Nothing. No vessel activity. No surface human activity. The scanners hadn't picked up anything at all.

  They rode concealed in an artificial balian cloud at the exact coordinates in Morgon's log. If not for the uncomfortable pricking at his nape that wouldn't go away, he would have long since moved on to one of the other larger planets.

  Maegan mumbled and shifted in her seat. His heart swelled as he looked at her. A strand of hair had worked its way loose from the coil at the back of her head and fallen across her cheek. He gently pushed it back. His finger returned to trace the velvet softness of her
skin.

  If he could have anything at all, he'd choose time. Time alone with this woman. Away from all the demands of his heritage, his job and others. Time to love, discover, explore, bond, mate. Start a family.

  A low chime sounded in the quiet of the dim cabin. On the nav screen, a small blue light began to flash. It was independent of the scanners, which still showed nothing. He watched it for a couple of nans, and was just about to wake Maegan when it blinked out.

  He made an entry into the Blue Zephyr's communication relay, set a code and sent the message on its way.

  When he pushed the pad away and leaned back in his chair, Maegan was watching him.

  "What happened?" she asked.

  "You didn't sleep very long." The dose he'd given her had been small.

  "I shouldn't have slept at all," she snapped. "Did you do something to my food?"

  "A small pinch, that's all," he said. "You needed rest."

  She narrowed her eyes and scowled at him. "Let me remind you, Governor. I'm commanding this mission. You take orders from me. That was our agreement. Don't mess with me again or I'll dump you off on that planet." She stabbed a finger in the general direction of The Divide.

  "Yes, ma'am," he said, unrepentant. Blood of Cor. All his nerve endings had jumped to full attention. Amazing how this woman had the power to turn him on. He allowed the feeling to simmer, knowing that nothing would happen.

  "What were you doing with the comm?" she asked as she unstrapped herself.

  "Checking in. Where are you going?" His body wanted to follow.

  Her head snapped up. "You coded...?" She stopped herself and shook her head. "Of course you did."

  "Thank you for not thinking I'm a complete idiot," he said dryly. "There are a few things I remember from my training and Fleet days."

  "I'm used to operating alone." She climbed down from the chair. "Pay attention. You're in charge right now."

  He stopped himself just in time from tweaking her tight little ass as she brushed by. She was right. Even though nothing was happening, every combat pilot knew that could change in a nanonan. She was far too distracting.

  "What will you be doing?" he called. The scanners reported nothing. There were no independent blue blips showing up on the nav screen.

  "I have to pee." Her tone dripped irritation.

  He chuckled, stretched and laced his hands behind his head. On the comm pad, a white flash zipped across the blank screen. Message received and understood. His muscles lost some of their tension.

  He allowed himself to wonder how the situation on Pallas Seven had resolved. If Sharm had seen fit to call Corenna and Drakal from Pallas Four, something significant had happened.

  On the nav screen, the blue light began to blink again. He watched it carefully. There was no change in coordinates. The location was stable. Ten blinks, then nothing.

  Maegan slid back into the command chair. "Anything?"

  "Morgon's down there." It seemed like a good time to tell her.

  "How do you know?"

  "The locator beacon, of course."

  "It works?"

  "You didn't expect it to? You're the acting head of Janas and you're questioning your own technology?"

  Her gaze slid away. "Well, it's just that sometimes we're a little premature and things go...ah...wrong. This hadn't even really been alpha tested yet."

  "Morgon's the alpha test?"

  "He usually is on these personal devices. We've just never had this kind of situation before." Her voice cracked.

  "The signal's shown up twice now." He sought to reassure her. "Five blinks the first time, ten the second. His location is stable."

  She nodded. "The beacon is programmed for random transmission, both in length and time."

  "Curious we've been here a whole cycle and it's just now showing up."

  "He may have just activated it. He may not have been able to before now."

  "Explain." It would have been nice to have had that information from the beginning. He tamped down impatience.

  "The chip is sensitive to pressure. It can be turned on and off simply by pressing down on the skin where it's embedded."

  So Morgon had chosen to transmit the signal in hopes of rescue. Alerik debated sending another coded transmission, then reasoned it would be of little value.

  Maegan was studying the screen. "If he's there, I don't understand why the scanners aren't picking up anything."

  "We didn't pick up the priests when they were on Pallas Four either," he reminded her.

  "A shielding technology?"

  "Or something that neutralizes our scanners."

  Maegan muttered under her breath and began pulling up different screens. After four or five screens, she was visibly frustrated.

  He chanced disturbing her concentration. "What are you looking for?"

  She didn't even pause. "We install all our prototypes on the Blue Zephyr. Morgon insists. We had something--an interrupter technology--that worked in the lab, but didn't field test well. It might--Oh, Gods!"

  An alarm shrieked. In front of them, an enormous black void spread across space, and in it appeared a Taragon vessel.

  The fighter pilot in him didn't hesitate. Alerik grabbed for the Blue Zephyr's controls, but forced himself back as Maegan did the same thing. Adrenalin rushed through his body as he watched her disengage from orbit and prepare to spin them away from the threat.

  The screen that had been blank with inactivity suddenly flared to life.

  "We're surrounded. Stand down, Maegan."

  "I can--"

  "No," he said, with the certainty of long experience. "There are too many. We may have maneuverability and speed, but they have MZ3 missiles and they're primed."

  The Blue Zephyr's defense detection sensors were flaring around every vessel on the nav screen.

  "We can't just surrender."

  "We must," he said. "For now."

  * * * *

  "Beautiful, is it not?"

  The voice was the one Maegan heard in her nightmares. She saw Alerik turn. She couldn't bring herself to do the same.

  "Quite spectacular," her mate agreed politely. "I had no idea The Divide hosted such a magnificent feature."

  Magnificent and terrifying. Across a wide canyon, a waterfall of fire plunged into an abyss. Despite the distance, she could feel the heat on her skin through the thin transparent membranes that passed for windows in this seemingly fragile habitat built into a leafless forest canopy. A faint odor of charred vegetation hung in the air and an undulating hiss was constant.

  But the sight that mesmerized her when they'd first been escorted into the room faded to insignificance with the arrival of Nargune. The perspiration that had gathered on her skin became icy. Chills racked her body.

  A large, warm hand wrapped around her upper arm, and with gentle but inexorable pressure forced her to turn.

  "Alerik Mariltar and his bonded mate." Nargune stood alone, poised at the entrance to the room. As before, dressed as she was in a priest's robes, there was nothing to distinguish her as man or woman.

  "Sha-priestess Nargune."

  Alerik read her well. It could have been any one of the priests who stood there.

  A faint smile crossed the beautiful androgynous features. "I was disappointed, Governor, when you didn't accept my earlier invitation to council. But, no matter. You're here now."

  "I apologize if I offended you in any way," Alerik said smoothly. "It was my impression that Morgon Trion's secondment was an acceptable alternative. I trust he is well."

  Nargune's face appeared to freeze into a mask and a black ugliness radiated from her. The impression was gone in a nanonan.

  "Is that what you call it?" she inquired. "Yes, he's well. You may see him for yourself shortly."

  Her attention shifted. Maegan's chills returned full force. It was all she could do to stand her ground and not seek the protection of Alerik's body.

  "Maegan." The word was drawn out like a caress. "What a
n unexpected pleasure. So delightful to see you again so soon. What a challenge you were."

  Beside her, Alerik tensed. No doubt about it. There was a threat in those words, which Nargune hadn't bothered to hide. For a heartbeat, she felt as if something had her by the throat and sucked the breath from her lungs. The worst part was, she couldn't--didn't even want to fight.

  The sensation vanished. Nargune glided forward.

  "Your accommodations are acceptable? I must ask that you not leave this room unescorted for your own safety. I'm sure you understand."

  The priestess touched her hand to the wall. A panel slid open revealing a stark, brightly lit corridor. She gestured. "Governor, shall we pay a visit to Morgon Trion and have that council now?"

  "As you wish."

  In disbelief, Maegan felt her mate's warm grasp fall away. She saw Alerik move in Nargune's direction without so much as a word or gesture to reassure her.

  Separated, they would certainly fail, nor could she bear to think of what might happen to him. They were prisoners here, not guests. He surely wasn't deceived by their reception, which despite the guards, had been cordial enough, befitting a Mariltar heir and governor. Panic welled, but was no less debilitating than the sudden fierce pain that stabbed its tentacles through her skull.

  "Alerik," she screamed, but her voice was muffled in the sudden thickening air of the widened distance between them.

  He gave no sign he had heard.

  She tried to follow him, but found her limbs locked in place. He was almost to the entrance of the bright corridor. If he entered, she was certain she would never see him again.

  She focused all her being on ignoring the pain. As it began to diminish slightly, she tried again to move, tried to shout, anything to attract his attention.

  Despite herself, her gaze was drawn to Nargune. The priestess's face bore a look of icy rage, which quickly turned to triumph.

  When Maegan looked for her mate again, he had gained the corridor and was vanishing into its bright light.

  Chapter 23

  Margaine Confluence

  The Divide

  The Divide had no night or day, just a perpetual twilight lit by the glow of the waterfall of fire.