by Tess Mallory
It is enough.
Sky's voice echoed through his mind and he stopped his caresses, arching back from her, an incredulous smile on his face.
Yes, she said to him. Now we are truly joined, in every way.
Eagle bent to take her mouth, and the heat quickened anew between them. Suddenly he was inside of Sky's active, loving thoughts as well as her body, and the knowledge made him throb with power and with some strange, sweet fire he couldn't keep to himself. He kissed her, ravaged her lips, caressed her body, the hidden places, the exposed places; he filled her body and she filled his soul. He catapulted the two of them upward, pushing them into the heavens, into the galaxies, higher and farther, until Eagle and Sky touched the distant stars—touched them and held them and took them for their own, before together they shattered into a million particles of light, a million sparkling pieces of silver, before drifting softly, sweetly in each other's arms, back to the cold floor of the Seekers' temple.
Sky awoke in darkness. For a moment she didn't know where she was and stretched her hand out in front of her, only to meet with warm human flesh.
"I'm having a very curious dream," a deep voice said from beside her. "I'm being groped in the dark by a woman whose face I cannot see. "Wonder what the symbolism of that would be?"
"Perhaps that love is blind?" Sky quipped, reaching out to massage the thick muscles across his back, running her hands down to his waist. She bent and kissed the small of his back and he rolled over, folding her into his arms, holding her against his chest.
"I wonder what's happened to Telles?" he said, rubbing one hand up and down her arm. "Is it too much to hope that he actually had the sensitivity to leave us alone?"
"Telles is much more sensitive than you give him credit for," Sky said, sighing like a cat as he continued to smooth his hand across her skin. "He—" She stopped speaking as a shimmer of light danced across the room and landed in front of them. It began as a faint flicker the size of a candle flame, then grew until it was four or five feet high.
"Do you see that?" Eagle whispered.
Sky could only nod beside him as she brushed her long hair back from her face, her eyes fixed on the glowing object silhouetted against the darkness. The image filled, broadened, until it took on the shape of a person. A small person.
Mayla.
Sky sat up, then quickly flattened herself to the floor as she realized she was still completely naked. Of all the embarrassing, humiliating—
"Here," Eagle said, shoving something soft into her hands. His shirt, discarded during their first round of lovemaking. She slipped it on, her back to the image of her sister, and buttoned it with trembling fingers.
Of course! She was no longer wearing her deflector band and Mayla could easily reach her! Covered as modestly as was possible, Sky turned to face her sister, a broad smile on her face. The smile faded as she saw the solemn expression Mayla wore.
"Mayla! What is it? Where are you? Why did you send us here if you weren't going to be here?" The questions tumbled out before she could stop them, and her sister listened patiently before holding up one small hand. Her lips didn't move but Sky could hear her perfectly, and from the look on Eagle's face, her telepathic speech was reaching him as well.
"Skyra, please listen. I sent you here because it was necessary—for Eagle, and for Telles, but also for you. Only in this place was it truly safe for you to take off the deflector band. The crystal in the chamber below acts as a natural deflector shield—that is how the Seekers were able to keep this place from Zarn. 1 knew your power would be needed when Eagle faced the truth of his past."
"But I didn't even use my telepathic healing," she said, clutching the front of the shirt more tightly.
"No, you found an even greater power." Mayla giggled slightly and Sky felt her face burning with shame. "Don't be embarrassed, sister. There is nothing shameful about love."
"All right, I understand why you brought us here—kind of—but why are you here now? What's wrong?"
Her pale face sagged, and her lavender eyes clouded. "Zarn is here," she said, her words sending a shiver down Sky's spine. "1 did not expect him to learn of your whereabouts, and now you are in grave danger."
"What should we do?" Sky stood and took a step toward the shimmering apparition. "And where are you, Mayla? I'm tired of this game. I'm your sister and your guardian, and I demand that you tell me where you are!"
"Yes, it is time." She lifted her chin with a dignity that never failed to amaze Sky. "I am on our homeworld." Sky frowned. "But you aren't on Andromeda. I would have sensed your presence." "No, not Andromeda. On our true homeworld of Nandafar."
Sky ran her tongue across her lips and wished Eagle would stand beside her. In a matter of seconds he was there, smiling down at her. "Remember," he whispered, "we are joined in more ways than one now."
She reached for his hand and found comfort in the fact that his large one completely engulfed her smaller one. She also took comfort in the fact that he had put his trousers back on before standing up.
"Mayla, what are you talking about? Nandafar is not our homeworld."
"Yes, Sky, it is. It is the world where the Cezans originated, where others are even now being trained to take their places in the universe. 1 am there, awaiting my coming-of-age ritual, which will take place very shortly. Come to me, Sky. Leave Andromeda and fly to me. But be careful, for someone in your camp is a spy for Zarn."
Her image flickered, dimmed, and disappeared entirely. At the same moment Sky felt a cold chill creep over her, starting at her fingers and inching its way upward to her throat. She whirled around and the sound of deep laughter rang out around them. She remembered that laugh just as she remembered the voice that followed it.
"So. That's where she is. Nandafar. And to think we always avoided that little planet—so devoid of beauty or resources. How foolish we were." Zarn.
Sky felt her breath leave her body and at the same instant her heart seemed to stop beating. Her fingers bit into Eagle's arm as he slowly pushed her behind him, his thoughts coming fast and furious into her own mind. He wanted to give himself room to attack the man who had called himself his father. Sky felt at a vast disadvantage clad as she was in his shirt. The silver droid suit—her insurance against attack—lay in a heap three feet away from her. She inched backward toward the heavy clothing.
"I don't advise you to do that," Zarn told her. "Hello, Father," Eagle said, his voice strangely calm. Sky gave him a startled glance. Father? After all he had just gone through—after all he had just remembered? She pressed deeper against his mind, but he warned her back and she felt another chill grab her by the throat.
She could hear Zarn's footsteps coming nearer. Why didn't he turn on a light? Or was there a light? When they had arrived in the temple it had been daylight and there had been no need to find artificial illumination. The footsteps stopped very near them.
"Eagle, my son," the voice said, sounding genuinely sad and weary. "So you have betrayed me at last. The council said it would come, but I would not believe them."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
A circle of light appeared on the floor, then lifted toward them. A handheld torch. He focused the sheet of light in their faces and Sky held up one hand to protect herself. As if anything could protect them from Zarn. The man moved closer and he flipped the light upward, illuminating all three of their faces.
"Walking down memory lane, son?" Zarn asked, his green eyes hard, his lips twisted in a bitter line. "Listening to the lies of a renegade and a rebel?" He turned his furious gaze toward Sky. She shivered as he looked her up and down, his eyes darkening at the sight of her long, bare legs and her obvious dishevelment. His gaze shifted back to her face and she saw his expression change, a look of tentative hope spring into his eyes. "Or just enjoying yourself at her expense?"
"Can you blame me?" Eagle said, chuckling a little.
Sky turned and sought his mind with hers. He was trying to fool Zarn
into thinking he was still on his side. It wouldn't work. Zarn was too smart to be taken in a second time.
"No," Zarn admitted. "In fact, I think I will partake of the princess right now. After all, fathers and sons share everything." He reached for Sky and she gasped as Eagle's hard, muscled forearm darted out to block his hand. Zarn chuckled, but there was no amusement in the sound. "So it is true."
Eagle pushed her back again and she resisted the urge to thump him in the ribs. She was no fragile flower to be protected from the big bad man. She could hold her own against any adversary—but she held her tongue for once in her life and stayed behind him, for this, she knew, was Eagle's moment. She would not have taken it from him for the world.
"What's true?" Eagle demanded, his voice dangerously soft. "You mean the fact that my mind was stolen from me when I was fifteen years old? You mean the truth that you killed my real parents and my siblings, then took some twisted delight in taking the son of a Seeker and turning him not only into one of your murderers, but claiming him as your own son?"
The chamber was suddenly filled with light and Sky blinked against the sudden intrusion. A dozen Dominion soldiers ringed the room.
"And even that wasn't enough," Eagle went on, circling the Kalimar, his eyes never leaving his face. "You had to take my past from me, create a new one for me. Did that give you godlike feelings, Zarn? Did it make you feel omnipotent to take a boy and erase who he was, replacing him with someone of your own choosing?"
Zarn sighed, the sound surprising Sky more than anything she'd seen or heard so far this night. His handsome face sagged and she was struck by the haggardness of his features, the circles under his eyes. Was it possible Garnos Zarn truly cared about the man he had stolen for his son? No, it had to be a trick.
"I did not steal who you were, Eagle," he said.
"Don't call me that!" Eagle snapped. "You don't have the right. You couldn't even leave me my name. Even my nickname you had to twist into something of yours instead of my real father's endearment to me. Bastard." He took a step toward the man and every soldier in the room snapped a blaster rifle into position. He stopped, his hands flexing impotently into fists.
"I did not steal who you were," Zarn said again, slowly, as if he were choosing his words with care. "I liked who you were. You had courage, spunk, all those marvelous attributes any man would want to find in a son." He began to walk, his hands clasped behind him. Eagle stood still but his eyes followed the man's movements. "Yes, I admit, at first I thought it a great joke against the Andromedans and particularly the Seekers, that I should take one of their own and make him mine." He stopped in front of Eagle, their gazes even. "But soon I began to respect you, to admire you. And when you were placed under the mind-probe on Station One with the rest of the Andromedan children we had captured, I wanted to erase all the horror from your mind and give you happy memories."
"Like you did all the other children," Eagle said, and only Sky knew how tightly he was keeping his temper in check. "How benevolent of you to erase the memory that you murdered their parents. Unfortunately for you, something inside of me wanted me to remember—it drove me to remember who I really was."
"I truly wanted you to be my son," Zarn said, extending both hands in a fervent gesture. "I had no one! No heir, no wife, no family! The tortures I endured as a slave before I freed Rigel left me sterile! What did it matter if I ruled half a quadrant if there was no one to share it with?" He took a step toward Eagle, his hands still outstretched. "I saw in you, Eagle, a little of me—"
"No!" Eagle took a step forward and shoved the man back, sending him sprawling to the floor. One of the soldiers ran forward and slammed the butt of his gun into Eagle's jaw.
"Eagle!" Sky screamed. She turned on the soldier and punched the flat of her foot into his midsection. He doubled over and two more soldiers took his place as Zarn staggered to his feet.
"Stop!" Zarn shouted. "Leave them alone."
Eagle cradled his swelling jaw as he forced himself back up from the floor. "Let's get one thing straight—I am nothing like you. I was never anything like you. Whatever you saw of yourself in me was there because you planted it there."
"I'm sure it's easier for you to think so. I'll even help you. You may be wondering about our similar eye color."
He smiled and spread his hands apart. "Colored lenses. It was luck that our hair color was the same, as well as having the tendency to wave. But the internal Eagle—no, I left that alone. You may have received altered memories, but I left your personality alone. So if you consider yourself a murderer, you must take responsibility for that yourself."
"Don't listen to him, Eagle," Sky said, tossing her head and lifting her chin with haughty disdain. "He conditioned you to be one of his soldiers, just as all Andromedan children are conditioned. It's part of the process, isn't it, Zarn? They grow up believing it is their duty to serve the great Zarn. How much more would the so-called son of Zarn feel the calling?" Hands on her hips, she looked him up and down, relishing the anger that flashed into his "green" eyes. "The responsibility is yours, Zarn, and no one else's."
"I wanted a son!" Zarn insisted, raising both hands, curling them into fists above his head and bringing them down with finality. "I wanted you for my son, and that is the truth, whether you believe it or not. But it really doesn't matter, because I am the Kalimar, Lord Zarn, and son or not, your treason cannot be tolerated."
Sky was amazed at the look of real regret that seemed to center in Zarn's gaze as he looked at Eagle. He pressed his lips together and shook his head as if he wanted to speak but did not trust himself; he turned away as though he could not bear to look at his "son" any longer. His voice was choked, harsh.
"You will be executed as the ultimate example of how low my tolerance is for rebels. Even my own son is not above my law. Your death will strike a note of terror through the hearts of every planet under the Dominion's rule." He sighed and clasped his hands together in front of him. "I only wish it did not have to be."
"How touching," Sky said dryly. "And what are your plans for the rest of us, as if I didn't know?"
Zarn turned, the weariness etched into his face deepening as he looked at her. "We will all travel to Nandafar, now that your little sister has so graciously revealed her whereabouts. Once there I will take steps to insure that the galaxy is never again polluted by the vile genetic pool of your kind. But do not worry. The four of you started this little excursion together; it seems only fitting that the four of you should finish it together."
"Four of us?" Sky frowned.
"You, Telles, Eagle, and of course, Mayla." Zarn's evil smile broadened. "But now, we must go. After all, we don't want to keep your sister waiting, do we?" He jerked his head toward two of his men and they ran forward, skidding to a halt in front of her and Eagle, rifles at the ready.
Sky grabbed the silver band she had tossed aside during her passionate lovemaking with Eagle and lifted it to her head. Zarn crossed to her side in two swift strides and seized her, his fingers biting into her wrist. He jerked her against him and she shuddered as his evil, handsome face bent close to hers.
"No, no, my dear. You'll have no need of that any longer." Sky stared at him as Zarn took the band from her fingers and handed it to a soldier standing nearby. "Oh, did you think I didn't know?" His lips slid like liquid into an oily smile. "I know everything about you."
Sky tossed her head back and glared up at the man. "So now what? You kill me? You kill my sister? Can you kill everyone in the universe, Zarn?"
Zarn's left arm wound around her waist and he pressed his whole length against her. She was determined not to let him see fear in her eyes, but as his hand moved down to caress her buttocks, her bravado faltered.
"Leave her alone!" Eagle shouted.
Sky jerked her head in his direction, willing him not to speak again. She sent him a swift thought saying exactly that and he fell silent, though a muscle in his jaw twitched dangerously. She turned back to Zarn, blessing t
he crystal for keeping her safe. But once aboard Zarn's ship… The man pulled her closer and slid his hand up her back, over her shoulder to seize her face roughly.
"No, I cannot kill everyone in the universe, my dear," he whispered, "nor do I intend to kill you. Well, not for a while in any case. You are too sweet, too desirable, and since my son desires you—" He lifted his gaze to Eagle and Sky suddenly knew that as preposterous as it sounded, Zarn had been truly hurt by Eagle's rejection of him. "—Then you become all the more desirable to me." He rubbed his thumb against her cheek with a languid motion, and Sky closed her eyes, afraid that if she continued to face him, he would see the absolute terror in her gaze. His lips drew nearer. "But your sister, ah, that is another matter entirely."
Sky's eyes flew open and she cried out as Zarn's mouth came down over hers, brutally, in a punishing kiss. She struggled against him and could see Eagle fighting his guards. One of them brought the butt of his gun down against his head. Eagle slid to the floor. Sky wrenched free of Zarn and, doubling up her fist, slammed it into his face, the sound of flesh and bone colliding very satisfying. With a roar of outrage, Zarn backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor a few feet away from Eagle. He had already rallied from the glancing blow and was kneeling, his breath coming hard. He glanced over at her and his mind pierced hers:
Use your powers, Sky.
Sky sent him a startled look. What?
You are a Cezan. Look at what you were able to do inside my mind, in Telles's mind. Zarn is just a man. Use your power against him. Remember how the temple appeared as something else? Make him believe he is seeing something else besides you.
But I don't know how.
Yes, you do. It's like our dragon ploy, but with your mind. It's within you, Sky. The heritage of the Cezans. I know it. I feel it whenever I touch you. Use it.