To Touch the Stars

by Tess Mallory

  Zarn wiped the back of his hand across his bloodied lip and glared down at her, his face almost apoplexic with rage.

  "Take them," he said, his voice little more than a hiss. He turned away toward his men. "Put them in the brig in separate cells."

  In the brief moment that Zarn's attention was off her, Sky shrank back into the shadows and began to concentrate very hard. Maybe Eagle was right. Maybe she was more of a Cezan than she gave herself credit for being. She had used variations of the trick coming to mind at different times in her privateering. It was worth a shot. Maybe she could use her power to influence his mind, to convince him that she wasn't there. She delved deep within her mind, finding the center of herself, of her power, and then turned that power outward, toward Zarn and his men.

  She has disappeared. She sent the thought straight into his mind. She is nowhere to he found. Zarn turned back from giving his orders and his eyes widened as he stared directly at Sky. "Fools!" he shouted. "Where did she go? Why did you not stop her?"

  The soldiers gaped in bewilderment, staring at the now-unseen Sky before they spread out to search the entire room. She was expending a great deal of energy keeping the image of her disappearance uppermost in their minds, but Sky still managed to use the confusion to move quickly to the side of the soldier holding her deflector band. She stuck her foot out as he rushed by and he sprawled to the floor, the band bouncing into a corner, unnoticed by Zarn as he roared orders at his men. Quickly she scooped it up, adding its disappearance to her subliminal control of the situation.

  "This place still has power," one of the soldiers whispered, as they returned to the center of the room to report Skyra Cezan was nowhere to be found. He was a young Teener, Sky surmised, just assigned from one of the Stations. His voice shook. "I remember hearing stones about it—how the spirits of the people who were killed here still roam about."

  "Silence!" Zarn shouted, his gaze falling on the boy who had dared to voice his fears. He advanced on the youth, his eyes glittering with violence, and as he berated the young man, Sky headed across the room, but stumbled to a stop as she saw a soldier lean against the wall next to the hidden door. Wincing, she heard the mechanism click and the door swung open next to the astonished guard. "Sir, sir!" he shouted, interrupting Zarn's tirade. "I've discovered a doorway in the wall!"

  Sky pressed one fist to her lips to keep from crying out. She saw Eagle's green eyes flash with fear as two of the soldiers wrenched the door open and a contingent of men began to file down the stairway, their boots pounding on the stones. Zarn crossed to stand at the top of the stairs, his eyes gleaming with triumph.

  "Secure the area and then I will come down," Zarn said. "No doubt this is where our little princess escaped to."

  Sky bit her lower lip so hard she drew blood. No, the little "princess" hadn't had enough sense to slip through the doorway and alert Telles below. She glanced at Eagle to find he was gesturing for her to leave. He was right. She had to get out of the temple and somehow find a ship, find a way to get to Nandafar before them. Kell. Kell was waiting back at the Defiant. If Zarn hadn't gotten to him first—

  She ran to Eagle's side. Two soldiers flanked him and she slipped up to carefully plant a gentle kiss on his lips. He didn't betray any reaction to her touch, but he gazed down at her—his eyes conveying the depth of his love for her. She knew what he planned to do to his father if he got the chance. She knew he would not survive afterward. This might be their last farewell. Throwing her arms around him, pressing her body close to his, Sky kissed him again, then choking back a sob, turned and ran out of the temple of the Seekers.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nandafar. Legendary world of mystery. Eagle stared around in awe as he and Telles were shoved down a narrow path in front of two burly guards, their hands shackled behind them with energy bands. One tall, husky soldier led the way. Now that his memory had returned, Eagle remembered the stones his real father had once told him about the world of Nandafar, where supposedly strange and mystical creatures lived. There had never been any connection to the Cezans, but now that he knew how powerful Sky and her sister were, he wouldn't doubt that the "strange and mystical creatures" had been ruling Andromeda for centuries.

  As he walked down the path, his attention was once more drawn to the landscape around him. He'd been to many worlds in his travels, but never one such as this. Curling lavender vines covered the tops of trees, and they writhed with the movement of the wind—or was it really the wind?

  Eagle felt only the faintest touch of breeze and yet the vines moved as though a gale blew across the planet's surface. The trees themselves had narrow pale pink trunks and they also swayed from time to time. As Eagle trudged down the obviously little-used path, he realized that while the trunks' movements took them back and forth, the vines on the top of the trees moved up and down. No, not even that—they curled like snakes. Understanding hit him. These plants were alive—not alive in the sense of being living, growing things, but in the sense of being sentient.

  He turned his thoughts back to more important matters—like survival. Sky had escaped, or at least he hoped she had made it past the outside guards and back to their ship secreted in the forest. It was possible, of course, that Zarn's men had found the ship before Sky reached it and she had been captured.

  He hoped like hell she was all right. Their thoughts had touched again as she pressed her lips to his, and he'd wanted nothing more than to stop her, to hold her in his arms and keep her safe. But she wasn't safe with him. She had tossed the thought to him as she left that she was going to find Kell. He frowned as he trudged along. If Sky had made it to the ship and was no longer in danger, he found it hard to believe Kell would be willing to let her risk herself to save the man he seemed to scorn above all others. Then again, he had always obeyed Sky's orders, only voicing his objections now and then. To be fair, she had given Kell the option of coming to the temple or not, and he had exercised that option. He actually hoped the first officer would refuse to help her, would stop her from pulling some damned fool rescue operation that would endanger her life.

  Eagle stopped the direction his thoughts were taking. It did no good to dwell on his fears, but did a lot toward paralyzing his thinking ability. The thing disturbing him the most was the fact that since Sky had left him, Eagle had felt no mental contact with her—which could be good news. She might already be off-world and safe with Kell. Or she could be wearing her deflector band again. Still, he missed her sweet presence in his mind. He turned and glanced back at Telles to see how he was doing.

  After Sky sneaked out of the temple, Zarn's men had dragged Telles up the stairs from the chamber below, quite a bit worse for wear. Zarn had descended and Eagle had held his breath, sure that he would order the destruction of all of the orbs and the precious archives below. But instead, he had returned to the upper level, bringing, for some unfathomable reason, the huge crystal with him, earned between two husky soldiers. Why? To destroy it so that the orbs could no longer be activated? Probably. Eagle had never felt such helpless frustration in his life as he watched Zarn load that precious piece of Andromedan heritage into the shuttle craft that would take it to his ship.

  "Halt." The sound of a soldier's harshly snapped command brought him back to the present. He looked up to find the leader of their group had stopped and was conferring with another soldier ahead on the trail.

  Telles stumbled to a stop beside Eagle, breathing hard. "We could make a run for it," he muttered.

  "And where would we go? We have no idea what's out there in that undergrowth, although if those vines are any indication, I don't think the plant life here is exactly like what you'd find in my Aunt Fosey's garden."

  The corner of Telles's mouth lifted up. "You don't have an Aunt Fosey." He lowered his voice even more until Eagle could barely hear him. "Any thoughts from Sky—any communication at all?"

  Eagle shook his head, his chest tightening with apprehension. "I'm hoping she reached the ship witho
ut interference from Zarn."

  "I'm sure she did. She's very resourceful."

  He watched the two soldiers talking. They were Special Forces, their blue uniforms indicating their assignment to that rough-and-tumble battalion. The Forces had been his life for so many years—how would it be never to wear his uniform again, never fulfill another mission? Eagle shook his head, feeling the disbelief settle over him.

  "How could I have bought it all these years?" Eagle asked. "Why didn't my true memory ever push through? What kind of man am I to play the fool for so long?"

  "You aren't a fool, Eagle," Telles said. "You're a victim of Zarn's quest for power, just like the rest of us."

  "And what are we doing here?" Eagle's gaze was fixed on the growing number of soldiers at the end of the path. "Why didn't he just kill us all back on Andromeda and then come to Nandafar on his own to capture Mayla? What does he need us for?"

  Telles shrugged. "Your father always liked an audience."

  "Don't call him that," Eagle said sharply. "Don't ever call him that to me again. He isn't my father." His throat tightened. "Not anymore. Not ever again."

  Telles glanced up at the pale lavender sky and nodded. "You know, though, in spite of everything, I believe he genuinely cared for you. He did raise you as his son, his heir."

  "For his own twisted kind of vengeance." Eagle sighed, keeping his head bowed, his gaze on the gray dirt beneath his feet. "But either way, I've lost two fathers this day—one I never knew I had, and the other, the only one I've ever known."

  Telles nodded wordlessly. Eagle felt again the dark despair threatening to engulf him and he beat it back, focusing on the knowledge that it was still up to him to save Sky's sister and get them out of this mess. His head snapped back up. He could lick his wounds and grieve over his lost life later when they were safe. Or perhaps he would never get the chance to grieve at all before he joined his real family in death. If that was his destiny, so be it, but one thing was for certain: Zarn would be leaving this plane of existence too—although Eagle doubted he would end up in the same afterworld as the Andromedans.

  He smiled grimly. How wonderful it was to even be able to believe in an afterlife. Before this day, he had always held to the Rigelian belief there was no life beyond the death of the body. No wonder Zarn sought power—this life was all he had.

  The soldier in charge nodded his head, then perked up as someone pushed his way through the crowd of men. Telles was saying something to Eagle about Sky's ability with a blaster but he never heard the end of the sentence, for the man pushing his way through the armed group of men looked very, very familiar. Eagle straightened, alarm ringing through him. P'ton. Sky's security chief from the Defiant. What was he doing here? Zarn must have reached the Defiant then—but why was a captive being allowed to roam free?

  P'ton stopped in the middle of the path and addressed the men surrounding him. "We are nearing the place of ritual," he said. "You soldiers are allowed no farther than this. You two will come with me." His hand came from behind his back. A plasma-blaster fit firmly in his grip and he pointed it directly at Telles and Eagle, a grim smile playing around his fat lips. "Remember this weapon, boys? Don't make me use it on you. Lord Zarn would be very unhappy if you had to miss the festivities."

  "What the hell is going on?" Eagle demanded. "What are you doing here spouting off orders like you're part of this?"

  The small eyes narrowed. "I am part of this. You should know better than anyone how many spies Lord Zarn has planted all over the galaxy. I'm just one of them. When I heard about a woman with silver hair who needed help finding her kidnapped sister, something rang a bell. I'd just received the information from Lord Zarn that the Cezan child had been found and arrested. Luckily, I had a contact aboard the Defiant, someone the captain trusted implicitly."

  Suddenly Eagle remembered Mayla's words to Sky: Samsons in your camp is a spy for Zarn. He felt the chill begin at the base of his spine. It shot up to burn at the nape of his neck as realization struck him. "Kell."

  P'ton nodded, unsmiling. "Very astute, Colonel. He recommended me."

  "But surely he wouldn't betray Sky—he was like a brother to her."

  One corner of the thick-set man's mouth lifted. "Perhaps Kell was not interested in being a 'brother' to the captain."

  "Hell, even I knew he was in love with her," Telles said. "And I wasn't around the two of them for long."

  Eagle shook his head. "But if he loved her—"

  P'ton shrugged. "Altairians are actually very passionate people. Their adherence to logic is a relatively new philosophy that doesn't always overcome their true natures."

  "And what about you? Sky used to brag about your loyalty to her."

  "My loyalties lie with the Kalimar, and he alone. I am Rigelian to the core of my soul. I will never forget how your father brought us from the brink of doom, to become the strongest world in the quadrant."

  "He isn't my father."

  P'ton gestured with the gun, his face altering into a scowl. "That is your loss, Colonel. Now, if you please, march in front of me, single file."

  Eagle didn't move. "Why doesn't he just kill us all and be done with it?"

  "The heir to the Andromedan throne is about to receive the full measure of her power. Your father intends for you to be there when that phenomenon takes place."

  "Why?"

  P'ton stuck the barrel of the blaster into Eagle's side. "Move," he said, shoving him forward with his other hand, then gesturing to Telles. "And while Lord Zarn would be disappointed, it would give me great pleasure to tell him you were both killed while trying to escape."

  Eagle began to walk in the direction P'ton shoved him, his mind racing desperately for an idea, a strategy, a way out of this living nightmare. They walked for another fifteen minutes until they reached a small rise where P'ton called out for them to stop. Eagle stood, legs apart, hands still shackled behind him, gazing down at a sight that made his blood run cold. Zarn stood in full battle uniform, cape flapping about his ankles in the slight breeze. Beyond him were at least two hundred men, clad in Forces uniforms, armed to the teeth.

  Invasion.

  He had seen too many of them, been part of too many to mistake it as anything less. He squinted against the fast-fading sun of this world and realized Zarn was not just conversing with his soldiers, but with a group of men and women clad in pale blue robes. He started down the incline, oblivious to P'ton's orders to stop. He was drawn up short by a guard before he reached Zarn, but got close enough to understand what was going on.

  The Kalimar stood surrounded by a small group of what appeared to be dignitaries who had come out to greet them. They were all bowing in front of him, and as Eagle noted their silver hair, their blue and lavender eyes, he understood. The Cezans. As he gazed at their pleasant, calm faces, he was startled. They seemed not in the least concerned about the troops of soldiers roaming across their planet's strange and twisted surface. Had Zarn tricked them into letting him in? Had he somehow already managed to mind-probe these beings and condition this gentle takeover?

  "Do they know who you are?" he called out. Zarn snapped his head around to face him, then smiled slowly, the gesture splitting the stoniness of his face. "Of course. They know I am the Great Kalimar and that I am here to help them."

  The members of the delegation from Nandafar were still talking quietly amongst themselves, and they glanced up as Eagle was dragged back from Zarn's side by two soldiers. Their gazes flickered over him curiously, but they were unconcerned. One of them even laughed at something another said. Completely lighthearted and guileless. Like children. Didn't they have a clue as to how much danger they were in?

  Eagle jerked out of the grip of one of the soldiers, determined to make the most of this chance.

  "My name is Ranon. I am the son of an Andromedan Seeker, murdered by this man. His troops mean you and all of your people harm, and especially the one called Mayla who is under your protection." He searched the gazes of t
he seven people looking back at him. Four men, three women. They all had the classic Cezan features: silver-blond hair, turquoise-blue eyes. One, a woman who seemed ageless, had lavender eyes like Mayla. Her face was smooth, flawless except for a few tiny lines at the corners of her eyes. Somehow she looked familiar, as if he had met her before, but of course that was impossible. She stepped forward and placed one hand on Eagle's arm in a comforting gesture. "Do not concern yourself," she said warmly. "There is no danger."

  Eagle glanced at Zarn and his anger grew as he saw the smug, complacent look on his face. "You don't understand—"

  "Of course we do. We are so glad to finally meet you. We have heard much of you from Mayla."

  Eagle drew in a quick breath, his need to make them understand suddenly overshadowed by his need to make sure Sky's sister was unharmed. "Where is she? Is she all right?" The woman laughed softly and patted her arm. "She is fine. Do not be concerned. You are all under our care, Colonel."

  "Shahala, may I introduce you to my son, called Eagle. He has suffered a head injury and believes himself to be the son of an Andromedan Seeker." He shook his head in feigned sorrow. "You can see I have had to restrain both him and his friend, who is also delusional."

  The woman now identified as Shahala shot him a look of astonishment and laughed aloud, the sound like a string of bells being run simultaneously. She met his frowning gaze squarely.

  "Nonsense," she said at last. "Come, it is not long until the ritual begins. I know you do not want to miss Mayla's entrance into adulthood, Lord Zarn." She turned and started down the narrow path.

  Eagle glanced at Zarn and for the first time saw uncertainty flash in his eyes. Good. He was realizing he might not be able to trick these seemingly simple people so easily. Or was it good? In the past when Zarn felt himself losing control, he saw it as an excuse for unleashing a reign of violence and destruction.

  "That bitch will soon learn not to laugh at me," Zarn muttered under his breath. "They are not as all-powerful as they would like us to think, not for long anyhow." He spun around and faced Eagle, one corner of his mouth taut, smug. "Anxious to see your lover's sister? You will, soon enough. And that little tramp you love as well."