To Touch the Stars

by Tess Mallory

  "I never meant to hurt you," she said, moving a step closer. They were only a few feet from the doorway. Kell's hand moved to his waist and for the first time Sky noticed he had a phaser strapped there. A small but lethal variation on their usual defense phaser, this one was capable of complete disintegration.

  "So you're going to kill me now?" Sky asked as he held the phaser and turned it toward her. She ran her tongue over her dry lips, thinking quickly. Her escape from Zarn had been possible because she'd been free from the restraint of her deflector band but had been protected by the crystal. If she took the band off now, Kell's thoughts and that of the crew would overwhelm her. If she didn't take off the band, she couldn't send a telepathic thought that would convince him she was invisible or no longer in the room. She'd have to find another way. She crossed abruptly away from the door.

  "Not quite yet," he said solemnly, "but soon. Lord Zarn wants you down on the planet for the ritual."

  "So it's 'Lord' Zarn now, is it?" she said, sitting down on the edge of the bunk. "Have you stopped to think how he is using you, Kell?"

  One corner of his mouth lifted derisively. "It's use or be used. Kill or be killed. Wasn't that your wonderful Redar's philosophy? I have used Zarn as much as he has used me. I found it an equitable trade."

  "What did he promise you if you helped him get the goods on Eagle?" Both corners of his lips turned up. "To watch him die."

  The coldblooded way he said the words sent a chill through Sky's body, but she forced herself to laugh. She lay back across the bunk and stretched her arms over her head, feigning a casualness she was far from feeling.

  "Do you really think he's going to kill the man who has been his son all of these years? Don't be ridiculous. He'll just stick him in a mind-probe and alter his thoughts like he did before."

  Kell moved toward the bed and Sky could see out of her half-closed eyes that her words had sent a fragment of doubt into his mind. She also saw the raw desire in his eyes as he watched her stretch. Her uniform might not be provocative, but she knew her movements were.

  "Not after his betrayal," Kell said, standing only a few inches away from the bed now, staring down at her. "Not after fighting Forces troops and rescuing rebels. After all, Zarn has to answer to his Cabinet."

  Sky yawned and stretched again, arching her back against the drab olive coverlet. "You know, Kell, part of the reason I never entertained the thought of you and me—at least not seriously—was because you were so reserved, so restrained." She sat up, rolling upward from the bunk like a cat, her silver hair cascading behind her. She kept her eyes hooded, sultry. "I didn't really know you felt that way about me. I thought you were locked into that Altairian logic thing, the no-emotion thing, you know?" She smoothed the cloth on the bed with one hand, her fingers caressing the material in a sensual movement as she spoke. "To make love without emotion—that sort of thing never really appealed to me."

  She sighed and slid one arm outward, lowering her body back to the bed. She watched him through her lashes and felt a quick rush of adrenaline as he took the bait and sat down beside her, the phaser still in his hand, but lowered, seemingly forgotten for the moment.

  "The Kalimar also promised me… you." Sky felt a sudden panic, but forced herself to lie there. She concentrated on the thought of Mayla, and Eagle. She had to do this for them, for all of Andromeda. He laid one hand tentatively on her arm and she immediately covered it with her own, moving her other hand to curl around his neck, pulling him down to her, to the warmth she offered.

  Kell groaned and gathered her into his arms, his lips grinding roughly against hers, stealing her breath. She fought the urge to push him away. It was obvious to her the way his mouth, his hands, tore at her body that he meant to satisfy himself at her expense and cared nothing for her. Yet he claimed to love her. Or was this the revenge he had spoken of? Who was this man? This wild, angry person who had been apparently lurking beneath the surface of his mild-mannered demeanor? Now she felt no sense of guilt for tricking him. He was acting little better than an animal in the way he was trying to rip her uniform from her, and Sky knew if she didn't act quickly, she would be unable to stop him. He had dropped the phaser in his passion and it lay beside them, discarded. It was time to act.

  She pushed him back roughly, smiling at his questioning look, then rose to her knees and began to undress him, opening the closures down the front of his uniform, forcing herself to touch his bare, pale-blue chest. He closed his eyes at the touch of her fingers against his skin and in that instant, Sky grabbed the phaser and fired.

  The look of outrage on his features was something she would remember for the rest of her life, she knew. She had prepared herself for it. But what she hadn't prepared for was the fact that the phaser was not set on stun, but destroy.

  Kell screamed soundlessly in front her, his eyes bulging in terror. She cried out, falling backward off the bed, away from the pulsating energy surrounding him, tearing at him as it shimmered through his body and finally sent his molecules shattering into oblivion.

  Darkness came swiftly to Nandafar. One moment it was daylight, and the next a blackness had fallen that was so dense that Eagle could barely see Telles next to him as they sat shackled near the Arch of Transformation, a wide, curved-metal structure, which stood over six feet tall. Three guards sat nearby playing a game of piddles, a betting game. After his little scuffle with Zarn, Eagle had been summarily ushered out of the Cezans' great hall and back into the jungle surrounding the bowl-like building, where his guards had beaten the hell out of him for about fifteen minutes before returning him to his friend's side. This time he knew his rib was broken because he'd heard and felt it crack right in two. Every breath he took now pierced his side with pain. But that was really of little concern since he knew Zarn planned to kill him as soon as the ritual was over.

  The ritual. Telles had kept his ears open after Eagle had been dragged away and had overheard a conversation between Shahala and Zarn. The Mon Ser-iah began at moonrise this night. With his troops backing him up, and the fact that he had the crystals needed for the ceremony, Zarn had forced Shahala and the other Cezans to agree to postponing the ritual until just before moonrise. In this way, Mayla would still be able to receive her power, and in turn, Zarn would receive his. But directly afterward, all of the Cezans would be unable to fight the troops that would then overrun their world. If they had any intention of fighting at all, which Eagle doubted. Telles said he got the impression even Shahala hadn't expected this turn of events.

  He leaned his head back against a vine as thick as a tree, then sat up straighter as he saw a row of lights moving up the side of the small hill on which the arch rested. As they drew nearer, Eagle saw the lights—flickering blue flames—were contained in small bowls, each held by a Cezan. They moved to the arch, paying no attention to the two men bound together, and Eagle closed his eyes, wishing he knew what had happened to Sky. Had she made it back to the ship? Had she discovered Kell's treachery?

  The thought of Sky alone with Kell sent a hot flash of rage mixed with fear through his veins and he took a deep breath, then gasped as pain laced through his side. He waited until the pain ebbed, then brought his breathing back to a shallow rhythm.

  Surely Kell wouldn't harm her. He loved her, so of course he wouldn't want to hurt her. Or would he? Altairians had once been one of the proudest warrior people in the galaxy, and the most ruthless. If he was reverting to form—

  Eagle pushed the thought away. No. Kell wouldn't hurt Sky. He couldn't. And Sky could take care of herself. Hadn't she proved that to him over and over again? He shifted against the trunk of the vine and winced as another bruise made itself known. He leaned his head back again. Then where was she? If she was all right, where was she?

  "Telles," he said softly so as not to alert the guards. "They're about to start the ritual I think."

  "Hrnm?" Telles opened his eyes halfway then closed them again. "Not until moonrise. You might as well rest until then, b
ecause I have a feeling that things are going to start sizzling around here soon after."

  "If Zarn receives part of Mayla's power—"

  "He won't. The Cezans won't allow it."

  "What makes you think so? They haven't lifted a hand yet to stop him."

  "Hey! You two pipe down!" one of the soldiers shouted over at them.

  "Yeah? Why don't you come over here and make us?" Telles shouted back. The tall, husky man tossed down his cards and stood, a smile on his face.

  "Or not!" Eagle hastily interjected. "Hate to break up your card game just when you were about to win. The arch must be sending special luck your way. We'll shut up."

  The soldier looked at him dully for a moment, then sat back down and picked up his cards.

  "What the hell were you trying to do?" he hissed to Telles. "Haven't I had enough bones in my body broken today?"

  "If we don't get at least one of them over here, how are we going to get a weapon and escape?"

  "As we sit here shackled, our hands useless. Forget that plan. Bad plan."

  "I suppose you've got a better one."

  "Maybe. It all depends on how much my dear old daddy still cares."

  Telles sat up a little straighter. "What have you got in mind?"

  The people of Nandafar gathered at the foot of the hill, each carrying a small bowl filled with the curious blue flame. They formed a double line and began walking up the hillside with Garnos Zarn at the end of the line, his dark head towering over the shorter Cezans. Eagle and Telles stood in their shadowed alcove among the foliage, watching the procession. The two men had managed, through acrobatic gyration, to pull their hands beneath them and move their shackled fists in front of them. So far the guards hadn't noticed.

  "Can you see Mayla?" Telles asked as two by two the people walked up the hill, the blue light held carefully in front of them.

  Eagle shook his head. "No, and it's almost moonrise. I've been thinking. Suppose we do something to delay the ritual? Wonder what happens if she doesn't do this before the Mon Ser-iah? Will she lose her chance forever of receiving her power?"

  "Maybe she'd be better off," his friend said softly, his eyes shadowed. Something in his voice alerted Eagle. "What do you mean?"

  He shrugged and leaned against the thick vine that had supported them through most of the evening. Eagle joined him and a smaller, tiny vine curled around, winding itself across his chest. Impatiently, he pushed the little plant aside. "The plant life around here is getting too aggressive."

  Telles grinned. "I've been noticing those little fellas all over the place. They're sort of alive, I think."

  "As long as they're small and vegetarian, I don't care. Now what were you saying, about Mayla?"

  "I don't know, I just got the impression when she was with me that this leadership thing weighs pretty heavily on her." He turned to Eagle, his tawny brows knit together, his mouth pulled back in a scowl. "I mean, she's thirteen years old—what's wrong with just being a kid instead of training to rule galaxies?"

  "Did you give her your humble opinion of her family heritage?"

  "I tried to, but she just stared at me like I was insane." He shook his head and lowered his gaze to the ground as if he was trying to puzzle out her strange attitude.

  Eagle laughed softly, darting a glance at the soldiers who had abandoned their game and now stood at attention with the rest, watching the procession. "It's her des-

  tiny, Telles. Would you want someone to come and change yours?"

  Telles lifted his gaze from the ground, dark lashes sweeping upward to reveal blue-gray eyes filled with pain. "Someone did, Eagle. I didn't like it." He nodded, almost to himself. "Yes, I understand what you're saying. This is Mayla's destiny whether I like it or not."

  "Getting a little attached, are we pal?"

  The bare trace of a smile touched his lips. "You can't look into her eyes and not get attached. I told you a long time ago, she's special. She's very, very special."

  "Apparently all the Cezans agree," Eagle said. "Look."

  At the bottom of the hill, now standing next to Zarn, was a young girl on the threshold of puberty. She wore a pale blue gown much like the other Cezans', except hers was made from a flowing, supple material that moved with her like an ocean's waves. Purple and blue flowers were woven in a crown around her head and her silver-blonde hair curled around her porcelain face in charming disarray. Large lavender eyes fringed with dark lashes gazed at the people now assembled on either side of the trail leading up the hill, and Eagle suddenly understood what Telles had been talking about. These were not the eyes of a child. These were the eyes of a very mature, very wise woman.

  Come the dawn.

  Now he understood. Mayla, in many ways, was an adult woman trapped in a child's body. Was it possible that Telles was not just attached to the girl, but had deeper emotions?

  "I see what you mean," Eagle said. "She isn't really a child at all, is she?"

  "Only chronologically. If you could just talk to her for a few minutes, you'd see she's brilliant, she's witty, she's smart, she's mature—"

  "And she's thirteen years old," Eagle reminded him.

  "And she's thirteen years old," Telles repeated. "Don't you think that's a fact I constantly remind myself about? I feel like some kind of dirty pervert who preys on children. It isn't like that at all, I promise. Sex isn't even part of the equation. I just care about her. She's such an incredible person."

  "She won't always be thirteen years old, Telles."

  He smiled ruefully. "Eight. When she's twenty-one, I'll be thirty-six years old. Forget it, pal. Some things aren't meant to be. Shh, listen, it's beginning." He cast his friend a questioning look. "Do you really think your plan is going to work?"

  "No," he admitted, "but I don't know what else to try."

  "Maybe we should just jump one of the guards."

  "This worked on Sky's ship," he said, "or a variation. I wouldn't be the first person in the world to flip out after too many mind-probes and too many phaser burns."

  "He won't believe it." Telles leaned back against the vine, keeping a wary eye on their guards, who seemed to be mesmerised by the scene in front of them. Eagle turned and followed their line of vision. Mayla. They were watching the girl, and not with any kind of lecherous intent. There was only admiration in their beady little eyes. Amazing. Maybe Telles was right. Maybe she was more special than anyone realized.

  The procession had arrived at the top of the hill. Lord Zarn stood next to Mayla underneath the arch, with Shahala on her other side. The blue flames of the Cezans lent an eerie, surrealistic air to the proceedings. Shahala moved to stand between the two, raising her hands toward the sky, and as she did, as if on cue, the moon rose behind her in all its glory.

  Eagle caught his breath. He'd seen many moonrises in his journeys, had visited worlds that had two or even three. He'd seen moons whose natural color rivaled rainbows. But the size of this moon, and the brilliant light it cast down, far outweighed anything he'd ever witnessed. It rose behind the arch, as large as the hill itself, as blue as Sky's eyes.

  Sky. He wished he could see her before he died. Somehow he knew he was not going to make it off this hill alive. Call it a premonition or a hunch, but he felt it in the innermost fiber of his being.

  "Hey," he said softly to Telles, "tell Sky that I love her, will you?"

  Telles shot him a sharp look. "Tell her yourself."

  "Tell her for me."

  The moon filled the sky, illuminating their faces as Telles nodded and the two men reached a silent understanding. Telles stood and Eagle followed. For a moment the two watched, along with everyone else, the incredible picture of the blue moon rising behind the hill and the arch, looking as though it was balanced on the edge of the world, a fitting backdrop for the drama below.

  "While you were recovering from your little encounter with the guards, Shahala told me that this entire ceremony is conducted without words," Telles said. "The Cezans communicate
telepathic ally, so at least Zarn won't be able to be involved in that part of the ritual."

  "For what that's worth," Eagle muttered. Zarn was clad all in black—his uniform, his cloak, his gloves, his boots. How befitting the lord of the psychological darkness that surrounded the galaxy. He took off his gloves and handed them to one of his lackeys standing nearby before reaching into a pocket of his uniform and taking out an object about four inches long. Eagle and Telles moved forward as far as they dared without drawing the attention of the guards and saw that he held a crystal. It had no color, no sparkle. It lay in the palm of his hand, dull and lifeless. Shahala gestured to him and he stretched it toward Mayla.

  Mayla held her own crystal, her small face solemn as the tall man forcing his way into her sacred ceremony thrust the lifeless stone toward her. She touched his crystal with one finger, barely grazing the surface, and the crystal leaped to life, color dancing across its beveled edges, energy lighting it from within.

  "I think it's now or never, old buddy," Telles whispered.

  "What if this keeps Mayla from obtaining her power?"

  "At least it will keep Zarn from his," Telles reminded him.

  "I hate to mess up such a pretty picture," Eagle said, feigning a sigh. "But here goes nothing."

  Sky hurried down the corridor of the Defiant fighting waves of grief and guilt. She hadn't meant to kill him.

  She hadn't meant to kill him! But now she had to get to the transport bay and figure the coordinates of a safe place she could beam to, within the perimeter of the Cezan settlement below. She had hoped Kell would help her with the computations but—A sob choked her and she had to stop and lean against the wall of the hallway until she could breathe again. He was a double agent, a spy, her enemy. But he had been her friend, and now he was gone. She had killed him.

  She slid to the floor and let the tears come for a moment, allowing their healing flow to let at least a little of the pain drain from her heart. Then she gulped in air and pushed herself back to her feet. No time for this, she told herself. No time. Wiping the last of the tears from her face, Sky hurried on, thankful that with such a skeleton crew aboard, it was unlikely she would meet anyone. There was no longer any way of knowing who among her crew she could trust. As much as she needed the power of the Defiant, she couldn't take the chance of confiding in her remaining crew and having them finish the job Kell had started.