HeartFast

by Linda Mooney

  “Several of us are over at the ship, cleaning up what’s left of the Ombitra, and trying to contain what’s left of that cloud. Commander’s going to see if he can’t get a handle on what it’s made of. How it works. I ordered the rest to begin with rescue operations.”

  It was a subtle hint he was needed to help. Getting to his feet, Hunter felt a tremor go through him. “Where do you need me?”

  “Animator is directing operations over near the Hall of Magistrates. Can you manage it?” The man didn’t try to hide his concern for his friend.

  “Yeah.”

  “Hey, Hunter?”

  Glancing up, he spotted Morning Fire walking into the unit. She moved stiffly. “It’s too damn dark in here. Where’s the sunlight?”

  “We’re sixty feet underground,” Devorah tried to explain, when Hunter’s mind switched out of neutral.

  “Sunlight! Dear heavens, she’s right! Devorah, Star won’t get her strength back until we get her into direct sunlight.”

  “How do you propose we do that?” the doctor asked. She had followed the Guardians into the unit after directing them from the corridor. “You can’t move that tank.”

  “I bet Commander can rig up a solar lamp,” Deceiver said, lifting the comm link to his mouth. “Commander, do you copy?”

  “I copy. You’re not going to believe this, but we have Ombitran survivors.”

  The news surprised everyone. “Copy that, Commander. What’s the status on that cloud?”

  “Contained, but it was a tricky nuisance. We’re having to handle it with suits on.”

  “How soon can you get over to the hospital? We have a need for your expertise here.”

  “What are you needing?” Commander asked.

  Hunter took the comm link from the Guardian leader. “Commander, we’re needing a direct solar feed underground. Star has to get as much sunlight as possible if there’s any chance for her.”

  “I’m on my way, Hunter.”

  He tried to hand the link back to Deceiver, who waved it away. “Keep it, Hunter. Now, get out of here and make Star’s sacrifice worth it. Help us bring this city back to life. If there’s any change, Devorah will beep you first.”

  Hunter nodded and vanished at the same time. Almost a breath later, the space beside Deceiver began to waver, like a distortion in the air. The Guardian leader didn’t move as Commander’s figure slowly filtered into view. The man solidified, until the distortion fell away, and Commander took a deep breath.

  “Wow. That’s always a rush.” He chuckled once Sender’s power faded. His eyes caught sight of the figure in the rejuvenation tank, and the man took a shaky step back. “Oh, sweetest Star.”

  “We need direct feed, nothing artificial,” Deceiver told him. “Can you bring her the sun from sixty feet up?”

  Commander shifted his horrified gaze from Star to the physician taking readings at the foot of the tank. Devorah gave him a wavering smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring her sunshine, even if I have to go out and carve a chunk out of the damn star myself.”

  He started to take a step forward, when Deceiver suddenly threw an arm across Commander’s chest. “Wait!”

  The air in front of them had begun to waver, meaning Sender was delivering another person, or a package. Unlike Hunter, she had no way of knowing if what she was sending would materialize into empty space. It was a tricky maneuver, but one she was able to pinpoint with some measure of certainty if she used the feed from a comm link as a guide.

  As the form took shape, they were surprised to see Sender bringing herself over from the Ombitra craft. As soon as she was whole, the woman shook herself and turned to Deceiver.

  “I’m going over to get Seeker. Where’s Hunter?” Her expression on her face was as hard as her tone of voice.

  “I sent him over to the Hall of Magistrates to help Animator search for survivors.”

  “Well, we’re going to need him for something a lot more important,” Sender responded tightly. Her body was wound up and quivering with her growing anger. Raising her hand, the two men saw the empty cylinder she’d brought with her.

  Deceiver took it from her and turned it over in his hands. “What’s this?”

  “Look at it real good, Deceiver,” she almost growled.

  “There’s a direct light over on the wall,” Devorah told them, knowing they needed something stronger than the dim, filtered glare filling the room. Deceiver walked over and found the button she was talking about. In the brighter fluorescence, he examined the cylinder more closely. It didn’t take him long to discover what had put Sender on edge.

  “This is a packaging tube from…” He stopped and glanced up at the woman Guardian. “The HandFast Committee?”

  “The Committee’s seal is right there.” She pointed, jabbing a finger at the paper remnants on the side of the container.

  “What was in this?” Already his mind was rebelling over the discovery, but Deceiver forced himself to start dropping each new discovery into the grid he had formulated earlier.

  Sender shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s giving off from freaky vibes. I want to see what Hunter can get from it.”

  “What I want answered is why the Ombitra have this.” Lifting his comm link, Deceiver barked into it. “Hunter! We need your powers back at the hospital.” The man materialized before Deceiver could ask for a confirmation. Without giving any prior explanation, he thrust the cylinder into Hunter’s hands. “Tell me what you perceive from this thing.”

  Giving the threesome a puzzled glance, Hunter turned the empty tube around in his hands, closing his eyes to concentrate. As he read what his powers were telling him, Commander tapped Deceiver on the shoulder, then pointed to the ceiling and Star. Motioning silently to Sender, he gave the signal he was ready to go back to Guardian Command in order to begin work on the solar light. Sender obliged, reaching out and taking his hand. He was gone just as Hunter lifted his face.

  “You got this off the Ombitra mothership.” It was a flat statement. Deceiver nodded. “What’s a container from the Hall of Magistrates doing in Ombitra hands?”

  This information surprised the Guardian leader even further. “We could see what was left of a HandFast Committee seal on the outside, but are you certain it came from the Hall?”

  Hunter’s eyes began to darken. “Each building has its own special taste to me. Not a taste that I can put into my mouth, but a feeling. A combination of odors. Call it what you will. The materials used to construct the building. The people in it. I know this cylinder came from the Hall. I sense someone’s trace on it, someone I’ve met before, but I’m blank at the moment who it is. But the scent is unmistakable. Someone from the Hall gave this to the Ombitra, and I’m going to hunt down whoever did, and also find out what was in this tube.” A glance at Sender told him she was ready. “We’ll need Seeker’s help.”

  “We’ll meet you there,” the young woman told him, already vanishing from view.

  “Hunter, keep me posted.”

  He gave the leader a curt nod, and disappeared after casting his eyes at the woman in the tank.

  Mumbling a choice curse word to himself, Deceiver grimly told the physician, “I need to go back to Guardian Command so I can help Provoker coordinate rescue efforts. Don’t worry, Devorah. We’re going to get to the bottom of all this.”

  “Do you think … are you thinking there was come kind of conspiracy?” she asked in a hushed voice.

  “I don’t know what to think. I just know there has to be a damn good reason why the Ombitra mothership was here, using a weapon we’ve never seen before, when the rest of her fleet was more than sixty-seven parsecs away attacking us.” He clenched one hand into a fist. “A damn good reason,” he repeated.

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  Subterfuge 7

  The message was terse.

  Mothership destroyed. Ombitran fleet destroyed. Guardians are still in force, althought word is StarLight is on life support. You’re on your ow
n.

  One cursed loudly and vehemently, ramming his fist into the viewscreen until the lightweight panel shattered under the impact.

  If one shred of evidence had been left behind, they would all soon be discovered.

  It was only a matter of time before they would find out whether they had gotten away with it, despite their failure. Or if they would have to pay for their audacity with their lives.

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  Chapter 32

  Revelation

  “Deceiver!”

  The Guardian leader slammed his hand down on the speaker button. “Go ahead, Seeker!”

  “We need to gather! Code two!”

  “Copy!” His other hand reached for the all call button. “All Guardians! Code two! Repeat, code two! Meeting room now!” Not half a minute ago he had come to the meeting room by himself to begin construction on a new grid with the old information. Previously he had done a timeline to try and figure out the whys and whens of the recent Ombitra attacks. Timelines were basically standard procedure, but with the discovery of the capsule, Deceiver had come to the sudden realization that standard wouldn’t fit this situation.

  Before his hand lifted from the button, Hunter materialized on the other side of the room. The air beside him began to shimmer, announcing Sender’s entrance. It was Seeker who made the trip first, followed closely by her sister.

  Deceiver noticed something immediately wrong with Hunter who stood unnaturally still. Small, blackish vapors swirled around him at a dizzying rate. Hunter’s eyes had gone solidly black, the expression on his face barely suppressing the rage growing inside him.

  Grabbing his arms with both hands, both Sender and Seeker tried to lead him over to the table, but he was as rigid as stone. He was deep within his darker power, and there was no pulling him out of it this time.

  “What’s wrong?” Deceiver asked.

  “The news isn’t good,” Sender told him. Her face was flushed, which told him they had discovered something major. It would explain why she’d called a code two—emergency meeting with a major development.

  The panel below him beeped. It was Commander. “Deceiver, I’m working on this light for Star. Do you want me to leave it?”

  “Your mission has top priority. Leave your comm open,” Deceiver ordered.

  “Copy that.”

  Glancing back at the man standing less than thirty feet away, Deceiver thought he saw a flash of gratitude in Hunter’s eyes. Seeker had left Hunter’s side and taken her seat at the table.

  Morning Fire, Corona, and Blender were first to rush into the room. Seeing Hunter made them all skid to a halt in cautious wonder.

  “Holy crap … what’s going on?” Blender asked, giving Hunter a wide berth as he went to his chair.

  “Hunter is still on the trail. He’s put himself in a sort of temporary hold so we could come here to tell you what we’ve found,” Seeker answered. Her words were clipped. There was no mistaking she was on the verge of tears.

  Disaster came running in, followed quickly by Time Merchant, Animator, and Condemner. Like the others, they cast wary looks at the man now completely surrounded by gaseous-type clouds of darkness. When Provoker rushed in, he skidded to a stop. “Well, the man did say his moniker was Master Hunter,” he calmly reminded them. “I pity the poor bastard he’s set his sights on.”

  Animator sighed loudly. “Yeah. Welcome to the side of Hunter we’ve seen little of.” She swiveled around to face Deceiver. “He’s too far deep inside himself, isn’t he?”

  “Why did you call code two?” Provoker questioned.

  “I called it,” Sender corrected.

  “Challenger’s still out—”

  “Not any longer. Let’s get this show on the road,” Challenger interrupted, barreling into the hall. Spotting Hunter, he did a double-take like all the rest. “Will someone tell me who the unlucky prey is?” he almost whispered.

  “Commander’s on the comm, listening in,” Deceiver informed them. “He has strict orders to get a lamp on Star asap as his priority. What did you find out, Sender?”

  “All right.” Placing her hands palms down on the table, she took two steady breaths to first calm herself. “Let me first have my say, because you’re going to blow your lids. We went to the Hall of Magistrates to find out who had handled the cylinder. It was Serien Tark.” Seeing them all open their mouths to question her, she quickly held up a hand. “Please. Wait. It gets worse. Between the three of us, we found no communications that would implicate Tark, but there was one odd thing. The man left on a Varla Cruisemaster this morning at ten a.m. There was a verification message on his personal viewscreen. So Hunter called up the cruise lines, pretending to be Tark. There was a message waiting for him to be picked up. Are you ready for this? Sis?”

  Next to her, Seeker read the short message she’d transferred to her comm link. “Mothership destroyed. Ombitran fleet destroyed. Guardians are still in force, although word is StarLight is on life support. You’re on your own.”

  Silence fell over the room as the impact of the message sank in.

  “You’re on your own?” Corona echoed. “Who is on his own? Tark?”

  “Who sent the message to Tark?” Blender whispered.

  The bluish grid came to bright life before them, and Deceiver quickly shuffled a few of the details, adding the new information they’d gleaned.

  “It’s coming to me now,” he told them as his thoughts began to automatically adjusting minute details into a cohesive pattern. Once the pieces were reassembled, the other Guardians began to see the scope of what they had been up against.

  “By all the stars in the heavens,” Morning Fire gasped. There were noticeable gaps in the grid, but there was enough to make them all blanch in shock.

  It was Condemner who turned his head to glance back at the man standing at the other side of the room like an immense nightmare. “Hunter’s after Tark,” he announced. “Hunter? Can you hear me?”

  The man lifted his face. “I’m here,” he acknowledged with a voice that chilled them to hear.

  “Don’t kill him,” Deceiver ordered. “He will have to pay for his crimes.”

  A smile that sent a shiver up several spines came over Hunter’s shadowy features. “Oh, you can be sure I’ll keep the man alive. But I can’t promise the state of his sanity.”

  A second later, he was gone.

  Morning Fire shuddered. “I can’t believe he’s the same Hunter we’ve known for the past two years. It’s almost like … like he’s…”

  “He’s after the man who delivered something to the Ombitra, who then came after us. Us. Not our world. Not the Tor Sigura system. Us. And who had every intention of killing StarLight,” Sender said. “Tark may not have been on this planet when the mothership arrived, but he’s just as guilty. Because of him, Hunter’s child is dead, and maybe StarLight as well, and Tark will be made to answer for it.”

  Deceiver sent them all back to helping with the rescue efforts as the city slowly and painfully dealt with the dead and destruction. It was Blender, later that evening, when they returned for a bite to eat before going back to resume digging out the survivors, who announced that the cylinder had contained a special antimatter field. Despite his superb chemical and analytical skills, he confessed that what the field had suspended would remain a mystery until they were given more information or clues. But he was dead certain the fiery cloud that the Ombitra had used was at the heart of it.

  As night descended, Commander finally returned from the hospital to tell them the solar light had been erected. All that was left to do was to place a small, mirrored plate in orbit above the planet so that Star could receive the sun’s direct rays at all hours. Otherwise, she would only get sunlight during the day. Provoker volunteered to take Transport One up to set the mirror, causing a few eyebrows to raise. “Hey, I may be a first-class asshole, but I still care about her, all right?”

  Commander nodded. “I’ll help you load it in the
ship,” he told Provoker, and together they left for the bay.

  It was nearly midnight when the Guardians began to file in one at a time, exhausted and overcome by what they had witnessed as they’d tended to survivors, and tried to help get life back to some semblance of normalcy.

  Deceiver felt a hand at his elbow as he shut the communications console down for the night, and switched it over to automatic answer. If any calls came in while they were asleep, they would go directly to his private chambers first.

  “Deceiver, what’s the word on Star?” Animator asked wearily.

  “Devorah’s still with her. She told me Star’s vitals haven’t changed. She’s still needing the unit to breathe for her, and to keep her heart pumping.”

  “Are there any further signs of brain activity?”

  “No. None but the most basic. But we’re hoping with the sunlight flooding her, it will bring us something good.” He patted her hand and tried to give her a comforting smile, knowing he failed miserably. “Go get some sleep. I’m suspending morning meetings so we can get back to helping clean up at first light.”

  “What about Hunter? Has he been in touch?”

  “No word, but there’s no telling where Tark went. He got a big head start before the Ombitra attacked.”

  The woman nodded, walking quickly away so as not to embarrass herself in front of the others. Blinking back his own tears, Deceiver shut down the console before following her out the door.

  None of them would get any real rest that night.

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  Chapter 33

  Duplicity

  The loud buzzing brought him out of deep sleep. Groggy and semiconscious, Deceiver first reached for the button on the small console beside his bed. “Guardian Command,” he tried to answer, fighting the last dregs of sleep that refused to let go. There was no telling how long he had been tossing and turning, searching for a few minutes of escape. It was a miracle his body had finally collapsed on its own to give him what little sleep he’d gotten.