“Well, damn!” Austine sputtered, then autoemformed, clearing her throat. She would never admit it to these, but internally she was thrilled to hear how Vekta had pushed the envelope on his own research directives. “Cenntl, you really could have told me,” she muttered.
“Eh, wasn't for me to tell,” Jaime replied, winking at her. “Sorry about that.”
“Whatever!” Austine waved him off, irritated. “So now what? We know what happened.”
Then Prater's mind has gone with the twins, Crater thought in the Link to Stander. That's what happened. They must be too far away, then.
Austine flicked a finger at her Sixtheye contact. “Crater, just talk to us through this. We don't have time for a relay.”
“Yes, Major,” Crater murmured through the Sixtheye. “I was just telling Major Kvaan that Prater, Linked up with Vestor Rentclifv, must still be with the qild, so they shouldn't be too far away—” He stopped, remembering what had happened when the Andromedea first went into Starlock when he'd been Linked up with Vekta. “This shouldn't be happening,” he added, bewildered.
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Jaime asked.
Crater made a sighing sound. “Well, if the twins autoported away — or were mattported — the Link shouldn't have held. Prater would just return to normal. There is no reason to lose consciousness. The Link would simply break. That's already happened to me. When the Andromedea went into Starlock the first time, I was Linked with Colonel Rentclifv. It simply broke. I was fine, but I learned later that it was quite wrenching for him.”
Maritza frowned thoughtfully. “But they didn't go into Starlock.”
“They could have been mattported to another planet or a ship or even another star system,” Stander observed.
“Hendor,” Jaime muttered. “Could the thing have taken them to its home dimension?”
Crater was stymied. “Again, the Link should have just broken. We don't know what universe is 'Hendor' but it ought to be close to Alpha. Hopefully it's Gamma. But I see absolutely no reason why Prater should be like this.”
“An entity that can traverse universes?” Austine rolled her eyes. “Oh, that's just crazy! That can't be it! Can we really be certain they aren't still in Alpha?”
Stander made a minute shrug of his shoulders. “We can't know that. But we can go to Gamma and check to make sure they aren't there.”
The executive officer clenched her hands into fists. “I still think this is ridiculous.”
“We have to do something,” Jaime countered, glancing at her fists. “You going to punch something with those?”
“ARRRGH!” Austine exclaimed, punching the air. “All right! It's crazy, but we have to do something! We'll do it, take the Andromedea into Gamma and hope the kids drop into our laps. I must be insane!”
To her wonder, the others agreed with the plan “We can search again in Alpha afterwards,” Stander commented.
This makes no sense, Crater thought. No sense at all... but we're going to do this?
“I don't know why either,” Stander replied in the Link. “It's a hunch, I suppose.”
“Heh, that's what I like,” Jaime chuckled. “Plans that don't make any sense. Welcome to the Guard!”
“Someone shoot me now,” muttered Austine. “So that's it. Crater, inform everyone that we're taking off immediately. Cenntl...” She sighed heavily, turning to the male Starguard. “Can you cut through protocol and get us clearance? Or, can you do it, Maritza?”
“Er, I think the General is tied up right now,” Maritza started to say.
Jaime grinned, nodding. “Just watch me, doll!” Then he did something that his brother had told him repeatedly over the years not to do — menttrans to the Commander General without warning. “Pete, it's me! The Andromedea has to go somewhere right now... can't explain now! Authorize clearance, can you pretty please? It's rather an emergency... you trust me right, Petey?”
Peter Cenntl, in a meeting, stood up abruptly, breathing hard.
“General, sir?” one of the generals in the meeting inquired of him.
Peter glanced inadvertently at Ria Vorclif, who had narrowed her eyes at him. Oh, damn... “Excuse me for a moment,” he murmured, and left the room. Hastily he called in the clearance his brother had asked for, then muttered under his breath, knowing Jaime would pick it up, “I told you to never, ever do that, damn it.”
“Oops, sorry,” his High telepath brother replied, unrepentant.
Taking a deep breath, the ComGen went back in to the meeting. “I'm sorry, General Vorclif, you were saying?”
11: Missed
When the Defender Andromedea appeared in Gamma Universe, the two energy creatures instantly noted its presence but reacted in two radically different ways.
First of all, the bubble field around the twins mysteriously dissolved at the same moment. The erstwhile Curhef/Polluxanvega — Slimy — had reacted a second later, sending the children and the now-merged Cel to yet another universe. He still believed they were as good as dead, for the children would die in the hard vacuum of space. And good riddance to the now-useless Cel. But why did the bubble dissipate? I didn't do that...
Stunned, Cel reacted next, mattporting the children to the clearing he'd spotted on Vega V. He hadn't planned to ally with them, but he immediately thought they could be useful later, so it was critical to save them. He already knew Slimy would not let them go back to Alpha Universe, so at least they could live. “Remain silent!” he bellowed to them. Then he employed his best skill to slip inside the mentshields of the children and forge a merge1.
Still in Gamma, Curhef watched in triumph a moment later as the composite mind of Stander Kvaan and Jaime Cenntl stabbed at the space where they'd thought they'd cepted the children — a couple seconds too late. The entity laughed as they immediately discerned residual mental energy unmistakably from the twins.
“This can't be happening!” Jaime exclaimed, adding a few colorful swear words, but the implacable Stander was, as ever, intense in his concentration and paid no notice despite the loud cries of dismay from the other telepaths on board who were observing mentally. Jaime glanced over; he'd already learned in their merge2 that this Dracon had an uncanny feel for things, possibly not even connected to telepathy. He signaled to the others for silence.
There's absolutely nothing here, went around the universal thought with dismay. Guided only by Stander Kvaan's intuition, he and Jaime had merged minds in order to cept around for the twins immediately upon arriving in Gamma Universe. The Andromedea had within just a couple hours finally arrived to within five light years of Vega. There, the two Level 8's had merged1 upon believing that they could detect the children. But it was too late.
All eyes on the control deck were on the Chief Navigator, sitting in the Chief Engineer's seat on the left side. Austine stared at him in fascination, stunned by the fire in the man's eyes, open despite the fact that he was intensely cepting for the children. A couple long seconds passed, then Stander sighed, coming out of his intense trance. He glanced at Jaime who nodded, and they broke their merge1.
“Well?” Austine asked in a hushed voice. It displayed as a spill of soft yellows.
“They were just here,” Stander said quietly, his voice accompanied by pale greens and blues. “But they're gone. We could sense residual energy from them, at first from this region, but they're no longer there. If something took them to this universe, it's now apparently taken them elsewhere.”
“To keep them from... what?” Jaime added thoughtfully with purples. “That's just what it feels like, that it's spiriting them away for some reason. To keep them away.”
“Why would that entity have come to Gamma, anyway? What are the odds of that?” Veladasser abe Ti asked, a hand raised to sign his query for Crater, a swirl of turquoise playing along with his fingers.
“Not something we probably want to think about,” Crater replied quietly. “But if this entity is something of a trickster — like their convers
ation with the twins suggests — then perhaps they wanted us to find the twins only to snatch them away again. The entity is teasing us.”
“Damn,” Austine uttered.
“But the Computerman is right. This is pretty unbelievable,” Jaime murmured. “The kids were actually here! Amazing intuition, Stan dude. And you, Crater. I think you're right that we're dealing with a trickster.”
“Remember that the other one was randomly plunging our telepaths into unconsciousness,” Crater said with a sighing sound.
“That entity that brought the twins here,” Stander said abruptly. “They're still here. I think they're allowing us to cept them. I sense that they're gloating, thinking they've pulled a fast one on us.”
“Too true,” Jaime muttered to reds and dark grays, echoing the frustration and bewilderment of all of them. “And I bet they were counting on us not being able to access Prater, either. That could have been a critical delay... but we can't even tell!”
Stander swallowed carefully, unnerved, but his careful autoemform control was still in place. Much of what he was sensing, he realized, was inexplicable. And he thought he now knew a little of what Vekta Rentclifv felt at Gozgazel, ordering the Andromedea home without explanation. “This entity — energy creature or whatever it is — did not cause the Eye at Gozgazel, I believe. I think he has his own little game going. Whatever it is, he means to keep Vestor and Velcor Rentclifv away from Alpha Universe and us. And from Gozgazel.”
“How can you know that?” Austine challenged, widening her eyes at him.
Stander's glance flicked over to her, then away. “I have no idea. I just feel it. And it's just one conclusion. Crater said it; they're playing games. Of course the twins could be far away, too far to cept, in Alpha, in Gamma, or elsewhere. Even if they were in Alpha, I can't see how they could get to Gozgazel anyway, even if they could find it. Precocious as they are, that ought to be beyond them.”
“Indeed it is,” came a small voice from the far right of the deck. Starguard Maritza Litzer had accompanied them for this quick jump into Gamma Universe, but as yet had been too stunned by all these developments to comment on anything. She felt a little sick to think that under her watch some entity had been able to spirit the children away. “They'd have to merge to autoport any substantial distance, and we didn't even talk about merging. I don't think... well, I don't know.”
“So what do we do now?” Austine wondered for the rest of them. She sympathized with the female Starguard, but they had to move forward. “I guess we take the Andromedea around the neighborhood, cept for them? Or check out the closest universes but stay in this area? Crater, can we try out other Dao Parameters?” She smacked herself in the forehead. “I can't believe I actually said that,” she added sourly.
“Unfortunately, the bigger picture is that it's a dangerous time right now,” Maritza spoke up, shaking her head. “It's unknown where the Sdaldi is. The Commander General allowed this short hop here, but he wants the Andromedea back on Althaea. And there's always the Arcturus threat. Starguard Cenntl is the only member of the Guard who is available for either situations right now. Otherwise we could turn finding the twins over to the Guard.”
The two Level 8's exchanged glances. “Cenntl,” Stander said quietly to pale greens, “I'd like to remain here with the Elektra, if you would allow me to use your craft.”
“What for?” Jaime Cenntl asked, with wonder and sudden apprehension. As usual, the Cold Fish wore no expression.
“I'm staying here. The Andromedea should return to Alpha Universe,” Stander said placidly. “I have a hunch. There's no need to endanger anyone else.”
Jaime had a hot retort ready. Who's the Starguard here? But he bit it off, remembering that Vekta had asked Stander, not him, to safeguard the twins. Mari's right; I have to look at the bigger picture, he mused in dismay. We don't know the Sdaldi won't be back. It's my duty as a Starguard to make my Level 8 powers available to confront them again if they should reappear. Sorry, Vekta... you knew this though, right? He met Austine's glare, but nodded. “All right. Take care of Elektra for me., eh?”
“What?!” the acting commander of the Andromedea leaped to her feet and shouted to angry black and purple spirals. But Stander Kvaan had already autoported to the hold where the Nebulae-class starcraft was stowed aboard.
“Someone has to,” Jaime replied, sighing heavily. “Vekta trusted the Fish with his kids, right, Austine? I gotta be a Starguard here, sorry. I need to be available in Alpha in case the Sdaldi reappear. Neither Vekta nor Novella can help with that. I'm the available Level 8, so it's me.”
“But you can't GO anywhere!” Austine menttransed to Stander, whom she could cept was checking things over in the tiny starcraft, preparing to launch. “I mean—”
“Just give me a day,” Stander sent back coolly to all of them. “I'm not going anywhere. I just strongly feel that I need to remain here in Gamma Universe. I might still find something out. You can come back for me later.”
“You can't communicate with us!” Austine briefly thought of the regulations that they were breaching to allow a Fleet officer to remain alone in an alternate universe with a Guard starcraft. But no one has ever been to an alternate universe before, so is there even a reg for this? Damn! She flicked open the Sixtheye connection to the Elektra. “How am I supposed to explain this to the Commander General?”
Maritza's head came up on this, and she shuddered. “It's going to be my head on the chopping block anyway,” she muttered under her breath.
“I'll do that,” Jaime murmured. “Maritza and I will claim Guard intervention in this matter.” He straightened and winked at his Guard colleague. “Right, Mari?”
Maritza groaned in lavender. “Yeah, this is all my fault anyway. I should take the heat on it.”
“Stop that,” Jaime threw at her. “I'll take responsibility. There, I've ordered Fleet Major Stander Kvaan to remain behind in Gamma Universe in the Guard Nebulae Elektra in order to gather more information about the whereabouts of the Rentclifv twins while the Andromedea retreats back to the relative safety of Alpha Universe. Major Kvaan volunteered for this. There, all wrapped up with a bow.”
“Guard,” Austine groaned in a sickly blue-gray, and it had the emotional stamp of a swear word on it.
No, that will be Brigadier General Vorclif's response in Fleet General Staff, Jaime thought ironically. Bitterly.
12: Xost
The first thing the children were aware of was a voice speaking — surprisingly — in clear Englang, hard and insistent, and an incredibly bright light.
“Close your eyes and turn your faces to the ground!” the voice ordered. The twins, too frightened to question, did as it asked.
What just happened? The twins each thought independent of the other. We were hanging out in space... now we're on some ground. Is this Vriesia? They could feel the damp cold of the ground, the thin grass, a hot, moist breeze on exposed skin.
The voice then went on in a more gentle tone. “I perceive you cannot withstand the light of our star without protection. You are shaded by a tree, but your optical organs will be otherwise harmed if you look up. Please hide your faces until I reach you.”
“Vega didn't seem this bright other times we've been to Vriesia,” Cory murmured to her twin. “This is Vriesia, right? We were near Vega?” They were huddled on the ground now, shielding their eyes. It was reassuring to feel warm air on their hands and faces — obviously breathable, though perhaps a bit heavy. And instead of jumbled music caused by movement, there was what sounded like the rustle of trees and the chitter of life. Birds? Insects? They dared not look.
Then Cory remembered she was going to get mad again. “Scorpa! What do you mean, barging in! You gotta lotta nerve!”
“Yes, I think it has to be Vriesia. At least we're not in Hendor Universe anymore,” Story murmured aloud.
“At least I'm not in Gamma Universe anymore,” the energy creature menttransed to the
children, deliberately echoing Cory with a sarcastic note. “Or didn't you realize I was as much a prisoner of Curhef as you were?”
“You mean, Slimy?” Cory corrected him. “We don't know that name.” She, too, preferred her own voice for a change.
“Yeah, Slimy. Good a name as any. But I, too, was trapped in what might be designated as Kappa — the true Hendor, my home universe.”
“You're sure you're not from Alpha?” Story asked, wondering what had happened to the being that had ordered them to protect their eyes.
“Quite sure.”
“Then what good has it done you to come with us, Scorpa? You're still trapped, but now in Alpha again.”
There was a pause. “I think you already know this isn't Alpha. In truth there are an infinite number of universes close to our home universes. This and Alpha are very similar. Gamma, Kappa, and Slimy's home universe are similar; all three have similar sensory distortions.”
Cory almost pulled her hands from her eyes at this, surprised. It sounded like Alpha, felt like Alpha. It even smelled like Alpha. The warm humidity of a recent rainfall reached their nostrils.
Story forced qerself to relax, realizing the creature was right. “Slimy wouldn't send us back to Alpha, true. You... you mattported us to the surface of Vriesia the moment he broke the force field, but he sent us to another dimension at the same time, right? Isn't that what happened? And why?”
The entity ignored the last question. “You're right, young one. You see, I knew Slimy was going to send you elsewhere. My usefulness to him has ended, so I knew he was going to get rid of me like this. He was my only way out of my home dimension, though. Now, however, with you—”
Both Cory and Story were ready to pounce on his words, at once startled and excited, but another voice interrupted.
“Here, put these on. Slip the cords over your heads and the energy fields of the medallions will protect you from the light of our star.”
The voice — the same one they'd first heard — was indeed speaking Englang, though it was not like any Human voice they'd ever heard, soft, melodic, slightly sibilant. Eyes tightly shut, the children each reached a hand up and felt a silken cord fall into their hands. Slipping it over their heads, they felt the round flat medallion.
Eye of the Gazelle Page 11