He had just a glimmering of hope. “Despite the fact that you have killed these two children, you were rather decent to them, were you not?” Within he winced at the ridiculous statement. But he believed this could work.
It took Polluxanvega by surprise, but as Stander guessed, the idea pleased him. “Why... yes! You know, I could have killed them sooner, but I did not. Rather big of me! You forced me to act, of course.”
“Yes, well, you did take care of them, evidently. I could read residual energy from them. They were indeed alive until just moments ago. That shows there is some decency to you after all.” He kept a hint of wistfulness and even gratitude in his mental voice, despite the absurd logic.
“Hey, I was rather decent, wasn't I?” Polluxanvega boasted, emtransing smugness.
“I am sorrowed that the twins are dead, very grieved,” Stander let on, leaking a little more emotion into his mental voice, a carefully measured amount. “Therefore I call upon that grain of nobility in you, of decency, to allow me to find and return the remains of the children to their parent. I assure you, we will all think the best of you for it.” He added to himself alone, Take the bait, take it, take it...
Polluxanvega was very pleased by this and transmitted his superior smugness so broadly that Stander had to take a deep breath. Then the entity began to ramble to himself, even ignoring Stander: “Yes, even the children recognized the nobility in me. They named me the Wise Creature from Between Pollux and Vega! Smart children! Oh, I regret what I had to do with them, yes, I do. I was even beginning to grow fond of them. Lovely children. Oh, they recognized how good I was to them...”
Stander saw he could safely stop listening for a moment. Again he wondered if his strategy could work. Would all this posturing be in vain? What if all he could do was find the twins' remains — and then what? He doubted Polluxanvega would bother to assist him in any way. If the creature sent him to where they were, how could the Andromedea find them? This whole scheme rested on one slim hope that the children were alive somewhere. It didn't seem possible, but there might be one chance.
He slammed his control over his thought pattern back into place, eliminating the unproductive mental chatter. He had to manipulate this egotistical creature into doing what he wanted. Stander knew clearly that he had to select his words carefully. Trykers knew well the power of language; it was the Trykers' best power and the one for which they guarded themselves the most because it was also the most easily abused.
He also needed to maintain his positivity. There would be no further contemplation of the twins' demise allowed. Velcor and Vestor Rentclifv were alive and well. He would see them soon.
That Polluxanvega might actually send him to wherever they were, was his hope. That it could be a one-way trip with no way to ever contact the Andromedea or the USC at all — or be found by them — he would not contemplate that. If the children were lost forever, it was best if he was lost with them so they would not be on their own.
As a Fleet officer, as a Dracon, Stander Kvaan deemed such a personal sacrifice worth making.
*
But this man does not even know the little ones, Thho thought, observing. She'd already decided not to interfere. Besides, she wanted to know if the Scorpa creature's theory would actually work. It was an idle curiosity in which she allowed herself to indulge. Vekta was still recovering from her work with him, so she had the time. Curious! Why would Stander Kvaan expend so much energy in convincing that entity to help him?
She watched as the group in Xost Universe worked together, the Scorpa entity effecting a merge with the little ones and the Xandee. Could he do it? Weren't all of them together too incompatible? Did that energy entity really have a knack for this, more than the Dracons did? He was working across three distinct species, one of which wasn't even telepathic in the normal way. That entity — Cel or Scorpa — is Level 8 by the Dracon's designation, she considered thoughtfully. Variations in species is to be expected, of course. He cannot teleport very far, but he can do this merging amazingly well even though he does not feel a particular affinity for these creatures.
Thho observed as the uncomfortable and awkward merge3 was created. But in order for the merge to be maintained, Scorpa had to force the collective mind to focus on their task in order to keep all from dwelling on their differences. They didn't have much time; the delicate link between the minds could only be utilized for higher functions such as mentreading for a few seconds. The energy creature ruthlessly exploited the twins' native ability as Dracons to merge minds, tapping into their very instincts. Nor would he let them think about the merge. There was no time.
Thho was impressed.
*
There it is, Scorpa directed them all within the merge as the Xandee looked into Gamma Universe at the last known location of the Nebulae starcraft Elektra. Not waiting for a response, he led them to mentcept for the Navigator, stiffening mental shields against detection by Polluxanvega at the same time.
Then: “Do not react outwardly. We have but seconds,” the merged mind menttransed to Stander Kvaan. “The children are here. You have to get Slimy to send you to us!”
It was the greatest test of control of Stander's adult life. He recognized that the mind contacting him was a bizarre blend of several minds, but he detected enough of a Draconic flavor to accept the words sent to him. Fortunately “Slimy” was still blathering on, oblivious so far to anything but his own musings. Stander was able to control his body and thoughts against showing any outward reaction even as hope surged through him.
“—and down through the centuries I have consistently held true to my noble heritage. Just last century, I—”
“Please,” Stander interrupted, and despite even his iron control, there was a tremor in his mental voice. He leaked a hint of his internal suffering — or rather excitement — which he knew the other would interpret as misery.
Polluxanvega — Slimy, Curhef — ceased his speech, curious. He noted the grief in the poor Human, such intense grief that the man trembled. Curhef decided to do the noble thing.
The tiny starcraft vanished from Hendor Universe.
*
Thho felt a note of satisfaction, but also a bit of irritation. He is worse than a child. She had no compunction against ensuring that this particular creepy entity could do no further harm; she could not see that it had any redeeming qualities. With a snort, she sent the Curhef thing several galaxies away, taking its extra-dimensional powers from it.
Er... what? The energy creature the twins called Polluxanvega found itself powerless, trapped near a planet in a strange galaxy in a new universe. I... didn't deserve this...what?
Thho returned her awareness to solely Pel Universe.
*
“We did it!” the Rentclifv twins crowed in unison, catapulting out of the envelope on which they were sitting, hurtling themselves at the leather-clothed man in a quick hug, then immediately sagging down onto the floor, stunned. The three Xandee, too had reacted, their wings fluttering in excitement before they also drooped in their envelopes.
“Merge depletion,” Scorpa muttered, taking deep breaths. He wasn't as affected as the others, even though he'd been the pivotal mind in the merge. “I'll contact your friend.”
“Is this normal?” Cory asked, unable to shake the wave of wrongness and exhaustion sweeping over her. She settled over onto her side, asleep before he could answer.
“It's normal, really,” Scorpa said quickly to reassure Story — who was staring at him — and the two Xandee scientists who'd participated; he felt their suspicious gaze as well. “You just need to sleep for a few hours and you'll be just fine.”
Story nodded and fell asleep as well, folding over onto qer side beside qer sister.
“You're not affected?” Dr. Xiel asked him.
Scorpa waved a gloved hand with a quick grin. “Oh, there's some disorientation, but it's manageable. I think their friend needs help before I can tend to that.
You got another one of those black medallions?” He gestured toward the radiation shielding medallions that the twins wore.
Then he stiffened as a sharp menttrans tore his attention away.
“Where are the Rentclifv twins?”
Scorpa had already cepted the Elektra settling into orbit above Xanda. “Here, they're fine, everything's fine, and welcome to Xost Universe.”
“Who are you?” came the other Level 8 High telepath's sharp — and painful — inquiry.
“Easy, whoa there,” Scorpa sent back, parrying the other's suspicion. “Look, the kids would never have been able to see you much less menttrans to you without me, so cut me some slack, yeah? Benefit of the doubt and all that?”
Stander relaxed minutely. He could not cept Polluxanvega anymore, but he wouldn't have put it past that entity to follow him here and continue his games. “You didn't answer my question.”
Scorpa saw he would have to do some fast talking. Likely the Dracon was already busy cepting around on the planet surface, searching for the twins. But if the man teleported down to the planet, he'd be subject to the damaging radiation. “All right, I'll explain everything! You have a right to be testy, but I can assure you that I'm all about helping here, really! Er, the kids call me Scorpa. As you may have guessed, I was able to get the kids and the Xandee to merge with me so we could contact you. The Xandee can perceive across universes — no more than that, but the kids and I were able to use that to send you that message. The radiation is kinda high here, so we have to get you a shield like what the kids are wearing to protect you. They're asleep in merge depletion right now, but they're all right, really they are!”
While the other entity rambled on, he sent Stander images to help explain: the Xandee, Center Cone, the laboratory, the twins who had been moved by other Xandee back to the room with sleeping platforms. And an image of himself in his current manifestation, hoping the Human-like appearance would be more reassuring.
He's trying very hard to allay my fears, Stander noted, his Tryker control allowing him to observe impassively. At least the twins seemed fine. He could cept them now, and determine that they were, indeed, merely asleep from merge depletion. Scorpa... wasn't that the other energy creature? There had been a mention...
“Why are you helping the twins now?” he asked, still suspicious.
“I'm stuck here, too,” Scorpa replied honestly. “I readily admit I was a pest in the past, but that was out of boredom and because that other one made me help him. Now I want to survive. My home universe is what you call Gamma or what the kids have been calling Hendor, but I’d rather not live there. I admit I'm something of a wanderer, but I got mixed up with that Polluxanvega. He betrayed me, too, so I've been helping out the kids.”
“I got that,” Stander broke in dryly. “Why didn't you try to contact the Andromedea, then? They could have come here with the Starlock to rescue the children. Now we're all stuck here, aren't we?” He waved his hand in a gesture of negation. “That doesn't matter at the moment. Let's do this in person, shall we? You said something about a shield?”
“Right... give me a minute here.” Scorpa autoported to the laboratory where there were a couple Xandee fussing over their leader and the other two who also seemed to have fallen asleep. “The radiation shields?” he inquired again. He noted that the sashes they wore also held the diamond-shaped device of the others which enabled them to speak Englang.
“I will get one for you,” one of them said softly in their sibilant tones. The Xandee went to a cabinet on the wall and retrieved one of the black medallions on a cord. Gravely he handed it over. “I note that you do not need one. We don't have another anyway.”
“Yeah, well...” Scorpa chose to avoid going into that explanation. There pretty much wasn't any sort of radiation that could affect him. He vanished again, returning to where the children were. He mattported the medallion to the waiting Fleet officer. “There... now you can come here.”
Stander appeared in the room a moment later, wearing the medallion. He went immediately to examine the two children, cepting them carefully.
“They're fine, really.” Scorpa murmured. I'm being ignored...
“Not that you're an expert,” Stander replied flatly. He attached a couple medical field disks to the forehead of each twin, but removed them a moment later when it was clear they weren't going to work. Evidently the medallion's protection only extended to his person. Then he turned to face the other man, folding his arms over his chest. “So this is you.” He eyed the other's dramatic appearance. “I trust that's not real leather.”
“Ah, no, and yeah, this is a manifestation I'm using at the moment,” the entity replied, shrugging.
“Was it really necessary to force a merge on them?” Stander flicked fingers in the air. “I would like to hear your thought process on what you thought you were going to accomplish and what will happen now.”
The finger flick took Scorpa aback. So the Tryker is choosing to show his irritation at me so I'll be serious, is that it? He cleared his throat. “I can't fake a Draconic mental signature. Really, would you have accepted any of this otherwise? And does that even matter now? Speaking of which... didn’t the kids’ father send you to continue their telepathy training? You don't see the potential here? If the Xandee can see into other universes and our little merging let us talk across that dimensional barrier, maybe there are mental powers that can teleport across that barrier. Wasn't that what he was thinking? That the kids could develop that and be used to do something about the Eye of the Gazelle?”
Despite his control, Stander's eyes widened at the audacious suggestions. “Use... the children? Do you even know what the Eye is? None of us do, nor Vekta Rentclifv either, probably. Isn't your imagination getting away from yourself?” Even as he spoke, he clamped down hard on his emotions. “How could anyone possibly autoport into another universe?”
Scorpa frowned. He knew the Fleet officer was not very receptive to much right now, and trusted him even less. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just considering possibilities now. Otherwise, why all the hurry over training the kids in their powers? What difference could it make to wait until he returns?”
“His location is unknown.” Stander looked away. He wished he'd brought at least one other person with him, maybe Rand Vorclif. But he had likely sacrificed himself, unable to ever return to Alpha Universe. He would become father and support for the twins, whatever was necessary. The children needed an adult of their own kind with them, facing the challenges of this strange universe. He couldn't ask anyone else to share that.
“I bet you're thinking you should have brought the Andromedea here after all,” Scorpa said with a sigh. “Didn't want to risk anyone else, did you? Facing that goofy Slimy creature and all. Of course Slimy wouldn't have sent it here.”
“Crater might have been able to figure out the Dao Parameter for this universe,” Stander interrupted. “It can't be that different from Alpha or Gamma.”
Scorpa snorted. He leaned back against a wall, folding his arms as well. “You think a lot of that big cybernetic sponge, don't you? Crater would be the first to tell you that there are an infinite number of variables defining one universe from another. Beta and Gamma's variables were chosen at random... and there are any number of universes between any two universes. It would be a miracle if he could find the exact Dao Parameter for Xost Universe — this one — on his own.”
Stander felt his throat go dry. His job as Chief Navigator had nothing to do with the Starlock; Crater managed that device all on his own. While he understood the concept of the Dao Parameter, he could not fathom how it was calculated. Austine had tried to explain to him that she'd specifically designed the Starlock to work only with a computer system that was more massive and faster than anything previously developed in order to achieve the rapid recalculations required to maneuver to another universe with a speed of light far beyond Alpha's.
She had known Vekta Rentclifv's previou
s work intimately, he'd learned. And had been able to extrapolate that the Perseus Guard's famous cybernetics genius would develop a Crater.
“So, to find a specific universe is impossible.”
“You got it. However, the Tao, Supreme Being, Fate, whatever you want to call it, has apparently conspired to create the Xandee who will solve that little problem. Of course, Crater isn't a telepath.” Scorpa chuckled, for he already knew the real truth of Crater's potential. “If a cybernism like that Crater were telepathic and could merge with a Xandee, I imagine he could decipher the correct Dao Parameter to find a universe they were able to look into. Too bad you Communitists are so weird about telepathy in Constructs.”
“You know a lot about us,” Stander observed, his emotional control perfect, though the energy creature's knowledge and insight was shocking. “Even the Taree’s term of derision for us. But we don't believe in fate like that. Dracons in particular believe in a creation that set everything in motion but no entity is involved in manipulating events.”
“Imagine that,” Scorpa said with a shrug. He thought about telling Kvaan about Crater's telepathic potential, but decided he'd said enough. I can't afford to antagonize anyone anymore.
“Wait, you said a Crater had to merge with a Xandee?” Stander asked abruptly. “Even if Crater could — though he can't. But he's in Alpha and the Xandee are here. There's no way a merge can happen across a dimensional barrier, or did you conveniently forget that?”
“Oh...” Well, damn!
*
Cory cracked open an eye and peered through a momentarily filmy gaze until she blinked her eyes a few times. Then she saw Major Stander Kvaan sitting on a stool beside her, watching her.
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