Telepath

by Jolea M. Harrison

  ~*~

  Chapter 7

  When they went back to training the very next day, Carryn began to teach them a different blocking technique against an adept attack. It was different from blocking each other, requiring a different kind of concentration and more of it. A lot more. She explained that the crystal was an object best kept in mind, held there as a kind of shield. Maralt knew of it. Carryn didn’t think he could reach them inside it for reasons she didn’t explain. She was uncertain enough to insist it was better to keep moving instead. Neither of them liked using it anyway.

  Again, Dain showed a greater aptitude in blocking. To their surprise, Carryn told them that Dain was himself an adept, with the same skills as Maralt. She had an extensive list of what he could and couldn’t do. There was much more of the latter, and Dain admitted that the thought of being at all akin to Maralt terrified him enough to listen and more importantly, obey everything Carryn told him.

  The complete reality of the places Carryn showed them often proved overwhelming. The first time Dynan was capable of producing that level of realism on his own, he almost didn’t make it back again. Carryn warned of the dangers of losing himself, a concept Dynan found difficult to accept, considering it was his own mind he was wandering in.

  “Dynan, it’s time to come back.” Dain abruptly intruded, appearing beside him on a hillside above a small bustling town.

  “Why? This is nice.”

  “That’s exactly why. Carryn wants you to come back. You know how she gets when you don’t listen to her.”

  “Like I do that so often,” Dynan retorted, rising. “I’m going to take a look around. You go back and tell her I’ll be along soon.”

  “Dynan. Hey, wait.” Dain hurried after him, entering the town behind him. “Didn’t she tell us not to put people in these places? Who are they anyway?”

  “I don’t know. I made them up.” Dynan smiled, nodding to a passerby politely. Dain mimicked him, then frowned.

  “Look, I don’t think this is such a good idea. Come back.”

  “I’m staying. Go if you want. I’m tired of the same people. No one knows who I am here, and I’m going to enjoy it for a while.”

  “You’re not staying here by yourself. You don’t know what you’re doing half the time. Landing inside a drop of rain didn’t turn out the way you expected either, now did it?”

  Dynan stopped, and shot his brother a dark look, but had to admit that he was right. He’d been sitting on the porch of their home, watching the rain come down while he practiced blocking. A glistening drop had drawn his attention. The next instant he was inside it. Buffeted around by wind and swirling currents, being no larger than the size of an ant, he hadn’t had any control, couldn’t get out of it, and nearly drowned when his drop of rain deposited him in a large puddle. Dain had been the one to come get him out of that too.

  “The point is you’re not supposed to be imagining these places at all. You’re supposed to be going to places you know, and staying there to wait out an attack. In a place like this, the dangers can be just as real and uncontrollable as on the outside. You don’t know these people. How are you supposed to tell when one of them might come through a door and decide to kill you?”

  As he spoke, a door beside them opened. A man stepped out, looking at them strangely. Dain pulled Dynan back a step, but before he could do anything else, the face melted before them, features rearranging themselves until they recognized him.

  “No, you never can tell, can you?” Maralt smiled at them, and lunged forward while they both stumbled backward. “I’ve been looking for you the length and breadth of Trea, and you’re no where to be found. Where are you?”

  The street below their feet rocked, swaying wildly, images shifting in response to Dynan’s fear, and he didn’t possess enough control to combat it. Maralt’s fingers brushed his shirt. Bolts of pain ripped into him, and he fell, struggling desperately to keep the answers Maralt wanted from his thoughts.

  Dain grabbed him, and pulled. The next instant they stood on a different hillside up in the mountains, water cascading down behind them. They didn’t stay there long, moving to another location Dain had perfected through hours of practice, then on to another, and again until he felt certain Maralt couldn’t follow, and find them. The walk outside the Beren mansion appeared before them, the lake glistening brightly in welcome sunlight.

  For a moment they stood, holding on to each other, waiting, slowly relaxing as fear abated, and the surroundings calmed their racing minds. “If he finds us here, I’m going to be pissed,” Dain said, letting Dynan go, and turning to sit on a low wall lining the walk. “Especially since I’ve spent so much time getting it right.”

  Dynan glanced at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize to me. It’s Carryn you’ll have to beg mercy from.” Dain paused a moment, and a sly smile entered his eyes. “Of course, we don’t have to tell her about it. If certain privileges are returned, I won’t breathe a word of it.”

  “Adding coercion to your list of skills? No, Dain. And we have to tell her, obviously.”

  “All right. Suit yourself. It’s time we went back, and faced the music, so to speak. Coming?”

  Dynan frowned at him, but took his hand. A moment later they were back in the upstairs sitting room. They found Carryn pacing back and forth in front of the mantle. She stopped instantly when they both breathed. Dynan only barely managed to disguise the fact that his head felt like it was splitting.

  “I said bring him back, Dain, not join him.”

  “We had company,” Dain said, smiling slightly in Dynan’s direction. He stood and moved to a window.

  Carryn came and stood over Dynan. “What is he talking about?”

  The moment he mentioned Maralt, she stopped him, went to a chair and sat. Her eyes hardened, fingers flexing. Dynan watched her a moment uncertain what she was doing, but there was a kind of charged aura that surrounded her, invisible but felt.

  “That’s probably not a good idea,” Dain muttered.

  “What?”

  “Her going after Maralt by herself.”

  Dynan felt Dain concentrating, trying to reach Carryn, but then he jumped as if struck and a loud pop erupted that Dynan could hear and feel. “Maybe you shouldn’t interfere.”

  “Besides that I can’t? It’s not like she has the best luck going up against him either. Last time—”

  Carryn jerked in her seat, her hands balling into fists and she struck the arms of the chair, swearing. But then she was up and standing over Dynan. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  “I—”

  “You’ve jeopardized the safety of the entire Base. It’s possible he knows exactly where we are now. I told you putting people with you was dangerous.”

  “Carryn.” Dain moved to stand in front of her, getting between them. “You never told us that Maralt could find us that way. You only said that putting people there would complicate the situation.”

  “I told you both that doing so could put you in jeopardy beyond your ability to control. I didn’t think it necessary to elaborate further than that.”

  “What did you expect? I’ve been tempted to try it myself. You’ve been working with me a lot more than Dynan, so lay off him.”

  “Dain—”

  “That’s not a request, Commander.”

  Carryn froze for an instant, eyes flashing in surprised anger. An unpleasant silence ensued, and Dynan felt like shrinking from it. He got to his feet instead and faced her. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” he said quietly. “What do you want us to do?”

  “You’ll have to show me exactly what happened. If Maralt touched you, it’s likely he’s discovered where we are.”

  Dain shook his head. “He did, but Dynan didn’t tell him anything. I’m certain of it. The only thing we were both thinking was how to get away from him.”

  Carryn wasn’t convinced but the anger she was holding onto ebbed, only to be replaced by fe
ar and she turned from them, walking across the room, head down, hands in her sides and shaking her head.

  “You know she reminds me of Melgan,” Dain said. “Remember how he used to go completely nuts whenever we put ourselves in danger? How he always said later after he calmed down again that he was sorry for yelling, but it was only because he loved us like his own and we were driving him to the edge of insanity? Remember that?”

  Carryn glanced at them darkly, but a slight smile crept through. Finally, she drew in a breath and turned to them. “We aren’t ready to run from him,” she said, and there was the crux of her fear.

  “Then maybe we ought to get ready,” Dain said. “If he’s close enough to find us the way he did, then he’s close enough to hear of our location from any number of sources.”

  “He’s not after the Base,” Dynan said. “Just because Kamien can’t afford to attack Drake openly doesn’t mean Maralt is going to stop trying to kill us. Without us, what’s the point of this Base? There isn’t one.”

  “But if he finds the Base in finding us, how long do you think Kamien is going to let it exist?” Dain asked. “What are our assets here? This Base and Drake Mardon. It seems to me we need to start thinking about protecting what we have, before it’s taken away from us, just like our home was taken away. Instead of running from him, which would be bad for everyone involved, we need to lead him away from here.”

  Carryn closed her eyes at the direction they were thinking, but she didn’t outright disagree with them. “You’ll end up running in the end, Dain. If he finds you, what’s the point of this Base if you’re dead?”

  “If we stay here, we give Maralt two easy targets, the Base and us.”

  Dynan smiled. “We’re not suggesting that we make an announcement, or make it so easy for him, but don’t you see? We have to give ourselves the time to build the force we need to get home again. We won’t do that sitting here, fighting off attack after attack. Kamien may not be willing or able to strike directly, but that doesn’t preclude the possibility of sabotage. How much of that can we afford? None.”

  “Dynan—”

  “He’s right,” Dain said. “If we sit here, and wait for trouble, it’s going to find us. Maralt may have made a mistake today by tipping his hand. He’s still out there looking for us, close. If we move, and keep moving he’ll be so busy chasing us, he won’t have time to think about this Base, or the threat it represents to Kamien.”

  “I can’t come with you,” she said and they knew it already.

  “Having us all in one place makes it easier for him to find us,” Dain said. “And you’re needed here to keep the place growing. So instead of running, Carryn, we plan for it. We prepare for it and keep moving. You’ll always know where we are. If Maralt gets too close, you better make damn sure you’re right behind him.”

  “We’ll have to devise some sort of communication system that he can’t trace,” Dynan said. “And a list of locations we can move to. Ralion will need that list to plan security, landing sites, and the like. Talk to Trevan about some sort of tracking devise for the XR-30.”

  “Drake isn’t likely to agree,” Carryn said, though she wasn’t trying to change their minds about going. “We’ll need to talk to him.”

  “He’ll agree,” Dynan said. “He knows the danger now.”

  She shook her head. It was easy to understand her sense of unease, but it didn’t make a difference. She was always worried about something, but in this she seemed to agree with them about the necessity. That didn’t change her obvious dread in letting them go.

  With the decision all but made, the next several days were nothing but hectic as the idea of leaving changed to the reality of it and plans for their departure accelerated. Dynan stood in the Command Center as they told the King what they meant to do. Drake was just as worried as Carryn, but saw the need as easily as anyone. The King then insisted they come to the Palace for a farewell feast, and while Dynan feared the possible dangers in doing so, decided he wanted to see Drake and Marella again before leaving the relative security of the Trea System.

  “Where are you off to first?” Drake asked after the meal, while they sat with the Queen in their private parlor. There were no servants to tend to them, so Ralion and Sheed busied themselves with serving drinks, before posting themselves by the two doorways into the room. Dynan thought Marella looked exceedingly beautiful, her dark hair folded loosely about her shoulders. She noticed his gaze, and smiled at him.

  “Suma. We’ll be paying Queen Trayanna an unannounced and hopefully secret visit,” Dynan said, turning to Drake. “Crinalda is mostly uninhabited. We’ll have a better chance of staying safely anonymous there. I did want to ask you what we should do, if it becomes known that we’ve been there.”

  “If Trayanna, or any of the Council members ask me that question, I’ll tell them I sent you. They won’t like it, but as travel between our Systems isn’t restricted, they won’t have much to say about it. I do trust that you’ll do what’s necessary to insure your presence isn’t discovered.” Drake looked at Dain with a raised eyebrow.

  “Absolutely, Your Majesty,” Dain answered. “And I won’t even be offended that you think I’m the one who’d give us away.”

  Dynan interrupted him, while Drake smirked. “Speaking of keeping things secret – we need you to keep a few things safe.” He pulled his signet ring off, handing it to the King, and then removed his crest pin. Dain did the same. Neither of them would be parted from the rings Xavier had given them, one sapphire, the other emerald.

  “Just make sure you take care of yourselves so that you do come back.” He turned to Carryn. “We’re getting closer to locating Maralt. After sifting through every landing port log in existence, we discovered a ship registry we can’t trace. It landed at Mariah, at an obscure little Port, and has since been docked there. Of course he could have taken a transport to just about anywhere since then, but we’ll flush him out for you.”

  “Let me know,” Carryn said. “I’ll need to be there when you do.”

  Dynan stood. “We should be going. We’ve got an early start planned for tomorrow. Thank you for a fine meal, Your Majesty,” he said to Marella. “Knowing my brother’s aptitude with cooking, it’ll likely be the last for some time to come.”

  “You can always starve,” Dain replied, standing with the King and Queen. “Good-bye, Marella. I’m not sure when we’ll be back. Soon, if we discover this crazy plan of ours isn’t going to work at all.”

  “It’ll work,” Drake said. “Stay out of trouble, Dain, and both of you be careful.”

  They returned to the Base to find all the packing complete, and the XR-30 fully supplied for an extensive journey. Every available space, and some extra room created by Trevan, was used to the fullest. Trevan and Lycon stood outside the ship, anxiously awaiting Dynan’s approval, and he gave it easily.

  “Now come over here,” Lycon said, indicating a distance of about fifty paces from the ship, waiting while Trevan joined them. From a pocket of his uniform, Trevan produced a small control pad that chirped when activated.

  “Watch,” Trevan said, nodding to the ship. He spared a nervous glance at Lycon, and pressed a final sequence of keys. A whirring hum emanated from the XR-30, its tone increasing in pitch until suddenly the ship melted from sight.

  For a moment, Dynan stood too stunned to speak, and when he glanced at Dain, saw the same amazement mirrored in his face.

  “That’s very interesting, Trevan,” Carryn said in a somewhat mild tone. “Tell me, is the ship still there, or have you magically teleported it elsewhere?”

  “It’s there.” Trevan smiled, relieved that his demonstration worked so well. He pressed a few more keys, and the ship reappeared, the hum subsiding quickly.

  “That’s incredible,” Dain said, laughing. “Does it work in flight?”

  “No, not yet anyway. The physics of that are a little too complex, but it will provide an excellent way to hide the ship should you need to whe
n you’re on the ground.”

  “Not if it’s going to make that noise,” Carryn said.

  “That? All I have to do is put a dampening field around the generator. It’ll be ready by morning, Carryn. Don’t worry.”

  “Me? Worry? No, I would never do that. Are you sure it’s safe? It’s not going to blow up on them at some inopportune time in the future, is it?”

  “No. The cloak is fully checked out.”

  “That’s good to know. Speaking of, I would appreciate being informed of these little experiments of yours. Just in case. I’d like to have some understanding of what’s happening should you accidentally explode half the Base.” She smiled then, while shaking her head. “Other than that small concern, I’m impressed. Really.”

  Trevan accepted that the way Carryn intended, and then went on to describe the mechanics of the device installed onboard. Dynan was soon lost in the explanation, but Dain listened to every word. They moved inside amid the conversation, settling into the parlor. Everyone was there and they sat and talked far into the night.

  As the night grew late, Carryn indicated it was time for them all to leave. They did so reluctantly, each saying their good-byes, displaying the worry they felt at this departure.

  If they’re all so afraid to let me go, shouldn’t I be? Dynan wondered to himself as Xavier took his leave, full of admonishments to be careful and safe. Dynan wasn’t worried, just anxious to get moving. Dain looked at him, and smiled.

  “Finally ready to concede the fact that you’re tired of being locked up out here?” he asked as he stood. “I’m going up. Someone come drag me out of bed in the morning.”

  ***

  Dain looked up at the soft knock at his door in time to see the door swing open. He expected Sheed, who always checked in on him, but Geneal stood in the doorway, biting her lip. He set aside the writing he was doing, and stood.