“I won’t be threatened, by you or anyone else. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you right now.”
Dynan shook his head, but the movement sent another wave of pain through him. He couldn’t understand why Creal thought he was being threatened. “I just need—”
“I said I couldn’t help right now.”
“Right now,” Dynan repeated. “Or maybe ever. You won’t have the chance.”
“You need to leave. Now.”
Dynan stared at him then turned, shoulders sagging. “My father warned me about you,” he said, and Creal looked up at that. “I won’t forget this. The people you’re going to deal with...You’ll end up regretting it, and your System will suffer because of it.”
Creal punched a keypad on the comterm panel in his desk. “Prince Dynan requires an escort to his ship, Brellan. See to it.”
“Make sure you send a squad,” he said, fighting off the encroaching dark that narrowed his ability to see. “Otherwise they might not survive it.”
Before the two guards who came could take him by the arm, Dynan turned from them and walked out. Brellan met him and tried to direct him through a different door, but Dynan hardly heard the man’s dithering. The opposite door opened, and a man came in. Dynan knew him instantly; Kamien’s Ambassador to Creal, Lord Prell. It all made sudden sense; Creal’s refusal to help him or even hear him out, and the Ambassador’s presence, suggesting a pact between them. Anger that this man was standing here, welcome, cleared Dynan’s vision and kept him on his feet.
The Ambassador was aware of him then, eyes widening in recognition, then fear as Dynan bore down on him. “I’m an official representative—”
Dynan grabbed him by his coat lapels, and shoved him into the wall. “I have a message for you to take to Kamien, Prell.”
“This is hardly...Stop this instant!” Creal’s secretary said. “I’m terribly sorry, Ambassador. He barged in here. You can tell by the look of him, we—”
“Tell him I’m coming for him.” Dynan shoved him again. “Tell him.”
“Guards, have this man removed immediately. Ambassador, come this way.”
Prell cringed away from Dynan as the guards took him. He saw Creal standing in his doorway, aware of the exchange, his expression dark and furious. He smiled at Ambassador Prell though, welcoming him into his office. The guards pulled Dynan away roughly. Behind him the door closed.
He was taken to the front entrance, allowed to retrieve his sword from the security station, then sent outside. He saw Maralt at once, leaning casually against a stone building across the wide Palace Boulevard. Dynan lurched back, bumping into the guards behind him.
“That’s enough trouble from you. Let’s just get you to your ship without any more problems.”
“It’s not me,” Dynan stammered, staring around wildly, trying to figure out who among the many people coming and going might be Maralt’s men. That they were waiting for him, he felt certain.
“Come on, move.”
“You’re going to need help.”
“I think we can handle you well enough.”
Dynan started to shake his head, but the guard pushed him. When he looked back, Maralt had disappeared. Dynan stumbled, afraid, knowing a trap was waiting for him, but with the two guards holding him, could do little to avoid it. He couldn’t think, and they pushed him along.
They reached the Landing Port, and kept going, forcing him toward the fourth Bay where the XR-30 waited, his fear increasing with each step. The ship came into sight down the tunneled corridors. A line of doors on his right preceded a side passage. The last door opened as he moved by it, and Maralt stepped out.
Dynan stumbled back, his sword flashing into his hand in an instant, his reaction baffling the guards, as Maralt hadn’t made any overt move to attack.
“Put up your sword. What’s wrong with you? I’m sorry, sir,” the guard said, turning to Maralt. “There won’t be any trouble here. If you just step—” He stopped abruptly as Maralt turned to him, eyes narrowing slightly. The guard choked, fell to his knees, then crumpled to the ground.
“Kelly?” The second guard moved. “Kelly, what’s wrong? What are you—” He gasped as he turned on Maralt, hands flying up to his throat, then he too fell to the ground.
Dynan stared from the dead guards to Maralt, his whole body shaking, sword wavering crazily in his hand as he backed away. He slid along the wall, using it to stay on his feet. From the passageway, three men appeared. Two more came from the Bay opening, cutting off any hope of escape.
“So easy,” Maralt said. “Really, I hoped you’d put up more of a fight than this. So much like your brother. He was shaking more than you are, begging for mercy. Too bad you missed it.”
“You bastard!” Dynan screamed, and threw himself at him, but his sword was met by one of Maralt’s men, then the other four attacked.
“Hey there, what’s going on here?” A Palace guard came down the corridor, followed by several others. “Put up your weapons! Now!”
Maralt turned, frowning mildly, then slipped down the passageway. Dynan hardly noticed him, too preoccupied by the five men surrounding him. The Palace guards descended quickly, drawing away three. The other two assailants blocked his way to the ship.
They attacked him, more concerned now with their own escape than stopping him, but their sudden onslaught proved effective. Dynan missed a defense. The sword struck him, glancing along his ribs. The other saw an opening, and thrust. Another blade wielded by a Palace guard stopped the weapon from reaching him. The man turned, and fled down the passageway. The guard moved to give chase, leaving Dynan backed against the wall.
The world spun around him, and he felt himself sliding down. He fought against collapsing, and barely managed to stop from falling. Maralt’s remaining men ran. All but one of the Palace guards followed after them, leaving two more of their fellows dead, and one slightly injured. Dynan inched along the wall, staggering as he moved toward the XR-30, his only thought to get onboard, and get away.
“You there,” the injured guard called after him. “You can’t leave now. You have to—Wait!” The guard pulled himself up off the stone floor, limping after him. “Stop! You’re not authorized to—”
Dynan didn’t wait, stumbling into the bay. He got the ramp open as the guard came in and then closed behind him, cutting off the guard’s voice. Dynan moved to the flight controls, his breath coming in harsh, painful gasps. He activated the engines, and soon had the ship up off the ground. He set a course, and as his fingers touched the controls to engage, he heard a voice in his mind.
“I’m coming for you, Prince. You’re next.”
Blackness took him.
***
Ralion and Sheed landed at the Trenmar Port, learning quickly that Dynan had been attacked only a few hours earlier. When they asked about Dain, the Port Captain shook his head. “I didn’t see him, but then I didn’t see any of it. You’d have to ask the Palace guards who came down.”
“Palace guards?” Sheed asked.
Ralion closed his eyes. “They went to Creal.”
“The King, you mean,” the Port Captain corrected, frowning at them. “You two are asking a lot of questions for merchants from Thylin.”
Ralion looked at Sheed. “We’re not. We’re Palace Messengers from Trea. May I use your comterm?” He produced a badge, showing Drake’s seal, which would allow him access to any comterm he needed. Except Creal would likely hear of it, and Drake didn’t need the complication, which was why Ralion hadn’t used the King’s seal before.
The Port Captain shook his head. “Comterm has been shut down by the King’s order, what with all this business here. You’ll have to take it up with the Palace.”
“We will,” Ralion said. “See to it that our ship is guarded, Captain. No one should go near it.”
“Yes, my Lords. I’ll see to that. I don’t expect we’ll have any more trouble. Port is crawling with Palace and City guards.”
“Thank y
ou, sir.”
Sheed leaned close. “Maybe you should have told him not to let anyone off the ship either.”
They went to the Palace, and with Drake’s seal were shown directly to the King. Creal seemed preoccupied, looking at a companel screen on his desk, then a comboard in hand, frowning at what he read. “You have a message for me?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. King Drake would like to know if you have recent knowledge of the whereabouts of Prince Dynan and Prince Dain Telaerin.”
Creal looked up at them. “You’re not Drake’s messengers.” He reached for the companel, but Ralion stopped him.
“This says otherwise, Your Majesty,” Ralion said, and showed him the seal followed by a personal message from Drake stating that they had the right to act as his emissaries.
Creal grunted, handing the items back. “Perhaps Drake should be more careful who he gives these to.”
“He’s very careful who he gives them to. We were told at Port that Prince Dynan was seen there.”
“Yes, he was, and escaped my men. Four of my guards are dead now because of him. I’ve just learned that there are two others from Trophan who can’t be identified. He came here himself, and not only threatened me, but Ambassador Prell of Cobalt as well, and in the same breath as asking for my assistance. You can tell Drake that my previous willingness to consider helping Dynan is now questionable at best.”
“Was Prince Dain with him, Your Majesty?”
“He came alone.”
“And did your men manage to capture or kill Maralt Adaeryn?”
Creal paused, his fury easing at the mention of Maralt. “He escaped, and in fact, it was his men who committed the murders of my guards. I’m not sure of the men from Trophan.”
“Those men, I believe, were the Princes’ guards.” Ralion handed him a comboard. “You’ll be able to identify them with this information. I would ask that their bodies be returned to the Trea System.”
“Yes, that can be arranged. Are you saying that Drake knows Dynan is here in my System?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Who are you?”
Ralion hesitated briefly, then told the King their names. “We are also Princes’ Guards, Your Majesty. We were returning to Dynan and Dain from personal leave when we learned of the attack.”
Creal looked at them a moment. “From Cobalt perhaps?” he asked, surprising Ralion.
“Perhaps.”
“And now you’ve lost them, and they have no guards.” He stood, pacing a moment. “Dynan never mentioned any of this to me. If he had—”
“It was never their intention to involve you in any way in this situation. If Prince Dynan came to you for help, then it was only through desperate need.”
“Yes, I can see that now, but he didn’t make himself clear. Hardly made any sense at all, and when he...Well that’s beside the point. You may have access to Central Control. See if you can track them, but I’ll warn you, I’ve already tried.”
“The XR-30 is a difficult ship to trace, Your Majesty, but we know better what to look for.”
“My secretary will show you to an office.”
Ralion nodded, then hesitated again. “We need to communicate with—”
“Yes, yes. There’ll be a comterm available. Here’s a message you can give Drake. Tell him next time Dynan’s catastrophes befall my System, I’d like a little warning first.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Ralion smiled tightly. “And your first message?”
Creal flashed him a warning frown. “You may ignore it for the time being, but, I’ll not likely forget Dynan’s threats soon. I suggest you find him, find them both, and get them out of my System.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. We’ll do that.”
***
Drake’s voice came over the companel, surprising Ralion. “Your Majesty. I didn’t expect you—”
“I’m taking all of Carryn’s messages, Ralion. She’s on her way to Rynald now in the XR-9. Have you found them?”
“No, but we’re getting close.” He related what they knew so far.
“The Star Destroyer has been sighted in the System, undoubtedly the reason for Prell’s visit to Creal.”
“We weren’t told that.”
“No, not surprising. Creal doesn’t want to get involved. I don’t understand why Dynan and Dain would go to him, knowing how delicate these negotiations are.”
“It doesn’t seem like they had a choice. They were attacked in Port right after leaving the Palace.”
“But Dain wasn’t with him?”
“No, not that anyone saw. He must have stayed onboard. He might be hurt. That’s the only reason I can think of that would keep him from Dynan under attack.”
“Yes, I agree.”
“We won’t be able to communicate with Carryn then.”
“No.”
“Drake, if we have to leave the System—”
“Pray that you won’t, Ralion, not with the Star Destroyer right there. Kamien pulled the same trick on Thylin, I’ve heard, and Lorton Kyle allowed him access.”
“Can’t really blame him or Creal for that,” Ralion said.
“I can, and I’m making an issue about it from my end.”
“Not too much of one, I hope. We can’t afford to lose you, and with that kind of fire power—”
“He wouldn’t dare.”
“I don’t know, Your Majesty, lately Kamien has been daring a lot. You should know that Creal is being as helpful as he can be. We’re at the Palace now.”
“So I gathered. Tell him it’s appreciated. Keep me informed.”
“We will. There is one other thing. We may need to buy ourselves a ship. Right now, we’ve got a decent midrange on loan, sort of, but—”
“I’ll arrange for the funds to be transferred. My Ambassador there has been instructed to give you any assistance required.”
“Thank you, Drake. We’ll find them.”
“I know you will. Good luck.”
The two men turned to the Central Control records Creal provided them access to, trying to determine what course the XR-30 had taken from the Trenmar Port. The ship showed up on scanner just three times but in an indecipherable pattern, leaving no clues to its destination. Central Control informed them only a few moments earlier of several reported sightings, hours old now, of the ship flying in an erratic manner. They had no other information, and the XR-30 remained lost.
“What about Maralt’s Zephron?” Sheed asked, looking over Ralion’s shoulder at the screen.
“No sign of him at all. But with the Destroyer out there he could be back onboard by now.”
“Without Central Con showing any record of it?”
“Central Con may not be reporting it, Sheed. The Destroyer is here with permission.”
“You can be sure Maralt has access to this same information then.”
“He doesn’t need it, not from Creal at any rate. That ship is perfectly capable of scanning this entire System, unless Dynan and Dain made it up, and went to sublight inside the System.”
“Scan records don’t indicate that as happening.”
“I know. Wishful thinking on my part,” Ralion said, and leaned back. “We’ll follow this course, however erratic. They’re doing this on purpose. They have to know the Destroyer is here. You know how Dain gets. He’ll do anything, no matter how dangerous, or confusing for us.”
“They aren’t making it easy, that’s for certain,” Sheed said.
“That’s the point.”
“I know. Let’s move.”
Ralion informed Central Control of their intentions, asking to be informed of any further reports. Central Control readily agreed, and Ralion thought they probably wanted to be rid of Dynan and Dain Telaerin as much as he and Sheed wanted to find them.
~*~
Chapter 19
He opened his eyes, seemed to remember doing so before, then automatically changed course again, and sank back into his seat. He felt heat radiating of
f his skin, heard his teeth chattering, and retched shudders raced through him. Somewhere in his clouded mind, he knew he was sick, and the thought followed that he needed the medic kit. He struggled to sit up, and then rise to go get it. In the last moment before black covered his sight he remembered he’d done that the last time.
He woke again, leaned forward, and changed course. His throat seemed to close down, constricting breath. He shook in spasms. He couldn’t focus. The lights of the controls swirled around him, clearing for a moment, dimming then darkening.
Dynan groaned, his voice ripping at his parched throat. Slowly he eased forward, knowing if he moved too fast he’d black out again, and this time he felt it might be the last time. He almost didn’t care, except for the incessant voice of his brother telling him he had to live, had to survive. Dynan didn’t have any choice but to listen, so he moved carefully and slowly, sitting up so he could see where he was.
His vision cleared after a moment of stillness. He saw trees approaching, realizing in the same instant that there were shorter trees just beneath the ship. A clearing opened below, swiftly gone, but he noticed a house nestled near the wood, and fields opening up off to the right of his course.
He blinked at the controls, and couldn’t make his hands move fast enough to avert the coming crash. In a distant sort of way, he wondered what it would feel like.
He looked down, and managed to activate the restraint field. The ship struck the trees, and he was yanked forward. A grey cloud swallowed him, took his vision, sweeping pain and fear from his mind. He thought with a great deal of relief, well, it’s over.
***
Broq Marleen looked up when the sound of an engine flying low and close reached him where he was working in the west fields. He didn’t see the craft at first, but wondered what a ship was doing in the area. It wasn’t a normal flight pattern. Then he realized the engine didn’t sound right and stepped back from the fence he was mending. He saw it then, gaping at the black ship as it careened overhead right at treetop level, engines screaming now.
His mind registered that it was going to crash, but he couldn’t believe it, even as he watched the ship plunge into the trees. The noise of limbs and trunks snapping was terrific, combined with the alarming sound of the engines. The ship slammed into the field, not more than a hundred paces from where he stood, spewing dirt and dust into the air. The ground shook. One wing lifted up, pulling the rest of the craft off the ground again for a brief moment before entering the woods on the far side of the field. Broq thought he was about to see a large explosion and cringed. The ship slid between trees and into others, snapping them as easily as twigs before it ended up canted over a rise of boulders that finally jarred the craft to an abrupt halt.
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