by Neal Jones
Varis pressed her palm to Swyn's. It took only a matter of seconds to transfer to the data.
"There's twelve of them," Swyn said. "I didn't recognize any of them, but I can tell that they're all women."
Varis' face paled as she scrolled through the readout.
"What's the matter?" M'Harri asked, alarmed.
Varis swallowed, and then replied, "The third name on this list. It's my mother."
Swyn leaned forward to peer at the holo-display. "Jishara Akren?"
"Yes. Akren was my mother's birth name. Are you absolutely certain that this list belonged to Moru?"
She nodded. "The day after he disappeared – the same morning that I filed the missing persons report – I received a communiqué from him. It was just two sentences: 'Don't show the list to anyone. Keep it safe until I return'. I erased the message immediately, and I destroyed the disc as soon as I downloaded the list to my 'net."
"Did you ever try looking up any of these names in a comm directory?"
Swyn shook her head. "I was too afraid. The way that Korik disappeared and that message he sent me – it scared me. Honestly, I didn't want to know anything more."
"And no one besides Anteri Prill came around asking questions?"
"No. I didn't think he would be gone more than a few weeks or months, but after a year or so, when Prill told me that he had to turn the case over to the cold files, I started to forget some days that I even had the disc."
"Did you ever feel like anyone was following you, or that you were being watched?"
"I don't think so. I've never been the paranoid type, so I can't say for certain. I can tell you that nothing out of the ordinary has happened to me in the last five years. Like I said, there were times I forgot that damn thing was in my pocket."
Varis looked down at the list of names again, reading them silently over and over until the list was memorized. Her gaze kept coming back to the third name. She could see her mother sitting at the comm terminal, begging for the person on the screen to connect her to Doctor Moru.
"Brantar?"
Varis blinked and looked up. "Huh?"
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. Is there anything else that you haven't told me? Anything at all, no matter how insignificant you think it might be?"
The doctor shook her head. "That list is all I had. I'm actually relieved now that I can turn it over to someone else."
Varis shut off her palm display. "Thank you for trusting me, Swyn. Are you going to be all right?"
She stood, forcing a smile. "Yes. I hope that you find the truth about what happened to him. About why he disappeared, I mean."
Varis nodded, rising. "I'll do the best that I can."
"Did your mother know him?"
The brantar hesitated. "I honestly don't know. I don't think so."
"Strange," M'Harri murmured, clearing away the mugs.
"Do you live alone?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure you're going to be all right here by yourself?"
Swyn smiled again, nodding. "I'll be fine, brantar."
"Call me J'Soran. Lock the doors behind me, and don't let anyone else in."
"Okay. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
As Varis left the front step, she scanned the neighborhood with her 'net's optical screen, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The sun had set a few minutes ago, and the street lights cast long swaths of darkness between their lighted pools. At the end of the front walk she turned and pointed her 'net's sensors at M'Harri's house. Her palm readout displayed only one biosign in the house and no others detected in the back yard or the alley. Satisfied, J'Soran shut off her bio-net and walked briskly up the street to the train stop.
( 6 )
Doctor M'Harri hummed softly as she put the dirty dishes in the reclamator and then began making dinner. She tried to distract herself by making a mental list of the tasks she needed to finish in the lab for her current project. But her thoughts kept straying to memories of Korik, of their time spent together at their workstations, sharing their thoughts on whatever historical biography had recently captured his enthusiasm. After several minutes she gave up, and squeezed her eyes shut once more, trying to stop a fresh flood of tears.
The door chime rang.
Swyn jerked her head, startled, and then wiped her eyes. Her sudden fear immobilized her, and she gripped the edge of the counter, remembering Varis' warning of not letting anyone else into the house after she left.
The chime rang again.
Swyn forced herself to move into the hall where she pressed a command on the com panel near the entrance to the kitchen. On the screen appeared a Ralorian man whom she didn't recognize. He was in a policeman's uniform, and he looked up into the camera and smiled. M'Harri pressed the button to open the comm channel.
"Who are you?" she demanded, trying to keep her tone level.
"I've been assigned to guard you tonight, doctor. Brantar Varis arranged it with Anteri Prill."
"She didn't say anything about this. Please leave."
"It's all right, doctor. I understand your confusion. I'll wait out here while you screen Anteri Prill. He can verify my assignment."
"All right, yes," Swyn said hurriedly. She turned to go back into the kitchen –
– and the young woman blocking her path struck with her fist, slamming it into Swyn's throat. The doctor collapsed, gasping for air, her eyes wide with terror as she struggled to comprehend what was happening. The intruder stepped over her and unlocked the front door.
Avyrem entered, quickly sweeping his gaze over the scene. He knelt beside M'Harri. "I'm very sorry, doctor. I really had hoped it wouldn't come to this." He withdrew a hypo-needle from an inner pocket and pressed it to Swyn's neck. "This will neutralize your bio-net."
"Who...who..."
"Who am I? I'm sorry, you know I can't reveal details like that. What I need from you, however, is to tell me what you and Brantar Varis discussed." He looked up at the other woman. "Please get us some water."
She obeyed, and Avyrem helped the doctor into a sitting position. "Drink this." Swyn never took her eyes off him while she took hesitant sips. She coughed, took a few more sips, and then he set the glass in her hands. "That's better, isn't it?"
"Who are you?" M'Harri demanded, coughing again.
"We've already been over that," Avyrem replied patiently. "It's not important. I need you to answer my question instead."
Swyn looked up at the woman standing behind him. Her blank expression and her cold, gray eyes gave the doctor a fresh surge of fear, and the hand holding the glass trembled. "Please," she croaked. "I don't know what you want. We just talked about Doctor Moru."
"Yes, I know that much," Avyrem sighed, using the same exasperated tone that one would use on a stubborn child. "What about?"
Now afraid for her life, the doctor could only whimper, and the water glass nearly fell from her trembling grasp. "Please don't kill me..." she whispered.
"If you tell me what I want to know, I promise I won't kill you," Avyrem replied soothingly. "I know that you're a smart woman, and that you would never tell anyone about what happened here tonight, is that right?"
"Yes, yes, I promise," she coughed. She took another drink, and then said, "We just talked about Doctor Moru. The brantar wanted to know more about his...his disappearance five years ago."
"And what did you tell her?"
"The same thing I told the police back then. I don't know anything about it. He never said anything to me before he left."
"Are you sure, doctor? Are you sure that's all you talked about? Be honest with me."
M'Harri was weeping with fear, and she started to take another drink. Avyrem seized the glass and hurled it away from them. It shattered somewhere in the darkness at the end of the hall, and the doctor screamed. Avyrem leaned closer so that his face was only a few inches from hers.
"I'm losing my patience! Tell me what you told Varis!"
"I don't
know anything!" the doctor cried. "Please just let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone about this!"
Avyrem made a disgusted noise and stood, turning to his companion. "Do it."
She knelt in front of Swyn, and the doctor shook her head, sobbing, scrabbling against the wall with her hands in a vain effort to get away. The woman laid her hand on Swyn's arm, and the fingers began to melt, to run like liquid, and it disappeared into the skin of M'Harri's arm. The doctor watched, terrified, coughing, and began to struggling even more furiously to rise. Avyrem stepped forward and clamped onto her shoulder with an iron grip, forcing her back to the floor.
The woman's arm below her wrist was completely gone, and the point where her arm was melded to Swyn's gleamed like silver in the light from the kitchen doorway. Swyn looked up at the woman's face. "What are you doing to me?" she whispered. "What's happening?"
And then pain – as sharp and as quick as a steel sword – thrust itself into her chest, and then her neck. She began screaming. The pain was unlike any she had ever experienced or could have even imagined. Her vision began to blur around the edges once more, and the sound of her voice began to fade. All that she could feel was the searing, blinding pain that only seemed to get worse the longer she screamed. Now it was seeping into her face, her ears, her skull, as if there were thousands of tiny, sharp needles sticking her in all places at once. She screamed and screamed, her voice turning hoarse, her tears blurring all sight, and then everything began to fade into darkness.
The pain, finally, began to fade, and Swyn blinked, gasping for air. The woman still had her hand and part of her arm inside the doctor's forearm, but the pain had lessened to a far more tolerable level. M'Harri coughed and raised her head, looking first at Avyrem and then at the woman.
"I can't access her 'net," the woman said. "She's already erased the memory cells."
"Yes, that was expected," Avyrem sighed, kneeling beside Swyn once more. "Let's try this again, doctor. What was it that you told Varis? Hmmm? Was it a final message from Doctor Moru? The code to a bank drawer perhaps? Did he leave you something to give her? A file, perhaps?"
Swyn shook her head, weeping silently. "No," she whispered. "I swear! He gave me nothing!" She coughed, and then forced herself to continue. "I told her the same thing I told Anteri Prill five years ago. I don't know anything more! I swear! I promise!"
Avyrem sighed, shaking his head sadly. "I'm very sorry to hear that, doctor. You don't leave me any choice." He glanced at the woman and nodded before rising and walking to the end of the hall.
Swyn looked at the woman, knowing what was coming next. The searing, lancing pain shot through her chest, neck, and face. This time, however, it spread outwards, burning and scorching every nerve in her body, and M'Harri screamed until she could no longer gasp for breath.
The Ralorian woman waited for several moments to make sure that the doctor was dead before withdrawing her hand and wrist from inside Swyn's arm. The fingers, palm, and thumb morphed back into their standard, solid shape, and the woman stood, flexing her hand. Avyrem returned to stare down at the body, his expression disappointed.
"I really thought she would confess," he murmured.
"You could be wrong," the changeling replied.
"No. I'm certain that she knew something. She was the closest thing he had to family. He wouldn't have disappeared without giving her something to safeguard for him."
"But what if he didn't?"
Avyrem didn't respond, and the woman followed him out of the house and into the shadows between the streetlights.
( 7 )
Varis disembarked from the train and descended the platform steps quickly. The hotel was only four blocks away, and she was anxious to download to her compad the list of names that M'Harri had given her. She casually swept her gaze back and forth as she walked, looking for anything or anyone suspicious in her path. The streets were starting to fill with the nighttime crowd, making it difficult to determine if anyone was following her. But, at the same time, it would make it easier for her to escape if she was attacked. Varis sighed, chiding herself for being so paranoid, and checked the display of her commlink. She had a little over an hour before her meeting with Prill and her stomach growled, reminding her that he was picking up her dinner. She was about to tap her link to screen him, when something snagged her arm and yanked her into a nearby alley.
Varis' instincts immediately took over, and she lashed out with one foot while throwing her arm at the same time, her fist aimed for the other's throat. But her arm was blocked, and her feet were swiftly kicked out from under her. Varis landed on the pavement – hard – the wind momentarily knocked out of her. A Ralorian woman appeared in her field of vision, glowering at her, and then immediately disappeared. Varis forced herself to one elbow, coughing.
"Stay down," the woman commanded. "Get behind that cooler." She pointed to the large, bulky unit on the side of the building.
Varis obeyed, crawling on her hands and knees, still catching her breath. Her attacker was perched just inside the alley entrance, scanning the faces on the street. After a few moments, she joined Varis behind the cooler.
"Who are you?" J'Soran demanded.
"We can do the introductions later. Follow me!" The woman began walking towards the other end of the alley.
"No," Varis protested, standing her ground. "You tell me who you are and why the hell you attacked me!"
"There isn't time for this," the woman hissed, turning back.
Varis realized too late that a disruptor was pointed at her chest. She darted to one side, but the pulse of phased energy had already struck her head on, slamming her on her back. The scowling visage of the stranger towered above her, and then everything went dark.
Part Three
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"Hourglass"
Chapter 15
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( 1 )
KIRAN RAISED HIS HEAD AND FORCED HIMSELF to sit up as a multiple pairs of boot heels on the metal deck plating sounded the arrival of his captors in the cargo hold. The Mykahrian had lost track of time, but he was sure it had been about four or five days since his capture from Exxar-One, maybe longer, and the food packets that had been tossed into his cell were pitifully short on substance, taste and nutrition. There was a latrine at the other end of the hold, and twice a day he was escorted to it by one of the three Xaric whom he assumed to be the entire crew of this vessel. Most of his time in the cramped space of his cell was spent sleeping, and he usually dreamed of the sea; of the hot sand beneath his bare feet; of running into the waves with his cousins, screaming and laughing as the tide overwhelmed them, dragging them under. Somewhere in the distance, back on the shore, his mother called to him, warning him to be careful.
Her voice echoed from the shadows of sleep as Kiran opened his eyes and prepared for the glare of the light that was always switched on as soon as someone arrived to escort him to the latrine.
"What the akt is this??" The voice was a man's, but not one of the Xaric. It was someone new.
Garrett blinked as he raised a hand to block out the overhead glare. Beyond the door of his cell was one of the Xaric – the biggest of the three – and someone else who definitely wasn't Xaric.
"Get him out of there! Now!" the stranger barked.
The Xaric gave him a surly glare and then opened the door.
The other man was a Mykahrian, and, as he knelt in front of Kiran, the EarthCorps officer was surprised by the deep violet hue of the man's skin. It was several shades darker than his own, which was more of a lavender because of the human half of his genetic makeup.
"Kiran," the man said softly. "Can you hear me? Are you all right?"
"Yes," Garrett croaked, and then suffered a brief coughing spell.
The man held out his arm and helped Kiran to his feet. "I'm sorry for this. Can you walk?"
Kiran nodded as he straightened himself and took a few steps. "I could use some water, though."
The Mykahrian stranger turned to the Xaric, and the other man thrust a canteen at him.
"Thanks," Garrett said after taking several short sips. He swallowed and then took another drink before handing the canteen back to the stranger.
The Mykahrian thrust it at the Xaric and snarled, "There are seventeen of you on a ship that could hold fifty! You couldn't at least have put him in spare quarters??"
"Take your passenger and leave," the Xaric replied coldly.
The Mykahrian pressed his wristlink, glaring at the Xaric. Behind them, a cardon field appeared, and he led Garrett over the threshold into another cargo hold. This one was more brightly and evenly lit, and there were two more Mykahrian men waiting for them. One of them was standing at a control station, and he entered a command to close the field. The other murmured into his wristlink and then both of them nodded to Garrett's companion before leaving the hold.
"Sit over here," the Mykahrian said to Garrett, guiding him to a couple chairs behind a tall stack of large crates. On the nearby wall was a food dispenser and Kiran watched warily his new captor pulled up the menu and made a selection. The small door slid aside, and he withdrew a steaming mug of something and handed it to Kiran.
Garrett looked down at the black liquid and then up at the Mykahrian. "What is it?"
"It's all right. It tastes better than it looks. It's a nutrient drink."
Still wary, Kiran reluctantly accepted the cup and took a hesitant sip. The man was right. It tasted pleasantly sweet and rich, almost like hot chocolate, but with an aftertaste that reminded Kiran of red licorice, one of his favorite snacks. He took a longer, deeper drink as he watched the other man sit.
"My name is Kravis."
"I'm Lieutenant Commander Kiran Garrett, serial number H-C-six-four-three-dash-Z-one-four-two-nine. I'm an officer of the EarthCorps Navy –"