"What did you do to him?" the woman demanded.
Thunder closed his eyes and gritted his teeth against the movement of the undulating mat.
"Talk to me or I'll kill you."
No dream had never demanded a response before. As his sickness escalated, he wished she would either follow through on her threat to kill him or help him wake from this nightmare.
When she continued to create waves by rocking the creature, he lurched off the mat and into the dreadful water. He hurried through the cloying stuff to the round hole, then scrambled up its strange soft surface toward the light.
"Come back here."
Never, he thought as he hurried toward the smell of fresh air.
Chapter 11
Raine stared after the warrior in amazement. Preston had assured her that his injuries would incapacitate him for several moon cycles and she’d certainly given him the injections on schedule. If she'd had any idea he could sit up, much less leap off the cot and dash out of Dalf's compartment, she would have brought her blaster.
Dalf, accustomed to having all of her attention when she came to his chamber, whimpered and rubbed against her.
It took a moment to realize that the warrior was escaping. With that insight came action and Raine sprinted up the connector-corridor after him. By the time he barreled through the exterior hatch and stagger-sprinted onto the deck, she was only two paces behind him.
The reeds undulated under his weight and he fell against a vine-covered railing, nearly collapsing it. Knuckles white, and eyes shut, he gulped in deep breaths.
Was this a ruse?
Now that he was on his feet he seemed twice as big as she'd imagined. Muscles corded in his arms and across his shoulders.
Confident that he didn't intend to leap into the sea and either swim away or dive down to where Nambaba lay on the sea floor, soaking in hydro, Raine slipped back into her home and grabbed her blaster.
When she returned, he was on his knees and had his forehead pressed against the railing. The burst of energy seemed to have sapped him. As she stood in the hatchway, uncertain of what to do, next, Dalf bumbled past her and lurched onto the woven reed decking.
"Spirit, what's next?" she said. Raine grabbed Dalf before he could hurt himself. He jumped at her touch, then seized her as if she was life itself. "What did you do to him?"
The warrior didn't respond.
Dalf plucked at the neckline of her jumpsuit. "M-m-m-mmmmm," he intoned. This is the closest thing to speech she'd heard from his lips since she and Preston had saved him from the reclamation unit. Raine wrapped her arms around him and burst into tears. "M-m-m-m-mmmm-mm," he continued, as he snuggled against her.
"I love you, too." Tears spilled down her cheeks.
She stared over the top of Dalf's head at the warrior. Bringing a comatose victim to her home was one thing; this was a whole new gamble. Her brow furrowed, as she tried to decide what to do, her wrist alarm chimed. As if sensing the summons, which would take her away from him, Dalf shrieked. Raine covered her ears and punched the message button.
Why were they telling her to report back on duty so early? As she stared at the unprecedented message, a shadow covered the screen. Raine froze and looked up at the warrior. Though he looked white and frail as a cloud, he towered over her and with Dalf clinging to her, there was no way to fight him. She put her hands up in surrender.
He reached over her and touched Dalf's shoulder. Though the contact didn't appear hostile, he went limp in her arms. A quick touch verified that he was still alive.
She stared at the warrior, wondering what would happen next. Her beeper chirped, demanded a response.
The warrior lifted Dalf from her grasp; his touch unexpectedly tender, as he lowered him belly-up on the woven reeds then straightened his flipper-arms at his sides. Once the warrior seemed satisfied with Dalf's orientation, he maneuvered his hands over Dalf, as if he was seeing through his fingertips.
Raine gripped her blaster in one hand and her bleating beeper in the other, then, without turning her attention from the warrior, transmitted a confirmation code. Still, watching the warrior and expecting a trick, she keyed in Nambaba's rise code, then inched backward across the deck to the tether and, never taking her attention from the unlikely pair, she began to untie the knot. The water above her vessel began to ripple, each swell larger then the next; each one making the deck rock harder.
The warrior sat down hard and clutched his stomach. Though he looked sicker than any live person had the right to, and though Dalf lay still between them, she knew there was only one thing she could do.
Raine leveled her blaster at him. He ignored her, and began ripping at the bandages Preston had wrapped over his wounds. With her free hand, she got the syringe out of her pocket and flicked the protective cap off. He ripped at the bandages, which were crusted with dried blood. If he bled to death, it would be his own fault. She risked a quick look over her shoulder. Nambaba was just starting to emerge from her saturation bath.
The Guerreterre ripped off the last layer of cloth as she dashed toward him and embedded the syringe in his biceps. His head jerked up and he swatted at the needle, as if it was a mosquito. She hit his hand away and jumped out of his reach. Bindings flew across the deck and he groaned as he slumped over unconscious. She winced and looked at his abdomen, expecting to see blood. Though dried brown flakes dusted his exposed flesh, his lean, muscular abdomen looked unblemished. Raine stared in shock.
The tips of Nambaba's tentacles began bursting onto the surface and bobbed erratically, yanking the pinion a new direction with each emergence. Raine threw the syringe into the water, as the main portion of Nambaba surfaces, then yanked the tether-line free, leaped onto the tentacle and dashed the close button. As the opening slammed shut, she glimpsed the warrior, sitting on his knees, at the center of her deck, staring after her as if he'd never seen an enemy get away.
Once she entered orbit, guilt over leaving Dalf in the barbarian's clutches gripped her, but she didn't have time to dwell on her actions, because the monitor flared orange. Raine gulped. This was only the third time in her entire service that the code had been this severe. She entered her code and retrieved the encrypted message.
Hagva 39:67: Guerreterre transmission detected. Source: Ishdoo.
Monitor waveband 923995 for possible triangulation, but do not
- repeat, do not -
alter normal activity.
ooo
Tem-aki studied the holographic image of Kalamar and its two moons as she sent her daily report to Admiral Roget. When the transmission was complete, the computer resumed reciting Kalamar's history, “The Vole d'Laire dynasty has ruled Kalamar for over nine hundred years. Prior to that Kalamar was a frozen back-world inhabited by illiterate masses that could barely subsist. In return for back-breaking labor and life-long allegiance, the Vole d’Laires provide a lifetime of care for their populace.”
The monologue, which had been giving her a history of Kalamar and the importance of eepyllihg, as it related to their treaty, paused and the holographic image turned into a face. “Eighty-nine years ago, Zar Hokku Vole d’Laire developed the eepyllihg additive, which quadruples the fuel efficiency of our fighters.
“The formula for this substance is a closely guarded secret. Many have died trying to obtain the information.” A new holographic face appeared. “Winslow Vole d’Laire, the current Zar, is rumored to be as gifted a chemical engineer as he is a ruthless politician. Due to the rumor that he and his scientists are developing an encodable toxin, which could be spread through fuel vapors, unnecessary space travel has been banned.”
Tem-aki jerked her head up and stared at the image. So that was why the Admiral had virtually grounded the Shadow Force and turned the unused warbirds over to the scientists, who used a fraction of the fuel the warriors required.
The next image was of a beautiful young girl, but a young man's image quickly followed. “Annya Vole d’Laire and Brock Vole d’Laire are t
he only living prodigy of Winslow and Tapanni Vole d’Laire.” The image of another female popped up. “Marsha Vole d'Laire is the only one left alive from Winslow’s brother’s line and it is rumored that The Pharanx places great importance on her council. All family members died when a solar flare vaporized Latawba.”
Tem-aki stared at their faces, wondering how one family of such regular-looking people managed to control such a major commodity and had enough power to keep Guerreterre as a paying customer and even ground their fleet at the whisper of a rumor. Why would they want to develop a toxin that could wipe out their customers? Surely that was the worst commercial plan she had ever heard of. But obviously, Guerreterre's administrators took the threat so seriously that they had grounded the majority of their peacekeeping force instead of continue their normal practice of taking over mis-managed worlds and their resources.
At least that made her job more important. Assuming she could find the necessary elements, that was.
Gradually a nightmare image of monstrous golden beasts swimming in the gasses of a blue star replaced Winslow’s head. Tem-aki frowned in confusion and waited for the monologue to explain. In the ensuing silence, Madrox activity began creating sunspot-type ripples in the gas. Alien planets, which looked like jewels replaced Brock and Marsha’s heads. She leaned forward, concentrating and trying to understand the unspoken message. Suddenly, a solar flare erupted from the gaseous surface and rocketed toward the green jewel planet. Tem-aki jerked backward so quickly that she nearly fell out of her chair.
Heart hammering, she stared at the soundless video clip. After the flare died, the planet looked dead as the burned out planetoid where the strange pilot had met Larwin. Tem-aki frowned in concentration and studied the unfolding information until the menacing, burning orb with its leaping madrox had devoured everything. For several long moments, flames dominated, then the image abruptly went blank.
Heart pounding, Tem-aki watched zigzags of energy, then just as suddenly as the hologram had quit, several scyphozoan style spacecraft and ctenophore class ships, similar to the one which had played with the madrox in the asteroid field, appeared from the far side of the blue star. As if in response to the arrival of the small fleet, madrox undulated up from the molten surface in a golden wave, as if to flee from the approaching fleet.
Tem-aki blinked. If she could discover the answer to why cyphozoan style spacecraft and ctenophore class ships repelled the destructive beasts, surely she could earn a huge profit. As the madrox veered away, the fleet increased speed and pursued them, much as the pilot she had encountered had done. However, with seven ships working together, they soon were guiding the madrox back to the hot, unstable-looking orb.
The hologram abruptly shimmered in all the shades of golden fire, then disintegrated like fireworks winking out in a night sky.
The room became dark, except the tiny lights on the control panel. “You just saw an archive tape made by the Royden freight ship, Warfen, covering the destruction of planet Latawba, which was ruled by Arvord Vole d'Laire, Winslow's brother. Ripples from the sub-thermal blast burned out several of the Warfen’s controls. We were fortunate to salvage this much documentation.
“It is estimated that ten-point-six-trillion slaves inhabited Latawba. The Vole d'Laire family, with the exception of Winslow, Brock, Annya and Marsha, had assembled on Latawba for a family reunion, so they are the only surviving members.”
Tem-aki frowned and wondered why the computer mentioned that fact when thousands of other nameless families had been wiped out.
“Prior to seeing this evidence of madrox’s docile behavior toward the Kalamaran Dragon Officers,” the computer continued, “the dragons were presumed to be a danger to Kalamar. Now, The Joint Council believes Winslow Vole d'Laire may have used these beasts as a weapon of war in some sort of coup against his own family.”
She shivered at the thought of anyone being that inhumane to strangers, let alone his own blood.
The cabin lights came on and the holographic display dissipated. For a long time, Tem-aki stared at the empty space and wondered if the computer analysis was correct or a crazy assumption, then she moved over to the monitor which displayed a crescent of the molten moon. Madrox activity seemed to have increased to a fevered pitch and the number of scyphozoan style spacecraft and ctenophore class ships seemed to have doubled. Or else it looked like there were twice as many because they were zipping around like swarming bees.
As she watched, one of the Kalamaran vessels splayed it's tentacles wide, as the one in the asteroid field had, and seemed to be trying to keep one of the madrox between the molten moon's surface and the swarming ships.
After making four unsuccessful attempts to get past the ship, the madrox turned and dove headlong into the burning gases. A burst of molten-red gushed out from the spot where it disappeared.
In quick succession, several more dragons dove toward the same area. A digital numerical display in the corner of her monitor changed. “Computer, please explain what this distance reading refers to.”
“The reading calculates the distance between the surface of the molten moon and the planet surface. After all the impacts, the moon's orbit moved slightly away from the planet's surface.”
Fascinating that the movement of the beasts could affect the orbit of the moon. She wondered if the change was intentional or not.
With nothing more interesting to hold her attention, Tem-aki returned to the coordinates where her brother was last seen and keyed in magnification. As the resolution cleared, she saw the old ship lifting off from the waters near the odd round building. Two humanoids were visible on the flat surface by the round bubble-type structure, but before she could confirm if one was or was not Larwin, they moved out of sight, into the round structure.
Tem-aki glanced back at the molten moon. The ships were regaining control over the dragons and had begun herding them toward Vilecom.
No matter how many videos and holographic displays she watched or how many audio lectures she listened to, she suspected that she would never understand how Kalamar functioned, much less why.
Chapter 12
"Glad you could make it, Gold Leader." The transmission seemed to amplify Otami's syrupy tones.
Raine scowled at the monitor and wondered which ship was his. "What is the emergency?" she asked her second in command, as she watched the strange patterns of movement on the screen and tried to figure out why the entire herd seemed like it was congregated in one area, instead of spread over Vilecom.
"The mooncows swarmed, but we have them back under control." As if to defy the statement, three calves broke away from the herd and slipped past the shepherds. Strangely, their destination seemed to be Kalamar. Raine frowned and wondered why the hydro-phobic beasts were acting out of character.
Even if they weren't, Otami would claim they were. The covetous rank-climber would do anything to make her look incompetent and feel unneeded. "How many tried to leave the system?" she asked.
"None." He paused. Raine gritted her teeth. "They were headed for The Sea of Sorrows."
In all her years of herding, Raine had never heard of anything so bizarre. But then, she'd never seen anything as bizarre as the mooncalf's behavior in the asteroid field or the way it had stayed close to her ship once the warrior was aboard, either. She angled Nambaba so she could see her home sea and Vilecom in relation to each other and was not surprised when she confirmed that the herd was clustered in line with her home. Did the warrior's presence attract them? She frowned.
She shuddered and tried to focus on the real problem, instead of flights of her imagination.
But were the coincidences actually her imagination or was she trying to ignore facts? She wished Gornt were alive so she could ask him.
"Their behavior has been erratic ever since you returned with the renegade," Otami said, confirming her unvoiced suspicion. Unwilling to fall into his all too obvious attempt to make her appear guilty of something she had no control over, she stay
ed silent. "Initially, they attacked Haranga's ship, then they tried to migrate to Ishdoo. The last two attempts can be described as nothing short of suicidal dives toward the atmosphere."
Raine entered orbit around Vilecom and scrutinized her monitor. As some dragons broke the surface, molten orange waves rippled across the moon's surface, then, as they dove back, small geysers of heated gas temporarily marked their passage. Aside from the fact that they were all in a tight herd, the dragons seemed to be following their normal pattern and the shepherds' orbits looked evenly spaced. In fact, nothing appeared to corroborate Otami's complaints. "They appear quiet."
Obviously, Otami was transmitting his complaints to explain the call for reinforcements due to the intercepted transmission.
It stood to reason, that if they were monitoring the hidden shadow fighter, he or she was also observing them. Raine shivered and wondered for the hundredth time how to alert the shepherds to the threat without them learning about her involvement.
ooo
Tem-aki massaged the tired muscles in her neck while studying the eepyllihg refinery. Every time her hiding place on Ishdoo orbited over the industrial plant, she tried to collect a bit more information. This revolution, azure dots peppered the dark waters surrounding the refinery. Unless they had been submerged, like the pilot had done with the spaceship, the odd structures had not been there, previously. Squinting, she studied the computer's readout and tried to understand what she was seeing.
Abruptly, one dot seemed to rise, then all the other ones followed in an oddly structured pattern. As she watched the unprecedented activity, the dots began spiraling outward from the planet, Tem-aki keyed in the code to add the strange craft to the next file she planned to transmit.
She chose one dot and magnified it. In less time than it took to blink, the featureless azure dot changed into shaggy blimp with bulges. She had never seen such a strange craft, nor did she have a clue what its function could be. She magnified the image, again, and was able to read CRU-28 beneath a strange open framework on the starboard side. No matter how clear and close the image appeared, she could not figure out what all the bladders and ducts could be for. “Whatever it is, it must have something to do with refining eepyllihg,” she muttered.
Thunder Moon: Book 2 of the Chatterre Trilogy (Chatterre Triology) Page 13