Demon Lord V - God Realm (26 page)

"He's drawing
in dark power!" Enyo cried. "Deploy the lodestones!"

A contech ran
his hands over his console while Nikira stared at the scanner
screen. The image of the dra'voren's hands faded, and she let out
her pent breath and turned back to the video screen. The
dra'voren's frown deepened, furrowing the smooth skin between them,
and he looked puzzled.

"Look at
this!" Enyo shouted, and Nikira whipped around to stare at the
scanner screen. The image of the dra'voren's brain was filling with
white areas.

"That's
incredible," Enyo hissed. "It's off the scale, but how far?"

Nikira swept
her gaze over the array of video screens, and one that showed an
image of the scars on the dra'voren's chest caught her eyes. Three
of them glowed dull red.

"I hope all
this is being relayed to the data unit aboard our distress buoy,"
she muttered. "If he gets loose I want people to know what
happened."

"It is. But
we'll kill him before that happens."

"If we
can."

The light in
the scars dimmed, and the dra'voren writhed, arching his back as he
strained at the clamp around his right wrist. The tip of the steel
blade brushed his chest, but he did not seem to notice it.

"Deploy the
stasis field," Nikira ordered, and a wide-eyed contech tapped his
console.

A web of
glowing yellow lines sprang into being over the dra'voren and
slammed him back onto the table. He strained against it, the
muscles on his chest and belly bulging, then relaxed, turning his
head from side to side. Nikira studied his face, surprised by the
new expression on it, one she had never thought to see on the
countenance of a dra'voren.

"He's
afraid."

"He can't get
free," Enyo muttered. "His brain function is dropping, and his
heart is speeding up. He's given up."

Nikira
released her grip on the console and turned to stare through the
observation window, where the dra'voren lay gasping. "If he'd drawn
in the dark power, it would have been a different story. Keep the
lodestones active."

Enyo came to
stand beside her. "What do you want to do with him now?"

"He's tried to
escape, and he can't. Perhaps it's safe to talk to him."

"I doubt he
speaks our language."

"If he speaks
the same language as the people he was with, our linguistics
personnel are working on it. They might be able to translate it
soon."

Enyo nodded,
then glanced around as an alarm beeped on the scanner console.
"He's trying to draw in the dark power again."

The screen
showed shadows creeping into the dra'voren's fingertips despite the
lodestones, and Nikira bit her lip. "Get ready to stun him."

She glanced at
the video screen that was focussed on the dra'voren's chest. Five
scars glowed with dull yellow light. "He's trying harder this
time."

The shadows on
the scanner screen vanished, and dra'voren's head loll to one side.
Enyo consulted the body scan, where the brain image rapidly turned
blue. "He's passed out."

Nikira slumped
with relief. "That was intense."

"But we did
it. We held him. We've captured a dra'voren, commander."

"An injured,
mortal dra'voren."

"Still a great
accomplishment."

Nikira nodded,
rubbing her aching hands. "I must go and write a report. Let me
know if anything happens."

Chapter Twelve

Destroyer

Six hours
later, after Nikira had eaten a snack, finished her report and
checked on the running of the ship, her beeper went off, and she
raced down to the observation room.

"He's woken up
again," Enyo told her as she ran in.

"What's he
doing?"

"Not much."
Enyo waved at the array of screens. "Mostly he seems to be
thinking. Look at that."

The image of
the dra'voren's brain was filled with white sparkles. She stared
through the observation window, where the he lay like a statue, his
eyes closed.

"Bloody hell!"
Enyo shouted, and she whipped around. The dra'voren's brain image
had turned pure white, and she swung back to the observation
window. The man on the table had turned his head towards his left
arm, and, as she watched, the metal clamp oozed off his wrist as if
it had turned to liquid. Beside her, Enyo swore. Nikira stood
frozen as the dra'voren turned his head to the right, and the clamp
around his right wrist retreated like quicksilver.

"Deploy the
stasis field!"

The yellow
lines of force sprang into being, holding him to the table, and a
faint frown puckered his brow. Nikira glanced at his brain image,
which had returned to red with white sparkles, but as she watched,
it became pure white again. Sparks flew from the stasis field
generator under the table, and the field collapsed. The dra'voren
raised his right hand and rubbed his eyes, then grimaced and lifted
his left arm to cradle it against his chest.

Enyo muttered,
"Bloody hell. He's free."

Nikira watched
the dra'voren, biting her lip. He seemed to have lost interest in
freeing himself, and rubbed his broken arm. After a moment, the
brain image turned white again, and the ankle clamps oozed away
into blunt nubs, releasing him.

"Stun him,
commander. Give the order now," Enyo said.

Nikira's heart
pounded in her throat, and her mouth was dry. Terror numbed her
brain, but she could not tear her eyes from the man on the table.
"Let's see what he does first. What can he do without his
power?"

"Hasn't he
already done enough?"

After rubbing
his arm for a few more moments, the dra'voren ran his hand along
the table, exploring it. He encountered the brace that held the
dagger and investigated it, found the blade and fingered its razor
tip.

"That's right,
dra'voren, one wrong move and you die," Nikira muttered.

"Commander,
give the order."

The
dra'voren's fingers closed around the dagger, and with a deft
twist, he bent the blade at a ninety-degree angle.

Nikira gasped.
"Stun him."

A frightened
contech touched his console, and the room shook as the stunner
activated in the shredder chamber with a dull thud. The dra'voren
went limp. Nikira stared at him, and Enyo swung away to pace the
length of the room.

"We've got to
kill him, or keep him unconscious."

"He really is
blind," she murmured.

"What?"

"He's blind.
He had to feel his way about."

"Commander, he
bent a stainless steel blade without effort. He melted metal with
his mind! Did you see the brain monitor?"

"I saw. He's
amazing."

"He's bloody
dangerous."

"I know." She
shuddered. "But why didn't he do anything other than free
himself?"

"Perhaps he
was considering his next move."

"We have the
stunner, and now we know we can stop him from using the dark power
even when he's conscious."

Enyo paced
around again. "So what now?"

"Replace the
clamps and the blade, then let's see what he does next."

"He'll bend
them again."

"Perhaps, but
now he knows we'll stun him if he does, so if he's clever he
won't."

"It's too
dangerous. We should kill him now."

Nikira shook
her head. "Not yet. If he does it again, maybe. Put the clamps
back, and use ordinary steel, since it makes no difference. When he
wakes up again, I'm going to try to talk to him."

"He won't be
able to understand you, and you can't reason with a dra'voren."

"The lingtechs
should have figured out that language by now. Just do it."

A team of
contechs entered the shredder chamber and replaced the clamps on
the dra'voren's limbs, then straightened the steel blade with a
great deal of effort. After the techs had finished and filed out,
Nikira settled down to wait, but several hours later she gave up
and went to bed. When she returned, refreshed and fed, Enyo turned
to her with a grim smile.

"The stunner
seems to have a profound effect on him."

"Still
nothing?"

"Not a
flicker. But we've made some more interesting discoveries."

She sat down
on a chair, and he took one opposite. "What?"

"His beard
doesn't grow."

Her brows
rose. "And that's significant how?"

"Think about
it. He has a very short stubble, almost non-existent, but in all
the time he's been here, it's stayed the same. Somehow, he's
controlling it. I'll wager if he wanted a beard, it would
grow."

"Interesting."

"Also, he's
not passing any body fluids."

"He hasn't had
anything to eat or drink."

Enyo nodded.
"True, but even so, he should have passed something by now. His
metabolism remains high, so he's not suffering from the lack of
food or water."

"And what does
all this mean?"

Enyo shrugged.
"He's weird?"

"He's a
dra'voren."

Montar came in
and joined them, glancing through the observation window. "Any more
fun?"

"No. And I
wouldn't call it fun," Enyo snapped. "If not for the lodestones, we
might all be crisped to charcoal."

"Yay for the
lodestones. The way I heard it, he got free without using the dark
power, so where does that leave us?"

Enyo frowned.
"In a dangerous situation. Just because the stunners work is no
reason to become complacent."

"I assure you,
I'm not complacent," Nikira said. "He terrifies me."

"Good, he
terrifies me too."

"Yet he's
blind and injured."

Enyo's brows
rose. "You're feeling sorry for him now?"

"No. But I'm a
lot more comfortable knowing he can't use the dark power."

"So am I, but
considering what he can still do, and we don't know the extent of
that yet, I'm still convinced we should kill him now."

"I'd rather
study him. We can learn a lot from him."

Enyo sighed,
then swung around as an alarm beeped on the body scan console.
"Here we go. He's waking up again, so we're about to find out what
he's going to do next."

Nikira stood
up, her heart pounding, and gazed at the screen that showed his
face. His Adam's apple bobbed and his eyelids flickered. After
several minutes she glanced at the body scanners, which showed a
gradual increase in the dra'voren's brain activity. It rose to a
solid red image filled with white sparkles, and stayed like that.
His eyes opened briefly, allowing her to glimpse their clouded
whiteness. He tested the clamps again and raised his head, making
her heart leap. Once more his head fell back with a dull bonk, and
he sighed, grimacing.

"He doesn't
seem happy," Enyo muttered.

"Who
would?"

The
dra'voren's brain activity remained the same for almost half an
hour. Nikira studied the monitors, but he lay immobile, and finally
she sent for the lingtechs.

"Time to see
if we can talk to him. He seems to be waiting for us to do
something."

"Be careful,
commander," Enyo warned. "He may seem helpless, but we know he
isn't. He might be waiting for an opportunity to strike."

"I'm aware of
that. Watch the bio scanner, and the moment he does anything
strange, no matter how slight, stun him."

Enyo nodded.
"Of course, commander."

Two nervous
looking lingtechs arrived, and Nikira ordered the door to the
shredder room opened. Two guards armed with projectile weapons
entered first, and Nikira followed them, her heart pounding in her
throat as if it would burst. The lingtechs looked ready to drop
from terror, but sidled in after her, keeping as far away from the
dra'voren as they could. Nikira clasped her shaking hands and
approached his head, stopping a few feet away.

"Do you
understand me?"

He turned his
head towards her, and she stepped back, trampling on the toes of
the guard who stood behind her, his weapon gripped in
white-knuckled hands.

"Yes." The
dra'voren spoke in a deep, husky voice.

Nikira was too
stunned to think for a moment, then she signalled to the lingtechs
that they could leave, and they almost got jammed together in the
door in their haste. She stepped closer again, determined to show
no fear.

"If you
attempt to harm us, or to get free, we'll kill you."

He sighed.
"Why do you not just use that diabolical thing that gives me a
splitting headache again?"

Nikira
hesitated, amazed that he spoke her language with the fluency of
one born to it. "How do you know my language?"

"It is a
talent I was born with."

"Do you intend
to try to harm us?"

"If I was,
would I tell you?"

She frowned
and glanced through the observation window at Enyo and Montar, who
watched her with deep concern. "Probably not, but if you want to
live, you should co-operate."

"I will not
harm you so long as you do not harm me."

"Fair
enough."

"What do you
intend to do with me?"

She hesitated,
unwilling to alarm him. "We wish to examine you, that's all."

"Why?"

"Because
you're a dra'voren, and the first living one we've
encountered."

His brows drew
together. "I see."

"It's no good
denying it, we know you are one."

"I had no
intention of denying it. Will you release me when you've finished
examining me?"

Again she
paused, wondering how the interrogation had got switched around.
"Perhaps. First I want some questions answered, and I advise you to
be truthful."

"Very
well."

"How did you
become a dra'voren?"

"I was born
this way, but dra'voren means destroyer, and I am not one of
those."

"You command
the dark power," she said.