Authors: Margaret Weis
She began
shutting down her plane's systems. Agis, stoic and reliable, was
strapping on his weapons—lasgun, beam rifle, grenades. Brother
Daniel, a feint flush on his cheeks, was keeping himself out of the
centurion's way. Maigrey had heard, though she had pretended not to,
Agis trying earlier to convince Brother Daniel to carry a weapon.
The priest had
calmly, adamantly refused. The power of God was with him, he said,
and nothing Agis could argue in return would shake Brother Daniel's
conviction. Maigrey did not attempt to intervene. She knew how much
his faith had cost the young man. She could only trust the Creator
would give him some sort of return on his investment.
Maigrey looked
out her viewscreen, saw Xris and his men making a dash across the
short stretch of open ground between the planes and the tunnel
entrances that resembled mounds of dirt thrown up by some burrowing
animal. The cyborg and his crew deployed commando style around the
mounds, but met no resistance, not a glimmer of the red glow that
presaged an encounter with the Corasians.
Following after
him, two strange figures traipsed slowly and unconcernedly over the
wide-open patch of ground, heading for the tunnel entrance. Raoul,
dressed in what the Loti perhaps dimly assumed was camouflage, was
wearing a Corasian-red jumpsuit, complete with matching red gloves
and flat-heeled pumps. Shuffling along at his side was the Little
One, a walking raincoat, topped by the battered fedora.
Xris waved his
arm at her, indicating all clear.
"Time to
go," she said.
Leaving the
pilot's chair, she went to one of the storage compartments, knelt
down, and removed an object wrapped in black velvet. The velvet slid
unheeded to the deck. Rising, she walked to Agis, held the bloodsword
out to him.
"This is my
lord's. You will carry it for him, give it to him when we reach him."
"Yes, my
lady." Agis took reverent hold of the weapon, and carefully
inserted the sword into the weapon's belt around his waist. "Thank
you, my lady."
Maigrey buckled
on her bloodsword, strapped it on over the black tunic that was her
own camouflage in the dark tunnels of the Corasians. Where the folds
of the fabric failed to cover it, however, shining silver armor
glinted bright in the plane's light. Agis wore his centurion body
armor. Brother Daniel had returned to his brown monk's robes; all the
arguing in the galaxy had not been able to convince the priest to
wear protective clothing.
Maigrey opened
the hatch.
Agis jumped out
first, beam rifle held ready, met Sparafucile standing watch at the
bottom of the ladder. Brother Daniel followed, moving with more ease
in the long robes than he had in the less confining layman's
clothing. Maigrey stepped out of the hatch, looked over the barren
landscape, whose black twisting mass of vegetation contrasted sharply
with patches of barren ground.
It was dark,
presumably night, though perhaps no day ever came to this fragment of
a planet, far from a weak, distant sun. Looking up, she could see
clearly the cold, bright stars of a strange galaxy.
Beneath these
stars, my lady, you will die.
Was it Sagan's
voice warning her? Her nearness already acting to draw him back from
the shadowed places that he walked? Or Abdiel's. Taunting, hoping to
burn her spirit as laser fire burns the flesh. She saw, in one brief,
illuminating flash, as if lightning had split the darkness, an image
of silver armor, and a small silver knife, and silver stars. And then
the image was gone.
She was, she
realized suddenly, being given a choice. Turn back.
And break her
vow—her several vows—again?
Turn back!
Beneath these stars, you will die.
"Come
ahead, lady-mine." The assassin held out his hand to her.
God, if He was
around, certainly had a warped sense of humor.
Turn back. .
. .
Maigrey gave her
hand to Sparafucile. He assisted her to descend to the ground. She
inserted the needles of the bloodsword into her palm.
They ran the
distance from the planes to the underground entrance, arrived out of
breath and light-headed due to the thinness of the atmosphere. The
cyborg lounged against the mound of slag and rock, the faint glow of
the twist lighting the darkness. He was alone, waiting for them.
"My men
went inside to have a look around," he said in answer to
Maigrey's questioning glance. "No sign of a welcoming committee.
My feelings are hurt. Maybe we weren't expected, after all."
Maigrey
activated the bloodsword. Its blue-white plasma blaze illuminated the
cavern a short distance ahead, lit a passageway that delved straight
and smooth into the rock.
"Never
could see much purpose in those things," Xris remarked, eyeing
the bloodsword.
"It has its
advantages. Like the fact that I'm now connected to Abdiel's mind,"
said Maigrey quietly. "He knows I'm here. He knows—or
thinks he does—what I'm after."
"Quite an
advantage," said Xris dryly.
"It is.
I'll keep him focused on me and those with me. He won't know about
you, or what you're doing."
Guardian. The
last of the Guardians come to do battle. You did not heed my warning.
Turn back, Lady Maigrey, or here you will be defeated.
Maigrey heard
him, did not choose to answer. As in fighting with the bloodsword,
she kept her mental shield activated, refusing to lower it to lash
out at her opponent. She could never hope to win a contest with the
mind-seizer. She could merely hope to hold her own, keep him
occupied, maintain her discipline and self-control.
She was now
engaged in what would amount to a running battle with him. She could
feel him probing, jabbing, seeking to find a way to penetrate her
mind's armor; hitting, hacking, slashing, trying to discover the weak
point in her defense, force it to give way before his brutal
onslaught.
And he was more
fortunate than she was. He could afford to devote his entire
attention to her. She, on the other hand, had to divide her forces,
send forth a portion to find Sagan, reserve a portion to defend
herself and her comrades against a real physical enemy. All designed
to weaken her, enable him to seize her mind, her soul.
Wary, alert, she
moved into the passage. Xris walked at her side. The bloodsword lit
their way, but she was using it for more than light. She was using it
to focus Abdiel's mind, forcing him to concentrate on her.
A clatter of
footsteps distracted her. A man she recognized as belonging to Xris's
team appeared out of the darkness.
"About
three meters down, this passage splits in two. One heads to the
right, slopes at a pretty good angle. The other goes left, runs
straight as far as I could see. And we got company coming. A red
glow, down the right-hand side."
"That's the
way I need to go," said Maigrey.
Xris had
switched on a small vidscreen located on the cybernetic arm, studied
a diagram of the Corasian outpost. "According to this, we take
the left. The central computer room's three levels down, a straight
shot. I hope this vision of yours is accurate, sister."
Britt led them
to the branching portion of the passage, where they met up with the
rest of Xris's men, their weapons drawn and aimed down the right-hand
side of the tunnel. Maigrey could see the red glow shining ominously
brighter. She glanced around, saw the cyborg still standing in the
passage.
"What are
you waiting for?" Maigrey snapped. "We'll take care of
them. Hurry up, before they see you."
Xris appeared
undecided. "You sure you don't need me, sister?"
"I need
you," said Maigrey grimly. "I need you to do what I paid
you to do.
That's
in the contract," she added with a half
smile.
Xris shrugged.
"You heard the boss, men. Move out." His force—including
Raoul and the Little One—started down the dark left-hand
tunnel.
The cyborg drew
a twist from his pocket.
"Are you
crazy?" Maigrey whispered angrily. "In these passages,
they'd smell the smoke from that thing a kilometer away!"
Xris smiled.
"Don't worry, sister. When I work, I don't smoke." He put
the twist in his mouth, clamped down on it with his teeth. "I
chew."
He looked down
the passage. The red glow was growing steadily brighter.
"Take care
of yourselves," he advised, and took out after his squad.
Maigrey sighed,
shook her head.
"Don't
worry over man-machine," stated Sparafucile, shrugging,
grinning. "His odds . . . better than ours, I think."
"You're
right there," Maigrey admitted.
She peered down
the tunnel, but couldn't see him or his men for the darkness.
"Let's go."
Xris adjusted
his artificial eye to the night vision lens that made full use of
even the faintest light to enhance his visual range. In this
instance, the light was coming from somewhere up ahead of him and it,
too, was faintly tinged with red.
"Corasian,"
he muttered, but listening, he couldn't hear the telltale squeak of
gears, the faint whir of their motors, the crunch of their wheels
over the gritty rock floor of the tunnel.
He did hear the
sound of explosions and the high-pitched whine of a beam rifle, but
that came from some distance away, behind him, and far to his right.
"Good luck,
sister," he said softly.
He continued on,
passed several openings that were apparently additional passageways
converging into this one. He remembered what he'd said about an ant
farm. He attempted to scan them as he passed, but discovered that his
scanning device was being jammed, either deliberately or by some sort
of weird energy flux. The side tunnels appeared dark and empty,
however.
Removing the
butt end of the soggy twist from his mouth, Xris tossed it aside,
drew out another, and started after his men. Two shadows—one
large and one small—blocked his path.
The cyborg
raised his weapons hand, started to fire, caught himself just in
time. He had recognized the fedora.
"What the
hell are you two doing back here?" he demanded in a harsh
whisper. "My men are up ahead. Why aren't you with them?"
"I am most
extremely sorry, friend Xris." Raoul breathed into his ear. "But
the Little One is not as locomotory as your friends and they seemed
disinclined to wait for us. In consequence, we fell behind. Then, you
see, we have not thought to bring a source of light—"
"Shit,"
said Xris.
He heard a
strange sound, a combination of a growl and chuckle. Looking down, he
saw the eyes of the Little One glisten from behind the engulfing
collar of the raincoat.
"Please
continue on," Raoul said pleasantly. "According to the
Little One, your men are waiting for you up ahead. They do not want
to proceed farther without orders. We will have no trouble finding
our way now. And we will serve as—how do you military types put
it?—the guardians of your rear end."
Xris had the
feeling he was more likely to end up with his rear end in a sling by
leaving these two behind him, but time was pressing and he didn't
relish the thought of tagging along with the Loti and the ambulatory
raincoat.
Shrugging his
human shoulder, gnawing on the end of the twist, he continued on down
the passage. He could hear, behind him, the mincing steps of
Raoul—wearing flats—and the hem of a raincoat brushing
against the floor.
Xris found his
men waiting for him at a bend in the passageway. Beyond that, light
shone brightly enough that his eye readjusted to normal vision. He
could hear a faint thrumming and beating, some type of heavy
machinery, possibly a generator. Above that, the sound of robot
bodies, but they were relatively far away.
"Where's
the poisoner?" asked Britt uneasily.
"Right
behind me," Xris said. "What's up?"
"The
passage ends, opens into a large cavelike room filled with water. An
underground lake, maybe. The path runs over it, like a bridge."
"Is that
where the light's coming from? What's the source?"
"You won't
believe this," Lee predicted. "Take a look. The goddam
lake's on fire. See for yourself."
Xris edged his
way forward, peered into the cavern room. Lee had a slight tendency
to exaggerate, but in this instance he hadn't been far wrong. Yellow
flame rippled over the surface of the black water, casting an eerie
light that flickered, wavered, and danced on the glistening walls of
the cave. The flame moved and shifted with the drafts that whistled
through the cavern walls. Xris watched, expecting to see the fire die
out, but the flame continued burning. Sniffing, he detected an oily
smell, like gasoline.
"It's just
what it looks like," reported Lee, holding an analyzer, used to
test air samples, water, and anything they came across that might
prove hazardous. "H
a
O with some type of oil floating
on the surface. Don't know what the oil is, I'd have to test it
further, but it's probably exuded naturally by the rock."
Bernard ran his
fingers over the wall. "Nothing in here."
"No,"
said Lee, consulting his equipment. "This section of the tunnel
walls appears to be coated with some type of flame retardant. Safety
measure, no doubt. But they couldn't use it in there, it'd put out
the lights."
"Toxic?"
Xris asked, looking hard at the wavering flames skittering and
dancing over the water.
"Not to
breathe. In fact, this stuff, when it catches fire, seems to improve
the air quality. I'm reading higher oxygen content down here than on
the surface. Pretty ingenious, whoever figured it out. Cheap source
of light and heat. But," Lee added, "I wouldn't suggest you
take a bath in it."