The Caverns of Mare Cetus (64 page)

   "But the NMA won't be able to count on you anymore," said Devon.

   "I know," said Gray, looking down. "But you will."

   "I certainly hope what you say about Novia's resilience is true. I'm not even whole, and with the intelligence you were given, I was able to take your ship and crew from you, and you never fired a shot. If the Novian Military Authority makes it this easy for ARTEC, Novia will be in ruins. I don't want that to happen, but I'm not going back to Earth."

   "When does he come out?" asked Richelle, still enthralled by Marcian's trance-like state.

   "I don't know," said Devon. "Right now I don't care. One day you won't either." She motioned to Richelle with her finger. "Come here." Richelle came over to her, and she whispered in Richelle's ear.

   "No shit?" exclaimed Richelle, a wide grin coming to her face.

   Devon turned toward Gray. "I respect you, Erica. I really do."

   "You aren't a killer, are you?" asked Gray.

   Devon was looking into the distance, as if in thought. "Tell me, how was a twelve-year-old supposed to understand why three men were holding her head in a tub of water, waiting for her last breath to leave her body? How was a fifteen-year-old supposed to react to being dragged toward the edge of a building, knowing the two women holding her were going to throw her off, despite her cries for mercy— and yes, I cried that day, like I never had before. And I cried too at seeing their bodies twenty floors down, and though I was told I would get over it—I never have. How does a young girl who wanted nothing more than to be a girl—come to grips with being a weapon—a weapon of war? Tell me, Erica, why do these things have to be?"

   Tears were welling in Renata's eyes. Richelle and Erica had their heads lowered. The three guards were crowding around Devon, telling her they would protect her.

   Devon smiled. "And what if I told you—all of that was a lie?"

   "I'd kick your ass," said Renata, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

   "I know you would," said Devon. "Well, you know it's not a lie. We need to go." She walked out of the Command Center, the others following. When they reached the P-1 elevator, they stepped inside and within a moment were on the lower level, hurrying toward the steps through the now empty corridor.

   As they made their way from the MAC, passing a number of prone bodies and stunned soldiers, Erica could only shake her head in dismay.

   "Selata," said Devon. She tapped on Erica's arm, then pointed toward a group of injured soldiers by an angle-bedded limestone outcrop.

   "Let's get some help to these troops," ordered Erica. She signaled with her hand, and her guards fanned out among the troops.

   When the women reached Selata, Devon crouched beside her and began examining her leg, telling her she was sorry she had been shot.

   "So, you're the evil Mendrax," said Selata.

   "She looks real evil to me," said a lieutenant sitting next to Selata. She had a bloodied bandage wrapped around her forehead.

   "You never let up, do you, Snow?" asked Erica. She knelt by the lieutenant and began checking her forehead.

   "No," said Richelle. "Devon and I are quite the friends. I can assure you, she never lets up." She crouched beside a soldier and began nudging his chest, trying to wake him.

   "Hi. I'm Renata, and I'm really hungry," said Renata, giving Selata the saddest of faces, looking like a beggar. "Do you have anything I could eat?"

   "This is Lieutenant Linden Lahovec," said Selata, pointing to the lieutenant. "I'm Trinia. Those sleeping babies next to me are Privates Joel and Blackwell." She pointed to a backpack near Joel. "You'll find something in there I'm sure."

   Renata sat down and rummaged through the pack, pulling out a variety of foods. She began stuffing them in her mouth just as fast as she could unwrap them.

   Trinia watched her for a moment. "My Lord. You are hungry. Where are you packing all of that? You're as thin as a rail."

   Renata looked down at her stomach. It didn't even feel the least full. "My Sister is my secret."

   Trinia chuckled. "Damn, I wish my sister could help me like that."

   "No, you don't," said Renata, shaking her head.

   "I'm putting you in charge now, Lieutenant," said Erica, placing a hand on Linden's shoulder. "Get my ship…get the Harpy Eagle and my people back home safely, okay?"

   "Then you're leaving us, Captain?" asked Linden.

   Erica nodded.

   "You've been a fine commander," said Trinia.

   "And she'll continue to be one," said Devon.

   "What about my men?" Erica stood up. "What will happen to them?"

   "I wish I could give you that answer," said Devon, "but I can't."

   Richelle abruptly stood up and began glancing around, turning her head this way and that, her eyes lighting up.

   Devon stepped over to Renata and placed her hands on Renata's shoulders. "She knows who she is now," said Devon.

   "Oh, wow, this is so freaky!" exclaimed Richelle. "No…no, it's not—it's great!" She began slowly turning, her eyes glancing around at the troops. "My God, this is so beautiful…oh, wow, I would never have believed…I have truly been blessed…"

   "In a way," said Devon, "this is going to be such a trip for me—to watch her grow. I've never seen that happen before in a woman that old."

   "Old? Richelle is old?" Renata glanced at Richelle, then stood up. "Devon. I'm worried. I can't seem to get enough to eat. And where is it all going? I can't continue to eat tons of food and not have it show up on me somewhere. Are you sure there isn't something wrong with me?" She began wolfing down a bag of nuts.

   "You're okay. Your body is just preparing for our next connection. I promise—it will get better. You won't eat like a horse forever."

   Renata ran a hand across her stomach. It didn't feel like anything she had eaten was in it. She looked up. "There is something else I need to know. How much did you do to our men—my men?"

   "Your men? Oh. Them."

   "Yes. Them. You haven't forgotten them, have you?"

   "Of course not," said Devon, appearing offended. "I can tell you, it wasn't as much as you might think. I have an energy budget. I do what's necessary—nothing more."

   "Well, I want you to leave Hunter alone. I don't want to be dating a zombie. And the other guys—even Ramon. I care about them too. Hands off from now on—okay?"

   "For you—anything, but I can never go to zero. One day you'll understand why." Devon returned her attention to Richelle.

   Richelle was looking down at the men around her, fascination in her eyes. Suddenly she reached down and took Joel's hand.

   Almost immediately his eyes opened; they were green and vibrant. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "You are the prettiest woman I have ever laid eyes on." Then he saw the handcuff on her wrist. "Hey, pretty lady, do you want that off?"

   She giggled, then nodded.

   He took a red oval controller of some kind from his pocket. "Let me see here." He started pressing buttons on the controller as he watched her handcuff. "As long as that thing doesn't have a MAT block engaged, I should be able to decode it."

   Richelle continued to hold her smile on him.

   After a moment, his controller let out with two chirps. There was a clack. The cuff fell from her wrist.

   At that same instant Renata's cuff fell off her wrist as well. She began rubbing her wrist as she looked at the cuff, now laying in the dirt.

   "You're wonderful," said Richelle. As she giggled like a schoolgirl, Joel's eyes seemed to be taking in everything about her. She crouched and took Blackwell's hand, and within a moment he was awake as well, smiling and telling her she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen—Joel arguing he saw her first.

   "Hey, Blackie," said Trinia. "You big goon. You're married, remember?"

   "Garrett's still in the caves," said Renata abruptly, looking up from her handful of jelly-covered wafers. "We never found him."

   "Is that so?" asked Devon. "Are you certain of that…Oh! I've got to stop this." Devon rushed over to Richelle, grabbing her wrist just as she was about to take another man's hand. She yanked Richelle away.

   "What are you doing?" exclaimed Richelle.

   "My God," said Renata, coming up to them. "Richelle. You're bringing these guys out. That's wonderful."

   "No, it's not," said Devon. "She's transforming. She's going to give them years of therapy and despair." She began pulling Richelle away from the men.

   "What is your fucking problem?" exclaimed Richelle, snatching her hand back from Devon after they had gone a short distance.

   "You! You can't do that. This isn't a game. Come on. We need to go."

   "You come on. You're spoiling my fun. That guy just told me I was the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. That's never happened to me before."

   "
You
said you were beautiful. He didn't."

   Richelle looked confused.

   "But you are beautiful. And I know that. You just can't use that right now. We need to talk…"

   Richelle sneered at her. "I can do whatever I want now. If I want to have some fun with these guys, I know you can't stop me."

   "You're right. I can't stop you. Go ahead and mess those men up for life. See if I care. Rene! Erica! We need to go now."

   Richelle seemed startled. "You're not going to fight me over this? You're just going to leave me here? That's it?"

   Devon turned away from Richelle and waved goodbye with the back of her hand. She started toward the Jumper, Renata and Erica coming up behind her.

   Richelle glanced between the men and Devon, several times. Then she ran after the women. She began arguing with Devon in a hushed voice.

   Renata could have listened, but she tuned them out. It was Mendrax to Mendrax. She wanted no part of it. The last few days had changed so many things—nothing seemed real anyway. In ways, she wished she could go back and start over. Devon—the spellbound student. Renata—her mentor. Their relationship, despite early difficulties, seemed so full of innocence. But Renata watched that innocence die in front of her eyes as they walked across the plain toward the MAC. The Harpy Eagle, flagship of the Novian fleet, was in shambles. Its commander was a zombie, its captain a convert of Devon, its men completely dismantled as a fighting force, its women nearly so—through empathy. Renata's naïve groupie had singlehandedly taken down a starship.

   Devon—the Mendrax. A noun that was both plural and singular—Renata was certain even that meant something. Renata— the Sister, singled out by a quirk of genetics that made her one of a kind. Mendrax—the warrior—a warrior from Earth. That's why Novia broke with Earth—because of its wars and its warriors. Most of those who left Earth for Novia never wanted to return—they had been seduced by the serenity and beauty of the Tau System. Novia's population wasn't large, around sixty million, a portion of that the product of a huge migration from Earth, just after the turn of the century, using the neurasilica-fed technologies of the Universal Doors, ships literally punching between Earth and Novia. After the main colonization, there was a fertility explosion on Novia, boosting the population immensely.

   Renata's thoughts turned to her backstabbing employer who had set her up to be Devon's Sister for a velandrite deal with ARTEC. But was there more to that story? The lunacies that had been occurring in the caves—could Devon have been there to stop them—to make certain the mission was a success? In foresight, that plan would have seemed entirely logical, but in hindsight it was an unmitigated disaster. Why—because ARTEC had completely miscalculated Devon, ignoring the concerns of Aris, who sensed something was wrong. Explora certainly didn't have a clue. Nor did Garrett, but he was likely under Devon's influence from early on. Where was he now? Devon knew something about him, but Renata realized she wouldn't easily get an answer out of her. She was finally beginning to understand—and to accept Devon. Nothing about Devon was straightforward, and that was all Mendrax.

   Renata couldn't be certain what powers Devon actually had, but she felt Devon could somehow throw her thoughts like a ventriloquist could throw a voice. And though she could now believe Devon wasn't really controlling anyone, at least not in the way Renata imagined, it was obvious Devon was doing something that wasn't good for the men she affected.

   As the women approached the Jumper, Hunter, who was sitting by the downed soldiers, stood up and walked out to Renata and gave her a hug. After she returned his hug, he pointed to his head, which was wrapped in something more medical-looking than Trent's outlandish helmet. He motioned with his head toward the medic, who was sitting on the steps, chatting with Edison. "She's quite the doctor. As you can see, she's taken good care of us. She says Arielle's going to be okay."

   Renata smiled. She needed to hear that.

   "I take it we're clear to leave?" whispered Hunter, his eyes focusing on Erica.

   "Hunter, I'd like you to meet Captain Erica Gray of the Harpy Eagle. She's coming with us. She's going to help us hide—I think."

   "Where are we going?" asked Hunter after he shook Erica's hand.

   "I have no idea," said Renata. "Why don't you ask Devon?"

   "I think she expects me to handle that," said Erica. "I know a way to slip through the Novian Security Net. I helped redesign it. I also know some places on Novia where we can go underground for a while. It'll be a challenge to keep the NMA from finding us, but your two girls will certainly give them fits."

   "Yeah. My two girls," said Renata with obvious sarcasm. "I'm sure it's pretty clear by now I've got complete control over both of them."

   "I am curious about one thing," continued Erica. "From our intelligence briefings, we learned a bit about what a Sister does for a Mendrax. We were informed it was always a one-to-one relationship. For you to be able to take on two of them, you must be a remarkable woman."

   "Uh, I was just…" sputtered Renata.

   "Let me tell you," said Hunter, "Rene's one in a million." He placed an arm around Renata's waist. "She can handle anything."