Lady Lure (26 page)

“Perri?” Halvo touched her arm. “Are you all
right?”

“It was green,” she said in a slow,
low-pitched voice.

“Two of them were. The third was blue. You
don’t have to be afraid of them. According to Tarik, they are
friendly unless you display violent behavior.”

“I am not afraid.” It was true. She was
filled with wonder, with awe and amazement, but she was no longer
afraid. She spoke with complete assurance. “They will tell your
brother you are here.”

“I believe they will,” Halvo said. “We should
return to the
Space Dragon
now.”

“Yes.” Still in a strangely peaceful daze,
Perri caught up the sheet and wrapped it around herself, while
Halvo collected his trousers.

Once inside the ship he closed and sealed the
entrance hatch, which for ventilation purposes had been left open
since just after their landing. By now the air inside the ship was
clean, though it remained several degrees warmer than the breezy
temperature outside.

They retired to the cabin Halvo had been
using during their travels. There, as she drifted toward slumber,
Perri was aware of Halvo’s fingers combing through her hair,
spreading it out across the sheet, and then of his mouth warm and
tender on hers, before he laid his head into the curve of her
shoulder and closed his eyes.

Standing beside the shuttlecraft from the
Krontar
, Armaments Officer Dysia stole a quick look at her
surroundings. The sun was a remarkably bright shade of orange, the
air was cool enough to make her shiver in her uniform jacket, but
the trees covering the island, though mostly bare, appeared to be
normal. Nor, so far as she could see, was there anything unusual
about the blue water in the lake or the white beach and the
striated brown rocks scattered about the shore.

Never had Dysia dreamed of entering the Empty
Sector, much less of actually landing on one of the mysterious
planets within the forbidden area of space, yet there she was, with
both of her booted feet firmly planted on a world where, if the
legends about the Empty Sector were to be believed, anything might
happen. However, at the moment it appeared as if the first thing
that was going to happen would be a family quarrel.

“And so there are two Regulan warships in
orbit above us, waiting for you to discover what this female pirate
has done with Halvo?” There could be no doubt that Tank was angry.
His handsome features were marred by a frown and his fine, dark
blue eyes were colder than the autumn wind off the lake. With a
single companion at his side Tank had come to the shore of his
island headquarters to greet the shuttlecraft in person. His
delighted surprise at finding his mother aboard had quickly changed
to outrage when he heard the story that Kalina, Captain Jyrit, and
Dysia had to tell him. But his anger seemed to be directed more
toward his mother than toward the villains in the shocking tale.
“You knowingly led those Regulans here? How could you do this?”

“Do not take that superior tone with me.”
Kalina shook a finger at her son. “You look and sound just like
your father when he is annoyed.”

“I am far more than annoyed, Mother. You, of
all people, know how important complete secrecy about the existence
of this outpost is to the success of our treaty with the Cetans.
Let them hear one word of our presence so near their space, one
single hint that we do not completely trust them to live up to the
terms of that treaty, and they could take offense and start another
bloody war and claim it is the fault of the Jurisdiction. Yet you
have brought not only a Jurisdiction vessel to Dulan’s Planet, but
two Regulan warships as well!”

“I will not be lectured by you, Tarik. We
have just explained why we are here. Halvo is still recuperating
from his injuries and beyond any doubt he is in danger. I intend to
rescue him and take him back to Capital, where he will receive the
best possible medical care to correct whatever further damage has
been done to his already fragile health by that malicious creature
who kidnapped him.”

“Fragile? Halvo?” Tarik gave a harsh laugh,
to which Kalina responded with a stern look. “I would do the same
for you if you were lost and injured, Tarik.”

“I know you would, Mother. I am not jealous,
only amused by the way in which you persist in regarding your grown
sons as children in need of your help.” Tarik’s troubled expression
cleared enough to allow a smile, and he put his arm around his
mother. “Which reminds me that you have not yet seen your grandson.
Come inside while we prepare for the search. Captain Jyrit, Lt.
Dysia, you are both welcome, too.”

As Tarik drew his mother toward the round,
white building at the center of the island, Kalina came
face-to-face with the man who had accompanied her son to the shore,
whom Tank had introduced simply as Osiyar. Kalina looked him over
with great interest and Dysia, whose previous attention had been on
the conflict between mother and son, spared her first full glance
for that person.

Osiyar was blond, with sea-blue eyes and a
perfectly chiseled, remarkably handsome face. Between his burnished
eyebrows was a small blue tattoo in the design of twin crescents
facing each other, the crescents topped by a round blue dot. Dysia
thought he was the most intriguing-looking man she had seen in
years.

“We have not met before,” Kalina said to
Osiyar, “but I do know who you are. Your name was in one of Tarik’s
reports. You are the native telepath.”

“That is true, Lady Kalina.” The man
responded to Kalina’s curiosity with a charming smile. “Tank has
admitted me to his colony, and to his friendship.”

“Yes, I know.” Kalina looked into Osiyar’s
eyes with no trace of fear. “I have never met a telepath
before.”

“Tank has told me of your efforts to have the
Jurisdiction Act of Banishment against telepaths rescinded,” Osiyar
said. “For that kindness I thank you in the name of all
telepaths.”

“It is not kindness. It is a matter of common
sense.” Kalina put out her hand and Osiyar took it. “Perhaps you
can be of use to us in our search for Halvo.”

“I hope so, Lady Kalina.”

The appearance of the First Lady of the
Jurisdiction in their headquarters building was greeted with
surprise by the colonists and with open joy by her daughter-in-law,
Narisa.

“How I have missed you!” Narisa cried,
hugging Kalina. “You know most of the grownups, of course. Now come
and meet the children.” Kalina went readily, laughing and talking
with Narisa as they caught up on family news.

“I never thought to see such a sight,” Jyrit
murmured to Dysia a short time later. His eyes were upon Kalina,
and Dysia had been watching her, too. The usually dignified First
Lady of the Jurisdiction, clad in a bright red tunic and trousers,
was down on the floor playing with her grandson, a toddler with his
father’s black hair and intense blue eyes. A second boy with
orange-red hair and golden eyes, whom Narisa had introduced as the
child of colonists Suria and Gaidar, was with them and it was
obvious that the two children were close companions. Taking off her
gold necklaces, Kalina draped one around the neck of each child.
The boys pulled and twisted the shining links, clearly delighted
with these new toys.

“At the moment, both Suria and Gaidar are on
duty aboard the
Kalina,”
Narisa said to her
mother-in-law.

“What a pity. I would like to see them again.
I think of Gaidar as my third son,” Kalina said. “Were it not for
Gaidar taking us far away from Capital at a crucial time, Almaric
and I might not have survived the Cetan War and the revolution that
finally brought us to power. And now look at this handsome boy he
has fathered. Gaidar must be very proud, and Suria must be as happy
as she has always deserved to be.”

However much she might enjoy playing with her
grandson and her friend Suria’s child, or reminiscing about
dramatic events of the past, Kalina could not afford to forget her
primary mission for long. An hour after landing at Home, she and
Tarik, Jyrit and Dysia, along with a few of the colonists, held a
conference on the course they should take.

“Our battle with the Regulan ships did not
last long before they agreed to a cease-fire and negotiations,”
Jyrit said to the group. “I have tried to convince the Regulan
captains that we believe the
Space Dragon,
which was badly
disabled by Regulan fire, burned up during entry into the
atmosphere. I am not certain they believe me, but they made no
strong protest when I announced my intention to accompany Lady
Kalina to the surface to meet with her remaining son and tell him
of the death of his brother. In hope that we could complete our
search for the missing ship before the Regulans begin their own, I
emphasized that mother and son would want to comfort each other and
thus we would be here for some time.”

“But you do not believe Halvo is dead.”
Osiyar’s eyes bored into Jyrit’s, making the Jugarian openly
uncomfortable until the telepath moved his gaze to Kalina.

“We do not,” Kalina said very firmly. “Halvo
is an experienced space pilot. If he is physically capable of
handling a ship, then there is a good chance that he survived. We
will find him, Tank. We must. I cannot leave him to the mercy of
that despicable pirate.”

“It is only fair to tell you before you agree
to join our search, Commander Tank,” Dysia said, “that while we
were on Regula we learned that this woman, Perri, does not know how
to pilot a ship. It was being done entirely by her robot.”

“Which means,” Tank said in a carefully
controlled tone that did not completely hide his distress at the
possibilities he was forced to consider, “that if Halvo was not
well enough, or if he was not allowed near the controls, then the
Space Dragon
may have burned in the upper atmosphere or, if
it did not burn, it may have crashed with loss of life.”

“Exactly.” Jyrit spoke over Kalina’s renewed
protest that her son must be alive. “Furthermore, we do not know
where on Dulan’s Planet we might find the
Space Dragon,
or
if we will discover any evidence of the ship at all.”

“Nevertheless,” Kalina said, using her most
authoritative voice to break into the discussion of practical
realities, “we will search the entire planet if need be.”

“Why in the name of all the stars did this
Perri woman head for the Empty Sector?” Tarik asked.

“We do not know,” Jyrit said. “The Regulan
captains appear to be as honestly baffled by the course taken by
the
Space Dragon
as we are. Nor do I think they have been
given much information by their Hierarchy.”

“That would not be surprising.” Tarik looked
even more worried than before. “The Regulan Hierarchs are always up
to something secretive. We may never learn the entire truth about
their motives.”

“At this moment, I do not care what their
reasons are,” Kalina said. “I just want to find Halvo.”

After some further discussion it was agreed
that in addition to a direct search of the planet by shuttlecraft,
planet-wide surveillance would also be conducted by Gaidar and
Suria from the ship
Kalina.
Tarik would pilot one of the
colony shuttlecraft, taking with him Kalina, Osiyar, and Herne, the
colony physician.

“Captain Jyrit,” Tarik said, “you and
Lieutenant Dysia ought to return to the
Krontar
to keep an
eye on those Regulan ships.”

“My first officer knows what to do,” Jyrit
said. “I will add my shuttlecraft to the search. If you wish to
send more of your people along, they may come with me.”

“It really isn’t necessary,” Tank said.

“This is a matter of personal honor,” Jyrit
said, his pale gray face hard, his antennae beginning to turn red
with emotion.

“He will not change his mind,” Dysia said.
“Nor will I. I will follow my captain until he orders me to return
to the
Krontar
. You cannot get rid of us, Commander Tarik,
so do not try.” She knew her own face was almost as set and hard as
Jyrit’s.

“I will not try. I appreciate loyalty. And I
admit I will be glad of the extra ship. With it, the search should
only take half as long.” Tarik paused before speaking again. “Do
you know from which direction the
Space Dragon
entered the
atmosphere? The information might give us some clue as to where to
begin looking.”

“As soon as we were near enough to establish
instrument contact, our communications officer put a continuous
trace on the
Space Dragon,
but she lost contact when the
Space Dragon
entered the lower atmosphere. Here.” From her
belt pouch Dysia pulled a small disk. “I made a duplicate of the
trace record and brought it with me in case there was something on
it that would be useful to you.”

While Tarik ran the data disk through the
colony computer, with Kalina hovering over his shoulder and
offering a steady monologue of advice, Osiyar broke away from the
group in the main room. Dysia had been watching the telepath, and
when he walked across the room to the entrance, she hastened to
follow him. Osiyar had such a strange look on his face that as she
went through the door after him, Dysia pulled her hand weapon from
her belt. At once Osiyar halted, but he did not turn around. Dysia
stopped, too, just a pace or two behind him.

“Do you imagine I will attack you?” Osiyar
asked with some humor. “Or perhaps call up an enchantment upon you
and your captain? Or worse, enter your mind and learn all of your
thoughts?”

“Would you?” Dysia’s hand trembled a little,
but she kept the weapon trained on Osiyar.

“By a law the telepaths themselves made
centuries ago, I am forbidden to enter anyone’s mind without
express permission,” Osiyar said. “The only allowable exception
occurs when use of my power is necessary to save a life.”