Rebellion (21 page)

“Understood.”

Armond sent them back to Dani’s focal point, and she pocketed the device. They found Father Arlo locking up the main entrance to the church.

“There you are. Is everything all right?”

“We don’t know,” Ian said. “We’ve been unable to reach my father since yesterday afternoon.”

“That is troubling. May the Mother Goddess watch after him.”

“Thank you.”

Dani slipped her hand into his as they waited for the priest.

He sighed heavily as he dropped the keys into the bag he had slung over his shoulder. He’d posted a sign stating that the church was closed indefinitely. They were heading toward the cruiser that Darl Karton loaned them when the sound of footsteps echoed from behind. Someone was running up the path to the church. Ian stepped in front of the priest and pulled his weapon, Dani following suit.

A teen rounded the corner and stopped when he saw them.

Arlo pushed through. “Connor?”

“It’s me, father.”

“Put your weapons away.”

The boy rushed to Arlo and wrapped his arms around him. “We need to go. They’re coming for you.”

They didn’t need to hear any more. They rushed to the cruiser.

“Get in back and stay down,” Dani told the priest and the boy.

“Where are we going?” Ian asked once they were off the ground.

“Get in the traffic pattern for Starfall,” Arlo said. “It’s about halfway.” Once they were out of the city, Arlo climbed into the seat and gave a sigh of relief. “I’m too old to be sitting on the floor like that.”

“Sorry,” Dani said.

“No worries, my dear.”

The boy didn’t move from his spot on the floor. He just stared at the back of the seats.

Once they reached the designated intersection, Ian took them down, and they drove a quarter mile into the woods and parked near a black utility vehicle. The priest got out and spoke to the driver. A moment later the back swung open and a large, dark-skinned man stepped out. Arlo motioned for them to come over.

With a vacant look, the teen remained on the floor in the back. Probably in shock.

They approached the large man who extended his hand. “Father Arlo here tells me he’s enlisted the help of the Cavacent clan. I’m Warder Zar.”

Ian shook hands and introduced himself and Dani. “That’s correct. Although at the moment, we may need your assistance.”

“What is it?”

“My father is missing.”

“Gods,” Warder said. “Come, get in. We’ll talk while we drive. Nocher,” he bellowed, “take the cruiser with the boy to the transport hub and drop it there. I’ll send a team to bring you both in.”

A thin man jumped out and loped over to the cruiser.

Dani climbed in first, and then she and Ian helped Arlo step into the van with his bag. The van was well-lit inside, but there were no windows.

“Tell me what you know,” Warder said to Ian as the vehicle lifted off.

“He was supposed to meet with Mortog yesterday afternoon. I wasn’t concerned until today. I left him a message last night and another about an hour ago.”

“Did you check with Mortog’s office?”

Ian cleared his throat. “Not exactly. The thing is, we don’t officially arrive on planet for another ten hours or so.”

Warder frowned. “How's that?”

“Our transport ship hasn’t arrived yet,” Dani said.

Ian nodded. “We’re not here.”

“Well. As hallucinations go, you’re pretty solid.” Warder chuckled. “Before we go any farther, let’s swap contact info, then I’ll need you to shut down your coms. Make any calls you need to now. The underground is silent. No signals in or out except through me, and that’s only if the planet is about to be invaded. It hasn’t happened yet.”

“I expected as much,” Ian said. He and Dani turned off their units.

Warder nodded when they were done. “We have sensors underground. If your coms activate, our security will shoot you before asking for an explanation.”

“Understood,” Ian said.

Warder pulled out a com and started speaking. “Check Papa’s house. See if he had a guest yesterday. Medium height. Graying hair. ’Bout my age. We’re on our way to the beach.” He disconnected and put the com into a steel box affixed to the floor of the van. He sealed the door with his psi. A readout indicated a fifteen-second countdown. When it finished, the door swung open, and a neat pile of ash sat where the com had been.

“You must go through a lot of coms,” Dani said.

“That we do.”

* * * *

Balastar approached the Cavacent Earth station with mixed emotions. He’d been sure Earth was going to be his new home, and although it was his base, he now felt more attached to his ship than anything else. He adjusted their approach and locked onto the docking beacon. He’d chosen well with this ship. Although more than he originally planned to spend, the extra comforts and upgrades made all the difference. The galley was off a large dining area, and the addition of a separate space for relaxing with a large view port added to the comfort. Not as posh as Rucon’s ships, but perfectly adequate. He’d managed to leave Florin 5 a full day early by giving a discount to a client in order for them to get the goods to him faster.

Marco sat to his right with Mordo and Durgan standing behind them, taking in the view.

“She’s a beautiful planet,” Mordo said. “Though I’ll probably always miss the purple hues of Sandaria.”

“Indeed.” Durgan placed a hand on Mordo’s shoulder. “I’m most excited to see if Armond is able to use this device, as well.”

Balastar’s com signaled a call. He connected with psi and greeted Armond. “We’re docking at the station now. We should be there in twenty minutes. Durgan can’t wait for you to take a look at the second device.”

“Nor can I. However, we have a situation. Do not delay. Come directly to Ria’s villa. Mara is waiting with me here.”

“On our way.” Balastar relayed the message to the others.

The Cavacents’ fully cloaked base station was impressive. It could accommodate five transport ships at one time. Balastar’s instrumentation picked up the acceptance signal for bay three and he guided her in. Mordo, Durgan, and Marco grabbed their bags, and the four headed to the portal on the station. Three minutes later, they stepped through to Ria’s villa. Armond and Mara were waiting for them. Ian’s mother looked like a child next to Armond.

“What’s going on?” Marco asked.

Armond crossed his arms. “The situation on Mitah has become unstable. I’ve been told the chancellor is preparing to murder a large number of Curzans. Many of whom have psi. As you know, that makes the entire planetary rulership null and void. Ria contacted Ian. She’s safe for now, but time is short. And Rucon has been missing since yesterday.”

“That fell apart fast,” Balastar said.

“I’ve just spoken to Anantha,” Mara said. “He’s agreed to redirect the nearest resources to Mitah, but it will take more than five hours. He, however, is only two hours from Earth. He’s coming here with a small force. They will take the portal to Mitah as soon as possible with the intent to arrest Chancellor Mortog.”

Durgan frowned. “Why does he not simply go to the nearest planet and have a portal created directly to Mitah? He’s the Supreme Commander of the GTO for Goddess sake.”

“I asked the same question,” Mara said. “It appears that you and your fellow Portal Masters escaped the guild just in time. Portals are shutting down across the galaxy, and the new leader of the guild, Loc Zorton, is not responding to Anantha. He feels all interstellar portals should be considered suspect. Except ours, of course.”

“Extraordinary,” Mordo said. “Five-hundred years of stability in the guild gone in the blink of an eye.” He turned to Armond. “All right, let’s go find my brother.”

Mara stepped forward.

Armond shook his head. “You are currently the only Cavacent descendant on Earth.”

“You must think of all the people depending on us,” Mara said.

Mordo’s shoulders slumped as he nodded his agreement.

“I’m coming.” Balastar stood next to Marco. “I pledged my fealty to Rucon.”

“As you wish,” Armond said. “I suggest we return to Mitah and wait. We’ll want to maximize the number of people that can transport with the Commander.” Portals had their limits. Four transports per hour with a maximum of eight-hundred pounds.

“Be careful,” Mara said, “and find my husband.”

* * * *

Mordo turned away from the portal. He understood the need for him to stay behind, but his instinct was to do something. “Durgan, perhaps there is yet something we can do to assist.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Let’s start with mapping out the portals that are being shut down. There must be a reason for it. Perhaps they are isolating an area of the galaxy?”

Durgan agreed, and the two took the subterranean tunnel to their smaller but more opulent villa above Lago Como.

After an hour of mapping out the failing portals, Mordo poured another cup of tea for himself and Durgan. “There doesn’t appear to be any pattern to what they’re shutting down.”

Durgan stood and paced by the windows of their study. “What if they aren’t doing it?”

“Why else would they fail? Never have I heard of portals shutting down on their own.”

“Nor I, but what if…” Durgan spun around and pulled up a holo screen that took up the entire back wall. “Com, run a list of all Portal Masters involved in the creation of the portals on this display.” They waited a moment for the list to compile. “Now, highlight in red the following.” Durgan stated the names of the nine Portal Masters that accompanied them to Earth.

“Great Goddess, you’ve done it.” Mordo said.

Under each failed portal anywhere from three to all nine of the Portal Masters’ names were lit up in red.

Durgan nodded, brows furrowed. “Let’s think about this. What does it mean?”

“For starters, it means this is why the guild was restricted to the compound on Sandaria.” Mordo stood as well. Excitement coursed through him.

“Yes,” Durgan said. “What if the feed to the portals goes away when we do?” He stopped. “This implies some static device is being fed. We had no idea it worked that way.”

“We didn’t,” Mordo said, “but I’d be willing to bet the Masters’ Council does.”

The two smiled and clasped each other.

Mordo squeezed Durgan’s arm. “This is extraordinary. This is why it was always treated as a sacred service. Why Portal Masters weren’t allowed family and swore their lives to the guild.”

Durgan rubbed his chin and nodded. “Given a choice between loyalty to the guild and that of family, many would eventually choose family. Wives and children, especially.” He turned to face Mordo. “How much of what we thought we knew of the guild is even real? What of the God we’ve been worshiping?”

“There is a deep mystery here, my friend. Given what we now know of the alternate psi portal devices, it would possibly imply there is something similar being kept on Sandaria.”

“Something immobile perhaps,” Durgan agreed. “Gods, but I would like to get my hands on that.” His eyes shone bright at the thought.

“So their portals are going to continue to fail.” Mordo couldn’t hold still. “It takes time to find and train new masters. They must be panicked.”

“Desperate.”

“Yes. I’ll call Mara. Supreme Commander Anantha needs to have this information.” Mordo smiled again. “Can you imagine the look on Zorton’s face right now?”

“It is an image I will not soon forget, my friend.”

Ty found the security measures Warder Zar employed for getting everyone returned to the underground base impressive. Their escape from jail in a tagless cruiser had been a risk. If security had detected a vehicle without an ID, they would have known something was up. Today, they used a utility van that broadcast a tag from a bogus corporation. It wasn’t until they neared the underground entrance that they stopped broadcasting, and that was only when surveillance around the area declared it free of any Mitah security vehicles. Getting to the entrance itself was another three-phase process.

Heavy clouds gathered over the mountain peaks. A storm was coming. It was just as well they were going underground. Once inside the old tunnels, a low-range frequency triggered the lights that immediately switched off as they passed.

Ria’s psi rippled through Ty.
“They better give us our own room.”
She smiled at him, and as always, he was struck at how amazing it was to have found her. She was perfect, and she was his.

“In need of a little sleep, are you, Red?”

“Yeah, sleep. That’s what I want.”

Her psi pulsed, and his body responded in kind.
“You better stop that, or I’ll take you right here and now.”

She grinned and pulled away.

Ty glanced out the only window in the back of the cruiser at the dark tunnel behind them. He and Ria should be holed up in a cabin someplace enjoying their new bond. Instead, they were fighting for not only their lives, but many others, as well.

They finally made it to the main chamber, and the cruiser parked in the designated area. The sheer size of the place still amazed him. They climbed out, and a small, wiry woman, who didn’t look much older than Olivia, approached.

“Welcome back.” She and Olivia exchanged hugs.

Olivia turned to the others. “This is Minnar. She’s in charge when my father and I are gone.”

The others said their hellos. “I take it he’s out?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah. Left in a rush. Not sure when to expect him. I hear you have some good news.”

Olivia nodded. “Wonderboy here decoded the texts.” She smiled at Ty.

He felt Ria’s pride and was glad the two women seemed to have patched things up. “You can thank Bella. She figured out what I was doing wrong.”

“That’s great news.” Minnar’s happiness was guarded. They all knew time was short. “Come, I’ve set up the conference room with a recorder.”

“Aren’t you worried about the signal?” Merek asked.

Minnar shook her head. “Room’s shielded.”

They made their way to the conference room where they’d met Warder the first day. Thick drapes now covered the windows that looked out over the open space below. A large screen hung from one wall. They all filed in and sat down to plan their vid.