Slave Empire - The Crystal Ship (3 page)

Two days
later, while they discussed her life on Earth, Endrix made an
astounding statement.

“
When the Atlanteans found you, they thought your brother was
your guardian, but I do not believe this is so. My masters surmised
that you would have a guardian, although it was not mentioned in
the prophecy. They also thought you would have a companion. I
believe your brother is your companion, a source of strength to
help you get through your transition from Earth to Atlan, but I
think the Shrike is your guardian.”

She hesitated,
astonished. “What makes you say that?”

“
He was on Earth at the time when the Atlanteans took you. He
saved you from a peril there, did he not?” She nodded, and he went
on, “Then he saved you at the slave market, and returned you to
Atlan. Now he has given you a ship to keep you safe and help you to
fight the Envoy, and I believe he will help you again.”

“
He didn’t save me from the Draycon ship that tried to kill me
on Earth.”

“
Actually, he did. The Draycons would have searched the house
to be sure they had killed you, but the Shrike chased them away. He
did not know what they were shooting at, but his appearance caused
them to break off their attack and retreat. By the time you
emerged, he was gone.”

Rayne
swallowed a lump that threatened to block her throat. “I didn’t
know. I wish I had. How do you know all this? Were you there
too?”

“
No. My presence might have been detected, and the Atlanteans
might not have rescued you. I have communicated with your ship,
which is the same one he used. He does not realise what he is, of
course, if, indeed, he is your guardian.”

“
Will I see him again?”

“
Probably,” Endrix replied.

“
Will I ever see his face?”

“
I doubt it.”

“
I wish I had more time. I’m not going to survive my
confrontation with the Envoy, am I?” Hot tears stung her
eyes.

“
If you defeat him, I believe you will survive. You must not
despair. That is your enemy. You must be strong.”

She shook her
head, two tears making their escape down her cheeks. “How can I
defeat a super-evolved being? I’m just a girl from a backwater
planet that drowned itself in its own filth. I’ve got no special
powers, no vast intellect. I’m a healer. What can I do? How am I
supposed to kill this monster?”

“
Perhaps you should not be thinking of how you can kill him.
That is against your very nature. It must be wrong.”

“
What am I supposed to do then, befriend him?”

The sphere
pulsed. “I sincerely doubt that is possible.

“
Then what?”

“
I do not know.”

That night,
Rayne decided to return to Atlan. The dead planet depressed her,
and the constant discussions on the topic of the Envoy added to her
despondency. Although Endrix was capable of interesting
conversations on just about any topic, the coming confrontation ate
at her nerves, and had become the most common subject they
discussed.

Endrix
encouraged her to leave, saying that time spent with her brother
would be good for her, and she should relax with friends. Rayne did
not bother to point out that she had no friends. Perhaps it was
time she made some. The prospect lifted her spirits, although she
would far rather have returned to the Shrike’s base and talked to
him. The memory of his insight into her private feelings stung her
pride, however, and she decided it would be better to try to forget
him.

Rayne took her
leave of Endrix and returned to her ship, carrying the equipment
she had brought down. She ordered Shadowen to go to Atlan, and went
to sleep.

When the ship
woke her, they were approaching Atlan, some eighteen hours later.
She remembered waking during the flight and switching on the sleep
inducer so she did not have to endure the tedium of a long, boring
journey. She washed, changed into a fresh outfit comprising a pale,
pearly top with a dark grey jacket and sleek grey jeans, and went
to the bridge. When Shadowen’s approach to Atlan was challenged,
she was forced to drop out of the Net and wait for clearance. It
came in the form of Tallyn’s dark voice inviting her to dock over
the spaceport. She asked for permission to land, and it was
granted. Shadowen entered Atlan’s atmosphere, dropping through the
clouds. The spaceport came into view through the haze, swelling as
they sank towards it. When the ship settled on its anti-gravity
cushion, Tallyn and Rawn waited outside with a gaggle of port
technicians and engineers.

Rawn embraced
her, while Tallyn grinned at the ship. She had expected this
reaction, and so his first words did not surprise her.

“
You did it. Well, I don’t know what sort of spell you’ve cast
on him, but I would never have believed this if I wasn’t seeing it
with my own eyes. Are you sure you didn’t bring him with you as
well?”

“
Quite sure. And I don’t have a spell on him. Endrix says the
Shrike is my guardian.”

“
He’s a criminal,” Tallyn stated. “Even if he had a good
reason for murdering his people, he’s committed worse crimes since
then.”

“
He’s not a slaver, either.”

“
If he told you that, he was lying. I don’t know what kind of
game he’s playing, but I know what he is.”

Rayne smiled,
her spirits buoyant. Returning to Atlan was a bit like coming home,
and being with Rawn again filled her with joy. Even Tallyn’s
predictable disbelief was a balm of familiarity, and she basked in
it. After Farlaw’s deadness, she was glad to be back amongst people
whose foibles were dear to her. “He said you wouldn’t believe me,
but I just had to tell you. Now I need a bath and a good meal. And
stay away from the ship. It’s off limits.”

“
We need to examine it.”

“
You don’t need to do any such thing, nor will you. I went to
a great deal of trouble to get that ship, and I’m going to need it.
If you start messing with it, he just might go home, and then I’ll
be back at square one.”

“
He?” Tallyin asked. “Who are you talking about?”

“
The ship. This is what Atlan couldn’t give me: a sentient
ship that thinks for itself. Go and tell the Council. He’s my ship,
and no one’s to touch it.”

The ship’s
door slid shut as if to confirm her words. She laughed and slipped
her hand into Rawn’s, allowing him to lead her to a waiting
gravcar.

Chapter Three

Rayne sat at a
table in the crowded pleasure house, her mind filled with a
pleasant haze of wine, her eyelids drooping. Beside her, Rawn was
deep in conversation with the handsome young Atlantean who was
supposed to be her date. She should object to him monopolising
Cryan’s attention, but she did not really care. Cryan, like most
young Atlanteans, was quite boring. They had a vast intellectual
scope, but very little imagination, and Cryan’s conversation lacked
even the spice of Endrix’s measured tones. Mergan swayed to an
alien tune on the dance floor, twined with a tall Atlantean man who
had asked her to dance quite some time ago.

The rest of
Rawn’s friends gathered in a chattering group, passing a
hallucinogenic cigarette around. Since joining Atlan’s social life,
the variety of drugs available and the ease with which they were
obtained had surprised Rayne. They had to travel to the nearby
world of Mansure to get them, and they were expensive, but Mergan’s
father had a considerable fortune, and she had no qualms about
spending it on her friends.

Mansure was
not an Atlantean planet, and the excesses it offered were bizarre
and unwholesome. Rayne had discovered that her fame opened doors
and granted privileges reserved for the super-rich. Her association
with Rawn had elevated Mergan’s status, and a crowd of social
climbers had flocked to their group. The many vices the Atlantean
youth shared with humans also surprised Rayne, though they did seem
to be more in control of their situation. Drinking, gambling, sex
and drugs were all part of the social scene, and all were expected
to partake.

In the six
months since she had returned from Farlaw, she had done her best to
forget about the Envoy, and had succeeded in reducing it to a dim
memory, like a persistent ache. She fanned the embers of a faint
hope that it would never happen, but could not quite convince
herself of it. The nagging worry gnawed at her, and only an
occasional overindulgence in wine drowned it out.

The club’s
smoky confines became intolerable, and a strong need for some fresh
air overcame her. Rising from the crowded booth, she threaded her
way through the packed club to the door. The two Andracan bouncers
watched her pass without interest, their green eyes scanning the
incoming patrons. Outside, she leant against a tree in the garden
beside the door and breathed the cool air. The smoke from the
hallucinogenic cigarettes made her queasy, and she needed to clear
her head. She smoothed the silken material of the sleek one-piece
cream suit over her hips, wondering if she should have worn a dress
tonight. As yet, she had not spent a great deal of time or money on
clothes, finding shopping tedious and tiring.

A sound made
her straighten, her head swimming. A hand clamped over her mouth,
and a strange, bitter scent invaded her nose when she gasped. She
tried to struggle, but blackness washed over her in a thick
tide.

Rayne opened
her eyes a slit and winced, squinting in the bright lights that
bathed her. Her head pounded from a combination of wine and
whatever drug her kidnappers had used. She tried to sit up, but she
was bound hand and foot to the table on which she lay. Lifting her
head, she scowled at the two men who stood beside it.

Her hackles
rose at the sight of their scaled heads and shark-like grey skin.
One smiled, revealing pointed pink teeth, and she shuddered. He
leant over her, giving her the benefit of his rank breath.

“
So, we have you at last, Golden Child.”

She fought an
urge to spit in his face, if only to get him to move it away. “Why
didn’t you just kill me?”

“
We weren’t sure you were the one we wanted until we tested
you.”

“
Since when have Draycons worried about killing
innocents?”

“
Our priests want you alive, to be executed on our world for
all to see, and there will be much celebrating afterwards. Our
priests have decided that the one to capture the Golden Child will
rule.”

“
Where am I?”

“
Aboard a ship, heading for a Drayconar world,” he
said.

“
If you kill me, the Envoy will destroy you too. He’s a
monster. He feeds on pain, and yours will be as sweet to him as the
Atlanteans’.”

He showed his
teeth again. “Don’t waste your breath. You’d say anything to save
yourself.”

Rayne jerked
at the bonds on her wrists. Where was Shadowen? Did he know about
her abduction? Had he called for help? Would anybody come?

The Draycons
swapped sharkish grins and left the room, the door in the
featureless pale wall sliding shut behind them. From what she knew
about them, they would probably take every opportunity to torture
her on the way to their world. Without stopping to consider that
such communications might be detected, she used her implant to call
Shadowen. His answer was as calm and unflappable as ever.

I have sent
distress calls. If you wish, I can engage the Drayconar ship,
thereby forcing them to drop out of the Net and fight, but I fear
you may be harmed, and I will not be able to use my full
capabilities with you on board the enemy ship.

“
You’re following?” she whispered. “Why didn’t you stop them
taking me?”

You did not
call for help. I only knew of your abduction when your biorhythms
moved away.

“
Why can’t you use the transfer Net to get me out of
here?”

They have you
in an oscillating force field, which disperses a locator beam, and
you are fastened to a metallic table. What do you want me to
do?

She
considered. “Nothing, for now. Let’s see if anyone answers your
signal, but if no one comes before we reach the Drayconar world I
want you to fight this ship. If they get me on their planet they’ll
kill me, so it doesn’t matter if you jeopardise my life in the
battle if there’s a chance you might save me.”

It would be
simpler to use the transfer Net once you’re on the surface. They
cannot keep you in a force field all the time.

“
You won’t get close enough without them detecting you, if
they haven’t already.”

I do not think
they have. I am beyond their repeller range.

“
Good. If our communications are cut off, just do as I
said.”

I will.

Tarke opened
his eyes and stared at the bulkhead above him, wondering what had
woken him. The faint beep of the communications’ alarm pierced his
receding drowsiness. He yawned and knuckled his eyes, then rubbed
his face. The alarm’s insistent beeping prodded him into sitting
up, and he ran a hand through his short hair. The lingering effect
of the sleep inducer made him groggy, and he shook his head to
clear it.

“
What is it, Scimarin?”

Sleep did not
come easily to him, and when he set the inducer for eight hours,
the ship knew better than to drag him from it without good
reason.