Stardust Dreams (38 page)

Cherry made a face, "I
suppose I could—"

"No, no. You don't
understand. One quick release won't even begin to relieve him. It could take
hours of continual…
activity,
and we don't have hours to delay."

"Oh, I see. How long
before the suggestion wears off on its own?"

"About an hour, but
the need will be the same either way," Josep said with a frown.

"Well then, there's
only one solution that I can think of." She knelt down, completely wrapped
Gallant up in the large fur beneath him, and hefted him with her robotic arm
around his middle. "Lead the way."

Josep stole into her mind
for the explanation and smiled. "And a very good solution it is."

Only once on the way from
the princess's warren did someone see them, and Josep put that person to sleep
with little more than the blink of his eyes. He did the same to the two council
members who had remained in the main hall and the guard on duty at the tunnel
entrance. But Cherry didn't begin to relax until they were inside the first
enclosed cavern of the tunnel.

Josep pried open a
concealed vault in one wall and removed a pile of silver material. "I
couldn't take the time to get the protective suits you arrived in. You'll have
to use two of our personal shields. They're a bit cumbersome to move around in,
so I'll carry them until we reach the top. The air will be safe until we open
the final door."

Cherry had a bit of
difficulty hauling Gallant up the ladders, though Josep helped as much as he
could. She noted that with the exception of the first door he was leaving all
the rest open along the way, and she assumed the safety procedure was different
working backward. By the time they reached the elevator shaft to the surface,
they were both exhausted.

"Shield him, then
yourself. With the goggles over your eyes, you should be able to see his ship
once you're on the surface. Move as quickly as possible. You will have no more
than five minutes to get off-planet."

"Come with us, Josep. You
can help Gallant deal with the Consociation."

He shook his head with a
sad smile. "My time is done, as is my duty. The responsibility is now his…
and yours. You have the document, but there are two final messages for Gallant.
When he contacts the Consociation, he should give his report to no one but the
Regent Esquinerra herself. She is the only person besides me who knows his true
status and the mission he was on.

"The princess had not
yet arranged for anyone to deliver a message to Illusia letting them know they
were ready to act, so there should be sufficient time for the Consociation to
reinforce the barrier before any more ships attempt to leave that planet.

"Once he has made his
report, Gallant must go to Terra. Bessima's instructions are this: commencing
twelve days from today, she is to be at the front gate of the White House every
afternoon from three to four, until the princess shows up for the rendezvous. Gallant
will have to eliminate Bessima. She is power-hungry and vicious, and mustn't be
permitted to remain free. There is no telling what she could do with her
abilities in a nontelepathic society and no one to control her."

Cherry finished sealing the
protective shield around Gallant, then, with Josep's assistance, put one on
herself. There were built-in boots to make walking possible without tripping
over the bottom hem, but other than those and the goggles over her face, it was
just one huge, shapeless piece of heavy material. Josep helped her get a hold
on Gallant in spite of the lack of separated arm extensions, but it was going
to be quite a feat getting back to the ship.

"Don't you need to be
wearing one also?" she asked Josep as she dragged Gallant onto the lift. Without
answering, Josep grasped one of two levers sticking out from the rock wall and
pushed it up. The hatch at the top of the elevator far above them began to
open, and Josep took hold of the second lever.

"Josep!" Cherry
cried. "The mist is coming in! You're not protected." He raised his
hand to her in a farewell gesture and shifted the lever. As the lift took her
and Gallant to the top, realization of what Josep was doing set in, and there
was nothing she could do about it. He wasn't only ending his own life. By
leaving the tunnel doors open, the mist would blend with the oxygenated air
inside. The princess's warning came back to her with the clarity of a fire
alarm.

Mixing the two atmospheres
for any length of time could result in a destructive explosion.

Josep had said she had no
more than five minutes to get Gallant aboard his ship and take off. Good God!
He must believe the whole planet was going to blow. As she neared the surface,
she lost sight of Josep, but she knew he could not survive long with the deadly
mist swirling into the cavern. She forced herself not to think about how he
might suffer and sent up a prayer of thanks that he had chosen to make his
final act a heroic one.

A moment later her thankful
prayer became a plea for help. The goggles functioned well enough for her to
make out the shapes of a number of spacecraft in the distance. But they weren't
individually distinguishable, and they were spread out over a large area.

Which one was Gallant's? Which
direction had she and Gallant come from? Without being able to see, she hadn't
had any way of getting her bearings or noting the markings on the ground that
were visible with the goggles.

Panic began setting in as
she imagined hearing the seconds ticking loudly by. If she headed for the wrong
ship, she could waste the entire five minutes. She stared at the markings
again, comprehending that they were directional arrows pointing toward the
tunnel from one of the craft, but that was of no help to her now.

Cherry? It is Mar-Dot. Please
excuse my unauthorized intrusion.

Thank you, God!

/
cannot read your
thoughts, but 1 am sensing a strong disturbance around the captain and have the
distinct impression he cannot hear me.

Cherry's frustration
mounted with each of Mar-Dots words. They had no way of knowing how precious
each second was, and she couldn't tell them the problem.

/
assume vision is
still limited out there, but I'm mentally fixed on Gallant, and as long as he
is with you, I should be able to bring you both in using my built-in
navigational ability. Turn ninety degrees to your right. Take a few steps. Good.
Angle slightly to your left. Too much. Excellent. Keep walking straight now.

Cherry picked up her pace
as much as she could and practically tripped over the lead line that had been
hooked to Gallants belt. Grabbing the end of it, she gave it a jerk and felt it
tug her along like the retractable cord to an old Outerworld vacuum cleaner.

A few steps short of the
ship's door, it opened and the stairway came down to meet her. With a renewed
burst of energy, she leapt up the stairs and hauled Gallant inside. The narrow
corridor was sealed off from the bridge and cabins as it had been for their
deboarding.

You will have to remain in
there for two minutes for complete detoxification.

Cherry lowered Gallant to
the floor and banged on the door blocking her from the bridge. "We don't
have two minutes!" she shouted. "Take off now!"

She wasn't certain she was
heard until she felt the merest vibration in her feet. It rapidly built to a
low hum and she knew they were lifting off-planet. Suddenly a tremendous
explosion sounded and the ship listed violently to one side then the other. Cherry
slammed into a wall and was thrown to the floor on top of Gallant.

A powerful gravitational
pull paralyzed her in place and the ship seemed to be spinning in circles. Just
when she was certain they would crash, the pull ended and the ship stabilized.

The detox light overhead
burned a bright red, then orange, paled to yellow, and faded off. Another
minute passed before the doors on both sides of the corridor slid back into the
wall and Cherry rolled off Gallant. Getting to her feet was not so easy.

"Dot," she called
toward the bridge. "I could use some help whenever you can leave the
controls." Though she only had to wait a short while before the he-she
came to her, she managed to get hopelessly twisted in the voluminous shield in
the meantime.

"Oh my," Dot said
gaping at a silver-shrouded Cherry and the cocoon on the floor. "What
happened?"

"You name it! Help get
me out of this contraption. I've got to get Gallant to his bunk before he comes
to." While Dot helped free her and Gallant, and they carried him to his
room, Cherry gave them a condensed version of everything that had happened
since they'd left the ship yesterday, concluding with an explanation of the
explosion. From the magnitude of the subsequent fireball Dot described, the
tunnel itself would definitely be gone and, more than likely, the caverns below
would have collapsed as well.

Dot was unflustered by the
fact that Gallant was nude beneath the shield or that he was semi-erect. She
was familiar with the type of drug he had been given and even helped Cherry fix
a few trays of food to take into the captain's cabin in preparation for a long,
exhausting stay.

After Mar-Dot was up to
date, Cherry said, "I remember it took three days between Norona and Lore,
but between Earth and Norona we detoured to Zoenid. How many days does a
straight shot take"?"

"With the stardrive,
we can make it from Norona to Earth in five days," Mar replied proudly. "However,
Norona is out of the way from here. Earth is also a five-day journey from Lore
in a different direction. I do not believe the captain will be in any shape to
make a decision for some time. I suggest we head straight to Earth and the
captain can contact the Consociation Regent by interstellar communication on
the way."

"Nonsense,"
argued Dot. "Anyone could be listening in. There are still twelve days
left until the rendezvous, and even if the captain got tied up on Norona, Josep
told Cherry that Bessima will go to the appointed spot every day until the
princess shows up. We should plot a course for Norona."

"And what if we
encounter some unforeseen problem?" Mar countered. "Or Bessima
decides not to show up again after the first day? We should not take any
chances-—"

"Whoa, guys!"
Cherry said with a laugh. "I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that
you two could be sharing the same brain and never agree on anything."

"We agree on many
things," Mar said.

"Hardly ever,"
Dot retorted.

"Enough already!"
Cherry exclaimed. "Head for Norona. When Gallant comes out of it, I'll
take the responsibility." A low moan caught her attention. "Speaking
of which…"

Dot grinned and said,
"Do not hesitate to call for me if you find you need a break."

Cherry smiled back and
winked. "Thanks, hon, but I think I can handle it." She entered
Gallant's cabin and closed the door behind her. At least part of Josep's
suggestion had worn off. Gallant was no longer lying on his bunk like a corpse;
he was moaning and thrashing from side to side. When he kicked the sheet away
from his body, she could also see that his lust was no longer being subdued
either.

Without hesitation, she
pulled off the rough sack she'd been wearing. As she lay down and embraced him,
his skin felt feverish against hers. The physical contact ripped away the last
of the suggestion. His eyes popped open and he frantically took in his
surroundings.

He made a sound like a
wounded animal, and Cherry hugged him as hard as she could. "It's okay,
love. You're safe. We're on your ship heading home, and I'm here for you."

Again he attempted to
speak, but the sound he made against her neck could only be described as
mournful. As if she heard his thoughts she answered him. "You won't hurt
me."

Countless hours passed
before his passion was finally spent and they were both able to rest.

As they settled into what
had become their regular sleeping position, he whispered, "You called me
love"

"Did not," she
murmured back.

"Did. I heard you. And
you know what?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you,
too."

She knew she should
contradict him, but she was too tired, and besides, it was probably only some
leftover effect of the drug making him talk crazy.

Gallant was pulled out of
the last shreds of sleep by the awareness that he was alone… and it was not a
comfortable feeling.

His muscles complained as
he stretched out the tightness, but he didn't feel all that bad, considering
what he'd been through. Sitting up, he spotted a glass of water that Cherry
must have left for him and quickly quenched his thirst. He needed to get
cleaned up. He needed food. He needed Cherry.

He knew it was selfish to
have wanted her there when he awoke after she had given so unselfishly during
the long night. His need for her at the moment, however, had nothing to do with
lust and everything to do with love.

Despite all his mother's
sayings and pretty words on the subject, he hadn't been prepared for how it
would really feel.