Sword and Shadow (30 page)

Raven stared at him in growing horror as he realized the what he was hearing. Odin was explaining, in great detail, what had happened to Goban. “And the host?”

“The host isn’t even aware of what’s happening to him. The worm doesn’t take over the host—it simply provides convenient rationales for doing whatever it takes to advance my agenda. And the host thinks it’s all
his
idea. And any latent tendency to question his own motives for any particular action is suppressed by the worm.

“Quite insidious, really. And you want to know the best part? When
this
body dies, the host is already prepared to accept my escaping soul. I can simply leave this body behind and move on to the next.”

“How long have you been doing this, you sick fuck?”

“About a thousand years,” Odin said mildly, unruffled by the insult.

“I’ve sent out nearly a dozen different hosts, and, at one time, enjoyed the thrill of body-jumping between them whenever the mood struck me.

Once the original personality is subjugated, I can enter and leave any of the bodies at will, returning to my original body or any one of the host bodies. It’s an astounding achievement, if I do say so myself.”

“How many do you have out there now?” Raven asked, seeing the very beginning of a possible escape plan. If this worked the way he
thought
it did, Odin was missing a very important piece of information that would change everything.

“Only one, at the moment. He’s ready for the final step—totally destruction of his inherent personality so I can take up residence once this body is destroyed.”

“How much control do you really have until then? Are you in communication with him?”

Odin frowned. “No. The worm acts on its own, based on my original commands. Once the transition is complete, I can establish a telepathic link between us, but not until then.”

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“I see. So you infected Goban with this mind-worm, didn’t you?”

“He seemed like a perfect candidate. And you all were
so
ignorant of it That’s probably the most delicious part of it all. No one ever has a clue until I choose to reveal myself.”

“So why did he kidnap Val?”

“Val? You mean your cute little blonde lovely? Probably to use as a tool to force you to do what he—what
I
—wanted you to do.”

Raven nodded. “So you don’t know where he is now?”

Odin waved a hand dismissively. “No. But that hardly matters now.

As soon as this ship explodes, putting to an end any future threat from you and your friends, I will take control of Goban’s body instantly at that point, and continue to mold the Church as I see fit. I’m thinking I may want to take a more hands-on approach for the next couple of centuries, at least. Just to protect myself from any reprisals from your employers.”

Raven stared at him in silence for a long moment, then grinned savagely. “I’ve got some
really
bad news for you, Odin.”

Odin leaned back against the door, folding his arms across his wide chest. He looked amused. “And what would that be, Raven?”

“Goban’s closer than you think.”

Odin frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“He’s aboard this ship. You’re going to blow yourself
and
your host body apart at the same time. Though I’m not really crazy about dying myself, I still think it’s a pretty delicious irony. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re lying!”

“Maybe. But can you afford to take that chance?”

“We can’t!” Odin’s eyes darted to the lever behind him and his lip curled into a snarl. “Don’t even think about moving.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Raven lied, watching as Odin reached behind himself and fiddled with the door’s locking mechanism.

He tried to keep an eye on Raven, but he needed to pour too much concentration into the task at hand for the effort to be any better than half-hearted. The whole construct of the lock was alien, and it was pretty clear from the beginning that Odin’s blunt fingers were too thick to manipulate the various levers and pulleys that made up its interior.

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It was a strange set up, Raven mused, and then realized why it seemed so unwieldy. Odin had sabotaged the original mechanism himself, to keep Raven from being able to jimmy it open should he manage to defeat him. While he’d been pulling the lever, Odin had torn off the outer plate and keypad, which lay crumpled behind a few miscellaneous bits of junk in the corner.

A hiss like a teapot getting ready to boil over indicated he’d succeeded, and, as he stepped forward to allow the door to swing inward, Raven launched himself at him.

Most mortals can follow a vampire’s movements, even if they’re not quite as fast themselves. Immortals, despite being far better designed than an ordinary human, weren’t quite competitive with the colony of cooperative cells that made up a vampire’s form. When a vampire decided to move, every single cell in its body joined in the effort. While they usually imitated the human musculature, they were capable of rearranging themselves in several different, even more efficient, configurations when necessary.

Raven struck Odin three times before the immortal could even react.

The first blow was a raking motion across the eyes with his extended fingers—not with the intent to cause damage, but just to interfere with his vision for a split-second.

The second blow was a vicious spear-hand with stiffened fingers directly into his throat. He gagged and started to stagger back. That’s when Raven kicked him as hard as he could between the legs. As the immortal started to fold, Raven’s hand shot out, tangled in the man’s beard, and slung him across the room.

Odin struck one of the machines head-first and went down. Raven paused a second to inspect the mechanism, drew his sword from its dimension pocket, and struck the delicate machinery once, slicing through several internal levers.

He dodged through the door and pulled it shut behind him. The lock clicked home with a distinctly final sound.

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Morrigan glanced up as Raven stepped out of the darkness. Goban was still laying on his back, breathing hard, and Val was leaning up against the wall, eyes shut tightly as she massaged her temples. “Raven!

Did you find—”

“We don’t have time for that,” he interrupted. “Grab Goban and let’s get the hell out of here. Odin initiated a self-destruct sequence and we’re running out of time.”

He threw out a transit tube and they all jumped through one at a time. Morrigan hesitated for a brief moment before following, wondering if Odin was alive or dead. Part of her wanted to save him, if he was still alive, but part of her—the more convincing part—told her to leave him to his fate. He’d chosen it, after all.

She stepped through and found Raven already moving among the hybrids. She could hear his voice rising above the whir of the wind and the low murmur of Bryon and Val talking. Val pulled something out of a pocket and began fiddling with it.

The hybrids started gathering up the injured, and forming a line stretching from the base of the ship to several feet in front of Val. She tossed something on the ground and, in a sudden flash of light, the glowing silver doorway of a worldgate appeared in front of them.

Raven lifted a wounded mustalid in his arms and approached the

’gate. “Val, contact your wolves and tell them to get here as fast as possible. We’ve only got maybe ten minutes before the ship blows. If they’re not here in eight minutes, we’re going to have to leave them behind. You also need to send a message to Scorpio to have his men jump out and meet us on Starhaven.

“Morrigan—take this fellow…” He shoved the injured weasel into her arms. “…and head through the ’gate. Explain to the gate guard what’s going on, and that we’re bringing the hybrids through under a cloak of amnesty.”

She nodded. She wasn’t sure that such a thing existed, but even if it didn’t, she was an immortal. The only people on Starhaven who’d dare interfere with her would be other immortals, and she figured it would take longer than the eight minutes they had to get one to the worldgate 290

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to intervene. All of the refugees would be on Starhaven before anyone could stop them. “Don’t stay too long,” she warned them, glancing between Raven and Val. She let her gaze linger on the blonde woman a moment longer. “If the wolves don’t get here in time, you can’t save them by sacrificing yourself.”

“I know that,” Val growled in response. “Just go.”

Morrigan went.

She stumbled out off the worldgate queue and aimed a ferocious glare at the young red-haired man standing at the control panel on the other side of the duraplaz barrier. “We’ve got about fifty refugee hybrids coming through,” she yelled at him. “Do
not
interfere. If you do, I’ll personally rip your arm off and slap you stupid with it.”

He stuttered some sort of negative and backed away from the command pedestal. “Get on the comm,” she said. “We need healers, and fast! We’ve got a lot of wounded coming through.”

She let her gaze travel past the kid, who’d moved forward again to activate the ’gate station communicator and was speaking rapidly into it.

She exited the chamber and set the weasel on one of the several couches outside. These wouldn’t be the first refugees brought through the worldgate, she mused, but they might well be among the oddest.

“Just lie still,” she told him. “Help is on its way.”

She turned back toward the ’gate as more hybrids stumbled through the glowing silver archway. The cats came in a rush, most carrying the wounded in their arms. Tuck brought up the rear, helping one of his fellows with an arm around his waist as he limped across the queue.

And then Cerberus appeared, two large black shapes clinging to his back―her ravens. She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling guilty for having forgotten them. Apparently the dog had not. She resolved to give him the biggest steak he’d ever seen once all this had been sorted through.

Then came the mustalid folk, and it was obvious very quickly that they’d taken the brunt of the damage from the assault on the Church troops. Only about fifteen came through, and every single one of them www.samhainpublishing.com 291

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bore serious wounds. Some were almost dead on their feet, but every single one of them came under their own power.

Then Bryon was through, striding confidently across the dais toward her. He stopped to help one of the wounded mustalids, a gray and white badger, negotiate the steps to the floor while trying to protect a leg obviously suffering from a compound fracture of the tibia. The badger grimaced, but accepted the vampire’s assistance.

And then Val and Raven stumbled through along with Bridget and her wolves, Raven carrying what looked to be Goban’s unconscious form tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He let his gaze fall on the ’gate guard and made a chopping motion with his hand. The silver arch vanished behind them.

In the distance a klaxon began to ring.

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Sword and Shadow

Chapter Thirty-four

A crowd had gathered, a crowd of armed and alarmed Starhaven residents. They stood some distance away down the hall, murmuring amongst themselves, fingering their weapons expectantly. They were all mortals, mostly human, and they eyed the newcomers suspiciously.

“Are any of you healers?” asked Val, scouring the crowd with her gaze. “This isn’t an invasion—it’s an escape!”

She was pleased to see her control agent, the very elf who’d originally sent her through the worldgate, step from out of the crowd. “An escape from what?” he asked.

“It’ll be in my report,” she growled in response. “Now are you going to call some fucking healers in, or are you just going to stand here and watch these people suffer?”

His eyes flicked over at the wounded hybrids and a cloud passed over his face, a brief expression one might have mistaken for contempt. She felt her hands balling into fists at her sides. “Never mind. I guess I already know the answer to that. Morrigan!”

In a twinkle the raven-haired immortal was by her side. “I don’t know how much influence you have here, but if you have any at all, get us some goddam healers.”

Morrigan gave her a curt nod and turned toward the crowd with a flat, empty gaze. “Do you know who I am?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper, yet carrying farther than anyone would have imagined it could. “Anyone who isn’t doing something to help five seconds from now is going on my list. And
no one
wants to be on my list.”

“Get the hell out of my way!” came a booming voice from the back, and Val looked across the crowd to see a huge, bald, black-skinned www.samhainpublishing.com 293

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figure striding purposely toward them, literally shoving people aside as she came.

People shrieked and shifted, and, ahead of this imposing figure came a swarm of small, gray-skinned creatures that snarled up at the larger humans as they darted through the throng. Goblins. Which meant that the large black figure was…Kali.

She was as much a legend as Raven, or the immortal standing beside her. Kali—another hero of the Cen War, and a power in her own right.

Clearly annoyed, Kali snatched up the elf by the back of his shirt and tossed him backward into the crowd. She stopped in front of them, nearly seven feet of broad-shouldered, magnificent female power. “What’s going on here?”

She wasn’t speaking to Val, which made the sudden surge of panic that rose in her belly fade somewhat. No, she was looking at Morrigan, and not in a manner that suggested anger. Something unspoken passed between them and Kali broke into a broad grin. “You’ve sure shook things up,” she boomed to Morrigan. “Did I hear you say you need healers?”

Morrigan nodded, after an unreadable glance toward Val. “We do.

We’ve got several wounded, some seriously.”

Raven appeared by her side, Goban held in front of him. “But first we need to get this guy checked out. He’s got some sort of malignant worm in his brain that needs to be excised.”

“Malignant worm?” Kali frowned down at him. “And you are…?”

Raven cocked his head and grinned up at her. “You mean you don’t recognize me, Kali? I look a little different these days, thanks to Odin.”

“Odin? What the hell does
he
have to do with anything?” She blinked at him a few times and then took a step back in shock. “Holy shit. Is that you, Raven?”

“In the flesh. Odin was operating behind the scenes on the world to which Val and I were assigned. Causing trouble. He’s probably dead now, but a part of him lives on in this fellow here. I’d like to get that taken care of as soon as possible.”

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Kali nodded and grabbed Goban with one of her four hands. “I’ll get right on that. You folks stay put and I’ll rustle up some healers to help with the wounded. Good to see you, Raven. And Morrigan? Good job.”

She scooped Goban up as if he were a child and strode back through the crowd, which parted in front of her without any sign of hesitancy this time. One of the goblins looked up at Val and cackled. “Pretty lady.” He spun and followed his mistress into the throng.

“Okay,” Val murmured. “That was weird.”

Another voice, this one also female, broke over the crowd. “I’m sure you all have something better to do.” The throng scattered like seagulls before a pack of dogs, revealing the approach of another group of people, maybe ten strong. They were led by a woman who, while not as tall as Kali, was certainly as physically imposing―Athena. Beside her strode a giant, looking for all the world like a wizard out of a fantasy novel with his flowing white beard, long wild hair, and white robe. A third figure, this one considerably smaller than the other two, clad in what looked like a forest green karate gi, walked beside him, black hair framing a face nearly too beautiful for words. Jasmine Tashae. The Lady of Blades.

On the other side of Athena came a figure Val didn’t recognize, of a size with Jasmine Tashae, with sandy blond hair feathered perfectly around an oval face and piercing blue eyes the color of a summer sky after a cleansing rain. She couldn’t say why, but something about that clear gaze told her that the man saw far too much than he should.

A chill ran through her as she glanced over at Raven, who’d gone stock still, staring at them out of a face suddenly carved from white stone.

The immortals had arrived.

Raven’s eyes darted to Athena as she spoke, her voice slick and sharp as the edge of a razor blade. “You mind telling me why there are two hundred small jump ships requesting permission to dock?” Protocol dictated that she address her own agent first, and it spoke volumes that she’d instead choose to question him. It was a calculated insult, and he www.samhainpublishing.com 295

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knew the nuance hadn’t been lost on Val either. Even Morrigan’s eyes had changed to little chips of flint as she stood watching.

His own gaze flicked back to the their companion, the one whose face was so achingly familiar he almost felt as though his heart had started to beat again. Of course, that was just as impossible as the man standing in front of him being who he appeared.

A doppelganger? Then he heard the unmistakable sound of gas-driven servos, the same sound he’d heard in the darkness beneath the Shea’s corporate headquarters. Rather than answer Athena’s question, he asked one of his own. “Why are you in the company of an android wearing
that
face?”

It was an incredible feat of engineering, he had to admit. The expression of shock the creature wore was nothing short of miraculous.

It
looked
like a human, except for a slight tinge of gray to its skin. A mortal probably wouldn’t have noticed.

There was no chance these immortals hadn’t. There had to be a reason they were accompanied by an artificial man wearing the form of one of his best friends, and his long-dead commanding officer from the Cen War.

Then it struck him that Athena and the other immortals had recognized him instantly, despite the changes. He looked nothing like he had. He knew it from the reactions of others. But they’d known him instantly.

The android smiled enigmatically. “I told them you’d be changed,”

he—
it—
said.

Raven felt his jaw tighten. The voice was even the same. He swallowed and took a deep breath. He didn’t need to, but air was necessary to speak, and he planned to do a considerable amount of talking. Or yelling.

“Calm down, Raven,” murmured Fenris Wolf, stroking his beard.

“This is not what it seems.”

“Not what it seems? A fucking machine is wearing Justice Breed’s face and you’re acting like it’s one of
you?”

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Fenris was Raven’s boss, but he was also a friend. He didn’t take offense at his tone, though he cocked his head and gave him a warning glare. There was only so much insubordination he’d be willing to tolerate.

“We can talk about all of this later, Raven,” Athena said tersely. “I want to know why a bunch of mercenaries are demanding landing privileges.”

“Because we told them to meet us here,” Morrigan growled, giving Athena the evil eye. They’d never gotten along, and it was never more obvious than it was at this moment. “They’re working for us.”

“Oh, that makes me feel
so
much better,” the Amazonian immortal snarled back at her. “Working for who, precisely? You, Morrigan? Or Raven?” She shot a cold glare at Val. “Or my very own agent in your midst?”

“All of us,” Raven snapped back. “Do you have
any
idea what we just accomplished? We just saved us all from a whole bunch of trouble. A large jump-ship armed with nuclear warheads just exploded only hours before being taken by agents of the Cen.”

“You mean like the ones you brought here?” she asked snidely. “A bunch of cats, wolves, and mustalids? How do we know they’re not operating under Cen orders even now?”

“Have you
always
been this paranoid, Athena? They just ran into a goddam meat grinder for us. Hardly something that a bunch of Cen agents would do.” Morrigan turned away in disgust, then turned back again once she’d looked on the wounded again for a moment. “Get us some healers for these people, dammit!”

To Raven’s surprise and considerably dismay, Athena looked to the android as if for confirmation.
What the hell?

The android nodded. “Get some healers down here. I don’t want a single one of them to die on our watch. If they helped Raven and Val, we owe them.”

Raven stared at him—
it—
in amazement. What was this creature’s game? And why were the immortals deferring to it?

He flinched as those cool, ice-blue eyes turned to regard him once again. “All will be made clear soon enough, Raven. Athena will be www.samhainpublishing.com 297

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pursuing a complaint against you and Valerie, and the complaint will be heard in open court in two days. I suggest you get ready.”

“Get ready? What does that mean?”

“Talk to your allies…You’re going to need all the help you can get with this one.”

The android nodded to Athena, and they both turned and walked away. Fenris lingered a moment, his dark eyes somber. “I can go to bat for you, Raven, but I have no authority to speak on Val’s behalf.” He shifted his glance to her and shrugged helplessly. “Athena isn’t at all happy with you. Your only chance is if ArchAngel decides in your favor.”

“ArchAngel? Is that what that…creature calls itself?”

“Stop making assumptions, Raven. It doesn’t suit you to be so close-minded. ArchAngel says big things are afoot. You can choose to be a part of them, or you can continue being a dick. Your choice.” He turned and followed the others, leaving an amused looking Jasmine Tashae, who hadn’t said anything throughout the whole exchange.

“I’ve been told not to tell you anything,” she said. “ArchAngel wants to explain it to you himself.”

Raven grimaced. “Thanks much. I’m sure that’ll come as quite the consolation.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?”

“Coming from you that’s just silly, Jaz.”

She allowed herself the tiniest smirk and shrugged. “Maybe. I can understand your suspicions…if I were you I’d feel the same way. Just don’t let them get the best of you. Try to keep an open mind.”

“What kind of game are you immortals playing?” he growled, taking a step in her direction. She lowered her head and stared at him warningly.

He pulled up and glanced away. There may have been a few immortals he’d be willing to face down, but Jaz wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t one of them who usually threw her weight around anyway.

Here on Starhaven that dubious honor applied to Athena—but she’d been doing that for a long time. Thankfully she’d been relegated to the sidelines during the War. She would’ve politicized every strategy and dragged the whole effort under with her need to micro-manage.

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He knew. He’d worked for her back when she ran the Paranormal Affairs Commission back on Earth Prime in the early 21st Century.

Jaz he trusted. To a certain extent. She didn’t play games. She was as up-front as they came.

He sighed. For the past ten years he’d been able to forget about all of this—to pretend like the world on which he’d been assigned was his home. But, no, Starhaven was his home, as much as it could be said he
had
a home. Earth—the world the immortals called ‘Earth Prime’ had been where he’d been born, but he hadn’t gone back in a very long time.

He was afraid he’d never recognize the place.

“Are you okay?” Val asked, looking concerned.

He glanced at her and nodded. “Are you?”

She snorted. “I think I’m out of a job. Or, at the very least, I’ve made an enemy of my boss.”

“You wouldn’t be the first. Chances are she won’t try to have you killed, at least.” Jaz grinned at her and made a gun with her forefinger and thumb and mimed shooting herself in the head. “She doesn’t take rebellion well.”

“Rebellion hell.
We’re
the ones out in the field, having to make snap decisions as to what will work and what won’t. We don’t have time to consult the policy manual every time.”

“All sarcasm aside,” Morrigan put in, “I don’t think Raven’s ever read a manual in his life.”

“Hey—I
am
the manual,” he shot back. He threw his arm around Val and drew her close to him. She resisted a little at first, then melted against him. “I wouldn’t worry too much about Athena. Either things will work out fine, or they won’t. If nothing else you’ll earn yourself a long vacation someplace exotic.”

“I’ve had just about enough of exotic locations,” she said irritably.

“People keep trying to kill me in them.”

“That’s an agent’s lot in life,” he replied with a broad wink. In truth he was a little concerned about Athena’s antipathy toward Val, but he wasn’t going to say so out loud. They’d have to deal with that in its own www.samhainpublishing.com 299