Talent For Trouble (25 page)

Even her tormentor—a puppet master himself—had answered to a crueler master. Even Kol had been a slave to the collective in the end.

Poetic, in a way, but still very distasteful.

Jana tried her best to shake off the feeling as she rubbed her hands over the horses. They’d been good companions on their short journey, and she wanted them to know she appreciated their hard work on her behalf. Jana believed she was able to get her message across with gentle touches and kind murmurs, in addition to the mental nudges she was able to deliver.

In fact, she was better at the mental contact than she’d ever been as a child. That thought gave her some satisfaction. Not all the skills she’d gained as an adult were deadly, apparently. That gave her a sad sort of hope for the future.

Maybe…just maybe…she could stop the killing. Maybe Kol would be the last life she took. Maybe since he had started it all, he would be the end of it, too.

A girl could hope.

Movement to her left caught her eye, and Jana turned her head to see a soldier step out of hiding near the ruined gate. His hands were up in the air in the universal sign of peace, but he was a collective soldier. A big man. Plectaran, maybe.

If he realized Kol was inside…and dead… Well, it wouldn’t be good. Jana started sending out feelers. Where was one soldier, there usually were others.

Sure enough, she detected eight other minds nearby, arrayed in a wide spread around the yard. Except for the door to the tower chamber behind her, she was surrounded. Dammit.

“Are you the Star Killer?” the first soldier—the only one who had so far revealed himself—asked in a quiet voice, shocking her.

She’d expected a friendly ruse, or maybe an outright confrontation about Kol if they’d traced him this far. Instead, she got what seemed to be the standard Plectaran greeting where she was concerned.

“I am Jana Olafsdotter,” she replied in a tired voice as she rested her hands on the back of one of the horses. “I recently learned that you Plectarans call me Jana Star Killer, but I have to admit, at this moment, I have no memory of the event.”

The soldier came forward, his steps unusually hesitant for a Plectaran who outsized her two or three times. He also knew that his platoon-mates had her surrounded, so there was no reason for him to be so unsure. Jana frowned, resting her forehead against the horse’s flank for a short moment.

If they were caught, then so be it. She’d taken Kol’s life—not necessarily intentionally—but the result was the same regardless of her shifting intentions. Kol was dead, and she’d been part of the cause. If his soldiers wanted to exact revenge for it, then she was almost resigned to it.

Frankly, she didn’t know where her life would go now. She’d had her revenge, and she was at loose ends. She didn’t have a purpose any longer—except maybe the larger one of trying to help end the collective’s hold on all those innocent worlds, once and for all.

But that plan was nebulous, at best. Sure, she had some valuable information now, taken from Kol’s dying mind, but that didn’t seem real.

Or, at least, not as real as the nine soldiers who all had her in their sights. A full platoon, minus the Talented leader who would be joined to the collective, she realized. Now that was interesting. Their babysitter was absent. Was that by their purposeful design? Or was it merely a coincidence?

“Word has spread among the Plectarans of your presence here on Mithrak,” the soldier went on. “I am Rilet. You won’t remember me, but I was part of one of your strike teams back when you were a battalion commander. I’m glad to see you whole and well, Commander.”

The man’s smile was wholly unexpected. Jana straightened and looked up into the soldier’s violet eyes. He was a younger one, and very striking.

“I am no longer a commander, Mr. Rilet. Please call me Jana,” she said tiredly. It had been one hell of a day, and it wasn’t even noon yet. “I’m glad you’ve survived life in the collective, regardless of whether or not I remember you. To be truthful, much of my time in the collective is a blank to me. I don’t remember most of the people I once knew and served with. I am sorry.”

“Do not be sorry, Lady. We Plectarans remember for you, as was prophesied.” An older man stepped forward from out of the greenery on the western side of the gate and came forward. He knelt on one knee when he was about three feet from her, much to her surprise.

Rilet knelt, too. And, one by one, the rest of the platoon came out of hiding and joined them, kneeling before her. Jana wasn’t sure what to do.

They were all looking up at her with various expressions of awe on their faces, and it made her distinctly uncomfortable. Then, she recalled the older soldier’s words.

“There’s a prophecy about me?”

“Aye,” said the old soldier, standing and facing her with his hands held respectfully clasped in front of him in a show of peace. “You, who were the savior of our entire solar system. You, who survived the crystal shards.” Jana’s hand went reflexively to the crystals in her face. All the men followed her actions. “You are the Star Killer. The savior of Plectar and of all the worlds swallowed whole by the collective.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Jana objected, just on principle.

The old soldier smiled and shook his head. “It is already done, Lady. The wheels of fortune have been set in motion, and you are already playing your part, though you may not realize it. We, of Plectar, will aid you on your way. The information you carry is vital to the fulfillment of the prophecy, and we are pledged to do all in our power to help it come to pass.”

Darak picked that moment to step through the doorway of the tower chamber. Jana was relieved to see he had left the pod behind. No doubt he’d sensed what was going on and took the precaution of leaving Kol in his pod, hidden inside.

She really should’ve ‘pathed him, but she didn’t know what to say. This situation was way too strange to be able to explain quickly.

“Hello, friends,” Darak said in a jovial voice. “Can we help you?”

The old soldier smiled and shook his head at Darak. “You have already helped us, StarLord. Now, I think, it is time for you and your lady to be on your way.”

“Are you part of Kol’s protective detail?” Jana asked, knowing she couldn’t let these men leave—which amazingly, they seemed prepared to do—without warning them.

“We are, and we’ve already taken precautions. We’ll take no blame for what transpired today, though our leader will. It is no loss. Our current platoon leader is one who truly enjoys his work, in the worst possible way. He volunteered to join his mind to the collective and has been licking Kol’s boots as he climbs the ladder. He is Kol’s protégée in all things.” The old soldier grimaced. “He will not be missed.”

“Then, you know what happened?” Jana had to ask.

The old soldier nodded solemnly. “It was foretold.”

The rest of the platoon got to their feet and headed toward the gate at the old man’s nod. He lingered to talk with her a moment more.

“We will not soon forget this day, Lady. We honor your sacrifice and your courage. You will always have a place on Plectar, if you wish it.”

Jana was taken aback. Plectar was famous for its warriors—and for its history of being off limits to casual visitors and immigrants. It was a mostly closed society that didn’t really welcome outsiders. For her to be invited there was a very big deal, indeed.

“I am honored,” she said with all due gravity. “Please, tell me, Sergeant, what is your name?” She had read his rank from his insignia, but his name was nowhere on his uniform. Collective soldiers were numbers and ranks, not individuals.

“I am Balthazar of the White Rock Clan,” he said, bowing his head slightly, though he didn’t break eye contact. “Rilet is my nephew. Every member of our platoon is from White Rock, and we are all honored to have been the ones to whom fell the task of helping fulfill the prophecy. It brings great honor to ourselves and our Clan.”

“Please tell me you truly won’t pay for this?” Jana asked worriedly. “We can find room for you, if you need safe passage away from here.” She looked at Darak, and he nodded.

“There’s no need for you to die today, men,” Darak said in a strong voice, backing her up. “We’ll take you with us.”

But Balthazar held up one hand, palm outward. “Your offer does you great credit, StarLord, and will not be forgotten, but we are safe. All has been foretold. But you two need to get out of here, soon, if you’re going to carry out the rest of your part of the prophecy. Do not delay. We will guard the entrance, but we cannot stay for much longer. Ten minutes is all I can promise you, Lady.”

“It will be enough,” Jana said, making a snap decision. She stepped forward to take Balthazar’s hand when he would have turned to leave. She looked up into his blue-violet eyes and felt the power of his hand in hers as she offered him a handshake—the sign of respect among soldiers. “Thank you, Balthazar of the White Rock Clan. I may not remember everything from my past, but I will never forget you.”

Daring greatly, she reached up and kissed the old soldier on the cheek. His grin lit up his face as he let go of her hand and turned to rejoin his men. Jana and Darak had found an unexpected ally in the Plectarans. Now, it was up to them to use the next ten minutes wisely and get as far away from Mithrak as fast as the
Circe
could take them.

Darak ran back inside and returned with the stasis pod on its sled, then hit the communicator. Jana sent the horses off with a slap to each of their rumps, and her good thoughts in their minds. They cleared the courtyard about thirty seconds before Agnor locked on to her, Darak, and Kol’s stasis pod.

The next thing she knew, she was on board the
Circe,
and Agnor was already breaking orbit. Darak went straight to his captain’s chair while Kol’s pod had been transferred directly to a storage hold. Jana was a bit dazed by all that had happened, but she got her bearings quickly and took her usual seat at the console off to one side.

It would take some time for her to process everything that had gone on down on the surface of Mithrak, but it looked like they had made a clean getaway. She only hoped Balthazar’s prophecy was correct, and he and his men would be safe from repercussions when it was discovered that Kol was nowhere to be found.

She assumed the other puppet masters might eventually send troops to investigate his disappearance from the collective. But then again, they were probably used to Kol being absent for extended periods. For one thing, from all he’d said and what she’d learned from his mind in those last moments, he was the only one besides the grand master who knew the location of Ipson, the crystal planet.

He dropped out of the collective routinely, when he did his runs to Ipson to pick up loads of crystal or oversee the operations there. He also liked to drop out of the collective when he wanted to play his twisted sexual games—like the ones he’d perpetrated on her. She was disgusted to realize that she hadn’t been his only victim; though, for a while there, she was apparently his favorite.

Jana did her best to put aside the disturbing thoughts as the
Circe
was put through her paces, racing at top speed back toward Council space. For Jana, they couldn’t reach Geneth Mar soon enough. She wanted to get rid of Kol’s information and pass it along to those who wouldn’t feel so soiled by going through his data.

Having been brutalized by Kol, Jana took no pleasure in examining his thoughts or data. She just wanted to forget it all and move on with her life.

She knew she would have to talk to the mind healer again when she got back, but she was ready. She was ready to move forward and discover whatever would come next on her journey.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The
Circe’s
top-of-the-line engines were straining, but it didn’t take too long to get away from Mithrak and back into Council space. Darak stayed on the bridge throughout, knowing that the information they’d obtained was too important to not give their escape his full attention.

As soon as Agnor was free, Darak asked him to send a priority message via telepathy—untraceable and impossible to intercept—to Darak’s uncle, Vizier Brandon. Darak took a few minutes to compose the message he wanted to Agnor to send and then sent it to Ag’s console. Darak saw Agnor read it, then sit up straight as if he’d received an electrical shock. Agnor then turned wide eyes on Darak, a million questions in his astute gaze as he looked from Darak to Jana and back again. Darak only nodded.

“Send the message, Ag,”
Darak ‘pathed privately to his friend and first officer.
“I don’t want to talk about it yet in front of Jana. She’s been through a hell of a lot, and I don’t want to add any pressure just now. I’ll tell you what I can as we fill in Uncle Brandon.”

What followed was a solid hour of Agnor acting as telepathic go-between for Darak with his uncle back on Geneth Mar.

Darak told his uncle everything he’d learned about Ipson and the structure of the collective, but knew he didn’t know half the story. Jana would have to be debriefed in detail, but he would put that off until they returned to Geneth Mar. She would need time to come to terms with everything that happened, and Darak would do all in his power to give it to her.

Toward the end of his conversation with Vizier Brandon through Agnor, Jana seemed to sit up and finally take notice of things on the bridge. She sent Agnor a suspicious look, probably noting his glazed-over eyes, which indicated a deep ‘path.

Jana turned her astute gaze on Darak, and he caught his breath at her beauty once again. She was still wearing the ragged clothing of Mithrak, and smudge of dirt graced her left cheek, but she had never been lovelier to him.

She sent him a message through his console, apparently wanting to keep her questions private.

Is Agnor ‘pathing the Council?
she asked via a text message. He simply looked at her and nodded. She turned back to her console and spent a moment composing a new message, then sent it to him. It contained a set of coordinates.

He sent back a one-word query.
Ipson?