Broken Vision (29 page)

A portal opened to her touch. Another white, empty corridor. Some muffled sounds at a
distance. She decided to stay in the first, larger corridor. Another portal. Another empty corridor.
The original one appeared to have no end.

The wall yielded under her fingers again. This time the new corridor wasn't empty. A body
lay crumpled on the floor, a blaster at its side.

She approached with caution. The body, dressed in the uniform of a Taragon temple guard,
didn't' move. The smell of death, thick and biting, hung in the still air.

She nudged him with her foot. Nothing. She stepped over him and saw why. His head had
taken a direct hit. She bent and retrieved the heavy double-barreled blaster. It was primed to fire,
but the guard hadn't had time to release the blast before he'd taken the fatal shot, which from the
condition of his shattered skull, looked like it had come from a laserray.

Hampered by the weight of the weapon, she could only test one side of the corridor at a
time. A portal opened, but not onto another corridor. Brutal sound and color flooded her senses.
Something flew past her line of vision. She heard a thump, followed by a shrill scream. The thunder
of weapons firing. Men and women shouted and cursed in many languages. The odor of singed
flesh and charred organic material rolled into the corridor.

She leapt backwards, confused, adrenaline surging.

The portal should have resealed instantly like the others had.

It didn't.

The tip of a magblaster cracked against its rim. The enormous body of a Taragon temple
guard appeared. Only his eyes, death-crazed, were visible through the thin platshield that covered
his face. He swung the blaster up, pointing it straight at her chest.

The muscles in her arms screamed as she struggled to raise her own weapon. Her timing
was off by a nanonan. She wasn't certain she could even activate the unfamiliar weapon. Instinct
drove her. Old training kicked in. She threw herself to one side. The blast from her attacker's
weapon seared her side under her arm, but took its destructive energy out on the corridor wall.

She was backed up against the wall with nowhere to go. Instinct and training had saved her
the first time. All she had left were sheer will power and luck. Even as the temple guard
repositioned his blaster for a second shot, her fingers found the firing mechanism. She steadied her
weapon. Before she could release the blast, her attacker stumbled, and fell face-forward at her feet,
a gaping hole in his back.

"Ma'am." Drakal stuck his head through the cavity and nodded at her. "Stay there, please,
until we've finished up out here."

Astonished relief made her knees wobble. She gulped in some deep breaths. Through the
portal, which had failed to close because it was partially blocked by the Taragon fighter's body, she
saw not just Mariltar warriors. A multi-nation team were engaging the Taragon fighters in a large
exterior plaza. And the winning side was clearly apparent.

A temple guard had found cover behind a low wall. She saw him pick a target.

She scrambled through the portal and knelt to aim her blaster. Her weapon slammed back
against her shoulder. The guard fell and didn't get up. Adrenaline pumping, she ran to appropriate
his position.

The Taragon guards were vastly outnumbered, but resisted demands to surrender. Only
after a long, fierce battle did the last one lay his weapon down.

Drakal appeared. "You don't follow orders well, do you?"

She shoved back her hair, which had fallen loose. "Where's Alerik?" Her side hurt, but she
ignored it.

A peculiar expression crossed his face. "He wasn't with you?"

"No-- Blazing starpits," she whispered. "I mean he was, but then Nargune..." Pain in her
stomach doubled her forward.

Drakal caught her with one arm. "Maegan?"

"I'm all right," she gasped. "I'm all right. Give me a nan." She pulled away from his hold
and bent forward, hands on her knees. The cramps slowly subsided.

"Is she hurt?" someone said.

"Don't think so. At least not seriously that I can see," Drakal responded. "She doesn't know
where Governor Mariltar is."

"This place is a warren. We need to get into those corridors."

"Nargune took Alerik away." Maegan straightened up. She didn't recognize the three
fighters dressed in Coalition uniforms gathered around them. Two were Soron. The one who wore
commander's bars, to her utter shock, was Taragon.

He noticed her inadvertent recoil. "Calm, lady. I'm on your side, but I understand how hard
that might be to accept. The majority of our population does not subscribe to the teachings of these
priests."

She shook her head. "Then how can you let your children be taken to build their
armies?"

A flash of genuine pain crossed his face. "Those of us off-world in the service of the
Coalition had no true understanding of the extent of the problem. We accepted that the power of the
priests had been neutralized. There were rumors of children who disappeared occasionally from the
more sparsely populated areas. Runaways from a hard life. Rarely investigated, at first, because the
parents never complained."

"Because their children's lives would have been at risk."

"Yes." The commander glanced around. "We need access to the rest of this complex."

"There are portals that open to pressure from the inside." Maegan couldn't quite shake her
mistrust, but for now she had no choice but to cooperate. "I don't know how they operate from the
outside. Everything seems connected in there."

"There are two that are jammed open," the female Soron said. "We can start with
those."

The commander jerked his head and barked some orders. Troops of Coalition fighters
formed and moved off through the portals. More portals began to open up around the plaza as the
groups progressed through the corridors.

Drakal had moved a few steps away to speak with the commander. In the center of the
plaza, Coalition fighters were preparing the prisoners for transport. Med teams were caring for the
wounded. No one paid her any attention.

She picked up her blaster and began to edge toward the nearest opening.

"Maegan!"

For a nanonan, she contemplated running, but realized she wouldn't get far. Drakal
sounded out of patience.

"Alerik and Morgon are in there somewhere with Nargune," she said.

"And we have hundreds of Coalition fighters looking for them," he said. "What you saw
here was just one unit. A medtech should look at your side."

"I'm fine," she said. The stinging pain had subsided to a dull throb long ago. "I can go with
one of the groups. I promise I'll stay with them." She swallowed. "I need to do something."

Drakal grimaced and gave a sharp nod. "Stay here." He strode across the plaza to where the
commander now stood with the prisoners. They had a short conversation, then Drakal made his
way back. "Let's go."

They entered the corridors at the same place she had come out. Once again, she was
hampered by her weapon and could only trigger portal openings on one side. She explained her
method to Drakal, who took the opposite side. As they moved through the system, they
occasionally saw other groups, which had branched off to explore the connecting corridors.
Something compelled Maegan to stick to this main route, the last place she had seen Alerik.

A portal opened on her side. An acrid smell accompanied a billow of smoke. Drakal
shoved her aside. She crouched to peer past him. In contrast to the main corridor, this one was dim
and narrow. A small fire burned beside the bodies of two temple guards, but even as she watched, it
flickered out. Muffled noises came from where the corridor disappeared into darkness.

Drakal stepped back and the portal closed. "Slieking place," he muttered. "I'm guessing
that part leads underground. Let's keep going." He gestured with his free hand. "How long has it
been since you saw Governor Mariltar?"

"I don't know. I fell asleep or lost consciousness and lost track of time. Nargune took him
down this corridor to see Morgon."

Another portal opened ahead of them and a small group of Coalition fighters
appeared.

"What's down there?" Drakal demanded.

"Just habitat pods, sir," a Merlon said. "All empty. No sign of the original
inhabitants."

"No other exits out of the pods?"

"Not that we found, sir. We tried them all."

"Stay with us. This is the last place the governor's mate saw--Excuse me." He paused to
listen to his communicator. Maegan saw the creases in his brow smooth out. His temple mark
softened from almost black to a slate gray. "Thank you. Please inform Commander Foster. He'll
want to notify his family."

His gaze caught Maegan's and he must have seen a question there.

"Corenna," he explained. "He was wounded in the first assault wave. They expect a full
recovery."

"I'm glad," she said. She had spared a thought for the black-haired man. She'd rarely seen
the two of them apart.

Drakal turned back to the group.

Impatient and anxious to move on, she began to edge past him. His arm shot out to block
her. A chilling scream erupted from the corridor just ahead of them and chaos ensued.

Pushed to the ground, Maegan could see little beyond the forest of legs. The screaming
continued, a sound of desperation and defiance overlaid with the zing of laser fire. Then abruptly it
cut off.

Maegan staggered to her feet. Her stomach was cramping horribly again. She knew
instinctively it had nothing to do with what had just happened. She had to get to Alerik. Time was
running out.

Cradling her weapon, she skirted the group. Drakal had his back to her. They were all
preoccupied with the Taragon guard, who lay crumpled on his back on the ground. As she passed
by, the guard looked straight at her. A terrible sound rattled from his throat. The menace in it made
her stumble. She jerked her gaze away. Clutching the blaster more tightly, she hurried on.

The corridor stretched out ahead of her with no apparent end. She began to run. She didn't
know what it was that drove her. All she knew was that it was far stronger and compelling than the
voice of caution that shrieked at her.

She heard a shout and forced herself to move faster. The blaster was heavy. She considered
abandoning it. Her boots slapped against the composite floor. Her heart pounded in her chest.

She slammed into nothing, bounced and fell. Her head smashed against the wall.

* * * *

"It's some kind of force field."

"Not like anything I've ever seen."

"Zap it with your laserray!"

"And have the beam bounce back on one of us the way she bounced? Use your deiming
brain!"

"You have a better idea or do we just head back and pretend it's not there?"

"Make him tell us."

"Anyone know Taragon? He won't respond to Universal."

"Contact Commander Tak," a voice snapped close to Maegan's ear.

She opened her eyes. Drakal squatted in front of her.

"Head all right?"

She nodded. The new throbbing in her head was minor compared to the urgency that
gripped her entire body. "He's through there," she said. "I know he is. We have to get to him. We
have to--"

"Maegan!" Drakal cut her off and thrust his face closer.

She bit down on her lip as she realized her voice had been rising with her panic. The two
fighters who had stayed with them while the others had gone back to the prisoner were staring at
her.

"We will find him," Drakal said more gently. "If we have to dismantle this entire system,
we will find him."

"And he'll be dead," she whispered. "Nargune will kill him, and Morgon. She'll never
allow herself to be taken prisoner. She--"

A long moaning wail filled the corridor. It rose in pitch and volume until it was a scream
that made Maegan shudder with dread. Then it abruptly cut off.

Drakal was on his feet. "Blood of Cor, what slieking happened?"

One of the Sorons was coming back. "Dead, sir." The man's face was damp with sweat and
drawn with shock. "He just...expired. Commander Tak only asked one question."

Another fighter strode up. "Commander Tak's on his way."

"His wounds weren't serious," Drakal snapped. "How could he just die?"

"Nargune." Maegan didn't realize she'd spoken out loud until five pairs of eyes focused on
her.

Drakal frowned and opened his mouth.

"He's a senior temple guard," she said, cutting him off. "Did you see his faceshield
markings?" Tired of looking up, she maneuvered to her knees. The pain in her skull wasn't so
bad.

Drakal grabbed her elbow and helped her to her feet. She looked at the faces around her.
Two more of the fighters had joined them, leaving one with the body. Facial expressions ranged
from curious to outright skepticism.

"He's the last line of defense for the temple and his sha-priestess. He failed in his job. He
had to die."

"But how?"

She shook her head, then wished she hadn't as jagged pain tore through it. "I don't know
how. Nargune has powers we don't understand. That's why she's so dangerous."

"Not any more. Her power base has been destroyed," one of the fighters said. "There's
nothing left of what she's built on The Divide."

Gods. The news sent a shaft of sheer terror through her body. The Coalition, it seemed, had
come through and authorized a major offensive against one of the nine nations, not just a minor
rescue mission. It was what she and Morgon had worked so long and hard for. The child armies
would be dismantled, the children returned to their families or adoptive homes.

But at what cost?

"Don't underestimate her." Maegan turned and pleaded directly to Drakal. "Please. She still
has Alerik and Morgon, and we don't know where they are."

Or even if they're still alive.

Insidious and damaging, the doubts crept from the shadows of her mind and wove through
her thoughts. With the destruction of her world, what reason would Nargune have to allow Alerik
and Morgon to live?