Destiny's Kingdom: Legend of the Chosen (18 page)

"It is not we who are the evil, Quade," said Echo as she spun, a twisting funnel of her blue dust enveloping her as she did. "But the evil is here, it has arrived." Mimic began her slow twirl as well, fading as she spoke.

"This evil, always the evil!" Quade said. "Does this evil have a name?"

"The evil does have a name Quade," Mimic said, her voice fading from reality to a sound inside his mind. "The evil is called the SanFear."

In an instant, they'd vanished, leaving Quade wondering, as usual, if they'd actually been there at all. He flipped off his reader, pulled off his boots and fell into his bed without undressing. In the darkness, he thought on everything, on the perfect simplicity of the night out with Trina, on the doom he felt whenever the emissaries appeared, and foremost, on the sense of sickness he'd felt when he was near the castle. As he rolled to his side, he wished for the sanctum of dreamless sleep that he'd had as he slept next to Trina the night before. The nightmares and the visions only came to him in his own bed or when he was on his ship, but never when he was with Trina. Did his calm and his ease with her run so deep as to remedy his dreamtime imbalance? He liked the idea that perhaps it did.

CHAPTER 13

I
t had been twenty minutes since Duplicity had dropped from the Tal/Den nexus, and a quiet anticipation filled the cockpit of the ship. What had been just a tiny beige ball on the long-range viewers was now taking shape as a planet, its dusty, pale color beginning to reveal the presence of desert terrain, marbled here and there by thin lines of blue water. The foreboding aura of Tal-Min Vista was apparent well before any ship came into range of actually entering orbit around it, and Clea knew that at any moment they would be hailed by one of the strategically placed security remotes. She glanced over the display panel, watched the sweeping light of the short-range scanners, which showed no activity in the area aside from planetary satellites. Clea knew that didn't matter, though. The remotes were so small they could easily hide behind anything, and relay their information back to the planetary defenses. It was only a matter of time now, before they were seen. And then the real fun would begin.
 

Clea smiled to herself and glanced around the cockpit at her crew. Gannet, who'd been with her from the start stared fixedly at the control panel, analyzing the final system check of the holo-distorter. Krisel spoke in a low voice to Delora, who had only been with them for a year, explaining the readouts and how the illusionary system worked off of the sensory bypass. Clea's gaze passed over the panel, which stretched from one end of the cockpit to the other. At a glance it might seem impossible to understand, all the glowing screens and gauges, the dual holographic projection viewers that showed what an opposing ship would see, the track balls which controlled the attitude and pitch. Clea understood every part of it, could pilot the ship by herself and even work its evasive false projection system if only she had another pair of hands. This was her ship, her crew, her life.
My life
, she thought to herself and a thrill rose within her as she looked back up to the forward viewers, where Tal-Min was closing fast. "
Your favorite little danger zone
," she heard Quade's voice in her mind and she would have laughed to herself over his words, but then she remembered the result of that conversation, and her face grew drawn and angry.

"Do you know anything about a place called P'cadia?"

Ire filled Clea's soul and she clenched her fists together to keep them from shaking as nervous anxiety came to the surface of her emotions. How did Quade know about P'cadia, and from a dream, yet! How long ago had Avalon told her the secret riddle about this hidden place? Years and years ago, when she was a wide-eyed child. Avalon had told her many things, but none that carried the weight of importance as the secret of P'cadia, and how it tied in with her destiny of the Chosen in the grand scheme of things.
 

Clea shook her head and sat up straight in her chair.
This is my destiny
, she told herself, looking over her ship's control panel again.
I make my own destiny!
Since she was seventeen and her parents left Bethel to roam freely on their recreation ship, she'd worked for this, struggled and finagled her way along the underbelly of the galaxy, managing to keep her smuggling work life separate from her home life on Bethel. She could've had it easy had she opted to travel with her parents, hosting gambling tournaments and distributing booth keys for Vicarious Life. But Clea still shuddered to think of an existence surrounded by addicted Venrey and wealthy, drunken, drifters that would look at her lecherously and attempt to charm her, as they often had on the rare occasions when she had visited her parents as an adult. Money and power were abundant on a ship like her parents', but those who took part in it had always been a vile lot in Clea's eyes. The empty, fierce, vexation of the older Venrey that abounded, and the rich, frivolous men and women that lavished thousands of chid for a weekend of Vicarious Life seemed distasteful and sad to her."Ever searching a distraction," Avalon had always said about those addicted to Vicarious Life, "but never searching their soul." The last time she'd visited she swore would be her last time ever. Let them come back to Bethel, she'd told herself. Because, like Quade, she'd opted to stay on the planet when her parents left the year she was of consent, like Quade-

Clea's thoughts were interrupted by the shrill screech of a warning hail. She was glad for the interruption of Tal-Min's Defense Central, and was further pleased when the identification stats of the guard who hailed her read across the screen.

"Warning alert: this vessel has been identified as the cargo ship Duplicity." It was a standard, automated voice. "You are about to enter Tal-Min Vista's restricted airspace. Retreat immediately or your ship will be arrested, and the contents evaluated as stated in Tal-Min's landing regulation guideline. You have sixty seconds to comply."

Clea looked to Gannet and smiled, and motioned with her fingers for him to slow the ship to a near-halt. She pushed a lever on the panel, requesting two-way visual communication, and leaned back in her chair when the screen above the viewport shimmered on.

"Hello Kendrick," she said to the guard on the screen.

"Clea Colletta," he replied with a shake of his head. "I thought that name Duplicity sounded familiar. Do we really have to go over the regulations again?"

"No, I'm familiar with the regulations," she said, quirking her mouth into a smile. "I just thought that maybe by now we could skip the formalities and save me some time."

"Outpost, Clea," Kendrick replied, his narrow eyes narrowing even further. "All cargo goes to the outpost first for evaluation, no exceptions!"

"Come now, Kendrick, it's water, it's always water, and yet you always make me go through this. Haven't I been here enough times to build a reputation with you on this?"

"If you came every day the laws still wouldn't change, Clea. Not for you or anyone else, now go! Your sixty seconds are almost up!"

"Have you ever considered a little vacation, Kendrick?" she asked, looking at her timer. Fifteen seconds, fourteen, thirteen… "Someone like you might really enjoy a little stint of Vicarious Life." From her pocket she pulled a stack of cards, and she looked at them casually.

"That's not a bribe I hear, is it?" came a threatening voice. Seven, six, five…

"A bribe? How insulting," Clea sat up, stowing the cards back in her pocket and reaching for the communication lever as she passed a signal to Gannet to turn the ship around. "It might've been a gift but now you've lost your opportunity. Goodbye, Kendrick." She cut the communication as he started to answer, and the ship banked hard to starboard. Two, one…

The warning light faded as the ship headed in the direction of Tal-Min's outpost. She watched the virtual display of what the security central's sensors would read, judging their position carefully. Never taking her eyes off that display, she whispered a command to Gannet.

"Now!"

At her word, Gannet bypassed the power to auxiliary for a tense five seconds, and the lights in the cockpit dimmed as the ship's secondary systems kicked in, then shielded themselves from sensor scans. The crossover was complete and the fluctuation only minor, not enough to cause suspicion even if they were under close watch. The lights fluttered back to normal in the cockpit, and the second virtual display began to read activity. On the left readout was what the planet's sensors were reading. On the right, what was actually happening.

A holographic projection of the ship appeared, from sensor scans, to be heading on a direct course for Tal-Min's outpost. The ship itself however, was following the original course it had been on, directly into orbit of the planet. Tal-Min's defense system was entirely based on sensor scans and not visual scans, so they wouldn't have to be concerned with shrouding their physical appearance on their way in. Once they got within the atmosphere and closer to the planet surface though, that would change quickly.

"Projection of Duplicity on course for Tal-Min's outpost, ETA ninety two minutes at current speed." Clea smiled at Gannet's formality. She could see the stats for herself at a glance, but he always felt compelled to announce them aloud. He had once been helmsman of an exploration vessel after all, and old habits die hard. She glanced at the sensor display, saw at least half a dozen defense ships in the area, but disregarded them, since they were too far for visual contact, and any readings they would get on her even if they could find her now would be merely shadows.

"Load exterior veil, Gannet." Clea adjusted a few levers, commanding the dorsal stabilizers to fold under, the vertical ones to flatten and retract. Fins, Clea had always called this disguise, because she thought it made the ship look like a little fish. Piloting Duplicity with its stabilizers at diminished capacity was a little more tricky, but the ship looked a lot more like a Tal-Min vessel to the naked eye as they approached the planet.
 

"Veil loaded and ready at your prompt, Clea."

Clea increased the acceleration and adjusting their trajectory toward the coordinates on the planet that Ryder had supplied her with. Now safe from the planetary sensors, they could prepare to land.
 

"Now, Gannet!"

As they traveled within the planet's atmosphere, the outer hull of the ship became shrouded in a disguise - a veil, as it were - that offered the appearance of a native ship of Tal-Min Vista. Through holographic projections, Duplicity was now of no interest to anyone on the ground who might glimpse up to see it, since it would have by anyone's judgment, gotten past the tight security outside of the planet's orbit, and now, with its false veil, looked like it belonged there anyway. It was a finely-tuned and impressive tool of disguise, and had served Clea well over the years for slipping in unnoticed to many restricted and forbidden places.

"How do we look, Delora?" Clea glanced over to where Delora was monitoring the sensors of both Duplicities, the real, and the projected.

"Looks good, Clea. I don't think Gannet really even needs me here to monitor him, he's so good at controlling that image." Gannet smiled but said nothing, his full concentration on navigating their false shadow on its bogus course. The projection had to be piloted as if it were a ship commanded from a remote, and it was essential that it didn't deviate from its heading, or worse, travel through random space debris, especially since they were likely being monitored by Tal-Min's Defense Central. Gannet and Delora would have to remain on board to continue this part of the evasion, while Clea and Krisel delivered Ryder's cargo.
 

"Clea Colletta, how did you manage to get yourself on a Tal-Min Courier ship?" Krisel came up from behind, imitating Kendrick's voice, the guard who had turned them away. One of the visual displays flashed with random shots of the exterior of the ship, and it looked for all the world like a different vessel. Clea craned her head back and smiled up at him.
 

"Is the cargo ready to go, Krisel?"
 

"Ready and waiting, Clea."

She flipped the controls to auto pilot, now that they were in their final descent, and swiveled out of her chair.
 

"Projection ETA, Gannet?"

"Eighty-seven minutes."

"Plenty of time." Clea gathered her necessary data reader and protective goggles, tossing a pair to Krisel. It was midday on Tal-Min, and both suns were high in the sky, blazing much too brightly off the desert terrain for the naked eye to comfortably stand for more than a few seconds. "We'll drop Ryder's jewels, I'll get a couple buckets of sand, and we'll catch up with our image in no time at all." Duplicity hovered briefly, then set down in the beige sand.

"Stealth and smooth, just like when Kalis stole energy from the planet Hechron," Clea muttered under her breath. There was silence in the cockpit for just a minute, then Delora spoke.

"But that's not how the legend of Kalis goes," she said, and immediately Clea mentally chastised herself for her loose tongue. "Kalis was a hero, a savior to Tal-Min Vista. When the planet fell out of alignment with both its suns, he was the first to bring light back to the planet, and from that, Tal-Min sprung to life from what would have been certain death in a matter of days. He traveled the stars and through great strife opened up a pathway to bring the suns back in alignment with the planet. The people of Tal-Min feel very strongly about their legendary hero, Kalis. They wouldn't like anyone referring to him as a thief, Clea."