Gates of Hell (33 page)

There had been a time, not very long ago, when the kind of awareness of anonymous death she experienced during battles tore into her and shredded her soul, even though she managed to keep functioning. She had always been able to adjust her shielding to absorb the deaths she’d been forced to inflict, but feeling death she had no control over was another matter altogether. She’d had to use drugs to strengthen her empathic shielding enough to function during battles aboard the
Tigris
. She used wild, frantic sex with Eamon to reawaken her emotions when the drugs wore off. The connection with Pyr strengthened her to the point where she was touched, but not bruised, by what happened in the fighting.

Eamon had pitied her, referred to her
blighted
shielding, made her so damned dependent on his love. No wonder he hadn’t wanted her to go away from him and rediscover who she really was; a telempath who needed the tie to another mind and emotions far more than any physical craving. She should have figured this out before. The koltiri on Bonadem had been right. She was an odd girl—until Pyr came into her life.

She tried not to be aware of Pyr, or let him feel any awareness of her. He didn’t need the distraction. She hated that she wished she’d gone with him. She wished she’d asked what his plan was, but she firmly kept herself from trying to take a peek. If Pyr needed her, he’d let her know. No, she shouldn’t think like that. This was not her battle; he wouldn’t think so, and neither should she. She hated that she was worried and restless, and wouldn’t mind if Martin wanted to get into a roaring argument to pass the time.

She turned around to look at him. “You’re getting what you want, after all. Or are you pouting because you weren’t asked to go along on the raid?”

“I’m thinking,” Martin answered. “Trying to figure out all the ramifications of your alien pirates having technology the Systems doesn’t have, and of the Bucons fighting each other. I dislike being used by the pirate or by the Monolems—”

“
You
don’t like being used? I think I’m the one
you
set up to be a pawn in the first place. I didn’t get to Bucon space on my own, Martin.”

“I don’t like the Systems being used or threatened,” he clarified. “The point of dragging you out here was to prevent a civil war, not for you to be the hinge piece in the middle of two different power plays. Still…” He ran a hand through his short, tightly curled hair. “The pirate guild has been officially outlawed. The Bucon government promised to curb their influence, if not outright get rid of them, when they signed the treaty with the Systems. And the Bucon government’s effort to dismantle the guild could easily have led the guild to getting involved with a Trin plot to attack the Systems with the plague and the drug.”

“Or the pirate guild might not be being used by the Trin after all.”

“In which case, we’ll have to look elsewhere for the Trin’s hiding place. Maybe your elf’s mysterious people are the Trin’s catspaw this time. But I like the idea of it being a faction of Bucon drug dealers.”

“You’re spinning scenarios. That what Sector Security Chiefs do?”

“Not normally, but I’m bored.”

“Is the United Systems Sector Security Chief wishing he was taking part in the battle instead of being stuck locked up in a sickbay with his crazy sister-in-law?”

“Yes,” he admitted, then shook his head. “It would not look good if it was discovered that a Sector Chief was anywhere near this battle of Bucon versus Bucon. Appearance of impropriety is not politically wise, especially when dealing with anyone as slippery as the Bucons. Though I’d love to get my hands on some proof of what the guild’s been up to before the Bucons get a chance to cover it up.”

“If the Bucons turn out to be working with the Trin, appearances aren’t going to matter.”

He gave a cynical laugh. “If. Big ‘if. Big, hard to prove ‘if. We won’t get a chance to prove it, Roxy. The Bucons can’t afford to let the Systems think that there’s been any contact with the Trin, even by an outlawed organization like the pirate guild or a bunch of renegade dealers.”

She recalled that the Bucons had joined with the United Systems as a defensive move, before the Trin attacked them and after General Order One was issued. She didn’t know whether the Bucons had agreed to the destruction of the Trin, or if the timing of the agreement would affect any decisions made by the All Worlds Council. She didn’t much care about the facts of politics when there were countless lives at stake. “Important thing is to stop the plague.”

“I just wish I knew what was going on. Linch could have at least let me on the bridge as an observer. You don’t need me to help you find a cure for the plague.” As soon as he said it, Martin’s attention left the battle and focused sharply on her. She felt his anxiety soar as they looked at each other. “Roxy,” he said slowly. “We have a problem.”

The last time she’d counted, they’d had a lot more than one problem. Her exasperation soared along with Martin’s worry. “Oh, lord, now what?”

“You should leave,” he said. “You should leave right now.”

“Excuse me? Leave where? Sickbay? When there might be injured brought in at any moment?”

Martin got up and came to sit beside her. He drew his chair very close to hers, and said quietly. “How do you plan on getting the data about the vaccine and cure back to MedService when you’re ready? Will Pyr or the Bucons simply let you send a transmission?”

Roxy understood that she possessed some very valuable information that had to be shared. She didn’t actually think Pyr would try to stop knowledge of the cure from being distributed, but he would try to control it. The Bucons were as likely to try to sell the cure in the same way they’d been selling Rust. None of that really mattered, of course, though getting past Pyr’s telepathic blocks would prove tricky if he decided to be stubborn about her giving the formulas away.

“How do you plan to get the data out from the heart of the Bucon Empire?” Martin persisted.

“Borders don’t matter. And space and time is somewhat relative,” she pointed out. “At least with my relatives.”

He shook his head. “That’s not the way.”

“I am a koltiri and Terran telepath. A combo of the two tricky kinds of telepaths, remember.” And Pyr was equally tricky, the strongest telepath she’d ever encountered.

“You can teleport without using a Door.”

In theory, yes. Well, in practice, actually, under all the right circumstances, and the circumstances were very rarely all right. “It makes me throw up.” And that was the only thing that could go wrong she was willing to talk about. “It will be much easier simply to contact Reine with the data.”

He shook his head. “No. That’s an order. You will not transmit any data telepathically, Physician.” He shook a finger at her. “I mean it, Roxy.”

Roxanne recalled that her sister had been evasive when she’d asked why Reine had made a comm call rather than making telepathic contact. Her sister had given a strong impression that it was more than pregnancy that kept her from using her telepathy. “Don’t tell me, there’s some sort of telepathic spying going on.”

“I won’t tell you.”

Oh, great, here was another complication she didn’t need. She leaned closer to Martin, so that their foreheads were almost touching.
Tell me
.

Martin was from Terra, the one world in the United Systems where telepathic contact with beings from any other world came easily for everyone. Most Terrans weren’t telepaths, but even the ones that weren’t had incredibly adaptable thought processes that allowed them to deal with telepathy. This was one of the reasons . Terra had become so important, even though it had only been part of the Systems for a couple hundred years.

Martin pulled away from her and waved the air as though slapping away stinging insects. Well, Sting was her nickname. After a moment he focused on her again, annoyed amusement in his deep brown eyes. “The Pirate League has been engaged in telepathic spying.” He ignored her skeptical snort. “It’s happened to Reine. Someone, probably a very strong Terran telepath with technologically enhanced power, has intercepted long-range telepathic messages from her.” He held up a hand before Roxy could inquire how he knew and why Reine hadn’t burned out the brain of any eavesdropper. “We have proof that data for Shireny projects has been plucked out of Reine’s head while she was transmitting it. It was always thought that long-distance mind-to-mind data transfer could not be tampered with. We were wrong. Reine is not the only one it has happened to. We have a serious security breach.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Short-range and touch telepathy seems to be safe enough,” he went on.

“Range shouldn’t have anything to do with telepathy.”

“Shouldn’t. Turns out it does.”

“I do not believe this. The League must have found some way to steal information and gotten Systems Security to believe in this phantom telepathy thief.”

“I sincerely hope that’s true, Roxy. But you are still not to risk any long-distance telepathic data transfers. Not even to koltiri other than your sister. You are going to take the knowledge with you when you leave.”

“But—”

He put his hands on her shoulders. “Because if you send the data for the vaccine and cure, this phantom League telepath might pick up the message. Then the League will know that Sag Fever can be stopped. What the League knows, the Trin will find out.”

Roxy nodded her understanding. The way the Trin were scattered now, it was likely that the pandemic was the power play of only one of the warlords. But that didn’t mean that the single warlord wouldn’t have access to any information the League gleaned from the United Systems. “The other Trin will admire his play, but he won’t have given his secret formula for the plague to any rivals.”

“My thought exactly. They aren’t cohesive anymore. They’re waiting to see what happens.” His laughter was hollow and sad. “Millions dead, and the Trin will think of this as a minor victory, at best, or a prelude to further aggression. But the main point for us is to get the cure home without alerting the bad guy that we can counteract the plague.” He gave her a stern, commanding look that was thoroughly incongruous on his currently teenage face. “If they know we can stop it before we have time to disseminate the cure, they’ll throw something else at us. Or they’ll bolt and set up shop somewhere new while we’re still tracking down the original source point. We need to hit the place where the virus and Rust are manufactured, and cut the Rust distribution lines without giving any prior warning. That’s why you need to personally take the data back to the Systems.”

She decided not to argue the point. “I have cured several cases of plague and Rust addiction recently. While I’m handling the healings better, I have no energy for teleportation right now.”

He didn’t look like he believed her, but she managed to stare down his suspicious gaze. “When you have the energy, go.”

“You used to be such a nice man, Martin.”

He shook his head. “No. I never was.” He looked back at her with a smile. “I just have a soft spot for the Shirah girls.”

And Lord knew the Shirah girls had soft spots for him, but Roxy wasn’t going to let Martin talk her into anything right now. She figured he wanted her away from Pyr more than he feared any telepathic spy. “I’m not going over to Pyr’s side, you know.” She ignored the sharp, wary look he gave her, and forced herself to smile despite the suspicion her darling brother-in-law aimed at her. “Besides, you don’t want me going anywhere until I’ve healed the Emperor for you. It’s good strategy for the Systems to have the Bucons owe us for their ruler’s life.”

He shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt to show them the practical advantages to the alliance, but you have to decide what’s important for saving the most lives, Physician.”

Nice of him to recall that she did have choices. She was well aware that the decisions and political advantages were hers to bestow and manipulate if she so chose. Which she probably wouldn’t, but, still, she was the one with the magic touch. Where did people get the notion that koltiri were selfless and self-effacing?

Somewhere far away, but very close in her mind, she felt a man die. Not for the first time, but this one mattered. It was as though she had committed the act herself. It filled her with Pyr’s fierce satisfaction, and also his sense of exhausted futility. Her fists clenched briefly, and she sighed, but otherwise she showed none of this to Martin. She said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were arguing over nothing? Maybe this will be all over in the next few minutes. With luck, the pirate guild will turn out to be behind the plague, and they’ll find the Trin responsible for it all dead in the rubble.”

“Think we’ll get that lucky?”

She laughed cynically. But the air around them rippled and shimmered before she could make an equally cynical comment. Purple and white lightning crackled around the sickbay, then coalesced into a wild glowing circle in the center of the room. The circle spread outward, swiftly whirling, blinding white light shooting out from it. Then it was gone. Pyr and his people stood where the circle had been.

The smell of blood was the first thing Roxy noticed when the white light that took her vision cleared. Then Pyr spoke her name and she was beside him as he gently settled a long, lean body onto one of the sickbay beds. Axylel. She exchanged one swift look with Pyr, gave the briefest of reassuring nods, then concentrated on his son. The young man’s hair was the same deep red as his father’s, the cheekbones as sharp. He looked to be somewhere in his late teens, but appearances were deceptive. His eyes were closed, but she knew he was not unconscious. His face was badly bruised. She only had to run her hands over his body a whisper’s distance away from his skin to detect the heat and agony of other injuries. She was aware of his effort not to show pain. Beneath that effort was a mind filled with chaos. Roxy moved away from the evidence of madness, cupped his face in her hands, closed her eyes, and concentrated on what she did best.

———

Pyr stepped away from the bed, then turned his back at Roxanne’s sharp gasp. He would not watch; if he did, it would break him. He would drag her away from the pain she took into herself, or he would urge her to sacrifice herself for his child. Even without watching, it was hard enough to endure as images of huge fiery monsters and black obsidian blades flashed across his mind. Lines of fire shot up his arms and legs and faded so swiftly it might have been his imagination. He was left with a half-remembered sensation, as though he’d experienced Roxanne’s bones burning from the inside out. The temptation was strong to follow her into the healing, to somehow help, but he left her to her business, and concentrated on his to fight off the fear for Axylel and the woman who fought to heal him.