Interphase (60 page)

=Access denied,= a strange voice replied in Anrathian. What did that mean?

Analara opened a tell to the others. =Thomas, Clyde? Lucas? Is anyone there?=

=Analara, thank goodness!= The relief in Thomas's thought was disconcerting.

=What's happening?= Analara asked.

=The gateway barrier was breached.= Clyde's tone was all business, and quite irritated. =We're trying to track down whatever slipped through. We could use a hand.=

=Where is David?= she continued worriedly.

=He went to Analath,= Clyde replied.

A cold blade of fear stabbed at her heart. =He went alone?= she demanded.

=He would not let anyone else accompany him,= Thomas sent. =He seemed upset. Did something happen between the two of you?=

=He didn't tell you…= The thought traveled through the channel before Analara could stop it.

=Tell us what?= Lucas replied sharply. =What happened?=

Analara squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to relive those horrifying memories, but she had no choice. They had to know. As quickly as she could, she told them about Jonathan's attack and the mention of Shalaron's name.

=Damn,= Clyde murmured. =That is messed up. That is
so
bloody messed up!=

=Why didn't he tell us?= Lucas exclaimed.

=Thomas, I need to ask a favor of you,= Analara sent, trying to keep fear from clouding her thoughts. =Please go to Analath and find David. I'll meet up with the others and continue the search.=

=As you command, my lady,= Thomas replied.

=Damn it, I knew he was going to do something stupid!= Lucas growled.

=Lucas, it will be all right,= Analara told him. It had to be all right. =Thomas, be safe. Bring him back.=

=You have my word.=

Analara turned to look for Jessica, but she was gone.

Don't worry, I'm still here. But we need to be going.

***

Thomas strode into Analath and raised his weapon. A strange floating crystal was firing a beam of green energy into the top of the gateway, suffusing the empty clearing in a soft verdant glow. Outside the grove, the shadows of evening made it difficult to see. Unsure if it would be successful, he chanted a small blessing to enhance his vision. There was a pause as the Analath system interpreted the requested alterations, and then Thomas's sight sharpened. Clyde's adjustments were still working. Night would be no obstacle now.

With his enhanced sight, Thomas detected a fire nearby. Moving as quietly as he could in his heavy armor, he drew near to the encampment. Several figures ringed the fire, speaking quietly to one another. A tall man in a flowing robe approached from the edge of the camp. The firelight illuminated his features, and Thomas recognized the face of Shalaron.

"The invader, David, has been subdued," Shalaron began. "I have left him imprisoned at the main camp for now. He will not interfere with our mission any longer. When the scouts return with the last of the shells, I will give you all your new forms, and we shall begin the Awakening. Tomorrow will herald a glorious day for our people!"

The assembled men let out a loud cheer, clapping each other on the back and raising their weapons in triumph. Thomas backed away amidst the noise and headed out of the grove.

David was being held at the main encampment, and Thomas had no clue where that was. With no other alternatives, he decided to try something out of the ordinary. =David, can you hear me?= he sent into the darkness.

Seconds passed, with no answer, nothing to even tell if the message had been sent. Thomas sighed and prepared to head out into the wilderness when a strange response returned. =
Message undeliverable, target incapacitated. Location tracer enabled.
=

Thomas felt a pulse in his mind, a beacon pulling him to a group of trees across the starlit plain. With no enemies in sight, he dashed across the open fields.

The pulse was close. He charged into the wall of trees and burst into an abandoned encampment. It was obvious that this had been a staging ground for a small group of soldiers, but there was no evidence that they were still in the area. He looked past the dead fire at the end of the camp and saw David.

Thomas ran to him and was shocked to discover that he was pinned to the tree by three foot-long shards of rock. Something about his condition interfered with Thomas's vision, as it appeared that David glowed a faint reddish color. As gently as he could, Thomas pulled the stones free, muttering a cantrip of mending over each of the wounds.

David was still unconscious, so Thomas hefted him onto his shoulders and began the march back to the gateway. David seemed lighter, as if something had eaten away at his body. Worried that Shalaron had done more than just impale his friend, Thomas increased his pace, nearly jogging under his load.

He slowed as they drew nearer to the gateway copse, and Thomas set David down just inside the eaves of the trees. He crept forward to see if there was any activity near the gate, but the shimmering portal stood undisturbed and alone.

Thomas picked David back up and strode quickly toward the gate. He was no more than twenty yards away when a crash in the nearby brush put him on alert. Loud growls tore through the stillness of the night, and two large figures rolled out of the branches. The snarling and snapping creatures were fighting with each other, and Thomas tried to edge toward the gateway while they were distracted.

David stirred and let out a soft groan. The two beasts disengaged from one another and turned toward the sound. Thomas swore to himself, lowered David and drew his greatsword. These were the same type of creatures he'd seen come through the portal when David first tried to show them this world. A name tickled the edge of his mind: eldranal. A single beast alone was quite a match; a pair of them together would be a dangerous fight.

Before they could fully orient on him or bring their deadly tails to bear, Thomas charged the creatures with a loud shout. The noise might alert the Anrathians, but surprise was his biggest ally here, and he could not afford to give the creatures time to rally. Both beasts hissed a warning at him and backed away, seemingly unsure about how to deal with such imposing prey.

Thomas swung his greatsword down in a mighty blow and cleaved through a thick bone plate, slicing a front leg of the first eldranal clean away. The creature shrieked in pain and tried to hobble backwards. A metallic screech sounded as the tail of the second beast tore into Thomas's unguarded back. Even with his armor's defensive warding and enchantments it seemed nothing more than a thin layer of metal to his enemies. He grunted at the pain, then turned to face his other foe, wincing as it ripped its tail free.

Thomas thought back to the first encounter with the eldranal, and recalled how David had faced the creature down. The tail had a weak point, a softer joint about halfway down. He watched the creature coil up for another strike and saw it. A small spot with no bladed bone protruding outward. Hitting it would require a precise attack.

He shouted his defiance and leveled his blade. The creature leapt backward and lashed out with the tail. Thomas aimed and thrust his sword. The joint severed cleanly, but the loose half of the tail continued its arc and buried several spikes in his shoulder.

Wrenching the severed tail free, Thomas staggered back toward David. At the current rate, he couldn't outlast his opponents. He had to escape with his charge while he still could. Behind, he heard the wounded cries of the two eldranals. He bent down and barely succeeded in lifting David back onto his shoulder. Dragging his sword behind him, he inched toward the welcoming gateway. To the side, he saw the eldranals return, one limping, the other growling. He knew there was no way to stop them both. They charged toward him, and he braced himself for the attack. He had to reach the gateway…

Hot air surged past Thomas's cheek, and the grove lit with red light. He turned and stared in amazement. The two eldranals were crumpled on the ground, afire. A scorched trail extended from their burning bodies back to a robed figure at the edge of the clearing. Shalaron watched him with a steady gaze.

With all of his strength, Thomas turned and pushed through the gate, staggering down the stairs and falling to the ground. They were safe.

Chapter 48

A sudden burst of pain jolted David awake. He blinked to clear his eyes and slowly recognized the familiar sights of his hover-bike module. He was lying on his back. He struggled to sit up, but his shoulder and leg felt stiff and painful.

The grove. Shalaron attacked me, burnt me. How did I get…

David turned and saw Thomas lying on the ground. Blood flowed from several gaping tears, and he clutched his shoulder.

"Oh hell, Thomas?"

"David?" Thomas looked up. "I'm glad you're all right."

"What kind of comment is that?" David demanded. "I'm a little sore, but you're bleeding to death." Groaning, he got to his feet and helped Thomas stand up. "Did Shalaron do this to you?"

"Actually, he saved me," Thomas chuckled darkly. "A pair of eldranals ambushed us before I could get back through the gate."

"Why on Phoenix would you go into Analath after I told you to stay?" David chided.

"Analara told us what happened with your father. She asked me to go and find you."

David bit back his retort and shook his head. It was his fault that Thomas was injured, his fault for going after Shalaron alone. Once again, he had Analara to thank for saving his life. "Thanks. Looks like you get to be my shining knight for once." He activated his wrist computer and tried to send a message to VERA, but there was no signal. He tried opening a tell channel to Analara, without success. "Damn it, the Analath system is bleeding through the gateway again. It's shut down communications. I need you to go get VERA and tell her that Shalaron is on the move again. He's planning something big. We need to blockade this gateway with whatever we can!"

Thomas frowned. "If communication is down, will I be able to leave? I'd rather not have to fight that mechanical rover solo."

"Try VERA's transference program. It's the best shot we have. I'll hold the line here until you get back with reinforcements."

Thomas touched a small engraving on his bracer, and a screen appeared. He executed a command and vanished.

David turned and faced the gateway. He tried to run a scan on the shield, but his computer was behaving erratically. Something from Analath was causing severe interference within V-Net.

"Monar, is that you?" a voice asked from behind him. David spun around.

He'd expected to see Anrathian guardsmen, but the four men standing there were all human. They had just finished dragging a dozen bodies through a transfer gate and onto the bottom stair.

The first man addressed him again. "I thought Shalaron didn't have any extra shells to use. We were supposed to bring back the last of the hosts to prepare you and the others to leave Analath."

David's thoughts raced. How did another human know about Shalaron or Analath? Shells? Hosts? An image of what Clyde had done to Analara and Jessica flashed in his mind.

Oh hell. Shalaron is merging Anrathians into human bodies. There's no way I'm going to let this happen.

David's eyes narrowed, and he lunged at the first man, striking him in the head with a quick punch. His target reeled from the blow and fell backward, tripping over the bodies on the ground.

"You're not Monar, you're one of the humans," he shouted. "Attack. Capture him!"

The other three Anrathians advanced on David and circled around him. They didn't want to kill him, they wanted to turn him into an Anrathian, like the others. Was this Shalaron's plan for humanity?

David tried to load any of his avatars, but between his wounds and the interference, he couldn't concentrate enough to complete the shift. Desperately he lashed out, striking wildly at each of his attackers. He landed several solid blows, but his foes rushed him, knocking him to the ground, pinning his arms and legs, and punching him repeatedly.

David started to lose consciousness, when a whooshing noise sounded just behind him. Something lifted one of his attackers up into the air and threw him away. A second attacker was peeled off and tossed. David watched in stunned silence as a metallic foot kicked his last assailant square in the chest, hurling him into a pile with the others. A strong grip seized his shoulder and pulled him upright. He came face to face with a Coldor heavy assault trooper.

"Stand behind me, citizen, for your safety," the robot intoned in a deep voice. It raised its heavy pulse cannon and pointed it directly at the possessed humans. "Surrender. If you do not comply, you will be destroyed."

The three attackers regained their footing, and looked from the robot to their companion and the bodies behind him. They turned and fled through the portal.

David spun and grabbed the last Anrathian by the collar. "What is Shalaron planning? What is your mission here?" he shouted.

The man merely grinned at him. "Siath protects me, outsider. You and your kind will be purged from this world, and it will be returned to its true people!" He spat in David's face and struck him in the stomach.