Lady Lure (33 page)

Wrapped against the wind in a long, bright
blue cloak, Osiyar stood looking at the water. Though his back was
toward her, Perri knew who it was by his perfect stillness and by
his gleaming golden hair.

“I have been waiting for you,” he said as she
walked up behind him.

“You knew I would come?” Perri shot a glance
at him. They stood side by side facing the lake; Osiyar had not
taken his eyes off the water.

“It was a reasonable assumption. Kalina will
want to devote as much time as possible to the family she has not
seen for years. Alla is with Herne, performing a final examination
of Captain Jyrit. This is a secluded place, where I often come to
think. Why should you not find it, too?”

“I suppose everyone expects you to use your
telepathy even for such minor matters,” Perri said.

“Only those who do not know me well. The
Power requires energy and is exhausting to use.”

“It must be. I never thought about it before.
Osiyar, I am beginning to wonder if I have some telepathic
tendencies.” She went on to tell him about her brief experience
with the Chon and about the nightmares. “Tarik said that Narisa has
had similar episodes, but that she is not telepathic. Halvo thinks
it is all the result of prolonged stress. What do you think,
Osiyar?”

“Do you recall other such instances that
happened before you came to Dulan’s Planet?” he asked.

“No, never.” Perri’s answer was swift.

“Then, I would not worry about your contact
with the bird. If you had spoken to Herne about this, he might have
told you of the day when one of the Chon contacted him. The
experience left him with a terrible headache. You were more
fortunate than he.” Osiyar’s face lit with a quick smile that was
gone as fast as it came. “The dreams, however, are another matter.
Perri, I believe that you know something you do not realize you

know. Through the dreams your mind is trying
to release that knowledge into your conscious thoughts.”

“I fear Halvo may still be in danger,” Perri
said. “If whatever is buried inside my mind could help to protect
him, then I need to release it as soon as possible. Can you help
me? If you want to use your telepathic power on me, then do it. I
give you permission.”

Osiyar’s sea-blue eyes locked with hers.
Perri could not turn her glance away from his. As she continued to
stare into those blue depths, she began to feel slightly dizzy and
at the same time she became aware of a faint prickling inside her
mind. It was not frightening, but it was strange, foreign. The
sensation was withdrawn as soon as she recognized it.

“Child,” Osiyar said softly, “you have been
sadly used. I am sorry for it.”

“Never mind my past. It doesn’t matter now.”
Perri brushed aside his sympathy. “Just tell me how to help Halvo.
What did you discover?”

“I do not know enough about Regulan culture
to enable me to put the pieces together properly,” he said. “It is
possible that there is still another part of this puzzle waiting to
be uncovered.”

“Then how can I keep Halvo safe?” she
cried.

“He will be on a Jurisdiction warship under
command of the honest Captain Jyrit,” Osiyar said. “So long as you
are near, I do not think Halvo will be tempted to leave the
Krontar
a second time.”

“He cannot stay on the
Krontar
forever.” Pern’s growing frustration sounded in her voice. “Sooner
or later, I am going to be sent off to some distant prison planet.
If I remember something important then that might help him, it will
be too late. Halvo is too old to obey his mother’s insistence that
he stay safely at home, and he hates the very idea of a life spent
at Capital. He will leave. He will relinquish the security his
parents can offer. What will happen to him then?”

“Perhaps Halvo feels that a life without risk
is no life at all,” Osiyar said.

“There must be some way for me to dredge up
whatever information is lodged in my deepest mind and to recognize
what I need to know,” Perri said.

“When a dream occurs,” Osiyar said, “do not
resist it. If you are aware of dreaming, then try to learn as much
as you can.”

“I do,” she said, “but Elyr just laughs at
me.”

“Elyr may not be the key to the answer you
seek.”

“Then who? The Chief Hierarch?”

“Do you think it is possible?”

“Of course it is. He is the most powerful
person on Regula.”

“In my youth,” Osiyar said, “I was no
stranger to intrigue, myself. It is amazing how the powerful scheme
and plot. When next you dream, think of the Chief Hierarch.”

“Is that all you can tell me?”

“I know you are disappointed. You were hoping
for a simple, definite answer. But sometimes, Perri, the most
important answers are the ones we must struggle to find for
ourselves.”

“You sound just like my father,” she
cried.

“It was my intention.”

“He always told me to work out my problems
for myself.”

“He taught you well.” Osiyar was smiling
again. “Better than you think.”

* * * * *

The midday meal was over, the afternoon was
well advanced, and farewells were being said outside the
headquarters building. Jyrit, though still rather weak, had
recovered enough to join the party and to walk to the shuttlecraft
on his own. Halvo had insisted that he would pilot the craft to the
Krontar
with Dysia as his copilot, a decision that made
Perri feel left out. Halvo had paid no attention at all to Perri
since accompanying her on her morning visit to Jyrit the previous
day.

“Under other circumstances, I might enjoy
living here on Dulan’s Planet,” Perri said to Dysia. She was
wishing she did not have to leave at all.

“Perhaps you will return some time in the
future.” Dysia’s eyes were on Osiyar, who was at that moment
accepting Jyrit’s thanks with dignified grace. “I know I will come
back if I possibly can.

“Meanwhile,” Dysia said, as if giving herself
a lecture, “I have my career to think about. And my first duty is
to get my captain back to his ship – after I try to tear Kalina
away from her beloved grandson!”

From her previous views of the
Krontar
while she was on the
Space Dragon,
Perri knew the ship was
huge, but she had not imagined what it would be like to be aboard
the giant warship. The corridors seemed to go on for miles,
crossing each other in a bewildering maze. There were uniformed
Jurisdiction Service personnel everywhere.

Immediately after disembarking from the
shuttlecraft on the docking deck Halvo and Jyrit left for the
bridge to confer with the first officer, who had been in charge of
the ship while Jyrit was absent.

“The robot is to be placed in sealed storage
in the same cargo bay with the
Space Dragon,”
Jyrit said as
he went through the hatch.

“No, I want Rolli with me,” Perri cried. The
hatch slid shut behind Jyrit before he could answer. Perri wasn’t
even sure he had heard her.

“Your ship and robot are evidence,” Kalina
said. “They cannot be tampered with until we reach Capital, where
Almaric will decide what is to be done with them.” Kalina’s two
aides were waiting for her. She went off with them, leaving Perri
with Dysia. Immediately, half-a-dozen security guards moved into
position around them.

“Don’t mind the guards,” Dysia said, leading
the way out of the docking deck. “It’s just regulations to have
them here.”

“I must be an important prisoner of state.”
Perri tried to sound more cheerful than she felt. “I didn’t know
the
Space Dragon
had been brought aboard. There is certainly
enough room on this ship to hold it,” she added as they turned yet
another corner and started down a long corridor. She was already
thoroughly lost and could not help wondering how those serving
aboard the
Krontar
ever learned their way around the
vessel.

“Captain’s orders,” Dysia said, “and Halvo
concurred. Don’t worry, Perri. I have a feeling that both Rolli and
the
Space Dragon
will be released into Halvo’s care after
the technicians at Capital inspect them and make their reports to
Leader Almaric.”

With the guards marching before, beside, and
behind Dysia and her, Perri fully expected to be shown to a holding
cell. Instead, Dysia halted during their progress down the latest
corridor to push a button. At once a sliding door opened upon a
large, well-furnished cabin. At Dysia’s gesture Perri walked
inside.

“If I weren’t a prisoner, I would like this,”
Perri said, looking around. The carpet was light gray and the walls
were blue. On one side a large bed extended into the room. Several
built-in cabinets and a door filled the opposite wall. Two easy
chairs with a low table between them completed the furnishings. The
most striking features of the cabin were the three long windows
that allowed a clear view of the black space outside the ship.

“Are they real?” Perri went toward the
windows to look at them more closely. “The
Space Dragon
has
only viewscreens. I didn’t know it was possible to have windows in
a spaceship.”

“Technology is wonderful.” Dysia appeared to
find nothing unusual about the windows or the view they revealed.
“It’s not glass, of course, nor even plastic, but a special
compound developed by the Famorat, who, as a result of their
inventiveness, are now growing rich making and installing windows
in all kinds of space vessels.”

“The Famorat,” Perri said, recalling what
Halvo had told her about the mating customs of those folk. Then she
decided it would be well for her to pay close attention to what
Dysia was saying.

“This is the lighting control.” With her
fingertips Dysia stroked a panel near the entrance and the light in
the cabin dimmed. There were no lighting fixtures to be seen.
Illumination came from the walls and ceiling in a manner Perri did
not understand. “You can make the room completely dark or as bright
as noon if you prefer.” Dysia proceeded to demonstrate.

“I like it the way it was when we first came
in,” Perri said, and Dysia returned the cabin to a soft, early
morning glow that was remarkably like natural daylight on Regula.
The overall effect was heightened by the way in which the
sky-colored walls and ceiling brightened or darkened at a
touch.

“The food processor is over here in these
wall components. After your time on the
Space Dragon,
you
won’t have any difficulty using it,” Dysia said, moving to the bank
of cabinets. She opened a long door next to the food processor.
“This section is for your wardrobe. Push this button and you can
speak directly to the ship’s computer. Tell it exactly what you
want and it will measure you and produce the garments you request,
though it does take a few minutes. And finally, through this door
is the bathing room.” Quickly, Dysia explained the functioning of
the sonic shower stall, the sink, and the waste receptacle.

“If you should need something that isn’t
available in the room,” Dysia said, “the guards outside the door
can help you.”

“What I want is to talk to Halvo,” Perri
replied.

“I’m sure he will be in touch with you soon.”
Dysia paused at the sliding door to the corridor. “When I see him,
I will tell him you want to speak with him. In the meantime, why
don’t you relax, Perri? Have a shower and change into fresh
clothes. That’s what I intend to do as soon as I possibly can. I’ll
check back on you later, but right now I do have a report to hear
from the junior armaments officer who has taken my post while I
have been off ship.”

Left alone, Perri decided to follow Dysia’s
advice. Stripping off her clothes, she stepped into the shower,
which cleaned by sonic waves. She had used a similar shower while
on the
Space Dragon.
It worked well enough, though she did
not think she would ever prefer it to real water and scented
soap.

At least she did not have to close the
curtains over the cabin windows. Still naked, she stopped for a
moment to gaze out at blackness and a few stars. In the distance
she could just discern the faint, pinkish traces of the luminescent
gas that marked the boundary between the Jurisdiction and the Empty
Sector. She knew the
Krontar
had departed Dulan’s Planet,
heading back toward the Jurisdiction before she and Dysia had left
the docking deck, but Peril had no sensation of motion.

“I wonder if I will feel anything when we
cross the boundary,” she said to herself, “or if the
Krontar
is so large that I won’t even notice the difference this time.”

Turning from the windows to the clothing
processor she tried to decide what she wanted to wear. Except that
she knew she wanted a change from the tunic and trousers she had
been wearing for weeks, she could not at first make up her mind.
Never before had Perri been allowed to choose her own clothing.
When she was a child her mother had seen to her wardrobe, and after
she went into Elyr’s household his mother, Cynri, had made those
decisions. While she was still a growing girl her clothing had been
limited to two outfits at a time, which were changed when she
outgrew them. Her most recent garments had been a dark gray dress
for everyday wear and the purple-blue tunic and trousers she had
donned for her fateful interview with the Chief Hierarch. She had
been wearing the same clothes ever since.

“I want a lighter color,” Perri said
aloud.

“A more precise description is required,” the
computer answered her.

“Green.” Perri said the first color that came
into her mind. “Pale green.”

“Specify style,” said the computer.

“I don’t know. Oh, wait – that long, loose
robe that Halvo was wearing last night that his brother lent to
him, except it was blue, not green. Something like that.”