Moonbeams and magic (42 page)

In Iverk's voice and forcing the Serian's face to line with anger, he cut off thQ flendal. "No, you come to me, Tochar. We have matters to settle. I will not be surrounded by your guards when we talk. I will await you here."

"He disconnected our signal," Tochar said to Auken. "Where is Dagan?"

"He's preparing the shuttle for our return later."

"Tell him to come after me so I can deal with Iverk."

"Dagan is making a minor repair on the shuttle's engine; it will not be ready for use for another hora or two, and Iverk is crazed. He's been acting this way during the entire voyage. Sach and I can't do anything with him. He won't tell us what's wrong, and we're afraid he might harm himself"

"You think I should come up now, not wait for the shuttle?"

"If you need Iverk back on Ulux, you should come settle him down. If there's trouble back there, you need to find out about it before he zones out completely. It would be faster and easier to teleport you here."

"You are right. Give me time to prepare myself Tochar out."

Ten preons later, Tochar contacted Auken and said, "Lock on to my coordinates and bring me aboard."

"Sach, are you ready in the transporter room?" Auken asked.

"Entering the coordinates," Sach replied. "Transmission in progress."

After Tochar materialized on the sensor pad, his black gaze traveled from Auken to Sach to Dagan, who was standing behind Auken. "I thought you were working on the shuttle," he said to Dagan as he stepped forward.

"It's fine. Welcome aboard and into my trap, Tochar," Dagan sneered as he left the concealment of Auken's body, a weapon in his hand. He watched Tochar gape at him in confusion, which gradually altered to ftiry.

"What is the meaning of this treachery, Latu? Have you zoned out? Take him prisoner!" Tochar ordered his two friends.

Dagan chuckled when the two men remained frozen to their spots, having been ordered not to respond to any of the man's orders. "They can't help you; no one can help you. By the authority of I-GAF, I arrest you for the many crimes you have carried out and instigated."

Tochar gaped at the Kalfan, then at his fellow Icarians. "Are you two betraying me and siding with this fool? Explain your actions immediately!"

"Auken, Sach, return to your quarters and remain there," Dagan said. He saw Tochar's dark gaze widen as he witnessed his men's obedience.

"What is wrong with them? What did you pay my friends to trick and betray me?"

Dagan grinned. "Nothing. They'll be sent to a termination unit just like you will after I get rid of those Destruc-toids."

The door swished open. Starla and the cyborg joined Dagan.

She smiled and said, "I see you have everything under control."

Tochar's gaze darkened, narrowed, and chilled. "You are both dead. My Enforcers will never allow either of you to get near my weapons. I suspected something was wrong. I told Palesa if I had not returned within the hora, to alert them to danger. If I am not freed immediately, she will have the weapon on my dwelling mounted to my ship and it will attack a different location on various planets until I am released."

Dagan laughed again and said, "Don't worry, Tochar will return to the surface very soon. He will be the one to destroy your weapons."

"You are reality-impaired! What deception are you trying to pull?"

"Before nightfall, your defenses will be destroyed and a large force of Serians and I-GAF agents will attack the settlement; it will be razed, as will the other villite havens on this planet. Cloaked ships are standing by to carry out the assault as soon as I give them a signal to begin."

"Where is Iverk? What has he told you?"

Dagan was surprised by Tochar's response to the stunning revelation, as if that bad news hadn't registered in his mind. "Dead; he was exposed and tried to assassinate Raz Yakir. That was me you spoke to earlier. I presume from your reaction and arrival that I impersonated Iverk perfectly."

"How could you pretend to be a Serian? That is impossible."

"Let's just say I used a little magic and cunning." Despite his claims, Tochar didn't look as if he believed him, but that didn't matter.

"What is wrong with Auken and Sach? They are not themselves"

"You're right. We control their minds and actions with drugs." Dagan saw panic and rage fill Tochar's gaze and

stiffen his body. Obviously, grim reality was beginning to settle in on the ensnared//^wJ^/.

"Why is Starla, here? Were you two working against me all the time?"

"Yes, separately at first; then we teamed up after you tried to kill her. She's also an agent, but not for I-GAF; that's all you need to know."

"How did you two pass my Thorin tests?" Tochar persisted.

"Let's just say we used another magical trick."

"Rendelar," Tochar guessed. "Soon, I would have controlled that and all other potent chemicals. I would have exposed and slain you both."

"If you could have gotten your evil hands on Trilabs; you can't."

"Who are you, Dagan? A blood lust for me gleams in your eyes."

"Curran Thaiter. I was a Seki when you attacked Gavas with that faked chemical hazard and killed my family and friends." He watched Tochar's gaze brighten as the evil man recognized that name from the past.

"Thaiter was the one pursuing us with a vengeance, but he is dead."

Dagan glanced down at his body and scoffed, "I don't think so. Do I look dead to you, my love?" he asked Starla.

Her adoring gaze roamed his frill length. "Not to me, my beloved."

"What—"

"No more questions, Tochar! Not by you anyway. It's our turn to ask them, and you will tell us all we need to know."

"I will not tell you anything, Thaiter! If that is who you are.

"Oh, I think you will; you won't have any choice. Is the Thorin ready?" Dagan asked the cyborg who nodded. "Put him under now."

They watched Tochar try to back away from the cyborg's

approach. He was unable to break its strong grip on his arms which were pinned to his sides. The fiendal thrashed and squirmed and cursed them as he was injected with the truth serum.

"You will regret this treachery!" Tochar shouted at the smiling couple.

"The only thing that feels better than defeating you, Tochar, is finding and winning this unique wom.an for my m.ate. I should be a little grateful to you since you're the one who brought us together."

Starla knew how much Dagan was savoring this coming victory. At last, he had justice for his slain family and the threat to their worlds would be over soon, and their bonding ceremony awaited them.

They listened and watched as Tochar used his remaining span of awareness to curse and threaten them with vows of horrible revenge, to which Dagan chuckled. Then, Tochar's brief questioning began . . .

Starla stared at Dagan in the transmuted form of their enem.y. She asked, "How do you feel?"

He lifted his brows and took a deep breath. "Strange. Shapeshifting is a wild experience. You can feel your flesh crawling and itching as it alters. Even your bones and muscles change. It's amazing, stimulating, but a little scary. That isn't my voice I'm hearing or my body I'm seeing." Though he had taken on Iverk's vastly different form for a short time, assuming Tochar's more similar one seemed just as incredible to him.

"You look and sound exactly like Tochar, my beloved. You'll dupe them. Soon, this mission will be finalized in a glorious victory. You have the password, so hurry before Palesa gets nervous and sounds an alarm."

"Tochar was probably deceiving us with that desperate

threat, but I won't take a chance he wasn't telling the truth. I'll see you soon, my love."

"If not, ril be coming down after you," she warned in a playful tone. "Please watch your back since I won't be there to do it. I love you, Dagan."

"I'll be careful. I love you, woman. Now, send me down."

He stepped on the sensor pad and she teleported him to the fiendaVs abode. She returned to the bridge and sat down, a device in her grasp to overhear the events taking place below her position. The drugged Tochar, Auken, and Sach were being guarded by the cyborg in Auken's quarters on the Adika. Cypher was at the helm of her ship, also monitoring Dagan's progress. The mixed Serian and I-GAF force was on alert, ready to take action upon Dagan's suc-cessftil return. Starla contacted her android and said, "Be prepared to rescue my love if anything goes wrong since I may lack time to signal you if that becomes necessary."

"Affirmative," the android responded.

Dagan masked his tension as he entered his transmuted form's lofty dwelling and immediately faced his first challenge: duping the Jiendal 's hermaphroditic lover. Although in public Palesa appeared to be and behaved as a woman—a ravishing creature with purple eyes, soft fair skin, and long red hair—she was Binixe, z race of androgynes whose bodies possessed male and female sex organs and were self-reproductive. They were a mysterious and private people who rarely intermingled with outsiders, so he didn't know how or when or why Palesa had coupled with Tochar; that meant he couldn't allow her time to ensnare him with a mistake.

"What happened, Tochar? Where are the others? What is wrong?"

He was relieved he had overheard Tochar's endearments for her and made clever use of them. "Only a minor prob-

lem, my beauty. It will be handled soon. Go to the Skull's Den and wait for me to join you there."

Palesa looped her arms around his neck and pressed her sensual body to his. "First, we must finish what we started before you were summoned. I will quickly arouse your appetite again. Let me remove your—"

Tochar grasped her wrists and loosened her hold on him, smiling as he did so. "There is no time at the present to enjoy ourselves. I have guests coming. I will join you soon at Radu's after I speak to them."

"I will retire to my chamber and wait there, and we will go together."

He stroked her cheek as he asked in a mellow tone, "Why do you disobey me this deega, m.y beauty? I have important matters on my mind, things to be settled. A man is arriving soon and he does not wish to be seen by anyone; that includes you, my precious treat. Besides, he is delivering a special surprise for you," he tempted the epicene being.

"What is it? You must tell me or I shall be overexcited with curiosity."

He laughed and shook his head, golden hair swaying at his nape. "Do not spoil my pleasure by coaxing me to reveal it. You must leave now."

"If you insist, I will go, but join me soon or beckon my return. I will reward you in many wonderful ways for my surprise. I will—"

To silence her, he grasped her shoulders, turned her body toward the door, and said, "Go, quickly; my preparation time is limited. You can also surprise me later with those delicious treats."

Via the large transascreen, the transmuted Dagan watched the Binixe exit the trans-to, get into a landrover, and drive toward the settlement. He hurriedly located Z2ii2if2i and had Tochar's abused slave teleported to one of the Serian ships for her safety and survival, disclosing to the astonished woman she was being freed and sent home. He didn't have

to worry about Tochar's two robots, as the automatons remained in an inactive mode until the Jiendal needed them to perform tasks.

He said to Starla, whom he knew was hstening, "Palesa and Zarafa are gone. I'm going to plant the first device, ril seal the door when I leave so no one can enter before the explosion."

After the device was in place and the timer was activated, Tochar took a landrover to the first defense structure. He gained entry with ease and speed using the password supplied by Auken and verified by the spaceki leader. He chatted with two men on duty while he surreptitiously planted the second device and started its timer. Afterward, he did the same with the third device at the second defense site. At both locations, he ordered the guards to lock the structures and to check out the area for a possible intruder; he doubted their lives would be spared when the detonations occurred, but that could not be helped. Taking any other action or assuming any other command would have been suspicious, even for their leader.

He rode to Yana's dwelling and entered it. "Starla, I'm ready to return. Everything is done here. Lock on to me and bring me aboard."

Starla was prepared to comply and did so. The moment he stepped ft"om the sensor pad, she flung herself into his arms and said, "You're safe now, my beloved. Transmute to yourself so I can cover your face with kisses. We have fifteen preons until the blasts."

He cupped her face with his hands and ftised their gazes. "I know you're a highly skilled and experienced off'icer, my love, but please remain aboard during the remainder of the action. There are a lot of villites down there who will fight their best to escape, and I don't want you injured."

It felt strange to be staring into Tochar's black eyes but speaking to Dagan. "Do you have to go? Can't the others battle and capture them?"

"rm an I-GAF officer, love, and this was my assignment; so it's my duty to assist the others. You've taken more than your share of risks during this joint mission, and most of the accompHshments belong to you, so please stay here where you'll be safe. I'll be distracted with you in harm's path. It took me twenty-eight yings to find you; I don't want to lose you now."

"What if you need my help as a backup?"

"I'll be fine, so don't worry about me. Besides, my friend Cypher will be monitoring and protecting me."

She knew he had faith in her prowess and his concern was bom only from love for her. She smiled and relented to his request.

"Thanks, my love," he said in relief and kissed her, "Now, I have to transmute. I don't want to go down there looking like this."

As soon as Dagan was himself again, they embraced and kissed; this time, their mouths meshed in a long and tender one. Arm in arm, they observed the three massive explosions on the viewer screen.

"Let's hope the devices worked and those Destructoids are gone."

"I'm sure they did, love. Well," he said, as he hugged her, "it's time for me to leave." Dagan told the large force of men to prepare to start the action in ten preons, which would allow the dust and debris to settle. He checked his weapons, kissed her again, and teleported to another ship to join a unit of agents who were awaiting his arrival before departure.