Treasure of Light (The Light Trilogy) (56 page)

“Negative.
Negative,”
Erinyes ordered harshly, leaning forward in his chair. “You will take no action regarding the
Hoyer.
Comply with whatever Tahn tells you. Do not, I repeat, do
not
attempt to resolve any matters relating to Baruch’s status. We’ll handle that when we arrive in force.”

Lichtner perfunctorily picked a shred of lint from his chest and dropped it on the floor. “Very well. I suppose it would be safer to wait until we have a dozen or more cruisers in our skies to convince Baruch he’s outgunned.”

Erinyes grimaced. “What do you mean, a dozen? My understanding was that five—

“Not as of an hour ago, Captain. Slothen said Penzer Gorgon and six cruisers were headed our way. They’re apparently pursuing an Underground cruiser toward the Lysomian system.”

“Oh, mother of God,” Erinyes muttered under his breath. He straightened. Gorgon’s six vessels, plus the five he and Bogomil had commandeered made eleven. “This could turn into a circus.”

Then to Lichtner, he said, “Please rush those extra security precautions, Major. We’ve no way of knowing precisely when the
Hoyer
will drop out of vault and into your skies.”

“Affirmative, Captain,” Lichtner said in a silky voice. “We’ll be more than prepared. One last thing. Can you tell me what Baruch looks like? To my knowledge, no spectrum prints exist.”

“That is correct.” Reluctantly, Erinyes gestured to Ornias. “Ambassador, could you describe Baruch?”

Ornias stroked his elaborately braided beard and strolled in front of the forward screen again. “He’s over six feet tall. I should guess around six feet four inches. He has blond hair, a reddish-blond beard, and blue eyes. If you see him, Major, you’ll know him. He carries himself with an air of authority.” Ornias stopped, smiling up gloatingly into Lichtner’s face. “But most of all, Major, you’ll know him because he’ll probably go straight for your throat when he finds out who
you
are.”

Lichtner’s nostrils flared indignantly, but Erinyes saw the blood pulse more rapidly at his temples. “I’ll be ready for him, Ambassador,” Lichtner answered menacingly. “Tikkun out.”

The screen went blank abruptly and Erinyes glared at Tetrax. “Did it ever occur to you,
Ambassador,
that I might have had another question for Lichtner?”

“No.” Coolly, Ornias wandered across the bridge, smiling seductively at the female crew members before walking into the transport tube.

Erinyes gritted his teeth and gruffly flopped back in his chair.

CHAPTER 42

Neil Dannon sat in the near darkness of the weapons niche. Scents of dirt and oil tainted the air. Tahn and Halloway had been taking turns grilling him hard for over an hour and he felt crazed, on the verge of violence. “I—I don’t know, Tahn.”

The captain stood like a tall iron column before him, hands on hips, brown hair hanging in sweat-damp strands over his forehead. “What the hell good are you, Dannon? Baruch has redeployed his forces throughout the ship, and you haven’t the
slightest
idea what he’s up to? Damn it! What’s he doing?”

“I don’t know, I—I…. Leave me alone!” He’d stopped answering their questions because discussing Baruch made his stomach cramp so violently he couldn’t stand it. He’d gone over and over that brief moment when he and Jeremiel had stared at each other on level twenty. There’d been something in Jeremiel’s eyes that he couldn’t shake—some remnant of old and abiding friendship, a regret and pain that it had ended this way. It had conjured too many memories of a shared life that had been mostly good. Neil glared up at Tahn and Halloway. Every word he spoke to them made him feel like he was reliving that terrible night on Silmar when he’d made the deal with Lichtner to betray Jeremiel. His stomach cramped again. He bent forward in agony.

Tahn crossed his arms and looked at Halloway, tilting his head toward Dannon. She walked lithely forward.

“Dannon,” she said, “maybe we can arrive at some conclusions from a different angle. Let’s lay out what we know. Jere … Baruch has shifted his security forces, concentrating them in and around Engineering and the landing bays. He’s relieved all Magisterial personnel except the teaching staff and sealed them in their cabins. His own green crew is currently running the ship while we’re in the vault. Does that mean that he’s preparing them to take over completely when we arrive? Or is he just making preparations to usher the refugees into the shuttles as soon as we get to Tikkun? Or is it all a ruse to distract us from something else? Is it possible he’s substantially revised his strategy?”

Neil examined her from head to toe. She’d almost said
Jeremiel
and there’d been a hint of softness in her voice. Had his ex-best friend been using his charms to sway her to the Underground’s side? In such desperate times, Baruch would use whatever methods worked and damn the ethical considerations—though he’d never known Jeremiel to resort to seduction before.

He ran a hand through his moist black hair and forced himself to respond. “No. Jeremiel would never revise at this late hour, unless he’s received critical information that demands it. He wouldn’t chance confusing his key players. I suspect he’s probably redelineated his people’s duties and, for the moment, they’re involved in readying shuttles or preparing supplies.” He looked up and smiled gloatingly at Tahn. “You know, of course, that he’s going to cannibalize the
Hoyer
to make life easier for the refugees when they get to Tikkun.”

Tahn’s nostrils flared. “You mean he’s sending each down with a goddamned Magisterial dowry? Well, there’s nothing we can do about that. Let me ask you this, though, Dannon, is it possible Baruch’s planning on keeping his word and putting our people down first?” Tahn’s eyes gleamed with an eerie light.

Neil chuckled disparagingly. “Be realistic, Tahn. You didn’t
believe
that tripe, did you? He needs what’s left of your crew to serve as hostages if things really get bad. If somebody corners him, he’ll first try arranging an exchange, your people’s freedom for his. Then if that doesn’t work … well, you won’t have to worry about anything ever again.”

Tahn rubbed his chin, gaze drifting to Halloway. She wandered slowly around the edges of the niche, grimacing at the walls and floor. Neil’s eyes narrowed. He’d watched her go about her duties for months; he knew her style, brisk and militarily sharp. What was this new feminine allure? He shook his head, fighting against the clear similarities between her graceful movements and Syene’s. Did they affect Jeremiel in the same way? He felt suddenly numb—the thought like a knife in his back. Perhaps her newfound allure reflected exactly what she knew Jeremiel liked? Or was it his direct, if subtle, coaching?
Have you been doubled, beauty? Whose side are you on?
He had to know and fast.

“I’m worried,” Halloway said. “I think he’s pulling a fast one and we’re too caught up in the mechanics of our own movements to catch it. I’m almost sure—”

“Really?”
Neil laughed, a low laugh that made his own blood run cold. “When did Jeremiel tell you that? In
personal
consultation sessions? He’s a gem, isn’t he? Gentle, willing to bend over backward to compromise so he doesn’t have to hurt you. Yes, I can hear it now, ‘Carey, darling, just help me and I’ll guarantee the safety of everyone you love.
Help me, Carey!
’“ She seemed to stop breathing. He leaned forward, eyes sparkling as black as ebony. “And he’s got a reputation for being an expert lover. Oh, I’ll bet you like that, don’t you? Did he promise you the galaxy on a silver platter, too?”

Tahn glanced at his second in command and Neil could see the lurking doubts surface. So Tahn suspected it, too, eh?

In a low warning voice, Tahn said, “Dannon, if I were you, I wouldn’t—”

“You’re not me! And this is too amusing. Don’t you disapprove of treason, Tahn?” He thrust a hand out at Halloway. “God, I’ve seen this so many times!” he lied, pushing Halloway, trying to force her to show her hand.

He ignored the slight shift of her body, the cold glare she gave him. “This is standard operating procedure for Jeremiel. Seducing Magisterial officers is a game with him. He….”

In a graceful dancer’s whirl, she kicked out, her right foot smashing Neil in the shoulder. The force slammed him into a cooling unit, then sent him tumbling across the floor. He lunged to his knees to crawl, but she kicked him down on his stomach and her fingertips pressed painfully into his windpipe. From the corner of his eye, he could see her face tighten. He gasped for breath.

She smiled.
“You’re dead, Dannon.”

In a quick, catlike movement, Tahn took three long strides and knelt beside her, placing a restraining hand on her arm.

“Carey,” he said sternly. He tried to pull her hand away, but she jerked it back, keeping it against Neil’s throat.
“Carey!
Cool off. We’re all crazy from the tension. Don’t let this—”

“You’ll back me, won’t you, Cole? Dannon was obviously suffering from a bout of Gamant conscience. He was trying to escape to go warn Baruch about our plans. Right?”

A swallow went down Tahn’s throat. He hesitated uneasily, then got to his feet and walked a short distance away, turning his back on them. “Right. Make it quick and clean, I don’t want any inquiries.”

The cool way Tahn had spoken of his murder left Neil reeling. “Wait a minute! The Magistrates promised me asylum! Tahn, you can’t—”

“No, but I can.” Halloway smiled again, speaking to Neil in a caressing voice. “Let’s have a final chat, Dannon, shall we? If I get the right answers, you might even live. Hmm? What do you say?”

He twisted his neck to gaze up into Halloway’s icy eyes. “What—what do you want to know?”

“Details. Just minor details of the Silmar debacle.”

She toyed with him, smoothing her deadly fingers down his neck like a lover’s hand. Every muscle in his body went rigid. And still Tahn kept his back to the entire affair. Goddamn him! He was an agent of the Magistrates and they’d given him their word! A billion notes and a new identity.
But that wasn’t the reason you did it. No. No!

“For example,” Halloway said in a silken voice. “We had the Underground fleet in a foolproof trap. Our ships dropped in directly out of vault and started firing. We killed seven of Baruch’s cruisers before he could move, but when he did—he pirouetted like a skilled assassin, driving two flying wedges of cruisers between our forces so we couldn’t fire at him without killing each other. And in the midst of all this, in a lull when everyone caught their breath, he grabbed a shuttle and flew hell-bent for Silmar—abandoning his fleet. His shuttle even sustained two hits. Yet, he resolutely dodged our fire to get planetside.”

Neil’s breathing came in shallow gasps now, sweat stinging in his eyes. His position made him most vulnerable. If he could get on his knees, he might be able to take her. He considered it. No, no, it would be suicide. Even if he managed to take Halloway, Tahn would probably kill him out of some bizarre sense of loyalty to his second in command. “To rescue Syene.”

“I don’t believe that. He’s too much of a professional to throw away his life and endanger the safety of his forces simply out of love. Was he supervising a critical ground action? What else—”

“Oh, Halloway, Halloway!” Neil shook his head, chuckling hysterically. Maybe he
could
talk his way out. “I’d have thought you would have picked this up by now! Jeremiel has some fundamental flaws. He’s a cool calculating commander only up to a point. He can recover from any military surprise, but if you shock his emotional foundations, lie stumbles for a while. In that moment of agony, he loses it! He’ll sacrifice himself any day to—”

“Let’s discuss Syene. Try to imagine, Dannon, try to see in your mind what her last discussion with Jeremiel must have been like before he let her go into a situation where he knew she might die.”

He shook his head violently. “I—I don’t….” Her fingers once again pressed coolly into his windpipe. He swallowed convulsively, belly threatening to empty itself if he spoke another word. “He probably said something about how dangerous it was and she told him he was too valuable to risk.”

“Would she have discussed you? She had suspicions you weren’t the loyal friend Baruch thought, didn’t she?”

“Yes, yes, she might have. Syene and I never got along. She was always so fanatically dedicated to Jeremiel that it sickened me. I couldn’t even have a decent argument with him without her sticking her nose—”

Halloway shoved to her feet. She glared down, disgust and hatred plain on her beautiful face. Her full lips pursed as though she wanted to spit on him—then she briskly strode away, with Tahn following her immediately.

Neil rolled over onto his stomach and wiped sweat from his eyes, trying to catch his breath.

The 16th of Tishri.

The indigo shadows of evening crept over the hollows of the rocky cliffs that surrounded Block 10, dawdling like honey to pool in the crevices. Scattered puffs of clouds blew steadily southward, reddening to flame in the last fading remnants of sunlight.

Pavel watched them as he flowed with the herd of men and boys into the huge transparent amphitheater. Stretching in a three or four hundred foot semicircle, the glass walls and ceiling revealed the vastness of the desert. Dust devils whirled across the darkening sands in the distance. He clutched Yael’s hand, dragging her down the long aisle in the rear before they sat. Grandpa dropped to sit next to Yael, putting his arm around her protectively as he watched hundreds of others file in.