“Sorry, but I don’t think I can arrange to have you returned by day’s end tomorrow.”
“I don’t expect it. I was just making conversation.”
“Don’t, let’s make love instead.”
Some time later as she lay back replete, savoring the warm heaviness throughout her body, she heard snow begin to peck at the windows. Far to the south it was summer in Vayawand. She wondered about Jay, and Hastet, and Illyana. And Kelly. Sometimes she imagined she could sense him.
Zabb lifted his mouth from an in-depth exploration of her left nipple and said, “I’m going to miss you.”
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “You could still have me.”
“No, we both like girls too much.”
“True.”
He slid onto her. Pushed a knee insistently between her thighs, parted them. Grinned down into her face. “But I don’t think you’re going to forget me any too soon.”
“No. And I’m going to miss you too.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Air-raid sirens over House Vayawand. For an instant Kelly dithered – run to Jay and Hastet and baby, or outside to investigate? Something drew him out.
The wall batteries had opened up and were laying down a withering fire across the night sky. There were seven ships playing quick tag with the ground-to-air fire and shooting at a lone Vayawand ship that was diving and weaving.
Kelly grabbed a running guard. “What is it?”
“Ilkazam.”
That was very interesting. As Kelly watched, an Ilkazam ship blew a spine off the Vayawand ship, and the ground batteries blew it in turn to its ancestors. He tried a brief telepathic probe, but there was mentatic static filling the overmind. He knew it was a battlefield technique designed to disrupt telepathic communications, but it seemed awfully convenient in this situation.
Kelly turned and bolted back into the House.
“Ideal, Rowan,” Tach said, talking to the captain of the pursuing Ilkazam ship. “You’re not really supposed to shoot us down!” Tis gasped as the Vayawand ship bucked and shook under another hit.
Zabb didn’t respond to her. His face was a mask of concentration as he tried to hold the captured ship on course. Cosmic Traveler/Durg sat before the holoscreen.
“Password,” the defense officer was requesting.
The soul eater who had devoured the mind of the Vayawand captain supplied it. “Stalin.” The deep male voice emerging from the woman’s throat was horrifying.
Tis stared into the soul eater’s empty eyes, shuddered, and looked away. It was a rare gift – if such a term could be applied to a power so grotesque – and trust Zabb to make certain his elite team contained one. Soul eaters didn’t last very long. The toll on mind and body destroyed their mentatic ability in a very few years. Tisianne would refuse to train the gift if it surfaced. Which was probably a good indication of why Zabb was Raiyis of House Ilkazam, and she wasn’t.
There was a silence that stretched for an eternity. Then the defense officer said, “Preparing to drop the field. Come in fast, Durg bo Blaise.”
Traveler’s powers, in addition to insubstantiality, included a remarkable impersonation ability, but it didn’t include things like memories or voices. Tisianne stiffened with concern, but Traveler merely grunted; fortunately, it seemed a sufficiently Morakhian response. The ship dropped sickeningly, then abruptly leveled off, and they were down. Spies in the field had reported that the real Durg was traveling with only thirty soldiers, so the invaders had to scale back from their initial fifty.
Every one of the elite troop was a mentat. Zabb pulled them all into a TacNet, and they burned out the cortex of their captured ship. It was necessary to keep the ship from giving the alarm, but that didn’t make it easier. The troops were quickly mustering, Tis slung her assault rifle and tried to ignore the itch caused by the jewels pasted on her face. It wouldn’t bear close scrutiny, but hopefully they weren’t going to stand still long enough or linger long enough for anyone to notice. And they did have a real Vayawand noble with them. Bat’tam had insisted on accompanying them.
“Can this possibly work?” Tis said softly as the outer door of the ship was slowly cycling open. “A force of twenty-nine men and women and one groundling to assault an entire House.”
“Probably not.” Zabb grinned down at her. “But what a tale it will make.”
“Would you mind terribly much if we lived to hear it? I’ve always thought the concept of a dead hero was something of an oxymoron.”
Zabb closed a hand around her throat and pushed back her head. “Second thoughts?”
She veiled her eyes with her lashes. “A few.”
“It’s not too late to back out.” He ran the tip of his thumb across her lips.
“Yes, it is.”
“One last time for luck,” he said softly as he bent for a kiss.
Tis laid the tips of her fingers across his mouth. Held him at bay. “Better, I think, that we start weaning ourselves from this sort of behavior.”
It hurt him. He hid the hurt with a shrug, and a cocky, “Don’t trust your resolve. I understand I have that effect on women.”
The door was open. “On cousins too,” Tis said softly to his back as he descended the ramp.
“Let’s go.”
Jay looked up at Kelly. “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?”
The man gaped, glanced down at the bulge, back to Jay. The detective set aside his ysan, pulled out the waistband of Kelly’s trousers, and fished out the gun. He had gotten surprisingly deft with his stumps.
“Never.” He shook the laser under Kelly’s nose for emphasis. “Never stick a gun down the front of your pants. You’ll shoot off something you’d rather not lose. Tachyon’ll sure as hell be pissed if you shoot it off, and I don’t know if even the Takisians can grow back a dick. Now, is there some reason you’re running around like Rambo?”
“We’re being rescued.”
Jay glanced around. The sirens had fallen silent. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
“Yes!”
“How’d you get the gun?”
“Knocked out a guard.”
“Oh, good.”
Kelly tapped his temple. “With this.”
Jay sighed. “I could say something. You know how to use a gun?”
“Vaguely.”
“Well, point it vaguely in the direction vaguely away from me. So what’s the plan?”
“We get out of here. Keep moving until they find us.
“Moving is going to make us harder to find.”
“Harder for Blaise too.”
The mention of the sociopathic young man galvanized Jay into action. “It’s a wonderful plan. I’m in love with this plan.” Jay moved to the door of the bedroom. “Hasti, we’re blowing this scene.”
She emerged with Illyana over her shoulder. “Does that mean we’re leaving?”
Jay cocked a thumb over his shoulder. “Rambo here seems to think so. Says the marines have landed.”
“Are they part of the Network?” Hastet asked.
“No, they’re… never mind.”
“It’s clear,” Kelly called softly from the door.
They slipped into the corridor.
The plan was simple. Taj and the bulk of the force were designated to take out the defense center and open the way for a quick rescue by ships of House Ilkazam. Zabb and Tisianne, with Traveler impersonating Durg, would go directly to the office of the Raiyis and seize Blaise. So far they were doing great. They were into the House proper, and no one had spared them so much as a glance. Bat’tam was leading the way to the Raiyis’s office.
And then Durg vanished.
Mark Meadows stood blinking owlishly in the center of the corridor. Now they were getting looks. The four passersby in the hall went down to the combined assault of twenty-eight minds.
“Oh, bummer, man,” Mark moaned. “I short-sleeved Traveler so he couldn’t, like, lock me in a closet or something. Guess I got a little short.” The tall ace had pulled out another vial of the blue-and-silver powder.