“No,” Brevin said. “Please!”
“You know what you have to do,” Gallen said. “Just a few small words is all I’m asking. Give me those words, and I’ll put your pants on and leave you with your dignity intact. What do you say? You do me a favor, and I’ll do you a favor.”
Brevin seemed to think for a moment. “A universal Guide extractor can take off the Guide. Simply point the rod at the slave in question and press the blue button. Lord Pallatine has three of them locked in the security vault.”
“Tell me about this vault,” Gallen said. “How would I get into it?”
“You can’t. Lord Pallatine has an electronic key, but the vault is equipped with a personal intelligence that will only open when it recognizes that Pallatine alone has come to open it.”
“So I don’t have access to all that fancy equipment,” Gallen said. “I just want to free my sister, quick and easy, and I don’t want to get caught. Surely you know how to do it.”
Brevin’s stomach muscles twitched, and for a moment Gallen feared that he would sit up, even though he was stiff as a twig. But the dead man said quickly, “First, you will need to catch her unawares. You should take her when she’s asleep. If you can’t take her in her sleep, you need to immobilize her so the Guide can’t fight you. It will take control of her body at the first sign of danger. If you can, perform the abduction in a room that has metal walls to block any transmissions the Guide might send. Then insert a knife at the back of the Guide near the base of the skull. You will have to cut through two small wires. This will sever the Guide’s neural connection to the victim. When you’re done, destroy the Guide.”
“What do you mean destroy it?”
“Put it in acid, or crush it, or burn it. It must be thoroughly pulverized on the atomic level.”
“What if the Guide isn’t thoroughly destroyed?” Gallen asked, half certain of the answer.
“If the Guide is retrieved, its memory will identify you.”
“Thank you, Brevin. May you rest in eternal peace. I’ve already got your pants back on you, and all your secrets are safe with me,” Gallen said. He sat back and thought. He knew where Karthenor’s aberlains slept, in apartments near the cantina with windows over the river. He would have to work quickly-get in through the window and remove the Guide before the vanquishers responded to the alarm from the motion detectors at the window. Afterward, a simple toss could send the Guide off into the muddy deep. It would take the vanquishers some time to retrieve the Guide from the water. By then, Gallen imagined he could be well away from Toohkansay, on the trail to another gate and a new world.
He removed the bereavement hood, closed Brevin’s coffin, and shoved it back into its chamber. He knew that he couldn’t leave poor little Maggie any longer than necessary. He stared at the black bereavement hood. Its metallic cloth was of a heavy weave. Perhaps not as thick as the walls of a room, but it might block radio transmissions from a Guide.
Gallen could only hope.
The road from Toohkansay to the Cyannesse gate was clear most of the way, yet Everynne drove with a heavy heart, a sinking feeling of guilt. She had left nine ardent supporters dead behind her and had left Gallen, Orick, and Maggie to fend for themselves in matters beyond their understanding. Yet she drove on. Everynne skirted two smaller towns in an hour, barely slowing the magcar. When she was four hundred and eighty-one kilometers north of Toohkansay, the land began turning to desert, a sandy plain where only a few volcanic flows marred the surface.
This gate, unlike most, was in open view of the highway. Perhaps ten thousand years earlier, when the gate was built, the landscape had been different. The gate may have been hidden in a forest or swamp, but now it was in open view of the road. Even though the road was nearly empty of traffic, Everynne did not relish the idea of entering from a place where she would be in view of prospective witnesses.
She began to slow the magcar, but Veriasse waved his hand and whispered, “Keep going! Keep going! Don’t stop. Don’t even slow!”
She engaged the thruster to speed up, and on her rearview display saw six giant humanoid figures rise up from some camouflaged pit out near the gate. Vanquishers had been hiding, and now were watching them pass, perhaps wondering if they should give chase. If six of them were secluded there, many more would also be hiding.
“How did you spot them?” Everynne asked when they were far down the road.
“I didn’t,” Veriasse said. “I just felt uncomfortable. If Maggie was captured three days ago, then the authorities may have been expecting us. They’ve had plenty of time to seal off the gates and prevent our escape. In another hour, they will simply receive confirmation of our escape from Tihrglas, and matters will be worse.”
“What will we do?” Everynne asked. She looked over to Veriasse. He had been her mother’s protector for six thousand years. He was used to intrigue and danger in a way that she hoped she never would have to be.
“We will need to form some new allies here. We won’t get through that gate without an armed conflict.” He sighed. “I’d say that the city of Guianne is our best hope. It’s about five hundred kilometers south and ninety kilometers east of here.”
“Where Mother was killed?” Everynne asked.
Veriasse nodded slightly. “There is a shrine to her memory. We shall go and see if anyone tends it. Perhaps our allies will make themselves known to us.”
Everynne swallowed hard, trying not to cry. She had never seen her mother’s resting place. Of all the worlds they. had visited, Everynne had harbored only one secret wish: to see her mother’s tomb. And if Everynne died on this journey, as long as she saw her mother’s tomb first, then she would feel that she had accomplished at least one significant act.
“I know where three allies are,” Everynne said. “They’re right on our way, and at this moment, they need our help.”
Veriasse sighed deeply. “You are right, of course. We’ll stop and get them. But I won’t let you put yourself in jeopardy. If they are in trouble, I will try to rescue them. And if I fail, you must promise to go on without me.”
“I promise.” Everynne’s heart leapt. She had not felt right about leaving Maggie in captivity. She turned the magcar around, and as she soared over the highway toward Toohkansay, she felt light and free.
Two hours later, Veriasse crept over the hill to Gallen’s camp. The early afternoon sunlight slanting through the trees dappled the leaves in purple and scarlet. Veriasse had pulled the magcar off the highway, hidden it in the brush. He was skilled at moving quietly. In his cloak of concealment, wearing a specially designed scent from the planet Jowlaith that neutralized his body odors, Veriasse could pass through the woods unnoticed by all but the most wary forest animals.
Thus he came upon Orick unawares. The bear had retired to a glade, and there he had been busy making a small shelter by leaning broken pine branches up against a tree. The shelter was finished, and now the bear sat beside it, engaged in fervent prayer. “Holy Father,” Orick grumbled, shaking like a cub, “spare Maggie and Gallen. Bring them alive and safe from the realm of these damned sidhe. They are innocent of everything, innocent of any desires to do evil. I brought them here by accident, because there was no other way to save their lives, and I did not mean to break your commandments in doing so. If we have sinned ignorantly, I pray that the sins will be upon my head, and that Maggie and Gallen will be found guiltless-”
“I am sure that your friends will be found guiltless,” Veriasse said, startling Orick. The bear tried to stand, and twisted around so fiercely in his panic that he fell over.
“You!” he roared accusingly. “What are you doing here?”
“The gate we sought was guarded by vanquishers,” Veriasse said. “We have been forced to make new plans. I came to see if I could be of any help to you and your friends.”
The bear gazed from left to right, scanning the woods behind Veriasse. “We don’t need your help. Gallen will handle things.”