“They don’t want us-or our dreams-loose in their galactic war.” Titus moved a step forward.
Abbot turned from his work, and Titus felt the whole of his father’s strength come to focus on him. He strained against it. His front foot shuffled forward. A trick of the lighting gave him a glimpse of Abbot’s face through his helmet, mouth twisted with strain.
Distantly, Titus sensed the flavor of H’lim’s power wafting through the hut. Abbot’s attention flickered to counter the luren, but H’lim was too weak to affect the struggle, except that now Titus was able to pull his trailing foot up. He had taken a step. Filled with the triumph of that, he jerked his right arm forward, reaching toward the transmitter, like a badly articulated robot.
“Don’t make me kill you,” said Abbot, voice betraying nothing of the expression on his face. His hand reached out for a tool lying on the console-a laser cutter. He started toward Titus. “What sort of nonsense has H’lim been selling you that you’d turn against your own blood?” He stopped with the laser cutter inches from Titus’s chest. j
“Humans are of my blood, too. And so is H’lim.” Titus managed another step, angling toward the console, not Abbot, daring him to use the cutter.
As he shifted angle, a movement on a screen caught his eye. Titus turned to see H’lim scrambling up the trail to the top of the rim. The four blockaders abandoned the approach to the hut and went after him. Abbot’s suitphones relayed the tiny voices cursing and guessing who they were chasing. But even when he reached the deep shadow, H’lim was hurting. He’ll never make it without Influence!
Abbot followed Titus’s gaze. “The fool! Doesn’t he know he can go to a final death in that solar flux?”
“H’lim’s more of a tourist here than you, and he doesn’t want to see war roll over Earth and leave it a cinder.”
“What does that stock breeder, who has never been honest with us, and has often been wrong, and whose knowledge is way out of date, know of current galactic politics? Or of the desperate situation we face on Earth?”
Titus asked, “We? And what of Earth’s humans? What will happen to them if we summon the galaxy’s-”
“You believe that dreaming crap?” Abbot interrupted. “This isn’t that planet, if it exists at all.”
You didn’t see Kylyd’s astrogation room! thought Titus. A technology that uses imagination to steer a starship could easily send information via dreams and telepathy, or concoct a law for the conservation of volition. “Listen, Abbot, it doesn’t matter whether this is the only planet where people dream. My mission is to prevent you from violating a World Sovereignties decision to prevent the galaxy from discovering Earth’s position. So I took the transmitter from the probe, and the other from the observatory.
“I never thought you’d find it before transmitting the ballistics data. If I had, I’d never have involved you in the scheme.” There was genuine admiration in Abbot’s voice.
“Involved me?” Titus pushed forward. The screen showed the four blockaders approaching the hut, deployed for a fight. H’lim got away! From a distance, the luren’s Influence flickered around the men and one fell, the others stopping to help him up. Weakened now, H’lim couldn’t hold them, and when they arrived, Abbot wouldn’t be able to control everyone and still finish his work. Gotta delay.
Abbot ignited the laser. “When I decided to use the Array, I needed a legitimate signal to cover mine, and I chose your scheme of bringing up cargotainers. It wasn’t hard. We have most of the key decision makers controlled. It won’t be much more difficult to take over after World Sovereignties is overthrown.”
Titus’s will flagged. It had all been Abbot’s doing! Abbot’s grip on him tightened, triumph blossoming.
Off to the side, Inea popped up and hurled something small, bright, and glinting, at Titus. “Catch!”
Abbot swiveled to face her, the glowing laser still pointed at Titus but his Influence freezing her into a statue that tumbled over grotesquely.
Reflexively, Titus’s gloved hand intercepted the object. A great, sweet light burst through his nerves. Inaudible sound penetrated his spirit. The silver glint of the crucifix reflected all the colored displays, sparking and whirling deep into Titus’s being. It was weaker than before and had a different texture, but there was a sublime energy, collimated and coherent enough to break him free of Abbot’s grip.
Inea gasped, “I don’t believe it. You can’t make me see Titus as a monster! You can’t!”
Abbot staggered back from Titus. Never before had he been effectively defied by a human. Titus wanted to grapple for the laser cutter, to jump in and save Inea. Instead, he lunged for the transmitter. His right hand closed on it as Abbot whirled and brandished the cutter at Inea’s throat. Influence pounded into her. He spat, “Don’t!”
Titus froze, gripping the casing. “Abbot! She’s mine!”
“Touch that rig, and you forfeit life and stringer.”
It was legal, from Abbot’s point of view. He had documented proof that Titus might be feral. Only a feral would turn against the Blood and rip out the transmitter.
Inea struggled, exerting an amazing force against Abbot’s will, and he had to grab her physically to control her. “What have you taught this one?”
H’lim was right! She can defend herself!
“Inea, remember when I was mad at H’lim for what he told you to do to me, and he told us what you could do because of it?” If only Abbot doesn’t catch on!
“Yeah,” she gasped, against Abbot’s control.
“Now!” shouted Titus. Simultaneously, he yanked the transmitter away from the connections and threw all his might into raising Influence. Then he hurled the transmitter directly at Abbot.
Deep within himself, a blast furnace of power reopened. But this time, it was white hot and focused to a narrow pencil of intent. He used what Abbot had taught him when they had to Influence each other against Biomed’s hypnosis check, and cut through Abbot’s defenses, inducing Abbot’s reflex move to bring the weapon around to ward off the flying object. Now!
The laser came up and flared. Two pieces of transmitter flew onwards, struck Abbot, and bounced to the floor.
With an inarticulate howl he discarded the laser, not caring that its activated tip ate a hole in the stone floor. He sank to his knees over the twin pieces of his last hope.
Inea, released from thrall, picked up the laser, moving at Abbot’s exposed back with deadly intent. Titus flung himself across the space and pinned her arm up. “No!” he said aloud, with no Influence behind it. “He’s neutralized. Kill him in cold blood, and you’re no better than he is.”
He couldn’t see her face, but he felt the muscles in her arm tremble with the smoldering need to slice into Abbot. Urgently, Titus demanded, “Would the priest who charged the crucifix approve of killing for revenge?”
She made a sound that was part sob, part laugh, and part shiver of terror. “I charged the crucifix, praying while he had you.” She let him pluck the cutter out of her grip.
Awe struck, he flung it haphazardly aside, not noting where it landed. It had been different. Very different. “Come on, we have to help H’lim. He can’t handle those four without Influence, and he’s going to-”
Deep inside him there was a tearing, rending pain as if someone had ripped his heart out by the roots. H’lim!
The ground danced.
Titus staggered, hanging onto Inea, who didn’t have the mass to hold him upright. They parted. Abbot struggled to his feet. Then a fluid wave of loose rock pushed into the hut, shoving everything before it. The roof majestically folded downwards. The floor jerked sideways.
One of the screens, detached and seemingly floating on nothing, showed the two crawlers sliding down toward the shed amidst a rock avalanche. Then it went dark.