Collateral Trade (21 page)

Sharell chewed on her bottom lip while Tian washed her hair. “Do you know about Earth?”

“You mean that it’s kaput?”

Sharell nodded.

“Yeah. We ended up in some kind of time warp. From what I gather, we actually left there around the same time you did, but we’ve been gone almost ten years. Rue left about ten years earlier than us, and yet she ended up with the Lamerians only five years ago.” Tempest shrugged. “It’s the other Earth people we need to worry about, the slip-streamers who ended up on different planets. Strangely enough, women like us slipped onto the planets around the time the rogue ancients began to destroy these worlds.”

“Slip-streamers?”

Tempest looked up at Tali’s scowl. “Oops. Part of the big guys’ covert pow-wow.” She pinched her fingers together and zipped them across her lips.

Rue came splashing up to them, still holding her clothes. “Damn, Tempest. You should see the walls of the cavern under the waterfall. There are all sorts of jewels stuck into the rocks.” She held her hand down to Sharell. “Rue. Welcome to the irreverent mate club.”

“Um…”

“No sense denying it. I figure it’s one of Miranda’s qualification requirements. She needs ladies who can think on their feet, despite their big guy’s protection.” Rue watched the golden angel sitting behind the young woman massaging her shoulders. “Geeze, and you’ve got two to mess with you.”

I don’t mess with you. I take care of you.

“Please get out of my head, Tian. We have guests and it’s rude.” Tempest and Rue stared at her, obviously waiting for an explanation. “Tian is sort of psychic, but only with his twin and me.”

“Cripes, how cool is that?”

“Depends on how you feel about someone playing your emotions,” Sharell answered.

You did not seem to mind last night.

“Out. Now, Tian.”

“Yes, Sharell.” Tian smiled and sent a burst of passion into her. Her thighs slammed together while liquid shot down her channel and her cheeks flamed.
Is that better?

Rue and Tempest watched her strange reaction. Tempest said, “You are so going to tell me about
that
when the boys get together and we have our girl time.”

The couples left the baths and dressed. Laiya returned and led them on a tour of the finion trees. Just passed noon, Sharell, Tempest and Rue were summoned to the edge of the outlands. They followed the procession walking behind Miranda as Zulien led her to their shuttle. They stood outside the bay, and Miranda stretched up to whisper something to him. He nodded, and stepped aside, waving to Chaya, Tian, Tali and Isari to follow him. They watched closely while Miranda led their mates to the side of the path.

Miranda bent down and picked up a piece of amber, two emerald gems, and three blue sapphires. She held the small stones in one fist, and raised it to the sun. “Goddess, protect my sisters and help us fulfill the prophecy.”

Rue and Sharell gasped when a beam of light seemed to shoot through the petite woman’s hand. Tempest chuckled, and whispered, “She does that stuff all the time. Believe it or not, you get used to it. After the building of the crystal temples, nothing surprises me any more.”

Miranda opened her fist. She handed Rue the amber ring, blended with sapphire. Tempest and Sharell both received emerald and sapphire rings, matching the color of their eyes and melded with the color of the Ancient’s. “Tempest, you know what to tell them?”

“Yes, Miranda. Keep an eye on the kids for me.”

“I’m sure your mother has them well spoiled,” Miranda smiled. She gave Tempest a hug, and whispered, “I know I will see you again.”

Tempest leaned back and looked into her eyes. “You sure?”

“Yes.” It was true. Miranda could see both Tempest and Rue in the future. It was Sharell’s future that was cloaked in a black fog of mystery.

Rue and Tempest hopped into their shuttles and flew back to their orbiting battleships. “How long do we have?” Sharell asked.

“We join with them in three days,” Chaya answered.

His shoulders were slightly slumped while they walked down the path, and Sharell pulled him to a stop. She looked up into his dark eyes. “I know you tried to change her mind. It took great courage for you to approach the Ancient to try to keep me safe. I’m not afraid, Chaya. I’ll be with you and Tian, so I’m not afraid. Trust Miranda. She would not put Tempest, her dearest friend, in danger.”

His eyes still held the look of failure. Sharell smiled. “Besides, are you already tired of sharing your bed with me? I should think you would have a few more training tricks to teach me. If not, we could refer to the books on my tablet.”

Chaya smiled. “Diane and Larry. I must speak to Tian about them.”

Sharell was not crazy at the thought of sneaking to trysts around various spots of the ship, but at least Chaya seemed to be out of his funk. They spent two more nights exploring their limits, and then headed with other second-set twins towards the shuttles. Other than Tian, it was only dark twins going to battle. Light twins remained on Actana with their mates.

Farisa stood with Danilo and Enilian under the portico, and they waited for the elder councilmen to come out from the vault. Chaya needed to be officially assigned as a battleship commander for the mission. This was declared without hesitation.

The oldest elder approached with a parchment-wrapped parcel in his arms. Chaya raised an eyebrow and prepared to take the questionable package, but the dark twin held it out to Sharell. “The Ancient asked to see our vault. This has been buried behind scrolls and art masterpieces for longer than my lifespan, though I was not aware of its existence. She instructed me to give it to you, if your mate did not stop you from boarding for battle. The Ancient said not to open it until you were in your quarters.”

Sharell bowed her head, and Danilo was silently relieved she behaved. “Thank you, elder. I am confident of my mates’ abilities to protect me and calm my fears.” She raised her eyes and they flashed brezan green, matching her ring. “We will show everyone the fierce pride and strength of Actana.”

When they walked to the shuttle, the elder whispered, “The Ancient is right. Their mate is a warrior.”

Sharell sat in Tian’s lap, holding the package. She watched Chaya’s every move without distracting him. Something told her she would need to know how to do more than steer the small craft.

Can you hear me, mate?

Sharell tensed.
Yes, Tian.

We can guide you from the battleship if need be. Do you see the silver levers on the sides of the dash?

Yes.

When you lift them, they open the weapons bay doors. The lasers are controlled by the green buttons on the top of the steering device.

Thank you, Tian. Is this something I’ll need to know?

I don’t know.
She felt him stiffen and shudder.
I can sense your need to know how to fly the shuttle, and as much as I hate this, I want you prepared. You know I will be with you.

I know.
Sharell leaned back and watched them close in on the huge battleship docking bay. She hoped she would not need the information Tian gave her.

If Sharell thought the Cathisis was a modern marvel of technology, the battleship was truly astounding. Its brushed metal surfaces had archway doors and etchings carved into the finish. It was in their strange Actana dialect, but eventually she recognized them as symbols and could make her way around.

The three ships traveled together, with the Commanders and mates shuttling to one ship or another for dinner. While the men held their covert meetings, the women held their own.

Tempest explained Miranda’s history, finishing with how she built the temples. “For a long time, everyone thought she was the last of the ancient Atlantian bloodline. Before the destruction of Atlantis, we knew the Realm had tried to corrupt a few of the mystics. We just had no information they had managed to escape.”

Tempest leaned back in her chair. “We thought the last Atlantians had made it to Earth. Apparently, those who became traitors used the partial remaining system of slip-streams to escape. They discovered the Realm was going to execute them. Even though they swore allegiance to the Realm, their power made the Royals nervous. It didn’t take much for the Magistrates to decide that the Atlantians they compromised could just as easily turn on them.”

“What are these slip-streams?” Rue asked.

“They’re like a system of worm holes through the outer worlds. The original Atlantian ancients built them to travel to places that could support them. They held special rituals on the planets and built vast repositories for a magical crystal called nelam. It’s in most of the temples Miranda built on Valistara. I guess the Atlantians always figured they might need the slip-streams to escape the Realm, but by the time it came around, they had no chance to use them. Rather than give the Royals access to them, they destroyed the entrance within the inner worlds. Now, it’s kind of a treasure hunt to find them, though we know Earth had different portals.”

“And these ancients managed to escape to them? Did they destroy Earth?”

“No. We managed that on our own. Several from our planet have found them, though. Once these rogue wizards land on a new world, they suck the nelam from the planet and cause the slip-streams to become unstable. Basically, they are a one-way trip. We have found several outer worlds inhabited by Earth travelers.” Tempest took a sip of her drink. “We’ve left them alone, because this was generations ago and they’ve set up new societies that are doing fine. That is, until these ancients arrive to disrupt things.”

“These ancients don’t want to rebuild?” Rue asked.

“Oh, they rebuild, all right,” Tempest laughed. “These guys are really… really,
really
… old. I guess they’ve gone a little bonkers. Anyway, they build crap and eventually suck the life out of the planets. Then, kapow, everything is destroyed and they move on. Miranda caught a vision of one of the planets the ancients were on, and we held a month long nightly vigil, sliding the streams between time.”

“She can do that?” Sharell asked.

“Yes, but it knocks the heck out of her. Quiseeria is an old west type world, complete with gunslingers, and she barely managed to help Kera save it. Now, the ancients are on some kind of water world called Aquadea, but they might be gone before we can get there. They’ve used up the crystal beneath the surface for their building and the waters are rising. There might not be any land or people left by the time we get there.”

“What then?” Rue asked.

“The idea is for us to catch up, just before the ancients hit the stream again. Miranda is going to work with the priestess to roll back time again, or maybe press it forward. She’s going to try to lower the seas so the people will survive. We need to catch these turkeys before they shoot off someplace else.”

“How do we do that? I mean, they sound too dangerous to bring onto our ships,” Sharell said.

“We don’t bring them here.” Tempest smiled. “They hate Earth people because they can sense the Atlantian link to us. Basically, we… and I mean us three… are supposed to piss them off so they follow us into the slip-stream.” Tempest held up her ring. “A specific stream. One that Miranda is rebuilding to Vallasteria. The priestess have constructed a prison made of nelam crystal and empowered it to bind them.”

Sharell was silent for a moment, and then she burst out laughing. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous this sounds?”

Rue had little experience with magic before she met the Vallasterians, but crazy shit had happened since she left Earth. Rue thought of the women in the Birthing Temple on Lameria, and how they had been able to project visions. “Is it crazier than your big guy crawling around in your frikkin’ head and making you horny enough to jump him in the baths?”

“So not fair. Tian just has an emotional side most guys are missing.”

“I’m sure Isari wouldn’t mind finding his, if that’s what it does,” Rue laughed.

Tempest shook her head. “I could just imagine Tali being able to do that. He drives me nuts with his poetic endearments, speaking out loud.”

“So, what happens if we can’t get these wizards into the slip-streams?” Sharell asked.

Tempest was silent for a moment. “That’s where the guys and the battleships come in. It would take all three to fight the ancients’ magic. If we fail, the warriors are supposed to destroy the planet before they can escape again.”

“
Shit
,” Rue drawled.

“Yeah, shit,” Tempest agreed. “So, we aren’t going to fail. We’ll each grab hold of one by the neck, if we have to. We just gotta’ get them into the stream.”

The meeting broke up, and Sharell stood and yawned, taking Tian’s hand when he came to walk her to their shuttle. She was silent, and Tian asked, “You know why you are here?”

“Yes, part of it.” She also understood she could not tell them. They would try to stop her, and she knew she had to succeed. There was no way her mates could help blow up the planet and destroy her, no matter the cost to the Realm. Somehow, Tian knew not to press her for details. Sharell figured he would be more upset if she were evasive or lied.

A week after they left Actana, Sharell finally opened the parcel. Inside was a pair of black pants, a vest, and boots. She had always known this was what the package contained. It had been in her bonding vision. Sharell put them on, feeling Tian’s wavering calmness undulating towards his brother.

Chaya just stared. His eyes contained his silent anger, but he did not speak. Sharell walked up and ran her hands down his chest. “I need you to take me to the practice arena.”

“Mates do not…”

“Chaya, I need to go. You need to make sure I am as prepared as I can be. I need you to do this for me, Chaya.”

“Do you know how hard this is for me?”

She laid her head on his chest. “I feel it, Chaya. This is not something I asked for. It is something we must do to keep our children and people safe. And I need your help.”