Laura Jo Phillips (10 page)

Again she quickly found what she was looking for and destroyed it, and again she spent a moment searching for further problems.  This time she found something, buried deep within the man’s flesh near his shoulder.  Only this time she could not destroy it, though she tried. 

With a growing sense of urgency she removed her hands and her mind from Lio and turned to Ban.  “He has an explosive in him, like those men in the ground-car,” she said quickly.  “I can’t neutralize it, and I think it’s being activated now, or will be soon.”

Ban was on his feet and moving toward Lio before Saige finished speaking.  He held up one hand and did a partial shift, his hand transforming from human flesh to the fur covered, razor clawed paw of his loboenca.  He raised one claw and glanced at Saige who pointed at a spot just beneath Lio’s shoulder.

Ban sliced into the flesh without hesitation, then reached in and withdrew a small, flashing red device.  Realizing that the device had already been activated, Ban, Faron and Dav all focused their magic on it, encasing it in a cube of solid air.  That done, Ban raced for the doors at the far end of the room that opened onto a deck.  Dav followed him, and opened a deep pit in the soil beyond using earth magic.  Ban dropped the cube into the pit and together he and Dav replaced the soil and tamped it down.  Only then did the Lobos remove the shell of air around the device. 

Chapter
11

The Lobos and the Katres all had good enough hearing that, for them, the muted bang was clear, though Summer and Darleen heard nothing.  It was obvious that the explosive had not been strong enough to do much more than destroy the person it was implanted in, and anything else in its immediate proximity.  It would have caused damage to their newly built home, and perhaps would have killed, or seriously injured, Darleen and Summer since they were both so close to Lio.

“Apparently the Xanti are aware that Lio has been compromised,” Faron said.  “The question is, what will they destroy next?”

“The slave compound,” Summer gasped.

“Do you know where it is?” Faron asked.

“Not really,” she replied with frustration.  “Lio was only able to give me directions on how to get to it via ground-car from Badia.”

Faron jerked his chin at Dav, who hurried over to Summer, took her gently by the elbow and guided her to a quiet corner of the room.  It would only take a few moments for Dav to determine the location of the compound from the driving directions Summer gave him.

Faron turned to Ran.  “Contact the air field, tell them to prepare the VTOL for flight immediately,” he said.  Ran tapped the vox in his ear and began speaking into it as Faron turned to Maxim.  “We cannot accompany you, much as we would like.  With the Dracons gone, security for Lariah, Saige and their daughters is our responsibility.”

Maxim was already on his feet.  He bowed quickly to Faron, then turned to Loni.  “Call the bunk-house and tell whichever male-set is currently off-duty to get out to the VTOL now,” he ordered.  Loni nodded and stepped away to make his call as Summer approached. 

“Dav said that the compound is only about twenty minutes from here in the VTOL,” she said.  “He’s calling it in to the pilot now.”

Maxim looked at Summer for a long moment, his face unreadable.  “I think it would be helpful if you turned over control of Lio Perry to one of us.  He may be of some use to us.”

Summer shook her head.  “I can’t do that,” she said.

“Must you argue with me at every turn?” Maxim snapped, his pupils thinning with anger.

The entire room fell silent and Summer took a cautionary step backward.  Everyone in the room was shocked at Maxim’s outburst, including Maxim himself.

“I apologize,” he said stiffly.  “There was no reason for me to speak to you in such a manner.”

Summer was torn between hurt and anger.  But, she reminded herself, the women still being held at the slave compound took precedence over everything else at the moment.  She clenched her fists, but forced herself to speak calmly.

“I was not arguing with you,” she said.  “I am simply unable to do what you asked.  It is not possible, or if it is, I haven’t yet figured out how to do it.”

Maxim bowed.  “Again, I apologize,” he said, deeply embarrassed, and a little confused, by his own behavior. 

Summer wanted very much to ask Maxim why he disliked her so much.  She also wanted to know why it mattered to her.  But all of that would have to wait. 

“I accept your apology, of course,” she said briskly.  “I agree that Lio may have information that would be helpful, and I spent a year in that compound, so I think he and I should go along.”

An instant objection rose to Maxim’s lips, but this time he paused to consider before speaking.  “I am sure it would be helpful if you and Lio came along, Miss Whitney,” he said, forcing himself to sound as reasonable as possible.  “But there is a limited amount of space in the VTOL.  We will want to bring all of the women being held there back with us, and if there are as many as you think, there may only be just enough room for them as it is.”

Summer nodded reluctantly.  What he said made sense.  She only wished....  She reached up and touched the vox in her ear.  She had forgotten to remove it after calling for help earlier. 

“I still have Lio’s vox,” she said.  “Maxim, please, let me know as soon as you can if the other women are all right.”

“I promise, you will be kept informed,” he said, unable to deny her this small request.  Everything else aside, she had spent an entire year as a captive, and all she wanted was the safe release of her fellow captives.  Information on their well being was a small thing to ask. 

“Thank you so much,” Summer said fervently.  She requested the vox’s code from the device and gave it to Maxim.  He entered it into his own directory, then bowed shortly.   

“We will return with all of them,” he promised before turning and hurrying out of the meeting room, Ran and Loni right behind him. 

Chapter
12

Suddenly the meeting room was quiet. 

“Come and sit down with us,” Saige invited Summer and Darleen.

“Thank you,” Summer said, taking Saige up on her offer at once.  She suddenly felt very tired again.  So much excitement and commotion after a year of enforced calm was taking its toll on her.  She took the seat where Maxim had sat, and Darleen took the chair next to her.

“What was it that you did when you put your hands on us?” Summer asked Saige.

“There was a program and explosive in the Controller, hidden even from the nano-bots, which, if activated, would cause it to self-destruct,” Saige replied. 

Summer gasped and Darleen’s hands flew up to the back of her head.  “Don’t worry,” Saige said quickly, “I’ve deactivated it in all three of you.”

“How?” Summer asked.  Even with her ability to control the nano-bots she had not found anything like that herself.  But, as Saige had said, it was hidden from the nano-bots as well.

“Its kind of a long story,” Saige said. 

“We have time,” Summer pointed out.

“Very well, but first, Darleen, I would like to call Doc and ask him to come and check you over,” Saige said.  “Would you agree to that?”

Darleen stilled.  Doc.  She always thought of him whenever she imagined her body being returned to some semblance of normal, but she had not believed she would ever have the opportunity to see him again.  “Do you think he would agree to help me?” she asked.

“That will not be a problem,” Faron replied.  “Are you agreeable then?  We don’t have another physician available at hand, and you are in need of medical attention.”

“Doc?” Summer asked.

“He is the ranch veterinarian,” Darleen said, though there was no hint of sarcasm or belittlement in her tone.

Summer frowned, but Saige shook her head.  “Doc is far more than a vet,” she said.  “He does look after animals, but that is his choice.  He is an excellent physician as well.”

Darleen had not known that, but she was, somehow, not surprised by it.  “Yes of course, I would be most grateful if he would agree to see me,” she said.

Faron smiled and stood up.  “I will call him now, if you ladies will excuse us,” he said.  “I will also ask Lessie to bring you refreshments.”

“Thank you,” Saige said, her eyes bright with love as she watched Faron, Dav and Ban leave the meeting room. 

Summer smiled to see the expression on Saige’s face.  The woman she had met on board the
Cosmic Glory
had been distantly friendly, but withdrawn and a little sad.  This Saige glowed with happiness.

Saige turned back to Summer and Darleen.  “I know that what I am about to tell you will sound far-fetched, but please try to keep an open mind.  I promise you, it’s all true.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Summer said wryly, “enough has happened to me of late that I seriously doubt that I would seriously doubt anything you say.”

Saige grinned, then her smile faded as she considered how much she should actually tell Summer.  There were some things that she thought best left unsaid for the time being.  She did not want Summer to feel as though she was required to live up to a prophecy.  Either she was the
Mind
Riata had spoken of, or she was not.  That decision made, she cleared her throat and began.

“Riata, as Faron mentioned, was an Alverian Empath and Healer.  When she died, she passed her gift of Healing to me.  Later, she came to me in a dream and told me that she had been selected to be my Spirit Guide.  She said that she would help me with certain things when she was able.”

“What is a Spirit Guide?” Summer asked.

“Good question, and not one that anyone seems to have a specific answer for,” Saige replied.  “I think it just means that she will help me out now and then, like she did today.”

“She helped you today?” Summer asked.

“Yes,” Saige said.  “When I sat down here and closed my eyes I called to her and she came to me.  She told me two things.  The first thing was that her time on the plane of the living had already been near an end at the time of her passing, and that I needed to forgive Darleen, and myself for it.”

“Forgive yourself?” Darleen asked in surprise.  “Why should you feel responsible?”

“I suppose I feel like I should have acted sooner than I did,” Saige said vaguely.  “It doesn’t matter.  The other thing was, she said I needed to put my hands on all three of you, beginning with you, Summer, and that I needed to do it quickly.  When I did, I discovered the self-destruct program.”

“But how?  How did you find it?” Summer asked.  “I can control the nano-bots, and I have even been able to examine their programming to some extent.  But I never saw anything like that.”

“I’m not really sure,” Saige replied.  “I only know that it’s the first manifestation of the Healing power Riata gave me.  Even though she passed her gift to me, until now I have never been able to use it.  But when I put my hands on you three, I knew that I had finally found at least one way to use that power.”

A thought occurred to Summer.  “I wonder if you would be able to heal the other women,” she said with barely controlled excitement.  “The ones with the other type of Controller.”

“I don’t know,” Saige replied.  “Riata told me that I must Heal them, so I will certainly try.  You said that their minds were completely gone?”

Summer nodded.  Then shook her head.  Then shrugged.  “I honestly don’t know,” she said finally.  “The nano-bots in their brains are different.  They completely control the entire brain and body.  As far as I can tell, the women who have them are just...not there any more.  If I disabled them, I think the physical body would just collapse and die.”  Sumer sighed.  “At the same time, I can’t help but feel as though those women are still there, deep inside their own minds.  I don’t think they are conscious of what is happening to them, certainly not like I was, or Darleen.  I think it’s more like they are in a deep sleep.”

“If taking the control of the nano-bots away won’t help, I don’t see what I can do,” Saige said.

“I can control computers to a certain extent,” Summer said.  “So I could probably turn the nano-bots off.  But I think that’s all I could do.  You have the power of Healing within you.  I think you could do a lot more.”

Saige thought for a few moments.  “Perhaps we need to work together on this,” she said.  “If you can turn off the Controllers, then perhaps I could heal whatever damage they have caused.”

“I don’t want to risk these women’s lives with experiments,” Summer said.  “But unless we try, they won’t really have lives at all.”

A soft knock at the door interrupted them, followed by the housekeeper with a tray of snacks and drinks. 

“Thank you, Lessie,” Saige said as the woman placed the tray on the meeting table and began unloading it. 

“You’re most welcome, Mrs. Saige,” Lessie replied with a smile.  “Mr. Faron asked that I tell you Doc will be here in a few minutes.”

“Okay, Lessie,” Saige replied.  “Could you show him in here when he arrives?”

“Yes ma’am,” Lessie said as she picked up her empty tray and left the room.