Shadow Hunters (24 page)

Rosemary turned to him. “The only reason this area has been forbidden to you is that Ulrezaj said so,” Rosemary said. “And you know for sure that Ulrezaj got you addicted to a really nasty drug, you half believe already that he lied to you, and if he is what we’re sure he is, he’s an abomination of pretty much everything you say you believe in. You’re a templar—at least you once were. So let’s go.”

Jake winced, but Rosemary had done nothing but speak the truth, and it rendered Alzadar silent for a moment. The power that Ulrezaj had exerted over the Forged was strong, Jake knew, or else they would never have followed him in the first place. But it was more than the drug. Ulrezaj preyed on the deep-seated fears of the protoss—their ancient dread of abandonment, of not being good enough. Jake knew how powerful that fear was because he had been one of them. He had watched the xel’naga depart, had watched what that abandonment had done to the protoss.

He shared his thoughts. “It is an ancient wound,” he
said quietly. “Because of Zamara, I saw it when it was made. Khas showed you the way—the way of unity, and trust. Honor that now, Alzadar. Trust us, as you know you can, and don’t let this—this monster sway you. Aiur protoss and dark templar alike abhor what he is and what he’s done. He needs you, your cooperation. Deny him that, and you begin to weaken him.”

Alzadar turned to him. Jake felt himself being analyzed by a very shrewd and very strong mind. He made no attempt to shield himself or his thoughts.

“This is Jacob, not Zamara, speaking so,” Alzadar said. “How is it you know exactly what to say, terran?”

Jake smiled wanly. “Because … I just might know you better than you know yourselves. And that knowing might be what I die for.”

There was the sensation of a slight wince, and then Alzadar nodded. “I … will come,” he said.

Jake hadn’t ever given much thought to his eventual death, or the manner of it. When he did think about it, when such esoteric conversations sprang up on late nights over deep camaraderie perhaps lubricated by a smidge too much alcohol, he’d always thought that he wouldn’t want to know. If he saw it coming, he had thought, he’d be so focused on that above all else that it would consume him.

It was certainly foremost in his brain now, but rather than shutting him off from life as it unfolded around him, it sharpened his desire to experience it. When Zamara had first broken the news to him a few hours ago, he’d been devastated. But at this moment
he was almost hyperaware of everything. Each bite of food tasted better. The sun- and moonlight on his skin were causes for wonder. The automatic functioning of his lungs, his heart, his whole body—amazing. And as he finally descended into the place where so long ago Temlaa and Savassan had trod, he was filled with a sense of awe and delight.

Zamara?

Yes, Jacob?

Whatever happens—I mean, I want to live, of course I do, everyone does, but … I’m glad. I’m glad you chose me. I’m glad I got to have this experience. Better to live fully than long.

The emotion that poured over him was like warm rain. It was followed by cool resolution.
I will do everything in my power, without compromising my duty, to keep you alive, Jacob Jefferson Ramsey. This, I swear.

Rosemary glanced up at him, saw the gentle, almost childlike smile on his face, and shook her head, smiling softly herself.

THE TWO PILOTS REMAINED WITH THE SHUTTLE in case they needed to escape in order to avoid being detected. They would stay in contact with the others while the party ventured down into the ancient chambers that housed xel’naga secrets. Their regret at being unable to accompany their brethren at this historically significant moment was tempered by their devotion to their duty. It was an honor to enter the chambers; but it was also an honor to serve the greater good.

Despite everything, Jake felt a surge of pleasure and excitement as he, Rosemary, Alzadar, and several of Those Who Endure descended the steps, treading in the footsteps of Temlaa and Savassan. He was not alone in his sense of awe and wonder, as he looked at the striated walls inlaid with softly glowing, jewel-toned gems. As Temlaa had done, he reached and touched them with his fingers, gasping quietly as he, as the long-dead protoss had, sensed a sort of … life in the very rock.

Only Rosemary, the one among them who had nothing protoss about her at all, was seemingly unmoved. The former assassin ran point for them all, along with two other protoss, hastening lightly down the steps with her rifle at the ready. Jake was grateful beyond words for her presence.

They needed to move and move swiftly, and Jake silently lamented the lost exploration opportunity. Still, when he had first “seen” this place through Temlaa’s eyes, he’d never dreamed he’d be here at all. So he observed as much as he could, taking it in with his own human senses, as they quickly and quietly headed into the heart of the place. His ears strained for the sound he knew he would soon hear, the rhythmic thumping, so like a heartbeat. He smiled as finally he began to detect it.

“After so long,” mused Ladranix. “Truly, the Wanderers from Afar are marvelous.”

Jake didn’t say anything, but he wasn’t so sure. He’d seen what some of the technology could do and the desiccated bodies it had left behind. He wondered if he’d see it with his own eyes today.

“Heh,” said Rosemary, speaking softly, “this is a lot faster than the way I came in.”

The stairs ended, and Jake felt the cool air swirling about him. “This is the first big cavern Temlaa and Savassan encountered,” he said. Rosemary waited for his nod, then moved forward. Light came up and all of them stared at what it revealed.

The beauty, the integration of the natural with the
technological, was stunning. Jake was deeply moved, and he looked around hungrily, at the softly glowing ceiling, the carved and inlaid stone formations that rose majestically from the polished floor—and over there, the control panel inlaid with small, circular, glowing gems.

“When Temlaa touched those gems in the Golden Mean order—the ara’dor—that wall over there opened up.” He pointed. “A slab came out with six desiccated protoss bodies on it. They were covered with wiring.”

He sent the memory at the speed of thought, and the protoss recoiled at the image. “Did Temlaa and Savassan ever learn why the bodies were there?” Alzadar asked.

Jake shook his head. “No. They assumed that since it was the xel’naga, they were trying to help the protoss. But … I gotta tell you, I’m not so sure about that.”

Rosemary fidgeted slightly. “Let’s keep moving,” she said. “The longer we stick around here, the greater the chance someone’ll find us.”

Jake nodded. She was right. But he was seized with a desire to tap in the ratio, one to one point six, and see what emerged if he did so. Reluctantly, he turned to follow Rosemary. She headed off into the next chamber, but paused for a moment. Catching Jake’s eye, she pointed to a smudge on the wall.

“Temlaa’s markings,” Jake said. Rosemary did not reply, merely regarded him with a grin that had only affection in it. Jake touched the charcoal; his finger
came away blackened. He had, quite literally, touched the past.

On they went, with protoss going ahead of them and following behind, alert for any sign that might mean discovery. So far, they had been very lucky. Alzadar had told them this was a forbidden area for the Forged, and Jake dared to hope their luck would hold. The heartbeat sound increased as they went inward, following a trail of charcoal smudges and the memories of a preserver.

Jake wasn’t prepared for it when he turned a corner and suddenly—there it was. He stopped dead in his tracks at the entrance to the cavernous room.

“Wow,” said Rosemary softly, staring as raptly as the rest of them at the giant khaydarin crystal that hovered above them. All faces were turned up toward it, pro-toss and human features alike bathed in the soft glow. The crystal was a wondrous sight, and for a second it looked blurry to Jake. He blinked hard to clear his vision.

It is magnificent,
Zamara agreed,
and if we are fortunate, it will mean your life.

He smiled a little.
Then it’s even more beautiful, if such a thing is possible.

Rosemary broke the reverent stillness. “Here’s your giant crystal, Prof. Now what?”

Now what indeed? Zamara wanted to get a piece of it, perhaps one of the smaller shards that he could see clustered around the base. But the crystal was a good twenty feet in the air.

“Uh … good question,” he murmured. “Any suggestions on how we get up there?”

“It is possible that there is a mechanism to raise and lower the crystal,” Ladranix said, shaking himself slightly. Like the rest of them, he was in awe of what they were seeing here.

Jake thought about what had happened to Savassan the first time the two protoss had experimented with the controls. The great mystic had almost had the very life essence sucked out of him, it had seemed to Temlaa. He grimaced. “Yeah, but I don’t want to be switching things off and on randomly. Not a good idea down here.”

“What is it you require?” Ladranix said. “Be specific, Jacob.”

Zamara’s impatience and sense of frustration washed through Jake. “She’s not sure. I’m afraid this part wasn’t in the script.” He pointed to the small shards clustered around the base. “I think we should start with one of those.”

Ladranix craned his neck, studying the crystal. “The distance is not too great for me to leap from the floor,” he offered. “The crystal does not appear to have any protective field around it.”

“Yeah, but your technology might not register something that advanced. No offense,” Rosemary said.

“None taken,” Ladranix replied.

Jake rubbed his temple, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. “I … think that may be the only way to get to it.”

Jacob, wait.

“Hang on a minute,” Jake said, extending a hand to physically stop Ladranix from stepping into the room. He saw what had given Zamara pause. “Those containers—they weren’t here when Temlaa and Khas were here. Those are new.”

Their gaze had first gone to the crystal, drawn by its beauty and magnificence, but now that Jake had pointed out the half dozen rectangular tanks, at least three meters square each, everyone stared at them. Jake thought they looked like giant fish tanks filled with ink. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but they looked sorely out of place here, their edges and unforgiving liquid darkness in disharmony with the blending of natural and artificial that surrounded them.

“This is no protoss construct. Nor do I think it is of the xel’naga,” Ladranix said.

“The Xava’kai,” Alzadar said quietly. “This must be their doing.”

“Then we’d better find out what they’ve been up to,” said Rosemary with her customary practicality.

Rosemary is correct. I … have dreadful misgivings. But we must obtain a shard of that crystal, or all is for naught.

Jake stepped forward, both fiercely curious and deeply worried.
I’m not going to like what I’m going to see, am I?

I … do not believe you will.

Rosemary was already stepping forward cautiously. Jake and the protoss followed. Jake’s gaze was fixed on the nearest container. Curiosity burned in him, of
course. How could it not? But he was also well aware that anything that so unsettled Zamara was something he needed to have a healthy caution about so he—

Jake cried out, as did the protoss around them. Rosemary whirled, her weapon at the ready. “What is it?”

Jake had fallen to his knees and for an instant thought he would pass out at the sickening psionic buffeting he was receiving. Zamara quickly erected a barrier and he started breathing again. He looked up at the other protoss—they’d felt it too.

“The containers,” Ladranix said. “It emanates from them.”

All the protoss were shaken by what they had felt, but they were in control again. Jake took a deep breath. He did not want to go anywhere near those tanks.

“What do you think’s in them?” asked Rosemary.

“I don’t know and I sure don’t want to find out,” Jake said in voice that shook.

“Agreed,” said Ladranix. Jake glanced at Alzadar. The former templar was highly distressed. Jake sent him a private, focused thought.

Those tanks weren’t in here before, and whatever’s in them is certainly not wholesome. You sense it too.

A single word, laced with pain and confusion and stubborn refusal to believe:
Xava’tor … ?

“Let’s get what we came for and get out of here,” Rosemary said. “Those tanks even give me the creeps.”

“That … might not be as easy as we’d like,” Jake said. He pointed wordlessly. The giant crystal they had
come in search of was hovering directly over one of the vats.

Rosemary swore. Jake silently echoed her sentiment. “Does the crystal have anything to do with the, uh … whatever’s in the tanks?” she asked.

“Zamara doesn’t know,” Jake replied.

“So if we touch the crystal, or the vats, we could be tripping some kind of alarm. Hell, we could even be waking up whatever’s in there.”

Jake paled at the thought. He looked from the vat to the crystal and then to Rosemary, and shrugged helplessly. “Entirely possible. But what are we supposed to do? Zamara needs a piece of the crystal. We’ve come this far, we can’t leave without it.”

Rosemary nodded, resigned. “Well, we’ll just have to be ready for anything then. Ladranix, you still think you can reach it?”

Jake realized that none of them had budged. It took almost a conscious effort to put one foot in front of the other until they were standing below the crystal—right beside one of the tanks. Jake edged closer to the open container and looked down. The blackness of the sludgy liquid was impenetrable. Faint wisps of chemically created smoke floated lazily off the surface, and he coughed.

The water rippled. Jake jumped back about a foot, staring, his heart racing. Something brushed against the side of the tank, something soft and sinuous and unspeakably
wrong.
The barrier Zamara had erected protected him from any psionic disturbance, but he
didn’t need that to be sickened and scared to death by the partially glimpsed
thing.