"And?" he prodded her, with piercing eyes and a gentle tone.

"And he's just a little boy." Jrek. Jrek. Jrek, she swore softly under her breath, regretting hew easily Deckar provoked her. She hadn't intended to admit a soft spot for the child. Showing weakness to a Risorian was always a mistake.

"What are you asking of me?" Deckar asked.

"Zical, the leader of the offworlders, and Dora, one of his crew, are traveling to the boy in hopes of freeing him as we speak. Without our help, they will fail."

"They are traveling without the Council's permission."

194.

"The Council is full of narrow-minded leaders. The Federation is attempting to stop the Zinatti from entering this galaxy. We should help them on their way."

"You ask me to commit treason twice. Once to free an enemy, second to send the Oracle from Kwadii."

"If we do nothing, your Oracle will surely die. Is that what your Risorian religion teaches you? To be a coward?"

At her insult, Deckar's eyes flashed with fury; then he blinked away the rage as if it had never been. Clearly she'd p.r.i.c.ked his ego, yet he kept his perfectly modulated voice under full control. "Do not think to manipulate me. I have no need to prove myself to anyone, never mind... you."

Her hand hovered over the disconnect b.u.t.ton. "If you will not help, then-"

"I did not refuse."

How like a Risorian to talk in circles. "You haven't committed either, and we are wasting time. L'Matti's defences are strong. Taking the boy will be a difficult task."

"You know where L'Matti's keeping the Oracle?" Deckar demanded.

"Yes."

At least he had the good sense not to ask her to reveal her source of data. She wondered if he was recording his conversation, but she'd accepted that possibility when she'd sent her communication.

"Why come to me?"

"Why not? You believe the boy is Tirips's Oracle. Do you not wish to save him?"

"And your own people?"

"If L'Matti can topple the Risorian faith, it matters not to him if he darkens the souls of all Selgrens by killing a small boy in the process. Too many others agree with him."

Avanti didn't believe that Kirek was the Oracle and neither did L'Matti. The difference between them was that she wasn't so insane that she'd let an innocent child die to prove the Risorians were wrong.

Deckar's eyes narrowed. "Not all Selgrens agree?"

"Of course not But there are spies everywhere. I do not know who among my people might carry back tales to L'Matti."

"And if I help, if we rescue the Oracle, you then expect me to just let him go?"

"I expect more than that from you, Risorian Deckar. I expect you to aid in the offworlders' escape. No one may eve ever know that we aided the boy, or our heads will not remain attached to our shoulders."

"I see no profit in your idea."

"Besides preventing the murder of your Oracle?" she taunted him, but her hopes plummeted. She'd known winning his help would be difficult. She must have been wrong to think he had a heart beneath that cold facade.

"Perhaps it is Tirips's wish that he die. Perhaps only his death will bring peace."

195.

His suggestion was outrageous. Even she who did not believe in Tirips couldn't believe he'd said such terrible words. Since he wouldn't help her for his religions sake, she tried to appeal to the Risorian's fiscal interests on Kwadii. With the riots, their mines had shut down. They had to be losing a huge income stream. "If the Oracle escapes, tensions will return to normal. The riots will stop. Commerce will begin anew."

"Maybe so. Maybe not."

Avanti only had one more secret, one more argument to employ to convince him.

And. she wielded the intelligence information from her spies like a weapon. Hoping it wasn't a futile effort, she played her last gambit. "The Oracle has given L'Matti a message for us and all Kwadii."

"Which is?" No emotion flickered across Deckar's face.

He didn't so much as blink or breathe, telling her that the message might be even more important than even she knew. Had she nudged Decker in the right direction?

Invoked his curiosity?

"The boy will share his message once he is freed and back in s.p.a.ce." This time, it was Avanti's turn to hold her breath she awaited his answer.

Zical could be very imaginative, and after Dora had urged him to top his earlier performance, be came up with a variation of a game children played on Rystan to learn computer code. But while Rystani kids employed their fingers to draw code on one another's backs to communicate commands, he'd used his tongue on Dora's most sensitive places. Using a combination of slow licks and long lingering tugs to spell out command codes that be insisted she decipher, he'd forced her to concentrate on the pleasure while at the same time distracting her; until she spasmed again and again and again, taking her further than she'd ever been.

And finally, she'd succeeded in not only contacting Ranth, but maintaining a permanent connection. Zical didn't understand how such a link was possible, but he didn't ask questions. After Dora had grown a body and transferred her personality into it, he figured she was capable of almost anything. And he was proud of her ability to adapt, even as she pushed the limits of her humanity. Of course, once she'd established and maintained contact with Ranth, their s.e.xual intimacy ended new plans began.

Although the sub would dock in a terminal where they'd never been before, Ranth and Dora had used the sub's computer system to map out the most direct route through the city to L'Matti's fortress Then research also informed them of predictable areas where authorities might stop them at checkpoints, but Dora and Ranth believed they could use their combined psi to alter the computer's sensors to "see" them as ordinary travellers.

Meanwhile, in case they were wrong, Zical had fashioned a sheath to strap to his thigh that would hold a knife beneath his loincloth. With no case or container to hide the bulky weapon he'd acquired when they'd escaped Deckar's compound, be had no choice but to leave it behind.

196.

However, he'd made good use of the drapery hardware fashioning heavy rings to fit over his knuckles that would give him an advantage if it became necessary to use his fists. A search of the tiny kitchen produced a cleaning spray in a small cylinder, which he also tucked into the waistband of his loincloth. Although he didn't test it in his own eyes, most cleaning agents stung the cornea upon contact, and a tiny taste on his tongue proved bitter enough to swiftly spit out then thoroughly rinse his mouth with water.

Dora looked up from the holovid, her gaze concerned. During their time together Zical had already learned that Dora didn't allow her thoughts to bog down with small problems. But her usually upbeat mood was somber now and he suspected she'd come up against a major problem in reaching Kirek.

"Tell me," he demanded.

"L' Matti guards his properties with many trained Pirinja, those Selgrens who study the warrior arts."

"I expected no less."

Dora gestured for Zical to look at the holovid with her. We can't fight our way in."

She pointed to guard stations along a heavily fortified wall that surrounded the building's perimeter. Around the edge, fast-running water flowed. Tall towers with armed guards could shoot down anyone attempting to climb the high walls.

Zical considered several ways to breach the exterior, tunnelling, cannon fire, flying over in a skimmer, or bribing a guard to look the other way, He traced his fingers on the projection, searching for a weakness.

Dora pointed out the problems as if she'd read the Rystani book of military sieges, which she'd undoubtably once had stored in her memory banks. "A tunnel will take long to dig, and since we don't have control of our ship and the cannonfire aboard, that is also impractical. A skimmer would be shot down and we haven't the time or the resources to bribe a guard. That leaves us fewer options." She locked to him. "What do you recommend?"

"That we attempt to sneak in. A place so large must allow many deliveries a day to stock their supplies."

And so they came up with a plan, but the discussion was interrupted. Their holovid suddenly filled with Avanti's somber face, and at the sight of her. Zical's worries multiplied. How had she found them? How had she overridden their sub's computer?

Was she about to order them to surrender peacefully when they reached the terminal?

Or was there unseen pursuit right nearby, hidden in the boiling lava?

As he considered signaling Dora to alter course just minutes before their arrival to avoid recapture, Zical had to decide whether Avanti was trustworthy.

Avanti spoke in her usual blunt style. "You cannot rescue the boy by yourselves."

"Turn off the transmission," Zical ordered Dora, fearing was being used to trace them.

197.

"She already knows our location and has guessed our intentions," Dora told him, understanding his concerns. "We might as well listen to what she has to say since she must have gone to considerable trouble to find us."

"Fine." Zical agreed as if he had another good choice, but their options were sadly limited. Although Avanti had never lied to him, Zical didn't trust her, especially since a Selgren held Kirek.

"Deckar Rogar Delari Hikai, heir to the fifth house of Seemar, and I have made a pact to help you recover Kirek and escape Kwadii."

It took a moment for him to absorb her words, then stunned, Zical figured it must be a trick. The obvious hatred between Avanti and Deckar, the loathing between Risorian and Selgren, went so deep that Zical could not imagine them talking amicably to each other, much less making a pact, but he attempted to mask his rearing suspicions. "When the sub arrives, remain inside and we will bring you Selgren clothing, weapons, and false identification."

"Why would you help us?" Dora asked.

Avanti's eyes glimmered with a fierce gleam of determination. "We don't have much time, but the rioting is tearing our world apart. Even the Risorian Deckar agrees that it is better for Kwadii if the Oracle departs. I told you I would help you and I keep my word."

"You and Deckar are going to help ns rescue Kirek and to leave Kwadii?" Dora asked, clearly as skeptical as Zical was.

"Didn't I just say so?"

The woman's arrogance annoyed Zical, but it also gave him hope that she just might be speaking the truth. "We accept your help and will do as you say."

Avanti immediately cut the connection. Dora instructed the sub to return the hull to its original condition and the lava flows outside disappeared. Then she stood and stretched and he appreciated that she didn't question his judgment. He only hoped, for all their sakes, that he'd made the right decision.

However, as good as Dora and Ranth might be at fiddling with the Kwadii computer system, Zical preferred to have local allies. The right clothing, critical weapons, and, even more importantly, information that might be crucial to their success. He couldn't afford to refuse help from any quarter, even if he suspected that the Kwadii might deceive and betray them.

Kirek had used every trick he knew to delay the use of violence against his person.

He'd had no sleep, little food, and barely enough water to quench his thirst, and the deprivation made clear thinking difficult. He'd employed circuitous arguments, told 198.

long stories that hid a moral that barely applied to the point he was trying to make, and did everything he could think of to make his questioner, Selgren L'Matti, believe he was cooperating.

But L'Matti was wearing him down both physically and emotionally. After the drugs and the questioning, Kirek was a full day past cranky, his yearning to sleep was so strong that he was having difficulty holding up his head.

L'Matti had resorted to playing loud, horrible sounds to keep him awake in the too bright room. And Kirek had been warned that if he fell asleep, L'Matti would see to it that he never awakened. And all the while, L'Matti drilled him with questions, repeating them until Kirek thought he would, go mad.

Kirek wanted to leave this horrible room, this awful world where different factions were attempting to use him to grab power. To stop L'Matti's torture, he had to say he was a fraud, which would give the Selgrens power over the Risorians, but then he would also likely condemn the Federation people to another trial and execution. Kirek imagined he was back on Mystique, safe in his father's arms. He wanted to his mother'

s home-cooked food. He wanted his suit to cradle him as be slept. He was so tired of being hungry and dirty and among strangers.

His chin dropped to his chest and he jerked awake. Surely he could bold out for another hour. But he'd told himself that three hours ago. Then two.

Kirek heard footsteps outside his door. Shouts. He should be curious. He should be wondering about a rescue or thinking about an opportunity to escape. But his muscles wouldn't carry him to the door. And if the idea of escape seemed impossible. He was so weak. He should go to the door and place his ear against it to listen better. But he couldn't summon the energy. His eyelids fluttered closed.

And then the klaxons blared.

He clamped his hands over his ears and screwed his eyes tightly shut, his little body quivering. And he prayed that he would not say the wrong thing. He payed that if he died his death would be quick and painless. He prayed that Dora and Zical would find a way to complete the mission without his help. He prayed that his parents would forgive him for not being there to help them in there old age.

Kirek closed his eyes. And slept.

Chapter Nineteen.

Sweat poured down Dora's back and between her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She hoped the guards posted at L'Matti's building's entrance would attribute her perspiration to the heat and not her nerves. Even as every muscle tightened and she feared that the guard at the gate would betray them even after he accepted a hefty bribe to allow her and Zical to enter as part of a cleaning team, she held her breath and fought to keep her head down and her expression bored.

Beside her, Zical's broad back glistened in the early-morning heat. She feared the musculature of his power frame might give him away as a warrior, but the guards at the entrance didn't appear too concerned or alert. For once the heat was working in their favor. Clearly the pair guards were eager to return to their station, a shaded post near the high stone wall that had to be at least ten degrees cooler than in the direct heat of the Kwadii sun.

Dora and Zical's mission was simple reconnaissance. Before they could mount a full-scale mission to rescue Kirek, they needed to know exactly where L'Matti was holding him. Avanti's information had been sketchy, but she'd suggested they head for the bas.e.m.e.nt.

Entering the compound was almost anticlimactic. The guards waved them through and they tagged along with the cleaning crew ambling along a walkway and past a set of double doors. Here, Dora paused, bending to adjust her sandal while she used her psi to after the computerized security mechanism. One by one, the other Selgrens strode past a machine that scanned their DNA, matched it against a computer index, and allowed them to pa.s.s. The brief delay allowed Dora to change the recognition code so that the computer identified their DNA as being on the list.

She stood slowly and moved forward, and Zical followed, guarding their backs- just in case the bribed guard change mind when he realized that the computer had failed to stop their entry. But apparently, either the guard feared that stopping them now would be the equivalent of admitting his earlier dishonesty or he simply held no loyalty to L'Matti.

Once through the double doors, their group, which consisted of men and women of a.s.sorted ages, moved into an airless, stifling pa.s.sageway. According to Avanti's intelligence, not only didn't L'Matti bother to cool air for his employees' comfort, be also refused to allow his employees to use his sumptuous hallways unless they needed to be there for cleaning and maintenance. And his preference to keep staff out of sight worked to Dora and Zical's advantage. They'd he less likely to attract notice within the narrow employee corridors that threaded like a maze through the building.

200.

Dora grabbed a broom and a duster, and with the heavy implement in her hand, which could easily double as a weapon, she began to breathe again. The cleaning crew quickly broke into two-person teams, each pair heading in different directions.

She and Zical followed the dimly lit corridor until he pointed to a stairway. She nodded and they headed down. The air immediately cooled and she suspected that they were now underground. She tried not to imagine the immense building falling on top of them or the walls closing in.

Dora hadn't experienced any claustrophobia since she'd adjusted to her human body, or any twitches since landing on Kwadii, but something about the sinister atmosphere, her worry over finding Kirek and being trapped underground worked on her fears. Sternly, she told herself claustrophobia wasn't a rational concern, but when that did not the slightest bit of good to calm her anxiety, she focused on her need to find Kirek.

If it would save him, she would crawl through rubble to get to the boy. She couldn't imagine what he must be feeling. Being kidnapped, possibly mistreated, was far worse than when he'd simply been alone. He had to be scared. Desperate.

And Zical's quiet strength also helped to steady her. Their feet on the steps tapped softly in a soothing rhythmic pattern. Zical touched her hand that held the feather duster, slowing her. "Do you sense machines?"