And that was all. It almost made her smile. No room, no chair, no straps or wires. No machine. No wonder there was fear in his eyes.

"I know you are conscious," he said harshly.

Myali smiled sweetly. "I hope you find yourself in as good a condition." Play with him, irritate him, keep him off balance.

The bishop's lips tightened. "Woman, somehow you seem to have ..." he had trouble saying the word, "beaten the machine. I do not understand this. Perhaps it is simply because the machine on this scout is somewhat limited. Back at fleet headquarters there is a much larger one with many more resources. There we will see. We will see. Afterward, I will personally dissect your brain to discover how it functions. A vivisection, of course." His cold eyes bored into hers, looking, hoping to see weakness in her.

She laughed. "Back at headquarters? And what makes you think we'll ever let you leave? Or do youeven have enough of a crew left to leave?"

The tightness in his face increased. It almost seemed as if the skin was shrinking closer and closer to his bones. "What do you mean?" he demanded tersely. "How can you stop us?"

Myali laughed again. "Look around this ship, Bishop. Count the bodies. With my own hands I've killed seven of your people. And destroyed your comm room. With my own hands. Me. One little lady from Kensho."

"You think you captured me. You think it was just chance that I happened to be right there when your ape Chandra came along. You think it was just a strange fluke of fate."'

She shook her head. "No, Bishop. You've been buried in your machines for too long. It was all planned. Every bit of it. Even this." She gestured with her bound hands to indicate the whole debacle on board the scout.

"That is not possible," he said slowly.

"It is one of many possibilities. And it's the one you have to deal with. We've been playing with you, Bishop. With you and all your little toy machines and missiles and lasers and starships and marines and computers. Playing. Like children teasing a sand lizard."

"No."

"Oh, yes. We can smash you any time we wish. But we wanted to learn more about you, see what it was that makes you tick, find out all your weak points. I was sent up here for that job."

"It was so easy. You're such fools. So gullible. So overconfident."

"No! Be quiet! All I have to do, you little fool, is raise one hand, thus, and push one b.u.t.ton, this one right here, to inundate your worthless little planet with fire. Missiles, with warheads of a power unimaginable in your primitive society. Death. Destruction. I have that power, fool! I have it!"

The young woman snorted derisively. "Oh, I don't doubt you have the power to push the b.u.t.ton. A small lizard has that much power. But to rain missiles on Kensho a.s.sumes the missiles can reach the surface of the planet. They never would."

"You lie! You have no defenses! Even now, even with the remnants of my crew I can destroy you!"

"One of us has brought you to this situation, Bishop. Don't make the mistake of getting the rest of us involved."

Thwait's face began to turn deep red. He seemed to be grasping for control, missing, and trying again. Myali could sense the building of an explosion. The little man's entire body was rigid with the effort to force his aroused emotions to bend to his cool will.

"d.a.m.n you!" he suddenly shrieked as he leapt up. "d.a.m.n you and your stinking little planet! I will destroy you! Now! Now!" He waved his bunched up fist under her nose. "You, you b.i.t.c.h, I will personally dissect, bit by bit, keeping you alive, without anesthesia, to the very end. I will leave the pieces of your body scattered across deep s.p.a.ce, far from any planet or star. And I will burn your planet and everything on it to a cinder. I will make Quarnon look like an act of benevolence!"

He spun around and poised his finger over the missile-firing b.u.t.ton. "This," he said triumphantly, "will only be a beginning of the death your people will suffer!"

A sudden shock hit the ship and threw him sideways, slamming him into another console. Myali was almost thrown from the chair. The lights flickered then failed, then came up again lower, redder. Sirens sounded and lights began to blink wildly in several panels.

Bishop Thwait leapt to his feet as several acolytes tumbled in through the door. "W-w-worship," one of them stammered, "the flagship... it opened fire and hit our number-four tube. All shields are up maximum. They want you on the bridge."

His face drained of all emotion, Andrew turned and looked silently at Myali. She returned his stare calmly, coolly. The anger was gone from his eyes. But the fear was there, stronger man ever. And deep beneath that, a glimmer of madness flickered to life.

He spun on his heels and ran from the room, the others following.

Myali looked around the room in the dim light. Over by the door, a body. She stood and walked to it. Brown robe; hands empty, spread out. Took the blast right in the chest. She searched in the direction his right arm pointed. There, at the base of a console. A laser wand. She picked it up. Not much of acharge left.

For a moment she stood and considered. Not enough energy left to do both things. Choose. She decided. Walking over to the panel the bishop had been standing in front of just before the flagship had struck, she blasted the missile-firing controls until the wand was empty.

Kensho is safe, she thought. For eight years. That's enough time. I hope.

Dropping the useless wand, she turned to sit once more in the chair. The turn brought her facing the door.

With a start, she saw Bishop Thwait standing there, a laser pistol in his hand. His eyes were staring at the burned ruin of the missile-control panel. Slowly they rose and met Myali's.

No anger. No fear. Just madness.

There were at least thirty of them seated around the ko tree now, and a few more were arriving.

Dunn could feel a strange tingling sensation in the air. The Mind Brothers, Josh had said. More Mind Brothers than had ever been brought together in one place since the original a.s.sault of the Mushin on the Pilgrims at First Touch.

Everyone became still. Father Kadir spoke softly into their silence. He welcomed them all, thanked them, warned them of the danger of what they were about to do. No one, he said, especially not Josh (a chuckle from all), knew exactly what would happen with a network of so many Mind Brothers. Ever since Jerome had devised his plan for keeping the Mushin in the 'hoods, separated and under control, ever since Edwyr had discovered men could carry the Mind Brothers, the creatures had been isolated in small groups. Now they were bringing them together again, recreating something approaching totality.

The results ... ?

But the need was great. Myali was alone and helpless on the scout. It was time to act. The flagship had been activated and had knocked out one of the scout's drive tubes. They would not stay around much longer. If they were ever to save Myali, now was the time to act. If...

And he began to chant: "Moons, moons, shining down on waters, waters moving slowly, moons moving slowly, yet being still.

Still the waters, still the moons.

Movement, strife, all longing is but reflection, pa.s.sing to stillness when the mind is calmed."

The chant went on as all of them joined in. It wrapped around Dunn, enfolding him, lifting him, carrying him.

He lost touch with anything but the flow and rhythm. Not quite able to merge with the others, he drifted near them, buoyed up and swept along. Myali, he thought, we're coming.

For a long time the bishop didn't speak. Then he laughed, softly, with just a tinge of wildness in the high end of his voice. "So, " he finally muttered. "So, once more you outwit me. Yes, yes. Again. But never more. Noooooo. Not again. Now I know about you and your people. Oh, I should have guessed from the very beginning. Nakamura, that was the clue. Nakamura." He gestured with the pistol, demanding she sit in the chair. As she obeyed, he stepped into the room.

"Yes," he continued, muttering almost as if to himself. "Zen. Enemy. Haters of the Power. The ArchFiend. The holy Kuvaz fought you and won. Now you try again."

"He is gone, the holy Kuvaz. But I, Andrew, the holy Andrew," he laughed shrilly, "I am here to save the Power. Power. Yes. One tube gone. Less power. We will limp back to the fleet. Limping, limping, limping." He bent his back and moved farther into the room, limping in mimicry as he came.

"But," he straightened up suddenly as he stopped, "we will come back! With a fleet of ships and fiery death for the enemy! And holy Andrew will rain death down, down, down on the Fiend!"

His eyes bored into Myali's. "And you my dear, you will stay alive and become my slave. Yes. I will destroy your mind, but not your body. No, not the lovely body. So lovely. I will burn off your feet with this laser pistol. b.u.m off your unholy, demon feet. And your foul, fiendish hands. Yes. Then you cannot run away ever again. Or do bad things with laser wands. No." He laughed, the sound ricocheting strangely off the walls of the room. "No, you will just lie there and watch the things I do to your body and your world. Oh, yes. The things I will do!"

Slowly, Thwait lowered the tip of the pistol until it pointed at her left foot. "One foot now. Another later, when you recover. Then a hand. Then another. Maybe I will even burn off your arms and legs just to while away the time on the trip back to headquarters. Such a long trip now, thanks to your friends."

Myali could see his finger tensing to push the firing b.u.t.ton. In desperation she did the only thing she could think of: She threw her Mind Brothers.

The bishop went rigid as they struck, his finger hitting the firing b.u.t.ton. A blaze of light flashed out.

The motion had been enough, though, and the beam hit the leg of the chair rather man her foot. It collapsed as she sprang to her feet. She raced for the door.

In despair, she ran down the corridor. There was no real escape-except perhaps through her Mind Brothers. But they were no longer with her.

Alone, she fled.

Riding the crest of a mighty wave, Dunn swept on. Myali, he called. Myali!

Now the wave became a beam of light, burrowing its way through a vast blackness that stretched out and on forever. No other light relieved the darkness in any direction. Deeper and deeper the beam tunneled. And became thinner and dimmer the farther it went. Still Dunn rode it, right at the leading edge, his eyes straining to pierce the night that lay ever ahead. Is there no end to it? he wondered.

There! A dim glowing up ahead. He felt a surge of recognition all around him. Mind Brothers! those in the network cried. Myali! he replied.

He reached, yearning as the beam sped on to meet the small dot of light. They merged and he shouted out his dismay. It wasn't Myali!

Breathless, she sank against one of the bulkheads along the corridor. Twice she had barely managed to escape patrols of the brown robes. It wouldn't be long now. They'd catch her. Already she'd heard the warning bells that told they were readying the drive. There was nowhere to go. And soon Kensho would be lost far behind in s.p.a.ce.

Kensho, she moaned inwardly. Josh, and Father Kadir and Dunn. All gone. All left impossibly far behind. Oh, G.o.ds!

But left safe. With a chance. With hope. I give them mine, for I have none.

She took a few more deep gulps of air and pushed herself from the wall. It hurts, she admitted, but I have the strength to go on. I've always had it. Just never realized it. Mother Ilia saw it. The strength. To save Kensho. Nothing else mattered.

Dunn could feel their despair. They'd found the Mind Brothers, but not Myali. The creatures had been attacking the mind of Bishop Thwait. They were quiet now, under the control of those in the network.Josh and the others were trying to decide what to do. The strain of holding the path open to the scout was beginning to tell. They couldn't keep it up much longer. If Myali didn't show up or didn't call her Mind Brothers to her, they'd have to abandon the rescue mission.

Dunn couldn't partic.i.p.ate in the discussion because he wasn't really one of them, didn't know how to use the Mind Brothers in that strange, wordless, mind-to-mind communication they used. But even if he couldn't converse, he could hear them, could feel what they were saying. It stunned him. Leave Myali?

Pull back to Kensho and leave her alone on the scout? Never!

Myali! he cried out, focusing every ounce of his energy on the woman whose mind was part of his own. Myali!

She came around the corner and knew it was all over. Strangely, she felt relieved. As the bishop raised the laser pistol, she looked up and smiled into his face.

His features were a twisting, writhing horror. He was totally, hopelessly mad. The Mind Brothers had driven him to the Madness, but for some reason hadn't finished the job and sucked his mind dry. Strange.

Why? And where were they?

The call came from deep within. Soft, urgent, it trembled at the edge of awareness. Just one word, "Myali," her name, filled with urgency and longing. She'd never felt anything like it before. Not even the direct communication of the network came from within. It was ... It was ...

Suddenly she knew. The bishop, the missing Mind Brothers, the call, it all fell into place.

With a laugh that shook the whole corridor and stopped Thwait dead in his tracks, she called out, "Dunn! Josh!"

And disappeared.

Andrew Thwait, Bishop of the Power, stood and stared at the spot where she had been. Then with a scream of rage he flung his laser pistol at the wall. Still screaming, he ran to the place and jumped up and down, stamping and smashing the floor again and again.

He didn't even hear the final warning bell. As the drive started, the ship jerked awkwardly and he lost his balance. With a thump, he careened into the wall and slid to the floor. Tears poured down his face, his voice muttered hoa.r.s.ely, dulled from all his screaming. His fists pounded the floor weakly, hopelessly.

Nothing he said made any sense. Just a stream of words, disconnected, meaningless.

"d.a.m.n, holy Kuvaz, Thomas, oh, Thomas, ah, ah, Kensho, d.a.m.n, hate, b.i.t.c.h, b.i.t.c.h, Kuvaz, can do it, find them, kill, ah, ah, Chandra, I ... I ..."

Slowly the scout moved out from behind the moon, heading for deep s.p.a.ce. It would have to get far beyond the gravity well of the system before it went into Sarfatti-Aspect drive. With one tube missing, it couldn't take the chance of jumping in a s.p.a.cetime that was too strongly curved. That would make the trip longer, but it was the only safe way.

Home and security were a long way off. Like a badly wounded animal, the scout limped toward them.

EPILOGUE.

Dunn sat in the shade of the ko. The late afternoon sun slid over the wall of the 'hood and beneath the branches of the tree to warm his face. It felt good.

Most of the others had already gone. Only Josh, Father Kadir, and Myali remained. "I can't explain it, Father," the young woman said. "It wasn't like anything I've ever felt before. Not like talking through the network. More internal. Like it came from inside me. As if one part of me was calling the rest."

Kadir nodded. "Hmmmmm. Yes." He looked at Dunn with considering eyes. "Like one part of you called the rest. My son, you're being awfully quiet."

Dunn grinned. "Happiness doesn't need a voice."

Josh laughed. "Ha! You're already beginning to sound like one of us!"

Myali looked serious. "Dunn. Does love need a voice?"

He met her eyes. "It has one. But not everyone can hear it. Those that can, know. It speaks evenwhen it is silent."

"And its smallest whisper is a mighty shout," she murmured quietly.

"That can be heard across s.p.a.ce and time," he finished.

For several moments they all sat in companionable silence, enjoying the late-afternoon sun on their faces. Finally Father Kadir stirred with a sigh. "We walk in new places. But they are places of great beauty. There's no need to hurry, and much reason to linger."

"Dunn, will they be back?"

"Hopefully, yes."

"Hopefully?" asked Josh.

Myali answered. "Yes, Josh, 'hopefully.' " He looked at her, unsure of how to take her reply.

"Josh," she began, "do you remember the Council meeting and that merchant?" He nodded. "He was right, you know. It is time for us to move out into the universe. We've just learned what can happen if you sit and wait for it to come to you.

"We were lucky this time. What came was our own, people we could understand and deal with.

Next time we might not be so fortunate."

"We may not be so fortunate when they come back, sister. I've a strong feeling they'll arrive shooting."

"Not quite," Dunn replied. "They'll arrive, ring the planet, and deliver an ultimatum. If we say no, then, poof, no more Kensho."