"Admiral Shaw." Kressa nodded briskly to the man standing before her. "Thank you for agreeing to see us."

Shaw frowned, but his dark eyes—eyes nearly identical to Kressa's own—held a smile.

"Now, I'll have none of that," he said. "You can't use that formal stuff on me here in my own office." He reached forward and eased Kressa into a gentle hug.

She returned the hug tentatively and wondered if she would ever get used to the fact that her father was no longer the enemy.

She and Saunorel had boarded the Esprit minutes earlier, after a thirty-hour hyperspace journey on board Kressa's freighter, the Conquest. The admiral had been expecting them, and they were escorted directly to his office.

Shaw released Kressa from the hug and gave the th'Maran woman a warm, welcoming smile.

"Hello, Saunorel." He took both of her hands in his. "How are the babies?"

"Zac's been kidnapped," Kressa said before Saunorel could answer.

Shaw looked at her, his expression suddenly grim. "I had the feeling this wasn't quite the social call you made it out to be." He returned his gaze to Saunorel. "I'm so sorry."

She nodded, her expression under tight control.

"Why don't you girls have a seat and tell me about it." Shaw returned to the chair behind his desk.

"How secure is this room?" Kressa asked.

"As secure as United Galaxy and Confederate technology can make it. Why?"

"We think Gaunis is involved," she said. "And there's a good chance that someone aboard the Esprit is working for him."

Shaw frowned, and for a moment, Kressa thought he was going to argue that such a thing was impossible, but then he gave a slight nod.

"Tell me what happened."

Kressa related the story of Zac's abduction and the subsequent investigation and discoveries. "According to what we've been able to find out, the Phoenix is due back to the Esprit today," she concluded.

Shaw made a few quick inquiries of the computer inset into his desktop. "Yes, it is. In fact, it should arrive within the hour. I assume you want to question the pilot."

Kressa nodded.

"Is that what that's for?" He indicated the pulse gun she wore on her hip.

She pursed her lips. One of the Esprit's security officers had tried to take the weapon from her when she came on board, informing her that no one was allowed to visit the admiral armed, but she refused to relinquish it. The standoff lasted until one of the other security men pointed out who she was and suggested how unlikely it was that she'd come to assassinate her own father.

"It might be," Kressa answered the admiral's question. "Sauni's sure she can recognize the man she saw with Zac—by his mind, if not his face. If the Phoenix's pilot is that man, then he must know something about what happened to Zac. We'd also like to know whatever you can tell us about the ship and its current orders."

Shaw referred to his computer again. "The Phoenix is one of our VIP couriers," he said. "According to this, it's currently attached to the Terran diplomatic corps." He paused for a moment in thought. "That's right—I remember signing the authorization some time ago. The ship was scheduled to take some minor diplomatic official to Vsuna, with a brief recreation stopover on Arecia, in Varen."

"It did that," Kressa said. "And it left Arecia on schedule, headed for Vsuna. But according to the Vsunans, it never arrived. In fact, no one we talked to on Vsuna even knew it was coming."

"You don't know where it went?" Shaw asked.

Kressa shook her head. "The only major system along the vector it left Arecia on was Vsuna. There's no other reasonable destination, which suggests the pilot went out of his way to hide the ship's actual destination. We're hoping he can tell us where that is."

"That may not be necessary," Shaw said. "The flight logs aboard the courier—"

"Have undoubtedly been altered," Kressa said.

Shaw nodded. "You're right, of course. Well, we'll just have to have a talk with the pilot." He checked his computer's readout again. "That would be Lieutenant Commander Rhoad. I'll have him report here as soon as he arrives."

"Is there any way you can make it seem like you want to see him for a trivial matter?" Kressa asked. "In case Gaunis has someone on board watching him."

"Getting an invitation to the admirals' office is hardly a common event," Shaw said, "but I'll tell him there's no hurry. That may take away some of his suspicion. He'll come straight here anyway, if he knows what's good for him. Unfortunately, if someone's watching him, I doubt they'll be fooled."

Kressa nodded, aware he was right, but there didn't seem to be any other answer. They had to talk to the pilot in relative secrecy to keep their suspicions from spreading; meeting him in any place less secure or private than the admiral's office would be sure to alert someone—very probably the wrong someone.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Shaw received word that the Phoenix had arrived and Lieutenant Commander Rhoad was on his way.

"It might be best if you two aren't in sight when Rhoad arrives," the admiral said to Kressa and Saunorel. "Why don't you wait in the view lounge?" He gestured to an opening opposite the main office door. "I have a few things I want to ask Rhoad, to gauge his reaction. You can make yourselves known when you feel the time is right. Use the comm unit in the lounge to keep an eye on what's going on."

Kressa instantly recognized the merits of her father's suggestion and nodded agreement. If Rhoad were the guilty party, seeing her and Saunorel would instantly put him on the defensive and possibly make him close up entirely, answering no questions. Shaw alone would undoubtedly inspire less caution—at least on the subject they were pursuing—and he might be able to get some information from the pilot, some small fact that could provide a clue to Zac's whereabouts.

"Come on, Sauni," Kressa said. "I think this is going to be very interesting."

Together, she and Saunorel moved into the lounge and settled themselves before the comm unit. Kressa called the admiral, left the channel open, and then sat back with Saunorel to watch.

Within minutes, the screen showed Rhoad enter the office, halt before the admiral's desk, come to attention, and salute.

"At ease, Commander." Shaw gestured to the chair Kressa had occupied minutes earlier. "Have a seat. This visit is strictly off the record. Just a way to satisfy an old man's curiosity."

"Sir?" Rhoad took the proffered chair, but he did not seem at ease.

"I think that's him," Saunorel whispered. She placed a hand on Kressa's and linked with her mind to share the image of the man she had received from Zac.

Kressa studied the blurry, half-complete image and tried to match it to what she could make out of the man's features on the screen.

"You may be right," she said. "See if you can check his mind."

Saunorel closed her eyes and sent an exploratory mental probe into the adjoining room, but even with a boost from Kressa's psi energy, Rhoad sat just at the edge of Saunorel's range.

Kressa caught the th'Maran woman's thought that they should have brought Aron; with him, such a feat would have been simple.

"Keep trying," Kressa encouraged her. She returned her attention to the comm screen, but kept her mind's energy available to Saunorel.

"I was going over some of the logged flight plans," Shaw was saying to the pilot, "when I noticed you were due to deliver someone to the Terran embassy on Vsuna."

Rhoad nodded and his stiff posture appeared to relax.

Kressa found the man's behavior odd. Shaw's line of questioning should have increased Rhoad's nervousness, not relieved it.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I don't know whether you're aware of it," Shaw continued, "but as a lieutenant commander like yourself, I was attached to that embassy. That was long before the uprising, of course."

Kressa wondered at Shaw's statement. She knew his record well enough to know he was lying. As a lieutenant commander, he had served as an aide to the Terran area commander.

"At that time," Shaw went on, "the Vsunan emissary was Raug Kurosa, the same Raug Kurosa who serves today. He was much younger then, of course—we all were—but the Vsunans thought he did his job so well, they reinstated him when Vsuna reopened diplomatic ties with the United Galaxy after the war."

Rhoad was listening attentively, his expression indicating he was as interested as Kressa was in where Shaw's reminiscent ramblings would lead.

"Working under Kurosa was a nightmare," Shaw said. "The man positively hated Patrolmen. He thought we were second-rate citizens, or maybe third-rate, he was never very clear on that point." Shaw smiled, almost to himself. "However, he made it very clear how little he liked us—any of us—on his planet, despite the fact that Vsuna was a member of the United Galaxy at the time…"

Shaw seemed to shake himself out of his reverie. "Anyway, I was just wondering, since you'd been to Vsuna so recently, maybe you'd seen him and could tell me how he feels about us these days."

Rhoad appeared completely at ease now. "I'm sorry, sir. I never went to the embassy. My orders were only to drop my passenger off at the port."

Shaw's face fell. "Oh. I see. Well, then, I guess you wouldn't have run into Kurosa then, would you?"

"No, sir."

Shaw appeared to think for a moment. "Well, how are things on Vsuna in general, then? I haven't been there since that whirlwind tour I took of the Confederate planets after the war."

"Everything's fine, I guess, sir. Like I said, I just landed and dropped off my passenger."

Got it, Saunorel's voice sounded in Kressa's mind, and she directed Kressa's attention to the weak link she had established with Rhoad.

Kressa switched part of her attention to the link. She helped Saunorel strengthen it, careful to watch the screen to see if Rhoad noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"You didn't spend any time there?" Shaw was asking.

"I was there for a day, sir—checking out the ship and stuff, you know. But I only left the port once. Just went into the city for some real food, and then came right back."

"I understand." Shaw nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sorry I wasted your time, then, Commander." He paused briefly. "Before you go, there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. I've been in contact with our Confederate allies… "

Inside Rhoad's mind, Kressa had felt no indication of the lies he would be telling if he were the pilot of the vessel that had taken Zac off Arecia. Even now, with the turn the conversation had taken, he remained completely calm. Which suggested he was not the man they were looking for.

Then, as if to make matters even more hopeless than they already seemed, Saunorel said quietly in Kressa's mind, This is not the man. It is not the mind I felt. She started to back them slowly out of the link, careful not to alert Rhoad to their presence.

"Maybe Zac was looking at Rhoad, but scanning another mind," Kressa said quietly. "There could have been other people on the ship."

"That is possible," Saunorel said. "But…" She shook her head. "I was sure it was the pilot."

Kressa turned her attention back to the screen.

"…and no one on Vsuna says you ever arrived," Shaw was saying. "Where did you go?"

A series of brief, emotion-charged images flashed across the remainder of the link Saunorel held with Rhoad's mind. First, the picture of a gray and white world seen from space, and then three faces in rapid succession: a dark, lean-faced man; a second man with striking mahogany eyes; a child.

Kressa did not recognize the first man, but the second was definitely Devin Tyler, and the child was Zac. And over, under, and around it all, filling Rhoad's mind with a phenomenal devotional energy, seemingly superimposed upon his every thought and feeling—upon his very being—was a fourth image, the face of an old man with cunning gray eyes. Gaunis.

Kressa gasped.

Quickly, Saunorel reestablished the link.

But now the feelings coming through the link were calm, guiltless, as if a solid wall had slammed down over the images.

On the screen, Rhoad was looking at the admiral with an expression as innocent as the feel of his mind.

"I went to Vsuna, sir. I was there a full day. Perhaps your contacts are mistaken."

"You'd be willing to swear to that in front of a Triad?" Shaw asked.

Rhoad nodded. "Of course, sir."

Astounded, Kressa felt not the slightest trace of fear or concern in the pilot's mind.

Yet he had thought, however briefly, about Tyler and Zac, and he had pictured Gaunis with such intensity, the image had all but swamped everything else. It made absolutely no sense.

"He must be the man," Saunorel whispered. "He has seen Zac!"

"Come on." Kressa stood, breaking her mental link with Saunorel, and headed for Shaw's office, hopeful that a direct confrontation with Rhoad would shed some light on the mystery.

Saunorel hurried after her.

"I have nothing to hide, Admiral," Rhoad was saying when Kressa and Saunorel reached the opening to Shaw's office. "I have done nothing wrong." His expression and tone were open and earnest, with just a hint of hurt.

The look on Shaw's face suggested he was ready to believe the man.

"Liar!" Saunorel spat as she stepped into the room. "You have seen my son. You have been with Tyler. You know where Gaunis is. Tell us!"

Rhoad looked up sharply at Saunorel's vehement accusations. "Admiral, what—?"

His eyes fell on Kressa and the pulse gun she held leveled at him.

"It's over, Rhoad," she said.

The man leaped to his feet as if to protest. His eyes flashed hatred at Kressa, and then he grabbed his head, convulsed once, and collapsed to the floor in an unmoving heap.

Kressa lowered her gun and gazed in horror at Rhoad's empty, wide-eyed stare and suddenly slack features. Vaguely, she was aware of Shaw calling for an emergency medical team.

"What happened?" she heard herself ask.

"He did it with his mind," Saunorel breathed in amazement.

Kressa turned to face her. "What?"

"I felt it." Saunorel tore her gaze from Rhoad's body to look at Kressa. "I felt it in his mind. Something just… shattered."

Kressa looked at Rhoad's still form again.

"Kressa, help me!" Saunorel's cry startled Kressa from her stricken gaze at the fallen man.

She looked up in time to see her friend rush to Rhoad's body and fall to her knees beside it. She placed one slender hand on his temple and held the other out to Kressa.

Kressa realized what Saunorel intended. She was going to try to enter the dead man's mind!

"Sauni, you can't—"

"Kressa, please! It's our only chance."

Reluctant, fearing what Saunorel's desperate actions could do to both of their minds, Kressa continued to hesitate. But the pleading look in Saunorel's eyes could not be denied.

Slowly, Kressa reached out to take her friend's hand.

Instantly, she was plunged into a nightmare sea of exploding lights, disjointed images, and jarring sensations that flashed and whirled around her in all directions. Overwhelmed, she collapsed to her knees beside Saunorel and tried to raise some kind of defense against the tumultuous flood of pictures and feelings. But it was no use. Occasionally, she made some small sense out of one of the images, or understood one of the feelings she experienced, but for the most part, it was chaos—the random firings of dying synapses in the shattered mind of a dead man.

Yet Saunorel held them there. She absorbed every stray thought, feeling, and image in what Kressa recognized as a desperate attempt to gain some scrap of useful information among the barrage of senseless images. But Kressa feared that even had Aron been there to help, there would be no chance to find that which they sought.

Then Saunorel seemed to glimpse something. She jerked Kressa's mind along one seemingly nonsensical track of the disordered jumble of sensation and knowledge, and pulled them deeper into Rhoad's dying mind. Then that mind seemed to part before them. It swept aside like a curtain, and an utterly featureless barrier, a vast expanse of nothingness, loomed in their path.

Saunorel touched it, and it crumbled as if made of nothing more than closely packed dust, revealing what Kressa could only describe later as another mind hidden beneath the first.

"What—?" she started to question Saunorel, but the th'Maran plunged headlong, deep into the new mind, searching.

The mind began to shut down around them, and Kressa knew it would take her and Saunorel with it if the section they inhabited were to collapse with them inside.

"Sauni!" she gasped, beginning to experience real fear. "We've got to leave. We can't—"

Saunorel blocked Kressa's attempts to communicate what they both knew to be true.

I am so close, was her only explanation.

"Sauni…" Kressa began again.

But the th'Maran was no longer listening to her, was now only using her as a power source.

Kressa loved Zac, but she did not want to die in such a hopeless attempt to save him, an attempt that was destined to cost Saunorel her life.

Kressa began to fight.

Her resistance forced Saunorel into a decision. The th'Maran must either release Kressa's mind and continue her search without help, or waste precious time forcing Kressa to go along with her.

Saunorel chose the former, and Kressa found herself on her own.

Mentally and physically blind, Kressa felt around herself, struggling to locate a way back to the surface of the dying mind. But it was as if she existed in an ever-changing maze. Doors and passageways collapsed at every turn, and deadly traps waited on all sides. Then she sensed something new. From somewhere outside of the maze, someone was calling her name.

She followed the sound. Her mind seemed to twist and turn as she struggled to avoid the ever-increasing number of dark, empty places that appeared to surround her on all sides and were doubling in quantity with the passing of each instant of time.

Finally, she broke through to the surface and reestablished her hold on the physical world.

Hands, strong but gentle, gripped her shoulders, raised her to her feet. She heard the voice—a deep male voice edged with concern—call her name again; saw the blurred outline of a white-uniformed figure, silver-gray hair, dark eyes…

Her mind snapped out of Rhoad's, and she collapsed into her father's arms in relief. But her relief lasted only an instant before she remembered Saunorel still trapped in the horrifying depths of the dying mind.

She pulled out of Shaw's grasp and bent over her friend. Shaw joined her. Together, they pulled Saunorel to her feet, breaking the physical link with Rhoad's body.

"Sauni!" Kressa took her friend by the shoulders, shook her. "Sauni!"

Kressa pushed aside her terror of the place she had so recently escaped and dove into Saunorel's mind.

Saunorel fought her way to the surface, her acute th'Maran mind handling the journey with far more ease than Kressa had. But Saunorel's psi energy was nearly spent; she needed a signpost. Kressa showed her the way, mentally guiding her friend toward the surface.

Finally, Saunorel's eyes opened. She looked toward Kressa, her gaze unfocused.

"Halycen," she whispered, and then her mind faded to blackness, and she collapsed.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.