Slave Race: 22/?
by Nan Smith and Linda Garrick
"How long can we stay in the air?" Stephen asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe five minutes more. I hope"
They fell silent. Edwin urged the car on, coaxing it with every bit of skill and determination that he could muster. What would Comishvor do now? The Jilectan had undoubtedly survived the crash. Comishvor always survived. Perhaps he was injured. It was almost too much to hope, but maybe. If only he was injured too badly to follow, they might have a chance.
He wanted to turn on the car's heater, but he didn't dare. They needed every ounce of power they had to stay in the air as long as they possibly could. The air was cold, and carrying the fresh, invigorating scent of pines. Evergreen were thick below, no space showing between them. The car's engine sputtered.
Ellie squealed, and Loreen drew in her breath sharply. The engine caught, sputtered, coughed and died. The car dipped, beginning to lose altitude in a long, slow, downward glide.
The only thing that slowed their descent was the independent crashguard generator that was standard for all aircars. With no rising currents to slow their descent, they weren't going to stay in the air long. Ed clutched the controls as they descended, frantically searching the terrain below for some sign of a clearing. There was none.
"Ellie! Stephen!" Loreen's voice was sharp and still relatively calm. "Get your heads down!"
They obeyed, covering the backs of their heads with their hands. The car struck the treetops, tilted forward and began a leisurely fall.
They didn't fall far, so thickly did the branches interlace themselves. Perhaps three meters, and the car became wedged between branches, still nose downward. There was a loud cracking and groaning outside, but the support held. Edwin let out his breath slowly and looked back. "Everybody okay?"
"Yeah."
"Ye... es."
Edwin tried his door. It was wedged tightly shut. Loreen reached over and wiggled the handle of the passenger door. The panel groaned and slid open. She looked out and drew a deep breath.
"How far down?" Ed asked.
"I have no idea. I can't see anything but branches."
"We'll have to climb down." Ed peered across her. "Hmm. I guess I should go first. I'll help you. Stephen, you follow, and help your sister."
"I don't need help," Ellie informed him, stoutly. "I'm good at climbing trees."
"You've never climbed a tree in your life!" Stephen said, scornfully.
"I did so! When we went on that picnic to Tursunal Park!"
"Hurry!" Edwin climbed over Loreen's lap and reached over to grasp the nearest branch. "Lori, follow me. Stephen, you stay right beside Ellie."
"I will."
The tree limbs grew close together and were rough and sticky. Ed descended slowly, keeping Loreen within reach at all times. She was wearing, he noticed for the first time, a very practical, dark blue jumpsuit of a light, stretchy material, pulled tight at the waist by a dark red belt, and a brown, padded jacket. Her shoes were practical, too--rubber-soled and flat-heeled. She descended through the branches slowly, but with relative ease, glancing frequently upward past him to her children.
"Be careful, Ellie!" she commanded.
"I am, Mommy."
Their descent was painfully slow. Ed tried to choose a course that even the little girl could negotiate. His breath was coming hard, and he was beginning to realize that he was not yet completely recovered from his long illness, even after a month-long convalescence. His hands trembled where they clutched the rough, stickery branches.
At long last, the ground came into view. Edwin eased himself off a branch, tried to let himself down and yelped as a hand slipped. He fell through stinging needles and landed knee-deep in the dry, powdery snow. His ankle twinged as he straightened up.
"Are you okay?" Loreen's face was looking down at him, framed by tree branches.
"Yeah." He tried not to sound breathless. "Come on."
She dropped gracefully beside him and straightened up. Above, Ellie's face popped out of the branches. Ed held up his arms. "Come on, honey. I'll catch you."
Ellie hesitated an instant, then jumped. Ed caught her and set her on the ground. Stephen dropped lightly beside him and straightened up, a tall, slender figure in the shadowy dimness of the trees above.
It was extremely cold. Beneath the spreading evergreens the snow was patchy and dry, and their breaths puffed white. Ellie sealed her jacket, and Edwin looked his charges over, taking inventory of their state of dress. Before leaving the apartment, Ellie had discarded her flannel nightie and now wore a loosely fitting jumpsuit with ruffles at the ankles and wrists. The color was a bright green, but her jacket was an iridescent yellow, easy to see against the snowy background of the forest. Stephen was clad in tight jeans, a loose overtunic and a leather jacket. The colors were muted. He should be less easy to spot than the little girl.
The boy was brushing snow from his jacket, disdaining to seal the garment. He looked around. "Now what?" he demanded of Edwin. "Do we try to get to your ship?"
"Yeah, I suppose we should. Comishvor will still be after us. We'll have to try to stay ahead of him."
"How far away from it are we?" Loreen asked.
Edwin tried to consider. "Uh... maybe forty kilometers."
"Are you sure you can find it again?" Stephen sounded dubious, although the scorn had disappeared from his voice.
Ed wasn't sure, but he didn't want Loreen and her kids to know that. They had enough problems right now. "I think so." He pulled his coat tighter. "Brr! Let's move before we freeze. We'll go higher and circle around. Once we're a good distance from here, we'll head down again and make for the ship. He'll try to follow us, but maybe I can throw him off. If worst comes to worst, we'll just go higher."
"Maybe he was killed in the crash," Stephen suggested, hopefully.
"Ha!" Ellie said.
"Shut up, dummy."
"He isn't dead."
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do."
"Do you sense him, Ellie?" Ed asked.
"Yep."
"The super psychic!" Stephen laughed tauntingly. "You're just showing off!"
"I am not!"
"Let's go," Loreen said, nervously.
"Right. I'll lead. Stephen, you take the rear. Walk single file. Lori, you follow me, Ellie, you walk in your mom's footprints."
"Okay, Mr. White." She smiled at him, looking suddenly very much like her mother.
They began to walk. Patches of snow, piled into deep drifts, blocked their way frequently, and they had to skirt them. Fallen branches lay in ambush, and the wind was picking up. Large clumps of snow dropped from the branches overhead, showering them in stinging whiteness. Edwin glanced at his chronometer. 1448. They had perhaps three hours of daylight left. Then what? Comishvor would be after them soon, if he wasn't already ,and Edwin wasn't exactly in top shape. He was panting for breath before they had gone a kilometer, and his legs trembled beneath him. His head felt light and dizzy. Loreen seemed less affected than he, and the two kids were breathing only a little harder than normal. He called a short halt to rest and started on again once his breathing had eased. Two hours passed as they forged on, stopping occasionally. Edwin's feet were cold, the Jil servant's boots which he still wore were soaked through. His legs ached, his knees felt wobbly, but sweat trickled down his face. The wind was definitely increasing, and abruptly the light dimmed. He glanced up. Clouds were gathering overhead.
"There's a storm coming," Loreen said.
"I know. I'm going to start... circling back now. We... must be... too high for His Lordship... to come after... us."
"It sounds like we're almost too high for you," Stephen remarked, a little of the old taunting sarcasm creeping back into his voice.
Loreen turned on him, her face flaming. "Stephen, that's enough out of you! Edwin's been hurt, remember? Comishvor beat him and he was in a coma for months!"
Stephen's face froze at his mother's rebuke. Edwin placed a hand on her arm, but she shook him off. "Well, Stephen?"
The boy looked down. "Sorry, Mr. White," he mumbled.
There was a short silence. Ed began to lead the way downhill, keeping to cover. Something soft touched his cheek, and he looked up. Snowflakes drifted lazily past them. Great. Just great.
"What happened after you got away from Lord Comishvor, Mr. White?" Ellie asked.
"Huh?"
"Remember, you said you got away, but they knew where you were going and came after you."
"Oh, yeah." Edwin glanced at Stephen quickly. The boy still wasn't looking at him; "Well, I got to Corala, but, of course, Comishvor's ship was already there, waiting for me. Then a second pirate--Lord Blashvor--showed up, and tried to grab me."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Stephen's face come up. Ellie gasped. "Gosh! What did you do?"
The going was easier now that they were no longer climbing, and Ed felt his breathing becoming less labored. "Well, I guess I sort of went crazy for a minute, but it was the only thing I could do. One of them was going to get me. I put my radio on wide beam and hailed the Viceregal Patrol. I told them I had two Jilectan pirates after me. Something like that'll bring the Patrol fast."
Ellie laughed shrilly. "That's great!"
"Yes, it worked pretty well. The Patrol showed up and Blashvor ran for it. Comishvor's ship was fighting a couple of battlecruisers when I last saw it. I didn't wait for the outcome."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw a grin quirk the corner of Stephen's wide mouth.
"Go on," Loreen said.
"Well, I landed, and then found I was in the middle of a hunting preserve, and that it was the first day of harkat season. There were Jils everywhere. I mugged a couple of servants, stole their clothes and belongings, and hiked on into town. I arrived at your mother's door at about 0900 this morning."
"How did you know where she lived?" Stephen asked, his tone carefully neutral. "You said you thought she was dead."
"When I came out of hyperspace, I contacted Cory. He'd seen her yesterday and recognized her. But all he had time to tell me was where she lived. Then he had to put his shields up, because Comishvor was after him." Ed bit his lip. "I haven't been able to contact Cory since."
Ellie came up beside him. "Do you think the Jil caught him?"
"I...don't know. Cory's smart, but he's only a Terran. With a Jil after him...I don't know."
"But if Comishvor caught him," Loreen said, slowly, "wouldn't Cory have contacted you anyway and told you what happened?"
"If he could."
"What do you mean?" Ellie piped. "Could Comishvor make him keep his shields up, or something?"
"Maybe. Comishvor still has Miriam, and the baby."
"Or he might have killed him," Stephen said.
Ed nodded, then shook his head. "No! He's alive! Comishvor wouldn't kill him! Comishvor needs him!"
"Maybe he drugged him," Loreen suggested. "You know, to keep him from warning you."
"Maybe he didn't catch him at all," Ellie put in. "Maybe Cory got away."
"Then why doesn't he answer Mr. White?" Stephen asked, voice still carefully neutral.
"Maybe he's scared to lower his shields. Mr. White is. Comishvor's looking for both of them. Maybe Cory's just keeping his shields up."
"I hope so," Edwin said, softly.
The snowflakes were getting thicker, and the wind was picking up. Ed's foot came down on a concealed rock and he stumbled, going to one knee. Pain knifed through his leg, and black spots jumped out of the air before him.
A hand gripped him under his arm and helped him to rise, and to his surprise he saw it was Stephen. The boy assisted him to his feet without a word.
"You'd better rest, Edwin," Loreen said.
"No..."
"Yes. Stephen, help him over to that tree."
The boy did so. He was surprisingly strong, and Ed felt grateful for the support. His legs were wobbling, and the scenery kept fuzzing around him.
Stephen lowered him to the ground beneath a huge tree. Edwin leaned back, and closed his eyes. "Thanks, Stephen."
There was a muted grunt of acknowledgement. Loreen settled beside him, and Ellie snuggled down beside her mother. Stephen leaned against the trunk, his eyelids drooping slightly, his handsome face appearing slightly bored. He was a good-looking boy, Edwin realized, and tall for his age. Cecil might have looked like him twenty years ago. If so, he could understand why Loreen had felt attracted to the guy.
Drowsiness crept over him--a combination, he supposed, of the thin air, fatigue, and his injuries. He shook it off. "I need to teach you to shield, Ellie."
"Why?"
"Because your mind is drawing them to us. Unshielded Terran psychics are a lot easier to trace than shielded ones. Now listen to me..."
It took less than ten minutes for the little girl to develop rudimentary shielding. Ed grinned at her approvingly. "Good. Keep practicing and it'll get better."
She nodded soberly. "Okay. What kind of psychic powers do I have, Mr. White? Am I an... illusionistic, like you?"
"Illusionist. No, probably not. It's a kind of a rare talent. But you're a pre-cog and a telepath, that's for sure. You communicate just fine with Karl, and you've apparently been doing it for quite a while. That's all I know for sure right now. I'll test you more later."
"Okay. Gosh, I wish I was an illusionist. That's dello!"
Edwin hadn't heard that form of childhood slang before. It must be one of the more recent developments. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree trunk. He felt utterly weary. His companions were silent. Cautiously, Edwin let his shields relax to check on the proximity of Comishvor. He had sensed the Jilectan once or twice when his shields had been down while teaching Ellie, but now he sensed nothing--no Jil, no Terran--nothing at all in the vast, frozen stillness of the mountainside. The fact made him more nervous than ever. Still, Comishvor was going to have some difficulties at this altitude, and they would rest for only a few minutes...
He was jarred awake by the sound of a voice. Confused, he levered himself up, blinking. It was dark, and a light was shining in his face. He put up an arm to shield his eyes from the light, and saw behind that light a figure, towering above him. Behind the first figure were other figures. He had no idea how many.
"Stand up, Edwin. You, too, woman."
It was the voice of Lord Comishvor. Edwin felt his heart sinking. They had him. After all he'd done...
He stood up, Loreen beside him. Her hand sought his in the darkness and gripped it hard.
"Where is the other psychic, Edwin?"
Ed glanced quickly around. He and Loreen were alone, he realized. Stephen and Ellie had vanished.
"I'm over here, M'lord." It was Ellie's voice, coming from somewhere off to his right. "And if you move, my brother'll kill you."
Stephen's voice spoke from the darkness somewhere behind Comishvor. "I've got Mr. White's blaster, Jil, and it's aimed right at your spine. One move, and you fry."
Comishvor stood motionless, and the figures behind him did the same. Stephen spoke again. "You'll do just what I say, Jil. I've got nothing to lose by killing you, and neither has my sister. All of you, point your blasters at the ground. Then drop them. Mr. White, can you see them?"
Ed's eyes were adjusting to the light. He blinked back tears. "Yeah, well enough."
"Okay, everyone drop your blasters. If one of you doesn't, I'll shoot the Jil. Mr. White, tell me when they've all dropped 'em."
"Okay."
One by one the blasters fell to the snow. Then Comishvor moved with blurring speed, switching off the torch, and in the same movement lunging forward toward Loreen.
The crack of a blaster shattered the stillness. Comishvor screamed, a high, inhuman cry that sent prickles up Edwin's spine. He leaped aside, dragging Loreen with him, and rolled away, fumbling instinctively beneath his jacket for his blaster, and realizing instantly that it was no longer there. Stephen's weapon cracked twice more. A light blazed on from the bushes to his right, spotlighting the scene--Comishvor writhing on the ground and the frozen figures of his escort. Edwin remained flat on the ground, one arm clutching Loreen hard against him.
Stephen stepped forward into the light, the blaster gripped before him in both hands, a savage smile on his handsome, boyish face. He gestured with the weapon. "Step over here, all of you, and get down on your faces. Quick, or I shoot again!"
The men moved. There were four of them, Edwin saw. Rapidly they sidled over to the spot that the boy indicated, and dropped to their faces, hands above their heads.
Edwin sat up. Comishvor was on the ground perhaps two meters from him, half-sitting, half lying. An oxy-cartridge was fastened to his cloak, the mask over his face. He groaned and swore in the Jilectan tongue, clutching one shoulder.
"Mr. White," Stephen commanded, "go get their blasters."
Edwin obeyed, skirting the Jilectan's form, to gather up the weapons from the snow. Comishvor groaned again.
"Stun his flunkies," Stephen directed.
Edwin stuck four blasters in his belt, set the remaining one for stun, and fired four times. The figures on the ground went slack.
Ellie came forward out of concealment, a light clutched in her hands. She smiled shakily at Edwin. Stephen appeared a moment later, the blaster still trained on the Jilectan. "Do you have any questions to ask him, Mr. White?"
Edwin did, of course. "M'lord, where's Cory?"
Comishvor met his gaze steadily. "You will never see him again, Edwin, unless you come with me peacefully."
"Where is he?"
A faint, mocking smile behind the mask. "I do not answer questions from my slave, Edwin."
Stephen made a faint, growling noise. "Say the word, Mr. White, and I'll finish him."
Comishvor's eyes turned on the boy appraisingly. He appeared cool and completely unafraid. "You will die for this, boy."
Edwin saw Stephen bite his lower lip. "I think it's more likely you'll die, M'lord."
"I think not." He turned to Edwin. "I saved your life, Edwin, and the life of your friend. I treated you kindly--you, a Terran psychic, condemned to death by my species."
"Kindly!" Loreen spoke the word indignantly. "You nearly killed him!"
Comishvor's eyes turned on her. "So, this is your woman, Edwin."
"Yes. M'lord where's Cory?"
"I will never tell you, Edwin."
"I could use a needle beam," Stephen suggested. "That might convince him. Or we could try taking away his breathing mask for a few minutes."
Ellie stirred. Edwin glanced quickly at her. "You okay?"
"I don't feel good."
Edwin lowered his shields, then snapped them into place again. "We've got to go!"
"What is it?" Stephen demanded.
"Lady Gootishville's coming. She's pretty close, too."
Comishvor smiled faintly. "A pre-cog. I would very much like to have you, little Terran. Come, Edwin, don't be foolish. We will catch you in the end. You taught the child to shield, but we still have the token that you left with me when you deserted. I will find you. Jack directed me this far, and even if you leave me here and go on, he will find you again. Come, it is so useless. I have always triumphed, and I always will."
Edwin hesitated, but Loreen clutched his arm. "No! Don't listen to him! Come on! Let's go now!"
"We could take M'lord with us," Stephen suggested.
"No, that would just make it easier for the Lady to trace us. All she'd have to do is follow M'lord's lead. No, let's go now. Hurry. She's close."
Without asking, Stephen stunned the servants a second time. "That should give us some lead. How about knocking Comishvor on the head?"
Edwin bit his lip, unsure if he could do it, but Loreen didn't hesitate. She drew a blaster from Edwin's belt, aimed it at Comishvor and gestured. "On your stomach, M'lord."
A faint frown flickered across the Jilectan's handsome features as he met Loreen's eyes. "And if I refuse?"
"I don't want to kill you, M'lord, as I'm sure you realize. If I did, your Lady might well take it out on Cory's wife and little girl, or, if you really have him, on Cory, himself. But I won't let Ed be taken again. Turn on your face, or I start firing. Stephen, how do I set this thing on needle beam?"
"Fourth setting, Mom."
Loreen adjusted the lever. Comishvor turned on his face.
With a sudden, quick motion, before Edwin realized what she was doing, Loreen had stepped forward and brought the weapon down hard. The blaster butt connected with the back of Comishvor's head. Comishvor voiced a faint moan and went slack.
"Dell--O, Mom!" Stephen's voice carried full approval.
Loreen straightened up, grinning faintly at her son. Edwin saw her face was white, but her expression was determined "Let's go."
They headed down the slope as fast as they could go, Stephen urging Ellie along when her footsteps lagged. The snow beneath their feet was faintly luminous in the moonlight. One of the moons was up, a silver crescent in the darkness, and a glance at his chronometer informed him that it was 1940. Snowflakes drifted past them, swirling now and then in the wind that gusted, ice cold, against their faces. The huge evergreens sighed eerily overhead, and far away a night bird called, a sad, hooting wail that sent shivers down Ed's spine.
"What happened, Stephen?" he asked when at least a kilometer lay between them and the downed Jilectan. "I guess I must have gone to sleep."
"Me, too," Loreen said. "I didn't sleep very well last night, and I guess I was more tired than I thought. How did you get hold of Edwin's blaster and take the Jilectan by surprise?"
"Oh, it wasn't too hard." Stephen's reply was quite deliberately casual. "You and Mr. White were sound asleep when Ellie started saying she felt sick again. I thought maybe she was right, but maybe not, too, and there was no sense in waking you up if she was just imagining things. So I took the blaster out from under Mr. White's cloak, and Ellie found a light in one of those packs. Then Ellie said she heard footsteps. I didn't hear anything, so I started toward where she was pointing, without the light on, and wow! Here comes M'lord! I hid and so did she. We waited until their attention was all on you, then... well, you saw it all."
Edwin glanced sideways at the boy and shook his head slightly. "Next time wake me up, okay?"
Stephen shrugged. "Sure. But I thought we handled it okay."
"You did. You were great. It's a good thing he didn't have his Terran psychic with him, though, or you'd have been sensed hiding in the bushes. Jils don't usually sense Terrans unless they're actively scanning for them, but a Terran psychic is different."
"Oh. Okay." Stephen's voice was careless. Ed was careful not to grin.
They tramped on. The snow fell thickly and the darkness was complete. Edwin turned on the light, shielding it with his palm, and ordered the others to link themselves together. Ellie clasped his belt and hung on with both hands. Behind her came Loreen, then Stephen.
Four hours later the snow changed to rain. They had passed below the snowline. Drops splashed on them, cold, from the trees above. Ellie's hand, clutching his belt, was shaking, and her feet stumbled. Edwin, himself, felt on the verge of collapse, but at least the air was warmer now, and much easier to breathe, the oxygen concentration increasing with each step. He opened his shields and scanned behind them, then snapped them up again as his mind touched the Lady's. She was still behind them closer than before. Near her, like a quiver of energy, he sensed the mind of the Terran psychic boy.
How far had they come? How much distance lay ahead of them? A lot, he was sure. He might have underestimated how far they had come after passing the preserve. They might have as much as forty kilometers ahead of them still. What had happened to Comishvor? Edwin opened his shields once more, cautiously, trying to sense if the pirate Lord was with his Lady. Yes, he was there, but his mind emanations were weak. The Lady must have found him and done what she could to get him on his feet again. What a strange, twisted relationship they must have, he thought. She defied him and fought him, and he clearly despised her in return, and yet, she was the one he brought with him to attempt to recover his rebellious Terran psychics. Or perhaps she had volunteered, and Comishvor had considered the mission too dangerous to risk Lady Frishville. She must have come after him after he had escaped from Comishvor's ship, for she had certainly been on the ship when he had left it. Quite possibly, she still had plans for him as well as Cory. The thought made him shudder.
Loreen might have been reading his mind, for she spoke his thoughts. "Why do you suppose Comishvor brought along Lady Gootishville to help him? I thought he was mad at her."
Edwin shrugged. "The relationship between a Jilectan and his wife is a mystery to us Terrans. I never understood why Comishvor would ever have married Gootishville in the first place, and he got mad if he even caught us thinking about it. His personal affairs were the one area where he wouldn't even let us intrude our thoughts."
"How would he know?" Stephen asked.
"He'd read our minds."
"But how would he know when to do it?"
"I don't know. Sometimes the guy seemed almost empathic. But it was probably some other way. Jils aren't usually empaths."
"What psychic powers does he have?" Loreen asked.
"I'm not sure of all of them. He's very close about such things. He's a telepath, of course, and I know he has a weak telekinetic ability but beyond that, I can't really say."
They fell silent again. The rain pattered around them.
**********
Chapter 28
Corala
October 9, 2185
1120 Sunday
Jack concentrated, scanning the area for the mind of Cornelius Livingston. Beside him on the roomy aircar seat, a glowering menace, reposed Lord Comishvor, watching the Terran psychic unwaveringly.
Their vehicle was a large airvan. Two pirates occupied the front seat, facing forward, but alert for any instructions from their leader. Jack was in the middle seat, wedged tightly between Lord Comishvor and the silent form of a third pirate. In the rear, rode Miriam and her child, also hemmed in by pirates. The inside of the van reeked of Jilectan perfume, and Jack felt slightly nauseated due to the combination of the swaying of the van and the overpowering odor.
He tried to ignore the discomfort and not allow his concentration to waver. A small lock of curly dark hair was clutched in his hand, and he could almost sense the vibrations from it. Cory was near. Any moment now the mind he sought would come into focus.
It happened suddenly, as he had sensed it would--a surge of emotion, shocking and almost painful in intensity. He yelped in surprise and felt Comishvor move expectantly against him. The mind of his quarry was abruptly in focus. Jack sensed whirling emotions-- surprise, joy, anticipation. Through the link he heard Cory shout a name.
"He has him!" Comishvor's voice was triumphant. "Guide us, slave, and do not lose him!"
The emotions from the contact were intensifying. Jack felt his quarry struggling uselessly in the grasp of more powerful beings, felt his frustration, anger and intense need.
"Which way, slave?" Comishvor's voice thundered. "Guide us!"
Jack tried to concentrate--to ignore the emotions from Cory's mind. They were near. Jack was a poor tracer. He knew that. The only time his talents were fully functional in this area was when he could combine them with his empathic abilities--which were the strongest of his psychic abilities. It was pure luck that he had managed to contact Cory now. If his quarry had not been near, and had not at that moment produced that surge of emotion, Jack would never have sensed him.
Comishvor's hand was gripping his shoulder, the fingers biting cruelly into his flesh.
"You will speak, Terran slave! Which way?"
Jack pointed. "There, sir. He's close."
The aircar turned sharply in the direction indicated. Jack concentrated again, striving to maintain the contact as the intensity of the emotions lessened.
"Do not lose him, slave." Comishvor's voice was ominous. The fingers dug in, a promise of further cruelty if he failed.
"More that way. There! He's straight ahead." The psychic mind started to slip away and he groped for it desperately.
"Be ready," Comishvor said to the driver. "Cornelius is a precog. Any instant now he will sense his danger."
The emotions were fading even more and Jack felt the contact slipping away. Desperately, almost crying now, he groped after it. "A little more that way. Oh, hurry, Kannir! I'm losin' him!"
"Do not lose him, slave!" Comishvor thundered.
The mind vanished, then returned, tenuous, hardly perceptible. The speed of the airvan increased. Ahead, an aircar came into view, and instinctively Jack knew it was the one that contained their quarry.
"There he is!" Jack fell back against the seat, almost weeping with relief.
"We have him." There was smug satisfaction in the Jilectan's voice, and the grip on Jack's shoulder was suddenly gone. The Terran psychic moved as far away from Comishvor as possible, rubbing his bruised shoulder. The pirate grunted with annoyance as Jack inadvertently nudged him, and his hand pushed him roughly back against Comishvor.
Comishvor's face wore a faint, derisive smile as he glanced at Jack. "Good work, my psychic."
The aircar ahead grew larger, and again Jack sensed the mental surge--fear this time--realization of danger. In his mind, he heard Cory's exclamation of warning. Then the other's shields snapped shut, blocking him out. The fleeing aircar put on speed.
"After him!" Comishvor's command was savage. "Do not let him escape, Kannir!"
The Arcturian pilot jammed the accelerator down and the vehicle sprang ahead. Pursued and pursuer flashed across a mass of condemned buildings, part of Franik's inner city. They were gaining, Jack saw.
"Disable!" Comishvor ordered.
Kannir fired. The shot caught the fleeing aircar in the rear fender. The car lurched forward and plunged downward. It struck the pavement, skidded forward out of control, and struck a disintegrating structure. The building gave, and then, to Jack's horror, folded inward. Rubble rained down, engulfing the aircar.
Miriam screamed, and Jack covered his face with his hands. Their own aircar came to a sliding halt beside the building. Jack started to stand up, but Comishvor pushed him back down.
"I will go fetch him. You will remain here, psychic. Paul, you and Gary will come with me as guards. Kannir you will guard my psychics and the girl. Any trouble and you will stun them both and report the incident to me upon my return."
The Arcturian's face remained expressionless. "Yes, my Lord."
Comishvor exited the aircar, Jack's guard behind him. The other pirates climbed out after the Jilectan. Jack could see smoke emerging from the crumpled buildings into which the fugitive had vanished. Comishvor and the pirates were running toward the spot. Spectators paused on the street to watch.
Kannir turned in the seat, his yellow eyes unreadable, a blaster leveled at the Terrans. Jack hardly noticed. He certainly had no hope of escape. Miriam's hand touched his across the seat and he turned to look back at her. She smiled tremulously at him.
"Can you sense him?" Her voice shook. "Is he all right?"
Jack concentrated, then shook his head. "He's put his shields up, I guess. I'm not even gettin' a trace."
"Either that, or he's dead." She blinked hard and looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "He'll never even know he had a daughter."
"He ain't dead."
"Okay." She blinked again and bent to kiss the baby. "She looks like him, Jack."
Since Jack had seen Cory only once, and then under very stressful circumstances, he would probably not have known the fellow if he had met him face to face. But he nodded and reached back to smooth the baby's dark hair. "He's okay, Miriam."
"I hope you're right." She kissed the baby again.
Seconds dragged by and became minutes. Smoke was pouring from the damaged structure now, and firefighters were converging on the scene. Kannir touched a control, moving their vehicle back out of the immediate vicinity. Miriam sat still, occasionally blinking hard, her eyes on the baby in her lap. From the ruins before them came the sound of an explosion. Miriam flinched slightly, but otherwise gave no sign that she had heard it. Jack opened his shields, scanning.
A cry reached him--a telepathic distress call. Involuntarily he started to stand up, then subsided as Kannir's taloned hand shoved him back. Miriam's face came up, eyes wide and expectant.
"It's Cory! He's calling for help. He..." Jack flinched at a sudden tingling shock. "Ah...!"
"What happened? Jack, tell me!"
"Somebody stunned him."
"They've got him, then." The girl's shoulders slumped. "Well, at least he's still alive."
Jack nodded. All contact had been cut off when Cory had lost consciousness. He waited tensely.
Comishvor's voice spoke suddenly and harshly in his mind. *Tell Kannir to come to us, Terran psychic. Follow the beacon. Hurry.*
*Yes sir.* Jack turned to Kannir. "Go toward the beacon, Kannir-- M'lord's orders."
Kannir took the controls. The aircar rose into the air and moved across the crumbling buildings.
They didn't go far. Below, the figures of Lord Comishvor and half a dozen pirates came into view. One of the pirates was sagging in the hold of another. Kannir let the aircar drop to the street beside them and Jack quickly opened the door to admit the Jilectan.
Comishvor entered, his face grim. Behind him came the pirates, one of them drooping in the hold of another. Blood dripped from the injured man's nose and mouth. There was no sign of Cory.
"Take us up," Comishvor ordered, woodenly.
The aircar rose into the air. Comishvor settled into his seat, scowled at Jack and gave him a push that sent him sprawling to the floor of the vehicle. He bumped his chin hard on the floor and bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood. Tears started to his eyes, but he managed not to cry out. Comishvor caught his arm and jerked him back to the seat, placing him between himself and Paul, again.
Neither Miriam nor Jack spoke. The injured pirate groaned, trying to lift his head. Comishvor spoke savagely to Kannir. "Cruise again, but now you have a new quarry." He placed a second lock of dark hair in Jack's hand. "Edwin White. He is here on the planet somewhere, and I will have him."
"He got away!" The words came from Miriam before she could stop them. Comishvor turned in the seat, his expression deadly.
"You would do well to be silent, woman!"
"Yes, M'lord," the girl whispered.
The car flew on. Jack listened to the subdued talk of the pirates, and gradually Cory's fate was revealed to him.
The pirates had been chasing the psychic across a rooftop when he had been contacted telepathically by another psychic who identified himself as a member of the Terran Underground. Cory answered, and an aircar had appeared. Cory tried to descend the side of the building over which he had attempted to escape, and Jessi, the pirate who had arrived back at the aircar injured, stunned him. Cory had fallen two floors to the street below. The aircar fired at the pursuers, forcing them to scatter for cover, then had descended, picked up the injured psychic, and departed. Comishvor had struck Jessi for having been stupid enough to stun Cory while the psychic was descending a fire escape--although it probably wouldn't have made any difference, Jack thought. Cory had been picked up by the Underground, and probably would have been anyway.
He scanned, uselessly, and the hours slid past. It grew dark. Hunger nibbled at his insides as he watched the Jilectan and the pirates eating. One of the men reached across the seat with an apprehensive glance at Comishvor to hand Jack a sandwich. Night settled over the city and still Jack continued to scan uselessly. This was a familiar pattern now. Over the past eight months Comishvor had taken him to Corala countless times to search for Cornelius to no avail. Jack was simply a very poor clairvoyant tracer, and without precise locations and very favorable circumstances, he was very unlikely to locate his quarry.
Jack was getting tired. His head was dizzy with fatigue, and he kept drifting, unable to concentrate on the lock of hair in his hands. Comishvor scowled at him, but at last allowed him to rest. He was asleep almost at once.
He awoke with a start and found that they had spent the night in the van.
Sometime during the night, Lady Gootishville had arrived, sullen and ugly as ever, and now occupied the place next to him. Both Jilectans, Miriam and Kimmie were asleep, the girl with her head resting on the burly shoulder of a pirate. In fact, everyone was asleep with the exception of Kannir who was still seated behind the controls, watching him. Jack wondered if the Arcturian had remained awake all night.
He straightened up, careful not to jostle the Jilectans, yawned and blinked. His eyes felt scratchy with fatigue, there was a nasty taste in his mouth and his neck had a crick in it. The little lock of hair was still clutched in his hand.
He opened his hand and examined the token. With this, Comishvor expected him to find a man he had seen once in his life, whom he knew nothing about, he thought resentfully. Comishvor, himself, wouldn't have been able to do it, and yet, he tried to bully Jack into doing it, abusing him when things didn't pan out through no fault of his own. And yet, Jack dared not show his anger, and must repress his resentment. If Comishvor sensed them, Jack would be punished. He reached up to rub his jaw where he had hit it on the floor of the aircar yesterday when Comishvor had pushed him.
It was late, from the position of the sun. Jack twisted his head to see the chronometer on the pirate's wrist. 0905. Soon the Jils would wake up and demand that he start tracing again. Blast Ed and Cory anyway! They had helped Comishvor capture him, then escaped, themselves, bringing the Jil's wrath down on Jack!
The injustice of it all struck him suddenly. Damn Ed and Cory! They would pay for this--at least, Ed would! Cory had escaped, and he had suffered for it! Well, Cory was beyond his reach now, but not Ed. Not Ed...
A sudden, crazy premonition washed over him. He lowered his shields and scanned.
Edwin's mind leaped out at him, a surge of emotion mingling with and strengthening Jack's scanty clairvoyant abilities. The emotion, he realized, was love--love and yearning for a woman--for... Loreen!
The name jarred him. It was the same name he had heard Cory shout yesterday when he had come within a hair of placing the elusive little trenchcrawler in Comishvor's hands. Loreen...
A hand gripped Jack by the arm. Lord Comishvor's eyes bored into his. "What is it, slave? Lower your shields at once! How dare you raise them in my presence?"
Jack looked down, suddenly unsure. Did he really want to direct Comishvor to Ed? Ed had been in Jack's own spot when Jack had been caught. The Jilectan used Terran psychic to catch Terran psychic, and besides, there was another person involved now--the woman Ed loved. Loreen...
The grip on his arm became painful, bringing a yelp from him. He had no choice, of course. His shields relaxed.
"You had him!" Comishvor's exclamation was furious. "You had him, and you let him go! Find him again, psychic. Now!"
Jack concentrated. Nothing now--nothing at all. The Jilectan's mind, so close beside him, seemed to cloud his senses. He strained, fear tightening his muscles. Comishvor's expression became livid. "Which way was he when you sensed him, chol worm?"
Jack pointed, tears of strain pricking behind his eyes. The car's engine came on and the vehicle lifted, moving them in the direction he had indicated. Jack continued to strain toward the place where he had sensed the psychic presence before. Yes, there it was! He had it again.
Comishvor knew it at once. His hand clamped viciously around Jack's arm again. "Do not lose him again! Direct us!"
The aura of psychic energy through the tenuous link was incredibly strong. Jack pointed, blinking back the tears. The Arcturian adjusted course. They moved toward the aura.
And abruptly it was blotted out, as quickly and completely as flipping a switch. Jack cried out and Comishvor said a cuss word in the Jilectan tongue. Then: "He sensed you, you fool!" A hand slapped him, snapping his head sideways. He saw, through a blur of tears, Lady Gootishville's smile of malicious pleasure. The hand jarred him again, snapping his head the other way. He saw stars, and heard Miriam cry out in distress.
"Oh, M'lord, please, maybe Ed just sensed danger and..."
"Edwin is not a precog, woman!"
Jack shook his head. "He didn't sense me! He sensed you!"
**********
tbc
