Plague: 5/?
by Nancy Smith and Linda Garrick
After the short conversation, Fong slept surprisingly well in spite of the fact that the ground was uneven and hard. He didn't even mind when Trevor awakened him for his watch. The former patrolman gave him an innocent look when Fong emerged from the tent.
"Want me to go in and keep the young lady warm while you're out here, Strike Commander?"
It didn't take a mind reader to figure out that Trevor was trying to annoy him, Fong thought. He didn't respond to it. "Sure. Go check, but don't wake her up. I'll explain to Lord Blashvor in the morning why you decided to disobey his orders. I'm sure he'll be understanding."
"He probably would." Trevor grinned knowingly. "But it won't be necessary. I'll get over there with Jason and His Lordship, where I belong."
Fong settled down before the fire and reached for the package of coffee tablets. "Suit yourself."
Trevor winked at him. "Besides, Miss Wing's probably had about all she can handle for one night."
Fong gritted his teeth. 'Don't respond!' he told himself, firmly. 'If you do, the guy'll never let up!' "You'd better get some sleep, Corporal. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
Trevor raised an eyebrow at him, grinned again and vanished into the Jilectan's tent. Fong prepared his coffee and glanced around.
Except for the flicker of the fire, the night was totally dark. He could see a small patch of sky between the trees above, but no stars were visible. The wind sighed through the branches, making them creak and groan.
Dark the night might be, but it wasn't silent. As he sat still, listening, he heard something growl nearby, and then a piercing shriek from something else. A winged thing swooped past overhead, giving voice as it did to a wild, strange call. A second thing followed the first, and he caught a glimpse of huge, round eyes, luminescent in the darkness.
The night calls continued, but remained far away, none approaching their little campsite. After two and a half hours, Fong stood up, knowing that he should awaken Mai Wing but hating to. She was so little, and it seemed unfair to make her stand a full watch. Epsilon Indi's rotation was twenty-two hours and, as he figured it, they had only about three more hours of darkness left. Jason would take the last hour, and Fong didn't feel especially tired. Why not let her sleep?
She appeared from the tent even as the thoughts passed through his mind. She looked beautiful in the flickering firelight, her dark hair tousled, her cheeks red from the cold. She was holding the emergency blanket tightly around her shoulders, but she smiled at him. "Hi, Lee. Isn't it about time for my watch?"
He nodded. "But I'm okay. You go ahead back and get some more sleep."
"I'm wide awake." She stepped carefully over a patch of ground where the melted snow had re-frozen into a sheet of ice and moved up closer to the fire. "You can go back to bed now."
"This isn't a job for you," he protested. "Honest. I'm used to standing watches."
Her eyes crinkled a little at the corners and she smiled. "You heard His Lordship. It's my turn. Get back in that tent and get some sleep."
He gave in. "All right. Yell if you even think you hear anything. I'll be right here."
"I know. Good night, Lee."
"Good night." He re-entered the tent and lay down, pulling the blanket tightly around himself once more. Something poked him sharply in the back and he sat up with a grunt of annoyance, removed a tiny rock from his "bed" and lay down once more.
It was a shout that woke him. He sat up and scrambled for the opening of the tent, dragging his blanket with him, his blaster already in his hand. Mai Wing was right behind him.
Early morning sunlight was filtering through the trees and Jason was standing before the fire, peering upward. Trevor was emerging from the other tent, also clutching a blaster. "What's the matter, Shorty?"
"An aircar! There's an aircar coming!"
Fong listened. Nothing but the sighing of the evergreens came to his ears, but Mai Wing nodded eagerly. "I hear it too! It's coming!"
Lord Blashvor emerged behind Trevor, looking tousled and sleepy. "What is it, my little Terran?"
"An aircar, sir!"
Fong heard it, then, faint over the sighing of the wind, the soft throb of approaching engines.
Blashvor glanced sharply at Fong. "I do not doubt that it is the Patrol. One word from you, Strike Commander, concerning my identity or that of my servants, and I will kill you at once." The jewel-studded blaster was suddenly in his hand and pointed directly at Fong. "Give your weapon to Trevor. Trevor, take it and remove the energy cell."
Fong handed the weapon over. Trevor dispassionately extracted the cell and dropped it into his belt pouch.
"Now, give him the blaster back," Blashvor ordered.
Trevor did so, his face expressionless. Fong understood the Jilectan's reasoning well. When the Patrol picked them up, they must appear to be innocent castaways and a Patrol Strike Commander didn't usually walk around with an empty holster when everyone else in the party was conspicuously armed.
The throb of engines was nearer now. Jason pointed. "There! I see it!"
Fong saw it, too -- a dark spot against the sky. Jason jumped up and down, waving. "Hey! Help! Help!"
Trevor picked up a discarded emergency blanket from the ground and waved it back and forth over his head.
Abruptly, Jason stopped waving, and Fong heard him draw a sharp breath. "Trev!" he whispered. "Stop!"
Trevor instantly obeyed. Blashvor had turned to look at the boy and Fong heard him voice a low question. Jason went quickly over to him, murmuring something that Fong couldn't hear. Trevor strode quickly over to the pair, one hand on the butt of his blaster. Blashvor said something else, low and urgent, and Jason murmured something in return, casting a quick, frightened look at the aircar, that was now circling overhead. It was obvious that they had been seen and that the car's occupants were looking for the best place to land.
Mai Wing abruptly clasped Fong's arm and he nearly jumped. "I don't like this!" Her voice was pitched low, and probably couldn't have been heard a yard away.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm not sure. Look at Blashvor. Look at Jason. Something's wrong."
"Blashvor's probably worried about himself. Maybe word got around about him, or --"
She shivered. "Maybe, but -- Lee, I'm scared."
He put an arm around her. "I won't let anyone hurt you. Trust me."
"I do." She smiled up at him.
The aircar was circling down, preparing to land. Fong again glanced toward the Jilectan and his two servants. Jason had retreated behind Trevor, and Fong read honest fear in his expression. The vehicle settled into the cleared space before the fire, the doors opened and two men emerged.
They were Terrans, Fong saw, clad as Patrol maintenance techs. The nearest one waved.
"Hi there! Need some help?"
Nobody answered. Fong found himself watching Blashvor.
The Jilectans eyes had narrowed, his gaze on the newcomers never wavering.
The foremost man spoke again. "M'Lord? Are you all right? Climb aboard and we'll give you a lift back to base!"
Blashvor moved. With blurring speed, his hand shot out and snatched the blaster from Jason's grasp. The weapon spat and the foremost patrolman was flung backwards against the aircar. The other man dove for cover.
"Shoot!" the Jilectan bellowed. His weapon spat a second time, and a third.
Fong heard Jason's voice, shrill with fright. "Trev! Don't look!"
The surviving maintenance tech was firing from behind the aircar. Fong leaped sideways , thrusting Mai Wing down as a shot hissed close overhead. She rolled as she hit and came up on her elbows, her own blaster gripped in both hands. The weapon spat, catching the tech just as his head came up.
The wounded man screamed, the clothing shriveling from his shoulder, but to Fong's astonishment, he leaped forward across the aircar, his hands outstretched and clawing for the Jilectan.
Mai Wing fired a second time. The bolt caught the attacker on the chest and he dropped like a stone.
And very suddenly, the scene blurred out and Fong felt his gaze being drawn totally against his will to an object which lay on the ground between him and the downed men. It was about the size of a Terran orange, spherical in shape and glowing with a soft, pale luminescence. Around him, the sounds faded away, and the thing grew, expanding before his eyes until he could see nothing else. Something was coming toward him, something vast and irresistibly powerful, and horribly evil. Fong saw it loom over him and wanted to cry out in terror, but he no longer had any control over his voice or actions.
Something hit him, hurling him sideways with bruising force. Pain seared down his shoulder and arm, and a huge hand ground his face into the forest floor. Somewhere far away, there was a bellowing roar, succeeded instantly by a second one.
He became gradually aware that he was face down on the prickly, snow-crusted needles and that a heavy weight was crushing him, while a powerful hand still held his face down. He tried to struggle and received a cuff on the neck that made stars sparkle before his eyes.
"I think it's gone, sir." That was Jason's voice, and he sounded as shaken as Fong felt. "Trev, are you okay?"
"Just a minute." It was Mai Wing speaking. "Let me look. Hold onto them a minute more, M'Lord."
Somewhere nearby there was a muffled grunt. Fong lay still, aware now that the body seated on his back was that of Lord Blashvor, himself.
"Be careful," Jason said.
Unidentified noises, and then the weight lifted from Fong's back and he lifted his head, blinking at the scene around him.
Trevor lay prone in the snow beside Fong. As Fong watched, Trevor lifted his head, looking dazed, and pushed himself into a sitting position. Blashvor rose majestically to his feet, brushing pine needles and snow from the emergency blankets that constituted his winter gear. He did not glance at the two shaken Terrans, but stepped back toward the fire, still brushing at his clothing.
Jason arrived beside Trevor and tried to help him to his feet, but the former patrolman made it to his feet under his own power and stood, looking around uncertainly.
"Trev?" Jason asked, sounding, Fong thought, younger than his fourteen years. "Are you okay?"
"Uh ... yeah, I think so." Trevor shook his head and rubbed a hand hard across his eyes. "What the hell happened?"
Mai Wing appeared beside Fong and knelt beside him. "Lee?"
He blinked at her and rubbed his face. "Man! I feel weird!"
"Me, too." Trevor rubbed his face again and turned to look in the direction of the aircar and their erstwhile assailants. He swore. Fong rolled over and sat up, following his gaze, and received a shock. The ground was blackened, showing only withered vegetation and melted snow. The charred remains of the aircar lay on its side, a few pale orange flames still flickering from the interior.
Trevor stared at it and then down at Jason. "Damn! What happened to the car?"
"It exploded," Jason said. "Miss Wing and I hit that globe thing with emergency max. I sort of got the aircar, too, and it blew up."
Trevor gaped at him. "Shorty, we needed that aircar!"
"But I had to get rid of the globe!" Jason said. "It was going to kill you! I had to get rid of it!"
"What are you talking about? What globe?"
"It was on the ground in front of the aircar." Fong found his voice. "I saw it. It ... it ...." He stopped, feeling oddly reluctant to talk about it. Jason was looking at him.
"You both started toward it," Mai Wing told him. "You acted ... odd. Jason and I called for you to stop, but neither of you seemed to hear us. Then Lord Blashvor knocked you down and sat on you, and told us to blast the thing. We did, and unfortunately, we got the aircar, too."
Fong didn't remember doing what she was telling him, and from his expression, he knew that Trevor didn't, either. Blashvor had gone over to the remains of the aircar and was scraping a booted foot through the ashes and charred plastic and metal, apparently searching for something. Trevor approached him hesitantly.
"M'Lord -- excuse me, sir, but do you know what happened to us?"
"I do not." Blashvor didn't glance at him. "Except that the thing you saw apparently exerted some type of controlling power over both you and the Strike Commander."
"Controlling power, sir?"
"Yes. It had already taken control of the two men we killed. When they died, the thing tried to replace them with two -- with you and Fong."
Fong joined the Jilectan and Trevor, looking down into the blackened ruins. Trevor looked at him for an instant, his mouth a grim line, but he spoke to the Jilectan again. "How did I act, sir?"
"You acted as Jason states -- as though you did not see or hear us. You and the Strike Commander, both." Blashvor glanced perfunctorily at Fong. "And you rushed toward the thing. When I knocked you down, you fought me -- you, Trevor, quite violently, Fong to a lesser degree."
Trevor looked chagrined. "I don't remember any of it, sir. I'm sorry."
"You did not do those things, Trevor, nor did the Strike Commander. It was the globe thing that fought me."
Jason had come up to Trevor while Blashvor had been speaking, and Fong felt Mai Wing's delicate hand slide into his, although she didn't speak.
Blashvor turned to Fong. "And you, Strike Commander -- do you also remember nothing?"
Fong looked at the toes of his boots. "I felt you push me down, sir, and I heard the blasters. You hit me, I think."
"Indeed I did. Trevor was fighting and it was difficult to restrain him without injuring him. I did not have time to deal with you as well." Blashvor again ruffled through the ashes with the toe of his boot.
Jason also looked down at the debris. "What's the matter, sir? Don't you think we got it? Miss Wing and I both hit it dead center."
"I know." Blashvor frowned in a puzzled way. "But I have the odd feeling that it was not destroyed. It may be encased in some of the melted metal of the aircar, I suppose."
"What *was* it?" Trevor muttered. "You have any idea, sir?"
The Jilectan was silent so long that Fong had just decided that he wasn't going to answer, when he spoke.
"I have heard of them, although I have never before seen one. They are ... quite dangerous. Lord Halthzor found one, several years ago -- or rather, a scientist on a Viceregal Survey mission found one on a world with a completely destroyed civilization -- I believe it was called Skelzir."
With a start, Fong also remembered. He saw Blashvor glance toward him and knew that the Jilectan had sensed his thought.
"Well, Strike Commander?" Blashvor had stepped over to stand before him, dwarfing him. "Tell us what you know of the thing."
They were all looking at him. Fong cleared his throat, aware that he was betraying secrets to the enemy. Blashvor's hand slid under his chin, tilting his face up. To Fong's surprise, he realized the Jilectan was smiling benignly at him.
"Tell me, Strike Commander, and do not be afraid. Strike Commander or not, you are no match for a Jilectan. I am certain your superiors understand that. Come!" The grip on his chin tightened slightly. "I have no wish to read your mind, and I shall be most annoyed if you force me to do so."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jason grimace, making a convulsive move toward Blashvor. Trevor caught his arm.
Throwing his fate to the winds, Fong nodded and the powerful fingers released him instantly. Blashvor raised an eyebrow. "Speak, Strike Commander."
"The globe was found on Skelzir," Fong said. "Lord Halthzor used it for interrogation purposes because it --" He paused. "Apparently, it decreases the subject's resistance. I don't really know much about it. A Sublieutenant Timmar stole it for his friend -- Base Commander Parnell. Parnell was captured but later was freed by the Terran Underground." He frowned, dredging up the small amount of information that he had learned about the mysterious Skelzir globe. "It was theorized that there were more of them, and later another one showed up on Ceregon."
"But what *are* they, Strike Commander?"
Fong swallowed. "They're supposedly alive, although they don't look it, but what they are ... I don't know, sir. I only heard the rumors."
Blashvor nodded. "Very well." With his toe, he prodded at the ashes of vegetation crisped by the blaster fire again.
Jason looked uneasily around. "Are you still sensing it, sir?"
The Jilectan stroked an eyebrow with one slim forefinger. "I do not know, Jason. I --" He looked away. "If I were to encounter it again, I am not certain that I could ... match it."
The Terrans stared at him and Fong knew a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. If the *Jil* didn't think he could handle the thing --
"How was the one found on Skelzir destroyed, Strike Commander?" Blashvor was addressing him again. "Do you know?"
Fong cleared his throat. "They're supposed to be difficult to destroy, sir. I know it was destroyed and rumor had it that Westover did it, but I don't know how he did it."
Blashvor regarded him soberly for a moment longer and then turned abruptly to Mai Wing. "Do *you* know, Terran?"
Fong looked sharply at Mai Wing. She had gone pale. "I --I don't --"
As he had with Fong, Blashvor seized her chin, bringing her face up forcibly. "Do not be afraid, little Terran. I shall not harm you. You must know by now that I do not harm Terrans such as you. But I will learn what you know of this."
Fong frowned. What did Blashvor mean -- Terrans such as you -- and why did Mai Wing look so frightened? It was obvious she understood the Jilectan's meaning, though, for she answered him readily enough. "Alan Westover threw the one from Ceregon down a black hole, M'Lord -- at least, that's the rumor I heard. I don't know how he destroyed the other one."
Blashvor did not release her, his eyes searching hers. Mai Wing remained passive in his hold. "M'Lord --" Her voice wavered slightly. "That's all I can tell you."
"All you can tell me, or all you *will* tell me, Terran?"
Why didn't Blashvor just read her? Fong wondered. He caught Jason's worried expression and saw Trevor look quickly at the little boy. Fong became suddenly aware of an odd tightness in his neck, as though the Jilectan's fingers still pressed there. Almost involuntarily, he took a step forward. "M'Lord!"
Blashvor's eyes turned on him. "Yes, Terran?"
"Let her go! Please, she doesn't know anything. She's just a girl from Terra!"
`The Jilectan's lip twisted scornfully. `And you call yourself a Strike Commander!" He released Mai Wing abruptly. "Very well, Miss Wing. We will discuss this more, later. Trevor, prepare some breakfast, quickly. I wish to be away from this place."
Trevor bowed hastily. "Come on, Strike Commander. Give me a hand. Jason, get us some wood, will you?"
"Sure thing, Trev."
**********
tbc
