Tal leaned back against the burgundy plasti-upholstered sofa and waved his bottle of ripka at his First Officer. "So spell it out."
Dorn's gray eyes flared. "This crew followed you into rebellion, Tal. Gave up everything simply because you asked them to." He glanced at Mical. "Mallick, we all did. There's not a disloyal person among us, but word's out that we're going to the back end of nowhere to pick up something called the Sorcerer Prime. The Psyclid Sorcerer Prime. And they're scared, Tal. Fydding scared."
"Revolutions are one thing," Mical added. "Regulons can understand a good fight. But we've spent our whole lives shunning Psyclids because they're strange. And liking, respecting, Kass and K'kadi doesn't make it any easier to accept a Psyclid sorcerer. Omni, Tal. You've got to understand that."
"You need to explain," Dorn added. "Or at least find a way to make them-make us all-understand why this Psyclid freak is worth the risk."
"Sorcerer implies black magic." Mical leaned forward, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Evil, Tal. It scares the fydding pok out of me."
Slowly Tal set his ripka on the small table in front of the sofa. Neither Tal Rigel nor S'sorrokan appreciated being told what to do, but he quickly dampened the burst of anger that almost exploded off his tongue. His crew had not seen Kass divert cannon fire or toss the wing of a shattered Tau-15 at the remaining fighter. They had not seen her beat a krall against a wall or toss twelve conference chairs through plasti-glass. They had not been present when she lifted the two of them to a balcony two stories above their heads. As for K'kadi, they had seen only simple entertainment, never considering the implications of illusion talent as a weapon.
"Tell us it isn't just pillow talk that's sending us to Hell Nine," Dorn said.
"Believe me," Tal shot back, "if there was any emotion involved in this decision, it would be frustration. I don't do celibacy well."
The noise from Dorn's throat was unintelligible but pungent. Mical spewed a mouthful of ripka onto the table. He jumped up, fetched a towel from the galley, and cleaned up the droplets while silence screamed and Tal suspected both his officers were rapidly rearranging their thoughts. He should be angry, he supposed, but in a sense they were right. If Kass hadn't urged him on, he would have left Jagan Mondragon on Hell Nine forever and ever. As it was, he was about to deliver her into the arms of her betrothed. He was willingly bringing the batani warlock into the rebellion. Bringing him on board Astarte and all the way back to Blue Moon, where Mondragon would be on his home territory, shoulder to shoulder, if not arm in arm, with Kass.
His officers were right. He'd gone mad.
He was putting the rebellion before Kass. When saving his little Psyclid had started it all.
Yet what kind of life would he have with Kass if they lost?
A short one. Very short.
"You both know," Tal said at last, "that I was fascinated by Kass from the moment I saw her potential during training exercises. And I admit I was also attracted to her as a woman. It was you, Mical, who told me about the gang rape that was planned for her. You both helped me save her, and you both know she was never out of my mind after that. I freely admit it. Four years later you both went with me to get her off Regula Prime before she could be exposed by the guard's death."
His friends nodded, looking grave. "We were captain and student, followed by four years of separation. Not to mention she hasn't forgiven me for my so-called death. And"-Tal offered a wry smile-"it seems the sorcerer was-is-her fiancé."
"Fyd!" Dorn breathed.
"That's why we're headed to Hell Nine?" Mical added, obviously incredulous.
"We're headed to Hell Nine looking for a weapon," Tal snapped. "And, yes, it could be a trap. But I know what Kass's gifts can do, and I see the potential in K'kadi, even if others do not. And if Kass tells me Jagan Mondragon is worth a whole fleet of warships, then I believe her. He's too great a prize to turn our backs on."
"But the crew's going from scared to terrified," Dorn interjected. "Every day it gets worse."
Tal held up his hand. "I'll arrange a demo. It won't calm their fears, but maybe it will help them understand why we have to add Mondragon to the rebellion."
"How do you know he's willing?" Mical asked.
"I don't." Tal picked up his drink and took a swallow. "And I admit to doubts. Is Mondragon the powerful weapon we want him to be? Or is he going to be nothing but trouble? I honestly don't know, but I have to find out."
"Fyd!" After several moments of silence, Dorn Jorkan raised his ripka. "To the rebellion!" The three friends clinked bottles and drank, their faces as solemn as the first time Tal offered that toast-on the night he first sketched his plans to rebel against the Empire.
"To Hell Nine," Mical Turco added, "bonanza or bust."
Chapter 21
"Are you sure?" Kass whispered to K'kadi, who was sitting by her side staring into Tactical's hologlobe with an expression of utter delight. "We never had a chance to practice."
Without taking his eyes off the tri-D display, her brother flashed a grin that was both eager and decidedly cocky.
Now or never, Kass thought. If the crew was going to appreciate the value of Psyclid talents, this was it. "Permission to commence exercise, Captain?"
"Permission granted." As Tal fixed his gaze on his own hologlobe, Kass sucked in a breath, picturing similar hologlobes and viewscreens throughout the ship. Gemma had been launched and was now positioned ten degrees off Astarte's starboard bow, close enough to be clearly visible to those who chose to watch through viewports instead of hologlobe and live vid displays.
"K'kadi, disappear Gemma."
Audible gasps as the scout ship vanished, Gemma's icons winking out on all the hologlobes. The bow viewports showed nothing but the black of space.
Into the silence that followed, Tal said, "Kiolani, I accept K'kadi's ability to create the illusion that Gemma isn't there, but how can he fool the hologlobe scanners?"
Hands fisted in her lap, Kass returned his level gaze. "Captain, I have to admit I'm not sure. I presume it's his own personal cloaking device, some kind of force field, if you will. It rejects any attempt to scan it."
"K'kadi," Tal said, "can you disappear Astarte?"
"Captain!"
"A reasonable question, Kiolani. Let him show us."
"That he managed Gemma is more than I expected. Please don't push him so-"
K'kadi's scowl stopped her protest in midsentence. Not bothering to stifle a soft huff, Kass ordered, "K'kadi, restore Gemma." To the tech officer, she said, "Switch hologlobe and vid screens to Gemma's bridge." And suddenly they were seeing Astarte, silhouetted against the black depths of space.
"K'kadi," Kass said, adding a silent prayer to the goddess, "disappear Astarte."
Both hologlobe and viewscreen went blank, as if the huntership had ceased to exist.
Kass took a deep breath. "K'kadi," she said in a voice little above a whisper, "restore Astarte." A slight shimmer, and the huntership once again loomed large on Gemma's viewscreen.
"Fyd!" The profanity exploded from Dorn Jorkan. Kass could feel the waves of amazement rolling through the ship as Astarte's image reappeared on the hologlobe.
"A formidable tactical weapon," Tal said to his astounded bridge officers. "I believe you will agree." He turned to K'kadi. "Thank you. Most impressive. Kiolani, you may begin your own demonstration."
After reconfirming the Tau-20's faux ammunition status, Kass launched three fighters, each piloted by the best pilots the rebellion had. As they dived toward Gemma, faux lasers blazing, Kass murmured into her comm unit, "Colas, you're first." With no more warning than that, she sent the Tau-20 literally spinning off into space. "Laar?" The second fighter went into a strange dance, wings swooping left, then right, the whole plane gliding fifty meters front, fifty meters back. It stood on its nose, sat on its tail, flopped back to horizontal, and then with a cocky pilot-initiated wing waggle, zoomed beyond the five-mark setting of the hologlobe.
Everyone's gaze, except the captain's, moved from the broad viewport to Kass. Ignoring them, she once again spoke into her comm. "You up for this, Raff? The last fighter pilot's response was enthusiastic, if profane. Kass grinned. "Fly by bow viewports, one mark out." Rejecting the hologlobe, she switched her attention to full visual.
As the Tau-20 zoomed by in front of them, Kass brought it to shuddering halt, began to move it backward, gathering momentum with each meter. A right angle turn, still moving backward, still clearly visible through bow viewports and on all viewscreens. At two marks out, Kass returned her attention to the hologlobe, dragging the fighter backward to midship, one mark out. With a smile that almost matched K'kadi's, she arced the fighter around the body of Astarte in a full circle, returning it gently to its starting position. "Thank you, Raff. It's all yours. Colas, Laar, come on back and take your bows."