Rebel Princess(34)

Silence, complete silence, but everyone on the bridge and throughout the  ship could now clearly see three Tau-20s, unharmed and back under  normal power, on the hologlobes.

"Thank you, Kiolani," Tal said. "I believe that made things very clear."  He added, obviously grandstanding, "And you say Jagan Mondragon is even  more powerful?"

"Yes, sir. A formidable force."

"Mr. Jorkan, you may inform the ship that the demonstration is  concluded, the results clear. Kiolani and young Amund are assets of  great value and the addition of Mondragon to the rebellion an essential  mission." No matter what the fyd you might think about the batani  Sorcerer Prime. Kass almost lost her professional façade as Tal's grim  thought shot through her head. "Helmsman," he added, "continue our  course for Bender's Folly."

K'kadi put a hand under Kass's arm and helped her to her feet. Gratitude  warred with chagrin. The greater the feat, the more it drained her. And  today's demonstration had been as challenging as splashing the Tau  fighters. Though not such a sharp blow to her conscience. But the stakes  were high, this a test they could not fail. For the captain's sake, as  well as their own.

But had it worked? Could the urge to win the rebellion conquer the  Pysclidphobia drummed into each Reg since birth? Had the demonstration  made things better? Or scared the crew even more?

Wearily, Kass relinquished Tactical to the regular duty officer and  walked, a trifle unsteadily back to her quarters, with K'kadi hovering  at her side. She made a face into the empty corridor in front of her.  "Disappearing" two ships, one hunter class, didn't seem to have taxed  his abilities in the slightest. Oh, to be nineteen again. Or had all  those years in the Archives simply weakened her stamina, and she would  grow stronger as she grew more accustomed to challenging tasks?

Tal was counting on her.

Ahead . . . Kass shuddered. Ahead lay her confrontation with Jagan Mondragon.

As Gemma's shuttle settled onto the bare ground that passed for a  landing field, Tal decided that whatever a person called this  planet-Bender's Folly or Hell Nine-it was aptly named. A forbidding hunk  of rock eight Reg days from the nearest jumpgate, it had obviously  never heard of terraforming. Bender's Folly was the end of the line for  smugglers, murderers, thieves, and outcasts of every variety from con  artists to defrocked priests. From what he'd gleaned from Astarte's  databanks, Folly's population was a conglomerate of the most  disreputable from every race and star system in the quadrant. Even in  Captain Kane's scruffiest clothing, with Kass in garments designed to  cover every physical asset except her face, Tal suspected they'd stand  out from the crowd like a flashing beacon on a dark night. Fresh meat  for the denizens of Hell Nine.

Two days later, he knew he'd been right. Mallick, the place was a sewer!  He'd thought the sprawling cluster of nondescript buildings that passed  for a city on Hell Nine was small enough they'd have no difficulty  tracking Psyclid's Sorcerer Prime, but it was already obvious they were  going to have to pay, and pay well, for every scrap of information. He  wanted to send Kass back to the ship for safety, but she was the key,  the person with a connection to Mondragon-possibly their only hope of  recruiting him to their cause.

Tal coughed! Pok! Even the air was noxious. But according to Kass, if  they kept asking questions, word should get back to Mondragon and-if the  sorcerer wished it-he would find them.

If an assassin didn't find them first.

Swiftly, Tal inventoried his weapons-two Steg-9s, hunting knife, plus  the P-11 strapped to his back. Kass had a Steg-9, a knife, and her  amazing teleportation skills. Well, fyd, she could just throw any  attackers into the next block. Or maybe not. He suspected she, like  K'kadi, was still learning, testing her skills, not quite sure what she  could do. Her ability to teleport them up to the balcony on X-33 had  been almost as much of a surprise to her as it was to him. As for their  present search, K'kadi had made it clear he could not scan the Sorcerer  Prime. Or wouldn't. So they'd left him behind and were basically working  blind.         

     



 

They'd been at it for fifty Reg hours-four hand-picked teams from  Astarte-moving from one murky bar to the next, trolling market places  and hotels, poking their heads into structures that had turned out to be  everything from brothels to alleged houses of worship, in every one  doling out gold as if it were desert sand. No Jagan Mondragon. Nothing  more, in fact, than an occasional knowing look and mouths closed tight  as Astarte's blast doors. Obviously, Mondragon was wary.

Tonight, enclosed in the dank chill of a Folly winter night, they were  sauntering down a dark street lit only by flickering gas lanterns. Stone  buildings loomed black against the night sky, punctuated by pockets of  light, shouts, laughter, and an occasional high-pitched scream spilling  out of open doors along the broad dirt street. A drunk tumbled onto the  walkway, propelled through a door by a sturdy booted foot. With a snort  of disgust, Tal guided Kass around the prone figure. "We've been  scammed, Kass. Not even a mediocre warlock would stay in this hellhole. I  mean, if your sorcerer's here, the least he could do is send a message  by bat or lead us on with a ball of fire-"

"Oh, be quiet! Jagan doesn't do silly tricks. At least not since he was fifteen or so," she added judiciously.

Tal heaved an elaborate sigh. "Kass, face it. Either Mondragon isn't here, or he doesn't want to be found."

"He's wary. And who could blame him? A bunch of thinly disguised Reg  Fleeties looking for him? He'd have to be crazy to show himself."

"And I've told you a hundred times I'm not letting you loose on Hell Nine alone."

"Point made," Kass grumbled. "But I've been using every last ounce of  what little telepathic skill I have and nothing's happening. Oh, every  once in a while," she qualified, "I think I catch a flicker of him-but  mostly I'm hitting a blank- Tal?"

Tal reached for his Steg-9 as a formless shadow emerged from an alley and moved toward them. "Mondragon?" he hissed to Kass.

"No."

The shadow resolved into a classic black monk's robe, except this one  was anchored at the waist with a braided scarlet belt adorned with  silver charms and tokens. The robe swayed slightly in the cool evening  breeze. The dark figure stopped six feet from them, the face still  obscured by the depth of the hood. "We hear you are seekers," a male  voice said.

Tal nodded to Kass, tossing her the initiative. Mondragon was Psyclid.  Yet from the hulking size of the hooded figure, he suspected the  go-between was not.

"I seek an old friend," Kass returned, "Jagan Mondragon. You may tell  him his betrothed has traveled a great distance to speak with him."

"Return to your ship. There is nothing for you here."

"I will return to my ship when I feel like it," Kass shot back. "Tell Jagan it's imperative I meet with him at once."

With some effort, Tal kept his face straight as the shadow figure  stepped back and was quickly swallowed by the night. "Was that wise?"

"I am tired of playing games. If that . . . creature really came from  Jagan, then the Sorcerer Prime has known I was here since the moment I  landed. He is not simply wary. He is punishing me, I think, for being  with you."

"He knows?"

"It is difficult to hide anything from Jagan. I fear he is angry with both of us."

"But you said you'd made it clear to him-"

"Sorcerers do not expect opposition of any kind, no matter how clear I  made my feelings. Including changing my name and applying to the Space  Academy."

"Changing your name?"

"A topic for another day, Captain. Right now, I do believe we're being summoned."

"That quickly?"

"If Jagan hadn't shielded himself, I would have felt him much sooner. He  is close. Let's go." She moved off at the fastest walking speed her  petite build could manage.

"Kass," Tal said, quickly catching up with her, "obviously he's not alone. Maybe we should call in backup."

She snorted. "And have him flatten them all just for the fun of it? No,  thanks, this is something we'll have to manage for ourselves."

"How many men do you think he has?"

"Not many. He couldn't have escaped Psyclid with a large entourage, at least I don't think so."

Kass walked steadily to the end of the block, unhesitatingly turned down a side street and kept on going.

"Kass?"

She kept moving. "We're close . . . almost there . . . a few more  steps." She stopped in front of a two-story building with no windows. A  warehouse? Tal wondered.         

     



 

"This is the place. We're going in."

"Are you certain?" He'd never seen a less inviting venue for a meeting. Walk into my trap, said the spider to the fly.