THE PARADISE SNARE(62)

Bria nodded, her hands twisting in her lap. Suddenly the ocean breeze, instead of seeming pleasant, made her shiver despite the sun dipping toward the west.

Vykk turned on the recorder. Bria listened to the conference that ensued .

. . heard Vykk greet the priests and heard them invite him to take a mud bath. Bria recognized Exalted Teroenza’s and Sacredot Veratil’s voices talking to the pilot. Mud baths. They were saying how relaxing mud baths were. Bria stirred restlessly, and Vykk held up a warning finger and mouthed, “Wait.”

She forced herself to sit still, though she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Surely the priests had not known that Vykk was recording their conversation—his actions were worse than eavesdropping, more like outright spying!

Then—Bria caught her breath in dismay—she heard Veratil and Teroenza laughing and talking about the Exultation—they were saying it was not a Divine Gift, they were saying it had nothing at all to do with the One or the All!

Bria’s eyes widened, then narrowed in fury, and she shot to her feet.

The wind whipped her pilgrim’s cap off, allowing her golden-red curls to spring free, but she paid no attention. She was trembling with anger as she faced Vykk. Seeing her reaction, he shut off the recorder and stood to face her.

“How could you?” Bria demanded, her voice low and shaking. “I thought you were my friend.”

He stepped toward her, hands raised placatingly. “Bria, sweetheart, I am your friend. I did it for you … you need to know the truth.

I’m sorry you’re—” Bria’s hand and arm seemed to move of their own volition, coming up in a roundhouse slap! that connected solidly with his cheek. Vykk staggered back, hand pressed to his face. “You’re lying!” she cried. “Lying! You faked that to make me break my vows!

Admit it!”

He dropped his hand and stood staring at her, and his eyes were full of sadness and pity. Slowly, Vykk shook his head. “I’m sorry, babe,” he said.

“Sorrier than I can say. But I didn’t fake it. What you heard is the truth, and gettin’ mad at me won’t change that. Teroenza and his crew don’t have any Divine Gifts. They invented this whole scam just to get factory workers and slaves to sell.”

The print of her hand was darkening on his cheek, dull red where she’d struck him. Bria could see the marks of her fingers. She fought the impulse to throw herself at him, babbling apologies. How could she have hurt him like that?

At the same time, though, she was angry clear through. Bria could feel her face working. Her chin trembled as she tried to control herself.

“No!” She clenched her hands. “No! That’s not true! You faked it.

What are you … telepathic? How did you know about Sacredot Palazidar? You weren’t even here then!”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know, Bria. I didn’t know, and I didn’t fake this recording. I’m gonna prove that to you.” Digging into his pocket, he held out a small black vial.

Bria knew only too well what it was. “Glitterstim? Where did you get it?”

“Light-fingered it during a delivery,” Vykk said. “You know what it can do, right?”

Slowly Bria nodded.

“This is the only way I can prove to you I’m not lying. If you open it, expose it to light, then swallow it, it’ll give you temporary telepathic abilities. You’ll be able to read my mind, and you’ll know that I’m not lying about the Exultation—and that I didn’t fake that recording.

Here”—he reached out and dropped it into her hand—”take it.”

Bria looked down at the tube. “I … I need to think about this, Vykk. I need to decide what to do.”

“I’m not lyin’, honey, I swear.” He came closer to her, reached out to take her hands. “Trust me.”

She backed away from him. “Just … leave me alone for now, Vykk.

I’ll .

. . see you later. After the devotion. Right now, I have to go.”

He looked at her. “You could skip it, this once. It’s not like anyone takes roll call.”

Skip the Exultation? Bria felt physically sick at the thought, and her reaction terrified her. What if Vykk was right? What if the Exultation was nothing more than a combination physical and mental vibration from an alien species? If no Divine Gift was present, then the pilgrims were no better than addicts getting a fix.

Bria gazed into Vykk’s eyes and had a queasy feeling that he was telling the truth. Her fingers tightened over the small black cylinder of glitterstim. Here lay her answer. With this, she could find out the truth…