Seth vomited. Unsuccessfully, Neri tried to stop him from stumbling to his knees. Several weapons clicked,raised higher.
“Don’t shoot!” Urien pointed at Seth, careful not to move too suddenly. “This is Lady Turil’s current host. Her presence has not agreed with him, especially since one of our captors attempted excision. I’m escorting her to the station before heexpires.” He gestured at Neri. “The boy is his nephew. He will not use his demon’s power against you. We’re unarmed.”
Neri, still trying to haul Seth to his feet, nodded rapidly. “I’m cooperating.”
“Who’s this?” The commander pointed his weapon at Jacen, then Nines.
“Agents of the Church,” said Urien. “They provided us with keys and facilitated our escape through the Gate.”
The commander didn’t budge. “Talk fast. Make it good.”
“Test him.” Urien nodded at Jacen. “You’ll see his genetic profile corresponds to that of a great house. I’ve shared this information with him. He’s motivated to help us.” A meaningful pause. “You would be wise to let us pass, unless you’d like me to inform my lady of your obstruction when she’s well again. She will not take kindly to this delay.” “I serve the gods,” Jacen said. The words still came to him too easily. “This is not the first time I’ve turned in a false prophet. And I am a scion of House Eregost.”
“Are you, now?” The commander barked out a laugh. “Not much family resemblance.” But the tension in his posture had evolved into something more cautious, almost wary.
“I need to make contact with my handlers on the station and summon a transport,” Urien said. “Direct me to the communications center.” He looked around. “It’s been far too long since I’ve been among civilized people. Even in a cesspit like this.” His lip curled as he said it, and this seemed to relax the soldiers.
After an interminable delay, the commander signaled a squad of four. “Take them up. Get them into comms range and make some calls, make sure this story checks out. Keep your eyes on the kid, weapons ready. The rest of you, stay on guard. Assume this is a trap. Next thing that comes through the Gate, whatever it is, youopen fire.”
The way he spoke was so ordinary. If Jacen hadn’t known better, he might have mistaken these soldiers for short-statured Zivorans with odd accents. He should not have been so surprised, considering the same could be said of Urien, but part of him hadn’t wanted to believe it. Perhaps if they were all monsters, it would be easier to understand what they’d done.
Jacen helped Neri get Seth up, then beckoned to Nines—still terrified but holding steady. The soldiers escorted them down the hall. From Turil, Jacen sensed nothing.
They entered a small circular chamber that seemed to be made of glass. Jacen peered up through the transparent ceiling to a sort of rough-hewn vertical tube in the sandstone, rigged with cables stretching up farther than the eye could see.
An elevator? Indeed, the chamber shot upward, much faster than the one at Otavok. It was a wonder Jacen managed not to shout. He clung to the metal handrail as they rose, the Gate’s presence beneath them receding. Still, the whole fortress resonated with its energy.
When they stopped and the door scrolled open, they were nowhere near the top of the tower. Judging by the lack of windows, they were still underground. Jacen scanned the vicinity and found two presences waiting around the corner. Four more in the space beyond.
Too many witnesses. He had to actnow.He noted a utility knife at the commander’s hip—something he knew how to use, though his heart had begun to pound.
He said, “This isn’t the communications center.”
“Correct,” said the commander. “This is the holding block, where you’ll remain until we’ve made contact with our forces at Otavok. Be honored I’m not having you thrown in the deepriver pits.” When Urien began to protest, he said, “Our lords will forgive an excess of caution and even a minor indignity. They will not forgive carelessness.”
He unclipped a slim metal device from his belt and lifted it to his lips, like he meant to speak into it.
“You don’t want to do that,” Jacen told him. He imbued his words with the tiniest of psychic nudges, not enough for most to perceive.
“You’re right.” The commander’s voice had gone faint, his manner disoriented. He put away the device.
His fellows noticed. Jacen should have anticipated that, considering theirs was a society ruled by telepaths who exercised no restraint.
One soldier focused on Jacen, putting it together. “Wait a min?—”
Jacen advanced on the still-disoriented commander, seized the knife from his belt, and jammed it up under his mask. He wrenched it out, red blood spurting against his fingers, and did the same to one more before the others could even get their weapons up. Urien fumbled with the wall panel. The elevator doors scrolled shut, trapping them all inside.
Jacen had been told the Firstborn, in close combat, would be no match for him. He hadn’t truly believed it until now. He was sloppy, a poor excuse for a warrior, but technique that would have gotten him killed against the likes of Seth or Ysira proved too much for these opponents.
Athrumsounded from behind him, followed by a flash of yellow light. The fourth soldier dropped. Jacen turned to see Urien holding a weapon taken from one of the dead. He held it with both hands, trembling as he lowered it.
The last soldier had the sense to drop his weapon and put his hands in the air. Jacen had hoped for this. A man who surrendered tended to lack the conviction of his peers who fought to the death; he would be easier to compel.
Jacen seized the soldier by the neck and pressed two fingers to his face, forcing him to meet his eyes. “You never saw me.”He pushed the words deep into the man’s defenseless, all-too human mind and made them true. “You never saw the boy. Your comrades are downstairs with the rest. It’s only the host, the girl, and the spy here.” He pointed at Seth, then Nines, then Urien. “They came through the Gate to negotiate a trade—a goddess for the right to keep Neri Semira. Now tell me what you’re going to do.”
“I’m going to help the spy call a transport,” the man said dully. “So that Lady Turil might be returned to a more suitable vessel.” He paused. “It’s my honor to serve.”
Jacen let himself breathe again. Tentatively, he reached out to Nines.Everything all right?
