Chapter Twenty-Two
KAHN HAD tried once already to penetrate Tessa’s psi. His initial thrust had been countered by a dense shield that had bounced him out. This time he edged toward her psi with much more care, hoping he could sneak up on her. He’d never seen anything like her mind barrier.
“Suggestions?” he asked.
“It’s as if she’s encased her psi inside a protective shield,” Etru muttered.
Kahn tested the barrier, seeking an opening. “Her mind shield is like a ball of yarn, except the threads are made of steel.”
“There’s not time to follow one thread to the core,” Dora warned. “Body functions are weakening.”
Shaloma spoke up, but hesitantly. “Kahn, the threads only look solid because Tessa is spinning the shield. It’s probably some kind of automatic self-defense mechanism.”
“She’s right,” Miri added excitedly. “Kahn, if you can match the rate of rotation, perhaps you can slip inside.”
“I’ll try.” Kahn had never imagined such a thing, but he spun his psi around hers, matching the rate of rotation. Sure enough, he could now see tiny holes between the thicker threads. “I’m going in now.”
He advanced slowly, hoping she wouldn’t alter the rate of spin or shut down the shield, refusing to think about what would happen if she died while he was inside.
Slipping through the tiniest of openings, Kahn lost contact with the others. He could still feel their psi lending him power, but he couldn’t hear their voices, if they spoke at all. Words couldn’t describe the streaking lights of psi images or the rainbow of streaming colors, all leading to a thick trunk that extended upwards like fingers to the sky. Or like a tree. Already the buds had died, leaves withered. Kahn whisked past the surface branches where pain radiated from a black oozing wound, where bark still smoked from a fresh lightning strike.
He pushed toward Tessa’s roots, sensed he would never have gotten this far, except she was retreating from this world, her spirit fading. He arrowed through memories and swirling emotions, careful not to cause more damage. What he saw shocked him. Torn metal. Blood. Two coffins on either side of a stoic child. Faces. Too many faces. Families that took her in and turned her out. A white room. Pain. A strike to the belly. A punch to the face. A wizened old man with yellow skin and slanted eyes. He’d never understood how Tessa’s childhood vulnerabilities had made her so strong. She’d overcome more than most, and he could see for himself where those scars had healed and she’d dug deeper roots.
Year after year, she’d grown new layers, growing stronger and stronger to protect the most vulnerable of cores—losing her parents, bouncing from one foster home to the next had made her adapt, made her determined. But the deep pain of abandonment, the fierce need to control her own fate so terrible things would never happen to her again came through on a level he’d never understood.
Stars! He couldn’t let her go. Not after he truly appreciated her vibrant spirit and what she had given him by becoming his wife, by becoming part of his family. She had dared to reach out for everything she’d ever wanted and now, only a few last bits of her spirit sparked.
Tessa, my wife, my heart. Stay with me.
A portion of her psi kindled. Goodbye. And the kindling burned down to ashes.
Nooo. Kahn lunged into the ashes, searching, seeking, striving to find some portion of her spirit, using all his power, exhausting his limits and then pushing beyond them. But there was only smoke.
So he wrapped his psi in the smoke. Thinning his self, spreading until he too almost disappeared into the void. He drew on all the energy the others fed him and then demanded more, expanding to encompass time and space and the woman who was his life.
The psi link stretched until he was no more than a wisp of smoke in the wind, no more than a flicker of light, no more than a tarnished hope. When he perceived a sudden jolting surge of power from a new life entering the link, a life he didn’t recognize, he focused that, too. And then like a rubber band that stretched too far and either had to break or return back to its original shape, their psi snapped.
Broke him loose.
Unable to counter the rushing force, Kahn tumbled, contracting, consolidating. In reverse, he traveled the path, cart wheeling, skidding, out-of-control. But the roots of Tessa’s mind sparkled once again a comforting red, orange, and yellow glow with flashes of bright blue and streaks of green. The bark of her trunk stood strong, the lightning scar healing. The leaves perked up and the buds flowered with health.
He didn’t know how he passed through her shield but he found himself back in the healing circle, so exhausted and drained he had yet to draw a breath, yet content. Before he opened his eyes, he knew Tessa would survive.
They had succeeded. But who had entered the circle at the last moment and changed the balance from failure to success?
Kahn forced open his eyes. Zical stared back at him, as did Etru, their gazes shocked, weary, drained. He saw Shaloma and Helera looking at Miri oddly.
Then Tessa’s eyes fluttered open, and his heart sang. Her exotic eyes found him and held him, as her thoughts seemed to churn. Her hair might need arranging, her suit might be disheveled but to Kahn, she’d never looked more beautiful as a healthy pink glow chased away her ashen pallor.
Kahn placed his hand in hers. “Welcome back.”
“I had the oddest dream.” In confusion she searched Kahn’s eyes for answers. “You brought me back, didn’t you? It wasn’t a dream. It was . . .”
“We all healed you.” Kahn gestured to the others.
Tessa’s eyes brimmed and tears skidded down her cheeks. “You all risked your lives to save me. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“No thanks are necessary.” Shaloma spoke warmly for all of them. Helera nodded regally. Miri and Etru shared loving looks while Dora was silent for once. Zical appeared almost embarrassed to have taken part in a ritual so intimate.
Tessa sniffled and brushed away her tears. “Someone else was there. Someone whose psi seemed both familiar and new at the same time. How could that be so?”
Miri placed a hand on her belly with wonder. “Our son joined the healing circle.”
“Stars!” Etru whispered. And then he fainted.
With a chuckle, Zical caught Etru before he hit the floor. While the women fussed and spoke among themselves, Etru recovered and then all of them departed, leaving Kahn alone with his wife.
Already Tessa was trying to sit up, but he pressed a drinking vessel into her hand. “Rest. And drink this.”
She did as he asked, a strange look on her face as if she was still trying to solve a puzzle. “You were hunting. How did you arrive so quickly?”
“Dora came in a shuttle to get me. A strange shuttle. One I’ve never seen before.”
“Oh.”
“If there’s something you need to tell me, it can wait.”
“It can?” She searched his eyes, clearly wondering at the change in him.
And he had changed. From the beginning he’d believed this woman’s independence was a sign of disrespect, but he now knew that her self-reliant streak and fierce determination were forged to protect a tender core of vulnerability. She’d never battled with him so much as with herself. Understanding that made her actions much more acceptable.
She angled her head up at him. “Do you fear I’m still too weak for you to yell at me?”
“I do not yell.”
“Hm.” She grinned impudently at him, and his heart skipped a beat. “Since you aren’t going to yell, I might as well tell you the entire story.”
Leave it to her to sense when he was most mellow toward her and the best time to reveal her indiscretions. She told him about her profitable trading partnership with the Osarian and the Endekians who were furious at their losses.
“So we are rich, woman?” he asked.
“Um, not exactly.”
“You’ve already spent the profits?” He scowled at her.
But she didn’t take his scowl the least bit seriously. In fact, she giggled. “We have the latest in technological wonders, a huge spaceship at our disposal orbiting overhead.”
He found the idea mind boggling. He could understand buying the computer information and hardware for Dora. Buying the hydroponics equipment now seemed an obvious solution to the food problems on Rystan, but a spaceship? What was she thinking?
Surprisingly, no anger surged up in him at her unilateral decision. Only curiosity. “Why did you buy a spaceship?”
“The Endekians.”
“You outfitted the spaceship with weapons?”
“Of course. One ship won’t be enough to fight off their fleet, but with the right tactical training, it’s a start.” She spoke to him gently as if she knew exactly how hard he always found making culture-altering decisions. During their shared psi experience he’d had access to parts of her he’d never imagined, but did the reverse also hold true? Had she also had a window into his spirit, too?
The thought unnerved him. He didn’t want to know.
“We need to have a council meeting,” she told him, her fingers stroking his shoulder. “This time, men and women should all be included.”
“Why?”
She skimmed a finger path over his collar bone. “Rystan can now import the most critically needed items. We need to decide what to buy and how to distribute what is purchased. We need to vote on how the wealth will be split.”
He groaned and threaded his fingers through her marvelous dark hair. “You’re making my head ache.”
She chuckled and snuggled against him. “There’s more. The women need help with the hydroponics. Can you lend me some men?”
“Maybe we should just put you in charge,” he teased.
“Oh, no. Then I would have headaches.” She tugged him closer. “Do you know what the cure for a headache is on Earth?”
“What?”
“This.” She kissed his mouth. “And this.” She kissed his jaw. “And this.”
“Umm.” He leaned back and tugged her onto his chest. “You know my headache is definitely better, but not yet cured. I think I could use more Earth medicine.”
“Coming right up.” She giggled again. “But the cure is working. Look at what we have here. You’re already up.”
KAHN CONSULTED with his most trusted advisors for another week before calling the council meeting Tessa had suggested. The women who pushed Tessa back onto the ice apologized, and she forgave them. While Kahn worked out organizational and tactical details and discussed which items they needed to import first, Tessa regained her strength with amazing speed and continued her psi training. Kahn brought in Etru and Zical as well as Xander and Nasser to up the difficulty levels, training her to fight different men and against a group attack. Shaloma accompanied Tessa to one of the sessions and returned starry-eyed then persisted in asking Kahn to train her, too.
He’d refused, but Tessa thought if Shaloma remained persistent, he might give in. They were working the self-defense angle on him. Men couldn’t always be around to protect the women, and what harm could a little self-defense training do?
Meanwhile Tessa’s control over her suit’s temperature elements progressed to a level where she no longer noticed Rystan’s cold, but she had yet to activate the null-grav once. She suspected that as Kahn’s feelings for her deepened, he couldn’t bring himself to push her to the necessary level of frustration required to enhance her skills.
She’d approached him once about having another man take over that element of the training, but Kahn had shaken his head, claiming that no other warrior had the expertise to push her that hard without risking serious injury to her. This close to the time of the Challenge, he was taking no additional chances that she wouldn’t be ready and healthy. And after Tessa trained with the other men, she learned that Kahn’s skill level was much superior to the others. He’d honed his abilities to a fine art, training her so well that she had no difficulty defeating the others one-on-one—as long as they didn’t use null-grav.
Tessa figured her last option to learn what she needed was using the programmed robot on the orbiting spaceship. However, Kahn refused to let Dora send the shuttle down, fearing the Endekians might track her flight to Rian. When Tessa’s life had been in danger, they hadn’t taken proper security precautions, so Dora had subsequently ordered the shuttle to aimlessly land and take off in various locations around the planet in the hopes that the first landing at Rian wouldn’t appear significant.
So far, no Endekians had approached, but Dora was monitoring a buildup in space that had everyone concerned. Kahn had posted extra perimeter guards as well as sent word of the hostile action to other villages and the Federation, but with thousands of hostile actions among millions of worlds to consider, he didn’t expect a political response for weeks. So in addition, every entrance to Rian had both mechanical alarms and men with weapons to stand sentry.
The good news was that the hydroponics plant was fully assembled and operational. Seeds were already sprouting. Within a few more weeks they could begin to harvest and supplement their meager food supply. Meanwhile, Tessa had placed her materializer in the hands of the council for everyone to share. Already the children’s faces had taken on the healthy chubbiness of well-fed youth.
But there was some resentment, too. With both women and men working on the hydroponics, the balance of power within some marriages had shifted. Helera had reported her marriage counseling services were keeping her hopping.
Tessa had been busy but not so overwhelmed that she hadn’t appreciated the changes in her own marriage. Since Kahn had surrounded her in the circle of healing, since he’d merged their psi at the deepest of levels, they understood one another better. Which didn’t mean that they always agreed. With Miri ready to deliver her baby at any moment, Tessa wanted her safely up on the ship with the best medical robot care and Helera there to midwife. Kahn insisted the baby should be born on Rystan like every other newborn.
While Tessa understood that he didn’t want his family to be seen as taking advantage of their new wealth and that he didn’t like risking the shuttle’s return to Rian, she recalled that precious new life in Miri’s womb, risking itself before it had even been born to save her. Her connection to the child ran strong and deep, as it did to every member of the healing circle.
She’d finally found a place where she belonged, with a family that had proven their love for her by risking their lives to save her. Their belief in her made her determined to train harder, to win the Challenge for both Earth and Rystan and prove herself worthy. In a few days she and Kahn would leave for her to take the Challenge, but already she looked forward to returning here. She thought of this family as home.
Now as she headed with Kahn to the meeting, surrounded by family and friends, she was stunned to see many women had adopted the fashion of wearing traditional dresses over leggings. Shaloma and Helera walked in front of Kahn and Tessa, escorted by Xander, Mogan, and Nasser. Tessa glanced back at Miri and Etru who strolled behind them, her belly so large she would undoubtedly go into labor soon.
To avoid being overheard, Tessa spoke softly to Kahn. “I’m worried about Miri.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“Dora says she’ll have that baby today or tomorrow—”
Kahn sighed. “Dora isn’t a doctor or clairvoyant.”
“She has the knowledge of hundreds of physicians from many worlds. If she says Miri is about to have that baby boy, then I believe her. Besides, she was rubbing the small of her back this morning.”
“She always—”
“Purple Alert. We’re under attack. Under attack.” Dora’s voice sounded the alarm. Everyone in the crowded corridor on the way to the meeting froze.
Tessa ignored the fear galloping up her throat and went into full combat mode. “Dora, report.”
Dora on Rystan remained in constant communication with the duplicate Dora on the spaceship as well as the Dora in the shuttle. With her onboard sensors, she could interpret the data and give a clear picture of what was going on around them.
“Endekian spaceships have broken orbit. Enemy weapons and navigational systems are locked on Rian.”
Kahn cursed and ordered his men to take full defensive positions. He sent the women and children to the safest places inside Rian.
Tessa didn’t hesitate. “Dora, put full counter measures into effect.”
“Compliance.”
From space, Dora would defend them to the best of her ability. She would also monitor the ongoing situation and send the shuttle down to the planet if evacuation became necessary.
Kahn didn’t question Tessa. Instead he issued firm, controlled orders of his own, and men scrambled to obey. “Etru, Mogan, you’re with me. Zical, Nasser, take the south corridor. Xander, stay with the women.”
But before the men could take up positions, something blasted the cave. The glow lights flickered, but did not go out. Dirt rained from the ceiling. The floor rocked and cracked. A woman screamed. Behind them, Miri gasped softly.
“What’s wrong?” Etru asked. “Are you hurt?”
“My water broke.”
“I’ll take her home,” Etru told them.
“No,” Kahn countered. “Take her to the rear cave. Do it now. Do it fast. Dora, send the shuttle.”
Tessa nodded agreement. Shaloma placed an arm around Miri’s shoulder. Xander took the point with Helera right behind him. Tessa brought up the rear, and the men guarded the side entrances and exits to the corridor. They advanced as a group, making good time.
“Dora, what’s our status?” Kahn asked.
“Endekians are attacking with overwhelming forces. This is not a mere raid. This is an all out invasion. According to my calculations, Rystani warriors are outnumbered ten to one.”
“Inform all the villages,” Kahn ordered.
“Dora,” Tessa watched Miri stagger and suspected she might be in full labor already. “How much time do we have?”
“Maybe an hour.”
Helera dropped back, and she and Shaloma helped Miri advance with null-grav. From the grim expression on Miri’s face, she was in considerable pain. She bit her bottom lip and groaned, but didn’t demand that they slow down.
“Endekians are attacking from the air and the ground. Brace for incoming missiles.”
They had mere seconds to grab one another and jam up against a wall. A boom, followed by shock waves made the floor tremble. Walls cracked and tumbled. One end of the corridor caved in, but Kahn and a few of his men dug out survivors who seemed more stunned than injured.
Before the dust settled, Dora again reported. “Endekians are attacking the primary entrance in overwhelming numbers.”
“Does that change your estimate on how long we have?” Tessa asked again, already urging the others to keep moving.
“Rian will be overrun within ten minutes. Endekians are currently breaking through multiple entrances. Casualties are heavy. Destruction to the city center where the missile dropped is severe. The hydroponics are up and running, but the water supply is limited due to a cave in.”
As the ceiling above their heads exploded and collapsed, Tessa opened her mouth to call Kahn back from his flanking position. But he was too far away and too busy fighting encroaching Endekians to help. The stone ceiling was falling.
With a desperate psi lunge, Tessa sped forward, shoving Miri, Shaloma and Helera into Xander to avoid the falling stone from overhead. The four of them toppled, but Tessa had no time to see if they were okay.
Endekians dropped from the opening above their heads. Tessa spun to face them, arms up, wrists cocked, her weight balanced on the balls of her feet. Five to one, not good odds, but then Kahn had trained her, and he was one of the best.
She gave the attackers no time to see through the dust. With a hammer blow to the temple, she killed the first Endekian before he blinked away the dust or had raised his stunner. She took out a second man with a knife hand slice to the neck. A third Endekian seized Tessa to use her as a shield. His mistake. She let him spin her right into him. Then simultaneously jamming her elbow into his chest, breaking ribs, and sweeping his knees out from under him, she put him out of commission. Not fast enough.
Two Endekians had grabbed Miri. Shaloma was down. Not moving. Kahn and Etru were trying to plug the hole in the corridor and prevent more of the enemy from swarming inside to give the women time to escape.
When Xander poked his head out of a mass of fallen bodies, Tessa screamed at him, even as she kept fighting. “Get Helera and Shaloma out.”
Oh, God. The Endekians were using null-grav to hold Miri in front of them as a shield. No way could Kahn or Etru fire their stunners around her. In fact, they didn’t yet know the problem, their backs were to Miri as they faced down the corridor, trying to stop a platoon of Endekian invaders.
Stunner shots beamed through the corridor, the laser lights chipping stone and sizzling too close for comfort. They had to get out of here. Fast.
But Tessa wouldn’t leave Miri. The Endekians had floated her up over the debris and bodies on the floor, out of Tessa’s reach. Despair and frustration peaked inside her. Gathering every cell of fear, Tessa screamed through her psi, launched herself into the air for the first time, her null-grav kicking in—too hard, too fast. But she used the momentum to slam one Endekian into the ceiling. His head smacked rock with a resounding crunch. He wouldn’t be coming back for more.
The second man had his arm around Miri’s throat. Likely, she couldn’t breathe, but still let out a shout.
At her scream, Kahn and Etru turned, saw the problem, but more Endekians poured into the hallway. Tessa needed one second of surprise, a distraction to take out the Endekian holding Miri. She turned her suit transparent.
The Endekian goggled. Her naked body was the last thing he ever saw before she shoved his nose straight into his brain.
“You didn’t see that,” Tessa told Xander as she gently floated Miri down the corridor, toward the shuttle and away from the Endekians.
“See what?” Xander helped Miri on the other side and together with Shaloma and Helera, they advanced, the men covering their flanks.
“We have been overrun on several fronts.” Dora reported. “Rystani men are falling back, giving time for the women and children to escape through bolt holes and to hide.”
“Options?” Tessa snapped.
“You are too far from the bolt holes. There’s only one chance,” Dora warned. “Get out. Run for the shuttle.”
They rounded two more corners. This area seemed clear of intruders.
“Go.” Kahn waved Tessa toward Zical who had cleared the final path to the shuttle. “Get them out of here.”
Tessa knew Kahn meant to stay behind. He wouldn’t want to leave his people or abandon them in a time of need. But sometimes the better choice was a full retreat so one could live to return and battle another day. She’d prayed this moment would never arrive and now that it had, she didn’t feel prepared.
Tessa handed Miri to Xander and Mogan in the shuttle, then covered Shaloma and Helera as the women also took shelter inside. Etru and Nasser went next. Only Zical and Kahn remained and as she expected, Kahn urged her into the shuttle without taking one step toward it himself.
“Come with me,” she demanded.
His eyes sad and full of regret, he shook his head. “I can’t. Etru and Zical will bring you to the Challenge. My people need me.”
“I need you.” She flung her arms around Kahn’s neck, used all her psi to merge with his, and then opened her emotions to him. She let him feel full force what losing him would do to her, how she would surely lose the Challenge without him there.
He didn’t go down without a struggle. He tried to raise his psi shields, but she’d gotten past his defenses.
“Please, Kahn. You can do more good for your world by living than dying. I don’t want to lose you, and I need you to train me for the Challenge.”