Chapter Fifteen
“Are you nuts?”
Rawn placed his hands on his hips and scowled at his sister, who sat on one of the comfy sofas in her lounge. The shade shields on the vast windows that overlooked the wild garden were withdrawn, allowing the warm rays of a glorious sunset to stream into the airy room with its pale décor and crimson carpets. Tallyn sat on a plush white faux leather chair on the other side of a low crystal-topped coffee table, frowning at her. She shrugged.
Tallyn leant forward. “The Council will never allow you to seek out the Shrike, Rayne.”
“Look, I’m not keen on the idea either, but I’m following my guide’s instructions, and he seems to know a lot more about this story than you do. After all, he knew the Shrike didn’t murder his people.”
“How were we supposed to know that?”
“Go down to the planet,” she said. “See the remains of the Crystal Ship for yourself.”
“We can’t. The radiation is too intense; the result of several hundred high-yield nuclear bombs. It will be hundreds of years before anyone can safely go there again. You shouldn’t have gone; you took a hell of a risk.”
“I’m fine.”
“You should see a doctor, just in case,” Tallyn said.
“Endrix said it was safe, and I believe him.”
Tallyn rose and went over to the window to gaze at the sunlit garden. “Maybe your adaptation to your home world’s toxic atmosphere and high radiation helped. Anyway, now that we know what we face, we can arm ourselves against it. That ship won’t be allowed anywhere near Atlan, and certainly not into our atmosphere.”
“You can’t stop it. It’s immune to your weapons, just like Endrix.”
“Then we’ll find other weapons. Our scientists will start work immediately.”
“It won’t work,” she said. “Don’t you see? That’s why Endrix’s masters gave you the prophecy. I’m the only one who can stop it, and I don’t even know how, but I need the Shrike’s help, so I must find him.”
“What can he do that we can’t?”
“He has more advanced ships. Endrix says I’ll need one.”
Tallyn turned, scowling. “Why would he give you one, or even lend you one? He’ll sell you at the nearest market.”
“He’ll do it for revenge.”
“He won’t, because it’s not his planet that’s threatened this time. Atlan’s demise would please him.”
“No.” She shook her head. “He told me he doesn’t want Atlan to fall. That’s why he let me go.”
“He let you go to throw us off his trail. He made his escape while we stopped to pick you up. If he had killed you, we’d have hunted him down, and he knew it.”
Rayne jumped up. “Fine, think what you want. I have to find him, whether you like it or not.”
“But if we don’t help you, how will you find him?”
She glared at him. “It’s up to the Council to decide, not you.”
“They won’t allow you to risk your life.”
“Then they’ll stop me saving Atlan. If you prevent me from doing this, you could be the ones to pay the price. If I have to, I’ll buy passage on a commercial ship and find him that way.”
Tallyn smiled. “Impossible. Commercial ships don’t go into his territory, and he rarely ventures out of it. No, we’ll provide you with a good ship when you need it.”
Rayne opened her mouth to scorn this suggestion, but Rawn took her arm and tugged her aside. “Leave it, Ray. He’s never going to agree, nor will the Council, I’m sure. They’re too proud to admit that they need anyone’s help, least of all an outlaw’s.”
“Whose side are you on?” she demanded.
“Yours. Look, I don’t like this either, but it kind of makes sense. After all, if your guide’s story is true, and I see no reason for him to lie, this man is the only living person to have ever encountered one of these Envoys. Am I right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“He knows what we’re up against. The Atlanteans don’t.”
She met his eyes. “So you agree that we need his help?”
“Yeah. I don’t like it, but I think your guide’s right. But arguing with Tallyn is just a waste of time and air.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Quit arguing with him. We’ll find a way. I have an idea.”
Rayne nodded and said to Tallyn, “Why don’t you ask the Council if they’ll help me find the Shrike? You have to report to them anyway. Let’s see what they say.”
“Fine.” He headed for the door.
Rawn went to use the net line screen, and while he was busy Rayne ate another meal, resolving to get some sleep afterwards, and a bath. Fatigue still plagued her. She had not slept since her brief, nightmarish doze on the scout ship, and being linked to the neural net seemed to have drained her physically as well as mentally. Rawn was still busy when she finished her meal, so she bathed and went to bed.