Chapter 19
Ned brought his fighter to a landing next to the place where Smardwurst had landed Mandible. He climbed out into the freezing, toxic air and looked around him at the surreal Izralithian landscape. It was technically daytime, though the planet’s star was just one point of light against the dark sky, distinguishable from the other stars only by its brightness, which Ned supposed was something like that of a full moon.
There was a certain beauty to the twilit valley that spread out before them. Its icy floor glistened with what looked like snow. Mountains of purplish, crystalline rock rose up far to either side, and arms of the same rock reached down into the valley in several places, thrust up through the snow as if in defiance of the ubiquitous covering. The air was thin and clear, and as Ned walked it seemed to transmit silence rather than sound.
“What is this?” Ned asked as he took a few steps, feeling the ground crunch beneath his boots.
“Crilitanion crystal,” Smardwurst informed him as he scanned the area. “I doubt it could have fallen as precipitation, but it could have been blasted out of an impact crater, or even gathered from some kind of interplanetary debris.”
Ned walked over to where his companions were waiting. He was surprised at the gravity, which was slightly higher than standard; Izralith was small, but evidently its interior was made of something very dense. Finally he reached Smardwurst and Kjrvlnk, both clad in thick exosuits designed to stand up to uninhabitable situations such as this. All three men carried laser carbines, although Ned noted that Smardwurst had an additional weapon strapped to his back – some kind of launcher with an enormous barrel.
“I hear nothing,” came Kjrvlnk’s translator through the com link in Ned’s helmet.
“The transmission came from over there,” Smardwurst said, pointing toward one of the valley walls. It was still some distance away, and several ridges of rock blocked their path. “I felt it would be wise to give ourselves some distance between the landing site and our destination; I think we can assume there is some kind of trap involved in the message you received.”
“Right. Do you think we should have the fighters take off move to a new spot? They could come back for us when we need them, couldn’t they?”
“I will launch Mandible on autopilot; maybe its cameras will pick up something. You may want to leave your fighter here, though, since being airborne might open it up to attack.” Smardwurst signaled his fighter, and Ned watched its reddish form lift into the dark sky.
“We should go,” Kjrvlnk said. He began moving across the valley floor, and Ned and Smardwurst followed close behind.
“I don’t like this,” Ned said to no one in particular as they walked.
“One usually finds little to like when hunting one’s enemies,” Smardwurst observed.
“I know, I know. But don’t you think we’re being watched? Maybe we should have the fighters launch a few missiles at the transmission site, just in case.”
“We still do not know exactly where Rax is.”
“There is something,” Kjrvlnk said calmly, and he began moving faster, quickly outdistancing the other two. After a glance at each other, Ned and Smardwurst began hurrying as well.
The distance was not great, but the ground under the snow proved to be uneven, and it required great concentration not to stumble into hidden holes or over lumps of rock which had been buried by the white powder. Although at first Ned had supposed that the crunchy substance shared the cohesive properties of frozen water, as he walked he realized that it was all completely dry, and it was almost more like ash than snow. Except, of course, that it was cold.
Ned continually glanced at the status readout of his armor to make sure it was holding up under the low temperature. Insulating against the cold of space was one thing, but here the freezing air and ground threatened to draw away the very structural integrity of their suits by thermal conduction. His armor was fine so far, but once again Ned felt a bit guilty for dragging others into such a dangerous situation. But on the other hand, Smardwurst’s bulky form and Kjrvlnk’s steady gate lent Ned a certain level of confidence. Selfish or not, he knew he was safer with them nearby.
Twice they passed over rocky outcroppings that rose above the level of the snow, and Ned finally realized why they had not been covered; since it did not stick, the snow had gradually drifted downward until it had formed a more-or-less level plain. That was also what made it so hard to know the shape of the land under their feet. The land began to rise as they reached the borders of the valley’s upward curve, and slowly the snow began to vanish, appearing only in isolated pools where the rocks surrounded it and kept it from falling – or from blowing away, if wind ever blew here. Now Ned got a better view of what the rocks were really like. They were a deep purple in color. They were not opaque, either. They glimmered faintly as the starlight reflected off of unseen facets beneath the surface, almost as if the planet were made of one enormous gemstone. Though the rocks were hard-edged, the angles were not sharp, and without the snow, climbing became somewhat easier.
Abruptly Kjrvlnk stopped. “The voices came from here,” he said. Ned wished that he could at least see the Vortak’s eyes, or something that might indicate confidence or apprehension. Ned himself was feeling less than comfortable. He could not help but notice that by moving up the valley slope they had exchanged wide, relatively-open terrain for a more closed space, where the dozens of large rock formations around them might lend themselves to hiding places for their enemies.
“I see them.” It was not Kjrvlnk who spoke, but Smardwurst. He was looking down at a display screen on his suit’s forearm. “Mandible’s camera has detected movement over there, and there.” He indicated two directions ahead and to the left and right of them. “They are moving closer.”
“I hear nothing,” Kjrvlnk said. “Wait. They-”
Before he could finish, laser fire streaked over a nearby hilltop. It was not aimed at them, but upward, toward the stars.
“They are targeting Mandible,” Smardwurst said as he tapped his wrist, ordering the fighter to move out of range. “Now is our chance,” he said when he looked up. “While they are distracted.”
All three started up the hill. Kjrvlnk moved low to the ground now, using all five limbs that did not carry a weapon. He moved on ahead of them and veered off to their right as they neared the top of a protrusion of rock. Ned followed, with Smardwurst bringing up the rear.
Kjrvlnk reached the top of an outcropping and fired his laser immediately. Return fire followed as Ned and Smardwurst reached the top of their rock and ran head-first into three Vortak, each carrying a large blaster cannon. Instinctively Ned threw up a Plasma shield in front of himself and Smardwurst, and the Vortak’s fire exploded harmlessly against it. Smardwurst’s weapon flared in quick succession and the attackers dropped to the ground. As Smardwurst glanced right to see what Kjrvlnk was doing, Ned noted the pale blue coloring of the other Vortak. They wore no helmets; apparently Rax had adapted them to the cold and unbreathable air, just as Dren had adapted his Vortak to the conditions on Dread Phoenix. Kjrvlnk was running toward them. “They felt your power, Nedward. More are coming. I do not believe they have identified me yet; I keep my voice from them.”
A quick stirring brought Ned around. The fallen Vortak behind were glowing faintly, and a mist rose about them from the snow. One of them began to stand. Smardwurst shot them all again, and then he and his companions took off as fast as they safely could up the jagged slope. Ned did not look back, but he doubted that the Vortak would stay down for long. “I don’t understand,” he said when Kjrvlnk, who had been leading them, came to a stop behind a boulder. “Dren’s Vortak absorbed our laser energy, but these guys should be drained by it even more than normal. It’s hot. They don’t even have armor.”
“The planet is cold,” said Smardwurst. “Perhaps the cold can heal their wounds.”
Up ahead, Kjrvlnk stood motionless. “There are many now. I can lead them away, but you
cannot keep up. You must make your way farther up this slope. They come from there. All of them. She must be there. Do not use your power. They can sense it. Do not let them see you.”
Before Ned fully realized what Kjrvlnk was suggesting, the Vortak’s armored form disappeared to their left. He stopped a moment to fire his laser, then continued moving away from them. He had been right about one thing at least; even in his armor his limbs grasped the rock and moved him so quickly and fluidly over the uneven terrain that there was no way Ned or Smardwurst could have kept pace with him.
Smardwurst was looking up the slope in the direction Kjrvlnk had indicated. “I think we can make it up there if we keep to the right of those boulders,” he said. “The Vortak all seem to be to the left of us.”
“Will he be okay?” Ned asked.
“There is nothing we can do,” Smardwurst said. “But we had better move before we are spotted.”
Together they continued their climb. They made slow progress, but although in the thin air the sounds of battle had never been loud, it seemed that they were receding into the distance. Soon Ned could not hear them at all. Smardwurst glanced skyward occasionally as they climbed.
“Maybe you should call Mandible again,” Ned suggested at one point. “Kjrvlnk might need it.”
“I tried,” Smardwurst replied. “Our communications are jammed. Rax may have launched an interference probe. I cannot raise Green Scorpion either.”
This was disturbing news, although it was not wholly unexpected. “Do you think this is a trap too? Drawing Kjrvlnk off like that?”
“Probably. Or perhaps they do think we are with him. Kjrvlnk would know better than we.”
In any case there had been no further sign of the Vortak when they reached a hollowed-out area, which offered protection on three sides, forming a sort of cave. Here they stopped to rest. Behind them the valley stretched out, and they had a clear view of the slope they had climbed. Nothing moved on it or in the valley below. Ned thought he could see his fighter’s sleek form resting on the valley floor, and it surprised him how far away it seemed. Perhaps the clear air had tricked his eyes into underestimating distances.
“We seem to have lost our pursuers for the moment,” Smardwurst said. “Where do we go now?”
Ned glanced into the cave. It was not deep, but the back of it seemed to have been formed by a rockslide; perhaps there were other openings nearby that lead farther in. “I wonder if here are any other caves around here,” Ned said. “That’s probably where the Vortak came from, and probably why we couldn’t see them from the air before.”
Smardwurst glanced at his suit’s readout again. “The map image we took before we landed shows several dark spots on the slope. They could be caves. Some of them might continue farther back than this one. We could search, if you believe that is where we need to go.”
Ned closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t like leaving Kjrvlnk like this.”
“We did not leave him,” Smardwurst reminded him. “In any case, we must make use of the situation. We are nearly to the top of the valley, and Kjrvlnk felt sure the Vortak had come from somewhere around here. We should continue looking.”
Ned sighed and looked out, again surveying the landscape. “There will be no tracks to follow. We’ll just have to hope we stumble across something.”
Together they left the cave and began to move laterally across the valley wall. It was harder moving this way, since they were forced to climb in and out of clefts like the one up which they had ascended. They continued moving to the left, in the general direction of the shots they had heard earlier, hoping to come across something that might indicate an entrance. At least, Ned told himself, they were moving toward Kjrvlnk now. Perhaps they might catch a glance of him.
They had been moving sideways for several minutes when a huge fireball engulfed a portion of the rock wall near the bottom of the slope. They all carried grenades, but the explosion seemed too big to be one of those; it looked more a starfighter’s missile had detonated. Or a mine.
“I gave Kjrvlnk the access codes to Mandible,” Smardwurst said. “He must have moved clear of the interference and ordered the ship to fire on them. I wonder if they will heal from that.”
“I hope he…” Ned’s words were cut off as he briefly saw something move down below them. They’re sending more out, he realized. There was no need to say more. Without even a glance at each other, Ned and Smardwurst began to descend the slope to the place where the Vortak had appeared.
They had come up too far, but as it turned out it was probably a good thing. Another group of Vortak left what could now be seen as a wide fissure in the rock face before Ned and Smardwurst reached it, and they probably would have been seen had they approached it from below. As it was, they managed to stay hidden. They waited until the Vortak had disappeared around a rock formation before continuing. When they finally reached the cave, they stopped outside, listening.
“There are almost certainly more of them in there,” Smardwurst said.
“If we have to fight, I’ll have to use the Plasma, and they’ll all come after us.”
“Can you beat them?”
Ned was silent for a moment. “I’ll have to.” This was the first time he had faced direct combat since losing his Crystal, and his heart was racing. He took that as a sign that he needed to act now, before he had time to reconsider. “I’ll go in alone, so I won’t have to worry about shielding you. If everything’s okay, I’ll call.” Smardwurst did not voice any assent, but Ned did not want to take the time to argue. He armed the missile launchers on his arms and peered around the corner.
There were no Vortak in sight, but what he saw took his breath away. The jewel-like appearance of the rocks that Ned had noticed outside was magnified a thousand times here; it was as if someone had come in and shattered the walls and ceiling of the cave, exposing glistening crystals on every square inch. Only the floor was clear of the sharp, dazzling facets. Instead, it appeared polished and almost perfectly flat, except where columns of crystal connected it to the ceiling. These columns blocked the view of the back of the cavern, but it obviously went back quite a way.
There was no movement, so Ned started to walk. Something was different about this place, although it took Ned a moment to realize what it was. There was no time to ponder it; he had not gone fifty paces into the cave when laser fire erupted from both sides of the foremost columns, from bottom to top. Knowing his shielding and his suit could take at least this initial onslaught, Ned simply raised his fists and launched a storm of missiles into the columns. They melted in the heat, their boiling masses oozing their way to the floor. The laser fire stopped immediately. Apparently the missiles had been too much for the Vortak that had been hiding on the back sides of the pillars.
Suddenly Ned felt cold.
That was it, he realized. It was just as it had been in Dark Viper’s fortress. There it had been a presence, a refusal of the Plasma to fully obey him. Here it was like that, as if Kayleen Rax had extended herself outward to fill the whole cave, only now it was not just there; Kayleen’s presence lent a chill to the Plasmic ether around her.
Abruptly Ned felt his friend’s hand on his shoulder, and he had to wonder for how long he had been standing there. He realized that his eyes had been closed, and when he opened them he saw that his body was sheathed in blue light; the attack had drained him, and he was instinctively drawing power from the ether around him. That was why he had noticed the coldness then. The Plasma was reluctant to obey him, and recharging himself was taking more effort than usual.
“More will come,” Smardwurst said softly. “If you cannot fight them, now is the time to decide. We know where she is hiding, I think. We could attack this place from space…”
“No,” Ned said. His voice was shaky, but his resolve was firm. “I have to face her here. I have to find out what happened to Mirana.” He started walking, drawing in more power as he went. The chilling sensation it gave him inside wa
s not physical, but it was very disturbing. Still, he had to face it. He had come unprepared, perhaps, but he had come. He would not leave until his task here was finished. “Go back, Smardwurst,” he said without turning. “There’s nothing you can do here to protect me.”
Smardwurst placed his back against the cave wall near the entrance and waited until the sound of Ned’s footsteps had faded. He understood what his friend was feeling – the need to push back fear with a strict focus on duty. The desire to leave Smardwurst out of harm’s way was noble enough, but the Zalorian had experienced enough to know that heading off alone was foolish. Especially when facing someone who had already defeated the Shadow Master. Of course Smardwurst was worried about Kjrvlnk as well, and it might be useful to check on the status of the starfighters, but the priority here was clear. When he decided that he had given Ned enough of a head start, Smardwurst gritted his teeth and started after him.
Ned saw no further sign of the Vortak. Apparently those who had attacked Ned in the cave had been completely destroyed by his missiles or buried under the collapsing pillars, and no one else challenged his passage. Thus alone, Ned was content to gaze in wonder at the elaborate patterns of crystal that wound their way back into the mountain. There was light here, although he could not explain it. Whether from a source beyond the walls or as reflections of a glow farther in, the crystals flickered softly in a scene which despite the perilous circumstance struck Ned as beautiful.
Occasionally the passage branched to one side or forked in two, but Ned lost no time in choosing his path. He could feel his enemy’s presence as the source of the Plasmic chill that permeated the icy cavern. She was ahead, and she was waiting.
I haven’t defeated her in making it this far, he reminded himself. This is her element. She wants me to find her. The one victory he had made, though, was that, as far as he knew, both of his companions were still alive. He doubted that Rax had planned that.
Ned was grateful for the length of the passage. He walked slowly, taking the time to gather his strength in anticipation of his meeting with the Ice Master. He tried to think of a strategy that might help when he found her, but whatever ideas came to his mind were instantly overridden by reasons why they probably would not work. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens, he thought in resignation. It was, however, some consolation to him that he felt strong again when the source of the light began to draw near.
The passage, which had been angling downward as it wound its way forward, now leveled off and straightened out. A pale glow came from directly ahead, although no shapes could be made out there. He continued forward, forcing himself to control his breathing. Then the passage neared its end: a wall of translucent material was stretched across the passage from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Stepping up to it, Ned realized that it was not solid, but rather formed of an intricate web of some clear, hard material, as if it were a single large, twisted snowflake interwoven with itself. Light shone through from the space beyond, but it was too refracted to show any details. His suit’s sensors told him that the material was no colder than the surrounding rock, so he slowly brought his gloved hand up and touched it.
Silently, and with a misty haze, the web evaporated. It started where his hand had made contact, then quickly moved outward. The cavern beyond was formed of the same crystalline material as the passage behind him, only it was far larger. The light that filled it came from pale orbs set into the facets of the wall and ceiling. In the center of the chamber, still several dozen yards away, stood a woman dressed in an elegant white and pale blue gown. She stood perfectly still, looking directly at Ned. Her face and arms seemed to be carved from ice, and if Ned had not spoken to her already he would have had a difficult time convincing himself that this was the same woman he had battled on Palandora. When she made no movement, Ned began to walk toward her.
He stopped when she was within easy firing range. He held her gaze for a moment, wondering at the fact that she wore no armor. Perhaps, as with the Vortak, the cold was all she needed.
“You made it,” she said plainly. Her face remained expressionless, and here in what fit her as a native environment she seemed almost queenly in her demeanor.
Ned was not in the mood for diplomacy, but he was not in a hurry to start a battle either. Even if he won, it would do him little good if he could not find out about Mirana. “You’ve changed,” Ned said.
Rax smiled. “Indeed I have. As have you. I’m impressed by how quickly you got here.”
“No you’re not,” Ned countered. “You planned it this way. Why? Why did you lure me here and attack my friends and then let me just walk in?”
She turned around to face the far wall, tossing her hair around in the process. “It’s nothing personal,” she said, sounding oddly wistful. “It’s just that it’s very important that you die here.”
Ned reminded himself that Dren had made a similar threat and failed. He took another step forward, Plasma charging in his fist. “Show me where Mirana is.”
Rax looked over her shoulder at him, a bitter expression on her face. “That’s just it. She’s not here.”
“What?”
Rax turned back around and walked toward Ned, her hand on her forehead as if admitting something embarrassing. “I tracked her down and attacked her, and she ran off. I followed her, and she attacked again. And I encased her in a crystal shell, just like you saw. But here’s the thing: when Viper ordered me to finish her off, I breached the armor – but there was nothing inside.”
Ned shook his head, trying to piece together what Rax was saying, not to mention whether he should believe any of it. Whether or not it made sense, Ned wanted to believe it, because the alternative was probably that Mirana was already dead.
“The armor was empty,” Rax repeated. “Don’t ask me how she did it. Maybe she teleported out, or maybe she was never in there to begin with.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Rax’s expression grew angry. “I don’t need leverage anymore, don’t you see? Viper ordered me to kill Mirana, and I failed. That’s three times I’ve let his enemies escape. My only chance at redemption is to kill you. And the last thing I need is for you to feel like you’re on some kind of rescue mission, getting all charged up in the justice of your cause. So now you know that there’s no revenge to be had; your friends are safe. They’ll be even safer with you gone, instead of dragging them into hopeless situations like this. That’s why I’m telling you. I want you to see that the only thing you have to fight for is your own life, the same as me. Your only ‘cause’ now is self-interest. And believe me, I am far more selfish than you.”
Ned was still having trouble wrapping his head around whatever psychological issues were behind Rax’s discourse, but it was clear enough that he was not going to gain any useful information from her. He brought up his carbine and fired. But white light was already flashing out from Rax’s upturned hand, deflecting the laser shots and surrounding him with a spray of crystal like he had seen covering the room’s entrance. The web was instantly all around him, binding his limbs and blocking his sight. He sent Plasmic fire flaring outward from his body, burning away part of the icy web, and with the enhanced strength of his suit’s legs he managed to spring himself away from that position before another blast of Ice Plasma could hit him.
He had lost hold of the carbine, but as he landed he launched two missiles at Rax, who had moved back and was charging up another shot. Neither missile reached its target. The air before them hardened suddenly, and both struck the icy wall, exploding closer to Ned than to Rax. Ned was on his feet though, and his outstretched hand fired a beam of sizzling power. Rax blocked it with a steady beam of white energy, but the action distracted her from the Plasma vortex opening before her. The instant it was open a missile blasted through it, and this time Rax was thrown back. Ned heard her grunt as if in pain, but whatever damage he had done did not prevent her from throwing up another wall of ice. Rax’s power severed Ned’s
hold on the ether around her position, so he was unable to open another vortex.
Ned had just launched another missile, hoping to break through Rax’s shell, when the floor around him spread upward in the same icy web, enveloping his feet. As he looked down to see what had happened, Rax attacked again. Now the web seemed to be coming from the air itself, and the quickly-solidifying crystal began to obscure his view. Ned gathered his strength for one charged blast. He knew the effort would weaken him, but he could not hold back now. Facing the direction opposite Rax, he detonated Plasmic energy all around him, catapulting him clear of the web with a shower of icy fragments. As soon as he was clear, he launched several missiles in quick succession, noting with some dismay that he was running low. Rax blocked several of them, but the effort it took and heat from the explosions must have weakened her temporarily, because Ned was able to open another Vortex and target her. His final missile passed through it and exploded against Rax, and again she was thrown back, disappearing in a white haze.
Ned drew his blaster and fired a series of shots into the haze, frantically trying to recharge his power at the same time. For a moment there was no response to his attack, as Rax remained walled away behind her icy barrier. But then she strode forward, facial features pulled tight as she emerged from the Plasmic ice and confronted Ned directly.
“Enough!” she shouted as she flung her arms wide. Her hair and gown whipped about her as if she were standing on a mountaintop in a fierce wind, and lances of pale light flashed from her hands in all directions. Ned’s blaster crystallized and disintegrated in his hands, and had to focus all his power on shielding himself against the attack that seemed to come from the air itself. Rax’s hands now clenched tightly and dropped to her sides, and her eyes shone with cold fury. With the awful sound of ice rending against itself the floor split open, starting at her feet and then spreading outward to fill the room. Seeing too late what was happening, Ned tried to propel himself toward the doorway, but a massive chunk of crystalline rock from the ceiling came crashing onto him, dislodged by the tremor. His suit’s structural integrity alarm sounded in his ear.
The floor on which they had been standing had appeared solid and sturdy, but in the instant it took Ned to fall through it he realized that it was no more than a meter thick, and now it opened on a vast chasm below. As he recovered from the shock of the blow there was just enough time to see that he was falling downward toward what appeared at first to be another flat space of ground, but as chunks of the floor above struck it Ned realized that it was in fact an underground lake made of some thick substance that had managed to stay fluid at this temperature. The liquid jarred him as he struck it, and then it was all around him, and again his suit’s alarm sounded. Rax was nowhere to be seen.