‘Is something on your mind, Shi?’ Rhun queried the soul who, during their lives in the dark ages of ancient Britain, had been his brother-in-law, Urien.
‘I worry that Dorje Pema has a psychic link to all the shifters in our land,’ he raised a valid point. ‘If they sense the Dropa are in danger, they will fight to the death to protect them. This is what we were bred by the Dropa to do. Their essence is in our blood.’
‘He’s right,’ Huxin seconded his concern. ‘We may have to be physically restrained during the attack. Hudan also.’ She looked back to her sister, who was also a shifter, but like Fen Gong’s tigress, Ling Hu, Hudan shifted from physical to spirit form.
‘Restraining myself and Ling Hu is going to be a lot more difficult,’ Hudan posed. ‘Even Fen may have Dropa ancestry. All of us developed supernatural talent, so we may have to be restrained, bar Rhun.’
‘Um-hum!’ Telmo held a finger high. ‘I do believe I was here before the Dropa ever got here.’
It was true, the soul inside Telmo had been time-hopping and incarnating more than anyone present, and he was no longer even employing the female body he’d inhabited in ancient Zhou — physical transformation was one of his many talents and one of the first he’d perfected as Taliesin Pen Beirdd.
‘Huxin can shift form back into Jazmay, who bears no genetic link to the Dropa,’ Telmo advised. ‘The rest of you we’ll sedate until this is over.’
No one present seemed very disposed towards the solution, but all gave a nod to concur nonetheless.
‘Khalid first,’ Rhun suggested quietly, wary Khalid might rematerialise, or may never even have left, since he could render himself invisible.
‘And heaven help us when he wakes up.’ Telmo was clearly not optimistic about how Khalid would deal with life after his mentor’s death.
But the decision was made now; this dark matter was drawing swiftly to a close, whether they were prepared for the consequences or not.
2
KILL ’EM ALL
With the shield coming down, Rhun wasn’t taking any chances; he’d decided to shift the time chariot to the secret meeting place his brother had found for them — a crystal cavern located in the inner Earth somewhere. Rhun had only ever teleported to this cavern, so he didn’t have a clue where it was located, none of the timekeepers did — they only knew what it looked like and that mental image was their ticket there.
Song kept pace with Rhun as he strode through the Dropa spacecraft, which was cleverly camouflaged to look like a very intricate labyrinth of white-washed caves. The lighting and large skylights did detract from the natural facade, but these could be closed off to enhance the disguise, along with the automatic doors that locked open, or could be completely concealed by the illusion of earth creating the appearance of a solid wall. ‘I really think you should let me do my security install before you move the chariot beyond this time period,’ Song insisted to their team leader.
‘Why not come with me then, and you can do your install where you won’t be interrupted?’ Rhun suggested as the door to maintenance opened upon their approach.
‘Yeah,’ Song knew exactly what Rhun was driving at. ‘And hope Telmo doesn’t try to find us … I hate having him hanging over my shoulder when I’m trying to work.’ He grabbed the mechanical-design specs from the drafting desk, which Telmo had committed to paper as he was unable to directly utilise the Dropa technology. Of course, Telmo could have whipped up some equally useful piece of technology from his time travels just as Taliesin could on Earth, but quite frankly Song found the drawn specs easier to use and follow.
‘Well, you could just let Telmo do it. He’s more qualified than you, which is why he’s such a back seat driver …’ Rhun posed.
‘No way! I enjoy working on the chariot,’ Song objected. ‘It’s the only thing I’m good for until the fighting starts … being that there are no women around to f—’
‘Gotcha,’ Rhun held up a hand to prevent him saying more.
‘What?’ Song held up his hands in his own defence. ‘I was going to say fraternise with.’
‘Sure you were,’ Rhun jibed, knowing Song’s soul-mind so very well; he’d once been his uncle and the former governor of Kila; who, apart from his insanely brave tendencies, was a frightful womaniser when he was not attached.
‘There is the one true love of my life at present.’ Song motioned to the newly fashioned chariot. ‘And isn’t she the most shit-hot ride you have ever seen in your life?’
Rhun agreed, smiling as Song approached to buff his baby with his sleeve.
‘She used to look like a fricking Frigian shopping trolley minus the shade canopy,’ Song said, quietly amused by the simile as he stepped back to admire her again. ‘But now … now she looks like every thrill seeker’s wet dream!’
It was true the vehicle no longer looked like a chariot — more like a rideable black weapon of mass destruction. ‘With inbuilt camouflage,’ Rhun chimed in. ‘No more worrying about her being seen by the wrong person.’
‘We aim to please.’ Song grinned.
‘Then shall we leave? Before the control freak gets here to start micromanaging this operation?’ Rhun suggested, climbing on the chariot, not to ride it to the cavern but rather to teleport it with him to the secret location.
‘I’m right behind you.’ Song waved him on and watched Rhun vanish with the time transport. Then, engaging his desire to join Rhun, Song dematerialised and followed his team leader to the crystal cavern.
Rhun was climbing off the chariot when Song materialised close by and was immediately mesmerised by one of the large crystal clusters that littered the cave above and below like a shimmering garden that lit the darkened space very efficiently.
‘Why do the crystals in here glow when they never see sunlight?’ Song wondered out loud.
‘Precisely because they never see sunlight,’ Rhun explained. ‘Due to the utter darkness of this cave, you can see the excess photons they emit. Like the light that drives the Dropa ship and their healing egg, it is the primordial light of creation they are emitting. Which is why it feels so peaceful and unthreatening here. Even if Dragonface found this place, he’d be compelled to leave within seconds of arriving; the pure life force here would feel draining and repulsive to him.’
‘Thus this is the safest place for our baby,’ Song concluded, turning his eye to his work.
‘Indeed.’ Rhun turned to wander off.
‘Where are you going?’ Song queried.
‘To find a moment’s peace.’ Rhun turned back briefly to add, ‘And give you some peace as well.’
Song found that idea appealing. ‘Fair enough,’ he crouched down and laid out the specs for the upgrade to begin, conjuring up the parts he’d need. These components he fashioned from a combination of Telmo’s visionary design and his own technical know-how and psychokinetic willpower.
Rhun had not taken two steps into his own quiet time when he sensed someone else materialise in the cavern close by him.
‘So, you plan to play God again?’
The hairs on the back of Rhun’s neck rose in prickly protest at the sound of his brother’s voice. ‘If not one control freak, then another,’ Rhun commented to Song.
Rhun had found an ally in Song, whereas Telmo was more strongly allied to Avery at present. ‘Keep me out of it,’ Song chuckled.
‘Just answer the question,’ Avery insisted.
Although Rhun’s younger brother had their mother’s fair hair and grey-violet eyes, he could look just as fierce as Rhun when he was mad. They both had their father’s broad-shouldered, slim build, but Avery got some of their father’s height while Rhun had not.
Rhun finally turned fully to face Avery. ‘Why bother when you obviously already know the answer? Aren’t you only supposed to appear when I summon you?’
‘Never mind about that —’ Avery attempted to sidestep the query.
‘No, answer my question.’ Rhun demanded, doubly curious.
&nb
sp; ‘Answer mine first!’ Avery floated up over his big brother to look down on him, although he stood a little taller than him anyway.
‘It was Dorje Pema’s call,’ Rhun retorted in an equally unpleasant tone.
‘No … it should be fate’s call,’ Avery lectured, ‘there is nothing predestined about this event.’
‘It’s too late!’ Rhun roared before he calmed again. ‘There is nothing I can do now, the light-shield is already powering down.’
‘Nothing you can do, are you shitting me?’ Avery appealed. ‘What is that?’ He motioned to the time chariot Song was working on.
‘These people,’ Rhun motioned to Song, but was referring to all the timekeepers, ‘have to go home! This mission has already lasted a lifetime longer than planned. Any one of them could return to their proper time and place with a thought. Half of them are missing their significant other, and have been for an age; how long do you think it’s going to be before they start pining to the point that they accidentally will themselves right off the crew? Then we’ll be back to dealing with Dragonface on our own.’
‘Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing?’ Avery suggested, obviously thinking it would be fewer people to negotiate around. He considered what he’d just said more seriously and added, ‘You’re right, we have to do something to right the situation on our future planet fairly quickly, but I am not convinced that this is it.’
‘Look,’ Rhun took a step away from the argument. ‘I answered your question, now you answer mine.’
‘I need to have this out with you first,’ Avery skirted the issue once more.
‘I’m not discussing it further before you spill,’ Rhun insisted. ‘How did you get here?’
Avery rolled his eyes to emphasise how dense his brother was. ‘You keep forgetting to dismiss me, and … if you don’t, I am free to pass between worlds as I please at that particular time space junction.’
Rhun’s jaw tensed. ‘Do you mean to say that that time you trapped me here in an obelisk I could have just told you to piss off?’
Avery grinned, amused by his brother’s hindsight. ‘You still would have been stuck to the spot; once I cast that spell it was checkmate. If you’d wanted to be released from my hold, you’d have to have summoned me back anyway, and I don’t have to respond.’ He folded his arms, feeling rather smug and superior.
‘Funny, is it?’ Rhun queried, more than a little irked by his brother’s lack of communication. He gave a little wave. ‘Dismissed!’
‘No!’ Avery vanished from sight and Rhun gave a sigh of relief.
‘Um,’ Song spoke up, as he couldn’t help but overhear the yelling match so close by him. ‘But don’t you have to say it three times?’
‘The law of three requests!’ Rhun wanted to hit himself as he’d not studied cosmic law since his days in ancient Britain.
Avery appeared again, hands on hips, staring at Song. ‘I thought you wanted to stay out of it.’ Avery looked back to Rhun. ‘Listen to me —’
‘Dismissed, dismissed, dismissed, dismissed …’ Rhun continued to rant long after Avery had vanished, just to be sure. ‘… dismissed, dismissed —’
‘Hey, whoa there,’ Song cut in. ‘I think he’s gone now.’
‘Who’s gone?’ Telmo queried as he materialised to catch the comment.
‘Argh!’ Both Song and Rhun whined in protest at his presence.
‘What?’ Telmo didn’t understand their reaction at all. ‘I thought you’d be glad to see me?’
Dan and Hudan, Shi and Huxin, were working in teams to install the remote sensors for the molecular demolition device that Telmo had dug up from somewhere in Earth’s history to use to destroy the vessel. These sensors triggered the molecular breakdown of everything in the vicinity of a hundred square metres, and they needed to implant six around the interior of the outer rim of the Dropa ship to ensure its full decomposition without any debris. According to Telmo the entire craft would simply evaporate.
Dan was loosening a metal panel in order to remove and get in behind it to implant a device, when his hand slipped across the sharp outer edge and he nearly cut through three of his fingers. ‘Oh, damn,’ he protested, pulling his hand out to view the damage, blood squirting everywhere.
‘Dan!’ Hudan turned away to shield her face and used her psychokinesis to manifest a piece of cloth, which she wrapped around his hand to contain the bleeding. Quickly, she helped get him to his feet.
‘I am fine to find Fen,’ he assured her. ‘You stay and finish this.’
Hudan pointed to the panel he’d been having so much trouble with and when it fell off onto the floor, she shrugged in conclusion. ‘I told you to let me assist.’
‘The wisest man of our age,’ he referred to himself, ‘I do not think so.’
‘Go,’ Hudan urged him to get fixed up before he bled to death.
Dan was inspecting the damage to his hand and shaking his head at his own stupidity when he entered Fen’s room unannounced. The lad had been on his own since Dragonface murdered his betrothed, forty years before so it did not occur to Dan that he might be interrupting anything.
‘Fen, I’ve had a bit of an accident —’ Dan looked up and was bemused to find Fen naked in bed, with someone else wriggling around underneath the covers. Dan could only assume it was his tigress, as she was nowhere to be seen.
Fen, appearing flustered, grabbed for his trousers and put them on, as the large lump under the covers beside him vanished. ‘What happened, Captain?’
The lad scampered down to look at Dan’s wound, which he held out for Fen to inspect. He could feel himself going into shock, and Dan wasn’t sure if it was the wound, or what he thought he’d just walked in on that was the cause.
‘Sit down.’ Fen led him to a seat and plonked him in it, then knelt down before him.
‘Fen, I know it’s really none of my business, but I worry —’
‘Don’t worry,’ Fen advised, looking him in the eye briefly, before grinning, embarrassed. ‘It’s not what you think.’
Dan didn’t know what to make of that response either and so went quiet to allow Fen to concentrate.
The healer held his hands together and focused his chi into a ball of energy — light streaming from the space between his fingers. At this point he invited Dan to insert his damaged hand into the glow suspended between his palms.
The relief from the smarting wounds was immediate and Dan gave a sigh of relief as Fen’s healing light was absorbed into his injured limb and it mended, good as new. ‘I should have announced myself.’ Dan resolved that he was to blame for any embarrassment.
Fen, having no way to avoid the conversation now, swallowed hard, appearing put on the spot. ‘Captain, I —’
Dan held up a hand to prevent him saying anything more. ‘I shall leave now. Thank you for this.’ Dan removed the bloody rag and wriggled his fingers. ‘Good job.’ Dan headed for the door and turned back before exiting. ‘You can come back now, Ling Hu, I am departing.’ He walked into the corridor and the door slid closed behind him.
Once outside, Dan drew such a deep breath that his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He knew Fen adored the tigress he’d raised, but surely that love had not gone to such unnatural extremes? No. Dan wouldn’t believe that. He suspected Fen and Ling Hu had a secret, and he could not resist turning back and employing his third eye vision to peer through the wall into the room he’d just left.
The albino tigress came out of hiding, and as she crawled out from under the bed covers she transformed into a naked woman with skin and hair as white as her tiger form, her eyes the same piercing blue. This woman bore a striking resemblance, not to her last incarnation as He Nuan — the love that Fen had lost — but to Dr Ayliscia Portus, AIME’s marine biologist and the love of Ringbalin’s life.
Dan grinned, wondering how long this love affair had been going on.
But as it was really none of his business, he was of a mind to walk away when Fen said, ‘What must the
captain be thinking? We have to tell him.’
Dan paused, wondering if he should put Fen’s mind at rest? Why the secrecy? He didn’t understand it.
‘I can only maintain this form when I am alone with you and filled with lust.’ Ling Hu collapsed onto the bed and rolled over on her back to appeal. ‘Come back to bed.’
‘Damn,’ Fen was clearly torn between his desire and fear of being caught again. ‘I’d feel a whole lot safer if this door locked.’ He approached her warily glancing back towards where his captain had exited.
Dan looked away and moved off quickly. Poor Fen. Dan saw now that the healer would have a lot of difficulty trying to prove his explanation, even if he did front up to his captain with the truth of what he’d just intruded upon.
‘Are you all right?’ Hudan called from up ahead.
‘Fine,’ he assured her, holding his hand up for her to view. ‘How did the install go?’
‘All done,’ she announced triumphantly.
‘Excellent, we can move into the next one.’
‘No.’ Hudan corrected his misconception. ‘Our three installs are done.’ She raised her brows suggestively. ‘What shall we do with the afternoon now?’
‘We should really go and assist Shi and Huxin, don’t you think?’
Hudan’s grin faded.
‘You don’t like that idea, I take it?’ Dan concluded.
With a shake of her head Hudan directed him to Khalid, striding down the corridor in their direction behind Dan.
The man looked completely distraught. ‘It’s not right.’ He appealed his case to them. ‘Why is what I want always contradictory to what you want?’
‘This is not what we want, Khalid —’ Hudan tried to assure him.
‘Don’t call me that,’ he was offended. ‘I am nothing like that person, I am Wu Geng now.’
This was the name of his Shang incarnation, the body of whom he still wore. The last Shang prince had suffered long and aided Ji Song and Zhou to victory — it was also the name Dorje Pema always called him by.