Shields Lady (42 page)

            Rakken, who was working his way through another bottle of wine, looked up with glazed hope in his eyes. "Dead? Are you certain? How can you know that?"

            "I just know it." She stumbled to her feet, reaching up to soothe Lucky with a soothing stroke. Rakken eyed her disbelievingly. "Even if you're right there are still those three bandits." The door of the chamber shushed open. Sariana and Rakken both jumped. Gryph stood in the

doorway. There was blood on his shirt and his face was etched with stark lines. "Make that one bandit. Targyn obligingly took care of the other two for us. But we've still got a big problem."

            Rakken stood up so fast the wine bottle toppled over and shattered on the floor. His eyes were wide with excitement "What problem? All we have to do is cut up the prisma and we're rich!"

            Gryph eyed him coldly. "Targyn did something to the prisma. Before he died he said it was primed to detonate. He claimed it's going to take a lot of the surrounding landscape with it, and I'm inclined to believe him. We can't run far enough or fast enough. We've got to try to stop it."

            "We?" Sariana moved toward him, examining the blood on Gryph's shirt to make sure it wasn't his. She was so relieved to see him she could hardly stand. She longed to throw herself into his arms and just collapse.

            "We." Gryph looked at her. "You and me, Sariana. I can't think of anything else to try. My weapon kit is gone and I can't use another Shield's prisma."

            Sariana caught her breath at what he was proposing. "You think you can use me the way you would prisma?"

"I don't know." He reached for her hand. "But you're all I've got."

            "It's so nice to feel needed," she muttered weakly as be pulled her into a run. It wasn't the first time she had made the sarcastic observation, but as usual Gryph wasn't paying any attention.

            "Hey, wait," Rakken yelled behind them. "What do you think you're doing? What about the other bandit?"

            Gryph ignored the man. He was too busy giving insttuctions to Sariana as he drew her down the hall. "When we reach the ship room I want you to just become passive. Think of yourself as a mirror. You'll catch the light I'm sending at you and reflect it back to me, but that's all. You don't have to try to focus or channel. I'll take care of that."

"I'm supposed to pretend I'm just a lifeless piece of prisma, right?"

"No," he retorted. "You're my new lock. You're tuned to me and I'm going to work the live prisma

through you."

            "Has anyone ever tried this before?" she asked breathlessly as she was pulled down another corridor. "Not that I know of. But no Shield has ever had a Shieldmate like you before, either." "How do you know?" Sariana demanded, not certain if the observation was a compliment or not. "Take my word for it. If there had been a linking as strong as ours at some time in the past, there

would be some legend or tale still circulating about it."

            "You're probably right. Do you think we'll become legends someday, Gryph?" "At the rate you're going it's not impossible." He turned another comer. "Don't look down," he ordered

brusquely.

            But of course she did and her punishment was a close view of three dead men. One of them was Targyn. Sariana tore her gaze from the terrible sight as Gryph yanked her quickly past them. She swallowed a few times in an effort to calm her queasy stomach, but before she could think of anything to say Gryph was turning another comer.

            He stopped suddenly as the hallway opened onto a vast cavern. "By the Fire on board the Ship," he breathed in genuine awe.

            Sariana knew exactly what he meant, but she couldn't even summon words. The sight that greeted her made her speechless.

            The cavern was huge, lined with the same gray metal that lined the passageways and corridors behind mem. But it wasn't the chamber that inspired awe and wonder. Awe and wonder were inspired by the strange ship that occupied most of the space inside the cavern.

            The vehicle was roughly oval in shape with a sleek dome. It rested on its flat belly. But the alien shape of it wasn't nearly as fascinating as the material from which it was made. It was crystal clear and yet it wasn't. It guttered in the light, but the eye couldn't quite focus on that brightness. There was an impression of wide, flat, oval objects inside the ship, but one couldn't quite make out the details. The whole thing was lit from inside with a soft, pulsing glow.

            Sariana peered at the ship for a long moment. "It's like looking into ice cubes," she finally announced. "Living prisma crystal," Gryph said softly. "I've never seen prisma in this condition, although I've heard

it described a thousand times in song and story." He strode farther into the room. "Targyn was right. This ship is much larger than any other ship found on this planet."

            "Perhaps it was some sort of supply ship," Sariana suggested as she followed Gryph slowly into the room. "Perhaps it's bigger than all the others because it carried weapons to resupply the smaller ships."

            Gryph nodded. "It's possible. Or perhaps it was designed for some major assault that was never launched."

            "We'll never know." Sariana examined the vehicle more closely. "Something's moving inside it, Gryph!" He followed her gaze and nodded. "Targyn said he had primed it. He had been experimenting.

Somehow he started a reaction within the weapons. He thought he could control that reaction."

            "What now, Gryph?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

"Somehow you being unsure about anything gives me cold chills."

"Sorry," he said with a wry smile. "I'll try to sound more in charge. Here, give me your hand."

            Sariana held out her palm and he closed his fingers warmly around it.

            "Remember that first night together?" Gryph asked as he tightened his hand on hers. "Remember how it felt when we touched the prisma lock together?"

            "How can I ever forget? It was every woman's dream of a wedding night." "This is no time for sarcasm," Gryph observed. "Save it for later. Concentrate on the sensation of

linking with me."

            Sariana closed her eyes and let the feeling of being linked sweep through her. It was easy to summon up that odd sense of awareness now. Almost immediately a wave of Gryph's emotions poured through her. She couldn't identify any single one, but she knew they were all from him.

            The huge wave crested, broke and then coalesced. She felt Gryph testing himself against the image of a mirror she presented. Shafts of light in varying hues danced through her mind. Sariana flinched when the

first ones arrived. The memories of the bright, lethal bursts of light Targyn had wielded were still fresh.

            But after a moment it became clear that Gryph was in firm control of the energy he was using. The lights in her head flared brighter. A rainbow of a million hues vibrated within her mind and

bounced off the mirror she was creating.

            In some manner, Sariana knew, Gryph was starting to take back the energy she was reflecting. It was stronger on the return trip, more concentrated.

            Time became meaningless to Sariana. She stood perfectly still, her body poised, her mind alert but unfocused. Gryph's hand tightened on hers. Sariana's eyes were still closed so she didn't realize anything was happening to the ship until she felt the temperature in the cavern rise several degrees.

            Her lashes lifted and she stared at the alien ship. It was no longer as clear as it had been. Portions of it were losing clarity, turning opaque. The change seemed to be starting from deep within the ship and working outward. The glow from the inside was fading.

            "It's all right," Gryph whispered, his voice tight with the strain. "It's working. I've got it now." She stared at the ship, concentrating harder as she tried to somehow free up more of her own mind

energy for him to use. She didn't know what she was doing or how she was doing it, but she sensed the new strength within herself. She felt Gryph reach for that strength with the eagerness of a lover and then he was adding it to his own and projecting it toward the ship.

            The crystal became more opaque, huge sections of it turning the familiar color of valuable prisma. Slowly, methodically, Gryph worked the prisma through Sariana. She sensed the deliberate way he

was projecting into the ship, finding the oval disks first and neutralizing them. Then he worked the structural material of the ship itself.

            Suddenly it was all over. The ship in front of them was solid, gem quality prisma. The interior glow was gone. Sariana felt the weary rush of relief that seeped into her awareness and knew it was Gryph's reaction, not her own. She turned to look at him and found him staring at her, his features taut with the effort the task had taken. But he was grinning his familiar, slightly predatory grin. He pulled Sariana into his arms and hugged her as if he had just returned from a long trip.

            "We did it! My sweet, unpredictable Sariana, we did it. Who would have guessed that you and I could work together like that? What legend spinner could have invented a tale this good? A whole ship full of weapons and we neutralized all of it, every last centimeter without the aid of a lock. By the Lightstorm, wait until they hear about this out on the frontier."

            Sariana gave a shaky laugh, clinging tightly to him. "What makes you think they'll believe us?" "They'll believe it. After all, they'll have the word of a Shield on it," Gryph stated with his familiar

arrogance.

            "Yes, of course. I almost forgot." "Are you laughing at me, woman?"

            She shook her head, her eyes full of euphoric relief. "I wouldn't dream of it." "The hell you wouldn't." Gryph laughed, holding her as if he would never let go. "There is little you

wouldn't dare, Shieldmate. But we can discuss the matter later. I think it's time we found that cutter and got out of here."

"What about Rakken and that third bandit?"

            "My guess is that the last bandit is long gone by now. He probably got a good look at the mess in the corridor outside and decided there were easier ways to make a living. As for Rakken." Gryph shrugged. "Who cares? The man is a nuisance. If he has any sense he'll stay out of my way."

            They found the Avylyns' precious cutter near the entrance of the chamber that housed the alien ship. It had been left rather carelessly on a low worktable.

            "It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that could cause all this trouble, does it?" Sariana asked as she picked up the tool.

            The prisma cutter looked like nothing more than a thin, square box. One side of the square disappeared when a hidden spring was pushed. When that was done a smooth, rounded edge was exposed. The edge was not sharpened or serrated. A child could play with it and not cut himself. But when it was applied to prisma by a skilled craftsman using just the right pressure and angle, it cut through

the crystal effortlessly. It was made of a metal that closely resembled the metal lining the surrounding corridors and chambers.

            "Lately I've learned that trouble can come from some very unexpected sources," Gryph said as she handed the cutter to him. He also took Sariana's hand and started quickly for the corridor.

            "What about your weapon kit?" Sariana thought to ask.

            "I'll have to make another one. Targyn got rid of mine. No telling where it is." "Can you make another one?" she asked in surprise. They were approaching the three bodies in the

corridor.

            "Sure," Gryph said as he paused beside Targyn's body. "I'll just take Targyn's kit. He won't be needing it any more and I've got better things to do than hunt down another snake cat. I'll need a new piece of prisma, but that won't be any problem, will it? There's a whole roomful of it back in that chamber."

            "That brings up a very interesting question," Sariana said as the thought struck her. "Who owns the prisma?"

            "By law it belongs to the Shields. To tell you the truth, it's been so long since any was found, I'm not sure what the procedure is for selling it to the jewelers and artisans who use it."

            They made their way through the alien installation without any trouble. Gryph retrieved his boots on the way down one of the corridors. When they reached the entrance he examined the traps that had been set there for a few moments. He looked thoughtful but he said nothing.

            Lucky appeared from a pocket as soon as Sariana stepped into the open. The lizard scrambled up to her shoulder and surveyed the world with satisfaction. Obviously it had not enjoyed the recent ventures.

            As they started down the tumble of rocks and boulders that shielded the entrance to the cavern, Sariana remembered the river sled.

"I'm afraid it's going to be a long walk back to Little Chance, Gryph," she said unhappily.

            "Ah, yes, your accident with the sled. Where did you leave it?"

            "It left me a couple of kilometers downstream. I must say, it wasn't a very good river sled." "Are you kidding?" Gryph asked. "It's the best there is. Cost me a small fortune to rent it."

"Well, it bounced all over the water when it hit the first few rapids."

"You tried to steer through the rapids?" he demanded, glaring at her.

            "What was I supposed to do? Get out and walk?"

            "Damn right. Just as soon as the water turned rough. You've had no experience taking a sled through rapids. Why didn't you put the sled ashore and continue on foot?" Gryph blinked at his own words. "What am I saying? That's not the question I should be asking. The one that needs asking is why didn't you head straight back to Little Chance?"

            Sariana lifted the hem of her skirt so it wouldn't get caught in some thorny brush. "You know why I didn't go straight back to Little Chance, Gryph."