Part 13 (1/2)
Jana realized they did have the same coloring and body size, but they didn't favor each other as she'd been told several times. She was nothing like this alien, sly enchantress and would never become remotely like her. At that insulting thought, she reminded herself that her bad opinion of Shara Triloni stemmed from a delusion and from the alien's crimes years ago. Shara had not tried to murder her and had not been her son's mistress. The evil and cruel woman she had met during her hallucination did not exist.
Jana wondered what Shara had been like and how Galen's loss and perhaps treachery had affected her, besides provoking the princess to a double murder and suicide. While talking with Maal last night, his eyes had become dewy and he had told her she was speaking and thinking like his daughter. That had to have been before this ravis.h.i.+ng creature went insane. Crimes of pa.s.sion had been exposed in American papers and television with frequency, so it wasn't only an alien flaw. Yet, Jana could not imagine slaying in cold blood someone you had loved and had bonded with in bed. Despite her many charges against Varian, she could never murder him.
Shara looked peaceful and radiant to Jana, as if only asleep. She wondered if Varian's father had fallen in love with the princess in his charge, or simply sought an illicit and brief affair, or had been drug enslaved by her as was his defense. Had Galen used and betrayed Shara's love long ago as his son had done to her recently? A Saar had taken possession of the last and the current Androasian princesses ...
Jana turned to leave the haunting place. Her gaze found a portrait on the wall. Stunned by what she saw, she approached it and gaped in disbelief. Anger and suspicion soon joined her initial emotion. In the portrait, Shara was wearing the same golden gown and jewels she herself had worn last night, or replicas of them! No wonder everyone had stared when she appeared, like a ghost from their past.
Jana vowed between clenched teeth that she would not become a replacement for Shara to Ryker, to Maal, or to the Androasians. She was upset that her husband would allow her to dress and be adorned as his mother had been long ago. She would demand an explanation later.
Jana stalked down the hallway and was halted by the sounds of birds. She entered a large room filled with cages, some fas.h.i.+oned in gla.s.s and some in wire. She looked at the exotic birds, the unusual fish, and other familiar creatures, then stopped at the scarfelli's dwelling. She bent over and stared at the hairy spiders as large as cats. She remembered the terror tactics well from the Wanderl.u.s.t.
”You shouldn't be staring at them, Jana. You told me they frighten you. I remember how you said Varian used them on his s.h.i.+p.”
Jana glanced at her husband as he came forward with a smile. ”Do they ever capture and devour people?”
”No, scarfelli are vegetarians. See,” he said, and pointed to their feeding area at one end of the cage where fruits and vegetables were piled.
”It gives me the creeps to think of one of them crawling over me. To be attacked by a group of them, encased in a coc.o.o.n, and hauled into their den must have been sheer terror for Sylva. That was so cruel of Varian.”
He winced inside. ”You said the defiant Uranian gave him no choice, and he didn't really have her killed.”
”We always have choices in what we do, Ryker,” Jana refuted. ”He could have confined her to the brig as he did in secret without terrifying her and the rest of us with his s.a.d.i.s.tic demonstration.”
”It worked, didn't it? No one else disobeyed or rebelled. Afterward, every captive did her best to become her best. Isn't that what you said?”
She had told him the details of that scary incident. ”Yes, but...”
He didn't like her remembering such rash times. ”But what?”
”That doesn't excuse his cruelty. He kidnapped us and was forcing us to train to become breeders to aliens in another world. How did he expect us to feel? I would bet my life neither he nor you would accept captivity without a fight or an attempt to escape.”
”That's true. But there comes a time when wisdom must overshadow pride and make us do whatever is necessary to survive.”
She almost shrieked at him for seeming to defend his half brother's wicked actions. ”Survival at any price, is that what you're saying?”
”Survival to battle an enemy another day, Jana, that's different.”
”Some enemies can't ever be battled again.”
”There are ways to defeat or punish a foe besides killing him-”
”Ah, there you two are,” Maal interrupted as he entered the room. ”Ryker, go and tell the cook to serve lunch. I will escort Jana to the dining room myself.”
The blond alien nodded and left them alone. ”I see you found my collection,” Maal said. ”Do you like it? The urikeah are fierce looking but very gentle.” He lifted a lid and stroked several of the hairy spiders.
Jana was intrigued. ”What did you call them?”
”Urikeah.”
”There were some on the Wanderl.u.s.t called scarfelli.”
”That is what the Maffeians call them. Come, lunch is ready.”
Jana took his arm and let him guide her to the dining room. Again, she wondered why Ryker had spoken to her in Maffeian.
In their suite later, Jana summoned the courage to ask about the gown and jewels she had worn last night and revealed her motive for the question.
Even without having read Shara's diary, Varian knew the correct answer. ”Of course they were like Mother's; that is the traditional wedding garment of the Trilonis and those are the royal jewels. If you had made your way to the ancestral gallery in the other wing, you would have seen that all Triloni brides were attired in replicas of the 'Golden Dream.' The portrait hanging near her tomb was taken before she left to marry Supreme Ruler Jurad Tabriz of Pyropea. Mother never wore it again because she never made it to her wedding there. It was not her gown you wore last night; it was yours. I'm sorry I didn't think to explain it. The portrait of you made last night will be hung with the rest in the gallery. I'll show them to you tomorrow.” He grasped her hands and vowed, ”I did not choose you to take Shara Triloni's place in our lives; you are nothing like her, Jana of Earth.”
”I'm the one who should apologize, Ryker. It's just that so many people gossiped about me replacing her that when I saw the portrait ...”
He pulled her into his embrace. ”I understand. Don't let it trouble you further. Besides, you need a clear head for a challenging task. I told Grandfather how good you are at laius and he wants to play with you this afternoon while I visit friends. Are you game, Jana?”
”Yes, that sounds like a pleasant diversion.”
As Jana took her place at the table, Maal smiled and said, ”I am happy you accepted my invitation to play breeli while Ryker is gone.”
”Breeli? I thought we were playing laius.”
”We are.”
Jana concluded she must tell her husband to start speaking to her in Androasian instead of Maffeian so she would know what everyone was talking about when they used words that did not translate into English.
At dinner, Jana looked at Maal and grinned. ”Your grandfather told me all about you while we played breeli,” she teased Ryker.
”Everything?” he hinted with a mirthful tone. He was in a good mood because his meeting with Dakin Agular had gone well. And they only had one more day to spend with Maal. He was more than ready to leave and end this constant and draining state of alert.
”Almost everything. He said his grandmother knew ancient secrets of plants and animals, that she pa.s.sed them to his mother, who pa.s.sed them to his daughter, who pa.s.sed them to her son. He said he gave you the best teachers and books in all known worlds. He said you were smart and studied all the time. That must be why you're so intelligent, my husband.”
”When my grandson moved to Maffei, I was pained by his loss.”
”You haven't lost me, Grandfather. I visit you often.”
”Now that you are married, you must visit more often and stay longer. I am getting old and weak, cherished flame of my soul. Soon you will take my place and rule Androas for us, with my new daughter at your side. With all you know and possess, we will be all-powerful, invincible.”
”Do not speak of such things, Grandfather; you have many years ahead to serve our Empire. And I have much work to do elsewhere.”
Jana perceived an unspoken message pa.s.sing between the two men. She suspected something was afoot. Would they tell her about it? When?
The next day, the disguised Varian related startling news to Kadim Maal Triloni. He knew from a tape of the older man's last visit to Ryker on Darkar and from notes in Shara's journal that Maal had been informed of the first mission to Earth and of an impending second one. He knew from those sources that an attempted conquest of Maffei was to coincide with the absence of many powerful stars.h.i.+ps during that future voyage. He told Maal about the misidentification and miscalculation in timing of the rogue worldlet on an elliptical orbit around Jana's sun which placed the rogue on a crash course with Earth in less than six weeks. ”It isn't coming from deep s.p.a.ce as they believed, Grandfather, and its speed has changed. They were too rushed and didn't study the threat closely enough. The team of scientists and remote probes they sent out after Varian's return found their errors. They plan to strike at it between the fifth and sixth planets of that solar system. We have known about this situation before the time I met Jana, not when they communicated their order to me this morning. Varian was to lead the attack on it, but I am taking charge of Project Starguard. A success will prove my friends.h.i.+p to Maffei and will eat at my brother's gut.”
Maal focused a pale-green gaze of confusion on his grandson. ”When did you come up with this wild idea and make this bold decision?”
”The idea has been whirling around inside my head for two weeks. I didn't make my decision until I was speaking with Breccia Sard earlier. When the Supreme Commander made his request, I pretended to know nothing more than Jana knew and had told me. I accused him of wanting the weapons and chemicals to attack Androas. Of course, Sard denied that provoking lie and was coerced into telling me why he needed them. Naturally he wanted me to believe the lasers would be mounted on shuttles or converted supply s.h.i.+ps, not on Star Fleet s.h.i.+ps. I told him that was foolish and self-defeating, that only stars.h.i.+ps have the power and skill to bombard something of that size. I even suggested creating a gravity field to mock a Black Hole between their target and Earth to conceal their presence; with such a field in place, not even a ray of light, much less a laser beam, could pa.s.s through it and be seen by the Earthlings. Sard asked why I wanted his stars.h.i.+ps out of range for so long. After I made my demand to a.s.sume control of the mission, I pointed out that Maffei would be safe against any threat from Androas since I would be on one of those stars.h.i.+ps and could be captured and used to stop any aggression back home. Sard had to discuss it with Effecta Tirol and the Council; that's why I didn't reveal it to you after our first communication. When he got back to me in a short time, as expected, they had agreed. They had no choice, if they want the best weapons and only laser chemicals to use.”
Maal shook his head of silver hair. ”It is too dangerous, cherished flame of my soul. You will be placing your life in their hands. What if they did capture you while you are on their stars.h.i.+p?”
Varian chuckled as he had seen his half brother do many times. ”They're not total fools, Grandfather. They need Trilabs. I am Trilabs. Without me, it is useless to anyone, and a peril to them. I won't be harmed, and there is great value in my going as leader. By taking command of the project, I can glean Maffei's vital military secrets and strategies. I can discover their firepower, witness their battle tactics, see how their stars.h.i.+ps work together, and observe the skills of their commanders. I can learn of any new or improved weapons, and how much of a stockpile of existing ones they have. Besides, Grandfather, it's Jana's world and people; think how happy it will make my new wife for her beloved husband to save them rather than her despised captor and tormentor. I can humiliate and anger my rival by stealing his place. For me to take charge of this grand mission will annoy and anger Varian and the Alliance. I have taken Jana from Varian; now, I can have my final revenge on him.”
”Why did you really take Jana Greyson from Varian?”