Peter Telep - Pilgrim stars

He flashed a wry grin. "But some won't."

"They're free to join her."

"And they can cause a lot of damage. So how strong are they individually? How strong are you? Show me."

His head slammed against the bars as unseen hands throttled him. He grabbed at his neck, trying in vain to pull the hands away as his air supply thinned.

"You can't stop me with your hands, Brotur. What I do with my mind is only as strong as what I can do with my body. You have to fight me on my terms."

Though still reflexively clutching his neck, Blair closed his eyes and concentrated on her image. He saw her standing beside him, eyes wide, arms extended, hands locked firmly around his neck. He seized her wrists and quite easily jerked himself free. Even as her hands left his neck, he gasped and opened his eyes.

"I hate that," she said with a shudder.

"I'm not exactly fond of it myself." He swallowed painfully. "What about objects? The cot? Move it across the room."

"No. There's a cold feeling that gets inside when you do that. It can take weeks to get out."

"Then maybe I can do it."

This time Blair kept his eyes open but focused on his thoughts. He envisioned himself walking over to the cot. He slid his palms under the durasteel frame and heaved. The cot would not budge. He looked up and saw Karista holding the opposite side of the rack. "You don't want to feel this," she said. "This coldness… it's not for us. Touch scripts. Touch people."

He strained against her and spoke through clenched teeth. "Let go."

She shattered like glass, fragments of her tumbling to the floor and on to the cot as he slid it across the cell-

And felt her promise of ice, of wind, of a winter colder than any he had known, a winter that coiled around his heart, gripped his head in a frosty vice, and sent chills dashing up his spine. He tore away from the rack and cried out, half surprised, half terrified. He focused on Karista, whose look of sympathy failed to warm him.

"W-why does… it feel like that?" he asked, shivering uncontrollably.

"The cot has no life force. You sense that. You sense one corridor of death. For the Terran, moving the cot is painless. But for us, well, you'll be cold for a long time. I'm sorry."

"Hey," Maniac called from his cell. "You guys still talking in there? Shit, if I had a conjugal visit, you can bet your ass we would get conjugal. Hey, Karista, any chance you fixin' me up with a friend? C'mon, honey. Think of me. Be nice to get laid before I buy it down here."

"W-we aren't m-married and this isn't… a conjugal visit Blair forced out. "Go b-back… to sleep."

"Can't. 'Cause I'm sick of this. Sick of these walls. Sick of your special privileges. Sick of just lying here. Why don't they brainwash us? Torture us? Something? It's worse to be ignored."

"Yeah, f-for once, you don't… have your… audience."

Karista started for the door. "I'd better go."

"Aren't you worried?" Blair asked, blocking her with his arm. "When you k-key open the door, I could tap into the quantum bond, rush you, and escape."

"You won't. It's not time yet. You're waiting for your friends to come for you. But you're worried because you haven't had time to talk to the commodore. You could probably make it down to the flight deck and launch in the Diligent, but you're still worried about being shot down."

The revelation that she had probed his script made him feel even colder than moving the cot. He battled against the shivers, keeping his voice hard and steady. "You didn't come here to teach me anything. This has just been an interrogation. You got me to sell out those pilots. And everything you've told me-was that a lie, too?"

She took his hands in her own. "I didn't come down here to interrogate you. I wanted to meet my pair. I want to teach you. I haven't told the captain about your plans. And I won't. But I don't want you to throw your life away. Christopher, you're meant for so much more."

"That does wonders for my ego, but it still doesn't convince me or get me out of this cell. You don't want me to throw away my life? Help me. Get a few of your friends. You could make this happen."

"I'll think about it."

"Think hard. Think fast."

Blair shifted away and collapsed onto his bunk. Anguish seamed her face as she reached between the bars and keyed open the door. She gave him a final look, then fluttered off. He fell back on his pillow, lying in the cold clutches of himself.

Then, with a volume and abruptness that nearly made him fall out of the cot, the general quarters alarm sounded.

"Bet this ain't a drill," Maniac cried over the high-pitched tones.

Even as Blair opened his mouth to voice his own speculation, a powerful explosion ripped into the ship and sent massive tremors through the starboard side bulkheads. Every barred door in the brig rattled, and the deck heaved as it absorbed the potent force.

"Torpedo strike," shouted Maniac.

"Yeah, but whose?"

"Like it matters?" Maniac said through an ironic chuckle. "Our ride's about to end. I knew Aristee couldn't run for long. And now we pay for her mistake."

After listening to Admiral Tolwyn's message, Amity Aristee had turned to Paladin, her face lighting with the realization that her hopper drive modifications would be completed ten days before Tolwyn's purported attack. She had snickered as she speculated on whether Tolwyn would actually sacrifice so many innocent lives.

"Don't doubt him," Paladin had said. "I've known Tolwyn for a long time. He's a brilliant strategist with a touch of insanity thrown in for good measure. Makes for a deadly combination. He means what he says."

"I've known him for a long time, too," she had countered. "He won't toss away his career for this."

"Maybe not, but his blockade has been in place for awhile. And there's a witch hunt going on throughout the Confederation. Our people are already suffering and dying. By the time you're ready to make your statement, most of them won't be around to witness it."

She had considered that for a moment, then had nodded. "I

don't care what engineering has to do. We need that hopper drive modified much sooner. The second it's ready, we'll jump to Sol. But we have to finish loading cargo. I won't take us out understaffed and unprepared. Since we have to wait anyway, let's put this aside. I know that might seem absurd, but I have to clear my head. I have to get balance somehow. Come for a swim. You look like you need one, too."

It had taken her several more minutes of coaxing before he had finally succumbed to her siren's song. And it had taken another few hours for Paladin to fully forget recent events that seemed to pull on his limbs as though he were strapped to some medieval instrument of torture. He had slipped even deeper into the fantasy than he had the day before, embracing Aristee with a love that had gone unanswered for too many years. He had felt the urgent desire to merge with her, become one, to live that way for the rest of his life.

Twilight had come on like a pallbearer, carrying the lost day on its back and leaving Paladin deeply troubled. Not long afterward the palmlink had beeped. The XO had nervously made his report to Aristee. "Captain. A Kilrathi battle group has just jumped into the system. Confirm a Snakeir-class superdreadnought and five escorts. No evidence that they've tagged us yet."

"Very well. Cease cargo loading. Recall all ships. Put the planet between us and that battle group."

"Aye, ma'am."

Paladin had given her a look.

"All right," she had said, rolling her eyes, "you told me so."

They had snatched up their clothes, had left behind their tent, and raced to the captain's launch. Within five minutes they had taken off, with Paladin at the helm.

Now, as they cleared Aloysius's atmosphere and spotted the shining speck of the Olympus dead ahead, Paladin pulled up a tactical report and noted the battle group's position. Although the Olympus had pulled around to the dark side of the planet, the battle group had shifted into a wide arc and had probably made visual confirmation before the Olympus could get into hiding. Yes, the Olympus presently operated in stealth mode, but that had failed to elude the Kilrathi and had proven that they knew the ship would be here and that Aristee had been double-crossed. The cats' first volley of torpedoes had already reconfirmed that assessment.