Nigel Findley - Into the Void

He shook his head again. Now was no time to think of such tilings. No matter how much the stress he'd been under made his body cry out for sleep, he couldn't indulge himself. He'd be meeting with T'k'Pek soon. He had to be sharp when he spoke to the arcane. There was still much that he had to do… not the least of which was confirm that his own life would be safe after he was free of the cloak. He turned away from the cloud-landscape and climbed the ladder to the forecastle to join Aelfred.

Rianna was below with the hammership's navigator, Sylvie. Teldin was relieved to realize that Willik's information about the Nebulon was correct. Already the vessel hung like an oversized star against the darkening sky.

The hammership approached the arcane's vessel quickly, much quicker than had the dragonfly. Soon Teldin could make out the vessel's cylindrical shape, then the dark bands that were the great windows encircling the massive vehicle. The Probe slowed, coming to a halt above one end of the arcane's ship. There was no sign of the ivory stairway that had given them access to the Nebulon's deck. Of course not, he told himself, that would only be for invited guests. For a moment he wondered if the great cylinder were defended. What weapons might the arcane possess to drive off uninvited guests?

Nothing had attacked them as they'd approached, and why would defenders strike now, when wreckage from the Probe would crash onto their own vessel? There was another issue, even more important, though….

How would they get aboard the Nebulon? There was no way the hammership could land on the circular deck. Not only was the Probe too large, but he knew full well that it was built for water landings only.

Luckily, Aelfred had that one figured out. "Helm," he called below, "hold us in position." Then he turned to the crewmen on the main deck. "Warin, Kell, put out ladders," he ordered. "Go down and tie us off to the rails." The crew went quickly about their tasks.

Teldin watched nervously as the two crewmen worked on the deck below. They were vulnerable down there, open to any kind of attack. While he couldn't picture T'k'Pek himself leading an assault, Teldin knew from personal experience how easy it was for virtually anybody to hire people to do their dirty work.

Aelfred seemed to have had the same thought. While Warin and Kell worked, the first mate detailed other crew members to stand ready with missile weapons, "covering" their fellows.

Despite both men's fears, nothing interfered with the crewmen's work. Soon the hammership was secured to the rails surrounding the Nebulon's circular deck. It hung two dozen feet above the bone-white deck, held in position by four thick ropes. Aelfred glanced at Teldin. "Easy," he muttered. Teldin had no difficulty reading the big warrior's true meaning: too easy. He nodded uncomfortably. It was time for him to board the arcane's ship, time for what should be the last step in the quest that had been driving him since Krynn. Everything about the approach to the Nebulon was triggering alarms in his brain.

What could he do, though? Turn back now? He had to see this through to its conclusion. He looked around. "Rianna," he said, "I want to take the men with me."

"I'm coming, too," she told him.

"It's too dangerous," he argued, "you're wounded…."

She cut him off sharply. "There's not a chance in Gehenna that I'm letting you go in there alone. I'm not much of a mage, but I'm better than nothing."

"It's too dangerous," he repeated.

She reached out and took his hand in a firm grip, her eyes locked on his. "You're not my keeper, Teldin," she told him quietly. "I have the right to make my own decisions, and my decision is that I'm coming with you. Will you accept that?" He hesitated for a moment, then squeezed her hand. "I accept that," he said. He turned to the expectant Aelfred and spoke quietly. "I know what you're going to say," Teldin told him, "but I need you aboard the Probe. I don't feel comfortable about any of this-" he smiled "-but I'll feel a lot better if you stay here and make sure the Probe doesn't go anywhere." Aelfred's expression told him all he needed to know about the warrior's doubts. He grasped his large friend's arm. "I need you to do this," he said earnestly.

Aelfred was silent for a moment, then he nodded. "I agree," he said. "I don't like it, but I agree. At least let me send someone with you."

"I'll go."

Teldin turned. It was Julia who'd spoken. She'd just climbed to the forecastle from the bridge. Her straight hair, cut in page-boy style, shone like burnished copper in the harsh sunlight of space. Her expression was deadly serious, though, and her hand was on the hilt of her short sword.

Teldin felt something hard press against his hand. Instinctively, he grasped it. It was a dagger, handed to him by Aelfred. While everyone was looking at Julia, the warrior must have retrieved one of his concealed daggers. Why? Teldin asked himself, then shrugged. There was nothing wrong with packing an extra weapon. He slipped the small blade into his jerkin, under his wide belt. The steel was cold against his skin.

"Will you accept that?" Aelfred asked, echoing Rianna's words.

Teldin had to smile. "I accept that," he replied. "Then, if we're ready…"

A mental voice cut him off. I demand to come.

Estriss-still dogged by the "honor guard"-had reemerged from belowdecks. Teldin noticed that Estriss wore a dagger of his own on his belt. Probably, the strange knife the illithid associated with the Juna was still concealed within the creature's clothing. Estriss is dressed for trouble, Teldin realized. "Why?" he asked the mind flayer.

For my own reasons, Estriss replied flatly. When Teldin didn't respond, the illithid continued, There is something wrong here. The arcane protect their privacy. If something has happened to T'k'Pek, perhaps I can save the item he purchased at the auction. Again Teldin didn't respond. You have taken my ship, Estriss concluded, and there was a sharp-almost peevish-note to his mental voice. I demand to come. You owe me at least that much.

Slowly Teldin nodded. He was fairly certain that the illithid and the arcane weren't working together. If they were, he was as good as dead anyway. Assuming, then, that Estriss was playing his own game, where could he cause the most trouble? Put that way, the answer was straightforward: the illithid would be more of a danger if Teldin left him aboard the hammership. Even though the crew had agreed to follow Aelfred, that might change-particularly if it came to open conflict. The crew might agree to ignore their erstwhile captain's orders; they almost certainly wouldn't agree to physical violence against him, should that become necessary. No, Teldin realized, it was much more dangerous to leave a potential enemy behind him. The illithid would have to come along, escorted and guarded by a retinue of bravos.

"You can come," Teldin said at last, "if you agree to an escort." He gestured at the bravos.

Hardly the escorts I would have chosen, Estriss said sourly, bur I agree.

Teldin turned to the others, ready to speak, but Rianna touched his arm. "I suggest we take only six of the men," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"To help guard the ship," she answered. "If we take any more than six, we'll be getting in our own way belowdecks. And if we run into more trouble than six men can handle, we shouldn't be here in the first place. We just get the hell out of here and write the whole thing off as a bad idea." She smiled grimly. "That way, we'll have a better chance of having a ship to get the hell out of here on."

Teldin didn't respond immediately. Rianna's reasoning was much the same as his concerning Aelfred, but something just didn't sound right. What was it? He shrugged, then nodded to Rianna. "Six it is."