Майкл Гир - Requiem for the Conqueror

She couldn't forget the way they'd held each other. Skyla sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. The certainty grew that Staffa would expect their relationship to remain the same as it had always been.

She straightened and stepped out of the tube as the doors opened, and almost ran into Nyklos.

"Hello!" Nyklos cried, brightening.

"What are you doing here?"

Nyklos gave her his toothy smile, mustache curling. "Maybe you could help me. I heard they brought Bruen aboard. I thought I might get to see him."

"I'll make sure you do."

He placed a hand on her arm as she started past.

"You're going to see Staffa, aren't you?"

She looked coldly at his hand, then into his eyes. "You don't have to play the game anymore, Nyklos. The Seddi are coming to Itreata. I think the sparring is over."

He nodded and pursed his lips, a sadness in his eyes. "I

wish you the best. I sincerely do." And he hustled away down the hall.

Skyla frowned, shook her head, and made her way to Staffa's double hatch. Two of Ark's people stood at the door and snapped out salutes. Skyla palmed

the hatch, hop ing her bridge command override worked. The double doors slid open and she entered.

The room looked the same, still opulent, the red couch a painful reminder of the psychologically disoriented Staffa who'd left in search of himself. The Etarian sand leopard snarled down at her. The collection of battle trophies on the walls mocked her.

An old man sighed as he settled into a gravchair next to the incongruous fireplace. Even from the rear, Skyla could recognize Kaylla Dawn, the woman helping him. Dawn wore the upper half of stained grimy battle armor over what had once been a tan robe, now spotted with blood and smudged with dirt.

Dawn turned and locked eyes with Skyla. For long moments, they studied each other.

"Wing Commander, it's good to see you. You arrived in the nick of time once again." Kaylla hesitated, somewhat unsure. "I guess we all owe you our lives. I'm starting to believe you're almost bigger than life. Staffa told the truth about you."

"Hope the ride in the box wasn't too much of an inconvenience. The accommodations were a bit spartan."

"After Etaria, anything would have been a relief."

Skyla could sense the strain between them. Rotted Gods, the Seddi woman and Staffa hadn't. Well, why not? Staffa was a healthy normal man, and Kaylla Dawn possessed the poise and the kind of athletic body any man might become enamored with. Instead of stiffening, Skyla forced herself to walk forward, taking Dawn's measure.

The Seddi woman's tan eyes seemed to harden, but she turned, indicating the old man. "This is Magister Bruen. I believe you dealt with him over the comm."

Skyla nodded, "I did. Welcome aboard Chrysla, Magister Bruen. She recognized his withered face. The old blue eyes looked tired now, and a terrible bruise mottled his forehead.

Bruen smied wearily. "I, too, offer the Seddi's special

thanks and gratitude for your timely arrival. I greatly fear that had you been on the scene a few moments later, things would have turned out very differently."

Skyla gave him a predatory grin. "Oh, we'd been monitoring the communications from the time we'd come out of null singularity. Rysta told us exactly when she'd fire, and one thing about her, she's worth her word."

Skyla strolled nervously around the room, wishing she could shed the sudden energy that bunched inside her. "But tell me, I heard you offer yourself to Tybalt and Ily. They'd have probed you. The entire Seddi organiation would have been compromised. Everything. How could you do that?"

Bruen grinned at her, pointing a knobby finger into his mouth. "Upper right rear molar. Unlike Nyklos', mine's full — and would have been used long before Ily got her talons into me."

"By the way, I just ran into Nyklos in the corridor. He'll be wanting to see you. I have no doubt but that he's full of information on the Companions." Skyla couldn't help herself, she kept glancing at Dawn, wondering.

Amusement showed in Kaylla's eyes. "Yes, Skyla, you are all I expected you to be."

"I beg your pardon?"

Kaylla moved to the red couch, seating herself gracefully. "I am not Staffa's lover. Nor will I ever be."

Skyla lifted an inquiring eyebrow, heart skipping a beat.

"I see the look on your face, the uncertainty. Staffa saved me in the desert." The tan eyes hardened. "But after what he did to Maika, there's too much misery between us for anything more."

Skyla poured a glass of fine bourbon and nodded. "I see." So what's your angle? Why are you here?

"You know, you're a lot like Staffa," Kaylla added softly. "You're worthy of him. Capable, intelligent, and spirited."

Skyla smiled coolly. "Aren't you being a bit presumptuous?"

"Not at all. You're all I heard about in that damn desert." Kaylla bent forward to cradle her chin in her palm. "I think you're the reason he stayed alive out there in the collar… in the heat and sand."

Skyla leaned against the paneling, grip white-knuckled on

the glass. "What do you want, Kaylla Dawn? Why are you here?"

Kaylla stood, walking forward to stare into Skyla's eyes, unflinching tan meeting icy blue. "I want peace, and, like Staff, I think I want a chance to take a crack at the Forbid den Borders. In the meantime, a lot has to be done in Free Space or we're all in trouble. Magister Bruen is an old man. It ooks like I have to assume a lot of his responsibilities, and it looks like we're going to have to work out of Itreata for a while."

And how is it going to be between us? Skyla finished the unspoken question. The woman had guts and grit. No wonder Staffa dragged her out of the desert. He'd always had an eye for quality people — when he was thinking straight.

Skyla poured a second glass of whiskey and handed it to the woman, clinking rims in a toast. "Welcome aboard, Kaylla Dawn. If you need anything, give me a holler."

Kaylla's hard glint relaxed and she sipped the amber liquid.

"A day of surprises," Ben's raucous voice invaded Skyla's thoughts. "For everyone!"

"Yes," Skyla whispered. "A day of surprises."

Bruen leaned back on the couch and dabbed at his bruised head. "Kaylla told you the truth. She'll be running things for the Seddi. I'm too old for what is to come."

Skyla laced her fingers together. "Nyklos told me quite a bit under the drug. You seem to have a most effective covert network on Etaria. Are you capable of fighting for those things Nyklos said the Seddi believe?"

Bruen's lips pursed. "Our covert people can make all the difference. And, for better or worse, we're out from under the machine's menace. Perhaps we enslaved ourselves to it. Perhaps we made a bargain with evil. Look what it's brought us to."

Kaylla joined in. Then you understand the problems Free Space faces? That our continued insanity means detruction for the species?"

Skyla studied her suspiciously. "Perhaps. The future looks bleak for the momet. I've had that slobbering Myles Roma, Sassa's Legate, tripping me up the whole time I was trying to organize the fleet. He tells me Rega is poised to strike."

Skyla lifted an eyebrow. "And how do you propose to stop it? Rega and Sassa are crying for each other's blood."

"It may be too late," Kaylla said somberly. "We must prepare ourselves for that eventuality, too."

The hatch slipped back in a whisper. Staffa stood there, filling the lock, battle-grimed and haggard from lack of sleep, but his gray eyes gleaming with power and assurance. A shy smile — crept across his bearded face.

"Hello, Skyla." "Staffa.11 They seemed pinned in place, each equally dumbfounded. "A-hem!" Bruen cleared his throat, breaking the spell.

"Ark said I was to have a room down the hall. Kaylla, if you would be so kind?" He got to his feet, wincing as he moved one hip. Kaylla took his hand, leading him to the hatch. Bruen looked up and winked. "We can talk later. On the way to Itreata. Meanwhile, I'll call my spy, Nyklos, and see what secrets he's learned about the Companions."