Prophecy

'For your safety. We're your guardians. We have to be able to keep you safe.'

'You didn't do a very good job with Rayne, did you?'

'A slip. It won't happen again, and we'll find her, I swear.'

Rawn glared at him. 'When you do, we're having these things taken out of our heads, got it?'

'If not for the beacon, we'd have very little chance of ever finding her again. That implant will save her life.'

'You put these things in our heads without our permission, and you'll remove them if we tell you to!'

Tallyn made a calming gesture. 'You can't have them removed. They're considered compulsory in our society. Without them, you wouldn't be able to use the space net, drive a car, hell, even some doors won't open for you. We all have one.'

Rawn frowned at Marcon. 'You do?'

Marcon nodded. 'Most of the interfacing done here is through the implants. Atlanteans have them fitted at a young age, and they're used for most everyday transactions between us and machines. Cars, databases, medical facilities, purchasing, selling, whatever's done through the space net or with machines requires a cyber implant's codes. It's also how we convert our thoughts into signals that machines can understand.'

'Then we'll keep that part of them, but the beacons must go.'

'That's not for you to decide,' Tallyn said. 'Yours will be deactivated if that's what you want, but it's up to Rayne to make her decision. After what she's been through, she might want to keep it.'

'Fine. As long as she knows what you did to her and has a choice, which she should have had in the first place. I don't like the fact that we were never consulted about it, asked if we wanted it, or even told we had the damned things. You treated us like animals.'

Tallyn glanced at Marcon, unwilling to meet Rawn's angry eyes. Instead, he studied the holograms scrolling up in front of his lieutenant, trying to ignore Rawn's glare. He could not deny that what the council had ordered was wrong. The humans should have at least been told what had been done to them. The fact that Atlantean children were fitted without being consulted did not mean alien adults should be treated the same way.

After a short silence, Rawn asked, 'What's this 'time delay' you were talking about earlier?'

'The beacon gives off a normal microwave signal,' Tallyn explained. 'It only travels at the speed of light. The ship on which Rayne travelled was moving much faster than light, so the signals were left behind, like bread crumbs on a path. The time delay is how long the signal had been travelling when we picked it up.'

'Two days?'

'Well, that's almost how long she's been missing, so we're still following the track of her second abductor, the one who took her from Gergonia. Unfortunately, it took us a long time to pick up her trail from Atlan. But now that we're on the right track, it's only a matter of time before we catch up.'

Rawn grunted and gazed across the bridge, wishing it was not taking quite so long. Every passing hour increased his worry. Their progress was slow, for in order to detect the signals, Vengeance had to decelerate and shed the energy shell. Even though they knew which direction the signals were heading in, they could not risk overshooting their destination and being forced to double back, perhaps losing the trail forever when the signals dispersed.

Chapter Twelve

Rayne watched a vidfilm documentary of an obscure alien ecology, which she found rather fascinating in a shuddery sort of way. The suite was equipped with a diverse selection of entertainment and informative vidfilms, some of which she had sampled to stave off boredom. When the door opened, she looked up in surprise, expecting the Shrike. Instead, the diminutive slave girl who had served lunch stood in the doorway, her eyes cold. Rayne's gaze slid past to the temptingly open door, but, even as she stared at it, the girl stepped forward and it slid shut. The slave eyed Rayne with obvious dislike.

'So, what makes you so damned special?'

Rayne's brows rose. 'I have no idea. What makes you say I'm special?'

'Come on, you don't think he keeps all the girls he saves in this kind of luxury, do you?'

Rayne shook her head in confusion. 'He didn't save me. He bought me at a slave market.'

'Of course he did, stupid. He buys all of us, except the ones he steals. What I want to know is why he's keeping you here, and why he's spending so much time with you.' Her eyes dropped to Rayne's neck. 'You don't even have a collar.'

Rayne's mind raced, hope flaring in her heart. This girl obviously resented her presence, for reasons best left unexplored, and might be willing to help her escape, if it was at all possible. She leant forward, her eyes eager. 'Listen, you don't want me here, and I don't want to be here. Is there any way to get off this world? Maybe send a distress signal? Could you smuggle me aboard a ship, maybe a freighter? There must be foreign ships in orbit, like traders, or associates?'

'You want to escape from Tarke?' She looked incredulous.

'Tarke? Is that his real name?'

'Yes.'

'Will you help me?'

The girl stepped closer to study Rayne with a puzzled, pitying expression. 'You don't have to escape from Tarke. He'll take you back to your home world if you want to go.'

Rayne's jaw dropped, then she gave a snort of laughter. 'I'm a slave, like you. He's going to sell me.'

The girl touched her collar. 'I'm not a slave anymore. He freed me, like everyone else. There are no slaves here.'

Rayne stared at her, stunned. The poor creature must be drugged or deluded, not to know her situation, or perhaps she made her life bearable by living in a fantasy of denial. She gestured to a chair, inviting the girl to sit. Rayne searched for the right words to ask for help without bursting the girl's bubble of self-delusion.

'Look, you may be happy here, but I'm not. I want to go home, and perhaps the Shrike is too busy to take me. Can you help?'

The girl frowned. 'There are no foreign ships in orbit. All the ships around this planet belong to Tarke.'

Rayne's heart sank. 'Is there any other way off this world?'

'There's a transport leaving tomorrow, returning slaves to their home worlds. If you mingle with the others, they'll take you. I don't understand why Tarke would refuse to let you go. Are you sure he said no?'

'Well, perhaps he just wants to keep me a little longer.' Jealousy flared in the girl's eyes, and Rayne hurried on, 'But I want to be on that ship. Can you help me?'

'Yes, I can get you on the ship, if you want.'

Relief washed through Rayne in a warm tide. 'Thank you.'

The girl shot her a puzzled look, and Rayne tried to keep the pity out of her eyes. This poor girl was jealous of a man with no face, and obviously could not understand Rayne's wish to leave. Tarke. A strange name. Meeting a slave girl who imagined she was free had undermined Rayne's slight faith in his honesty, and the whole situation stank. After all her futile attempts to escape, one of the Shrike's slaves was going to free her. How ironic.

The girl rose and went to the door, where she stopped and beckoned to Rayne as it slid open. 'I'll take you to the embarkation area, where you can wait with the others. You'd better cover your neck, or you'll draw attention to yourself.'

Rayne turned up the collar of her suit and fastened it under her chin as she followed the girl. Apparently the door was coded to admit anyone but her, so leaving the suite was just a matter of following the girl. She hurried down the deserted corridor after the slave, who turned into another that led deeper into the building. The girl marched along confidently, and they passed several people who ignored them. Rayne was inclined to try to duck out of sight when someone appeared, which made the slave girl shoot her scathing looks.

They trotted down another corridor, and, although she did not seem concerned about capture, the girl was certainly in a hurry. They passed more people, none of whom gave them a second glance. Rayne relaxed, realising