Theywould have access to my thoughts, my wishes, my wants and needs, to all myVisions… and my dreams.
Andthey would see a Human man in my mind as well. They would see me coming intocontact with the only enemy Zlathars have, and as such, I would become an enemytoo.
Theywould not realize that it was only a dream. To Zlathars, Visions and dreams lookexactly the same. They could not tell the difference. And neither could I.
Was it a dream?
Or was it the future?
Buteven if it was the Vision, it didn’t mean anything. My father taught me neverto blindly trust the Visions. They are merely the most probable course ofevents based on the current course of events. A Vision is only one possibleprojection, he said.
Iwalked out of the Nature Hall gate and turned left in the direction of theporting chamber.
Twothings were conflicting. First, I was never wrong with any of my Visions. Eachand every one had come to be. But second, nothing in the current course ofevents indicated that I would ever meet a Human. And yet he kept coming back tome, in the early morning hours from the Visionaire depths of my mind.
Iclosed my eyes and shook my head to chase that thought away.
Rightnow, I had more pressing problems. When they connect, Zlathars will see thepast as well.
Theywill find out everything. And I can never let that happen.
Mylife, and my father’s life, was in grave danger.
AndI desperately needed a way to hide that part of my mind from them—oravoid the port completely.
Ireached the porting chamber gate and stopped.
Myheart was racing and I had to exert all my willpower to keep still. I wanted toturn around. I wanted to run away. I wanted to hide. Inside, I was on the edgeof fleeing. But on the outside, my demeanor remained calm. I watched the closeddoor of the chamber gate, waiting for my porting companion to arrive.
“DoraDana Dasnan.” The flat male voice startled me and I turned to look.
“BarkaStevanion Narth,” I said.
“Iwill be pleased to accompany you to the Zlathar planet.”
“Iacknowledge your presence and I thank you,” I answered in the same monotonoustone.
Heturned to the chamber gate, lifted his palm, and pressed it to the screenboard.
Ididn’t move.
Heturned his head toward me. “Dana?”
Iexhaled silently and slowly lifted my hand to the screen board, but stoppedbefore I touched it.
I can say I forgot an additionalE-band battery at my premises and I need to pick it up.
I can say I accidently took the wrongskinsuit and I need to change into a new one.
I can just leave.
But—
Ipressed my palm on the cold glass screen board and the gate opened.
I can’t.
Escaping from the Zlathars is impossible.
Weentered the porting chamber, turned toward the entrance and the gate closed.
“Dana,my rejuvenation period is approaching,” Stevanion said, looking at the gate. “Iwould like to make a request for Interactive Coupling with you.”
What?
Iturned my head toward him.
Hekept looking at the gate. His pose was aloof, his headjust slightly turned backwards, his thin nose pointing at the gate.
Ittook me a moment or two to gather my thoughts.
Stevanion’sproposal wasn’t unusual at all—I’d heard, initiated, and complied with anumber of them during my cycles—but right now I had far more pressingthoughts on my mind than indulging my next post-rejuvenation hormonal craving.
“Ifthere would be an additional wish on your side,” he continued, still looking atthe gate, “I would also be honored to make a contribution to the Senthienpopulation with you at the Office of Progeny at another convenient point in time.”
Islowly moved my gaze back to the gate as well.
“Iappreciate your offer, Stevanion, but my rejuvenation period has recentlypassed.”
“Theport number 409-82-833-01 to porting gate 53’0’11’ will begin in three passes,”the AI female voice announced.
“Perhapsthe next time, then,” he said.
Ikept my gaze impassive. Perhapsnot.
Thechamber dimmed to dark purple.
Itook a deep breath. Here it goes.
Iclenched my fists and held my breath.
Theport lasted no more then a few seconds.
Theair suddenly changed, the temperature dropped, and the purple hue of thechamber disappeared. Steady, cool airflow startled both of us as we looked ateach other in alarm.
Thehumid and low-oxygen air of the dark halls of the Zlathar world was nothing Iwanted to experience, but the lack of all of the sensations I’d expectedtriggered an immediate alert.
Wewere not on the Zlathar planet!
Chapter 4
Ittook me a few moments to adjust to the dark. The surroundings were thick withvegetation of the most amazing shapes and sizes, nothing at all comparable toanything I had ever seen on any of the Descendant planets. I lifted my head tolook at the ceiling.
Therewas none. Above me was simply the universe, a dark blue canvas with anuncountable number of stars.
Seeingthe universe like this, with no shield, no screen orprotection grid in between, was breathtaking.
“Weare not on the Zlathar planet,” Stevanion said, stating the obvious.
Ilooked down again. “No, we are not.” My eyes scanned the surroundings, but Ididn’t move.
“Weare not in a porting chamber, either,” he continued. “It is highly improbablethat any porting can come to pass in this place.”
“Improbable,but evidently possible.”
“Howcan this be?” He turned to me. “Did you have a Vision of this?”
“No,I did not. The Mind’s porting errors were the reason I was requested topersonally report to the Zlathar High Council. We have just experienced such anerror.”
“Thisenvironment does not correspond to any of my saved data. Do you have thisinformation available?”
Ididn’t even try to load anything from the nanoprobes. If any images of thiskind were downloaded on my knowledge base, I would have known about it. This wassomething I simply wouldn’t have forgotten.
“No,Stevanion, I do not have any corresponding information available.”
“Weneed to port back. We need to find a porting chamber.”
Ilifted my forearm to look at my E-band screen.
“Wehave no access to a computer frame. And my battery is almost out.” I lowered myhand and looked around again.
Stevanionlooked at his E-band too. “My E-band has a similar level of power. It is notusual for a battery to lose so much power during one porting procedure. Do youunderstand why this happened?”
“No,Stevanion, I do not.”
“Ifinward
