“Turn yours on and see,” Vorn told him, as he finished adjusting his own device.
Anxiously, Liosh did as he was told, pressing the pressure point at the top of the switch to activate the device he wore around his forehead. He turned to face Vorn.
“Well?”
Vorn nodded in satisfaction.
“Yeah, it’s working all right. Look here.”
He switched on his own device and suddenly disappeared. In his place, was a large, burly Varian soldier complete with a green, scaly snout, a long tail, and seven-fingered, clawed hands.
“Amazing!” Liosh breathed. “You look exactly like a Varian!”
“So do you,” Vorn told him. “Take a look in the 3-D viewer and see.”
The two of them crowded into the fresher of the shuttle together and Liosh saw that he, too, looked like a Varian now. From all angles he and Vorn both appeared exactly like the aliens whose planet they were planning to infiltrate.
“How does this work?” he asked, fascinated when he saw his new snout-mouth moving to form the words.
“The image projectors are all around the headband,” Vorn explained. “So no matter what angle anyone looks at you from, they see what the projector is showing—not you as you truly are.”
“It’s the perfect camouflage,” Liosh admitted.
Vorn grinned.
“Thanks, Brother. I’ve been perfecting it for some time. I was going to introduce it to the High Council after I did a final test for effectiveness.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Guess this is a pretty extreme test, but it ought to prove the image projector works.”
“It certainly should,” Liosh agreed.
“Well, we’re ready to go.” Vorn nodded in apparent satisfaction. “Were you able to isolate the emissions trail of the ship that took our females?” he asked.
“I was,” Liosh said. “They led directly to the largest structure on Varia—a massive dome called The Breeding Forum.”
“What?” Vorn frowned. “What in the Seven Hells is that?”
“Apparently every twenty cycles the Varians perform a kind of sexual ritual in order to fertilize their eggs,” Liosh said. He had been researching the alien race as Vorn piloted. “And this is one of the years they do it—it’s called “The Festival of Fertilization.”
“But why would they take Jodi and Melli there?” Vorn asked, his frown deepening. “What do they have to do with those damn Varians’ breeding rituals?”
“I don’t know.” Liosh shook his head. “But from what I could gather, I think they were using the T’lix Kruthe as a central part of the festival.”
“That still doesn’t tell us what they want with our females,” Vorn growled. “If they lay one scaly finger on them…”
“I don’t think they would be interested in Jodi or Melli sexually,” Liosh said, hoping his research proved to be true. “From what I’ve read, they consider the idea of breeding with a non-Varian species to be anathema—it is abhorrent to them—an utter abomination.”
“Well, that’s good at least,” Vorn said gruffly. “But that still doesn’t answer the question—what in the world do they want them for?”
Liosh shook his head.
“I think we’ll just have to go down and find out ourselves.”
“Agreed.” Vorn sighed. “Let’s go—I’m going to land us in stealth mode and we’ll get in and out with the girls as fast as possible.”
“From your mouth to the Goddess’ ear,” Liosh murmured. “Come on, Brother—let’s go.”
Forty-Two
Jodi’s legs shook as she climbed the stairs to the tall stage she was going to be killed on.
Not just killed—bled to death, whispered an ominous little voice in her head. They’re going to whip you until you bleed out, Jodi. How’s that for a fun way to end your life?
Shut up, she told the little voice fiercely. I don’t want to think about it.
But of course, it was all she could think about. That and the fact that she had left Melli behind her, weeping in a cage made of metal bars where she was apparently going to be forced to watch the spectacle.
Jodi had begged that her little sister be spared the sight of her death but the Varian female—who, it turned out, was their High Priestess of Fertility—said sternly,
“Your sister had been spared the Sacrifice of Blood, which you willingly took upon yourself, but she must witness your death in order that she may bring the word back to your people. They must not be allowed to think that they can steal from the Varian people with impunity.”
So Melli had been locked in a cage at the back of the vast auditorium while Jodi was being marched up the stairs to the tall, round stage in the middle. Her little sister had clung to Jodi and cried at the end so pitifully that Jodi had found she couldn’t help crying herself. At last, though, she had unwound her sister’s arms from around her neck and let the guards take her to her fate.
After all, there was no point delaying the inevitable.
Already the vast auditorium was filling with Varians—both male and female. Most of them seemed to be dressed in ritual costumes of red and white for the females and red and green for the males. They looked strangely Christmassy to Jodi as they thronged around the stage.
They were a surprisingly silent crowd and she didn’t hear much of their hissing language. They seemed to be waiting for something.
Which is probably for you to be whipped so they can translate your pain energy into erotic energy and start getting it on, the helpful little voice in Jodi’s head pointed out.
Gee, thanks, little voice—just what she needed to hear.
At last Jodi and her guards reached the top of the extremely tall stage. She estimated she was at least fifty feet above the milling crowd below—her only hope was that she was so far up that Melli wouldn’t be able to see her being tortured. The stage itself was circular and about twenty feet in
