Captives

And was in the midst of a crowd on the steps of the Senate in Tiberium, his mind screaming with other people's rage and fear as the earth heaved beneath his feet! The tremor lifted the stone slabs used as steps, toppling him- the world spun before his eyes-while inside the Senate he Read the roof cave in! Men screamed and tried to run. Solid stone fell on them. Across the forum, a reviewing stand filled with dignitaries collapsed, throwing people into the crowd-he recognized the golden robes of the Emperor!

Pain and fear filled the air, wrath playing counterpoint as he Read, both broadcasting and shouting, 'Stop! Stop it! You'll kill everyone! You're destroying the whole city! Everyone will die!'

Chapter Seven

The scene cut off as abruptly as it had begun. Melissa found herself back at Lord Wulfston's table, gripping the edge, her heart pounding in terror. She looked around, Reading. Rolf was rubbing his eyes, his fear and shock overwhelmed by the sight he had never known before. Torio pulled the boy's hands away from his face, saying, 'It wasn't you, Rolf.' //But what was it?//

'Tiberium!' Master Corus exclaimed. 'Another earthquake-destroyed!' A bitter laugh escaped him. 'Now I have no home to return to.'

'Was it?' asked Aradia. 'Was it real? Lenardo-has it finally happened?'

'No,' he answered. 'It was my vision. But you all saw it this time? That's never happened before.'

Wulfston looked around at their stricken faces. 'Would someone please tell me what happened?'

'The earthquake again,' said Lenardo. 'The destruction of Tiberium. The same vision I've been having-except that it went on a few moments longer… and now I know when!'

'Summer Festival,' said Torio. 'The banners, the crowds, the Emperor in the reviewing stand. More people are in Tiberium then than on any other day of the year.'

'We must stop it!' said Lenardo. 'Two months-only two months to ease that fault.'

I hope it kills the whole Council of Masters, Melissa thought privately.

'We'll go in again,' said Wulfston. 'We have to go deeper into the empire-'

'And what if we set off other quakes?' asked Torio. 'We're working without enough information again. What if we set up the very disaster you foresee, my lord?'

Lenardo studied Torio, and smiled ruefully. 'The right question, Lord Torio. Who has suggestions?'

'Your visions have always come true, Lenardo,' said Aradia.

'Yes, but not always as I interpreted them. And I have never been able to prevent one.'

'What we need,' said Wulfston, 'is a map of the entire length of the fault-but even you can't Read all the way to the southern section, Lenardo.'

'I can if I go back into the empire. With the powers I now have, I will be safe for long enough to make your map, Wulfston. This time we will have every bit of information before we begin. When we are ready, we will spread our Adept talents the length of the empire. Just before the festival, people will be traveling all up and down the main road-a few more strangers won't be noticed.'

'The problem,' said Wulfston, 'is Readers. We can gather several hundred people with varying degrees of Adept talent-but how do we coordinate them? Torio's quicksand almost became a disaster because I could not communicate with the water talents in the midst of the action. We need several hundred Readers, as well… and all the Readers we have are right here in this room.'

Melissa glanced at Master Corus, and the still-unconscious Master Amicus beyond him. She had the beginning of an idea… but she knew Amicus' loyalties were still with Portia, while Corus appeared to be willing to do whatever seemed most expedient for his own safety-hardly someone they should trust with their plans.

Wulfston followed her gaze, and asked, 'Lenardo, Torio, how certain is it that the Council of Masters will indeed disregard what these hostage Readers report to them?'

'Not certain at all, concerning something they can verify-such as renegade Readers entering the empire with groups of unReadable strangers,' said Lenardo. 'We have made a strategic error. I suggest we keep Master Amicus asleep, put Master Corus to sleep before he has an opportunity to report to the Masters left with the army-and then take them both north to Lilith's castle and hold them there until after the Summer Festival. Even out of body, they cannot communicate over such a distance.'

'You don't have to knock me out,' said Master Corus. 'I will go willingly.' His relief was obvious.

'Why?' asked Wulfston, and Lenardo frowned as he tried to Read the man. Only his emotions were Readable.

Melissa remembered something Jason had told her. ' 'When the moon devours the sun, the earth will devour Tiberium. Master Corus doesn't want to be there when it happens.'

'When the moon devours the sun,' Lenardo mused. 'I've heard that before. Is there-?'

'An eclipse,' said Melissa, 'just before Summer Festival.'

'Then we know we have the timing right,' said Wulfston. 'Now, what about Melissa? Torio?'

Melissa let Torio Read her. He reported, 'She feels betrayed, Wulfston. Her faith in the Council of Master Readers and the Aventine government has been badly shaken. Let her see what we're doing. I think she will join us.'

'Very well,' said Wulfston. 'Lenardo, Aradia?'

'I trust Torio's instincts,' said Lenardo.

'And I trust Lenardo's,' Aradia added.

'Torio,' said Wulfston, 'keep watch on Melissa. I must prepare for the funeral this afternoon. Lady Melissa, the bodies of those who were drowned in the storm are being returned with the prisoners to the Aventine army. Our own dead are being brought here, by those closest to them. It is our custom to allow each person to be spoken of by those who loved him, before he is returned to the elements. We will keep the body of Magister Jason here, for our ceremony-if you wish to speak for him?'

'Yes, thank you… my lord,' Melissa got out around the lump in her throat.

'Before we make any further plans, though-' Wulfston glanced toward Master Corus, and he slumped, as unconscious as Amicus. The Lord Adept called for servants to remove the two men. 'Now. Aradia? Lenardo?'

'What news of Lilith?' asked Aradia.

'The watchers reached her before she had gone far enough to make it worth her while to journey all this way,' Wulfston replied. 'She sends us her congratulations, but has returned home.'

'Rightly so,' said Aradia. 'We will write to her of our new plan-I do not want the watchers sending the message, lest it be read by some of our outlying neighbors. They are frightened of our strength now-but think what opportunity we would give them if they knew both Lords Adept and minor talents were out of our lands at one time!'

Lenardo smiled fondly at his wife. 'Trust Aradia to think in terms of power and vulnerability. She is right-we must not let the whole world know. Fortunately, we will not be moving armies; no one need know that our lands will temporarily be left without Adept defenses.'

'There are other defenses,' Rolf put in. 'Even a

Lord Adept's army can be delayed by storms. You will not need my kind of talent with you.'

'You forget, Rolf,' said Torio, 'we need you as a Reader.'

'But I can't-'

//Can you hear me, Rolf?// Lenardo asked.

'Yes, but-'

'No 'buts. That's good enough to act as relay to nonReaders. Wulfston, do you think if we threw a few more of our minor Adept talents into quicksand-?'

'I'd dive in myself, if I thought it would do any good. But Rolf is a special case-if he could see, he would have known which way to direct his Adept talent, and would not have had to Read.'

'But I didn't learn it to save my life,' said Aradia.

'No-someone else's,' Lenardo replied. 'You heard a man scream-and you arrived in time to save him. But the witnesses claimed he never made a sound. I didn't realize you were Reading until the next day-but we must all be watching for evidence like that. We know it's the same talent now.' He stretched out his hand, and Melissa saw on his forearm the dragon's head brand of the traitor to the Aventine Empire. He became unReadable-and the heavy candlestick slid down the table and into his hand.

Melissa gasped. They had said he had learned Adept powers-but this was the first time she had seen it. He turned to her, Readable once more. 'Yes, Lady Melissa, it works both ways. You