Chapter 7
“You wouldn’t really be helping me escape,” Jed said, in a low voice. “Because I’d be coming back. And if I wanted to escape from Jeddon on your ship, why would I tell anyone of its presence here?”
“But if Vexson chased you back here, he’d discover us and we’d be unable to leave until the computer is fixed and the data lost from it is restored. Our force field is only working at half strength. We’d be captured.”
Jed stared at him thoughtfully. “What data is missing?”
“Almost everything from computer one was lost.”
“Jeddon has what you need,” Jed said, excitedly. “Those things are kept at the palace. I could bring the new discs when I return.”
Darien jumped up. “I’ll go and clear it with Father.”
“Darien, wait! He might refuse. To go without permission is better than to disobey a direct order. It’s still dark. If I go now, I could be back before anyone notices.”
Darien hesitated, then reached for the keys, his eyes gleaming.
Metal clinked and soon Jed was free. He stood up and flexed his wrists.
“Follow me,” Darien whispered. “But don't make a sound.”
They hurried down a dimly lit passage. The murmur of voices came from a lighted doorway ahead.
“Is there another beamer?” Jed whispered.
Darien shook his head. “I have a better idea. Come this way.”
Darien led him through several empty rooms and down into the cargo bay. With a grin, he pointed at the air-bikes stacked against the wall.
“We can be there and back in no time with these,” he said.
“Not we,” Jed protested. “I must go alone.”
“I may be able to help, Jed. Besides, I don’t want to be here if Father finds you gone. He’ll know I freed you. Come on.” He pushed a bike towards the exit bay. “We’ll take one with a side-car extension. There’ll be room for your friend and sister, then.”
Jed looked at Darien with new respect. That the youth would willingly walk into danger to help him was something he had not expected.
“This is not a child’s game,” he warned. “The danger - ”
Darien grinned. “I have a black belt – and I can ride like the wind. Either we both go, or we both stay.”
Unexpectedly glad at the thought of company, Jed capitulated.
“What’s a black belt got to do with anything?” Jed asked, helping push the bike into the exit bay.
“It means I can fight,” Darien explained briefly. He straddled the bike and handed Jed a helmet, fitting his own with practised ease. “We’ll leave the extension seats pushed in for the moment. Hop on behind, Jed.”
Jed complied while donning his own helmet. “Won’t they hear us leave?”
“I doubt it. The jets don’t make much noise. They’re fitted with the newest high-tech sound reduction stuff. Put your feet on those bars, there. Ready?”
“Ready.”
A low whine filled the bay. The air-bike vibrated. The hatch ahead slid open. Jed clutched Darien’s waist as they hurtled forward. With a whoosh the bike was airborne, its slender, silver wings catching the gleam of the setting moons. Hopefully, Vexson hadn’t been there to notice the sudden exit of the air-bike. The Voyager must remain hidden until they returned.
“Don’t go that way!” Jed called in alarm, as the bike veered towards the Desert of Rocks. He pointed towards the glow on the distant horizon. “There’s the city.”
The air-bike gained speed and zoomed low over the dark Jeddon landscape. This was more fun than flying a transmod! Jed grinned, then shivered as cool air whistled in through every tear and opening in his jacket. In a few hours it would be daylight. But they should reach the city well before then.
As the moons touched the horizon, Darien coasted the bike down onto the hill behind the city where Jed had directed him to land.
“Air-bikes are not common on Jeddon,” Jed told him. “If we fly into the city, it will attract too much attention.”
“We don’t want to do that,” Darien agreed. He pushed the bike into the undergrowth. “Remember it’s hidden near this red-flowering tree, by that tall rock, then we can come back to it easily.” He played the bike’s headlight up into the tree for a moment, then at the surrounding landscape. “There are three flat rocks over there, in a row. “
“And a mossy log,” Jed added. “I’m sure we’ll find it again, Darien.”
“Do we want any of this stuff?” Darien fossicked about in the saddlebag.
“What is it?”
“Tools and stuff - and this.” He held out a laser pistol. “Put it in your pocket, Jed. It might come in handy.”
“I’ve never seen such a tiny one.”
Jed examined the weapon curiously, then slipped it into an inner pocket. He could never actually shoot anyone, but it might come in handy to bluff with.
“Leave the rest.” He helped pull branches from nearby shrubs to stack over the bike. “It must be invisible now.”
Darien looked up at the sky. “How long before dawn?”
“An hour or so. We’ll be in the city by then. Come on.”
Jed set off at a brisk pace, familiar with the path under his feet. He had often come out here just for the pleasure of running.
“Wow! It's beautiful, Jed,” Darien exclaimed, as they moved closer to the bright lights of the city. “All those white domes and golden spires. And those silver - what are those silver moving things?”
“Transmods - personal people movers. You must have seen them before. The night shift workers are going home.”
“I don’t often get to see a settled planet up close,” Darien explained. “I’ve grown up aboard spaceships – and on dead planets. Ones that Father renewed.”
They walked in silence until high dome walls replaced the trees on either side of them. Jed looked up. The sky above was light now. Soon the suns would be up; there would be more people about. He lengthened his stride.
“Come on. The palace is close now.”
“You plan to just walk in?”
“Nobody can just walk in, Darien. There are guards inside. Everyone’s fingerprint is put into the central computer, then we only have to press the identipad to switch off the light-bars. Vexson may not have removed mine.”
“So, your plan?”
“There is a small door set into the back of a cupboard in the storeroom near the kitchen. It is guarded by light-bars on the outside, but never by guards on the inside. If we can get through that, we should have a few minutes start on any guards, even if the alarm does go off.”
“Then what?”
“We'll see what Jyari can tell us. I can trust her.”
He led the way down a narrow side street and stopped in front of a small door.
“Get ready to run,” he said, then as Darien looked around, “I meant, run in.”
Jed pressed his thumb onto the identipad, the light bars blinked off and the door swung open at his touch. He reached in and undid the inside cupboard door, then squeezed cautiously through into the black silence of the room beyond.
“I don’t hear any alarms,” Darien whispered behind him.
“No. Come on, but keep your ears and eyes open.” Jed opened the door out of the storage room. “It could be a trap.”
With thudding heart, he stepped out into the kitchen and crept past the gleaming steel workbenches, Darien close behind. There was no triumphant cry of discovery.
From the kitchen they passed into a long, high-roofed hallway dimly lit by scattered glowspheres. A few dark rectangles along the walls showed where alcoves or doorways led off it. They were too far apart to be useful hiding places if someone should suddenly come around the far corner.
“What happens if we meet guards – or someone who knows you?” Darien asked, in a low voice.
“Guards are only stationed at the outer doorways. Now we’re in, we won’t see them. Everyone else should still be abed.”
With a deep breath, he stepped into full view and hurried along the hall. It remained empty. He led the way along a maze of corridors and up winding stairways. Finally they halted outside a door.
“This is Jyari's apartment.”
The door swung open easily. Jed fumbled for the light-switch and the room was bathed in a soft, pinkish light. He tiptoed across the room to the little girl who lay on the bed.
“Jyari, wake up!” he whispered in her ear. “Jyari?”
Even when he shook her, the child on the bed didn’t stir. Her black hair tumbled untidily across the pillow, the silver lines in her arms barely visible. The golden band on her right arm gleamed brightly against the dark coverlet.
“She’s a sound sleeper,” Darien commented.
“She’s drugged.” Jed removed his fingertips from her energy points.
“Why? To keep her from contacting you?”
“Perhaps, though they must know she’s too young to Farseek. Her life is surely in danger.” He grabbed clothes from the end of the bed. “We’ll have to take her with us. ”
“Jed!” exclaimed a voice behind them. “What on Jeddon are you doing here?”
Startled, they whirled around.
“Mother!” gasped Jed, in relief. “Need you ask? I came to see if you and Jyari were safe. To find the elders who should be running this planet instead of Vexon.”
“Those still alive are Vexson’s men. Returning here was foolish, Jed. You have endangered your sister when she sought to save you.”
“What? How?”
“She confessed to entering the Control Room, hoping to save your life. Now she faces death or exile, depending on Vexson’s whim.”
Jed’s face went white. “Is there no justice? She hid in there because she was terrified of him. She must come with me. You too, Mother. ”
Seret stepped back. “I will not leave. I have pledged my loyalty to Vexson.”
Jed stared at his mother numbly, hardly able to believe his ears. But he had never suspected his uncle, either…
“Are you so loyal that you’ll let him murder my sister?” he asked bitterly.
Seret frowned. “I gave you a chance of escape through the tunnel, did I not? I will plead with Vexson for Jyari.”
“And if he agrees to spare her, what sort of a life will she have? He’ll insist on exile.”
“I didn’t make her go into that room. She should be punished for breaking that law.”
“The law is stupid! It should be changed. Jyari is just a child - terrified by the evil she sensed in Vexson! How can you pledge loyalty to him?”
“I will not discuss this,” Seret said harshly. “Go, before I call the guards!”
Jed looked at the stranger in front of him and felt only pain.
“Let me take Jyari,” he begged.
“Take her where? To die in the Desert of' Rocks?”
“She won’t die. We can -.”
“The space-port is guarded.” Seret said, as if she knew what he was thinking. A strange smile played over her face. “I’ll give you one hour to get away before I call the guards.” She swept out of the room.
“Let’s get out of here!” Darien exclaimed.
Jed pulled Jyari out of bed, laid her on the floor rug, tossed some of her clothes on top and rolled the rug around her.
“Great idea.” Darien picked up the rolled rug.
“Give her to me until we get outside. If we meet anyone, the roll of rug will hide my face.”
Carefully Jed hoisted it over his shoulder. The load was heavier than he expected.
“Take the other end.”
Darien grabbed the rug and lifted it up. Footsteps and faint voices echoed eerily around them as they made their way down the long stairs and through silent halls. Soon the palace would be the usual hive of activity, but they reached the side door without incident. Jed passed the rug over to Darien
“Wait for me near the air-bike,” he instructed. “If I haven’t come by noon, take Jyari and return to the Voyager.”
“Noon? We’ll be missed before then!”
Jed shrugged. “I’ll come as soon as I can. I’ve only an hour before Seret sounds the alarm.”
“What if you don’t come?”
“Then I’ll meet you at the Voyager. Guard Jyari with your life. Promise!” Jed said, fiercely.
“I will. I swear it.”
“If she objects to going with you - and she will - tell her I said she must.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Get Zarine – and the Badge, I hope.”
“And the discs?”
“Those, too.”
Jed disappeared back inside the palace.
Darien stared blankly at the closed door. He had not thought of being left on his own, but there was no way he could go after Jed now.
Booted footsteps tramping behind startled him. He settled the rug more comfortably over his shoulder and moved hastily away from the door. The guards who passed by glanced at him indifferently. Just as well they could not see his heart, thudding so hard it was likely to burst.
He strode along the streets, the rough underside of the rug chafing his neck. It was uncomfortably heavy. With an effort, he pulled the roll from his shoulder and carried it in his arms. Could he make it as far as the trees? Jyari seemed to be stirring. He had to get out of the city before she woke up and cried out in fright.
At last, hot and tired, he reached the shelter of the tree-covered hill where the air-bike was hidden. The city below was bathed in the first rays of the suns. There was no one in sight. The roll of mat quivered and shook while he carefully unrolled it.
Jyari sat up with a bewildered expression on her face. She looked first at Darien, then at her surroundings.
“Where’s my room?”
Her voice sounded thick, as if the drug had not worn off properly. No doubt it would take a while.
Darien smiled reassuringly as he draped her scarlet cape around her shoulders and clipped it securely. “I didn't zap your room away. I carried you out, rolled up in the rug so no one would see you. We are to wait here for Jed. I’m Darien, by the way.”
“Jed? He ran away.” She seemed puzzled. “I'm - thirsty.”
“There's a brook close by. We'll drink there. Can you walk?”
Relieved that she seemed so quiet, he led her to the water. Jed had been wrong about her giving trouble. He slaked his thirst eagerly, but when he looked up from splashing his face, Jyari was no longer beside him. A flash of scarlet disappeared through the leafy trees.
“Jyari!” Darien took off in hot pursuit.
To call her name again would be dangerous. There were quite a few people about the streets now that it was light. What would they do to him if they knew that he was chasing their princess through the streets? That he was virtually kidnapping her?
He was gaining slightly. Jyari looked back and darted into a narrow alley. It didn’t even go in the direction of the palace. That was one good thing. If she got back in there, he’d be done for. At least the scarlet cape was fairly easy to follow. He hurtled around the corner into the alley, but she was almost at the other end.
It was only because she fell that he caught her. It must have hurt her, but she made no sound as she struggled to her feet. Darien grasped her arm tightly, panting so hard that he could not speak. He bent over for a few seconds to get his breath and when he looked up, a circle of Jeddonites had surrounded them. They did not look very friendly.
“Tell them – it’s all right,” he gasped.
“He’s trying to kidnap me!”
The men closed in around them, their faces threatening.
“Don't you want to see your brother?” Darien cried, as they were dragged apart.
It was too late for explanations. The men jostled him away from Jyari, and even though he managed to get in a few good kicks, there was really no room for karate. The Jeddonites quickly overwhelmed him. Pain seemed to be exploding in every part of his body as he caved in under the sea of jabbing fists. Then his face was pushed into the ground, there was an explosion of light and the pain receded into blackness…