'Golden Child. The time has come. Meet me at the Cerebilus Moons, alone. Your Guide’.
After several minutes of shocked inaction, her eyes riveted to the writing, her heart hammering, she tottered to a chair and sank into it. Her hands shook as she activated the web line screen used for local calls, dialling Tallyn at the space port. She sent a message to him, then Rawn, demanding they come immediately, then broke the connection, not wishing to explain anything on the web line.
By the time they hurried in a few minutes later, she had poured herself a strong drink and sipped it as she gazed at the screen. Tallyn, first to arrive by about three seconds, put away his laser and scowled at her.
"Were you just testing us? Because if so, I -"
"Read the space line."
He and Rawn read it, then turned to her.
"When did this come through?" Tallyn demanded.
"About a minute before I sent you the message."
"It could be a hoax, a trap. The Draycons -"
"Are embroiled in a civil war," she interrupted again. "Besides, it wasn't an ordinary message. The space line didn't give a tone, it just deployed. It was kind of spooky."
Tallyn glanced at the screen again. "It could be malfunctioning."
"I have a feeling this is genuine. I have to do as it says, anyway, don't I? Just in case it is. We were expecting some sort of contact. Well, there it is."
Rawn frowned, looking anxious. "You can't go to the Cerebilus Moons alone. It's too dangerous, and someone has to fly the ship. You have to have a crew, people to guard you."
"The message says alone. If I'm not, I don't think there will be a ship there to meet me."
"She's right," Tallyn said. "But even if we gave you a scout ship, you don't know how to fly it."
"You can programme it, can't you? Put in the co-ordinates for the Moons, and for the return trip, then all I have to do is activate the Net, right?"
"In theory." Tallyn sat in a chair opposite, studying her. "You're taking all this very calmly. How much have you had to drink?"
She giggled. "I'm not drunk. Believe me, I'm terrified. I almost fainted when I first read that, but I've had time to calm down now. It's kind of exciting, don't you think?"
Rawn sat beside her, placing an arm around her shoulders. "I'll come with you. I'm your guardian, right?"
Tallyn shook his head. "We made that assumption when we took you from Earth, but there's no mention of a guardian in the prophecy, and the instructions say she must go alone.
"It could be dangerous," Rawn protested. "Like you said, it could be a trap. Maybe it's not the Draycons. We don't know who else might want to stop her fulfilling the prophecy."
Rayne sighed and put down her glass. "I have to do as it says. Just show me how to operate the scout ship. If it's trap, I can simply reactivate the Net, and it will bring me straight back to Atlan, right?"
"Yes, but being in the Net doesn't guarantee your safety," Tallyn said. "And if it's a trap, you might not have time. I would suggest we shadow you in Vengeance."
"No. It might detect you, especially if its technology is as advanced as it appears to be."
Tallyn shook his head. "There's only one way to settle this. I'll call the council and let them decide."
Rayne nodded, and he wandered over to the window to gaze out while he contacted Vargon on his implant's net line. When he turned to her a few minutes later, he looked grim.
"The council agrees. You must follow the instructions. I'll arrange for a scout ship to be made available, and show you how to operate its basic functions in a simulator."
Rayne slipped her hand into Rawn's, trying to reassure him with a brittle smile. He looked unhappy, but rose and followed when Tallyn led them out to his gravcar.
Chapter Fourteen
Over the next four hours, Tallyn put Rayne through several simulated flights, which she managed fairly well until he sprang an emergency on her, then she panicked and failed miserably. He coached her until she learnt to control her panic a little better, encouraging her with lavish praise. He was a good teacher, motivating her when she wanted to give up, until her skills improved sufficiently to satisfy him. When at last he allowed her to leave the simulator, she was tired and shaky.
The worst part was linking her cyber implant with the ship's neural net and being bombarded with masses of information whilst in the grey no-place of the net. The scout ship normally had a crew of two, so they could fly it in shifts, but she would have no such luxury. Tallyn wanted her to sleep before she left, but a sense of urgency consumed her, and she only ate a hurried meal before insisting on going to the spaceport. Tallyn seemed to admire her resolve, but she was certain that if she delayed she would lose her nerve and not go at all.
The scout ship parked on the spaceport apron was a tiny, ovoid silver craft bristling with sensor arrays and one energy weapon. They climbed into the cramped interior, bumping into each other and equipment that had been fitted in the most inconvenient places. While Rayne and Rawn watched, Tallyn lay down on the pilot's couch and hooked himself into the ship's neural net, inputting the co-ordinates and instructions it would need to leave the atmosphere and fly to the Cerebilus Moons, then return.
Tallyn could have assigned the task to another pilot, and Rayne was flattered that he did it himself. Curious spaceport personnel watched from the hatchway, amazed at the breach of regulations that was being perpetrated with the council's approval. Such acts were unknown to Atlanteans, and the ground crew was horrified and fascinated. When at last Tallyn was satisfied, he turned to her, his expression schooled to hide the anxiety she sensed.
"Once out of the atmosphere," he said, "you must hook yourself into the neural net. The ship will follow its programme and fly to the Cerebilus Moons, but you must be alert for any problems. The repellers will deflect debris and asteroids, space junk and such, but there are other things, like space storms, which will endanger your link with the Net, or void fields, which may pull you off course. The neural net can be re-initiated if that happens, and will then compensate for the mistake, but you must be there to do it. If you're not linked to the ship, you won't even know it's happened. If all else fails, terminate the Net link and activate the distress beacon. We'll come and pick you up. Also, if you need any other instructions, you can call me on the space line."
She nodded, her stomach a cold knot. "How long is the flight going to be?"
"About four hours. It's a long way."
Rayne nodded again, avoiding his intense scrutiny, which searched her face for signs of excessive stress. She forced a smile and glanced at Rawn. "Well, let's get this show on the road then."
Tallyn said, "You should have been trained for this. We should have realised this might happen. When you get back, I'll put you both on a course."
"Well, nothing like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted," she quipped, which earned her a stern glance.
Rawn hugged her, then Tallyn touched a crystal and they left the ship. The hatch closed with a hiss and clunk, sealing her in the tiny craft. She sank into a luxuriously padded acceleration couch as gravity increased, but it did not grow uncomfortable as the scout floated up on its antigravity, then switched to repellers. The scout had inertial compensators, but they were only powerful enough to reduce the effects of inertia. Since pilots were strapped into their couches and the ship had no other crew, larger ones were deemed unnecessary.
The ship lacked any luxuries apart from the two comfortable pilot couches, and made alarming noises. The simulator had not clunked and groaned, hummed and whined like this ship did. She lay back and forced herself to relax, closing her eyes to block out the plethora of winking lights around her, few of which she knew anything about. The ship was trusted to fly itself, and Tallyn had assured her that it was a new, advanced craft, unlikely to malfunction.