“No, sir. As far as we can tell, your planworked. They think it is still only you,” he responded.
“Good. So they must know there are only threelogical places for me to go: the central computer, the exit hatchor the gate. They might assume I do not know about the gate, butthat would be a foolish risk. They do not strike me as the type totake unnecessary risks, so we should assume the gate will beguarded and watched. Major Jerran, can you take us around to theopposite side of the gate from the storeroom that we just camefrom?” I asked. “That might put us behind their defenses.”
“Yes, sir, but that will add at least an hourto the walk. From here I would estimate four or five hours until wereach the gate,” was his reply.
“Fine. Take us that way and stop us about anhour before the gate for a final rest and preparations,” I ordered.As I leaned on my right arm in an attempt to stand, a blinding painshot through me causing me to fall back to the ground where I wassitting.
Darnath noticed immediately and asked, “Sir,what’s wrong?”
“Aah, I think I dislocated my shoulder, I amnot sure how. No matter; if you will just help me pop it back in, Iwill be fine to travel,” I said through gritted teeth.
Then Kellyn came over, smiled at me and said,“Sir, just relax. This won’t hurt a bit.” I doubted that her petiteframe could support enough muscle power to readjust my shoulder,but even more I doubted that it would not hurt! Ah, well, I hadbetter cooperate; she was, after all, their medic. She knelt infront of me and closed her eyes, placed her right hand behind myshoulder, and pressed her left hand ever so gently on the front ofmy shoulder. I assumed that she was about to examine it, but then Ifelt warmth passing between her hands and moving through my body.Her hands had a faint pink glow about them, as if they weregenerating the heat themselves, and instinctively I wanted to jerkaway, but I was paralyzed by her touch. I felt my bones move andshift back into place. She then looked up directly into my eyes andI felt a connection that I had never known before. Instantly it wasas if she could see through to my inner most being and I could seehers. Hers was a beautiful pool of color that shimmered constantly,but I feared what she saw in mine. I knew what was there. A look ofhorror passed over her face, and then it was replaced by stubborndetermination. She started to say something, but before she couldspeak Darnath warned us that a Magi scan was nearing us. Fearingshe would not be able to react in time, I quickly reached out toher, pulled her close to my body and envisioned my thought shieldexpanding to surround both of us. I got it up barely in time, amere second before the light from the scan passed over us.
Once it passed, I tried to stand but got verylight-headed, and once more fell to the ground. This time Kellynwas there to slow my fall. “Now what is wrong with me?” Iasked.
“Sir, you overextended yourself by hiding mefrom the scan,” answered Kellyn, who started digging in herpack.
“Sir, from what you have told us I assume youhaven’t used your powers very much before coming here, and sincecoming here you have been using them non-stop. That alone would bepushing your mental strength to the limit, but then to extend yourshield to cover Kellyn …well, until just a minute ago I thoughtthat was impossible. It must have been very difficult, and it hasexhausted you,” stated Darnath.
“Here, sir. This will help clear your head abit,” said Kellyn as she handed me what looked like a bar ofchocolate.
“Candy?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. We discovered a while back thatthere is a chemical compound that your body depletes as you useyour powers. We can manufacture it, but it tastes horrible. So Iprefer to disguise it in candy. It is no substitute for a good mealand rest, but it will help you get by until we can manage that,”answered Kellyn.
After eating the candy bar, I did feel betterand was able to stand. “Amazing, my arm feels like it was neverhurt. No wonder they call you a master healer!” I said. “But how inthe world did I get hurt in the first place?”
“Sorry, sir, I should have known that wouldhappen,” started Darnath. “When I transferred my memory of thebattle to you, your mind completely re-enacted the fight. For mostpeople that is the extent of it, but for those of us who are morepsychically sensitive, the re-enactment often extends to themuscles. You see, when I hit that wall I broke my collarbone, sowhen that happened your body must have had a muscle spasm whichthrew your shoulder out of joint.”
“I see. Well, since that is now all behindus, let’s get moving,” I said. I was not sure how I felt about whathad just happened, not only with my shoulder but also with Kellyn.For the moment I would just move on to the next step and put itaway to think about later. I noticed that Kellyn began walking muchcloser to me after our encounter. She seemed a bit worried aboutme. I wanted to blame her concern on my recent collapse, but theimage burned into my mind was that look of horror I had seen on herface. She saw something when she fixed my shoulder that had hervery worried about me. There was only one thing that I could thinkof which that might be, but surely she did not think she couldfight the dark figure who waited for me?
Chapter Sixteen
We moved out and traveled in silence for awhile. There was something that had been on my mind, and thisseemed like a good time to ask about it. “Major Jerran, when thefirst of the Magi spoke to us, he called his group the Magi; later,when I met you, you also referred to them as the Magi; yet as faras I know Larath coined that name a couple of weeks ago and it wasknown only by a few select members of the Dragon Claw’s crew. Sohow did that name get known here?”
“Sir, forgive me, but the better question is: How did Larath know that name?” was his answer.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Well, sir, we call them the Magi, becausewhen our telepaths probed them we learned that is what they callthemselves. This was long before even Lieutenant Tom arrived,” heanswered.
“I see your point,” I said and nothingfurther was spoken about that. This was not the first time a threadof information had led back to Larath. What part did he play in allthis? I was still missing some key piece of information. I knewthere was some piece of data that, once known, would shed a lighton the rest of what we knew and would make sense of it. I had noidea where to find it, however. Then I remembered the book Icarried with me. It was written in a language that looked similarto that on the wands. Maybe that was a clue.
“Major, the writing on the wands and staves,do you ever see it elsewhere?” I asked.
“Yes, sir, but only on their clothing andsome of their jewelry,” he answered.
“Then this is not their primary writtenlanguage, I assume?” I prompted.
“No, sir. They have another language forthat. It looks somewhat similar but we cannot read it,” heanswered. He paused a moment then continued, “One of our latemembers could read it. He learned it by telepathically stealing theinformation from one of the Magi, but he was killed before he couldpass it on.”
“If he could do it then can Darnath, Luke, orGafar also do it?” I asked.
“Yes, sir, but not without giving away ourposition to the Magi,” he answered.
“Well, it is good to know it is an option, ifa dangerous one,” I said. I was about to ask about the book when wecaught up with Darnath.
“Sir, this is the last safe place to rest.Just around the corner is an automated security checkpoint. Once wepass that we will be about ninety minutes from the gate, but underconstant threat from patrols and surveillance,” reportedDarnath.
“Okay, then set up camp here and let’s haveone more meal. We do not know when our next chance will be,” Iordered. As everyone got busy I turned to Darnath and asked, “Canwe get by this checkpoint undetected?”