See Part One for Disclaimers

Sleek, black and dangerous -- ship and Mage waited for the right moment to make their move.  Though the ship was cloaked from the Excalibur's sensors, the vessel could still be seen as a shadow against the backdrop of space, if anyone should look directly at them.  Although even then, they would probably put it down to a moments blurred vision.

Galen hadn't said a word to her since their arrival some two hours before, any attempt at conversation had been ignored until she stepped away, leaving him to his thoughts.  That these were bleak she could see from the studious way he moved and the concentration that emanated from him.  Angular features seemed harsher somehow and no hint of his innate sense of humour softened any line of his face.

"Matthew knows I am here.  The Excalibur is searching for me.  He has been warned.  Now-- it begins."

His soft utterance startled her; quickly she went to check his findings, knowing that he would not be wrong.  Systems showed that the Excalibur was performing constant scans of the area though they would not find Galen's ship unless he desired to be found and Dureena didn't think that was his plan at all.  Unless it became impossible to separate Gideon from the ship, Galen would not endanger the crew.  They were loyal to their Captain, would follow his orders to the letter however far-fetched they might seem, but the Mage would not let them be used in this way, not if he could prevent it.  Somehow, he would get Gideon to the surface; she had seen it.  

Oh Gods, she had seen what would be!

The Excalibur had been in orbit around Triama for twenty four hours now, waiting and watching, as they had waited and watched them, unseen but probably expected.  Gideon couldn't know Galen still survived, maybe the box had just warned of an enemy.

Now that Galen had broken his silence, it was time to try and get some of the answers she so desperately needed.

"Will you go on board, try to talk to him?"

She saw his hand briefly tighten, then relax again.  "No need," pointing to the scans now being flashed across the screen.  "Ship, identify occupants of the shuttle now leaving Excalibur."

The soft voiced machine gave them the answer he had been expecting.

"Three occupants.  Matthew Gideon, Captain of the starship Excalibur, humanoid.  John Matheson, second in command starship Excalibur, humanoid.  Identity of third occupant not known."

"Ship, species of third occupant!"

"Not known."

"He has it with him.  This is really going to happen."  She could not keep the horror from her voice.  Throughout her adult life, she had been plagued by these visions; they didn't happen often but sometimes the images were so horrific that she would run from them - ensuring that she would not see if her prophecy came true.  She could not run from this, she could not prevent it short of incapacitating Galen in some way, and even if she could do that the Circle were right behind them, waiting for Galen to fail.  And what of Matheson, he had not appeared in her dream, how would Galen deal with him?

Swiftly the sleek black craft dived after Gideon's comparatively unwieldy shuttle until both were through the upper atmosphere.  Charting the shuttle's course Galen veered away setting his ship down some distance from Gideon's landing site.  He would have to uncloak when on the planet's surface, the shuttle's scanners would pick him up in a heartbeat but there was no way around that.  Gideon had come here for a purpose probably not his own and Galen would stop him; could it really be that simple?

***

Galen strode down the ramp, his heavy boots making no sound against the dense metal, purpose radiating from him yet he hesitated for a moment, then turned to her.

"I do not wish to harm Matheson, Dureena.  He will try to interfere in what must be done."

She knew what he wanted and nodded.  "I'll get him out of your way, but Galen--"

He interrupted her, placing a finger over her lips silencing her words.  His eyes were serious, his mouth set in a grim line then he let down his barriers for a moment and Dureena felt her heart melt at the look in his eyes.

"Know this, Dureena, if things go wrong, if I should not return--" he stumbled over his words.  "Know that I love you."  And then he was gone; a swirl of black diving into the deepening gloom that was slowly descending on them.

Fear cut through her, opening memories she would rather forget.  He had explained that the Apocalypse box although containing a living form, had been set around with locks and incantations that even she could not open.  That the being incarcerated within was pure energy and that his destruction of the box could be "disruptive".  How like him to make light of the danger!  She had to help him however she could and her first task was Matheson.

There was little enough cover for her to utilise; the Drakh or their counterparts had decimated this planet, as many before it.  Dark volcanic ash lay over everything, a blackened stump here and there the only relics of a once huge forest; in the distance the skeletal remains of a great city.  Gideon's shuttle had landed there; Matheson, according to Galen's ship, was still at the landing site.  

She jogged quickly across the barren landscape, her mind turning over the hints Galen had let fall about this planet.  An experiment, he had said, an experiment the Drakh had wanted destroyed; the evidence wiped out.  She was sure now that this was the place referred to in Isabelle's book; possibly, the place that the Shadows had first tried out the virus now exterminating the human race on Earth, and yet the Mage had not seemed in any way concerned about infection.  Her brow furrowed as she tried to think what else the Shadows could have possibly been experimenting with that would warrant the wholesale destruction of an entire species -- or did they even need a reason!

Some light remained as she reached the edge of the city and spotted the shuttle.  Matheson stood outside, rifle in his hand cautious expectation on his face.  Moving on silent feet, she made her way around the rubble that surrounded the landing site.  Matheson's head came up as though he sensed her approach.  Damn, if he were using his telepathic senses she was lost, but his eyes, although they scanned her position, did not linger on her hiding place continuing to scan the area all around him.  

Her aim was good, but from here, her knife would surely kill him, an incapacitating wound would not suffice.  The space between them was too great to allow her a sneak attack, and even then, she was not sure she could take him out before he could give any warning.  Rocks lay strewn around her and she hefted one in her small hand; heavy, solid as good a weapon as any.  Maybe it was instinct that was drawing Matheson closer to her position, whatever the cause she had to act now or she would be discovered, Galen would not be able to proceed unhindered and Gideon would complete the box's commands.

Matheson's temple took the full brunt of her hefty stones flight, temporarily stunning him.  The rifle dropped to the ground and Dureena was upon her hapless victim in seconds; the rifle's butt finishing off the work her sure aim had started.  Blood trickled from the young man's forehead and his skin had turned a nasty shade of grey but his breathing was even and his pulse beat strongly under her fingers.  Running into the shuttle she quickly sliced through two safety straps and used them to bind his hands and feet.  Slicing material from her shirt she stuffed some into his mouth then used the rest to hold the gag in place.  Dragging him out of sight, she checked his vital signs one more time then stood irresolutely staring out to where she knew Galen and Gideon would be.  

Galen had expressly forbidden her to interfere in any way.  He had been most insistent that she be as far away from the area as possible.  The resultant fallout from the box's destruction could be fatal to anyone outside his protection.

She could not let him do this alone.

As she approached the meeting place, wisps of fog were starting to form, surrounding and softening the craggy clumps of ruins that she traversed.  Their clammy tendrils clung to her bare arms and throat like ghostly fingers and she found herself shivering.  Night had fallen but a full moon hung low in the sky bathing the area in a silvery glow that cast long black shadows across her path.  It was all so terribly familiar, her nightmare brought to life -- she began to run, anxiety turning her stomach, shortening her breath.

It was just the way she remembered it.  Large pieces of crumbling buildings towered over the scene, surrounding the blasted area like an ancient arena.  Two men stood facing one another; Gideon, defiant yet worn and pale, faced Galen across the black ash surface.  In her dream, she had not heard their words; here she could make out the faint sounds of voices being carried by the breeze.  Fog drifted across the area, obscuring her view; softly she started toward them, hugging the ruins, remaining unseen.  As she got nearer their voices clarified and she listened in horrified silence to the revelations being made.

"Look around you, Gideon.  What do you see? More destruction, more death on a massive scale.  This is the work of the being you hold so protectively, he and his kind.  I warned you of their evil before Terea was destroyed and you did nothing.  You knew that one of these beings,  this being, was the cause of Isabelle's death and you said nothing.  Had it got such a hold on you even then?"

The captain made no reply but Dureena saw him pale at Galen's words.

"I told you only a little of what they have done, Matthew; shall I tell you more? I have discovered that their minions, the Shadows, had used Dureena's planet as a laboratory, as they had used this world - genetically engineering mutations in the brain functions of her people.  But it got out of control; the mutations that once lay dormant were beginning to manifest themselves in unusual ways.  They had intended to breed a superior brain to connect with their ships, to provide quicker and more flexible fighting machines, but it didn't happen that way.  Dureena is capable of understanding mathematical concepts that humans should not even know exist.  Something sparked that intelligence in some of her race and the Drakh wiped them out--"

"Does she know?" Matthew's rasping question hung between the two men.  She saw Galen's hand tighten on his staff, the fingers turning deathly white against the gleaming metal.

"No.  It is a knowledge I would not have her know.  Without training, without the discipline required to use her abilities, she is a danger to herself and those around her.  So long as she is ignorant of the power she has, she will not be tempted to utilise it."

Dureena sat back, her mind reeling, the conflict between the two men temporarily forgotten as she tried to absorb Galen's words.  His harsh interrogation when she opened his casket with such ease, his strictures on her access to certain parts of his ship, it all made sense now.  He had known, or guessed and had said nothing.  Her anger flared, he had not trusted her!  Then her heart kicked in, overruling her temper.  He loved her, he was doing his best to protect her as he had always done; this was no different.  And even now, he was putting himself between her and the one thing that could destroy her.

When she returned her attention to the two men, fog had obscured her view once more and she crept closer still until the damp curtain parted with a sudden breeze.  This was it, she realised.  The moment had come; Galen would summon his power and destroy Gideon, the box and himself!

"You must give up the Apocalypse box, Matthew.  I can not let it remain at large to work its evil on others as it has done to so many.  Lay it down and walk away, now, while you still can."

Gideon's voice reached her though he spoke barely above a whisper.  "I can't, Galen."  Despair and fear thrilled through his lowered tones.  "It won't let me go.  Do what you have to do . . . hurry!"

Power surged through the air, Dureena could feel Galen gather energy from all around him, the staff began to glow and spiralling blue tendrils started to curl around his dark garbed form.  Though his face showed determination his eyes were bleak, he would do what he had to do but this would cost him dearly.

One arm began to rise as he channelled energy into a killing strike, without thinking she started to run toward them.  Perhaps if she could take the box from Gideon neither of them would have to die.  Throwing herself at Gideon just as Galen released his powers, she stayed conscious long enough to hear his horrified yell as the blue white light surrounded her.

For a brief moment the pain was so intense, she lost consciousness.  The burning sensation engulfed her, cold and icy as though she had fallen into frozen waters, the shock shutting down her system in a wave of blackness.  And then she was floating or so it felt to her sensitive awareness.  Icy air swathed her body tingling against her skin.  The sensation grew stronger and she opened her eyes expecting to find that she had passed over.  Instead, her body seemed suspended above the arena, totally disassociated from the scene acting out beneath her.  Galen had dropped his staff and now held her limp body in his arms, his fingers pressed to the pulse point in her neck, his panic obvious in every line of his tense body.  She saw him run gentle fingers over her lifeless face, then gather her close, pressing his lips to her forehead in a tender salute, his hands holding her tightly against him.  Then he relaxed his grip, laying her down with infinite care, one hand caressing her waxen cheek before turning his attention to Captain Gideon who lay a few feet away.  Here he seemed to have more success; she watched as Galen prised the box from stiffened hands then checked on his vital signs.  Using the wrist communicator he called the Excalibur to send down a shuttle with all speed.  It seemed Matthew lived and she did not, for Galen picked up his staff, spoke a brief incantation and a soft shimmer surrounded the inert form, a protective force field of some kind she surmised.

With studied care he moved to the Apocalypse box, picking it up and striding swiftly out of the surrounding ruins he headed for the wasteland beyond.  Her incorporeal body followed, his distress acting like a magnet to her disembodied form.  She wanted to reach out and hold him, tell him she was still there but none of her words reached him.  She saw him stiffen once, turning around as if he had felt her presence, but he quickly strode on, shaking his head as though at a feeling he would rather forget.

She didn't want to be dead!  There was too much she had yet to do places she wanted to see, and she wanted Galen back in her life, loving her as he had promised to do; he accepted her and understood her as no one had ever done before.  No, she was not ready to die yet.  She fled after him until he came to a sudden halt far out in the barren wasteland.  He waited quietly, every sense turned inward avoiding the words spoken by the box.  Even with her limited knowledge, she knew it was trying to form incantations, formulae to break his concentration, to turn him from his purpose -- his struggle was terrible to behold.  And all the while he had been building up his power, concentrating it into a lethal force.  The staff began to glow, attracting energy from Galen and the surrounding area, calling down shattering bolts from the roiling sky above him.  Galen hesitated for a moment and she screamed at him to shield himself, though she knew he could not hear her.  For a heartbeat more he held still, then a soft amber glow surrounded him a fraction before he released the full might of his power.  Blue met gold in a cataclysmic eruption of energy, the world went white and Dureena's last sight of Galen saw the Mage crumpling to the ground blasted from his feet by the awesome explosion.

Continued

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