Disclaimer:  Crusade concept and characters belong to their creators and production company.   The following story is exclusive property of the author; no copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: PG-14.

The Price of Secrecy

© 2000, Jo Taylor

The subtle beep roused him from a deep sleep, his mind fuzzy still, his body aching with fatigue.  This last trip had been exhausting but necessary.  Gazing down at the blue green planet below him an uneasy feeling crept unbidden into his awakening brain.  Something did not feel right.

His fingers flew over the controls sending the necessary codes.  Deep in his Lab monitors would now be picking up his presence.  Dureena would be aware of his return.  He waited for a reply, but none came.

Unease grew within him, dark and apprehensive as he stared at the planet turning slowly in his viewer.

The two weeks he had prophesied had turned into four then five as his mission took him ever further from home.  Another outbreak of Gilemma fever, the by-product of a failed experiment by Chandu, rogue Technomage, had all but decimated the Debeni home planet.  The Circle taking responsibility for his actions had swiftly engineered an antidote but the distribution problem had been a nightmare.  Still firmly partitioned from the living world the Mage Council had invited Galen to distribute the vaccine, much to his disgust.  Not at what needed to be done, he would not have stood by and watched a race die for lack of his co-operation, but at the selfishness of his order in continuing to hide even though the Shadow War was long over.

He shook his head at the memory and gazed again at the planet rushing to meet him.  A chill settled in his stomach as the impression of  wrongness increased.

"Dureena!" Striding quickly along the corridor and into the Lab all seemed well.  Experiments stood as he had left them, everything appeared untouched; Dureena's corner was neat as always, yet still his senses bristled with suspicion.  Running lightly up the spiral staircase he entered the large hallway.  The house was too quiet; his footfalls echoed into the silence, muffled only slightly by the rugs beneath his feet.  He leant his staff against the wall and, calling her name again, he raced up to the next floor.

Covers were thrown back on the large bed, clothing hung in the closet area; books littered every surface.  Nothing unusual here.  The bathroom door was closed and he hesitated a moment before opening the door, though he knew that she was not there, the house's emptiness resonated in him.

The faint smell of her favourite soap still lingered in the small room.  Towels hung over rails were dry to his touch.  It was shortly after ten, if she had used the shower that morning the towels would still be damp.

"Where are you?" his voice whispered into the silence.

The valley lay in golden sunshine, its green and gold vista a welcoming sight yet the sun did not warm him, the glorious colours did not lift the pall of dark uncertainty that sat within him now.  His pace quickened as he headed for the waterfall, their special place.  Gone was all thought of the sophisticated technology available to him, his concern was playing havoc with his ability to process his thoughts with anything approaching calm.

Breaking into a run he hurled himself into the dappled green light, swiftly tracing the well-worn trail toward the sound of rushing water.  Skidding to a halt his eyes took in the horrific sight.  Variegated greenery had been turned autumn brown with old blood.  It speckled the grass, the leaves and rock in a terrifying display.  Huge gouges slashed into the centre of the clearing, burn marks etched fantastic designs into trees and rock.  Cat's huge body lay sprawled at the water's edge.  Her glorious coat ripped and bloody still moved with the faintest of breaths.

Hurrying to the fallen animal he crouched at her side.  Pain filled amber eyes turned his way and a soft rumble burbled in her chest.  Huge wounds gaped across her torso, deep gashes slashed across the front legs.  She had been knifed, shot and left for dead in a pool of her own blood.  For an instant her pain was his and his chest burned with her agony.  Diving into his capacious pockets he extracted a tiny hypo and hesitated for a moment.  There was enough painkiller in this unit to give six doses, enough to end her life.  Cat was dying, in pain, it was right that he end it for her now but still his hand refused to move.  He remembered when he had found her, tiny, helpless a bundle of red and black against the cruel white snow.  They had been companions for more years than he cared to remember.

She was in terrible pain, he could hear it in the ragged breath, see it in the shuddering of her huge body.  If he cared for her at all he had to do this.

"Goodbye, old friend."  He pressed the hypo deep into the fur until he found flesh, pumped all six doses into the mortally wounded animal.  His fingers traced a soothing path across the great head, massaged the fluttering ears as he watched the life drain away from the magnificent beast that had shared the valley with him.

He got up slowly, turning his back with controlled deliberation from the corpse.  An intruder to his valley had done this to Cat.  She was a huge and fierce animal, not taken down lightly.  And Dureena would not have stood by, had not stood by, while this happened.  He examined the scorch marks that blackened a nearby rock, recognising the molecular signature of his own weaponry.  Turning his keen eyes to the grass he now scanned the area with a concentration that made his head ache.

Most of the blood seemed to belong to Cat, but as he scouted the area he could see traces of a subtly differing hue.  Then he found her clothing.  Folded neatly by a rock as though she had been bathing in the natural pool.  He could imagine her now her water-slicked body rising from the pool warned by Cat of someone's approach.  'She would have been expecting me' he thought savagely.

How many of them had it taken?  How many had penetrated his defences, killed Cat, killed. . . no, not killed or why was her body not here too?  Taken then, but for what purpose.  Certainly for nothing that he held here, his Lab was untouched, the house the same.  Treasures beyond price littered the study; technomagical devices still sat on shelves in the Laboratory.

He should return to the house, retrieve his staff and conduct a thorough examination of the area, but his feet were reluctant to move as if staying there somehow brought him closer to her.  They had parted with angry words; words that he now wished unsaid.  Her eyes bright with anger and unaccustomed unshed tears sat in his memory, staring accusingly at him.

Sunshine broke through the canopy of green, bathing the sheltered area with warm light, highlighting the gory arena.  He closed his eyes for a moment, blocking out the vision only to be assailed by the acrid smell of blood.  He fled back down the valley, his heart on fire with the loss of Cat and Dureena.  His mind blazed with an almost overwhelming need to lash out at someone or something.

He entered the comparatively dark hallway, chilled by the sudden change in temperature.  Catching up his staff a crackle of blue lashed out from his fingers, shocking him back into reality as it scorched a hole in the flooring.  His energy would be better served if it were channelled more constructively.  Check the area over millimetre by millimetre.  Whoever they were, no matter how careful they had been, traces would be left for him to find.

Quickly he descended to the Laboratory.  The computer was sophisticated beyond most race's understanding, able to trace and define any known and some little known energy sources.  It kept track of everything that his home consisted of, the temperature controls, the shield that hid his valley from unwelcome eyes, everything.  Deft fingers raced over the touch sensitive pads as data sprang to life under his fingertips.

Dureena had initiated a full sweep of the valley four days before, then again the day after.  Something or someone had spooked her.  None of the logs showed any incoming messages, no presence had been detected within the shield's perimeter.  Two days previous the system had logged an unknown ship entering this sector.  According to the logs it had vanished two thousand clicks from his planet.

"Give me visual record."

The vessel was like nothing he had encountered before.  Its body was almost totally spherical, slight protuberances encircled its middle and there was evidence of access points all around it.  Obviously not built for atmospheric manoeuvring, it was large enough to be classed a mother ship of some description.  But for whom?

If Dureena had seen this why had she not contacted him?  Why had she felt the need to take a weapon with her to the waterfall, yet had not felt threatened enough to recall him?  She knew he would have returned.

He checked the communication systems, no problem in any circuit, there was no reason why she should not be able to reach him but no attempt had been made.  Looking more closely at the log a small discrepancy caught his vigilant eye.  A tiny block of data had been removed! Two days ago something had occurred that had been wiped from the memory banks.  A message 'had' been sent.  A message that the intruders must believe erased.

Knowledge must never be lost; it had been drilled into him from an early age, first by his father, then by Elric.  When he built this system he had added numerous back up files, some so deeply buried that only he knew how to find them.  Laying his palm against the pad his mind connected with intricate circuitry, following its tortuous path into the depths of his computer.  Damage had been done to many files and his anger deepened at the wanton destruction.

There, hidden deep under encrypted codes, was the missing message.

"Galen, I don't know where you are but we may have trouble here.  I have the feeling that someone is watching the valley.  Nothing is showing up on the scanners and I may be imagining the whole thing but. . . Well, if you are nearly done I think you should return."

He had long ago learned to trust Dureena's 'insights'.  Since their physical joining her latent psychic ability had increased.  The stone he had made for her allowed them to be linked in a unique way.  Though she could not read him, she could touch his mind with her thoughts.

Sometimes she could read the minds of others, at other times it was as though she had a built in early warning system; something that had been with her since a child.  Her sense of self-preservation had kept her out of harm's way for most of her adult life.

Having learned all he could from the computer he needed to return to the scene of her abduction.

As he strode back his mind settled into an icy calm.  Early on he had been taught to compartmentalise his emotions, something he rarely did.  Right now, he had to use every skill at his disposal; his grief and anger would have to wait.  Somehow, someone had penetrated his defences; someone who knew that Galen used this place as a base, had resided here for many, many years.  The location of his home was known to few, accessible by even less.  Reviewing the names he realised, with a damning certainty that The Circle had to be involved.  Thane knew; had visited uninvited many times and their animosity, aggravated by his acceptance of Dureena as pupil, had not lessened over the last ten years.  He could have passed that information on or be involved himself.  Though the reasoning behind it mystified him still.  Alwyn, of course, knew the secrets of his home, but he trusted Alwyn, as much as he trusted anyone.

The ship, though unknown to him, might be known to another of the order.  Whom could he trust within their paranoid membership?  Over the years he had alienated himself from most of the brothers, his need to be autonomous had engendered a lot of ill feeling.  And then Dureena had come into his life and she too had become a bone of contention amongst the Circle.  Gradually over the past decade he had distanced himself from the Technomage society, pursuing his own studies and training Dureena well away from their prying and interference.

His thoughts were quickly dispelled as he entered the clearing again.  Cat's lifeless body had already begun to attract the attention of insects and other scavengers within the valley.  His presence scared off most of them, the swipe of his hand saw the rest dispersed.  Until he had completed his search of the area he could not dispose of her body, for she constituted a clue to the disappearance of his pupil and lover.

The sun was overhead now, lighting the area with a soft glow totally at odds with the darkness within him.  He trod carefully over the area again, using the staff to pick up any trace of technology.  Scanning the scene he could only find evidence of Dureena's weapon in play.  Apart from the terrible wound on Cat's side there was no trace of any other weapons being used.  And there, over by the rocks, Dureena's blood had been spilled.  She was deadly accurate with knife or his weaponry and yet there was no other blood in the area.  Scuffed marks dug deep into the soft earth at the pools edge bore witness to a physical struggle.  Finally he could see how many raiders had been there, their footprints had pressed deep into the damp earth.  Five different sets of booted feet had left their mark, and one pair of small bare feet.  Gritting his teeth against the vision that rose unbidden in his mind he quickly continued his search.

Whoever they had been they had left little evidence.  He could not see how they had entered the area nor left it.  An almost insubstantial hint of molecular deconstruction was all that he could find.

He turned his attention back to the massive red and black feline that lay near to the waterfall's edge.  Bringing his staff up he concentrated his thoughts, channelling his enormous power into a fiery blast that wrapped around her body in a searing display of heat.  Moments later only the charred ground gave any hint of her passing.

Dusk was falling as he made his way slowly back to the house.  Though he felt an almost overwhelming need to speed to Dureena's rescue, his innate common sense held him back.  There was no point to a mad flight if he did not know the direction to take, and he must prepare for all eventualities.  The subtle scent of crushed grass and evening blooms did nothing to wipe away the smell of blood and destruction that seemed to cling to his person like a miasma of darkness.  Imaginary or not, he could almost taste the metallic edge of death.

Entering the house he shed his clothing quickly, putting every item into the cleaner before heading to the shower.  There he stood for almost half an hour, letting the hot water scorch his skin, trying to wash away the memories that haunted him.  Time and again he saw images of Dureena, sometimes when they had first met, half-tamed and angry at everything.  Or, the day they had made love by the waterfall as evening had descended on the valley.  Working beside him in the Lab, cursing when her experiments went wrong or sitting in the study at night, sharing books and music.  He leant his head against the wall and let the loss wash through him in a cathartic wave of sorrow.  He was still there as darkness fell.

Galen had lit no lights on entering the curtain of water and he felt now as though he were cut off, isolated from everything that could hurt him.  Numb to the pain of this reality.

Stepping out into the darkness he felt prepared to take on whoever had shattered his life.  For the next few hours he closeted himself in the Lab working quickly and efficiently on a batch of the deadly virus he had prepared many years ago.  Its effect on one of his order was almost instant, and fatal, as the Mages who had caused Isabelle's death had discovered.  If any of the Circle were involved in this heinous crime against Dureena they would pay with their lives.

***

Marek walked slowly down the silver corridor, he ached continuously now and his energy levels were decreasing every day.  If they did not find the secret soon then they all would die.

Ahead a door opened and the small woman they had brought to the ship two days before slid out of the opening looking quickly left and right before running down the corridor away from him.  Sighing gently he sent a message to the bridge that she was out yet again and would someone please find her and this time secure her properly.  He gazed at his hand pressed against the link and felt himself shiver.  The once soft blue of his skin had faded to a transparent haze that barely hid the weakening bone structure beneath.  She had not seen him! Their race was extremely photophobic and the whole ship moved in a permanent twilight of shadows, his pastel silver clothing would have blended into the wall's colouring whilst his normally vivid blue skin was now. . . The shivering grew worse; his whole body shook with tremors that would not stop.  Sliding down the wall he crumpled onto the floor as the last of his life ebbed away.  His last thought was of the woman and the secret she might hold, if only they could make her reveal what she knew.

***

As he worked Galen's mind turned over possibility after possibility.  His first thought, that the Circle was involved, still felt right to him but he could not close his mind to other avenues.  In the vastness of this Universe there were still cultures that had never impinged on his world or that of the Circle.  Could there be a space-travelling race that the Mages knew nothing about?  Unlikely; though not impossible.  His brothers had scoured the space lanes for millennia in their search for knowledge and understanding; there was little they did not know.

A glow from the glass sphere at his side indicated an incoming message from another Mage and as he picked it up he wondered if this were just a coincidence or was someone playing with him.

Alwyn's voice was abrupt and edgy, unlike the usually even-tempered Mage Galen had known most of his life.

"Ah, so you're back are you?  And about time too.  I want you to take a look at something for me."

Leaning down the older man pressed a key on the console in front of him and sent an image to Galen's receiver.  Hanging in the centre of the ball was the same vessel that had been caught on his own security net.  Galen's eyes hardened in suspicion as Alwyn's features replaced the image.

"I don't know why they have returned but it can't be good.  They passed by me about two weeks ago.  It is possible the ship is in trouble, it was moving very slowly, if it continues at that speed they will be near you any moment now.  Whatever you do, do not try to engage them.  I have notified the Circle but as usual they are burying their heads in the sand.  Not one of them can make a decision for himself.  Just because Thane is off somewhere they cannot fathom what to do about this problem!" He stopped his tirade as if he picked up on Galen's mystification.

"Don't tell me you don't know who they are?  What did Elric teach you?  I told him when he first took you from Earth that I should have been your teacher, but he wouldn't have it."

"Who are they, Alwyn?  This ship passed my planet two days since and. . ." his voice wavered briefly into silence before he could continue.  "Someone gained entry to the valley, to Dureena and to my computer.  Cat is dead, Dureena missing.  Alwyn, who are they?"

The ache of his implants was nothing to the pain that radiated through him every time he thought of Dureena's loss.  Some of that must have shown in his face for Alwyn held out a hand as though to offer support.

"My dear boy, I'm so sorry.  They are the Elysian.  Up until about two hundred years ago they inhabited a small star system out near the rim.  Two habitable planets, three moons and one failing sun.  They led an idyllic life until the sun started to collapse in upon itself.  Although the Elysians had made contingency plans for an evacuation a lot of the population would be lost.  The leaders decided to limit whom could be saved to those with skills that could be best utilised on another planet.  The militia, however, were not considered essential to a new beginning and when they found out what was going on there was the worst and bloodiest of civil wars I have ever heard of.  These people were fighting for the right to live and they used every means at their disposal.  As you can imagine, the militia won hands down, they took what ships were available and headed out into the Galaxy.  But there was a problem; part of what kept the Elysians young and long lived was the sun's unique radioactive qualities combined with the chemicals that were seeded in the stratosphere surrounding both planets.  When they left Elysia they lost that chemical enhancement and began to die out."

Continued

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