See Part One for Disclaimers

"Children were becoming a rarity after the first century, and they realised that they may all die anyway if they could not find a way to replace the chemical construct of their home planet.  So, each time they found a planet they thought suitable they took it, by force, and began experimenting with the atmosphere until they killed that world too.  Along the way their experiments turned upon them.  By some freak accident their chemical experiments unleashed a deadly virus among the Elysian, one that rapidly became infectious among the population of the world they were on.  Those that survived believed themselves 'chosen' and continued the search with ever-greater zeal, carrying this disease with them like a plague.  Eventually what they were doing caught the attention of the Shamin worlds, the next system on the Elysian's list.  But the Shamin were stronger than the Elysian, and they destroyed nearly all the ships driving those that were left beyond the rim and into the vast divide.  They have not been seen since."

"Why haven't I heard about them before?"

"Well it's only barely in my living memory and two hundred years is a long time after all.  This conversation is making me feel positively old."

Galen tried to envision a scenario that would fit with the Elysian needing something from his home and could come up with nothing that would be of any help to them.  Though he had the power to set up and control weather they obviously did not need that from him or why had they not just taken his valley and adapted it to their needs.  Surely by now, they must have either adapted or died out.  Was someone else using that vessel?  Too many questions threatened to clutter his mind and he turned his attention back to Alwyn.

"Did they attempt to gain access to you or your systems?"

"No.  I returned a day after they had been here but nothing had been tampered with.  They would soon have known it if they had!"

"Then I doubt they have any bearing on Dureena's disappearance.  Why take an acolyte when they could have taken you if only they had waited a day?  Alwyn, do you trust Thane?"

Alwyn's face was serious as he gave due consideration to Galen's unvoiced accusation.  He knew of the antipathy between the two men that had festered for too many years.  But would Thane do something as reckless as this just to hurt Galen?

"I don't know, Galen.  He is head of our order, not that means much to me now, as you know, but I can't see him taking his dislike of you to this extreme.  Why would he do something so foolish?"

"I had informed him I was prepared to fit Dureena with her implants and that I wanted Elric's ship if it was still available."

"But she's not ready for that yet! Galen you would not be so foolish!"

Galen tensed under the criticism, feeling his anger rise at the accusation.

"No, she's not, but she soon will be and I did not want to wait until the last minute to make this request."  The coldness of his voice seemed to chill even Alwyn.

"I must find Thane, and if he has taken Dureena, if he has hurt her in any way, I will end his miserable existence once and for all."

He severed the link with a savage stab of his mind, cutting off Alwyn's anxious protestations and threw himself back into the chair.  Dureena's tear filled eyes haunted his vision again.  They had argued almost continuously for a week about those same implants.  He in constant denial, she persistent in her request, and then she had made it personal.  Throwing his professed love in his face, claiming that if he did love her he would not deny her this.  When would she ever be good enough for the great Galen! The constant aggravation had left him stone hearted when he had left on the Circle's mission.  She had stood at the top of the stairs staring down at him, tears held back with obvious effort as he had hurried away from her, hearing her call his name as he headed down to the Lab and on to his ship.

He would never forgive himself for that last act of unkindness.

The globe glowed again, brighter, more insistent -- Alwyn.  Galen sighed and opened the link once more.  Alwyn was a stubborn nuisance but they had been friends for many a year now and he understood the older man's concerns.  Elric had not been the only one to see his fall into misery and anger at Isabelle's loss.

"What are you going to do?" Alwyn asked without preamble.

"Find Thane, ask him politely what he has done with Dureena then I will reduce him to a pile of ashes!"

"And what if he doesn't have her, Galen?  What then?"

He contemplated the proposition for a moment, his eyes focussed far away.  "If she is not with Thane, if he did not take her then I will find the Elysian.  If I still don't find her. . ."  He could not contemplate that thought, for she must be found.

"The Circle don't know where he is, how will you find him?" Alwyn's curiosity was always to the fore.

Galen's smile held no humour.  "Last time he visited unannounced I planted a tracking device in his ship.  Know your enemy, Alwyn.  And in this case, I know exactly where he is."

"Then let me come with you.  Thane is very dangerous; you know that.  Maybe too much for you to handle alone."

He appreciated the older Mage's concern but he knew, without doubt, that Thane was no match for the engineered horror that reposed in his staff.

"Thank you, Alwyn," he said quietly.  "Thane and I must meet alone.  My fight, Alwyn."

Rotund features screwed into a scowl in response but Alwyn gave in with a sigh.  "If you need me. . ."

Galen nodded, ending the transmission.  His ship was primed and ready to go there was nothing to keep him now.  With a last look around the Lab he made quickly for the flyer.

Skimming into the night he was unaware of the large ship that was barely a light year away.

***

Shima pulled the cords tighter and tighter, almost cutting off the circulation from his prisoner's hands.  She had escaped twice now; she would not escape again.  His deep blue eyes scanned her unclothed figure, ugly, so ugly in his eyes.  The soft brown of her skin looked positively putrid to eyes used to gentle blues.  And the eyes that glared at him now, he shuddered at the thought of facing those amber orbs -- so alien to him, so wrong.  But, she might hold the secret of the Mages that could save his people, and he would do whatever it took to get that information from her.

"Now, let us start again."

She spat into his face, defiling his purity with her fluids.  Anger flared between them and his hand lashed out, striking her across the face, tearing the thin skin around her eye.

He leant forward and hissed into her ear, "You will tell me what you know, or you will regret you ever existed!"



In the control centre Galen's ship had set off the tracking beacon programmed to find any and all emissions that were exclusive to the Technomages.

"Quickly, get a beam. . ."  the urgent tones faded as the ship scooted past them.  Its speed too fast for the severely under-powered vessel.  "Did they spot us?"

"No, Sir, we are still cloaked."

"Can we track it?"

The reply was laced with defeat.  "I can track it, but we can't keep up with it.  And if it goes through a jump point we'll lose it totally."

"Just keep on it, keep on it.  If Shima doesn't have any luck with the prisoner we will have to go after that one.  And if that doesn't work, then the next and the next until we get what we need."

His words were greeted with silence and maybe a little hope.

***

The blip was getting steadily faster, brighter and now, nearly three weeks after he had set out on this journey he finally had Thane in his sights.  The leader of the Technomages had proved more elusive than he had thought, moving ever one step ahead.  Twice he had lost him in hyperspace when he drifted off beacon, cutting power.  Thane knew he was being followed.  Galen's anger and imagination had had plenty of time to join up and concoct a multitude of vengeful acts, ranging from reducing Thane to a pile of ash to slicing him up in small pieces before feeding them to him bit by bit.  He was tense with anticipation and the need for action.

He set his flyer down next to the identical sleek black machine he had been chasing for what seemed a lifetime.  His head swam briefly as he stood.  Little food and less sleep had left him weaker than he needed to be for this meeting.  Shaking away the fog he stepped up to the airlock, ready for the encounter awaiting him.

A chill wind cut through him as he set foot on the planet's desiccated surface.  He stood in a huge crater left over from a meteor fall and aggravated by the inclement climate.  Dust swirled around in mini funnels, skimmed the surface briefly then died only to resurface metres away to start their aimless dance once more.  The air was thin, noxious to his olfactory senses, leaving his head spinning again for a moment as he adjusted to the low levels of oxygen.

Galen had little time to take in the surroundings.  From his left shot a bolt of blue that he managed to deflect only by the quickness of his reactions and the anticipation of attack.  With his personal shield in place he strode toward where he had seen the flash of power emanate.  A dust devil rose in his path, distracting him for a moment, his shield wavered and another bolt seared toward his, this time from further to his right.  It surrounded him, tearing at the electrons that stood between his person and certain death.  For a moment he saw a shimmering in the force field and his breath froze.  But his purpose would allow nothing to stop him.  If his shield failed he would still go on, though he had to crawl to Thane on his hands and knees and throttle the information from him with his bare hands.

Turning to the new position he strode faster, his eyes now scanning the surrounding rocky ledges that dotted the perimeter of the crater, natural hiding places that Thane was making the best use of.  Another bolt flashed toward him, but this time he moved swiftly to the right and sent back a blast of his own.  Ahead, rocks exploded into dust and he spied his adversary's quickly retreating form fleeing from him behind the next rocky outcrop.  Sending his fire into that target he plunged forward, heedless of the fire being directed his way.  Within him burned the need for a release from the anger and hurt that had tortured him for the last few weeks.  A need that could only be assuaged by Thane releasing Dureena.  And by seeing his lifeless corpse at his feet.

His quarry stood suddenly, facing Galen's rapidly approaching form.  Galen stopped a few metres away and surveyed his enemy with stormy eyes.  Thane had grown thinner, his face almost skeletal in the uncertain light.  The black cloak did little to hide the way his clothing hung around him, as though they had been made for a much larger man.  And the eyes; Galen's own turbulent gaze fixed on the glittering eyes that stared at him with a hint of madness lurking in their depths.

"I know what you want, Galen.  And you can't have it.  I shall never give it up, never!" Thane's voice was edged with anger and something that just eluded Galen's understanding.

"Where is she, Thane?  Tell me now and maybe I'll let you live."  He sent a bolt towards Thane's feet, gouging out a chunk of dirt sending it flying into the air.  The Mage never moved, as though he was oblivious to the danger Galen represented.

He watched as blue tendrils surrounded the Mage's hands and gathered his own power, prepared to retaliate.  But the blast never occurred, Thane was looking at his fingers almost as if he had no idea what was happening to him, turning them over as he observed the dance of light against his skin, eyes confused.

"Thane!" Galen's voice recalled the Mage to the present and intelligence re-emerged in the dancing eyes.

"No!" Incandescent light bounced off Galen's shield, temporarily blinding him.  When vision returned Thane was running as fast as his frail condition would allow back towards his flyer.  Galen set off in pursuit his mind turning over the unexpected events.

Suddenly his quarry ground to a halt as a small bright object flew from his hand into the dust.  He scrabbled desperately in the dirt until he found the object half hidden beside his flyer.  Turning, he clutched it to him, cradling its hidden form close to his chest pointing his staff at Galen, desperation writ large on his skeletal features.

"You can't have it, Galen.  No one can take it from me.  It's taken me years to find this, years of putting up with the Circle's petty problems, dealing with the likes of you and Alwyn.  Everything and everyone was conspiring to take me away from my search.  But I have it now.  I have it now. . ."  he crooned.  The staff drooped toward the ground as Thane's attention returned to the object that he clutched so tightly murmuring to it in a soft whisper.

Galen's anger was gradually slipping away from him, reluctantly replaced by a sense of pity at the sad state the Mage had sunk to.  This man, this wreck, had not taken his Dureena.  Thane had been following some desperate addiction, one that had dragged him to this depth of madness.  And as that realisation struck Galen felt what little strength he had begin to drain from him.  He had wasted so much time!

Thane's voice intruded on his thoughts.  He had forgotten his fear and was now as anxious as a child to share his wondrous find.

"Look, Galen! Isn't it beautiful?  Phirii's Eye, lost for millennia and now it's mine."  He held out the stone for Galen to see.

It was of the deepest blue he had ever seen, its depths drew you in and he quickly turned his gaze from its hypnotic effects.  No wonder Thane had descended into this state, the Eye was dangerous to any intelligent creature.  The greater the intelligence, the more damage it could do.  It passed itself from owner to owner, promising wealth and power; a need that was to be found in a Mage as in any man, seductive and deadly.  During the Shadow war it had been lost, or so it had been reported.  No one in his order had tried to find it, for it had caused more trouble than virtually any other object they knew.  A casualty of war, and not one to be mourned.  Galen had had no idea Thane had become obsessed with the Eye, he doubted any of the order knew or he would have been stopped.  A Mage who was not in control was a danger to himself, as well as to others.

"May I see it?" Galen asked quietly, lowering his own staff and his shield.  "You don't have to let me touch it, just put it down where I can see its glory."

He could see the hesitation in Thane as his need to show off his find warred with his distrust of the man who had been his undeclared enemy for decades.  Pride won out, and he laid the huge stone back on the dirt a few paces from him, never taking his eyes from its gleaming form.

Had he been in his right senses Thane would not have given Galen any opportunity to thwart him.  As it was, the fire that surrounded and exploded the stone might just as well have taken him too.  Falling to his knees in the dust he picked up shards of the stone, trying desperately to reform the object of his long obsession.

Galen kept a wary eye on him, waiting for the explosion of wrath that never came.  Thane rocked back and forth, the shards cutting deeply into his hands spilling tiny droplets of blood into the dust.  Energy began to form around him; tingling frissons of electrical charges made the air crackle with power.  Galen took a quick step back, calling to Thane, trying to divert his purpose but vacant eyes now stared madly at him from under the Mage's dark hood.  Blue surrounded the deranged Technomage, turning in upon him in an awesome display of power.  Galen ran for the cover of his ship, closing the hatch barely in time as Thane exploded in a pyrotechnic display of enormous proportions.

Later, as he stood beside the dead Mage's flyer waiting for one of the Circle to claim it and the now cold staff, he gave thought to his next move.  He had pinned all his hopes on Thane being the instigator of Dureena's abduction.  He was now only left with the Elysian and he had no idea where to start.  He would need help and that would not be forthcoming from the Circle, not after this episode.  There was only one person he could ask, one person who had the contacts he needed and the manpower required.

***

"Hello, Matthew."

The slight figure entering the room stopped suddenly.  His slim frame silhouetted in the doorway as he stepped from the brilliantly lit corridor into the comparative gloom of the office.

"You know Galen, in all the years I've known you that still annoys the hell out of me."  Gideon crossed to the desk, arranged himself comfortably in the large chair and called for lights.  The sudden glare made both men wince briefly as the overhead lighting burst into full illumination.

"I would hate to disappoint you, Matthew."

Galen moved slowly into the centre of the office and turned his keen gaze on the former captain of the Excalibur.  Touches of grey highlighted the temples, adding a certain distinction to the otherwise unremarkable face.  Cautious eyes regarded him with a hint of suspicion, justly deserved.

The staff tingled briefly against his palm, warning of a new electrical activity.  Probably surveillance equipment activated by their voices.  He swiftly turned, scanning the walls and ceiling, holding up his hand as Gideon was about to question his actions.  The bookshelf took his attention, something there emitted a faint signal that his sensors picked up and quickly interpreted.  Books lined the lowest shelf, above them mementoes from Gideon's travels.  A piece of rock from the 'Well of Forever' encrusted with tiny slivers of gemstone, artefacts from various worlds they had visited on their long and arduous journey to find the cure for the Drakh plague.  And a tiny piece of blackened metal, all that had been left of the attacking aliens Galen had designated 'Shelob's Children'.

"Why do you keep this?" Galen's attention was briefly turned from his task.  Holding up the twisted piece, he turned in time to catch Gideon's instinctive flash of distaste.

"As a reminder to never let my guard down.  What occurred on the Excalibur could have been prevented; I won't let that happen again."

Galen's raised hand cautioned him to hold back the questions that hovered so close to utterance.  And he saw the frustration in the deep brown eyes blaze as Gideon's lips thinned in annoyance.

His hand trailed along the book spines, feeling for imbalances, searching for the tiny electrical impulses that would pinpoint the listening devices.  Pulling out a copy of Gerar Blackstone's 'Universal harmony -- a myth?' he stripped the cover and pulled from the internal bindings a tiny metallic object.  Holding it tightly for a moment he replaced it and carried on with his search.  Further investigation revealed one other, this time in Gideon's desk at the back of the top drawer.  It appeared there were no viewers in operation.  Frustration had turned to anger now, and Gideon was about ready to explode by the time Galen had dealt with the second device.

As he worked Galen wondered at his own calm.  Years of keeping everything inside, hidden from even his most trusted friends, had taken over his actions.  His initial white hot anger and pain at Dureena's loss had cooled to something infinitely more deadly, leaving him walking through his existence almost on autopilot until his enemy came within reach.  He had been down this road before, and his patience was endless, even set against the almost overwhelming fears that continued to threaten his control.

"I see they still don't trust you very much, Matthew.  Sad how the world only remembers past indiscretions and not the triumphs that went before!"

"Still a cynic I see, Galen."

"I have seen nothing to change my mind.  There are untold wonders in the Universe, Matthew, but man still can't see past his own actions.  What have you done this time?"

Gideon shrugged, then grinned.  "A little misunderstanding with the Centauri that's all.  I needed something from one of their outposts and it caused a little upset in certain circles."

The tap of heels on hard flooring echoed down the corridor outside Gideon's office.  Exchanging comprehensive glances Gideon settled behind his desk putting his feet on its expansive top and pulled a pile of data strips towards him as Galen slipped into the adjoining facilities.

"Something I can do for you?" Gideon addressed the stocky young man now standing just inside his open door.  Brilliant blue eyes and a hard mouth, topped by the shortest haircut he had seen in a while, screamed security, and yet the man was dressed in a well cut suit more suitable to the pen pushers who were located on the floor beneath.

"Sorry, sir.  Wrong room."

"Just shut the door on your way out sonny.  You're the second unwelcome visitor I've had today."

Bright blue hardened to sapphire as the insult hit home but realising he could not reveal his reasons for intrusion without also revealing his complicity, his exit was swift.

"Unwelcome, Matthew?"

"We've known each other a very long time, Galen.  I owe you, we all do, but whenever you turn up the shit hits the fan."

"What a quaint phrase, your vocabulary is not improving working in this refuge for the, shall we say, less than five star members of Earthforce."

Gideon ignored the slur on his character and took a long hard look at his erstwhile companion.  Galen stood quietly, his emotions prey to a sense of déjà vu.  Years before the two of them had met when Gideon was a young officer, the only survivor of a Shadow attack, Galen had rescued him against advice and against the odds.  He had been studied then as now, but Gideon would have no recollection of that time, and his acuity would be greater now than then.

"What's up?  What do you need?"

An icy calm had settled on him, separating him from his emotions.  To get through the telling of his story he needed all the composure he could muster for he still had waking dreams that assaulted him when his resistance weakened.  Times when he would imagine in horrifying detail the abduction of Dureena and Cat's noble sacrifice.  Some of his unbidden thoughts must have shown, for Gideon slid his feet to the ground and leant forward intently.

"What's happened, Galen?"

"Just over three weeks ago I returned to my home to find Dureena missing."  He fought down the anger that had returned time and again to tempt him into rash decisions.  "She did not go willing, Matthew.  Her blood stains my home.  Cat defended her as best she could; she is dead now.  I don't know how they got through my defences, I don't know how they got away again and I can't find a trace of them anywhere in my corner of the Galaxy.  The search is too big for me alone.  Each day I don't find them. . ."

"What can I do to help?"

"I think we should take this conversation elsewhere, don't you?  Your young friend will find some excuse or other to re-visit, sooner rather than later I suspect.  Will you join me, Matthew?"

Gideon stood slowly, pulling thoughtfully at his tunic, the new uniform fit where it touched and he hated it.  "Are we about to do something I am likely to regret?"

The hint of a smile lit Galen's solemn face.  "I don't think so, but it's a possibility."

"Let's go then."

As they strode down the corridor Gideon could not help but ask how they were to get out of the building unobserved.

"The same way I got in."  Galen caught his friend's sceptical gaze.  "Have a little faith, Matthew."

Gideon puffed out his cheeks and sighed.  "I hate it when you do that," he muttered.

Continued

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