THE ARRIVAL

Something shattered the calm, but there was no sound.

Awareness was the intruder, Dina’s relaxation the victim, and she didn’t like it one little bit. She called tired limbs and senses to alert, and her now open eyes widened further when she saw the cause of the disruption. The man staring at her was hardly someone Agent Mondina Marlijn expected to see in the spacedock’s quarantine module high in geostationary orbit over Exodus.

He was dressed in neither the dark blue uniform of dock personnel nor the pale green tunics of the medical staff, but rather had the appearance of an escapee from the brig. Long, inky hair fell from either side of a sharp widow’s peak, like the wings of a crow, and black stubble shadowed skin already darkened by the sun. A brown leather vest half covered a bare chest, and soot-colored leggings that hugged the skin vanished into high, well-worn leather boots. Brown bracers on his forearms trailed long suede fringes that snaked past his wrists to tease his fingertips. The lean-muscled body thus revealed lacked only a weapon in hand to complete the outlaw image.

Dina rose slowly to her feet, curiosity and caution banishing the wake of exhaustion left by the final two frenetic days of spaceflight.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she challenged.

The man’s only answer was a cocked smile and a deep bow from the waist which climaxed with a flourish of upturned arms, sending the bracer fringes undulating in a silent dance.

Dina was about to call for Jon, her partner, to join her from the examination room next door, when the stranger winked an amber eye at her and was gone.

She stepped forward and cast her gaze around the small waiting room. There were few places to hide behind save several chairs, a table, and a narrow bed. She tried the door leading from the quarantine module to the curving corridor accessing other modules strung on the circular dock, but the door, as expected, was locked. The only other door was to the room where Jon was being scanned for infectious microbes.

Dina keyed the door and poked her head into the room, sweeping her gaze from wall to wall. Both Jon and the quarantine assistant raised their heads and looked at her. There was no one else in the room.

Dina pasted on a smile. "Excuse me . . . much longer?"

"As I said before, Agent Marlijn, a couple hours. You’ll just have to be patient," replied the assistant.

Her smile jerked upward. "Thank you."

She closed the door and paced the waiting room. It had not been a dream. Tired as she was, she’d been awake. Nor had she imagined the man. He’d been too real. A thought came to her. Spacefever. Sleeplessness, disturbing dreams when sleep did come, dizziness, and hallucinations were all symptoms of the "fever" that plagued men and women on spaceflights not made in hypersleep.

She drew in a deep breath. She should report the hallucination to Jon and the quarantine master. It was required by Rules and Regulations. But if she did make the report, it would mean more tests. A longer quarantine. Planetfall would be delayed. The start of the investigation would be delayed. She released the long breath slowly. No one had seen the image of the man but her. The investigation was too important to her. There could be no delays. There would be no report.

* * * *

Rayn DeStar felt his consciousness spiraling downward at a speed to rival that of the fleetest star cruiser. Elation, wonder and anticipation swirled around him in a vortex of pure emotion. Uncontrolled, the feelings sang to him like the keening of a fierce wind, and Rayn rode the storm with abandon until his ethereal self reached his physical body, slowed, and reentered it.

Whole again in body and mind, he took a deep breath and raised his arms, not only to stretch cramped muscles, but to celebrate. The experience of an out-of-body projection always gave Rayn a sense of freedom that was impossible to achieve encased in his physical body, but this projection had been especially sweet.

A telepath! And a female, at that! After more than five years of projecting his etheric self to the spacedock to look over new arrivals, his travels had finally paid off. He had all but given up on another dens coming to this world. He had waited patiently for the bans to be lifted that forbid his people to travel to Synergy Worlds, but knew in his heart that the bans would most likely outlive him. There were many more telepaths in the galaxy than just the dens, though, and Rayn had held out hope that someday one would come to this godsforsaken sand heap.

Someday was here! This barren world had finally sent him a challenge. Oh, it was true that just surviving in the desert day after day was a formidable task, but he had mastered survival years ago. No, this challenge was worthwhile, and one that made his blood run hot.

His race had been bred to control, born to dominate, and even though he had shunned his home world of B’harata, he couldn’t change the blood that gave him life. Yes, he had sorely missed the sweet satisfaction that surrender to his power gave him.

Who was she? Whoever she was, she would provide gratification. She had the ability. She was receptive to the energy of thought in a way that no other visitor to Exodus had been for many years. Once on the spacedock, his ethereal body had felt it immediately. Her powers were undeveloped and undisciplined, but the gateway to her mind was there for him to enter whenever he desired.

* * * *

Mondina Marlijn had arrived, in every sense of the word. Her booted feet—her very tired booted feet—were finally on Exodus as her ship, Justitia, had berthed at the spacedock above the city of Aeternus the evening before last. Her head, though, in spite of her exhaustion, was in the heavens, where it had been since she’d gotten the word she would be assigned to field duty with Karjon Rzije, Specialist extraordinare. It was a promotion, a chance to travel to places she had only dreamed of, and best of all, she was with Jon.

It had been al-merkwia, past the twilight, when Dina and Jon’s shuttle landed at the city’s port, but there was no lack of light. After the low light of the ship’s interior, Dina found herself squinting at the floodlights that adorned the outside of the port facility. The two moons of Exodus—Foraii and Egnis—hung low in the sky, adding their radiance to the night.

It had been a relatively short trip from her home world of Glacia, too short for hypersleep, and Dina had been busy every waking moment. But even so sleep had been elusive. And now, as much as Dina tried to forget the stranger in the "hallucination," she hadn’t been able to. She was hoping that with the end of the flight and her feet planted firmly on the ground she would be visited by no more disturbing images.

All the pride and nerves of an actress stepping on stage for the first time fizzed through her body in an adrenaline rush when Dina’s heels rang against the stone-paved outer entrance to the port facility, and the cool night air snapped around her like applause. The fact that she’d been without sleep for more than two standard days was lost in the rush that elevated her. She beamed in the spotlight of her enthusiasm until a young liaison officer strutted toward them. Colorful flags, rippling languidly in the glow cast by carefully hidden ground lamps, bordered each side of the walkway that stretched before her and framed the approaching officer as if he were a work of art.

He rivaled the flagpoles in height, color, and pomp. His smooth, tanned face was as bright and shiny as his polished sable boots, and his lustrous, dark hair reflected their rich color. He sported a tan military cap, its glossy visor pulled low over his eyes, loose tan trousers and a matching shirt that shone almost silver in the night light. A burgundy sash slashed his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip, where a similar circle of color banded his trim waist. The ends of the sash were fringed and danced from his left hip. Gold insignia flashed from his cap, his shoulder sash, and the front of his shirt. A long tan coat, paled to pearl by the moonlight, draped perfectly from his wide shoulders, the buttoned-back lining of red darkened to the color of claret. The man’s booted legs were impossibly long, and his white teeth gleamed in the bright light of the city night.

"Good evening, sir, ma’am. Corporal Kim Khilioi of the Aeternan Enforcement Agency. Assigned to be at your disposal for the length of your visit."

"Evening, Corporal. Karjon Rzije, Specialist First Class of the Interplanetary Investigation Bureau, and my partner, Mondina Marlijn, Specialist Second Class. We appreciate the efficient docking and unloading protocol. If you could show us to our quarters, we’d like to get some sleep before meeting with the administrator tomorrow. It’s been a long trip."

"Understood, sir. However, I must ask you to come with me to the Medical Center. Minister Chandhel and the Commander are waiting there for you."

"Corporal, can’t a meeting wait ‘til tomorrow? It’s been a very tiring trip."

"Apologies, sir, but no. There’s been another incident."

Jon’s thick eyebrows drew together, almost touching. "Another homicide?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let’s go."

Once, Dina would have sighed, but not now. It was always this way. What was needed for the job always took precedence over personal considerations. Little things like exhaustion and hunger simply didn’t matter. Besides, she was on Exodus, and she was with Jon.

Her fatigue forgotten, Dina braced herself for the unpleasant task ahead of her as she matched the men’s strides to the all-terrain hugger. Watching Jon’s broad shoulders and the slight swagger he had to his walk, she smiled.

Her gaze slid to the Aeternan officer, and something familiar about his expression shadowed her enthusiasm. It was a look she had seen countless times—a smile as bright and cold as artificial light, and eyes as unreadable as dark ink spilled on blank paper.

Except for the brief "ma’am," he hadn’t acknowledged her at all.

Dina reached her mind out, feather light, and touched Khilioi’s, and the smile that had risen at the joy of her arrival deflated quickly as she felt the unmistakable disdain. Whether it was because she was a female or simply IIB, Dina wasn’t sure, but it was nothing new for her. That never made it easier to bear, though, and Dina’s head suddenly felt too heavy for her neck, her boots too heavy for her feet.

Unbidden, a memory from four years before, as if newly experienced, surged to the front of her mind. It had been just three weeks before the end of academy training, and she recalled how high her confidence had been. The most grueling training was behind her, graduation was clearly in sight, and she had thought to be accepted by her classmates. She had especially looked forward to that day of high-risk training scenarios, not only as a welcome change from the classroom lecture, but to reinforce her feeling that she was as capable as, if not more so than, anyone else in the class.

But then she remembered how those positive feelings had drained away as she stood and waited for another recruit to choose her as a partner for the exercise. It seemed like an hour, but it had taken only seconds for the males in her squad to partner up with each other, laughing in anticipation and slapping each other on the back. She remembered turning, at last, to Roanna, the only other female in her squad, who was also standing alone, and seeing her own humiliation mirrored in the other girl’s eyes. She remembered shrugging and smiling, as if it made no difference—male with male, female with female—but she had cried herself to sleep that night, asking the gods for the hundredth time why she was different.

Dear Jon. Even though he was her superior, he treated her like an equal. For years females had held the same positions as males did within the Bureau, but there was still, and probably always would be, a trace of prejudice toward female members. Overt prejudicial comments and actions were, of course, prohibited by Rules and Regulations. That didn’t stop many from making their feelings clear in subtle ways. She normally didn’t dwell on such matters, but tonight her tired mind had no power to keep the memories at bay. Not with Khilioi beside her, turned only toward Jon. Making small talk only to Jon.

It certainly didn’t take any telepathic power to sense the contempt of such men, but Dina was especially aware of their attitudes, since her telepathic abilities had rated the highest in the Academy for five years running. She never bragged about her ability, in fact, made it a rule of hers never to mention it to other bureau members. In this way her telepathic power had become one of her strongest assets. Jon, of course, was well aware of her ability. It was one of the reasons she had been chosen for this assignment.

As the hugger jounced forward on its wide tires, the fairy city before her spun its enchantment and lifted Dina’s mind from its somber musings. She was nearly blinded as a myriad of mirrors flashed their faces her way, as though the prospect of new adoring admirers was not to be ignored. Crystal pyramids, glass bubbles and mirrored cubes, all lit from both within and without, vied for her attention. The effulgence enveloped her, bound her, and she heard not a word of what the corporal said.

At last the hugger rolled to a stop before a sparkling bronze cubic structure of mirrored glass and gleaming metal. She reluctantly refocused her attention on Khilioi’s narration, and with a final pulsing glimmer, the luminous energy of the city released her. Dina heard him say that this was the Aeternan Medical Center and was adjacent to the Visitor Center, where she and Jon would be housed for the length of their visit on Exodus.

Once inside, Khilioi, the metal taps on his boots echoing a drumbeat off the walls, escorted her and Jon into a large white office where two men and a woman waited. The first man was older, of medium height, with an abundance of silver hair which he wore partially tied back behind his head. The hair at the nape of his neck was worn loose and hung below his shoulders. He wore a loose white shirt and trousers. A gold sash around his waist was the sole indicator of his stature as colony administrator. His brown, weathered face reminded Dina of a rose petal, dried and faded, yet still retaining a trace of its original robust color. His eyes, though, were anything but faded. Of a shade just darker than a sea at dawn, they radiated the strength that had once been present in every aspect of his physical being.

The woman, middle-aged, had honey-blond hair styled in a simple but impeccable coif, and rich hazel eyes that showed intelligence. But her expression was stern, and her mouth was the only straight line in a face of gentle curves.

The second man, younger and sporting short, dark hair, was dressed in a similar manner to the corporal, except that an embellished silver sash, instead of burgundy, adorned his chest and waist. No warmth or compassion was apparent in his face. He looked more like a carefully drawn portrait, studied and precise. The mouth wore not even a sham of a smile, and his eyes had a disturbing quality to them. Glass cold, they were as colorless as his sash.

The older man greeted Jon and Dina. "I am Minister Myrr Chandhel. Welcome to Exodus, and thank you for responding to my request so promptly. This is Commander ‘Kaz’ Katzfiel of the Aeternan Enforcement Agency, and Dr. Jalena Lumazi, our chief biotech engineer. I regret bringing you here so soon after your arrival, but there’s just been another . . . incident . . . and we thought it best you be brought up to speed immediately. Come. Doctor, if you would."

Dr. Lumazi led them to another room. Upon entering, Dina felt a chill slither snakelike down her body from the base of her neck to her toes. In the dull-white room, the only thing that relieved the tallow walls, metal equipment and lights that hung from the ceiling like so many giant silver bulbous-eyed insects, ironically, was the body of their latest victim.

The corpse, enclosed in a clear case, reclined in the middle of the room, a grotesque trophy under glass. Dina studied the man’s face. It was impossible to tell if he had once been handsome or not. Death in his case had not only taken his vitality, but had destroyed all semblance of the person.

The eyes were mercifully closed, but the features were contorted in pain and something else, as if in the moment before his death, he had seen horror beyond words. The mouth was open, and Dina could almost hear the scream of agony that surely must have echoed through the mine’s tunnels. The skull was misshapen, as if squeezed in a vice. She had seen corpses before, but never one like this. She felt the bile rising in her throat, but she fought it down and averted her eyes from the body to regain her composure.

The doctor spoke matter-of-factly. "His name is Gillique Samek, a miner at Dheru Kel. He was found near the mines three days ago. Blunt trauma to each side of the temporal area of his head resulted in skull fracture and subdural hematoma. He died almost instantly. We’re not sure what caused the massive head trauma. No weapons, no evidence, no witnesses have been found. The other miners died in a similar manner."

Jon and Dina kept their questions to a minimum, and thankfully the briefing was short. She was glad to leave the white room of death and even happier to leave Commander Katzfiel’s presence. His pale eyes unnerved her. When the black pupils shifted in his restless eyes, she thought of tiny black bugs skittering across the chalk-white walls.

When the meeting was over, Khilioi led Jon and Dina across the road to the Visitor Center. The outside air was cool and ice bright after the closed antiseptic air of the Medical Center. This quickly deepened to a dry chill, however, and the change in temperature, coupled with her exhaustion and the memory of the dead miner, threatened again to send her stomach into revolt.

Upon entering the building, Dina felt relief as the warmth of the heated air washed over her, but still she fought to keep from getting sick. Building security heartened her, though, and both she and Jon patiently endured the thorough scans and procedures. Upon completion, both Jon and Dina received key discs from the corporal.

The corporal explained their use. "Long as you’re here, you can come and go into any secured building with a sec level of three or lower using the key discs. They also allow you access to the desert way stations. This building is sec level three, but your rooms, as well as the storage bay to the rear, are sec level four, so you’ll need retina scans as well to get into those areas. Know I don’t have to remind you to be careful with these keys."

Jon glanced sideways at Dina, and she gave him an answering look. For all his deference, Dina suspected that the corporal resented the Bureau’s interference in local affairs and doubted their ability to solve problems they had no firsthand experience with. As the security door whooshed open, Dina gave Khilioi a smile dazzling enough to rival his own.

Krek, she thought, as she followed him down the corridor. It was an old Glacian word for the spawn of a lower life form.

Their rooms were on the second floor, side by side. Dina entered her suite and, unable to control her nausea any longer, bolted for the bathroom and retched into the sink. At another time she would have been pleased to find a small but comfortable bedroom with a kitchenette, a dressing room, a bathroom, and an inside door connecting the two suites, but for now she was thankful only for privacy and that the day was finally over. Almost. As she leaned over the sink, afraid to move, she heard a soft knock at the connecting door.

"Just a moment," she called. She quickly rinsed her face and took a small sip of water. She opened her door and, in spite of her exhaustion, felt the familiar jolt of pleasure being face to face with Jon always brought.

Strands of his shoulder-length hair, normally neatly kept, strayed over his green eyes. He was leaning against the doorjamb, and Dina could detect fine lines around his eyes and mouth that weren’t normally there. She realized, with a start, that he was tired, too. Oddly, his appearance didn’t lessen the attraction she felt for him, but served to remind her that he was as human and vulnerable as she was.

"Some arrival, huh?" Jon said. "There should be time to unpack tomorrow. Right now, just get some sleep. I’ll call you at seventh hour mark zero."

Dina gave him a small smile, nodded, and closed the door. Much as she longed for sleep, there were some things she had no choice but to do before retiring. She logged on to the room’s computer, identified herself, was voice-printed, and assigned her verbal command access code. As always, she used pri as her computer code.

Pri was the endearment her father had used to address her and her mother when Dina was young. He was a wise man and a loving, supportive father, and using his pet name for her as her VCAC always made Dina feel close to him, even when she was far from her home world.

Next she gave verbal commands to program room air and water temperature, wake up time, light levels, and breakfast selection. She laid out an outfit for the upcoming meeting, and when she finally dropped onto the bed, she thought, a little sadly, that she was too tired to even dream about Jon. But she dreamed anyway.

She was lost in the Sea of Glass, floating on an air current high above the sand, buoyed by the heat, mesmerized by the light that shot arrows at her from all directions. She heard faraway laughter, as if the sun, the mighty golden ruler of the sky, were sitting back, safe in his heavenly lair, content to let his desert warriors do his cruel bidding.

With a burst of energy, she broke loose and fell, spiraling slowly to the earth. The sinuous curves of the dunes, like ivory arms, beckoned her, and she settled, like a child at its mother’s bosom, between embracing barchans of glittering sand. Shielding her eyes, she ventured a bold glance at the sun, only to have the light blocked by an object which dropped from the sky and wafted languidly down to her, riding the shimmering waves of heat until it came into focus.

Silhouetted by the sun, the huge eagle floated just above her, bolstered by the heat rollers, then descended to the dune sea’s surface, its powerful wings drawing up against its body. Dina watched as the eagle transformed into a man, a man whose face she couldn’t see. A golden mask covered his face. Bronze silk trousers, his only other apparel, billowed around his legs like the red fire of a dying sun. The lone figure seemed to outshine the day star, the sand, and the mirages that melted and reformed in the periphery of her vision.

He called to her, and she answered with a challenge, nevertheless drawn to him. She tried to take a step forward, but the sea held her tightly, and in its grip, a ribbon of fear wrapped itself around her as well.

The man removed his mask and circled her so that the light illuminated his features. The hot breeze lifted mahogany hair away from his face, revealing piercing golden eyes. She called out to him again and tried to move, but the sea sucked at her feet. She heard his laughter once more, rich and ringing, and he glided toward her with the ease of a snake over sand, until he stood before her.

A scythe of shiny hair arced over one amber eye, while other strands caught in the sheen of sweat at his temple and lay trapped against his skin.

Desire and fear clashed within her. Beasts fighting for domination, they butted and twisted until they became one, feeding off each other. Her desire heightened her fear, and her fear sharpened her desire until she could feel hot blood racing through every limb.

He raised both hands to brush the hair away from her face and run the pads of his fingertips down her cheek to her chin. He held her head gently, but in such a way that she could look nowhere except at his face. A line of sweat zigzagged past one eye and crept down his cheek, and she had an overwhelming longing to reach out and touch it.

She slipped an arm up between them and touched his hot skin, rubbing a fingertip across the trail of moisture. His lips parted, full and sensuous, and his face slackened with his need. Her fingers skated upward, and as her hand rose, so did her gaze, until she stared straight into eyes that burned so hot she thought she would burst into flames. Instead, she shivered in the heat, caught by a power in his gaze she didn’t understand. She tipped her head back, still held by his hands, and his hungry mouth fed at hers, sapping her will until her lips parted for him. She clung to him, one hand clutching a fistful of his long hair, the other running over the muscles of his back.

His mouth released hers at last, leaving her gasping for breath. No man had ever made her feel like this, chilled and enflamed; consumed, yet whole; afraid, but fearless. When he removed her tunic, she didn’t protest. Nor did she try to stop him when she felt his hands, cool against the warmth of her breasts. Her body tightened at his touch, her back arching, her nipples hardening when his hands cupped her.

She closed her eyes, and he touched her in a way she had never before been touched. Then she felt his will, more insistent than his lips or hands had been, and suddenly her fear untangled itself from her desire and rose to warn her. What he wanted was too much. She would not submit in that way.

"Mondina . . ." She vaguely heard her name from somewhere high above.

He commanded her and compelled her, but she pushed away from him, screaming at him with words that blazed in the heat, were consumed to ash and lost on the wind.

* * * *

Rayn’s ears rang with her outcries as he withdrew from her mind. He laughed long and easily, knowing Dina would no longer be able to hear him. The test had been an unqualified success.

His mind had injected images into hers that she would interpret as nothing more than a dream, and he was surprised and pleased to find not only such clear reception on her part, but strength of will. He had the power to overcome such will, of course, but she had enough power of her own to make a grand game of it.

Controlling her mind would be a challenge. Her body was another matter entirely. If the dream was any indication of what her physical response to him would be, she was already his.