Kateri is preparing for starbust. Talyn's announcement greets me as I exit the transport.
"Then I order you to dissuade her!" I bark.
Soraya is clutching my arm as we make our way down the ramp into Talyn's docking bay. She squeezes harder for a moment, startled by my outburst, and asks, "Dissuade who?"
I can't. She still won't talk to me!
"That doesn't mean she isn't listening! Tell her-- Try to explain--" I sputter as no suggestion comes to mind.
Soraya tugs at my sleeve. "Captain Crais? Who are you talking to?"
"Talyn, of course." Irritated, I jerk my arm away from her.
She stumbles before regaining her balance, and looks at me as if I were pointing a pulse rifle at her, although I left the weapon on the transport. My irritation becomes anger. Have I not given the brat my word and kept it thus far?
Her engines are almost ready!
I feel Talyn's surge of panic and sense his need for me. I will not allow myself to fail him by letting Kateri slip away, carrying with her any information she may have. I must think! I start to pace. Through the corner of my eye, I see Soraya back away from me, retreating into the transport. How can I calm a frightened Leviathan when I cannot even keep the trust of a Sebaccean girl?
Crichton would have Soraya smiling and laughing by now. Dren! Why am I thinking of him at a time like this? Should I tell Talyn to make a nonsensical joke? Have him call Kateri by some ridiculous name? Perhaps he should tell a heartfelt story about being far from home, lost, in need of assistance--
"That's it!" I clap my hands in self-congratulation. "Talyn, tell her you're lost! Ask her if she's seen Moya! No, ask her if she's seen your mother!"
I sense Talyn's resistance, but in desperation, he complies. For a moment, both ships are silent.
I motion to Soraya to come out of the transport and grind my teeth in frustration when she shakes her head. I wonder if she saw where I stashed the pulse rifle? If she gets to it, I have no doubt she will use it. Like Talyn, I must find the courage to act against my nature.
Instead of threatening her, I smile, extending a hand. "Come. There is food and water below, as I promised."
She hesitates, teetering on one leg as if unsure whether to step forward or dart back.
She powered down her engines, Crais! Talyn is exuberant.
My mask of friendliness relaxes into a genuine grin of relief. Instead of replying to Talyn, I speak to Soraya. "Your Leviathan trusts us. She just decided not to starburst."
"You can't know that! You're imagining things." She shakes her head and looks at me with a mixture of fear and pity.
"No. Look closely." I turn my back to her and lift my hair, displaying the transponder lodged in the nape of my neck.
When I face her once more, her eyes have gone even wider. "What is that?"
"My link with Talyn." I ascend the ramp, take Soraya's hand, and lead her out of the transport.
As we make our way to the lower deck, I am aware of the two ships exchanging information at a rapid rate. I would be relieved to have Talyn's mind occupied for once, were it not for the fact that I still have an adolescent to deal with. Her hand feels cold in mine, and she is no longer holding on, but rather allowing me to drag her.
I stop in the middle of the passageway and turn toward Soraya. She's panting slightly from the effort of walking even this far. Her weakness is revolting, just like her sunken face with its dark-circled eyes and hollow cheeks. Before linking with Talyn, my thoughts of her would have ended there, but now I wonder if her father is searching for her, furious with himself and desperate to find where she has gone. Whoever her parents are, they have failed to protect her.
"Sit," I tell her. "I can bring you water and food."
She leans against the wall and slides down until she sits, slumped against it. I let her hand fall to her knee.
As I start toward the dining chamber, a thought occurs to me. What if the girl is exaggerating the severity of her condition so I will lower my guard? To prevent her from going far, I call out, "Talyn, seal the lower deck."
The door swings closed and I hear Soraya gasp. "You really are Talyn's pilot!"
I glance over my shoulder at her surprised face. "Perhaps now you will trust my word."
I fill a cup with water and tear open a package of food cubes, then stop. Why waste food on the girl when Kateri is already providing information?
"Talyn, what have you learned?"
He is annoyed to have his conversation interrupted, and there is a long pause before he replies. There are Peacekeepers nearby! Three ships, two of them fully armed.
"And the third?"
Kateri doesn't know.
"Most importantly, which direction were they traveling? We need to know so we can avoid them."
I'm not stupid, Crais! I asked that first. No one told Kateri anything. She remembers them firing on her mother, Xera, then boarding her. Xera started screaming. After a few arns, someone boarded Kateri. The Peacekeepers fired on Kateri next, and she used starburst to get away.
I pick of up the package of food cubes and sigh. "Thank you, Talyn. I will find out what I can from Soraya."
I hope she knows where the Peacekeepers are going. I didn't tell Kateri, but I'm afraid.
I repeat the promise I've made to Talyn, and to myself, too many times to count. "I will not allow you to fall into Peacekeeper hands."
I know. I'm not afraid for myself. I'm afraid they might have Kateri's mother. That's why I hope you find out where they are. If we don't find Xera, we'll have to go after them.
Ignoring that bit of foolishness, I return to where Soraya waits and hand her a few of the food cubes along with the cup. I nod acknowledgment when she thanks me, then sit down, my back to the opposite wall. My head begins to throb. For the first time, I realize the full extent of my failure in creating Talyn. He has the valor of a Peacekeeper soldier and none of the meek servility of a Leviathan. That much, I expected. What I cannot comprehend is why the frell he lacks the sense of self-preservation shared by both his mother and his creator.