Sliding Into Antar
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Showdown At The Granolith
Chapter 18
XVIII
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"Hello, Vilandra!"
The voice behind Isabel was smooth and silky, but it sent chills and a bone-felt shudder through her body. She spun around, knowing, somewhere in the deepest recesses of her mind, what she would find.
"Kivar!"
Isabel stared into the eyes of her worst fears come true, then she noticed Tess standing nearby, a smile on her face. It didn't take much effort to add up the facts and come to a pretty certain conclusion…
"You brought Kivar here? My God, Tess! Is there anything you aren't capable of? I trusted you! We all trusted you! You betrayed us… You betrayed Alex!"
"Don't be so melodramatic, Isabel. That's life. Deal with it. Sometimes it sucks. I try to make sure that the sucky parts fall on someone other than me, that's all. You were naïve."
Isabel nodded, her heart aching with the pain of betrayal. It hurt, even if it was Tess who had done it. Tess! Of all the people she might have trusted! Tess! If Isabel had had a gun in her hands at that moment, she wasn't sure whose brains she would blow out with it… the little traitor's or her own… for being so useless and easily deceived.
"Ah! The Granolith!" Kivar said, spotting the machine, which still stood nearby in the grass. "The universe at my fingertips!"
Not far away, four of Kivar's guards held Zory and Tryla, who had already ceased to struggle, realizing that their end was now assured and imminent.
"You never intended to help Alex at all, did you, Tess," Isabel said sadly.
Tess seemed to smirk. "Shows what you know, Isabel. Kivar already sent a ship to get the best regeneration specialist Antar had. He's on a swamp planet called Da-wy'a, not very far from Antar. He'll be here by evening."
Isabel felt oddly relieved hearing this, though she had no reason to trust anything that Tess said anymore. Still, the idea of having Alex back gave her warm fuzzies inside. It was odd… totally incongruent with the other feelings she was experiencing at the moment… like a cute puppy that she just wanted to pick up and hug but couldn't get close to, because it was surrounded by crocodiles. But there it was, wagging its tail and waiting impatiently to smother her with puppy kisses.
For a moment, the briefest of moments, Isabel let the crocodiles go, and the puppy leapt into her arms…
Alex picked Isabel up, kissing her passionately, and spun her around and around.
"Alex! Oh, God, Alex!"
"I'm here, Iz. I'll save you. I'll never let them hurt you. I love you…"
"Vilandra?"
The vision of Alex wavered, then disappeared, as the silky voice brought Isabel back.
For a moment, the briefest of moments, Isabel seriously considered killing Kivar where he stood. It wasn't inconceivable. At the very least, she was quite sure that she could cause him some major pain before being killed herself, either by him or by his guards. But where would that leave Alex? It wouldn't help him. He would only be left alone on an alien planet with the little whore. That was inconceivable. Isabel saw that the crocodiles were back… and this time they were snapping hungrily…
"Later," she mumbled, not quite sure if it was an apology or a promise.
"Later what?" Kivar asked, his keen hearing picking up the muttered comment.
Isabel shook her head. "Nothing. I was just talking to myself."
Kivar laughed. "Living on that backward planet all those years would do that to anyone. No matter… you will soon rule at my side, Vilandra… as my mate and my queen."
Noticing that 'Vilandra' didn't seem to greet that news with the enthusiasm he thought it deserved, Kivar took her in his arms, somewhat roughly, and pressed his mouth against her unwelcoming lips. Isabel turned her head and squirmed to break Kivar's grasp, but that only seemed to excite Kivar more.
"Wouldn't you like to be the queen, Vilandra, with the handsomest man on Antar sitting at your side?"
Isabel started to shake her head, but unexpectedly, an image of Alex sitting beside her as the king came to mind, and she smiled.
"See? That's better! It only took a little reason. You do crave power, after all, Vilandra!"
Isabel smiled and nodded… The power to remove your sorry ass from the universe, you bastard, she thought to herself.
"When I am the master of the Granolith, you will have more power than you ever dreamed of, Vilandra! Ah, but first things first…" Kivar turned and looked again at the Granolith with adoring eyes. Isabel knew without a shadow of a doubt which one would be his real passion… and his real mistress. The Granolith. As horrible as that was to contemplate, Isabel almost felt relieved knowing that at least she would never be his primary obsession. It was a small comfort, especially when she considered the power the Granolith would give Kivar. He could, literally, control most of the known universe if he could control the Granolith. Now she felt guilty.
"Ava!" Kivar called, looking around for Tess…
Tess hurried over to Kivar's side.
"Ava, I need the override code for the Granolith… now."
Tess shook her head… "I… I told you… I don't have the codes, Kivar. Alex has them in his head."
"Ava, Ava, Ava…" Kivar took Tess' chin in his hand and turned her head both ways just a tiny bit… just enough to let her know that her life was in his hand… literally. A sudden twist, either way… and he could end it now.
"Ava, you know I'm no fool. You tell me that this Earth boy has the book decoded in his head, and I believe you. After all, what else would you want him for? But I know you better than you imagine, Ava. Ever since you were a young girl, I've watched you… I've kept track of you… Nasedo never knew. There is no way… no way at all… that you would have allowed that boy to die before obtaining the override code from him. If I am right, you got that information a very long time ago. It isn't everything, but with it, I will at least control the Granolith."
"Override code?" Isabel asked. "What's he talking about, Tess?"
"It's like the key to your car. The driver's manual may tell you how to operate all the functions, but the key gives you the power to start it and drive it. Right now, the Granolith is encoded with the handprints of the royal four. That's why I was able to bring us here. But by reciting the right code, someone could reset it to accept a different handprint… like Kivar's."
"Tess, you can't. If you do know the reset code… you can't…"
Tess shrugged. "Life sometimes sucks, Isabel. But it can still be good for us. We can rule with Kivar or we can die with those who don't. I've never been fond of the sucky parts myself."
"Please!" Zory cried, "For the love of all that's right, don't give it to him, Ava!"
"Don't," Tryla begged.
"Kill them," Kivar ordered, motioning to his guards. Two of the guards took out their knives, as the other two held Zory and Tryla.
"No, don't!" Tess said, stopping the guards. Then she turned to Kivar… "Don't kill them… not yet. We may need them. I'm… I'm not sure, but they may have information about the Granolith that we may need. At least wait until you have the information from Alex and know that there's nothing more that we need from them."
Kivar nodded then motioned to the guards, who put away their knives.
"You're right, Ava. There will be time enough for them to die… after we know that they have nothing more that we need. It is wise to be cautious."
Tess nodded.
"Now give me the code, Ava. Then come with me. I want you to be standing with me when I become the master of the Granolith."
Tess glanced at Isabel then at Zory and Tryla, and they thought they saw genuine sadness in her eyes. Her lower lip appeared to tremble, but she bit down on it to hide it and smiled at Kivar. Then she closed her eyes… and recited the code…
"Har'van-Dar-Jimov'das-Kordym-Lyyn'xma-Fronba-Maret-Plard'nas."
Zory gasped and hung his head in grief.
Tess carefully pronounced each word, as Kivar listened, memorizing the sentence. Then Kivar smiled.
Zory closed his eyes, and Tryla began to cry.
With one arm around Tess, Kivar stood next to the Granolith and carefully recited the words that Tess had given him…
"Har'van-Dar-Jimov'das-Kordym-Lyyn'xma-Fronba-Maret-Plard'nas."
As he finished saying the last word, the Granolith began to glow; then, for a moment, it became brighter than the sun. Zory, Tryla, and Isabel turned their heads away and put their hands over their eyes. As the light abated, they looked again, but Kivar and Tess were not there. Their bodies lay nearby, on the ground, smoking heavily and burned partly to ash. Isabel gasped.
"She knew what she was doing," Zory said. "She gave him the destroy code. It's a safeguard code that was intended to be used in the event that the rightful masters of the Granolith were ever forced to give up the code. It worked exactly as it was intended."
Isabel shook her head… "But it killed Tess."
Zory nodded. "She knew it would. It couldn't be helped. If she had refused to stand with Kivar, he would have realized that something was wrong. She saved all our lives… by giving up hers."
Isabel sobbed unexpectedly… "Damn you, Tess! Why couldn't you just be good or bad? You made me hate you, then like you, then hate you again, then you had to go and do this. If you were alive, I'd… I'd… probably hug you. You planned this all along, didn't you… to bring Kivar here and have the Granolith get rid of him? Why would you risk your life to get Kivar?"
"I think it was for your friend, Alex," Tryla said.
Isabel nodded, as she thought about it, then she looked around, suddenly remembering the guards, but it seemed that they had all run away after seeing what the Granolith did to Kivar… and chances are, they were miles away by now… and probably still running.
tbc