Prophecy and Dreams (Story Thread)

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 50.

Paragon City, Thursday late afternoon

Marcus sighed internally as he stood on the deck, half-listening to the Longbow officer droning on. Due to the persistence of the press, the Phalanx had been temporarily forced to move operations to the underground Longbow base of Fort Trident. However, due to the security there, half of his reports were now being delivered to him here on the command ship in Independence Port. While he appreciated the reprieve from having reporters camped in City Hall and the Freedom Corps headquarters, he regretted the necessity of the move, and he wondered how much longer the current state of affairs would continue before things could return to normal. He felt like he was spending more than half his time moving between the ship and the underground base.

The afternoon had begun with the joint Freedom Phalanx and Star Patrol meeting. As was true with so much that involved combined ventures with the Patrol, the information provided had been entirely too disturbing. With a slight pang of guilt, he realized he'd been slightly hoping that Positron and Dr. Tavarisch's debriefing would include warnings of an impending doomsday event he could relay to the press as a distraction from his personal life, but unfortunately, the details were not safe for release to the public.

Marcus blinked, his attention caught by a flash of red on one of the stone columns that overlooked the harbor. Sharpening his sight, he peered closely, trying to see through the leaves of the tree that obscured the pillar, telling himself even as he did that Cende was hardly the only hero in the city that habitually perched up there. A gust of wind came off the water and stirred the leaves enough to let him see that it was her looking down at the ship, then he turned to listen to the officer once again.


*

Cende watched Marcus move on the deck of the ship below, angling to see through the branches of the tree in front of the pillar she sat on. She wanted to speak with him before she left, but she had been busy; what little time she hadn't spent in tidying up loose ends had been spent in careful preparation she was sure she wouldn't have time for when she arrived in Mitanni Valley. She thought he'd seen her shortly after she'd landed, but she wasn't certain of it.

A breeze redolent of fish, oil, and salt water blew in from the harbor, stirring the tree in front of her, and she saw Marcus' face turn toward her. This time she believed he had deliberately looked for her - she knew he was capable of it, if he'd chosen to extend his physical senses. She continued to wait as the officer on deck caught his attention and he turned to deal with yet another of his many responsibilities.

The past two days had been full of tasks for her, both major and minor. She had worked with the Star Patrol's lawyer to implement a carefully worded will in case she did not return, and then had made sure COUNTERMEASURES had copies of both the will and all of her other important documents. She'd also sought out her friends, allies, and associates in the city to say goodbye to each of them, asking forgiveness for appointments she did not expect to be able to keep, and passing off open investigations to other members of Star Patrol. The nights were given to Ratri, following the rites and rituals she hoped would permit her to survive the coming trial.

Marcus was the only one she had not yet said her farewells to, and this was the only time she had left. There was only a short time before darkness fell and she left for the airport. She hoped he would be able to get away from his tasks soon; glancing at the lowering sun, she waited.

*

The side of his mind still listening to the officer noted that the report was finally winding down, and Marcus pulled his attention back to the present, wishing for a pair of aspirin to help combat the headache that had been threatening since he had left the earlier meeting. Frowning, he stared at the tablet computer that the officer handed to him, and thought of simpler times. He nodded, signed off on the reports, and turned to go, only to stop as the officer called "Sir, wait. This just came in."

Sighing to himself, Marcus turned and reached for the tablet one more time, and listened to the new reports. He was going to have to hear them sooner or later, and sooner would get them done faster.

Another officer approached from the control room. "Sir, one more thing before you go? There's a 'copter coming in with the Crusaders; they're just returning from rescuing stolen mediporter tech from the Malta and Sky Raiders and deserve a word. They'll be landing in two minutes."

Marcus glanced back over his shoulder at the pillar and hoped Cende would wait for him a little longer.

*

Cende pulled herself out of the quiet meditative trance she had sunk into and watched as Marcus greeted the group of heroes stepping out of a helicopter. She wished she could go down to the deck of the command ship herself, but that was out of the question; the previous two days had brought home to her the wisdom of avoiding him for the time being. Each time she had ventured near City Hall or the Freedom Corps headquarters, she had been besieged by reporters asking impertinent and intrusive questions about her, about Marcus, and about their relationship. The lawyer she had hired to handle her will and oversee her new trust fund had advised her to say only 'no comment' to all questions asked of her, and to continue avoiding Marcus in public. She wished now she'd made more of an effort to find private time to call him, but it seemed that the only time she'd had that was private had been during the ritual the night before.

The new trust fund had been Khadka's idea; a means to move funds away from Endaruta's control and into the hands of those on her side. She wasn't sure she was completely comfortable yet with the concept of having a side, but she supposed it was inevitable. She only hoped that the fund would work the way it was supposed to - between Khadka and the lawyer it should, but the final details had taken her last few hours of the day. Now she had very little time to spend with Marcus - and what little time she'd had, she'd wasted waiting for him to be finished with work that was never completed. Taking a breath, she gathered herself to head down to the command ship, when she heard voices on the steps below her.

"No, Mikey, use the telephoto lens. Make sure to get a good angle on him. We heard she was spotted in the area, so she's sure to turn up somewhere; press isn't allowed on the boat, so that's a good bet."

"C'mon, Jim, I don't tell you how to do your job, don't tell me how to do mine. I've got the cameras set up; you just get the para-mic fixed."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting it. If we can catch these two, it could really make our careers. I can see the headlines, Statesman and Cende, Love Caught, Proof at Last!"

"You're a real romantic there, Jim. A real romantic."

Cende sighed and gathered the shadows around herself, hiding from the men below. Standing, she watched Marcus for as long as she could, until the sun met the horizon and her time had run out. She closed her eyes briefly, then headed toward home.

*

Marcus shielded his eyes against the setting sun and held up a hand in annoyance as yet another officer approached. "Enough! Is it an emergency?"

"Err... no, sir?" The officer was fairly young and obviously taken by surprise.

"Then it will wait until tomorrow. I have other responsibilities and I have spent enough time here."

"Yes sir!" To Marcus' dismay, all of the Longbow in his immediate vicinity came to attention and saluted.

"All of you, stand down, and don't do that again, I'm not your CO. That's a standing order, make sure everyone knows it." Shaking his head, he finally lifted off the deck and flew up to the pillar where he had seen Cende earlier. After briefly searching the area and finding the encamped reporters, he realized with disappointment that he had missed her. Considering for a moment, he began to head toward her apartment. He was most of the way there before he once more stopped in frustration as his phone began to buzz.

"Statesman."

"Hello, this is Jennivive Jansen of the New York Daily Life, and I was wondering if I could get an interview with you and your lady, the heroine Cende? We'd love to do a piece on how immortals face blended family life in this new age."

"What? NO. Cende and I are... We're not giving interviews. "

"Are you sure? It looks like you're heading across Steel Canyon and towards her place now. It really wouldn't take much time and it would be a wonderful chance to tell your story."

"I said no, thank you, and good night, Ms. Jansen." Marcus hung up in annoyance and set the phone to emergency-calls only, then altered course to head into Fort Trident. He would not bring more reporters to Cende's doorstep without having spoken to her first.

*****

Paragon City, Thursday evening

Cende glanced at her watch, waiting at the gate for her flight to be called. The plane had pulled up, and the previous flight had just disembarked - she had only a few minutes left. She stepped into a corner near the window and pulled out her phone, turning her back to the room.

"Cende?" Marcus voice came strongly across the line, and she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. She'd been afraid she would miss him again. "I'm sorry I missed you earlier, I tried to get away, but if you want to meet now..."

"No, Marcus," she interrupted him, "Please listen, I don't have much time. They're about to call my flight."

"Your flight? Where are you going?"

"I have to go back to Nepal. If I don't, I'll be married to someone against my will. I have a way to stop it, but to do so, I have to go back now."

"What do you mean, married against your will? I thought you said you would have a choice!"

"It's complicated. Please, Marcus, please listen. I wanted to see you before I left, but every time I turned around there were the reporters, and there was so much that needed to be done... and I was afraid to see you, afraid that it would be harder to go if I did. But I don't know if I'll be able to come back, and I couldn't leave without telling you that... that I love you. If I make it back, I promise you, I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything. I'm sorry, Marcus, they're calling my flight, I have to go. I love you. Goodbye." Hanging up the phone, Cende held down the disconnect button to turn the thing off, and then slipped it into her pocket. Gathering her composure, she turned and boarded the plane to London, and the first stage of her journey back to Mitanni Valley.

*

"I love you. Goodbye." Before he could answer, she was gone.

Slamming the phone closed, Marcus smashed his hand down on the conference table in front of him. His jaw worked as the other late-working members of the Phalanx ran in at the sound of his fist ringing on the metal, only to stop short when they saw him alone in the room and the dent in the table. Opening his hand, he let the crushed and broken pieces of his phone fall from his palm and gritted out, "It's late, and I'm going home. I suggest you do the same. Tomorrow morning we are going to meet with the Star Patrol leadership and we are going to fix this mess before it gets any worse."

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.


Special thanks going forward to ScooterTwo for the use of Helena Collins.

-------------------------

Chapter 51.

London, Friday noon (morning in Paragon)

Waiting for her flight to Kathmandu, Cende browsed through one of the many shops lining the Heathrow International concourse, picking up a few small items and a single card. Helena, peeking around the displays in the store's entryway, could see Cende taking the items up to the counter. Concentrating, the smaller woman heard her teammate asking the store clerk to package the items and send them to Paragon City, and then asking for directions to a restaurant on the concourse. Hanging back, Helena waited until Cende had sat down with her tea and a little bit of food, then slid into the chair across from the tall redhead.

"Hi!" Helena chirped brightly as Cende looked up, startled. "Surprise!"

"Helena, what on earth are you doing here?" Cende did not sound at all pleased.

"You're going into a dangerous situation. Even you admit it's bad, and you hardly ever admit anything. You've actually said goodbye to everyone, and you left a will. What makes you think any of us wanted you to come without backup?" Helena sat up straight. "You told all of us that tried to offer that we couldn't come with you and that strangers aren't allowed into your home. But I can sneak in, nobody will ever notice, and you'll have someone there watching your back and helping you."

"I heard from Hav that you'd arranged for a leave of absence, but she didn't know where you were going. This is what you'd had planned? Does anyone else know you're here? "

"Nope. I told the bosses that it was a personal thing, and that I'd be back as soon as I could. Andrea gave me a weird look, but don't think she actually knows anything for certain."

Cende rubbed her temples. "So you're going into a dangerous situation without anyone knowing about it, without any way of getting out of it, without any support, and without any knowledge of what you'll be facing, despite being told that you were not permitted to go in to that situation in the first place. Does that about sum it up?"

Helena looked indignant, "You'll be there. And I left a time-delay email on the Freedom Corps system addressed to Sharpe. He'll get it in about three days."

Cende sighed and packaged up her food. "By which time, you'll be back there and able to explain yourself to him in person."

"What?!"

"You're not coming on with me. I am, however, taking you to the ticketing counter where we're getting you a flight back to Paragon."

Helena bit her lip. "Um. I can't do it that way."

"Why not?"

"I don't have a passport with me."

"How did you get to London, then?"

Helena rolled her eyes. "I told you, I can sneak into places. I just got on the plane."

"Well, then you can just sneak onto the plane going back. Come on then, let's find out when the next one leaves." Standing, Cende headed out on the concourse, looking for a reader-board. "Oh, you're in luck, see? The next one is about to start boarding. Let's go."

Helena made a face, but followed Cende to the terminal. When they reached the boarding area, Cende turned to the dark-haired agent and grasped her shoulder. "Helena, I'm serious. Get onto the plane and go home. It's not safe for you to come with me, and I don't want to risk you. This isn't your fight."

"You're Star Patrol, Cende. That makes it all of our fight." Helena took the taller woman's hand in her own and squeezed it gently. "And any risk I take is mine." She tilted her head to listen to the voice coming over the speakers then added, "But they're calling your flight, so if you're going to make it, you'd better go now, right?" Dropping Cende's hand, she stepped back and saluted gravely.

Cende's brief smile appeared and vanished, and she returned the other woman's salute. "Thank you for trying, Helena. Stay safe." Turning, she headed back down to catch her own flight, not looking back.

Helena waited a few moments then stepped into a nearby alcove. Whispering softly, she transformed into a small ball of blue light, and floated to a point above the heads of everyone around her. Unnoticed by anyone below, she sped in the direction her teammate had taken and sought an appropriate ride to hitch onto the plane to Kathmandu. One way or the other, she was going to back up Cende.

*****

Nepal, Saturday early morning (11 hours ahead of Paragon City)

When the plane finally landed in Kathmandu, everyone on board was cranky. There had been an unscheduled and unexpected stop in Lahore as the plane had sudden engine troubles. Helena, more used to seeing her friend and teammate in the middle of combat and thinking of her as a violent woman, watched as an entirely different side of Cende emerged during the several hour wait for their plane to be repaired. Speaking softly, Cende did her best to comfort upset travelers, defuse arguments before they became serious, and several times act as translator between travelers and officials who had no languages in common. As different as it was, only one incident seemed very strange to Helena - one man prevented a couple from going to Cende when the officials first came out. The couple had appeared to protest at first, but then the man had motioned to Cende and said the word Maryanni. After that, the couple had avoided the red-haired priestess, occasionally casting fearful looks in her direction. Helena decided to ask Cende what it meant after this was all over.

Although the layover had been difficult, it had reassured Helena about one thing. She was certain she could get anywhere she needed to go; the possible problem might have been doing so unseen. However, with the cover of darkness and the annoyance of late flights and missed connections, nobody noticed a dark blue wisp, and she could follow Cende safely. Hovering above the heads of everyone in the small airport, Helena suddenly realized she had to go through a shutting door before it fully closed. Barely squeaking through, she was grateful she had made herself smaller to get through the door, because she was suddenly in a tiny waiting area with Cende, two slender, dangerous looking women, and an enormous man. The man was giving Cende a look that Helena thought was more than a little predatory, but one of the women handed the priestess a pack and indicated a door to the side.

Taking the pack, Cende stepped through the side door. Helena, hovering near the top of the waiting room in a deep shadow, centered herself and sought out the inner sense that she had come to think of as The Voice. Patience, the Voice counseled her. Patience. You will see your chance. Wait for it. Watch and wait. Waiting, Helena looked more closely at the other three people in the room. The two women had black hair and dusky skin, but they bore a subtle resemblance to Cende that Helena couldn't quite place. They stood near the door Cende had gone through and spoke quietly; they didn't ignore the man with them, but they excluded him from their conversation. Helena turned her attention to the man with some interest. He was easily half again Cende's size and out-massed her by about twice as much. His dark hair had a slight curl to it and his dark eyes had a determined set to them. The black coat he had on strained over his wide, muscular shoulders, and Helena decided that she wouldn't hold the fact that he was old enough to be her father against him.

A few moments later, Cende stepped back out, now dressed in robes of deep midnight and black, with touches of silver as accents. She placed the pack on one of the chairs and Helena noticed that it slid to one side, allowing the top to gape open. Now, the Voice whispered. Go there. Helena made sure no one was looking in her direction, and sped down to insert herself into the pack.

From the room beyond, the large man spoke, his voice deep and rumbling and his tone unpleasant. Helena mentally began to kick herself as she heard him - she had totally forgotten that she wouldn't be able to understand a thing. She had been counting on Cende to translate for her, but without Cende's help, she was going to be completely lost! Dejected, she settled down to the bottom of the pack, landing on something hard and metallic.

"... clothing is disgraceful." The man's voice words suddenly became intelligible. "When you are my wife, you will not wear such things."

Startled, Helena shot up to the edge of the bag to peer over and stare at the man again. That was the man Cende was supposed to marry? Taking a closer look at him as he spoke, Helena noticed that there was a stubborn set to his chin and a cruel light in his eye that she didn't like. He began to speak again and she discovered she had stopped understanding him. She went back down to the bottom of the bag and tried settling on the metallic thing once more.

"... will be respectful of me, as I deserve, woman!" He was roaring now.

Cende's voice was cutting, "I am not your wife yet, and no matter what Endaruta has told you, you do not lay claim to me until Ratri has blessed our union. Now either we leave, or you will explain to the High Priest why I am late in reporting."

Helena felt the pack she was in shift, and then a woman's voice directly above her. "What did you put in this thing? It weighs a ton!" As she abruptly remembered to float on her own, the entire pack flew upwards, and she heard the woman say something in a very confused tone. Mentally cursing her inability to understand, Helena hoped that whatever was helping her would be available once they got to where they were going, and that Cende wasn't going to kill her once they got there.

Hovering near the top of the bag and peeking out, Helena watched as the entire group got into a helicopter. Black with a lightning bolt on the side, it reminded her forcibly of the military 'copters that Vanguard and Longbow used, and she wondered what a spiritual sanctuary was doing with this sort of hardware. As her carrier pack was tossed into the back and she got a view of the ordinance stored in the bay, she began to suspect there was rather more to this group than a simple religious temple.

When they landed at the staging area and transferred to ox-drawn wagons for the rest of the journey, she was certain of it. Taking the opportunity to escape the pack and snoop around, she flitted in and out of the storage huts that had been constructed in this small, armed depot at the top of an apparently storm-filled ravine. While there certainly weren't enough supplies stored to support more than the few troops that were stationed here, what was kept was definitely top of the line - and much of the hardware was illegal in the United States. As Helena streaked back to her hiding place, she saw more than a few boxes with Crey and Arachnos labels being loaded into the wagons, and she began to get a sick feeling about the reasons Cende had always been so reticent about her childhood home.

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 52.

Nepal, Saturday dawn

The first thing Helena noticed when she next peeked out of the pack was that the room they were in was dimly lit. There were two candles burning, one in a sconce next to the door and the other on a small table under the window, but they offered very little in the way of real light, and the light that came through the window was weak and pale. The second thing that she noticed was that there was a very good-looking man holding Cende in a tight hug - and that she was hugging him just as tightly right back.

"I wish I could say it's good to see you." The man's light tenor voice was as accented as Cende's, but at least he was speaking English. Helena was relieved, because it meant she could watch and listen at the same time. She looked curiously at the man who now held Cende at arm's length. Like the people at the airport, his hair was black, but it flowed past his shoulders and was lightly streaked with silver. He stood slightly taller than Cende, and was just as slender as the woman who faced him, but he was obviously somewhat older. In the candlelight, his eyes glinted gold and seemed to have an element of their own light as he continued to speak, "But you shouldn't have come back. You could have sought out asylum."

Cende shook her head. "You know I can't do that, Davos, and you know why. We're not ready yet to fight him, and if I had requested asylum, too much would have come out about this place. He holds the people here as hostages whether he knows it or not and too many of them will die if we start now. We're just not ready yet."

Davos sighed and threw up his hands. "And if you die in this attempt to win your freedom, we'll never be ready to fight him."

"That's... not entirely true." Cende sank onto the bed as Davos turned to look at her. "Davos, if I die, go to Marcus. In person, I mean. Endaruta will come after you next, you know that. Go to Marcus and tell him... tell him everything. He'll be angry, but he'll find a way to do what I couldn't."

"Do you believe that it's time to for you to come forward, then?" Davos' voice was gentle as he asked.

Helena was shocked to see tears gleaming on Cende's cheek in the candlelight. "I promised him I that I would tell him everything when I returned. I may lose it all, Davos. I will lose my home now; when I return, I may lose my love and all I've gained. I just don't know-" Cende stopped as a knock came on her door. Rising, the priestess dried her cheeks and crossed the room. Speaking softly for a moment, she then looked back over her shoulder. "As expected, I'm not to be given time to rest. Council has been called now, I'm to report immediately."

Davos nodded. "I'll give you a head start, and then slip in just after. I can't see Endaruta not making you wait after summoning you in a hurry."

Cende gave a slight shrug of agreement, then left. Once the door closed behind her, Davos crossed to the room's armoire and pulled out a set of grey robes, then reached over to the pack Helena hid in and flipped back the top. "All right," he said, "Lady Ratri told me to put these acolyte robes here and the translation amulet in the pack for Dina's - Cende's - friend, but she didn't explain any further. However, we have little time, so you need to come out now."

Helena, startled, rose out of the pack. Davos blinked and peered at her, "You don't really need robes -" then took a step back as she transformed into a small, compact woman of barely five feet, with pale skin and dark hair. "Ah. But you will that way," the man finished, almost calmly, and held out the robes.

As Helena struggled with the unfamiliar clothing, Davos reached in to the pack and pulled out the metallic item she had been sitting on in wisp form. "This is a talisman of translation and protection. It will translate our native Hurrian into English for you, as well as offer some protection from the prying minds that wander our halls." He placed it over her neck and helped her adjust the robes properly. "Hurry, we must get to the control room. I will explain more after this, but there is no time now."

Davos lead Helena through a maze of twisting passages and tunnels that reminded her uncomfortably of Orenbega. Finally, he stopped at an intersection and tugged the hood of the robe up over her head. Speaking softly he gave her a few instructions, "Keep that up. You're a stranger and will most certainly be noticed otherwise. Stay at my side and be quiet, no matter what you hear or see. And remember, things are not necessarily all as they seem here." Turning, Davos walked calmly into a control room as up-to-date as anything in a Longbow base, and Helena's palms itched as she wondered how hard it would be to hack into these computers and get all the information she needed on this place out of them.

The Voice deep in her mind softly whispered to her: Watch. Listen. Wait, and she brought her mind back to her current task. She could get back in here any time and get the info she wanted; right now, she needed to find out what was going on. Peering out from under her hood as she took the chair behind Davos', Helena looked around what appeared to be a council table. Cende was at one end, looking serene and composed. That was relatively normal, at least - Cende always looked serene and composed when she wasn't fighting something. The big guy Cende was engaged to had come into the room and evicted the person from the chair next to hers; he now sat next to her and pointedly ignored her. Helena decided that if she ever got the chance, he was the first person in the room she'd set her Singularity on. All of the chairs at the table except for the one directly across from Cende were now occupied while almost everyone talked quietly, and Helena wondered what they were waiting for.

Suddenly, the room fell quiet as it filled with an intensely brooding malevolence. Helena looked to the end of the room and realized that the man in gold and crimson robes who now moved to sit at the head of the table radiated age and presence. She thought he would be only a little taller than herself, but his lack of height did not detract from the force of his personality. Although his eyes were a pale blue and his hair and beard were pure silver, his skin was darker than that of anyone else in the room. As she considered him, Helena realized that the sense of evil permeating the room came from this man, and that everyone near him was showing him an extreme amount of deference. Another piece of the puzzle about why Cende stressed how dangerous her home was dropped into place, and Helena started to intensely study everything around her. Something here was seriously wrong, and Helena intended to give not just a full report but also a complete analysis of the situation when she returned.

The table waited in silence for several moments. Finally the man at the end spoke, his voice strong despite his apparent age. "Papahai Dina, you have not yet succeeded in your assignment. It has been two years; why does the Statesman still live?"

Helena's started in shock, turning her head to look at Cende and beginning to rise in her seat. Davos' hand came from the chair in front of her and clamped down on her knee; the man beside him also reached back without looking and put his hand down on her other knee. Helena remembered Davos' warnings, and settled back, seething, only to receive another shock as Cende started to speak.

"My Lord Endaruta, it is - as I have mentioned before - very difficult to get close to the Statesman. Even when I have managed to do so, there are the problems of his closest associates. Sister Psyche is a phenomenal psychic who makes a habit of regularly deep-scanning all who come close to their inner circle, while the security arrangements presided over by Manticore would find your approval in other circumstances. The times I have managed to come close to Statesman, I have been unable to do so in a manner which was conducive to carrying out my mission." Cende's voice was even, her delivery smooth, and her face betrayed not a hint of emotion.

Helena couldn't believe what she was hearing. That's all complete bunk! By her own admission they've become close friends, if not more - she can go right up to Statesman! And what was that about Psyche scanning everyone, or Manticore's security arrangements? She's making them sound like the Praetorians and it's total fiction! But if she's supposed to be reporting to this guy, why is she lying to him about it? Something really stinks here!

"Lies," Endaruta hissed. "It is lies, and you have been plotting to betray the Maryanni. I have evidence from Paragon City itself!" He threw a pile of papers on the table, and Helena could clearly see the lurid headlines from earlier in the week proclaiming the relationship between Statesman and Cende. "If the Statesman is so difficult to get close to, girl, how do you explain those?" His question came out in a roar, and many of the people at the table shrank back.

"With the same word you just used," responded Cende, calmly. "Lies. Many of those papers sell through sensational headlines and fake pictures, sprinkling in just enough truth to be believable. Yes, it is true that I was asked to accompany Statesman to a few events over the last few months. We met because a teammate of mine is involved with an associate of his. I simply used the events to become closer to him."

Endaruta snorted in disgust. "I see. Well, it ends here. You are obviously incapable of bringing this affair to an appropriately swift conclusion. Once you are married, your husband will journey with you to Paragon City and use your connections to remove Statesman, his associates, and any of their involvements that may prove annoying to us. And then your husband can finish your training as he sees fit!" Endaruta began to stand, but Cende's voice, now finally raised, interrupted him.

"There will be no marriage."

Most of the people who had sat back in their chairs at Endaruta's previous outburst now scooted their chairs away from the table entirely. Others simply went very still, in the apparent hope that they would not be noticed. Cende's erstwhile fiancé stood and loomed over her, but Endaruta himself merely lowered himself back into his chair and stared at her before beginning to coldly, mockingly laugh.

"I had wondered why you'd come back," he finally said. "So, the Woman's Trial, is it? You're a fool. Married or dead, as long as you're controlled, you're no threat to the Maryanni and you have no chance of winning the trial."

"Others have, most of whom have been in my line."

"None of whom have been as grave a threat to Indra's Will as you!" Endaruta stood abruptly. "Papahai Dina will have one day of rest and meditation. The Woman's Trial will begin at daybreak tomorrow." Turning, he swept out of the room, taking with him the oppressive aura of malice that had come with him. Helena turned to look for Cende, but the other woman had vanished.

"Come on." That was Davos, speaking quietly beside her. "You'll want food, explanations, and sleep, and I'm hoping that once you get all of those, you'll be able to help me come up with a plan to keep Dina alive, because Ratri help me, I'll all out of ideas."

(Yes, finally. Sorry.)

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 53.

Paragon City, Friday evening

Marcus reached out tiredly and picked up the glass of scotch from the table next to him. Taking a long swallow, he sighed and leaned back in his chair, feeling his shoulders finally beginning to unknot after a particularly long and tedious day. Breathing deeply, he inhaled the faint, lingering scents of spices and incense that perfumed the room, and gazed around in the dim light. Without knowing Cende's charm, he'd had to light the candles and lamps by hand, so he'd only lit enough to see by. He'd started off with the overhead light turned on, but that had somehow not felt right in this room. He couldn't remember that light ever having been on previously, and he was just as glad to have it off now.

Getting into the apartment had been no problem. Several weeks before, she had dropped off her spare key when he'd asked if he could look through her bookshelves for a set of legal precedents he wanted to review. She had been on bodyguard duty and wasn't able to help; he'd forgotten to give her key back and she hadn't asked. Sighing, he tossed back his scotch and poured another glass, wondering when exactly it was that this small apartment had come to be more comforting than the house he had lived in for decades. No, it's not the apartment, he thought, it's the thought of being near her. Closing his eyes, he pictured her on the couch, her feet tucked up under her as she sipped her tea, and began to tell her about his day.

"The call came in from Positron, of course, before dawn. He'd been contacted by one of his researcher friends in the Shadow Shard - a science team had sent out a distress call, and the rescue team sent after them couldn't get through to perform the extraction. It should have been a simple thing, in and out, but nothing in the Shard is ever simple."

"The first thing to go wrong was the team makeup. Brawler had to stay behind to man the fort and act as mentor - Jessie usually does that, but she'd been sent off by Alexis, and so it fell to Michael. He doesn't usually mind, but today he was itching to cut loose, and there was nothing we could do. We lost Citadel to continued bomb investigation, but that's a high priority investigation, and I absolutely refuse to pull him off that. So we started off down two. I expected Positron to add his lady to the group, but she's working on both the bomb threat and on the Rikti problem, and can't be spared. I figured we'd find someone as we were getting the details, but I'd forgotten that Jessie had been sent to Firebase Zulu, so when we got there, she was waiting for us and joined in as if there were no question about her coming along."

Marcus absently poured another glass of scotch. "Waiting with her was Foreshadow. He said he'd seen that he would be needed at that place and time, and so he was there. So there we had our working team - Positron, Synapse, Psyche, Manticore, Numina, Jessie, Foreshadow, and myself. The first problem was solved and if that had been it, maybe things would have gone differently."

He shook his head, remembering.

***

"So, I heard your girlfriend ran away - couldn't she handle the heat?" Ms. Liberty hadn't even greeted him; she'd just started sniping at him. She was obviously unhappy to be in the Shard and blamed him for it.

"C'mon, Libs, let it go." Synapse had arrived, holding three backpack flight units. "We have more annoying things to think about - like these. We're going to be going at a snail's pace in these. How're we supposed to rescue anyone in a timely fashion if we never get there?"

"It's better than falling," Numina pointed out. "You could fall a really long way if the gravity geyser has fluctuated and you miss the jump."

"That's what these are for." Positron snapped a cuff around Synapse's upper arm, and pointed to an attached sensor on his own armor. "If you start to free-fall, it'll emergency port you back to the base. It also boosts your medi-porter. "

"That's great, but we're still going slow!"

Statesman had rolled his eyes and looked over to Manticore and Sister Psyche, standing off to one side. They were having an intense conversation, and Shalice looked more than a little upset. With care he extended his senses, concentrating on overhearing what they were saying. Their personal discussion might be none of his business, but this was already shaping up to be a questionable undertaking, and he wanted to know if their problems were going to cause more issues on the team.

"... no, the reason I don't want kids right now is not that I'm interested in anyone else, Shalice, you should know that. And if you don't, you can look in my head to find out. Yes, I notice other women - we're in a city full of beautiful women wearing skimpy clothing, it's hard not to notice them. That doesn't mean I want anyone but you. You're the most beautiful woman in my world, and that's not going to change."

"Then why?" Psyche's arms were crossed and her body was stiff. "Justin, the crime rate isn't going down anytime soon, things aren't going to get any safer if we wait, and we're both very visible. Something could happen to either of us at any time. If we don't start now, we might not ever have a chance to start. Don't you want children with me?"

Manticore groaned. "You know I do. I just... Look, maybe we should take a vacation, get away from this place for a while. Get away from the crazy and find a little normal. Maybe that would make a difference. Can we talk about that?"

Statesman pulled his attention away as Psyche nodded, and sighed softly to himself. There was no way this day was going to go well.

The rescue attempt lived down to his expectations. Although the team managed, despite ongoing bickering, to free the captive soldiers and scientists, they learned that there was another group not only researching in the area, but doing so by dissecting the native population. Both Positron and his contact were insistent that immediate investigation into the other group had to happen.

"The Shadow Shard isn't cleared for general access. It's too dangerous, and the native population is too unpredictable to risk an outbreak through an uncontrolled portal." Positron was adamant as he began to scan the maps inside the base.

"Not to mention the possibility of unleashing a mad god." Numina's voice was distracted as she faced deeper into the Shard. Statesman noticed that Foreshadow, standing near the ghostly woman, faced the same way.

"Damn, we're going to have to continue going this slow?" Synapse was practically dancing in place as he waited. "Please tell me that wherever we're going is nearby."

"Well, what do you expect? We have an old man along." Ms. Liberty didn't even glance at her grandfather as she said it, she just crossed her arms and leaned against a wall, looking bored.

Statesman clenched his teeth and tried to keep his temper under control.

Over the next several hours, they managed to hunt down a large gathering of the Rularuu near the Firebase at Point Bravo, rescue another group of scientists, and hunt down another group of Rularuu near the main FireBase Zulu. Much to the rising disgust of both Manticore and Synapse, however, there was a mounting pile of evidence of Crey involvement in the problem - culminating in the discovery of several small groups of Crey explorers and scientists near the Zulu base.

"Crey," Manticore spat. "It's bad enough that they run unchecked through Paragon City, and that we can't stop them from doing anything in the Isles, but now to have them here? No. I won't allow it."

"Right there with you, dude," Synapse agreed. "Although only when we're on the ground."

Psyche looked pained. Statesman touched her gently on the shoulder. Are you all right? he tried to ask.

This place is tiring, and everyone is a mood, she responded. Trying to keep all of you from killing each other and focused on the task at hand is exhausting. I have a headache. Do me a favor?

Anything.

Think about Cende. It makes you happier, and you'll add less to the problem.

Statesman dropped his hand and stepped back. Taking a deep breath, he glanced around, then looked at Positron. "You're the one who knows how this all works. What's next?"

It was hard to tell under the armor, but Statesman though Positron looked guiltily at the frustrated Synapse before answering, "Well, there's another missing group of explorers..."

That rescue was accompanied by more bickering, but it gave them enough information to start actively hunting Crey in the Shard. One running fight, a half-built camp, five Shard bases, and two Paragon labs later, the group had managed to destroy large amounts of illegal technology of Crey manufacture and gathered up the blueprints and other information crucial to the building and running of the portals.

"Nemesis," Positron sighed, looking at the blueprints when they had returned to Firebase Zulu. "It figures."

"Of course it's Nemesis." Ms. Liberty studied her nails. "Since our world-premier hero hasn't managed to take him out in eighty years, he just keeps popping up wherever he wants to be."

"Jessica Megan Duncan, that's enough," Statesman snapped. "If you're going to act like a bratty teenager, I'm going to treat you like a bratty teenager, and I'll start by turning you over my knee!"

"And what would Grandma say to that?" Ms. Liberty threw back. "What would Grandma say to any of this?" The blonde turned her back on the room and went out to stand on the catwalks, pasting a bright smile onto her face and waving to the military men as they passed by.

Off to one side, Manticore was trying to convince Psyche to eat a sandwich as she took more painkillers. Synapse and Positron were arguing about the best way to approach the next objective as they each bolted their own sandwiches, and Statesman eyed Foreshadow and Numina as they spoke quietly, glancing over at him occasionally. He nodded to himself as they seemed to come to a decision and headed toward him. Putting his own quick dinner to one side, he waited to hear what they had to say.

Foreshadow gave a slight bow and began to speak, "I have an unclear message for you. Forgive me, please, for the cryptic nature of it, but I believe it is only this place that allows it to come to me at all."

"I'm getting uncomfortably used to cryptic, my friend," answered Statesman. "I'll take any message you have to give me."

Composing himself for a moment, Foreshadow considered his words, then began to speak. "Two nights hence, in the hour of the wolf, you must go to the home of your uneasy allies. There, that which you most desperately seek shall be found."

Statesman rubbed his forehead, "Well, I have two days to figure it out, at least. Thank you." He glanced back at Positron and Synapse arguing over the map, and noticed that Manticore had joined them and that the argument had grown more heated. "Although, the way this is going, it might be that long before we get to the bottom of this investigation. I'm taking over now, or we're never getting out of here."

Stopping a meeting between Nemesis and Crey led them to two Nemesis bases, one dangerously close to Firebase Alpha and already overrun with Rularuu when they arrived. It also netted them complete information on Crey's plans and their working portals. Several long hours later, they were down to just chasing escaped Rularuu through the tunnels of Oranbega and rounding up the occasional stray mage on the way through.

"This," Positron grunted at one point, as an Honored Brute caught him by surprise and threw him into a wall, "this is why we can't have uncontrolled portals to the Shard."

"We know, Einstein," Synapse snapped. "Are we done yet? I need a good run, and I think I'd like to call Andrea."

"Andrea is going out with me tonight," Foreshadow remarked as he kicked a particularly annoying Overseer into a pillar. "You'll want to call first. Although I am glad I arranged for a late dinner."

Synapse glared at the other man, then put on a burst of speed and ran ahead through the tunnels, scouting out the path. When they finally caught up to him, at the entry to a large temple room, he nodded at a group of Rularuu speaking to a pair of Mages. "I've scouted the perimeter and this is it, the last room of this section. Those guys are negotiating some sort of agreement - I couldn't get close enough to tell what. I don't think we want the Circle and Rularuu to come together, though."

With that, the battle was joined and, shortly after, completed.

By the time they checked back in with Positron's contact, Doctor Quaterfield, and Zulu's General Hammond, everyone was more than ready to call their thirteen-hour day done. Declaring their intent to relax, the group quickly disbanded, heading off to their respective evenings.

Before they could leave, Statesman pulled Positron, Synapse, Manticore and Sister Psyche aside for a quick word. "Listen - I set up a meeting with the leaders of Star Patrol for first thing in the morning. I want you four there, too. It shouldn't take long, but I'd like to get it done before any more emergencies can happen. It's on your calendars; once we're done, you can go to your usual investigations."

The other four nodded and left; Statesman stood alone in the rapidly darkening Portal Corp parking lot and considered heading home. Something inside of him objected, but he knew he needed to change clothing before doing anything else. So I'll get home, get into civvies, and decide what to do after that. I'd like to talk with Cende; she'd put this day into perspective for me.

***

His voice fell silent for a moment, then he sighed again.

"It was the damnedest thing, really. I'd intended to go to Star Patrol headquarters today. I'm done dodging reporters and not seeing you; I want this situation fixed so that we can be together openly. I fully planned to find a solution, and once that was being implemented, have the Patrol tell me where you are. I still will, but it has to wait until tomorrow." He finished off the remains of his glass and realized he'd finished the bottle. It had been years since he'd drunk that much; he wished it still had some of the numbing effects it used to. Standing, he collected his glass and the bottle and placed them in the sink, then blew out the candles and lamps. As he stretched out onto the bed, he softly spoke a promise to the woman in his mind's eye, "Tomorrow, they'll tell me where that damned temple of yours is, and then I'm coming to get you."

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 54.

Mitanni Valley, Saturday late morning

Helena woke up to the sounds of controlled breathing and the occasional slapping noise. She opened her eyes to see Cende in a fighting stance, with her back to Helena, moving fluidly from one position to the next. Her right arm extended forward palm up and, faster than Helena could follow in a pre-caffeinated state, snapped her right hand back and lifted her left elbow, slapping her elbow with enough force that if there were a head in the intervening space, something would have been broken. Helena cringed slightly at the idea. When Cende shifted her stance and turned towards Helena, her eyes were completely black and lit with a dark glow.

Helena, a bit startled, exclaimed, "Hey, I thought that only happened when you fought!"

Cende paused for a moment and something flashed across her face. Helena could never tell what the taller woman was feeling and wasn't sure what the expression was before it was gone again. "You are not supposed to be here," Cende said as she moved into the next stance of the kata.

Helena replied, a little huffily, "I have every right to be here! Besides you need someone watching your back."

"Ratri help me, it is too dangerous for you to be here."

Helena scooted out of the bed to stand up and crossed her arms petulantly. "I am not some porcelain doll; I can take care of myself!"

Cende dropped out of the kata and turned to face the smaller woman. "I cannot guarantee your safety. I have no way of getting you out of the valley; the veil is too heavily warded. Do you have an exit plan in case something bad happens?"

"Of course I do," Helena lied. "Besides, if I wasn’t supposed to be here, why did your friend give me these nifty robes?"

Shaking her head, Cende sighed. "Because he's a fool who does what the Goddess tells him to." Crossing the small room as the glow in her eyes faded, she picked up her own set of robes. "There are a few places where it's safe to be out of those, but not many - fortunately, the baths below are one. Please stay close to me. We'll get breakfast, including tea, once we're dressed." She paused with her hand on the knob for a long moment, then spoke her next words quietly, "Thank you, Helena. You should not have come, but thank you for doing so."

Helena grinned and followed Cende out of the room.

*****

"So you grew up here? This is amazing. It's gorgeous." Helena stood in the gardens above the temple and looked across the valley below as the cold wind tugged at her grey robes. "I can make out the veil if I look in the right way, but I guess most people wouldn't be able to." She took a sip of her tea, then turned to look at Cende, "And that one room last night was the only place in the entire valley where current tech exists?"

"Only place in the valley where there's electricity, yes, so by default the only place with any technology. I know there are plans in place to slowly bring electricity in to the entire valley." Cende smiled faintly, her own dark blue robes gathered like shadows around her. "We are about a hundred years behind the times, but eventually we will catch up."

"OK, so now I see it but I still don't get it. Why?" Helena sat down and poured herself more tea, then leaned back against the planter next to the bench Cende sat on. "I mean, why go through all the trouble of locking up an entire valley and keeping it in the next best thing to the Stone Age? What's really going on here, Cende?"

Cende sighed. "While we are here, you must call me Dina."

"Dina? Why?"

"Because it's my name. Cende... is only who I am out there. She is part of me, but Dina is who I am."

Helena breathed in the scent of the tea, holding the cup tightly to warm her fingers. "Fine, I'll call you Dina, but you're avoiding the question."

Cende set aside her own cup and sighed, staring out across the valley. "What's really going on here is... complicated. Three thousand years ago, Endaruta was given warning that my ancestor's kingdom was about to fall, and he led a select group of people here, to this valley. At the same time, he was given a Prophecy." She shook her head and looked back to Helena. "He's spent the last three thousand years enforcing the decree that when the Prophecy is ready to be fulfilled, the descendants of those who came with him must be ready to fight for it. That's as simple as I can make it, and it doesn't even begin to cover everything."

"Endaruta? The same old guy from last night? He's really three thousand years old?"

Cende nodded.

Helena frowned, considering everything she'd heard so far. "You said your ancestor's kingdom. Did you mean that literally, like you're the heir to the throne or something?"

Cende's smile flickered briefly. "Or something, yes. My sister and I are supposed to be fulfilling the Prophecy. Supposedly, ultimately, one of us will lead the Maryanni, and the Mitanni valley, out into the world. Rata - my sister - is not well known to the people, and I fear for the fate of the valley if she takes leadership. She has never been particularly stable, and now she works with Arachnos." Cende sighed again. "The problem for me is that while most of the Mitanni people and all of the priesthood of Ratri will follow me, only some of the priests of Indra will, and the Maryanni are mostly unknown. I have to prove that I am strong enough to lead them, or they will follow where Endaruta leads as they always have."

Helena shook her head. "Wait, wait, I'm not tracking this. What's the difference between Mitanni and Maryanni? Why does your sister work for Arachnos, and does that have anything to do with why you were in Paragon? And why does Old Scary think you were there to kill Statesman? Oh, yeah, and why are there enough weapons and ammunition at the helicopter depot down below to arm a small military?"

"To answer your last question first, the arms depot has grown significantly since the last time I was through there. I'm afraid something large is planned - but that ties into your first, and obliquely, your second question. " Cende motioned across the valley below "This is Mitanni Valley. All who live here are the Mitanni people, although some of our ancestors came from Mitanni, where Syria now is, and some were here when the Mitanni arrived, and some came from across Europe and Asia as teachers, recruits, and breeding partners." Her hand moved to indicate the plantation homes on the upper slopes of the valley and the temple itself. "The nobility trace their lineage back to the Mitanni nobility that arrived with Endaruta, three thousand years ago. They, and the upper level priesthood, are the core of the Maryanni - which was another name for the old country and the people that came from it, but mostly just the nobles. Along with them are our elite fighters - men and women trained to be specialists in covert, black, and wet ops, both solo and in small-unit groups. Unless you are born to the Maryanni nobility, you must earn the status of Maryanni in the Trials. Those few who are both noble and Trial-judged are respected, and often feared. It is those that I must sway."

"But aren't you both already? I mean, nobility and trial whatever? Plus, you're a princess, that should count for something."

"I am Trial-judged, yes, but I have never been blooded outside of the Trial." Watching Helena's face, Cende gently clarified, "I've never killed anyone, Helena. I haven't proven my skills." She sighed softly, and looked at the sky. "I don't want to kill anyone, either. My goal is to lead the Maryanni to become protectors, not yet more villains - the world has enough of those. So I went to Paragon to learn about the world, and to find allies who could help me save my people from Endaruta. The only way I could escape the valley, however, was to make him believe I was going in order to assassinate Statesman, much the same as Rata is theoretically in Arachnos to assassinate Recluse."

"What?!"

"I told you it was complicated."

"So you never had any intention of killing him, but falling in love with him doesn't make it any better, you know." Helena shook her head. "And now you have to do this new Trial thing - what's that all about, anyway?"

"I was already in love with him," Cende corrected mildly, "that's part of why Paragon was possible in the first place. Ratri works in strange ways, sometimes. This Trial, however... it's a battle. It shouldn't be much of a problem for me, normally; the demons that are called up are similar in nature to the ones called by the Circle, and the information I've been able to find indicates the one used for this is a Blade and Ice demon lord equivalent to Baphomet." At Helena's nod of understanding, Cende continued, "My concern is not fighting the demon itself - I can, and will, defeat it - but of what Endaruta will do to further empower the demon, against the rules of the Trial. The rules say that no assistance or detriment shall be given to either combatant, but I know, without a doubt, he shall ignore them."

"Then why go through with it? Why not bring in Star Patrol and the Phalanx, clear out the troublemakers, and just fix the problems? This fighting to the death thing is way first century, and if you know Endy's going to cheat, then don't play his game."

Cende was silent for several moments before softly responding, "I had thought about that as a solution, but something deep inside me warns me that it would be an exceedingly bad idea, and I don't know why. Endaruta holds my people hostage, Helena, and I need to know what he's done to insure that he's going to get his way. I trust you and Davos to watch my back, to do what's necessary to keep Endaruta's cheating from killing me - but Helena, you have to be here for another reason as well. You are one of the most amazingly technically competent people I know. Davos will help you get into the control room tonight, when it's mostly empty. Get as much information out of the computers as you can - don't worry about analyzing it now, you can do that when you get back to Paragon. But find out all of Endaruta's secrets that are in there, and take them back with you. If he doesn't know we have them, maybe we can change the game."

Helena nodded in agreement and, changing the subject, began to ask more about the parts of the valley she could see from their seat in the garden. You can bet I'm cleaning out that computer, she told herself as she listened and continued to assess everything she had been told, because there's something really strange under this entire place, and I want to know what it is.

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 55.

Rogue Islands, Saturday pre-dawn

Silver Spyder stood on the walls of Grandville, watching the throngs of people in the square below her. Even at three a.m., petitioners and sycophants approached the great tower in the middle of the island, vendors hawked small gadgets or quick food, construction crews hurried to and from their assignments, and, over everything, the never-ending propaganda blared forth from the huge screens that hung over the promenade approach. Glancing back impatiently, she saw Toby unplugging from the access terminal secreted in this alcove and stepped back from the ledge. "Well? Any clues on why Papa Legs wants to see us?"

"You mostly, and no, not really." Toby grunted softly as the last of his equipment retracted into his armor and his crab-arms settled into place. "All I could find was the usual rumors that he's wound up about something, probably Statesman, and he's picked a lucky Destined One to do his errand running this time. Some of the Soldiers are relieved, some are insulted. I'll make sure to point out the insulted ones so you can pick them in case we can actually put together a team."

"Ha. Maybe I'll get some of the relieved ones, too, teach them not to be quite so quick to sit back." Spyder checked her uniform in a reflective pane of glass - white spotless, spider gleaming, and hair neatly tucked up. She actually looked like a proper Widow, even if the colors were technically wrong - but she'd earned the right to wear Arbiter's whites, and she wasn't going to hide that. "Are you sure you don't want to show off some of your flash? It might impress him - definitely way more than a standard uniform and helmet."

"I think I'd rather play dumb aide and go unnoticed. Being overlooked could be an advantage for both of us, and in that nest, any advantage is all to the good. Besides, any information we can bring out can only help Banestar's current plans, and if they're looking at your shining self, they won't notice me as much."

"I'm not entirely sure that'll work, Toby - this is Arachnos. They've had a complete file on you since you were sixteen and smaller than I am. I don't think they'll buy you getting stupider under Banestar, and I doubt they'll believe I'd come in with anyone else. You can try, though." Spyder shrugged, and started down the wall, nimbly leaping and flipping from one small purchase point to the next until she reached the steps at the base of the tower. Ignoring the people in line, she and Toby strode up the stairs and through the doors into the poorly lit bureaucratic lobby. Here, the petitioners were stymied by incomprehensible forms and perpetually closed counters; the 'next assisting' number was regularly a hundred behind the next ticket to be given out. An aura of helplessness and despair permeated the room, and Spyder was just as pleased to pass through it into the hallway beyond.

As they moved toward the elevator that would take them to the top of the tower, Spyder noted the alcoves and support beams that she would put the bombs on if she were here to bring the structure down. Same sort of building as all of the bases that are scattered over the Isles and on the shores around Paragon. Stupid. If people can take those down, they can take this one down, too. Too much dependence on the mind readers and foretellers to stop things before it happens, but it only takes one last minute decision during a time of chaos by one person with a good block to change things.

She glanced back at Toby as they rode up. "I hate that helmet on you," she muttered.

"I know," he rumbled back. "I think I'll wear it more often."

"Do it and I'll pour sand in your sock drawer. We're here." Spyder pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin, then stepped out into the dimly lit chamber at the very top of the tower. She could just make out the immense figure on the other side of the space, staring out through the windows overlooking the city below. She moved to the center of the room and stopped, waiting, Toby a comforting, solid presence behind her. It's no worse than being called up before Endaruta when he was in a mood, and probably better. I couldn't escape Endaruta back then; I'm pretty sure I can get out of here in one piece if I have to. I'd miss Toby, though.

"Silver Spyder." The voice that issued from the dark, hulking figure was like rolling gravel, deep and rough. "I never expected you to survive this long, to be truthful. You put yourself on my list, and then made it conform to your will." He turned to face her, and his eyes glowed dimly, red in the black shadows of his face. "I am pleased with your success - it shows strength and cunning, qualities that will serve you well in the years to come."

"Thank you, sir." Spyder clasped her hands behind her back and tried not to fidget. What does he want? Nobody praises without wanting something, he's got to want something, what does he want, where's the catch?

The silhouette motioned with one of his extra appendages, and a monitor snapped on above and to the right of Spyder's head, causing her to start with surprise. A blurry picture, some sort of headshot, hung in the field of view and peering at it, she gave an internal groan of recognition and annoyance. The pictures on the monitor began to change to long-distance shots of Cende and a blond man in company at different times and locations, progressing as if through a vacation slide show.

"Your sister, I believe?" Recluse inquired. Spyder nodded in annoyed confirmation, and he continued, his voice dropping into menacing tones, "I want her brought to me. You will arrange this."

Oh, hell. Spyder drew a deep breath. "My Lord, that... will be difficult at the immediate moment, and may prove impossible in the long term."

"Explain."

"Di... That is, Cende has returned to Nepal to... er. Fight off a forced marriage. Literally. She is unreachable for the next few days, and if the fight doesn't go her way, she'll be dead."

Spyder heard a cracking noise, followed a moment later by the sounds of something dropping onto the floor in multiple pieces. Eventually, the voice rumbled back out of the darkness, "I want him devastated."

"Oh, well, that's easy," she found herself saying cheerfully, "I want her devastated, too, so I planned for it, and I think we'll get them both, and the timing's great! Even if she might miss it. And it'll totally screw with Longbow as a plus!"

She was never entirely certain afterwards how he'd gotten across the space between them, but he was suddenly there, looming over her, his extra spider-legs spread to cage her - or impale her - his hands crushing her shoulders as he nearly lifted her off the floor. "Longbow is a valid target. My grandniece is not, is that clear? And the Statesman is mine to kill, mine and mine alone."

"No, no, your grand-niece is being left out, it's just a newspaper story, it's making Longbow and Wyvern look bad, that's all, and providing consternation to our enemies! Nobody's dying, I'm just sowing confusion and discord. It'll upset everybody, especially Dina and Statesman, and if everything goes right, they should be off balance for a while. Well, him, anyway. Her once she gets back. And everyone will be pointing fingers at everyone else." Long practice allowed Spyder to keep her voice light and airy, but inside she was seething at this treatment.

His eyes bored into her for a long moment while he held her uncomfortably close. She had time to reflect that this was an old man she didn't want to get any more intimate with before he finally let her go and moved back to his window. "It will suffice. You have my permission to continue with that form of harassment - for now. If it proves unsuccessful, and your sister returns from Nepal intact, you will bring her to me. If she does not return, I will find another use for you." He turned away, once again only visible as a silhouette against the night-lit window. "Go now."

Spyder, carefully projecting an aura of confidence, strode from the room. Only her hands, tightly clenched into fists at her side, gave away her agitation until they reached the elevator. She punched the button for the main floor, then turned on Toby as the doors closed. "That... he... I... argh!"

Toby reached out and pressed Spyder's shoulders to face the door again. "Not here. You don't know who's watching, or listening. Keep cool until you're at home."

Spyder, still spluttering incoherently, gritted her teeth and finished turning around just as the doors opened. Stepping out, she came to a quick halt as a pair of Bane Spiders stepped up in front of her, flanking a stern-looking man in Arbiter white. She could feel Toby's hand on her back, steadying her as he stepped up behind her.

"Arbiter Hawk." She thought that was polite enough, and it was about as much as she could manage just now without spitting.

"Silver Spyder," Hawk responded with a slight nod. "I won't detain you long. I wanted, however, to thank Crab Stevenson here for his assistance in our unscheduled ICE testing and training session this morning. His back-door placements and information worms were well executed, and provided exactly what we needed to test our new systems against." The Arbiter smiled frostily and nodded to Toby before stepping back and waving the Bane soldiers back as well.

Toby cleared his throat. "I am, of course, happy to serve Arachnos. And I'll make sure to run a complete systems check as soon as I'm home - I'll send anything left behind back to you."

"You do that. Remember, Stevenson, you may be good enough to get into the outer systems, but if you were capable of getting into the Tower systems, you'd be working in the Tower. Dismissed, soldier."

Without a word, Toby saluted and gently urged Spyder out through the lobby and to the plaza beyond. Finding an empty corner, he removed his helmet and began to quietly swear.

"Did they really close all your back doors?"

"Maybe." Toby opened the control panel on his gauntlet and began to punch in commands. "I put in five that I documented in my personal notes, and two more than I didn't document before we left. I'm not testing any of them just yet, and especially not before I run that internal check. I did get some information off a trickle feed that I don't think they discovered, but the entire system locked down when my info worms got caught. I got distracted by your suicide attempt back there." He sighed and shook his head. "C'mon. We need to get back to the base."

"Why the base?" Spyder grumped. "I want to go home. I have a bottle of very good whiskey at home, and I want to drink it. I can't drink anything at the base."

"The base because I want Dr. Jackson's help in running this system check, and because you need to tell the Boss what Recluse said - before he finds out some other way. And then you need to get some sort of exercise before you explode. I'd rather not tranq you; you'll never forgive me if you're knocked out when the papers hit the stands tomorrow."

"Oh, I so wouldn't. Fine, okay, but don't glare at me if I pick some kind of exercise you don't approve of," Spyder smirked at Toby as they found the local teleport transmitter. "If I'm supposed to be doing it to relax, I'm going to relax my way."

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 56.

Paragon City, Saturday morning

Marcus stepped through the portal into the Star Patrol base and stopped short on the platform, looking at the faces turned up to him. Shalice, Sorina Tavarisch, and Andrea Blake looked concerned; Ray Sharpe, Manticore, Positron, and Synapse looked disgusted. Thinking back along his path this morning, Marcus tried to recall if he noticed anything out of the ordinary - after leaving Cende's apartment just before dawn, he'd flown back to his own house to get cleaned up and changed, then had made a quick stop by Monica's grave before coming to this meeting he'd insisted happen early enough to undercut most of the day's emergencies. From the expressions on the others' faces, it was apparently not early enough.

"What's happened now?" He was fairly certain he didn't want to know, but this was his job, and one more thing wasn't going to break him.

"I'll take it you haven't seen the papers yet today, then." The edge in Sharpe's voice could have cut steel, but it wasn't aimed at anyone in the room. "We have the full complement of morning editions in the conference room."

Marcus followed the blue-skinned commander into the Star Patrol's command conference chamber with some trepidation. As he entered, his eyes fell on the papers scattered over the table, and their bold headlines jumped out at him. He frowned, then picked up the closest and studied it with rising ire. Behind him, he heard Synapse groan.

"He would have to pick up that one first."

"Of course he did," Manticore was matter-of-fact as he went around the table to the coffee service on the other side of the room. "It's both the most eye-catching and the worst of the lot, which means it's guaranteed to get his blood pressure up."

Marcus threw down the paper and pointed to it, biting out, "That... is there any truth in that? At all?"

The Star Patrol leaders glanced at each other, then at the lurid headline. Over a long-distance shot of Cende and Marcus, both in uniform, the Caper's lead story for the morning screamed out, Statesman's Mistress an International Assassin, Longbow & Wyvern Hiding Evidence!

"The Tattler is better, since Harvey likes Cende, and the Times is trying to be careful about not presenting it all as established fact, using words like alleged and possible and unconfirmed... but essentially, it's the same story in all of them." Tava took a deep breath as she sat up straight. "As far as if it's true or not, there's two parts of it. The easy part is that all this was 'leaked information' from Wyvern and Longbow, and that they - and by extension, Manticore and Statesman - were working to cover this all up."

Manticore snorted. "I've already got my people working on finding out where the planted information came from. Like you said, that's the easy part."

Shalice nodded, "I've already spoken with Alexis as well, and she's got Freedom Corp specialists taking apart the Longbow computer systems. There was an upgrade scheduled anyway; this just put an urgent spin on it. If there was any information of this sort in the Longbow system, they'll find it."

Andrea nodded as she took over, "That leaves the part about Cende, and that part's much harder. Is she a fully trained assassin? Could be... she certainly has the skills to be. Does she serve the patron Goddess of thieves? She's always claimed that her Goddess is the patron of the night and dreams, but it's possible that the same Goddess could also protect thieves, we simply don't know. As far as her destiny to become a leader of some sort of evil clan, or that she's following a prophecy to take over the world... she's so reticent about her history and her background that almost anything is possible. About the only thing I'd be willing to categorically state is that she is absolutely not here to assassinate Statesman."

Marcus managed a smile at that. "How can you be so certain of that?"

"Mostly because she's been in love with you for as long as I've known her," Andrea admitted. "But also because she's had plenty of time alone with you, and she's never actually tried."

Marcus nodded in agreement, "She hasn't, you're right." Picking up a copy of the Tattler, he scanned the headline - Longbow & Wyvern Investigated in a Cover-up Scandal! - and sighed. "The Longbow and Wyvern aspect of this is not something we can rebut without proof. Alexis will get the proof for Longbow; Justin, I know you can be relied upon for Wyvern." Studying the article further, he frowned slightly. "It says here that, quote, Cende and Statesman were unavailable for comment. Additionally, no members of Star Patrol, Freedom Phalanx, Wyvern, or Longbow were reachable for comments, unquote. Now, I was on emergency contact only last night, but I checked my messages and I know I didn't have any requests for comment. Did any of you?"

Negative replies came from around the room, and Positron looked up from his communicator. "I just got back confirmation from the rest of the Phalanx that they weren't contacted; neither were Freedom Corps' or Longbow's official communication channels. Which I'd expect from the Caper, but the Times is too professional for that, and Harvey's usually careful enough to check that his reporters actually have called for quotes. I suspect that the reporters did find someone late last night and that person blew them off, thinking it was a joke - on the surface, the story sounds absolutely preposterous."

Marcus frowned, "I hate to think you might be right, but I suspect you are. Alexis will find out and handle it." He looked at the Star Patrol leaders and sighed. "I know you're able to handle your own relationship with the press, but in this particular case, would you mind if we all went through the Freedom Corps press room? I'd like to present a united front."

"We're members of Freedom Corps; going through their press room makes sense to me and may simplify matters. We'll let the other leaders know, and let everyone in the Patrol know that's where they can refer anyone who asks." Sharpe shook his head. "Frankly, this is too well timed to be coincidental; someone wants us off balance."

"Well, it's going to work, at least a little bit." Manticore's tone was sour. "Wyvern will issue its own short statement once it has the proof we need that it never had the files it's accused of having, but until then, we've got analysts sweeping the system rather than going through new data. Longbow and Freedom Corps' systems are almost totally offline until the emergency upgrade and systems reviews are completed, and we're all going to have reporters camped out on our doorsteps and dogging our footsteps for another week at least. Never mind what it's going to do when Cende finally resurfaces."

"Which brings me to why we're here in the first place." Marcus turned to the Star Patrol leaders in determination. "Where is she? I know she said she had to deal with an unwanted marriage and that they might not let her return, but I'm pretty sure we can get around a revoked visa. I'm going to go get her and bring her home; I just need you to give me her coordinates."

Tava, Andrea, Sharpe, and Positron exchanged dismayed looks. Shalice, watching them with narrowed eyes, suddenly went ashen, clapped her hand over her mouth, and turned to face Manticore, who looked up from his smartphone in surprise. Synapse looked from Marcus to the others and then back to Marcus, and Marcus was gratified to see the other man look as baffled as he felt.

"I think we're missing something important, Boss, and given the way everything else is falling out, it isn't going to be good." The speedster slouched back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I'm betting on it not being as simple as walking up to the church and sliding you in place of the unwanted groom."

"We don't know where she is, actually," Andrea admitted slowly. "The location of her temple is another one of those things she couldn't tell us, and it apparently has some sort of anti-location protection on it. We've been trying to trace her communicator, but it stopped transmitting at the Kathmandu airport. At this point, she could be anywhere in the Himalayas."

"I have a search program looking for her mediporter signal, since that's a much newer, subtler, and less well-known technology, but it is still a great deal of area to cover and we're not sure how much time she actually has." Tava glanced at him, her eyes dark with worry. "For all we know, the mediporter has stopped transmitting because it's too late."

"Too late for what? Why would her mediporter stop transmitting?" Marcus could feel the tension gathering in his jaw and shoulders, and was unsurprised when he felt Shalice attempting to soothe him.

"We thought she had told you, but apparently not all of it." Sharpe's tone was uncharacteristically gentle, and for a brief moment, Marcus hated the man. "She is going to stop an unwanted marriage, yes, but apparently the way that she has to do this is some sort of fight to the death."

"And you let her go in without backup?" Having had more time to get over his shock, Manticore was able to ask what Marcus was only just beginning to think.

"She has, over time, convinced us that it is more dangerous to send people with her than to let her go alone, and this time she was adamant," Sharpe replied, frowning. "But no, it was not our intention to let her go in without backup. As we said, we were tracking her by satellite through her communicator. I was also tracking her through magic, and that cut off shortly afterward, apparently directly over a ravine in a particularly wild and unsettled part of the mountains. I can forward the satellite imagery to you if you want to go over it yourself. We had every intention of having a team ready to go on a moment's notice, but we lost her." Sharpe's frustration at the admission was palpable.

"Commander Sharpe?" The slightly digital female voice cut off Marcus before he could say anything else. "There is a high priority e-mail addressed to you from the Freedom Corps address of Captain Collins. Keyword search includes the terms Cende, backup, and the phrase 'don't be mad'. Would you like immediate delivery?"

Sharpe groaned, "Yes, deliver it now." Pulling out his smartphone, the commander scanned the email and then shook his head. "Helena, you impetuous idiot. Tava, can you expand your search parameters to look for two mediporter signals?"

"Da, but two? What's Helena done?"

Sharpe addressed the room as a whole, "This email was scheduled to be delivered in about eighteen hours, but due to the systems vacuuming happening, was sent now. Captain Helena Collins believes she has figured out a way to sneak in to Cende's valley home, and has gone in as Cende's backup. As it happens, they work well together, so if Collins has made it in, they'll be a formidable team. She is also going to be finding intel on what the hell is actually going on in that valley, and plans on bringing back a full report, so we know what kind of danger Cende keeps putting herself into every time she goes home. She said she took personal leave to do this on her own so that we could truthfully deny any knowledge of her actions in case something happened."

Synapse was shaking his head. "So now we have two of them in there, and we can't get either one of them out."

"Collins is my student, so tracking her with magic should be easier than tracking Cende. I have a better chance of actually finding them that way. Getting in may still be a challenge, but between the eight of us, if we have to go in on a rescue mission, I'm pretty sure that nothing standing in our way is going to remain there for long." Sharpe glanced at Marcus' face, and nodded, "Not if they're standing between him and Cende, anyway. We'll keep looking, and in the meantime, have faith in them. They're both strong, competent women, and they may not need rescuing."

Abruptly, Marcus had had enough. He pushed away from the table and stood, moving toward the door and the portal beyond, growling over his shoulder as he left, "I'll be in Boomtown; my phone is on emergency contact if I'm needed. Find them!"

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 57.

Mitanni Valley, Saturday night

Helena followed Cende down the temple hallway, eyeing the torches on the walls with disfavor - she recalled the times that Cende had said that the ruined, underground city of Oranbega reminded her of the deeper areas of the temples where she was raised, and now Helena saw the resemblances for herself.

"Are you sure this place wasn't built by the Oranbegans?" Helena asked Davos, walking along beside her.

Davos shook his head, "We don't know who built it originally. It's an enormous place, really, large enough to hold both temples - Ratri and Indra both, with all the priests and servants - and the training and support facilities for the Maryanni elite. But it was here when our people arrived; the town was a poor and small village then with no lords and nothing to support. There are dozens of abandoned villages at the bases of other, similar temples in valleys just like this one throughout these mountains, and just as many villages of varying sizes supporting temples of equally varying sizes. We don't know when any of them were built, even though we have records of when a fair number of them were finally abandoned."

"Every five years, the Lord High Priest sends out an expedition of Initiates to collect records from the other temples." The smooth masculine voice drifted out from the shadows of an alcove. The voice was accompanied by a young man in robes similar in cut to those Helena, Cende, and Davos wore, but colored yellow and white instead of blue and grey. The young man bowed Davos, and then again to Cende. "Speaker Davos, Rajakumari Dina, Indra's blessings on you both. I believe you had a task you wished my assistance with this evening?"

"Ratri's blessings on you, Anil," responded Davos. Motioning to the smaller American at his side, he continued, "This is... "

"Helena." Helena interrupted, stepping up to the young man in white; she thought he might be one of the better-looking men she'd seen today. Most of the fighters had been built along Cende's lines - long, lean fighters meant for speed and agility - but this guy was solidly built, with wide shoulders and a barrel chest. His black hair was on the long side, brushing his shoulders, and his eyes were a deep, intense blue. She smiled up into those eyes as she offered him her hand, "I’m very pleased to meet you."

Anil hesitated a moment, then took her hand. Instead of shaking it, however, he laid a light, polite kiss on the back of it, and then bowed over it. "The pleasure is mine, Miss Helena."

From behind her, Helena heard Cende's voice. "Davos? Are you sure this is wise?"

"Anil sought me out," the Speaker replied calmly, "and has assisted us before. He's one of the few in Indra's priesthood we can trust, and he understands the control room. He'll be less suspicious than any of our people down there, and he'll be able to make sure Helena has anything she needs."

"I also bring this, from another Brother." Anil pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Davos. "The Brother is one of the Summoners for the Trial tomorrow; these are their instructions."

Davos read the paper and frowned. "They've been ordered to prepare for a full day casting."

"Yes," Anil nodded. "The only reason to do so is to bring in additional demons, or to provide healing and other benefits to the demon prince that is brought through."

Cende glanced at the paper, "It tells them to come to the main temple for their placements. Do we know anything about where they'll be placed for the castings?"

"There are multiple locations possible. Not all will be used, and as I am not a Summoner..." Anil shrugged. "I can provide you with a map of all of the possible locations, however."

Davos nodded. "As long as we know the possible locations, we'll work from there. Thank you, Anil." He sighed. "You were right, though, that we have a task we need your assistance with. We need to get Helena onto the control room computer."

Anil eyed Helena doubtfully, "Does she know how to use one?"

Helena rolled her eyes, "Can a 10-year-old program a DVR?"

Davos patted Helena's shoulder. "Calmly, calmly. Anil is the closest thing we have to a computer expert here, and he's used to people more like Dina and myself. Remember how technologically backwards we are." Answering Anil, he said, "She can do more with one than even you can, actually. She's quite good, and rather more experienced. She is our best chance of getting everything in those computers of yours out of here and properly analyzed."

"I'm a damn good analyst, too. If there's anything in there to find, I'll find it." Helena shrugged. "And once we know what it is, we'll know how to deal with it."

Anil nodded. "Very well then. This way, if you please, Mahila Helena."

Helena took a few steps to follow, then turned back, "But what about Cen.. I mean, Dina?"

Cende shook her head. "Go, Helena, it's all right. I have to spend the rest of the night in ritual and meditation that you can't help with. Get this information, and then get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, I promise."

Helena nodded, "I'll hold you to that." Turning away, she moved up beside Anil, and glanced up at him as they walked. "So... what was that you called me? Mahila?"

"A title. It is respectful. In English, it means Lady. For you to have the skills you do – to have come here undetected, to have computer skills, and to have the respect of the Speaker and the Rajakumari, you must be one of the Elite of your own people, yes?"

Helena blushed. "Well, I guess. It's not really considered the same way back home. And Rajakumari? What does that mean?"

"Ah... Princess, I believe, is the best translation." Anil paused and looked down at her critically, "You're in the robes for a Novice of Ratri, and you're supposed to be assisting a Priest of Indra. This is not going to work without raising suspicions, especially if that Priest is me. I'm going to have to find you something else. Wait here in this alcove a moment, please. Do not go any further without me – it is absolutely not safe." Without waiting for her assent, he turned a corner and strode off.

Fuming, Helena crossed her arms and waited, staring down the hallway. The Priest was back relatively quickly, holding a cream-colored bundle out to her almost as a peace offering.

"If you had proceeded solely in your current robes, you may have been questioned," he stated, before she had a chance to speak, "and if you are caught, it will be dangerous for both of us, as well as the Speaker and the Rajakumari. It is better for you to have these on while you are with me."

"What are they?" Helena asked, grudgingly, as she sorted out the cloth bundle.

"Priest Initiate robes for Indra, with a silence marker on them. They indicate that the one who wears them is in a period of silent contemplation before final vows, and may not speak. This means anyone who sees us will speak to me, and your inability to speak our language will remain undiscovered. You will also remain unmolested while at the computer." Anil glanced down the hallways, then continued to the control room.

"On the downside, I can't talk to you while anyone else is around." Helena finished settling the robes around herself as she moved, twitching to try and get them to lay flat on top of the one she already wore. At least I'm finally getting warm. It's cold here!

"It's a hazard we'll have to risk for your safety. I would far rather return you intact than to explain why the Old Man has you."

"Point taken. Although, that's a question... You're a Priest of Indra. Why aren't you working for the Old Man?"

"That has a complex answer." Anil paused as he opened the door to the control room and looked around. "Good, it's currently unstaffed. We have perhaps an hour at most before the night crew comes in. You'll use my computer; it's the best one here." As he lead Helena to a small desk against the far wall, he seemed at first to be avoiding her question, although once he'd made sure she was comfortably seated, he began to speak softly.

"I am the second child of a Maryanni noble family. My older brother is an Elite. My younger brother manages our family holdings. My four sisters have all made good marriages, although my youngest sister began as a novice of Ratri. For the Maryanni, it is how things have always been done for generations - until the Prophecy started to move."

Perched on the chair with her feet folded under her, lotus-style, Helena listened with one ear as she worked her way into the computer network. There was practically no security on the system; she could see the firewalls and programs designed to lock down the already heavily restricted access to the outside world, but within the internal system, it was wide open. She supposed it made sense – the only people with access were the people with access to this room, and the only people who could get into this room were the people who were vetted by Endaruta. Well, until now, anyway. There were a few nominally hidden files and folders which were no problem to dig up, and one or two password protected files – those she could just download, and take her time getting into on her own system. Looking around for a thumb drive, she frowned in disbelief – there was absolutely no visible way to copy the files off.

Anil paused as she began looking around. "What do you need?"

"Do you have any way to copy files? I know you're probably not on a cloud, but maybe a couple of thumb drives?"

He opened a drawer, reached in, and pulled out a jury-rigged peripheral hub and three thumb-drives. "A few of our more recent returnees brought these with them. I was able to rig this to use them, but it's slow." He hooked the port into the back of the computer and plugged in the drives. "The advantage is that at least you can use all three of them at once."

Helena winced at the speed of the hub, and shook her head. "Well, it'll all fit. It'll just take a while." She sat back to look at him. "You were saying about your family and the Prophecy?"

Anil shook his head regretfully, "I followed in my family's footsteps. I thought it was as it should be, and I closed my eyes to those things that I knew were not right... until I no longer could. Until it affected my family. A man is not a man if he sees that which is wrong, and does nothing to make it right. He is not a man if he does nothing to uphold his principles. I saw things that I knew were wrong, and I did nothing, until after my youngest sister upheld her principles and paid for them. Then I realized that I had closed my eyes, and done less than a girl-child. And even now - even after the damage done to Rinchen - my family still follows the old ways, still closes their eyes, because they are afraid to go against an insane old man." He clenched his fist, and a small amount of electricity crackled over his hand. "You wish to know why I ally myself with the Speaker and Rajakumari? Because I have seen evil. Because my little sister was destroyed by that evil. And because I will no longer close my eyes as my family and my people and my home are lead to destruction by an insane, evil, old man who wishes more for his own glory than the well-being of those he purports to lead."

Helena leaned forward, laying her hand over Anil's for a moment. "There's phrase we use back home when asked why we do what we do – 'Because if I don’t then who will?' – and maybe that's where you're at now." Unsure of what else to say, she glanced at her screen, saw the last of the download finish, and sighed in relief. "It's done; we can safely get out of here. Let me just get these drives, and then you can show me more of the temple and find me something to eat."

Anil smiled wryly as he stood and headed out of the room. "You must lead your intended husband on a merry chase, keeping him on his toes at all times. He is a lucky man to have you in his future, Mahila Helena."

"Um. What intended husband? I'm not engaged. I don't even have a boyfriend." Helena waited as Anil checked to make sure the passage was clear and then followed him out of the room, making sure to put the thumb drives in the pockets of the jeans she wore under all the layers of robes, wondering as she did if this was his way of finding out if she was single. He could just ask. It's not like it's that hard.

"But surely your father has arranged a marriage for you? You're quite talented and very lovely; is it only that he has not found a man worthy of your hand?"

Is he serious? "I'm an orphan, actually, but... Anil, you do realize that's not how things are done out in the rest of the world, right? Men and women decide they want to get married because they love each other, not because their parents tell them to. It's about compatibility and mutual interest." She caught him glancing down at her out of the corner of his eye and blushed a little. Why am I blushing? She was irritated with herself. It's not as if I said anything forward!

"I see," came the reply, in his smooth, deep voice. "The concept of courting that I've read about. It's an interesting idea. Well, if one would like to seek permission to court you, who would they apply to?"

Struck by a sudden, impish urge, Helena grinned. "Well, if someone wanted to get permission, I suppose they could ask my teacher and senior officer, Commander Ray Sharpe of the Star Patrol."

Anil was quiet for a moment before bowing lightly. "You indicated that you were hungry. Follow me, and we shall do what we can to accommodate your desires for food and information. And perhaps in the process, you will tell me more of your culture and how one patrols the stars."

Since this story is very long, comments go into a separate comment thread. The comment thread can be found here.

-------------------------

Chapter 58.

Mitanni Valley, Sunday morning

Following the novice that was sent for her through the hallways, Helena reflected that the temples weren't really much better in the day than they were at night – at least not the parts that were this far underground. She felt as if she were trapped in Oranbega and she was beginning to wish she'd thought to get a message out to Star Patrol while she'd been in the control room. Nobody should be worried about her yet, since her message to Commander Sharpe shouldn't be arriving for another six hours, but she'd feel a lot better knowing they were able to drop a team in at a moment's notice if something really went wrong. Spotting Davos up ahead, she hurried her steps forward, passing the novice and joining the Speaker at the open door he had paused at.

He motioned her inside before she could say anything and then turned away to speak with the novice quietly. Helena frowned, but went in anyway. Inside, she found Cende, dressed in black-dyed leathers that covered her legs and chest but left her arms and shoulders bare. Distracted, Helena frowned. "Shouldn't you be wearing more armor? And when did you get tats?"

"This is what we fight the Trials in. If my skills are not sufficient to protect me, then I fail. It is our way. If by tats you mean tattoos, I have had them since I passed my skills Trials, two years before I came to Paragon. All Elite have the one on my left shoulder; it combines the symbol of Indra with that of Ratri and is the mark of the Maryanni. The one on the right... well, it is only mine, and none outside of a selected few Priests of Ratri have seen it until now."

"It looks a little familiar, like I've seen something similar before."

"You have." Cende turned to fully face Helena and gently smiled. "Davos explained more about Anil's help. Was he able to get you into the control room?"

"Yep. And then he got me fed, and showed me different parts of the temple, and told me more of your history. This place is weird, but it explains tons about you. There seems to be a lot of people quietly rooting for you, which is good for our side, but it'd be nice if they weren't too scared to be a little less quiet about it. Practically nobody's willing to step out of line, or do more than passively help by looking the other way."

"They're all terrified of being judged as having gone against the will of Indra." Davos entered the conversation. "If you had more time with us, you would understand more, but it's better that your visit is kept short until you're in less danger from it. To that end... were you and Anil able to come up with any thoughts on coping with the Summoners?"

"Anil gave me the map just before he showed me back to Dina's room, but he said he shouldn't know what plans there are. He said he's good at keeping people out of surface thoughts, but he can't hold up to direct probes, and he doesn't want to be accidentally thinking about anything dangerous that a probe could find." Helena took a deep breath and focused on Davos. She'd figured out over night that he was the one she had to convince to go along with her plan, since he was the one who would be able to find her the help she needed. "I did come up with an idea, though, based on my experience in Paragon."

Davos nodded, "Good. If you would, please, what is your plan?"

"Well, my experience with the Circle of Thorns is that when they're interrupted while casting, whatever they're working on stops. My training tells me that if you're interrupted in a spell, you have to start over, you can't just pick up where you left off – and obviously, if a spell caster is incapacitated, they can't start over." Helena paused as a soft knock sounded at the door.

Davos crossed the room and admitted a tall, whipcord lean man with a bald head and a scarred face, speaking over his shoulder to Helena as he did so. "I think I see where you're headed. Go on please."

Helena, glancing at the newcomer curiously, shrugged. "If we can get a few of your Elite who are on Cende's side in all of this to go to the places where the Summoners are and knock them out, we can stop their cheating as soon as it starts. If they're even half as good as she is it shouldn't take more than one or two Elite per group of Summoners, since usually casters in the middle of spells aren't too aware of what's happening around them until they're interrupted."

"It's a good plan," Cende admitted. "There's just one problem, and it's one you had no way of being aware of – all of the Maryanni, including the Elite, are required to be visibly in attendance from before the Trial starts until after it is declared ended. If any are noted to be absent they may be harshly questioned, especially once it comes out that the Summoners were attacked."

The bald man spoke up, "The Maryanni, yes, but not the warrior-priest students of Ratri." He smiled grimly to Helena and Cende and continued, "The first class is small, but they are ready for this test, and they have been hidden as well as we can hide them. If Captain Collins is up to leading them, I believe they will perform admirably for her."

"There's only seven of them, will that be enough?" Davos' concern was evident in his face and voice. "Gephel, I trust your judgment of their skills, but seven – eight including Helena – won't be enough to take out all the Summoners at once."

"No, they'll have to remove one group at a time, and there's no help for that. I have faith in Papahai Dina's ability to withstand this trial – Indra and Ratri are both with her. I see no other path but that which has been laid out here." Gephel nodded to Helena, "Do you have something nondescript with you that you can fight in, Captain Collins? For the safety of those who remain behind, we do not wish the robes of Ratri associated with this endeavor."

"Oh, um." Helena was taken aback. She hadn't meant to let Cende out of her sight for this fight, but taking out the Summoners was urgent. "Yeah, I'm wearing jeans and a sweater under all these robes."

"Very good. I will send you the trainees at the beginning of the Trial." Gephel paused, then turned to Cende and bowed deeply. "Fight well, Rajakumari. May the Lord and Lady guide and protect you." Moving quickly, the older man left, quietly closing the door after himself.

There was silence in the room for a long moment, then Davos turned and enveloped Cende in a tight hug. The surprise on her friend's normally serene face was enough to startle a giggle from Helena, and Davos turned enough to pull her into the hug with them.

"Ratri enfold you in Her arms and bless you both," the Speaker whispered. "May you both come through this unscathed and ready to go on to the next step." Releasing the women, he stepped back and straightened his robes. "I, like the rest of the Maryanni, must be visible well before the trial starts. Dina, you know the way. Helena, you'll masquerade as her escort to the grounds, but keep your robes on and your hood up until the trainees get to you. Both of you - be careful!"

"Blessings of Ratri on you, Speaker Davos." Cende bowed, and an expression of quiet serenity flooded her face. Helena knew that expression; it meant the other woman was centering herself in preparation to unleash a serious amount of damage on an unsuspecting enemy.

Davos apparently knew the expression as well; Helena could see some of the tension in his face ease marginally before he nodded to her, and then left the room.

Helena fidgeted in place for a moment, unsure of what to do next, and jumped in surprise as Cende enfolded her in another gentle hug.

"Thank you, Helena," whispered the tall redhead. "You being here is a blessing, and I appreciate all you have done thus far."

"We're friends and teammates. It's what we do for each other. You'd do it for me, too."

"Even still, thank you. Yet, even still I have one more favor to ask of you, and it's not an easy one to request."

Helena shook free of the hug and turned to look askance at Cende, "I'm not leaving before this is done, so don't even think about it."

"I'm not." Cende's smile flitted across her face. "I already tried that. It didn't work and I'm not foolish enough to try again. No, it's Davos. There's a very good chance I won't survive this, no matter what we do here. If I die here... no, Helena, don't make that face, listen! If I die, please promise me you'll get Davos out of here. He'll try to delay, but don't let him. Get him to Paragon, get him to Marcus and Star Patrol, help him tell them everything. Once I'm gone, it's only a matter of time before Endaruta moves against the Temple, and Davos will be his first target."

Helena grimaced, "Yeah, I can see how he's important. Without you and Davos, anyone who's willing to stand up to the Old Man now will either fold or get themselves killed. I don't like it, but I promise; if you die, I'll make sure he gets out ASAP. Just, in the meantime, I'm gonna do what I can to make sure you don't die, okay?"

Cende nodded. "I am all right with that, as long as you also take care of yourself. I believe our mediporters are blocked here, and I do not wish to explain to Commander Sharpe how you happened to become damaged during your 'personal leave'."

Helena just laughed.