Discovery

Abandoned Elvan Cruiser
Sentari Space

Terran year, 3749
Elvan, 17, 506
Unity, 151

How could they be dead? Jack Stryker refused to believe his eyes. He'd heard stories that Kaylith's ship had been sabotaged, but he'd clung to the hope the rumors had been false. Now with every step he took in this derelict vessel, it looked more and more as if it were true.

But it couldn't be true. It just...couldn't.

Straining to see beyond the narrow ray of his helmet's flashlight, he blinked as the beam sliced through the utter darkness of the stasis chamber. Floating shards of broken permaglas threw off rainbow reflections that temporarily dazzled Jack's eyes.

Listening as his eyes adjusted, he could hear the soft hum of the stasis chamber's power generators. For easy transport, each tube was built as a self-contained unit with its own power supply. The sound did much to lift his flagging spirits.

Then the light fell on a blast hole fracture in the first tube and his hope wavered. He stepped closer, the heaviness in his legs having nothing to do with the magnetic soles of his prezskinned feet. He'd dedicated his entire life to this moment, only to have his faith in destiny shattered.

He wanted to punch something. Kaylith was supposed to be alive. Dammit, she was supposed to be alive!

"Jack, haven't heard from you in a while. Everything okay?" Orna asked over the com line. "I almost have the main batteries on-line."

"I'm fine, Orna," Jack replied. "I've found the stasis chamber."

"Terrific! Is the crew all right?"

His helmet light flashed on the face of the first tube's occupant. Vacuum had preserved the body perfectly. Flaming red hair framed the man's face. But there was no fire in his frozen blue eyes. That light had been extinguished forever.

The heaviness in Jack's limbs spread to the pit of his stomach as he began examining the tubes one by one. The next cylinder belonged to a beautiful blonde woman. A ghost of her living smile curved her dead lips. Permaglas shards imbedded in her shoulders glittered like diamonds.

"Jack? Do you copy?"

"Copy, Orna." Something, probably permaglas, crunched under his feet as he continued down the row. His breath caught in his throat when the helmet light illuminated the sharp features of an Elvan woman. Kaylith?

He exhaled. No, the eyes that glittered back at him were frosty gray, not deep green. The lids were open wide, as if the woman had been startled from stasis sleep before she died.

Jack shook his head at the senselessness of it all and moved on to the next tube. This one held an Elvan man, dark of hair, eyes, and skin. The man looked uncommonly strong for an Elvan. Yet his strength hadn't saved him. He'd been helpless when his tube was sabotaged.

"Jack, talk to me. Tell me what you ssee!"

Dread now shadowed his every step. The next cylinder held a Tjorn woman. She'd been frozen for all time with her fists raised defiantly, her mouth open in a war cry. Permaglas chips sparkled all over her blue skin and hair.

"They're dead. It looks like someone used their tubes for target practice."

"Oh, no!" Orna's cry echoed his own despair. "All of them?"

He'd reached the last stasis tube. Jack turned toward it, wanting to shrink from what he might see, but still determined to know.

To his astonishment, his helmet light illuminated a smooth, intact surface. Cryogas drifted in a lazy white mist around the long, lean body inside.

He traced the vague outline of the figure with his helmet light. Gentle curves were revealed here and there. It was a female's body. He looked down and saw a tiny green light glowing on the tube's floor panel. Make that a live female's body! Could it really be-- "Kaylith?" Jack whispered. "Is that you?"

"Sstryker, ssay again?"

He couldn't answer. He wasn't sure he could even breathe. A rush of images and voices, some real, some not, flashed through his mind. He'd been searching for Kaylith for most of his life, convinced beyond all reason he would find her.

"Sstryker! Talk to me!"

The concern in Orna's voice snapped him out of his daze. Even so, he still didn't feel as if he was thinking straight. His mind felt heavy--cluttered. "Orna," he said softly, "We-we have a live one here. I think it's a woman."

There was a long pause on the com line, then Orna finally said, "Really? Are you ssure?"

Jack glanced at the tube's floor panel again. The tiny light that indicated the tube's active system stasis continued to cast a cheery green glow. "Yes, I'm sure. Hurry up and get the lights on, then bring the nullgravs over here!"

Stryker heard Orna's excited hiss over the com line even as he strained to see past the cryogas to identify the person inside. He'd known the Corban long enough to visualize her fingercoils knotting with delight.

"Is it the Great One?" Her voice held volumes of hope, fueling his own growing optimism.

He opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated. It looked like Kaylith. And with everything he had he wanted to believe it was Kaylith! But no, beyond being able to establish the woman's sex, he couldn't be sure who was in there.

Before he could speak, a third voice, one belonging to their crewmate, Dal, came on the com line. He was back on Needle, monitoring their progress from the cockpit. "Of course it isn't her," Dal said. "I've been telling you both all along that this is a complete waste of time. We're in the wrong sector."

"Ignore him, Jack," Orna said. "I always do. Am sswitching the main power batteries on...now!"

The stasis room suddenly became ablaze with light, revealing the extent of the damage to the tubes. Despite the grim sight of the five frozen bodies, Jack smiled when he heard Orna's whoop of triumph.

"Whoever it is, we will be the toasst of Unified University for rescuing her." Orna always looked on the bright side. It was one of the things Jack dearly loved about her.

"Not unless you slither over with the nullgravs now!"

"Keep your prezskin on. I'm coming."

"Hurry," Stryker said, peering into the stasis tube. His reflection in the icy permaglas superimposed itself over the occupant. He frowned, straining to see past the translucent image of his own blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair. Try as he might to see the woman inside, he couldn't tell if it was Kaylith.

No one had believed he could find Kaylith the Cursed...Kaylith the Legend. But the facts of this find supported his theory.

Fact one: this damaged ship was an Elvan Fleet cruiser class vessel. It was the exact same model as Talon; a ship Kaylith's Elvan crewmember Zar, who could very well have been the Elvan female in the stasis room, had stolen from the IML over a 150 years before. Orna's initial spectrum scan dated this vessel at 150 years.

Fact two: according to Elvan Mindmaster accounts, Kaylith's vessel had been sabotaged on its return journey from Sentarl. This vessel's starboard section had a blast hole the size of a flitter. The damage appeared to have come from inside. And it was definitely adrift in Sentari space.

Lastly, this cruiser's stasis tubes held six bodies. Two were Elvan, two more human and the other Tjorn. There'd been two Elvans and a Tjorn included in Kaylith's crew. The rest were said to be human, save Kaylith.

Jack's hand fisted on the permaglas barrier that separated him from his destiny. For years, he dreamed of Kaylith, never knowing why or how the dreams had begun. He'd delved into every vid, every file about her. Visited over a dozen worlds of long-lived races to get eyewitness accounts.

He knew her better than he knew himself.

On some worlds, she was considered a saint. On others-- an outlaw. Kaylith had been the enigma of her age, a walking contradiction no one had ever solved. Her death had been as mysterious as her life-- a life that still influenced the Unity today.

Despite Dal's doubts, he knew this woman was Kaylith. He knew it just as surely as he knew the sliding sound of Orna drawing near. Without turning around, he held out a hand for a nullgrav clamp.

A coral shaded appendage sheathed in clear prezskin deposited a clamp into his palm. "Now I know how grave robbers feel," Orna said, her gaze roaming over the frozen bodies. "Excited we have found them, and yet somehow guilty for disturbing their tomb."

"It's not a tomb, Orna. It's a stasis chamber."

He looked over and saw her staring up at the Tjorn woman. Orna looked uneasy...sort of excited, afraid, and sad all at once. "This one died fighting, didn't sshe?"

"Looks like it. She always was a hell of a warrior."

"What?"

Jack cleared his throat. "Nothing. Let's get this tube ready for transport."

Orna slid to the other side of the tube, pulling a clamp out of her utility belt. While her third and fourth tentacles worked to attach it, she reverently placed the hands of the other two onto the tube, her attention more on the woman inside than on attaching the clamp. Being a Corban, Orna was quite capable of doing more than one thing at time.

"Sstrange," she said. "I didn't think she'd look so human."

"She is human." Jack bit his lip as he attached his clamp to the tube. His hands felt sweaty beneath the prezskin. "Well, partly human, anyway."

"But I thought she looked more like an Elvan."

"She did. Kaylith was part Elvan too."

He didn't bother to point out the third part of her heritage, since Orna well knew Kaylith's story.

"Well, quit keeping me in suspense! Do you think this is the Great One or not?"

"Yes...I mean...I don't know!" Jack stammered in frustration. He'd been ridiculed too many times to risk being laughed at now--not now, when it mattered the most. "Be quiet, and let me work."

Orna let out a hissing sigh and turned her full attention to the job at hand.

For a Corban, she was quite beautiful. Her tail scales were a deep orange that graduated like a sunrise to the pale coral of her upper torso. Her four 'arms', really more like tentacles, had neatly buffed sets of seven appendages, giving her twenty-eight fingercoils in all, one in each set acting as an opposable thumb.

Beneath her helmet, he could see the thick quills that fell between her diamond shaped eyes in an inverted "V". Her pupils were solid gold and she rarely blinked. Two delicate nasal slits formed a second "V" which framed her iridescent peach-pink lips.

She bared her ivory fangs as she finished attaching the nullgrav, the Corban equivalent of a human's sardonic grin. "Are you ssure we can move her without interrupting the tube's power ssource?"

"The tube's power cells are fine. Why do I get the feeling you're teasing me?"

"Because you are acting like a cranky Tjorn. You've found her, Jack. You did what everyone, especially Dal, ssaid couldn't be done. Why aren't you happy? I am. I feel like I could sing."

Why wasn't he happy? What if Dal was right? What if this woman wasn't Kaylith? But he knew she was... knew she was.

"Well?"

Jack let out a sigh as he detached the tube's anchor cable, then switched on the nullgravs. They fired up with a reassuring high-pitched whine. "Maybe because after all these years of searching, I can't believe I've finally found her. It's just too good to be true."

Orna pushed at the now-floating stasis tube with a fingercoil. It drifted a foot or so towards the door. "Then let's get back to the sship, wake her up, and let her prove you and Dal wrong."

* * *

Needle was a standard issue science vessel. Her name belied her stolid lines, as she was built more for carrying scientific payloads than for stealth or speed. Her crew numbered three... four if you counted the skinbot, which nobody did. By mutual agreement, Needle's skinbot stayed locked in its storage closet since it usually hindered their missions more than it helped.

Dal was waiting for Orna and Stryker in the med lab. His Elvan face was set in austere lines, Dal's usual expression. Yet, his large gray eyes betrayed excitement when his gaze settled on the stasis tube.

Like most Elvans, Dal was tall and ethereal, all flat planes and acute angles. His elbows and knees stuck out in sharp points as he knelt to adjust the thermofilter on the med bed. "So, this is the Legend?" he asked, not bothering to use his voice or hide the skepticism in his mind.

Orna hissed and purposely slid over Dal's exposed foot with her heavy tail, then reached down a fingercoil to yank one of his elongated earlobes.

The right one, which held seven black quakka stone piercings.

Dal let out a yelp and glared at the passing Corban.

Jack chuckled as he removed his headgear. "Dal, you know your mindspeak gives Orna headaches."

"She should have evolved beyond that by now."

"Sshe will bite you next if you don't open your Elvan mouth," Orna said, depositing her headgear onto the nearest console. "If you were a proper telepath, it wouldn't bother me."

"I come from one of the oldest tiers of El--"

"Oh, ssave it," Orna snapped. "If you had the higher powers, you'd be ssitting pretty in Trinar, not sslepping about in this med lab."

"Orna, some day you'll go too far and I'll--"

"Enough!" Jack said. Ordinarily, he might enjoy listening to his crewmates bicker, but not now. Not today. "We have a patient here. Let's get to work."

"We will have to take it slow," Dal said, using ordinary voicespeak to appease Orna. "Over a dekkeon of stasis sleep, combined with the Legend's unusual anatomy makes a quick-wake risky."

"If she is the Legend, then waking her at all could be risky. The vids ssay she had the same powers as a Mindmaster."

"More powers than a Mindmaster," Dal corrected. "No one hears her mind unless she wishes it. No one can hide their thoughts if she wills it."

"Not that old Elvan quote again," muttered Orna. "What about the Ssentari fighting pheromone? Sshouldn't we take precautions?"

"We'll wear masks to guard against the pheromone," Jack said, donning a filter mask and passing one over to Dal. "Although her medical records state she was required to take hormone injections to counteract it. Stasis should have preserved her hormonal status, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious."

Once Dal had pulled on his mask, Jack deactivated the nullgravs. The stasis tube settled gently on the med bed. His hand shook as he turned the stasis tube's simple control knob past the Elvan symbol for 'quick wake' to 'wake'.

Before their eyes, the permaglas dissolved and the cryogas streamed upward to reveal the long, lean figure of the woman. Hair as dark as space fanned beneath her head. Her pale skin held an unhealthy bluish tint that nearly matched the blue of her form-fitting sleepsuit. Her facial features were mostly Elvan. She had a sharp nose and chin, though her lips were full and her earlobes were not elongated.

They looked as if they'd been crudely altered instead.

Jack couldn't believe his eyes. If the story was true...and he had good reason to believe it was... her mother had clipped the lobes off when Kaylith was five years old. The woman had performed the mutilation in full view of her court as punishment for disappointing Sentarl's queen.

The med bed's monitors beeped and chattered as it tried to understand the inexplicable. "She may not be the Legend, but whoever she is... she is unusual," Dal said, as he reached out to help the machines along.

Jack held his breath as they waited for the woman to release hers. Her chest rose slightly, then fell.

The Legend lived.

* * *

Flicker. A flash of light in an everlasting void... where?

Flicker. There! Kaylith groped for it, praying to the five moons it wasn't another dream. She'd had enough of dreams, save the One.

Flicker. The sea cave. Howls and misery. No. Not here. Anywhere, but here.

Flicker. Mount Trinar. The five moons circling above. Overwhelming loneliness. No!

Flicker. Terra, the Carolinas. Her feet dangled from a porch swing as she watched the sunset. Beads of moisture made the glass of lemonade in her hand slippery.

Nice dream, but this wasn't the One.

Flicker. A Tjorn plain, staked to the ground, her every breath agony. No!

Flicker. On the Talon, Black Tarna laughs as she ambushes a Corban freighter.

No!

Flicker. "You are safe here, Kaylith. Rest now and be well."

She'd found the One. With a happy sigh, she stopped fighting and allowed her mind to drift.

If she must dream, then she prefers this... the dream of her heart. She could not see his face, but she knew it well. Jack was Terran. He had deep bronze skin, dark blonde hair and cobalt blue eyes. He was kind, but strong.

And he loved her, as no one had ever loved her or ever would love her. She'd never met him and never would, since he didn't exist.

She should know. She'd been searching all her life for him.

"That's right. That's good. Rest, Kallie, rest."

He was the only one who would dare call her by a silly nickname.

She liked it. It was the secret name he'd given her.

"You are on the Unity science vessel Needle. The Elvan year is 17, 506. Unity year, 151. Terran year, 3749."

No. That wasn't right. It couldn't be.

"Her bio levels are sspiking again!"

A Corban? She was in the same room as a Corban? Shallog, save her!

"Levels sstill climbing."

"Shut up, Orna. He can see that."

"Sshut up your mind, Dal. My head's already ssplitting as it is."

Elvan with Corban? Impossible! WHO ARE YOU?

Silence greeted her mindshouted demand. This was wrong... the wrong time... the wrong people... all wrong.

Others had never intruded into her dreams with the One. And certainly not races that were at war. She wanted to demand an explanation, but felt too weary and heartsick to try again.

"Oola's sshell, she's sstrong," the Corban whispered a moment later.

"How's your head?" the Elvan asked in husky voicespeak.

"It may never be the ssame. Her mindshout is sstill ringing in my ears."

"You don't have ears."

"Certainly not as prominent as yours, Elvan."

"Kaylith, can you hear me?" asked Jack. "You are on the Unity science vessel Needle..."

She tuned him out and said nothing. Somehow the One person who she thought would never betray her had done exactly that. Another sea cave nightmare was preferable to this.

Well, no, not THAT. Still, this wasn't her usual dream of the One and she refused to take part in it. If she willed it, it would go away.

Kaylith fought, but the dream remained. No new dreams appeared in its place. How very odd. If nothing else, dream images were something she could always control.

She gave up, deciding maybe her mind had at last surrendered to madness. She'd always suspected it would.

"Her bio levels are sstabilizing. At least, I think they are. She has very sstrange anatomy, doesn't she?"

"What did you expect?" asked the Elvan. "She's a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong."

"She is NOT," her dream lover snapped.

"Jack, the Legend said so herself in her vids, remember? Everyone from the Trinar Masters to the Fleet Physicks said so too."

"She is NOT a freak," her lover insisted.

How she loved him so for defending her. He always had. Even though Jack was terribly wrong this time. She was a freak.

Always had been and always would be.

"Whatever and whoever she is," the Elvan said, "I do not think she will wake soon. For most species, a slow wake takes at least two hours, sometimes as long as two rotations. With her genetic makeup, there's no predicting her wake time. Who wants to take the first watch?"

"I will," her lover said instantly.

"Fine. Chime us if sshe wakes then," said the Corban. "It's time for my afternoon bask anyway."

Shuffling of feet and coils, then silence. Kaylith held her breath, waiting for Jack to speak again.

She focused her mind on this dream's acoustics, and was rewarded with the whisper-soft sound of prezskin being removed and flushed away. Then footsteps. Near and away. Near and away.

Inside, she smiled. Her dream lover was pacing. He'd always been an impatient one.

Near and away. Near and away. Would he never stop? She should tell him to stop. She should open her eyes, but of course neither of these actions were possible. She was in stasis. This was just another tube dream, nothing more.

Or was it? Why would she dream of a Corban and Elvan working together? It didn't make sense.

And why wasn't Jack talking to her? If nothing else, she'd always loved him for never holding back and because she could tell him anything too. They had a bond of absolute trust.

Nor was he touching her. His touch could excite her like no other. In her dreams they always ended up making love. Sometimes it was hard for her to tell where she ended and he began.

This was not her usual dream of the One. It was a new dream and she was not sure if she liked it.

Then he caressed her hand...

The touch was like having a shocking sword sear her insides. Every nerve in her body focused on the place where their skin connected. This felt real. This was real! Instinctively, her fingers curled around his.

They felt solid. Squarish and roughened by a few calluses. Warm and firm. It was his hand. And it was real.

She heard a quick intake of breath. "Are you awake?"

Maybe, Kaylith thought. You tell me, dream man.

"Kallie...I mean, Kaylith, please hear me. You are on the Unity science vessel Needle. The Elvan year is 17, 506. Unity year, 151. Terran year, 3749."

Unity year? What in Shallog's name was a Unity year?

"My name is Jack Stryker. You are on the Unity science vessel Needle. The Elvan year is 17, 506. Unity year, 151. Terran year, 3749."

So he'd said. Several times. He was gripping her hand hard now, as if willing her to wake. She wondered if he really was, so tentatively she opened her mind to his.

Kallie, Kallie, Kallie. I've searched for you forever. Open your eyes and talk to me. I have so much to tell you. So much I wasn't able to say before. You are the One, Kallie. You always have been the One.

Startled, she slammed her mind shut. In her experience, a little knowledge was usually a dangerous thing.

This was absolutely treacherous. Her dream man was real... and if that was true, her universe had changed. Maybe this time for the better. Shallog's mercy, she hoped so!

"You are on the Unity science vessel Needle. The Elvan year is 17, 506. Unity year, 151. Terran year, 3749."

Where and when. He'd given her the answers to two important questions. The last would take longer since no one had ever been able to answer it, WHY?

But if anyone could answer it, her dream man could.

"Kaylith, damn you, open your eyes!" She could feel his breath on her cheek.

"I prefer Kallie," she said, opening her eyes and her heart to his. "At least, I do from you, Jack Stryker." She blinked several times and saw nothing. "And it would appear I am quite blind."

Blind Faith

Science Vessel Needle
Sentari Space

Terran year, 3749
Elvan, 17, 506
Unity, 151

Luminous green eyes blinked sightlessly. Jack blinked back. Staring into Kaylith's eyes was like looking into a Corban forest pool. Deep green and without bottom. One glance from her and he was a man drowning.

Her hand, which still gripped his, wiggled. Without knowing how, he knew she was prompting him for an explanation.

"Stasis effect," he murmured, not knowing what else to say. His mind was tumbling with emotions. And questions. Thousands of questions.

"Ah yes, stasis effect," she said, her pinkening lips curving into a seductively wry smile. "Then I should be able to see again... in time." Color was swiftly returning to her face, turning the bluish tint to a soft ivory hue.

"Do you know where you are?" He should move away. He was too close. He should let go of her hand. But he couldn't move... couldn't let go. Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

"I am on the Unity science vessel Needle." Her voice mimicked the rhythm of his perfectly. "The Elvan year is 17, 506. Unity year, 151. Terran year, 3749."

Her smile faded. "Not that it makes any sense to me. We should never have been in stasis that long. Where in Shallog's name is this Unity? I've never heard of the place."

"That, I'm afraid, will take a while to explain." He patted her hand and intended to extricate his, but with strength incredible for someone emerging from deep stasis, she held him fast.

Her fine, dark eyebrows creased into a frown. "Is there someplace else I need to be?"

The question struck him as odd, but he answered without hesitation. "No, Kallie. All you need do now is rest."

"And you, Jack Stryker? Do you have somewhere to go?" She sounded wistful now.

"Right now, there's nowhere I'd rather be."

"Then please, let me touch you. I've waited a lifetime for this."

A lifetime? What did she mean? Before he could ask, she reached out with her free hand to touch his face. The merest whisper of a caress swept along his cheek, his brow, faltering when she reached the filter mask that covered his mouth and nose.

With a lightning fast movement, she shoved the mask up and out of the way. He knew he should protest, but when her fingers resumed their search, sliding down the bridge of his nose, the words died in his throat.

As her fingers traced his lips, Jack felt as if she were setting fire to his skin. Desire coiled his insides tighter and tighter with each touch. An overpowering urge to touch her back... to taste... to mate... swept through him.

"You are beautiful," she whispered. "I knew you would be."

"You are more beautiful than I ever dreamed," he murmured against her fingers. "I must be mad." Mad, maybe. But he gave into the urge and kissed her fingers anyway.

She closed her eyes and chuckled. "Yes, you must. You're the only one who has ever thought me beautiful."

"Could this be the infamous Sentari fighting pheromone at work here?" he teased, kissing her fingers once more.

Her eyes flew open and her hand jerked away from his face.

"Is that what you think?" Her voice was hard now... angry. She tried to free her hand from his, but this time, he held on.

"I don't know what to think. I've never been exposed to the pheromone before."

She let out a bitter laugh. "Be grateful you haven't, human. If the pheromone was active, we'd be mating by now. So would anything or anyone else living on this ship."

"I've offended you," he said. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes... he was drowning in her eyes again. He could feel the turbulent emotions boiling through her mind as she said, "Dreams are dangerous enough, but reality is more so."

"I am sorry," he said again, kissing her hand that was still joined with his.

"And you are real. So very, very real." She sounded as if she couldn't make up her mind whether or not to be irritated by that.

"As are you." He let her go and rose to his feet. "We'll find out how dangerous that is later. You should rest."

"I am tired. And blind. Are there private quarters on this ship?"

"We should really stay in the med lab. What if--"

"Please? I'm not too particular. Just as long as there's a lock on the door."

"You're perfectly safe here."

Kaylith let out an inelegant snort. "Like I haven't heard that one before."

"There's no reason for you to worry."

"No reason to worry--that'll be the day. I'm blind and tired, I couldn't fight if--" Her frown deepened into a scowl. "Where's the rest of my crew?"

Jack hesitated, but no, he couldn't lie. Not to her. He just couldn't. "Your ship was sabotaged. There's a blast hole on the starboard side, and it appears your companions' stasis tubes were also damaged... and--" He fumbled in his mind for a way to break the news gently.

Kaylith was already way ahead of him. "They're dead, aren't they?" Her hands balled into fists. "Naturally, I lived." Her voice seethed with self-loathing.

"Yes, they died. I'm sorry for your loss." What else could he say? "They were a brave crew."

"Brave? You don't know the half of it. Why do you think they call me the 'Cursed One'? I'm death to any who dare befriend me." She glared sightlessly. "Do they still call me that--Cursed One?"

"On a few worlds--" He sighed. There was so much he needed to explain, but not now when she was too tired and angry to take it in. "Yes, some still do."

Kaylith smacked the med bed. "Damn Meeral to a Corban swamp! Roar Far must have been pissed to go out like that. I'll bet her family never forgave me."

Jack knew who Meeral was... Kaylith's mother, Queen Meeral. Roar Far... he'd dreamed of her once. She was a Tjorn warrior, perhaps the most famous of them all.

"She was a very brave, very crazy Tjorn," she said, echoing his thoughts. "A warrior dying like that-- where is the honor?" She shook her head, sending a tear down her cheek.

"And the others--Higgins and Zar, my good friends... Deke and Tith, my half-brothers! They didn't deserve this. My fathers must curse the day they met me." Her voice cracked on a sob. "It's my fault. All my--"

"Kallie please! Don't cry." Here she was, the Legend of the universe, and he'd made her cry in just ten minutes. He knelt beside her and stroked her hair. It felt just as silky as it looked. "You're alive and that's all that matters."

She sniffled, turning her head so that it was cradled in his hand. Tears dampened his palm. "How can you say that? You don't understand--"

"I know, I know. I don't understand anything about you. I know all about you, but I don't know you." He didn't want to stop touching her! Touching her had haunted his dreams for decades. "But I want to. I've never wanted anything so badly in my life. Will you let me?"

"Not if you're going to make me sleep in an unlocked med lab." She sounded just plain pitiful now.

"You can sleep in my cabin," he said, striving to sound soothing. In that moment, he'd given her everything he had if it would make her smile. "All right?"

He was rewarded with a ghost of a smile as she said, "I wouldn't dream of sleeping anywhere else. Lead me there?"

Dream Initiation, Part 1

Sea Cave, Sentarl

Terran year, 3598
Elvan, 17, 355
Unity, B.U. 26

Kaylith slept with her knees drawn up to her chest; hugging her small body because she had nothing else to hang on to. The five-year-old dreamed of a better world. A world where no one talked of conquest... no one lusted for power. No one tested, jeered, or maimed her.

She found the dream quite peaceful from her everyday world, so she lingered there, focusing her young mind on the task of remembering the feeling when she woke. Remembering this peace would help her face what she knew awaited as soon as she opened her eyes.

Peaceful, yes, feeling peaceful was definitely better than any feeling she ever experienced waking. Lonely, though; she didn't see another soul, not even her brother Rock. She didn't see much of anything. There was simply warmth and light.

But this warmth and light was better than anything else she'd ever known. It felt...safe.

Her dream body sat as she concentrated on her empty surroundings. If she concentrated really hard, perhaps she would sense more. She breathed slowly...in...out...in...out... willing her mind to open to everything around her.

She heard humming. It sounded like a boy. Rock? Maybe. She saw only the same white light. There was no up or down, only a bright, white void, as empty as a blank vid screen.

But she still heard humming. She didn't know the song. Indeed the musical tones sounded completely alien. There was joyfulness to it, another emotion she'd never experienced, yet immediately recognized for what it was.

She risked a mindshout, WHO ARE YOU?

The humming stopped. Then... very faintly, "Who are you?" An echo? No, this was someone else. Kaylith was sure of it.

WHO ARE YOU? As she repeated the mindshout, this time she focused all her will on finding the source of the response. She barely registered the sensation of a soft breath of wind. She took a step toward it.

The wind strengthened.

"Where are you?" came the reply from behind the breeze. The voice sounded closer.

HERE. RIGHT HERE! She began walking, although there was no ground to walk on. Her feet moved and she was propelled forward, the wind increasing around her all the time. It tore at her hair and shrieked in her ears.

"I can't see you. Can you see me?" It was a boy's voice. Different, though. Not Sentari at all. His words were all wrong, yet she could understand them perfectly. Not Sentari? How could that be?

NO. WHAT ARE YOU? She was bending her head to the wind now. Each step was an effort, but she forced herself to keep moving. She had to see. Had to know.

"I am--well, I am me. What else would I be?"

Close. She was very close. Desperate to reach the source, she began to run. The wind became a gale...so strong it lifted her feet out from under her. She did not run now, she flew.

She ignored the flying sensation, turning all her focus on the One speaking instead. She could sense his mind now. The energy of his lifeforce shone like a beacon. Distant at first, but the more she focused, the brighter it grew.

I SEE YOU! her mind cried as the dim shape of a boy flickered within the beacon.

"And I see you," he shouted. He looked as if he were flying too. Flying straight towards her. "You don't look real."

Funny, she was thinking the same thing about him. His body looked broader than a Sentari boy's. Shorter, but stronger.

They were coming at each other fast. For a second, Kaylith thought she would fly past him. She held out a hand even as he reached out with his...

Contact.

The wind ceased. The world turned back to a white void, only now Kaylith was not alone. They stood nose to nose, blinking at each other.

His eyes were blue.

She'd never seen blue eyes before. Sentari eyes were always brown, except for her own, but then, she didn't count as a true Sentari anyway.

His hair was so blonde it looked almost white. It stuck out at odd angles all around his head. He wore a strange, sparkly tunic, black, but very shiny just the same. The kind of garment one might wear to a celebration. He held a stuffed animal, one with yellow fur, round ears, a fat belly, and a red T-shirt.

His left hand still held hers. Shyly, she yanked it away. He chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." His smile was replaced by a frown. "Although it looks like somebody already did. What happened to your ears?"

He reached out to touch one of her damaged earlobes. Even in her dreams, Kaylith could feel the throbbing pain.

At his touch the pain oddly began to recede. When the boy dropped his hand back to his side, it returned. She longed to ask him to touch her ears again, but didn't think it was a good idea to ask such a thing from a stranger. Even if he appeared to be her age. Even if this was just a dream.

Or was it? The boy's touch had felt real!

My mother did it, Kaylith confessed.

"Your mother?" When she nodded, he added tentatively, "On purpose?"

Kaylith nodded again.

"Why?"

She was disappointed in me for trying to find my fathers.

"That's all?" He sounded as if he didn't believe her. "Why would she be angry about that?"

Kaylith shrugged. She didn't like it when anyone doubted her word. She never lied. Lying was what Mother did best and she did not want to be like her mother.

"No, really," the boy persisted. "Why would she be angry?"

It's forbidden, Kaylith explained. I wasn't supposed to tell them about us, but I did. Now they're coming. I want us to live with them, and Mother won't let us go. And--

She sighed when she noticed his blank expression. "You don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Not exactly, although this sounds familiar," the boy said. "I don't care how angry your mother was, she was wrong to hurt you. Why doesn't the police put her in prison?"

It was Kaylith's turn to look blank. Nobody ever dared say Mother was wrong about anything. And what was that other thing? The what?

"The police." When she just stared at him, he gestured with his toy, swinging it around by a fuzzy leg. "You know... the police."

I've never heard of them. Do they live far away?

"They're the police! You know... the good guys who catch the bad guys?"

Kaylith shook her head. You're not making sense. Only mother's guards and soldiers put people in prison. But most of the prisoners are good. At least, the ones I know are.

"Now you're not making sense. If a person is good, why would they be put in prison?"

Because Mother wants them there. You ask funny questions.

"You give funny answers. And how come you only use mindspeak?"

How come you only use voicespeak?

"Because I don't know how to mindspeak."

Oh. Who was this boy? Everyone on Sentarl used mindspeak! Sentari had a voice language too, but it was genetic and nobody except Sentaris could understand it. Not even Tarmags, and they were genetic cousins. Usually, on the rare occasions when Tarmags and Sentaris met, they relied on mindspeak.

She wished the Tarmags would listen to her mind right now. She'd been trying to reach them for days. Out of habit more than hope, she sent out a desperate plea to them again.

"You look sad," the boy said. Apparently he hadn't heard her mindshout to the Tarmags. "Would you like to play with my Pooh Bear?" He held out the fuzzy toy. She took it, smiling when she saw the black button eyes and stitched smile on its toy face.

It's sweet. What did you call it?

"Pooh Bear. He's a little raggedy 'cause I sleep with him every night. He's my first mate and... hey, I just remembered! I'm asleep right now!"

So am I, Kaylith said. This must be a dream.

He pinched her arm. "But you feel real."

She scowled and rubbed the spot, then pinched him back. She felt smug when he let out a yelp. You feel real too.

He glared at her for a moment, then broke out in a laugh and sat down. "This is really weird. How can you be real?"

She sat down beside him... although there really wasn't 'ground' for them to sit on. They simply floated in a sitting position.

How can you be real? You don't even look Sentari!

"I'm not. I'm Terran. You're Sentari?"

When she nodded, he said, "Huh. I guess I'm dreaming about you because of Grandpa Alex. He was telling me a story about the Legend tonight. She was from Sentarl and because of her, all the civilized planets decided to join in Unity."

As he told her this improbable story--Sentaris shunned other races, except when they wanted fresh genetic material, so the idea of a Sentari unifying any worlds was ridiculous--Kaylith hugged poobare or whatever he called it to her chest. The toy felt soft and warm. She'd never seen the like of it before.

Come to think of it, she'd never held a toy before. Experiments, especially failures like her, didn't get toys.

The boy was still telling her about his legend, although she wasn't really paying attention. She liked the rhythm of his voice though. He knew how to tell a story very well. Almost as good as her sister, Tanith.

She closed her eyes, hugged the toy, and listened, savoring and memorizing every nuance of his voice. He sounded like hope and happiness, two more emotions she'd never experienced.

She still heard his voice in her mind, even after Rock shook her awake to tell her another baby had died.