Transformation, M J Marlow [thriller books to read .TXT] 📗

free him from the bondage device if I were not.” “You did what?” Daren was stunned. He went to the bluestone mirror that had been brought to the Aerieand contacted Bemin. “Bemin Tor,” he said stiffly. “You have someone here who has questions for you.” Aiden rose to his feetand approached the mirror. He saw a laboratory inside of it or, he saw more truly, on the other side of it. The mirror was a communications device. He saw an older version of himself rising to his feet, looking haggardand aged. Bemin Tor saw himand he froze in shock. “This isn’t possible,” Bemin said as he sank back against the table behind him. “You’re dead!” “Prince Leonin is dead,” Daren told the scientist. “This is Aiden. He was as surprised to find he is connected to the house of Deis, as you are to see him standing here.” “I had read that there were children created from the prince before he died,” Bemin frowned as the memory came back to him. “My wife, Lysta, was working on tracking down such rumors before she died.” He was shaking now with remembered pain. “Obviously,” he said as he looked at the man, “they were not rumors. I shall have to find her…” “He knew,” Aiden broke in. “I should have known from the way he treated me that I was no true son. He treated me like his personal test subject; forced me to undergo augmentation.” He heard Bemin hissand nodded. “He told me it was to the greater glory of the Temple. He just wanted to be able to brag that ‘his’ son was the greatest weapon ever designed by his friends on the Directive.” “There will be time to repay that act, friend Aiden,” Daren told his guest. “For now,” he reminded him, “we must help Zen.” He sat backand focused his mindand a frown appeared on his face. “Where is she?” he cried out in pain as he found nothing. “Zen is gone!” He looked at the bond on his wristand it was intact. “She is alive, but her mind is blank to me.” “They have found the means to dampen her abilities?” Aiden guessed as he too tried to find Zen. “I have no sense of her, except…” He puzzled out what he was feeling. “Little ones needing their mother,” he said softly as he saw. “Beings of light needing a conduit.” “The beac!” Bemin Tor guessed. He found himself running to the scanners. “They are gone! There is no sign of them in the Shrine.” “Would they be able to do this, Bemin Tor?” Daren asked. “They are but tiny things.” “But they number in the thousands now,” Bemin told him, “and they always act as one. They have always been quite fixated on Zen. Since the moment she revived, they have been near her.” “What could they want from her?” Daren asked the man. “It makes no sense.” “We have to find out,” Aiden chimed. “The feeling I get from this touch is not loving. It is more like an urgent need to dominate.” “Then we follow this ‘sense’ of yours, brother,” Daren nodded. He called outand Steyd arrived. “You are in charge here, young one, until I return. Our Queen is in great danger.” He turned to Aiden. “We will start from the Shrine, where the beac were last located.” He placed his hand on the greenstone symboland pulled Aiden through. Aiden felt as if he were moving through molasses as they stepped through to the other side. His skin was coldand he was shaking from the experience. “I’ll show you where I last saw the beac,” Bemin noddedand led them to his table. He fired up the mapping program. “They were mapping out the tunnels for me,” he said as he ran his finger along the map, “when they vanished,” he pointed to a spot on a tunnel several miles south of the Shrine, “here.” “We will need help from the Tehari Chen,” Daren nodded. “If they found a way out, it would not need to be large. We might need to dig. I will go to Chen’ya.” * Light! Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but light. Zen got to her feetand took a few stepsand came up against a solid wall of light. She frowned, wondering if this was the ‘cage’ the Cardinal had told the guards to put her inside. Then she felt a familiar touch on her mindand several tiny beings of light flew towards her. My friends! Zen’s mind caressed them lovingly. You are well! She frowned as they backed away from her, pulsating in anger. She tried to get them to tell her why they were angry. Abandoned! Their minds cried out at herand Zen was in tears. Not by my choice, she told themand showed them what had been done to her. Never by my choice, she assured them. They left herand a moment later she watched as a being formed of the light rose up out of the floor in front of her. “They will not listen now, Princess,” the Cardinal told her coldly as his face appeared on the construct. “We have found the means to control them now; the little ones belong to us.” “Why am I here?” Zen asked the creature, frowning as she found no mind to touch. “What are you planning to do?” The being did not speak. Instead, it came towards herand she felt herself shaking. There was no mind for her to touch, no features for her to read, but she knew its intent was not benevolent. It had a plan for her; for her world,and she knew it was something she would not to be part of. Its hand moved to her cheekand she shuddered as the cold ran through her. Then the face on the construct changedand she was looking at her father’s face. Zen shook her head in denial. This was not happening. He was dead! He couldn’t doing this! “You carry a child that must be born,” it said as it looked at her. “We keep you here, under the protection of your little friends, to assure that this is so.” “You had no right to do this!” Zen cried out in protest. She hit the walls of her strange prisonand felt pain emanating from the minds of her beac. “I did not mean to hurt you, little ones,” she sobbed as she fell to her knees. “I must be out of here. Please let me go.” The construct came towards her, its face even more like her father’s than before. It ran its hands over her bodyand the smile it gave her, made her blood run cold. She did not know how it had known to choose Zoran’s face, but she did not like it. The horror she had felt when the real Zoran had meant to take her to his bed flooded through her. This ‘thing’ was doing this to her, Zen realized. She clamped her mind down on the imagesand feelings flowing into her, shaken by the effort of keeping up a wall. Its smile widenedand it looked quite pleased at her as it pressed a spot on her body. She passed outand did not see the opening forming in the globe around her. A tall ebony skinned man with silver hairand silver eyes came into the globe. He crouched downand stroked Zen’s cheek. “I am sorry, princess,” he said, a sad look on his face, “but we can’t let you go. Zoran must be given his chance for redemption.” He left the celland went to the controls outside. A moment later, the being of light appeared inside the celland was ready when the baby was born a few hours later. He altered her memories, allowing her to remember her matesand the meeting with Aiden Jenos, but removing all memory of her father or his child. “Zoran,” he smiled down at the infant as he took the child from the construct. “This time, perhaps, will see a better life outcome?” He turnedand held the baby out to his female associate, also dark skinned, silver hairedand silver eyed. “Put him in the time shift, Bella. He must be at the proper age when he steps out again.” “And the princess, Beran?” “She is fine where she is,” the man replied. “Her family is on their way to rescue her even now.” “She is an exceptional creature, Beran,” Bella said as she looked at the monitorand saw the readings. “Surely we could let ourselves be known to one such as her?” “The princess still has a bit further to grow, Bella,” Beran replied, shaking his head, “before she is ready to learn that she was part of a breeding experiment conducted by beings from another world.” He began to set the program. “We can’t make it too easy for her mates,” he said as he saw Bella’s look of censure at what he coded into their perimeter defenses. “They need to prove themselves worthy of her or I will remove her as well.” “But surely she has suffered enough?” “Do you question my choices, Bella?” Beran asked the woman. She frownedand he was not surprised. Bella always questioned. It was only one of the qualities that made her an exceptional assistant,and a glorious life-mate. “In this case, I suggest you leave the choices as I coded them.” He snapped his fingers. “To us, little ones. It’s time to depart for a while.” The beac flowed out of the globeand followed himand Bella away. A wall of rock shot up between the globeand their section of the complex. Only he or Bella could lower it now. They went to the transportand headed north to their laboratory in the Overlord’s stronghold. The boy would be agedand ready to take his place as the Overlord when the time came. All of Zoran’s memories were fed into the infant’s mind as it grew older. Hopefully, this Zoran would not be as ambitiousand depraved as his former incarnation. Its mothers genetic input just might make a difference this time. * Darenand Aiden found the opening the beac flies had used to leave the Shrineand made it large enough to accommodate their party. Once they were through with the twelve Chen warriors that had insisted on accompanying them, they sealed the entranceand made certain nothing short of an explosion could open it again. Chen’yaand the others would see to wiring it so that anyone who tried to break in would cause an alert in the complex. Satisfied the their prideand its kits were secure, the warriors sent out teams of four in several directions once the tunnels began to branch out. “They don’t like being underground,” Aiden noted when heand Daren were alone. He looked over at Daren. “Neither do you, I see.” “I have gone through worse for her,” Daren replied, his jaw clenched. He hated being under the earth. It was like being buried alive. He wanted the skyand its freedom. Daren clamped down on his fears. Zen needed him. “Are we still following the right trail?” “I only have Leonin’s memories of her, Daren,” Aiden replied honestly. “That is not as strong as a link of my own. What I’ve been following are vague thought fragments, like a very young child would have, or…” “The beac,” Daren broke in, nodding. “I have been hunting her, Aiden,” he admitted as they continued moving. “I have no sense of…” He suddenly froze as her mind slammed into his, all the pain, fear, disbelief,and anger she was feeling striking him at once,and he was running. “She’s in great danger.” They moved quickly along the tunnels now, following that trail of emotionsand fragments out onto the surface. It continued towards the eastand Daren had a feeling that he knew where it would lead. He called to his peopleand they came to him. Aiden called the Chenand they gathered around him, happy