THE GENERAL

General Bennett jogged through nearly empty corridors, flanked by two silent marines, with Dylanna Okyl a few steps behind. A fire burned within him, compelling him to move faster. He was after Nova, and by God he was going to find the little slike. When he did …

It hadn’t taken them long to figure out what had happened. She had pulled a deceptively simple trick, like a magician who keeps his audience focused on one hand while manipulating a hidden object in the other. What he could not understand was why he hadn’t sensed her presence immediately. She must have been hiding somewhere, but he had never once felt that anything was wrong.

She’s good, this ghost. But not better than me. Bennett shook his head. He had underestimated her once again. But he was focused now on the problem. It would not happen again. He was no longer interested in turning her to their cause; the only thing left to do was to find her and kill her.

Bennett blamed Tosh for all of this. He had been the one to insist on handling Nova gently, rather than forcing the issue from the beginning the way they had with all the other ghosts. That had led to the disaster in Augustgrad, and indirectly, at least, to Nova’s escape, and now their entire plan was in jeopardy. The man was weak and indecisive; he was overdosing on terrazine; and his feelings for Kath Toom had made him a liability. Their partnership had worked at first because they had been operating at a distance. But now it was falling apart. He had to find a way to establish control and either remove the source of Tosh’s weaknesses, or destroy him immediately.

He had ordered his crew to spread out through Gehenna and report back if they found her, and Tosh had done the same with the spectres, assigning Dylanna Okyl to him. Then Bennett had headed for Mal Kelerchian’s cell. He had no doubt that was where Nova was going. He had tried to call ahead to have the wrangler killed immediately, but something had blocked him. Perhaps it was Lio. It didn’t matter; he was going to enjoy torturing Kelerchian in front of her before finishing them both.

As he neared the wrangler’s cell, Bennett sensed a psionic presence somewhere below his feet. He could not get a handle on any specific thought patterns, which made him smile; Terra was trying to mask herself from him, but it would not work. He took a set of stone stairs down to the lower level, and in a maintenance corridor he found a body lying motionless against the rocky wall.

At first he thought it was Terra, still dressed in her surgical gown. But then he realized that the body belonged to Kath Toom. Blood had run from a cut in her scalp down her face. He knelt beside her, probing her mind for any clues to Terra’s location. But her unconscious mind was full of fragmented, dark dreams that told him nothing.

Okyl stepped up next to him. Her hatred of Toom radiated from her like a wave, and he looked up in surprise. Jealousy. How interesting.

“Let me help—”

Bennett held a hand up. “I’ll handle this. You do exactly as I say.” He waited for her to back away, his mind already working out how to use this new information. He kept his thoughts carefully screened, because he could not have anyone sense the plan that was formulating in his mind.

He slapped Toom’s face, lightly, and harder, and she moaned and opened her eyes. Bennett seized on her sudden panic, gleaning the memory of her confrontation with Nova in seconds. “Easy,” he said, smiling at her and keeping his thoughts soft and soothing as her eyes focused on his face. “You took quite a tumble.”

“Gabriel,” she said immediately, her gaze searching the corridor, fixing on Okyl. “Is he with you?” She tried to sit up, but he pushed her gently back.

“He’s close,” Bennett said, taking her delicately by the chin and forcing her to look at him. “Listen to me. I need you to tell me where Nova Terra has gone. Then we’ll get you some medical help for that cut, and I’ll find Gabriel for you.”

She closed her eyes. “She’s after Mal Kelerchian,” Toom said. “I tried to convince her to stop, but she wouldn’t listen.” She opened her eyes again, and they welled up. A tear slipped down one cheek. “She took my new suit. Gabriel will be angry with me.”

“You did everything you could,” Bennett said, still smiling, probing her thoughts to get exactly what he needed. “I’m sure he’ll understand. Now, can you tell me what Terra plans to do after she finds the wrangler?”

“I don’t know.”

“Surely you told her something important, something she could use.”

“I told her nothing!”

“Is she armed?”

Toom nodded. “A needler.”

Bennett shook his head sadly. At least he had confirmed that Terra was still after Kelerchian, and he now knew that she had a weapon and was in possession of a spectre suit and headgear. This would complicate things, but he had his own specially modified suit underneath his military uniform, and he knew his abilities were unmatched, even by her.

Bennett had discovered many other things too during his mind probe, and he knew exactly what he had to do now.

He glanced back at Okyl and sent her a private thought message. She looked shocked at first, then smiled and nodded. He lifted Kath Toom to her feet, holding her firmly by the upper arms.

“Are you going to bring me to Gabriel?” she asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid not,” he said. “I’m going to be honest. You’ve become useless to me.”

“I—I don’t understand,” she said, and then her eyes went wide, and she began to struggle as he focused his mind on hers, pushing gently at first, then harder. He sensed her trying to push back, but she was a much weaker teek, and it only served to intrigue him, like a bug that battered itself again and again against a shining light until it lay broken and twitching on the floor.

Embrace it, and relax. It will be much easier for you.

But she did not. And in the end, he had to admit, he enjoyed it more that way.