Chapter 34

B RITTANY DID GET TO brOOD SOME , FOR ALL OF TEN MINUTES . That was about all she could stomach of trying to assimilate all the fantastical information Martha had thrown at her. There was simply too much of it, too many bizarre inventions, too many advanced concepts mixed in with the barbaric. And even that didn't make sense. If there were such advanced, godlike worlds such as Morrilia, why weren't they educating the primitive worlds? Why leave them to struggle in ignorance?

But none of it was true. Whoever had designed this program she'd been unlucky enough to get picked for had a really strange imagination. Or maybe it was just Martha, instructed to improvise as needed, who had the overactive imagination. And where did that leave her? Imprisoned on this so-called ship for nearly three months? Then what? Taken to some remote area that they had set up to convince her she was on another planet?

Somehow she doubted they planned to invest three full months on just one test subject. There was probably a time limit, a couple of weeks, a month at the most, to either convince her or admit it was all a farce and send her home—without Dalden.

Her heart constricted. He was one of them, part of the program. Work on the heart as well as the mind? God, she hoped not. She'd rather think their involvement hadn't been counted on, that at least that part of it was real.

But she still wasn't going to get to keep him when this was over. And she had to decide whether to cut that string to her heart now, before it got any stronger—or enjoy him while she had him. But hadn't she already decided to savor their time left, to stockpile the memories, anticipating that their time together would end? Of course, that was a decision made before their program went into full gear.

"Where is Dalden?"

"Done brooding already?" was Martha's reply.

Brittany sighed. "Tired of the headache already. Where's Dalden?"

"He's calmly assumed the role of ambassador and is presently explaining to Jorran why his demands aren't going to be met. I'm amazed he hasn't lost patience yet. Jorran's overwhelming arrogance is hard to stomach by any species."

"I suppose you've been listening in on them?" Brittany remarked.

"I'm capable of following and participating in every conversation going on in this ship at any given moment," Martha boasted. "Computers aren't single-tasked like you humans, you know."

Brittany allowed herself a satisfying snort before suggesting, "How about directing me to him? I'd prefer not to stay—here."

"These warriors aren't going to bother you, doll." Martha went back to reading minds. "You're off-limits to them because they know who you belong to."

"I don't belong to anyone. Must you make it sound like slavery?" And then the thought struck her. " Is there slavery there?"

"Yes, in a few of the more distant countries. But before you go getting bent out of shape over that, kindly remember that there's still slavery in some of the far corners of your own world, and it was widely accepted just a couple of hundred years ago in your own country."

Brittany thumped her head mentally for even asking. Barbaric in the eyes of "most of the universe" would of course include things like slavery. A logical deduction. And much easier to convince the nonbeliever if the tall tale followed a logical path.

But Brittany proved just how single-minded humans were by repeating, "Directions? Or is there some reason I must stay here?"

"Out the door and right to the lift at the end of the hall. It's voice activated—or controlled by me." And then a chuckle. "Dalden doesn't even know that. He just assumes it's always going to take him exactly where he wants to go in the ship, because I always know where he wants to go and control it for him."

"Why not just tell him?"

"Weren't you listening when I mentioned that he doesn't like spaceships? The less he has to personally deal with the ship, the better."

"Will I get to explore this ship?"

"Sure, why not?"

Brittany could have thought of one major reason why not. If their ship was as big as it was being represented by them, then the size of the studio that had created this illusion would have to be mammoth to show her all of it. It would be much easier to restrict her to just a few rooms. Of course, when she got around to asking for that tour, they would probably come up with excuses to not allow it.

"Alone?"

Martha chuckled at that addition. "Doll, there's no such thing as being alone on a ship controlled by me. There are visual monitors in every single room that can't be turned off if I don't want them turned off."

"What about broken? Smashed? Demolished?"

"Are we getting hot under the collar? You could try, but they're made of unbreakable material. And why does that upset you?"

"Maybe I'm used to the concept of privacy?" Brittany growled. "Maybe I don't like the fact that there will always be eyes on me ."

"I'm not intrusive, Brittany. I view when I need to view, I don't view just for the hell of it."

"I'm not impressed by that hurt-feelings tone. If you're a computer, you don't have feelings."

Another chuckle. "'Course not, but you don't think I'm a computer, remember?"

Before Brittany's blush got really bright, the door to the lift slid silently open. Dalden turned toward her immediately. So did Jorran. It was a circular room in the middle of which was another circular room enclosed by see-through walls. Those curved, seamless walls extended from floor to ceiling. As Martha had mentioned, there were no doors, no openings of any kind. There had to be a trapdoor in the floor, though, that she just couldn't see, because their only way in or out, called Transfer, was stretching the limits of even their imagination, much less hers.

"Why is she here?" Dalden wanted to know.

"Shanelle took her to the Rec Room, where she thought you'd be, then abandoned her there when she got emotional again over what she assumed happened to Tedra on her return home. Nothing we haven't seen her do a dozen times since parting from Tedra, but you know how your sister is, and how poorly she deals with that subject."

"Why is she here?" Dalden repeated, showing that barbarians could be single-minded, too.

"Didn't care for my subtle warning about what you can expect to be grilled about later? Forgetting that the Rec Room is where your good buddies prefer to hang out? Brittany got intimidated."

The blush that Brittany had gotten under control immediately returned. And Dalden's expression softened now as he put an arm around her and said, "You need have no fear of Kan-is-tran warriors."

"I wasn't afraid," she insisted. "Martha embellishes. I was merely uncomfortable. And she said you were playing the ambassador here. I wanted to see how one plays at being an ambassador."

He made a face now. "As you say, she embellishes. I have not the diplomacy needed for such a role. But I am capable of turning down Jorran's demands and making sure he understands why."

"Satisfaction in saying no?"

"Indeed."

"I suppose he's demanding that you let him go?" Brittany guessed.

Dalden shook his head. "He understands we are returning him to Century III and that he will be contained here for the journey. He has no difficulty accepting that as the consequence of losing the fight with me. But he remembers that a meditech fully healed him after his fight with my sister's lifemate, Falon. He demands that we heal him."

She was surprised. "You aren't going to?"

"We have decided that he is to have no more treatment than his own world would be capable of giving him, which is next to none. They have not yet progressed to the age of science or medicine."

She wasn't sure she understood that reasoning—and then it occurred to her that she didn't need to. She realized they hadn't just been telling her things. Telling was easy. They'd also been enacting their story, following their own scripts, and Jorran had been a major acting part.

He was one of them, of course. They'd actually had her believing what those rods could do, when in fact they did nothing, had been used on other members of the project who had merely pretended they'd been hypnotized. The mayor? His secretary? Either tricked into going along with the pretense or really hypnotized ahead of time. Jorran had just been their "reason" for coming here. So he had to be a continuing part of the script.

The damage done to him? Faked, of course, but damn, they sure did a good job of faking. His nose really did look crooked above the cloth he was holding below it to stem the fake blood. His broken arm was hanging rather limp at his side. He stood lopsided, to keep the weight off his supposedly broken kneecap.

Impressed, Brittany remarked casually, "You know, if I really thought Jorran was injured, rather than pretending to be, I'd tell you it's cruel to make him suffer like that when he could be mended."

Dalden frowned, but Martha chose to answer this time. "The man deserves some suffering. He's a member of the ruling family of his world. All they're going to do when we take him home is slap his wrist and tell him to not get caught next time. But even if he hadn't tried to take over your world, he's still on our endangered species list because he deliberately tried to kill Tedra's son-in-law so he could hook up with her daughter, for the sole purpose of taking over their world. He's never suffered any consequences for his merciless actions. Someone needs to show him that the way he does things just isn't acceptable to the rest of the universe."

"Why isn't he reacting to what you just said?" Brittany asked curiously.

"He didn't hear it. I turned off the communication speaker when you entered."

"Turn it back on. I'd like to hear what he has to say."

"You're too emotional to stomach it, doll. Make up your mind. You're either going to believe he's for real, in which case you have to believe everything else, or you're not. And if you're not, then what's it matter what he has to say?"

Touché. "Is he in pain?"

"No. Even medieval worlds have figured out painkillers of one kind or another, and he'll be given regulated doses in the air he's breathing for as long as needed. We're not out to torture him, merely to teach him a lesson, and even that will only be temporary."

"Why only temporary?"

"His bones will mend by the time he gets home, they just won't mend perfectly, so he'll probably leave us with a slight limp and not liking his pretty new nose job. But I have little doubt that he will find himself a meditech eventually that will put him back together perfectly. Even if he never leaves home again, his planet gets a lot of off-world tourists fascinated with their old-world culture, and most modern ships come equipped with a meditech or two."

Brittany stared at Jorran through the see-through wall. He was staring back at her, an abject appeal in his eyes. He wanted her to help him, was willing it, trying to play on her sympathies. He was a good actor, really good, was well-suited for the role of villain. He'd get no help from her, though, either way. Real or not, her only concern was whether Dalden could be cruel. He wasn't, though; he was just trying to administer some justice that he felt wouldn't be forthcoming from any other quarter. The logical path, something the good guys might do.

She tipped an imaginary hat to Jorran, turned to Dalden with a smile. "I can't wait to see the finale. When do we leave for Sha-Ka'an?"