Light My Roamin' Candle, Charlie Boone! - 3. Part 3

"You do understand that Security will follow us about as we take our tour?" the big Trichani asked, as their car floated above the parked starships on its way to the city. "They are most curious about you, and probably alarmed at your ability to detect their watchers."

"And their inability to detect ours?" Kippy tossed in, smiling winningly.

Charlie tried not to laugh, impressed that everyone not only seemed to be picking up well on all the plot changes as the day moved on, but that they seemed relaxed and enjoying themselves, despite the raw newness of their situation. They had come a long way since first meeting Max just a few short years ago, and Charlie felt a sense of satisfaction that they had all adapted so well. It was, in part, due to knowing that being with Max upped the safety factor of anything they did considerably; but there was also something within each of them that had grown more worldly and wise.

"That, as well," Kontus admitted, smiling. That the Trichani seemed to be enjoying his encounter with the humans added to Charlie's own enjoyment of the situation, though he was certain that Kontus would not let his guard down but so far, and that they still had to be careful not to drop their cover or overstep reasonable bounds. The Trichani people apparently had an adventurous spirit, and were willing to see where events were taking them with their unusual visitors, unlike the Arpies or the Moth, who certainly would have tossed them in the calaboose and worried about possible repercussions later. Diplomacy of this sort required a certain willingness to trust, that the other two races seemed lacking. Charlie was hoping this meant they had found new friends, and not just another alien race looking for a way to exploit them.

"This is quite a beautiful place," Adrian said, his eyes scanning the horizon ahead, where the tall spires of the city marched back to a low range of mountains. In a cleft in those peaks, a silvery ribbon sparkled in the yellow-white light from the artificial sun above, surely a waterfall of some kind, taking a gleaming leap as some river dramatically changed elevations in the pursuit of its course.

The flanks of the mountains were blue-green with trees, and the white band of some sort of raised railway wound across the verdant plain at their feet. Roorapynta seemed larger than it actually was, certainly due to the slightly concave disc nature of its construction, with the mountains arising as a border wall in every direction all around them. A globular object this size would have had a horizon virtually at one's doorstep, and much less in the way of a feeling of roominess and comfort.

Kontus leaned his head forward in a Trichani nod. "I wish we could take all the credit for it, but we only moved into what we found here, many millennia after the disc was built. There is no certainty as to who constructed Roorapynta, though most scholars have settled on the Braleebel as the likely culprits."

Charlie smiled at the fanciful name. "We don't know of them."

"A precursor race, one of many. I'm sure you know that civilization is an old guest of this galaxy, and that many peoples have come and gone before our own time."

"Yes, we do know that. It is the same in our space, too." Charlie thought fast. "Ancient ones like the Anasazi, and the Minoans, and the Nabateans. We can only guess at what they were like by the scant works of theirs that have survived them."

Kontus perked up at that. "They are certainly fascinating names - names that hold power. It is a hobby of mine to study such lost civilizations." For a moment the Trichani grew quiet, as if considering the wisdom of continuing. But then he offered up another jovial laugh. " I have a theory, that some great conflict took out many of the lost empires in our region, at a time when my own race was still hunting cheeba on the plains of Rastmis with longspears. Many of the precursor empires, such as the Braleebel, the Nifatilla, and the Beltracians, all seem to have vanished at the same time."

Adrian sat up in his seat, sudden interest painting his features. "The Beltracians?"

Kontus turned to examine him. "Yes. You know of them?"

Charlie felt a brief moment of panic. They were supposed to be from a long way off, and not know much about their present location. The Beltracian empire had once spanned the stars in at least part of what was now Moth territory. Adrian had been pulled into the conversation by the name of the race that had created the star map he even now carried with him, an ancient artifact he had picked up at the pirate market on Engris.

Adrian looked caught in the headlights for a moment to Charlie's eyes; but then he managed to smile and gloss over his gaff with a wave of his hand. "No. But, as you say, it seems a name of power. In our, uh, quest to locate the golden baseball, we have come across references to many ancient peoples. I have been recording the facts on these lost ones in our travels, with the possibility in mind that we may want to go on another quest down the line."

The Trichani smiled, but looked slightly skeptical. "You would go questing for lost empires, based only upon rumors of their existence?"

"Certainly," Kippy spoke up. "They're the best kind. The archeologists among our people study the known past cultures. What fun would that be for us, to go to known worlds and look over the shoulders of a bunch of scholars at old bones and moldering buildings? We wish to explore the unknown, not the known and the boring."

"It's what knights do," Ricky added, hastily, grimacing at Kippy.

Kontus scratched briefly at his muzzle. "The term seems not to translate well. What exactly does a knight do?"

The other boys turned to Charlie, who took a startled intake of breath. Gee, thanks!

"Uh, well..." Charlie's thoughts floundered for a moment, and then suddenly grew calm as he remembered his readings. "Well, in the early days of our culture, when we were still bound to a single planet, a knight was a soldier, often high-born, an educated man-at-arms who would swear allegiance to a noble and support him in all of his endeavors. In return, that noble would provide housing and a base of operations, armor, weapons, and pay. Once a knight was established, he generally had his own armor and weapons, and could move about between lords at his own whim."

Kontus laughed. "We also had such men in our early days. Except we called them mercenaries."

Charlie nodded. "There is a similarity, though mercenaries in our culture were more often commoners - simple men with combat experience, willing to fight for money. Knights are educated, have means of their own, and often fought for principle as much as gain." Charlie smiled. "And they were tempted to quests of discovery based solely upon intellectual arguments...and arguments of the heart, as well."

"I see." Kontus gave a brief nod. "So you are wealthy adventurers, more or less?"

"More or less," Charlie agreed, though he felt embarrassed at the notion. This play acting was too much like lying now. He found that he liked Kontus, and that it made him uncomfortable to deceive the man. He reminded himself that this was a necessary part of the search for Pacha'ka, and that they needed the freedom to move about the city so that Max could search for the Kifta. A once over of the discworld before they had landed had yielded no sign of the little alien, and Max had said he needed to be closer to be sure that Pacha was not still on the surface of Roorapynta.

Kontus let his eyes move from one boy to the next, until they finally settled on Mike. "And what of you? You have been silent thus far. What do you think of our world?"

Mike shrugged. "It's a big galaxy, and I've seen my fair share of it in the last few years." He gazed about then, and smiled at Kontus. "Nothing like this, though. It's pretty amazing, really."

The Trichani seemed pleased at that assessment. "It is my home, and the only one I know." He glanced skyward a moment, shading his eyes and looking away from the artificial sun. "I have occasionally dreamed of being able to do what you do - to explore the far stars, and look for the traces of the lost civilizations that so interest me." He gave a very human sigh. "It is not feasible, really. A ship is an expensive luxury, one I can ill afford. And there are very few among my people that do own ships that want to use them to simply sail about the stars, looking for traces of what once was."

"Not much profit in it, unless you find what you are looking for," Charlie agreed.

That statement caused the Trichani to lean closer. "Have you? Ever found traces of lost civilizations?"

Charlie remembered Engris then, and the many wonderful things they had seen at the pirate market, including the few items they had brought home with them. Each was a mystery, fashioned in the distant past by hands and minds the like of which could only be guessed at. The sense of age about the things they had purchased was clear. Only Adrian's Beltracian star map had a clear link to a people now vanished from this part of the galaxy. The other items they had acquired were the products of unknowns, their histories now lost.

"Yes." Charlie nodded. "We have."

Kontus leaned back, and sighed. His eyes fixed upon Charlie, and the boy could see the wanderlust in them. "I envy you, your travels."

For a moment they moved on in silence. The city of Derryabah grew as they neared its edge, until they could see the many shaded plazas where things were being bought and sold. It was much like the record that Murcha had showed them previously, except here the Trichani seemed to be in the minority. Aliens of every sort moved about the plazas, on two legs and four, and even a few whose source of locomotion was unclear. The boys rested their arms on the sides of the craft and tilted their eyes downward, watching in fascination as Kontus brought them in low and sailed serenely above the crowds like a soap bubble on a light breeze.

"This is one of several hundred plazas of this nature, called secondary points of sale," Kontus explained. "Experience has shown that placing everything to be haggled over in one grand place produces such crowds and such turmoil that neither sellers nor buyers can enjoy the action. Each plaza is registered on the planetary database, with each patron listed and the wares they wish to buy or sell clearly listed. Those visitors here to do business can easily do a quick search of the database and produce a listing of every vendor or buyer with similar interests."

"It is the duty of the buyer to go to the seller, then?" Charlie asked.

"That makes the most sense, yes," the Trichani responded. "And that is the way of it for most things. But some of the booths you see belong to buyers as well, and in those cases it is the duty of the seller to seek them out." The furred man smiled, an action Charlie was coming to enjoy. "These buyers are mostly concerned with...shall we say...the more portable items that people want to sell."

Charlie felt a flash of surprise as he realized that the man was referring to fences - receivers of goods of less than solid provenance. He stared below, wondering how much of the business going there was less than legal by most people's standards.

"You disapprove?" Kontus asked then.

Charlie frowned, his thoughts going back to the pirate market at Engris. He had not disapproved of the sales happening there, even though he had known going in that much of what was sold there had been looted from alien graves, dead cities, or even stolen outright from others on far distant worlds. In fact, there had been a certain thrill to the idea, a romance to the notion of the pirate market itself, especially that it ran so peacefully and efficiently. There, for any traveler lucky enough to find Engris, laid out in plain sight, was the treasure of a thousand worlds, just waiting for the right buyer to come along and become entranced by them. It appealed in some way to the collector instinct in Charlie, and it had been a real adventure walking among the many stalls and stands, just ogling the many ancient and mysterious items to be had there.

But...Engris was under cover of darkness, and hidden away in the depths of the Cooee. Those who found their way there were few in numbers compared to what Charlie could see here, and these sales, by contrast, were occurring in a city plaza, out in the open, and underneath the bright midday sun. Even though the basics were the exact same, the realities seemed different, somehow.

But were they, really?

"No," he heard himself say, and then gave a short laugh in surprise at his own response. "As long as what is bought and sold here was not plundered from dead worlds or lost outposts of vanished empires, I see no problem with any of it."

Kontus gave what certainly looked like a wince at those words. "It is illegal to sell undocumented artifacts, anywhere in the empire. Roorapynta is no exception." He waved a hand at the transactions taking place below their craft. "But many ancient artifacts are indeed sold here, providing their histories are legally documented to the effect that they originated in authorized collections. But you will find no secret treasures being exchanged here."

"Not like on Engris," Max suddenly said.

Charlie tried not to gape at the elf, and noticed that Kontus seemed to be doing the very same thing. What was Max thinking?

"You...you know of Engris?" Kontus asked, plainly startled by the revelation.

"We've been there," Max acknowledged. "There are many clues to be found about the history of the galaxy at that place."

"You've been there," Kontus breathed, his eyes holding what looked like disbelief. "I thought you had only just arrived in this area of the galaxy."

Max nodded. "Yep. But Engris isn't here, like you're probably thinking. Engris is everywhere, as long as you access it from the Cooee."

"The what?"

Max laughed. "The place where ships go to move between the stars."

"My people have tried to find it," Kontus admitted. "It is elusive."

Max shook his head. "You're not looking for it the right way, that's why. Engris will never be conquered by your empire, or anyone else's. The planet knows what is in the minds and hearts of all seekers. If conquest is your goal, you will never see the dark world, ever. No fleet will ever be allowed to find Engris."

Kontus narrowed his eyes. "You act as if the world is alive...and aware."

"It is," Max said simply. "Not alive or aware like you and me, but in its own way. To find Engris, you simply gotta want to go there for a reason that ain't violent, ain't harmful to anybody - not dangerous." He grinned. "A guy like you, who only wants to see old stuff, you'd probably get right in. Providing you weren't trying to take over the place or something sneaky, anyway."

Kontus gave every impression of being beguiled by the idea. "I don't want to take over the place. But I would just love to see it. The rumors...the stories I've heard...it seems the market there is just an amazing place."

"Better than that," Kippy said, smiling. "It's beyond amazing."

Max seemed to be studying the big Trichani, and Charlie wondered what conclusions the elf was drawing. That this exchange was a probe of some sort, perhaps even a test...but for what?

"How did you find Engris?" Kontus asked. The want was plain in his gaze now. The need.

Max sighed. "You just put your ship into the Cooee, and wish to go to Engris. And Engris will find you."

Kontus drew back, staring. "That's it?"

"That's all. If you truly mean no harm to that planet, or anyone on it, you will be allowed to go there."

Kontus seemed lost in thought for a moment, but then closed his eyes and gave a great sigh. "You tempt me sorely." He opened his eyes and grinned at them. "Such would be the adventure of a lifetime!"

The boys looked around at each other, smiling, infected by the sheer excitement the big alien was sharing with them.

"So...what is this big auction thing like?" Max asked then. "Are you gonna show that to us, too?"

Kontus barked out a laugh, and shook his great head. "You devil! To change the subject now...you are teasing me!"

Max grinned. "Well, we are here to see stuff. We can talk more later - I promise."

"Very well. My superiors expect me to show you about, not ply you with questions about Engris." Kontus gave a small wince then, and lowered his voice. "Now that they know you've been there, they may ask you about it themselves."

"Oh, they don't know," Max said, smiling. "I cut off the sound to their spy doodads while we were talking about Engris. They've been running around like crazy back at your security building, looking for a blown fuse or something."

Charlie laughed, knowing that was an oversimplification, but carried away by the notion of dozens of big Trachani techs pulling out tiny fuses and eyeballing each one. "We'd better give them their sound back, okay?"

Max nodded. "Yep. Okay, no more about Engris just now, got it?"

Everyone nodded, and Max waved a hand. "Okay."

Kontus simply stared at the elf, as if unable to believe that that was all there was to it. But then he shook his head, and their craft began to move away from the plaza and down a long center concourse, where throngs of people walked and interacted below.

"The main auction square is at the heart of the city," Kontus explained. "It shall only take us a moment to arrive."

Presently, the crowded concourse began to expand, and quite suddenly the center of the city was before them. It was an immense, rounded plaza, with a great, half-moon shaped grandstand at one side of it, before which was a cleared area, cut off from the plaza proper by a low barrier. The grandstand held a row of consoles, behind which sat a dozen Trichani, intent on display screens before them. Behind the barriers a crowd ebbed and flowed, simply a huge number of people of every kind, yet spaced out enough so as not to be crowded.

But the most amazing thing to behold was the large object that floated in the air above the cleared area behind the barrier. It looked to be a large rock, a dark black in color, but shot through with glistening white lines, that covered the surface like veins beneath the transparent hide of some stupendous animal.

"There are several security platforms near the barrier," Kontus said then. "We've been authorized to put down on one, so that you can see the action close up."

Their car crossed the crowd to the barrier, and touched down on a round paved pad to one side of the cleared area, just behind the barrier.

Charlie stared upwards at the great, tumbling rock in the air above them. A voice, highly amplified, was calling out numbers in Trichani at a rapid pace, while in the crowd just beyond the barrier, small, rose-colored orbs of light twinkled as they spun above the heads of a half dozen widely-scattered aliens.

"What's being sold?" Charlie asked, again eying the immense rock above them.

"A small asteroid," Kontus explained. "That of course is simply a representation above us. The item for sale lies in its orbit around some as yet unnamed star. The location of the object is what is being sold."

"A space rock?" Ricky asked, looking surprised. "Seriously?"

"Gemstones," Mike answered, turning to Kontus. "Am I right?"

"Yes. As you can see, this carbonaceous asteroid is filled with veins of Kalacite, a carbon-structured gemstone. Highly prized when cut and polished and placed in a setting, it is one of the premier gemstones on the market today. It sounds like the bids have reached the hundred-million credit mark already."

Kippy looked at the vast crowd, at the small rose-colored orbs above the heads of some of the watchers. Even as they looked, one of the orbs went out above a spindly-legged alien with a long, giraffe-like neck, who stomped his or her feet in annoyance and turned and walked away.

"Those are the bidders," he said, getting it then. "And that one just reached his limit?"

"Precisely." Kontus laughed. "Not everyone has a hundred million credits to play with, I guess."

Even as they watched, two more of the orbs winked and disappeared, followed shortly by the two aliens over which they had floated. Each looked upset in some way, but both just turned and vanished into the crowd.

"Getting down to the serious bidders, now," Kontus said, obviously as fascinated with the process as the boys were.

Finally, there were just two bidders left, one a rather immense fellow in shiny black clothing, with an armored head like a triceratops, with plates and horns seeming to be everywhere; and the other a tall, thin, ropey-looking alien a stunning red in color, who seemed to be wearing no clothing at all.

The two bid back and forth, while the Trichani caller's voice began to take on an excited tone.

Suddenly, the rose orb above the triceratops guy turned blue, and that one spun and looked across the crowd at the red, ropey alien. "Hold! Bidding is become ridiculous high! You bid now to taunt me!"

The alien's translated voice was deep and harsh, quite in keeping with his great size.

The red, ropey alien's orb also turned blue. "Hold. I am doing no such thing. My bid is quite in keeping with the market value in Kalarikki space."

"No know that market!" the triceratops bellowed. "Price too high for Thunwon market!"

"That is your problem," ropey said. "If you wish to bow out of the bidding, do so now, and begone with you!"

Charlie gasped at the look of rage that clouded that armored and horned face. "Cootza! I challenge you for ownership!"

Ropey alien seemed unimpressed with the outburst. Charlie almost couldn't believe the calm with which the red alien acted. It looked like one swipe from the arm of the triceratops guy would blast the red alien into oblivion.

"I accept your challenge," ropey said. "Name your choice of weapons."

The triceratops bellowed out a huge laugh. "No need weapons! Can rip you to pieces barehanded!"

"Hand-to-hand it is," ropey agreed.

"That's a mistake," Kontus said, tilting his head to one side.

"I'd say so, Ricky interjected. "That big guy is gonna pulverize that skinny one."

Kontus looked over at him. "I meant it was a mistake for the Thunwon - the reptilian one - to challenge the Kalarikki to hand-to-hand combat. It will not end well for him."

Charlie, along with the other boys, simply stared at the Trichani. "The red guy is dangerous?" Kippy asked.

Kontus sighed. "Watch and see."

A section of the barrier at the front of the crowd slid to one side, and both bidders made their way towards it. Triceratops guy got there first, passed trough into the empty area, and turned as the red alien came through behind him. The barrier slid closed, and the large reptilian alien leaped at the red one with amazing speed.

Charlie blinked, as what happened next occurred almost too quickly to be believed.

In a single, fluid movement, the red alien hit the ground, writhed through the charging reptile's legs in an instant, and catapulted itself up the backside of the big alien. The two ropey arms circled the reptile's neck and constricted about it like a boa squeezing its prey, and the reptilian alien dug in and stopped, his own hands going for the coils now cutting off his air supply.

But the coils might as well have been made of steel. The huge, clawed hands made no impression on them save to cause them to tighten even further, until the triceratops suddenly sagged and fell to his knees, his face twisted in agony.

"Do you concede?" the red alien asked, calmly.

The reptilian alien made one last effort to dislodge the coils from about its neck, and then seemed to suddenly lose interest in the challenge. It wobbled in a small circle, and fell forward on its face. Red ropey alien leaped away at the last second, and was instantly standing erect again even as the ground gave a small shake to the impact of the huge body.

"I guess I win," the red alien said. It looked up at the grandstand. "I have the high bid?"

The Trichani caller gazed down at him. "Your opponent had the last bid. Do you raise yours by one credit?"

"I do."

The Trichani caller looked out into the crowd. "Any other bidders for this item?"

A wave of what Charlie interpreted as laughter wafted among the onlookers, but no more rose-colored globes appeared above anyone else's head.

"You have the winning bid," the caller said, smiling at the Kalarikki.

"Excellent." The red alien turned to go, but then snaked out an arm and touched it briefly to the prone reptilian fellow's neck. "He lives. I hope he's learned some manners by this incident."

And then he was gone.

From somewhere at the back of the cleared area, a low, cylindrical vehicle raced to the scene, and in an instant multiple mechanical arms were seeing to the medical state of the fallen Thunwon.

Ricky tilted his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. "Was that amazing, or what?"

Kontus laughed. "You cannot judge a kazaff by the length of its talons. Apparently, the Thunwon was unaware of the nature of his opponent."

"I'd say so," Charlie agreed. "That red guy was amazing."

"It is unwise to challenge anyone when you are not familiar with the breed. The many races of the galaxy have some interesting surprises built into them by their native environments. I have seen others that would have dealt with the Kalarikki just as swiftly as he dealt with the Thunwon. We tend to think that most species eventually trade the ferocity and deadliness that made them supreme in their home environments for intelligence and tools that do their battle duty for them, but it is not always so. Some species will always be lethal in capability, no matter how much they progress."

"I wouldn't mind gettin' a little closer to the action," Mike said. "Can we get out of this car and go stand by the barrier?"

Kontus tilted his head forward. "Yes. But do not cross the barrier, please."

They climbed out of the car and made their way to the backside of the barrier. The crowd beyond observed them curiously, but no one seemed to think that a party such as this was too irregular, and with the introduction of the next item for sale, they lost interest in the Trichani and his horned human party pretty quickly.

The great space rock above them vanished, to be replaced by a large image of a statue of some sort. Charlie stared at it, and shook his head. "That thing is butt-ugly."

Kontus tilted his head in agreement. "And yet, it is a priceless artifact of the Ivanota, who once roamed and area of the space that my own people now claim."

A horde of rose-red orbs lit above heads in the crowd, and the mass of onlookers swayed to the accompaniment of many excited voices.

"Look at that!" Ricky yelled, to be heard above the new noise. "It looks like a rock concert!"

"It looks like three rock concerts!" Adrian yelled back, grinning.

Charlie opened his mouth to answer when he saw motion in the crowd nearby, as if someone was suddenly pushing through the mass towards them. He stared, unsure of what was happening, and so saw a head suddenly bob upwards above the masses, looking their way. It dropped back down, but the motion of the crowd continued to show that someone was pushing through towards them.

Shock coursed through every fiber of his body. It had looked like a human face!

Charlie turned and grabbed Kippy. "Did you see that?"

"What --?" But Kippy broke off as a voice came to them then.

"Lemme through! Pardon me! Sorry! Lemme through!"

The head leaped up above the crowd again, the face turned their way, and Kippy gasped. "It's a guy!"

Everyone turned to look now, including Kontus. "What did you see?"

And then a young man broke through the edge of the crowd by the barrier, and turned this way and that, his eyes searching wildly. "I heard English! I swear I did!" they heard him say.

Kippy stepped forward then. Charlie grabbed at him, afraid that his boyfriend would blow their cover; but Kippy shook him off and stepped to the barrier, waving at the stranger. "Here! Come here!"

The young man had dark hair, and pleasant features, and looked to be only slightly older than they were. His eyes locked on them, and he stopped dead in his tracks and stared at them, obviously seeing their human features, but totally confused by the green skin, the blue hair, and the antlers.

"It's okay!" Kippy called. "Come over here!"

The young man's mouth worked slowly as he stared at them, but he took one step forward, and then another. "You speak English!"

Kippy nodded, smiling. "Yep. So do you."

The newcomer reached the barrier, and stood just on the other side of it, staring at them. "How? Who...who the hell are you people?"

Kontus reached out and gently touched Charlie's arm. "This one speaks as you do."

"Wait just a moment," Charlie said. He stepped quickly over to the barrier beside Kippy, and smiled at the stranger. "Hi. I'm Charlie Boone. This is my friend, Kippy Lawson. And who might you be?"

"Bobby Felsen, from McCook, Nebraska." He shook his head. "You look like people, but ...what's with the green faces...and the deer antlers?"

Charlie shook his head and lowered his voice to a near whisper. "I can't discuss that right now." He let his eyes wander to one side, where Kontus was now coming up behind him. Bobby's eyes followed, spied the big Trichani, and his mouth tightened into a frown.

"Trust me," Charlie whispered.

Kippy nodded emphatically, and then Kontus was beside them. "You know this one? I do not recognize the species."

Kippy turned and smiled. "Yes. He's a Nebraskan, from a world within our empire." He turned back to Bobby. "Are you in distress? Do you require assistance?'

Bobby stared, and then closed his eyes. "I don't believe this."

"You should," Kippy said, quietly. "We can help you."

Bobby opened his eyes. "I just wanna go home," he whispered.

Charlie could feel the anguish in those words, and turned immediately to the Trichani. "This is a citizen of our empire in distress. We wish to bring him along with us."

Kontus narrowed his eyes at that. "Really?" He did not sound as if he believed them. His eyes fastened on Bobby. "You bear an identifier?"

Bobby shook his head. "No. I was kidnapped. I don't have anything but what I have on."

"Kidnapped?" The Trichani's frown deepened. "That's a serious charge. I think it best that I call the guard, and you --"

He got no further. An immense shadow appeared suddenly on the horizon and bulleted across the sky, drawing every eye upwards. A thunderous sound accompanied the shadow, which arrived above them and stopped, blotting out the sun. The very air shook and vibrated, and the entire crowd ducked as one.

First one, and then another, and then another, three swirls of black air appeared in the crowd of onlookers, small dark tornadoes ten feet in height, that spun furiously, and violently pushed away those standing around them. More of the swirls appeared, ten and more, and now the crowd was retreating from them on its own. People ran, those on four legs quickly outpacing those on two.

Charlie and the others had simply frozen, staring at this incredible change in events. One moment the plaza was calm save for the excitement of bidding; the next it was quickly emptying, as thousands of people of every sort ran for their lives.

Max was suddenly beside Charlie, Adrian and Ricky in tow. The elf took him by the arm, and pulled him away from the barrier. "Time to go. Come on, Kip! Time to go! Everybody grab hold of me! Now!"

Kippy turned and looked at Max, anguish in his eyes. "We can't leave him!" He pointed at Bobby, who had turned towards the black maelstroms, his back to the other side of the barrier now, with nowhere to run. The nearest dervish was only a dozen paces from him, with no way around it.

Charlie turned to look at Kontus. The big Trichani was frozen in place, staring at the black vortexes, one hand on his sidearm - but seemed unable to move. "We can't leave Kontus, either!"

Charlie had no idea what was happening, but the look of near-panic in Max's eyes frightened him to the very core.

The elf grimaced, but waved a hand at Bobby. The boy jerked up off the ground, and was suddenly over the barrier, on their side. Kippy grabbed him by an arm and pulled him towards Max. Charlie turned and grabbed Kontus by an arm and pulled, but the big man barely moved at all. "Help me!" he yelled at Max.

The nearest black vortex suddenly wound down, and a large...thing...appeared. It was tall and monstrous, all black in color, had tripod legs, a round head with what looked like eyes all the way around it, and a multitude of octopus like arms that waved furiously at shoulder height. The other vortexes also spun down, and more of the things appeared.

The one closest to them bolted with amazing speed at the barrier, and reached across the top of it with several of the long arms...straight at Adrian!

Charlie had no time to even yell a warning. The horror of what was happening had him rooted in place.

Ricky's right arm suddenly moved with lightening speed, and then his dagger was in his hand. It hummed furiously as he stepped in front of Adrian and whipped the blade across in front of them; and in an instant, four of the octopus arms were writhing on the ground. The vibratory blade had severed them cleanly, and the creature from which they had been shorn rebounded away from them with incredible speed, emitting a horrifying mewling sound.

It gave Max the moment he needed. He whirled a hand in the air, and an invisible force seemed to circle the entire group, pushing everyone together. Charlie felt the strange feeling of dislocation that accompanied elf dimensional travel, and then they were standing inside the control room of their ship. Charlie looked about, saw all of his friends present...and Bobby and Kontus, too.

All of a sudden the Trichani unfroze, and grabbed his weapon from his holster. "Stop! No one --"

Max whipped his hand up, and the pistol flew from Kontus's hand and smashed against the overhead with a bang. The Trichani's arms slapped against his sides as Max restrained him, and then the elf was calling for Murcha. "Take off! Get us out of here!"

They all sat down hard as the machines beneath the deck thundered into life. Charlie had never once before felt any sort of motion when the Moth ship took off, but this time the entire vessel vibrated and shook, and an invisible force clutched at him and tried to pull him prone on the floor. He fought it, and managed to stay upright...and then the pressure eased away, and was gone.

"Destination?" Murcha asked, sounding no more worried than he ever did, despite the obviously dramatic take off.

"Just get us into the Cooee and away from here!" Max called.

"We went into the Cooee the moment we passed out of the discworld's gravity well," the shipmind explained. "But I need a destination, or we will just wander aimlessly about in the dark."

Max closed his eyes, and for a moment was silent. "It's no good, anyway. They followed us into the Cooee. They'll stay with us, wherever we go, unless we can find a way to break away from them."

"Who?" Charlie demanded then. "Who is after us?"

Max opened his eyes and shook his head. "I ain't got no idea. But these are some bad guys, Charlie. They got magic, and they know how to use it. And they have Pacha'ka with them!"

Mike jumped to his feet. "Pach? We can't leave him!"

Kippy also jumped up, and wrapped his arms around the Aussie lad. "Easy. Max will do something."

Max nodded at Mike. "Just relax. I won't leave him behind."

Charlie also got up. Ricky and Adrian were seated on the deck together, their arms around each other. "It almost got me," Adrian whispered. "You saved me."

"No," Ricky said, shaking his head. "Don't say it. Don't say anything!" he tightened his grip on Adrian, and kissed him.

Charlie looked around, spied the new boy, Bobby, sitting on the deck, staring at Ricky and Adrian. Despite everything going on, he had to laugh at the comical expression of utter surprise on the boy's face. "What's the matter?" he asked. "You never seen two guys kiss before?"

Bobby looked up at him, and then looked away. "I didn't say anything."

Kippy turned to stare at him. "Even Nebraska must have gay guys!" Mike also turned in Kippy's grasp, looking aggravated by the sudden change of subject.

Bobby looked suddenly confused. "Gay? What do you mean by that?"

Kippy released Mike, put his hands on his hips, and tsked. "Gay. Like Rick and Adrian." He gave a short snort at the look of incomprehension on the other's face. "You know. Lovers."

"Homosexuals," Bobby said, shaking his head. "Is that what you mean?"

Kippy gave a short laugh. "Well, duh."

Bobby suddenly looked tired, and closed his eyes. "Who are you people?"

Charlie looked at Max. "Do we still need the disguises?"

Max turned to kook at Kontus, who had stopped squirming within the invisible force holding him, and was now watching everything quietly. "You gonna cause me any more trouble?" the elf asked.

The Trichani's eyes looked upwards, to where his pistol still remained, cemented to the overhead. "You're power users," he finally said. "No wonder your ship was unarmed."

"It's not unarmed," Max returned. "We just hid the goodies from you."

Kontus gave a small laugh. "It amounts to the same thing. I am powerless against such forces."

Max sighed, and waved a hand, and Charlie looked about at the others again. Gone were the antlers, the green skin, the blue hair. They still wore the fancy costumes, but their bodies were back to their normal appearances.

"Ah," Kontus said, his eyes going from Charlie to Kippy to Bobby." I begin to see now. This one is one of your people."

Bobby looked up at them, gaping again. "What the hell is going on here? Will somebody tell me?"

"We're from Earth," Charlie said, going to the boy and leaning down towards him. "New York, to be exact."

Bobby bolted to his feet, and grabbed Charlie's hand, and shook it hugely. "Well, why didn't you say so? Man! It's so good to see someone from home -" he broke off then, looking wary, "How'd you get out here? Earth's okay, isn't it?"

"It was when we left it," Kippy said, coming over beside him.

Bobby released Charlie's hand, and stepped back from him. "I think I'm going nuts."

"What were you doing on Roorapynta?" Charlie asked. "How did you get out here?"

Bobby straightened. "I escaped from those damned Markite Paglogs, that's what. They left the dark place on a supply run, and I managed to hide on the ship. They put down on that crazy round planet, and then they went out of the ship. I just left then, right after they did."

Charlie and Kippy looked at each other, and Kippy just shrugged. "Don't ask me!"

"What are Markite Paglogs?" Charlie asked.

Bobby sighed, obviously tired and getting grumpy. "Markites are the damned aliens that kidnapped me. They took me to the dark planet, and kept me there for a while. But they eventually got bored with me, and let me wander around on my own. Paglogs are their robots, or whatever the hell they are, that keep things going on the dark planet. They go out every so often and get supplies and stuff. They got so they didn't watch me anymore, and this time, when I knew they were getting ready to go again, I sneaked aboard the ship and came with them. And here I am."

"You were kidnapped from Earth?" Ricky asked, finally getting to his feet, and pulling Adrian up with him.

"You bet. I was walking down the road one night, on my way home from work, and this thing swooped over me and grabbed me right up!"

"If I may interrupt?" Murcha interjected. "I am detecting something on a parallel course, pacing us."

"That's them," Max said. "It's another ship. A big one, too!"

Charlie looked over at him. "Is that what happened at Roorapynta? Someone attacked us there? From that ship?"

"Yep. They used some sort of bilocation doodad to send those big black things down at us."

Kontus made a startled sound. "Such technologies have been theorized, but no one is known to possess them!"

"Well, these guys do." Max shook his head. "I felt 'em coming, and it was a real shock, let me tell ya. Whoever these guys are, they use magic way better than the Moth. They're almost as good as me!"

Charlie felt fear at that pronouncement. "But you managed to get us away, anyway."

"By the skin of our teeth. There was four or five of 'em trying to keep me from doing it. But I got a knack for movement, so we got lucky." The elf nodded. "Even then, we almost didn't get away. At the last moment, I felt Pacha hitting them hard, and that threw them enough that we could slip out."

"Pacha is aboard that ship?" Mike asked. "Can you bring him here?"

Max shook his head. "Not just yet. But I'm already workin' on something that might do the job."

Charlie shook his head, stunned at the sudden turn of events. "You don't know who these people are?"

"Not a clue. I got an impression of a big ship from Pacha's brief contact - a really big ship - but with just a few alien guys on board. But they got lots of those big black things with the wavy arms that attacked us on Roorapynta, and we don't want them sending any here. They're trying to do that, and I'm stopping them right now."

"We've got to save Pach," Mike said adamantly. "There has to be a way."

"There is," Max agreed. "But I can't do it by myself. I need help...just wait a minute. I'm workin' on it right now!"

"They are attempting to close with us," Murcha said. "I am able to maintain our separation thus far, however."

Charlie shook his head. "I thought no other ship could touch us in the Cooee. Just follow us." He turned to Mike. "That's what Pacha said, when Korig was after us. That's why we went to Engris the first time."

"The technology of our pursuers would seem to be even more robust than my own," the shipmind countered. "They are drawing closer, despite my attempts to evade them."

Kippy looked at Charlie, the question plain in his eyes. Who had a superior technology even to the Moth?

"Almost there," Max said then. He had his eyes closed and his hands raised, and Charlie could see the fierce concentration on the elf's face.

Suddenly, Charlie noticed the tiniest of sounds, just at the limit of his hearing. It began as a faint buzzing noise, like that of a fly orbiting his head. But it quickly increased in volume, became the drone of a large bumblebee - an angry one, at that - and then passed beyond any sort of sound he had ever heard before.

"What's happening?" Mike asked, alarm apparent in the tone of his voice.

"I'm doing it," Max said, tersely. "Relax. And don't be surprised by...oh...almost...almost...!"

A pinpoint of light appeared in front of Max, and quickly grew in size. The fierce droning sound increased along with the diameter of the circle, until Charlie had to cover his ears at the sheer volume. The circle of light grew larger than Max, becoming blue and mirror-like, almost as if they were observing a small pond standing on its side. The droning changed in pitch, somehow seemed to draw even nearer. The surface of the blue circle began to ripple, clearly showing some sort of tuned response to the droning sound, and then ---

The surface parted, and Frit stepped out. He was followed immediately by Pip. Both elves turned on their heels and raised their hands towards the blue circle, as if somehow assisting with keeping it open. The azure surface rippled again, and someone else stepped out. And then, quite suddenly, a line of men began to follow, each one clearly an elf, each one displaying the same physical characteristics as Max, which clearly labeled them as older men. Charlie held his breath, counting, until the line ended just as suddenly as it had begun, and ten adult elves stood before them.

Max gave a soft grunt, and the blue circle began to diminish in size. The droning faded along with it, and in a moment, both were gone. Max leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, breathing hard. The first elf to come through after Frit and Pip went to him immediately and laid a hand on his shoulder. Charlie blinked, seeing something barely visible pass between them, and then Max smiled and straightened.

"Thanks, Rufe. Glad you and the boys could make it."

The other elf nodded. He was the same size as Max, but his hair was blonde with a reddish tinge to it, and a full beard adorned his face. "We came as soon as Frit delivered your message." He turned and waved at the other new arrivals. "Come on over, fellas, and tune in. You gotta see this thing that's chasing us."

The others quickly circled around Max and Rufe, and each elf laid a hand on one or the other.

"Rolling snowballs!" one immediately exclaimed. "That's big!"

Rufe nodded. "Izzy, you and Zeke take point. Take Lukey and Brozzie and Clem with you. There's six users over there - they're good, but they ain't all that - let's warn 'em off. Jac, you and the others look for Pacha. We gotta bring him over!"

"They're trying to suppress him," one of the other elves warned. "He keeps blinking in and out!"

Max turned and dropped a hand on the speaker's shoulder. "I know Pacha, they can't hide him from me! Wait...there he is!"

All the elves closed their eyes, and the room suddenly grew deathly still.

Charlie turned, looking at the walls around him, at the shell of the starship, all that separated them from the depths of the Cooee. Somewhere beyond that gray steel, a fight was taking place. In it were ten elves from Earth, against an unknown foe of an unknown origin.

He was aware of Frit and Pip coming over to stand beside him. Frit put a reassuring hand on Charlie's back, but held a finger to his lips, a warning to remain silent. He turned then, displaying that same warning to the other boys standing near.

Even Kontus seemed to understand the need for quiet, though the human gesture requesting silence was lost on him. "What is happening?" he whispered.

Charlie turned to look at him. "Shh. Not now. Stay quiet, and wait."

The Trichani leaned his head forward in acknowledgement, but his eyes continued to watch the mysterious proceedings with unbridled curiosity. Charlie smiled at that. He had grown to like the man, and felt that something might be worked out with him later on.

"Got him," Jac said. "He sees us! That's right, Pacha, come this way...good. Okay, boys, on my mark...one...two...now!"

The air near Mike shimmered, suddenly roiled with currents, and then there was a giant pop and Pacha'ka appeared in the room. He still wore the shape of a Koala from Earth, now his favored appearance, and one that Charlie and the others had grown very fond of. Mike immediately fell to his knees and grabbed the koala into his arms, hugging him fiercely. Pacha displayed the little twist of his face that signified a smile, and briefly hugged the boy back.

"Quickly!" he hissed then. "Take me to Max so that I can touch him!"

Mike scrambled to his feet and ran to Max and leaned close to him, and Pacha put out a small hand and laid it against the elf's arm.

Max turned and grinned at him. "Glad you could make it!"

The koala emitted the soft tchick-tchick-tchick that signified a laugh. "I would have come sooner, but you know that movement is not my specialty. I am still learning, and they were able to block the way."

"What the heck is that?" one of the elves said then.

Pacha closed his eyes, and suddenly tensed. "Gravity cannon. They emit intense, rotational gravitational fields. If they hit the ship in uninhibited form, they can severely damage it."

"They're trying to stop us now," Rufe said. He turned to Max. "You're really good with gravity. What should we do?"

"Turn 'em inside out," Max said immediately. "That'll reverse their travel and send them back where they came from."

"Here comes one!" another elf said.

Max closed his eyes again. "Do this, everyone..."

The ship gave a faint shudder.

"More coming in!' someone called.

The ship shuddered again, and then several times more.

"Ooh, they didn't like that!" Izzy called.

"The other vessel is receding at a rapid pace," Murcha informed them.

"They might be able to outrun them," Max said, waving a hand as if the end result did not concern him. "At least it gives us a chance to put some distance between us. Murcha? How far apart do we need to get before they lose us and can't follow?"

"The normal answer to that question would be the limit of their sensory array. But as their technology would seem to be superior to my own, I have no way of knowing what that distance might be."

"I already estimate that they will be able to evade the gravity vortexes before they are beyond our own sensor range," Illia added then. "That would seem to indicate that they will be able to continue to follow us."

"But they will not be able to catch us again until we reduce our velocity," Murcha finished.

Pacha emitted another small laugh. "Illia! I am pleased to hear your voice again!"

"Pacha'ka. I'm so relieved that you are safe."

Mike turned the koala to face him now, and raised an eyebrow at him. "You said you'd be right back, when you left me at the auction on Roorapynta."

"And here I am. A little later than expected, but still no harm done."

Mike shook his head. "You scared the living crap out of me, Pach."

The koala let out a small sigh, and laid a tiny hand on Mike's arm. "I am so sorry to have frightened you, Mike. I had no way of knowing what would occur. And once I was captured, I had no way to warn you what had happened."

"What about that?" Mike waved a hand at the bulkhead. "Who are our new friends?"

"Wait." Pacha turned to Charlie. "We all need to wish to go to Engris, Charlie. Our pursuers cannot find that world, and once we are there, we will be safe from them."

Charlie nodded, and turned to the other boys. "Everyone hear that? We want to go to Engris."

"Since I have no idea which direction to take, shall I just maintain our current course?" Murcha asked.

"Yes." Charlie nodded. "Engris will find us."

Max gave a sigh, and clapped Rufe on the back. He turned then to face all the elves, and gave a little wave of one hand. "Thanks, fellas. You guys were just in the nick of time."

"We brought them!" Frit said then, running to hug his great, great, great grandfather. Max grinned, and received the younger elf into a warm embrace.

"We never moved so fast in our lives!" Pip added. "But once we told 'em, they came running!"

Frit pulled back, and closed one eye at his granddaddy. "You went off with Charlie and Kippy, and didn't tell us!" His tone was accusing.

"And Adrian and Ricky!" Pip added.

"And Mike!" Frit continued, looking around. "And...who's that!" he added, dropping his voice to a whisper and pointing at Bobby.

"He's cute!" Pip whispered, though scarcely quietly.

"Look at that one!" Frit went on, indicating Kontus. "He's big!"

"How big, I wonder?" Pip said, laughing and covering his mouth to contain his grin.

Kontus gave his head a slow shake. "I have no idea what just happened, and no idea what is happening now."

Charlie grinned, taking pity on the big Trichani. He turned to Max. "Can't you let him loose now?"

The elf turned to Kontus and put his hands on his hips. "What about it? Wanna give me your word you won't cause any trouble?"

The ursine head turned slowly, taking in the humans, the elves, and then Pacha'ka. "Isn't it obvious I'd be outclassed, even if I tried?"

Max laughed. "That ain't an answer."

Kontus gave the abbreviated nod of his race. "Okay. Then let me ask you this: will I be allowed to return to Roorapynta at some point?"

Max gave a little shrug. "Sure. Once we're all done with what we're doing, I'll make sure you get home."

Charlie could see the pleased look in the Trichani's eyes. "Than I give my word I will cause no trouble for the time being."

Max grinned. "No trouble, period."

Kontus gave a great sigh. "Agreed. No trouble, period."

Max closed his eyes a second, and then nodded. He looked over at Charlie. "He means it, too." The elf's hand came up and waved, and Kontus took an involuntary step forward to regain his balance as the force holding him vanished.

"Extraordinary," Kontus said then, patting himself as if to see that he was all in one piece. "It has been supposed until now that the Moth were the only power users in this area of space."

"There are others," Max said, vaguely. "The Moth are far from the best."

Kontus squinted a moment, his eyes going to Charlie, and then the other boys. "And yet, not all of you seem so gifted. These were not participants in the battle it seems you just fought with our distant adversaries."

"They're really young," Max said, smiling towards the boys. "They're still learning. They'll get there, some day."

Mike gave Pacha another small squeeze. "You were going to say who the bad guys were."

The koala nodded, and patted Mike's arm. "Put me down."

Mike grunted, and set the Kifta on the deck. Pacha turned and headed straight to Adrian. "You have it with you, don't you? The item you picked up at the pirate market on Engris?"

Adrian looked astonished, but nodded, and patted his pocket.

Pacha held out a small hand. "May I see it?"

"Sure." Adrian dug into his pocket and pulled out the orb of the star map, and handed it down to Pacha. The koala examined the globe, eying the stars inside it, and particularly the one with the halo around it, the target sun. Then he turned and held it up for all to see. "This is what this is all about. Our enemy is after this."

No one said anything for a moment. Then Max gave out a surprised grunt. "That whatsit? All this hoopla over a snow globe?"

"It's a map," Pacha countered. "A very ancient one. And it apparently shows the way to an important Beltracian stronghold of old."

Kontus immediately leaned forward. "The Beltracians? They've been gone for twenty thousand years!"

Pacha shook his head. "Apparently not. Those who pursue us are Beltracians." He held up the globe, displaying the tiny lights of distant suns within. "And they intend to have this map, and will not let anyone stand in their way!"