Task Force Mars - Kevin Dockery [42]
“For what purpose?” Jackson demanded, addressing Catal. “Why did you take us off Mars?” He cast a contemptuous glance at Zaro. “Why did you have this weasel infiltrate our colony?”
Tezlac Catal shrugged and smiled slightly, and again it was Zaro who answered. “Because we are curious.”
Catal stared at Jackson with a peculiar intensity that made the officer feel as if his skin were being peeled back; it seemed that the enemy commander was getting a look directly at his insides. He grimaced, fighting the distressing sensation, trying to assure himself that his thoughts remained private. With an effort, he forced his expression to blank.
“You are all Eluoi?” he asked, still suppressing a shudder of disquiet.
“We are the one true race of destiny in the galaxy,” Zaro said calmly. Jackson noticed Char-Kane grimacing, but the Shamani woman made no objection to the statement.
“True race? We’ve had some people on Earth make that claim over the years. It didn’t work out too well for them.”
Tezlac Catal merely smiled coolly, and Jackson got the idea that Zaro was hearing the other man’s thoughts and speaking for him. The professor explained with unself-conscious arrogance. “Let me put it this way. We are the supreme race. The Shamani aspire to be our equals, but they are not. The Assarn are mere dogs compared to us. And you humans of Earth…”
“What about us humans?” demanded Jackson.
Catal shrugged again, a maddeningly condescending gesture. He looked almost bored as Zaro noted helpfully: “You are the fleas on the dog.”
“Your point?”
“It may become clear to you eventually; whether or not it does is not our concern.” Zaro stood up, and the Eluoi commander gestured to a large screen high up on the bridge wall. A picture glimmered there, a very high-res image of the galaxy. Jackson recognized the constellation Cassiopeia before he turned to Char-Kane.
“Are you in alliance with these Eluoi?” he asked coldly.
“No,” she replied. “I am a prisoner, too. They captured this ship from the Shamani crew while I was on Mars. My crew—those who survived the attack—are being held in a cargo hold. But I have been given private quarters not far from your own.”
Zaro smiled thinly. “There is a certain amount of status associated with an elite member of the Shamani. I would not treat a consul de campe the same as any routine prisoner. She is more important than most.”
Jackson regarded his captors again, not sure if he believed the professor but wanting to learn as much as he could while he was there. He tried to shake Catal up by addressing him directly.
“Why do you let this sneaking weasel do your talking for you?” he asked bluntly.
Tezlac Catal opened his mouth and spoke. “Thisss issss why,” he said quietly.
The words assaulted Jackson’s brain like a spike being driven through his skull. He staggered backward, clapping his hands to his ears, exerting every bit of his willpower to keep from collapsing to his knees or passing out. His head felt like it was exploding, and the pain brought tears to his eyes.
He wasn’t the only one affected. He saw Char-Kane groan and go down as if she had been coldcocked. Even the Eluoi of Catal’s crew winced and started at the powerful sound. Professor Zaro gasped and quickly produced a handkerchief to mop his suddenly perspiring brow. He looked queasy but gritted his teeth and forced himself to swallow, then took a couple of deep breaths.
By that time Jackson had regained his equilibrium, shaking his head to clear away the lingering echoes of pain. He looked at Tezlac Catal’s dark eyes again, saw modest amusement there, and grimaced at the memory of that agonizing spike in his ears.
“I take your point,” he said dryly.
“Tezlac Catal is more than a lord,” Zaro said, his voice shaking. “He is a true savant, one of the masters of the Eluoi. His powers are great, and not to be wasted in conversation with mere mortals.”
“He is immortal, then?”
The professor shrugged. “He is already some