Twilight

CHAPTER 14

THE HORROR THAT RIPPLED THROUGH THE crowd was most satisfactory to Rosemary. Maybe at last she'd gotten their attention.

"Do not grow insolent, human," Selendis warned.

"Listen," Rosemary said, forging forward, "I know you all don't want zerg here, or Ulrezaj, or anyone else who might cause harm to the protoss. I fought the zerg myself. I know what they are. I saw what they did to your world. But you have to find Zamara. She knows too much that can help you right now for you not to. And—I would ask you—to help Jake. It's because of him that Zamara's survived this long. He's earned your help."

Some of them were leaning toward her side, though for their own reasons. Urun—he was burning to take the fight to Aiur, just as Rosemary knew Selendis was. Artanis struck her as someone who could appreciate the power of ancient knowledge, as well as such an important link with the past. Too, he had met this Jim Raynor, and she sensed from him a liking toward her people. Tabrenus seemed almost disinterested; he represented a group of artisans and craftsmen, not politicians. Zekrath of the Shelak was utterly inscrutable to her, and there was something about the Ara and their leader that chilled her on some level she couldn't quite articulate.

As for Mohandar, he was as unreadable as Zekrath. She didn't expect aid from that quarter—it had been made clear to her that dark templar couldn't have preservers, because they chose to separate themselves from the Khala. Likely as not, this guy might even be against them as a symbol of the "bad old Aiur" they sought to disconnect themselves from. And yet he was eyeing her steadily. She faced forward to Artanis, trying not to feel her skin crawl under that unblinking gaze.

"Vartanil," Artanis said, "Your thoughts are welcome here. You stand by this human, and support her request to seek Zamara and the being who houses her. Speak now of this.. .and of the nightmare that is our old enemy Ulrezaj."

Both Vartanil and Rosemary started at that. "Whoa, wait a minute.. .you all already know about Ulrezaj?" yelped Rosemary.

"We do indeed," Artanis answered, his thoughts grimmer than any she had yet sensed from him. "Shortly after we scoured the zerg from Shakuras, we encountered him for the first time. He was not nearly as strong then. From what you have told us, he now has the unheard-of power of seven dark templar assassins."

"So Zamara told us," Vartanil replied.

"He attempted to attack Shakuras by positioning an orbital space station that emitted powerful energy waves. They disrupted our communication and drained Shakuras's energy shields. Zeratul, a friend to the Aiur protoss and the one who offered us sanctuary on Shakuras, tried to convince Ulrezaj that old hatreds were best laid aside. But by then, Ulrezaj had already merged with three other protoss and had become the most powerful dark archon the dark templar had ever known."

Rosemary snorted. "Four...you guys had it easy."

"So it seems," Artanis acknowledged. "And that is grievous knowledge. Unfortunately, at the end, he eluded us. And now we know where he has been hiding, and at least some of what he has been doing."

Rosemary became aware that her mouth was hanging open and closed it with a snap.

"This monster...our Benefactor," Vartanil said, his heart sick. "Attacking his own people, in a time of war... how could we have been so misled?"

"Do not berate yourself one moment longer," said Artanis kindly. "Ulrezaj was clever and strong enough to escape us when he was but four dark templar. That he was clever enough to create the Sundrop and dupe those who remained on Aiur when he had the brilliance and power of seven beings in him, is no surprise. Once the zerg overran our beloved Aiur, we again permitted dark archons to be created. They are devastating weapons, certainly. Their wildness and uncontrollability was the price paid for the damage they caused our foes. But ordinary dark archons do not exist for long. They do not become what this Ulrezaj has. To learn that he has grown yet more powerful is horrifying—what dark knowledge has he obtained, and from whence, that he is able to continue and not be ripped apart by the very power that made him?"

Rosemary couldn't help it; she turned to look at Mohandar, and as she did so, she knew others were as well. The ancient being who represented the dark templar in this assembly seemed completely unruffled by the scrutiny. There was still fear of the dark templar, the shadow hunters, old and stubborn, lurking in the back of many minds here.

Artanis shook his head. "No, Vartanil. Be at peace. All that truly matters is that once you understood what he was, you had the strength of will to forsake him."

Vartanil nodded slowly. "Rosemary was the first of anyone to break free of the Sundrop. She has proven herself to me, and Jacob Ramsey should be remembered in protoss history as one of the greatest allies we have ever had."

Rosemary's eyes widened a little at that.

Artanis's indecision was palpable. On the one hand, a preserver was a rare treasure. On the other hand, in the end she was one person, and her fate was tangled up with the dreadfully dangerous dark archon. Going after her could cost innocent protoss lives. Was it worth it?

"Zamara thought so. She was willing to let an awful lot of people die for this secret she harbors. Some of those people were friends of mine."

And some were friends of Jake's... and he loved his friends. Mine were business associates.

"And," she continued, "unless your preservers have a history of being selfish and egotistical to an insane degree, which I don't think is the case, then yeah—I do think the risk would be worth it."

"How dare you tell us what to think?" Urun's mental voice cracked like a whip, and Rosemary winced from the pain of it in her head. "You are in no position to demand anything!"

"Peace, Urun," Artanis said, holding up a hand. "The terran female merely states her opinion."

"Which should carry no weight whatsoever in this council," said Nahaan. "There are too many opinions already. We are like beasts trying to pull a vehicle in several different directions. We will get nowhere!"

Someone else had a snappy retort, and Nahaan rose to it, and Rosemary slumped slightly. In a way, Nahaan was right. They would get nowhere, arguing like this.

"Rosemary Dahl, I am so very sorry," Vartanil said in her mind. "We are a people who strive so hard for unity and yet it seems it is forever eluding us."

They'lljust send me back to my comfortable cell until they've argued over it some more, Rosemary thought. She tried to direct her thoughts privately to Vartanil, and had no clue if she'd succeeded. "Jake and Zamara could be dead by then."

"Hierarch! May I address the council?"

Rosemary's dark head whipped up in surprise. That clear, strong mental voice belonged to Selendis. The slender but still powerful protoss stepped forward, moving with a graceful stride toward the human woman. Rosemary wasn't alone in her shock; apparently no one else had expected Selendis to speak.

"Of course, Selendis," said Artanis. Rosemary got a brief hit, quickly smothered, of other protoss not being quite so willing to have the executor share her thoughts.

"I was the first in a position of authority to be informed of the human's arrival, along with the other evacuees of our homeworld," Selendis began. "I have never attempted to hide my feelings; on the contrary I am proud of them. None here assembled can question my devotion to my people, nor my desire to fight and protect them."

Her gaze swept the hall, almost as if daring anyone to challenge her. No one did.

"It is said that nothing can be forever hidden, if it wishes to be found; that lessons not learned the first time they appear will come again until we accept them. So it is with this situation now. The lesson craves to be understood and embraced; and the secret once unspoken strains to be shared. Those who knew it kept their silence, truly believing that it would serve nothing and harm much to speak of it. At the time, that might have been true—but no longer. Hierarch, I will tell them."

Everyone in the room strained forward. Mental murmurs of surprise pattered softly on Rosemary's brain. She'd already had a profound shock in discovering that the Hierarchy, at least, knew about Ulrezaj and she braced herself for another. What kind of bomb was Selendis about to drop?

Judging from Artanis's reaction and the sudden stillness that meant they were communicating privately, it was a big one. Artanis sat back, looking unhappy but resigned, and Selendis turned to address the hall.

"The attack on Shakuras," she said solemnly, "was not the first time we had encountered Ulrezaj. We found him and his cohorts shortly before then.. .when we sent a small fleet of protoss on a rescue mission to Aiur."

Rosemary gritted her teeth and clutched her head at the mental pain this revelation caused.

"You knew there were survivors on Aiur?"

"Why did we not send a larger fleet?"

"So many could have been saved!"

Selendis held up a hand. "We were investigating what we thought was a slim chance to recover a handful of individuals," she said. "We came expecting to find only the three templar who had survived because they were in stasis cells. When we saw the reality on Aiur..."

"Zeratul and I agreed that it would serve us nothing to mount a larger rescue mission," Artanis interrupted. Selendis turned to him. "In the end, it was my decision, Selendis. To not rescue our brethren.. .and to keep word of it silent."

Rosemary stared. "Why, you heartless—"

Urun let out a mental roar so intense Rosemary almost passed out. Vartanil reached to steady her, doing what he could to shield her from the telepathic bombardment, even though he himself was reeling from the news that he could have been rescued four years ago.

"Our people are Crying there!" Urun thundered. "You have told us that we did not have the strength to fight the zerg, to recover our world.... You let us believe that there were no survivors to save!"

"We expected only to find those who had been in the stasis cells," Artanis repeated. "We were shocked and stunned to discover more had survived on the planet. And yet even while we were there, we could see that the zerg were still rampaging across Aiur, overwhelming them... slaughtering even as we watched, too few in number to save them. Even if we had sent a rescue mission, we had no reason to believe that by the time it reached Aiur, there would be anyone left to rescue."

"It is true," said Vartanil unexpectedly. All eyes turned to him. "No one could have known that the zerg would stop targeting us....

No one could have known that we would find a Benefactor." He lifted his head and looked at Artanis.

"To discover that there were so many left, and that they had endured so much these four years—I do not think there is one among us who was unmoved by that. Particularly those of us who had known some survived, and believed you to simply be walking dead," said Selendis. Her emotion was obvious.

Vartanil nodded. "I.. .understand your decision, Hierarch."

Others still did not, Urun among them, but they could not continue protesting when Vartanil, the one among them most wronged by the choice, was willing to forgive.

Artanis rose and bowed deeply to the young Furinax, who suddenly looked rather endearingly embarrassed.

"We must focus on the present, for the past cannot be changed," Selendis said. "Though I greatly wish it could be. Ulrezaj has resurfaced, to prey upon the remnants of those left behind on Aiur. But to what end? And what does he want with a preserver? What does she know that has shaken so vastly powerful a being? Our only clue so far is what Vartanil and Rosemary can tell us. And that, my fellow protoss, is insufficient. It is as clear to me as the stars were when glimpsed from Aiur on a cloudless night what we must do. Ulrezaj may have indeed fallen upon Aiur, under the combined attack of the Dominion, the protoss, and the zerg. Or, he may not have, and he may continue to hunt Zamara and every other protoss down, to silence them forever."

Selendis's eyes glowed fiercely. "We must not let him succeed. He has murdered many protoss, used them for his own unknown ends. Shall we sit idly by and let him do the same to a preserver? Put an end to a line that has existed since the arrival of the xel'naga? Permit that song to be forever silenced, all that knowledge eternally lost?"

That hit home with Zekrath. Out of the corner of her eye, Rosemary saw him physically jerk as if struck. His thoughts, however, were tightly lidded.

"And perhaps worse still—shall we permit a terran male, who did not ask for this burden, and yet who has done all that he could to support the preserver, to die alone and in pain because we are too afraid to go to his aid?"

"The protoss are afraid of nothing!" The angry retort came from Urun, who had actually leaped to his feet and fairly bristled with offense. "You know as well as I that the Auriga have stood and stand ready to mount an assault to reclaim our world." Rosemary had thought he disliked her, but apparently when it came to showing that the protoss, and particularly the Auriga, could kick serious ass, Rosemary and Urun were on the same side. She guessed she'd take it.

"This is not a question of fear or of pride, but of practicality," said Tabrenus. Vartanil, still so very young, gave his tribal leader a wounded look. "Even if we were to agree that this Jacob Ramsey and the preserver he hosts are to be rescued, how would we find them? What horrors would we risk loosing upon this world by opening doors and searching? I admire your courage, Selendis, and your enthusiasm, Urun. And Vartanil, your thoughts shine only with the purest of intentions. But Aiur is in ruins, and Shakuras almost became so, through trusting terrans."

Back to that damn Kerrigan again. Rosemary vowed if she ever met the woman, she'd get in at least one blow that hurt like hell before she went down.

"I agree with Tabrenus," said Nahaan, his mental voice deep. "There is too much at stake. And we only have this human's belief that Zamara's secret is so important. For all we know, Zamara could have gone mad and this entire thing is some insane rambling."

"You did not touch Zamara's mind, as I did," Vartanil blurted. "Otherwise, you would not say such a thing."

Disapproval lowered from almost all the alcoves at Vartanil's outburst.

"Vartanil, you were not in the Khala when you touched Zamara's mind," Tabrenus reminded the younger protoss gently. "You could have been fooled. And humans are not protoss. Rosemary could easily have been duped."

Embarrassment wafted from Vartanil, and even Rosemary, though she was annoyed at the comment, had to concede that Nahaan had a point.

Selendis, however, seemed completely unruffled. "If this were madness, then surely so powerful a being as Ulrezaj would pay it no credence."

Aha! thought Rosemary, almost gleefully. You tell him, sister.

Selendis granted Rosemary a brief, baffled thought, then returned her attention to the protoss tribal leaders.

Artanis called for calm, and turned to those who had not yet spoken. "The decision is mine, but I have always striven for unity among our people. Mohandar, Zekrath—do you wish to speak?"

Zekrath inclined his head. "I yield to what our hierarch chooses. There are points to be argued on both sides. The Shelak, in the end, attend to the past, not the present or future."

It was a curious thing to say, though Rosemary suspected it was true, as far as it went. She was a little disappointed; she had thought the Shelak would be more anxious to help something that was so linked to the past.

"Duly noted," Artanis replied. "Mohandar? What say you?"

For a moment, the leader of the Nerazim did not speak. Rosemary felt her brain all but being bored into, her thoughts analyzed, sifted, then discarded. She had to admit, that if this guy was a typical example of the dark templar, she could understand why they unnerved the Aiur protoss.

"Curiously enough, I agree with my esteemed colleague Zekrath," said Mohandar. "I would know what the hierarch would do."

Selendis was silent, but her gaze was locked with that of Artanis. Rosemary knew that she was the hierarch's protegee and as such might be expected to be shown a bit of favoritism. But Rosemary also got the feeling that although it was clear that Artanis was fond of, and proud of, his pupil, he was also smarter than to let his personal feelings get in the way of so important a decision.

Artanis lifted his gaze from Selendis to Rosemary. She felt his thoughts, for her alone.

"Rosemary Dahl, Selendis, whose judgment I have learned to respect, sides openly with your cause. Let me ask you this, and I will know if the answer conies from your heart or your head: Do you truly believe that this quest is worth the deaths of more of my people? For such I fear it may come to."

She couldn't shut out her personal feelings for Jake, and didn't even bother. She wanted him back, alive, happy, wanted to hear that unique combination of brilliance and goofiness that was his alone as he spoke and thought and acted. So she let Artanis see all that, and then let him see the urgency in Zamara's words. The single-mindedness of Ulrezaj, who was somehow bound up in all this. And what he'd done to the Forged.

Artanis nodded, once, and respectfully withdrew. He got to his feet. "I have listened to all sides. I have touched this human's mind, and that of young Vartanil. Even before Rosemary came here today, I had been listening to the evidence gathered by Selendis. After all this, it is my decision that we do everything we can to locate and retrieve the terran, Jacob Jefferson Ramsey, and Zamara, the preserver."

Rosemary closed her eyes and almost sagged in relief.

"Further, we shall immediately attempt to extract Zamara from Jacob's mind, so that what she knows may be safely kept, and that he may survive once he is no longer carrying her. We will do all in our power to save them both."

It had to be exhaustion that stung Rosemary's eyes at this announcement. She blinked hard and glanced over at Selendis.

"Thanks," she said.

"I did not do it for you," Selendis replied. "I did it because I believe it is what is best for the protoss." She hesitated. "Nonetheless, if we can indeed save your friend who has endured so much for our people...That is good."

"Rosemary, I am so very pleased!" It was Vartanil, and his delight was palpable. "Your truth was heard today. Surely we will recover Jacob and Zamara quickly now that all understand how important it is!"

Rosemary smiled and impulsively squeezed Vartanil's arm. She was glad someone was enthusiastic about this. While she was pleased that the decision had been made in her favor, there still remained the problem—how were they going to find him?

"That is the challenge," Artanis said in response to her unvoiced question. "I will speak with those who attended the gate when you came through. We will see if there is a record of where Jacob was sent."

"Even if that is the case, we may not find him there," Selendis warned. "He and Zamara may have left whatever world they ended up on, in an effort to continue their quest. They may well be trying on their own to link up with dark templar, to extract Zamara's essence from Jacob's mind. The need seems to be immediate, rather than something that can be delayed indefinitely."

Damn right, Rosemary thought fiercely. "We need to move soon."

Those who had opposed the idea were now silent, settled in their chairs, cloaked in their displeasure like something physical. But thankfully it didn't look as though they were going to undermine the attempt.

"Perhaps those left on Aiur had some idea of where Zamara wished to go," said Urun. "We could send our forces there and rescue those who yet remain."

"Urun," said Selendis, bowing deeply, "if only it were that easy. But you will recall that Zamara wanted to come here—and that if anyone knew of a secondary place where she intended to go, it would doubtless be Rosemary Dahl rather than one of our people. If she does not know, they would not."

"Then perhaps Jacob Ramsey is still on Aiur, awaiting rescue," Urun persisted. Rosemary felt for him. She'd seen what Aiur was like, had heard about what it had been before. Urun and others

would take any excuse to return and try to heal that wound. She felt Selendis yearning to agree with him, but the executor gave the protoss equivalent of a sigh as she spoke.

"He was redirected. We have confirmed that much. I suppose the best place to start is to determine where they went, and from there... make our best guess."

Selendis didn't like guessing. Selendis liked facts, things that were concrete, things that one could move on immediately. Despitetheir clash, Rosemary found herself realizing she and the executor had a lot in common.

"And what might that be?" asked Nahaan. "I think I need not explain to you, Executor, that every gate opens onto every other gate, unless it is blocked."

That was for my benefit. Got it, bud.

"There are thousands of worlds this Jacob might have fled to, and each place is vast. It could take us months—years—to find him, and waste valuable resources doing so. Hierarch, you need a better plan than this!"

This guy really seemed to enjoy pushing Artanis's buttons. If Urun had his own agenda, then clearly all the others did too. Urun simply seemed less inclined to hide his—and why should he? It was a noble one. Rosemary wasn't so sure about Nahaan's. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure about anyone's except for her own. And maybe Selendis's. Maybe.

As if on cue, Selendis spoke. "It is indeed a daunting task, but when have the protoss ever shirked such?" She turned to Artanis and to Rosemary's surprise, knelt. "With the hierarch's permission, and that of the Hierarchy, I will lead the search for Jacob Jefferson Ramsey and Zamara."

Artanis blinked. "I—yes. I trust you as I trust myself, Executor, and you have earned the respect of all here."

Rosemary realized that was true. Even those who were clearly opposing Artanis and the plan did not raise objections.

Selendis rose and nodded. "I will begin by determining where the human and the preserver went first. After that, I will begin winnowing down our options. I will try to think like a preserver—a daunting task, no doubt, but I will do my best. Rosemary will doubtless be able to assist me in this, as she knows both Jacob and Zamara."

"I believe," came the raspy mental voice of the ancient Mohandar, "I can save you a little time, Executor."

Startled, Rosemary turned to the dark templar. His eyes crinkled slightly, and she realized he was amused.

"I think I know exactly where Zamara wishes to go. And I can tell you how to get there."