Chapter Eleven

Evan fought his way through the fog, blinking madly to clear away the blurred world so he could see where he was. He remembered Alex making a lunge at Maker's throat, then there was an explosion of electricity, then nothing.

"Alex?" Slowly the world began to clarify. He was sitting in a chair, alone in an unfamiliar room. Both wrists were secured to the arms of the chair by silver metal bands, matching restraints around his ankles that held him in place. A quick, frantic search of the room showed no signs of Alex, or Maker.

Evan swallowed back on the panic and anger surging up. Deep down, he knew his Keeper was still alive, and still in possession of the ring Maker had tried to remove. As long as Alex was alive, he had time to figure out how to get to him.

When the last of the mental fog lifted, Evan looked around the room more carefully. He was in the only chair, facing a wall filled with monitors and equipment. There were connections leading from the metal restraints around his left wrist down to the floor, where they vanished into a small opening, presumably trailing under the floor to one of the computers in the wall. He tested the strength of the retraining metal and found it solid. Both hands were held so securely to the chair he couldn't even turn his wrists.

So where is Alex? If he was here, tied to a chair unable to move, where had Maker taken Alex? And what was he doing? Evan felt angry enough to tear the chair apart with his bare hands to get some answers, but he couldn't even shift his palms up.

"Ah, Evan, I see you're awake." Maker wheeled into the room from behind the chair, smiling calmly.

"Where is Alex?" Evan glared at the thing that had created him, no longer struggling with the conflicting emotions of awe and fear that had gripped him earlier. "What have you done to him?"

"I assure you, he's unharmed." Maker wheeled to a stop a few feet in front of Evan and waved one silver arm toward the monitors behind him. "I'm sure your senses tell you that much about your Keeper."

"They tell me he's alive. But not why he's not here."

"Relax, please," Maker waved a hand. "Your Keeper is still resting. I'll show you in a moment." He wheeled closer, lowering himself slightly so his face was only a few feet higher than Evan. "But first, I want to get to know you better."

Evan tried not to show his disgust when he looked at Maker. The mechanical eye was spinning, trying to find the best focus. "How can you know me better? You made me."

Maker straightened up with a whir of gears. "And gave you up all too soon. Spencer Marcase was in a hurry, and your development had gone so perfectly, I was in a position to oblige him." He wheeled around and began a rolling pace of the room in front of Evan's chair. "There is so much more I could have done with you. So many more talents you could have included to enhance your performance." He spun half his body around to look at Evan. "I really should have kept you for myself, you know."

Evan's stomach reeled.

"Try as I might, I could never produce another with your perfect blending." Maker wheeled himself along the banks of computers. "And your talent has only gotten stronger."

"I want to see Alex." Evan glared at the thing before him, willing himself to ignore what was being said.

"If that will calm your nerves." Maker touched a monitor and it flicked to life, showing the image of a small room viewed from the upper corner.

Evan stared intently at the image there. From the angle of the camera, he could see Alex sitting on the edge of a bare bunk, rubbing his temples with the fingers of both hands. Occasionally his hands moved and rubbed fiercely at his eyes. The silver ring on his finger glinting slightly in the white light. A moment later Alex stood and walked to the door, pounding on it and shouting something Evan couldn't hear. The image hadn't included sound, but he could imagine what his Keeper was shouting.

"Let him out."

"He's just fine where he is, Evan." Maker turned to face him. "As you can see, he's unharmed. And except for a temper that will get him nowhere, he's just fine. I assure you, as long as you cooperate, he'll remain that way."

Evan dragged his gaze from the monitor back to Maker. "Cooperate?"

"A simple matter, I promise. And one you might even thank me for."

"Thank you?" Evan wanted to laugh but he couldn't even fake it. "Release these restraints, let us go, and I might consider it."

"Yes, all in good time." Maker waved his mostly human hand in dismissal. "First explain to me how he kept that ring on his finger?"

Evan blinked.

Maker wheeled over and leaned forward, drawing his face closer to the Sha'erah's. "I have never failed to remove a ring. I created them, I created you. I hold the ultimate rights to all my children! Any time I deem it appropriate, I can remove a ring from the Keeper." Anger flashed in his human eye as he straightened up again, glaring down at Evan. "How did he defy me?"

It was a trick. It had to be. How could he not know?"Alex doesn't control the ring." He proceeded cautiously. "I do."

Maker's mechanical eye spun wildly in apparent surprise.

"But you knew that." Evan watched him, repulsed by what he saw but trying hard to find a way to read Maker's expressions. "You made us, you made the rings and the rules."

Anger flashed in Maker's human eye. He spun around, facing the monitors, and looked up at the screen that showed him Alex.

Evan looked up also, preferring to look at the image of his Keeper on a wall rather than the grotesque mix of flesh and silver standing before him. Alex was working the access panel cover off, obviously trying to find a way to force the door to his room open. He wished he could speak with him, at least tell him he was all right, or hear what his friend was saying when he occasionally glanced up at the camera monitoring him and shouted at it.

"You are Sha'erah, Evan, not an individual. You have no will of your own outside that of your Keeper. I created you this way. Years of perfect training have made you what you are."

Evan watched the mechanical man's back. "Then why am I restrained?"

"Eleven months with this Keeper have nearly ruined all of my work." Maker looked up at the monitor showing Alex. "I don't understand how one man could have done that, but I can see that he has. He was the wrong man to inherit you from Spencer."

"Alex is more of a man than you ever were." Evan watched the monitor and saw his Keeper make an obscene gesture toward the camera watching him. Seeing that defiance gave him the courage he needed to continue.

"This man is not what he seems." Maker shook his head, ignoring Evan's words. "Alex Marcase killed his father to keep you." His entire body pivoted on the many wheels supporting it so he could face Evan again.

"Alex killed his father to prevent him from killing me." Evan kept his tone even, trying to force all emotion out. "And I killed him to keep him from hurting Alex."

Maker rolled closer, eyebrow wrinkling. "Explain."

Evan glanced at the monitor, at Alex, then looked at Maker. "You wouldn't understand."

A panel set in Maker's side opened up and an appendage snaked out, latching itself with a suction end to Evan's temple so fast, he saw it as a blur. "Explain."

Evan started to pull away when a shot of lightning burst through his temple. Minute fingers of heat probed around inside his brain as if searching for something, sparking blasts of pain with each movement. Somewhere far away a voice that sounded like his cried out against the painful intrusion, but he couldn't seem to find control of his vocal cords to stop it. Lights flashed in front of his eyes, blinding him with their intensity, but they seemed to be coming from inside his head!

As suddenly as it had begun, the pain stopped. Evan gasped for air, dizzy despite the fact that he was still sitting, still restrained in the chair. Sweat ran down his neck, and his temple throbbed where the appendage had already pulled away.

Slowly the fingers of pain subsided. Evan fought to control his breathing and get his heart rate slowed before his chest could explode. "What . . . did . . . "

"Fascinating!" Maker moved around the room again, his mechanical eye spinning. "I've just accessed your specific memory of the event, no harm done."

No harm! Had he done this to Alex? Evan glared at Maker's back as he slowly regained control of his breathing. Little explosions of residual lightning were still flashing through his skull like a backwash of charges, stabbing pain off and on.

"You see, Evan, your ring -- as it is with all Sha'erah -- is a piece of you. The same material used in your implants. It is . . . a part of what you are." Maker continued to roll around the room, passing behind Evan's chair as he slowly paced. "I had not intended that any of my children manage the control of their own ring, so the fact that you managed that very feat is somewhat of a surprise. It must have something to do with Captain Marcase."

Evan kept his eyes on the monitor so he could see Alex instead of the creature referring to him as his child, but his words were making an impact. Zane had suggested Evan could control the ring himself. It never occurred to him that the one who made him might not have all the answers. That he might not be in complete control after all. If that were true, and it obviously was, then there was a way out of here. He just had to find it.

"Your Keeper is a surprise, as well. I've already offered him three times your worth, as well as a replacement. But you can see by his attitude, he's not willing to part with you. With each reasonable offer I make, he refuses even more heatedly." Maker pointed to the monitor and they both watched Alex turn and shout something obviously obscene at the camera. "I've spared you his audio. The man knows some colorful language."

Evan found it ironic that Maker could be offended by anything. "He'll never sell me. And I'll never leave him. Nothing you say or do can change that."

"I'm beginning to believe you." Maker shook his head. "But that's no matter. If Alex can learn to behave, he can stay with us as long as he likes. I'd bring him in here, but he tends to express himself physically when upset. I'm afraid if I had to shock him too many more times, it could cause damage."

"What do you want?" Evan swallowed in a desperate attempt to moisten a dry throat.

Maker stopped moving and faced Evan. His body began to lower into the silver base, both legs descending into the metal, then came to rest when his waist met the top of the box. There was a click and his body jostled very slightly. At that level, he could easily look Evan in the eyes.

"You are my single greatest creation. Had I been able to take you farther, there's no telling where we could have gone together."

Evan felt his throat tighten with revulsion.

"You met Thomas. His mind-reading talents fell short of what I had hoped to accomplish, but he serves his Keeper well."

Evan felt a strange need to prove Maker wrong on as many points as he could, bolstering the growing notion that he wasn't as infallible as Sha'erah were trained to believe. Some of Alex's attitude must be rubbing off on him. "Thomas is Sha'erah."

"And a fine one!" Maker smiled, his silver teeth reflecting back the lights of the room. "Properly treated, perfectly trained."

"He allowed Alex to jeopardize his Keeper's life."

Maker spun his mechanical eye, single human eyebrow arched. "You are lying."

Evan shook his head slowly. "Alex was angry, and had Kellman by the throat, threatening to kill him. Thomas stood by and did nothing."

"Thomas is Sha'erah! You are Sha'erah! You cannot defy me!"

"Then why am I restrained? Why did the ring stay with Alex?" Evan swallowed back the fear ingrained into him by years of conditioning. "Why does the ring match my markings now, with Alex, when it never even came close with the one I was created for?"

"A trick!" Maker waved the idea away with one hand. "Something Captain Marcase has found a way to alter, no doubt. He is more of a threat than I expected, to all of my children." He raised back up to his full height, then started a rolling pace of the room. After a long silence, he turned back to face the chair.

"Imagine, Evan, if someone with your ability could project himself into a computer database from anywhere."

Evan blinked. The change in subject startled him. "I'd heard some could."

"No, no." Maker shook his head, irritated by the statement. "That's rumor. I've never managed to combine the two adequately. But with your strength, I'm beginning to wonder if that was necessary."

The monitor showing Alex could be seen just over Maker's left shoulder. Evan watched as Alex began trying to hotwire the controls that would unlock his door. He had to know he'd be seen, but he didn't seem to care.

"I can't project." Evan glanced at Maker and tried to hold up his palm to remind him of his creation's limitations.

"You have the potential." Maker reached out with his human hand and tapped Evan's forehead.

Evan pulled away, but strapped to the chair he couldn't get far. He glared at Maker. "I'm fine the way I am!"

"Yes, you are. But you could be so much more!" Maker lowered back down to his base again and leaned back as if he was sitting in a chair, folding his arms in front of his metallic chest. "Imagine what you could accomplish, Evan, if you could simply think of a system and enter it. Control entire stations, banking systems, space and air traffic. Look into the private files of anyone, anywhere, anytime."

"Why would I want to? That talent wouldn't serve Alex, so I'm not interested."

"I wasn't talking about serving Alex." Maker leaned forward. "What will it take to convince you that ring belongs to me?"

Evan shook his head sharply. "It will never belong anywhere except where it is. You created me and every belief I have. You convinced me of the rules and proved how unbending they are. But you were wrong." He felt his upper lip curling in justified disgust and imagined he must look quite a bit like his Keeper just then.

Maker inhaled deeply and set off a display of blinking lights on his chest. "Perhaps I misjudged how simple this would be." His body began to lift up, out of the seated stance. "But, I'm nothing if not prepared."

Evan watched Maker roll away, then around his chair until he'd passed behind and out of sight. A moment later he heard a door open and close, and found himself alone in the room once again. "Dammit!" He pulled against the restraints, futilely trying to break free. A flash on the monitor above him caught his attention, stopping his useless struggling.

The screen monitoring Alex's room had gone dark.

"No!" Fear washed over him, sinking into his gut like a gravity booster. Evan gritted his teeth against the pain and began pulling as hard as he could, trying to force his right hand under the restraining band. The skin tore against the edge, but the metal tightened with his effort, clamping down even harder until it felt as if his hand was being cut off.

"Do not attempt to injure yourself."

The voice came from behind, but so did the pressure from the hypo spray that plunged Evan instantly into a soft, semi-conscious state. He watched through blurry eyes as three robotic units removed the restraints holding him to the chair, but he had no strength or control and couldn't put up even the slightest fight. He faded in and out, feeling movement and motion around him, until finally the fog began to lift once again.

This time Evan found himself in a metal chair, restrained at wrists and feet again, but with an added metal band around his neck, not tight enough to choke but easily preventing him from much in the way of movement. There were multiple leads attached to his temples, and his shirt had been opened where wires snaked back and forth, held to points of his chest by monitoring and input devices.

The room was bare except for several stacks of computers and monitors, all blinking and showing various levels and indicators. When he tried to move his head to see further around the empty room, the wall directly in front of him began to slide back.

Evan blinked, disbelieving what he saw. The wall had moved to reveal a larger area where Maker was securing a metal restraining band around Alex with a final snap. Every muscle in his body tensed, but he could feel the responding strength of the metal straps holding him securely in place. He was helpless!

Maker wheeled to the side and Evan could see Alex more clearly. He was strapped in a standing position to the wall behind him a mere four yards away from Evan's chair. His arms were stretched out to either side, shoulder height and secured at both wrists by the same metal bands holding Evan in place. He was similarly held by ankles and waist, but seemingly unharmed, thought his eyes were rimmed in red, almost as if they'd been coated in blood and then poorly rinsed. Evan's heart raced, trying to get a step ahead, but he couldn't think.

"Please do relax, gentlemen. I am a professional, after all." Maker smiled as he rolled to the far corner of the room where a table held all manner of glistening silver tools. "Rest assured Captain Marcase, I would never cause harm to one of my children." His upper torso twisted so he could smile at the pair of them. "I'm simply trying to allow Evan to reach his full potential."

"So you're doing this for his benefit?" Alex practically snarled at Maker, then looked at Evan. "Funny, but it doesn't look that way to me."

"You are not Sha'erah," Maker smiled at him, unaffected by Alex's tone. "You wouldn't understand."

"Then explain it to me."

Of all the times to try and provoke someone! Evan wanted desperately to believe his Keeper had a plan, some way to get out of this that he hadn't thought of, but it was hard enough just to figure out what he was saying, let alone thinking. He certainly appeared just as helpless as Evan at the moment.

Maker turned completely around, both halves of his body in line, and slowly rolled closer to Evan as he spoke. "You see, Evan has abilities I've been unable to duplicate, even with his genetic blueprint. But I was rushed in producing him, and had to hurry through his training."

"He seems to get along just fine the way he is."

Maker laughed at Alex's comment, nodding his head. "Yes, he does. But imagine him even more powerful! Imagine him being able to connect with just a thought, just the desire to find a computer or system!" His mechanical eye twirled in response to his excitement.

Evan realized Maker was holding several more of the same type of suction devices that had shot through his brain earlier. His heart skipped a beat and he shot Alex a look. At least his Keeper couldn't get himself killed trying to stop whatever was about to happen. But why does he have to see it?

"I believe he can. His training was cut short, but his implants have the capacity. I'm convinced of it."

"What are you doing?" Alex strained against the metal holding him in place, his face full of rage.

Maker had stopped beside the chair and Evan felt his face go cold. There was nothing he could do, no way to break free or get Alex out of the room. The only thing he was sure of wasn't much of a help. He stared at his Keeper, willing him to meet his gaze. When he finally did, he saw such a profound expression of helplessness in those green eyes his own uncertainty resolved itself.

"He won't kill me." Evan held Alex's gaze with his own as strongly as he would have held him with both hands. "Believe that."

"It's true, Captain." Maker began attaching the suction ends to the leads connected to Evan's temples. "I will do nothing at all to harm Evan." When he finished, he rolled to a computer set in the wall just to the left of the chair. "Trust me."

There was no lightning this time. No flash of pain or searing hot fingers probing through his brain. The first thing Evan felt was a profound sense of falling through blackness. His head felt tight, as though it was gripped in a vise, and the world had gone completely dark. Slowly, a ringing filled his ears, growing louder until it threatened to block out all thought. He fought it, trying to push it away, and searched desperately for something to hold onto, something he could see or hear or touch.

After what felt like an eternity the sound began to fade, but the tightening in his head continued to press as if trying to squeeze out the very thoughts from inside. Just when he thought his head was going to explode, the pressure suddenly vanished, leaving behind an almost euphoric sense of relief.

Evan became aware of his own breathing, a moisture running in rivulets down his neck, chest and back. It was then he realized he could feel his own body again. He blinked and a faint light poured into his mind. Sweat dripped into his eyes, blurring the light, and had to be blinked away before he could focus again. He was still in the chair, still in the room, alive but so completely spent it felt as if he'd just run a marathon and fought ten men.

When he'd blinked the last of the sweat from his vision, he focused on Alex. His friend was still there, held in place against the wall facing him, but now he had something tied through his mouth, effectively gagging his every sound. His face was burning with rage, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Maker wheeled into view and Evan tried to swallow, keeping his focus on his Keeper.

"I'm afraid your Keeper has trouble maintaining his composure. I found his language a bit offensive and very distracting." Maker waved a metallic hand toward Alex, who tried to shout around the gag but failed to make more than a muffled noise.

"Just try and relax, Evan. It's a shock at first, having your implants tuned while conscious, but it wears off quickly."

Evan's mind reeled, matching the movement of his stomach. It was all too much to take in! "Im . . . implants?" His hand hadn't been touched, had it?

"Yes, the ones in here." Maker tapped his own head, the human half. "The main controlling units that allow you and all my children to do what they do. The perfect blending of mind and machine. To a much smaller degree than myself, you understand."

Evan wanted to retch! He'd never thought about how he did what he did, but he'd been raised to accept and appreciate the silver embedded in his palm, the one adaptation he'd been specially designed with. It never occurred to him . . . Zane, none of the doctors had ever told him there was more . . . that inside a part of him resembled . . .

God! He couldn't retch, and probably didn't have anything in his stomach to bring up, but he horror was overwhelming, and mixing with a sudden overpowering sense of shame and disgust. Evan looked away, desperate not to see Alex or the look that might be in those green eyes if he did. Just how much of this monster was a reflection of him?

"Now, in a few moments I'll want you to test yourself." Maker continued undaunted. "Nothing major at first, just a simple test." He turned and wheeled back to the table filled with tools, setting down the leads Evan hadn't felt him remove, and picked up another device. This one was a small metal ball with razor sharp spikes.

Evan tried to tense, but his muscles weren't responding. He didn't even have the energy to argue.

"Now, this is a very simple device with two settings." Maker stopped a few feet in front of Evan, holding the silver ball in his metal hand so the spikes didn't tear his flesh. "On," he flipped a control on his chest and the ball's spikes slowly began to twist. "And off." He flipped the button again and the spikes retracted completely inside the ball, leaving a smooth, round surface. "It has a light touch, and will respond the instant you feel you've made contact."

The idea that something inside his brain had been altered was still occupying too much of Evan's thoughts. He wasn't registering why the silver device should matter to him in the least. He couldn't control any object unless he had physical contact, or at least contact with a system in some way connected to the object. Maker knew that, he'd made him that way.

"Now, I want you to just relax." Maker raised his human hand and he noticed the damp cloth in one hand. With great care, he used the cloth to wipe sweat from Evan's face and neck.

Evan tried to pull away from the touch, but he didn't have enough strength. Maker was blocking his view of Alex, which was just as well. He'd been Sha'erah all his life, and felt no qualms about it. But now . . . seeing the one who made him, knowing Maker was trying to change him to become more in tune with his own designs . . . He'd never felt more alien in his life. For the first time, Evan was ashamed of what he was.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Maker stopped wiping the sweat from Evan's face and looked at him. "Why am I doing this, you mean?" He wheeled back a step. "You are Sha'erah. You do not ask why." A puzzled expression crossed the human part of his face. "I have been lenient in dealing with your questions and defiance because you have been with a new Keeper. One who fails to understand exactly what you are and appreciate what that means." Maker wheeled backwards then spun partially around so he could see Alex. "A Keeper who has begun to spoil all that I have created in you."

Alex couldn't speak around the gag, but the look on his face sufficed as a remark.

"In light of your failures dealing with the honor of owning Evan, I have every right to perform a recall and take him back as my own." Maker's head shook back and forth slowly to the sound of moving gears. "I have done all I'm required by decency to do. I have offered you twice the price of Evan, as well as a replacement suited to your personal needs. I have even offered to recall the Sha'erah of your choice, so that you may have an adult in place of what you would lose. And still you refuse me!" Maker moved angrily back toward his workbench and began to do something Evan couldn't see. "I have been more than generous. But I'm afraid your Keeper has failed to see that."

"We didn't come here to -- "

"To what?" Maker spun his upper half suddenly, facing Evan. "To try and stop my work? Of course you did. Why else would you have been seeking me out against your training?" His bottom half joined the upper and he started rolling back toward Evan. "But I don't blame you. My children do nothing that their Keepers didn't order. My children are perfect!" He smiled, glancing at Alex. "And with you by my side, Evan, they shall only get better."

"I can't help you." Evan's heart was racing. He and Alex were trapped and it was all his fault.

"You are my creation, of course you can help me." Maker continued rolling along, passing Evan and moving up and around toward Alex. The silver ball was in one hand, and a laser cutter in the other. "We can easily get past the time wasted with this Keeper, and get you back on track. Soon the ring will be mine, and you will return to your training, and be the best Sha'erah I've created. Conditioning begins now."

Evan tensed, forcing both hands into fists as the only action he could manage. Maker wheeled to a stop in front of Alex and held the laser cutter up. From his base, two more arms extended out and up, pushing back Alex's shirt and pressing into his chest to keep him still.

"What are you doing?" Evan strained against the metal holding him tightly to the chair. Maker was blocking much of his view. "Leave him alone!"

"I'll need you to remain absolutely still, Captain Marcase." Maker turned on the laser cutter and moved closer.

"No! Leave him out of this!"

"Evan, I am your Keeper now. There is no need to feel concern for this man. Your emotional connection must be terminated, there is no place for that here."

It was impossible to see around Maker's large form. Evan pulled against the restraints, heedless of the band around his neck that dug into his flesh. The laser cutter moved and Alex cried out in pain, his voice muffled by the gag. Evan felt a ghost reaction in his side. A throbbing, dull ache mirroring the pain his Keeper was experiencing. Dark flashes exploded in his vision, threatening unconsciousness as the restraining band around his throat impeded circulation and breathing.

When the semi-blackout faded, Maker was wheeling backwards, watching Alex fall to the floor. Evan blinked madly and tried to see around the silver monster. His Keeper's restraints had been removed, allowing him to collapse on the smooth floor. A slight trickle of blood stained his shirt to the right of his abdomen.

"The bleeding will seal momentarily." Maker wheeled calmly back to the work bench and set down the laser cutter. The silver ball was nowhere to be seen. "Evan is not familiar with this aspect of Sha'erah training. He was never entered into the assassination program. This is how conditioning begins, dulling the human instinct against killing." Maker wheeled back to the center of the room, addressing Alex. "I am his Keeper now, Captain Marcase. I will have his ring!"

"What did you do?" Evan's heart was lurching out of his chest. Alex was on the floor, motionless. The gag had somehow been pulled from his mouth, but he was made no attempts at all to stand or even raise himself up.

Maker turned to him and smiled. If he hadn't been half machine, he would have looked almost paternal. "Evan, this man is no longer your Keeper."

"Yes he is!"

"Listen to me," Maker moved closer. "I am at a critical point with my new children. If I can succeed here, with you, then there is still time to make additions before their birth." He glanced down at Alex. "This man is no longer connected to you. Your lingering feelings of loyalty are admirable, but they will only get in the way. You belong to me now."

Evan looked at Alex. "What did he do? Are you all right?" Why wasn't he getting up? He was free now, he could find a way to stop this monster and get them out of there. The ring was still where it belonged, nothing had changed that.

Alex managed weakly to raise himself to one elbow. The look he directed up at Maker was so filled with hate and disgust, it took Evan by surprise.

"Evan doesn't belong to you." Alex's voice was rough and slightly weakened. "And this," he rasped as he raised his hand, silver ring catching the light, "belongs to me!"

Maker ignored him. He moved closer to Evan and leaned forward. "Close your eyes and concentrate. Picture the silver ball in your mind. We'll work on the ring after you've managed this."

Evan glared at him. "I can't! It doesn't work that way."

"It does now." Maker straightened up and touched a button on his chest.

Alex's sudden cry of pain startled Evan. He was clutching his right side, writhing in obvious agony on the floor. The tiny trickle of blood increased until the side of his shirt blossomed red.

For a moment, Evan's mind went blank. He watched his Keeper fighting against the pain, suddenly realizing where the silver ball had been placed, but unable to accept what was happening. Alex's cries of pain continued as he fought the metal blades tearing his muscles apart from the inside.

"Picture the ball in your mind, Evan, and turn it off." Maker's voice was calm, a stark contrast to Alex's screams of excruciating pain. "Just close your eyes and concentrate."

"Turn it off!" Evan dragged his horrified gaze from Alex to Maker as he pulled violently against the metal restraints. "Turn it off!"

Maker sighed and touched his chest panel. Instantly Alex stopped writhing. He lay on the floor gasping for breath, holding his side while blood stained the smooth surface of the floor.

"You can do this, Evan."

"Let him go!" Evan was desperate now, pleading with the creature who had made him. "Please, just let him go. He has nothing to do with this!"

"He wanted to stop me, put an end to my work!"

"No, he just wanted answers." Evan couldn't bring himself to look at Alex, but his terrible concern for his friend couldn't be ignored. He looked down long enough to be sure his Keeper was still breathing, then looked back up at Maker. "It's my fault we're here."

"Admirable, Evan, but not necessary." Maker shook his head sadly, making a clucking sound with his tongue. "You've been away from tradition only eleven months, but his influence has done much to change you. I never liked Spencer's methods, but he knew what a Sha'erah was."

"You knew what he was doing?"

"I know everything about my children!" Maker smiled and made a grand sweeping gesture with one arm. "But you I've kept particularly close watch on. When you got close enough in your search for me, I could not resist bringing you back."

"You can't have him." Alex's voice cracked moistly with the effort of speaking.

"Ah, but I already do." Maker spun around so he could move closer to Alex. He bent over, his mechanical eye extending out several inches for a closer view. "Now, Evan, concentrate." Maker straightened up. "Picture the silver ball in your mind."

Evan's heart skipped a beat. "Wait!"

Maker's hand stopped, one finger on the button that would send Alex back into writhing agony.

"I will! I'll try, just leave him out of this, please!"

Maker dipped his head slightly and his hand moved away. "Very good, Evan. I'll leave it to you then. Close your eyes."

Evan looked at Alex. Everything he needed to say was impossible to convey without words. The best he could manage was a helpless, apologetic arch of his eyebrows before he closed his eyes.

"Picture the silver ball."

Evan's mind raced through any and all possible outs, searching for any chance, however slight, to buy some time if nothing else.

"When you have the ball in your mind's eye, Evan, turn it on."

"No!" Evan opened his eyes.

"It's your choice, Evan." Maker rested a finger on the button again. "You can turn it on, or you can turn it off." To prove his point, he hit the button again.

Alex's cries of pain filled Evan's ears and set off every nerve in his body. He frantically forced both eyes shut, desperate to find a way to bring an end to his friend's pain. He could picture the silver ball easily, but try as he might, he couldn't achieve the kind of connection required to effect any change on the object. Alex was dying, and it was all his fault! He couldn't find a way to project! He couldn't find a way to control the torture tearing his friend apart from the inside out. It wasn't possible! He could not do this! Maker had to know he could not do this! Just when he thought his brain would explode with the effort, the screams stopped.

Evan opened his eyes, blurred by tears, and frantically searched for Alex. He was semi-conscious, lying in a heap on the floor near Maker's base gasping desperately for air. Blood covered his shirt, running over the hand clutching futilely at his side. His face and chest were soaked in sweat, and damp hair clung wetly to his neck.

Maker was shaking his head. "You're not concentrating, Evan." He moved, almost angrily, and slid up beside Evan's chair. "You have to project."

"I can't!" Evan couldn't take his eyes off his friend for fear he'd stop breathing if he did. His own heart was beating so quickly, he doubted much blood was being moved around. If he'd thought Maker was a monster, he knew now they were all in hell.

"You need to practice." Maker moved forward, scraping his metal base against the side of Evan's chair.

When he moved away, Evan felt the wire from one of the input leads touch his fingers. He grabbed it quickly and pulled until the lead itself disengaged from the metal band around his wrist and fell easily into his hand. The movement had gone unnoticed as Maker wheeled around behind Alex's prone form.

"He can take more, but perhaps not much more."

"You don't have to do this. I'm trying!" Evan fingered the lead until the input pad was directly over the metal of his palm. "Just, please, give me a minute to think! I can't concentrate when he's in pain like that."

Maker cocked his head to one side. "Very well then." He looked down at Alex. "He has time. The coagulant will stop the bleeding shortly."

Evan had been created for a specific purpose, designed from a blueprint that blended biology and chemistry in a way nature never intended. Trained from birth to be Sha'erah and follow the orders of his Keeper without question. The stories told of their creator were few, but all held the same sense of awe and respect. Meeting the creator wasn't possible. Thoughts against the creator weren't possible. Defying the creator could not be done.

He closed his eyes and took a breath, forcing out thoughts of Alex's pain that filled his mind and emotions. With his thoughts, he made the connection through the palm of his hand, unseen by Maker. He followed diodes and electronic impulses as if they were roadways. With practiced skill, he found what he was looking for within seconds of having started. A mass of silver metal, very simply built, designed to fulfill one specific function and no other.

There would only be one chance.

"I can feel it." Evan kept his eyes closed, but he heard Maker's slight gasp of pleasure. With one quick thought, he ripped the mass apart.

Maker screamed, a stomach-churning mixture of human voice and mechanical gears. He clutched at his chest with both hands and spun his upper half around wildly. The mechanical eye was turning and extending, sparks flying in all directions. Several computer monitors on the wall exploded in a shower of blue lightning and screaming metal.

Evan's restraints suddenly released. He threw them aside and jumped from the chair, hitting the ground and covering his head as more explosions sent showers of sparks raining down where he'd just been sitting.

"You . . . Cannot . . . Defy me!" Maker reached out for Evan, knocking himself off balance when his wheels slammed up against charged cables that hissed and spat on the floor. In a burst of white light and sparks, he toppled over.

When Maker hit the floor, the explosions stopped. Slowly the room fell into a sputtering silence as machines accepted their destruction and electricity ceased to flow freely through fractured cables. The rain of sparks slowed, losing force as it was reduced to simple background lighting.

Evan didn't hesitate. He scrambled across the floor and scooped Alex up in his arms. "Alex!"

"I'm alive," Alex smiled weakly, looking up at him. "How did you do that?"

"It doesn't matter." Evan held his friend's face still so he could look in his eyes, judging his pain. He didn't like what he saw. "I have to get you out of here."

Alex nodded, swallowing. "I'll be okay, just let me catch my breath."

Evan examined the wound with one hand, supporting his Keeper's head with the other. The incision had been almost surgical in precision, implanting the silver ball into the muscle mass of Alex's right side. But the spikes had torn flesh indiscriminately each time they were activated, ripping great tears into tissue that bled freely. Something dark was oozing from the inside of the wound, clogging up the blood and preventing any further loss.

"Is he dead?" Alex looked at Maker's prone mechanical form.

"I burst his heart." Evan felt for his friend's pulse, then put a hand on his forehead, smoothing back the sweat soaked hair. "I think he took out a lot of this complex when he died."

"He probably controlled it all from that body of his." Alex tried to sit up, supported by Evan. "We have to get those kids and get out of here."

"All right, I'll do it, just rest." Evan forced his friend back down to the floor. He'd saved him. He'd be damned if he was going to risk losing him after all this! Alex opened his mouth to protest but Evan shook his head sharply. He put a hand on his Keeper's chin and stared at him. "Just lie still! I can't lose you, not now. Do you understand?"

Alex blinked, green eyes dulled from pain still sparkling slightly as a smile slowly tried to form. "Yeah, I understand."

Evan nodded. He gave his friend one final quick going over, pulling his shirt over the wound, then touched his face lightly with one hand and turned to get up. Maker had fallen across the center of the floor, blocking the quickest route back to the wall of computers.

"We'll need a map out of here. I still don't know what planet we're on." He stepped around the large metal base, walked around the far side of the wall, then had to step over Maker's sprawled arms to reach the computers.

"Evan!"

Alex's shout reached his ears the instant he caught the flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. Before Evan could pull back, Maker's mechanical hand whipped out and caught him in the right leg.

He hit the floor hard, knocking the air out of his lungs. The stun momentarily dulled the pain, giving Evan enough time to struggle up supported by his arms.

"You are Sha'erah!" Maker snarled at him, gripping his leg tightly. "You cannot defy me!"

Evan watched in horror as Maker's bottom section released. The two human legs that disappeared into the metal base pulled themselves out and struggled to get the upper half upright. The legs ended not far beyond the knee in silver metal cups.

"I CREATED you!" Maker stood over him, his fingers curled. "Now you will watch your Keeper die!" He reached up with the human hand and touched his chest panel, turning on the silver ball.

"No!" Evan heard a cry of pain, then saw a flash of movement and Maker's sudden stunned expression as his head disengaged from his body and fell to the floor.

Shocked, he stared at the face looking up at him, mouth still open in surprised denial. A mixture of red blood and blue hydraulic fluid leaked from the severed neck. He turned and saw Alex lunging toward him, half supported by the axe he'd used to separate Maker's head from his upper body. With one hand clutching his injured side, Alex raised the axe again and brought it down over the silver mechanical arm, severing it in half and releasing its grip on Evan's leg.

They both looked at Maker. The head was staring at them, human eye open in death.

Evan turned to look at Alex, still too stunned to speak.

"That's the thing with fathers." Alex shook his head once, breathing heavily. "Sometimes you have to take their heads off, just to be sure."

An explosion in the distance shook the room, showering them with minute particles of dust. Confused, Evan grabbed his friend's arm. "The complex, it's going to explode!" It occurred to him that Maker probably must have had fail-safes built in, ensuring the destruction of all his work should anything happen to him.

Another computer exploded, showering the room with bright sparks. Down the hall more machines were blowing their circuits, overloading the entire system. Alex collapsed to the floor.

"Get this thing out of me." He grimaced in pain, then pushed his shirt aside and forced Evan's hand over the gaping wound.

Evan felt the silver ball, its spikes extending halfway then retracting again as the unit responded to failing systems. There was no time to hesitate. He forced two fingers into the wound, wrapped them around the silver ball as quickly as he could, and pulled.

Alex blacked out.

"We're not going to die here." At the far side of the counter, Evan found what he needed. A first aid kit, sparsely equipped, held plenty of white bandaging. Grabbing as much as he could, Evan hurried back to where Alex lay, now semi-conscious. Explosions rocked the room from a distance, threatening the all-out destruction of everything Maker had built. There wasn't time to be gentle, so Evan took advantage of his Keeper's semi-conscious state and wrapped his side, tying a wad of bandaging around the wound.

Alex moaned and came to as Evan finished off the bandaging.

"We have to get out of here!" There was little chance of their survival, considering they didn't know where they were or how to get out, and the world they were in was beginning to shake at its very foundations. But Evan knew they had to try.

Alex nodded numbly and struggled to his feet, pressing his left hand over the bandaged wound. Evan took his friend's right arm and wrapped it around his neck.

"We're quite a pair, you know that?"

"We were made for each other." Evan started toward the door, trying to support his weak Keeper.

"What?" Alex had to raise his voice over the din of constant explosions.

"Even Maker didn't know that." It wasn't the time to bring it up, and they'd probably die before he could figure it out himself, but it needed to be said.

They made it out to the hallway, and Evan turned left. It was slow going, and could well be the wrong direction, but he was going on instinct as smoke filled the corridor.

"If this is a ship, we're dead!" Alex couldn't put much weight down on his right side, but he managed to limp along with help. "We have to get the children."

"In there!" Evan nodded with his chin to a door on Alex's side of the corridor.

Alex pushed the door open and smoke billowed out of the embryonic chamber. When the worst of it cleared, they could see the pods holding the newest batch of unborn Sha'erah. Each unit had burst and caught on fire, leaving nothing but smoke and a nauseating acrid odor.

"The other kids, where are they?" Alex pushed away from the door and had to clutch his side as pain wracked his body again.

Before Evan could reply, they heard coughing in the hallway ahead of them. As the smoke parted, five children appeared, looking up at them with frightened, confused faces.

"Where are the others?"

"We're all that's left." One of the children looked up at Alex. "The others . . . Their Keepers arrived yesterday."

"Do you know the way out of here?"

The boy nodded, then turned and the others followed. Evan and Alex struggled to keep up.

"Evan, in case . . . If we don't get out of here --"

"We will!" Evan shook his head and adjusted his grip on his friend. They'd come this far, there was no reason to start giving up now.

Alex gripped Evan's shirt. "Good, 'cause there's a lot we need to talk about!"

A door opened at the end of the corridor. One of the children shouted for the others to hurry as a massive quake seemed to grip the building. Evan reached for the edge of the door just as the world exploded in a blast of heat and rushing wind that ripped everything out of his hands and sent him tumbling through the air.

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