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  But before he could say anything else to the young male with white skin, another male came into view. He was dressed the same except he had even more silver chains and some gold ones as well strung across his black vest. Also, his eyes were concentric rings of black, white, and pearl gray.

  “Baxtrell, what’s the problem here?” he barked, frowning.

  “Unidentified ship, Captain Yumex,” the younger male told him. “It came through Night’s Window—I tracked it. Now they’re refusing to show themselves clearly.”

  “They came through Night’s Window—through the Blind?” The captain peered at Terex, plainly trying to make him out through the static. He seemed agitated. “Why did you not inform me of this at once?”

  “Well, I mean…it just happened, so—”

  “No excuses, Baxtrell!” his commanding officer rapped out. He looked at the viewscreen again, an expression of intense concentration on his pale features. “A moment, please,” he said politely. “I must confer with my underling.”

  “Of course,” Terex murmured. Suddenly the picture of the two males faded, leaving the sight of the large blue/green/purple planet to take its place.

  “They cut us off!” Elaina sounded indignant.

  “Not for long.” Terex allowed himself a small smile as he pressed a button under his console. He’d had every possible communications block, buffer, and enhancer—legal and illegal—installed on the little vessel. Picking up a transmission that was no longer meant for him was child’s play.

  “Don’t you know this is the first ship to come to us out of the Blind in over a hundred cycles?” the captain was saying when their images flickered back onto the viewscreen.

  “Well, yes Sir, but—”

  “Don’t you see? It could be the prophesy!” the other male hissed.

  “The prophesy?” The younger male’s eyes grew wide. “You don’t mean—”

  “Keep your voice down, you fool. We can’t alert everyone in Ground Control until we’re certain. But did you see how the male piloting the ship looked? It must be him!”

  “Must be who?” Baxtrell, the younger male, looked mystified.

  “Here.” Leaning forward, the captain waved his hands in a complicated pattern over what was clearly a motion-controlled instrument panel. Suddenly a portrait of a male appeared, hovering in the air before them.

  “See that?” the captain demanded, gesturing to the image. “It was painted by the blind seer, Varusa, in the hour before her death. This is the reason we always keep one of our trackers pointed at Night’s Window at all times! It’s Master Valdor—he who comes to teach the new ways!”

  Beside him, Terex heard Elaina bite back a gasp as she studied the image.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered, staring first at the portrait, then at Terex, and then back to the portrait again. “That’s you.”

  Actually, it did look surprisingly like him, Terex mused, right down to his jaw-line and the silver in his newly black hair. The only difference, besides noticeably paler skin, was the eyes. In the picture, they were three ringed like those of the two males they saw conversing on the viewscreen.

  Terex wondered, if the artist had really been blind. If so, how had she captured the exact pigments of those eyes? A deep, blue purple around the pupil, a brilliant silver middle ring, and a blue so pale it was almost white for the outermost ring. The lightest blue would have bled into the whites of the subject’s eyes but for a thin line of black around it. It gave the male in the portrait a hungry, almost feral look.

  “I…I couldn’t tell if that was him on b-board or not,” the younger male stuttered. “As I told you, Captain, they’re jamming my scanning signal.”

  “So you threatened to blow them out of the sky?” the captain demanded, sounding scandalized. “Don’t you know you might have threatened to blow up Master Valdor—he who was foretold? By the rod and flail! What do they teach young ones in the public learning grid these days?”

  “I…I’m sorry,” the younger male faltered. “Forgive me, Captain Yumex. Let me apologize to them!”

  “First make certain it’s him, Baxtrell,” his commanding officer said. “And if you’re sure it’s not, then you can talk about blowing them out of the sky.”

  “I’ll hail them again,” the younger male said. He made a series of complicated waves over the controls and the image of himself and his commanding officer flickered, then steadied. “Unidentified vessel, we respectfully request that you identify yourself. Are you…” He cleared his voice. “Do you by any chance go by the name of Valdor?”

  “Oh my God…” Elaina murmured. She looked over at Terex. “Oh my God, Terex—this is what the priestess was talking about. Remember, she said, “They welcome you but not as yourself”? Remember that?”

  “I do.” Terex was thinking hard. Without making a conscious decision to do so, he looked away and pressed his left thumb to his left temple. He imagined himself with paler skin and those strange, alien eyes. When he glanced back at Elaina, she looked like she might faint when she saw him.

  “Commander Terex,” she whispered faintly. “How…what did you do to your skin…your eyes?”

  “What was necessary,” Terex said shortly. He reached to unjam the signal and answer the hail, But Elaina stopped him with a shake of her head.

  “Terex, no,” she exclaimed. “Don’t you remember what else the priestess said? She said you have to reveal your true self at once—otherwise you’ll be in grave danger!”

  For a moment, Terex considered it. In the past, he probably would have followed the priestess’ instructions to the letter. But now he found himself reluctant to do so when there was a clear advantage in doing the opposite.

  These people, whoever they were, clearly expected someone who looked like him to come flying out of the Blind. This person they were waiting for was one of respect—someone who would have instant status and perhaps access to their secrets, such as the “little healer which cannot fail” and the “silver sphere which finds the trail.”

  The more he thought of it, the more he decided that allowing them to believe he was “the one who was foretold” was the right way to go.

  “It’s better this way,” he told Elaina. “When you speak to me, call me Master Valdor.”

  “But—”

  Terex didn’t wait to hear her arguments. Instead, he clicked off his jammer and allowed the two males stationed in the planet’s ground control station to see him clearly for the first time.

  “By the rod and flail!” breathed the younger male. “Captain Yumex, it is him!”

  “So it is.” The Captain’s triple-ringed eyes were shining as he took Terex in. “My lord, may I assume that you are Master Valdor—he who was foretold?”

  Though Elaina was glaring daggers at him from the passenger side seat, Terex nodded his head gravely.

  “You may.”

  “May Janos, the Lord of Judgment go hard on me for my transgression!” the younger male exclaimed. “Forgive my earlier words, please, Master Valdor.”

  “The Master does not forgive freely—that is not his way,” the captain said, frowning at his subordinate. “For your impertinence it’s within his right to beat you like a female with the Need!”

  Terex shifted in his seat, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

  “Blessings to you both,” he said, hoping he was saying the right thing. “As the young male could not see me clearly before, I forgive his mistaken treatment of me and my shipmate.” He nodded at Elaina.

  “Hi.” She gave a weak smile and a wave.

  Captain Yumex looked at Elaina, clearly surprised.

  “Master Valdor, may I be so bold as to question—why do you have a pleasure slave sitting on the same level as you—as if she was your equal?” he asked.

  “And dressed so strangely, too,” the younger male remarked. “Why, you can’t see any of her flesh!”

  “Ah…” Terex cleared his throat. “What makes you think my companion is a slave?” he asked a