Branegate Read Online Free PDF

in me? This isn’t me; I’m not a little child. My name is Trae, and I’m sixteen.”
    The woman stroked his forehead and smiled lovingly down at him. A tear ran down her cheek. “I’m not good at this. I just want to hold you in my arms. I promise your questions will be answered. You might not be aware of it, because much of what we tell you must remain buried deep in your mind. It must not fall into the Emperor’s hands. Your father will be here any minute, so it’s time for you to sleep again, but I want you to know I love you very much, and I don’t want you to forget me.”
    Trae opened his mouth to speak, but then there were footsteps from beyond the door. “Ssshh, he’s here,” said the woman. She reached out with both hands and tapped his temples simultaneously. Everything went black.
    And he awoke.
    Gella’s face was close, and he was frowning. “Back so soon? You haven’t been out for more’n a minute.”
    “It didn’t seem much longer than that,” said Trae. He rubbed both temples with his fingers, and sighed deeply.
    “Head hurt?” asked Gella. Petyr came up behind him, arms crossed, and he looked worried.
    “No, not really. Usually I wake up and feel like I’ve had a full night’s sleep, but now I feel blurry, like I’ve been concentrating for a long time.”
    Trae told them what he’d just experienced. “It was so real. I swear I can still smell her, but then she tapped me on the side of my head and I was gone.”
    “No other sensations: a tone, music, voices, nothing?” asked Petyr, and Trae shook his head.
    “Subliminal, maybe,” said Gella.
    “But we have no idea what he got, and we leave tomorrow. We’ll be flying blind.” Petyr looked angry, now. He picked up the syringe Gella had used to give Trae his injection. “Don’t any of you people know what he’s getting in these things?”
    “Something to activate certain areas in his brain,” said Gella, “but all that’s written down anywhere is the order of the injections, and when they’re to be given. Anyone in the underground will have that information wherever you go on Gan. Off-planet I have no idea how you can continue. I presume Trae will know that when the time comes.”
    “Know what?” asked Trae.
    “Contacts, mostly. There are healers, cell leaders, off-worlders who’ve been trusted to get you off Gan and onto your father’s trail. He had no formal holdings here, except for the house. Everything is off world, scattered across Source-knows how many planets, maybe across the galaxy.
    Gella looked over his shoulder at Petyr. “Yes, you’re flying blind. There’s no choice here; we have to assume Trae is being given the necessary information about contacts, passwords, codes, anything he needs to stay out of the Emperor’s grasp. It’s vital he get all his injections on time, and that’s your biggest concern. His physical safety comes after that.”
    Trae started to say something, but Petyr shook his head and glared at the boy, silencing him. What Gella had just said made no sense at all to Trae.
    Gella looked at Trae again. “Nothing new coming yet?” he asked, and smiled. He reached over and tapped him on the forehead. “I’ll bet there’s a lot more going on in there besides dreams of fire and beautiful women. Just be aware, Trae, aware of anything that comes into your head. Any or all of it could be important.”
    “Okay,” said Trae. Then, “Can I get up, now?”
    “Sure, we’re finished, for today, maybe for good. I might not see you again, young man, but I’ll be thinking about you. Good luck out there. You, too, Petyr. If you can’t bring the power of The Immortals back to help us it’s only a matter of time before our beloved Emperor has us all for lunch. So if you don’t succeed don’t bother to come back, because there won’t be anything to come back to. These caverns will be empty.”
    Gella accompanied them to the door, shook hands, and waved goodbye to them from the doorway.