Valentine's Resolve (Vampire Earth 6)

"That can be dangerous", Sir said. "Very dangerous indeed. I can't take that step without revealing myself in the process. Never mind the danger to you".

"I know it's a lot to ask", Valentine said.

"Do you ask?"

"Yes".

"No matter the consequences, the possible harm?"

"I would think that would be your decision. But it's important".

"Not my forte. Not my forte at all. But I'll try".

"Thank you".

Sir slipped out one side of the tent.

Valentine wondered if an all-out assault on Grizzly Ridge would be entirely a bad thing. The medical officer poked her head in. "You got him all stirred up".

"I hope that's all right", Valentine said, wondering if Thunderbird would bust in and start beating him to death with a shovel.

"He needs the activity. He lies around too much, not that we really know what's healthy for his kind. How do you feel? Hot yet? You should have another..."

"I'm fine", Valentine said. "Wait, I think there's been a mistake. I didn't come here for an Invocation".

She blinked. "No?" She knelt and looked in each of his ears, folding his lobes back to peer behind. "That's a relief. But that's all he really does for us. Just a moment". She disappeared.

"Success", Sir said, returning to the tent. He held a small, slightly curled rubber-tree leaf in his hand. Valentine saw a small green stone on the strange presentation leaf. "Took some time to find the right one. Ready?"

"For what?" Valentine said, warily.

"To speak to our kind. You needed to communicate with us, yes?"

"Yes", Valentine said.

"This will do the trick". He passed the leaf to Valentine, waddled around behind, and put his hands on Valentine's shoulders. The hands

turned into tentacles, soft grasping veined leaves at the ends. "Just touch it with your fingertips".

Valentine looked at the shard of jade. Some kind of hieroglyph of a bird was carved on the side. "I'm ready, if your ka is", Sir said. "It's quite painless".

Valentine reached down and touched it.

It felt like ordinary jade, cool and smooth.

A roar, hundreds of voices in his head, the static noise of an excited crowd. It overwhelmed him, incendiary butterflies opened their full-spectrum wings in his mind, and he spun around, looking for a way out, but the voices...

He opened his eyes, found he was lying on one of the mats. The medical officer hovered anxiously, Thunderbird behind.

Sir looked at him, eyes narrow and calculating.

"Are you still with us, David Valentine?"

Valentine felt as though he were in another time and space. "I think so. What does that thing do again?"

"It's a touchstone. It opened up your mind".

"Nothing made sense", Valentine said.