Authors: Lisanne Norman
"Carrie's eyes changed first time," reminded T'Chebbi. "Cellular manipulation."
"How do you know about it?" demanded Rezac. "You don't have a Leska."
"We have a full three-way Link," said Kaid. He corrected himself quietly. "Had."
A small silence that no one knew how to fill followed.
"So theoretically, Jo, Zashou, and I together might be able to generate enough power to break through the barrier," said Rezac finally. "Do you know of a way to trigger this gestalt that doesn't involve mating?" he asked Kaid carefully.
"Carrie did it once, but she collapsed immediately afterward. Her Talent and Link were new to her, though. They considered the gestalt too unstable to experiment with. I hope it is possible, because if so, it'd be one hell of a lot easier for you just to link minds in public when the Primes come to the door, rather than having to be off in another room waiting for a signal from one of us."
"I won't do it," said Zashou, her tone one of barely controlled fury. "I absolutely refuse!"
"I wouldn't go a bundle on it either," said Jo, eyeing Rezac warily.
Diplomatically, Rezac said nothing.
"Is a way round it," said T'Chebbi. "Include Kaid and you have four."
Zashou got to her feet, tail lashing from side to side as she projected the full measure of her scorn and anger. "This conversation is finished," she said.
"What's the problem?" T'Chebbi asked her, perplexed by her reaction. "This could free us all. You want to stay here?"
Kaid got to his feet. "Leave it, T'Chebbi. The morals back in their times were very different from ours. Same applies to Jo. We modern Sholans are the odd ones out here."
"You all had other lovers, not like this is first love. I don't see a problem," she grumbled as she rose. "Think about it," she said sternly to Zashou, before looking over to Jo. "We fight with weapons at hand. This could be a powerful weapon."
They returned to their room, Kaid sealing the door behind them with relief. The last part of the conversation had gone in an unexpected direction and he was glad to escape from it. He didn't blame the two females because he didn't know if he'd be prepared to involve himself either.
"At least it woke Zashou up mentally," said T'Chebbi. "Even I felt her!"
"There is that," Kaid agreed. "And we know now how Carrie managed to change her eyes. Just think of the untapped potential in the gestalt, T'Chebbi!"
"You got to control it first," she reminded him as she began to get undressed again. "Now tell me what you were smelling on the sheets."
"Kate and Taynar were new Leskas on their way to Shola when they got kidnapped by the Valtegan on Keiss," he said, unbuckling his belt. "I don't think they had the special contraceptive implants available on Keiss then."
"You think she's pregnant? Surely she'd have said something. Taynar would. He'd be so proud we'd never hear the end of it."
"I recognized the scent, T'Chebbi. No one else would except Rezac or Kusac." He stopped, mind blanking for a moment. So much of his life had been bound up with them that he found it impossible to avoid mentioning them several times a day. It made coping with their loss almost impossible.
"Taynar's young, too young to be aware if even a female Sholan was pregnant, let alone his Human Leska. Kate's certainly got the Talent to conceal it from him if she wanted to. Then again, she's young enough that she might not realize she was pregnant. Having discovered Human females with Sholan partners can conceive, the Primes will certainly be curious to find out if she has. It's the only other possible common factor."
T'Chebbi stuffed her hand into her mouth to stop the mewl of horror escaping. "What are they keeping us for? As breeding animals?"
"That's what worries me," he said, stripping off his tunic. "I assume you have an implant."
"Yes, immediately after..." She faltered to a stop, looking away from him.
"After what?" he asked a moment later.
"Immediately after I knew I was genetically compatible," she said, concentrating on meticulously folding up her tunic.
"That's not what you meant to say." He could feel his pulse begin to quicken as she mentally retreated from him.
She moved away from him but he reached out to stop her.
"You were pregnant, weren't you?" he said, his voice deathly quiet as he continued to hold her by the arm.
"I didn't know we were compatible," she whispered, keeping her eyes away from his.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were leaving for Stronghold."
Relief flooded through him. The vision had been false. It had only shown the possibility, not the actuality of a cub. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on top of her head. "You should have told me. It was Vartra's damned genetic fix," he said. "I changed you as we paired. Is that why you didn't come to see me off?"
"I couldn't. I was still deciding what to do. It was my problem, my choice, not yours. I knew you didn't want to share your cubs with anyone."
"You should have told me," he repeated as she moved away from him. "Yes, it was your choice, but I'd have been with you if you'd wanted me there."
"It was nothing, Kaid. I terminated two days later. Vanna was good to me, asked me no questions."
"I wouldn't have let you be alone unless you wanted to be, that's all. It was my fault, not yours. If it happens again, you tell me."
"It won't. Unless we choose it to," she said, placing her tunic on a drawer unit against the far wall. "I'm not Jaisa."
He said nothing this time, ashamed that he was glad she'd chosen to terminate. "I know you're not Jaisa. We're Companions, with responsibilities for each other," he said quietly.
"Yeah, well, let's leave it now. Is over. Wasn't what either of us wanted, even without a mission coming up."
He had to respect her wishes. "We should try to sleep, T'Chebbi. There's no point in staying awake waiting for them to return Kate and Taynar. They won't be brought back tonight, I can guarantee that."
She returned, climbing into her sleeping pod and pulling the cover up. She lay silent for a moment. "If Kate is pregnant, happened after Mrowbay examined her, otherwise he'd have said tonight. Can only be a very few weeks pregnant. Want me to ask Jo, see if Kate's spoken to her?"
He turned off the light before coming back and easing himself down into his own bed. "No, leave it. I don't want Jo worried. You can ask Kate a few questions when she's returned." Reaching out, he touched her shoulder. "Thank you for earlier," he said quietly.
She turned her head and grinned at him. "What for? Was what I wanted too. Least I know it wasn't me that caused you to fall asleep as it got interesting!"
* * *
Kezule had reason to be grateful for his excellent memory as he spread out the map he'd gotten just over a month ago from the swamp skimmer. The Sholan pilot had had detailed maps of his own territory, but only the most general ones of the southwest area for which he was heading. The God-King be praised that he'd had the foresight to call up the map on the aircar before he and the female had abandoned it. With the aid of the pilot's stylus, he'd been able to add in features he'd remembered from the comm map to this one. By his reckoning, he was about halfway to his goal.
He'd kept close to the foothills where the ground was more even, traveling only at night to avoid capture. It was less risky than crossing the open plains, even though with his ability to control many of his autonomic body functions, he could present no more heat source than the average medium-sized scavenger. Though he lost time by keeping his temperature low and being less mobile, he saved it by not having to run for cover every time a vehicle passed overhead.
From the air traffic he'd observed since leaving the forest, the search for him was still concentrated there. That meant his ploy with the remains of the skimmer and the pilot had worked and they'd assumed one of the sharp-toothed swamp reptiles had been responsible.
He studied the map, comparing the distance he'd already traveled with that still remaining before he needed to leave the safety of the hills and head cross-country to the telepath town of Valsgarth. Another four days if he was lucky, six or seven if the rain continued, he thought, brushing stray droplets of water off the map. He'd need all his wits about him then to avoid being picked up by them. He could only pray his modifications to the telepath's wrist unit continued to blank his mental signature.
The wind had changed direction and was blowing rain into the opening of his cave. Folding up the map, he stuffed it into a pocket and moved back from the opening. Cave! He hissed his derision. It was barely more than a crack in the rock face, but it afforded him cover from the day's light and the persistent drizzling rain.
He could feel the stiffness in his joints as he hunkered down on his heels, wrapping his damp woolen robe more closely against his legs and feet. He was definitely getting too old to be out in the field, his Emperor had been right to retire him from the front line and give him an easier posting. A justified reward, He'd said. Maybe, but he hadn't liked it any better for that. Guardian to the hatchling princes wasn't what he'd looked for, though many another would have welcomed it. He sighed, wishing for darkness when he could move on and look for a larger hideout to shelter in till the rains stopped. He might even be able to light a fire, dry out his clothes, and rest in more comfort than this damp animal hole provided.
His inner clock reminded him it was about time for one of the regular news items on the information net. He turned the wrist comm on, finding he'd missed the first couple of minutes. He listened to the same tedious round of stories. Spring flooding here, a shipping accident there, a robbery, a guildhouse— whatever that was— reopening after being partly demolished in a tribal war in the desert region, and the funerals of bodies found at an archaeological site on the Valsgarth estate.
That caught his attention and he sat up, putting the comm unit to his ear to hear it better.
"Funerals were held yesterday for the remains of the ancestral bodies found in the lower chamber of the archaeological site in the hillside under the ruined monastery of Vartra. In two separate ceremonies, the ten Sholans and fifteen Valtegans were cremated. Guild Master Father Lijou Kzaelan officiated for the Sholans, and Sister Tokui Mayasu, Head Priestess of the Green Goddess cult led a short service for the Valtegans. The Sholan ashes will be scattered over the Valsgarth and Aldatan estates as they are believed to be those of founder members of those clans. Valtegan ashes will be scattered in Nazule Bay. Parents are once again advised to be alert for the distinctive bright green la'quo stones. In reality they are a dangerous resinous drug. Should you find any, please hand them in to your Clan Leader or Guild Master."
Kezule hissed in anger. Ashes! They had
burned
the corpses, not buried them decently in the ground! Worse, their final resting place would be at the bottom of some bay! Shola had been a backwater world fifteen hundred years ago, and it was no better now, no matter what technological advances had been made!
So incensed was he that he almost missed the run through of the headlines as the program drew to a close.
"Trade treaties have been signed with three member species of the Council of Free Traders at Jalna. These historic documents have brought two new species into the Alliance— the U'Churians and the Cabbarans. The Jalnians join Terra as Associate members. The fourth species, the TeLaxaud, have not yet been contacted, but it is hoped they will soon join the talks."
He switched the unit off in disgust. So they'd formed an alliance with other species, had they? It wouldn't help them once he returned to the past. All this would be undone when he and his unit weathered out the Cataclysm in the mountains as he'd planned. But this time, he'd go back earlier, take all the eggs— keep his wife, too— and set up his own dynasty to rule this world till they could contact K'oish'ik again and reestablish the God-King's rule on Shola.
Slowly it penetrated through his cold-fogged brain that if a treaty had been signed, those he hunted would soon be home. He wanted to be on their estate before they returned in order to spy out the land and find a safe hideaway. Then he could plan his kidnap of them.
Once more, there had been no mention of his escape. Their authorities obviously intended to keep it secret. He allowed himself a sardonic smile. It wouldn't do to frighten the natives by letting them know that one of their ancient enemies, a more dangerous predator than any they'd met before, walked their world freely, would it?
He began to shiver and turned his thoughts back to more mundane considerations. Time to deal with the chill seeping into his bones from the damp clothing and the even damper weather. Slowing his breathing, he settled down to wait for dusk, staring out through the unceasing curtain of rain at the hazy alien landscape beyond.
CHAPTER 7
T'CHEBBI roused Kaid some time later. "They're back," she said, keeping her voice low. "Kate and Taynar. They're sleeping now. Had to knock Kate out, went hysterical. Taynar was out cold anyway. I checked them over thoroughly. Tiny wounds where blood and tissue samples been taken— had to look real hard for them on Taynar because of his pelt— but nothing else I can find. If Kate was pregnant, she's not now. Checked for a contraceptive implant when no one looking, but was no sign she'd been given one."
"How come I slept through all this?"
"Found them in the central room, one we use for Leskas. Left them there."
He scrubbed at his face with his hands before sitting up. He felt sticky and uncomfortable, needed a shower. He glanced at his wrist comm. Fifth hour. "You should have awakened me," he said, hauling himself up and searching for his tunic.
"You needed the rest," said T'Chebbi with a shrug, handing it to him. "Only found them half an hour ago."
"Anyone else know they're back?"
"Yes, everyone. Mrowbay double-checked them."
He pulled his tunic on, bending down to pick up his belt, then combed through his hair with his fingers.
"How are the others taking it?"
"Subdued," she said.
* * *
Heads looked up from what they were doing as he entered. He could have sliced the underlying tension with a knife. Nodding, he made for the food dispenser set into the far wall.
Tirak joined him. "Thank Kathan the Primes didn't keep them long," he said quietly.
"It was long enough," said Kaid, punching in his choice of eggs and vegetables. "They're a mixed Leska pair, that worries me."
"Perhaps they can tell us what the Primes wanted when they wake."
"We can ask them," said Kaid, picking up his plate and pressing a pad for a drink. "Better, I'll get the information myself telepathically from Taynar. He's been trained to use his talent, Kate hasn't yet. That way I can experience what he did."
Tirak narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you do that with Rezac and Jo?"
"They're sick, Taynar and Kate aren't," he said shortly. He hadn't wanted to get that close to his father's mind, but he couldn't tell Tirak that.
"Get Zashou to tell you, then. If I understand your family groupings, she's a wife of his too, and a telepath."
"I can now she's mentally up and running again," he agreed, picking up the glass and moving aside for the captain.