Authors: Lisanne Norman
* * *
Lijou left the main house, having stopped briefy to apprise Che'Quul of the situation. While he was there, Taizia and Kitra burst in through the main entrance. Distraught, they made straight for him.
"This can't be true, Father Lijou," said Taizia. "There must be some mistake."
"I'm afraid not, Liegena," he said, reaching for her hand. "We might still find them. Don't give up hope yet, we haven't."
"Mother needs us," said Kitra, tugging at her older sister's arm. "Excuse us, Father Lijou. And thank you for coming with the news yourself."
He nodded, watching as the two sisters hurried across the ornamental inner garden to disappear into the lounge. Sighing, he climbed into his aircar. This was the part of his job he hated. It was never easy to give the news of a possible death to a family, but when they happened to be your friends, it was doubly difficult.
* * *
He took Garras with him when he went to speak to Dzaka.
"Return to Stronghold with me," he said abruptly, aware Dzaka was still coming to terms with the loss of Kitra. "Kha'Qwa would be pleased to have your company for a few days."
"I have work to do here," Dzaka replied evenly. "Thank you for your concern and the invitation, Father Lijou."
"I think you should come back with me," said Garras quietly. "Take an hour or two off, Dzaka. You won't be operating at maximum efficiency if you don't take some time off to cope with this now, you know that."
Dzaka hesitated. "There's no replacement for me until third meal. I'll come over then if I may."
"We'll expect you," said Garras, clasping his hand to Dzaka's cheek in an affectionate gesture.
"If you need us, Dzaka, call," Lijou said, getting up to leave. "I like to think of myself as a friend of your father's. Anything I can do to help you, I will, gladly."
"Just keep me informed of any news, please," was all Dzaka said.
* * *
The Primes eventually arranged an extra sleeping area for the Cabbarans. A door suddenly appeared in the back wall of the middle bedroom, allowing access to another room which had been fitted out to suit their vegetarian allies. Annuur moved his people into it once Kaid had checked it thoroughly for any weaknesses in construction that might give them a way to break out of their quarters. Predictably, there were none.
It had been quiet for the past week. No one had gone missing and they'd been undisturbed by the Primes. Tirak was pushing Kaid to formulate some kind of escape plan but he was resisting. They didn't even know what was outside the rooms, let alone where on the ship or space station they were. And they had no weapons, not to mention there were nineteen of them from four different species.
"It just makes it more of a challenge," said Tirak, exasperated.
Kaid raised an eye ridge at him. "Uh huh," was all he said.
The door opened, drawing all their attention to the arrival of J'koshuk and four Prime guards. The Valtegan stood at the door, surveying those present.
"What do you want?" Kaid asked, not bothering to disguise his dislike. "I thought I told you to stay away from us."
"I remember our conversation," hissed J'koshuk. "However, I don't intend to enter your prison. I'm here at the request of the Seniormost to take one of you for questioning." He pulled his lips back in a grin that showed off his many needle sharp teeth. "I'd choose you, but we got all we needed from you already."
"You're lying," said Kaid, hiding his shock. "If you had there'd be no need to question us further."
"Corroboration." The word was drawn out. J'koshuk gestured the leading two guards into the room.
"You will remain in your seats," intoned the translator as they advanced.
J'koshuk pointed to Jeran. "That one. Time I renewed more old friendships."
One of the guards began to move to the table where the young male sat while the other covered him.
Jeran got to his feet, ears plastered flat to his skull in obvious fear, looking over to Kaid for reassurance.
"Just answer the questions," said Kaid. "You've got nothing to hide."
"Wait! Take me!" said Tallis, jumping up. "I can help you, tell you what they've been talking about!"
Rezac lunged at him but he side-stepped, moving hurriedly toward the door. "Kezule! They have a general from the past..."
Kaid moved swiftly, leaping to his feet and managing to collide with Tallis. In the confusion, he tripped him up. The snap as he broke Tallis' neck was barely audible. Trying to support the limp body, Kaid looked up at J'koshuk.
"I'm afraid he's hurt himself."
At a signal from the Valtegan, the two guards moved to investigate. A blow from the lead one sent Kaid flying and, by the time he'd scrambled to his feet, Tallis' body had been scooped up and taken to the doorway.
J'koshuk looked unblinkingly at Kaid. "I will take the one I chose."
In Vartra's name, lad, use your eyes out there!
sent Kaid.
Tell them what you need to, you've nothing to hide. Getting back safely is your priority.
As he passed him, Jeran's ears raised fractionally to let him know he'd picked up the message.
* * *
"This one is dead," said the guard holding Tallis once the door had closed.
J'koshuk wasn't surprised. He was convinced it had been no accident, but then, killing a treacherous underling in such circumstances was an acceptable practice among his people. How the Primes would view it was another matter. As they made their way to the interrogation room, the guard carrying the body abruptly left them.
The Sholan he'd chosen was so afraid he was barely able to walk. J'koshuk snorted, amused. It would be interesting to see what he had to say for himself now that they could actually communicate with each other. Then he remembered waking up understanding Sholan. A shiver ran through him. He didn't want to think about how he'd acquired that skill. Reflexively, he passed his hand over his head, knowing even as he did, it was still smooth. He had nightmares about waking up with one of those devices implanted in his skull.
The Sholan was incapable of getting into the chair, the guards had to lift him in. The restraints were clamped round his wrists and ankles, anchoring him firmly. He sat there, eyes closed, shaking as if in the grip of a fever.
"Violence is not permitted," reminded the guard as he stepped back to his position by the doorway.
J'koshuk frowned. He thought he'd be free to interpret the situation as he had with his own kind.
"Your name," he hissed angrily, walking round to stand beside the chair.
"Jeran." He opened his eyes, trying to twist his head round in an effort to see him.
"Why were you on the U'Churians' vessel?"
"Going home." He took a deep breath, obviously trying to relax.
"They came to find you? I think not," said J'koshuk, moving round so Jeran could see him. He put his hand over the other's arm, letting him see the length of his claws, and their sharpness. "You're nothing to them, as worthless as the one they killed." He flexed his hand, letting the claws touch the Sholan's pelt and prick through to the flesh. "I remember you." He leaned closer. "Just as I remember the others. Where are they now? Like the one who tried to give me information. Dead. I'd say your rescuers don't look after you well enough if you keep dying. Maybe you're next."
He moved out of sight again, making sure his footfalls were audible as he walked round the back of the chair.
"Why did they really come to Jalna?" he demanded, suddenly appearing at Jeran's other side.
Jeran looked him straight in the face. "You haven't got what you want from Kaid, have you? You wouldn't be questioning me otherwise."
Without thinking, J'koshuk's hand reached for the controls on the seat, depressing the one that administered pain through the restraints. As Jeran howled in agony, body arching upward, a similar surge of pain hit him.
* * *
The voices from the translator sounded faint but Jeran could just make them out.
"A tolerance has been acquired by the priest. We need to increase the drug inhibitors. His attitude is still not acceptable."
"See to it. Return the Sholan."
He felt a sting at his neck, then the restraints were released. Coolness swept through his inflamed nerves, dulling the pain. A moment later, head swimming, he was hauled to his feet. Swaying, hardly able to see, he was half-carried along one corridor then down another, back to their quarters.
By the time the guards stopped outside the door and pressed the entrance panel, he was beginning to recover his senses. The door slid open, and he saw their lounge.
Kaid was already on his feet, glowering at them, tail swaying in short, angry movements.
Before he could say anything, Jeran straightened. "I can stand," he said, attempting to pull himself free.
He was released, and slightly unsteadily, he walked into the suite, the door hissing closed behind him. He turned and placed his hand over a portion of wall next to the door, leaning on it as much for support as to identify it.
"The lock's behind there," he said.
Giyesh reached him before Kaid could, flinging her arms round him, making small noises of distress.
"Well done," said the Highlander approvingly, reaching out to support him. "Could you identify anything in the corridors, like elevators or access panels? How many Primes did you see out there?"
"Never mind that!" said Giyesh, outraged. "How are you? Did they hurt you? What did they do to you?"
Embarrassed, Jeran tried to disentangle himself. "I'm fine. No need to make a fuss," he muttered.
"Giyesh!" said Captain Tirak warningly. "Contain yourself! I should never have agreed to allow you to come on this mission! I apologize, Kaid. She's young. Normally females aren't involved in missions until after their first mating, but I was asked to make an exception in her case."
T'Chebbi came over with a fork and began to scratch the wall carefully around Jeran's hand.
Kaid had released Jeran and was waiting for T'Chebbi to finish. "Her reaction is quite understandable, Tirak, given J'koshuk's treatment of Rezac."
"Can move now," T'Chebbi said, stepping aside.
Giyesh backed away, a frown creasing her black nose till T'Chebbi touched her arm.
"Needs to report now," she said. "Before he forgets. You know that. Leave Kaid to debrief him, then he's yours again."
Kaid led him to the nearest table, grabbing a comp pad and stylus from Rezac on the way. "Draw it," he said, handing them to Jeran once they'd sat down.
"We're here," Jeran said, looking at the sketch they already had on the page. "So this room is where they interrogated me," he said, marking it with the stylus. "Looks like a medical area. They had a kind of chair with restraints on it." He looked up at Kaid, unaware that the other could read the echo of remembered pain in his eyes. "J'koshuk can control it, put some nerve stimulator through the restraints."
"What's the room like?" asked Kaid. "Tiled?"
Jeran nodded. "White tiles everywhere. Like I said, it looked like the medical unit in our mining base. All shining steel and white tiles. Bright lights, too," he added, looking back at the rough map. "There's a corridor there. Just caught a glimpse of it," he said, drawing one in just below their suite. "I didn't see any Primes other than those who took me." He pushed the comp toward Kaid.
"There was one other thing, but I might have imagined it," he said hesitantly. "I wasn't gone long, right? One of the guards told J'koshuk not to use violence on me, but he did. I don't remember much after the nerve thing hit me, but as I was coming round, I saw J'koshuk on the floor thrashing around. I think they did the same to him. That's when I heard the voices."
Kaid looked briefly at Rezac and Tirak. "What voices?"
"Prime ones, through the translators. Said something about tolerances and inhibitors. That his attitude was unacceptable. I think they meant J'koshuk."
"Why talk to each other?" asked Tirak. "They haven't before. Even Annuur and his crew noticed that. I thought they used communicators in their helmets unless they were talking to us."
"I think there was someone else there. Someone not in a suit." Jeran looked from one to the other, shrugging his shoulders. "I got given a shot to stop the pain. I'm still feeling light-headed, so I can't be sure."
"What type of scent?" asked Kaid.
He shook his head. "Can't describe it. Alien's the only word."
"What's the nearest to it?" demanded Rezac.
"You're asking the impossible," said Kaid. "Some scents just are alien. He hasn't had our exposure to other species. Did they finish the session because J'koshuk used the neural device on you?"
"I presume so."
"Any explanation, apology even?"
"Nothing. Just a shot and then they brought me back."
Kaid lifted the comp pad and sat back in his chair. "They're being very careful with us," he said. "Not wanting to hurt us, even to the point of punishing J'koshuk for doing it. Why? Is it a blind for something else? It doesn't exactly fit in with kidnapping us from our rooms the way they've been doing."
"J'koshuk seemed different," said Jeran, sure of his ground this time. "He was more like his old self. More aggressive toward me. And I couldn't smell fear until after the Primes zapped him."
Kaid sat up again, frowning. "Maybe it's not us the Primes are interested in. Maybe it's the Valtegans. It would explain the conversation you heard. J'koshuk certainly did become less aggressive and more afraid of us."
"I remember you telling him," nodded Tirak.
"No wonder they're interested in us," said Rezac. "Attitude alteration fits right in our skill band. Hell, if they'd told me what they wanted, I'd have volunteered to help them! Those lizards are the biggest threat going. They just absorb and enslave every species they meet!"
"Except for ours," said Jeran quietly. "They decided to destroy us."
"After last time, they knew we posed their biggest threat," said Kaid. "We still don't know what the Primes plan to do with us. Jeran, what was J'koshuk asking you about?"
"Why you went to Jalna. I don't think he's gotten any information from you, Kaid. Why ask me if he had? Whatever the reason for taking you telepaths, it wasn't to question you."
"Interesting J'koshuk took you," said Rezac. "They haven't gone near Zashou, or Tallis." He stopped, looking at Kaid.
"I had to kill him," said Kaid shortly. "He was prepared to sell what he knew to J'koshuk for protection. We can't afford a traitor in our midst, and he proved himself to be one."
Jeran could feel the blood draining from his face, making him feel even more dizzy. "Dead? I thought he'd fallen like you said."
Tirak began to growl low in his throat.
"He was one of us," said Rezac, his voice hardening. "Ours to deal with. He threatened the safety of all of us, not just this time, but by trying to spread panic and undermining you and Kaid to the others. He was warned."
"What if it had been one of my people?" asked Tirak.
Jeran watched as Kaid looked at Tirak. "Unlikely, given the nature of your mission. You might have a couple of young crew members, but I reckon you handpicked them all. Tallis was a civilian."
"You just killed someone!" said Jeran, trying to keep his voice low. "Like you'd stamp on a bug!"
"Be quiet," said Kaid harshly. "He
was
a bug. The kind that preys on others' misfortunes. He didn't need to try and buy immunity from the Primes at our expense. He was prepared to tell them everything he'd heard us talking about. You heard him say that himself."
Jeran subsided unhappily, aware of the truth in what Kaid said.
"He's right," Tirak said abruptly. "Tallis was a threat to us all. Had I been close enough, I'd have done the same."
"Our job is to protect you," said Kaid. "Tallis hasn't been completely sane since we rescued him. Even then he was trying to force us to abandon you in favor of getting him out of Bradogan's Keep immediately."