Authors: Lisanne Norman
* * *
"Rhaema!"
She looked up from her comm unit as she heard her section head call for her.
"What're you working on?"
"Not a lot. A couple of court cases, one of them to be decided by a Challenge at twelfth hour today."
"Give it to Druthi. Momma wants you downstairs. Move your tail!"
"What's all the fuss about?" she asked as she dug hurriedly in her desk drawer for her audio-comp pad.
"You've landed yourself a juicy little job," he said as she hurried toward him. "Special interview. The Liege refuses to speak to anyone but you."
She came to an abrupt stop beside him, the claws on her toes catching hold of the wooden floor to give her greater purchase. "The Liege? Literally a Liege?"
"Yep."
"So tell me who!" she demanded, ears fully swiveled toward him so as not to miss a word.
"Only Clan Leader Aldatan. Seems you made an impression with your article earlier today. This puts us ahead of Centralnet."
"Doesn't it just," she purred, mouth opening in a huge grin.
"So what're you standing round me for?" he demanded. "Get going! Momma doesn't like to be kept waiting!"
"I'm gone!"
* * *
Immediately after he broke the connection with Kusac's father, Peter Hamilton contacted his friend Jack Reynolds.
Jack's tousled face appeared on the screen, yawning hugely.
"This is an uncivilized hour to pull a fellow out of his bed, Peter," he complained. "What's so urgent at this time of night?"
"I need your help, Jack. Carrie's got herself into some sort of bother— a challenge or something— which is complicated by the fact she's pregnant. There's a real fear she could miscarry."
Jack's face froze.
"Pregnant, you say?" he repeated cautiously.
"Something wrong with your hearing, Jack?" Peter asked caustically. "Yes, I said she's pregnant. It's this fight that's the problem. His father just called me to say he's been unable to get the authorities on Shola to intervene and stop the challenge. I've been trying to bring the matter up in the Council since he first contacted me last week, but the Sholans keep giving me the runaround by saying there are more pressing matters than the outcome of one civil challenge. I need the medical evidence for tomorrow. I presume that doctor of theirs— what's her name?-has been keeping you informed."
"Vanna," said Jack. "She contacted me about a week ago for some human medical information, but she didn't mention anything about Carrie being pregnant. I'll have to get in touch with her to get the current notes on their case."
"Do it. I need something concrete to put before the Council tomorrow."
"Peter, I can't possibly have the information ready for you for tomorrow," protested Jack. "I've got to call Shola and get them to send the data before I can even begin to correlate it!"
"Just call her now," insisted Peter. "Get it to me as soon as you can. We've only got three days left."
* * *
Rhaema towed her autovid out of the aircar, then released it to bob behind her at head height as she walked up the covered staircase to the entrance. An attendant was waiting for her, and he escorted her to Rhyasha's study. The Clan Leader sat in a comfortable chair, a mug of c'shar on the table by her elbow.
"Well come, Rhaema Vorkoh," she said, indicating the reporter should take the other chair.
"Clan Leader Aldatan," said Rhaema, "it's very good of you to talk to me like this."
"C'shar?" Rhyasha asked, pouring a mug for the reporter when she nodded in the affirmative. "There's nothing so destructive as speculation. I thought it time that the facts were known. Now, how do you want to conduct this interview? Do you want to ask me questions, or shall I tell you the facts as we know them?"
"It would be easier for me to ask questions," said Rhaema, taking the proffered mug from her.
"Then, whenever you're ready."
As Rhaema pressed her wrist unit, the autovid began to hum gently and a small red light set on the top began to pulse.
* * *
The interview took perhaps half an hour, at the end of which time Rhaema switched off her autovid.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Clan Leader," she said, finishing off the dregs of her drink. "I don't suppose there's any chance of speaking to either Kusac or Carrie, is there?"
"None," said Rhyasha firmly, getting up to escort Rhaema down to the waiting aircar. "As I explained, today has already been stressful enough for them."
Rhaema shrugged, her ears flicking her acceptance of defeat. "I had to ask," she apologized.
Rhyasha smiled. "Of course, and I had to refuse. When will you broadcast this?"
"On the late news tonight," Rhaema replied as they walked along the balcony to the stairs.
From below them in the central courtyard, squeaks of delight drifted up to their ears. Rhaema turned a curious face to her hostess.
"My youngest, Kitra, and unless I'm mistaken, Carrie and Kusac playing with her."
Rhaema was at the rail and leaning over it before Rhyasha could stop her. The two adults were throwing a soft ball over Kitra's head while the kitling jumped up, trying to catch it.
"Why, she's not so very different after all," said Rhaema, surprise evident in her voice.
"Of course not," said Rhyasha, joining her. "What did you expect?"
"I've never had the opportunity to speak to any of them," she said. "The males go out into the town, but they won't let any of us reporters near them. The females never seem to leave the guild, except for your son's mate, and she's so well guarded, no one gets near her!"
"As I explained earlier, no matter how adventurous their souls, it can be terrifying at times to realize just how alone they are on our alien world."
"I hadn't thought of it in quite that light before," Rhaema said quietly, watching while Carrie held the ball up in the air and Kitra danced round her trying to reach it.
As she turned around, keeping the ball at arm's length, Carrie looked up, her eyes locking onto Rhaema's.
"That's enough for now, Kitra," said Kusac, reaching out to take the ball from his mate. "Carrie's been energetic enough for today. She needs to rest."
"Can we play again later?" the young female asked hopefully.
"We'll see," he said, putting a protective arm around Carrie as he looked up, too. After the flick of an ear to the two on the balcony, he drew her away out of sight.
"I guess that's a no. How can he let her fight a Challenge?" she asked, turning back to look at Rhyasha. "She's so vulnerable, so easy to hurt. All this Rala needs to do is hit her once with her hand and it would be over."
"We know. That's why we need your help. Not just for Carrie, but for all the mixed pairs. The Challenge has to be stopped. Their unborn cub mustn't be put at risk, and never again can the Telepath Guild be allowed to wield the power they did when they drugged Vanna and Brynne. People like you shape public opinion, so make the people aware of what is really happening."
She hesitated, then gave a small smile. "My son says you may use the images you recorded of them playing with Kitra for your broadcast, but they would have appreciated being asked first."
Rhaema's ears lay back in embarrassment. Damn, but he was good! She'd not felt anything when he'd probed her mind. "I triggered it without realizing, Liege," she said in apology. "I'll certainly do what I can to help."
As she left, she gave herself a mental shake in an attempt to dispel the look of fear she had seen in the human female's eyes.
* * *
Back at the guild, Vanna had long since finished processing the data she had obtained from Carrie's scan. Ahead of her lay the task of collating it. There was no need for her to remain in her office. She could do it just as easily, and more comfortably, in her apartment.
She found it empty as she had expected. The last two Link days, Brynne had come over late, stayed only as long as was necessary, then left until the next time. At the moment she could sense him in the refectory with the other Terrans. This suited her since their relationship was very basic: he stayed with her only long enough to satisfy the demands of their Link, then he left for the more pleasant company of one of his Sholan bed companions. She didn't mind that either as only then did she feel comfortable being with Garras.
She set about making herself a meal. Something elaborate for a change, she thought.
Very shortly she lost herself in the task and while she waited for the food to cook, she loaded Jack Reynold's data into her comm.
After she'd eaten she returned to her studies, comparing his data with hers. Every now and then a stray thought about what Brynne had said would force its way into her mind only to be banished as being his idea of a cruel joke. Some time later she got up to make herself a cup of coffee, noticing with a start that it was very late. Filing her work, she switched the comm off and began to get ready for bed.
As she dropped off to sleep, her mind, unguarded for the moment, turned to Kusac and Carrie. It was enough that he had found a Leska he loved, but now that Carrie could bear his children, that small place that might have been hers was irrevocably gone. That she herself should now have a similarly compatible human Leska— and not one who loved her— was the final irony. As tears began to form in her eyes, sleep gently claimed her.
* * *
She woke suddenly, blinking because of the unexpected light. After a moment's confusion she sensed Brynne sitting beside her. Trying to sit up, she found herself pushed back on the bed by his firm hand.
"Lie still a minute more," he said, not unkindly. "I'm taking those tests you conveniently forgot to do."
Looking at her left arm, she found it encased in the test unit.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, trying to push him away. "You've no idea how to use it."
"Patience, Vanna. I've been learning to use the knowledge I got from you," he said, checking the readings and moving her arm so she could see them, too. "There you are, the proof that you're pregnant."
Angrily, Vanna sat up and snapped the unit free from her arm, setting it aside on the bed. "Not for long," she said flatly.
Brynne shook his head slowly, an amused look on his face. "You've lost that convenient ability. I checked out the standard female Sholan physiology and compared it to yours. That's another area of change. Your mind can no longer affect whether or not you conceive or remain pregnant in the first few days. You're as trapped as I am, Vanna."
For the first time she felt his sympathy for her.
"Poor Vanna, the career medic caught in the oldest human trap, and not even by the male of her choice." He gave a short, dry laugh. "Pity you carry a torch for Kusac; it doesn't exactly give us much of a chance even if circumstances were different. I can't say I enjoy living in an accelerated relationship with a female who loves someone else, and who has yet a third male for a mate!"
Vanna pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them protectively, her ears flat against her skull. "You've no right to pry into my private thoughts or life," she said angrily.
He reached out to touch her face, stroking the short fur. She jerked her head away, but his hand followed. Cupping the back of her head in one hand, he ran the fingers of the other gently through the cropped curls that grew down the sides of her neck.
"I'm afraid you're not very good at blocking your thoughts whenever he's around. I'd be very surprised if he isn't as aware as I am of how you feel."
Vanna's pupils widened as her panic increased.
"Pity," he continued, "you're really rather beautiful. Huge green eyes and amazingly soft fur. It's such a waste."
He leaned forward, pulling her face closer and kissing her.
She put up her hands to push him away, but they were grasped and held firmly by the wrists.
He continued, forcing her mouth open, his tongue flicking across her lips and teeth, then just as abruptly he released her and stood up.
"Sleep well," he said, leaving.
Vanna put a hand to her mouth, utterly surprised, unable to sense anything of his feelings through their Link. He had never kissed her before. Stunned, she sat there for a few minutes, then got up to check whether he had really left. Perplexed, she locked the door on the inside then returned to bed. As she lay there in the dark she began to panic anew, trying to recall if she'd been too obvious to Kusac about how she felt.
He's got no illusions about your feelings for him,
came Brynne's amused thought.
* * *
"The Leska Link has always been considered a gift from the Gods," said Rhaema Vorkoh as she looked out at them from the main comm screen, "so what justification have the authorities for treating these young telepaths from both our species as if they were experimental animals? After seeing Liegen Kusac Aldatan and his human Leska, even I could feel the touch of the God on them and I'm not a religious person. To be able to truly experience what's it's like to have been born and grown up on an alien world, to win the trust-perhaps even the love— of someone from such a radically different background is an achievement of no small order. Those whom the God chooses to do this are indeed special." Rhaema paused and her image was replaced by that of Carrie and Kusac playing with Kitra.
"Every mixed Leska pair is another strut in the bridge between our worlds, allies who stand between us and the Valtegans, helping prevent tragedies such as those on the colony worlds of Khyaal and Szurtha from ever happening again. Their children will be equally important to us, a sign that the God trusts us to build for the future, a future which includes these children."
Once more, Rhaema returned to the screen. "Let your displeasure be known. Tell your guild representative how you feel about these people being kidnapped and drugged, about the life of the first of these cubs being risked in what is now a pointless Challenge. You have the power to change all this. Do it now, and work toward a better future which honors those brave enough to take up the God's challenge. This is Rhaema Vorkoh of Infonet."
Konis switched the comm off. "Well, she certainly did her best," he said, looking over to where his wife sat. "That reporter knows how to deliver an impassioned speech."
"That's because she spoke the truth," said Rhyasha.
"You really believe what she said about your God," said Carrie from where she sat curled up beside Kusac.
"Of course. How else could all these impossible things have happened to you?"
Leave it, cub. Let her believe it's the work of Vartra,
sent Kusac.
At the far side of the lounge, the comm unit began to beep, making it unnecessary for her to reply.
Konis got up and went over to answer it. "Governor Nesul, what a pleasure," he said, his voice a purr of almost-contempt. "I take it your meeting is over?"
"Subtle, Konis, very subtle," said Nesul. "I detected Rhyasha's hand behind that broadcast, by the way. Compliment her for me."
"How can I help you, Governor?" Konis' voice was silky now.
"I've got a job for you," Nesul said. "You want these Leska pairs under the jurisdiction of AlRel, don't you?"
"Yes." Konis was puzzled. What was Nesul up to?
"Then I suggest you take on the job personally. You base yourself at the guild and monitor the progress of these pairs. You wanted someone impartial who was prepared to gainsay the dictates of the guild, someone to protect the interests of our mixed Leskas? Who better than you?" Nesul grinned, teeth showing whitely. "After all, you have a vested interest in preventing the guild from monopolizing these people and their cubs."
Konis stood there, his face frozen in a polite mask. "I don't think..."
"Good, then I'll tell Esken to expect you tomorrow. Good night, Konis." The screen went blank.
Uttering a few choice epithets, Konis turned and headed for the door. "Excuse me, I'm going to call that toothless, tree-climbing bastard back!"
Kusac watched his mother's shoulders start to shake as she hid her face behind her hands. Finally, the laughter escaped her.
"I think your father has overplayed his hand this time," she chuckled. "However, I can't think of anyone better to fill the post. Neither Esken nor anyone else will intimidate your father. I think they'll rue the day they put him in charge!"
We're still no nearer getting the Challenge stopped,
sent Kusac.
Maybe. With AlRel in charge, and your father head of
AlRel, he can perhaps pull a few strings by himself now.
We'll see,
sent his mother.