razorsedge (25 page)

* * *

"I always found the temple an intimidating place," said Zashou. "I'm glad I wasn't one of the students."
"What did the collars do?"
"We were wearing them when you found us," she replied, shivering at the memory. "The green stone in the center lit up if we tried to use our telepathic abilities, letting everyone around know what we were doing. It also sent a signal to the control bracelets which the Valtegans wore. By pressing a few buttons, they were able to punish us from a distance of twenty meters."
"It must have been horrific."
"At first," she admitted. "When you have a talent, you use it automatically— it's like scratching when you have an itch, you don't even notice you're doing it. We had to train ourselves
not
to use it. It took some time but Rezac worked out how to disable it. Once he got mine off and adjusted it, then did the same to his, rather than alert them when we used our telepathy, it warned us when they were using their control bracelets near enough for us to be affected by it so we could fake our reaction."
"Clever."
"Oh, Rezac's got a way with electronics, and there's no one better when it comes to using our mental skills," she said.
Though Jo could hear the respect for his abilities in Zashou's voice, she could also feel the resentment behind it. She decided to probe a little further.
"What's he like?" she asked. "He seems pleasant enough, if a bit abrupt at times."
Zashou glanced over at her Leska, who looked up and locked eyes with her briefly. It was she who broke the contact.
"He is. It's his violent attitude to life in general that I can't stand," she said.
"I haven't noticed it," said Jo quietly.
"You don't have to live with him inside your head all the time. He views everything as a conflict."
"You were living on the front line of a war," said Jo. "I've been there, I know what it's like."
"You're a female, how could you know!"
"I fought in our war against the Valtegans. I had to go among them and spy on them. That's why I'm on this mission. I'm a soldier."
"You?" Zashou looked at her in frank disbelief.
"Tell us about your war on Keiss," said Rezac from the other side of the room.
The unexpectedness of his request, coupled with the touch of his mind against hers, threw Jo for a moment. Then Kris came to her rescue.
"You were on the First Contact team, weren't you, Jo? And you, too, Davies."
"Yeah, that was us," said Davies, looking up from his sketches and jottings. "I fought alongside Jo when we went into the Valtegan military base on Keiss to get Kusac and Carrie out."
"Tell us about it," repeated Rezac, getting up from the table and stretching. "I hadn't realized your females fought."
"They don't, generally, but Keiss was our first colony world and the resistance needed every fighter we could get," said Jo.
"This Kusac, he's the one you claim has a Human Leska, isn't he? Do they come into your story, too?" he asked, joining the two females by the fire.
"Carrie's his Leska," said Kris, pulling over another chair. "I know the official version, but I'd like to hear how it really was."
"You'd do better asking Gary," she said, trying to cover the confusion she felt at Rezac's sudden interest in her. His mental touch was so powerful and so different from any she'd felt before. Suddenly she was aware of just how bad the situation was between him and Zashou. He was hoping that her tale could make his Leska understand what it was like for another female to have to fight for her life and freedom.
"You start, I'll fill in here and there," said Davies, stopping at the table to pick up a piece of cheese left over from their meal.

* * *

An insistent noise dragged Kris from the depths of sleep. Still groggy, he lay there on his pallet listening till it came again.
"Kris! Are you awake?"
"Mmm," he grunted.
"Kris!"
"What?"
"Not so loud!" Jo hissed. "You'll wake Davies. Have you heard from Vyaka on the
Summer Bounty
yet?"
"No. Nothing."
"Aren't they overdue for contact? Wouldn't Carrie and Kusac have told the authorities about Rezac's message and gotten them to come back earlier?"
He pushed himself up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and peered up at the bed on which she lay. "It doesn't quite work that way, Jo," he mumbled sleepily. "They can't suddenly reappear here. They've got to wait for the right time. If they've no cargo, they've no justification for being in the port. I told you and Davies that the last time I contacted her, Vyaka said they'd be out of the system for a month."
"A month's almost up. They might be in range now. Couldn't you try?"
"I try every night before going to sleep, Jo," he said patiently. "Believe me, I'm as anxious as you to hear from her."
"Maybe if Rezac and Zashou helped?"
He was silent for a minute, unsure what to say to her. He disliked involving the two Sholans, didn't want them to know they had a contact, albeit one they couldn't reach at present. Rezac was just too damned impulsive. This was their mission, their call as to what they did, and he didn't want a battle for leadership developing between the Sholan and Jo. He was well aware that Rezac didn't like a female being in charge, nor was he very trusting of any of the Humans. At the moment, he was the one at a disadvantage, the outsider. If that changed, then they might well have problems.
"I'd rather keep Rezac in the dark about Vyaka for the time being," he said finally. "If you helped me, together we might be able to do it."
He sensed her shying away from his suggestion.
"Not unless we have to," she said.
He could feel her withdrawal from him. "Very well, but do take what I said seriously, Jo. Say nothing, at least for now, to Rezac. It's not good to trust too easily. We hardly know them yet."
"I'll keep it in mind," she replied. "Sorry I woke you. Good night."
"Good night," he said.
He lay down, listening to the bed creaking as she settled herself again. Against his chest, Scamp began to wriggle himself into a more comfortable position, scolding his Human friend gently all the while. Absentmindedly, Kris began to stroke the little creature's head and ears.
It's all right for you,
he sent to his friend.
If she was a female jegget, you'd go rushing straight up to her and get stuck in! What's the presence of a few more people or jeggets to you? But it's just not that simple for us, Scamp,
he sighed.

Chapter 6

Running forward, she grasped the heavy pole, trying to pull it aside. Within moments, several of the guards, accompanied by Master Rhyaz and Vriuzu, were at her side; the pole was lifted and the tapestry pulled aside. Kaid lay there unconscious, on his shoulder a shallow, seared wound that oozed a colorless fluid.
T'Chebbi leaned forward to feel for his pulse. "He's alive," she said.
Vriuzu took hold of Kaid's wrist, turning it over to reset the psychic damper he wore to full strength. "His Triad partners mustn't know of this yet," he said. "Father Lijou requests that we join him in his office, Master Rhyaz."
Rhyaz nodded. "Take him up to the infirmary," he ordered. "I want him sedated until we've decided what's to be done about him. Vriuzu, this must be kept quiet. Organize a cleanup detail." He waved his hand in the direction of the tapestry. "Do what you can to repair it and get it rehung as quickly as possible."

* * *

"I understand what you're saying, Lijou," said Rhyaz, "but we can't have this happening again! He needs help that I don't think we can provide. He can't be allowed to go around cursing Vartra and telling everyone the truth of what happened to him. It's going to seriously jeopardize our new status, perhaps even give Esken the ammunition he needs to try and block your elevation to a guild at the next meeting."
"What are you suggesting, then?" asked Lijou quietly. "Remember, we're dealing with someone who's been tried by our Guild and our God beyond anything that's normal."
"Dammit, Lijou! I don't like this any more than you do! I was one of those who wanted him reinstated in the Brotherhood so he could be elected to the position I now hold! I'm sorry, but he'll have to be hospitalized. You'll know better than I whether or not he's got a rogue talent, but he's sure as hell not stable now! He went kzu-shu!"
"He didn't hurt anyone or do any irreparable damage."
"We were lucky this time," said Rhyaz.
Lijou's comm began to sound. He looked up at Kha'Qwa, indicating with a flick of his ear that she should answer the call.
"When— if— he's cured, then he can return," continued the Brotherhood's Warrior Master.
"Lijou," Kha'Qwa interrupted, setting the comm to privacy mode. "It's the infirmary. Noni's demanding to see Kaid, and they don't know what to do."
"Why weren't we informed she'd arrived?" demanded Rhyaz. "She not one of us. She's no right to even be on the premises without permission!"
"Who's going to stop her?" asked Kha'Qwa. "Be realistic, Master Rhyaz. You know most of our people prefer going to her than to the infirmary."
"Maybe she should open a surgery inside Stronghold," muttered the beleaguered warrior master.
"Don't be so pompous, Rhyaz," said Lijou, getting up. "Remember that not too long ago, you were one of those Brothers yourself. I'll answer the call, Kha'Qwa. Rhyaz, it might be wise if we requested a different physician and considered legitimizing Noni's treatment of our people. Obviously our infirmary and its staff are lacking something essential that she can provide. I'd had it in mind to do that for some time, had it not been for Ghezu."
He took his mate's place in front of the comm. "Let Noni see him," he said. "Does she know what's happened?"
"Of course I know," came the tart rejoinder from just out of screen range. "Who d'you think fetched me here? I'll need to see you, Master Lijou. Can't get all I need from Tallinu when he's under your damned drugs!"
"Let me know when you want me to join you, Noni," he said, trying not to smile. He didn't know what it was about her, but her presence made him feel that the problem wasn't so insurmountable after all.
"Now would be good," she said tartly.
"On my way." He closed the connection and looked at his co-guild master. "You were saying, Rhyaz?"
Rhyaz muttered under his breath as he got to his feet. "We'll see what Noni has to say before making a decision, but I'm having his room guarded. If he so much as stirs from his bed..."
"Thank you," said Lijou. "Half a dozen of my priests are down in the temple helping clear up, by the way. They send that they should be finished within the hour. The longest job will be securing the tapestry back to the pole. They suggest a temporary fix until the twenty-second hour, then we could close the temple for the night and effect a permanent repair."
Rhyaz nodded and turned to leave. He stopped at the door. "Lijou," he began, turning back.
"We're entering into a new era for the Brotherhood, Rhyaz," Lijou said, gently interrupting him. "It's never going to be the same again. Who knows what its final form will be? I don't, but until then, you and I will cope between us. I don't have the expertise you possess as a warrior, but I have organized important aspects of Stronghold for many years. A team, Rhyaz, that's what matters, with neither one more important than the other. I know we can achieve that. I'm looking forward to working with you, and I hope we'll become more than colleagues. I hope we'll become friends."
The slightly anxious look on Rhyaz's face went. "I would like that also, Master Lijou," he said, inclining his head. The gesture was marred only by his slightly sardonic smile.
Lijou laughed. "I'll let you know when I've news of Kaid."
"And I'll contact the medical guild for a replacement physician plus another medic. On the subject of Noni, d'you think she'd discuss with me the possibility of working in an official capacity as a healer at Stronghold?"
"Ask her and see," said Lijou.
Rhyaz smiled wryly. "She'll probably only see the youth who kept going to her for tinctures for cuts and bruises got in illegal fights."
"She did remind Garras of his wild days," said Lijou. "Thank goodness I didn't spend my adolescence here! I'll see you later."
Noni was waiting for him in the empty room next to Kaid's.
"So that's why he ran amok," Noni nodded as Lijou finished projecting what he remembered of Kaid's experience. "I'm not surprised! Perhaps I've been partly responsible for this," she admitted, looking down at the walking stick she held between her hands.
"How?"
"Tallinu was always one to keep himself to himself. He let nobody touch him till that time with Khemu, and I know now how badly that went for him. Then Carrie came along. I didn't want to see it happening to him again, so I pushed." She looked up at him from beneath lowered eye ridges. "You have to remember I know things, Lijou. I see 'em as clear as if they were happening now. I saw the life he could have, if he would, and tried to push him toward it." She sighed. "How was I to know what that damned Vartra had done! I told him there'd be cubs, his cubs. That's why he reacted so badly when he found out about the one this Jaisa female had."
"You weren't to know," said Lijou. "Their attitude is— was— so different! Almost alien to ours."
"That's as may be. Now we got to find out what else is wrong. T'Chebbi tells me he keeps having memories and visions without warning. What d'you know about this?"
"Very little. We were monitoring him because Kusac was afraid he was going to have a mental breakdown. When he has an episode, we pick it up, but they're so short we can't tell what they're about. He hasn't mentioned them to me at all. We've been looking for an excuse to confront him about it."
"When did these episodes begin? After he was taken back by Vartra, or before?"
"After, if what Kusac says is right. He became more distant to both of them from the day of the Validation. It happened the night before."
"The folk from the past, they made him forget this had happened, didn't they? That might be where the problem lies," she said thoughtfully. "For all I dislike your Guild, Lijou, they can at least erase and hide memories with reasonable skill."
She looked up at him again. "They still don't see the student for the class, though. These past folk didn't know as much, I'll be bound. If they made a mess of hiding this incident from his conscious mind, which is more than likely, and he was having memories from his past returning at the same time, then no wonder he thought he was going mad! Like a pot on the boil with the lid jammed down tight, that's what he's been! A pack of amateurs all, they are. It takes skill to hide a memory, even more to erase it without causing trauma to the patient."
Leaning heavily on her stick, she pushed herself up onto her feet. "Now we go and talk to Tallinu," she said.