darknadir (66 page)

* * *

"Arrange it so there are eight guards and eight negotiators on each side, Commander, plus a medical team, not to exceed a doctor and three medics. A total of twenty people each."
"The breakdown?" asked L'Seuli.
"A senior officer, the negotiator, three advisers, an interpreter, recorder, and in our case, an official telepath."
"Who are you taking?"
"Carrie, Rezac, Brynne, Jurrel, Banner, and T'Chebbi, with Jo, Zashou, and Keeza out of sight but nearby for backup." said Kaid. "Vriuzu with us, and Joisha with the backup."
"My unit's supposed to be providing security for you," said Dzaou. "You've too many vulnerable people there."
"I'm the negotiator, I want my team with me. All visible personnel but Brynne are seasoned fighters."
"Brynne's not in dispute," said Dzaou. "It's the others. For a start, I don't want some overemotional female there."
Kaid looked at him. "Just who do you mean?"
"You know I mean his Leska."
Kaid turned back to L'Seuli. "Then there's no problem. Kusac has no Leska right now, does he, Commander?"
L'Seuli tapped his claws on the table. "He has a point, Dzaou. She isn't technically Kusac's Leska, she's Kaid's right now. Nor have I seen her being overemotional."
Dzaou glared at the back of Kaid's head. "She will be when he's brought out."
"I don't tell you how to run the internal workings of your unit, despite the fact it's only been a few days since you left Winter. Don't try to tell me how to run mine, when I've been working with them for nearly a year." Kaid's voice was very quiet. "I not only work for the good of Shola, but for Vartra, too."
While he spoke, he was watching L'Seuli's face. Only the slightest movement of one ear tip betrayed he'd struck a nerve without saying he had knowledge that was forbidden.
"Kaid uses his own team. You'll back him up," said L'Seuli abruptly. "He has experience of the Primes, and Kusac is his sword-brother. Work with him, Dzaou." As they got up to leave, L'Seuli said one more thing. "Full body armor, Kaid."
She couldn't wear it on Jalna, Commander. They were body searched before they were allowed out of the spaceport,
he sent, as he acknowledged the order and left the room.
And they didn't have time after they teamed up with Ashay and the shuttle.
L'Seuli began to wonder if Master Rhyaz was trying to teach him something very subtle by giving him this as his first major command.

* * *

A junior Brother came running up to Kaid with a note as he left the commander's office. "From the Physician, Ambassador," he said, thumping his chest in an enthusiastic salute.
Raising an eye ridge, Kaid took it from him. "At ease," he murmured, trying to remember being that young himself. He scanned the report and handed it back to him. "No reply," he said, then turned to Dzaou. "We need our own runner. Can you get us one?"
Dzaou beckoned Ngio over. "Get us allocated a runner from the duty officer," he said. "Meet us..." He looked at Kaid.
"In the landing bay in fifteen minutes."
Ngio nodded and headed off.
"What have we got that the Primes don't have?" Kaid asked Dzaou as they headed back to the dorms. "Telepaths. We have nine on this station of two hundred souls. I'd lay odds the other outposts have one at most. Until now, Stronghold has only had those it's recruited. Telepaths are rare, Leska pairs, let alone Triads, even rarer. Four of mine have experience reading Valtegan minds, Dzaou. Do you know that training to read the minds of other species normally takes years? My telepaths can pick up the Primes' surface thoughts, know if they're planning any subversive action before it actually happens. Think of the advantage that gives us."
"Good point," he admitted grudgingly. "So long as the Primes don't have personal dampers like you."
"Most of them didn't. Think of it as a way of getting extra guards past the Primes," he said as they stopped at the dorm doors. "I'll meet you with your people in the landing bay in fifteen minutes."

* * *

"Captain Tirak and his crew are in the briefing room, Commander," said Lydda, popping her head round his door.
"Coming," said L'Seuli, getting up. "Have you laid on adequate seating for our Cabbaran allies?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did you do?"
"Tables piled with blankets," she said with a grin, as they walked down the corridor. "Annuur claims he's got the best view."
"They're the official ambassadors for their worlds, Lydda. They've a right to see what involves them. Thank the Gods we don't have any more ambassadors!"
"From my experience, these people are easy to handle. Not like the Chemerians."
"No one's like them," said L'Seuli as they went in.
Tirak rose to greet him. "Thank you for this courtesy, Commander. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of inviting Jeran, as well as Kate and Taynar, in to watch. As civilians, they'd be the last to know what was happening to the people they lived with for so many weeks."
L'Seuli frowned, then decided there were far more pressing matters to worry about than three civilians. "In the circumstances, I think we can overlook their presence," he said. "I just came to see you were comfortable. There's a drinks and snacks dispenser over there if you want anything. You may have a long wait, I'm afraid."
"I just wish we could be of help."
"You have been, Captain. Without you, none of our people would have escaped. Did you get your message sent?"
"Yes. The comms officer said it would be relayed to our home world as soon as the carrier left this sector."
L'Seuli nodded. "Good. I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me now, I've got things to attend to."
"Of course, Commander."

* * *

Laughter drew Kaid's glance over to the rear of the hangar, where Carrie and the others were being fitted with armored suits.
The smallest suits are too big for T'Chebbi and me,
sent Carrie.
Where are they too big?
Leg length for a start.
What about torso?
You could get two of me in it! T'Chebbi at least has the body for it.
I'm on my way.
He handed the list to his runner. "Get those items brought down here immediately," he said. "You know where I want them put, so set them up when they arrive. Conscript anyone you need to help you. The mess is a good place to go for off-duty personnel."
"Yes, sir," said the junior, disappearing at a run.
He headed down to the suiting area. Carrie stood there, swamped by the gray formed body armor. "Cut it down to size," he said, checking his wrist comm. "You've got an hour. She can wear a skin suit underneath to give her vacuum protection," he said to the engineer in charge.
"You're kidding! Sir."
"No, I'm not! Get to it immediately! And get someone else fixing the legs for T'Chebbi at the same time. Have you checked helmets?"
"Helmets fit fine," said Carrie.
T'Chebbi nodded, unconsciously giving her injured arm a rub.
"You up to this, T'Chebbi?" he asked.
"Sure. Just an ache, nothing more. Won't stop me thinking or shooting."
"Everyone else kitted out?" He looked round the others.
"No problems," said Rezac. "Do you want Zashou and Jo suited up, too?"
"No, the command office has air locks and is pressurized in the event of an emergency. The four crew standing by to help won't be suited, but they're near the elevator."
"How long now?" asked Carrie as the engineer helped her out of the suit.
"Three hours," he said. "I'm getting some food and drink sent down for us in an hour and a half. Something light. It'll settle our stomachs."
"I didn't feel this bad before my Challenge," said Carrie.
Zhiko looked at her. "You fought a Challenge?"
"I challenged Kusac's betrothed for the right to marry him," she said.
"I'm impressed."
"What she isn't saying is it ended up a Blood-Rite to the death," said Brynne.
"You fought a Blood-Rite?" asked Dzaou.
Carrie shrugged. "Didn't have an option. She changed the rules in the middle of the fight. There wasn't time to stop it."
"You won," he said.
"Just. I'd rather not talk about it," she said, following the engineer into his workroom.
"Vartra was with her that day," said Kaid quietly. "She nearly died, and she did lose her first cub. Back to work, people," he said more loudly. "If you're finished, go help our junior bring down the tables and chairs, or the medics their equipment."

* * *

Chy'qui was working late in his lab, running through the data he'd acquired from J'koshuk before the TeLaxaudin had had to insert the main implant in him. He was correlating it to the answers J'koshuk had accepted from the Sholan, Kusac. There were certainly areas now where, judging from his previous sessions with the crew of the
M'ijikk,
he'd accepted answers from Kusac he'd previously have discounted as lies. And the
M'ijikk
sessions were before his neck implant was fully operational.
Had he been developing a form of telepathy because of the electromagnetic stimulation from the neck implant? Or had he been becoming unstable, as the TeLaxaud doctor, Kzizysus, had said? J'koshuk hadn't been unstable in the sense Kzizysus meant. The point of the experiment was to see if it was possible to turn a warrior into a telepath, and to do that, he couldn't suppress the priest's aggressive nature completely. It would have been interesting to see if the trend had continued, but that was no longer possible. Still, he would find how the impulse generator and the main implant interacted. That in itself was a worthwhile experiment.
A knock on the door made him cover his notes up before calling out.
"Seniormost," said Zhy'edd as he came in, making sure the door closed behind him. Approaching the desk, he held out a small container to Chy'qui. "The sample you asked for."
"She got it?" asked Chy'qui, taking it from him. "How old is it?"
"Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. I waited for her in a room around the corner."
"Excellent. And the drug. She gave him the drug?"
Zhy'edd nodded. "On her skin, like you said. N'koshoh said he was no trouble. Within a couple of minutes, he was as docile and obliging as she could want."
Chy'qui handed the sample back to him. "Tell N'koshoh she did well. Prepare this immediately for storage in stasis with the others. Good work, Zhy'edd."

* * *

"There must be some clothes left in the suite they were in. They didn't take anything with them," he heard her saying. Her tone was sharp, she wasn't pleased with whoever it was.
He eyed the clock again. He'd been awake now for four hours. She'd fed him not so long ago, his first solid food in a week, she said. It had been something between a soup and a stew and quite pleasant. He'd begun to feel better after he'd eaten, but he still felt as if he was only half awake. Maybe getting up and walking around would help clear some of the fog from his mind.
Getting to his feet, he glanced around, wondering what to look at first. A day room, she'd called it. The walls were a warm gray, not particularly soothing though she'd said they were. A dining table with hard chairs, where he'd eaten, the soft chairs on which he'd been sitting. There was a unit with what looked like book tapes in it, and a large vid screen near the door. She'd said the vid screen was disabled right now, but then he remembered her saying a lot of things recently. Some of them hadn't made much sense.
He decided to head for the door, but as he got close, it slid open unexpectedly, making him jump back in surprise.
"You're looking around now, are you? That's good," she said, coming in with a gray tunic and a belt folded over her arm. "I've brought you some clothes. They were left behind by your friends." She held them out to him.
"Thank you," he said, taking them from her. This close, he could smell her scent. It was almost familiar. He sniffed again, trying to remember.
"Last night," he said, reaching out to feel her face with the fingertips of his other hand. Her skin was softer than it looked, faintly warm and pleasant to the touch. "Last night, someone came to my room. Was it you?"
She moved away from him, going farther into the room. "Not me. No one should have come near you except for your guard. You must have been dreaming."
He turned to keep her in sight, noticing she did the same. The skin around her eyes was creased.
"She said it was a dream." He returned to the chair, putting the belt over the back of it before pulling his tunic over his head. Taking up the belt, he fastened it on. "She put the light out as she came in, I think because she wanted me to think she was Human. She felt like one at first, but wasn't. She was one of you."
Zayshul came closer. "One of us, a female, came to you last night?" She couldn't believe what he was saying.
He nodded. "She wanted me physically."
"And did you?"
He gave her a slow, Human smile. "She was persuasive, for a dream."
"What did she look like? Did she give you a name?" Who could have gone to him? Only Med Research staff knew he was here, and she was the only female who had access to him.
"I thought it was you. It was only a dream, so how could I see her or know her name?"
She took his hand, leading him to a chair and making him sit, before crouching in front of him. Taking a scanner the size of a small comp pad out of her pocket, she put it close to the implant under his ear.
"Do you remember what I told you earlier, Kusac?" she asked quietly as she pressed several controls.
"About the experiments?" He was beginning to remember now.
Glancing at the door, she continued. "Yes, that's right. Someone wanting this treaty we're proposing to fail, did things to you they shouldn't have done. Experiments to do with your telepathy. You're feeling content and rather forgetful, aren't you? That's because your visitor last night drugged you. I've done what I can to counteract it, but you must fight it and try to remember what I told you. Tell your people they mustn't let this person win. We need this treaty with Shola!"
He frowned, touching her face again. "You're frightened. Why?"
"A friend trying to get more information for me has disappeared, and last night while I was out, my office was torn apart. They were looking for something, but I don't know what."
"You're taking me back to my people. Come with me," he said on impulse.
"I can't." She put the scanner back, then froze, pulling another container out of her pocket and looking at it before hastily stuffing it back in. He saw her skin had suddenly paled.
A siren sounded outside. Three short blasts. "We have to go now." She stood up, grasping his hand and pulling him to his feet. "You're not just some big, dumb creature, are you? You've been drugged all along. You've got to fight it, Kusac!"
The door slid open to admit two guards in armor.
"We're ready," Zayshul said.
They came over to him, each taking him by an arm, and led him out into the corridor.
When they reached the landing bay, a shuttle stood waiting for them. Boarding it were armor-clad Primes, several of them wearing the gray over-tabard of the Seniormost. As his guards led him toward it, he looked over his shoulder for her, seeing her being helped into her armor. Beyond her, he could see the red-robed priest emerging from the elevator cage.
Something stirred in his memory. He reached for it, teasing it, but it refused to surface.