fortuneswheel (30 page)

Later that day Kusac received a message to report to Tutor Rhuso. While Kusac accompanied his tutor into the less formal inner office, Meral remained in the waiting area.
"Thank you for coming so promptly. Please, take a seat," said Rhuso, indicating the form-shaped chairs around the low table. "C'shar?" he asked, going over to the dispenser as Kusac sat down.
"Thanks."
"You look much improved from when I last saw you," said Rhuso, returning with two mugs.
Kusac took the one held out to him, sipping it as his tutor sat down opposite him. "If you'll pardon me saying so, Tutor, I'm aware of your concern not to offend me," he said. "Perhaps it would be better if you just told me what the problem is." He felt the other's surge of surprise before Rhuso retreated behind a stronger shield.
"I've been asked to speak to you on behalf of the Mentor," said Rhuso, putting his mug down. "We need your cooperation on a matter of some delicacy."
Kusac raised an eye ridge as he took another drink.
"It's with regard to your Leska."
"I rather thought it might be," murmured Kusac.
"We're all aware of her lack of experience and training and are making allowances," said Rhuso, "but we can't go on doing that for much longer. From what happened today with the Valtegan, it's obvious that she has a powerful Talent— in fact, I'd hazard a guess that it was on a level with yours. Given her lack of discipline, and the fact that your Link allows her access not only to all you know but to your power as well, the potential for disaster is immense."
Kusac held his ears still by an effort of will, but on the seat beside him the tip of his tail began to flick from side to side.
"I would hardly say her Talent is potentially disastrous," he said quietly.
"I'm afraid I would. She's been on board some ten days and in that time she's had to be drugged to stop her broadcasting her distress to the entire complement of thirty-five telepaths, and two days ago she drained one telepath completely of energy. She would have affected more people had your mother not been able to prevent her. Then there was today's incident. Her Talent is wild, Kusac. She needs to be trained."
"I wasn't aware any request for her to start training had been made by the guild."
"It's being made now," said Rhuso. "And it isn't a request. She must be brought into line and made to conform."
"Why?"
Rhuso looked as taken aback as he felt. "You're asking me?"
Kusac's ears were beginning to swivel sideward in anger. "The first two incidents were due to fear, Tutor Rhuso. Today, I consider she was in the right. There was no time for her to ask, only to act. I would have done the same. We've been at peace for so long that we've forgotten how to fight. Her people haven't, neither have the Valtegans. Her sister was tortured to death by them, and because of her Link, she was the one who suffered both the pain and the injuries! How can you expect her to show a nicety of feeling toward them? I think she did remarkably well in not causing any injury to the Valtegan!"
"I've read the files," said Rhuso. "I'm well aware of what she suffered."
Kusac looked at him, eyes hard. "You didn't experience her pain. I did," he said coldly.
Rhuso looked away. "Nonetheless, she has to follow our ways; she has to conform."
"She's not Sholan, Rhuso! Why should she follow our ways?"
"Because you made her part of our world, and she accepted it!" Rhuso locked eyes with him.
"Kusac, you're a contender for the Leadership of the Sixteen Telepath Clans," he continued in a quieter tone. "You've also been brought up with the knowledge that one day you will succeed your mother. You've been trained to always put the good of the Clans and Shola first. You must see that your Leska presents a threat to our way of life if she continues like this. She shows no respect for our authorities-dammit, she can't talk to the Mentor like that! Surely even you realize she was in the wrong!"
"Perhaps I don't want to be heir either to my own Clan or the Sixteen," said Kusac evenly. "Maybe that's why I joined the Forces in the first place. There's a lot that's good about the Terran outlook. We've become stale over the years of peace. Just pray that we don't find the Valtegans, because mentally we aren't ready to face the kind of war they wage."
"I'll repeat what I said. You made her part of our world by your own actions," said Rhuso. "If she continues like this, you will both be fighting against everything in our culture. Is that what you want? Neither of you to belong anywhere?"
Kusac made a derisive noise. "Tell me where we'll fit in even if we do as you ask?"
"I don't know, but at least you'll be giving yourselves a chance! All we're asking is your cooperation in getting her to come for training. In a few weeks you'll return to Shola to live at the guild. Think of the damage she could do to our students there, damage to their attitude to authority among other things."
He leaned forward earnestly. "We can't afford to have impressionable younglings turn their backs on the ethics that form the foundation of our place in society, Kusac. One person like Carrie paying no attention to those ethics could lead a generation of young telepaths to believe their judgment is as valid as that of their more experienced tutors. Our young males, particularly, will be susceptible to her influence," he said. "As a potential future Lord of the Clans it makes it even more important that your Leska be brought to heel now while you, at least, can still influence her. Our fear is that her Talent will take her beyond your ability to control."
"Don't be ridiculous! You're overexaggerating her importance, and her ability."
"Am I? Can you honestly say that you'll always be able to influence her?"
"Yes, I can. You don't know her. I do."
"Then see she comes to me for training," said Rhuso quietly. "Do it now, before I have to make it an order."
"She'll come," Kusac snapped. "But not because I believe you. See that you don't use subliminals or blocks on her, because if you do, I'll know instantly and, by Vartra, you'll regret it!"
"No subliminals or blocks, Kusac. That I promise," said Rhuso, watching him get up.
"Is that all you wanted to see me about?" he asked.
Rhuso nodded. "That's it."
"In that case, I'll be leaving, Tutor," he said, ears and tail flicking in anger. "Carrie will be in touch with you either later today or tomorrow."

* * *

Kusac had no sooner left than Sevrin came to tell Carrie she had a visitor. It was Rhyasha.
"I hope I'm not intruding," she said as she settled herself in one of the easy chairs, "but I thought we ought to have a chat."
"No, you're very welcome," said Carrie. "I'm afraid you've missed Kusac, though. He's just gone out."
"In which case I'm glad I've caught you on your own. Now, don't look so worried," she said, leaning forward to touch Carrie's hand. "Since you're going to be part of our world, I thought it best to explain something of it to you. I know Kusac won't think to do it! Memory transfers give you the knowledge but not the experience to use it, as I'm sure he's told you," she smiled.
She could feel the young human begin to bristle— if she'd been Sholan, her hackles would be rising. Their bodies were so difficult to read compared to her people! She was still having some difficulty reading her mind, but that was getting easier with every day as her mental patterns moved closer to those of her son. And his closer to hers, she sighed.
"Have you been talking to the Mentor?" Carrie asked, staring her straight in the eyes.
Damn! So much for the subtle approach,
she thought. "Actually, I have," admitted Rhyasha. "But I didn't come here to talk to you about your session with the Valtegan."
"I'm delighted to hear it," Carrie said ironically, pulling her legs up onto the chair beside her.
"You have to realize, Carrie, that the real power on our world is held by the guilds. We have a central government comprised of elected members, but the inner council that guides our Governor is made up in the main of the Guild Masters. They decide on the policy. It isn't wise to alienate any of the guilds, and the way you spoke to Mnya today seriously ruffled her fur. She isn't used to people assuming such a high-handed attitude toward her, especially in front of other guild members. It minimizes her position. As Mentor, she has virtually Guild Master status on the
Khalossa."
"She tried to minimize me," said Carrie. "She asked me to do a job for her, then she complained about my methods. I did my best. I got her the information she wanted despite the Valtegan going catatonic on me."
"You shouldn't have spoken to her the way you did, my dear," said Rhyasha, softening her voice to take the sting out of her words. "You're in an anomalous position, a vulnerable one at the moment. Mnya has been given the task of assessing your talents and reporting on them to the main Telepath Guild on Shola, the one situated at Valsgarth where we live. When you leave the
Khalossa,
you'll be going there. We don't want Guild Master Esken to get a false impression of you."
"Why does it matter what he thinks of me? He's got nothing to do with our life, has he?"
"On the contrary," said Rhyasha. "He'll have to eventually decide where to place you and Kusac— what line of work you are suited for. If you are unable to adhere to the codes of our guild it will make his task the more difficult. Perhaps even impossible."
With an exclamation of annoyance, Carrie got to her feet and began to pace in front of Rhyasha. "I'm sick to death of hearing about your damned code! You all forget that I'm not Sholan, and unlike you, I've personally suffered under the hands of these aliens! How on earth do you expect me to be able to treat them as I would normal, decent people?"
Rhyasha reached out and caught Carrie by the hand, forcing her to stop. "Listen to me, cub. For Kusac's sake you mustn't fight the Telepath Guild. Your Link to him has wider ranging consequences than you can imagine. Political consequences. You need as many people on your side as you can get. Don't alienate the guild, for all our sakes."
Carrie tried to pull away, but Rhyasha refused to let go. "I haven't finished yet. We have abilities the ordinary person is wary of; we don't want their fear to escalate. Seeing one of their telepaths with an alien Leska, knowing the pair are now able to fight, could just turn that wariness into outright fear."
She gently tugged at Carrie's arm. "Come, sit beside me. Let me explain." She felt Carrie stiffen. "I'm not here to criticize you, cub, I'm here to help you understand."
Grudgingly, Carrie sat down.
"More than a thousand years ago, after the Cataclysm, there was a terror of all telepaths. The ordinary Sholans believed that we had brought about the destruction that raged across our world and they tried to hunt us down and kill us. Only the intervention of our God, Vartra, stopped it. He spoke to the people, urging them to stop fighting each other and instead work together to rebuild our world. It was He who told us to set up the guilds so that in the aftermath of the disaster, no skills would be utterly lost. He initiated a Warrior Guild to protect us from harm, and also to protect our people from any telepaths who would misuse their Talent. This balance has lasted since then. Now, suddenly, there are telepaths who can fight, who may be capable of taking on Warriors and defeating them. Can you see why our guild may be afraid you will upset this balance? Especially when you resist all the ethics they've built up primarily to see that none of us would think of misusing our Talent?"
"I can see the sense in what you're saying," Carrie admitted reluctantly. "But many of your ethics are totally unrealistic. When you're fighting a species with no honor, how can you expect to win if you play fairly with them? They won't respect you for it, they'll only walk over you and laugh while they do it."
"I understand what you're saying, too, but you have to see it from the viewpoint of people like Mnya. They see only that you refuse to live by our codes and that this is a threat to their authority. When you're dealing with Talents like ours, you need to be able to command the respect of the young ones you're teaching so that they will grow up into responsible members of society. If you're seen to flaunt our rules, then our young will want to emulate you. We can't allow that." She reached out to gently touch her cheek.
"You and Kusac can't live unnoticed on Shola. People will see what you do. You need to set an example, to show that your people will honor our customs and protect our society."
Carrie made an exasperated noise. "Is there no place where we can be just us? Will we always be under a microscope being observed and studied? I don't think I can stand it, Rhyasha."
"You'll have to, my dear," she said with sympathy. "I know now is a difficult time for the two of you, but you have Kusac. There's no one better to have at your side for this. Together you'll manage, I know it."
"I wish I had your confidence," Carrie muttered as Rhyasha put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"I have to go now. I'm supposed to be here on official business after all. If you want to talk, cub, you know where I am," she said, getting up. "You'll be welcome any time."

* * *

By the time he reached their suite, he'd managed to shake off enough of his anger to be able to bring down the barrier he'd placed between them. It wasn't an insurmountable barrier, it was more one of politeness that they each used and respected in the other. It gave them a semblance of privacy, something they both needed.
Sevrin was in the hallway. She was in, good. Kusac nodded briefly to him as he went past.
Carrie was in the lounge, curled up on the settee. She'd been watching the entertainment channel on the wall comm and switched it off as he entered.
"Carrie," he said without preamble, "will you contact Tutor Rhuso either today or tomorrow? The Guild wants you to start training with them now."
"I thought you were teaching me."
"Apparently that's not good enough," he said.
"I'd rather not go. Can't you tell them I prefer to learn from you?"
"No, I can't. If you don't go voluntarily, then they'll order you to go," said Kusac, pacing round the room, tail flicking from side to side.
"Order me?" she said incredulously, turning to follow him with her eyes. "They can't just order me to go!"
He stopped in front of her. "They can, and they will. It's for the best, Carrie. You don't take much notice of me, maybe you'll pay attention to the Tutor."
"That's unfair, Kusac. The only thing we disagree on is that damned code of ethics."
"That's what's at the root of this. You've got to realize that the guilds are the real power on Shola. You can't talk to Mentors the way you did this morning, even if you are in the right. Think it by all means, say it to me if you have to, but not to the guild officials."
"Don't you start as well! I've just had half an hour of your mother lecturing me on the importance of your code as well as how to speak to the Mentor."
"Did it occur to you we might be right? I've had Rhuso jumping on me because of what you said to the Mentor. We can't afford to alienate the Telepath Guild."
"I did my best this morning, Kusac. If I'd done it their way, we'd have had nothing," she said angrily.
"Put your shield up, Carrie! You're broadcasting again! Why can't you even do something as simple as that?" he said, equally angry. "It's about time you learned some of the responsibilities that go with possessing a Talent. You can't keep making everyone around you ill."
"I don't believe this," she said, jumping to her feet. "You get a hard time from your Tutor, so you take it out on me!"
"I'm taking nothing out on you," he snapped. "I'm telling you that you've upset the guild and they aren't happy about it. It's up to you to deal with it. I can't spend the rest of our lives apologizing for you because you don't want to behave in an acceptable manner."
"I've had enough of this," she said, heading toward the door. "How dare you talk to me like that!"
"Go where you want," he said, putting a hand up to his forehead as a stabbing pain lanced through his temples. "Just put your damned shield up before you give everyone on the ship a headache like mine!"
The door slammed behind her, and her shield went up.
Minutes later Kusac followed her into the hall, noticing that Sevrin was gone. Muttering darkly, he went to the bedroom to find his spare jacket. In the pocket were the pills Vanna had given him when they first came on board the
Khalossa.
He needed one for the headache their angry exchange had left him with. Getting a glass of water from the bathroom, he swallowed the tablet and returned to lie down on the bed.
He knew he'd mishandled it badly, and that wasn't like him. Come to think of it, Carrie's reaction was equally unlike her. If he was being honest, his anger was with the guild, not her. Feeling through their Link, he tried to reach her, but she'd put up a barrier, the same one she'd had before they'd become lovers. Now he was angry with her. There was no need to take it that far. That was childish, not the behavior expected of a female, even one several years his junior.
He lay there with his head pounding, feeling angry and sorry for himself in turns. He knew that at least half of the headache was due to the fact he'd let himself get so wound up.
A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," he said.
It was Sevrin. "I'm afraid I lost her, sir," he said apologetically.
"Lost who?" Kusac asked, pushing himself up enough to peer at him.
"The Liegena, sir. She went out, so I followed her. She took the elevator down to the fourteenth level, and then she started running and dodging between people. That's when I lost her."
Kusac sat up quickly, wincing at the pain his sudden movement caused. "Then get out there and find her!" he growled. "Take Meral with you and don't come back without her. She's never been down as far as the troop levels before. The God knows what could happen to her!"
"What about you, sir? We can't leave you on your own."
"I'm not going anywhere with this headache, I can't even see straight. Now go!"