Shades of Gray (108 page)

“Carrie?” said Kaid, blinking.

“Yep,” she said brightly. “Don’t ask how it happened because we woke up outside in the snow like this.”

“We heard you,” said Kaid dryly, putting his empty plate down.

T’Chebbi cuffed his ear. “You’d have done same,” she chided him. “Not every day Carrie is Sholan!”

Kaid glared briefly at her, then looked back at them. “You must have changed her,” he said to Kusac.

“Not necessarily,” said Rezac, grabbing some hot food from the pans on the stove. “He showed me how to do it. She could have picked it up from him when they paired last night.”

“I believe I did,” she said, tail swaying slightly as she accepted a hot drink from T’Chebbi.
Tallinu, don’t be mad at us. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to be Sholan.

He smiled at her.
Actually, I have, and I’m not really angry, just concerned.
“Can you change back, Carrie?” he asked. “That’s more important, to be honest. We don’t have armor and clothing for you as a Sholan.”

“You’re golden,” said J’korrash, reaching out to touch Carrie’s arm. “Just like the Captain’s young sister.”

“I thought I might be,” she said. “A couple of years ago, I once nearly changed into a Sholan.”

“Let’s get you changed back,” said Kusac reluctantly. “I think you’re safer here as a Human. J’korrash, you’re coming with us. Kushool, you, too. Get ready.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Save us some food, please,” said Carrie over her shoulder.

Kusac, be careful. I don’t want anything happening to Carrie by her trying to change again,
sent Kaid.

Do you think I do?
he asked as he and Carrie walked over to the tents.
Neither of us remembers anything. As she said, we were out running in the snow when we realized what had happened. You saw her almost change on the
Khalossa
; you know that. Every now and then, I do a kind of shared meditation with her, where we’re both Sholan. We thought it was one of those.

Of course,
sent Carrie.

 

In the tent, Carrie sat on their sleeping bags, turning her hands first one way, then the other. “I remember looking at your hands for the first time,” she said, letting them drop into her lap.

“It must seem strange to suddenly find yourself in a Sholan body,” he said, sitting opposite her.

“Not really. I’ve felt myself at least a large part Sholan for so long now that it seems as comfortable as my Human shape.” Beside her, her tail thumped on the ground a couple of times and she grinned widely. “I like my tail, though.”

He laughed, reaching out to touch her face. “And I like it on you.” He hesitated briefly. “I love you in this form, Carrie. I’ve always wanted to run and hunt with you, but we couldn’t, till now. It doesn’t mean I don’t love your Human form . . .”

“I do understand,” she said, covering his hand with hers. “I don’t have a problem with it, either, so long as I can change again when I want to. At least I know how handsome you are as a Sholan now,” she grinned.

“Minx,” he said, flicking her nearest ear. “Now lie down and relax. Think of yourself back in your own shape and reach for the energy of the earth beneath us; then just change back. I’ll be here monitoring you, and to help if need be.”

She lay back, looking up at him. “Did you ever wonder how I would look as a Sholan?”

“I suppose I did, even though I had a fair idea from the way not only the Human males reacted to you, but also the Sholan ones on the
Khalossa
. If you remember, I had to give you my torc to keep them away from you,” he said with a rueful grin. “Now concentrate, or they’ll have eaten all the food by the time you’re done!”

Her change, when it happened, was as fast as his last one had been. One minute she was Sholan, the next, she was Human, shivering violently with the cold and the energy she’d expended.

“Oh, Gods, I feel awful, Kusac,” she said, sitting up and clutching one of the sleeping bags around her. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

He’d barely time to yell for a bowl for her and have one thrust into the tent by T’Chebbi when she did. T’Chebbi also had a bowl of water and a cloth and threw Kusac out to take over looking after her.

I’m fine, really I am. I’m just exhausted,
she sent to him as he went over to the others around the stove.
It took more out of me than I thought.

You need to eat,
he replied, grabbing plates and food for them both.
Get some clothes on and join me.

 

Once she’d eaten, she did feel better and was able to help him with his clothes and boots when he changed back into a Valtegan.

They moved out as soon as he was ready, the three females, Carrie, J’korrash, and Kushool wearing the scent-masking one pieces under the chameleon suits, the others wearing uniforms or off-duty clothing. The plan was for only Cheelar and M’yikku to go into the village and buy local carry packs for them all while the rest of them waited near the station. When they rejoined, they’d all transfer their outer winter clothing into them and find one of the luggage trucks on the train. That way, those in the chameleon camouflage wouldn’t run the risk of being walked into by the locals and giving themselves away.

There were several luggage cars attached to their train when it arrived. They took over the end one, the seven of them standing near the entrance glaring menacingly at anyone who came near. The plan worked well, and as they began to approach the station some thirty minutes later, Kusac reminded the females to keep in the center of their group at all times until they reached the estate of the late Lord Nayash.

Despite the early hour, the station was fairly crowded, with uniformed soldiers moving about in units, and farming folk from various outlying estates and villages interspersed with workers heading out of town to the factories.

They formed a tight knot around the three females, and under Cheelar’s lead, they made their way off to one side, where one of the large maps stood.

I can see the map,
Kaid sent to Kusac.
Taking an image of it now so we have it for our own use later. Have you found Nayash’s estate?

M’yikku has gone to check the nearest one out, and get us tickets,
Kusac replied.
Should give us the time of the funeral.

At that moment, M’yikku came jogging back to them. “We’ve four hours,” he said. “It said that the son, Shuzak Nayash, arrived last night at his estate.”

I heard,
sent Kaid.
Better get going.

Kusac gestured for them to move off toward the platform where their train was waiting. They were doing fine until a large civilian barged through the center of the group only to walk straight into apparently nothing. He bounced back with a cry of surprise on his lips, but not a sound came out as Kusac swiftly grasped hold of his mind.

With perfect timing, Rezac suddenly turned around, his large bag swinging out to the side and neatly clipping the male full in the body.

Reeling, the M’zullian stumbled and fell over, saved at the last moment by Cheelar. What no one else saw was Rezac hit him precisely behind the ear and knock him out.

With much fuss, Rezac and Cheelar escorted him over to one of the nearby bench seats that lined the station and helped him to sit down. Propping him up carefully, they left him sitting there as if napping and swiftly rejoined the group that had continued to make its way to their next train.

“That was almost fatal,” muttered Kusac, frowning. “We need our own transport!”

We’ll have it when you take over this estate,
sent Kaid.

This time, there were no empty luggage cars, and they had to share it with two farm workers.

They put their bags in the corner, against the wall farthest from the other males, then stood in front of them chatting while Carrie and the other two females crouched down behind their luggage. Once they were concealed, Kusac and the others settled themselves on the floor with the two workers.

“You heading to the Nayash estate?” asked the younger of the two farm hands.

“Yes. Thought we better show ourselves at the funeral,” said Cheelar. “You going there?”

The older one laughed. “Yeah, all his people gotta be there to mourn him.”

“Won’t be much mourning going on, though,” said the younger. “Just hope his son’s better’n he was. Didn’t even give us a holiday or a feast on the new Emperor’s coronation like he was supposed to do.”

“Heard a rumor his death wasn’t natural like they said,” Cheelar said.

The two looked at each other, then the younger one began digging in his pack.

“You better be keeping them kind of stories to yourself,” said the older one, accepting the fruit that his companion brought out of the pack. “I heard it ain’t healthy to be spreading rumors about this new Emperor. You just down from the mountains, then?”

Cheelar nodded.

Kusac had been passively reading their minds, and now he spoke up. “Yes. Been up there a couple of years. Working with the shokka crops up there.”

The oldster nodded. “Only a few take to the mountain life. Most only last a season, two at tops, then ask for a transfer down to the villages instead. Mountain folk are mighty close communities, but I reckon you know that.”

“We like it well enough up there,” said Kusac.

He cackled, biting into the fruit. “Aye, I’ll bet you do! But I bet you never see hide nor scent of their females!”

“Get closer to them than we would down here!” Kusac leered.

“That’s the truth! Ah, well, just be watching what you say at the funeral. There’ll be plenty of them crimson robes about to pick up on the slightest hint of treason.”

Damn! I forgot there’d be Inquisitors here,
he sent to Kaid.
We’ll need to be extremely careful.

“Thanks for the warning,” he said.

The trip only took them twenty minutes, and then they were pulling in at the local station. They took their time getting up and gathering their bags, wanting to leave after the two farm workers.

The elder stopped at the doorway and looked back at them. “Watch yourselves out there,” he said. “Remember what I told you.”

“We will, thanks,” said Kusac.

They climbed out of the truck and joined the tail end of the crowd slowly making its way off the platform and down the access road to the estate. It was full daylight now, and the day’s heat was beginning to build. As they got closer to the wall, they saw it wasn’t a main entrance, it was one for goods, servants, and estate workers only. Two guards in dark green uniforms stood at either side of the metal gates, watching everyone as they filed in.

Sensing them notice their unfamiliar faces, Kusac sent to Rezac, telling him to divert the one on the left while he did likewise to the one on the right. As they drew level, both guards grew slightly restless, looking away from them.

He forgot he even saw us,
sent Rezac,

Good,
replied Kusac as they passed through into the estate grounds.
Make the workers forget us now.

They hung back, waiting for the rest of the workforce to pass them so they could dive into cover as soon as they saw a suitable place.

A mixture of trees marched up to the dirt road where they were—palmate and deciduous ones mixed. Ahead they could see them peter out to give way to fields of waist-high crops. In the distance, a large square building, two stories high, could be seen. Kusac signaled to them, and one at a time, they faded into the trees before they reached the fields.

A plan had been forming in his mind, and as they gathered together and headed deeper into the woodland, he explained it to them.

“We’ll take Nayash after the burial. There are just too many ways I could slip up in an impersonation of him before then. Taking him later means I get more time to read him and absorb all the information I can.”

“I take it we’re killing him,” said Carrie’s voice quietly from beside him.

“Yes,” said Rezac before he could answer. “He’s too dangerous to leave alive.”

“I know. I only asked because originally we said we might try to recruit him.”

“We can’t do that,” said Kusac. “One look at a Sholan and he’ll likely go into a killing frenzy.”

“What about killing K’hedduk?” asked Kaid through the comm link.

“I’ll create a diversion,” said Kusac. “Rezac and J’korrash will be ready with sniper rifles. If Rezac misses, then J’korrash will take him out. Hopefully the distraction should keep their attention elsewhere, and we’ll be gone when they notice he’s dead.”

“This is a good spot,” said Rezac, stopping by a small clearing filled with bushes and the spiked runners of some wild fruiting plant. “We can hide our gear in the center of these bushes. No one in their right mind is going to look there.”

“Do I hear a note of personal experience, Rezac?” asked Carrie.

“Yeah,” he said with a wry laugh. “I was hiding a truck and trying to impress Zashou, only I got the thorny suckers caught in my clothing and on my legs instead. Very painful, to both ego and skin.”

The three females chuckled gently and waited while the males got their weapons out of the bags, then stripped out of their uniforms and stowed them away. With much swearing and sucked fingers and hands, they thrust the bags into the center of the thorniest bushes and pulled branches over them.

The camouflage suits, being made of slightly heavier materials, had panels of blast-proofing in strategic chest, back, and groin areas to give them some kind of protection from energy weapons. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

Kusac was the last to finish settling his throwing knives into their harnesses across his chest and down his thighs. Since they’d had no room to take the lightweight helmets on this mission, they had hoods with a fine mesh scarf they could fasten across their faces. Mics at their throats responded to subvocal speech; small earpieces completed their comm equipment. Toueesut had assured them that this system worked on a wavelength not available to the M’zullians, but they intended to use it only as a last resort, relying instead on the telepathic abilities of the females and them passing on instructions verbally to the nearby males.