strongholdrising (55 page)

Carrie laughed. "I never did anything of the sort!"
"You've two casualties right here," he said quietly.
"Flatterer."
"Are you sure you can cope with meeting Prince Zsurtul?" he asked as they headed down the corridor to the small common room they'd borrowed for the evening.
"I'm fine, Kusac. If you can work with him, then I can accept his dinner invitation. I met him on the
Profit,
it isn't as if I don't know him."
He let it rest, trying not to remember his own difficulties in learning to work with the Prime Prince. He still wasn't at ease with him.
One of the kitchen staff was helping Zsurtul finish setting the dishes out on the table. As soon as they entered, the young Prime shooed him out and came rushing over. He stopped as Kusac picked up Kashini.
"A hatchling!" he said incredulously.
"Cub," corrected Carrie. "Kusac's and my daughter."
Zsurtul looked from one to the other, obviously having great difficulty in reconciling what he saw with the reality of the cub.
Kashini sat back in his arms, leaning against his chest for security and put her fist into her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the Prince. Over his arm, her short tail began to sway gently.
Zsurtul reached out a curious hand toward her then stopped, looking anxiously at Kusac. "Is it permitted for me to touch her?"
All his paternal instincts made him want to step back and say no but he knew he couldn't. The point of this meal was to build bridges between them. Unable to trust his voice, he forced himself to nod.
Zsurtul touched her cheek with his fingertips. "Such softness," he said, awed. As he continued to gently stroke her, Kashini removed her fist from her mouth and grabbed his hand.
"No, Kashini!" said all three of them as, quick as a flash, the hand went in her mouth.
Zsurtul's eyes widened and his own mouth opened soundlessly. Kashini abruptly let go of him. "Teef!" she pronounced, pointing.
"I'm sorry," said Carrie, moving forward to take Zsurtul's hand and examine it. "Did she bite you?"
Zsurtul shook his head. "No, but her tongue— it scratches!"
Kashini had lost interest in him now that she'd caught sight of the food on the table and was leaning over perilously to see it. "Hungwy!"
"I'm sorry," said Zsurtul, withdrawing his hand gently from Carrie's. "I forget my manners. Come and sit down. I hope you'll like the food, it's a mixture of our dishes and yours so I could be sure there was something you would be comfortable eating. I don't know that your— cub— will like it though," he said, forehead creasing in a concerned frown.
"Don't worry about that, Zsurtul. I've brought her own food with me, but she can try some if she likes. Kashini has her own ideas about everything," said Carrie wryly, taking her bag back from Kaid.
The ice broken by Kashini's presence, the evening went better than he thought it would. He even began to feel a little at ease with the young Prime. For the first time, he saw the person behind the Valtegan shape the Prince wore and realized Zsurtul wasn't that different from themselves or the other species that currently lived on his estate. However, there was still something about the young Prince that kept him on edge.

* * *

As they were leaving, Zsurtul called them back. "I meant to tell you, Kaid," he said, "I think I know why you have no problems from our Warriors while General Kezule does."
"Oh? Why's that?" asked Kaid, hesitating in the open doorway.
"Two reasons. One, you'll be training them differently from the General. We have no records on the Warrior caste, I'm afraid, but given their greater level of aggression in his time, I'm sure they'd not have been allowed the freedoms they have here, and certainly they wouldn't have had another species taking the training lessons."
"That goes without saying," said Kaid. "We didn't get any guidelines from your Embassy apart from not allowing them any raw meat."
Zsurtul looked a little crestfallen.
"You did well to work that out for yourself, though," said Kaid encouragingly. "What was your other reason?"
"Your scent. The teachers here aren't afraid of them. The Warriors respond to the fear scent from those of their own rank and above them in authority. You've no reason to fear them because you see them as just students. And they see you as knowing far more than you're teaching them so they don't feel impelled to try to take your places. The ones who died were all victims of training incidents caused by each other."
Kaid nodded thoughtfully. "You might be onto something there. Thank you, Zsurtul. And thanks for a pleasant evening."
"The food was lovely," said Carrie, tucking a small rug inside Kusac's arms and round the sleeping Kashini. "Thank you. Next time, you'll be our guest."
Zsurtul watched them leave, wondering if he should have disobeyed Doctor Zayshul and told them about the scent marker that Kusac carried. It would explain to the Sholan why he'd felt compelled to attack him in the gym, and why he continued to be uneasy in his company. The marker had changed the Sholan, was making him react to male Primes as if they were potential male rivals. He sighed. The Doctor was older, more experienced than him; if she said stay quiet for fear of damaging the fragile treaty, then he'd best do as she said. But it struck him as very unfair to Kusac when he was being blamed for an attitude he could do nothing to control.
Prime world, the same evening
"General Kezule, a pleasure to meet you properly," said K'hedduk, standing up. "Welcome to the Directorate Medical Facility. I'm Doctor K'hedduk,"
"I remember you from the
Kz'adul,
" said Kezule, staring at him. "You were a steward then."
"A steward has far more freedom on board a ship like the
Kz'adul
than a doctor. I believe you've had some of our aims explained to you already?"
"I don't appreciate being forced into meeting your people or visiting this facility," said Kezule coldly, allowing his crest to rise in anger. "Nor do I appreciate the threat to my wife."
"Come, General, don't overdramatize the situation. Please, sit down." He gestured to the seats around him in the conference room. "It was necessary to ensure you were given a clear picture of who we are. We've no wish to harm either Doctor Zayshul or your unborn and unhatched child. Your wife will be a valuable asset to our cause, and one at the heart of the City's own research establishment. Through her, we'll be able to access data and samples otherwise denied to us."
"I don't respond to force, K'hedduk," he hissed. And he didn't intend that his wife and child would be used as lab samples.
"But you're here," said K'hedduk, sitting down. "Stand if you wish, Kezule. I can call you Kezule, can't I? What we're trying to achieve is to restore to our civilization the glory it had at the height of the Empire— your time."
His time? In his time the Empire had been so arrogant and sure of itself that a handful of weak Sholan telepaths, unable to strike a blow without folding up retching, had toppled it not to its knees, but flat on its face. It had taken him much soul-searching to realize this, but now that he did, he saw things a lot more clearly.
"To do this, we need a strong Emperor on the Throne of Light," continued K'hedduk. "And that isn't our revered Emperor Cheu'ko'h."
"I don't want the throne," he said. "Zsiyuk spoke only of me leading a campaign against M'zull and J'kirtikk."
"I'm sure he would have mentioned that you are a direct descendant of the last true Emperor," murmured K'hedduk. "Never mind. If you prefer to lead the campaign to reunite our Empire again, then your son can rule instead, with a regent appointed until he reaches his majority. Or you can do both— rule and lead the battle."
"I have no son," snarled Kezule, crest beginning to rise.
"Not yet," said K'hedduk complacently. "But your wife is due to lay within the week. Her egg will survive even if she doesn't. And if the hatchling should be a daughter, you can take another wife— or more— once we've toppled Cheu'ko'h. We're offering you the chance to start your own dynasty, to put the blood of your Emperor Q'emgo'h back on the Throne of Light, and lead a military campaign to take back all our old territory. All this with our backing."
"All our old territory?" he asked, surprised.
"Ah, that's got you interested," smiled K'hedduk. "I thought it would. The Sholans ripped you from your own time, held you prisoner and no doubt tortured you. We offer you the chance for revenge, to take Shola again and return them to the slavery which is their natural place in the order of the universe."
"And just how do you propose to do that when it was their telepaths that toppled our Empire in the first place?"
"We have our own telepaths," said K'hedduk. "Hybrid Sholans, birthed from the growth tanks a week ago. And others, adults we captured from a M'zullian vessel a year ago."
"Sholan hybrids? The children of a Human and a Sholan? Where did you get them?" He sat down, stunned.
"We had an agent on the
Kz'adul
who took samples from them when they were in captivity there. The telepaths are loyal to us, Kezule, and they can already use their psi powers. You'll have them at your side, ready and willing to follow your orders, even against their own species."
"Not at my side," he said automatically. Knowing their past, he wanted them as far away from him as possible.
"They are loyal," insisted K'hedduk. "I'll take you to meet them shortly. We've been doing noninvasive experiments to try to find out what makes them telepathic but with no success as yet. The late Doctor Chy'qui had a theory he was trying out on a M'zullian, but although it initially looked promising, his results haven't proved reproducible here."
"You're experimenting on our own people?"
"Of course. How else can we find out if Chy'qui's research was valid? Believe me, we'd all be a lot happier if we had our own telepaths, but it doesn't look possible."
Kezule sat silently, appalled by the depths to which these people were prepared to go to restore what they saw as the glory of their Empire.
"I can see you're concerned over experimenting on our own. Don't be," said K'hedduk, standing. "They were convicts, due for execution. At least here they are fulfilling a purpose, repaying our society for the harm they've done. Come with me and I'll show you around our facility."

* * *

Kezule followed him back along the corridor toward the elevator.
"We keep our young Sholans in here," said K'hedduk, stopping outside a guarded room.
While the doctor went about unlocking the door, Kezule stared at the large tattooed male holding an energy rifle. The guard stared back at him, his jaw clenching slightly as a belligerent look came into his eyes. This had to be one of the altered Workers Zsiyuk had spoken about. That they were even considering letting people like this loose on the City, with or without weapons, was insane! Even he felt somewhat intimidated by the male's sheer bulk.
The door swung open and K'hedduk invited Kezule to enter. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the eight young Sholans. Even taking into account that they were seated at a table, they were small. The youngsters got to their feet as soon as they entered, standing by their chairs, faces tilted toward the ground. One, slower than the rest, earned a sharp rebuke. The adult Prime with them also rose.
"Good evening, Doctor K'hedduk," she said.
"Good evening, Seniormost Doctor," chanted the youngsters.
K'hedduk nodded. "This is General Kezule. He's come to inspect you."
Kezule moved closer, fascinated despite himself. The Human female, one of the three who'd brought him to this time, had been carrying a hybrid child. Hers would look like this.
"How old are they?" he asked.
"Ten years old. They mature later than us. Around thirty for the males to attain full growth, but both sexes are capable of breeding from fourteen."
Kezule looked at the array of body colors. They ranged from gray through several shades of brown to one black-coated child. He looked again at the black one, going closer to inspect it, remembering who'd been on board the
Kz'adul.
The pelt had a blue sheen to it, and his scent held a familiarity. He took hold of the child's jaw and gently lifted up the face. Amber eyes stared steadily, almost challengingly, back at him, then blinked, and the look was gone, replaced by that of a nervous child. Letting him go, Kezule exhaled slowly. This one belonged to Kusac. He had within his grasp a greater chance for revenge than K'hedduk could ever guess. By all the God-Kings, the Directorate wouldn't keep this one, he would!
A slight sound from one of the other children drew his attention to it. He saw a dampness on its cheeks and recognized it as the one who'd been rebuked. He put his hand on its head, gently ruffling the long gray hair.
"She's easily upset," said the teacher by way of explanation. "Not as bright as the others."
"Is it a problem?" asked K'hedduk, a note of concern in his voice. "There's no point in our efforts being wasted if she's incapable of learning."
"Her usefulness will be limited, Doctor, but her gender makes her valuable," said the teacher.
"That's hardly a concern. Keep me briefed on her progress, or lack of it. We'll review her viability in a week. I'm not prepared to waste any more time than that."
Rage boiled up inside Kezule. He let his hand slip to the child's shoulder, giving her a gentle and reassuring squeeze before turning away.
"I've seen enough," he said, going back to the door.
Outside, K'hedduk spoke about the research on telepathy being conducted on Primes but it went over Kezule's head. He could hardly believe that they were callously discussing whether or not to keep the young Sholan alive in front of her. For one thing, it would be unlikely to engender trust for their keepers in the others. He'd never debased his pet telepath like that.
"They're being treated carefully, General, and wear psychic inhibitors unless they're actually being trained in using their abilities. I want willing, compliant slaves, not rebellious untrustworthy ones," said K'hedduk, catching sight of his face. He stopped in front of another door. "This is where we run our telepathy tests on the criminals."
He came back to reality with a jolt. "I don't need to see them," he said tightly.
K'hedduk lifted his head slightly. "Squeamish, General? I'm surprised. I would have thought you'd be used to the dirty side of war."
He bit back his reply. He was, but this wasn't war; and this went against all that was natural or reasonable in the treatment of even slaves.
"Very well, I'll show you our other Sholan subjects."
The scent of antiseptics drifted out into the corridor when K'hedduk opened the next door. He entered, finding himself in laboratory with two large cages at the far end. K'hedduk led the way past a workbench down to them. One looked to be empty, and in the other, on a straw-covered floor, he could see the hunched figure of an adult Sholan female.
"We have another three females but we're keeping them in stasis for the moment," K'hedduk said. "She was of great help to us. We bred her to enable us to work out the conditions necessary for growing our hybrids in the tanks." He snapped out an order, telling her to look up. When she did, her eyes were as dull and lifeless as her brown pelt.
"Her child died, I take it," Kezule said, feeling some comment was expected from him.
"No, it's in stasis. We don't need it at the moment. When we do, we can accelerate its growth. An infant is no use to us at present. Unfortunately, we couldn't be sure of sustaining our hybrids in the tanks beyond the age they are now or we'd have grown them to adulthood, too." K'hedduk turned and pointed to the cage opposite.
"That was her mate. We've been running experiments on him to find out which portions of his brain to stimulate in the hopes of generating psi abilities. He was even implanted with the device Chy'qui used on the M'zullian. But it failed on him as well."
Kezule took a couple of steps toward the cage, realizing that what he'd mistaken for a pile of straw bedding was in fact another Sholan. He could see the white of bandages showing against the dull tan pelt. "His arms. What happened to him?"
"Oh, that's self-inflicted," said K'hedduk as he headed back toward the workbench. "He kept trying to escape from the cage to rejoin his mate. Some of them have very little common sense, as you probably know. This one was convinced he could get through the bars by the sheer effort of throwing himself repeatedly at them. His wounds keep going septic because he keeps worrying at them and getting dirt from the cage floor in them."
He stepped closer, seeing the small implant on the back of the male's neck where the hair had been cut and shorn back. Other areas on his head had been shorn at some time and through the new growth, he could see the bright pink of older surgical scars.
Hearing his footsteps, the Sholan male lifted his head from the floor and looked out at him. His eyes carried the same dead look of hopelessness as his mate's.
Impelled by some force he couldn't resist, Kezule stepped closer until he was touching the bars. He saw the male's mouth moving and realized he was trying to talk. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw K'hedduk was engrossed at the lab bench, checking a display on one of the monitors. He turned back, bending down and moving slightly so his own body shielded him from being seen.
"What?" he asked quietly in the other's language. "What do you want?"
"Soldier," the male whispered, sliding his arm painfully toward him. "You're a soldier." He clenched his hand on the bar, fingers still swollen and cut from his efforts to escape, knuckles showing white through the tan pelt. There was a feverish spark of life in his eyes now.
"Yes." How had he known that? Unless...
"Stop this. No way for a soldier to die."
"I can't."
Without realizing what he was doing, Kezule's hand reached between the bars and gently closed around the Sholan's throat. The male laid his head back down on the floor and shut his eyes.
By all the God-Kings, what am I doing?
he asked himself as his hand suddenly clenched in a stranglehold. Appalled, he let go only to hear a last gentle sigh from the male before his body went limp.
Snatching his hand back, he stumbled to his feet with an exclamation of shock.
K'hedduk looked round questioningly.
"I think he's dead," he said, unable to take his eyes off the Sholan.
"What?" He heard footsteps as K'hedduk ran over to see for himself. When poking and prodding him got no response, K'hedduk began to swear.
"Burn it! We only have two adult males! We hadn't finished with him!"
"It happens," said Kezule, trying to affect an unconcern he didn't feel. There wasn't a shred of doubt in his mind that he'd been mentally manipulated by the male. K'hedduk had succeeded in turning the Sholan into a telepath— unless somehow he'd been able to conceal his ability all along.
"I'll have to get someone in to clear up," said K'hedduk, getting to his feet. "I need to have an autopsy done. I hope you won't mind if we curtail the tour here."
"Not at all," said Kezule, glancing back at the female as he followed K'hedduk. She'd moved and was now sitting by the bars staring at her dead mate. Her eyes caught his and he could tell she knew what he'd done and was grateful. He shivered and looked away, hurriedly following K'hedduk out into the corridor. Every time he came up against Sholans, they challenged his beliefs about them. He wondered how many of his caste in the same situation could have achieved what that male had.
"Q'akuh will take you back to the City, General. I hope you've seen enough to know we're serious. Will you join us?" asked K'hedduk, locking the door behind them.
"I'll join you," he said, trying to keep his true feelings from sounding in his voice. "The thought of vengeance against the Sholans is appealing. I always preferred an active life to the sedentary one of the Court. But there's something I want in return."
"I think you'll be more than recompensed," said K'hedduk. "But tell me anyway."
"I used to have a pet, a Sholan telepath. All the leading people of my time had one. I want the gray-pelted child. You said she's slow and of little use to you. She'll amuse my wife and be a symbol of my status."
Kezule stopped and looked at him curiously. "I hadn't thought your taste for revenge would go quite that far. I can't give her to you now, General. To take her out of here would be inviting discovery. It wouldn't be possible for you to keep her existence secret. Once the coup is over, she's yours, will that do?"
"If I can trust you to keep your word."
"I'll keep mine for as long as you do," said K'hedduk quietly. "If you don't, then not only will she die, but so will your family. As we've shown today with your wife, we have long arms, General."
Kezule stopped dead and turned on him, hands itching to wrap themselves around his throat. "If you harm her or my wife, K'hedduk, I will find you and squeeze every drop of blood from your body. Do you understand?" he hissed. "That Sholan child is mine!"
"I think we understand each other perfectly, General. This is a mutually advantageous business arrangement, nothing more." K'hedduk gestured to the far end of the corridor where Q'akuh waited by the elevator. "We'll be in touch, General Kezule. So nice to have met you at last."
Kezule inclined his head briefly before stalking off toward the waiting male.