Turning Point (26 page)
Authors: Lisanne Norman
Carrie nodded, eyes still closed, as Vanna let go of her hand.
“Mito, get me an IV pack and catheter,” she ordered, picking up her Medic's kit as she moved over to Kusac's bed.
Quickly, she checked him over, finding him now exhibiting all the classic signs of shock.
“Kusac's gone into shock,” she said, glancing briefly up at the Captain.
She swabbed Kusac's right forearm down, inserting the catheter when Mito handed it to her. Securing it round his arm, she then unsealed the IV drip nozzle and connected them. Above the pull-down bed there were several hooks set into the hull and one of them was placed at an appropriate level. She hooked the pack onto that.
Carrie was peering past Mito, watching as Vanna loaded the hypo gun and gave him two shots.
There was no pain now, even her headache had cleared. Did blocking the Link make all that difference? If Kusac was right, then it meant she had wasted some twenty years of her life suffering the full quota of Elise's pain for no reason. He couldn't be right; it didn't bear thinking about if he was.
She felt along the Link, trying to work out what she had just done and why it had been necessary, but she could find nothing to explain it. She lowered the block slightly, feeling again the pain Kusac was experiencing. Immediately, she pulled back. She couldn't cope with any more pain, especially not through another link.
Vanna was perched on the end of Kusac's bed, holding his wrist. Sensing Carrie's gaze on her, she looked up and smiled encouragingly.
“He'll be fine,” she said. “He's beginning to respond to the treatment.”
“Can I help? He's in so much pain, Vanna, I don't know how he can stand it.”
“Not for much longer. I've given him the strongest analgesic I have. He'll sleep, which is-exactly what I want him to do. You can help by keeping that block up and by resting. I need to be sure I'm picking up all his symptoms. Garras will give me a break in an hour or two. You try and get some sleep.”
Carrie began to sit up, but Mito pushed her back.
“You heard Vanna,” she said, not unkindly. “Stay in bed and rest.”
“I need to be with him,” she said. Though the Link was blocked so she couldn't feel his pain, she was still aware of him mentally and of his anxiety and his need to feel her touch.
“Rest, cub,” said Vanna, letting go of Kusac's wrist to run some other checks on him.
For the next hour Kusac was semi-delirious with the fever. He called constantly for Carrie and eventually Vanna had to give in and let the girl bring her bedding over to the floor beside his bunk.
Carrie sat near his head, holding onto his hand. Keeping the Link blocked was taking a lot of concentration and energy. She hoped she could keep it up.
He quieted then, drifting off into a natural sleep, but every time she tried to let go of him he began to toss fretfully.
Mito turned in, taking back one of Carrie's blankets. Then Garras relieved Vanna, letting her sleep till dawn.
Carrie napped as best she could, leaning against a piece of equipment that Garras had brought over and padded with his blanket.
She had the time to think her own thoughts now, time apart from Kusac. Why did Links have to bring her pain? She had just been freed from one such bond, and now this.
She put her head back against the support and closed her eyes. Granted that without Kusac she would probably have died when Elise had, but was a future similar to her past one to be wished for?
...
a bond of shared joys as well as pain,
echoed in her mind. Kusac. He was the difference, literally a world of difference. A faint smile crossed her lips as she remembered some of the shared pleasures of the last few days. His hand stirred in hers, briefly tightening its grasp and then relaxing, as did she.
a bond of shared joys as well as pain,
echoed in her mind. Kusac. He was the difference, literally a world of difference. A faint smile crossed her lips as she remembered some of the shared pleasures of the last few days. His hand stirred in hers, briefly tightening its grasp and then relaxing, as did she.
Â
The noise of the last changeover roused her. Kusac was still sleeping. She knew the fever had broken and his pain was under control. She tried again to ease her hand from his and this time he didn't stir. Her stomach growled faintly, but she was too tired to want to move and the hunger pangs were not very insistent.
As she curled up where she was, a faint glow from the central column's two VDU screens drew her attention. She raised herself slightly on one elbow to get a better view.
One was obviously a computer control screen. The other seemed to be a view of the swamp outside the pod. Day was breaking and the sky was tinged with light. She settled down and began to drift into sleep.
This time, she woke with a jolt. Sunlight was streaming in through the open hatch and strange bumps and bangs reverberated throughout the pod.
“Here, drink this,” said Vanna, thrusting a steaming mug into her field of vision. “Kusac's fine, he's still sleeping soundly.”
“I know,” Carrie mumbled, taking the mug from her. “What's this?”
“A protein drink,” Vanna said soothingly. “It boosts up the energy levels fast. Did you manage to get enough sleep?”
Carrie sat up and blinked, clearing the last of the sleep from her senses.
“Some,” she said, taking a cautious sip of the drink, then a large mouthful. “Not bad,” she said. “What's been happening?”
“Mito and Guynor have located the manual transmitter and are checking to see if the satellite is still in orbit. Garras and Skai, as you can hear, are checking the outer hull for damage.”
“Don't let them clear the vines off the pod or we'll be too visible from the air,” she warned.
“Don't worry, they know what they're doing,” Vanna assured her.
“How long will Kusac be on the drip?”
“That's finished now,” said the Medic, squatting down beside her. “He's just utterly exhausted, and the analgesics will keep him tired. He'll probably sleep for another few hours yet.”
Carrie finished the drink before getting up. “What are we supposed to do today?”
“Fetch and carry for the others because we can't help them.”
Carrie looked round at Kusac. Because of their Link, she was able to read his expressions and body language. Just now he lay partially curled with his back to the hull. His shoulder was beginning to hurt again. She reached down to gently touch his face.
“He's in pain again,” she said.
“I'll see to it when he wakes,” said Vanna.
“Captain,” called Mito from outside where she and Guynor were working on the portable transmitter. “It's no use. If the satellite is still in orbit, it isn't receiving us. Without a hyperspace relay, we have no chance of reaching the Khalossa.” Mito's ears were laid flat against her skull and her tail was flicking jerkily, showing her deep distress.
Garras stuck his head inside the hatch, looking for Carrie. “Have your people any deep-space transmitters in orbit?” he asked.
“No,” she said, walking over to the opening. “We never developed ... what did you call it? Hyperspace relay?”
“Carrie,” Skai called insistently, guessing that something was seriously wrong. “What are you talking about? What's happened?” He moved quickly to the hatch and leaned forward, grasping her by the arm. “Stop talking in that outlandish language and speak sense, for God's sake!”
“Their satellite's not functioning,” she replied distractedly.
“In English, Carrie,” he said, shaking her. “As the only military representative here, I outrank you and expect to be kept informed.”
A sudden sharp pain made him yelp and look down as Carrie repeated herself in English. He saw a dark-furred Sholan hand on his wrist and attempted to shake it off. Five sharp claws held him in a rigid grip. Droplets of blood were beginning to well from under the claw tips.
“Don't,” said Kusac, his teeth bared in cold anger. “She is not yours to touch.”
Skai flinched. “She isn't yours either,” he retorted.
“Both of you stop it,” said Carrie, batting Kusac's hand away from Skai. “I don't belong to either of you! I'm not a piece of property to be argued over like this.”
“Of course you have free choice,” murmured Kusac. “I did not mean to imply you hadn't.”
“Just so you both remember it,” she said, somewhat mollified. “And, Kusac, just what are you doing up?” she asked, turning round to him.
“I woke and needed to stretch,” he said urbanely.
Carrie made a small noise of disbelief.
Vanna came up behind them.
“Kusac, before you move around too much, I want to change that dressing,” she said, handing him a protein drink.
He hesitated.
I'm fine,
sent Carrie.
You worry too much.
sent Carrie.
You worry too much.
I
care, he replied, touching her face lightly with his fingertips before following Vanna.
care, he replied, touching her face lightly with his fingertips before following Vanna.
Carrie turned back to Skai. “Have the Valtegans any communication satellites in orbit?” she asked Skai.
“No,” he replied, thrusting his anger aside for later as he rubbed the back of his wrist. “Their deep-space transmitter is in the base at the other side of the swamp, which is why we stake it out. We're hoping for a chance to get in and use it. You wouldn't believe how tight their security is.”
“Could we gain entry to their transmitter from here through their local communications?” asked Garras.
“If we knew their access codes,” replied Guynor.
“We have a panoramic receiver, so it should be possible to work out the radio frequencies given enough time, but the access codes will take longer,” said Mito.
“How long?” asked Carrie.
Mito shrugged. “Depends how frequently they communicate with the base and how predictable their codes are.”
“Couldn't you link into a Valtegan at the base and get the necessary information?” Garras asked Carrie. “We've got to get our message out as quickly as possible before the Valtegans manage to read our computer memory crystal.”
“The Valtegans are too far away for us to do that,” replied Carrie. “Is it likely that they can read it?”
“With a lack of any knowledge of their tech level I have to assume the worst,” said Garras. “Go ahead,” he said to Mito. “Monitoring the base seems the most viable course of action.”
“I'll need help, though,” she said. “I don't speak Valtegan.”
“Then we have got a problem,” said Skai, “because none of us know more than a few words, certainly none of their technical language. Unless, Carrie?...”
She shook her head. “I probably know less than you, and as I said before, there aren't any Valtegans near enough for me to contact.”
Her remarks were met with silence.
“It looks like we're going to have to get into that base,” said Garras at last.
“How? We've been sitting there watching them for about eight years! If we can't get in, how the hell can you?” exclaimed Skai.
“I could get in easily,” said Carrie.
“What did you say?” demanded Skai, rounding angrily on her.
“I said I could get in easily, and I can.”
“What're you going to do? Just walk in the front gate?” he asked sarcastically.
“Of course. Getting me in isn't the problem, it's what to do next,” she said.
“Explain,” said Garras, his ears pricked hard in her direction.
“Elise told me that occasionally the base officials will send for one of the women from Geshader. I just convince them that I've been sent for, which is easy.”
“You're not going in alone,” growled Kusac from within the pod.
“Too right,” echoed Skai. “I'm going in, too.”
“I couldn't take a Terran male with me,” she replied. “There's no way they'd let you in, and having seen you, they would probably keep you for questioning.”
“You're not going alone,” repeated Kusac, coming back to the hatch despite Vanna's protests.
She followed him, getting him to squat down while she replaced the dressing on his shoulder.
“We need Mito or Guynor to go in, not you, Carrie,” said Garras. “You don't have the knowledge to help us.”
“No, but once inside, I'm close enough to the Valtegans to read them and get their knowledge, which Mito and Guynor can't do.”
“Do these women from Geshader arrive alone?” asked Kusac.
“No, they are usually taken there by groundcar,” replied Carrie, looking puzzled.
“I have an idea,” he said slowly. “I wonder if between us we could make the Valtegans think they are looking at one of their own soldiers escorting a woman. That way you have some protection, and there would be two of us to handle anything Mito says we need to do.”
“But how?...”
Carrie was cut short by Mito.
“If you can do that, then, yes! Telepathically, we can give you the information you need to access the transmitter and send our signal.”
“It could work,” admitted Guynor grudgingly, “but we need to interface into the Valtegan computers. They're probably incompatible with ours.”
“What do you mean by interface?” asked Skai.
“Basically, our computers will probably run at a different speed than the Valtegans'. Also the computer language we use won't be understood by their machine so I need to build a translator to allow our computer to talk to theirs, and vice versa,” explained Guynor.
“So this translator is your interface?” questioned Skai.
“Exactly, but the next problem is to get hold of some Valtegan electronic equipment so that our interface can be connected to it without damage to either system.”
“What kind of Valtegan hardware do you need?” continued Skai. “Maybe we have something that would do.”
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