Plague of Memory (31 page)

"I was able to obtain several partial cadavers from the Hanar's Palace," she told me, glaring briefly at PyrsVar. "We must begin the autopsies immediately."

"I have a sample of what is causing the plague." I took the container of bone dust from my case and passed it to her. "It is a form of natural hallucinogen that stirs primal memory in your species. The plague is not viral or bacterial. It is drug-induced."

"If this is so, why did this substance not show up on our scans?" she demanded.

"That we will determine once we test PyrsVar," I said, gesturing to the war master. "He was exposed to a large amount of dust only a few hours ago."

"Excellent." ChoVa bared her teeth. "Will you kill him before I begin dissecting him, or will you allow me that small pleasure?"

Maggie whistled.
"Oooh, she's still a little pissed off."

PyrsVar's dark brows elevated. "I only shot you in the head. I could have killed you easily. You should be grateful to me."

ChoVa made an ugly sound.

"PyrsVar? Shut up." I turned to the Hsktskt female. "We need him alive and responsive so that we can test neutralizing agents."

"I will not mutilate him," ChoVa said. "Badly." "You can try." He showed her his own pointed teeth.

"Stop it, both of you," I shouted. "We have no time for this. People are killing each other. Now, are you going to assist me in finding the means to stop them, or must I shoot both of you and do it myself?"

ChoVa and PyrsVar stared at me, and then at each other. "I can tolerate your presence," the Hsktskt physician muttered. "For a few more hours." "And I you." PyrsVar turned to me. "As long as she does not attempt to dissect me."

"I do not have the means to determine the level of infection on a live specimen," ChoVa said to me. "Can you have your ship shuttle down what we will need?"

"Better yet," I said, looking at my husband and thinking of SrrokVar, "I think we should take PyrsVar to the
Sunlace."

TssVar did not refuse my request to return to the ship, but he Would not leave Vtaga to accompany us. "With the Hanar dead, and two of the other Akade missing, we need a semblance of leadership. I am going to the Palace to see what troops have not abandoned their posts."

"Eventually they all will," Reever said. "You
need non-Hsktskt troops to provide riot control and restore order."

"The only species I would trust to do so without massacring our citizens would be the Tingalean, and in situations of war they are neutral/' the Akade told him.

"This is not a war," my husband said. "When we arrive on the ship, I will ask the captain to signal Tingal and request peacekeeping troops be sent to provide assistance."

TssVar nodded, and clasped Reever's forearm. "Tell my son his mother and I think of him with much affection and longing."

We gathered what we needed from ChoVa's lab and took the launch from the estate up to the ship. Maggie's voice inside my head finally quieted and gave me a chance to think about SrrokVar and the bone-dust hallucinogen. Reever stayed by me and held my hand, unwilling to let go of me.

I saw PyrsVar staring at both of us, but for Reever's sake I ignored him. When we reached the ship and flew into the launch bay, I realized what a shock PyrsVar's presence was going to be to the Torins.

"PyrsVar." He stopped unfastening his harness and looked at me.

"You resemble someone who was held in high esteem by these people," I reminded him. "For them it will be as if the dead have come back to life. Remember that when they see you, and in how they react to you."

He nodded and finished releasing the harness.

ChoVa passed between us and gave him a hard look. "And try not to kill anyone."

"Refrain from tempting me," he muttered back.

I walked out between Reever and PyrsVar. The captain stood waiting on the deck below, and was in such an agitated state that at first he didn't seem to notice the renegade Jorenian.

"Cherijo, we were ready to begin sending warrior squads down to search for you. Reever." He turned and went very still at the sight of PyrsVar's face. His features turned a chalky pale blue, and his lips shaped the word "ClanBrother."

"Captain Xonea Torin, ClanLeader of HouseClan Torin, this is PyrsVar, war master of the Hsktskt outlaws." I awkwardly made the Jorenian gesture of introduction and decided to quickly relay the most important details of the situation. "PyrsVar is a bioengineered construct, as I am. He was alterformed with DNA taken from Kao Torin, your Clan-Brother."

"How can this be?" Xonea took a step backward. "Kao embraced the stars. He no longer travels this path."

"His body was stolen before it reached the twin stars of K-2," I said. When the captain's eyes filled with outrage, I added, "This was not PyrsVar's doing. He was created by SrrokVar, the scientist who tortured Cherijo when she was a slave of the Hsktskt. SrrokVar survived the fall of Catopsa."

Before Xonea could reply my daughter and Caur-Var rushed across the deck to meet us. Marel cried out her delight as she went first to hug her father's legs, then launched herself at me. As I picked her up and hugged her, I saw CaurVar exchanging words with his sister.

"Mama," Marel whispered when she had bestowed a damp kiss on my cheek, "why did you bring that bad man here?"

I glanced at PyrsVar, who was looking all around with keen interest.

"He is not a bad man," I promised her, and hoped that was the truth. "In a way, he is like your Clan-Uncle Squilyp. Only larger and .. . bluer."

Salo and Darea came forward, but both also stopped cold at the sight of the outlaw. Darea's eyes filled with tears. Salo curled his hand around the hilt of a dagger he wore at his waist.

"How can this be?" Darea whispered. "I will explain," I told her. "But PyrsVar is not Kao. He was alterformed to appear like him." "He smells like Hsktskt," Salo said, sounding cold and not at all inclined to weep. "That is because he is part Hsktskt as well," I told him, shocking everyone anew.

Evidently unaware of the disturbance he was creating, PyrsVar turned to me and smiled at Marel. Even with the pointed teeth, this time the expression seemed more natural for him.

"She is fierce for one so small," he murmured, reaching out to touch her curly blond hair. "She would make a fine addition to my band."

Before he could, Reever seized his wrist. "Marel is my daughter," he told PyrsVar in a flat voice. "You will not touch her. Ever."

"As you wish." The renegade Jorenian dropped his arm. "I do not harm children."

302 S. L. Viehl

"You will not be given the chance to start," Reever promised, his gaze lethal.

Xonea stepped forward, still pale but apparently recovered from the shock of seeing his Clan-Brother's physical twin. "We will have a briefing now, I think."

EIGHTEEN

ChoVa and I excused ourselves from the briefing, and accompanied PyrsVar to Medical, where we isolated him from the other patients and prepared what we would need for testing. We monitored the briefing from Medical while Squilyp scanned the three of us and treated the injuries PyrsVar had received while struggling with SrrokVar.

I felt glad when I heard Xonea agree to contact the Tmgaleans and request their help in bringing the citizens of Vtaga under control until a treatment for the bone-dust epidemic could be formulated.

"A good choice," the captain said. "Tingalean venom is so lethal that they have learned to exercise great restraint during any manner of confrontation. As a reptilian species, they will also have some sympathy for the Hsktskt, and concern for finding and destroying this dust before it is taken and used on other species like theirs."

"One Hsktskt on the ship was stressful enough," Squilyp complained as he hopped into the forensics lab after me. "Now I have a Hsktskt, her brother, and a Hsktskt-Jorenian crossbreed who looks like a barbarian and behaves little better."

"He has been living in the desert for some time, so he will seem a little primitive," I told him as I stored away the specimens ChoVa and I had brought back from the surface. "We need to run extensive analysis on the bone dust, and begin applying potential neutralizers as countermeasures. We can only do this with a living test subject, and PyrsVar has agreed to serve as one. I cannot send him back."

"PyrsVar." The Senior Healer shook his head as he followed me back out onto the ward. "What a name. Does having Kao Torin's DNA make him a ClanSon of the Torin?"

"I cannot say. You must ask the Jorenians. How are Garphawayn and your sons?" I asked, trying to distract him from the subject, which had drawn the attention of several of the nurses.

"My mate is fully recovered. The boys are thriving but need constant care. We enjoy little sleep." He sighed. "Fasala volunteered to help during the day to give Garphawayn an additional rest interval. I had no idea that two infants would require so much attention."

"Two are twice the work and joy of one." I retrieved a biopsy kit and checked it. "We are going to take samples of his nasal membranes. Do you wish to participate?"

"No, I will leave that to you and the Hsktskt. ChoVa," he corrected himself at my look. "Reever has been here three times since you returned from the surface. What is wrong with him?"

Reever felt as nervous as everyone else was, but for different reasons. "Kao Torin and my former self were lovers," I said. "Evidently Cherijo chose Kao over Reever. PyrsVar's presence brings back unhappy memories."

"Ah." Squilyp grimaced. "That all happened before I joined the crew."

"Imagine how I feel." I went into the isolation room, where ChoVa was arguing with PyrsVar over removing a talisman he wore around his neck. I had to clear my throat twice before they fell silent. "I would like to take this biopsy before there is no reason to find a cure for this epidemic," I said. "Can we proceed?"

"I want you to do it," PyrsVar said to me. "I do not want her to part me from any of my flesh."

ChoVa chuffed her amusement. "So speaks the fearless outlaw." Her eyelids drooped. "Perhaps not the best choice of words. Of course Dr. Torin will take the biopsy. I might mistake that tiny brain of yours for the needed tissue and extract it instead." She stalked out of the room.

PyrsVar settled back on the berth. "She does not despise me as much as she thinks she does," he said with a certain amount of satisfaction.

"Don't push it," I said, and frowned. Some of the words and phrases coming from my mouth since being exposed to the dust were beyond odd. "What I mean is, do not provoke her. She may be slow to lose her temper, but I have seen what she can do when she does."

"Indeed, and what can a female healer do?"

"She can perform this biopsy," I told him, showing him the tissue probe. "Without giving you anesthetic. And with the application of a little pressure, can drive this instrument up into your brain."

The sight of the thin, sharp-ended, hollow biopsy tube made PyrsVar swallow. "So I will not provoke her or you."

I smiled. "That is best."

Complete scans of PyrsVar's body had to be performed before the biopsy could begin, and when they were finished I transferred the results onto a data-and-image projector so ChoVa and I could analyze his unique physiology.

"I have never seen the like," ChoVa said with a certain amount of awe as she inspected the data. "Outwardly he is little different from these Jorenians, but inside, he is a warm-blooded version of a Hsktskt."

"The organ arrangement is not Jorenian,"agreed, "but it is not altogether Hsktskt, either."

"You are correct." She peered at the circulatory scans. "He has humanoid vessels and several organs we do not possess. But look, his bone structure and muscle mass match that of my kind. How did this SrrokVar achieve such a sophisticated integration?"

"He had much practice experimenting on humanoid slaves on Catopsa," I told her. "Then there is this new alterforming technology. Genetically PyrsVar is exactly between Jorenian and Hsktskt. I wonder if SrrokVar purposely left enough of him unchanged to someday return him to his original form."

ChoVa shook her head. "Alterforming is irreversible; it would kill him. Then, too, there is this peculiar crossing of the two species' physiologies. Look at the heart and lungs. They are fully integrated with these other Jorenian organs. To alter them back to those of the Hsktskt would cause immediate renal failure. His liver would enlarge and likely hemorrhage. We could not transplant replacement organs in time to prevent it."

"He will always have to be like this," I murmured. "A true crossbreed."

"His children would not," ChoVa said as she pulled up the reproduction system analysis. "He is fertile. His children would inherit some of his Jorenian characteristics, but if he mated with a female Hsktskt, three-quarters of their DNA would match my species."

I chuckled. "There is only one way to know."

"What do you mean? It does not bear thinking about." ChoVa's expression indicated the exact opposite, and several other times during the course of the procedure I caught her eyeing our patient with a less than professional scrutiny.

The biopsy of the nasal membrane produced small samples of tissue that had darkened but were not yet black. All were liberally impregnated with the bone dust, and the levels of tohykul in his gland cluster were rising. I administered another dose of blocker before ChoVa and I went to consult with the Senior Healer. Given our experience with the progression of the disease, we could make only one diagnosis.

"He will succumb to this, more slowly than a pureblood Hsktskt, but in time as fully," I reported to the Omorr. "Given the rate of escalation in his enzyme levels, I would say we have four, perhaps five
days at the most, before the final-stage symptoms are presented."

"As we speak on symptoms, I have a request." ChoVa handed a datapad I had not seen to Squilyp. "These are my readings, taken just before we left the surface. "If they elevate to the saturation level, you are to sedate me and put me into cryopreservation."