Shades of Gray (45 page)

“All those colors, and the . . . clouds?”

His father nodded as Shaidan grasped the bars and peered through the railings. “There are different dangers on a world, Shaidan. In its own way, it’s as dangerous as living in space.”

The breeze was stronger now, blowing his hair back from his face, even the heavy braids. “It could blow me off here if not for the railings. How can something you can’t see be so strong?”

“Many invisible things are strong, like my love for you,” said Kusac, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Think about our Talents. We can’t see or touch them, but they’re very real. Look how the clouds change color as the sun sinks lower.”

Shaidan followed the pointing finger, looking at the streaks of purple and red clouds against the deepening turquoise sky. He sighed deeply. “I didn’t know colors like those existed in life.”

Before his father could answer, the Palace AI chimed gently, then spoke.

“Captain, you will be late for the banquet.”

“Time to go,” said Kusac. “We can come up again another day.”

“I’d like that,” said Shaidan as they turned to push their way back through the bushes.

 

Do we have to do this?
Shaidan sent as they passed the Security post into the anteroom for the banquet hall.

The ushers were running too and fro busily as they stopped just by the doors. Kusac looked his son over for the last time. Their pelts had been brushed till they gleamed with all the blue-black fire of the Aldatans, and Shishu had made matching braids, decorated with beads, on either side of their faces. Against the black of Shaidan’s ears, and one of Kusac’s, blue gemstone earrings glittered brightly in their silver settings. They looked Sholan, yet not.

The chief usher bustled up to them. “Captain Aldatan? Are you and your son ready? You’re seated next to King Zsurtul.”

They glanced at each other, both afraid, both dreading the next few minutes, but knowing there was no other way to do this. In his hand, Shaidan’s fluttered nervously. Kusac gave it a gentle squeeze and then began walking into the banquet hall, the usher pacing beside them.

As they passed between the tables, Kusac noticed that the Royal Throne had been moved from its position on the dais to the other side of the hall. A second seat, for a Queen, had also been added to it, though for now it was empty. Where the Throne had been was closed off with heavy drapes.

The sound of chattering faded as they made their way to where Zsurtul sat with Kezule on his left then Carrie and Kaid next to the empty spaces left for them on his right. Most of the Court had never seen a young Sholan, and the sight of one now made them stop their conversations and stare openly at them.

It was now so quiet that the click of their claws on the blue lapis tiled floor sounded loud to their ears.

“I am so proud of you,” murmured Kusac. “This is the only way to get the truth of who you are across to them all.”

Shaidan looked up at Kusac, a small smile touching his lips. “I understand, Pappa.”

They came to a stop in front of the High Table.

“May I present Captain Aldatan to you, Majesty?” said the usher with a low bow.

“King Zsurtul,” said Kusac, bowing to him. “This is my son, Shaidan. He was one of the hybrid Sholan/Humans created by the Directorate. K’hedduk used genetic material from myself and my mate, Carrie, Shaidan’s mother, to create him.”

A susurration of shocked conversation broke out, and Kusac held up his hand for silence. When it fell, he continued, aware of Kezule tensing in his seat.

Trust me,
he sent to the General, much to the shock of the other.

“Shaidan is not just a mix of Sholan and Human genes. It seems K’hedduk wasn’t content with the other seven experimental cubs. Shaidan is unique in that he also has Prime genes, genes stolen, as ours were, from Doctor Zayshul. K’hedduk’s plan was to keep them all as slaves, to use them against us in a war to reunify the old Empire. This will not happen now, thanks to General Kezule and yourselves and our other allies. I bring my son Shaidan before you as a free citizen of all three races—Sholan, Human, and Prime—a bridge between all of us, to bring us closer together.”

As he spoke the last sentence, the world around him seemed to lurch. Suddenly he was no longer in the banqueting hall but in a place of trees and fountains. He shook his head, forcefully banishing the images, pulling Shaidan in front of him, holding him close as he came back to reality.

“Most importantly, I bring him here tonight to meet his mother and his Triad father and take his place in his Clan,” he said.

“My home will always be a second home to you, Shaidan,” said Zsurtul, smiling. “Join us at the table.”

Carrie had risen to her feet by this time, and now he dared to look at her. He saw only her need to be at his side and to hold their son; she cared nothing for the fact he also had Prime genes.

He opened his mind to her and Kaid, wincing slightly at the intensity of their feelings for him and Shaidan.
I apologize, but I had to do it this way so there would never be questions for him to answer, so Rhyaz couldn’t bury him and the others ever again.

I want to meet my son,
sent Carrie.

You did right,
sent Kaid with a mental chuckle.
There’s no way now these cubs can be hidden from the Alliance!

He led Shaidan around to the back of the table and stopped in front of Carrie.

“Is she really my mother?” asked Shaidan nervously, looking from his father to the furless Human female.

Kusac nodded.

“Are you too big to be hugged?” Carrie asked, bending to his level, her voice breaking slightly.

“I don’t think so,” said Shaidan.

Carrie swept him up into her arms, hugging him for all she was worth, looking at Kusac over the top of his head as she did. “He’s so like you,” she whispered. “So very like you.”

Kusac watched as Shaidan’s arms crept tentatively around her neck to return the hug. “I don’t think I am too big at all,” he said as tears began to well up in his eyes and spill down his cheeks.

“Don’t cry, oh, please don’t cry, cub,” said Carrie, trying to wipe the tears away. “You have a family now, you belong to us. You’ll never be alone again, I promise you!”

Shaidan pulled back a little, dashing his tears away with his forearm. “I’m not crying, I am not,” he said, his voice trembling with the effort of stilling his sobs.

“Of course you aren’t,” said Kaid, reaching out to ruffle between his ears. “Hello, Shaidan, I’m Kaid. I stand in for your father when he can’t be there.”

“More than that,” murmured Kusac. “But that will do for now.”

From behind him, he heard a gentle trilling. “Clan Leader! How good it is to be seeing you again and meeting soon with your son for the first time.”

“Toueesut! Well met indeed,” said Kusac, turning around to greet the small Touiban. “I’ve heard much of your people’s great exploits in the battle. We must talk of them after we’ve eaten.”

“Indeed,” said Toueesut, his mustache bristling with obvious pride. “Indeed we shall and at great length so I can hear the news of your own exploits in the tunnels.”

Shaidan was looking thoroughly bewildered by this time, so Kusac, with a gentle murmur of explanation, took him from Carrie and led him to his seat at the table.

As he took his own next to the empty Throne seat, Zsurtul leaned over to talk to him.

“Thank you again for saving my life, Kusac, especially at a time when you needed the energy to heal yourself.”

“You’d have done the same for me,” he said. “You look better today.”

“I feel better too. Our good Doctor Zayshul tried to bully me into not holding this traditional victory feast, but a leader has to be seen to be strong for his people, even when he is not.”

“Unfortunately true,” nodded Kusac, sitting back in his seat.

“I’m really honored to meet you at last, Shaidan,” said Zsurtul. “Your bravery is an example to us all.”

“I didn’t do anything, Majesty,” Shaidan said.

“But you did. I have heard how you looked after your brothers and sisters and, lately, General Kezule’s daughter, Mayza.”

“She’s only a cub; of course I look out for her.”

Zsurtul laughed and sat up again, wincing slightly in pain. “I can see you’re an Aldatan.” He gestured to the usher and raised his voice to fill the hall. “Let the feast begin with the list of the fallen whose memories we honor this evening.”

Kusac sensed Carrie watching him and turned to look at her where she sat on the other side of Shaidan.

Was all the protectiveness and mystery because he has some Prime genes?
she asked.
You should know us better than that, Kusac.

He had no ready answer to give her and was glad to be diverted by Shaidan snuggling up closer to him.

Startled, he glanced away, closing down the Link between them. “Later,” was all he said as he began to stroke Shaidan’s head and try to remember the details of the strange mental leap that he’d had.

 

“THAT was some entrance he made last night,” said Kaid, going over to the breakfast table to sit next to Banner.

“One worthy of you,” said Banner, pouring out more maush for himself. “Want some?” he asked Kaid, hesitating over a clean cup.

Kaid chuckled. “No, thanks, we breakfasted a couple of hours ago. I dropped in to see if Kusac was up yet after visiting T’Chebbi.”

“He went for a swim first. He should be here anytime.” He put the jug back on its hotplate.

“A swim?” Kaid raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, the King has a pool in his private gym. Water has a religious importance for the Primes and Valtegans. There’s a huge pool on Kij’ik.”

“Ah. I wonder if we can get access to it. Swimming is good exercise. And Shaidan?”

“Shaidan’s with Mayza, the General’s daughter, and the other youngsters in the nursery here. Kusac said he wants him back in his regular routine. They’re well guarded.”

“That doesn’t concern me. I’m more worried that he’s separated from his own brothers and sisters.”

Banner gave a slight laugh. “I wouldn’t worry. He’s been talking to Dhyshac since the
Tooshu
arrived in orbit here.”

“He has?”

Banner nodded, picking up a length of thin, crisply fried meat to crunch on. “Don’t worry too much about them, Kaid. They may be ten years old physically, but they’ve not even been awake and conscious for a year of our time. This,” he gestured in a wide circle with his arm, “will fade in their memories once they’re back on the estate with the other kits. They’ll always seem slightly strange and otherworldly to us, though, because of the way they were matured.”

“You seem to have a fine understanding of them,” said Kaid dryly, reaching out to snag the other piece of crispy meat on his plate.

Banner grinned across at him. “Only of Shaidan. He’s bombarded us with questions about families and Shola for some time now. He wants to belong so much it’s painful to see at times. And before you ask, he most of all wants, and needs, to be with his father. You should bring the others down here, not keep them up on the
Tooshu
.”

“Maybe we will. I have a feeling the center of the war just moved away from Shola to here. If that’s so, we could be here for a long time.”

“Aye, that’s been our thoughts too,” said Banner.

“Has Kusac said any more about this plan to rescue Kezule’s daughter?”

“Not to me.”

“See if you can dissuade him from it,” he said, getting up. “Whatever he owes her, it isn’t worth his and a team’s lives.”

“If you think he’s hell-bent on a suicide mission, you’re wrong, Kaid. He might have been once, but not now. Not since he died.”

Kaid froze and looked at Banner. “Tell me,” he said quietly.

“I didn’t know about this until a day or so ago. When Kezule put him in the punishment booth, he did it when he knew that Kusac would black out almost instantly and avoid experiencing the punishment.”

“I remember.” A puzzle was suddenly becoming crystal clear to him now.

“They were monitoring his telemetry from a room nearby when all his life functions flatlined. By the time they reached him, he’d pulled out of it himself and gone into the start of that healing coma he was in for the best part of a week.”

“How long was he gone?”

Banner had to strain his ears to hear the quietly spoken words. “It can’t have been longer than three minutes.”

“Shaidan helped him; he didn’t do it alone. It was he who pulled him back to life,” said Kaid, sitting down again as the strength left his limbs. “We felt him. He reached out through the gestalt and pulled us in for the energy to do it.”

“He did? Damn, he’s got some range has that kit.”

“To be able to follow his father down into death and pull him back from the brink, no wonder they’re close!”

He sensed Carrie’s concern, wondering what it was he’d discovered that had distressed him so. He sent a reassurance her way then came back to the reality of the breakfast table as Kusac, with hardly a limp, walked in.

“You’re up late,” he said, walking over to the serving tables at the side of the room. “How’s the arm?”

“A glancing shot. I’ve had worse,” said Kaid, pulling his scattered thoughts together with an effort.” I’ve been up for a couple of hours. Did you enjoy the swim?”