Shades of Gray (55 page)

“Tell me about Her,” said Conner, relaxing back in his chair.

Zsurtul looked dubiously at him. “I don’t really know that much,” he said. “My mother was more interested in her than I ever was. Water is sacred to us, because we have so little. You’ll have seen how small our seas are compared to Shola’s as you approached the planet, I imagine.”

“Yes, it seemed very arid from space. Would that explain the water-filled glass bricks with complete miniature ecologies in them that I’ve seen at the entrance to various rooms here?”

“Yes, indeed. We believe all life began from a natural hot spring pool near the Summer Palace. La’shol is the deity of life and crops, the herd beasts, and She is the Goddess present at our weddings. And that’s about all I know of her. The priests will know more,” he offered.

Conner smiled gently, taking another sip of the maush. “I’m sure they will, King Zsurtul, but you’ve given me a good idea what She is the Goddess of. It sounds like She’s the same as Ghyakulla on Shola, and Gaia on Earth.”

“It does?” Zsurtul managed to look baffled and hopeful at the same time.

Conner began to tell him about Ghyakulla, but before long, ZSADHI reminded them it was time to leave for the temple.

 

The public temple was a large room with the glass-paneled container of water from the hot springs reaching up through the ceiling to the smaller private King’s chapel above. Strange-looking fish and crustaceans could be seen flitting about in it, some of them using the bubbles of air from the oxygenator to hitch a ride.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” said Conner from behind him.

Kusac turned to greet him. “I hope your trip wasn’t too tiring.”

“I have to admit to sleeping through most of it,” Conner laughed. “However, I did watch as we left Shola’s orbit and as we came in to K’oish’ik.”

“You saw the best parts of the trip, then. Let me introduce you to General Kezule.”

“You have the thanks of our people for coming all this distance to help us,” said Kezule, taking the proffered hand and shaking it.

“I enjoy seeing new places and meeting new people,” said Conner, looking around the main room of the temple.

Four pairs of pillars supported the ceiling, each of them carved and painted with scenes of people bringing tribute to the temple. The final scene was the one behind the altar table of the Emperor enthroned with the same two deity figures behind him. In front of that was a colossus of the Emperor carved in dark, polished stone

Rows of wooden seats for the worshipers filled most of the floor, with aisles between them leading up to the altar. Someone had obviously been tending to the temple because a vase of fresh cut flowers stood in the middle.

Some twenty feet from them, a small group of six Primes stood waiting. Zsurtul beckoned them forward. “These are our priests of La’shol, Conner. Please, introduce yourselves.”

The first, a small female with green tints surrounding her eyes, came forward and bowed from the waist.

“Majesty, Brother Conner, I am Loshu, and senior among us.” She indicated the others in turn, starting with the only other female. “This is Shadduk, Nioshik, M’zukosh, and Chykuh.”

“An honor indeed,” said Conner, bowing back to them. “On Shola, the priests are also telepaths, or Gifted in some way. I can see that we will be able to follow the same course here.”

“Excuse me?” said Zsurtul.

“These young people are all what we call sensitives, meaning they have senses beyond the normal ones. Two of you, in fact, Loshu and Nioshik, can be trained as basic telepaths, as can you, King Zsurtul.”

“What?” said Zsurtul.

“A telepath?” said Kusac.

“Why am I not surprised,” murmured Kezule. “I knew some of our females have an ability,” he said, “but I didn’t think it was inherited by the males.”

“It may not be as strong or as common, but, yes, it’s there, General,” said Conner. “I can teach the most able ones, and they in turn can teach the others. We’ll need to set up a college, of course, a place where we can teach.”

“ZSADHI?” said Zsurtul.

“May I suggest that the premises lately occupied by the Inquisitors would provide adequate space for a college?”

Zsurtul smiled. “Excellent idea! There’s a whole block that they used, offices, sleeping quarters, they are all yours, Loshu. Let ZSADHI know if you need anything.”

Still looking stunned, the young female bowed again. “You have our thanks, King Zsurtul.”

“Would you mind if we moved that statue of the Emperor out of here, King Zsurtul?” asked Conner.

“Not in the least,” he replied. “It’s not my father’s portrait, or even my grandfather’s. You have complete freedom to do with the chapels what you will—redecorate them if you wish. And if you care to go to the Palace stonemasons’ quarters, they may even have a suitable statue of La’shol there. The place is full of interesting odds and ends. I used to love looking round there when I was young.”

Conner chuckled. “Then I shall be sure to go visit there. Loshu, would you and your colleagues care to show me around?”

As they made their way out of the temple, Kezule turned to Kusac. “My daughter Zhalmo, is she one of those with a Talent?”

“She is,” said Kusac. “Looks like Zsurtul does know his life-mate after all.”

“It does. The irony is that what K’hedduk tried to create artificially was evolving naturally right under his nose.”

“K’hedduk was trying to create Valtegan telepaths?”

“When he had me taken to his underground laboratory, he wanted to show off his experiments on the Primes he had imprisoned there. I refused to look,” said Kezule, frowning at the memory.

“Was that when you saw the cubs?”

“Yes. Talking of them, how’s that little gray one doing? Gaylla?”

“She’s doing well,” said Kusac, surprised he’d remembered her. “Both her parents are on Shola, though, but she’s growing more confident by the day now she feels secure. She’ll always be a little slower than normal, but we’ll look after her, see she gets a good mate and is happy. She’s Clan, after all.”

“That’s good to hear. Zayshul would like to see her again, I know.”

“There’s no reason I know of that she can’t,” said Kusac as they began walking out of the temple.

 

CRIES of pain echoed around inside his head as the cell around him faded until it was the white tiled room on the
Kz’adul
and he was the one crying out in agony. It faded again, colors washing in front of his eyes until a darker room formed, with a circle of Valtegan faces staring down at him. The scent of blood was thick in the air. He heard hysterical laughter; then the room spun about him, and now he was one of those staring down at . . .

Angrily, Kusac forced back the shadowy visions/memories—he couldn’t tell which they were any more—of being both the victim and the torturer.

Perhaps there had been some truth in what Kaid had said, he thought, shaking his head, grasping the edge of the table till his claws extended into the wood, till he was sure he could actually feel it and believe he was really in the cell in the Palace of Light.

“The harem is here,” said the unsteady voice of his prisoner, Zhakk. “On the second floor.”

“Mark in any guards and security checkpoints,” he said automatically, pushing away from the table. He had to leave. There were too many forces at work in and around him right now.

“Take over, Banner,” he said, heading for the door. “See he finishes the sketches.”

He didn’t stop until he was outside, in the sunlight and fresh air. There, the dark scenes he’d been part of seemed far away, not connected to him any more: He could dismiss them as waking nightmares, caused by too little sleep or by the cheese after dinner last night. Truth was, his nights were always disturbed now and had been since Conner had told him of his vision of an attack on the City.

His wrist comm buzzed insistently. It was Kezule. “Your General Raiban has arrived and is making unreasonable demands. I need you up here in my office now.”

“Get Kaid too,” he said, turning and heading back into the Palace.

 

“She’s insisting she dock at the Orbital,” said Kezule, the irritation obvious in his tone. “Why is it that the females of all our species are less logical, and more prone to irrational demands?”

“Where’s the
Kz’adul
?” asked Kusac. “Can she dock there before Raiban could?”

“Yes.”

“Tell her the berth is for the
Kz’adul,
which needs urgent repairs,” said Kaid, instantly on the same wavelength.

Kezule relayed the message to the Orbital, then ordered the
Kz’adul
to berth for “urgent repairs.”

“General, Commander Raiban has agreed to dock at the lunar mining station, but she wishes to speak to you now,” said the harried comm operator on the Orbital.

Kezule waved Kusac and Kaid back before saying, “Patch her through to me, sound and vision.”

“We meet again, General,” said Raiban as soon as her image appeared on the screen.

“Welcome to K’oish’ik, General Raiban. We appreciate your understanding of our current emergency at the Orbital. King Zsurtul has asked me to extend his hospitality to you and invite you down for a banquet in your honor tonight.”

“Convey my thanks to King Zsurtul, but before I come down to the surface, I need to speak with Kusac Aldatan, here, on the
Khalossa
.” False regret oozed from her every syllable.

Kezule ignored it. “An unusual request, but I’ll pass it along to the Captain.”

“Please do. I’d hate to disappoint your King by being unable to make the banquet.” With that, she cut the connection.

“She’s up to something,” said Kaid before Kusac could. “She swore to hang your hide out to dry for the stunt you pulled when you left Shola. Whose idea was that, by the way? Pretty slick piece of work.”

“Mine,” said Kusac. “You sure that I was publicly pardoned?”

“Went out on all the newscasts,” confirmed Kaid. “We saw a couple on Haven. Besides, I gave you the papers myself, and I checked them before we left Haven.”

“Don’t go,” said Kezule. “If she wants to remain on her ship, she can.”

“She’s holding the aid from Shola hostage, Kezule. She won’t release it unless I go to her,” said Kusac.

“How can she do that?” said Kezule. “Your government sent it, not her.”

“She won’t admit to withholding it,” said Kaid. “She’ll just make sure to keep delaying it until Kusac does go. All perfectly reasonable, she’ll claim.”

Kusac drummed his claw tips on the table for a minute or two, running through various scenarios in his mind, finding the most workable one.

“Is the
Couana’s
shuttle planetside?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Kaid, the beginnings of a smile on his face.

“We’ll use it and take Toueesut,” he said, standing. “Kaid, tell Dzaka to meet us at the shuttle in his grays. I’ll call Banner and Toueesut as I’m getting changed.”

“Dzaka’s upstairs. He can pick up gray tunics for us both to save time,” said Kaid, getting up.

“Do it,” he said. “Kezule, I need paper and an envelope, a plain white one, please.”

Kezule reached into his desk drawer and pulled out one of each. “What are you planning to do?”

“Bluff,” said Kusac, a feral grin on his face as he took the paper and swiftly folded it to fit into the envelope.

 

The familiar smell of oil and fuel greeted him as he stepped out of the
Couana’s
shuttle onto the deck of the
Khalossa
.

“Almost like coming home, eh?” said Kaid.

“I enjoyed my time on the
Khalossa
,” he said. “Mostly.”

“Strange how one encounter can change your life,” murmured Dzaka.

An aide came over to them, saluting crisply. “Commander Raguul welcomes you to the
Khalossa
, sirs, and asks that you please discharge your business here with General Raiban as quietly as possible.”

Kusac and Kaid both broke into chuckles. “We’ll try,” said Kusac.

“Is your Touiban companion going too?” the aide asked dubiously. “I have no orders concerning him.”

“Indeed I be coming with my good friends,” said Toueesut firmly in his trilling voice.

“I’ll take you to the General, then, sirs.”

Stares followed them, but they were used to it. It wasn’t every day they saw four Brotherhood in their active grays accompanied by only one Touiban.

Their guide finally stopped outside one of the Admin offices. “Please wait here,” he said and, knocking on the door, opened it.

Kusac immediately moved forward and prevented him from closing it. “Thank you,” he said, with a widemouthed Human smile that made the aide wince. “No need to announce us.”