Shades of Gray (87 page)

“Mm, yes, he did,” nodded Gaylla, sticking a thumb into her mouth. “Can I call you Mamma Carrie?”

A shamefaced Shaidan, carrying Gaylla’s pack as well as his own, came to sit on her other side.

“I think it might be better to call me Aunty Carrie,” she said. “I am your Aunty after all, and you do have a mommy of your own.”

“You are?” asked Gaylla, her eyes widening to saucer size.

“Yes, I really am your Aunty.” She smiled down at her. “Now, how about you take that thumb out of your mouth and have something to eat? I’m sure it’ll taste nicer.”

The Palace kitchens had done themselves proud by providing each of them with a covered bowl full of strips of cooked fowl and smaller containers of vegetables. There was even a sweet fruit dessert. Bottles of fruit juice accompanied the meal.

Once they’d eaten, the cubs began to stretch out in the hot sun and gradually fell asleep, full of good food and worn out from the morning’s exercise.

Even Carrie lay down on the rug for a nap, feeling Shaidan curl around behind her as Gaylla automatically inched backward into the curve of her body.

She woke about an hour later, and not having the Sholan’s natural instinct to doze in the heat of the day, she slid out from between the sleeping cubs and headed back to the river to cool off.

Diving into the water, she began to swim leisurely over to the other side when, without warning, hands grasped her and pulled her under the water. Turning on her attacker, she kicked furiously at him, struggling to break free, but he was too strong. A hand snaked out and grasped her by the throat, squeezing tightly as he began to drag her upriver out of sight of the others.

Kusac! Help!
she cried mentally as she grasped her attacker’s wrist and hand and tried to break his grip, but she was dragged inexorably with him. They surfaced just as her aching lungs began to scream for air. Gasping, she struggled as she was dragged out of the water onto the bank and among a small group of shrubby trees.

“Don’t bother fighting or sending to your Leska,” snarled the Sholan, tightening his grip on her throat as she began to kick out at him. “I got a psychic damper turned all the way up—he can’t hear you.”

“What do you want?” she gasped.

“You, for now,” he said, reaching for a piece of rope he had concealed there. “You cry out, you’ll bring the tutor and the cubs down on us, and you don’t want that, do you?”

She shook her head and stopped struggling as he pulled her hands behind her back and tied them there.

“Why are you doing this? You know they’ll find me, and your life won’t be worth anything.”

“I want him to find you,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “I can’t get near him, but he’s going to have to come out here alone to get you back! Now get moving!”

He was armed now and rammed the muzzle of his gun into her side as he began to drag her inland.

 

It was another hour before Tanjo and the cubs began to stir. The Brother noticed her absence immediately and sent the kitlings to check if she was in the river swimming. When they returned and said she was nowhere to be seen, he began to mentally search for her.

“She’s not here,” said Shaidan, looking very worried. “I can’t feel her anywhere.”

Tanjo sent immediately to Kaid, reporting her disappearance and asking that a flitter to be sent to pick them up.

Within fifteen minutes, it arrived with Kusac and Kaid and four commandos. They loaded Tanjo and the cubs onto it, and then it took off to drop them at the Palace then return.

“Kaid, you and two of the commandos take this side of the river,” said Kusac, heading down to the water’s edge. “I’ll take the other.”

“Aye,” said Kaid, gesturing to two of them and wading into the water.

Dropping down to all fours, he searched the river’s edge until he found her scent and traces of the struggle as she was dragged out of the water. The trail was easy to follow, almost as if it were intended that he find it.

Wait for us
, sent Kaid.
If her trail is that noticeable, then it’s a trap.

 

“He’s coming,” said the Sholan with satisfaction, peering out of the entrance to the shallow cave in the hillside. “Now you can call him and tell him to come alone or I’ll kill you.”

“I won’t,” she said angrily, struggling to get to her feet.

Grabbing a handful of her hair, he pulled her to her knees. “You’ll do it or I will shoot you,” he snarled, putting the gun to her side. “I don’t care if you live or die, it’s him I want.”

“Who are you? What have you got against my husband?”

“Send to him!” he said angrily, jabbing her viciously in the side with the gun.

“No.”

Cursing, he released her hair and backhanded her across the face hard enough to topple her onto her side.

“You will do it,” he spat at her as he hauled her up again.

“If you kill me, I can’t call him,” she said, spitting blood. Her face ached from the blow, and her bottom lip was beginning to swell.

“I can still shoot off your foot or your hand,” he growled, pointing the gun at her legs. “Now do it! And I warn you, I can tell what you’re saying!”

Kusac! I’m up here on the hillside in a small cave with him,
she sent.

Carrie! Are you all right?
Kusac demanded.

“Tell him to come alone,” he said.

She glared at him but did as she was told.

Abruptly, she felt the damper field go on again.

“Good. Now we wait,” he said, hauling her to the back of the cave and tying her ankles together.

 

“She’s gone again,” said Kusac, stopping.

“Then he has a damper unit,” said Kaid. “You can’t go up there alone.”

“I have to,” he said. “He’s threatening to shoot her if I don’t. She’s up there by that outcrop of rocks, in a cave. Look how open the land is—there’s no cover. He can tell if anyone else follows me. I have to do this alone, Kaid. Wait here for me,” he ordered, beginning to walk again.

Kaid stood mutely watching him. There was nothing he could say. There was some cover, but against the grass, his brown pelt would stand out clearly. Had it been a few weeks later, when it would be seared by the heat of summer that would have been another matter.

“Captain, we can get up there unseen,” said J’korrash. “We need to back up to the last clump of bushes, though.”

Kaid turned to look at her. “How?”

“Without our uniforms, our hides will blend in with the grass. He won’t be expecting us.”

He stared at her then began walking slowly backward. “Let’s do it,” he said. “My gut tells me this is another assassin. We’ve nothing to lose.”

 

Her captor crouched at the cave entrance, his attention fixed outside, leaving Carrie ignored at the rear in semidarkness. She shifted slightly, trying to make as little noise as possible as she reached behind her, feeling at the rocks in hopes of finding one sharp enough to saw at her wrist bonds. Meanwhile, she was praying Kusac would at least keep to what little cover there was until he was nearly at the cave.

The ground behind her had a few scattered rocks on it, most of them underneath her, but her searching hands did find some larger ones. Again, she shifted her weight, edging up against the rear wall.

A shot zinged off the wall a few inches from her head, spraying chips of hot rock around her. She yelped in pain as one hit her bare thigh.

“Stay still. Next time, I won’t miss,” he growled.

“I’m lying on rocks. They’re hurting me,” she whined, pulling her legs up to her body as if in fear.

“Not for long,” he laughed, turning back to the cave mouth. “I’ll demand double the pay for killing both of you!”

He was an assassin, and the most dangerous so far, she reckoned. He was neither high on drugs nor a fool, unlike the others. Again she shifted, very slowly this time, until her ankles were close to her hands. She had no intention of letting this krolla kill her and Kusac without putting up a fight!

 

Slowly, keeping low, Kusac advanced toward the cave, gun ready. He’d already come to the same conclusion as Carrie. Mentally he was reading the area immediately around and within the cave. If ever there was a time to try out his enhanced skills, it was now.

He could sense Carrie and her captor. They were only about ten feet apart. Narrowing his mental probe, he focused in on the Sholan, trying to read his exact location and weapons from the position of the damper field. A faint flicker at the side of his vision almost distracted him, but he kept his senses trained on his target.

“I see you, Captain Aldatan!” the Sholan called out. “Get here fast if you want your little alien mate to survive!”

“I’m coming!” he called out. “Send her out first!”

Laughter echoed in the cave. “I think not! I want you first!”

Movement, right there! He had the weapon and the damper pinpointed now, but he could only concentrate on one of them. Rising slowly to his feet, he braced himself for an incoming shot, ready to try to dodge it. Nothing happened; the entrance remained empty.

“Throw down your gun and come here!” yelled the Sholan, keeping behind the cover of the rocks flanking the entrance.

As his arm arced out to throw the gun, he struck with his mind, targeting the damper. Several things suddenly happened at once.

The damper unit on the assassin’s wrist exploded, making him shriek out in pain and take his attention off Kusac.

Carrie, having managed to untie her ankles, propelled herself forward, shoulder ramming into him and sending him flying out of the entrance just as a hand appeared from nowhere to grab her as she fell. Then a single shot rang out.

Hearing the shot, Kusac dove for his gun and, leaping up, ran for the cave entrance, suddenly finding himself flanked by two naked commandos. He took in the body of the downed assassin, lying on the ground, clutching the bleeding stump of his wrist and gestured them to take control of him. But his attention was fully focused on who—or what—was holding a struggling Carrie in midair.

“Show yourself!” he snarled, hackles rising and ears falling as he faced the invisible person.

“Easy, Liege. I’m one of your Clan,” said the disembodied voice as Carrie was gently lowered to the ground.

She ran to Kusac, standing partially behind him as, keeping his gun trained on the space where she’d been, he pulled his knife and sliced through her remaining bonds. Taking his knife, she held herself ready to fight if need be.

The air shimmered slightly, then before them stood a black-pelted Sholan holstering his gun, his gray eyes regarding Kusac calmly. Around his neck, the silver coin of Vartra glinted.

“He’s the last of them,” he said, pointing slowly to the injured assassin beyond them. “We think they were hired by the Chemerian Ambassador Taira in retaliation for your foiling their plot to kidnap Kate and Taynar.”

“Who’s we?” demanded Carrie, wiping her forearm across her cut lip.

“I was placed on K’oish’ik by the
Watchers
,” he said with a slight smile. “I’ve been here from the first, the night you landed in fact. My name’s Chayak.”

Kusac nodded slowly, keeping his weapon trained on him. “Your damper is still on.”

“Oh, sorry.” Chayak reached up and switched it off. Instantly his eye ridges creased in pain.

“He’s telling the truth,” said Carrie, mentally releasing his mind.

“I know,” said Kusac. “That’s a chameleon suit you’re wearing.”

“Still experimental,” said Chayak, reaching up to massage his temples. “The Touibans are working on them, and we requested a couple to test. I was given one for this mission. There was another assassin by the way—he didn’t get through to you, though. The others I couldn’t get close enough to do that much about, except for the first one in the city.”

“Why didn’t you warn us?” Kusac demanded, finally holstering his own gun and accepting his knife back from Carrie.

“I needed to draw them out.”

“So you let me and Carrie be the bait. I’m not impressed by that.”

“I had my orders, Captain,” Chayak said. “We need to pin this on the Ambassador, and I can’t do that if all the assassins are dead.”

Kaid’s shadow fell across them. “I know you,” he said, stopping beside Kusac and Carrie.

“Brother Chayak,” he said, saluting him. “I was stationed at the Clan estate till I was seconded to the
Watcher
ships.”

“I remember that. What’s your involvement in this?”

“He was sent to protect me, by using me as bait to draw out the assassins,” growled Kusac.

Chayak had the grace to look embarrassed. “I was to protect our Liege and take out the assassins.”

“At least you were here when it mattered,” grunted Kaid. “Lijou shouldn’t be reassigning our people without our knowledge. I’ll have to have words with him about this.”

“How did you manage to be here right now?” Carrie asked sharply, obviously still suspicious.

“Your security was too good even for me after the last attempt,” Chayak said. “I had to hide out. The plan was for Tirak to take me to Kij’ik, but Annuur had other ideas, apparently, so I had to hide outside the City. When I saw the Liegena and your son going for a swim, I realized the best way for an assassin to draw you out, Liege, was to capture your wife. So I followed her.”

“What happens to him now?” asked Kaid, turning to look at where the injured assassin was being hauled to his feet by the commandos.

“With your permission, I’ll take him to Shola for interrogation. As I said, we’ve been after Ambassador Taira for some time now, and he’ll help us put him away for a very long time.”