Shades of Gray (90 page)

Did you doubt it?
he murmured as the signal to get to takeoff positions sounded throughout the ship and the ramp began to rise.

“Did I tell you Toueesut has been experimenting with the chameleon coating on our battle suits?” he asked as they made their way across the now empty cargo bay for the elevator. “Thinks he’s gotten it to where we’ll be virtually invisible except in the strongest sunlight.”

“No, you hadn’t. That’s great. What about those suits that Chayak wore?”

“We have several of those too. It was good of you to speak to Zayshul. She’s not had an easy time of it, you know, being blamed for something she didn’t do.”

“I suddenly felt sorry for her,” she said as the elevator began to rise. “Because we’re together again.”

He cast a sidelong look in her direction. “I was never in love with her,” he said carefully. “I cared about her, but that was all. It’s you and my family I love.”

“I know,” she said, smiling up at him. “I know that, Kusac.”

The three days were spent running everyone, especially Zsurtul, through drills. The young King, reduced now to the rank of a common Brother, was learning everything he had missed when he joined them at the last minute for the mission through the tunnels.

“Remaining on the
Couana
, you won’t be going anywhere near combat,” said Kaid, “but I prefer to have you as well prepared as possible for any eventuality.”

Those designated as the tithe civilians practiced wearing lighter-weight armor under voluminous Ch’almuthian clothes. Kusac still wasn’t happy.

“They’re far too vulnerable,” he grumbled to Kaid as they sat in the mess area late on their last night. “Let’s not pretend we won’t see heavy fighting, because most likely we will. One good shot, and they’re dead.”

“What else can we do?” demanded Kaid, sipping his c’shar. “If we put them in full battle armor, it’ll be obvious they’re concealing something.”

“They have to be in full armor,” said Kusac, tapping his claw tips impatiently on the table. “We haven’t the numbers to see to any wounded, and I’ll leave no one behind, dead or not.”

“Creating an illusion over six people while fighting is beyond us,” said Rezac. “And there aren’t enough of us to protect one person doing that full time. However, Kusac, what if one of us sensed ahead for anyone we’re likely to pass and made them see what they expected to see? Create the illusion in their minds only when necessary?”

“Risky,” said Kaid, pulling a pack of stim twigs out of his pocket and offering Rezac one.

“Especially when I’ll be sensing any electronic security and shorting it out,” said Kusac. “That means two of us otherwise occupied, doubling our risk and dependence on everyone else.”

“It’s not that difficult,” said Rezac, accepting a twig and sticking it in his mouth. “Zashou and I did that a lot. She was good at it, and you and I planned on using more or less the same technique to hide us from the M’zullians anyway. Both of us will be working like long-range scanners, only tightening our senses in when we’re following something coming close. And it’s not as if we can’t deal with them instantly.”

When Kusac looked at him sharply, Rezac shrugged. “What? I have no qualms about mind-killing. Have you? We use what skills we have. Not like you haven’t done it before.”

“I haven’t forgotten what’s at stake,” Kusac said testily. He didn’t like being reminded about blasting J’koshuk.

“You’re also forgetting that, very quickly, we’ll be twenty warriors, not fourteen with vulnerable prisoners,” reminded Kaid.

Kusac nodded slowly. “We might be able to do it at that. We were only going to affect minds if wearing cloaks around our armor didn’t fool the guards we passed. Treat the drones and females gently,” he warned. “The Warriors are another matter. We don’t need a trail of dead or unconscious bodies on the way in, though. Kaid, you can kill mentally, can’t you?”

“Never tried,” he said.

“It’s quieter and quicker than shooting them,” said Dzaka. “You just take control of the mind and send a large surge of energy through it.”

Kaid nodded. “I can do that.”

“Make sure you stop them from yelling, though,” said Rezac. “What about our mates? They’re more than capable of doing this too.”

“I don’t want their attention divided,” said Kusac. “If they keep their senses trained on our immediate vicinity, they should have plenty of warning to react. We’ll all be loosely Linked, after all, so that warnings are instantaneous.”

“As Sholans, we’re the bigger risk, in actual fact,” said Kaid. “I’m not convinced a cloak will be enough concealment. The armor on our tails isn’t flexible enough to keep them up out of sight.”

Kusac sighed and pushed himself to his feet, picking up his empty mug. “We’ve been over this a dozen times. There is nothing else we can do, and as the most experienced warriors, we have to be there. We’ll just have to wing it and pray it goes our way. At least we have the MUTAC to call on if the going gets rough.”

He edged out from behind the table and went over to the small sink to rinse out the mug, then stowed it away in a cupboard.

“I’m going to bed, and I suggest you two don’t stay up too long agonizing over what could go wrong because what actually will happen, we probably haven’t foreseen.”

Kaid laughed and began to rise. “You sound just like me. Good night, Rezac.”

“You’re not leaving me here alone,” said Rezac, climbing off the bench seat. “I’ve neglected Jo long enough tonight. It’s our last night in real beds, and I plan to enjoy it.”

Chuckling, Kusac made his way down the corridor to his own room. Sounds of quiet laughter came from the rec area where some of the others were still up. He hesitated then decided to let them enjoy their last evening of relative freedom. Once they made landfall on Ch’almuth, there’d be little time for leisure.

 

Carrie was curled up on the bed, smelling fresh from the shower, reading. She looked up when he entered.

“Solved all our problems yet?” she asked with a smile, though she knew he hadn’t.

“Some,” he said, sitting down beside her. “We’ve decided our prisoners will wear full armor. We can’t afford any injuries, and they’re just too vulnerable in anything less.” He reached out to play with a lock of her damp hair. “Rezac will make those we pass see what we want them to see, just as he was going to do to conceal us.”

“Good. They’ll be full combatants, then, rather than have to be protected by us. Means they can help us protect you and Rezac when you’re working.”

“So much of this is being left to chance,” he sighed, winding the lock absently around his fingers. “But I can’t see any other way to do it.”

“You know what they say, no plan survives contact with the enemy. So we’d be altering it as we go anyway.”

“True,” he murmured.

She stretched out a leg and kicked him gently. “Go get a shower now,” she said. “I know that dreamy look you’ve got on your face, and you’re not getting into bed with me smelling of oil and sweat!”

He grinned, capturing her foot and lifting it up to his mouth. “You sure you want me to take a shower right now?” he asked, starting to lick her instep.

She giggled, trying to pull her foot free, but he was nibbling at her toes now, making her laugh even harder and try to squirm away from him. “Shower! Now!”

“If you insist,” he said, rasping his tongue slowly across the sole of her foot before releasing her and heading off for their tiny bathroom.

 

When he emerged, still slightly damp, the lights were out, and she was waiting for him.

“At least you don’t smell of that awful flea repellent,” she said, wrapping her arms around him as he climbed in beside her.

“Neither do you,” he said, pulling her across till she lay stretched out along him. He buried his nose between her shoulder and neck, breathing in her scent and that of her damp hair.

“This will likely be our last night of privacy for a long while,” he said, moving his head so he could slowly lick along the line of her jaw.

“Do you think we’ll ever have a quiet life?” she asked, playing with the small braids in his hair.

“I hope so, but I’m afraid we might find life just too quiet now,” he murmured, letting his hands slide down her sides until they rested on her hips.

You could be right,
she sent, biting at his cheek gently, feeling his shiver of pleasure run the length of his body.

I don’t know how you had the courage to fight for me when I left you like that,
he sent, his mouth hungrily searching for hers.

What did I do to deserve you?
he asked, holding her closer still as they kissed frantically.

There was nothing else I could do,
he sent, rolling over so she lay beneath him. Easing his knees between her legs, he raised himself up on his elbows, taking his weight off her.
How could I leave Shaidan there?

You couldn’t. That’s just one of the reasons why I love you so much,
she sent, her hands going up to grasp his head as his kisses grew deeper and more urgent.

He reared up, slowly breaking the kiss, his tongue caressing her neck. When she raised her chin and arched her body up against his, making low Sholan sounds of pleasure, he closed his jaws on her throat, pressing gently with his teeth as he felt the electricity begin to surge through them both.

Releasing her, he leaned back, his tongue and teeth nipping their way down her body, playing with her nipples until she was shuddering and moaning in pleasure, her hands kneading his shoulders then his sides. He tensed briefly as his genitals dropped—into her waiting hand. Then it was his turn to moan in pleasure as she began to stroke and gentle him until he was fully aroused.

He could wait no longer, and pushing himself up onto his haunches, he grasped her around the waist and pulled her toward him, letting her guide him into her warmth.

No one, no one has ever touched me the way you do,
he sent as he moved slowly into her. He leaned forward again; her mouth closed over his and their minds began to merge. Shared sensations rippled through their bodies as every sensation of their lovemaking was amplified until he couldn’t tell where he began and she ended. Each moment of ecstasy seemed to last forever, until suddenly they reached their climax and began the slow descent into a replete exhaustion of body and mind.

As they became aware of the world around them again, Kusac realized that Kaid and T’Chebbi had joined them.

Good to have you back at last,
sent Kaid.

Been too long,
Kusac agreed, wrapping his arms around Carrie and easing them, still joined, onto their sides. He felt T’Chebbi curl up against his back and, through his still sensitive Link to Carrie, Kaid stretch himself out behind her.

Not good to be without family for so long,
came T’Chebbi’s halting thought as her arm slid across his side and tucked close against his belly.

Carrie’s lips brushed his, lingering there till he caught them with his own, feeling the magic they shared start to waken again. This time, though, Kaid and T’Chebbi were there too, their minds merging with his and Carrie’s. He sensed the shiver of pleasure Carrie felt as Kaid began to nibble gently at her shoulders and his own as T’Chebbi’s hand began to stroke his hip.

Surrounded by his family, in the velvety darkness, he felt the stresses and tensions he’d lived with for so long begin to drop away as though he’d shed his winter pelt. He felt healed and knew he was where he belonged once more.

 

The next morning, Kusac suggested they call home while they still had the chance.

“You almost sound as though you think this is a suicide mission,” said Banner when Kusac told him. “Only, if it were, you wouldn’t have Carrie with you.”

Kusac avoided his gaze.

“You think it is,” said Banner in a hushed voice.

“Not the rescue,” Kusac said quickly. “Whatever the risk, I do need my best people with me when we remain on M’zull. My worry is only a natural one, nothing more.”

“I think all of us feel it is,” said Banner, “but no one thought you did!”

“Keep that to yourself. Let’s not talk up trouble, eh?” he grinned, slapping Banner on the shoulder before leaving the mess.

 

He let the others talk to their families or friends on Shola first, then finally it was his and Carrie’s turn.

His parents were overjoyed to hear from him and proudly showed off his new twin brothers. Then it was time to talk to Taizia and to see Kashini and her twin brother and sister, his new son and daughter.