strongholdrising (31 page)

T'Chebbi got up from her seat in the small waiting area as he came out. She followed him as he flung the outer door open and leaped down the steps to the dirt roadway outside.
"Don't say anything," he growled, ears rotating sideways and flat, tail lashing from side to side as he waited for her to join him.
She took him by the arm and pointed down the street to the training center. "We go there," she said. "Not home. You need to get rid of anger."
A moment's hesitation then he nodded once, his ears righting themselves as he followed her to the low stone building just beyond the end of the village.
The training center was by far the largest building on the estate. Though the interior was complete, the exterior facing was still being finished. Like all the buildings on the Kaeshala continent, it was built to take advantage of the hot climate. Rectangular in shape, it was surrounded by a colonnaded walkway. Plain open doorways were spaced evenly down each side to let in the cooling breezes from the ocean. Wooden screens and energy fields could be activated to provide protection in inclement weather.
It was his first visit to the center as the foundation stones had only just been laid when they'd left for Jalna. T'Chebbi led the way up the three steps into the main entrance.
"Group of the Humans and our people have designed murals," she said, gesturing to the plain white walls of the small entrance hall. "Athletes. They look good on paper. Plans were sent up to the villa for your approval two weeks ago." She pointed to the door on her left. "Gym is there. Ahead is bathing and showering area, and to the right is massage room and first aid, and a small mess."
"They've done a good job," he said, impressed despite his disgruntled mood.
"Are classes on now, but is area for workouts," she said, pushing the door into the gym open before he could stop her.
To refuse to go in now would draw the kind of attention that he suddenly wanted to avoid. He was left with no option but to follow her.
With the help of Kaid, Banner, and Jurrel, Garras was drilling a class made up of U'Churians, Humans, and Sholans. A couple of heads turned their way as they entered only to snap back as Garras let forth a string of invectives at them.
Feeling acutely uncomfortable, he followed T'Chebbi round the edge of the room to a door on the right near the far end.
This was the workout area. Like the main room, it was naturally lit, the transparent ceiling overhead filtering out the sun's glare. Beneath his feet, the wooden floor was smooth enough to ensure those with claws would learn to grip with their feet. There the similarity ended. Several different exercise machines were provided as well as upright padded posts and bags suspended from wall brackets. On their left, a single doorway, flanked by lockers, opened out onto the colonnade.
Only one other person was there, Meral. He was working on a bench press. As they entered, he looked up.
"Liege! It's good to see you," he said, mouth dropping open in a pleased smile.
"Out, youngling," T'Chebbi said amiably, jerking her thumb toward the door. "See no one comes in while we're here."
"Was just leaving," he said, getting up and grabbing his towel.
As the door closed behind him, T'Chebbi strolled over to the hanging kick bag and grasped hold of it. "You plan to work out in your tunic?" she asked.
"I'm not in the mood for..." He stopped in mid-sentence, diving hastily to one side as the long bag came scything through the air toward him.
"What's mood got to do with it?" she demanded, catching it deftly on its return. "You were mad as hell five minutes ago! Know you can't lose your temper, but you sure as hell can kick this damned thing!" She sent it swinging toward him again. He stood his ground, sure it would miss him, shocked when it sent him reeling. Snarling, he picked himself up off the floor.
"Hit it, Kusac. Hit back at what's hurting you," she said, her voice low and intense. "Focus that anger."
He did.

* * *

When he'd worked himself into exhaustion, she sent him off to the showers and told Meral they were done.
She surprised him by joining him under the stream of warm water. "Turn around," she ordered him, taking the soap container from his slack grasp.
Too tired to object, he did. Vigorously, she rubbed the soap into his pelt, kneading his aching muscles back to an acceptable level of discomfort.
When she'd done, he returned the favor. As he made to undo her long braid, she stopped him. "No need," she said. "You were one working out, not me."
He began to feel some pleasure as he massaged her, his hands remembering the feel of her body. He needed the familiar around him, Sholan benchmarks to remind him who he was. Though smaller than the average female, she was well proportioned, her muscles firm yet not too large. As he worked his way down her flanks, he could feel her body vibrating as she began to purr. Startled, he stood up only to have her lean her weight against him, reaching her hands up to rest on his shoulders.
"Been a long time since we spent a night together," she said, folding her ears back to keep the water out of them. "You know where I am if you feel like coming to me." She touched him intimately on the neck, then stepped past him out of the shower, leaving him speechless.
"We go to mess now," she said, picking up her towel and beginning to rub herself vigorously with it.

* * *

The mess was on the western side, a small room with tables spilling out onto the colonnaded walk. T'Chebbi led the way over to the self-service snack and drink dispensers, digging into one of her belt pouches for change.
"Coffee?" she asked. "Or you still drinking c'shar?"
"Neither," he said, going to look for himself. He chose a fruit juice and accompanied her outside to where the U'Churians sat.
Conversation died out as they saw them approaching, making him cringe inwardly.
It was Rezac who stood up and offered him a seat. "There's room here, Clan Leader."
T'Chebbi's hand in the small of his back gave him a gentle shove. Propelled forward, he had no option but to take the offered seat.
"Are you liking it here, Tirak?" asked T'Chebbi, taking a seat opposite.
"Very different from Home," said the U'Churian. "So much space, and so clean."
"We did it that way after the Cataclysm," said T'Chebbi.
"It's a great improvement," said Rezac. "Zashou and I couldn't believe the difference." He shook his head as he picked up his drink. "Take the forests, they'd almost disappeared in our time."
"You getting used to female equality?" T'Chebbi asked.
Rezac grinned. "Sure. I like the way they tell you if they're interested. They're more likely to approach the males than wait. Mind you, coping with two females is more than enough."
Jeran gave a snort of laughter, glancing at Giyesh. "Sometimes one is more than enough!"
"How you getting on with training?" she asked, returning to Tirak.
He nodded. "Well, I think. The way you mix prayer with military disciplines is intriguing. Of course, we say our prayers to the Prophet Kathan. The medical knowledge makes sense— each Warrior can treat not only himself but his companions. There's much for me to consider, and learn."
"Each one of us is capable of commanding a Pack comprising ninety to a hundred Brothers," said Kaid. "In any given situation, we all have to be able to make command decisions and justify them afterward. Once qualified, we are an army of equals led by the one with the most appropriate skills for the job. This is what we're teaching you to become."
He heard the sound of a chair being put down, then the creak as Kaid sat. He glanced sideways, seeing him now sitting on the other side of Rezac.
"That's why we're here, Kaid," said Tirak. "And to learn the undercover skills."
"That's another matter entirely. We'll deal with it when your other skills have acquired the extra polish our training will give. You did well enough on Jalna and with the Chemerians, until you got involved with us."
"Not good enough. We were lucky that it was you we were dealing with. Next time might not go so well."
"Apart from information gathering on the illicit drugs trade and keeping an eye on our good friends the Chemerians," said Kaid, "what other functions do you perform for Home?"
"Our Matriarch is currently discussing our role with your Guild Masters. I can tell you we also protect our shipping en route to the other Trader markets."
"From what?" asked Rezac.
"There are four other species in the Free Traders, but two of them are banned from Jalna because they're untrustworthy. They didn't regulate their shipping the way we did and more than a few of them became raiders, preying on cargo ships. Their worlds contain great contrasts. A few noble families or large mercantile groups own nearly all the ships, controlling the flow and prices of off-world goods. These raiders belong to neither category and feel justified in preying on the rest of us."
"What species?" asked Rezac, ears widening in interest.
"The Mryans and the Vieshen," said Sheeowl.
Rezac leaned forward intently. "The Vieshen, are they birdlike, tall and thin almost to the point of being emaciated?"
"Superficially, yes," said Tirak, obviously surprised. "You know them?"
"They're one of the slave races who helped us in the revolt against the Valtegans. What about the Mryans?"
"Heavyset, gray leathery skin, face that'd give you nightmares," said Manesh. "And strong. They're argumentative, too."
"That's them," said Rezac. "I wondered what had happened to the other slave races. Not surprised those two are working together considering their worlds are relatively near each other."
"The raiders are past masters at the sudden attack," said Tirak. "In and out jobs. They disable the ships, kill the crews and strip the craft bare of anything useful, leaving only the hulks. Occasionally they'll take the ships as well." He shook his head. "The area's too big for us and the Cabbarrans to police alone. That's why we've concentrated on trading at Jalna."
"The Mryans and Vieshen will have no love for the Primes, I'll be bound," murmured Kaid. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Primes were at the back of the ban to avoid being recognized."
"It was the Cabbarrans, actually," said Manesh.
"The raids are getting more frequent, despite us changing our shipping schedules. It's as if they had inside information," said Tirak.
"Do Chemerian ships get hit as often?"
"We don't have the figures with us," replied Tirak. "But I don't think they do, now that you mention it."
"The Chemerians can't possibly be selling that information," said Manesh. "Can they?"
"With the Chemerians, it's best not to trust them at all, then you don't get disappointed," said Kaid thoughtfully.
"What did the Chemerians do to rub your people the wrong way?" asked Giyesh.
"We were involved in a series of major conflicts with them some two hundred and fifty years ago," said Kaid. "They never actually declared war on us, instead they attacked our colonies and the industrial bases on our moons. Quick in and out hits," he said slowly, looking at Tirak.
"Why? What happened?" asked Sheeowl.
Kusac had been quietly sipping his drink, glad to have the focus of attention anywhere but on him, but now he began to listen. He knew something about the wars, he'd needed to working for AlRel, but though he knew the Brotherhood had been heavily involved in them, he'd never heard exactly in what capacity.
"It started when one of the Forces survey ships landed on the Chemerian homeworld. Chemer is heavily forested and where the forests end, the dust and sand deserts begin. The Captain couldn't see any settlements from the air as Chemerian cities are set deep under the tree canopy, so he assumed it was uninhabited. That was the second mistake. The first had been to send out a bunch of eighteen- to twenty-year-old raw recruits with only one experienced crew member, the Captain, who'd been demoted to flying surveys for incompetence. But that's the Forces for you."
"I hadn't heard that bit about the Captain," Kusac said.
Kaid glanced at him. "You wouldn't," he said. "The Forces tried to cover it up. Anyway, they'd been in space for about a month by then and the younglings wanted to get out and stretch their legs, so the Captain let them. It was midmorning, the landscape was flat, and the tree line a good several hundred yards away. He thought it would be safe. It would have been if some small jumping creatures hadn't suddenly appeared out of holes, taken one whiff of their scents and bolted for the trees."
"With the younglings in pursuit, I assume," said Rezac.
"Three of them, and on fours," said Kaid. "Next thing they knew, two of the younglings had been shot dead and the third was down, badly injured. The other two alerted the Captain and started off after their comrades as the Chemerians emerged from the trees. A firefight followed which resulted in several Chemerian deaths and the Captain escaping off-world with only two of his crew, both of whom were injured. That started the wars. The Chemerians claimed they thought the younglings were large predators, but there are no predators that size on their world, and their explanation ignores the presence of the scout ship."
"How did the Brotherhood stop the wars?" he asked.
"You have to remember this really was First Contact, our first meeting with another species. The Sholan Forces were led by a General Ryjik, the most xenophobic member of the High Command. He refused to even consider anything but total surrender by the Chemerians and his terms were so draconian there was no way they could have agreed to them. He was no worse than the Chemerians, though. Their terms of surrender were equally unrealistic. Then there were the prisoners taken in the skirmishes— ours and the Chemerians. Tales of our people being tortured were common. The Brotherhood was on the front line. We'd flown raids against the Chemerian colonies from which the attacks were being launched, but no attacks had been made against their homeworld. Talks had broken down because of the unrealistic surrender demands on both sides. Something had to be done to break the stalemate. The Brotherhood did it by taking out General Ryjik, and by bombing the Chemerian homeworld's capital city, then issuing an ultimatum to both sides."
"What was ultimatum?" asked T'Chebbi.
"Unless they both started negotiating for a lasting peace treaty, further punitive actions would be taken against both sides. Luckily they both listened."
"A harsh solution," said Tirak quietly.
"There was no other way to break the deadlock," said Kaid, sipping his drink.
"I can see why the Forces are wary of us," he said.
"They always were because we train every one of our people to take the initiative in battle if the need arises. After that incident, the Forces ensured the Brotherhood presence on Shola was kept to a minimum by posting us near the Chemerian border flying regular patrols. Which is how we found Haven and the
Va'Khoi
and started building our own presence in space."
"That's why when the Chemerians met the Sumaan, they brought them into the Alliance, provided ships, and hired them as mercenaries," added T'Chebbi. "A buffer between us and them."
"What exactly is the Brotherhood's role?" asked Manesh.
"It's many things. Back at the time of the Cataclysm, we were the only military Shola had after overthrowing the Valtegans. We protected the first generation of enhanced telepaths, like Rezac and Zashou, because they'd lost their ability to fight. We were also among the first to be chosen by Leska pairs as Triad partners because of our own gifts."
"Gifts?" asked Giyesh.
"Psi talents that exclude telepathy," said Kaid. "Sixth senses that tell you of danger, whether a person is lying, or lets you feel the mood of individual people or a crowd."
"What's your role now?" asked Tirak.
"Same as then," said T'Chebbi. "We protect our species above all other considerations. The Forces may protect Shola, we do more. We ensure enough of our kind will survive to start again if Shola should fall."
"We protect Sholans from themselves," said Kaid. "Like assassinating Ryjik, and we still guard our boundaries in deep space. But until now, Shola was unaware of our involvement in space. We also provide specialist protection as we do on this estate, and we train the Forces in certain advanced combat skills."
Manesh looked round the table grinning. "I know I'm going to enjoy my time here," she said. "It's what I like doing."
"Well, you have the advantage that you come to this with a reasonable skill level," said Kaid. "We may be running you through routines you think are too basic at first, but it lets us gauge your skills accurately. The real work will start next week." He got to his feet and looked at Kusac. "Time we headed home," he said. "Third meal isn't far off and I at least need to get cleaned up."