strongholdrising (78 page)

* * *

Several containers lay on the deck near the entrance to their shuttle.
"What're they?" he demanded of Zayshul.
"Their toys," she said. "Open them if you want. I swear they've not been tampered with."
"They stay behind," he said unequivocally.
She looked at him, her wide mouth parting in a slight smile. "You've never travelled with bored children, have you? Don't take your anger out on the cubs, Kusac. The toys are only toys. It would be cruel to deprive them of amusement on their journey home."
He hesitated, remembering the sheer number of toys they had for Kashini, then gestured to Banner. "Check them out once our passengers are on board."
"Where we going, Aunt?" asked the small gray-pelted cub, catching hold of Zayshul's hand. "Are you coming?"
"No, Gaylla," she said, bending down so her face was level with the cub's. "Speak in Sholan as I taught you. These are your people. They'll take you home to your own parents."
"But I see you soon?"
Zayshul ruffled the cub's ears gently. "I'm afraid not. It's time for us to say goodbye."
Gaylla began to sob, throwing her arms round the doctor, her doll falling forgotten to the deck. "I not want to leave you!"
"She's a hybrid!" he exclaimed in Valtegan. "Vartra's bones, how in Hell's name could you find hybrid cubs?"
Equally distraught, Zayshul stood up and thrust the sobbing cub at Kusac. "Take her and leave! Go now, before they stop you!" She turned and fled into the interior of the ship, leaving him holding the screaming child.
Shocked, he heard the distinctive sound of Valtegan energy rifles powering up and saw the soldiers begin to advance. Bending down, he scooped up the doll and ran up the ramp where an equally shocked Banner had just looked up from his toy inspection.
"Go!" he ordered, aiming a kick at the box his Second was examining and sending it skittering through the airlock.
Banner dived in after it, slamming the hatch shut behind them.
"Get us out of here, now!"
"Aye, sir!" Banner was already halfway to the cockpit.

* * *

The access ramp was still retracting as Banner accelerated out of the
M'zayik
's bay. Staggering, his arms still full of the struggling and sobbing cub, he was trying to come to terms with what he'd seen.
"Give her to me, Djani," said Rraelga, passing her infant to the young kitling in the seat beside her. "She's not as bright as the others, she takes things more to heart."
With relief, he dumped the cub on her lap. He stopped, his enhanced sense of smell bringing the scents of the others to his nostrils. Unsealing his glove, he reached out to touch the cubs one after the other, barely aware of the few words of comfort he murmured to them. They were all hybrids, and the scents of two of them were disquietingly familiar.
Unlike Shaidan, they didn't wear collars and he was able to absorb the feel of their minds— the mental signature that, like Human fingerprints, made each of them unique but also held a flavor of the parents. Deeply disturbed, he headed up front to join Banner.
"What happened back there?" asked his Second. "What did you say to the doctor?"
"She got twitchy," he snapped, patching a link through to the
Couana.
His son's existence, and the fact that the others were hybrids, was something he wanted kept quiet right now.
"
Couana,
code 3, 9, 0, Red. We have passengers, four cubs and an adult Sholan female with her infant. Lay in a course for Haven. We leave immediately." He cut the connection in the middle of Jayza's startled acknowledgment, concentrating on his piloting.
"What did Kezule want from you?"
"Me. He wants me to train his people, and he's keeping one of the cubs as a hostage to make sure I go back."
Banner glanced at him. "You're going to return, aren't you?"
"What option have I?" he snarled angrily. "I can't leave that cub with him. Kezule kept a telepath as a pet, Banner! I can't leave him there!"
"Rraelga says they've all been well treated by Kezule and his people, especially the doctor. They were rescued from some experimental facility on the Prime homeworld."
That could explain the hybrids, but not his son. "Did she mention the fifth cub, say anything about him?" he demanded.
"Shaidan? Only that he was hurt in their escape. Doctor Zayshul kept him with them, nursing him back to health herself. Rraelga says she treats him as if he was her own child. He's not in any danger, Kusac. We should inform Stronghold, let them decide what's to be done next. Our mission's over."
"Not till I have Shaidan. I'm going back for him, alone if necessary," he said in a tone that brooked no further discussion.
Shaidan. His son was called Shaidan. At least it was a Sholan name. If the Primes could breed M'zullians and Shaidan, then they could breed Sholan hybrids. He found the thought of the Primes taking genetic samples from his Triad terrifying, as terrifying as the fact that the resulting cubs were now ten years old. Obviously Zayshul had been deeply involved in the whole procedure— and for reasons of her own, had made his contribution one of a far more personal nature. At least she'd not left their son in the experimental facility. Maybe that was why they'd left K'oish'ik.
Kaid's home, Dzahai Mountains, the same day
"I want us to go home today, Tallinu," said Carrie. "All of us, you included. Before the winter storms really start. I can't cope with Kashini and the twins without you."
Kaid got to his feet and began to pace the lounge restlessly. "I'd prefer to stay here until we hear more about Kusac," he said finally, stopping beside the recently acquired sofa on which she lay. "I told him I wouldn't return to the villa until he apologized, and I won't."
"He isn't there, Tallinu, but your daughter will be, and she needs her father," she said gently, pushing her own pain at what Kusac had done aside, aware that Kaid's anger and hurt went as deep. "Dhaykin needs you too. We're a family."
"Then stay here with me. Let's be a family, yes, but in my home."
She held her hand up to him, tugging him down beside her when he took it. "You know that's not practical. You've only one bedroom and this lounge— thank God T'Chebbi and Kashini went home several days ago. The nurse has to be flown in by you from Dzahai village every day because there's nowhere for her to sleep, and I miss Kashini and T'Chebbi. I love my cubs, Tallinu, but now Dhaykin is in no danger and is gaining weight, I need time to myself. I know what Kusac said hurt you, but you're not the only one he hurt. He left without coming to see me and our cubs— before he could be told he had a son."
"That's just as inexcusable," he said, attempting to withdraw his hand from hers as his tail began to flick angrily. "He's become a renegade, Carrie, turned his back on us all, stolen Toueesut's ship and headed off to cause the Gods know what trouble!"
"I can't believe he has," she said. "He'd no reason to do it. Kzizysus had operated on him, cured the damage the implant had done and given him back his Talent. Why would he want to risk it all again by going to the Prime world to find torturer priests who no longer exist?"
"Then he's headed for the M'zullian home world," said Kaid, his tone dismissive. "In which case the Watchers will pick him up before he gets close. I won't be on the estate when he gets back, Carrie. I meant it. Until he apologizes, I want nothing more to do with him."
"I don't believe he's looking for them," she said. "It isn't like him to leave like this."
"He's changed completely since we came back," he said, trying again to dislodge her hand. "At the end of the day, he has to take responsibility for what he says and does. We can't all go around excusing him for the rest of his life. If we do, there'll be no need for him to change. I'm sorry you can't see it the same way."
"I'm not saying he shouldn't be held responsible," she said quietly, tightening her grip on him. "I'm saying there has to be a reason why he stole a ship and left, and the one you've given me just doesn't fit the person I know. What does Noni say? He was staying with her up until a few days before the cubs were born."
"How should I know what she said? He's gone over the edge, Carrie. Raiban has a warrant out for his arrest and Stronghold has issued instructions he's to be apprehended and brought in. It's probably the best thing that could happen to him. His treatment will be taken out of our hands once and for all. Maybe the Telepath Guild medics can straighten out his mind. We couldn't."
"What?" Letting his hand go, she sat up suddenly— too suddenly— and cried out in pain.
His anger instantly forgotten, he was all attention and she was hard pressed to stop him calling the nurse in from the other room.
"I'm fine! You didn't tell me he was being treated as a criminal, Tallinu! I assumed that since Toueesut wasn't pressing charges, that would be the end of it! We've got to do something!"
"What do you suggest?" he asked sarcastically. "Because of our Link and the cubs, I can't go out looking for him, even if I wanted to. Besides, looking for the
Couana
would be like looking for a needle in the wilderness."
"Speak to Father Lijou! I thought Kusac meant more to you, especially after those nights together!"
"Don't you start doubting me," he said, a touch of coldness creeping into his voice as he pulled back from her. "You know what I feel for him. He was the one who turned to me, Carrie, then accused me of..."
"I know what he said," she interrupted, clutching him anxiously, afraid she'd gone too far. "Can't you see that's proof he wasn't in his right mind? Would he do that and then accuse you like he did if he wasn't disturbed? Maybe there's something else behind his actions. When did he leave Noni's? Before or after he came out here? How did he persuade those who went with him to go? Why choose the
Couana,
and how did he manage to steal it from the middle of a busy spaceport?"
"You're looking for excuses for him," he said. "I want to end this conversation now. I don't want to argue with you over this. You know how I feel, what I think, let's just leave it."
"He's our Triad partner— your sword-brother! You can't just assume he's guilty and do nothing about it, even if he did hurt your feelings!"
"This is more than hurt feelings, Carrie. My sword-brother, who swore my honor would be as dear to him as his own, accused me of dishonorable conduct! I could have Challenged him on the spot, and not to first blood either!" he said angrily.
"You're both Telepaths, Challenges are illegal for you," she said frantically, grasping him by the hair at the sides of his neck as he began to get up.
He snarled at the unexpected pain and attempted to free himself.
She leaned closer, kissing his forehead, trying to hold back her tears. "I know it's more than hurt feelings, I didn't mean to trivialize it. All I'm asking is you think about it, Tallinu," she said, resting her cheek against his. "I know how important your honor is to you, and to me, but Kusac didn't repeat his allegations to anyone else, and within days he left Shola. I just don't think this is as straightforward as it seems."
As he stopped trying to pull her hands away, gently she began to nibble the outer edge of his ear the way she knew he liked. "Please," she said persuasively. "I need you both, Tallinu. I can't stand the thought of him being jailed, or hurt as they try to capture him. And I know you feel the same."
Letting his hair go, she slipped her arms around him, working her way across his cheek. The tension was leaving his body and she could feel his anger dissipating as he began to respond to her.
"Dzinae." He sighed, turning his face to kiss her, the word both his nickname for her and an affirmation of her affinity to Vartra's heavenly tormentors. "I'll think about it," he said between kisses. "I'll take you home tomorrow."
"You'll come too?" she asked, slipping further down the sofa so he could stretch out beside her.
"Do you think I'm going to let you or our cubs out of my sight at this time?" he asked, nosing her chin up and kissing his way down her throat.

Anchorage, Zhal-S'Asha, 22nd day (October)
ANNUUR was in his quarters on the shuttle when the call from the Camarilla came in. "I come, I come," he grumbled to Sokarr as he uncurled himself from his sleeping nest and staggered to the comm unit in the next room.
"Phratry Leader," the Cabbarran female said as he settled himself in front of the screen. "The sand-dwellers in sector four are mobilizing. Imperative you monitor situation from close hand."
"No sign of movement we detect, Leader Shvosi," said Annuur calmly. "Area constantly patrolled by we Watchers. All is quiet."
"Are mobilizing," insisted his colleague, her nose wrinkling in agitation. "Have seen it from imager in their sector. Must observe their destination. Fear we have they take offensive action against second world. Imager scanners indicate presence of chiro isotope particles."
"Means not control activator is present. Sand-dwellers consumed available resources destroying hunter worlds, no more have they."
"Potentialities indicate they found more. Now move against second world. Camarilla orders that you go, observe, and destroy activator if present."
"Presume Camarilla sends vessel to accompany us," said Annuur sarcastically. "We only one scout ship, small, vulnerable. How get in center of their fleet and escape afterwards? Cannot affect outcome, can only attract sand-dwellers's notice to ourselves, present Alliance as target. And draw attention to ourselves among other Watchers," he added.
"Enhanced shields and drives have you if used what Camarilla put on your
Watcher,
and sent you on Shola. Hides you. No need of our presence."
"What of children? Do this and they discover us. Tell Alliance. This not wise," he said, shaking his head. It wasn't the Camarilla's way to take direct action like this. And how had the sand-dwellers's acquisition of more resources escaped the Camarilla's notice in the first place?
"Must go. Naacha can make children attack, make them forget after. Shields hide you, other Watchers not see. If activator deployed, destruction of second world is inevitable."
He considered the situation dispassionately for a moment or two. "Destruction halves our problem, Leader Shvosi. Less of violent ones is to be wished for. Let them destroy each other, make our task easier. Camarilla say intervention should be always minimal. Better we do after attack second world."
There was a short silence. "You mistake your mission, Annuur," said Shvosi carefully. "Hear me. Skepp Lords only say objective is destruction of ship
if
carrying activator."
A klaxon began to sound, relayed into their shuttle from the landing bay by the outpost's communications system.
"Maybe you right and sand-dwellers do move," Annuur murmured. He didn't like this mission at all but Shvosi was giving him room to maneuver. "Is what Sholans call Battle Muster— urgent call to go to ships ready for takeoff. Who speak for Camarilla in this?"
"Azwokkuss spoke for all. Must persuade children to attack. You have made prescribed modifications to ship?" Shvosi asked anxiously.
He should have known it was one of the TeLaxaudin. "Yes, yes. Done. Must go now, not be late at posts. Unwanted attention we draw to ourselves otherwise."
"Annuur! Move your furry ass and get your sept on board now! We got a M'zullian fleet on the move!" yelled Tirak over the ship to ship comm.
"Must do, Annuur," said Shvosi anxiously. "Must do."
"I do." Annuur broke the connection and jumped hurriedly down from his couch, heading for the corridor as fast as his short legs could run. Rounding the corner, he almost collided with Lweeu.
"I help with harness," said Lweeu, rearing up on her hind legs and holding out Annuur's belt and shoulder retainers.
Thrusting his arms through the loops, he fidgeted impatiently while she quickly fastened the buckles then handed him his side arm.
"We go," he said tersely, dropping down to all fours when they finished. "Where Sokarr and Naacha?"
"On
Watcher 6,
starting up systems," Lweeu said as they began to run for the airlock.