Turning Point (34 page)

“Nor any question of anything but the minimum of tests once she proves she can Heal,” said Vanna triumphantly, grinning at Kusac.

Garras touched Kusac's shoulder briefly.

“Leave everything to me,” he said. “Your Leska and you are in no danger now. You realize you will both have to leave Keiss, don't you?”

Kusac nodded. “We know,” he said briefly. “Are you finished with me now?” he asked Vanna, speaking in English again.

“Yes,” she said. “There is nothing more for me to do with that wound now it's healed. I assume the fur will grow back normally.”

“What's all the fuss about?” demanded Skai, coming over.

“Carrie healed Kusac's wound,” said Vanna.

“Healed? How?”

“I'm not sure,” replied the bemused Carrie as she gently fingered the new skin.

“Don't worry about it,” said Kusac, reaching up to move her hand away. “When the need comes again, you'll be able to do it.”

“What's so special about being a Healer?” she asked.

“We have very few Healers and our people believe they have been blessed by Vartra. They're treated with an almost religious awe.”

Carrie frowned. “I don't want that,” she said. “Do we have to tell anyone?”

“Yes, we do,” said Vanna firmly. “It makes your relationship to Kusac more important and inviolable in the eyes of our authorities, and believe me, that does matter.”

“Wherever we go, we're going to be different in one way or another, aren't we? Will we find anywhere to be just us?” Carrie asked, sitting down beside Kusac.

“I'm sure we will,” he said quietly. He reached across to his locker and pulled her brush out.

Vanna drifted away on silent feet, leaving them alone.

Relax,
he thought to her.
We are together. Alliswell for the moment.
He began to brush her hair slowly.

“That's something I need to do,” said Garras, going over to his pack and digging out his brush. “My fur feels gritty and I'm shedding over everything. Vanna, could I possibly ask you to help? As a favor, if not by inclination,” he added, seeing her hesitation.

Vanna grinned and her ears dipped in pleasure. “I accept the invitation,” she murmured, taking the brush from him.

Richard and Jo watched the grooming session for a few minutes before Skai called their attention away.

“It's a ritual with them,” he said. “As far as I can gather, it's only done by their partner or a close friend.”

“There's some similarity, then, to the cat family on Earth,” said Jo thoughtfully.

“Only superficially,” Skai replied. “If you start thinking that way, you'll underestimate them. They are far more technically advanced than us, and somehow, I don't think another species gave them that technology. They worked it out themselves the hard way.”

“What do you make of them?” Jo asked.

“So far, they've been aboveboard with everything, but they have to be at the moment, don't they?”

“Don't you trust them?” asked Richard.

“These ones, more or less, but keep an eye out for Guynor. He's a mean bastard and he doesn't like us.”

“You surprise me,” said Jo. “I found him pleasant this afternoon. Perhaps he only dislikes you.”

“Lady, I've done nothing to him. It's Carrie he took a dislike to, not me,” replied Skai, helping himself to more coffee.

“Why her? Because of Kusac?”

“You got it in one. They had a scrap over her and Kusac won. I know she's your sister,” he said apologetically to Richard, “but he objected to him getting so friendly with her.”

Richard glowered at him. “So did you, I expect.”

“Me? It's had nothing to do with me since I saw which way the wind blew,” he said sharply.

Richard sighed. “You've no idea what's happening, have you? You just assume what you consider the worst. What about you, Jo?”

“Uh?” she said, startled. “I've nothing on which to base an opinion.”

“Kusac is a Telepath,” explained Richard. “Whether you believe in it or not, that is his crew rating. So is Carrie. Jo, you knew Elise had a strong telepathic bond with Carrie, didn't you? Elise had an infinite pain tolerance because it was Carrie who felt her pain. That's why she gave nothing away to the Valtegans under torture. She couldn't feel anything, it was Carrie who suffered the torture—and us,” he said bitterly, “we had to try to help her. That last time she not only suffered the pain, but also some of the injuries the Valtegans inflicted.”

“Oh, my God,” whispered Jo, her face ashen. “How awful for you all.”

“There was nothing we or anyone could do for either of them,” said Richard harshly, reliving the scene again. He shook his head, trying to dispel the images.

“The shock of experiencing Elise's death nearly took Carrie, too, but then something happened. Or rather someone. Kusac. He'd been left by his people when their scouter crashed, and somehow, he picked up Carrie's mind at the crucial time when she was about to slip away from us. He saved her life, but at a cost to both of them.” He fell silent.

“What was it?” asked Jo at length.

He looked up. “Apparently, among the Sholans there are rare pairings of Telepaths. Their minds bond irreversibly to each other in a way no one understands fully. That bond lasts for life.”

“And that's what has happened to them?” asked Jo.

Richard nodded.

Skai shifted uncomfortably. “How do you know all this?”

“Carrie just told me, in a way I couldn't disbelieve,” he responded wryly.

“I know what you mean,” said Skai, a flash of humor briefly lighting his face.

“What is she going to do about it?”

“There's nothing she can do, Jo,” he sighed. “Luckily, they seem to be the ones least concerned about it. I'm telling you two just to set the record straight,” he said, staring pointedly at Skai. “There will be one hell of a row about them anyway, but I won't have anyone spreading malicious lies.”

“Tell Skinner about it, then,” Jo advised.

“No, that's for Captain Garras to do. He's already had a word with me about the matter. Just make sure that any idle chatter is put straight, that's all I ask.”

The click of claws on the metal floor drew their attention and they turned round to see Vanna approaching.

“We're going to dim the lights now,” she said. “Just pick a bunk and some bedding and make yourselves comfortable. I'm turning on the outside monitor so we'll know when it's light. If you need anything, Skai knows where it is.”

“There aren't enough bunks to go round,” said Skai, “and one still has electronics on it.”

“Garras and I are bunking on the floor tonight,” she replied, turning to switch on the monitor. “Good night.”

Skai raised an eyebrow to the others. “Looks like Vanna got an invitation she couldn't refuse,” he said.

“More likely didn't want to,” countered Richard. “She strikes me as the sort of woman who knows her own mind.” He got to his feet, yawning. “I'm turning in now. Good night.”

“Tell me more about Carrie,” said Jo, taking her cigarettes out and lighting one.

“What do you want to know?” asked Skai.

“Their Telepathy, what do they actually do when they work?”

“No idea. They go off on their own when they work together. As to what they achieve, Carrie found the cave where the Sholans were hiding and between them they found the exact location of this pod. They also telepathically taught the other Sholans English.”

“Then there was the cargo ship and the three groundcars,” added Jo thoughtfully. “Perhaps there's more than telepathy involved.”

“You should know. Weren't you Elise's contact?”

“Not like that,” Jo denied quickly. “She passed information to me at Geshader so that I could bring it out with me when I left.”

Skai shrugged. “Then ask Vanna. She's their Medic and she's been collecting data from the three of us. From me, it's been some medical and cultural stuff. From the other two I've no idea, but I presume it's to do with their Link. Why are you asking all these questions anyway?”

“Skinner asked me to. You don't mind, do you?”

“Carry on. I don't feel like sleeping yet anyway.”

“Tell me about Carrie and Kusac. What was the fight with Guynor actually about?”

Skai sighed. “Again, I don't really know since I don't speak their language, but it pretty definitely involved Kusac's friendliness with Carrie.

“Guynor went for her first, but Vanna stopped him, then he attacked Kusac.”

“Is Guynor interested in Carrie?”

“Don't be daft,” said Skai with a laugh. “He hates her and Kusac equally.

“After the fight, they went off for about half an hour. They were a lot friendlier when they came back,” he added meaningfully. “She's just like her sister, a calculating bitch out for what she can get, no matter what it takes. In Carrie's case, from these Sholans.”

Jo raised an eyebrow.

Skai had the grace to look away. “No, well I suppose not that friendly. Guynor did make a hell of a mess of his shoulder,” he admitted reluctantly.

“I don't agree with your opinion of Carrie,” said Jo, pulling a tin out of her pocket and stubbing her cigarette out in it. “I'd say she's beginning to find out who she is for the first time in her life. Elise's charisma tended to get her what she wanted irrespective of what it cost anyone else, including her twin.

“Carrie's not like that from what I've seen of her. I reckon she was actually the stronger of the two—she would have to be to put up with a sister like Elise.”

Jo looked appraisingly at Skai. “You're pretty enough to look at, but Carrie wouldn't see that. As for Elise, yes, you'd appeal to her. She only ever used her eyes. Carrie doesn't, she looks deeper.”

“What d'you mean by that?” he asked, bridling at the implied insult.

Jo shrugged. “Just that Carrie strikes me as someone who always thinks things through. Elise never did. She really thought she could do what she liked and get away with it. That's how they caught her.”

“There's nothing to choose between them!” said Skai angrily. “They both seem incapable of having a relationship with their own people and have turned to Aliens instead. Look at Carrie earlier. She didn't stand with us, she was with the Sholans. She's always in their company!”

Jo shook her head. “It isn't that straight cut, Skai. Elise chose to go to Geshader to get the information we needed to fight the Valtegans. You hardly knew her. She really did hate them.

“Skinner wanted a couple of people on the inside and Elise volunteered. I got asked to go on an occasional basis because I'm a linguist and they hoped I could pick up their language.

“Carrie and Kusac—well, they have a Telepathic link and obviously Carrie trusts him. He's the only stable thing in her life at the moment. Look at all the changes she's gone through in the last two months, starting with Elise's capture and death. It's a wonder she's still alive and sane!

“It's also obvious they care a lot for each other, but what the nature of that caring is, I don't know.”

“Well, I do. They're always in each other's company, they even sleep together. She won't let anyone else touch her!”

“Meaning you. Elise was the same. Perhaps it's part of being what they are, Telepaths. As for the Sholans, I've noticed how tactile a species they are among themselves, not just Carrie and Kusac.” She turned to look at the bunks nearby. “And they're sleeping separately, Skai.”

“Well, they would here, wouldn't they?”

“Vanna and Garras don't seem to have a problem,” she replied, nodding to where the two Sholans were quietly enjoying each other's company. “In fact, they seem to have a much more relaxed attitude than we do.”

“Have it your own way,” he snapped, getting up. “You're as bad as they are. I'm going to bed.”

Jo let him settle down before she took the remaining bunk. She had a lot to think about.

 

Time passed slowly the next day. After reporting in to Skinner, Jo resumed her task monitoring the radio output and Skai and Vanna were put to work fetching, carrying, and holding various items of equipment. Richard continued helping Anders.

Kusac pleaded the need for himself and Carrie to work on their “disguise” for the Valtegans and so they were able to retire to a quiet area some meters distant from the others. There he drilled her in the basics of shielding out unwanted contacts, lengthening her concentration span, and preventing energy leakages. Together they worked on building a more powerful illusion than she had previously done.

It was as grueling a task as that facing the rest of the crew, more so in fact because the results were less tangible.

The afternoon break came, and with it more delays. They had all gathered in the space between the two craft to drink coffee and c'shar. Vanna and Skai had provided a snack to see them through until dusk.

“Mito, what's the current status of the interface?” asked Garras.

“Guynor and Nelson are handling the final stages now. I've gone back to trying to work out a program to interrogate the Valtegan computer in the base,” she said, munching one of the newly made trail bars.

“I'm still no further along. Without access to Valtegan software, the best program I can write would still take more than a couple of hours to run. Apart from the physical danger of discovery, our electronic presence is bound to be noticed by the Valtegan computer.”