“While you were in the coma, you were healing very rapidly,” said Ghidd’ah, breaking the silence as she replaced the dressing, then the bed cover. “The exit wound is almost closed too.”
He didn’t resist when she urged him to lie back against the pillows. Something began to nag at the edges of his mind, like a jegget scratching at the earth, trying to dig a hole.
“I’ll let you get some sleep now,” she said, turning to leave. “Call me if you need anything, I’ll be just outside.”
“Wait,” he said, lifting his head. He knew he needed to finish the healing as soon as possible, even if he had no idea why. “My medical kit. Need something from it.”
Obviously reluctant, she opened her mouth to refuse but he forestalled her. “Individual needs—vitamins—must take them.” Again he reinforced the request mentally, this time less subtly because of his exhaustion.
He watched her frown briefly, then her face cleared and she nodded. “I’ll fetch them for you now.”
His head felt like it was being pressed in a vise as he lay back to wait for her. Something hard dug into his collarbone and he reached up to ease it away. A psi damping collar? The rest of his memories began to return, slowly at first, including the way Vartra had goaded him into turning the collar off. He shied away from that, as he did from any thoughts of how he’d managed to heal himself so quickly. Time enough to go over that when he was well.
Left alone with his medikit, he’d pulled out the pack of Fastheal capsules and the one of vitamins and minerals he’d also need, when his nose alerted him to the arrival of Giyarishis. Fumbling to conceal his drugs, he managed to send the medikit sliding off the bed onto the floor just as the door opened.
Giyarishis stopped, lowering his head to look at the kit, then raising it, the lenses spinning, to look at him.
Swearing under his breath, he tried to conceal the medication in a fold in the covers as the TeLaxaudin, draperies gently moving, began to stalk toward him. Stopping by the fallen medikit, Giyarishis picked it up, placing it on the bed at his side.
One slim hand snaked out toward his immobilized arm, plucking the two packs of capsules free.
Kusac snarled and, claws extended, swiped at the small alien, but it was a half-hearted attempt and missed him.
“Give them to me,” he hissed, levering himself up in an effort to increase his reach.
“What these?” demanded Giyarishis, examining the packaging. “Treating yourself not allowed!”
“Supplements I need,” he said, trying to stifle the burst of coughing that followed as he lunged for them.
Giyarishis moved slightly to one side to avoid him, then as Kusac’s upper body began to overbalance, reached out and pushed him backward. “Still unwell. Resting is needed,” he said, handing him one pack before reaching for the filled drinking bowl that had been left on the night table.
Eyeing him balefully, Kusac tore open the pack of vitamins with the help of his teeth, taking a tablet out and dropping the others onto the bed before reaching for the drinking bowl.
The TeLaxaudin steadied it for him as he sipped the water and took the pill.
Finished, he held his hand out. “The other pack,” he whispered, annoyed at his weakness.
“What is Fastheal?”
“What it says,” Kusac replied shortly, gesturing impatiently. Talking hurt his throat right now.
“Your wounds are healing faster than usual. This why?”
He was too tired for this. “You my jailer now?” he rasped. “Just give me it. Need to be healed.”
“Yes, you do, but not harm self doing!”
“Keep it then!” he snarled, lying back on the pillows and closing his eyes.
There was silence for several minutes. “What else you need?” he heard the TeLaxaudin ask eventually.
He turned to look at him, cracking open his eyes again. “Feeding, while I sleep.”
Giyarishis’ mandibles clicked and his humming grew deeper. “This not harm you?”
He flicked his ears in a negative, then remembered and shook his head tiredly. “Not if I’m fed.”
“How long?”
He began to calculate the dose needed to double his rate of healing, then remembered he’d already been doing that. If he could combine his newfound abilities with the Fastheal ... “Three days—but they must feed me. They didn’t before.”
“I see is done,” he said, handing over the second package. “Sedatives you need?”
“No,” he said, ripping the pack open and taking out three capsules before the TeLaxaudin changed his mind. Leaning over the night table, he reached for the water. He’d barely the strength to lift even the half empty bowl. Putting all three pills in his mouth, he gulped the water down, almost choking on them, then collapsed back on the bed.
He could feel them hurting his throat as, solid as a hard lump of stone, they slowly passed down to his stomach. At last the sensation stopped and he was able to relax. He needed to reach again for the healing place within him, let himself fall into a deep trance again so the drug could work properly.
As he began to drift, it wasn’t into the usual darkness. He seemed to be surrounded by a kind of twilight filled with the sound of faint murmuring. The barely conscious part of his mind might tell him that it was only because of the lights in the sick bay, but he wasn’t completely convinced and strained his ears to make sense of the sounds even as he fell deeper and deeper into his trance.
The monitor’s alarm had only just ceased when Zayshul came running through the doorway to Kusac’s side.
“What’s happened?” she demanded of Ghidd’ah as she ran physical checks on him, matching her findings with those on the monitor above his bed.
“Ask him,” said her friend, gesturing at the chair where the TeLaxaudin perched. “He says he gave Kusac some drugs from his medikit. Something called Fastheal, and some vitamin supplements. Says he’s going to sleep for three days and we’ve got to feed him.”
Satisfied he was in no immediate danger, she turned on the small alien. “You had no right to authorize any treatment for him,” she said furiously. “He’s my patient!”
“General not allow you here, how you treat?” the translator said. “He trained, carries own medication. Had when I arrived.”
“How did he get the medikit?” she demanded.
“I brought it,” said Ghidd’ah quietly.
“You did?” she asked, turning back to her friend. “But why?”
“He asked me,” she said, looking as confused as Zayshul. “I really don’t know why I agreed to fetch it, but I did.”
“Knows what he doing,” said Giyarishis, getting down from the chair. “You fix catheters and cannulas, feed him, clean him. He sleeps, heals. Need strong, must cooperate with General very soon.”
Zayshul stared at him. “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked quietly.
Indecipherable static filled the room as Giyarishis made a gesture of regret.
“Shall I ...” began Ghidd’ah.
“Do it,” Zayshul said. “I’m going to check with Lieutenant Banner about this Fastheal.”
“He’s trying a sleep cure,” said Banner when Zayshul had brought him up to date. “It’s only used in field hospitals in an emergency. Can you wake him?”
She shook her head. “He’s gone into another comalike state, but not as deep as the last one yet.”
“Then you’ll have to do as he asks. Fastheal really depletes the body’s reserves. He’ll need some kind of liquid food, plus vitamin and mineral supplements—you’ll also have to keep him from dehydrating. In fact, I need to be there.”
Zayshul stood up. “I’m sorry, that isn’t possible.”
“You gave me your word I could see him as soon as he woke,” he said, ears flicking sideways in anger as he rose from the common room table. “I’m entitled to see him. You may be a doctor, but you aren’t trained as fully as I am in treating our people.”
She hesitated. “I’l
l speak to the General once we’ve got Kusac settled again,” she said, turning to leave.
“You’ve no right to deny him proper medical attention,” Banner angrily called out after her as she walked to the door.
“I’ll speak to the General,” she repeated as the door slid open. “Believe me, Lieutenant, none of us want him to come to any harm.”
Kij’ik, Hydroponics Level, Zhal-Mellasha 28th day (February)
“You not interfere!” said Hkairass angrily as he stalked into Giyarishis’ quarters on the hydroponics level. “Leave Hunter to his rage, and sand-dweller to guilt you have engineered he feels. Better they deal themselves with it. You will not manipulate Hunter’s dreams!”
“Leave,” said Giyarishis, barely looking up from the small device he was calibrating. “Guilt now mainly sand-dweller’s own. Concentration I need to accomplish the Camarilla’s will.”
“You will do as I command,” said the older TeLaxaudin, advancing, his draperies rippling around his spindly legs. “I here, I see the true natures of involved. Better without them we are. Sooner they exterminate each other ...”
“Enough!” Giyarishis interrupted angrily, looking up at him, lenses swirling rapidly. “Decision made by consensus. One individual will not override it. They will combine against reunification of old sand-dweller Empire!”
Hkairass snatched the device from him, examining it briefly before tucking it in a concealed pouch at his waist. “You will desist all activities against me! Immediately authorize my attendance on Hunter to undo what you have begun, and cease preventing me from accessing Unity here! If not, action I will be forced to take against you,” he said, the low humming that underscored his speech taking on a menacing tone.
“Abused Unity you did!” Giyarishis’ voice thrummed. “Think I am unaware shooting of Hunter due to your control of guard?”
Hkairass’ eyes locked on his and his constant movement stilled—even his draperies hung motionless. “Your time in field has softened your brain,” he said at last. “Gone native you have, as I predicted. Renounce leadership of this mission to me and I will speak well of you to Camarilla when we return,” he said, his tone more reasonable. “Your device for influencing Hunter I have. Accept defeat, as Camarilla will have to do.”
“I think not,” said Giyarishis quietly, looking away. “Unity you want? Then have, but not my command.” The nanites in his brain responded instantly to his thought, sending signals to the Unity network, removing the block on Hkairass’ personal mental pattern.
As he felt the older male’s mind enter, he braced himself mentally, blocking his thoughts off from the other. He was well aware of the risk he was taking, and exactly what depended on the outcome. If the device that Hkairass had predictably taken from him failed to work, the backlash would have him committing a murder.
Suddenly it occurred to him, what if, now he was part of Unity again, Hkairass didn’t try to deactivate the device? What if he relied on a battle of wills to force his hand? Before he had time to worry even more, with a thrumming sound of triumph, Hkairass reached for the small unit at his waist.
Thin bolts of energy, generated by his device, began to flicker and crackle across the older male’s body, spreading out along his limbs. Hkairass let out a high-pitched squeal that rapidly ascended to an almost inaudible level that made Giyarishis wince before it was abruptly cut off. The energy continued to flare, branching into multiple lines until the TeLaxaudin was completely trapped in its web.
His limbs were drawn closer to his body and his head dropped to his chest as, slowly, he began to drop down to his haunches and fold up into a small, compact shape. With a final crackle and spitting sound, it died away to nothing, leaving Hkairass sitting motionless on the floor. Moments later, every pore on his body began to exude a milky fluid.
Giyarishis forced himself to move and darted forward to retrieve his device, making sure not to let the fluid come into contact with his own flesh. Shaking, he backed away until he reached the pile of cushions by his low table. The cocooning process would take several hours, by which time it would completely encase Hkairass and it would then be safe to move him.
He began to laugh, more in relief than with any humor. By the time Hkairass emerged from the cocoon, his gender would have changed and he’d no longer be male. He hadn’t been completely sure how close to his change Hkairass was, which was where the element of danger for himself lay. Obviously his change had been close, otherwise it would have been impossible to trigger it prematurely. Then it would have resulted in the other’s death just as surely as if the device had failed to work properly. At least he now had several weeks free of any interference from the leader of the Isolationists.
As he settled down to monitor the sand-dweller, it occurred to him he really ought to contact the Camarilla and inform them of what had happened, but he decided against it. The prospect of propping Hkairass helplessly in the corner of his bedroom for a week or two was too great—a small revenge, perhaps, but one he intended to savor.
The Couana, same day
“Nothing!” said Kaid, tail swaying jerkily as he paced the common area room where he and those not on duty were gathered. “Three days we’ve been scanning this area, and there’s nothing here!”
“We’ll find it,” murmured Carrie from her easy chair. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“We don’t have that long before K’hedduk makes his move to ally with M’zull,” said Dzaka as his father approached the low table again.
Squatting down on his haunches, Kaid again examined the star chart Toueesut had printed off from the database on the Tooshu. “It has to be there,” he said, pointing to the colored dot. “Kij’ik they called it. It’s the most logical place for it to be—near a gas giant and not too far from the system’s Primary!”
“Have you accounted for drift in the last fifteen hundred years?” asked Rezac.
“Of course! It can’t have drifted by that much,” he snapped before instantly regretting it. Lowering his ears in apology, he glanced at the youth who was his own father. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“Forget it,” the other replied, getting up to fetch a snack from one of the wall units.
“Could it be masking itself?” asked Carrie.
“Not by enough that we wouldn’t at least find some trace of it. We know he’s got one cruiser class ship, we should at least be able to find that!”
“Not if it’s inside the Outpost,” said T’Chebbi, looking up from filing her claws. “We know it’s bigger than Haven.”
“It’s not going to be that large,” said Rezac. “Think of the cost of staffing and maintaining it.”
“Cost is irrelevant,” trilled Toueesut from his chair. “They had an Empire to fund it in their times, therefore cost would be a factor they were not considering in the least.”
“He has a point,” said Carrie.
“Irrespective of that, the Outpost itself would have telltale emissions we’d be able to pick up.”
“Maybe not,” said Rezac. “We know it wasn’t at the heart of their network, in fact it was on the outer edges. That being the case, perhaps working out its purpose would help us locate it.”
“We did all that on the journey out,” said Kaid, pushing the map aside and getting to his feet to resume pacing.
“Then we’ve got something wrong,” said Dzaka calmly. “Because if we had it right, it would be here. Its purpose this far out of the populated areas and the shipping routes would mean it was a reconnaissance base, one intended to remain undetected.”
“If that’s the case, we could cruise around this area for months and never find it,” said Kaid bleakly, stopping to look at the view outside on the monitor screen that had been installed during the refit.
“The Tooshu contacted ship carrying Valtegan Ambassador and requested sending of complete data banks of information regarding old Empire,” said Toueesut. “Unfortunately we will have to be returning to it to access this information and to be up
dating the Couana with it. Too much there is to be sending it to us—too large a chance of the transmission drawing unwanted attention to ourselves there is.”
“Maybe drawing attention to ourselves is what we need to do,” said Rezac. “If Kezule knows we’re in this area, he may contact us himself.”
“You don’t know Kezule,” said Kaid, turning away from the screen. “Unless he wants to contact us, he’ll just sit it out.”
“What about trying to search for him mentally?” suggested Rezac. “You’ve felt him once. We have three Leska pairs here.” He gave a brief laugh. “A triad of Leskas! We should be able to scan for him and find him.”
Carrie shook her head. “We’ve tried. L’Seuli said that Kezule’s note specified Kusac was to bring no telepaths. Given he’s got a telepathic cub there, and we know he hates telepaths, he’s bound to have the place filled with psi dampers.”
“Don’t know that for sure,” said T’Chebbi, inspecting the nails on her right hand. “Where he get them?”
“The cubs told us he had them wearing psi damping collars,” said Kaid. “He’ll have one on Shaidan, and if he’s figured Kusac has his Talent back, he’ll be wearing one.”
They heard a rhythmic pounding in the corridor outside and as one, looked at each other.
“Ashay,” smiled Carrie, glancing over at the door as the noise came to an abrupt stop and the door slid open.
“News is coming from Tooshu,” said Ashay, the lips curling back from his snout as he ducked his long snakelike neck to enter the room. “Captain Shaayiyisis says they are sorting Valtegan data now. Big job it is being, will be day after tomorrow before it is being usable by us. We return then, Tooshu says.”
Ashay stopped beside Carrie to settle onto the floor on his haunches, pulling his thick tail round his feet out of everyone’s way. “Not be sad, friend Carrie. Finding them we will be,” he added, gently resting one large clawed hand on her shoulder. “Detailed star charts of this region they be having is for sure. Then finding Outpost will be easier.”
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