Fire Margins

by Lisanne Norman

  *

  Silently they ran across the hallway toward the curtain, stopping where the wall of the office ended. Heart pounding, Kusac kept a watch over his shoulder till he saw Khyim signaling.

  Jaisa, now! he sent.

  They waited till they heard the faint whine that accompanied an energy discharge, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Pushing the curtain aside, they ran into the temple, heading to the right and left of the statue.

  The guard on Kusac’s side of the statue was down: Chelgo had taken him out. The other emitted a loud shriek of pain as Jaisa’s shot seared past the side of his face, scoring his cheek.

  A shot from Goran and he fell like a stone.

  Up on the balcony, Chelgo threw his rope over the side and slid down. Slipping off his backpack as he went, he began digging the flexi explosive out and breaking it into chunks.

  Jaisa followed him down, then ran over to join Kusac.

  “There’s bound to be guards outside,” said Kusac, pointing to the doors ahead of them. “Keep an eye on the doorway while I check on Khyim.”

  They’d been aware of the sounds of scuffling, and as he headed for the curtain, Khyim and the others emerged, dragging the Valtegan General. Khyim held him from behind, an evil-looking knife pressed firmly against his throat.

  Kaid sprinted to the far end of the temple to fetch the rope. Awkwardly, he sliced through it with his knife, trying not to use his damaged hand. He returned with more than enough to bind Kezule’s wrists.

  It’s safe now, sent Kusac, waiting anxiously with the curtain held back until Carrie, Vartra, and the cub joined him.

  They headed for the statue of Varza as the only place capable of giving them any cover. Once she’d found them a reasonable spot, Carrie left them to join Kusac who was now among the group round the General.

  “How many more fighters have you got in the temple?” Khyim was demanding, but the Valtegan refused to utter a word until he saw Carrie, then he began to hiss, his rainbow-colored crest rising in anger.

  Remembering the officer on the Khalossa, Carrie moved till she was standing in front of him.

  “You don’t want to see me, do you?” she said in Sholan. “I offend you. A female, in public, and worse than that, a breeding one.” She shook her head making tsk-ing noises as she reached out to touch his mind. He stiffened, a look of terror and disgust mingling on his otherwise bland face.

  “You’re emitting fear scents,” she said. “That’s bad. Your guards out there had better not smell that, had they? You wouldn’t last long with them. That’s the way it is, isn’t it? Kill the one who shows any weakness.”

  As she’d been talking, the others had moved aside to give her room, except for Khyim who continued to hold onto the General by the arm, and Kusac who stood, gun trained on the Valtegan, watching for the slightest aggressive move toward Carrie.

  She stepped closer. “Shall we take you to the door and throw you out to them, bound and helpless as you are, reeking of fear? Maybe not. Maybe we will keep you alive—if you help us.”

  His green skin was pallid now, the color of dough, and of his crest, there was no sign.

  “I can take the information I want, Kezule, but that would further dishonor you, wouldn’t it? Tell us, and I’ll release your mind. I won’t even try to touch you,” she said. “Now that’s generous of me. If I were you, I’d accept before I change my mind.”

  He hissed loudly, tongue flicking out at her. “You stinking mammal! May your offspring rend you with their teeth even as they hatch!”

  “Words, Kezule. Only words,” she said, walking slowly back and forth in front of him. She stopped abruptly, mentally reaching out again, this time to take control of his mind.

  “I can hold you so you can’t move,” she said, gradually releasing his muscle control back to him. “Shall I do it again? If I do, this time I’ll touch you,” she said, moving even closer.

  He took a step backward, oval eyes blinking slowly. His temper was under control now. “Do what you will. If you can take what you want, why ask?”

  “It saves time, Kezule. We’ll forget the guards for the moment. Hatchlings.” She stopped, appearing to be listening to something. “Ah, not hatchlings. Eggs. Where are they?” A look of surprise came over her face. “The kitchen!” She looked across at Kusac. “The eggs are in the food warming cabinets!”

  “You stole those words from me!” he hissed. “You are no better than your vermin-ridden allies! Mind-stealers!”

  “No, you sent those words to me as thoughts, Kezule,” she said, aware of Goran and Nyak heading back to the kitchen.

  “Another question. You have a pet. He comes to you from another time, a time when there are no Valtegans on Shola. In fact, you’re expecting him soon, aren’t you? Tell me when, Kezule. Tell me when, and how you call him.”

  He hissed angrily, tongue flicking out at her.

  “Khyim, put the knife to his throat again,” she said. “I wish to touch him.”

  Grinning, Khyim placed his knife once more at the Valtegan’s throat.

  “Kill me then. I’ll tell you nothing,” he said, his crest flaring briefly upward.

  Carrie reached for his wrists, pulling them round so she could see the control bracelet he wore. He flinched, but otherwise remained still.

  “How does it work, Kezule?” she asked. “Tell me what to do.”

  He said nothing, continuing to stare ahead, his eyes blinking slowly.

  She examined the bracelet, finally finding the catch. Releasing it, she slipped it off his wrist.

  “It controls the pacifiers, doesn’t it?”

  “Get the collar off the telepath back there,” Khyim said to Jaisa. “Maybe when our lizard’s wearing it, he’ll talk.”

  Carrie handed the device to Kusac, moving away from her captive to concentrate her efforts on pushing back the mental block that the Valtegan had somehow managed to put up.

  His mind was quite different from the one she’d read earlier. It was more complex, capable of blocking her attempts to penetrate below the surface level.

  I can’t get any more without force. If I do that, he’ll be of no use to us, she sent to Kusac. Can you understand the device?

  Not in the time we’ve got left.

  She looked over to Khyim and shrugged.

  Jaisa came running back with the collar and handed it to Goran.

  “You think that will work?” sneered Kezule as they fastened it round his neck. “Think again!”

  “I didn’t damage the terminals,” said Jaisa. “It should function properly.”

  “Give it to me,” Goran said to Kusac. “I’ve seen one before. It was damaged, but we got a fair idea of what should happen.”

  Watching their captive closely, Goran tried punching a couple of the indentations with his claw tip to no effect. Then he tried the grouped keys.

  The sneer on Kezule’s face froze as his body stiffened. Still in a light rapport with him, Carrie was instantly aware of the result.

  “Pain and dizziness,” she said. “It’s creating some of the effects of the drug directly into his mind!”

  Goran repeated the sequence and they watched as their captive’s breathing became faster and the protective membranes began to cover his eyes. His skin took on a slick, oily quality and he began to sag in Khyim’s grasp.

  “The traveler,” said Carrie. “When is he due?”

  He jerked his head away at the sound of her voice.

  “Hypersensitivity,” said Kaid. “No more, Goran, or he’ll be incapable of answering you.”

  Carrie reached out and took Kezule by the jaw. “When does the traveler arrive?” she repeated.

  Eyes rolling and nostrils flaring in obvious distress, his mouth opened and he began to mumble incoherently. Then he suddenly crumpled, unconscious, against Khyim, who let him fall heavily to the ground.

  As Kezule collapsed, Kusac felt rather than heard the sound from behind. Swinging round, he looked toward the
pillars flanking the steps up to the statue of Varza. The subsonic noise rose in pitch until he was sure they could all hear it. Ears plastered flat to his skull in an effort to cut the sound out, he yelled a warning to Vartra.

  “Vartra! Move away from the statue!” Staggering backward, he tried to see what was happening. He was aware of his mate’s confusion but the noise was vibrating right through him now, setting his teeth on edge, making his whole body ache.

  Vartra grabbed the cub and ran.

  The sound peaked into the audible range as the pillars began to flicker with a rose glow that steadily deepened. All around him, he could feel the energy swirling, being pulled by the crystal pillars toward the space between them.

  He watched as the air seemed to shimmer briefly, then a tan-colored body suddenly materialized, dropping to the floor in front of him. The flickering in the pillars stopped abruptly as if it had never been, but the body on the ground remained.

  It moved, groaning softly as it tried to push itself upright.

  Kaid launched himself toward it and would have been first there had Kusac not had the presence of mind to leap out after him.

  “Get him! It’s Fyak!” he said, struggling to keep a hold on Kaid.

  At the other end of the hall, alerted by the noise, the doors parted and three Valtegan guards rushed in, energy rifles spitting fire in their direction as soon as they realized what was happening.

  Chaos ensued as people dived for cover, returned fire, and tried to grab their hostages.

  Taking Kaid down with him, Kusac raised his rifle and opened fire on the guards, taking one of them with his first shot. A cry of pain from behind him signaled one of theirs had taken a hit.

  Not me, sent Carrie as she crouched behind the statue with Vartra and the cub.

  A shower of crystal shards sprayed over him as a beam hit one of the pillars. Kaid took that guard out with his pistol.

  “The pillars! They mustn’t hit them again or we’re stranded!” yelled Carrie.

  A burst of fire from Goran took the other at the knees, his second shot killing him as he fell. Then it was over, the silence intense after all the noise and confusion.

  Slowly they picked themselves up, looking around to see who had been hurt. It was Jaisa, but Khyim as the nearest was already seeing to her. Tearing a strip from his tunic, he bound up the gash along her forearm.

  “Shallow flesh wound, no more,” he said. “You’ll live.”

  Around the nose, Jaisa was gray with pain. She nodded slowly as he helped her to her feet.

  They all felt the slight movement beneath their feet at the same moment. Frozen to the spot, they looked at each other, fear in their eyes. It came again, a faint trembling of the ground that continued, growing stronger and stronger, till above them the wooden beams began to creak and plaster began to flake off the vaulted ceiling, falling down on them like rain.

  Kaid and Kusac exchanged glances then headed at a run for Carrie and the cub. Kusac reached his mate first and pulled her with him toward the crystal pillars.

  “Stay there,” he said, darting back for the unconscious form of Kezule.

  “Bring Fyak to us!” Kaid yelled to Goran as he picked up the cub and sprinted toward Carrie. “Get the gate working!” he said. “We have to go now!”

  “How? I don’t know what to do!” she said helplessly.

  “The ritual! Remember the ritual,” shouted Kusac, depositing Kezule like a trophy at his mate’s feet. “Carrie, touch the pillar! Use your mind to key the crystal—match its resonance and draw the energy from the earthquake!”

  “Oh, God, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” she moaned, hurrying over to hold the nearest pillar. The crystal was cool beneath her touch but she could sense the echoes of the gateway deep within it.

  Kusac ran to the other, looking at Kaid. “Send the cub first! You know when he has to arrive, we don’t!” He turned to the pillar and began to reach with his mind into the heart of the crystal column.

  Standing between them, his younger self in his arms, Kaid could feel the energy between the pillars starting to build. He had no idea what any of them were doing, but he knew they had to succeed.

  “We haven’t erased his memories!” said Carrie, turning a frightened face in his direction. “You’ll have to do it yourself!”

  He held the cub at arms’ length, looking down into his own terrified eyes. There were things he-the-child had to remember! Thinking back to one of his earliest memories at Dzahai Village, he began to reach for his own immature mind. It was easier than he thought to link with him, but then their minds were the same, after all. He saw the beginnings of memories of this day’s work being stored. They had to go, and ruthlessly, he took them. Those of himself went, as did those of Kusac. That left images of Carrie. He backed away from them, turning instead to those he knew he must leave, and create. The door in the cavern, the collar—adult memories from his mind, not belonging to childhood. What he was doing was brutal and harsh: he had no time for subtlety, even had he known how. Carrie’s images came again, and as he reached for them, he, the adult Kaid, began to remember her touch, her scent, the sound of her voice, the feel of her hair.

  “Kaid!” she yelled, breaking his concentration. “Now! Send him now!”

  He looked ahead and almost fell back in terror at what was before him. Between the pillars, the very air itself seemed to be melting as it bent and folded tortuously back on itself. From the center, a wind began to blow, the current of air pushing at him, forcing him backward from the gateway. In his grasp, the cub began to whimper in fear.

  He knew where he-the-cub had to arrive. In his mind he built an image of the statue at the Retreat. “Remember, Tallinu! Vartra go with you!” he said, then threw the cub into the center of the maelstrom.

  The cub hit the spiraling vortex and was sucked instantly into it. A high-pitched scream, almost above the level of Sholan hearing, split the air. Abruptly it was cut off, as from the heart of the gate, colored light flared brightly then died, leaving him shaken and blinking, unable to focus. He fell to the floor as under his feet the ground began to heave and buck like a living beast in agony. He staggered then fell, unable to keep his balance. Pushing himself onto his knees, he rubbed his eyes with his good hand, peering through the choking dust for Carrie and Kusac. They were still there, hanging onto the pillars for dear life. Between them lay the huddled shapes of Kezule and Fyak.

  “We have to leave!” yelled Goran, running over to help him to his feet. “You did whatever you came to do! Now come with us before this place falls about our ears!”

  “No! We have to go back!”

  “You can’t! Look around you! The pillars are beginning to break up! They won’t stand much more of this!”

  Kaid pulled away from him. “Go! Leave us here! Get your people to safety!”

  Goran hesitated a moment, then grasped Kaid by the forearm in the Warrior’s grip. “Good fortune,” he said before leaving at a run.

  Kaid watched them leave through the doors at the far end of the hall. Vartra stopped and turned to look back at them, standing framed in the doorway. Between them, the flames leaped, rising higher as the temple began to burn. Then he was gone.

  Kaid turned back to his friends. Kusac was still leaning against the pillar.

  Take Carrie’s place. She needs to be between us.

  He went, stepping over Fyak on the way. A hand closed on his ankle, the claws penetrating as he was pulled up short.

  “You!” hissed Fyak, trying to tighten his grip. “I should have known! How dare you violate the sanctity of Kezule’s temple! You have no right to be here!”

  Kaid tried to pull free. “Let go, Fyak. I’ve no time to waste on you!”

  “You’ve destroyed His temple with your blasphemy! You’ll burn in hell for this!” yowled the prophet, clutching at Kaid with his other hand as he tried to pull him down.

  “Now, Kaid!” Carrie shouted.

  He bent down, swiping at Fyak�
�s head, sending him flying across the floor to crash headfirst into the pillar opposite Carrie. “Later,” he muttered.

  As he reached Carrie’s side, she took him by the arm, placing his injured hand against the column.

  I’ll show you what to do, she sent, then he felt her mind touch his, guiding it into the crystal, finding its rhythm, its unique pulse of energy. Keep hold of that and match your mind to it. When I call you, come to me and bring Kezule. Understand?

  He nodded, unable to speak. Her touch had been the final trigger that released all the memories that had been hidden—by himself scant minutes before. Reaching up, he touched her cheek.

  “I remembered your tears,” he said softly. “The echo of them, the memory of you—even though I didn’t know who you were—kept me going during those dark days after I arrived at Vartra’s Retreat.”

  “We’ll get home safe,” she said, touching his fingertips to her lips. Then she was gone.

  He did as she told him, trying to ignore the sound of the debris falling around them. The crystal warmed to his touch as his mental contact with it strengthened. Against his chest, he felt an echoing pulse from the one he still wore.

  Instead of the rose tint, it began to flush red, brightening and darkening till it glowed the color of new-spilled blood. Overhead he could hear the squeal of tortured metal. He risked a glance upward in time to see the roof begin to crumble as giant blocks of masonry and metal beams crashed to the ground just meters from them. Fear leaped into his mind to be instantly caught and stilled by Carrie. He looked at her, a tiny figure standing between the flame red pillars, their reflected light washing over her like blood. Before her, the vortex was building again, and he could feel the energy she was drawing through him and Kusac from the ground beneath their feet—the ground that still heaved and bucked.

  Now! she sent, calling them to her side. Kaid was there, holding her right hand as the air gusted toward them from between the pillars, blowing her hair backward, plastering her robe against her body. His right hand gripped Kezule by the scruff, the body of the unconscious general lay slumped against his leg.