“I’ll repeat what I said. You made her part of our world by your own actions,” said Rhuso. “If she continues like this, you will both be fighting against everything in our culture. Is that what you want? Neither of you to belong anywhere?”
Kusac made a derisive noise. “Tell me where we’ll fit in even if we do as you ask?”
“I don’t know, but at least you’ll be giving yourselves a chance! All we’re asking is your cooperation in getting her to come for training. In a few weeks you’ll return to Shola to live at the guild. Think of the damage she could do to our students there, damage to their attitude to authority among other things.”
He leaned forward earnestly. “We can’t afford to have impressionable younglings turn their backs on the ethics that form the foundation of our place in society, Kusac. One person like Carrie paying no attention to those ethics could lead a generation of young telepaths to believe their judgment is as valid as that of their more experienced tutors. Our young males, particularly, will be susceptible to her influence,” he said. “As a potential future Lord of the Clans it makes it even more important that your Leska be brought to heel now while you, at least, can still influence her. Our fear is that her Talent will take her beyond your ability to control.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re overexaggerating her importance, and her ability.”
“Am I? Can you honestly say that you’ll always be able to influence her?”
“Yes, I can. You don’t know her. I do.”
“Then see she comes to me for training,” said Rhuso quietly. “Do it now, before I have to make it an order.”
“She’ll come,” Kusac snapped. “But not because I believe you. See that you don’t use subliminals or blocks on her, because if you do, I’ll know instantly and, by Vartra, you’ll regret it!”
“No subliminals or blocks, Kusac. That I promise,” said Rhuso, watching him get up.
“Is that all you wanted to see me about?” he asked.
Rhuso nodded. “That’s it.”
“In that case, I’ll be leaving, Tutor,” he said, ears and tail flicking in anger. “Carrie will be in touch with you either later today or tomorrow.”
*
Kusac had no sooner left than Sevrin came to tell Carrie she had a visitor. It was Rhyasha.
“I hope I’m not intruding,” she said as she settled herself in one of the easy chairs, “but I thought we ought to have a chat.”
“No, you’re very welcome,” said Carrie. “I’m afraid you’ve missed Kusac, though. He’s just gone out.”
“In which case I’m glad I’ve caught you on your own. Now, don’t look so worried,” she said, leaning forward to touch Carrie’s hand. “Since you’re going to be part of our world, I thought it best to explain something of it to you. I know Kusac won’t think to do it! Memory transfers give you the knowledge but not the experience to use it, as I’m sure he’s told you,” she smiled.
She could feel the young human begin to bristle— if she’d been Sholan, her hackles would be rising. Their bodies were so difficult to read compared to her people! She was still having some difficulty reading her mind, but that was getting easier with every day as her mental patterns moved closer to those of her son. And his closer to hers, she sighed.
“Have you been talking to the Mentor?” Carrie asked, staring her straight in the eyes.
Damn! So much for the subtle approach, she thought. “Actually, I have,” admitted Rhyasha. “But I didn’t come here to talk to you about your session with the Valtegan.”
“I’m delighted to hear it,” Carrie said ironically, pulling her legs up onto the chair beside her.
“You have to realize, Carrie, that the real power on our world is held by the guilds. We have a central government comprised of elected members, but the inner council that guides our Governor is made up in the main of the Guild Masters. They decide on the policy. It isn’t wise to alienate any of the guilds, and the way you spoke to Mnya today seriously ruffled her fur. She isn’t used to people assuming such a high-handed attitude toward her, especially in front of other guild members. It minimizes her position. As Mentor, she has virtually Guild Master status on the Khalossa.”
“She tried to minimize me,” said Carrie. “She asked me to do a job for her, then she complained about my methods. I did my best. I got her the information she wanted despite the Valtegan going catatonic on me.”
“You shouldn’t have spoken to her the way you did, my dear,” said Rhyasha, softening her voice to take the sting out of her words. “You’re in an anomalous position, a vulnerable one at the moment. Mnya has been given the task of assessing your talents and reporting on them to the main Telepath Guild on Shola, the one situated at Valsgarth where we live. When you leave the Khalossa, you’ll be going there. We don’t want Guild Master Esken to get a false impression of you.”
“Why does it matter what he thinks of me? He’s got nothing to do with our life, has he?”
“On the contrary,” said Rhyasha. “He’ll have to eventually decide where to place you and Kusac— what line of work you are suited for. If you are unable to adhere to the codes of our guild it will make his task the more difficult. Perhaps even impossible.”
With an exclamation of annoyance, Carrie got to her feet and began to pace in front of Rhyasha. “I’m sick to death of hearing about your damned code! You all forget that I’m not Sholan, and unlike you, I’ve personally suffered under the hands of these aliens! How on earth do you expect me to be able to treat them as I would normal, decent people?”
Rhyasha reached out and caught Carrie by the hand, forcing her to stop. “Listen to me, cub. For Kusac’s sake you mustn’t fight the Telepath Guild. Your Link to him has wider ranging consequences than you can imagine. Political consequences. You need as many people on your side as you can get. Don’t alienate the guild, for all our sakes.”
Carrie tried to pull away, but Rhyasha refused to let go. “I haven’t finished yet. We have abilities the ordinary person is wary of; we don’t want their fear to escalate. Seeing one of their telepaths with an alien Leska, knowing the pair are now able to fight, could just turn that wariness into outright fear.”
She gently tugged at Carrie’s arm. “Come, sit beside me. Let me explain.” She felt Carrie stiffen. “I’m not here to criticize you, cub, I’m here to help you understand.”
Grudgingly, Carrie sat down.
“More than a thousand years ago, after the Cataclysm, there was a terror of all telepaths. The ordinary Sholans believed that we had brought about the destruction that raged across our world and they tried to hunt us down and kill us. Only the intervention of our God, Vartra, stopped it. He spoke to the people, urging them to stop fighting each other and instead work together to rebuild our world. It was He who told us to set up the guilds so that in the aftermath of the disaster, no skills would be utterly lost. He initiated a Warrior Guild to protect us from harm, and also to protect our people from any telepaths who would misuse their Talent. This balance has lasted since then. Now, suddenly, there are telepaths who can fight, who may be capable of taking on Warriors and defeating them. Can you see why our guild may be afraid you will upset this balance? Especially when you resist all the ethics they’ve built up primarily to see that none of us would think of misusing our Talent?”
“I can see the sense in what you’re saying,” Carrie admitted reluctantly. “But many of your ethics are totally unrealistic. When you’re fighting a species with no honor, how can you expect to win if you play fairly with them? They won’t respect you for it, they’ll only walk over you and laugh while they do it.”
“I understand what you’re saying, too, but you have to see it from the viewpoint of people like Mnya. They see only that you refuse to live by our codes and that this is a threat to their authority. When you’re dealing with Talents like ours, you need to be able to command the respect of the young ones you’re teaching so that they will grow up into responsible members of society. If
you’re seen to flaunt our rules, then our young will want to emulate you. We can’t allow that.” She reached out to gently touch her cheek.
“You and Kusac can’t live unnoticed on Shola. People will see what you do. You need to set an example, to show that your people will honor our customs and protect our society.”
Carrie made an exasperated noise. “Is there no place where we can be just us? Will we always be under a microscope being observed and studied? I don’t think I can stand it, Rhyasha.”
“You’ll have to, my dear,” she said with sympathy. “I know now is a difficult time for the two of you, but you have Kusac. There’s no one better to have at your side for this. Together you’ll manage, I know it.”
“I wish I had your confidence,” Carrie muttered as Rhyasha put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“I have to go now. I’m supposed to be here on official business after all. If you want to talk, cub, you know where I am,” she said, getting up. “You’ll be welcome any time.”
*
By the time he reached their suite, he’d managed to shake off enough of his anger to be able to bring down the barrier he’d placed between them. It wasn’t an insurmountable barrier, it was more one of politeness that they each used and respected in the other. It gave them a semblance of privacy, something they both needed.
Sevrin was in the hallway. She was in, good. Kusac nodded briefly to him as he went past.
Carrie was in the lounge, curled up on the settee. She’d been watching the entertainment channel on the wall comm and switched it off as he entered.
“Carrie,” he said without preamble, “will you contact Tutor Rhuso either today or tomorrow? The Guild wants you to start training with them now.”
“I thought you were teaching me.”
“Apparently that’s not good enough,” he said.
“I’d rather not go. Can’t you tell them I prefer to learn from you?”
“No, I can’t. If you don’t go voluntarily, then they’ll order you to go,” said Kusac, pacing round the room, tail flicking from side to side.
“Order me?” she said incredulously, turning to follow him with her eyes. “They can’t just order me to go!”
He stopped in front of her. “They can, and they will. It’s for the best, Carrie. You don’t take much notice of me, maybe you’ll pay attention to the Tutor.”
“That’s unfair, Kusac. The only thing we disagree on is that damned code of ethics.”
“That’s what’s at the root of this. You’ve got to realize that the guilds are the real power on Shola. You can’t talk to Mentors the way you did this morning, even if you are in the right. Think it by all means, say it to me if you have to, but not to the guild officials.”
“Don’t you start as well! I’ve just had half an hour of your mother lecturing me on the importance of your code as well as how to speak to the Mentor.”
“Did it occur to you we might be right? I’ve had Rhuso jumping on me because of what you said to the Mentor. We can’t afford to alienate the Telepath Guild.”
“I did my best this morning, Kusac. If I’d done it their way, we’d have had nothing,” she said angrily.
“Put your shield up, Carrie! You’re broadcasting again! Why can’t you even do something as simple as that?” he said, equally angry. “It’s about time you learned some of the responsibilities that go with possessing a Talent. You can’t keep making everyone around you ill.”
“I don’t believe this,” she said, jumping to her feet. “You get a hard time from your Tutor, so you take it out on me!”
“I’m taking nothing out on you,” he snapped. “I’m telling you that you’ve upset the guild and they aren’t happy about it. It’s up to you to deal with it. I can’t spend the rest of our lives apologizing for you because you don’t want to behave in an acceptable manner.”
“I’ve had enough of this,” she said, heading toward the door. “How dare you talk to me like that!”
“Go where you want,” he said, putting a hand up to his forehead as a stabbing pain lanced through his temples. “Just put your damned shield up before you give everyone on the ship a headache like mine!”
The door slammed behind her, and her shield went up.
Minutes later Kusac followed her into the hall, noticing that Sevrin was gone. Muttering darkly, he went to the bedroom to find his spare jacket. In the pocket were the pills Vanna had given him when they first came on board the Khalossa. He needed one for the headache their angry exchange had left him with. Getting a glass of water from the bathroom, he swallowed the tablet and returned to lie down on the bed.
He knew he’d mishandled it badly, and that wasn’t like him. Come to think of it, Carrie’s reaction was equally unlike her. If he was being honest, his anger was with the guild, not her. Feeling through their Link, he tried to reach her, but she’d put up a barrier, the same one she’d had before they’d become lovers. Now he was angry with her. There was no need to take it that far. That was childish, not the behavior expected of a female, even one several years his junior.
He lay there with his head pounding, feeling angry and sorry for himself in turns. He knew that at least half of the headache was due to the fact he’d let himself get so wound up.
A knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” he said.
It was Sevrin. “I’m afraid I lost her, sir,” he said apologetically.
“Lost who?” Kusac asked, pushing himself up enough to peer at him.
“The Liegena, sir. She went out, so I followed her. She took the elevator down to the fourteenth level, and then she started running and dodging between people. That’s when I lost her.”
Kusac sat up quickly, wincing at the pain his sudden movement caused. “Then get out there and find her!” he growled. “Take Meral with you and don’t come back without her. She’s never been down as far as the troop levels before. The God knows what could happen to her!”
“What about you, sir? We can’t leave you on your own.”
“I’m not going anywhere with this headache, I can’t even see straight. Now go!”
*
She knew that she’d lost Sevrin almost as soon as she’d gotten out of the elevator, but she kept running until she couldn’t go any farther. She stopped at last, chest heaving in an effort to catch her breath as she leaned against the corridor wall. The looks of naked curiosity from the passersby burned her with their intensity. Frantically she looked around for a familiar referent, but nothing was recognizable, not even the Sholans in their strange drab-brown uniforms. Pushing herself away from the wall, she walked on, forcing herself not to run, trying to look purposeful despite her mounting fear.
At the next intersection, cursive symbols were written on the walls but though she knew how to read, she couldn’t make sense of them. The words in front of her remained alien. Everything down here smelled and sounded different; strange odors combined with the half-familiar scents of oil and grease. Suddenly the corridor was full of people, all chattering at once and jostling shoulders with each other as they pushed past her. Those few who noticed her stopped to stare in open surprise.
Trapped against the wall by this living tide of beings, real panic began to take hold of her. The audible noise they were making was as nothing compared to what their minds were generating inside her head. She had to get away! They were so large they wouldn’t see her, she’d be crushed alive! Then someone bumped into her and as he turned round to apologize, what was left of her self-control snapped.
Terror took hold of her as, bodily pushing people aside, she began to run again, desperate to see an open space among this crowd, desperate for some silence inside her head. Their verbal and mental outrage at being treated so thoughtlessly followed her as she fled round the corner— only to crash straight into a tall male.
“Hey!” he said, making a grab for her as she stumbled against him. “What are you doing down here? Are you lost or something?”
She pulled free, turni
ng frightened eyes up at him as she backed away.
“You’re the Terran telepath,” he said, understanding dawning on his face as he touched the Leska symbol on her purple tunic.
Carrie turned and fled. All around her Sholans were changing shifts and this corridor was as crowded as the other had been.
“Get out of my way!” she screamed, using her fists to pummel her way through them while ignoring their enraged exclamations.
An arm reached out and tried to bar her way. Trying to dodge past, she lost her footing and as she fell, strong hands grasped her and pulled her up. She began to scream, struggling to escape. The arms pulled her closer, wrapping around her threshing limbs in an effort to contain her and hold her still.
She continued to scream and struggle, turning her head in an attempt to bite at the restraining arms. He smelled of stale air, and sweat. Around them the other Sholans moved aside, giving them plenty of space. They didn’t want to get involved.
As her teeth caught his forearm and sank into his flesh, he cursed. This was getting him nowhere. She was beyond reason, utterly hysterical. He had to get her out of the corridor before someone else decided to intervene. Thank the Gods there was somebody he knew on this level. It wasn’t the ideal place, but it was better than trying to make it up to his room.
He grunted in pain as he tried to shake his arm free. No good; he needed to get her mouth open first. Lifting his feral bundle, he took advantage of the clear space around them to head for corridor nine.
*
Rhuso sat in front of his comm, waiting for the Mentor to answer his call.
“Rhuso,” she said as her image came on screen. “I’ve been expecting you. Have you spoken to him?”
“Yes, Mentor, I’ve spoken to him.”
“And what is your conclusion?”
Rhuso sighed. “It’s as you said. He conceals all his thoughts behind a shield. It could be penetrated, but not without alerting him.”
“And his attitude to our worries?”
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