*
In his aircar, Chyad turned off the comm. So there was to be a Challenge, was there? They’d just played straight into his hands. Hiding out on their estate had been a long shot that had paid off. Security would be intense, they knew he was still out there, somewhere. He grinned. They didn’t know he was so close to them, though. His tail twitched with pleasure. He had a fair chance of escape afterward, but that wasn’t important any longer. He was sick of living on the run. So long as he got them, he’d have beaten that bastard hired to guard them, and that was all that mattered now.
He reached for his pulse rifle and began checking it out, making sure it was ready. The battery packs were still good and he had three of them.
*
Vanna met them as arranged and led them along the corridor to the rooms housing the scanner units.
“Jack Reynolds sent me some data on Terran physiology about two weeks ago. Apart from the obvious physical differences between our species, there are several developmental ones,” she said, opening the door and ushering them in.
“Gestation time for humans is forty weeks. For us it’s twenty-four. I need to take a scan so we can measure the size of your cub’s head. Once I have that, then I can make a reasonable prediction as to when she’ll be born.”
She took Carrie by the arm and led her over to an examination couch set beside the far wall. “Up you get,” she said, pulling a low step from underneath the couch.
“Hey, don’t worry,” she said, sensing Carrie’s dread. “There aren’t going to be any unpleasant surprises. That’s a viable cub you have there, you know that already.”
Kusac helped her settle herself on the couch and remained there holding her hand as Vanna reached up to swing the scanner over her.
Carrie lay there, looking at the narrow bar of light as Vanna moved over to her monitor.
Though Kusac was trying hard to block them from her, she could pick up enough fragments of his worries to know that he was as reluctant as she was to see what their child would look like.
Her hands moved instinctively to clasp over her stomach. As Kusac’s hand followed, icy fear swept through her. She looked up at him, then to Vanna, suddenly seeing their faces as more feline than humanoid. Kusac’s dark-furred face with the impossibly amber eyes. The light caught the tips of his canines where they showed beneath the bifurcated mouth, making them shine white against his darkness. God, what was she doing here with these alien people? What was she doing letting his child grow inside her?
Her stomach lurched as she pushed the fear aside, praying that he hadn’t noticed.
He hadn’t; something else had claimed his attention. His hand released hers and spread across the gentle swell that lay protected beneath her hands.
“She moved,” he whispered. “Carrie, I felt her move!” His eyes, the amber almost opalescent, looked intently at her, all his fears now gone.
“It’s too soon,” she said, her senses swamped with Kusac’s feelings of pleasure and pride.
“Not if we’re looking at a Sholan gestation,” said Vanna as she activated the unit.
She turned round to look at them, adjusting her scanner monitor so they could see it too. “You’ll have to move your hands,” she said gently, “otherwise we won’t be able to see her.”
Carrie moved her hands, holding them clenched at her sides. She could feel Kusac’s eagerness now to see their daughter, followed by his realization that she was still afraid.
His hand closed on hers once more, opening the fingers and lifting it up to his cheek. Everything will be fine, he sent.
“It’s just as well you’re staying with your parents,” Vanna said, activating the unit, “since I expect that, like me, they’ve been fending off requests for interviews and tests from various people. After this Challenge is over, I think the two of you should go away for a few weeks, somewhere no one can find you.”
“It’s already been arranged,” said Kusac.
“Good,” she said, looking back at them as the scanner bar passed slowly above Carrie toward her head, then began its journey back. “You’re definitely beginning to look pregnant now,” she said, reaching over to gently touch Carrie’s stomach. “I have a feeling we’re looking at a Sholan gestation.”
She looked back at the monitor, noticing Carrie’s knuckles begin to whiten as her grasp tightened on Kusac’s hand. She could feel her panic at the thought of any outside interest in her and their child.
“Don’t worry,” said Kusac. “Once we get back home, you needn’t leave there again until after she’s born.”
“I’m all right,” Carrie said, only a slight quaver in her voice. “Why are you working anyway?” she asked Vanna. “I thought you’d be given leave because of your Link. I remember how difficult it was for us, and we were kept secluded in the suite on the Khalossa.”
“I promised you I wouldn’t allow anyone else to do tests,” she said, fiddling with the controls until a picture began to form on the screen. “Besides, I prefer to keep busy.”
“There you are,” she said, moving back so she could point to the screen. “That’s her heart that you can see. It’s beating normally, and there’s the extra valve that you humans lack.”
She touched the controls again and the image changed to show a full-sized picture of the baby. “It looks like your children will be essentially Sholan,” she said.
Kusac felt the instinctive side of Carrie’s mind begin to react in fear and mentally he reached out to her, trying to reassure her. He bent down to touch her. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “She’s our cub, our daughter. How can she be alien to us when we made her?”
Carrie reached up and pulled him down, clinging to him, drawing on their Link while she fought to let her intellect take over. His physical and mental presence steadied her, and the fear began to recede as she felt his pride in her.
“Look, Carrie,” said Vanna, drawing her attention back to the screen. “Her hands and feet look slightly more like yours, but they’re still clawed. Her legs are straighter, too. I have a feeling she’ll walk predominantly upright.” She adjusted the view again. “Ah, I’ve got her head now,” she said with satisfaction. “Don’t worry about it looking out of proportion at the moment because it is at this stage of development.”
“Well, there you have your Leska love child,” a male Terran voice drawled from the door. “I hope it’s what you want.”
Vanna rounded on Brynne. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded. “You’ve no business barging in here while I’m with patients! Get out!”
“I’ve every right,” he said. “I’ve got all your medical knowledge, my dear, and, no, I’m not an ignorant voyeur. I want to know what our child will look like.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, stunned.
“Have you checked yourself lately? No? Well, I suggest that you do, then you and your little friend can attend Mothercare classes together. Besides, I wanted to meet Kusac again and see just what sort of male you judge me against. I would have assumed it would have been Garras considering he’s your mate, but then you people have no sense of loyalty to one partner, have you?”
Vanna ignored the last remark, hoping Kusac was too busy with Carrie to have heard what Brynne said.
“I’m not pregnant,” she stated flatly. “There hasn’t been enough time for the genetic changes to reach that stage yet.”
“You said that because of the gestalt the whole process was accelerated in our case,” Brynne said. “If I were you, I’d check more than my endocrine levels today. We human males have a way of knowing these things. You’re pregnant.” He gave her an indolent wave and left, letting the door slam shut behind him.
*
Kusac was too busy attending to Carrie to be other than peripherally aware of Vanna and Brynne’s interchange. At Brynne’s comment, reason had left her to be replaced with an overwhelming terror. Primal instincts came to the fore, telling her that this child was not like her, was not of he
r species. It was alien through and through, despite the fact that it carried her genes, too. Hysteria took over, and she tried to push Kusac away and get to her feet. She wanted to run and keep running until she left all this far behind, but a small corner of her mind told her that where she went, this problem went, too.
Kusac shoved the scanner aside, grasping Carrie tightly so that she couldn’t move. He felt the gestalt start to build and mentally wrenched the control from her, using its power to subdue her.
Through their Link, he forcibly reminded her of their times together, times when they had laughed, times when they had been joined against a common enemy on Keiss, times when they had loved, and fought with each other. Gradually the terror began to fade, leaving her sobbing against him.
Hush, I know. Believe me, I do understand, he sent. Forget Brynne and the other Terrans. We live here, on Shola. What they think doesn’t concern us. We can’t live our lives by what others want of us. We’ve got each other and a place here to belong. That’s enough.
Take me home, Kusac, she sent, tears still streaming down her face. Take me home.
He helped her down and keeping his arm tightly around her, led her to the door. He turned back to Vanna. “We’re leaving,” he said. “Any more tests can wait.” He hesitated. “Until Brynne gets himself straightened out, I’m sorry, but I want him kept away from Carrie.”
“Yes, of course,” said Vanna, still in shock from what Brynne had said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this of him.”
Kusac shrugged. “We all react differently to the realization that we’ve helped create a new life. Look at how I behaved. He is right, though.”
Vanna stared after him as he left. She gave herself a little shake. There was a lot to do, she’d better get on with it.
Chapter 19
“Esken, I demand to know what the hell is going on! You told me you had this matter of the alien telepaths under control. An isolated incident, you said! Now I hear that the pair who landed here a few days ago have died, that your top interpreter on Earth is on his way here with a human Leska, and under your own noses a link has formed between one of our female medics and a human male! To cap it all, the first pair are now expecting a cub!” He stared angrily out of the comm screen at Esken.
“I’d hardly call that being in control, would you? I have the Council Administrators demanding answers, and Konis Aldatan contacting me every three hours over this damned Challenge his bond-daughter has gotten herself involved in! What do you suggest I tell them?”
“Governor Nesul, I admit that I was wrong about Kusac Aldatan’s Link to the human female being an isolated incident,” Master Esken said stiffly, “However, now that the medic who was doing most of the research into this has a human Leska of her own, perhaps we’ll have a better chance of finding out what causes these links.”
“What you’re saying is you don’t know.”
“We’ve got several working hypotheses, Governor, but at the moment…”
“You don’t know,” interrupted Nesul, impatient with Esken’s evasiveness.
“We are having all the mixed Leska pairs brought to the Guild,” said Esken frostily. “The situation is contained. With more cases to study, I’m sure we’ll reach a conclusion sooner.”
“If you can’t solve this problem, then I’m going to involve someone who can. You’ve had long enough. As to this cub that Kusac Aldatan’s Leska is expecting, I suppose there’s no doubt that it’s his, is there?”
“None, Governor,” said Esken, his tone still cool. “Tests show otherwise. The cub is his.”
“I want to know how this happened. I was told that these Terrans weren’t genetically compatible with us. If there’s one cub, there will be others.”
“There’s no reason to believe that, Governor.”
“Don’t give me the wrong scent, Esken! You don’t believe that any more than I do! What do you intend to do about this child? And this damned Challenge? I presume Konis has contacted you about it, too.”
“It’s an En’Shalla Challenge, Governor. I’ve refused to get involved,” said the Guild Master. “As for the child, it’s a hybrid, neither Sholan nor Terran. Perhaps it would be for the best if it didn’t survive.”
Nesul’s ears flicked contemptuously. “You want it to die, don’t you? It’s only the first, Esken, mark my words on this. You won’t be so lucky a second or third time. One of them will survive.”
“Governor Nesul, I’ve been given my instructions by Commander Chuz, President of the Forces High Command. The pair were sent to me to have their Talents assessed. They were also to attend the Warrior Guild for the same reason. Now that a situation has occurred when their potential to fight can actually be tested, the female will fight the Challenge. Even if I could interfere, I have been ordered not to.”
“Since when did you take orders from the military on a guild matter?” demanded Nesul.
“This has been designated a matter of planetary security,” said Esken stiffly. “Every guild is cooperating, including the Brotherhood.”
“Then why was I not informed?”
Esken began to smile. “Only those guilds involved needed to know, Governor,” he said, his tone silky. “There was no need to involve you before now.”
Nesul’s anger flipped from hot to deadly cold. “Who made that decision?” he asked quietly. “You, I suppose.”
“As the primary guild, it was left to my discretion,” he admitted with an air of condescension.
Nesul took a deep breath. “Then I suggest that you prepare some answers for me to give my administrators; otherwise, Esken, I will refer them to you personally!” With that he blanked the screen.
His exchange with Esken had annoyed him more than usual, reminding him yet again that he might be the elected governmental head of Shola, but that a great deal occurred of which he was unaware. He picked up the latest message left by Konis and reread it thoughtfully. Planetbound he might be, but he wasn’t the fool that those involved in offworld politics thought him. He could see the wind of change coming as well as the next person, and to his mind it was simple. Either one went with it and thus shaped it, or one opposed it and was trampled in the rush. And cubs born of these Leska pairs were that future.
For too long now the Telepath Guild had dominated politics both on and off world. Telepaths, although few in number, generated uneasiness among those who were unTalented in that direction. Telepaths were vital at every level of society, ensuring the honesty of people in business and civil life, and Leska pairs could communicate instantly with other Telepaths over great distances. The one thing that offset their powerful Talent was their inability to cause pain or to fight. These mixed pairs of fighting telepaths challenged that guild’s power by their very existence.
Putting the message down, he scratched his chin thoughtfully. Esken was laying down what amounted to his own private army, setting up a situation for future Guild Masters to have the wherewithal to challenge the elected government. Konis was right, the power of the guild over the mixed Leskas had to be curtailed now, before the other guilds and Clans unquestioningly accepted them as part of Esken’s Guild House at Valsgarth.
He started to smile as a plan began to formulate in his mind. The fact that it would coincidentally let him best his old adversary was absolutely irrelevant. Besides, he happened to believe in the sanctity of the family, something that didn’t affect Esken since he had chosen to remain childless.
*
As soon as Carrie and Kusac had left, Rhyasha went indoors looking for her mate. She found him in his study. “We’ve got to stop that Challenge,” she said, pacing round the room. “There must be something we can do! This should be a time of happiness for them, a time of pride when Kusac can look after her in such a way as to show her how good a father he will be— all the normal things that make up any family’s life, be they Keissian or Sholan. Instead, you can cut their fear with a knife!”
“I know, Rhyasha. Do you think I’m insensitive to
what they’re going through? I feel almost as strong a need to cherish the mother of my granddaughter as my son does! Like him, I’m afraid to do so in case she loses the cub. It would only make her pain worse, especially if the child isn’t viable.”
“She’s viable. You don’t think I’d let her go to the guild for a scan without me if I didn’t know the outcome, do you? I sensed the cub for the first time today.”
Konis frowned up at her, his face a mixture of joy and concern. “You did? Why didn’t you tell them? Why let them continue to worry?”
“An hour wasn’t going to make much difference and Carrie wouldn’t have believed me anyway.” She stopped by the desk, turning to look at him. “She’s so fragile emotionally, Konis, still so afraid of the cub. She’s taken it surprisingly well. I’m sure that only the more imminent fear of the Challenge is keeping her going. If only Taizia and I hadn’t suggested it!”
“We’ve been over that several times, Rhyasha. The suggestion in itself was reasonable, if only Carrie had waited for you to tell her when to do it instead of going along with Taizia’s premature enthusiasm. As for stopping the Challenge, I don’t know what more to do. The guild won’t help. Esken says it must remain a religious matter and he can’t interfere. You told me Ghyan approached Rala and he said she refused to either cooperate or obey his orders. Kusac’s commanding officer says he’s officially on leave and therefore it’s a civil matter. Governor Nesul’s aides say he’s too busy to be disturbed. There’s no one left we can contact.” His ears were lying backward as he spoke.
“No one wants to get involved! Rala’s bent on revenge. I’m sure the only reason this became public knowledge is because Rala herself told Infonet,” he finished.
“Then we’ll contact them, too, and tell them the truth of the matter!”
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