"If you can do that, then, yes! Telepathically, we can give you the information you need to access the transmitter and send our signal."
"It could work," admitted Guynor grudgingly, "but we need to interface into the Valtegan computers. They're probably incompatible with ours."
"What do you mean by interface?" asked Skai.
"Basically, our computers will probably run at a different speed than the Valtegans'. Also the computer language we use won't be understood by their machine so I need to build a translator to allow our computer to talk to theirs, and vice versa," explained Guynor.
"So this translator is your interface?" questioned Skai.
"Exactly, but the next problem is to get hold of some Valtegan electronic equipment so that our interface can be connected to it without damage to either system."
"What kind of Valtegan hardware do you need?" continued Skai. "Maybe we have something that would do."
"We need some communications device. Not a personal communicator, but one from a building or a vehicle," said Mito.
"We have a groundcar. Would that be any use?"
Mito's ears pricked up. "That would be ideal! What state is it in?"
"Pretty good. Last time I saw it, about a fortnight ago, they had repaired most of the damage caused by our attack. I know the radio is all right because they were using it to monitor Valtegan transmissions, trying to work out more of the language."
"Where is it? When can I get it? It sounds ideal for our purposes!"
"At our base just south of here, near the foot of the hills."
"It might as well be at Hillfort!" said Carrie bitterly. "How are we going to get word to them in time?"
"Actually, that is the least of our problems," said Skai smugly. "I never told you, but I have a wrist communicator and can get in touch with the base anytime."
Carrie favored him with a look of dislike. "I knew we couldn't completely trust you," she said.
"Oh, come on now! You kidnap me in the middle of the forest, introduce me to a new species of Aliens, and you expect me to give away my one ace? Be realistic, girl. Anyway, it's going to be our biggest asset now."
"Certainly an asset," interrupted Garras smoothly, "but perhaps not our biggest. We still have to ascertain if Carrie and Kusac can work their disguise. Without them, we cannot reach the transmitter inside the base."
"Have you got any communications operators and technicians among your people?" interrupted Mito.
"Sure. We've got most of the crew of the Eureka left."
"Captain, we must contact them. There are things I need, tools this pod doesn't provide. I must talk to them now," said Mito urgently.
"No!" exclaimed Guynor angrily, stepping forward. "Captain..."
"Enough," said Garras, his voice deceptively mild. "Now we have no option but to trust the Terrans. Unless you are suggesting that the seven of us mount an armed raid on the base with nothing more than these few side arms?"
"There are explosives and rifles in the pod," replied Guynor stiffly.
"We are a reconnaissance unit, not a combat group. We are also vastly outnumbered and outclassed. Our strength lies in stealth, not force. I am glad to hear we have extra munitions at our disposal. They will be useful to the Terrans as a backup in the event of trouble— if they will aid us. They have the military and strategic knowledge, we, the technical."
"Skai, contact your base and let me talk to your Commanding Officer," ordered Garras.
"I think it would be better if..." began Skai, stumbling to a halt as he saw the Sholan Captain's ears flatten and his eyes narrow.
"Yes, sir," he said hurriedly, cursing inwardly at fate for robbing him of his chance to appear in charge of the situation.
Carrie looked at him curiously as he keyed his call signal into his wrist communicator.
"I don't know why you are worrying," she said. "You did the job we asked you to do excellently. You're bound to get praise for that. Why do you need more?"
Skai gave Carrie a shocked glance before the tiny voice on his comm unit claimed his attention.
"Davies, is that you?" he asked.
"Identify," the voice repeated.
"Don't be stupid, you know it's Skai!"
"Password," it insisted pedantically. "And where the hell have you been the past four days? Screwing your way round Seaport, I've no doubt!"
Skai flushed. "Come on, Davies," he muttered, "I've got company."
"I'll just bet you have! Password."
"Bramble, you son of a bitch, and I hope you've stepped on some eggs this week!"
"Identity verified," replied Davies smugly. "Captain Skinner will enjoy hearing where you've been. I hope the excuse is a good one this time."
Skai began to grin. "Oh, it is. Believe me, it is. Put me through, will you? I'll need a secure line."
"Just for an excuse? Come on, what are you up to?"
"Patch me through, Davies," ordered Skai, feeling the situation come back under his control again. "Once Skinner hears what I have to say, he won't thank you for delaying me."
"I'll make it my business to find out what you're playing at, Skai," warned Davies.
"Skinner here," interrupted a crisp voice. "When you've quite finished your banter, I'll have that secure line, Davies."
"Yes, sir."
"What have you got to report that requires security status?" asked the Captain.
"I've located the Aliens who crashed two months ago," replied Skai.
There was a short silence. "Repeat what you just said," ordered Skinner.
"I found the Aliens."
"You found?" murmured Carrie.
"Who else is with you?" demanded the Captain.
"Carrie Hamilton," replied Skai, giving the girl a sidelong glance. "Actually, she found them."
"I thought she'd end up with us. Too much spirit in that one to be a farmer's wife."
"Captain," urged Skai, "the Aliens. I've got them here with us. They want to talk to you. They can help us."
"Ah, the Aliens."
"Here, give the damned thing to me," said Carrie, grabbing hold of his wrist. "Captain, I know it's difficult to accept, but believe me, we have here the five surviving members of the craft that the Valtegans shot down. They are called Sholans, and they have a battle cruiser out in deep space. They will help us, but their transmitter is out of action and they need our assistance to get a message through."
"What assistance can we give them?" asked the Captain, recovering his equilibrium again.
"Skai says you have a Valtegan groundcar. They need it to make some kind of interface into the Valtegan communications system."
"We have a groundcar, and it's working after a fashion," admitted Skinner, "but the only practical way to get it to you is to fly it, and it's not capable of doing that at present."
"Give me the wrist comm," ordered Garras, pushing forward and holding out his hand. "I'll talk to him and find out what the delay is."
Mito murmured briefly to him in Sholan as Skai took off the device and handed it over.
He nodded.
"Who's that?" asked Skinner sharply.
"Captain Garras of the Sholan scout craft Sirroki, Captain Skinner," he answered. "We need that Valtegan craft to be able to contact our Mothership. Once we have alerted the Khalossa to our mutual predicament, it will be in orbit around Keiss within days."
"It has the firepower, and the incentive to rid this planet of the Valtegans. We have also suffered at their hands."
"As for your ship, with the Valtegans gone there will be no need to stop it from landing on Keiss."
"We don't have time for the diplomatic niceties, I'm afraid. Let's leave that to our politicians. You and I are men of action, and action is what is needed right now. Can we cooperate?"
There was a slight hesitation. "Certainly. We'll get that craft flying somehow. Meanwhile, how else can we help you?"
"Mito, tell the Captain your requirements," ordered Garras, handing the comm to her.<
br />
"I need trained tech personnel and their equipment. Have you got the following items or equivalents?" she asked, reeling off a list of some half a dozen tools.
"I'll get my people on it right away. Stay in communication and I'll put you through to our expert in that field. I've got a fix on your location so we'll have no difficulty reaching you. Is there anything else?"
Garras leaned over and spoke. "Put as many heavily armed men in the craft as you can. Two of your people will have to break into the base here to patch our device into the Valtegan transmitter, and I want the means to rescue them if necessary."
"Break into the base?" Skinner echoed in disbelief, briefly forgetting diplomacy. "Are you mad? Have you any idea what you're up against?"
"Yes, Captain Skinner, I have," said Garras. "We don't intend to break in by force. I presume you will be coming with your men; I will brief you when we have made our final plans."
There was a short silence. "All our personnel are trained fighters," said Skinner. "By the way, I must compliment you on your grasp of our language."
"We have the benefit of an excellent team of Telepaths. The credit is theirs, they imprinted us with your language."
There was another pause. "That's a useful technique. I wish we had those methods at our disposal. We must talk about it sometime."
"Certainly. As for your people not having those skills, the girl Carrie is half of our team. Along with Kusac, our Telepath, they make the most gifted pair I've come across in many years. Don't you make use of this Talent?"
"I'm afraid that as far as we humans are concerned, it's regarded as a fringe phenomenon and highly unreliable."
"I see there are a few differences in our outlook," said Garras. "Still, it would be surprising if there were not. Telepaths are a valuable resource to any civilization. This is a matter that our diplomats will doubtless discuss at length later." Garras' eyes flicked briefly over to Carrie and Kusac.
"Doubtless," replied Skinner. "Tell Carrie that her brother arrived here today. He intends to join us. Has she any messages for him or her father?"
"Tell them I'm safe and well, but I won't return," she said, leaning over the comm.
"There's no reason for you to go back, my dear. Richard has given us some idea of your problems. It looks like you could have an interesting future ahead of you with us."
"No, I mean I'm not returning..." she started, breaking off as Garras caught her by the arm. He shook his head slowly, warning her to silence.
"We'll sort something out, never fear," reassured Skinner.
"Captain, I'm afraid we cannot accommodate any more personnel in our life pod. It's intended as emergency accommodation only for a normal reconnaissance crew of six. We number seven. Also our food supplies are limited. I am sorry to be so inhospitable..."
"That won't be a problem, Captain Garras. We can sleep in the groundcar and I'll make sure we bring plenty of food."
"Thank you. My First Officer may be able to help your mechanics get the groundcar flying."
"Any help would certainly be most welcome," replied Skinner. "I'll hand over to my senior technician for the moment."
Carrie felt a tap on her shoulder and turned round to find Vanna beckoning Kusac and her aside. She moved away from the hatch and back toward the central pillar.
"I think they are going to talk what you call 'shop' for the moment. Why don't we go and organize the food situation? If you're like me all this technical jargon is another language, one I don't understand," she said once they were out of earshot.
"Too true," murmured Kusac, gently trying out his shoulder and wincing immediately.
"They can't make me stay on Keiss, can they?" asked Carrie, obviously distressed as she clutched at Kusac's good arm.
Vanna caught his expression. "No, they can't," she replied soothingly, putting an arm around the girl. "Once we have the Khalossa here, I can use the transmitter to tie into the medical banks for all the documented information on Leska bondings. When it's known that to separate you would be a hazard to both your lives, then a solution will have to be worked out. Frankly, I'm positive our people won't leave you both on Keiss in such a backward culture."
"Excuse me speaking so plainly, but compared to us, you are backward. We have had several hundred years of experience in trading with Alien races, and our space-based personnel have very little trouble with xenophobia, Guynor being an exception."
"There is also your people's lack of understanding of Telepaths. We couldn't leave Kusac in that kind of environment for the rest of his life. I'm afraid you'll probably not have a choice about remaining on this planet," she said, drawing Carrie farther into the pod, with Kusac following because she was still holding on to him.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. You are of more use to us than Kusac is to your people. Now come on, if we're going to play host to a group of Terrans, we'll have to check over the galley again. I hope they bring some interesting food with them."
"I'm glad that they can manage to sleep in that groundcar they're bringing," said Kusac, moving Carrie's hand from his arm into his hand. "We're already short of space inside the pod at night."
"I forgot to ask how you were coping with the cramped and unshielded conditions," said Vanna.
"It's bearable so far," Kusac replied. "After all, I've been unconscious most of the time! What tonight will be like, I have no idea."
"If you need drugs to help you sleep, don't hesitate to ask. We have plenty. I'm afraid I have no psychic suppressants, though. A normal recon unit doesn't include Telepaths."
"Let me give you another shot for the pain," she said, picking up her case. "I want you spending today resting," she said, looking at him fiercely.
Kusac sat down on his bunk. "Don't worry, I will," he reassured her. "We'll cope. I'm finding that things I thought impossible before are now achievable. My personal Talent is developing in new directions, to say nothing of our bond." He smiled up at Carrie.
The drug dispensed and the case closed again, Vanna crossed over to the water purifier and pulled out a small package which she threw to the girl.
"Can you fill this from the swamp, please? We're getting low on water."
"Certainly," replied Carrie, turning to go.
"Get Skai to choose a safe area," warned Kusac. He waited until she had left.
"What worries you?" he asked, leaning back against the hull.
"You do," she answered. "I've been thinking about what you'll both have to go through once our ship arrives."
"You think I haven't? Believe me, I have."
She dipped her head to one side in negation. "Leaving aside the board of inquiry, the Guild of Medics will want to give both of you a thorough going over to find out why you bonded, and the extent of your abilities. They'll really give Carrie a good working over. Just think of it, the first ever other Telepathic species; a new Alien physiology to categorize and label. They'll be in their element, and they won't necessarily care that she's a Telepath."
"I am thinking," said Kusac grimly.
"Can you both cope with it? Should you ask her to go through all the psych profiles and medical tests?"
"What can I do? As you said, we can't survive here. Our only possible future is on the Khalossa."
"Can't your Guild adopt her and protect her from the worst of the investigations?"
"They could, but they'll be just as anxious to study her."
"Aren't there any other Leska pairs on the ship that could help?"
"I believe there is one," he said thoughtfully. "They might be persuaded to help on a personal level if I can reach them early enough."
"I'm already concerned about how Carrie will react to being the only Terran on the ship. Up till now she's never been in wholly Sholan company for more than a day. She could find the species isolation too much to cope with. It could drive her insane."
His ears were twitching spasmodically with the effort of keeping them erect despite his distress. He shook hims
elf and stood upright. "Carrie is questioning my mood. We cannot continue this discussion any longer or she will become aware of our fears."
"Is the bond that close, then?" asked Vanna. "I was led to believe Telepaths can only pick up the surface thoughts."
"Normally, yes, but what is normal in our relationship? Leskas are acutely aware of their partners, but we are more deeply linked. Her strength is such that I can barely control her, and I have to because she has none of the moral codes or inhibitions we are taught."
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