"Do you understand?" repeated Kusac.
The Valtegan blinked repeatedly, his eyes widening in fear. He gestured toward a door at one side of the refectory.
Kusac removed the gun and signed for him to lead the way.
You're learning, said Carrie.
Just keep monitoring him and our surroundings, Kusac growled mentally.
The soldier led them through the door into a series of service corridors. The floors were uncarpeted concrete and the walls bare except for occasional access ports for the various utilities such as air ducts and power. At length he stopped in front of a small alcove set to one side. He indicated the VDU screen and computer terminal mounted into the wall above a diagnostic port.
The soldier screwed his face up as if in pain.
"This is it," said Carrie, "and I don't read anyone in the immediate area."
Kusac nodded and handed the gun to her as he turned away to set down their computer. He heard a dull crack and looked up sharply as the Valtegan fell bonelessly to the floor.
"Why did you hit him?" he demanded.
"We need to restrain him if we're going to work," said Carrie defensively, stuffing the gun back in its holster. "Unconscious, gagged, and tied up, he won't be a problem to us. We also don't want him alerting anyone else before we leave."
"You could have done it mentally," he said. "There was no need for violence."
"We'll untie him when we leave. When he's found, he has to have a physical reason for having passed out, unless you want his tales of mental control and strange Aliens being believed," she replied. "As it is, they should put it all down to concussion."
She reached inside her robe for the rope and began tying the Valtegan up.
Kusac eyed her askance. "You're making a thorough job of that," he said.
"I got Nelson to show me this, and how to use my knife," she said, tying the last knot and cutting off the slack.
Kusac grunted and returned to opening the computer case while Carrie started setting up the interface. She could still sense his disquiet over what she had done, but he was beginning to accept that the world they were now living in had harsher realities than his hitherto protected life as a Sholan Telepath.
Once their two units had been connected, Kusac sat back on his heels with a sigh.
"The moment of truth, eh, Carrie? Let's hope our people have got it right."
He leaned forward and plugged the lead from the interface into the Valtegan diagnostic port and switched on their equipment. There was a faint humming and then the VDU screen lit up. A series of symbols appeared as the Valtegan computer asked for verification of the access code. Their "burglar" clicked gently to life, beginning to run the program that Mito had set up.
A slight delay followed the printing of their reply. The same phrase was repeated and again their computer gave the same response. This time there was a longer delay while the computer whirred to itself. Finally another set of words appeared.
"It isn't accepting the first code," fretted Kusac. "Did you pick up anything of use from him?" he asked, indicating the prone figure of the soldier.
"Yes, but I don't know if this will override our program without interrupting it," she said, reaching out and pressing several keys on the console. "It's a risk we'll have to take."
The screen cleared as if by magic.
"It needed an operator code as well," she explained. "I used his."
Now they were able to identify the phrases telling them their identity had been verified, and to continue with their instructions.
Carrie found she was able to breathe again. She squatted down beside Kusac, reaching out to touch him for reassurance.
"What now?" she asked. "Do we wait here till it sends the message?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. We still have to monitor the screen and make sure no one approaches this area," he replied.
"And pray that the operator on duty, or the security system, didn't notice the delay over that damned operator code! Can you tell if we have got into the transmitter program yet?"
"Just about. There we go," he said, relaxing. "The worst should be over."
He shifted into a more comfortable position, back to the wall opposite the VDU.
"This is the long-winded part," he said. "It could take upward of an hour, depending on which quadrant the transmitter was facing before we started our Search test."
Carrie settled down beside him and tried to ease the tension in her neck muscles.
"Don't try," advised Kusac, putting an arm round her. "The extra adrenaline will keep you alert for now."
* * *
It was nearly three quarters of an hour later when Kusac shook her awake.
"There's someone coming!" he hissed, getting to his feet.
"Uh?" she muttered, trying desperately to get her brain working.
"Someone's coming, but they're too far for me to reach. I need you to Link with me," he said urgently.
"Ah, right," she said, finally managing to surface.
Taking his outheld hand, she was immediately aware of the presence of the Valtegan. Together they carefully entered the Alien's mind, ascertaining that his errand was a personal one which could easily wait. A small thought here and there and he quickly decided that he really had no desire to visit his friend via the service corridors. Without quite knowing why, he found himself blinking sleepily and returning to his own room.
"Let's hope there aren't any more insomniacs," sighed Carrie, letting the Link dissolve and returning her attention to the screen.
"Hey! Doesn't that mean we're actually transmitting?" she demanded, pointing at the display.
Kusac swiveled around.
"By Vartra, you're right! We've actually done it," he exclaimed.
The screen cleared, then their transmit code was repeated.
"Three times they said, didn't they?" asked Carrie. "Then it returns to the Search test mode and we dismantle our equipment."
Kusac nodded. "There goes the third signal."
The screen blanked suddenly, closing down their signal in mid-transmission.
"Oh, shit," said Carrie, jumping up.
A message appeared on the screen, flashing imperatively, emitting loud beeps.
"What's it say?" she demanded.
"It's asking who is using the terminal. Put that operator code in again," he said, scrambling to his feet.
Carrie typed in the digits but the message and the beeping tone remained the same.
"I don't think it's working this time," she said.
A second message flashed on the screen.
"Unauthorized use of transmitter. Security breached," he read as a klaxon began to sound.
Hurriedly, he switched off the machines, pulling the lead free of the port.
"Let's get the hell out of here," he said urgently.
They shoved the cables into the improvised cases, latching them shut.
"There's a quicker way out," said Carrie. "It avoids the main doorway. I picked it up from him." She indicated the still unconscious soldier.
"We'll still have to leave by the main gates, though. Let's go."
They headed down the corridor at a run, the klaxon wailing like a banshee all around them.
As she ran, Carrie was mentally searching ahead. Suddenly she slid to a stop, grabbing Kusac by the arm and pulling him back against the wall.
A door on their left began to open. She grabbed for her gun, pulling it free and firing just as a Valtegan stepped into the corridor.
The burst of energy clipped the soldier's upper arm, making him screech in pain.
"Damn," she muttered, taking aim and firing again. This time the Valtegan went flying backward without a sound. The smell of charred flesh filled the corridor.
"Oh, God," she moaned, slumping against the wall, the gun hanging limply from her hand. She felt sick to the pit of her stomach.
Kusac, mentally checking beyond the door, shook her firmly by the arm.
War, Carrie, he sent.<
br />
Carrie took a gulp of air through her mouth and straightened up, trying not to look at the Valtegan she had just killed.
They waited a moment but neither of them could sense anyone else.
Let's go, sent Kusac.
They checked visually at the doorway, closing it before continuing their mad dash. Carrie looked the other way as she passed the body. Finally the corridor curved to the left, ending at a metal door. They skidded to a halt. Hearts thumping and chests heaving, they gasped for breath. Over the sound of the klaxon, they could hear the pounding of many feet coming from behind.
Carrie nodded as Kusac glanced quizzically at her. He opened the door.
"Wait," she said, tugging at his half of the computer. "Leave it," she said.
He put it down and turned to look through the partial opening. Hearing the gun go off he jerked his head back round. The two cases were smouldering ruins.
Why?
They're useless now, to us and the Valtegans.
Cautiously, they stepped through the doorway, closing it behind them. A short blast of his gun and Kusac had sealed the mechanism shut.
They stood once more in a corridor of the main complex.
"Where is everyone?" whispered Carrie as she led the way down the right hand side.
"Probably guarding sensitive areas and all the exits," he replied.
Suddenly, she felt her arm seized by a clawed hand, and she was violently pulled to one side. She lost her footing and swung helplessly round to crash into the chest of a Valtegan soldier.
Nonretractable claws pierced her sleeve, penetrating through to her arm. Then she was released, only to be pulled round to face Kusac, the soldier's right arm pressed firmly across her throat. Automatically, she dropped the gun, her hands going up to clutch at his arm.
"Drop weapon," hissed the voice almost in her ear.
They both froze.
The arm across her throat tightened.
"Drop weapon!"
The orange light seemed to intensify as the noise of the klaxon began to fade. She saw Kusac drop his gun.
She could hear screams and smelled again the acrid tang of blood. Struggling, she tried to get away from her captors but there were too many. Too many, and they were holding her down, and, oh, God, but it hurt!
A Valtegan face swam into view, one she recognized. But he was dead, wasn't he? Hadn't Kusac killed him in the forest?
She blinked, managing to move her head a little and the visions faded. There was no one but Kusac in front of her and there was no blood— yet. This was the Base, not Geshader.
Again she blinked, her senses beginning to clear as she forced the memories back. The fear remained.
Kusac came up out of his crouch, ears laid flat back and tail lashing.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I kill woman now, yes?" grinned the soldier.
"No," said Kusac with suppressed fury.
"Hands behind head," the Valtegan ordered, the grin fading.
Kusac raised his arms, overlapping his hands behind his head. "Let her go," he said. "You don't need her. You have me."
"Have both," snapped the soldier. "New Alien and woman." He lowered his gun and fired.
"No!" shrieked Carrie, lashing out with her left arm. Desperately, she twisted in his grip, half strangling herself before her right hand found the handle of her knife.
She heard Kusac's grunt of pain and the sound of him falling as she jerked her knife free, bringing it up to bury it in the Valtegan's chest.
He coughed, staggering backward, dragging Carrie with him. She pulled the knife free and stabbed him again, this time upward in the exposed throat.
He stiffened, the arm that held her tightening in a spasm before releasing her. The other hand, gun forgotten, clutched at the blade, pulling it free. Blood spurted out and he began to choke, drowning in his own gore.
Whimpering, Carrie backed off, watching as he crashed to his knees clutching his ruined throat. His mouth gasped for air he couldn't get as he slowly toppled forward and lay there.
A noise from behind made her whirl round.
"Get the weapons first," said Kusac, his voice taut with pain. "Then get me something to bind my leg."
"You're alive," she said, staring at him.
"He wasn't trying to kill me," he said, "just disable me." He looked down to where both his hands encircled his injured thigh in an attempt to stem the blood. "Which he's done. It would have been worse if you hadn't attacked him."
Still she didn't move.
"Carrie, we're sitting targets," he said patiently. "Get the weapons and let's get out of here."
"Yes," she said, finally moving to retrieve her gun. She stopped by the body and picked up her knife. Blood covered the handle and now her hands.
Carrie, sent Kusac, I need to bind my wound.
"Yes." She wiped her hands on a fold of her robe and bent down to check the soldier's uniform. The material was soft enough. Using the knife, she ripped off a strip from the lower edge of his tunic and hurried over to Kusac.
She knelt beside him, cutting part of the strip off to form a pad which she pressed over the gaping wound. The rest of the material she quickly used to bind her makeshift dressing in place. Concentrating on one job was helping her refocus her mind on the here and now.
"Don't make it too tight," he warned, wincing as he tried to flex the muscle while she knotted the binding.
She helped him stagger to his feet.
"This is becoming a habit I must break," he said wryly, leaning against her for support.
"Can you walk?" she asked, handing him his gun.
"I'll have to," he said, letting go of her. "Which way?"
"There should be a junction to the left about two hundred meters down there," she said, indicating the way they had been heading. "The side exit is about another hundred meters beyond."
"Let's go." He staggered a couple of steps then collapsed against the wall.
"Gods, give me a shoulder injury every time," he said, trying to joke about the pain as Carrie was instantly there to help support him.
"Why can't I feel your pain?"
"The filter I put in," he said, blinking his eyes in an effort to stop the inner lids closing.
"Let me take some of it."
"No. I can't use my Talent in this state. We need you to check for Valtegans." He pushed himself off the wall, keeping a hand against it for support. He began to limp down the corridor.
"Keep checking," he said.
They made it safely to the junction and as they turned the corner they saw the side exit ahead of them.
"I'm picking up large numbers of Valtegans outside," she said, "but we expected that. None around here at the moment. You wait here and guard the junction, I'll take a look at the exit."
He nodded, too exhausted by the pain to talk.
Carrie began to edge down the short corridor. On the right hand side she could see a door. She stopped, not sure whether there was anyone in the area behind it or not. There were so many Valtegan presences that it was getting hard for her to be specific.
The door swung wide and without even thinking, Carrie fired a continuous burst through it. She stopped only when Kusac, the skin around his nose and eyes gray with pain, touched her on the shoulder.
"There's no one alive in there," he said quietly. "There're noises coming from farther up the corridor behind us. I'm afraid they may have gotten that door open."
Carrie lowered the gun and nodded, moving toward the exit.
As luck would have it, the door was transparent. Backs to the wall, they peered through. In the glow of the perimeter lamps, they could see the corner of a low bunker some five hundred meters distant.
"There's a group of Valtegans out there, round the far corner," she said, pointing. "Also some on the other side of the building. We'd be out in the open for most of that run."
Kusac looked at her. "There's no way I can do it, Carrie. I'm too slow with this injury.
Can we reach Skinner from here?"
Carrie activated the wrist comm.
"Skinner, do you read me?" she said urgently into the tiny pickup. "Come in, Skinner." There was only a distorted hiss.
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