Plague of Memory

by S. L. Viehl

  “If you intended to harm me, you would have left me with your sire. He is an expert in torturing slaves. That is what he did to me, before I hurt him.” I brought him the tea and the meat strips I found in one of his supply bags, and presented them as an Iisleg woman would. “I am in your debt.”

  “I saw so many strange things in my head when I released you from that chamber,” he admitted. “A world of flowers, and people with my skin and features. That was Joren?” I nodded. “It is as you said. And you. I look at you and I want to embrace you.” He looked down into the server I had handed him. “I was right about you. This is not the first time we have met.”

  No, it was not. Thanks to the stream of memories Maggie had put into my head, I could now remember the first time I had kissed Kao, and made love with him. How hard I fought to keep him from dying of the Core plague, and how my extreme measures had eventually been the thing that had killed him.

  It upset me for a moment, thinking of those memories as my own when they were Cherijo’s alone. But Maggie and the effect of the bone dust had done this, and I could not reject experiences that now felt as much a part of me as if I had lived them on Akkabarr.

  “We knew each other once,” I said, banishing the memory of Kao dying in my arms. “You were someone for whom I had great affection. I was a different person. SrrokVar did not know I had forgotten you. He deliberately used my dead lover to create you in hopes that someday he could use you to harm me.”

  “I do not understand. Why go to all this trouble for a Terran? We were to conquer Vtaga, and destroy the lines. We were to make everyone the same, so there would be no more outcasts, or hunger, or shame. A great equalizing revolution, he called it.” He sounded like a lost child now. “I believed him, and it was all a lie. He did this so that he could make the people into animals, and have me spread this plague to other worlds. He wanted nothing but power and revenge.”

  “The woman I was hurt SrrokVar,” I said. “He told me that he performed experiments on her when she was a slave. When she was finally freed by her people, she caused the injuries that made him as he is now. So I am partly responsible for his madness.” I saw the medical case that I had brought to the Hanar’s Palace sitting to one side. “The dust you breathed in at the stronghold is what causes the plague symptoms. You may still be Hsktskt enough for it to affect you as it does the people.”

  He followed the direction of my gaze. “What do you wish to do? Freeze me? Kill me before I go completely insane?”

  I told him about the enzyme blocker ChoVa had created. “I think it will help until I can return to the lab with a sample of this dust.”

  PyrsVar nodded, and I removed an infuser and a specimen container. I set aside the instrument and opened the container, over which I shook my hair. Odnallak bone dust lodged in it drifted into the container. He came over and did the same, also brushing the dust from his tunic and face. Once I sealed the container, I prepared an infusion and rolled up his sleeve to administer it.

  He watched as the green fluid slowly emptied from the chamber into his blood vessel. “You do not blame me for what my sire did.”

  “Cherijo, the woman I was, accidentally poisoned the Jorenian whose DNA was used to create you,” I pointed out. “Should I be blamed for that?”

  “No. It is only …” The tension left his shoulders. “SrrokVar created me as a weapon. I understood this—the Hsktskt I was volunteered to do this—but now I have no purpose. I cannot continue attacking the people as he slowly kills them. I do not belong on this world or any other.”

  “There is a place for you,” I assured him. “You have only to find it.”

  “Jarn,” a cold voice said from the opening to the cave shelter. “Move away from the outlaw.”

  I looked up and saw Reever standing only a few feet away, the rifle in his hands pointed at PyrsVar’s head. “My husband,” I murmured, unable to quite believe my eyes. “How did you find me?”

  “I planted a locator in one of the outlaws’ supply packs,” Reever said. “I thought it might be useful to know where they were hiding.” He enabled the rifle’s power supply. “It is good to be correct.”

  “You know, the guy may be as passionate as a geranium,” Maggie said from inside me, “but occasionally he does have his moments.”

  PyrsVar did not move. “So this is the day I die.” His eyes moved to the Hsktskt who came up behind Reever. “The Akade himself. You must be an important female, Healer.”

  “TssVar.” I rose to my feet, but I kept my body between Reever and PyrsVar. “Did they find ChoVa at the Palace?”

  He nodded. “She is recovering at my estate.”

  “This is PyrsVar, war master of the outlaws,” I told the men. “He saved my life.”

  “He abducted you twice,” Reever said. “He shot ChoVa and killed the Hanar.”

  “If you don’t want little bits of Hsktskt-Jorenian alter-formed crossbreed all over you, Jarn, you’d better start talking,” Maggie advised me. “Fast.”

  “The Hanar intended to give me to him, and kill ChoVa for what he imagined was a coup attempt,” I said, and saw a flicker of confusion pass over TssVar’s features. “The Hanar was infected with the plague. He was almost insane by the time we were taken to the Palace.” When Reever did not lower his rifle, I added, “Who did you think was eating his guards?”

  “It makes no difference,” my husband said. “Step aside, Cherijo.”

  “I am not Cherijo,” I said for what I hoped was the last time, “and PyrsVar is not Kao Torin.” I nodded as Reever’s gaze finally tangled with mine. “I know about their relationship when she worked as a doctor on K-2, and how she chose Kao over you. Maggie is with me now.”

  “Maggie.” He said the name like a death curse. “Maggie was a disease you were well rid of.”

  “I love you, too, you unfeeling, obsessive jerk,” Maggie said from behind my eyes.

  “Husband,” I said softly. “Kao Torin died on the Sunlace in my arms. He could not be brought back. That PyrsVar was created with some of his cells is meaningless. He began life as a Hsktskt. He was only made to resemble Kao. This has nothing to do with us.”

  “It has everything to do with us,” Reever said, enabling the rifle. “I will not let him come between us again. Not after all we have shared together.”

  “I can’t believe he’s still this jealous of Kao.” Maggie made a clucking sound. “Honey, you better work with him on this.”

  Shut up, Maggie. “I was made from Joseph Grey Veil’s cells,” I reminded him. “Does this make me my father?”

  TssVar put his hand on the barrel of the rifle. “She is right, HalaVar.”

  PyrsVar’s expression did not change even as my husband lowered his weapon. To TssVar, he said, “I was deceived by my sire, but it matters not. My men are raiding a settlement. When they return, I would ask a measure of mercy for them. They are all without line. It was to become what we are, or die alone on the sands.”

  “We have greater concerns at the moment than your criminal activities,” the Akade said. “The entire city is infected with this plague. When word of the Hanar’s death spread, many went mad with fear. There is rioting in the streets, and the citizens have taken to the street. They are burning buildings, and killing each other indiscriminately.”

  “I know why.” I gave TssVar a short explanation of the bone dust, and how it had been used to induce the fear. “I still do not know how it is being distributed, but I imagine it is by air. The dust must be breathed in to affect the victim.”

  Reever rubbed his temple. “Like the plague of K-2.”

  “So many happy memories of that place,” Maggie chimed in.

  “This is not a sentient colonial microorganism,” I said. “We do not have to kill it. We only have to find a way to neutralize its effects on the brain.” I gestured toward PyrsVar. “The war master has been exposed to a large amount of the dust, as have I. It can affect humanoids as well as Hsktskt. We need to find ChoVa and begin test
ing countermeasures immediately, before SrrokVar releases more dust into the atmosphere, or tries to smuggle it off planet.”

  “SrrokVar?” TssVar hissed the name with disgust. “That coward should have died after the fall of Catopsa. As it was, he nearly did, but then it was said that he elected to have reconstruction. His line was terminated and his name stricken from the official records. He was exiled from Vtaga for life.”

  “He has been here for years, building his secret stronghold and preparing his revenge,” I said, and nodded toward PyrsVar. “The war master and the plague were merely components of his plan to take control of Vtaga and revive the war.”

  Now TssVar looked furious. “All of this was SrrokVar’s doing? Tell me where this stronghold is.”

  “We’d better get moving on the plague and leave the big shoot-out revenge scene for later,” Maggie reminded me. “Unless you want all the lizards dead.”

  “First take me to ChoVa,” I said.

  Some of the small army with which Reever and TssVar had invaded the desert warren remained behind to capture the band of outlaws, but the bulk of the men escorted us back to the Akade’s estate. I saw ChoVa waiting at the landing pad, her head bound with a thick bandage.

  PyrsVar walked between me and Reever, and scowled when he saw the Hsktskt physician. “She does not look pleased.”

  “You shot her in the head and killed her ruler,” I reminded him. “She is entitled to be displeased.”

  Reever and TssVar went to speak with the Akade’s personal guard. ChoVa ignored the renegade Jorenian as she greeted us.

  “I was able to obtain several partial cadavers from the Hanar’s Palace,” she told me, glaring briefly at PyrsVar. “We must begin the autopsies immediately.”

  “I have a sample of what is causing the plague.” I took the container of bone dust from my case and passed it to her. “It is a form of natural hallucinogen that stirs primal memory in your species. The plague is not viral or bacterial. It is drug-induced.”

  “If this is so, why did this substance not show up on our scans?” she demanded.

  “That we will determine once we test PyrsVar,” I said, gesturing to the war master. “He was exposed to a large amount of dust only a few hours ago.”

  “Excellent.” ChoVa bared her teeth. “Will you kill him before I begin dissecting him, or will you allow me that small pleasure?”

  Maggie whistled. “Oooh, she’s still a little pissed off.”

  PyrsVar’s dark brows elevated. “I only shot you in the head. I could have killed you easily. You should be grateful to me.”

  ChoVa made an ugly sound.

  “PyrsVar? Shut up.” I turned to the Hsktskt female. “We need him alive and responsive so that we can test neutralizing agents.”

  “I will not mutilate him,” ChoVa said. “Badly.”

  “You can try.” He showed her his own pointed teeth.

  “Stop it, both of you,” I shouted. “We have no time for this. People are killing each other. Now, are you going to assist me in finding the means to stop them, or must I shoot both of you and do it myself?”

  ChoVa and PyrsVar stared at me, and then at each other.

  “I can tolerate your presence,” the Hsktskt physician muttered. “For a few more hours.”

  “And I you.” PyrsVar turned to me. “As long as she does not attempt to dissect me.”

  “I do not have the means to determine the level of infection on a live specimen,” ChoVa said to me. “Can you have your ship shuttle down what we will need?”

  “Better yet,” I said, looking at my husband and thinking of SrrokVar, “I think we should take PyrsVar to the Sunlace.”

  TssVar did not refuse my request to return to the ship, but he would not leave Vtaga to accompany us. “With the Hanar dead, and two of the other Akade missing, we need a semblance of leadership. I am going to the Palace to see what troops have not abandoned their posts.”

  “Eventually they all will,” Reever said. “You need non-Hsktskt troops to provide riot control and restore order.”

  “The only species I would trust to do so without massacring our citizens would be the Tingalean, and in situations of war they are neutral,” the Akade told him.

  “This is not a war,” my husband said. “When we arrive on the ship, I will ask the captain to signal Tingal and request peacekeeping troops be sent to provide assistance.”

  TssVar nodded, and clasped Reever’s forearm. “Tell my son his mother and I think of him with much affection and longing.”

  We gathered what we needed from ChoVa’s lab and took the launch from the estate up to the ship. Maggie’s voice inside my head finally quieted and gave me a chance to think about SrrokVar and the bone-dust hallucinogen. Reever stayed by me and held my hand, unwilling to let go of me.

  I saw PyrsVar staring at both of us, but for Reever’s sake I ignored him. When we reached the ship and flew into the launch bay, I realized what a shock PyrsVar’s presence was going to be to the Torins.

  “PyrsVar.”

  He stopped unfastening his harness and looked at me.

  “You resemble someone who was held in high esteem by these people,” I reminded him. “For them it will be as if the dead have come back to life. Remember that when they see you, and in how they react “to you.”

  He nodded and finished releasing the harness.

  ChoVa passed between us and gave him a hard look. “And try not to kill anyone.”

  “Refrain from tempting me,” he muttered back.

  I walked out between Reever and PyrsVar. The captain stood waiting on the deck below, and was in such an agitated state that at first he didn’t seem to notice the renegade Jorenian.

  “Cherijo, we were ready to begin sending warrior squads down to search for you. Reever.” He turned and went very still at the sight of PyrsVar’s face. His features turned a chalky pale blue, and his lips shaped the word “ClanBrother.”

  “Captain Xonea Torin, ClanLeader of HouseClan Torin, this is PyrsVar, war master of the Hsktskt outlaws.” I awkwardly made the Jorenian gesture of introduction and decided to quickly relay the most important details of the situation. “PyrsVar is a bio-engineered construct, as I am. He was alterformed with DNA taken from Kao Torin, your Clan-Brother.”

  “How can this be?” Xonea took a step backward. “Kao embraced the stars. He no longer travels this path.”

  “His body was stolen before it reached the twin stars of K-2,” I said. When the captain’s eyes filled with outrage, I added, “This was not PyrsVar’s doing. He was created by SrrokVar, the scientist who tortured Cherijo when she was a slave of the Hsktskt. SrrokVar survived the fall of Catopsa.”

  Before Xonea could reply my daughter and CaurVar rushed across the deck to meet us. Marel cried out her delight as she went first to hug her father’s legs, then launched herself at me. As I picked her up and hugged her, I saw CaurVar exchanging words with his sister.

  “Mama,” Marel whispered when she had bestowed a damp kiss on my cheek, “why did you bring that bad man here?”

  I glanced at PyrsVar, who was looking all around with keen interest.

  “He is not a bad man,” I promised her, and hoped that was the truth. “In a way, he is like your Clan-Uncle Squilyp. Only larger and … bluer.”

  Salo and Darea came forward, but both also stopped cold at the sight of the outlaw. Darea’s eyes filled with tears. Salo curled his hand around the hilt of a dagger he wore at his waist.

  “How can this be?” Darea whispered.

  “I will explain,” I told her. “But PyrsVar is not Kao. He was alterformed to appear like him.”

  “He smells like Hsktskt,” Salo said, sounding cold and not at all inclined to weep.

  “That is because he is part Hsktskt as well,” I told him, shocking everyone anew.

  Evidently unaware of the disturbance he was creating, PyrsVar turned to me and smiled at Marel. Even with the pointed teeth, this time the expression seemed more natural for him.
/>
  “She is fierce for one so small,” he murmured, reaching out to touch her curly blond hair. “She would make a fine addition to my band.”

  Before he could, Reever seized his wrist. “Marel is my daughter,” he told PyrsVar in a flat voice. “You will not touch her. Ever.”

  “As you wish.” The renegade Jorenian dropped his arm. “I do not harm children.”

  “You will not be given the chance to start,” Reever promised, his gaze lethal.

  Xonea stepped forward, still pale but apparently recovered from the shock of seeing his Clan-Brother’s physical twin. “We will have a briefing now, I think.”

  EIGHTEEN

  ChoVa and I excused ourselves from the briefing, and accompanied PyrsVar to Medical, where we isolated him from the other patients and prepared what we would need for testing. We monitored the briefing from Medical while Squilyp scanned the three of us and treated the injuries PyrsVar had received while struggling with SrrokVar.

  I felt glad when I heard Xonea agree to contact the Tingaleans and request their help in bringing the citizens of Vtaga under control until a treatment for the bone-dust epidemic could be formulated.

  “A good choice,” the captain said. “Tingalean venom is so lethal that they have learned to exercise great restraint during any manner of confrontation. As a reptilian species, they will also have some sympathy for the Hsktskt, and concern for finding and destroying this dust before it is taken and used on other species like theirs.”

  “One Hsktskt on the ship was stressful enough,” Squilyp complained as he hopped into the forensics lab after me. “Now I have a Hsktskt, her brother, and a Hsktskt-Jorenian crossbreed who looks like a barbarian and behaves little better.”

  “He has been living in the desert for some time, so he will seem a little primitive,” I told him as I stored away the specimens ChoVa and I had brought back from the surface. “We need to run extensive analysis on the bone dust, and begin applying potential neutralizes as countermeasures. We can only do this with a living test subject, and PyrsVar has agreed to serve as one. I cannot send him back.”

  “PyrsVar.” The Senior Healer shook his head as he followed me back out onto the ward. “What a name. Does having Kao Torin’s DNA make him a ClanSon of the Torin?”