by Joyce Lavene
"Maybe this will help?" His voice was unmistakable. The Rian accent was strongly wrapped around the accepted language of the Alliance. In his hand was another coupling that matched the one that had been destroyed. He crouched down close to the floor where she sat.
She stared at the coupling and his long, slender fingers a moment longer, sorting out all the impressions that ran rampant through her brain. Foremost was anger barely controlled by her training and personal dignity. A grudging admiration crept, unwillingly, into her thoughts. It had been a clever thing to do. Something she might have done in a similar situation.
Roughly, she pushed herself out from under the panel, catching him and herself off guard. His face was barely a breath away from hers. Gael held her ground, not moving though she could make out the almost violet pupils in his eyes. "Stop it. Now. Or I swear you'll be eating Rissan dust before this is all over."
The blue of his eyes turned almost black with his anger at her casual threat. Rissan was a chemical used by a barbarian planet in the Streng sector to take away the inborn psi abilities of its minor classed people. No one considered its usage anything but an atrocity. It was an uncivilized act by an uncivilized world.
"If I'd wanted to influence your thinking, Lieutenant," he informed her in tones that would have frozen a lesser person, "I would've had you sitting in that chair over there waiting for me to get here. I wouldn't have needed to destroy the coupling."
He leaned his head even closer, the fine silk of his hair catching on her sleeve as he moved. "Perhaps you should ask yourself what it is you fear so greatly, Lieutenant Gael Klarke. My thoughts or your own."
The air between them crackled with electricity. Neither moved or breathed. The coupling trembled in Kalatri's fingers. The communication port was activated on the control panel. "Gael? This is Menor. Could you take just a minute and let me know what's going on? You're behind schedule."
Gael drew in a ragged breath, fighting for control, flinging herself back and away from Kalatri. She squared her shoulders beneath her uniform and took her seat at the panel. "I'm here, Menor. What do you want to know?"
"You look terrible, Gael," Menor observed nervously. "Is there a problem? If so, you should have informed me. Lanier is very concerned. She wants a status report...now."
"Permit me," Kalatri offered. "It was, after all, my petition that has caused the delay."
Gael wouldn't meet his eyes. She moved away from the panel without a word. She took the coupling from his unresisting fingers and resumed her position on the floor to replace the one that had gone bad. Gone bad, she marked hotly. He had destroyed the damned crystal to keep her from leaving!
"Ah, Kalatri Astri," Menor smiled. "As always, one jump ahead. Kalamir, Sadoh."
"Kalamir," Kalatri replied steadily, though his hands shook. "I must apologize for this delay, Sadoh. I needed to be here for an important ritual involving my brother's son."
"Please, call me Menor," the aid responded. "The Khmara?"
"Indeed, Menor. You are well versed in the ways of my people."
"Thank you," Menor preened while Gael smirked as she heard him. "Will there be any further delays now, Kalatri?"
"None at all," Kalatri answered positively. "We're preparing to leave Miccah Station now. There was an unfortunate mishap with a coupling but that will be repaired momentarily."
"Very good. Excellent," Menor praised. "We received word from the Guardsman people that they will rendezvous with your ship tomorrow, your time 6:41, at the repairs station just off of Land's End."
"We'll be there, Menor." Kalatri told him firmly. "Is that all?"
"If you would tell Gael that we're expecting quarter reports from her, please."
Kalatri heard a brief curse and a groaning noise from the floor. "Lieutenant Klarke has assented to your request, Menor. She'll call you on the next quarter. It was pleasant to speak with you."
"And you." Menor smiled, relieved. He had expected something of a barbarian from the gossip. "You aren't at all what I was expecting. Good journey, Sadoh."
The screen went blank and Kalatri sat back in the gray cushioned seat.
Chapter Four
"If you wouldn't mind," Gael growled from under the panel, "you could try and start the engine."
The engine leapt into life, humming around them like the dream Gael had awakened in the night before. "That's got it." She slid out from beneath the panel and pushed the base cover back into place. "I assume you must be ready to go?"
She glanced at the COM panel making sure all the patterns were in place. No trouble surges with the coupling. She wouldn't look at him or she was likely to do something violent.
Kalatri traced her profile with his eyes, wondering if she'd felt the small flare between them when she'd taken the coupling from him. Her hair was dark, very short and upswept from her neck. She pushed at the dark lock that slid down almost into her eyes with a quick, impatient movement of her thin hand. The nails were nonexistent, mechanic's calluses between scars on her clever fingers. The hands were those of a worker and a warrior. There was a faint scar that ran from her right cheek to her ear, a delicate, thread-like white tracing that she didn't try to conceal with her hair or movements. Had she lived with it all of her life? "Menor is a good man."
Gael took the seat next to him at the control panel and started the procedure for leaving the station dock. "He's a good friend."
"I understand." Kalatri smiled slightly, nodding.
"What does that mean?"
"He's deeply attached to you in a more than friendly way." When she arched a querying brow and a frown at him, he shrugged. "I'm merely observing the nuances in his voice and the movement of his eyes when he spoke to you."
"And so you baited me?"
"Baited?" he inquired. "Explain, please."
"Led me to answer a question that you wanted answered by devious means."
"An interesting term, Sadah. I'll remember it for the future."
Gael received clearance to leave the station and a polite send off from the station manager. To Kalatri, the young manager offered the traditional ECHO salute.
"Come back victorious or on your shield," Gael murmured.
Kalatri paused in his quick hand movements as he pulled his hair back into a long braid down the center of his back. "Pardon?"
"An old Earth salute. It means win or die."
"I hardly think the ECHO salute can be even loosely translated as that," he observed quietly. "Perhaps your ENDO code would be more appropriate."
"Perhaps we need a truce, Sadoh." Gael took the little cruiser smoothly out of the station's confines and into the nearest traffic lane headed for deep space.
"Indeed." He arched one pale brow and looked at her in surprise. "What a civilized concept, Lieutenant Klarke."
"I don't understand your abilities, Kat. And I don't want to. But there must be some middle ground that we can share. I believe this mission is more important than my superiors have told me and I'm not sure we can get the job done in our present state."
"Kat?"
She shrugged. "It's the best I can do without...you know."
He sighed. "I share your fears, Sadah. I addressed our leaders but was turned down for transfer to another assignment. It seems we must work together. But there is one thing that must be clearly understood."
The small craft was set into self-guidance after reaching the outer beltway of the station's travel system. Gael turned to face him. "I think it's best that we're honest with one another."
"I'm Rian and as such one of my principal abilities to serving ECHO lies in my communication abilities, both vocal and non-vocal. It's part of my duty to keep apprized of the situation that I encounter at all times. If this means that I must gather information from the minds around me, that is part of my abilities."
His eyes held hers surely as he spoke. His words were sincere. "I'll try to the best of my abilities not to invade your privacy, both for my sake and yours but if it is necessary, I
'll communicate with you on whatever level I need. I'll assist you if you will assist me. We can be partners in this mission, but you must put your fear aside."
She searched his face. "I'm not afraid of you. Or your abilities. I've worked with telepaths before. This is no different."
It would be impossible to explain. Not yet. Not so soon or everything would be lost. "If you can trust me not to enter your mind unnecessarily, then I'll trust that you won't use your weapon against me. I am unarmed, Sadah."
Everything about the entire mission was slightly off center. There was too much not being said, too many secrets. Gael studied him intently then suddenly pushed aside her irritation with all of it. "That's all I'm asking. Just enough time together, without fighting, to resolve whatever mystery is behind all of this. If we can pool our knowledge, maybe that will give us some clue."
As a starting point, it was a fair one. Kalatri refrained from pointing out that the easiest and fastest way to accomplish this would be an opening between their minds. He knew she would find that idea abhorrent. Instead he nodded and told her exactly what the ECHO leaders had told him of the problem.
Gael listened carefully but the information was almost identical to her own, with one very important exception. "You're ECHO's foremost agent in dealing with new cultures that we aren't able to communicate with. My strongest work has been in resettlement. But Lanier agreed with my assessment of the Guardsman and Bonding feud, and hinted at a possible greater risk to government security."
"As did Juroh," he agreed. "Yet, there is the strongest adamancy that you and I should go on this mission. It would seem that even a junior staff could have gone to oversee repairs to this ore station and check for environmental disturbances."
"Not that there could be many. What's left of the environment of that planet? The ore operation has been there forever. I've been on ore mining outposts before. The damage to air and soil is incredible. There is no plant or animal life or the ore operation wouldn't be there."
"Perhaps we're reading too much into what is a typical situation. ECHO might simply have wanted me to be there to identify any subterfuge on the part of Guardsman."
"But you aren't the only telepath in ECHO," she reminded him. "Just the best."
He smiled at her quizzically. "And that's what has put you on edge against me, Sadah?"
Gael yawned and stood up from her chair. "I had a long, sleepless night last night." She put a hand to stop him as he started to speak. "No, I don't want to know why or how it happened. The cruiser will take care of itself. I'm going to lie down for a while. Make yourself at home. The converter is over there. No Fargan rum but it makes a mean cup of something hot. I can't always guarantee what."
"Of course. I believe I'll study our destination and the records of the ore operation. If I find anything, we can discuss it when you awaken."
All nice and organized. She smiled awkwardly before she made her way to the small storage compartment that doubled as a makeshift bed. Like we weren't just at one another's throats. Like we could really trust each other, Kalatri Wildcat Astri.
She sighed and closed her eyes. The sooner this was over the better. Gael had a bad feeling about the situation. She didn't know whether it was about Kat or the mission but it was wrong. All wrong. She knew she wouldn't really sleep well again until she was back at ENCOM.
Kalatri sat in the comfortable chair as time and space clicked by on the panel and the computer made the connection with the records he'd asked for in the ENDO files. But it wasn't records of the planet they were nearing or the ore operation he would be studying. The files were of Lt. Gael Klarke. Her face stared at him from the screen as her bio fed into the system. He knew without checking that he would find his own files already in the cruiser's log. She had studied him. As an opponent, no doubt.
He put one hand on the scanner to pass the information to the screen, then sat back with his feet up on the panel, a hot cup of something he didn't recognize in his other hand. The background he had suspected and dreaded quickly became apparent.
Gael Klarke was Endo through and through from a very young age. There was no room in her mind for anything but logic and military tactics. She could no doubt plan a thoroughly devastating attack on any environmental disaster that had grown out of control. She was a leader, a fighter. She had been given merit since she was twelve years old for being a crack shot on and off the field.
It was impossible. What was the clue he was missing? Even more to the point, how had ENDO missed it for twenty years?
Gael slept soundly for a few hours, then was plagued by uneasy dreams of butterflies and laughter. Naturally, her dreams were haunted by shades of Rian culture and by Kat, in particular. She found herself standing again just inside the doorway on Miccah Station, watching as the Rians performed their Khmara ritual. Kat held the baby aloft once more, welcoming it into Rian society. The baby suddenly jumped from his arms, his skull heaving and growing larger and more grotesque. Gael stood still, unable to move, horrified. Wings grew from the baby's back. Green fire flashed from its eyes. The crowd of ECHO agents began to scream and push each other to escape.
"That's enough!" Kat spoke quietly despite the rending screams that split the air around them.
Gael heard him clearly and looked across the room at him. The ECHO residents and the baby disappeared. Only the two of them were left in the room.
"If you're going to draw me into your dreams, Sadah, please try to temper your imagination."
"What are you saying? You forced your way into my dream. You waited until I couldn't defend myself then used your mind games on me."
Kat laughed, the sound not quite pleasant. "Look within yourself. You've bound me to your dreams since you arrived at Miccah. I haven't been a willing participant but your emotional field is draining to me. I can't fight you nor can I escape."
"You're helpless in my dreams?" She slowly drew her weapon from her belt.
"Not helpless, Sadah." He shook his head, seeing the movement. "But I'm afraid of your inborn ability that you refuse to acknowledge or control."
"And if I shoot you down now?" She leered, unable to stop herself.
"Then I would be dead, Gael Klarke. But you won't do that. It's time for you to wake up. Now."
Gael felt the force of his personality projected through the vivid blue of his eyes. It hit her as squarely as a drunken punch, catching her in the solar plexus so that she did wake up, gasping. She staggered to her feet, her head reeling. She felt strangely sick and weak. She pushed at the disposal switch just in time to save herself from being sick all over the cargo area.
Afterwards, she sat on the floor, trying to regulate her breathing, her head between her knees. It was several minutes before the feeling passed and she felt strong enough to get on her feet again. Several more minutes passed before she felt able to meet Kat's curious blue eyes. She smoothed her uniform with a trembling hand and tried to make sure her hair was away from her face. She'd had a nightmare. There was no reason to feel anything more from it. She was awake and whole. It was over.
Kat watched her walk carefully into the bridge area. She didn't quite sway but her steps were unsteady as she went directly to the processor and ordered hot djine. He smiled slowly, knowing the potent brew was even more bitter in its synthetic form.
Gael screwed up her face and forced herself to swallow a steaming mouthful, feeling the bite of the strong, restorative drink. When she'd been posted on Salim- 3 during the riots, she'd become accustomed to djine. It could keep anyone awake and alert though the price was frequently shattered nerves.
"You're feeling rested now?" Kat didn't look up at her as she took her place at the panel.
"Much better," she lied, gulping the revolting drink.
His eyes swept over her pale face guiltily. "I am sorry, Sadah. But there was no other way."
Gael felt the djine catch in her throat as she struggled to speak, instead spluttering furiously. "You? You did this to me? You were really th
ere. You -- "
"ENDO cruiser. This is Guardsman ship 409. Since we have rendezvoused early before we reach Land's End, perhaps you might want to join us for the remainder of the trip? We can go over some documentation that we were not able to present to your groups before you left your home bases."
Gael, almost beyond coherent speech, with djine splashed all over her uniform, looked away as Kat took up the communication, saying that they would be delighted to join the Guardsman ship.
"Excellent, Officer Astri. If you will place your cruiser on standby, we'll tow you in and set you in the turbo lift. Bring what you need and we'll have quarters readied for you."
"Thank you, Sadoh Denby. I'm placing the cruiser on standby now."
Gael pinned Kat with her stare, not speaking. Her eyes were dark with fury. "I'm going to change my uniform."
"We must talk," he whispered to her after setting the cruiser to be towed by the larger ship. "This can't continue between us. We'll both lose our sanity. Being unable to complete this mission will be meaningless in comparison."
"I'm going to change my uniform. Then we'll board the Guardsman ship. Stay away from me, Kat. If you enter my mind again -- " She stood up and started to walk away, the time for words past as far as she was concerned.
"Gael -- "
She turned away from him and retreated to the cargo area to change her uniform. She had to find a way to gain control of the situation. She'd never encountered a problem like this one before but there had to be a way to fight Kat's control. He was trying to undermine ENDO's efforts on the mission just as he had done on Padda last year. Menor and L. Lanier were counting on her to be able to best this man. There had to be a way.