Beyond Varallan

by neetha Napew

  “Have to work on you,” he said. “You’ve been with these blue-skinned freaks too long.” One calloused hand forced my thighs apart, and he rubbed his fingers back and forth in a grotesque caress. “Forget how it feels to have one of your own kind between your legs?”

  Honesty is the best policy. “I’d rather mate with a Hsktskt.”

  He backhanded me across the face with his fist, then grabbed the front of my tunic to keep me upright. Blood began to trickle down my chin. My teeth must have cut into my lip when my head snapped back.

  I met his gaze, then deliberately spat bloody saliva at his feet. “Two Hsktskts.”

  “Come on, you stupid bitch.” He shoved me in front of him. “We’re leaving.” I walked through the door panel and turned to enter the gyrlift, but he yanked me back. That was when I saw Ktarka, huddled against the corridor wall. Blood and lacerations masked her features. Before I could go to her, the barrel of his rifle jammed into my side. “No.” The Terran yanked the educator to her feet. “She can still walk.”

  He must have used her as a hostage. “They’ll kill you,” I said.

  “Not if it means the two of you die first.”

  As we moved down the empty corridor, my heart pounded in my ears. I could only hope no one would cross our path. The crew would react to the threat, and he in turn would shoot them where they stood. Come to think of it, why was the corridor so deserted? With half the gyr-lifts down, we should have been wading through Jorenians.

  “How did you get loose?” I asked him.

  “I had some help,” the mercenary said, then chuckled.

  Who would have helped him? The saboteur? I tried once more to turn back to Ktarka, but his weapon prodded me again. “Did you have to beat her?”

  “I should have killed her, but I was in a hurry.”

  He was a dead man. “What’s your name?”

  “Did I forget to introduce myself?” He chortled again. “Call me Leo.”

  “Leo, listen to me. You don’t have a prayer of getting a launch off this ship.”

  “I got on it, didn’t I?”

  “Let me go. I’ll negotiate for you.”

  “Shut up.”

  We reached level eighteen. Still no sign of the crew. Leo was openly suspicious as he shoved me through the launch bay entrance. Inside, there were a dozen empty vessels, but not another soul.

  “Where are they hiding? In the launches? Behind the cargo bins?” He swung around, eyes frantic, reacting to the echo of his own voice.

  “If you leave Ktarka behind, they’ll let you go,” I lied. After the Jorenians found out he’d attacked one of their own, they’d jaunt across the universe to get their claws on him.

  “Get in that one.” He pointed to the launch nearest the huge pressure-lock doors, and followed me, dragging a semiconscious Ktarka with him. We were almost to the boarding ramp when Duncan Reever stepped out from behind the thrusters. His empty hands were held open to show he carried no weapon.

  “Mercenary.”

  Leo targeted Reever at once. “Tell the rest of them to come out!” he said. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face as he shoved me forward with a hard hand. “Get in the launch!”

  I looked past Reever and saw a figure behind one of the launches. Another shadow appeared between the launch and the hull. I quickly averted my eyes.

  “There is no one else here,” Reever said. “I will escort you from the ship.”

  “I don’t need you!” Leo shouted. “Just her!”

  “Who will pilot the launch?” Reever asked.

  “She will!”

  “I don’t know how to fly one of these things,” I said at once. “And Ktarka is in no shape to do it.”

  “If you take the helm, she’ll try to incapacitate you,” Reever said. “Leave the injured woman behind. Take me with you. I’ll serve as pilot.”

  “Get in the launch with them.” He thrust the now-sagging body of the educator at Reever. “No tricks.” He aimed the rifle at my head. “Or I blow her brains into space.”

  I reached out to Reever with my mind. Silently, he completed the connection.

  Are you crazy? I demanded. Get out of here!

  Remember the Dervling? Reever moved to stand next to me.

  You’re going to get us all killed, you idiot. I let down the barriers that kept Reever from complete access. Felt him draw on the strength of our combined minds. Saw the false image he projected directly into the mercenary’s thoughts.

  Leo’s eyes widened. Reever’s mental projection made him think the three of us had disappeared into thin air. He hurried right past us and climbed into the vessel.

  “Where are you?” With a roar of fury, the mercenary jumped out of the empty launch.

  Reever thrust Ktarka’s limp body into my arms. What he did then I could never describe with words. It wasn’t like anything Xonea had ever taught me, either. It was better. Faster. Scarier. He whirled in some kind of supple, inhuman roll. His hands moved faster than my eye could follow. There was a brief flicker of light, and Leo’s rifle was in Duncan’s hands. The mercenary collapsed, writhing in pain.

  Two Jorenians appeared a moment later. Hado, his arm still in a sling, his face contorted with rage. Beside him was Adaola, trying to hold him back.

  “Stay away, both of you.” I carefully eased the educator down and made a quick examination. She’d been beaten badly, but she’d live. I went to the mercenary, then glanced up at Reever. “Where did you hit him?”

  Reever kept the weapon in his hands trained on the fallen man’s head. “I didn’t.”

  I pressed my fingers to Leo’s straining throat and put one palm over his heart. His blood pressure was dropping fast. Pulse rate fluttered erratically.

  “Get a medical team down here.” I pushed the Terran into a prone position. His abdomen was so rigid that my palm couldn’t compress it. “Relax, I’m not going to-“

  Leo’s eyes bulged. He let out a long, agonized scream. I watched in disbelief as his abdomen swelled out several inches in as many seconds. His breath caught in a horrible gurgle. His chest fell under my palm and didn’t rise again.

  “By the Mother of All Houses, I mark this mercenary as my ClanKill,” Hado said, and started toward us. My eyes widened as I saw him rip the sling from his injured arm. The navigator’s claws sprang from his fingertips.

  I couldn’t let Hado gut the man. What had Xonea said about this? I protected the mercenary with my body, and faced the enraged Jorenian.

  “No, Navigator Torin. I shield this one.”

  Deep confusion replaced the murderous mask. “Why, Healer?”

  “We’ll chat about it later. Reever, put down that rifle and get over here.”

  I showed him how to lock his hands and do the compressions. Then I covered Leo’s mouth with mine.

  We continued cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It didn’t help. By the time the team arrived, the mercenary was dead.

  Reever helped me to my feet after I finished checking Ktarka. She had cracked ribs, severe facial contusions, and almost certainly a bad concussion. Hado was disappointed when I wouldn’t allow him to make the mercenary into something he called ClanSign.

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked the nurse as we transferred the educator onto a gurney.

  “It is what is done with the body after ClanKill,” Adaola replied, her voice low and cold. “Ritually displayed, as a warning to those who would likewise threaten the HouseClan.”

  “Right. Well, you’re going to have to wait, Hado. I need the body for an autopsy.” I picked up the discarded sling and rewrapped the navigator’s arm. “After I’m done, you can do whatever you like with him.”

  Hado regarded the dead man with seething pleasure. “My thanks, Healer.”

  I went down to Medical with Ktarka’s gurney while Reever arranged to have the mercenary’s body removed. Once I had her stabilized and resting as comfortably as could be expected, I left Adaola to monitor her and reported to Command. Reever
caught up with me in the corridor along the way.

  “You are making your report to the Captain?”

  “I’m not sure what to tell Pnor,” I said, not counting what I’d planned to propose about ending the League’s pursuit. “Reever, are you positive you didn’t hit him?”

  “I merely disarmed him.”

  Right. That was like saying I was good with knives.

  Pnor remained unavailable, so I reported the incident to the S.O., who recorded my statement in a hurry. When that was done, Ndo said something about the engines and disappeared. Reever had vanished sometime during my interview.

  I’d forgotten to thank him, I realized. Again. I’d have to signal him later; I had to get to Medical and get some answers.

  Because the mercenary wasn’t Jorenian, Tonetka could perform the autopsy immediately. I assisted.

  “Internal organs are even now beginning to liquefy.” My boss stripped off her gloves and passed her hands under the sterilizer. “It is the same as it was with Roelm.”

  I insisted on running full pathogenic scans, which came up negative across the board. As they had with Roelm. It didn’t make sense. I’d been there, watched him go down. Nothing had touched him, except Reever, and he couldn’t have inflicted this kind of damage. If Hado wanted to use the body, he’d better work fast.

  Then it occurred to me that whatever killed Leo may have been administered prior to his attempted abduction. “Who was the last nurse to make a chart notation?” I asked.

  Tonetka checked. “Adaola. She took his vitals a few minutes before he escaped.”

  She had also been the last person to touch Roelm before he died. That was an unhappy coincidence. “Did anyone see anything suspicious?”

  “Not to my knowledge.” The Senior Healer studied the lab results. “Hematology shows no trace of toxin. I cannot think of a compound that could do this kind of damage, and yet not show on our scans.”

  I’d learned my lesson about physical evidence on K-2 from a pathogen that mimicked the tissue it inhabited in order to escape detection. “Perhaps it resembles digestive acid.”

  “The enzyme levels would be escalated.”

  “True.” I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe it isn’t something the men were injected with.”

  Tonetka raised her head. “What else could it be? Any external force would leave massive epidermal damage.”

  “Let me check something.” I went over to access the database. She finished cleaning up and joined me at the console.

  “You are comparing tissue scans from Roelm and the mercenary. Why?”

  “There has to be a common denominator.”

  “It will take time to determine it. One is Jorenian, the other human. Even the blood chemistries are completely different.” She reached past me and switched off the terminal. “That is quite enough, Healer. Go and rest. It has been an eventful day for you.”

  That it had.

  I went back to my quarters, and spent a half hour under my cleanser. It didn’t remove the memory of Leo’s touch, or the beating Ktarka had suffered on my behalf, but it kept me busy. Once I was dressed, I signaled Reever.

  He seemed surprised by my relay. “Yes, Doctor?”

  “I’m sorry, Reever. I forgot to thank you for what you did today.” I pushed my damp hair off my brow. “I’m very glad you showed up when you did.”

  “I was happy to be of assistance.” He seemed to be more interested in watching my fingers as I fastened my tunic.

  I should tell him what I’d decided to do, I thought. Yet the words didn’t come out that way. “Where did you learn to do that thing you did to disable the mercenary?”

  His gaze rose to meet mine. “You don’t want to know.”

  Before I could reply, Reever terminated the signal.

  Hado did something with Leo’s body; I didn’t try to find out the particulars. I’d overheard a conversation between two nurses about various methods of ClanSign, and that was enough for me. I kept busy attending to the crew members injured in the attack.

  Leo’s brutality had one positive effect. The crew’s animosity toward me disappeared, and they began treating me like one of the family again. The change was a relief, but it didn’t make me forget about my decision. When the Captain returned my signal, I politely made my request. With equal courtesy he refused to grant it.

  “I cannot allow you to do this, Healer. Not until matters currently under investigation are resolved.”

  I pressed him for a commitment. “And when they are resolved? What about then?”

  Pnor reluctantly nodded.

  To expedite matters, I immersed myself in analyzing all the available data on the two dead men. Someone on board the ship had killed the engineer and the mercenary. How they’d been murdered was still unknown. Over the following weeks, I ran every test I could think of, and every comparative analysis possible between the two men’s medical records. I came to the conclusion that whatever killed them wasn’t a known viral, bacterial, chemical, or organic agent.

  That trimmed the possibilities down to a weapon. But what sort of weapon turned a living body into slush? That and thoughts of the future kept me pacing the deck far into the night.

  Determination became obsession. I forgot to take meal intervals. Weight I didn’t need to lose melted off me. The lack of sleep made me look haggard, too. Still I kept at it, and mainly ignored the renewed, sympathetic concern from the crew.

  One afternoon, while I was completing some chart notations, the Senior Healer appeared early to relieve me. She put one of the residents in charge of the ward and took my arm.

  “Come,” she said. “I have something I wish to show you.”

  Grumbling a little about not finishing rounds, I followed Tonetka out of the Medical Bay. We took the gyrlift down to level nine. Outside the environome, she activated the panel viewer.

  Inside, a dozen children were making the finishing touches on a huge tower of intricately shaped celebration breads. Beside them a half dozen educators were preparing tables and seating for a large group.

  “What’s the occasion?” I asked.

  “I accessed your personnel data file,” Tonetka said. “On Terra, today is the fourteenth of July.”

  “It isn’t.” My heart sank, and I groaned. “You didn’t.”

  She keyed open the panel and pushed me inside with a gentle shove. “I will join you later, after rounds.”

  As soon as they saw me, the children shouted, “Happy Birthday, Healer Cherijo!”

  The kids led me to the place of honor at the head of the table. Ktarka Torin stood there, arranging servers and smiling at me. There was still a slight stiffness to the way she held herself, and some faded bruises on her face.

  “How are you feeling?”

  She ducked her head and made a graceful sweep of one hand. “It is nothing.”

  After what she’d been through, I didn’t blame her for not wanting to discuss it. Especially with the person who’d caused the whole mess. I glanced around me, not quite sure how to handle this sudden outpouring of benevolent kindness. Running and hiding was pretty tempting. “Tonetka talk you into doing this?”

  “On Joren we do not celebrate the beginning of this path as humans do,” the other woman said, misunderstanding me. “However, as you have accommodated our customs, so we wished to do the same.” Everyone gathered around us. “We wish you a joyous day of birth, Healer Cherijo.”

  “Yes, joyous birthday, Healer!” one of the kids said.

  “Happiness always!” another called. Then more voices chimed in, until I gave up, rolled my eyes, and held out my arms.

  “Okay, okay.” I laughed and hugged as many children as I could hold at once.

  “We have made the wax sticks you light with flame for the breads,” one of Fasala’s classmates told me. “Do all Terrans set their food on fire before they eat it?”

  The thought of that strange custom produced a great deal of giggling.

  “No, that isn’
t right!” an older child said. “They only set fire to the round baked thing they call a cake!”

  “We are sorry we do not have a cake, Healer,” Ktarka said. “There was no program on the database for such.”

  “This is perfect.” I spied the pile of gaily wrapped packages by my seat with some dismay. “Presents, too?”

  From behind the crowd of kids I saw Xonea, Dhreen, and Alunthri enter the environome.

  “Everyone is here now, Healer, can we begin?”

  “Sure.” Maybe I could sneak out at some point.

  I sat down, and eyed the formidable tower of breads. Ktarka carefully lit the small candles, which nickered and glowed as the environome darkened.

  The children’s voices swelled into a classic rendition of “Happy Birthday.” I had to blink back tears as they finished.

  “Extinguish the fires, Healer!”

  “No, impatient one, she must entreat her gods first!”

  “Yes, yes, entreat your gods, Healer Cherijo!”

  I closed my eyes, and wished the Captain would grant my request, today. Then I leaned over, and with a show of much huffing and puffing, blew out all twenty-nine candles.

  There was a burst of Terran-style applause. I saw Xonea watching me, and tried out a tentative smile on him. He returned it. That was a pretty nice birthday gift in itself. We’d been avoiding each other since the challenge.

  Where is Reever? that traitorous inner voice asked. I told it to shut up.

  Everyone took their places as Ktarka and I portioned out the beautifully made breads. Dhreen cheerfully passed around fruit beverages for the children, but insisted I sample the vintage Terran spicewine he had brought as his gift to me.

  “It will produce bristles on your bosom,” he said.

  After a profusion of joking and laughing, and eating every delicious morsel, the kids pressed me to open my gifts. One by one I was solemnly presented with delightful handmade articles. Ornaments for my hair. Beautifully woven baskets. An extensive disc collection of Jorenian poetry from the educators. A special blend of floral tea from Ktarka. Even a whimsical plassfiber sculpture of Jenner.

  Alunthri gave me a tiny dimensional imager, which I held in my hand and examined, puzzled. The Chakacat activated a tiny switch on the bottom, and a small projection of a NessNevat child appeared. This one was happy, healthy, and smiled at me.