strongholdrising

by Lisanne Norman

  “To do this, we need a strong Emperor on the Throne of Light,” continued K’hedduk. “And that isn’t our revered Emperor Cheu’ko’h.”

  “I don’t want the throne,” he said. “Zsiyuk spoke only of me leading a campaign against M’zull and J’kirtikk.”

  “I’m sure he would have mentioned that you are a direct descendant of the last true Emperor,” murmured K’hedduk. “Never mind. If you prefer to lead the campaign to reunite our Empire again, then your son can rule instead, with a regent appointed until he reaches his majority. Or you can do both— rule and lead the battle.”

  “I have no son,” snarled Kezule, crest beginning to rise.

  “Not yet,” said K’hedduk complacently. “But your wife is due to lay within the week. Her egg will survive even if she doesn’t. And if the hatchling should be a daughter, you can take another wife— or more— once we’ve toppled Cheu’ko’h. We’re offering you the chance to start your own dynasty, to put the blood of your Emperor Q’emgo’h back on the Throne of Light, and lead a military campaign to take back all our old territory. All this with our backing.”

  “All our old territory?” he asked, surprised.

  “Ah, that’s got you interested,” smiled K’hedduk. “I thought it would. The Sholans ripped you from your own time, held you prisoner and no doubt tortured you. We offer you the chance for revenge, to take Shola again and return them to the slavery which is their natural place in the order of the universe.”

  “And just how do you propose to do that when it was their telepaths that toppled our Empire in the first place?”

  “We have our own telepaths,” said K’hedduk. “Hybrid Sholans, birthed from the growth tanks a week ago. And others, adults we captured from a M’zullian vessel a year ago.”

  “Sholan hybrids? The children of a Human and a Sholan? Where did you get them?” He sat down, stunned.

  “We had an agent on the Kz’adul who took samples from them when they were in captivity there. The telepaths are loyal to us, Kezule, and they can already use their psi powers. You’ll have them at your side, ready and willing to follow your orders, even against their own species.”

  “Not at my side,” he said automatically. Knowing their past, he wanted them as far away from him as possible.

  “They are loyal,” insisted K’hedduk. “I’ll take you to meet them shortly. We’ve been doing noninvasive experiments to try to find out what makes them telepathic but with no success as yet. The late Doctor Chy’qui had a theory he was trying out on a M’zullian, but although it initially looked promising, his results haven’t proved reproducible here.”

  “You’re experimenting on our own people?”

  “Of course. How else can we find out if Chy’qui’s research was valid? Believe me, we’d all be a lot happier if we had our own telepaths, but it doesn’t look possible.”

  Kezule sat silently, appalled by the depths to which these people were prepared to go to restore what they saw as the glory of their Empire.

  “I can see you’re concerned over experimenting on our own. Don’t be,” said K’hedduk, standing. “They were convicts, due for execution. At least here they are fulfilling a purpose, repaying our society for the harm they’ve done. Come with me and I’ll show you around our facility.”

  *

  Kezule followed him back along the corridor toward the elevator.

  “We keep our young Sholans in here,” said K’hedduk, stopping outside a guarded room.

  While the doctor went about unlocking the door, Kezule stared at the large tattooed male holding an energy rifle. The guard stared back at him, his jaw clenching slightly as a belligerent look came into his eyes. This had to be one of the altered Workers Zsiyuk had spoken about. That they were even considering letting people like this loose on the City, with or without weapons, was insane! Even he felt somewhat intimidated by the male’s sheer bulk.

  The door swung open and K’hedduk invited Kezule to enter. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the eight young Sholans. Even taking into account that they were seated at a table, they were small. The youngsters got to their feet as soon as they entered, standing by their chairs, faces tilted toward the ground. One, slower than the rest, earned a sharp rebuke. The adult Prime with them also rose.

  “Good evening, Doctor K’hedduk,” she said.

  “Good evening, Seniormost Doctor,” chanted the youngsters.

  K’hedduk nodded. “This is General Kezule. He’s come to inspect you.”

  Kezule moved closer, fascinated despite himself. The Human female, one of the three who’d brought him to this time, had been carrying a hybrid child. Hers would look like this.

  “How old are they?” he asked.

  “Ten years old. They mature later than us. Around thirty for the males to attain full growth, but both sexes are capable of breeding from fourteen.”

  Kezule looked at the array of body colors. They ranged from gray through several shades of brown to one black-coated child. He looked again at the black one, going closer to inspect it, remembering who’d been on board the Kz’adul. The pelt had a blue sheen to it, and his scent held a familiarity. He took hold of the child’s jaw and gently lifted up the face. Amber eyes stared steadily, almost challengingly, back at him, then blinked, and the look was gone, replaced by that of a nervous child. Letting him go, Kezule exhaled slowly. This one belonged to Kusac. He had within his grasp a greater chance for revenge than K’hedduk could ever guess. By all the God-Kings, the Directorate wouldn’t keep this one, he would!

  A slight sound from one of the other children drew his attention to it. He saw a dampness on its cheeks and recognized it as the one who’d been rebuked. He put his hand on its head, gently ruffling the long gray hair.

  “She’s easily upset,” said the teacher by way of explanation. “Not as bright as the others.”

  “Is it a problem?” asked K’hedduk, a note of concern in his voice. “There’s no point in our efforts being wasted if she’s incapable of learning.”

  “Her usefulness will be limited, Doctor, but her gender makes her valuable,” said the teacher.

  “That’s hardly a concern. Keep me briefed on her progress, or lack of it. We’ll review her viability in a week. I’m not prepared to waste any more time than that.”

  Rage boiled up inside Kezule. He let his hand slip to the child’s shoulder, giving her a gentle and reassuring squeeze before turning away.

  “I’ve seen enough,” he said, going back to the door.

  Outside, K’hedduk spoke about the research on telepathy being conducted on Primes but it went over Kezule’s head. He could hardly believe that they were callously discussing whether or not to keep the young Sholan alive in front of her. For one thing, it would be unlikely to engender trust for their keepers in the others. He’d never debased his pet telepath like that.

  “They’re being treated carefully, General, and wear psychic inhibitors unless they’re actually being trained in using their abilities. I want willing, compliant slaves, not rebellious untrustworthy ones,” said K’hedduk, catching sight of his face. He stopped in front of another door. “This is where we run our telepathy tests on the criminals.”

  He came back to reality with a jolt. “I don’t need to see them,” he said tightly.

  K’hedduk lifted his head slightly. “Squeamish, General? I’m surprised. I would have thought you’d be used to the dirty side of war.”

  He bit back his reply. He was, but this wasn’t war; and this went against all that was natural or reasonable in the treatment of even slaves.

  “Very well, I’ll show you our other Sholan subjects.”

  The scent of antiseptics drifted out into the corridor when K’hedduk opened the next door. He entered, finding himself in laboratory with two large cages at the far end. K’hedduk led the way past a workbench down to them. One looked to be empty, and in the other, on a straw-covered floor, he could see the hunched figure of an adult Sholan female.

  “We ha
ve another three females but we’re keeping them in stasis for the moment,” K’hedduk said. “She was of great help to us. We bred her to enable us to work out the conditions necessary for growing our hybrids in the tanks.” He snapped out an order, telling her to look up. When she did, her eyes were as dull and lifeless as her brown pelt.

  “Her child died, I take it,” Kezule said, feeling some comment was expected from him.

  “No, it’s in stasis. We don’t need it at the moment. When we do, we can accelerate its growth. An infant is no use to us at present. Unfortunately, we couldn’t be sure of sustaining our hybrids in the tanks beyond the age they are now or we’d have grown them to adulthood, too.” K’hedduk turned and pointed to the cage opposite.

  “That was her mate. We’ve been running experiments on him to find out which portions of his brain to stimulate in the hopes of generating psi abilities. He was even implanted with the device Chy’qui used on the M’zullian. But it failed on him as well.”

  Kezule took a couple of steps toward the cage, realizing that what he’d mistaken for a pile of straw bedding was in fact another Sholan. He could see the white of bandages showing against the dull tan pelt. “His arms. What happened to him?”

  “Oh, that’s self-inflicted,” said K’hedduk as he headed back toward the workbench. “He kept trying to escape from the cage to rejoin his mate. Some of them have very little common sense, as you probably know. This one was convinced he could get through the bars by the sheer effort of throwing himself repeatedly at them. His wounds keep going septic because he keeps worrying at them and getting dirt from the cage floor in them.”

  He stepped closer, seeing the small implant on the back of the male’s neck where the hair had been cut and shorn back. Other areas on his head had been shorn at some time and through the new growth, he could see the bright pink of older surgical scars.

  Hearing his footsteps, the Sholan male lifted his head from the floor and looked out at him. His eyes carried the same dead look of hopelessness as his mate’s.

  Impelled by some force he couldn’t resist, Kezule stepped closer until he was touching the bars. He saw the male’s mouth moving and realized he was trying to talk. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw K’hedduk was engrossed at the lab bench, checking a display on one of the monitors. He turned back, bending down and moving slightly so his own body shielded him from being seen.

  “What?” he asked quietly in the other’s language. “What do you want?”

  “Soldier,” the male whispered, sliding his arm painfully toward him. “You’re a soldier.” He clenched his hand on the bar, fingers still swollen and cut from his efforts to escape, knuckles showing white through the tan pelt. There was a feverish spark of life in his eyes now.

  “Yes.” How had he known that? Unless…

  “Stop this. No way for a soldier to die.”

  “I can’t.”

  Without realizing what he was doing, Kezule’s hand reached between the bars and gently closed around the Sholan’s throat. The male laid his head back down on the floor and shut his eyes.

  By all the God-Kings, what am I doing? he asked himself as his hand suddenly clenched in a stranglehold. Appalled, he let go only to hear a last gentle sigh from the male before his body went limp.

  Snatching his hand back, he stumbled to his feet with an exclamation of shock.

  K’hedduk looked round questioningly.

  “I think he’s dead,” he said, unable to take his eyes off the Sholan.

  “What?” He heard footsteps as K’hedduk ran over to see for himself. When poking and prodding him got no response, K’hedduk began to swear.

  “Burn it! We only have two adult males! We hadn’t finished with him!”

  “It happens,” said Kezule, trying to affect an unconcern he didn’t feel. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in his mind that he’d been mentally manipulated by the male. K’hedduk had succeeded in turning the Sholan into a telepath— unless somehow he’d been able to conceal his ability all along.

  “I’ll have to get someone in to clear up,” said K’hedduk, getting to his feet. “I need to have an autopsy done. I hope you won’t mind if we curtail the tour here.”

  “Not at all,” said Kezule, glancing back at the female as he followed K’hedduk. She’d moved and was now sitting by the bars staring at her dead mate. Her eyes caught his and he could tell she knew what he’d done and was grateful. He shivered and looked away, hurriedly following K’hedduk out into the corridor. Every time he came up against Sholans, they challenged his beliefs about them. He wondered how many of his caste in the same situation could have achieved what that male had.

  “Q’akuh will take you back to the City, General. I hope you’ve seen enough to know we’re serious. Will you join us?” asked K’hedduk, locking the door behind them.

  “I’ll join you,” he said, trying to keep his true feelings from sounding in his voice. “The thought of vengeance against the Sholans is appealing. I always preferred an active life to the sedentary one of the Court. But there’s something I want in return.”

  “I think you’ll be more than recompensed,” said K’hedduk. “But tell me anyway.”

  “I used to have a pet, a Sholan telepath. All the leading people of my time had one. I want the gray-pelted child. You said she’s slow and of little use to you. She’ll amuse my wife and be a symbol of my status.”

  Kezule stopped and looked at him curiously. “I hadn’t thought your taste for revenge would go quite that far. I can’t give her to you now, General. To take her out of here would be inviting discovery. It wouldn’t be possible for you to keep her existence secret. Once the coup is over, she’s yours, will that do?”

  “If I can trust you to keep your word.”

  “I’ll keep mine for as long as you do,” said K’hedduk quietly. “If you don’t, then not only will she die, but so will your family. As we’ve shown today with your wife, we have long arms, General.”

  Kezule stopped dead and turned on him, hands itching to wrap themselves around his throat. “If you harm her or my wife, K’hedduk, I will find you and squeeze every drop of blood from your body. Do you understand?” he hissed. “That Sholan child is mine!”

  “I think we understand each other perfectly, General. This is a mutually advantageous business arrangement, nothing more.” K’hedduk gestured to the far end of the corridor where Q’akuh waited by the elevator. “We’ll be in touch, General Kezule. So nice to have met you at last.”

  Kezule inclined his head briefly before stalking off toward the waiting male.

  CHAPTER 14

  ZAYSHUL was alone again when he got back to their apartment, unaware of the danger she’d been in. Before he did anything else, he went through every room, searching it thoroughly for any listening or recording devices. He found none. By the time he’d finished telling her what he’d seen and heard, she was gray with fear.

  “We’re leaving as soon as possible,” he said grimly. “As long as I’m here, we’re a focus for them and our lives are in danger.”

  “I can’t believe Chy’qui actually took samples and bred hybrids,” she moaned. “And K’hedduk! He was a doctor all along!”

  “Forget that. We’ve more important things to worry about.”

  “We can’t leave those cubs there, Kezule! We have to tell the Enforcers what they’re doing!”

  “I don’t intend to leave them, and you’ll say nothing to anyone. I don’t want the Prime authorities knowing K’hedduk has tame captive Sholan telepaths. I’ll deal with this my way. I don’t like being threatened, Zayshul. K’hedduk forgets that I can also use my Warriors against him. Have you compiled that list I asked you to make?”

  “I did it this afternoon, after that person left.” She reached for the reader on the table beside her. “I’ve thought of forty-two people, but that’s stretching it. I can’t vouch for them all.”

  “Good. We’ll go through it and I’ll make up the shortfall from my Warriors. Are they
high profile people? Likely to draw attention to us if we suddenly start keeping company with them?” He began scanning through her list. The bulk were in the medical sciences but that was her profession. The rest were in communications and other related fields— skills found on ships such as the Kz’adul.

  “No. Most are either already my friends or are friends of theirs.”

  “How many have skills that would allow me to legitimately recruit them to help handle the eighty new officers? Weapons, tactics, maintenance, defensive skills, that type of thing.”

  “About fifteen have some training in weapons and weapons maintenance. We had to double up our skills as part of our courses. The rest could come to watch the training on their days off, maybe even take part on the pretext of seeing their friends.”

  “We start recruiting them tomorrow, Zayshul,” he said, handing the list back to her. “Get in touch with those you trust most first.”

  “I can invite most of them over here for a small party in a week if all goes well,” she said quietly.

  “What do you mean if all goes well? And why in a week, why not now?” he demanded.

  “The egg,” she said.

  “Oh, that,” he said, sitting down and looking at her. “Are the TeLaxaudin ever wrong?”

  “Not that I’ve known of,” she said, examining her claw tips carefully.

  “Then everything will be fine,” he said, keeping his worries to himself while wishing he could sound more convincing. He’d grown used to her company. Without her, he’d be without a confidante, a friend. The threat to her from K’hedduk’s people had brought home to him just how much he relied on her, and how important a figure she now was in his life. He’d never let anyone this close to him before.

  “I’m going to have one of the officers guard you, and the egg when it’s laid, at all times until we leave here. I’m not risking your safety again.”

  Once more the color left her face. “Don’t say that, you’re scaring me.”