Dark Nadir

by Lisanne Norman

  Noni approached the first bed, glancing over the unconscious female, assessing her injuries. Moving closer, she checked her pulse and eyes. “She needs to see the Stronghold physician when he gets here. Clean and dress those wounds in the meantime and keep her covered,” she ordered one of the youths following them.

  She made her way to the next, a male this time, lying there moaning. Blood oozed sluggishly from a cut on his head and his forearm was gashed. “He’ll need that arm seen to before I can stitch it. Clean him up, lass. I’ll be back.”

  “Have you found the one you’re looking for, Noni?” Teusi asked in an undervoice as Noni assessed the third and fourth victims.

  “No, lad, and that surprises me. I was sure I’d find her here.”

  “Her?”

  “Did I say her?” She looked up at him, mouth open in a faint smile. “Then it’s a female we’ll be expecting.”

  * * *

  Doggedly, with no idea of where she was actually headed, she kept pushing herself onward, no longer even caring about the force that drove her so mercilessly. No longer able to support herself on her injured leg, she staggered through the tall bracken on three limbs.

  The scents of civilization assaulted her nose and she realized she was nearing a settlement. One smell stood out from the others, its faint scent hauntingly familiar. She stopped, raising her head above the undergrowth in an effort to track its source. This was the trail she’d been following all along.

  The breeze changed direction, carrying within it the smell of stale ale and cooking, but not a trace of her scent. With a low whimper of distress, she risked sitting up, breaking her cover. She had to find the nung tree! The perfume came to her again, as the breeze once more wafted from her right. Turning her head, she saw the cottage, and the tree standing in the garden. Even from this distance, the pale flowers stood out like stars in the night sky against the dark green foliage.

  Falling back to the ground, she began to lope unevenly toward the house. Nearly there, then it would be over and she’d be safe.

  * * *

  As Teusi brought the aircar down to land on the hard pad next to her cottage, she turned to look out the side window, ears swiveling forward.

  “She’s here, Teusi. The one day in the week I go out expecting to find her, and she comes to me,” she said in disgust. “Figures, doesn’t it?”

  “Here?” he echoed, turning off the engine. “Where?”

  “How should I know, lad? I’ve only just arrived back, same as you. Leave my bag for now. You go look round for her, I’ll get the house opened up and a kettle on to boil.”

  * * *

  “You got a prowler!” shouted Nunza, bustling up the roadway toward him as Teusi opened the gate.

  Hurry, lad! Leave Nunza to me. Take our visitor in the back way, I don’t want that interfering old busybody sticking her nose into this business! sent Noni.

  With a flick of his tail to indicate he’d heard her, Teusi headed round the side of the house at a run.

  As Nunza put her hand on the latch, Noni emerged from the aircar. “Get your hand off my gate, Nunza,” she said. “If we got a prowler, Teusi’ll handle it.”

  “He’ll need a hand, Noni. A prowler’s a danger to everyone. I called the Protectors. They’ll be here soon. He should wait for them.”

  “Interfering old fool! I’m expecting someone,” said Noni, pushing her aside and opening the gate. “Likely it’s her you saw.”

  “Didn’t know you were expecting anyone.”

  “Why should you know my business?” demanded Noni, shutting the gate firmly.

  “Who you expecting?” Nunza asked, sidling along her side of the fence, trying to peer down the path which Teusi had taken.

  “No one you know! Now get you on home and mind your own business, Nunza! I got things to do, family to welcome,” she snapped, turning her back on the gossip and heading for her front door.

  “Strange visitor that tries to stay hidden and sneak up on your back garden!”

  “Maybe she’s just trying to avoid prying folk like you!” Noni shut her door with a resounding bang. Inside now, she made her way toward the back bedroom and the door out into the rear garden.

  Teusi was bending over a still form lying at the foot of the nung tree. “She’s hurt, Noni,” he said, looking up at her. “I think it’s safe to move her, though.”

  “Think isn’t good enough, lad. You have to know. Moving her could cause worse injuries if you don’t know what’s broken.”

  “It is safe to move her,” he said, rolling her onto her back and sliding his arms under her. “She’s got a wound on her right thigh. Looks like she’s had it some time. It’s badly swollen and infected.”

  “Take her in and put her on my bed. We’ll see to her there.”

  * * *

  “Wonder what caused that,” Noni muttered as she gently swabbed the last of the muck and poison out of her patient’s thigh wound. “Not a knife, or a fall.”

  “She’s got other small cuts on her head and face,” said Teusi as he fastened off the thread he’d used to stitch the small wound on her arm. “And on her lower back. I’d say she’s either been in a fight, or more likely, been beaten up.”

  Noni grunted as she began to rinse out the now clean wound. “You seen her feet? And hands? Cut and bruised like I’ve rarely seen before. She’s been traveling and living rough for some time. Still got a low-level fever.”

  Teusi moved round to check the hands and feet for himself. “You’re right. How can you be sure she’s the one we’re waiting for, Noni?”

  She looked up at him, eyes twinkling, nose creasing as her mouth opened in a slight smile. “I know, lad. Trust me. It’s a feeling you get, a certainty in here.” She reached out and tapped his forehead between the eyes. “A rightness of the moment. You’ll know when it happens to you the first time.”

  “What’s so special about her?” he asked, collecting his bowl and taking it to the sink to wash out.

  “No idea, lad. Not my business to know that,” she replied, watching in approval as he refilled it with fresh herbal antiseptic then went to treat their patient’s feet. “She’ll need to rest up in bed a couple of days at least. Those feet aren’t taking her anywhere far in that state.”

  * * *

  Keeza woke gradually, aware first of the soft surface beneath her, then the lightness of the cover that lay over her. It smelled sweet, of flowers. If this was a dream, she didn’t want it to end. She couldn’t remember when her last night in a real bed had been.

  “Get the soup for her now, Teusi. She’s awake,” she heard an elderly voice say. “No need to fear us, lass. Whatever you’re running from won’t catch you here.”

  The smell of soup filled the air, making her stomach grumble loudly.

  “Aye, I reckon you are hungry,” laughed the old one. “We were able to count each of your ribs.”

  The voice sounded friendly. She opened her eyes, looking around. The first thing she saw was Teusi advancing toward her, a bowl of soup balanced on a tray. Instinct made her cringe back but he stopped dead, coming no closer.

  “I won’t harm you. I’ve got food. You need to eat, build up your strength so you’ll heal,” he said.

  Heal? Her leg! She moved it experimentally. It hurt, but the pain felt good, not like the tight, dull throbbing she’d grown used to.

  He took a step, drawing her attention back to him. He was younger than she was, barely twenty, she realized. Round, low set ears were framed by mid-brown hair. Green eyes looked seriously at her from under slightly drawn eye ridges. She could sense his concern that he didn’t frighten her, especially after the beating she’d obviously suffered. He knew!

  Panic flooded through her and she shrank back onto the pillows, painfully drawing her legs up and pulling her arms free of the cover. Before she could do more, she felt her mind grasped and held firmly.

  Don’t be a fool, lass! If we meant you harm, why would we treat your wounds and feed you?
The thought was scathing and acerbic.

  She looked at the old one finally, seeing the face she knew she would. It was just like the dreams, right down to the long snow white plait that lay over her shoulder. “I know you!” she blurted out.

  “Aye, and I know you, lass,” said Noni. “Seen you a few times, I have. You’ve been sent here to me. Now stop being a fool and drink that soup. Teusi here isn’t interested in you. He’s got himself a young female in the village that he’s playing jeggets with!”

  “Noni!” exclaimed Teusi, ears flattening to his skull in acute embarrassment.

  “Where am I?” Keeza asked.

  “At Noni’s, just outside Dzahai village. Teusi, give her the damned soup before it congeals!”

  Teusi approached her and held out the tray.

  Cautiously, she took it from him. Her stomach growled again as she straightened her legs and placed the tray on her lap. She was starving and this was hot, cooked food, not raw flesh. She sat there, unable to touch it.

  “Eat,” said Noni.

  Ignoring the spoon, she picked up the bowl and began to drink greedily.

  “I reckon she’s well enough to finish off the stew we had,” she heard Noni say. “Go fetch it, lad.”

  A bowl of stew was placed on the tray. She stopped drinking to look at the stew, then back to the soup, unsure what to do in the face of such a choice.

  “Stew’s hot. Finish the soup first,” advised Noni. “And use the spoon for it. I don’t want you choking on the meat.”

  She glanced up fearfully, then sensed the attempt at humor behind the old one’s remark.

  You’re a telepath, then.

  “No,” she said, putting the empty soup bowl down.

  Then what are you?

  Tentatively she reached for the second bowl, looking over to Noni for permission. Having got it, mindful of her instructions, she picked up the spoon. “I’m . . .” She stopped, a stricken look on her face. “I don’t know what I am,” she whispered, ears lying flat. “I can’t remember.”

  “It’ll come back, never fear,” Noni said reassuringly. “Your memory’s just missing for a few days, that’s all. What they call you? Do you remember that?”

  As she spooned up the stew, almost gulping it down in case they changed their minds about letting her have it, she searched for a name. “I don’t have one.”

  “Got to call you something,” said Noni. “Can’t keep saying Hey you! can we? How about we call you Ghaysa? How does that sound to you?”

  “Ghaysa,” she said, putting the spoon down to lick the inside of the bowl. It sounded right, had something of a familiar feel to it. “I’m Ghaysa.”

  “Take her tray away, Teusi, and give our guest this mug of water to drink. Ghaysa, you sleep now. Got a lot of healing to do.”

  She drank it and lay back on the sweet-smelling pillows feeling drowsy. Sleep she did, surfacing only once, briefly, as she heard Noni’s angry voice.

  “You calling me a liar? I tell you, she’s my second cousin twice removed’s child, Ghaysa. Had an accident on her way here. Knocked her memory clean into next year, it has!”

  “Rhuna, you know we’ve got to talk to her.”

  “Not while she’s sick, you don’t! What could she possibly tell you anyway? She isn’t a prowler and wasn’t anywhere near that aircar crash, so how could she know what caused it? You go back and ask the younglings that were in it what happened, and leave us law-abiding folks alone!”

  A loud sigh. “I’ll tell the commander, Rhuna, but I’ll be back tomorrow. You could save us all a lot of bother if you let me question her now.”

  “Can’t. She’s had a potion to break her fever and help her sleep,” Noni said shortly. “Now, good day to you!”

  She heard the door slam as she drifted off to sleep again.

  * * *

  “There seem to be two distinct dreams or visions, Brynne,” said Kha’Qwa thoughtfully, studying the Human in the chair opposite her. “Those that have to do with this female, and another that involves what sounds like a medical area.”

  “That was our thought,” nodded Jurrel.

  Kha’Qwa glanced at him before looking back to Brynne. “It’s good you had someone to talk them through with,” she said. “I’m sorry Father Lijou isn’t here to talk to you, but I know he’ll be grateful for you bringing what was undoubtedly a very difficult experience to us. I think you’re unnaturally susceptible to others’ minds at the moment because of your new awareness of our people and religion. Once you progress a little further with your training, it should die down. Very few of our visionaries, and we have more than most because of the nature of the Brotherhood training, have so many experiences in so short a time. Most can go for months, even years, without being aware of anything out of the ordinary.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” said Brynne with relief. “You’ve no idea how bad it can get.”

  “I can imagine,” she said sympathetically. “Do you know what this female looks like?” She asked the question casually, hoping not to alert him to her interest.

  “Darkish, I think,” he said, brow creasing as he obviously tried to remember. “Sort of all colors—brown, and gold, and sort of orangey, with white as well. Longer-furred than most of you,” he added.

  “Striking coloration,” she said. “As I said, I’ll pass the information on to Father Lijou when he returns.”

  “There’s trouble at the estate, isn’t there?” said Brynne quietly, catching her eye for the first time.

  Startled, she looked away. “Now why would you think that?” she asked, keeping her tone light. Damn! She might be mind-dead right now, but he was hypersensitive!

  “I’ve been picking that up too. Flashes of danger to Carrie and Kusac. What’s happened?”

  “Nothing at all,” she said, beginning to get to her feet. “Not everything you sense at this time will be accurate, or even traceable if it is, Brynne. Some of our gifts aren’t an exact science the way telepathy is.”

  Brynne rose as well. “They’re my Clan, Mistress Kha’Qwa. I have a right to know. Maybe knowing will help me pinpoint some of the feelings and dreams.”

  She was caught, and she knew it. “Their ship is missing,” she said. “Father Lijou is with their family now.”

  “How long?”

  “Nearly three weeks. They’ve been searching for them since the third day. That’s when we discovered they were missing. So far, there’s been no trace either at the Jalnian end or Tuushu Station.”

  Brynne stood there, too stunned to speak.

  “Dark news, indeed,” said Jurrel. “They’ll be calling off the search soon. It’s unusual for it to go on so long.”

  “They were on a U’Churian craft with a crew of Cabbaran navigators,” said Kha’Qwa. “Both species are involved with the Forces in the search, and we have even managed to place one of our telepaths on a jointly operated ship. When there is news, we will hear it, believe me. Every possible stone is being turned in our attempts to find them.”

  “Let’s pray they turn up,” said Jurrel.

  * * *

  As soon as they’d gone, Kha’Qwa went to the comm on her mate’s desk, calling up the file she knew he had on the missing female, Keeza Lassah. Two pictures stared out at her from the screen, one taken as a convict, another while still with the Consortias, before joining the Shanagi project.

  “It’s her,” she murmured. “It has to be her!”

  * * *

  The past four days had been chaotic for Konis. He’d given up taking calls and had them all routed to his secretary to deal with. They were all about the same matter—his resignation as Clan Lord. He felt beleaguered. To top it all off, Kitra refused to return to the Guild and he hadn’t the heart to make her. Thankfully, Sorli had been understanding and had spoken to Ghyan so their priest could continue her instruction on the estate. Now this!

  “You have to make a decision soon, Konis,” Rhyasha was saying. “I’ve had to cut myself off, too. When
they can’t get you on the comm, they’re asking for me. I’ve been told you even refuse to speak to Governor Nesul.”

  “Later, Rhyasha,” he said, sitting down in the informal area near her. “Lijou’s on his way up.”

  “Lijou? I didn’t know you were expecting him.”

  “I’m not. He arrived at the gatehouse asking to see me.”

  “Doesn’t sound like Lijou,” she said.

  A scratch at the door, then it opened. “Guild Master Lijou,” said Che’Quul, letting the Head Priest enter.

  “Unexpected though it is, it’s nice to see you, Lijou,” said Rhyasha, standing up to greet him. “Do you have private business?”

  “No, I wanted to talk to you both,” he said, coming over to join them.

  Behind him came Miosh, carrying a tray with glasses and a bottle of spirits.

  Konis glanced up, frowning as Miosh placed the drinks on the table between the chairs.

  “Bit early for that, Miosh,” Rhyasha said.

  Miosh backed away and began to leave.

  “You’ve news for us, Lijou,” said Konis abruptly. “Don’t try to sweeten it. It’s about Carrie and Kusac, isn’t it?”

  “I’m afraid so,” said Lijou, taking the nearest chair. “Their ship’s officially been declared missing. They were due to make a scheduled transmission before entering jump some three weeks ago. It wasn’t made. We hoped it was because of a transmitter failure and that they’d already jumped, but they haven’t yet turned up at their rendezvous.”

  Konis sat and stared at him. He couldn’t be hearing this. It was impossible. He had been convincing himself that Kusac and Carrie were fine ever since he’d seen the note about their missing ship. But now it was all too real, now that they were being officially informed—now that Rhyasha knew, too. At least Lijou hadn’t revealed to Rhyasha that he’d known about the crisis almost from the start. Time seemed to slow down and he heard Lijou’s voice as if it was far away.

  “Immediately we heard about the lack of communication, we, the U’Churians, and the Cabbarans, implemented a search for them. We’ve found some wreckage, definitely from the Profit, but not enough to cripple the ship. That only proves they had an accident of some kind, nothing more.”