Dark Nadir

by Lisanne Norman

  “No,” he whispered, barely able to talk. “Let them take me, T’Chebbi. I need to find out what this is.”

  She grasped his hand. “You come back, hear me?” she said fiercely.

  “I will.”

  By the time they had him on the floater and in the corridor, their drug had begun to work. Exhausted, he lay there, gradually becoming aware again of his surroundings. The floater was being guided by two Valtegans dressed in the uniform of M’ezozakk’s crew. Like the priest, they wore collars. Ahead of them paced the gray-robed Seniormost. Kaid tried to reach out mentally for them but he was far too weak and the drug had affected his ability to concentrate. Cursing, he suddenly felt the crystal begin to warm against his chest. He reached for it, clutching it tightly in his hand, praying.

  As they guided him into a large examination room, a flash of memory returned. He’d been here before. The aseptic smell he’d noticed when they were first brought on board filled the air. Subdued lighting made the room seem dim. He turned his head, seeing the examination table and treatment unit to which they were obviously heading.

  The floater was moored over the table, then gradually lowered till it was locked in place. The two Valtegans moved away and stood a few meters distant—passive, quiet, unlike any Valtegans he’d seen before. The Seniormost switched on an overhead light, instantly blinding him. More memories—of this light, of insect faces and long hands that prodded and probed, of masks that reflected the light back into his eyes.

  Within his mind, the heartbeat pulsed again and again, becoming faster. This time the image was of a cub, a cub he recognized as Kashini. With each beat, the image grew older, until it was Kashini as he’d last seen her. By now the heartbeat matched his own, throbbing through him as it intensified and quickened, giving him the same sense of urgency and danger it possessed.

  He moaned, shaking his head in an effort to be free of it. It was too demanding, too overwhelming in its intensity for him to make sense of it: all he could do was endure.

  “Why are you in pain?”

  He heard the Seniormost’s voice but could see only the cub in her crib, sleeping. The image was continuous now, filling his vision as if he were actually there.

  The question was repeated.

  Others clustered around him, shadowy figures he couldn’t quite make out.

  “You must answer us.”

  Why wouldn’t they leave him alone? Couldn’t they realize he had to watch, had to find out why he was seeing this—where the danger lay? Gray-brindled hands came into view, grasped the cub, lifting her up and holding her close. Dzaka? What was happening to his son and Kashini?

  “Readout indicates mental contact with another,” he heard the mechanical translator say. “Terminate this portion of the experiment. He will not communicate with us while this continues.”

  “No!” he yelled, gripping the sides of the floater. A moment more, that’s all he needed!

  Hands were laid on him, holding him still as he thrashed around trying to avoid them. In his head, the images continued as Dzaka dashed from the room, running downstairs before coming to a halt at a door.

  He felt the sting of a hypo and the vision ceased abruptly.

  “It’s done,” he heard a distant voice say.

  “No!” He fought them more fiercely as he was catapulted back to his own reality. “What have you done? What have you terminated?” He could feel the drug begin to course through him, turning his limbs leaden and useless, restricting his thoughts until he was mentally trapped within his own skull. It had been an earlier vision from a different viewpoint, he realized. Before they’d left Shola for Jalna, he’d seen Dzaka burst into the kitchen, holding Kashini protectively in his arm. Now the horror of the vision was complete. His son and Kashini were in danger, and he could do nothing.

  His chin was grasped and turned till he faced the Seniormost. There were two of them, this one taller than the other. He’d never seen two before, he thought irrelevantly.

  “Why are you in pain? Who are you linked to?”

  Against his chest, the crystal pulsed. He knew without a shadow of doubt that Carrie was alive.

  Chapter 10

  Day 26

  “ARE you linked to a Human female?” the taller Seniormost holding Kaid asked. “You must answer.”

  He licked lips that were dry and cracked with a tongue not much better. “Why?” he croaked. “Why should I tell you?”

  “We have one such. She had been healed, but she does not thrive. We need to know why. Are you the reason?”

  So they had her. That explained a great deal. He blinked, and wished he could think straight, but the drug had left him dizzy and confused. “Yes. She was injured. Was there another, a male like me?”

  “We found only her. How is it your link is different from the others with Human partners? You have been apart for sixteen days, yet only now do you suffer.”

  They hadn’t found Kusac? How long had she been awake? “I must see her,” he said abruptly, interrupting the Seniormost.

  The hand round his jaw tightened, the armored glove pressing into his flesh, reminding him of its strength and his weakness. “You must tell us what we wish to know.”

  “It’s not the same for all of us,” he said, praying they’d believe him. “How long has she been out of cryo?”

  “This is not your concern. You are here to answer our questions.”

  “I must be with her!”

  “That is for her partner. You inferred the missing one is her partner.”

  “We both are. I can help, if you take me to her! I have medical knowledge of her species!” He was getting frantic now, trying to reach out to her, but his mind was as paralyzed as his body. The pulse had to have been her—the image her knowledge of the danger facing Kashini. They’d been linked in some strange way for days if only he’d realized!

  “You cannot mentally reach her unless we permit it. Do not bother attempting. Why were you in pain?”

  He closed his eyes. Delaying them by lying could only harm her. “I felt her pain,” he said. “Where she was wounded by the bullet.” As he said it, an awful thought occurred to him. His reactions to her pain had been as intense as those of a Leska partner.

  “You are of different species. Explain this.”

  “It happens to some of us,” he said, numbed by the shock of his realization. “Our minds meet and link for life. There are three of us.”

  “This must be studied. You will rest for now.” The Seniormost released him and began to turn away.

  “I must see her!”

  “Perhaps when you’ve rested.” He gestured with his hand and the smaller one came forward to place a fresh hypo against his neck.

  Tiredness began to spread through him, making his sight and mind blur. He fought to keep his eyes open. “I need to be with her! If she’s out of cryo, she could die without my physical presence!”

  “That is not your concern. She has survived till now. She is not in any immediate danger.”

  Consciousness faded, but not his fear that he’d wake back in their prison, alone.

  * * *

  Long, thin fingers gave the device a final adjustment before rearranging his patient’s dark hair and replacing the tool in the tray at the side of the treatment bed. Large, dual-lensed eyes looked up at the gray-robed Prime.

  “Adjusted now implant is. Properly to work more data needs it. Intended not for species Sholan. Understand this. Likely problems be,” said the translator. Beneath it, the voice was low-pitched and slightly rough, vibrating like a musical string being stroked by a bow. “Wake him you can now.”

  “Understood,” said the tall Seniormost.

  * * *

  The Primes obviously considered leaving him in his room for two days his punishment as, later that day, they came for him, taking him to the interrogation room once more. J’koshuk had spent the days trying to think of anything that would improve their opinion of him, make him have value in their eyes. The thou
ght of being implanted like the others filled him with terror.

  “You are to be given one last chance. I want information from this one,” said the Prime, indicating the dark-pelted Sholan sitting quietly in the chair. “You will concentrate on him for now. Do not harm him physically. He was awakened and implanted three days ago. Pain may be used, but with discretion. You have five days, no longer.” He handed him a reader. “These are the questions I want answered. Your wrist unit includes controls for his collar. This Prime will show you how to utilize them.” He indicated a white-robed Prime standing nearby.

  “I’ve seen that female in the stasis room before,” J’koshuk said as the Seniormost turned to leave.

  He stopped, and waited.

  J’koshuk flicked his tongue across his lips. “She was on Keiss, at our recreation city. Unless she has a double, she should be dead. When we discovered she was a spy, General M’ezozakk gave her to me to interrogate, then have terminated.”

  “Undoubtedly she has a double. Have you see this male before?” The gloved hand pointed to Kusac.

  He shook his head. “There were no Sholans on Keiss when we left.”

  “You will question this Kusac about Kezule. We are interested in him.”

  Kezule. That had been the name the one called Tallis had called out before he was killed. He’d forgotten about that. He inclined his head, then added Kezule’s name to the list of questions. “I may do what I want to him, within reason?” he asked, wanting to be sure. From the list, he saw they thought Kusac was her mate. Whether or not he was, he could certainly solve the problem of the female’s identity, and that right now was his own priority. “These Sholans are almost as difficult to get information from as my own people.”

  “Within reason,” agreed the Prime. “Just get us the answers we wish.”

  * * *

  Noni and Teusi moved her into the back bedroom that evening.

  “Don’t know how you kept going, girl,” said Noni, watching from the doorway as Teusi helped the female they’d named Ghaysa limp over to the big bed. “Thank the good Goddess you knew what herbs to take.”

  “Luck,” she muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed once he’d drawn the covers back. Lifting her legs in was easier than she’d thought it would be. Her right leg had much of its mobility back now that the swelling was finally subsiding.

  The bed was cool, and as soft and fresh-smelling as the other had been. She lay back, pulling the covers over her and let herself drift off to sleep again.

  Morning brought with it a scent she recognized from her dreams.

  “The nung tree in the garden,” said Teusi in answer to her question when he brought her first meal. “Noni says you’re to rest up today. You can use her bed during the day if you want.”

  “Maybe later,” she’d said, tucking into the cooked eggs and meat.

  She’d slept again, till almost evening, waking in time to go through to the main room for the last meal of the day.

  “You remembered anything yet?” asked Noni, handing her a mug of coffee when she’d finished. “Try that. Human drink and very nice.”

  It was good. “No, nothing yet.”

  “What about the accident?”

  She wrinkled her nose, looking up at Noni. “Accident?”

  “An aircar crashed a couple of miles away,” said Noni.

  She thought about it for a moment. “I don’t remember any crash.”

  “Ah, well. You just tell the Protector that when he comes tomorrow.”

  Panic welled up inside her. She might have lost her memory, but she instinctively knew she didn’t want to have anything at all to do with the Protectors. “Why do they want to see me?”

  “They think you witnessed the crash. Just routine, nothing to worry about. Where did you come from? North, or up from the southern lowlands?”

  “Lowlands,” she said automatically, then froze.

  “See? It’ll come back on its own, so don’t you fret,” said Noni comfortingly.

  “I’m not worrying,” she forced herself to say with a sinking feeling. Like a faucet leaking, suddenly bits of memories were beginning to return. Like making damned sure the Protectorate didn’t see her. She’d have to leave tonight. But for where? She’d thought if she found the old one and the tree she’d be safe.

  Vartra’s Retreat! It wasn’t far away, she realized. They could grant her sanctuary there. She could go into retreat, work for them, maybe in their gardens growing things. After living off the land for so many weeks, she could surely do that.

  She stood up, faking a large yawn. “I think I’ll turn in now. I’m still tired.”

  Noni nodded. “Sleep well, youngling.”

  On her way past the old female, she stopped to hug her impulsively. “Thank you,” she whispered, then fled to the rear bedroom.

  * * *

  Noni sat there contemplating her mug, wondering what this female could possibly have done to make her need sanctuary. She sighed, taking a mouthful of coffee, wondering if this—Ghaysa—was the one in Brynne’s dreams. She’d done what had been asked of her, taken the female in, then sent her on to the Retreat. At least the carefully planted mental suggestion hadn’t been noticed. Finishing her drink, she wondered if she’d ever find out what the purpose had been to this, or would she just disappear behind Dhaika’s walls for the rest of her life? Not every encounter had an ending these days.

  * * *

  “Josh, what do I do about the Touibans?” repeated Mara, grasping hold of the newspaper her mate was reading and tugging it away from him.

  “Hey! Don’t do that,” he protested. “These papers cost a lot to import, Mara.”

  “You’re not listening to me,” she said. “And the paper’s over three weeks old anyway.”

  “You tell him,” said Ruth, ladling the last of the mushrooms onto the girl’s plate. Putting the spoon back in her pan, she took hold of the offending paper, whisked it away from him and headed back into the inner kitchen carrying it.

  “Oi! That’s not fair,” he protested. “It’s only just arrived! I haven’t finished it yet!”

  “Not at my table you don’t,” Ruth’s reply drifted back. “Just because you have a Link with Mara doesn’t mean you give up talking to her.”

  “You’re ganging up on me,” he complained, picking up his mug as Mara sniggered at him.

  “I was asking you a serious question. What do I do about the Touibans’ request to join our Clan?”

  Josh sat up in his chair, spluttering over his coffee. “You didn’t tell me about that,” he said. “I know you took them for the tour around the estate today, but you said nothing about that. And I didn’t pick it up from you, either.”

  “No, I kept it to myself, trying to work out why they wanted to join our Clan.”

  “This is one for Master Konis,” he said. “They really asked if they could join us?”

  She nodded. “I thought I’d misheard them, but I hadn’t. Anyway, I’ve got to see them tomorrow and give them some kind of answer. And I can’t disturb Master Konis or Rhyasha at this time.”

  “You could contact Falma. He’s Konis’ aide,” suggested Josh.

  “Go straight to Rhyasha, my dear,” said Ruth, reemerging with her own food. “Don’t be put off by the situation. With her son and bond-daughter missing, I’ll bet she’d welcome any diversion right now. Master Konis went back to work today, so she’s been on her own. And there’s Kitra. Involve her if you can. She could certainly do with something to keep her busy. Besides,” she smiled slightly, “Dzaka still does a tour up there now and then. Who knows what might happen if we present them with an opportunity?”

  “I’ll see what I can do, but it might not involve me at all,” said Mara, spearing her mushrooms with her fork. She felt really sorry for the young Sholan girl. The last few weeks had not been kind to her.

  “Why on earth would they want to join us?” repeated Josh. “I mean, surely they’d want to go home? What do they think they’d g
ain?”

  “Knowledge. They’re motivated by knowledge.” Mara popped the mushrooms into her mouth.

  “I know that, but . . .” He shook his head. “Alien motives. Who can figure ’em?” he grinned, reaching out to tousle Daira’s ears.

  Ruth’s fosterling grinned up at him. “You’re the aliens here,” he purred.

  “Finish up your meal, then go take your shower,” said Ruth, looking in his direction. “You and Mandy have got classes with Ghyan over at the Shrine tomorrow.”

  “You’re not sending Mandy for her shower,” he objected, getting slowly to his feet.

  “She’s older, but she’ll be following you shortly,” said Ruth. “Go on, no dawdling now.”

  He trailed off, tail hung low, ears flattened, looking dejected.

  “I’ll bring you a cookie with milk if you’re in bed in half an hour,” said Josh, taking pity on him.

  Magically, the tail lifted and he scurried off.

  “He gets spoiled too much by those living here,” said Ruth.

  “He’s all right,” said Josh.

  “The Touibans,” reminded Mara.

  “Call Rhyasha in an hour,” said Ruth. “After we’ve cleaned up here.”

  * * *

  Mara’s call resulted in her being asked up to the main house. She was ushered into the lounge where Rhyasha and Konis waited for her.

  The greetings over, and drinks dispensed, she was asked to explain what had happened. As she told them of the day’s events, Konis began to nod.

  “This is more than I could have hoped for,” he said. “If we’re understanding them correctly, then what they really want is permission to bring their whole swarm here and start up a new hive on Shola.”

  “A hive?” echoed Rhyasha. “They won’t let our Cultural Evaluation teams enter the hives.” She saw Mara’s confused look and began to explain. “Touiban swarms include their females, but they never leave the hives. We’ve only ever interacted with groups of males.”

  “I thought they had cities and towns like us.”

  “They do,” nodded Konis, “but the hives are at the heart, and we’re not allowed there. This would give us an unprecedented opportunity to study their whole culture for the first time. And all thanks to you and Josh. You’re to be commended, my dear. You’ve achieved what none of us have been able to do in several hundred years.”