“What?” he demanded, instantly awake. “Mara? And Zhyaf? He’s at …”
“Shanagi, I know! Can you get Vanna here as quickly as possible?”
“On our way,” he said, already heading back to the bedroom. He’d scarcely entered the room when L’Seuli called from Stronghold.
“Kezule’s escaped and taken Zhyaf as a hostage,” the Brother said.
“I know. Just had Ruth call about it. Hold on, I need to wake Vanna.”
Vanna was already sitting up. “I heard. Mara?”
“Ruth needs help. You head over there, I’ll arrange a sitter for Marak and join you.”
She nodded. “Wake Jack, I’ll need him, too,” she said, scrambling out of bed and grabbing her clothes. “Get the center alerted. I’ll be taking Mara there.”
Garras nodded and returned to his call. “What happened?”
“No real details at present. All we know is he and Keeza are at large in the building and Zhyaf is one of two hostages. Neither of them know he’s a telepath, which could be to the good or not. I need you to keep a line of communication open to us. You’ll probably know more about what’s going on than we do.”
“Vanna’s taking Mara to the medical center here. Patch through to them and we’ll pick you up there. Keep me posted, L’Seuli.”
The line cleared, Garras grabbed his robe, slipped it on, and fastened it quickly. That done, he headed back for the lounge and started his calls.
For a wonder, Mara had seemed quite calm and had readily agreed to accompany Vanna to the center. Clutching tightly to Ruth’s arm, she now sat on the edge of the bed in one of the private rooms.
“It’s Keeza that’s got Zhyaf,” she said, “not Kezule. He’s got the other one, Nayla.” Her eyes were wide and she was shivering.
“What is Zhyaf seeing or feeling at the moment?” asked Vanna from her chair opposite the young Human girl.
“Keeza’s using him as a shield. He’s worried about the guards. He’s afraid they’ll shoot him by accident.”
Garras, entering the room quietly, heard her last remark. “They’ve been told,” he said. “They will do nothing to endanger his life, believe me. They’re going to try to negotiate with them.”
Mara turned to look at him. “Negotiate? What can you offer him?” she asked, the first real note of panic in her voice. “He’s alone, a captive on a hostile alien world, stranded in time, for God’s sake! What can you possibly offer him?”
Garras said nothing as he looked at his mate.
“Let’s see what happens, Mara,” said Vanna, leaning forward to hold her hand. “He might want to negotiate, you don’t know. Is Zhyaf capable of speaking to them?”
“He’s too frightened, Vanna! All I’m getting is coming through our Link—he won’t communicate with me. They’re using Nayla to lead them to a room with a window.” She stopped suddenly, looking over to Garras again. “If you tell them what’s happening, they’ll know! They’ll kill him!” she said, her voice rising in fear. “Zhyaf told me weeks ago that Keeza’s become sensitive because of him. She’ll know, Vanna! She’ll feel him if he sends to me!”
Vanna looked at Garras. “She’s right,” she said. “If they find out he’s spying on them, telling us what they’re planning …”
“Knowledge that could also help save their lives,” said Garras. “We have to tell them at Shanagi, Mara. Let them decide. They’re the ones on the spot after all.”
“No!” There was a note of hysteria now as she clung tighter to Ruth. “Zhyaf isn’t risking it, I won’t!”
Vanna patted her hand again and got to her feet. “All right, Mara. We won’t push you. I’m going to leave you here with Ruth for a moment. I’ll just be next door if you need me.”
Mara nodded, and Vanna could feel her eyes boring into her back as she left the room. She sent to Garras, asking him to join her. Once outside, she drew him over to the nursing station opposite, where Jack was sitting with the on-duty medic.
“You will not press her for details of what’s happening,” she said firmly to her mate. “Both of them are frightened enough without that! She’s no more than a youngling, and she’s staring her own death in the jaws here, amid what should be the safety of her friends!” A shudder ran through her at the horror of the situation and she reached out to touch Garras for comfort.
“We need the information, Vanna,” he said, drawing her close. “Rhyaz and L’Seuli are on their way there now. We can’t afford to let him get free, nor Keeza in her present state!”
“Two lives are at risk, Garras,” she said, then stopped. “Gods, I forgot Josh! He’s Linked to her, too!”
“Only a minor one,” said Garras, “but we should have him here in case.” He looked over to the medic. “Call him, get him over here, but leave the explanations to us.” He turned back to Vanna. “Three lives have already been lost. If they escape, many more will be at risk, perhaps even ours. They must be stopped, Vanna.”
“Let me go in and speak to the lass, Vanna,” said Jack. “I know Ruth’s with her, but I’ve been involved in similar situations on Keis. Ruth, bless her, hasn’t.”
“I have to look out for the welfare of my patients, Jack. I don’t feel it’s in her best interests to push her! If she gets hysterical, what do we do? Sedate her and risk Zhyaf collapsing, too? And what if they do kill Zhyaf?”
“We unfortunately get the chance to try out that technique we were discussing,” said Jack.
Garras looked at him with interest.
“Sholans expect to die if their Leska dies, but Humans haven’t been brought up with that belief,” the doctor said. “It might be possible to keep her alive if Zhyaf is killed.”
“How?” Garras looked skeptically from one to the other.
“The Triads are the key. We’re hoping that the third partner can replace the missing Leska,” said Vanna.
Garras’ expression softened. “I can understand why you’d like to think it possible, but I really don’t believe it is. Mixed Leska pairs are much more strongly Linked than the Sholan ones. Look at the pair we lost. The lad died and so did the Human female. And Josh isn’t even a fully Talented telepath.”
“They hadn’t been allowed to pair even once, and they weren’t a Triad,” objected Vanna. “As far as we can tell, it’s the shock of the other’s death that kills the partner. If we were able to cushion her, support her mentally, have Josh there, too, it might work.”
“Would she want to live with Zhyaf dead? Prolonging life for the sake of it isn’t right, Vanna.”
“Mara? Yes, she’d want to live. She gets on with Zhyaf now they don’t have to live together, but it’s Josh who’s the love of her young life.”
“Shall I go in, then?” asked Jack.
“Yes, you go in, Jack. I’ll wait for Josh with Garras.”
“I need to be there to relay what we find,” objected her mate.
Vanna looked at him. “Give Jack a chance to talk to her without her fearing her every word is being passed to the troops at Shanagi.”
Garras sighed. “Very well.”
“The next room,” whimpered Nayla, her voice trembling with fear.
“Check this one,” said Kezule as they stopped by a bend in the corridor. “I’ll remain here.” He turned to look at Keeza, staring at her with unblinking eyes. “Do not harm him. We’ll take him with us.”
Keeza nodded and moved toward the door. The corridor was short, only two rooms on one side, on the other, the elevator as the female had said. Activating the first door, she peered cautiously in as it began to slide open. It was a small staff lounge, empty at this time of night, and there was a window.
Hauling Zhyaf with her, she made for the far wall and peered carefully out into the night. A deserted quadrangle, bounded by lawns and three low brick walls. To one side she could make out an aircar. She let out a low chuckle as she started back to Kezule.
“So it’s your car,” she said. “Fitting that we should use it.”
“Keeza,” said Zhyaf, keeping his voice low as he stumbled along in her grip, “think what you’re doing. You should be helping us, not him.”
From outside, they could hear an exchange of shots and the low, terrified yowling of Nayla.
“Shut up!” she hissed, shaking him, her claws just puncturing the flesh on the sides of his neck. “Why should I help you? You’ve done nothing for me! He fed me, gave me a purpose when you abandoned me!”
“We never beat you! He did!”
“I deserved it. You beat him for no reason,” she snarled, hauling him back to the door. “Now shut up! It’s thanks to him you’re still alive!”
Looking out, she saw Kezule standing on her side of the bend. “General!” she called quietly, pitching her voice so he would hear her. When he looked at her, she gestured with her gun.
“For Vartra’s sake, think, Keeza,” Zhyaf hissed. “He’ll kill you when he’s free! He won’t need you then! You have no future with him!”
She leaned forward, biting his ear sharply, making him yowl in pain, a sound cut off abruptly as she tightened her grip on the back of his neck. “I have no future with you! I killed two guards, you want I should kill you, too?”
Kezule took in the hostage’s bleeding ear as he ran toward her. He’d forgotten she’d be aggressively violent toward males other than him. “Remember who’s in charge,” he said icily, pushing her back inside. “Do not hurt him again!”
“Yes, General,” she said, forcing her ears down in apology. “There is a window, and an aircar.”
Kezule sealed the door and slung his rifle over his shoulder. “The pistol,” he ordered, holding out his hand. She gave it to him and he fired at the locking plate, destroying it. “See to the window,” he said, handing it back and glancing around the room for something with which to bind the captives. An overall lying across the back of a chair caught his eye.
Pushing Nayla onto the chair, he took hold of the overall and began ripping lengths from it. Swiftly he bound her, then joined Keeza.
“The window’s sealed. I’ll need to break it.”
“Do so. Give him to me,” he ordered, taking hold of Zhyaf’s wrists and tying them together. “Hurry. They are close behind.”
Keeza backed off from the window, aimed her rifle at it, and fired. Nothing happened. She spat curses. “Stun guns,” she said with disgust as she pulled the pistol from her pocket again. Standing to one side, she leveled the pistol at the window and fired. The glass exploded in a shower of shards. Using the rifle butt, she swept the frame clear of shards. She hesitated, remembering what the male had said and looked at Kezule. “The poison in my arm …”
“Will be seen to. Now go.” He pushed her forward and a moment later she was standing in the courtyard holding her hands up to take Zhyaf from him.
She staggered slightly under his weight, letting him fall with her support to land on his feet. Grabbing him by the arm, she hustled him over to the aircar. Stopping, she rifled in his pockets for his card. Pushing it into the reader set on the vehicle’s wing, she waited impatiently for the door to slide open. A worried glance behind told her Kezule was following, bringing the female with him.
“Please, you said you’d spare me,” Nayla whimpered when he stopped. “I told you where the window was.”
Keeza shoved Zhyaf inside and followed him, making sure he was secured in the rear seat by the safety strap. Then, she clambered into the pilot’s seat and shoved the card into the slot. Hearing a thump, she glanced over to see Nayla drop bonelessly to the ground.
“Go,” he said, climbing in behind her and closing the door.
“They’ve killed her!” said Mara, leaping to her feet. “Oh, God! They’ve killed Nayla!” She began pacing the room, wringing her hands, a look of terror on her face. “They’ve taken him with them!”
“Mara, if they’ve taken him, they want him alive,” said Ruth soothingly, getting up to take hold of her fosterling.
Mara avoided her and darted round the other side of her bed. “You don’t understand,” she said, leaning forward on it. “He killed Nayla! He promised he would let her go! Zhyaf’s next, and that means me!” Her voice ended on a high-pitched wail.
Jack eased himself out of his chair. “Vanna, m’dear, I think we have to sedate Mara now. She’s obviously becoming too hysterical for Zhyaf’s good. Would you mind handing me your hypo?”
“Don’t you come near me,” said Mara angrily, pulling herself upright again. “How dare you suggest that! You know that it’ll affect Zhyaf!”
“And so will your hysterics!” Jack snapped, his mustache fairly bristling with an anger equal to hers. “Pull yourself together, girl! He’s the one facing that damned Valtegan, not you, he needs his wits about him! Give the man a chance, Mara,” he said, softening his tone as he saw tears begin to spill down her cheeks. “Kezule and that Keeza woman are only two people. Through you, Zhyaf has all of us to help him and give him advice. Now send to him, lass. Tell him to keep calm, we’re doing everything we can.”
She covered her face with her hands and began to sob gently as Jack eased his way toward her and enfolded her in his bear hug. “Come on, lass,” he said, patting her back gently as he brought her back into the center of the room. “You have to be brave for both of you.”
There was something he’d noticed while in laalgo, something alien about himself, he remembered. What was it? He thought back, trying to recall it.
“Where to, General?” Keeza asked as she headed out of the grounds of the installation, then upward to lose themselves in the traffic that passed overhead.
Irritated at the interruption, Kezule turned in his seat to look at the captive Sholan behind him. “I want countryside—woodland in which to lose us. Which direction?” he demanded.
Zhyaf heard the question but couldn’t make his brain work. He was numb with fear. He knew just how deadly Kezule was. The Valtegan reached out for him, nonretractile claws coming closer to his face. He shrank back in his seat, opened his mouth—and found it too dry to speak. He swallowed furiously, managing to get enough spit together to croak an answer.
“West. Taykui Forest.”
“Hey, this thing’s got onboard mapping!” said Keeza, fiddling with the multitude of recessed switches. “We’ve got ourselves an important hostage here, General. Hold on, I’m finding Shanagi. Yes. He’s right. The forest’s to the west.”
“Head for there. Can this craft be tracked?”
Zhyaf shook his head. “Only if you use satellite link.”
Keeza made an impressed noise. “Real important, this male. Who are you?” she demanded, looking back briefly. His face was vaguely familiar, but from where? She turned her attention to the aircar’s comm where the airway routes were being displayed. They were coming up to a westerly turnoff point.
Kezule turned back to look out the front of the craft. As he did, he realized that the windshield afforded a clear view of the occupants. “I can be seen,” he said, sliding down on the seat.
“No,” croaked Zhyaf. “‘Screen’s opaque from outside. Can’t see in.”
He looked to Keeza for confirmation.
“On the upmarket models, yes, and this is definitely one of those. It feels like he’s telling the truth.”
Kezule kept his gaze on her. Feels like the truth? What was she saying? Could she be aware of the male’s thoughts? If she was one of the mind readers, he’d have known by now, surely. The ones who’d brought him to this time had touched his mind, stolen his words. If she could do that, she’d have done it before now, if only to have avoided his beatings.
“Feels like the truth?”
She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the other traffic as she banked the vehicle to the left, joining the flow of traffic heading west. “I had strange dreams while you were in laalgo. I heard the alarm before they came in for you this evening.”
He turned so he could see them both. “The alarm. What caused it?” he demanded.
“He should
know, he was one of the three that came in first,” she said.
“Thought you were dying. Came to help you,” Zhyaf said. “Please, a drink. Can’t talk. Mouth too dry.”
Kezule hissed in annoyance.
“Where?” asked Keeza.
“The button on your door. In there.”
Keeza pressed a claw tip into the recess. A hatch slid back revealing a collection of drink and food containers. She took two drinks at random and handed them to Kezule.
“I will fly this craft,” he hissed. “I will not feed him!”
“I think I’d be better piloting, General,” she said carefully. “I know these vehicles, know the traffic regulations.”
The hiss turned to a snarl. Again she was right. He glared at Zhyaf. “First tell me what set the alarm off.”
The captive’s eyes widened in fear as he tried to look away from him. “I … don’t know.”
Kezule’s hand lashed out with a blow that rocked his head, bouncing it off the interior wall. “What set it off!” he demanded.
“I don’t know,” moaned Zhyaf, tears of pain clouding his sight as he tried to sit up.
Grasping him by the throat, Kezule pulled him forward until the safety strap stopped him. “Tell me!”
“Bio-sensors!” he whimpered. “Under your skin.”
Shoving him back into his seat, Kezule began to curse in his own language while hastily pressing along the inside of his right thigh. That was what he’d been trying to remember! Oh, they were cunning, these furred vermin, but not as cunning as he would be! He found it: a tiny, regular lump, unnoticeable until he’d known it was there. Clenching the muscle, he scored the taut flesh with his claw tip, then applied pressure on either side of the wound. Blood oozed out, bringing with it the tiny sensor. Picking it up, he put it between his teeth and bit down sharply on it.
“Now we cannot be tracked. Unless …” He looked back at Zhyaf.
“No more I know of,” he stammered.
“Beside you, General,” Keeza said, nodding toward him. “First aid kit in the door unit.”
Inside he found a medical case with adhesive dressings. He took one and placed it over the small cut. That seen to, he opened the first drink container, and leaning back, held it to Zhyaf’s lips, letting him quench his thirst. When he’d done, he opened the other for himself.
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