“We can’t leave you out here alone.” His jaw set in a stern lock. “Come back to camp and dry off. You’ll catch your death.”
“LaRenna already has.” Krell’s voice took an ominous tone that caused Firman to stare.
“How do you know she’s sick?” Tatra had heard most of the conversation and now drew close, hand returning to Firman’s arm as she listened. Full-sense telepathy between Taelach lovers wasn’t unheard of, but all recorded cases involved pairs who had been together for decades.
“I just do. She’s very ill, Tatra. Her chest hurts.” Krell drew a ragged breath. “Her foot too, but in a different way.”
Firman turned to the healer. “She for real?”
“I believe so,” whispered Tatra. “There aren’t many pairs who can phase like this. Where is she, Krell?”
“She’s asleep, and hot, so very hot.” Krell’s eyes rolled back.
“A fever.” Tatra’s nod confirmed Firman’s analysis.
“She still a prisoner?” queried Tatra.
“No, I don’t think she is.”
“She alone then?”
“No, someone she knows and trusts is caring for her.”
“Who?” pushed Tatra. “Who’s she with?”
“That’s all I can sense. I’m still too far away.” Krell’s eyes opened. “You two get back to camp. I’ll go it alone from here.”
“Are you kidding?” Firman’s hand pressed reassuringly into his sibling’s. “We haven’t come all this way to be scared by the dark. Have we, Tatra?”
“Nope.” She smiled up at them. “We’re not turning back now. Show us the way, Krell. We’ll follow you to her and help bring her back.”
The downpours continued through the evening and night, providing little relief to the search teams. All but Krell’s group returned at sunset, no one noticing the missing trio until Belsas called for their report.
Fearing that flash floods might have swept them away, a morning search was organized for the narrow canyon they had been assigned. Belsas knew Krell wouldn’t have taken her crew into danger so she assumed they had begun an independent search. Their punishment when they returned would be severe, decided Belsas, especially for Krell. How dare she not stay close when LaRenna’s body could be recovered at any time?
Things went no better for the independent threesome. They stopped when the rain became too fierce for movement, seeking refuge under a group of low shrubs. Firman and Tatra cuddled up for warmth as well as companionship, leaving Krell to think.
LaRenna’s mental presence was so vivid that they shared the same feverish dreams. The images came in waves, initially revolving around LaRenna’s family, friends, and childhood. Krell found these to be pleasant, insightful glances at LaRenna’s past. But as the night progressed and her fever rose, the mental pictures became disillusioned and increasingly violent. Surreal visions of the Creiloff twins’ depraved behavior pierced their shared nightmare until it twisted Krell into hysterical fury.
“Krell!” Firman shook his sibling. She was on her side, taut and wheezing against the cold ground. “Krell!” His second cry brought her screaming awake.
“What’s wrong?” Tatra rubbed her eyes.
“I’m not sure.” Firman comforted Krell as best he could, speaking quiet reassurances as she clutched the slick grass beneath her. “She’s scared near senseless.” He drew close to absorb the tremors wracking his sibling. “Is it LaRenna? Krell? Krell?”
“They took her.” Krell sobbed against him.
“Slow down.” Tatra took a position on Krell’s other side, her slender hand clasping Krell’s. “You’re hyperventilating. Slow breaths—one—two. That’s it.”
“Who took her?” Firman asked as Krell began to regain control. “Took her where?”
“The bar on Langus. The Creiloff twins. Cance’s scratches.” Words couldn’t describe the horror Krell was feeling—LaRenna’s horror. No wonder LaRenna had been reluctant to look up when they had spoken. She had been ashamed of something totally beyond her control.
“They raped her,” grieved Tatra, close to terror herself. “It must have happened on Langus before we escaped.”
Krell could only nod. “I could feel her fighting. They forced her at the same time. Tortured her, drugged her, procked her, tied her to the counter. I could see it through her eyes—feel the pain. She wished they would kill her so it would stop.”
“But they didn’t.” Firman pulled Krell to his shoulder. “You couldn’t have stopped it, Krelleesha. There was no way you could have known.”
“I could have prevented it from happening at all.” She collapsed into his embrace. “Brandoff followed her the morning we met on the beach. She watched us. I thought I saw someone on the pathway, but dismissed it as stress. I should have stopped her from going back.”
“Could haves and should haves aren’t important at this point,” said Tatra. “All that matters is that you understand what she experienced and that you help her get past it.”
“How could I not? I feel I suffered with her.” Krell still shook. “They ravaged her, took everything she was, and all she could think about was how it would hurt me. She cried for me. Prayed for me. Screamed for me! And I wasn’t there!” Krell’s voice rose as the angst began to twist once more.
“Don’t work yourself up again.” Firman tightened his hold. “Stay near me. If you have another episode like that, I want you to be close enough so I can knock it out of you.”
Unable to complain, Krell relaxed against him, quickly falling into the same dreamless sleep as LaRenna. Firman chuckled as his sister began to snore.
“She still snores.”
“And hogs the bed.” Tatra looked about for a dry piece of ground. “Where do I sleep now?”
“I snore, too. Gotta problem with that?” Firman extended his arm. “Come on. I have room for one more.” She accepted his offer and soon both Taelachs were sleeping soundly against him. “Look at you,” he sighed, his chin resting against Tatra’s flaxen hair. “Two women and no one about to brag to. You’re getting soft in your old age, Firman Middle.”
In the Hiding Cave, Trazar held his own sister in much the same way. He cooled her face with damp cloths, trying to calm the scourging memories that penetrated her delirium. She became restless and irritated, fighting against him as he removed her blankets to help combat the fever.
LaRenna howled and moaned for Krell, begging her to make “them” stop hurting her. The pleading proved so sorrowful it made Trazar mindful of the fact his sister might not fully recover from her assault, physically or mentally. “You’ve been through more in the last quarter-cycle than one person should endure in a lifetime.” He wiped down her brow again. “But you’re strong, LaRenna, so keep fighting.”
Eventually, her nightmares ended, allowing her to drift into a deep slumber. Trazar placed a fresh cloth on her head then went to the cave entrance to replace the nearly extinguished marker lights. “I don’t know why I bother,” he grumbled while spacing the fresh rods. “They probably aren’t visible more than ten or twelve paces in this fool rain.”
The rampant canyon flood was audible in the cave mouth. Staring through the darkness, Trazar was positive the launch had washed downstream any number of kilometers. That alone reduced their chances of discovery. Now their rescuers would have to search the entire flood path for them. Trazar prayed they wouldn’t be assumed drowned and the search abandoned.
“Trazar!” LaRenna’s weak voice brought him running to her side. He laid her back on the bedroll and replaced the cloth on her red-hot face. “I woke up and you weren’t here and—”
“I was changing the marker lights,” he soothed, aware her fears were being fed by her fever.
“Still raining?” She reached for the water bottle he had placed beside her.
“Yes.” Trazar took it, cradled her neck, and held it to her mouth. “Drink. It’s good for the fever.” She swallowed several times then gagged, fighting to inhale against the pai
n.
“When won’t my damn ribs hurt anymore?” She gasped when the air returned.
“Soon. Try to sleep.” He retrieved an unused bedroll and spread it beside hers, LaRenna watching silently from her angled headrest. She had so much she wanted to share with Trazar, but conversation was just too difficult.
Trazar covered up and lay facing her. “You’ll be okay. They’ll find us tomorrow. Wait and see.” LaRenna smiled and reached out to him. He clasped her hand and curled his fingers around hers.
“Please tomorrow,” she whispered, “ ’cause I’m so tired.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Raw and hard the wind does blow
Bleak into the caves
The springtime floods they wash away
The ones the Autlach slays
—Taelach poetry
“First an entire team goes rogue, now this!” Belsas puzzled over the two bodies lying underneath the awning of the morgue tent. She knew they had been part of a recovery team but not the circumstances of their deaths. “What happened?”
Chandrey gave a cheerless look to the cadet who had recovered the bodies from one of the flooded canyons. “They drowned, didn’t they?”
“No ma’am,” replied the flare-jawed young guardian. “This one’s skull had been crushed.” The cadet indicated one of the shrouded bodies. “The other one has a broken neck. They were dead before they hit the water.”
“Is it possible they were caught in a landslide?” asked Chandrey.
The cadet pointed to the boot toe not covered by the shrouds. “There’s no mud, dirt, rocks, or anything else matted into their clothes. No other pre-death injuries we could detect. There would have been if they’d been caught in a slide.”
“In other words,” said Belsas, “you believe they met with foul play?”
“It appears so, Grandmaster.”
“And one sister from the party is still missing?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re dismissed.” Belsas moved to stand beside Chandrey. “Murder on a recovery operation? Chandrey, I swear if—”
“Grandmaster Belsas?” The cadet scrambled back to where they stood. “Another thing you might find interesting.”
“That is?”
“One of them was found without her boots and leggings.”
Chandrey waited until the cadet shuffled off a second time then turned to Belsas, astonished. “Without clothes?”
“Odd.” Belsas considered the two dead Taelachs, edging back one shroud then the other for analysis. “Very odd indeed. What would someone want with boots and leggings from a dead sister?”
“Could they have washed off in the flood?” asked Chandrey.
“It’s possible,” replied Belsas. “In fact, it’s probably what happened.” The morning breezes tugged at the back of their cloaks, flicking off some of the water that had collected along the hemlines. Scents of fresh tea and hot bread mingled in the air, prompting their stomachs into growls of discontent.
“Too little dinner the night before makes the gut angry in the morn.” Chandrey placed a hand over her stomach. It growled even louder.
“I don’t think you’ll quiet it by any means except filling it.” Belsas chuckled. “You haven’t eaten enough as of late.”
“I haven’t had the spirit,” she replied after a moment’s silence.
“It’s not the spirit that requires food, my dear. It’s the body.” Belsas took her by the arm and led the way to the cook tent.
“The spirit needs nourishment, too,” said Chandrey as they walked. “Mine’s been starving.”
Belsas stopped midstep to face her. “I haven’t been there much lately, have I?”
Chandrey looked down and away to shield her sad face from her lover. “You’ve been on post day and night since—”
“Well, I’m not now.” Belsas lifted her, holding her suspended at arm’s length.
“What are you doing?” exclaimed Chandrey in midspin above Belsas’s head.
“I’m giving both our spirits something to nibble on.”
“Everybody’s watching!”
“So? Since when is it wrong for a guardian to show her lady a little affection?” Belsas spun her around one more time then set her lightly down. “Let’s grab a quick breakfast and take it back to our launch. It seems ages since we last talked.”
“Or anything else,” Chandrey snipped as they entered the canopy where the morning meal was being served.
“That too can be remedied, my dear woman.” Belsas held open the tent flap. They waited their turn in the serving line then, food in hand, walked back to their launch.
It was a simple but nourishing meal, the Training Grounds having provided a generous supply of fresh fruits for their consumption.
“You’ll have to thank Yeoman Qualls for her thoughtfulness.” Chandrey finished off a slice of peeled green melon. The succulent round fruit was her favorite, and she took it whenever it was offered, which was never often enough for her tastes. Belsas had chosen two of the small, pale-fleshed vine plums to accompany her bread and tea.
“I will, as soon as all of this is over.”
Chandrey clasped her mug. “When? When will it be over?
We’ve searched two days for some sign of a crash site. I would give anything for one clue, something, any piece that would let us put LaRenna to rest.”
Shhhh. Belsas pushed a calming pleasure phase. I know this is hard and Mother knows I haven’t been any help. You should have been my priority from the beginning. A second, stronger phase followed the first, bringing a sensual glow to Chandrey’s worried face.
We’re in mourning.
Mourning, yes, Chandresslandra Belsas. Dead, no. I need you desperately right now and I think you need me, too. Belsas set their mugs to the side then pulled Chandrey close, kissing her ear and her neck before dropping to one knee to kiss her upturned palm. Shivering at the incredible sensation the touch created, Chandrey allowed herself to be pulled across Belsas’s lap then lowered to the launch’s floor, welcoming the surrounding warmth their pleasure phase offered. Each knew exactly what the other enjoyed, what the other needed. Thirty passes together had made the physical manipulations of lovemaking unnecessary for satisfaction, but Belsas sometimes asked for them, as she did now, smiling down at Chandrey through the joy that encased them. Chandrey swatted Belsas’s dangling braids from her face until they finally tickled out an uncontrollable sneeze at the peak of their lovemaking.
“I’m sorry.” Chandrey wiped the moisture from Belsas’s face. Belsas’s nose wrinkled when it was touched and she returned the sneeze.
“Confounded rain,” she griped. “It’s given everyone the sniffles.” Belsas tried to hold back another, but caught Chandrey full in the face. “Oops.”
“You meant to do that.” Chandrey laughed as she cleaned her face on Belsas’s tunic. “Get off me, you beast. You’ve made a proper mess of my skirts.”
“Are you complaining?” Belsas pulled a rolled jumpsuit from their baggage. “Forget the skirts and put this on. It will be easier to manage in the mud.”
“You know I don’t wear trousers.”
Belsas held out the jumper insistently. “Times are changing. LaRenna wore them whenever she could.”
“LaRenna was Kimshee. They always do things out of the norm.”
“Make an exception. We’re heading out.”
Chandrey removed her skirts and shouldered the oversized coveralls. The garment was cut for Belsas and hung loosely. She rolled the legs and sleeves until they fit then retied the mourning sash about her middle. “Where to? I thought you were staying in camp?”
“Sometimes,” replied Belsas softly, “even the Taelach of All has to bend the rules a little. It makes little sense for me to sit here waiting until someone else finds my daughter. Krell didn’t.”
“Krell refuses to wear a sash,” retorted Chandrey.
Belsas cocked her head. “Maybe Krell senses something we can’t. LaRenn
a’s talents are still developing.”
“Were developing,” cried Chandrey despairingly. “I refuse to raise my hopes otherwise.”
“Nonetheless, we’re going to start our search where Krell’s group was looking when they disappeared. We’ll follow them.”
“We need a third for a team.” Chandrey tacked up her hair with a long-toothed comb from her bag. “How about Malley Whellen? She seems good on her feet.”
Belsas grinned at her. “You read my mind.” They exited the launch, pausing long enough to put on their cloaks and exchange a quick kiss. Belsas jumped across the scattered puddles with an energetic bounce Chandrey hadn’t seen in some time. She joined her lover’s play, springing across the water spots easily, but without the same level of long-legged grace.
They crossed the encampment until they reached the stores tent. Belsas spoke momentarily with the sentry then ducked inside while Chandrey waited. She quickly emerged with ropes, three plasma bows, and recharge packs. “I’ll find Whellen. Why don’t you get us some rations?” Belsas passed Chandrey a bow and charger. “Meet me back here as soon as you’re ready.”
“Who’re you leaving in command?” Chandrey knotted her bow’s ties.
“I’ll bring Protocol Master Quall in to supervise until we return. She runs a tight operation.”
“What about the two dead and one missing on team four?”
Belsas appreciated the forethought. “I’ll have the other teams keep an eye out for the missing third. It was probably an unfortunate accident. However, I’ll have all teams go armed from this point.” She bent down to give Chandrey another quick kiss on the forehead. “Hurry now. Time is wasting.”
Chandrey watched as Belsas disappeared into the main communications tent, then turned toward her next task, shaking her head. Surely Belsas wasn’t hanging on to the same delusions as Krell. Cance had been worse than anyone remembered. The crash had been too sudden. LaRenna was dead, plain and simple. No amount of denial would ever change that.
Jeanne G'Fellers - No Sister of Mine Page 22