Carrie picked it up though. "Vartra? But Gods aren't real, they don't appear to people, do they?" Whenhe remained si-lent, she gave him a shake.
"I don't know," he said. "I've never believed so." His tone was unsure despite his words. "Likely it was a
dream we both shared."
Carrie made a noise of disbelief. "You don't really believe that. You can't, since we each experiencedsomething differ-ent."
"I don't know what I believe," he said. Their dream, vi-sion, whatever it had been, had disturbed him more than he was prepared to admit. He bent his head toward her, licking her cheek. She tasted of salt and sweat.
Reaching up, she stroked his face. His head turned to fol-low her hand, his tongue licking her palm.
Amber eyes looked up at her, an opalescence beginning to gather in their depths.
The need for her to understand the dream was fading, be-ing replaced with more urgent matters for bothof them. Be-sides, thinking seriously about anything during this time was difficult. It was better left tilltomorrow evening.
"It's not just your eyes that glow at this time, cub, it's all of you," he said, his voice a deep purr as he held
her closer and stretched out for the light sensor.
She could feel his warmth against her body, his hands touching her, but she could see nothing. Movingback, she said in a small voice, "Kusac, please put the light on. Your fur's so dark that I can't see you."
He couldn't hide the shock that swept through him. This was totally unexpected, something that had neverhappened to him before, and a harsh reminder that she wasn't Sholan. His other senses, so much sharperthan hers, told him she was there without the need of sight. For Sholans, darkness often enhanced theirlovemaking.
"There's no light in the room," she said quietly, sharing his shock as he moved to put the light on again. "I
don't need it bright, just… not dark."
He dimmed it to the faintest glow before turning back to her. Were it not for the demands of their Link,the mood would have been broken for him. Though he pushed the in-cident aside in his mind, it had hurt.
She held him close, her mouth and hands soothing the pain away till he remembered only the magic theyshared.
* * *
Vanna's aircar dropped her in the courtyard of the Guild House.
"Go in the main doors and turn left," the pilot had told her. "The office is down there. They'll show you to
the med-ical center."
She slung her large kit bag over her shoulder and climbed the shallow steps up to the entrance. Throughthe open doors she could see the large refectory, empty at this time of day. She padded down theleft-hand corridor, coming to the office.
The secretary looked up as she entered. A frown crossed her face. "You're a day early. We're onlytesting the children today. Tomorrow's the day for the adults," she said, "and I'm afraid we don't have thefacilities to put you up. You'll have to go to the Accommodation Guild on the outskirts of the town."
"I'm not here for the testing. I'm Vanna Kyjishi, personal physician to Liegen Aldatan and his Leska. I'm
going to be working here in the medical center with your physicians."
A surprised look crossed the secretary's face. "My apolo-gies, Physician Kyjishi," she said, afterconsulting her diary. "We are expecting you. If you care to leave your bag here, we'll have the portertake it over to your rooms at the guest house. Meanwhile, if you continue down this corridor you'll cometo the door leading to our new wing. That's where the medical center is."
"Thank you," said Vanna, "but I prefer to settle into my room first."
"In that case, I'll call the porter now," she said, pressing a button to summon him.
* * *
Her room reminded her of the one she had lived in at the Medical Guild when last on leave. Leaningforward, she pressed the bed, testing it for softness. She sighed with re-lief. It wasn't one of thebiscuit-mattress types given to the students! This one was fully as comfortable as her bed on the Khalossa had been.
Her most important creature comfort assured, she looked round the rest of the room. The walls were aneutral beige color with the carpet and other furnishings in a contrasting dark brown. Opposite the bed alarge window overlooked the rear grounds. Sunlight streamed in, accompanied by a gentle breezebearing the scent of the blossoms on the trees and bushes below.
A desk and chair to the left of the bed formed her work station, and set into the wall to her right was a
small screen—the entertainment center.
Vanna reached for the fastening on her bag and began to unpack. The standard wardrobe and drawerswere set into the walls, and within a few minutes she had stowed away her clothes.
She surveyed her meager selection, wondering what she should wear. Though still attached to the
Forces, there was no need for her to remain in uniform. Taking the easy op-tion, she reached for her blue Medic Guild tunic and began to change. After her time on the Khalossa, it didn't seem like the uniform ithad been before she joined up.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, she stretched from fingertips to tail. She'd only been on Shola fortwo days and already she was beginning to relax. It was amazing the effect her home world had on her. Limitless space to spread out in, unlike the Khalossa, and air that was fresh and didn't smell of chemicalcleansers from the recycling plant! Though she wasn't claustrophobic, sometimes even she needed to feelthe earth between her toes and the sun on her back—Gods forbid it, but she had even found herselfhankering after the rain!
Going over to the window, she leaned out, looking down at the grounds below. The grassland stretchedfor several kilometers before it gradually turned into woodland. Long-ingly she looked at it. What sheneeded was a good run, per-haps even a little hunting. She sighed, wondering if as a guest of the Telepath Guild she qualified for using their lei-sure facilities.
A gentle buzz drew her attention back into the room. She left the window reluctantly and approached thedesk. One of the keys in the keypad set into the surface glowed red, show-ing that there was a messagefor her. Activating the monitor key, she waited for the screen to rise from its recess. As it tilted up into avertical position, the monitor came to life with the logo of the Telepath Guild.
Pulling the chair out, Vanna sat down and began to use the now exposed keyboard. At her command,the logo was re-placed with a page of script and diagrams. A soothing voice began to recite the text toher. With a grimace, Vanna hit the volume control and proceeded to read it. She loathed the unctuousvoices of the public announcers.
The file gave her a basic tour around the facilities in the guest house, and informed her which areas of the Guild House and grounds she was authorized to use. Wonder of wonders, the grounds were available forthe use of guests provided they checked in with the office first. This was so the younger students could bewarned to be on their best be-havior because of the presence of nontelepaths in unshielded areas.
The guest house had a communal lounge area with a large public entertainment screen catering to severaldifferent forms of leisure—music, storyteller theater, interactive games, news—all the usual things. Therewas also a commu-nal kitchen with a food dispenser boasting a menu as exten-sive as those she'd seen inthe ambassadorial quarters on the Khalossa. Or, if she chose, she could cook her own food.
The showers and bathing rooms were communal, too. She frowned a little; she'd gotten used her privacywhen off-planet and it wouldn't be easy to recondition herself to the gregarious life that the planet-bound Sholans still lived.
The diagrammatic tour over, the screen reverted to the Guild logo again. In the bottom left corner, ablinking mes-sage light demanded her attention.
^eying in the replay, she waited. The screen cleared to re-foun with the image of Garras.
"I'd hoped to speak to you in person," he said, "but it seems I've miscalculated your arrival time at the
guild. They've assured me this will be recorded for you to see when you do arrive." He stopped, l
ooking
to one side of the screen before continuing.
"I'm transmitting that medical data you wanted. The labs finished the tests you were running for Kaid yesterday. You know how long it can take for the authorities to process things, so I collected it for you since I knew it was urgent. I'll try contacting you again in another couple of days." His ears flicked briefly in acknowledgment before the screen blanked and the printer began to hum gently.
Confused, Vanna watched the printer disgorge its text. The words "for Kaid," and "urgent" rang in herears. What was happening on the Khalossa that necessitated Garras con-tacting Kaid? Perhaps she'd beable to tell from the printout.
She took the first page, scanning it quickly for any clues as to Garras' cryptic message. It was only theresults of her latest test on human and Sholan pheromones, showing a marked similarity as she hadsuspected. Certainly enough to account for the attraction between their species.
The second page was merely a report on Kaid's injuries after the scouter crash, and a record of thetreatment he'd re-ceived plus his response to it. It was all standard stuff, noth-ing out of the ordinary atall. If there was a message for Kaid in there, then it was cunningly hidden. Probably some code Kaid and Garras had learned at their guild. The best thing she could do was to contact the office and find outwhere Kaid was so she could pass on this document to him without further delay. If she needed to knowmore, she trusted either Garras or he would tell' her. Her mind made up, she buzzed the office.
It was evening, and with the approaching night, much of their Link's compulsion was fading. Kusac left Carrie sleep-ing and padded quietly through to the kitchen. He reached for the c'shar, then hesitated andpicked up the container of coffee instead.
Heading back to the lounge with his drink, he sat down at the comm unit. The message light was blinking. Not surpris-ing when their public life had been on hold for the last twenty-six hours. He keyed the commto print the messages.
The first item was a report on the state of the treaty talks. It started with the fact that Shola had requestedthat Earth send them a selection of people with Talents similar to Car-rie's, including telepathy. They alsowanted any information they had on how these Talents were tested or measured.
He'd been sitting there reading the same paragraph for several minutes before he realized that with hisstill-enhanced senses he was picking up something that was dis-turbing him. He frowned. Their quarterswere well shielded, as much to protect those outside as to form a barrier for them. What could manageto penetrate that protection?
He'd just gotten to his feet when the comm buzzer sounded. Sitting down again, he responded to the call.
The screen flicked on to show the image of a very harassed fe-male in the office.
"Liegen, I'm sorry to disturb you at this time, but I'm afraid we have a problem that only you can resolve."
In the background he could hear raised voices.
"How can I help?" he asked.
"It's Rala Vailkoi. She's here and demanding to see you. We've explained the circumstances, but… I'm afraid it only made her more determined. Could you please come down here and speak to her? She's broadcasting her anger in every direction and refuses to enter one of the shielded inter-view rooms. It need only be for a minute or two. I'm sure that as it's toward the end of your day your state won't affect her."
"I'm leaving now," he said tersely before switching the comm off and reaching for his uniform jacket.
Shrugging his arms into it, he had it sealed and was buck-ling the belt as he opened the door, almostcolliding with Kaid in the corridor outside.
"You know what's happening?" he asked.
Kaid nodded.
"See she doesn't leave our apartment or use the comm."
"I'll make sure she doesn't get involved in this," Kaid said as he stepped past him into the lounge.
Kusac headed down the corridor at a lope, the full mea-sure of Rala's temper, augmented by hissensitivity, reaching him now. He strengthened his shield hastily. Minutes later he was at the office wherethe staff were still trying to persuade Rala to calm down and to enter one of the interview rooms to waitfor him.
Hearing the door open, the young female ceased shouting at the on-duty Guild Mother and pulled herselffree of the porter to turn round.
"I told you he'd come when he knew it was me!" she said triumphantly. Then, with a croon of pleasure, she skipped over to him, her hands sliding across his upper arms as she held herself close to him and pressed her cheek against his.
He submitted to the gesture, then moved away from her light grasp, taking her by the elbow and steeringher toward the door.
"My apologies for her behavior," he said to the Guild Mother, his tone short and clipped. "You have my
word this will not happen again."
He hardly heard the polite murmurs saying he was not to blame as he escorted Rala out into the hallwaythen down the corridor.
She went willingly, trying to wind her arm possessively around his waist as he stopped outside the nearestempty room. He opened the door and stepped inside, waiting for her to follow. Her arm fell from abouthim and she hesitated at the door.
Kusac gave a low growl and grasped her arm again, claws just pricking her flesh. He pulled her insideand shut the door.
"Do you really want witnesses to our conversation, Rala?" he asked.
"I don't know what you mean," she said, trying to tug her arm free. "You're hurting me. Why are you being so un-pleasant?" she asked, her tone becoming petulant. "I thought after a year apart you'd be glad to see me."
Kusac let her go and stepped back to lean against the door. He regarded her dispassionately. "Why didyou come? Have you any idea of how much you have embarrassed both me and your family by youractions tonight?" he demanded. "As for your temper tantrum, you've managed to make your moodknown to just about every inhabitant of the guild! If you haven't upset the cubs and caused them to havenight-mares, then it's pure luck!"
"I wasn't upset till they wouldn't let me see you," she said, touching her hand to his forearm. "Imagine it!
Trying to keep me, your betrothed, away from you just because you were with that female." She movedcloser, leaning against him so one leg came free of her robe and pressed against his.
Her artfulness was almost having the desired effect, prob-ably would have had it not been for Carrie. None too gently he pushed her away, annoyed with himself even though he knew full well that his presentvulnerability was not some-thing he could control.
"You've seen me. Now it's time for you to leave. Where's your escort? You didn't come alone, I hope."
"I don't want to leave, Kusac," she said, reaching out for him again. "Surely we can spend a little time
together? After all, it has been a year since I last saw you."
He brushed her aside. "Leave me alone, Rala. It's time for you to go."
She turned with a flounce, her long split-paneled skirt flaring around her. "How dare you treat me likethis!" Her voice had risen in pitch with her anger. "I'm your future wife: I have rights, you know! One ofthem is the right to see you when I desire it!"
"You have no rights over me yet," he said coldly. "And you certainly would never have the right to walk
into my guild and demand my presence when I'm with my Leska!"
Rala made a spitting sound of contempt, a look of fury creasing her face. Her ears lay flat and flickedbackward. "Your alien! She's nothing, not a real Leska," she said con-temptuously. "I won't be second toher, I warn you!"
Despite his shield Kusac could feel her anger and hatred of Carrie.
"My Leska is none of your concern," he snapped, his own temper rising.
"When you prefer her company to mine, she is! How dare you be seen around Valsgarth with her when
your first duty is to contact me!" Her tail began to move from side to side in small, angry jerks.
"What I do with my time is my affair." His voice was a snarl now. "How dare you come here, where you have no ri
ght to be, and purposely use your tantrums to manipulate people! Even though you aren't a telepath, it doesn't excuse you from exercising self-control when mixing with us!"
Her eyes narrowed and with an obvious effort, she stilled her tail and relaxed her ears.
"I'm sorry, Kusac," she said, keeping her eyes lowered. "I just wanted to see you so much. I needed to know that noth-ing had changed between us." Her hands plucked nervously at the edge of one of the panels of her robe, and she returned hesitantly to his side, her eyes looking up at him through long lashes.
He stared at her for a moment, hardly crediting her du-plicity.
"You planned this down to the minute, didn't you?" he said, his voice barely audible as his anger
mounted. "You must have buzzed the office earlier in the day to find out."
Real fear crossed her face briefly. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she said, lookinghim squarely in the eyes as she tried to brazen it out.
Kusac reached for her with one hand and wrenched the door open behind him. "You're leaving now," hesaid, his voice cold with rage as he pulled her toward him. "Your lit-tle plan failed, Rala. Did you reallythink you could compete with my Leska? That you could seduce me that easily? You'll not force me intothis marriage by claiming I mated with you and made you pregnant! I don't want this marriage at all!"
He pushed her through the door ahead of him, ignoring her loud protestations of innocence as he hauledher back up the corridor.
Outside the office, Meral and Sevrin waited, the signs of a hurried summons evident in their dress whichthey were still adjusting.
Kusac pushed Rala toward them. "Get her out of my sight," he said. "If she hasn't an aircar and acompanion out-side, get one of the females from the office to accompany you both and escort her home. The Gods help us, she's the daughter of a Clan Leader and technically betrothed to me; she must beproperly escorted."
Sevrin caught her as she stumbled against him.
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