Fortune's Wheel

by Lisanne Norman

Kusac was instantly at her side, helping her down. "I'm taking her upstairs now, Vanna," he said, concernin his voice. "I didn't realize till now, but she's right, she isn't well."

  "I'll come up when I've finished analyzing these samples. By then I should have some idea of what's wrong with her. Thank the Gods I've been taking baseline tests for so long. It should help me isolate any infection."

  Khafsa touched Kusac briefly on the shoulder to attract his attention. "When your Leska is settled, I'dlike you back down here to run a scan on you," he said. "I want a current reading to compare with yourlast one."

  Kusac nodded. "I'll come down when Vanna's with her," he said, swinging Carrie up into his arms.

  "I can walk," she objected halfheartedly, glad not to have to use her aching limbs.

  "I'm carrying you," he said firmly, heading for the door. "We'll be back at our rooms sooner than if you

  walk."

  Vanna watched them leave, then turned to Khafsa. "Was the scan adequate?"

  "Yes, we've got the data we need. It'll take some time to interpret it because I don't know what a Terran aura should look like, but on first appraisal, I'd say you're right. Much of the scan has a Sholan look to it, more than one would ex-pect from a different species."

  "We need Kusac's as well," she said. "I want you to com-pare them, see what, if anything, they have in common. Meanwhile, I only hope that Carrie hasn't picked up a seri-ous infection. I've no real idea how our viruses will affect a Terran system."

  "I thought that would have been checked out on the Khalossa ."

  "It was, in theory. I was able to give her some shots to protect her against our most virulent infections. Thankfully, the serums worked, but that doesn't mean to say she's im-mune to everything. A simple infection for us could be se-rious for her."

  "I'll see if our readings show anything."

  "Thanks," she said. "I'll be in the lab if you need me."

  It was over an hour later before Vanna arrived at their apartment. Kaid let her in.

  "You got my message all right?" she asked as she fol-lowed him toward the bedroom door.

  "Yes, thank you."

  Vanna glanced curiously at him, but he said no more, merely opened the door for her.

  Kusac was crouched on the bed beside Carrie, trying to calm her as she moved restlessly from side toside.

  "Thank the Gods you're here," he said without looking round. "She's been like this for the last half hour.

  She's burning hot and she's delirious."

  "She would be," said Vanna, going round to the other side. "It's nothing serious. She's managed to get a

  dose of ni'uzu. There's nothing I can do, I'm afraid, but treat her symptoms."

  From her medikit, Vanna had taken a smaller version of the sampling unit she'd used downstairs.

  Unsealing it, she placed it around Carrie's arm and closed it.

  "Ni'uzu?" he repeated. "How did she manage to catch that? It's usually a winter virus, not a summer one."

  He reached out to take Carrie's other arm as she feebly tried to dislodge the unit. "None of us are ill."

  "She could have caught it anywhere," said Vanna, noting the readings from the unit in her comp pad. "It's a common enough virus. She'll have aches and pains in her joints, and a high temperature for a couple of days. Hopefully, it won't be severe enough to cause any chest or throat infections. The lab's working on a vaccine now."

  Kusac looked up at her, eye ridges creased in puzzlement. "Why a vaccine? Surely it's too late for that."

  "For her, yes, but remember her system is different enough from ours to mutate the virus. You'll likely go down with it, too, not to mention anyone else she's come into con-tact with over the last three or four days. Can you get me some water, please? I've got a rehydration formula here. I want her to drink as much as possible. Make it a whole jug," she called out after his retreating figure.

  Brushing back the damp hair from Carrie's forehead, she concentrated once more on pushing the worriesshe didn't want Kusac to feel deep down into her subconscious. Time enough for them later, if her fearsproved to have founda-tion. There was a vaccine, for the purely Sholan virus, not the one Carrie hadcaught. What neither she nor the lab could work out was how and why the virus had mutated into theform that Carrie had caught.

  Once more, she didn't dare treat the human girl. Instinct told her to let it run its course—with both ofthem, because without doubt, Kusac would contract it, too, if he hadn't al-ready.

  Kusac returned with the jug and a glass which he put down on the night table beside Vanna.

  "Thanks," she said, tipping a packet of powder into the jug then waiting for the effervescence to subside. She poured a glassful for Carrie. "You go down and see Khafsa, I'll stay with her." She took a couple of tablets from a con-tainer and dropped them into the glass. "It's just a febri-fuge," she said, picking up his concern. "On you go," she urged, swirling the pills round in the glass to make them dis-solve more quickly.

  When he'd gone, she lifted Carrie's head and slowly en-couraged her to drink the mixture. Replacing theglass, she went to the bathroom to fetch a dampened towel and began to wipe the girl's face in an effortto cool her down.

  "Hush, cub," she said soothingly as Carrie's hand plucked ineffectually at her wrist, trying to push her

  away. "You're safe, I'm here."

  Carrie continued to toss and turn restlessly, muttering in a mixture of Terran and Sholan, trying to evade

  Vanna's touch. Gradually, the drug began to take effect and she became calmer.

  Vanna took the opportunity to talk to Kaid and get him to bring in a more comfortable chair for her. Shealso arranged for him to prepare a meal for them when Kusac returned.

  She'd just begun to relax when Carrie began to moan again, her head tossing from side to side on thepillow. Vanna leaned forward, taking one of the girl's damp hands between hers.

  "Carrie, it's all right," she said."Hush, you'll feel better soon."

  "It hurts, 'Lise," Carrie moaned. "Don't do it, it hurts me." She began to move restlessly, trying to push the

  covers aside. "Don't go back to them, please."

  'Lise? Does she mean Elise? thought Vanna.

  "Don't go back to them. They'll catch you."

  Gods, she's reliving her sister's death! Vanna thought fu-riously for something to say that wouldn'tupset the girl even more.

  "Carrie, it's over, cub. The Valtegans are gone. You're safe with me."

  The girl became more agitated, her movements more de-termined as she opened her eyes and tried toget up.

  "I have to stop her! It hurts me when she's with them," she whimpered, looking round with wide, staring

  eyes. "If she goes back, I know she'll get caught this time. You mustn't go, Elise! Come back!"

  By now, Vanna had her hands full trying to stop Carrie from getting up. The human had very littlestrength, but she seemed to have more than two arms as she tried to push Vanna away.

  Suddenly Carrie went rigid, then began to tremble convul-sively. "Blood," she whispered in Terran,looking at her arms and hands. "There's never been blood before!" Tears began to roll down her face asshe tried to wipe her hands on the covers.

  Panicking, Vanna attempted something she'd never have thought of trying under any other circumstances.

  She reached for Kusac, crying out mentally for him. Kusac !

  I'm coming, he sent.

  Carrie had begun to struggle more strongly now. "Elise!" she cried, trying to escape from Vanna's grip. "No! I won't go with you! Let me go!" she screamed at Vanna, trying to hit the Sholan female. "Leaveme!"

  She was so busy trying to defend herself from Carrie's sudden attack that she didn't hear the door burstopen behind her. All she was aware of was Kusac reaching in front of her and taking hold of Carrie,imprisoning her flailing arms in his hands.

  Go ! he sent, waiting for her to leave.

  * * *

  Carrie continued to struggle with him, but more weakly now. "
I won't go, Elise! Leave me!" shewhimpered.

  Kusac released her, one arm at a time, pulling her close against his chest, reaching for her mind with his.

  Carrie, I'm here, He took one of her hands in his, press-ing it against his face. Elise has gone. She's leftyou with me. Touch me, feel my fur, he sent, moving his cheek against her hand. She's gone, cub. You're safe with me now. Safe.

  She became still, her hand curling round his cheek of her own volition. She let it fall lower, moving downhis shoulder to his arm before stopping.

  "Kusac?" she said quietly.

  "Yes, cub?"

  Her eyes closed wearily. "She's gone without me?"

  "She's gone," he said. "You must rest now."

  Her head moved in a slow nod as he laid her back on the pillows. He touched her forehead. It wascooler now. He waited while she relaxed into sleep, ignoring the aches that had begun in his limbs. Hecouldn't afford to be ill yet.

  * * *

  "Are you sure you want to see the body, Sub-Lieutenant Draz?" asked the coroner, hesitating before

  pulling out the refrigerated drawer. "It isn't a pretty sight, I warn you."

  "Just let me see it," said Draz impatiently. "I need to be sure that it's a reasonable assumption he's the

  missing mem-ber of the scouter that blew up several weeks ago."

  "If you're only missing one male, then it's him." The phy-sician pulled the drawer out, then lifted the foil

  cover off the corpse.

  Draz took a quick look then turned away as the Coroner replaced the cover and slid the drawer back.

  "I did warn you. He was found lying in the open on the edges of swampy ground. The indigenous amphibians have been dining off him since the crash. You're lucky," he said, turning back to Draz who was still looking an unhealthy color around his nose and eyes, "you didn't have the smell as well. You think he's a mess now? You should have seen him before I cleaned him up. Funny thing is, though, there was no water in the lungs. You'd think there would be if he was still alive when he hit the ground. Then, maybe he wasn't."

  "Are his injuries consistent with being flung from an ex-ploding vehicle?" asked Draz.

  The coroner laughed, ears giving a flick of amusement. "They're consistent with having been chewed onby the lo-cal wild life! How the hell do you expect me to tell when there's as little of him left as that? As Isaid before, if you're only missing one male, then it's him. That's what my report'll say."

  "Thanks," said Draz, moving toward the door with relief.

  A week later, a copy of the report was waiting on Raid's comm for him. He read it carefully, wanting tobelieve it was Chyad, but there were too many convenient anomalies. Like the lack of ID tags and theimplanted locator device, ei-ther of which in the absence of enough physical evidence would haveidentified him. However, the scenario was be-lievable. It could be the remains of Chyad. Though therewasn't enough proof that it was him, equally there wasn't enough proof that it wasn't. The coroner hadn'tordered a DNA test on the grounds it was unnecessary as he had no doubt as to the identity of the body. Thoughtfully, Kaid filed the report in his desk.

  Chapter 13

  Though he'd managed not to catch the full-blown version of the fever, Kaid hadn't escaped withoutsuffering some of the symptoms. A day later, though, he was up and about again. With Carrie and Kusacstill laid low recovering, he was free to follow up Garras' message. Personnel from the Khalossa dueplanet leave had landed earlier that day, so leaving Meral and Sevrin on duty in their apartment, he leftthe Tele-path Guild.

  He threaded his way through the busy streets toward the outskirts of Valsgarth, skirting round the groupsof exuberant younglings on their leave day. As he sidestepped one group, one of them stumbled againsthim, righting himself quickly with an apology. Pocketing the note thrust into his hand, Kaid continued tohead for the aircar park.

  Once in a vehicle, he fished the note out of his coat and read it. Satisfied, he screwed it up and pocketedit again. It merely confirmed the information sent to him by Garras. Powering up the aircar, he took offand headed for Nazule.

  As the bay came into sight, he skimmed lower, listening for the landing beacon in the center of the city.

  Once locked onto it, he let the city's traffic system guide his craft in to land.

  Climbing out of the aircar, he stepped off the conveyor belt, leaving the vehicle to be swept off into theinterior parking area. An elevator took him down to the street level. As in all Sholan towns, no traffic wasallowed from dawn till the twentieth hour. However, because of its size, Nazule boasted an undergroundtransport system.

  Kaid headed purposefully to the ticket barrier and inserted his personal card into the maw of the accessmachine. Once his details had been scanned and the requisite cost deducted, it spat the card back at himand opened the gateway. Loping quickly down the stairs, he just made it in time for his shut-tle.

  It wasn't a long ride, but as the ancient monorail jolted and hissed to a stop at each station, he idlywondered if Carrie's home world possessed equally antiquated transport systems. He had a feeling thattheir worlds had more simi-larities than they guessed. Funds for civic works were al-ways scarce if onebelieved the politicians. Earth with its lack of centralized government would probably fare worse than Shola.

  With a howl of compressed air the shuttle came to a standstill, doors sliding open to disgorge thepassengers. Kaid joined the living tide that swept along the platform and up to the fresh air above.

  He hesitated a moment, getting his bearings as he looked along the busy street. This side of the city, sofar from the Warrior Guild, the streets weren't restricted to specific crafts. Everywhere was a jumble ofdifferent kinds of stores—restaurants rubbing shoulders with clothing and jew-elry shops.

  Accommodation Guild Houses, catering to those from ev-ery guild, were allowed generous numbers ofpremises since the actual Craft Guilds had chosen to keep to the outskirts of the city, preferring thequietness and room for larger prem-ises. The only exception was the Warriors' Guild situated close to thetown center.

  The place Kaid was looking for was located in this area. He headed off to his left, looking for the foodbar beside an Accommodation Guild House.

  It was in one of the more rundown areas of Nazule, not a place where one would expect folk on planetleave to want to spend their time. The food bar's exterior was dingy; sun-faded paintwork on the facadewith the awning permanently rusted in an upright folded position. Several letters from the boldly displayedsign above the window had fallen off and never been replaced.

  Kaid pushed the door open and entered, making his way up to the seats at the counter. Sliding onto one,he wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of stale cooking.

  At the far end, the one assistant stood talking to a faded female of indeterminate age. He looked toward Kaid, then returned to his conversation. Kaid sighed, pulling out a packet of stim-twigs. Taking one out,he stuck it in his mouth and put the pack away in his Forces jacket.

  After a few minutes, he hit the counter with his fist, glow-ering down at the assistant.

  "Hey! What's a male gotta do to get some service around here?" he demanded.

  The assistant looked round and scowled at him before re-turning to say a few words to the female. Withan air of in-dolent arrogance, he walked up the counter to Kaid.

  "You want something?"

  "Yeah. C'shar, and make it strong," said Kaid, reaching into his coat pocket for a handful of coins which

  he flung down on the counter.

  The assistant gathered up the coins, then turned to the ket-tle and poured Kaid his drink. The mug wasbanged down in front of him, the contents slopping over onto the counter-top.

  Kaid picked it up and turning round, surveyed the rest of the bar. There were only a handful ofcustomers. The bulk of them sat at the back of the bar grouped round a table. One of them still wore theuniform of the Khalossa and had a kit bag lying by his feet on the floor. The male opposite him wore theuniform of the Rhyaki.

/>   Pushing the twig to one side of his mouth, he took a swig of his drink and half-turned back to the bar. Hejerked his head at the assistant.

  "What y'want now?"

  "Plate of stew," said Kaid, putting more coins on the counter. Reaching up, he scratched his right ear

  enthusiasti-cally. The pickup in place, he could now hear their conver-sation.

  The stew was placed before him. "You on planet leave?" asked the assistant, handing him eating utensils.

  Kaid disdained the knife, pulling his own from his belt. "Yeah. Just off the Khalossa. What's it to you?"

  "Nothing, just curious. We got quite a few Forces people in today."

  "So I see," said Kaid, taking the twig out of his mouth and pocketing it before starting on the stew. It

  tasted rubbery and undercooked, but he'd eaten worse.

  "What's going on up there?" the assistant asked, jerking his head toward the ceiling. "Seems like there's

  trouble from what I hear."

  "Who you heard that from?" asked Kaid, looking up at him.

  "I keep my ears open," he said evasively.

  "And I keep my mouth shut," Kaid said, scooping up a forkful of the gravy-soaked bread.

  With a muttered oath, the assistant moved back down to where the female still perched on the bar stool.

  "So how're you planning to stop this treaty with the Terrans?" asked the male from the Khalossa.

  "T'Chezo will tell you her plans when we meet up with her later, Rhudi," said one of the civilians.

  "The original idea of taking out the Sholan telepath and his mate is still as good as any," said the other

  spacer.

  "I think so, Niaza. Chyad's plan was to recruit an anti-Sholan Terran. Where can we find one on Shola?"

  Rhudi asked.

  "There's only the one," said Vrall. "Liegen Aldatan's Leska."

  "More Terrans are due on Shola in eight weeks," said Niaza.

  "Why, Niaza? Why do they want to bring Terrans to Shola?" asked another of the civilians.

  'They're Terran telepaths, Faikal, but I wouldn't expect a grounder like you to know that. If they're