With a shiver, she wrapped her arms tightly across her chest and returned to the bedroom, this timenoticing that a short robe had been left on the bed for her. Rhyasha's doing.
Picking it up, she ran the silky fabric through her hands remembering Rhyasha's reaction to Kusac'snews. Strangely, his mother had been delighted. In fact, everyone who knew had been—except for
Kusac and his father who had just been shocked. No one had thought to ask her how she felt, which wasjust as well, because she couldn't have answered them.
She frowned, remembering Kusac's anger. Well, she was furious with him. Anger didn't begin to describehow she felt, and as soon as she got the chance, he'd find that out in no uncertain terms. Rage burned sobrightly that it dimmed the uncertainty and fears, making it impossible for her to think. Tonight's eventshadn't changed anything, Kusac's be-havior proved that. Why else would he still want to sleep apart fromher?
She felt adrift, at the mercy of whichever wind happened to be blowing. The Sholans had another similefor it. Didn't they call it being tempered on the anvil of the Gods? She wished they'd use an ordinaryhammer rather than one that felt like a meat tenderizer. She didn't know how much more bruising shecould take. With a sigh, she began to undress.
Unable to sleep because of the onset of a throbbing head-ache, she lay in the darkness fretting: fretting atthe heat, the flickering images that flashed through her mind, Kusac's in-tractability, and the beginnings ofthe siren call of their Link.
Kusac knew she was still awake. For the last hour and a half he'd tried to sleep but without success. Herproximity was maddening him, particularly since he was the one who'd chosen to sleep apart from her inthe lounge. He wanted to be with her, especially now he'd gotten used to the reality of her pregnancy. Hiswhole biological system as a male was geared toward finding the right mate, then helping rear the cubsthey made between them. Being a telepath only strengthened this need. The family—his family—wasall-important.
As well as that, the physical needs of their Link were making themselves felt in ways it was nigh onimpossible to ignore. Coming to a decision, he rose and went to the bed-room.
Hypersensitive, she heard the door opening and sat up. Kusac stood there. With sardonic humor sherealized he was having trouble maintaining his barrier against her. She knew why he was here, and fornow he was dependent on her.
* * *
With a sinuous grace he came across the room, almost stalking her because of his awareness that she
was watching his every move. He stopped by the bed and sat down beside her, ears flicking sideways
and back, tail gently swaying. In the semidarkness, his eyes glittered as he reached out for her.
"I need you," he said, aware as he spoke that his voice sounded harsher than he had intended. Almost
instantly he released her, shaken by the strength of the anger she was directing toward him.
"No," she said, pulling the covers firmly round herself. "If you want to keep yourself apart, then fine, do
so—but don't expect to walk in here and make demands of me with-out a word of apology!"
"Carrie, you know…" he began.
"I know nothing, Kusac!" she said, interrupting him. "You've hardly spoken to me since we found out I was preg-nant! You know damned well that nothing is reaching me because you've blocked your mind off. What gives you the right to assume you can walk in here and take me because of our Link? You've taken damned near all of me as it is. Just how much more do you want?"
He was silent for a moment, understanding for the first time that his actions could have completelyalienated her. Through the remains of his barrier all he could sense was her anger, none of the gentleremotions he had come to as-sociate with her in the past months. Sudden fear gripped him in the pit of hisstomach again as he realized that his behav-ior in the last few days would have driven many a Sholanfe-male away from him let alone her, a human, Clanless, and pregnant by her alien lover.
"You know what I feel for you," he said, ears flicking backward in acute distress as he touched her
bracelet with his forefinger.
"Not any more," she countered, pulling away from him. "For all I know, Rala could have been right. Why did you marry me anyway? If it's going to change what we feel for each other, then you can have this damned thing back!" She tugged futilely at her bracelet, unable to either open it or slip it off her wrist.
Kusac's hand closed over hers. "Don't," he said quietly, raising his eyes to hers and trying not to flinchfrom the hurt and anger that he saw there. "Forget Rala and what she said. I'm sorry for all the pain I'vecaused you, I should have told you about the betrothal from the first."
"So why didn't you?" she demanded, keeping her hand still.
"I was trying to find an honorable solution, you know that," he said. "One that didn't make us outcasts on Shola. If you'd only waited another day, the Challenge would have been unnecessary. As soon as it was known you carried our child, I'd have been free."
"And just how was I supposed to know diat?" She tried again to pull her hand free of his.
"How was I to realize you'd be foolish enough to issue a Challenge?" he demanded, tightening his grip on her till he felt his claws begin to extend. "Why didn't you tell me when you suspected you were pregnant?"
"Because I thought it was impossible! Even you refused to believe Vanna at first!"
His ears flicked dismissively. "You were still willing to risk our lives on the outcome of a combat!"
"What are you really angry about?" she demanded. "The Challenge or the baby? You don't want this
child, do you?"
Kusac growled, eyes flashing angrily as he grasped her firmly by the upper arms. "Don't even think ofgetting rid of her," he snarled, shaking her till she fell backward, her weight pulling him down, too. "She's
already as precious to me as you are!"
"How dare you accuse me of that!" She struggled against him, trying to push him away. "You were the
one who said she should never have been conceived, not me!"
As he tried to hold her still, Kusac felt the sudden flare of raw sensuality triggered by their physicalcontact. The re-maining shreds of his barrier disintegrated abruptly as he felt it course through her, too,bringing them back into full rap-port. The reasons for his anger suddenly dissipated as he sensed forhimself the sheer terror she was still feeling over the tiny scrap of life they'd created between them. All heranger and sense of betrayal surged through his mind, leaving him in no doubt as to how badly he'dbehaved. He realized now that nothing had ever mattered but her and their cub.
At the same time his body had responded instantly to the flood of sensations that had spread rapidlythrough them both—there was nothing subtle about the biological de-mands of their Link. He needed toshow her that he loved her the only way he, as a male Sholan telepath, knew how.
Mentally he tried to hold back the Link's compulsion while at the same time projecting images of theirlovemak-ing to come—a task made doubly difficult by the fact she was still struggling against him. Hetransferred his grip, pin-ning both her hands in one of his, his superior strength more than a match forhers.
Lowering his face to hers, he began to lick round her neck and ears.
"Kusac! Don't!" she said angrily. "This is unfair!"
He ignored her protests and continued his gentle seduc-tion, easing the covers away from her till his handclosed gently over one breast. His mind—hers as well now—was filled with his wonder and joy over thecub that she carried and the fact that her body now truly reflected her status as a mother—feelings heknew she'd caught glimpses of before but he'd never allowed her to experience till now. Beneath him, hermovements changed, slowing till she no longer tried to twist away from him.
We've made a cub, Carrie, he sent, his mouth seeking hers as his hand moved to touch her belly. Ours!
That was all I regretted when we became Leskas, but the Gods have given us even that !
The hurt and
fear that had dominated her mind began to dissolve as she experienced the shock anddisbelief he'd felt at the news, and his fears for the safety of her and their child. The anger that his earlierreactions had caused began to dissipate.
You're pleased? she sent, but no answer was necessary as he finally lost control of the compulsion andtheir minds synchromeshed.
* * *
Morning came and with it Garras' departure. Having seen him off, Vanna headed thoughtfully to heroffice. She didn't regret her commitment to him, quite the opposite in fact. She knew that what sheneeded now was someone with whom she could have a dependable relationship. Just those few yearsolder than her, Garras was that person, and he had no illusions about being the primary focus in her life. Con-versely, he also knew she would never measure him against any other male.
She sighed as she opened the door to her office. Garras was right about Kusac; she should have spokensooner, but then Mito had been in the way. Now, because she cared for Carrie as well, it was unlikelyshe'd ever feel easy about making an approach.
Settling herself in front of her comm, she set about con-tacting Chagda Point to request that they patch
her through to Keiss via the Khalossa. As she waited, she couldn't help feeling there was a certain
inevitability about the way their lives were so tightly bound together.
Half an hour later, after being passed from department to department as each one claimed they couldn'tauthorize the call, she finally cut the connection and contacted Alien Re-lations, asking for Clan Leader Aldatan. Within ten minutes of telling Rhyasha what she wanted, she had the suitably chastened head ofcommunications on the space station call-ing her to tell her that the Sholan HQ on Keiss was waiting toaccept her call.
Her efforts were frustrated once again. Dr. Reynolds wasn't at Seaport. They thought he was in Valleytown but couldn't confirm it as they had no comm link to the Terran physician. A scouter would beimmediately dispatched, and they would call her back when they had the Keissian in Sea-port.
With a sigh, Vanna called the medical facility's main office, informing them of the call she was expectingand re-questing that they page her when it came in. That done, she called up all the files Medical had on Sholan obstetrics. There hadn't been much call for that branch of medicine on the Khalossa as thosefemales on board who chose to be-come pregnant usually requested down-time on their home worldfirst.
She then called up the files on Terran physiology that she and her team had compiled on board the Khalossa. It gave her some, but not all the information she wanted. She needed to speak to Jack Reynolds. In frustration, she checked the time, finding to her surprise that if she wanted second meal, shewould have to leave for the mess now. Closing up her office, she headed down to the basement.
In their wisdom the Telepath Guild had decided that until the Terran integration program was complete,the most ap-propriate place for their visitors to eat was in the hospital mess. As Vanna joined the queueat the counter, she noticed one or two small groups of Terrans sitting eating. Despite the fact it wasnearing the end of the meal time, the hall was crowded but there were a couple of empty tables over inthe far corner near the elevator.
As she waited for her choice to be served, she glanced around again, looking to see if there was anyoneshe knew. As she did, a figure passing in front of her caught her eye. The Terran opened his mouth in acareful smile and nodded before joining the end of the queue.
She frowned, trying to place him. Obviously he knew her, but she couldn't remember him. Then herattention was claimed by the server and she forgot about him.
While she ate, she used her comp pad to review the notes she'd made so far. It came as something of asurprise to find herself being suddenly addressed in Terran.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
Startled, she looked up to see the male who had smiled at her from the queue. "Please do," she said,switching off her comp.
"Thank you," he said, sliding into the seat opposite. "Aren't you the doctor who's considered to be the
expert on Terrans? I remember you from the other day. I'm Brynne Stevens."
Vanna's frown deepened. An errant memory plucked at her mind. So much had happened in the last fewdays. He did look familiar, though.
"We gave each other a static shock, remember? Your friends took you off to sit down. One of them was
a Terran girl," he said, picking up his fork and spearing a chunk of meat from his plate.
Vanna's frown cleared. "I remember," she said. "That was Carrie and Kusac."
"The first mixed Leska pair."
'That's right. You'd been asking about them."
"Have you found out yet what caused their Link?"
Vanna shook her head. "No idea. I don't think any one guild can answer that question. If we do find out,it won't be due to us at Medical alone."
"Any idea of how common these Links are likely to be?"
"Again, I've no idea. There have been two in the five or six months since we first contacted your people."
Brynne's empty fork paused in midair. "Then any one of us could suddenly find himself with an alien
Leska?"
Vanna's eyeridges rose as she regarded him. "So far it has been female Terran telepaths who've acquired
Sholan Leskas, not male Terrans. I should think you've nothing to worry about."
"I didn't mean it quite like that," said Brynne, having the grace to look embarrassed.
"I'm sure you didn't," she murmured, concentrating on her own meal.
Brynne broke the silence that followed. "Look, I haven't exactly made a good impression, have I? It'sjust that having some medical knowledge myself, I'm naturally interested in these Links. Can we startagain?" He held out his hand to-ward her.
Vanna hesitated, remembering the last time she'd touched him. "We don't shake hands."
"So what do you do?" he asked.
"We touch palms," she admitted.
"Then let's do that as a sign of good faith," he said, turn-ing his hand over so his palm was extended
toward her.
At her side, Vanna's pager began emitting an insistent tone. "I've got to go," she said, acknowledging thesignal before grabbing her comp in one hand and getting to her feet.
"No hard feelings?" Brynne insisted as he rose, too.
"None," said Vanna distractedly. She turned too sharply, stumbling as she became entangled in her chair.
"Careful," he warned, reaching out to catch her.
With a small cry of distress, Vanna wrenched herself free. Eyes wide, she backed away from him. "Don'ttouch me!" she hissed in a low voice before whirling round and running for the stairs, aware as she didthat she'd attracted the atten-tion of nearly everyone in the mess.
* * *
"I see you made it in time for third meal," said Taizia, looking up from her book as Kusac and Carrie
came into the lounge.
"Cheek," said Kusac, cuffing her gently as he passed.
"Let me see your bracelets," she demanded, reaching out •o grab his wrist. "Mother says they're
beautiful. When did you get them made?"
Kusac stopped, ears flicking ruefully at Carrie. "I ordered them the same day that Carrie ordered mytore," he said, let-ting his sister turn his wrist this way and that.
She let him go and reached for Carrie's hand, examining her bracelet "Mother was right," she said, "theyare beauti-ful. Why has Carrie's got you hunting on it when yours is only portraits of you both?"
Kusac grinned at Carrie over Taizia's head. "A private joke," he said. "Not for your ears."
"Spoilsport," she said, letting Carrie have her hand back. "Don't worry, I'll worm it out of her before
long."
"No, you won't," Carrie said, moving away to sit on one of the adjacent chairs.
"Do you know where Father is?" Kusac asked his sister.
"In the shrine."
That startled him. "What's he doing there?"
Taizia shrugged. "He
's been there most of the day. I thought it wiser not to disturb him; so did Mother."
"I think I should join him," he said, heading out of the room.
"The shrine?" asked Carrie. "Kusac mentioned the other day that the weapons were from there."
"It's the household's private room of prayer to Vartra," Taizia said. "The ashes of our ancestors sleep
there. If you want to see it, I'll take you later."
"Exactly who is Vartra? When I check through my inher-ited memories of him, I find it almost impossible
to work out what he was supposed to be the God of."
"Essentially He's a Warrior God who fights for peace when the need arises. He's the father figure of all our Gods," Taizia replied, putting her book down. "Some of the older stories credit him with saving our people from the Cata-clysm."
"Kusac's mentioned that before. What actually hap-pened?"
Taizia's ears flicked briefly and her eye ridges met in concentration. "Well, according to the stories, therewas a global war—Clan fighting Clan—until everything was de-stroyed and few survivors remained. Vartra called those that were left together and ordered them to set up the guilds and rebuild Shola. Someeven tell of him leading bands of War-riors against the lawless ones who tried to prey on the newlyformed guild towns. In other versions, the people turned on the telepaths, blaming them for starting thewar, and Vartra set up the Warrior Guild to protect them. The stories are sup-ported by the fact that allover our world are the remains of devastated towns."
"You must have some fascinating treasures from those days in your…" She searched for an appropriate
Sholan word but couldn't find one. "… museums."
"Museums?" Taizia repeated the unfamiliar Terran word carefully.
"Where you display objects from your past so people now can enjoy seeing them," said Carrie.
"Why would we want to look at things from the past? Anyway, our guild discourages it."
Carrie could feel Taizia's genuine bafflement. "Why should your guild forbid it? Aren't you interested inhow your ancestors lived?"
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