Fortune's Wheel

by Lisanne Norman

  "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" he de-manded. "Look at me! I'm soaked!"

  Vanna pulled her chin in and stared up at him. "You feel better now, though, don't you?" Then she beganto smile at the sight of him standing there, water streaming off his hair onto his back and shoulders, hissaturated trousers and shoes making puddles on the floor.

  His eyes narrowed, brows meeting in the middle of his forehead.

  Where he held her by the arm, it was as if a static charge was passing between them. Every hair on herbody began to tingle and rise. She knew he could feel it, too.

  His other arm snaked round her waist, pulling her a little closer. He was studying her, gauging her againsta mixture of Terran and Sholan values. Leaning forward, he sniffed at her. "You smell nice," he said.

  "You're drunk," she retorted.

  He smiled beatifically at her. "That's right," he said, slur-ring the words.

  Vanna was acutely conscious of his presence. She could feel the tension building in their bodies as hereleased her arm to put his hand up to her face. His fingers gently touched the soft fur there, then movedon to caress her ear.

  She looked up at him. He wasn't so different from Sholan males—at least as far as his face wasconcerned. The dark hair covering the lower part of his face was not unlike their fur.

  Where her hand touched his chest, she could feel the warmth and softness of his skin through the finecovering of hair, could feel the compulsive pull of their Link increasing as it swept through them both. Deliberately she ran her hands across his chest, making sure her claws stayed re-tracted. "We'veunfinished business to attend to," she said quietly.

  "I know," he said, no longer quite so drunk. His fingers pushed through the short curls on the back of her head, tightening in them as he matched her body to his, uncon-sciously pulling her head back to expose her throat.

  * * *

  "You seem singularly unsurprised at the course of recent events," said the younger male as they strolled

  across the courtyard toward the small formal garden.

  His companion made a gesture of dismissal. "When we can clearly see the hand of Vartra at work,nothing should surprise us."

  "Well, it surprised me," Ghyan said. "The temple couldn't influence Vailkoi's daughter. She's determined

  the Challenge will go ahead. How real are the risks to the human girl?"

  "Real enough if anything should go wrong," said Kaid, stopping to examine a low fruiting bush. "You'll

  have a good crop this year," he observed, gently feeling the weight of one of the dark red globes.

  "Never mind them! What actions are your people taking to protect her?" he demanded, thrusting his

  thumbs through the narrow belt that encircled his robe.

  "She's being taught to fight." He was surprised to be asked that.

  "What of their cub? Will she be affected by this?"

  He regarded the younger male, a brief of expression of humor crossing his face. "You're asking me forpredictions? She should win easily, with no harm to her unborn cub—if all proceeds as expected."

  "The Clan Leader is to petition the Governor, asking him to stop the Challenge."

  "Let him. If the God wills it, the Challenge will be stopped. Bring no more pressure to bear on Vailkoi or his daughter as it suits our purposes to see the fight go ahead. We need to know how both of them will react to a real com-bat situation."

  "I don't like it. Too much is being left to chance."

  "You call the God's will chance?" His eye ridge rose questioningly as he noted the other's ears flick in

  concern. "I thought you at least would have perceived the matter dif-ferently."

  "Don't play semantics with me. There's a lot at stake here, not least their lives! Do you realize that because of the investigations into the Terrans' abilities, my guild has all the information it needs about the lack of minor Talents amongst their members? It's going to draw the obvious conclusion."

  "We're aware of that," Kaid said imperturbably, turning to regard the building in the distance. "More important now is the need to know what the Clan Lord plans to do to con-trol the power of your guild. We're aware of what happened to the latest pair. Though we deplore it, at least it ensured they survived. This must not happen again."

  "Everything's so cold and calculated with you, isn't it? All you're concerned about is that the outcome is favorable for you. What about them? What if Kusac can't stand there and watch his Leska fight, perhaps even get wounded? Then what will happen to your bid for independence?"

  'They have to be tested," he replied, voice and body emo-tionless. "We have to know once and for all. I know they can do it. He's no longer merely a Telepath, he's more now, more like us—as she has always been."

  Ghyan pulled his hands free of his belt. "They chose the right person for the job," he said coldly, turningaway from him. "I'll do as I'm ordered, but under protest. You've not a shred of compassion for them,have you? Nothing touches you, only duty. Don't contact me again unless you have to," he said, turninghis back on him and walking away.

  How wrong you are, Kaid thought, watching the retreating figure. The God mocks me at every turn,stabbing a knife in my side whenever I think of the Challenge and the risks she faces. You'd laughif you knew that, little priest.

  He sighed, turning toward the rear exit. It was time he left. He'd been gone too long.

  * * *

  Vanna contacted Carrie and Kusac midweek, full of apol-ogies. "I would have been in touch earlier, butthis last week and a half have been rather difficult."

  "Troubles with Brynne?" asked Kusac sympathetically.

  "Yes and no. He still resents the physical tie of the bond and hasn't come to terms with the fact that we need each other every fifth day. He still tries to satisfy his frustrations with other females before he comes to me."

  "You should return the compliment," said Kusac frown-ing, annoyed that she was obviously linked to

  someone so insensitive.

  "Actually I did," she admitted, flicking her ears backward,

  "with Garras. Brynne didn't appreciate it. Fortunately, his resentment vanishes as soon as we touch. Even

  though we have no relationship to speak of, the physical side of our Link is more than satisfying."

  Kusac grinned. "Well, there have to be some advantages, don't there?"

  "Look, I didn't call you up to talk about my problems," she said with a sudden change of mood. "I'd like you to come over to the guild this afternoon. There are some tests I must run on Carrie. If I don't, I'll have Khafsa breathing down my neck and threatening to take over your case."

  "What time shall we meet you?"

  'Tenth hour, in the reception area of the medical center."

  "We'll be there," he said.

  * * *

  "Once again, confirmation of these rumors eludes us as both the Telepath Guild and the Guild of Medics hold their peace. All we can say for sure is that a Challenge has been made by our Liegen's Leska and was duly accepted by Liegena Vailkoi, heir of the Vailkoi Clan from the Vrusa es-tate in the northern continent. It is interesting to note, though, that there is a strange silence from the Aldatan Clan who refused to accept any calls from us at Infonet. Should our informant be proved correct, I'm sure you'll join me in expressing concern over the alleged genetic changes that may have made it possible for the increasing number of mixed Leska pairs to breed."

  The screen faded to show Kusac and Carrie standing in one of the small central parks in Valsgarth,listening to a public storytelling performance.

  "This is Rhaema Vorkoh, your reporter for Infonet News."

  Seeing Carrie's face begin to pale, Rhyasha switched off the leisure comm unit.

  "Don't worry, cub," she said soothingly. "They love to speculate. I'm sure your people are no different."

  "That was taken yesterday," said Carrie, her hands clenching into fists. "We only stood there for five

  minutes! They're always following us. Wh
y won't they leave us alone? Now everyone knows!"

  "No, they don't," said Rhyasha firmly, putting her arm around Carrie's shoulders and giving her a comforting squeeze. "Without proof they won't dare voice their suspi-cions. The Challenge is only a few days away now. Once it's over, what could be more natural than that you should take an extended rest on the estate?"

  Rhyasha leaned forward to pick up the drink that sat half finished on the table beside them. "Come on,drink this down before Kusac arrives. You know how he's worrying about your health. Vanna won't bepleased either, consider-ing the bother she went to in checking out the vitamins and minerals needed toconcoct this supplement drink."

  Carrie took the mug from her and pulling a face, drank the contents.

  Rhyasha laughed. "It would have tasted better if you hadn't let it get cold," she chided as they heard thenoise of the aircar landing outside under the window.

  "I don't want to go to the guild," said Carrie, reluctantly getting to her feet. "I'm afraid of meeting any of

  the Terrans."

  "There's nothing to fear," said Rhyasha as she linked arms with the girl and led her to the study door. "Kusac and Kaid will be with you. Vanna needs to do this checkup, you know that. Are you sure you don't want me to come, too?" she asked as they walked along the inner balcony to the stairway down to the ground level.

  Carrie shook her head. "No, thank you. I know you're busy with estate business today."

  Kusac met them at the foot of the stairs. "Don't worry about the newscast," he said, taking her by thehand. "Most people at the guild will be in classes and won't have heard it. As Mother said, once this isover, you won't need to leave the estate until you're ready to do so."

  * * *

  In his aircar, Chyad turned off the comm. So there was to be a Challenge, was there? They'd just playedstraight into his hands. Hiding out on their estate had been a long shot that had paid off. Security wouldbe intense, they knew he was still out there, somewhere. He grinned. They didn't know he was so closeto them, though. His tail twitched with pleasure. He had a fair chance of escape afterward, but that wasn'timportant any longer. He was sick of living on the run. So long as he got them, he'd have beaten thatbastard hired to guard them, and that was all that mattered now.

  He reached for his pulse rifle and began checking it out, making sure it was ready. The battery packswere still good and he had three of them.

  * * *

  Vanna met them as arranged and led them along the cor-ridor to the rooms housing the scanner units.

  "Jack Reynolds sent me some data on Terran physiology about two weeks ago. Apart from the obvious physical dif-ferences between our species, there are several developmen-tal ones," she said, opening the door and ushering them in.

  "Gestation time for humans is forty weeks. For us it's twenty-four. I need to take a scan so we can

  measure the size of your cub's head. Once I have that, then I can make a reasonable prediction as to

  when she'll be born."

  She took Carrie by the arm and led her over to an exam-ination couch set beside the far wall. "Up youget," she said, pulling a low step from underneath the couch.

  "Hey, don't worry," she said, sensing Carrie's dread. "There aren't going to be any unpleasant surprises.

  That's a viable cub you have there, you know that already."

  Kusac helped her settle herself on the couch and remained there holding her hand as Vanna reached upto swing the scanner over her.

  Carrie lay there, looking at the narrow bar of light as Vanna moved over to her monitor.

  Though Kusac was trying hard to block them from her, she could pick up enough fragments of hisworries to know that he was as reluctant as she was to see what their child would look like.

  Her hands moved instinctively to clasp over her stomach. As Kusac's hand followed, icy fear sweptthrough her. She looked up at him, then to Vanna, suddenly seeing their faces as more feline thanhumanoid. Kusac's dark-furred face with the impossibly amber eyes. The light caught the tips of hiscanines where they showed beneath the bifurcated mouth, making them shine white against his darkness. God, what was she doing here with these alien people? What was she doing letting his child grow insideher?

  Her stomach lurched as she pushed the fear aside, praying that he hadn't noticed.

  He hadn't; something else had claimed his attention. His hand released hers and spread across the gentleswell that lay protected beneath her hands.

  "She moved," he whispered. "Carrie, I felt her move!" His eyes, the amber almost opalescent, looked

  intently at her, all his fears now gone.

  "It's too soon," she said, her senses swamped with Kusac's feelings of pleasure and pride.

  "Not if we're looking at a Sholan gestation," said Vanna as she activated the unit.

  She turned round to look at them, adjusting her scanner monitor so they could see it too. "You'll have tomove your hands," she said gently, "otherwise we won't be able to see her."

  Carrie moved her hands, holding them clenched at her sides. She could feel Kusac's eagerness now tosee their daughter, followed by his realization that she was still afraid.

  His hand closed on hers once more, opening the fingers and lifting it up to his cheek. Everything will befine, he sent.

  "It's just as well you're staying with your parents," Vanna said, activating the unit, "since I expect that, like me, they've been fending off requests for interviews and tests from various people. After this Challenge is over, I think the two of you should go away for a few weeks, somewhere no one can find you."

  "It's already been arranged," said Kusac.

  "Good," she said, looking back at them as the scanner bar passed slowly above Carrie toward her head, then began its journey back. "You're definitely beginning to look pregnant now," she said, reaching over to gently touch Carrie's stom-ach. "I have a feeling we're looking at a Sholan gestation."

  She looked back at the monitor, noticing Carrie's knuckles begin to whiten as her grasp tightened on

  Kusac's hand. She could feel her panic at the thought of any outside interest in her and their child.

  "Don't worry," said Kusac. "Once we get back home, you needn't leave there again until after she's

  born."

  "I'm all right," Carrie said, only a slight quaver in her voice. "Why are you working anyway?" she asked Vanna. "I thought you'd be given leave because of your Link. I re-member how difficult it was for us, and we were kept se-cluded in the suite on the Khalossa."

  "I promised you I wouldn't allow anyone else to do tests," she said, fiddling with the controls until a

  picture began to form on the screen. "Besides, I prefer to keep busy."

  "There you are," she said, moving back so she could point to the screen. "That's her heart that you can

  see. It's beating normally, and there's the extra valve that you humans lack."

  She touched the controls again and the image changed to show a full-sized picture of the baby. "It lookslike your children will be essentially Sholan," she said.

  Kusac felt the instinctive side of Carrie's mind begin to react in fear and mentally he reached out to her,trying to re-assure her. He bent down to touch her. "Don't be afraid," he said. "She's our cub, ourdaughter. How can she be alien to us when we made her?"

  Carrie reached up and pulled him down, clinging to him, drawing on their Link while she fought to let herintellect take over. His physical and mental presence steadied her, and the fear began to recede as shefelt his pride in her.

  "Look, Carrie," said Vanna, drawing her attention back to the screen. "Her hands and feet look slightly more like yours, but they're still clawed. Her legs are straighter, too. I have a feeling she'll walk predominantly upright." She ad-justed the view again. "Ah, I've got her head now," she said with satisfaction. "Don't worry about it looking out of pro-portion at the moment because it is at this stage of develop-ment."

  "Well, there you have your Leska love child," a male Terran voice dra
wled from the door. "I hope it's

  what you want."

  Vanna rounded on Brynne. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. "You've no businessbarging in here while I'm with patients! Get out!"

  "I've every right," he said. "I've got all your medical knowledge, my dear, and, no, I'm not an ignorant

  voyeur. I want to know what our child will look like."

  "What do you mean?" she asked, stunned.

  "Have you checked yourself lately? No? Well, I suggest that you do, then you and your little friend can attend Mothercare classes together. Besides, I wanted to meet Kusac again and see just what sort of male you judge me against. I would have assumed it would have been Garras considering he's your mate, but then you people have no sense of loyalty to one partner, have you?"

  Vanna ignored the last remark, hoping Kusac was too busy with Carrie to have heard what Brynne said.

  "I'm not pregnant," she stated flatly. "There hasn't been enough time for the genetic changes to reach that

  stage yet."

  "You said that because of the gestalt the whole process was accelerated in our case," Brynne said. "If I

  were you, I'd check more than my endocrine levels today. We human males have a way of knowing these things. You're preg-nant." He gave her an indolent wave and left, letting the door slam shut behind him.

  Kusac was too busy attending to Carrie to be other than peripherally aware of Vanna and Brynne'sinterchange. At Brynne's comment, reason had left her to be replaced with an overwhelming terror. Primal instincts came to the fore, telling her that this child was not like her, was not of her species. It wasalien through and through, despite the fact that it carried her genes, too. Hysteria took over, and she triedto push Kusac away and get to her feet. She wanted to run and keep running until she left all this farbehind, but a small corner of her mind told her that where she went, this problem went, too.

  Kusac shoved the scanner aside, grasping Carrie tightly so that she couldn't move. He felt the gestalt startto build and mentally wrenched the control from her, using its power to subdue her.