Backing out into the dark again, Kusac slowly circled the tents until he had made his way to the rear of the group. The first guard, rifle held ready, was dividing his attention between Chazukk and the captives in front of him. He’d be an easy target, hidden as he was from Chazukk’s direct line of sight as the prisoners came forward one at a time to throw any weapons they carried on the ground.
On fours, belly close to the ground, he crept closer. He could feel the M’zullian guard’s thoughts—they weren’t complicated. High on the raw meat and blood, he wanted only one thing—a female. The damned General kept them away from the females, but that was all about to change. Once they’d shut the males in the animal cages, there would be drink and pleasure enough for all. Let Chazukk be their leader, he didn’t care so long as his immediate lusts were slaked.
Silent as a shadow, Kusac rose to his full height. With one arm cirling the guard’s throat to stifle any sound, he thrust the knife in his other hand deep into the neck, just below the ear. As the body went limp in his grasp, he grabbed the rifle, catching it before it could fall.
The male in front started and turned his head, seeing him. As his eyes widened in shock, Kusac thrust the rifle against his chest till he grabbed it then backed off into the darkness taking the body with him.
As he was dumping the third body, Jayza joined him.
“You killed them?” the youth asked quietly. “I only knocked them out and bound them with strips of their own uniforms.”
He grunted, concentrating on wiping his knife clean on the dead guard’s fatigues. “Head back the way you came and position yourself to take out M’kou’s guard. I’ll take Kezule’s. It’ll be the signal for the prisoners I’ve armed to take Chazukk.”
Before they could reach their positions behind Kezule and M’kou, the situation had changed. Chazukk had forced Kezule to his knees, pulling his head back and holding a knife to his exposed throat. Without a second thought, Kusac sent his own knife spinning through the air to hit Chazukk then dived for the guard standing to one side of the kneeling General.
He’d forgotten about the M’zullian Warrior’s superior speed and strength and his advantage of surprise was almost instantly lost. Teeth closed on his forearm, biting down deep as he struggled against the other’s grip, trying vainly to get his hands round his throat. With a grunt of pain, he pulled his other arm free and punched out at the M’zullian’s face—missing as the jaws suddenly released him.
Twisting violently under him, the M’zullian had just broken free when a single shot whined out and the guard went limp, landing on top of him.
Willing hands pulled the corpse aside and helped him to his feet. A female—Zhalmo—was at his side, reaching for his injured arm.
“I can see to it,” he snapped, pushing her aside. Looking past the people crowded around them, he saw Kezule on his feet, rubbing his wrists where the rope had cut into them. Beyond him, M’kou was doing the same. The General looked at Kusac, acknowledging him with a brief nod before turning to his people and issuing a string of orders. As one, the warriors among them grabbed weapons and ran from the circle of light, disappearing into the edges of the woodland.
His arm had begun to throb when Jayza came over to him. “You’re bleeding,” the young male said quietly. “I wouldn’t leave it too long before dressing that wound, Captain. Nice throw, by the way.”
“Nice shot,” he replied automatically.
Jayza grinned. “Thanks. The General looks to be back in control again.”
After checking to see that his son M’kou was uninjured, Kezule bent to pull Kusac’s knife free from Chazukk’s forehead. Wiping it clean, he came over to them. “Were you two responsible for taking out the other guards?” he asked, holding the knife out to him, hilt first.
Taking it, Kusac nodded, regretting it instantly as his senses began to swim.
“All dead, I assume,” Kezule said, eyes narrowing as he looked at him.
“No, I left two alive just outside the circle of firelight,” said Jayza.
Kezule nodded, keeping his attention on Kusac. “I’d like them brought here, Jayza. The civilians will help you.”
M’kou waited till Jayza was out of earshot. “You’re wounded, Captain.”
He lifted his forearm to look at it for the first time. It was swollen but the blood had began to coagulate, matting his pelt. “It’s just a bite.”
“It’s poisoned,” said the General, taking hold of him firmly by the upper arm. “Come with me. I insist on treating it myself.”
The feeling of dizziness was increasing, and in something of a daze, he let himself be led to the General’s tent.
“Sit down,” ordered Kezule, leaving him standing by a small desk.
“If you carry analgesics on you, I’d take them now, Captain,” M’kou said, lending him a helping hand as he sat down on the folding chair.
“M’kou, fetch me some field dressings and the Sholan antidote from the shuttle,” said Kezule, busying himself by a mobile food-dispensing unit.
Resting his injured arm on the table, he fumbled in the pouch strapped to the left side of his belt, aware that the room had suddenly become bleached of color: everything was in shades of gray. Blinking furiously, he felt his torc begin to tingle against his throat. His fingers closed on one of the small injector units and he pulled it free, only to drop it on the floor as Kezule turned and came toward him carrying a bowl of steaming liquid.
Setting it down on the desk beside him, Kezule bent to pick the injector up, examining it carefully.
“Where do you inject it ?” he asked.
Reaching out to take it from him, he found he could barely move. “Injury,” he said, speaking with difficulty. His tongue felt like a lump of rubber in his mouth and he wondered vaguely what kind of poison was in the bite that it could act so quickly.
Kezule placed the nozzle just above the highest puncture wound and pressed the trigger mechanism. The relief was instant and the throbbing in his arm began to subside.
Putting the empty cartridge down beside him, Kezule left him there to return with a larger bowl and a sealed pack. Ripping the pack open with his teeth, the Valtegan took out a lump of sterile material and dipped it in the smaller bowl before lifting Kusac’s arm and holding it over the larger one.
Kezule swabbed the punctures carefully, washing away all the congealed blood. “You saved my life back there. Why?”
“We made a deal,” he said, wincing as the hot liquid sluiced over his arm. “I don’t want to be the one to break it.”
Kezule remained silent until he was done cleaning Kusac’s pelt. “The herbs in the water will help counteract the poison,” he said, drying the wound and surrounding fur off with more of the sterile material. “M’kou is fetching the antidote for you. The poison doesn’t kill Sholans, but it will make you very ill.”
He looked up at the General, blinking to try and clear his vision. The Valtegan looked very odd when seen in shades of gray.
“We developed an antidote for your people,” said Kezule drily. “I would hardly go to all this bother then poison you myself, would I?”
“You tell me,” mumbled Kusac, aware of M’kou’s return.
A cup and a tablet were held out to him. “Take this, Captain,” said M’kou quietly. “It’ll work quickly. You’ll feel much better in about an hour.”
He took the pill in his good hand and put it in his mouth, picking up the cup as Kezule began smearing something onto each puncture wound. He flinched, spilling some of the water. Hurriedly he gulped the rest down, but Kezule had done probing the wounds and was now bandaging his arm. In the distance, they could hear raised voices.
“Stay here for now, Kusac. I need to attend to the remaining M’zullians. M’kou will come back for you shortly,” said Kezule as he tied the bandage securely. “Settle him down, then join me, M’kou.” With that, the General left.
“It’ll pass quickly, Captain,” M’kou reassured him as on unsteady feet he
was led over to the two camp beds at the far end of the tent.
“Do you all have poison, or is it a Warrior thing?” he mumbled as the young Prime helped him to lie down on the bed.
“All males have it, but it’s more powerful in Warriors. Our historians believe it first developed as a defense against other predators, then against each other. To use it is considered shameful though, and was even in the General’s time. Just rest, Captain. I’ll tell your Second where you are.”
He came to with a shudder that shook his whole body. Sitting up, he checked his wrist unit. Half an hour had passed; he must have dozed off. Then he realized the effects of the poison had indeed gone.
Swinging his legs off the bed, he stood up, then staggered and had to sit down for a few minutes before trying again, this time more slowly. He’d forgotten that his system was still suffering from the shock caused by the injury, never mind the poison.
He made his way carefully out of the tent, aware of the unnatural silence when it was suddenly shattered by the sharp whine of an energy pistol. Moments later, he heard it again. Speeding up, he reached the clearing in time to see Kezule, standing behind a bound and kneeling M’zullian, put his pistol to the male’s head and shoot him. The body crumpled, falling bonelessly to one side, just like the other nine that lay dead in a line in front of the General. He leaned against the tree for support, surprised that he could smell and feel the fear, but no blood. Then he remembered that energy weapons seared flesh.
Kezule holstered his gun and turned to face his people. “M’kou, have their bodies thrown outside the electronic perimeter for the carrion eaters. They don’t deserve a burial,” he ordered, his gaze sweeping over the others. “The rest of you, get some sleep. We break camp at dawn. Good night.”
He stopped in front of Kusac. “Up so soon, Captain? You have remarkable recuperative powers. And don’t worry, I did consult the civilians before executing the M’zullians,” he added humorlessly.
“I’m sure you did,” he replied. “Their execution is a salutary lesson for all.”
“I never ask anyone to do anything I am not prepared to do myself,” said Kezule. “Contrary to what you might think, I don’t enjoy killing. It’s not what I was bred for, despite my Warrior blood. As I’ve said before, the M’zullians have been a liability from the first. It was only a matter of time before they turned on us.”
“You did what needed to be done. I won’t miss them.”
Kezule’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Kusac, then he nodded, reaching out to put his hand briefly on the Sholan’s uninjured shoulder. “Get some sleep, Kusac. The poison isn’t fatal as I said, but it has given your system a beating.”
“I’ll see to him, General,” said Banner’s voice from behind them.
“I heard you got bitten,” Banner said as they walked back to their tent. “Jayza said that Kezule treated you himself.”
“Didn’t want me dying on him,” he said tiredly.
“Dying?”
He caught Banner’s concerned tone. “M’zullians have a poisoned bite. All warriors have, but theirs is worst. Kezule had an antidote made for us.”
“Thoughtful of him. I should check your wound, though.”
“It’s fine,” he said, pulling his injured arm across his chest protectively. “So am I. The antidote worked. It doesn’t kill us, only makes us sick.”
“We should find out more about this bite and the antidote. It might be needed back home on Shola.”
“I’ll speak to Doctor Zayshul when we get back,” he said, pulling the tent flap aside and ducking his head as he entered.
“You had the perfect chance to let Kezule die, why didn’t you take it?” hissed Dzaou, getting up from his camp bed.
“Shut up, Dzaou,” he said, accepting Banner’s help to sit down on his bed. “What makes you think we’d be better off with Kezule dead? I have a deal with him. He dies, so does that. You think we’d have survived for long under the M’zullians? Forget it! They would have culled every Warrior on the Outpost, us included!”
“I know that!” Dzaou said dismissively. “Yes, you were right to order us to take out the M’zullians, but saving Kezule from them is another matter!”
“We need him alive, Dzaou. And you need me alive, too, remember that,” he said, his anger flaring as his hair and pelt rose. “You can’t replace me, none of you can, you’re not AlRel trained. That’s what he wants from me. Before you pull another stunt like the one with the herd this afternoon, just remember those M’zullians he executed,” he snarled, lying down on the bed and turning his back pointedly on Dzaou. “Otherwise you might be next!”
En’Shalla Estate, Shola, Zhal-Kuushoi 24th day (December)
For the fourth time that afternoon, Carrie began to play the message crystal Kusac had left on the Couana for her. In the eight weeks since Lijou had given it and the two silver bracelets for Kashini and Layeesha to her, she’d listened to it so many times that she knew every word and gesture by heart. Recently, the certainty that there was some kind of hidden meaning for her in the message had steadily grown, but she was damned if she could find it.
Grief over Kusac’s falling-out with Kaid, and the means by which he’d chosen to leave Shola—by stealing the Touibans’ ship, the Couana, had finally dulled. The tears had dried up, but had left in their stead a determination that she must find him and prove his innocence—and tell him she’d borne twins, the second child his son, Dhaykin.
On the comm screen, Kusac’s image appeared. Dressed in his black priest’s robes, he sat at the comm desk in one of the cabins on the Couana.
“Hello, Carrie. If you’re listening to this, then you’ll also have the birthing bracelets I had made for Kashini and the new daughter I share with you and Kaid.” Face creasing as if in pain, he looked away from the recorder for a moment, putting down the knife he was toying with before continuing. “I know my place was with you when you had the cub, but it wasn’t to be. There are issues I need to resolve in my own mind, just as your twin Elise did, before I can return. If the past few months have been difficult for me, I can’t imagine what they’ve been like for you.”
He stopped again, this time picking up a glass of water for a drink.
“When you came into my life, you brought a brightness and joy I’d never known before.” He smiled, his whole face lightening as it lost its hard, brittle look. “I remember when our minds first touched, out in the woods on Keiss when we searched for Vanna and the other five of my crew who were hiding in the cave. It scared me, Carrie. I was afraid of what they’d do to us when they found out. We were only children in our parents’ eyes, not old enough to know what was best for us. I was afraid they’d try to hide our Link. Or worse, the authorities would keep us apart, sacrifice us because of the political implications of our existence. But you know all that. Thanks to Ghyan’s help, none of that happened.”
Again a small pause. “I wish you’d known me when I was younger. Ghyan and I were always up to something. We’d run away from lessons in the summer to go sailing, hunting for coves and safe havens to moor in. We must have driven our parents mad.”
This time, when he stopped, his face clouded over again, eye ridges meeting. “I wish I could tell you when I’ll be back, but I don’t know when that will be. The time I spent as J’koshuk’s prisoner left too many scars for me to easily forget. It left a darkness on my soul that I need to somehow try and remove first. I wish our children didn’t have to bear the consequences because they’re the truly innocent ones. It’s not their fault that we, their parents, were used as we were on the Kz’adul.”
His hand reached out toward her, almost touching the recorder’s lens so that Carrie felt he was actually reaching out to her.
“I love you, Carrie, and always will, whatever happens to me, whatever the future brings to light, please believe this.”
The message over, the screen went blank.
From across the corridor, the sound of furniture scraping on the floor
brought her back to the here and now. T’Chebbi’s and Kaid’s cub was due any day, and for the last week, her friend had been running Kaid ragged changing the nursery furniture around in her suite. It sounded like he was still at it even though T’Chebbi was downstairs in the communal bathing room getting a massage from Sashti. Mentally, Carrie reached out for her Leska, trying to discern his mood. Tired, hot, and frustrated, he needed a break as much as she did. Maybe this time he’d be more approachable on the subject of Kusac.
Getting up from the desk, she removed the message crystal from its reader slot and put it back into the small box lying beside her comm.
Kaid looked up as she entered. “I felt your touch. This cub can’t come too soon, Carrie,” he said with a sigh, sitting down on the chest he was in the process of moving. “She wants the crib back beside the balcony, of all places!”
“She had it there twice last week and decided both times she didn’t like it,” said Carrie, coming into the room and perching on the arm of an easy chair that now sat isolated in the center of the room.
“I know. She’s run through every permutation of the furniture imaginable at least three times. You were never this bad.”
“You didn’t have much furniture to start with, we had to buy more,” she said, looking round the light, airy room. “Your minimalist look was completely destroyed by the arrival of the sofa and the cribs.”
“A small price to pay for being blessed with the twins,” he said, mouth widening slightly in a slow smile. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing, Tallinu. I just thought you must be tired and could do with a break, that’s all,” she said, looking out of the window at the snow-covered trees outside. “You know, I think she’s right. Beside the balcony is a good place for the crib.”
“I should finish this, but what the hell—yes. Let’s go down to the kitchen and get some coffee,” he said, getting up and going over to join her. “I’ve not had enough time with you since T’Chebbi began her nesting urge.”
Between Darkness and Light Page 19
