“Hmm?” He stopped briefly to consider this. “You may be right,” he said as he began walking again.
“You said Dzaou ... interrupted Kusac.”
“That’s what he said,” replied Kezule, careful to keep his tone neutral.
“Then this is a rape, Kezule,” she said, stopping dead and turning on him. “You must find out who did this! She must be punished as severely as you punished the M’zullians.”
“She will be, if we can identify who it was,” he said.
“Kusac said she had clothing that was mine. How did she get hold of it?”
“The Outpost laundry facilities are used for all work clothes, Zayshul,” he said. “Anyone could have taken an item of yours, but I will look into it. In fact, I’ll go back to Security and get them moving on it now.”
“I can check the sick bays, see if anyone requested analgesic meds today,” she said, beginning to move off. “If we can get the sheets from Kusac’s room, I may be able to get a sample from them. I need to warn the laundry not to wash them. And run some simulations in the lab to see what she could have used as an aphrodisiac!”
He caught hold of her by the arm, stopping her. “Leave it for tonight, Zayshul. The aphrodisiac will do him no harm. Kusac will be all right, Banner is with him. I’m sure they have their own ways of dealing with this situation,” he said with a slight smile. “But I will get Security onto checking the analgesics and warning the laundry for you.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked sharply.
“By what?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.
“By saying they have their own ways of dealing with this situation!”
His face cleared. “Of course, you’ve no real military experience, have you? It would have been better for Kusac had they not been interrupted, but since they were ...”
“I got the picture at the time, thank you,” she snapped.
He turned away from her, about to leave for the Security room. “In male only enclaves, such as existed in my time, and like the Sholan group, males will turn to each other, that’s all.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “As I said, Banner stayed with him, he’ll be fine. Now go back to bed and stop worrying.”
She stared mutely after his retreating figure. Then, almost automatically, she began to walk back to her suite.
Chaos greeted her in the form of Ghidd’ah holding an inconsolably sobbing Shaidan plastered to her chest.
“Thank the Goddess you’re back!” she said with relief. “I was about to take Shaidan to the Captain. M’kou sent for me when he couldn’t stop him crying. Apparently he woke screaming just over half an hour ago. Thankfully he hasn’t wakened Mayza.”
“I’ll take him,” she said.
Hearing her voice, Shaidan lifted his head off Ghidd’ah’s shoulder and turned a tearsoaked face to hers.
She reached out her arms for him and he almost leaped into them, holding her tightly as fresh sobs began to rack him.
“Go back to bed,” she said to her friend as she carried him over to the sofa where they’d obviously been sitting. “I can handle it now. Thank you for helping out.”
Sitting down, she began to rock him, patting his back gently while making soothing noises. With her free hand, she reached for the blanket lying there and wrapped it round him.
“Hush, baby,” she said. “I’ve just left your father. He’s fine, I promise you. He just had a nasty fright, that’s all.” She should have remembered that Shaidan would be affected by this.
His hands clutched at the warm top she was wearing over her nightclothes, gently tugging on it as he opened and closed his hands as if he was kneading the material. Gradually his sobs lessened and he began to quiet until his head lolled against her.
Looking down at the sleeping child, she smiled wryly as she saw that he’d actually been sucking on her sweater. Carefully she got to her feet and began walking to Shaidan’s room, then suddenly changed her mind and headed for her own room. She was not going to leave him to sleep alone tonight. If his father needed company, then the son needed it even more.
As she tried to lay him down in her bed, his hand tightened on her sweater, pulling it toward his mouth and beginning to suck on it again. She had to crouch down at the side of the bed and take it off before she could leave him.
Tucking the covers around him, she went over to her daughter’s bed to check on her. As Ghidd’ah had said, she was fast asleep. Tiptoeing back to her own bed, she stripped off the trousers and crawled beneath the covers. As soon as the light was out and she’d made herself comfortable, she felt Shaidan start to move until his back was touching her, then he settled. Surprised, she turned on her side, only to find him wriggling closer again, not stopping till he was completely within the protective curve of her body. Smiling to herself, she put her arm around him, breathing in his scent which reminded her poignantly of his father’s.
“You are so like him,” she whispered, resting her head on top of his as she began to drift off to sleep, wishing it could have been her, not Banner, who’d stayed with Kusac.
Kezule found M’kou in the main Security Office watching the screens while M’zynal gave his people their orders and sent them out.
“M’kou, a word,” ordered Kezule, indicating he was to leave with him.
“That was a disaster,” said Kezule when they were alone in his office. “Why did no one pick up on Dzaou watching Kusac’s room, and where is she now?” He went over to the sideboard and took out two glasses and a bottle.
“Not for me, thank you,” said M’kou, taking a seat on the sofa.
Kezule put one of the glasses away then poured himself a small measure of one of Giyarishis’ spirits.
“There aren’t any security cameras in the small side corridors, General. There was no way he could be seen.”
“Then move him. Have the older Sholan trade rooms with him,” he said, sitting down in the nearest armchair.
“Khadui? What reason shall I give?”
“The real one—Security. If Dzaou’s going to spy on their Captain, I think they’ll be as relieved as us to have him moved. Next time he tries that, the cameras will pick him up in the main corridor as soon as he leaves his room.”
“It wasn’t a complete failure, General. She told me she did at least manage to put her scent mark on the Captain.”
“She’s lying,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. The strong spirit spread its warmth down to the pit of his stomach, but did nothing to dispel his uneasy conscience. “They were disturbed before she finished and when I saw him, Kusac still smelled of my wife’s marker.”
“That’s impossible,” said M’kou in obvious surprise. “Why would she lie when it can so easily be disproved?”
“Why indeed?” said Kezule, thinking this through. “Did she manage to return to her quarters without being seen by anyone else?”
M’kou nodded. “Dzaou didn’t get a good look at her, she says. He was blocking the bedroom door so she hit him and sent him spinning back into the main room. The guards didn’t look at her twice, assuming she was there at the Captain’s invitation.”
“They hadn’t checked his room for scents by the time I arrived, and Kusac refused to let Zayshul take samples for DNA testing, thank the powers above, so it looks like she’ll go undetected. What about the clothing? Taking a lab coat was very clever.”
“I put it in the incinerator,” M’kou said. “I’d arranged for a change of clothing for her in the priests’ quarters adjacent to our temple. She made for there then headed out through the back door of the temple.”
Kezule nodded. “At least that went smoothly. If she did mark him, how long would it take to be effective?”
“It’s noticeable fairly quickly,” his son replied, “but to be fully effective takes maybe a day.”
“So if by tomorrow morning he still smells of my wife, then we can assume it didn’t work.”
“I would say yes.”
“Do you know if putting one
marker on top of another will cancel out the first?”
“I’ve no idea. Zhalmo did say it wouldn’t work. I’ve been told that females are generally very cautious about marking anyone because it does attract that male to them. It’s not something they do to annoy a male, or spite another female, because of the consequences to themselves.”
“And after this incident, it’s the last question we can ask anyone,” he sighed, taking another sip of his drink. “I take it you and I and this female are the only ones who know what happened.”
“I didn’t involve anyone else,” M’kou reassured him. “There was no need. The Captain is all right, isn’t he?” he asked anxiously. “I gave her specific doses for him.”
“He was well out of it,” said Kezule, “but he’ll be fine. I hadn’t realized our meds affected them so strongly, and so differently.”
“We’re probably just as sensitive to their drugs,” said M’kou. “I made sure that what I took won’t show up when they check out the inventories in the sick bays.”
“We have one loose end. My wife want his sheets for testing, and I’ve got to alert Security to warn the laundry to send them to her. They need to be intercepted, M’kou.”
“When they’re at breakfast, while Maintenance fixes the door, I’ll change the sheets and see they’re destroyed,” said M’kou.
Kezule nodded. “I think we’ve taken everything into account. Let’s just hope this dies a death when she can’t be traced. And that it worked,” he added, finishing his drink and getting up. “I think we should turn in—again,” he said. “Morning is getting too close. Good night, M’kou.”
Ghioass, Camarilla Council Chamber
“What happened?” Kuvaa demanded angrily of Giyarishis. “This not show anywhere in potentialities! You in heart of matter—why you not see this coming?”
Giyarishis for once felt calm about this. “You are ones monitoring potentialities, telling me what I must observe. If you not see, how expect me to anticipate? I give to sand-dweller messages you instruct me to give. No more can I do. Warnings of mine you brush aside of no importance.”
“You monitor reality of those involved! You to pick up variances from planned path!” The Cabbaran was incandescent with rage.
“I tell sand-dweller exact words you say to me! Is obvious not willingly let female of his pair with Hunter, changing mind when I not provide help unlikely! Miscalculation yours, not my failure.” He stopped for a moment to regard the Phratry Leader. “Desired aim achieved now despite your failure,” he said almost indifferently. “Sand-dweller female now free to meet with Hunter without fear of reprisals. Must now discuss the child ...”
“Is of no interest,” snapped Kuvaa. “Potentialities are swirling, roiling in flux! Our plans are falling apart! This departure from planned course bodes ill. Hunter must not pursue this matter, nor other hunters on his behalf. Stop this you must.”
“Have taken what action I can—only small effect on him can I have from distance.”
“Get closer! Peace must be between sand-dwellers and Hunter, impossible if this discovered. Much technology has been invested in Kij’ik to enable your work, use it!”
“I will rejoice when your turn for working in field comes, Kuvaa,” said Giyarishis, eyes whirling angrily as he glared at his equal. “What appears simple at home, not when out here.” With that he cut the connection.
He sighed, settling back into the cushions at his desk. Now he was faced with the problem of trying to affect the Hunter and his Second in Command when they slept. This would not be easy considering he’d had little contact with that male. Perhaps concentrating on the Hunter alone would suffice. After all, the Hunter was his superior, his orders would be followed to the letter.
Despite what Kuvaa thought, he was still concerned with the child. He was becoming a force in this matter, one soon to be reckoned with. Already, against his programming by the Directorate, he had made the Hunter and the female sand-dweller both aware of the fact that she was a telepath. Granted, the Hunter had a suspicion she was, but he knew for sure before the appointed time. He had been supposed to find out from the Zan’droshi data they’d carefully recovered, and added, for them to find.
How the child had managed to do this had eluded him, because like his father, he had the capacity—he couldn’t yet be sure it was conscious—for some of his actions to be cloaked within a dark zone none of the Camarilla technology could penetrate.
Realizing that time was passing and he needed to be ready to infiltrate the Hunter’s mind at the moment consciousness passed into sleep, he roused himself and jumped to the floor, hurrying off to the pool room. There, at least, the balmy, moist atmosphere suited him better than the warm dryness of the Outpost. It was easier to let his mind roam when he had no need to fret over his physical conditions.
CHAPTER 16
Zhal-Mellasha 12th day (February)
AS he surfaced from sleep, Kusac knew instantly that he was alone. Considering the alcohol he’d drunk and what he’d been dosed with the night before, he felt remarkably clearheaded. Moving his head, he lifted his arm to peer at his wrist comm. As he did, Banner’s scent filled his nostrils, making him sigh and forget about the time. Had it been any other time but last night, and any other place but here ... but it wasn’t, and he had to deal with the fact he still had to keep Banner at arm’s length.
There were other things he had to deal with, he remembered, like the matter of the sheets. A quick glance at his watch as he got up told him it was just past second hour. Time enough for him to see to what he needed to do, provided Banner didn’t return first.
He left the remade bed in what he hoped looked like the rumpled state it had been when he first got up. The soiled sheets he had briefly considered stuffing down the garbage disposal, then decided not to in case they caused a blockage and were discovered. Instead he concealed them in his kit bag alongside the packs of fertilizer he’d taken from Dzaou, making a mental note that he needed to dispose of them, too. Then, emotionally tired out before his day had even begun, he had a shower.
He was toweling himself dry when he sensed Banner’s return. A moment later, the older male poked his head round the door.
“You’re up, good,” Banner said, coming in and sitting on the end of the bed. “I’ve just been filling the others in on the basics—no details, of course—of what happened last night. I figured you’d rather not have to tell them yourself.”
Automatically, his ears flattened against his skull. “Thank you,” he mumbled, hiding his embarrassment, and gratitude, by going over to his drawers to pull out a clean black tunic. Getting caught once by Zayshul had been bad enough, but for it to happen a second time ... He was angry with himself as much as her, whoever she was.
Acutely aware of Banner’s thoughts as the other watched him, he wondered who’d be the one to mention their changed relationship first.
Slipping his tunic on, he pressed the seal closed as he turned round looking for his weapons belt.
Banner bent down and picked it up off the floor, holding it out to him. “About last night,” he said, “Don’t get yourself into a state about it. We both know I was there for you because you needed me. However, if you decide you’d like my company anytime, let me know.”
He nodded, taking the belt from him and fastening it round his waist. “Again, thank you,” he said. “I appreciate what you did.”
Banner shrugged and got up, reaching out to ruffle the hair where his ears lay flat. “It was no hardship,” he grinned. “Oh, they’re sending someone from Maintenance to fix your door as soon as first meal’s over. Till then, they’ll leave a guard outside. Talking of which,” he said, glancing at his wrist comm, “I suggest we get a move on. I took a stroll down to the mess after I’d spoken to Khadui and Jayza, and no one there seemed to be aware that anything had happened last night. You’ve no need to worry that everyone’s talking about it.”
“That’s a relief,” he murmured, forcing his ears uprig
ht again as he followed Banner out into the lounge.
“You’re all right, aren’t you?” Banner asked, turning to look at him as he stopped by the door. “I know your self-confidence will have taken a knock, but that’s understandable.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said, unconsciously squaring his shoulders. “The whole incident was embarrassing more than anything else.”
Banner frowned. “You’re sure?”
Impulsively he reached out to touch the other’s neck briefly. “I’m fine,” he repeated with a smile. “Let’s go. The food doesn’t improve by being cold.”
Grinning, Banner turned back to the door, forcing it back into its recess until they could squeeze through the gap.
“Good job Dzaou’s not here,” Kusac said, surveying the wrecked door. “I’d be using his head to beat it flat from the other side.”
Banner laughed. “Forgot to tell you that Security asked Khadui this morning to change rooms with Dzaou so he’s on the other side of our block. Apparently they’ve been aware of him spying on you for some time and after this, they want him moved to where they can keep an eye on him with their cameras. He won’t be able to peer through a crack in his door anymore.”
“Thank Vartra for that!” he said. “Did Khadui agree?”
“Immediately,” said Banner as they headed toward the iris at the junction with corridor K. “He’s getting disillusioned with him, too.”
“Dzaou’s a liability. I’m going to have to do something about him.”
“But what? The only opinion he really respects is his own.”
“We’ll see next training night,” he said as they stepped into the air lock area formed by the three open irises where the corridors intersected.
“Can you take him? You’re improving, but I don’t know if you’re up to his speed.”
He glanced at Banner, an amused look on his face. “I can take him,” he said. “You’ve only seen me sparring, not fighting.”
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