“Then my money’s on the Directorate,” said Shamgar. “Remember the info they made available to us about Kusac Aldatan and the Enforcer he met? This High Inquisitor is head of the Enforcers here.”
Vaygan shuddered. “Don’t remind me. The Directorate’s gone, Kezule destroyed it. You putting your money where your mouth is, Shamgar? Twenty credits then?”
“Done,” said Shamgar, beginning to bounce back toward Fingoh. “Ouch, dammit!”
“Will you two stop making wagers and do something to get us out of here?” demanded Fingoh. “They could come back and murder us at any time! Fine bodyguards you are! Can’t you contact the other two?”
“Probably dead,” said Vaygan regretfully.
“If whoever’s in charge now wanted us dead, Fingoh, we wouldn’t be here now. As for the rest, look at yourself,” said Shamgar. “They’ve taken our wrist comms, our weapons, including our belt knives, and our jackets and belts. At least you’re still wearing a robe.”
“Vaygan, sit up and have a try at getting your claws into the rope around my wrists.”
“It isn’t rope, it’s some kind of polymer like we use back home. Look at the one binding your ankles.”
Shamgar did and shrugged. “Still worth a try.”
Vaygan pushed himself up into a sitting position then shuffled around till Shamgar and he were back to back. Feeling with his hands, he located the semi-rigid band imprisoning his friend’s wrists and began to insert a claw tip between it and him.
“Ouch! Dammit, I have enough bruises already without you trying to stick your claws into me as well!”
“It’s not going to work, Shamgar,” he said, leaning back against him.
“What about your teeth? Try biting through it,” said Fingoh, watching them.
Vaygan arched an eyebrow at the Ambassador. “With the dental plan they’ve got here, you want me to risk breaking a tooth? I don’t think so!”
Silence fell for several minutes during which time they could hear the sound of bodies being dragged around.
“What do you think they want us for?” asked Fingoh eventually, ears flicking back.
“Who knows? Information, maybe, or hostages. The Prime Prince is still on Shola, isn’t he?” asked Shamgar.
“If they question you, Fingoh, just tell them the truth, don’t try to keep anything back,” said Vaygan.
“I can’t do that!” exclaimed the Ambassador. “I can’t give away Sholan state secrets!”
“Yes, you can. They have all your data now, they probably know everything anyway.”
“Our job is to protect you, Ambassador,” said Shamgar. “Do what Vaygan says. If you give them what they want, you’ll survive this, and maybe even see Shola again. We all might, if we’re really lucky.”
“We can’t just sit here and wait!”
Vaygan rolled over onto his side again. “There’s nothing we can do right now, Fingoh, except wait, and take any chance we can to escape. If I was you, I’d settle down for a long wait. You’ll only make yourself stiff sitting up like that.”
Shamgar tried to lie down gradually but he overbalanced and fell. “Ouch, dammit! Even my ribs are bruised! When I find whoever kicked me while I was out cold, I’ll leave claw marks all over them!”
“Will you quit moaning about your bruises?” muttered Vaygan, trying to get comfortable. “Some of us want to get more sleep.”
Kij’ik Outpost, mess hall, Zhal-Mellasha 20th day (February)
Banner waited until the other two got up to put their plates away before leaning forward across the table. “Kusac, I need to talk to you in private. Do you mind going back to our lounge?”
Taken aback, Kusac looked at him. “Sure,” he said, getting up. He tried to sense what Banner was thinking, but his Second was keeping himself well shielded. Sighing inwardly, he assumed the worst, that Banner had heard the common gossip about him and Zayshul.
Once there, he headed for the sofa. “What’s so important we had to come here?” he asked.
“Something’s been puzzling me for some time,” said his Second, taking the chair opposite. “I’ve been watching M’kou, how the females always want to be near him, and trying to work out what it is.”
“No secret there,” he said with relief. “He has a mate. It happens all the time—if you have a Companion, others are interested in you, if you don’t, no one seems to want to know you.”
“It’s more than that. I believe the females have a way to mark their partners, the opposite of what males like Kezule do with their bite. I think they may be able to mark them with a very specific scent.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”
“I thought you would, especially as the females are equally attracted to you. Have you been bitten by a female Prime?”
“Me?” He feigned surprise. “No, of course not.”
Banner sat back in his seat, staring at him. “When are you going to tell me the truth, Kusac?” he asked quietly. “You have bite scars on your shoulders. I saw them the night we spent together.”
His eyes narrowed as fear and anger rushed through him. “What I do in private is none of your business,” he snapped.
“I’m only asking because if you had been marked in some way, it might explain the incident of the female in your room—and the way you behave around Doctor Zayshul. If I’m right, I thought you should know that your attraction to her isn’t voluntary.”
He got to his feet, tail beginning to sway from side to side. “You’re treading on dangerous ground, Banner,” he said, his voice low and menacing.
“So are you,” his Second retorted. “Can’t you see that either you’re being manipulated, or you’re behaving like a fool and doing this only to get back at Kezule? I know damned well you and Zayshul are having an affair and have been for some time! Hell, after your performance four days ago, the whole Outpost knows! We’ve only got three weeks left before we leave, in Vartra’s name! Can’t you stay away from her for that long, before he finds out and it jeopardizes everything?”
“You think I’d use Zayshul to get back at Kezule?” He couldn’t believe he was hearing this.
“If you are, it’s beyond bad judgment, Kusac, it’s a dereliction of duty. Isn’t getting Shaidan back to his parents the priority here, not your personal revenge on Kezule?”
“More than you can ever guess,” he muttered, beginning to pace behind the sofa. He stopped suddenly and leaned on the back of it, staring at his Second. “Consider this, Banner. What the hell have I to go home to? Lijou and Rhyaz threw me to the wolves when we left Shola. When I return, I’ll be up on treason charges for threatening the Alliance by stealing the Couana, not to mention the civil charges for disrupting the spaceport! Then there’s the small matter of leaving Haven to come back here. The Brotherhood will be after me for that!”
He thumped the sofa back with his hand. “Dammit, do you know what they could hit me with in terms of punishments? Mental reprogramming, or years in some correction facility, and that’s if they accept a plea of temporary insanity!” He stopped, sensing Banner’s utter shock at what he was saying. “The rest of you are safe,” he said in more moderate tones. “I at least made sure Stronghold would support you as acting under my orders.”
“I thought this was a fully authorized mission, albeit highly confidential. Why did you agree to take it if you knew what they were going to do to you?” Banner asked, ears almost invisible.
“It is, or rather the first part was,” he said tiredly, running his hands through his loose hair. “I made no secret of the repercussions of coming back to Kezule. As for why I did it, I told you already. Kezule asked specifically for me.”
“Stronghold will tell the authorities about the cubs. Surely that’ll change everything,” said Banner, leaning forward in concern. “They can then admit to having to set up the mission the way they did to ensure secrecy from the Primes.”
“They can’t,” he said, beginning to pace again. “Not unless the whole situation with the Pri
mes has changed radically. There’re factors involved here that I cannot tell you about, that I hope Stronghold hasn’t figured out. Just trust me that this whole situation is a powder keg and I’m treading a thin enough line as it is.”
Banner rose from his chair. “For Vartra’s sake, Kusac, tell me what it is. I can help!”
“No, you can’t,” he said. “It would be better if you and the others left now, and Shaidan and I remained here.”
“That’s not an option,” said Banner, his voice hardening. “I’ve told you before, Kaid asked me to look out for you, and I’m not leaving Kij’ik without you! I’ll do what it takes to get you back safely, even tell Stronghold I overruled you and insisted we come to Kij’ik for Shaidan.”
Kusac glanced over at him and shook his head slowly, touched at what his Second was prepared to do for him. “Thank you, but it won’t wash.”
“Then at least stay away from Doctor Zayshul before Kezule finds out! If you continue like this, you’re heading for a fall, and I can’t allow that to happen!”
“You can’t allow it? You have no say in any of this. Your presence has made my position more difficult right from the start! I’ve tried my best to keep you all out of danger but you refuse to obey my orders and go home!”
“Kusac, I don’t want to argue with you,” said Banner, obviously trying to defuse the situation. “We’ve only three more weeks then we can leave all this behind us. If we all stand together, then they can’t prosecute us all for treason, and even if they do, we get to put our case.”
“You think so? Believe me, it’s in everyone’s interests that this is buried so deep it never surfaces!”
“They can’t do that, Kusac. You’ve too high a profile as a Clan Leader.”
“That won’t stop them. Remember, the official reason for me stealing the Couana is because after what J’koshuk put me through, he damaged my mind to the point I couldn’t exist without him so I had to return to the Primes! I’m insane, remember? They’ll Readjust my mind and bury all this. Take our crew and leave now while you can, Banner, before you know too much and they do the same to you!” he insisted angrily, making for the door.
“Kusac!”
Ignoring him, he hit the door mechanism and left, heading off down the corridor, cursing. He needed to see Zayshul. Damn Banner, and damn his loyalty! All it was achieving was putting them all at risk instead of just him!
Ignoring the knowing smile of the medic on duty in reception at the sick bay, he headed over to Zayshul’s lab.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, aware of his state of mind instantly.
“When Kezule returns, I want him to send my crew home,” he said, pacing restlessly back and forth in front of her bench. “They refuse to obey my orders and leave, so I need him to make them go.”
She paled. “Why? Why do you want them to leave?”
“If they remain any longer, their lives could be at risk back home. You know what’s waiting for me, you figure it out. If I return to Shola with Shaidan, I have to do it alone, and I need to find some reason for the authorities to drop all treason charges against me. Right now, I have no idea how to do that.”
“But you came to get the cubs,” she began.
“And we can’t admit that!” he interrupted, stopping opposite her. Her scent was distracting him as usual, and without a second thought, he reached deep inside himself and damped its effect down to a bearable level.
“If they suspect for a moment that Shaidan is my son, they’ll know he was artificially created and grown by the Directorate. If news of that gets out, then the treaty with the Primes goes up in smoke. I need time to work out how I can return safely, and I can’t do it with my crew breathing down my neck every few minutes!”
She nodded. “It sounds like the best course. But Kezule’s returned,” she said. “The N’zishok docked fifteen minutes ago. You can speak to Kezule yourself. This would probably be a good time because his mission to help the Ch’almuthians went extremely well.”
Something that Banner had said to him was niggling at the back of his mind. “Zayshul, could Kezule have been responsible for that female getting into my quarters? She didn’t break in, so she must have had an access code.”
“Why would he do that?” she asked, turning back to her work
“To make you jealous, maybe to divert attention from you. I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you.”
“I can’t see him wanting to do either of those.”
He could feel her retreating mentally from him. She was hiding something. “What do you know?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” she said, glancing up at him. “What makes you think I do?”
“Then you suspect something.”
“You’re beginning to sound paranoid, Kusac,” she said, getting to her feet. “I was just finishing up here. Kezule wants me up on the hydroponics level. We’ll talk later, when you’re not so agitated.”
“You’re avoiding the issue,” he said, following her out and into the sick bay.
“Shh!” she said, heading for the exit. “You’ll draw attention to us. I’ll see you later,” she said as a medic approached them with a box of supplies.
Zayshul gestured to her without stopping. “In the first treatment room, please.”
The medic nodded and hurried past them.
Stopping, he turned to look at the medic as she went past him. There was something about her ... Looking back, he saw Zayshul had already gone. Annoyed that she’d left their conversation so abruptly, he resumed walking toward the exit, trying to work out what it was about her that had caught his interest. It wasn’t so much that she was familiar, but her scent was.
On an impulse, he began to follow her. Standing in the doorway of the treatment room, he watched as she unpacked the box.
“Can I help you, Captain?” she asked, glancing at him.
He could smell her apprehension, and beneath it a touch of fear-scent. “No,” he said. “You seem familiar. Have we met?”
“I’m sure I would have remembered it if we had,” she smiled, continuing to unload the contents into the cupboard by the treatment bed.
“You’re one of the Ch’almuthians, aren’t you?” he said, stepping into the room. Why was she afraid of him? He moved closer.
“Yes. I’m not usually on this level, though. I work down on the Command level, in the sick bay there.”
Grasping her arm, he pulled her closer. “It’s you, the female from the shop. I know your scent,” he growled as the realization of who she was dawned on him. “You’ve a scar on your arm,” he said, pushing her sleeve up. “Just here.”
Her fear-scent flooded the room as he exposed the tiny scar on her upper arm.
“Let me go, Captain,” she said, trying to wrench her arm away from him.
“Why did you drug me and come to my room?” he demanded, grabbing her with his other hand as well. “I want to know!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me go immediately or I’ll call for help!” She was panicking and struggling to get free of him now.
“Don’t lie to me,” he snarled, all the anger he’d felt with Banner and Zayshul was now directed at her as his hair began to bush out. “Rape is a criminal offense! General Kezule said he’d prosecute you if I found you, so I want to know why you did it! Was it for your own selfish reasons, or did someone put you up to it?”
“You’ve made a mistake,” she said, stopping her struggles and trying to speak calmly as she realized he was too strong for her to break free. “Got me mixed up with someone else. Sholans can’t smell our scents properly.”
“How did I know about your scar?” he demanded, flexing his claws so they began to prick her flesh. “And I can smell Prime scents since I got marked by one! Your name, tell me your name!”
Her eyes dilated and she began to stammer. “Liyak. It wasn’t me ... I ... didn’t ... I’ve never met you!”
He pulled her closer, till his snarling face was inches
from hers. “Try again!” His rumble of anger had become a low growl that was rising in pitch.
“He said you’d never know ... said I was doing you a favor by turning her scent marker off with mine! I meant no harm, please don’t bite me!” she wailed, eyes filling with tears of terror.
“Who said? Who told you to do it?” he roared.
“M’kou! Please ... please don’t hurt me!”
Shocked and stunned by her answer, he let her go and turned away. M’kou? Why would M’kou do something like that to him? It was totally out of character. He needed to think. Ignoring her, he walked out of the treatment room as the medic on duty, running to see what was happening, skidded to a stop in the corridor and cowered against the wall as he went past.
His wrist comm was buzzing but he barely heard it as he wandered blindly down one corridor, then another. When he finally came to his senses he was outside his quarters. Punching in the code, he went in and headed for the dispenser to get coffee—strong coffee.
He needed to think, he had to think this through. It was inconceivable that M’kou would do something like this. He was almost a classic by-the-book person, following his orders to the letter—or was he? Taking his drink, he perched on one of the high stools at the meal bar and spooned in the whitener and sweetener, stirring it carefully, making almost a ritual of the simple, familiar tasks.
M’kou appeared to be by-the-book, but he wasn’t. There was that time he’d warned him that Banner intended to ask for Shaidan to go to other members of his crew rather than him—there had been no reason for the warning except to help him. There had been other times, too, now he came to think of it, so what would make M’kou set up something like this? Had the young Lieutenant really believed he was acting in his and Doctor Zayshul’s interests, or had he done it at Kezule’s request?
This was what Zayshul had been hiding! The anger began to return as he remembered how anxious she’d been to reach Kezule—to warn him, no doubt! Whether or not Kezule had ordered M’kou to do it, all three of them knew about it and had been involved either in setting it up, or preventing him from finding out who the female was!
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