by Speer, Flora
“Was it your plan, too, Osiyar?” Janina silently vowed that if he had caused or even intended any harm to Tamat, she would see him punished.
“Sidra slowly drew me into her schemes,” Osiyar admitted, “and then held me fast by the visions of forbidden ecstasy which she planted in my mind. But I never wanted you or Reid to be harmed. I agreed with Tamat that Reid was capable of bringing new vitality to the next generation. And eventually I came to understand that however carefully Sidra had cultivated her portion of the Gift, she was unfit to be High Priestess. Tamat knew it too, at the end, thanks to Reid’s willingness to open his mind to her. It was only then that I at last knew the full extent of Sidra’s plans.”
Osiyar fell silent. Janina did not interrupt his thoughts, and after a while he began to speak again.
“In her deepest heart, Sidra had nothing but scorn for the restrictions of the Chosen Way. Once she was High Priestess, she intended to use the Gift in forbidden ways to gain absolute control over Ruthlen. After the Sacred Mind-Linking was completed and she had the ancestral memories, Sidra would have been stronger than any telepath in our history. She would have been unstoppable by any of the rest of us. Tamat knew that.”
“Tell me about Tamat’s end,” Janina said.
“I was linked with her at the moment of her death, until the final instant, when she broke free so that she would not take me with her,” Osiyar revealed. “She wanted me to live. She forgave me for my foolish involvement with Sidra, and forgave Sidra, too, though she would not relent in the imposition of Sidra’s required punishment. Tamat’s last thoughts were of you. She loved you, Janina, and had done everything she could do to help you escape safely.”
The quiet sincerity of his explanation drove out of Janina’s thoughts any idea that Osiyar might have harmed Tamat. She had been wrong to imagine such a thing for even a moment. Whatever his faults, Osiyar had always been loyal to Tamat, and to the Gift they both revered.
“Where is Sidra now?” Janina asked.
“Dead,” Osiyar told her. “The entire village and the temple were destroyed. Herne and Alla were with Tarik when I was found. They will tell you I speak the truth.”
“Then you and Reid and I are the only survivors?”
“We are, unless someone escaped without our knowing,” Osiyar said, adding, “I am going to remain with Tarik’s people. I want to begin a new life.”
“So do I.” Janina smiled at him, forgiving any part he had played in what had been done to herself and Reid. “I have changed, Osiyar. There is much to be said for setting people adrift and letting them find their own way.”
“You will not be my enemy?”
“No. Tamat was fond of you, and I value her judgment. She said you were lost.”
“Lost?” Osiyar gave a short, bitter laugh. “Adrift? Yes, I was. Now, perhaps I can find my way, too.”
The shuttlecraft landed on the beach as Janina and Osiyar approached the headquarters building.
“Tarik has been to the spaceship Kalina to exchange personnel,” Osiyar said, watching the hatch slide open. “Come and meet Gaidar.”
A tall, burly man with yellow hair and a short, neat beard jumped onto the sand behind Tarik. His handsome face was punctuated by a nose that looked as though it had been broken several times, and a wide grin that reminded Janina of a naughty little boy.
“So, you are the rescued heroine?” he rumbled in a deep voice. Janina’s extended hand disappeared into his. “Tarik tells me you saved Reid. Alla will be jealous of you.” Even white teeth flashed as he laughed. He had golden eyes. With a frightening chill, Janina recalled what golden eyes meant. This man could only be -.
“Gaidar is a Cetan,” Osiyar told her, watching her closely to observe her reaction when he confirmed her fear.
Janina began to tremble. She stared at the man before her, not understanding why he was with Tarik, or how apparently civilized people could permit a rapacious, violent barbarian to live among them. Gaidar tightened his grip on her hand, not letting her withdraw it. His smile certainly did not look evil. In fact, it conveyed warmth and friendliness.
“He’s perfectly safe,” Tarik said, having noticed the expression on Janina’s face.
“No one is perfect,” Gaidar noted. “Least of all me. But I promise I will not harm you, little Janina, and Suria is not at all afraid of me, so you needn’t be, either.”
“Suria?” Janina spoke in a weak, cracked voice, not quite believing what she was hearing and seeing.
“My mate, soon to be my permanent wife. You have met her, I think.” Gaidar dropped Janina’s hand to put one huge arm around her shoulders and hug her. The embrace stopped just short of crushing every bone in her upper body. “Welcome to headquarters,” he said.
When Gaidar released her, he and Tarik started toward the building in the center of the island. Janina and Osiyar followed them.
“A Cetan lives here,” Janina murmured, still unable to believe it. “He lives in peace and friendship with these good people.”
“I had the same reaction when I first met him,” Osiyar confided. “But I like him now, and I believe him when he says the Cetans will abide by their new treaty to wage war among the planets no longer.”
“We in Ruthlen expended so much energy guarding against Cetans. For six hundred years, every day and every night the priestesses kept the blanking shield in place. They might have used the Gift for so many other things. And all those virgin lives, wasted.”
“The shield was necessary when first it was begun,” Osiyar replied. “Now is a different time from then. Ruthlen’s great fault was that nothing ever changed there except the seasons. Tarik tells me it was the same in the Jurisdiction until recently. I have changed, too, Janina. I have learned that non-telepaths can be my friends, and that not all Cetans are barbaric marauders.”
“And so you thought it amusing to introduce me to Gaidar without warning me.” She shook her head, realizing that she was not the least bit angry with him for the trick. “You have developed a sense of humor, Osiyar.”
“I never had anything to laugh about before,” he said.
* * * * *
Janina and Osiyar, Narisa and Tarik, along with Suria and Gaidar were all sitting around a large table eating their evening meal when Herne came out of the hospital room with a grim face that told Janina the news was not good. At the same time, Alla appeared from the laboratory to join him.
“Come with me, Janina,” Herne ordered abruptly. “Suria, I will need you, too.”
“Of course.” Suria rose, starting toward the hospital room door.
“What is it?” Tarik pushed aside his plate and stood, too. “You may as well tell the rest of us, Herne. We are all Reid’s friends and we’re concerned about him.”
“My guess was right,” Herne said. “Alla’s tests have confirmed it. Reid is suffering from an infection contracted during his battle with the sea monster.”
“I fought the monsters, too, but I’m not sick,” Janina said, unwilling to dwell on the possible meaning of Herne’s somber expression.
“Yes, you are; you just don’t know it yet,” Alla told her. “But you will before much longer if you don’t have treatment.”
“Unfortunately, she is right,” Herne said. “The welt on your arm is much smaller than either of those on Reid’s legs, and the ice-cold sea water you soaked your arm in helped to cleanse your wound. By your account, Reid did not put his wounds into water until the following day. You do have the same infection he has, though in a milder form. Untreated, you will probably be miserably sick for a few days, after which, barring any unforeseen complications, you ought to recover. Reid will very likely die.”
Janina could say nothing. She looked from Herne to Alla, seeing in Alla’s grey eyes bitter confirmation of Herne’s words, and a world of blame. In that instant Janina knew if Reid died, she did not want to go on living. He was her true mate. Without him life had no purpose. Oddly, it was Gaidar the Cetan who seemed to unde
rstand what she was feeling. He came to her, and with a rough gentleness that touched her deeply, put one arm around her. She leaned against him in gratitude, trying desperately not to cry. Then she straightened and Gaidar let her go, again apparently understanding how she felt. She could not give way to tears or weakness. She had to be strong and ready to do whatever Herne might require of her. She would do anything necessary to help him save her love.
“Herne, what do you propose to do for Reid?” That was Tarik, cutting through all discussion and fearful emotion to reach the vital question.
“Alla has concocted a potion she insists is the antitoxin for this infection,” Herne said. “I will have to trust her when she tells me it will work, because there’s no time to test the stuff. I must admit her data seem accurate enough. We will give a small dose to Janina, to be certain she doesn’t become as sick as Reid is, then give the rest to Reid and hope it doesn’t kill him at once. After that, I want to put him into total suspension for twenty days. It’s the only chance he has to live long enough for the antitoxin to work and his body to heal completely.”
“No!” Alla took a menacing step toward Herne. “You never mentioned total suspension to me. It’s too dangerous. I won’t allow it.”
“Do you want him to die?” asked Herne.
“My antitoxin is enough. It will work,” she insisted.
“Reid’s condition is so critical he won’t survive the antitoxin,” Herne asserted.
“What is this total suspension?” Janina asked.
“It slows all the body’s functions,” Herne explained. “It will give the antitoxin time to work and lessen any side-effects the medicine might have. It is Reid’s only chance.”
“You are going to kill him!” Alla shouted.
“Suria,” Tarik ordered, “give us your opinion.”
“Personal or professional?” Suria asked dryly, looking from Alla to Herne before meeting Tarik’s serious gaze. “Alla would never do anything to harm Reid, so the antitoxin must be safe to use. And in spite of his sour personality, Herne is the best physician I have ever met. But I think we should also ask Janina’s opinion. Reid is her mate.”
“She has no right to say anything about Reid!” cried Alla.
“She has every right,” Tarik responded. “Your remarks are out of order, Alla. Janina, tell us what you think.”
“Herne, you are the doctor here. Do whatever must be done to help Reid live,” Janina said. “Alla, if you need another specimen from my arm, take it. If draining all my blood and using it will help, do it. But please believe that I would rather die than see any harm come to Reid.”
“I take it that means you vote for suspension,” Herne said. “I’ll get started at once. Suria, come help me.”
“Just a moment.” Osiyar stepped forward. “Is Reid conscious?”
“Not really,” Herne answered. “He’s semiconscious every now and then. He does seem to know me.”
“I have some training in healing,” Osiyar said. “Let me help you ease Reid into this suspended state you propose for him, and later ease him out of it. If I can touch his mind and thus take away some of his fear and confusion, he will heal faster.”
“Tarik?” Herne looked at his commander. “I won’t allow this without your express permission. If I were in the Jurisdiction and let a telepath near a patient of mine, I’d be forbidden to practice medicine ever again. However, I believe Osiyar just might be able to give Reid an extra chance to live.”
“Permission granted.” Tarik spoke without an instant’s hesitation. “Thank you, Osiyar.”
“Janina?” Herne’s gaze was on her. “Will you agree to this?”
“Yes,” she said. “I trust Osiyar. And I trust you.”
“Alla?” Herne asked.
“No.” Alla looked defiantly into Osiyar’s eyes for a long moment. “Oh, all right. Yes, do it. But if Reid dies because of you, I will personally slit your throat, Osiyar.”
“You may try,” Osiyar said calmly.
“Come to the hospital room, Janina,” Herne ordered. “I want to connect you to the life monitor, just in case you have an adverse reaction to Alla’s magic potion.”
Reid was breathing through a long green tube attached to a machine. His face was so waxy-white that she would have thought he had died while they argued over his treatment, were it not for the panel on the wall behind his bed, where lights blinked and numbers constantly changed. This was not the Reid she knew, not the tough, determined man who had sailed into dangerous and uncharted waters without flinching, nor the passionate, generous lover, either. She wanted to throw herself on his inert body and beg him to come back to her, but she feared that if she did, she might disconnect some of the tubes and harm him. She turned resolutely away from his bed, leaving him to the healing skills of Herne and Osiyar.
“Lie down here.” Suria led her to the other bed in the room, the one Janina had been sleeping in each night.
“Let Alla give me the antitoxin,” Janina said.
Suria looked surprised, but nodded. Alla looked even more surprised. Janina saw her frown a little, then shake her head, and she knew Osiyar had touched Alla’s thoughts without seeking her permission because this was an emergency.
“She may dislike me, but she won’t kill me,” Janina said to Osiyar, who now stood with Herne beside Reid’s bed.
“No, she won’t,” Osiyar agreed.
Alla held a short cylindrical object against Janina’s upper arm. When she pressed a button at the top, the skin beneath the cylinder stung, then went numb.
“How do you feel?” Suria asked.
“Strange. Nauseated,” Janina whispered. She began to choke and struggled to gasp out her next words. “Suria, I ... can’t. . . breathe.” From a great distance she heard Herne’s voice.
“She’s having a severe reaction to the antitoxin! Suria, give me—”
Herne’s urgent order faded into a loud roaring noise. Janina’s head was spinning. The room went black. She was whirling through a lightless, soundless vortex where she could not breathe, or see, or hear anyone speaking to her. There was no pain, only blackness and a never-ending loneliness. She was swept deeper and deeper into the vortex. She knew it was useless to try to break out of it. She would never get out, never see Reid again, never be held in his arms, never tell him - what?
There was something she had to tell him, something urgent. She felt a small flutter inside her mind, a faint recognition of waiting life that Reid needed to know about. Another flutter and it was gone and nearly forgotten as she sank still deeper into blackness…emptiness…nothingness.…
Janina, love…
Reid?
Stay with me.
Reid, where are you?
Beloved …
Beloved. My only love …
Never leave me, beloved.
Reid!
Something caught her, held her mind, while the vortex spun downward and moved around her. She fought the new entity at first, because it was not Reid. Or was it? She sensed his presence, but now he was joined to another. And he was weak, even weaker than she. She wanted to cling to Reid, but he was separated from her by that other presence.
Osiyar! He was holding her, preventing her from falling further into the vortex. She felt the cool precision of his mind, and his calm assessment of the situation. He was holding Reid as well as Janina, keeping them from falling to the uttermost depths of that lightless black thing, and the effort was draining him. It would not be much longer before all three of them began to sink, and when they did, they would never return to the outer world.
Help me, Janina. Use your Gift, or Reid will surely die.
I have no portion of the Gift.
Tamat believed it was buried deep. The whisper in her mind faded. Osiyar was growing weaker.
She felt herself beginning to sink into the vortex again. Reid and Osiyar would fall with her unless she did something to stop what was happening.
Janina…
Reid?
Try, love…try…open your mind…and your heart. . . help Osiyar…
Reid, I don’t want to lose you. I won’t lose you…
She tried. She fought with her own mind until suddenly what she sought came to her - a golden, singing power that pushed the black walls of the vortex away and filled her with joy at its unfolding.
She knew how to use it; she remembered the rules Tamat had drilled into her for useless years of unproductive hope. Now Tamat’s hopes were fulfilled. This time, at last, Janina would not fail her.
Janina felt Osiyar’s presence again, felt him growing stronger when they wove their minds together to protect Reid. Reid was so weak, so terribly weak, and he needed all the strength of both of them to support him, to keep him alive.
She had no sense of time. She and Osiyar held Reid away from the vortex with their linked minds, keeping him safe until she sensed a lightening of Reid’s weight and felt him drifting away from her. Then she knew Herne had him in suspension and she and Osiyar could let him go.
Even as she knew it, she felt Osiyar begin to separate his mind from hers. It was as though he took her hand and led her out of the widening vortex, which now was filled with golden light.
