Fire Margins

by Lisanne Norman

  “Miscarry?” said Mara, looking over at them from where she sat on the rugs. “I thought you two were married. How can she …”

  “Mara, hush,” said Zhyaf, obviously embarrassed.

  “What… Why?”

  “Carrie lost our last cub in the Challenge, Mara,” said Kusac.

  “Last one?” said Mara, looking in disbelief from Kusac to Zhyaf, then to Carrie. “You mean, your cub … I mean your baby?”

  Then it dawned on Kusac. “You weren’t told?”

  “Cubs? She’s having a Sholan cub?” Mara was rising to her feet, a look of realization dawning on her face as she began to radiate fear of what could happen to her.

  Zhyaf, control her! snapped Kusac as he mentally reached out for the girl’s mind himself. Carrie, you know what to do!

  They reached but she pulled free, physically and mentally. With a strangled cry of terror, she turned and ran.

  Kaid was first after her, following hard on her heels as she instinctively took the remains of a wide pathway down the rear of the hillside. Memories of Rezac’s flight kept flashing in front of him and he had to keep shaking his head to suppress them and see where he was going. He stumbled on a rock and as he fell to the ground, he shifted his muscles ready to land on all fours. Angry with himself, he thrust the intruding false memories aside and concentrated on his quarry.

  He gained on her and, bunching his muscles, he leaped, bringing her down, sending them rolling over and over till they came to an abrupt halt against a tree trunk.

  Stunned, he pushed himself to his haunches just as her mind seemed to explode inside his in a swirling mass of wild images.

  Gestalt, Kaid! Don’t touch her! The warning shot through the images like a lifeline and he clutched it, letting Carrie pull him free of Mara’s and Zhyaf’s minds as he staggered away from the girl to collapse into unconsciousness.

  He’d come round by the time Kusac and Meral reached him, both of them concerned for his safety rather than the Human’s.

  “Mara?” He managed to get the word out through a mouth that was as dry as the desert.

  “Unconscious but fine,” said Kusac, taking Kaid’s jaw in one hand and turning his head so he could see his eyes.

  Kaid felt the beginnings of Kusac’s touch at the edges of his mind, only to feel it thrust aside by Carrie.

  “Carrie says you’re fine,” Kusac said, releasing him. “Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”

  “No,” he said, trying desperately to moisten his lips with a tongue that was equally dry. “Didn’t know they’d never triggered the gestalt before.”

  “Neither did I,” said Kusac, helping him to his feet. “My fault. No one told me they’d decided not to tell her about Carrie and Vanna.”

  “Probably thought it would start the changes.”

  “They were right, but they should have known that she was bound to find out sometime soon.”

  Swaying slightly, Kaid pushed Kusac away. “I’m fine,” he said. “See to Mara. All I need is a drink.” His head was pounding but he wasn’t about to admit that.

  “Meral, you help him back up to the aircar, I’ll bring Mara,” said Kusac, turning to crouch down at the side of the limp figure of the human girl.

  While Meral, on Carrie’s instructions, rifled in the medikit for an analgesic for Kaid, Kusac saw Mara was settled comfortably on one of the aircar seats and covered with a rug. He left Carrie sitting with her and went to see how Rulla was getting on with Zhyaf.

  “Out cold,” said Rulla, looking up at him.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me they knew nothing of the pregnancies?” demanded Kusac.

  “I didn’t know you hadn’t been told,” said Rulla. “Zhyaf knew, but decided to keep it from her. I suppose because of his greater experience he was able to prevent her finding out until now.”

  “Well, it had to happen sometime,” sighed Kusac, squatting down beside him. “I just wish it hadn’t happened out here.”

  “From what I’ve been told by Vanna, it doesn’t make much difference where it happens,” said Rulla pragmatically. “They’ll just sleep it off, then wake up tired but otherwise fine.”

  “Well, yes, but that isn’t the point,” said Kusac. “Mara will have to have the whole situation explained to her, and I don’t want Carrie to have to do that. Her loss is still too painfully close for her.”

  “I understand,” nodded Rulla. “Why don’t we put Zhyaf into the aircar and I’ll take them both back to the house? Vanna can see to them there. You’d have to wait till I returned, but the Liegena wouldn’t mind that. She’d have time to get some more digging done,” he grinned.

  Kusac nodded. “Do that, but take Kaid with you. I want Vanna to have a look at him. I’m not happy that he was exposed to the gestalt.”

  Rulla flicked his ears in agreement and getting to his feet, headed over to the vehicle. Moments later, Kaid came over.

  “I’m fine. Meral can go with them,” he said.

  “Your mind has taken quite a shock, Kaid. It’s the same as having a severe blow on the head. I’d rather Vanna checked you out. You haven’t got the mental resilience we telepaths have.”

  “I’m fine,” said Kaid determinedly. “Meral can go.”

  Kusac got to his feet. “I can’t make you,” he said. “Stay if you wish.”

  Rulla returned with Meral to fetch Zhyaf. Between them they carried him into the vehicle and settled him on the other bench seat, then strapped them both in safely.

  “We’ll see you in about an hour,” said Rulla as he started up the engine.

  *

  When they’d gone, Kusac turned to Carrie. “Let me guess. Back to the statue.”

  “You got it,” she said. “Remember those dreams we had not long after we arrived on Shola? The ones of Vartra?”

  “Yes,” he said cautiously. “The one most new Leskas experience.”

  She reached out to touch him, aware of his sudden worry that perhaps they were treading on thin ice with regard to the Gods, Vartra in particular.

  “If the Gods are controlling our lives, then we’ve nothing to fear from looking more closely at this. Surely They’ll stop us discovering anything that should remain secret?”

  “The incident with Mara and Zhyaf could have been them warning us,” said Kusac.

  “No,” said Kaid. “That wasn’t a warning. The Gods don’t work like that, Kusac.”

  “I agree,” said Carrie. “I’m sure this site is where we’ll find our answers. The dreams are more prevalent here than anywhere else. Look inland across the bay,” she said, pointing to the mainland town. “There lies the Warrior Guild town of Nazule, and to our left?”

  “The remainder of the Valsgarth Estate, the Aldatan Clan lands and the Valsgarth Telepath Guild,” he said quietly, following her raised finger.

  “And between the two, this shrine to Vartra,” she finished. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

  “Traditionally the Warriors have been the defenders of the Telepaths,” said Kaid. “It’s said it wasn’t always so, that at one time, telepaths could fight as well as any of us.”

  “What happened to change that, I wonder? It’s yet another fact that doesn’t fit in anywhere.”

  “Kaid, can you check with Lijou to find out how long ago the Warriors started official duties with the Telepath Guild?” asked Kusac.

  “I can ask him,” said Kaid. “I can’t guarantee he’ll have the answer.”

  “If the Brotherhood has been able to recruit all the Talents the Telepath Guild has missed, and most of those come by way of the Warrior Guild, is it possible that the Warrior and Telepath Clans were once one and the same?” asked Kusac. “That would take into account the old tales that telepaths could fight. Maybe a disease or an industrial accident robbed some of them of their Talent completely and left others unable to fight. That could have caused them to split into two distinct sects.”

  “It’s feasible,” said Kaid thoughtfully. “I don’t
think anyone’s actually looked at that possibility. Unless it involved genetic damage, the changes wouldn’t be passed on, though. They would only affect that generation.”

  “So what caused the genetic damage?”

  “The Valtegans?” suggested Carrie. “I can’t see them being here as anything but conquerors.”

  “But why? What brought them here, and what caused them to leave?”

  “The leaving’s easy. The Cataclysm. If it destroyed your civilization, one that seems to have been fairly sophisticated, then it must have also destroyed the Valtegan presence on Shola,” said Carrie.

  “If the Valtegans were here in our past, even if Shola suffered a cataclysm, why didn’t others from their home world return afterward?” asked Kusac.

  “Maybe there was nothing of value left afterward,” said Kaid. “Look at the way they totally destroyed Szurtha and Khyaal. When we drove them from the Keissian system, we couldn’t find a trace of them anywhere. They disappeared as if they hadn’t existed. It’s as if they aren’t concerned with us, for now at least. I honestly think we were just an obstacle in their way so they destroyed us. The same could have been true in the past. We were there, so they used us like they used Keiss, but when we suffered such destruction during the Cataclysm, we were no longer of use.”

  “Or they tried to destroy Shola and failed,” said Carrie. “That’s a possibility, too.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” said Kaid. “It depends how many Valtegan remains there are on Shola, and we’ve no way of knowing that yet.”

  “They’d have been willing to destroy their own people too,” said Carrie. “You weren’t inside the mind of that Valtegan officer on the Khalossa.”

  “I wonder how far back the records of the past Clan Lords go,” said Kusac thoughtfully. “There’s been a genetic breeding program going on for the God knows how many hundreds of years, and they’d have to keep records to see none of the Clans became too inbred. Perhaps we’ll find the proof of the link between the Warrior and Telepath Clans there. It’s a pity the Brotherhood has always been a collection of individuals rather than families or we might have been able to link them in as well.”

  “We should be able to find some links,” said Carrie. “I think it was you, Kaid, who told me that many of the mountain families have provided members of the Brotherhood.”

  “Perhaps,” said Kaid, “but I don’t think Leader Ghezu will give us access to the records.”

  “Master Ghezu now,” said Kusac.

  “As you say,” agreed Kaid. “If you want to continue digging through this rubble before Meral returns, we’d better get on with it now.”

  “A good point, Kaid. Well,” said Kusac, getting to his feet and tugging Carrie up with him. “At least you’ve given us a starting point. If this is Vartra’s statue, and the scans show refined metals beneath this ruin, then we know we’re on the right track.”

  “But the right track of what?” asked Carrie, following him back to where the statue of a God was emerging from the rubble of over a millennium.

  *

  Once Meral had turned the engine off, he sprinted over to where they were still working.

  “Kaid, there’s a call on the comm for you. Came in as I was landing.”

  Kaid straightened up, looking curiously at him. “For me? Who?”

  “A female, that’s all I know. There’s no visual.”

  Kaid handed his shovel to Meral and ran over to the aircar. Settling himself in the pilot’s seat, he sealed the door before answering the comm.

  “Kaid here.”

  “Tallinu, is that you there?” demanded Noni.

  “Yes. What’s up, Noni? Why no visual?” he asked, trying not to let his anxiety for her sound in his voice. “Is something wrong?”

  The small screen flickered, then her image was displayed. “Think I’m going to let all and sundry see me, Tallinu? None of their business what I look like! Now listen closely to what I got to say as I won’t repeat it. You know I don’t like using these damned units! I got a warning for you. Remember that female you were involved with all those years ago? The one you came to me about? Well, Ghezu’s found her.”

  “Ghezu’s found her?” He suddenly found it difficult to take in what she was saying. Lijou had given him a similar warning only two days before.

  “Yes. She’s at a village on the edge of the desert. Rhijudu it’s called. She’s dying, Tallinu, of some wasting disease. She’ll be dead by midwinter from what I’ve been told. There’s nothing you can do so leave her be, you hear me? The village is full of those damned fake priests and they’re killing or maiming any telepaths they get their hands on. If they get hold of one of the Brothers, Vartra help him! Death is kinder than what this Fyak does to them and the telepaths—if they survive long enough to be given to him.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because Ghezu’s trying to get you to go to her. He wants you and her both dead, Tallinu. You mustn’t go there, hear me? Let her die in peace. You got nothing to say to each other after all this time anyway! You’ve got to go to the Fire Margins, and you can’t do that if you go chasing after her and get yourself killed—or worse.”

  Kaid stirred, his ears flicking briefly. “How do you know all this?”

  “Ghezu’s crafty. He knew you’d been here with your Human. He sent one of his folk to tell me, then I had a visit from someone who was worried, and he told me the same. He’s setting Dzaka against you, Tallinu. He wants him to do the killing.”

  “What?” This stunned him.

  “Told you. He’s ordered Dzaka to kill you if you go near the village. He won’t have left it at him either. There’ll be others, including those Priests!” She spat the word out as if it was a curse.

  “Why hasn’t Dzaka told me?”

  “Use your brain, Tallinu,” she said. “He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t! If he tells you, you’ll go to her, then he’s either to kill you or end up with a contract on his own head for disobeying the Brotherhood. He knows he’ll likely die whichever way he goes.”

  “Damn him!” said Kaid, thumping his hand down on the console facia. “Why the hell didn’t he come to me? He knows I can protect him! You wouldn’t believe the level of security we’ve got round this estate, Noni! The Brotherhood couldn’t reach him.”

  “Don’t be too sure on that.”

  “I’ve survived at least four attempts on my life in the past ten years, Noni. If I can do it, I can see he’s safe!”

  “Is he safe from you?”

  Her eyes bored into his, stripping away what they could of his barriers. He looked away.

  “You’ll kill him if he betrays your people once more, won’t you?”

  “I’d have no choice.” His voice was bleak. “All he has to do is trust me.”

  “Why should he, Tallinu, when you don’t trust him, eh? He knows you’re waiting for him to slip up in some way.”

  “I’m not. I want to trust him.”

  “Ghezu’s told him that this female is his mother.”

  He said nothing.

  “He’s told him you raped her. Used drugs on her so she became pregnant with him.”

  The accusation stung him into replying. “Ghezu can’t know that! As Vartra’s my witness, I never used drugs on her!”

  She raised an eye ridge at him. “Doesn’t he? Or has he made it up, like the drugs? What did you do to her, Tallinu? You never told me.”

  “That’s none of your business, Rhuna,” he snapped. “You won’t goad me into telling you. It’s between her and me, no one else!”

  She sighed. “It’s time you told him he’s your son, Tallinu. Ghezu’s meddling has made him hate you more, especially now he knows you didn’t trust him enough to tell him that. He could be capable of trying to kill you in the belief you dishonored his mother and him. If you tell him now, it might repair the damage.”

  “Dammit, Rhuna, I had no choice over Khemu, you know that!” he said angril
y. “I couldn’t get near her after that night, her family made sure of that! The first I knew she was still alive was when I found Dzaka at the gates of Stronghold! As for telling him, I didn’t dare. It was bad enough Ghezu knew I was his foster-father, I didn’t dare let him know he was my real son! It was the only thing I could do to protect him from Ghezu. He’s guessing, he doesn’t know the truth. If he did, he’d kill Dzaka himself, you know it.”

  She nodded. “Like as not, now he would. His mind is diseased, Tallinu. He’s not sane.”

  “There’s been a reckoning building between me and him for years, Noni,” said Kaid grimly. “By telling Dzaka those lies, he’s just signed his own death contract.”

  “In Vartra’s name, leave it till after the Fire Margins, Tallinu. Too much depends on you taking them safely there. You have to go there before you see to Ghezu!”

  “I’ll decide what needs to be done first, Noni,” he said. “Ghezu was right in that I did dishonor Dzaka’s mother, but through no fault of my own. I need to do what I can to right it with Khemu before she dies. If Ghezu’s expecting me in Rhijudu, then I won’t keep him waiting.”

  “No, Tallinu! You mustn’t go! The God needs you to guide them to Him!”

  He saw real panic on her face and in her voice. “What’s wrong, Noni?” he asked. “Did your plans go wrong this time? But you know me so well.” His voice was a low, sarcastic purr. “You should have known I wouldn’t go before Vartra with that stain on my honor given a chance to clear it. If it’s all meant to be, then you know I’m doing what I should.”

  He cut the connection and sat there trying to gather his thoughts. Khemu. Small and slim, her pelt and hair a soft silver gray. How could someone so alive be dying? He remembered when they’d first met.

  The Brotherhood always used one particular tavern in the village. Khemu, from the Arrazo Telepath Clan, was one of a small group of females that found the Brothers’ company exciting. She was often to be seen there, chatting to the young males who had to leave to visit the village. He and Ghezu had been part of that group. She’d played them all off against each other, but particularly him and Ghezu—until the night she’d asked him to walk her home.