“It might work,” said Mnya thoughtfully. “If we adapt our Attitude Indoctrination sessions to cover that, it should answer most of the problems Hamilton will come up against over their relationship.”
“Myak, contact the girl and Kusac. Have them come up here so we can contact Hamilton and then Clan Lord Aldatan on the comm. The sooner it’s done, the better.”
“No, Raguul,” interrupted Mnya. “They’re together now. Leave them. It’s the first of their Link days. Stall Hamilton and the Clan Lord for now. Myak can think up many reasons, he’s good at that. I know from personal experience,” she said, grinning.
Myak lowered his ears, refusing to look at the Mentor in the face.
“Yes, at least you have the grace to be embarrassed about it! Give them till tomorrow, then if their parents call, inform them and let them deal with it in their own way,” she said, picking up her drink.
*
At last Rhian answered the door.
“I need to see Carrie now,” said Vanna.
“I’m afraid Carrie has shut herself in her room. She won’t see anyone.”
“Tough. She’ll see me,” said Vanna grimly, pushing past Rhian and heading for Carrie’s door.
“Vanna, this is an invasion of her privacy, not to mention ours,” Rhian called out as she followed her. “You have no right to intrude. Askad, tell her.”
Vanna ignored her and tried the door handle. “It’s locked.”
Askad got up from the chair and came over, putting a hand on Vanna’s arm to gently restrain her.
“What’s this all about, Vanna? If you tell us, perhaps we can help.”
“I have to see Carrie now. She’s ill. Let me in.”
“How do you know? Surely we’d have been aware of it.”
“You’re wasting my time!” she said angrily. “Just take my word for it and open the door!”
“Not without some proof, Vanna,” said Askad.
“Someone dumped a file of Kusac’s into my comm. It details the symptoms he’s been suffering over the last four days. They both need medical attention fast, and I need to start with her. She’s been blocking the Link since the fight in the bar!”
“What? But that’s impossible,” said Rhian, shocked.
“Apparently not for our Terran. Now will you open this bloody door?” Vanna demanded, pulling away from Askad. “If you don’t believe me, try to reach her.”
“Very well.” Rhian shut her eyes and reached for Carrie’s mind. With a shocked exclamation, she stared round-eyed at Vanna.
“I can barely sense her! Askad, get the door open,” she ordered her mate.
Askad moved the females aside and, lifting his foot, gave the door a hefty kick. It burst open, spilling the three of them into the room.
Rhian ran over to the bed, placing her hand on Carrie’s forehead. “Her skin is clammy.”
“Can you reach her?” asked Askad, his voice a calming influence.
“She’s there, thank the Gods, but what has the stupid child done? I can’t sense Kusac’s presence at all.”
“The shielding in the room…” began Vanna, depositing her medikit on the bed.
“No barrier to a Leska bond,” said Askad curtly.
“Can you do anything?” Vanna asked, loading the hypoderm and leaving it ready.
“I don’t know,” said Rhian anxiously. “It’s generations since we’ve had any trouble with a Leska pair. Everyone knows the danger signals and watches for them.”
“Everyone except Carrie,” said Vanna angrily, pushing her out of the way.
“She was told!” said Rhian hotly. “She said Kusac had warned her of the dangers.”
“What else did she say?” Vanna demanded, checking the unconscious girl’s pulse and thumbing back her eyelids. “Probably that she didn’t believe him!” She looked up at the other two. “What game have they been playing with each other? The same one that started on Keiss?” She placed the hypoderm against Carrie’s neck and pressed the trigger.
“If you mean she wanted time to accustom herself to…”
Vanna let loose a few expletives as she pulled the cover off Carrie. “She was accustomed to us on Keiss! She’s suffering from plain, old-fashioned fear. You heard the medics say she has yet to mate. I’d lay odds that unlike us she has inhibitions about pairing for the first time.”
Bodily lifting the girl with one hand, she landed her a stinging slap across the face with the other.
“Carrie! You can hear me,” she said, slapping the other cheek. “Wake up, Carrie!”
Rhian grabbed at her arm, but Askad stopped her. “She knows what she’s doing. She is a medic.”
“Carrie, wake up,” chanted Vanna, administering another couple of slaps.
Carrie moaned, turning her head away to avoid the blows.
Vanna began to shake her.
“Come on, Carrie. I know you can hear me,” she said. “If you two want to help, get me a protein drink for her.”
“Leave me,” mumbled Carrie. “I want to sleep. I don’t want a drink.”
“You can’t sleep, cub. You must wake up.” Another couple of slaps and Carrie’s eyes opened blearily.
“Vanna? What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Trying to save your life.”
“My life?” echoed Carrie, trying to focus her eyes. “Nothing wrong with me, I’m just tired.”
Vanna shook her again, taking the cup from Rhian.
“Here, drink this.”
Carrie choked on the first mouthful but managed to swallow most of the drink.
“What have you done to Kusac?” Vanna demanded, handing the cup to Rhian and letting Carrie lie back again.
“Kusac? I haven’t done anything,” she said wearily. “Is something wrong with him?”
“You’ve blocked your Link, Carrie. Take that barrier down now. Rhian can’t sense Kusac in your mind.”
“In my mind?” she asked, trying to push herself upright.
“Remove the block now, Carrie,” repeated Vanna.
Carrie brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at her.
“I shielded him out,” she mumbled. “I had to think.”
“Oh, Gods,” moaned Rhian, sinking down onto the bed.
“Get that shield down. Reach for him,” said Askad urgently, bending down beside her. “Find him quickly.”
“All… all right,” Carrie stammered, lowering her mental shields. “He’s not there! Where is he? What’s happened?” she demanded wildly, trying to get to her feet despite the overwhelming weakness that seemed to have her in its grasp. She stumbled and Vanna caught her.
“When you shielded yourself against the Leska bond, it put both your lives in jeopardy,” said Askad grimly. “You may be lucky. We might find him still alive, but I doubt it.”
“I only wanted to make up my own mind,” Carrie whispered, the lethargy and disorientation washing over her again, “not be forced into another bond.”
“Make up your mind!” exclaimed Vanna, giving her another shake. “What’s to make up your mind about? You’re Leskas, there is no alternative but death for you and him! Kusac didn’t tell you that though, did he?”
Releasing her, she whirled to face Askad. “And what were you thinking of?” she demanded. “How could you let her believe she had a choice? Even with Sholans the Link is indissoluble.”
“It was Kusac’s decision, not ours,” he replied, picking Carrie up in his arms and striding toward the door. “We were as much in the dark as you. We haven’t the time to argue over this now, Kusac should be our main concern.”
“You’ve let them play with each other’s lives,” Vanna said with suppressed fury as she followed him out. “They aren’t some damned experiment, they’re my friends!”
Askad set the pace, running in a distance-consuming lope, Carrie hanging like a limp doll in his grasp.
The corridor on Kusac’s level was busy at this time and their passage was hindered by the reluctance of pe
ople to move. Vanna impatiently pushed to the front, shoving aside anyone who got in her way. Startled Sholans lined their route, their mouths open in amazement as they stared at the alien figure lying supine in Askad’s arms.
Carrie drifted in and out of consciousness, aware only that try as she might, she couldn’t sense Kusac.
They reached the door at last. Askad deposited Carrie unceremoniously on her feet, leaving Vanna and Rhian to catch her.
“You can’t kick that door down,” said Vanna dryly. “How are we going to get in?”
Askad looked around.
“We haven’t time to get the combination from Personnel,” he said. “I need something to use as a lever.”
“Here, take Carrie,” said Vanna, pushing the girl against Rhian and dumping her medikit down. “I’ll be back in a moment. I have a friend on this level who might be able to help.” With that she sped up the corridor, returning within a few minutes carrying an energy pistol. Taking careful aim at the locking mechanism, she pressed the trigger. The lock exploded in a shower of splinters, sending the door sliding back a couple of precious centimeters.
Askad grabbed the edge and pulled, oblivious to the crowd of scandalized people beginning to gather round them.
“Medical emergency,” said Vanna, holding up her case for them to see before pushing her way past Askad into the room. She rushed over to the still form on the bed, checking for pulse and breathing.
“He’s still alive,” she said briefly. “Bring Carrie over,” She opened the case and searched for the hypoderm and the drugs. Fitting in an ampoule, she applied it to Kusac’s neck. Laying it aside, she felt again for his pulse, counting the beats, praying that the stimulant would work.
“Where shall I put her?” asked Askad.
“Beside him.” She looked at Carrie as Askad laid her on the bed next to Kusac.
“You want a choice, Carrie? Well, here it is. Does Kusac live or die? Your choice is that simple,” she said. “You might survive the shock of his death because you were able to cut off the Link, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Carrie reached out to touch Kusac’s face. “He’s so cold.”
Vanna prepared the hypoderm again.
“He’s dying, Carrie, that’s why he’s cold. He risked his life giving you the right to choose. You can’t put it off any longer.” She continued to monitor Kusac’s pulse. “Are you going to stay with him, or shall I call the morgue to collect your bodies?”
Carrie looked at her in shock, then turned back to Kusac.
“Do something about that door, would you, Rhian?” Vanna said, trying to keep her voice calm. “No need to let the curious know what’s going on.”
She felt a faint shudder run through Kusac’s body, and his pulse began to increase slightly. Again she pressed the hypoderm to his neck, giving him a second shot.
“Touch him properly, girl,” Askad ordered Carrie. “Hasn’t anyone told you anything about Links? He needs to know you’re physically there. Why do you think we avoid touching those outside our guild? Flesh carries its own messages to us, ones as potent as those of the mind link.”
Leaning over him, Carrie pressed her hands on either side of Kusac’s head, her hair brushing his face.
“Search for him, Carrie,” urged Rhian. “You know his mind. Follow him to where he’s hiding.”
Carrie, weeping silently now, reached into Kusac’s mind, finding it like an empty shell. She began to search, fighting her fatigue and using every ounce of power, desperate to find some small part of him that she could still reach.
“Will it work?” she heard Vanna ask as if from a great distance.
“I don’t know,” replied Rhian. “It must. The alternative is unthinkable.”
To those watching, it seemed that Carrie must fail. Sweat broke out on her forehead and she seemed to falter. Suddenly Kusac’s chest rose in a deep breath, then another.
“He’s coming out of it,” exclaimed Vanna, releasing his wrist. “Thank the Gods!”
Kusac’s outer eyelids fluttered, revealing the inner nictitating ones beginning to recede. His hand moved spasmodically, trying to brush his face but he touched Carrie. He grasped her hand, holding it so tightly his claws pressed into her.
“Carrie?” His voice was hoarse and weak.
“Kusac, thank God you’re all right! Why the hell didn’t you tell me what you were doing?” she demanded, laughing and crying all at once with relief and anger. “I would never have let you risk your life like that!”
Kusac shifted under her weight, moving himself to one side, still keeping a tight grip on her hand.
Picking up her case, Vanna signaled the others. Silently and unnoticed, they made their way outside, making sure the door was at least closed if not locked.
“I think everything will be all right now,” she sighed, leaning against the wall for support, feeling emotionally and physically drained.
“Gods, if you’d been any later!” Rhian said.
“Didn’t you realize something was very wrong? You’re telepaths, and Leskas, surely you must have noticed something!”
“We noticed some physical symptoms because of the separation, but we had no idea she had blocked their mental Link. The Gods alone know how she did that! Kusac just asked us to look after her, saying he wanted her to come to terms with the situation. I had no idea that Link deprivation would be so severe for them. How could we have known? How could we have guessed that no one had told her enough about her Link.”
“He knew what was happening,” said Vanna. “He knew exactly what game he was playing.” She shook her head.
“He took a terrible risk,” agreed Askad. “He miscalculated badly. They were beyond helping themselves. She couldn’t go to him.”
Vanna looked at him sharply. “He took no risk. He intended to die if she wouldn’t have him. If you don’t realize that, you don’t know Kusac. That file he made, it wasn’t supposed to reach me till tomorrow. By then it would have been too late.” Her expression softened. “Look, I’m sorry I said what I did about experiments, but I care deeply for both of them.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” said Rhian.
“I’ll come back and check on them tomorrow,” Vanna said, moving off.
“Let us know how they are,” Askad called after her.
Vanna raised her hand in acknowledgment.
*
“Do you stay?” he asked, his voice still hoarse, eyes alight with a feral glow she had never seen before.
“Yes,” she whispered, only too aware of the warmth and pressure of the hand that held her wrist. She now realized his touch, his thoughts, literally were life itself to her, as hers were to him.
Letting her go, with an obvious effort Kusac pushed himself into a sitting position, his eyes never leaving her. Already he felt stronger just from touching her; his mind felt clearer and the nausea had gone.
To have given up hope, then to wake to this… he could hardly believe it was real. His hand shook as he reached out, gently pulling her face closer to his. His cheek touched hers, his tongue finding her ears. Small, almost Sholan sounds escaped her as she moved her head slightly from side to side, trying to elude him, his touch too intense to bear. He turned his attention to her neck.
*
Now she recognized the sensations that came flooding through her. She felt his arm pressing against her back, urging her closer. Her eyelids began to close as the insistence of her body to respond overtook her conscious will.
She needed to hold him, to feel him warm and alive. She’d come so close to losing him forever— it didn’t bear remembering. Her hands went to his sides, traveling across his lean ribs to the muscles of his back, feeling their subtle differences rippling under her touch.
*
He stopped, and felt her relax back against his arm. Her eyes had a heaviness about them which he immediately recognized as a signal common to Humans and Sholans alike. His hands went to her shoulders. A slight pressure on both seal
s, a gentle tug, and her tabard dropped to the bed.
He could feel the compulsion starting to build in both of them, increasing, if possible, his need for her. As yet she hadn’t noticed it. No matter. She would soon enough. He began to exploit the different textures of his tongue on her neck: first the gentler tip, then the rougher midsection. All the while his fingers were working loose the fastenings on her shirt.
*
Carrie was lost in the sudden surge of sensations till she realized that it wasn’t her but their Link. About to pull back, she stopped, eyes opening wide in shock as she felt his hand close on her naked breast, his fingers and mind reveling in its soft roundness.
His other arm was behind her, making sure she couldn’t pull away. The knowledge that Sholan females only had breasts while nursing their young came to her as did his enjoyment of this pleasure forbidden to single males like himself— males still young enough to be driven by their biological need to find a female willing to carry their cubs.
She blinked, disoriented, as she felt his mouth replace his hand and his teeth gently close on her nipple.
A soft moan of pleasure escaped her lips and the tension left her body as suddenly as it had come. As her reaction swept through him, Kusac found himself suddenly lightheaded. The nagging doubt that had been worrying him was partially laid to rest when her hands began to clench almost painfully on his shoulders. This couldn’t be her first time, not the way she was responding.
Lifting his head, he pulled at her shirt, only to realize it was held on because of her grip on him. Reaching up, he disengaged her hands, eliciting small noises of distress from her until he’d tugged the shirt off and released her. Sliding his hands down her sides, he pushed her last garment free before taking her in his arms and drawing her down onto the bed by his side.
*
With her heightened sensitivity, the silky feel of his fur against her bare skin started her trembling uncontrollably. Hesitantly, she put her hand against his chest, running her fingers through the longer fur. She could feel his heart racing. His smell enveloped her— deep, musky, male-of that there was no doubt! Tipping her head back slightly, she looked up at him through half-opened eyes.
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