“Or we could make use of the Armed Forces help which Steph and Carovan are supposed to be getting us,” said Fiana. “They could have ships in the neutral zone, and the one nearest to the Team could be your target.”
“So I'm in?” Sarah asked eagerly, her eyes flitting between Fiana and Lindy.
“No,” Lindy contradicted flatly. “We're only considering it. If I'm going to be in charge of this Mission, and as the one experienced Agent free to go, I ought to be, I'll have to have the assurance that we can keep you safe. For one thing, Coryn would go ballistic on me if he found out that I had casually allowed you to put yourself in harm's way.”
“I agree with Lindy on that, having been friends with Coryn for a long time,” added Fiana.
“I think that all of us who worked with Coryn know that Sarah's safety was always uppermost in his mind,” Jillian said. “No way the Neotsarians get to grab her, and Coryn's concern for her is not even at the top of the list of the reasons why.”
“It's a pity that you and the young man did not get married before this happened,” said Nadina, addressing herself to Sarah. “If you were a married couple, the psychic bond which you seem to have built between yourselves would be an asset instead of a liability.”
“Do you know something that I don't, Nadina?” Marlyss asked, directing a cool glance at her older colleague.
“Probably,” replied Nadina calmly. “I have the advantage of advanced age on you, though you're not in the first bloom of youth, either, Marlyss. The more psychic partner in a loving marriage relationship can strengthen her partner under adverse circumstances. It's just a matter of learning to direct her energy properly; her partner's love for her should open the necessary channels in his (or her) mind. This used to be common knowledge, I've been told, before the mindset which prohibited Witches from forging strong sexual bonds—at least officially—took hold.”
Marlyss stared at Nadina. Then she turned her eyes to Sarah, and to the Guru Johannes.
“Did you know about this, Johannes?” she asked. “Among your people both men and women have psychic powers.”
“Not precisely,” the white-haired man replied, leaning down to caress the nape of the green cat-animal which sat on the floor next to his chair. “But, like I have told you, Marlyss, among my people married couples do form strong psychic bonds. As I mentioned, the reason why we found out, even as Cameron Mackenzie confirmed, that the young men whom the Neotsarians lured from my world in order to see if they could work the amarto-reflecting-refracting machine were being abused by Elite women, was that one of the snatchees had recently married, and communicated his distress to his wife.”
“Is that why you nattered at Coryn to get on with marrying Sarah?” asked Jillian.
“More or less,” answered the Guru. “Marlyss, I think we need to spill.”
Marlyss nodded.
“Sarah?” she asked.
Sarah drew a deep breath. She turned her eyes to the couple sitting next to Jerold: Jaime, and Witch Dian, the youngest of the Circle of the Twelve.
“Coryn and I did get married,” she said. “Marlyss officiated at the wedding. Dian and Jaime were the official witnesses for the Terran Public Records, although the whole Circle of the Twelve were present, along with the Guru Johannes, and the Greencat.”
Mel Jourda had flipped open his tablet and was perusing it.
“Yes, it's all here in the Public Records Data,” he said, “Complete with a video of the ceremony.”
“Courtesy Jaime,” Dian said with a smile.
“All right then, Marlyss,” Nadina said. “I underestimated you. You did the right thing.”
“The right thing?” Clarisse shook her head. “Marlyss has been sending couples who want to be married by a Circle Eldest to me for years, as long as I've been the Eldest of the Six. Her reasoning has been that she did not want to invoke the Curse which accompanies the Blessing of the Eldest of the Twelve, which is what the performance of the marriage ceremony by the Mistress of Ferhil Stones amounts to.
“What has changed, Marlyss?”
“Think about the content of the Curse for a moment, Clarisse,” responded Marlyss. “You know how it goes.”
“Yes, I do. The Blessing of the Eldest of the Twelve creates a marriage bond which cannot be broken. And anyone who tries to do so will find the forces of the universe turned against them, specifically dooming the interfering person to die a nasty death, torn apart by wild animals. I have assumed that you were not interested in risking such dire consequences for what might be simple thoughtlessness.”
“I never was—until very recently. Remember that these people whom we are opposing, and who kidnapped Coryn, were willing to risk our whole world to gain a strategic advantage in their effort to take over the inhabited Galaxy. I'm sorry, but if one or two—or even more—of their leading people who come up with these insane schemes, should find themselves suffering a nasty end, I just cannot find it in my heart to mind.
“I know,” she added with a sigh, “that this is not a good attitude to nurture. But I feel that my back is against the wall; we must use whatever weapons we have on hand, to keep these fools from overpowering us.”
“That is very sensible of you,” commented Nadina. “To be human is to be imperfect, and occasionally, playing to our imperfections is the sanest course to take.
“Besides, there is an upside to the Blessing of the Eldest of the Twelve,” she added with a smile. “Although, I believe that only someone as old as I am would have even second-hand knowledge of it. But, note, it is called a Blessing, not a Curse, although the Curse is associated with it.”
“The bond created by the Blessing of the Eldest of the Twelve is considered to be unbreakable, which, of course should be a blessing—although, I understand, that there were times when it in itself proved to be a curse, which is why my predecessors began to refuse to marry people,” Marlyss said.
“There's more to it than that,” said Nadina. “If the couple who were married with the Eldest of the Twelve officiating, are separated, whether through some trick of fate, or through the ill-doing of people on whom the associated Curse will fall, those people who aid in reuniting the couple will share in the Blessing involved. In other words, the gods of fortune will smile upon them; they will find good things happening in their lives with very little effort on their part.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Lindy. “Is that for real?”
“I think that it looks like you will be leading the experiment which finds out,” Mel Jourda said with a grin.
He had finished perusing the Public Record of Sarah and Coryn's marriage ceremony, and set his tablet aside.
“As will most of the people in this room,” added Nadina. “And everyone else who consents to become involved with this rescue mission, regardless of where they live.”
“From what I'm hearing,” interjected Sarah, “the fact that Marlyss married Coryn and me is good for those who join the mission to rescue my husband from the hands of the Organization.”
She felt a sudden, if fleeting, rush of pleasure at the chance to refer to Coryn as “my husband” publicly.
“Not necessarily,” objected Fiana who, as Coryn would have been the first to note, was good at seeing all sides of an issue. “If they knew about the Blessing, the Neotsarians could simply unite the two of you on their territory, and then force you to work their machines. Possibly, if the Blessing worked for them, they would get everything they want, including Galactic domination.”
Jillian chuckled.
“Very good of you to think of that, Fiana,” she said. “However, you really don't expect the Neotsarian Elites to be that sensible, even if they knew about the Blessing and the Curse. And we certainly aren't going to tell them.”
Fiana grinned at her.
“As Steph often says, somebody's got to bring up the hypothetical scenarios,” she stated. “But, I agree that we can most likely count on the Elites' arrogance to be their undoing. Assuming that our Team
is smart—and works hard.”
“If I lead this Team, we'll work smart and hard,” said Lindy. “And, since Jillian is a known quantity to the Neotsarians involved, she can't do it. If Cameron is willing to go, his first-hand knowledge would come in useful—I'm assuming that you kept a low profile during your stay in The Organization slave-pens, so you wouldn't be likely to be recognized. Who else from this room? We'll consider Sarah last—I do have an idea for how we might be able to include her in the group.”
Sarah hoped that Lindy wasn't just blowing smoke. She knew very little about Lindy Cass—Coryn had never talked about her, although Jillian had mentioned that, according to ASC Station gossip, Lindy and Coryn had been an item during their shared training days, but that Lindy had dumped him in favour of a, to her, more exciting, older man. With disastrous results, but she had worked her way out of the mess. Outside of having been a fool when it came to men, she was, according to Jillian, known to be a very capable Agent, and a competent person.
“The Greencat and I are coming, for sure,” the Guru Johannes said. “I want to get the young fools from my home world out from the Neotsarian hands, and helping with this effort seems like the best hope for that. If we're out to impersonate a rag-tag entertainment bunch, she and I will fit right in: I can be the Fortuneteller, and the Greencat will be my familiar.”
“The Paxic IV Law Enforcers offered to round out any team that we create,” Jillian said. “This Janis person whom I've talked with, a couple of times, indicated that they were definitely not pleased with the kidnapping happening on their turf, and are keen to retaliate somehow. We might want to take advantage of their offer; the Paxic IV natives are big boys and girls, physically, and have brains in their craniums. Like my husband Joe.”
“And if they're as sweet-natured, if a little rough at the edges, as Joe is, they'll be a pleasure to work with,” agreed Lindy. “Yes, let's ask for one or two of them.
“Next question: Will you all accept my leadership? Or would the Guru rather take over the honours? Cameron, you're probably a little bit inexperienced, and bitter, perhaps, for the job? Sarah?” She shook her head. “Too involved, although I hear that you have excellent leadership potential.”
“Where'd you hear that?” Sarah asked, genuinely puzzled.
“I've been here a few days, and talked to Jill and Fiana, as well as others in the Liaison Office,” Lindy replied, smiling at the younger woman. “You have a reputation for ability.”
“Of course,” said Marlyss. “She's a very talented Witch, after all.”
Clarisse shook her head at Marlyss.
“The two do not necessarily go together, as you are well aware,” she said.
“I'd vote for your leadership, Agent Lindy Cass,” said Mel Jourda. “I gather that you were a very effective Agent when you were allowed to do your job. And, when I looked into Graeme Forshie's record, I noticed that the only time his work performance was rated above merely satisfactory was when he and you were married, and working together. I'm assuming that you had a fair bit to do with that?”
“Yes.” Lindy made a face. “I've been kicking myself for letting him take credit for those assignments. I had to pull his irons out of the fire a few times.” She shook her head. “I was really taken aback by his lack of skills—I mean, he had been through the same training that I took.”
“We, the Witches of Kordea, are not sending Dian to represent us, this time, are we, Marlyss?” Clarisse asked rather testily.
“If Sarah goes—assuming that Lindy does have some way to keep her safe—Dian's presence won't be necessary,” Marlyss replied calmly. “Johannes and the Greencat will be along; possibly they can do as much, or more, than Dian could. And she has plenty to do here, what with learning my job, and helping out at the Institute, on top of her usual duties.”
“So you are training Dian to eventually replace you as the Eldest of the Twelve,” said Witch Karina, the Eldest of the Eleven. “I'd wondered how long you were going to pretend that such was not your plan.”
It sounded to Lindy like the Witch-women were in the mood to do a bit of squabbling among themselves. But, then, maybe they were much like any other women, when they weren't performing Stone-magic. Women who probably spent entirely too much time among their all-female peers. Apparently that was changing, however. Sarah had married Coryn, Witch Dian was in a relationship with the Scientist, Jaime Morrow, and Marlyss herself was rumoured to have invited the Guru Johannes for sleeptime visits to her chambers.
“How were you thinking of keeping the Neotsarians from recognizing Sarah, Lindy Cass?” asked the Witch Nadina.
“Since we're going as a rag-tag entertainment troupe,” Lindy replied, “it occurred to me that if she agreed to a little bit of semi-permanent body-sculpture—there's an excellent practitioner on Space Station RES who sometimes does work for the Agency—we could turn her into a little fair-haired wisp, complete with blonde eyebrows, and even eye-lashes, if that seems necessary. Then I could claim that she's my simple-minded little sister whom I have promised to care for. The Neotsarians eyes will glaze over, and pass right by her. If she shows up in their territory looking like she does now, they may want to do a DNA test, even if she acts nothing like Sarah Mackenzie, but a simple-minded sister of an entertainer down on her luck, and a member of a seedy troupe, believe me, those guys won't even notice that she exists.
“Actually, she might be able to poke her nose into cracks that the rest of us aren't allowed into. After all she's just a simpleton, and can't understand what she's looking at.”
Cameron started laughing.
“Yes,” he said. “It'll work! Only thing is that some of the bored Elite women might swat her around, occasionally, if she gets in their way. Simpleton's have no value whatsoever, in that society!”
“But she'll be my sister and she'll be valuable to me. I'll have an excuse to rail at those women, lucky me!” said Lindy. “And we all will have to make sure that no disgusting Neotsarian male tries to make sexual use of her—like I said, I intend to be fiercely protective of my little sister!”
“Of course you would be, if you were a Yukoidian,” said Jerold. “We on the planet Yukoid care about our family members, even the least of them. It was one of the reasons we never fit in all that well with the rest of the Neotsarians, since among them class trumps family, every time.
“Which reminds me that I'll have to send a message with you to my family—perhaps you can even make the time to look them up while you establish your Yukoidian identities. I haven't been in touch with them for some years now, but if you bring news of me to them, I think that they'll try to help you any way they can.”
“It would be in their interests to do so,” said Nadina with a smile. “They will be drawn into the circle of the Blessing, if they do.”
**
“This one is mine,” said Evella Copoz to the woman who was in charge of what was known as the Elite Women's Pleasure House.
She handed the very attractive blond man to the Keeper Ariane, ignoring the fury in the man's eyes. The Keeper, a hard-working woman in her thirties, sighed as she accepted the shackled man, and the remote which controlled the restraints. The man looked like he was going to be hard to cow, and that meant more work for her. Some of the slaves brought in to pleasure the bored wives of the Elites were spirited young men, and learned the lesson of submission with difficulty. There had been the occasional death on her watch, when a young man fought so hard against what was expected of him, that he ended up punished way too harshly. However, this one....
“He must stay alive, for the foreseeable future, anyway,” Evella said. “He is being used as bait, and the woman being baited apparently would know if he died; therefore he must not.”
She made a face.
“But I am allowed to play with him.”
The look the man threw with his beautiful, violet-tinged, blue eyes at Evella made Keeper Ariane shudder. He was not going to stop fighting, was her interpretation. The be
st she could hope for was that he would fight stealthily, find some way to silently undermine the miserable creature who claimed ownership of his body and soul.
Ariane was not a cruel woman, although she well knew that Evella Copoz was.
“However, I don't want any of the other women to use him,” Evella said harshly, as she turned to leave, after mussing up the shackled man's hair, and planting a wet kiss on his unresponsive mouth. “He was given to me.”
“Yes, Lady Elite,” Ariane replied, her eyes cast down. It was better not to look Evella straight in the eyes; she was quick to claim insubordination if the help was not submissive enough.
“You might want to stress to him, when you lesson him, that we don't hesitate to use drugs on unresponsive males,” Evella added at the door. “His behaviour was quite defiant when I took him home before bringing him here.”
Of course it had been, Ariane thought. If he had been pleased to service Evella he would have still been in her boudoir. It was often the tough nuts to crack who were brought to the Elite Women's Pleasure House, to be (hopefully) turned into passable male courtesans by the Keeper and her Underkeepers. Usually the women who dropped them off did not insist on exclusive rights, but Evella assumed that she had privileges not granted to other Elite women. Perhaps she did have them; her husband wore a red and silver circle on his left shoulder, and he catered to her, humouring her whims.
Ariane did not speak to the man until the door had closed behind the Elite woman. Then she raised her eyes to look into the violet eyes full-on. To her surprise, the man studied her in his turn, the anger which had filled them in Evella's presence muted, pushed to the background, as if he understood that she was a mere worker, under orders, and not cruel by nature.
“Will you tell me your first name?” she asked him.
Revenge of the Catspaw Page 17
