Revenge of the Catspaw

by Helena Puumala

  The night nurse on duty, fortunately, was a conscientious, burly young man who rushed in to the room the moment he heard the commotion. He dragged the sick man off his coughing wife, waking him up in the process.

  “That was some nightmare you were having,” Merv, the nurse, said to Coryn when the latter had fully awakened, and was staring at Sarah struggling for breath. “You tried to kill your wife.”

  Coryn buried his face in his hands.

  “I was fighting Evil Evella. So glad that I finally wasn't in restraints, and could attack her—defend myself!

  “Sarah, you'll have to go away! It'll happen again if you don't!”

  “Post-Traumatic Stress,” Merv said calmly. “It does that to a lot of patients. But you're right about your wife. A little thing like she is, she can't sleep beside you safely. It's not going to do much for your marriage if she has to be afraid of you during the sleeping hours.”

  “I've never had to be afraid of you, Coryn,” Sarah said, her voice rough from the throttling. “I will not start fearing you now.”

  Tears were stinging behind her eyelids.

  “That's all fine and brave, Sarah, but you need to be practical,” Merv said firmly. “You can't be taking on the role of this Evil Evella about whose horribleness all the ex-slaves shudder. A prize beast who deserved the end that she came to, is what she sounds like. So let's, at least, move your cot across the room, and if that doesn't work, then you'll just have to sleep in the empty room across the hall. I doubt that Coryn will sleepwalk that far looking for Evella.”

  “If I hurt you again, Sarah....”

  Coryn did not finish the statement. His eyes, too, were filled with tears.

  “I've been warned now,” Sarah replied, struggling to keep her tone light. “I'll grab hold of my Stone at the first sign that you're going bonkers in your sleep, and send a lightning bolt to jab you.”

  But she allowed Nurse Merv to move her bed to the other side of the room. Fortunately the hospital facilities in a large battleship meant fair-sized patient rooms. Sarah knew that this was because there might be times when there were lots of wounded fighters on board; the cot she slept on was one of many available to be stuffed into the Infirmary rooms in time of battle. The Confederation Armed Forces had seen very little action for generations, so mostly the need for the space and the beds was purely theoretical. The beds, however, had come in useful, presently, sleeping the people whom she had transported into the recreation area of the ship. The healthy ex-slaves had mostly chosen to settle their cots in the same room into which they had been first transported, but there were a few, besides Coryn, in the Infirmary, under Dr. Liu's care.

  Coryn's nightmares continued during the trip to Kordea, to which Captain Jeffries had agreed, after receiving official assurances from Trahea Port that the Fleet ship would be allowed to land there, and remain until decisions had been taken as to how the ex-slaves were to be returned home, and where the rebels from the Neotsarian Sector would be deposited. The ship's crew were excited by the prospect of spending some time in Trahea; Kordea had recently become a destination of interest to many in the Confederation. Prudently, Sarah stayed on her cot by the wall while the Nurses on night-duty dealt with the patient's thrashing and screaming. The commotion did interfere with her sleep, but she was unwilling to take the advice to relocate to the next room; it felt to her like she would be abandoning Coryn if she did so. She was not about to abandon him, not even in her imagination.

  Plus, as she reminded anyone who commiserated with her, she was not the person most hard done by.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The arrival of the Fleet ship in Trahea Port was an event.

  The Port was perfectly capable of handling a ship its size; it had been built to accommodate large cargo ships in need of maintenance. However the terms which had been hammered out between the Confederation and Kordea, generations earlier, excluded the use of the Port as a pit stop for warships, so it had been necessary to obtain special permission for Captain Jeffries to land his ship.

  The Captain had asked for Lindy and Sarah's presence on the Bridge when he negotiated with the Port Authorities, only to find out that the Port Officials already were aware of the situation on board.

  “Humanitarian grounds?” the Official on duty repeated, when Captain Jeffries had made his pitch. “Yes, we have been waiting for you, Captain. The Kordean-Confederation Liaison Office has informed us that you have an exemption to the usual regulations about large warships, from Witch Marlyss, the Eldest of the Circle of the Twelve. A very ill person needing the services of a Kordean Healer, plus a handful of less badly injured people who can also use Healing, are the reason for this bending of the rules.

  “The word from the Acting Liaison Officer, Peter Mackenzie is that we are to welcome all the passengers and the crew of your ship to Trahea for the duration of your stay.”

  “The Guru Johannes is nothing if not efficient,” Lindy grinned, in response to the Captain's gawk. “He's been in touch with Witch Marlyss, all along.”

  “I just hope that Marlyss has been efficient, too,” Sarah sighed. “I should imagine that Healer Mora can handle the fellows with problems less acute than Coryn's, but he's another matter, entirely.”

  **

  Not everyone at the Port was in the loop when it came to the latest events on the far side of the Galaxy.

  The woman Customs Official who processed the Team members (including the Greencat) who shepherded Coryn off the ship—he had absolutely refused to be hauled out on a hover-cot, or to use a wheelchair, and was on his own two feet, if unsteadily—nearly lost her cool when she realized who the stooped, fair-haired figure in front of her was.

  “Don't say a word!” Lindy snapped at her, when she opened her mouth, to commiserate, most likely. “Some of us have enough to deal with, already!”

  The woman closed her mouth, but she had tears in her eyes as she registered the return of the Team, and of Coryn. She looked relieved when she turned to question Shellion, Ariane, Lew and Dini who were following them.

  “Lindy, that was rude,” Coryn said in his hoarse voice, as the group exited the Customs, at the slow pace which was all that he could manage.

  “I know,” Lindy agreed readily enough.”I'm glad to note that you're capable of responding to my snit. Granted, I could probably use some anger management lessons, right now, not being of a saintly disposition!”

  “You and me both,” said Cam. “Although it doesn't hurt to recall that the people in this Port aren't just rumour-mongering, but showing genuine concern.”

  **

  A knot of people met them outside the Customs. The Kordean night was more than half-over, Sarah noted as she drew in lungfuls of scents which had become very familiar to her. The moon Lina was shining down on them, benevolently, she felt, and, suddenly, she was hopeful again, only realizing as she thought this that she had been slightly depressed during the trip back.

  Marlyss was the first person to reach them.

  “Sarah...Coryn....”

  Stern Witch Marlyss, the Eldest of the Circle of the Twelve, was uncharacteristically overcome with emotion. The others in both groups, the arrivals and the welcomers, even the Guru Johannes, hung back, as Marlyss embraced Sarah first, and then drew out her Stone as she turned to Coryn, her eyes brimming with tears.

  “Let's see if I can't improve a little on Sarah and her helpers' handiwork,” she said. “Just enough to make the flyer trip to Ferhil Stones tolerable. I'm no Healer, either, but....”

  “You're not quite the klutz that I am,” Sarah finished the sentence for her.

  Marlyss spent only moments in concentration; then she slid her stone back under her green gown, and Coryn straightened up a bit, looking slightly less strained.

  “No, I can do a bit of healing with less effort than you can, Sarah,” she said, “but let's not forget that you're the one who pulled him out of that horrid place. Nobody but you could have done that!”

  “I was
n't there alone,” Sarah protested loyally. “I had lots of help.”

  Coryn's chuckle had a touch of its old timbre.

  “But, Sarah, Coryn, we'll have to get the patient into Healer Carlina's hands as soon as possible,” Marlyss said. “Peter has lent us Texi's piloting skills for the duration; he's bringing the flyer as close to here as is possible.

  “In the meantime, take the opportunity to greet your welcomers.”

  Her eyes slid over the other arrivals.

  “Johannes, and the Greencat: you'll be coming with us. The rest of you, we'll be entertaining short-term visitors at Ferhil Stones, if and when, any of you can catch a ride. And Jaime at the Institute has offed to house overnight guests, and to put the Institute's flyers—they now have two of them—at the visitors' disposal, at least part of the time.”

  Sarah hugged her father, Peter Mackenzie, the Acting Liaison Officer, who came to greet her from behind Marlyss. Fiana Marsh and Steph Clennan came over to talk to Coryn, while passing a small baby back and forth between them. Sarah giggled against her father's chest when she saw how dishevelled Fiana looked; that was definitely out of character. Steph showed off Baby Marsh-Clennan like the proud first-time father that he was, and handed him over to cooing Sarah when she put her arms out for him.

  “Does he have a name yet?” she asked, gazing at the baby's violet eyes.

  He was going to be a good-looking boy, she deduced. Fiana's Calligan genetics were coming into play. She looked at Steph and giggled.

  “Methinks that he's going to be better looking than Dad,” she said with a teasing grin.

  “But, of course,” Steph agreed immediately. “He has a beautiful mother.”

  “Who's not feeling exactly beautiful at the moment,” sighed Fiana. “Not getting much sleep these days.”

  “That's how it is with newborns,” said Sandy, coming to stand beside Sarah, and taking the child from her into her large, gentle hands.

  “He is gorgeous,” she added. “To echo Sarah: his name?”

  “Rory Marsh-Clennan,” Steph answered. “My father is Rory Clennan, so we thought it was appropriate.”

  “We're heading back to Mallora, now that this guy should have no more objections to space travel,” Fiana said. “Steph's parents are moving from Space Station XES, at least temporarily, to live with us, and to help with the baby. I am looking forward to the help.”

  “And it's good for my parents to get away from XES,” Steph added, accepting his son back from Sandy. “And they think Fiana is wonderful.”

  “I think they're wonderful,” Fiana said. “Not like my crazy family. I wouldn't trust my relatives with my child, whereas, Steph's parents will be great with him.”

  Sarah and Coryn exchanged glances—oh how sweet such an interaction was! Fiana's weird family had been the topic of many a discussion among the Marsh-Clennans, and Sarah and Coryn, in the past. Fiana had never quite reconciled herself to the fact that her parents had treated her with almost total indifference, and had not tried to find her after she had run away from home to become an alyena on Space Station RES.

  Just then Shellion, Ariane, Dini and Lew spilled out of the Customs building, saw the Team members on the pavement with their welcomers, and hurried over.

  “Our Yukoidian and Volgoidian friends,” Lindy said, to begin the introductions.

  “We were told at the Customs to make our way to the Kordean-Confederation Liaison Office, right away,” Shellion said. “Apparently there's an Agent there, Jillian somebody—I failed to get the last name—who is supposed to debrief us.”

  He looked around him, obviously unsure which way to head.

  “You've come to the right people,” Peter Mackenzie said, stretching out a hand to shake. “I'm the Acting Liaison Officer at present, and can take you to the Office. In fact, I suppose that most of you arrivals will be making a stop at the Office, as soon as Texi has arrived to pick up the people going to Ferhil Stones.”

  “There he is now,” Cam said, as a flyer suddenly swooped down from above, and landed expertly on a nearby stretch of pavement. He shook his head before adding:

  “Texi has gotten to be a marvel at piloting those machines. I suspect that he could set one down in an empty space almost as small as the flyer itself.”

  Texi, a stocky, well-muscled young Kordean sprang out of the flyer to help his passengers inside. His already pale face turned almost ashen at the sight of Coryn.

  “Coryn—Boss—shit! What did they do to you?” he sputtered.

  Sarah was the one to answer him.

  “You don't want to know, Texi,” she said. “Help us get him inside. His muscles aren't in the greatest of shape, and some of us are wee, fragile women here.

  “How is Nance doing, by the way?”

  Marlyss and Texi were the ones to settle Coryn into a flyer seat at the back. The Greencat climbed in beside Sarah who settled herself next to her husband, leaving the two front passenger seats for the Circle Witch and the Guru.

  “You can expect some of us to take advantage of your offer of hospitality, Witch Marlyss,” Lindy called before Texi closed the flyer's hatch.

  Cam was standing beside her, and Sarah noticed that the two of them were holding hands. What all had she missed while she had been fretting about Coryn on the trip back to Kordea?

  **

  “Peter, Anya just called back,” Jillian Ashton said as Peter entered the Liaison Office, followed by several people, some of them known to Jillian, others not.

  “Had she any luck?” Peter asked.

  Jillian shook her head.

  “She got hold of Marcues, no problem. Graeme Forshie, apparently, was with him. They were waiting for a transport to Outerland from ASC when she intercepted them, via com, of course. But, like I said would happen, when I heard about those vacation plans, he refused, point blank, to listen to her.”

  “Still, Jill, we had to try,” Peter said. “If he refused to listen to a Kordean Witch about a Kordean Curse, then he, and his buddy are on their own. They're both adults, free to make their own decisions.”

  “Hey, what happened?” Lindy asked, looking from Peter to Jillian, and back again. “Did I hear the names Marcues and Graeme Forshie?”

  “You did,” Jillian replied. “And I suppose the news isn't going to overly sadden you. The two of them are on their way to Outerland, for a Safari Holiday. Complete with a big game hunt included in the package.”

  “Hah!”

  Lindy pulled her hand free from Cam's hold and rubbed her palms together.

  “Tempting the Kordean Marriage Curse, are they? And you two, being dutiful Liaison Officers, got our brand new Kordean Ambassador to the Confederation Government Centre to contact them and explain to them what a damn fool thing they are doing, going on a big game Safari, after trying to break up a couple who have been united by the Blessing of the Eldest of the Twelve! I hope nobody is too disappointed in my character if I boldly state that it serves them right!”

  “I take it that you have some scores to settle with the men involved?” asked Shellion.

  The Kordean Marriage Blessing and Curse had been the topic of some intense discussions during the time the Yukoidians had been members of Lindy's Team. Plus, he had seen the feral cats of Volgoid go after the Elites involved in kidnapping and confining Coryn, while leaving those of the locals who had been helpful to the Team, or even merely neutral, alone.

  “Oh, yes. I was an idiot in my youth, and married Graeme, and even helped him to seem a better Agent than he ever was. And when he and I divorced—I won't go into the details of that now, but anyone in the Agency can fill you in—Marcues, our boss, decided that I ought to be punished for my presumption, and restricted me to desk duty!”

  “Am I to understand that things can get a little, um, less than sweet, shall we say, on this side of the Galaxy, too?” Shellion asked, his eyebrows raised.

  “Less than sweet is a tactful way of wording it,” laughed Jillian. “By the way, Lindy, can you i
ntroduce the four people the Office staff haven't met yet? They're from the Neotsarian Sector, I'd guess? Neither Elites nor Hounds, right?”

  “Rebels, Jillian,” Lindy replied. “Or Revolutionaries, take your pick. And, yes, let's do some introductions, all around.”

  **

  Ferhil Stones protocol required any welcoming committee outdoors to be very small; under normal circumstances only a single male servant met any person or group requesting admittance into the big stone pile. The arrival of the flyer which Texi piloted did not, however, amount to business as usual.

  The moon Lina was in the western half of the sky, but the hot Kordean day was still some hours away when two green-robed Witches came to meet the flyer with the usual manservant. Sarah recognized the Ferhil Stones Healer, Witch Tanya, a very capable woman who had tried to instruct her in the arts of gently but firmly handling the energy fields which determined the health of the human body and mind. For some reason not clear to her or her teachers, she had trouble sorting out the flows from one another, and that was just with the most superficial ones, related to simple physical functions. She who could move matter with her thoughts, and who had crossed realities with the force of her will, had been soundly defeated by the intricacies of the field within which each human body operated! It had been embarrassing and exasperating, but also a fact. Tanya and Marlyss had been surprised, but not overly so; the art of healing was a common one among the talented, but it was also one which sometimes just was not there. Sarah, they told her kindly, seemed to be one of those who simply lacked it, and would probably always struggle, even to fix children's owies.

  She well knew that without the input of Guru Johannes and his people, she would have been almost helpless in the face of Coryn's hurts, as they had presented themselves to her on the Fleet ship; she was still immensely grateful to the men for their help.