“Garras and I are bunking on the floor tonight,” she replied, turning to switch on the monitor. “Good night.”
Skai raised an eyebrow to the others. “Looks like Vanna got an invitation she couldn’t refuse,” he said.
“More likely didn’t want to,” countered Richard. “She strikes me as the sort of woman who knows her own mind.” He got to his feet, yawning. “I’m turning in now. Good night.”
“Tell me more about Carrie,” said Jo, taking her cigarettes out and lighting one.
“What do you want to know?” asked Skai.
“Their Telepathy, what do they actually do when they work?”
“No idea. They go off on their own when they work together. As to what they achieve, Carrie found the cave where the Sholans were hiding and between them they found the exact location of this pod. They also telepathically taught the other Sholans English.”
“Then there was the cargo ship and the three groundcars,” added Jo thoughtfully. “Perhaps there’s more than telepathy involved.”
“You should know. Weren’t you Elise’s contact?”
“Not like that,” Jo denied quickly. “She passed information to me at Geshader so that I could bring it out with me when I left.”
Skai shrugged. “Then ask Vanna. She’s their Medic and she’s been collecting data from the three of us. From me, it’s been some medical and cultural stuff. From the other two I’ve no idea, but I presume it’s to do with their Link. Why are you asking all these questions anyway?”
“Skinner asked me to. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Carry on. I don’t feel like sleeping yet anyway.”
“Tell me about Carrie and Kusac. What was the fight with Guynor actually about?”
Skai sighed. “Again, I don’t really know since I don’t speak their language, but it pretty definitely involved Kusac’s friendliness with Carrie.
“Guynor went for her first, but Vanna stopped him, then he attacked Kusac.”
“Is Guynor interested in Carrie?”
“Don’t be daft,” said Skai with a laugh. “He hates her and Kusac equally.
“After the fight, they went off for about half an hour. They were a lot friendlier when they came back,” he added meaningfully. “She’s just like her sister, a calculating bitch out for what she can get, no matter what it takes. In Carrie’s case, from these Sholans.”
Jo raised an eyebrow.
Skai had the grace to look away. “No, well I suppose not that friendly. Guynor did make a hell of a mess of his shoulder,” he admitted reluctantly.
“I don’t agree with your opinion of Carrie,” said Jo, pulling a tin out of her pocket and stubbing her cigarette out in it. “I’d say she’s beginning to find out who she is for the first time in her life. Elise’s charisma tended to get her what she wanted irrespective of what it cost anyone else, including her twin.
“Carrie’s not like that from what I’ve seen of her. I reckon she was actually the stronger of the two—she would have to be to put up with a sister like Elise.”
Jo looked appraisingly at Skai. “You’re pretty enough to look at, but Carrie wouldn’t see that. As for Elise, yes, you’d appeal to her. She only ever used her eyes. Carrie doesn’t, she looks deeper.”
“What d’you mean by that?” he asked, bridling at the implied insult.
Jo shrugged. “Just that Carrie strikes me as someone who always thinks things through. Elise never did. She really thought she could do what she liked and get away with it. That’s how they caught her.”
“There’s nothing to choose between them!” said Skai angrily. “They both seem incapable of having a relationship with their own people and have turned to Aliens instead. Look at Carrie earlier. She didn’t stand with us, she was with the Sholans. She’s always in their company!”
Jo shook her head. “It isn’t that straight cut, Skai. Elise chose to go to Geshader to get the information we needed to fight the Valtegans. You hardly knew her. She really did hate them.
“Skinner wanted a couple of people on the inside and Elise volunteered. I got asked to go on an occasional basis because I’m a linguist and they hoped I could pick up their language.
“Carrie and Kusac—well, they have a Telepathic link and obviously Carrie trusts him. He’s the only stable thing in her life at the moment. Look at all the changes she’s gone through in the last two months, starting with Elise’s capture and death. It’s a wonder she’s still alive and sane!
“It’s also obvious they care a lot for each other, but what the nature of that caring is, I don’t know.”
“Well, I do. They’re always in each other’s company, they even sleep together. She won’t let anyone else touch her!”
“Meaning you. Elise was the same. Perhaps it’s part of being what they are, Telepaths. As for the Sholans, I’ve noticed how tactile a species they are among themselves, not just Carrie and Kusac.” She turned to look at the bunks nearby. “And they’re sleeping separately, Skai.”
“Well, they would here, wouldn’t they?”
“Vanna and Garras don’t seem to have a problem,” she replied, nodding to where the two Sholans were quietly enjoying each other’s company. “In fact, they seem to have a much more relaxed attitude than we do.”
“Have it your own way,” he snapped, getting up. “You’re as bad as they are. I’m going to bed.”
Jo let him settle down before she took the remaining bunk. She had a lot to think about.
Time passed slowly the next day. After reporting in to Skinner, Jo resumed her task monitoring the radio output and Skai and Vanna were put to work fetching, carrying, and holding various items of equipment. Richard continued helping Anders.
Kusac pleaded the need for himself and Carrie to work on their “disguise” for the Valtegans and so they were able to retire to a quiet area some meters distant from the others. There he drilled her in the basics of shielding out unwanted contacts, lengthening her concentration span, and preventing energy leakages. Together they worked on building a more powerful illusion than she had previously done.
It was as grueling a task as that facing the rest of the crew, more so in fact because the results were less tangible.
The afternoon break came, and with it more delays. They had all gathered in the space between the two craft to drink coffee and c’shar. Vanna and Skai had provided a snack to see them through until dusk.
“Mito, what’s the current status of the interface?” asked Garras.
“Guynor and Nelson are handling the final stages now. I’ve gone back to trying to work out a program to interrogate the Valtegan computer in the base,” she said, munching one of the newly made trail bars.
“I’m still no further along. Without access to Valtegan software, the best program I can write would still take more than a couple of hours to run. Apart from the physical danger of discovery, our electronic presence is bound to be noticed by the Valtegan computer.”
“Can our companions,” Garras indicated where Skinner sat, “not suggest any way around your problem?”
“I’ve an idea that might work, if you’re interested,” Anders volunteered, glancing first at Garras, the accepted leader of the assorted crews, then at Skinner, his own superior officer.
“Go on,” urged Skinner.
“It was something we used to do at college to keep one step ahead of our tutors,” he explained. “All computers tend to leak radio frequency data, and we used to eavesdrop on our lecturer’s reports as he was typing them out. We’d slow down the signal, then decode it.”
He ground to a halt under Mito’s intense stare. Her eyes had narrowed to vertical slits and she looked almost feral as her ears flicked repeatedly.
“Yes,” she hissed. “It would work. We could monitor their transmissions at the Base, picking up the spare signals from the various computer terminals.”
“We’d have to be close, though,” said Guynor, leaning forward in his enthusiasm.
“How cl
ose?” demanded Garras.
“With our scanner, maybe as close as a hundred meters,” he replied.
“How long would it take to get enough data?”
“A day, perhaps two,” replied Mito, focusing her eyes again. “It depends on how often they communicate between the departments by computer. With the cargo ship in, it should be more frequently. We’d need to butcher the recording module on the pod, though.”
Garras waved an arm expansively. “Do it. The pod is of no real long-term use to us. Take what you need. Who do you want to accompany you?”
“It will have to be one of your men,” she replied, looking at Skinner. “We don’t know our way to the Base, nor their patrol patterns.”
“It had better be Anders, then,” Skinner replied, “since it was his idea.”
Anders nodded. “Any chance of a lift?” he asked. “I’d estimate we’re over a day from the Base whether we head out straight from here or go back to our usual route.”
A sigh went up from Terrans and Sholans alike. Skinner squinted up at the sky.
“Run a check on the radar, Peterson, see if there’s any traffic about. Jo, see what you can pick up on the radio.” He rose to his feet. “If it’s quiet now, we’ll take you out before dark.”
Those named leapt their feet, speeding away to gather the equipment and information they needed. Vanna called Kusac over to help her put some provisions together for them.
As he followed her to the hatch, a hand grasped him roughly by the arm, swinging him round and slamming him against the outer hull.
Guynor stood in front of him, teeth bared.
“I haven’t forgotten you, Kusac,” he snarled. “I intend to see you brought to trial for your conduct. I may not be able to get you myself this time, but I’ll see the law does! And if it doesn’t, you’d better spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.” With that, he thrust Kusac aside and strode through the hatch.
He’d barely had time to react when Carrie came flying over.
“What is it? What happened?” she demanded, helping him up.
“It’s all right, it’s nothing,” he said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Guynor,” she said. “His hate is driving him insane! Tell Garras.”
“No, leave it, Carrie,” he said as they went into the pod. “He can’t harm me.”
“Then I’ll tell him,” she said, stalking over to the Captain.
“Carrie!” he called after her but she ignored him.
When told, Garras shot a look first at Kusac, then at Guynor. He turned back to Carrie.
“I’ll keep an eye on him and warn the others,” he said.
For the next half hour everything was done at breakneck speed to get the equipment out of the pod, and the groundcar ready for takeoff.
“Get back as soon as you can,” said Garras, watching Mito clamber safely into the vehicle. “Send your first report at midday, and your next at dusk, the same the next day. You’re more likely to escape notice lying in low cover. Leave your jacket with me.”
Mito unbuckled her belt and, taking the jacket off, handed them both to Garras.
“Don’t take any risks: getting that information back to us is your main objective,” he continued.
“Yes, Captain,” she replied, then ducked into the interior of the groundcar.
“He fusses like a den mother,” she said, belting into her seat beside Anders.
“If I’ve got my facts right, he’s entitled to,” he said, grinning back. “Unlike us, you have no military training at all and are purely civilians on a reconnaissance mission that went wrong.”
Mito turned to look at the Terran communications officer. She was growing to like this man with the piercing blue eyes—a shade unknown on Shola—and the crop of curly fair hair atop a weather-beaten face. That face wrinkled again in good humor as he reacted to her scrutiny. She lowered her ears, looking away as her tail flicked with embarrassment.
“I don’t mind,” he said. “We must look as strange to you as you do to us.”
“We are a military unit,” she said, trying to cover her confusion with talk, “but not geared for combat on this mission.”
“Ah, I got the wrong end of the stick. Sorry,” he said. “Actually, I’m glad of this opportunity to work with you. There are many things I want to ask.”
Mito’s tail flicked again, this time with annoyance at herself. This was ridiculous! These men from another world were too compelling, too male. She found herself almost responding to him as if he were Sholan. It would not do.
Hard on that thought came another; was this the attraction that Kusac felt toward Carrie? She banished the notion, knowing it to be foolish. Leskas were bonded mentally first. Still, she had better be wary of herself.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, keeping her voice neutral.
“About your ships, your people, your planet. Anything that will help us understand each other better,” he said.
“We’re going to be working closely with you Sholans for a long time to come and we need to explore those gray areas of cultural differences where misunderstandings could arise. Some of us have to pave the way for the diplomats. We aren’t used to sitting down on friendly terms with an Alien culture.”
She shrugged. It was obvious that he was more interested in facts than in her. “Ask away.”
The next two days passed uneventfully for those in the swamp.
Jo, finding herself with some spare time, sought out Vanna, who was working on her medical notes on the computer.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked, sitting on the bench beside her.
“Not at all,” said Vanna. “Give me a moment to finish this, then I’ll be with you.” She typed a few more sentences and closed her work down.
“How can I help?” the Sholan asked, turning away from the central column to face the other woman.
Jo hesitated. “You know I worked with Elise, Carrie’s twin, don’t you? Well, although I’ve only just met her, I feel I ought to look out for Carrie.”
“I can understand that,” said Vanna. “I feel the same about her myself.”
Jo grinned. “That makes this a whole lot easier. Carrie’s brother explained to me and Skai about her new Link, the one with Kusac, but I’d like you to tell me more about it if you can. After all, your people are the bona fide Telepaths.”
“Tell me what you know,” said Vanna slowly, “then I can fill in the sketchy areas.”
“Only that the Link was established as Elise died and that by doing this Kusac saved Carrie’s life. That the cost has been a more intense Link than he expected. A Leska Link?” She looked quizzically at Vanna, who nodded. “And that this Link is permanent.”
“That’s essentially it,” agreed Vanna. “What do you want to know more about?”
Jo dug her cigarettes out of her pocket and offered one to Vanna, who refused.
“A strange habit,” said the Sholan.
“It’s the dried leaves of a plant,” said Jo, lighting her cigarette. “It acts as a mixture of a relaxant and a stimulant. It isn’t a healthy habit,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t bother acquiring it if I were you.
“Carrie and Elise were close, but how much of that was because they were twins and how much was due to their Link no one knew. It seems to me, though, that Carrie is much closer to Kusac. Why? Wouldn’t you expect there to be some inhibiting factor in the Link due to them being from different species?”
“You know how to get straight to the heart of the matter, don’t you?” said Vanna dryly. “Telepathy isn’t really my field. In fact, I’ve never really been that involved with any of them till this trip,” she said. “I do know that they look at people on a different level than you and I would. They are less attracted to, or influenced by, the outer form because they can ‘see’ and ‘know’ them on a deeper level.”
“What about the other species?”
“They are all very different from us. You Terrans are
the nearest to us in physiology and outlook, and you have Telepaths. I know I have no difficulty in being at ease with your people, nor have most of our crew. Even Guynor seems to be able to be civil with anyone but Carrie!
“As for Carrie being closer to Kusac than she was to her sister, he is male, you know. Even loving sisters can see each other as rivals.”
“It’s more than that,” said Jo. “Maybe you hit the nail on the head when you said he was male.”
Vanna shifted uneasily. “I have to admit that even I’ve found myself looking speculatively at one or two of your male crew members. I’ve a feeling that a lot more of our people will find you attractive as a species, and the differences won’t matter. In fact, that’s what will attract them.”
Jo digested this for a minute. “What do you find attractive about our men?” she asked abruptly.
“I’m not sure I can put it into words as I haven’t really thought about it. I suppose they just seem more male than our men.”
“And what do you think the men see in our women?”
Vanna shrugged. “Perhaps a fragility or a defenselessness that we lack because they have no fur or claws with which to protect and defend themselves. I have no idea. I haven’t asked Garras or Guynor.”
“Pheromones,” said Jo succinctly. “If our people are attracted to each other, I’ll bet that our pheromones are similar enough to trigger responses. Have you checked them?”
“No,” said Vanna thoughtfully. “It never occurred to me. I only have the facilities for basic tests here, but once I’m back on board ship I can use the labs there. Garras wants me to become involved as a specialist on Terran physiology.”
Jo nodded. “That makes sense. But pheromones still don’t explain Carrie’s relationship with Kusac.”
“What relationship?” asked Vanna, turning innocent eyes to her.
“Come on, Vanna, don’t be coy with me,” said Jo sternly. “There’s a look on Carrie’s face every now and then that tells me the girl’s besotted! And he’s not much different, unless my reading of male Sholan behavior is totally wrong. He hardly ever leaves her side. Even you said they were in love with each other.
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