No! We can’t do that now! she sent, suddenly as aware as he of his arousal.
Be still, Jo! He tightened his arms as she began to pull away from him. Do you think I’m some youngling unable to control myself? Time for that laterâ when we can enjoy it. There was a flash of humor from him. I want a hurried pairing as little as you do, believe me. But we must take this a little way to complete the healing.
She forced herself to relax, feeling his presence within her mind increase again as gently he tilted her face up to his and began to kiss her.
Link with me. Remember our last time together, he sent. Relive the memories. It should be enough. As she did, between them grew an echo of the compulsion and carefully he fostered it, using it to simulate their joining till she began to respond as if it were real. It was unfair, a liberty he had no right to take, but he could think of no other solution. Her actions had created the need for them to pair and that was impossible under these circumstances.
His only consolation was that his torment was worse as he dared not get swept up in her pleasure. He still had Taradain to deal with and he couldn’t do that if he allowed himself to be drained by making love to her.
Rezac, you said we wouldn’t… Her thought was a wail of anguish as she lay poised between the imaginary sensual world he’d created for her, and the reality of the stable with the others only a few feet away.
Hush, he sent, knowing it needed only a small push for it to be over for her. His frustration would take longer to go. We aren’t. This is not real, it’s only within your mind. Then he pushed her, gently, lovingly, over the edge, stifling her cries and her body against his so the others would not know.
When at last she was still, he let her go. Are you better? he asked anxiously, wiping her forehead with his hand. I’m sorry, Jo, I could think of nothing else that would dispel the Link deprivation.
She lay there, clutching his robe, exhausted but clear of head, the nausea and the Link-induced fever gone.
“Jo, are you better?” he repeated, ears flattening with his anxiety, afraid she might never forgive him for what he’d done.
She nodded slowly, avoiding his eyes. That was unfair.
Would you rather have…
No! She hid her face against him, beginning to cry silently, her shoulders shaking with the violence of her sobs, her thoughts a confusion of jumbled emotions.
“Jo,” he said softly, holding her tight. “A little longer and we’re done here. We’ll be on our way home, trust me. We can do it, I know we can. You can.”
“I’ve had enough, Rezac,” she said, her voice indistinct through her sobs. “This place, you, our Link, it’s too much for me!”
“Hush,” he said, rocking her gently, trying to still his own rising panic because he didn’t know what to say or do to comfort her. “It’s strange for me, too. You’re strong, I know you can cope just a little longer.”
“I can’t, not any more!”
Davies appeared at the side of the stall, the concern obvious on his face. “Kris needs you to hurry,” he said. “Can I do anything?”
Rezac shook his head, gesturing to him to leave. When he’d gone, he lifted Jo up till she faced him. “This is my leader?” he asked, lacing his voice with sarcasm. “This sodden Human, dressed in female clothes that reveal more of her body than they conceal?”
He felt the anger surge through her as she pulled away from him, trying to fold her arms over the low neckline of her dress. Before she could, he tightened his grip. “Use that anger, Jo! Use it to strengthen yourself, as I do!”
She stopped, realizing what he’d done.
“Gods, Jo, you’re a warrior as fiery as any I’ve faced,” he said, putting everything he could of his feelings for her into a sending. “You hold us together, Sholans and Humans both. Don’t fall apart on us now. When it’s over,” he took a deep breath, “then you can call on us for everything you want. Rant and rave at us if you must, but until then, we need you! I need you!” He tightened his hands round her arms and pulled her close enough to nip at her lips before kissing her.
The hair growing at the sides of his neck was grasped firmly as she pulled him away. Letting out a short yowl of pain, he looked down at her.
“What am I supposed to do about you?” she demanded. “That stunt you pulled was utterly reprehensible, manipulative, seductive…” She stopped, having run out of words.
He grinned and leaned forward to lick her nose. And worked! “If you’ll let me go…?”
She released him, and with his help, climbed to her feet.
“I have to work on Taradain now,” he said, his voice deepening with a rumble of anger.
She put a restraining hand on his arm. “Rezac, he did nothing to hurt me,” she said. “What he offered, it was because of his father’s ridicule of him. He only wanted to prove him wrong. He was concerned for me. His intentions were to help us.”
“More than the body can be hurt,” he said, his hand tightening briefly on her arm. “You’d only just begun to forget the past, Jo.”
She leaned against him, reaching up to caress his face. “Rezac, I’m all right. We are all right. Treat him gently, he really did try to help us. We still have a chance because of him. God knows, what he’s going through now is punishment enough!”
His rumble continued as they began to walk back to the main area. “You’re our leader, Jo. I’ll do as you wish, but don’t ask me to like it!”
“Rezac!” she whispered. He stopped, looking round at her questioningly. “I love you Rezac.”
He smiled, a slow one that lit his whole face and was transmitted to every line of his body. I swear you’d distract the very Gods themselves, Jo Edwards, he sent.
*
The demands of their Link would not be put off, and it was late morning before they were able to try and search for Jo. Kusac helped Carrie pull the pillows and blankets from the beds to make a nest for themselves on the floor. Leaning against the bed, once again Kusac provided the physical support for his mate.
Do you remember Jo’s mental pattern? Hold it in the front of your mind. That’s good. Now we search for it. Range wider, Carrie, wider than we have before.
Slowly, they widened their search, letting the power of their Link blend their minds once more into one.
We must change the wavelength, came their thought. Allow for the drift caused by the la’quo.
It was as if they were reaching for the impossible, this searching for one mind in an area so wide and full of the violence of the alien drug.
Filter it. Rise above these thoughts.
The portion that was Carrie grew impatient and reached within them for the power that was the gestalt. It erupted instantly, surging through their mind to be grasped by Carrie and flung outward like a signal, looking for the tiny spark that was Jo.
From what had seemed a dark and barren landscape, suddenly a faint glow of energy emerged. Like a beacon it began to slowly pulse, guiding them toward it.
There!
The glow swelled, filling their mind until Jo’s presence was suddenly with them.
Jo!
Hesitantly, she answered them. Carrie? Kusac? Recognizing them, the contact flared and strengthened as Rezac joined her.
Jo, you’re Linked! To Rezac? A Triad with Rezac and Zashou?
Thank God you’ve found us! We need your help, Carrie!
Let me, Jo, came Rezac’s thought, and within seconds they knew all that had happened.
Follow your plan, they sent. We travel to Galrayin ourselves tomorrow. We’ll meet you outside the city. Keep listening for us, we’ll contact you again tomorrow with the details.
You’ll be waiting? sent Rezac. Zashou is bad. I fear for her.
We’ll be there, they sent as they let the contact fade.
Chapter 17
“As well as contacting Jo, we told Quin to head for the Port,” said Kusac, helping himself to more bread from the plate in the center of the table.
Kaid n
odded. “We’ve got news, too,” he said. “Kishasayzar found out for us that shuttles, piloted by the Sumaan, collect the Port town’s food supplies from Lord Tarolyn and occasionally run the odd errand for Bradogan. There’s a landing pad outside Galrayin.”
Kusac sat up. “Really? Then we’ve an excuse to take our shuttle there.”
“We have. Kishasayzar says he’ll provide us with a pilot. Ashay’s his name. All we have to do is see to the Landing Controller, make sure he thinks we’re doing a favor for Bradogan because we broke the law in landing the ship here.”
“Not a problem,” said Carrie. “If I can get a clear view of the man, I can link and make him believe what we want.”
“T’Chebbi and I worked out a plan while we were waiting for you. You leave as arranged with the caravanâ you’ll be outriders on riding beastsâ and once you’re a decent distance from the Port, you head off on your own to rendezvous with the shuttle. You then head straight for Galrayin.”
“On the way we can contact Jo and make sure we meet up with her,” said Kusac nodding. “Not at the landing pad, I think. We don’t want to attract attention to ourselves.”
“It should be all right. It’s apparently in the middle of nowhere. Just a hard surfaced area capable of supporting a shuttle.”
“I take it I pull the same trick to get us back into the Port,” said Carrie, picking up her mug of coffee. “That takes care of Jo and the others. What about Tesha, Jeran, and Tallis? To say nothing of the missing Miroshi?”
“We need a diversion to get them out. Jeran is the easiest. We can leave him till last as he’s in this area. Tesha is a little more difficult. It’s Tallis that’s going to be the problem,” said Kaid.
“Came up with solution that should see to both,” said T’Chebbi, getting up and going over to the dispenser. She punched the buttons, waiting for her drink to be served. “Incendiaries in the Haven. We go there early tomorrow morning. Is open then for drinks. Plant devices where cause fire that seem worse than is. Then when you return, we trigger them by remote and in confusion get Tesha out. We also burn the place,” she said, her tone one of grim satisfaction as she turned back to collect her drink.
Carrie looked to Kaid questioningly, but he shook his head. Don’t ask, he sent to her and Kusac. When she wishes, if she wishes, she’ll tell you.
“How does that get Tallis out?” she asked instead.
“When you signal us you’ve arrived at the Port, I’ll send to Tallis, telling him that when Bradogan sends his men out to deal with the fire, he’s to make his way to the shuttle landing pad and wait for one of us. We’ll have Kishasayzar and two of his crew posted at the gate on this side waiting for him. Conrad and Quin could wait there on the Jalnian side. It’s my bet that the fire will cause the town to be evacuated anyway. The spacers will certainly want to get back to their craft because of the danger of sparks and secondary fires. And there’s a fuel dump out in one of the warehouses.”
“I take it there’s no real danger,” said Kusac.
“I can mix the incendiaries very precisely,” said Kaid. “We brought everything we need. I’m including an explosive effect so when they ignite, it’ll sound far worse than it actually is. However, the danger is real. If they have inadequate fire fighting facilities, which I doubt in a complex this size, then it could get out of control.”
“At end of day,” said T’Chebbi, sipping her drink, “we take every precaution, but our responsibility is to our own.”
“So we land our shuttle right outside here, get everyone off, then what?”
“No, it lands inside Hkariyash, and you don’t unload. Leave it to the crew,” said Kaid. “You join T’Chebbi and me outside and we head for Jeran.”
“Why do it immediately after we land?” asked Carrie. “Why not wait till after everyone’s unloaded and when Jeran’s arrived to work on the life-support systems?”
“Too much chance of others in the control office questioning our shuttle’s return,” said Kaid. “When we go out, it’ll be early morning, the Controller will be tired, near the end of his shiftâ you know the scenario as well as I.”
“That still leaves Miroshi,” said Kusac.
“We can ask Conrad and Quin to keep an eye out for her. Beyond that, there’s little we can do. Remember, in a month, the starship Rhijissoh will arrive to open formal First Contact negotiations with Jalna and the aliens who trade here. They’ll be able to ask for help locating her.”
“Given the nature of Bradogan, I don’t think he’ll cooperate with us,” said Carrie. “Trade, yes, on this same limited scale.”
“Maybe the rebellion will have succeeded by then, you never know,” said Kusac. “Talking of which, we’ve Strick to contact and give those medical supplies Jo promised to him.”
“Set aside and waiting. It’s pretty basic stuff, given that we don’t know their physiology. There’s some all-species stuff in there but it’s labeled in Jalnian for them to test first in case the la’quo has made them allergic to anything all our Alliance members can use.”
“Did you contact Jeran, tell him we’ll be in touch?” asked Kusac.
“Better,” grinned T’Chebbi. “Should be below now with Kisha and crew. Only here for another couple of hours, though,” she said, checking her wrist unit. “Then Sumaan guard who brought him returns.”
Kusac raised an eye ridge. “Kisha, is it? Wonder what our captain will make of that.”
T’Chebbi shrugged. “Didn’t seem to mind. Just grinned and laughed. He has a sense of humor, that one. Needs it, working with Assadou!”
“Oh, I told Assadou to move back here,” said Kaid. “Much as I’m sure you’d like us to leave him behind, Carrie, we can’t.”
She shrugged. “We’ll only have his company for a short time before we transfer to one of our own ships. I can live with it.”
Kusac pushed himself away from the table. “I’d like to go and have a look round our shuttle,” he said. “Double check everything and pick up some provisions to take with us tomorrow on the caravan. Check where everything is. We need to make it look as though we are going to be traveling overland and back with them.”
“Need to choose what weapons you want as well,” Kaid said, getting to his feet. “You’ll be searched to make sure you take nothing above the normal Jalnian tech level. I got some nice self-assembly pistols and rifles. Broken down you’d not guess what they were. I suggest you take one of each and put them together as soon as you can.”
*
T’Chebbi led the way down to the cargo bay. Kaid chose to fall back beside Carrie.
“Y’know, I wish I had her long hair,” said Carrie, watching the other female’s single plait bob against her hips as she walked.
“Huh?”
Carrie looked up at him. “T’Chebbi. You wanted to talk to me about her.”
“Yes, but…”
“Kaid, I meant what I sent last night. She’s part of our family now, not just a Clan member, and I’m glad she is. We’ve gotten close. She must have had a rough time before you brought her to Stronghold. No one could have guessed she’d been a Consortia. She hides it well.”
“You must have gotten close,” he said as he felt her take his hand. “She kept that from me until very recently. Even I’m only beginning to know about her past.”
“I won’t ask her,” she reassured him, stopping for a moment. “I chose my family, Kaid. I chose Kusac, and I chose you as my life-mates. You chose T’Chebbi as your lover, and I choose to have her as my bond-sister. Now stop fretting!” she said, reaching up to rest her hand against his neck and caress it. “Stop worrying about my Human side!”
She felt his relief as he bent to kiss her briefly before they continued down the corridor to the cargo lift.
“What does worry me is that in a few hours you’ll be face to face with the father you’ve never seen,” she said. “You’re going to find it difficult to avoid each other as he’s one of us, more so now he has a Triad relati
onship with Jo.”
Kaid shrugged. “A biological act, nothing more. He was unaware of my existence, still is. I was the result of my mother’s choice. I see no need to tell him.”
“It’s a bit more complex than that, and you don’t know how he felt about your mother. He may well have cared for her. Aren’t you even curious?”
“Perhaps a little,” was the last he’d say on the matter.
*
Rezac sat waiting impatiently for Jo. Rescue was so close. The Sholans and Carrie had come for them, all they had to do was get out of this castle and down to the lowland town of Galrayin. Beside him, Zashou sat wrapped in a blanket. Her once lustrous blonde hair and pelt were dull, and her face looked thin and haggard.
“I’m afraid, Rezac,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll make it to this town. I’ll never stay on the beast.”
“You’re sharing one with me,” he said gently, reaching out to touch her cheek. “I’ll hold you in front of me. You won’t be able to fall.”
“I’m too pregnant to be riding,” she whispered. “I know I am!”
“You don’t know for sure. You’ll be fine, Zashou.” He was glad their Link had dimmed with her increasing pregnancy. Because now she couldn’t feel his fears for her. None of them had any experience with parenthood but he was afraid she had the right of it.
We’re coming, he heard Jo send to him. He roused himself, easing away from Zashou and standing up. “They’re here,” he whispered to Kris and Davies.
Together they headed for the door, waiting for the guard to open it. When he did, Kris reached out and grasped the man by the throat, pulling him into the room as Rezac darted outside to deal with the other.
Davies dealt the startled soldier a swift thump on the back of the head with one of their heavier tools. Stunned, he fell to his knees, dropping his spear which Kris leaped forward to catch. Another blow, and he fell to the floor senseless.
Outside, one cuff to the side of the head from Rezac’s paw and the other guard fell against the wall, sliding down it into an unconscious heap. Looping his hands under the man’s arms, Rezac hauled him into their chamber, dropped him, then returned swiftly to Jo’s side.
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