thefiremargins

by Lisanne Norman

  Vanna. Kusac's thought was reproachful.

  Neither you nor she can go through the rest of your lives with you continuing to protect her from every little breeze! You need to be more robust with her at times! She's a big girl, you know. She used the Terran term.

  I know, and getting bigger every day, he sent wryly, turning to watch his mate.

  "Don't let the cloth round him fall off unless you want to clean up the mess," Vanna warned, glancing briefly up at her as she guided Kaid into the chair.

  "Vanna!" wailed Carrie, as Marak purred and squeaked with delight over her long hair.

  Kaid sat down with relief. "I'm not an invalid, Vanna," he said.

  "No. You should still be bedridden," she said, checking his wrists and cheek. "But I know that's out of the question now. How's his back healing?" she asked Kusac.

  "Fine."

  "It doesn't hurt," said Kaid, leaning back and closing his eyes.

  "Liar," she said, opening her medikit. "I can feel it the moment I touch you," she said as she unpacked a couple of ampules.

  "Kaid, Vanna needs to know," said Kusac quietly, bending over him.

  "I need to know what?" she asked, loading her hypoderm.

  "I'm a telepath," said Kaid tiredly.

  Vanna looked up sharply. "Since when?" Pushing his fur aside, she wiped him with an antiseptic pad before pressing the hypo against his upper arm.

  "Always," he said briefly.

  "Can you block, or will you need suppressants?" she asked, squatting back on her haunches.

  Kaid opened his eyes. "I can block," he said with a small grin. "That's about all I can do."

  Vanna nodded. "You're not going to run out on me this time, are you, Kaid?"

  "Not if I can help it."

  "Good." She stood up and nodded to Jack. "We'll move away from this entrance. You can do without the clouds of dust this lot will be kicking up when they start stringing lighting units everywhere."

  Jack flicked the power back on and the chair began to rise until it floated some six inches from the floor.

  "Do you want to drive it, or shall Jack?" she asked.

  "I'll do it," said Kaid, stretching his good arm along the armrest till his fingertips matched the recesses. Extending his claws, he turned the chair and floated it over to the pile of crates at the other side of the cavern where one or two of the Terrans still sat.

  Vanna looked over to Carrie who had finally worked out that since no one was going to rescue her, she'd better make Marak comfortable.

  "Coming?" she asked.

  Carrie nodded and followed her over.

  "Hey, he's cute," said one of the Terran males. "Hi, little fella," he said, reaching out to touch him between the ears. "Your baby?" he asked Vanna.

  She nodded.

  "Which one's your husband?"

  "The one called Brynne," she said, looking him straight in the eye.

  "The ... Human ... called Brynne?"

  "That's right," she said. "You're looking at the first Sholan/Human child."

  A female leaned forward to touch him. Marak, willing to play grab-the-finger at any time, happily reached out, snagging the digit with his extended claws.

  "Ouch!" she said, wincing. "He's got sharp claws, but you're right, he really is cute."

  Carrie pulled her head back to see him more clearly. "I suppose you're right," she said. "He is rather pretty."

  She looked up at Carrie, Marak still attached to her finger. "I heard you say you were pregnant. Will yours look like this?"

  Carrie glanced at Vanna in momentary panic, finding her friend regarding her composedly. "Well, answer her, Carrie," she said.

  She looked back at the woman. "Yes. My daughter will look like this," she said, managing to keep her voice level and calm. At her side, a hand reached out to touch her elbow. She looked down at Kaid.

  You're doing fine, he sent.

  The woman laughed as Marak put her finger into his mouth and began to suck it. "He's just like my sister's child," she said. "I guess all babies are essentially the same. I'm Mattie by the way, and that's Greg." She indicated the male who'd admired Marak. "I know you're Carrie, but I don't know your friends."

  "Vanna, and Kaid," she said.

  "Hi there." She smiled sympathetically at Kaid. "What happened to your hand? Did you have an accident?"

  "You could say that," he replied, putting his good hand back on the chair arm.

  "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it's better soon." She looked up at Carrie again. "Don't pay any attention to Pam. She can be a pain to get on with, but she really knows her stuff."

  "How did she get to be in charge of your team?" asked Carrie.

  "Politics," said Mattie with a grimace. "When this dig came up, she demanded to lead it, and pulled strings to see she got what she wanted."

  Carrie made a noncommittal noise as she sat down on one of the cases.

  Vanna turned back to Kaid. "Feeling better?"

  "A lot, thank you."

  "I'll check your hand later. There's too much dust around to look at it here. Jack, would you hand me up the protein drink for Kaid, please?"

  As she shared the contents of the basket around, she reached for Kusac.

  Have a look at Carrie. I told you this was what she needed.

  He looked. All right. I admit it, you were right and I was wrong. You have to realize it's not easy for me, especially at the moment. All my instincts are demanding that I protect her from everything.

  I do appreciate that, Kusac. So long as you're aware of it, I know you'll manage. Come and get some food. You can't go in till they've got the lights up anyway.

  She handed Carrie a small bottle. "Want to feed him?" she asked, pleased to see her son lying happily in the crook of Carrie's arm while she teased him with a lock of her hair.

  "Yes, of course I'll feed him," she said, "but I thought that..."

  "I can't always feed him," she said. "So every now and then he has a bottle. Just put it in his mouth, he'll hang onto it for you," she said.

  It was a couple of hours before the lights were strung up and the cavern ready for them to enter. By that time, Kaid was looking and feeling a lot better. Jack had taken the rug out of the floater's back storage locker and spread it round him.

  "It can be cold when you're sitting in just one position for several hours," he said.

  Marak had been returned to his carrier and was peacefully sleeping off his feed.

  "What do you intend to do about Pam?" Mattie asked Kaid as they made their way over to the entrance. "Quite frankly, we wouldn't miss her if she went! She's as unpleasant to us as she is to you."

  Kaid set the floater to a height that matched his own when standing so he could answer her quietly.

  "It depends on her. If she leaves Carrie alone, Kusac and she will probably tolerate her continued presence on the estate. If she doesn't, then she'll be sent away."

  "Can they do that? I thought General Raiban had ordered..."

  "You don't know the politics behind this," interrupted Kaid. "Briefly, Kusac's father is head of Alien Relations. Kusac was the one who first made contact with the Terrans on Keiss ..."

  "So he and Carrie were the first mixed Leska pair," she finished. "That part I had worked out."

  "We've been on the cutting edge of the research into our past since the beginning, collating the various records of dreams and visions and suchlike ..."

  "Dreams and visions? You've based research on dreams and visions?" Her tone was one of disbelief.

  "Yes, and they led us here, to this hill."

  "You're kidding me!"

  "I'll tell you the details another time," he said as they passed from one cavern into the other. "But to continue, because we've been so instrumental in the discoveries, Raiban isn't going to alienate us by keeping us out of this dig. She needs the information only we can provide."

  Mattie shook her head slowly. "I still don't get it. Dreams and visions, for God's sake."

&nbs
p; "Exactly," said Kaid. "Just stay around, you'll learn." He speeded the chair up a little to catch up with Kusac who was standing a few feet ahead of him.

  "Just look at this place, Kaid," he said. "Think of the effort that went into outfitting it!"

  They were in the central aisle of the room. To their right was a long wooden bench where various beakers and equipment had been left. A couple of notepads lay there, their writing long since faded. Carrie reached out to touch one and it dissolved in a small cloud of dust.

  "Don't touch anything!" Pam's sharp voice echoed round the cavern.

  Inwardly, Carrie growled her anger. She knew the older woman was right, but by Vartra, she was abrasive! Now she had an overwhelming desire to touch something else just to prove to Pam that she wouldn't be ordered around.

  To the left of the room was a long rack of metal shelves. Wires dangled all over them, but the equipment they'd been attached to was gone save for one small screen which sat on top of a unit faced with small windows and keypads. Beyond that, at the far end of the cavern, sat a large boxed unit. The front had small glass bulbs set into its surface as well as units with horizontal slots obviously designed to accept some kind of physical object.

  Pipes ranged along the upper walls, and in the far right hand "corner," was another tunnel mouth.

  "It's a lab," said Mattie as she looked around. "A research lab." She walked past Kusac, stopping to look at the devices set on the shelves to her left.

  Carrie had gone over to the large metal box at the end of the passage.

  "Don't touch anything till we have a record of what's here," said Pam, pointing to Greg who carried a vid recorder. The recorder was running as he slowly panned over the bench, then moved on to the shelving behind it.

  Mattie examined the unit with the keypads visually before cautiously touching it with the pencil she was carrying.

  "Has anyone tried the power just on the off chance it's still working?" Bob called out.

  A ripple of laughter greeted his remark.

  "OK, so it wasn't my brightest idea," he said with a grin.

  "Pity about the power," said Mattie, jotting down a few notes on her pad. "I'd swear this unit was part of an analyzer, and the one above would probably be linked into the main computer, wherever that is."

  "Over here," said Carrie. "This has to be their main comp. It's huge! Almost as large as the one we had on the Eureka. In fact, they're pretty similar. See if you can find any data storage disks or crystals. I'm sure the slots are for putting in some kind of flat device for reading and recording data."

  "It's possible that we still have computers capable of reading data stored that way," said Mattie.

  "If you can't, Keiss can," said Carrie, turning away from the box. "And there are the Touibans whose speciality is comps of all types."

  "There are Touibans in Valsgarth," said Kusac thoughtfully from where he was examining what was obviously a microscope of some kind.

  They heard a scraping sound from behind the metal shelving where Dzaka had gone prowling.

  "You were told not to touch anything!" repeated Pam, rushing around the corner.

  "It's only drawers full of decaying papers," said Dzaka.

  "Dzaka, look in the end unit, bottom drawer," said Kaid, maneuvering his chair down the passageway between the shelves and the stools that sat at the side of the long bench.

  They heard his claws clicking on the bare wood, then he stopped. Again the squeaking of metal against metal.

  "I think I've found what you're looking for." Dzaka's voice had a strange quality to it, part awe and part elation.

  "Leave that where it is!" Pam's voice traveled loud and clear through the room. Moments later, Dzaka emerged carrying several flat objects which he took to Carrie.

  Taking them from him, she examined them carefully. "They could be data disks," she said. "The casing's about to disintegrate, but I'm sure that can be got round."

  "I'll take them," said Pam, holding out her hand to Carrie.

  "I think not," Carrie replied, moving away from the computer to stand beside Kusac. She handed the disks to him.

  "I'll get Father to set it up so we can bring the Touibans in to see this place. Once they've got an idea of the type of device that reads these disks, they can duplicate something, I'm sure."

  "Those disks will be sent to our HQ for analysis, nowhere else," said Pam firmly. "I'm asking you to hand them over to me so the proper authorities can have them."

  Kusac sighed as he pocketed the disks. "You just don't listen, do you? We are the proper authorities. We personally have the resources of not only of a whole planet at our fingertips, but those of another three species, one of which is expert in all aspects of communications and storing data. Yours is only one of the cultures we have helping us."

  "I want those disks!"

  "My son is quite right, Ms Southgate," said Konis as he walked down the passage to join them. "Those particular finds do not fall within your area of responsibility." He stopped beside Kaid for a moment, reaching out his palm in greeting. "It's good to see you back, Kaid."

  Hesitantly Kaid returned the gesture, aware that Konis had welcomed him as a fellow telepath. "Thank you, Clan Lord."

  "I thought I'd see how you're getting on," he said to Kusac. And bring Kitra over to see Dzaka, he sent with a slight smile.

  Kusac grinned as he glanced over to where his young sister was greeting Dzaka. Looks like they've missed each other.

  She's been pestering us for news every day!

  "Lord Aldatan," began Pam, squaring up to him as she stepped between him and Kusac. "We're supposed to be in charge of this site! My team and I cannot possibly do our job properly if crucial finds are withheld from us!"

  "I trust my son's judgment, Ms Southgate," said Konis. "If he feels the Touibans are better equipped to handle the disks, then they will be given to them. The important factor here is recovering the data, not cataloging finds. You are here to help us achieve that end, not fulfil your personal ambitions. It might be better for you and your team to keep that point in mind, then you are likely to face fewer disappointments." He returned to Kusac. "When do you want the Touibans?"

  "Today?"

  Konis frowned. "Rather short notice, but I'll contact them and see what can be done. Where can they work?"

  "At our lab," said Vanna. "We're not using most of those rooms yet. They can use the whole of the first floor for living space if they need it."

  "Get your estate manager and main attendant to organize appropriate bedding and food. If they need advice, tell them to contact Che'Quul. He's dealt with all our Alliance friends at one time or another."

  While they were talking, Carrie leaned over to speak to Kaid. "How did you know the disks were there?" she asked.

  He raised one shoulder in a shrug. "I just knew. I don't know how." He tried to force himself to remember but he found it impossible to focus his mind on the subject.

  "It doesn't matter," she said, touching his shoulder as she felt his distress. "We have the disks, that's what matters. We're in the new house now," she said, changing the subject. "I hope you'll stay with us. We need to talk about this, and the collar, later."

  "Thank you," he said quietly. "I remember more, but it's from the time of the drug dreams and it's difficult to recall. I wish I knew what he'd given me!"

  "The physician at Stronghold found a phial of the drug in the medic's kit. He gave it to us for analysis."

  "He did? What have you found out?"

  She shook her head. "Nothing yet. Jack's been working on it with Vanna's help. We'll ask them later." She stopped to study his face. "The drug dreams. We need you to record them. Are you able to cope with the memories?"

  His face hardened, his eyes taking on a dead quality. "I can cope," he said. "Fyak uses the same drug, if my dreams are to be believed. It's a plant that grows in the caverns at Khezi'ipik. He found one of the green stones, like those in the torcs, among its roots. The stones and the plant a
re connected somehow."

  "Why do you keep calling it Khezi'ipik?"

  He looked away for a moment. "I remember it being called that. Khezi'ipik was the Valtegan name for those caverns. It was their hatching ground."

  Carrie leaned against his chair as the blood drained from her face. "Oh, dear God, no! They were breeding on Shola?"

  Kaid's hand closed on her arm like a vice as Kusac looked in their direction. "Send to him! Tell him you're all right before everyone knows!" he said urgently, keeping his voice low. "The hatchery was there fifteen hundred years ago, Carrie, not now!"