thefiremargins

by Lisanne Norman

  She nodded and did as he asked.

  "He's not convinced but he's leaving it till later," she said. "How do you know all these things?"

  "Drug dreams and memories from somewhere perhaps. Somehow I just remember it, Carrie. It's all confused and vague— all blended into one. Leave it for now. I shouldn't have mentioned it until we were alone."

  * * *

  Shortly after, Vanna ordered Kaid back to the main house to rest.

  "You look awful," she said frankly. "Carrie, Dzaka, see he's put to bed and stays there. I'll look in later this evening and check on his hand." She handed her medikit to Kaid. "You might as well take care of your own pain medication now," she said. "Don't look for Fastheal, I purposely left it out!"

  "I wouldn't touch it, believe me," he said.

  "I'm not taking that risk after the last time!" she answered.

  "I'll be home for third meal," said Kusac, giving Carrie a hug. "I've got to tie matters up before tomorrow. I think it'd be better if you weren't here when the Touibans arrive."

  "If you're going to be unavailable tomorrow," said Kaid, "we need to see Ghyan tonight. We've matters to discuss that can't wait."

  "Invite him over to eat with us," said Kusac.

  * * *

  "Let me understand this fully," said Ghyan, sitting forward in his seat. "Effectively you're saying that of these drug dreams Kaid had, we know that two of them can be proved to have actually happened."

  "That's right," said Carrie. "I think you can also add a third. The dream he had last night concerning the lock for the steel door, and this." She placed the gold-colored flexible collar on the table. "They were exactly where he said they'd be. I think that somehow Kaid's managing to physically travel, not only to distant locations, but back in time."

  "I don't think we can assume he's physically going back in time, Carrie," said Kusac, picking up the collar to examine it once more.

  "No one in the cavern saw me," said Kaid. "A couple of them sensed I was there. I may only have been a presence in their time."

  "We still need to know if, when you can be seen and touched, your physical body goes with you, or duplicates itself in the new location," said Kusac. "Would you object to there being vid surveillance in your room for the next few nights? If you have another dream, we'd at least know whether or not you were still present in your room."

  "No problem. I'm rather anxious to know what's happening myself," said Kaid.

  "Now, about these," said Kusac, waving the collar gently. "You said all Fyak's top people wore one, including Fyak himself?"

  Kaid flicked an ear in assent. "And Rhaid, the captured telepath."

  "L'Seuli said the same," he said thoughtfully, looking closely at the green gem set into the center of the device.

  Playing a hunch, Carrie leaned forward, hand held out. "Can I have it, please, Kusac?" she asked.

  Kusac kept running his fingers over the gem. "Hmm? Oh, not yet, Carrie," he said. "I'm trying to work out how it was made. It's a cunning piece of craftsmanship, the way they've managed to make it so flexible."

  Her suspicions confirmed, Carrie sat back again and looked at the other two males. "Is it just me, or does Kusac seem a little distracted?" she asked quietly.

  "A little," said Ghyan with a slight frown. "Why?"

  "You take it from him," she said. "Go on."

  Obviously puzzled, but prepared to go along with her request, Ghyan turned to Kusac. "May I have a look at it?" he asked.

  Kusac seemed to consider it for a moment or two, then with obvious reluctance, handed it to Ghyan.

  "Now watch Ghyan," she said to Kaid.

  It quickly became obvious that when it was being handled, it seemed to instill in the holder an unwillingness to part with it. The only one who seemed impervious was Carrie.

  Kaid at first refused to touch it, then reluctantly took it from Ghyan. The effect on him was startling. He became lethargic to such a degree that Carrie hurriedly leaned forward and snatched it from his hands. His return to normal was slower than that of the others, but when he had, he was able to describe how he'd felt.

  "I'm remembering again," he said. "They were pacifiers. The closing mechanism on that one's been damaged. Normally, once it's been put on you, you can't get it off without alerting the nearest Valtegan."

  "Why? Did they put these collars on everyone?" asked Kusac.

  "I'd rather know what you mean by remembering," said Carrie.

  Kaid looked across at her. "I still don't know," he said. "I'm just aware that it's something I used to know but forgot. And no, the collars were worn only by telepaths. It was to inhibit their ability to mind talk. I don't know how it worked, but it was a Valtegan device."

  "One which doesn't appear to affect Humans, if I'm anything to go by," said Carrie, picking it up again to examine the stone. "Where did you say Fyak dug up a stone?"

  "In the soil at the base of the plant. In among the roots. It's the same color of green as the sap."

  "The liquid in the phial the physician gave me was just this shade too," she said thoughtfully.

  While the others discussed the two dreams Kaid had had of the caverns, Carrie continued to hold the collar and handle the gem. She knew there was a secret locked inside it, knew that it was up to her to find out what it was.

  It felt soft, almost soapy, as she rubbed her finger over it. She thought she felt a slight crack in the surface. Putting it up to her mouth, she first ran her tongue, then her teeth across the surface before going back to rubbing it. She'd been right. There was a crack. She reached inside it with her mind, trying to identify with its composition so she could match its natural resonance.

  It worked rather too well. Suddenly she was flung into a memory it had stored of the life of the wearer.

  The room was bare and antiseptic, the temperature way too high for Sholans, but the Valtegans had little tolerance for the cold. She sat huddled in the corner, watching as the Valtegan guards came in. There were four of them. Two stayed at the door, one with his rifle trained on her, the other on Rezac, as the other two advanced on him.

  Rezac had been pacing round the room, frustrated and angry that they'd been arrested so soon.

  "It's too soon, Zashou. We shouldn't have been picked up for another month at least!" He banged his hand hard against the wall in frustration. "Dammit! We could lose it now, just because of this! All those risks, all those lives wasted!"

  The Valtegans had only picked them up on suspicion. They hadn't known for sure they were telepaths until they did the pain test. Then they'd both reacted, her worse than him. She'd doubled up retching while he'd managed to maintain his front of insensitivity for several minutes before he, too, had succumbed.

  She watched while the lizards took hold of him, placing the collar round his neck, then electronically sealing it on. He'd struggled, but it hadn't done any good. The Valtegans were stronger than them. Released, he'd been flung into a corner as they turned to her. They'd made the mistake of not activating his collar first.

  She'd tried to sink back into the wall as they came for her but it had done no good. Cool hands grasped her, the nonretractable claws scratching her even through her pelt as they dragged her to her feet.

  As soon as they'd touched her, he'd exploded with rage, the anger coupled with an empty stomach keeping the pain sensitivity at bay for a time. One held her still despite her struggles, managing to collar her while the other dealt with Rezac.

  "Rezac, leave it!" she'd yelled, twisting in the Valtegan's grasp so she could see her Leska. "Don't! You'll get hurt!"

  He hadn't listened. Amazingly, one of his blows floored the guard and suddenly he was attacking the one holding her. Another lucky blow and that guard was sent flying.

  Rezac grabbed her collar in both hands, pulling at the ends till it snapped and fell to the floor. That was all he'd time to do before the stunner hit him full in the back and he collapsed against her, unconscious.

  She'd yowled in fear as they'd
both tumbled to the floor. Then everything went black.

  She felt something ripped from her hands and a worried voice saying over and over again, "Carrie, come back. Come back to me."

  Her vision cleared but she couldn't stop shaking.

  "Carrie, come back. You're at home in Valsgarth. Come back, Carrie."

  Looking up she saw the fear in Kusac's amber eyes. Reaching up with a trembling hand, she touched his face.

  "I'm back," she said. "I saw Valtegans."

  He held her close. "You keep doing this to me," he growled in her ear. "Dammit, stop frightening me like that, Carrie! What the hell were you doing?"

  "I'll tell you if you let me go," she said, her voice muffled against his chest. The shaking had begun to subside now that she knew she'd left the other life behind.

  "Sorry," he said, releasing her. "What were you doing with that damned collar anyway? You seemed to drift off mentally, as if you weren't there. Are you sure it's safe for you to handle it? You seem to have had an even worse reaction to it than the rest of us!" He sat back on his haunches but remained in front of her.

  "I tried to tap into it, and succeeded rather too well," she said. "Where is it?"

  "I don't know," he growled. "I threw the damned thing to the other end of the room. It's dangerous, Carrie."

  "No, it isn't. I saw the memories it had stored from its last owner."

  "Who was it?"

  "It was Rezac and Zashou again. Kaid was right. The Valtegans used them to inhibit the telepaths, and to identify them." A shudder ran through her again at the memory of the reptiles. "They were electronically sealed on so they couldn't be removed, but Rezac managed to rip this one off Zashou before they'd closed it properly. How it got here, I've no idea."

  She reached out to hold Kusac's arm, looking over his shoulder at the other two males. "The Valtegans were there," she said. "They'd taken Shola just as they took Keiss. If we go back, we're going back to them! I don't know if I can do it, Kusac. Not if there are Valtegans there."

  "We shouldn't be going anywhere near the Valtegans," said Kaid. "Vartra and his people are trying to avoid them. That much is clear from everything we've read and experienced."

  "Shola was crawling with them, Kaid! You told us they even had a hatchery at Chezy! They were here to stay as far as they were concerned!" The black terror of her sister's death loomed in front of her again: the smell of blood and the feel of Valtegan claws touching her started her shivering once more.

  The knock at the door came so unexpectedly that Carrie found herself starting in fear and crying out.

  Vanna and Jack came rushing in.

  "What's wrong?" Vanna demanded, moving quickly toward the little group. "What's happened?"

  "Carrie's had a scare, that's all," said Kusac, leaning forward to hold her again. "She picked up memories from that collar Kaid found, memories of Valtegans, and it's started up her old nightmares. The knock on the door was the last straw, I'm afraid."

  Vanna went round behind the chair and sat on the arm at her side. "Come on, cub. Everything's all right, you know it is," she said, reaching out to stroke her hair.

  Carrie suddenly felt embarrassed by all the fuss and, forcing the memories to the back of her mind, she pushed Kusac gently away. "I'm fine now," she said. She turned to Vanna. "We've just discovered that back at the time of the Cataclysm, Shola was crawling with the damned Valtegans!"

  "And they want you to go back to those days," said Vanna sympathetically. "I understand your fears, Carrie, but don't look on it as going back to a time dominated by the Valtegans, look on it as going back to a time where the knowledge you have now can help those people against them! Perhaps your going back helped them finally overthrow the Valtegans."

  "That's probably where your memories are coming from, Kaid," said Ghyan. "You're remembering what you learned while you were in the past."

  "You could be right," he murmured, keeping a watchful eye on Carrie.

  Carrie was aware of his concern too, a quieter presence at the edges of her mind. "Hey, people," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm fine, really I am. It's Kaid who's the invalid, not me."

  "Are you sure?" asked Vanna as she got up from her perch.

  "Positive. It was just so real for a while, as if I was there with them, that's all."

  Vanna nodded and went over to Kaid as Kusac got to his feet and turned to welcome Jack.

  "Oh, I've just come over to bring myself up to date on what's been going on, and to let you know what we found out about that drug," he said, handing Vanna her medikit before heading for the nearest seat. Passing Kaid, he patted him gently on the shoulder. "Good to see you back," he said.

  Kusac sprawled along Carrie's chair arm, resting his hand on her shoulder, needing the physical contact with her. "So what did you find?" he asked.

  "It's a narcotic derived from a plant extract, not native to Shola, and it has strong psychotropic properties. All of this I'm sure isn't news to you, but we have something that is. When we evaporated some of the liquid off the drug, the residue formed a small green stone, similar to our Earth's amber."

  "The stones in the collars," said Kaid. "No wonder they have mind-altering qualities! I'll guarantee that that's why Fyak uses them!"

  "But where did he get them from?" asked Carrie. "Could he have found them in the caverns at Chezy?"

  "Khezi'ipik," said Kaid grimly. "Don't let's forget that place is a Valtegan hatchery." He was aware that he was repeating himself, but somehow it seemed important, too important to ignore.

  "Your hand, please," said Vanna as she hauled a small stool out from under the table and sat at his feet.

  "If that collar could be left for Kaid to find, what's to prevent someone else leaving a large number of collars for Fyak to use?" asked Kusac.

  "Nothing at all," said Ghyan, digging in his robe pocket for his comp pad. "I seem to remember a reference to the green seeds or something like that in the texts that Esken gave us." He punched in a search command and the relevant text appeared.

  "Here it is. Secondly, Bless all contrivances of ancient days, that they become Holy, for they hold the Green Seeds of New Regret. If there were large numbers of these collars, or even large numbers of the stones around on Shola back then, likely there'll still be some out there somewhere in the ruined cities. That's why there are injunctions to be sure to "Bless" the old cities! Only by doing that can they be sure the stones have been destroyed!"

  "Where's the one you pitched across the room?" asked Kaid as he sat patiently with his arm on Vanna's lap while she cut off the old dressing.

  Kusac got up and went to look for it. "You aren't going to believe this," he said, coming back holding it carefully by the clasp. "The stone's shattered. They must be very fragile."

  "Let me hold it," said Kaid.

  "You're joking!" said Kusac, about to put it down on the table.

  "No, let him," said Carrie. "It affected him most, so we'll easily be able tell if it's still working."

  Reluctantly, Kusac passed it over to Kaid. Nothing happened.

  He handed it back. "Looks like a minor blow is enough to break it," he said.

  "It didn't break when Rezac ripped it off Zashou and threw it to the ground," said Carrie. "However, I did feel a crack in the surface after Kaid dropped it in the cavern."

  "Maybe it has something to do with its age," said Jack. "After fifteen hundred years, I'd be somewhat fragile!"

  "Well, we'll still treat it with respect," said Kusac, putting the collar on the table out of harm's way.

  "Mind if I take it to the lab?" asked Jack, picking it up and examining it.

  "Help yourself," said Kusac. "I think we've got all we can from it so far."

  Carrie was aware of Kaid's sharp intake of breath as Vanna carefully removed the dressing from his injured hand. She looked over to him in concern. "How is it?" she asked.

  "I'm impressed," said Vanna, giving the wound a quick visual inspection before getting her handheld scanner
out and running it over him. "Noni's done a good job. I couldn't have done better myself. The fingers appear to be healing well. I can see the beginnings of new bone growth on the shattered one. If it keeps progressing at this rate, you should have a reasonable amount of mobility back in that finger, Kaid." She put the scanner down and began preparing a fresh dressing.

  "I'll leave the scanner with you too. Just don't lose this one," she said. "I haven't quite forgiven you yet for your raid on my drugs and equipment!"