thefiremargins

by Lisanne Norman

  CHAPTER 20

  Carrie ignored the others' reactions to the news. "Go on," she said.

  "Fyak doesn't know any of this. When he visits the Margins, he's pulled back to a temple where Kezule and his troop are hoping to weather out the arrival of the meteorite. I heard Fyak talk to the statue and call it Kezule. I saw the Valtegan, Kezule, reply to him through a translator concealed in the statue. Fyak thinks the voice comes from the God— his God."

  He stopped for a moment. "This Kezule is the one pushing Fyak. He's rearranging our society so that when the Valtegans return to Shola, they'll find it vulnerable."

  "You said there were three people there. Who was the third?" asked Kusac, coming forward to sit on the bed.

  "Ghezu. He's with Fyak now."

  "Ghezu! What's he doing there?" asked Kusac.

  "Hiding from us. Why he's visiting the Margins with him is another matter. He was throwing up, which isn't surprising if Fyak made him take that sap," said Kaid, vague memories of doing the same coming back. "At least for him it'll only last a day."

  "Do you think the drug, whether it's sap or the narcotic, is the key to returning to the Margins?"

  Kaid shook his head. "I don't know. I think it's certainly a factor."

  "You were still physically here, Kaid," said Carrie. "We thought you were dead. You had no pulse we could feel at first, you were as cold as the grave, and covered in dampness."

  He looked at her in shock. "I was here? I couldn't have been! I was at the temple!"

  "We know you were here, Kaid," said Vanna, sitting in the chair. "Unfortunately we only know what you saw at the temple. We've no proof you were physically there."

  "You said I had no pulse ..."

  "That could have been trauma caused by either being in a deep trance, or your reaction to the dream."

  "Then how do I know so much about Fyak and what he's doing!" Kaid demanded, pushing himself into a sitting position.

  "I think we'll call it a night," said Kusac, getting up. "Kaid needs to rest. Vanna, we'll join you downstairs shortly. Thank you for coming so quickly."

  Refusing to let the matter be discussed further, he waited till Vanna and Meral had left, then turned back to Carrie and Kaid.

  "I'm not saying you weren't there, Kaid, but what you're telling us about Fyak, this Kezule, and the Valtegans, isn't substantiated by what you said you saw. I can't see why you're drawing the conclusions you are," he said. "Have you any explanation?"

  Kaid threw himself back against the pillows angrily. "None you'd accept."

  "Try me."

  "I'm remembering again," he said, staring straight at him, daring him to disbelieve.

  "If you're remembering again, then it's got to be because we've been back and learned what's going on," said Carrie.

  "A possibility," said Kusac. "but only if we'd gone back already."

  "I don't think it works quite like that," said Carrie. "Even if we don't go for another week, this will still be our past today, the past affected by the fact that we've been back."

  Kusac shook his head. "Let's leave that one alone. For the sake of argument, we'll assume you were physically there, Kaid. If it needs three to go back, then how does Fyak manage, and you? And how did he get back in the first place?"

  "You're asking me which came first. Fyak's return to the past after eating the plant, or this Kezule leaving some plants growing in that area so that Fyak could find them in order to go back in time! It's the same question as the last one, Kusac! We'll get nowhere like this," he said, obviously frustrated at his inability to explain what had happened to him.

  "Well," said Carrie. "We do know we go back because we now have evidence that we did— Kaid's memories. Let's go forward from there. In actual fact," she said, shifting round so she could see both Kusac and Kaid comfortably, "what Kaid says tallies with the warnings from Esken. The priest with the ties to the past who'll bring the past to our future? If that isn't a Valtegan Commander trying to affect our future by using this mad priest, Fyak, I don't know what is!"

  "You've got a point," conceded Kusac. "All right, I accept that what you say is correct, Kaid. That still leaves us with how the hell do you and Fyak go back on your own?"

  "I don't know!" Kaid was sounding exasperated now. "Maybe that's why Fyak's mad— because he's gone back alone so often! Maybe that's part of why there needs to be three of us!"

  "I'm more interested in how he manages to get himself back to the right time and place," said Carrie thoughtfully. "Does he just decide to go, and his arrival is reported to this Kezule? Or does Kezule call him, perhaps through the collar? How often did he go into trances while you were there, Kaid?"

  "At least once."

  "Say he goes back once a week, that's a lot of visits even since we've known about him. It depends over what time span he arrives in the past," said Carrie. "Any ideas?"

  "We know that debris from the explosion caused by a Valtegan warship hitting our lesser moon caused the actual Cataclysm," said Kusac. "Dzaka's been checking out what would have happened to Shola when this debris hit us. The heat of its approach could have started forest fires. When it actually landed, there'd have been an immense explosion. If it landed in the sea, giant tidal waves. There would certainly have been massive earthquakes, and clouds of water vapor. The rubbish from the seabed as well as the meteorite would have ended up in our atmosphere. And it would all have to fall down again."

  "That's a definitely a cataclysm," said Carrie. "How long would they have between knowing the debris was coming and it actually hitting the planet?"

  "Maybe a couple of days at most."

  "If there were any Valtegan ships capable of space travel, then you can bet that the Valtegans who could would have headed off-planet," she said. "Why did Kezule and his males stay behind?"

  "Who knows? Loyalty? Stupidity? No ships? Any answer is as good as the next one," said Kaid. "Just as we may never know what caused Fyak to go back to the past the first time, unless we ask him."

  "How do we pinpoint our return to the past?" asked Carrie. "That's more important to us than the why's or when's of Fyak."

  "Each time you had a drug dream," said Kusac, "something or someone called you, didn't it? We know we've gone back, so perhaps those we're visiting call us there, because we told them to."

  "Maybe. But I think an important factor we've forgotten is the other crystals. The ones that were used for the eyes of the statue in the monastery," said Carrie. "I still have the one I found. Maybe we could use the memories it holds to choose the right time."

  "We can, but not the way you're thinking, Carrie. We've still got the traditional way," said Kaid. "The En'Shalla ritual has its own rules on how to reach the Cataclysm. It's been handed down for the God knows how long. It's something we haven't yet put into the picture we're building of the past, despite the fact that we've been planning to use it all along. We're probably avoiding it because we know we're going to have to use it."

  "You're right," said Kusac. "We have forgotten about it. However, the people using the ritual didn't survive. Was that the ritual's fault, or the fact that, once there, they met Vartra the person and couldn't cope with it?"

  "We'll use the En'Shalla ritual enhanced by what we've learned. I've been studying it in greater depth," said Kaid. "It works on the principle that a gateway to that time exists because of the energy produced by Shola herself during the Cataclysm. This power pools in certain places— places I've discovered have large deposits of those blue-white crystals in the ground. The Pathwalkers, or Travelers to the Margins leave from either Stronghold, or more commonly in modern times, from the temple at Valsgarth."

  "We'd better start making plans now," said Kusac. "I suggest we look at leaving at the end of this week. Is your body in the past the same there as it is here? Do you still have an injured hand?"

  "Yes," said Carrie. "When he came to the Shrine he had injuries."

  "She's right," said Kaid. "The past feels just as it does here.
It's just as real, except when you leave and arrive. Those times can make you feel that all you want to do is die."

  "Can we take anything with us?" asked Carrie.

  Kaid shook his head. "Not even clothing."

  "Where do these new bodies come from? Do we create them from our imagination? Does going through this gateway automatically create one?"

  "I've no idea, Carrie. We can speculate all we want, but all that really matters is that we go back. We warn Vartra of what's going to happen to his world, and when we return, we can set up our Clan," said Kaid. "To be honest, I've never even seen a gateway."

  "What about stopping Fyak?" asked Carrie. "Shouldn't we be trying to do something about that?"

  "No. We can inform Raiban of what we know and leave it to her to deal with in our time," said Kusac firmly. "How do you feel now, Kaid?" He leaned forward to touch his hand. "You're not as cold as you were."

  "I'm all right," he said. "When I was away, I felt fine. It was a shock to come back to a body that was so cold!"

  "We'll need Vanna to watch us while we're away," said Carrie. "And Ghyan."

  "Talking of Vanna, she's waiting for us downstairs. I suggest we go down and get a meal organized. Are you up to joining us, Kaid?"

  Kaid nodded.

  "Use the chair," said Carrie firmly.

  Kaid exchanged glances with Kusac over her head.

  "I'm no more fussy over you two than you are over me," she retorted in reply to their common thought.

  * * *

  All day Mara had been feeling annoyed. She'd tried to help the archeologists, but the old woman, Pam, had been very unpleasant.

  "If you really want to help," she'd said, "then help by keeping out of our way! I've got enough on my hands trying to deal with those damned Touibans! The last thing I need is a kid like you getting under everyone's feet!"

  That had hurt, and hadn't been justified. She'd only thought that because they were all Humans, they'd be as pleased to have her help as she'd have been to give it.

  Angrily she'd stormed off down to the lower cavern where several of the Sholans were still working on the vehicles. They'd not been overjoyed to see her either. Well, damn them all! She wasn't going to be told by anyone what she could and couldn't do!

  Going over to Jack's table, she'd collected a brush and trowel from there and headed off to the place Dzaka had been uncovering several days before. She squatted down in front of the metal plate he'd been working on and had a good look at it. He hadn't done any more since that day. Well, she'd finish it off for him. With any luck he'd be in later. She'd seen him the day before but Kitra had been hanging around him, and there wasn't a lot she could do with Kitra's father there as well.

  She became quite engrossed in what she was doing and it came as a surprise when she heard Dzaka's voice.

  "What are you doing, Mara? That's the piece Kitra and I were working on."

  She looked up, pleased to find him on his own. "I thought I'd help you," she said, sitting back on her heels. "Look, I've uncovered another three letters."

  "That's not the point, Mara," said Dzaka gently, bending down to her level. "You know enough about the way things are run here to know you mustn't work on someone else's finds without permission. Working on this with me meant a lot to Kitra. She'll be disappointed that you've done so much."

  "Oh, come on, Dzaka. She's only a child! She can find somewhere else to dig, surely," she said, putting her head to one side in an unconscious parody of a Sholan gesture.

  "Why should she?" asked Dzaka. "Why couldn't you have found somewhere else to work?"

  Mara looked up at him, her mouth an O of surprise. "I didn't realize that the feelings of a kitling were that important to you," she said, hearing the touch of anger in her tone. "I'd have thought you were beyond playing nursery games, but it seems I was wrong!" She stood up, and throwing down her brush, stormed past him and out toward the exit.

  She passed Kitra on the way and stopped to turn her temper on the young Sholan as well. Taking her by the shoulders, she pushed her back against the cavern wall. It was all her fault anyway!

  "Just you keep out of my way, Kitra! I'm sick to death of finding you hanging round Dzaka every time I want to talk to him! Go and play with the other cubs and leave the grown-ups to get on with their own lives," she said, her face a spiteful mask of anger.

  "Hey!" a voice yelled from the mouth of the tunnel. "Leave Kitra alone!"

  Mara looked up to see Rulla heading toward her. She gave Kitra one last thump against the wall. "Remember what I said." Releasing her, she turned and ran out past Rulla.

  Rulla ignored her, going instead to Kitra who was still standing there too stunned to move.

  Dzaka was heading toward her at a run from the other end of the tunnel.

  "Are you all right?" asked Rulla, skidding to a stop in front of her. "Did she hurt you?"

  Dzaka pushed Rulla aside, reaching out to gather her close against him. "Are you hurt, little one?" he asked, touching her face gently, ears laid back in concern. "I didn't think she'd dare go near you."

  "I'm fine," she said, her voice shaking as she took hold of his hand. "She told me to leave you alone. I think she wants you for herself. Why would she want that? Why is she being so unpleasant to me?"

  "I don't know, Kitra," said Dzaka, resting his cheek on her head. He looked across at Rulla, his eyes challenging him to say anything. "Perhaps Rulla knows."

  Rulla found himself looking at Kitra, and he didn't know quite what to say.

  "Rulla and I'll talk about it later," said Dzaka, turning his attention back to her. "Don't worry, Kitra, we'll see someone speaks to Mara."

  She nodded, moving closer to him. "Can we leave now? I don't think I want to stay here any longer."

  "Of course. Where do you want to go?"

  "The villa. I want to see Carrie, please."

  His arm around her shoulders, Dzaka led Kitra past Rulla and toward the exit. He stopped a moment, turning to speak to the other male over his shoulder. "You have some responsibility for Mara, Rulla. Make sure she comes nowhere near my Companion again," he said with a low growl.

  Kitra didn't want Dzaka to mention anything about the incident with Mara either to Carrie or her brother, but they did spend the rest of the day within the villa grounds. Consequently Dzaka was unable to speak to Rulla about the matter and had to leave it till the following day.

  * * *

  The silence of the night was split by a shrill scream. Before he'd time to put on the light, Dzaka's bedroom door was flung open by T'Chebbi. Taking one look, she straightened up from her crouch and switched her gun to standby, the slight whining noise sounding unnaturally loud in the small room.

  As Kitra put the light on, Kusac, closely followed by Meral, came running through the small lounge to stop beside T'Chebbi.

  Dzaka removed his knife from Mara's throat and re-leased her.

  "Mara, what the hell are you doing here?" demanded Kusac, seeing to his gun as he came into the room. "Excuse me, Dzaka, Kitra," he said, remembering his manners.

  Dzaka nodded to him and moved back to his bed, sitting down beside Kitra.

  "Me?" said Mara, passing her hand across her throat to make sure it wasn't bleeding. "Me? What about them?" she demanded, pointing to Dzaka and Kitra. "She's only a child! He's seduced her!"

  T'Chebbi began to laugh softly. Mara rounded on her.

  "What's so bloody funny about it? Don't you care about that cub?" she demanded.

  "More than you," she snapped back. "You attacked her in the cavern today!"

  "What?" demanded Kusac. "Is this true, Kitra?"

  Kitra looked from her brother to Dzaka.

  "Yes, but Rulla and I were there almost immediately. Kitra wasn't harmed," said Dzaka, answering for her.

  "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I didn't want to," said Kitra in a small voice, speaking for the first time.

  "Liege, could you ..." began Dzaka, picking up her distress at bein
g disturbed in his bed.

  "Of course," said Kusac, turning to Meral and T'Chebbi. "Out, you lot," he said amicably. "Meral, you go back on duty. T'Chebbi can stay to escort Mara home." He took Mara firmly by the arm and pulled her outside with him.

  "I don't think that'll be necessary," said Meral, cocking his ears backward as the faint sound of the door buzzer was heard. "I think that'll be Zhyaf now."