"We'll see you soon," said Kusac, signing off.
* * *
The presence exploded within their minds, stunning them all with the force of its sending. They could almost hear the roar of victory that preceeded it.
We succeeded, and we live! Tell Vartra that his experiments worked!
They all saw the darkened cellar, and the indistinct forms of three Humans before it was replaced by an image of a female so like Rhyasha that it defied belief.
It was Carrie who responded. Rezac? She felt the affirmative rather than heard it. Trust those with you. They'll bring you safely home.
Then a sense of danger filled her as she saw the force gathered against them. Take care! We'll come for you, I swear it!
As suddenly as it came, the sending was gone, leaving them feeling drained and confused.
"Who was it, Carrie?" demanded Kusac. "Where were they?"
Shaking, she put her hand up to her eyes, trying to rub the tiredness from them before answering.
"It was Rezac and his Leska, Zashou. I don't know how, but they seem to be in the same place as Jo and Davies."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. We've all seen them before in replays."
Kusac let out a long breath as he looked at Kaid. "They're still alive," he said. "Your father!"
Kaid made a dismissive gesture. "I'll believe that when I meet them," he said. "Let's get Carrie home."
They'd barely been traveling for more than quarter of an hour when Carrie, unable to hide the fact she was in labor any longer, began to moan.
"What is it?" asked Kusac, immediately concerned as she doubled up, clutching her belly in obvious pain.
"Stop the aircar," she said, barely able to talk.
"Stop?" he repeated, confused by the sensations of pain that were starting to flood through him.
"Oh, God," she whimpered. "Land it, Kusac! The baby's coming!"
"I'm landing," said Kaid, dropping the aircar down to look for a likely site. "We're not clear of the hills yet, it's not going to be easy."
Carrie felt her barriers weakening but she was in too much pain now to care.
Kusac watched his mate in panic, trying to put his arms round her while at the same time experiencing the same abdomen-wrenching pains. "Kaid, land this 'car now!" he said. "She's broadcasting her pain!" He looked at Carrie, trying to use his own blocks to keep her agony at bay. "What do we do?"
"I don't know," she said, tears running down her face. "No one told me! There were supposed to be weeks left yet. It hurts, Kusac!"
"There should be a medikit on board," said Kaid, glancing round.
Her pain had stopped for the moment and Kusac was able to slide out from his seat and look at the locker fronts. One of them bore the Medic Guild's symbol on the front. "Got it," he said, opening it and pulling the medikit out.
"See if there's analgesics in it. And psychic suppressants," he added, feeling an echo of Carrie's pain himself.
Kusac sat down beside her again. She was beginning to uncurl and looked a little better as some of the color returned to her face. "Everything'll be fine," he reassured her as he began to fumble in the bag. Various sealed bandages and dressings began to fall out as he searched for the drugs. Finally he pulled a pack out.
"Got some analgesics and a hypo," he said, as Carrie once more doubled up. The pain hit him again too, low in his gut, making him double over in shock.
"Kaid! Get this thing down! I can't help her when we're like this!"
She was making small mewling noises of pain as she rocked herself back and forth in an effort to ease the agony.
"I'm trying," said Kaid, aware of the pain both of them were suffering. He reached inside himself, building the barriers he'd lived behind until now. This time there was a real need for them. "Don't do anything till I've landed," he warned. "I need to check the drugs myself. Try and find those suppressants! This is the craft Anirra used to use when he had to accompany them on a raid. There's got to be some on board somewhere!"
He flew lower, searching for a clearing. Some almost forgotten bit of knowledge from his days in Dzahai village came back to him.
"How far apart are her pains? The closer they are, the nearer she is to giving birth. And the membrane round the cub, has it burst yet?"
"They don't stop," Carrie whimpered as the contractions continued. "And yes, it burst while you were fighting."
"Kaid," said Kusac, his voice taut with pain as he dropped the medikit and tried to comfort Carrie, "In the God's name, land anywhere!"
"Got somewhere," Kaid said, circling over a small clearing before beginning to descend.
No sooner had he switched the engines off than he was out of his seat and round beside them.
"We need to move her," he said. "There's no room to treat her. Carry her down to the rear. Her pains have eased off, you should be able to cope for a few minutes."
Wrapping his arms around her, Kusac picked her up carefully and eased his way off the seat. While he was doing that, Kaid was opening all the lockers to get what blankets and pillows he could, as well as trying to locate the suppressants. He only came up with two blankets.
Kusac was squatting with Carrie held across his knees, unwilling to lay her down on the bare metal floor. Kaid opened the blankets out, then reached over and handed them to Kusac.
"Make her as comfortable as you can while I check the drugs," he said, going back to where the medikit lay on the floor.
"Kaid! I don't know anything about this! Come back!" said Kusac, looking up the aisle at him.
"Neither do I!" Kaid replied, reading the instructions on the pack.
Kusac threw one blanket down on the floor then placed Carrie carefully on part of it, covering her with the rest. Quickly he folded the other, placing it against his knees. He drew her closer, resting her head on his lap, gently stroking her with one hand while she held onto his other.
She began to laugh hysterically, tears of pain running unchecked down her cheeks. "Oh, God! Here I am, in the middle of nowhere, the first Human woman to have a Sholan cub, with two males who don't know the first thing about childbirth as birthers!"
Her laughter turned into a cry of pain as the contractions intensified and she began to moan again, gripping Kusac's hand so hard she was hurting him.
Waves of her pain hit both males full force this time, bringing Kaid to his knees and making Kusac double up and nearly collapse on top of her.
She cried out again, pulling away from him this time in an effort to push herself up onto her knees. The pain was unremitting now as her insides contracted, determined to expel the child that had become such a part of her.
"Don't sit up, cub," said Kusac, pushing himself upright again and taking hold of her in an effort to urge her back down beside him.
"Leave me!" she snapped, almost falling as she bent over, holding onto her belly again. "It helps," she moaned. And it did. The next few spasms weren't so intense as gravity itself seemed to help pull her cub lower.
Terror gripped her in its claws. Was the cub really coming too early? Dear God, no! They'd both wanted her so much ... loved her from the first. She couldn't lose her now, not again! With a cry of anguish and pain, she collapsed back against him, her fear echoing throughout the small cabin, and the minds of the two males.
"Forget the drugs, Kaid!" said Kusac, holding onto her as all three of them suddenly felt the cub's mind flare to wakefulness. "Come and help me!"
"I've got the suppressants!" said Kaid, scrambling forward as he hurriedly loaded the drug into the hypo.
The pain eased off again, but not Carrie's fear. "Leave me alone!" she shrieked, trying to pull away from them as both males reached for her. She backed off toward the rear bulkhead and stayed there, doubled forward on her knees.
"Carrie, it's only a suppressant," said Kusac, trying to keep his voice calm as he held out his hand to her. "We need to stop you broadcasting your pain and fear. We can't help you if we don't."
"No! Stay away from me! You're not giving me anything that'll hurt my baby! I won't let you!" Her voice was hoarse, her throat scraped raw with crying out.
"Think of the cub, Carrie," said Kaid. "What's your pain and terror doing to her? Have you thought of that?"
She looked at him. "She can feel it?"
"Of course. She's closer to you now than we are."
Slowly she forced the fear back, and uncurling herself, crawled toward Kusac, lying her head on his lap and starting to cry.
They felt her mind taking control, felt her pain gradually recede, taking the fear with it until it was gone. Both males breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Kaid," said Kusac, his voice still shaken from the pain he'd experienced, "I really could do with your help." He gave a strangled yowl as Carrie clutched at his leg.
Dropping the hypo, Kaid scrambled over to them and squatted down at Carrie's side.
She was vaguely aware of her hands being taken and held by Kusac as the need to push down overwhelmed her.
"She's coming now, and I can't stop her," she sobbed, twisting and turning as she tried to escape her mate's hold on her.
"Then let her come," said Kaid, reaching out to take hold of her chin for a moment. His brown eyes regarded her calmly. "Your body knows better than any of us what to do, let it."
"What if something's gone wrong?" she moaned, tightening her grip on Kusac's hands as Kaid helped her curl up on her side. "What if we need help? Medical help. Vanna did!"
"We're all of us En'Shalla now, Carrie. In the hands of the Gods. Trust in Vartra to have got it right. He's not done badly so far, considering he only had one Human blood sample to work with."
"I'd forgotten about that," said Kusac quietly.
Once again they felt a tiny presence flare within their minds.
"In the God's name, see what's happening," Kusac hissed urgently as Carrie cried out again.
His Brotherhood paramedic training taking over, Kaid untangled Carrie's legs from the heavy robe and pulled it aside. He was just in time to catch the small, damp bundle of newborn cub as she emerged into the world.
"Oh!" he said, looking down at the tiny unmoving body that lay in his hands.
The two males exchanged worried glances as Carrie lay exhausted and panting between them.
Kaid looked away first. Putting the cub down onto the blanket, he pulled the waist sash free of his robe and began carefully cleaning her cub's face, checking that her mouth and nose were clear of the remains of the membrane.
Her sudden sneeze seemed to echo loudly in the silence as both males began to breath again themselves. As she began to whimper, they felt her mental presence begin to steady and search for her mother.
Kaid offered up a silent prayer to Vartra.
Carrie began to push herself up but Kusac's arms were instantly there to help her. She peered down at Kaid who had just finished wiping the cub.
"I want her," she said, holding out her arms. "I want my cub."
"Her pelt's still slippery," he warned as carefully he lifted her up and moved forward to place her in Carrie's arms. "And she's still attached."
Carrie held her in the crook of her arm while, with her other hand, she gently touched her daughter's face. Though her cub's eyes were squeezed tightly shut, a tiny hand reached unerringly for her, wrapping itself round her finger. Carrie felt the cub began to gently vibrate.
"She's purring!" she said in surprise, looking up at Kusac.
"She is," he agreed, a slow grin spreading across his face. With their daughter's birth, his link to Carrie no longer brought pain. The joy he felt was enhanced by hers. Reaching for his own sash, he pulled it free, holding it out to her.
"Wrap her in this," he said. "We don't want her getting cold."
"You'll help me, won't you?" she said, her eyes shining up at him in the dim light of the aircar.
He leaned down to gently lick her cheek. "You try and stop me," he said.
Kaid decided now was a good time to make his retreat. "I'll go call Vanna for some advice."
* * *
"Vanna, Kaid here."
"Kaid! You're all safe! Thank the Gods for that! What's this about Carrie being nearer to having her cub than we thought? She's not going into premature labor, is she?"
"Not exactly, Vanna," he said. "It's an effect of travelling back to the Margins. She's just had the cub and they're both fine. I'd like to know what the hell do we do now?"
Vanna began to laugh hysterically.
* * *
Half an hour later, they were on their way again. Carrie and Kashini were wrapped comfortably in the blankets, both of them lying curled up at the back of the aircar with Kusac. He sat there, Carrie held in his arms, watching their daughter having her first feed. Reaching down, he gently ran his finger across the curve of Kashini's cheek. With her tiny ears still folded close to her head, and her short blond pelt, it was easy for him to see the Human in her.
"She's our daughter," said Carrie contentedly, "and she's beautiful."
"She certainly is. You know, we've really got a lot to thank Vartra for," he said, transferring his attention to her.
"But not the way everyone else means it," Carrie said, grinning up at him.
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