Fortune's Wheel

by Lisanne Norman

  her alone!"

  "You're a fool, Kusac, and at this moment I have to say a selfish fool! That female is your life, she's everything to you, and I don't just mean your Link. Don't be so blind to her feelings or you could lose her."

  "I don't have to hear any more of this," he snapped, turn-ing his back on her and leaving.

  * * *

  Chyad threw the wrapper into the garbage bag with dis-gust. He might have enough rations to last him amonth, but it didn't mean they were edible. They were worse than Forces' rations, and that was saying alot! He took a drink from the bottle of water and almost gagged on it. It had been tepid that morning,now it was warm.

  He'd arrived in the dead of night, managing to find some-where to land and conceal his aircar till dawn. As the sun rose, he went scouting round the immediate area, looking for a better place of concealmentfor himself and his craft.

  As luck would have it, only twenty meters away he'd found the entrance to a widemouthed tunnel. It waschoked with the God knew how many years of dead growth from the bushes growing in front of it, buthe'd been able to clear away enough to allow him to drive the aircar into the tunnel then conceal it again

  from outside.

  His hand went up to his brow and fingered the scar there. It was a permanent reminder of his crash on Keiss. That damn-fool she-jegget Maikoe was responsible for that. How anyone could screw up a fakedemergency landing, he'd no idea, but she had. Just as well she'd died in the crash else he'd have killed herhimself!

  Then there was the male who'd thrown the explosive into the craft. His jaw tightened as he rememberedhim. He'd been lucky to get out alive. He'd risk his last coin betting that that male had been the one who'dkilled the others. That had been a big mistake. Now it was personal. Now his sense of honor wasinvolved.

  He'd had a long time to plan his revenge. The worst thing he could do to someone hired to keep thatdamned Leska pair alive was to kill them, and leave him alive to live with his failure. That's why he washiding out on the Aldatan es-tate, waiting for his chance. He still believed the treaty with Earth was totallyinsane, but now, as an added bonus, the death of the telepath and his alien qwene would destroy thattreaty.

  Leaning forward, he picked up the earpiece for the public info nets and placed it in his ear beforeswitching on the comm. He had several hours to kill before he could risk leaving his cover to go scoutinground the grounds. While he listened to the news program, he stripped down his gun, making sure it wasclean and ready for use when the time came.

  * * *

  Carrie hadn't gone far. As she fled out of the Terran area into the guild grounds, she ran straight into

  Kaid.

  "Hey," he said, catching hold of her. "What's the matter?" He saw the tears streaking her face and heard her ragged breathing. He gathered her against his side, holding her face against his chest so it couldn't be seen. "Come with me," he said, taking her across the grounds to the guest house.

  When he reached Meral's room, he banged loudly on the door. Meral opened it, stepping back insurprise.

  "Out," ordered Kaid. "Fetch a large pot of coffee from their suite. Here's my key, use it."

  He took her over to the nearest chair and sat her down in it, pulling up a soft cushion for himself.

  "Now, tell me what's wrong," he said, holding her hands.

  Carrie snuffled. "I need my hands."

  He let them go until she'd dug out a tissue and blown her nose, then he recaptured them in one of his.

  "It has to be something serious to get you so upset," he said. He frowned, catching hold of her chin and examining her face. "I thought so," he said, letting her go. "You're pregnant, aren't you? It shows in your eyes. I've suspected as much for a couple of days."

  "How many more people can tell?" she asked, utter panic in her voice and on her face.

  "Only those who know what to look for. You have to be at least three months. At a guess, another

  week, maybe two, then you'll begin to show." He hesitated. "Kusac's?"

  She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks again. "He blames me for this and the Challenge. It's notmy fault, Kaid! He's as much to blame as I am!" Her shoulders began to shake again.

  Kaid gathered her close, bringing her down onto the cush-ion beside him. "Don't start crying again. It'sno one's fault, Carrie."

  "They'll know, they'll all know as soon as they see me, Kaid, and they'll hate me for it," she wept, clutching at his jacket. "And now he hates me too! What am I going to do? I wish I were dead!"

  "Never wish that," said Kaid. "Why should anyone, espe-cially Kusac, hate you?"

  "They'll know I'm sleeping with him, that the child's his."

  "Of course you're pairing with Kusac, you're his Leska, that's what Leskas do," said Kaid. "Why should

  it suddenly matter to anyone but the two of you?"

  "The Terrans. Don't you see? They'll hate me for carrying an alien child! And he hates me, too. Why, Kaid?" she sobbed. "I know he wanted children, I felt it that day in the market. Why doesn't he want ours?"

  Kaid felt completely out of his depth. Armfuls of soft pregnant females were totally outside hisexperience, espe-cially when they were as upset as Carrie was.

  "Carrie… I don't know what to tell you, what to say. You don't live with the Terrans now, you live with us. It doesn't matter what they think. Kusac can't hate you, nor your child. It's a shock to both of you—to all of us! Both of you just need time to adjust."

  "To adjust to what, Kaid?" Her tearful face looked up at him. "I'm not human anymore! I'm carrying an alien's child, for God's sake! What the hell am I, Kaid? What have I be-come?" Where she held onto his jacket, she started to shake him. "What has he done to me, Kaid?" Her voice rose in hysteria.

  "Enough of that," said Kaid, grasping her hands firmly. "I can't tell you what you want to know, Carrie. All I can say is that to me you're no different than when I first met you." Gently, he unclenched her hand, letting her hold his instead of his jacket.

  A knock sounded at the door and Meral cautiously opened it. "Coffee's here," he said, bringing it over toput on the ta-ble beside Kaid. "I'll get mugs, shall I?"

  "When you've got them, fetch Vanna over here, and if you see Kusac, say nothing about this," said Kaid.

  Carrie had quieted to the point where only the odd shud-dering breath showed she'd been crying. Kaidcarefully ex-tricated himself from her grip and poured the coffee.

  "Here," he said, handing her a mug. "It'll help relax you."

  Carrie began to laugh, a very wobbly laugh to be sure. "Have I become so Sholan that coffee is anintoxicant to me?"

  "Would that be such a bad thing?" he asked. "Would it upset you so much to know that most males have to be care-ful not to respond to you as they would to a Sholan female? You're becoming part of our world, Carrie. This child of yours and Kusac's proves it. The God moves in strange ways. There's a reason for everything, even if we don't know it."

  "There's another mixed Leska pair," Carrie said after di-gesting Kaid's words.

  "I thought you'd not be the only ones. When there are more like you, then the Terrans won't be so

  intolerant."

  "The girl's underage, Kaid. Her parents still control her life. They won't accept the Link and have shut

  their daugh-ter away in the Terran quarters. Vanna wants me to talk to her."

  "Are you strong enough to do that now?"

  Carrie cocked her head on one side and looked quizzically at him.

  Kaid leaned forward and flicked her nose with a finger. "So Sholan," he said. "Can you now go and tellanother Terran how good a Sholan Leska link is, knowing that you are carrying a Sholan's child and thatthis girl will probably i do the same when the God wills it?"

  Carrie took a deep, calming breath. "I think so," she said.

  "Then you know what to do when Vanna arrives."

  "Kaid," she said, putting her mug down. "What are you?"

  "What do you think I am?" he asked, amused by her
ques-tion.

  "I know you're a Warrior, but you're more. You give nothing away mentally. Your mind is so still."

  He shifted his position on the cushion, making himself more comfortable. "I was a member of the

  Brotherhood of Vartra," he said.

  "The Warrior elite," she said quietly.

  "If you like. They have their own sub-Guild affiliated to the Warriors', but our order is also religious. We don't ad-vertise our calling. Those who need us know where to find us, and that is all I will tell you," he said with a faint grin.

  The door chimed. "Probably Vanna," said Kaid, getting to his feet.

  "Carrie will go with you to talk to the Terran girl," he said, flicking an ear at Vanna as she entered.

  "Right," she agreed. "Well, if she's ready?"

  Carrie got to her feet and joined her at the door.

  "I think we should stop off in my room for you to freshen up first," Vanna said diplomatically.

  Chapter 16

  "Mrs. Fielding, thank you for seeing us," said Carrie as they stood at the entrance to the family's rooms.

  "I only agreed to see you," said the woman, her voice sharp with criticism. "You had no right to bring her

  with you."

  "Vanna's my friend and a doctor, Mrs. Fielding. I was ac-tually hoping to see your daughter, Lynn."

  "I know you did, but you'll have to make do with me."

  Inwardly Carrie sighed. The woman was exactly what she looked. Middle-aged, belligerent, and set inher ways. There was no flexibility of mind here. Why on earth had they sent her as a telepath? Perhaps it

  was on the strength of her daughter. She, at least, had to be the genuine item.

  "Mrs. Fielding, I've come to talk to you about Lynn's telepathic link with one of our Sholan males."

  "Such things don't exist."

  "They do, Mrs. Fielding. I'm proof of that. I have a Link with a Sholan too."

  Hard eyes raked her from head to toe. "Then you're no better than you should be, miss. If you want togo sleeping with their menfolk, that's up to you, but no daughter of mine's about to do the same if I've gotany say in the mat-ter."

  Carrie tried not to flinch. "Lynn's ill, isn't she?" she in-sisted. "Wanting to sleep all the time, not eating,having dizzy spells and stomach cramps?"

  "She's suffering a touch of jet-lag, or whatever you call it, that's all."

  "It isn't that simple, Mrs. Fielding. She's suffering what we call Link deprivation. When two people are Linked like this, they exchange all their day-to-day experiences. Lynn is as aware of everything Raill does as if she was there with him. It's the same for Raill. These experiences will overload their minds if they aren't sorted out every few days. Your daughter is suffering from a mental overload at the moment, that's why she's so ill."

  "There's nothing wrong with our Lynn that a few days rest won't cure," said Mrs. Fielding with finality. "I'm treat-ing her stomach pains with herbs like I usually do. There's no need for you to make more of it than there is."

  "Can I ask why you chose to come to Shola, Mrs. Field-ing?" asked Vanna.

  The woman frowned. "What do you mean? We came because we were asked to come."

  "Asked?"

  "Yes. My son-in-law is one of the organizers of this proj-ect and he asked us to come for a year or two.

  I'm well known for my herbal remedies and he said you people were interested in that sort of thing."

  Mentally, Carrie groaned. Apart from the daughter, this family was probably useless. If she read thewoman's char-acter right, it looked as if her son-in-law had seen this as a chance to get rid of her at leastfor a few years. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there was at least one real telepath in the family.

  "Mrs. Fielding, believe me, this Link exists, and your daughter is in real danger if you continue to keep her away from Raill. Will you at least consent to her visiting him in our medical section? In your company, of course," said Carrie.

  "Look, I keep telling you people, there's no such thing as a link between my Lynn and this Raill," she said angrily. "I want her to have nothing to do with him. He started getting a mite too friendly toward her on the ship, and it isn't hap-pening again! Now that's an end to it!" The door slammed in their faces.

  Carrie turned to Vanna. "Let's leave," she said abruptly, beginning to shiver.

  "What is it, Carrie?" asked Vanna, taking hold of her by the arm.

  "I need to get out of here," she said. "The woman's pro-jecting… I don't seem to be able to shield against

  it, Vanna."

  "Come on," said her friend, leading her quickly back to the elevator.

  Carrie leaned against the wall as they traveled down to the ground floor. "She was thinking such uglythoughts, Vanna. She won't let her daughter near Raill. If you want to help them, you're going to have toget someone with authority to go in and demand her. I'm sorry, I tried."

  "You did all you could," said Vanna soothingly. "Look, it's been an overwhelming day for you. Why don't

  I take you back to your apartment?"

  "No. I'm not going back there."

  "But why?" asked Vanna, baffled.

  "I don't want to see Kusac. He'd no right to speak to me like that. He's shut me out of our Link. I don't

  want him near me."

  Vanna could see her tears were threatening to fall again. "Look, don't start crying here. There's a corridorfull of Terrans just outside this elevator. You don't want them to see you're upset, do you?"

  Carrie blinked rapidly and scrubbed at her eyes with her hands. "I'm all right," she said.

  "No, you're not," said Vanna, putting her arm around her. "That Leska of yours needs a good lesson in

  manners! You're coming with me. You need some looking after."

  Once downstairs, Vanna took her out a side exit to the ve-hicle park she was using.

  "Get in," she said, pulling back the hatch door of an aircar. "We don't want Kaid to see us, do we?"

  "Where're we going?" she asked as Vanna took off and headed inland.

  "To my home," she said. "If you're determined not to see Kusac for a day or two, you might as well go

  somewhere where you're not going to brood over your row with him."

  The flight didn't take long and soon Vanna was bringing the aircar down alongside several others a shortdistance from a cluster of buildings.

  "Vanna, I'm not sure if I like this idea," said Carrie ner-vously.

  "It's the best one I've had for a long time. Trust me. You'll find it different from Kusac's home," she said as she powered the vehicle down. "We don't belong to the Clan Leader's family so we don't live in the main house. Kara, Tyan, and Kikho, before she chose to have a cub, all work on the estate. Our Clan's specialties are fruit and bread which are sold both in Valsgarth and Nazule."

  As they climbed our of the aircar, they saw a female with a mane of brown and black hair come to theopen door of the largest building.

  "It's Vanna," she yelled, "and she's brought her Terran friend with her!"

  Carrie could feel the disbelief in her voice. Within mo-ments, some half a dozen Sholans had surgedthrough the door toward them, all calling out greetings and questions to Vanna.

  "How long are you here for, Vanna?" asked the female they'd first seen.

  "Carrie, this is Sashti, my sister. I'm here till tomorrow, Sashti, but Carrie's here for a couple of days. I've

  brought her home to you for some good, old-fashioned care."

  "But of course. She's very welcome," said Sashti, mouth open in a grin. She turned to the others and began to scold them out of the way. "Kara, leave her be, let her have a chance to feel her feet on the land again first."

  "But she has such lovely hair," said Kara, reaching out a tentative hand to Carrie's hair.

  Sashti smacked the hand away. "Later," she said. "Third meal isn't for a couple of hours yet, I'm afraid."

  "That's fine. We both need a shower first. Have you any of your special massage oils?"

 
"Plenty. We made a batch yesterday," said Sashti, leading the way into the house.

  Like Kusac's home, the outside of this house was painted white to reflect the heat, but the comparisonended there. Unlike a main Clan home, it was a very comfortable family dwelling. Inside, the main roomwas large and spacious. A log fire, unused at this time of year, took up the central po-sition against onewall. Several easy chairs were dotted around in a semicircle facing it. At the far end of the room was alarge table with padded benches surrounding it.

  "Shower first," said Vanna as the others clustered round them again. "Then a massage, if you wouldn't

  mind, Sashti."

  "I'd be glad to," her sister replied.

  Vanna grabbed Carrie by the hand and towed her through one of the doorways leading off the mainroom into a short corridor. Two doors opened off it.

  'Toilet there," said Vanna, "showers here." She pushed the door open, waiting for Carrie to enter first.

  The room was bright and sunny, the walls decorated in shades of yellow. Benches lined it and in thecenter were two large padded massage tables.

  Vanna unsealed her medic's short coat, looking over to where Carrie still stood. "You can't shower inyour clothes," she said gently. "Bathing tends to be communal among us, but being with Kusac I knowyou haven't come across it yet. I got out of the habit on the Khalossa, but family's differ-ent."

  When Carrie had undressed, Vanna led her through to the showers. There was already someone usingthem and Vanna was greeted with a cry of delight as the shower was turned off.

  "Vanna, well come home! You have a friend with you— the Terran?"

  "Yes, Carrie."

  "I hope you have a nice visit with us, Carrie."

  "Thanks," she said, casting a cautious glance toward the wet Sholan.

  "Come on," said Vanna, "we'll use this one." She stepped inside the stall and turned the water on.

  Carrie joined her, letting the jets of hot water wash over her. As Vanna's hands touched her back, shejumped, look-ing over her shoulder at her friend.

  "I'm only going to wash you," she said. "I said you were going to have some old-fashioned care, and so