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  “Jack!”

  “You’ve got a young baby to care for, lass. If you catch it, then I’ve three patients to care for instead of one! Now let me get on.”

  “Jack, he’ll get violent,” she said. “Rezac did. He may need to be restrained.”

  “What did they do with Rezac?”

  “He had a Leska. They put her beside him. Jack, don’t let him die!”

  “I’ll do my best, lass. Now, I must go.” The screen blanked out.

  “Kaid’s had the modern fever, Carrie. He should have some resistance to this one,” said Kusac, putting his arms round her.

  “I hope so. God, I do hope so,” she said, letting him lead her back to their bedroom.

  *

  “T’Chebbi, you’re going to get yourself settled in the room next door,” said Jack as he and the medic, now wearing face masks, began to pack the snow around Kaid’s still form. “You’ve been exposed, so I want you isolated, too. With any luck, you might not have caught it.”

  “I’m staying. I’ll help,” she said firmly, helping herself to a mask. “If I have it, then nothing now will stop it. Must take a week to incubate since they’ve been back that long.” She picked up the empty buckets. “You stay with him. I get more snow.”

  “Let her, Doctor Reynolds,” said the medic. “It’s the dead of night, no one’s about. One we’ve got him packed in ice and his temperature starts to drop, then we can all get into bio-suits. It makes little difference if the Sister helps, so long as she isolates herself from Sholan Üxwtelepaths.”

  Jack began to mutter imprecations. “I suppose you’re right. We could do with talking to Vanna as well. Her firsthand knowledge of the modern virus will be of great help.”

  “She’ll be safe enough once we’ve set the room up as a quarantined zone.”

  “Very well. How’s his temperature doing?”

  “Falling slowly.”

  “Put the sheet over him again. We’ll try a layer of snow over that and see if it’s enough. I want that temperature down fast!”

  *

  Half-formed images haunted Rezac, making it difficult to know what was real and what was not. Voices faded one minute and were amplified the next as he moved restlessly in his bed. The sheets were pulling at his fur, pushing it against the lie, making each follicle burn with discomfort. Every movement hurt his joints, yet he had to try and move away from the pressure of the sheet.

  He dreamed he was made of fire, a fire that burned from deep within him. He opened his eyes only to see beams of flame streaming from them. Devastation followed his gaze, burning and searing everything around. Fear touched him then, his own fear, and instinctively he fought against it, lashing out at it with taloned hands until he was held down forcibly.

  “Get that wound dressed immediately,” Dr. Nyaam ordered as the nurse staggered back holding his slashed and bleeding forearm. Nyaam continued to fasten Rezac’s limbs to the bed frame as Goran grabbed for the arm that he’d managed to pull free. Maro held on grimly to the other limb until Nyaam had finished, then began picking up the scattered ice packs and replacing them around Rezac’s body.

  “This’ll only make him struggle more,” said Goran dispassionately.

  “I hardly think you’re qualified to give a medical opinion,” said Nyaam, moving beside the security chief. “He’s as much a danger to himself as to us in this state.”

  “I know my people, Nyaam, which is more than you do. You sent for me because you couldn’t control him. I’ve told you already, put the female in his bed.”

  “Don’t talk rubbish,” the doctor snapped. “Look at what he did to my nurse! One blow from him and his Leska would be dead. Then we’d lose them both.”

  “He’d quiet down,” said Goran. “He’d know she was there and he’d stop fighting. They’re linked mentally, right? So why’re you treating them separately? What have you got to lose, Nyaam? At this rate they’ll both die. You can’t get their temperatures down, and he’s exhausting himself by fighting your restraints.”

  “If he weren’t so violent, I might consider it, but look at him,” said Nyaam.

  Rezac, already pulling frantically at the restraining bands, had lifted his head as high as he could and was leaning over trying to snap at those holding his wrists.

  “We haven’t got a bed wide enough for both of them, even if I was prepared to countenance the risk,” Nyaam added.

  “I told you it would make him worse,” said Goran, stepping back to allow Maro in to replace the ice packs. “He’s a warrior, Nyaam. Restrain him, and he’ll fight all the harder against it. That’s going to give him convulsions faster than a high temperature.”

  “Goran’s right,” said Vartra abruptly. “Try it. We’ve nothing to lose. If we can’t get their temperatures down within the next hour, Rezac is certainly going to go into convulsions.”

  “I’m telling you, he’ll kill her,” said Nyaam, looking over to where Dr. Kimin was beginning to unfasten Zashou’s bonds. The young female was lying semicomatose and panting, having exhausted herself with her own struggles.

  “Fix the two beds together,” said Dr. Kimin. “Use the restraint straps, anything. We know nothing about these new Leska pairs. We’ve all seen how Zashou’s condition has paralleled Rezac’s, something that doesn’t happen with normal Leskas. For all we know, we could be making the situation worse by keeping them apart.”

  Maro pushed Zashou’s bed over beside Rezac’s while the other nurse took the restraints from Dr. Kimin and dived under the beds to lash the legs together.

  “I’m advising you to keep the restraints on Rezac for the moment,” said Nyaam. “I think you’re taking a foolish risk, and I refuse to help you. However, I’ve no doubt you’re going to ignore my opinion.”

  Goran began moving the ice packs from what was now the middle of one large bed, making room for Zashou to be placed beside Rezac. The sheet, dried out by his body heat, was taken off him and as he flinched away from contact with the others, he lurched briefly against Zashou. He froze, then as Zashou was moved closer so the contact was maintained, his body went into spasm.

  “What did I tell you?” demanded Nyaam, grabbing his hypo off the treatment trolley behind them. “Just touching her has made him worse! Give her an anticonvulsant before she starts, too! Hold him still for the God’s sake,” he said, trying to get a grip on Rezac.

  Goran took hold of Rezac’s head. “Hold his arm,” he ordered Maro.

  Nyaam stuck the needle in Rezac’s arm while the two males held him as still as possible.

  Almost as they watched, the spasms that wracked his body began to diminish until suddenly, Rezac relaxed and lay there limp and panting, his tongue partially protruding from his mouth.

  “Give him some water, Layul,” said Dr. Kimin, leaning forward to unfasten the restraints.

  Nyaam frowned. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, reaching out to stop her. “You should be moving the female away! That’s what started the convulsions!”

  “For the God’s sake, Nyaam, look at his wrists!” she said, batting his hand aside with one of hers. “The leather has already lacerated him, he’s bleeding. Goran’s right, Rezac can’t help but fight against your restraints. That’s what made him convulse, not Zashou! Do something useful, pass me the dressings,” she added. “We’re working blind with these two, we’ve no idea what will help them since they’re not responding to our treatment like any of the other telepaths. They’re suffering identical symptoms, as if they were one person, not two.” She took the dressings that Goran held out.

  “I’d put money on it that they’re amplifying each other’s fever dreams. If they’re touching, it might just give them the reassurances they need to cope with the hallucinations,” she said, wiping the blood from the cuts with an antiseptic pad.

  Vartra began unfastening Rezac’s other arm.

  “On your head be it, then,” snapped Nyaam, standing back.

  Kimin looked up from bandaging
Rezac’s wrist. “This isn’t a competition, Nyaam,” she said quietly. “If you want me to take sole responsibility, then I will. I have a gut feeling that Goran is right, and this will work.”

  Maro poured a small amount of water onto Rezac’s tongue, and when he swallowed reflexively, gave him a little more. When his panting began to decrease, Goran released him.

  Rezac moved his head slightly, his face creasing in pain. He opened and closed his hands, automatically checking to see if they were free.

  “We telepaths learn to trust gut feelings and instincts, Dr. Nyaam,” said Maro quietly as he replaced the water container and then began dressing Rezac’s other wrist.

  Nyaam grunted in disbelief. “We’ve got the damper on, Maro. Neither you nor Dr. Kimin can be picking anything up from him.”

  “We’re inside its influence, Doctor,” said Kimin, releasing Rezac’s ankles. “Our thoughts don’t escape the field, that’s all.”

  It was Zashou who moved first, turning on her side to lie close against Rezac. The anticonvulsant had sedated him, and he continued to lie still save for a slight movement of his head and the blinking of his eyes.

  *

  He fought against the lassitude, trying to make sense of what was going on around him. His eyes refused to focus: everything was a blur that made his stomach tighten with nausea. The touch of her body against his was somehow helping the fire in his body die down. When a damp sheet was laid over them, it no longer made him burn, and the coolness that surrounded him, except for where they touched, was welcome.

  He was tired, and his eyes began to close. His arm was too heavy to move more than a few centimeters. His hand touched her, reflexively closing on her arm. Now he could sense her mind, feel his heartbeat slowing till it matched hers. All he wanted now was to join her in sleep.

  *

  This was the memory of the dream that Kusac relayed to Vanna at her request. Armed with that information, Vanna had Kaid placed in an IC unit with freezing air ventilating it. Within the formfitting chamber, he was effectively restrained, unable to harm himself or anyone else. His every function was monitored, and they were able to accurately gauge the effects of the febrifuge they were using.

  Kaid hovered on the edge of crisis for four hours before his fever broke. By the next day, conventional nursing was all that was needed. Though very weak, he was on the way to recovery.

  For the first two days, he just lay there, too weak to do anything but eat the food they fed him and sleep. He was allowed no visitors apart from Jack and his nontelepathic nurse until on the third day he was pronounced well enough to be returned to the villa.

  He tried saying he ought to move into the Brotherhood accommodation, but when Carrie heard of it, she threatened dire consequences if he didn’t return home.

  When T’Chebbi did succumb to the virus three days later, it only took the form of a heavy cold, and she was released a couple of days later.

  *

  Despite the fact that with so short an incubation period, it was unlikely Kaid could have contracted it in the Margins, Jack and Vanna ran DNA tests on both him and T’Chebbi.

  “Well, looks like we’ve got our gene pool,” said Vanna, turning away from her analyzer to look at Jack. “He’s fully compatible with us mixed Leskas now, and T’Chebbi is definitely altering. There is, however, a subtle difference in their DNA compared to ours.”

  “Different, lass?” Jack looked at her over the top of his glasses. “How different?”

  “If I was speculating, I’d say we have in them an improved version of our DNA. He must have caught it in the Margins; there isn’t any other logical answer. I’ll have to do an in-depth analysis to find out more. At least we have a vaccine. I think we should start inoculating now rather than wait for an epidemic.”

  “If Kaid was the original carrier, we’ve contained it, lass. There isn’t going to be an epidemic. Besides, we don’t know how it will react with your and Carrie’s newborn cubs— or the Human Leskas for that matter. It might not be so benign for them.”

  Vanna sighed. “You’re right, of course. I should’ve thought of that.”

  “We’re both tired, Vanna,” said Jack, closing down his comm. “I think we should call it a day now. The night shift’s on duty. Relax and get some rest yourself.”

  “It’s only a couple of hours till third meal,” she admitted, checking her wrist unit.“Will you join us, Jack? You should come over more often. It isn’t good for you to spend so much time on your own.”

  “Well actually,” said Jack, looking slightly sheepish as he pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose, “I won’t be alone this evening. A rather nice young lady called Jiszoe has offered to cook a meal for me.”

  “Ah. Fieldwork, Jack?” She grinned as she got down from her stool and went over to her desk for her coat.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You were always curious about physical relationships between our species. Now you’ll find out for yourself, won’t you?”

  “I beg your pardon, Vanna, but the young lady’s only offered to make a meal. Nothing else was implied, believe me.” He sounded faintly offended.

  “What did she say to you, Jack? Her exact words.”

  “Just that she’d like to cook for me, so I could sample some real Sholan home cooking.”

  “Did she say she wanted to spend some time with you?”

  “I believe she may have, but what difference does…”

  Laughing gently, Vanna put her hand on his arm. “She was telling you she wanted to pair with you, Jack. By accepting, you told her you were also interested. Since she’s offering to cook for you, she’s interested in a longer relationship. It may not happen tonight, but she’ll make her invitation soon.”

  Jack’s mouth opened in a wide “O” of surprise. “But… but… what do I do?”

  “Enjoy your meal, of course,” she chuckled, moving past him toward the door, “and let nature take its course.” She stopped in front of the door and turned back to look at him. “Unless you’re not interested in that kind of relationship with her, in which case, get in touch with her now and tell her so. You wouldn’t want to cause her embarrassment, I’m sure.”

  “No, of course not! But I couldn’t call her and cancel, Vanna!”

  “Then have a nice evening,” she said, leaving him alone.

  *

  It was Kaid’s first day up and about, but when Kusac reached the aircar, he was already waiting for him.

  “I appreciate your company,” said Kusac as he took off and turned the craft toward the capital, Shanagi. “Are you sure you’re well enough?”

  “I’m fine. I’d rather be doing something than sitting around, and we have to see Raiban.”

  “It’s good to know you’re coming to Jalna with us. What changed your mind?” He was curious. Kaid was still reserved since his illness, but now he seemed to have some sense of purpose, though what it was, Kusac had no idea.

  “I could do with some time off-world,” Kaid said. “Besides, I’m curious about anyone who can mind-speak across space when most telepaths can’t broadcast even the length of this continent.”

  “Raiban’s as interested as we are, believe me. Thankfully she’s not registered the fact that Carrie did the same when she replied to him.”

  “Probably assumes, and Esken or Lijou will have confirmed it, that her reply backpacked, so to speak, on Rezac’s sending. Isn’t that what usually happens?”

  Kusac turned to look at him. “Yes. It is. You’ve been doing a fair bit of study already, haven’t you?”

  Kaid shrugged. “The lessons with you and Ghyan rubbed off.”

  “Raiban will want us to leave as soon as possible.”

  “She’ll not want us leaving with Carrie only partly trained. If you’ve no objection, I’d like to have the final say as to when we’re all ready.”

  “By all means. You can take charge of the whole training program if you want to.”

  “No. I’ll l
eave that to the Warrior Guild and the Brotherhood. They know what they’re doing. If we present them with our plan, they’ll train you in the best ways to implement it. I’ll be kept informed while I’m at Stronghold.”

  They flew on in silence for a while, Kusac debating with himself on the wisdom of trying to draw Kaid out and discover what was wrong. He’d just decided to do so when Kaid picked up the folder lying on the console shelf.

  “I think I’ll go over Raiban’s dossier again, if you don’t mind,” he said quietly. “The fever left me tired enough that I forget details now and then.”

  Kusac made an appropriate reply, cursing his timing. A moment or two earlier and… or had Kaid known what he intended to say? A moment’s reflection, and he realized that his next move had been predictable. So be it. Kaid obviously didn’t want to discuss the matter.

  “Why don’t you remind me of the salient points?” he suggested. “Won’t do any harm to be as thoroughly conversant with the background information on Jalna as possible.”

  “We’ll be efficient,” said Kaid. “I don’t intend to risk our lives or liberty on Jalna. I knew I was walking into a trap at Rhijudu; I didn’t foresee Dzaka nearly being caught, too.”

  “No criticism intended, Kaid,” said Kusac, hearing the slight chill in his companion’s voice. “Some things can’t be avoided, and I’m sure your capture was one. Without it, we wouldn’t have solved the problem concerning Fyak or the Margins.”

  “I don’t believe in fatalism,” Kaid growled, opening the folder.

  *

  “Clan Leader,” said General Raiban, standing up as they were ushered into her office. “Kaid. Please, take a seat.” She indicated the two chairs set slightly to one side of her desk. “Clan Leader what, Kusac? Or is it Brother Kusac now?”

  Kaid answered her. “Both are correct, General Raiban,” he said smoothly. “It avoids confusion between my Liege and his mother.”

  Raiban looked back at him, registering the black robe he wore, and raised a questioning eye ridge. “You’re a Brotherhood Priest again,” she observed. “I’m glad to see you’ve recovered from your stay with Ghezu. Perhaps it was for the best he eluded us that night at Stronghold.”