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  “As you say,” he murmured, sitting down. “My thanks for allowing my Liege the time to liberate me.”

  “A debt repaid, Kaid,” she said, then turned back to Kusac. “I know you’ve been fully briefed on the background to this situation. This meeting is to bring you up to date and tell you what our campaign is.”

  “With respect, General Raiban,” said Kusac, settling himself in the somewhat uncomfortable chair, “I think this campaign is better organized by ourselves. We need a plan that’s flexible enough to adapt to the conditions we’ll actually find on Jalna. The Chemerians consider the native population of the world to be extremely violent. That has to be taken at face value until we can assess it in person.”

  “I disagree. This is a military operation and…”

  Kaid stirred, but Kusac gestured him to silence. “We have the right to refuse,” said Kusac quietly. “En’Shalla.”

  “You are a member of the Forces…”

  Again Kusac interrupted. “Not anymore, General. En’Shalla negates that.”

  Raiban regarded him in stony silence.

  “However, if you’d care to draft contracts for my people, I’m sure many of them would consent to being retained as specialists in their field. As far as this mission is concerned, our terms would be total control over personnel and planning— in consultation with you, of course.”

  “You’ve taught him too damned well,” growled Raiban, looking over at Kaid with an angry glare.

  “He has his own abilities, General,” murmured Kaid, working hard to hide his amusement. Indeed, Kusac showed every sign of surpassing what he had hoped he’d become.

  She reached forward and activated her comm. “Bring in the contracts, and the maps of Jalna,” she said, then pushed a folder toward each of them. “These are the proposed personnel and the campaign. We’ll look them over when I’ve shown you the maps and you’ve been brought up to date on the current situation.”

  Without thinking, Kusac reached mentally for Kaid. That wily old she-jegget knew all along what we’d do!

  Of course.

  Realizing that not only had Kaid received him unassisted for the first time, but had answered him as well, he glanced sharply at him. His companion appeared as self-contained as ever, even his mental tone had been urbane. The old Kaid had returned completely. There wasn’t a trace of the closeness they’d shared over the past few weeks. He pushed his concern aside and concentrated on Raiban.

  Her aide entered carrying a folder and a large laminated map. The latter she spread on the desk in front of her, then handed the folder to Kusac before leaving.

  “I regret I have a short meeting I must attend during second meal,” said Raiban. “Read the contracts then, and we’ll discuss them after we’ve eaten.”

  Kusac nodded as he and Kaid rose and joined Raiban at her side of the desk to examine the map. Surreptitiously Kaid turned up the setting on his personal damper. If he could receive Kusac, then it wasn’t working properly. He must have knocked it during the night.

  *

  Tutor Sorli was in the Guild library when he sensed Master Esken approaching. With a sigh, he blanked his comm and turned to the students at their workplaces.

  “Take an early meal,” he said. “We’ll reconvene at fourteenth hour.”

  As the young people collected their belongings and began to leave, Sorli sat back to wait. When would the Guild Master realize that the political influence he’d lost over the last few months had never legitimately been his in the first place? Ever since contact with the Humans had been established, winds of change had been howling round not only their Guild House, but the whole of their society. Shola would never be the same, and it was as logical for Master Esken to try and halt the changes as to attempt to stop the winter storms. He wondered what it would be this time.

  Esken came over to where he sat at one of the long study tables.

  “Have you heard what’s happened now?” he demanded, voice taut with barely checked anger as he sat down. “No, of course you haven’t! I’ve only just been informed myself!” He waved an official letter in front of Sorli’s nose. “Nesul has not only given the Brotherhood full priestly status, but has appointed Lijou in ultimate control over all priests! That includes mine! They will no longer answer to me, but to Lijou!”

  “May I see the letter, Master Esken?” Sorli asked, holding his hand out for the offending document.

  “Here!” Esken all but threw it at him.

  Sorli scanned the contents. It was as his Guild Master had said. Father Lijou was being appointed in charge of all priests. Meticulously he folded the letter and handed it back. “It makes sense, Master Esken,” he said. “He deals exclusively with religious matters. We can only give those who wish to become priests the most general of Üxwinstruction.”

  “So can Lijou!”

  “He trains his priests not only for pastoral duties, but also in the mysteries of Vartra. And three of his Guild members have traveled back to the time of the God, Master Esken. The existence of Vartra has been proved beyond doubt. The same cannot be said of any other religion.”

  “So what? It didn’t take the Aldatan cub going back to the Fire Margins to tell us that!”

  Sorli hesitated. “Then might this not be Vartra’s will, Master Esken?”

  Esken growled. “Vartra’s will! More likely it’s the Aldatan will!”

  Inwardly Sorli sighed. He had hoped his esteemed superior had gotten over his conviction that the Aldatans intended to destroy him politically, especially in view of the new agreement between themselves and Kusac Aldatan.

  “Master Esken, this solution is better for our priests. You have said many times we cannot provide either the people or the time to train them to the level they really need.”

  “They manage, don’t they?” demanded Esken acerbically. “We have very few complaints.”

  “They manage,” agreed Sorli, “but I suggest that’s more to do with their strength of character than our training methods. What will probably happen is that Master Lijou will set up a training center for them where they will receive a course in pastoral care, and from there they will go on to a specific center for their own religion. I don’t see him able or wanting to take on the whole task singlehandedly.”

  “I don’t care how he plans to do it, it shouldn’t be happening, Sorli! Priests traditionally come under the Telepath Guild!”

  “I realize that, Master Esken, but surely the people who do the most in the way of pastoral care in a variety of circumstances, be it on Shola or in space, are those best suited to train priests?”

  “It’s not just that issue at stake, Sorli. It’s also the fact that come the next All-Guild meeting, they will insist Lijou has his own guild!”

  Sorli felt an uncharacteristic flash of rage, and this time did not suppress it. “Then we bow to the inevitable, Master Esken. If we fight it, we look like fools!”

  Stunned, Esken sat back in his chair, ears tilting back. “I didn’t realize you felt so strongly.”

  Sorli got to his feet and paced round the table till he leaned over the seated Guild Master.

  “Since we first heard the news of Kusac and his Human Leska, you’ve changed. From the reasonable Master I was pleased to serve under, you have become one I can no longer support! You have let Khafsa influence you far too much! I tell you, Master Esken, give it up, accept what fate the God sends us, or today I leave the Guild and apply to join the Brotherhood!”

  “The Brotherhood,” murmured Esken. “Surely you are overreacting, Sorli.”

  “It would be preferable to remaining here, Guild Master,” said Sorli, straightening up. He turned and stalked from the library, not stopping till he reached the sanctuary of his own room. He no longer cared about his position as the next Guild Master. If Esken continued like this, it could take more years than Sorli had left to repair public opinion regarding the integrity of the Telepath Guild. Lying down on his bed, he wondered whether the afternoon would see hi
m packing, or working with his students in the library.

  *

  Third meal over, Kaid decided to retire early. The day at Shanagi had gone better than he’d thought it would, he realized as he shut the door to his suite behind him. A large part of that was due to the personal damper he was now wearing. It gave him a measure of self-confidence and peace of mind. It stopped the headaches and the intrusive snatches of mental noise he kept hearing— and might even help limit the involuntary visions he kept having.

  Switching off the tiny device on his wrist, he activated the main room unit. With it on, he couldn’t sense her at the edges of his mind— couldn’t affect her or her cub with his confused mental state. At least since his fever there had been no more of the whispering voices that had haunted him.

  Sighing, he walked through to his bedroom, pausing to pick up the contract folder from the top of the drawer unit. As he did, the room lights glinted off something lying beneath the unit. Bending down, he picked it up. The Triad pendant from Lijou and Kha’Qwa. Turning it over in his hand, he went to his bed and sat down.

  He wouldn’t forget that night in a hurry. He was still half-convinced it had been a fever dream. His fingers traced the intricate spirals, coming naturally to rest on the crystal in the center.

  Remember this meeting. The echo of His voice filled Kaid’s mind. With a shiver, he hastily set the pendant on his night table. Was he never to be left in peace? His life seemed to belong to everyone but him. Suddenly he longed for the uncomplicated days of his youth, before he’d met Khemu, before what he was had mattered. He pushed the thought aside. It did no good to dwell on issues he couldn’t change.

  Pulling the pillows from under the cover, he propped himself against the head of the bed and picked up the folder. Surprisingly, the contract had needed only a small amount of negotiation before both he and Kusac had been satisfied with it. Opening the folder, he began to read through it once more.

  The room seemed to lurch and he was looking at the newborn cub in Noni’s arms, unsure what to do or say.

  “She’s yours, Tallinu,” the familiar old voice said. “Your daughter. Take her from me, for Vartra’s sake! Let her know you accept your child!”

  He reached down to take the child from her, holding the little one awkwardly in his arms.

  She gave a soft mewl, mind and hands reaching out for him. He offered her a finger, and she took it, holding onto him firmly as she began to purr. He was totally unprepared for the flood of emotions that rushed through him as he stroked the tiny brown-furred hand. Gathering her closer, he laid his face against her tiny head, taking in her scent, bonding to her. Suddenly, this cub he’d tried so hard to avoid conceiving because of his love for her mother, was even more precious.

  “A daughter,” he said, looking over to where she lay, exhausted from the birth. “We share a daughter.”

  Light, streaming in from the small window in Noni’s main room, blinded him.

  “I know,” she said, her voice tired but holding a purr beneath the words.

  Still dazzled, he moved his head in an effort to see her clearly. As he blinked, his vision cleared and he realized that he was back in his room at the villa— and he wasn’t alone.

  Someone was holding him firmly by the shoulders and shaking him. Instinctively he reached up for his assailant’s throat, but even as he did, he recognized the scent. T’Chebbi. His hands settled on hers instead.

  Her grip slackened, and she would have released him if he hadn’t been holding her.

  “Slipping, Kaid. Not long ago, couldn’t get this close.”

  His ears flicked back in annoyance, staying there. “I know.” His tone was sharp and bitter. He grasped her hands within his, pulling them down. “How’d you get in?”

  She shrugged. “Standard surveillance procedure.”

  “I change the code daily. No one should be able to enter.”

  Her mouth opened in a grin. “Didn’t say it was easy. I know you, others don’t.”

  He growled deep in his throat, hackles round his neck rising as he tightened his grip on her hands.

  She winced. “Orders from my Liegena, Kaid.”

  That superseded his privacy. With a sigh, he released her. “Is that why you’re here?” he demanded, pushing her away.

  T’Chebbi settled herself on the edge of the bed, massaging her hands. “Partly. Knew you were in. When no answer, I was concerned.”

  His eyes flicked across her, taking in the off-duty clothing she wore, noticing the subtle difference in her scent: perfume? His eye ridges creased as he looked more closely at her appearance.

  “Meeting someone?”

  She shrugged, looking away from him. “Why not?”

  Her voice was quiet, so quiet he had to sit up to hear her.

  “Don’t let me delay you, then. I’m fine.”

  She looked back. “I’ve time yet. What was it, Tallinu? A dream? A vision?”

  “Vision,” he said briefly, not wanting to discuss it.

  “You weren’t meditating.”

  “I know. I don’t need to these days. Leave it, T’Chebbi.” Belatedly. “Please.” His mind was drifting off into irrelevancies and he couldn’t stop it. What was that scent she was wearing? Not one of the common ones, that was for sure, because it was enhancing her personal scent, not changing it. He gave his head a small shake and leaned back against his pillows.

  “What have you been doing these past years? I never did ask,” he said. His head was clearing a little now that he was farther away from her.

  “Worked for Ghezu mainly, some military contracts. Priest things aren’t for me.” Again the slight grin as she rearranged herself more comfortably.

  “What about your personal life. Any Companions?” Why the hell was he asking her that? This was no more like him than her appearance was usual for her.

  “None. Never met the male I reckoned could cope with me.”

  He heard the underlying irony in her tone. She still hadn’t healed from her time with the packs, then.

  The question was out before he had a chance to stop it. “So who’re you meeting?”

  “Friend.”

  He swung his legs over the opposite side of the bed from her and got to his feet. Her presence was unsettling him, but he couldn’t be inhospitable. “Have you time for a drink?”

  “A little. Vassa, please.”

  As he headed over to the dispenser, he wondered what the hell was wrong with him. He didn’t want T’Chebbi to leave yet. He’d never seen her in off-duty clothes; he’d never known her to have any kind of social life. The Brotherhood had become her sanctuary after her time in the Fleet Pack.

  From the cupboard beside the dispenser, he got out the bottle of spirits and poured them each a measure. A faint sound made him turn around. T’Chebbi was coming toward him, and he could only stand and stare.

  The dark cerise paneled tunic reaching to her calves was certainly flattering against her silver-brown pelt. What made it out of the ordinary was the silver chain round her waist, the ends of which hung down provocatively over her exposed thighs. As he looked lower, he saw a similar chain round her left ankle.

  He held out the glass to her, trying to ignore the freshly heightened awareness of her scent that her passage across the room had caused. Irrelevancies caught his attention, and he noticed that across her shoulder, her hair hung in a single long braid, unbound at the end.

  “This friend must be special,” he said. In the twenty years they’d been colleagues this was the first time he’d seen her wearing something feminine since he’d snatched her from the heart of the Fleet den. But it was no bedraggled and beaten qwene who stood before him now. This was a sophisticated, self-assured female.

  “Very.” She took a sip of the drink.

  He sidestepped her, moving toward the door into his lounge. “Perhaps we’d be more comfortable next door,” he said, suddenly feeling awkward being with her in his bedroom.

  “If you wish.”
She walked past him, tail gently swaying, and waited at the door.

  He found himself resenting this friend of hers, worried that not knowing her past he’d take advantage of her. He tried to review who was in the house at present, but he could think of no one beyond Kusac and Dzaka. Her perfumed scent was too potent a distraction.

  Reaching past her, he put his hand on the door plate. She turned and looked up at him, fingers reaching out to touch his face.

  “You’re the friend,” she said quietly. “I came to you.”

  “Me?” He stood frozen in surprise. This was the last thing he’d have expected.

  She moved her hand, taking the drink from his slack grasp, holding it up to his lips. “Drink. You need it.”

  He did as she said, too surprised to do anything else, watching while she drank hers. She dropped the empty glasses to the floor, then reached up to put her hands on his shoulders.

  Ice-gray eyes regarded him calmly, but what he was sensing from her was anything but calm: It was like a hunger.

  Looking away, hesitantly he touched her hair, his hand sliding down it, teasing the unbound braid free until he could run his hand through its length.

  “Your hair’s longer now,” he murmured, knowing it sounded inane but unable to think of anything else.

  “You said long was nice.”

  He felt a jolt of surprise. “You remembered that after all this time?” Though true, it had been the only compliment he could think of at a time when she’d needed that kind of reassurance.

  “You came back. Never spoke before. Should have. Realized when you went missing.” She stopped, watching his face. “Now you’re a Triad, I can ask. Couldn’t before.” Seeing no negative signs, she continued. “Were my superior at Stronghold. Not now. Now only you— and me.”

  Tentatively she laid her palm against his neck. “You remembered a promise made to one like me.” Her voice was low as she laid her head against the fold of his robe and began to nuzzle it open.

  He remained still, forcing himself to answer her. “Like what, T’Chebbi? You were a victim, a prisoner of theirs. How could I leave you?” He sucked in a breath as unexpectedly her teeth closed on his flesh and she nipped him. His hand slipped round her waist, feeling the hardness of the silver chain beneath his fingers.