Turning Point Read online

  “Good,” said Carrie. “Now let’s eat. You look like you need a good hot drink.

  “Do you really know your way through the swamp?” she asked as she pulled out their only mug and the remains of the coffee.

  “Lady, you don’t know how lucky you are,” said Skai, gratefully holding out a shaking hand for the hot drink. “We all do a tour of duty in the swamp, watching the Valtegan base on the other side. I just came off duty last week. Yes, I know the dry paths through there, but it’s a dangerous place. There are flesh eaters of every shape and size, not to mention the quicksand. It’s a tidal swamp, and if you don’t pick the right time, the safe route can kill you.

  “The swamp goes right up to the coastline where the base is. It’s a dangerous trek even for those who know the way. We had to lead the next detail through the path to show them the changes in the land. What’s safe one week isn’t necessarily safe the next.”

  Kusac threw him a trail bar and a strip of dried meat.

  “We should reach the swamp by this time tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll hunt for a midday meal, then we can contact the rest of the crew. They can meet us there tomorrow night with provisions. When the tide is right, you can lead us to the pod. By then I’ll be able to ‘show’ you where it is mentally.”

  Skai nodded.

  “How many of you are there on Keiss?” he asked.

  “Only four others. We lost three in the crash.”

  “Let’s eat and sleep,” said Carrie. “Questions can wait till tomorrow. We’ll have to be up at dawn. Time is short for us.”

  She settled down beside Kusac, taking the emergency blankets out of her backpack and handing one to Kusac. Wrapping hers around herself, she lay back and leaned her head on the now thin bag while she munched on her meat and biscuit.

  Kusac threw more wood on the fire, then, putting his blanket over them both, stretched out beside her, his tail curling protectively over her. He luxuriated in the warmth from the fire for a few moments, then closed his eyes.

  Skai regarded them, part of his mind wondering if he could manage to escape once they were asleep, or at least get his gun back from the girl. The other part saw Carrie lying there, so like Elise—and there was an Alien beside her.

  What was it with those Hamilton girls? Weren’t their own men good enough? Could he have done more to stop her? Elise had known how he felt, but it hadn’t stopped her, she’d still left him. Perhaps he was getting a second chance with Carrie.

  “Don’t. Like your cats, I sleep with one eye open,” said Kusac, his voice slurred to a velvet purr. “I know you’re not fully convinced, but stay around. You will be. Meanwhile, leave Carrie alone. She’s not her sister.”

  Just what did he mean by that? Skai wondered. Faced with the inevitable, he gave up and settled down to sleep.

  Skai wakened before the others. He lay staring at Carrie, wondering about her. He only knew what all the guerrillas knew—that she was the sister of Elise and the daughter of Peter Hamilton, head of the Passive Resistance, and that she and her cat were missing. Except the cat was an intelligent Alien, one of a race with more than two well established colony planets, and probably faster than light spacecraft. God alone knew how wide the technical gap was between them!

  Wait till Captain Skinner heard about the Aliens. What did she say they were called? Sholans, that was it. Shame the girl had to be their first contact. He would have driven a hard bargain for their help. He’d have demanded access to some of their higher technology, but she’d just offered it for free. Just like a woman. No sense of the value of things.

  He was drawn to her. It wasn’t surprising considering his unfinished affair with Elise. She had long hair like her sister and he liked women with long hair, they looked more feminine. Most of them on Keiss kept their hair short, said it was more practical. He’d have to try and get her away from the Alien.

  He frowned as Kusac stirred in his sleep and curled more protectively round Carrie. What was the Sholan after anyway? He was a bit too familiar with the girl. Surely they couldn’t be lovers.

  Never mind. He was something the Alien could never be, human like her and that was what would count in the end. He could charm a country girl like her, no problem. That’s the way it had started with Elise, but then she’d gotten under his skin.

  He fingered his wrist communicator thoughtfully. By rights, he ought to contact the Captain at their base. He could play this his way and maybe come out looking pretty good. And there was Carrie. He wouldn’t be missed for a day or two, so he had the time to play with. It could be an interesting few days.

  Carrie stirred and began to stretch against Kusac, waking him, too.

  I see our guide is still with us, came Kusac’s thought. Of course. Had he tried to leave, he would have found it impossible, like walking through a solid wall. I planted that thought last night before you let him “see” your two colony planets.

  But that’s mental manipulation! sent Kusac.

  So? It was necessary. We can’t trust him.

  That’s a crime among my people, Carrie. You can’t do that.

  Kusac, it isn’t a crime for me. We have no code of ethics for telepaths.

  You mustn’t do it, Carrie. You will have to adopt a code if your people have many more like you. Telepaths mustn’t take advantage of others by using their Talent. It infringes on the rights of the individual. Can’t you see?

  Yes, but we’re at war at the moment, and that changes the rules. We cannot afford to lose him.

  It doesn’t matter. Please do not use your Talent like that again.

  His tone was so worried and concerned that she relented a little.

  I’ll try to stick to your code, but I can’t promise. Now come on, we have to get moving.

  Carrie stretched again and smiled across at their guide, who was beginning to show signs of life.

  “Good morning. I’m afraid we didn’t introduce ourselves officially last night. This is Kusac,” she indicated the Sholan, who was rekindling the small fire. “As you surmised, I’m Carrie Hamilton.”

  “Skai,” he responded, smiling and holding out a friendly hand.

  Hesitantly, Carrie took it. His touch was firm yet gentle, almost a caress. She was glad when he released her.

  “What made you leave your settlement?” he asked.

  “I wanted to join the guerrilla forces,” she replied shortly, handing the kettle to Kusac. “We need some water,” she said. “Can you smell any nearby?”

  “There’s some not too far away,” he replied. “I’ll not be long.” He melted silently into the bushes at the edge of their campsite.

  Carrie handed Skai a piece of dried meat and began chewing one herself.

  “How far is the beginning of the swamp from here?”

  “Thanks to you, I can only guess where ‘here’ is.” said Skai, moving round to sit beside her. “I take it we’re traveling by dead reckoning?”

  Carrie nodded, chewing hard on her food.

  “Kusac can sense where the swamp is, but we have no idea of the distance involved.”

  “Judging from the amount of walking we did yesterday, I’d say we’d reach it by nightfall. We can’t attempt to cross the swamp in the dark, so we’ll have to camp again tonight.”

  Skai reached out to touch a stray lock of her hair.

  “You have lovely hair,” he said, fingering it gently.

  Carrie brushed it back out of the way.

  “Don’t,” she said sharply.

  “Don’t you like to be admired?” he asked softly.

  “No. I’ve had enough of the Valtegans leering at me and—Elise,” she said bitterly, moving away from him.

  “I’m not a Valtegan, though.”

  “Just let’s leave it, Skai. I don’t want to talk,” she said, while sending a short reassuring thought to Kusac, who was clamoring to know what had angered her.

  “I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories,” Skai apologized.

  “Look, I’m no
t in the market for a man, so you don’t need to impress me with your concern,” she said coldly.

  Skai sighed. He wouldn’t have thought her such a cold fish. Pity. Still, there was plenty of time. Perhaps when she got used to his company she would thaw a little.

  “Tell us more about the swamp,” said Carrie, falling back to let Kusac take his turn using Skai’s machete to cut through the dense underbrush.

  Daylight did little to break the perpetual gloom that pervaded the heart of the forest through which they now worked their way.

  “I told you. It’s a tidal delta, thickly overgrown with swamp grasses and a rambling network of trees. Every high tide changes the dry areas slightly, and by the end of a fortnight, the safe route you took in no longer exists. Parts of it do, but our scouts have to adapt to the ever changing geography.”

  “Boats?” asked Kusac, hacking through the trunk of a particularly resilient bush.

  “Too overgrown. The whole thing resembles a lake covered with strips of shifting sand and vegetation.”

  “So how do you manage?” asked Carrie, hitching her backpack into a more comfortable position.

  “We rotate every two weeks while there are still some identifiable swamp marks, and we leave markers that only we would notice.”

  “What about the shift coming off duty? You said they guide the next shift in.”

  “One man takes them in, showing them the new markers.” Carrie nodded. “Makes sense. You’ve just come off duty, haven’t you? Think you can guide us through safely?”

  “From one side to the other, yes, but you want to reach some object ...”

  “The life pod.”

  “... buried in there,” continued Skai. “I can’t guarantee we can reach it safely.”

  “How deep is it? Can we wade or swim through it?” Kusac called back.

  “No way. That water is alive with creatures you wouldn’t want to meet. Leeches like small eels, with teeth to match, crocodiles, carnivorous fish—you name it, if it’s nasty and has teeth, it lives there. You wouldn’t survive more than a minute in the water.

  “Then there’re the insects.”

  “Great,” groaned Carrie, catching a branch that threatened to lash her in the face, “I don’t think I want to know any more for now. What do we do if we can’t reach it?”

  “Worry about that when the time comes,” growled Kusac. “Let’s just get there and find it first.”

  The passage of time was difficult to gauge in the flickering gloom, but eventually there came a point when muscles ached and bodies were too tired to stand any longer.

  To call it a clearing was a misnomer, but at least the undergrowth was less dense. A small area large enough for the stove was cleared and a larger one was trampled down for sitting.

  Skai activated the stove and put the water they’d carried with them on to boil while Carrie kneaded the worst of the cramps out of Kusac’s shoulders.

  “I don’t know why you’re bothering with hot water,” she said. “We used the last of the coffee this morning.”

  Skai smiled, taking a packet out of his jacket. With a flourish, he produced some muslin tea bags and a small quantity of sugar.

  “We guerrillas carry a few emergency rations of our own,” he said, grinning.

  “Tea!” exclaimed Carrie. “I haven’t tasted any since the Valtegans took over the tea plantations up by Geshader. And in bags, too.”

  “We have our sources,” said Skai. “Unfortunately, I haven’t any milk.

  “Now, how about giving my shoulders a rub when you’ve finished with your friendly Alien’s?”

  Carrie stiffened, but a flick of Kusac’s ears relaxed her.

  He stretched, rising to his feet. “I must hunt now, before I stiffen up. I will not be long, Leska,” he said. Reverting to a four-legged stance, he loped off.

  Skai gave an involuntary shudder. “It’s uncanny how he does that. Inhuman.”

  Carrie grinned mirthlessly as she moved behind him. “He isn’t human, he’s an Alien.”

  “I know. Perhaps it’s because he resembles a cat that he doesn’t seem ... Ouch! Do you have to be so rough?” he complained as Carrie kneaded his shoulder and neck muscles vigorously. “... quite so Alien,” he continued, still wincing a little.

  “If you want to get rid of the stiffness, then it’s going to hurt,” she said, trying not to smirk.

  Skai grunted. “What are the rest of the crew like?” he asked.

  She thought for a moment before answering.

  “Different from Kusac. The Captain seems a fair man, but Guynor, the First Officer, he’s suspicious and belligerent. The two women seem friendly—at least one of them does,” she amended.

  “Their hierarchy is different from ours. Age and maturity don’t matter as much as the ability to win a Challenge if you’re an enlisted man or a Junior Officer.

  “There, that should be better now,” she said, sliding her hands off Skai’s shoulders.

  He caught hold of her before she could move away.

  “Let me do your shoulders,” he said persuasively. “You’ve been doing as much trailblazing as Kusac and me.”

  Carrie hesitated, then shrugged. She twisted her hair out of the way and turned her back to Skai. It was a risk, but she ought to be able to sense in advance if he planned to make a sudden move against her.

  Despite herself, she relaxed under his gentle massage.

  “What’s Challenge?” he asked.

  “When they feel they have the ability to move up a grade in their own field, they Challenge their immediate superior. It’s a fight to submission.”

  “A bit barbaric, isn’t it? Not to say stupid. How do they make sure that intelligence and brawn go together?”

  “I’ve no idea. I do know they have a family caste system. Some are born to their professions. For instance, Kusac’s family are all telepaths.”

  “Seems very haphazard to me. What about people from one family who have a talent for another craft? What do they do?”

  “No idea. I haven’t studied their sociology. I’ve only been really aware of them as Aliens for a couple of days, but their infrastructure seems based on more of a pack system. We don’t have an analogy because we evolved on a different planet,” she said dryly. “Thanks for the massage. My muscles don’t feel quite so rigid now.

  “Just remember that on Shola, Kusac’s people are the dominant predators, probably more efficient ones than we are on Earth,” she said.

  Carrie began to move, but Skai stopped her.

  “I haven’t finished yet. Your neck is still very tense. Now, doesn’t that feel better?” he asked, his tone as gentle and caressing as the fingers that moved lightly up and down her neck.

  Caught unawares, Carrie found her body responding to the massage as faint thrills of pleasure coursed through her.

  Having finished his hunting, Kusac paused in the bushes at the edge of their clearing. Silently, he observed their interchange, sharing through the link her reactions to Skai’s touch. This was how it should be. She needed a close relationship with a male of her own species, a mate of her own kind. This bond of theirs—Vartra alone knew how it had happened!—was not right, not natural. What would happen to her when he had to leave the planet? The only way the Leska bond was broken was by death.

  He tried to remember what his father had said about it. He’d only mentioned it once. It didn’t happen to every telepath, he’d said, only to a few, but when it did it was like lightning, it struck where it would.

  Not much help, but then no one, least of all himself, had imagined he would find a Leska from another species, millions of miles from home. Maybe the fact that she wasn’t Sholan would make a difference to the bond. Maybe they would be able to part when the problem on Keiss was over....

  His thoughts were interrupted by Carrie pushing Skai away.

  “Thanks, I’m fine now,” she said brusquely, getting to her feet.

  Kusac tried unsuccessfully to repress his deli
ght. She didn’t like their guide either. If Skai continued to bother his Leska, he’d be forced to Challenge him. Shocked, he tried to stop that chain of thought. Telepaths couldn’t Challenge, and he was reacting as if Carrie were a true Sholan Leska. What was he to think and do? What was really at stake here, them or two different worlds?

  The politics of the situation he couldn’t begin to gauge; whichever way he looked at it, everything seemed disastrous. A new species is contacted and they are fellow Telepaths of potentially amazing abilities. They’ve been brutalized for years by these Valtegans, and when first contact is made, what happens? He bonds Telepathically for life to one of them.

  Suddenly his spirits lightened and he grinned. Well, he’d run away to find adventure, hadn’t he? Not even he could say his life was boring now.

  His mind was made up. They were what mattered, not all the Allied World Councils nor the Terran equivalents. He’d speak to the girl, find out what she felt, and explain what a Leska bonding really entailed. It was their problem; only between them could it be solved.

  Kusac pushed through the bushes and handed Carrie two small deerlike creatures.

  “This should give us more than enough for tonight as well,” he said, the Sholan equivalent of a pleased grin on his face, “just in case the rest of the crew are late reaching the rendezvous.”

  “Wonderful,” said Carrie. “Real food again.”

  “I’ll help you skin them,” Kusac said, getting his knife out of Carrie’s backpack.

  Soon the carcasses had been skinned and gutted, and were set to cook above the small fire. Skai made up a little of his tea, all of them preferring to save their resources and drink a weak brew now with the prospect of more later.

  Carrie leaned back against a tree trunk, feeling replete at last. Giving her fingers a final lick, she sighed.

  “We haven’t left much for later,” she said wistfully, “but it was so nice to eat properly. I’d almost rather starve than eat another piece of dried meat or a trail bar, no matter how well your crew mates make them.”