Shades of gray, p.50
Shades of Gray, page 50
“On my way, ZSADHI. Conner, thank you again,” he said, turning and leaving.
Heading left outside the Temple, he took the covered walkway between several office blocks, turning left again in front of the Utilities building. As soon as he turned into that section, he saw that several of the lights were out and sensed someone hiding in the shadows. His hackles began to rise, and as his hand reached for the knife at his left side, he stepped into a pool of darkness against the far wall. The junction ahead, by his turn for the elevator, was in total darkness.
He hooded his eyes, trying to prevent the light ahead from causing them to shine. Common sense would have been to back off and send to Kaid for reinforcements, but someone had gone to a lot of trouble to set up this trap, which made it very personal.
Like a shadow, he inched slowly forward, ears pricked for the slightest sound. His enhanced senses could smell the sharp scent of anticipation from the Sholan out of sight around the corner, and his ears picked up the tiniest movements as his would-be attacker shifted his weight impatiently.
Reaching for his assailant’s mind, Kusac found it a turmoil of emotions—lust for the kill, and revenge soon to be accomplished: killing this one would make Kaid suffer more—then the thoughts stopped, the mind becoming still as he sensed Kusac’s presence.
Suddenly Kusac’s foot touched a pebble, making it rattle against the cobblestone pathway. He felt the air move and knew a knife was spinning toward him. Just in time, he dove low for the other side of the narrow passageway, using the wall to bounce off and to propel himself in a forward roll that sent him crashing into the legs of the assassin.
They both leaped to their feet at the same time, facing off with knives drawn.
“Come on, then, mind reader,” sneered the other. “Kaid taught you, did he? We were always better than him. You’re dead meat!”
Each sentence was punctuated by a slash of the knife as his attacker lunged forward.
Kusac backed away, keeping his guard up, and reached for the other’s mind again, this time in an effort to control it; but it was filled with roiling hate and anger—there was nothing sane there to control.
So hard was he concentrating that he didn’t sense the cut that came too close, slicing his forearm. The sting of pain banished any desire but to stay alive. The lack of sanity made his attacker doubly dangerous, and despite the army uniform he wore, Kusac knew he was fighting a seasoned Brotherhood Warrior.
Again, he backed off hurriedly, into one of the better-lit areas, letting his attacker think he had the advantage. He faked a stumble, drawing him nearer so he could reach out and grasp his opponent’s knife hand, using his strength to pull him in close before slamming his own knife up under his chin. They stood locked like that for a moment, then Kusac wrenched his knife free and allowed the other to fall, dead, to the ground.
Wincing in pain as he bent down to wipe his blade on the assassin’s tunic, he realized he’d taken another cut along his right side, one that had sliced through his jacket.
He quickly searched the body, finding nothing except a few coins in the pockets. He retrieved the knife, but it wasn’t a Brotherhood one. No way to trace the owner of that blade.
“ZSADHI, is Raiban in the Council chamber?” he demanded. The slice to his side was beginning to burn and hurt almost as much as his forearm did.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good,” he muttered, cursing at the pain again as he picked up the corpse and slung it clumsily over his good shoulder.
He exited the elevator, ignoring the flustered security guards who trailed after him as he limped painfully to the Council chamber. Flinging the door open, he headed straight for Raiban and dumped the still bleeding corpse in front of her as they all leaped to their feet with exclamations of shock.
“Call your assassins off now, Raiban, or I swear I’ll kill you myself,” he snarled, ears turning sideways to his skull, and tail jerking in an obvious show of anger.
“Assassins?” said Raiban, nostrils flaring and ears flattening as she took a step back from the body. “This is nothing to do with me, Kusac!”
“They were wearing forces uniforms, and they came on your ship,” he said, catching the glance Zsurtul and Kezule exchanged. “And you swore you’d make me pay for leaving Shola as I did! Who else would do this?”
“Hold on Kusac,” said Kaid, walking around the table to look down at the dead Sholan as half a dozen commandos, weapons drawn, rushed in and ranged themselves between Kusac and Raiban. “I recognize him. It’s Jebousa. He’s Brotherhood, one of the two who kidnapped Dzaka and conspired with Ghezu against me.”
“Was this your idea then, Rhyaz?” he demanded, wincing as he swung around to face the Brotherhood Master.
“Not mine, Kusac. Why would I make sure you got a full pardon and then set an assassin on you?”
Kusac growled, a low, menacing sound.
“This matter will be investigated immediately,” said King Zsurtul. “Meanwhile, M’kou, have this body removed to the morgue. Captain, you need immediate medical attention. We’ll retire to the lounge, meanwhile, and meet you there.”
Kusac glanced at his forearm. It was dripping blood onto the polished wooden floor. He gave a low hiss of pain as the cut across his side hurt when he turned to watch Rhyaz as he came forward to check the body.
“That is indeed Jebousa. He’s no longer Brotherhood,” the Guild Master said. “He became too unstable, so we retired him. There’s another force behind this, Kusac. I believe he’s actually the third assassin.”
“And just when did you intend to inform me about this, Rhyaz?” he asked, his voice suddenly gentle.
“When I had something to actually tell you,” the other said, meeting his eyes steadily.
“You take too much on yourself,” growled Kusac.
“I have every right,” began Rhyaz.
“No. I answer only to Lijou, not you. Which reminds me,” he said, suddenly lurching forward to grasp Rhyaz by the front of his jacket and lift him effortlessly up into the air. “I promised you retribution for what you made me say and do to Kaid and Carrie!”
Rhyaz was making choking noises and grasping at Kusac’s hand. Just as he reached for his knife, Kusac dropped him and swung his arm back in an arc to land a hard cuff on the Guild Master’s ear that sent him flying across the room to land in a heap against the far wall.
“You can thank Alex that’s all I’m going to do!”
The rest of them stood rigid, waiting to see what would happen next.
“You’re too like Kaid,” growled Rhyaz, getting up, straightening his clothes and shaking his head to clear it. “I didn’t tell you what to say to Kaid. You made that decision, not me.”
“You knew damned well that was the only thing he could say that would make me turn my back on him,” said Kaid, walking past Rhyaz and out of the door.
“It’s over now,” said Kusac, more mildly as he watched a Prime Medic enter.
She hesitated in midstride as she saw the body and glanced at M’kou for instructions.
“He’s dead. See to the Captain,” said M’kou, gesturing toward Kusac.
Nodding, she approached him, reaching out for his injured arm. “If you please, Captain?”
“It’s only a flesh wound,” he said, holding it out while she examined it carefully, swabbing the still bleeding wound with the pad she was carrying.
“You need stitches,” she said, reaching into one of her fatigues’ pockets for a pressure bandage.
“He’s got a wounded side too,” said Banner, joining them.
He’d stopped bleeding, so she ushered him out of the Council chamber. “You need to come to the hospital for treatment,” she said.
“This is a fuss over nothing,” he muttered.
“You will go, Captain Aldatan,” said Zsurtul. “We’ll wait for you to join us before we discuss anything.”
Still muttering, Kusac, followed by M’kou, left with the medic.
As Raiban stepped over the body and headed for the door, two commandos fell in on either side to escort her.
“This is an insufferable insult,” she said angrily. “I said I had nothing to do with this!”
“You’ve lied to me before, General,” said Kezule, as he and the King followed her out. “Why should we now trust you?”
“Because, like you, I’m a soldier! When I thought he was a loose cannon acting on his own, stealing a Touiban vessel, creating an interplanetary incident, and closing down the spaceport for two hours, that was one thing. I now accept he was on a mission. Besides, if I wanted him dead, I’d Challenge him, I’d never stoop to assassination,” she said frankly, looking at him over her shoulder. “You understand that, I’m sure.
Kezule smiled widely, displaying his teeth. “Pray you never find out just how good he is. He gave me a run for my money when we fought.”
“ZSADHI, ask Carrie to join us in the lounge,” said Kusac, sotto voce as he followed the medic into the King’s hospital.
Zayshul was working at the reception desk, checking her few patients’ files on the computer. She looked up as they entered.
“Another fight?” she asked dryly.
“Another assassination attempt,” he corrected as the medic led him into an examination room.
He winced as she helped him out of his uniform jacket.
We need to talk, he sent to Zayshul as she stood at the doorway watching.
“I’ll see to Captain Aldatan, thank you,” she said to the medic. “And ZSADHI, ask Lieutenant Banner to bring a fresh uniform here, please.”
“How do three assassins get onto your ship and remain undetected?” demanded Rhyaz as they waited while guards pushed the tables and chairs closer to each other in the lounge. “And if there are three, how many more are there, Raiban?”
“I’d like to know that myself,” growled Raiban, sitting down. “No stone will be left unturned until I find that out, and who is responsible! This one was one of your people, Rhyaz!”
“We haven’t been hired for an assassination in a good few years, Raiban. Besides, you know contracts against Leskas are illegal. Kaid can tell you more about Jebousa than I can.”
Kaid settled himself in an easy chair beside one of the small round tables. “He was one of Ghezu’s tools,” he said. “If he had a personal grudge, it would have been with me. Someone hired him to do this job. There has to be a handler. Find him, and we have our answers.”
“I’ll have a word with the Telepath Mentor on the Khalossa to get right on it,” said Raiban. “Can you handle the ground people?” she asked Rhyaz, with a glance at Kaid as well.
Rhyaz nodded. “Alex and I will do what we can. And I’ve alerted the Mentor for you.”
“You’ll have to rely on Carrie and Kusac more than me,” said Kaid. “Their skills are greater.”
“Any ambassadors on the Khalossa, Raiban?” asked Rhyaz. “I brought none, though we do have alien Brothers with us.”
“None,” said Raiban. “The Touibans were already here, but I know there are a couple of the Watcher ships berthed at the weather platform because I’ve seen them and their U’Churian and Cabbaran crews.”
“Plus the TeLaxaudin here in the Palace,” added Kaid.
“They are above reproach,” said Zsurtul.
“All species, even allies, have their own agendas,” murmured Kezule.
“What did you want to talk about?” asked Zayshul as she began cleaning the wounds.
“I’ve turned off the scent marker completely,” he said quietly.
“I noticed when you came in. You know, I’m getting quite expert at treating your wounds.”
He chuckled. “I’m trying to stop making a habit of getting wounded,” he said. “I think whatever has been attempting to control us was also forcing us away from our mates.”
“You and your wife are together again,” she said, beginning to clip the fur around the deeper knife wound on his forearm. “I can smell her scent on you.”
“We do have our Link back,” he said. “I wanted to tell you myself. You can say that the scent marker just vanished when she and I Linked again.”
He fell silent as she sprayed on a topical anesthetic.
“I apologize for many of my actions, what I did to you, but I have some good memories too. Those I won’t forget.” He touched her cheek briefly with his free hand.
“Will you tell her what happened between us?”
“She already knows,” he said quietly, watching as she expertly began stitching his wound. “When we Link, our minds become one. We exchange all memories since the last time we Linked.”
Zayshul paled and looked up at him.
“You’ve no need to worry. She knows everything—how we were both used and controlled by those who placed your scent marker on me,” he reassured her. “We’re both free now to return to our own lives.”
“I don’t know what mine is anymore,” she said, wrapping a dressing around his forearm. “Kezule has changed so much from the person I woke on the Kz’adul.”
“Change is inevitable. We learn to adapt to it, make compromises.”
“True. Thank you for telling me in person before I get bombarded by questions from the others.”
“I owe you that for what we’ve shared.”
She prodded the cut over his ribs, making him hiss in pain. “That one is more shallow. Luckily your jacket took most of the damage. Just keep both wounds clean, and change the dressings every day,” she said, spraying a sealant over it. Turning, she put the canister back on the counter and reached for a lightweight bandage as there was a knock in the door and Banner entered.
He held out the fresh jacket to Kusac. “Nothing serious, I hope?”
“Just flesh wounds, though the forearm one was a close call,” he replied as Zayshul wrapped the bandage around his ribs and fastened it off.
When she was done, he took the jacket from Banner and accepted his help to put it on.
“They’re waiting down the corridor in the lounge for you,” said Banner.
“I’m almost done, here,” said Kusac, accepting the offered weapons belt and buckling it on. “I’ll meet you outside in a moment, Banner.”
“Aye, Captain.”
When the door shut, he took Zayshul’s face gently between his hands and kissed her on the forehead before releasing her. “Thank you again for putting up with me,” he said. “I’d like to think we can remain friends and allies in whatever lies ahead.”
“I would hope so too. There were times when all I wanted to do was shake some compassion and common sense into you,” she said frankly. “And others when I admired you because you gave so much of yourself to our people. Do you intend to tell Kezule of your suspicions?”
“Not publicly, but I will talk to him privately about them. The forgetfulness and the sense of being manipulated has actually been absent the last two days, and I’m not sure why.” He had his suspicions, and they had a lot to do with Ghyakulla and L’Shoh, as well as reLinking with Carrie.
I have to go now. I expect we’ll meet at dinner tonight. Be safe and happy, Zayshul.
“You attract trouble like a dead jegget attracts flies,” Banner grumbled as they made their way along the corridor to the King’s lounge.
“I’m attracting assassins,” he said grimly. “Ones recruited on Shola and smuggled onto Raiban’s ship. The Gods know how many more there are, or who’s behind it. I thought it was Raiban, but it’s not her style. I need the next one alive enough to mind read.”
“You need your back covered at all times,” growled Banner, ears sideways in anger.
“Set it up, please,” he said. “And for Carrie and Shaidan now that we’re back together.”
“At last you’re gaining some sense! So the rumors are true, then?”
Kusac grinned briefly at him as he opened the lounge door. “Yes.”
“I need to get offworld tonight,” said the quiet voice in Tirak’s ear. “Everyone’s so twitchy now, I’ll be discovered before I can complete our mission. Kij’ik will do.”
“And how am I supposed to get you there?” demanded Tirak.
“That’s your job, not mine. Your Watcher craft is at the weather station. Schedule a training run or something. I’ll be on the shuttle at the landing pad before you arrive. Just divert the pilot’s attention long enough for me to slip off onto the station then onto the Watcher. You can drop me as surreptitiously on Kij’ik.”
“Tonight? There’s a Royal banquet for the Brotherhood Guild Master!”
“Even better, they’ll be too busy to notice us leaving.”
“I’m expected to attend. My absence will draw attention to us!”
“Then you better start working on a good reason to be on the Watcher!” Ghost snapped back at him. With that, he cut the connection.
Cursing, Tirak asked ZSADHI where Annuur was then headed out to join him at the new village.
“Just a couple of scratches,” said Kusac in answer to the looks as he entered and took his place to the left of the King.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this, Kusac, you can trust me. I ordered a census of my people, and the Telepath Mentors are already checking those aboard the Khalossa,” said Raiban.
Kusac nodded. “Keep me apprised of the situation.”
“I want the City off-limits to all but trusted Sholans,” said Kezule.
“And who are those?” demanded Raiban, eye ridges meeting in a frown as she glared at the General.
“Kusac’s people,” said King Zsurtul shortly. “General Raiban, you’ll have to excuse us, but you’re not part of our planning meeting. We will see you tonight at the banquet.”
Raiban looked around at the gathering and realized she’d get no support from anyone. Clenching her jaw, she got to her feet, inclined her head briefly at the King, and left.
“Commander Rhyaz, you and Commander L’Seuli can bring your own guards to the City gates, where my commandos will meet you. They will guard you inside the City and Palace,” said Kezule. “Your guards will return to your shuttle. I’ll have you and your wife escorted there at the end of the evening.”
“That’s acceptable,” agreed Rhyaz.
