Between Darkness and Light (127 page)

“Let me see what resources you have,” he said, holding his hand out for the reader he knew Kezule was carrying.

 

Vartra sat on a prayer mat in the shadows near the altar, pleased that the message he'd placed with Kusac had been understood. As Ghyakulla had said, there was much he could do, especially if the Camarilla believed he was once again their mouthpiece. He could make sure that sooner rather than later, Kusac, the Hunter, became aware of their existence, and just how greatly they had meddled with and shaped his life. But first, K'hedduk and his brother must be stopped.

“I'll need to speak to my crew,” Kusac said, returning the reader.

“Of course,” agreed Kezule. “Keep the reader. Show it to them. There's footage from K'oish'ik showing K'hedduk proclaiming himself Emperor.”

“I want my son deprogrammed immediately and our collars removed.” He indicated the metal band around his neck.

The Valtegan shook his head. “Yours remains,” he said. “I know you have your mental abilities back, and I know, despite Zayshul claiming she did it, that you used them to kill the guard who shot you.”

So much for his trust,
he thought sardonically. “You'll take my son's off?” Shaidan's was the one that really mattered since he'd already neutralized his.

“It's already been removed,” said Kezule. “And he's been fully deprogrammed as another gesture of good faith.”

“We'll be free to go where we want on Kij'ik?”

“Within reason, if your crew will swear not to attempt to sabotage the Outpost or our common mission.”

“If they agree to stay, they'll give their word,” said Kusac, beginning to push himself toward the edge of his bed. “Get M'zynal to call Banner and have him meet me in our common room. I need to talk to him first.”

“What about Dzaou?” asked Kezule, getting up from his chair.

“I'll deal with him,” he replied.

Banner got to his feet hurriedly as the door opened and Kusac limped in. Still gaunt from his rapid healing, there was an otherworldly look about him. It was enhanced as much by his braided hair as the very noticeable blue stud still in his ear.

“Father!” exclaimed Shaidan, propelling himself off the sofa toward him.

“Careful, your father's still weak,” Banner cautioned as Kusac bent to meet his son's rush and pick him up.

“I'm fine,” he said, looking at Banner over the top of Shaidan's head as he straightened up.

He nodded, watching his Captain limp over to join him at the table. He had the uneasy feeling that despite the psi damping collar Kusac wore, the intense looks on their faces meant the two of them were carrying on a mental conversation.

Kusac let Shaidan, his expression one of pure happiness now, climb down and scramble onto a chair adjacent to the one he took.

“I need to talk to the Lieutenant about something important,” he said. “Have you something you can do for a few minutes?”

Shaidan nodded. “I have a book I can read,” he said, getting down and going back to the reader he'd left on the sofa.

“What now?” Banner asked, sitting down again.

“We're all free to leave,” he said, resting his forearms on the table, hands loosely clasped. “However ...”

“Why am I not surprised there's a However,” Banner interrupted, his instant elation squashed.

“I thought I was the cynic. There's been a coup on the Prime home world. K'hedduk is not only still alive, but he's taken the Prime throne—the Throne of Light.”

“That's not our problem. Getting you and Shaidan home safe to Shola is.”

“It is our problem. K'hedduk is the leader of the Directorate, and the brother of the M'zullian Emperor. For him to take the throne for himself, it's obvious he has a following on his world. Unless he's removed from power as soon as possible, we could see the old Empire reunited in a matter of weeks.”

“Shit!” said Banner, with feeling. “Why did this have to happen now of all times?”

Kusac reached in his pocket for the reader and passed it across the table to him. “That's a list of Kezule's resources. He needs us now, as pilots and commanders. Beyond that, he needs me to contact Haven and request help to deal with M'zull. He's asked me to lead any Sholan troops that our government sends.”

“This is just another of Kezule's tricks to keep you here. Does he know about your official status back home?” he asked, scanning the list of ships and personnel. The Ch'almuthian entries surprised him, but he said nothing as he handed the reader back.

Kusac nodded. “He knows, and like me sees it as a way of giving the Brotherhood and our Government a way of reinstating me without mentioning the cubs. We've been here, secretly training Kezule's people from the start for just such an emergency.”

“He's just using you again, Kusac,” Banner said. Lowering his voice, he asked, “What about Zayshul's scent marker? Has Kezule found a way to neutralize it?”

Kusac glanced down at his hands. “He's getting the TeLaxaudin to work on it,” he said quietly.

“So we couldn't actually leave right now anyway. I told you this was just another trick! What proof of this supposed coup do you have?”

“We could leave now. I found a way to control the effects of the marker. As for proof, I read him, Banner.”

Banner knew Kusac was lying again. With his empathic Gift, he could feel it a mile away. Leaning forward, he put his hand over Kusac's, gripping it hard until his Captain looked up at him.

“Dammit, Kusac! I will not work with you if you continue lying to me!”

Kusac's amber eyes regarded him steadily for a moment before he looked away again. “You're right. There'll be no more lies, Banner. I can remove the marker myself,” he said quietly. “Only ...”

“You don't know if you want to,” finished Banner, feeling his friend's anguish at his inability to make a decision.

“No! I will remove it,” he said, looking at him again. “I just don't know when.”

Banner nodded, letting Kusac's hand go and sitting back. He could understand that the decision wasn't an easy one after what he'd been through. “And the proof there has actually been a coup?”

“I did read him, and if you scroll through the reader, you'll find a broadcast by K'hedduk from the Prime world proclaiming himself Emperor. In it you'll see he had two of the Brotherhood Ambassadorial guards killed and skinned. Their pelts are lying at the foot of his throne.”

Banner closed his eyes briefly, then pushed his sadness at the deaths of two of their own aside. When K'oish'ik was retaken, then they could all mourn them. “Does Kezule know you can remove the marker?”

“He doesn't. I thought it better considering his paranoia about telepaths. That's between me and Zayshul anyway, and he agreed to that.”

“We need to speak to the rest of the crew.”

“Then you'll back me?”

He hesitated. Kusac had changed, and he wasn't thinking of the stark physical changes since he'd been shot. He'd always seemed slightly alien, but that had been because of his upbringing as a Telepath and his Link to Carrie. Now, there was something else about him, something that had more in common with Kezule than anything either Human or Sholan—even down to the way he'd gone into a healing coma like the Valtegans did.

“You don't trust me, do you?” said Kusac. “I can't say I blame you, considering how much of the truth I kept from you.”

“Don't ask me that now, Kusac. From the start, I haven't agreed with what we've been doing for Kezule,” admitted Banner. “You've yet to convince me that we aren't removing K'hedduk to replace him with a worse Emperor—Kezule.”

“He doesn't want the throne. Prince Zsurtul is still on Shola, he says. He wants to put him back on the throne but reform the whole setup—make it a monarchy, not an Empire, and stop the City being walled off from the ordinary people. Ch'almuth is willing to form an alliance with K'oish'ik and let many of their people emigrate there so the world can be rebuilt in return for protection from the M'zullian raids. They're more advanced and populated than the M'zullians know, but they can't defend themselves adequately.”

“I'll believe it, when I see it,” Banner said dryly. “Just so you know, we were on the point of drugging you and removing you and Shaidan from here by force, except you came barreling up to the hydro level with that gun.”

“And you were building weapons against my express orders,” Kusac said, without rancor. “There's been wrong on both sides, mainly mine, I admit, but the safety of my son was at stake, Banner. We need to deal with the real situation on K'oish'ik, not squabble like cubs among ourselves.”

“True, but you'll need to earn my trust back, Kusac. You kept one hell of a lot from me, including the fact you'd regained your Talent. You killed the guard that shot you, didn't you? And messed with Dzaou's mind. What have you done to mine?”

“My abilities have been returning in fits and starts. The guard was a matter of instinct, I did it to survive. No one was supposed to get shot. I don't have a rogue Talent, Banner. Look at the provocation I've had from Dzaou yet all I did was make him forget his plans to use the nitrate compound to make explosives.”

“What did you do to my mind?” Banner repeated more forcefully, now convinced Kusac had done something to him.

Kusac's gaze didn't waver as he said, “On the way here, you worked out that my Talent was returning. I needed to hide that from Kezule so I had to make you forget it, that's all.” He hesitated a moment. “And I blurred my appearance slightly when I was with Shaidan so none of you could see the resemblance between us.”

Banner searched Kusac's face, nodding slowly. “I don't think you're a rogue, but your abilities
are
frightening. Just how did you heal yourself as fast as a Valtegan Warrior?”

“I'd tell you if I understood it myself. It may be something to do with the marker, or when Annuur and Kzizysus operated on me. They said they'd had to establish new connections in my brain because the implant had damaged the natural ones beyond repair.”

“I didn't know that.”

Kusac smiled wryly. “Few people do. Only my family, because we didn't know if it would be a success. Banner, I swear neither you nor my crew have any reason to fear my abilities.” He reached out, his fingertips briefly touching Banner's jawline. “I told you there would be no more lies. I meant it.”

He appreciated the gesture, knowing that by doing it, Kusac was apologizing for the past and showing a willingness to reestablish their friendship. Right now, though, he wasn't sure he could handle that.

“You've made a good start, Kusac,” he said, getting to his feet. “Just make sure you keep it up. We'd better go and talk to the others. They're in the mess having second meal. You're going to have to deal with Dzaou. He got so bad while you were in sick bay that when Kezule gave us our knives back, I withheld his.”

“I intend to. As soon as we're joined by any Sholan unit, I want him shipped out of here. Until then, let's all try to keep him under control,” said Kusac as he rose to his feet.