Authors: Lisanne Norman
* * *
When Carrie returned home, she checked out the data files with Kusac. There was only one likely candidate and it was with little expectation of success that she contacted the woman, inviting her out to the villa the next day for an interview. Her fears, however, proved to be unfounded.
Ruth could have been the archetypal Mother. Of medium height, her figure could best be described as Junoesque. Wavy fair hair with ginger highlights reached midway down her back. Green eyes sparkled with amusement and interest as she glanced around the den. Arranging her long winter Sholan robes around herself, she sat down in one of the easy chairs.
"Coffee?" Carrie asked.
"That would be nice," said Ruth, looking curiously at the brightly patterned rugs and wall hangings. "Is this Sholan decoration? Or do I detect an Earth influence?"
"Sholan— southern Sholan," Carrie said, handing her a mug. "There are apparently similarities, though. Being Keissian I wouldn't know."
Ruth accepted the mug. "Of course. I'd forgotten you were one of the original colonists. Be surprising if there weren't similarities considering how well our species get on together. Your young male, Dzaka, wasn't very forthcoming about the nature of this meeting. He was almost as mysterious as you were yesterday! How about explaining the situation?"
"We have a young girl here, Mara Ryan, with a Sholan Leska," began Carrie.
"Everyone at the Guild knows about Mara! What about the rest? What's the real problem with Mara?"
Carrie felt herself beginning to warm to the woman. "As I see it, it's twofold. First, she's not much more than a child herself. From what I can gather, her family were more than happy to see the back of her because of her Sholan Leska." She stopped to take a sip of her coffee and collect her thoughts. "Secondly, everyone around her has been expecting her to fit into Sholan culture as easily as if she'd been born to it."
"Because you did."
Carrie tilted her head to one side in a uniquely Sholan gesture of embarrassed agreement. "I was the first. They judged her by me, and I wasn't aware of what was happening then. Because of my injuries after the Challenge, no one wanted to involve me in her troubles." She sighed, picking up a spoon and stirring her coffee several times. "Also, at that time, I was the only Human on the estate. Now Mara's pregnant, and her cub will look as Sholan as mine and Vanna's. Yesterday she tried to commit suicide."
Ruth made a noise of sympathy. "Was she badly hurt?"
"Thankfully, no, and the cub's all right, too, but she still wants to abort."
"What's the Sholan view? And yours, come to that."
"The Sholan attitude is colored by the fact that their females only become pregnant when they want to. To do so outside a contract with a partner, or your Leska, carries heavy social penalties. As for me, I can't afford to let my prejudices affect Mara." She smiled gently. "I've too newly become a mother. This is a Sholan estate, though, not Human, so Sholan attitudes tend to prevail."
"So what you want is to create a halfway house for Mara, a predominantly Human environment in which she can finish growing up," said Ruth thoughtfully.
"One without a male influence," added Carrie. "I want nothing to remind her of her life with Zhyaf."
"I do have a daughter," began Ruth.
"No problem. A younger girl she can show round the estate could be good for her. Provided you do realize that relationships— physical relationships— between Humans and Sholans are the norm and you don't mind your daughter growing up in our kind of environment."
"It's healthier than the one at the Guild," Ruth said frankly. "There's been no real effort to integrate us into the mainstream classes. A two-tier guild is already established with only the Humans needed in an official capacity getting adequate training. You know, the more I think about it, the more halfway houses— not only on this estate but elsewhere— seem like a good idea."
Ruth drained her mug and put it back on the low table in front of her. "She can't be the only young woman on Shola with cultural identity problems, and with more mixed Leska pairings happening, the problem is going to grow. Yes, I'd love to be involved."
"We're only concerned with those on our estate at the moment," said Carrie. "We occupy a unique position on Shola, an En'Shalla Clan, owing allegiance only to each other and the Head Priest of Vartra. Believe me, that's going to be a large enough responsibility for all of us." She leaned forward to refill her mug, gesturing to Ruth's at the same time. "I'm looking for someone to run our project, someone to be our den mother and set up pastoral care for those not living with her. Are you interested?" Her instincts were usually right, and they were telling her Ruth was the person she needed.
"No disrespect intended, but before I commit myself to something of this size, I'd like to know your chain of command. To whom would I be answerable?"
That was good, Carrie thought. Ruth's already looking at the consequences of her decision. "We'd have an advisory group until it was up and running. After that, you should be pretty well autonomous. There's Jack Reynolds, our physician, myself and my life-mate, Kusac, of course, and Clan Leader Rhyasha up at the Aldatan estate."
"What about the Telepath Guild? What's their Üxwinvolvement?"
"None. We have established friendly relations with them, and an exchange of medical and telepathic data, but that's all."
Ruth nodded, obviously satisfied. "And my position? If I leave the Telepath Guild to come here, I'll need some security. I have my daughter to think of as well as myself."
"Once we know the project is working under your management, then, should you wish it, you'll become members of our clan. We can't do it before then because to accept someone into our clan is a serious matter for us. It involves a perpetual responsibility, and our clan is, as I've said, unique."
"Then I've only one more question. When do I move in?"
Carrie grinned. "Whenever you wish. We've a house ready for you— one of those large enough to accommodate a Sholan extended family." She paused. "There's just one other point. Would you mind keeping an eye on a nine-year-old kitling called Daira? It would only be during the days. He's an orphan and my bond-mother thought that having a young Sholan male around would be more balanced than putting her in a totally Human environment. He's about the same age as your daughter, isn't he?"
Ruth thought about it for a moment. "A couple of years younger. I'll give it a try, but if it doesn't work out..."
"Then we'll abandon the idea. Now, would you like to see your new home today?"
Leaving Ruth in the capable hands of Rulla, Carrie went to visit Mara. She found her weepy and depressed.
"Would you like to come and stay with us for a few days?" asked Carrie. "Unless you want to, there's no reason for you to live with Zhyaf, you know."
Mara blotted her eyes on the soggy tissue and looked at her hopefully. "I don't have to go back?"
"Not unless you want to. Do you?"
She shook her head. "Have you met his sister?" she asked tentatively.
"That one? Gods, what a dragon!"
Mara began to smile. "She is, isn't she?"
Carrie leaned forward conspiratorially. "How on earth did you stand her? I'd have been out of there like a shot, I'll tell you!"
That started her giggling, then her face crumpled again and the tissue went back up to her eyes.
Carrie leaned forward and took it away from her, throwing it in the bin nearby and handing her a pile of fresh ones.
"But I'd nowhere to go," she sobbed. "I had to stay there!"
Taking Mara in her arms, Carrie hugged her close. "You have now. That silly mate of mine didn't let me know you were having problems. They all thought you should try and be Sholan, not stay Human. All that's going to change, Mara, I promise you. I've arranged for you to stay in the village with a woman called Ruth Brown."
Mara sat up, her sobs getting farther and farther apart as she looked at Carrie. "What's she like?"
"She laughs a lot, and she's got a daughter called Mandy who's twelve years old."
"I'd live in another house?"
"Yes, a new house. It'll take a bit of time for Ruth to get it the way she wants, but I'm sure you'd be glad to help her. She's grateful for the chance to leave the Telepath Guild and move out here onto the estate. She's also agreed to help us out by looking after a young Sholan orphan called Daira. His talent is more like ours, so he needs a home here. She could do with someone to help her, and I thought you'd be just the person."
"You want me to help her?"
"Why not? You can take Daira to the Warrior training sessions— and join in if you want to."
"But I'm pregnant!"
"I fought a Challenge when I was four months pregnant," Carrie reminded her quietly. "And before you say I lost my cub, it wasn't fighting that caused that, it was getting wounded. You'd only be training."
Tears welled up in her eyes again, spilling down over her cheeks. "You don't understand!"
"What don't I understand?"
"This child, it isn't human! Vanna showed me on the scanner yesterday!"
"I know it isn't, Mara. Our Links have changed us, you were told that. Our children will never be totally Human," she said gently.
"But it should be! It isn't Zhyaf's child! Its father is Human like me!" she wailed.
"What?" Carrie sat frozen. "What did you say?"
"The child isn't Zhyaf's! It should be Human!"
"My God." She was stunned, didn't know what to say. That a child conceived by two Human Leska partners would still be Sholan had never occurred to her.
"Zhyaf doesn't know yet!"
"I think you should assume he does," she said automatically. "It makes sense, though, Mara. We're not less than Human now, we're something more."
"I don't want the baby! I only got pregnant so that I wouldn't have a Sholan cub!" she wept, flinging herself back on the bed as her body shook convulsively.
"Vanna says you're only a few weeks pregnant, Mara." Carrie tried to sound as sympathetic as she could. "You've plenty of time to decide what to do. Wouldn't you rather just have the cub? You don't need to look after it. Clan members are fully entitled to have their cubs and leave them in the estate nursery to be brought up. A cub is a blessing to the whole Clan, and Vartra knows, we need all we can bear if our children are to have a choice of mates when they're older."
"Khartu said I would have to bring it up myself."
"Well, she was wrong," said Carrie firmly. "That might be the way up north, but not here. There's another option, too. Most mothers usually leave their children in the nursery during the day and take them home at night and on their days off. The choice is yours."
"I don't want it," she wailed, clutching her damp pillow.
"That's not something I can help you with," Carrie said gently, reaching out to stroke her hair. "Leave it for now. Let yourself get over this first. Meet Ruth and settle into your new home. Things may look different then."
"What about my Link days?" Despite herself, Mara was becoming a little calmer. The prospect of a new life was attractive.
"You'll have your own room. You can get Zhyaf to come to you rather than go back to that mausoleum of his," she said candidly.
"I can?"
"Of course! Ruth's a telepath. She knows what we are here, and the fact that she's happy to foster a Sholan cub shows she understands both our cultures. You'll find her very different from Zhyaf and Khartu, believe me!"
"When will they let me out?"
"In a day or two, depending when your next Link day is."
"Not for three days yet," she sniffed, dabbing her nose with the tissue and sitting up.
"Then Zhyaf can come to the villa," said Carrie getting up. "It's going to take at least that long for Ruth to move in and begin to get things straight. I have to go now," she said. "Kashini needs feeding, and I can feel her calling for me."
"How could you? How could you have a baby that looks so alien?"
Carrie frowned. "She looks nothing of the kind! She looks like both of us, part Human, part Sholan." Her face softened into a smile. "And wholly lovely! You'll find out for yourself when you come to stay. Now stop worrying and get some rest, then you'll be out of here all the sooner."
* * *
As Hanaz handed out the drinks to the guests, Governor Nesul returned to his seat.
"I called this informal meeting because I know we all share the same view of Guild Master Esken," he said. "And I think I've found a way to slow him down; we're all aware how busy it is at this time of year, but my office has been approached on several occasions over the last few days with complaints and petitions concerning that worthy male. I'm afraid, my colleagues," he glanced round the little assembly, "we can ignore it no longer."
"What are the nature of the complaints?" asked Lijou. "I presume they involve our various disciplines." He gestured toward Konis, Rhyasha, Kusac, and General Raiban.
"They do, but before I go into that, I'd prefer to have an update from each of you on the state of your current relations with the Telepath Guild. Father Lijou, would you start, please?"
"Were you aware Senior Tutor Sorli is on retreat with us at present? He's given me no reason, but has been helping us organize our college for training priests."
"I wasn't. That is interesting," said Nesul thoughtfully. "Tell me, what response are you getting from the various temples?"
"Mixed. Esken's influence extends beyond our own continent, I'm afraid. Fully half of the temples in the Western Isles and Nalgalan have replied that without orders from Esken they cannot accept our invitation to send their acolytes to us for instruction. The same, unfortunately, is true here."
"They need to be a guild, Nesul," said Raiban, raising her glass to her lips. "We need them free of Esken. Once the Priesthood is a guild, they'll flock to join it, you mark my words. Now we all know what the situation is, so for Vartra's sake, stop quartering the same scent and get on with why you called us out here tonight!"
"If you'll bear with me, Raiban," said Nesul calmly, "you'll see what I'm getting at. I don't think we're all aware of just how bad the situation is. What about you? How are you getting on with Esken?"
Raiban gave a snort of disgust, replacing her glass on the table forcefully. "Underfoot, more often than not. Insisting that if a mixed Leska pair is involved in the questioning of anyone, then a Telepath Guild member should be appointed too! His damned people are everywhere! And they're still turning up at ruins claiming that they must be blessed." She silenced their outraged murmurs with a wave of her hand. "Oh, they don't have access to explosives any more, they just want to mumble prayers, but that's not the point. They are prohibited from approaching the excavation sites and Esken knows it. All they're doing is continuing to make a damned nuisance of themselves, refusing to accept they're no longer involved."
Nesul nodded and looked over to Rhyasha Aldatan. "How about the Terrans at the Telepath Guild?"
Rhyasha flicked her ears in a shrug. "He hasn't begun to integrate them into the mainstream of Guild education. They're still working mainly from their own quarters with visiting teachers. They're being taught at the same pace as the Sholan students, which means it will take them something like fifteen years to graduate! If the student is dedicated, and very Talented, he or she can get access to advanced tuition because not all Esken's tutors agree with his methods. However, the whole situation is most unsatisfactory."
Nesul frowned, pushing himself more upright in his seat. "Why has this been allowed to continue?" he demanded.
"AlRel keeps a strict watch on him, Governor," Rhyasha said. "We repeatedly pull him up about it, but he manages to hold them back by other means. He refuses either to take their previous experience into consideration, or to condense their courses. As for those who also attend the Warrior Guild, they are kept even farther behind! We do what we can, but you know that each guild is autonomous."
"Then it's time all the guilds were reminded that this is an interspecies emergency we're dealing with," said Nesul grimly. "It's vital we have as many of the Humans as we can operating as fully trained telepaths as soon as possible, not only for the benefit of the Alliance but so that they can help their home world patrol their own sector of space!"
Raiban gave a grunt of surprise at his outburst, causing Nesul to look over at her. She shook her head in a negative and he turned instead to Konis.
"What's the feeling among the telepath clans?"
"Grumblings and complaints to me that only echo what's already been said. They won't complain officially on behalf of their clansfolk, but they will corner me when they can," he said. "I have a matter to bring to your attention tonight which may well have a bearing on this."
"I'm aware of it, Konis. Leave it for the moment, if you will." He looked at each of them in turn. "So the picture is uniform. Now Esken no longer holds the balance of power on the World Council, he's trying to take it at a lessser level— divert it before it reaches us. We can't act directly against him as it would take a vote of censure at an All-Guilds level to force him to resign in Sorli's favor, and I'd rather avoid the scandal that would cause. Esken does have some good qualities when all's said and done."
"So did Ghezu, but look what he became!" Raiban said in exasperation.
"Ghezu was another matter entirely. We were able to conceal his treasonable actions because of the news blockage regarding the whole of the Forces desert action," replied Nesul. "Thank the Gods Kaid did kill him and he wasn't returned for a public trial!"
Raiban growled. "We couldn't afford the scandal after so recently backing the Brotherhood's change to full guild status."
"Exactly Nesul's point," interrupted Konis. "We couldn't afford a scandal involving Esken at that last All-Guilds Council, and we still can't! We telepaths are so interwoven in the fabric of daily life that people can't afford to doubt us— we'd have a planet-wide panic! So what is it you're proposing, Nesul?"
"I've been looking into past precedents regarding similar circumstances, and if I can have the backing of those of you on the Council at tomorrow's meeting, some of our larger problems could well be solved."
"How?" demanded Raiban, lifting her glass again.
"We're on a planetary alert at the moment, so special powers can be used. One of those is the ability to elevate a group of people with vital skills to the status of a guild for the duration of the emergency."
"The priests," said Rhyasha. "But what skills have they got that would help a war effort?"
Lijou leaned forward to pick up his drink. "The Brotherhood lay-priests have pastoral duties on the starships that include helping the injured, talking to those who have lost friends or lovers in action, and rallying the troops if morale falls," he said. "Psychologically we have a measurably beneficial impact on the crew of any Forces craft, don't we, General Raiban?"
Raiban began to grin. "I like that, Nesul. Very nice, very nice indeed. Yes, Father Lijou, your work on our vessels in deep space is vital. I would certainly endorse any recommendation that your people be elevated to guild status on those grounds."
"Not quite guild status," corrected Nesul. "But it would only require a rubber stamp at the next All-Guilds' meeting to ratify our appointment. How about you, Konis? Would you cover our backs?"
"With pleasure, Governor. And I think I have a suggestion for the problem with our Terran telepaths. It could be suggested by your office that unless the proper procedures for accelerating their education are implemented at the Telepath Guild, they will be advising them to enter one or more of Shola's temples as acolytes so that they can continue their training under the Brotherhood of Vartra."
Raiban laughed loudly at this. "By the Gods, if that doesn't get Esken off that broad rear of his, nothing will! He'll see his influence in the vanguard of the new telepathic skills disappearing completely from his grasp! Tell me, Kusac, how are matters between you and Esken? You're the only one Nesul hasn't asked for a report, and there must be a reason for your presence."
"Things are quiet. We give him periodic reports on the research Vanna and Jack are doing, the same ones that go to AlRel, and he leaves us alone," said Kusac. "I must admit to being baffled as to why I was included."
"For the insight and experiences you and your Leska have on the issue of the Terrans and Esken. And so I can catch up on news of that young cub of yours at the end of the meeting," Nesul smiled. "You know what a family person I am. Which brings me to your problem, Konis," he said, nodding in the direction of Kusac's father.
"Several of the telepaths in high office have used their positions to avoid settling down with a life-mate and producing a family. The numbers involved are not large, but significant when you consider how many telepaths we've lost to mixed Leska pairings. I feel, Konis, although the situation isn't yet that serious, that no telepath of breeding age should be exempt. We need to ensure that the lines of pure Sholan telepaths don't die out because of a lack of cubs in this generation."
Around him, everyone but Konis began to grin as they realized what Nesul was suggesting.
"You knew the clans had approached me on this matter," he said. "It's all very well for the rest of you, but who the hell's going to tell Esken he's got to bond? Not me, considering he views our family as taking a personal interest in making his life as difficult as possible!"
"A family could slow him down even more, provided he doesn't go to the Consortias for a bride," said Raiban.
"He can't go to the Consortias," snapped Konis, irritated by the fact that it seemed they were all looking to him to solve a problem he'd been hoping to avoid. "He has to marry a telepath, and one chosen by me as Clan Lord!"
"Even if he married a female of your choice, he could pack her off to his family estate as soon as she was pregnant," Raiban pointed out.
"What you need is a female who won't let herself be sent to the provinces, and who would keep him so busy domestically that he'd have little time left for plotting," said Rhyasha thoughtfully. "Not a young female, an older one. Perhaps a widow? One with a couple of kitlings of school age, needing to attend the Guild. One who, on the face of it, should be quiet out of gratitude at being given a new husband."
Konis' eye ridges met as he looked at his life-mate. "What're you planning? You've got someone in mind, haven't you?"
Rhyasha nodded, smiling broadly. "Someone on our estate who would enjoy running circles round Esken! Not of our family, though her husband was, so Esken can't accuse you of planting a spy in his den. She'd take to her change of status like a kitling to the hunt! Before Esken knows where he is, she'll be entertaining at the Guild. It's about time that place saw some life! It's been getting progressively more like a tomb over the years!"
"Konis," said Lijou, "may I suggest that you issue a letter to all Telepath Clan Leaders, and those in senior positions, saying something to the effect that because we are losing telepaths from the breeding program to the mixed Leska pairings, it's important that a positive and active approach be taken to encourage their Clan members to enter into three-or-more-year contracts and have children, and insist that Leska pairs do the same. Round it off by saying you expect all senior telepaths to set an example by taking life-mates if they haven't already. Accompany each letter with a document detailing your choice of bride for that specific person. That should solve the problem of Esken feeling he's being singled out by you."
Lijou stopped for a moment before raising his hand in a negative gesture. "Before you say anything, yes, I do realize that includes myself." His tone this time was more somber.
Kusac stirred and looked from his father to Governor Nesul. "Could I say something here? I'd like to suggest that some of the Brothers on my estate— and possibly more at Stronghold— be considered as suitable mates." He glanced at his father, but there was no response.
"There are some now compatible genetically with us mixed Leskas, which means they have enough of a talent to form a Leska Link, but there are many others with gifts worth preserving and adding back into our gene pool. We can't ignore those gifts or talents that are common to us and the Humans. And it'll add much needed new blood into our families. It's worth trying, especially as it looks from the DNA tests on her that Taizia and Meral's cub is Talented."
"I can't authorize..."
"Yes, you can, Konis," interrupted Raiban. "All you do is inform several chosen people that they're part of a high security program. I think opening out the gene pool is a damned good idea. Might even breed back the fighting strain. Who're you going to pick for Kaid?"
"Ah," began Kusac.
"He's part of my son's Triad and as such is under no obligation to form a bond elsewhere," Konis interrupted smoothly.
"The Triad is temple registered," said Lijou. "Officially he's also a life-mate to Carrie."
"He's only genetically compatible with the mixed Leskas," said Kusac, finally finding his voice.
Raiban scowled. "Damned loss, if you ask me. Still, he's no telepath, so I suppose it doesn't really matter."
"I can't say this is part of a military research program when it isn't," Konis said, returning to the original Üxwdiscussion.
"It is as of now," said Raiban. "Nesul, I take it you have no objection?"
Nesul considered the options for a few moments. It was novel for Raiban to ask his opinion, and he was enjoying it. "Yes. I think it's worth a try, at least until the cubs born of such pairings are old enough to be tested for talents."
"Then that's decided, isn't it, Konis?" She grinned. "Going to be a few long faces in a day or two. Damn, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall when some of the letters you're sending out arrive!"