Construction foreman Bren Maxim paused as he was going over the old plastic on the original layout of the agricomplex and watched Casir climb from the gray company hovercraft. He'd sent for it from Farelix where he left his own for his friend Hankura Narcaza to use and join them later when he finished his medical cases there.
A mild breeze ruffled Casir's platinum hair, and Bren pushed thick fingers through his own hair. No wonder Casir was the boss---as always, he looked like a man who was well in charge of things. He would know just what to do. Most of the equipment was already unloaded, and the crew was just waiting for Casir to give the word before they got to work. But, Bren wanted him to take a look at what he had found in the pump house before they went any further.
You think somebody's been living here? Casir looked at him, raising his nearly white brows.
Bren nodded a mute affirmation. In the span of his next thoughts, Casir knew all he did.
The telepath stood silently for a moment, listening with his mind. His face went through several thoughtful expressions before he turned his gaze back to Bren. I'm getting images from another telepath---a child. But, he won't respond to me, and I can't figure out where he is or what he's up to.
Bren shrugged and waited for Casir to walk with him to the pump house to look at the collection of possessions inside it. Casir looked them over carefully for a minute or so before he finally spoke again.
"I guess you might as well have someone pack up this stuff until we find out who it belongs to. Some of that stuff is Tregan, but that doesn't mean anything. The Zevians stole from them every chance they got. I promised Hankura we'd try to help him find out what happened to Lanimer before we go and I meant it. Chelle's having a kid, and they need to get to Oltarin and build a place to live before she delivers."
"When did this happen?" Bren asked.
"A day or so ago, I guess. Hankura told me they confirmed it this morning."
"And that's just making you all the more itchy to see those two sweet ladies of yours."
"You're telling me. If we get off this rock soon enough, I can make Rego in time to see the babies come out of the Nurtury."
Bren just grinned at his friend. His tough, iron-handed boss was soft as hell where they were concerned. He couldn't blame him a bit; Jana and Delara were two fine women. He should be so lucky.
"Are Hankura and Chelle making out all right now?"
"Yeah, but this morning we found his friend Mikal's grave. He's taking it pretty hard."
Bren shook his head ruefully. "That's rough. I still don't quite figure him and Chelle coming back here after the hell of that prison camp. I'd have thought they would want to get as far away as they could."
"Not if you knew him the way I do. It's just the kind of thing I would expect from him---and Chelle is a whole lot like him. Of course, they're psi-mates."
"Whatever that means," Bren muttered. He didn't really understand.
"Hell, Bren! I explained it to you before. All it means is that they are telepathically en rapport on some level all the time. I'm on the same level, telepathically, but I don't have that kind of closeness with my ladies," Casir told him. "Anyway, Hankura's conscience wouldn't let him turn away from the people he tried to help when they broke out. That was only half the job."
As the two started back toward the com center, they heard a woman scream. Then, a fair-sized rock glanced off the side of Casir's head painfully. Other rocks followed, pelting them mercilessly, with the thrower screaming curses at them in Zevian.
Hey, cut it out! We're not trying to hurt you, woman. We aren't Tregans; we're just looking for a kid for a friend. Casir sent his thoughts into her mind, but she seemed oblivious to them. The rocks kept coming, and they tried to shield themselves almost futilely.
There was no reasoning with her, panicked as she was. Casir hated to do it, but there was only one way to deal with her short of violence---and that was getting tempting. He stunned her with the force of his telepathy under careful control. Nalina became quiet and docile immediately and stood staring blankly ahead in a daze.
Bren looked at Casir sharply. "Casir, you didn't---"
"No!" he retorted indignantly. "I didn't wipe her mind. What do you take me for, anyway? She'll be okay in a while. By then, I'll get a hold of Chelle and Tira and have them come out and try to reason with her. You go and keep looking. I'll get her and take her back to the portable com center."
A pained look of surprise crossed Casir's face as he walked mindfully toward the woman. He sank to his knees and coughed, trying to breathe. Blood colored his lips as he fell to the side on the ground.
Bren stared in shock and cursed. "Mother of Life! It's a goddamned Tregan!"
Before the big man could fire again, Bren pulled out the utility laser from his belt and fired a fully-charged shot into the midsection of the hulking body.
The hand laser slipped from Orin's fingers, and he sank heavily to the ground, his eyes reaching wildly for one more glimpse of the little Zevian woman who had captured his heart.
So, this is how I die, he thought bleakly as darkness enveloped his mind and his eyes closed out the red sun in the hazy, purplish sky.
Another cry pierced the air and Bren saw a little fair-haired boy streak toward the fallen Tregan. The boy fell to his knees, sobbing and pleading alternately in three languages for him to wake up.
But Bren was more concerned with his fallen friend than a little boy's strange attachment to a fucking Tregan. He hunkered down beside Casir and opened the zipper of his loose-fitting shirt to get a look at the wound. There was a small laser burn hole that went through his right lung. Casir's coughing had broken the sealing effect of the laser, and his lung had started to bleed.
It's not bad, Bren. Casir assured him. Give me a few minutes, and I'll be okay. Get somebody up here with a stretcher for that Tregan---I mean it. I'll explain later. I understand what's going on now.
"You think Hankura's going to treat him? After what the Tregans did to Chelle and him?" Bren looked down at him dubiously.
Casir nodded, deadly serious. The kid will make him understand. Now get with it. I can heal this little wound myself if you leave me alone for a few minutes. Then, I'll take a look at that Tregan.
Bren had a lot of questions, but he didn't ask them. He got up and ran to the com center. Casir closed his eyes and withdrew inside himself in a trance-like state, turning his mind to the functions of his own body. He forced his cells to reproduce at an accelerated rate to eliminate the damaged tissues and close his wound. He wasn't a healer, unlike Hankura; he could heal himself if the damage weren't too great. He was on his feet again a few minutes later.
Slowly, he walked to the place where the little boy wept brokenly over his friend, 'father,' and beloved companion. Casir felt a lump in his throat as he knelt beside the boy; he felt the child's anguish, and he understood everything that Orin had been to him these last few months. It was a crazy mistake, the shooting of Orin Hart. Casir couldn't even blame Orin for shooting him. Anyway, his wound was healed now. It didn't matter.
Gently, he rested his hand on Lanimer's shoulder after a moment.
He's dying. Lanimer sobbed with his ear to Orin's chest. His heart is getting tired, and the blood is running from his body.
I know. Casir returned and blinked slowly. I want to help. I can't heal him, but maybe together we can help Orin live until my friend comes. He's a physician---the best. If anyone can save him, Hankura can.