“Murdock McKenzie!” I blurted, watching him move his twisted body toward the only chair in the room, leaning heavily on his cane. His gray hair was as neat as always, his clothing as plain, and the ever-present pain in his mind was so well-controlled that it was flatly refused access to his awareness. The woman helped the head of Central’s XenoDiplomacy Bureau to the chair then waited while he sat, the bending he had to do almost the hardest part for him, but nothing of his struggle showed on his face any more than it ever did. He got himself settled with a minimum of fuss, then raised those cool gray eyes to me.
“Yes, Murdock McKenzie,” he agreed, the words dry as he studied my face. “A bit late, perhaps, in his arrival, but nevertheless here. Are you all right, Terrilian? Did they harm you in any-permanent-way?”
“You’re not asking about what happened in the forest, are you?” I said, suddenly knowing it for a fact. “You’re discussing those people at the complex, which means you know all about them. Are you one of them, Murdock? If you are, don’t think you have me safely captured because you don’t. I’ll fight before I’ll let anyone take me back there. ”
“I see you’ve changed quite a lot since the last time we spoke,” he said, a faint, cold smile just creasing his lips as he continued to study me. “I believe I know the reasons for the changes, and I couldn’t be more pleased. And no, my dear Terrilian, I am not ‘one of them.’ I’m one of those opposed to them, a group they happily know very little about, but who now, even more happily, know the location of their most secret nest. It’s thanks to you that we have this very vital knowledge, and now we may move with all speed to begin stopping their madness for all time.”
His mind, unlike his narrow, sunken face, showed warm delight and the gratitude and appreciation he’d spoken of. I didn’t want to relax away from the unyielding sense of resistance I’d put up in front of me. not while I still suspected the motives of everyone I met, but I knew Murdock McKenzie wasn’t lying. I could feel the truth of what he’d said, and the ache I was also feeling was beginning to convince me that leaning back and resting a short while would not turn out to be self-betrayal.
“If you’re all that grateful to me, then you won’t mind if I insist on joining your major effort to stop them,” I said, easing down to my right elbow so that I could still look at Murdock. “I want to be there when you hit them, and I want to do my share of the hitting. You don’t mind humoring me to that small an extent, do you, Murdock?”
“Absolutely out of the question,” the woman interjected in a flat, final way before Murdock could answer me. I’d forgotten all about her during my brief conversation with Murdock, but the way she spoke put her quickly centerstage. She was my height but carried more body weight, was a good deal older, had light brown hair and blue eyes, and wore a drab-green, one-piece ship’s uniform with what seemed like full familiarity. She had also opened her shield to look at me with her mind, and those back at the complex probably would have been upset to know her strength was very close to that of Kel-Ten.
“Absolutely out of the question,” she said, folding her arms where she stood beside Murdock’s chair. “Her mind is so feeble she’d be flattened in an instant, and it wouldn’t take the best they have, either. I still don’t understand how she could have been declared a Prime to begin with. And if you have no modesty, girl, you might consider the feelings of those around you. That sheet should be covering you, not resting forgotten across your hips. ”
She was right about my having forgotten the sheet, but suggesting I had no sense of modesty was as ridiculous as the rest of what she’d said. I was as modest as the next woman, but there are, at times, things more important than worrying about whether or not you’re covered. I took a handful of the sheet and pulled it over me, then met the annoyance in the light eyes staring at me.
“Please accept my apologies for having offended your sensibilities,” I drawled, knowing the tone would add to the woman’s annoyance. “If I’d realized you’ve never before seen what I was showing, I would certainly have been more careful. And since my question was addressed to Murdock rather than to you, why don’t we let him answer it, hm? ”
The woman stiffened where she stood, unfolding her arms as her mind also went stiff with insult, the expression on her face turning coldly angry. She was all ready to come back at me with a blast of words, but this time Murdock was the one to interrupt.
“Now, now, ladies, let’s not have hostility between allies,” he said, the command so smooth and soothing that it almost seemed like a casual interjection. “It’s come to me that you two don’t know each other, so you must forgive me for being remiss in regard to introductions. Prime Ashton Farley, I would like you to know Prime Terrilian Reya, and you may both accept my word that you are nor enemies. Ashton has been in charge of training our own force of empaths, Terrilian, and from what I hear Terrilian has been struggling with very special training on Rimilia, Ashton. If you like you may address her as ‘Chama,’ for that’s the position she won to in Vediaster.”
“She’s the new Chama of Vediaster?” the woman Ashton Farley demanded, her disbelief so clear even Murdock must have felt it. “That’s not possible, Murdock, not with the small amount of mind-strength she has. I have ordinary empaths with more mind-muscle than that, so someone must be pulling your leg. And if she was on Rimilia, why didn’t I know about it’?”
“My dear Ashton, she wasn’t there to train with your forces,” Murdock answered with faint amusement for the woman’s continuing annoyance, his fingers turning his cane just a little. “She was there for another purpose entirely, one facet of which was to be five-banded by Tammad, the denday Rathmore Hellman believes is uniting Rimilia for him. What the esteemed head of the Centran Amalgamation on Central doesn’t know, of course, is that Tammad is in reality working in the interests of his own people, and therefore in our interests as well. He and Terrilian have been together for months, and—”
Murdock’s words broke off a bare moment after his eyes returned to me, leading me to wonder what my expression must be like. It had taken me a little time to realize that Murdock knew what was missing from my memory, knew where I’d been and what I’d done during the time that was only a blank to me. He clearly didn’t mind talking about it, but for some reason I felt very reluctant to ask him to go into details.
“Of course,” he said almost at once, his gray eyes narrowed as he studied my face, his mind close to outrage. “They’ve conditioned you into forgetting all that, haven’t they? They wanted nothing to interfere with total dedication to the new commitment, and with no memory of what was, their wishes were fulfilled. Have no fear, child, their wishes will very shortly no longer obtain. As quickly as your system rids itself of the drugs you were being fed, that quickly will you begin to remember—and more quickly still with the assistance of my own memories. Would you like me to begin now?”
“I-think I’d like to rest for a while first,” I said, knowing I was being a coward but helpless to do anything else. “And I think I’d also like to hear first how it was that you were right there to rescue me from what I thought was a hopeless situation. Is it modern science we have to thank for our now being able to grow coincidences to such an unusual size?”
“Our being there was hardly a coincidence,” he answered, his tone warmly reassuring despite the snort of ridicule voiced by the woman beside him. “It’s all part of the story, but not a part you’re likely to remember on your own. You never knew the entire story, you see, but it’s more than time that you did. Perhaps you’d care to join us for a meal once you’ve rested, and we can talk then.”