“I’m very appreciative. And extremely impressed,” came a voice from behind the two men.
The humans whirled. Mark taking a tighter grip on his briefcase. A brief examination of the man, and Mark felt himself relax. The jewels inset in his face proclaimed his House, but he was elderly, and the elaborate eye makeup, lipstick, and powder made it pretty clear he was a fairy. Also, if he’d wanted to fuck with their head, he would have done it before now.
“I am Bat’tam. Lately of House Vayawand. I am desirous of traveling to Ilkala, but travel is so fatiguing, and I was wondering if you might be kind enough to remove me the way you removed Tisianne?”
“Why should we?” Jay asked.
“Oh, no particular reason. I was just hoping to avoid being killed by Blaise brant Gisele.”
Jay rolled an eye to Mark. The ace stared at the Takisian for a long moment. “Go for it.”
Tisianne leaned against the door of the cell and cursed Jay. He’d seen her suite. Did he send her there? No, he sent her to a cell. The house was deserted. The Zal’hma celebrating, the Tarhiji freed from their duties and celebrating.
With a groan she slid down the door and with gentle fingers explored her aching face. The eye was swollen almost shut, and one of Zabb’s rings had gouged her cheek.
There was a soft pop, and a man appeared in the cell. Tis screamed. He yelled. They both eyed each other. He looked familiar. Tis tried to recall from where. The man knelt and offered his mind the way a hound shows throat as a gesture of good faith. Bat’tam, Tis read.
“Oh, Ideal, you.”
Bat’tam didn’t make the mistake of reading the emphasis as complimentary. He stood, brushed off the knees of his pants, and peered down at her. Eventually he said, “So that’s what she really looks like.”
“What?”
“Kelly.”
“I’m going to kill Jay.”
“Don’t agitate yourself. I asked him to send me – fascinating mode of travel – legacy of the Enhancer?… Oh, yes, I’m switching allegiance.”
“You’re babbling. You’re also insane.”
“No, Kelly made an excellent point. The unthinkable becomes commonplace when the world is collapsing. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”
“I’m cold, may I have your coat?”
“A pleasure.” He covered her. “Would you like to rest your head in my lap?”
“I think not,” Tis said stiffly. Then angrily added, “Ideal, it’ll be hours before we get out of here!”
“No. Ilkazam had just been ejected from Festival when I left. Shouldn’t be too long.”
Tisianne groaned. “Oh, Ancestors, I ruined everything.”
“Well, let’s just say you had a rather stunning effect on the proceedings.”
Rescue hadn’t been long in coming. Bat’tam had been left in the cell. Mark had rushed Tis back to Rarrana and into her suite, where they were now tensely awaiting the inevitable arrival of Zabb.
“Here, try this,” said Mark. Supporting her head, he held the glass to her lips. She swallowed with difficulty. Suddenly Tis stretched out a hand to Mark. The ace was pleased to see it. As a man Tisianne had needed a lot of physical contact – a need that on Earth had driven most of Tis’s male friends to distraction. Now as a woman she could scarcely tolerate it.
And who could blame her? Repeated rapes and beatings. I wonder if she’ll ever be right. I wonder if she’ll be right even if we get her back where he belongs.
Mark assumed the good old smiling Mark Meadows face, took Tis’s hand, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“What’s that expression mean?” Trips asked.
“I am trying to imagine you kissing me… I mean me, me. I’m failing.”
Hooking a chair with a foot, Trips settled, folded his arms on the edge of the bed, rested his chin on them. “It was a really dumb move, man.”
Tis sighed, shifted, searched for a comfortable position. “I know, but at the time my good sense was being subsumed by raw panic.”
“I can dig that, but Jay was ready. We weren’t going to let him take you.”
“That’s all very well, but I didn’t know Jay was there.”
“Besides, Zabb had a backup plan. He was going to use one of my friends to rescue you.”
Her laugh was more like a yelp of pain than humor. “Rescue me? Oh, that’s rich. I’m certain his rescue would have been as assiduous as his attempts to recover my body.”
“Don’t be an idiot, cousin,” Zabb said from the doorway. He sauntered into the room and dropped into an available chair, lounging comfortably. “Of course I’m not going to help you. You become male – we become enemies again.”
“What makes you think we’re not now?”
“That still does not mean I wish to see you in the hands of that madman -”
“No, you’d like to see me dead,” Tis accused.
“With every breath you accuse me, but every breath you draw is a gift from me. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead. And by the way, you can be a real bitch.” Zabb held up a restraining hand. “No, don’t reply, we have more important matters to discuss. Your little… performance has shattered my painstaking and carefully constructed alliance.” He cocked his head reflectively. “Ilkazam versus every other House on Takis. What a delightful situation.”
“I don’t care. He’s never touching me again.”
Mark nodded in vigorous concurrence.
“I understand that. I would never let you go back to him, but Blaise’s ‘touching’ thus far has been quite sufficient to place us in a most contradictory position.”
Mark didn’t understand. He looked to Tisianne for clarification, but she had the same confused expression that he suspected was on his face. Zabb stared at the mound of the woman’s belly, raised one brow. Mark watched as all the color drained from Tisianne’s face. The ace catapulted out of his chair and tried to grab her hand. She fended him off.
“No… oh, no.”
Zabb leaned in for the attack. “Blaise has to legitimize his attack on us. This experiment in alien social engineering is one excuse – House Ilkazam is all that stands between the Tarhiji and the coming of the Ideal. But that abomination you’re carrying is a rallying point. I am keeping a man from his child. I am now the outlaw. It’s a simple, emotional issue easily understood by the mind blind, and easily exploited by the Zal’hma at’ Irg.”
“You’re going to give the baby to Blaise?” Mark asked. Disbelief sent his voice careening into a higher octave.
“Ideal, no.” Zabb turned back to Tisianne. His eyes were soft, his tone wheedling. “Come, Tis, you’ve been doing so well. You understood the necessity of removing Shaklan. This is -”
“My father was already dead! There was no future, just continuance! My baby -”
“Is defective.”
“No! There is nothing that puts her beyond genetic norms -”
“Except her breeding! If we have any hope of rebuilding an alliance, it will be with the most conservative Houses, people terrified of the changes Blaise is wreaking on our world, our culture. If this child lives, you are supporting Blaise’s position. Politically she is a total liability. Do it, Tis, for the House, for the family!”
“If the survival… of Takis… depended upon… my killing… my baby… well… you’re all dead!”
It wasn’t sobs that broke the words. It was a horrible choking that cut deeper than tears. Tisianne drove her fists over and over into the mattress, then threw back her head until the tendons were etched in her throat and began ripping at Zabb. The foulest, cruelest epithets were hurled at him. Most hit.
No one can hurt us like family, was Mark’s inane little thought as he tried to figure out how to take command of the situation.
There was no warning. Something just snapped. A lunging stride, and Zabb had Tisianne gripped by the throat and had yanked her half out of the hospital bed. Her shrill scream of terror didn’t even slow Zabb.