Quest (33 page)

'Not far now,' Davred called, looking at the small box he carried in his left hand.

Behind him, Cheral grunted something which could have been relief or fatigue. She and Fiana were carrying a litter on which Herra lay. The Elder Sister had been unconscious when they entered the tunnel, but her eyes were open now.

'Let me walk,' she begged, but Cheral shook her head. Herra sighed and let her head loll back. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rest of them. She had felt so strange lately, unlike herself. Perhaps her end was drawing near.

Cheral stumbled along behind Davred at the head of the litter, grumbling occasionally under her breath about the unevenness of the passage floor and the bulky garments in which she, as Katia's supposed maidservant, was clad.

Fiana was dressed as a man, the servant of Davred, and she had the most practical clothes of anyone. They were neither heavy with ornamentation nor composed of cumbersome layers. With her stocky body and strong face, she made a convincing man, with a wickedly-curved dagger displayed prominently.

'That's far enough! We're well out of the stasis zone now.' Davred held out the com-unit to show them, but its lighted display made no sense to the four women. The instrument fitted neatly into the palm of the hand, but was, Davred told them, capable of doing several things. It was so different from the tracers that had been sent down to them that he wasn’t sure whether they understood that it was permanently broadcasting pictures of what was happening within a radius of four paces around it. He’d thought it better not to elaborate on that point.

He held out the com-unit towards his wife. The red light that had appeared on it when he activated the stasis cube in the temple had vanished. He entered the correct code to confirm his earlier command. 'The stasis has now been activated,' he told the women. 'Temple Tenebrak is safe.'

'Well, thank goodness for that!' Cheral's sharp voice brought him out of his reverie and back to the pain of the moment. 'I thought we were going to walk for ever! Just set the litter down, Fiana. That's right.' She touched Herra's pulse briefly and shook her head at the Elder Sister's pallor. 'What you need, Herra, is a good long rest. I shan't let you leave the safety of this tunnel, nasty dark place though it is, until you have more colour in your cheeks and can move without dizziness. Two days' recuperation, at least.' She stood up, brisk and authoritative. 'Now, just let me get my bearings. Mmmm. Right. I see. The rest of you stay where you are. I'll go and find us an emergency chamber.'

She took the lamp from Katia and walked slowly along the passage, muttering to herself the identification signs she’d memorised. As she vanished from sight around a corner, darkness settled on the small group.

QUEST Shannah Jay 121

Davred sighed wearily, and Katia's hand touched his shoulder, briefly easing the pain.

After a minute or two an exclamation of triumph floated back to them, and the light began to move towards them again. 'There's an emergency chamber only a couple of hundred paces ahead.' Cheral put the lamp back into Katia's hand and went to pick up her end of the litter. 'Well, what are you all waiting for? There's no need to tell you which way to go, surely?'

When Cheral called to them to stop, Davred could see no difference in the rocky wal s. He sagged against the rough stone and closed his eyes, knowing that the unevenness of his breathing was betraying to Katia how much his arm was hurting. It was taking all his willpower to keep himself upright.

Herra raised her head. 'I'll loosen the wards, Cheral.'

'You've done enough today!'

'Cheral, you have small gift for the setting and removing of wards, and well you know it! These are permanent and set at maximum strength. Do you even know where the doorway is?'

'Well, it's somewhere over there, but . . . '

'Don't argue, Cheral. Just help me to sit up.' It was a brief return of the old Herra. With Cheral supporting her body, she concentrated her attention on the wall. A part of it began to flicker, then dissolved into a shimmer of cold light, before vanishing completely, leaving an opening about two paces wide. 'Quickly now!' Herra commanded. 'It'll start to re-form in one minute. This is a permanent ward.' They hastened to get inside.

Sure enough, almost as soon as they were through, the hole began to shimmer again, and within a minute the wall had re-formed.

Fiana touched it. 'It feels solid enough.'

'The Seventh Manifestation of our God set these wards himself,' said Herra. 'Permanent ones such as these are beyond our skill, as yet. From inside, any of us can activate the opening controls, as I shall show you.' She made a gesture with her hand, and light filled the chamber. 'You may extinguish that lamp now, Katia. Illumination was also provided by the Lord Ebrlk. It will shine here until I cancel it.'

The chamber was large enough to hold several times their number. It had been hacked out of the rock, with bays left around the walls to give an illusion of privacy. The roof was quite low and the surface of the walls rough. Only the floor was smooth, as if the stone had been fused by heat.

'There are emergency food supplies, money and clothes of all types at the back,' said Herra. 'We change them every few years, but these will be from before the Serpent gained control. There should be waste disposal facilities there as wel , and a spring of fresh water. The Lord Ebrlk was very thorough in his provisions.' She lay back with a tired sigh and allowed Cheral to make her more comfortable.

Fiana went to explore the recesses of the cave and came back with a drink of water for Herra and confirmation that the emergency supplies were indeed there and fit for use.

Davred was the next focus of Cheral's attention. Katia had helped him sit down with his back against the wal , but Cheral found some blankets in the stores, and put together a makeshift pallet for him. He lay down on it and closed his eyes, relieved to be able to give in to the pain.

A hand was laid across his forehead and the pain receded. 'Katia,' he murmured, knowing the lightest touch of her fingers.

'Lie still, my Davred, and I'll try to help you to heal the wound.' She began to remove the stiff garments she was wearing, for it wasn’t cold in the chamber and they wouldn’t be going out into the city for a while. It was a relief to put on a simple robe again. She shook her hair out of its tight knot. She would work best if she was comfortable.

Davred opened his eyes and smiled at his wife. 'I like you better out of those stiff dark things.'

Her smile was a caress. 'It's a ridiculous form of dress they're wearing now, isn't it? So hot and impractical. And the snoods are itchy on the neck. Would leaving my hair loose really inflame men's passions, do you think?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 122

'Only if they'd been sniffing that incense. Herra doesn't recognise the drug, but it even affected us a little until we took firmer control of our bodies.'

'Hmm. Well, no more talking now, my love. I must do my best to heal you. It'll be a poor effort, compared to Lara or Herra, but I'm fairly sure I can get the arrowhead out.'

'Good. It hurts like hell. What do you want me to do?'

'Close your eyes and go into the Discipline of Deep Relaxation. Do you remember how it was when Herra healed you in the lifeship?'

He gave the slightest of nods and surrendered himself to the Discipline, knowing that the more he could relax, the easier it would be for Katia to heal him. He closed out all the sounds in the chamber, the breathing and the rustling of clothes. He was soon so immersed in control ing his own body's activities that he didn’t hear Katia's own breathing slow down to match his.

'Lie very stil and work with me.'

Katia's voice, as she went careful y through the first stages of the Discipline of Healing, seemed to come from further and further away, and to permeate Davred's mind and body. As the pain vanished completely, he gave an unconscious sigh of relief.

* * *

As Davred’s breathing slowed down to a rate that set an alarm ringing on the satellite, watchers came rushing from their cabins to the com-room. All members of survey teams had minute internal monitors surgically implanted, linked to the main computer of their base, in this case, the satellite, and set to sound an alarm if something was wrong.

'What's happened? Is Davred in danger?' Robler flung the question at Soo, who was the last to enter the com-room.

She pushed past him to the control panel and switched on the tracer transmission. 'N-no, I don't think so. This has happened before. Oh, I see! It's a healing! Robler, we're about to record another healing! Thank goodness Davred's carrying a tracer. ' Her fingers flew over the control panel as she spoke, coding in instructions to record this on a permanent file, as well as on her secret files.

'A healing?'

'Yes. Be quiet and watch. It's started already. Shards! Look at Davred's arm!'

Robler ignored her. 'Only primitives would attack each other like that. It's disgusting!' He fidgeted as he watched. At first it was too alien for him to believe what he saw. He glared at the image. 'What are they doing to him? If he sustains any serious injury because of those . . . '

'Shhh! They're helping Davred to slow down his body processes for a healing. That's why the monitor alarm sounded.'

Soo made a further adjustment to the controls and the centre of the com-room was filled with a square image, fully three-dimensional, of the area around the holocube tracer. The figures were slightly transparent, and a little smaller than life, but every detail was clear.

Soo increased the sound and Katia's voice filled the room, low and compelling. It had an almost mesmerising effect even on the crew of the satellite. Soo found herself relaxing involuntarily and, stealing a glance sideways, she was amused to see that even Robler had been caught by it and had lost his usual tight frown. She coded in instructions that moved the full scene to one side and provided an enlarged close-up of Davred's arm in the centre of the display area.

'That's a nasty wound,' said Mak, his professional interest aroused. 'Knowing the skill of their Healers, I'm amazed they’ve left it untreated for so long.'

'Escaping must have been their top priority,' said Soo, who was the most habitual watcher now that Davred had gone. 'The Sisters can be single-minded about things, when necessary.'

Robler squinted at the image. 'I wonder where they are? That's not the temple, is it?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 123

'I think they were going to escape through a tunnel. By the look of those walls, they must be underground.'

Robler frowned and pointed to the enlargement of Davred's arm. 'I can't believe that! It's got to be a trick!'

The arrowhead slowly pushed itself out of the torn flesh. No blood came with it. Then the torn skin on Davred's arm began to knit together, taking on a raw new pink colour.

'They
must
be faking it!' Robler looked accusingly at Soo. 'Are you sure that thing's transmitting properly?'

'How could they be faking it? It's our own tracer which is recording this. I don't think they even know about the way we're observing them. Davred is still loyal to Confex, whenever possible.'

'Whenever it doesn't conflict with his new obsession, you mean!'

* * *

Herra, propped up on one elbow, watched carefully as Katia lost herself in the healing. She nodded with satisfaction when the arrowhead fell to the ground beside Davred's arm. Only once did she have to lend slight mental guidance and support to Katia's efforts, but no one else, least of all Katia, was aware of it.

The other two women sat motionless throughout the healing, simply lending their support. They knew as well as Herra how hard this must be for Katia, how it would strain her powers to the limit. When the hole began to close and new skin formed, Cheral's face registered surprise. This was success indeed for one who was not yet a properly-trained Healer!

As soon as the torn flesh had sealed itself with, Katia began to relax her hold on Davred. His breathing speeded up a little, but she left him in a deep sleep so that his body could continue to heal itself. She raised her head and looked at the others, her voice shaking slightly. 'I didn't think I'd manage so much. Oh, Herra!'

'You did well. Even Lara herself could have done little more. You have a greater Gift than we’d thought, child.'

'I couldn't let Davred go on hurting like that!' Katia closed her eyes, needing time to recover.

Cheral nudged Fiana and they began to organise food and drink for everyone, though it was only emergency rations and cold water from the spring.

Herra drank a little water, but barely touched her food. She lay back on her pallet. 'I'm nothing but an added burden for you. I shouldn't have allowed you to bring me with you.'

Dismay kept Cheral and Fiana motionless. To hear the Elder Sister speaking in tones of despair like that!

Katia opened her eyes and stared at the Elder Sister's ravaged face. She realised suddenly that Herra was suffering from delayed shock, as wel as the depression due to her low physical state. It must have torn the Elder Sister apart to see Temple Tenebrak under siege, and then to have to abandon it. No wonder Herra was unable to think clearly - she who had helped so many now needed help herself.

Katia moved closer and clasped Herra's hand in both of hers, oblivious to the disapproval on Cheral's face at the familiarity of this gesture. 'We needed you, Herra, needed you desperately, or we wouldn't have driven you to such a low ebb.' She put one arm around the Elder Sister's shoulders. 'You've been an inspiration to us for so long. It's time, I think, that we began to look after you a little better.'

Herra swallowed to clear away the lump that this tender speech from the daughter of her soul had brought into her throat. 'But I'm so
weak
! Child, it was the wrong decision to bring me.'

'No. It was the right decision. You aren't thinking clearly because we've pushed you too hard.' Inspiration came suddenly. 'Cheral! Fiana! Let's hold a Gathering!'

'Now?'