Gabe Read online

  “I need to touch the skin to allow my powers to have an effect.” Taking out her knife again, she showed it to him, hoping to allay any trepidation he might harbor over her intentions. “I need to slit your pants leg, but I give you my word I’ll be careful not to cut you.”

  “Go ahead, I’m probably dying here anyway.”

  Caught by the seriousness of his words, she did another visual check of his frame. “Indications of other injuries?”

  “Something’s not right, here. Broken rib maybe.” He touched his upper left abdomen. “I didn’t have enough altitude, but I wasn’t going down with the flyer. Had to make Death work to collect me today.”

  “You’re brave.” Gently, she sliced through the fabric of his pants leg. Ruptured spleen? Punctured lung perhaps? She had a certain gift for healing her own kind anyway, but nothing as dire as either of those two conditions. Perhaps, if she could mend the leg to some extent, tomorrow when the storm broke he could hobble toward the Retreat with her help. They’d meet the forces sent to capture her and maybe this man’s origin would be intriguing enough to entice the First Daughter to take him back for healing. Keshara pondered whether this was why she’d been so consumed by the need to escape the Retreat. Was the Great Mother’s will not that she go explore the world and learn truth, but rather to place her here to assist this Gabe?

  Gray disappointment moved through her mind. She’d been so excited about undertaking her escape from the Retreat and venturing into the unknown, so hopeful she’d discover untold marvels. Prove the Director wrong in her insistence they must totally avoid exposure to the other residents of the planet. Maybe lead her sisters into an unbounded future beyond the Retreat someday. Be hailed as a heroine. Keshara couldn’t hold back a rueful smile at the egotistical thought but it was true. Being subordinate to the First Daughter Ashla and her old fashioned close mindedness chafed at her more each day. Taking Gabe to be healed and surrendering herself to achieve the goal was a bitter pill to swallow after the glory of independence. She harbored no illusions—punishment would be severe and sustained.

  Turning to regard her unusual companion she knew there was no way she could be cold and callous enough to abandon him here to die. What would he do if our positions were reversed? She shook her head to stop herself from speculating further. He was injured, she was a healer and the issue of what to do was settled.

  He might not live through the night anyway.

  “The bone is broken in three places.” Running her hand under his shirt, eyes closed as she concentrated, Keshara glided her palm along his skin, barely touching him, and assessed the other injuries. “If I can make the leg strong enough for you to walk with me tomorrow, and if I can temporarily affect your other wounds, I can get you to a place where you might be properly taken care of.”

  “Don’t exhaust yourself on my account.” He put his hand over hers in a warm clasp. “I know how much energy healing takes from the healer. I can’t let you kill yourself trying to help me.”

  How can he know so much about how my power works? “I give you my word not to overtax myself, but it’s my duty not to allow you to die through my inaction. The Great Mother sent me to this spot, and it must have been in order to aid you.”

  Gabe nodded and said nothing so she went to work on his leg, summoning her power and fixing the two small breaks first, working up her own courage to attempt the more important task. Dismayed by the weakness in the green light flickering from her fingertips, she bit her lip and squared her shoulders. I can’t stop now. I must hold the power in my grasp a little longer. Conscious of Gabe watching her with a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes, she said, “I need to set the major fracture and then mend it. There’ll be pain.”

  “Lady, I’m already in pain. Whatever you do will merely be a change in intensity. If I’m really lucky maybe I’ll pass out.” He appeared to be past the point where he could make wisecracks, resting his head on the makeshift pillow and staring at the tightly thatched roof of the den. “ Give me something to bite down on.”

  Sending a quick prayer to the goddess, she folded one of her leather gloves and wedged it between his teeth. Carefully she unfastened his boot and worked it off. Then, before she could lose her nerve, she repositioned herself, took a firm grip on his ankle and yanked the bone into alignment, hastily pouring healing energy into the area to set the break and to alleviate the pain.

  Gabe passed out as he’d hoped, which was a blessing. There was nothing she could do for the broken rib, or the possibly punctured lung. The indications there were unclear so she hoped for the best. He was still alive, which was a positive sign. She slowed the bleeding from the ruptured spleen then collapsed against the wall of the furbana den, dizzy and exhausted.

  When she called on her power again, nothing happened, not even small green flickers.

  Fumbling in her pack, she found the water bottle and drank deep. Eyeing Gabe, she pondered whether he’d be able to walk tomorrow. If he couldn’t he’d die. He might die anyway, if the First Daughter and the Director refused him aid. The idea caused her sorrow and an odd regret, a panic almost, as if Gabe was a person of great importance to her, although they’d just met. She moved his head to lie a bit more comfortably on the rough pillow and cupped his cheek with her hand, wishing to offer comfort of some kind. She prayed to the Great Mother that this man would live.

  Especially if I’m sacrificing my freedom on his behalf.

  Gabe was in and out of consciousness through the night. Every time he awoke, Keshara was keeping watch over him. “When do you sleep?” he asked, after drinking a few sips of the water she offered and managing a bite or two of the ration bar from her pack.

  “I drowse here and there.” With a badly timed yawn emphasizing the point she wasn’t actually getting much sleep, she said, “Never fear, I’ll be up to the task of hiking. The question is whether you’ll be?”

  “I don’t honestly know. But I’m willing to die trying.” Determined to hide his concern beneath a cheerful façade, he made his voice light, masking the pain clawing at him. “My leg’s less painful, seems to have regained some strength, thank you.” Her hands on him had felt amazing, which he supposed was the psychic healing energy. In another place and time he’d be thinking about how to entice her to touch him elsewhere and let him repay the favor to their mutual pleasure. Right now his body had no energy to spare for dallying with even a woman as beautiful as Keshara, with her heart shaped face, richly brown fall of hair, and the amber eyes of all her kind. He was feverish, maybe even dying despite her efforts, but her scent and her touch made him feel better.

  Yeah, out of my head with fever obviously, if I’m thinking about bedding a woman I just met. But damn, she was lovely. And kind.

  “It’s hard to make the healing energy flow properly.” Her voice was soft, musical, and he could listen to her talk all night. “You’re different from my people, and there’s a resistance at the cellular level to my power.”

  Realizing she was staring at him as if waiting for an answer, he came up with a cogent reply. “Yes, our healer Timtur has said the same thing. He rarely works on humans, unless it’s an emergency.”

  “Human? Is that what you are? Where do you come from?” She seemed eager for knowledge and her questions were rapid-fire.

  Even in his weakened condition, Gabe’s instincts for gathering intelligence were piqued by her questions. “Never heard of us before?”

  She shook her head. “There are no training modules about you.”

  “We’re a fairly recent development on this planet,” he said. “And all I’ve ever been told is you don’t exist.”

  Keshara put a hand to her chest, brow furrowed. “I’m real.”

  He laughed, despite the pain in his chest. “I can see that, lucky for me. I meant female Badari in general.”

  Now she recoiled. “You—you know the secret name?”

  “Badari? Not much of a secret.” If she believed details like their name for themselves weren��t known to others, she must really come from an isolated spot. Of course, no one knew she or any female Badari existed, which argued for a high level of security at the installation where she lived.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I told you, I’m a human, but I run with a pack of Badari.” He gave her a hard look in the gloom of the den. “It’s probably better for both of us if I don’t tell you too much. I have to protect my people and just meeting you tells me there are more secrets about this planet than anyone ever guessed, which could be dangerous. Surprises aren’t good in this environment.”

  She sat back on her heels. “You have so many mysteries wrapped about you that I find your talk of surprises ironic.”

  Unable to resist touching her, he reached out and took her hand. “I feel like a real louse not satisfying your curiosity, after all you’ve done for me tonight. I’m sorry, believe me. But I have a duty to the people who trust me not to betray them or their secrets.”

  “You have honor,” she said grudgingly.

  “We can probably both agree the Khagrish are the mutual enemy.” He released her hand and made himself a bit more comfortable on his makeshift pillow.

  Keshara tilted her head, gazing at him like a cat, eyes glowing ever so slightly in the gloom. “Maybe not all of them.”

  Her answer surprised him, and a small alarm sounded in the back of his head. He refuted her remark firmly and with no doubt. “Every single one I ever met.”

  “You may be surprised,” she said, stretching and then sitting straight. “Try to sleep now, if you can. The hiking tomorrow will be hard going for a man with your injuries. I’m not sure how far we’ll have to go before we meet those who’ll be tracking me.”

  “You’re a fugitive?” He didn’t know why the fact surprised him. Based on his experiences on this planet so far, any Badari not in captivity would have to be on the run. On the other hand, she clearly was from some facility unlike any other known to his allies or himself.

  “Of sorts.” She settled more comfortably against the wall of the den and drank from her water bottle. “I committed no crime, except for leaving the Retreat. We’re not allowed to roam.”

  His suspicions, ever close to the surface on this hell world, flared anew. “You’re not planning to turn me over to the Khagrish are you? I’d rather die right here in this smelly den than be given into their hands.”

  She shook her head. “Nothing so dire. I left the Retreat—our home base—without permission, as I said. There will be repercussions for me.”

  He wasn’t entirely satisfied with her answer. There was something off in her manner when she spoke of the Khagrish. But, if she had valid reasons for being on the run, he didn’t want trouble raining down on her head because she chose to help him. “How serious are the consequences for you?”

  Head tilted, she studied him. “Why do you ask?”

  “I don’t want you getting into big trouble for me. If I hadn’t literally fallen from the sky you could have made your getaway. You could help me to a spot on the trail these people will take, and then head out again on your own. I can delay them for you.” His head was pounding with pain from the bump he’d taken and maintaining the discussion was taxing his endurance under the circumstances, but he felt honor bound to make the offer.

  She shook her head and patted his arm. “I believe the Great Mother sent me to find you. Therefore, it’s my duty to remain with you, not go off on my own. My mission is accomplished, it seems, and I no longer feel the pull to explore further. Now stop talking and rest. Your breathing grows labored, and I can see the blue tinge in your skin.”

  “Those beautiful and extra sharp Badari eyes,” he murmured as he closed his own and let go of the struggle to remain awake.

  Vertigo assaulted him as if he was falling into a black hole, plummeting to his death. Having a flashback to the flyer crash most likely. Gabe tried to force himself to wake up from the dream, which had nightmare like qualities. Dizziness and nausea made it hard for him to breathe…or had he punctured a lung? The healer had been obviously concerned about the possibility, lingering in her psychic evaluation of his rib and chest area.

  Next thing he knew, the dream changed locations violently and he was in the air, hovering above the Great Mother’s sacred circle at the original lab where his Badari comrades had been imprisoned. He’d never been inside the grove of trees, not having been invited to enter, but he’d flown over it a couple of times and found it to be a truly beautiful place. This is one weird dream. How exactly was he flying? Not in an aircraft, not with wings. No sooner did he start to wonder, than the scene changed again and he was standing in the center of the circle of massive trees, firmly on the ground, staring at his surroundings. Soft grass cushioned his bare feet and he paused to relish the sensation of being without boots. Like a carefree kid. A faint breeze stirred the leaves and disturbed the gauzy mist moving between the tree trunks, obscuring his view of whatever might lie beyond the grove. Restless, impelled by a desire to leave, Gabe took a few tentative steps toward the closest gap in the circle.

  A sigh from behind had him spinning to identify the source of the sound, hand reflexively going to his empty holster. Keshara laid in the verdant green grass, wearing a silken white dress, barefoot, hair spread out in a glossy fan from her head. She was asleep and as he tiptoed closer, he was dismayed by the circles under her eyes. She wore herself out trying to heal me.

  “Indeed she did.”

  He straightened, searching the open area for the speaker but there was no one else in the glade. The voice had come from close by, he was positive, not from the misty area beyond the guardian trees. “Who’s there?”

  “One who watches over her children. You know who I am.”

  Oh no, I’m not talking to any goddesses, not even in my dreams. Besides, I need to get going. He must be even worse off than he realized if he was now hallucinating a dialog with the Badari deity. He took a few more steps toward the perimeter but hesitated and pivoted to stare at Keshara. Leaving her here alone felt wrong but the urge or craving to leave was growing stronger in his mind. “Am I dying?”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps my daughter and I hold you here temporarily between life and death.”

  “To make my choice?” There was no answer to his question and he made an impatient sound, striding away from where the Badari woman slept on. The closer he came to plunging into the mist between the trees, the stronger the desire to hurry onward became. Gabe thought he saw a bright white light in the distance beyond the fog and was anxious to reach the safety the light seemed to promise. He hesitated, unable to resist a last look at Keshara. His heart skipped a beat and settled into a jangled, thumping rhythm as his gaze lingered. There was a pull here as well, drawing him to her side and away from the beckoning bright light.

  He wished the voice would give him guidance or permission or something. Gabe wasn’t used to being less than decisive about any required action or decision but in this moment he felt truly torn. The closer he came to where Keshara lay, the more his heartbeat smoothed out and also the stronger his inclination to remain here in the peaceful grove, sit and watch her sleep, perhaps hold her hand—

  CHAPTER TWO

  The ground rocked underneath him and Gabe awoke with a gasp, as if he’d stopped breathing for a time. Hand to his chest, where there was a new ache, right over his heart, to go with all his previous pains, he struggled to sit.

  “Don’t stress yourself, it’s only a small quake,” Keshara said, pushing gently but insistently on his shoulder. “It’s time for us to see about leaving this place but I’d intended to awaken you more cautiously. How are you feeling?”

  He lay back, rubbing his chest. “I had a nightmare. Pain’s about the same.”

  She held the canteen to his lips and he drank a few swallows before she gave him crumbled portions of a ration bar. “I need to try to summon the healing energy and give you another surge before we make the attempt to leave the den,” she said, rubbing her hands together and flexing her fingers as if the digits had become stiff overnight.

  “Don’t deplete yourself on my account.” He had a flashback to the weird dream and her lying motionless and worn out in the glade.

  Keshara laughed. “Let me worry about myself and you, soldier. Save your strength. I know what I’m doing.”

  But the flashes of green from her fingertips were weak even in the dim light of the den and after a minute he pushed her hands away from him. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me but I can’t soak up all your power, leaving you none.” What would happen if a healer poured their entire gift into another person? He wished he’d asked his friend Timtur but the question had never come up. Gabe didn’t want to find out the hard way with Keshara making herself a sacrifice to save him. “You said last night you can’t heal all the bones I’ve managed to break, so let’s get ourselves on the move while I have at least a small reserve of energy,” he said.

  Since he was working himself up and acting a bit feverish besides, Keshara abandoned her effort to improve his condition, admitting to herself with a flash of unaccustomed fear how nearly nonexistent her power was this morning. She packed her gear and then tackled the challenge of helping him outside.

  Getting him out of the den and on his feet exhausted both of them. Standing in the sunshine, Keshara rebuffed another attempt from Gabe to make her leave him behind.

  “You can send them here to find me if you insist on going to find your pursuers,” he said, attempting to balance without leaning too heavily on her. “The furbana den is easy enough to use as a landmark. Or better yet, leave me some food and water within reach and head out on your own journey with a clear conscience, to wherever you were going originally.”

  “Unless they see you for themselves, I fear they might not agree to help.” Keshara was sure her people would refuse to come after him, once the First Daughter got her hands on her quarry. Ashla had no curiosity. She was such a pragmatist she’d undoubtedly declare the problem of Gabe would solve itself with his inevitable death and hasten to the Retreat with no further discussion, Keshara in tow. “And, as for me leaving you behind and continuing toward the lowlands on my own, we’ve had the debate. I’m done with it. The goddess sent me to help you.”

  -->