Chapter Five
They had arrived from the south, climbing over piles of rubble for hours to reach the heart of the city. Now Kitarak led them westward along pathways he and others had cleared, and they reached the rocky plain beyond its edge in half that time. Turning to survey the ruins behind them, Jedra felt an immense sadness sweep through him. At one time, millennia ago, this had been a thriving center of life for thousands of people. What catastrophe had put an end to it? He would probably never know. But he would always know what had finished it off. The memory of all those high towers crashing to the ground would haunt him forever.
Nothing of value had survived. They had checked to be sure, but Kitarak had been right; the wellhead had been buried under tons of stone blocks. It would take hundreds of people with levers and ropes to dig down to it, and the likelihood that any of the pumping machinery had survived was practically nil. And without a water source, not even scavengers would come anymore. The city now belonged totally to the desert.
Kitarak turned away without a word and led the way into the vast rocky plain. He took long, slow strides, covering eight or ten feet at a time. Jedra and Kayan took three or four steps for every one of his, and soon they were puffing and panting to keep up.
Jedra had refused Kayan's offer to heal his leg where it had been cut by the flying debris. It was only a surface wound over the calf muscle; he could let it heal naturally rather than tire her out. He almost wished he had let her do it, because the salt in his sweat was making it sting like crazy. His other muscles were complaining just as badly, though. "You've got to slow down," he finally gasped. "We're not going to make it another mile at this pace."
"I don't care," said Jedra. "We can't walk this fast."
The tohr-kreen rasped his arms against his thorax again. Jedra was growing certain that was his way of showing agitation. "Can't your psionic power give you more endurance?" Kitarak asked.
"No," Jedra said. "At least I don't think so. Kayan?"
She was bent over, hands on her knees. She shook her head without looking up. "No, it can't. Maybe for a little while, but we'd just tire out even faster in the long run."
"How about levitation? Can't you lift and move yourselves with the same force you used to level the city?"
"I don't think that would get us much farther either," she said, straightening up. "We can explore mentally, but we always come back to where we started. Our bodies never go anywhere in the first place."
"Hmm," Kitarak buzzed. "This power of yours doesn't seem very useful for practical things."
"That's why we're looking for a mentor," Jedra said. "Somebody who can help us learn how to... ah... do more with it." He didn't want to admit that it was out of control most times.
"Toward what end?"
The question caught Jedra by surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what do you want to use the power for?"
"I don't know," Jedra said. "How about levitation, for starters?"
"Very good," Kitarak said. "Clever." He turned away and began walking again, but more slowly.
Over his spiny shoulder, he said, "What else can you do, besides push buildings over?"
How much do we want to tell him? Jedra mindsent to Kayan.
Don't let him know we can communicate without speaking, she sent back. Or mind-merge. We may need the advantage if he's not what he seems.
I agree.
Kitarak was waiting for an answer. Apparently he could see ahead and back at the same time; he didn't stop walking, but he didn't turn his head forward again, either. Aloud, Jedra said, "I can sometimes tell when people are watching me. Especially if they're a threat."
"That sounds useful," Kitarak said. It was hard to tell when his voice carried sarcasm, but he seemed sincere this time. "Anything else?"
Kayan said, "I can heal most wounds, if they're not immediately fatal."
"That definitely sounds useful. Can you heal a tohr-kreen?"
"I don't know. You want to hurt yourself and find out?"
Kitarak actually seemed to consider it. He tilted his head from side to side and rattled his mandibles like a person clicking his tongue. "No," he said at last. "Advance knowledge might lead to foolish risk-taking. I will proceed on the assumption that you cannot, and hope to be pleasantly surprised if I need your services." "Good idea," said Kayan.
"Of course." Kitarak said nothing more for a few minutes, merely turned his head to the front again and hiked on through the rocks at his steady pace. Now that he had slowed down, Jedra was glad to follow his lead; he didn't like being first in line through unfamiliar territory. But the tohr-kreen wasn't through. He turned his head back again and said, "Do you lust for power?"
This time it was Kayan who said, "What?"