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explanation. "Yes and no. As far as the Commander of the Kz'adul was concerned, the crew and passengers of the Profit were guests kept confined to their quarters. It was the M'zullian Valtegans who were the prisoners."

"Then how did my son come to be a hostage?"

"It seems one member of the Prime crew, a Dr. Chy'qui, the medical officer in charge of some of our people, had other plans. An adviser to their Emperor, he was against this hoped-for treaty with us. He used his privileged position on the crew to imprison and antagonize our people to the point where he hoped the treaty would be impossible."

"Antagonize? How? And how did this result in Kusac being a hostage?"

"It's complicated, Konis. Carrie was brought out of cryo and healed of her injuries but Kusac was awakened much later and kept separate from everyone."

Konis closed his eyes. "Their Leska Link! How did they survive?"

"The only way they could, just like Mara and Josh did when Zhyaf died. Because of their Triad, Kaid was able to form a Leska Link with Carrie."

"And my son? What about him? You said he was alive. Zhyaf had to die for Mara and Josh to form their Link." His ears were folding back against his skull and his fear was an almost palpable presence in the room.

"Kusac is alive, Konis, I assure you of that. He was kept separate from them because, according to this Physician Chy'qui, he had a series of life-threatening seizures as they revived him. He took the drastic step of implanting Kusac with a TeLaxaudin device in the hope that it would stabilize him. Apparently it did."

Konis sat there as if carved in ice while everything around him seemed to slow down. Little things suddenly became vital to him, like the sound of birds cooing, the chirping of their chicks, and the ray of sunlight that suddenly fell on Lijou's face, highlighting the streaks of white in the hair and pelt framing his face.

"Implanted where?" he asked finally in a hushed voice.

Lijou realized Konis had already guessed the answer. "In his brain. They saved his life, Konis," he said quickly, leaning forward. "But it seems as if he's lost his Talent."

"You mean he can't..." Konis stopped, unable to say the words.

"It's as if he's mind-dead," said Lijou quietly. "I'm sorry, Konis. I wish the news hadn't been so dark, but at least we have him back alive."

"Without his Leska and his Talent, he might as well be dead," said Konis numbly, looking away from his friend. "What kind of life is that for him, Lijou?"

"It may not be permanent. During the exchange there was an incident, an attempt on the life of our hostage, Prince Zsurtul. One of the M'zullians was controlling Kusac through the implant to make him aggressive. Kusac— neutralized— him by drawing on the energy of our other telepaths and triggering that gestalt he and Carrie have."

Konis looked up at Lijou. "Neutralized? You mean killed, don't you? Perhaps he suffered a backlash, or maybe fear of what he did is blocking his Talent."

Lijou could hear the hope in his friend's voice. "This is my thought, and Carrie's and Kaid's. With the help of the TeLaxaudin physician, the implant has been removed and Kusac is no longer being controlled by it, but it has left components in his brain. Components that even the TeLaxaudin physician can't remove, though he's working on it for us. We're doing everything we can for him, Konis, but we don't have any Telepath medics at Haven."

"Then there's still hope," said Konis, his ears beginning to rise again. "We have the best Guild Physicians on Shola available at Valsgarth, Lijou. If anything can be done, they're the ones to do it."

"They are. We've had some good news, though— the TeLaxaudin home world has contacted us. They'll meet us at Jalna in a few days' time to sit at the negotiating table. That means a treaty with them, and an exchange of ambassadors. Which also means an official channel through which to ask them to continue their research into helping Kusac regain his