Page 30 of Hot Zone

He knelt beside the nearest figure and touched the youth’s temple with two of his fingers. Rustam’s eyes closed as he concentrated intently on whatever he was about.

In turn, he knelt beside all of them, repeating the performance, putting his fingers on each youth’s temple for about fifteen seconds apiece.

Tessa looked on, perplexed. If she wasn’t mistaken, the air around Rustam and each young man shimmered faintly. If she hung around with him much longer, she was actually going to start believing in magic.

He stood up briskly after his Vulcan mind meld with the last attacker. “Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and took off, walking even faster than usual.

“My quarters,” she muttered. “I’ve got gear. Provisions. We can leave tonight.”

He veered toward her room. As she trotted along beside him to keep up with his long strides, she huffed, “What did you do to those guys back there?”

“I, uh, planted a suggestion that they got into a brawl with each other over a game of dice.”

She screeched to a halt in the middle of the dim hallway. “You planted a—” She stared in shock. “You can do that? Who in the name of heaven are you? What are you?”

“Long story,” he muttered.

“I’ve got time.”

“Not now, you don’t.” He took off, all but running down the hall.

They reached her room, and she quickly pulled her bags out from under her bed. Rustam swept them up easily. She reached for her belt pouch—

And didn’t feel it. She groped quickly among the tattered folds of her skirt. Where was it? Alarmed, she fished at her waist urgently. Her cuff was in that pouch! Her only ticket home!

She must’ve lost it in the fight. “We have to go back there. I lost something.”

Rustam lurched. “Are you crazy? We can’t. Those idiots will have regained consciousness by now. They’ve probably staggered back into the feast and are already hitting on some other poor girl. But if they see us…let’s just say all my suggestions will have been for naught. Seeing us will make them remember everything.”

“You don’t understand,” she cried raggedly. “I have to go back! I dropped something that I absolutely, positively can’t lose!”

“What?”

“Long story.” She repeated his words wryly. “But we have to go get it.”

“We’ll die if we go searching for this thing.”

“I’ll die without it.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What is this item that holds your life in the balance?”

Damn. In her panic, she’d revealed far too much. She backpedaled hard. “It means the world to me. It’s the last thing I have of my home…after the shipwreck and all. Its sentimental value is beyond price.”

“Ahh.”

Dammit, he didn’t sound convinced. “C’mon. Let’s go. You’ll just have to do some more of that black magic of yours and make us invisible or something.”

“I don’t do black magic, and this is madness.”

“Then call me insane. But let’s go.”

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