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and he and Del were lifting Rimon onto the bed.
Zeth had been hoping that Rimon's getting out of bed was a sign of returning
strength but the moment he came into the room he had the shock of seeing, for
the first time in months, his father's hideously burned legs. The wounds,
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which had showed blackened muscle oozing blood when Zeth had first seen them,
now dripped pus and were lined with a webbing of yellow infected tissue. Here
and there he could see glistening bone. The skin stretched tightly over the
rest of his badly swollen legs appeared dry, and hung loosely ready to fall
off around the spreading area of the wounds. The room stank with putrefaction.
Del carefully laid Rimon down, and helped Marji arrange clean bedclothes so
they would not irritate him. "Uel, you've got todo something!"
"What else can we do? We can't get transfer into him "
"When he was just through changeover, nobody could get him to kill, either.
Shen it, he's fixated on that memory of killing his cousin! Try some of the
techniques his father used on him then."
"We can't make him kill someone " Uel began.
Hank put a hand on his arm. "Tell us, Del. Maybe we can rouse his intil so
one of us can give him a good transfer."
Rimon's field started vibrating again Uel meshed and tried to stop the
fluctuations, but it took Zeth's strength to bring them into line, leaving him
dizzy, leaning on Owen. Del winced, saying, "That's an old symptom. Turnover
used to bring it on before Kadi. Why don't you rouse oneof
Slina's Gens to panic?I know that's cruel, but if it brings Rimon to intil
and you can intercept "
Uel clenched his jaw muscles, the idea clearly abhorrent to him. "Zeth," he
said finally, "he's your father "
"Try it," said Zeth. "He's dying, Uel. We have to trysomething!" He won't
kill. He can't. And by next time I'll learn to give a completely satisfactory
transfer even if it means witnessing an actual kill!
Bekka was off duty, so the channels had to struggle with the
schedulethemselves until she showed up at dawn. Zeth stayed on duty, helping
Marji while Owen napped. Night duty was normally light most of the Gens were
asleep then, and the Simes took the rest they required. At dawn Jord came to
relieve Marji, Owen joined Zeth, and the day's routine began.
Bekka started on the day's slate. Uel, Zeth, and Jord were all to be free
that afternoon to try to get transfer into Rimon. Del, who had been scheduled
for late that evening, was so shaken by the events of the night that they
decided to move up his transfer. As Jord was up for transfer himself just
beforeRimon, that meant taking Del off Jord's list and putting him on Zeth's.
Already people were filing into the chapel, which was carefully divided with
heavy hangings. This morning Zeth, Uel, and Jord would take donations from
Gens; the dispensing for Simes would begin just before noon. A long line of
Gens waited for Zeth, shorter lines for Uel and Jord.
Everything proceeded normally. By the time the first edgy Simes were seated
in the Sime waiting area outside the cubicle where Zeth was working, they were
finishing with the last donations. It looked as if they'd have all three
channels free to work on Rimon.
To avoid having high-field Gens passing by the waiting Simes, the Gen line
came into Zeth's working area from the opposite side. Most of them went out
toward the back door, passing the Simes only when they were low-field. As Zeth
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worked, he became aware of a glare of impatience on the Sime side of the
hangings.Not again!he thought as he recognized Jimmy Norton's nager. They did
not yet have him on a normal four-week cycle. At first, with constant
augmentation, he had driven himself into feeling need within a week of any
transfer except that it was turnover he perceived as
hardneed, and he reacted from that point on with the dangerous instincts of a
Freehand Raider.
Since Bekka's disjunction, Jimmy had been trying very hard, and had gone from
ten days last time up to fifteen now but that was still only half a normal
cycle. He had to do better, even if he never managed a full four weeks. He
still insisted that he would take transfer from no one but Zeth and Zeth
couldn't help wondering if the lack of junct satisfaction was hindering
Jimmy's progress.
One of the Gens left, and Jimmy took the opportunity when the hangings opened
to slip in to Zeth. "I'm in need," he said agitatedly. "I've gone much longer
this time "
"Yes, you have," Zeth assured him, trying to be encouraging."Half again as
long as last time. But you're not really in "
"I am!" Jimmy insisted.
"It's all right," Zeth soothed, as Owen's nager also went to work on Jimmy.
"I'll give you transfer as soon as I finish with the donations right after
Del. You can wait that long, can't you? Of course you can, when you know
you'll have transfer in say half an hour? Every hour, every minute you can add
will make it that much easier next time."
The hangings cut selyn fields, but not sound.From the Gen side. Hapen Young
came in, saying, "It's my fault, Zeth. I was scheduled to donate, and Jimmy
came along. He was just fine before he came in here. Maybe I should stay
high-field and ''
"Oh, no you don't!" said Zeth. Hapen and Jimmy had become good friends, but
after the nerve-burn Hapen had suffered in the raid, even though he now seemed
steady and unafraid, the channels had decided he should donate for several
more months before trying an actual transfer. So Jimmy was settled on the
bench outside, and as soon as he had donated, Hapen sat down beside him, to
keep him company until his promised transfer.
Zeth began dispensing with Del. He tried earnestly to give Owen's father a
satisfying transfer, but as usual, he could not produce that pain/bliss even
the semi-juncts craved. Del insisted he was perfectly comfortable, but it was
due more to the way Owen soothed him than to anything Zeth had done.
Hank and Uel headed in to check up on Rimon before beginning their dispensing
schedule. "I'll go with you," said Del. "My field won't irritate Rimon now."
,"It didn't this morning, either," said Uel. "I wish ithad triggered his
need we might have gotten transfer into him then."
Just then a high-field Gen approached, and Zeth turned, recognizing Eph
Norton even through the hangings. As a deliberate encouragement to Jimmy, Zeth
left the curtain open on the Sime side while he let Norton in--so father and
son could see one another. Jimmy managed to smile at Norton, proudly taking
control ofhimself . Zeth was pleased to see it. Then he closed the curtains as
Norton said, "I'm sorry I'm late. Sue was pretty upset at the way you left
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last night, Owen."
"It was an emergency."
"I know I tried to explain that to her. But girls at that age " He shrugged.
"I wish her mother were alive."
Norton's donation was quickly taken, but when Zeth opened the curtains to
call Jimmy in, he found Jord approaching. "Zeth, I'm I'm really feeling bad,"
said the other channel. "If I don't get some rest before my transfer "
Zlinning the appalling ache of need in Jord's system, Zeth said, "Come on in
and give me what you're carrying in your secondary system."
When the imbalance was relieved, Jord sat resting as Zeth opened the curtains
once again. Eph Norton had stopped to talk to his son, who was trying to show
his best side to his father. That motivation, and the inbred courtesy of
someoneraised to standards similar to those of Fort Freedom, suddenly plunged
them all into trouble.
By now, the women in the chapel kitchen were getting ready to feed Slina's
Gens. Sessly Bron walked out of the kitchen toward the back door, carrying a
snow shovel. At once, Jimmy Norton got up, saying, "Let me help you, Miss
Bron."
Eph Norton looked around, saying, "No, Jimmy, you're in need. I'll do it." He
reached to push his son back down, as Jimmy raised his hand to ward off his
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