“Missing?” He blinked as if genuinely surprised.
Huldar’s gaze narrowed. “The healers mentioned a welt on her cheek,” he said. “Would you know anything about that?”
“A welt?” Duvät Gok shrugged. “An insect bite, perhaps?”
Huldar shook his head. “A blow. The mark was in the shape of a hand.”
“What are you suggesting?” the Overlord snapped. “I know nothing about Lind or why she might be missing. I hope you find her soon. There’s work to do, and less and less time in which to do it!”
Huldar looked at the Gok’s meaty hands. The delicately painted fingernails were a travesty. The Overlord shrugged, but a ripple in his over-shiny veil seemed suspicious. It would be deeply satisfying to burrow beneath that smug exterior and find out what he knew, or had done, but such abilities were beyond Huldar’s skill, and like it or not, Duvät Gok represented the Imperium. Without hard evidence, he could not force the issue.
As he turned to leave, he glimpsed the Gok’s sly smile. “Whatever it takes, you slimy bastard,” he murmured, “I’ll find Lind and I’ll know what you’ve done to her.”
SEARCH PARTY
Andel looked around the valley floor at frost-reddened wetland shrubs. Thin, high cloud prevented the sun’s warmth from reaching them. Even the chirp of the swamp-dwelling creatures seemed dispirited. With a steady breath, she prepared to immerse herself in the valley’s bedrock once more, but paused when Huldar stepped through the nearby portal.
He did not return her smile. “Lind is missing.”
Missing? She tilted her head in confusion.
“She was coming to see me but never turned up. I can’t sense her presence. She’s gone.”
“How can she be gone?” Andel cast about with her mind and found no sign.
“What’s happened? Where would she go?”
He reached for her hand. “Let me show you what I know … ”
With the extra insight, Andel’s alarm escalated. She remembered the odd exchange between Lind and the Overlord, months back when they had still been on the Northern Shelf.
“What will you do?” she asked.
“I’m not sure.” He rubbed his forehead as if trying to clear his thoughts. “Even if the Overlord has hurt her, he didn’t cause her to become lost, and I can’t believe he’d kill her. He has no reason to, and her death-cry would go somewhere – to one of us, surely. Someone would know … wouldn’t they?”
“There’s never such a thing as simple truth,” she said sadly. “Our veils are often as opaque to ourselves as to those who would know us.”
He grimaced. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He took his hand from hers. “Don’t sprout Trianogi mysticism at me! Lind is lost,” he barked. “Alone. What if she’s dead, and I did nothing.” What if what I do is not enough.
It’s not your fault, she soothed. You are doing everything you can.
Patronizing! he snarled.
Patronizing? I’m trying to help! And you ARE doing all you can. Why are you so angry?
Huldar’s struggle to get his emotions in order buffeted her mind. It was reasonable for him to feel upset, but it seemed like there was more to it.
If Lind was distressed, he said at last, if she’d been crying, her voice might have been unsteady. She could have sung herself to the wrong location.
The wrong location?
Or be trapped in Qalān. Huldar hung his head. There is no way of knowing.
You can’t tell?
If she is trapped? No. He looked at her again. There was fear in his eyes. “It might be best not to mention this to the others. They’ll be worried enough.”
“If you think so,” Andel said.
At that, he seemed to come to a decision. He started back to the portal. “I’m going to call everyone to base and organize a search,” he said.
“I’ll be as quick as I can.” Cobar! she called. No more divining today. Lind is missing.
While the Uri’madu assembled, Huldar laid the map on the table and checked to make sure all portals on the Central Continent were marked and their global linkages shown – but with the rest of the planet frozen by now, if she’d somehow wound up lost on the ice … it didn’t bear thinking about. He drew a circle around the branch that led to the healers’ camp, and divided its exits into seven sections. Only a few led to other continents. He hoped to find her before it was necessary to check them.
“There will be two people to each portal chain,” he said. “Team up as you see fit. Stay on this continent. You will remain in contact with at least one other group at all times.”
Casco looked around. “Where’s the Gok?”
Huldar tapped the side of his head to signify that the Overlord had been in contact. “He doesn’t want to be involved. Said we could waste no more than two days on the search … and he had no doubt we could find her without his help.”
“Unbelievable!” Casco muttered.
Huldar closed his heart to the other words the Overlord had said … that after losing a team member under dubious circumstances on their last assignment, he’d better be sure not to lose another.
He whispered to Gento, Go with the Lady Andel. Keep her safe.
Andel was talking with Sari when the big Rukh joined their conversation. After a quick glance in Huldar’s direction, which he tried his best not to notice, they headed off. Sari went with Cobar, and when everyone else had paired off, Casco remained at his side.
You and me, boss.
Two by two, searchers slipped through the portal on the westerly side of the encampment, each singing a subtle variation of the same string of notes.
Ready? Casco asked.
Huldar found his emotions ice-calm.
We will find her, Casco said.
“I hope so, Casco. But even if we find her dead, I’d rather know she was safe in the Breath than trapped in Qalān. Lingering for weeks, total isolation. Navigators are trained for it, but Lind …”
Casco rested his hand on Huldar’s shoulder. “Try not to think about it.”
They emerged in a sheltered gully in the foothills surrounding the inland sea and hiked to the ridge-top to view the terrain. Huldar was amazed to see the straits were now empty and the sea completely contained.
“I’ve not made portals to cover the exposed sea-bed,” he said absently.
Casco raised his eyebrows. “So we won’t be searching there just yet.” Could you show me again what she was wearing? Might get a visual on the colors if she’s injured and too far gone to sense.
Huldar shared the image of Lind in a red-ochre jacket with pale fur lining over a dark green shirt and pants the yellowish tones of kahmayre. But Casco’s request worried him. Would the others remember? Perhaps he had not been accurate enough in his transfer of the image.
“It’s me,” Casco said. “I wasn’t paying proper attention. Distracted by the Gok, or lack of him.”
“I know, but we can’t think about that now,” Huldar said. “We have to concentrate on finding Lind.” He held out his hand. Join with me?
With their strength combined, Huldar and Casco called out for Lind in unison, then closed their eyes and listened for a reply, however faint. But the ether held only the voices of other teams, all calling the same name, all receiving the same response.
Although unmarked, Casco was stronger in far-sight than many archangels, and Huldar left it up to him to pilot their search. They took their time, searching for a flash of ochre, or distinctive yellow-green. They looked beneath rock overhangs and followed creeks and ravines, rifled with their minds among the piles of vegetation that had already succumbed to the changing of the season, and hunted beneath the bright red canopies of fungi that grew like giant gills from dead-fall on the leeward sides of the mountains.
After many hours, Huldar groaned to his feet. The other search parties had already reported their first and second search results – like theirs, all negative.
If they don’t find her, I’ll take
either you or Andel and search those areas again, he said.
Casco sighed. I wish I had my father’s stamina, he admitted.
The archangel?
Yes. But luckily we have the Lady Andel’s strength to draw on.
As if she had overheard, Andel’s thought touched him for a moment then passed on. He wondered if she had seen him. With her at his side, they could possibly cover even more ground, but Casco had joined minds with him on many occasions and their bond was familiar and comfortable. Such a bond with Andel would be fraught with novelty and distraction. He fingered the opal necklace in his pocket and wondered why he still hadn’t given it to her.
Casco nodded ahead and they set off for another portal in the chain.
That night as he lay exhausted in his bedroll, he felt Andel’s presence tickle his mind.
How are you? she asked.
He tried to answer, but what could he say? First Joumelät Enna, and now Lind. Worn out, he said at last.
The sensation of her caress was as warm as any physical touch could be, so much so that he almost reached up to catch her hand and keep it with him. Then she was gone, and her absence left an extra knot of loss in his heart.
LOYALTY
After a difficult night’s sleep, Andel struggled into layers of warm clothing before emerging bleary-eyed from the tent. After several days’ search there was still no sign of Lind, and last night, yet again Huldar had rejected her company.
She sat on a rock while Gento fixed the fire. He’s very good with flame, she thought absently, and so is Cobar.
I taught him everything he knows, Gento flicked back at her, and she apologized for thinking so loudly.
“We’re both tired, Lady Andel,” he said. “No apology necessary.”
She gave him a rueful smile.
“How long have you known Huldar?”
“Five hundred years … four planets.” Gento turned to look at her. “Be warned. We Rukh are loyal, sometimes to the point of idiocy.”
She spluttered a protest, but he continued, “It’s a sad fact. The gift and the curse of our House. Rukh strive for lives of simplicity lest they become a tangle of conflicting obligations and ideals … and so, whether angel or archangel, we are taught from an early age to choose our companions with care.” He smiled and gave a knowing nod. “Huldar is well worthy of my loyalty.”
Andel put her face in her hands. She knew that Gento’s words were true and the gift of his allegiance was a huge honor, but it didn’t answer the questions in her heart. Why did Huldar reject her? He had courted her, in his own way, for over two years and never lost interest. Their relationship had blossomed easily and naturally into something deeper than she could have anticipated. It seemed she had found a life partner, maybe even the mate of her soul, so why did he block her out? Why now, when crisis had struck and they needed all the support they could get … and perhaps himself most of all.
“Did he love Lind?” Her voice sounded small in her own ears, almost child-like.
Gento shook his head. “In the same way he loves us all, but not in a romantic way.”
She took the mug he offered and felt its warmth seep into her hands.
“You are the one he loves, Lady Andel. Have no doubts.” He turned to pour tea for himself. “Grief is a road with no boundaries. Given time, his sadness will wash up against your shores, and you will find each other again.”
She stared at him for a moment. Unshed tears burned behind her eyes. “I had no idea the Rukh had such beauty in their thoughts,” she said at last. “I thought you a warrior people, interested in swords and battle.”
“We are,” Gento replied. “But to live on the edge of death tends to open one’s awareness to the beauty of life, or so I have found.”
Andel thought on this for a moment. Her soul brightened a little. “And what are we doing here, as Uri’madu, if not risking death every day in our explorations?”
Gento smiled and stirred the pot on the fire. “Life is beautiful, is it not?”
“Yes, it is,” she agreed. “Come on, let’s get breakfast done, then we have another whole day to search. Maybe today is the day we will find her.”
He slopped some porridge into a bowl and handed it to her. “And here we have it, a lovely, filling bowl of little attar.”
“And the beauty of life? How does little attar fit into that?”
“We must keep our strength.”
As they shared a smile, Andel’s anxiety receded. Perhaps everything would be all right after all.
DUVÄT Gok
Duvät stood in the empty marquee and considered his options. Even Tam and Arko had joined the search for Lind, so the campsite was deserted, and at last he felt a measure of freedom. The effort of suppressing all knowledge of his capture of the eyes as well as hiding his relationship with Lind had been, he admitted, very great. Under normal circumstances, it was only when he was far from camp that he could relax, and with the navigator almost on his way, he had thought those conditions would not come again.
He poured hot water onto some galano twigs and swirled the cup. It seemed that the Breath was still blowing his way. Wherever Lind was, this was the fourth day she hadn’t answered their calls and as each moment passed it was less likely she would be found alive – if at all. There was still a slim chance she was unconscious somewhere, and of course if he knew where he would ensure that the searchers found only a body. But that was one stress he did not yet have to deal with.
Even better was the fact that neither Huldar nor Andel of Trianog seemed to connect him with the beacon stone, and as for the mark on Lind’s face, without proof, Huldar would not dare accuse him of anything. There was only the word of the Naghari that there was a mark at all, and the vague idea that it may have been a handprint. Could have been anything, really, he thought to himself.
“Do you know anything about that?” Duvät sneered. His head wobbled as he repeated Huldar’s words. The Lethian might suspect he had something to do with her disappearance, and if she’d waited a few more days before getting herself killed, their intrepid team-leader would most likely have been correct. But Lind had removed herself from the equation and taken her knowledge of the eyes with her, Huldar was completely distracted by his efforts to find her – driven by guilt he had carefully stoked – and no one was interested in their Overlord now, nor likely to be.
A flash of black and yellow caught his eye as an opportunistic clicker-bug made its way, one spidery leg after another, into the warmth of the marquee. Its fine whiskers stiffened as it sensed him. Six small eyes turned in his direction. With murder in mind, Duvät took a slow step toward it. The creature seemed mesmerized. Perhaps it could feel his power! Another step and he was almost close enough to catch it. Should he seize it with his mind, or rend it with his fingers? He could almost feel its pain and the sticky juices on his hands.
With a whump, the wind gusted against the tent and the spell was broken. He unleashed a numbing mind-bolt but the creature was gone. Sparks swirled from the hearth. Rain began to pelt the leathers and the temperature plummeted, but Duvät hardly cared. Such a short time to go until the navigator would come to take them home. He could feel his victory beckoning.
URI’MADU
After eight more days of fruitless searching, the Uri’madu gathered once more in the marquee. Tam had cooked a stew, but no one except the Overlord seemed interested in eating. Andel and Sari huddled close together and Nachiel wept quietly in Ronnin’s arms.
The Overlord cleared his throat. “We have searched. Lind has gone. We mourn her absence, but time is short and assessments must be completed.”
Huldar felt Duvät’s words bounce off him. Surely the Gok was not serious? It now seemed certain that Lind had indeed become trapped in Qalān, and the horror of her fate sat dark in their minds. He felt his legs propel him upright.
Fear crossed the Overlord’s face. He shuffled back a step. “I am the Overlord!” he said. “I am the Imperial representative, which
means that I represent the God-Emperor himself. You will show me due respect!”
“Then has the God-Emperor no respect for us?” Huldar glared into the Overlord’s shifty yellow eyes. “Lind is lost! We need time!”
“Another gone?” Duvät sneered.
Huldar forced his breathing to be regular.
“You might feel the need to wallow in your emotions,” Duvät said, “but the first snows have fallen. I expect every assessment to be completed and the reports in my tray within the time allotted! The Navigator will not wait. There can be no extensions.”
Huldar pinned him with his gaze.
“No exceptions!” Duvät grunted. As he departed, a well of utter silence was left in his wake.
With his other senses, Huldar followed the Overlord beyond the marquee. Despite the Gok’s orders he would continue the search. They were family. It was expected.
He turned to the clink of ceramic and saw Tam and Arko muscling a full crate of Besh onto the bench.
“It was her favorite,” Tam said.
Huldar took a bottle from the crate and held it up. “To Lind!”
“Aye! To Lind,” the others responded.
He took a deep draught then wiped his mouth. “My friends, we must continue our work as the Overlord has said –”
“What?” said Casco.
He held up his hand. “Yes, there are assignments to complete. But the search will not stop until she is found, or until we are forced to leave. I will make sure of it!”
_______
Before first light next morning, Huldar woke Casco.
“What is it?” Casco rubbed his eyes.
“Come with me?”
“What – now?”
“Please?” Huldar said.
Still grumbling, Casco left his blankets and followed through several steps to the northern delta, now not much more than a vast mushy swamp. What decaying vegetation remained was frozen solid, and there were no obvious signs of life. Gelid air sat crisp and clean, magnifying the constellations above. The great wheel, having shown herself through the summer, was now slowly slipping beneath the horizon. Huldar wondered if another great wave had dowsed the Southern Archipelago, or if the seesaw of nacrite was more gradual in its release. And where did the blubber-worms go? Did they spend years beneath the ice, or perhaps they spawned and died, a life cycle he suspected many of this planet’s life forms experienced. But if that was so, what happened to the carrion?
Planet Walkers Page 20
