The Ragged Astronauts lao-1

by Bob Shaw

  “Good aftday, Prince,” Lain said, dismayed to find that he was beginning to tremble. Many meetings with Leddravohr during the course of his work for the S.E.S. had taught him to retain most of his composure when they were with others and in the humdrum atmosphere of an office, but here in the constricted space of the cave Leddravohr was huge, inhumanly powerful and frightening. He was far enough removed from Lain in mind and outlook to have stepped out of one of the primitive scenes glowing in the surrounding half-light.

  Leddravohr gave the entire display a cursory inspection before speaking. “I was told there was something remarkable here, Maraquine. Was I misinformed?”

  “I don’t think so, Prince.” Lain hoped he had been able to keep a tremor out of his voice.

  “You don’t think so? Well, what is it that your fine brain appreciates and mine doesn’t?”

  Lain sought an answer which would not frame the insult Leddravohr had devised for him. “I haven’t had time to study the pictures, Prince — but I am interested in the fact that they are obviously very old.”

  “How old?”

  “Perhaps three or four thousand years.”

  Leddravohr snorted in amusement. “That’s nonsense. You’re saying these scrawls are far older than Ro-Atabri itself?”

  “It was just my opinion, Prince.”

  “You’re wrong. The colours are too fresh. This place has been a bolt hole during one of the civil wars. Some insurgents have hidden out here and.…“Leddravohr paused to peer closely at a sketch depicting two men in a contorted sexual position. “And you can see what they did to pass the time. Is this what intrigues you, Maraquine?”

  “No, Prince.”

  “Do you ever lose your temper, Maraquine?”

  “I try not to, Prince.”

  Leddravohr snorted again, padded around the cave and came back to Lain. “All right, you can stop shaking — I’m not going to touch you. It may interest you to learn that I’m here because my father has heard about this spider hole. He wants the drawings accurately copied. How long will that take?”

  Lain glanced around the walls. “Four good draughtsmen could do it in a day, Prince.”

  “You arrange it.” Leddravohr stared at him with an unreadable expression on his smooth face. “Why does anybody give a fig about the likes of this place? My father is old and worn out; he has soon to face flying to Overland; most of our population has been wiped out by the plague, and the remainder are getting ready to riot; and even some units of the army are becoming unruly now that they are hungry and it has dawned on them that I soon won’t be here to look after their welfare — and yet all my father is concerned about is seeing these miserable scrawls for himself. Why, Maraquine, why?”

  Lain was unprepared for the question. “King Prad appears to have the instincts of a philosopher, Prince.”

  “You mean he’s like you?”

  “I didn’t intend to elevate myself to.…”

  “Never mind all that. Was that supposed to be your answer? He wants to know things because he wants to know things?”

  “That’s what ‘philosopher’ means, Prince.”

  “But.…” Leddravohr broke off as there was a clattering of equipment in the cave entrance and the sergeant of Lain’s personal guard appeared. He saluted Leddravohr and, although agitated, waited for permission to speak.

  “Go on, man,” Leddravohr said.

  “The wind is rising in the west, Prince. We are warned of ptertha.”

  Leddravohr waved the sergeant away. “All right — we will leave soon.”

  “The wind is rising quickly, Prince,” the sergeant said, obviously deeply unhappy at lingering beyond his dismissal.

  “And a crafty old soldier like you sees no point in taking unnecessary risks.” Leddravohr placed a hand on the sergeant’s shoulder and shook him playfully, an intimacy he would not have granted the loftiest aristocrat. “Take your men and leave now, sergeant.”

  The sergeant’s eyes emitted a single flash of gratitude and adoration as he hurried away. Leddravohr watched him depart, then turned to Lain.

  “You were explaining this passion for useless knowledge,” he said. “Continue!”

  “I.…” Lain tried to organise his thoughts. “In my profession all knowledge is regarded as useful.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s part of a whole… a unified structure… and when that structure is complete Man will be complete and will have total control of his destiny.”

  “Fine words!” Leddravohr’s discontented gaze steadied on the section of wall closest to where Lain was standing. “Do you really believe the future of our race hinges on that picture of a brat playing ball?”

  “That isn’t what I said, Prince.”

  “That isn’t what I said, Prince,” Leddravohr mocked. “You have told me nothing, philosopher.”

  “I am sorry that you heard nothing,” Lain said quietly.

  Leddravohr’s smile appeared on the instant. “That was meant to be an insult, wasn’t it? Love of knowledge must be an ardent passion indeed if it begins to stiffen your backbone, Maraquine. We will continue this discussion on the ride back. Come!”

  Leddravohr went to the entrance, turned sideways and negotiated the narrow passage. Lain blew out the four lanterns and, leaving them where they were, followed Leddravohr to the outside. A noticeable breeze was streaming over the uneven contours of the hill from the west. Leddravohr, already astride his bluehorn, watched in amusement as Lain gathered the skirts of his robe and inexpertly dragged himself up into his own saddle. After a searching look at the sky, Leddravohr led the way down the hill, controlling his mount with the straight-backed nonchalance of the born rider.

  Lain, yielding to an impulse, urged his bluehorn forward on a roughly parallel track, determined to keep abreast of the prince. They were almost halfway down the hill when he discovered he was guiding his animal at speed into a patch of loose shale. He tried to pull the bluehorn to the right, but only succeeded in throwing it off balance. It gave a bark of alarm as it lost its footing on the treacherous surface and fell sideways. Lain heard its leg snap as he threw himself clear, aiming for a clump of yellow grass which had mercifully appeared in his view. He hit the ground, rolled over and jumped to his feet immediately, unharmed but appalled by the agonised howling of the bluehorn as it threshed on the clattering flakes of rock.

  Leddravohr dismounted in a single swift movement and strode to the fallen animal, black sword in hand. He moved in quickly and drove the blade into the bluehorn’s belly, angling the thrust forward to penetrate the chest cavity. The bluehorn gave a convulsive heave and emitted a slobbering, snoring sound as it died. Lain clapped a hand over his mouth as he fought to control the racking upsurges of his stomach.

  “Here’s another morsel of useful knowledge for you,” Leddravohr said calmly. “When you’re killing a bluehorn, never go straight into the heart or you’ll get blood all over you. This way the heart discharges into the body cavities, and there is very little mess. See?” Leddravohr withdrew his sword, wiped it on the dead animal’s mane and spread his arms, inviting inspection of his unmarked clothing. “Don’t you agree that it’s all very…philosophical?”

  “I made it fall,” Lain mumbled.

  “It was only a bluehorn.” Leddravohr sheathed his sword, returned to his mount and swung himself into the saddle. “Come on, Maraquine — what are you waiting for?”

  Lain looked at the prince, who had one hand outstretched in readiness to assist him on to the bluehorn, and felt a powerful aversion to making the physical contact. “Thank you, Prince — but it would be improper for one of my station to ride with you.”

  Leddravohr burst out laughing. “What are you talking about, you fool? We’re out in the real world now — the soldier’s world — and the ptertha are on the move.”

  The reference to the ptertha went through Lain like a dagger of ice. He took a hesitant step forward.

  “Don’t be so bashful,” Leddravohr
said, his eyes amused and derisive. “After all, it wouldn’t be the first time you and I had shared a mount.”

  Lain came to a standstill, his brow dewing over with cool perspiration, and he heard himself say, “On consideration, I prefer to make my own way back to the Quarter on foot.”

  “I’m losing patience with you, Maraquine.” Leddravohr shaded his eyes and scanned the western sky. “I’m not going to plead with you to preserve your own life.”

  “My life is my responsibility, Prince.”

  “It must be something in the Maraquine blood,” Leddravohr said, shrugging as he addressed a notional third party.

  He turned his bluehorn’s head to the east and urged the beast into a canter. Within a few seconds he had passed out of sight behind a shoulder of rock, and Lain was alone in a harsh landscape which suddenly seemed as alien and unforgiving as a distant planet. He gave a shaky, incredulous laugh as he took stock of the predicament he had placed himself in with a single failure of reason.

  Why now? he demanded of himself. Why did I wait until now?

  There was a faint scraping sound from nearby. Lain wheeled in fright and saw that pallid multipedes were already writhing upwards out of their burrows, disturbing small pebbles in their eagerness to converge on the dead bluehorn. He lunged away from the spectacle. For a moment he considered returning to the cave, then realised it would offer only minimal protection during daylight — and after nightfall the entire hill was likely to be swarming with globes, patiently nuzzling and probing. The best plan was to head eastwards to Skyship Quarter with all possible speed and try to get there before the ptertha came riding down the wind.

  The decision made, Lain began to run through the murmurous heat. Near the base of the hill he emerged on an open slope which gave him an unrestricted view to the east. A far-off plume of dust marked Leddravohr’s course and a long way ahead of him, almost at the drab boundaries of the Quarter, a larger cloud showed how far the four soldiers had gone. He had not appreciated the difference in speed between a man on fpot and one mounted on a galloping bluehorn. He would be able to make better progress when he reached the flat grassland, but even so it would probably be an hour before he reached safety.

  An hour!

  Is there any hope at all of my surviving for that length of time?

  As a distraction from his growing physical distress, he tried to bring his professional skills to bear on the question. The statistics, when looked at dispassionately, were more encouraging than he might have expected.

  Daylight and flat terrain were conditions which did not favour the ptertha. They had virtually no self-propulsive capability in the horizontal plane, depending on air currents to carry them across the face of the land, which meant that an active man had little to fear from ptertha while he was crossing open ground. Assuming they had not blanketed the area — something which rarely happened in daytime — all he had to do was observe the globes closely and be aware of the wind direction. When menaced by a ptertha, it was simply a matter of waiting until just before it came within the killing radius, then running crosswind for a short distance and allowing the globe to drift helplessly by.

  Lain stumbled to a halt in a gully, his mouth filling with the salt froth of exhaustion, and leaned on a rock to recover his breath. It was vital that he should still have reserves of strength and be nimble on his feet when he reached the plain. As the tumult in his chest gradually subsided he indulged himself in a visualisation of his next encounter with Leddravohr, and — incredibly — he felt his gaping mouth trying to form a grin. This was the irony of ironies! While the renowned military prince had fled to seek refuge from the ptertha, the mild-mannered philosopher had strolled back to the city, in need of no armour but his intellect. This was proof indeed that he was no coward, proof for all to see, proof that even his wife would have to.…

  I’ve gone mad! The thought caused Lain to moan aloud in sheer self-loathing. I have truly lost what used to be my mind!

  I permitted a savage to breach my defences with all his crossness and malice, his celebration of stupidity and glorification of ignorance. I let him debase me until I was prepared to throw away life itself in a weltering of hatred and pride — what laudable emotions! — and now I’m indulging in fantasies of childish revenge, so gratified by my own superiority that I haven’t even taken the basic precaution of making sure there are no ptertha at hand!

  Lain straightened up and — sick with premonition — turned to look back along the gully.

  The ptertha was barely ten paces away, well within its killing radius, and the breeze coursing along the gully was sweeping it closer to him with mind-freezing swiftness.

  It swelled to encompass his view, its glistening transparencies tinged with purple and black. In one part of his mind Lain felt a perverse flicker of gratitude that the issue had been decided for him, so quickly and so finally. There was no point in trying to run, no point in trying to fight. He saw the ptertha as he had never seen one before, saw the livid swirlings of the toxic dust inside it. Was there a hint of structure there? A globe within a globe? Was a malign proto-intelligence knowingly sacrificing itself in order to destroy him?

  The ptertha filled Lain’s universe.

  It was everywhere — and then it was nowhere.

  He took a deep breath and looked about him with the ruefully placid gaze of the man who has only one further decision to make.

  Not here, he thought. Not in this blind and circumscribed place — it isn ’t at all suitable.

  Recalling the higher slope which had afforded the good view to the east, he retraced his steps along the bed of the ancient stream, walking slowly now and emitting occasional sighs. When he reached the slope he sat on the ground with his back to an agreeably shaped boulder and arranged his robe in neat folds around his outstretched legs.

  The world of his last day was laid out before him. The triangular outline of Mount Opelmer floated low in the sky, seemingly detached from the horizontal ribbons and speckled bands which represented Ro-Atabri and the derelict suburbs on the shores of Arle Bay. Closer and lower was the artificial community of the Skyship Quarter, its dozens of balloon enclosures an illusory city of rectangular towers. The Tree glittered in the southern heavens, its nine stars challenging the sun’s brilliance, and at the zenith a broad crescent of mellow light was spreading insensibly across the disk of Overland.

  The whole span of my life and work is in that scene, Lain mused. I have brought my writing materials and should try to make some kind of a summation… not that the last thoughts of one who precipitated his own demise in such a ludicrous fashion would be of much interest or value to others… at most I could record what is already kno wn — that pterthacosis is not a bad death… as deaths go, that is… nature can be merciful…as the most horrific shark bites are often unaccompanied by pain, so the inhalation of ptertha dust can sometimes engender a strange mood of resignation, a chemical fatalism… in that respect at least, I appear to be fortunate… except that I am deprived of feelings which are mine by ancient right…

  A burning sensation manifested itself below Lain’s chest and spread radial tendrils into the rest of his torso. At the same time the air about him seemed to grow cold, as though the sun had lost its heat. He put a hand into a pocket of his robe, brought out a bag made of yellow linen and spread it on his lap. There was a final duty to be performed — but not yet.

  I wish Gesalla were here…Gesalla and Toller… so that I could give them to each other, or ask them to accept each other… irony piles upon irony… Toller always wanted to be different, to be more like me… and when he became the new Toller, I was forced to become the old Toller… to the final extent of throwing down my life for the sake of honour, a gesture which should have been made before my beautiful solewife was ravaged and defiled by Leddravohr… Toller was right about that, and I — in my so-called wisdom — told him he was wrong… Gesalla knew in her head that he was wrong, and in her heart that he was right…

 
A stab of pain in Lain’s chest was accompanied by a bout of shivering. The view before him was curiously flat. He could see more ptertha now. They were drifting down towards the plain in groups of two and three, but they had no relevance to what was left of his life. The dream-flow of his fragmentary thoughts was the new reality.

  Poor Toller… he became what he aspired to be, and how did I reward him?…with resentment and envy…I hurt him on the day ofGlo’s interment, only able to do so because he loves me, but he responded to my childish spite with dignity and forbearance… brakka and ptertha go together…I love my “little brother#148; and I wonder if Gesalla even yet realises that she too… these things can take such a long time…of course brakka and ptertha go together — it’s a symbiotic partnership… only now do I understand why it was not in my heart to fly to Overland…the future is there, and the future belongs to Gesalla and Toller…could that be the underlying reason for my refusing to ride with Leddravohr, for choosing my own Bright Road?… was I making Toller’s way clear?… was I excising an unbalancing factor from the equation?…equations used to mean so much to me…

  The fire in Lain’s chest was becoming hotter, expanding, causing him to struggle for breath. He was sweating profusely and yet his skin felt deathly cold, and the world was merely a scene painted on rippling cloth. It was time for the yellow hood.

  Lain lifted it with clumsy fingers and drew it over his head — a warning to anyone who might come by that he had died of pterthacosis and that the body was not to be approached for at least five days. The eye slits were not in the right place, but he allowed his hands to fall to his side without adjusting them, content to remain in a private universe of formless and featureless yellow.

  Time and space ran together in that undemanding microcosm.

  Yes, I was right about the cave painting…the circle represents a ptertha… a colourless ptertha… one which has not yet developed its specialised toxins…who was it who once asked me if the ptertha used to be pink?… and what was my reply?… did I say the naked child is not afraid of the globe because he knows it will not harm him?…I know I have always disappointed Toller in one respect, by my lack of physical courage… my disregard for honour… but now he can be proud of me… I wish I could be there to see his face when he hears that I preferred to die rather than to ride with… isn’t it strange that the answer to the riddle of the ptertha has always been visible in the sky?… the Tree and the circle of Overland, symbolising the ptertha, co-existing in harmony… the brakka pollination discharges feed the ptertha with… with what?…pollen, green and purple, miglign?…and in return the ptertha seek out and destroy the brakka’s enemies… Toller should be protected from Prince Leddravohr… he believes himself to be equal to him, but I fear… I FEAR I HAVE NOT TOLD ANYONE ABOUT THE BRAKKA AND THE PTERTHA!… how long have I known?… is this a dream?… where is my lovely Gesalla?… can I still move my hands?… can I still…