Dryland's End

by Felice Picano

  “Perhaps this woman, your superior, has had a change of heart, and wants to compensate for her past actions,” Diad finally said.

  He evidently had no idea it was Wicca Eighth, Rinne thought. Anyone who did, would know that Herself never regretted and, above all, never compensated.

  “Yes, perhaps.”

  “And you’ll be doing her a good deed.”

  Sweet of him to think it that way. What woman she knew could be as bluntly martial one minute, self-deprecating the next, then tender and forgiving as this the very next? None. The mercuriality, the paradoxical nature, seemed to be a specifically male attribute – one long absent in the higher reaches of the Matriarchy.

  The remainder of their stay in the Spoorenberg was lovely. As they were slowly wafting down to Karenina Park in the lift, completely alone, Captain Diad stood behind Rinne and wrapped his arms around her as they looked out over Melisande, its silver-white buildings tinted orange-pink in the sunset.

  “I have the oddest feeling,” she said, unsure of her words. “I feel as if, well, as if it’s sunset everywhere. Does that make any sense?”

  “Gemma, love, I’m afraid it may soon be sunset all over. And if there is another day, it will be quite different from any we’ve known.”

  “You also feel that? Sincerely?”

  “All that we know will alter,” he said. “It’s very sad. Because while I’ve had my complaints with things as they are, they were always offset by the sheer beauty and peace we’ve had.”

  “I sense that, in a second, we’ll go over the edge and onto ...”

  “I’m glad we’re not young, Gemma,” he said. “I don’t know if we could adjust to what will replace all this.”

  “We could,” she urged.

  “Perhaps,” he admitted. “If we were together. Is that possible?”

  Before she could answer, he turned toward her. Tinged with twilight, their lips met.

  They were silent the rest of the way down, yet much was decided by the time the lift touched bottom: their shared view that light was going out all over the galaxy – and that whatever came, they wanted to see it together.

  Rinne and Diad had scarcely reached the ground and begun strolling through the parkgrounds toward a conveyance when they noticed a group circling an open-air holo. Humes were coming from all directions to see it and so, naturally, they too approached.

  “That’s Llega Francis Todd!” Diad said even before they were in sonal range.

  “You know her?”

  “She’s an Inner Quinx Spokeswoman. Premier of the Quinx,” he added.

  “What’s a Hesperian holo doing on Melisande?” Rinne asked.

  A woman at the edge turned and answered, “They’ve overridden our local censor. She just said that they’re making this announcement all over the Matriarchy.”

  “What’s going on?” Rinne asked. Pulling Diad by the hand, she drew him deeper into the crowd.

  The announcer had just finished apologizing for the interruption of local network services. She now introduced Llega Todd, as a high government representative of Hesperia. Todd was a strikingly handsome woman and a forthright one. She delved directly into the heart of the matter.

  “Citizens of the Matriarchy. We of Hesperia come to you with information which can no longer wait to be told.”

  Oh Eve! Rinne thought. Now she’s going to speak of the microvirus.

  “Just an hour ago Sol Rad., the ruling circle of Hesperia received irrefutable proof of the violation by the Matriarchal Council of two articles of the Treaty of Formalhaut. The first article, two-eighteen b, specifies that those so-called resort worlds already under the guidance and material support of the city of Hesperia at the signing of the treaty shall remain guided by Hesperians following MC laws and that no military outposts of the MC shall be set up on those worlds except with advance Hesperian approval. The second violated article, forty-five-four, specifies that each so-called resort world shall approve specific laws of the MC, and those laws shall remain in force upon that world until otherwise legally altered.” She paused, letting that information sink in. Then went on.

  “We have received proof that the MC has set up a military outpost on so-called resort world Deneb XII without any authorization or notification of the territorial government of Deneb XII. A clear violation of the article.” Again she paused.

  “Furthermore, the reason for the military outpost is to guard and protect an experimental project instigated and fully funded by the MC. Prepare yourself, for what I next have to say may be difficult for you to grasp.” Another pause, while the crowd around the holo murmured.

  “As you well know, centuries ago, interspecies marriage and engendering was banned. The ban has come to be accepted as one of the code laws of our civilization, and despite attempts, it has never been lifted. Now the Matriarch Herself is secretly experimenting with interspecies engendering. That’s what is going on behind those well-defended walls on Deneb XII.”

  The crowd around Rinne and Diad were openly and vocally shocked.

  “I know,” Llega said. “It’s impossible. Is it? Then look at these holos which were taken surreptitiously on Deneb XII.”

  The holo-screen divided vertically. To the left was Todd. To the right was a scene of childbirth, a young Hume woman giving birth attended by Hume attendants. The crowd was quiet, taught from infancy to respect the great act of childbirth. First the head and shoulders appeared from the vaginal tract, then the trunk and arms, and finally the legs – all four of them.

  “This is no deformity,” Llega Todd spoke. “Nor is it a single incident. Possibly many hundreds of women in the MC project on Deneb XII have been impregnated without their knowledge and against their will by the Centaur species.”

  “It’s a lie!” someone yelled from the crowd, but no one took it up.

  “Citizens of the Matriarchy! We in the Quinx Council on Hesperia do not know the reason for this astonishingly degenerate wide-scale experiment. We know only that the project is directly under the protection of Wicca Eighth Herself. And that it violates the Treaty of Formalhaut. Holos of many other similar interspecies births exist and will be made available upon request.”

  Rinne had grasped Diad’s arm and was holding it tightly. She had to admit she was as shocked and disgusted as anyone else in the crowd. Speechless with shock.

  Llega went on, “The Quinx has made a formal complaint to the Matriarchy, and demands of the MC Council that the government on Regulus Prime show cause for its deliberate flouting of the treaty regulations, as well as of its own laws – the accepted customs and mores of our civilization.

  “Should no adequate response be received on Hesperia by this time tomorrow Sol Rad., Hesperia shall secede from the Matriarchy with all of its territories and possessions. And the Quinx Council shall urge and enjoin like-thinking citizens of all worlds and territories to join us. Naturally, any previous treaties between us shall be considered null and void.”

  The holo snapped off.

  Everyone in the group around the holo continued to stare into the space so recently filled around the display pole. Then they turned to one another and slowly, as the shock of what they’d seen and heard sank in, they began to mumble quietly. Some were in tears, others angry, still others – those dressed as MC Officials – were trying to get away and back to where they could discover what exactly was going on.

  Diad led Rinne toward the conveyance. She followed him, trying to assess her thoughts. Finally she stopped him.

  “It can’t be true!”

  “The Quinx would never announce it if it weren’t,” he argued.

  “What does it mean, Taylor?”

  “It means the City is seceding.”

  “Only if... ” – Rinne thought it through. “I see. The MC will never be able to show cause. Wicca would never dream of explaining Her actions. It’s a carefully devised political move. But why? And why now?”

  She answered herself: the City has been infected by the micr
ovirus. They’re blaming Wicca for it. Rightfully. And they’re getting back at Her in the only way they know how. A most effective way. With the treaties broken, Beryllium would stop flowing. The MC had stores of it, of course, but how much of it and for how long would it last? How long before Fast travel stopped, before Inter. Gal. Comm.s ceased? How long before the Matriarchy would grind to a standstill, each world separated, entire sectors out of touch, vulnerable?

  “That fool!” Rinne said. “She –” She stopped herself. “I’ve got to get to Deneb XII,” she said. “I’ve got to see for myself. And try somehow to ...”

  She was pulling him along again toward a conveyance.

  The second they got out of the foliage and near the conveyance, a group of MC Security guards came up and surrounded them.

  “I’m Matriarchal Councilor Rinne,” she said with all the dignity she could work up within herself.

  “We have no business with you, Councilor. Only with your guest. The Matriarch has just ordered all Hesperian nationals be deported immediately.”

  “But he’s a retired ore hauler. He has nothing to do with government!”

  “Immediately and with no exceptions. Will you come with us, Ser?” “Yes. Of course,” Captain North said.

  “But Taylor!” Rinne felt a pain in her chest and thought: Oh Eve! On top of this, am I now getting ill?

  “I have to go,” he said gently.

  “All Hesperian guests leave on the very next super-Fast,” the guard said. She led them onto the conveyance surrounded by her cohort. “Your belongings are now being packed by your hotel and will be at the Fast terminal waiting for you.”

  They got off the conveyance a minute later, at air-transport to the Fast terminal.

  Rinne held his hand and walked with him into the terminal. The security cohort gave her a temporary wrist implant pass to come out again.

  “Now don’t worry!” Diad tried to calm her. “Stay here and I’ll try to get in contact with you somehow.”

  “I can’t,” she explained, suddenly unable to keep her hands off him. “I’ve got to go to Deneb XII, for my vocation, for ... I just have to go!”

  “It will be dangerous. We don’t know how Lady Todd’s message will be taken there.”

  All nonpassengers were being urged to leave the terminal.

  “Be careful,” she said.

  “You be careful,” he said and turned away a second. “Well, look at that. The Commander in charge of our Fast turns out to be an old friend. See her? Commander Lill. Do you know her? Don’t worry. She’ll keep me safe, no matter what happens.”

  “I can’t believe we’re being separated,” Rinne said. “I can’t ... Taylor, will we ever see each other again?”

  “Of course we will,” he said. “And on that day Sol Rad., we’ll be espoused. There! I never thought I’d ever ask.”

  He grabbed Rinne and embraced her, as the terminal floor began to separate them, pulling him into the Fast loading dock along with scores of his fellow Cityzens, all of them turning to wave and shout at those they were

  Once the Fast was locked, Rinne tore her gaze away and left the terminal building. The MC Security was gone and she turned into a holo-station and comm.ed her apartment line.

  “Jenn-Four. Prepare yourself in a discrete circuitry kit. Bring all the relevant information we’ve been using of late that will fit. And before you ask why, you and I are going on a trip.”

  As she was leaving the terminal she saw a flash in the darkening sky. The Fast. On it, Captain North-Taylor Diad, whom she loved. Tears were beginning to course down her cheeks.

  “I assume all diplomatic relations between Hesperia and the Matriarchy are at an end,” Captain Diad said.

  The entire staff of the City’s embassy on Wicca World had been on board the Fast he’d been forced onto, causing Commander Lill to comment, “Eve’s left teat! I’d feel less nervous hauling all the Beryllium in the galaxy than this cargo.”

  That had been a private comment, made during the single twenty-minute Sol Rad. conversation she and Captain Diad had together during the short trip. And he had concurred. Quiet as the 200 Hesperian nationals had been, it was clear that everyone was on edge. Lill had even given light tranquilizers to her crew, to ensure that no possible trouble could occur.

  Once arrived at the City, she had docked the Fast at Inter. Gal. Central Port and watched the passengers depart. Then she took Diad’s forearm in the MC forces grasp and said, “I hope all this doesn’t mean that you and I won’t have another chance at a good old slugfest!” Minutes later, the Fast was headed back to Melisande.

  “Yes. For the time being, all diplomatic relations are in hiatus.” Mart Kell looked briefly at Captain Diad, then back at the multiholo being projected into the room giving current Inter. Gal. News Reports, with – as might be expected – pertinent details and galactic reaction to the current impasse. “But even during our worst times with Melisande, we always manage to keep one or two channels open.”

  “I suppose the Quinx won’t be needing my services anymore,” Diad said.

  He thought Kell was about to answer, when Llega Todd and Ole Branklin were announced.

  Kell kept the holos on but dropped the sound, as the two men rose to greet the Quinx Premier and Vice Premier. In a matter of minutes, all had settled down and Diad was reporting his meeting with Councilor Rinne in some detail, attempting to give as much as possible without giving away how intimate they had become.

  “What was your impression of the Councilor?” Vice Premier Ole Branklin asked.

  For a second, Diad was stopped. He assumed they meant professionally.

  “She seemed very capable. Certainly the Matriarch thought so.”

  Premier Llega Francis Todd took over. “What I think we meant, Captain Diad, is what you thought of her personally. Is Councilor Rinne someone you might work with in the future, say?”

  Again, he didn’t know how to answer. “My impression was ... extremely favorable.”

  “We know that the two of you developed an immediate rapport,” Mart Kell said, more or less admitting that they had been spied upon, which should have come as no surprise to Diad, yet still did. “What we don’t know is whether during that rapport you made any discoveries about Councilor Rinne’s character and personality that you would like to share with us.”

  Captain Diad tried to restrain his anger. “Look, I know I was sent to Wicca World to do exactly that, but I guess now I feel sort of... about it.”

  “We understand,” Llega Todd was quick to soothe him. “We also understand that you may now resent having to tell us what passed between the two of you. But believe us, Captain Diad, when we tell you that not only will your words be held in the greatest of confidence, but also that they shall not be used to harm the Councilor in any manner.”

  So he began to talk to them about Gemma Guo-Rinne. Slowly at first, then when their questions turned out to be few and easy to take, a bit more easily. He found himself praising her and attempted to stop himself, but found he couldn’t. So he ended up giving an example of her fineness of character – the qualms she had had about dealing with Wicca Eighth on a particular issue she was involved in – a matter of conscience.

  “What did you say was the name of this Mammologist who had vanished and whose son Wicca Eighth was so greatly interested in?” Mart Kell asked.

  Diad hadn't said. “Sanqq’. Ferrex Sanqq’. Do you know of him?”

  “A follower of Lydia Relfi. Discredited about a century ago,” Kell explained. “Evidently his downfall was the plinth upon which Wicca Eighth built Her career in the Matriarchy.”

  “Then it was She?! Why would She want to go after his son?” Diad asked. “I would think She’d leave well enough alone.”

  “So would we,” Llega Todd agreed. “Especially as his son has had no contact with his father in over a century and scarcely knows of him. And especially since his avocation is in a completely different field.”

  “You know about thi
s young Sanqq’?”

  “I knew him personally,” Mart Kell said. “My graduate studies at a Center World university. He flirted with the Oppos. Movement there briefly; then his species ethnology took him offworld.”

  “Why would the Matriarch be interested in him?” Diad asked.

  “We’re not certain,” Ole Branklin said. “About three months ago Sol Rad. an Inter. Gal. Comm. seeking Ay’r Kerry Sanqq”s mother was put on all general waves. Naturally that caught the attention of our intelligence network. Ay’r Sanqq’ himself arrived in Melisande shortly thereafter. We checked into him quite thoroughly then. Only one thing about him stood out. According to MC records, his mother was the last known woman to die in childbirth – under peculiar circumstances.”

  “Sanqq’ left Melisande, two days Sol Rad. later,” Mart Kell said. “He was part of an exploratory expedition sent by the MC to a Seeded World in the Far Outer Arm,” Mart Kell said, to Diad’s surprise.

  “To the Far Outer Arm? You know that time/space has little integrity out there,” Diad said.

  “Just one of the unusual matters concerning this unusual expedition to an unusual star system,” Mart Kell agreed. “Wicca Eighth was prudent enough to design the expedition to avoid suspicion. Only three Humes on board a small Fast. However, the Fast itself turned out to contain the most sophisticated Cyber brain still operative in the MC Fleet. In addition to Ay’r Kerry Sanqq’, a female Marine Biologist was included. No surprise, since the seeded planet was thought to be a water world. However, this Marine Biologist turned out to be remarkable not only professionally but also in her contacts. Niece to Admiral Thol, who, as you know, is Black Chrysanthemum and thus head of the Cult of the Flowers. And Clark is a goddaughter of Wicca Eighth Herself.”

  “All of this occurring so close in time Sol Rad. to our discovery of the dispersion of the microvirus – and we believe to Wicca Eighth’s discovery of its effects – led us to suspect that the Matriarch had a very good reason to suddenly launch an expensive expedition headed by so loyal a subject to a Seeded World which has, in effect, been forgotten for centuries,” Llega Todd said. She concluded, “We decided that it required close watching.”