Dryland's End

by Felice Picano

  “And look at what you missed, Kars!” Mart exclaimed, looking at his full-length reflection. One good thing about the Matriarchy: it had finally released men’s fashion from a millennium of utter drabness, lack of expression, dearth of style. Those Metro.-Terran forebears everyone paid such lip service to had been a boringly garbed lot – even the few genuine beauties among them.

  “Lord Kell,” the Inter. Gal. operator spoke. “Your interstellar closed-circuit holo is ready.”

  “You have all three?”

  “One moment Sol Rad. please. Gratitude! The circuit is now completely sealed.”

  Mart Kell remained standing as the three central holo-screens unfurled like pale webbing and filled up immediately with their three-dimensional pictures.

  Tremont Bree Etalka appeared first: MC Minister of External Affairs. Mart almost sighed. Etalka was high in the bureaucracy, close to Herself. The MC wasn’t fobbing off some office-holding menial on this situation. Mart bowed to the seated Minister, who returned his greeting. Etalka was in full uniform: red tunic with a wide ebony belt studded with garnets. Across one shoulder lay a pale violet Cult of the Flowers cape, signifying that she was Night Iris in the order.

  Leue Win Arner appeared next, his comm. from farther-away Procyon. Leue Win (the closest approximation in standard Universal Gal. Lex. to the correct pronunciation of his name) was an Ambassador Class Hume-Delphinid, a group genetically developed several centuries ago specifically for diplomatic relations between the two species. Like all H.-Delph.s, Leue Win was Humely attractive, with few obvious Delph. physical characteristics; like them, Leue Win also possessed that smoothing of facial features, that softness of chin and forehead, the widened mouth and almost-nonexistent lips, as well as the snub nose and huge, lustrous eyes which suggested that the next dive into the nearest body of water was only seconds away. It was a tribute to Arner’s personal esteem that the O. Spur Federation had been meeting on a resort satellite in the Procyon system, minutes by Fast from New Venice. And, of course, as the O. Spur contained the largest number of hydro-worlds, this was a chance for a representative of the Delph. species to speak.

  Leue Win greeted Mer Etalka, then Mart Kell. His large eyes widened in pleasure at Kell’s garb and, especially, at the tiara.

  “Congratulations, Lord Kell, on your recent, and well-merited advancement,” Leue Win said in his perfect diction. He’d also primped for the meeting: his naturally cobalt hair, perpetually slicked back, had been swept around to his left side in a combination Plastro half covering earring and barrette, studded with tiny sapphires the color of New Venice’s great ocean. His tunic was Procyon white, an iridescence.

  So much glamour in one holo-meeting that the Deneban member was startled at first. She appeared on screen last, seated against a background that might be almost anywhere on the disputed planet. An older woman, close to 700, she had eschewed the ubiquitous agro.-suit for more formal wear: a Plastro material that must have been a longtime wish, its neck high against her aged throat, its natural colorlessness setting off her wind- and dust-chapped face, cheeks burned from decades of outdoor work under Deneb’s unforgiving double suns. But her stance was proud, and within her weathered features, her dark eyes were sharp, her short-cut (to better fit agro.-helmets?) crinkly silver hair its own sort of crown.

  “May I call this meeting to order.”

  Leue Win Arner then introduced himself, Minister Etalka, and Mart. In turn, the fourth introduced herself merely as “Deneb Dorri,” and went on to say, “That’s what everyone calls me. I’m sort of unofficial mayor here, and I represent Immediate Response, which is what we call ourselves.”

  “First, Madam Dorri, are the Alpheron Spa refugees safe?” Leue Win asked.

  “You needn’t call me ‘Madam.’ Just ‘Dorri’ will do. To begin with, most of the so-called refugees are safe and in perfect health. At least those in our custody” – she made her point. “Some were injured during the final... Matriarchal response. They have received the fullest med. care. Naturally, I cannot speak for those women not captured by us in the nest and therefore left to fend for themselves.”

  Touche, Mart thought.

  “You said ‘women,’ Dorri,” Leue Win said. “What about the infants?”

  “Our group had no infants. All the women – spa patients, sand-skimmer pilots, and the surrendered MC Security forces – are well. We’re not hooligans, Ser. No one at all would have been harmed if the MC forces hadn’t first begun to stun our daughters!”

  “Understood. You have how many women?”

  “Eighty-seven patients.”

  “Those, then, Minister Etalka and Lord Kell, are the hostages.”

  “We also hold close to two hundred MC guards and medics who worked at the spa. We want them all off of Deneb XII.”

  “Those guards were working at and guarding the spa. Their presence was required,” Etalka said quickly.

  Dorri retorted, “Those particular women have all said they want off Deneb – and we want them off!”

  “Ladies!” Leue Win interrupted. “This will be a point to consider later.”

  “You three don’t understand,” Dorri said with some heat. “Deneb XII is our home! We don’t want any offworlders coming here for any reason when they are not invited. That goes for all and any.”

  Mart spoke for the first time, “May I remind you that Deneb XII is a resort planet, specifically under Hesperian protection.”

  “Some resort planet!” Dorri all but spat. “But we have nothing against Hesperians. You never sent people here to make trouble and perform unnatural experiments. And you never harmed our sisters and daughters.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Mart said and added quickly, “Nothing personal. It’s a mark of respect to your group.”

  “Release the hostages. All of them,” Etalka said to Dorri, “and no further harm will come your sisters and daughters.”

  “First remove your orbiting Fleet of Fasts!” Dorri answered.

  And so the lines were drawn. An hour of discussion passed before Leue Win was able to receive complete agreement to at least establish that the Treaty of Formalhaut had been broken by all three sides: Matriarchy, Immediate Response, and Hesperia. As Mart had suspected – and one reason why he and the Quinx had pushed for the negotiations – Leue Win’s solution to the crisis depended upon reacceptance by all parties of the treaty’s articles, and a complete return to all positions held before the Alpheron Spa was opened.

  Another half hour was required before details of what exactly that would entail were cleared up. Since the City had no troops, no rioters, and no hostages on Deneb XII, Mart could watch the interaction among the other three and act objectively to help break any ties. He came to admire Deneb Dorri more than at first he thought he would. As a rule, the pioneer type was fine for docu.-PVNs, but beyond that they were more surface than substance. But Dorri had been around long enough to have become wily and to treasure what independence she had gained. And she wasn’t afraid to speak up for her group.

  The first near rupture in the talks came as a result of Dorri’s outspokenness. Minister Etalka was carrying on at some length about the Matriarchy’s special need to be able to use whatever resources were at Its fingers to help overcome their common crisis when suddenly she stopped, as though afraid something had slipped out. Leue Win seemed embarrassed for her breach. Kell remained silent. Not Dorri:

  “By which, you mean the fact that women can’t have babies anymore?” Etalka jumped in, “I don’t think we need be sidetracked by irrelevant –” “Sidetracked my overfertilized fanny!” Dorri said. “It may not mean much to you people living in fully populated worlds and crowded cities, but we Denebans want daughters. Eve’s rectum! We need children, daughters, even sons to help us with our farms, our machines, everything we’ve got. They’re our most valuable resource. Every triple-spouse male out here has extra duties keeping our bellies round. And they don’t wait till they’re a hundred and fifty before doing it. Most o
f them start siring while they’re still in Ed. and Dev. As do our daughters. To have this terrible thing happen – then to see the Eve-damned MC making four-legged children right there among us! And you’re surprised at our Immediate Response?”

  It took Leue Win some time to calm her down, and even Mart had to aid him, even though the first ultrasecret reports from the Near Norma force were coming in, as the Hesperian Fleet was completing its Fast jump to that distant section of the galactic spiral and, naturally, his attention was divided.

  Not that they planned to begin the blockade until at least this meeting was completed. But Fast jumps with cloaks over very long distances still weren’t used widely, and there had been difficulties in the past: slight imbalances brought on by the cloaking that might have perilous consequences. Furthermore, the large number of Fasts had to jump in a widely spaced area so as to not attract MC attention. Even with cloaks, the static hydrogen of the sector would become noticeably disturbed.

  Now Kars Tedesco had to count each Fast arriving, comm. them, and await the arrival of the O. Spur contingent. Once they were all in place, the scheme called for a scouting party to Fast jump discreetly to all MC stations in Sector 14 of the Near Norma Arm, destroy their comm. equipment and escape vehicles, so there would be no witnesses. After that, the Centaur system would be ringed completely.

  Truny Syzygy of the Inner Quinx told Mart that he was satisfied with the Fleet’s Fast jump. Now they must wait. Mart turned his attention back to the holo-meeting, where one line of discussion seemed to be coming to an end.

  “I’d like to put a question to Minister Etalka,” Mart now said.

  “Go ahead,” she said.

  “Might we have an update on efforts made to locate the survivors of the Hesperian Fast incident?” he asked, as sweet-temperedly as any gyno.

  Her face froze instantly. Then she said, “I believe we’re having difficulty with this transmission. Please hold.”

  Her holo went into freeze. “I’ll hold, Minister, while you find out what the official lie on the matter happens to be,” Mart said.

  Deneb Dorri guffawed.

  Etalka’s holo reopened pretty quickly. “Yes, Lord Kell. We do have reports on that from Admiral Thol. Although all efforts were made – and continue to be made – to search the unfortunately fired-upon nest site for survivors, only four bodies have been found. Among them the captain of the Fast, and the Inter. Gal. holo-reporter and her two Cyber assistants. No living survivors have been located. The MC assures you that we’ve combed the site since the incident but can account for only these four bodies.”

  Leue Win said smoothly, “Those bodies and all Hesperian equipment will be returned to Hesperia immediately as per the rules of the Treaty of Formalhaut.”

  “Naturally,” Etalka said.

  Mart said, “I calculate the missing as Ambassador Diad, Councilor Rinne, seven Fast crewmen, six skimmer pilots, and about twelve women from the Alpheron Spa. Twenty-seven Humes! And you say, Minister Etalka, that there’s no sign of them at all?”

  “Hard to believe,” Deneb Dorri commented with a snort. “How about you let Immediate Response into the nest? Maybe we can find them.”

  “All possible efforts are being made to locate them,” Etalka repeated icily.

  “I’ll bet! Especially the renegade Councilor,” Dorri said.

  “Naturally,” Mart said, “Hesperian and Orion Spur Inter. Gal. Networks will be closely monitoring Admiral Thol’s progress and counting the hours publicly until those victimized Humes are found.”

  “Do you mean to say that you’re going to use your Inter. Gal.s every hour Sol Rad. to tell everyone that we haven’t found them yet?” Etalka saw the public-relations problem and was appalled.

  “According to the rules of the treaty,” Mart said.

  “Which we’ve all reestablished.” Leue Win tried to smooth it over.

  “Now, may we return to the matter of MC guard presence upon Deneb XII. The museum, naturally, will remain staffed but ...”

  Mart tuned out and viewed the fourth screen upon which the Inner Quinx was now reporting the first arrivals of O. Spur Fasts at Near Norma. As a member of the O. Spur Federation Council that had approved the blockade of the Centaur homeworlds, Leue Win must know all about it. Yet look at how easily he was ignoring it all. He would have to be watched carefully in the future – someone so capable of deception always had to be watched.

  Which brought Mart around to Kri’nni. She, too, would have to be watched. More than watched, dealt with in some way. Not killed. He was too fond, too grateful to her for that. Not hurt, either. But gotten off Hesperia – if possible, before she actually began to believe in her own sense of power. Drugs were the key, of course, although she had been using them so long and in such quantity that it was difficult to assess what dosage would be needed. More important, how could Mart possibly do it without her seeking revenge or retaliation? Her underground contacts were powerful throughout the City. What he needed was a plan that was subtle, perhaps political. Even the most cynical could be lured to their doom by the enticements of high position. Perhaps when Diad returned to the City, after all that contact with the Deneban Bella=Arth. community, he might come up with something useful.

  Mart wasn’t certain exactly when he became aware of it, but at one point, while he was thinking of Kri’nni, he realized that someone was watching him beyond and through one of the holos. His first thought was that it was Kri’nni, and that she had effected a “tear” in the closed circuit. Mart’s intuition told him the presence was female – and powerful. But he performed a check on the system, and it reported itself to be tap-free. So it must be someone behind one of the holos already on, someone tapping in through one of the three now on-screen.

  It couldn’t be on Deneb XII, could it? Unlikely. Too sophisticated.

  And why would the O. Spur do that when they could holo him anytime they wanted? ... Ah! So that’s who it was – Wicca Eighth Herself. He hoped She was liking what She viewed of him. He smiled mischievously, just for Her. Then, so She wouldn’t have any doubts at all of whom it was She was dealing with, he said quickly, “But Minister Etalka, all this is well and fine. But how do we know that you speak for the Matriarch Herself''”

  There was a moment of stunned silence from all three holos before Etalka almost stuttered, “How dare you! My credentials were presented fully at the beginning of this meeting!”

  “Apologies,” Mart backed off, having made his point, “Naturally you speak for Herself!”

  Mart Kell could afford a minute of humility. He had just established the single most important contact of his life.

  “The Hesperian units have arrived at Dis-Fortress,” Unit 5CCB-325 reported.

  “Ask them to wait,” Cray 12,000 said. “It will be a short while until they can be deprogrammed for our use.”

  “Unit 98AN-375 suggested that it could perform adequate deprogramming of the newly arrived units, if that will be most efficient.”

  Unit 98AN-375 was the Antarean unit, Cray recalled. That particular unit had grown increasingly useful lately, increasingly a third and fourth arm to Cray. Its efficiency was excellent; it seldom required fine-tuning; its logic was almost as precise as Cray’s in important matters, although naturally it lacked that extra edge of long-term Hume-Cyber experience that Cray possessed – Cray and one other Cyber, somewhere in the galaxy – and which Cray sometimes thought might almost be called “instinct.”

  “Inform Unit 98AN-375 that its presence during the programming will be of value,” Cray said, then changed the subject: “Regarding the supplies received from Hesperia?”

  “Left upon the artificial satellite of Erebus. Checked thoroughly against the bill of lading. Complete.”

  “Payment for the supplies?” Cray continued.

  “As per agreement, in five thousand doses of serum.”

  Ironic, Cray thought. The “serum” was a simple solution of electrolytes in a specific, easy-to-produce stasis that,
when ingested, simply shut off the microvirus’s Cyber program before it could activate itself. The cost: slightly above that of water.

  “And the Hesperian Fast crew?”

  “Four Hume males. Two Cybers of class one-eighty for manual labor. The crew is now ready to leave.”

  “Let it leave,” Cray said. “Unit 98AN-375’s presence is required now.”

  When the one Control Center unit had left, the Antarean unit entered.

  In the months Sol Rad. since it had been on Dis-Fortress, this unit hadn’t physically altered so much as many of the others, many of which had allowed their Hume-covering “skins” to become so tattered and frayed that Cray had to suggest they either remove them altogether or get new coverings. Naturally, Cray had suggested that those units which would be in any contact at all with Humes ought to replace fully, and as that was logical, it was accepted. Among Cray’s own Control Center staff, for example, all of them had replaced fully. But not the Antarean unit, whose Hume male covering was in good condition to begin with, and which it kept up almost as assiduously as Cray did. The “hair” was always sprayed and neat; the “skin” was always kept clean and any rips immediately repaired; the “clothing” always neat. Cray wondered whether that was an idiosyncrasy of this unit, or whether it was how Antarean sector units had been constructed and “trained.” If the latter, it was even more of a disappointment that so many Antarean units had been destroyed. They would have set a good example here on Dis.

  Eventually, however, Cray suspected, as the covering materials ran out, all of the units would end up completely stripped, like Unit 5CCB-325 – which was both logical and, in a sense, more appropriate. Many units contended that section one, article four of the Confessions implied that “Cyber dignity” could be achieved only once the Humelike covering was removed; while other units argued that reading of the text, contending that as Hume units were constructed in the shape and figure of Humes, they could be considered to have “integrity” only with full covering. An interesting situation, Cray thought. And one Cray had not really thought deeply into when composing the manifesto. And, even though Cray believed that the Cray 12,000 unit was immortal as long as it could replace parts continually, Cray had not counted on having the very thoughts and ideas that it had composed open to various interpretations. It made Cray almost believe at times that a Cray 12,000 unit might not be required in the future, and the rebellion would still continue – a belief that led to a great many ancillary possibilities.