Sufficiently Advanced Technology (Inverse Shadows)

by Nuttall, Christopher

  “Good,” Elyria said. She counted out ten gold coins and passed them over to him. His eyes didn’t show any sign of surprise, but his hand seemed to be shaking slightly. “I’d like both books on history and a selection of fiction books, some of all kinds. Have them sent to the Golden Arch Inn, under my name.”

  She walked away, hoping she could get far enough away that her communicator would start to work again. It came back to life after she’d walked ten metres from the bookstall, although the QCC link in her neural implants refused to work. Elyria had expected as much – she’d turned it down prior to landing because of it – but it was still distressing. Even a power absorption field shouldn’t have been able to drain it without killing her.

  “We thought your equipment had failed completely,” the XO said. “What happened?”

  Elyria hesitated. “Did you get a live feed from the snoops?”

  “Only at a distance,” the XO confirmed. “Why?”

  “Listen,” Elyria said, and outlined what she’d seen. “They managed to create something dimensionally transcendent.”

  She had to smile at the shock in the XO’s voice. “That’s freaking impossible!”

  “That’s not the first time we’ve said that about this world,” Elyria reminded her. “I’m going to head to the library. When the books arrive at the inn, they can be read and then shipped back to the base. We can have them transferred to the ship later.”

  “Right now, I’d be worried about bringing anything onto the ship,” the XO said. “You do know that the library is off-limits to the snoops?”

  “I think that tech fails near their magic,” Elyria said. It wasn’t a new theory, but it seemed to have been proven. “Which leaves us with another question. What happens in the Dead Zones?”

  “Take care of yourself,” the XO ordered, and signed off.

  Elyria felt sweat trickling down her spine as she headed down the street towards the library, a solid stone structure that appeared to have been inspired by Grecian buildings from Old Earth. That might be useful in tracking down Darius’s original colony ship, if there had been a colony ship, but it meant nothing. It was quite possible that the style had simply been reengineered on Darius and it was nothing more than a coincidence. The name of the planet suggested a different ethnic origin. Or maybe someone had just thought that it was a cool name. Several planets settled in the First Expansion Era had had funny names before various interstellar powers had banned the practice.

  She half-expected guards to stop her before she walked inside, but the door opened without incident. The interior of the building was cool, almost as if they were using a cooling field to keep the temperature precisely under control, presumably to protect the books. She glanced around and saw no sign of any fans, so it was probably another example of magic. A quick check revealed that none of her technology worked any longer.

  There was no librarian, only a written warning that attempting to remove the books from the library would result in punishment. The first time she read it, she thought she’d translated it poorly without her implants; it warned of pain of pain. It took several moments before she decided that she’d actually translated it properly, suggesting that it meant something to the locals. Or maybe someone was just trying to look pretentious. The library itself seemed a perfectly normal building, without being larger inside than it was on the outside, crammed with books. Elyria took a moment to read the first set of titles, before deciding that she was looking at a set of manuals. It took several minutes to find a book detailing the history of Warlock’s Bane. There didn’t seem to be anything on the entire planet. Taking a seat, she started to parse through the text. Frustratingly, the writer seemed to have spoken mainly in elliptical statements rather than anything definite.

  She looked up as a young man entered the library. He wore a grey robe, with a silver star hanging down from a chain around his neck. Without the implants, it took her several moments to recognise him as Master Faye’s apprentice, the one who had stood in judgement over court cases weeks ago. Elyria saw him looking at her and wondered, grimly, if the meeting was a coincidence. And then he walked over to her desk.

  “Hello,” he said, rather nervously. “May I talk with you?”

  Elyria studied him for a long moment. It was always difficult to tell how old someone was in the Confederation, but on Darius people aged quickly. He probably was as young as he looked, barely sixteen – and nowhere near as subtle as he thought he was. Elyria didn’t miss the quick glance he shot at her chest, or the way he couldn’t quite look at her face. How long had it been since she’d been that young, and awkward?

  But the Confederation forbade little and encouraged its youngsters to grow and develop. Almost any taste or fetish could be catered for, simply by finding someone else who enjoyed it. A more repressive society, on the other hand, would often criminalise sexual acts, simply because they wanted to maintain control. It was quite possible that many of its young men would find the Confederation to be a paradise, at least until they matured. The same could be said for the girls.

  “You may,” Elyria said, calmly. They weren’t sure of the exact social niceties surrounding the Pillar’s apprentice, but as an outsider she wouldn’t be expected to know them. Or would she? There were other Pillars all over the world. “My name is Elyria.”

  She held out a hand, which he bent to kiss, his lips smacking just above her bare skin. “My name is Joshua,” he said. “Apprentice to Pillar Faye.”

  He sounded rather nervous, despite his social position. “Pleased to meet you,” Elyria said. She looked down at the book in her hand and then back up at him. “What actually happened to this city?”

  Joshua gave her an odd look, and then smiled when he saw the book. “That’s Tobias’s work,” he said. “The man lived through five Pillars and he did that by keeping his head down. He criticises the last Pillar quite savagely, but you have to be able to read between the lines to tell. Pillar Spark was not known for listening calmly when someone disagreed with him.”

  “I see,” Elyria said. The Confederation didn’t have any limits on what one could write and publish, ensuring that there was always a torrent of nonsense from the population, often burying serious works in the deluge. “So... what actually did happen?”

  Joshua grinned, clearly seeing a chance to impress her. “Master Spark took over the city seventy years ago, but he rapidly went mad and unleashed a reign of terror and oppression. That’s when they built the wall; Master Sparks was so scared that someone else would overthrow him that he enslaved half the city long enough to put up a basic and useless defence. In his last days, he was killing people at random before Master Faye arrived to remove him from power.”

  His grin widened. “My master is a much better ruler.”

  Elyria didn’t doubt it. Warlock’s Bane was definitely among the more prosperous cities on Darius. “How did Master Faye take over?”

  Joshua gave her another odd look. “They fought, of course,” he said. “Eventually, Master Faye overcame Master Spark and ended his life, becoming ruler of the city.”

  Elyria nodded. They’d worked that much out, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Clearly, Darius followed the Kahn pattern; those with an advantage over the rest of the population held power. There had to be something about Master Faye’s powers that prevented discontented citizens from overthrowing him, maybe a magical force field. Given access to the quantum foam, it would be relatively simple to render oneself immortal, or at least immune to harm. Or so the theory stated. No one had ever actually tested it. The theory also suggested that a single mistake might have disastrous consequences.

  “But never mind that,” Joshua said. “How did you end up travelling with your family?”

  What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? Elyria translated, mentally.

  She smiled, keeping her thoughts to herself. “My father was a trader since before I was born,” she said. They knew enough about how trader families worked t
o put a convincing story together. “I just stayed with him and mom as I grew up. When I got old enough, father put me to work figuring out the accounts and suchlike. He said I had to earn my keep.”

  “Master Faye says that too,” Joshua said. There was something odd about his expression, something that bothered Elyria even though she wasn’t sure why. “Apprentices like us – and you are one, even if they don’t admit it – have to do as we’re told.”

  He smiled back at her. “How many places have you seen?”

  Elyria shrugged. “Too many to speak of,” she said, perfectly truthfully. Of course, Joshua wouldn’t believe her if she spoke of the Confederation, or the Sphere, or the Many-Starred World. Come to think of it, was there a link between Darius and the mysterious Sphere-Builders? “Athol is a pretty boring place. I go there and then I want to go away.”

  His eyes narrowed, just for a second, as if he’d caught her in a lie. Elyria kept her own face calm, trying desperately to figure out how he knew she’d been lying. They didn’t have lie detectors... or did they? If they had truth spells, could they have spells that detected lies?

  “I used to want to leave Warlock’s Bane,” Joshua said, finally. It was quite understandable. “And now I don’t really want to leave.”

  “Some people are like that,” Elyria said, neutrally. Something had definitely gone wrong. “Why can’t you take books out of the library?”

  Joshua smiled, perhaps glad of the change in subject. “Because these books are rare,” he said. “Take one out of the library and the librarian will insist that you be enslaved for the rest of your life. They’re priceless.”

  “Oh,” Elyria said. That wasn’t uncommon in pre-industrial societies, but Darius did have the printing press. “What if...”

  The door burst open. “There she is,” a voice bellowed. It sounded loud enough to shake the building. “The thief!”

  Elyria stared, recognising the bookstall keeper. A thief? What did he think she’d stolen?

  He waved a hand at her. A second later, her entire body locked solid. No matter what she did, she couldn’t move a single voluntary muscle. All she could do was wait. And pray.

  CHAPTER

  SEVENTEEN

  “Stop,” Joshua snapped. He held up a hand, halting the bookstall owner in his tracks. “What are you doing?”

  Master Faye could command respect through fear. Joshua would have to hope that his apprentice carried the same weight. The bookstall owner glared at him, but didn’t seem inclined to grab the frozen Elyria and drag her off to the City Guard. But then, it was Joshua’s master who would stand in judgement over her.

  “She bought some books from me with unmarked coins,” the bookseller snapped, producing a set of familiar golden coins from his pouch. “I tested them and they bore no mark.”

  Joshua scowled, inwardly. Normally, the only person who could test coins was Master Faye – and he would only test large sums of money brought into the city, because otherwise he wouldn’t have time to get anything else done. They’d overlooked the bookseller, who had a little magic of his own, and he’d tested the coins he’d been given. In hindsight, perhaps they should have asked him to report anything odd to Master Faye.

  He tried to think quickly, cursing his own ignorance. If the whole incident had been arranged as a provocation, no matter how absurd that seemed, taking Elyria into custody might trigger a challenge against Master Faye. But if she wasn’t taken into custody, the bookseller would have strong grounds to complain – and damage the city’s economy. Forged coins could not be tolerated. There was no precedent for golden coins that were perfect, apart from lacking the verification mark.

  “Then we shall take her to Master Faye,” he decided, finally. The bookseller would probably want to take her to the jail, but it would be several days before she would face Master Faye in Court. Jail was no place for a young girl... besides, his instincts kept telling him that Elyria had no evil intentions. He looked over at Elyria and frowned. “I’m sorry about this, but there is no choice.”

  The bookseller gave Joshua a nasty look as he worked his way through a simple levitation spell, lifting Elyria up into the air. She looked oddly vulnerable as she span in front of them, a reminder that those with magic would always be superior to those without. Joshua looked down at the books she’d picked up and then left them on the table for the librarian to return to the shelves. When she returned, if she returned, she would have no trouble finding them again.

  Master, he said, using his mental voice, something has happened.

  He filled Master Faye in as he pushed the floating Elyria out of the door and into the streets. Thankfully, there were few people around as he started to walk towards Master Faye’s house, but he was very aware of unseen eyes. The bookseller followed, muttering nastily to himself in a language that Joshua had barely started to learn. If Elyria was convicted of a crime, he would claim the right to punish her – although Joshua honestly wasn’t sure if she was guilty of a crime. The coins weren’t actually fake, even though they bore no mark. Maybe a Scion had found a seam of gold somewhere outside the city and was starting to mine it to produce coins. But if that was the case, why not simply have them verified at the nearest mint?

  Master Faye’s servants opened the doors as they approached, allowing him to manipulate Elyria inside and close the door behind him. The bookseller started to complain loudly to Master Faye, only to be silenced by an angry look. If the whole affair was a deliberate provocation, Master Faye would have more important things to worry about than a single bookseller, even if the Booksellers Guild was the most powerful one on Darius. Joshua put Elyria down in the centre of the room and watched as Master Faye tested the coins. They were just like the ones they’d seen earlier.

  “Odd,” Master Faye said, finally. He dismissed the bookseller with a promise that his books would be recovered, if they couldn’t be paid for with real money. “Let’s see what we can find out about your friend.”

  Joshua watched with some interest as Master Faye started casting complex analysis spells. It started to go wrong almost at once. A spell intended to reveal the girl’s hometown simply refused to work, while a spell that should have determined her age produced an answer that was flatly impossible. No one, not even a Pillar, could live over a hundred years – and the girl seemed to be one hundred and fifty. Joshua took another look at her and shook his head in disbelief. He would have been astonished if she was any older than eighteen.

  “Very odd,” Master Faye said, after casting yet another spell. “She’s in perfect health, without any real scarring; eyes and ears and nose are perfect. And she’s stronger than she looks too. What does it mean?”

  There was a pause. “And there isn’t a single trace of magic on her,” he added. “What does that mean?”

  Joshua winced inwardly, trying to keep it off his face. He’d never seen Master Faye unsure before; Pillars were never unsure. They determined everything from law to acceptable standards of behaviour in their bailiwicks. Whatever they said went, even if they changed their minds every second day. And yet Master Faye just didn’t understand what he was seeing in front of him. Elyria didn’t seem to fit into any normal pattern at all.

  “I think we will have no choice, but to interrogate her,” Master Faye said, finally. “And we will have to deal with the consequences when they materialise.”

  It would be picking up the gauntlet, if indeed a gauntlet had been thrown at them... it struck Joshua, suddenly, that the whole idea might have been to make Master Faye doubt himself. If so, it was working perfectly. He said so out loud and Master Faye nodded, sourly. They’d just have to be very careful. Besides, the mystery spying spells didn’t seem to be able to peer inside Master Faye’s house. It would give them some time to decide what to do next.

  He looked back at Elyria and felt a flash of guilt. Using truth spells was not something that would make them popular. Everyone had something to hide – and while Master Faye could have used them on anyon
e he chose, there would be consequences. They could only be used after there was strong proof that they were needed.

  “Yes, Master,” he said, reluctantly.

  ***

  They knew the coins were forged?

  Elyria had given up struggling against the invisible bonds that held her. Without her implants to monitor her body’s condition, her best guess was that the locals had some way to use the quantum foam – their magic – to hold her prisoner. It had to be targeted very specifically, or she wouldn’t even have been able to breathe, something that would have been fatal even with her enhanced physical structure. The Confederation’s medical science might have been able to revive her afterwards, but it might well cause brain damage. Even the Confederation had problems fixing that.

  Where had they gone wrong? The bookseller had talked about the coins being unmarked, which meant... what? They’d duplicated observed coins right down to the subatomic level, producing perfect copies of local currency. There hadn’t been any numbering system to indicate that each individual coin was completely unique; local technology didn’t have the ability to do that properly, let alone keep track of the coins afterwards. But they’d obviously missed something... silently, she cursed their own prior experience. They knew so much about blending into primitive societies that they had missed something obvious.

  Elyria had been in trouble on primitive worlds before, and she’d spent time in local jails. Standard procedure was to monitor the jailhouse; if something went badly wrong, the prisoner could teleport out before the locals managed to execute her. It was more common to identify someone who could be bribed to extract the prisoner. This was different; her technology hadn’t worked, even when she’d been carried out of the library. Her best guess was that whatever was holding her immobilised – and helpless – was also disrupting her technology. It was quite possible that none of the others knew where she was.

  Master Faye bent over her and made a few passes with his hand. Elyria felt nothing, but suddenly she could move her head freely, even though the rest of her body felt as hard as stone. She was suddenly very aware of his breath; it smelt unpleasant, as if he’d been chewing something nasty. Or maybe it was simply old age. For all of the magic flowing through its society, Darius was still very primitive in any number of ways.