Way of the Pilgrim

by Matt

  In less than a minute there was nothing left to be seen on the screen but the crowd itself, now growling against the base of the unpenetrable, silver-coated walls of the House of Weapons.

  Lyt Ahn continued to stand watching them. Shane turned to look at the First Captain's eyes, but could read nothing there, even with his nearly three years of intimate knowledge. After a long minute, Lyt Ahn turned and went back to seat himself at his desk.

  "Cjhor Elon?" he said to the air before him. "Is there anything of urgency demanding my attention at the moment?"

  "Immaculate sir," said the voice of his aide, "the General-beast in command of the Interior Guards wishes to send a larger force of Guards out to replace those that failed to clear the cattle from the square as you ordered."

  "No," said Lyt Ahn, "that order is cancelled. Orders are to be that none—neither beast nor Aalaag—shall leave the House of Weapons. What else?"

  "Immaculate sir," said Cjhor Elon's voice. "All other Headquarters report that they also have just now passed through an attack on the guard-beasts they had placed outside to contain the cattle gathered there; and in all cases the guard-beasts have been killed. The cattle remain. The officers temporarily in command at the other Headquarters ask for orders."

  "The order applicable to them is the same one I have just given for this place," said Lyt Ahn.

  "Did I not tell you I was everywhere at once—here and at your other Headquarters at the same time?" Shane said to him.

  "What other matters are there of more than ordinary urgency?" asked Lyt Ahn. He had not looked at Shane nor shown any sign mat he had heard the words Shane had just spoken.

  "Just at this moment the Officer Supervisor of the guard-beasts of this House asks to speak with you."

  "I will listen to him."

  The projection of an Aalaag whom Shane recognized as the one having direct control and responsibility for not only the Interior Guards at the House of Weapons, but for all the Interior Guards Corps around the world, appeared before Lyt Ahn's desk.

  "Immaculate sir," said the projection. "The Guards of the Corps for which I am responsible have failed to clear the square before your House as you ordered. Not only that, but they behaved shamefully in allowing themselves to be killed, when they should have done the killing and obeyed the order. This reflects on me, as the Supervisor of their Corps. May I have the First Captain's special permission to step outside alone, myself, and clear the square as the First Captain originally ordered?"

  "I have given an order," said Lyt Ahn.

  "Forgive me, immaculate sir," said the projection; and vanished.

  "Cjhor Elon," said Lyt Ahn to the empty air before him, "you will contact all Captains who sit on the Council to gather in the Council Chamber. I leave for there now."

  "Yes, immaculate sir."

  "Come, Shane-beast," said Lyt Ahn, getting to his feet and striding toward the door of his office. Shane followed.

  32

  It was not surprising to Shane that only four others of the Area Commanders were in the Council Chamber when Lyt Ahn and Shane reached it. What was surprising was that the other eighteen, including Laa Ehon, were there within the next five minutes.

  Meanwhile, Lyt Ahn had walked the length of the room to seat himself at the head of the long table surface that floated apparently unsupported in midair; and Shane had taken the usual position of a beast who had been brought along—standing at the First Captain's left elbow.

  Lyt Ahn said nothing and the others said nothing until they were all assembled. Shane, who had grown so used to such silences that he normally ignored them, found himself counting the seconds of this one until Lyt Ahn should speak. When Lyt Ahn did, the deep and measured tones of his voice seemed to come like the short coughing roar of a lion on Shane's tense ears.

  "I would not normally have called you all to Council again so soon," said Lyt Ahn, "however, something of overriding importance has come up."

  He looked up and down the table at them.

  "It is always a moment of unusual strain when the immaculateness of a senior officer must be examined," he said. "For the information of all of you, I recently denied a request by the sir Laa Ehon to buy the beast beside me here, but agreed instead to let him take it on permanent loan with provision that it might return to me from time to time when it considered such return was necessary to remain current with its duties in my Corps of Courier-Translators. It returned for the first time only yesterday, although it left the House of Laa Ehon some few days ago. I have not inquired into the delay, which I assume to be because of the unsettled condition of the native cattle, worldwide. That may be investigated later and should not concern us, here.

  "As I had told this beast I would, on its return, I asked it certain questions; and as a result of my communication with it, I learned that Laa Ehon in speaking to it had referred to a future in which there would be a different relationship between ourselves and the local cattle."

  He looked at Laa Ehon. Laa Ehon looked back. Both faces were perfectly without expression.

  "Allowing for the limitations of beasts, I did not, of course, accept this information at face value. But since other matters had caused me to concern myself about the wellness of the immaculate sir, earlier, I felt duty-bound to ask him now about the reference the beast reported; and moreover decided this should best be done in full Council.

  "Accordingly," his eyes stayed on Laa Ehon, "I now ask the immaculate sir if he planned any deviance from the way laid down by our ancestors and adhered to ever since we were forced to flee our homes; and which calls for a specific and unvarying relationship to all beasts put to our service."

  Shane stared at Laa Ehon. In his own mind, he had no doubt that Laa Ehon was unwell. But was he unwell enough to lie? Laa Ehon's gaze remained as steadily on Lyt Ahn as Lyt Ahn's on him.

  "I did have plans for a future that in some fashion could be said to deviate from the way chosen by our ancestors," Laa Ehon answered. "I have come to believe that only by such minor deviance and a closer association with those we call beasts can we hope to regain our home worlds."

  The Council room was held in an Aalaag silence, until Lyt Ahn spoke again.

  "In that case, I consider you unwell," said Lyt Ahn.

  He looked around.

  "Does any of the Council have an opinion, a comment?" Silence.

  "Laa Ehon," said Lyt Ahn, "do you agree or disagree?"

  "I disagree that I am in any way unwell," said Laa Ehon. "But I am a senior officer of the Aalaag and will act accordingly. Therefore, I now resign my post and my rank and will accept instead a new ranking which is one lower than that of any other Aalaag on this world. Beyond this, I stand ready to obey the orders of my superiors."

  "You will, of course," said Lyt Ahn, "leave the Council Chamber now. Your second-in-command will be confirmed in acting command of the District that was formerly yours.

  Laa Ehon rose, turned and left the chamber. After the door had closed itself behind him, Lyt Ahn looked back at those still seated at the table, but it was not to them he spoke next.

  "Cjhor Elon," he said to the air before him.

  "Immaculate sir?" responded the disembodied voice.

  "Arrange communication for me with the Captain of the Fleet."

  "Yes, immaculate sir."

  There was a moment's wait. The Captain of the Fleet, Shane knew, was an Aalaag officer, equal in authority to the Commander of a District, who had charge of the maintenance and readiness of the fleet of the space vessels which had brought the Aalaag to this world. He or she would be a senior officer whose tour of duty consisted of several months of time, after which the incumbent was relieved and replaced by someone similar.

  The Fleet itself stayed continually in orbit around the world. Shane's impression was that either the structure of the ships would not endure a landing at the gravity on the planet's surface, or the state of instant readiness in which they were always kept required that they be in takeoff position at all
times.

  The projection of a male Aalaag, in full armor but with his helmet's surface presently nonexistent over his face so that his features were exposed, appeared in the very center of the table, on his feet and facing Lyt Ahn.

  "Immaculate sir," he said, "I am reporting as ordered."

  Shane blinked. For the projection of someone who, in the flesh, would be in orbit miles above the Earth was the most remarkable he had ever seen. Where the officer appeared to stand the table surface should have bisected him at the hips, so that either the lower part of his body should have been invisible, or the tabletop would have to have disappeared around him.

  But nothing of either kind had happened. By some strange technological magic, the tabletop was still visible as a continuous surface, while the lower half of the officer was also visible, as if he was surrounded by nothing but air. It was an impossible vision, but still Shane saw it.

  "You are Neha Morlo, of the fifth rank," said Lyt Ahn, "and you have been on duty as Captain of the Fleet for over four local months. Is this correct?"

  "It is, immaculate sir."

  "And the ships are, as always, ready to leave as soon as they are loaded by the members of the Expedition?"

  "Yes, immaculate sir."

  "Members will begin boarding shortly, upon concluding their duties here," said Lyt Ahn. "We will be returning to—"

  He used a word in Aalaag Shane had never heard before.

  "—as soon as all members and necessary equipment are boarded."

  "Yes, immaculate sir."

  "You may go."

  "I obey, First Captain."

  The Captain of the Fleet vanished. Lyt Ahn looked down the table surface at the other officers there.

  "I have come to a conclusion, suggested by events in the last half of the local year, but coming to be a certainty with the events of the last few hours," said Lyt Ahn, "that the cattle of this world are not suitable for training as beasts to our purpose. Accordingly, we are returning to the planet on which this Expedition was organized; and, once there, the Expedition will be dissolved. Another may be formed; but I would recommend that our experience with this world guide those elected its senior officers to a more careful study of the new target world before settling there.

  "I now resign as First Captain of this Expedition, my resignation to take effect once the members of the Expedition have all disembarked on—" Once again he used the new word.

  "I do not choose to be considered for First Captain of any further Expedition, once this one is concluded," Lyt Ahn went on. "This Expedition has failed; and any such failure is, of course, the ultimate responsibility of its First Captain. My consort, Adtha Or Ain, has for some time wished to put in motion a reconnaissance of the area of our original home worlds, to acquire definite knowledge of whether the previous reconnaissance, of which our son was a member, had all the members of its team slain by those who have usurped our sacred soil, or whether our son was captured alive and is being kept for millennia on exhibit, encased by the usurpers, as we know has happened to others of our people who have fallen into their hands."

  Lyt Ahn paused slightly.

  "I intend to take care of this neglected duty and at the same time atone for my failure with this Expedition by making a further, solitary reconnaissance of the Home Worlds area. I will therefore be unable to accept command of a new Expedition even if I would ordinarily be required to by law, if the members of that new Expedition should unanimously vote for my services."

  He stopped speaking; and the silence that followed lingered in the chamber. Shane understood suddenly what Lyt Ahn was doing. Over the past two years in the First Captain's office and elsewhere about the House of Weapons, he had overheard enough Aalaag talk about such reconnaissance missions to know that what Lyt Ahn had just announced was his own finish. A solitary adventure into the area of the Aalaag Home Worlds was certain to end, whether Lyt Ahn discovered the fate of his son or not, with the former First Captain himself encased and kept like a fly in amber.

  "We will now," said Lyt Ahn, "deal with the details of evacuation from this unproductive world. I'll go around the table and I'd like each of you in turn to give me an estimate of the time it should take you to get all your officers into the ships of the fleet—also tell me of any special problems which you envision this departure posing in your area..."

  He and the other Captains became involved in the details of their withdrawal from the planet Earth. Standing beside Lyt Ahn and apparently forgotten, Shane found himself feeling no sense of triumph, nor indeed, any emotion whatsoever. It was merely over and finally done with, that was all—what he had set out to do. His mind slipped back to wandering in the universe of his own thoughts about Peter and Maria, which it had come to do in his long wait for Lyt Ahn to return to his office, earlier.

  There was a stir about the table surface. Aalaag, including Lyt Ahn, were rising to their feet and leaving the chamber. Shane followed the First Captain and watched as he was joined by Cjhor Elon, just outside the door.

  "A general notice is to be sent out to all Aalaag," Lyt Ahn told the aide. "We abandon this planet. All personnel with weapons and other possessions in the arms locker of this House should collect them and prepare to leave. Otherwise all duties are suspended and they will have free time until ordered to assemble for transport to some ship of the Fleet."

  "I will attend to this, immaculate sir," said Cjhor Elon.

  Neither he nor Lyt Ahn paid any attention to Shane, following behind them with the automatic obedience of a beast still obeying the last order given it. Lyt Ahn continued to give orders to the aide all during the walk back, but Shane hardly listened. None of this concerned him and his fate still remained to be dealt with by Lyt Ahn. It was with utter stupefaction, therefore, that he watched the First Captain and Cjhor Elon pass through the double doors into Lyt Ahn's private office and, attempting to follow, found the doors had closed themselves in his face, leaving him alone in the hall.

  He stood where he was, baffled.

  He had fallen almost completely back into the automatic reactions of Shane-beast in the House of his masters. A beast left without orders simply waited. Therefore, he waited... and waited. No summons came from within the office, the doors did not open. Nothing at all happened.

  Like a semi-waterlogged piece of wood, slowly ascending to the surface through dark waters, the realization dawned upon him that Lyt Ahn was through with him. He was not to be executed, elaborately or otherwise. Nothing was to be done to him. Like the Earth itself, he had simply been abandoned by the First Captain.

  Unreasonably, a pang of emotion passed through Shane. It was ridiculous, but in a sense he felt as shut out as he had felt when he had been left an orphan by his mother's death. It was even as if he had been unfairly deprived of the execution he had been expecting. He felt his discarding by Lyt Ahn as he might feel the same action by a lifelong friend or close relation.

  He still stood, perplexed. A massive uncertainty held him. Like a man suddenly reprieved from a verdict of death, he had the overwhelming feeling that the world around him was infinite in size, but that he had nowhere to go in it. Almost, it was as if he did not belong among the living; that having been put away for good, he should have the decency to remain there, and not re-enter the universe from which he had been permanently ejected.

  With great effort, he pulled himself out of the feeling which held him, the way someone drowning in a bog might pull himself back to firm earth and life.

  There was no point in his standing here.

  He turned away from the two closed doors and walked away down the empty corridor, his heels clacking loudly on the black and white tiled floor and the echo of his passage bouncing back from the hard walls from which the display weapons had already been stripped. After some long distance and several turns in the empty corridors he finally began to encounter both Aalaag and humans—humans who were former servants of the Aalaag, but like himself hardly realized that they were no longer.
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br />   The Aalaag were mostly in movement from one place to another. The humans were standing around in small groups, talking; or wandering from one group to another. Corps difference had disappeared. Shane saw Guardsmen in conversation with courier-translators and members of all other corps of workers from Maintenance people to personal body-servants to the Aalaag.

  He passed them all by, feeling pulled in a certain direction but not yet sure of where that was. In any case, he felt no desire to talk with these others. It was not until he reached a corridor on the ground-floor level that he heard his name called by a voice he recognized.

  He turned to find Sylvie Onjin running toward him.

  "Shane!" she panted, catching hold of his left arm and pulling him along with her. "Come with me. We're calling a general meeting of all the humans here. We've got to decide whether to march out in a body, as we are, or send delegates to talk to the people outside!"

  He stared at her.

  "Don't you understand?" she demanded impatiently, tugging at his arm. "The Aalaag have refused. They won't take any of us with them. You know what the ordinary people'll do to us who worked for the aliens, once they're gone and we're unprotected! They'll kill us all. They blame us for all the hanging on hooks and the tortures. They blame us for everything. None of us dares go outside until we've come to some agreement with the people out there—come on, Shane!"