Mallow

by Robert Reed

  'She was cut into several pieces,' said the man's close, soft voice. 'Her head, with one arm still attached. We recovered the rest of her.'

  Pamir waited a moment, then said, 'All right, then.'

  He said, 'That helps us a lot. Thank you.'

  Then after a sympathetic pause, he asked, 'Who did that to her, Locke? Who treated your mother that way?' A deep, brooding silence.

  Then with withering, practised pain, Locke admitted, 'My father . . . Diu . . . was trying to kill her . . .'

  Pamir heard a deep breath, a shallow gasp.

  Then an anguished voice asked, 'Is there any method you know, First-grade Pamir? Is there any way to kill a memory that you can't forget . . . ?'

  Thirty-six

  THE RUMOR WAS sudden and spectacularly fantastic, and if only a little bit true, its consequences would be nothing short of momentous. The common first reaction among passengers and crew was to laugh at the whole silly notion, and mock it, and insult the soul who dared tell the foolish story, and perhaps beat him senseless, or piss on his lying face, or in some other species-specific way prove one's doubts about what was clearly, utterly impossible.

  'The Master Captain is dead!' said billions of soft, nervous voices.

  How could she be? She was too wily and much too powerful to die!

  'All of her captains have been murdered! At their annual dinner! By armed strangers coming from a secret part of the ship!'

  How could any of that be true? How, how, how . . . ? 'And now these strangers have stolen control over the Great Ship!'

  Which was just absurd. Of course, of course. The ship was too strong and far too large to be conquered by any force. Certainly not in a day, and with such little fuss, too. Where were the Master's security troops? And her tough old generals? And more to the point, where were the AIs and the other elaborate machines whose only duty was to serve that giant human woman? How could such a deeply ingrained, fiercely loyal army allow an invasion to succeed in a thousand years, much less inside a single day?

  For a full ship-day, that was the gist of almost every public and private conversation - abbreviated wild rumor countered with hard-headed doubt.

  But the rumor had its own life, gaining breadth, depth, and a kind of robust logic.

  On the second and third days, and particularly on the fourth, lowly mates and certain engineers offered new clues. What had happened wasn't an invasion. Not precisely. It more properly resembled a mutiny, the ringleaders being one-time captains. The Vanished had returned from the dead, it was said. At least some of the missing captains had rematerialized, led by that axe-faced Submaster. That Miocene woman. In the avenues and parks, along the seashores and inside dream parlors, passengers told this new story and wrestled with its consequences. Who was Miocene? In memory, she was the quiet and efficient and apparently bloodless First Chair to the now deposed Master. And that was about all she was. Every biography written about the woman was sold ten billion times, at least. Most read only the highlights. Only enough to recognize the woman's ambition and her obvious powers. If anyone could overthrow the Master Captain, it was her First Chair. That was the obvious verdict. Who else in Creation had intimate knowledge into every security array, every communication system, and the ship's wellsprings of power?

  But Miocene didn't come home alone. She brought an army of loyal and tough soldiers who were deployed in the opening hours, trapping most of the ship's troops in their barracks or surprising them in the field. A few witnesses described pitched battles and soldiers killed on both sides. But even the largest stories involved small units and minimal damage. Most of the ship's weapons failed before they could be fired, sabatoged by security codes that the Master herself had set in place - codes meant to protect the public and the captains should those weapons find the wrong hands embracing them. A few units loyal to the Master managed to slip away, merging with the general population. But they were scattered and leaderless, without the tools necessary to hurt any enemy.

  About the old Master and her captains, no one seemed to know.

  One comforting tale was that the old leaders were still alive, in some diluted form or another. Perhaps they weren't conscious or whole, but they were still capable of being reborn again . . . should Miocene, in her wisdom, decide to consider them harmless . . .

  About the new Master and her staff, even less was known.

  From where did they come?

  A thousand rumors told the same basic story: the Vanished must have left the ship, probably against their will. Then on a mysterious high-technology world, Miocene gathered up the tools and army and fleets of star-ships necessary to catch up again. Where her fleet was today, nobody knew. Everyone agreed that the main ports were quiet; the Great Ship had been passing through a thinly inhabited region around an active, modestly dangerous black hole. And it was hard to imagine that little ships could have caught them without being seen. But didn't that explanation make far more sense than that silly noise about secret chambers and worlds hiding within the ship's heart?

  And yet. Travelers reported seeing enormous bug-shaped cars rising through a certain basement district. On that first day, and each subsequent day, there was a relentless parade of the steel machines gaining speed as they climbed, swarming for the Master's station and every other essential hub.

  'They have to be coming from somewhere,' was the sluggish verdict, delivered in spoken words and structured scents and soft flashes of dumb-founded light.

  'Somewhere' meaning a place below them.

  Deep inside the fuel tanks, some assumed. While others preferred more fantastical locations, including a secret chamber or chambers buried in the ship's iron heart.

  On the mutiny's fourth day, this mysterious place acquired a name. Marrow. Suddenly, everyone was whispering that odd old word, in ship-terran and in the full multitude of other ship languages. That word appeared so suddenly and in so many places that souls with a taste for conspiracy decided that the knowledge, genuine or false, had come directly and with purpose from whoever was in charge.

  There was a world hiding inside the Great Ship, voices claimed: a hidden realm, and wondrous, and undoubtedly powerful.

  Tantalizing details about Marrow started to rear up into the light.

  Open-minded, undisciplined species embraced the revelation. A few even celebrated it. While others, deeply conservative by nature or by choice, ignored everything said and every wild implication.

  As a rule, humans were somewhere in the middle.

  There were small, modestly bothersome events. Some districts went dark as key reactors failed, power rationed to the most essential systems. Communications became snarled everywhere for the next four days. It was a time of modest chaos. But generally, little changed. Ancient passengers and crew went about the rituals of their lives, habits ingrained over the millennia and not so easily dropped. Even when the public corn-networks failed completely, there were still private pathways where electrons and structured light could send good wishes and viable currency and the lastest, best gossip. Then those little outages seemed to be finished, and the corn-networks found their feet again, and the last rumors of armed combat turned stale and were generally forgotten. It was the mutiny's ninth day, and the public mood, as measured by twenty-three subtle means, was on the rise in every district, every major and minor city, and in most apartments and alien habitats and occupied caves.

  That was the ripe, perfect moment for the Master to appear.

  With ancient commands, she took control of the newly restored corn-networks, and suddenly she was everywhere - a holoimage dressed in a Master's bright uniform and a bright, well-practised smile, her face even narrower than expected, and her dark gray hair cut very short, and her flesh looking changed by the centuries, as if dirty or tinged with smoke or rust; and her dark walnut-colored eyes, colder than any space, regarded each of her passengers and crew with an expression that fell just short of being comforting, her thin smart smiling mouth opening and then closing
again, giving her audience a moment to adjust to her presence before she opened her mouth again, telling them in a quiet strong voice:

  'I am Miocene.

  'On my authority as a First Chair Submaster, I have removed the Master Captain from her office. From her duties. From her long-held chair.

  'Never worry. The woman still lives. Most of her captains are alive. In coming years, you will learn about the depths and scope of their incompetence. In accordance with the ships charter, public trials will be held, and punishments will be just and slow, and the Great Ship will continue to follow its planned course.

  'I will worry for you.

  'If you let me.

  'Your fives need not change. Not today, or in the future. Unless of course you wish to change what has always been yours.

  'As Master Captain, I make that promise to you.'

  Then for a moment, unexpectedly, the eyes gained a sudden warmth - genuine and a little shocking - and the image closed by saying:

  'I love this wonderful ship of ours. I have always loved and cherished it. And I want nothing but to protect the ship, and defend its passengers and good crew, today and until the end of its historic voyage.

  'My son will serve as my First Chair.

  'Word of other postings will follow.

  'This is your Master Captain wishing you a good day, and a wonderful next hundred millennia, my darling friends . . .'

  Thirty-seven

  A SHINY GOLD bust of the Master Captain was perched at the end of the pearlwood table, its face suffused with a look of serene power and perfect arrogance; and beside the bust, set at a sloppy almost careless angle, was the Master's own severed head. The long hair was white and tangled. The flesh was soft and badly desiccated, and pale, no trace left of its gold pigments. Some slow anaerobic pathway, not to mention a fantastic rage, allowed the head to open its eyes while the gaping mouth moved with a slow vigor. Without lungs to supply breath, the Master couldn't so much as whisper. But what she was saying was obvious. Anyone with patience and a talent for reading hps could understand her. 'Why?' she was asking.' Miocene, why?' Then after a long pause, she said 'Explain.' She said, 'For me.' Then she began to say, 'Please,' but she was too exhausted to finish the word, and with a soft wet sound, her eyes and mouth pulled themselves shut again, and she descended back into a deep, fitful coma.

  With a cool fondness, Miocene stroked the white hair.

  She gazed up and down the conference table, and after a moment's consideration, she pointed and called out a name, and one of her staff responded with a crisp, highly officious summary of what had been managed and what they were doing now and everything they intended to accomplish in the critical, wondrous near future.

  'Blessing Gable,' she called next.

  A small, burly woman - born Loyalist, but joining the Waywards as a child - rose from her black chair, then spoke about resistance among the last of the crew. 'They still have their stronghold at Port Alpha, and two or three armed bands are operating near Port Denali. But the first group is trapped, and the others are disorganized and short on resources.' She paused for a moment, referring to one of her security nexuses. Then she added, 'We just arrested the ones who sabotaged the reactors. Disgruntled engineers, just as you predicted, madam. The repairs, I am told, are well ahead of schedule. What the Builders create refuses to be destroyed easily'

  There were murmurs of approval, and many of her fellow officers repeated, 'The Builders,' with the habitual reverence.

  Blessing was a ship's general. She paused, one hand smoothing the perpetually smooth purple-black fabric of her uniform. Like most of the grandchildren, she didn't appreciate the art of wearing clothes. It required discipline and new habits. But as Miocene had reminded everyone, time after time, the ship's passengers expected a certain wardrobe from its crew. Captains and soldiers clothed in their own hair and flesh wouldn't reassure anyone. And reassurance was an important, even critical task for these next days and centuries.

  Miocene's First Chair inquired, 'How many of their captains are running loose?'

  Blessing said, 'Thirty-one. At the very most, sir.'

  Sitting on his mother's left, Till showed everyone a look of confident concern. Unlike most Waywards, he seemed comfortable in uniform. Splendid, even. Each time Miocene glanced at him - at the bright fabric and the shiny epaulets and the slender, sturdy shoulders ready to accept any burden — she felt a powerful love as well as a withering, almost terrifying sense of pride.

  Till was the perfect First Chair.

  Already knowing the answer, he asked, 'Of those thirty-one, who are the most dangerous?' Blessing listed the important names.

  She said 'Pamir,' with a dismissive tone. 'He's the highest-ranking officer still at large. But his first-grade status can be misleading. Judging by the Master's records, the man isn't well regarded. Not by her or by the other captains. His loyalties are suspect. The Master herself made only sparing use of him.'

  'I remember that one,' said Daen. Then with a quick gesture and a giddy laugh, he added, 'I wouldn't worry. Pamir's probably hiding in one of his old holes, praying for the next amnesty.'

  Daen was her Second Chair - the same position he had enjoyed before Marrow. But it was a post that he had taken grudgingly, even when he finally admitted that the old Master was inept. Letting a crazy man like Diu acquire so much power, then not finding her captains after nearly five millenia . . . well, she probably deserved to be unseated. Yet even then, if it wasn't for his loyalty to Miocene, he wouldn't have taken part in this ugliness. He had made that point plain on numerous occasions. And in turn, Miocene gave him no important role or linchpin responsibilities. Daen and the other old captains served a single clear, vital purpose: they showed that Miocene was operating legally, and morally, supported by proven souls who thought as she thought.

  Miocene agreed with her Second Chair's assessment of Pamir; but as usual, Daen ignored certain key points.

  'Regardless what we think of the man,' she countered, 'Pamir has talents. And more importantly, he has that first-grade rank. If there's going to be an organized counterattack, by law and by tradition, Pamir's the leader. If only as someone's puppet, he can now be regarded as the ship's true Master.'

  Her warning had a slow, inadequate impact.

  Daen blinked as if flustered, then admitted, 'I just hope it doesn't come to counterattacks and open rebellion.'

  Other long-term officers agreed with him.

  But Till reminded them and his Waywards, 'There isn't time to worry about one man. Or rebellions that only exist in our fears.'

  Miocene nodded, then deflected the focus. She glanced at another old Submaster, saying, 'Twist.' She smiled and asked, 'How soon will you have the new nexuses ready to be implanted. In you, and in the others. And in me.'

  Most importantly, me.

  The charming Submaster tried to smile, and failed. 'Another fifteen days,' he admitted. 'Just in time for the big burn.'

  Stripping away an ancient, byzantine system, full of booby traps and failed policies, then constructing a better system from the rawest ingredients . . . no, the delays weren't much of a surprise, nor even much of a disappointment . . .

  'Pepsin,' said Miocene.

  Aasleen's grandson nodded agreeably, then promised, 'You already have full control over the main engines, madam.'

  Miocene let everyone see her smile.

  Then the engineer added, 'There were some incidents of sabotage. A few. But what the Builders create is most definitely resilient . . .'

  'You have enough hands to make repairs?'

  The stocky man nodded, saying, 'Yes, madam. I do.'

  He was lying. She sensed it as she nodded, then in the most casual way, she mentioned, 'When you come up short, contact Till or me. Every resource will be shoved your way'

  'Thank you, madam. Thank you.'

  Pepsin's grandmother would have been an enormous help here. But Miocene didn't allow herself the luxury of making wishes. Aasleen had mad
e her choice, and now she was living a comfortable, dull existence in Hazz City. She'd lived that way since the Waywards took over the Loyalists' cities and industries. Their invasion — a proving ground for what was happening to the ship today - had come swiftly, with a minimum of blood and discomfort. By the time Miocene was reborn, the Loyalist society was dissolving into the much larger, more potent Wayward culture. By the time she was healthy and whole again, her son could present her with an empire rich in possibility.

  'For you, Mother,' he had whispered into one of her new ears. 'This is for you. And I promise, this is nothing but the beginning.'

  Again, Miocene felt compelled to glance at her son, and she couldn't help but feel singularly blessed. During her rebirth, her son had taught her what was possible. Every question was answered in full. Every doubt evaporated into her love for Till. Then through his love and devotion, Till offered her the ship's helm. 'The Master doesn't deserve her chair,' he had assured her. 'She doesn't serve the ship as she should, or as you will. Isn't that true, Mother? Can you argue it otherwise?'

  That was a great, perfect moment.

  Everything about Miocene's long ambitious life pointed at that epiphany. Her duty was obvious. Indeed, it seemed as if every hardship and wrenching pain were nothing but the careful preparation of her soul, making her ready for what was, for lack of any better word, her destiny.

  'Both of us are Builders reborn,' Till had purred.

  'We are,' she had mouthed, beaming at her only child.

  To Miocene, the Builders were an abstraction. An idea with which she could coexist. No, she didn't believe that their souls were billions of years old. But clearly, they were the natural ones to take control over this great, wondrous machine. She looked at the hardened souls at this long table. Waywards; Loyalists. She imagined the millions of children born before, then after the merging of those two nations. And there were the captains who had proved themselves during this century-long march toward this moment. Now . . .