by Patty Jansen
This ship was something different altogether. The image showed a broad but low-ceilinged corridor in which the floor was shining black. The walls looked like they were made from glass. Some were see-through, but others looked like screens. Strips of lighting were set in the ceilings and spread an even glow. The lighting was very blue, typical for Coldi or many other related gamra people, because they couldn’t see red very well or not at all.
I flicked to the next image. This showed the control centre of the ship—I don’t know if you would still call it “bridge”—a huge nerve centre two storeys high.
This ship would not be part of any modern fleet. The Asto military had an unspecified number of large ships, but they were nowhere near as elegant as this one. I had seen images of ships like this in only one place: the historical archives that contained all the information that was ever collected from the vast amounts of materials dug up from the aquifers underneath Athyl.
Veyada had shown me the few images that existed in those records of the large ship that the Aghyrians had built for what was to be their next wave of colonisation. He’d read out the passages about the legendary arrogance of the captain, a man named Kando Luczon, whose name had been mentioned in the snatch of information that the Exchange had skimmed off the mysterious ship’s anpar wake. Whose most famous deed had been to refuse to carry refugees from the impending disaster. And I remembered thinking that some people would have survived the initial impact hidden in their cellars, and they’d have chronicled the last days of the Aghyrian civilisation while slowly suffocating and dying of heat while the surface of their planet was pelted with dust and large sections of it liquefied with the heat of the impact.
I shivered.
Anyway, all of this data we had on the mysterious vessel so far pointed to the only conclusion: this was the ship, or a successor of it, that had taken those Aghyrians away all those years ago, the ship that had been piloted by Captain Kando Luczon.
Was it an empty shell or was there someone on board?
That first page of Aghyrian text, did it show a conversation between the ship and . . .
The Barresh Aghyrians?
Or Asto’s armed forces?
Or who else would have the capacity to communicate with them directly?
A chill crept over my back.
There was something going on within the Barresh Aghyrian group. The army was taking in big supplies and sending warning signals that they were present and watching. But I hadn’t seen Asha Domiri yet.
And Ezhya wasn’t here yet, either, even if he had sent me his daughter to babysit.
Damn it.
I wanted to study the images but there was so much detail and not enough time.
My comm reader was much faster at copying this stuff than I could look at it. I really needed to get out of here. Also I heard a lot of yelling going on from the other side of the building. Delegate Ayanu’s guards might have made it past Nicha and Thayu.
I closed the documents and was about to get up when there were footsteps behind me.
“Delegate.”
My heart jumped. I turned around. Two gamra guards stood on the gallery.
“Yes? You want me?” I tried to keep calm, but my heart was hammering. This looked like trouble. Not as bad as I expected, but still trouble.
One of the guards, a Coldi man, said, “I understand that you or your staff have unlawfully obtained some items from Delegate Ayanu’s office. We have to ask you to come to the guard post with us to address the accusations.”
Shit. Indeed. Unable to get past Thayu and Veyada, Delegate Ayanu had called the guards.
I held out the bag that Reida had carried. “If you’re after this, a young member of my staff gave it to me. I have no idea what’s in it.”
He took the bag from me and looked inside. The reader was still on my lap. I coolly turned it off and stuck it into my inner pocket, as if it were mine. My pocket, of course, was already full with my own reader, so I had to put it in the other pocket. Smart move, Mr Wilson.
My hands were sweaty.
The guard rummaged through the bag, displaying the impassive face that Coldi did so well. “There is nothing of importance in here.”
I hesitated. If they investigated or insisted on searching me, they would find out about the reader. I’d best hand it in now, before Delegate Ayanu got to tell them her version of the story. If ever there was a good reason to invoke the morality clause, certainly this was it?
I pulled out the reader. “This was also in the bag, but my staff member told me that it didn’t come from Delegate Ayanu.”
He took the reader from me, raising his eyebrows.
“Apparently, it belongs to Marin Federza. I’ve been told there is highly controversial material on it which I intend to take to the assembly under the morality clause.”
He flicked up his eyebrows. “How did your staff member come by it?”
“You would have to ask him. I’m sure he will assist you with your inquiries.” Deflecting the question. Poor Reida.
He nodded and switched the reader on, frowned at the menu screen and showed it to his colleague, who shook his head and said something in a low voice that I didn’t catch. Hopefully the thing would come up with the nondescript menu that was harmless.
While they were looking at the screen, another group of people came onto the gallery: Delegate Ayanu and her guards, followed closely by Thayu, Sheydu and Veyada. Thayu’s eyes met mine. Her expression was intense. Worried? Warning me? A sign of defeat? I couldn’t tell.
Damn it, I needed to get that document translated as soon as possible.
The delegate stopped close to me, planting her hands at her hips. I don’t know what she expected, but if she wanted me to perform a subservient greeting, she was going to have to wait a very long time.
I nodded to her. “Good day, Delegate.”
“I’m not sure if it is such a good day. For me, perhaps, but not for you.”
“It’s a very nice morning for a meeting with some interesting people.” If she was into posturing, I could do that, too.
“Whatever do you mean by that?” Oh, those pronouns of hers were worse than rude. She dared use child’s pronouns on me.
Thayu looked fit to explode, giving me the you’re not going to put up with this look.
Well, actually, Thayu, I was, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to be rude in return.
“What I mean is that we will host the zeyshi Aghyrian delegation, who will have some interesting claims to make about the Barresh Aghyrian group. Claims that the assembly will find quite disturbing.” I used the same pronoun form that she had used on me. I wasn’t well-versed in the children’s forms, but it probably didn’t matter.
She did her impassive face expression.
I continued, “But I’m guessing you already know this, because the documentation that belongs to Marin Federza that details the explosive information came from your office, because you had asked Reida to steal it for you.”
“Whatever are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you, and you can let me know if I’m right.” A door opened on the gallery and a couple of people came out with curious expressions on their faces. Good. The more spectators, the better. We were all diplomats here, but I wouldn’t put it beyond her to order a fight. Those Inner Circle guards with her could be pretty high-strung. “The situation is this: we have two groups of people who both claim to speak for the Aghyrians. We always assumed that we would be dealing with the group in Barresh here when the time came to allocate them land on Asto—”
She scoffed. “—Not just some land. They want all of it—”
“We have spent time talking to the Barresh Aghyrians. Their plans for a claim were moderate and concerned just sites of Aghyrian history.” The aquifers, administered by the water board. “But then the zeyshi group makes a much more sweeping, much bigger claim on Asto. No one expected this. The Barresh Aghyrians are baffled. The Inner Circle is put on the bac
k foot. No one knows what to do. We’re doing our best to deal with it, but we don’t understand the reason behind the claim. But then your lackey discovers something. Possibly the reason that the Barresh Aghyrians were content with making a modest claim is that they know what is about to happen and that whatever claim they make, successful or not, will be thrown out when this thing has happened.”
The delegate snorted. “You love being vague. But if people are holding back important information, it should be reported.”
“I fully agree. The evidence should go before the assembly, but that’s not what you intended to do with it, right?” Oh, the hide of her.
“How do you know my intentions?”
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
She snorted. “I don’t have to reply to such stupid questions.” Which probably meant yes.
“This issue is that someone has been talking to this ship that’s out there stalking us. The issue is that no one at the Exchange knows for certain that the ship is live, but you’ve known for a while. The issue is that there is a recording of a conversation with the ship. By my reckoning you’ve had this controversial information for a number of days and have not yet taken the matter up with the assembly. You intended to use it for your own private purposes.”
“Nonsense. I don’t know where you get these silly theories.”
“My association members aren’t stupid. None of them is, not even the young fellow whom you underestimated so badly.” Heck, we’d all underestimated Reida, thinking that he was after the girls. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—if you don’t have anything to add—I have a meeting to prepare for, and I’d like some breakfast before I faint.” Judging by the light in the sky, the suns were about to clear the escarpment. “I presume you will be present. Your participation will be appreciated. I will take this to the assembly and will deflect any of your accusations or attempts by guards to arrest me by invoking the morality clause.” I took the reader out of the guard's hands. "Thank you. I need this."
I bowed to her by way of goodbye and walked away. My heart was beating like crazy. I knew that my appeal to the morality clause was weak. With both her and Federza’s offices involved, the issue would appear clear as mud to presiding authorities. She could easily press the break-in charges.
But no one said anything, and I managed to escape into the courtyard, with Thayu and Veyada on my heels.
Chapter 14
* * *
“THAT WAS A very bold move,” Veyada said.
“I would have called it crazy myself,” Thayu said. “Where does she assume the right to talk to you like that?”
“Do you really think she’s been using this data to blackmail people?” Veyada asked.
I met his eyes. “I think so. Within a day, we’ve had almost every party in this negotiation be the subject of an attack. Federza was shot at—and he was genuinely scared. He of course knew about his part, that they had this communication from the ship and had kept it secret. If we catch up with him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been trying to discreetly give the information to the assembly without getting killed by his kinsfolk. It would be fine if Delegate Ayanu had planned on using it in the assembly, but she would have called a sitting if that was the case.”
“And get accused in the assembly of using the information to support her case,” Thayu said. “Is it that easy?”
“It should have been easy, because if she had integrity, she would have called a sitting regardless of the possible accusations levelled at her.”
Veyada nodded. “I agree. The fact that she kept this hidden for days doesn’t speak well of her intentions.”
I agreed. “It speaks well of no one’s intentions, including Federza’s”
“What is this morality clause?” Thayu asked.
Veyada said, “That you can claim, and this may be upheld in court, that you acted in the interest of society, even if you were caught performing an illegal act in order to get the proof you needed. It’s mostly applied retroactively.”
“I suppose we could use it to get out of any court action if anyone decides to charge Reida. I didn’t know he was so smart.”
“He’s a fool,” Thayu said. “Nicha is a fool for selecting him.”
“I don’t think he is. He acts like a lout, and his loyalties are messed up, but he’s smart. I’ll show you what he wrote about the meeting. For someone who came from a disadvantaged part of town—a downright poor part of town—he’s very smart.”
She frowned at me. “I’m not convinced that he actually comes from the Outer Circle. I know he’s from the Ramadi clan, but not all of them live in the lower circles.”
“Whatever he is, he’s not dumb. If we can secure his loyalty and train him better, then he will be an asset to us.”
“I agree with him,” Veyada said. “Then again, money and family connections and upbringing do not guarantee intelligence. Hierarchies hold, even within the Outer Circle. They have their own microcosm of networks no different from ours. Maybe their networks are made even stronger by hardship, necessity and the desire to improve their lives. The only thing that worries me is that I’m not sure who has his main loyalty. He’s been acting strangely, probably had conflicting orders.”
“We should check on him that he’s all right.”
And, as usual, there was far too much going on, and I was dropping stitches.
The little voice inside me said, That’s why you have all these people, because you can’t do it all alone.
True, but I liked to feel in control and I felt far from that.
When we entered the hall to my apartment, Eirani came in from the corridor. “Oh, Muri, I didn’t think you were still going to come. There were men here to fix the window, and I had to let them in. I didn’t know what to do and you weren’t here to ask. I guessed you had rather that the window was fixed what with the rains coming soon—”
“It’s all right, Eirani.” They’d be one of the normal maintenance crews.
Devlin came out of the hub. “The zeyshi delegation is getting ready for the meeting.”
“Nicha has gone to meet them,” Thayu said, before I could reply.
“We should go there soon, so we can brief them about the meeting.” But all the notes we’d made would have to be thrown out in light of the recent discovery. And in all honesty, I thought we were better off postponing today’s round of meetings until that document could be translated.
“Surely you will have some breakfast before you leave again?” Eirani asked. “I’ve already had to re-make the tea twice, because it had gone cold and no one wanted it.”
“Not even Xinanu?”
“The lady complained of feeling sick and stayed in her room.” Eirani sighed. “I know I shouldn’t say this, but I don’t understand why Asto ever had overpopulation problems if this is how much their women complain when they’re having a baby.”
I had to laugh at that. Xinanu was quite the drama queen, and if this meant that she was possibly having the baby early, then that could only be good news. “Yes, we’ll have some of your lovely breakfast. Sorry, Eirani. Just let me do one thing.”
I followed Devlin into the hub.
“There is a document I need translated with urgency. I want you to use a trusted translator only, and come back to me as soon as you have it.”
He took the reader from me and said he would organise it.
I went to join Thayu and Veyada in the living room where the table was still set for breakfast although it was now well past breakfast time.
As I let myself fall into the chair, I felt so dizzy I was sure I’d faint unless I got something to eat soon. Eirani set about bustling with plates and bread and pouring tea. Raanu was with her, chatting away about the men who had replaced the big window, giving a blow-by-blow description on what they had done and how they’d gone about fitting the glass. I guessed that at home she never got to see any of this type of activity. I wasn’t sure if she was aware why the window had to be replaced, but
I wasn’t going to enlighten her.
I took a slice of nut bread, ripped pieces off, dipping them in the bowl of jam before putting them in my mouth.
Damn it, that was good.
However, now that I wasn’t so hungry anymore, fatigue took over. I wasn’t sure that I could hold up for a whole day of meetings.
Both Thayu and Veyada looked tired as well.
For a while, we all ate and said nothing. Then Veyada pushed his chair back. “I better go and read up on the morality clause.” He rose and walked to the door.
“Veyada.”
He turned around.
“Don’t try to be a hero. Have some rest.”
“I have to read this before the meeting—”
“Have a rest. That’s an order.”
He nodded, the expression on his face blank, and left the room.
Thayu snorted. “Do you ever take your own advice?”
“I fully intend to. This meeting is too important.”
“Well, let’s go to the bedroom then.”
But when we left the room, we met Devlin coming out of the hub. He had that Big News look on his face. My heart sank.
“Is there anything that can’t wait?”
“Two lots of news. First, Ezhya Palayi is on his way here.”
Damn. And yes, I had expected it. To be honest, did he ever expect Delegate Ayanu to act for him anymore? And could that be part of the problem? The ripples through society thing?
“All right. And secondly?”
“I’ve got the translation. You may want to have a read.”
“That was quick.”
“Yes, the translator she said she’d do it when she finished another job, took one look and translated it to me while I waited. She read it out and I took it down. I’m still waiting for a fully certified version; but though she said she might pretty it up a little bit, the meaning wouldn’t change.”
