Owen grabbed the front of the alien's coverall and slammed him against the wall. "What the hell is an Ór?"
"Advisor," the alien managed. "Serves . . . Great Queen. You are . . . you are—"
"I'm what?"
"Dangerous. Ór . . . ordered you to be . . . watched. You were immune to the k'th's's."
"The—"
"K'th's's. You would not understand."
"Try me."
The alien looked at him with a sneer, which made Owen even more angry. But before he could wipe the expression off the other's face, the alien's expression changed, becoming wide-eyed and even more frightened.
"Eh," it said. "Uh."
Then it slumped to the ground and began to change shape.
"We told him we would kill him if he didn't answer," Abbas said, shrugging. "Looks like someone did it for us."
As they watched, the coveralls began to tear apart where limbs and body parts that were far from human began to protrude. When the transformation was complete, Owen could see that it was an alien like the ones from his dream.
"So," Abbas said. "You've been holding out on us, Garrett. How'd you know he was . . . what? Whatever that is? And what's an Ór? And why are you 'dangerous'?"
"Same answer. I don't know how, I don't know what and I don't know why. All I know is that a whole bunch of people saw us frog-march some clown out of the Shield and he's . . . well, pretty much dead now." He prodded the thing with the toe of one boot. "And if we wait around here, we're going to be pretty much dead as well."
"Don't be so sure." Abbas jerked his thumb at the hideous alien corpse sprawled behind him. "I don't see that guy any where. Do you? Now, come on—you're going to buy me a drink, and we're going to decide what this all means."
***
Jackie's last look at Adrianople Starbase was from the bridge of the Councillor Rrith as it jumped for Cle'eru, a zor colony twenty-three parsecs distant.
Most of her own task force was left behind: the Due d'Enghien, Pappenheim and Tilly were assigned to Admiral Hsien's direct command along with the Cincinnatus, the ship that had brought Admiral Tolliver and Sergei Torrijos to Cicero a lifetime ago. Hsien's orders did not involve offensive action at the outset; it would take him some time to gather his forces in any case.
The departure from Adrianople was far more quiet than the arrival. Within the Solar Empire, events proceeded much as they had been for the past several months.
As for the Duke of Burlington, it did not sit well with him to leave Adrianople without actual resolution of the board of inquiry, much less a clear understanding of what had transpired during the Sensitive ceremony in which the intransigent commodore had participated. But the exigencies of politics, especially those involving relations between the High Nest and the Imperial Household, overruled his desire for justice swift and sure—or indeed a tidy end of things.
William Clane Alvarez was an administrator first, a politician second and a Navy man third and only by association; he left the strategic planning to his fleet admirals at Pergamum, Boren, Denneva, Adrianople, Zhangdu and Eblaar. Still, the testimony of Commodore Laperriere troubled him enough to issue an order to all facilities and ships on-station to maintain General Quarters until further notice. Thus satisfied with his own predilection for caution, he concluded his business at Adrianople Base and, with all the pomp and ceremony proper for a First Lord and a peer of the realm, departed for Sol System to bring the unwelcome news to the emperor.
Jackie found the Councillor Rrith to be as uncomfortable as Adrianople Starbase, but for different reasons. She was among only a handful of humans on board; she was lodged in a guest suite normally reserved for distinguished persons of the High Nest. Fitted with special contact lenses, she was able to see normally in the reddish lighting favored by the zor. There was only a short stay aboard the Rrith—just under four Standard days, including the normal-space journeys to and from the jump points. The deference shown her by the crew of the ship seemed to border almost on awe; she and Ch'k'te dined at Captain R'le'e's table, and the captain's alHyu attended to their every comfort. The rest of the crew kept their distance.
Jackie's isolation aboard the Rrith was further emphasized by the new distance she felt between herself and Ch'k'te. He seemed regretful—even apologetic—that he had not recognized her earlier as the avatar of the great zor hero.
She hadn't had enough time to assimilate it herself. She had no duties aboard the Rrith; she devoted the trip to exercise and study. She fenced alone against simulated opponents. She reviewed her personal log entries, looking for something elusive that might have given her advance notice of what had happened at Cicero. She spent several hours in the gym. She read, concentrating on zor culture. Working herself to exhaustion and then reading herself to sleep seemed to help keep her mind occupied.
The night before they were to emerge from jump, Jackie had steeled herself to read the beginning of the Qu'u Legend. She had avoided doing so especially when tired, for fear that it might carry over into dreams—with unforeseen consequences. That fear finally made her realize that she would have to face it sooner or later; it was best to be well informed.
Instead of remaining in her cabin she had gone up on the ship's observation deck, mostly deserted during jump since there was nothing to see outside. It was there Ch'k'te found her, reading and making notes on her comp.
He stopped near the entrance to the spacious room, as if he were fearful of disturbing her. She turned away from her studies and indicated a spot opposite. He hesitated then bowed slightly and flew across to settle on the perch she had indicated.
"What can I do for you?" she asked, folding her hands on the table.
"I was interested in your well-being. How are you?" His wings assumed a different posture as he asked the question.
"I'm holding up." Jackie tapped the stylus against a low table a few times, testing it. "Under the circumstances, I'd guess I'm doing fine, dropped into an alien culture and left alone to flounder."
"You are not alone—"
"Damn right I'm alone," she interrupted, tossing the stylus on the table. "The High Chamberlain isn't even aboard. He wouldn't answer any questions; you've been keeping your distance—"
"There is still si Th'an'ya." Ch'k'te's wings moved again; she thought she'd seen that movement before when he spoke of his mate. He had chosen to use the prenomen for a deceased person, rather than the more familiar li, indicating that she had been his mate.
Jackie took a deep breath, realizing how difficult this must be for Ch'k'te even to discuss it. "I haven't talked to her since the night of the Dsen'yen'ch'a. I've been a bit scared to call her forth."
"She is—She is there to teach you. She would not hurt you."
"I don't really know that. I've scarcely met her; she keeps her own secrets."
"As do you."
"As do you. What the hell did she say to you? What's happened, Ch'k'te? You and I have been through a lot together, but now you're treating me like some sort of idol. I realize . . . I know things have changed, that I have changed, in ways I don't understand yet. I can't do it alone."
"You will ultimately have to walk this path alone," he answered, looking down.
"You haven't answered my question."
"I am sorry—"
"I don't want you to be sorry!" She stood and walked away from her seat, facing away from him. "There is nothing to be sorry about."
She stopped, trying to hold her anger in. She turned around again to face Ch'k'te. She spread her hands wide. "We're all alone now. Here, in jump, away from everything and everyone. It's time to come clean.
"I want you to tell me what Th'an'ya said to you."
Ch'k'te did not say anything for a long time, then fluttered down from his perch and walked slowly to the desk where Jackie had been working. He leaned over the table where Jackie's notes were placed and spread his taloned hands wide.
"se Jackie, we have been comrades, both as commander and officer and as fel
low warriors. Lately we have become close friends, sharing a closeness that People generally share only with their mates. I care for you and respect you; I would even venture to say that I . . . love you, as a brother might love a sister.
"I realize also that the aspect of this entire affair that you most despise is that you feel yourself to be a mere pawn in whatever game is being played. You feel helpless, as if the Eight Winds are blowing this way and that, and you along with them. Yet at the very least, you are . . . you have the potential to be . . . Qu'u, the greatest warrior the People have ever known."
She appeared ready to interrupt; he held both hands up, as if he were trying to ward off her words with them. "Eight thousand pardons, se Jackie. Please let me finish.
"You ask me to—as you say—'come clean.' I will be painfully honest with you: you are very much a pawn in this most important of games. So am I. What is worse, my participation—and, to a lesser extent, yours—in this affair was preordained and long ago foreseen." He lowered his hands and folded them on the table.
" 'Long ago'? The envoy's representative told me that a year ago—"
"Longer ago than a Standard year, se Jackie. Long before that."
"Who foresaw it? The High Lord?"
"I could not fathom whether the High Lord foresaw this, se Jackie. The precognition to which I refer belonged to my mate, si—li—Th'an'ya." He lowered his head; his voice softened to a whisper. "I know . . . I feel . . . that she loved me. But her joining with me, perhaps even her reason for ultimately choosing me, derived from the need for her hsi to be present to aid the new Qu'u . . . to be here now, within you.
"She used me as a way to be present now, when the recovery of the gyaryu made her presence valuable and necessary." Once again his wings moved to convey some emotion to accompany his remarks.
"Surely you don't believe—"
"I have thought much about this in the few days since the Ordeal. My mate chose me knowing that I would be available, to play Hyos to your Qu'u." She could hardly hear him as he spoke the final few words. "She named me Hyos when we spoke in your quarters. That . . . That is why she mated with me. It is why I was condemned to life after becoming idju at the hands of the Noyes-alien on Cicero. It is why I am here now.
"I am honored."
"And terribly hurt." Jackie sat opposite him and placed her hands on his forearms. He looked up at her, pain evident in his eyes.
"If this is all true," Jackie said, "and I haven't sorted it all out yet—then you must be feeling . . ." She let the sentence trail off. "I don't really know what you must feel right now, though based on what you've said I can make a pretty good guess.
"I'm very sorry, Ch'k'te. I had no idea. I couldn't know, of course, but I should've been more sympathetic."
The sorrow in his eyes seemed to dissipate somewhat. "You have admonished me not to apologize for things beyond my control. You have the advantage of rank to enforce such a request, but I might suggest the same for you."
"Still, it's worse than having her just be gone, to know that she is—that her hsi is still present, but—"
"Such false pride is not seemly, either for a warrior of the High Nest or an officer in His Majesty's Navy. I ap—"
She shook her head, as if rejecting his apology before he could let loose the words.
"I will try to put it aside," he said instead.
"I know you will."
He stood, removing his hands from beneath hers. "By your leave, I should like to retire and contemplate."
"Perhaps we can talk later. I still have lots to learn." She gestured to the terminal and her notes. "I've only begun to study Qu'u, and I haven't made a lot of sense of it so far."
"After dinner," he offered. She nodded, smiling, though she still felt tentative. He bowed slightly, allowing his wings to spread out as he did so, and turned away to walk toward the door.
"Ch'k'te."
He turned to face her.
"Don't be a stranger."
He seemed to be laboring with the colloquialism; then understanding appeared in his eyes. He bowed again and departed the room, leaving Jackie alone.
***
When he left Jackie and returned to his quarters, Ch'k'te tried to compose himself for sleep but found his Inner Peace severely disturbed. It all seemed unpleasantly clear now: how he'd been brought together with li Th'an'ya, been posted to Cicero and finally had become Hyos to se Jackie's Qu'u.
The High Nest had arranged this—all of this—based on hi Ke'erl's dreams many turns ago: he had seen this—or li Th'an'ya had foreseen it.
Had they known he would become idju as well—yet condemned to life so that he might serve in this role? Now among the People again, Ch'k'te found it difficult to raise his head and look his fellow warriors in the eye: he felt himself diminished, a Hssa in Ur'ta leHssa, the Valley of Lost Souls, unable to raise his glance to look upon the Fortress of Despite. ha T'te'e had assured him that he was not, but from the time he had been Dominated by the esGa'uYe at Cicero Down he had known that he must find the proper time and place to transcend the Outer Peace.
The Qu'u legend was something he knew well—all warriors did. From the moment Qu'u had crossed his first shNa'es'ri he was committed to the path that led to the Fortress of Despite; if se Jackie were one of the People, she would know this, and would know the Fortress of Despite would mean that she, too, would transcend the Outer Peace. As one overcome by an esGa'uYe at the very beginning of the tale, it was an end that Ch'k'te himself would have gladly embraced. Instead se Jackie would be Qu'u—a fitting choice, he knew—but one that took the simple end away from him. enGa'e'Li was not a choice and would never be again, for he must be Hyos.
Still, it seemed to him there was something about this flight that diverged from the straight path. The High Chamberlain and the High Lord sought the will of esLi by applying the Law of Similar Conjunction, in which a flight with the same pattern as one chosen in the path might yield the same results. It all depended on Jackie following the flight to the end . . . yet, he knew, she might not do that. The Law of Similar Conjunction was like a complex machine, depending on known principles and physical laws. If the participants did not follow these principles and laws, the outcome would be unknown, perhaps even hidden by the wing of esGa'u.
He thought about this and offered prayer to esLi, until he was finally able to retire. But his sleep was filled with haunted dreams.
Chapter 17
THE LEGEND OF QU'U (continued)
. . . THEY FLEW THROUGH A NARROW MOUNTAIN PASS
IN THE RANGE THAT IS CALLED THE SPINE OF THE
WORLD, SEARCHING FOR [Spine of the World]
THE HERMITAGE OF S'TAREU. IT WAS FURTHER THAN
QU'U HAD EVER TRAVELED FROM E'YEN; EVERY
SHADOW SEEMED TO CONTAIN A WING OF ESGA 'U.
IN TIME THE PATTERN OF THE FOREST BELOW FORMED
THE GLYPH LI'HS'E'E, [The Concealed Truth]
WHICH MEANS "THE CONCEALED TRUTH"; QU'U AND
HYOS DESCENDED THROUGH THE TREES AND FOUND
THE HERMITAGE, JUST AS THE SERVANT OF ESLI HAD
SAID. THE HERMITAGE WAS A STRUCTURE OF TWINED
WOOD, A SERIES OF TREES THAT HAD BEEN CAUSED TO
GROW TOGETHER; AS THEY APPROACHED, THEY SAW
S'TAREU WAITING FOR THEM ON AN UPPER LEVEL. HE
DESCENDED TO THE FOREST FLOOR AND OFFERED THE
STANCE OF POLITE APPROACH.
"SE QU'U," S'TAREU SAID, "BE WELCOME TO MY HOME."
"I WAS DIRECTED TO THIS PLACE BY—" QU'U BEGAN,
BUT THE HERMIT RAISED HIS HANDS.
"I KNOW WHY YOU ARE HERE, HONORED WARRIOR. [Honor to esLi]
AND YOU AND YOUR COMPANION HAVE BEEN SENT
HERE IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD OF THE GOLDEN
CIRCLE. I AM HONORED TO SERVE THAT LORD AS WELL;
AND HE HAS ENTRUSTED ME WITH THE HSI OF ONE
WHO WILL ACCOMPANY YOU ON YOUR ARDUOUS
JOURNEY." [Duty of the Warrior]<
br />
"THE HSI . . ." QU'U ARRANGED HIS WINGS IN A
RESPECTFUL PATTERN, "I FEAR RISKING THE HSI OF
ANOTHER AT THE FORTRESS OF DESPITE."
"THIS IS A NOBLE STATEMENT, SE QU'U," S'TAREU
ANSWERED. "BUT YOU WILL CLIMB THE PERILOUS STAIR
WITHOUT COMPANIONS. WHEN YOU ENTER THE
FORTRESS OF DESPITE, YOU WILL BE ALONE."
During the wars between man and zor, almost any world with an atmosphere and climate suitable for warm-blooded oxygen-breathers was a target for colonization by either side. For their part, the zor preferred planets with lighter gravities and redder suns; humans were more inclined toward brighter primaries. After the Treaty of E'rene'e, worlds were chosen for colonization based on ecology rather than distance from Sol System or the zor Core Stars; after nearly three full generations, the worlds under the authority of the High Nest were spread out across the Solar Empire from the Core to the space near Adrianople Starbase.
Cle'eru had been bypassed by the military; it lay some distance from trade routes and its system was hazardous to navigate. Sometime in the recent past—by cosmic standards—there had been a collision between the moon of the habitable planet and some extrasolar object, perhaps a comet or large meteorite. The impact had resulted in numerous crater impacts on the surface of the main habitable world, and—most unusual for an inner planet—a Saturnlike ring of rock and dust. There was also a wide belt of debris and rock in the inner system. While all of these features made Cle'eru enough of an astronomical oddity to attract scientific scholars from across the Empire, it also made the system a navigational hazard of the first order.
The zor had settled Cle'eru less than ten years after the Hierate treaty. The world had a gravity of six-tenths of a Standard gravity and an orange-red primary that was daily occluded by the ring. Both the local gravity and the sun's color were ideal for the zor.
From low orbit, Jackie and Ch'k'te shuttled to the surface. Stepping onto a world—even though it was no more than the black tarmac of a starport landing-field—was somehow reassuring.
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