Artemis Awakening (29 page)

He gave a rueful smile. “To this day, at certain times, it’s said you can still hear the dying seegnur wailing as their spirits drift among the Haunted Islands.”

“Where did you pick this up?” Adara asked.

“I went out to a couple taverns on the other side of town,” Terrell said. “Changed my appearance enough that I wasn’t likely to be known. Posed as front man for a trader who’d be coming in later—checking out hostelries and the like. Mentioned that I’d like to take my girl out for a picnic on one of those islands.”

Adara laughed. “I bet you couldn’t stop the ghost tales. What did the local fisher folk have to say?”

“They agreed that the islands are off-limits—some say they have been since the time of the seegnur. Apparently, there are snags or shoals beneath the water that make it impossible to bring in larger vessels. Smaller vessels get whirled around by some very weird currents.”

“I can testify to the currents,” Adara agreed.

“It’s a good thing you and Sand Shadow are so skilled with a canoe,” Terrell said somberly. “Apparently, the lucky ones get spat out by the currents. The unlucky—or just plain persistent—often end up drowned. By now, anyone who knows Spirit Bay knows to stay away from the islands. Every couple of years, someone comes in who either doesn’t talk to the locals or thinks he’s too good to worry. Then, as the locals put it, the seegnur get a sacrifice.”

Adara shuddered. “Even with the currents, I’m not ready to give up. A couple miles off shore provides a good barrier to snoopers—especially if the locals already stay clear. Since Sand Shadow and I haven’t found any traces of a new ‘stable,’ those islands tempt me.”

Terrell grimaced. “Curiosity and the cat, Adara. It seems to me that there are a lot of old buildings here in the town that the Old One could use just as easily—more easily, even.”

Adara shook her head. “The curiosity of cats is nothing to that of humans. Have you heard any rumors of a new business or new resident? Or even of an older residence that suddenly is a lot more active—ordering more groceries, perhaps?”

“No. I’ve been asking,” Terrell said, “but I haven’t heard anything.”

“I got Jean to share local gossip when I went with her on her errands,” Adara said. “The big house where we’re looking after the animals gave a good opening. Jean has a lively interest in goings-on in town—very lively. Since the Old One entertains very rarely, her entire social life is elsewhere. I think she’d know any juicy rumors.”

“Did she,” Terrell asked curiously, “say anything more about people with something to hide?”

“Not in so many words.” Adara tilted her head to one side, sorting through her memory. “I do have the impression that, while she respects the Old One and is very pleased to have the prestige and status that goes with working for him, she doesn’t precisely like him. They came to the job through Joffrey. He had worked for the Old One when he was younger, came back when he heard that the couple who had been taking care of the Sanctum were moving to be closer to their grandchildren.”

“Interesting,” Terrell said, “and possibly useful, especially since I think Jean likes you and Sand Shadow.”

“Sand Shadow mostly, at first,” Adara agreed, “but I think I’m bringing her around. Female guests who don’t expect to be waited on are a rarity. Any female guests rare enough at that.”

“The Old One doesn’t have a lady friend, then?”

“Not that Jean has mentioned—and I think she would. My impression is that while the Old One isn’t exactly a misogynist, for all that he looks youthful, he has grown past the time when he wants a woman in his life.”

“Lynn said something like that, too,” Terrell said. “He really is a very strange man.”

“Do you like him?”

“I do sometimes,” Terrell admitted. “There’s a passion to him. When he’s talking about the seegnur or one of his discoveries, it’s as if a flame has come to life. Other times … no. I don’t like him. I don’t think I would even if Lynn and her people hadn’t told us all that. He looks at me—Griffin, too—as if we’re bugs. I’m a sort of interesting beetle. Useful. Attractive in certain lights. Griffin—at least for now—is more like a rare dragonfly: a fast-moving, air-dancing treasure.”

Terrell laughed, self-conscious at these flights of fancy. Adara hastened to reassure him.

“And me, I’m a wasp. A little bit pretty. A little bit dangerous. On the whole, to be avoided.”

Terrell’s smile faded. “Be careful, Adara. I don’t think you’re completely wrong about how the Old One feels about you. When they get too annoying, wasps tend to get swatted … or poisoned.”

“I know that,” Adara said. “That’s why I’m just going to be a nice, dumb girl who’d rather play with her kitty. No claws at all.”

Interlude: Mushroom Cloud

Darkness between encasing tables.

(Mushrooms thrive in darkness.)

A million mushrooms drain a cloud—

     suck its blood and all it carries.

Mycelium spread, mosaics interlacing,

     lacing, twisting, shaping strings.

A million strings make a tangle, a knot,

     a net.

Net works, meshes catching invading flame.

Breaking tables …

     (1—1–OO)

Crumbling law …

     (------OO)

Spilling god into steam.

     (----------)

16

Searching

Griffin continued to spend part of each day trying to open the hidden door. Terrell worked with him but, as was increasingly common now that there were fewer dramatic revelations, the Old One was elsewhere “attending to business.”

“If the door is password-protected,” Griffin said, not for the first time, “even if we do find the controls, they aren’t going to do us any good.”

“Still, finding the controls would give us progress to show the Old One,” Terrell said. “He’s been politeness itself. Maybe it’s his reputation, but I find myself wanted to keep proving myself.”

Griffin nodded. “I was wondering if it was just me. The Old One isn’t unlike my father—superficially calm and controlled, as merits a leader of men. My father was never a shouter or screamer, but I was very aware that his approval rested upon my succeeding. Trying wasn’t enough.”

“Is that why finding Artemis mattered so much?” Terrell asked, continuing to meticulously probe along a possible seam. “I mean, mattered so much that you took such huge risks?”

Once, Griffin would have denied any such thing but, somehow, Terrell had gotten under his skin. More and more, Griffin found himself confiding in the other man things he himself hadn’t even considered.

“I think you may be right—especially since, if I’d started recruiting assistants, there would have been no way I could have avoided taking one or more of my brothers along.”

“And your brothers would have taken over,” Terrell said. “Yeah. There are men like that. Even if they’d sworn to obey you, it wouldn’t have mattered. They’d have found a way to bend the restrictions.”

“Bend,” Griffin said thoughtfully. He stood there silently for so long that Terrell straightened and stared up at him. “Terrell, you just may have been brilliant. We’ve been looking at this whole problem from a solely technological angle. No matter how advanced they were, the seegnur were still human. We’ve evidence enough that they hadn’t evolved beyond human weaknesses and that means…”

He put a hand down and all but hoisted Terrell to his feet. “Come on. I want to go over to the residential wing. You’ve given me a thought.”

Terrell stared at him. “Going to tell me what it is?”

“Sure…” Griffin hurried on ahead, almost at a run. “Remember how I said that the icons used on Artemis may have been designed for this planet? Well, that means that new arrivals would have needed to be taught them. I just realized that one possible reason we haven’t found any guide sheets or directories to the icons is that knowledge of them was restricted to people who worked in this facility.”

Terrell caught the drift of Griffin’s thinking immediately. “Restricted because the people administering Artemis would not have wanted their visitors to be able to operate the machinery or open any door they happened by.”

They were at the top of the stairs leading down into the residential wing. Terrell took a pair of oil lanterns from the cabinet the Old One had ordered Joffrey to set up, expertly trimmed the wicks, then lighted them.

He kept talking as he did so. “If the seegnur were even a little like the people who have come down to us through the lore, they would not have liked being told any area was off-limits or restricted. A curious or bored visitor might have decided to go exploring on his or her own.”

“Only to be foiled by instructions they couldn’t decipher,” Griffin said, accepting his lantern and leading the way down. “That’s the first part of it. The second part also has to do with human nature. Say you’re someone newly stationed here. You’ve memorized all the pertinent icons, but you’re apprehensive you might forget them.”

“Wouldn’t they have copies in those portable data storage units you’ve talked about?”

“Not if the codes were meant to be kept absolutely secret,” Griffin said. “Devices like that were designed to be connected into larger networks. At least in the Kylee Dominion, it’s pretty common for bosses to have override codes that disable even password-protected material. Basically, the only really secure place to store something is between your ears.”

Terrell rubbed at the stubble of his beard, as he often did when some thought made him uncomfortable. “If we’re to believe the lore, in the time of the seegnur, even a person’s thoughts weren’t safe. There were specialists who read minds as easily—even more easily—than Adara and Sand Shadow read each other.”

“True,” Griffin replied, “but we have ample evidence that the mind reading talent was not common. If it had been, then the betrayals that led to the fall of the empire could not have happened.”

“Point,” Terrell said. “We’re heading toward the smaller crew quarters. Shall I read your mind, seegnur?”

Griffin started, then realized the other was teasing. “By all means, Factotum.”

“You’re hoping that someone at some time wrote a cheat sheet, just in case they forgot one of the icons. We’re going to the smaller quarters because they’re likely where the lower ranked staff—which would include most of the new arrivals—would have been housed.”

“That’s it,” Griffin agreed. “I also noticed that those rooms showed the least sign of having been gone over by the invaders—probably because they weren’t interested in people of lower rank.”

Terrell grinned, white teeth flashing in the lantern light. “Human nature again. I’ve talked with the Old One about getting help to record what’s in this wing. He’s planning on starting with the larger suites—and the hospital.”

“I’m not sure human nature changes much,” Griffin said. “Even the adapted, like Adara and Bruin, are human at the core.”

He paused. He’d gotten so comfortable with Terrell that only at times like this did he remember that—on one level, at least—they were rivals. Still, it was ridiculous not to mention Adara. They saw her every day, ate meals with her, even—now that Griffin had given up being quite so obsessive—took some time for riding or swimming or games of marbles.

But he couldn’t escape it. He didn’t know how he felt about Adara—except that it was something more complicated than friendship—and that made …

Terrell cut in as Griffin’s thoughts began to curve into one of their complexly layered spirals. “Searching is going to be pretty hard by lantern light, especially with all these old textiles and other flammables around. I wonder if we should ask Adara if she’d help out? Her ability to see even when there isn’t much light would save a lot of trouble.”

Griffin frowned. “Did the Old One suggest using her that way?”

“Not in so many words,” Terrell said. “I don’t think he’s very comfortable with her. I have to admit, I have trouble imagining Adara down here, surrounded by a bunch of loremasters. They’re used to being respected and have a tendency to give orders.”

Griffin tugged at a lock of hair that was tumbling into his eyes. He really had to decide whether he was going to let it grow out like a native’s or cut it short again.

“Do you think Adara would help us?”

Terrell shrugged. “We can ask. I don’t think she’d spend all her time inside, but she is a huntress and this is a hunt.”

“Then, if we don’t find anything, let’s ask.”

They found many things but light proved to be a severely limiting factor. That afternoon, when they went to exercise the horses, Griffin put their proposition to Adara.

The huntress’s amber eyes lit with lively interest. “That would be fun! Can you show me your list of the icons you’ve found? I’ve seen them here and there, but a complete list would help me know what we’re looking for.”

Griffin warmed at her enthusiasm. Maybe they weren’t as far apart as he’d been imagining. “Absolutely. We’ve made several copies. I’ll get you one as soon as we return to the Sanctum.”

“When are we starting our search?”

“I thought after dinner.”

Adara glanced up at the skies, then over the bay, and came to some conclusion. “That would be fine.”

*   *   *

Adara was delighted to have an excuse to poke around the subterranean areas of the Sanctum. Terrell’s reports had far from satisfied her curiosity, both about the place and the hints it might give about the long-vanished seegnur.

Griffin’s arrival had answered the biggest question: Why hadn’t the seegnur returned? Many Artemesian religions had been built around supplying answers to this. The one Adara’s family had followed—and which had influenced her, even though she had left to live with Bruin when she had been very young—was that the time of the seegnur had been a training period for the people of Artemis. The seegnur had departed in a fashion that left no doubt as to their fallibility. Now the divine forces desired the people of Artemis prove themselves fitting heirs.

Bruin had thought this as good an explanation as any, although his own faith was a blending of science and personal mysticism. In any case, he had shown no desire to undermine Adara’s belief that it was up to her to prove herself the best she could be.