Blood of the Cosmos (36 page)

Rusa'h responded with a faint smile. Even though he was so close to the blazing inferno, the smile seemed incredibly cold. “In a war like this, Tal Gale'nh, perhaps insane solutions are the only possible ones.”

 

CHAPTER

56

KING PETER

After collapsing in the throne room, his son had remained unconscious for an hour. Reyn was recovering in his rooms now, resting and growing insanely bored as the doctors hovered over him. He insisted that his collapse had been a passing thing, dismissing it as a kind of seizure, but they didn't believe him.

King Peter felt desperate. He and Estarra were two of the most powerful people who had ever lived. As leaders of the Confederation, they guided countless planets, settlements, business groups. They possessed resources beyond imagining, but still no one had offered a cure for their son.

His team of experts sifted through numerous crackpot suggestions, none of which showed any real promise. Most of the “miracle cures” came from greedy and disreputable people, and King Peter had learned to spot them rather than be taken in by unrealistic hope. Their lust for money was no match for his desperation as a father with a gravely ill son.

When Dr. Benjamin Paolus arrived to discuss an “urgent and highly classified medical matter,” he seemed like one such person. Peter tried to remain optimistic, though cautious. He and Estarra had agreed privately that they would try any promising solution, and as Reyn's condition worsened, they were growing less selective.

Dr. Paolus wore a trim business suit and presented his medical credentials, but he appeared nervous. Estarra joined them on a private balcony high on the fungus-reef city, where they could talk without being interrupted.

She looked tired with worry lines etched into her face, although Peter still found her beautiful. He remembered when he had first seen this innocent young girl from Theroc, out of her depth in an arranged marriage set up by the Hansa Chairman. Peter had been the puppet-king, and she was to be his puppet-queen. When the two of them had seen how they were being manipulated, they became true partners, fighting as a team against Chairman Wenceslas. More than two decades had passed since then; planets had been destroyed, whole civilizations had fallen … and they were still King and Queen.

Yet they could do nothing to help Reyn.

Dr. Paolus held out a secure datapad filled with medical records. “Thank you for seeing me, Majesties.”

“We are always willing to listen,” Estarra said. “And hope. Your research has found something?”

Dr. Paolus didn't seem to hear the question. He had a memorized presentation and needed to proceed with it as planned. As he called up data and images, he described himself as one of the most respected neurological researchers on Earth, the head of a team of researchers who worked for the interconnected university system with enhanced funding from industries.

Peter's expression hardened. “We know all this, Dr. Paolus. Reynald told us how Rlinda Kett helped him arrange a meeting with you. You diagnosed him, but couldn't offer any help.”

Peter had investigated the man. Paolus had impressive credentials, yes, but his finances were a shambles. His bank accounts had fluctuated like a panicked heartbeat over the last decade, and recently he had plunged more deeply into debt than before. Peter did not want to shatter Estarra's hopes, but he would personally be very cautious of what the man said.

“Not then, but I kept working,” the doctor insisted. “All other researchers built upon what I did, and I never did get paid for the scope of that initial work. Not really.”

“We are very grateful,” Peter said coolly, bracing himself for the man's request.

Estarra folded her hands together. “We just need that one breakthrough. Do you have it for us, Doctor?”

Paolus faltered and began again, back to the money. “Prince Reynald paid me for my initial scans and my diagnosis, but we did not have the funding to research such an obscure disease. Still, I tasked some of my team members to produce results, but … even though we're still in a preliminary stage I was hoping I might be reimbursed for some specific expenses?”

“If you provide proper documentation, we can reimburse your research facility directly.” He knew that wasn't what Dr. Paolus wanted.

He swallowed hard. “I do have a vital new piece of information. As a human being, I can't in good conscience withhold it, despite a sacred promise I made. I am breaking that promise by revealing this, and I hope you will reward me accordingly.”

Peter frowned, and he saw Estarra grow tense and wary. “We will do what is right.”

Paolus called up a star chart on his datapad. “The medical research you need is held in a secure complex called Pergamus, a private installation where a woman named Zoe Alakis collects disease organisms. She holds more medical information than any other human being, and she keeps it all to herself.”

Estarra blinked. “Why would she do that?”

“I've never been able to understand it. She wanted a specimen of Reynald's disease for her collection. She wanted her teams to study it.” He swallowed. “I sold it to her myself. I … I know that was breaching Prince Reynald's trust, but I hoped she might be able to help. Since then, Zoe led me to believe that they had indeed made significant progress.”

Peter struggled to understand. “Are you telling me that Pergamus has conducted research on our son's disease, in secret, but they're keeping the results to themselves?”

Paolus nodded. “I begged her to share the work she had done, so we could help the Prince. That was most important.”

“And so you could share the reward,” Estarra said.

“But she flatly refused. Maybe you need to ask her yourself, Majesties? I can provide you with the coordinates of Pergamus.” Paolus blushed as he showed pictures of the domed facility, the poisonous atmosphere, the quarantined Orbital Research Spheres. He became very uneasy as he added, “By doing this, I will never be able to work for Zoe Alakis again.”

Peter was much more disturbed about the existence of the disease library itself. “She knows Prince Reyn needs that research. I can't believe anyone would lock those cures away.”

“Believe it,” Paolus said. “I tried, Majesties. I did my best.”

Peter gave his wife a determined smile. “We'll send Rlinda Kett as our emissary. She's the best at negotiating, and she'll see that Zoe shares her research.”

Peter had not expected to feel hope, but now he did sense that Dr. Paolus had provided something significant. With a quick nod, he turned to the doctor. “Yes, you'll be paid.”

 

CHAPTER

57

SAREIN

Alone in the Wild, by design, Sarein lived in a hollowed-out hiveworm nest suspended from a tree, a large organic structure that would have supported five families back on the main continent. Sarein had only bothered to clean out and convert part of it, which was all she needed for her own use. Her humble place was a far cry from when she had lived in the Whisper Palace on Earth as the Theron ambassador and as the lover of Chairman Basil Wenceslas. But she was comfortable.

She tried to be self-sufficient in her isolation, but she received occasional deliveries from the main city on Theroc, even some offworld supplies that she particularly desired.

When Sarein had retreated here in self-imposed exile, she'd done it for the new Confederation, refusing to be a constant reminder of the political machinations that had damaged the human race during the Elemental War. After the downfall of the Hansa, she could have been a gadfly during the formation of the new government, but she made a conscious decision not to meddle. She had already done enough damage. So, she removed herself from civilization, from history, and lived quietly in the wilderness for years.

During the crisis of the Shana Rei nightshade, Sarein had returned briefly to the fungus-reef city. She was tempted to stay, to make herself politically important again, but she had forced herself to pull away and disappear into the Wild once more.

Arita, her niece, was the only one who visited, whether or not Sarein invited her. Despite her cool fa
ç
ade toward the young woman, Sarein saw great potential in her and hoped to help wherever she could. Sarein decided that she preferred a personal connection instead of a grandiose power grab.…

Now, she opened the latest package of supplies she had just received. Preserved foods, a fresh power pack to run her home and electronic equipment, and culled summaries of important news events from across the Spiral Arm. Though she had taken herself off the stage, Sarein still insisted on remaining informed, especially with the brewing crisis of the Shana Rei.

At the bottom of the container, she was surprised to discover a note from Arita. Not a message transmitted through normal communications channels, not telink, not even a standard comm. This was an actual handwritten
note
, affixed to a much longer folded letter.

“Sarein, please try to find Collin among the green priests over there. Call for him, and the trees will hear.
He
will hear. Please deliver the attached letter to him. It would mean so much to me. This is too private for telink, which all green priests would hear.”

Sarein gave an indulgent smile. Young lovers sending secret notes. How charming! She imagined how difficult it must be to arrange a clandestine tryst when one's boyfriend was a green priest. She let out a little laugh.

Once Sarein called for the young man to come to her, however, the other green priests would know about the relationship, especially Kennebar and his hermit green priests. She read the brief note again and nodded to herself. Arita had asked, and so Sarein would do it. Of course she would.

Arita's longer letter was folded but not sealed. Sarein was tempted to read it. Was that what Arita secretly wanted? Or had she left the letter unsealed to demonstrate a level of trust? Sarein was moved by the thought; it had been a long time since anyone had trusted her like that. Sorely tempted, she unfolded the letter, then folded it again, before glancing at more than the first few words. She decided to let Collin and Arita have their privacy.

She stepped outside of her hiveworm nest and gazed into the dense worldforest, the green shadows that allowed her to hide and allowed her to think. She drew a breath and shouted into the empty wilderness, feeling a little foolish. Sarein had never asked for their help before, but she knew the trees would convey her message. “I need a green priest! Send Collin, please—I want to talk with him.”

Both wanting solitude, she and Kennebar's group had kept their distance from each other. The green priests were aloof to her, implying that Sarein didn't belong here in the Wild. She shouted again, just to make sure. “Send the green priest named Collin. It's an important matter!”

Knowing it might take some time, depending on where the group was in the deep forest, Sarein went back into her chambers and called up the draft of her journal. She had been chronicling her past deeds for some time, wrestling with how much to reveal about the things she had done, how much to confess, and how much to excuse. She didn't do it to fix her place in history, though her recollections might eventually prove valuable to historians. She wrote her memoirs partly to refocus her thoughts in case she might someday return to civilization.

Someday
. Sarein was tired of feeling sorry for herself. She wanted the best for her world and for the human race. Maybe she could help again after all.…

She heard a rustle in the fronds outside and a slender young man with bright green skin scrambled down to her dwelling. “You called for me?” Collin said. He looked concerned, distracted. “Why would you want to see me?”

“This is from Arita.” She held out the letter.

Collin lit up. “Arita sent a note?”

“I don't know why she didn't just have a green priest transmit to you. That would have been more efficient.”

Collin blinked at her, eager to read the letter. “It's another way to keep communications open.” He lowered his voice. “Telink may no longer be reliable. Something is changing in the worldforest, but the green priests are oblivious to it, or they deny it.” He looked up at her; she saw a frightened glimmer in his eyes. “Have you noticed anything?”

“I'm not a green priest. I'm not attuned to the forest the way you are.”

“No, but you may not be blinded by preconceptions either.”

Sarein pondered and looked past him into the dense, whispering forest. “There are times when the trees do seem more … ominous, but I've been alone out here for so long I don't know what to think.”

Collin gave a serious nod, then finally unfolded the letter. His eyes darted back and forth as he read, then he smiled. “Arita is coming to the Wild again! Soon. She'll travel here to do more scientific work.”

Sarein gave him a skeptical smile. “And also to see you.”

Collin said, “Yes … and also to see me. I'll find her. We have to keep the lines of communication open.” He read the letter again, then handed it back to her. “I can't keep this. Kennebar or someone else will find it. But thank you.”

“Happy I could help.”

After he dashed away into the dense fronds, she realized that this was the first accomplishment that had made her feel good in a very long time.

 

CHAPTER

58

SHAREEN FITZKELLUM

Fireheart Station was an exciting chance for the two of them to learn under the genius Kotto Okiah, but in ten days Shareen and Howard had done nothing more than busywork. And Shareen was ready for
big things
.

“I can't figure out these notes enough to decide if they're brilliant or just a confused mess.” Her brow furrowed as she bent over the half-finished designs and wandering equations.