Snare (81 page)

‘The H’mai,’ Zayn said. ‘Did they make this place?’

‘No and yes,’ Stronghunter Man said through the young Chur. ‘They improve-then it, but many caves, they be-already here.’

‘Do you think Soutan and his Chur are hiding in here?’

‘Yarl, maybe.’ Stronghunter Man stamped a forefoot. ‘Chof, we get-never up those stairs. We fit-not in those caves, not in the tunnels, either.’

‘There are tunnels?’

‘So I hear-always. Miles of tunnels connect the caves, lead to secret ways out. But I know-not for certain. I fit-not in any of them to see for myself.’

Zayn looked back to judge how far they’d come and noticed a twist of cliff, facing east. In its high cave something stone glimmered.

‘Who put that statue up there? The green one.’ Zayn pointed out the cave mouth far above them. ‘It’s one of your gods.’

‘The H’mai, of course. Who else have power to get it there? Why they do-then it, I know-not, maybe to remember that all things die-soon-next. That be Aggnavvachur.’

‘I should have known.’ Zayn felt his stomach twist with remembered fear. ‘I nearly met him face to face, and not all that long ago. Soutan tried to have me sacrificed on his altar.’

‘Then you go-never up to that cave. He let-not anyone escape twice, not Chof or H’mai.’

As if they felt the death god watching them, the Chur strode fast along the broad path. Zayn could have lingered in the green canyon for hours, even though he could find no logical reason for his desire. Oaks, grass, and roses were the only green plants he’d ever known until he’d come to the Cantons and added grapes to the list. The canyon must have sheltered several dozen species more. The N’Dosha colonists had established far more species than the Landfall Treaty allowed, and he wondered why they’d done it and even more, how they’d got away with it.

When they emerged into a valley of purple grass and Midas
trees, Zayn nearly wept, feeling that he’d woken from a dream of Paradise. The Chof, however, thrummed and boomed at one another in relief.

The rest of Water Woman’s people left late in the morning and stopped travelling early. When they reached the circular lake, Water Woman announced that she was tired of walking, marched over to the shade of the Midas trees, and sat down without further comment. One of her female servants rushed over to arrange her skirt. While the Chur unloaded each other and strewed their burdens across the grass, the Kazraki men insisted on taking care of the horses.

‘We can’t help it,’ Jezro said. ‘Old cavalry officers, you know. Horses count for more than men, out on the border.’

Ammadin and Loy sat down with Water Woman. A servant hurried to the lake with the metal cups from Loy’s kit and brought back fresh water.

‘I must admit,’ Loy said, ‘that I could get used to having servants wait on me.’

‘I’m surprised you don’t have them already,’ Ammadin said. ‘Since you’re a loremaster, you should be treated with respect.’

‘That’s not the Canton way, or I should say, the Shipfolk way. The ships had ranks and officers, but everyone had inherent rights, and no one thought they were better than anyone else just by existing. We hold to those principles.’ Loy finished her water and handed the cup to the servant. ‘Well, most of us. There are those that think titles like dookis mean something.’

‘Old ways, they change-sometimes, Loy Sorcerer,’ Water Woman said. ‘We want or want-not, it matter-not.’

‘That’s true. And things seem to be changing now.’

‘Yes, and better to be in charge of change,’ Water Woman continued, ‘if change come-must. Better to walk in front of the people, not running along behind and breathing dust from feet of those in front.’

In Ammadin’s saddlebags Sentry began to hum and chime. ‘I’m going to scan,’ Ammadin said. ‘Soutan might be getting careless.’

Unfortunately, Soutan was doing nothing of the sort. She could pick up no trace of him, Arkazo, or even his six Chof, who should have been hard to hide. When she widened her focus, she did see Zayn and the warparty. In a grassy valley the spear Chur were
standing in a circle around Stronghunter Man, whose throat sac fluttered and pulsed. Now and then he would emphasize some point with his pseudo-hands. Zayn stood next to the young Chur who’d been carrying him, one hand on the hilt of his long knife. Although she considered listening, the Riders were sinking, and the signal faded away.

After the evening meal, Ammadin noticed that Water Woman had settled herself next to Warkannan. The Chiri Michi was holding a lightwand to allow the captain to read aloud from his translation of the Qur’an, and Ammadin could tell that she was listening intently. Loy had noticed as well.

‘Would you look at that?’ Loy said. ‘Well, Water Woman keeps whining that the Chof gods are dead. I guess she’s looking for a new great big spirit to pray to.’

‘You sound disgusted.’

‘I am. That’s all we need in the Cantons, Kazraks in our back yard.’

‘Do you really think the Chof are all going to turn into Kazraks? For one thing, I’ll bet the Great Mother isn’t going to take the veil and let the Chur Vocho make her decisions for her.’

Loy laughed. ‘Good point,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why it rubs me wrong, but it does. It’s the superstitions, I guess, all that merde about Iblis and angels and paradises.’

‘I take it you don’t believe that gods exist.’

‘No, I don’t. The whole thing, the whole idea of some good father god that loves us but lets us suffer – it doesn’t make one fucking bit of sense. I’m sorry, Ammi, I don’t mean to offend you, because I know the comnees are believers.’

‘Not in the kind of god you mean. In gods that rule different parts of the world, specific places, yes, but forces, too – the wind, the fire, things like that. None of them have the power your kind of god does.’

‘You know, those sound a lot more possible.’

‘You don’t need to be polite.’

Loy hesitated, then shrugged. ‘Well then, I don’t believe in those, either.’

‘I didn’t think you did. Is religion just another lie, then?’

‘I’d say so. Yes, I know that people seem to need it. Death is a hard thing to face, and here we are – we being the Cantonneurs, I mean – a remnant stuck out here, always brooding about what
we’ve lost. A lot of people desperately need to believe that some god had plans for us. But just because they need it, doesn’t mean they’re not lying to themselves.’

‘And so if the Kazraks try to convert the Chof, they’ll be lying to them. Is that how you see it?’

‘Exactly. Why should we saddle the Chof with our ancient wish-fulfilment fantasies?’

‘Maybe they need them, too.’

‘I suppose they do, or Water Woman wouldn’t be hanging on the captain’s every word. But it’s still lies and superstitions.’

‘Which would you rather be? Superstitious or dead?’

‘What?’

‘What’s going to happen if the Kazraks come here to hunt for old machines and books?’

‘That’s probably
when
they come, and it’s my worst fear. They’ll slaughter any Chof who stand in their way.’

‘Not if the Chof share their religion. Zayn’s told me a lot about his beliefs. If the Chof convert, the Kazraks will have to respect them as part of the ummah, I think the word is. The community of believers.’

‘I’ve heard about that.’ Loy smiled, but wryly. ‘All right, so religion might have its compensations. Daccor. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as hard-headed practical as you.’

‘Probably not. Out on the grass you have to be.’

‘Still, when we get home I’m going to consult with the people down at the synagogue. Their church should have a chance to convert the Chof, too, just to keep things fair.’

‘And that would be just as good. You’re people of the book, Zayn tells me, so the Kazraks will still have to respect the Chof if they join you.’

Loy’s mouth suddenly slackened, and she looked away, staring at the empty air.

‘What’s wrong?’ Ammadin said.

‘I just had this horrible thought, well not horrible, I suppose, but I’ve got the strangest feeling that Rozi’s going to end up out here, preaching to the Chof. She’d be perfect for the job because she can hear them. She gets that talent from me.’ Loy sighed and shook her head. ‘I wonder what Oskar would say if he knew. It’s probably better he doesn’t.’

The warparty had camped among Midas trees near another canal, this one narrow and silt-choked. After a restless night, they woke early. The valley still lay in shadow, but dawn had turned the sky pale when Stronghunter Man led his men back out to the open grass.

‘Soutan, the boy, six Chof, horses.’ Stronghunter Man pointed his spear at the cliff face. ‘There be few-many caves big enough to hide them.’

The other spear Chur thrummed their agreement. In the silver light they clustered around their leader, who paused often to allow Fifth Out to translate for Zayn.

‘Tracks, they show they go-must north,’ Stronghunter Man continued. ‘North lie many trees and the big gate into N’Dosha, where he have power to hide. We go north, too, but carefully. I trust-not Yarl Sorcerer and his spirits.’

Zayn remembered Loy’s rifle and the headless yap-packers. ‘I don’t trust him, either,’ he said. ‘He might have magic weapons with him, ones that can kill you from a long distance away.’

Stronghunter Man made a sharp noise, a whuff! of air from his throat sac, and spoke directly. ‘We go-must carefully,’ he said. ‘Maybe circle round to reach the North Gate. I decide-soon, when we arrive-next there.’

‘I take it that the North Gate’s more than just a cave or tunnel,’ Zayn said.

‘Much more. You see-soon when we get there.’

They set off again, heading north. Zayn made a quick mental inventory of his saddlebags and realized that he had only one weapon that could strike from a distance, the bolas, and those had never been designed to stand up to guns that could spit fire and explode a target from several hundred feet away. He rummaged through the bags, found the bolas, and laid them right at the top. Something was better than nothing, but he wished he’d thought to beg Loy to let him borrow her rifle.

Loy had never thought of herself as afraid of heights, but travelling down the spiral ramp in semi-darkness proved an ordeal. For a change Water Woman had got her people on the road early, and they arrived at the way down at noon, when the sun stood directly over the sheltering dome and covered the ramp below with shadow. All the H’mai decided to dismount and walk, but it still
took the combined efforts of Ammadin and the two Kazraks to get the horses onto the ramp and down.

Loy had no attention or energy to spare for the stock. As soon as she walked under the dome and looked down at the ramp, spiralling into darkness without guide rail or wall, she broke out in a cold sweat. The Chof all charged right onto the thing and dashed down, booming and thrumming, but Loy held back until the horses and H’mai had begun their descent. Finally she forced herself to step onto the ramp by promising her anxieties that she’d only take a few steps, then return to solid ground. Once she’d got on, she told herself that she’d only take four steps more, then four after that, and so on all the way to the midpoint, when going down would bring her to ground faster than going back. By the time she trotted out into the sunlight to join the others, her shirt was soaked through.

Ammadin turned to her and sniffed the air. ‘You were frightened,’ she said. ‘I can smell it even with all the Chof around.’

‘Frightened? Heavens, no. Scared shitless.’

‘If you’d said something I would have walked with you.’

‘I made it, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, you sure did. And from what Water Woman tells me, we’re not all that far from the cave.’

Sibyl better be worth it, Loy thought to herself, but long before they reached Sibyl she had her recompense for her time on the ramp. Despite the war with the Chof, a fair amount of information about N’Dosha had survived in the Cantons. When they rode up to the river of green spreading from the canyon’s mouth, Loy’s only surprise lay in finding the gardens still alive.

‘They broke the Treaty about fifty times over,’ Loy said to Ammadin. ‘I guess they must have smuggled seeds and starts down from one of the ships to grow all this.’

‘These are all Old Earth plants?’ Ammadin said.

‘Well, I don’t know about that. The colonists came from a variety of worlds, after all, and I gather that plant life tended to be green on most of the planets where it grew at all.’

‘That’s odd. Why?’

‘I don’t have the slightest idea. The Settlers didn’t bother to tell us that, the bastards.’

Still, the canyon itself came as more than a surprise. Surviving lore had told Loy that the research facilities had been built underground, but no one had mentioned that here ‘underground’ also
meant ‘up in the air’. The H’mai all slowed their horses and lingered, riding with their heads tipped back to stare at the handiwork of their ancestors. A few at a time, impatient Chof passed them and trotted on ahead, but Water Woman lingered as well.

‘So this is N’Dosha,’ Jezro remarked. ‘I can see why it’s legendary.’ He glanced at Loy. ‘More tunnels, right?’

‘Miles of them,’ Loy said.

‘Shaitan!’ Warkannan shook his head in disbelief. ‘I don’t see how the Chof managed to drive the Settlers out of here.’

‘My people manage-not,’ Water Woman said. ‘Our lore say some H’mai continue-then to live in there for years and years. They sneak-then in and out through secret tunnels, get-then food somehow. This be-may silly of me, but I be-not surprised to learn some live-still there.’

Here was the opening Loy had been hoping for. ‘One of these days, I would love to sit down with you and discuss the war.’

Water Woman’s throat sac turned grey, and she lowered her head. ‘We talk-must, yes, but it be such sad lore, even now. Our children they die-then, but our Chur – they kill-then children of the H’mai. Not good, this, horrible it be.’ She shook her massive head hard, then strode off to hurry on ahead.

‘Merde!’ Loy said. ‘I’ve just made a faux pas.’

‘That’s strange,’ Ammadin said. ‘She was willing to talk about the war with me.’

‘That’s because you’re comnee.’ Jezro turned in the saddle to look at Ammadin. ‘It wasn’t your children they killed.’