Supergiant (Gigaparsec Book 2) (21 page)

Nobody is using my developments
to oppress their population.
“That does it. We’re dragging him all the way
to hell,” Roz said grimly.

“No, we’re giving him an
opportunity to become a hero to several thousand unfortunates. None of them are
going to know how to repair that reactor or the fabricators.”

Roz looked shocked. “I thought we
were hauling tech to the farmers.”

“No, honey. That tech is going to
stay at the prison to keep people alive and improve the quality of that
life—something we tried to do for Yenang before he turned on us. He was living
on the street subsisting on garbage when we met him. If he does his job,
Niisham will be a step up.”

Each time her mother spoke glowingly about some wedding
detail, Roz remembered the man frozen in their ship’s dungeon. The inequity
left a black stain on what should have been the happiest month of her life.
Alyssa made matching, white dresses for Roz and Echo, although Echo’s was flat
in the chest. With no uterus, her breasts were illusionary. Echo offered very
little other biological clarification, promising that all would be revealed on
their wedding night.

Great, she could be a sea
cucumber with tentacles. I might be marrying something out of a horror movie.
Somehow Max wasn’t concerned by this prospect.

Whenever Roz asked for any
preferences, Echo deferred with, “I had a wedding of my own already. This one
is yours.” She did, however, provide a library reference for text of the Magi
marriage ceremony, as reported by an Anodyne diplomat.

Max was even less helpful. Over
breakfast, he said, “Just tell me when to show up and where to sign, and my
part’s done.”

Herb gave him a fist bump and a
laugh. Her stepfather had agreed to provide the reception.

“Not helpful,” Roz said. “Come on,
you have to have an opinion about
something
.”

Alyssa cleared her throat. “He
probably doesn’t want you coming to bed in your long underwear and wool socks.”

Roz blushed. “Moth-er!”

“I … might be able to pick a few
interesting … selections in that area,” Max offered. Her embarrassment shifted
to a warm glow as his eyes caressed her.

“Max is in charge of the
trousseau,” Alyssa decreed.

****

Once
Sphere of Influence
emerged again into normal
space, Roz was too busy piloting to worry. She lived on the bridge, sleeping on
a cot in the corner even when someone else stood watch. As the ship flew toward
Veerkat, she could see the giant space-array telescope known as “the Ear”
trailing just behind the planet to minimize the amount of space dust. This Bat
engineering feat had tracked Phib fleets from several hundred parsecs away.

Deke appeared on the bridge one
day, wearing a special tabard over his flight suit. “Thank you for taking my
shifts while I prepare. This is a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage.”

“Not a problem. You did the same
for me on zero notice.” Roz pointed to the screen. “I’m still in awe of this
construct.”

“The space station has a crew of
over a thousand people dedicated to maintaining the Ear.”

“Wow. I hear the dark-matter
research data has been phenomenal.”

“Kesh isn’t impressed. He’s upset
Veerkat station won’t let us use their ansible because telescope research
results take priority. He worries about another late loan payment.” Deke’s
voice cracked a little.

Tearing her gaze away from the
screen, Roz noted that Deke’s fur wasn’t as shiny as normal. Maybe he needed
the rest. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m … fasting for two weeks to
purge my soul of impurities.”

“Is that necessary to visit the
cathedral?” Roz worried because she had just eaten a large breakfast.

“No. The nuns and I are each
putting forward a special request to his holiness.”

“I can’t think of anything
important enough to go without eating that long. Skipping meat has been hard
enough on me.” Roz didn’t want to repel Echo during the wedding ceremony.

“That’s an acceptable form of
purification as well. One nun is asking for the listener to personally give all
the Bats aboard last rites. Another is praying for an extra pair of hands to
minister to the sick. The listener can’t technically order anyone to join us,
but he can offer a special pardon as incentive.”

“What’s your pilgrimage wish?” Roz
asked.

“I ask that you keep this
information to yourself.”

“My honor as a partner.”

“Special dispensation in choosing
the mother of my heir. When people are diagnosed as carriers for genetic
anomalies, breeding rights are revoked. However, when the father doesn’t share
the recessive trait, exceptions can be made.”

Roz raised an eyebrow. “Anybody I
know? Like a pediatrician with a nerve disorder?”

Deke glanced down. “You must think
I conjugate with every female I meet. This is different.”

“I get it. Lisheen would make the
best mother I can imagine. The child will be nimble and smart, a perfectly
engineered pilot.”

The Bat copilot smiled. “She is so
giving. She deserves someone to give back to her before her end.”

“Amen, and good luck with the
listener.” The idea that someone else had to approve who people were allowed to
love rubbed Roz the wrong way. “Could I fill out a petition, too? We want
someone high in the church to perform our wedding ceremony with Echo, to help
keep her alive until she reaches her home world.”

“His holiness will do so gladly.”

“How do you know?” Roz asked,
barely containing her excitement.

“We owe a great debt to our
uplifters. They ask favors so rarely that we bend heaven and earth when they do
make a request. As someone outside the aristocracy or church, you need a
sponsor to gain access, but I shall escort you to the audience hall myself.”

Roz kissed him on the forehead.
“May you have all the happiness you deserve. The universe owes you a little of
that by now.”

****

The stone cathedral reminded Roz of holos she had seen of
enormous Earth churches. However, the base shape was a parabolic bowl instead
of a cross. The arches around the perimeter resembled trees, with dome supports
like interwoven branches. Eyes fixed on the ceiling, she tripped on the soft,
gray carpeting, and Deke caught her elbow.

“Sorry, I was too busy gawking,”
Roz said. “Why do those shapes look familiar?”

“Hyperbolic cosine, to enhance the
propagation of sound,” Deke replied, eager to lecture about his favorite
church.

“Shh,” warned the brown-robed monk
escorting them.

“My bad,” she mouthed. The orbiting
telescope might be cutting-edge technology, but the planet’s surface was
practically stone and bone. Everything seemed to be done by hand to increase
the time for spiritual reflection. Pilgrims worked to earn their supper and
penance.

The listener sat on a throne at the
focal point of the cathedral in a golden robe that had a train longer than
Roz’s wedding dress. Red-garbed guards faced the four winds. The procession
halted eight paces from his feet and knelt. As her head lifted, Roz recognized
the Bat on the throne. “Lord Aviar?” Heroically, she managed to dampen the
curses that attempted to follow that observation. A church didn’t seem like the
appropriate venue.

The listener cocked his ears,
attentive now instead of pompous and bored. “You’ve met my brother?”

“He gave me a humanitarian
commendation.”
We won’t mention inciting revolution.

“Well-deserved, from what I hear.
Be honest, what did you think of him?”

“Uh … Other than handsome and
cultured? He feels wronged but still serves the crown to the best of his
abilities, your holiness.”

“Hmm. Exile agrees with him then. I
risked my own position interceding on his behalf. But what can I do? He’s
family.”

“My own mother has been in prison,
Your Holiness.”

“Then you understand,” the listener
said, climbing down from his throne to take Roz’s hand. “Let’s step into my
office and talk.”

Nervous, Roz fumbled protocol. “But
sire, the others had their petitions first.”

The listener rolled his eyes.
Pointing to the nuns first, he decreed, “Yes, yes, and no.” Deke’s face fell.
Roz could tell he was crushed. No explanation was offered. The listener left
Deke kneeling as he escorted Roz toward the back of the church. “Tell me more
about the wedding. I have a copy of the text you sent, but I don’t understand.
Is this for strictly legal reasons?”

“No, sir. Both Max and I are slowly
psi-bonding with the surviving Magi. She—or it, I suppose—possesses both a
flesh body and the form of the ship. The doctor tends to one body, while I tend
to the other. Echo has healed each of us from mental scars and helps us to
reach our potential. I’m now a member of the Magi academy of sages. We want to
marry her, so we can join each other and save her life.”

“My purity priests tell me you have
a powerful aura but can’t place the talent. Could you enlighten me?”

By then they had reached the door
to a private chamber. The mahogany door had been polished until it gleamed. Roz
glanced meaningfully at the guards in red.

“Forgive me. Sometimes I forget
they’re even there,” the listener said, inviting her into the room.

When they were alone, Roz risked a
little truth. “My link to the Collective Unconscious was severed as a child.
Echo has repaired it, but only for our personal link.”

“Astounding.”

The listener offered her wine,
which she declined in a way that sounded pious. “After fasting, I’m not sure
what the effect would be.”

“Of course. Virtue must be its own
reward. Unfortunately, I have a long and boring schedule ahead of me and need
to be fortified.” Lord Aviar’s brother poured a generous helping into a golden
goblet with scrollwork that matched his robes. “Everybody wants something from
me.”

“About that?”

He waved a hand. “Of course. Can we
record the ceremony here? The equipment is already in place, and the royals
would be eager to see a Magi event of any kind.”

“Maybe I wasn’t clear. Echo is too
damaged to leave her hospital room. We’d need you to come into our ship.”

“So I’d be the only one to see your
inner sanctum?”

“Yes, sir.”

The listener took a sip and grinned
wolfishly. He looked amazingly like Aviar at that moment. “I imagine that would
make me a lock for head hierarch in another few years. I’ll do it.”

Roz bowed. “You have our deepest
gratitude.”

“Could you designate me a friend of
the Magi?”

She blinked. “I’ll have to ask our
triad mate. Who did you have in mind for the last caregiver for the mission to
aid the children?”

“Huh? Oh, that. Horcrasmus. You’ll
need a food administrator.”

Disappointed, she asked, “If you
don’t mind, sir, what did he do wrong? I don’t want a killer around my mates.”

“Oh, nothing of the sort. Let’s say
the monk didn’t show enough deference and piety. Under no circumstances should
he be allowed to speak to anyone until your jump to Niisham.”

Someone has secrets to hide.
“Of course, Your Holiness. We’ll need a writ with your signature, though, for
him to pass the garrison at Niishamboor.”

“Consider it done, good lady.” He
closed his eyes and drained the goblet. “Ah. I would warn you about one
delicate matter, though.”

“About the monk?”

“No. Concerning the last Phib
starship that entered the prison system before the official outbreak of the
war. According to our intelligence, they loaded up with radioactive materials
but never arrived back at Niishamboor. Neither did they emerge on the other
side in Magi space.”

Roz frowned. “Did their solar sail
rip, or did they vanish like the
Mayflower
?” The infamous Human asteroid
ship had also disappeared with a full load of uranium and other transmetals.

“There’s a slight chance the Phibs
decided to run the mines instead,” the listener admitted. “To them, the war
wouldn’t be over.”

“Sentient-eating monsters might be
enslaving your people for profit, and you’re doing nothing to stop it?”

The listener looked offended. “We
can’t trust the Blue Claws to act against their former allies. I don’t think I
should condemn several ships full of my own men in order to save those
traitors. We want that place to be the worst hell imaginable. In fact, we tell
each new inmate our theories just before the jump. It induces an appropriately
repentant attitude.”

Roz had wanted to reopen Deke’s
petition, but the listener was such a colossal jerk that such a request might
do more harm than good. Worse, he might cancel the wedding. Clamping down on
her disgust, Roz said, “Very good, sir. When shall I tell my mates to expect you?”

Aviar’s twin considered for a
moment. “Two days hence, just before the evening meal.”

Because of Echo’s aversion to crowds, only the minister
could join Max and Roz in the mirrored chamber. The crew and members of the
holy entourage listened from the birch-forest biozone, wearing their Sunday
best. Roz felt confined by the cloud of white fabric and just a little
panicked. She couldn’t run or weld in the high-heeled shoes, but Max’s eyes
kept drifting from her ankles to her calves. Every time he did so, Echo seemed
to weave a little, forcing him to steady her. The Magi still looked like a
clone of Max’s favorite actress. Only stroking the returned dolphin pin on her
chest kept Roz calm during the wait for the minister.

As his first order of business, the
listener shook each of their hands, asking, “Do you join this union of your own
free will?”

Roz glanced at Max and blurted,
“Yes.”

As the listener clasped Echo’s
hand, she blurred a bit. Roz thought the listener was going to faint.
I
wonder what image she pulled out of his past.
He must have really wronged
some woman. The moment passed, and the clergyman decided to perform the
ceremony from near the elevator. Unfortunately, he elected to perform the
marriage rite in the Magi language, which neither Human spoke. From the way
Echo kept wincing, it didn’t appear that the listener knew the tongue either.

Regardless, they all followed
Echo’s lead for hand gestures and the use of binding ribbons. When asked for a
response, the Humans replied in Banker so everyone could understand. Max
glanced at Roz as he whispered the word “forever,” and she shivered.

After the final words, Max switched
off the video camera and offered the minister a gold cube for his services.

“Now for the reception,” Roz said,
smiling brightly.

Echo replied, “First, the union.”

Shocked, Roz said, “But the
honeymoon isn’t scheduled until after Niishamboor.”

“My strength has been severely
taxed. I must do this soon.” Echo pointed to the lift, telling the listener,
“The rest is between mates.” A large, round bed rose from the floor.

As soon as the stranger departed,
Echo dropped her illusion. Her clothing remained the same, but her arms became
paler. Her true eyes were silver-gray and larger, with dark circles under them.
Her hair was spun white. She could have been a Human raised in space. “You’re
beautiful,” Roz murmured. “But how is this going to work? There are three of
us, and—”

Echo’s long fingers jabbed into the
base of Roz’s neck.

The new bride gasped as the Magi’s
mind entered hers. Instead of a hand slipping inside, she felt like a surgical
glove someone was inflating. “Slowly. Too much.” Dizzy, Roz almost fainted back
onto the cushion of the bed. Echo crouched behind her, cradling her head in her
lap. Together, the linked women spoke in unison. “Now you must join us, Max.”

“I-I can’t just tug off her clothes
and have at it,” Max replied.

“We only ask a kiss.”

Roz remembered several torrid
kisses from their courtship and held her arms open in anticipation. She wanted
their first married embrace to be memorable. As he pressed in, he warmed to the
goal as well. Then Echo placed her free hand on his neck.

He groaned in pleasure.

Echo whispered, “We are one—in
mind.”

The base of her skull tingled.

“In heart.” The light touch moved
to the back of each chest. Roz thought her heart was going to explode.

“And in the sexual.” Echo’s fingers
dropped to the base of their spines. “May we always be holy to one another.”

Roz went blind from the wave of
pure pleasure.

When she could see again, Max had
tears in his eyes. She stroked his hair. Her own voice raw, she asked, “What
was that?”

“A foretaste,” Echo said. She
gestured weakly toward her medical chamber. She clearly needed rest.

Roz couldn’t move from the bed, but
Max managed to swing Echo into his arms alone. “You’re barely fifty kilos. You
have to eat more, Echo.”

After he had deposited Echo in her
chamber, he collapsed beside Roz on the bed. She whimpered, “My face is numb.
How did she do that?”

“Those with out-of-body talent can
project energy into the nervous system of others at close range. Direct
stimulation of the nerves through psi-bolts can trigger a sex response.”

Her whole body was humming,
overloaded. “Hold me.”

He did.

“I can’t move my toes. Is that
normal?” she asked.

“Let me examine you.” He slid her
dress off over her head to reveal a lacy body stocking. After several tests, he
whispered, “No nerve damage. Maybe you just need something to stimulate your
circulation.” Then he massaged her feet awake.

Roz felt undeniably adored as he
restored her calves. By the time her hips could move, she decided to try the
old-fashioned method of consummating the marriage.

****

Dazed, the couple staggered into the party in the birch
forest an hour late. The guests cheered and joked. The crew and aid workers
mingled around the linen-covered picnic tables, snacking on nuts and candy
hearts. Pastel streamers hung from the tree branches.

Ivy teased, “Someone looks mussed.”

Roz barely noticed. “The second
time wasn’t my fault. Anyway, Echo doesn’t exactly have a brush.”

Silent, Max sat at the head table.
He hadn’t bothered with the jacket or tie. He looked exhausted but happy.

“Who’s watching Jeeves?” Roz asked
Ivy, worried the church crowd might catch sight of him.

“He doesn’t like crowds, so we put
him in the jungle with some party food and his own badge.”

Roz sighed. “That way we always
know where he is, and if he gets frightened, we can comfort him over the
radio.” The device would come in handy during the honeymoon.

She muttered a few words of
encouragement over the link, but Jeeves’s only response in Bat was, “Hunt
locust. Shh.”

Don’t let the door hit you on
the way out, Mom.

Kesh shook hands with Max and
muttered something about the church converting most of their gold to something
lighter for a small fee. He flashed an old-fashioned parchment scroll with some
sort of deed. High members of the church could confer titles and lands as
rewards for faithful service. The name of the recipient, however, had been left
blank. Kesh reserved several precious-metal cubes for later “off the books
transactions.”

“Where are the listener and his
goons?” Roz asked.

Ivy cleared her throat. “We kicked
them out for espionage. Max shut off the feed on the Bat’s camera, but our
guest left a hidden microphone behind in the Magi’s quarters. Reuben took a
couple minutes to block the transmission.”

“Oh, God.”

“That sounds vaguely familiar.”

“Enough,” Alyssa said, offering her
daughter a glass of Sangria. Kesh had saved several bottles of excellent red
wine, which Herb had extended with fruit juice so everyone could share. “Let’s
toast to the union.” Everyone raised their drinks, even a newcomer in monk’s
robes. “To the Ellison triad.”

After they drank, Roz asked, “The
new ‘volunteer’?”

“We set him free as soon as the
listener left. He knows all the dirt on the church,” Reuben explained. “We had
to do something while we waited all that time.”

Her cheeks burned again. “We had to
check for neurological damage.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “I think they
just prick the bottom of your foot for that test.”

Alyssa changed the subject back to
the monk. “Brother Horcrasmus said the church tried to make the prison more
independent near the start of the war so they could reduce the regular food
shipments. About three hierarchs ago, they hired a terraformer from Cocytus to
help.”

“Because he did such a great job on
his first try,” Ivy said, obviously tipsy.

“They shipped in super-algae. It
spread over the lake nearest the colony and choked out a lot of fish. The
die-off triggered food riots and a strike at the mines. The next church
administration discontinued the leniency policy. From then on, they only sent
enough grain for the expected number of inmates for the next year. To prevent
them from planting the grain, they irradiated each shipment before it left.”

“That’s horrible. Haven’t those
poor people been through enough already?” Roz said.

“That’s exactly why Horcrasmus let
a ton of cereal through each year unscathed,” Alyssa said. “He shipped the
colony six tons of seed before they busted him.”

“Buy that man a drink, on me,” Roz
said.

“We all have,” Herb said. “I’m
surprised he can still walk.”

“That’s what Roz said,” Ivy roared,
knocking over a bowl of candies. “Sorry. Maybe we should cut the cake.”

“I’m pretty full already,” Reuben
said. The two looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Alyssa presented the wedding cake
to the bride with several elaborate layers of icing.

“You’ve outdone yourself,” Roz
said. “It’s a work of art.”

Her mother’s eyes glistened as she
gazed at her. “You turned out even better.”

Roz picked up the serving knife.
“Well, at least no one will doubt it’s a real marriage.”

Max stood to kiss her and hold the
knife with her. “You’re both right.”

After everyone had their cake, Roz
said, “In honor of our day, I think we should free Yenang to join us. He’s one
of us, and I can’t stand the idea of anyone in a dungeon on such a wonderful
day.”

Ivy shook her head. “It’s a
mistake. If you let him get away with the first infraction, he’ll push for
more.”

“Herb didn’t. Besides, freeing the
technician now or a month from now won’t make much of a difference if he can’t
leave.”

Being the bride, Roz won the
debate. The partners agreed to seal the ship early and grant parole.

Yenang apologized for his
indiscretion and wished the triad well. Nonetheless, Ivy clung to Roz’s side
the entire reception.