The Crucible of Empire (16 page)

"Evidently it is not," Kash said, coming up to stand beside Sayr. Her bulk was not as magnificent as Sayr's as she was only of middling age. Still, she was far taller than Jihan. "They would not have assigned such a task to you, otherwise. The Han is never wrong. You must seek within yourself for strength and plan how best to accomplish your task. Anything else will only shame the Starsifters even further."

Jihan gazed at the two of them, her mind whirling. Think, she told herself. What would Sayr do in her place? "I need the records," she said finally. "The ones dealing with the Jao."

"You have already reviewed ours," Kash said, "but you should copy them for your new
elian
." Her black aureole stiffened as she considered. "Next you must go to the Ekhatlore, then the Historykeepers." She set a steaming bowl of roasted sourgrain on the communal table next to Jihan. "Whether you are right or wrong—and I do believe that you are in youthful error—it will be beneficial to the colony to have all the relevant information in one location."

But Jihan was not wrong. The chemical signatures of the debris recovered danced in her head: weapons' traces, DNA data, even the wiring and metallic composition of the blasted hull. The hated Jao were back. She would not let them succeed this time. Somehow, the Lleix would survive and force the wretched Jao to perish instead.

None of the other Starsifters would speak with Jihan the next morning beyond a grudging response to her inquiries after records. This
elian
had taken her when they accepted almost no one these days, and then she had shamed them, not only by breaking
sensho
, but also disputing their analyses before the Han itself.

The remaining eight resident Starsifters had now assumed classic
oyas-to
, the disciplinary mode dreaded by all youth where one's elders simply refused to acknowledge someone so inharmonious and disruptive to their inner peace. She had experienced that form of correction from time to time, especially right after she had first entered the
elian
, in response to minor infractions, but this was far worse. She knew from the subtle shifting of eyes that no one saw her from the moment she entered the Morning Room, with the exception of Sayr and Kash, and even they only responded with the briefest of words, then turned away.

Chastened, Jihan went to the Duty Chamber, rummaged through the archives, copied and copied. It had all been so long ago, almost a thousand years since the last Jao sighting, more than two thousand since the Ekhat had set their savage handservants upon them and thereby driven the Lleix from their array of jewel-like worlds. The Starsifters had only records of chemical traces, genetic markers, metallic compounds, engine signatures, and weapon patterns. Nowhere did she find an actual image of these hated warmongers. For that, she would have to go to the Ekhatlore or the Historykeepers.

The three unskilled servants from the general labor pool who were repairing an outside wall for the Starsifters moved aside as she left the
elian
-house, but even they did not look at her. Jihan clutched the case with her copied records close to her robed chest. It was not to borne! she told herself. Even the unassigned disapproved of her actions!

She lowered her head and stalked past them. They were great clumsy things, well along in years and yet without status because no
elian
had ever recruited them. She did not have to heed their disapproval, yet it rankled that news of her wantonness had spread even into the
dochaya
where the unassigned lived at the far edge of the city.

Jihan decided that she would not-see, too, and adopted
oyas-to
with all she passed as she made her way from the modest district of the Starsifters to the rarified quarter which housed the great
elian
like Dwellingconstructors, Childtenders, and Ekhatlore.

The Ekhatlore
elian
-house was massive, rising three stories with fanciful embellishments on the eaves and along the roof's peak. Gaily colored flags fluttered, one for each venerated member in residence. Ekhatlore attracted hundreds of youths each year at the Festival of Choosing and took five or six, never more, and occasionally no one at all. Jihan had always been leery of them, feeling as though stretching their minds to understand the Ekhat made them a bit like the great devils themselves.

Would the same happen to her now if she comprehended the Jao too well? She shuddered, then presented herself at the public doors which were half-again as tall as those of the Starsifters. A youth in an elegantly brocaded robe opened them. His folds fell perfectly as though sewn into correctness. His aureole, an impressively deep black, stiffened. His silver skin gleamed as though freshly oiled, while his upswept eyes regarded her with the chillest of courtesy. "Yes?"

"I am Jihan, formerly of the Starsifters," she said, hastily twitching her own robe into a more pleasing configuration. Really, she thought with chagrin, she was presenting herself with no more sophistication than if she were wandering the streets in her children's shift. "I have been charged by the Han to form a new Jaolore
elian
and so must consult the Ekhatlore records on that species."

"Ah, yes," the youth said. "After the Han adjourned yesterday, it was said someone of little consequence and even less dignity had broken
sensho
. Our elders could speak of nothing else the whole evening." He stepped aside so that she could enter, holding back his robe so that she would not brush against him.

Within, the Application Chamber, an architectural element present in all
elian
-houses, was anything but standard. The exposed rafters were a bright blue, the furnishings richly carved, with sumptuous woven mats and padded leather benches. Stern
Boh
-faces had been carved into the walls so that the traditional guardian spirits seemed almost present within the house itself, a reminder of what had been lost. The subtle astringence of steeped herbs filled the air.

She stared around the impressive room, clasping her case with its precious cargo, so nervous, her aureole only fluttered about her face.

"We have been expecting you," a deep voice said from the shadows. The youth who had conducted her inside glanced over his shoulder, then, head down, backed gracefully out of the room.

She turned as an elder entered, Alln, himself, resplendent in his robe of bloody scenes as he had been the day before. He was taller even than Sayr, almost as tall as old Grijo, Eldest-of-All. She inhaled deeply to steady herself, feeling the blood thrum in her ears. He was so massive, so magnificently old. "Do I have your permission to search Ekhatlore's records for mention of the Jao?"

"You do." Alln settled on a padded bench, then regarded her steadily, which in its own way was as disturbing as the determined not-seeing of
oyas-to
inflicted upon her at the Starsifters.

He had the classic Lleix upswept eyes that compressed to gleaming black slits when his attention was focused, a mark of comeliness. His oiled skin was very bright, shining in the vast room's dimness. She felt a child again, newly released, wandering the gaudy, loud Festival in desperate hope of attracting favorable notice and an offer of occupation.

"You have sacrificed your future for this, shortest," Alln said. "Therefore, by the worth of what you have given up, I feel you must be sincere."

"Do you believe that I am correct about the return of the Jao, then?" Her aureole stirred with hope.

"I cannot say," Alln said. "I am not a Starsifter, so those recovered bits of
this
and minute traces of
that
mean little to me. I do see that
you
believe, though, and in light of what you have sacrificed, that is a powerful statement in your favor."

She bent her head, overwhelmed.

"You cannot explore this possibility alone, though," Alln said. "Our records are extensive, far greater than one could sift alone in any reasonable amount of time, and there is reason to believe that we do not have a great deal of time to deal with this issue."

"But I am an
elian
of only one," she said softly. "I have no others to assist. Even if the Festival of Choosing were tomorrow, it would take time to train any that I accepted."

"Ekhatlore understands that," he said. "Grijo said up at the Han that you might recruit from other
elian
, so we have decided to release one of our number to you."

She raised her head, startled.

"We assign you young Kajin," Alln said. "He is quite—"

"No!" a voice cried behind her, belonging to the youth who had met her at the outer doors. "You cannot expel me! Such things are never done except for cause! I have given no cause!" The elegantly clad youth darted into the Application Chamber with unseemly haste, his aureole standing on end. Evidently, Jihan mused, he had been listening in the passageway beyond, hardly the behavior of one who wished to be thought exemplary.

"This is not expulsion," Alln said with great gravity, "it is reassignment in a time of great need. You should be honored that we believe you can assist in this momentous task." The elder sat back on his bench and regarded them both impassively.

"No one is ever reassigned!" Kajin glared at the Ekhatlore elder with a shocking lack of respect. "I have never heard of such a thing!"

"Your years are still very few," Alln said. "Just because you have never heard of a practice does not mean it never occurs." He gestured at Jihan. "All
elian
must work together in this time of trouble, each fulfilling its function. Have you forgotten that this may well be the Last-of-Days?"

Kajin's hand went to the front of his richly brocaded robe as though its folds were in disarray, which they were not. Even in his distress, he had preserved his dignity. "But this—creature—does not represent a real
elian
. That was just an excuse for the Starsifters to rid themselves of someone who could not behave properly! Everyone is talking about it across the city! She contradicted her elders and broke
sensho
before the entire Han!"

"She has put aside personal ambition," Alln said, rising to stand straight and tall, using his impressive height to its best advantage. "This child has traded her Starsifter future for what she believes is in the Lleix's best interests. How can you look upon her and do less?"

"I do not believe in her fantasies!" Kajin said. "I can serve best by performing my duties here!"

"You have no more duties with us," Alln said and stepped closer. "Your robe."

Kajin stared at him dumbly, his aureole limp. Then, finally, with trembling hands, the youth stripped out of his lavish Ekhatlore robe, folded the heavy material with reverence, then laid the bundle across Alln's waiting arms. Naked, he was slight, slighter even than Jihan, though, because of his height, she was certain he was senior to her by at least a few Festivals. She realized then that she still wore her Starsifter robe.

Kajin would not look at her. She suddenly felt indecent, standing there in her false clothing while he had none. She shrugged out of the beautiful gray cloth with its silver brocaded starbursts. She had no right to wear it now. Alln had been speaking to her too. She was just too dull-witted to grasp his words' relevance at first.

She bent her head, fingers tracing the starburst pattern one last time. "Could you have this returned to the Starsifters?"

Alln bent his head too, a great gesture of respect from one so lofty. "Indeed we will."

"And—" She inhaled, thinking hard. "Might we borrow two lengths of unadorned fabric until we can get a Patternmaker to design a motif for our new
elian
?"

"That would be most appropriate," Alln said. He turned and a waiting servant scampered forward. "Bring unworked cloth for these Jaolore," he said. "And see to their needs as long as they are researching our records."

It was not to be borne! Kajin could not make his mind work, could not process that he had been cast out, that the only meaningful occupation he'd ever had in his entire life was at an end and seemingly on a whim. As if it were not bad enough that the Ekhat were coming back to murder them all! Now he wasn't even going to be allowed to die with his true
elian
.

What could Alln have been thinking? That ran through Kajin's mind over and over. One simply was not removed from his
elian
without cause! And he had given no cause. Indeed, he had worked tirelessly to learn what the ancient records said so that they could be ready when—not if—the great devils who ate the universe, the Ekhat, returned.

Now they had come back and instead of being allowed to share his observations and correlate information with the rest of the Ekhatlore, he had been discarded to start over in a lowly new
elian
, one without even robes or a house to call its own. He simply could not process the stunning change in fortune.

Jihan was bent over a viewer. The bones in her naked spine stood out like knobs. "Here!" she said, eagerness vibrating through her voice. "This is what they looked like!"

A servant entered the room, bearing several bolts of undecorated cloth. Kajin snatched one and wrapped it around his body before looking. Lack of clothing made him feel like an unreleased child again, playing at choosing
elian
in the Children's Court.