The Magister (Earthkeep) (26 page)

Zude nodded.

"Go well, Magister Win," said Yotoma.

"I shall, Magister Lutu.  Thank you."  She signaled her staff.

The figure of the Amah Magister, mobile Greatchair and all, disappeared in an instant, leaving for the eyes of those still sitting there a pulsing afterimage of red and silver.

10 - HEART’S DESIRE – [2088 C.E.]

You cannot harm me, you cannot harm me,

one who has dreamed a dream like mine.

Wisdom Of The Ancients

"She will never agree!" argued a passionat amah in one of the common rooms of the Places for the Heart.  "Nor should she!  Magister Win is our only hope!"

"But if the Magisters agreed, we would follow!" objected a Vigilante.  "All of us!"

"Not I!"

"Yes you, you too!"

"We'd all follow!" came another shout from the crowd of Kanshou.  "We always have!"

A chorus of voices rose in approval; others roared, "No!"

To one side of the clamorous discussion, a Femmedarme — a bit tipsy — drained her nukupunch.  "They're right," she drawled to her Amah companion.  "We'd follow in a minute if the Magisters agreed, even if it meant no more Kanshou.  The Magisters are supposed to find a way to agree with each other.  They always have.  That's their job!"

"I'm not so sure, 'Darmie," replied the Amah Jing-Cha, pinching off a bite of breadfruit.  "The consensus of the Magisters is important, but it's not law.  In fact," she observed, wagging a finger at her Kanshoumate, "a Magister's decision to go against the tide is not only her right but sometimes her duty."

The Femmedarme lifted a flagon, then set it back down on the table with a thump of belligerence. 

"Well, I say it's a betrayal.  And it's not just me.  Jing-Cha, if the Magisters' decision were unanimous — whatever it was — then every Kanshou of the name would stand up and cheer.  She'd feel like all's right with the world again at last!"

"You make us sound like mindless automatons, 'Darmie, never questioning the Magisters."  The Jing-Cha began clearing her breakfast crocks.  "Anyway, I'm heading for the flatcast.  The Heart's about to begin and I don't want to miss it.  They may even decide today."  She studied her Kanshoumate.  "Come on.  Both of us could use some fresh air."

Outside, the well-tended paths and hillocks of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands teemed with color, some of it from bright native prints of civilian observers, more of it in the greens, reds and blues of visiting Kanshou.  In the arcades and media areas, the
Daily Voice
coverage had already begun.  Scrolling upward on the flatcast screens were the results of the one-vote-per-person-per-day straw ballot of both free citizens and habitantes on the radical propositions before the Heart.  Each morning, before beginning their deliberations, Heart Members studied these global figures as well as summaries of widespread individual feedback.

The flatcast announcer spoke in voice-over.  "Mere minutes from now, the Heart Of All Kanshou will reconvene for its eighth day of study and deliberation in the meeting rooms of Global Kanshoubu Headquarters.  Heart Members, as you'll recall, are elected by the entire body of global Kanshou.  They are retired Shrieves of every rank and every satrapy.  They have ultimate authority over the policies of the Kanshoubu, and their decision, whatever it is to be, will in these critical times undoubtedly be ratified immediately by our legislative and judicial branches, the Central Web and the Kitchen Table.

"As you can see, the polls show habitantes continuing to favor the dismantling of the Kanshoubu — understandably, because that proposal entails their freedom.  But there is still little consistency of opinion among civilian citizenry; their votes continue to vacillate from yea to nay as much as forty percentage points over each twenty-four hour period.

"The 600,000 Kanshou themselves, whose careers are in question, are also sharply divided on the proposal.  Many believe that these are exceptional times, calling for profoundly new ways of thinking and acting.  Others resist what they view as any affront to their beloved Kanshoubu.

"And now, Magisters Flossie Yotoma Lutu and Zella Terremoto Adverb are about to enter the Rotunda Gather-Room of the Places For The Heart.  There they will present their final arguments for the abolition of the Kanshoubu.  The Heart Members are taking their seats."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Bosca sat with her eyes closed, holding the tiny short-band communicator tab in her hand.  She read the tacto-time in Zude's desk and checked once more the comstation monitor for incoming messages.  With a sigh of resolve, she held up the communicator unit and slid the tiny Call orb to the right.

Zude's flattened voice crackled through the small silver pad in Bosca's hand.  "Adverb here."  A background of animated voices surged around the words.

"Still no message, Magister," Bosca said.  "I'll continue to stand by."

"Okay.  Thanks, Bosca."  The voice held both an excited tension and a shade of disappointment.  "We're about to go in," Zude added, "so you're on your own when the call comes through."
"I know."  Bosca paused.  "¡Qué la fortuna te mire con buenos ojos!"   

Zude chuckled.  "Abrazos."  The silver tab went silent.

Bosca set aside the comtab and closed her eyes again.  Almost 30 minutes passed before a chime broke her reverie.  On the comscreen appeared the head of a woman with long brown hair and a silver unicorn dangling from her ear.  Bosca's hand rose involuntarily to rest gently upon the screen so that it covered the lower part of the woman's cheek.  Technology augmented the moment, intensifying the dynamic contact that flared between the two women — Bosca in the Taiohaé Bay quarters of Zella Terremoto Adverb, and Jezebel Stronglaces on the northern island of New Zealand, 2,000 miles southwest of the Marquesas.  Both women smiled, their eyes closed.

"A pleasure to meet you at last!" Bosca heard in her head.

"A pleasure for me, too," she replied, basking in the moment. 

"How late am I?" Jez finally asked aloud, her eyes meeting Bosca's.

"Too late to talk with Zude, I'm afraid.  They are already in today's session."

Jez sighed.  "We just now found comunits that are back on line.  Storms had taken out long-range transmissions."

"And Magister Win?" Bosca asked gently.  "You were chasing her all over China."

"China and the islands," Jez added.  "We finally found her here.  Bosca, I spent last evening with the Magister of the Amahs in a bed of hot springs on the side of a volcano.  Apparently it's one of her favorite retreat places."

"And you talked?"

"Yes, for all the good it did."  Jez sighed.  "She was not overjoyed to see me.  But we've had some special ties, so she did me the honor of letting me be with her alone there in the pools.  She's a large woman, you know, and it takes three of her Amahs to lift her in and out of her Greatchair, or to shift her around in the water.  She wouldn't let me help her.  Always called on them.  We Sat Hearkening for three hours together and I left her just after midnight — that's three in the morning your time." 

Bosca waited quietly.

"She still won't commit either way," Jez said at last.  "I know Zude has hoped that she'd make some decision, yes or no, maybe even rocket at the last minute to Nuku Hiva to announce it to the Heart."  She didn't conceal her regret.  "There's no chance she could make it to the meeting now.  It's three hours by rocket, and anyway she's still too racked by indecision."  Jez pushed both hands through her hair, a gesture so reminiscent of Zude that Bosca caught her breath.  "So," Jez finished, "the Heart will do whatever it does without the participation of Lin-ci Win."

Bosca shook her head.  "Zude is still convinced that she and Magister Lutu can sway the Heart.  Neither of them has slept much lately.  They've been through every satrapy. . .sometimes together, usually alone. . .talking with Kanshou and Kanshou cadets night and day, one on one or in small groups.  They’ve held forums, discussions, parties and weight-free dances, even primp-light performances." 

Bosca slowed her speech.  "And just by their presence, Jezebel, people are often moved to follow them.  It's a little awesome to watch."  Bosca paused altogether.  "Both of them are transformed.  It might not even matter if the Heart says 'No,' because they are so entranced by their own vision."

Jez laughed quietly.  "Maybe if the Heart says, 'No,' the two of them will just discorporate.  Fly away together into the Great Stream, leaving us all behind."

"That may be truer than you think."  When Jez raised her eyebrows, Bosca explained.  "Have you watched the flatcasts of the proceedings?"

"Only the first one in full."

"Well, Magister Lutu has been behaving unconventionally.  Her original presentation was wonderful, and then for three days she very respectfully and thoroughly countered all the opposing arguments and evidence.  But at the end of the fourth day, she didn't respond to one of the questions.  Instead, she sat staring at the far wall.  She hasn't participated since."

"Flossie Yotoma Lutu?" Jez exclaimed.

Bosca nodded.  "When a member of the Heart addresses her, she snaps to attention, apologizes, but declines to respond.  Then Zude steps in and covers for her.  For a little while every night she and Zude sit together in silence in the beach-house tower.  Then Zude helps Yotoma's aides tuck her into bed."  Bosca paused.  "Zude isn't worried about her."  She smiled.  "Zude isn't worried about anything."

"So I gather," said Jez.  "Speaking of unusual conduct, I hear that one member of the Heart was also . . . behaving irregularly."

"Winifred W. Glee, retired Vice-Magister of the Vigilancia, Nueva Tierra Sur?"

"The same."

"It's true.  In the middle of one of the investigative committee reports on the third day, Vice-Magister Glee announced that the night before, her spiritual guides had enlightened her about the proposal from their cosmic perspective.  'I'm now in absolute accord with the recommendation to abolish the Kanshoubu,' she essentially said, 'and since each of you, my colleagues, must also have been visited by your personal spiritual guides and seen the same truth of the matter, the present proceedings are clearly a travesty and a waste of time.'  Then she calls for the immediate vote on the question."

"High drama!" breathed Jez. 

"Yes," agreed Bosca, "particularly since Vice-Magister Glee is one of the best-loved Members of the Heart.  They had quite a time silencing her, but then she lapsed into a happy trance, like Yotoma."  Bosca herself smiled.  "One rumor has it that Vice-Magister Glee and Magister Lutu exchanged a wink yesterday.  Zude says she didn't see it, but that it could have happened."

Jez laughed.  "Well.  Please tell Zude I wish I could have been more helpful with Lin-ci."  When Bosca nodded, Jez added, "And give her my love."

"I will," said Bosca.  "I will."

Jez held up her hands, palms forward.  "A privilege, Bosca."

"A privilege, Jezebel."  Bosca placed her own hands over those of Jezebel on the monitor.  She closed her eyes. 

After the screen went blank, Bosca lowered her hands and sat quietly.  Then she tuned the comchannel to Zella Terremoto Adverb's final speech to the Heart of All Kanshou.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Communication and comfort had been the design priorities for the Rotunda Gather-Room that housed the Heart's present deliberations.  The round-domed space spanned a diameter of some 25 meters, and the technology of shield harmonics allowed the walls to be paqued to represent a wide range of holo-options.  On this day, the walls were a simple transparent stasis field that revealed the lush gardens, arcades and foyers that surrounded the Gather-Room.  Sunlight, filtered by a dense cover of leaves, drifted through the transparent roofing at the top of the dome and added to the sense that the Heart Of All Kanshou conducted its business out-of-doors.  

Each of the 18 Members of the Heart wore the tunic color of her tri-satrapy and sat in a chair covered with a wide-spread tekla cape of royal purple, the emblem of the special Kanshou duty she performed in her retirement.  Each light but well-padded chair was capable of tilting to recline, of spinning full circle to face any speaker, or of rising on silent jets to offer its occupant better sightlines or greater visibility.  The unit also provided for the Heart member her own personal reader light and writing board, her own augmented fresh-air shaft and visually enhanced magnopad, and her own amplification for voices too soft for her ears.

The chairs on this morning, including those of Zude and Yotoma, were in the northeast quadrant of the room.  They had been placed in an approximate double circle formation, those in the back row raised slightly higher than those in the front.  There was an intimacy to the grouping that separated it from the vast unused and empty part of the room, and from the distant southwestern door that stood beyond the wide expanse of the carpeted floor.  Parked on the carpeting near the group was the jill-jogger whose air jets and standing straps had carried the Heart's oldest member, Sub-Aga Mollie Mordecaia of Jericho, from the visitors' quarters to the meeting.

Seated together in the back row were the Communication Escorts, Vigilante N. Louise Mead and Femmedarme Jovana Gorodhov.  It was Marshal Mead's turn to hold the gavel.

Inconspicuous mikcam stations in the walls and dome were focused on a space of about five meters in diamenter that separated the circled chairs.  In this enclosed area stood the Magister of Nueva Tierra, wearing a formal tunic of cobalt blue and her dress sash of silver.  She was in the midst of her address to her colleagues, the Heart Of All Kanshou.

"So," Zude said, turning slowly to include the full circle of her audience, "we've tried to show that the proposal is practical, that it could be carried out with ease."  As she continued, her eyes sought some rapport with Flossie Yotoma Lutu.  But the relaxed and immobile Femmedarme Magister gave no indication that she had heard Zude, remaining calmly attentive to one of the swaying tree limbs beyond the wall of the Gather-Room.