The Red Queen (66 page)

I ought to have asked the androne how long it would take to get the glide ready to depart but I had been too distracted and rattled by the terrifying silent journey through the darkened glide chamber. That would have to wait until the morrow as well.

Ana’s mind must have been working along similar lines, because as we slowed to a walk in the square we had eaten in, she said suddenly that she did not think Kelver Rhonin
had
found a link at the Whelmer Dam. It had occurred to her that, being only ten kloms north of Northport, his presence there would have been revealed by the large golator.

‘Did you imagine his body was there?’ I asked her, taken aback.

‘I thought it a possibility,’ she admitted. ‘But if his golator is not there, then neither is his body, which means he left, and if he left, it can only be that there was no way to reach out to a govamen computermachine from Whelmer. In which case your earlier theory of him trying to get to Eden in case there was a computermachine there, seems very likely.’

‘So he came here, then went to find Eden, in the hope of connecting to a govamen computermachine from there?’ I said.

‘Or maybe of finding a friend,’ Ana said.

‘Erlinder,’ I murmured.

We left the square, which was now empty, the dusty ornamental pool lost in the gathering shadows of the evening and the looming buildings around it. A hard, hot wind was blowing now and its eerie moaning was loud as we pushed into it, coming finally and with some relief to the red door. The light was fading even as Swallow opened the door, his expression stern and drawn.

‘You lingered long,’ he said curtly. Then he noticed Maruman on my shoulder and his eyes widened in astonishment.

‘It is a long story and Ana will tell it,’ I said, urging them downstairs. ‘I will follow you but I want to have one last attempt at reaching Gahltha to let him know Maruman is safe.’

As they descended I turned and looked up. The sky was darker than it ought to have been and I guessed the queer pall was still lying over it. I farsent and this time Gahltha responded. He was vastly relieved to hear I had Maruman with me, but he told me that Gavyn and Rasial had not returned from their wanderings yet.

That alarmed me. ‘But what about the rest of you? Will you be safe from the
rhenlings,
without him to hold them off?’

‘The water keeps us safe,’ Gahltha sent calmly, and before I could ask what he meant, I heard the whisper of a storm of leathery wings beating against the hot windy night. I did not wait to see the terrifying horde spew out from all the holes and crannies of the city, but bidding the horse a hasty farewell, I slipped inside the red door and closed it, using the heavy boards left there to prop it shut.

‘Maybe it has something to do with
where
Hannah had set up the device to repel
rhenlings
,’ Ana said. ‘If she set it up near the water at Whelmer, the beasts might just believe the water is protecting them.’

‘The main thing is that they are protected,’ Dameon said.

We were all sitting about the picnic nightmeal Dragon and the empath had prepared. It was cold, none of us wanting to risk the possibility of sending out a scent that would draw the
rhenling
horde, despite Maruman telling me the creatures would not be attracted by the scent of our food, for there was no flesh in it to entice them; they preferred their food living and full of hot blood.

Ana and I had told the others all that had occurred in the glide hangar and after some discussion, we had agreed that in the morning, if Hendon reported that the glide was ready, I would farseek the beasts to summon them, and by midday we would descend to the glide chamber while the
rhenlings
slept most deeply. None of us could imagine how the glide would get out of the subterranean chamber, but it seemed most likely that there would be some opening in the roof. In fact, Ana suggested it might be open already, which would explain how the
rhenlings
had got into the subterranean chamber. Ana would find out from Hendon in the morning. If he was not outside waiting, she would go directly to the subterranean glide hangar.

We had considered and finally rejected the possibility of going to Whelmer on foot at dawn, largely because Ana had determined Kelver Rhonin was not there. Dragon had wanted to go there anyway, to see if there was a computermachine linked to a govamen computermachine, until Dameon gently pointed out that if there had been, Kelver Rhonin would have returned to Northport to finish what he had started, instead of leaving his code key stuck in place. That he had not come back suggested he had known there was no use in it.

There was then some lengthy discussion about how to get the horses down the steps to the glide chamber, then Ana suggested that one horse at a time might fit into the elevating chamber with Hendon. Listening to them talk about how this might be managed, I wondered if the others actually believed we were going to ride in a glide, or were they, like me, speaking as if it would and must happen even while they could not imagine it.

Maruman was sleeping on my lap, and despite all that had happened and was to happen, and my barely contained horror at the thought of flying in the air in a Beforetime machine, the soft heavy weight of the old cat on my knee filled me with a profound contentment. It was as if there had been some part of me missing and now it had come back. I caressed him with my mind and because he was truly sleeping, his mind lax and heavy against mine, I took the opportunity to caress him physically as well, running my hand over his fur in long, luxuriant strokes, noting his tail twitch at the tip as I did so.

It made me remember how it felt to be a cat in Miryum’s mind, how it had delighted Dameon to have a tail, and to wonder at our experience in Miryum’s visiondream.

I thought of the coercer, lying in her strange plast tent, and wondered if she had decided to allow God to return her to cryosleep before the sickness she carried reached its final deadly stage, or if she had decided to let the sickness free her from life so that she could follow Straaka’s spirit. Either way, I felt sure she would lie in her bed and look out at the sky for as long as she could, and I wondered how she and Ahmedri fared. They were both grieving for Straaka, both feeling themselves unworthy of him, and yet he had loved them both dearly.

And what of Tash?

I had no doubt that she would accompany Unit A when it came up to administer the tests on Miryum required by God, so it could track the progress of the Endrax virus. Was it enough for her to have less than an hour with Miryum and Ahmedri? Of course he could visit her, but I suspected he would not want to leave Miryum alone. And in the end, Tash would be alone, no matter what, and perhaps she would be alone forever.

The thought saddened me, and yet there was nothing I could have done that would have made it better for her. If only we truly had been able to find a way in Northport to connect God to a govamen computermachine, there would at least have been the possibility that we would find a govamen computermachine at Eden that could be made to reach back to God.

All at once it struck me that I could send a scribed message with Falada, telling the others what we had found in Northport and suggesting Ahmedri journey with Unit A to Northport and connect it to Midland. God would have to devise a way to thwart Kelver Rhonin’s code key, or Ahmedri could go to Whelmer and see if there was any possibility of God connecting to the computermachine there. I would also be able to tell God that Hendon was going with us, and so might not return for some time.

I told the others and Ana found a scribing pen and some paper in her pack. I scribed my letter carefully, then folded it up. Incredulity swept over me at the thought that we were actually going to fly in a Beforetime machine.

I looked up to see Ana returning from checking on the sleeping wolves, who had been laid right at the back of the long low basement chamber. Two of the she-wolves had worsened in Ana’s absence, and she blamed herself harshly for this and would not be comforted, even by Swallow. Yet now I saw that he reached out to her and drew her down beside him and she allowed it, smiling at him wearily but tenderly.

Seeing them together, I looked away, feeling Rushton’s absence keenly in the face of what had flowered between them, but I looked down at Maruman who was still sleeping on my lap, and took comfort in the love I felt for him. Then I thought of the wolves, wondering how they would take the news that we were going to fly in a Beforetime vessel. I had not had the chance to speak with either Rheagor or Gobor yet, for they had been asleep since our return. But I thought it possible that Rheagor would wake, having foreseen some of what would come.

I saw Swallow persuading Ana to lie down, and then he lay beside her, holding her close, stroking her hair. Not far away from them, Dameon drowsed, sitting with his back against the wall, and Dragon lay curled up by him, her head resting on his knee. I never thought of her as small and yet she was. Beside Dameon, she looked like a child.

I leaned my own head against the wall, not wanting to move and disturb Maruman, and drowsed.

I dreamed of Rushton. It was a past-dream and we were swimming together in the hot springs at the foot of the highest mountains. The air was icy and so the pool sent up a cloud of steam.

‘We will truly freeze when we get out,’ I warned him, evading his reaching hands playfully.

‘This is worth freezing for, my love.’

I sank into the water and swam to the other side of the pool, then I surfaced quietly, meaning to come on him from behind, but there was no sign of him. The mist was thicker than it had been and I was shocked to hear the laughter of a woman. I froze, suddenly aware of my nakedness, beginning to panic when I realised I did not know where I had left my clothes. Where was Rushton?

‘Why do you want me to speak this ugly barbarian tongue when we are alone here, Chiya?’ asked a man, the words harsh but his voice indulgent, full of fondness. Yet his way of speaking was very strange, and he misspoke some sounds completely.

‘Because you will need to know it, in the days to come, Chodan. You will need to be able to speak with her – she who will come – and with others who will follow, who speak her language. You will regret it if you cannot do so and must rely on me. Nor can you rely on me forever.’ The woman spoke urolish flawlessly, and yet there was something in her way of speaking that told me it was not truly her language. I squinted, trying to see the speakers, but there was only the drifting mists.

‘You have foreseen that she will come?’ the man asked, his voice now serious. ‘Is it certain then that Chodan Sangmu will succeed in the task you have given him?’

‘I have foreseen that he will find her but after that, nothing is certain. That we have chosen to act has slightly changed the balance, and still it is delicate. But if the Seeker succeeds in her quest and our emissary succeeds in his, then the little grey-eyed one will come and you will speak to her, and you will form a profound friendship that will last until you die, and she will serve you as a sisterwife and bare her face always to you, though she will never be a wife to you.’

‘To have a sisterwife who is not a wife?’ the man said, and I could hear the frown in his voice. ‘What sense is there in such a thing?’

‘You will find sense in it and in her, and by her council you will find a way to end the long conflict between our small hidden land and that of the Chinanka. And her man, though he be a barbarian, will serve you and come to seem a brother to you.’

There was a long silence, then the man said, ‘Truly a time of change is coming if I am to have a sisterwife who is no wife and a barbarian brother. Yet I would give much to have peace, finally, with Chinon.’

‘If
we succeed there will be a peace that lasts a thousand years,’ the woman said.

The dream changed again and now I saw Rushton, but he was not in the spring. He was standing on the other side of it, talking to a man. I could not see either of them as more than man-shaped, but his voice was unmistakable.

‘I don’t know what you want. Why don’t you kill me like you killed the others and be done with it?’ Rushton rasped. ‘I am half dead with fever and I’d be glad if you’d put me out of my misery.’ He was panting and sounded utterly exhausted.

The other man gave a growl that sounded truly bestial.

‘Where are you taking me?’ Rushton suddenly roared.

There was the sound of a fist and I saw the two shapes grapple briefly with one another, then Rushton cried out in pain and I saw one of the men fall. He landed on his hands and knees facing the water, and oddly it seemed to shine a yellow light up onto his face. It was Rushton. He was scarred and filthy and his face was sheened with sweat and his eyes bright with fever. But all at once the rage and confusion in his expression dissolved as he seemed to see me.

‘Elspeth!’ he rasped, and there was such yearning in his voice that I stretched my hand out to him.

He reached out a filthy hand to mine but before our fingers could meet, something struck him on the head and he fell.

The dream changed and I was now standing on a narrow street thick with mist. I heard a woman weeping and then I saw her. It was the coercer Merret sitting on a step. It was a shock because she had always been so strong. Even as a child, choosing the Coercer guild over her mother’s Healing guild, she had shown the strength of her will. A hand gripped her shoulder and she looked around into the dark stern face of the Sadorian tribeswoman, Jakoby, now standing in the doorway behind her.

‘You must not give up hope, my friend,’ Jakoby said in her deep purring voice. ‘Take comfort in the knowledge that such beauty as Blyss possesses has value and they would not squander that by simply killing her.’

Merret shook her head. ‘I have searched and I cannot find her. I cannot feel her.’

Jakoby hunkered down beside her. ‘Nevertheless, I would not give up hope. I believe that she is here and that one day you will go to the Infinity of Hope and there will be a scribing from her, asking if anyone has seen you. Sometimes all the evidence in the world and even your own heart’s certainties can be wrong.’

‘You are thinking of your sister,’ said Merret, brushing the tears from her face.

‘I cannot speak of my thoughts, my friend. I need to discover what is true,’ said Jakoby grimly. She thrust a hand into her pocket and brought it out, opening her fingers. I was astonished to see the tiny metal sandcat I had sent to her after finding it and a book with gadi script in the lavishly feminine bedchamber in Ariel’s fortress upon Norseland. I had hoped she might be able to use it to learn more about the woman and hence more about the mysterious Salamander.

‘What is it?’ Merret asked, peering at the brooch.

‘This is a gift I gave long ago to my sister,’ Jakoby said. ‘It was found in Ariel’s residence on Norseland in a lavish bedchamber.’

‘Perhaps she is a slave rather than a willing accomplice.’

‘I do not know what she is,’ Jakoby said. ‘But the Temple overguardian told me I will find her when I find the
Black Ship
.’