‘I want to know what I really am. The other spirit riders will, too.’
‘Do your words imply danger for the other sapient groups on this planet?’
‘No.’ Ammadin smiled briefly. ‘Not as long as they leave us alone.’
When the sun sank below the level of the traps, sending long shadows out into the valley, Stronghunter Man halted the warparty. Though the other Chur spread out behind, he motioned Fifth Out to come up beside him, then pointed west with his spear at the cliffs, which looked about half their true height at this distance. They were, however, close enough to see that the line of stone formed a right angle, a configuration that could turn out to be a death trap.
‘Very well, Zayn Recaller, the North Gate lie back there a now-short way. I show-now you something about Chof.’ Stronghunter Man tipped his head back, filled his throat sac, then let out the air slowly.
Zayn could assume that the Chur Vocho was making some sort of noise, but he heard nothing. All the Chur tipped their heads to one side and opened their mouths, but their sacs hung flaccid.
‘They be there,’ Stronghunter Man said. ‘Two H’mai, four horses, horses off to one side, both H’mai sitting in the grass.’
‘How can you tell?’ Zayn said.
‘We feel the pictures.’ Stronghunter Man stamped his forefeet. ‘Water Woman, she tell-then me word to use, a word that Sibyl tell-once her. It be called echo in your speaking. We Chof send out sound called varalanik. It come back in pictures, echo pictures.’
Zayn wasn’t sure if he understood, but he decided that he didn’t really need to. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘How far are they?’
‘Not very. We charge now. You know not know if they have those spirit guns you tell-then me about?’
‘As soon as I’m close enough to see them. If they have them, I’ll shout.’
‘Good. You do that.’
Stronghunter Man turned to his men and gave orders. First they untied once again the extra spears from each other’s backs so that everyone had a weapon for each pseudo-hand. Next, they formed themselves into a long line, parallel with the cliffs. The entire troop of Chur filled their throat sacs, paused long enough for Zayn to cover his ears, then boomed, sending another fusillade of sound ahead of them. As one they filled the sacs again, then sprang forward, loping at first. In a few minutes they burst into a full gallop so suddenly that Zayn nearly fell. He managed to fling his weight onto Fifth Out’s ample neck and cling with both arms. Swaying and dancing, the cliffs seemed to rush forward to meet them.
From ahead of them Zayn heard horses neighing and H’mai voices yelling in panic, two voices, and one of them was Soutan’s. As the charge slowed, he sat up on the young Chof’s back and saw Soutan, standing on top of a grass-covered mound. He held a shiny piece of metal in one hand and with the other seemed to be trying to attach something else to it. With an audible howl Stronghunter Man threw his spear. Soutan shrieked and fell backwards, tumbling into cover, but not before Zayn got a good look at what he was holding, a stubby metal tube fused to a handle and dangling black cable.
‘Spirit guns!’ Zayn yelled. ‘Watch out!’
Soutan reappeared, the gun clutched to his chest, and started running towards the arched entrance. Stronghunter Man hurled his second spear, but Soutan scuttled untouched into the darkness of the cave. By then Fifth Out, burdened by Zayn’s weight, was panting for breath. He swung round in a wide arc and slowed, jogging parallel to the cliffs. Zayn leaned forward. ‘Let me off,’ he said. ‘Then get out of range. Fast!’
When the Chur stopped, Zayn slid off his back. Half-crouching, dodging, he ducked behind a huge grass-covered mound off to one side and dropped his saddlebags on the ground in front of him. Near the cave entrance something – someone – moved. From behind a pile of stone rubble, Arkazo stood up, a metal tube in his hand.
‘Duck!’ Zayn screamed. ‘There’s another one.’
Stronghunter Man swerved, bucked like a horse, and swerved again. The flash from Arkazo’s pistol singed the air beside him to strike something far behind the line of Chof. Zayn smelled a brief sting of smoke. He twisted round to look back, afraid that Kaz had started a grass fire. A line of charred black grass smoked, flickered, and mercifully went out. The Chof boomed again, then retreated, swinging round for another charge. Zayn grabbed the bolas from his saddlebags. Better than nothing – and all he had.
Arkazo rose half-free of the cover, his pistol at the ready, his other hand shading his eyes as he looked for someone – me, Zayn thought. He waited, hidden, until Arkazo turned in the other direction. Zayn rose, twirling the bolas around and around until sheer momentum made them fly humming through the air. The noise caught Arkazo’s attention. He spun around, saw Zayn, raised the pistol, and froze, unmoving and pale, staring directly at Zayn. With a snap of his arm Zayn loosed the bolas.
Reflexively Arkazo flung up his hand, but too late. The solid brass balls hit. One cracked him across the face; the other two twined their cords around his upraised arm. With a yelp he dropped the pistol, let the power pack slide to the ground, and staggered back. Blood poured from his nose and upper lip. From the cave Soutan yelled something Zayn couldn’t understand. Arkazo turned in answer and fled, rushing up the ramp and leaping into the entrance after Soutan.
Booming in triumph the Chof charged the cliff. When Stronghunter Man thrummed, they raised their spears and hurled one each into the dark mouth of the cave. Under this cover Zayn darted forward and grabbed the pistol from the ground. He turned and aimed it at the cave mouth.
‘Fire!’ He mimicked the word he’d heard Loy use, and it worked.
A beam of light sped into darkness. Distantly rock shattered and fell. He sent another bolt after the first and heard a boom and roar. A quick blast of fire burst out of the cave, followed by the rumble of a long slide of stone. Stronghunter Man came trotting up to join him.
‘That noise!’ the Chur Vocho said. ‘What you do-then?’
‘I don’t know. I must have made a lucky shot and hit something that exploded.’
‘Good,’ the Chur Vocho said. ‘They come-not when you have that thing.’
‘I’ll bet you they don’t come out at all,’ Zayn said, ‘I’m going in after them.’
‘No!’ Stronghunter Man said. ‘You get-soon lost –’
‘No, I won’t. I’m a Recaller. I’m probably the only sapient here who can go in without being lost.’ Zayn hefted the pistol. ‘And now I’m armed just like he is.’
Stronghunter Man leaned on his spear and looked Zayn over. ‘No,’ he said at last. ‘You go-not. It be dark in there. That gunthing, we know-not how often it sends fire when there be no sunlight to feed it.’
‘Well, yes, but –’
‘Wait.’ Stronghunter Man took a few steps towards the cliff and shaded his eyes with his pseudo-hand. He made a snorting noise, then stamped hard on the ground. ‘We argue for nothing,’ he said. ‘They get-never out of the North Gate. Look! The fire you send-then into the cave? It pull-then down much rock.’
Zayn turned and saw a cloud of rock-dust, as thick as smoke from damp wood, drifting from the mouth of the cave. The two stone longtooth saurs had lurched from the impact and stood canted. Behind them he could just make out the dark shapes of rubble.
‘Good. Soutan can stay in there and rot.’
‘He do-maybe just that. The gods only know if they ever get out again. There be other gates, but they need-soon much luck to find them.’
Zayn started to smile, then remembered Arkazo. What am I going to tell Idres? he thought.
‘Are we going to camp here tonight?’ Zayn said.
‘No. We rest-next, then go-soon back. We travel-till Silverlands set, then rest-again.’ Stronghunter Man glanced around. ‘The horses, they run-then some time while we fight. You and Fifth Out, go see if you have power to catch them.’
Eventually, just as twilight turned to night, Zayn and the young Chur did find the horses, but seeing Arkazo’s riding horse made Zayn’s stomach t
wist. He had promised Idres that he’d try to save his nephew, but in the heat of the fight, he’d forgotten the promise and Idres both. As they jogged back south by galaxy-light, the memory throbbed like a knife wound.
‘I am grateful for your information, Jezro Khan, and yours, too, Captain,’ Sibyl said. ‘As for your plan to save the Chof, I warn you: they will never give up their way of life. Their continued existence depends on the rulership of the women, who alone can truly value the children born from their eggs. The males are far too removed from the biological process.’
‘I don’t see why they’d have to change,’ Jezro said. ‘The Qur’an discusses differences between H’mai men and women. Those suras don’t have any relevance to another species.’
‘Good. I do agree that if the Chof embrace your religion, or even that of the Cantons, your less civilized compatriots will be forced to treat them with respect.’
‘That’s something, at least,’ Warkannan said. ‘Though I’d like to see them embrace the faith out of a love of God, not expediency.’
‘Many will,’ Sibyl said. ‘Especially if you return to the more flexible form of your religion that predates Mullah Agvar.’
‘You’ve made it clear that he was something of a heretic, yes.’ Warkannan paused, thinking. ‘I just hope we can get the Chof some decent teachers.’
‘I have the perfect one in mind,’ Jezro said, grinning. ‘Bashir Benumar. Hassan’s charming father.’
‘It’s nothing to joke about.’
‘I’m not joking. It will do the old boy good. If ever anyone needed to loosen his attitudes, it’s the elder Benumar.’
Warkannan started to argue, then let it lie. He and Jezro had finally been allowed inside late that morning, but Sibyl had asked most of the questions. By Warkannan’s watch, they had spent six hours describing the situation in Kazrajistan. In return, Sibyl had promised Jezro something she called Diderot’s Encyclopedia, books that, she assured them, would show the Kazraks how to build any number of simple devices.
‘The set contains detailed pictures as well as text in Vranz, all suitable for the level of your technology,’ Sibyl said. ‘Some of the original Settlers had printed it out from the ship archive banks early in the colony days, and the copies now reside in a hidden cache down in the Metro, along with a crate of accus that you will find useful. Water Woman will show you where as you make your way back. The data you have given me is invaluable. I thank you both. Do you have any more questions for me?’
‘Just one,’ Jezro said. ‘Do you know where Yarl Soutan is?’
‘He is currently in N’Dosha, where he went to hide last night after a skirmish between his men and the warparty led by Stronghunter Man. A young Kazrak accompanied him, but his spear Chur all fled long before the two H’mai entered the tunnel complex.’
‘Will you know when the two of them leave N’Dosha?’
‘The question is not when, Jezro Khan, but if.’
Warkannan and Jezro shared a troubled glance.
‘I will explain,’ Sibyl continued. ‘I can hear what happens in approximately eighty per cent of N’Dosha thanks to a communication grid put in place by the Settlers. Although most of the visual elements of this grid no longer function, the audio components were simple enough to survive. Yarl and the young Kazrak entered the complex at the North Gate, which then suffered so much damage that it is no longer operational. Yarl and his companion have no map and are now lost.’
‘Lost?’ Warkannan stepped forward. ‘Can they find their way out?’
‘Only by the sheerest good luck.’ Sibyl’s image shrugged its shoulders. ‘I predict that Yarl will remove the problem he presents without any action on our part. He will starve to death unless he manages to find his way out, and the probability of that is very low. He sounds angry and panicked. Every time the young Kazrak makes a rational suggestion, Yarl only curses and raves.’
Warkannan turned so cold that for a moment he feared that he would faint. Jezro caught his arm and steadied him.
‘Captain,’ Sibyl said. ‘Are you ill or distressed?’
Warkannan tried to speak, but his mouth had gone too dry.
‘He’s distressed,’ Jezro answered for him. ‘The young Kazrak is his nephew, but he’s been more like a son.’
‘I apologize. I did not have access to this data, or I would have phrased my response in a less blunt manner.’
‘I’ve got to rescue him.’ Warkannan managed to summon his voice. ‘Can you tell me how to get into N’Dosha?’
‘The journey down is easy,’ Sibyl said. ‘Day and night the gates stand open. Getting out again – that’s the problem, that’s the hard job.’ Her face remained motionless, but a long peal of laughter sounded from behind the image.
‘Damn you!’ Warkannan snarled. ‘What in hell is so funny?’
‘You won’t understand,’ Sibyl said. ‘But I assure you that the joke is not at your nephew’s expense but a reference to Old Earth literature.’
‘Stay calm, Idres. I’ll take over. Sibyl, is there a map of the complex?’
‘Yes, Jezro Khan. If Zayn Hassan, your Recaller, stored the map and accompanied you, there is a high probability that you could indeed find them. However, Yarl is more likely to try to kill Hassan than accept his help. If he succeeded, you would be in the same position that he is now, hopelessly lost. I cannot recommend such a course of action.’
‘I can’t just let Arkazo die.’ Warkannan realized that he hovered on the edge of fury and did his best to calm himself. ‘Isn’t there anything I can do?’
‘There is nothing that you can do.’
‘Sibyl,’ Jezro said. ‘What about you? Can you rescue them?’
‘If Yarl is willing to be rescued, I can lead them to safety.’
Warkannan decided that he had better sit down on the floor before hope finished the job fear had started. He managed with some dignity, but Jezro stayed standing.
‘Good idea, Idres,’ the khan said. ‘Sibyl, try to rescue them. Is there some way I can help you?’
‘I can reach no conclusion on this point until I contact Yarl. If he refuses to take my help, I will ask you to intercede by sending a message via my communicator circuits.’ Sibyl raised a hand and pointed off to the right. ‘Look!’
A three-dimensional map appeared, hovering in the air, a thing of coloured lines and cubes easily six feet on a side, livened with glowing dots. After a moment’s study, Warkannan realized that it depicted the complex and its various levels. Vertical lines, which he took to be staircases, connected them, but the staircases seemed randomly placed on the different floors rather than recurring in the same relative location in each one. He gave up counting at fifteen floors, each with a myriad of rooms, all joined by hallways of various widths and orientations. Jezro pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose before he spoke.
‘That’s one hell of a mess, isn’t it? No wonder they’re lost.’
‘Yes,’ Sibyl said. ‘From their conversations I know that they lack food, and the standing water that has collected here and there in the complex is not always drinkable. Therefore it would be optimal to bring them to the surface as quickly as possible.’
‘Very well.’
‘There is a way into this complex, the Analysis Lab, through one of the tunnels. It is the most direct route to the surface, but its end point, here, is problematic. Yarl has a pistol, but since he is untrained in its use, he has very poor aim. Pistols do not possess the locking function of rifles. Should someone try to apprehend him in this room, the probability is high that he will shoot wildly and damage some piece or pieces of the hardware essential to my functioning.’
‘That would be another kind of disaster,’ Jezro said.
‘Yes. I will only bring them out of N’Dosha if you promise to wait until they reach the landing beyond the cave before you take action against Soutan.’
‘Fair enough, and a good idea.’ Jezro held up one hand palm out. ‘I promise.’
> Sibyl nodded her approval. ‘Now. Let me represent the two H’mai by these silver arrows.’ On the map, some twelve levels down, the symbols blinked into existence inside a room-cube. Sibyl froze herself to a flat image. ‘Sending message now. Relaying message throughout grid. Message content: Yarl, listen to me. Yarl, listen to me. This is Sibyl, and I will guide you out of N’Dosha. Walk towards my voice.’
The arrows never moved. ‘They are arguing,’ Sibyl said after a few minutes. ‘The man you call Arkazo is trying to convince Yarl to accept my help. I will resend the message.’
Warkannan heard nothing but a series of clicks. Again a silence lasted for some minutes.
‘Yarl,’ Sibyl said eventually, ‘I am not lying to you. I am not the spirit rider. The spirit rider is not here; she is not in the complex. Therefore she cannot be trying to trap you.’
For a heart-stopping moment the two arrows remained immobile, then slowly they began to float across the cube.
‘Very good,’ Sibyl said. ‘Follow my voice, and I will lead you out.’
The silver arrows began to slide along one of the hallways. Sibyl’s flat image turned towards the two waiting Kazraks.
‘To them my voice appears localized some twenty feet ahead of their position,’ Sibyl said. ‘Their journey will take approximately sixteen hours because some of the direct-route tunnels have been damaged by earthquakes over the years. They will also have to rest at intervals. If you leave, I can minimize other functions in order to commit all power resources to the task of guidance.’
‘Then we’re on our way out,’ Jezro said.
Warkannan scrambled up and nodded at the image. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am.’
‘Gratitude means little to me, Captain,’ Sibyl said. ‘But I find that exercising my functions is satisfying. You will need some sort of plan of action to deal with Yarl when he arrives. Please tell Ammadin to come here in the morning to tell me what you’ve decided. I see that you carry a chronometer.’
‘A what?’ Warkannan said. ‘I’ve never heard of –’
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