by Jo Clayton
Windborne and alone my sioll dies
A sudden brief sun
My soul cries
For nothing, xe’s gone
For diversion, distraction
A mesuch’s measure of fun
I cry a warning Hear me, Meruu
Fear threatens your skies
Fire burns at your border
The torch and its terror
Waits the torchbearer’s will
I cry a warning Hear me, Meruu
I cry my grief Hear me, Meruu
I cry for vengeance Hear me, Meruu
Kill the destroyers, O mighty Meruu
Fill them with dread
Let the dead rest.
Danor dropped to his knees, his arms hanging limp, his head down. He was trembling so violently he could barely keep his place.
An Eolt among the Meruu of the Air spoke, slowly, formally. “I, Bladechel, am Voice for the Air. You have seen these things with the eyes of your body?”
Danor cleared his throat, forced his head up and his voice out. “I have seen mesuch in an airwagon direct their weapons on my sioll. I have seen xe turn to a tower of fire when the beam from that weapon touched xe. I have seen the airwagons chasing Eolt, free and siolled, burning them for the joy of it. I have seen Denchok and Meloach chased and corralled like beasts and slaughtered like beasts. I have seen Fior driven from their Dumels and Ordumels, the women taken for whores, the men as slave workers. I have seen these things with my own eyes.” He let his head fall again to hide the tears he couldn’t stop.
As soon as he was finished the Speaker repeated his words to make sure all heard them. Then xe said, “The Scholar from University, step forth. Speak your name that all may hear it.”
Aslan moved to stand beside Danor. “I am Aslan aici Adlaar of University and of the School on University that follows the study of the cultures and histories of many peoples.”
“Do you know the history of the mesuch that kill Eolt for pleasure? Can you attest that this has happened before?”
“They are the Chandavasi. They call themselves the Souled Men. Let it be understood that what I say now is a caricature of their truth because all generalizations can only be caricatures.”
“We do hear and understand, Scholar.”
“Then I will proceed. It is their belief that all other creatures are little better than beasts and thus may be treated as beasts, even those that share their shape. They will restrain themselves only in the face of a perceived danger or a force greater than they can overcome at that moment. They have strong clan bonds, a long history of bloodfeuds and a weak central government that does little more than provide certain services to the clans and attempt to mediate quarrels between them. This is important because the home-world Chave will not send help to the mesuch on Melitoлh beyond what the mesuchs’ own clan provides. Defeat them and they will cut the names of the Chave who have failed from the lists of their people and the name of Bйluchad will never be spoken again. This being so, I can’t have any way of knowing that such actions have happened before on other worlds.”
The Speaker repeated her words as she had spoken them, then xe asked, “Hearing this, it seems to me they will fight like trapped behabs and destroy utterly what they cannot have if they see defeat before them.”
“That is so. There is evidence of such already. Among the starfaring it is considered a very bad thing to give energy weapons to those that don’t have them. This is almost as bad as the slaughter of intelligent beings. Yet they are doing this.” She held up the cutter. “Should news of these weapons get back to University, the Clan and perhaps Chandava itself would be, named Pariah and cut off from many services that they need. It would be as if the Kabits on the sail-barges refused to lend or buy from a person in a Dumel. How long would that person manage to prosper?
“The Chave have destroyed all means we have of reaching out with this information and they are now trying to destroy us. They are passing out these weapons and they have set a weight of gold on our heads. We have been attacked repeatedly by chorek. And will be again once we leave here. By the way, I’ll have a suggestion about that when the time comes for such things. Indeed, I doubt we are safe even here. Or you. These weapons the chorek have are hand-held versions of those mounted on Chav fliers, the weapon Danor spoke of. Should a beam from the cutter touch any Eolt, xe would burn like Danor’s sioll.”
“This is true? How many of those weapons are out there?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps dozens, perhaps hundreds. There is a Chav spy come across from Melitoлh; he’s passing them out like pieces of candy. Twice chorek attacked me and my aide at Dumel Alsekum. Each time they used a cutter. Of the twenty chorek who attacked the tower in the pass, fourteen had cutters. We have collected these. From some of the things the chorek said when they woke and found themselves bound, these are what you call political chorek and are filled with hate for all things Keteng and all those who deal with Keteng.”
There was wailing from the Eolt even as the Speaker was repeating Aslan’s words. Xe finished and was silent for a moment, xe’s tentacles coiling and uncoiling, xe’s filmy membranes pulsing. When xe could control xe’s voice again, xe said, “Is there any way you can demonstrate that weapon here without endangering the Meruus and those who watch?”
“I can’t demonstrate without destroying something. Would you mind replacing part of the arena floor?”
Once again the Speaker had to fight down xe’s agitation. Xe said, “Show us.”
Aslan walked to the edge of the dais, stood holding the cutter pointed down while she spoke. “This is a modification of a mining tool. Chandava Minerals is a mining business and can justify their presence by claiming these weapons were stolen from their crawlers. It is enough to keep them from the Verifier, which is a machine starfarers have that can judge the truth or falsity of a statement. That is why it will be necessary to capture and keep alive some who received the weapons and the spy himself until we can take them offworld and turn them to weapons against the Chave. If you will watch.” She touched the sensor, played the cutter beam along the white marble floor, gouging long deep lines in the stone, parallel, a band’s width apart.
She touched the sensor again and stepped back. “As you see,” she said. “Thick stone will defend against the beam, flesh will fry on the bone, glass will melt and metal will cook what’s inside it or touching it.”
There were no groans or moans this time, only a shocked silence. The Speaker shuddered wildly, then fought xeself to control. “You had a suggestion, Scholar?”
“Two suggestions, actually. One, that you allow my Aide and I to remain. We can discuss matters in considerable more detail so you will have the data you need for planning your defense. The flikit will also be useful, since the Eolt should stay carefully away from Medon Pass. There are devices in it that allow the pilot to locate large life forms. Chorek in other words. And there is a stunner set into the base.”
“A stunner is a nonlethal defense weapon. It acts rather like a block of wood brought down on your head, puts you out for a while, gives you a sore head when you wake, but does little additional harm. We are forbidden to give these to you. Even if we could, we have very few of them. Our goal is learning, not conquest.”
“The second suggestion is that the harpist Shadith and my Aide Marrin Ola be sent to capture the spy. They are both fight trained and very good at the arts of survival.”
“That child? That glorious gifted child?”
“That child has done things you can’t imagine, O Speaker. Cha oy, I will let her speak for herself. You asked what I would suggest, but this is your world. You will do as you must and we will hold ourselves bound by your decisions.” She lifted a hand, moved it in a flat slicing motion, a Keteng gesture that meant
I have done.
There was considerable muttering among the Meruu of the ground and touchings of tentacle to tentacle among the Meruu of the air.
Stretching muscle against
muscle to relieve the strain from the tension and standing with her neck bent so long, Aslan eased back to stand beside Shadith. “You’re up next, glorious gifted child.”
“You’re not going to let me forget that, are you.”
“How often is one presented with a line like that.” She grinned at Shadith, then sobered. “I saw your sisters dancing out there. Mass hallucination or whatever, that is amazing, Shadow. Do you know how you do it?”
“No. You still haven’t said how you’ll explain sending Marrin off with me. Doesn’t he have more to lose than I if University disciplines him?”
“I haven’t decided. He made up his mind a while back and nothing I said changed it, so I’m left to find a way to cover him. Maybe use you as a reason, him going along to protect you. Mind?”
“No. I…” She made a face and stepped forward as the Speaker called her forth.
The afternoon wound slowly on, questions to Shadith, questions to Marrin Ola, questions to Aslan, questions to Maorgan, interminable arguments within and between the two Meruus, proposals raised, rebutted, brought forth again. The captive chorek were brought down from the tower, questioned to no great result since most of them refused to say anything, just spent their time staring at Denchok and Eolt with hungry eyes that was a more powerful warning of their intent than any words might be.
The Klobach came to an end when the sun touched the tips of the western mountains.
6
Melitoлh, Meklo Fen, mid-morning
Denchok and Fior trickled into the fen a few at a time but the trickle never stopped or even slowed, Though so many people around made them profoundly uneasy, the swampies came out of the twilight under the trees to guide them and help the newcomers get settled. They faded into the heart of the fen as soon as they could, but came back again and again when they were needed, bringing food and other necessities for living in the swampland.
Leoca looked up as Engebel ducked under the overhang of the stem and leaf roof that Porach had taught them how to make. Xe’d been off all morning getting leaves to repair that roof and had been fiddling with it for an hour after Leoca got back from the swampie meet with fish for supper. “Fixed?”
“Hope so. We’ll know in a minute. Starting to rain again.” Xe shivered, dropped to xe’s knees beside the tiny fire. “If I get much wetter, I’m coming down with root, rot.” Xe glanced at the fish. “Any news from
“Nothing yet. I saw Ceam. He’s just back from a run to outside, gone silent. Won’t answer the harp calls. Ceam says he thinks it was putting too much on him. He reminded us that Danor said Ilaцrn had gone soft in the middle. He said we shouldn’t rely on him, that he’d go squish on us.”
“Cha oy, Danor wasn’t all that sane himself. Think he got all the way to the Meruu? The Eolt don’t say anything about seeing him.”
“Who knows.” Leoca reached behind her for the pot they’d got from the mesuch traders, lifted her head. “Listen to it come down. This is going to be a drencher.” She stretched out her arm, held her hand under the spot where the leak had been. “Looks like you fixed it.”
7
Banikoлh, Guest House
Shadith set her cha mug down when a Denchok came into the room where the University group members were breaking their fast, a short wiry Keteng with a lichen web so thick that his eyes looked like beetles burrowed into bark. She suppressed a weary sigh, expecting to be summoned to another day of questions and endless arguments.
“I greet you, Scholar, Singer, Aide. I am called Daizil. I am Metau of the House of Knowledge and Speaker for the Meruu of the Earth.”
Aslan stood, Marrin left his chair to stand behind her. Shadith brushed toast crumbs from her mouth and joined them.
Aslan dipped her head in a sketch of a bow. “We greet you, Metau Daizil. May we ask why the honor of this visit?”
He inclined his upper body in answer, a stiffer move, his neck too thickly imprisoned in lichen to make a nod feasible. “The Meruus have conferred throughout the night and have reached a decision, Scholar. You yourself will remain as advisor, explaining to us the soul of the Chandavasi and giving us what knowledge you have of means of defense. We accept your characterization of Shadowsong and Marrin Ola and honor their gift of their skills to the preservation of our people… Whatever they will need in the way of supplies, they have but to ask and we lay Chel Dй’s blessing on their search. We are winnowing our own for those with landskills that we may send forth two or three small bands of searchers. If nothing else, these might serve to drive the spy into the arms of your people. The Scholars of the Meruu will welcome you, Aslan aici Adlaar. A student will wait in the hall outside to guide you when you’re ready.” He inclined his torso again, marched out.
Aslan stood watching, silent, frowning.
Shadith stretched, rubbed the back of her neck. “So it begins,” she said.
8
Melitoлh, the Kushayt, after moonrise
Ilaцrn dug the packet from under the delseh mint, closed his hand on it, closed his eyes. After a minute, he thrust it into his sleeve and moved on to the next cache. He hadn’t resolved anything. He didn’t know what he was going to do. But he wanted to be ready if the resolve ever came. He knew it would be a matter of seconds. The indrawing of a breath. If he couldn’t act before that breath was gone, he never would.
When he had them all, he stood a moment looking speculatively at the wall, wondering about the hidden door. He shook his head. It was bound to have some kind of mesuch latch that only Hunnar could open. He moved his eyes along to the kerre tree where Eolt Kitsek had dropped the packet. There was cord in the garden shed… if he could get up that tree onto the top of the wall… the cord would be strong enough to get him down without breaking his legs… if he chose the right time… when the wall watch was past…
17. Killing Games
1
Shadith settled in the flikit’s co-chair, closed her eyes and let her mindtouch sweep over the forest unreeling below them. The mountains were spiky with a few peaks high enough to have small glaciers in their cracks and crannies. The clouds were thick, the winds erratic with treacherous sheers that shook the flikit and sent it slipping and sliding until Marrin got control back. Shadith and the telltales both had limited ranges so he couldn’t take the flier above the clouds and out of the rough air.
Medon Vale was surrounded by tall cliffs and steeply tilted hill waves humping up toward the stony peaks. The trees on the slopes were thick as fur with scattered open spots like a touch of the mange. Room to hide an army or two if they could get over the peaks without being seen.
Marrin started the round at the end of the Vale opposite the tower, where the cliffs were high with thin streams of water falling over them in several places while the highest peak of the local section of the mountain range was here, Rois Orus, looming above the Vale. He took the flikit slowly along, eyes on the instruments.
Now and then the telltale bonged softly. When Shadith probed the slopes to locate the lifeform, she usually found only a large predator or a herd of ruminants-the difference in feel was unmistakable when she touched a beast, not a man.
As Marrin eased the flikit around the end of the Vale, the telltale bong started chattering like a gossip who hadn’t talked all week. Shadith concentrated. A band of men was moving through the trees-single file, so they were easy to count. Fifteen. “That’s them,” she said, “take them out, then let’s find us a talker.”
2
Kurz hitched himself higher in the tree, settled in a crotch that would hold his weight, then used the cutter to remove foliage so he could see the Vale. He estimated the distance to the main cluster of buildings, slipped the binocs over his head and dialed in the magnification that would give him a fair view of what was happening down there.
As he watched the two female scholars come out with the male aide trailing behind and a small crowd of locals circling and shoving around them, he thought regretfully about the rangegun the Ykkuval wouldn’t le
t him bring out of the Kushayt. With a bit of luck and explosive loads he could turn that plaza into a crater and no more worry about the University group; they wouldn’t have mouths to open. Trouble was, it left detectable residues and with the Yaraka involved here, that wasn’t on.
The Harper and the Aide climbed into the flier, but the Scholar stayed on the ground; she and the Aide talked a while, then she stepped back and watched while the flier lifted and circled to gain altitude. Kurz took a moment to watch her as she turned her head, said something to one of the locals, then started striding back toward the buildings, the locals scurrying to keep up with her. Then he shifted the viewfield, located the flier just before it vanished into the clouds.
He switched to infra and followed the pulsing blur north toward the end of the Vale. What are they up to? North?
He followed the blur as it curved round the end of the Vale and started south along the eastern line of peaks, winced as the binocs picked up a sudden flare of energy. He switched back to visual and swore again as he saw the flier slant steeply downward and vanish into the trees. He pulled the viewer off, rubbed at his eyes. “Hunting,” he said aloud. And was grimly sure he knew what game they hunted.
It was over an hour before the flier rose again. It hesitated a moment then darted into the clouds. He followed the blur south until there was another energy flare. He took off the binocs, slid the instrument into its padded case, checked to be sure the cutter was clamped solidly to his belt, then he swung down the tree, dropped to the ground and trotted to the mini-skip. Speculation was all very well, but seeing with his own eyes would give him a better measure of what was happening.