Spiderwork Apocalypto 2

by LK Rigel

  "Yes, Asherah."

  "Now listen. I have a revelation for you. I may not see you for a while. Don't think it's because I don't love you. You are my chosen one."

  I'll bet you say that to all the chosen ones.

  "That's my little warrior. Now, hear me and obey."

  The chalices accepted the New Revelation with more enthusiasm than Durga had expected. Of course they loved the idea of the auction and being paid and, best of all, having absolute power to say yes and no to the scions.

  "There is a requirement," Durga said, "that each chalice agree to three contracts for a total of six ensouled births before retiring. This should not be a problem, with a hundred years to complete the task. Of course Sanguibahd expects that most of you will want to engage in far more than three contracts."

  There was mixed reaction to being separated from the infants at birth. The non gravidas -- the ones who had never been pregnant -- had no problem it. The ones who had bonded with children were outraged.

  "I have something to say on this." Faina stood up, the puppy in her arms. Her sadness was heavy, like a cloud over the hall. "I miss Ranigita so much. Sometimes I think I want to die. I praise Asherah for this revelation. It's wrong for us to fall in love with the infants. They don't belong to us. They belong to their cities. You will all be so much happier if you never make the bond; then you will never have to break it."

  She sat down again and buried her face in the puppy's neck.

  Durga continued. "Totems will be revealed to each chalice during the Rites of May of her eighteenth year. You are commanded to refrain from gestation until then. No chalice may enter into a contract until she receives her totem from the goddess. She will keep her totem like a treasure in her pocket and tell no one what it is until successful completion of her first contracted gestation. Break this command upon pain of death."

  The soul ceremony, the hieros gamos, was the hit of the revelation. Everyone wanted to belong to the Team of Inquiry that would develop means and methods. Durga ended the assembly on that high note.

  Faina met her at the door. "Emissary, may I speak with you?"

  How convenient. "Let's go back to Magda's office," Durga said. She dreaded talking to Faina about Jake, but it had to be done. "I'm sorry, Faina, but you will have to see Lord Ardri one more time."

  Durga left out the part about Jake being in a coma. Jake would recover, since this was all part of Asherah's plan, and there was no need to add to Faina's sorrows. "You will have to perform the hieros gamos for your current gestation."

  Perform thehieros gamos. It sounded so much more clinical than have the highest heights of orgasmic sex.

  "Don't worry about that, Emissary." Faina handed Durga a letter. "I have missed the child more than I have missed Lord Ardri. You were right to separate me from him."

  Not convincing. But if that's the story Faina wanted to tell herself, then who was Durga to question it? "What is this letter?"

  "It is to Ranigita. I find I need something, a ritual to ease the pain of this separation. I've decided to send her my dagger and this letter, but I wanted your advice before I acted."

  Durga unfolded the letter.

  My dear girl,

  This dagger is my gift to you to symbolize our holy bond. As with many divine mysteries, our relationship is a paradox: our bond lives in our severance. We will never know each other, yet we serve Asherah equally. Our common purpose is the survival of the human race.

  With unending love and affection, your breeder,

  Faina of Sanguibahd

  Faina opened a carved rosewood box lined with pink satin. It contained a dagger, the hilt designed to incorporate her lotus totem.

  "Faina, I believe Asherah has spoken to us all through you." Durga returned the letter. "I am certain this is a proper and consoling thing to do, for you now, and for Ranigita when she is older. The other chalices may wish to follow your example."

  Faina's lovely eyelashes fluttered. Her blue eyes were even more jewel-like with tears in them, but now she smiled through the tears.

  In the lift, Durga realized she was hungry. She couldn't remember if there was anything good in her suite's little kitchen. She and Khai could grab something from the bistro and eat in the runner on the way to Garrick. She wouldn't mind showing him off.

  "Khai?" He wasn't in the antechamber, but their bags were on the floor by the étagère. "Khai?" He wasn't in the kitchen. Jordana must have dragged him outside.

  She pulled her dress out of her bag. Ugh. Wrinkles. She should have spread it out over a passenger seat on the flight down.

  Despite Prince Garrick's cool shibdabliness, he had been flustered by her appearance in this dress. Desire. Lust. Whatever its name, his emotions had thrown him off balance. Why not push the advantage? She gathered the dress up in her arms and went to the bedroom to change.

  Khai was there, at the wall of windows, kissing -- her. She was wearing the dress, and Khai was bent over her, one hand behind her neck and the other on her breast. She moaned and murmured I love you.

  "Get out!" Durga thought she was going to be sick.

  Khai jerked his head in her direction and back to the Durga he had been kissing.

  "Get out now!"

  He broke away from the Empani. "Durga?"

  "Trust me, Khai. I'll explain later. Go!" She closed the door behind him.

  When she turned back to the Empani, it had shifted to Khai's form. He went down on his knees. "Forgive me, Durga! I didn't know. I thought it was you. I love you. I only want you, only you."

  She burst out laughing at the melodramatics. "Is that what I want, Empani? My deepest desire?"

  Her laughter seemed to help the Empani find itself again. It shifted shape to the familiar Rani form, though missing its usual serenity. The Empani perspired, and its skin tone was off, a bit gray, and the SJ tattoo was blurred. Durga wanted to pat it on the shoulder, make it feel better.

  "Don't," the Empani said. "Please don't."

  "I guess it isn't so good to see me today." The Empani apparently didn't get the joke. "What happened?"

  "We were flying and felt a great longing for the Durga." The Empani recovered at least well enough to manifest Rani's proper skin tone. "We were compelled by the longing to come." The disgust in the Empani's voice was painful to hear.

  "Why were you compelled? Who are the Empanii? What are you?"

  "We are of Samael. Only Samael. We curse the day he created you."

  "You've said that before. But why?"

  "Samael ordered us to adore his creation, but we cursed it. Samael cursed us in return. He cast us away, out of his sight, in bondage forever to human desires. This is our punishment."

  "I thought the Empanii were dying, but you've been hiding. Right?"

  "Until we discover how to break the curse."

  "Why are you here? I just saw Asherah. Did she send you with another message?"

  "The desire is strong in that one you called Khai. I could not resist his desire. His longing for you drew me down from the sky."

  Everything Dies In Garrick

  Durga was deeply aware of Khai so close to her, inches away. She was also aware of the four Sanguibahd guards right behind them, sitting in the runner's passenger seats. The runner was a great little flying machine, but it was certainly lacking in privacy.

  She wanted to reach out and touch Khai's forearm, reassure him … of what? Seeing him with the Empani had churned up so many feelings. Every time she looked at him, she felt more miserable.

  His longing for you drew me down from the sky.

  At the sight of Khai kissing someone else, she had wanted to die. Faina was right. It was no good to be bonded to another person. It hurt too much. Sure, Khai had thought he was kissing her. Her misery made no sense, but she couldn't shake it.

  She was Emissary of Sanguibahd. He was scion of Luxor. Their lives were not theirs to give to another person. She was duty bound to the goddess. That bond was inviolate.

  He was d
uty bound to his city, to provide it with heirs, to continue the dynasty that made Luxor survive and would make Luxor a great city-state. Once he had provided those heirs, he would take a queen. Inevitably, someday, Khai would kiss someone else.

  Maybe it would help if they talked about something other than themselves. "Did you have a chance to speak with Versailles at all?"

  "The man Ansel is an idiot." Khai answered immediately, as if he too had been trying to think of a safe subject. "Too caught up in making demands to state a plain case. But his sister has some sense. Apparently Geraldo did substitute a bagger. The chalice is innocent. The infant must have died en route to Versailles." Khai shook his head and scoffed. "The supposed heir Geraldo brought to the city was Caucasian. The chalice was Asian. I knew Geraldo was mendacious, but I didn't think he was stupid."

  Durga lowered her voice. "I've wanted to get rid of Geraldo for years, but he founded Sanguibahd, and he has connections and influence all over the world. Still, he may have gone too far this time."

  "It should be impossible even to attempt a switch like this," Khai said. "There needs to be a procedure in the process that protects the cities. And the chalices. Their honor must be above reproach."

  "The world is becoming more complicated." Durga sighed. Khai was right about politics. She had no stomach for it or interest in it. Or time for it. "If there were some kind of council of cities, I wouldn't be flying up to Garrick now to demand Char's release. A council could force Garrick to follow the laws."

  "My point exactly." Khai put his hand on hers. She pressed the back of her hand against his palm.

  "Look." The instruments indicated they were ten minutes from Garrick. In the distance ahead, the sky was brown, and it grew filthier by the moment.

  Within minutes they were above the city. A row of flashing lights guided Durga to a lighted circle on a tarmac where she put the runner down. Garrick was an ugly collection of old brown buildings, brown trees, black birds and brown clouds above. When it rained, it was probably brown rain.

  "I think it smells worse than the first time I was here." She pulled Khai close and said, "I am so glad you're with me. Thank you for coming."

  "If my life was my own, I would never leave you again." His lips found hers, and she melted into his arms. There was nothing chaste in his kiss. His entire body strained for her, she could feel it, and he moaned when she stroked his face.

  "What if Asherah doesn't want me to have a lover?" The question was as much for herself as for Khai. "I'm afraid of what she might do to you."

  "I am no fool, my lady. I fear the goddess. But my love is stronger than my fear."

  "Touching." Prince Garrick appeared beside them, coming up out of a hole in the ground. "Truly." His gaze traveled over Durga, taking in the great deal of skin her dress didn't cover.

  "I often think of Garrick as hell on earth," she said. "And then you appear as if from earth's bowels to confirm the theory."

  "Clever girl." The prince gave Durga a saccharine smile and acknowledged Khai with a nod. "Luxor."

  "Garrick." Durga felt the controlled malice in Khai's voice over her shoulder. There was no doubt he'd like to kill Prince Garrick right there -- for insulting her if for nothing else.

  Prince Garrick gestured to the moving stairs behind him. "Shall we get in out of the air?"

  She and Khai followed Prince Garrick down below the city surface. In the corridors they passed several priests dressed in the brown robes of the Samaelii. Not one female. They came to a reception hall that gave her the impression of a throne room. Portraits of former Garrick CEOs lined one wall.

  "Durga?"

  Char was seated like Persephone visiting Hades, on a couch next to a raised throne-like chair. As Char stood up, Prince Garrick sat down in the throne chair. His self-importance would be funny if it weren't so … not funny.

  "Are you all right?" Durga said.

  "Yes, but why are you here?" Char spotted Khai and looked back to Durga. Understanding spread over her face. "Why didn't Jake come?"

  "He went to the ashram, Char. He ran the liminal gauntlet."

  "No. No, he wouldn't do that. Not without me."

  Durga took hold of Char's hands. "He didn't want you to suffer if something went wrong."

  "That's crazy!" Char scoffed. Then her eyes grew large. "Something did go wrong." She paled and sank down on the sofa.

  Durga sat down with her. "I'm not so sure about that, Char. I was there. I was part of the circle that created the gauntlet. When I left him, he was in a liminal state. But I really think it worked. He'll come out of it."

  "Why did you leave him?" Char asked, then slowly shook her head. "Of course. Because of me."

  "Lady Charybdis," Khai said. "Forgive my bluntness, but why did you leave Lord Ardri to go with Prince Garrick?"

  "I left against my will, I assure you." Tears welled up in Char's eyes. Not tears of sorrow but of rage, accusation in her every word. "I would never come to this hellhole voluntarily. Everything dies in Garrick."

  "So dramatic." Prince Garrick sighed and spread his arms in an appeal to Durga. "What you don't know is Ardri and his ghost have been secretly harboring a necessary world resource, hoarding it from the common good."

  "The bees. You think I don't know about the hives?" Let him think Sanguibahd knew everything about everything. "Allel will receive the beekeeping charter. I doubt the bees would survive in this place anyway."

  "They didn't," Char said.

  Durga's heart jumped into her throat. "What do you mean?" In her link with Jake's consciousness, there had been nothing about Garrick taking the bees.

  "Garrick stole over a hundred hives when he kidnapped me," Char said.

  "Stole. Kidnapped." Prince Garrick waved his hand. "Insulting. Inaccurate."

  "Every bee in every hive was dead within an hour of landing here," Char said.

  Great Asherah, tell me he didn't take all of them!

  "We only meant to put them in safekeeping," Prince Garrick said. "Who could believe a settlement could protect something so precious?"

  "If the goddess put bees in Allel, what right do you have to interfere?" She'd have his head for this. If they were at the top of the world right now, she'd push him off. "Have you any idea what you've done?"

  "He didn't get them all," Char said. "The rest of the hives are in safekeeping. In Allel. Let's get out of here."

  "Now see, that's where we have a problem." Prince Garrick tapped his finger against his lips. "I can't let the orbital runner leave Garrick."

  "What are you talking about, let?" Durga got to her feet. Prince Garrick eyeballed her dress again. Her plan had backfired. Prince Garrick's leering was making her feel exgusted, as Maribel used to say.

  Poor Maribel. Thinking of her, Durga hated Garrick even more.

  "You didn't care about the hives at all," Khai said. "You didn't bring Lady Charybdis to Garrick care for the bees. You brought her to be bait. You wanted the runner."

  "You should run for president of your cordial cities, Luxor. You are really very clever."

  "I guess I'm not," Durga said. She couldn't think why Garrick would want the runner. The Blackbird was unsurpassed in luxury and load capacity. The Eaglet served for smaller, quick trips. The orbit runner was faster and didn't need fuel, but Garrick had all the time in the world. And literally all the fuel in the world.

  Khai said, "If Garrick is able to map and adapt the technology from the runner, their advantage in the world economy would be too great to balance."

  Tesla. The word popped into Durga's mind from Jake's consciousness. Tesla. There was something else. Something in Jake's memory told her the runner wasn't the only place to find that technology.

  "I assure you, Emissary," Prince Garrick said. "The last thing I want to do is reproduce the orbit runner's technology."

  "Then it's worse than I imagined," Khai said. "You don't want the technology. You want the technology destroyed."

  Prince Garrick smiled. "As I said, yo
u should run for president."

  They had no control in the matter. "We flew right into your trap."

  "The name of the game is survival, Emissary. You play it too."

  "I do, Prince Garrick." I just hope I don't give away what I know. "And Lady Charybdis is worth a thousand runners to me."

  "You must offer compensation for the runner's accidental destruction," Khai said.

  "Accidental?" What was Khai talking about?

  "Compensation?" Prince Garrick said.

  "Now that the gods have revealed the phenomenon of soullessness, Garrick needs Sanguibahd for ensouled offspring. Even the slaves you call your citizens will revolt if your scions produce soulless heirs."

  "Go on," Prince Garrick said. "I'm listening."

  "Destroy the runner," Khai said. "Call it an unfortunate accident, and compensate Sanguibahd by giving them the Blackbird."

  "Why Sanguibahd?" Prince Garrick said.

  "The orbital runner belongs to Sanguibahd through the Matriarch," Char said. "Jake was merely its pilot."

  "But to keep Lord Ardri happy," Khai said, "and as a coronation present better befitted to Allel than a set of steak knives, you will commission a sailing vessel from Ithaca."

  Khai had gone too far, Durga thought. Prince Garrick would never consent to so much.

  "Agreed, Mr. President," Prince Garrick said. He gave Durga a short bow. "I'll have the Blackbird made ready to take you wherever you want to go. It is yours, the crew as well. And Luxor, the knives were a joke."

  He had agreed to all these things too quickly. It was irritating to see him so satisfied. "One more thing," Durga said. "Garrick will pay for upgrades and replacements to the Blackbird ongoing, ad infinitum."

  After a beat he said, "Gladly, Emissary." But Durga had noted his hesitation, and that was victory enough for her.

  Flying in the Blackbird was like nothing Durga had ever experienced, even counting the vague memory of orbiting in the Space Junque. The Blackbird's seating was plush leather, and the seats extended lengthwise to make beds. There was a full galley stocked with all kinds of good food and drink. The jet was fast and comfortable.