Lands of Nowhere

by Shannah Jay

  'Explain man from ssky,' the soft voice commanded.

  Herra began to speak, but one of the Elder's legs pressed lightly across her lips. It smelled of warm grass on soft summer days. 'No. Make pictures in head. Sspeak truth that way.'

  Where to start? With great difficulty Herra pictured life in Temple Tenebrak. It was more difficult to explain what Davred had told her about how the first exploration team from the Galactic Confederation had come to observe her newly-discovered planet from a satellite, since she knew nothing about the appearance of Confederation's gigantic space transports, except that they were even bigger than Temple Tenebrak.

  It further taxed her ingenuity to explain about Davred's need to escape from Robler, the Exec of the satellite, who had become increasingly hostile to the Sisterhood and who had threatened to send Davred back to Confex Central for siding with them against Those of the Serpent. After picturing Davred's descent to the planet in the lifeship, she finished with his later gift to the Sisterhood of the stasis cubes, Confederation devices which had saved the great temples from destruction by the rioters by immobilising everything within a certain radius.

  Soon her head was aching, but she pressed grimly on at the deleff's urging. The revelation that Davred was the eighth Manifestation of the God their Brother; his months in the temple, training with the novices; his marriage to Katia; the birth of their daughter Siri-Soo; the escalation of violence; those dreadful final weeks before they had to flee from Temple Tenebrak through the underground tunnels. She lost track of time in her desire to give an accurate description of the past few years.

  'Enough,' said a gentle voice and a leg brushed her lips again.

  'But I haven't finished.'

  'Giver of Words iss pleased. Will sspeak more later. Elder Ssister very tired. Dangerous to sspeak more now. Resst in grove. Great honour. Giver of Words very pleased.'

  Herra realised dimly that she was swaying on her feet.

  'Have tufful. Carry Elder Ssister to resting place.'

  Two or three hairy legs pushed her down and she was too weak to resist. She found herself half-lying across the back of some sort of low sturdy animal, which began to move slowly away from the High Council.

  'Resst now. Tufful carry.' A feather-light touch on her arm seemed to offer reassurance.

  'But my friends . . . '

  'Sstill assleep. Friends not wake till Giver of Words ssay.'

  Herra abandoned the attempt to think. Her head was aching furiously and none of the usual Disciplines was having any effect upon it. She leaned against the creature's neck and was only half aware of it stopping and herself being helped off. The surface upon which they laid her was so comfortable that she drifted off into sleep immediately.

  * * *

  When she awoke, it was dark and her headache was gone. The Elder SS'Habi was sitting patiently by her side. Herra could make out the strands of a flowering vine looping down from the trees around them. The colours were wrong, for the vines had blue flowers and pink leaves, springing from delicate red stalks.

  Something was giving off a dim light, which lent a delicate beauty to the scene.

  'Have I slept for long?'

  'Slept until headache gone. Giver of Words say wake now and eat.' The nearest leg passed across a large pink leaf on which glowberries and other fruits were heaped. Another leg offered a leaf loaded with little cakes and biscuits. 'Iss not,' the Elder seemed to be searching for words, 'iss not correct colour for Elder Ssister's food, but iss good for body. Not eat meat in Dsheresh. Grow special food for humans.'

  'Humans? Do you mean other humans live in this valley?' asked Herra, in between mouthfuls. She had to force herself to eat slowly and not snap at the little cakes.

  'Live - sss - not in valley - in other place, near valley. Called Dsheresh Kashal. Humans sspeak with Giver of Words sometimes. Explain things deleff find in - sss - in Twelve Claims.'

  'How long have they been here, these other humans?'

  'Long time. Deleff bring. Young deleff go travel, learn much, sometimes bring back humans. Not often.

  This one sspeak ssometimes with humans. Learn words. Learn new ideas. Keep humans peaceful. Musst be very peaceful for Giver of Words.'

  'Can I meet them, these other humans?' Herra tried not to betray her eagerness.

  'Not now. Sspeak with Giver of Words now.'

  'Again?'

  'Giver of Words much interested. Trying to understand trouble in Twelve Claims. Trying to understand Those of the Sserpent. Not liking.'

  Herra sighed. The last thing she felt like was another disorientating session with the deleff. 'Very well. But wait a few minutes, please.' She lay back and attempted a minor Discipline of Relaxation, but it quite failed to dispel her tension. Did the Disciplines have no effect here in the grove?

  'Pleasse.' The leg touched her arm gently. 'Giver of Words iss waiting. Musst wash. Very clean. Musst.'

  Herra bit off an angry refusal. She was growing tired of ritual washings.

  The second session with the High Deleffal was markedly shorter than the first. Herra's head was soon aching furiously, but as long as the questioning went on she did her best to answer.

  In the end, she had to stop. 'I'm sorry - Elder SS'Habi, please tell the High Council - I can do no more. I cannot think properly because my head hurts.'

  'Giver of Words thanks Elder Ssister. Resst now. Will sspeak again ssoon. Iss very interested. Iss very important to understand. Iss crisis for Twelve Claims. Musst understand problems. Keep Dsheresh peaceful.

  Musst.'

  Herra sank down on the tufful's back and knew no more until she woke in the grove to full daylight filtering through the leaves.

  'Musst wash. Giver of Words iss waiting.'

  Herra blinked and tried to collect her thoughts. 'I'm hungry. I must eat first.'

  'Giver of Words iss waiting. Iss much interessted. Not much time.'

  'I cannot continue without food, or my body will be damaged.'

  'But . . . '

  Herra shook her head. 'I mean no disrespect, but I'm not a young person and I must look after my body. I cannot speak to the High Council again until I've eaten.' And I can hardly bear the thought of speaking to them even then, she thought. Why in the name of all the Manifestations is it so urgent that these deleff know everything about us at once? And why cannot the others be woken to share this task of communication? And why, why, why does it hurt so much to speak to the High Council?

  The Elder SS'Habi scuttled across the clearing and spoke to the others, whom Herra thought of as guards.

  Although she understood not one word, Herra could sense the urgency in its tone. She closed her eyes again and tried to slip into a meditation, to relax her nerves, but it was even less successful than her previous attempts. For once, she could find no way to inner peace, no way to control her own body. She opened her eyes to find the Elder SS'Habi leaning over her and peering at her.

  'Iss ssomething wrong?' the creature asked. 'Or just tired?'

  'I'm very tired indeed - and my head still hurts. My body needs to move, to exercise, or it will become ill.'

  'Iss not time.'

  'Why not?'

  'Iss not. Just - iss not.' The guards returned. 'Eat food. Eat quickly. Giver of Words waits. Not time to explain now.'

  Herra ate slowly. The fruit was perfect, ripe and luscious, but she could derive little pleasure from its taste.

  'Now I need to walk.'

  'Cannot. Musst speak to High Council. Musst. Wait long time to find truth of Sisterhood. Musst know.

  Musst know everything.'

  Herra sighed and stood up, her head muzzy and throbbing.

  'Musst wash. Clean, very clean,' said that inexorable voice.

  What was the use of protesting? She and her companions were trapped in this valley unless the deleff let them go. The deleff had saved them once from certain death at the hands of Those of the Serpent, and had saved Davred again when Robler was trying to kidnap him and t
ake him back to the satellite. For that, if for no other reason, she and the Sisterhood owed the High Council a great deal. But the urgency of the questioning and the strain it was placing on her body were both quite incomprehensible. And speaking to the High Council was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

  So the sessions continued, each more painful than the last. Time blurred and the hours ran into one another until Herra lost count of how long she had been there in the grove.

  After a few days of this she became so dizzy and disoriented during the questioning session that she collapsed completely. Her last conscious thought was that the thin legs of the SS'Habi were stronger than she had expected, for they had stopped the grove from whirling around her, stopped the ground from hitting her in the face.

  * * *

  On the satellite Soo shook her head and looked at Mak. 'We're getting pictures again, but they're very faint, and no sound is coming through. With computer clarification, you can just see that Herra looks utterly exhausted. What's been happening to her while she's been out of contact?'

  'I couldn't begin to guess. She's a very strong woman, so it must have taken a terrible experience to do that to her. And yet, the deleff and those spider creatures don't seem hostile. Nor does she show any fear of them.'

  Soo shook her head in bewilderment. 'Mak, I have trouble monitoring the computer-enhanced recordings of the sessions with those deleff. It hurts even to try to watch them. Is it they who are causing the interference, do you think? How can that be when we've had no trouble recording the deleff back in the Twelve Claims?'

  He shook his head. 'It defies explanation, as do many things on this planet. What are you going to do?'

  'Just send copies of the whole thing off to Confex and leave them to worry about it.' She smiled. 'I showed them to Robler and he couldn't stand to look at them, either. He got very angry and accused me of tampering with the recordings.'

  'Has he come to any decision yet about the planet? Surely he's not still intending to recapture Davred!'

  Soo smiled grimly. 'I don't know about Davred, but Robler's made a decision about the planet: he's withdrawn his recommendation for Full Contact with Sunrise. The way the whole party lost consciousness -

  and there's still no clue as to how that was done - it could be dangerous to let such a power loose in the Confederation. And then there's the instantaneous transmission. No one else has discovered how to effect that. It could be a crucial discovery.'

  'Logically, instantaneous transmission should be impossible. But logic seems to have little to do with Sunrise and the Sisterhood. Many of their Gifts are also logically impossible. Have you found out where Herra is yet?'

  'No. The tracer places Herra in one location with a lake, and all we can see in that location from the aerial scanners is arid scrubland, with no animal life, so she just can't be there.'

  'It makes less and less sense.'

  'No sense at all. But if it stops Robler recommending Full Contact, this latest encounter's done one good thing, though at a dreadful cost to Herra. Robler won't dare do anything but observe the planet for quite some time now.'

  'It hasn't made him any less suspicious of us, though.' Soo linked her arm with Mak's, still staring at the fuzzy image the tracer was broadcasting. None of her equipment, the most advanced in the Confederation, had had the slightest effect on its lack of clarity or would produce even a hint of sound. Herra seemed to be asleep naturally again, this time under a shady tree on the shore of the lake near some sort of island. Computer enhancement showed her still looking exhausted, with two of the spiders standing guard next to her. They kept staring around them, as if they were waiting for someone.

  Soo turned to another com-channel. Davred's tracer was broadcasting only darkness, which the computer suggested might be the interior of a cave. Although the personal life monitor said that Davred was still alive, he had not moved for days, nor had any of the others. All their body processes were so slow that Soo wondered if they would recover. No humans had ever managed to slow their bodies down like that before.

  She felt completely helpless, caught between Robler and the incomprehensible, and without thinking, she pressed closer to Mak for comfort.

  He ran a fingertip lightly down the side of her face. 'Forget Robler, Soo. We have fifteen standard hours off duty now. Let's use them to relax.'

  She let out a long sigh. ' If Robler doesn't find some excuse to call me back on duty; he's doing that for the least thing lately - it's very wearing.'

  'If he tries, I'll just tell him you're asleep.'

  'He'll only have to look at my life monitor to see that I'm not.'

  'Forget him.' Mak bent his head and began to kiss her. 'Think only of us.' He had never before felt like this about a woman. It was a source of wonder and joy to him that Soo returned his love. His family wouldn’t understand or approve, but the people on his planet were wrong about that as they were about so many things

  - things he had only begun to understand since he had joined the satellite and started observing Sunrise.

  CHAPTER 3 DSHERESH KASHAL

  When Herra awoke, she was no longer in the grove but in a kind of hut. Where am I now? she wondered wearily. She looked around for the usual SS'Habi attendant, but saw no one. When she tried to get up, her head began to spin the moment she lifted it from the pillow. Only then did she realise she was in a proper bed, covered by a white sheet and she sighed with pleasure as she snuggled against the softness of the pillow.

  Footsteps came towards the hut. Herra braced herself and tried again to sit up, but even with the full concentration of her will she had to abandon the attempt. She was just too weak and disorientated. The door opened and a young woman came in.

  'Ah, you're awake. That's good. We've been worried about you, Elder Sister.'

  'You know who I am?'

  'The SS'Habi told us. We're honoured to have you with us.'

  'Where am I? Every time I wake up, I'm somewhere different.' Herra knew that she sounded like a querulous old woman. Well, she was old, very old, and weary beyond reason. At least, she felt it today.

  'You're in Dsheresh Kashal - our village. There's a colony of humans here. The deleff occasionally bring people back through the portals, but most of us are the descendants of earlier arrivals. You shouldn't try to talk yet. You must feel awful. Let me give you some of this tufful milk.'

  Herra allowed the woman to help her drink. She gulped down the milk, for she was desperately thirsty. She sensed that her companion was concealing something, but was too tired to do anything about it. 'Are my friends here too?'

  'Friends? Were there others with you?' Eagerness blazed on the woman's face.

  'Yes. There were eight of us.'

  'The deleff have sent only you. And the SS'Habi said nothing about your friends. Are you sure they survived the portal? Are you sure they're - well - still alive?'

  'Oh, yes. I saw them. Their body processes had slowed down, but they were most definitely alive.'

  'Then you needn't worry about their safety. The deleff don't believe in violence.' She held out the cup again. 'Please drink the rest of the milk. It'll help you to recover.'

  'And how long will that take? I can't understand why I'm so weak!'

  'I don't know how long it'll take you to recover. Everyone is affected differently. The SS'Habi said that you’d had several sessions with the High Council.' She looked at Herra in awe.

  'That wasn’t by my choice,' Herra commented drily. 'It's a most uncomfortable process.'

  The young woman shuddered. 'They don't seem to understand how hard it is for us to communicate with them, do they? I was taken to Dsheresh once. They insist on meeting everyone from Dsheresh Kashal once they reach the age of sixteen. We don't know why. And all new arrivals from the Twelve Claims are checked, too. If the deleff get interested in something they interrogate people, as they have you, then send them here to recover. We're quite used to it now and know what to do. The main thing is for you
to rest.'

  'Who are you?'

  'My name is Narla Nel-Kereth.'

  'You're from one of the Halani claims?'

  'My mother was. I was born here.'

  Herra could feel her eyes closing. She tried to stay awake, but the drowsiness grew. 'You put something in the milk!' she said accusingly. She hadn’t even thought to check it before drinking.

  'Yes. You have to sleep. And it's hard to sleep naturally after speaking to the High Council. When you wake up, you'll feel much better, I promise you. It's for your own good.'

  Against her will, Herra's eyelids closed, shutting out this confusing new world.

  * * *

  When she woke up again, the light inside the hut was different. It seemed to be very early in the morning.

  Which morning? She’d lost track of the days. She raised her head cautiously. There was still a sense of weakness, but the debilitating dizziness had lessened. She noticed a small handbell on a stool next to the bed, an invitation to summon help, but she didn’t use it. Better to explore her surroundings first.

  Very slowly, she stood up. She was dismayed to find how weak she still was. She had to wait for a moment or two before trying to walk. When she moved, the room seemed to jerk around her, as if it wasn’t quite in focus. She stumbled and knocked over the small stool, sending the handbell jangling across the floor.

  'Dear Brother, look down with kindness upon a very weak Sister,' she murmured, smiling at her own clumsiness. She stretched her arms out for balance and very slowly, like someone drunk on festival ale, she lurched across to the window. There, she had to stop and hold on to the wooden window frame for a moment or two. There was no glass in it, but there was a fine-meshed blind covering the opening and through it she could see a village street. It was unpaved, flanked by an irregular line of huts, all as flimsy as the one she was in. They were set untidily in patches of garden, as if small children had dropped them there like discarded toys. It seemed to be early still, though it was already quite hot. A flying lizard was curled up in a patch of sunlight and two butterflies were pirouetting above a flowerbed, but there was no one in sight, not even a child playing.