Flood Tide

by C. J. Cherryh

  "This goes to my dear sister," Anastasi said, releasing the envelope into Mondragon's hand. "Tomorrow. I'm sure there'll be an answer."

  THE TESTING

  by Nancy Asire

  Autumn in Merovingen meant uncertain days: rain one morning, sun in the afternoon; chill temperatures one day, followed by warm winds the next. The uncertainty Justice Lee felt, however, had little to do with the weather. Something ominous had bloomed in the city during summer and now was coming to fruition.

  First he had noticed little things, simple things . . . the increasingly brusque manner of the priests at the College; the way people spoke quietly now on the bridges and walkways, some going so far as to look over the shoulder before engaging in conversation. Add to this the mix of new faces among the old; the way certain folk seemed to have nothing better to do than eavesdrop.

  And now the not unexpected summons had come from Father Rhajmurti, directing Justice to see him at once.

  Shivering slightly in a sudden brisk wind, Justice stepped inside the College and hurried across the entryway and up the stairs that led to the priests' offices. He surreptitiously glanced at the students he passed and felt slightly better when he saw they looked as uncertain as he felt.

  He paused briefly before Rhajmurti's door, straightened his shirt, and ran a hand through his windblown hair.

  "Come."

  Rhajmurti's calm response to the soft knock somehow reassured Justice. He stepped inside and stood facing his patron.

  "Ah, Justice," Rhajmurti said, looking up from a pile of papers spread out on his desk. He gestured to a chair close by. "I'll only be a moment longer."

  Justice sat down and studied his mentor as Rhajmurti flipped through one sheaf of papers, then started on the next. Though Rhajmurti's voice had sounded calm enough, Justice saw telltale marks of anxiety on the priest's face, the small lines of worry around eyes and mouth.

  "So," Rhajmurti said, shoving the papers to one side and looking up, his eyes catching the sunlight falling through the window. "Thank you for being prompt." He glanced toward the door.

  "It's shut tightly," Justice said, reading that look with a skill only years of association could grant.

  "Good." Rhajmurti leaned back in his chair, his posture giving the outward impression of relaxed attention. The fingers of one hand drummed a moment on the armrest, shattering the pose. "I don't usually ask you to come see me between classes, but today is an exception."

  Justice squirmed a bit at the seriousness in Rhajmurti's voice. Lord! What was going on now? More drugs? More—

  "I'm going to ask you to hold what I say in strict confidence," the priest said. "Strict confidence. Events have occurred recently that I'm sure you're aware of. There's a new wind blowing through Merovingen, and not a few will be swept away by it. I want to make certain you're not among those who don't weather the storm."

  "Do you mean—" Justice glanced at the door he had securely shut. "—Cardinal Exeter?"

  Rhajmurti's face went very still and he nodded briefly. "Adherence to strict Revenantist credos is being tested, Justice. Merovingen has never been a city that takes kindly to those of other—religions. Oh, yes . . . Adventists here aren't bothered if they keep their heads down and don't stir up trouble. But now trouble may be hunting them and others of their ilk. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  Ancestors! Does he know that I'm not really a Revenantist? That I go through all the motions while my heart isn't really in what I'm doing?

  "I think so," Justice said slowly. "A purge."

  "Of sorts," Rhajmurti agreed. "I want you to be very, very careful. While it's on record that you converted to Revenantism years ago, you come from an Adventist background. This has not, of course, escaped notice by some in the College."

  Justice's shoulders tensed. Raj. Oh, Lord. What about Raj? He's only newly converted.

  "I want you to remember the recent hanging," Rhajmurti said. "I want you to remember it at all times."

  "I don't think I'll forget. It was enough of a show."

  Rhajmurti sat up straight. "Listen to me, Justice! I'm deadly serious. What you just said could be held against you if heard by the right ears."-

  "It's not that I don't believe you. It's stupid, that's all. Some poor drunken fool stands up in some seedy tavern, curses the cardinals, and is executed for blasphemy. How civilized are we to hang him for being drunk?"

  "It wasn't his being drunk that got him hanged," the priest said, "it was what he said while being drunk that did it. I'm telling you, in utter, complete sincerity; don't speak until you've thought everything through, and I mean thoroughly thought about what you're going to say. And don't think yourself safe in your usual haunts. There are eyes and ears watching and listening in the strangest places."

  Justice leaned forward in his chair. "What's caused all this turmoil. Father?"

  "I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I'm sorry. There are certain things you'll have to take on faith. This is one of them. Suffice it to say that for those citizens of Merovingen who are not born Revenant-ists, things could get very dangerous in the future."

  "What about Raj?" Justice asked, thinking of his roommate, the mysterious heir to House Takahashi whom he had met canalside. "He's from Nev Hettek . . . an Adventist city . . . and newly converted himself."

  "I'm including Raj in this warning. Especially Raj. I want you to tell him everything I've told you. Raj isn't stupid. Tell him to keep his mouth shut and to watch what he says. House Kamat has not escaped notice in the past few weeks."

  No, it had not. Rumor had it that Richard Kamat himself had been "invited" to a talk at the College, with the indomitable Willa Exeter herself. Raj, being sponsored to the College by House Kamat, would be under certain scrutiny.

  "There is to be a testing," Rhajmurti said, folding his hands on his desk. "An inquiry, if you will, into the beliefs of all the students in the College. I don't know that exact date, but it's soon. Questions will be asked and individual responses recorded. If you've forgotten the teaching I gave you before you converted, I want you to study again."

  A shiver snaked down Justice's spine. "I haven't forgotten," he said.

  Rhajmurti smiled slightly. "I didn't think you had, but this is no time to let the slightest bit of hesitation cloud your mind. I'm going to be giving several catechism classes, and I want you and Raj to be present at all of them."

  "When?"

  "Starting tonight."

  "Father?"

  "Here, at the College. Most likely in one of the quieter classrooms."

  That probably meant a room far from the major activities. Justice nodded.

  "I'll be there. I'll talk to Raj—Father, if you can't tell me what's caused all the upheaval—can you at least tell me why?"

  Rhajmurti smiled, but the smile did not touch his eyes. "Change, Justice. A gathering of strength into new hands. When a hurricane comes, those who ride it had best be prepared."

  Rhajmurti sat staring at the wall, his mind a total blank. He sighed, stood and glanced down at his desk. There was nothing else he could do. He had said all he could say without jeopardizing -his own position as a priest, and Justice's position as a student.

  Justice would watch what he said, Rhajmurti was certain of that. But how much of a Revenantist was he? Rhajmurti prided himself on his pragmatic outlook on life, despite his priestly calling. He had never choked at gnats. But now . . . now the smallest unorthodoxy could spell death.

  He had never been quite sure that Justice believed everything he had learned before converting from Adventism. Justice was a model Revenantist . . . he knew the terminology, the feast days, the—

  Dammit! With things going the way they were, that was not enough. The questions asked in the testing given to the College students would be tricky, formulated to trip up all but the most fervent of believers. And he could not let his protégé—his unacknowledged son—fall victim to a well-turned phrase.

  He left his room, unsure where he was go
ing, letting his feet carry him where they would. Classes were over for him this morning; he would not be missed if no one found him in his office. He walked the halls, climbed the stairs to the residences.

  It was not until he stood in front of Father Trevor Bordinov's room that he knew why he had come this way.

  "Alfonso!"

  Trevor stood back from the opened door and gestured into the room.

  "What brings you here?" Trevor asked, closing the door.

  "Events. Moodiness. Apprehension. Maybe all three."

  "This is a change." Bordinov's thin face split into a grin. "You're usually the one to pull me off the walls. What's happened?"

  Rhajmurti glanced around the room. "Are we alone?" he asked in a low voice.

  "Of course. Now, what's bothering you?"

  "The same thing that's bothering you—that's bothering everyone."

  Bordinov's smile disappeared. "There's little we can do about it."

  "Ha! And you're the one I had to restrain from tearing the College down stone by stone not long ago."

  "And I thank all the gods you did. Vishnu protect, Alfonso. If it hadn't been for your voice of reason, I could have been caught up in all this mess."

  "I'm worried about my students," Rhajmurti said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was fighting off a growing headache.

  "I don't think there's a one of us who isn't."

  "I have several who used to be Adventist."

  Bordinov's eyebrows rose. "Justus?" he asked.

  "Yes. And then there's Raj, the medical student."

  "Oh, that one. The Takahashi heir. That was a coup for you, Alfonso, when he converted, him a Nev Hetteker and all."

  "It's the test, Trevor. I know how damned sticky some of those questions can be. I've decided to hold catechism classes."

  Bordinov gestured Rhajmurti to a chair and took another one facing him. "Fine idea. But you won't be able to anticipate a truly malicious tester."

  "That's what I'm worried about."

  "Politics."

  "What isn't any more?" Rhajmurti leaned his head back. "But I've got an idea." "Oh?"

  There might be something I can do. Like arrange to test my own students."

  "How? We don't even know who the testers are to be, or when the testing's to take place."

  "As for when ... I want to get those students tested at the head of the list. The sooner, the better. I've got a feeling the worst of this is yet to come."

  For a long moment, Bordinov sat silent. "How far have we fallen, Alfonso? I remember I asked you that once before. What's become of us when we value power more than spiritual learning?" He threw up his hands in resignation. "I know ... I know. You gave me all the answers the last time we talked, but I find them damned hard to swallow."

  Rhajmurti smiled. "Listen to us old ones, Trevor. We've seen a thing or two."

  "You're not much older than I."

  "True. But I've listened to my elders with a far more forgiving ear than you, you rebel."

  Bordinov grinned sheepishly. "I know what you're going to say. Stay alive long enough to come to power yourself. Then you can change things."

  "You learn well."

  "No one's accused me of being stupid. Now what about this scheme for getting yourself set up as a tester?"

  "I don't see why I can't. Any priest can ask the questions. I've taught enough catechism classes to qualify."

  "That's true." The ghost of a smile touched Trevor's face. "Who are you going after, Alfonso? Who are you going to manipulate?"

  "I'm not sure yet." Rhajmurti blinked against the rising pain of his headache. Tension. He knew tension had brought it on. "But I know where I'm going to start."

  Justice sat on the large, though somewhat threadbare couch that dominated the small sitting room, Sunny curled up enjoying feline dreams at his side, and watched without comment as Raj slumped down into one of the two chairs that faced the couch.

  "Bad morning?" Justice asked.

  "Hoo!" Raj leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. "I thought studying to be a doctor would be difficult, but I didn't realize how difficult."

  Justice leaned forward, balancing his arms on his knees. "You know. . . ." Justice grimaced. "Strange. Odd. Out of the ordinary."

  "I saw Krishna this morning," Raj said, "acting like a normal human being, and that's strange. I heard his father nearly killed him when he found out his dearly beloved youngest son was involved with drugs. It's a wonder he still has his room here at Hilda's. I expected m'ser Malenkov to order his son home and never let him out of sight again."

  Justice shrugged. "I guess Krishna squirmed his way out of yet another mess. He's been damned quiet lately. Maybe he got some good sense scared into him."

  Raj contemplated the ceiling. "You asked about strange. The priests are in a rare mood, that's for sure. I haven't seen them so terse and uncommunicative since I started my studies."

  "Then are you ready for some interesting news?" Justice slid forward so he sat on the edge of the couch. "And can you keep your mouth shut?"

  Raj looked down from the ceiling. "What now?"

  "Father Rhajmurti asked me to come to his office this morning. There's a purge of sorts starting, Raj, and I don't think I need to say anything more about it than that."

  "No, you don't." Raj's eyes darkened in the dim lamp light. "House Kamat has seen a portion of it."

  Justice waited, but Raj did not elaborate, which was probably for the best. "Well, it's not over and I think it's going to get worse. Especially for people like you and me."

  That got Raj's attention. The heir to House Takahashi sat up straight in his chair, his expression gone deadly serious.

  "How so?"

  "We're former Adventists. Converted, you know." Justice ran a hand down Sunny's side and was rewarded with a deep purr. "The cardinals are going to test us, Raj, all of us at the College; Revenantist testing. We're going to be asked questions by some priest and we're going to have to answer them correctly. And I mean correctly."

  "Is that all?"

  "Listen to me. These questions aren't going to be the kind that you can use your damned perfect memory on, Raj. They're going to be tricky, with hidden pitfalls. We're all going to have to reason our way through them."

  "Shit."

  "That's what I said. Rhajmurti is having catechism classes, starting tonight and he expects us to be there. He's going to try to help us through this."

  Raj rubbed his hands together. "Do you think he suspects that we're. ..." His voice trailed off.

  "Really Adventists? I don't know. Probably. But I've known him since I was a child, and he's never been anything but kind to me. If my being an Ad-ventist mattered to him, he wouldn't have paid such close attention to me when I was growing up."

  "When's this testing to take place?"

  "I don't know, and I don't think Rhajmurti does, either."

  Raj glanced behind at the closed door. "Is it Exeter?" he asked in a hushed whisper, as if the walls had ears.

  Justice nodded. "And Rhajmurti warned me—and you, indirectly—to watch every word we say. He told us to remember the recent hanging. There are spies out there, watching and listening. Anyone who says anything slightly out of line could get hauled in by College Security."

  "Lord and Ancestors!" Raj bit his lip. "I mean, gods!"

  "That's what I'm afraid of, Raj. An innocent slip of the tongue. You and I aren't afraid to think or talk that way when we're alone, but we could end up at the end of a rope if some College spy heard

  us."

  "But, House Kamat's Revenantist, and—"

  "Where are you from, Raj?"

  Rigel Takahaski cursed softly. "Nev Hettek. I'm damned from the start."

  "And newly converted, too. You're in it deeper than I am. I've lived as a Revenantist long enough for people to have forgotten I was born Adventist. And I'm scared, Raj. This isn't something that's going to blow over quickly."

  "Then I suggest we start studying
," Raj said. "Rama bless, what's going to happen to Denny?"

  "Tell him to keep out of sight and be the best damned Revenantist he can be."

  Raj sighed softly. "There's always a dark lining to every silver cloud," he said, turning an old saying inside out. "Just when things have started looking up for me, this happens."

  Justice scratched Sunny between the ears. "We'll make it. We've shared some tough times."

  "I know. But we've never faced religious tough times before." He smiled slightly. "I hope we're both up to it."

  "So do I," Justice said. "So do I."

  FLOOD TIDE (REPRISED)

  by C. J. Cherryh

  Mondragon left Kamat by the middle tier door, took the bridge that led toward uptown and tried not to think what Jones might be thinking by now. He had had no sleep. He reckoned that Jones had had none last night, either, waiting for him, but he had met with Anastasi in the last watches, and by then, when a cloudy, soggy dawn was threatening, he had taken a detour past Ventani on his way to Kamat and left a sealed note and a sol in Moghi's night-drop, that said only, Sorry, Jones. Hang on. Stay where you are. I'll explain later.

  Jones might well ask Moghi's lads to find him, but he trusted Jones herself would stay put for now, no matter what she might have to say to him later— you bought a night in Moghi's upstairs Room, and with it came a boy to run your boat into someplace inconspicuous and sit watch on it; food arrived outside the door; anything you wanted did—besides which you had Moghi's connections, which were extensive in Merovingen's dingy underside. Moghi fixed things, never got his own hands dirty, and God knew, he had bought priests as well as black-legs. Which was why Mondragon wanted Jones there, off the water, so long as the Ketch affair was running—

  God only knew, too, where it would run before it was finished. Delaree was doomed. Ketch and Rani were. He sensed Anastasi's increasingly dark and worried mood, and feared ... he had no idea what, but Anastasi's own survival was increasingly uncertain. Anastasi had made mistakes, minor ones, singly taken—but at least one or two of his enemies had consistently done the right things, chiefly encouraging Vega Boregy to slip Anastasi's ties and edge closer to Mischa Kalugin's hitherto laughable partisans—laughable no longer, now that Willa Exeter, Cardinal Willa Exeter, succeeded to absolute control in the College, purged her enemies under charges of heresy, and aimed at putting a malleable fool in Iosef Kalugin's office.