Pock's World

by Dave Duncan

  “A few dozen less of us and six hundred million less of you? You wage war by wiping out your own side!” The cuckoo’s threats were less frightening than his silent contempt had been. He looked like a boy and now he sounded like a boy, parroting what he had been taught. He was a child facing a horrible death.

  The dangerous cuckoos are the nestlings.

  Athena turned sadly to her companions. “Does anyone else have any questions to ask Umandral?” All heads shook. “You, Solan? Would you like to stay and play with Umandral for a while?”

  “That? That thing?” The detestation on Solan’s face mirrored the alien’s exactly. “It would eat me!”

  The hatred was instinctive; hominins tolerated no rivals.

  “You haven’t answered my question, Nine,” Glaum said. “I asked if you were born that color. Now that the commissioners have seen you, we can start serious interrogation. You can turn off some pain, but not all of it. If I shine the writhe in your eyes, for instance? Won’t that be fun? And we want to know where your brothers went. You came here to Hederal, but you must have an idea where the rest were headed. So I’ll make you a promise—as soon as we catch one to interrogate in your place, we’ll put you out of your misery and the pain will end. That’s a reasonable reward, isn’t it?”

  The youth said nothing, but his eyes were those of a cornered animal.

  Before Athena could object, Linn intervened.

  “You will not start any of that until the commissioners approve, Friend Glaum. We may have more questions to put to the prisoner later. He is not STARS’s captive, anyway. Is torture permitted in Hederal, Colonel?”

  Eryngo shot a worried look at Glaum, as if in search of instructions. “Torture of people is not,” she said. “But Nine is not human.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Linn announced. “He’s sentient. We came a hundred light years to see this boy, and you will not maltreat him any more until we are finished with him. You may continue your investigations, but avoid pain, indignity, and unnecessary violence. We shall confer with all the major police and security forces on the planet about this threat. That will take at least a fortnight.”

  Even Millie Backet had enough sense not to mention that the world was going to end early Sixtrdy. Somebody had reacted, though. Athena was watching Nine, and Nine was studying faces. He had noticed that wrongness.

  As she rose to leave, he suddenly said, “Athena?”

  “Yes, Umandral?”

  “I wasn’t born this color.” He studied her with big, dark eyes. “They spliced the Pocosin adaptations into us about eighty days ago, roughly.”

  “Thank you. And what planet were you born on?”

  He smiled, and suddenly his top-heavy face looked appealingly babyish. “I don’t know what you call it. It has three moons, one of them very small and retrograde.”

  “That’s not Malacostraca,” Skerry said.

  “Of course not,” Athena agreed. “As soon as the new genes took, the invasion force was dispatched by entanglement to the probe, right? A hop or maybe two. Just an hour or so altogether?”

  Nine nodded warily.

  “And the probe had been parked in distant orbit around Javel for years, maybe centuries. It just needed a minor course correction to bring it in when it was needed?”

  “Of course,” the boy said. “You are clever to work that out.”

  “No. I lied,” Athena said sadly. “We know from analysis of its orbit that it arrived in the system within the last two or three fortnights. You are clever to have noticed that the rest of us are not entirely friendly with the STARS team. You saw a chance to drive a wedge of distrust between us, didn’t you? Do you have any idea what his IQ is, Doctor?”

  “He won’t cooperate enough to be tested, of course. Based on his neuron density and firing rate, we estimate it as between 200 and 250.”

  Millie said, “Oh dear! That is very high!”

  “It’s higher than that,” Umandral said indignantly.

  Glaum looked over the off-worlders. “Well? Have you seen all you need here?”

  “It seems so!” Millie had regained her self-importance. “If we need to summon you to appear before us again, Chairman Glaum, how do we get hold of you?”

  Glaum said, “Write a note on a piece of paper and swallow it.”

  Solan and Umandral both laughed, and that uniquely human reaction made Athena feel even worse.

  Chapter 3

  Bright week had begun, so the sun would not set for seven days. Ratty went to bed in daylight and awakened in daylight. Joy’s bed was large for one person, snug for two. He had no complaints about that. Fondling was a wonderful way to be awakened. “If you insist,” he murmured. He rolled over and cooperated. Mattress moss was nice, but bed was better.

  “That was wonderful,” she said later.

  “It was. The woman is very well named.”

  “She has a very good teacher.”

  “Of course she does, but he has never had a more rewarding pupil.” It was silly lovers’ pillow talk, and it hurt horribly because he had given Bedel his word not to tell Joy about the end of the world. She was going to die. What he was doing was practically necrophilia.

  “My pregnancy will be a matter of worldwide interest. Monody is reborn only once in a generation. Everyone will want to hear all about the giver she chose this time. Streets and children will be named after you. You will have to get used to having people grovel to you.”

  I don’t have time. There is no time. “They always do.”

  “Oh, lover!” she told his collarbone, “I thought I knew what would happen, and I hoped it would be fun and we might do it again a few times, but now I can’t leave you alone, can’t keep my hands off you. Is this love?”

  He squeezed her as tight as he dared without hurting. “It’s infatuation. It can be the start of love. I feel it too. Enjoy it, because it’s the most exciting experience life has to offer and it never lasts long enough.” And this time it will be brutally short.

  “When do you have to go home? Why can’t you stay? You will come right back?”

  “Let’s discuss that after we’ve seen Bedel. Where are my friends? I’m supposed to be investigating a cuckoo infestation, not indulging my basest instincts in orgiastic decadence.”

  She punched him. “Don’t be rude! This is much more important. Let’s see… Mother’s back. She wants to meet you. She sends her congratulations.”

  “You already told her?”

  “Of course! I cognized everybody as soon as we were airborne last night. I even described your birthmark. The whole palace must know by now. The whole world will know by eclipse.”

  Just wonderful! “That’s wonderful,” he said.

  “Mm… Duty will be here shortly, and Oxindole is on his way from Hederal with your friends. Brace yourself for a family gathering.”

  Even the most junior Monody incarnation had apartments fit for a queen, and Joy’s bedroom opened onto a flowered courtyard containing a steaming natural hot pool. The sun was shining, the sky above the trees was blue. Ratty had just followed her into the water and settled neck-deep with a sigh of delight when another door flew open. Four girls came rushing out, squealing in great excitement. He yelped and folded up tight, while they lined up along the brink to admire the happy couple. They wore short pink capes on one shoulder and very little else; not one of them looked any older than Joy herself.

  “Meet Giver Ratty, girls,” she said brightly. “Isn’t he gorgeous? Don’t be shy, darling. They’ve seen men before. Find some clothes for him, Lakshmi. Red cape, of course. Otherwise dark blue, I think, and snug. Really snug!”

  “I can’t see how big he is!” said one, presumably Lakshmi. They all screamed with laughter.

  “Stand up and show her!” Joy commanded.

  She was serious. Reluctantly Ratty obeyed, sickly pale brown by local standards. All four priestesses at once began sniggering even harder. When Pocosin faces turned red, they turned very red.
<
br />   Worse, Joy joined in. “His back’s even worse!” she said. “Turn around and show them, dear!”

  Only then did Ratty realize that his arms and chest, even his legs, were covered with a wickerwork of scratches. Most of those had come from Joy’s struggle to keep him from reaching Quoad, but that was not the implication. He sat down again quickly. There was not one hickey on her, he was pleased to note. Pocosin skin was remarkable stuff.

  “Yes, dark blue,” Joy said, “and don’t forget tight.”

  * * *

  Pocosins slept indoors, Joy said, excepting the very poor. Eating was mostly an indoor activity, because rain spoiled the food. Anything else was done outside as often as in—except toward the end of dark week, when the weather might turn cool.

  The family had gathered in the stepped conical pit he had seen the previous day. Wisdom was there again, shrouded like a corpse as before, with Bedel and a slightly older version of Joy in a matching white gown. Ratty and Joy descended the stairs hand in hand, and dipped their knees to her simultaneously.

  Had he been given his choice at the start, Ratty might have chosen Love over Joy. She was undoubtedly older than he, but she had a full-bosomed ripeness that made her daughter seem leggy and brash. If Joy was Monody as youth, her mother epitomized her as lover. Her gaze as she inspected her wayward daughter’s choice held a convincing sultriness, suggesting that Bedel might have his hands full at times. She was a woman in her prime, trained to command, experienced, and ready now, if the universe unfolded as it should, to take her place as Duty, the ruling incarnation. She came forward with hands outstretched.

  “Blessings on you, honored ambassador and friend. Congratulations, both of you. By the Mother, child, did you have to rape him like that?”

  “Don’t be vulgar!” Joy shouted.

  Love gave Ratty a warm hug. “You are indeed welcome, Ratty, and please believe that to be chosen by Monody is an honor any male on Pock’s World would die for. I know Joy seems like a scatterbrain, but she looks out for her own interests, and we all have a good eye for men. Don’t we, love?”

  “Certainly.” Bedel embraced Ratty more formally. “I knew this was going to happen the moment I set eyes on you, friend. I thought it would take her a day or two longer, but I knew you were doomed. Come and sit with us.”

  “Just think, Bedel!” Joy said waspishly. “You might have been hugging Scrob.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” her mother said. “I was testing your sense of humor. Sit here, Ratty dear. Besides, you must agree Scrob had nice arms. His mother’s an astrophysicist, you know.”

  Food was on the way, Bedel said. And so were the other commissioners. Duty herself was just landing. Then his tone changed, and even through machine translation Ratty’s trained ear detected an Official Release. Here came the family’s considered judgment—

  “We happily accept you into the family as Joy’s child giver, Ratty, and you are welcome to enjoy the privileges of consort during your brief stay on Pock’s, but the office of consort carries certain duties. You would have to swear an oath to the Mother, for example, and we recognize that you are not of our faith. You would be responsible for Joy’s safety and would need weapons certification. I will appoint a couple of blue-capes to guard you both instead. Also, Joy is now of age…” He smiled. “As of today! From now on she will attend family conferences; an official consort is an advisor and has the right to express opinions even to Duty. Recognizing that this may conflict with your duties as commissioner, we suggest—”

  Joy opened her mouth to explode.

  Ratty squeezed the hand he was holding and said, “Just a moment, love!” They were treating Joy as a child. But if she were a child, what did that make him, after last night? He couldn’t have that. “Your Holinesses, Gownsman Bedel, it is true that I cannot in good conscience swear an oath to your Goddess. I certainly swore no oath to STARS, if that is what worries you, and I put my responsibilities to Pock’s World well ahead of my loyalty to Ayne at the moment. So here is an oath I can swear in good faith.”

  He clasped both of Joy’s hands in his. “Your Holiness, I solemnly swear that I love you truly, and I will continue to love and serve you with all my heart and soul for as long as I am able and you permit. This oath takes precedence over all other oaths and commitments.”

  Joy Oohed! with delight and kissed his cheek. “That’s lovely!”

  Bedel did not appear to share her view. “I see the food is coming, but if you lovebirds would rather go off somewhere and read poetry, we will understand.”

  He should have been able to improvise better than that. Again Joy opened her mouth to protest, and again Ratty halted her. Love was a matter of trust, and he had had enough of this hypocrisy.

  “As your advisor, Your Holiness, I advise you to stay right where you are.”

  Joy glanced quickly at him, then at the others. Her eyes narrowed as she studied her mother. “Are they hiding something from me, darling?” She was young and inexperienced, but she had the Monody brains.

  “Here’s the food,” Bedel said, looking as if he would like to serve roasted Turnsole as hors d’oeuvre. Five pages laid five trays beside five people in a silence so frigid that it was a wonder the hot pool did not ice over. Then they went trotting back up the stairs.

  Old Wisdom was the first to speak. “He’s quite right. I wish he wasn’t, but he is doing his duty as consort. She has the right to know.” She looked more haggard than she had the previous day.

  “Know what?” Joy yelled.

  “Ratty’s companions have been spreading evil rumors,” Love said. “Fortunately there is no truth to them. Tell her, dear.”

  Looking straight at Joy, and certainly not at Ratty, Bedel said, “You know that STARS discovered an interstellar probe in orbit around Javel, three weeks ago. Like all such probes, it is a captured nickel-iron asteroid. STARS has now leaked a story that the probe will impact Pock’s early on Sixtrdy, and the resulting explosion will cause planet-wide destruction and fire, followed by years of darkness and bitter cold. Some minor life forms may survive, but no human beings. STARS is claiming that it has arranged this in order to destroy the cuckoo invaders. Fortunately there is no truth to this story.”

  Inevitably, Joy’s first reaction was disbelief. She tried a smile. She looked at her mother, then at Ratty. The dream face became shadowed by horror.

  “Do you believe this?”

  “Bedel himself told me the news yesterday,” Ratty said. “He made me swear not to tell you. Were you lying to me, Consort? Is this some obscure Pocosin joke?”

  “I was taken in myself at first. I am sorry to have deceived you.”

  Ratty interrogated people for a career. His VERIT45 implant was not working at the moment, because it relied on the Ayne Brain’s computational power, but he did not need it to know that Bedel was lying now. He had not been lying yesterday.

  Joy probably agreed with that assessment, because her arm around Ratty was trembling.

  He said, “I am happy to hear the good news, of course. Sterilizing an entire world always seems so excessive, doesn’t it? So what has changed? Who exposed the STARS deception?”

  “Monody did,” said Love. “Duty. As she pointed out, it is inconceivable that the Mother will allow her children to be destroyed in this way. STARS is lying. Meanwhile we should eat.” She turned to inspect the tray beside her.

  “You mean your, er, mother… senior incarnation…”

  “Duty.”

  “Monody as Duty has been granted a divine revelation on the subject?”

  “Yes, she has. She will be here shortly.” Love was more convinced than her consort, but neither of them was going to persuade Ratty now.

  “What does Skerry say?” Joy demanded.

  Ratty was too busy watching Bedel squirm to ask who Skerry was.

  “Skerry has to rely on the data provided to him, dear.”

  Joy said, “I? Know? That? What? Does? He? Say?”

  “We should n
ot repeat vicious lies,” Love said with her mouth full.

  “Tell her,” said Wisdom. “She’s been to Quassia. She is not a child now.”

  “Oh, go on, then, tell her.” Love bit into a purple fruit.

  “According to Skerry,” Bedel said, “the latest readings are for impact early on Sixtrdy, bull’s-eye on the Hostie Caldera. There is no margin for doubt, he says.”

  “But the numbers may be faked,” Love insisted. “STARS is bluffing or just wrong. It will not happen.”

  Love ate. Bedel tried to. Wisdom picked at a few things, but she probably never ate much. Joy did not touch her tray, so Ratty could not. He was ravenous, but if he took one nibble it would show that he was different. He was not under sentence of death; he was going home soon. His conscience kept whispering in his ear, asking him how sincere his oath had been. He had sworn to love and serve Joy as long as he could and she permitted—suppose she too had a divine revelation and forbade him to take his seat on that final shuttle? She wouldn’t do that, would she?

  She shouted, “Stop cognizing in the middle of a conversation!” She glared at her mother. “You know that’s rude. Ask him yourself.”

  “Sorry,” Love said. “Just habit. Ratty, what was it that you saw on Quoad?”

  Oh, how Ratty wished he had not mentioned those! “Lights, pale blue mostly, standing on the stairs or moving up and down. Not unlike the flashes on Javel.” He suspected that there was still a lot of cognizing going on, although Love was smiling as a mother should be smiling on her daughter’s wedding day, not like a woman condemned to watch her world die. Bedel was silent and troubled.

  “There are always lights on Javel’s dark side,” Love said. “Monody taught us that they were the souls of the Querent dancing for the Mother. Your explanation of aurora and electrical storms is popular among non-believers. But lights on Quoad are rare. Did they speak to you?”

  “Yes.” He noted her shocked reaction. “I could not understand the words, but I felt they were calling me to go to them. I was on my way there when Joy tackled me.” Why had she? What would have happened if he had reached the base of the rock? “Is it a good omen or a bad one?”