Yes. That is part of it.
I don’t understand. If the Post-Species can manufacture it, why would they need this supply?
Naturally occurring quixite has been proven to have certain properties that the manufactured material does not. I imagine the Post-Species have a need.
Nova, could you ask Wanton if it has any knowledge of this.
Insignia and Mira waited while Nova conferred with the injured Extro.
Wanton is unsure. It wonders if maybe it is to do with longevity, in the way your innate genetics offered better Host a-amal-g-am.
Nova stumbled over amalgam, as she had Non-Corporeal.
Thank Wanton for me, Nova. Tell it that I will do everything I can to secure what it needs.
Wanton knows that already, Nova thought to her gravely. And then, in a way that Mira knew was only for her, she added, But you must be quick, Mama.
Mira leaned back fully into Primo and let it subsume her.
Insignia, she thought. Hurry.
BALBAO
The guards took Ra away without warning. Not a bad thing, Balbao thought, for the animosity between him and Connit was making it all very unpleasant.
The tension dropped, and one by one the others shared their stories. Balbao learned more about Sammy’s role in Consilience, and how she’d smuggled Tekton and a young scholar named Thales Berniere aboard. Hob shared his memories of the Stain Wars, which, though interesting, went on a little.
Balbao found himself changing the subject by voicing a question that had been burning his tongue.
‘Miranda, what did Lasper Farr mean by thanking you? What was the virus he mentioned?’
Miranda, who had begun to revive after several tubes of water and some repose, visibly flagged; she looked to Jise for support.
‘We have long had a policy of not discussing our personal projects for the Entity,’ said Jise limply.
Balbao scowled. ‘A moot point at this stage, tyro. The Entity is gone, and sharing knowledge may be our only means of survival.’
Sammy, Hob and Connit said nothing but watched intently.
Eventually, Miranda cleared her throat. When she spoke, it was only in a whisper. ‘My brief from the Entity was “Show transformation.”’
The others looked at each other, puzzled.
‘That’s all it said. From what Jise has told me and from what I can gather, it was the same for all of us. I interpreted within the only context I could—the medical model. Pathology is my special interest area, so I created a virus that changed — transformed—humanesque brain function. I’m embarrassed to say that Sole was not impressed, so I sold the virus on the open market. It was bought by an ‘esque on Scolar. That’s all I know.’
‘What exactly did the virus do?’
She rubbed her chins self-consciously and sighed. ‘It affects the orbito-frontal lobes, which manage decision-making. Potentially, it can change the process by which ‘esques view the world. The brain has an unlimited capacity to learn. If you change one function, others are affected.’
‘That sounds dangerous, in the wrong hands.’ Balbao did not bother to keep the accusation from his tone.
She flushed. ‘I’d used up my entire stipend and needed funds. They are ridiculously mean for what is required. How could I embark on another project without financial resources?’
Balbao reflected bitterly for a moment on the flaw in the whole tyro scheme. It was an upscale version of the pressure placed upon most academics in studiums. Funds meant professional survival—they became an end instead of a means. He understood Miranda’s dilemma, but that didn’t excuse her from selling something dangerous to the highest bidder.
His disdain of the tyros changed into something more deep-seated and unforgiving. It also triggered an uncomfortable notion. ‘Labile, what was your project for Sole?’
Farr’s biological son stared at his hands, taking his time to answer. ‘My brief was “Show strength.” I was designing a structure that could withstand force.’
‘Jise?’
Jise was nodding to himself, as if working through an internal monologue. When it was time to speak, though, he dropped his head as if embarrassed. ‘“Show truth.” And the truth of that is that I had not progressed far. I found it impossible to capture the concept. I know law and rules and evidence, but they are not relevant to the truth. The relativity of truth makes it elusive.’
Miranda stared at him. ‘But you told me that—’
Jise gestured weakly. ‘You were doing so well. I didn’t want you pitying me, or trying to help.’
She lifted her hand and brushed his forehead lightly with her fingertips. ‘I fear we’ve been incredibly foolish, spending our time pleasing a creature that cares little for anything.’
Balbao listened intently. There was more to this than they could see. ‘Have you ever thought that the Entity had a purpose? Other than interacting with us? Other than learning about us?’
‘Other than that?’ echoed Jise. ‘No. I thought that we were a novelty. Something it hadn’t encountered before. I believed in its curiosity. Mirroring ours, I suppose.’
‘My thoughts were similar,’ said Miranda. She held Jise’s hand again. They were like peas in a large pod, thought Balbao: both fleshy and indulgent with sharp self-centred minds.
Connit climbed off his bunk and moved to lean against the solid wall. ‘I see what you mean, Balbao. But what use is that notion? We don’t know what it asked the others for, and even if Ra tells us about his project—this device he speaks of—three of us have perished on Belle-Monde, and Tekton ... Crux knows where the devious fellow is, or what he has done.’
Sammy and Hob, who had been silent throughout, watched Connit with clear fascination. Neither had known, Balbao guessed, that Commander Farr had offspring.
‘You don’t hold with your father’s beliefs, then, young ‘un?’ blurted out Sammy.
Connit looked at her, confused and a little irritated. ‘If you’re speaking to me, my name is Labile or Connit. I’m not my father, nor do I wish to follow his path.’
‘Where do yer figure about the scheme of things? You with OLOSS or Consilience?’
Connit looked momentarily flustered. His lean face flushed with emotion of some kind. ‘That would be none of your business and irrelevant to our current conversation.’
‘None of me business, maybe,’ said Sammy, ‘but pretty damn relevant, to my mind.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Balbao.
Sammy looked at Hob, who nodded encouragingly.
‘Well,’ she began, in a voice so low that they craned forward to hear her. ‘Things go like this...’
TRIN
Trin saw Djeserit before she saw him. She was using the moonlight to pick her way slowly over and around boulders.
‘Djes,’ he called softly, so as not to startle her.
‘Trinder!’ Her gasp of relief lifted him a little from his exhaustion. He had known she would look for him, but expected her to have followed his path, not anticipated it.
She scrambled quickly to reach him and threw her arms around his waist. He leaned against her, taking a moment to share his weight and feel her body against his.
‘Juno has gone the other way, following the track he thought you would take.’
‘And you chose to do the opposite.’
She looked up at him. Her skin had dried out and regained its papery texture now she was spending less time in the water, and he could see traces of blood and bruising.
‘You’ve been injured?’
She leaned back from him. ‘And you, Principe... your face and hair.’ She reached up to touch the clotted mess. ‘Did you fall?’
‘I was pushed.’ He couldn’t keep the angry tremor from his voice.
‘Innis?’ she whispered.
He gripped her arms and pulled them both down onto a rock. ‘How do you know that?’
‘He came back to the caves some time after you left. He told us he’d gone out looking for fo
od, and on his way back heard a noise and saw you fall. He said that your body was lost, that you were dead.’
She began to cry, soft noises and tiny, spare tears, as though her system could barely stand to lose the water.
‘Did you believe him?’
‘Juno was suspicious. He insisted that Innis show them.’
‘And you came alone, the other way?’
‘Not alone. Joe is with me. He went higher, to look for you there.’ She pointed.
‘Joe Scali is with you?’ Trin’s relief abated, and suspicion replaced it. He hated the thought of Joe alone with Djes again.
She felt the change in his manner, his stiffening.
‘Trinder?’
He nearly told her how he felt—the jealousy born from seeing her with Joe on the beach that night—but pride and wariness stopped him. He was Principe.
‘We must get back. Innis Mulravey will be called to answer. And I have news.’
‘You found water?’ Her voice lifted.
‘Si. Water and something—’ He broke off as little rocks began to tumble down from above.
‘Joe,’ Djes called out. ‘I’ve found him! The Principe is here.’
They waited in silence as more rocks skittered past them, and Joe Scali slid and climbed his way down to where they sat.
‘Over here,’ Trin called him closer.
‘Principe,’ gasped Joe as he reached them. He threw his arms around Trin with relief. ‘I knew he lied.’
Trin grasped Scali’s shoulders briefly and then pushed him away. ‘Let’s hurry or the light will beat us.’
Djes stood and took his hand. ‘Lean on me,’ she said.
He dearly wanted to. Every part of his body hurt, but the worst was his head. With each movement, shocks of pain shot up from his neck and shoulders. Yet leaning on Djes was something he couldn’t do. He must never do. As it was, too many of them saw her as his strength.
* * *
They reached the caves as Leah lightened the sky from a warm black to a heat-heavy grey. Tivi Scali was on sentry duty and shouted to all those settling for daytime sleep.
By the time Trinder, Djes and Joe had reached the shady protection of the overhang, everyone had assembled.
Trin interrupted exclamations and questions with an abruptly raised hand. ‘Where is Innis Mulravey?’ he demanded.
‘He and Juno have not returned,’ said Tivi.
‘My brother said he saw you dead,’ added Cass Mulravey. She pushed her way to the front of those gathered, Mira Fedor’s ‘bino in her arms. The baby had an unworldly look about him: overly thin, like the rest of them, with large serious eyes. Even now, with so many concerns on his mind, the ‘bino made Trin uncomfortable.
‘Your brother stole up behind me and pushed me from a rock,’ Trin declared with vehemence.
‘No!’ The denial ripped from the woman in a way that sounded part apology.
Trin glared at her. ‘At first dark the carabinere will look for them both.’ He glanced at Tivi. ‘Take the spears.’
‘No—’ This came from Cass Mulravey again, but another voice drowned out hers.
‘Principe? What of Juno?’ asked Josefia Genarro. She squeezed through the crowd to stand alongside Tivi. ‘What if he is—’
‘Juno can care for himself, Josefia,’ said Trin firmly. They could do nothing about it during the light but hope that Juno was safe and had found shade.
‘You can’t jus’ accuse Innis of tryin’ to murder you,’ said an angry voice.
Trin located the source of it, standing behind Cass Mulravey: the tall woman, Liesl, who’d been sleeping with Innis.
‘He ain’t even here to defend himself,’ Liesl added.
Trin touched the crust of blood in his hair. ‘And I was not able to defend myself when he pushed me from behind, hoping to murder me.’
‘Don’t say that about him!’ she shouted.
Cass Mulravey grabbed her wrist, twisting it, urging quiet.
But even Mulravey’s action didn’t stop the wave of righteous anger that poured from Trin. ‘I am Principe!’ he roared back at Liesl. ‘I do not lie!’
He’d never shown them such raw anger before, but this woman’s bald accusation inflamed him beyond thought.
A tension overtook the group; wary eyes glanced around.
Djes put a calming hand on Trin’s arm. ‘We should all rest. The Principe is injured and hungry, and must be tended.’
Liesl looked as if she wanted to say more, but Cass Mulravey stepped in front of her. ‘We’ll bring some food in.’
Cass and Djes nodded to each other, and Trin felt a swell of misgiving—as if they indeed lead the survivors, not he. Their complicity worried him, and yet he was too exhausted to think more about it.
Instead, he walked stiffly into the cave, mollified by the fact that that at least the refugees parted respectfully to let him through. Inside the cave he turned and looked back at them. Most were watching him still, except Mulravey, who was looking at Josefia Genarro. ‘I’ve found more water,’ he said. ‘We need no longer carry it up the mountain and risk the ligs.’
A small cheer rose.
Trin found his spot in the cave and sank gratefully onto the brush bed, knowing he had been right to give the news of the water last.
Djes followed him in with some berries and dried fish. As he ate, she tried to tend to his head wound, but he waved her away. He needed sleep first.
* * *
She woke him later by gripping his hand, her hot breath close to his ear. ‘Trin.’
He rolled towards her, reaching to pull her closer.
She resisted, speaking again. ‘Liesl’s made trouble while you’ve been resting. A group of them are leaving.’
Trin struggled to sit up, his skin stinging and his head aching.
Djes handed him a shell of water, which he swallowed quickly to ease his sore throat. The cave was dimmer than when he’d laid down to sleep, and he could see the pinprick lights in the night sky through the opening.
‘What’s happening?’ he asked her, to be sure.
‘Innis is back. He and Liesl have persuaded some to leave with them and find another part of the island.’
‘Juno?’
‘Innis says they became separated.’
Fury coursed through Trin in an instant. ‘Is Cass Mulravey siding with him?’
‘No, not yet, but you should come now.’
Trin used the wall to help him to his feet. He felt hot and dizzy and his tongue seemed swollen. A fever?
‘What is it?’ whispered Djes.
He pushed away from the wall. ‘Nothing.’
There was no one else in the cave. The whole group was outside, standing in a ragged circle.
As he drew closer, a wave of nausea beset Trin. He turned his head and swallowed the vomit that rose up his throat.
No one seemed to notice; they were too concerned with their argument.
‘You can’t take our food,’ said one of the Pablo miners.
‘We worked for it. We’re entitled to some,’ said Liesl. Trin could see Innis next to her, gaunt and belligerent and filthy. He held a spear in one hand and a club in the other.
The ‘esque on his other side was one of theirs. Marrat was his name, Trin thought; he’d been a bullish type
in earlier times. Now he was as lean and weak as the rest of them.
Several of the women stood behind Liesl, including Tina Galiotto, his madre’s servant. Just under a third of their females—too many to lose.
Kristo stood opposite Innis, with Cass Mulravey next to him.
‘There’s too few of us for this, Innis,’ said Kristo. ‘Use yer brains. We need each other to survive.’
‘I’m sick of being kicked around,’ Innis shot back.
‘Lennie.’ Cass used her pet name for him. ‘Where’ve you been?’
‘I’ve been thinkin’ and lookin’ around on my own. Not because I’ve bin told to do it. Crux, Kristo, ain’t you had enough? O
r’ve you gone soft on aristos, like you did with that high and mighty bitch Mira Fedor? I shoulda stitched her up proper back in Ipo. Then she wouldn’t have gotten away and left the rest of us here to fr—’
Kristo launched himself at Innis, taking him full in the chest. They fell together, tumbling into Marrat and the women behind him.
Trin’s madre, Jilda, screamed, and suddenly everyone was moving—pushing, shoving or shouting.
It’s been coming. The thought hit Trin’s consciousness as he stepped into the melee. Now we’ve stopped running.
‘Tivi! Joe!’ he bellowed. ‘Arrest Innis Mulravey.’
Both men detached themselves from the melee and hastened into one of the caves. They reappeared within a few heartbeats, armed with spears and clubs of their own.
Making weapons was a mistake. Another glancing thought. No, he thought again. This was coming.
Someone knocked him forward to his knees. Josefia Genarro moaned and cursed in his ear, scrambling to get off him. Trin twisted and took her arm, helping them both up.
Liesl stood, glaring at them, fists half-raised. She kicked out at Josefia, catching her in the thigh. Before Trin could intervene, Josefia threw herself at the taller woman in much the same way as Kristo had at Innis.
Trin jerked his head around. Kristo had his hands around Innis’s throat. Marrat was kicking Kristo.
Tivi and Joe ran across, shouting, readying their spears.
Trin looked back. The korm had intervened, pinning Liesl to the ground at Djeserit’s instruction. Josefia was bleeding from the nose and mouth.
Trin gazed between the groups, caught by indecision. Then Juno Genarro burst back into the clearing.
‘Principe! He tried to kill me! Innis tried to kill me.’ Blood smeared his robe and his face.
Before Trin could respond, Tivi Scali’s voice rose above the rest. ‘Let go, Kristo,’ he bellowed. ‘Let go, so I can stick him.’
Kristo let go of Innis’s throat and rolled away, but Innis responded by rolling after him, clawing at him.
Tivi Scali raised the spear. ‘Let go of ‘im, you bastard,’ Tivi screamed.
Cass Mulravey’s ragazzo bolted from behind his mother to throw himself across his uncle.
The Sentients of Orion Page 110