The Price of Wisdom

by Shannah Jay

  Time also to intervene when Petur and Taslyn quarrelled, as they did all too frequently.

  There had been time also to prepare herself for the battle to come, not an easy task for one bred to peace. And, most important of all, time to prepare herself for what she felt would happen after the battle. She realised that the SS'Habi was speaking again.

  'Deleff will come tomorrow to train watchers. Come at dawn. In few days can have watchers at all portals.'

  'We shall be ready.' Herra moved to lay one hand on the furry limb of the Elder SS'Habi, for in a strange way, the two of them had become friends.

  'Not long to live now for thiss one.' The Elder SS'Habi indicated herself.

  'Not long for me, either,' Herra said. 'I've known that for a while. Do you know what happens to your people after death?'

  'Not know clearly. But deleff ssay not end. Live many times. One day know enough to cross the alignments, like deleff. Long time yet. SS'Habi young species.'

  'I think this time I shall be crossing the alignments myself - though it's different for humans. Not quite like the deleff. It's much harder for us, I think. Perhaps we're a young species, too.'

  One of the rope-like limbs rose to rest lightly across Herra's forehead. 'But Elder Ssisster iss very old, very wise. Iss honour to know you.'

  'I consider it an honour to know you, too.'

  'Thank you.' The limb slid slowly down and the Elder SS'Habi turned to remount the sled.

  Herra knew it’d be the last time she ever saw her.

  ***

  That same day Sen-Sether stood in the inner shrine and offered himself to his god. The deep rumbling sound of the Serpent's voice filled his body with a vibration that filled him with dark ecstasy.

  This time it drove away all consciousness of the world around him, though his brain remained alert and responsive.

  This was a new development. The capacity to meld with the Serpent had been growing slowly in him during the past few years, and although it had galled him to wait so long before gathering an army and starting off for the High Alder to kill that hag and put down the Kindred once and for all, his Serpent Lord had made him understand that this delay was necessary if they were to be sure of winning.

  'Dread my Lord?' It was both a question and a submission to the will of the Serpent.

  'It is time to act, my brave servant. At last we are ready.'

  The words vibrated inside Sen-Sether's head, sending joy flooding through his veins. 'Aah!'

  'Gather your army together and start the Great March. We shall face them there in the north, where I haven’t yet held sway, face and overcome them.'

  The rumbling became almost a purring sound. Most people couldn’t hear it properly, only sense it in their bones, nor could they distinguish its cadences as clearly as Sen-Sether.

  'All able-bodied men from the southern claims are to accompany you on the march. Every single one. The new incense will ensure their ongoing obedience.'

  Sen-Sether frowned. 'The incense isn’t yet fully tested, Dread my Lord. We don't know how long it will hold them for.'

  'We can no longer wait for more tests. People are still making their way across the Twelve Claims to join the hag and her followers. And now they come down from the sky. This is the time to start moving. The right time. I shall soon rule the Twelve Claims, then we shall take the new settlements before we start moving west then upwards into the sky. Aah!' With a long sigh the Serpent vanished into his own realm.

  The smile that lingered on Sen-Sether's face after his Dread Lord had faded away was as full of hatred as amusement. 'So, Elder Sister,' he said aloud. 'It is time. I look forward with much pleasure to our next encounter.'

  He had greatly extended his powers since they last met and was sure of winning.

  CHAPTER 14 NORTHWOODS

  Humming cheerfully, Davred strode into his quarters in the long low group house where he and Katia lived with their children and the other people with whom they’d shared their long journey.

  Benjan and the others now seemed closer than any family.

  Quinna was the only one of the original group not living here, for she disliked crowds and Northwoods was quite a big town nowadays. She still shared a home in the forest with Katia's grandfather, but she and Kensin were regular and much loved visitors.

  Davred stopped and grimaced as his tracer suddenly started making fizzling noises. Someone from the satellite was trying to make contact. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to respond. He stared across at

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  the shelf on which the slim black box lay. He’d got into the habit of calling it a tracer, which was one of its main functions down on a planet, but it also served as a com-unit. Years ago, he’d stopped carrying it about with him, because the more enmeshed he became with the Kindred, the less he liked the feel of the tracer or the thought that Robler could track him through it.

  Of course, he was still inevitably linked to the satellite by his inbuilt life monitor system, but he didn't think there was any way Robler could gain access to that. He and the others had been assured before these life monitoring webs were implanted in their bodies that only the diagnosis-systems of the various Confex medi-centres could ever activate any of their functions. And certainly Robler had never tried to use the web during any of his attempts to force Davred back to the satellite.

  Reluctantly, hoping he wasn’t going to have another confrontation with the Exec, Davred went across the room and picked up the tracer. Activated by the chemistry of his hand, it immediately switched to speaking mode.

  'Davred?'

  'Yes?'

  'Thank goodness! It's Kerem here. Meera, Met and I have left the satellite. We had to leave the satellite. We're in a lifeship now heading down to the planet. Is it all right if we join you in the High Alder?'

  Meera's slightly husky voice joined in. 'We haven't anywhere else to go, Davred. Please don't turn us away.'

  He was astounded at how distressed she sounded. Meera, tranquil smiling Meera, near to tears? And Met - the greatest stickler for following the regulations who’d ever been born - disobeying the rules to come down to Sunrise? 'Of course you can join us here. What's happened?'

  A disembodied voice suddenly interrupted. 'Please indicate a suitable landing place, Davred Hollunby.

  Estimated five minutes to arrival over the High Alder.'

  'All right. It'll take me a minute or two.' Still holding the tracer, Davred ran outside, quickly scanning the terrain for a safe landing spot.

  Benjan saw him and could tell by the way Davred was moving that something was wrong, so immediately ran across to join his friend. 'What's the matter? You look upset.'

  'Some more of my colleagues are fleeing down from the satellite at this very minute. They want to know where to land.'

  'What's happened up there now?'

  'I don't know.'

  Benjan frowned. 'Could these people be spies?'

  'I don't think so. They sounded genuinely upset.'

  Benjan stood for a moment scanning the surrounding terrain. 'The town meadow would probably be the best place for them to land, then. It's the most level piece of ground we have. How much space will the lifeship need?'

  'About a tenth of the meadow. But we don't want it to hit anything. Or to terrify the animals.'

  'Let's go and see if there are any nerids grazing there at the moment, then.'

  Both men ran through the strip of woodland that bordered Northwoods, coming out a minute later on the edge of the meadow. As good luck would have it, the nerid herd was just trailing back to the sheds for the morning milking.

  'I'll go and send a message to the herders to keep clear of the meadow. You tell your friends what to do.' Benjan ran across to the lad driving the nerids. 'Tell everyone to keep away from the meadow! Men and beasts both. There's a flying ship about to land there. Some friends of Davred.

  Spread the word, will you?'

  The lad nodded. Everyone in the High A
lder was aware of how the Lord Davred had come down to Sunrise, and aware of the existence of the Galactic Confederation, too, for the Kindred were acting with complete openness. Robler would have been astounded at the capacity of the people of the Twelve Claims to understand all this, for he still considered them primitives, even his ally, Sen-Sether.

  The people at Confex Central would have been surprised, too. People at a low level of technological development didn’t usually have this capacity to accept new knowledge about what lay outside their world or to continue along their own life path, unaffected by it.

  Davred spoke instructions into his tracer and soon the lifeship appeared in the sky to the south, flying slowly as it angled in to land in the north corner of the meadow. This was a bit different from his own landing on Sunrise several years previously, when Robler had caused him to crash and Herra had had to rescue him. Goodness, how long ago that day seemed now!

  He turned as someone approached. 'Herra!' He wasn’t surprised to see her because she always seemed to sense when something important was happening.

  'Some more of your friends from the satellite?' she queried.

  'Yes. Fleeing from Robler again.'

  'That man has gone over fully to the Serpent. His presence in our skies makes me uneasy. I fear he'll join in our struggle and help Sen-Sether when the final confrontation comes.'

  'You're still sure it'll come?'

  'Very sure.' She laid her hand on his arm. 'There is a feeling of unease in the air. A storm brewing.

  Danger creeping forth from deepest darkness. We must be particularly vigilant with the portals from now onwards.'

  'It's starting, then.'

  'I'm afraid so.'

  'We shall win.'

  She nodded, but didn't echo his words. They both knew it would be a close thing, for all the rightness of their cause.

  The lifeship settled down as softly as a feather, burning the vegetation a little, and Davred moved forward to stand waiting for the door to open and people to emerge.

  Kerem came out first - alone, his movements hesitant, a man unsure of his welcome.

  'He’ll need reassuring,' Herra murmured, stepping back a pace. 'He's radiating fear. Better for you to do the talking.'

  Davred nodded. Once he, too, had been afraid as he fled down to Sunrise. It was so very

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  different from the other worlds he’d known. The impossible happened regularly there and scientists had trouble explaining the occurrences in scientific terms. Ignorant people might call these occurrences magic. A faint smile touched his lips as that thought crossed his mind. Herra grew very angry with anyone who called the skills she and her Sisters had developed during the long centuries of study and experiment 'magic'. It was one of the few things that made her lose her temper.

  Every time a new batch of refugees from the Twelve Claims joined them and started taking lessons in what people still called 'Sisterhood ways', Herra, Cheral and the others had to persuade the newcomers that it wasn’t magic, but people's inborn Gifts which allowed them to do things they would once have considered impossible. Until people learned to believe that, their Gifts were stunted and couldn’t develop properly. Once they did start to believe it, even the most ordinary people found they had some Gifts, even if they were not as strong as those of people chosen to join the Kindred.

  It was, Herra often said, the joy in the midst of their present darkness, to see how the long years of breeding and marriages guided by the Sisterhood had succeeded in spreading the Gifted Lines among the population.

  Davred pushed such thoughts aside and walked across the meadow towards his old colleague.

  'Welcome to Sunrise, Kerem.'

  He saw how Kerem was staring and hid a smile. He was aware - how could he not be? - that he now moved differently, using his muscles with fluid efficiency. He even spoke differently, for temple training techniques had brought out the music in his voice. His whole body felt light and easy. To Those of the Confederation, he supposed he would look like a dancer every time he moved, for that was how the Sisters had looked to him when he first came down to the planet. The temple dancing was an integral part of the training in body control - and it was sheer pleasure as well.

  It was Davred who reached out to clasp hands. 'Here we greet by touching one another,' he said gently. 'Both hands. So.'

  Kerem nodded. Information was always useful. He wasn’t aware that he’d relaxed a little.

  Davred gestured to the woman who had followed him. 'And this is Herra, Elder Sister and mentor to us all.'

  With just a touch of awkwardness, Kerem clasped Herra's hands in the same two-handed way.

  'Welcome to Sunrise,' she said, regal as any queen from the old legends.

  Kerem turned back to Davred. 'There are three of us - Meera, myself and Met.'

  'Met is the last person I'd have expected to leave the satellite.'

  'Like us all, he’s uneasy with how Robler is handling things. When the Confex rescue team contacted us yesterday - '

  'Confex are near?'

  'They're coming. They'll be here in a few months, a year at most, they think.'

  'It's taken them long enough to rescue you.'

  Kerem nodded. 'Yes. They've had a few problems themselves.'

  'Discord is everywhere,' Davred said sadly. 'But I interrupted you. Sorry. You were telling me about Met.'

  'Well, Met ran to tell everyone the good news, which brought him into conflict with Robler, who prefers to keep such things secret and treat the rest of us like children. When Met refused to accept a reprimand, and refused to go alone with the Exec to his quarters - as we all refuse to do now -

  Robler put him under stasis restraint.'

  'Simply for telling the others the good news?'

  'More for refusing to obey, I think. Or at least, that's what he pretended. Robler has become very autocratic.' Kerem scanned Davred's face again. It was now, he realised in shock, the face of a strong man, a leader, not at all like the old, rather shy xeno-anthropologist who had been with them in the early days of observation of this planet. 'When I see you it reminds me of the old times and makes me realise how very greatly Robler’s changed since then.' He had to ask it - it seemed so obvious.

  'Have you achieved your potential as a Cathartic Agent?'

  Davred nodded. 'Yes. I'm quite sure of that. This isn’t the time to discuss that matter, though.

  We'll talk of it later, when you've had time to settle in here. I haven't betrayed the Confederation, I promise you, only extended its knowledge. The Sisters are more than willing to share their skills.' He looked back at the lift. 'Aren’t the others coming out of the ship?'

  Kerem looked embarrassed. 'I came out first to - '

  With a smile, Davred finished his sentence, ' - see if it was safe.'

  'No offence meant, of course, but all this,' Kerem gestured around them, 'is very strange to us.'

  'Would it help it I came on board and talked to them?' Davred asked.

  'Yes, I think it would.' Kerem looked around him again and sniffed the air. 'I'd forgotten how good fresh air feels and smells.'

  'Wonderful, isn't it? I’d never willingly go back to living indoors again, however careful they are about “natural” lighting.' Davred turned to nod to Herra, who’d been listening to them in silence, then followed Kerem on to the small transparent lift platform, standing easily there, not clutching the handstrap as Kerem did.

  The platform rose to the entrance to the slender craft, which was rather like one of the rockets of antiquity, designed to penetrate the atmosphere of a planet with the least resistance, though the lifeship was driven by a very different propulsion system, one that didn’t pollute the air. The entrance was deliberately set high up from the ground as a safety measure.

  As he stepped inside the lifeship Davred paused, shaking his head and smiling. 'How strange this sort of place feels to me now!' How strange and sterile! Then he moved unhurriedly forward alo
ng the short narrow passage. At no time had he felt there might be a trap waiting for him. He was beginning to sense the truth within people, as Herra did, though he didn’t yet have her skill in that.

  But Kerem was such an blunt honest person that it wasn’t difficult to understand him.

  'Meera! What a long time it is since we last met.' Davred taught the other two the form of greeting current on Sunrise and didn’t even think of slipping back into Confex ways. He couldn’t nod in that cold way now. You should touch a person as you met them and not rush the greeting. It made for genuine contact between the two of you and showed your respect for one another.

  It was Met who voiced the newcomers' fears. 'Shall we truly be welcome here, Davred?'

  'Of course. Are you not my friends?' Actually he hadn’t been close friends with anyone on the satellite except Soo. He’d been rather withdrawn and reclusive in those days. 'We’d welcome anyone fleeing from Discord.'

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  'Discord?' Met frowned. 'To me we're fleeing from a madman.'

  'When times grow turbulent, we of the Kindred call it an Age of Discord. And is it not a sign of something very wrong when an Exec of Robler's experience behaves strangely, acting with ruthless unconcern for the feelings and needs of others?'

  'There has been a lot of violence in the Confederation lately,' Kerem allowed.

  'Discord madness,' Davred corrected.

  There was silence for a moment or two, then, 'You've changed.' Meera's voice was hesitant.

  'Yes. And for the better, I believe.'

  ‘You look better, glowing with health and vitality.’

  'Is it as good as you expected living down on the planet?' Kerem asked.

  'Far better. The pace of life is slower, but one's experiences are much richer.' Davred grinned, looking for a moment like a mischievous boy. 'And the Sisterhood skills put the Confederation machines to shame. Truly they do, Kerem. When I came down here, Robler made me crash land and I broke my leg. Herra was able to heal the bone instantly. Though it was a few days before it stopped aching.'