‘Spectacular indeed,’ agreed the Lamin. ‘This monolith of glass was damaged during the construction of the Floating Palaces of the Armina-Pulchra Raj. The artist transported it to his home where he continued to place the material under duress. It is said that he dropped it repeatedly. He then lowered it onto a deep ice-well and left it there for several years. When he retrieved it a silica symbiote had taken up residence in the fissures. It is now the most valuable recycled sculpture in Orion. Although shortlived. The symbiotes will eventually swell the fissures and then one day it will explode.’
‘But before that it will glow brighter and brighter,’ said the Baronessa.
The Lamin nodded. ‘The artist is already selling tickets to the final event.’
‘And what is that alongside it?’ Thales pointed to a small naked humanesque form reclining on a pedestal, unmistakably an aroused male. The sculpture’s expression alternated between lascivious and haughty. The height and strength of its erection also changed as the sculpture appeared to liquefy and re-form.
‘It is one of our few quixite sculptures.’
‘Few?’ asked Mira Fedor.
‘Quixite is a rare and expensive naturally occurring metal alloy which has many applications. Many think that using it for art is immoral.’ The Lamin bared its teeth. ‘It is certainly a sign of wealth and status. Only our most successful artists can afford it. This is called “The Travelling Companion” and is quite new, I believe.’
‘Quixite?’ said the Baronessa in a sharp voice. ‘Who is the artist?’
‘I am unsure. Now we must meet Commander Farr for refreshments.’
* * *
Commander Lasper Farr was seated in an armchair under a foil marquee decorated with small bouquets made from iron, brass and aluminium swarfs. The God-Discoverer, Josef Rasterovich, was on his right, and on his left an obese shapeless creature took up an entire couch.
‘Everything is so bright, so clean,’ said the Baronessa. ‘How is that possible?’
‘Commander Farr has very high standards.’ The Lamin nodded as he spoke, as if to emphasise that statement. ‘Edo laboratories have patented a rust-eating parasite. It is effective, but over-colonisation by the parasite can also weaken the material. It is a fine and lucrative balancing act.’
Farr stood when he saw them approach. He gave the Baronessa a brief bow. ‘I see you were admiring the Fest’s centrepiece. Please let me introduce you to the artist, Fenralia.’ He waved a hand at the large jelly-like creature with trailing tendrils and a rudimentary face. ‘And of course you have already met Josef.’
Fenralia’s body shivered as if it was preparing to move.
The Baronessa forestalled it with a curtsy and a series of quiet glubbing noises.
Fenralia stopped shivering and responded in kind.
The Baronessa rose. ‘I am hoping that you speak ‘esque as well, Fenralia. My Uralian is very basic and learned only from Studium simulations.’
The artist emitted an odorous liquid from underneath its body, which pooled on the couch and began to drip onto the floor of the marquee. ‘Well-enough-so.’
Thales could not discern the origin of the mechanism that Fenralia used to speak.
‘You are educated, Baronessa,’ said Lasper Farr. ‘And you will find Fenralia to be so as well.’
‘Flatter-Carnage-me-more.’ Fenralia’s ‘voice’ was high-pitched and unformed like that of a very young child.
‘May I say that your sculpture is magnificent,’ said Thales. ‘I have never seen the like of it. So powerful.’
The artist’s skin changed colour with pleasure. ‘Thank you, skin-pretty-hung-with-ugly-danglings.’
Shock and embarrassment burned in Thales’s face and the Baronessa averted her head, biting at her lip.
‘Now, Fenralia, do not tease the young ones. Not all are as liberated as you,’ said Farr. He pointed to a deepening queue beyond the dais. ‘Your fans are waiting for a chance to imprint themselves with your juices. Perhaps it is time to bestow reward on them.’
A guard rolled a small trolley over to the couch. Fenralia Undulated onto it with practised ease.
‘What in Scolar is that?’ Thales whispered as the artist was transported across the dais.
‘An uuli-skierin hybrid. They are quite rare and not long-lived. Most have brilliant creative minds,’ replied Mira.
‘You have met one before?’
‘I have studied species genera at the Araldis Studium. The skierin culture was one of my preferred choices.’
‘Wet, sticky place, Skiera,’ said Josef Rasterovich. He had left his seat and was standing behind Mira Fedor. His eyes were fixed on her face with a hungry expression that made Thales want to look away. The Baronessa, however, did not seem to notice.
‘I should be interested to hear of your impressions, Mr Rasterovich. If time will allow us,’ she said.
‘The time would seem perfect for that,’ said Lasper Farr. ‘Mr Rasterovich, could you entertain the Baronessa while Msr Berniere and I... discuss some things?’
Rasterovich paled, then frantically scanned the crowd. He was unable to hide his relief when he saw Farr’s sister, Bethany.
‘Beth,’ he called out. ‘Here!’
Not an invitation but a demand, thought Thales. The God-Discoverer did not wish to be left alone with Baronessa Fedor.
‘Msr Berniere?’ Farr was standing waiting for Thales.
‘What is it that you wish to discuss with me, Commander Farr?’ said Thales nervously.
Farr took his arm. ‘A matter of some delicacy,’ he murmured in Thales’s ear, ‘that would be best served up in private.’
Thales hesitated. It seemed impolite to refuse and yet he did not entirely trust the man. Gutnee Paraburd had been a liar. Was Lasper Farr any different?
‘Please,’ Farr said. ‘I will be brief.’
Thales allowed Farr to steer him through the crowd to a private but plain room some distance from the main chamber. It was pleasantly quiet after the cacophony of the Trade Fest but Farr did not invite him to sit.
‘I am not a man to waste time, Msr Berniere, so I will come straight to my point. Why do you have a barrier substance in your blood?’
‘P-pardon?’ Thales stuttered.
Farr lost some of his mild demeanour. ‘We have scanned your biologies. Your blood contains a barrier substance commonly used by bio-carriers. We cannot detect the DNA itself so we assume you are on your way to receive it, or have just delivered it. DNA warfare is still one of the most dangerous threats to sentient species, Msr Berniere. I do not like carriers on my world—unless they belong to me.’
‘I do not have to put up with an interrogation, Commander Farr. I mean you no harm. I am here on your planet through no fault of my own but because of a conspiracy of circumstance.’ Thales raised his chin stubbornly.
‘Do all philosophers have such a shallow grasp of life?’
‘I may not be worldly, sir, but I am intelligent.’
‘Intelligence is admirable. But can you handle yourself?’
‘Handle?’
Without warning Farr tucked his head under Thales’s arm and spun. With the weight of his shoulder he threw Thales against the wall.
Pain radiated across Thales’s skull and down his spine. Dazed, he took some moments to climb to his feet.
The Commander faced him, arms dangling loose against his sides, his expression quite relaxed.
Thales glanced at the door but a balol guard was still there, its neck frill stiff with aggression.
‘H-h... d-d.’ Thales couldn’t make the words come unstuck.
Farr lunged at him and struck him again with a series of harsh blows to the soft parts of his body.
Thales retaliated, as he had aboard the OLOSS ship, lashing out with all his energy and strength. But this man was very different from a scant-trained OLOSS guard. The veteran warman hurt him in ways that made him gasp for breath until he slumped back to the floor, his hands raised, cowering.
Farr kicked his arms away. ‘Look at me!’
Thales obeyed, unable to think of what else to do. Let this be over.
Farr was neither perspiring nor out of breath; he was smiling, though, as if he was party to an amusing conversation. ‘There are many, many ways I can find out the truth, Msr Berniere, of which this is the most straightforward and the most civilised.’
Tears collected in Thales’s eyes. He let words tumble out instead. ‘I w-was employed to retrieve the DNA for a businessman on Scolar. A good deed in part to assist HealthWatch upgrades against influenza.’
‘HealthWatch upgrades on Scolar?’ Farr roared with laughter. ‘The planet cannot even organise its own refuse system. What was this man’s name?’
‘Paraburd. Gutnee Paraburd.’
‘And why would you be such a philanthropist?’
Thales told him haltingly about Rene, and her father, and his own imprisonment.
Farr’s expression became solemn. He withdrew a film from inside his suit jacket and spent some time staring at it. Finally, he held it in front of Thales. ‘Is this the man?’
Thales blinked several times and nodded. It was Gutnee Paraburd with less hair and smaller ears. ‘Do you know him?’
‘You are worse than a fool,’ said Farr. ‘Scolar has a dire future if they are breeding more like you. Gutnee Paraburd is Gutnee Fressian, a bio-merchant of the most immoral kind. Did you really believe that the DNA you were to collect was legal? That Paraburd was an honest businessman?’
‘He seemed so.’ Thales tried to suppress his memory of the torn uniform and the peculiar travel arrangements, and find a way to salvage his pride. ‘I might have been naive to trust him, but at least there are some of us left who would do a thing for the good of it.’
‘For the good? Or to improve your kudos with your wife?’
Thales fell silent at that; demoralised by the truth.
But Lasper Farr was not finished with him. ‘Where were you were to receive the DNA?’
‘On a place called Rho Junction.’
‘Where are your instructions?’ said Farr.
Thales took the packet from the vest under his borrowed robe and handed it over.
The Commander left the room for a time but the balol remained, guarding the door. Thales stayed on the floor, nursing his physical hurts and his shame at his mistakes. He sought the peace of a meditative state but his Jainist learnings and beliefs seemed to belong to another person, from another place and time.
When Farr returned Thales was unable to rouse himself from his morose state of mind. So mired was he in his troubles that Farr’s simple statement took some time to register.
‘Do you wish to die?’ the Commander asked.
When the meaning sank past the layers of self-pity Thales sat up straighter, his heart thudding.
Farr continued. ‘It is my assumption that you do not. If that is the case then you will continue to your rendezvous on Rho Junction and receive the DNA but instead of returning to Gutnee Fressian on Scolar you will return here. My laboratories will decant it and you will be cleared of any penalty and will be free to go.’
Thales felt a flicker of outrage. ‘I have committed no crime. I deserve no penalty. My life is not yours to govern.’
Farr produced a small tube from his pocket. He did not call for the balol guard but simply took Thales into his arms and held him as an adult would a small struggling child. He squeezed the contents of the tube into the corner of Thales’s eye.
‘I have introduced a bacterium into your body that will break down Gutnee Fressian’s barrier substance within a matter of months and kill you. If you return here in a timely manner with Fressian’s DNA in your system, I will administer the vaccine and all will be well. The choice, Msr Berniere, is entirely yours.’ Farr released Thales and gave a pleasant smile. ‘Now, please, feel free to enjoy the rest of the Trade Fest while I arrange your transportation to Rho Junction.’
MIRA
Mira found Josef Rasterovich both repellent and fascinating. Repellent because of his coarse and presumptuous manner, yet fascinating because he had been to places that she longed to hear about. The contrary emotions left her. tongue-tied in his presence—and inclined to take refuge in aloofness.
He seemed equally lost for social conversation. Fortunately, Farr’s sister, the woman Bethany, joined them as soon as Farr and Thales Berniere left them. The three of them stood in the entrance of Farr’s foil marquee, just out of the reach of the mêlée.
Mira had warmed to Bethany. The older female reminded her of Cass Mulravey. Bethany seemed well studied, though, where hard experience had been Cass’s educator.
Bethany frowned as she watched Lasper Farr and the young scholar disappear together. ‘What is my brother doing?’
‘He wished to speak with Thales alone. He seems a courteous man,’ Mira said cautiously.
Bethany gave her a keen look. That penetrating gaze was the single resemblance that she and Lasper Farr appeared to share, though Mira imagined there were other, deeper things.
‘You know who he is, don’t you? Who it is you are bargaining with?’ asked Bethany.
‘I understand that he led the Consilience force in the Stain Wars. Now he is the owner of a very lucrative business. I would suppose he is an entrepreneur and a very clever one.’
Bethany trembled at that. ‘He is much more than an opportunist, Baronessa. He is most single-minded and he allows nothing to interfere with his ambitions. No one. Not even family.’
‘And what are his ambitions, Beth?’ asked Josef Rasterovich.
‘Impossible, ridiculous things.’ Bethany looked away, into the heart of the Fest. ‘Those things make him so dangerous.’
Mira thought that Farr seemed sane and reasonable, yet his sister’s words hinted at fanaticism—imbalance, even. What did that mean, she wondered, if a sister disparaged her brother so openly? Was Bethany motivated by jealousy? Or did she have good cause to speak that way? Faja and she had never been jealous of one another. But then Faja had been more of a mother than a sister, and Mira missed that love with every step she took, every turn of her head.
But it is still there. It will always be there. Both ways.
Bethany looked back at Mira. ‘Please, can you tell me more about Araldis? I am sick with worry for my child.’
With that question the diversions that the Fest had provided vanished, and Mira felt all her tensions return. What could she say to this woman? That the place was burning? That her daughter was probably dead like the bambinos she had buried on the plains?
‘Baronessa? Are you unwell?’ Bethany touched Mira’s arm, concerned.
Mira realised that she had doubled over and pressed her hands to her stomach as if in pain. She straightened and forced composure onto her face. ‘I am a little nauseous. Resonance shift has left me with some after-affects.’
Bethany made a hand signal to Josef Rasterovich. ‘How inconsiderate of us... shall we find somewhere to eat and sit?’
Mira nodded gratefully. ‘Si.’
* * *
Josef found them a kafekart on one corner of the dais and while he purchased drinks Mira talked with Bethany. ‘You said your daughter was part Miolaquan. Where did she reside?’ she asked.
Bethany flushed. ‘I’m not sure. It’s not a story I’m proud of...’
Mira listened intently as Beth told her how she had sent her child to the planet alone. With each detail, dread and excitement fought each other to create a nervous mix in Mira’s stomach. ‘Her name—you called her Jess before—was it Djeserit?’
Bethany grabbed Mira’s hands. ‘Yes. Yes. Do you know her?’
‘Does she have certain Mio characteristics? The webbed fingers—’ Mira prised her own from the older woman’s grip.
‘Yes, and gills, here and here.’ Bethany touched her own neck. ‘And beautiful. She is young and beautiful. Please, please tell me that she is alive.’
‘I c-cannot be sure now, but she was w
ith the survivors when I left. She saved me when I was in deep shock. She is determined.’ But vulnerable. Mira told Beth then of Faja and the Villa Fedor—as much as she could bear to recount, at least.
Josef Rasterovich had rejoined them with two frothed mokkas and a small tumbler filled with a burned liquid: Oort whisky or an Edo brandy. He sat and sipped, picking up the threads of the conversation.
‘Jess,’ whispered Bethany brokenly when Mira had finished. ‘Oh, my Jess. How could I have left you alone?’
Mira thought of Vito and the korm. ‘Choice does not always provide right and wrong.’
‘You couldn’t have known the shit that was gonna happen on Araldis, Beth,’ said Rasterovich. ‘And if she’s anything like you she’ll be surviving just fine.’
But Bethany was too submerged in her guilt to heed them. ‘So she is with the young Principe?’
Mira forced herself to find some comforting words. ‘St. The young Principe is .. . clever. He will outwit the Saqr.’
She would never tell Bethany the rest of it—how Trinder Pellegrini was a treacherous, selfish man who had seduced her Jess.
But Josef Rasterovich was watching Mira intently, as if he guessed there Was more.
‘Has your discovery of the Entity given you unpleasant choices, Mr Rasterovich?’ she asked him by way of distraction.
The quick change in focus caused the man to swallow most of his drink in one gulp. He coughed to clear his throat. ‘Yeah. Well, uh, I guess so.’
Josef’s laconic reply puzzled Mira. One moment he appeared perceptive, the next almost dim-witted.
‘When Araldis is—when my world is restored to my clan, I would like to visit Belle-Monde. Is that possible?’ she asked.
‘That depends, Baronessa.’ His voice was husky from the alcohol and the coughing. ‘You can’t go sightseeing, if that’s what you mean. Nor would you want to. Place is overrun with arrogant pricks—smarts and scientists.’
Mira ignored his bald description in the same way that she ignored Rast’s rough talk. ‘I wish to be tested by the Entity.’
Chaos Space (Sentients of Orion) Page 21