Vale of Tears: A Thalassia novel

by Patrick McClafferty

  “There is a person here of some skill that plays the role of Selene the Goddess. The divine traits are just an illusion.” Next to Jineva stood a woman of ageless beauty, surpassing even Selene. Her sophistication and poise made Jineva feel like a tramp. Long auburn hair hung to her waist in a shining cascade, framing an unlined, ageless face. Her gray eyes were dark pools of wisdom. She was wearing a simple dress in earth tones, belted with a thin gold chain around her narrow waist.

  Jineva swallowed and spoke. “Hello, Thallia. So, it was you that was questioning me?”

  Thallia’s smile was the barest twitch at the corners of her full lips. “Yes, that was me. The woman who plays Selene does so for various public appearances. I handle the technical details, and I apologize if I frightened you. That was not my intention.”

  “And what was your intention?”

  “To get certain answers, and to point you in the right direction.”

  Jineva sighed, extending her shaking hand. “It’s good to meet you, I guess.” Thallia took her hand in a strong warm grip. “It’s nice to finally meet the both of you. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about you. It was masterful how you resolved the issue of the Krathaa, but I’ve been remiss. I dragged you all the way up to the temple and then up here without offering you either food or drink. I’ll fix that right now.” Thallia looked carefully at the young woman. “We’ll go down to medical and check you over first. After that we’ll go to the dining hall.” The corner of her lips lifted in a small smile. “The roast beef is especially good today.” Jineva’s stomach gave an embarrassing squeak. Thallia’s smile turned benevolent.

  As they finished the wonderful lunch, Thallia leaned back in her chair and studied the young woman. “There are a few things that you should know, Jineva. The Goddess Selene isn’t real, and she never was. The actress Selene visits various temples, pats backs, kisses babies and puts in a physical presence. What you saw today was just a projection. The compulsion you felt from the priestess and then again in the temple was from me. I wanted to see how far I could push you before you pushed back. Now I know.” The gray eyes were steady. “Like Selene, I too am just a projection. The real Thallia is an artificial intelligence buried deep in the moon. I can project her image throughout the moon, and within several dozen miles of the temple, where there is a trans-mat pedestal.” Jineva frowned. “The pedestal allows me to project an image of either myself or Selene wherever I choose. It also allows me to transport people and objects to and from the moon.”

  “You’re not real?” Jineva asked unsurely.

  “Oh, I’m real.” Thallia assured her. “I’m just not flesh and blood like you. The expedition from Earth installed me and one other up here to oversee the planet, communicate with all the different landing sites and provide information and guidance. I have a vast library available to me. As it turned out all five of the colony ships were destroyed, and I lost communication. Using telescopes I kept track of the survivors as best I could, but without communication it was difficult. Each ship, you see, had a node aboard that allowed me to speak telepathically to any person I chose. I lived alone after that, communicating to the world below through the priestesses I have working in the temples. They maintain the fiction of Selene, help educate the people in the moral guidelines and take care of the poor. A few dozen years ago all that changed. K’ Dreex began to merge with humans and I began to hear other telepathic conversations. Thanks to the K’ Dreex, the humans are changing, opening telepathic and psychic pathways that have long been dormant. The K’ Dreex are changing the human DNA, their basic building blocks, and in turn are being changed themselves.”

  “You said that you aren’t real.” Jineva asked hesitantly. “Yet I saw you eat just like me.”

  Thallia laughed. “You’ve discovered one of my small vanities. Over the last five hundred years I’ve learned to manipulate matter in such a way that I can actually experience the five senses. Taste is my favorite.” She gave Jineva a wink. “I enjoy eating.” She folded her napkin carefully on the table. “You should go now.” She handed Jineva a medallion in the shape of a small blue crescent moon rimmed in gold and hanging on a golden chain. “Thanks to your K’ Dreex I can speak with you at any time. This medallion will allow you to transport here when you wish, or need to. It will also do other things. All the administrators on the planet have them.”

  “Administrators?”

  Thallia chuckled. “Men and women who oversee the whole world, put out fires, save lives, fight monsters. Put on that medallion and you will be well on your way to becoming one yourself.” She gave Jineva a wink. “Where would you like to be delivered?”

  Jineva bit her lip, and put the chained medallion over her head. A chill washed through her entire body, and she shivered involuntarily. She hadn’t even considered where she wanted to be delivered. “The docks, I guess, next to the Azzktullua.”

  “As you wish. That was a good name for the schooner by the way. Hold on, this is going to be... fun.”

  The crowds on the docks scattered like a flock of startled pigeons when Jineva appeared, literally, out of nowhere. The decks were almost empty when she stepped aboard. Her uncle was leaning against the mainmast, laughing.

  “Ye sure know how te make an entrance, girl. They’ll be talking about your appearance for the next year. I hope ye...” His voice trailed off and he reached out, slowly withdrawing the blue medallion out of Jineva’s shirt. “I had hoped that she wouldn’t snare you, but...” He sighed.

  “It isn’t as bad as you think, Uncle Diego. I...” How could she ever possibly tell him? “I need some time to think.”

  “Take all the time you need. You’ll find some fish chowder on the stove in the galley, if yer hungry.”

  “I had roast beef, Uncle. I’m full.” Her eyes were twinkling with mischief.

  “What! Where the hells did ye ever get roast beef around here, girl?”

  She gave him a wide smile. “I wasn’t around here, Uncle.” She turned and left him sputtering on deck.

  Blowing gently from the south, the night breeze was soft, smelling of sweet flowers and growing things as Jineva and Diego sat sipping tea in the stern. The four Prosperidad crewmen entertained themselves with a spirited game of dice on the forward deck, laughing and joking under the light of a dim lantern. Further out in the harbor, almost lost in the gloom another smaller schooner was making ready to dock under sparkling stars and Medin’s crescent moon.

  “Where do we go from here, Jineva?” Diego had finished his tea, and was studying her with an unreadable expression on his weathered face.

  “Eventually I want to go back to Isla Rivero.” Jineva set her cup down and looked out over the quiet harbor. “I need to find out what happened to my family, and why, and the only way I can do that is by returning home.”

  “It could be dangerous.” He continued rapidly, before she could protest. “I had to point that out to you. You could get hurt. I never trusted Carlos Salvana.”

  “You just said ‘you could get hurt.’ Don’t you plan on coming along?” Her voice was playful, there in the dark.

  “Of course I’m coming.” The big man scoffed. “My place is at your side, Dama, like I’ve been at your mother’s side and your side since you were born. Besides, I always have you to fix me up.” She could tell he was laughing. “What are you planning on doing right now?”

  Something splashed in the dark harbor water, and she was silent for a few minutes. “I’ve been running from or toward something for a long time now. This is a new island to me. I’d like to explore a little before we leave. Somewhere on the mainland of Isla de la Luna.” She gave him a level look. “Can we afford to stay a week?”

  Diego chuckled dryly. “Aye, we could afford to stay a year, if you chose.”

  Jineva was quiet for a while and then stood, taking a quick step, kissed her uncle on the cheek. “Thank you, Diego.”

  “For what, Jineva?” He actually look surprised, and she loved him the more f
or it.

  “For being here with me. For standing beside me.”

  His face had a strange, melancholy expression. “As if you were my own daughter, poco de amor.” She kissed his cheek once more, and then turning, went below, leaving him with sad thoughts of Livia Barillo.

  Chapter 7

  Things were changing. The schooner Azzktullua slipped her anchor shortly after first light, and by noon was maneuvering into the crowded harbor of Luna Azul, Isla de la Luna’s largest city. As soon as the harbor pilot came aboard, he bowed deeply to Jineva, and directed them to a private, well maintained stone quay. When Diego pointed to the crowded public docks, the pilot would have none of it, refusing to even consider docking the schooner somewhere else. As soon as the boat had tied off, the harbor pilot stepped ashore and turned, facing Jineva. He bowed slowly, and with the palm of his right hand facing inward, touched his forehead lightly with his fingertips.

  “May peace be upon you, Lady.” He said quietly, looking up.

  Jineva stepped to the dock and bowed to the pilot, repeating his gesture. “And may peace be upon you also, and upon your family, my friend.” She murmured as she looked up.

  The harbor pilot looked shocked for a moment, and then with a wide smile thrust his thin chest out. “Thank you. Thank you very much.” He turned and walked off, whistling a strange tune set in a minor key.

  Jineva was watching the retreating back with a frown.

  Meara chuckled.

 

 

  It was later that day, much later in fact, verging on nightfall when Jineva and Diego set out into the city to see the sights. They hoped that by then her novelty might have faded with the locals. She wore old worn pants and a baggy shirt with her hair tied back, like the sailors were currently sporting. The crowds, once they reached the shopping district, were just as dense and pushy as they had been in Noche Estrellada, and the air was filled with the shouts of barkers hawking their wares, and the smells of a thousand different dishes, all prepared in smoky little stalls set along the narrow crowded streets. Litter blew along the dirty cobblestones, and rat-tailed dogs scurried about, eyes and noses alert for a dropped morsel. The first shop they went into was haphazardly constructed of weather-blasted boards with every last scrap of paint long since stripped off. Hanging above the door, a cracked and faded sign was nearly illegible. Her uncle grinned down at Jineva, and stepped in. Standing behind a counter made of heavy worn lumber, was a one eyed man with a purple scar running out of the covered eye socket and across his ruined nose. He should have been selling swords or knives or boarding axes. Instead, he sold pants. And shirts and shoes and blue flannel nightgowns for the ladies. He nodded to Diego as they came in, recognizing another old fighting man like himself. Then his good eye fell on Jineva, and went wide. He gave her a little bow.

  “ ‘ow may I be of service, My Lady?” The corner of his mouth was trying to twitch up into a smile.

  Jineva sighed, and gave him a frown. “I was trying to be anonymous. What gave me away?”

  “The hair, My Lady. Also, nobody would go into town in clothes fit only to slop pigs.” The shopkeeper turned red, realizing that he might have, perhaps, said too much. Jineva just laughed.

  “In your judgment, noble shopkeeper, how could I go about disguising myself so that I can go out into town?” Her eyes were sparkling.

  The man rubbed his stubbled jaw and looked her up and down. “New pants and shirt. The shoes will do. Ye need a hat too. Something ye can tuck yer hair into but still pull down over yer eyes, summat. A little soot on yer cheeks that people would mistake fer a beard. Yer still a young girl, and pretty flat chested so...” Jineva thought the man had swallowed his tongue when he realized what he’d said. “Ahhh...”

  “I realize I’m not very well developed in that department, yet.” Jineva said flatly. “That will help—yes?”

  The shopkeeper swallowed. “Yes. Ahh... shall I put the things in a bag, Lady, or...” He blushed again.

  She reached across the counter and patted his cheek. “Just give me the clothes. I’ll change in the back room and you can throw these old things out, or give them to the poor if you wish. They might be poor clothes, but they will still keep someone warm on a cold night.”

  “As you wish, M’Lady.” He turned to fetch the clothes. In a few minutes he returned, and in a few minutes more Jineva stood in the store, unrecognizable from the young woman who had walked in earlier. The clothes, hat and soot had done wonders. Smiling, she set a large denomination coin on the counter, and saw the shopkeeper sigh.

  “I can’t take yer money, Lady. We can’t charge people associated with...” He looked up. “Her.”

  Jineva frowned. “That’s acceptable.” Diego shot her a hard look. “However, this is not for the clothes. I hired you as a contractor to advise me on certain matters. You did so. This is your pay. Period.” She bowed, placing her fingertips on her forehead as she had seen the harbor pilot do. “May peace be upon you, good merchant.”

  In a sort of daze, the one eyed man touched his forehead in return. “And on you.” Jineva walked back out into the night.

  They had gone a hundred yards in silence before Diego said anything. “That was a noble thing you did back there.”

  “I did nothing, Uncle. I bought a few clothes, and made sure that the man got paid.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  She gave him a hard look. “Yes I did.”

  “You are growing up very fast, damisela.” Diego said in a totally serious voice, and he poked her in the chest with a finger. “Your nobility is in there, by the way.” She didn’t say a thing for a long time. “Did you know that we are being followed? Don’t turn around. He’ll disappear and we’ll never see him again.” He stopped at a shop-front and pretended to be looking at the wares. “A slim person, probably a man or boy judging by his walk. He keeps his hood up so I can’t see his face.”

  “Should we go back to the ship?” A cold prickle of fear ran up her spine.

  “I don’t think so. He’s just watching. Let him watch. Now that we know he’s there we can lose him whenever we want.”

  “If you think so.” Jineva returned in an uncertain voice.

  They followed the block, turned a corner, and were greeted by a wall of music. Jineva staggered, and Diego caught her arm to prevent her falling.

  “What the...”

  “Your first time in Luna Azul, young sir?”

  Jineva turned and looked up at the tall, wide shouldered soldier dressed in sparkling blue and silver armor who was addressing her.

  “It is my first time in Isla de la Luna, sir.” She tried to use her meekest and deepest voice.

  “Ahh... that explains it. The musician’s quarter can be quite overwhelming, especially on your first visit.” He gave her a patronizing smile. “Try the temple over there.” He pointed to a vast blue structure several blocks away. “Tonight the choir will sing holy songs.” He chuckled in a deep bass rumble. “And some not so holy. It is an event you shouldn’t miss.

  “Thank you, captain, but what are you doing out on such a beautiful night?”

  “I’m a lieutenant, sir, and this is part of my job; to patrol the streets and maintain order.” He gave another rumbling laugh. “Your tax dollars at work. Have a pleasant evening, gentleman.” He gave them a short bow, turned and strode down the street.

  Jineva watched the wide shoulders depart. “Well now.”

  “I think we’d better go to that temple and pray fer a cold shower, young lady.” Diego tried to conceal the fact that he was actually vastly amused.

  “You’re such a stick in t
he mud.” She stomped off down the street. “Well. Are you coming?”

  As she pushed open the door to the blue temple Jineva was expecting a crowd of inept local singers, sounding like a room full of fighting cats. To say that she was wrong was an understatement. Heavenly music soaring up the distant rafters greeted them, and filled the temple with beautiful strains; clear high sopranos to the deep and mellow bass. Her eyes were beginning to tear as she and Diego slid onto hard stone benches at the back of the temple. The building was filled almost to bursting with rapt listeners.

  The last note of a holy song was just fading when the conductor turned to face the audience, a small mischievous grin playing at the corners of his mouth. Raising his hands, he turned back to the choir. Every member of the singing group dropped their fancy robes to the floor, and underneath they wore the common rags of street urchins and waifs. The conductor’s hands dropped, and the music that poured out of the choir was some of the most ribald, off-color and beautiful music Jineva had ever heard in her short life. Sitting next to her, Diego was grinning from ear to ear.

  Breath caught in Jineva’s throat. Sitting behind Diego was a tall woman, the hood of her dark cloak pulled forward until it almost covered her face. Just her gray eyes showed.

  “Good music, isn’t it?” Thallia murmured quietly.

  “Yes it is.” Jineva tried to swallow, tasting dust. “Do you come here often?”

  “Every week.” The robed woman gave her a wide smile. Uncle Diego, for some reason, didn’t seem to realize she was even there, or that the conversation was taking place. “You and Meara should treasure these moments my dear. They might not always be so available to you.” A cold wind seemed to blow up Jineva’s spine. It felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. Thallia was gone. People in the rear of the temple looked around, unsure about what they had, or hadn’t seen.

  She touched her uncle’s arm. “I would like to go now.” He took in her pale face in a glance and rose.

  Jineva walked along in a daze, as Diego kept a silent watch before and behind.