Escape from the Drowned Planet

by Helena Puumala

  “You’re right,” Kati sighed. “It definitely does not sound like what I’m looking for. But I guess I should take a look at their temple anyway, just to be totally sure.”

  It might not be what Lady Katerina was looking for but Kati was quite sure that Mikal would find a beacon, the false beacon very likely, somewhere in the Temple of the Sons of the Sun. She dared a quick glance at him; he was carefully listening to the exchange between her and Jocan.

  “If you insist.” Jocan did not sound enthusiastic. “However, we can look into the temples of the mystery sects, too, while we’re there; maybe one of them will have some meaning for you.” This thought seemed to cheer him up just a little bit. “We can go after we’ve been to the money-changer’s place.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Kati agreed blandly.

  *****

  Mikal made use of the bathing room while Jocan busied himself with making an urnful of herbal tea, useful for promoting sleep, he claimed. He and Mik were planning to spend a couple of hours at the Alehouse, while returning the empty food basket to the kitchen. Mikal was hoping to pick up some of the fast-spreading local gossip; he was most interested in any reports of strangers other than themselves in town. He wanted to find out what he could about the “somebody”, or “somebodies”, who had left Gorsh’s ship with a flit some days ago. Kati was not altogether happy about him being the one to do the scouting, since he would not be able to recognize Gorsh’s cronies if he ran into them, whereas they would recognize him. However, it did not do for Lady Katerina to sit in an Alehouse in the evening—the granda was adamant about that—but it was perfectly normal that her servant do so.

  *****

  The boys’ evening out turned out to be a waste of time. That was what Mikal called it later that evening when he came into the main part of the suite to fetch some tea for Jocan and himself. He had suggested to the boy that if he had no better place to sleep in he was welcome to share the front bedroom with him. It had two beds and an extra body would not come amiss should some unexpected trouble spring up. Not that he was expecting trouble.... Jocan had picked up on the suggestion with alacrity which suggested that he perhaps had no proper residence at all, although he did not claim to be homeless. There were, of course, plenty of unclaimed ruins in River City; the lad may well not have been homeless. His home may simply have lacked all amenities.

  Kati agreed that it made sense to keep the lad with them; the only problem with that was that there were fewer opportunities for her and Mikal to speak freely, to make and refine necessary plans. This night, the quick exchange over the tea urn was going to have to suffice, and likely there would not be much chance to talk confidentially in the morning. Mikal gave a hurried report of the pointless evening while filling tea cups and Kati told him that she wanted to start the next day as early as possible. On that note they ended the day, Kati crawling into her bed as soon as Mikal had gone.

  *****

  “Where did you get this?”

  The money-changer that Jocan had recommended was an old man, white haired and with a grey face wrinkled as a prune. He sat on a stool behind a counter which was clean and clear of any clutter. There was a large, heavy, elaborately locked safe behind him, and outside the building where Mikal and Jocan had been asked to wait for her, was a guard who was at least a head taller than Mikal and twice as wide at the shoulders.

  Kati had felt nervous since entering; the question made her heart pound ominously. With an effort she kept her face calm.

  “From my grandmother,” Lady Katerina replied primly. “I understand that it’s been in my family for ages. Likely my folks figured on never spending it, just keeping it as an heirloom to pass to new generations, but sometimes life forces us to change our plans.”

  She shut her mouth abruptly, realizing that she was babbling. Jocan had said that this man was as fair and honest as any in town; she hoped that Jocan was right.

  “Oh yes.” The old man looked at her curiously over the magnifying glass with which he had been examining the gold coin she had passed to him. “You’re the woman from the mountains whose kin sent her on a wild goose chase, looking for a temple cure for her infertility.” He set the magnifying glass down on the counter and the coin beside it.

  “Good heavens! Does everyone in this city know my business, and I only got here yesterday afternoon!” Kati did not have to feign dismay.

  “Nothing wrong with the gossip network around here,” the old man chuckled.

  “Now as to your money, which your ancestor’s hoarded for you,” he added,” it is, indeed a perfectly good coin, very good gold, better than most of the ones I see these days. Many of the golds I see now-a-days have been melted down and cut with baser metals, and therefore I cannot give the normal exchange for them. But this one, you’ll be pleased to know, is an old coin from before The Disaster, and clearly your family must have clung to it like to an heirloom because, not only is the gold all there, but it is not particularly worn. It hasn’t spent too much time clanging around in purses or pockets; that sort of thing wears down gold coins since gold is a soft metal.

  “What that means to you, is that you’ll get the whole twelve silvers for this little beauty, and will be able to live and travel on the proceeds of this transaction for a good while.”

  “Thank goodness,” whispered Lady Katerina. She had begun to worry already, thinking that perhaps the coin was not exchangeable.

  The old man climbed off his stool and took the few steps that took him to the safe.

  “Now, how much of the money would you like in coppers? And how much in silvers?”

  He got busy doing something to the safe door; whatever it was made the door swing open effortlessly in a minute or so.

  Kati did some quick calculations. The coppers were the most useful coins, she had decided already, but bulky to carry. Her experience at Mistress Sye’s inn had taught her that the silver were in common usage and could be exchanged for copper at commercial establishments; therefore it made sense to store the bulk of the largesse in them. Thus, in the end she decided on eight silver and forty-eight coppers; they gave her skinny money-bag a very noticeable bulge.

  She kept her mouth tightly shut about the other gold coins still in there, and the ones cached in Mikal’s and her boots she dared not even think about.

  She emerged from the money-changer’s office relieved to have made a successful transaction, smiling because the whole thing was over and done. Jocan and Mikal were passing the time by conversing with the big guard; he was guffawing at some witticism that one of the other two must have just made. When he saw her, Mikal turned immediately into the obedient and loyal servant that he affected to be in her presence; it was clear, however, that he was, as well, playing the part of a fellow who liked to take a liberty or two when his employer’s eye was turned away. Lady Katerina was wont to be tolerant of that sort of thing; in fact, she expected it, but Kati would have liked to have kicked Mikal in the shins once in a while when she caught him doing the transmutation. At this moment, all three of them turned to look at her with innocent eyes and holding back laughter, knowing perfectly well that she was not allowed to even acknowledge that there had been a joke, never mind ask to share it.

  “So, are we ready to move on?” she asked haughtily, her momentary good mood gone. The business of being a lady was beginning to wear on her already, and the role had barely begun. And when she considered how fast the information network in this burg was passing on knowledge, she dare not step out of her role publicly, even for a moment.

  That thought made her think of something else. Why had they not picked up any gossip about the man, or men, that Gorsh had sent into town? Had they arrived long enough ago that they were old news by now? That did not seem very likely; it had not taken Kati and Mikal that long to reach this place. (It had only felt like forever; logically it would have been only about two weeks since their escape from Gorsh’s vessel.) Surely the ship’s people had not preceded them by too much. Or were
they, him, it, her, whatever, known to the citizens of River City and therefore not as noteworthy an arrival as the twosome from the mountains? Did Gorsh have some sort of a business relationship with some of the townspeople? Maybe he even picked up merchandise in River City? Perhaps letting him round up feral children was a way to get rid of undesirables?

  “My mind is starting to go down some absurd tracks,” she subvocalized, trying to shake the uneasiness that her speculation was creating.

  “Or perhaps not,” her granda commented drily. That was not reassuring.

  “So, my Lady,” Mik said as they walked away from the money-changer’s place of business, “you had a successful transaction?”

  “Yes, we will be able to pay our bills at least for a while,” Lady Katerina answered. “It seems that the gold of my ancestors is of good quality.” That was as much as she dared to say in front of Jocan and in a public place. The ruins seemed to have ears in this town.

  “So we will head for the Temple District then, will we?” Jocan inquired.

  Kati’s brain slid into overdrive. She could see problems with the three of them rushing off to look at the Temple of the Sons of the Sun, just like that. However, with Jocan present, the three of them walking down a public street, and she in the role of a lady while Mikal was her servant, she could not ask for her partner’s help or input; she had to make decisions and form plans on her own. Mikal would just have to go along with what she devised.

  “I was thinking,” she said, “in my village at home when a woman went to the temple—we only had one in a small village—to ask for a blessing, it was customary for her to wear a veil. I didn’t bring a veil; I expected to buy one here and save carrying it all that way. Is there a women’s wear shop nearby that might sell me one, I wonder?”

  “Good girl,” subvocalized the granda.

  “There’s a clothing market a little ways from the Square,” said Jocan. “I expect you’ll find something like that there. I can show you the way.”

  Good. Now she just had to think of a reason to ditch Mikal for a while. If there were familiar people hanging around the Sons of the Sun Church, a veil would likely disguise her, but there was no way she could think of to disguise Mikal more than he was already disguised as Mik. And anyone who knew to be looking for Mikal would recognize him in Mik.

  “Think of something for me,” she subvocalized to the granda. “This is important.”

  “Oh I’m trying to solve your problem for you, be sure of that.” The snappishness in the node’s subvocalization was obvious. Kati tried to keep her wince from showing on her face.

  In the end it was the stalls of clothing that reminded Kati of the fact that she and Mikal needed their laundry done. She bought a few personal items at the first stall they came to and gave both Mik and Jocan a couple of coppers each to spend on necessities for themselves. Then she asked of Jocan whether Mistress Sye’s maids did laundry for the guests, and if not, if there was a laundry near Sye’s Inn. The lad told her that the Inn’s staff would gladly wash their clothes for a coin or two; if that was not convenient, there was a woman who took in laundry on the next street. Kati got him to give as good a description of the place as possible; then she turned to Mikal and handed him a few more coppers and her purchases. She instructed Jocan to give his things to Mik as well.

  “All right, Mik, I am going to make you do errands while Jocan shows me to the Temple District. You will take our things to the suite and collect your dirty clothes and mine and arrange to have them laundered, either at the Inn or the place Jocan described. When you have done that you may take some leisure, either in the suite or someplace else in or near Mistress Sye’s establishment. We’ll see what’s to be done next after Jocan and I get back.”

  She succeeded in getting a tone of finality into her voice; Lady Katerina would listen to no arguments. Her servant, Mik, acquiesced without a word, merely making a small gesture, like a salute, with his pinkie finger, next to his left eyebrow. The granda subvocalized to Kati that this was a sign of understanding and assent among some Star Federation groups, including the Peace Officers. Mikal had “got it”, and was prepared to go along with her plan.

  Lady Katerina watched Mik until he was out of sight with his load of parcels, and then she turned towards the stall that sold veils.

  She picked a dark grey veil. The proprietess had a mirror that she could look into and she thought that the grey one worked the best for hiding her facial features from prying eyes. She paid the half-copper the stall-owner asked for without haggling, thereby making the woman’s day. When Jocan chided her for the extravagance, she told him loftily about a family superstition which stated that haggling during the purchase of a temple veil would bring bad luck to the petitioner, and “I can’t afford bad luck in this matter.” The boy said no more.

  They headed for the Temple District, Kati wearing her new veil but having thrown the part that was to cover her face up on her head. She was not quite ready to cover up yet. She would do so a little bit closer to their destination.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It took Kati and Jocan about a half hour to walk to the Temple District.

  It had been the unorthodox dressing practices of the residents of River City that had given Kati the idea for the veil. There appeared to be no generally accepted form of habit for either men or women; it was as if everyone put on whatever clothes they happened to have at hand, without any consideration for whether they were suited to the occasion or the wearer’s physique. She had seen teens wandering the streets in outfits that looked to her like adult party wear, and men standing around the Square in skirts. The exceptions were the folk who seemed to dress in drab work wear, understated and utilitarian. Mistress Sye affected this fashion, and Jocan did as well. The men and women behind the desks in the Inns on the Square had not belonged to that group; it may have been her imagination but Kati had the impression that the people around the Square liked their fripperies.

  She had thought to make use of a frippery of her own in order to conceal her face while checking out the Temple District, and, to her surprise, the granda had approved. Thus, once she and Jocan were within a couple of streets of the temples, the lad warned her, and she lowered the grey veil over her face, letting her eyesight grow used to it while it rendered her unrecognizable—she hoped.

  Jocan proved to be a competent guide. He began naming the various religious buildings to her as soon as they reached the edge of the district.

  “This one here is the Temple of Fruiting Trees, dedicated to those who grow such,” he said to her as they passed a rather fancy building surrounded by a treed park. The trees may have been fruit trees for all she could tell, apparently it was the wrong time of the year for fruit, even though cold was not an issue. It seemed a little odd to her to have a religion based on owning orchards, but she was on a strange world, so what did she know?

  She looked at the park and the building interestedly, nodded to Jocan, and let it go.

  “This one belongs to one of the nameless, mystery sects,” Jocan said of another one.

  This one Kati thought that the Lady Katerina should take some interest in. After all, it might just be the one that her Village Wise Woman had spoken about. Kati was pretty sure by now that the Temple she and Mikal were looking for was on a completely different continent, but Lady Katerina was still hoping to end her quest in River City. It was necessary to behave as she would.

  “Is it permitted to enter and walk around the temples of the mystery sects?” she asked cautiously. “We only had the one Temple at home and everyone was welcome in it, so I don’t know anything about such things as worshippers who keep secrets.”

  “I think that almost any Temple is open to any member of the public who is willing to make a small donation at the door,” Jocan said. “A half-copper should be plenty.”

  Kati mentally thanked the Kitfi for the largesse that they had bestowed upon her and Mikal. Interacting with the Up-Aboves was proving to require never-en
ding amounts of coins. Nothing on this world, outside the tunnels of the Kitfi, appeared to be free. Oh well, thanks to Mikal and her generous blind friends, they had funds to spare.

  She dropped a half-copper coin into the bowl that sat on the ground beside a monkish-looking person who appeared to guard the temple; at his nod, she and Jocan entered the premises. This building was not a large one, and inside it had few of the features that Kati had learned, at home, to expect of a church interior. To begin with, there were no pews, or seating of any kind. It looked like the worshippers were expected to either stand up or sit on the floor. The floor was stone; Kati mused that if ever she would have come to a service in this place, she would have made sure to bring along a cushion. Of course, she told herself wryly, she did not even know if these people had such events as religious services.

  She and Jocan walked across the floor to where, according to her knowledge of churches, the altar should have been. There was nothing of the sort here; only a small, raised stone structure, circular in shape. There were potted plants around it, water running from them as if they had been recently soaked. Kati leaned past them to look into the structure.

  “It’s a well,” she muttered to Jocan, who nodded.

  Reflection of the light coming in from upper windows glistened in the water deep inside, and now Kati noticed the bucket on a chain that stood on the other side of the well structure. The chain was a long one, and its other end was bolted to the stone floor.

  “And what am I supposed to make of this?” she asked, shaking her head at the well and the plants around it.

  “It’s a mystery,” Jocan replied with a chuckle.

  ”Not the one I’m looking for,” Kati said decisively and they headed out.

  *****

  “I’ll take you to the Temple of the Sons of the Sun next,” said Jocan once they were back on the track that passed for a street. “It’s not that far from here.”

  “Yeah, let’s get that over with.”