Night Lamp (30 page)

Maihac paused in his account. “I don’t want to bore you with too much detail—”

Skirl quickly said, “You are not boring me; not in the least!”

“Still, if I told you everything—all I learned about Romarth and the Roum, their customs, rashudo, philosophy and social interactions, along with a description of the palaces, the habits of eating and sleeping, the courtship rituals, the cultivated truculence of the cavaliers, the brooding dread of the houseghouls—it would be a major undertaking, and this before I even started upon the most terrible adventure of all. Now then, Jaro: you may pour me a dollop of Hilyer’s good wine, while I sit back for a moment or two.”

Jaro poured out three goblets of the golden Estresas wine. Maihac leaned back in his chair and sorted out his thoughts. He said at last: “I’ll try to give you a glimpse, at least, of Romarth, perhaps the most beautiful city ever conceived by the Gaean race. When I saw it, many of its great houses had been abandoned and its wonderful gardens left to decay. Decadence hung in the air like the odor of rotting fruit. Nevertheless, the Roum persisted in their reveries and played out their intricate ceremonies. Several times a day they changed their costumes, according to their roles of the hour.

“It is important to understand the nature of the original settlers. They were an intellectual elite, which included a contingent of genetic biologists. Gaean law had debarred them from pursuing what they considered their ‘ultimate project’; on Fader no such restraints were applied.

“In the beginning the settlers made use of slave labor, but there were many disadvantages. The slaves became diseased or old; in any case they died, and they were expensive to replace. They were often obstreperous or sullen, or lazy; discipline was a nuisance, and ineffectual as well. In the end, the biologists selected several prime slaves, and used their genes to generate what they hoped to be a class of ideal workers. They produced strain after strain of experimental prototypes. Often their efforts bore unpredictable fruit: creatures with legs ten feet long, others so corpulent that they were comfortable only while floating in warm water. Another strain developed anti-social traits of intense virulence; they made glories of pain and intransigence. Screaming, clawing, tearing at everything, they broke through the walls and fled across the Tangtsang, where the strongest and most merciless survived to become the Loklor.

“Eventually the Seishanee were synthesized: a slender, graceful race of half-men with clay-colored skins and soft brown eyes. They were of limited intelligence, but docile, industrious and easy of temperament. A trivial displacement of a few atoms caused them to be epicene, only nominally male and female with rudimentary sexual apparatus. Hence, the Seishanee were generated from zygotes cultivated in the ugly brown brick structure known as the ‘Foundance.’ The third race of Romarth was something of a mystery. It was said, that the early geneticists had modified themselves, intending to produce a race of intellectual overmen, but the processes had gone wrong. Certain of the flawed ‘overmen’ had gnawed through their boxes and scuttled away to hide in the crypts of abandoned palaces. Seldom seen, the white ‘houseghouls,’ as they became known, made excursions abroad under cover of darkness. In time they even penetrated the crypts of inhabited mansions, venturing slyly forth to commit horrid atrocities. Those who had seen them, and survived, found their tongues thickening when they attempted a description. Occasionally, the Roum cavaliers launched attacks, intending to destroy the creatures once and for all, only to find themselves fighting shadows, and many blundered into traps. Eventually they lost heart, and soon the situation was as before, or worse, when the houseghouls took their revenge.

“The Roum were elegant folk, each believed himself the summation of all known excellences. Everyone spoke three languages: classic Roum, colloquial Roum of today, and Gaean. Every Roum was born into one of forty-two Houses, or septs, each with its unique style of conduct. Public policy was controlled by a council of grandees, sitting at the Colloquary.”

Once again Maihac paused. “This is rather boring stuff—but the background is necessary to understanding what occurred.”

Both Jaro and Skirl denied boredom. Maihac continued his tale. He took a few moments to describe the city itself; its avenues, its great houses, the general atmosphere of immense antiquity. He described the Roum, their elegant costumes and romantic, often passionate, personalities, especially among the swashbuckling young bravos.

Maihac immediately took himself to the Colloquary, where—following Bariano’s advice—he sought out the Councillor Tronsic of Stam House, to whom he presented his petition. Tronsic, a stalwart gray-haired man of late middle age, proved far more cordial than Maihac had dared hope. Tronsic went so far as to offer Maihac lodging in his house, which Maihac was pleased to accept.

At an appropriate moment Tronsic placed Maihac’s petition before the Council. They received the document for consideration which—so Tronsic assured Maihac—was cause for limited optimism.

While Maihac waited he kept in touch with Gaing at Flad, by way of his portable radio. Maihac explained to Gaing that patience was in order, and that he hoped Gaing was not becoming bored. Gaing merely growled and said that he was catching up on his reading.

Maihac found himself the object of much curiosity. Tronsic told him that everyone wondered about life elsewhere in the Gaean Reach, despite the belief that conditions were crude, unsanitary, and dangerous. Maihac replied that circumstances varied from place to place, and that if the Roum intended to travel, they must expect to take the bad with the good.

“ ‘Good’?” demanded a fashionable young cavalier named Serjei of Ramy House. “What can be found among these crude worlds to compare with Romarth?”

“Nothing. Romarth is unique. By all means, stay home if that is your preference.”

Another of those who stood by said, “All very well; still, the fascination of exotic places is undeniable. Unfortunately, travel in tolerable style is overly expensive: rapaciously so, considering the sorry state of our incomes. After all, we do not care to go lumping along the road like ragamuffins.”

Serjei said, “True! We don’t dare risk running through our capital in some far place, so that we are forced to toil for sheer survival!”

His companion said, “Rashudo would be ridiculously compromised. We could never strike poses again!”

Maihac admitted that these fears were justified. “If someone wishes sumptuous lodgings and exquisite food, he must be able to pay, since no one offers such facilities free of charge.”

Certain of the Roum were more venturesome than others. Among them was Jamiel, of Ramy House, a slender erect young woman of exceptional charm and intelligence. The many textures of her personality fascinated Maihac: most especially her unconventional thinking, her lighthearted sense of humor, which was unusual among the Roum, and her impatience with the strictures of rashudo. Maihac could not prevent himself from falling in love with Jamiel. He thought he detected a responsive emotion, and presently, taking his courage in hand, he proposed marriage. She agreed, with gratifying enthusiasm. The two were immediately joined by the traditional rites of Ramy House.

In response to Maihac’s questions, Jamiel explained the complexities of the Roum financial system. Each House used an account at the Natural Bank of Loorie. The profits earned by Lorquin Shipping Agency were divided among the forty-two Houses, and deposited to the appropriate account.

Maihac thought the system rather slapdash and extremely susceptible to flexibility, if not corruption. He asked, “Who calculates this division of profits?”

“Asrubal of Urd,” said Jamiel. “He is Director of the Lorquin Agency. He issues a yearly report, which is inspected by three officials, and then the funds are distributed.”

“And this is the only assurance that the funds have been divided fairly?”

Jamiel shrugged. “Who would complain? Rashudo insists upon disregard for such details; they are too paltry to engage the attention of a Roum gentleman.”

“I can tell you this much,” said Maihac. “The prices you pay Lorquin Agency for imported goods are two or three times the prices at Loorie, or anywhere else around the Reach.”

Jamiel said that she long had held such suspicions, as had many of her acquaintances. She added, as a casual trifle of incidental information, that she had become pregnant.

Time passed. Maihac began to fear that his petition had been permanently pigeon-holed. Jamiel assured him otherwise. “When one deals with the Colloquary he must expect delay—especially should the factions become involved, as in the present case. The House of Urd is a member of the Plum-pink faction, and wants to discourage any infringement of the Lorquin Agency monopoly. The Blues would prefer changes in the system, perhaps a complete reorganization.”

Maihac knew little of the factions, other than that their differences derived from ancient ideologies, of a subtlety beyond his grasp. Insofar as Maihac was concerned, it was clear that factional infighting must be resolved before he could expect a judgment on his petition.

Maihac continued to communicate regularly with Gaing, who grumbled ever more vehemently of the delay. Then, one day from Gaing came news of disaster. Loklor had burst into the supposedly safe landing area and had attacked the Distilcord. The cargo had been looted and the ship itself destroyed by three great explosions.

Maihac received the news while waiting in an anteroom at the Colloquary. Gaing revealed that he had seen Asrubal of Urd House at Flad immediately prior to the attack, and that Asrubal had been conferring with the Loklor. Asrubal had departed for Romarth aboard the agency flitter immediately before the attack and certainly was responsible. Gaing had taken into custody the manager of the Flad terminal, one Faurez of Urd House. Gaing had brought pressure to bear upon Faurez, who had finally told Gaing what he wanted to know. In the first place, it was intended that Gaing should have been killed, in order to avoid such a situation as now existed. Maihac listened, then broke into the chamber where the Panel of Councillors was in session. After some difficulty, he gained the attention of the councillors and described the destruction at Flad. He arranged his radio upon the long semicircular table and spoke into the mesh. “Are you still there?”

“I am here,” came Gaing’s voice, pitched in tones of outrage and menace. “For your information, I have never been more angry. Luckily for this scoundrel Faurez, I am a temperate man. He has saved his life by agreeing that the House of Urd takes full responsibility for these sorry events and shall pay all damages.”

From one of the Plum-pink councillors came a cry of protest: “Hold hard! Hold hard! This man has received no official authorization to pay out so much as a pickled gallstone!”

“No matter,” said the Chief Councillor. “Let us hear the evidence of this off-world gentleman.”

Maihac spoke to Gaing: “Faurez is with you?”

“Yes; just as before.”

“Be careful with him. He won’t bounce.”

“Not well. I have discovered this for myself.”

“I am now in the council chambers. Councillors are ready to hear your report.”

“Good.” Once again Gaing told his tale, then said, “The manager of the terminal has agreed to tell you what he knows, Faurez, speak! Explain to the councillors what has happened.”

From the radio came an emotion-choked voice: “I am Faurez of Urd; there is no point in equivocation, since this spaceman was a witness to the events and I will state the facts bluntly. Asrubal of Urd, arriving from Loorie, saw the Distilcord. He commanded the Loklor to destroy it and he ordered me to cooperate. After the Distilcord had been broken, he told the Loklor to kill Gaing Neitzbeck, then set off for Romarth in his flitter. Neitzbeck killed twenty Loklor with his handgun before they gave up the effort and departed. Neitzbeck took me by force and insisted that I report the true circumstances to the council. I do so without reluctance, since Asrubal performed a wicked act, and must accept the consequences.”

The council put questions to Faurez, then at last indicated that they had heard enough.

Asrubal arrived somewhat later. He was instantly summoned to appear before the council. When at last he entered the chamber, he showed no guilt and in fact demonstrated indignation that he had been summoned at such an inconvenient hour. Instead of denying the accusation, he defended his actions with stony self-righteousness, claiming that Maihac and Gaing Neitzbeck had contravened traditional laws regulating commerce between Fader and the inner worlds.

“Nonsense!” declared Tronsic of Stam House. “There are no laws of commerce, only customs and usages. You have committed an unjustified depredation and must be punished with full severity!”

Asrubal roared in fury. “Do you dare speak of punishing a grandee of Urd? Rashudo is at stake!”

“Cease your fulminations!” the Chief Councillor ordered. “If you are called to account, your deeds alone will be judged, not your bluster.”

The charges against Asrubal were formalized, and the process of prosecution put into motion. As might be expected, the case moved languidly along the tortuous processes of the Colloquary.

Meanwhile Jamiel’s time came upon her, and she gave birth to twin boys: Jaro and Garlet.

Maihac wanted to bring Gaing to Romarth aboard the Urd flitter; the request was denied. Meanwhile the Loklor were gathering near Flad, intending to take revenge upon Gaing. A Lorquin freighter, the
Liliom
, was on the point of departing Flad; Gaing Neitzbeck had no choice but to return to Loorie.

The litigation, if nothing else, had wilted Asrubal’s rashudo. This was a quality somewhat similar to “honor,” but comprising more elements. “Rashudo” included flair, grace, impassive bravery, rituals of courtesy, exact to the flick of the little finger, and much else. After two years, Maihac was summoned to the Colloquary, where the councillors had finally arrived at a consensus. In the matter of the
Distilcord
, Asrubal was found at fault. He was censured and required to make compensation to Maihac for the
Distilcord
and its lost cargo. Asrubal listened to the judgment unmoved, his rashudo enforcing a stony indifference upon him.