Quest (6 page)

'These worlds are not ours to rape!' snapped Davred. 'We have a duty to protect them.'

'What's so special about this backward mudball that it must be protected? I've seen a dozen primitive planets that are more interesting than Sunrise!' She flung the last remark at Davred, and stood with her hands on her hips, trying to goad him into a response. Anything to get that dreamy look out of his eyes.

'It's got outstanding beauty.' He frowned at her. 'And it's very unusual to have three moons circling so close to a planet without disturbing the ecological balance. They're in a fortuitous meshing of orbits, well worth observing.'

'It's not the only planet with three moons, and though I will admit that some of the flowers are spectacular,' she said grudgingly, 'you can't say that's of vital importance to anyone. I mean, there are flowers everywhere in the Confederation, after all. And if we wanted to, we could breed flowers just as beautiful as those on Sunrise, even up here on the satellite.'

'We never have, though, have we? We don't have their hunger for beauty. And besides, Sunrise has the Sisterhood.' Davred nodded in the direction of the image, as if this clinched the argument.

Robler rolled his eyes. Davred was still incredibly naive for a man of his age. He didn’t interrupt, though, because he was finding it interesting to study Davred's responses to Lenlin's baiting.

She groaned aloud. 'These primitive planets have all got Sisterhoods or Brotherhoods, Davred, or some other sort of religious clan. There's nothing unusual about that. Besides, Sunrise has the Serpent cult as well. That religion will take over eventually, the way it's spreading, so you should be dealing with them, not the Sisterhood.'

She had his full attention now. 'Deal with Those of the Serpent!
Never!
They sicken me. Have you seen what they get up to in those shrines?'

She shrugged. 'Sex.'

'And sadism.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 20

'They don't seem to mind, so why should you?'

'I wouldn't deal with Those of the Serpent,' he stated. 'I'd quit my contract first. Besides, the Sisterhood
is
special.

None of the other inhabited planets we've found, not a single one, has a religion that's lasted for more than a few thousand standard years. I've checked it with Central Records. The Sisterhood's Archives go back for twenty thousand years, at least. Their longer years, not ours.'

'So they say.'

'I think they're telling the truth about that. And Those of the Serpent have only been in existence for about four hundred of their years. I'd stake my life on it that they'll go the way of all the other cults which have opposed the Sisterhood.'

'Not without causing a lot of trouble for your precious Sisters in the process,' she jeered.

'No. That's becoming obvious. I must see how I can help them. We
are
allowed Minor Interventions now, after all, if we can prove need.' Davred frowned, forgot about Lenlin and stood up abruptly. 'Which reminds me, there's something I want to check out. Excuse me, everyone.'

Lenlin watched him go, her eyes full of unhappiness and her mouth drooping. 'He'll make a Commitment at this rate, and spend the rest of his life down there with that bunch of religious freaks. He'll probably be the first man to join the Sisterhood!'

'Commitment isn't a thing to mock.' said Soo. 'Some very noble things have been done on Commitment.'

'There've been some very noble wastes, you mean! What about that woman on Hapsell II, who died in the Shreel Wars? She was one of the greatest musicians the Confederation had ever produced and she just threw it all away.'

'She saved a whole culture from annihilation.'

'Another bunch of primitives! And she was both stupid and irresponsible to play the game on their terms. The Confederation lost fifty years or more of her work. Have you ever taken part in one of her sensoral symphonies?

Well, you should just try it. You'd never forget the experience, I promise you. The first thing I'm going to do when I get home is to attend one, to prove to myself that I'm back in civilisation.' She switched her attention to the Exec.

'Davred'll go the same way as she did if you don't watch out, Robler. Can't you do anything to stop him making a fool of himself? Yousupposed to be in charge, after all.'

'You and I both know that he's gone overboard about the Sisterhood, but he's not made enough of a fool of himself for me to do anything. Yet. He's been very careful in his role as Manifestation of their God, and he's only sent down a few simple com-units, not crucial machinery. He went through all the correct official channels before he did even that. Minor Intervention has been allowed here, as he just pointed out to you.'

She was not to be appeased. 'He's getting positively unbalanced about Sunrise.'

'Beautiful probability chart he drew up for sending down the com-units, though,' Robler said, professional admiration temporarily replacing his irritation with Davred. 'It's been incorporated into the Confex Training Manual now.'

He looked around, saw that everyone except himself and Lenlin had left the com-room, and decided to try to offer her some consolation. 'Don't underestimate Davred Hollunby, Lenlin. And don't cry for the impossible. No woman will ever hold him in a relationship.' Robler hesitated, then took the plunge. It was bound to come out eventually, and perhaps now was as good a time as any. 'You see, Davred has the potential to become a Cathartic Agent. He won't waste himself on one planet, not permanently, and if he tries, well, it just won't be allowed. Though he needn’t know that yet.'

Lenlin was shaken out of her self-pity. '
Cathartic Agent!
I knew - well, we couldn't help guessing that he was rather special from the way you've babied him, but - a potential Cathartic Agent! Are you sure?'

'Yes. That's why Confex sent me here, asked me to postpone my retirement. And why I agreed to come, though heaven knows, I've had more than enough of planet-watching and I don't need the money. Still, supervising the development of a potential Cathartic Agent is another thing entirely. It's not everyone who gets a chance to do that.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 21

'A Cathartic Agent,' she whispered, still awed at the thought. 'That means genius level plus - if the potential develops.'

'Yes. You can tell the others, if you like, but don't say anything to Davred. It's about time the rest of them knew, so that they can make allowances for him. He's changing rapidly. It can't be long now until he comes into his potential. Only a few years to breakthrough point, I should think, if we're lucky.'

'Yes, but why is he here at all? Why didn't Confex locate him somewhere important? There are enough major trouble spots in the Confederation to develop the talents of a hundred Cathartic Agents. There's an outbreak of interplanetary violence in the next sector, for a start.'

'We can't use him yet in a major crisis situation. It could push him the wrong way. Davred's talent is still immature. As are his emotions, for a man of his age. It often takes Cathartic Agents decades to reach breakthrough point, though I don't think it will in his case. There have been certain signs lately - his growing resentment of my authority is one of them. But some CAs never develop their potential, so we have to be careful.'

'I wondered why a man like you had accepted such an unimportant assignment.'

'It's fairly safe to have him located here, but convenient for the Confederation as well,' said Robler, ignoring her last comment. 'When Davred's ready, they'll transfer him - or he might work out for himself where he'll be needed.

In the meantime, I watch and wait. And I shall continue to protect him - even from himself, if necessary.'

'Will he really be able to do something about the violence in the Confederation?'

'We hope so. It's growing worse. I haven't said anything to the others yet, but another warring frontier planet was barred to traffic only last week in Sector Four, and the trouble is spreading to more advanced worlds. It'll lead to outright interplanetary war, if we don't do something to stop it - war on a major scale.'

'We haven't had a major interplanetary war for hundreds of years. Surely you're wrong.'

'There have been several small outbreaks of interplanetary warfare recently, but luckily they were quickly contained. It's classified information, so don't tell anyone. Only Confex Central knows about most of them.'

Lenlin stared at him in horror for a moment, then managed a twisted smile. 'I see. Well, thank you for telling me about Davred. It does help to know about his potential.'

He patted her shoulder. 'You'll find someone else, Lenlin. After all, Davred hasn't tried to deceive you, has he?

He's never offered you more than a short-term, temporary liaison. I don't think he'll ever form a permanent attachment. You've lasted longer than anyone else, if that's any consolation. I've seen his personal records. He's too engrossed in his work to look for a semi-permanent union, let alone a full term liaison contract with child-bearing rights.'

'He hasn't even mentioned the fact that I'll be leaving soon,' she said in a strained voice. 'He doesn't care for me at all.' She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. 'I'm behaving like a primitive myself. I'll be wanting a ritual wedding and a lifelong union next! Sorry.'

She went across to one of the booths and logged into the library circuit. Shoulders hunched against the world, her long blond hair falling from its clasp to veil her face, she immersed herself in a treatise on oleo-leaf transformation strategies. But her thoughts were far away. If Davred was beyond her reach, maybe his children weren't. She'd persuade him to give her that, at least. He owed it to her. And Confex would approve. The more children a CA had, the better. She'd have enough money when she left the satellite to buy into a good cohabitation group where any children she had could be carefully reared.

Robler watched Lenlin for a moment, then shrugged and went back to his own tasks. As Exec, he was responsible for the day-to-day administration of the satellite, but was not particularly interested in the feelings of its personnel. His responsibility for Davred's development was much more important than Lenlin's troubles. Or his own. But dammit, why had Soo turned against him? He needed a woman. None of the substitutes was half as satisfying as a real body in your arms. He took a deep breath and resolutely turned his thoughts away from that. Best not to think about it. He had an important job to do.

QUEST Shannah Jay 22

The Confederation Planetary Exploration Bureau, Confex to its staff members, had given Robler a very detailed watching brief over Davred Hollunby. In an emergency, Robler had permission to take any steps he considered necessary to foster and preserve Davred's person and his rare talent. That was another thing no one else on the satellite knew.

Once, Robler himself had been tested to see if he were a potential Cathartic Agent, and he had failed the tests by only a very small margin. That thought had never ceased to gall him, and he should have reported his feelings at his medicals, but he hadn’t wanted to expose a weakness like that to others. Although he’d had what most would consider a very successful career, he’d had no chance to do anything of real consequence in the Confederation, no chance to demonstrate how talented he was. Now, however, he was involved in something important, and nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to spoil that.

Today's display of emotion had made him come to an important decision. He must try to guide Davred into taking a more detached view of the Sisterhood. It was necessary to empathise with those over whom you held wardship, but the feeling mustn’t be allowed to dominate your reason.

Lenlin was right. A request from a potential CA to make a Commitment to one planet would never be approved by Confex. However, a refusal would upset Davred, and might even slow down his development. Better that he never faced a refusal. Robler decided to find Davred a few urgent jobs to distract him from spending so much time playing God to that damned Sisterhood. Lenlin wasn't the only one who was beginning to develop a dislike for those silly women and their tedious rituals.

#####

When the temple messenger later reported to his master what had happened in Temple Tenebrak, his awe at what he had seen was all too obvious.

'Lord, when the Elder Sister had finished, there was joy everywhere. Even I could feel it.'

'Mass hysteria,' said his master sourly. 'Be careful they don't fool you with their play-acting. The Serpent doesn’t forgive those who betray him. Go on, fool! What happened next?'

The messenger shivered and took care to deliver the rest of his report in a calm, factual manner. 'She - the Elder Sister - spoke the prophecy again to everyone in the hall.' He repeated it to them, word-perfect. The Sisters were not the only ones to train the memories of their followers. 'Then they
gathered
.'

'A form of meditation. We can all do that. Go on! Was that all?'

The man hesitated. 'No, Lord, not quite all. When the ceremony was over, the Elder Sister clapped her hands again and walked among the women, as if looking for someone. Then she touched a girl on the head - one of the novices -

and named her Sister-Elect.'

'Did you find out who the girl was? Is there something special about her?' The voice came from the shadows, but the messenger knew better than to stare at his master's friends.

'She is no one, Lord. A peasant from Kelandra. Not even a good novice. Always in trouble. We servants hear the gossip about her. I knew who she was and laughed to think of her named Sister-Elect.'

'Never mind some stupid novice, I want to know what's got into those damned women to make them start prophesying.' his master interrupted. Benner, Lord Claimant of Tenebron, was famous for his irascibility. 'Haven't I got trouble enough without that old hag starting another foolish rumour? The poorfolk won't do any work for days now.

They never do after a prophecy. The lazy scum seize any excuse to celebrate. And once they start drinking, they start fighting. The Shambles ran red with blood last time and they set light to one of my warehouses.'