Sufficiently Advanced Technology (Inverse Shadows) (11 page)

They don’t see it that way
, she thought, and mentally kicked herself. Darius was a very primitive society, even if they did have ‘magic.’ They were hardly capable of understanding the advantages to be gained by greater unity, even if the magicians were willing to share power with other magicians – or the rest of the population. There didn’t seem to be any democratic assemblies at all. She’d seen something not unlike it on a different world, except that one had been caught up in revolutionary fervour. It had been collapsing into bloody civil war when the Confederation stepped in.

She looked over at Dacron, who seemed bored. It took her a moment to realise that he was trying to ignore the AIs, who hadn’t bothered to use their normal representative. Dacron had
been
an AI, at least as she understood it, and he had to find the reminder of what he’d lost rather upsetting. And it was clear that he wasn’t anything like as capable of controlling his emotions as a human who had been alive for over a century.

“They will be arguing for hours,” she said, to him. Everyone would have their own view on what some of the data actually meant, which was fair enough, and then start looking at the rest of it for ways to back up their theories, which could be dangerous. “What do you make of the planet itself?”

Dacron seemed to consider his answer before speaking. “Odd,” he said, finally. “We need to obtain more information from the locals.”

Elyria nodded. The standard procedure, depending on local technological capabilities, was to either access their computer files or their libraries. A snoop could read over someone’s shoulder as they looked through a book, allowing the researchers to read it afterwards. Darius did seem to have bookshops and libraries, thankfully, but they were housed in buildings the snoops had been unable to enter. Very few people seemed to have private book collections of their own, at least so far. The snoops were so capable that it was easy to forget that they might have missed something. A planet was a very large place.

“Their local biology appears to be a definite mix of Earth-origin and Darius-origin plants and animals,” the AIs said. “We can see all the standard crops, as well as a handful that appear to be edible. A sampling mission would be useful for studying the local ecosystem and attempting to determine if their eating habits help to produce their powers.”

Elyria rather doubted it, but the AIs were right; it was something they needed to check. Besides, the Killers had genetically engineered fruits that inhibited brain development; it was possible, if unlikely, that they could have developed something that had other effects on the human mind. Even so, if there was a magic fruit that gave its eaters magical powers, surely everyone who ate it would develop them for themselves.

“The Captain has banned sampling missions until we know more about the planet,” the XO reminded them. “He was concerned about coming into high orbit. Ideally, he’d prefer to be several light minutes away from the planet.”

“They really don’t have any concept of space travel,” Adana said, with some irritation. “What can they do to the ship?”

“We don’t know, but they can manipulate the quantum foam,” the XO countered, not for the first time. “They might be capable of screwing with our technology. If we lost the containment field in the core tap, for example, the entire ship would be vaporised.”

Elyria had to smile. In hindsight, they should have expected such arguments. The Interventionists normally operated on planets that couldn’t have threatened a starship, even if they had known what a starship
was
. They could operate from high orbit knowing that there was no way the locals could detect their presence. But Darius had a population with inexplicable abilities. They might be capable of threatening the ship.

“There is another issue,” the AIs said, after a moment. “The level of energy fluctuations has risen considerably in the last seven hours.”

The XO frowned. “As a reaction to our presence?”

“Unknown,” the AIs said. It was difficult to read anything into their tone – they didn’t really have emotions, as humans understood the term – but the AIs sounded rather frustrated. “We have no baseline for what constitutes
normal
levels on Darius. It may be a reaction to our presence, or it may be nothing to do with us at all. We are unable to determine if it poses a threat to the ship.”

Elyria scowled. “How badly is it going to interfere with our technology?”

“Uncertain,” the AIs said. There was a long pause. “We believe that the Captain was right to ban the use of teleporters within the system. The interference would almost certainly cause quantum decay even if the teleportation fix was maintained.”

“Ouch,” Adam muttered. Teleporters were normally very safe, but if there was any disruption the person inside the matter stream would die before knowing what had hit them. The early researchers had wondered if they could use teleporters to duplicate a person, just like basic fabricators built up matter from energy, yet it had never worked. “This could be worse than the Ancient worlds.”

“We believe that it will be necessary to use more primitive technology,” the AIs confirmed. “The fabricator onboard this ship will be easily capable of producing it. We will just have to be careful that none of it falls into local hands.”

“Particularly if it is something they can use,” Elyria said. The Interventionists intervened on a grand scale, but there were plenty of case studies of smaller interventions that hadn’t worked out properly. One of them had been a rogue citizen introducing new technology into a primitive society. The results had been disastrous for the locals. “But if we don’t understand the limits of their abilities...”

She shook her head. “It will be weeks before we can move down to the planet’s surface,” she added, firmly. Half the team wanted to go at once – and she had to admit that she shared their feelings – but they had to make sure that they were capable of passing for locals. There would be plenty of time to practise speaking the local language, including making sure that their accents were perfect. The locals didn’t even seem to have different
accents
! “We will have to prepare very carefully first.”

“There’s another possibility,” Gigot said, carefully. “Why don’t we just ask them how their powers work?”

Her voice tightened. “They know something we don’t,” she added. “We could show them what we can do and offer to trade.”

“Too dangerous,” the XO said, finally. “We don’t know what they could do to us.”

CHAPTER
N
INE

The lighting spell was both simple and hideously complex. Simple, because Joshua had been able to perform it within a week of taking up his apprenticeship; complex, because it required constant care and attention to prevent it from destabilising and collapsing back into nothingness. The first time he’d done the spell, it had shattered two minutes later and Master Faye had laughed at him. Later, he’d learned how to hold it stable for nearly an hour, with the right level of discipline. It hadn’t been until much later that he’d realised the spell exercises had helped prepare him for tougher spells.

He smiled as the spell structure grew more and more complex, casting flickering pulses of light all over the training room. Balancing it all was difficult work, but it was rewarding – and besides, it was something he could use to impress people. Once the spell was up and running, it drained very little of his personal power to keep it going. He reached out carefully and twisted it with his mind. The light took on the shape of a massive snake and started to glide around the room.

Joshua
, his master said, in his mental voice,
come to my study. Now
.

Yes, master
, Joshua sent back.
I’m on my way
.

He banished the lighting spell and stood up, unable to suppress a twinge of unease. His master’s study was normally closed to him, protected by spells that glittered with lethal energy every time he moved close to the wards. He’d only been into the study twice, both times for a thrashing after overstepping the limits Master Faye had set for him. It was impossible to resist the feeling that he was in trouble... but for what? He hadn’t done anything he shouldn’t have done and he’d even remembered all of his chores.

Master Faye’s study was a big room, large enough to hold a desk, two chairs and two massive bookcases crammed with books. Joshua had learned to read at an early age – his father had insisted – and he’d worked his way through many of the standard magical textbooks, but he’d been warned never to try to read books from his master’s private collection without permission. They could be very dangerous if read by the unwary. Part of Joshua wondered if his master intended to keep a few secrets from his apprentice, but there were legends about magicians who read the wrong book without proper precautions. Some of them ended up dead, or wishing they were.

His master was bent over a bowl of water, peering down into it with an intent expression that allowed Joshua to relax, slightly. He wasn’t in trouble for anything. Master Faye pointed to one of the chairs and Joshua sat down, knowing better than to interrupt his master in the middle of a spell. A moment later, Master Faye muttered a rude word loudly enough for Joshua to hear and straightened up. The bowl of water, steaming slightly, was left to cool down.

“We were being watched,” Master Faye said, flatly.

Joshua stared at him. “By who?”

“By
whom
,” Master Faye corrected, with a hint of impatience. Precision was important in magic, so he enforced it in everything. “And I do not know.”

“Oh,” Joshua said. He stared at his master. “A Scion?”

“I do not know,” Master Faye said. “The warning spells activated, but I have been unable to trace the spying spells back to their caster. I have been unable to even
sense
their presence.”

Joshua hesitated, thinking hard. Warning spells were very generalised, because one designed to deal with a specific threat might miss other threats. The downside of a spell intended to alert Master Faye to someone watching him was that it couldn’t tell him
how
someone was watching him. Spying spells were subtle magic, but a magician with nearly fifty years of experience should have been able to detect them, and then locate the caster. A spell that Master Faye couldn’t sense...

He frowned as a question occurred to him. “Are they peering inside the house?”

“I do not believe so,” Master Faye admitted, “but it is difficult to be certain.”

“Oh,” Joshua said, again. “If the house isn’t safe...”

Magicians spied upon each other frequently, in the hopes of discovering a weakness that could be used against their enemies – or their friends, as magicians rarely had true friends. Scions spied on Pillars, looking for opportunities to take their bailiwick for themselves; Pillars watched nearby Scions, fearing what might happen if the Scions became ambitious. There was no shortage of blocking spells, and of magicians trying to find ways to defeat the blocking spells... if someone
had
cracked Master Faye’s defences, it boded ill for the future.

“I have reinforced the defences,” Master Faye assured him, “as well as casting other warning spells around the city. My conclusion is that someone is spying on
all
of Warlock’s Bane, rather than just us. It is really rather curious.”

Joshua could see his point. Everyone knew that the local Pillar was the master of the city, the unquestioned ruler of his bailiwick. There was little point in spying on the city; if the spy wanted the city, he would have to overcome the Pillar. The only reason he could think of for spying on the city itself was to decide if the city was worth taking... unless the spy had grubbier motives in mind. Joshua’s first transgression against Master Faye’s rules had been something very grubby indeed.

“That is a possibility,” Master Faye agreed, when Joshua had outlined his thoughts. “There isn’t supposed to be a Scion near the city, at least not inside the borderline, but if he is advanced enough to master spying spells, he may be advanced enough to avoid detection.”

“Perhaps we should go hunting,” Joshua said. It had been a long time since he’d walked out of the city and through the farmland that provided most of the city’s food supplies. “See what we find...”

Master Faye lifted his eyebrows. “Are you that eager to die?”

Joshua flushed. He was an apprentice – and anyone capable of worrying Master Faye was, at the very least, a qualified magician. If he happened to
find
the mystery magician, he’d be lucky if he were merely killed. There were stories about what happened to people who picked a fight with more powerful magicians, none of which ended well.

“I feel that our opponent will spend more time spying on us before making his move, if he
does
make his move,” Master Faye said, when Joshua said nothing. “That gives us some time to prepare. Are you willing to stay with me?”

“Yes,” Joshua said, quickly. In truth, the whole prospect of being involved in a duel scared him, but he wasn’t going to abandon his master. Besides, where could he go? The newcomer would kill him, if he managed to kill Master Faye. “What do you want me to do?”

Master Faye nodded to the bowl of water. “For a start, I need your energy,” he said, flatly. “There’s a ritual I want to try.”

At his command, Joshua knelt on one side of the bowl, holding his hand out over the water. Master Faye produced a small knife, make a quick cut in Joshua’s hand and allowed the blood to drip into the water, before making a cut in his own hand. Their blood mingled together as they linked hands, Joshua trying hard to clear his mind. Linking magic together was difficult enough without stray thoughts contaminating the spell.

“Brace yourself,” Master Faye said. Joshua felt his master’s magic surging out to clash with his, and then meld them together. “Here we go...”

Master Faye started to chant the spell, focusing his mind on the water. Joshua could feel the magic boiling around them, growing stronger and stronger as the chant grew louder. There was a sudden wave of heat from the water, a series of images flashing across its surface, and then the entire bowl flashed into steam. Joshua yelped in pain as their hands separated, sending him tumbling backwards. The bowl cracked and shattered with terrifying force, scattering fragments everywhere. Master Faye grunted and picked himself up, blood dripping from his temple.