Valhai (The Ammonite Galaxy) (29 page)

“Which Eight forms no part of,” said Six without a smile.

“I was not allow . . . that is, I can want nothing to do with any no-names.”

Six nodded slowly. “I see,” he said evenly. “And I imagine that will include me too?”

Calab intervened. “We do not recognize any no-names as part of our family,” he said firmly. “That would preclude us from being Elders.”

“Then we will remove ourselves from your presence.”

“No!” Shouted Seven, at the same time as her husband gave a condescending smile and said, “That would be the best thing to do, I believe.”

Seven met her husband’s eye and quailed under his look. “Yes,” she said brokenly. “Yes, I am sure that would be for the best.” Then she gave her brother another hug, holding him momentarily in an iron-tight clasp close to her before pushing him away.

“Goodbye Six. I am glad you are alive. You will have to take care of Eight now.”

Six straightened his back. “I am sure,” he said coldly. “that the affairs of no-names like myself could be of no possible interest to an Elder family.”

Seven began to cry, silently. Huge great drops welled up in her eyes and fell down her cheeks. They traced the curve of her jaw before joining up under her chin to drip steadily onto the robe she was wearing. She held her head up straight, though, and stood watching her brother as he backed out of the flat. Grace could see that the girl’s heart was breaking. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for Jalana, although her support was with Six. They made their way out of the flat and back down into the street. Six walked over to the nearest wall and gave it several kicks, his jaw moving silently in his face. Then he turned on his heel and marched quickly off along one of the roads. Grace thought he had chosen it at random. She and Diva scurried after him.

Six walked and walked and walked, showing no interest in whether the girls were following him or not. Grace and Diva had to run sometimes to keep up with him. The girls exchanged glances, but decided to hold their tongues until he stopped.

Finally they rounded a corner to find him sitting on top of a stone wall, waiting for them.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was so angry I forgot about you.”

“We noticed,” said Diva.

“How could she?”

“How could she what?” Diva glowered at him.

“Marry that . . . that . . .”

“That well-off Elder’s son who can look after her in comfort for the rest of her life?” Diva shrugged. “Go figure!”

“She has denied her origins!” spat Six.

“Very wisely,” agreed Diva.

“And abandoned her sister.”

“She wasn’t given any choice, and she left her sister in what she thought was a safe place first.”

“She didn’t have to marry that . . . that . . .” Again words failed him.

“So you would rather we had found her with all the other Kwaidian untouchables, throat burned out in the wastelands?” Diva narrowed her eyes.

At last Six looked away. “No,” he said unwillingly. “I would rather she were alive and healthy.”

“Big of you!”

“I suppose you think she is better off without me!” he blurted out.

Diva nodded, pleased that he understood. “Yes. You’re just feeling mortified because she managed very well without you,” she told him flatly.

“I am not!” But Diva had succeeded in her endeavour to snap him out of the brown study he had been in. “Damn you, Diva!”

She smiled widely. “You aren’t the first person to say that!”

“One day someone is going to put their hands round that long aristocratic neck of yours and forget to let go!”

“Yes. So you needn’t yield to the impulse yourself.”

“They should have thrown you to the Tattula cats,” he grumbled.

“No doubt. Never mind, there’s still time yet. Now. What are we going to do? And where in Lumina are we?”

They spent what was left of that night sheltering under an overhanging rock, and went hungry because they had no food left.

“You sure weren’t exaggerating about this excuse for a planet, were you?” said Diva. “I can’t wait to get back to Coriolis. We can stay in a hotel, have a hot bath and a decent meal. I would kill for a Mesteta pie right now.”

“It isn’t so bad.” Six said stoutly.

“Not so bad! This wretched planet is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. And I include Atheron on a bad day, and waking up in a bubble with a jagged scar across my stomach. Not so bad indeed!”

Grace giggled. They both looked at her. “None of us seems to be doing very well with families, wouldn’t you say?”

Six gave a rueful nod. “Not much, you’re right.”

Diva agreed. “We seem to be getting further and further away from the people we grew up as. All of us.” They looked around at each other. It was true. Those children didn’t exist anymore. Their lives hadn’t been even remotely like those they were living now.

“That’s odd!” said Grace. The orthogel bracelet Diva was wearing had caught her eye, and she had noticed something. “It is a different colour.”

The others examined the bracelet closely. Grace was right, it had become cloudy and dull.

“Do you think Arcan is sick?” asked Grace.

Diva leapt to her feet. “Maybe the Coriolans have attacked him!” she said.

“Well if they have, they aren’t going to have much luck throwing him to the Tattula cats! They wouldn’t last two seconds against Arcan!”

“You know, you are getting very repetitive about Tattula cats,” said Diva.

“I shall buy a pet one in Mesteta, and train it to obey me,” he insisted.

“The whole point about them is that they are untrainable,” sniffed Diva.

“Bit like you then, aren’t they?”

“I won’t eat you. Unless you go on talking about them, that is.”

“You and whose army, lady?”

“Are you challenging me?” Diva’s eyes flashed, and she unsheathed the neat Coriolan blade she had appropriated from Grace’s artifacts room.

“You’ve got no chance.” And Six stood up too, picking a stick off the ground.

All this time Grace had been signing quietly to Arcan, using the orthogel necklace she was wearing. She looked up and gave a shout.

“Hey!” They stopped circling each other warily and looked at her. “We have to get back to Arcan. He is in trouble. He needs our help.”

Six stared at her. “Get back?” he repeated. “But I have to go and pick Eight up. I won’t leave her here.”

Grace shook her head. “Arcan says he needs to get back to Valhai, right away. There is no time to go back for Eight now.”

“Then tell him to pick us up here,” said Diva. “Can he still do that?”

Grace raised her eyebrows questioningly at Six. He considered for a moment, and then gave a reluctant nod. “If Arcan is sick we must make him first priority.”

“All right.” Grace’s fingers drummed a message to the orthogel entity.

In reply, their orthogel bands began to expand until they formed bubbles around each of them. In a second, they found themselves back on Coriolis. The bubbles disappeared and they stood gazing at the orthogel lake, dismayed. It was lacklustre and dull. This was definitely not the same Arcan they had left only a few days before.

“HELLO,” HE SIGNED weakly.

“Arcan. Whatever happened?” they chorused.

“I don’t know exactly. There is a problem with my energy levels,”

he said. “The symbiosis with the bacteriotrophs doesn’t seem to be working on Coriolis. And I feel wrong somehow. Something has gone very wrong with my cells. I have to get back to Valhai, before I run out of energy altogether. I might end up stuck here on Coriolis.” The lake turned a sickly shade of greenish blue.

“But I wouldn’t have thought the bacteriotrophs could be affected by a change in light,” said Six.

“I also had estimated a nearly normal function,” Arcan told him. “I don’t know why they are having this reaction, but I must get back to Valhai, where at least there is a better chance that they will recover.”

“No time for a Mesteta pie?” asked Diva, sadly.

“I am sorry, Diva,” Arcan said. “Hopefully I can sort out this problem, and then you can come back one day for your pie.”

“And my sister,” said Six.

“And, of course, your sister,” acknowledged Arcan. “But if you don’t mind . . . for the moment . . . we have to get back to Valhai. In any case, I would not like to leave the Sellites much longer without food and water. I do not feel very comfortable with that.”

“We had better go,” said Grace. “if you couldn’t get back for any reason, the Sellites would die. All of them.”

“I know, Grace. But my calculations are that I still have enough energy to perform the transfer. I am not so sure what will happen when we reach Valhai, though. I hope I will be able to function normally, but I haven’t been able to perform those calculations.”

“We will look after you,” Grace promised. “Don’t worry.”

I am afraid there is not much that you can do to help me. You are only inferior creatures, after all.”

“Don’t underestimate us,” Diva said firmly. “We will do our best for you.”

“Thank you Diva, but I am not optimistic. If I have not been able to foresee a solution with all my brain power, I feel it is unlikely that you three can, even if you join forces. You have only a limited brain capacity.”

“Sometimes it is not just about brain capacity,” Six said. “Which in Diva’s case is lucky.”

“Very funny, Kwaidian!” Diva glared.

“In any case, you can negotiate for me with the Sellites,” Arcan told them.

“Sure. Piece of cake,” said Diva.

“I will transport you straight to the hospital, where Grace’s mother is. That should have a full air supply if anywhere does.”

“Perfect. We will be out to see you straight away.”

Bubbles began to form around them. “Good luck!” said Diva.

“Luck is not a scientific phenomenon.”

“That’s why you might need it!”

“I do not understand.”

“Never mind!”

And the green background of Coriolis vanished, to be replaced by the astonished smiles of Vion and Cimma, who were watching, open-eyed, as they suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“About time too!” said Cimma. “I hope you remembered to bring my dagger!”

Grace hung her head. “I’m sorry, Matri. A lot of things have been happening.”

“More important than a promise?” Cimma wanted to know.

“No Magestra, of course not.”

But Diva put a hand on her friend’s arm. “Yes,” she said with determination. “Much more important than such a little promise. Anyway. That promise hasn’t been broken, only postponed.” She gave Cimma a wide smile.

Cimma frowned at first, but it was hard to resist Diva’s smile when she put her mind to it. “This had better be good,” she said finally.

“It is.” Diva’s eyes danced wickedly. “Whatever else it has been, nobody could say it hasn’t been interesting.”

Grace turned to Vion. “How is she doing?”

He nodded. “Fine, considering the extent of her injuries. She will be back practicing hand-to-hand combat in a few months.”

“That is terrific. Thanks.”

“And Arcan?” Vion asked.

Grace gave a sigh. “That is the problem.” She told Vion what had happened to them on Coriolis, and what Arcan had said to them. “We have to go bare planet now to see if he can recuperate. He didn’t seem to know exactly what was causing the imbalance, so we aren’t sure if he can cure himself. And if he can’t . . .”

“ . . . then all Sell will die with him,” finished Vion. “I had better come with you.” He stood up and looked around for his medical kit. “I don’t suppose a sticking plaster will do much for your friend, but at least I can take a few samples, and we can get help with analyzing them if that becomes necessary.”

Grace was struck by the common sense in his voice, and nodded. “Of course. Yes, that would be great. But you may be exophobic . . . have you ever been bare planet?”

Vion shook his head. “No. But I should be all right. Remember doctors have to be able to visit their patients anywhere. There should be something in my genetic make-up that will inhibit exophobia.”

Grace looked at the others. They were nodding their agreement.

“Let’s all go, then. Except Magestra, of course.”

Cimma willingly volunteered to guard the hospital area against intruders, and demanded a kitchen knife as a temporary stand-in for her dagger.

“If you have all gone mad risking your lives bare planet with no air, then that is your own affair,” she told them. “But I know my job well enough. I will make sure nobody interferes with the biolocks to stop you getting back in.”

Diva gave Cimma two gentle pats of approval on her shoulder. “That is just what we need. It’s good to know you have our backs.”

Cimma positively glowed.

“Right then,” said Six, “let’s get into some bodywraps, and get out there. The sooner we know if Arcan is all right, the sooner we can get the negotiations rolling.”

Diva held up one hand. “First things first!” she said. “I am not going anywhere until I have had a shower and eaten something other than fruit.”

Vion looked apologetic. “We can manage a quick shower . . . in cold water, of course, but there hasn’t been any proper food here for two days. You will have to make do with a hospital drip bag of nutrients.”

Diva was horrified. “You’re not going to put a needle in my arm, are you?”

Vion laughed. “No, you can drink it straight from the nutripack. We’re lucky. This is a hospital, so we had plenty of provisions, and our own water deposit. The rest of Sell is in trouble. Some of the older Sellites will fall sick unless they get sustenance soon. I would have distributed these packs if I could, but of course there is no practical way to get from house to house.”

“Bare planet?” suggested Diva.

He inclined his head. “Bare planet,” he agreed. “But although we can get to the ground floor of the other buildings, the doors won’t open on failsafe to my biosigns, and the original inhabitants are all at least forty-eight floors up with no lifts working.”

“Then the only sensible thing to do is for us to use the supplies ourselves to keep fit,” Diva said. “How are we for oxygen?”

“We estimate another couple of days before we begin to notice the effects,” he said. “But that was before you arrived. With three more people using up the air that time will go down drastically.”

“Then we will have to move fast.”

They pulled on their bodywraps and went out, leaving a jubilant and ferocious Cimma on guard by the terrace door. She was sitting bolt upright on a chair, with a line still attached to her arm, and a portable drip unit on wheels beside the chair. Her face was pale and puffy and her hair lank. There were neat bandages around her waist area, and she was wearing a clean hospital robe open at the back except for two ties. All in all, she was a dreadful sight.

“You won’t need the knife to repel any prospective attackers!” said Grace, bending to kiss her on the cheek. “They will take one look at you and run!”

“I know.” Cimma was complacent.

“You did a good job up on the twenty-first floor. If it hadn’t been for you they would have got out of the lift before Arcan could stop them. You saved all of us.”

“I know that too. I told you I would,” Cimma said.

“I know, Matri. I won’t ever doubt you again. I promise.”

“Go on with you now, don’t hang around here. I will be waiting, and don’t you worry, I will make quite sure nobody gets in here!”

Diva led the way out onto the terrace. The other three followed her; Grace with accustomed ease, and the last two muffled figures with noticeable reluctance.

Once they had forgotten their initial doubts, however, Vion and Six showed a distinct tendency to lag behind and marvel at the view.

“Look at Cian! Have you . . .”

“Yes, yes, we know,” snapped Diva. “Now do come on. We have to get this thing solved before the whole of Sell runs out of air.”

“Well, I like that!” said Six. “Who was it who wasted time making us all have showers before we came out?”

“Just doing your bodywrap a favour,” replied Diva. “Otherwise it would have needed fumigating.”

“Are you insinuating I smell bad?” he demanded.

“Haven’t you noticed everybody was standing upwind of you?”

“And I suppose you smelt of roses?”

“No. But Kwaidians sweat and Coriolans perspire. That’s the difference,” she informed him kindly.

“You sure did a lot of perspiring in Benefice!”

She looked at him pityingly. “And that’s why I needed a shower.” Then she turned to Grace and raised her eyes towards Cian. “Men! Sometimes I think the poor things drew the short straw as far as understanding goes.”

“Leave him alone, Diva,” Grace told her. “He’ll block his mask pack if you make him angry.”

“I will not!” Six took exception to that, and took a deep breath which caused his mask valve to hiss ominously. The girls started to laugh. Six limited his reaction to a frown. He would take care of them later, he decided. For the time being he contented himself with following the girls across the starry velvet surface of Valhai, dark grey under the violet of Cian. Today Sacras was low in the sky, throwing even longer shadows across the uneven terrain.

As they approached the lake it was clear that things were no better. The lake was a ghastly colour. Instead of the usual glossy black iridescence, it was a dull muddy colour tainted with fetid strings of scum on the surface. They exchanged looks of dismay.

Grace put her hands on the surface and began to sign.

“Arcan!”

There was a long pause. She tried again.

“Arcan?”

At last there was a feeble push against her fingers.

“Solution impossible.” And the surface under her hands quivered. Around them, there was a momentary ripple of black, but it disappeared almost as soon as it had come. Grace sat back horrified.

“What can we do to help?” she asked.

Diva and Six shook their heads. Vion got to his feet and began to extract various flasks from his medical pack. He took about thirty different samples of the lake, one every ten metres or so, marking them all carefully, and storing them in their cushioned slots in his case. Grace remembered what Arcan had said about moving organic parts out of reach of inquisitive eyes, and hoped he hadn’t done that now. They needed the samples to try to cure him.

“We need the help of the exobiologists from the 86
^th
house, the exochemists from the 12
^th
house, and the exophysicists from the 13
^th
house.” Vion said calmly. “They are the only chance we have of finding out what has happened to Arcan, and hopefully reversing it. Come on. There is no time to be lost.”

They made a sad procession back to the skyrises, leaving behind them a desperate struggle for survival. The shadows lengthened as they left, making the landscape seem even more ominous.

Vion didn’t even take off the bodywrap when they got back. Nor did it occur to him to maintain his usual discretion. It seemed to him that the time for that was past. He had to get the samples to the right people. He took command of the situation.

“Six. You will take a quarter of the samples to the 13
^th
house, the exophysicists. Diva, the 12
^th
house, the exochemists, and Grace, to the exobiologists in the 86
^th
house. That is much further away so it had better be you rather than Diva and Six. You have more practice at going bare planet. I will have to stay here to coordinate. For goodness sake, make sure you take enough mask packs. I will ask one of the house members to climb down to the lower levels to meet you halfway, if I can convince them. If not you will just have to make your way up to the highest floors. Now, go!”