Empire of Bones (13 page)

Outside in the murmuring shadows, Shiv Sakai was wait-ing with a rope and a harness. "The others are down already. Put this on. Rakhi and I will lower you."

Jaya slid her arms into the harness and froze. There were voices in the courtyard below as soldiers fanned out into it. She recognized the khaki uniforms, and it came as no sur-prise.
Anand's men
. Along the balustrade, no more than a few yards away, one of the yellow monkeys gave a demonic shriek and leaped onto the stone coping. Gunfire stitched the bal-ustrade. Jaya threw herself flat as a ricocheting bullet whined overhead.

From below she heard someone shout, "What the fuck do you think you're
doing
?" It was Amir Anand.

Again, no sur-prise there. But there was a raw edge of panic in Anand's voice that she did not recall ever hearing before. Beside her, Rakh hissed, "
Go
." He hoisted her up to the narrow slit of a win-dow, so that she was suddenly perched high above die street. She could see movement in the shadows, the glint of a gun at the end of the road where a soldier stood. The street was still cordoned off. Was Anand acting on his own initiative, then? Jaya swore under her breath.

"Ready?"—but then Rakh spun around. There was an electric flurry of noise from die temple courtyard: a burst of gunfire, Anand crying out, the sound of running footsteps. Jaya glanced back from her perch on the windowsill to see the robed figure of Ir Yth gliding soundlessly across the court-yard. There was the hiss of a dart gun. Anand's men sprinted forward with a net and cast it over the gliding figure. The net passed through Ir Yth's ghostly form and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Jaya felt Rakh's hands around her waist, passing her through the window. She spun above the street like a parcel in a spider's web. Then the rope was lowering and within a few seconds she was in the hands of her men Sokash and Ajit, be-ing helped down onto the street. Minutes later, Shiv and Rakh joined her.

Abandoning the rope, they melted around the sides of the temple to the place where the army cordon was least guarded. From behind, there were shouts. Jaya glanced back to see a fa-miliar stout figure sailing past the main gate as lightly as a leaf on the wind. Soldiers' feet pounded over the dusty earth, but Jaya and her men slid between the tailgates of the vehicles and into the maze of streets that surrounded the temple. Ten min-utes later, they were out onto the ghats by the river.

"Now where?" Jaya asked, panting against the warm wall of the ghat. The night seemed to close around her like a glove. Shiv Sakai's teeth glimmered in the soft darkness.

"I was thinking we'd borrow a boat."

"Good idea." Jaya rubbed gritty eyes. "But they'll probably be looking for that. Here's what we'll do.

Rakh comes with me, up into Goudalia. Shiv, you and the others cross the river, and—"

That will not be necessary
, the
ra'tsasa's
voice said inside Jaya's mind. Jaya looked up to see Ir Yth floating several feet above the surface of the Ganges. /
have distracted your pursuers
.

"Thank you," Jaya breathed.

The
ra'tsasa
made a dismissive gesture with a lower arm.
It was a simple matter. But it is clear to me
that we cannot continue with this sort of distraction. We must put you where you will be safe
.

"That might be tricky."

Not at all. You will come here to the ship. I am dispatching a raft
, the
rahsasa
said. She seemed to be looking down at some-thing that Jaya could not see. Reaching out a hand, she turned an invisible dial, ran fingers across the air. A hard, tight bolt of fright twisted Jaya's stomach. The thought of actually visiting the ship, the originator of the voice, both exhilarated and terri-fied her.

She turned her face away so diat Ir Yth could not see her expression, determined not to let the
ra'tsasa
know how scared she was. There was a sudden flurry of wings from the towers of die ruin behind her, and a flock of crows and parakeets whirled up into the darkness. High above Varanasi, some-thing glittered, like light reflecting from a window in the dis-tance.

"What's that?" Jaya whispered, but she already knew.

It is the raft.

They watched in a tense silence as the raft drifted down. It did not seem to have any definable shape.

Four immense vanes shifted and coiled, and within them something was twisting. As it floated down, Jaya saw that the vanes were transparent, though they glittered in the light and filaments ran across them, red as blood. Jaya instinctively ducked, but as the raft settled above the river it suddenly retracted its vanes and sank, light as air, to the edge of the ghat. It was perhaps the size of a large car. She heard someone gasp.

"I'm going up in
that}"
Jaya asked, alarmed.

Unless you propose to fly
, the
rakjasa
said with the first flicker of anything approaching humor that Jaya had yet to see.

"What about my men? It's not large enough for all of us, and there's no way I'm leaving them behind."

You will have to
, the
raksasa
said, impatiently.
You are the Receiver; no other is designated
.

"Then I'm not going. I won't let them face Anand alone. I—"

"Jaya," Rakh said from behind. He touched her arm. "Go. Go to where you'll be safe. We've been looking after ourselves for long enough."

But will I be safe
? Jaya thought with deep unease.
What if all of this is no more than another lie? But
then, why would Ir Yth go to all this trouble? If she wanted me for some dar't purpose, why
wouldn't she simply have fallen me
?

"Rakhi's right," Shiv Sakai added. "You're our best chance, Jaya."

Touch it
, the
ra'tsasa
said.

Jaya put out her twisted fingers and tentatively rested them on the glistening side of the raft. It felt warm and soft, like flesh in the sun. It pulsed beneath her palm.

"It's as though it's alive," Jaya said uncertainly.

It is
between, Ir Yth informed her, with maddening smug-ness.

"How do I get in ?"

Touch it.

With a doubtful glance, Jaya stroked the side of the raft, and a slit opened up. It looked disconcertingly animate.

"Am I doing this right?" She ran a finger along the slit. Something about this felt very wrong, but the slit widened, and with a noise like a seedpod the raft opened up. Inside was a complex wet webbing. It smelled like an overripe melon.

Settle yourself within.

"Wait a minute," Jaya said.

There is no more time. They are looking for you, the ones from the temple
—
the ship tells me this.

You have no choice
, Ir Yth said, and there was something like a hot clutch inside Jaya's mind. Her vision swam momentarily red. She felt herself tot-tering forward to step over the lip of the raft.

She heard Shiv cry, "
Jeete rahon
, Jaya!" in traditional farewell.
Keep living
. It seemed all too appropriate. Still moved by a force that she could not repel, she sat down, won-dering if this was going to be the last thing she ever did. She glanced frantically up at Rakh's dismayed face, but then the webbing folded itself around her. Jaya tried very hard not to think of spiders. Grimly, she shut her eyes. The webbing seeped over her mouth, forcing it apart. Surrender did not come easily. There was a bitter taste in her mouth, like ash or aloes, and then a numbness. It was putting her to sleep. Panic finally overtook her. She started to struggle. It was, of course, much too late. The raft sealed with a sound like some-one splitting a watermelon and Jaya fell into the depths of night.

6. Depth skip/ orbit: fc-arth

When Jaya woke, she was somewhere dim and empty and quiet. She blinked, feeling an unaccustomed euphoria spread-ing through her. She rolled over, unimpeded, and sat up. She felt strange—light and mobile—and only when she looked down at her hands did she realize what had happened. Her hands were young again, the skin dark and smooth, with a slightly unnatural texture, like plastic. The garnet of her mother's ring gleamed in the faint light.

Jaya stared down at her healed self, incredulous and strangely dismayed. Then relief flooded through her, so sud-denly that tears sprang to her eyes.
Cured
. Ir Yth had told her that she would be healed, but the
raksasa
was so slippery she hadn't dared believe it. And if they could cure her with such apparent ease, then surely they could cure other sufferers, of diseases such as cancer. Or Selenge.

She reached up wonderingly and touched her face. No lines, no wrinkles; just skin stretched over angular bones. She could see something pale out of the corner of her eye, and when she touched it she saw that it was her own hair. It had changed, falling in a long white skein down her back. The texture was as fine as silk, but it seemed that whoever had cured her had mistaken its paleness for her natural color. She was barefoot, and wearing the same camouflage trousers and vest that she had worn in the temple. She was dying for a ciga-rette. Maybe they would cure that, too.

The thought of being forced to give up smoking was an alarming one. The floor was as smooth as her own new skin. She reached out to run her hand along it, and the floor rum-pled and arched beneath her touch. She snatched her hand away.
Not alive
—
between
. She was on an alien ship, high above the Earth. Her brain couldn't take it in; it was surely nothing but a dream…

Abruptly, Jaya stood up, stretching with the pleasure of painlessness. But it was more than just the absence of pain. She reached down, legs straight, palms flat on the floor. Then she sat back down and slipped a foot onto either thigh. Full lo-tus; effortless. She arched her back, her arms flat behind her head and her knees resting on the floor, and laughed for pure pleasure.

Ir Yth hadn't just cured her—the
rafyasa
seemed to have turned her into a yoga master as well. A whole new body. She had never believed it would be possible to feel like this, and if Ir Yth had drifted in at that moment, Jaya would have hugged her.
Let's hope it lasts
.

At that thought, she sat swiftly up again. Memory flooded back, accompanied by urgency. What about Rakh and her men? Had they melted away to safety while she floated up into the heavens like Sita in Rama's chariot? She had to find out.

"Ir Yth?" Jaya asked, experimentally, but there was no re-ply. The room curved above her, pale and dappled like the skin of a sacred cow. It smelt of nothing. Then the wall opened and the
ra^sasa
was there. Jaya scrambled to her feet.

This time, the
rakjasa
was solid. Now that she was no longer merely a simulation, Jaya could see, Ir Yth's skin had more texture. It looked glistening and hard. The petaled interior of her mouth was wet.

Jaya could smell her, too: a mustiness like decayed spice, overlaid by a complexity of unfamiliar odors.

You are pleased? The modifications are acceptable
? Ir Yth asked. The scent of spice deepened.

"Thank you. Yes, yes they are. Thank you very much," Jaya said, sincerely. She wanted to ask about the wider impli-cations of the cure, and about her men, but Ir Yth continued,
The mediator has contacted
me. He was most concerned with the ris't to your safety
.

"That was very kind. When am I to meet the mediator?"

Soon. Do you require food? It is here
, The
raksasa
caressed the wall, and something like a spout appeared. Jaya watched warily as a viscous drop of something dewy appeared at the spout's end.

Nutrients.

The tempting vision of a glass of tea swam before Jaya's in-ner eye.
Samosas. Brinjal pickje, chapatis.

Goddess, I'm hungry
. But the viscous drop smelled strong and strange, dispelling appetite.

"I don't want any food at die moment. But thank you. Listen, Ir Yth, is there a way of communicating with my men? With the one called Rakh?"

Ra'th is not a Receiver
, Ir Yth said, severely.
You are safe. That is all that matters
.

"It is not all that matters! There was danger. I have to know what happened to them, whether they are safe, too."

Why? Can they not Ux>'t after themselves?

"They're my
friends
. I'm worried about them." She ran a distracted hand through her new hair.

/
will as't the ship if a search might be made. Perhaps you might spea't to the ship, too. And now I
will show you your world
, Ir Yth said, with the air of one about to bestow a great favor. Jaya sighed witJi frustration. She was truly grateful for the cure; if only the
ra'tsasa
were not so condescending… But Westerners were the same, always expecting you to exclaim over marvels that were to them mundane.

She followed Ir Yth through the wall and into a maze of cell-like chambers, trying to note where they were going. There were no corridors, and no windows until the
raksasa
paused and fluted a command.

Then a whole expanse of mottled skin peeled away and there was Earth, disorientingly vast, looking as it did in every photograph Jaya had ever seen. There seemed to be nothing between herself and space; she stepped back with a gasp. Ir Yth was watching her expectantly. Evidently some further response was called for.

"Wonderful," Jaya said, feeling completely inadequate. She noticed that the
ral(sasa's
attention had been distracted. Ir Yth was staring beyond her shoulder. Jaya turned. Someone had entered the chamber.

The person was tall and wore a long, pale robe. After a mo-ment of confusion, Jaya identified him as male. He was glanc-ing absently at the planet below, and at first sight he appeared far more human than Ir Yth. Only two arms, for a start. His face was cast into shadow. The angles of bone and brow were starting to look familiar, but then the light shifted and changed and Jaya saw that the newcomer had a pointed face that was the same dappled color as the ship's skin. He had molten eyes with a vertical pupil, and a shock of what initially appeared to be hair but which Jaya soon realized were hun-dreds of thin quills held back with a braid. A narrow mouth, more or less human, lay beneath a bladed nose not unlike a beak. The quills lifted slightly and rattled.