Empire of Bones (14 page)

The newcomer said something to Ir Yth, and as he did so, Jaya was washed with a wave of conflicting emotions:
/sur-prise/inquiry/concern/
and several more that she couldn't even identify, but which sent shivers of contradictory impulses across her skin. Why couldn't she sense Ir Yth like this? Before she knew what she was doing, Jaya wrapped her arms around herself. This, she realized, must be the mediator.

Ir Yth inclined her head in what could almost have been a bow. The mediator stared at her, and Jaya thought he looked puzzled. But it was hard to read the alien features; very proba-bly she was wrong.

The mediator will communicate his wishes through me
, the
raksasa
said. /
have explained to you
that he is of a lower caste than myself; he does not have my speech capacities. Until you de-velop
a mutually satisfactory means of communication, I will in-terpret your responses to him
.

"Please tell the mediator I am honored to meet him," Jaya answered, feeling unsure of herself. Ir Yth seemed perfecdy capable of mediating, so why had this person been brought in? She called on her jackal senses, looking for clues. But though she was adept at assessing a possible enemy, this unhuman person eluded her. A sense of welcome rippled through Jaya as the
raksasa
translated. They seemed to communicate through mood, through emotion, and Jaya wondered just what she herself might be conveying to the mediator. An un-helpful mix of fear, distrust, and fascination could be surging toward him even as the thought occurred to her.

She had not noticed düs phenomenon with the
raksasa
, but then, until now she and Ir Yth had never been physically pres-ent together in the same place. Just how far did Ir Yth's "speech capacities" extend?

She seemed able to place state-ments in Jaya's mind, but not to read the complexities of Jaya's thoughts.

If the
raksasa
and the mediator communicated through mood, Jaya mused, her own speech might be too primitive and confused for Ir Yth to grasp correctly. If that was so, Jaya might be able to use it to her advantage.

She did not want to dwell on this idea in the
raksasa's
pres-ence, just in case. A possible answer came:
meditate
. Jaya took a deep breath, reached inside, imagined prana gliding up her spine. Her heart rate slowed, obediently as a yogi's. She thought:
If only I'd had this body bac't in the revolution. Imagine
not being weakj not getting sick^ all the time
. And she had a mo-ment of pure and irrational regret, that Kamal would never be able to see her new hair.

The mediator said that he is delighted to see you well
, Ir Yth conveyed.

"Please thank him very much for curing me."

She was lapped in a bath of positive feelings. Suddenly Jaya liked the mediator very much. She wanted to know more about him, become his friend.
Hang on. What's happening to me
? She wondered whether the mediator was deliberately in-fluencing her in some way, and risked a glance. The golden eyes were round and mild, with nothing of the predator in them.

"Please forgive me," she said, and meant it. "I know noth-ing of your customs. I do not know what is considered polite and what is not. I do not wish to offend you."

The mediator spoke. Subtle, many-layered feelings slid over Jaya. Ir Yth replied,
The mediator
understands. Allowances must be made, on his part as well as yours. He wishes you well. You are
both
desqusai,
after all
.

"We're both what? I'm sorry, I don't understand." The sense of the word as it came to Jaya's mind was:

/category/caste/level/position/obligation/
.

Desqusai, the
raksasa
said, with a touch of impatience.
You are the same
.

Jaya looked at the quills, the yellow gaze, the pale, hard skin. "I don't think we're
the same
, somehow."

/
suppose I cannot expect you to understand even elementary concepts of resemblance
, Ir Yth said, with evident frustration.
You share the same originator genestrand, which is what makes you both
desqusai. She glanced at Jaya's blank face and gave an exasperated hiss.
Oh, never mind
.

After a long pause, Jaya asked, "What is his name?"

We do not have random names, as you do. The closest term that
you have is "address." We call it a locative. The mediator's current full locative is Sirrubennin
EsMoyshekhal irRas SeTekhei.

The expression on Jaya's face must had been obvious even to the
raksasa
, for Ir Yth hastily added, /

have explained your methods of identification and the use of the contracted diminutive. He says
you can call him Sirru
.

"Then perhaps he could call me Jaya," Jaya said. Sirru was staring at her with an expression she could not interpret. Curiosity? Concern? The smooth angles of his face gave noth-ing away. He said, testing it,

"Jaya." Aloud, just as she did. He had a soft, sibilant voice.

Ir Yth interpreted,
He says: If you do not have a locative, per-haps you could indicate where you
are from
?

Jaya pointed to the no-space between herself and the world.

"Can he see? There is Bharat."

Sirru ducked to follow the line of her pointing finger, and murmured, "Bhara'th." Then, carefully,

"EsAyachantha IrNihalani IrBhara'th." The words slurred and shifted in the soft alien voice; it was a moment before she recognized her own name.

"Do you think," she asked Ir Yth, "that I might try to learn your language?" Somehow, she did not much like the thought of doing all the talking through Ir Yth.

The
raksasa %
mouth convoluted in an expression that Jaya had come to recognize as disapproval.
You
could not. We do not communicate li^e you. Something is amiss with the basic speech structure of
your people; you have only verbal tones. It would be im-possible
. Here Ir Yth glanced warily at the mediator, but Sirru gave no impression of having understood or, indeed, heard.

"So why can I hear your voice in my head, but not his?"

We have innumerable means of communication
—
verbal, pheromonal, transmitted, to name but
three examples. I feel that this is why you so frequently fail to understand what I am trying to tell
you. As I have endeavored to explain, my caste is more adept at higher levels of communication
than Sirru's and your own, and I

might add that I have to do quite a lot ofwor't before you even ap-pear to hear me. You, in turn,
are not capable of communicating properly with Sirru, since, as I have just told you, something is
wrong with your speech structures.

"I thought you said Sirru and I were the same," Jaya coun-tered.

The same, yes, but you occupy different levels of category. All
desqusai
are primitive, particularly
those from the colonies
.

It
Yth appeared dangerously close to annoyance. Jaya thought with sudden suspicion:
Is it just that
you're tired of trying to make yourself understood to an obtuse primitive, or is it that you don't
want us to communicate without you? You say that Sirru is the mediator, and yet the only one
who seems to be doing any mediation is you. What are you hiding, Ir Yth EsTekhei
?

Sirru turned and said something to Ir Yth, but the
ra^sasa
did not translate. Jaya saw the mediator's golden eyes narrow briefly, and wondered whether this meant the same thing as it would in a human. Did Sirru distrust Ir Yth? And if so, why? Jaya was adrift in a sea of speculation, but suddenly her new, improved body felt too weary to remain standing.

"Ir Yth—-" she started to say, but it was Sirru who stepped forward and caught her before she fell.

Jaya was taken to a small chamber and encouraged to lie down in a net. It encased her like a hammock.

Filaments ran along her flesh and she could feel a prickling sensation along her left calf as something slipped beneath the skin. Soon everything was light and pleasant, cocooned against an unimaginable reality. She looked up and saw that Sirru was standing by the side of the net.

"Jaya." Then something else: a slurring, lisping clicking that she could not even differentiate into words.

Perhaps there were no words there. She felt Sirru's cool hand touching her wrist. She realized for the first time that the
raksasa
had never laid even a rudimentary finger on her. Ir Yth's manifestation on Earth had done so, but since Jaya arrived on the ship, the
ra'tsasa
had kept her distance. Consideration? Unlikely, given the character of Ir Yth. If they communicated through emo-tions, perhaps Ir Yth had something to hide…

But Sirru was touching her now, and she did not know whether the reassurance she felt was a result of the drugs or of his hand being on her wrist. She gazed up at him trustingly, despite herself, and his expression did not change as he looked gravely down at her, and sent her into sleep.

7 Fvhokanara laiace/ Uttar JradesK

Naran Tokai brushed the sensory cane against the fallen petals of the roses, experiencing sweetness. He took a few halting steps across to a stone seat flanked by ornamental lions and sank back against sun-warm marble. Turning, he placed the computer scroll on the seat and activated the screen. Memory fluid seeped out across the stone, settling into its familiar py-ramidal configuration. Tokai stroked a forefinger across the base of the screen, summoning the Web. He watched as the Han Seng closing index rolled down the screen: shares in Tokai Pharmaceuticals were rising. Tokai permitted himself a small smile of self-congratulation, then checked his personal mail.

The Indian headquarters of Tokai Pharmaceuticals was based in Delhi, but there had been factories across the subcon-tinent for some years now, manufacturing a wide range of medical products. Turnover from the Indian division was now running at some $400 million per annum, a fraction of the wider profits.

With methodical patience, Tokai ran through the more minor aspects of the operation before returning to the R&D divisions. He summoned up the hierarchies until he reached the file marked "Hive." Taking the little sliver of the pen, he inscribed the character for "Creation" and his personal password: a thumbprint of his own pheromonal signature, to deter hackers. A sequence of results rolled up. Tokai took his phone from the pocket of his austere jacket and dialed.

"Sir?"

"I see we have finally had a happy result."
Finally
, Tokai thought with distaste,
was the right word
.

After yet another de-bacle involving Jaya Nihalani and Anand, and the apparent disappearance of the alien, he needed some good fortune for a change. Anand's failure was still sour in his mouth, although there was, he supposed, some balm in the fact that the govern-ment of Bharat did not seem to know where the alien was ei-ther. Nor did anyone else.

"The results came through this morning. Of course, we're all thrilled." Dr. Jamahl's whispery little voice was high with excitement.

"So you should be, my dear. Do you have a release date for me?

"July thirty-first."

"I see. Not soon enough. I've been speaking to my old friend Minister Singh this morning. I understand there's un-rest in the south of the province; he's looking for results. I took the liberty of reassuring him that we'd have something helpful for him very soon."

"We still need—further tests," the doctor fluttered. "I don't think—"

"Bring the release date forward. Let's keep our customers happy. After all, they do make your life and mine very much easier, don't they? And Minister Singh assures me that as long as there isn't too much collateral damage, he'll be entirely sat-isfied. Please keep me informed."

Before the doctor could protest, Tokai hung up. He sat among the roses, their odor seeping into his brain with nar-cotic insidiousness. What was that Western expression?

Something about killing two birds with one stone…Jaya Nihalani might have escaped the first round of Selenge, but perhaps she'd succumb to this new, improved variety. That, Tokai thought, would be a very satisfying implementation of resources.

8. Depth snip/ orbit: Carth

It's like the hospital all over again
, Jaya thought, pacing rest-lessly up and down the small chamber.

She had not seen either of the aliens for the past day, and the ship's voice inside her head had fallen silent.

Was it all a trick, then? She turned, striking her fist against the wall.

"Ir Yth! Are you there? Can you hear me?" There was no reply. "I won't be caged like this!" She was growing used to her new body—to the novelty of lithe movement and a prowl instead of a limp—and she wanted out of this small enclosed space. Then the wall peeled back and Ir Yth bustled through.

You are making a noise!

"Why am I being shut up like this?"

We do not wish you to damage yourself.

"How would that happen? You cured me, didn't you?" Jaya put out a hand and touched the
raksasa
lightly on one of her chitinous arms. "Ir Yth, it isn't that I'm not grateful. But I don't like being cooped up.

If there are areas of the ship that are dangerous, then tell me so, and I'll avoid them. I don't want to damage myself any more than you want me to."

Ir Yth seemed to bristle.
You are most obstreperous
!

"What are you—my
ayah
?"

The
raksasa
stared at her blankly.
It is for your own good. I do not intend
—

But at that point, Sirru stepped inquiringly through the opening in the wall.

"Sirru," Jaya said, warmly. Stepping past the
raksasa
, she smiled up at the alien administrator. She pointed to the wall, and did her best to look questioning. Sirru said something mildly to Ir Yth, who responded with a cross chittering sound and a glare of annoyance. Jaya did not wait to see what the re-sult of their debate might be. She headed quickly for the hole in the wall, and out into the ship.