Quest (20 page)

'I wouldn’t normally advise that. You should real y exercise it by swimming, and not walk on it for more than a few paces. It will be a day or two yet in the healing and walking on it will give you pain. But the bones have knitted together well enough to bear your weight in an emergency like this, and the pain will be bearable. Katia, go and find us another cave, a bigger one this time. Lord Davred, what do you need to take with you?'

Katia slipped out of the room and slid down the rope. You didn’t argue with Herra when she used that tone of voice.

Her robe still lay on the ground where she had left it and she blushed to think that Lord Davred had seen her in her undershift. She hesitated beside the robe for a moment, then shrugged and flitted away through the woods with it slung around her neck. Robes weren't at all practical for walking through undergrowth. What you really needed was soft boots like her grandfather made, and leather leggings and tunics like the foresters wore.

* * *

'Still watching that renegade? I thought your watch was over. 'Robler's harsh voice made Soo and Mak jump.

'Oh! I didn't hear you come in,' Soo said, feeling foolish. ‘I was so interested, I decided to stay on watch.'

'All night?'

'I took a couple of stims.'

'You always did have a soft spot for that traitor.'

As Robler stretched out his hand to switch off the com-unit, Soo put her hand out to protect the switches. 'It's too important that we watch this, Robler. Things are happening fast down there. Let me tell you what we've just seen.'

'Davred Hol unby has made his bed. Now he must lie in it.' But Robler didn’t move towards the switches again and he watched the image carefully.

Soo's voice was quiet and sure. 'I was about to come and tell you what we've just seen. We'll have to apply to Confex for a change of status for Sunrise now. Full protection and close observation, I should think, even if we only exercise minimum intervention, as Davred insisted. I really believe, from what I've heard and seen lately, that the things which happen on Sunrise, things which ought to be impossible, according to our knowledge of the universe, are significant to the whole Galactic Confederation.'

'You're fooling yourself, Soo. And I shall forward no such application. Your evidence is merely based on the play-acting Davred's putting on for our benefit. Did you
see
anything? Were the visuals working, even for one moment?'

'Not in the ship. We could only hear what was happening at first. But Davred's life monitor was still broadcasting, and he couldn't have been faking that. When Herra arrived, we began to receive pictures from her tracer. Davred's leg was most definitely broken - and as definitely healed.'

Robler snorted in disbelief.

'I don't know how Davred survived the crash,' Soo went on, refusing to let the Exec bully her, 'or how he managed to slow the lifeship down so much at the end. Do you? Most of the instruments were smashed. It should have been impossible to control it at all.'

'Sheer chance. Favourable malfunction.'

Mak joined in. 'I have to back Soo in this, Robler. Some improbable things have been happening and we've recorded
QUEST Shannah Jay 73

most of them. That's proof enough for me - and for Confex, I don't doubt. We formally request that you put through an application for a change of status for this planet.'

'Definitely not!' Robler slammed out of the com-room.

Soo gaped after him. 'But he
can’t
refuse!'

Mak's expression betrayed his shock. 'What's happening to him lately? Has he run mad?'

'I don't know, but I no longer trust him.' Soo mouthed the words softly, afraid Robler might be eavesdropping.

'Nor I.' Mak's hand grasped hers for a moment.

After a few moments, she sighed and moved away. 'I'd better bury these recordings in a few deep holes. Stand behind me, so that what I'm doing can't be observed.' Her fingers were dancing over the control panel as she spoke.

When she’d finished, Mak nodded in satisfaction and relief. Communications and computers were not his speciality.

If Soo had hidden a copy of the recordings in the computer's memory banks, then only she or another expert of her calibre would ever be able to find it again. And Robler was not an expert. 'Can you try to . . . ?' he began, but she gestured to him to be silent.

Sim came into the com-room. 'I've got orders to relieve you two. What's up? Robler's in a fury. He wants to see you in his cabin.'

'We've made a formal request for a change of status for Sunrise. Total wardship. No intervention. Play back the recording we made and see whether you think Davred is faking, as Robler claims.'

'Is it ready to go?' Sim looked shifty.

'Yes.'

'I'l just have a quick look at it, then.'

I bet you will, thought Mak. Robler's almost certainly told you to wipe it. Aloud he said, 'Come on, Soo, let's go and beard the lion in his den. He can't stop us from forwarding the evidence to Confex, if we insist on our rights. He can only put in a dissenting report.'

He held out his hand to her and she took it, leaving Sim gaping at them. Mak was notorious for his lack of feelings and Soo for her reserve. Now they were holding hands openly, like young lovers. What had got into those two? And what had they done to put Robler in such a fury? He decided that he would definitely look at the recording himself before he wiped it, whatever Robler said.

#####

Davred stood up and very tentatively put his full weight on the leg which had been broken. As Herra had predicted, it was painful to walk on, but not too painful to bear. He stared at her, then down at the leg. 'I can't believe it!'

'How not, when you see for yourself that it's so?' she countered. 'Your fixed beliefs about the world around you prevent you from even trusting your own senses.' She smiled and softened the rebuke by adding, 'Even the Sisters suffer from this problem at times, when they're developing new Gifts. They have to overcome what your people might call logic before they can do the things we of the Sisterhood know to be possible. But enough of that. We must leave this place quickly. We'll have time later to share our thoughts. What do you need to take with you?'

Davred indicated a bulging pack and a small box. With Herra's help he managed to get out of the hatch and slide carefully down the rope, taking care to land on his sound leg. Herra lowered his pack, then the precious box of
QUEST Shannah Jay 74

equipment which contained the stasis cube for Temple Tenebrak and some other bits and pieces he thought might be useful, then she followed him down the rope. Her movements were slow and tired, but it was hard to believe that she was over two hundred years old: she still moved lightly and with perfect balance.

Davred's eyes watered at the brightness outside, so different from artificial light. At first he sensed, rather than saw the beautiful morning as he lifted his face to enjoy the warmth of natural sunlight on his skin for the first time in years.

In fact, it had been a rare treat in his life to be out of doors like this. He took a deep breath, and then another, blinking away the tears. He couldn’t believe he was really here at last, on the planet he’d wanted to visit for so long. Yet even as he wondered at the strangeness of the scene, beneath everything he felt a sense of homecoming.

He smiled at Herra, standing beside him patiently, as if she knew instinctively that he needed a few moments to accustom himself to his new surroundings. The scents of the morning were wonderful, in spite of an occasional whiff of burnt foliage. The breeze was gentle on his skin, the colours subtle. Yes, he was home at last. He
knew
that in every cell of his body.

He had realised ever since he finished his studies and left the university planet that something was lacking in what the Confederation had to offer him. He had found himself work as a researcher, and had tried, very briefly, the drugs, exotic foods, sexual fantasies, and parties to which his colleagues had invited him. Group indulgence in such pleasures had been a shock to him. It had offended some sense of fastidiousness that most of the others didn’t seem to possess.

When he stopped taking part in the normal recreational activities, he had been left with his work - and a sense of loneliness, a loneliness nothing seemed to assuage.

His research had led him to join Confex. A random choice, he’d thought at the time, but he’d come to realise that someone, perhaps the authorities, had been guiding him, because of his potential as a Cathartic Agent.

In Confex, his early postings had been to a series of testing but minor projects. After a few years, he’d volunteered for this assignment on a newly-discovered planet. His senior advisers hadn’t wanted him to come, but he’d pressed so strongly that in the end they’d permitted the assignment.

Well, he’d broken his contract with Confex by disobeying Robler, and who knew what lay before him now? He didn’t intend to waste time worrying about Robler and Confex, not now that he was actually here on Sunrise.

Turning his back on the ugly swathe of burnt vegetation near the lifeship, Davred stared at the wildwoods, which resembled those that long-dead artists used to paint on Old Earth. He’d had several high-quality reproductions of his favourite paintings, as wel as other more modern multi-dimensional artworks, programmed into the ship's computer, and had screened them on one wall of his quarters, changing them every few days. But the reality here was far more beautiful than the images he had lived with and enjoyed.

How lush the foliage was! He touched some leaves gently, afraid of damaging them. He wasn’t used to such a riot of unprogrammed plant life. When Lenlin had enthused over the beauty of Sunrise's flora, he’d paid little attention to what she said. Little attention to her, either, he suddenly realised. Poor Lenlin! She’d been as unsatisfying as everything else he had tried. He wondered if she was carrying his child yet, and hoped that would console her.

Perhaps one day he’d meet that child. He hoped so.

'Are you ready to leave, Lord Davred?'

'What? Oh, yes! I'm sorry, Herra. I was just thinking how beautiful all this is.' Over to the right was a bush cut in two by the landing blast of the damaged lifeship. One half was covered by brown shreds of leaf and seared bal s of shrivelled blossom; the other half was a riot of foliage, dark green leaves crowding round fluffy balls of flowers in the most subtle shadings of pink he’d ever seen. Next to them, his blue shipsuit looked garish. In fact, it looked most dreadfully out of place here in the wildwoods. He looked down at it with distaste. 'Come, Lord Davred,' that quiet voice urged. 'Benner's men will be here soon.'

He turned and limped after Herra. When they’d gone a hundred yards into the woods, he stopped.

'Is your leg hurting too much to walk on, Lord?'

'No. But I need to switch on the stasis gear in the lifeship, so that no one can tamper with it.' He pul ed a com-unit from his pack, and spoke into it. 'There. It's tuned to my voice. Nothing else wil remove the stasis.' As if to
QUEST Shannah Jay 75

demonstrate that the stasis was working, a brightly-coloured bird flew into the invisible wall around the lifeship, screeched in shock as it started falling, and veered away.

They walked on for a little way, then Herra stopped. 'Let's sit down on this log, Lord Davred. We can do nothing more until Katia returns.'

He limped over to join her, sighing with relief as he took the weight off his leg.

'Lean back against me and close your eyes. The more you rest your body, the better it will respond to your needs.'

Katia rejoined them five minutes later, breathless from running.

'Benner's men are getting near! Hurry! They'll be here soon.' She pulled Davred to his feet, forgetting protocol, grabbed one of his packs and led them at a half-run through the undergrowth. After a few minutes they had to stop again to let Davred rest. When he tried to speak, Katia and Herra both shushed him.

'There's someone coming!' whispered Katia. She looked around, then gestured to an outcrop of rocks. 'We could try hiding behind those.' She looked disapprovingly at the bright blue shipsuit.

Davred collapsed on the ground in the shade of the rocks, his face pale, his breathing ragged and sweat standing in beads on his forehead. He had never before had to endure pain of this magnitude. Herra laid a hand gently on his leg and Katia could see him sag against her with relief as the pain eased. But she could tell that Herra was nearly as exhausted as he was. Footsteps crunched across the woodland floor towards them.

'Could have sworn I heard something.'

Herra made a swift gesture. One of the men turned and sniffed loudly. 'Something's burning over that way.'

'At this time of the year? It's not high summer, you know. Things are too damp to burn.'

'I can smell burning, I tell you!'

Arguing loudly, the two of them headed off through the woods.

'It's another klom,' said Katia anxiously. 'And it's rough terrain towards the end. But there's a lovely cave, big and dry, with a spring at the back.'

'I'll be all right,' said Davred.

'And you, Elder Sister?'

'I, too, child. Lead us there as quickly as you can.' But the strain on Herra's face belied her cheerful tone.

They had to stop another three times to conceal themselves while Benner's men blundered past. Once a man came upon them unexpectedly as they were crossing the open space in a grove of ceradon trees, and Herra had to
still
him and block his memory of the encounter.

After that, the Elder Sister's face lost every vestige of colour and she made no more attempts to ease Davred's pain.

The climb up the exposed rocky surface that led to the cave was an ordeal for both her and Davred. Katia's back crawled with apprehension the whole time in case they were seen.

Once inside the cave, Davred dropped to the ground and just sat with his face hunched over his outstretched legs, rocking slightly as the waves of pain began to subside. Herra leaned against the rough wal at one side of the cave, panting a little as she studied their surroundings.