Quest (34 page)

'Why not? If ever we needed to renew our faith and our sense of purpose, it's now.'

'There are only four of us . . . ' Cheral began doubtful y.

'It only takes two to
gather
!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 124

Neither of them noticed the bleak look that came suddenly to Fiana's face.

'Well, why not? I'm feeling a bit low myself.' Cheral wasn’t sure she liked the way Katia had taken charge, but the idea made sense. 'Just let me clear away these things and get the rest of the beds ready.'

Incurably neat, even in such circumstances, Cheral tidied up the few utensils they had used, while Fiana and Katia helped Herra to make herself more comfortable. Then, one by one, they moved to form a circle.

* * *

'What are those primitives doing now?' Robler asked sourly as silence fell in the cave.

Soo gritted her teeth but said nothing. She knew she mustn’t let Robler goad her in any way, though lately it’d been very difficult to keep her opinions to herself. He’d taken it into his head that she was following Davred’s example and had warned her to be very careful or he might be obliged to suspend her from her duties and send her back to Central.

She banished that thought and continued to watch.

Davred's tracer was faithfully replicating the scene in the shadowy rock chamber. Soo turned down the lights in the com-room so as not to detract from it. The picture cut off sharply at the edges of the cube's power, but was large enough to include the four women sitting cross-legged in a circle, their hands touching. Three of the faces were calm and serene; the fourth, Fiana's, wracked with sadness.

'I'm going to enlarge the image to life size,' whispered Soo.

'Why the hell are you whispering? Do you think they can hear you?'

She ignored Robler. 'Fiana's weeping. I wonder why?'

'Who understands anything that those women do?' Robler snapped. 'This is just another of their ways of relaxing, I suppose. Though why it should make that one cry . . . '

'It's not relaxation. It's a Gathering. Davred tried to explain it to me once, after the first time he'd done it. He called it
achieving gathering
. And he was ecstatic about it.'

'Hyper-ventilated, more like.'

'Why will you not
listen
, Robler? Why will you not even trust the evidence of your own eyes? And why will you never give any credit to Davred? He's still reporting in regularly, still doing the job he was sent to Sunrise for, isn't he? And doing it better than he ever could here on the satellite.'

'He was
not
sent here to make a Commitment to one backward planet! He was sent here to gain experience so that his potential could develop. He was only supposed to get some experience of violence, not go down and join in their struggles. And he
will
be needed any day now - needed quite desperately, by more people than that little ball of mud down there could ever support, even if it were fully populated, which it isn't.

Soo sighed and gave up attempting to make Robler see sense. She and Mak exchanged a glance, then she shrugged slightly and bent forward to adjust the image. Where Davred was concerned, Robler was totally unreasonable.

Robler surprised her, however, by continuing the conversation. 'What else did Davred say about this Gathering thing?' He waved a hand scornfully at the four women, who were still sitting motionless.

The slight transparency of the image lent them an ethereal quality. How beautiful they looked, Soo thought, not responding immediately to Robler's question. Sometimes she felt that it was the beauty of Sunrise which had entrapped Davred - and which was slowly entrapping her. But she had no intention of making a Commitment. What could a computer/communications expert with her skills do on a technologically backward planet which lacked even self-propelled vehicles, let alone mass communication systems?

And yet - she couldn't bear the thought of leaving. She could fully understand why Davred had flown down to Sunrise rather than allow Robler to send him back to Central. What would she do if Robler ever tried to carry out his threat to transfer her?

'Well - what did he say about it?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 125

Soo raised her eyes to meet Robler's, trying not to betray her inner turmoil. Her eyes were dark pools in an ivory-yellow face, and her hair was also dark, straight and sleek, drawn today into a knot high on the crown of her head. She spoke with calmness and dignity, not allowing Robler's sarcasm to upset her.

'Davred said that it was a meshing of souls - not minds, but souls. It's definitely not telepathy, though the Sisters do show traces of ESP sometimes. He said . . . ' Soo tilted her head sideways, a trick she had when trying to recal something, and her long eyelashes fluttered down over her gracefully-slanting eyes. 'He said that
gathering
brought a sure knowledge of love and purpose, as well as comfort in times of trouble, a heightening of joys and - and - oh, yes, a sense of shared commitment, such as we of Confex could never know.' Her soft voice was in contrast to Robler's harsh tones, and she wouldn’t have looked out of place had she put on the robes of a Sister and joined the group of women whose image filled the centre of the darkened com-room.

Mak looked across at her and smiled, excluding Robler.

'Is that al ?' Robler snapped. He felt his exclusion from their wordless communication, and the knowledge that he was missing something they could see galled him. After all, he too had been - Daxos! he stil
was
nearly a potential CA.

And one day he’d prove his worth, make them regret not choosing him. 'It sounds like a load of mumbo-jumbo to me.

Al very wel for primitives, but it wouldn't fool civilised people for a moment.'

Soo's voice was stiff with scorn. 'Davred also explained that it usually takes years of training before a Sister can

achieve ful gathering
. You have to acquire a certain attitude first, a state of mind. He was so happy that he’d
achieved
gathering
within his first year with the Sisterhood. I don't think I've ever seen joy like that in our so-called civilised society.'

Robler snorted. 'It's as I said: hyperventilation, a self-induced euphoria. You can get the same feeling with hel-gas shots.'

'Does that explain the Great Gathering that we recorded, when every temple on the planet was linked to make the decision about which temples to save? We never did work out what caused the emissions of light from each temple,'

Mak commented.

Robler couldn’t deny this, so he ignored the remark and changed the subject. 'Do they all do that?' He pointed a contemptuous finger at the motionless women. Only the tears trickling down Fiana's cheeks were moving. He had never seen such stillness of body over such a length of time.

'Only the Sisters can
gather
. That's why they're
chosen
. The novices have the potential, and when it develops they become Sisters.'

'And how do those women know which ones to choose? Magic?'

Soo shrugged. 'How should I know? But the system's been successful for over twenty thousand years, so it can't be that bad.'

'Twenty thousand years! Don't tell me you've been taken in by that nonsense as well.'

Mak's hand grasped Soo's, and she didn’t rise to the bait. Robler scowled at them and fell silent.

They watched until the four women stirred again. The change in Herra was quite visible, even to alien and hostile eyes. She was tired stil , but the stress and self-doubt had gone. None of the three women made a move towards Fiana, who went and lay down on her pallet with her face to the wall.

'Send a copy of this, and a recording of the Great Gathering to Confex - mark it ESP Branch,' Robler ordered after a moment. 'They like to collect such oddities. Tell them what Davred said about
gathering
. When it's ready, let me know, and I'll check it through. I can't add my endorsement to something I haven't seen, can I?'

He had checked everything that went out from the satellite to Central since Davred's escape, and although he was unable to stop their reports, he made sure that any with which he disagreed were accompanied by an adverse report of his own. Once or twice, especially in the early days, Soo had managed to send transmissions without his knowledge, but he’d tightened up since then. To send anything without his seal of approval now would be to risk bringing out into the open the conflict that was simmering beneath the surface on the satellite.

QUEST Shannah Jay 126

Although Soo and Mak supported what Davred had done, they were the only two team members openly on his side, so felt themselves to be in a vulnerable position. There was nothing concrete on which they could pin any complaint about their Exec, so there was nothing they could do but hold their peace and try to build up evidence to call in a Confex Sectoral Supervisor to investigate the situation. But it wasn’t easy. Proof had to be incontrovertible that something was wrong, or Soo and Mak would themselves be dismissed from Confex.

Of the others serving tours of duty on the satellite, which now carried a full crew, Sim and Kerem had remained strictly neutral and kept to their own areas of research or documentation. Both of them were from Hareth-III, a planet noted for the stolidity of its inhabitants, and its lack of and scorn for creative ability. People from Hareth-III made good technicians or librarians, could be brilliant in maintaining records and machinery, but were poor at innovation.

Jarna and Donnan had also kept neutral, but more because they were sceptical of what was happening, than to support Robler. They were from an ultra-sophisticated world, and had a rather disdainful attitude towards Sunrise.

Even after Mak had returned to his cabin, Soo sat on in the com-room, deep in thought. Robler occasionally showed glimpses of his old self, but that merely served to underline how much he had changed lately. Before Davred's defection he had been an absent-minded Exec, not particularly interested in the planet, but pleasant enough to work with and good company socially. At one time she had even seen some personal attraction in him, a thing of which she was now ashamed. Had she been blind to his defects or had he changed so greatly since then? She rather inclined towards the latter.

What Soo couldn’t decide now was whether Robler was growing used to the idea that he’d lost their Cathartic Agent for good, or whether he was hatching up some scheme to lure - or perhaps force -Davred back. Somehow she couldn’t trust him. She had therefore hidden various key recordings of Davred and of events on the planet in her own personal files. She could easily have retrieved the recording of Davred explaining about a Gathering for Robler, and sent that back to Confex, rather than explaining what he’d said, but she wasn’t going to reveal to Robler how carefully she was documenting what she was beginning to think of as her Quest, too.

When she passed on her message and the recording of Davred's healing for him to send, Robler didn’t bother to hide his disappointment.

'Why don't you send them the actual recording of what Davred said about this gathering business?'

Soo looked at him, her expression inscrutable. 'What recording?'

'I'm aware of what you're doing, you know, Soo. I'm not a good enough technician to prove it, but I know what's going on.'

'Oh?' Her voice was calm and polite.

'What do you think I might do - alter the records?'

'You might.'

'You're being very stupid about this.'

'Just cautious.'

'Mentally unstable, even. I must keep an eye on you.'

Soo gasped. Mental instability was a serious accusation in a small, close-knit group, entailing instant return to Central.

'If there weren't such difficulty in getting replacements at the moment, I'd have suspended you before this.' Robler's eyes were sharp with triumph, and his voice was even and controlled.

Soo pulled herself together. It was not she who was mentally unstable, but Robler. 'Well, you'd better report me to Central, then, hadn't you? But I warn you I shall put in a counter-claim.'

Now it was his turn to look surprised. A counter-claim from a subordinate had better be very good and immaculately documented. A frivolous one could earn instant dismissal from Confex, with total loss of al accrued benefits. 'We'll have to see how you go,' he said grudgingly. 'At present I'm just considering the idea. But you'd better be
QUEST Shannah Jay 127

very careful what you do, Soo. Very careful indeed. You're here to work for Confex, not for Davred Hollunby, and certainly not for those primitives.'

'Davred thinks that it amounts to the same thing, their Quest and ours.'

'Well, he's wrong. And he definitely is mentally unstable, as I have already reported. It happens sometimes - even to potential CAs.'

'Then why hasn't Confex sent someone to investigate? It's been well over a standard year now since Davred went down to the planet.'

'They'll send someone eventually. The minor wars in this sector have left them short-handed for the time being. But if I report another case of mental instability on the satellite, we'll all be whisked back and Sunrise will be quarantined. So you had better be very careful what you say and do in future.'

'I will be most careful. And I'l make sure that I document everything that happens very carefully too - Exec.'

'It was "dear" once, Soo. And not my fault we parted.' His gaze was hot on her body. How dared he look at her in that way! She glared back at him, and after a few moments his eyes fell.

It was after that conversation that Soo took some specific steps to protect herself. She and Mak registered a permanent lifelong liaison. There was nothing Robler could do to stop that, although it was rather unusual nowadays. It had the advantage of taking some of the commander's powers over Soo away, as it gave Mak custodial rights over her if she was declared mentally unstable. It also made Mak the automatic inheritor of everything she owned if she were killed. And that would include certain recordings.

And of course, she and Mak continued to carefully document Davred's participation in the Sisters' Quest. This was relatively easy as long as nothing happened to the tracer he was carrying.