Quest (44 page)

As she slid into place at the com-console, Mak came to stand behind her.

'So Herra and Davred have returned to the cavern,' he said.

'Yes. Isn't it beautiful?' she breathed, almost afraid to speak in case she broke the spell. Before them, the image of the cavern lay in a soft half-light, the figures in it seeming to have a special blurred beauty. In a world of sharp, clear light and smooth, shiny plastics and metals, the scene in the cavern seemed a thing of rare gentleness, a relief from the bright asepsis around them.

Mak leaned forward. 'What are they doing, Soo? I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this before. I didn't know they allowed men to join in their rituals, except for Davred, that is.'

'I don't know everything that's happened lately. For a time Robler kept me so busy on other things I didn’t have time for much monitoring. Then our dear Exec suddenly changed his mind and said I might as well take my full share of the watches.' She stared at the image. 'I must have missed something important. I wonder who that new man is, the one dancing with Herra. Isn't he graceful, for someone so powerfully built? He must be a trained dancer.'

'He doesn't look like a dancer. He's wearing poorfolk garb.'

Soo touched the controls and the full scene moved to a corner of the com-room while a magnified scan of the
QUEST Shannah Jay 162

details was slowly played through at the other side of the room. 'What's that?' She stopped the picture and increased the magnification still further. Carryn's motionless body came into focus. 'Daxos! Just look at that poor child's back!'

Mak swallowed hard. The raw, striped flesh of Carryn's back made him feel ill.

Soo's voice broke on a sob, 'That can only have been done by Those of the Serpent. And we're supposed to remain neutral, to observe and record their filthy practices! I can’t do it!'

'Look! Something's about to happen.'

Glad to take her mind off what she’d seen, Soo returned the whole scene to the centre of the com-room.

* * *

Herra led Benjan back to his place in the circle and came to a swirling halt in the centre. 'Now you are one of us,'

she intoned. 'Our Little Brother in God.'

'Lady, lady, I'm not worthy of that! I seek only to serve you.'

A hiss of indrawn breath from Cheral.

Benjan tried desperately to find the words. 'I'm of the poorfolk. I'm not good enough to be
your
Brother!'

‘I have
chosen
you.’

'How can you choose someone like me serve your God? I'm
not
worthy!'

There was a sigh from Those of the Sisterhood.

'You've just proved your worth, Little Brother,' said Herra with a warm smile. 'Three times you denied it. That's how it always happens with us, though you knew it not. It's called the Triple Denial or the Proof of Worthiness. Now you are indeed one of us. And we rejoice in that.'

He bowed his head and let the sense of belonging wash warmly around him. Kindred of the God, she’d said. Like the Hashite Guild, vowed to help one another. He could understand that. It was a good path to tread.

'Now,' said Herra, her voice low and vibrant with strange energy, 'now we shall heal the child. It shall be the act of us all, here in the circle of our love. Benjan!'

Like a sleepwalker he moved forward.

'Fetch Carryn to lie here.'

Slowly, with a step that still echoed the rhythm of the dance, the large, bear-like man moved across the chamber.

The others changed their positions and were sitting cross-legged, fingers touching, by the time he laid the girl at Herra's feet.

Even Jonner obeyed Herra’s gesture and joined them in the circle, imitating the actions of the others.

'Cheral!' called Herra.

She arranged Carryn's body so that the lacerations on her back were uncovered and her head was pillowed on one arm. Then she sat down, to form the final link in the circle around the Healer and the patient.

'This healing we shall perform together,' began Herra, kneeling by Carryn and laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. 'It is a fit first task for the Kindred of the God. We shall become a mesh . . . a web . . . a cluster of fruit on one stem. We are the petals of one blossom . . . the ripples in one stream . . . the branches on one tree.'

Jonner, with a sense of wonderment, felt a vibration in the fingertips on either side of him, and recognised the power of that circle.

Benjan, eyes bright with the tears he hadn’t allowed himself to shed since he was seven years old, saw only Herra and Carryn, but was total y aware of the mesh of living souls around him.

To Katia and Davred, this melding was an extension of what they already shared, and they gave themselves up to it joyfully, their expressions radiant.

QUEST Shannah Jay 163

Even Cheral's face lost its alert, do-it-now look, and became serene and smooth.

To Fiana, it was a homecoming, a rejoining of her Sisters such as she had not expected to experience again and tears rolled like slow pearls down the taut planes of her face.

'Think of her back as it should be,' chanted Herra. 'Young unmarked skin, firm healthy flesh. This child - unmarked.

This skin - made whole. Think of it so! Think of it so! Flesh be healed and skin be smooth! Think of it so, and only so!'

Benjan was not the only one to feel a shiver run down his back as he realised that before their eyes, because of their joining, Carryn's flesh was healing, the skin knitting together. More than that! He shared the near rapture of the others as they wil ed the healing to continue. This healing was not only the fruit of Herra's Gifts, but of their joining.

He sighed with deep satisfaction. His sister had vanished without a trace and he’d been powerless even to find out what had happened to her. But this child he’d helped save, so Carryn had at least survived. His pulse beat slowly and strongly; his fierce concentration tuned in to a rhythm in his brain, a rhythm that beat to Herra's slow chanting. He was unaware that the task was almost over and that Herra's eyes had flickered in his direction more than once. He didn’t notice that Katia and Davred had also begun to steal glances at him.

As Carryn began to recover consciousness, she whimpered once or twice, a child's cries of pain and fear. Benjan's gaze remained locked on her, deeply tender, and his face was the first thing she saw as her eyes flickered open. His love reached out to still the scream of panic that started to rise in her throat. Letting go of the hands on either side of him, he moved to her side. His voice, deep and rich, penetrated her terror and his broad, callused hand was gentle on her shoulder. 'You're safe now, child. Safe. Quite safe.' He wasn't even aware that he’d moved, for all their minds were still enmeshed.

With a sigh of relief, Carryn closed her eyes again and settled into a deep sleep. The stripes of new skin were pink and shiny across her thin shoulders, and the lines of pain were gone from her face.

'Let her rest now,' said Herra, her voice reaching them as quietly as a smooth pebble slipped into a still pool. '
Release
the mesh.
'

Cheral sat up and took a deep breath, ready to minister to the Elder Sister, who in recent years had been exhausted by such healings. But Herra's movements were steady and her colour was normal. Only her eyes seemed different. It was as if she were fil ed with light and was holding it back, lest it shine too strongly upon those around her.

* * *

'What've those primitives been doing now?' Robler's voice was like cold water dashed into Soo's face. She gasped and looked round. He was standing at the entrance to the com-room, arms akimbo, expression scornful.

Mak's hand pressed her shoulder briefly.

'They've been healing the child,' she said defiantly.

'That rubbish again! I wonder you believe in such things. They're putting on a performance especially for you. It's not possible to heal wounds so fast, or our scientists would have found out how to do it long ago.'

'I believe what I see.'

'More fool you. Anyway, I thought I told you to cut down on the time you waste watching those women. There are other things to study on Sunrise. The Sisters are not the only inhabitants of this planet, you know!'

'Maybe we should concentrate on Those of the Serpent instead?'

'It'd make more sense. They're in charge of things down there now. I'm wondering how to get fixed com-units down into their shrines without alerting them to our presence. We might be missing things on our random sweeps. I want you to work on that.'

'You don't mean it.' Soo turned pale. 'You wouldn't have dealings with
them
!'

'Tut! Tut! Where's your oath of impartiality now?' Robler taunted. 'That remark won't look well on your record.'

Mak's fingers gripped her shoulder with sudden force.

QUEST Shannah Jay 164

Soo pulled herself together. 'No. You're right, Robler.' She kept her face and voice expressionless. 'I accept your rebuke and I hope your entry in the records will also contain my acknowledgment of my error.' Head on one side, she challenged him to carry this any further.

Robler found himself thinking longingly of the way Those of the Serpent dealt with women, and wondered how it would be to have a woman so subservient that one could do what one wanted with her. Not just any woman, but this one. His eyes burned over her body. It was Soo who had ended their relationship, not he, and now she was permanently married to Mak, a lifetime contract! What was there about this planet that affected people and made them revert to primitive customs like permanent marriage?

Robler scowled at Mak, who was standing closely and protectively behind Soo. He’d never liked that cold fish of a man. You could never tell what he was thinking and he never seemed to make an error. Even though Robler suspected that the fellow was developing sympathies with that damned Sisterhood, he had no proof of Mak's feelings. Unlike Soo's, Mak's expression was always carefully neutral.

'There'll be no need to make a report, as long as you acknowledge the error.'

Soo watched him leave the com-room, shaking her head sadly. Robler had changed so much in the past year that she sometimes felt she no longer knew him. To put fixed com-units in the shrines! How could he even think of doing it? Having seen what Those of the Serpent had done to little Carryn, Soo was reluctant even to look at the recording of the rescue, let alone take up regular monitoring of the loathsome practices of the Inner Shrine. When she found no recording of any rescue, and realised that no one involved could have been carrying a tracer, she felt only relief.

She signalled to Mak that she wished to return to their quarters, the only place on the satellite where she could be sure Robler wouldn’t eavesdrop on them.

'What shal we do?' she whispered as soon as the door was locked behind them. She threw herself into his arms.

'Oh, Mak, he’s getting worse by the day.'

He stroked her hair. 'We must do what we can. And what we must. It would be illogical to support Those of the Serpent, for their type of lifestyle usually leads to annihilation of that society. It’s been observed before on other worlds.'

'Who cares about observations? I just can't bear them! They're evil! Insane.'

'They’re definitely insane,' he admitted.

'Mak, I couldn't monitor what goes on in a shrine!' She clutched him in panic. 'I couldn't bear to do it!'

'You must do as he orders. The behaviour of Those of the Serpent will add to the evidence against Robler. No civilised race, and no sane person, could offer support to a cult with such practices. When we do get someone from Confex to listen to our protests against Robler's irrational methods of directing this project, we must have as much evidence against him as possible.'

'You think - you really think he’s becoming irrational?'

'I have no doubt whatsoever. But we can’t take any steps to deal with him until we’ve got evidence to offer to Confex. As Robler is always telling us, there must be incontrovertible proof.'

#####

The two huge trading-wagons creaked and bumped their way along a little-used track, poising on the edges of ruts then diving into them with elephantine grace as they left Tenebrak behind. Jonner was nominally driving the leading wagon, but deleff need little direction, especially on a track with no crossroads and few side turnings, so he was
QUEST Shannah Jay 165

spending most of his time discussing the finer points of trading with Herra, who was sitting beside him, and doing a lot of boasting about some of his more spectacular bargains.

When they’d been introduced to the deleff, there had been no hesitation. The creatures had walked across to Herra and given her a kind of salute, unfurling the ruffs of skin around their necks and making low crooning noises. Then they’d walked over to Jonner and snuffled spice-tree scented breath in his face before going to stand by the wagons, as if anxious to leave.

The minute he’d taken charge of the wagons and deleff, Jonner had regained his confidence, which had been shaken by the series of misfortunes. Now he was in his element and looking forward to exercising his trading skills again.

Herra let him talk. She was enjoying a respite after the dreadful events leading up to and following the siege of Temple Tenebrak, and she was also learning a lot about trading from Jonner. She had a sneaking suspicion that she might rather enjoy trading and be good at it.

Davred, sitting on some boxes in the rear of the wagon, lost interest in the obscure point of trading law which Jonner and Herra were arguing over and allowed his attention to wander. He couldn’t yet bear too much sunlight on his pale skin, for his time on Sunrise had been spent mainly indoors, but he didn’t mind riding in this shady nest beneath the trading wagon's gaudy canopy.

It was surprising how comfortable these wagons were, when you considered their primitive design. Iron-rimmed wheels and springing dependent upon spongy pads of raas root were a far cry from the floaters used on most Confederation planets to transport freight and people, but still, the wagons had their own charm.