Quest (50 page)

For three days they trekked across the hot rocky land, learning to rise early and to rest in the shade of some rocks during the middle of the day. The contrast with the wildwoods couldn’t have been greater. But although this land didn’t teem with life, as did the Claim of Tenebron, it wasn’t completely uninhabited. Lizards scuttled for cover as they passed; an occasional flight of birds wheeled across the sky; and insects with large, multi-coloured wings hummed around them, as if curious about those who had invaded their territory.

Katia ranged the countryside as they went, studying its flora and fauna. As Herra could sense no other human life, and the deleff made no objection, it was deemed safe for Davred to join his wife on most of her explorations.

Benjan joined them once, but Carryn fretted when he was out of her sight, so he didn’t repeat the action. To keep himself fit he started to learn some of the Sisters' running and jumping exercises, adapting them to his needs instinctively, for he knew his own body well, it being the main tool of his trade. After the first day he persuaded Carryn to begin some simple exercises too, for her muscles were weak and wasted after her days of unconsciousness.

Jonner, pale face now tanning rapidly in the sun, mostly rode in the first wagon. The lack of habitations seemed to irritate him, as did the heat. Herra spent time patiently listening to his tales, and set Fiana the same task to keep his spirits up. And hers. For being out of the direct struggle against Those of the Serpent irritated their flawed Sister. The peace of the journey was broken on the third morning. The com-unit, which Davred always carried with him, woke them al before it was ful y light, buzzing loudly.

'Answer your friends, Lord Davred,' called Herra. 'It would seem they urgently desire to speak to you.'

He looked at her, surprised she understood what was happening, then pressed the necessary recognition pattern on the featureless surface of the slim black box. He was uneasily aware that all his companions were awake and listening.

* * *

'Davred! Is that you?'

'Soo! Are you all right?'

'Never mind me. I've been a bit busy, but I have a few free minutes now. Davred, did you realise that you moved over five hundred kloms westwards two days ago - instantaneously?'

'I knew we’d moved. Not how far.'

'Robler found out - wel , we had to tel him - and of course he reported it back to Sector HQ. They took the news very seriously. You know how long Confex has been searching for a method of instantaneous transmission. Al of a sudden they want Full Surveillance on the planet and - and possibly Full Contact.'

'No! That would ruin everything. You must stop them.'

'There's worse.' Soo paused, hating to tell him. 'Robler is claiming that Those of the Serpent are the governing
QUEST Shannah Jay 184

powers, and therefore the ones to negotiate with, now that the temples are all out of action.'

'
Brother, look down in our hour of need!
Soo, you have to stop them. It's not just a planet that's at stake; it's a whole new field of knowledge, a unique way of life. It may even provide an answer to the waves of violence in the Confederation, an end to Discord everywhere.'

'Do you really think so?'

'Oh yes. It's why I came down. I am the Manifestation of the God our Brother, who acts through me, and I am also a Cathartic Agent for the Confederation.'

'Still a Cathartic Agent?'

'Of course. That didn't end when I flew down planetside.'

'But how do we prove what you say? How do we persuade them not to meddle?' Soo glanced at her chrono. 'I haven't much time. Look, I don't know if it'll help, but we've got some of the new broad-range, variable tracers. If I can persuade Robler to send them down, will you all wear one?'

Herra's voice interrupted them. 'What exactly are they, Little Sister in the sky?'

'Just a more complex form of the tracer you've already worn for us.'

'Hmm. Machines might impede us. There are new forces developing within us. I wonder whether we should risk anything which might weaken our inner forces.' She tried to listen for that hidden voice. Would her Brother want her to allow this?

'Elder Sister, we
have to
have more information about your planet if we're to protect it. Otherwise, the Confederation might deal with Those of the Serpent in matters concerning Sunrise. The broad-range tracers could play a vital part in gaining information. Besides, the tracers you're carrying aren’t working well. There seems to be a lot of interference.

You need stronger units.'

'We don't follow your path and we can't all wear your machines.' Herra's voice was flatly emphatic, the tone of an Elder Sister who was not to be argued with. 'I shal wear one of the new tracers for you, and Davred will, but certainly not Katia or Carryn.'

Fiana now chose to enter the conversation. 'Elder Sister, would it hurt if I wore one of them? I’m not fully of the Sisterhood now.'

The image was clear enough to show Soo the sadness on Herra's face.

'But not fully lost to us, either, Fiana.'

She shrugged. 'I'll wear one, if the Lord Davred thinks it'll help our Quest. He takes no harm from the one he carries.'

'He is special. Of both worlds. You are not. And I am in Enhancement, so I may venture what others should not.'

Mak joined in. 'What about Benjan, then? He's not a Sister.'

'No.' Herra's tone was sharp. 'Not Benjan. He is of the Kindred and he is in a state of transition to our ways. Those who tread a new path cannot risk contamination.'

'Contamination! Why do you use that word?'

'Because that's how I see things.' Herra looked across the smouldering ashes of the camp fire at Jonner. 'My friend, you've devoted your life to material objects and are unlikely to change. Would you carry one of the tracers for our friends in the sky?'

'I don't understand what's going on, Elder Sister. Who are you talking to? I can't see anyone.' Jonner had been nearly bursting with curiosity, but hadn’t dared interrupt.

Davred held up the small black box. 'Before I came down as the Manifestation of the God, Jonner, I lived in a - a sort of village in the sky. My people come from far away, from another planet - er - world across the sky. We have
QUEST Shannah Jay 185

special ships that travel across space.'

'Traders?' Jonner was trying hard to understand this new magic.

'Of a sort.'

'Do your people want to trade with the Twelve Claims?'

'Possibly. They want to observe this world first. The machines they’re sending will allow them to do that in safety, from a distance.'

Jonner asked the two questions nearest to his heart. 'Would I get first trading rights if I helped? Is there any danger in that thing you want me to carry?'

'No danger in the box itself. I shall carry one too. And yes, if you help us, we can give you priority, if we get as far as trading. But we can't guarantee that we will.'

'Who can guarantee anything?' Jonner shrugged. 'I'll chance it! 'Bout time I tried something new. It may be my turn to get lucky.'

Soo interrupted them. 'Davred, I must go now. I'll arrange to drop some tracers as soon as Robler gives permission.

I'll include both personal and fixed ones. Perhaps you could leave some of the fixed ones behind as you go along -

when you get back among settlements, that is.'

'Of course.'

'Right, then. There's quite a large area of flat ground ahead of you. We can drop them there. Now, Mak and I really must go. Robler will be round to check up on me soon. He doesn't trust me any more. I should have been on the job he set for me five minutes ago.'

'Five minutes! Does he time you so closely? What's the matter with him to fuss like that? It's unprofessional!'

Mak joined in. 'Robler's changed greatly. He's become very dangerous, so dangerous, Davred, that Soo and I took out a permanent marriage contract to make sure he has no rights of wardship over either of us, just in case anything goes wrong.' He gave one of his wintry smiles. 'But also, I will confess, we did it because it seemed the right thing to do, given our feelings for one another. One of the effects of Sunrise, do you think? My people gave up permanent contracts of marriage centuries ago and we've never endorsed the idea of romantic love. The permanent contract is an anachronism, really, but still - it seemed right for us.' And his smile spoke of his love even more clearly than his words did.

'Break contact!' said Soo urgently.

* * *

'The God speaks within us al ,' murmured Herra. 'He's working on your friends now, Davred, teaching them to love.'

Davred shook his head in disbelief. 'Mak is the last person I would have expected to understand such things. He doesn't believe in anything he can't see.'

She smiled. 'How little we understand each other's souls! Your friend seeks the truth in life, does he not?'

'Yes. In his own way.'

'Is that so far removed from our Quest for Wisdom?'

'No, but - wel , I’m surprised that Mak would enter into a permanent marriage contract!'

'And Soo.'

'Yes, Mak
and
Soo.' Davred shrugged. 'Well, may our Brother watch over them.'

Two hours later an object hummed across the sky and arced to earth somewhere ahead of the two wagons. The deleff stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of it and bugled loudly, then began to stamp their feet and snort through their nostrils. It was a few minutes before they were willing to move onward again.

QUEST Shannah Jay 186

Jonner gulped and fingered his throwing knife. Benjan grew watchful, and Carryn clutched his arm in panic.

'There's nothing to be afraid of,' called Davred.

'Would that thing be carrying the tracers Soo spoke of?' Herra asked him.

'Yes. The thing is cal ed a transcap. It's a sort of flying container. You might liken it to a smal flying wagon.'

'I had thought your friends would come themselves in one of your flying wagons to give us the tracers,' said Herra.

'No, you cal them lifeships, do you not. We must try to use the correct names.'

'We only use lifeships for transporting people. We use transcaps with dropjets for sending goods.'

'Dropjets?'

'Machines which push the transcap in the direction needed. They're only made to take the transcap from space to a predetermined point on a planet, with enough extra fuel to make a few adjustments on the way. We can make return transcaps, but they're a lot more expensive to manufacture. Simple transcaps are a very economical form of transporting goods.'

'I wish I had some of those things,' said Jonner feelingly. 'You wouldn't credit the percentage of profit we traders have to allow for loss of goods in transit. If things flew through the air, who could steal them? I've had whole consignments taken or lost more times than I care to remember, especially in recent years.'

'People would become too dependent on physical equipment, if it were easy to obtain such machines,' said Herra.

'Instead, we need to concentrate on developing our own skills. The memory, properly trained, is an excellent recorder.'

She saw that the deleff had walked out of their harness for a rest and turned to Katia. 'While the deleff are resting, Katia, would you relate the events which led to your Second Choosing? And create an image of them, if you can.

Deleff, may we pray that you'll allow us to stay here for long enough to finish this? We wish to show our friends something.'

The deleff tossed their heads, moving round so that they were facing the group and positioning themselves to watch what was happening. Less and less did they seem like unthinking animals; now, everyone had learnt to speak to them, explain things and ask their help, rather than giving them orders.

Katia settled into Recall, then began to concentrate on one of her emerging skills. A small shimmering image of Herra flickered into focus by the side of the track. The simulacrum raised its hands and spoke again the words of the prophecy. Towards the end, the image became markedly fainter and beads of sweat began to form on Katia's forehead.

When the prophecy was over, the image vanished abruptly.

'I can’t hold it any longer, Elder Sister. Shall I just recite the words and events which followed the prophecy?'

'No. That will suffice as a demonstration of what we can do, the skills that we mustn’t lose by allowing machines to perform them for us.'

Katia's eyes were sparkling. 'I love to create images and illusions.'

'So do I.' Herra snapped her fingers and a drift of blossoms fluttered to the ground, where they lay for a moment before vanishing.

Sh'ellen bugled loudly, but made no sign of wishing to set off. His eyes were fixed on Katia.

'I think they wish to communicate with me again.' Katia walked forward, bowed to the deleffal and placed her hands on either side of Sh'ellen's great head. She closed her eyes to aid concentration. When she opened them again, she looked slightly puzzled.

'I - it's hard to be sure - but I think we shall arrive at their - their home, city, nest, council place - I can't find a single term in our language which corresponds adequately - but we'l arrive there quite soon. The deleffal wishes us to make the pictures again, when we get there, for the High Deleffal.' The great head tossed up and down, as if to reinforce what she’d said, then Sh'ellen nudged Katia gently out of the way and began to paw the ground.

'Well, that message is clear enough to anyone,' said Cheral. 'They want to leave now. I must say, I'll be glad to arrive somewhere and stop for a while. There's not much pleasure in travelling across a flat plain covered in rocks and sand,
QUEST Shannah Jay 187

going towards hills which never seem to get any closer!

#####

An hour later they reached the transcap. The deleff halted next to it and Sh'ellen stretched his head forward to examine the casing of the long slim object.

Davred moved forward, for this was his province.

'Tell the deleff what you're doing,' Katia reminded him.