Valhai (The Ammonite Galaxy) (9 page)

She tried to make sense of what had happened, but couldn’t. This whole thing was much too big for her to grasp. She concentrated on regulating her breathing, so that she could get enough oxygen from the mask pack. Even that took several minutes, as she was shaking and still very disturbed. By the time she climbed the metal ladder back to the ground floor she was utterly exhausted. She stumbled onto the terrace, held her hand up to the biolock and then lurched into the back lift, thinking that she needed a long soak in a hot bath to get her body back into some semblance of equilibrium.

It was when she was in the lift that she got the biggest shock. She had pressed the buttons for the 48
^th
level, and was leaning back against the orthogel wall when she felt a movement again on her fingers. Grace gave an involuntary cry and jumped into the middle of the lift. Nothing happened. Gradually she made her way back to the wall and stood in front of it, this time putting her hands flat out against the surface.

“Grace?”

“Y . . . Yes? Arcan?”

“I am very sorry. I would like to explain. Will you listen?”

“All right.”

“I need to tell you. I need you to understand. I didn’t know . . . I was too young . . . I am sorry I frightened you. I will try not to frighten you again, but when I feel so much it seems to come out.”

Grace took a steadying breath. “What do you need to tell me?”

“They made me kill them.”

She pulled her hands away from the wall, and then made herself put them back. Arcan, whoever he was, had not hurt
her
yet. She would listen to what he had to say.

“Kill who?”

“All those young people. All the donor apprentices. I didn’t know. I only found out now. They cut the air supply off.”

“Who did?”

“The Sellites, the ones in charge of the donor program.” Grace gave a gasp of horror.

“They cut the air supply off?”

“Yes. I was too young, I didn’t know. I just kept them.”

“Arcan, I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”

“I should have done something.”

“What
could
you have done? It wasn’t your fault.”

“I can’t explain to you now. I will have to think about it. I am sorry, Grace, for frightening you.”

“How are you talking to me now, in my lift?”

“I don’t know that either, I just needed to talk to you and I found you. The lift is made from the lake.”

“From orthogel, I know. But how are you transmitting to here?”

“It is new, too. I still don’t know how. Can we talk again?”

“Sure.”

“I am glad.” And with that the conversation finished, the lift drew up to the 48
^th
floor with a slight hiss and Grace was able to stagger into the family chambers and sink into a deep bath. She finished and then fell into a deep and dreamless sleep on her bed, unable to think about anything until she had rested for a while.

DIVA WAS FURIOUS to discover a tear about to fall onto her cheek. She opened her eyes further to prevent that from happening and gazed stonily into the column from which Atheron was regarding her very solemnly.

“I tried my best,” she said, defensively.

Atheron sighed. “Yes, I think you probably did. And that is the problem, you see. You shouldn’t have had any trouble with this topic. Quantum mechanics is not considered a difficult subject at your level. I really don’t know what to say to you.”

“That’s the seventh time I have repeated the exam. I just don’t understand the subject. It isn’t my fault, is it? It’s probably the way you teach! All this quantum entanglement stuff. You just don’t explain it right!”

He took her comment at its face value. “That is not possible, I’m afraid. The others have all passed this subject.”

“I bet Six didn’t pass it first time!” But she made it into a question with her intonation.

“No, he didn’t,” Atheron admitted. “But it didn’t take him seven tries, either.”

Diva massaged her forehead with her fingers. Her head ached. “Do I have to take it again?”

“The laws are very strict. All candidates must pass all levels. Any unsuccessful students are removed from the program.”

“I am NOT unsuccessful. I have never been unsuccessful at anything in my life!”

Atheron shook his head. “It is very strange. Your progress has been slower than the other students from the start. At first it was only a little, and I put it down to your missing your family, to your being unsettled. In recent months, however, since we reached university grading, the difference has been quite palpable. You are simply not capable of learning at the speed necessary.” He held up a hand to stop her angry protest. “I am merely making a factual observation,” he said unhurriedly. “I will consult with Xenon, but I think you must continue to take the exam until you pass. You will not be accepted as a candidate unless you do that.”

He disappeared, an unusual event.

Diva contacted Six. “I am having problems with the quantum mechanics test.”

“You didn’t pass?”

“No, he has gone to ask Xenon.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Let me know what happens. I will keep one hand on the orthogel, in case.”

“Thanks. Not that a no-name like you would be able to help me.”

“You never know. At least this little no-name passed his quantum mechanics test, my lady!”

“I will pass their silly test when I want to, not when they think I should!”

“Sure. And I believe you!”

“Oh go away, stupid.”

“As her ladyship wishes.” Diva, whose eyes had been closed with the effort of conversation, opened them to find Atheron looking down at her from the column, his eyes staring at her hands. Sacras! She hoped he hadn’t detected the small pressures which signified they were exchanging finger signals.

“What?” she demanded.

“Xenon requires you to resit the entry examinations. He wants to make sure there was no error in the original exam.”

“Of course there wasn’t!” And then her heart sank. She could still visualize her father’s face as he told her the exam results. Now she thought about it she could see a look of complacent triumph that worried her. Surely he would never have . . . have doctored the results?

She shook her head. No, her father was far too morally upright to do such a thing. She must be mistaken.

“I . . . I need a doctor to see me,” she told Atheron. “I can’t take your silly test until I feel better. I think I have some sort of bug.” What would too much Atheron be called? Atheronitis?

The grey face was instantly suspicious. “You said nothing before about feeling unwell.”

“Well, hey. I don’t tell you everything. Surprise!”

“There is absolutely no need to be sarcastic, Diva. I will arrange for the doctor to visit you.”

“You do that.” She smiled sweetly at his image in the column and cut the connexion.

The doctor was not elderly, as she had expected, and had a concerned look on his face as he came into the bubble. It didn’t fool her, though. These Sellites were only interested in themselves. They weren’t going to be worried by the minor ailments of one of the donor apprentices. She had been in a similar situation herself on Coriolis. Fleetingly the memories of begging children camped out by the Elder’s palace floated into view. They had irritated her. They made a noise, and smelt bad, and she now realized that she couldn’t have cared less what happened to them as long as they went someplace else, and left her palace in peace. In fact they had been evicted by the guards, and she had never thought of them again until today.

“Open your mouth, please,” he said pleasantly, removing a portable quantum scanner and synthesizer from its black protective case. “This will not hurt at all.”

“Well of course it won’t. I do know that,” she snapped.

“Irritable?”

“What do you mean – ‘irritable’?”

“You seem rather tetchy.”

“I’m always like this.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Really? Not a symptom then?”

“Certainly not.”

He smiled in her direction and made himself comfortable. “What
are
your symptoms, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Diva detailed a few invented problems, carefully selected so as to be difficult to confirm.

He examined her eyes and throat carefully. He took her pulse and temperature and listened to her heart. He finished a very thorough examination and then pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“You have a slight bacterial infection.” His eyes slid to the column, where Atheron was still watching. “You need a few days rest in bed, and you will be excused classes for that time.” He smiled. “I am certain you will feel better after a short rest, but I wish you to take one of these pills every eight hours for the next 72 hours.”

Atheron frowned. “She needs to rest for all that time?”

The doctor got to his feet. “It would be most beneficial. There is no point her taking the pills if she doesn’t rest up well at the same time. Surely a couple of days will not hurt the schedule?”

“It is . . . unfortunate,” the grey face replied. “But if it can’t be helped . . . Thank you, Vion.”

“My pleasure. The young lady is otherwise in perfect health.” The full smile he gave her left the young lady in question wondering if he had diagnosed a false illness deliberately or by mistake.

“Do you think your father changed your marks?” Six signed to her later that night, after hearing all about the day’s events.

“He might have,” she acknowledged. “He might have wanted . . . well, just to be sure . . . you know.”

“No I don’t know. I thought your sort was above cheating.” He jabbed at the orthogel crossly. “I thought it was only my sort that stole, robbed and cheated.”

“It was not cheating. He may have . . . exaggerated the result.”

“Oh, exaggerated, that’s all right then. Nothing wrong in that, is there? I’m all for a little exaggeration from time to time. I might have known. People like me cheat, people like you ‘exaggerate’.”

“Oh, stop it Six,” she signed snappily. “What can I do?”

“That’s easy. Pass the test.”

“And if I don’t make the grade?”

“How should I know? They have kept you here for over a year, I shouldn’t think they would throw you out of the program now. Anyway, what difference would it make to them? They only want to impress the prospective customers, and you are pretty good at impressing people.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.” Six remembered the first time he had met her himself, and shuddered. “But I will say one thing for you, people don’t forget you easily. That’s for sure.”

“You see, you
can
say nice things if you really try.”

“Unlike some.”

“Now, now. We can’t all be famous.”

“You’ll be famous all right when it comes out that your father cheated to have you accepted as an apprentice.”

“That won’t come out. Anyway, it didn’t happen.”

“You hope!”

A stiff silence was all he got for an answer.