Ammonite Stars (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #4-5 (77 page)

Mandalon raised a weary hand to make Vion stop talking, and then yawned. “I must admit, I can hardly keep my eyes open,” he said. “I think I need to sleep.”

“Shall I send for your guards?”

A horrified look crossed Mandalon’s face. “No, don’t. I am hoping to get through the next two days unscathed, thank you! Arcan will protect me, won’t you, Arcan?”

The orthogel entity shimmered, and Vion was able to see that both he and the young Sellite leader were encased in a large orthogel bubble.

“Taking no chances?” he asked.

“Too many of my guards formed part of the plot to kill me.” Mandalon looked chagrined. “I had thought that most of them were loyal to me, but it turns out I was wrong.”

Vion nodded. “There are many old-school Sellites left. They don’t want the status quo to change.” He looked around. “If Arcan is here, then you can spare me. I should get back to my work, but I will be here when you wake up. Arcan will let me know.”

“Thank you.” Mandalon allowed himself to slump onto the pillows, and let his mind track back over the last few days, and the funeral on Coriolis. He wasn’t the same person he had been a week before. There was a new determination inside him to put a stop to the intrigue and the treason that was obviously rife on Valhai. He just wished he felt stronger physically.

“You won’t let anybody in, Arcan, will you?” For a moment he was nothing more than a young, scared boy.

The orthogel entity darkened. “I promise. You may rest for as long as you need, without fear.”

Mandalon smiled. “Without fear. That will be nice.” His mind clouded into dreams as reality faded thankfully away from him. In his dreams he saw a thin, wiry girl with a blue stone around her neck, beckoning him on, calling him closer to her.

Arcan surveyed the sleeping boy, and wondered whether the tears running down his cheeks while he slept were normal, in the Sellites. He didn’t think they could be. Surely that would lead to dehydration?

SIX AND DIVA were sitting together in the eating area of the 21st floor of the 256th skyrise on Valhai when a sudden flash of movement over their heads told them that they had company. Six withdrew his arm from Diva’s shoulder, and looked up.

“Twin,” he acknowledged. “Have you come alone?”

The trimorph twin sparkled. “Yes. The visitor and my twin have gone to tell Arcan and Grace, who is still with Ledin on the Kwaide Orbital Space Station.”

Six stood up eagerly. “You have found it then?”

The twin flashed silver. “We think so, yes. We have found a planet that seems to match everything that the animas asked for. We think we have found Enara.”

Diva got to her feet too. “Then we can go?” She looked excited.

“If you have nothing better to do.” The trimorph twinkled.

But Diva’s face fell. “We have to stay for the Second Valhai Votation tomorrow,” she said. “Mandalon asked us to attend, and it would be very rude if we don’t.”

Six looked at her. “It’s bound to go on for ... I mean, it
is
none of our business, and they would probably do better if we left them to it. This new planet is much more important, don’t you think?” He raised his eyebrows hopefully.

“You are not going to weasel your way out of tomorrow, Six!”

He looked hurt. “I was just thinking of the lost animas, is all.”

“You were not! You were thinking that it was a Lumina-sent way to avoid having to sit through another ceremony.”

Six grinned. “Well, and if I was? Don’t tell me you actually enjoy the things, your worshipfulness!”

She rolled her eyes, not deigning to answer that.

“That’s all right. We can easily wait for a couple of days.” The twin fell silent for a moment, obviously communing with the others. “That suits Ledin and Grace better too, and Arcan says both Bennel and Tallen are to help Mandalon for the Votation, so it will be better to leave everything until then.”

“We could go straight after the meeting,” suggested Diva.

“That sounds acceptable.” The twin again seemed to speak to its counterparts, and then wait for an answer. “Everybody agrees.”

“Where is it?” asked Diva.

“I’m sorry?”

“Where is Enara? What part of the galaxy?”

“Enara? Oh, you mean the planet we have found? It is out on the other side of the galaxy, on one of the outer arms. The Sellites call it the Feather constellation, because of a nebula of interstellar gas which forms obscuring bands across the middle.”

“I never even heard of such a constellation,” said Six.

“That doesn’t surprise me; because of its position it can only be seen with the most powerful radio telescopes the Sellites possess. It is over 100,000 light years from here.”

“What is the planet like?”

“It is a very young planet, still active volcanically, with a new envelope of fresh atmosphere. It is full of the geysers that the lost animas asked us for, and it is rich in instellite, too.”

“What about life?”

The twin flashed a silver colour. “There are some rather elegant bats, a few rodents and many fish in the newly formed oceans. There is some dense vegetation at the poles, but most of the planet is covered in a sort of semi-desert, like the Great Plain on Xiantha. In the southern continent we have found some warm springs on a cliff top that would seem to be exactly what the lost animas want. Then there are a series of islands along a fault line, close by. They form a group of ... atolls, I think you would call them.”

Six nodded. “It sounds perfect. Maybe we should all move there! I like the idea of hot springs. Are they on a nice warm ocean?” He was thinking that Diva might like a swim in a tropical sea even more than a Mesteta wine bath.

The twin twirled in the air. “I think the animas want a deserted planet, not one full of people taking holidays.”

Diva smiled. “Don’t think that will stop him, twin. Are there any more planets in the system?”

The trimorph shook its head. “It just has a couple of exterior gas giants, which should protect it, and it is in orbit around a red star which has only been on the main sequence for a few billion years.”

“Just a baby then,” said Six.

Diva gave him one of her looks. “It sounds perfect for the lost animas. Are there any protobipeds?”

The twin shimmered. “None at all,” it said cheerfully, hovering meaningfully just in front of Six and sounding as if it should be congratulated.

TALLEN CREPT INTO the dome stealthily, his heart beating unevenly. He was quite determined. He knew that Mandalon was tied by Sellite custom, and could never act as freely as he himself could. And he also knew that the few Sellite guards loyal to the young leader would do precious little to avenge the death of his sister. So it all came down to him, in the end.

He knew who had been responsible. Petra had furnished him with the names of those guards who had formed the group which had beaten her to within an inch of her life, and he had been able to identify them in the tunnel when they found her body. They had been standing in company of the man who had taken over Mandalon’s functions when he had disappeared. And it was quite clear to Tallen that this man, Zorion, was the one responsible for the order to eliminate Mandalon, and implicate his Namuri bodyguard.

It was time for justice. And he knew just how to ensure that. He touched the small pouch at his side. It contained enough extract of quenera root to obtain the secrets of a whole army; it would certainly be enough for these few men. Tallen wanted to do this right. He wanted to make them confess to what they had done, and he wanted the rest of Sell to know that to attack one Namuri was to attack all Namuri. He didn’t want any of them to forget the lesson he was about to teach them. His face was grim with the knowledge of what they had done, and the desire to watch his sword bite into their flesh.

He was almost salivating at the thought of killing these five men. He wanted to feel their lives slip away at his hands, to make them know who he was, and why they were dying. In the dark, he smiled to himself, but it was a smile which held only a bleak promise.

He edged closer to the room where he knew he would find them, and then stopped, aware peripherally of other movement near him. He froze.

“Going somewhere?” asked a very familiar voice, one which always carried sardonic tones.

“What are you doing here,
Valhai
Diva?” he whispered, furious that he should have been followed. “Is
Valhai
Six with you?”

She shook her head. “I brought Bennel, though. It seemed to us that this should be kept amongst Coriolans.” She made a gesture with her head and the Coriolan companion stepped forward into the half light. “You shouldn’t have come here alone.”

“What I am going to do has to be done alone.”

Diva shook her head. “What you want to do can’t be done.”

“Says who, meritocrat? I don’t answer to you on this subject.”

“Yes, you do. Although the blood oath is broken, you still owe allegiance to Six. And that means you must respect his wishes. I checked, when we were on Coriolis.”

Tallen spat out a Namuri sentence, and Diva had no difficulty interpreting it.

“You may capture them,” she said, “but you may not kill them.”

Tallen stepped towards her, a red rage impeding all logical thought. “Perhaps I should kill you, Meritocrat!”

Bennel stepped in front of Diva, and faced Tallen calmly. “And perhaps you should shut up and listen,” he said. “You are speaking like an actor in the Mesteta theatre!”

Tallen was silenced. After a few moments he nodded. “I am sorry; I am not myself at the moment.”

Bennel gave a small laugh, which made Tallen glower again at him.

Diva held up her hand. “We will help you to find the men responsible for Petra’s death,” she said. “But they must be punished by the Sellites, and under Sellite law. Anything else would be inappropriate.”

“
Inappropriate?
” Tallen’s mouth had fallen open, and then he shut it firmly with a snap. “It is Namuri law. There is no more to be said.”

“There is.” Diva put one hand on his shoulder, but he twitched out of her reach. “Namuri law is not valid here on Valhai. We will help you capture them, but we will not help you to kill them. We must hand them over to Mandalon. He will deal with them.”

Tallen’s eyes were full of pain. “It is my duty to exact retribution.”

Bennel nodded. “I know that, sapling. And so you shall.”

Diva’s teeth glowed in the gloom. “We will help you.”

Tallen hesitated, but even he could see that the
Valhai
was not going to leave him alone. He had little choice but to accept.

“I know who they are.” He gave them the names.

She gave a menacing smile. “Then let’s get to work. We only have a few hours before the Second Valhai Votation.”

A LITTLE LATER, Mandalon was being fitted into the Ceremonious Robe. He had refused point blank to have any of his Sellite bodyguards attend him, and the task had fallen to Tallen and Bennel, both of whom had been ably recruited, despite their strongly-expressed reservations, by Arcan.

Tallen curled his lip. “I don’t know how this thing is supposed to fit,” he muttered, pulling the material in a direction it clearly didn’t want to go. “Why do you meritocrats set such store by your clothes?”

Mandalon was finding the material itchy, especially around the healing wounds he still had all over his body. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said, trying to help the Namuri get all the folds into the right place.

Vion walked up in time to hear the last comments. “Aren’t you going to thank the seamstresses?” he asked.

Tallen turned. “Seamstresses?”

The doctor nodded. “I believe it takes nearly twenty thousand hours to make such a robe as this. That means ten women for a year, working non-stop.”

Tallen’s jaw dropped. “You are kidding!” He looked at the robe with more respect. “Twenty thousand hours?”

“—It is customary for the recipient to thank the ladies who confected and embroidered the garment. They take no money, you know.”

That outraged Tallen even more. “They receive no payment?”

Vion grinned. “To be chosen as a seamstress for the Robe is considered payment in itself.”

Tallen gave a snort. “This planet is all the wrong way around.”

Mandalon was about to agree with him, then decided not to. There was another matter he had been wanting to mention. “Have you heard ...” he said, “... that five Sellites were found bound and gagged in the corridor below the dome?”

Tallen and Bennel raised their eyebrows. “Really?”

“And that their written and signed confessions were found next to them?”

Tallen showed his teeth. “No. No, I hadn’t heard that. Had you, Bennel?”

Bennel shook his head. “I hadn’t. So the men responsible for your attack have been apprehended, have they?”

Mandalon nodded, and began to pull on a pair of golden embroidered shoes which matched the Ceremonious Robe, turning to thank Vion, who had finished his examination, and was leaving. He waited until the doctor had quit the chamber before he went on. “It turns out that the Sellite officiator, Zorion, was the man responsible for the orders. He had managed to recruit four of my bodyguards as henchmen, and several others as supporters.”

“Really?”

Mandalon smiled. “But, then, I think you already know that, don’t you?” His voice was silky.

“Us? No, why?”

The young leader of Sell shrugged. “I think I detect the Coriolan touch in all this; I am just not too sure which Coriolan touch was in the mix. Certainly all of the men claimed to have been dosed with quenera root, although they were not able to identify the people who applied it. It seems that their ... err ... aggressors had taken the precaution of wearing masks. They didn’t seem to want to be recognized.”

“How curious!” said Bennel lightly. “And ... err... what is to happen to those men now? Now that they have confessed to murder, that is? Will their confession still be valid if it was obtained by the use of quenera root?”

Mandalon gave a grimace. “They have already been sent to Cesis,” he said. “There is a penal colony there where Sellite transgressors are sent.”

Bennel made a face. “Cesis. I see. I hope that their stay will not be too ... err ... pleasant?”

The young Sellite shook his head. “The Commission of Ethical Correctness has ordered unprecedentedly harsh measures, I hear. Since Zorion and the four henchmen have freely confessed, they have all been sentenced to hard penal servitude for the rest of their lives.”

“Hard?” Tallen had picked up on that word, and looked most interested. “How hard?”

Mandalon looked down at his now-clad feet, examining them in detail. “Very hard, I believe. They are set to work for sixteen hours each day in the magmite mines, and will spend the rest of their lives in isolation.”

Bennel inclined his head. “Then they will have plenty of time to regret having attacked their head of state.”

“And his Namuri bodyguard.” Mandalon’s gaze slid across to Tallen.

The Namuri straightened. “They deserved worse.”

“They did.” The Sellite leader sighed. “But I am glad that ... whoever discovered their complot didn’t take the law into his own hands.”

“You are? Why?”

“Because I am going to announce something at the votation which is only possible because he didn’t.”

Both Tallen and Bennel begged him to explain, but Mandalon wouldn’t, simply smiling to himself, and telling them that since they were both to attend the ceremony as spectators, they would know soon enough.

THE SECOND VALHAI Votation was inaugurated by an exhibition of music squares from a group of under-fives. Grace’s eyes were like saucers as she heard the complex music that they were able to make, only by moving from square to square. There was little resemblance to the lacklustre performance she herself would have been able to give at that age. It lasted for about half an hour, and there was prolonged applause afterwards.

Six bent forwards in the VIP guest gallery, and whispered in Grace’s ear, “I’ve seen enough of those to last me a lifetime.”

“Shh! They were very good.”

“I don’t say they weren’t, but did they have to take so long about it?”

Grace glared at him, so he turned back to Diva, who was by his side. “Well they did, didn’t they?”

Diva gave him the look, so he settled back in resignation. “We should have gone to Enara straight away. We could have been there by now. Just think – atolls in the sun and warm springs! Well, I ask you!”

“If you are going to mutter all through this, I shall go and sit somewhere else,” Diva told him, looking cross. “And don’t fidget!”

“Fidget? Is that what you call it? I was merely trying to avoid cessation of all blood flow to my nether region.” He shifted uncomfortably in the seat.

“I think it is your brain that has been affected by cessation of blood! Shut up, will you?”

“There’s nothing stopping the blood getting to my brain.”

“Exactly. There is nothing up there. Period.”

Six grinned. “Of course there is something up there. You are always telling me how thick-headed I am.”

“Only bone.”

“There you are, then!” He sat back, well-pleased with the conversation. Irritating Diva was quite high on his list of amusing ways to pass the time during ceremonies. Diva frowned and gave him a kick on his shin.

“Ow!” He bent down to rub at the spot. “Do you have to be so violent all the time?”

She showed him her immaculate teeth. “Always,” she promised.

Six was about to reply when he became aware of a long silence in the proceedings around him. They had obviously missed an important bit.

Diva raked him with a look which promised retribution later, and he rolled his eyes, turning back to the central plinth with some resignation.

Mandalon and all the other Sellites present were standing erect, with their heads bowed. Mandalon had just asked for a minute’s silence in memory of those who had voted at the First Valhai Votation, a thousand years earlier. Six hastily bent his own head, but peered out from under his brows to see what was happening.

Diva noticed, and nudged him. He made to return the favour, and there was a brief silent scuffle as they sparred with each other. Then Diva realized that she was only encouraging him. She sighed heavily, and moved one row back, to sit with Grace and Ledin. Six was left to enjoy the rest of the votation on his own. He felt quite abandoned, but after the prayers, sat down and nodded quietly off.

MANDALON WAS REASONABLY pleased with the Votation so far. This is what would determine the next thousand years of life on Valhai, up to the time when the Sellites would have to leave this planet, when the agreement was that they would abandon it to Arcan, the only truly endemic life.

Since only the 50th generation was voting, and these were all under 20, in fact mostly under 14, there was little posturing in the great dome. The voting was to take place via the interscreen in front of each young participant, but in this case they were additionally required to raise their hands if they voted in favour of a motion. This was a symbol of the huge importance of a votation ceremony which was only held once every 1000 years. To the great relief of many of the 50th generation, their families were only being allowed to attend virtually, and the show of hands would not be projected on the tridi, so as to maintain a certain anonymity about the result. Partitions had been build around each seat so that only Mandalon and the recording cameras could register the raising of the hands. He, of course, was bound to secrecy about the character of the vote, and the camera footage would not be de-classified for 200 years, to prevent any reprisals. It was crucial that each future head of house could vote freely.

The three most important votations were now about to come under the button. Mandalon cleared his throat. This could mean the renovation of the whole of the Sell creed and culture. It would take time, but it would inevitably change their self-imposed isolation.

“The motion is now the lifting of the ban on any foreigner speaking or learning Sell, of foreigners living and working on Valhai, of foreigners integrating with or marrying Sellites, and therefore the lifting of the ban that no Sellite may speak or teach the Sellite language or customs to foreigners, under pain of death.”

The discussion of the subject between those attending took over an hour. This one measure was one of the pivotal points of the Second Valhai Votation, for it was the one which would allow Sell citizens to open their minds to other cultures. It was one of the ones which most worried the 50th generation voters, who were very much aware that previous generations were completely against it. The parents of some of them were so shocked by the mere suggestion that Sellites might contract life partnerships with other species, that they had refused even to contemplate the possibility. Great arguments had raged inside the skyrises, until some of the 50’s had been obliged to place their parents’ biosigns on the non-grata list, effectively prohibiting access. Several points were brought up during discussion, and Grace was impressed at the way they were dealt with deftly and intelligently by Mandalon. He had clearly considered all of the drawbacks, and had a coherent answer for each of them. Finally, the time had come. Mandalon 50 pressed a button on the console in front of him.

“Voting will now commence,” said a metallic voice. “50th generation Sellites, please cast your votes on my mark. First point: Lifting the ban on any foreigner speaking or learning the Sell language. Mark!” There was a slight pause, and then, “Passed. Second point: lifting the ban on foreigners living and working on Valhai as equals. Mark! Passed. Third point: lifting the ban that foreigners may integrate with and form life partnerships with Sellites. Mark! Passed. Fourth point: lifting the ban that Sellites may not speak or teach the Sellite language to foreigners. Mark! Passed. All side points of this motion have been passed by the Second Valhai Votation. The motion is declared valid law until the Third Valhai Votation.” The metallic voice cut off, and there was a general murmur in the room.

Six woke up. “What?” He turned around hastily. “What happened? What have I missed?”

Grace took pity on him, although his own wife was ignoring him. “They just voted that you can learn to speak Sell, and you can live and work here.”

“I can’t see the point of that. I mean, who would want to speak Sellite, for Lumina’s sake? And I already lived here for years, didn’t I?”

Grace shook her head. “The orthogel bubbles don’t count.”

“Strikes me they make up the rules as they go along. Well, if that is all they are jabbering on about, I am going back to sleep.” He shifted his weight rather gingerly from one side to the other, gave a sigh, and closed his eyes again.

There had been a small spattering of polite applause at the approbation of the last law, but now there was a rustle of anticipation. Mandalon had stood up again. Grace felt a curious thrill spread out through her body – the next point was one that seemed to her to be of prime importance to the future of the Sellite race. He began to speak.

“The motion before you now is that Sellites should no longer be genetically engineered for the houses they hold, and for the positions they will take.”

Discussion went on for even longer, and it was clear that this suggestion was even more radical than the previous one had been. Several of the generation were arguing against it, some of them very convincingly. It was, they held, the difference which permitted the Sellites to maintain their technological edge over other races, and they were loath to part with it.

Even Arcan darkened at the way things were going. He had promised Grace not to intervene in the ceremony, but he broke into the discussion at one point.

“Don’t you realize that by using genetic manipulation you are condemning your society to stultification?” he boomed inside their heads. Several of the younger 50’s put their hands over their ears, not realizing the futility of that.

Those present looked horrified that the alien entity had spoken. Even Mandalon seemed taken aback. He gave a bow in Arcan’s direction, who shimmered darkly, and then the Sellite boy went on to explain some of the advantages in allowing natural selection to occur, and the dangers of predetermining the outcome of evolution.