Foreigner (30 page)

“The chances of success are slim,” said Afsan.

“I know that, too. But I must pursue the possibility.”

“Nav-Mokleb, the savant helping me with my therapy, believes that anyone who did not undergo the culling of the bloodpriests might be able to interact with Others without falling into
dagamant
. That would mean your siblings, as well as the Emperor, and his sister Spenress, could have contact with them, too.”

“What?” said Toroca. Then: “Hmm, an interesting suggestion. But we can’t risk testing it aboard a boat. I’m positive you will be immune because you are blind. And besides, none of those people you mentioned could convince the Others of the danger facing the world. You’ve convinced the Quintaglio population of this; surely you can convince them, too.”

“All right,” said Afsan slowly. “All right. I will go with you.”

Toroca had an urge to surge forward and touch Afsan. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you, Father.”

After his meeting with Toroca, Afsan went to find Pal-Cadool, who, much to Afsan’s surprise, was just returning from his own meeting with Emperor Dybo. Afsan asked Cadool to take him to the Hall of Worship.

“You? To the Hall of Worship?” Cadool was incredulous.

“Yes,” said Afsan. “I, ah, have need of a priest.”

It was quite a distance to the Holy Quarter, and Afsan, as always, walked slowly, feeling his way with his stick. At last they entered the small antechamber of the temple, Gork waiting outside.

Det-Bogkash, the old Master of the Faith, had been fired by Dy-Dybo in 7128: as part of restoring order after the scandal involving the bloodpriests, Dybo had dismissed all senior clergy serving in the capital. Standing in the antechamber, Afsan called out the name of Bogkash’s successor. “Edklark! Det-Edklark!”

A heavy, jovial priest, clad in plain white robes, came through a small doorway to greet them. “Do my eyes deceive me,” said Edklark, “or has a miracle occurred right here in my Hall? Has Afsan come to church?”

Afsan ignored that. “Twenty kilodays ago,” he said, “when I was held prisoner in the palace basement, I was visited by Det-Yenalb, who was Master of the Faith back then.”

Edklark still seemed bemused. “Yes?”

“He strongly implied something that shocked me, something I’d never suspected.”

“And what was that?” said Edklark.

“Yenalb implied that some priests, including himself, could lie in the light of day — that their muzzles did not flush blue with the liar’s tint.”

Edklark looked startled. “Yenalb said that?”

“Not in so many words, but, yes, he did imply it. I still remember exactly what he said: ’Not every person can be a priest. It takes a special disposition, special talents, special ways.’”

“And did you believe him?” said Edklark.

“At the time, my immediate reaction was that he was trying to frighten me, but now I must know the truth about this. Tell me, Edklark, can you lie openly?”

“Why, no, Afsan. Of course not.”

“Cadool?”

“His muzzle remains green,” said Cadool.

“Unfortunately, that proves nothing, since if you were capable of lying, you could be lying now.”

Edklark clicked his teeth in what seemed to Afsan to be forced laughter. “Well, then you’ll have to take my word for it.”

“That is the one thing I cannot do,” said Afsan. “Tell me a lie.”

“Oh, be serious, Afsan. I…”

“Tell me a lie.”

“Afsan, I cannot lie inside the Hall of Worship. That would be sacrilege.”

“Then step outside.”

“It would be sacrilege there, too, I’m afraid. Once ordained, a priest promises never to speak anything but God’s own truth, even in the depths of night.”

Afsan pushed his claws out of their sheaths and held his hand in plain sight.
“Tell me a lie, you worthless plant, or I will rip your throat out.”

Cadool’s jaw dropped. “Afsan…”

“Shut up, Cadool. Priest, I will hear you lie. Don’t provoke me further; three of us here in this confined space is enough to drive anyone to
dagamant
.”

“Afsan,” said Edklark, “I cannot lie…”

Afsan tipped forward from the waist and bobbed his torso, slowly, deliberately. It was clearly a mockery of the instinctual movements, but it was also well known that such play-acting often erupted into the real thing without warning.

“
Lie
, priest. The very future of our people is at stake.”

“You have no authority to give me orders,” said Edklark.

“I have all the authority I need,” said Afsan, stepping closer to the priest. “You will do as I say.”

The part of Edklark’s tail visible beyond the hem of his robe was swishing in naked fear. “I have every wish to cooperate,” he said.

“Then lie, animal dropping! Tell me — tell me that you are the Emperor.”

“His Luminance Dy-Dybo is Emperor,” said Edklark. “It is my honor to serve…”

Afsan stepped forward again, encroaching further on the priest’s territory. “Claim,” he said, “to be the Emperor yourself.” Afsan left his mouth open after speaking the words, showing serrated teeth.

“Afsan, I…”

“Claim it! Claim it
right now
or die!”

“I…” Edklark’s voice was attenuated by fear. “I am the Emperor,” he said tremulously.

“Say it forcefully. Assert it loudly.”

Edklark swallowed. “I, Det-Edklark, am the Emperor.”

“Again! With full titles!”

“I, Det-Edklark, am the Emperor of all the Fifty Packs and the eight provinces of Land.”

Afsan swung around. “Cadool?”

Cadool’s voice was full of wonder. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

“What happened?” demanded Afsan. “Exactly what happened?”

“Nothing,” said Cadool. “His muzzle didn’t show even a hint of blush. It’s as green as yours or mine.”

Afsan slapped his tail hard against the marble floor, releasing pent-up energy through the blow, the sound of the impact reverberating throughout the antechamber. “Excellent! Edklark, come with us. There’s a job only you can do!”

Later that day, Toroca caught sight of Cadool in the Plaza of Belkom, Cadool’s long legs carrying him quickly over the paving stones. “Ho, Cadool!”

Cadool turned. “Toroca!” He gave a little bow. “
Hahat dan
. It is good to see you again.”

Toroca closed some of the distance between them, but left a large — for him — territorial buffer. “And you. Good Cadool, ah, it is said that there is nothing you will not do for Afsan.”

“It is my honor to be his assistant.”

“And you know that I am his son.”

“One of his sons, yes.”

“I, ah, I know I have no right to ask this, but I wonder if any of your sense of duty to Afsan carries over to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you are a good and loyal friend to my father, and I would like to think that perhaps I, too, can count on you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, I mean, Afsan and I are related. Since you help Afsan, I thought perhaps you might also be willing to help me.”

Cadool’s tone was pleasant, but confused. “I don’t see what being related to Afsan has to do with anything.”

“I don’t really know myself,” confessed Toroca. “But I need to ask a big favor of someone, and, well, I thought perhaps, because of your relationship with my father, that maybe…”

Cadool held up a hand. “Toroca, if I were to do a favor for you it would be because of who you are, on your own terms. Why would you want it to be anything but thus?”

Toroca nodded. “You’re right, of course. Forgive me.” A pause. “Afsan has told you what we are doing, I presume.”

“Yes,” said Cadool. “I’m not enthusiastic about the idea — despite the efforts of that Mokleb person, Afsan is still blind. What you have proposed is very risky.”

“That it is. But peace must be given a chance.”

Cadool grunted noncommittally. “In any event,” he said, “what favor would you ask of me?”

“I have in my custody a child,” said Toroca. “I need someone to look after him while I am gone.”

“Surely room can be found for him in the creche?” said Cadool.

“No, this child is, ah, not Quintaglio. He is an Other.”

“An Other! Toroca, we are at war with the Others.”

“The child is innocent. He was hatched aboard the Dasheter, just as I myself was. I need someone to care for him while I am gone.”

“Surely you are not asking me to regurgitate meat,” said Cadool.

“No. He’s big enough to swallow hunks whole now, although perhaps you could cut small pieces for him.”

“Wait a beat — if he is an Other, won’t the sight of him drive me to
dagamant
?”

“I honestly don’t know if children have the same effect, but, yes. you’ll have to take precautions. See him only in the dark, perhaps.”

“But Emperor Dybo has given me my own assignment to take care of. I’m going to have to leave the Capital, too, in a couple of days.”

“I should be on my way back by then. Taksan — that’s the child’s name — Taksan doesn’t require constant supervision, of course. He’s already used to being left alone. If you could simply check on him a couple of times before you go. He’s in my apartment.”

“Well, if that is all, I suppose I can manage it.”

“Ah, no, that isn’t quite all there is to it. Good Cadool, I find myself facing a problem no other Quintaglio has ever faced. I am responsible for another’s life. I am concerned about what will happen to Taksan if I don’t return from this peace mission. Cadool, I ask you to look after Taksan if I don’t come back.”

“That is a lot to ask.”

“I know it. But you were the only Quintaglio I could think of to approach. You look after my father; I thought perhaps you’d understand…”

“I freely confess that I don’t understand,” said Cadool. “I will do this: I will make sure this, this Taksan, is fed and kept safe until I leave the Capital. Beyond that, I make no promises.”

Toroca nodded slowly. It was all he could expect. “Thank you, Cadool.”

Toroca and Afsan left Capital City early the next morning aboard a small sailboat, the
Stardeter
. The ship was only seven paces long, barely big enough to accommodate two people. Toroca was amidships, controlling the rigging for the two sails. Afsan sat in the stern, holding the tiller steady, and occasionally moving it in response to instructions from Toroca. They had to tack into the wind, and, despite the huge amounts of time he’d spent aboard the
Dasheter
, Toroca was by no means an expert sailor. Still, the boat handled well, and soon the cliffs along Land’s shore were receding over the horizon.

They sailed for a full day and a night before Toroca caught sight of the first mast poking over the eastern horizon. It was difficult to make out the approaching ships against the rising sun, but Toroca had soon counted fourteen vessels spread out along the horizon, and he had every reason to think there were many more still behind them.

Would Jawn be aboard the lead ship, or another one? Was he even here at all? Jawn was the only one who spoke even some of the Quintaglio language; surely they would have brought him along.

Before departing Land, Toroca had painted Jawn’s name across the Stardeter’’s main sail; it was one of the very few words he knew how to make, having seen it over and over again on Jawn’s name-tag necklace. If the Others had far-seers, surely they’d be able to see the word “Jawn” and understand that a meeting was being requested with him. That is, if they’d even noticed the tiny sailboat yet.

As their little craft moved closer to the armada, Toroca used his own far-seer to examine the big ships. Small colored flags were running up a guy from each ship’s bow to its foremast. Toroca at first thought that these identified individual vessels, but he soon counted three that were displaying the same sequence of flags. At one point, Toroca saw the old flags brought down and new ones hoisted. Apparently this was a signaling method used to communicate between the ships.

Wingfingers occasionally swooped down from the sky to look at the
Stardeter
. Many others were flitting above the Other ships, perhaps feeding on garbage thrown overboard.

And then, at last, one of the big ships changed course slightly, heading directly for the
Stardeter
. Toroca was deliberately not wearing his sash; instead he had on the same swimmer’s belt he’d worn that day he’d first arrived in the Other city. He suspected all Quintaglios looked alike to the Others, just as all of them looked pretty much the same to him, and he wanted to do everything possible to aid identification.

The big ship was approaching quickly. Toroca described its alien shape for Afsan, who seemed amazed by the differences from standard Quintaglio design. Toroca could see several Others on its deck. They were all standing in the shade of an overhanging tarpaulin; Toroca guessed they weren’t used to equatorial sun. Even in the far-seer, the faces were indistinct, but…

There.

Waving at him.

Toroca tied off the sail cord and, holding the mast for support with one hand, waved wildly in reply with the other. As the ships came closer together, Toroca could tell that not everyone on deck was pleased to see him. Two individuals were pointing metal tubes at him, and a large black cylinder, one of the much bigger weapons that had earlier taken shots at the
Dasheter
, had been swiveled in a wooden mount to face the
Stardeter
. Still, Jawn’s face was one of open delight at seeing his old friend. Two Others were putting a rope ladder over the ship’s side; weights on its ends kept it taut as it descended toward the waves.

“They’re letting down a ladder,” Toroca said to Afsan. “You’ll have to go up first; I’ll need to stay behind to tie off our boat.” Afsan nodded. Toroca shouted up at Jawn in the Other language, while pointing at Afsan: “No eyes! No eyes!”