The Traitor Baru Cormorant (59 page)
Read The Traitor Baru Cormorant Online
Authors: Seth Dickinson
When I came to you on Taranoke with a problem of hands, you taught me about the Navy's internal politics, the cabals and lines of patronage that define the officer corps. With Parliament beating the war drums at the Oriati, it strikes me that some in the Navy may be discontented with the current regime in Falcrest. I wonder if we could discuss Admiralty politics again, and the mutability of government.
Who would have thought this childhood code would serve us so long?
Find me at the return address. We simply must catch up. I have a remarkable wound to show you.
Regards,
Your sword thief
SUSPIRE SUSPIRE SUSPIRE
CAENOGEN CAENOGEN CAENOGEN
PURITY CARTONE
YOUR EYES ONLY
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF MY LAST TASK. YOU REMAIN MY FINEST INSTRUMENT. PARTICULARLY PLEASED BY RECOVERY AND RETURN OF TARGET'S PALIMPSEST. TARGET'S INFORMATION COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY COMPROMISED MY PROJECT.
DISREGARD ALL OTHER AUTHORITIES. DISREGARD ALL RECALL SIGNALS. YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR ORDERS DIRECTLY FROM ME. I AM NOW ONE OF THE PARAMOUNT MASTERS [ACCEPT STATUS CHANGE: CAENOGEN]. MAKE FURTHER CONTACT UNDER CONDITIONED IDENTITY NORGRAF WITH ALL DUE SECURITY.
YOUR NEW ORDERS AREâ
PROCEED NORTH INTO WINTERCREST MOUNTAINS
CONTACT STAKHIECZI AUTHORITY “NECESSARY KING”
DELIVER ENCLOSED MESSAGE. INFORM KING I HAVE LOCATED MISSING STAKHI PRINCE. RETURN WITH RESPONSE.
DESTROY THIS LETTER
CAENOGEN CAENOGEN CAENOGEN
SUSPIRE SUSPIRE SUSPIRE
To the Imperial Jurispotence of Aurdwynn, Her Excellence Xate Yawa:
I know your game.
I've been playing it, too. I suppose I've already won, if you can call it victory. You played your part flawlessly, of courseâI should have seen it from the start. Aurdwynn hates you as profoundly as it loved me. Your recall will look like mercy.
The one called Itinerant found me, when I was still a child. I wonder which one of them found you, and when. I wonder what final test they'll set for you when your exaltation comes.
I'd like to have you killed for what you did to Lo. But I cannot deny the accounting: I've done much worse than murder a secretary on suspicion. I used to wonder if you were a monster. Now I know the answer.
If you want power in this world, power enough to change it, it seems you have to be.
I'm sorry I couldn't save your brother. It might have been a mercy. He knew I had betrayed him, but now he will never have to learn of you.
Still. I tried.
I'll see you in Falcrest.
Â
SETH DICKINSON
's short fiction has appeared in many publications, including
Analog, Science Fiction and Fact,
Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed
,
Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies,
and on
Tor.com
.
He is an instructor at the Alpha Workshop for Young Writers, winner of the 2011 Dell Magazines Award, and a lapsed student of social neuroscience. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
is his first novel.
Visit his Web site at
www.sethdickinson.com
. Or sign up for email updates
here
.
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CONTENTS
Â
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE TRAITOR BARU CORMORANT
Copyright © 2015 by Seth Dickinson
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Stephen Youll
Cover design by FORT
Map by Jon Lansberg
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-8072-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7512-8 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466875128
First Edition: September 2015
