Guardians of Paradise (7 page)
Read Guardians of Paradise Online
Authors: Jaine Fenn
‘Gone where?’
‘Initially, to the nearest hubpoint. That’ll make us harder to follow. ’
‘Fair enough.’ He knew what a hubpoint was, at least - they’d changed starliners at one of these artificial environments in deep space; it was where the main shipping lanes met. From their brief stopover Taro got the impression that hubpoints were bustling, busy places, but not exactly glamorous or that interesting. He’d had a moment of paranoia there when he reckoned one of the officials had paid them rather too much attention. Nual hadn’t picked up anything from the man, so he’d probably imagined it. Whatever, when it came down to it, Taro was up for anything that made them more difficult to trace. He nodded towards the cargo box, settling back to the floor as he did so - being able to fly was never gonna stale. ‘You said I could have a look?’
‘Sure, if you like.’ Jarek thumbed the lock to open the box. Inside were several packages, wrapped in cushioning material. He got one out and unwrapped it carefully. ‘It won’t open, for obvious reasons,’ he said as he passed it to Taro.
The box had a transparent window in the lid, with a screen next to it. The item was displayed on a dark-coloured cloth, lit by a light built into the box. It was a pendant, a cross like some Salvatines wore, though this one had arms all the same length, and was made out of thick twists of wire that looked like they needed a good clean. An uncut yellowish stone, like a blob of snot, sat in the centre.
‘The authentication’s excellent; that’s as sure as anything you’ll ever see,’ Jarek said, a little proudly.
Taro thought it was as much like tat as anything he’d ever see. Without thinking, he said, ‘Sure of what?’ ‘You read the list? It’s got the provenance on the box . . .’
For several heartbeats the two men stared at each other. Jarek opened his mouth again, but before he could speak, Taro said in his best
Wanna make something of it?
voice, ‘That’s right, I can’t read.’ Nual was teaching him, but until he’d met her he’d never had to do more than recognise the names of bars.
Wanna make something of it?
voice, ‘That’s right, I can’t read.’ Nual was teaching him, but until he’d met her he’d never had to do more than recognise the names of bars.
Jarek closed his mouth and nodded. ‘Ah. Sorry, I didn’t realise.’ He looked awkward, then continued, ‘It’s antique jewellery—a speculative cargo, but low-weight and non-perishable, so I thought it was a worthwhile investment. It’s from Old Earth.’
Taro had heard of Old Earth: an exclusive tour destination, according to one of the tourists on the starliner, who’d called it
an absolute must for history buffs
. ‘That’s where we came from, ain’t it, long ago? Humans, I mean.’
an absolute must for history buffs
. ‘That’s where we came from, ain’t it, long ago? Humans, I mean.’
‘Yeah,’ said Jarek, ‘that’s right.’
Taro was working out what to ask next when Nual joined them.
Jarek turned to her. ‘Are we headline news then?’
‘Not as far as I could see. We’re almost out of range of Khathryn’s comnet.’ She frowned at the comabox. ‘Is there—? Is that occupied? ’
‘Ah, yes,’ Jarek said. ‘I meant to tell you about him when I got a moment.’
‘There’s someone in there already?’ Now Taro was confused.
‘Oh yes.’
‘Who?’ asked Nual.
‘I don’t actually know his name.’
‘Then what’s he doing in your comabox?’ asked Taro.
‘Well, you remember that Sidhe ship I told you about, the
Setting Sun
?’ Jarek drew a deep breath. ‘He’s the pilot.’
Setting Sun
?’ Jarek drew a deep breath. ‘He’s the pilot.’
CHAPTER SIX
Taro said, ‘I thought the Sidhe got trashed? Or is he one of the slaves you told us about?’
‘The pilot’s a normal human,’ replied Jarek. ‘Bastard worked with them willingly.’ He caught Nual’s look of confusion. ‘I’ll explain, but not here. I need to keep an eye on what’s happening in-system. Unless you’d rather get some sleep first?’
‘I want to know the whole situation before I rest,’ said Nual, and Taro nodded his agreement.
‘All right. We’ll talk on the bridge, if you two don’t mind sitting on the floor. Don’t worry, it’s a lot tidier than the rec-room.’
Jarek had left the shutters open a little, so the section of the dome immediately opposite the ladder showed the starfield ahead. Taro stared with rapt fascination.
‘Here,’ said Jarek, ‘I’ll open us up fully.’ He touched a button on the main console and the bridge lights dimmed further as the shutters round the rest of the hemispherical dome retracted, leaving them surrounded by the magnificence of space. Khathryn itself loomed behind them, a great circular vortex of blue and white.
Taro turned. ‘Whoa,’ he said, putting a hand up to his eyes.
‘I think the view may be a little too much,’ said Nual.
Jarek nodded, and dialled the shutters back to half. Typical tourist, he thought wryly, only used to seeing space in small, pretty doses. He plonked himself into his couch and spun round to face the others. ‘The floor’s clean, have a seat.’
Nual knelt and Taro sat cross-legged. Though Nual was in her mid-twenties now, he still saw in her the child he’d once known, and the boy probably wasn’t legally an adult on most worlds. He felt like a parent, about to give a stern lecture. He shook off the feeling.
‘I’m not going to tell you everything that happened on Serenein. Most of it isn’t relevant. But I want to help those people. They’ve been screwed over by the Sidhe, kept deliberately isolated, and they live short, shitty lives. That’s got to come to an end.’ He’d failed to save his sister, but now he had a whole world to save. And his months on Serenein felt more real to him than all his years as a freetrader. ‘It won’t be easy. The only organisations that operate throughout human-space are the Treaty Commission, the Salvatine Church and the Freetraders’ Alliance.
‘The Commission’s job is to stop disputes between systems getting out of hand - which isn’t that hard, given how few shiftships there are. And it makes sure interstellar trade runs smoothly. The Commission doesn’t have the experience - or the clout - to administer a whole new world. The Salvatines would send a mission to convert them before you can say ‘cultural genocide’, and given almost everyone on Serenein believes their world is flat and unique in the universe, not to mention ruled by goddesses who are in fact the Sidhe, this would be a disaster.
‘That leaves the Freetraders. They’re hardly altruists, but you can’t trade with a broken culture, and I’m one of theirs, so they’re my best bet.
‘However, right now all of this is hypothetical because there’s no beacon in the Serenein system.’
‘Wait,’ said Taro, ‘don’t you need a beacon to get anywhere? You said you slipstreamed this Sidhe ship to get to Serenein, but if you trashed the ship, how’d you get back out again?’
‘I went back to the system the
Setting Sun
had transited in from. You only need a beacon to leave shiftspace, not enter it; you have to program your transit-kernel with the pattern of the exit beacon—’
Setting Sun
had transited in from. You only need a beacon to leave shiftspace, not enter it; you have to program your transit-kernel with the pattern of the exit beacon—’
‘“Pattern of the beacon”? What’s that mean?’ asked Taro.
‘It’s hard to explain. Shiftspace isn’t really a place, it’s more a
state
.’
state
.’
‘Right. I’ll take your word for that. So if you don’t need a beacon to go
into
shiftspace, just to get out again, does that mean you can start a transit from anywhere?’
into
shiftspace, just to get out again, does that mean you can start a transit from anywhere?’
‘In theory, yes - provided, you’ve,
ahem
, disabled the relevant safeties.’
ahem
, disabled the relevant safeties.’
‘Like you have, you mean.’
‘Quite.’
‘So why ain’t we gone already? Why’re we hanging round here waiting for trouble when we could just go straight to this hubpoint? ’
‘Because that kind of thing is seriously frowned upon. For a start, transiting near habitation - and that includes other ships - can seriously fuck them up. And I do mean seriously; slipstreaming is the least of it. Secondly, if two ships tried to use the same exit beacon at the same time then that would be very bad - as in
major rift in spacetime
bad. Beacons are powerful objects: that’s why there’s only one per system, and they’re at stable points in trailing orbits, a long way behind whichever world they serve.
major rift in spacetime
bad. Beacons are powerful objects: that’s why there’s only one per system, and they’re at stable points in trailing orbits, a long way behind whichever world they serve.
‘What you’re
meant
to do is decelerate as you approach your local beacon. Once you’re close enough to avoid signal-lag - and we’re talking
big
distances here, tens of light-seconds - then you query it, and the exit beacon, to make sure you’ve got a clear run. When the beacons schedule you a window you can shift out from anywhere within the safe transit radius of that beacon.’
meant
to do is decelerate as you approach your local beacon. Once you’re close enough to avoid signal-lag - and we’re talking
big
distances here, tens of light-seconds - then you query it, and the exit beacon, to make sure you’ve got a clear run. When the beacons schedule you a window you can shift out from anywhere within the safe transit radius of that beacon.’
‘That sounds like a shitload of hassle.’
‘It is - but this way not only can local traffic control avoid accidents, they can keep tabs on everyone who shifts in and out of their system - and, of course, they charge extra for anyone who breaks the rules. Freetraders do make unscheduled transits if the cargo they’re running makes it worth the risk, but you’re looking at a hefty fine - not to mention all the unwelcome attention you’d attract. So right now we’re making our way out to Khathryn’s beacon as fast as we can get away with, and when we’re in range we’ll request a transit-window and leave in an orderly and entirely non-suspicious fashion.’
‘Makes sense,’ said Taro, ‘but what I don’t understand is how the Sidhe got to Serenein to start with if there ain’t no beacon there.’
‘Nor do I,’ Jarek admitted. ‘I did wonder if maybe there is a beacon, only it’s hidden, so when I scanned for it I didn’t pick it up. Either that, or the Sidhe have some other method of making transits.’ He’d suspected for some time they must have, and now he looked at Nual. ‘Any thoughts?’
She looked pensive. ‘To enter the void we - my sisters and I on the ship where I lived - we would go into unity. I believed we did this to protect ourselves from the agony of such travel, but for all I know it may have been the means to initiate it as well.’
Jarek didn’t bother asking if she knew more about shiftspace transits now she’d experienced a few outside ‘unity’ - they’d get to that whole dark mess soon enough. Implying she might not be sharing everything she knew wasn’t very constructive. ‘That’s what I thought. Well, a mere human like me certainly won’t get very far without beacons, but what I do have is lots of juicy files from the
Setting Sun
’s computer, though most of the damn stuff’s encrypted. And I’ve got the ship’s pilot. He’s wounded, but I picked up some medical supplies in Kendall’s Wharf. Which brings us back to our guest.’ Jarek had a sudden thought. ‘Actually, Nual, maybe you could take a look at him? See if there’s anything you can do to heal him - assuming all the stuff about Sidhe healing people is true.’
Setting Sun
’s computer, though most of the damn stuff’s encrypted. And I’ve got the ship’s pilot. He’s wounded, but I picked up some medical supplies in Kendall’s Wharf. Which brings us back to our guest.’ Jarek had a sudden thought. ‘Actually, Nual, maybe you could take a look at him? See if there’s anything you can do to heal him - assuming all the stuff about Sidhe healing people is true.’
Nual and Taro exchanged a look - quite possibly more than a look - and then Nual said tightly, ‘I would prefer not to do that.’
What was all
that
about?
‘Fair enough. How about helping me question him? He’s unlikely to want to tell me much, but you’ve got other means at your disposal.’
that
about?
‘Fair enough. How about helping me question him? He’s unlikely to want to tell me much, but you’ve got other means at your disposal.’
Silence for a while, then, ‘Perhaps I could do that,’ said Nual. ‘What information would you wish to extract from him?’
Jarek didn’t like the signals he was getting. He sighed. ‘Listen, I’m not going to drag you - either of you - along with me if you don’t want to come. I can just drop you off somewhere, and we can go our separate ways.’ That would be the simplest solution; he wouldn’t have to change his solitary lifestyle to accommodate other people. But it would also mean casting loose his only allies in the cause he had committed himself to.
‘Are you asking,’ said Nual, ‘whether I am willing to join your crusade against the race of my birth?’
‘Yeah, I guess that’s exactly what I’m asking.’
‘I have turned my back on my people. They are my enemies now. They were willing to destroy an entire city just to kill me.’
‘No shit!’ said Jarek. ‘Which city?’
‘Mine,’ said Taro, his voice low. ‘Khesh City.’
‘I’m guessing they failed, or I’d have heard about it.’
‘Yeah,’ said Taro, ‘we stopped them.’ He gave Nual a look that held such solid belief, such love, that Jarek felt his cynical old heart soften for a moment.
‘How did Elarn fit into this?’ he asked.
‘Khesh City is built on a floating disc,’ said Nual. ‘The Sidhe hid something in your sister’s head, a sort of . . . mindbomb, that could be activated in a number of ways, including by her death. The mindbomb was able to disrupt the operations of the City and bring the disc down. In the end, we managed to limit the damage, but it was too late for Elarn.’
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