Mira fought to keep the image of Insignia being annihilated from clouding her thoughts. "The Post-Species corporeal that I carry requires immediate a.s.sistance. Why have you stopped here?
He turned the TerVs cooler up to maximum and dimmed the windows. "Show me your face.
Mira unsealed the hood and waited for him to do the same. His face was less elongated than she remembered, but his eyes were still as cool and dispa.s.sionate.
"As you can see, I am the same person, she said.
"My... its been a while since Ive seen a female "esque. His voice hoa.r.s.ened.
"I imagine that is to be expected when you choose as you have, Mira returned.
"Are you judging me, Baronessa? Id be careful of doing that. Youre the one aiding an injured Extro for no good reason. My reasons are quite logical.
She stared into his eyes. "Then I hope they are enough to wipe out the memory of the worlds being destroyed on your account.
"Not everyone views the new order of things as you do. His expression smoothed out and he pointed to a spot in the apparently seamless hull. "Ill take you there. Youre on your own then.
"Why are the Post-Species here? Why is this supply of quixite so important that they would send Saqr to invade my world? She thought to ask him about Josef and the others, then changed her mind. It was possible he didnt know of them, and in that case it would be better if it remained that way.
Janczs hands moved restlessly, and his glance strayed to the marker pegs that signalled the opening to the Juanita mine. "They got plans. Their craft cant self- repair for as long as theyd like. Its a problem they need to fix.
Mira thought of the Hub world. "But they have self- maintaining technology. I-Ive seen it.
"Where theres oxygen, yeah. But out in the vacs a different thing.
"Couldnt they have just bought the supply? Why such violence?
Janczs mouth kinked in a detached smile. "So proper, Baronessa. So wedded to rules. They operate differently. Aint you got that yet?
Moments of past conversations with Wanton flashed through Miras mind. Wanton had at certain times seemed kindred to her, and at others more different than she could comprehend. It had been upset when its cephalopod Host had died as they escaped the Hub, but she was not sure for what particular reason. The cephalopod had limited sentience. How attached did the Post-Species really become to a basic organism? Was it like a pet and its owner? Or something less?
And how different were the Non-Corporeal to the Hosts? she wondered. Did they value compa.s.sion? Did they experience emotion at all? "Whats inside there? she asked.
He started the TerV and they moved slowly along the circ.u.mference of the enormous ship. "That ... youre about to find out.
"But its so large? Many times the size of a biozoon. If they are all Non-Corporeal then why would they need- "Shut your mouth, Baronessa. I aint here to satisfy your curiosity. He suddenly stopped the TerV and pointed out of the window to a mild blemish on the pitted metal. "Get yourself over there and push against that spot.
Despite the fellala, the heat was like a wave rising up to roll over her. The skin of the ship was burning hot, even through her gloves. She flinched and stepped back; the blemish was too high to reach.
"Get up on the front of the TerV, Jancz called out. He waited while she climbed awkwardly onto the vehicle.
She hesitated before she touched the ship again. What would happen to her?
"Get on with it, bellowed Jancz.
She pressed her hands against the hot skin. She had come here to do something and she would do it. Nova was safe in Primo, being tended by the membrane that would feed and clean her, and keep her muscles stimulated. Her babe could exist comfortably there for an indefinite time, if anything happened to Mira. Insignia would not leave Nova alone, though, without another humanesque. They had discussed that, and Mira knew that Insignia would find another innate to care for her child.
When the skin began to soften, Mira guessed what would happen next. The Hub worlds wall had behaved in a similar manner when she and Wanton had escaped into the Bare World, sucking her through its semipermeable membrane.
She didnt panic as she felt the pressure of being drawn in. This time she was not able to move her arms and legs, and had no sensation of her own movement. Matter pressed around her, changing and conforming as it pushed against her body. She felt neither breath nor the lack of it, only pressure, and Novas curiosity p.r.i.c.kling through her mind.
Whats it like, Mama?
Shh, Nova. Not now.
Mira fell out and down, as if spat or propelled, onto a hard surface. She wiped her eyes and blinked. Ambient light glowed, but she couldnt determine its source. She tested her legs, climbing first to her knees, then to her feet. Though firm, the surface beneath her was springy, as if it might suddenly change consistency, or break. She stood, breathing softly, looking around. She was in a tunnel of sorts. With no other idea as to what to do, she followed its course.
It wound for a time, narrowing and then enlarging like the intestines of a large creature. The walls were semi-opaque and tinted amber, similar to the floor, and gave the impression that they were recently formed.
When the tunnel finally widened into a huge s.p.a.ce Mira felt no wiser for the greater view. The near section-as far as she could see-was filled with a large slick object that pulsed with the regularity of a giant heart torn from a humanesque body. From where she stood, the object looked higher than Insignia and twice as wide. Silver tributaries of fluid streamed across it, encasing it in a silvery web.
Mama.
Nova, I told- Mama, Wanton asks you to put him on the pupa.
Pupa?
That is what he says.
Mira stared at the throbbing slick ma.s.s before her. What could be encased in such a thing?
Wanton asks that you hurry.
Mira slipped her hand into her pocket and took out the little Extro.
Just step towards it, she told herself.
She reached up high, to place Wanton in a fold of the glistening wet skin, tucking it under the web of red vessels. In the time it took her to step away again, Wanton had disappeared, absorbed in the way Mira had been drawn through the crafts wall.
Nova? She waited for her daughter to reply.
Si, Mama. Wanton is healing. The pupa is full of the mineral amalgam that it needs.
Quixite? Its full of quixite?
There was another pause. Si. Wanton says the quixite will seal the crack in its casing. It is not required to meld with the Non-Corporeals.
Im pleased.
Wanton says thank you. It will do what it can to help you.
What do you mean?
Novas next thought sounded thin, almost frightened. Mama, you must leave. Now.
But Miras feet had already begun to slide into the floor. She tried to lift them, to run back down the pa.s.sage, but movement made it worse. She was stuck, and sinking.
JO-JO RASTEROVICH.
The sound of a voice woke him, and he lay, confused, trying to remember where he was. Cave. Island. Araldis. Survivors. s.h.i.t.
The voice was in his head. Sole? Go now, where? The Ent.i.ty was so clear and loud that he wanted to plug his ears. Back there? No way! The imperative was so strong that he jerked upright.Randall stirred and rolled over. Next to her, Catchut lay on his back, breathing evenly.
Jo-Jo barely had time to accustom his eyes to the darkness before the next imperative surged through him.
Sole hadnt been so directly-so forcefully-in his mind since the Ent.i.ty had driven him to the pseudo- world of Belle-Monde, back when hed first encountered Tekton and wound up with a Hera contract on himself.Hed tried disagreeing with Sole. Told him to go f.u.c.k himself, if he recalled correctly. But the concept had been meaningless to the Ent.i.ty, and soon enough Jo-Jo had found himself sitting in the tyros bar on Belle-Monde, doing exactly what Sole wanted him to do.
When hed thought about it afterwards, he figured Soles power over him was born from the mind reconfiguring that had saved his life.
Talk about strings attached! He couldnt believe that the tyros on Belle-Monde had actually chosen to have the process done to them. Shafting, they called it.
Unlike them, Jo-Jo had been an innocent bystander, quietly dying on the bridge of his ship after the environmentals had carked it. He hadnt been given a choice; Sole had just resurrected him.
And now, again, it seemed he was being robbed of choice.
His body took itself carefully through the cave, keeping to the narrow corridor between those still sleeping. He tried to pause at the mouth and take in the night-time vista, but his limbs climbed down directly toward the AiV.
An "esque spoke to him, a sentry, but he didnt bother to reply.
By the time hed climbed inside the flyer and had run his fingers over the com-sole, the sentry had alerted others. Jo-Jo thought he could see Trinder Pellegrini, and Bethanys girl, Djes; then Randall and Catchut. They scrambled from the cave towards him. Randall bellowed his name.
He wanted to stop and explain. Shed think hed crossed her, and after the things theyd been through the notion p.i.s.sed him off. He fought Soles compulsion with everything he could: tried opening the door and throwing himself to the ground, but his hand wouldnt leave the com-sole, his feet wouldnt lift from the floor, and soon he was in the air, with the mountainside and the island diminishing into the deep dark.
The energy cell red-lined as he descended onto the beach near the chalet. Dawn was close, fuelling his sense of urgency. With quick, surprisingly efficient hands he transferred the cell from the other AiV into his, and was back in the air again before Leah broke the horizon.
Setting the auto, he dozed without really sleeping deeply. Since escaping Medium it had been that way, light, fearful sleep. And now here he was, on a course heading straight back to the object that had so terrified him. Restless half-dreams brought him images of Mira Fedor-stroking her skin-and arguments with Rast Randall, his hand to the mercenarys throat, her strong fists punching deep into his stomach.
He woke in pain, wanting to vomit. The AiVs locator told him that they had covered a large distance. He peered out. Even through the tinted windows, the brightness of the sun told him it was early afternoon. He searched through the emergency packs and found some protein biscuits and a tube of nutritional gel. They tasted better in his stomach than the raw fish and gritty roots hed eaten the night before.
With food in his belly, his thoughts drifted to the survivors. They were pitifully thin and worn, and their Principe was everything Mira Fedor had said he was-arrogant, authoritative and, even after all hed been through, filled with a sense of ent.i.tlement. And yet hed kept thirty or so "esques and a korm alive, a miracle of sorts.
Unlikeable b.a.s.t.a.r.d, thought Jo-Jo, but tough. A little self-belief goes a long way.
He stared outside, musing on Pellegrini, and soon enough fell into another doze. This time he was roused by a dull yellow light on the horizon. He checked the locator again. It was almost dark, and unless some external illumination had been rigged since theyd pa.s.sed over, Medium appeared to be glowing.
As the AiV closed in on its target, his mind woke and questions began to fight each other for s.p.a.ce. A sweaty fear engulfed him. Why did Sole want him to go to Medium? Why now? What were the Saqr doing there? How long would Soles control over his body last?
Once again, he tried to reset the AiVs trajectory, but his hands still refused to obey his brain. He could think and make decisions, but none of them were translating to his physical self.
Fear turned to a raging frustration, and yet all the while his sense of urgency grew. He must hurry. Hurry! Hurry!
When the AiV began to descend toward the Extro ship, he got a close and terrifying view of hundreds and hundreds of Saqr crawling over the outer skin; lines of "em, like ants toing and froing from their anthill to a good source of food, trailing off the sides and back in the direction of the mine. Theyre taking quixite on board.
As the AiV banked, something else caught his attention: two biozoons, side by side, wallowing in the sand dunes like impossibly large whale sharks. They were lit by the glow from Medium and the glittering satellites that were beginning to pop into existence as the sky darkened.
Sal! Jo-Jo knew his ship in an instant. The other one he recognised almost as quickly. Insignia. The fear and frustration tearing at him turned to a strange elation. Shes here! I knew it!
Suddenly, he couldnt wait for the AiV to land. He sprang out of the pilot seat, down onto the sand, and tried to run in the direction of the "zoons. But the Sole compulsion refused to comply, forcing him back towards Medium.
Hurry. Hurry. Over dunes. Staggering in sliding sand, until he found himself standing in front of the exact spot he and Randall and Catchut had been expelled from days before. He knew it from the dark burn-stain left by Insignia tearing away its coupling.
His hands lifted from his sides and pressed hard against Mediums coa.r.s.e outer skin. The blemish was higher than he could reach. Too high! He fell to the sand and frantically began to dig, creating a mound to one side. When it was high enough, he tried again. This time his palms just reached the bottom of the dark stain. He began to push and pinch, the way he had before, and moments later he was pulled in-sucked, almost like thick liquid through a straw.
The sensation was a terrifying as before and he found himself screaming through the transition.
Once inside, he felt as if hed been wrung out: the pressure left him weak and headachy. Blinking, he looked around. The interior had completely changed; the chamber theyd been trapped in was no more. Instead, Jo-Jo found himself in a low-lit tunnel. The only likeness it had to his surroundings last time he was here was the amber tint of the walls and floor.
He wiped his face with his hands and got slowly to his feet. Where did the tunnel go? Why was it a tunnel and not a s.p.a.ce? He moved forward cautiously, following the tunnel through a series of bends. Its like the insides of a body. Ear ca.n.a.ls or intestines. The very notion made him want to run back to the scar in the wall and burrow out, but the compulsion wouldnt let him. He moved inexorably forward and deeper inside, his sense of urgency growing by the breath. Hurry. Hurry. He trailed his hands along the wall to keep his balance, and his pace quickened until he found himself running as fast as his condition-weakened legs could go.
Finally, he burst from the tunnel into a place that was wider and taller than hed thought possible for Medium to harbour. At least, that was his fleeting hind-brain impression, for his conscious attention was drawn immediately to two things: a large slick organism filling nearly the entire s.p.a.ce, and the small figure of a woman, standing before it-sinking.
Mira!
He leapt forward without thought for anything except to stop her disappearing beneath the liquefying amber floor. He grabbed her shoulders, and before she could even turn her head, pulled her back towards him. They fell together, her body cushioned by his. A moment later she began to fight him, writhing and slapping at his face.
"Baronessa, he gasped hoa.r.s.ely, gripping her fists. "Its Josef Rasterovich. Jo-Jo.
Her body went slack as his words penetrated, and he eased her onto her side so that they were lying face to face.
"Jo-sef! A terrified whisper, broken by relief. "Thank Crux.
She gripped his arm as if she would never let it go, and a rush of elation made his body feel lighter and stronger. Jo-Jo had never experienced such pure pleasure. She was happy to see him.
"Dont move, he managed to say. "Youll break the surface tension.
She gave the tiniest of nods. Their faces were so close that her breath mixed with his. She smelled of biozoon and something milky-sweet.
Without thinking, he slid a hand down her side to her stomach. Her flesh felt flat and loose beneath her robe. Not pregnant.
Her eyes narrowed. "What-are-you-doing?
"I-I-thought you were ... I noticed ... You were pregnant on Rho Junction. Werent you? Did you lose it?
She seemed startled for a moment, then collected herself. "Si. It was not something I wanted to talk about then. And now the explanations could take some time. My baby survived, and is aboard Insignia.
"You had a child? He felt a well of endless questions opening inside. Who was the father?