Sea Of Ghosts Part 32

Aria frowned. 'Why a frog?' she said. 'Normally it's a mouse. Not that anyone ever kills it the first time. Sister Ulla likes to say it's easy, but it isn't. Animal minds are much harder to destroy than Unmer ones.'

'Have you ever killed an Unmer?'

Aria shook her head. 'The dungeons are full of stock, but you're only supposed to torture them,' she said. 'There's barely enough to go around. If we killed them all, we'd need to bring in more from the ghettos and that would mean less income from the empire.' She looked suddenly serious, and lowered her voice. 'Constance killed one by accident, and Sister Ulla was so furious she nearly expelled her.'

Ianthe thought back to the illicit excursion her mind had taken through the palace the night before. The palace had extended as far underground as it had reached skywards. Had all all those people she'd sensed down there been Unmer? those people she'd sensed down there been Unmer?

'Do you want to walk in the woods with me?'

Ianthe snapped out of her reverie. 'What?'

'Sister Ulla wont be back for ages.'

'What about the test?'

'She's not expecting you to pa.s.s anyway.' She held out her hand. 'Come on, it's a lovely day. I'll show you the glade.'

Ianthe accepted Aria's hand and climbed out through the open window.

Aria picked up her mushroom basket and closed the courtyard gate behind them. Gold-green light filtered down through the forest canopy, dappling the mossy ground and picking out bursts of white and pink wild-flowers. Yellow b.u.t.terflies fluttered to and fro. The air smelled of warm summer pollen. Numerous trails wound through the ancient oaks, and Aria led Ianthe along one of these down a steep slope towards a spur of granite. As they drew nearer, Ianthe heard the sound of a rus.h.i.+ng stream. Steps cut into the living rock took them down one side of the spur to a shady pool surrounded by walls of smooth grey stone. The suns.h.i.+ne fell on a flat expanse of granite beside the water's edge, so smooth and round it might have been carved by the G.o.ds as a seat for bathers. In the shadows at the rear of the glade, a small waterfall chuckled into the dark waters.

Ianthe crouched at the edge of the pool. It was so clear she could see light rippling across pebbles two fathoms down. She hesitated, then dipped her hand into the cool water.

Aria flopped down onto the rocks behind her. 'Some of the girls come here to swim,' she said. 'Do you swim?'

Ianthe shook her head.

'Me neither.' Aria rummaged in her basket, pulled out a handful of red berries and began to eat them.

'Weren't you supposed to be collecting mushrooms?'

'These taste better,' Aria said. 'Do you want some?'

Ianthe realized she was ravenous. The only food she'd eaten since she'd arrived at the palace had been the chicken leg Aria had given to her the night before. She scurried over, and soon the two girls were sitting side by side, their chins running with red berry juice as they devoured Aria's h.o.a.rd.

'Look, Regina,' said a voice from behind. 'A pig and a peasant.'

Ianthe turned to see two girls standing on the rock steps above them. The small blonde, Constance, stood with her chin raised and her blue eyes lit with arrogance, while her clumpy, brown-haired companion s.h.i.+fted coyly on the rock steps a few paces behind. Both girls carried baskets similar to Aria's.

Constance strolled down the remaining steps, stopped before Ianthe and peered at her as one might peer at an insect. 'I suppose Unmer eyegla.s.ses are fas.h.i.+onable in Evensraum,' she said to Regina. 'These peasants have always had quaint ideas.'

Regina giggled.

Constance reached for Ianthe. 'Let me see them,' she said.

Ianthe turned away.

Constance gave a snort of disapproval, then grabbed for Ianthe's spectacles. Ianthe pulled away and tried to shove the other girl back. Constance grabbed a handful of Ianthe's hair. Ianthe lashed out wildly with the back of her fist.

Constance recoiled, and stood there for a moment an expression of shock forming on her pretty face. She touched a thin scar across the bridge of her nose, and her fingers came away b.l.o.o.d.y. 'You broke my nose,' she said. 'You broke my nose!'

Ianthe fumbled to adjust her lenses. She didn't see the other girl charge at her until it was too late. With an angry shriek, Constance pushed Ianthe into the pool.

Freezing water engulfed Ianthe. The shock of it took her breath away. She thrashed about, struggling to right herself, then broke the surface, heaving for air. And all at once she felt herself begin to slip under again. She opened her mouth to call for help, but swallowed water and gagged.

Constance smiled at her from the bank.

Ianthe slipped under the surface of the pool again. Her nose filled with water. She kicked and flailed her arms madly, trying desperately to reach air. Her heavy Haurstaf robes seemed to drag her down. For an instant her face broke free and she sucked in a breath before the waters closed around her once more. She felt something solid smack against her head and grabbed it. Suddenly she felt herself being pulled along.

Aria was using a branch to drag Ianthe through the water. Ianthe held on fiercely. She reached the edge of the pool and clung on to the rock, breathless and shaking.

Constance laughed.

Ianthe tried to pull herself out of the water.

Constance crouched over her. 'You can't get out here,' she said. 'This is our area. Go around the other side of the pool.'

'Leave me alone,' Ianthe said. She struggled to climb up, but the blonde girl held her firmly down.

'You need to learn your place,' Constance snarled, forcing Ianthe back down into the cold water. The scar across her broken nose looked livid and angry. 'Peasants don't belong in the Guild. You're not fit to clean the drains.' She wheeled around and flashed her teeth at Aria. 'Give me that stick.'

Aria hesitated.

Constance struggled with Ianthe as she tried to stop her from climbing out. But Ianthe, in her desperation, managed to force her way up past the smaller girl. Constance broke away, s.n.a.t.c.hed the branch from Aria, then swung it round hard.

It struck Ianthe a stinging blow across the cheek. Dripping wet, she turned and fled towards the rocky steps, where Constance's companion, Regina, waited.

'Stop her,' Constance yelled.

Regina moved to block Ianthe's way, and Ianthe tried to push past.

'Grab her.'

Regina seized the hood of Ianthe's robe.

Ianthe lost her footing on the wet rock. Suddenly the glade whirled around her. She fell backwards and struck her head on something hard. A moment of darkness and confusion pa.s.sed, and then she heard someone breathing heavily close to her ear, grunting, gasping.

'Leave her alone.'

'In the water.'

Fists grabbed Ianthe's robes. Someone pinned her arms down. Regina loomed over her, her hair dishevelled, her face flushed. Constance wore a savage grin on her face. They began dragging her back towards the pool. Terror gripped Ianthe's heart, and she kicked and punched and screamed, 'No!'

Something strange happened. Ianthe sensed Constance's perceptions, as she always had, and yet in that instant of fear and struggle she caught a rare glimpse of the mind behind them. It was as if the world had flipped flipped abruptly. Instead of simply peering out through the other girl's eyes, she found herself engulfed by the whirlwind of Constance's emotions. abruptly. Instead of simply peering out through the other girl's eyes, she found herself engulfed by the whirlwind of Constance's emotions. Hatred, desire, envy Hatred, desire, envy. Ianthe's own consciousness lashed out instinctively . . .

Her cry seemed to hang there in the silence of the glade. And then Ianthe became aware of the thumping of her own heart, the frantic sound of her own breathing. Shakily, she sat up.

Constance was lying a few feet away, unmoving, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her left eye. Regina lay curled up on the ground beside her, with her face clamped behind her hands. She was wailing softly like a young child. Aria sat on the ground behind them, gazing at the two stricken girls with wide, fearful eyes.

'What did you do?' she said.

Ianthe got to her feet and ran.

'You do not summon do not summon me me, Mr Maskelyne.'

Maskelyne looked up to see Briana Marks standing at the open doorway of his suite. 'Did I summon you?' he said, feigning confusion. 'Honestly, I can't now remember why.'

She shook her head, but failed to entirely hide her smile. 'Are you comfortable here?'

The suite occupied two floors of one of the palace towers and boasted fine views across the mountains and valley from its garden terrace. Elegant dragon-bone furniture rested on moss-deep carpets. Crystal chandeliers hung from silk-draped ceilings. Maskelyne had counted seven couches, twelve armchairs and no fewer than twenty-two mirrors bouncing light from window to wall. His bed was big enough to accommodate ten people. 'Comfortable enough,' he said, 'although the bed feels cold at night.'

'Your wife will remain in Port Awl until your case is decided,' Briana said. 'And that won't happen until we determine Ianthe's worth to the Guild.'

Maskelyne grunted. 'You intend to hold me here until you decide whether or not Ianthe has talent? What difference does it really make? She's unharmed. Is this justice, or are you simply waiting to see if you can lawfully acquire leverage?'

'There are worse places to be.' Briana strolled over towards the gla.s.s doors leading to the terrace. 'That's one of my favourite views,' she said. 'You can see the Culche Pa.s.s from here, Mian Morre and the Folded Wings. Don't you think the four mountains opposite look like a dragon's spine?'

'I find the view somewhat spoiled by the acres of burned forest, razor-wire and concrete bunkers surrounding the palace,' Maskelyne replied. 'Do you know that a c.o.c.kerel crows every morning in one of the camps? The sound is always followed by a single shot, and then silence. I can't help but wonder if it's one, trained, bird, or if there's a supply of them.'

Briana closed her eyes for a moment. 'A supply,' she said.

'Did you just ask your a.s.sociates?'

'All three thousand of them,' Briana replied. 'The great benefit of telepathy is that one is able to obtain information whenever one wishes. A psychic is never surprised.' She reached the gla.s.s doors, opened them and stepped out onto the terrace. There she stopped dead. 'Where did you get all this stuff?'

Maskelyne joined her. A small collection of Unmer trove lay spread across the flagstones, most of it located amongst potted plants and flower troughs, although he had set out many of the more useful pieces for disa.s.sembly on the stone breakfast table. 'After so many months at sea,' he said, 'I find it refres.h.i.+ng to work outdoors.'

'Work? Where did this trove Where did this trove come come from?' from?'

'The palace storerooms.' He made a dismissive gesture. 'The Unmer won't miss objects you've already confiscated. Most of it is simply junk, but there are a few pieces that may prove vital to my research.'

Briana simply stared at him.

'The Unmer are able to manipulate s.p.a.ce and Time,' Maskelyne explained. 'To transfer energies across vast gulfs. I have been trying to determine how they accomplish this.'

'You were supposed to remain locked in this suite,' Briana said.

Maskelyne waved his hand irritably. 'Yes, yes. My point is this: What we perceive as sorcery sorcery is merely a method of juggling entropy. The Unmer transmit energy and matter from one place to another, most likely from one is merely a method of juggling entropy. The Unmer transmit energy and matter from one place to another, most likely from one universe universe to another, through some sort of as.p.a.cial conduit. The Unmer's strength lies in their ability to plunder what I have chosen to call to another, through some sort of as.p.a.cial conduit. The Unmer's strength lies in their ability to plunder what I have chosen to call cosmic remnants. cosmic remnants.'

'How did you get past the guards?'

Maskelyne sighed. 'You're not listening. Our present universe is merely the latest configuration of energy and matter formed within a never-ending cycle of cosmic inflation. Like the ripples formed beneath a dripping tap as the outer circles fade they are replaced by new ones. If my-'

'Did you bribe bribe someone to bring all this equipment here?' someone to bring all this equipment here?'

'If my theory is correct, then . . .' He paused and frowned at her. 'Of course I bribed someone. When dealing with the Haurstaf, it is practically immoral not not to bribe someone.' He smiled thinly. 'If my theory is correct, it means that certain aspects of Unmer sorcery are not only detrimental to our universe, but completely impossible without a.s.sistance from beyond our universe.' to bribe someone.' He smiled thinly. 'If my theory is correct, it means that certain aspects of Unmer sorcery are not only detrimental to our universe, but completely impossible without a.s.sistance from beyond our universe.'

She just looked at him.

'Imagine a bathtub full of water,' he said.

She continued to stare at him.

'Now imagine there are two plugs in the bath, one at either end,' he went on. 'When we pull out both plugs, the water begins to drain through both openings at once. If the holes represent vast cl.u.s.ters of matter and the water represents the s.p.a.ce between those cl.u.s.ters, then the flow of water represents the force of gravity.' He glanced around the terrace, looking for something he could draw a diagram with, but there was nothing to hand. 'In this a.n.a.logy, the bathwater would flow out, leaving no s.p.a.ce s.p.a.ce between the holes, no cosmos. But what is s.p.a.ce? Is it tangible, like matter? Or does it merely represent a sea in which the between the holes, no cosmos. But what is s.p.a.ce? Is it tangible, like matter? Or does it merely represent a sea in which the potential potential for material interactions exists? What if, as the bath drained, the volume of water it contained did not diminish? What if the area of s.p.a.ce between the holes actually for material interactions exists? What if, as the bath drained, the volume of water it contained did not diminish? What if the area of s.p.a.ce between the holes actually stretches stretches? If the holes remain unchanged, the distance between them must increase.' He nodded. 'So the universe expands.'

'I really wish I hadn't come here,' Briana said.

Maskelyne walked over to the terrace bal.u.s.trade and sat down. 'Have you ever wondered how how the Unmer came to possess the ability to remove matter, to turn flesh and stone into vacuum? This talent requires no device, no sorcerous ring or pendant.' He shook his head. 'It is the Unmer came to possess the ability to remove matter, to turn flesh and stone into vacuum? This talent requires no device, no sorcerous ring or pendant.' He shook his head. 'It is inherent inherent, and therefore like nothing else we have ever seen.'

'It's just a gift,' Briana said. 'Like telepathy.'

Maskelyne threw his hands up. 'It is nothing like telepathy,' he said. 'Telepathy does not add or subtract anything from the universe. Look.' He walked over to the table and picked up a partially disa.s.sembled gem lantern from among the clutter of machine parts and tools. 'These burn for, say, a thousand years,' he said. 'Do you have any idea how much energy that requires? It's enough to blow a battles.h.i.+p to pieces, and it has to come from somewhere somewhere.' Next he untied a burlap sack from the leg of the table and opened it. Three small concrete spheres floated up out of the bag and rose gently towards the sky. Maskelyne scooped them back into the bag before they drifted too high. 'Air stones,' he said, 'or chariot ballast, or whatever name you want to give them. The repulsive force comes from somewhere somewhere.' Next he s.n.a.t.c.hed up a stoppered ichusae. 'You recognize this, of course?' He set the bottle down again when he saw fear light Briana's eyes. 'Ichusae introduce poisonous matter to our world, matter brought from somewhere somewhere else. You see? Most of what the Unmer create else. You see? Most of what the Unmer create sucks sucks matter or energy from somewhere and dumps it into our world.' matter or energy from somewhere and dumps it into our world.'

'Void flies-' Briana began.

'Void flies are not created created,' Maskelyne cried. 'Void flies are creatures which possess the same inherent inherent ability the Unmer do. And that's the key. Where did they suddenly appear from? What becomes of the matter they remove from our universe? Where does it go? There's a balance in all of this. A trade.' ability the Unmer do. And that's the key. Where did they suddenly appear from? What becomes of the matter they remove from our universe? Where does it go? There's a balance in all of this. A trade.'

Briana frowned.

Maskelyne's gaze travelled across the objects on the table. 'The universe expands in all directions,' he muttered. 'Elemental particles of matter cool and cease to fluctuate. But s.p.a.ce cannot exist between identical particles. As variance decreases, more and more particles must find themselves occupying the same point in the universe, regardless of how far apart they are. Vast swathes of the cosmos begin to gather in one place, a single, tiny place that exists almost everywhere at the same time. Unimaginable pressure builds, and builds, and builds, until eventually . . .' He looked at her expectantly.

She shrugged.

Maskelyne felt deflated. 'I can see you're not taking this seriously,' he said.

'You weren't brought here to study the cosmos at our expense, Mr Maskelyne.'

'At your expense?' He shook his head in disbelief. 'Miss Marks, if my theory is correct, then it is very likely that there are still sc.r.a.ps of former universes adrift out there.' He jabbed a finger at the sky. 'Frozen, dying and utterly utterly alien to anything we could imagine. If the Unmer have communicated with the inhabitants of one of these cosmic remnants and, indeed, have actively been alien to anything we could imagine. If the Unmer have communicated with the inhabitants of one of these cosmic remnants and, indeed, have actively been s.h.i.+fting matter s.h.i.+fting matter back and forth between here and there, then we need to consider any consequences that the subsequent enslavement of their race might have had.' back and forth between here and there, then we need to consider any consequences that the subsequent enslavement of their race might have had.'

She sighed. 'Go on.'

'Our world is drowning,' he said. 'Whatever deal the Unmer made with the far side of the cosmos has evidently turned sour.' He sighed. 'I'm no merchant, but I know that when one party fails to adhere to a trade agreement, the other party gets angry.'

CHAPTER 16.

PERTICA.

Violent juddering woke Granger. He sat up abruptly, momentarily disorientated, then remembered where he was. Green light filtered through the windows of the deads.h.i.+p cabin, bathing the shelves of trove and Unmer experiments in a queer underwater luminance. Granger got up, wincing as his dry flesh cracked, and took a moment to work the numbness out of his arms and legs. It was freezing in here. His breath misted in the air before him. He wrapped a blanket around himself and shuffled over to the window.

Green ice floated upon a green sea. Outside the window stretched a frozen expanse of the Mare Verdant, the brine littered with broken slabs of ice and great nebulous snow-dusted ma.s.ses with facets as deep and dark as bottle gla.s.s. From the bow of the ironclad came a dull pounding sound as the s.h.i.+p smashed its way through more of the ice field. Granger took out a fur-lined jacket from the captain's dressing room and forced his heavy joints into it as he stomped up the steps that led above deck.

It must have rained during the night. Fronds of clear ice crystals had formed on the metal tower in the centre of the deck and on the torn remnants of the spinnaker attached to it. The wind had blown them into crazy shapes. A sugaring of white snow crunched under Granger's boots. He scooped some up and ate it as he paced the deck. Vast ice-fields lay ahead of the deads.h.i.+p, a glittering expanse of emerald and white. In her wake stretched a channel of dark green water where she had punched through the surface ice. Granger walked to the bow of the s.h.i.+p and scanned the horizon. Basalt cliffs rose out of the sea a league to the north, their storm-cracked aspects mortared with snow. Upon the edge of this landma.s.s perched a single building, a drab and windowless cube supporting a vast steel tower on its roof.