Chapter XXXIX – Mimesis

  Seraphina sat suspended a metre above the floor of her room, her legs crossed, eyes closed. Around her flickered the light of dozens of candles, fragrant incense smoke wafted through the air. Before her, suspended in radiant purple illumination, was her great grimoire, a steady stream of light flowing from her forehead and inscribing fresh words upon its pages.

  Seraphina was aware of little of this. Her mind traced the paths of the Starflow, wandering from point to point across the Cosmos, pausing at moments to probe irregularities, strange eddies, and localised surges in energy. The picture became less clear, the farther away her perception wandered from her physical location, and this was where the challenge was. With every meditation session she built her understanding of the Starflow, allowing her to probe deeper and farther into the Cosmos.

  Always she probed for her Melusine Sisters, calling out across the fathomless void, asking the question: am I the only one left? Am I alone now in all the Cosmos? Of course, the temptation was always there to reach beyond the Witching Star, font of her power, to that dark world that orbited It: her home, Hecate. Yet there resided a terrible Shadow of Oblivion, the one against whom she erected fresh wards each night before she slept, the one who had driven her Coven to the brink of extinction. Surely, no Melusine Sister could survive there.

  Yet, ever the temptation remained. But she resisted. She explored elsewhere. She contemplated the myriads of myriad threads of the Starflow, the universal fabric of reality, and drifted, her mind merging ever more with that of the Stars. Elimination of the self, oneness with the Stars – the perfection of Manda and the path to Theophany: that was the road all Resonants walked, whether they realised it or not. Few would ever reach the end of that road. Seraphina neither knew nor cared whether she would be one of the few.

  Something glimmered at the edge of her sublimated awareness, something strange, beckoning her back to consciousness. Her discipline was such, that initially the distraction did little to sway her from her Cosmic wanderings, yet it was persistent, and in its persistence, it began to drag her conscious mind back to the fore. It became louder, brighter. It was of the Starflow, but not far out into the Cosmos, across the gulf of light-years, not a trembling of the Filaments in the remote reaches, no it was proximate, it was immediate. She pulled back, her mind racing along the Filaments, tracing them back, all the way back to the lonely Starship Amrita high above the gas giant, to the fragile body suspended in meditative repose.

  Her red eyes flicked open.

  Something was happening on Luanyuan.

  The Starflow lived up to its name, drifting to and fro across the Cosmos, like the winds or the tides. Yet now, something akin to the breaking of a dam was occurring. A great flood of the Starflow was rushing toward isolated and sparsely populated Luanyuan.

  In the centuries of her long life, Seraphina had never before witnessed such a thing. Not on this scale. Not so suddenly as this.

  What mechanism could possibly drive such a flood?

  She could think of few indeed.

  She took in a deep breath. With a wave of her hand, the grimoire was dismissed, vanishing into thin air, the light around it evaporating into tiny sparks. She uncrossed her legs and her feet gently touched to the floor.

  It was time to find the Captain.

  “Corvum voco,” she whispered and Matthias materialised, soaring once in a circle before settling upon her shoulder. Charlie came trotting over, his tail wagging.

  “I have to go see the Captain,” she told him, “We will play when I return.”

  He gave a little yap and watched as she adjusted her hat, his tail wagging the whole time. She set off through the empty corridors of the Amrita. The Common Room was empty, but for the housekeeping robots busying themselves cleaning he already gleaming room.

  “Have you felt it, Captain?” she asked as she entered Apollo’s quarters.

  “I have,” he replied, springing lightly to the floor.

  “What do you think is the cause?” she asked.

  He twitched his whiskers, his tail waving lazily. “I do not know,” he said. “But I feel it must be connected to what Princess Mukushen and I foresaw waited on Luanyuan.”

  “You cannot say what that is?” asked Seraphina.

  “I cannot,” said Apollo. “But I suspect much will soon be revealed.”

  “Should we contact the crew on the surface?” asked Seraphina.

  Apollo contemplated the question. Matthias ruffled his wings.

  “No,” said the Captain, at length, “I do not believe that is necessary at this stage. Mu’s foresight is more acute than my own now. She will know when the time to act has come.”

  “You have that much faith in her abilities?” asked Seraphina.

  “I do,” said Apollo, “Do you not?”

  “If you have faith, Captain, I do too.”

  “Good,” said Apollo.

  “Then we wait,” she said.

  “We wait,” he agreed. “We wait, and we observe. But it is not yet time to act.”

  “Very well,” said Seraphina. “I will study my grimoires. There may be writings on this phenomenon.”

  “That sounds like an excellent idea, Seraphina,” said the Captain.

  With that she turned and left.

  Mu’s eyes fluttered open.

  She lay a few moments, gazing up at the wooden beams holding up the ceiling, not truly comprehending where she was. Rain pattered softly on the roof. The air was as thick and humid as ever.

  She was filled with a sense of calm. A calm she had not known in a long time.

  Ever?

  She stretched out down through her legs and then through her arms. She had been lying down for a long time. Too long.

  She rolled over.

  “Oh, Mu,” said a cheerful voice, “So nice of you to join us.”

  Sitting by her bed was Harry.

  “I thought Tavian was here,” she said.

  “He was. For a long time. Ostara for a while too. Disappointed to see me?”

  She shook her head vigorously. “No,” she insisted.

  She looked around the room. Others were lying in beds around her, but the majority of the beds were empty. Many had bunched and messy sheets, indicating recent occupation.

  She pushed away the sheet on top of her, beginning to feel the cloying of the heat, despite its light fabric. She saw she was dressed in a simple white dress, loose-fitting and sleeveless.

  “Who changed me?” she said.

  “That was Ostara, I believe,” said Harry.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Well, you got one hell of fever,” said Harry. “Honestly, I think we were all worried we’d lose you, though no one was saying that. Well, except for Kal, but he always assumes the worst will come to pass.”

  “I didn’t die,” she said, matter-of-factly, blinking as she rose to a seated position.

  “Evidently,” said Harry.

  “What else happened?” she asked, stretching her arms over her head once more and yawning. Damp strands of hair hung over her face. She brushed them away.

  “Where to start? Tavian and Ostara went into the jungle with that Jiwen guy to look at one of the ‘Heavenly Pits’. They found a crashed starship – and Toghrul – and—”

  “They found Toghrul? Is he alright?”

  “He’s fine, as far as I know,” said Harry. “But the others with him weren’t so lucky. That jungle is not messing around. Dr Zhao and his assistant were taken by the vines too, while they were with Tavian and Ostara.”

  “They’re dead?” asked Mu.

  “As best we know,” said Harry. “But Tavian and Ostara… they found something near the crashed ship. Everyone’s struggled to describe it, so I won’t even bother, but whatever it was, it was bleeding. Rainbow blood. And… well Toghrul had a broken leg when they found him, but he drunk some of the blood—”

  “He drunk the blood?” exclaimed Mu.

  “Wait,” said Harry, “You’re going to want to hear the rest of this.”

  “Alright…” said Mu, “Go on.”

  “Well, he drunk the blood and his leg was healed. Like, instantly. At this point you and about twenty others – about a quarter of the settlement’s population – were bed-ridden with whatever this fever was. And, well, Tavian gave you some of the blood.”

  “Gave me… you mean I drunk it too!?” she exclaimed, suddenly alert.

  “You sure did, Mu,” said Harry.

  “He found some strange alien blood in the jungle and just gave it to me? Without asking?”

  “You weren’t really up to being asked,” said Harry, “And, as I’ve heard it, you were on death’s door. How do you feel, by the way?”

  She considered. “Great,” she admitted. “Better… better than before.”

  “Guess the blood worked,” said Harry.

  “Still…” she murmured.

  Something occurred to her in that moment, the hint of a memory, but it was something she couldn’t quite grasp, dancing just out of the reach of her conscious mind. Was it a dream? The Blood… when he had mentioned the Blood, it had come to her, but then gone as quickly.

  She could imagine it though – the Blood. In her mind’s eyes she saw it oozing over the smoothed rocks of a stream bed, its colours shifting constantly in the dappled light of the jungle.

  Did I see it? she wondered.

  “The others – the others with the fever… they drunk the Blood too?”

  “Far as I know,” said Harry.

  She swung her legs around so that she was sitting on the side of the bed, placing her feet on the floor.

  “Where are my clothes?” she asked.

  “Ostara left them here,” said Harry, bending down to pick up a bundle.

  “She washed them?”

  Harry shook his head. “The whole settlement is on water rations.”

  “The filtration system is still broken?”

  “Oh, you know about that? Yeah. So, um, these clothes are pretty filthy still.”

  “My clothes weren’t filthy,” said Mu, indignantly.

  “Well, they’re not pristine, anyway. But unless you want to walk around dressed like that, they’re your only option. Although, in all honesty, that looks pretty comfortable.”

  “I’m not wearing this out there,” said Mu, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  “I’d almost like to wear it. Seriously, looks crazy comfortable,” said Harry.

  “You’d never,” she said, with a smile.

  “I’m always willing to push the frontiers of fashion,” Harry replied, grinning.

  “Sure,” said Mu. She stood up. “Now, get out of here. I’m getting changed. Maybe go find Ostara and the others. If we’ve located Toghrul, we need to plan out what’s next.”

  “As you command, Your Imperial Highness,” said Harry.

  She rolled her eyes at him as he stood and headed out.

  Pu Mengqi was simultaneously confused and relieved. Only a day earlier she had been feeling the worst she could ever remember feeling. Death was holding open the door, beckoning her through, and she had been tempted to take the step. Yet now she was a new woman.

  Now she stood, hale and healthy, examining Port Arthur’s meagre crops. Yet where once the gulf between what little they could grow and the scale of the colony’s needs had brought her to the edge of despair, she now felt oddly optimistic.

  Her mentor aided in this newfound optimism.

  “It is a gift,” said Fu Yuanjing. “A reward for your faith.”

  Pu did not doubt her kind mentor’s words, yet she still had questions.

  “The others got better too,” she said.

  “I prayed to the Nine for all of our comrades,” said Fu, “They are all children of the Stars, whether they have embraced the light or not.”

  “People are saying that it is some… blood… brought in from the jungle, discovered by Zhang Jiwen and the visitors,” said Pu.

  Fu smiled in response. “Even the unwitting can still be agents of the Stars. The Starflow works through all of us, in accordance with Their divine plan. This Blood of Many Colours, do you not see what it is?”

  “I… I don’t know…” said Pu. She often struggled with the questions that Fu asked. Pu had never been good in school. She considered it fortunate that one as wise as Fu had taken her under her wing.

  “It is a gift from the Nine Suns in our time of need,” said Fu. “I believe this being – that shed its Blood so that we may live – it is a Eutria of Gong Sheng Xing, the Flourishing Star.”

  “A Eutria?” asked Pu. The word was unfamiliar to her, sounding strange, even as she spoke it with her own mouth.

  “A messenger of the Stars,” said Fu. “And in time our Comrades will recognise what has been done for them and they will have faith. Then they can be truly saved. But I fear… many trials are yet to come before that moment of Enlightenment. But through hardship, they will come to faith.”

  Hardship, thought Pu, Yes, that was the one thing they were never short of here at Port Arthur.

  But that was alright.

  Everything would be alright.

  It was like Fu said: they needed only faith to sustain them.

  There was the sound of running footsteps. Young Cheng Xiaoyu came running towards the two women.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “The guards found a dead person near the wall,” said Cheng.

  Fu turned to him. Pu saw no sign of shock or surprise on her face. But then, little surprised wise Master Fu.

  “Who?”

  “Lin Yunxiang,” said Cheng.

  Fu’s smiled broadened. “He is one of Ma Jinhai’s supporters, is he not?”

  Cheng was quiet, a moment, his eyes downcast. He seemed nervous. “He was one of the men who took my rocks,” he said at length.

  “In time the unrighteous always bear the fruits of their cruelty,” said Fu.

  “I didn’t like him,” said Cheng, “He scared me. But… but did he deserve to die?”

  Fu walked over to the boy and placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder. “Do not trouble yourself over his fate, my child. All is as it should be.”

  Pu saw the boy look up into the Master’s eyes. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll be strong.”

  “You are far stronger than most give you credit for,” said Fu. She turned Pu’s way, “As are you, my dear. Both of you have remained faithful in the face of such mockery and doubt. Yet the bounty of your faith will soon be overflowing.”

  Tavian was making his way across the settlement when he heard the commotion. A crowd had gathered outside the hall. Angry voices rose above the general hubbub.

  As he neared, he could see that two distinct groups were clearly delineated within the larger crowd. And at the centre were two men.

  Ma Jinhai and Gao Yunqi.

  “I know it was one of your people that did it, coward,” growled Ma.

  “What are you talking about, Ma? The vines got him. He was out there wandering about like a drunken fool,” responded Gao.

  “The vines don’t take a strong man when he’s awake,” responded one of the men behind Ma.

  “Oh really? Tell Yesugei that,” snapped back Gao.

  Several onlookers were beginning to gather alongside Tavian, though they were cautiously hanging back from the two opposing groups. A light rain was falling, but no one seemed much bothered by that.

  “Yesugei was out in the jungle, playing the hero,” said Ma. “It’s not like that here and you know it.”

  “You would think that,” said a woman behind Gao. “Your lot always shirk vine warden duty.”

  “We do far more for this place than you lot,” said Ma. “When’s the revolution coming, huh? You think you’re so fucking clever, but you won’t dare go and confront the Commandant, will you?”

  Before Gao could respond, another voice rose over it all. Tavian saw the Commandant, flanked by four guards striding briskly towards the group. Following him were the Leadership Committee.

  “Who’s confronting me?”

  “This little shit thinks he can run this place,” said Ma.

  The Commandant stopped nearby, his eyes flicking back and forward between the two groups.

  “All of you,” he yelled, “Get back to fucking work. I don’t have time for this shit. We will find out what happened to Lin and if anyone’s to blame, we’ll do what needs to be done. Until then, there are repairs to be done, crops to be tended to, food to be prepared. Mr Arthur?”

  Here the Commandant turned to Michael Arthur and the Leadership Committee.

  “Control this fucking rabble or I will have to get a whole lot stricter, and none of you will enjoy that,” shouted the Commandant. “I’ve been very lenient on all you Star-forsaken criminals, but do not take my kindness for granted. The Empire has allowed you all to live in its great benevolence. Out here, I am the Empire. Do not test my limits. The next person I catch stirring up trouble will get the cane, and you will beg me for mercy. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal clear, Boss,” said Ma, through gritted teeth.

  “And Mr Arthur? You may want to reconsider whether Mr Gao here really deserves his place on your committee.”

  “I will have a word with Mr Gao,” said Michael.

  “See that you do,” said the Commandant. Tavian noticed that all the time he had been speaking, his hand had been resting on his sidearm.

  “Now, scram!” he bellowed.

  The crowd obediently began breaking up. Before he turned to stalk away, Ma gestured with two fingers to his eyes, then to Gao. Gao looked away, muttering something to the woman beside him.

  Tavian approached the leadership committee. “I take it someone turned up dead?”

  “Lin Yunxiang, one of Ma’s… thugs. He was found dead just outside the wall,” replied Jiwen. “Ma thinks one of Gao’s people did it.”

  “What do you think?” asked Tavian.

  “I don’t know what to think,” said Jiwen.

  “It would be a dark day indeed if one of our own were the culprit,” said Michael, “We already face enough dangers out here.”

  “They’re getting heated,” said Tavian.

  “They are,” said Michael. “And on top of the theft from the stores, it is deeply concerning.”

  “Best of luck to you,” said Tavian. “I’d best be going,” he added.

  With that he parted ways with them. Ostara had requested the crew meet up at the edge of the settlement, amongst the grove of plantain trees.

  Given he had paused to watch the commotion on his way over, Tavian was unsurprised to see the rest of the crew was already there. He was heartened to see Mu up and about.

  “Nice of you to join us,” said Harry.

  “Yeah, it’s been great standing in the rain waiting for your lazy butt,” said Nova.

  “Will you ever learn the courtesy of punctuality?” asked Mu.

  “Hey,” said Tavian, “We can’t have showers or even go for a swim in the river. May as well stand in the rain. It’s not that heavy anyway.”

  “It’s not the same,” said Nova. Her hair, never especially neat, was a wild mess, barely contained in her customary ponytail. Strands poked out in all directions, plainly showing the influence of the humidity.

  “Well, I got caught up in a little fracas back near the hall,” said Tavian. “Those Ma and Gao guys are at each other’s throats. Someone turned up dead last night, apparently. One of Ma’s people.”

  “I had heard,” said Ostara. “What’s the situation?”

  Looking her way now, he noticed for the first time that she had a bandage around her arm. He didn’t remember her getting injured out in the jungle. Perhaps he had just missed it in the chaos.

  At any rate, she wasn’t making a big deal of it, so neither would he.

  “Well, the Commandant broke it up,” said Tavian, “But I’d be pretty shocked if that were the end of it.”

  Kal laughed bitterly. “You’re not wrong. That won’t be the last body that turns up. Not by a long shot. Place is a powder keg.”

  Nova spoke up, “I saw a confrontation between them yesterday. Gao seemed to think Ma was behind the break in at the stores.”

  “Wouldn’t put it past him,” said Kal. “When survival itself is in the mix, there’s no surer path to power than controlling the food. That Ma ain’t no scholar, but he’s cunning, and he knows how to get people to follow him.”

  “I suspect you may be right, Kal,” said Ostara.

  “Way I see it,” Kal continued, “There’s about four groups here. The biggest is probably those who are committed to Michael Arthur. Then there’s Ma and his thugs. There are fewer of them, but they’re willing to do just about anything to get an advantage. Then there’s Gao and his would-be revolutionaries. 'Course, if they were real Revolutionaries, the Imperial authorities would have shot them on sight. The fact that they’re alive and here – on top of their baby faces – tells me they’re probably just a bunch of students with big notions about themselves. More of a nuisance than a threat to the authorities. Anyhow, the last one’s that old preacher woman, Fu Yuanjing. Hers is the smallest group, but she’s still dangerous. People like her thrive when everything goes to shit. Desperate people will take a comforting lie over the hard truth any day. I reckon a lot of the convicts are staying out of things at the moment… but if she can tap into that group, convince them she’s got the solution to their hardships… then things could change quickly.”

  “They won’t survive if they fight among themselves,” said Mu.

  “No,” agreed Kal, “But while that’s often the case, I’ve never known it to stop humans bickering. Each of them is sure they have the answer, the thing that will save the group. And none of them is willing to back down. Not until someone forces unity on the rest, anyway.”

  Harry cleared his throat loudly. “Fascinating… and depressing… as all this is, I don’t believe it’s up to us to solve these problems. What we do need to do is work out how to get Toghrul… and ourselves out.”

  “Doesn’t seem like the guards are gonna do much to stop us,” said Tavian.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” said Kal. “They let the convicts come and go, because they know the jungle’s going to stop them getting very far. And they couldn’t care less if a few of them die out there. But to actually escape from this place, the only real route out is the river.”

  “And the jetty’s all smashed up,” said Tavian. “Plus, I dunno about the rest of you, but I don’t much fancy wading or swimming out to a boat.”

  “Yeah, it’s a hard no from me,” concurred Nova.

  “Putting that aside, there’s no way of boarding a vessel without the guards noticing. They don’t care about someone going into the jungle, but I’m certain they’ll stop them getting on a boat.”

  “It seems to me,” said Ostara, “That what is required, then, is to get Toghrul onto a boat outside Port Arthur. When we went to the Pit, we stuck close to the river for much of the journey. If we could board a boat out there, we’d be away from the eyes of the Commandant and the guards.”

  “But there’s no jetty out there,” pointed out Nova.

  “That doesn’t seem insurmountable. Whether it’s a matter of a boat getting closer to the shore, building a raft, using a fallen tree… I’m sure we can overcome that problem. But of course, we need a boat.”

  “What about Captain Kang?” asked Nova.

  “What about her?” asked Harry.

  “Well, I’ve still got the comms gear she gave me. And she should still be on-world, based on what she told us.”

  “Does she have a boat?” asked Mu.

  Nova shrugged. “I’m sure for the right price, she’d be willing to arrange one.”

  “There is another issue,” said Kal.

  “And what would that be?” asked Ostara.

  “The prisoners are chipped. The Commandant will get an alert the moment one of them gets a certain distance from Port Arthur. Then he’ll alert LPDC HQ in Heye. And they’ll know as well as we do, that the river’s the one way in or out.”

  “Well, that’s a pickle,” said Tavian.

  “Do you think there’s any way of disabling it, Nova?” asked Ostara.

  Nova shrugged. “Could be… hard to say without looking at one. Which could be tricky if it’s… inside Toghrul. Do we even know where they’re implanted?”

  “In the neck, from what I hear,” said Kal.

  “I mean, I can take a look at Toghrul, but these things are likely microscopic. Without any advanced instruments, there’s not likely to be anything I can work out. Maybe if we were back on the Amrita, I’d be able to work something out, but if we were, the problem would be pretty much sorted, right?”

  “I’d like to you to think about the problem some more. See what you can come up with. Let us know if you need anything from any of us,” said Ostara.

  “Okay,” said Nova, her tone dubious.

  “It does raise another question,” said Tavian.

  “Hrm?” said Ostara.

  “When are we going to involve Toghrul in this little plan? Given that he’s gonna be a key part of it and all.”

  “I had been of the view we will inform him when we’ve got at least the semblance of a plan,” said Ostara.

  “Maybe he’d have some insights on how to get out?” said Harry, “Since he’s been here longer than any of us.”

  “Perhaps,” said Ostara. “Let’s see if we can’t work out the two key problems first, as he is likely to be watched more closely than us. Specifically, that is transportation and dealing with the tracking chip.”

  “We’re on the clock on transportation,” said Nova. “At least if we want help from Kang.”

  “I’m appreciative of that,” said Ostara. “Kal, can you scout the river banks nearby for an appropriate extraction site? Nova, can you check in with Kang and see if we can’t sort out the transport question.”

  “Alright,” said Nova, “That I can do.”

  “We’ll reconvene early tomorrow afternoon. Everyone, keep your eyes and ears open. Keep your brains in gear. It’s not going to be easy to get Toghrul out of here, but that’s what we’re here to do.”

  “And be wary,” said Kal. “This place is a powder keg.”

  “All the more reason to be plotting our exit,” said Tavian.

  “Oh, and Tavian?” said Ostara. “You’re a storyteller. Tell Toghrul a story about what he achieved. I doubt he gets much news from home here.”

  “How much embellishment?” asked Tavian.

  “The truth should suffice, I think,” said Ostara.

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  Word was getting around Port Arthur. As Tavian entered the hall for dinner, dozens of individual conversations were going on around him.

  Questions were being asked: yesterday the colony had seemed to be on the verge of ruin, with the fever spreading rapidly among its population. Today, all those who had been bed-ridden seemed better than they had been before they fell ill. Rumours abounded. Some said the outsiders had brought some miracle cure. Some said the outsiders were here to liberate Luanyuan. But inevitably something resembling the truth also entered circulation. Many had seen the streak of light, the loud bang, several nights prior. The story was that something contained on a crashed starship would cure all ills.

  Yet even as word of miracles spread, so too did discontent. The rice ration that night was half what it usually was. Each convict received only a sliver of fresh fruit and a vitamin supplement to stave off scurvy. Other rumours were spreading: rumours that attributed blame for the shortages.

  As Tavian walked amongst the tables, he could string together the snippets he overheard into the competing narratives.

  Gao’s clique argued that Ma had stolen the food: these gangsters, conmen, and contract killers were eating well, while everyone else teetered on the brink of starvation. The guards did nothing: they and Ma were part of the same system of oppression that sought to grind them all down.

  Ma’s clique said that Gao’s followers were elites from the university. These soft and pampered intellectuals were unused to hard work and deprivation, and had thus taken more than their fair share, thinking themselves above the conditions that everyone else had to endure.

  Fu brought the two stories together. A lack of faith had brought hardship, but salvation was there for those who would embrace the light.

  That’s when he heard her words:

  “Make the journey, enter the jungle, partake of the Eutric Blood. Then you will know salvation.”

  Eutric Blood? He’d have to ask Ostara about that one.

  He noted, disconcertingly, that tonight Fu had more than her usual two or three hangers-on.

  Kal might be onto something.

  Toghrul was not sitting with any of the cliques. He had found himself a spot at the end of one of the long tables and was immersed in reading. Tavian, who had already fetched himself a rather diminutive dinner from one of Li Shulin’s helpers, slid onto the bench next to the Yarkanese man.

  “Mind if I join you?” he said.

  “It doesn’t bother me,” said Toghrul, only briefly glancing up from his reading.

  “You’re an impressive guy,” said Tavian. “You sure shook things up on Yarkan.”

  “You are one of Madam Ostara’s companions, I take it?” said Toghrul.

  “Yes,” said Tavian with a smile, extending a hand. “I didn’t properly introduce myself back in the jungle. Tavian Locke… of the starship Amrita.”

  Toghrul belatedly took his hand, giving it a perfunctory shake. “I assume you probably know a great deal about me, already,” he said.

  “I’ve heard a bit. But I’m guessing you want to know what happened on Yarkan after you left.”

  “Madam Ostara told me a little,” said Toghrul.

  “Your girlfriend is the ruler of Yarkan now,” said Tavian, “At least last we heard.”

  “She’s not… never mind,” said Toghrul. “Sayan didn’t go to war with the Empire, I take it?”

  “From what I hear she killed plenty of them in Karbaliq, but she took a more diplomatic approach after she got to Yengishahr. The latest we heard before coming here, Prince Abahai of the Onyx Tortoise Banner had agreed to the terms negotiated between the Governor and Sayan.”

  Toghrul took a deep breath. “My daughter… do you know anything of her?”

  “Erkegul?” asked Tavian. “I hear that she is well. From what I’ve seen… any kid growing up with Sayan as a mother is going to have one incredible protector.”

  Toghrul gave the faintest of smiles for the first time. “That is good. I know that Sayan, as much as she may seem reckless, will never let any harm befall Erkegul. You met them?”

  “I sure did,” said Tavian. “I accompanied Sayan’s little brother Chinor, Mu, and Buka Qam into the Sanctum at Karbaliq. We stayed with Sayan before that.”

  “Then Yarkan owes you a great debt,” said Toghrul.

  Tavian shrugged. “It was an adventure. I’ve got some good stories to tell now.”

  Toghrul regarded him a moment. “I’m glad my people’s struggle is so entertaining.”

  Tavian just smiled back. “What you and Sayan – and those that followed you, of course – achieved… it was the stuff of legends. The awakening of the Kulkana? Mythic. Songs and stories are not merely the stuff of entertainment, they are what will inspire future generations, keeping the great deeds of this one alive.”

  Toghrul looked his way a moment longer, before taking a bite of his dinner. When he next spoke, his tone was different. “I don’t think it is overly presumptuous of me to assume that your being here, in this small settlement, on this accursed world… it is because of me, right?”

  “Ulduz and Sayan asked that we come,” said Tavian.

  “Why?” asked Toghrul. “I cannot go back to Yarkan.”

  “But those lovely ladies care about you, and do not want you to be here,” said Tavian.

  Toghrul sighed. “Where else is there for me to go?”

  “Anywhere,” said Tavian. “It’s a big Cosmos and pretty much any part of it has got to be better than here.”

  Toghrul shook his head. “You don’t understand. My life was on Yarkan. If I can’t be there… it doesn’t matter where I am. At least here, life is simple. Building this settlement, attending to my daily jobs. My freedom would be worth nothing to me if I am not free to go home.”

  Tavian scoffed. “I’m gonna be real with you right now: we are not going back to Yarkan and telling Ulduz and Sayan that we found you, but left you here. Sayan looks like she knows how to use that spear of hers.”

  Toghrul visibly swallowed and looked away, gazing into space. After a few moments he turned back Tavian’s way. “Then what do you propose? Walking off into the jungle?”

  Tavian laughed. “That bit’s not quite so clear just yet.”

  “Then it seems to me that this conversation we’re having now is at best hypothetical.”

  “We’ll find a way,” said Tavian.

  “Perhaps,” said Toghrul. “And when you do, we shall talk. If Sayan and Ulduz sent you, then I will consider any proposal you present to me.”

  He paused a moment. Tavian saw the light in his eyes. “But tell me,” he began. “You saw the Kulkana… what was it like?”

  Tavian grinned and leant in. It was time to tell the full story.

  Later Tavian was leaving the hall, walking across the darkened settlement in the soft evening rain.

  Two convicts approached him

  “You saw it, didn’t you?” one said.

  “Saw?”

  “The source,” said the second man. “Of the Blood.”

  Tavian nodded.

  “I did,” he said.

  “Can you take us there?” asked the first man.

  Tavian looked him over. “Are you sick?”

  “Wendao was,” the first man said, indicating the second.

  “But I’m not now,” said Wendao. “And I feel better than I ever have.”

  “I want to experience that,” said the first man. “I want to drink the Blood.”

  “You’re as likely as not to die, if you try to go,” said Tavian.

  “Not if you come with us,” said Wendao. “You’ve been and you came back. You can show us the way.”

  “Please,” said the first man, “I know that sooner or later Ma Jinhai, or the guards – someone – is going to take control of it. Then we will never get to drink it. But if you take us tomorrow… perhaps we can—”

  Tavian shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I have no interest in going back into that jungle.”

  He thought of the strange being sitting in those trickling streams, the Blood flowing continuously from its many wounds, its multiple eyes staring impassively forward, its drooping wings. The memory had taken on an increasingly eerie and foreboding dimension in his mind. For some reason, it was this image and not the seething, hungry vines that most repelled him from the idea of going back.

  Besides, he rationalised: they had a job to do. Find a way to get Toghrul out. Anything else was a distraction. And potentially putting himself in the midst of any disputes between the convicts was foolhardy.

  “Please…” said Wendao. “I must taste it again.”

  There was craving in his voice. Profound craving.

  The memory of delivering a dose of the blood to Mu flickered through his mind. A shadow of doubt and concern accompanied it.

  “You must,” said the first man, and Tavian noticed something odd: though this man had never partaken of the Blood, the same profound craving was present in his voice.

  “It’s not my place,” said Tavian. “Ask Zhang Jiwen if you must. He was there too.”

  “The Leadership Committee won’t take us,” said Wendao. “You could.”

  “No,’ said Tavian, “That’s my final answer. I’m sorry.”

  With that he resumed walking, suddenly having a great desire to check on Mu.

  I’m sure she’s fine, said Tavian.

  But he lied to himself.

  He was in fact a good deal less than sure.

  He hurried back to the dormitory. When he reached it, he found Mu sitting up on the side of Nova’s bed. Nova was sitting cross-legged on the bed. They were chatting amicably. Mu, whose standard demeanour always tended towards being somewhat cold, looked to be in an oddly good mood.

  They both looked up as Tavian entered.

  “Evening,” said Tavian.

  “Hey,” said Nova.

  “Good evening,” said Mu. “Did you talk to Toghrul?”

  “I did,” replied Tavian. “He’s not the sunniest of individuals. He didn’t exactly seem like he was overly keen on escaping.”

  “Really?” said Nova. “Why?”

  “He seems to think if he can’t return to Yarkan, there’s nothing for him out there.”

  “I get it,” said Mu, “His whole life’s work was the cause of the Jaril. And that’s where his daughter is. It must be hard for him.”

  “Yeah, I think that’s pretty much it,” said Tavian. “So, what are you ladies chatting about?”

  Nova and Mu looked at each other, a silent exchange occurring between them. Then Nova spoke up.

  “We, um… well, Mu was telling me about… the Blood,” she said.

  Tavian experienced a sinking feeling.

  “The Blood?”

  “Yes,” said Mu, nodding. “You… it’s amazing, Tavian. You should try it. I think I want to go and see the source.”

  “I think I want to try it too,” said Nova. “The Blood, I mean. I… at first, I thought it sounded gross. Drinking some random alien’s blood… but now… the way Mu describes it… the way she says she’s been feeling... I think I want to try it too. I want to feel like that.”

  Tavian’s sinking feeling sunk further.