The navigator, p.50
The Navigator, page 50
Petal spent a few moments watching the Aii clouds brood and swirl through the square. Occasionally, they percolated, settling down on the spacious promenades and sinuous tram tracks before flowing across them in wavy ripples like sand dunes. The Aii's patterned, almost deliberative movements made her wonder if they could think. They seemed to be able to coordinate their eddies and flows, choosing which structures to avoid and on which surfaces to stick and settle.
"If I might ask." BLUE-HUE's voice intruded on Petal's thoughts. Its hologram shone down from the skywalk ceiling, next to her. "Where have you survived for the past 3,821 days? I assume you've been living somewhere on the surface."
"Yeah. Cynax said my father left me on the surface by one of the mines when the Aii got loose. A human found me and adopted me as his daughter. I ran away from him and have been living as - like a wanderer ever since. I'd been sailing from island to island until I found Cynax."
"Fascinating. My sensors can only scan the five-mile radius that stretches around Amanahora's dome. Although I've had opportunities to observe various sea life and other aquatic phenomena, I've never been able to observe anything on this planet's surface. Such a pity. Surface life seems more evolved and infinitely more dynamic and complex, more mentally stimulating than anything I've found to study on the seabed."
Petal watched BLUE-HUE's hologram shimmer.
"You're trapped down here too then? You've never gotten to see the sun or the surface?"
"'Yes, but 'trapped' has such a negative connotation. I never intended nor expected to 'leave' this city. I am this city. Its isolated, sunless location doesn't bother me. However, while its residents were alive, they kept me engaged and stimulated. During their absence, I've had very little to do with myself but scan my surroundings and prevent Amanahora from collapsing. It's been dull. Uninteresting."
"You're bored?"
"Bored? Yes. That is somewhat accurate. I was constructed to care for Amanahora's residents. Without them I feel aimless."
"You're lonely."
For a moment, Petal felt sad for BLUE-HUE. She swallowed the feeling, and walked across the rest of the skywalk, over to another indistinctive stairwell that lay in the adjacent building. At the bottom of that stairwell was a large door that led out into Atawhunta Square - the heart of Amanahora.
Just as BLUE-HUE had said, to the right of the door that led out into the square was a small panel marked Hadilaka - Emergency. The panel was already open, an eerie reminder of Amanahora's doomed crew. Several straps and a broken pair of eye goggles dangled out from it.
Petal gently removed what was left of the panel's contents that was still of use: a pair of what looked like welding goggles, a gray skull cap, and a black bag connected to a rubber mouth piece.
"This is the re-breather?" She studied the contraption, turning it end-over-end. "I just put this in my mouth and breathe normally?"
"No." BLUE-HUE was now a disembodied voice. "That is a re-breathing device. Take the deepest breath you can before you open the door and then exhale into the bag as you proceed. The bag will scrub the CO2 from your exhaled breath, allowing you to re-breathe it. The goggles and skull cap will prevent Aii from getting on your hair or into your ears, which will make disinfection easier."
Petal slipped on the eye goggles and the skull cap, which clung to her forehead so tightly it felt like it was cutting off circulation. Before she inserted the mouth piece, she paused to think.
It doesn't even matter if I get infected. . .I'm going to die down here anyway - when Cynax destroys this place. . .
If he destroys this place. . .
My parents died down here too. . .
If you die in Amanahora, do you still go to heaven? Who judges your soul? Not the Khoi. . .obviously. . .
Is there even a heaven?
Quill doesn't think so. . .
Petal filled her lungs and bit down on the re-breather. She then shoved the door open and began to run, barefoot, toward the dark, swirling Aii clouds.
- 77-
Quill shoved a fried fish cake into her mouth and wiped her greasy lips with her sleeve. She chewed on the wad of minced crab and scrod with her mouth open. Sejanus grinned at her as she continued to half chew her food and then wash it back with a glass of pureed mango nectar.
Quill and Sejanus were sitting across from one another at a small beech wood table, high up in Smaaland's treetops. A row of wooden planks spiraled around the tree trunk on which their table sat, allowing Lomax and several other Jan-Jus to bring them each of their courses. Above the two of them were a few spindly branches capped with vibrant palm leaves. To their right, was a perfect view of Smaaland's bay and the sun setting over the breakers.
"You hath not eaten in quite a long time I suppose?"
"No. Khoi food is disgusting." Quill talked with her mouth full. She picked up an oyster and sucked the meat out of it. "It tastes like snot. Or spit. I could barely keep it down."
"I thought ambrosia would have been much more pleasing to the palate."
"Yeah." Quill didn't look up from her shell-strewn plate. "You'd think."
"Still, there's no reason to gorge yourself so. . .gluttonously."
Quill dropped the oyster shell, indignant.
"Well, I'm eating for two."
"You're with child?"
"Uh-huh." Quill snatched up a steaming bowl of cod chowder.
"How unexpected." Sejanus put down his chalice of mead and leaned back in his seat - a back-less stool sticking out from the tree like an upside-down flying buttress. "Please relay to the Court a detailed account of your epic adventures and your pregnancy. The Court is most curious to hear what became of you and Petal after your flight." He motioned to the bay. "As you can see, since your daring escape, Smaaland made it a priority to upgrade its maritime capability."
Quill glanced down at the bay. Next to the black motorboats Petal had sabotaged was a large, cutter-sized ship decorated with skulls and animal bones. At its stern was an enormous, souped-up, outboard motor.
"Petal's sister was kidnapped by the S.S.S. I took her to the Isle of Mann to meet with an S.S.S. defector named Arnold Wyman." Quill slurped up some chowder. "Once we got to the Isle we met with the Great Seer. She told Petal that her sister was in the hidden land. To get there, we stopped over at Syracuse and borrowed King Hanno's yacht. Then we sailed it down to the bottom of the Sea of Storms."
"How dubious," Sejanus sniffed, studying Quill as she ate. Her cheeks were puffed out with food and her hair was a tangled mess. "Tell me, how is the hidden land this time of year?"
"It's a frozen wasteland."
"And what lies there?"
"Almost nothing." Quill put down her bowl and shoved all of the plates aside, so she could put her elbows on the table. "What have I missed here?"
"Well, you have been gone for quite some time. Perhaps you are unaware of the war?"
"The war?"
"The war between the land and the sea. The great conflagration that now burns across all of Ea?"
"What?"
"The leviathan, Kudu, attacked the Isle of Mann and razed Sacred Skrae. Now all of the sea meets on the Raft to unite as one against them."
"What - what do you mean?" Quill took a drink. "The attack on Skrae was months ago. I was almost there for it."
"It takes many weeks to assemble the sea. Think of the vast distances and the dizzying array of tongues. Presently, all are meeting on the Raft in a great Sea People Congress. A delegate from every settlement was invited to attend to formulate a response, which I predict will be open hostilities."
"The sea people are going to declare war on Kudu?"
"Most likely, but the final vote for war or peace will not take place for at least another two days. I know the strength of Kudu's juggernaut firsthand. Even if united - the ocean's forces will be crushed by the leviathan."
Quill closed her eyes. She too was certain the sea people would be destroyed. The P.R.K.'s modern navy and marines were more than a match for their disorganized, turn-of-the-century forces. But the sea people would have to respond to the attack on Mann, or the P.R.K. would know that they could attack other oceanic settlements with impunity.
It's hopeless. They may as well fight with rocks and sticks. Our air force will see them coming from hundreds of miles away. . .
An idea suddenly dawned on her.
"Could you take me there?" Quill broke out of her daze. "To the Raft I mean. Would you take me there? I have to go there. I have an idea."
"Perhaps. The Court was disinclined to send a delegate. Its docket has become backlogged, and it already knows how the war will end. Why do you wish to be in attendance?"
"I have information they could use. I - I have to talk to them. I know something."
"What knowledge do you have that the Congress does not? All of the other delegates are kings, Khans, admirals, and politicians."
"There's going to be a storm," Quill began.
"I beg your indulgence?"
"There's going to be an electromagnetic storm - an EMP - in - in one month." Quill did the mental math. "Do you know what that is?"
"A thunderstorm?"
"A solar storm. A solar flare. A coronal mass ejection." Quill nodded at her own idea. "When it hits Ea, it will wipe out Kudu's defenses - their radar, their electronics, their airplanes, everything."
"How do you know this? Where have you been? No more exaggerations; prattling tales of Khoi and frolics down to the bottom of the sea. Tell me the factual version."
"I really did go to Terra Australis Incognita. There was nothing there but an - an old supercomputer."
"A computer?"
"The computer was built hundreds of years ago to track the weather before the Flood. It still works. It warned me about the solar flare. I can help you. I can help the sea people."
"An antediluvian computer spoke to you?" Sejanus scratched his tattoo teeth.
"Yeah." Quill brushed off the insinuation. "Listen - I have to warn the sea people to attack Kudu in exactly thirty days. If the sea people attack then, they might win. If they attack before then, or just a few days later, you and I both know they'll be slaughtered."
Sejanus chuckled. He motioned for Lomax to come up from below to clear the table. He said nothing as the notary ascended the spiraling planks and began to remove the dirty dishes in front of them.
"You don't believe me?"
"Your account strains credulity."
"Even if you think I'm lying, can you get me to the Raft before the Congress ends? I have to tell them what I know."
"And what does the Court have to gain from this?" Sejanus shrugged. "An express trip to the Raft requires manpower and fuel, neither of which is inexpensive."
"I . . ." Quill racked her brain. "You know I don't have anything on me. . . but all the people here think I'm a goddess. I could. . .well, what do you want? Tell me a way and I'll repay you."
Sejanus glanced down at Quill's belly.
"Who's the father of your child?"
"What?" Quill balked. "Why does that-? He's - he doesn't matter."
"I always wanted a son. Someone to carry on my blood line."
"I'm not giving you my baby." Quill leaned back, horrified. "I'm not even having it for months."
"Did I ask for your baby? How uncouth. I was merely curious how you were impregnated. I'm rather fond of children but can't have one of my own. My seed is sterile."
"Sorry." Quill looked down between the table slats, at the branches below. "Its father is a pirate named Naris. He tried to murder me by throwing me off his ship. That's how I first washed up here - as flotsam."
Sejanus laughed.
"What's funny about that?"
"Ever since I met you, Ms. Quill, I've been trying to decide if you are the most skillful dissembler I have ever known or just exceedingly unlucky."
"Just unlucky."
"Do you know that out of the hundreds of poor souls who have washed up on Smaaland's shores, you are the only one who ever had the temerity to defy the Court and tear up your contract?"
"I'm sorry, but listen. Your people think I'm a goddess. I could tell them to-"
"Why are you sorry?" Sejanus interrupted. "That's what makes you so fascinating."
Quill glared at Sejanus. He was staring at her as he had been for their whole meal, but now she realized that he was staring at her.
She could sense his longing.
"Will you take me to the Raft?" She tried to say the words in a more feminine tone. She leaned forward and pushed her chest out, pressing her breasts together. "Please? For me? We can go to the Raft together."
"Don't do that," Sejanus scoffed. "Your seductive strength is subtlety. I enjoy it when it's naive and inadvertent. Not when you come off as a harlot."
"Fine." Quill hiked up her shirt, hiding her cleavage. "But will you take me?"
"Lomax?" Sejanus looked down the tree.
"Your Honor?" The Grand Notary called up to him.
"Notify all litigants that their trials will have to be continued. The Court will be taking an extended recess."
- 78-
Petal ran through Atawhunta Square, panting into her re-breather. The air inside the rubber bag tasted like plastic, and only half filled her lungs. She struggled to hold her breath while trying to run even faster. Her naked feet slammed against the brick promenade with dull thuds. Each meaty footstep echoed throughout the dead, decaying city, attracting more Aii to her vicinity.
The Aii around Petal were like a cloud of smoke. Petal could see the shadowy outlines of the surrounding skyscrapers through the swirling cloud, but just barely. She thought she could feel the Aii burrowing into her skin as she dashed through the fog. By the time she reached the center of the square she imagined she could hear them whispering.
Join us little one. We are death. We are peace. For all eternity. . .
Petal ignored her delirium and continued to sprint. Her lungs ached. Her feet felt like they were swollen from banging against the crumbling macadam. When she finally reached the golden front doors of tower eleven, she was running so fast, she crashed into them.
"Oh-fmph!"
Petal almost spit out her re-breather. She took a step back, flung the door open, darted inside of the building, and pulled it shut behind her.
"Decontamination will proceed momentarily," BLUE-HUE crowed. He was again a disembodied voice, which seemed to fill the aperture between the entranceway and another set of doors.
Petal waited in place, not knowing what to do next. Within seconds, the aperture was flooded with a warm, whitish fog, and it felt like she had stepped into a hot shower.
"You may now remove your re-breather."
Petal tore out the spit-soaked mouth piece and gasped for air. The decontaminating fog clung to her skin and clothes, leaving behind a whitish, soapy film. She peeled the skull cap off her head and removed her eye goggles in a panic.
"Am I okay? Are they still on me? It feels like things are crawling on me. Am I okay? Am I infected?"
"You're free from Aii infection. Decontamination is complete. Please proceed to the elevators located across the atrium. Your destination is level 15."
When BLUE-HUE finished speaking, the door in front of Petal split in two and opened. Beyond it was a massive atrium.
Petal collected herself and walked inside.
The center of the atrium had a large reflective pool which was now drained and empty. Dead, twisted plants surrounded the pool, and above it was a towering glass ceiling.
Petal glanced up at the ceiling. The twinkling, blue-tinged sky above was the darkest depths of the sea. Its blinking stars were flakes of marine snow, constantly trickling down like in a shaken-up snow globe. Below the soaring glass, at the far end of the atrium, was a single gray elevator. It chimed and opened.
Petal entered the lift and punched in her level number on a small keypad.
When the elevator doors reopened, Petal found herself standing inside of a dimly lit living space. It seemed to take up an entire floor of the tower. A penthouse. The outer walls were windows which looked out over a darkened Atawhunta Square and the jumbled, decaying skyline of Amanahora.
Petal walked further into the apartment. The furniture was vaguely recognizable; a red, triangular lounging chair, a bulbous green couch, a driftwood dining table. All the amenities seemed child-sized, but a perfect fit for her. Her eyes swept across the other rooms, scanning several paintings on the walls, which were actually constantly cycling digital images of the ocean and various sea creatures.
