JULIEN

II

Chapter 11

Suspicions

Julien, said Aïn, please forgive me for my reaction back at the inn. I was just scared. Of course you did what you had to, although I'd definitely prefer you to train for a bit longer before you try that again – especially if you're carrying your friends as passengers. You have to remember that if you're a few centimetres out when you construct the jump envelope the consequences can be very nasty indeed. But it's not your fault: I was in a bad mood because I should have been there to deal with the ghorr instead of swimming about in a warm pool.

Don't blame yourself, said Julien. If I succeeded it was entirely down to your training. You are an excellent teacher.

Thank you, but flattery isn't going to get rid of me. From now on I'm staying with you all the time. I'll find another Guide to deal with transporting the staff. Incidentally, the choice of Zenn R'aal was a piece of genius.

That was entirely down to Xarax. He kept completely calm throughout. I wonder if anything could make him panic...

I really wouldn't advise you to try to find out..

No, I'd rather not know. Still, since we're on the subject: why didn't you use the Zenn R'aal trick when we were attacked in Aleth?

There were several more ghorrs close at hand. Since you were able to lend me your power it seemed best just to try to evacuate everyone.

Julien smiled as he remembered their spectacular arrival on top of Bakhtar Tower. But then he looked serious once more.

I wonder how Tenntchouk is doing, he said. He was in really bad shape...

I'll go and ask in a moment. Anyway, I need to go to Aleth to recruit the Guides we're going to need. At the moment our communications are too slow – we need some couriers. Actually I'd like you to come with me.

Julien thought for a moment. He didn't really like the idea of being carried hither and yon on the pretext of his own safety. He'd come to appreciate the freedom given by his ability to travel without anyone's help except Xarax's, and he really didn't want to find himself dependent on Aïn once more. But before he could say anything Tannder walked into the room.

“Julien,” he said, “we need to talk.”

Aïn headed for the door, but Tannder stopped him.

“Stay,” he said. “This concerns you, too.”

He closed the door carefully.

“Obviously our security isn't what it should be,” he said. “Someone is passing information to our enemies – someone close to us.”

“Well, I promise it isn't me!” said Julien.

“It's no laughing matter, My Lord. Hardly anyone knew about your visit to Kardenang.”

“It would only take one spy there to report my arrival.”

“The attack happened less than ten minutes after you got there. Aïn will confirm that you can”t send a ghorr to a specific destination like that at the drop of a hat.”

That's true, Julien, said Aïn. You need plenty of advance preparation to do that sort of thing.

“All right, Tannder,” said Julien. “What are you thinking?”

“Since this started we've tried hard not to plan everything too far in advance. Dillik's visit to his family was only decided on yesterday evening. Only a few people knew about it: you, me, Xarax, Aïn, Dillik, Niil, Ambar and Master Sandeark.”

“And the security team,” added Julien.

No. I didn't tell them. I didn't need to because there's another team, known only to me, stationed permanently in Kardenang – they're there to make sure that nothing suspicious happens either in the inn or on your boat while it's in harbour. Not even Karik knew about it, and in any case he was with me on Zenn R'aal.”

“Well, that doesn't help us very... oh. Sandeark?”

“I'm afraid so.”

Julien jumped up. “But he's with Ambar right now!” he cried.

“Not any more,” said Tannder. “I took the liberty of anticipating your orders a few minutes ago. He's now with two guards and Xarax. Do you want to talk to him before I take him to be probed?”

“I don't suppose it'll do much good, but yes, I think I'd like to look him in the face now that he's been uncovered.”

“We haven't actually told him why he's been arrested yet, but he's sure to have guessed.”

oo0oo

Sandeark was sitting in the small library where he had been confined, and Julien's first thought was that he didn't look as concerned as he should have been. He tried to stand up when Julien entered the room, but one of the guards pushed him back onto the chair.

“Do you know why you're here?” Tannder asked him.

“If you mean 'Do I know why I'm stuck in the library and being guarded like a dangerous criminal by two men and a haptir', I've had a little while to think about it and I've come to the conclusion that you think I was involved in what happened in Kardenang. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose you're going to order that I be probed, and given the nature of the offence I imagine there's a fair chance that my brain won't be quite as intact once you've discovered my innocence as it is now.”

“Or your guilt.”

“Forgive me, but unless those doing the sounding are themselves part of a highly improbable plot they can't declare me guilty. I know that I didn't do what you think I did. And therefore I ought to warn you: I understand that this sort of probe, as well as being highly unpleasant and potentially damaging to the subject, can take some days to complete. Days during which you'll be sure you've already found your traitor. Once again, whatever you might think, I know I'm not the one you 're looking for – and so for those few days you're going to be at the mercy of an adversary whom you think you've already unmasked. I won't say that I'm not afraid of what's awaiting me – in fact I'm terrified. But my first duty is to protect the Guardian of the Nine Worlds, and that's why I urge you to go on looking elsewhere while I'm being interrogated.”

Julien was impressed by the way in which Sandeark managed to say all that with a kind of detached calm. Of course he could have been faking, but if so it was hard to see what he was hoping to achieve.

“Now,” Sandeark continued, “perhaps you could tell me what leads you to believe that I could be part of such an appalling plot. Apart from the fact that I've only been here a short time, of course.”

“Indeed,” said Tannder. “Well, to start with, you did everything in your power to get yourself assigned to this place. You even went so far as to offer to work for no pay.”

“That's true. Selflessness is always highly suspicious, isn't it? I expect that you started to suspect me as soon as you heard about that. But it's hardly enough on its own to accuse me.”

“In order to launch an attack like the one at the inn,” said Tannder, “it was necessary to know exactly when His Imperial Highness would be there. The decision to go to Kardenang was only taken yesterday evening, and only eight people knew about it.”

“If you're including me in those eight people, I'm afraid you're mistaken. I didn't find out about the trip until this morning, when Lord Ambar told me about it. In fact he didn't tell me until Dillik came to say goodbye. You can ask him – we had just started studying Dzal Niyang's Theorem. I'm sure he'll remember.”

“Perhaps you found out about it from someone else.”

“You know I didn't learn about it from you. His Lordship will confirm that he didn't tell me. The Honourable Master Aïn here will tell you the same thing, as will Lord Niil, if you'd take the trouble to ask him. As for the Honourable Xarax, I'm sure his devotion to the keeping of secrets is even stronger than yours. Still, I know that you can't just take my word for it and that I'll have to be probed anyway. I just want to urge you not to stop looking for your traitor while that is happening.”

“It's hard to fault your logic, Master Sandeark. But as you say, my duty requires...”

“Your duty,” interrupted Julien, “requires you to ask my opinion before deciding to release someone who may or may not have betrayed us. Of course, you were going to ask me, weren't you?”

Tannder had to make a visible effort to curb his temper. He wasn't used to people interfering in what he saw as his own specialist field, and nor, as Julien knew perfectly well, did he have any intention of releasing Sandeark. But he managed to bite his tongue and just nod instead.

“Master Sandeark,” said Julien, “I've listened to what you had to say and I have to admit that your arguments are convincing. If it was just a personal matter I would definitely let you go. But the stakes here are far higher: we're talking about the Empire itself. Normally I would tell the Honourable Tannder to take you to Aleth to be probed. However, I don't want to be like those people who use 'State Security' as an excuse to condone the sort of unpleasant acts they consider to be necessary, and so I'm going to make you an offer: there is someone here whom I trust absolutely. I owe him my life many times over and in a way he's the guardian of my honour. If you're prepared to submit yourself to the Honourable Xarax's judgement I will be satisfied with the outcome. However, I should warn you that he might decide to kill you immediately if he has even the least shadow of doubt about you. But I know for a fact that it's extremely difficult to deceive him, and that no argument you may offer will in any way affect his judgement. Or, if you prefer, you can try your luck with the Masters of Major Arts.”

“If you are prepared to trust your life to the Honourable Xarax,” said Sandeark, “why should I be afraid to do the same? Let him be my judge, and if he should kill me I will at least know that he is doing so to protect the Empire, as his honour compels him to do.”

“Excellent. Xarax!”

Xarax jumped onto Sandeark's shoulders and wrapped his tail around his neck. At once the mathematician's expression became blank and his body, which had tensed under the sudden contact of the haptir, relaxed so much that there seemed a danger that he might fall off his chair. A few seconds later the man seemed to wake up and Xarax jumped across onto Julien's shoulders.

The man is loyal, he said. He has taken no action against you – at least, he has no memory of doing so. But I don't think he has been manipulated, even unconsciously. He would give his life for you, as is his duty. I am certain that he played no part in the attack.

Julien approached Sandeark and offered him his hand.

“Stand up, Sandeark,” he said. “I hope that now you can use your excellent logic to help us to find out from whom and how our enemies obtained their information. Tannder, this man is innocent, and I'd be glad if you would accept Xarax's word on the subject. Sandeark, please go and tell your pupil what has happened.”

oo0oo

“My Lord, I must protest.”

“I know, Tannder. And I'm sorry for interfering like that, but you were about to send Sandeark off to be probed. I would never want to tell you off for being suspicious because that's basically your job, but I hope you won't mind if I don't always agree with you. In this case I was almost sure he was telling the truth. I know you're still not convinced, but what he said was true: if we had stopped looking for the traitor because we thought we'd already caught him, even though there was no substantial evidence, we'd have been putting ourselves at the mercy of the real traitor. So tell me: do you think you could lie to Xarax?”

“I don't know, but that's really not the po...”

“All I can say is, I'd really advise you not to try. Personally I wouldn't dare. I'd rather trust his ability to detect a traitor than that of the whole Circle of Major Arts.”

“Even so...”

“Tannder, we're wasting time. If you're going to keep feeling angry about what just happened we're all going to be in trouble before very long. I think you should make use of Sandeark's intelligence. Talk over what happened with him. There has to be some clue we haven't found yet.”

“As you wish, My Lord.”

“Call me Julien. And don't look like that – you might be angry, but you don't need to make that face.”

“I'm not angry – I'm just annoyed because I know you're right. I'll go and talk to Sandeark. See you later... Julien.”

oo0oo

Chapter 12

Prophylaxis

The Health Master didn't look optimistic. Julien hadn't yet seen Tenntchouk but a look at the elderly man's face was all it took to tell him that the news wasn't good.

“Right now, My Lord, it's impossible to say what's going to happen. He's a strong man and in excellent condition, but a number of organs have been damaged. He's also lost a great deal of blood, and that would be dangerous enough on its own. But the real problem is that this wound was inflicted by a ghorr and it had already started to blacken before he got here. I have to say that I am extremely worried. I think I should prepare his friend for the worst.”

“I am his friend,” said Julien.

The doctor seemed to become even more worried.

“Oh,” he said. “Please forgive me – I didn't mean...”

“No harm done. You couldn't have known. I'm sure you and your colleagues have done everything possible, but I really hope he can pull through. And if there's anything I can do...”

“We already have everything we need. The only thing we lack is some sort of magic power that even the Emperor of the Nine Worlds probably hasn't got.”

“Would you like me to talk to his friend? I know him well, too.”

“If Your Lordship thinks he could lessen his grief I'd be glad of it.”

Julien went through to the room where Tenntchouk was being kept in a deep sleep in which he was at least free from pain. Gradik was asleep too, worn out by shock and anguish in an armchair beside the bed. He was wearing a powder-blue laï supplied by the Health staff. While Julien was still hovering by the door, unsure as to whether he should come in or not, Gradik opened his eyes, which were still red from crying.

“Don't get up, Gradik,” said Julien. “I only came by to see if there's any news and to find out if there's anything you need.”

The sailor got up all the same. He looked about ten years older.

“Tis very koind of ye, laddie,” he said. “Baat Oi'm sure as you have more impaartent things to do.”

“Gradik, you and Tenntchouk... you're like part of my family.”

“Ye've seen the Health Maasters, laddie – whaat d'they say? They'll naat lie to you.”

“They don't know yet.”

“He's gonna die, ain't he?”

“It's possible. But they say that there is still a little hope.”

“It's thaanks to you that we ain't been etten. I haaven't said 'Thaank you' yet.”

“No, it's thanks to him. Without him I'd have been dead before I got a chance to do anything. I swear that's the truth. He didn't know whether I could do anything, but he still jumped on the ghorr so that at least I could run away. And I should thank you for stopping Niil from jumping in after him.”

“Oi thaaght for a moment as he was gonna kill me with his funny little whotsit. But aafter ye'd disappeared he caalmed down an' we both tried to help Tenntchouk.”

“Gradik, I know you're really worried, but don't give up hope just yet. I asked them to keep me informed of his condition, and I'll come as soon as he wakes up. Make sure they tell me straight away.”

“An' whaat if'n he dustn't waake up?”

“If he doesn't wake up I shall still come to be with you and to do whatever needs to be done. But we haven't got to that point yet.”

“So... how did they knaaw ye was there?”

“That's what we're trying to find out. Someone must have informed them, but we haven't found out who yet.”

oo0oo

Tannder had suggested moving to another base, but he recognised that until they'd dealt with their breach of security such a move would be little more than going through the motions. So that evening's meeting was once again held with a background noise of the by now familiar Arctic gale.

“Master Sandeark has come up with an interesting theory,” Tannder told them, “and if it turns out that he's right it will simplify our job a bit.”

Julien looked at the mathematician.

“I'm sure Niil and Aïn are as keen to hear your theory as I am,” he said.

“Well, there aren't very many variables in this problem. We have a piece of information: you'll be in Kardenang on a particular date. We know that if this piece of information is going to be of any use to the enemy they need to have it some hours in advance. This therefore excludes any possibility that the information originated in Kardenang from someone who saw you arrive.”

“Isn't it possible that they were permanently on stand-by and ready to set their plan into motion as soon as Julien arrived?” asked Niil.

“Yes, but we're dealing with ghorrs here. And Master Subadar,” said Sandeark with a nod in Subadar's direction, “says that to the best of his knowledge that isn't possible. Those who use ghorrs have to keep them tranquillised and wake them two or three hours before they go into action. That sort of scenario excludes an off-the-cuff action such as you suggest.”

“What's more,” added Subadar, “if they don't actually have a tame Guide they must be using a Neh-kyong or some similar entity, and you can't improvise that.”

“In short,” resumed Sandeark, “the enemy must have known of Julien's movements at least two hours, and probably considerably more, before the attack. Now, since that decision was taken, only two people could possibly have left this house, and since those two persons are Julien and Master Aïn we must obviously discount that possibility.”

Nobody seemed inclined to argue with that, so he went on, “So the actual question can be rephrased like this: how can information have left this house and travelled quickly enough to reach our enemy in time for them to make use of it when the only two Guides who knew the facts have been ruled out?”

“A radio!” blurted Julien. “On Earth we have the means to send messages instantly, and over enormous distances, too.”

“Exactly, My Lord,” said Sandeark with a big smile. “I don't know anything about that sort of technology myself, but when I told Tannder what I was thinking he said that such a thing does indeed exist and that some of the forbidden weapons actually use it for remote steering. With your permission I'd like to move on from the how to the who: now that we know that the means to do such a thing exists, the question is who might have done it. In theory anyone who knew about the planned trip to Kardenang could have done it, but we've already agreed that none of the people who were in the know is likely to have done such a thing.”

Once again nobody contradicted him.

“Therefore,” he continued, “someone here did something he could not have done. At least, not consciously.”

“Someone could have planted a microphone!” suggested Julien.

“Pardon me, My Lord?”

“Well, microphones. They are small devices that hear what you say. Back home spies plant things like that hidden in telephones or power plugs... sorry. Please go on.”

“I don't know about the devices you're talking about, but Tannder and I have examined the possibility that something of that nature could have been planted in the house. It seems unlikely to have happened before we arrived – after all, nobody knew we were coming here until we got here. If we set aside for the moment the possibility of a traitor in the security team we only have a small number of other lines of enquiry.

“Perhaps the enemy chose the inn for their attack because it would be easier for them there than in an official or military location. Also it's not watched quite so carefully and people come and go from it all the time without attracting attention. And if they wanted to mount an attack there they'd only need to keep track of what Dillik is doing. If I was in our adversary's shoes I'd concentrate on Dillik. And that's the point in our discussion where the Honourable Tannder came up with a minor miracle – but I'll let him explain it for himself.”

“I started,” said Tannder, “with the idea that some sort of information collector could be hidden in Dillik's possessions or clothing. Not only is he the obvious target, but it would be comparatively easy to tamper with his possessions – as Sandeark has said, there are always people coming and going from an inn, and I'm sure it's not impossible to sneak into Dillik's own room there without being noticed. So I got one of our teams of scientists who are already looking at the forbidden weapons to examine Dillik's belongings, and they soon found what might be the devices we're looking for. They are tiny grains of some sort of metal sewn into the hem of some of his clothes. Examined under high magnification you can see that they are actually constructed devices, and we're confident that they are in fact the sort of transmitters Julien mentioned. Unfortunately they are not from the Nine Worlds and we haven't yet been able to ascertain how they work.

“We're now working our way through everyone else's possessions, including yours, My Lord, but we haven't found anything yet. It would probably still be best to destroy all your current clothing just to make sure. But it's difficult for us not knowing how they operate. They don't radiate the kind of energy used by our military transmitters. In fact so far we haven't been able to discover if they're radiating anything at all, and indeed we can't even be sure that they are what we think they are. However, we are confident that their location is not traceable by the enemy, or not accurately, anyway. If the enemy could pinpoint exactly where they were they would almost certainly have launched a ghorr at you in your bedroom in the middle of the night.”

The very thought of that sent a shudder through Julien.

“The Masters of the Major Arts are currently trying to find out exactly how they work, or at least what they are actually doing. But at least now we have a clue: someone in Kardenang planted the transmitters, and eventually we'll find out who and how. So we left two of them alone. They're well hidden, so hopefully the enemy won't suspect that we know about them, and we'll be able to use them to send false information. We'll make them believe that we're confident that we've found and destroyed all the transmitters. I can use the ones we've left to send our enemy accurate but harmless information, and then later, when we know a bit more about the enemy, false or subtly altered data.”

“And are you sure there aren't any more of them hidden elsewhere?”

“We're fairly sure, but we won't be completely certain until we catch the person who planted them. But it seems highly unlikely that anyone could come here at this time of year and install anything under the gaze of our security team. But since you ask, I think I'd suggest that we continue to act completely normally while we're in this house, but if we're going to have any more meetings like this one to discuss sensitive topics we should hold them somewhere else. I've located and security-checked a number of possible sites and we can pick one at random just before the meeting.

“There's one more issue: the teachers we've been bringing here to teach the boys are a weak point. I'm sure they're all completely loyal, but there's always a danger that they might let something slip about the place they were taken to. And of course they might also be unwittingly carrying transmitters, too. So we now have a choice: either we keep them here full-time or we dispense with their services. I suspect that not all of them might share Master Sandeark's strong sense of duty...”

“Our dear little boys are going to get a long holiday,” said Julien. “I'm sure they'll be heart-broken...”

“Well, we'd hate it if they got bored to death,” said Tannder. “So I thought that maybe we could find them some teachers from among members of my Order. Some are now too old to be on active duty, but they're still knowledgeable enough to be able to offer excellent training. And if we only pick widowers or bachelors they won't be put off by the likelihood of being stranded away from home for long periods. And of course they'd have no difficulty in observing security rules...”

“I'm not sure about having Ambar and Dillik constantly under the command of a lot of old war-horses,” said Julien.

“The teachers will do what we tell them to, and if we explain that they should only exert authority during actual lessons I don't think there will be a problem. I have a few names in mind...”

“Fair enough,” said Julien. “But you retain overall control of their education, all right? They respect you enough not to do anything to annoy you. Incidentally, I imagine that Karik is also going to be involved. Where is he?”

“He's now stationed in Kardenang, working as an assistant cook at the inn. Mistress Nardik is happy to have him and he'll be my eyes and ears while he's there. It's unlikely that the enemy will try the same trick twice by planting more transmitters in Dillik's clothes, but he'll almost certainly want to keep an eye on the place in the hope of gaining some useful information.”

“Good. Now, unless Niil has any objection to his brother being consigned to the tender mercies of the military, I think we can happily endorse your suggestions and then retire to enjoy what little private life we have left...”

oo0oo