JULIEN

II

Chapter 15

A clue, maybe ...

They stood above the wide bay and looked at the devastated landscape of Emm Talak. Here on the Tchenn Kang mountains they could see a vast plain below, on which were large bright areas that Julien had first thought were lakes until he had been told that they were actually stretches of ground that had been vitrified by some sort of energy weapon, and huge areas of wasteland where some sort of giant mildew – apparently the only surviving example of local flora – somehow managed to cling to life. Although it was around midday the light was gloomy at best due to the heavy layers of red-brown cloud floating, apparently permanently, two or three thousand metres above the ground. More than twenty millennia had passed since the catastrophe that had caused this desolation, but using powerful binoculars they could still glimpse the ruins of titanic structures, parts of which had somehow withstood the constant showers of acidic radioactive rain. No mammal could have lived out there for more than a few seconds, and the only reason that Julien and his party were still alive was that they were behind a wall of transparent alloy that formed the only opening towards the outside world.

“That looks really scary,” commented Niil, expressing aloud what everyone was thinking.

“Well, at least we're unlikely to get many visitors,” Julien pointed out. “And I suppose that's what you wanted, Tannder.”

“Yes, My Lord. And I don't think anyone would be able to recruit accomplices among the local population, either. Furthermore, there are hundreds of refuges like this one, so even if they find out we're on Emm Talak it would take them a long time to find the one we're using. And there's another reason for coming here, too: these shelters were built to withstand virtually anything. They can't be penetrated by any form of energy, and it seems fairly certain that the enemy's transmitters won't be able to work in here either, if we do happen to have missed one. We can't be completely certain, obviously, but it does seem likely.”

“Are we going to be stuck here for a long time?” asked Dillik anxiously.

“No,” said Tannder. “It'll be our residence, but we certainly don't have to spend all day in here. You could have your lessons on a beach on Nüngen if you want, or anywhere else, come to that. But I must insist that everyone is here at certain times.”

“So who built these shelters?” asked Julien.

“The Epsidanis. They were one of the two peoples who fought in the conflict that finally destroyed their entire world.”

“And where did they go?”

“Nowhere. They all died. So did their enemies, the Tach'endilans.”

“Were they part of the Nine Worlds?”

“No, it happened before the creation of the R'hinz. The Guides had only just discovered them. When the Guides realised what their civilisation was like they refused to transport them to other worlds and limited themselves to simply observing what was happening.”

“Didn't the people here try to force the Guides to help them?”

“If you know how to force a Guide to transport someone I'd be interested to hear about it. In fact the Guides wipe the memories of everyone who comes into contact with them so efficiently that the people forget that the Guides even exist. But we can talk about that later. Right now we need to settle in.”

Oo0oo

None of the original furniture or decoration had survived: like every other aspect of the Epsidanis' culture and technology it had completely disappeared. All that remained was the basic structure and its energy supply, which was similar to that which powered the secret installations at the Emperor's Palace on Nüngen. The shelter appeared to have been used now and again, being progressively refitted according to the need and taste of whoever was occupying it at the time, and indeed Julien's party had also added to it: Aïn had arranged to transport everything they needed. However, it had not been felt necessary to bring the large, comfortable beds which Julien was now used to, and the sight of bunk beds in the first room he looked at had given him a nasty surprise. But then Tannder had showed him the room the boys were going to share, and here there was just a pile of normal-sized mattresses which could be arranged however the room's occupants wanted.

Of course there was no window in the room, but the ceiling gave off a light very close to that of a normal human world – or one that had not been devastated, anyway. Some lamps had also been brought from Nüngen, and these allowed them to reduce the lighting in the evenings to the soft light they were used to. Master Subadar said that it was essential to get the lighting right if everyone was to maintain a good mental and emotional balance during their stay here, especially if it was going to be a long one. It was quite a large chamber with plenty of rooms, and that meant that they had enough space to install any equipment that they might need.

There was one point which initially seemed a little worrying: the absence of a klirk that allowed anyone to enter the shelter. There had been one, established by the Guides after the destruction of the Epsidanis, but Aïn had destroyed it as soon as they arrived: it would be stupid, he said, to allow anyone direct access to their sanctuary. From now on the only way to enter or leave the shelter would be with the help of a Master Guide capable of navigating without klirks. When Tannder pointed out that Aïn was the only one who fitted that description, and that consequently if he had an accident everyone would be permanently stuck inside the shelter and thus the prisoner of a dead planet, Aïn said that he'd thought of that: the Honourable Guide Wakhann, Aïn's star pupil who was currently staying with Julien's parents, also knew how to reach the refuge. The two of them had arranged to meet every day so that Aïn could assure Wakhann that all was well. If Aïn failed to show up for one of these meetings Wakhann had orders to come to the refuge and do whatever he thought best.

However, Aïn was also hoping that Julien would work hard to become capable of the same feat: Aïn was sure he had the ability, he said, and in order to make the initial stage of the training a little easier Aïn had prepared a target-klirk for Julien. Nobody else would be able to use it: it had been prepared exclusively for Julien's use, carried his personal Mark and would be invisible to all other Guides – even Aïn would be unable to use it. But until Julien reached the necessary level Aïn would remain solely responsible for all movements to and from the refuge. Tannder still didn't seem too happy about it, so Julien decided to use his authority.

“If Aïn thinks we have to do it that way,” he said, “that's what we'll do. I trust him – after all, he's the expert, and everyone I've met says that he's the best in the business. So we'll do as he says. And if he thinks I'll be able to do it too before very long I'll trust him on that too, and I'll do whatever it takes to get there.”

oo0oo

So everyone arranged to spend as much time as possible away from the depressing environment on Emm Talak, only returning to the shelter for their communal evening meal and then bed. Dennkar offered advice in his unofficial role but spent most of his official duties as tutor helping Master Sandeark to ensure that Ambar and Dillik had no chance to fall a prey to the dreadful vice of sloth. Niil, true to his first resolution, made sure that he took every available chance to continue with his own interrupted education, and both of the official tutors, and even Master Subadar himself, did their best to encourage his laudable thirst for knowledge.

As for Julien himself, he was the object of Aïn's continuing drive to teach him everything about the Art of the Guides and to make him as good as he could be at it, although his time for that was limited by Subadar's efforts to instil in him the knowledge of those Major Arts which he would need to fulfil his function as Emperor. But Julien made sure that he also spent at least a quarter of an hour every day visiting Tenntchouk, who was slowly recovering from the injuries inflicted on him by the ghorr. Nobody was sure what the long term consequence of that terrible episode might be, but at least it now seemed certain that the venom that had contaminated his wounds wasn't going to prove fatal. Gradik, who remained constantly at his companion's side, was deeply moved by these daily visits, and seemed to find it hard to believe that the Emperor could offer such attention to them. Julien, on the other hand, found it perfectly natural – after all, Tenntchouk wasn't just a friend: he had saved Julien's life.

oo0oo

Julien had insisted that one day in every nine was to be reserved for leisure activities, as was the custom throughout the Nine Worlds. This generally gave them a chance to take a well-earned break in a place chosen for the beauty of its setting and the quality of its climate. Karik, who quite often came to spend the night with them in the shelter, would also sometimes come on these little pleasure trips. Of course, these weren't always completely relaxing, because Tannder was unable to resist the opportunity to teach them all a bit more about open-air martial arts.

Karik had also managed to uncover some information while working in Kardenang. He had discovered that one of the employees of the laundry that dealt with Mistress Nardik's inn had recently died: it seemed that his heart had simply stopped beating while he was sleeping in his kang. His boss was a bit annoyed because he had no idea who needed to be notified: the man had only been working there for three ninths, and nothing in his possessions gave any indication of where he had come from.

That was apparently a dead end, but Karik had also got into the habit of visiting the public bath house and had quickly made friends with the owner, whose name was End'alik. The man was delighted to find this boy among his patrons – a stranger, of course, but polite and friendly, and furthermore not one of the usual collections of pretty boys who made a living selling their charms to passing sailors. End'alik, who had once been moved by Julien just after he had returned from Earth, once again felt his heart melt when confronted by the dark eyes of Mistress Nardik's good-looking assistant, although certain other parts of his anatomy suffered from the opposite effect when Karik's other attributes came into view.

Karik said nothing about the liberties he had, or had not, permitted the bath-master to take with him every time he wrapped him and then dried him gently in a warm towel, but he did say that the man, as well as being the owner of a modest bath-house, was also a passable poet who composed little sonnets for the boy. These could be moving, imploring or comic, depending on his mood, and he would recite them to the boy whenever Karik agreed to share his supper. End'alik was also keeping him informed of whatever gossip was doing the rounds – for, like a barber, he usually found out most of what was happening by listening to his patrons' conversation. So, without even asking any questions, Karik learned of the existence of a couple of strangers who had apparently been most interested in finding out about Mistress Nardik's inn. They hadn't actually asked questions, but that was definitely the impression they left in the bath-master's perceptive mind. As to why they were interested in the inn, well, who could say?

Tannder, of course, was extremely interested in this piece of information, which he heard the day after Karik had learned it himself, and he even went so far as to disregard his usual rule by congratulating his pupil on the clever way he had obtained it.

oo0oo

Chapter 16

Commando

Tannder thought that if the situation had been different he might have wondered about the ethics of abducting two people, with no legal grounds for doing so, simply because they had shown an interest in the activities of a provincial inn. Under the circumstances he decided to spare Julien the moral dilemma by simply going ahead without telling him, even though he knew that this was likely to give rise to criticism of his methods. He didn't tell Karik about it either, reasoning that that way the boy's conscience could remain clear. Instead he recruited a quartet of strong, silent comrades-in-arms to help him achieve this piece of skulduggery – they were among the most effective members of the security team who were supposed to be keeping a watchful eye on Mistress Nardik's establishment – although he did feel it appropriate to wonder aloud to them as to why he was paying a team of ultra-qualified veterans to do so when a barely adolescent kid seemed to be better at gathering intelligence than they were. This served to motivate his team into action, and they duly became shadows, melting away into the night in a way that was as silent, and almost as dangerous, as a hunting haptir.

Karik was himself a perfectionist, and so he had located the supposed spies' location before reporting to Tannder. In fairness that hadn't been very difficult because they weren't trying to hide, but by doing so he had spared Tannder the task, one which could easily have taken a whole day to achieve. The house the men were occupying was one of a small cluster of cottages laid out in rows. These were generally rented out to sailors who wanted to take a longer break between voyages, or to merchants who used them as a base of operations while they prospected the surrounding area and islands.

Obviously they couldn't just try to bash their way in, since that could easily lead to the destruction of compromising equipment or material. Instead Tannder had opted for a method which, while being short on martial glory, was likely to be a lot more effective: he was going to use a fast-acting incapacitating gas, the use of which would normally earn the culprit a one-way ticket to explore the lush forests and interesting fauna of Tandil. You could argue that it was a non-lethal weapon, but it was all the same technically an agent of chemical warfare, and the memory of what those could do had endured through several millennia without any diminution of its power. Tannder had no more right to use such a weapon than anyone else: he had obtained it illegally from the stock kept at one of the bases of his Order, where it was held purely for teaching purposes. In fact he wasn't even completely sure that it would still work, given how old it was, but he knew that those who had created it were perfectionists, and that made it highly likely that the contents of this little container would indeed be strong enough to incapacitate his targets.

Of course, simply possessing the canister was not enough: somehow he had to get it into the house. He didn't think he could just sneak into the garden and chuck it through a window, because he was fairly sure that there would be traps and warning devices outside the house. A particularly gifted Guide could have done it, but Tannder didn't think that Aïn, who was waiting for them at the inn, would agree to do something as illegal as this. So he had to resort to the use of a nag namdro, or blackwing, a sort of black bat about the size of a small flying fox. These had a certain level of intelligence and even a rudimentary language, and that made them excellent allies for those who needed a discreet pair of eyes.

Of course you couldn't just walk into a pet shop to pick up an intelligent creature like this, and that made their use quite rare. Instead you had to raise them yourself, and you could only do that if you were given the young blackwing by its own parents at a very early age. In other words you could only benefit from the services of these useful little allies if you had maintained a long relationship with one or several couples, and the handover of a line of nag namdros was one of the greatest marks of trust and esteem that a Master could give his disciple.

The blackwing Tannder intended to send was a direct offspring of one of the couples given to him by his late master, Habderim of Aleth. The animal had already carried out a reconnaissance and entered the house by means of an opening under the roof, making sure that it could access the rest of the house before returning to Tannder's side. Then he flew off into the night once more, carrying the fateful package in its claws. The weapon was primed: its simple, efficient mechanism involved a small lever which, once pressed, would start a clockwork device that, after a delay of a few seconds, would open a pressurised container containing the gas. This would fill the room and then the rest of the house with a small but effective concentration of an extremely active by-product of the sap of a carnivorous plant from Tandil.

Once the blackwing had reported the successful completion of its mission Tannder waited for some time, long enough for the gas – or that quantity which had not been inhaled by the inhabitants of the house – to lose its toxicity by simple oxidation. Then he and three of his men walked towards the house.

oo0oo