JULIEN

II

Chapter 23

Even the mighty...

“Which bloody moron came up with the idea of keeping the prisoner in the Bubble?!? Go on – tell me who's going to spend the rest of his life acting as training material for the interrogators!”

The First Conqueror's wrath filled the Decision Hall like an almost tangible cloud of terror, and when none of the dozen Section Directors sitting in front of him dared to speak he ramped up his fury another notch.

“I demand to know who is responsible for the destruction of the jump generator!” he shouted. “And I want to know right now! I want whoever had the brilliant idea of attracting the enemy straight to our most vital weapon to have a very long time to regret his total incompetence. Vendikray, talk to me, or I'll start off by demonstrating on you what happens to those who fail to obey!”

A squat man with jet-black hair straightened his back and took a deep breath.

“Coordinator Rentlaw,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady, “thought that it would be impossible for a Guide to follow any trace to the prisoner Tannder. Those creatures aren't supposed to be able to...”

“Those creatures weren't supposed to be able to follow the traces our non-spacial jumps are apparently leaving all over the universe, either! Who said that? Our resident genius Rentlaw, that's who! Not that any of our equally brilliant scientists offered any argument to him, and nor did our allegedly infallible thinking machines! All right – put me in contact with him!”

Director First Rank Vendikray put a hand up to adjust his earpiece and then swallowed.

“I'm afraid that won't be possible, First Conqueror,” he said, quietly.

“I don't care where he's hiding – I want him found immediately! If he thinks he can escape the punishment his stupidity has earned him he's sadly mistaken!”

“You don't understand,” said Vendikray. “Dalault's Eye has disappeared.”

“What?! The whole station has been destroyed?”

“No, First Conqueror, not the station – Dalault's Eye itself.”

“The whole moon? That's impossible!”

“A shuttle which was on the way there was about a day and a half out and the crew actually saw it implode. And our scanners can't even find any debris.”

He paused for a moment to listen to what was being said in his earpiece, and the silence while he did so was absolute, and somehow even more impressive than the First Conqueror's explosion of rage.

“Ghentrix IV Station confirms that the Eye has disappeared,” he said, “and they've also noticed a slight alteration in the orbit and rotation of Dalault itself.”

“Science Director Arkenks, can you cast any light on this?” asked the First Conqueror, in a voice which had fallen to a bare whisper.

The Director, a middle-aged woman whose demeanour was even more military than that of her colleagues, thought for a moment.

“My first guess would be that the damage to the non-field generator and the overload caused by the explosion of the energy collectors might have shifted the entire moon into non-space,” she said. “Obviously we need more information to be sure.”

“When can we have a functioning jump generator again?”

“I don't know, First Conqueror. As you know, the device requires colossal amounts of energy. Unless we're going to use the energy of our home planet we first need to identify a suitable planet or moon. There are no others in our system, and the nearest system that might have one, the Mendek System, is several dozen years away by sub-light flight. Besides, the coordinates of the Nine Worlds are changing all the time. It's a miracle we found them the first time. And as we won't be able to keep the data up to date they'll have passed out of our knowledge in a little under two days from now.”

“Do you mean to tell me that we're about to lose all contact with those worlds that it took us hundreds of years to find?”

“If I might correct you, First Conqueror: we never really 'found' the Nine Worlds. We contacted them... well, we contacted Nüngen and were able to transport ourselves there through non-space. But we have absolutely no idea of where they are in real space. They're probably hundreds, or even thousands of light years away – far beyond anything we could consider in terms of conventional space travel. Even our Transit Fleet would have no hope of finding them. So the bottom line is, unless we learn to develop the talent of their Guides, the Nine Worlds are completely lost to us.

“Of course, there's a consequence to this that you might not have realised yet, and I'm sure you won't like it when you do: this means that at the moment we have no more targets and nowhere to conquer, and I'm sure the members of this Council will therefore agree that your rank and authority end here.”

The First Conqueror drew in a deep breath in order to put this arrogant female firmly back in her place. But a glance at the other faces around the table, which were uniformly hostile, persuaded him that it would be a lot better not to do so. He realised that he'd be lucky to emerge from this fiasco alive, and it would clearly be wise not to push the Council members into hating him more than they already did.

oo0oo

Chapter 24

Sunny break

It looked as if it was going to be a bright, sunny day: light flooded the little private kang where Julien was taking breakfast with Ambar, Niil and Dillik. It was one of the very few places in the base that wasn't built to a functional, military design, and the boys were enjoying it all the more because they had no idea where they might find themselves the following day.

“Does anyone know how Tannder's getting on?” asked Dillik.

“Karik stayed with him all night,” Julien told him. “The Health Masters reckon he'll recover, but they say he'll need a lot of rest.”

“I gather that Karik excelled himself again,” said Niil.

“Yes,” said Julien. “I have to admit that he's scarily efficient. Tannder can certainly be proud of him.”

Dennkar and Subadar entered the kang – and, unusually, they didn't bother knocking first.

“Sorry to interrupt your breakfast,” said Dennkar, “but we've got something to tell you – and for once it's good news!”

“We're always happy to see you, regardless of time or circumstances,” Julien assured him. “Although if your news is good we're doubly happy to see you.”

“Well, you know how much of a perfectionist Aïn is? So he decided to go and see the result of your mission, and of course Wenn Hyaï went with him. I wasn't too keen on them going, to be honest, but nobody has yet invented a way to prevent a Guide doing what he wants and going wherever he wants to go. So they went and came back immediately – in fact I wasn't even aware that they'd left the room. But apparently they'd spent quite a while in the Outside, and according to them the gas giant is still there but the satellite the enemy base was on has completely disappeared: all that is left is a massive vortex in the Outside. They're almost certain that you caused a major catastrophe when you attacked their machines. They believe the damage will end with the satellite, but they think it possible that the gas giant might itself become unstable. We can only hope that the enemy doesn't have a second base that can be used against us. Aïn and Wenn Hyaï are planning to reconnoitre the whole system to try to find out.”

“I suppose there's no point in telling them to be careful,” said Julien.

“You're right,” said Subadar. “I did try, but they weren't interested. They are determined to give the enemy no time to recover, and I have to admit that seems to be sensible. And I've got more good news, too: Tannder has recovered consciousness. He refuses to be sedated – instead he's insisting that the Order's analyst come and probe his mind straight away. Karik probably had to bite his tongue to stop himself from objecting, but I suppose he's happy enough to be allowed to stay at his master's side.”

“We'll go and visit him as soon as the Health Masters say we can,” said Julien. “Do they know yet if there are going to be any long-term effects?”

“It's too soon to be sure, but so far the Health Masters haven't found anything that can't be fixed by time and care.”

“Dennkar... do you think this means that we've actually won?”

“I think we've done some considerable damage. We'll probably find out more once the Guides have finished their reconnaissance, but I don't think we really have enough information yet. In any case I certainly don't think we should let our guard down.”

“That sounds sensible. Look, if it's all right with you I'd like to visit Tenntchouk and then I think we could do with spending a little while at Rüpel Gyamtso. It's a nice house – not to mention a nice beach – and it'll give us a chance to relax a bit while we decide what to do next. I'm fed up with hiding in holes like this.”

“Well, until we're sure we've dealt with all the possible dangers I think we should stick to the current plan: you can spend the day wherever you like, but I want us all return to the base on Tandil at night.”

Julien sighed, but he knew that Dennkar was talking sense. He turned to his other companions.

“Are you coming with me?” he asked.

“I'd like to,” said Niil, “but there's a pile of work waiting for me on Dvârinn. I'm not on holiday, and I'm an important person there...”

oo0oo

Once Tenntchouk had been pulled out of his artificially-induced coma a comfortable little kang had been found for the two sailors. Gradik was still watching over his friend like a mother hen with an injured chick, always on the lookout for any sign of tiredness or discomfort, but in fact Tenntchouk seemed to be in relatively good shape despite the bandage which still covered his chest and stomach. There was a gash across his face, from his forehead down one cheek, and although it looked well on the way to complete healing it was still a wonder that he hadn't lost an eye during his brief fight with the ghorr. But he didn't seem worried about his wounds, and in fact when Julien arrived his face was full of joy.

“Laddie!” he cried. “Ye caan't know how happy Oi am as ye're here. Gradik says as how ye've caame by every day, even though ye maast have other troubles a-plenty. And the visits cheered him greatly. Oi've aalways said as how we can rely on you.”

“And I'm really pleased to be able thank you properly for saving my skin. Without you I'd never have had time to react.”

“'Tisn't worth taalking about.”

“Well, all right, then. I also came by to let you know that my parents would be only too happy to have you stay with them while Tenntchouk is convalescing. I'd take them up on their offer if I were you: my father loves boats – he'll really enjoy listening to the story of your travels. And my mother will be delighted to have some guests to spoil. I expect she'll also tell you things about me that I'd prefer not to hear...”

“'Tis very koind o' them, laddie,” said Gradik, “but really we caan't. We need to look aafter the boat. A boat, see, if'n ye don't look aafter her, she'll waste away, loike. So 'twould be better if'n we go baack to Kardenaang, as soon as Tenntchouk can waalk again.”

“If you're worrying about being able to get back to the boat on a regular basis I can tell you that there's a Guide permanently stationed with my parents. I'm sure she'll be delighted to take you to Kardenang whenever you want. In any case, any time you need the services of a Guide you can always ask for one on my account. When I said that we were family I wasn't messing about, you know. Anyway, have a think about it and tell me tomorrow what you want to do. In the meantime I'm going to tell you a story: it's called 'The amazing feat of Karik and the two Master Guides'. Perhaps you can turn it into a ballad...”

oo0oo

However, instead of having fun with the lou tchenns in the lake of Rüpel Gyamtso as he had hoped, Julien found himself in an underground room of the Der Mang base, listening to Dennkar's most up-to-date report.

“Aïn and Wenn Hyaï have found what seems to be the enemy homeworld,” he said. “As we'd expected, it's highly industrialised and very densely populated – too much so, in fact: conditions there seem far from ideal. It's too soon to be absolutely sure, but the Guides found no trace of the sort of energy emitted by machines capable of travelling through the Outside. It appears that the energy requirements of that type of machine were so vast that they had to find a separate world to house it on – in this case the now vanished moon of the gas giant you saw. These people do, however, possess the technology for interplanetary flight. Of course here in the Nine Worlds that technology was abandoned centuries ago, for the obvious reason that – unlike jumping through the Outside – it was useless for linking planets capable of supporting life – at least, life as we understand it. It wasn't even much use for exploring the universe – it has far too many limitations. And so we can probably assume that there is no further danger from that world, at least not in the short term. The Guides left a target-klirk behind so that we can keep an eye on them and check on what they're doing. Of course, we probably need to think about any of their agents who will have been cut off by the loss of their machine and stranded among us.”

“In that case,” said Julien, “do you think we can close up the prohibited weapons depot again? I really don't like it being accessible.”

“Well, we opened it purely to deal with the threat which now seems to have disappeared, and so we can certainly close it again if you want. We've kept a careful record of which weapons are in use and in particular which have been issued to the elite units for training and security purposes.”

“Very well. In that case we want them back again – all of them, including the hand-guns. I don't expect Karik or Niil will be very happy about that, but I don't want to make any exceptions. Once you're sure everything has been returned to the depot I'll close it up again and hand it back to the guardian Neh-kyong.”

“Right, My Lord. I'll see to it personally that your orders are carried out.”

“It might also be a good idea,” said Master Subadar, “to continue our policy of keeping the population informed about what is happening. I'd suggest we issue a full and frank communiqué as soon as we can.”

“Good idea,” said Dennkar. “It could include a message to the enemy's spies, telling them that as they have no way of returning to their base they should contact the Mirror of whichever world they're trapped on. We could offer them full amnesty and immunity from prosecution in return for their cooperation in helping us to learn about their civilisation.”

“Indeed,” said Subadar. “It would certainly be interesting, especially if they still have any way of communicating with their home world. However, I do feel that I should say this again, Julien: we don't have all the facts. There is still a threat, and we still don't know all that much about it.”

“I hope you're not suggesting that I spend the rest of my life in hiding!”

“Certainly not. But I do think it's vital that we continue with the program that will help you to recover the knowledge and aptitudes necessary to carry out the duties of the Emperor. We also need to do something about the Sleeping Bodies situation. Maybe we should think about getting the Palace back into use.”

“That sounds suspiciously to me as if you don't think I should take any more holidays,” said Julien.

“Well, let's just say that I'd hate you to get bored. That can so easily happen if you're living a life of leisure, you know.”

“It's really kind of you to think about my welfare like that. Now can I go and visit Tannder?”

“I'm sure the Health Masters won't object to that.”

oo0oo

Although he'd prepared himself a bit, Julien still got a shock when he saw Tannder: he looked about ten years older and his short hair had turned grey. It was deeply unsettling to realise how close this unshakable Warrior had come to death. Karik was sitting beside the bed, but he stood up when Julien entered the room. He was trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but the anguish in his face spoke far more clearly than any number of health bulletins. However, Tannder wasn't asleep, and when he opened his eyes his old determination was still visible in them.

“My Lord...” he began.

“Don't waste your energy,” Julien told him. “Just get well as fast as you can. I need you.”

“I made a mistake.”

“Maybe, but if you hadn't we would never have found the enemy. And training Karik the way you did really helped, too: he was thoroughly worthy of you, and it's largely down to him that we actually won. Xarax says Karik is as brave as a haptir, and he's proud to consider him his friend.”

“You put yourself at risk,” said Tannder. “You shouldn't have done that.”

“I wasn't in any danger. The only thing I did was to bring you home. Karik and the Guides did the real work. Now I just want you to rest. I'm sure Karik will be happy to keep you company. He's officially in charge of your safety and well-being, and I'm afraid that if you're not happy about that you'll just have to deal with it.”

Tannder gave a weak smile. “I suppose my failings do deserve some punishment!” he said.

“Indeed. Once the Health Masters say you can leave this place I'd suggest you go and spend some time at the Rüpel Gyamtso house while you recuperate. Obviously that will mean that I have to come and visit you there quite frequently, which will be a bit of a nuisance, but I'm sure I can put up with a little inconvenience in the cause of your health and our friendship!”

oo0oo