JULIEN
II
Chapter 57
Work and play
Julien was badly shaken by Xarax's sinister discovery, and he found it even harder to deal with because there was nobody he could talk to about it: he thought it would be positively dangerous to raise the subject with any of his advisers. But even so, questions were clearly in the air, even though so far they remained unspoken. The return of the haptir had not passed unnoticed, and while it had certainly made Dillik very happy, it had also raised questions in the minds of Subadar, Tannder and the rest of the Emperor's circle of advisers.
Ambar, however, seemed happy not to refer to the haptir's absence at all. He had long ago decided that anything Julien chose not to tell him probably wasn't worth worrying about, and while he might had had his suspicions that this incident was less trivial than some, he stuck to his rule and refrained from bothering his friend by asking about it.
When the Head of the Circle of Health Masters came to him, accompanied by Subadar, to respectfully suggest to His Lordship that perhaps it was time to think about 'producing a series of Sleeping Bodies to replace those that had apparently had their vital processes interrupted' Julien didn't bother asking the elderly biologist how he knew about that 'interruption' – instead he simply gave his consent and graciously allowed them to draw the phial of blood they needed to get the process under way. He didn't actually like the thought of one day being confronted with clones of himself floating in anentropic stasis bubbles, but he didn't think he could really refuse without raising suspicions that would make things more difficult for him.
By now his perception of the R'hinz had changed. Until recently he had managed to retain the illusion that the Emperor was the central element in a largely benevolent organisation, but now that illusion had been shattered. He realised now that it was not just the enemy who saw him as a target: the very people who had invested him with his powers and his mission could just as easily turn against him if they thought it best. And it seemed certain to him that those who had originally devised such an efficient, and merciless, system would not have trusted to luck to ensure its survival over so many millennia. Somewhere out there was someone who knew the whole scheme and who would have taken steps to ensure that nothing could happen to interfere with the smooth running of the mechanism.
He knew that it wouldn't be easy to discover who that person was, but he was determined to explore the Sang Kang with Xarax's help so that he could make use of the resources he was sure he would find there. But in order to be able to do that he had to remain free to move about as he wished, and he also had to be sure that nobody else would find out how he intended using what little amount of free time he still had. The best way to achieve that would be to cooperate enthusiastically with those who thought they knew better than he did what he ought to be doing, while preserving, on the pretext of needing times of rest and entertainment, periods when nobody would be surprised if he wasn't out and about. He had to do it that way because he knew that he was going to need his sleep, and that ruled out a series of nocturnal expeditions to the Sang Kang.
They hadn't been back there since Xarax's return. The haptir wanted to be sure that he had himself under complete control first, whatever the circumstances, because he was sure that if the same thing happened on future visits as had happened on the first one, Julien would be certain to die. Furthermore, although Xarax said it was impossible, Julien thought it quite conceivable that their first visit might have triggered an alarm, thus warning precisely the people he wanted to keep in the dark. The haptir assured him that no such device could operate from a place which didn't exist in the 'real' universe, but by now Julien had become very suspicious.
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Wenn Hyaď was pleasantly surprised by Julien's increasing enthusiasm for everything connected with the Art of the Guides. His student was already very gifted by nature, and he was now trying to master the extremely delicate techniques needed to navigate outside any system of markers. Not only was that practice quite rare – only a few Master Guides were capable of using it – but it was also potentially deadly. It had taken the Guides hundreds of generations before they had developed the techniques that allowed them to start exploring the cosmos, and there had never at any one time been more than a handful of individuals who were able to practise them without much danger. Wenn Hyaď was one such, and Julien was striving to become another.
The key to success, as with just about everything connected to the Art of the Guides, was the ability to achieve a state of perfect mental balance. But now it was also necessary to develop an acuity of perception capable of seeing minute and specific differences within a state of chaos in which ordinary senses were useless and which language was incapable of describing.
Alone, Julien was very good at it, but when Xarax was with him, supporting him with all his strength and lending him stability, the way a large keel offers stability to a sailing boat, they formed a combination whose ability was soon up there with the greatest of the Master Guides. Wenn Hyaď was delighted and said that he was completely satisfied with their progress, but Xarax wanted to go further: he was determined that Julien should be able to accomplish alone, if not quite everything that the two of them could achieve working together, then at least as much as a true Master Guide was able to do.
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Meanwhile Tannder and Dennkar had doggedly pursued their enquiries and had finally run to earth the last surviving member of the team that had tried to abduct Julien in Denntar Park. Through deep probing of the man they discovered that he belonged to an organisation whose aim was to 'free Dvârinn from the intolerable burden of Imperial oppression' and aimed to 're-establish government by the free will of the people.' The four other members of his 'action group' had recently died in suspicious circumstances, which looked (so Dennkar said) suspiciously like an operation to eliminate embarrassing witnesses carried out by whoever was pulling their strings. The only other useful information was that the weapons they had used were undoubtedly projectile weapons supplied by the Dalannis.
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In order to relieve the tension of a life otherwise dominated by work and studying Julien arranged a series of little expeditions aboard the Isabelle. Only the 'boys' were invited, though this did include Karik, who was still considered a member despite his special position with Tannder. Of course the two sailors who owned the vessel were also present, and they were delighted to be able to pass on their know-how to the boys. They were proud that Julien, who was the only one who really appreciated what it takes to sail a boat, frequently praised them for it.
Niil never missed one of these occasions, thanks largely to the enthusiastic support of Lord Tahlil, who felt that there was no better way for a First Lord in a maritime nation to develop his education.
The rule on board the Isabelle was that Gradik and Tenntchouk were considered to be passengers, and their only job was to offer advice. And although they sometimes succumbed to the desire to help out when the sea became particularly rough, for the most part they were happy just to keep an eye on things and to ensure that no accidents took place. They were also happy to accept Xarax's offer to help them to learn deep-ocean navigation, helped by Ambar's mathematical abilities. Ambar was delighted to help: despite having been elevated to the rank of Noble Brother and being recognised as some sort of mathematical Wunderkind, he remained the same kind, gentle boy from the quays of Aleth who recognised the two sailors as being of his own people.
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