Part 30 (1/2)

Henson clapped his hands across his ears.

'It's protocol protocol,' he snapped.

'Whether you like it or not, it's the way an Empress is addressed.'

'NEWS?'

'Oh, very well.' Farlander sighed. 'Where do you want to start?'

'MEMORY PROBLEMS.'

'Well . . . ' Farlander hesitated. The Empress was direct, brutal even when it came to plain facts, but Farlander was uneasy about discussing her frailties.

Even in the Imperial Court, rumours spread fast.

Even in the Imperial Court? Especially Especially in the Imperial Court. in the Imperial Court.

'The technicians believe that someone else has gained access to centcomp,'

he said finally, taking a deep breath. 'To you. They believe that this person has the ability to alter your memories. They think that '

'FIND THEM,' the Empress said. 'KILL THEM.'

'Find them?' Farlander raised his eyes to the inhuman form that hung above him. 'How, if we can't trust centcomp?'

'ISOLATE MEMORIES. COMPARE WITH MONTHLY BACKUPS FOR PAST TEN YEARS. LOOK FOR ALTERATIONS. PUT RIGHT.'

When the Divine Empress had to speak at that length to the man who was supposed to be able to take one word of hers and translate it into complex actions, Farlander knew that she wasn't happy.

'Yes, your most Supreme and Puiss'

'NEXT.'

'Your Surgeon Imperialis seems to have discovered that the violence and the riots sweeping the Empire are connected to body-bepple. Apparently every violent event can be traced back to a person who has undergone the process.'

'STATISTICALLY INSIGNIFICANT,' the Empress scoffed.

'A message has been pa.s.sed on by the Imperial Landsknechte. One of their provost-majors has intelligence that seems to back up the theory. He claims to have discovered a connection between the violence, body-bepple and some obscure form of radiation.'

'REWARD. CROSS-REFER TO SURGEON IMPERIALIS. NEXT.'

187.'The Hith delegation are down in an anteroom. They've been waiting for three days to see you.'

'KEEP ALIENS WAITING. NEXT.'

Farlander felt sweat beading his forehead. There were five hundred points on the agenda. He might be there for some time.

The s.h.i.+p wasn't in any condition to fly; Cwej could see that from the other end of the catwalk. The distorting effects of hypers.p.a.ce, and the lack of any referents to aid perspective, meant that the s.h.i.+p alternated between being a huge shape millions of miles away and a small object hanging just in front of him. Despite the tricks his eyes were playing on him he could see that large areas of its almost organic hull plating had been removed to reveal its skeletal frame, leaving it like a gutted fish. Small bots were crawling over it, dismantling the plates with bright plasma lances. The area at the front the c.o.c.kpit, judging by the bulbous transparent canopy was almost complete, as was the engine compartment at the rear. The s.h.i.+p's middle the cargo area and weapon emplacements had been stripped away, leaving only the central backbone like main spar. The catwalk led to an open hatch in the c.o.c.kpit area.

'I hope those bots aren't watching out for intruders,' Forrester muttered.

Cwej nodded absently. He'd seen something like it before, he was sure of it. The smooth, spavined surfaces were terribly familiar. Was it a Dravidian design? Shlangiian? Antonine?

'Of course!' He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand as the memory came to him. Forrester whirled around, gun at the ready, then cast him a dirty look as she gradually relaxed. 'It's a Hith s.h.i.+p!'

Beside him, Powerless Friendless bobbed his eyestalks in agreement. 'The Skel'Ske Skel'Ske,' he said, awed.

' Skel'Ske Skel'Ske?' Cwej tried out the unfamiliar syllables.

'Skel'Ske is the sound made by the wings of JakkatKajjat, the twin-headed G.o.ddess of Justified Retribution, as she pa.s.ses overhead at dawn, tearing the souls of her enemies from their bodies.'

'What's wrong with Rosebud Rosebud?' Bernice muttered.

'I used to have a model of a Hith battles.h.i.+p,' Cwej said. 'I made it myself.

Big thing, it was, with these spike things jutting out of the front.' He waved his arms around, trying to convey to Powerless Friendless some impression of the size and sheer spikiness of the s.h.i.+p as if the Hith didn't already know. 'Big, big big hyperdrive motors in a ring around its middle. I had it hanging above my bed for years. The cleaning bots used to hate dusting it.' hyperdrive motors in a ring around its middle. I had it hanging above my bed for years. The cleaning bots used to hate dusting it.'

Powerless Friendless just nodded sadly.

188.'The Gex Gex,' he sighed. 'Flags.h.i.+p of the Hith Cosmic Fleet. Destroyed by the Imperial Landsknecht Fleet while defending Hithis during the Great Patriotic War. Fifteen thousand Hith dead. Less than twenty survivors.'

Cwej could almost feel the weight of the model in his hands. It had taken him almost a week to paint the concentric yellow and red Hith battle colours on the complex curves of the hull. He'd been so proud of that s.h.i.+p. 'And what about the little things,' he said excitedly, 'the ones that looked like needles with hyperdrive engines? I always loved those ones.'

'The flickers.h.i.+ps?' Powerless Friendless said. 'Our frontline fighters? I trained on one of those.'

'They were brilliant! They looked like they could run rings around anything.'

'That's what we thought,' Powerless Friendless said bitterly, and slid off along the catwalk towards the s.h.i.+p.

Cwej watched him go, wondering what he had said to depress the Hith.

'Ever considered a career in the diplomatic service?' Forrester asked as she walked past Cwej, clapping him on the shoulder.

Cwej felt a flicker of anger, and bit down on it before he said something he might regret. Shaking his head, he followed Forrester along the catwalk. He didn't usually get annoyed at her banter. He must have been more tired than he had thought, despite his subjectively long rest in the time tank.

Bernice's long stride brought her up to his side as he walked. She was looking around at their surroundings. Cwej, after his initial wide-eyed reaction to hypers.p.a.ce, had been trying to ignore it. There was something about it that reminded him of a large blind spot; he felt that if he looked at it for too long, he would want to throw himself off the catwalk.

He looked backwards, but that was worse. The entrance doorway hung unsupported in hypers.p.a.ce at the end of the catwalk. What would happen if it closed? Would it vanish? Leave them stranded?

He shuddered, and gazed resolutely back at the approaching s.h.i.+p, trying not to wonder how he was managing to breathe in hypers.p.a.ce.

'I wonder how they keep this tunnel from drifting off,' Bernice said. 'I mean, anchoring something to one spot in hypers.p.a.ce must be quite an engineering feat. There are tides, whirlpools and all sorts of things. Presumably the air just hangs around here on the basis that it hasn't got anywhere else to go.'

'Haven't got a clue,' he said, gulping.

'I prefer you without the fur and the pointy ears, by the way.'

He smiled at her. 'Thanks,' he said, touched. He could feel a blush spreading up from his neck, and walked faster, hoping that Bernice would mistake it for signs of his exertion. Joining Forrester and Powerless Friendless by the 189k.n.o.bbly hull of the s.h.i.+p, he gazed up in wonder at the brightly coloured spikes and spines and the smooth curves of its hull.