Part 24 (1/2)

I have reasons for not telling you everything now. My hope is still for a limited war, perhaps even a show of force, but there are those around me who have different plans for Shanji on this pa.s.s, and they are people of influence and politics. They are people who only understand power. You must show them that power, Kati, and use it if necessary. You must be prepared to destroy my armies, and even me.

Mandughai! I cannot!

You must do it. There could be no other hope for Shanji. In the time remaining for us together in the place of creation I want you to think on a grander scale when you move energy. You can destroy a planet or a star if you will it.

I don't want to kill, Mandughai. I just want to help my people.

I know. Your powers are tempered by a great compa.s.sion I'm also grateful for. But in war, there is no compa.s.sion when the killing starts. You must be strong. Kati? KATI! There's more we must talk about! DON'T LEAVE ME NOW!

Kati opened her eyes, saw the candles flickering on her shrine and remembered the sorrowful look on Mandughai's face the instant before she'd left her behind in the gong-s.h.i.+-jie. She stood up, looked in her mirror, and again saw the face of the Emerald Empress.

She was crying.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

PARTING.

I had it, but it's gone again, just like before! It's not a case of being able to move ma.s.s. My aura seems to extend as far as I can imagine it! You saw the ma.s.s I dipped from Tengri-Nayon. It looked like a small sun when I brought it to me. The problem is the transition, Mandughai. It's just a flash to me. Something happens in the transition, and the ma.s.s is left behind!

It won't be easier if you're upset, Kati.

But I've failed again. I can't bring ma.s.s to the gong-s.h.i.+-jie!

As long as you try, you haven't failed. I would help you if I could, but you're beyond me. I cannot move ma.s.s or energy like you do, and the transition is also just a flash to me. I think the ma.s.s must be converted to hot light before entering the gong-s.h.i.+-jie, and time is required for that to happen. We must slow the transition, but I don't know how to do it.

I'm sorry, Mandughai. I've tried hard, but I don't think the power is in me.

We can't be sure of that. For now, we'll focus on moving even larger ma.s.ses in real s.p.a.ce. That could be quite useful in accelerating a s.h.i.+p to high velocity, though the travel time would still be long. I'd hoped, of course, we could move such a s.h.i.+p at infinite speed in the gong-s.h.i.+-jie, but now I see a terrible complication. If ma.s.s has to be converted to hot light, then back again to ma.s.s, what horrible things could happen to that ma.s.s, and any humans within it? Each atom must be rea.s.sembled, and put in its proper place. I'm beginning to think the task is not achievable, even by you.

I can bring light in and out of the gong-s.h.i.+-jie. Could that be useful?

Yes, it could. Maybe we should work on that. If you can transfer enough power, s.h.i.+ps can be propelled by light, but the power required is more than that produced by all our worlds, and we'll still be traveling for long times in real s.p.a.ce. But it's something to look at. You have a lifetime to work on these things, Kati.

Not if we wage war, Mandughai. I will fight with my people, for reasons you still haven't given me.

Mandughai looked sorrowfully at her from the face that was Kati's. There is risk to both of us, and we'll try to minimize it. I will tell you one thing, now. My own daughter will lead my soldiers, and there is risk to her as well, Kati. She will take my place one day, if she survives.

You have a daughter? You never told me!

Mandughai smiled. A daughter, and sons; grand-children and great-grandchildren. I'm old, Kati. I will not lead my soldiers, but I'll be there. My hope is that you and I, and my daughter, will be able to meet when it's over. You're surprised again?

Yes. Somehow, when we're here, I still don't think of you as a real person.

As real as you. I'm the thirty-fifth Mandughai of Tengri-Nayon, Kati. My daughter follows me. I want her reign to be as benevolent to the people as mine has been, and I fear it won't be. I do not want the cruelties of the first Mandughai and a few after her to be repeated, but I want all our people together in harmony. She knows my will, Kati, but she's difficult and has influence with my military people.

I've deliberately kept her from you to avoid any conflicts of personalities. She can be harsh and abrasive, and is jealous of the training I've given you. I do not trust her to move freely in the gong-s.h.i.+jie, and have only guided her here a few times. In many ways, she's different from you, and I think it's best that you first meet her on the field of battle. Her powers are less than mine, and she cannot move ma.s.s or energy. Your abilities concern her, Kati, because soon after you're Empress you will be dealing with her, not me. My reign is coming to an end, and the two of you must work together for the good of our people.

First we must fight each other. It seems a poor way to begin. Kati drifted closer to her own image. At least I now see who my true enemy is. It is your daughter.

No! I am Mandughai, and I am Empress here, not my daughter. We disagree only on the agenda for Shanji and the scale of the war, and you must be prepared for the very worst! Tumatsin and Hansui must come together against us if they're to survive my daughter's plans. But I am also involved. I still see no other way to persuade the Tumatsin they must not separate themselves from the rest of the people by believing in myths. A foreign threat by me is the only way. Do not hesitate to threaten them with my coming, Kati. Do not use my daughter to excuse my actions. This is important. I don't think they'll believe you, anyway. Their belief will come when the first ordus burn. They will fight to protect themselves, but it's your task to make them fight for all of Shanji. Lead them, Kati. Lead them as Empress!

I will do my best, but it's like fighting a war with my own mother, Mandughai. I feel badly about this.

So do I. I would feel blessed if you were my own daughter. We must come together as Mandughai, a foreign Empress, and Mengnu, the future Empress of Shanji. If we survive, you will know my true name, and that of my daughter. It's now time for us to be apart. I'll miss you, Kati. This must be our last meeting before I come to Shanji.

Mandughai! You said you'd always be with me!

The time will pa.s.s quickly, but it's necessary for us to distance ourselves from each other before the conflict. We are much too close to each other to do what will be necessary.

But what about our work here, in the place of creation?

It will wait. You're ready to work on your own, and I encourage you to do it, but your focus should now be on Shanji. Get your people ready, Kati. You'll be warned again about my coming - and it will be soon. Goodbye until then, dear. I love you.

The tearful image of Mandughai drifted away from her to the green vortex that was Tengri-Nayon. A flash, and She was gone, and Kati was alone in the gong-s.h.i.+-jie. It wasn't sudden fear that she felt in this familiar place, but a terrible sense of loneliness. In the past, Mandughai had always been watching her, even when it seemed She wasn't there, but now She was truly gone.

Her own vortex seemed to be tugging at her, urging her back to the body sitting before the shrine in her room, but she resisted it. This place had become as much hers as Mandughai's. She traveled for a while, but not far, dipping in and out of real s.p.a.ce to play with a prominence on Tengri-Nayon, a vortex of cooler material on the surface of Tengri-Khan, grasping, then releasing the hot gases with her aura. The third time in transition, she found herself near the great s.h.i.+p in orbit above Shanji, and resisted the temptation to push on it. Perhaps, one day, Huomeng would be on that s.h.i.+p, and she could help to hurry him along to wherever he wanted to go. Another dream, achievable only if she survived a war.

She gazed down at wispy clouds, the blue of the great sea, the mottled colors of land in the light of Tengri-Khan.

A beautiful world. Her world, and her people were there.

Shanji.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

HOMECOMING.

There was no sleep for Kati the night before Mengmoshu came to take her to her people. Her mind would not cease its whirling with fear and apprehension about the trip, and Huomeng's visit, while comforting, had only added to the confusion of her thoughts.

He'd stayed quite late while they talked in her sitting room. He'd pulled up a chair, and they'd sat knee to knee in quiet conversation for nearly two hours when she could have been trying to sleep. They'd talked about the visit, and what she could say to a people she'd been absent from for twelve years. They would surely see her as a Tumatsin; her physical presence was enough for that. There was Da and Baber and many others who had known her as a child, but now she was coming to them after many years as a ward of the Moshuguang, and accompanied by a Searcher. Wouldn't they see her as a spy for the Emperor? She could not hide her own mental probe from them for long and then they would see she was also a Searcher, somehow transformed by those they despised.

”But you are Moshuguang, Kati,” said Huomeng. ”It's a part of your being, and you can't deny it. And while your powers are beyond those of the Tumatsin, you're still one of them. They must see your special gifts as the reason First Mother has chosen you to lead them. You must show them these gifts, Kati, even if they feel threatened by them. And they must know that you care about their welfare.”

Huomeng had leaned close and taken her hands in his, startling her. ”This will be a difficult time for you. You've waited so long to see your father and brother again, and I wish I could tell you what their reaction will be in seeing you, but I cannot. It might not be pleasant, Kati, and I don't want your expectations for a joyful reunion to be too high. I don't want you to be hurt.”

He'd held her hands tightly and looked straight into her eyes, and the feelings coming from him were warm and wonderful, so much so that Kati's thumbs stroked his knuckles in return and they sat for a moment, just looking at each other.

”If there is pain for you, remember who you are,” he whispered. ”You are to be Empress over all the people, not just the Tumatsin. Your world is much bigger now, and there is loneliness in leaders.h.i.+p, a terrible loneliness when difficult things must be done. Your own people might reject you, but still you must lead them if they're to survive. Follow your instincts, and do what an Empress must do. This is the task First Mother has chosen you for, and now it's time to do it.”

Kati nodded. ”I know.”