Part 18 (2/2)

'The Unmer believe that mankind is a single organism,' Maskelyne went on, 'that every man and woman is merely a part of the same creature. And when we breed, we create new parts of that same creature, like branches on a tree. So s.e.x is actually as.e.xual it's simply the method by which the whole . . . human ent.i.ty human ent.i.ty grows. Do you understand?' grows. Do you understand?'

'Help me,' the doctor said, 'please.'

'If you believe that and there are days when I do do believe it,' Maskelyne explained, 'then an a.s.sault on a child is an a.s.sault on the father and the mother, and on every other living person. It's an attack against believe it,' Maskelyne explained, 'then an a.s.sault on a child is an a.s.sault on the father and the mother, and on every other living person. It's an attack against mankind mankind itself.' itself.'

The doctor stared at him in fear and disbelief. 'a.s.sault?'

'You struck my child.'

'But I meant no harm.'

Maskelyne shrugged. 'You caused caused harm.' harm.'

Now the doctor's gaze searched the ground. He was trying to comprehend this. 'But now you're you're hurting hurting me me,' he said. 'It's the same thing.'

'You're probably right,' Maskelyne admitted. 'But it's too late now.' He thought for a moment. 'I wonder if we could justify your death if we a.s.sume that mankind isn't a single organism, but is actually two two organisms. That way, I could be part of one . . . and you could be part of the other.' He nodded. 'Yes, that works. You die, while I maintain the moral high ground.' organisms. That way, I could be part of one . . . and you could be part of the other.' He nodded. 'Yes, that works. You die, while I maintain the moral high ground.'

'What? You're completely insane.'

Maskelyne sat down beside him. 'You're not a psychiatrist are you, doctor?'

Shaw shook his head.

'No, I didn't think you were.'

'Please . . .' The doctor was gasping now, trying to move his rapidly stiffening leg. 'Stop this.'

'Can't be done,' Maskelyne said. 'Your blood is changing.'

The doctor grabbed his trouser leg and pulled it up. Green crystals had already begun to form on his skin. He let out a wail. 'Changing into what what?'

'Exactly what it looks like,' Maskelyne said. 'Your widow is going to be a very rich woman.'

Ianthe withdrew her consciousness from the whirlwind of terror in the doctor's mind. She lay in darkness and focused on the rising and falling of her chest as she breathed. Maskelyne's wife, Lucille, had put her in a small bright room in the west wing of the fortress. The views she'd seen through the other woman's eyes had been of a sickle-shaped island with deepwater docks and industrial buildings down by the sh.o.r.e. Heavy iron s.h.i.+ps waiting in their moorings in the bay. A metallic beach flas.h.i.+ng in the suns.h.i.+ne, lapped by the tea-coloured sea. The scent of brine of the breeze. Heavy iron s.h.i.+ps waiting in their moorings in the bay. A metallic beach flas.h.i.+ng in the suns.h.i.+ne, lapped by the tea-coloured sea. The scent of brine of the breeze. They were three leagues east of Ethugra, but she hadn't been able to see the city from Lucille's perspective. They were three leagues east of Ethugra, but she hadn't been able to see the city from Lucille's perspective.

She could feel silk cus.h.i.+ons under her. She knew they were blue.

For a long while she lay there, thinking. Should she try to reach her father again? She hadn't been able to locate him since Maskelyne's men had captured her. Had he even returned to the prison on Halcine Ca.n.a.l? Had she simply missed him, or had he abandoned her again? She didn't even know if he was alive or dead. And with a million people living in Ethugra, a million perspectives to explore, she might never know the answer to that question. Her frustration quickly turned to anger. Nothing really mattered but punis.h.i.+ng Maskelyne for what he'd done. And she had the means to accomplish that.

She slipped into Jontney's mind, but found him cuddling his mother, and so she quickly departed again. She didn't want to feel Lucille's arms around her. Maskelyne was in a storeroom next to his armoury, where he was busy rummaging through a box of tools and humming to himself. He had already looked out a hammer and a stone chisel.

Ianthe let her mind fly through the abyss between minds like a comet racing through the heavens. The inhabitants of Scythe Island formed a small but intense constellation beneath her, surrounded by a plain of countless lights burning under the sea. To the west she perceived Ethugra as a great conflagration of dusty spots, a galaxy formed by tens of thousands of people. As she neared the city, she became aware of a fine s.h.i.+p berthed in Averley Harbour. A group of people had gathered on the plaza before the Administration Buildings. And all of them were looking at one woman.

CHAPTER 10.

THE TRIAL OF TOM GRANGER.

The emperor's dragon-hunter-cla.s.s steam yacht rolled into Ethugra like a circus. The triple-funnel, single-masted Excelsior Excelsior was far sleeker than Briana's man-o'-war. Indeed, if Hu's claims were to be believed, she was looking at the fastest and most luxurious human-built vessel in the world. She slid out of the Glot Madera and into Averley Plaza under steam power alone, accompanied by a fanfare of trumpets from the heralds on her deck. The sails furled along her yards were as crisp and white as marzipan. Her three funnels sat behind the wheelhouse and in front of the mast, disgorging torrents of steam and vaporous whale-oil smoke into the heavens. Her bow sliced through the muddy waters, the copper-clad hull ripple-blown and flas.h.i.+ng in the sunlight, her cannons agleam like admirals' b.u.t.tons. Half a hundred Imperial pennants hung from her rigging in a riot of red and gold. A ma.s.sive harpoon gun protruded from her prow, its stanchion gripped in the raised hands of the s.h.i.+p's iron figurehead. Briana thought that the cast figure was a representation of some thunderbolt-wielding sea G.o.d, but as the s.h.i.+p drew nearer to the dockside she realized that its face had been moulded into the likeness of Hu himself. The sculptor had been somewhat liberal in his interpretation of the emperor's physique. was far sleeker than Briana's man-o'-war. Indeed, if Hu's claims were to be believed, she was looking at the fastest and most luxurious human-built vessel in the world. She slid out of the Glot Madera and into Averley Plaza under steam power alone, accompanied by a fanfare of trumpets from the heralds on her deck. The sails furled along her yards were as crisp and white as marzipan. Her three funnels sat behind the wheelhouse and in front of the mast, disgorging torrents of steam and vaporous whale-oil smoke into the heavens. Her bow sliced through the muddy waters, the copper-clad hull ripple-blown and flas.h.i.+ng in the sunlight, her cannons agleam like admirals' b.u.t.tons. Half a hundred Imperial pennants hung from her rigging in a riot of red and gold. A ma.s.sive harpoon gun protruded from her prow, its stanchion gripped in the raised hands of the s.h.i.+p's iron figurehead. Briana thought that the cast figure was a representation of some thunderbolt-wielding sea G.o.d, but as the s.h.i.+p drew nearer to the dockside she realized that its face had been moulded into the likeness of Hu himself. The sculptor had been somewhat liberal in his interpretation of the emperor's physique.

Trumpets blared again, now joined by the marching crackle of snare drums.

The crowd around Briana cheered.

'Oh, for heaven's sake.' Briana reached for her poppy water, but someone b.u.mped into her, and she lost the tiny bottle amidst the scuffling feet. It clattered away before she could reclaim it. She fired out a mental warning as powerful as a cannon blast and heard cries of protest from Haurstaf halfway around the world. But not one of the shrieking imbeciles around her paid her any notice. These jailers had skulls as thick as iron, as insensitive as the corpses of the Drowned along the waterfront.

Administrator Grech turned to her and grinned. 'Heavenly, isn't it?'

'A s.h.i.+p like that says a lot about the man who commissions it,' Briana retorted.

'Indeed, indeed,' Grech replied with good humour. 'Marvellous.'

'Cra.s.s.'

Her reply was lost amidst the general bustle. Grech nodded feverishly.

The emperor's dragon-hunter docked alongside the Haurstaf man-o'-war. Briana could see Hu's Samarol bodyguard lining the forecastle, their silver wolf helmets grinning like tribal totems. Now trombones and whale horns joined the chorus of trumpets and drums. The crowd applauded, whistled, waved in response. Bugles shrilled and ba.s.s drums began a booming roll as the whole cacophony reached its raucous climax.

And then the s.h.i.+p's guns fired.

Briana almost dropped to the ground in panic, before she realized that the crowd was cheering even more frantically.

And as her heart calmed, she realized that the Excelsior Excelsior's cannons had not been loaded with sh.e.l.ls after all. The air was full of silver and gold sparkles. The s.h.i.+p had fired a barrage of foil confetti.

The music ceased abruptly. As the last of the confetti settled over the plaza, the emperor's Samarol bodyguard began moving down the gangplank. Blind to a man, each of the twenty a.s.sa.s.sin slaves clutched Unmer seeing knives in their mailed fists, using these uncanny weapons to find their way. Some claimed those blades could see intent and give their owners unnatural reflexes, but Briana had never been able to verify this. No Haurstaf had been able to wield one without lapsing into madness.

When the Samarol had formed a semi-circle around the gangplank, the emperor himself appeared.

Hu was dressed in golden battle-armour. Upon his head he wore a crown of crystallized dragon eyes set in copper. His long red cape was Unmer-made, woven from the silk of Mare Regis spiders, and it fluttered strangely behind his shoulders in the dead air, lifted by a breeze that did not seem to be present. At his side he wore the Transient Sword, a Valcinder copy of the legendary lost Unmer weapon, but striking nonetheless. Its lacquered steel blade was tangerine in colour and festooned with holes supposedly made by void flies, although Briana suspected that that particular flaw was merely an affectation engineered by the smiths. particular flaw was merely an affectation engineered by the smiths.

The emperor strolled down the gangplank. 'Sister Marks,' he said brightly. 'Whatever are you doing here?'

She smiled flatly. 'I've been a guest of the Administration for the last three days,' she said, 'I want to see Tom Granger.'

'Of course,' he said, 'you'll see him at the trial.'

'I want to see him before before the trial.' the trial.'

'Quite impossible,' the emperor replied. 'Colonel Granger is a dangerous man. I could never allow myself to put one of the Haurstaf at risk.'

Briana looked at him coolly. 'If you do not wish to use our services, there are simpler ways of letting us know.'

Hu made a dismissive gesture. 'Come now, there's no need for unpleasantness on such a beautiful day. If it's really so important to you, I'll grant you an audience.' He even managed to look magnanimous. 'May I ask what the interview is about?'

'No,' Briana said. 'You may not.' She had all but lost patience with him. Hu had pushed her as far as he could, but even a fool such as him could not risk endangering his campaigns or his empire by removing Haurstaf psychics from his armies and cities. Nevertheless she felt inclined to end his contract with the Guild there and then. But she stopped herself from speaking. Hu's pride might irk her, but it was still better to have him as a client than a foe.

<script>