as people have thought it was.’
‘No, it is more. I know it must be. To hear the Great Ones speak, to attempt to pacify them. Oh, a terror, lady knight, truly, a terror.’
The woman’s use of the words ‘Great Ones’ should have stopped Donatella in her tracks. Those were the words used by Crystallites to refer to the Presences, but Don simply hadn’t noticed. ‘It won’t be long before we’ll all be able to walk among the Presences much more safely. Not long at all.’ Don had raised her head, seeing herself and the woman in the mirror.
‘Oh, you think some great discovery? Some marvel?’ The woman peered at her in the mirror, her black eyes gleaming with something acquisitive and desperate.
And at that point Don had realized what she was saying and had drawn up sharply. ‘No, no discovery, no marvel, Sophron. Simply the slow accumulation of knowledge….’
Who else had she talked to?
Chase Random Hall, the Explorer King. Could anything she had said to him in the dining room of the Chapter House, during the informal time of day when everyone was on a first-name basis, could anything there have been interpreted as something threatening?
‘Randy, you ever think the day may come we’ll all be out of work?’
‘Mind your manners, silly girl. Don’t be obscene.’
‘No, I mean wouldn’t it be terrific if we found The Password?’ ‘The Password’ was the apotheosis on Jubal and had been for a hundred years. It was like ‘The Millennium’ or ‘The Second Coming,’ a terrible end said to be devoutly desired by some, the single score that would open every pass and permit free travel everywhere.
‘I think it’s a disgusting thought, one I would appreciate not having raised again in my hearing.’ Randy had been effete in his youth and was effete still, but there was no arguing with his successes. Now he smoothed his elegantly trimmed moustache and smiled at her in his best monster-eating-up-a-little-girl smile: glittering eyes in a brown, brown face with his terribly white teeth, teeth that made one weak even while they made one shiver, anticipating voracious kisses. They were inevitable, those teeth like death. ‘Do you like living dangerously, stupid child?’
‘Is it that dangerous to speculate about The Password?’ She had said it lightly. Surely she had said it lightly!
‘A little idle speculation here in the Chapter House, over drinks, perhaps not. Anything more than that, decidedly. As a moment’s thought – if you are capable of such – should have informed you. Think, silly girl. If you had The Password, there are at least twenty people I could name who would kill you to keep it quiet.’
She knew her face had changed then. Changed with horror, in memory. People who would kill! She remembered her friend Gretl Mechas. Or rather, Gretl’s body as it had been when Donatella identified it. Remembering this, she turned away. She had had enough of this conversation.
But then he had asked, ‘Would you like to go to bed with me, Donatella?’
‘I am the King Explorer’s to command,’ she had said, stiffly taking refuge in a ritual answer. This was a new gambit.
‘Not at all eager, are you?’
‘I … I have other affections, Randy.’
‘Don’t we all know it. Your affections are the talk of the House and most unworthy of you. Speaking of danger then, stupid child, what’s the news about the Mad Gap?’ And they had talked shop as she detailed her attempts to find a Password through the Gap before moving on to other things. Why had he mentioned going to bed together? Everyone knew Randy preferred men, though he would possess a woman if he thought it useful. Had he thought she might be useful? But not quite useful enough? Had he slipped when he spoke of people killing other people? Was he interested in her reaction? Or was it merely a very effective way to change the subject?
It had been an odd, a very odd conversation. With her well-schooled memory for exact words and
‘No, it is more. I know it must be. To hear the Great Ones speak, to attempt to pacify them. Oh, a terror, lady knight, truly, a terror.’
The woman’s use of the words ‘Great Ones’ should have stopped Donatella in her tracks. Those were the words used by Crystallites to refer to the Presences, but Don simply hadn’t noticed. ‘It won’t be long before we’ll all be able to walk among the Presences much more safely. Not long at all.’ Don had raised her head, seeing herself and the woman in the mirror.
‘Oh, you think some great discovery? Some marvel?’ The woman peered at her in the mirror, her black eyes gleaming with something acquisitive and desperate.
And at that point Don had realized what she was saying and had drawn up sharply. ‘No, no discovery, no marvel, Sophron. Simply the slow accumulation of knowledge….’
Who else had she talked to?
Chase Random Hall, the Explorer King. Could anything she had said to him in the dining room of the Chapter House, during the informal time of day when everyone was on a first-name basis, could anything there have been interpreted as something threatening?
‘Randy, you ever think the day may come we’ll all be out of work?’
‘Mind your manners, silly girl. Don’t be obscene.’
‘No, I mean wouldn’t it be terrific if we found The Password?’ ‘The Password’ was the apotheosis on Jubal and had been for a hundred years. It was like ‘The Millennium’ or ‘The Second Coming,’ a terrible end said to be devoutly desired by some, the single score that would open every pass and permit free travel everywhere.
‘I think it’s a disgusting thought, one I would appreciate not having raised again in my hearing.’ Randy had been effete in his youth and was effete still, but there was no arguing with his successes. Now he smoothed his elegantly trimmed moustache and smiled at her in his best monster-eating-up-a-little-girl smile: glittering eyes in a brown, brown face with his terribly white teeth, teeth that made one weak even while they made one shiver, anticipating voracious kisses. They were inevitable, those teeth like death. ‘Do you like living dangerously, stupid child?’
‘Is it that dangerous to speculate about The Password?’ She had said it lightly. Surely she had said it lightly!
‘A little idle speculation here in the Chapter House, over drinks, perhaps not. Anything more than that, decidedly. As a moment’s thought – if you are capable of such – should have informed you. Think, silly girl. If you had The Password, there are at least twenty people I could name who would kill you to keep it quiet.’
She knew her face had changed then. Changed with horror, in memory. People who would kill! She remembered her friend Gretl Mechas. Or rather, Gretl’s body as it had been when Donatella identified it. Remembering this, she turned away. She had had enough of this conversation.
But then he had asked, ‘Would you like to go to bed with me, Donatella?’
‘I am the King Explorer’s to command,’ she had said, stiffly taking refuge in a ritual answer. This was a new gambit.
‘Not at all eager, are you?’
‘I … I have other affections, Randy.’
‘Don’t we all know it. Your affections are the talk of the House and most unworthy of you. Speaking of danger then, stupid child, what’s the news about the Mad Gap?’ And they had talked shop as she detailed her attempts to find a Password through the Gap before moving on to other things. Why had he mentioned going to bed together? Everyone knew Randy preferred men, though he would possess a woman if he thought it useful. Had he thought she might be useful? But not quite useful enough? Had he slipped when he spoke of people killing other people? Was he interested in her reaction? Or was it merely a very effective way to change the subject?
It had been an odd, a very odd conversation. With her well-schooled memory for exact words and
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