| |
THE NEW DOOR ON THE home that Kaj, Nev, and Dun now shared was finished. The irony was they couldn’t open it. On the far side of the door, in the Sanctuary chamber, Rowle was having a conference with a delegation from each of the Duchies. Nev was doubly smug at his technical brilliance as he had rigged yet another speaker on the inside of their chamber so OneLove could communicate directly into their room. Dun admired the work but said nothing. Nev was unbearable about it already.
On the other side of the door, the noise level was rising rapidly. With it so did Dun’s level of tension at being trapped inside.
“What in the hells are they doing in there?” he said.
“Dunno, but stop worrying,” Kaj said.
“If it’s a peace conference it’s not going all that well,” Nev said.
“No, she’s terrible at it,” Dun said. “They’re shouting so much more now. At least they came in peacefully.”
“Is she?” Kaj said.
“What?” Dun said.
“Terrible at it.”
“As a diplomat, I’d say she was the worst,” Nev said.
“I wonder, is she doing it on purpose,” Kaj mused.
“What?” Dun said.
“On purpose. Winding them all up on purpose.”
“Why?” Dun said, desperation leaking out in his tone.
“I don’t know, but I think we can rule out because she’s stupid or unknowing. She might be crazy, but she’s smart.”
The tension in the room outside ratcheted up again.
“I think she’s goading them,” Kaj said.
Dun found himself listening to the low level of hiss from the speaker in their room rather than the rising tension outside. He felt that the hiss was in some way the inner workings of OneLove and that if it was thinking about stuff, then everything would be all right. He jumped out of his skin when OneLove spoke.
“It begins.”
“Shreds! Can you give us some warning when you’re going to do that?” Dun said.
“And what exactly begins?” Kaj said.
There was no chance to reply, as the noise in the other room went quiet suddenly. The folk, clenched, ears a twitch, listened and felt as a massive banging reverberated the Sanctuary door.
Then a clear, familiar, loud voice could be heard. “We demand to be admitted!”
It was Padg.
“Demand! DEMAND!” Rowle shrieked.
“We have a right to worship here!” another voice came from outside.
“You have NO rights except by my leave!”
The noise of the servos opening the Sanctuary door caused a brief crackling interference on the speaker.
“Arrest them!” Rowle shouted.
“We are not your minions to command!” One of the Dukes shouted as another, clearly of differing opinion, gave the order to charge.
In five clicks, all was chaos. The fighting was hard to distinguish, but it quickly surged outside the chamber. Rowle followed it out, summoning guards in her wake. The speaker by Dun’s head crackled again as the servos closed the outward Sanctuary door. Then again as the inner door to the hideout opened, spilling Dun, Kaj, and Nev into the room.
The floor of the Sanctuary was slick with blood. Dun could sense at least three still forms on the floor. He moved quickly to check for life signs. He felt conflicted as he moved from one to the next. Three folk dead, but none of them Padg.
“What a mess,” Nev said.
“What now?” Kaj said.
The speaker on the Vat hissed into life. Maybe OneLove had taken the hint about not surprising them. “Dun, are any still alive?”
“No.”
“Then we must move quickly. Remove the clothing from the bodies and place them in the Vat.”
“What?” Kaj said.
“Their bodies are dead,” OneLove said. “If we are swift we may save their minds.”
“That’s...”
“Grisly, Kaj?” Nev offered.
“Ghoulish,” she said.
“So we should let their minds drift away? When they could be saved and put to good use?” OneLove said. “If it helps you decide, mostly they were Tinkralas. They would want to be here.”
“But...” Kaj said.
“It’s all too fast,” Nev said.
“Yes,” OneLove said, “it is. It always is. I am sorry. If we are to save them, you must help. I have minds but not hands.”
“Come on,” Dun said. “Give me a lift here.”
And so slowly, delicately and as reverently as they could, they undressed the bodies and lifted them into the pool, letting each one fall into the depths with a bloop.
It was more exhausting work than any of them expected and when they had finished, they all sat on the floor of the Sanctuary. Dun heard Kaj make a sound that might have been an intake of breath.
“Thank you,” OneLove said. “I know how difficult that was.”
“Do you?” Kaj said.
The voice in the Vat changed, becoming recognizably Myrch’s again.
“Yes. I used to be human once too, remember.”
“I’m not human,” Kaj said. “Whatever that is.”
“In a way you are,” Myrch said. “More than you know.”
Kaj tutted.
A distant scream sounded through one of the vents.
Dun said, “Is that from...”
“The fighting?” Myrch’s voice was still present. “Most likely, yes.”
“How are the rest of the Tinkralas?”
“They have hidden in Gantrytown. The folk there have made a barricade stretching across the entire cavern. They are safe for now. Most of the fighting is between the Duchy factions and what forces the Bureaucrat still commands. Many of her guards defected to join the militia of the Gantryfolk.”
“Gods, what a mess,” Nev said.
“Yes. There will be chaos for some time.”
“I kind of more meant in here.”
“That is something I attended to less,” said OneLove apologetically.
“S’all right,” Nev said sadly. “I’ll sort it. There are cloths somewhere, and there’s a pretty warm vent back there for warming some water.”
“Ah,” OneLove said, “there I think I can help. Break into the lower panel between the outside door and our Vat. There is a pipe there with an overflow valve. Find a container and I believe I can make that water even hotter.”
“Maybe sometimes you don’t need hands?” Dun said.
“Yeah, maybe,” Kaj said. “I’m going to get some rest.”
“Kaj?” said Nev.
She went back to their hideout and closed the door behind her.
“It’s okay,” Dun said. “She’ll come round.”
“Give her some space,” OneLove said. “This span has been a lot to take in.”
“Gods, I’ll say,” Dun said, running his hands through the hair on the top of his head.
“Stop moping over there and help me with mopping over here,” Nev said.
