Thresholder, ch 174, Rescue from Without

Normal Link

Edit/Comment Link

~~~~

Perry flew out from the city. He had the jar with the piece of yarn, and held it away from his body, but the link to Queenie was silent. His mental defenses were up, second sphere shielding him, his senses along the border sharpened to detect anything incoming. He didn’t like giving Queenie time to plan and plot, but he didn’t actually know where she was or what she was doing, so it wasn’t as though he could stop her. The best lead he had was Miller’s Crossing, where he’d find the men. Maybe they would have something to tell Perry, especially if he used Inspection on them.

“There is some thematic connection among Queenie’s worlds,” said Marchand as they flew along the river that would, in theory, take them to Miller’s crossing.

“What do you mean?” asked Perry, frowning slightly.

“I’ve been reviewing what we saw, sir,” said Marchand. “It appears that many of Queenie’s opponents were, as she says, ‘brutes’, men who were strong and powerful, whose interactions with her were mostly physical combat and not as involved as the interactions you’ve had with your opponents.”

“Yeah,” said Perry. “Less to learn from that, unfortunately.”

“What I find odd, sir,” said Marchand. “Is that Queenie has problems with authority, and with the systems of control that she found to be built into her.”

“Which is a problem why?” asked Perry.

“If we look at the worlds she’s told us of, she runs into persistent problems with people in positions of authority, or systems of control,” said Marchand. “And yet these problems are disconnected from the opponents she fights. We do expect, from what we know of the Grand Spell, that thresholders should find themselves faced with ideological opponents, putting two people on opposite sides of a war. This was essentially confirmed by the Farfinder and the subsequent working group. Yet this doesn’t appear to have happened here. She’s had worlds that are in ideological opposition to her, rather than opponents.”

Perry mulled that over. “Two theories about that,” he said. “I mean first, I have to ask whether that’s true, and I actually sort of think that it isn’t. In the techno-Christian world —”

“I don’t believe it was Christian, sir,” said Marchand.

“I mean, yeah, but you can see the similarities,” said Perry.

“I suppose, sir,” said Marchand. The AI seemed disgruntled by the sloppy language.

“Anyway, that was within normal range,” said Perry. “She was in the pre-existing resistance, he joined up with the totalitarians, that was a Grand Spell classic. Everything else … I can see it, when we’re looking at the Facility, how this was in opposition to her specifically, rather than just being a totally different thing than her own. The Loom guy, I can see how the idea that he would warp and control everyone around him, how that’s ‘targeted’ at her. But some of this stuff is just the way she sees the world, it’s created from that. In the same way that Maya would always find someone to rail against, I think Queenie is the same. You put Queenie in a sports world or something, and she’s going to pick a fight with the refs.”

“You don’t think that’s something more at work?” asked Marchand.

“Well, if the first theory is that she’s creating these problems for herself because of who she is, then the second theory is that she’s not, and we’re missing something, and that might be because she’s keeping things from us.” Perry frowned. “The Facility? She was condensing down three years. There was lots of opportunity for her to omit whatever she wanted to. That sniper shot on the guy up in the tower? We only saw the town at a distance, the man at a distance, she could easily have spoken to him. I don’t take anything another thresholder says as gospel, not even when I have a power that allows me to see things that definitely did happen.”

“Understood, sir,” said Marchand. “And do you have an alternate explanation for what occurred?”

“No,” said Perry. “And there’s no way to know, really, unless she chooses to share with us. I’m just saying that any analysis has to account for that possibility. If there’s some coherence to the string of worlds she’s been to … I don’t know, I’m just being skeptical. I don’t think the Grand Spell works on that level. I don’t see why it would.”

“Indeed, sir,” said Marchand. “Would you prefer me to keep future speculation to myself?”

“No, of course not,” said Perry.

There was a brief pause. Perry could practically hear Marchand thinking. In fact, maybe he could hear Marchand thinking, through some subtle subvocalizations piped in through the microphone, a very quiet, “hmm”.

“There is a third theory,” said Marchand. “Which is that we’ve missed something vital about the Grand Spell, that it is built not just to test two people against each other, but to test them in general.”

“I guess something to keep in mind,” said Perry. “But I think we’re here.”

A road crossed a river by way of a wooden bridge. It was a more arid part of the Dusklands, with only some cactuses and brush for vegetation. The river didn’t seem to be doing much to keep the area wet, but there were much more plants alongside it in the gully that it had carved.

The camp wasn’t far away, a collection of tents made of skins and long poles set up in a cone. Perry guessed there were maybe twenty men all told, though it was hard to say, and they had a large number of horses. They had rifles with them, and a wagon beside them, which must have been the one that Queenie had procured for them to ensure they would have enough for them and their horses to eat — not that the Yuuksen couldn’t live off the land.

Perry dropped down quite some distance from them, still fully in sight. They had spotted him, which wasn’t great, given that the power armor was intimidating, but he was functionally bulletproof, at least when up against the rifles they were using. He was mostly worried about spooking them, putting them on a war footing.

He opened the shelf space, and Anaksi came out.

“They’re here,” she said, spotting them almost at once.

“It still might be a trap,” said Perry. “I don’t see a sniper in the distance, but Queenie might have set us up for an ambush. And bullets are far from the only thing we need to worry about. She might have rigged the place to explode.”

“Dynamite?” asked Anaksi.

“Probably not,” said Perry. “But it’s a possibility, yes. And of course, it could be something more exotic.” Marchand was scanning, which would cut off some other avenues. Perry pulled the mask out and put that on. None of the men glowed, and there was nothing to raise his suspicions.

Anaksi let out a breath. Her eyes were on her tribesmen. “I’m going to speak with them.”

“The doctrix is chained up?” asked Perry, looking past her.

“I never unchained her,” said Anaksi.

“Then I’m coming with you,” said Perry.

Anaksi looked up and down at the power armor.

“It’s dangerous,” said Perry. “I don’t want you to get kidnapped or killed. You’re my guide. I owe you.”

“I’m going back with them,” said Anaksi. She looked at her feet. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m still coming with you,” said Perry. “Tell them I’m not dangerous, that’s the truth. I’ll be beside you until you’re on your way. Let me know if you want me to say my piece.”

Anaksi looked over to where the camp was. They were still watching Perry, some of them with rifles. He would have assumed that Queenie had told them about him, but it hadn’t even been a full day since Perry had been unceremoniously shot in the back of the head. She had the speed necessary to get out to them, but he didn’t know whether she’d had the incentive.

“Fine,” said Anaksi. “Stay behind me. I’ll do the talking.”

She walked forward with a steady pace, moving slowly, hands up to show nothing in them. Perry went after her, following ten feet behind, trying his best not to seem like he was a threat, which was really difficult given the hulking armor.

He was mildly surprised that the first thing Anaksi did was go in for a hug with the Yuuk standing at the front. He returned it, wrapping his arms around her, and Perry watched silently. The Yuuk’s face betrayed no warmth for her.

“I’ve come to bring you home, Iushki,” said Anaksi, her voice catching in her throat. She looked at the rest of them, who had gathered. “I’ve come to bring you all home.”

He regarded her silently. “Home?” he asked. He was their leader, or at least, the only one that seemed like he was going to do any speaking.

“Back to the tribe,” said Anaksi, nodding at him. “To the women and children she took you from.”

Perry couldn’t tell whether she had completely misunderstood what it was that Queenie had done, or if this was just wishful thinking on her part. He could see, in an instant, that this wasn’t going to work. There was nothing along this line that would motivate them. She was trying to appeal to some secret inner self, as though it was a curse that could be broken through by willpower. It just wasn’t that sort of thing, unfortunately.

“The woman has changed us,” said Iushki. “The place you call home is just a patch of dirt. The people there are just people, not different from any others. We see that now.”

“No,” said Anaksi. “No, you are Eshkee, what future is there for you here?” She looked around and spread her arm toward the barren wasteland, which did not seem to Perry to be all that different from the place they’d come from.

“What future was there for us there?” asked Iushki. “We fought the settlers as best we could, we suffered losses, and your husband died trying to strike a blow against them. Even if we hadn’t been awakened, would you have us fight and fight and fight until we were overwhelmed and died? To have the settlers take a bite out of us every week until we were nothing? We can’t make our own rifles. We can’t make metal knives. We were living on their scraps.”

“These are your people,” said Anaksi. “Without strong men, they will die. Without protectors, they will be raided.”

“When did we agree to carry that burden?” asked Iushki. He shifted his weight and gave her a somewhat sad look. Perry wondered about that, if he was actually sad, if there was something going on in his mind.

“You swore an oath,” said Anaksi. “On the day you became men, all of you!” She pointed an accusatory finger at them, sweeping it side to side.

They didn’t seem threatened by her, which was good. They didn’t seem to be preparing for violence. Some of the rifles had been put down, but Perry was still there, and that was obviously a problem for them.

“We would have faced exile if we hadn’t made that oath,” said Iushki. “And now, we’re exiled.”

“An oath can’t be broken that easily,” said Anaksi. “You need to return. Queenie has abandoned you.”

“Then we’ll find our own way,” said Iushki. “She’s been gone two days already. We had known it was a possibility. We’re a group of strong men with warrior’s skills.” He shrugged. “We won’t be returning.” Perry thought he was probably telling the truth about the two days thing. That meant that they wouldn’t know anything that she’d decided on since shooting him and stealing the machine.

Anaksi glared at Iushki, then turned to Perry.

“My turn?” he asked.

“If you have an idea,” she said. “If there’s a way to … undo this. Some magic you haven’t mentioned?”

“No,” said Perry. “But I can try to reason with them.”

Anaksi wavered, then gestured for him to step forward. He looked over the assembled men and tried to think about how to approach this.

“What did Queenie promise you?” he asked.

“Women and riches,” said Iushki.

“No,” said Perry. “Before that. She used her scarf to change you, but what did she offer that made you put it on your heads?” If they were surprised that he spoke Eshkee, they sure weren’t showing it.

Iushki looked at the others. “It was a deception. The train robbery had failed. She came offering power to us, power like she had.”

“And when the deception was done, you still attacked the town for her?” asked Perry.

“She made promises,” said Iushki. “She’s not trustworthy. But she’s powerful, and said she would hunt and kill us if we defected, or lavish us with everything we desired if we followed her. And we knew, after the revelation, that we didn’t want to stay with the tribe.”

Perry nodded. “Here’s what she said to me.”

He had Marchand play audio they had prepared.

“If you want them, take them,” said Queenie’s voice. “They don’t mean anything to me. Idiots to come with, if I’m honno.” It was a deception, but Queenie didn’t have an audio recording of her own to contradict him, and anyway, she wasn’t there.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Iushki. “We have a group here.”

“No,” said Perry. “You don’t.”

Iushki looked at the men, then back at Perry, raising one eyebrow, a facial expression that their cultures apparently shared in common.

“There’s no loyalty among you,” said Perry. “There’s nothing binding you together except that you’re stronger together. You have to be aware by now that’s not enough. These men are oathbreakers. They’re thieves. It’s in their nature, now, to only look out for themselves. That’s the same reason you were so willing to leave your tribe. Even now, with the supplies that Queenie procured for you, you’ve had problems with rationing, haven’t you?”

“We have,” said Iushki. “How did you know?”

“I guessed,” said Perry. “If there’s no loyalty, if every man is out for himself, backstabbing is going to be more common by default. That will show up in subtle and obvious ways.”

“And you have a solution?” asked Iushki.

“You need to return,” said Perry. “You need to return and build a society that can stand even when you’re the way you are now, when you don’t care about other people. You need to rediscover love and affection, if you can, to bind yourself to the tribe.”

“We could do that here,” said Iushki, cocking his head to the side.

“I’m not so sure that you could,” said Perry. “You’re not stable here. You have enemies. That wagon was part of a convoy, and by killing those people, Queenie set you up for failure. The Commission will come after you, and they’ll hunt you down.”

“They would hunt us down anyway,” said Iushki.

“True,” said Perry. “But if you return home, you have a stable base of operations, one that will last in the long term. You don’t need to strike out against travelers. Which is good, because you’re not an effective fighting force.”

Iushki’s hand went to his knife. “You haven’t seen us fight.”

“I did, when you attacked Grabler’s Gulch,” said Perry. “And you didn’t understand each other well then, did you? You know now that the logical thing to do is to hold back when there’s a charge, to be the last one in, to not draw fire to yourself. None of you would attack me first. There’s a cowardice problem. And I know you don’t care about your honor anymore, even if you want people to like you. I’ve seen how the concepts get cleaved away. How are you going to attack a hardened target without self-sacrifice?” He pointed at Anaksi. “Her husband, your chief, was willing to give his life for the tribe. That’s what made him someone worth following. It’s what allowed him to strike blows against a superior foe. You don’t have that. You can’t.”

“And how does returning help us?” asked Iushki. “If we don’t have it here, we won’t have it there.”

“You left people behind,” said Perry. “If they’re not all dead, which I’m praying they’re not, then they still care about you. They still love you. They’re a community, one that you can build on top of. Maybe you’ll find love and identity again. These are people you share a language with. Even if you wanted to integrate with Charlonion, if you think they have an objectively better life, you wouldn’t be able to do that. They would never allow it.”

“Mmm,” said Iushki.

Perry looked at the others. He was getting through to them, he thought. He wasn’t confident that they would actually survive if they made the trek back to their village, and wasn’t sure what they would find waiting for them there, but he felt like he owed Anaksi. Maybe someday he’d find a cure, but that was looking less likely with every new piece of information he learned.

“I’m not suggesting that you go back to the way things were,” said Perry. “You likely can’t. But you can go back to them, and probably should. If there’s no bond between you, that will be fatal without Queenie, sooner than later. You can’t depend on each other, not without social technologies you don’t have.” That didn’t translate quite right, but Perry hoped that second sphere hadn’t mangled it too badly. He also didn’t know what the hell kind of social technologies you would have to have to make it work, and hoped that they wouldn’t ask him what he meant.

“Queenie offered us power,” said Iushki. “She had given it to some. Can you offer the same?”

Perry stared at him. “You want me to bribe you to go back?” he asked.

“It would ensure that we all go,” said Iushki. “I’ll go, but can’t say the same for the others. If you offer power, or something else, there will be pressure.”

“Then yes,” said Perry. “I can offer power. But not until you return there, and make peace with those you left behind. Not until I know that you’re trying.”

“Please,” said Anaksi. “He’s honorable. He’s telling the truth. If he promises you something, he’ll give it to you.”

Iushki looked at her, then at Perry. “And I want her as a wife.”

Anaksi said nothing, and only looked at Perry with a frown. It seemed to him that she was willing, but he couldn’t have said for certain — she had already positioned herself, in her first marriage, for a common cause, rather than for love. It seemed like a currency she was willing to spend a second time.

“No,” said Perry. “Or at least, not now. She’ll decide for herself, and it will be after you’ve proven yourself. To promise herself to you now would be madness.”

Iushki shrugged.

“You’re the chief now,” said Anaksi. “If you want me, then do well for our people. Understand that there’s no other option. We’ll return in two weeks, if not sooner.”

Perry looked at her. “You’re not going with them?”

“She needs to be stopped,” said Anaksi. Her hands balled into fists. “I’m going to help you kill her.”

“If left alone, she’s going to destroy Charlonion,” said Perry. “It’s the end of the Commission, and the supremacy of the Yuuksen.”

“Unless what she’s doing works,” said Anaksi. “If she remakes society, if Charlonion survives, if the Commission survives, then they’ll be worse than they ever were before.”

“Worse?” asked Iushki. “Impossible.”

“It’s possible,” said Perry, holding up a hand to silence any further conversation. “You’re not accompanying them back?”

Anaksi looked at the gathered warriors, the best their tribe had to offer. “No,” she said. “A woman traveling with so many men, one prized for her beauty … I fear what these men will make of the village. They’re monsters, but they’re Eshkee still, and without them, we die.”

“We would protect you,” said Iushki. “If you were my bride, no one would dare lay a finger on you, for fear of retribution.”

“No one else,” said Anaksi.

“I thought we had an agreement,” said Perry. “You all leave, return to the village, build back up a functional society, one where you learn to trust and depend on each other, where you help others so that you too may one day be helped. Do that, and in two weeks time, I’ll grant you what power I can. Without Queenie, you’re mired here, too close to the enemy. Without trust in each other, a shared culture, a sense of community, you’re not an effective fighting force. So go, now, and I’ll return to the village with Anaksi once our murderous quest is finished.”

“I can only speak for myself,” said Iushki. “I’ll go.” He raised a hand, and Perry saw other hands go up, slowly at first and then more of them. It was unanimous in the end, but Perry could tell that was mostly because the men who would have chosen not to go saw how terrible their odds were if they were all alone.

“Then go,” said Perry. “Two weeks, whether we succeed or not.”

“And I’ll marry whoever is chief,” said Anaksi. “If that’s what you desire.” She looked between them, one by one. “A chief who is fair, who is just, who does not betray.” She held her chin high for a moment, then turned away, and either Perry was imagining things, or he saw the sway of her hips.

Perry turned back to the men. “One last thing. What was Queenie’s next step? What did she say?”

Iushki shook his head. “She was going to bring us goods, slaves, women.”

Perry’s stomach curdled a bit at that. “She didn’t say what her plans were? Where she was going?”

“No,” said Iushki. “She was secretive.”

Perry took out a gold coin he’d stored in one of the suit's slender compartments. “Reveal where she was going, and this can be yours. Enough to buy from the towns you’ll pass on your way, for those who speak Commish.”

The men looked at each other, and finally a younger, skinnier one stepped forward. “She was going to the Old Growth Mine.”

Perry held the gold coin for a moment. “Show me,” he said.

“Show you?” he asked.

Perry placed images in the young man’s mind, and he stepped back. “Push your own thoughts to me, show me when you learned this, when you heard her say it.”

The skinny young man shook his head.

“It was a lie?” asked Perry.

The young man nodded.

Perry tossed the coin to Iushki anyway. “Find your way home safely. Protect the women and children. I’ll come find you.”

Perry turned and followed after Anaksi, not knowing where she was going, but leaving the men behind them.

Marchand put up a rearview camera on picture-in-picture to watch them, and the microphones picked up some discussion among them, but it did seem like they would go. Iushki had spoken for them, which Perry found odd. Did it make sense of them to have a leader? Could men like that have leaders?

He caught up to Anaksi easily, though her strides were now longer, more hurried, with no trace of the sensuality she’d shown. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was making no move to wipe them away.

“Those men are dead,” she said. He took this to mean spiritually, not literally, though there was a minor translation issue and lack of clarity. It was possible she meant both.

“They might get better,” said Perry.

“If they make it back, what will happen?” asked Anaksi. “What will the tribe become?”

“Would it be better to kill them?” asked Perry.

She looked at him, aghast.

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” said Perry. “I’m saying … that’s the other option. Grayspear doesn’t know how to reverse it, but we’ll set her to the task. Queenie doesn’t know how to reverse it, but I’ll try to beat the information out of her, or negotiate, even though — I mean, she doesn’t know, she’s not curious in the way that I am. So those men are going to be like that, and we’re going to  have to make peace with that.”

Anaksi kept walking. “We?”

“Sorry,” said Perry. “You. You and the rest of the tribe. For me, they’re just people I’ve met a single time.”

Anaksi murmured, then turned back, still walking, to see whether the men were still visible. They had rounded a bend in the road, moving away from the crossing, so they were out of sight.

She stopped and broke down, crying with heaving sobs, and Perry just stood there, because he was in the hulking power armor, which made it difficult to comfort people.

She stood up after a bit, wiping tears and snot on the sleeve of her shirt, then looked at Perry.

“You are still planning to kill her?” she asked.

“Plan hasn’t changed,” said Perry. “Though we didn’t get any information from those men about where she was going or what she was doing. With everything else … I guess it doesn’t matter. She didn’t tell them shit. There would be no reason for her to. They weren’t equal partners. I’m not even sure why she wanted them.”

“Attack dogs, if she needed them,” said Anaksi. She spat on the ground. ”Bitch.”

“She used them for her own purposes,” said Perry. “I don’t know if Marchand mentioned this in the history that he showed you, but —”

“He did,” said Anaksi. “And that’s happened here. And they should have known better, even being warped. Her promises should have meant nothing.” She looked at him. “And what do your promises mean?”

“I keep my word,” said Perry.

“You offered them power,” said Anaksi.

“Yes,” said Perry. “There are different kinds. Turning into a hulking wolf under the light of a full moon … that’s something that I could give them. I’m not sure if I should, but I could. And if not that, then something else, some piece of knowledge, some weapon.”

“We don’t know how to even find her,” said Anaksi, changing the subject. “This wasn’t a trap.”

“Not a trap, no,” said Perry. “But possibly a diversion.”

“Back to the city?” asked Anaksi. The tears were gone, and though her face was puffy, her eyes were hard. “To see if she’s destroying it like she tried to last night?”

“I guess,” said Perry. “Hey … I’m sorry.”

Anaksi shook her head. “We’re together in this now. It’s revenge.”

“I want to help your people,” said Perry. “I want to find a stable state between them and Charlonion.”

“I want to burn Charlonion to the ground,” said Anaksi. She looked at him, as if daring him to reply.

He just wasn’t going to do that, and he was pretty sure that she knew it. She kept walking, though it would take ages to get back to the city that way, and he walked beside her, letting her stew.

Eventually, she stopped walking. “Back to the city,” she said. “We’ll have to look for clues there.”

“I suppose so,” said Perry. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do, aside from finding and killing her.”

“No,” said Anaksi. “That’s about it.”

Perry opened the shelf space for her, and she stepped in. She was angry and sad, and Perry could tell he was feeling only a fraction of what she felt. Those were her people, maybe not the ones she’d grown up with, but the ones she’d lived with for years, integrating into their way of life. She could have named each of those men for him. They had been friends and allies, and now they were nothing. Without a way to reverse what had been done to them, who knew what would become of the village.

When she was in, Perry lifted up into the sky. They were lost now, with no leads to track down, except maybe the nuns — or whatever they were — that Queenie had been staying with. It was also possible Queenie would let something slip in further discussions, but Perry was on the back foot, and he didn’t like it.

He went high into the sky, hoping to see the Eshkee men on their way, or at least packed up, just to make sure that they would actually go. He didn’t like that Iushki had spoken for most of them, but no one had objected.

“Sir, incoming radio transmission,” said Marchand. “It’s quite weak, and difficult to make out.”

Perry opened and closed his mouth, trying to work through the implication.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s difficult to say, sir,” said Marchand. “I’m getting only one word in every twenty, and that’s with a significant amount of guesswork.”

“The Farfinder,” said Perry.

“Yes, that does seem to be the most likely conclusion, given the nonexistence of radio technology in the Dusklands,” said Marchand. A direction appeared on the HUD. “I would suggest that we move in that direction, if you’re interested in investigating. Traveling overland will be faster, and I believe whoever is on the radio is experiencing some significant amount of distress.”

Perry dropped down to the ground, catching himself from impact at the last moment, then began running at full speed, much faster than the sword could carry him, draining the battery as his boots pounded against rock and sand.

He had almost lost sight of the Farfinder’s return, and if they were in the Dusklands, that would change everything.