The Temporal Void

Ranalee caught his distress and laughed.

Edeard's third hand gripped her and shoved her up into the canopy above the bed. Her eyes bulged with shock as she found she couldn't breathe. Below her; Edeard pulled on his shirt, taking his time, not looking up. 'I lack your skill in killing unborns, he said calmly. 'So I'd have to eliminate you to make sure he was never born into the life you envisage for him, or her. He eased off a fraction, and Ranalee sucked down precious air. 'You're too weak, she hissed furiously.

'Sometimes you have to do what's wrong in order to do what's right. He let go of her.

Ranalee crashed down on to the big bed, bouncing hard on the mattress. She scrambled round, and found Edeard leaning over her. She shrank back in trepidation from the expression on his face and the timbre of his thoughts.

'You should never talk so casually about death and killing, he told her. 'Not to those of us who have killed, and will kill again.

'You'll die alone with your dreams broken, she cried defiantly.

'If you are pregnant you will inform me, and I will bring the child up myself. He pulled his boots on, and went out into tin-night, leaving his luggage (including socks) behind.

It had been a long miserable walk back to Makkathran. With only himself for company he was forced to face aspects of his psyche that he didn't much admire. Again and again he considered Ranalee's proposal. He suspected she might be right about how impossible it would be to rip the gangs out of Makkathran. Dear Lady, was this the proposal Finitan spoke of? li can't be. It can't.

How he longed for Akeem's wisdom. Just one last question for his old Master. When he pictured Akeem's kindly ancient face, his old Master was shaking his head in that amused dismay of his which had greeted so many apprentice follies, as if to say: you already know the answer.

When dawn did eventually break and Edeard begged a lift off a farmer driving his cart to market, he was resolved. He would take on Ivarl and the gangs on his own terms. That way he gave himself a victory over the darker nature resting in his soul.

Now, looking along the brightly lit tu

'I really am going to have to get help to deal with these bastards, he decided wearily. Neither the tu

Talents, she'd said, useful little talents. Plural. Edeard had never heard of anything like the liquid light which Ivarl and Ta

He probed round with his farsight, trying to find exactly where he was. The tu

When he changed direction, so did the image. Memory, he realized in delight. The city remembers me.

Edeard tracked the image of himself to the place where it dropped out of the tu

There were no images, which he'd only half expected anyway. Then he began to scrabble round for his footing because the tu

There was never any answer. The only sound in the tu

When he stopped to draw breath he didn't bother screaming again, after all this was how he dropped down into the canal tu

He opened them hurriedly. That was too much, he had to match up what he was seeing with what his body felt. The red lights were now a solid smear he was going so fast. This was the freedom of the ge-eagles! A side tu

There was only one truly frightening moment, when his body was twisted by whatever guided him and kept him clear of the tu

Eventually, his wayward flight ended as the tu

The sight of it was immediately disheartening. Knowing he was going back up to the city streets brought his defeat into sharp focus. He couldn't tell anyone, couldn't turn to anyone. Worse, he didn't really know what to do next.

Maybe I should just leave. Ride away to Ufford, and Salrana and I will live happily out in the country where we belong.

It was so tempting. But if he didn't take a stand against the gangs, and the likes of Ranalee and her family, nothing would ever change. And ultimately the city's decay would bring the countryside down with it. The problem would belong to his children, and by then it would be even greater.

Edeard sighed, and started his trek home.

He spent the next day in his maisonette, longtalking Dinlay at the station, claiming he had a cold. Lian's trial was in its eighth day, but he'd already appeared in the witness stand. The prosecution didn't need him again. Dinlay wished him well.

One of his ge-monkeys was dispatched to the nearest doctor's house to fetch a soothing ointment, which he dabbed on his scorched skin. Then he apologized to Jessile and asked her not to come round for the evening, claiming he didn't want to pass on his cold. She commiserated, and got her family's cook to send round a hamper loaded with chicken soup and other treats.