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“I shall find it of great interest,” Chimele assured him. “But it would be a great bitterness to me if harm comes to you or to her.”
“The novelty of the experience is exhilarating, but it is a great strain. I wonder if the m’metaneipredict correctly when they say that the strain grows less in time. Perhaps the converse will occur for iduve there too. I surely hope not.”
“As do I, nasith.Will you go rest now?”
“I will, yes.”
“Only do this: advise Chaikhe that Ashakh will be within Weissmouth itself, and she must remain in isolation and wait for my orders. I am summoning up all ships save the two that will remain in port. Mejakh has cost us. I fear the cost may run higher still.”
“Ashakh?”
She ignored the question. “May your sleep be secure, o nas.”
“Honor be yours, Chimele.”
She watched him go, heard the door close, and rested her forehead once more on her hands, restoring her composure. Rakhi was the last, the last of all her brave nasithi,and it was lonely knowing that others had the direction of Ashanome,that for the first time in nine thousand years the controls were not even under the nominal management of one of her sra.She bore the guilt for that. Of the fierceness of her own arastiethe,she had postponed bearing the necessary heir until it was too late for the long ceremonies of kataberihe,and vaikkahad taken heavy toll of those about her. Mejakh was gone, her sraon the point of extinction: Khasif and Tejef together. Tamnakh’s srawas in imminent danger: Ashakh and Chaikhe and the unborn child in her; and if Rakhi sra-Khuretekh suffered madness and died, then the orith-sraof Ashanomecame down to her alone.
She felt a keen sense of m’melakhiafor Tejef, for the adversary he had been, a deep and fierce appreciation. He had run them a fine chase indeed, off the edge of the charts and into likatisand tomesunknown to iduve. And Ashanome’s victory would be bitter indeed to Tashavodh,dangerously bitter.
Perhaps to ease the sting of it a nas-katasakkeof Kharxanen could be requested for kataberihe,for Tashavodh’s m’melakhiato gain srawithin the orith-sraof Ashanomewas of long standing. Chaxal her predecessor had refused it, and Chimele bristled at the thought: she would bear the heir Ashanomeneeded, perhaps two for safety’s sake, as rapidly as her health could bear. Then she could declare dissatisfaction with her mate and send him packing to his own nasulin dishonor; that would not be a proper vaikka—the Orithanhe forbade—but it would be pleasant.
But defeat—at the hands of Tejef and Tashavodh—to see him welcomed in triumph—was unthinkable. She would not bear it.
And there was that growing fear. Ashanomehad been set back, and this was not an accustomed thing. It had been a hard decision, to sacrifice Khasif. In accepting risk, iduve disliked the irrational, a situation with too many variables. Were there any choice, common sense would dictate withdrawal; but there was no choice, and Tejef would surely seize upon the smallest weakness, the least hesitation: he was unorthodox and rash himself, e-chanokhia—but such qualities sometimes made for unpleasant surprises for his adversaries. Occasionally Isande could win at games of reason; the human Daniel had confounded skillfully laid plans by doing what no iduve would have done; and Qaoborn Aiela managed to have his own way of an Orithain much more often than was proper. The fact was that m’metaneioften bypassed the safe course. At times they did bluff, opposing themselves empty-handed to forces they ill understood, everything in the balance. This was not courage in the iduve sense, to whom acting as if one had what one did not smacked of falsity and unreason, which indicated a certain bent toward insanity. For the Orithain of Ashanometo bluff was indeed impossible: arastietheand sorithiasforbade.
But reversing the proposition, to allow another to assume he had what he did not, that was chanokhia,a vaikkawith humor indeed, if it worked. It it did not—the loss must be reckoned proportional to the failure of gain.
Her eyes strayed to the clock. As another figure turned over, the last hour of the night had begun. Soon the morning hour would begin the last day of Tejef’s life, or of her own.
“Chimele,” said the voice from control: Raxomeqh, fourth of the Navigators. “Projection from Mijanothe.”
Predictable, if not predicted, Chimele sighed wearily and rose. “Accepted,” she said, and saw herself and her desk suddenly surrounded by the paredreof Mijanothe.She bowed respectfully before aged Thiane.
“Hail Thiane, venerable and honored among us.”
“Hail Ashanome,” said Thiane, leaning upon her staff, her eyes full of fire. “But do I hail you reckless or simply forgetful?”
“I am aware of the time, eldest of us all.”
“And I trust memory also has not failed you.”
“I am aware of your displeasure, reverend Thiane. So am I aware that the Orithanhe has given me this one more day, so despite your expressed wish, you have no power to order me otherwise.”
Thiane’s staff thudded against the carpeting. “You are risking somewhat more than my displeasure, Chimele. Destroy Priamos!”
“I have kamethi and nasithiwho must be evacuated. I estimate that as possible within the limit prescribed by the Orithanhe. I will comply with the terms of the original and proper decree at all deliberate speed.”
“There is no time for equivocation. Standing off to moonward is Tashavodh,if you have forgotten. I have restrained Kharxanen with difficulty from seeking a meeting with you at this moment.”
“I honor you for your wisdom, Thiane.”
“Destroy Priamos.”
“I will pursue my own course to the limit of the allotted time. Priamos will be destroyed or Tejef will be in our hands.”
“If,” said Thiane, “if you do this so that it seems vaikkaupon Tashavodh,then, Ashanome,run far, for I will either outlaw you, Chimele, and see you hunted to Tejef’s fate, or I will see the nasul Ashanomeitself hunted from star to star to all time. This I will do.”
“Neither will you do, Thiane, for if I am declared exile, I will seek out Tashavodhand kill Kharxanen and as many of his sraas I can reach when they take me aboard. I am sure he will oblige me.”
“Simplest of all to hear me and destroy Priamos. I am of many years and much travel, Chimele. I have seen the treasures of many worlds, and I know the value of life. But Priamos itself is not unique, not the sole repository of this species nor essential to the continuance of human culture. Our reports indicate even the human authorities abandoned it as unworthy of great risk in its defense. Need I remind you how far a conflict between Tashavodhand Ashanomecould spread, through how many star systems and at what hazard to our own species and life in general?”
“It is not solely in consideration of life on Priamos that I delay. It is my arastietheat stake. I have begun a vaikkaand I will finish it on my own terms.”
“Your m’melakhiais beyond limit. If your arastiethecan support such ambition, well; and if not, you will perish miserably, and your dynasty will perish with you. Ashanomewill become a whisper among the nasuli,a breath, a nothing.”
“I have told you my choice.”
“And I have told you mine. Hail Ashanome.I give you honor now. When next we meet, it may well be otherwise.”
“Hail Mijanothe,” said Chimele, and sank into her chair as the projection flicked out.
For a moment she remained so. Then with a steady voice she contacted Raxomeqh.