There’s a commotion in the outer hall. Chase and Balin have returned, and the lama is not at all happy about allowing the others to come in with them. « My guests, » I announce. The bird flaps a few times in exasperation, but leaves defeated.
« Did you guys have any trouble? » asks Ross.
« We’re okay, » says Ari.
« More or less, » says Rand. « But once Balin and Chase found us, everything calmed right down. »
« Rand, what does more or less mean? »
« The frostbeast was a little dicey, but Ari handled it. »
« You handled a fucking frostbeast? »
« Yeah, he strangled it. It was amazing, » says Tommy.
« It wasn’t that bad, » says Ari. « We had taken shelter in a cave, not noticing that the frostbeast had already claimed it. »
« It jumped at Thomas, but it barely scratched him before Ari had it, » says Tommy. « I didn’t think such a big guy could move so fast. »
« Ari, are you all right? »
He shrugs. « It’s a little swollen where it bit me, » he says.
« They have venomous fangs. All right, that settles it, Ari has to get the achievement, or he’ll get very ill. That means we’ll have to get moving again, sooner than I’d like. »
« Is there anything to eat? » asks Blackjack. « I’m starving. It’s really weird to be hungry in here. »
« Chase and Balin were able to get something at the concession on the way up, » says Whirljack, « but two bluedogs and two orders of jamyam fries don’t go very far with seven men who haven’t eaten all day. »
Marius shrugs. « We didn’t think to ask. We weren’t getting hungry. »
« Then let’s get some food. Where’s that damn penguin? »
The monk waddles in. « I beg to differ. I am a holy penguin. »
« Good grief. Can we get something to eat? And I mean lots of it. Three times as much as you think we’ll eat. And enough supplies for a week-long march. »
« I’m hungry, but not that hungry, » says Blackjack.
« He’ll bring enough food for Tara and the four recognized ones, » says Ross. « By asking for a surplus, we hope to get enough for all of us. »
« All right, what’s the plan? » asks Rand.
« We’ve got good news, » I tell them. « We’ve made contact with Ailann’s group, Ailann’s been recognized, we understand how to get recognized, and we have a game plan. We should be able to get another recognition just by going down the mountain. »
« Our best bet is probably to eliminate as many of the attackers as we can – assuming that we are eliminating them, » says Marius. « We’d do better to stop Molly or whoever is behind this, but that doesn’t seem to be possible yet. »
« There, » says Balin, pointing at the projection. « If we go down the mountain on the other side, there are assailants on the next peak over. But they’re on much more treacherous terrain. Even if they can pick us off from above, it’s easy to make them to lose their balance. »
« How do we do that? » asks Ross. « We don’t have any weapons. »
« Yell, » says Balin.
We look at him strangely.
« It would be really easy if we had Beat, but even without him, we should be able to yell loud enough to cause an avalanche. »
« I wish we had an engineer to give us the facts, » says Ross, « but I’d guess that was an urban legend. »
« This isn’t urban, » says Tommy. « Not even suburban. Is there such a thing as a rural legend? »
« It’ll work, » says Wynne, « if I do it. Like I said, I seem to be attracting improbably bad luck. »
« And Marius is staying here. No arguments. We need someone to monitor the situation. And somebody needs to stay with him. Actually, I’d be happiest if everyone unrecognized stayed, except Ari. »
There is a loud protest to the negative. Not that I expected anything different.
« Who wants to stay with Marius? »
It’s an awkward moment. Marius is closest to the emanations in Ailann’s group, but even there, he doesn’t seem to have a close friend or a lover. I can read how this will play out: neither Rand, Whirljack, Tommy nor Patrick will agree to leave my side. Blackjack won’t leave Whirljack, Ace won’t leave Wynne.
« I’ll stay, » says Thomas.
Everyone looks surprised, but this is so like him, always sacrificing his own desires for others.
« You sure? » asks Tommy.
« If you were recognized, I’d give you your gift for this, » I say ruefully.
« I’d rather wait, » says Thomas. « Give it to me some time when we’re happy. »
It’s interesting – Tommy deferred his gift also. But then, considering that Thomas is a perfect replication of Tommy – Dermot and Davy copied his branch, but before that Atlas copied his pattern of consciousness- maybe it’s more amazing how much difference there is.
Thomas slaps Tommy on the back. « Stay out of trouble, bro, » he says.
The penguin brings a hearty penguin meal – a fish stew. Those of us who don’t have to eat take modest portions. The others gulp theirs ravenously. The provisions consist of strips of dried meat – salmon and yaklet – and small loaves of a hard and rather disgustingly colored bread.
« It looks a little moldy, » says Blackjack.
Rand sniffs at it. « It’s greengrain rye, » he says. « That’s how it’s supposed to be. It tastes a little better than it looks. »
« It will taste good enough when we’re hungry, » says Ari. « Are we ready to leave? »
I give Marius and Thomas a hug, and we’re on our way. I feel horrendously guilty. Those two always get the worst deal. No one would’ve considered leaving Patrick behind.
Patrick comes up behind me, put his arm around me. « Are you holding up? » he asks. It’s like having a conversation with a sunbeam. Statistics kept by Tommy and Cüinn about the number of our encounters only verify what I know in my heart: Patrick is the favorite of my “harem.” He’s handsome, charming, impossible not to love. No one will ever leave him behind, least of all, me.
But the golden boy of the moment is Ross, who is completely at ease with this. Ross isn’t jealous. Neither are Wynne, Rand, Whirljack or Blackjack. It makes my life easy.
Ari’s jealous, but he’s trying not to be. And suddenly, I’m frightened. Their love for me has held me together in so many ways, and I can’t afford to lose an iota of it.
Ari doesn’t look good, and it’s not from jealousy. Frostbeast poison is slow-acting. Frostbeasts will only eat live meat, so the poison is intended to slow down the prey until the cubs from the litter can get a fresh mouthful. A frostbeast hardly needs poison to kill: imagine a 500kg grizzly with imbued metal reinforcing its fur and the jaws of a great white shark. That isn’t exactly right, of course. It’s not a Terran animal; the flora and fauna of Volparnu are genetically similar to Skarsia, which means that the Flaxxshi probably brought them there. But why? There’s a good reason for the vicious animals on Dolparessa – the Flaxxshi wanted to protect their energy source. But why bring anything to barren Volparnu?
The frostbeast was really the worst of the worst – and Ari had beaten it bare-handed. Why wasn’t that an achievement?
I make that comment aloud. Wynne snorts and says: « Because it’s impossible. A good game-master doesn’t rest the outcome of the game on impossible feats. »
« You haven’t seen the list, » says Balin. « #58: “Build a perpetual motion machine.” »
The way down seems faster than the way up – doesn’t it always? We know we’ve reached the official boundary when we hear: “Ari del Eden’d, Lord Eden, Minister of K’ntasari Affairs. 26th to emanate, 94 in the color scale, resonates to 491. 2.184 meters tall, cock size 22.86 cm when erect, apparent age 31. Educator and holy man. Totem is Sequoiadendron giganteum, the giant sequoia, fixed star is Cor Leonis, the heart of the lion. Esoteric symbol is the Minchiate trump Il Leone, Leo. Dessert is dried nau’gsh and black walnut brioche. Function is combinatory initiation, proto-conscious tendency is stubbornness, designated Rocksolid. Blazon is raw sienna, within a bordure or, a lion salient gardant, or.”
Ari looks better immediately; it makes me realize how much he was hiding his discomfort. There’s no point of scolding him for it, either. I’d do the same in his position. My men need to be as tough as I am.
Well, most of them. I’ll keep a few of them softer – Ellery and Darius.
« All right, » says Wynne. « I’ll go to the foot of the mountain and yell as loudly as I can. Then somebody recognized come and snatch me out of the way. »
« One of them is up there, » says Balin. « I can see him getting ready to pull the trigger. »
« I can’t see anything, » says Wynne. « Even our senses are dulled. »
Wynne yells. The snow doesn’t budge. What happens is that the startled assassin loses his balance, grabbing wildly at a branch jutting out of the rock near him. Somehow, he manages to escape with his life, but he drops his gun, and it skids down the slope.
« Too easy, » Patrick mutters. Tommy looks at him quizzically. « These attackers – they aren’t very good, » he explains. « I know – I faced a neoninja once. I think they’re just meant to keep us busy while the real deal goes on outside. »
A depressing, albeit probably accurate deduction.
« Are you certain? » asks Whirljack. « If it’s really Molly, then she’s seriously trying to destroy us. »
« I don’t doubt it, » says Patrick. « But she couldn’t have done this on her own. She’s being used. »