« It’s really cold, » mutters Ace, as he struggles through the snow. « Really cold. »
Wynne says nothing, but I know his vlizaard loafers aren’t holding up. Under these circumstances, could they get frostbite? If only I could think of some way to provoke the pleroma into recognizing them.
The Holy Mountain looms in the distance. It’s enormous. We’ve walked for hours, and we seem to be getting no closer. Of course, the hovertrain didn’t go there. What would be the point of a pilgrimage if you could take the train to the station?
Mostly, we’re silent. It’s odd because usually the emanations are talkative – very talkative. Now, they’re worried and exhausted. I wish they would talk, because I can’t stop worrying about the ones who aren’t with us. We don’t even know where they are.
Suddenly, Balin grunts and topples sideways into the snow.
« Sniper! » Marius yells.
No sooner do I turn to look than the sniper is wiped from the face of the rocks by an avalanche. Balin struggles to his feet. « Hit me in the shoulder, » he says.
I race in the direction of the slide. « Where are you going? » calls Ross.
« We have to save him. »
« What? I don’t see the point in mercy, » says Marius.
« I do, » says Chase. « Interrogation. »
« Good thinking, » says Ross, jogging after me.
Balin follows. « Marius, stick with the others, or they’ll end up buried under snow, too. »
« Why me? » mutters Marius. « I’m supposed to protect…»
« Because you can’t run very fast on that leg, » says Wynne.
But when we reach the point of the slide, the path is covered with literally tons of snow. « I doubt he survived that, » Balin mutters. « It’s going to be impossible to find out, one way or the other. »
A line of black spots appears against the sky, moving along the edge of the crag. They rappel downward until they reach a point near us. As they waddle closer, it becomes clear that they are penguins dressed in ancient Himalayan garb. Out of the sleeves of their overlong robes they pull long rods tipped with a broad metal frame. I recognize them – they’re meltsticks, laser arrays used by the people of Volparnu to quickly clear away ice and snow. The penguins activate them, and the lasers extend between the edges of the frame, forming a grid which vaporizes the ice blocking the path. It’s remarkably efficient.
The way is clear, but the body of the attacker is missing. « They probably vanish from the pleroma when they die, since they’re just mental constructs. I wonder whether they take some kind of damage in the material world, mental or physical, or if killing them just kicks them out of the pleroma. If the latter, it’s possible that they could return. »
« I don’t even want to think about the last possibility, » says Ross. « If that’s true, we’ll never get rid of them. »
« Not without getting control of the situation and regaining consciousness, » says Balin. « We have to find and stop them where they live – Universe Prime. »
We continue the long hike. Finally, we reach the base of the mountain. Ace and Wynne are cold and exhausted. Marius’ leg continues to aggrieve him.
« Let’s rest for a bit, » Ross suggests. « Maybe we can build a fire. »
« How far ahead of us is the rest of your team? » I ask.
« Only a few hours, » says Wynne.
« I don’t see any tracks, » says Balin. « I don’t see any sign of them scaling the mountain. »
« The weather looks pretty bad up there, » says Marius. « The tracks might have been covered with snow. »
« We should’ve brought more provisions, » says Ace. « Those dough-notnuts didn’t last long. Normally, I would’ve thought to do that. My head feels like it’s full of pebbles. »
« I’ll bet we can find something, » says Ross. « There were supplies in the bomb shelter. »
« By extension, bringing some would’ve just weighted us down, » says Balin. « I’ll look around. »
A few minutes later, he yells for assistance. « I’d get this myself, he says, but my bad arm won’t take it. »
Ross and Balin struggle back with an enormous chest. « Emergency rations, » says Ross. When they get to the campfire, they open it.
« Lots of food, » says Balin, « but no medical supplies. »
It makes sense. Why would a recognized emanation need medical supplies?
« MRP’s» says Marius. « When we open them, they should make themselves. »
Ugh. When I was a girl in battle-training, we’d do maneuvers where the officers had to eat the same food as the enlisted soldiers. Meals ready-to-print. It was grim. Usually printed meals are just a little bland, but these measure your blood chemistry and add all kinds of supplements. By the end, it’s like a vitamin-flavored protein cake. I suppose it could be worse – those fortified algae-sticks we had at summer camp.
« This one is tenderloin of kasmil with a butterwine shroomlet sauce, » says Ross. « There’s a javamelon baguette and raspberry torte, and a packet of Frotsberg Cabernet ’07. »
« Mine is a bluedog, a cola and some lime gelatin, » says Chase.
« I got a protein cake and a fortified algae-stick, » says Wynne. « My luck is still fucked. »
« It’s food, » says Ace. « Right now, that’s all that matters. »
After resting for a while, we begin the long climb up the mountain. I want to ask Marius to stay at the bottom with Wynne and Ace, but I know he’ll never abandon me, despite his worsening leg. And would they be any safer if they stayed?
As long as I or one of the recognized ones leads, there’s a path. Sometimes the ledge is narrow, but amazingly, there are guard rails where no one has ever set foot before. « Were they always there, or is the pleroma is making it up as it goes? »
« We’ve wondered that ourselves, » says Ace. « What seems to be true is that once we’ve noticed a particular feature, it stays. »
« The theory being floated by those who like to think about those things – namely, Tarlach and Dermot – is that the pleroma does change, » says Ross. « It has to change because the component elements of the pleroma change. »
I agree with him. « It’s my gut instinct that the main part of this continent probably didn’t exist before the grove sprouted Ophion. But why put it so far away? »
« Maybe Circinus is farther away than the Draco dwarf or the Tucana dwarf? » Marius suggests. « I wish we could ask Rainier. »
« For a holy mountain, this is really kind of tame, » says Chase. « I would’ve expected, I dunno, angels or something. »
« Don’t say things like that, » Ross replies. « You might get what you ask for. »
But the holy mountain remains, predictably, a mountain, until we are about halfway up, and pass around a precipitous curve.
« Look, » says Balin, pointing. « You can see the peak – and what’s that shining thing? »
I can’t tell. It is like a flash of gold burning in the ray of imaginary sunlight splitting the clouds.
As we draw closer, the details begin to resolve through the glare. It’s a mountain temple constructed of elaborate golden spires. I’ve seen something like that in history vids, but I can’t place the style.
« Driscoll would know, » says Wynne.
« I’m really starting to get freaked out by this, » says Ace. « I feel incomplete, like the Mover has amnesia. »
Chase stops in the middle of the path. « I miss the other guys, » he says. « Even the ones I don’t really talk to. It’s just nice to know they’re there. »
Balin places an arm around him. « It’s going to be okay, » he says. It’s just a matter of time before they’re back. »
There’s a pilgrim’s station in a little recess at the side of the mountain. We stop for another rest. A small concession stand is centered in a circle of benches. It seems to be selling prayer flags, butter tea and shy yaklet kebabs. I haven’t had yaklet since I lived on Volparnu.
I ring the bell. A penguin dressed in a parka and a fur cap emerges.
« We don’t have any money, » Ross points out.
« Knights of the Quest who have undertaken the pilgrimage to the holy Mt. Ouroboros may establish credit, » says the avian shopkeeper. Instantly, five orders of kebabs, five cups of tea, and a flag appear on the counter. The penguin scuttles into the back room.
« Predictable, » says Balin. « I’ll share mine. »
« Wynne can have some of mine too, » says Ross, « and if Marius and Chase share with Ace, we’re covered. »
« I can share. »
They look at me incredulously, and shake their heads.
« What do you think that Knights of the Quest stuff meant? » asks Ace.
« I think it means that you should’ve completed that quest months ago, and this is what you get for being distracted. »
« Probably true, » says Marius. « But I’m guessing that we’re all supposed to be Knights of the Quest, and it’s only according that status to the ones the pleroma recognizes. »
I examine the prayer flag. It’s a lotus mandala of 100 petals matching the color space.
« What exactly are we supposed to pray to? » asks Balin. « Ashtara is made up of us. »
« I’m coming to feel that’s a dangerously simple view, » says Ross. « First, you’re forgetting the trees. Second, I and I is more than the sum of His parts. And nothing that we know about our origin explains the pleroma. Where did it come from? It’s one thing to say that it’s a product of I and I’s imagination, but we spend most of our existence living here, and we aren’t imaginary. I wish Dermot were here. He’d explain it so much better. »
« Maybe we should pray to pudge, » says Chase. « If it weren’t for pudge, we wouldn’t exist. »
« That’s so stupidly wrongheaded it’s unbelievable, » says Marius. « If Dermot or Malachi were here, they’d tell you why. »
« None of us is really equipped for philosophical speculation, » says Ace. « Let’s just concentrate on climbing the peak. »
« But in a way, it’s true, » I tell them. « In another way, it’s meaningless. If it weren’t for the stars, I wouldn’t exist. And humankind did pray to the stars once, among other gods. Or I could be reductive and say that it’s all science, and we don’t need to pray at all. Either way, it’s leaving out the mystery. A mechanistic world-view says nothing about the depth and subtlety of our existence. »
« Whoa, » says Chase. « I didn’t know you could do that. »
« Of course she can, » says Ross. « If she didn’t have a philosophical bent, then Malachi and Dermot wouldn’t even exist. »
« That’s the first thing I’ve heard in a long time that makes any sense at all, » says Balin.
« The thing that really sucks, » says Chase, « is that I’m completely out of gear. This being a holy mountain and everything, you’d think at least there would be a head shop. »
« Lord love a dobergator, » mutters Marius.
« Some Sparkle wouldn’t come amiss right now, » I mutter. On impulse, I reach into my jacket pocket. Sure enough, there’s a bubble pack with the familiar RR-3 logo. « Better living through chemicals. » Chase, Ross, Wynne and Ace hold their hands out eagerly.
« I’m not into that sort of thing, » says Balin.
« Tara invented it, » says Ross. « She manufactures it. »
« Is now really the best time to get high? » asks Marius.
« It’s a mild stimulant, mood elevator and sensory enhancer, » I tell them. « It’s harmless, and it might improve your focus right now. »
« It’s mostly made from cownip, » says Chase. « If you were a mookau, you’d be tripping, but it doesn’t have that effect on humans. »
The final ascent is up an interminably long set of narrow stairs carved into the rock. I don’t feel at all tired, but it’s clear that Wynne and Ace are exhausted. I don’t want to think about what would happen if one of them slipped.
« How much time has passed? The sun hasn’t changed its place in the sky. »
« But it does, » says Wynne. « Over the ocean, it’s setting. At the treedominiums, it’s mid-morning. Here, it’s noon. »
« I just realized, » says Marius. « The sun doesn’t work that way on the outside. »
« It makes it kind of useless to mark time. And you can’t really use it as a positional locator either, since it doesn’t seem to change position on any sort of gradient. »
« It’s a mood thing, » Chase admits. « But why would you need the sun to keep time? That’s what musicians are for. »
« I see Tara’s point, » says Balin. « We don’t have any musicians with us. »
« We were attacked, » says Ross. « How much time has passed outside is important – who knows what could’ve happened? »
Another thing I’d rather not think about. But we’re finally at the peak. The temple is perched on a ledge across a chasm swathed in clouds. It is a dazzling array of golden spires arranged around a central pagoda.
« There’s a cable car, » says Ace. « Why am I not feeling terribly good about this? »
« Because it would be an ideal location to be attacked by a sniper? » says Balin, as we get on board.
Actually, we’re attacked by rambats. The rambat is neither ram nor bat, but rather the unfortunate result of a genetic manipulation intended to allow livestock to better defend themselves from Dolparessa’s savage nocturnal predators. The problem is that it proved impossible to pasture them, as they kept making aerial escapes. That and the combination of savage horns and pointy teeth. There are, however, commercial rambat farms, but they cripple the animals by severing the tendons to the wings. I find the practice cruel, and refuse to allow the meat to be served at the Dolparessan court, despite the fact that leg of rambat is quite delicious.
« Duck! » shouts Marius, as one of the beasts flies directly at us.
« The window! » shouts Balin. « Get back! »
There’s a shower of glass as a rambat makes impact with his horns. Most of us manage to get out of the way, but Wynne’s hand is cut. The rambat forces its way into the car.
« Get behind us, » says Marius, who then pitches backward from the impact of a sniper’s bullet.
« It just wants to get through, » says Balin, shoving Wynne’s head down as the rambat weaves erratically through the car. « I’ll help it. » He launches a side-kick towards the glass. He is large, the second largest of the emanations, but he is more well-muscled than the giant Ari. Balin is a tank.
The rambat flies out the window, heading straight for the sniper hanging on the cliff wall. Several others follow through the passage although the bulk of the herd, wisely, detours around the moving car.
« Fuck, » says Marius, « now my arm is messed up. How am I supposed to protect Tara like this? »
« You’re not. You’re going to stay here, safe at the temple. »
Before Marius can protest, the arriving gondola is met by a penguin wearing monastic robes of fur and silk. « Initiates are welcome, » it tells us, « but you must leave your servants outside. »
I crouch to look the penguin in the eye, trying to look stern. It’s difficult not to laugh. « My companions are weary, » I say insistently. « I refuse to enter without them. »
After a minute, the penguin flaps in exasperation. « Very well. Of course, if the temple is defiled by the profane, the whole thing will need to be re-consecrated. A lama’s work is never done. »
The central structure is round, in the shape of a giant stupa. The floor is a tile mosaic patterned like the prayer flag. Four of the petals have symbols: a phoenix, an Archonist cross, a highweed leaf, and the crossed axe and ski pole. Suspended above the center is what looks to be a crystalline orb. Upon closer inspection, it’s revealed to be a holographic projection, an oddly convex image of the entire pleroma. Somehow, it’s possible to see everything – if I want to inspect an area more closely, it magnifies it automatically without affecting the image seen by the others.
« It looks blank to me, » says Ace. « I guess it only responds to authorized users. »
« I’ll bet those red x’s are the invaders, » says Marius.
Ross whistles. « So many? »
« I think not. If you inspect our own location, you’ll see two x’s here. »
Marius tenses perceptibly.
« No, dude, » says Chase. « That’s Ace and Wynne. »
I nod. « Now, if we look at the big picture again, you’ll see that there are lots of lone x’s, but five clumps of them: seven in one group, ten in two groups, and eleven in the remaining two. »
« It’s us, » says Ace, « and all 55 accounted for. What a relief. »
« The group of seven is close, » says Balin. « It looks like they’re on the other side of the mountain. »
« Why is one group in the middle of the ocean? » asks Chase.
« I’ll bet they’re on the swan boat, » says Marius. « They might have thought to stage a naval attack. I’ll lay odds Benbow is with them. And it looks like my old group is some distance outside of New Merenis. »
« One of the groups is way out, » says Balin. « It looks like they’re trying to get to the end of the world. »
« Or maybe Ophion? » suggests Ross.
« Balin, you can see into Marius’ branch, right? »
When he nods, I say, « Marius, you’re staying here. You can keep an eye on that projector, and Balin can stay in contact with you. »
« She’s right, » Ross agrees. « We need someone here to coordinate our strategy. You’re too wounded to be much use in a fight, but your talent in battle makes you a much better choice for coordinator than Balin, Chase or myself. »
I can see in his eyes that Marius is hurt, but I can’t allow him to risk further damage, not until we know what’s going on. And then I realize that he’s an emanation, and they don’t do well on their own.
« All right. Balin and Chase – go down the mountain and bring those emanations back here. Wynne and Ace can gather their strength while Ross and I try to figure out what it takes for the pleroma to recognize you. »
« Ask the penguin, » Balin suggests as he leaves.
The monk returns to us with a box of first-aid supplies. « His shoulder needs attending, » he says, gesturing a flipper at Marius. « You will need to assist. I’m afraid I will not be very adept at bandaging. »
I help Marius to remove his parka – and I’m shocked at the amount of blood. The thick, thermal lining of the coat soaked up a lot of the moisture. « There aren’t bacteria in here? » I ask, suddenly worried. « This won’t get infected? »
« There must be, » says Ace. « We can get active culture yogurts at the food court. »
« I’m going to go on the assumption that there aren’t, since the first aid supplies include cleansing towelettes, but no disinfectants. »
« Sir Balin also needs treatment, » says the penguin. « Where did he go? »
« Down the other side of the mountain. Why do you only recognize Marius, Balin, Chase and Ross? »
The penguin looks surprised – well, for a penguin, at least. « They are initiates of the Holy Mountain. »
« How do you get to be an initiate? »
« By completing one of the qualifying achievements of the Holy Quest. »
Now we’re getting somewhere. « And what are the achievements of the quest? »
The penguin shrugs. « How would I know? I’m a monk. The rules of chivalry are beyond me. »
Ailann Tiarnan. His Most Sublime and Eminent Radiance, 2nd Archon of Skarsia. 10th to emanate, 64 in the color scale, resonates to 311. 1.833 meters tall, cock size 17.78 cm when erect, apparent age 44. Living God of Skarsia. Totem is Cedrus atlantica, the Atlas cedar, fixed star is Atlas, he who dares or suffers. Esoteric symbol is the Minchiate trump Imperatore, the Emperor, Western Duke or Western Archon. Dessert is Tara Royale, molded nau’gsh roll slices filled with custard. Function is adjudicative stabilization, proto-conscious tendency is ambition, designated More. Blazon is ipsissimal blue, within a bordure argent, on the Atlas Tree eradicated, proper, an Archonate cross, argent.
« What just happened? » I’m hoping for an answer from the emanated branch, but he says nothing.
Then Marius says, « I can connect with Ailann’s branch now. They’re back at Daniel’s apartment. »
« What did Ailann do to trigger the recognition? »
« I don’t know. It seems like it happened after he sat on the couch. »
« Maybe this is completely random. If that’s the case, we’re screwed. »
« I can access Ailann’s memories now – and so can you, » says Marius.
He takes my hand, and suddenly, I’m in Ailann’s head.