Wintermoon Ice

Suzanne Francis

Mushroom eBooks

Copyright © 2010, Suzanne Francis

First published in United Kingdom in 2010 by Mushroom eBooks.

This eBook edition published in 2010 by Mushroom eBooks, an imprint of Mushroom Publishing, Bath, BA1 4EB, United Kingdom
www.mushroom-ebooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN 9781843198321

Contents

Author's Note

1 – Tessa

2 – Suvi

3 – Tessa

4 – Suvi

5 – Tessa

6 – Suvi

7 – Tessa

8 – Suvi

9 – Tessa

10 – Suvi

11 – Tessa

12 – Suvi

13 – Tessa

14 – Suvi

15 – Tessa

16 – Suvi

17 – Tessa

18 – Suvi

19 – Suvi and Tessa

20 – Tessa

About the author

Books by the author

To Mike, Fabienne
and
William
with Love

Author's Note

I'd like to recognize Stephen McCabe, who provided the excellent photograph I used to create the cover of Wintermoon Ice. And, as always, I must thank Martyn from Mushroom eBooks, my patient and tireless editor.

Many of the characters in Wintermoon Ice first appeared in an earlier series of mine, called Song of the Arkafina, also published by Mushroom. You will find out much more about Jack and Katy Bennett, as well as Tom Finn, within those four volumes, beginning with Heart of Hythea.

Chapter One

Tessa

A bird without legs must always fly.

Theodore Black, PhD, Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish

* * * *

“Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with a ghost?” This from a slender blonde woman, who spoke to her companion in a smoky voice that seemed a little low-timbre for her pixyish face and haircut.

“Why, have you?” The dark-haired female at her side sounded pleased. Her voice was higher, almost shrill.

“Kind of... I’ve been reading my grandmother’s journal.”

Jane’s lips, dark against her creamy complexion, parted in a grin. “Hooray! I would much rather see you with a dead guy than Ted Black any day. Can’t imagine what you see in that troll.”

Her words, caught in the stiff breeze that tried to push them backwards as they walked along Wharf Lane, reached the ears of the teenagers following them. One of the boys, a youth with the shoulders of a fullback, grinned and elbowed his partner. But neither spoke.

More conversation drifted back. The tall woman, Dr. Tessa Kivelson, spoke again. “Really, Jane. Ted is a brilliant researcher, very witty, experienced...”

“I’ll say. He has at least thirty extra birthdays on you. Practically old enough to be your...”

“It’s twenty-two years, and he looks very young for his age. I know you don’t like Ted, but you might as well deal with it. He and I are getting married.” The blonde’s tone was affectionate. “But you know you’ll always be my best friend.”

Jane grimaced. “Not for long. Turdy Black will see to that. He wants you all to himself.”

One of the boys, hearing their anthropology professor described in such colorful terms, had to stifle a sudden giggle. The blonde turned her head sharply, but they had already ducked into the darkened doorway of a warehouse. The smaller of the two spoke in a furious whisper. “Keep it down, Tree. Do you want them to hear us?”

Tree glanced around the corner at the retreating backs of their quarry. He shook his head firmly. “Course not. Come on, they’re gonna get to the alleyway before we do.”

The smaller boy, Stan, sprinted with all the fleet grace of a running back towards the next cross street. Tree followed more slowly, huffing and puffing. Once they turned the corner, Stan whispered, “Don’t be an idiot. Those chicks won’t see us coming. All we have to do is climb over the fence into the container yard, and then drop into the back of Provedore’s. We can cut them off easy.”

Tree grunted in agreement as he hauled his bulk up the chain link fence that enclosed the wharf yards. Stan dropped over easily, avoiding the rusty barbed wire slung along the top.

Tree’s clothing caught. He wobbled precariously on the top before a ripping sound accompanied his fall to the hard-packed dirt of the yard. “Shit! I shredded my shirt just now. Coach will be pissed if I cut myself.”

A dog began to bark in the distance, quickly followed by a high and terrified yowling. Within a few seconds, all was silent.

Stan wasn’t paying attention. He peered over to a three-high stack of containers. “Shut the fuck up, Tree. I saw a light over there, just now. If we get busted for trespassing it isn’t going to look good.” The light swept the side of the bottom container, revealing a faded blue star, and the words “WorldPak Shipping.”

Tree shrugged, his big shoulders rolling like an avalanche. “Quit worrying. I got a couple friends on the force. These yard dicks don’t count for nothing.” He shambled off across the fenced-in square, heading for the south corner, where Provedore Way backed up to a high, locked gate. Stan followed, somewhat reassured by his friend’s lack of caution. The lights followed as well, but neither boy turned his head to look.

“What does Dr. Black want with those two, anyhow?” Tree slunk into the shade of the giant crane that handled cargo from the container ships that came and went in Cloudy Bay.

“Something real lame.” Stan grinned. “He said he wanted Blondie’s purse so he could get her keys and then decorate her office for some sort of surprise party.”

Tree chuckled. “Well don’t that beat all. Wonder what he really needs ’em for?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he’s a stinking liar. I heard lotsa stuff about Dr. Black from my Dad, ’cause they went to school together. Dad said he cheated on every single test. So, old Turdy will have to pay plenty to keep me quiet. Otherwise, they can nail him for conspiracy to commit assault. That’s worth five in the slammer.”

Stan gawked at him. “Really? He must want something bad to risk that. Well, I’m in for everything we can get. But we have to catch those chicks first. Come on, lardass. The entrance to Provedore Lane is over here.” They slunk across the yard, keeping to the shadows.

The two women continued along Wharf Street, not hurrying. The shorter one, Dr. Jane Piper, shivered and hugged her arms to herself for warmth. “I wish you would move some place closer to town, Tessa. Walking in this wind is killing me. And the neighborhood just keeps getting worse and worse.”

“Oh?” Tessa wasn’t really listening. She added dreamily, “I love living by the water, in Gran’s old house. It still smells like the sugar cookies she used to bake...”

Jane punched her in the arm, abruptly bringing her out of her reverie. “I said did you read the article in the paper about the murder here a couple of weeks ago?”

Tessa grinned and raised her hands in a gesture of ignorance. “I don’t subscribe to the paper. Nothing but ads and depressing stuff.”

“It was all over the news...”

“No TV either, you know that. Look, why don’t you just tell me about it?”

Jane frowned. “Well, there were these two thugs, wearing black suits. They stomped some poor homeless guy practically to death. Only one witness, some big blond guy. Apparently, he tried to help, but when the cops arrived, he split before they had time to ask him any questions. Homeless guy was a mess, died soon after. Guess who had to do the autopsy?”

Tessa sighed patiently. “Was it you? That must have been awful.”

Her friend shrugged. “I’ve seen worse. Why only last week I...”

Tessa broke in, not really wanting to listen to another grisly anecdote from Jane. Her work as a pathologist at St. Luke’s Hospital meant she had a ready supply. “Remember I told you a while ago how I accidentally knocked a tile loose when I was cleaning the fireplace?”

Jane nodded.

“Well, I finally got around to fixing it yesterday afternoon. I was about to slap on some mortar, but I saw something sort of shiny in the crack. When I pulled the tile away I found a secret hiding place.”

“Really? Sounds like a scene straight out of Nancy Drew. What was in it?”

“A funny old mirror. There was an old journal of my Gran’s as well. I started reading it last night.”

The wind picked up a chill and they were glad to turn the corner onto Water Street, a narrow lane skirting the wharf. Street lamps barely penetrated the gloom between the two and three story warehouses on either side of the street. They walked along the center of the road, arm in arm.

Jane stared at the shadowy aisles in dismay, listening to the shrieking calls of gulls disturbed by their passage. “Is this where you met your ghost? Wait! Don’t tell me until we get back to Seadrift. This place gives me the creeps.”

Tessa laughed. “You let your job get to you too much. All those dead people have made you paranoid.” She took a deep breath and looked at the stars, shining like sugar crystals on a deep blue cupcake. “Cheer up. It’s a nice night for a walk, especially after all that Mexican food we just ate. Weren’t those tamales delicious?”

* * * *

Stan and Tree, from their hiding place just inside the alley, heard the women approaching. “I’ll take Dr. Kivelson. Dr. Black said we mustn’t hurt her, just make sure we get her purse. You can take the other one — Jane, I think her name is.”

Tree’s brow formed laborious creases. “Do I got to get her purse too?”

Stan shook his head and chuckled quietly in the darkness. “It doesn’t matter about her. Actually, I think old Turdy-boy would be pretty grateful if you put that smart-mouthed bitch out of action for a while. Might be worth an extra-good grade.”

Tree formed a fist and then cracked his knuckles. Two black shadows, moving as silently as a warm breeze, wavered behind them.

“OK, are you ready? Here they come. Now remember, don’t hurt Blondie, OK? Leave her to...” Stan gave a startled gurgle as he felt strong hands wrap around his throat. His feet left the ground, as if by magic. “Quit messing around, Tree!” Stan’s voice was reduced to a furious whisper as he made a grab for the vise-like fingers that were slowly closing off his windpipe.

Tree had been wearing a t-shirt, he never felt the cold — way too much bulk. But the hands that were unhurriedly suffocating Stan emerged from long sleeves of some heavy woolen material. Spots swam before his eyes as he began a belated struggle for survival. His terrified jerky twists made so little impact on the arms holding him that they might have been made of stone.

Next to him, Stan could sense that Tree was engaged in a similar battle. The hands around his neck shifted effortlessly, pinning his neck in the crook of an elbow. With his windpipe almost crushed, Stan could only squeak in agony as a blunt finger like a steel cable dug first into one eye socket and then the other.

Other equally implacable fingers drove Tree’s jaw sideways, until the bones and tendons ripped apart like a shucked oyster. As his tongue lolled out, with a tormented grunt, they closed the jaw with crushing force, severing the tip. It landed on the dusty ground at his feet, while warm gouts of blood splashed all over the toes of his two hundred and fifty dollar Nike sneakers.

Jane and Tessa strolled by the opening of the alley, without looking inside. Tessa was saying, “I can’t wait to show you the journal. There is something very odd about it.”

Stan and Tree didn’t hear any more of their conversation. Two meaty hands gripped two right ears with lethal precision and then the boy’s necks snapped percussively, like frozen twigs. One of the dark figures picked up both limp bodies with easy strength, and walked back down the alley towards the chain-link gate. The other carefully smoothed its black suit and stepped on to Water Street.

Just then, Jane’s mobile phone erupted into a tinny rendition of “Poison” by Alice Cooper. She groaned. “That had better not be the hospital.” Sighing, she checked the caller ID. “Sorry, Tess, I need to answer this.”

Tessa leaned against the side of the nearest warehouse. “Take your time. I’ll have a smoke.”

Jane frowned her disapproval, but was soon distracted by a deep discussion about something that sounded like “mesothelioma.” After digging in the bottom of her voluminous purse, Tessa pulled out a very tatty looking leather pouch. Inside was a quantity of pipe tobacco and a small meerschaum, stained yellow with age. The bowl had been carved into a delicately shaped unicorn’s head. Beads and charms adorned the stem. Tessa spent a moment packing the pipe and then lit up. The smell of apples and smoke hung motionless in the cold winter air, reminding her once again of Grandmother Markku. The pipe had been hers as well.

Across the street, the shadow in the dark suit paused in a doorway and lit a cigarette of its own.

Jane was soon deep into another case. “Look, just make a new tray of slides and I will sign them out first thing in the morning.” Tessa, puffing peacefully on her pipe, stared off into the gloom, trying not to listen. Not that Jane’s job was all that different from her own, as her friend fondly pointed out from time to time. “Archaeology... Pathology... It’s all dead stuff, Tessa. Mine is just a little fresher.”

Too fresh, at times... Tessa thought to herself, remembering the homeless guy.

“That’s why the morgue uses toe tags, silly.” Jane laughed blithely as she chided her partner on the phone.

Her job sometimes exposed her to the worst in human behavior, making Jane a rather cynical companion, though she balanced it with a dark sense of humor. Tessa had learned to ignore her dire pronouncements about the state of the world. She wasn’t worried about her safety, living by the docks on Cloudy Bay.

Just then, the dark suited figure threw down the cigarette butt and began a leisurely stroll down the street towards the two women.

“OK, then. See you tomorrow.”Tessa knocked the ashes from her pipe and replaced it in the pouch as Jane’s conversation wound down. Now that she no longer had the phone call to distract her, Jane launched into her favorite tirade. “I should show you some slides of squamous cell carcinoma. When are you going to give up that disgusting habit?”

Tessa frowned at her in mock anger. “Tomorrow is Saturday, you know. Working too hard is just as bad for your health as smoking.”

Jane shrugged as they started along the street again. “We are short staffed, but the boss doesn’t want to hire anyone new.” She stared out into the bay, at the lights reflected in the water. “One of these days, I swear I am going to buy a boat and just sail away.”

Tessa rolled her eyes. She had heard this all before, many times. “You need to learn to handle one first, Jane. The yacht club has lessons on the weekends. Why don’t we go sometime?”

“I’d love to but...” A muffled bang and tremor made her quickly turn her head. “What was that? Sounded like something heavy hitting the ground.”

“Probably just someone else working too hard. This is an industrial area, after all.” Tessa grinned as Jane made a face at her.

Neither noticed the thing in the dark suit picking up speed as it closed the distance between them. A second dark figure slid from around the corner of the next cross street.

“Hey! Over here!”

Tessa stopped and peered across the lane. A tall man with long reddish-blond hair waved and shouted in their direction.

Jane followed her gaze. “Who is that? Do you know him?”

“Nope, I don’t go for the crazy types, myself. Shall we keep walking and ignore him?”

Jane nodded and clutched Tessa’s arm a little tighter. “Just head for the corner. There’s another guy up there and he looks big enough to handle Thor. We can always play damsels in distress...”

The blond man waved his arm. “Which one of you lovely ladies wants to be my friend for the evening? I have lots of money!”

Jane snorted in disgust. “What a creep! I have a mind to...”

He whistled appreciatively and waggled his hips. “Come on, baby. You know you want me.”

Tessa held on to Jane, who had been about to cross the road. “Let’s just run for it. I know a shortcut through the buildings.” Tessa lunged confidently under a sheet of rusty corrugated iron, before dragging Jane along a path that wound between the closely set warehouses and over a board bridge crossing a narrow canal. They conducted much of this retreat in pitch darkness, but within ten minutes they were at the door of Tessa’s cottage, Seadrift, out of breath but unharmed.

* * * *

Once he saw the women depart, the blond man stopped shouting and loped across the road, cutting off the two black-suited creatures from their prey. He waited for them in the mouth of the alley.

“Evening, gentlemen. How nice to see you again. Sorry to interrupt, but you will have to abandon your little game for this evening. I believe we have some unfinished business.” He withdrew a stout length of iron chain from behind his back and twirled it suggestively.

The dark suited ones did not speak. One gazed back at him, its eyes cold with impenetrable loathing. They were very like the eyes of a seagull; always hungry, always angry. Jakob studied its face, thinking how a Polydactyl almost, but not quite, managed to look human. In the harsh glare of the mercury vapor lamp its skin looked bluish — pale as a cadaver, and unnaturally smooth, like some sort of demonic infant. But Jakob knew of another quite important difference, one hidden by the boots that covered its feet.

“Shall we get started?”

They stepped towards him, with their fingers flexed wide.

The Polydactyls did not carry weapons. They had no need, for they each had the strength of a dozen men, and the dogged determination of a hundred. You couldn’t stop them unless you killed them. But Jakob was not afraid. He had plenty of strength of his own and far more imaginative ways to use it.

He backed into the alleyway, and they followed. As the first one made a grab for him, he swung the chain hard, wrapping it around his assailant’s arm. With a twist of Jakob’s brawny shoulders, the first Polydactyl slammed in to the second. Both fell in a tangled heap amongst a row of empty metal drums, creating a deafening clamor. They stood again, hardly scratched, and sauntered forward.

Jakob tutted. “You creeps just don’t know when to quit, do you?”  He slashed the chain across both his assailant’s faces, laying the flesh open to the bone. Clear fluid dripped down, leaving little smoking rivulets that stained the concrete yellow. Neither Polydactyl slowed their advance. Jakob backed up, realizing too late he had stepped into a trap

* * * *

Jane watched Tessa poke at the glowing heap of coals in the fireplace. “How in the hell do you do that?”

“Well, I just put a lot of wood on...”

She gave a groan of frustration. “Not that, stupid! I meant run full speed in the dark, and find your way through all those passages. I don’t know anyone with night vision as good as yours.”

Tessa scratched her head. “It’s just something I have always been able to do. Gran said I was blessed by the faeries.”

“Fairies, eh?” She took a sip of coffee and nestled back on Tessa’s threadbare couch amongst the profusion of throws, pillows and stuffed animals. “Your grandmother sounds like quite an eccentric. Probably where you get it from.”

Tessa stood and gave the fire another fierce prod. “She was amazing. I was so lucky to have her.”

Jane shrugged. “Sorry. I forget sometimes how close you two were.”

“She was the only family I had, remember?” Tessa handed Jane a tattered leather-bound volume. “Here is the journal I was telling you about. I have only read a few pages, but it looks like it was an account of Suvi’s wartime experiences. She must have translated it into English when she came here. I wonder why she would have bothered?”

Jane hazarded a guess. “Maybe she wanted someone else to read it? Which war are we talking about anyway? World War One?”

“I don’t know yet. None of the place names are at all familiar. She seems to be living in a place called Severnessa. Have you ever heard of it?”

Jane shook her head as she nibbled at some bitter chocolate, and chased it with coffee. “Not Inverness, like in Scotland?”

“No, it definitely says Severnessa. Grandmother had perfect handwriting. See? Take a look.”

Jane did. Tessa was right — the names were exotic. Berengarth. Arkanjela. Lake Copaheg. Fareniis Narrows.

“So who did you fall in love with? That is what I really want to know.” Jane gave Tessa a sly glance.

“Here is an early entry from April 7th.” Tessa pointed to the neatly printed script. “She’s talking about her friend, Ludde. He is a fisherman who lives along the coast from her:

Ludde is forty, perhaps, but he seems much older, like a relic from times past. In his dark blue eyes I see the depths of the ocean, where such creatures hide as never see the light of the sun. He is a mystery to me, is Ludde. As strong as three grown men put together, but as ignorant as a child about the ways of the world. Doesn’t talk much except when he is drinking.

But in his quiet way, he is a friend, maybe the only one I have since I started Carina. He gives me enough smoked fish to feed the children and Chelah, and in return, I mend his rough fisherman’s clothes or cut his long hair. It is the color of a Dureg’s mane, and just as thick.

Jane’s tone was teasing. “I didn’t know you went for strong and silent. Ted is more the weak and whiny type if you ask me.”

Tessa frowned. “I didn’t. Ask you, that is.” Then she changed the subject. “What’s a dureg; any idea?”

Jane shrugged. “Never heard of it. Must be some weird African animal.”

* * * *

Spying a rusty fire escape ladder ten feet above his head, Jakob jumped straight up and caught the lowest rung. He kicked hard and sent the Polydactyls reeling backwards. Before they could regain their balance, he was on top of them, laying in a series of bone-shattering punches. They took them, all of them, without so much as a grunt. Jakob decided it was time to end the fight. From a baldric slung across his back, he withdrew a long two-handed sword with a jeweled hilt. It gleamed cold and blue in the light of the street lamps.

With a fearsome cry that sounded something like “Asta ne faircorwan,” Jakob was upon them, blade flashing. He beheaded the closest Polydactyl, and gave a cry of pain as its smoking blood splashed against his bare arm. This distraction almost cost him his life. The second waded in and grabbed him by the waist, locking his hands at his sides. Jakob felt his ribs compressed to the cracking point. He snapped his head forward in a vicious butt that smashed the Polydactyl’s nose, spraying his chest with more blood. His captor responded by tightening its grip until Jakob’s head swam in agony.

Twisting his wrist, Jakob managed to turn his sword so that the blade faced upwards. Using all his strength, he forced his right arm downward, so that he could bend it at the elbow. Then, leaning forward, he brought his face close and bit hard on the Poly’s broken flesh. It gave a tiny grunt but loosened its hold slightly. Jakob felt as though he had swallowed burning oil as his mouth and throat erupted into fiery pain. “Garr... Die, you shite stain. Die for what your kind did to Maia.”

With another cry, Jakob forced his sword between the Poly’s legs and brought it straight upwards, cleaving its gonads and then its pelvis cleanly in half. As its legs went from under it, the Poly let go of Jakob and dropped without making a sound. It writhed mechanically, like some crippled insect, still trying to rise, to attack again. Jakob finished it off with a calculated thrust through the heart, then used his shirt to wipe as much of the caustic blood from his skin as he could. When he got home, he would bathe in vinegar to neutralize the rest. But for now, he had some tidying to do. He stuffed the severed head into the shirt of its former owner, picked up the bundle and disappeared, with a rush of displaced air. After a moment, he returned, and shouldered the other body. Then he stepped away again, into silence. The alkali that remained in the alley would occasion little comment in an industrial area.

* * * *

Jane spent a few moments idly perusing the journal, then put it back on the table, next to the mirror. “So what’s next, girl detective?”

Tessa’s eyes lit with enthusiasm. “I’ll do some research at the Beckwith Library, first off. I want to find out more about my grandmother’s life. She never told me any of this stuff when I lived with her. There must be a record of these places somewhere.”

“What about that dig in Anenoa? I thought you were supposed to be spending all your spare time on that.”

“On Ted’s holy grail? It can wait. He’s been sending his graduate students there for years. No one has found a single bone yet — though according to local legend it’s supposed to be the location of some kind of relic sacred to the Irrakish. Ted located the site years ago, as a student, and he’s convinced we’ll find something if we keep digging.”

“Well, you know Ted. Head like a breeze block.”

Tessa grimaced at this unkindness. “He gave up on it for awhile. Then about six months ago he started again, and told me I should reopen the dig. He promised it would be good for both our careers. So I did. But I haven’t found much of anything — unless you count potsherds and vegetable matter. Still, though...” She paused and shook her head.

“Still what?”

“There is something odd about it. Strange shell and bead necklaces, and the remains of a high earthwork, like nothing else in the area. I don’t blame Ted for being interested in it — I get the feeling there is something there, too.” Tessa laughed self-deprecatingly. “Listen to me — I’m starting to sound like him.”

“Guess I should get moving.” Jane stood and stretched. “Got an early date with some slides in the morning.”

“Are you going to walk back?” Tessa had a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“No, I don’t think so. As I’ve tried to tell you many times, the streets are dangerous at this time of night. I’ll ring Smitty at Ace Cabs. He owes me a favor.” She dug in her purse for her mobile, then grumbled, “No proper phone service in the boondocks, of course.” After making the call, Jane settled back to finish her coffee.

Tessa stared at the fire for a long while before she spoke again. “You know that word — boondocks — actually has nothing to do with docks or water? It’s from a Tagalog word, bundok, which means mountain. American GI’s brought it back to the US, using it to describe isolated places that are hard to get to.”

“Thanks for the lecture, Professor Kivelson.”

Tessa sighed. “I wish I was a professor. Right now, I’m only Assistant Instructor Kivelson. But,” she added, brightening, “Ted says he has me on a fast track for tenure. All I have to do is...”

“Everything he says,” Jane finished for her, as the cab’s horn sounded. “Stick to the ghost, that’s my advice. You will be better off in the long run. Ciao!”

“Bye-bye,” Tessa called to Jane, and then circumnavigated her little house, closing all the shutters against the chill mist coming in off the bay.

Grandmother Markku’s cottage stood within a cluster of tumbledown fishing shacks, their boards as bleached as washed up bones on the shoreline. But flashes of color — lines of limp nets hung to dry, potted petunias, overturned rowboats — belied this lifelessness. Little Sardinia, the locals called it, not for the Mediterranean island, but rather for the resemblance the tiny dwellings bore to the familiar tins of fish.

Little Sardinia had once belonged to Suvi Markku, and now it belonged to Tessa.

Most of her neighbors came and went with the seasons. Wintertime meant few permanent occupants. Joe Romine, the retired fisherman. Ellie Rayne, an elderly woman who lived alone. Recently a plume of smoke had appeared above a ramshackle combination house and boatshed on the edge of the settlement, but Tessa hadn’t met whoever had moved in there yet.

Ted’s nasal voice rang in her head. “Sell up, Tessie. You are starving while you sit on a goddamn gold lobster pot.”

It was a long-standing argument between them. But Tessa would never evict Captain Romine or Miss Rayne or any of the others from their homes, nor would she join Ted in his soulless gated community on the other side of town.

The water slapped the shore, but otherwise the night seemed eerily quiet, almost ice-locked. A white ring shone dully around the moon.

“Beware girl. ’Tis a night for faerie mischief,” Gran would have said.

She felt a curious thrill of not-quite-fear and then shook it off, chastising herself for letting Jane’s dour pronouncements get to her. Nevertheless, when Tessa went inside she locked her door, something she would normally not bother to do.

After blowing out the lantern in the front room, she went into the largest of the three closet-sized bedrooms, the one that had once belonged to Suvi Markku. She undressed quickly and got into bed. Seadrift had no outside electrical power, only a small solar panel that fed a battery. Clouds had swallowed the moon, leaving it very dark inside. Tessa waited for sleep, but it did not come.

“Maybe if I read a little.” Tessa spoke out loud as she reached for the journal and her book light. She started with the entry dated April 17th.

A curious thing happened as I was on my way back from Fredrik’s...

Chapter Two

Suvi

The Snake child will require a great deal of socialization in order to fit in with the other dark Soli. Expect aggressive behavior on the part of boys. Girls may be shy and withdrawn. Work to be taken home will likely be returned unfinished. A Snake child will become a service worker as an adult, so education should be strictly practical with plenty of physical activity.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

The blackout rules made the streets very dark. Suvi could not even use the lamp on her motapede to see her way along Rikard Svaate, but as there were no caravelos on the road she felt safe enough. She passed barely visible houses, their windows blanketed or shuttered to keep in the light. No one wanted to give the Berengarthen aeroplanes a target.

Her hands, though they were clothed in heavy fur gauntlets, felt almost numb, and Suvi guessed the temperature must be well below freezing. She would have to watch for patches of ice on the road ahead. The crater-sized potholes left by the bombs filled quickly with water and froze, leaving some parts of the thoroughfare like a skating rink. She paused to wrap a muffler more tightly over her mouth and cheeks, and then set off along the road again, pedaling madly to restart the engine.

She heard the squeal of brakes seconds before she saw the caravelo. A dark hump appeared at the edge of her peripheral vision, and then she was on the ground, with her motapede lying on her chest. Headlights, diffused with pieces of blue paper, provided sudden dim illumination.

“Shit!” Suvi heard the cold thunk of a door slamming. “Did I hit someone? Where are you?”

“Over here.” Suvi struggled to push the pede away from her.

His accent was strange. “Jeez, where did you come from?” A pair of hands lifted away the cycle and Suvi sat up, a little shakily. “Are you all right?”

“I... I think so. But...” Suvi patted her pockets frantically. “The medicine — it was in a glass bottle. I hope...” She withdrew a brown paper bag and shook it carefully. The sound of liquid sloshing around inside reassured her. “No, it is all right, thank goodness.”

The man squatted before her and produced a battery powered light. He switched it on, and flicked it over Suvi for a cursory inspection. The sight of her torn stocking and scraped knee made him whistle in dismay. “Damn, I am sorry. Do you think you can stand?” He held out a huge leather-gloved hand and she took it, feeling like a child.

Suvi scrambled to her feet. Her leg stung in the cold wind but held her weight. “I am fine — really. It is just a scratch.” She strained her eyes, trying to see her companion’s face as he righted her motapede. The darkness didn’t permit much. “My name is Suvi Markku.” Suvi stuck out her hand. “And you are?”

“Jack.” His voice was quick with impatience. “Well, if you are sure you are all right, Miss, I had better get going.”

Suvi took the handlebars of the motapede from him, wondering what his hurry was. She pushed it forward and felt unexpected resistance. “Wait! My pede is broken, and I need to get home right away. Can you give me a lift?” She could see the man’s silhouette framed by the moonlight as he strode away from her. He was very tall.

His muttered oath hung in the icy air between them like an accusation. “Sorry, but I am on my way to an important briefing. As a matter of fact, I am late already. Why don’t you just leave your motorbike here and walk back? I can send someone to get it in the morning.”

Suvi glared at him. “It is another four miles, at least. I can’t walk that far in the dark and anyway there is a sick child waiting for this medicine. If you hadn’t run into me I would be there already!” Forgetting her injury, she stamped her foot hard on the icy road and then grimaced with pain.

He became unexpectedly agreeable. “OK, OK — don’t bite my head off!” The man waved his hands and grinned. A very full moustache covered his upper lip, but the gap between his front teeth showed plainly beneath it. Suvi found it strangely comforting.

“Does o-kay mean yes in your tongue?”

He laughed at this and shook his head sheepishly. “Sure does, little lady. Now hop in the car while I load your bike in the back.”

She limped towards the vehicle. Even in the dark, she could appreciate its size and luxury. In wartime Severness, only a very rich man or a high-ranking officer of the Harriers could afford to drive such a velo. As she pulled open the door, Suvi wondered which one Jack might be.

The velo smelled of kaffa and tabac.

“I don’t think your bike is banged up too badly,” he called, as he lugged it round.

Thick brown file folders, bound with string, littered the front seat. Suvi pushed them out of the way and then stared at the sheaf of papers that lay underneath. Some of the documents were quite clearly labeled “Priority Code Blue.”

The velo bounced as her pede landed in the trunk. The man slammed the lid. She could hear the squeak of the snow under his boots as he walked back around to the driver’s side. Suvi quickly re-stacked the remaining files before tucking the secret dossier into her coat.

“Where to?” The man joined Suvi in the velo, and peered at her through the darkness. “Were you going to Schippendorff?” He named a small collection of houses close to the river.

She shook her head. “Not to the Rose community, no. My home is a little before there, on Wharfan Svaate.”

In the dim light of the dashboard, she studied his clothing. His dark overcoat bore no rank insignia. Rich, then — not military. So why did he have the files?

“But that is all bombed out warehouses and factories, isn’t it?”

“Mostly, yes. But there are one or two dwellings as well. People nowadays must shelter wherever they may.”

The caravelo bumped along the road in the darkness, seemingly finding every pothole. The silence between them seemed almost as cold as the outside air. Suvi broke it first. “But where are you from, Jack? Your accent is not one I am familiar with.”

He kept his eyes straight ahead. “From offshore. My wife and I came here last year.”

Wife? What sort of man would bring his wife to a war zone?

Suvi could think of no other questions to ask. Soon they passed into a built up area, once home to many prosperous industries. Most had been bombed into piles of rubble, but a few structures remained more or less intact.

They passed a dreary looking red brick building with boarded windows. Suvi cleared her throat. “You can let me off here.”

The caravelo slowly ground to a halt beside some tall sliding doors, chained together and securely padlocked. Jack looked over to her. “Are you sure? This doesn’t look like any kind of place for a young girl to stay. It must be cold and empty inside.”

Suvi frowned. “I am twenty-one years old, if you don’t mind. Thank you for the lift. May I have my motapede back?”

“Let’s leave it in the trunk for now. I’ll get one of the boys over in the workshop to take a look at it tomorrow. Someone will bring it round after it is fixed, OK?”

“Please don’t trouble yourself. I feel bad enough for dragging you out of your way like this.” Suvi peered anxiously at him through the driver’s side window.

“It isn’t any trouble. But where can they find you?”

“Tell them to knock on the side door and ask for Suvi. Someone will know where I am.” She gave him a wry grin. “O...K...?”

Jack smiled back. “Whatever you say, little lady. It was nice meeting you. So long.”

“Good-bye. And thank you — for everything.”

Suvi turned from him and headed to the side door, carefully avoiding the piles of twisted rubble that littered the outside of the three-story building. She didn’t see Jack pull his coat collar askew and speak into it, as though he had a friend hidden in his breast pocket. “The pigeon has pecked the crumb.”

The velo sped away with the crunch of spinning tires on gravel.

* * * *

Marja Kinnik met her at the door. “Did you get it? What took you so long?”

Suvi nodded and patted her pocket. A lie sprang easily to her lips. “I hit a bomb crater in the dark and took a tumble off my pede.”

Marja spied the rip in her stockings and gave a cry of dismay. “Suvi! Are you all right? I have been so worried about Riku I didn’t even think to ask...”

“I am fine. I got a ride back with a farmer. Come on, let’s go give your boy the medicine right now. Then we can both stop worrying.”

Marja and Suvi passed through a dimly lit hallway, into the main building. “How did you manage? I mean — didn’t the chemist ask questions?”

“I told him I had milk sickness and he hurried me out of there as fast as he could.”

“But wasn’t it expensive?”

“Don’t worry. I think I have just found us a new source of income.” Suvi patted the papers in her pocket but didn’t say anything else.

The bottom floor of the warehouse stretched cavernously before them, but it was not empty — not at all. The quiet murmur of conversation filled the air with the warmth of company. Great hanks of silk hung from the ceiling — old parachutes, strung up like silk tents. Each glowed softly, lit from the inside by oil lamps.

Marja led the way between two aisles. She kept her voice low. “The Kopjicks have been fighting again. I think the Mister has been drinking.”

Suvi tutted. “I will add some extra chores to the roster for him. If he is tired perhaps he will not be so argumentative. I need someone to set up more crates, anyway. There will be more people coming from the Narrows and we have no place to put them.”

Each parachute house had a number pinned to the side. Marja stopped at 22 and lifted the flap. Within lay a few bits of rickety furniture — a once-luridly flowered armchair, now faded to tranquility, a table with one leg propped on a stack of books, and two pallets on the rough board floor. A small kerosene heater took the chill off, but left a persistent odor in the air.

A pale thin-faced boy lay on one of the pallets. He looked to be sleeping, but when Marja knelt, his eyes fluttered open. They were pale blue and watery with pain. “Mother?”

“Yes, my angel, I am here. And so is Suvi. She has made a special trip to Saximaa to fetch some medicine for you.”

He blinked rapidly, as though the dim light hurt his eyes. “Thank you. Will it make me better? My head hurts so much.”

Suvi stroked his forehead gently. “Yes. I hope so. But you will have to be patient, because Dr. Fredrik said it takes a long while to work.” She spoke now to Marja. “Give him one teaspoon, four times a day. And there is some lilium in there for pain, but be careful with it. There are others here who might steal it if they knew you had some.”

“I will give him some now, and then you keep the rest locked in the office. No one would dare take it from you, Suvi.”

Just then, raised voices filtered through the silk. “It is ours, I tell you. There isn’t room for the likes of you...”

Suvi patted Marja’s arm and then left the tent, calling back, “Meet me in the office when you have finished.”

She followed the sound of the argument across the warehouse floor, to a line of wooden crates along the far wall. Most had blanket curtains, and pallets inside. A sullen looking boy with unruly straw-colored hair paced back and forth. His belongings made an untidy pile on the floor.

Suvi frowned. “What is the trouble?”

An iron-grey head popped from behind the blanket. “I already told him, this place belongs to the Birdlings. We won’t have no Snakes here.”

The boy’s pale blue eyes were pleading. “They told me if I came here it wouldn’t matter what I was.” He pulled up the sleeve on his tattered jersey, exposing a tattoo on his forearm. “I am a Snake, yes, but my folks were killed in the attack on Jaarvik Vilaag. The Grond sent bombers, destroyed everything in the town — even the church and the hospital. I got nowhere else to go.”

Suvi smiled and patted his shoulder. “You are welcome at Carina, my friend. Your Soli is not important here.”

The old woman frowned and launched into another tirade. “Well, where I came from, in Ruvers Vilaag, we was all Birdlings, good and proper. No one associated with...”

Suvi cleared her throat and spoke gently. “That was the way, Goodwife Teggr, but here at Carina we have a different arrangement. Everyone, regardless of Soli, lives and works together. Spear and Dog, Rose and Star.” Goodwife Teggr opened her mouth to argue but Suvi said firmly, “Even Snake and Birdling. You were told as much when you came here two months ago, begging for shelter.”

She turned back to the boy. “What is your name?”

“Calaan.”

“Well, Calaan. This is Goodwife Teggr. Please offer your hand to her.”

He looked quite shocked at this suggestion. “Shake hands with a Birdling? In Jaarvik we...”

Suvi kept her reproof gentle. “There is no Jaarvik here, or Ruvers. Only Carina, where all are the same. Please shake her hand, as a gesture of your understanding.”

He frowned, but stuck out his hand. Goodwife Teggr shook it quickly and then withdrew into her box with an audible “Humph.”

Suvi smiled. “Good. Now I believe there is an empty crate here, three along from your new friend.” She walked along and tapped on the side of a rickety looking box. Once she had swept aside the blanket, the boy crawled inside. “You will need a pallet to sleep on. Ask the Goodwife where we keep them. Breakfast will be at seven o’clock tomorrow morning. After breakfast, come to the office and I will add you to one of the work details.”

Calaan stared at Suvi. “Miss? Who runs this place? I’d like to thank them.”

“She does.” Goodwife Teggr’s muffled voice came from within her box. “And a damned fine job she does too. A lot of folks would be dead now, if not for Suvi Markku.” The woman crawled out, and rose stiffly to her feet. “Come on, young one. I will show you the storeroom. But don’t forget I am a Birdling, and better than the likes of you.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Calaan looked thoroughly abashed.

The Goodwife continued to lecture the boy as they walked away. Suvi watched them head for the stairs leading to the gallery that overhung the first level and served as the storeroom. Then she yawned hugely, and made her way back towards her own living quarters.

A young woman, clutching the hand of a child, stopped her. “The lavatory’s backed up in Six again. Stinks something awful.”

Suvi tried unsuccessfully to smother another yawn. “Goodman Grein is a plumber. Number 10. See if he can help. If not, you will just have to use the lavs in Eight. I’ll send a detail first thing in the morning to clean Six.”

“All right.” The young mother sighed in resignation. “Did you find any coats yet? My little girl is freezing.” Suvi looked at the child, whose skin did seem tinged with blue. She sneezed and then ran a grimy sleeve over her nose.

Suvi took off her own cardigan, and wrapped it around the child’s shoulders. “Let her have that for now. I will find a better one for her tomorrow.”

“May the gods bless you. There was never another Harp as kind, Miss Suvi.”

“Goodnight, Stella. Remember, in Carina we are...”

”All kinds and all kind,” the little girl finished for her, as she hugged Suvi’s cardigan for warmth.

Suvi smiled. “Well done, Saraa. That is exactly right.”

It took her another fifteen minutes to reach the far side of the warehouse, as she had to stop several times to answer questions or settle other newcomers. At last, she reached a solid-looking oak door and unlocked it with the key she carried on a chain around her neck. This room had once belonged to the factory manager, but thieves had ripped up and taken away the paneling and plush carpeting long ago.

A degum wound herself round Suvi’s legs, grumbling. She reached to stroke the silky fur along her crest. “Hungry, Chelah? I have something I saved from dinner. Here you go...”

She tore up a piece of tough, gristly meat and some bread crusts on a saucer and placed it on the ground. The degum’s cowl-like ears swiveled forward as she mewled with pleasure. Her sticky tongue darted in and out, and soon cleaned off the dish.

“We will have to visit Ludde soon, and get you some fish.” Suvi scratched the degum’s hairless crown. Her pet arched her back in pleasure.

Suvi stared longingly at the metal framed bed against the wall. Chelah jumped on the faded quilt covering the mattress and started to wash herself. Suvi smiled. “That’s right. You warm it for me. But I need to finish the bookkeeping and have a look at the papers I borrowed, before I turn in.” Chelah’s tongue paused and she made a querulous sound. Suvi frowned. “All right, have it your way — the papers I stole.

* * * *

Suvi rose early, and went to the kitchen. The factory had once been home to several hundred workers, and though looters had ransacked the cooking facilities since the war started, some of the brick ovens still stood intact. The breakfast detail had been working since five o’clock, kneading and shaping loaves of black bread, making soup and churning thin cream for butter. Carina’s population was something like two hundred refugees now, and they all received two hot meals a day.

She spoke to Goodwife Brini, who was busy chopping a head of cabbage. “Did you find any more vegetables?”

Brini, a broad-faced Wheat clan matriarch, shook her head. “Nay, but I am sending more folk out today. We will hunt along Friga Svaate. The Grond dropped a ton of bombs in there last week. Burned a whole neighborhood — only houses, mind you, nothing to do with the war. Most of the folk what still live are here now, and several told me they had root cellars buried in muck. We’ll dig up what we can.”

“Farmer Jonai has agreed to let some of our people glean his barley fields. I plan to send a detail there today, if the weather gets warm enough.” Suvi uncovered a huge pot of boiling cabbage, tasted the broth and added a handful of salt. The pungent, slightly sulfurous scent filled the kitchen, making her stomach contract. Dinner seemed a long time ago.

“Easy with that. We haven’t got more than two meals worth left, and who knows where we will get more.”

“I will find us some.” Suvi moved on towards the dining room. “Someone joined us last night — from Jaarvik. There used to be a salt mine near there. Maybe he knows something of it.”

“A Snake?” Brini’s cheeks reddened in disapproval.

“A boy. Who was orphaned by the Grond. He came to Carina for shelter, and now he is one of us. Goodwife Teggr has adopted him.”

Brini scowled and went back to the cabbage, slamming her knife hard through the next head. No matter what Suvi said, a Snake could bring no good to Carina. They were dirty and dishonest — the lowest of the Dark.

Muffled shouts filtered through the swinging doors that led to the dining area. Suvi hurried away, calling over her shoulder, “Send one of the details to lower Rikard Svaate. It was bombed two days ago. See if anyone there needs shelter.”

The dining room used to be the factory floor. Heaps of rusted machinery lay in the corners, but trestle tables marched in an orderly line down the center. A group of motley-looking people stood before an open pass-through to the kitchen, clutching bowls and plates. A very red-faced girl, a Dog named Janie, one of the kitchen detail, waved her ladle defiantly. As Suvi had feared, Calaan was once again a source of trouble. He stood back, shoulders hunched in mortification. Goodwife Teggr stood beside him, glaring.

“He lives with us Birdlings. If we can tolerate him then so can you, Dog girl.”

The girl shrieked. “I won’t serve a Snake. It isn’t proper.” Many of the residents murmured agreement.

Suvi, who had been up half the night figuring ways to keep Carina solvent with very limited funds, lost her temper, something she rarely did. Grabbing the ladle from the girl, she clambered onto the hatch counter and stood above the assembled residents, breathing hard. “Stop this, right now! Calaan came to us, asking for shelter, the same as every one of you. Would you have me send him away?”

“Let him go to his own kind,” a man bellowed from the back.

“Shall I, Billu Shipman?” Suvi furiously pointed the ladle at him. “And when you came, with your pregnant wife and two cold and hungry children, should I have listened to the Roses who said they could never live in the same room as a stinking man from the Ships? Should I have sent you back to bombed-out Mersiing?”

Billu looked at the infant he held in his arms and fell silent.

Suvi spoke with determination. “At Carina there are no Solis.” She stared at the tattoo on her arm. “That is how I chose to run this refuge, even though I am a Harp, the highest of the Bright. Now, if there is any man or woman here who would like to take my place and do things differently, let them speak.”

Everyone seemed very interested in the flooring beneath their feet. No one said anything. Suvi nodded. “I thought so. Now, there will be convocation next Friday, at six o’clock, to discuss the allocation of further space in the south building. Each group must send two representatives, and after we will have a Carina-wide festival banquet.”

Many of the children clapped their hands and shouted. Billu Shipman’s wife spoke shyly. “Will there be music?”

“Yes, and dancing.” Suvi jumped from the counter on the kitchen side, still holding the ladle, and turned to Janie. “I will finish the serving for today. Get your breakfast and then join the cleaning detail going to Six.”

Janie groaned in dismay.

Goodwife Teggr chuckled as she held forth her bowl. “That’ll teach you to be fussy about who you serve, girlie. We don’t regard Bright and Dark here at Carina.”

Suvi bit her tongue, thinking that Teggr the Birdling had been singing a different tune last night. Calaan, with his head well down, gave her an apologetic bow as he received his serving. As the lowest of the Dark, Snakes were far more used to waiting on others.

“Come to the office after you eat. Teggr can show you where it is.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He shuffled after the Goodwife. “Thank you.”

* * * *

Back in the office, Suvi sat before a huge roll-top desk. Papers protruded from every pigeon hole, and most required her attention. “I have too much on my plate, Chelah,” she said ruefully. “But the most important thing is to figure out what to do with those papers. I was too tired to examine them properly last night.”

Suvi opened the folder and squinted in the low light. “Operation Pincer,” she read aloud to the degum, who sat on the desk beside her. “Wonder what that is about?” A tap on the door made her jump, and Chelah’s back arch. Suvi hurriedly tucked the file into her desk drawer, and locked it. “It’s open,” she called.

Calaan came in, arms laden with belongings. He seemed curiously resigned. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes.” Suvi looked at him in surprise. “You, but not your possessions. Why didn’t you leave them in your box?”

“I... I thought I would be leaving. Snakes don’t belong...”

“Didn’t you hear what I said at breakfast? Everyone is welcome here.” She smiled at Calaan and waited until he raised his eyes to meet hers. After a moment, he smiled in return, but couldn’t quite hide his baffled expression. “That is better. Now, can you read? Or write? I need to know which detail to put you in.”

He nodded proudly. “My parents sent me to Jaarvikan School. I learned to fifth year, but then I had to work in the salt mines.”

Suvi’s ears pricked up. “Then I have just the job for you, Calaan. I want you to lead a detail of men there, and figure how we can get the trucks running again. Salt is scarce right now, and if we can get some more we might be able to sell the excess and make some money.”

His bafflement grew and grew. “You want me to lead them? A Snake?”

Her voice was firm. “Yes. You.” Suvi consulted the list posted on the wall and then the clock next to it. “I place you in charge of Detail Twenty. They will be assembling in the front hall in approximately thirty minutes. Goodman Dietr will provide transport. Get a pantechnicon and enough fuel to get you there and back. Billu, in the workshop, will have the tools you need. Don’t let him give you any grief. All right?”

Suvi had been busy with other papers on her desk as she spoke, but she looked up when Calaan gave a small, choked sigh. She was very surprised to see he had tears in his eyes. “Why are you doing this? There is no call for one of the Bright to be kind to a Snake.”

She dragged a chair over to her desk and patted it. He sat on the very edge, as though worried he might somehow sully it. Suvi frowned. “Let me tell you why, Calaan. I was a foundling child, adopted at a very young age by a prosperous family. Many people told me how luck had smiled on me, to be adopted by Harps. And it is true, as a Harp, I grew up wanting for nothing. I had a Cloud governess, who taught me languages and arithmetic. My friends were clean and clever, just as I was, and one handsome lad had already agreed to marry me when the time came. But, even though I had many beautiful clothes, and a fine ten-roomed dollhouse to play with, I was not happy. My family owned the largest estate on Lake Copaheg and some days I stood on the top floor balcony and watched the merchant ships come and go. More than anything I wanted to travel on one of those ships, but of course I could not, because people of the Bright realm never did anything so low.”

“You were a Harp, but you wanted to be a Ship?” Calaan guffawed, thinking this very funny.

“Yes, truly I did. One day, having finished my lessons, I stood alone in the tower, and watched as my parents took a stroll along the shoreline. My mother looked very beautiful in her white lawn dress and lace parasol. There was a child playing in the water, a Rat, I think she was. The wake from a passing Steamer swamped her, and she disappeared. Her mother screamed for help. I saw her beg my father to go to the child’s aid, but he only stepped around her and kept walking. The woman went into the water herself, and drowned, as did her daughter.”

Suvi closed her eyes, remembering the pitiful, sodden figures that the police dragged from the lake the next day. Her hands clenched and she realized she had crumpled a list of figures into a ball. Self-consciously, she smoothed it out.

“Well, who would help a Rat?” Calaan asked, with patient rationality. “They are almost as low as Snakes.”

Her amber eyes flashed. “I would have! And so I made up my mind that day that I belonged to no Soli. When he found he could not change my mind, my father threw my humble beginning back in my face, saying I must have come from the Rats I had wanted him to save. He sent me away to live with an Aunt and Uncle, Harps of course, but not so well off. Five months ago, they were killed, in the first Grond attack. My parents died in the second. Suddenly I had no place to live, along with many others — Rat, Dog, Star and Wheat. In suffering, at least, the war made the Soli equal. So I found this place and made it into a shelter. After a time, it got to be called Carina, after the Keel.”

“The star group? Is that because you wanted to be a Ship?”

Suvi shook her head, smiling. “Because it is a vessel that allows anyone to embark, as long as they are willing to work for their passage.”

“But...”

The rising whine of an air horn interrupted Calaan’s question. Suvi stood quickly but spoke without panic. “A three-blast warning. They must have slipped in over the mountains. Come on, we had better get to the shelter.”

Calaan’s eyes were wild. “The Grond can’t bomb here! I only just moved in. Where else can I go?”

She shook his arm, but he remained rooted to the floor in terror. “Calaan, move! We don’t have much time.” Six more short barks of the horn meant the attack was imminent. The roar of planes filled the space, making the walls vibrate. Suvi grabbed the boy and pulled him into the kneehole of the desk, just as a deafening blast shattered the remaining panes of glass in the office window.

Chapter Three

Tessa

When a snarling bear speaks, no man listens long enough to know if its words are true.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tessa skipped along the sandy path that wound between the houses in Little Sardinia. The sun glinted off the aluminum pan she carried, and a warm cloud of cinnamon and apple scent spiced the air. A guilty desire nagged at her, to abandon this visit to her new neighbor and keep the pie for herself. After all, she had yet to see any evidence of his existence.

Except for the chimney smoke. A thin, grey flag that said someone was home, someone who might like to meet their landlady and eat some apple pie.

The shack stood on the edge of the settlement — even more dilapidated than the Brigg’s place next door, which had been home to many spring break parties over the years. The bottom featured a serviceable boat shed, which held a less-serviceable dory. No one had used it in years, to Tessa’s knowledge. The attic had been converted into a tiny living space, very nautical, with cupboards galore. Tessa often rented it to writers looking for a place to finish their latest work in peace. But this tenant had arrived three weeks ago, when she was at the dig in Anenoa. Joe Romine, who had been a friend of her father’s, took the deposit and gave the man a set of old-fashioned brass keys.

Joe’s drawl came back to her. “Tall fella. Blond. Looks like one of them Hollywood actors.” His description had certainly piqued her interest. The name on the lease was Jakob Faircrow.

“Well, Jakob with the odd last name,” Tessa said out loud as she crunched across the last patch of shingle. “Will you be home, or will I get to eat this pie all by myself?”

She noted with some surprise that someone had left the downstairs shed door open. That same someone had dragged forth the dory and left it upturned on the shingle. Assorted tools lay close by, and a bucket of white paint. Apparently, Jakob intended to make the old boat seaworthy again. Tessa felt glad, now, that she had brought the pie. Such industriousness certainly deserved a reward. She climbed the rickety outside staircase to the second floor, wondering if he would be willing to do a little maintenance to the house when he had finished with the boat. Tessa had neither the time nor the money to do much of anything herself.

Balancing the pie on one hand, she knocked with the other. The door opened a crack.

“Yes?”

It was only her first startling look at her new tenant’s eyes that prevented Tessa from recognizing the voice right way. The eyes were wide-set, fringed with dark lashes, and very, very blue. The bluest eyes she had ever seen — as blue as those magical views of the Aegean Sea that you just knew were digitally enhanced.

“Welcome to the neighborhood. I brought you a pie.” Tessa had somehow forgotten that he didn’t know her name, or the fact that she owned the house in which they stood. The door opened a little wider, and she stepped across the threshold into the kitchen.

He swept the blond mane away from his forehead and tied it in an untidy knot at the nape of his neck. Her eyes involuntarily fixed on his hands. They were big — squarish and sturdy looking, attached to sinewy wrists that seemed to crackle with tensile strength and energy. Tessa thought, irrelevantly, that writers didn’t usually have hands like that — hands that looked like they had been hauling fishing nets only a minute before.

He spoke, and the spell was broken. “Thank you for the pie.”

Tessa jumped and almost dropped her welcoming gift. “You! You were the one — on Water Street.”

It must have sounded funny, what she said, because Jakob Faircrow laughed.

That made her even angrier. “So you think it is amusing, do you? Shouting abuse at women who are walking home, minding their own business? Why, I have a good mind to shove this pie right in your...”

He took a quick step backwards and tried to mollify her. “If you like, I will make some coffee, then we could eat a piece of your pie and I could explain why I did that.”

She frowned. “I don’t think there is anything you could say to explain, but I suppose you could apologize. That would be a start.”

He took the pie from her and placed it on the table. “All right. I am sorry I shouted at you, Tessa.” His tone was more amused than contrite.

As he turned his back to her, and filled the kettle, Tessa considered that this didn’t sound quite right. At first, she thought it might be because Jakob Faircrow’s clothing was so very odd. He wore a flowing, hip-length shirt that she could have sworn was made of pure linen and hand-smocked to boot. Something she could imagine an eighteenth century buccaneer might have worn. His odd, knee-length trousers and wooden soled clogs seemed perfectly in keeping with the rest. No wonder Joe had thought he was an actor.

Jakob turned back towards her, and placed a couple of mismatched tea plates and mugs on the table. It had laces in the front, that ridiculous shirt. Tessa tried to ignore the glimpse of red-gold hair that curled in the hollow of his throat.

Realization struck. “How in the hell do you know my name?”

He gave her an easy grin as he spooned instant coffee into the mugs. “Captain Romine told me the owner of this house was a pretty girl named Tessa Kivelson. He also said she would come round eventually and bring me a plate of something nice to eat.”

“Oh did he?” Tessa grimaced at the thought she might be so predictable, and traced a faded flower on the oilcloth table cover with her fingertip.

“Yes, he did. But as a matter of fact I already knew your name.” He cut the pie without explaining this provocative statement further and placed a wedge on each of the plates. Then he poured boiling water into the coffee and handed her a mug. “You take milk but no sugar, right?” Jakob raised a questioning eyebrow.

Tessa, left somewhat speechless by this effortless familiarity, could only nod and watch admiringly as he crossed the floor to a tiny refrigerator and retrieved a pottery jug shaped like a cow. Though Joe had been right about her new tenant being very tall, still he moved with an economical grace that made the cramped attic feel even more like a ship’s cabin.

He sat across from her at the table and ate half the pie, punctuated with liberal gulps of coffee, before he said anything else. Tessa watched him, half-appalled and half-gratified by his appetite. Jakob pushed his plate away with a satisfied sigh and said, “That was very good. I have not had pie like that since my mother...”

He stood quickly and cleared the dishes from the table. By the time he returned from the sink, his expression had shaded carefully into neutral.

Tessa thought it better not to ask what he had been about to say, so she changed the subject. “What brings you to Cloudy Bay, Jakob? Are you a writer?” He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes dark with suppressed pain.

“No. Why would I be?” Just that.

She tried again. “What do you do then?” His baffled expression was almost comical.

“Do?”

She took a deep breath, wondering if he could possibly be as dense as he seemed. “For a living. What sort of job?”

“Oh.” He looked thoughtful. “I suppose I am a mariner,” he said after a moment. “Yes, a mariner — like my father.”

Tessa gave him a sad little smile. “Mine too. Only he is dead now. He drowned when I was eight. So did my mother.” Jakob reached out and covered her hand with his own. The palm was calloused, and very warm.

He spoke softly. “I know. I am sorry, Tessa.”

Tessa blinked once or twice. “How do you know? How do you know so much — about me?” Slowly, a little unwillingly, she withdrew her hand and placed it in her lap. By holding both hands tightly together, she could almost stop them from trembling.

He shrugged. “You won’t believe me.”

“Try me.” Tessa spoke with an insouciance she didn’t really feel. “My friends say I am very open minded.”

“All right. I knew your grandmother, Suvi Markku.”

Tessa frowned. “Why is that so hard to believe? How old are you — thirty, maybe? My grandmother died ten years ago. You might have met her.”

“I have known her for a long time, Tessa. Suvi befriended my twin brother when she was about twenty-two. Later, when she shifted to this place, I visited her here in Cloudy Bay, several times. The first time was in 1980.”

She did some quick mental math and then her eyes narrowed. “How old were you then?”

He tugged fretfully on the knotted hank of hair at the back of his neck. “I don’t know.”

“Why not? Don’t you have a birth certificate or something?”

“Please, just let me finish.” Jakob’s hair burst free from the knot, in a cascade of sandy-colored waves, and suddenly, with a shiver, Tessa remembered something.

...and in return I cut his long hair. It is the color of a Dureg’s mane, and just as thick...

What color was a dureg anyway?

Tessa’s mouth fell open, and he pressed on, trying to finish before she could give voice to her objections. “By my last visit, you had already come to live with her, after your parents were killed, but you were away at school so we never met. Suvi talked about you a lot — she was very proud of you.”

She couldn’t voice her objections quickly enough to keep pace with her outrage. “I can believe you came here before she died — yes — OK — fine. But your brother couldn’t have known her when she was twenty-two. And there is no way you are old enough to have seen her in 1980. That is just insane.”

Jakob sighed and slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. “Do I look insane to you?”

Tessa shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know. I am an archaeologist, not a psychiatrist. Why are you telling me this anyway?”

“You wanted an explanation about why I tried to get your attention last night.”

She found this opacity infuriating. “And that is it? Your reason for insulting me and Jane on the street last night is that your brother knew my grandmother when she was a young woman?”

“I said you wouldn’t believe me.” He sat back, almost smug, as if it were her fault he wasn’t making any sense.

Tessa ground her teeth together. “Look here, Jakob Weirdcrow. I don’t know where you came from, with your crazy clothes and your even crazier talk, but I am a scientist, and nothing you have said is in the least bit rational. If you want me to believe, then...”

Jakob spoke over her words. “Suvi lived in Severness during the War with Berengarth. She ran a refugee shelter, called Carina, home to several hundred people.” Tessa stared at him, shocked to the core at this recitation of fact. “Do you want to hear more?”

“No! First I want to hear how you know that.” Then she sat back, relieved, as an easy explanation suggested itself. “Of course. You knew her when she was old. She told you, or else you read her journal.”

He shook his head patiently. “She hid the journal behind a loose brick in the fireplace at Seadrift. It has been there for the past thirty-five years, ever since her husband passed away.”

Tessa could not believe what she was hearing. She licked her suddenly dry lips. “How do you know all this? Tell me the truth.”

He must have sensed her alarm. “You have nothing to fear, at least not from me, Tessa.”

“Not... Not from you? What exactly does that mean, Mr. Sunshine?”

He leaned forward. “There are others here. Old enemies of mine. They want the mirror you found.” Jakob’s voice dropped to a ragged whisper. “Suvi’s mirror. They will stop at nothing to get it.”

Up to this point, she had been exasperated and amused in turn, but now fear scrabbled in her stomach, looking for purchase. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“Polys. In dark suits. They look like men, but they are not. Believe me, they are not. The night I met you on Wharf Lane they were there, two of them. I wanted you and your friend to cross the street — that is why I said the things I did — to protect you. But then you ran into the alley instead. Not a very bright move, because you could have been trapped. If they had gotten to you before I did they would have killed you.”

Tessa stood, knocking her chair back. “Stop it! I don’t want to hear anything else. I didn’t see anyone threatening on the street — except for you! Jane and I thought we were going to have to ask the guy on the corner, in the dark...” Her eyes went wide, but then she shook her head. “No! I still don’t believe you. And now I am leaving.”

He stood too, and his height and agile grace seemed far more menacing now. Tessa measured the distance, thinking she would have to push past him to get to the door. How stupid that she had left her mobile at home. Panic gripped her and her eyes darted about, looking for a weapon. They lit on the knife he had used to cut the pie.

“Don’t,” he said gently. “I already told you — you have nothing to fear from me. I came here to save you from the Polys and I promise I won’t fail you.” But the desolate look of determination in his eyes said he had failed before.

“You are insane. Just let me go, please.”

His voice sounded utterly reasonable, but filled with worry. “All right, but be careful. The two on Wharf Street are no more, but there will be others. Remember they always work in pairs. Watch the shadows...”

Tessa heard nothing else, because she had her fingers firmly jammed in her ears. “In five seconds I am going to scream.”

Jakob stepped away from the door. She shot by him and took the stairs two at a time.

“Don’t forget, I will be here if you need me,” he called to her as she ran back the way she had come. Tessa gave no indication she heard.

Jakob sighed and went back into the boatshed, and finished the excellent pie.

* * * *

“What did he call them? Pollywogs?” Jane asked later, as she and Tessa shared a pot of tea. She grinned and spread her hands wide as though she was reading the paper. “I can see the headline now — ‘Giant Guppies Eat Assistant Instructor Kivelson...’” She snapped her fingers. “I have it! Maybe they think you are a biology teacher. They have come from the planet of the frogs to avenge untold laboratory slaughter.”

Tessa did not look amused. “Not Pollywogs. It was Polys... I think.” She closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly what he had said. But instead, she saw his face, his lazy grin. The clean line of his jaw, his cheekbones. That silly pirate shirt...

“Hello, Tessa?” Jane shouted her name above the buzz of conversation in the hospital dining room. “Are you there?”

“Yes. Sorry...” Tessa frowned. “If he hadn’t seemed so absolutely rational I wouldn’t be worried.”

“But that is classic psychotic behavior. I did a psychiatric rotation in med school. We learned all about this stuff. People with delusions of persecution believe that they are one hundred percent sane. They have to, in order to make their world view the correct one. And it is perfectly possible for them to infect others with that same fear, even though it is all in their head.”

“It just didn’t feel that way to me. He didn’t seem afraid of the Polys, not really. I got the impression he would know just what to do if he met one.”

Jane raised an eyebrow at this.

“Well, he is kind of... That is... I don’t think I have ever met anyone so...” Tessa colored and didn’t finish the thought.

But Jane would not let it go. “Anyone so...?” she echoed, with a grin.

Tessa poured herself some more tea, and sugared it before she remembered that she hadn’t liked sweet tea since she was a little girl.

You like milk and no sugar, right?

How had he known that?

“Tessa!” Jane banged the table with her teaspoon.

“He just struck me as someone who is very physically... powerful. Like a big cat.”

“I think you are attracted to this man.”

“What? I most certainly am not.” Tessa drank a big gulp of tea, rather enjoying the fierce sweetness. “For one thing, I am sure he is nuts, and for another, I am already engaged to Ted.”

“Are you?”

“Engaged to Ted? You know I am.”

Her friend snorted. “You know what I meant. Are you so sure he is nuts? You came rushing over to the hospital just now to tell me about your new neighbor Jakob, and how scary he was — but ever since you got here, you have been hotly defending him. Not to mention going on about his shirt.

“It was like something from a museum.” Tessa’s voice was filled with wonder. “But on him it fitted perfectly.”

“See what I mean? I think you have found your ghost, Tessa Kivelson.”

Tessa groaned. “Don’t start that again. I would almost rather hear some disgusting work story instead.”

Jane’s eyes brightened. “You’re on! I have a beauty. Something so awful it will take your mind off your crazy buddy, Thor.”

“He isn’t my buddy, and his name is Jakob.”

“Mmm hmm... Well anyhow, you won’t have heard that two bodies were found at the dockyards behind Provedore’s the day before yesterday.”

Tessa nodded, frowning. “Too right. Go on.”

They work in pairs...

“It seems these two kids were trespassing in one of the back blocks of the dockyards and had an accident. Somehow, they ended up under a shipping container, crushed to death. One of them was Police Chief Carter’s son, and he is asking a lot of questions. I did the autopsies yesterday.”

If they had found you there they would have killed you...

“What did you find?”

“Fatal injuries consistent with massive blunt trauma,” Jane said, with cheerful clinical detachment. “As expected. Except...” She dropped her voice low. “You can’t repeat this, OK? It is part of an ongoing investigation.”

Tessa gave a baffled nod.

“One of the boys had a broken jaw.” Tessa opened her mouth and Jane continued, “I know, so what? Practically all his bones were smashed. Having a thirty ton piece of metal dropped on you can do that.” Her companion shuddered. “Exactly. They found the kid on his side, half buried in gravel. The impact of the container had twisted his body. All nicely symmetrical breaks, except for the jaw. That was ripped cleanly, practically detached — in the other direction. And...”

“And?”

“The distal portion of the tongue was missing. Completely gone.”

* * * *

Tessa had taken Suvi’s ancient Volvo out and driven to meet Jane for tea, rather than walk through the wharves. Now, as she tried to turn the car over in the bitterly cold winter air, the engine responded with a series of dull thumps. That sound reminded her of something else. A second later, she was on her mobile, using speed dial.

“Dr. Piper speaking.”

“Jane?” Tessa was almost breathless. “How long had those boys been there?”

“Under the container, before they were found, you mean?”

“Yes. Could you tell the time of death?”

“Not the exact time, no. Both bodies had decomposed food matter in their stomachs — hamburgers to be exact, so probably some time after dinner. I estimated they had been there a week to ten days. That was consistent with the time they were last seen. Coach Bell had reported them missing after they didn’t show for Monday’s practice. A week later, one of the security guards at the yard noticed a foul odor emanating from under a container and that’s when they found them.” Jane could hear Tessa’s breathing on the other end of the phone. “Is that what you wanted to know?”

“Yes, kind of. But do you think it was an accident?”

“Dunno. Listen, I have to go. Got another call coming in. Want to meet tomorrow night at Mama Rosa’s? We can talk about it then.”

Tessa agreed and closed her mobile with a thoughtful snap. If the boys had died a week ago, after dinner, then they would have been in her vicinity when she walked back to Seadrift with Jane. And that meant the thump, the one that had startled them, now seemed much more sinister, like a thirty-ton weight hitting the ground.

Should she go to the police?

After a moment, she rejected this. She had nothing but a vague sound and the mutterings of some pathetically paranoid delusional. Maybe the boys were messing around somewhere they shouldn’t have been when a tragic accident took their lives.

Or maybe Jakob Faircrow killed them, and made up the story about the Polys to cover his tracks.

“Get a grip, Tessa,” she said out loud.

The Volvo finally started with a protesting cough. Tessa decided to go to Beckwith House — the historical library associated with Tech, and do some research on Suvi Markku Kivelson. Anything to take her mind off Jakob — and Polys.

The interior of the Beckwith was warm and quiet. Tessa flashed her staff badge to the security guard and walked on to the archive room. Battered metal filing cabinets lined the walls, each organized alphabetically. She stood in the middle of the room, wondering where she should start.

Her grandmother had come to Cloudy Bay in 1935, and married a local teacher, Jim Kivelson, a few years later.

Tessa crossed to a cabinet marked “W” and pulled the envelope for Weddings: 1940-1950. She walked back to one of the worktables that took up the center of the room and sat.

After she unwound the sealing string, many grainy black and white photos spilled forth, along with yellowed newspaper clippings. Photos of men in morning dress, accompanied by shy brides wearing the cloche-style hats that were popular in the day. Tessa sorted through them, checking the backs for identification. Nothing. Apparently, her grandmother’s wedding wasn’t of sufficient interest for someone to have archived the newspaper column.

She checked Births next.

Then, when that turned up empty, on a whim, she went to the “M” drawer.

“M” for Murder.

This file was surprisingly bulky. It needed four envelopes, held together with a thick rubber band, to hold all the photos and newspaper clippings. They were arranged in no particular order, so Tessa dumped the contents of the first envelope onto the table.

Something caught her eye right away. “Local Fisherman and Wife Disappear: Foul Play Suspected.”

The dateline on the piece was May 21, 1988.

She scanned it, with her hand over her mouth.

Benjamin Kivelson and his wife, Kristin have been reported missing after radio contact with his vessel, Seawitch, was lost in good weather. The boat had put out from Cloudy Bay harbor three days previously, after Kivelson reported to friends that he and Mrs. Kivelson had been threatened by what he described as “out of town gangsters”.

No trace of the boat has been found, but passing vessels reported seeing an oil slick just offshore of Twilough Island, two days ago. Police inquiries are continuing. Chief Detective Jarrett is especially interested in speaking to any individuals who might have seen strangers loitering at the dock the day Seawitch left Cloudy Bay.

Tessa’s eyes filled with angry tears. When she came to live with Suvi Markku Kivelson, her grandmother insisted that her parents had drowned when a storm swamped her father’s boat. But that had been a lie.

Someone had murdered Ben and Kristin Kivelson.

All at once, Jakob’s words returned to her, along with the disquieting memory of his hand on hers.

You had already come to live with her, after your parents were killed, but you were away at school, so we never met.

Tessa abruptly sat back in her chair. He had known the truth about her parent’s deaths. Did that make everything else he said true as well? For the first time, fear took a claw hold in her abdomen and she could not persuade it to let go.

“Tessie!”

She almost jumped off the chair. “Ted! You scared me half to death.”

“I must have, you look as white as a sheet, babe.” He pulled up a chair beside her and sat, smoothing his expertly creased blue jeans. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be sorting through the latest Anenoa finds.”

She stared at him stupidly, trying to reconcile such mundane concerns with the information that lay on the table in front of her. Ted blinked owlishly at her from behind his round glasses. His dark hair was slicked back in a skinny little ponytail, despite his receding hairline. “I... I was looking at some files, trying to find out about my grandmother.” Her throat constricted. “I came across this.” She couldn’t say any more, so Tessa pushed the clipping in front of Ted.

He read it, while tapping his tasseled loafer on the floor. “So what? I don’t get it.”

“My parents were murdered. I never knew, Ted.”

Ted patted her arm patronizingly. Though his nails were beautifully manicured, and his skin soft, his hand felt unpleasantly cool and damp — sort of like a fish, Tessa thought abruptly, and nothing like...

As usual, he spoke with ruthless expedience. “They are still dead, either way. So what difference does it make? Cheer up, Tessie. It all happened long ago.” Ted gave her an encouraging smile. His teeth were very straight, and very white. “Unlike your performance evaluation, I might add, young lady. That is coming in a matter of weeks, and we need to get more work at Anenoa done before then, don’t we?”

“Yes, Ted.”

He gathered the article and the rest of the pictures and stuffed them back in the envelope, winding the string round in a precise figure eight. “Why did you pick that subject anyway? If you didn’t know about the murder, I mean?”

She shrugged. “Something Jane said at lunch got me thinking about it.”

His eyes narrowed. “I am going to see to it that you spend less time with her in the future. She really isn’t good for your state of mind.” Ted looked around the room, to make sure they were unobserved, and then asked in a low voice, “Why not come over to my place tonight? We could open that Margaux I have been saving and throw some ahi steaks on the barbecue.”

Tessa spoke a little louder than was strictly necessary in the quiet of the archive room. “Why are you whispering, Ted? You aren’t my adviser any more. Who would possibly care about our engagement? Besides your ex-wife, I mean.”

Ted looked peeved, and continued to whisper. “There are people in the department who would use it against me, Tessie. You know — the difference in our ages and all that. Can’t let anything get in the way of me getting H.O.D. And of course, once I get there I will be in a position to help you get tenure.”

Tessa just shook her head at this. Why wouldn’t he let her manage her own academic career?

“A session in the hot tub would do you good — and me too.” Ted winked lasciviously. “I think it has been a week or two since I saw that gorgeous body of yours.”

But tonight she couldn’t face Ted’s squishy gropings. She sighed in mock regret. “No... I had better get to the computer suite and do some write-ups.” In truth, she planned to go home and curl up with Suvi’s journal. To try and make some sense of her grandmother’s life — and Jakob Faircrow’s part in it.

“All right, babe.” He gave a disappointed sigh. “You know best. But call me sometime this weekend, OK?”

Tessa nodded vaguely.

He gave her a very chaste peck on the cheek before taking the “Murder” envelope away with him. She noted that he did not place it back in the refiling bin.

* * * *

Twilight had purpled the parking lot with shadow by the time she left the Beckwith. Tessa peered nervously between the parked cars, looking for anything even vaguely menacing. She saw Ted’s black Porsche 911, and wondered, without much interest, why he hadn’t left yet.

The Volvo, as if to make up for its earlier intransigence, roared to life. Tessa floored it, hurrying along the empty streets, only wanting to be home. Somehow she believed that in Suvi’s house, Seadrift, she would be safe both from terrifying apparitions in dark suits, and the unsettling blueness of Jakob Faircrow’s eyes.

Seadrift stood dark and lonely at one end of Little Sardinia and for the first time Tessa regretted the lack of grid-based power. How reassuring it would be to go in and throw on every light in the place — to banish gloominess from the house and from her mind as well. She sat in the car for a long while, gathering the courage to walk the pebbled path and down the steps to the front door.

As she did so, the moon rose majestically over the sea, horns pointing left. Waxing, Tessa thought, and took encouragement from it. She left the car and forced herself to saunter round the house, as she did every night. The slap of the bay on the shore provided a satisfying racket as she pulled the shutters. One, inexplicably bent, hung at an odd angle and Tessa had to leave it open.

“Maybe I’ll ask Jakob to help me fix it tomorrow,” she said out loud. “If he’s still talking to me, that is,” she added with a rueful grin.

Her mobile chose that moment to spring to life, making her heart hammer. She flipped open the cover. Jane. She would be just finishing work, and probably wanted Tessa to go for a drink. Tessa let her voice mail get the call.

She went straight through the house and crawled into bed, undressing underneath the covers and pulling on one of Suvi’s voluminous flannel nightgowns. She found her book light, and her grandmother’s journal. Flipping over to the bookmark, she stared at Suvi’s neatly printed script.

“Help me,” she whispered. “I want to understand.” Then she started to read.

Chapter Four

Suvi

The Rat child will be difficult to teach. Most are defiant of authority and only reluctantly mingle with children outside their Soli. Fighting and disobedience are common. Concentrate on teaching practical skills that will be useful in the trades.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

Suvi and Calaan coughed as clouds of dust filled the air. She saw to her dismay that they could not possibly escape the kneehole until a good bit of the rubble that now filled the office had been shifted.

“Are you all right?” Someone rattled the door handle. “Suvi?”

She spoke cheerfully. “We are fine. But it looks like there is a ceiling beam across the door. You won’t be able to open it inwards.”

Goodman Deitr spoke with finality. “We’ll have to break it down then.”

Suvi sighed. “Isn’t there any other way? I’d really hate to lose that door. It’s solid heartwood.”

“Sorry, Suvi. I just don’t see what else we...” He paused and addressed someone else. Suvi could not hear his words.

Another voice spoke. It was deeper; not one she recognized. “Maybe we can take the hinge pins off the door from your side. I’ll climb through the clerestory and have a look. Just sit tight.”

Suvi smiled, thinking they could hardly do anything else. Her companion wriggled about, trying to stretch his legs, and accidentally kicked her.

Calaan flinched. “Sorry. I know you mustn’t like being this close to a Snake.”

She patted his arm. “Don’t be silly. I don’t mind at all.”

He gave her a look that Suvi could see bordered alarmingly on adulation. “What happened to the Harp boy you was going to marry? You don’t wear no ring.”

She sighed. “He broke our engagement, after I told him of my disregard for the Soli. I don’t know where he is now.”

Calaan stared at the faint tracings of the Soli on his sleeve, which matched the one tattooed on his skin. “Why do you think we have these things, if it isn’t so that we may know our place?”

“I don’t know, Calaan. But I believe that every man and woman should be able to find their own way in the world, no matter what Soli they belong to.”

“What, like Rats being politicians and Spears being bakers?” Calaan chuckled at this topsy-turvy arrangement. “But, you know what? If it ever came true, then I would like to be a teacher. You reckon they would let a Snake do something like that?”

Suvi shrugged. “I hope so.”

Calaan shook his head, and his voice deepened, just for a moment. “It is a fine thing, what you are trying to do here, but it won’t change anything. Not in the long run.”

They heard a thump that raised another cloud of dust. Suvi could see only a pair of legs, dressed in blue dungarees, cross the floor in front of the knee hole.

The man spoke briskly as he started on the hinges. “Shouldn’t be too long now.”

With much shouting and encouragement from the other side, her rescuer loosened the door from its frame and pushed it outwards. Light flooded in, leaving dust motes glimmering in broad vertical shafts.

Goodman Dietr knelt before the desk. “I think we will be able to shift this beam. But you had better stay under there for the time being, in case we dislodge any bricks.”

He had three men with him, who set to work at once with saws. The other man, who had climbed though the window, waited in the open doorway. He spoke quietly. “I don’t think you should do that.”

“What?” Dietr had to bellow over the racket of the saws.

The man, who was tall, with curiously cropped blond hair, stepped back into the room. “I said I don’t think you should do that. That beam is a load bearer. If you remove it you could bring the whole top floor down.” He pointed to the ceiling above their heads. “See, there? That bracket shows where it was joined to the outer brick wall.”

Dietr, a retired trolley driver too old for active duty in the army, frowned. “Look young fella. I know a little bit about building. We need to get Miss Suvi out from under her desk, and moving that beam is the only way to go about it.”

Suvi spoke up quickly. “We are fine in here. Don’t jeopardize the safety of the building, for goodness sake.”

The newcomer squatted before their shelter. “Hello. Are you Suvi Markku? My name is Thommats Finn. My friends call me Tom.”

Suvi extended her fingers through the debris. His handshake was warm and quite firm. “Pleased to meet you, Tom. Are you looking for shelter?”

He gave her an engaging grin. “Actually, I was looking for you. I was told to deliver a motapede here, but I had a deuce of a time finding this place. Then, just as I knocked on the door, the sirens started. Definitely not my day.”

Tom stood, brushing the dust from his knees. “We need to get a rope under this beam, and then we can haul it up again.” Dietr and the others bustled about, following his instructions. Suvi, who could see only the bottom half of the action, waited impatiently as the workers raised and bolted the beam back into place.

Finally, she and Calaan were able to leave their cramped refuge.

Suvi did a slow turn in the middle of the floor, looking at the damage. Broken bricks and concrete dust lay thick on the floor and bed. She gave a sudden cry of alarm. “Did anyone see Chelah?”

Calaan lifted the green blanket that covered the bed, and found Suvi’s pet cowering beneath it. She skittered out and then ran straight up Tom Finn’s leg and onto the top of his head.

He scrabbled wildly trying to dislodge her. “What the devil? Get it off me, right now.”

Suvi pulled the degum away, wondering at Tom’s obvious fright. Degums were common all over Severnessa. Many had been pets, left to run wild when Grond air raids destroyed their homes and owners.

As Suvi put Chelah back on the floor she kept her eyes on Tom. “Where are you from?”

“Schippendorff.” Tom changed the subject adroitly. “Don’t you want to see your cycle?”

Suvi nodded and then noticed Calaan, who stood nearby, still gazing adoringly at her. “You may as well get started with the work I gave you this morning. Dietr can show you where the tools are.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He gave her a wry salute.

“Don’t worry about cleaning up this mess.” Suvi looked to the others who clustered round the door. “I will take care of it later. Everyone get back to their details. Tell Goodman Grein I have some plumbing work for him in ablutions Six.”

Tom watched in astonishment as they scurried to obey. Suvi led him through the office door, heading for the main shelter floor. “What is this place?”

As they followed the line of parachute tents that led to the main entrance, Suvi answered his question. “You don’t know? It is Carina. Your friend Jack brought me here last night.”

Tom scowled. “He isn’t my friend.”

Suvi hazarded another guess. “Boss then?”

“Naw. I am just a mechanic at the garage on Rikard Svaate. A guy in a fancy car came by last night with a damaged motapede. Got me out of bed, told me to fix it and then bring it to a warehouse by the docks. Said to ask for someone named Suvi. I have been up and down this road fifty times trying to find you.” Something about his accent didn’t sound quite right, and mechanic was an odd job for a Rose. Normally they were builders, or engineers.

Still his grin as he watched her ride the pede across the yard seemed genuine enough. “How do you get all those folks to follow orders like that?”

Suvi shrugged. “Everyone in Carina works, if they are able. It is one of the conditions of living here.”

Tom walked back to the main door, and looked inside. “Would you show me around? I’d like to know a little more about the place.”

Suvi had a lot of things to catch up on, and the mess in her room was an added chore. “I don’t really have time, right now.”

He frowned in disappointment. “Come on. It won’t take long, and afterwards I will help you clean all the bricks and dust from your room.”

Suvi wavered for a moment and then shrugged. “All right. I will hold you to that.”

“No problem at all,” said Tom Finn, with a smile. “I will be more than happy to help.”

* * * *

Tom wandered the main floor. “Where did you get all these parachutes?”

“They are ex-air corps. Once the fabric wears out, they can no longer be used for jumps.” She brushed her fingers against the thin cream-colored silk that made one of the family tents. “They insulate well, so each family may heat a small space and still be warm. This building is very old and draughty.”

“That is a good idea. But doesn’t the air corps have any use for them once they rip? Like undershirts or something?”

Suvi looked vague. “Maybe. But friends donated these parachutes to the shelter. And they provide a useful service to us.”

“What about those boxes along the wall? Do you have people in there too?”

“They are old crates once used for shipping artillery pieces. And yes, they are home to couples or single people with no other family. We try to make sure everyone has a space, however small, to call their own.” She gazed thoughtfully at the Harp on her arm. “You know that everyone who lives here must work together, no matter which Soli they belong to?”

Tom seemed surprised by this. “Is that true? It hardly seems possible. Usually folks stick to their own kind. I’ve noticed that.”

He spoke like an outsider, Suvi decided, for all he had a Rose Soli on his own sleeve. “It was the only way to make this place work. We could not have separate facilities for everyone.”

“And everyone just goes along with that, do they?”

Suvi shrugged, thinking of Goodwife Teggr and Calaan. “Sometimes there are disagreements, but I think most people understand that the old ways cannot continue; not during a war, anyway.”

They crossed into a warren of small rooms off the main hall. Each of the wooden doors had a number painted on it. “These are the ablutions rooms. We assign newcomers a number, and a time for bathing. Everyone takes turns keeping them clean. Hot water is often a problem,” she added with a grin. “But cold showers are always available.”

Suvi turned away to take Tom to the kitchen. Surreptitiously he removed an object from his pocket and held it up to his eye. When she called his name, he hurriedly replaced it, and caught up to her.

“This is the kitchen,” she was saying. “The details on cooking duty prepare a hot breakfast and dinner each day. Right now, we have about two hundred people to feed, so it is a big job. When the electrics are working they use the stoves, but if not, we build fires in the brick ovens.”

“Where do you get enough food to give everyone two meals a day?”

“We get many supplies by scavenging. There are a lot of ruined shops and houses around here, with things going to waste inside. We also get what we can from wholesalers and markets, mostly by not asking too many questions about how fresh something is or where it came from.”

After they had visited the dining room, and the schoolroom, and Tom had seen the workshops, they returned to Suvi’s office. They worked together in silence, stacking bricks, sweeping and dusting.

Tom re-hung the door and oiled the hinges. “There, good as new.”

Suvi smiled gratefully and fingered the set of keys she wore around her neck. “You have no idea how much I would have missed it. This is one of the only doors with a working lock, and I have a few things that I need to keep safe.”

He gave a low whistle when he saw a fancy yitar propped against the wall next to the bed, miraculously undamaged by the fallen brick. The neck had been turned with scrollwork, and a winsome mermaid decorated the head.

“This must be one of them. Is it yours?”

Suvi nodded. “One of the few souvenirs from my former life as a Harp. Many of my Soli are professional musicians. I took lessons for years, but I seldom have time to play now. I should probably sell it, but I guess it reminds me of home.”

He ran his graceful-looking fingers over the strings and quickly adjusted the tuning. Suvi had time to notice that his fingernails seemed quite clean for someone who worked on engines for a living.

“Mind if I have a go?”

She waved her hand casually, not expecting much. “Be my guest.”

When she had been in practice, Suvi was a mediocre player at best, but it soon became clear that Tom Finn could coax astonishing sound from the fourteen strings of the yitar. She listened entranced, as his fingers fairly flew on the fret board, in waves of double and triple harmonies. Suvi couldn’t help thinking it was a very odd talent for a Rose.

She nonetheless applauded wildly when he finished. “You must come back for the banquet on Friday. There is entertainment afterwards. Would you play? The children look forward to it all month.”

He seemed uncomfortable with the idea. “I don’t know. Are you sure anyone would want to hear me?”

“What? You were amazing. I only wish I could play as well.”

“Then what will you do for the show? I don’t want to take your instrument from you.”

Suvi blushed. “Oh, it’s all right. I can sing. A little. Perhaps we could do something together. Can you play any folk songs? How about, ‘Oh Rose, Oh Rose’ ?”

He smiled. “Sure, I can play it. Every Rose knows that one.”

“Well, go ahead, then. I will come in after the introduction.” She stood still, waiting.

Tom’s smile froze. “Um, maybe you should just start singing. I am not quite sure I...”

Marja Kinnock rescued him, when she appeared in the doorway. She looked tired, and worry had etched deep lines on each side of her mouth. “I am sorry to interrupt, Suvi, but I need Riku’s medicine. He says his head feels like it is caught in a vise.”

Suvi frowned as she unlocked her desk. The deep blue folder that held the stolen papers lay on top and she quickly shoved it to the back of the drawer before handing Marja the bottle. “He isn’t any better?”

Marja shook her head desolately. “If anything the fever is higher than yesterday. He won’t eat, and it is all I can do to get him to sip a little water now and then. I think he is going to...” She burst into tears, and sank onto Suvi’s bed.

Tom carefully leaned the yitar against the wall. “What is it?”

Suvi crossed the room to comfort Marja. “Her little boy is very unwell. I brought him some medicine last night, but it must not be the right kind.”

“May I have a look at him?”

Marja’s head flew up. “Who is that? Is he a doctor?”

Suvi shook her head. “This is Tom Finn. He fixed my motapede.” She stared at him, her expression doubtful. “What do you know about milk sickness, Tom?”

“Me? Not a thing.” He seemed surprised by her question. “But I have a friend, a very kind friend, who is a healer. If I see the boy, I can tell her of his condition and perhaps she will come and help.”

“Truly?” Marja’s expression grew hopeful. She stood and grasped Tom’s arm. “This way. Riku and I live in number twenty-two.”

He knelt at the boy’s side and felt his forehead. Then he ran his fingers on either side of his head. Riku moaned in pain, his eyes flickering through the half-closed lids. Tom checked his legs and back. Each time, his prodding elicited the same response.

“What are you doing?” Marja spoke worriedly. “Does that hurt him?”

Tom sat back on his heels and looked at Suvi and Marja. “He doesn’t have milk sickness. That is why the medicine is no good. I think it is Trench fever. It’s passed by infected louse bites.” Tom lifted Riku’s shirt and pointed to his abdomen. “Look, he has red spots here, and here and here.”

Marja frowned at Suvi as she pulled her aside. She kept her voice very low. “I thought you said he was a Rose mechanic. How in hell does he know what troubles Riku?”

Suvi looked at the tent, where the backlit silk left Tom Finn’s silhouette clearly visible. He seemed to be waving his hands above the boy in an incantation. “I am not sure what he is. But if he wants to help then maybe we should let him. I can’t see how it could hurt.”

By the time the women came back into the tent, Tom had the camera stashed away again.

* * * *

She walked him to the side door where he had left his battered pick-up. “Thank you for everything you did today, Tom. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I might still be buried under a ton of bricks in the office.”

He shrugged. “I was happy to help. And I would like to come back in the morning, and patch those broken windowpanes for you. The wind will be howling by tomorrow night. There is a solid freeze ahead and a lot of snow.”

Suvi gazed at him. His eyes were clear blue, like Lake Copaheg on a sunny day, and yet the suggestion of clouds lay just underneath, as if there were grey thoughts hiding within them. Under her scrutiny, he rubbed his cropped hair and grinned.

“And yes, I will play at the dinner if you really want me to.” Suvi still said nothing, and Tom got the uncomfortable feeling she wanted to ask him a question, but could not quite find the words.

Finally, she said, “Your friend, the healer? Will she come with you tomorrow?”

He nodded uncertainly. “I will ask her, but if she cannot, I will bring some medicine anyway. Tell Marja not to worry too much. Trench fever is painful, but can be cured very quickly. If we give Riku some sulfa drug...”

Suvi frowned. “Who are you really, Thommats Finn? You are like no Rose man I have ever met.”

Tom thrust his hands into his pockets and chewed the edge of his red-blond moustache. “Come now, Suvi. I thought you, of all people, would be the last to judge a man by his Soli.”

She laughed ruefully at this. “Fair enough. I guess I owe you an apology.” Suvi held out her hand. “Until tomorrow, then. It was very nice meeting you, Tom.”

“And you.” Tom shook her hand, very formally. “Expect me in the morning some time.”

He jumped in the truck and peeled away rather vigorously considering the apparent age of the vehicle, Suvi thought. Just another little contradiction.

* * * *

“I won’t be long, Chelah.” The degum wound round her legs disconsolately. “I need to pay a visit to Max, at the Field, and see what he has for us this week.”

Chelah growled, deep in the back of her throat.

“Well, yes, I don’t think much of him either, but he does help us. Even if it is just another business transaction to him.” Suvi picked up the file; the one she had stolen from the man named Jack, and tucked it into her jacket.

She gave her pet a quick pat. “Bye, Chelah. I will try to get some tinned milk for you.” The degum growled happily, then curled in the middle of Suvi’s pillow, with her long tail wrapped tight around her body.

Suvi scanned the sky outside. Low cloud meant any bombers would come in unobserved, but since there had already been a raid today, she felt reasonably safe. She took the motapede on to Wharfan Svaate, and headed south, in the direction of Ebbetsfeld. The civil defense authority discouraged daytime travel, so the deserted roads seemed almost peaceful. She made good time, adroitly taking footpaths and little used lanes to avoid the ever-present roadblocks. The motapede handled well; even better than before the accident, forcing Suvi to admit that whatever else Thommats Finn might be, he was a capable mechanic.

High, barbed wire fences surrounded Ebbetsfeld, but the rusty metal sagged in many places. Suvi bypassed the main gate, with its many guards, and followed a gravel road round the compound to a little-used back entrance. She drew up to the guardhouse and removed her helmet. The soldier manning the gate stood at attention, his thin, pale face pinched with cold.

Suvi recognized him and waved. “Hello, Willkie. How are you today?”

The sentry, a young Spear of about sixteen, looked around quickly for his Sergeant and then gave her a small, secretive smile. “Fine, Miss Markku. And you?”

“I am well. And Belle sends her regards. Will you come to the dinner on Friday night? I am sure she would be glad to see you.”

Willkie frowned. “You know what the Sergeant says, Suvi. We ain’t allowed to mix with the locals. Especially now. The field is locked tighter than a drum.” He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Some big push going to happen up North, that is what I heard. We might get the call any day now.”

Suvi gave a guilty frown, thinking about the papers she had stashed in her pocket. “All the more reason to come this Friday. You can sneak through the back way, in your civilian clothes. How else will you see your lady love before you ship out?”

He seemed unconvinced. “I don’t know. I could get in an awful lot of trouble...”

She grinned and poked his shoulder. “Since when do you care? And anyway there will be dancing.”

His eyes brightened. “Are you going to sing?”

“If you come, I promise I will.”

The Sergeant, a bluff, red-faced fellow, appeared around the corner. The sentry, who had been slouching, straightened his back. “Here is your pass, Miss. Remember you must leave the field after thirty minutes, no longer.” He handed over a small white card, which Suvi stuck in her pocket.

“Thank you, Private.” Suvi gave him a secretive wink. “See you on Friday.” She sped off on her motapede before Willkie could argue. After wending her way through lanes of beat-up Harrier Corps trucks and a few heavy field guns, she arrived at the supply depot. Suvi parked the pede and picked her way through the muddy forecourt.

A swarthy, unkempt man stood in the doorway, scratching his broad expanse of belly, only just covered by his uniform shirt. “Well, well. If it ain’t Miss Suvi! And what have you got for your old buddy Max today?”

Suvi forced a smile. “I think you will be impressed.” She waited until they were inside the office before carefully peeling the top sheet off the file. “Have a look.”

He gave a long, low whistle. “Operation Pincer? Where in the hell did you get this?”

Suvi looked vague. “I found it somewhere.”

Max scanned the paper quickly. “Fifteen cases of tinned pukka, if the rest of the papers are genuine.”

She laughed mirthlessly. This was an old game between them. “Please don’t waste my time, Max. That file describes a top-secret troop movement, to engage the Grond north of Lake Copaheg. Very important tactical information. I am sure your employers would not want it to fall into the wrong hands. Berengarth would pay dearly for such vital intelligence.” Suvi waited breathlessly, hoping Max would not call her bluff.

He lowered his beetling brows, until Suvi could hardly see his eyes. “You ain’t threatening old Max, are you?”

She spoke quickly. “Of course not. I just want you to understand how important this file could be. You might even get promoted if you turn it back in to the High Command.”

Max sniffed noisily and spat in an oily puddle, making a swirling rainbow in the water. Suvi looked away in disgust. “I don’t give a rette’s ass about promotions. I got a good deal here, and something this big could screw it up, see?”

Suvi held out her hand. “As you wish. I can always sell it somewhere else.”

“Fifteen cases of pukka and three parachutes,” he offered, after a calculated pause. “That is all I can give you. Take it or leave it.”

“I want the meat, six parachutes, two hundredweight sacks of flour, three tins of evaporated milk and a flask of poteen,” she said firmly. “And you may take it or leave it.”

Max gave her a grudging smile, exposing stained teeth and a generous plug of tabac. “You sure drive a hard bargain for such a pretty little thing. Any chance you and me could...”

Suvi quickly shook her head. This too was an old game. “I don’t think so, Max.”

He spat again, closer to her feet. “Suit yourself. All right, you got yourself a deal. I’ll load the stuff in one of those big crates you like so much. One of my boys will deliver it.” He held out his hand and wiggled his fingers suggestively. “I’ll take the rest of that file, Sweetie.”

“I will give you half now and the balance when the cargo is delivered. Please don’t be offended. In this business it doesn’t pay to trust people.”

Max gave her a knowing wink. “Too right, little lady.” He tucked the sheaf of papers into the back of his pants and covered it with his uniform shirt. “You want to take the milk with you?”

“Yes, please. But just one tin, Chelah can wait for the rest.” She stood by while he dug through a teetering stack of cases close to his desk. Max handed over the milk with a frown.

“Why are you doing this?”

She pretended to be baffled. “Doing what? Getting milk for my degum?”

“Dealing in military secrets.” Max stared at her pensively and his eyes looked almost kind. “You are a nice girl, I can tell. Treason isn’t your style. Are you sure you want to...”

Suvi cut him off. “You can’t wriggle out of our deal now, Max Jalo.” She turned her back on him, but called over her shoulder, “When should I expect the delivery?”

“Tomorrow night, after curfew. Give the rest of the file to Jaegr. He won’t ask no questions.”

She tossed the milk in the front basket, started the pede and sped away, glad to be out of there. Dealing with people like Max Jalo was the only part of her job she truly disliked. They used the war for personal profit, siphoning off supplies needed by the men in the field.

“But we need them too,” Suvi muttered as she bounced though another mud filled pothole. “We need them too.”

Max crossed his untidy office, retrieving the papers Suvi had traded as he did so. They were already damp and stained with sweat. After perusing them for a minute, he picked up the phone and dialed.

A clipped voice answered. “Major Bennett.”

Max sighed deeply, wondering what would happen to her. Did they still shoot traitors? “Jalo here, Sir. The pigeon has come home to roost.”

Chapter Five

Tessa

A cave bat may hide from the light, but not the darkness.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tessa must have fallen asleep. She woke with a crick in her neck, still clutching the diary. The candle had burned into a puddle of grease, leaving the bedroom in almost total darkness. But she could see the vague outline of the window with the broken shutter. Centered in it, like a portrait within a frame, was a dark shape that looked very much like a head.

She froze in terror and closed her eyes. “I am dreaming. Please God...” Tessa waited for exactly ten heartbeats and then her eyes flew open. The head had disappeared. She flopped onto her pillow again, feeling the cold sheen of sweat that had sprung to her forehead and armpits.

Laughing to herself she said out loud, “Silly girl. Don’t be afraid of the bogeyman.” Tessa straightened her pillow, and turned over on to her stomach, hoping she would be able to get back to sleep. A few moments later, a resonant scratching sound made her shoulder blades want to meet in the middle of her back. She found she could not turn over and see what it was.

The sound continued. It sounded oddly like fingernails scraping on glass.

Tessa listened hard, desperately trying to think of any benign explanation for the sound. There were no pets, no trees, and no hanging plants. After a short while, the sound grew louder and more varied, almost as if there were two sets of...

With a cry of terror, Tessa rolled off the bed and onto the floor, just as a fist thrust its way through the window, showering her pillow with glass.

She saw white fingers, like huge maggots, scrabbling for the catch. They dragged a terrified moan from her throat. “No... Go away.”

There was nothing to throw but the candle lantern, so she did. The hand withdrew for maybe two seconds, but by then she was out of the bedroom and crossing the living room floor. The doors were locked, she had seen to that before she went to bed, but they could still get in, quite easily. As if to prove her point, she heard the hinges squeal in protest as the bedroom window opened past its normal rotation.

She ran to the front door, had her hand on the knob, before she stopped abruptly. Tessa slapped her forehead, hard. “Think. They won’t both have come in. One will wait outside in case you try to escape through the door.” She dug through the umbrella stand and selected a sturdy brass-topped cane. It had been Suvi’s, when her arthritis got the best of her. Somehow, it gave Tessa courage.

A dull thump indicated that one of them was now in the house with her. She didn’t want to fight, didn’t think she could, but she prayed she might be able to outsmart whatever it was. Holding her breath, moving as silently as a breath of wind, she crept across the floor, back towards the bedroom, towards it. By the time it came through into the living room, Tessa had hidden herself behind the door.

The Poly’s heavy tread made the floorboards groan in protest, but it did not depend on stealth to catch its prey. It needed only complete implacability.

Tessa counted to four and then dived back into the bedroom and slammed the door. The impact made the key fly out. It landed somewhere in darkness. “Shit!” She dropped to her knees, groping wildly under the bed.

Already she could feel the vibration of the floor as it moved back towards her. One step, two. It didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Tessa found the key and stuffed it back into the lock. She turned it, just as the handle rattled. Standing, hardly able to catch her breath, she backed away from the door, wondering what it would do now.

The upper door panel cracked wide as a fist shot through. Tessa screamed and smashed the cane on the groping fingers. The impact caused the head to break off, leaving her with nothing to defend herself. The hand withdrew, pulling a large section of door with it. A boot kicked in the bottom panel, very efficiently. In ten seconds, nothing remained of the door. The Poly stepped over the broken pieces, and surveyed the empty room. Tessa had gone out the window.

She tore through the night, holding the long gown around her knees, wondering how long it would be before they caught up to her. She passed Joe Romine’s house, dark and shuttered. The Captain had told her last week about a three-day fishing trip. She passed Ellie Rayne’s snug little cottage, with its hanging geranium pots, thinking she could not involve an eighty-year-old woman in this unreasoning terror.

There was only one person who could help her now.

A dark menacing shape stepped on to the path ahead of her. Perhaps they had also known that she would run straight to Jakob Faircrow.

She swerved onto a side path, covered in loose shingle that bruised her bare feet. The Poly behind her picked up speed, gaining ground with every step. Tessa tried to remember the lay of the land before her. The path led to a rickety jetty, hardly strong enough to take her weight. Once she stepped upon it, she would be at their mercy, with nowhere else to run.

She wondered, desperately, how much a Poly weighed.

By the time she reached the jetty, both of them were right behind her. She backed onto the rotten boards. “No! Leave me alone. Go back to wherever you came from. Please.”

They stepped onto the planks with their arms outstretched, like smartly dressed zombies. Tessa breathed an encouragement. “Come on...”

When the first board broke, one of the Polys dropped straight down, landing in the water below. Its head and shoulders stuck incongruously out of the splintered hole. The second did not falter — did not even look at its companion. The rotten boards gave way under it just as Tessa dived off the end of the pier. The cold hit her hard, like a slap in the face.

She swam and swam under water, until her lungs screamed for air, trying to put whatever distance she could between her and them. The darkness under the surface was impenetrable, so Tessa surfaced, treading water until she got her bearings. She had swum a fair way into the bay, but she could see two dark figures on the shore, standing still, standing silent. They had only to wait — the coldness of the water would freeze her bones and bring her back to them.

Already her teeth chattered madly.

She dog-paddled, parallel to the shore, and they strolled along beside her on the beach, just as if it were a Sunday afternoon outing. The boathouse loomed ahead of them, the ramp a dark angle in the water.

“Jakob!” Tessa screamed and waved her arms madly. “Jakob, help me!”

She waited breathlessly in the water for a light to come on — for the door to open — for him to come charging to her rescue — but nothing like that happened. Nothing happened at all.

Tessa took several loading breaths and dived again. She swam underwater, trying to make a beeline for the boat ramp, thinking she might be able to hide beneath it. When a dark shape filled her vision she thought at first one of the Polys had come into the water. She swerved violently, but it was only one of the barnacled piers of the boathouse. Tessa dragged herself underneath, hoping there would be some headspace when she broke the surface.

There was something even better. A ladder.

She clambered up the slick and rusty rungs, praying the trapdoor above would open for her. Once she reached the door she pushed hard, but it did not move. Something ice cold brushed against her leg, brushed and then caught hold — a hand, as white as marble and just as hard. It had her ankle, and slowly, inexorably, it began to drag her back into the water.

Tessa could not even scream.

She wrapped her elbow around the ladder and held on to her wrist with her other hand. The downwards pressure grew, until it felt as though her elbow or hip must dislocate. She gritted her teeth, threw all her strength into holding on, but slowly, so slowly, her numbed fingers began to slip.

The trapdoor above her head flew open, and she just knew the other Poly would be behind it. He would grab her head, and they would pull her to pieces... She closed her eyes, hoping it would be over quickly.

Strong arms seized her from above and jerked, hard. Hard enough to pull her free from the Poly’s grasp. Tessa shot straight through the trapdoor, fighting all the way.

“Stop it! It’s me, all right? I have you.” His words made no impression. Only the warmth of his body stopped her struggling.

She went limp in Jakob’s arms and he held her while she babbled. “They came to the window. I couldn’t get away. I ran and ran...”

He didn’t say anything, just gathered her up and climbed the ladder that continued straight up the wall. As they reached the top, a white fist smashed through the boathouse doors and began to work the barrel latch loose.

Once they were in the attic, Jakob lowered her gently next to the bed. She clutched at him frantically, teetering on the ragged edge of panic. “They will come up here next. How can we stop them?”

He reached behind her and pulled a blanket from the bed. “Wrap yourself in this, you must be freezing.” This prosaic advice somehow helped her to get a grip. She drew the blanket around her and sank on the bed. Jakob crossed the room, and Tessa noted somewhat dizzily that he must have been asleep until very recently, for he still wore a pair of tatty flannel pajama bottoms and no shirt. His naked shoulders became a solid, reassuring bulwark between her and the Polys.

“Jakob,” she asked, in a very small voice. “What are you going to do?”

“Kill them.”

An equally tattered bathrobe hung on the door and he threw it aside, revealing a sword and scabbard. Jakob drew the sword with a ringing whine and casually examined the blade.

Panic returned. Tessa couldn’t suppress a horrified giggle. “You are going after them with a sword? Don’t you have anything else?”

He turned to face her, the sword by his side, his hand clenched on the grip. Somehow, his quiet calm radiated far more ferocity than if he had screamed the answer. “I don’t need anything else. Stay in here.” He went through the door, shutting it firmly behind him.

Tessa dug through the cutlery drawer until she found the knife he had used to cut the apple pie. They sat together and ate it, once upon a time, as if all had been right with the world. She had, she now remembered, been appalled at his table manners. And then he had frightened her, but not nearly enough. Not enough to make her believe.

Why hadn’t she believed?

She waited for a long while, until the silence hummed with her hammering heartbeat and the tension grew too much for her to bear. Then, hating herself, hating what she knew she would find, Tessa wrapped the bathrobe around her still-soaking nightgown and stepped into the night, the knife clutched in her hand.

The moon had come out, throwing the shacks into sharp relief. She stood on the top landing of the stair, peering downwards for any sign of movement. The silence seemed magnified by the regular shush of the waves. A Poly appeared, moving stealthily along the stone path. Tessa gave a sharp intake of breath and shrank back against the wall. It stopped and then slowly turned towards her, as if it had some sort of radar.

“No...” she whispered.

As the Poly began to move forwards, gliding silently over the sand, Jakob stepped from the shadow like an avenging angel, with his sword held high. Though he did not look in her direction he seemed to know she was there. He kept his voice absolutely level. “Go back inside.”

She did not obey. Couldn’t. Terror had cut Tessa’s nerves into frayed bits of wire. She watched as the sword flashed, heard the dull thunk as the Poly’s head hit the sand, heard Jakob’s grunt of agony as the smoking blood splashed his bare shoulder. He staggered backwards until his back pressed against the boathouse wall and then he fell to his knees. Tessa started down the stairs, and saw the other Poly long before Jakob did.

It moved very, very quickly. Tessa took the last stairs in a leap and threw herself between Jakob and his assailant. “Go away! Leave us alone.”

The Poly caught her and squeezed. Squeezed until she felt her ribs pop. Squeezed until she couldn’t cry out, couldn’t breathe, until grey spots swam before her eyes. But this pain brought her resolve.

One of her arms was free. Though her hand felt nearly numb, she remembered that there had once been a knife attached to it. It glinted in the light as she raised it high, and plunged it to the hilt in the Poly’s left eye. Surprisingly, it did not let her go, but it did loosen its grip long enough for her to take a ragged breath.

Jakob came up behind her and wrenched the Poly’s arms wide. “Drop. Crawl away with your head covered.” Tessa did as she was told. He wrestled with it, long enough for her to get clear, and then skewered its chest with the sword.

She watched, somehow dispassionately, as Jakob lifted the sword with one hand, with the Poly wriggling like a frog on the end of a gig — lifted and shook, until the wriggling stopped. Then he dropped it, and stood over the body, panting hard. He spoke almost to himself. “Asta ne faircorwan. Animos mi. Telluri mia.”

His words sounded eerily familiar to Tessa. “What did you just say?”

“Go back inside,” he repeated mechanically. “I will be there in a minute.”

“Jakob, are you all right? Let me...”

“Get the fuck inside!”

His anger finally sent her scurrying up the stairs. But she turned when she reached the top, and watched with only mild astonishment as Jakob Faircrow easily lifted the dead Polydactyls and then disappeared.

* * * *

“How did this happen? It looks awful,” Tessa dabbed white vinegar on the blistered skin just under Jakob’s clavicle. The burned patch covered a six-inch square of chest, which now looked hairless, white and very painful.

He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together for a moment. When she had finished, he said, “The Polys blood is strongly alkaline. Burns like hell.”

“Do you want me to bandage it?”

“Nah.” Jakob gave her an easy grin. “I will be fine in the morning.”

Afterwards, they sat with the table between them. Tessa studied the steam rising from her tea. “How long?”

“How long what?”

“You know, until the next ones get here.”

He shrugged. “It is hard to say. Maybe a week, maybe less.”

Tessa had borrowed Jakob’s pajama top, and kept the robe, but still she shivered. “But tonight? They won’t be back tonight?”

He covered her hand, as he had once before. “No, you are safe enough for tonight, I promise.”

This time Tessa did not move hers away. “I am sorry,” she whispered. “I should have listened.”

He shook his head wearily. “I didn’t... explain it very well. I don’t blame you, not at all.”

“Would you now? Explain it, I mean?” She gazed at Jakob, wondering at the brute strength she had just witnessed. Now his mouth looked soft, and tired, like a little child’s.

“I can try. But I don’t know if...”

“Could we get into bed first?” Tessa was a little surprised at her own boldness. “I am freezing cold, and I really don’t want to go home. Please?”

He stood and stretched, so full of leonine grace and power that Tessa had to look away or she would have blushed like a teenager. “Sure. Come on. I will get another blanket. Do you want the light on or off?”

Tessa smiled, touched by his thoughtfulness. “Off will be OK, as long as you are sure...”

This might have offended him, a little. “They are old friends, the Polys. I know their ways.”

She crawled into his bed, and he flicked off the light. The ancient mattress bellied downwards when he lay opposite her, and Tessa let herself roll with it, so she could press her body next to his. He radiated a fierce heat, like nothing she had ever experienced. It filled her, roaring through her veins.

Though she had asked him to explain, he did not speak, only put his arms around her tightly. And when she placed her mouth over his with an impatient sigh, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

His hands fumbled with the fastening to his pajamas, her hands tore off the borrowed shirt. They kissed as though the world might end. Within a minute, he threw himself on top of her. She felt his weight crushing her into the mattress, and wondered if it would leave an impression on her skin.

Jakob raised his head. Even in the dimness, she could see the endless sweep of the ocean in his eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

Tessa had been on the Pill for years, for her infrequent sexual encounters with Ted. She would have called them lovemaking, before now. But how did they compare with this force of nature — that washed over her roughly, and yet filled her with such tenderness?

“Oh yes. I am sure.”

Thirty seconds later, he rolled away again, with a mortified groan.

She reached towards him in the darkness. “It doesn’t matter, Jakob. We can try again, in a little while.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I haven’t been with a woman for a long while, not since Maia...” Tessa waited in the darkness, and held her breath. “Died,” he finished forlornly. “They killed her.”

She didn’t have to ask who they were. “Start at the beginning. Tell me how you came to be here, and why.” She curled into his side again, and he stroked her hair.

“May I ask you something first? Two somethings, actually.” She heard the smile in his voice. “Would you mind terribly if I smoked? It doesn’t seem to be a very popular habit on this world.”

Tessa, who had been dearly wishing for a fill of her pipe, chuckled sympathetically in the darkness. “May I join you? But I am afraid I didn’t think to bring my pipe and tobacco when I left the house earlier this evening.”

Jakob patted the nightstand, listening for the crinkling sound of cellophane. “I have these things, called cigarettes, kind of like a pipe, only made with paper. Do you want one of those? They aren’t as good, but they do in a pinch.”

Tessa accepted gravely, not letting him see her smile. They lit up using old-fashioned fireplace matches, and smoked in silence for a few moments. Then she asked, “What was your other question?”

He touched her hair again. “Why is your hair cut short, like a Guardsman’s? It is so beautiful, the color of ripe corn. You ought to let it grow and grow.”

She sighed as Ted’s nasal voice sprang unbidden into her head. “Long hair just isn’t professional, babe. Do you want all those dirty old men in the department hitting on you?” Funny how she hadn’t seen the irony until now.

“Someone told me I should cut it, and I believed him. But really, I liked it better long.”

“Oh.” He took another puff of his cigarette. It took a few more minutes, but finally he started.

“I grew up on an island called Asaruthe, with my parents, my twin brother and my half-sister.” Tessa lay quietly in the darkness and vowed she would ask no questions until he had finished. “I had a good life, but everything fell apart when I turned seventeen. My mother died, and my brother blamed me for it. The grief left my father unhinged, and he died too. For a while I felt very alone, but then I found Maia, and together we traveled the worlds between.”

When he didn’t speak, Tessa broke her vow. “What happened to her?”

“My brother Lut had been hunting the man who killed our mother, and he came to me with a warning, saying Tristan had canvassed soldiers from a new azimuth. They were fell, white-skinned beasts called Polydactyls, for the fact they have six toes on each foot. He told me they were searching the worlds, looking for something that had once belonged to our grandmother.”

Jakob’s voice grew bitter as frost.

“I hadn’t seen him for many years, and it pleased me to think I had finally been forgiven, so I asked him what I could do to help. He told me I should send Maia to a place of safety first. He even suggested a destination: a world called Rythis that the Polys did not know.”

He sighed in the darkness, and Tessa could feel trembling deep in his chest. “But that was a lie. When Maia and I came there, they were waiting. She didn’t stand a chance.”

The bleakness in his voice made Tessa want to weep. “Are you saying that your own brother deliberately set her up?”

He nodded grimly. “He did. To exact his revenge for our mother’s death.”

Tessa knew she ought not to ask, but she did, nonetheless. “Why did Lut blame you?”

Jakob fumbled for the cigarette packet and shook out two more. After lighting both he handed one to Tessa and took a long drag off the other. The flaring light of the match had given her a heartrending glimpse of the guilt and shame etched on his face. “Never mind,” she said quickly. “You don’t...”

He spoke over her words, as if he hadn’t heard them. “I suppose I just didn’t grow up quickly enough. I wanted to leave Asaruthe, and in leaving, I opened a door that should have remained closed. When you add that to the fact I had already gotten my brother banished for something he didn’t do, and broken up his engagement, he had quite a lot to be angry about.”

“Quite,” agreed Tessa. “But you paid dearly, by the sound of it.”

“She did. And Lut will too, one of these days, when this business with the Polys is at an end.”

“But he must be dead now! If he was a friend of Suvi’s, as she claims, in her journal. That was a long time ago.”

Jakob shook his head gently, making the lighted end of his cigarette trace a bright aurora in the gloom. “Time... Well, time is a funny thing, Tessa. It winds about the endless Gyre — no beginning, no end, but everything is really happening now. You have only to travel between the worlds to go anywhen you want.”

Tessa lay silently beside him for a moment or two, pondering this. “When you disappeared, before, is that what you did — pass into another world? What are you — that you can travel that way?”

“I told you. Just a mariner. Nothing special.”

She snorted in disbelief. “How did you pick those guys up? They must have weighed two-fifty each, easy.” Stony silence greeted this question.

Tessa sighed deeply and tried again. “If the mirror has been in Cloudy Bay for the last thirty-five years, why did the Polys wait so long to come for it?”

“Because it slept in a dark place. But when you disturbed the fireplace a little light got in and shone on the mirror. That called to the Polys more effectively than any voice could. They came, and I followed them.”

The darkness seemed suddenly too close. Though it had only half-burned, Jakob stubbed his cigarette into the cracked saucer that served as his ashtray. Tessa leaned over his body and did the same, and her breasts brushed lightly against his chest. He inhaled sharply and brought his arms up to keep her there.

“I think it’s time,” she whispered, with a grin.

Tessa found his mouth and kissed him, but he soon tore his lips away, bent on exploration. He traced her jaw, and ears and neck, then rolled her back over so that he could search lower. She dug her fingers into his hair and held on, as his lips and tongue caressed her breasts. Then his head disappeared under the covers as he sought the throbbing ache between her legs. Tessa gave a long moan of pleasure as his mouth covered her, flooding her with almost unbearable warmth. Sweet Jesus. Is this what it is supposed to be like?

Her thoughts dissolved into ecstasy as a ferocious climax left her gasping his name.

Amusement crept back into his voice. “Was that all right?”

“Yes,” said Tessa, when she found she could speak. “Yes, Jakob, that was amazing.”

As soon as he had flopped back to his side of the bed, she straddled his chest, and kissed him again. “Let’s try this way. I’ll go as slow as you want, I promise.”

She shifted her body as he spread his rough hands on her hips, guiding her back and down. He groaned as he slipped inside her. “Don’t do anything. Give me a minute.”

Tessa stayed very still, using the time to kiss his shaggy eyebrows, and run her tongue along the whiskered curve of his jaw and across the cleft in his chin.

Before long she could feel his frustration building, knew he was trying too hard to hold himself in check. “Speak to me in your language. I want to hear more of it.”

One hand left her hips and moved to her face, tracing the outline tenderly with the edge of his thumb and palm. “Si fenu, mi Tessa. Si fen at lors, at kifen, at gron. Manu si fenu, manu teluri.” The strange words caught fire within her, and reduced her promise to ashes. As she rocked back and forth, stroking him swiftly and hungrily, he cried, “Ach, Tessa! Tessa, mi Tessa. Si fenu, si fenu...”

Afterwards, they slept like children, entwined in each other’s arms.

In the morning, there was little talk, at first. They sipped coffee, ate breakfast, avoided each other’s eyes.

Tessa finally broke the silence. “What are we going to do now?”

His blue eyes regarded her thoughtfully. “It depends.” A minute or more passed as they both picked at their eggs. Jakob sighed. “First I have to understand about last night.”

Tessa would have liked to pretend she didn’t know what he meant. What was there to understand, anyway? “Maybe I just needed someone.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Someone, as in anyone? Or someone, as in me?”

Ted’s lugubrious face kept intruding on her thoughts, making her even grumpier. “What difference does it make?”

He studied his forkful of eggs intently. “Not much — to me, I guess. But maybe more to your fiancé.”

She glared at him from across the table. “How do you know about that?”

“I heard you and Jane talking. She mentioned his name — Ted, isn’t it? You work with him at the University.”

“Brilliant, Holmes. Yes, Ted Black is my fiancé, and yes he is under-H.O.D. of Anthropology. Do you want to know how big his dick is too, or is that enough information?”

Jakob sat back, and rubbed the burn on his shoulder. His eyes took on the color of a two-day-old bruise.

She felt unexpectedly contrite. He had saved her life, after all. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I just don’t know what to do now.”

He shrugged with studied carelessness. “Maybe you should go and visit him for a few days. You’d be safer. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on your house.”

“Or I could just stay here with you. I could help.”

Jakob’s smile was arid. “Like you did last night, you mean?”

“Yes. I thought I did really well, for my first time. Didn’t you?”

“If by really well you mean almost getting both of us killed, then yeah, you did fine,” he spat back.

“What are you talking about? I saw the other one coming and stopped it from attacking you. You were on the ground.”

“Trying to make it believe I was hurt. I wanted to lure it from hiding. All you did was get in my way.”

Tessa got up and walked away from the table, so he wouldn’t see the angry tears in her eyes. “Fine, Mr. Big Bad Viking Warrior. I won’t lift a finger to save your sorry ass next time.”

“Fine!”

She gathered up her nightgown, which lay in a sodden heap on the floor, and tried to keep her voice absolutely level. “I guess I should be going then. May I keep the robe a little longer? I will wash it and then give it back to you.”

“Of course,” he said, with icy politeness.

He stood silently beside the door. She tried hard not to brush against him as she passed, but he grabbed her upper arm and held on, his touch ungentle. Tessa stared at his hand pointedly, and finally he dropped it to his side.

“Go straight home and pack your bag. Put Suvi’s mirror somewhere I can find it. And leave the key under the mat. Then get over to your boyfriend’s place and stay there until you hear from me.”

Tessa spoke with brittle precision. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

He drew a ragged sigh and raised his hand, then dragged it through his untidy hair. “Tessa, please. Be careful.”

There seemed nothing else to say. But after she crossed the threshold to the landing, Tessa paused. “Jakob, what does si fenu mean?”

No trace of emotion passed his face. “Nothing. Just something I made up.”

She walked away from him, knowing he spoke the truth. Whatever si fenu had meant in the fragile tenderness of the night, it meant nothing now.

Chapter Six

Suvi

Dog — Dogs are the most closed-minded of all the Soli. The dog child will likely refuse any contact with non-Dog children and may aggressively thwart any efforts at friendship. Progress has been made in teaching Dogs in community-based Soli schools, with intensive education in lower sciences.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

Suvi put Chelah, well wrapped in a scarf, in the basket of the motapede, next to an unlabeled glass bottle filled with a clear liquid. “Be careful of that flask. It is a present for our friend Ludde.”

Chelah squeaked in an inquiring way. “I hope so,” Suvi answered with a smile. “It would be good to have some fish for the dinner Friday night. Food has been a little scarce for the last few weeks.”

She peered anxiously at the sky. “Come on. We had better get going. Those clouds look like snow.” The broken windows of the office reflected the dirty grey light. Suvi sighed as she pushed the pede off its kickstand. “Why didn’t he come, Chelah? He could have at least sent a message. Marja is out of her mind worrying about Riku, and I...”

Chelah growled sympathetically.

“Well, yes. I wanted to see him too. He is very handsome, don’t you think?”

They took the road north, towards the coast. Suvi pushed the motapede hard, trying to beat the threatening weather.

A recent thaw had left thick muddy ruts everywhere. Dirt spattered her clothing and boots by the time she reached the path to Ludde’s tumbledown shack. Suvi parked the pede before the dunes, well hidden in a clump of tishin. Its thorny evergreen foliage would discourage all but the most determined thieves. She collected Chelah and the flask, and hiked the last half-mile, with her eyes still anxiously on the sky.

Bits of rusty fishing tackle littered the yard of Ludde’s house, set hard against the shore and a rotting jetty. “Good, Chelah. He is not fishing. See, there is his dory, tied up. And the Sweet Poppy is there too.” She pointed to the deeper water, where a very decrepit single-masted yawl lay at anchor.

Suvi crossed the sandy yard and carefully negotiated the steep steps to the front door. Fisher folk had built Ludde’s house long ago, using six-foot piers to keep it above the high winter tides. Some of the steps were cracked, some were missing, but Ludde never bothered to fix them. The door needed paint too. The salt spray had eaten into the wood, leaving it slick and swollen with damp. Suvi knocked firmly and then wiped her knuckles on her coat.

Not a sound came from inside the house.

Suvi tried again, a little harder. “Ludde, are you in there?” she called, though she knew he was and that he had heard her knock.

“Go ’way!” a gruff voice ordered.

Suvi sighed. “Ludde, it is me, Suvi. Please open the door.”

“No! I don’t want company today. Take some dried fish from the shed, if that is what you came for. Plenty of pikken there for you.”

Even this did not discourage her. She always had her last resort, though she hated to use it, not like that. “Oh well. I guess I will have to drink this flask of poteen all by...”

The door flew open, revealing a tall, unkempt man with an almost impossibly bushy red beard. “Suvi! Come in. Bring your beast — and the drink, of course,” he added with a sly half smile.

She followed him inside, stepping carefully over the piles of paper, wood, clothes, dishes and fishing nets that took almost all the floor space. A fire roared away in the hearth, making the room almost uncomfortably hot, but Ludde still wore his thick cable-knit sweater. Suvi sometimes wondered if he slept in it. Certainly, it smelled as though he had not washed it in an age.

He ratted around amongst the dishes on the bench and found two moderately clean shot glasses. “How are you, girl? Keeping well?”

“Fine, Ludde. And how are you?” Suvi studied what little she could see of his ruddy, weather-beaten face, noting it looked a little thinner than the last time she had visited. She put Chelah on the bed, and cleared a space for herself to sit.

Ludde coughed convincingly. “Had the grippe bad.” He reached for the flask of poteen and poured them both a shot of the clear spirit. He raised his glass. “Dagsanat!” After this toast, he tossed his drink straight back.

So did Suvi. The cheap liquor burned her throat, but it left a pleasant residue of warmth in her belly afterwards. A second round followed immediately, and then Suvi turned over her glass on the mantelpiece.

Ludde regarded her hopefully. “No more?” His blue eyes had already begun to look a little bleary.

“That is enough for me. But you may keep on if you like. I will have a smoke.” Suvi knew the flask of poteen would be empty before the end of the afternoon, but she had long ago stopped arguing with Ludde about his drinking.

“Suit yourself, girl.” He refilled the glass, and drank it with a satisfied sigh. “Been to see your friend Max, have you?” He raised his craggy eyebrow at her and she nodded.

Suvi packed her pipe with tabac, and then offered him her pouch. He withdrew a dark brown briar from his pocket and polished the wooden bowl carefully on his filthy galligaskins. Ludde lit his pipe with a flaming taper from the fire, cupping the chip in his big, rough hands. “Don’t trust him,” he growled, after they had smoked in companionable silence for a few minutes.

Suvi had grown accustomed to such conversational non-sequiturs from Ludde. “Who, Max? Don’t worry. I can deal with him.”

“Can you?” He shook his head and his rusty blond hair waved wildly, almost as if it had its own message to relay by semaphore. “You don’t know him.”

“And you do?”

He frowned darkly. “His kind, yes. I know them. They’ll cut your heart out and eat it raw for the right price. Nice girl like you shouldn’t mix with the likes of him. Or me, for that matter.” Suvi paid little attention to this. Ludde’s opinion of humanity began low and fell sharply the more he drank.

“Chelah and I like coming to visit, don’t we, girl?” She stroked the degum, and it snorted sleepily.

Ludde’s expression was sour. “Don’t know why. Not worth the trip.”

Suvi finished her pipe and knocked the ashes on the hearth bricks before she spoke again. “I think you are a good man, no matter how contrary you pretend to be. You have given Carina at least half your catch of pikken this year, and asked nothing in return.”

“Pah! There is no one to eat it but me. Why let good fish rot?”

“Don’t you have any family?”

“No! Not anymore.”

“What happened to them?” Suvi wondered if he would answer.

He didn’t. Ludde stared off into the distance for a full five minutes, but whatever thoughts filled his mind, he kept them to himself. Perhaps he even forgot Suvi’s presence altogether, because then he took a generous swallow straight from the flask of poteen.

She frowned. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

A belligerent haze filled his eyes. “Go home if you don’t like it, girl.”

Suvi did not move. “I would rather stay here and talk with you. May I ask you another question?”

He shrugged. “You can ask, but I probably won’t answer.”

“Why are you so unhappy?”

He took another long pull at the poteen, draining the last drop. His expression dared her to object, but Suvi only sat quietly, stroking Chelah’s ears. After a moment, Ludde hurled the empty flask into the fireplace, and it shattered against the bricks. The fire hissed like angry snakes. He looked over at Suvi, his eyes wild with rage and despair. “Because I deserve to be!”

She kept her voice very soft. “That isn’t an answer, Ludde Armstrong. Tell me the truth.”

He struggled to his feet and stood swaying before her, with his fists clenched. “You want the truth, little girl? Here it is. I killed my brother’s wife. Now do you see?” Ludde put a trembling hand to his face, and turned away from her. “Go home, Suvi. Go back to people you can help.”

She stood without speaking, and he heard her footsteps cross the floor. He kept his face hidden, waiting for her to go out the door and leave him, knowing she wouldn’t be back. But instead, her arms reached high and wrapped around his bent shoulders, pulling him into an embrace. Something broke inside him — a wall built high with hard words and empty pride. Ludde buried his head in her shoulder and cried like a lost child.

After a time, she put him to bed, and gently kissed his forehead. “I need to be going soon, Ludde. I will take the fish from the shed, as you so kindly suggested. We will be able to make many kaapjies, potato and fish pancakes, and the children love them. Sleep well.”

He blinked blearily at her and touched her arm. “You will take care on your way, won’t you?”

She smiled and said lightly, “Of course. Don’t worry about me.”

He tried to make her understand. “I have seen lanterns at night. Boats putting in to shore. Grond, they are. No one but me lives here, and they don’t know about Ludde. Stay away from the coast road after dark...” His voice trailed away and then he curled on his side and began to snore.

When he woke again, Suvi had gone. But the little room was as tidy as she could make it, and a note lay on top of the freshly washed dishes on the bench. He stared at it for a long time.

Come to the dinner at Carina, Friday night. Many people there would like to make your acquaintance. And remember, whatever you did before, you are a good man now. One who is worthy of forgiveness, if you seek it.

He balled up the paper and threw it in the fireplace. It landed amongst the broken glass and ashes, and woke the smoldering fire into brilliant flame.

* * * *

Suvi started the pede, and revved the engine. She shouted into the wind as they hurried along the coast road, “Sorry, girl. I know I shouldn’t have stayed so long, but I wanted to tidy up for Ludde. Goodness knows, the place needs it.”

As if in reprisal for this good deed, snow began to fall, only lightly at first, but with the promise of a heavy accumulation to come. Chelah cowered in the basket, trying to stay out of the chilly air as the pede roared along the road.

The sun hung low in the sky. Suvi wanted to make it back to Wharfan Svaate before it got fully dark, but she knew the trip would take her an hour with the pede this loaded. Two cloth sacks, each containing twenty pounds of dried pikken, hung off either side of the carrier in the back, and made the handling sluggish.

As she skidded round another sharp turn, Suvi heard the one sound she had been dreading — the low hum of aircraft engines. She scanned the sky with wide, anxious eyes. Three bombers dropped from above the cloud ceiling, accompanied by a far more deadly menace, at least for her — Grond escort fighters.

She spoke now to Chelah, whose head had peeped from the basket. “Hold on, girl. Those fighters will chase and mow down defenseless people, just for sport. We need cover quickly. That hedge over there is the closest place.”

Suvi gunned the engine and set off across the muddy field, home to a solitary galeet. The shaggy beast of burden whistled in alarm when it saw the pede coming towards it. It lowered its head and feinted with its single horn, then took off for the other side of the field, bucking wildly.

The aircraft droned on, high overhead, probably on their way to drop their deadly cargo on Ayedeen. Suvi prayed they might not notice the antics of the galeet or be too hurried to care. But, almost immediately, she heard the rhythm change as one of the fighters peeled off.

They had been spotted.

“Come on!” she begged the pede as it bogged and skidded in the sticky mud. The noise from the fighter grew deafening as it roared overhead. It didn’t fire, not this time, but she could see it banking sharply in front of her, coming round for another pass.

Somehow, she made the hedge and set off parallel to it, back towards the coast. Her dark clothing and pede would make her a harder target to pick out against the deep green leaves of the tishin. Just ahead, a narrow band of trees separated her from the shoreline. The roar of the aircraft, now directly behind her, filled her ears. Rhythmic thumping tore the ground just to the side of her, geysers of muddy water spouted forth. Chelah howled in terror.

The aircraft turned again, and hunted the galeet instead, cutting it down quite handily. Suvi wished she could close her ears to the screams of the dying animal.

The trees closed in overhead, but Suvi, knowing she might still be visible from the air, did not slow her frantic pace. She raced through the scattered trunks and shrubby undergrowth, heading for the deepest part of the forest. Bullets whipped and whined through the branches above her as the pilot took out his frustration on the canopy that had stolen his prey. But after a heart-stopping moment, Suvi heard the sound of the engine fading, as the disappointed fighter rejoined the bombing sortie.

She stopped the pede and dismounted, every muscle trembling with fatigue and delayed terror. Chelah still howled, huddled deep in the basket.

Suvi picked her up. “It is all right, Chelah. We are safe now. That galeet was not so lucky though. Poor thing. I hope that pilot rots in—”

The crack of a falling branch, broken by the strafing, suddenly sent the degum into a panic. She clawed her mistress savagely and threw herself over Suvi’s shoulder, before climbing halfway up a high tree.

Suvi groaned. “Chelah, please. Come down. We need to get home.”

The degum remained out of reach, mewling pitifully.

Suvi called and cajoled, offered pikken and threats, but nothing dislodged Chelah. Now, as night settled around them like a blanket, Suvi had to consider what she would do.

“I can’t stay here all night, girl,” she called up the tree trunk. Look how fast the snow is falling. Don’t you care if I freeze?” The degum barked a sharp warning and Suvi fell silent.

Did she hear the murmur of voices amongst the hiss of the waves?

She crept to the edge of the copse, high above the narrow strip of shingle. Ghostly lights bobbed just beyond the waterline. She saw a big dory put in to the shore, and ten uniformed members of the Grond embark. Behind her, Chelah gave a mournful howl, and several of the men looked up sharply, and went for their holstered weapons.

One man, blond and wiry, wearing the uniform of a Kepitan, whispered rapidly to the others in their tongue, no doubt telling them not to fire. He seemed oddly familiar. Suvi stared and stared, but the increasing darkness melted his features into a blur. He held up a hand and the boat cast off, leaving him alone on the shore.

She waited, unmoving, as the heavily laden boat set out to sea. The rolling mist soon doused the light completely. The Kepitan strode away into the darkness, and Suvi heard the muffled sound of a car soon after.

Just then, something rubbed against her leg in a friendly way. Suvi gasped in fear, but it was only Chelah, down from the tree at last.

* * * *

The dark form of a car blocked the alley as Suvi wearily rolled the motapede to a stop outside the warehouse. She stared at it, a little nervous, wondering to whom such a fancy velo belonged and what they wanted with Carina. When the door was thrown open, the extra light helped her to recognize the car. It was Jack’s, no doubt about it. She wondered if she ought to hide, but Suvi now felt so tired she could hardly find the strength to walk, never mind run.

Marja called into the darkness. “Suvi? Is that you?”

Suvi lurched forward into the light, waving her hands. “Shhh... Do we have company? Who is it?”

Marja’s eyes were shining. “Indeed we do, and she has been waiting ages to meet you. Where have you been all this time?”

“She?”

“Dr. Katy Bennett, of course. The friend of Tom Finn’s.” Marja seized her by the arm and dragged her towards the door.

Suvi shook her away. “I have to carry in the fish. You get Chelah and go back inside. I will be there in a minute.”

She waited for Marja to close the door, and then Suvi stole round to the office windows. Boards and blankets blacked out the windows, but she found a knothole and squinted into the tiny ray of light. A woman sat on the bed, petite, smartly dressed, with chestnut hair swept into a fetching chignon. Marja stood beside her and smiled, and the woman smiled back. Dr. Katy Bennett...

From offshore. My wife and I came here last year.

She was entertaining Jack’s wife, who had somehow turned into a friend of Tom’s, though he had denied knowing Jack. Suvi sighed, wondering dizzily what it all meant.

Once inside, she dropped the pikken into the kitchen. Brini took the sacks, redolent with the smell of fish, from her with a hearty smile. “Pikken for the banquet! Where did you find these?”

“Ludde,” answered Suvi distractedly. “Is there any food left? I am starving.”

Brini gave her a motherly pat. “Go and put some dry clothes on. I’ll bring you some bread and soup in a minute. You look done in.” Suvi thanked her and headed for the office, trying not to stumble as she walked.

Dr. Bennett stood when she entered the room. Her voice sounded very cultured, with the trace of an accent. “Suvi? How nice to meet you at last. I am Katy Bennett.”

“Nice to meet you too. May I ask what brings you to Carina?” Suvi wiped her hand on her jacket, and extended it. Katy shook it heartily.

Suvi frowned as Marja answered for her. “She came to see Riku. Turns out Tom was right. He does have Trench fever. Dr. Bennett has given him some medicine, and he seems better already.”

Dr. Bennett laughed, long and low. “Katy, please. We don’t have to be so formal, I hope. I get enough of that at my clinic in Ebbetsfeld.”

A stinging twinge made Suvi rub her calf. The room seemed suddenly hot and airless. Katy stood and crossed the room. “You are looking very pale. Is everything all right?”

Suvi rubbed her eyes, wondering why Katy’s face seemed so out of focus. “I got chased by a Grond escort plane. Had to cut across country. It was hard work on my pede. Then Chelah got away and...”

“But you have been hurt! There is blood on your trousers. Let me have a look.” Katy squatted and gently pressed against Suvi’s calf. The sharp pain that followed made her head swim. Katy rose and caught her, just as she slumped to the ground in a faint.

* * * *

“How in the hell did she make it back here at all?” The voice Suvi heard seemed to come from a long way off.

“Delayed shock. It is not at all unusual in situations where someone’s life is endangered. The body keeps going as long as it can, and then it just shuts down.”

“Don’t you think I should shift back to Litchfield and fetch her some penicillin? Infection could be a real problem here.”

“Too risky. People might start asking questions. Jack said we aren’t supposed to travel off-world, anyway.”

“Who cares what...”

“Shhh... Tom, she may be waking soon. We don’t...”

Suvi opened her eyes. Tom Finn and Katy Bennett stood close together, looking at her. “What... What happened? Did I faint?”

Katy smiled and patted her shoulder. “You took a bullet in your calf and it severed a rather important blood vessel. But everything will be all right.”

“Did you fix me?” Suvi blinked at her.

She shrugged modestly. “Well Tom helped a lot. I called him and he brought a surgical kit, then assisted with the...” Tom’s foot shot out and kicked her. “Bandaging,” Katy finished with an exasperated look.

“Can I sit up?” Suvi licked her lips, trying to quell the nausea that filled the back of her throat. “I am very thirsty.”

Tom handed her a drink of water and she sipped it carefully. “That is because you lost a lot of blood. You must have left a trail all the way home. Where did they catch you, anyway?”

“On the Ayedeen Road. I went to see Ludde.”

Tom’s voice was sharp. “Ludde Armstrong? What were you doing visiting him?”

Katy tutted in disapproval. “She is tired, Tom. Don’t pepper her with questions right now.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “It is very late, and I had better get home before they send out a search party. Tom is going to stay here with you tonight. He knows... a little bit about medicine, so if you need anything he should be able to help. I will come back tomorrow and look in on you, all right?” She stood and left the room before Suvi had time to thank her.

Tom hovered over her. “You probably feel a little sick. Katy gave you some ether while she cleaned and stitched the wound. But there is some soup here, if you can stand to eat. Brini put it in a vacuum jug to keep it warm. It would probably do you good to get something in your stomach.”

Suvi nodded vacantly, so he brought over a tray with a small bowl of soup and a piece of bread. She sipped the tepid soup, and nibbled a little bread. “How do you know Katy? She is from a different world and you... well you said you came from Schippendorff.”

Tom sat beside the bed, and sighed. “Katy and I went to school together.” He did not elaborate.

“And did you go to school with Jack, too? He is her husband, isn’t he?”

He glanced at her apprehensively. “How did you know?” Then he groaned and answered his own question. “Oh dear. The car. We should have thought of that, I suppose.”

Suvi could hardly keep her eyes open, but she forced herself to speak. “Why are you here? What do you want with Carina?”

He rubbed the top of his shorn hair distractedly. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Suvi struggled to sit up further. “Why won’t you trust me?”

“I... just can’t. I am sorry. But I promise I mean you no harm.”

As much as Suvi wanted to, fatigue robbed her of the ability to argue further. She passed the tray back to Tom, and slid under the covers. “Will you be here in the morning? This isn’t over yet, you know. I will get to the bottom of this, I promise you.”

“Of course I will,” Tom said, with a smile in his voice. “We can continue whenever you feel up to it.”

But when she woke again, Tom Finn could not be found.

* * * *

“Major Bennett? Dr. Finn is here, Sir.”

“Send him in.” Jack frowned, and threw his pen down. It bounced off the pile of papers he had been annotating and landed on the floor. Sighing, Katy bent and retrieved it.

Tom strolled into the office. “You wanted to see me?” He saw Katy as she straightened. “Oh, hi Katy. Busy night, eh?” He sprawled in the other office chair, rubbed his eyes and yawned hugely.

Katy gave him a worried smile and cut her eyes towards Jack, who stood, tall and glowering, behind his desk.

“Busy night?” he growled. “Busy night? Is that all you have to say for yourself?”

Katy tried to calm him. “Jack, dear.... You promised not to get angry.”

He threw up his hands in despair. “How can I not be angry? You two go out without permission, right into the middle of a sensitive area, and then blow our cover wide open! What am I supposed to do now? Tell me how I can salvage this mission?”

“Tom and I took an oath when we became doctors. We can’t just ignore someone who needs help. That little boy had trench fever. It might have spread through the whole camp. And as for Suvi...”

He interrupted her, his voice cold. “You could have sent someone else. You had no business going in to a danger zone.”

Tom frowned. “I already checked the place over thoroughly. There is nothing going on there. I think you are barking up the wrong tree, buddy.”

Jack’s voice got lower, a sure sign he was angry. “I am your commanding officer, not your buddy. I ordered you to go into Carina, and find out whether Suvi Markku was harboring spies. Were you told to make friends with her?”

“Jack, please...” begged Katy.

“And you!” he said to his wife. “You weren’t supposed to go within a mile of that place. It is too damned dangerous.”

“But Tom said...”

He didn’t let her finish. “Tom isn’t your husband! He will quite happily drag you into any sort of hazardous situation if it suits him...”

Tom stood abruptly, his eyes blazing. “Now wait just a goddamned minute, Jack Bennett. I would never endanger Katy. Never! I sent her to Carina, yes, but it is perfectly safe there. Why can’t you get it through your concrete skull? It is just a refugee shelter — nothing else!”

Jack walked around the desk, his step measured, until he stopped in front of Tom. Jack was six inches taller, and probably fifty pounds heavier, but Tom did not back away. The two men stood face to face without speaking, their animosity evident.

Katy stood too, and swiftly stepped between them. “Boys, boys! Stop this right now. This isn’t a boxing ring. Both of you sit, and discuss the problem like gentleman.”

They immediately obeyed, though Tom could not resist a taunting smirk when Jack’s back was turned. Katy frowned at him and he gave her a sheepish grin. “That’s better. The business with the car was unfortunate, true, but no one saw it but Suvi. I don’t think she made any connection. Did she say anything to you after I left, Tom?”

He nodded. “She figured it out right away, but I am sure I can convince her to keep her mouth shut. We should just cut her in on the whole deal anyway. She could help.”

“No!” Jack slammed his palm down hard on his desk.

“Why the hell not?” Tom bawled back. “She seems like a perfectly harmless girl...”

“Who is dealing in black-market military supplies and state secrets. Stuff that could get her shot if it falls into the wrong hands.”

“She is only doing it for the shelter. She loves that place.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.” Tom stood again. “Now, if we are finished here, I have real work to do. I don’t sit behind a desk all day, like some people I know.”

Jack waved him back. “No one is to speak to Suvi Markku again without my express permission. Is that understood, Captain Finn?”

“Yes, Sir, Major Bennett, Sir.” Tom gave him a lazy salute.

Katy watched him slouch out the door, and could hardly stop herself from laughing. “Stop being such a stuffed shirt, Jack. Tom is right, you know.”

“It is fine for you two. You don’t have to run a war in a country where people hardly talk to one another if they don’t belong to the same Soli. But we still have to beat the Grond here, before the Imperial Command takes its show somewhere else.”

Katy stood, crossed the room and took Jack’s arm, then kissed his shoulder lovingly. “I know, and Tom does too. We are all doing our best to help you.”

He put his arm round her waist and pulled her close. “Of course you are. I just worry about you — I never should have...”

She smiled fondly. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “How is the war going in the North?”

Jack sat and rested his head in his hands for a moment. “The line is holding, though I am not sure how. One thing about the Grond — they don’t know much about fighting in snow. Our boys can ski rings around them. One of the commanders organized a few raiding parties last week that took out most of a division. But as quickly as we defeat them in one area, more arrive elsewhere to take their place.”

“But what do they want? Why are they attacking here?”

“Officially it is to liberate the oppressed masses of Severness so that they may enjoy the glorious rule of the Imperial Commander.”

“And unofficially?”

“No one really knows. That is why we need to catch those spies in Carina. If we could question one or two, then we might find out something.”

“But surely you have prisoners of war?”

He shook his head desolately. “We never capture anyone. As soon as we break through the defenses, anyone left alive just blows themselves up. I think they are more afraid of their own high command than the enemy.”

“I hope someday we will know why they would do such a terrible thing. And now, I had better go and check on my patients. See you later, love.”

“Please be careful. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“Do I ever?” she asked laughingly, over her shoulder.

Jack only sighed and went back to his papers.

Chapter Seven

Tessa

The arrow of the soul always flies straight and true.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

The Polys hadn’t trashed the house, as she had feared they might, but standing inside gave her such a feeling of creeping horror that Tessa decided she couldn’t defy Jakob’s instructions and stay. She found an overnight bag and stuffed it with jeans and t-shirts, wondering how long she would have to be away. As she dug in her underwear drawer, her hand brushed against the mirror. She drew it from its hiding place and studied the cracked reflection. Why had Suvi hidden it? Had she known about the Polys?

Tessa brushed the broken window glass off the bed and sat down, then picked up the black and white photo of her grandmother that lived on her nightstand. Young Suvi smiled jauntily, posed next to a scruffy motorcycle. Heavy gauntlets covered her hands, and she wore a fur lined cap. The indiscriminate background gave no clues to her location — a building, some fields, a dirt road on which she had ridden the bike. She looked capable, gutsy, able to deal with anything.

“Oh, Suvi,” Tessa whispered. “I wish I had some of your courage, right now.”

Old Suvi’s voice came to her, quavering, but still surprisingly deep. “Courage, love and honor are all branches of the very same tree. Remember that, girl.”

Tessa added the picture to the contents of her overnight bag, along with her grandmother’s journal. Maybe, if she kept reading, she could figure out the mystery of the mirror before Jakob did. It would serve him right.

The mirror she left on the kitchen table, thinking that he could easily find it there. She didn’t want him prowling round her house, touching her things. Remembering his effortless grace made her feel uncomfortably warm for a moment.

She spoke out loud, trying hard to convince herself. “Forget it, Tessa. He isn’t worth it.”

Her mobile phone lay on the table next to her keys. It flashed at her madly, six beats on and off. Who had called her six times? She flipped open the cover. Jane. Her heart skipped with guilt and fear, wondering if her friend had also been in danger last night. After all they were together the first time the Polys saw them.

She dialed in a panic, without listening to any of the messages.

“Dr. Piper here.”

“Jane! Are you all right?”

Jane’s words sounded as though they had been bounced off a drum. “Where in the hell have you been? I tried calling you all night.”

“Well, that is kind of a long story. I can’t go into it over the phone. Do you want to meet somewhere later?”

“Come to my office, right now. I need to talk to you about something important.”

Tessa flipped the cover shut, wondering what else could be wrong. She stared at the phone, wondering if she should get in touch with Ted and invite herself to stay for a few days. He wouldn’t say no, of that she was certain, but she felt a curious reluctance to make the call. How could she share his bed without thinking about...

A shadow fell across the table. Tessa whirled, with her hand over her mouth, frightened beyond belief.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to...” Jakob stood in the doorway, twisting his hands together. “May I come in?”

Tessa bit back the rude comment she had been about to spit in his direction. “Did you come for the mirror? I left it out for you.”

His voice sounded soft and sad. “No, I just wanted to tell you something.” He crossed the room and flopped on the couch. “Could you sit here, just for a minute? I won’t keep you long.”

Tessa joined him, wondering why his surly mood had changed so abruptly. “What is it?”

He stared at his hands as they moved restlessly in his lap, seemingly wanting to be somewhere else. “I just didn’t want to leave it as it was — between us. I wanted you to know...” Jakob raised his eyes to meet hers. The blue seas rolled on, seemingly just out of reach. “Last night, when we made love, it felt wonderful to be with you, Tessa — more than wonderful. But this morning I realized I had wronged you, very badly... You came to me for protection and I took advantage of it. It made me angry at myself, and I took it out on you. So I wanted to say I was sorry. Sorry for taking advantage, and sorry for being a jerk afterwards.”

Tessa shook her head, almost speechless at his archaic gallantry. “Oh Jakob. You don’t have to apologize for anything. I am the one who started... I mean, I practically threw myself at you. And you are right, it was wonderful. Better than...” Tessa sighed deeply. “But I felt bad too. Because of Ted. The truth is, I don’t know what to do about him.”

Jakob took her hand and held it very gently. “This isn’t the right time to be making decisions about your future.”

“It isn’t just because of what happened last night. I have been having doubts for a while now.” She smiled wryly. “You should get Jane on the subject sometime.” Tessa looked at her watch. “I need to go. I told her I would meet her at her office right away.” She stood, and he rose with her, so that he was very close. Tessa threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. “Thank you for everything. I wish...”

“Being with me is the last thing you need right now. Let me do what I came here to do; keep you safe.” But when she brought her mouth close, he could not stop himself from kissing her.

Her phone burst into life, where she had left it on the table. Reluctantly, Tessa pulled away from him and answered it. “Ok, yes, I know. I was just leaving. Yep, bye.”

He watched intently as she snapped the phone shut. “That machine lets you talk to people who are far away?”

Tessa smiled as his big hands fumbled with the tiny hinge. “See, you keep a list of your friends in here. Each of them has a number. When you want to talk to someone you punch in the number and then their phone rings.”

He seemed much impressed. “If I had one, then we could talk whenever we wanted. You could call me if you needed help.”

Tessa nodded. “Lots of stores sell them. Why don’t you let me take you shopping? You could get some new clothes while you are at it.” She smiled at him, but he only shook his head.

“I think the police are looking for me. They want to talk about the ragged man that the Polys killed.”

“Jane told me about the murder. I guess I should have known the Polys had something to do with it. I wonder if they killed the other boys, the ones that were found under the container?”

Jakob shrugged. “Probably. That is what they do.”

“But shouldn’t we... you know, tell someone else? Like the Army or something?”

He shook his head. “They wouldn’t believe you.”

Tessa sighed, knowing he was right. “I had better go. Jane sounds really worried.” She scribbled her phone number on a piece of paper. “Here is my number. If you do get to a phone, that is all you need to call me.”

They stood close again. He brushed his lips against the top of her hair. “Goodbye, Tessa. Take care.”

Her eyes filled with sudden hot tears. “I felt better when I was angry at you. Now I have to worry about you instead.”

He seemed to find this genuinely funny.

* * * *

She passed through the cool, quiet halls of the office plaza next to the hospital, heading for Jane’s suite. The secretary looked up when she entered. “Hi, Tessa. Dr. Piper said to go straight back. She is on the phone right now, but she should be done in a minute.”

Jane had closed her door, but Tessa could see her through the window, sitting on a high stool next to her microscope, talking animatedly on the phone. She knocked softly and went in. Jane waved her towards a chair, and continued her conversation. Tessa looked at the uninspiring view of the parking lot, trying not to eavesdrop.

“See what you can do, OK? Of course I know, but you owe me one, for the time I fixed that... Uh huh. That is what I thought. Bye now.”

She dropped the phone back in its cradle, stood and shut the door firmly. “Where have you been?” Tessa opened her mouth and Jane held up her hand. “Wait! Don’t even tell me. What I have to say is more important.” Jane sat on her stool and dragged it closer to Tessa with her feet. “You remember I told you about those boys? The ones who got crushed?”

Tessa nodded warily, wondering if Jane had somehow found out about the Polys.

“Well it turns out that they had a quite surprising connection to someone we both know.”

“You mean that they were both in Ted’s first year Anth paper? I knew that already. He told me the other day, at the Beckwith. He seemed very upset about the whole thing.”

“Did he tell you anything else? Like how he hired them to mug you?”

Tessa’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“You heard me. Ted offered them a passing grade if they would steal your purse as you walked home through the wharves.”

“How could you have discovered that? I thought they were dead.”

“The police found a note in Stan Smith’s pocket, with Ted’s number on it. They started asking questions around campus, and one of the boys on the football team said he overheard Stan and Tree Carter discussing the deal. I got all this from a buddy of mine on the force. Not to be repeated, of course.”

Tessa shook her head in disbelief. “But that makes absolutely no sense. Why in the world would Ted want them to steal my purse?”

“That is what the police asked him, but he denied the whole thing. Said the kid had the number because he had offered him after hours tutoring. They bought the story; for now, anyway.”

“Well, that sounds a lot more reasonable, doesn’t it?”

“Does it? My autopsy puts those boys at the wharves just as we were walking home from Mama Rosa’s. How do you explain that?”

“I can’t. But I do know what happened to them.” Tessa suddenly looked very afraid. “Can I stay with you tonight? My house got broken into last night.”

Her friend snorted. “Wonder which goons Ted hired this time?”

Tessa surprised her by bursting into ragged sobs. Jane hurried to the couch and sat beside her. “My god, Tessa. What is it?”

She explained, as best she could. Jane sat quietly, ignoring the phone as it beeped periodically. “So he told me I should stay somewhere else for a few days, but I just can’t face Ted, not now. Especially not now.” Tessa peered at Jane, trying to gauge her reaction. “You think I am crazy, don’t you? As crazy as I thought Jakob was when he told me.”

Jane didn’t say anything for a minute. She got up and went back to the microscope, removed the slide on the tray, and put another in its place. “Well yeah, I would, except for this. Come and have a look.”

Tessa did. A blob of pink-stained cells filled the eyepiece, glinting fuzzily in the light of the microscope. “What is this?”

“Some organic matter scraped from under Stan Smith’s fingernails. Everyone in the office has had a go at identifying it, but no one could. In the end we decided it must have been contaminated.”

“What are you saying?”

Jane smiled grimly. “I am saying I believe you, girlfriend. That sample assays positive for the presence of strong alkali.”

Tessa slumped back on the couch again, hardly reassured. She had been hoping the ruthlessly sensible Jane would hammer some sense into her, make it all seem less bizarre. “I have absolutely no idea what to do now. Jakob has the mirror, so I should be safe — but I don’t feel that way. Not at all.”

Jane stood and paced the floor of her office. “You need to leave town for a few days. Where can we go? Somewhere out of the way.”

“We? What about work? I know how busy you are.” She pointed at the huge pile of case files on Jane’s desk.

“I have some leave coming, and there is no way I am letting you deal with this on your own.”

“I guess we could go to the site. I have some work to do there anyway.”

“Anenoa? In the middle of the State Park, where there are no people for miles and miles? That sounds like the plot of a bad horror movie, the kind where you see people go into the basement even though that is the last place...”

Tessa groaned. “Jane, please! You aren’t helping. The site will be swarming with grad students, and we can stay at the very plush Anenoa Lodge. You can spend your time in the spa pool while I am shoveling loads of muck from a trench.”

Jane grinned. “That is more like it. What about Thor?”

Tessa’s cheeks turned a pale pink. “What about him? All he said was that he would be in touch. He is looking after Seadrift.”

The phone beeped for the hundredth time. Jane sighed. “I had better get some work done today anyway.” She reached in her purse and removed her house key. “Go back to my place, have something to eat and a nap. You look like you need one. I will get away from here as soon as I can, and meet you there. We’ll drive to Anenoa tonight. Make us a reservation at the Lodge.”

Tessa nodded pensively. “All right. That will give me time to track Ted down and tackle him on this mugging thing. I want to get to the bottom of it.”

“Please don’t do that, Tessa. I had to pull in a lot of favors to get that information. If you tell him, it might compromise the investigation. If I find out anything else I will let you know.”

“I still don’t believe he had anything to do with it.”

Jane frowned. “Then you have more faith in him than I do. Way more.”

* * * *

Tessa spent the rest of the day in Jane’s apartment, impatiently waiting for her friend to finish work. After eating a sandwich and trying unsuccessfully to nap, Tessa scanned the internet and the paper, looking for any other signs of the Polys. Her eye caught one very interesting piece of news.

Tech Announces the Retirement of Dr. Charles Davis

The Anthropology and Archaeology Department at Bay Tech has announced that Dr. Charles Davis is standing down from his position as Head of Department, effective immediately. No reason was given for the move, but the Times understands that Dr. Davis has suffered a health crisis that necessitates his retirement. He had been employed at Tech for over forty years, serving as HOD for the last fifteen. Dr. Theodore Black has been named interim HOD, and will supervise the search for a permanent replacement for Dr. Davis.

“We are all truly shocked and dismayed by this sudden downturn in Dr. Davis’ health,” Dr. Black said. “He will be sorely missed by the staff and students of the Anthropology program. It will take a highly qualified and dedicated academician to fill his shoes.”

Tessa snorted. I bet you have the perfect person in mind for the job already, don’t you, Ted? She picked up her mobile phone and dialed his house, wondering why he hadn’t called her with the news. Ted had been after the HOD job for years. His high aspirations had been one of the things that had once drawn Tessa to him. Now she wondered why.

She listened as the phone rang and rang. “Hi! This is Dr. Ted Black. Please leave a message after the beep and have a great day!”

Tessa almost hung up, but then decided she ought to tell him her plans. “Hi, Ted. It’s me. Just thought I would let you know that I am going out to the site for the weekend. Jane’s coming with me. We’ll stay at the lodge there. I’ll be back on Sunday night. Oh, and congratulations on the promotion, by the way.” She disconnected, feeling slightly miffed that he hadn’t invited her to whatever celebration he had planned.

* * * *

But Ted had not gone out to celebrate. He stared nervously at the answering machine as it produced a tinny imitation of Tessa’s voice. His company, a diminutive, somewhat portly gentleman, cleared his throat.

“Well isn’t that interesting?” His grey eyes glinted like stainless steel. They almost matched the gleaming brushed surfaces of Ted’s trendy commercial kitchen. The high chairs drawn up to the breakfast bar had cost $1500 a piece, but weren’t at all comfortable to sit in. Especially now.

Ted squirmed and drummed his fingers nervously on the Italian tile. “You assured me she wouldn’t get hurt. That was part of our agreement.”

“Indeed, Dr. Black. But in return for my assistance, you promised me that you could procure an item that belonged to Dr. Kivelson’s grandmother, Suvi Markku. That was also part of our agreement.”

“I am trying!” Ted dropped his voice to a nervous quaver when he saw his visitor’s expression. “But Tessie has the thing hidden away somewhere. I have looked and looked for it.”

The man smiled thinly. “You tried and you failed. My pets will not fail. You may be sure of that.”

Ted frowned. “They screwed up the best chance I had of getting her keys so that I could search her storage locker. Those boys were students of mine. The police have already been around, asking questions.”

“Most regrettable, I agree, but it is so difficult to keep the Polys in check sometimes. They are very determined.”

Ted licked his lips, and took a sip of the ’00 Margaux his visitor had insisted he open. It tasted unpleasantly acidic on his tongue. “I don’t want the job, or the publishing contract. Not if it means Tessie is going to get hurt. The deal is off.”

His companion ignored this protest. “You care for this woman?”

“She is my fiancée. We plan to marry in the spring.”

“Oh really? What of the others with whom you have been observed — the woman who delivers your dry cleaning, and the charming young lady who plies her wares on 3rd Avenue? Are they of no consequence?”

Ted blinked twice, very slowly. “How did you know about...?”

“I know everything about you — your sexual affairs, your fraudulent tax returns, your schemes for cheating your way through University. So, you see, it is far too late for you to have second thoughts, Dr. Black.”

Ted kept his eyes on the table, desperately trying to think of a way out. When this well-heeled stranger had unexpectedly visited his office six months ago, the talk had been of a perfectly innocent publishing contract. The man, who had introduced himself as Daniel Redden, used flattery to great effect, saying that Ted could write a million-seller about the Irrakish reliquary discovered in Anenoa State Park during a routine excavation long ago. Tantalizing signs pointed to the natives having worshipped a winged being, whose bones they had kept within the artifact.

He had used Tessa and some other graduate assistants to do the groundwork. Now he planned to step in and unearth the bones themselves — a discovery that would make him famous, and very, very rich. The man sitting across from him had given him their location, and in return for that knowledge he asked one very small favor.

But it had been much harder to grant than Ted thought.

His guest seemed to be losing patience. “We had a contract, and that contract must be honored, one way or the other. You insisted you needed to be in charge of your workplace, so that you could finish the excavation personally. My pets have taken care of that. I told you where the bones are, and you have seen them for yourself. It would hardly be fair for you to renege now.”

The way he said fair made Ted’s skin crawl.

“Are you listening to me, Dr. Black?” The menace in his voice sounded absolutely clear.

“Of course. And I will get the mirror to you, as soon as I can. I promise.”

“You have one week.”

“But, I don’t think I...”

“One week.” Redden stood and thrust a stubby finger towards Ted. “I am a busy man, Dr. Black. My time is valuable, and I have spent far too much of it on you already. If I do not have the mirror soon, then my pets will pay your lovely friend Tessa another visit. And when they have finished with her, they will be coming for you. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Ted nodded, unable to argue further. Fear, stark and staring, had left him speechless for the first time in his adult life.

* * * *

Five o’clock arrived, and then six. Jane did not. Tessa paced the apartment trying to resist the temptation to go back to Little Sardinia. She stared at the white gold and diamond ring on the third finger of her right hand. Ted wouldn’t let her wear it in the proper place on her left hand, saying it would cause too much gossip.

This isn’t the time to be making decisions about your future...

But to Tessa, it felt like the perfect time.

The phone rang. “Tessa? Hi. Listen, I’m sorry, but it looks like I’m not going to be able to get away from here until late tonight. And I will have to come back in tomorrow morning, at least for a little while. So just grab a DVD and a pizza, then chill for the evening, OK? We’ll get going by lunchtime, I promise.”

Tessa agreed, and said good bye, still thinking about Jakob. Surely it couldn’t hurt just to see him for a few moments? And she could run by her house and get the steel-toed work boots that safety regs required she wear onsite. She left Jane a note and put the key under the mat.

“I probably won’t be back late...” she said out loud, but part of her hoped that she would. After one more look at the ring, she slipped it off her finger and shoved it into the bottom of her purse.

After parking in her driveway, she unlocked the shed. Her boots and hard hat were there, lying in an untidy pile. She scooped them up and tossed them into the back of the Volvo, where they joined the collection of dusty shovels, picks, brushes and other sundry tools of her trade. The house was locked, and she couldn’t enter because Jakob had her key. He had repaired the broken window, leaving the place looking reassuringly solid.

Tessa decided to drive along the narrow dirt road that linked the collection of shacks. She parked as close as she could to the boathouse, and noted with satisfaction that light blazed brightly from the window in the shed dormer. As she shut off the engine Jakob walked into her view, carrying a glass of something in his hand. He looked relaxed and cheerful in a crisply-creased red and blue checked flannel shirt.

“Oh Jakob,” she said to herself, with a snort of laughter. “You really should have let me take you shopping.”

Tessa sat still for a moment, waiting for her heart to stop racing. She didn’t want to appear at his door, flushed and giggling like a school girl. As she watched, he appeared at the window again, his wide shoulders almost blocking the light. His lips moved silently, and then he turned back to some unseen companion, laughing.

A second later, a very attractive woman joined him. Jakob put his arm about her and pointed to something in the sky. Tessa did not wait to see anything else. She threw the Volvo into reverse with a slithering spin, and tore out of Little Sardinia.

The tears in her eyes wouldn’t let her get far. A few moments later she used her phone to call Jane.

“Dr. Piper here.”

Her words came in a rush, as though she was leaving a message. “I am going to Anenoa tonight. I just can’t stand being in Cloudy Bay another minute.”

“Tessa, are you sure that is a...”

“Don’t worry about me. There will be lots of people at the lodge so I’ll be safe as houses.”

“But...”

Tessa ended the call before Jane could think of another argument. “See you tomorrow. Bye.”

She took the interstate out of town, driving fast, combating her grief with recklessness. The exits flew by, bright islands of light in the streaming darkness. She stopped for gas in Franklin, and bought a burger and diet soda in Mercuryville, needing the caffeine to keep going. The drive to Anenoa would take two hours. She spent most of the time replaying the scene in her head, berating herself for caring.

It’s just that I haven’t been with a woman for a long while, not since Maia...

Well that had been a lie, hadn’t it? He must have been laughing at her the whole time. How could she have fallen for such clichéd rubbish?

Being with me is the last thing you need right now.

Oh yes, how noble that had sounded. The last thing I need. She pounded on the steering wheel in frustration.

To be fair, he hadn’t promised her anything — other than to keep her safe.

Tessa had to swerve hard to the right, as she almost missed her exit. An eighteen wheeler blew his horn, and the sound followed her up the ramp, gradually losing pitch as the truck continued down the highway. Her route wound off into back country darkness, but Tessa did not lessen her speed — much.

The roads narrowed as she wormed her way into the highlands. Switchback turns took her to the feet of the Anenoa Mountains, and she negotiated them on two wheels, using the gears on the Volvo to slam the speed down.

The Lodge loomed in the darkness, an ancient structure of logs and glass leftover from some Depression-era WPA initiative. After thinking it looked deserted, it occurred to Tessa that she had not thought to make a reservation as Jane suggested.

She checked the front door and saw a small sign stuck in the window. Closed for the off-season.

“Shit!” Tessa felt thoroughly annoyed. The last motel was at least fifty miles back, in Mercuryville. She would have to continue to the site, and hope she could bunk in the hut there, or beg a space in one of the grad student’s tents. If it came to it, she supposed she could sleep in the car, but it would be miserably cold, even with the goose down sleeping bag she had in the trunk.

The road tapered further and turned to gravel, before becoming only a winding mud track that followed a narrow shelf between a high bluff and a sheer drop. Tessa had driven it more times than she cared to count, but she was dead tired. Once or twice the tires slipped close to the edge as her eyes closed, and she had to jerk the wheel to bring the Volvo back to the center of the track. Only the thought of fresh coffee in the hut kitchen, and the company of her students and workmates kept her going for the last fifteen minutes.

She pulled into the graveled parking area at last. It was wholly and unmistakably bare. Tessa sat in the Volvo, fighting back exhausted tears. Where had everyone gone?

The temporary work hut stood on its concrete block foundation, out of place amongst the deep shadow of the trees. She walked over and tried the door. Locked, but at least she had a key. Once inside, she flipped on the light. The single room looked tidy, as though the students meant to be away for several days.

She remembered then, about the end of term, and exams. Everyone would be back in Cloudy Bay studying or drinking with their friends.

The silence roared in her ears. No mobile phone service here — not this far into the mountains. She felt almost too tired to care. Tessa locked the door, threw herself into one of the bunks and cried herself to sleep.

Chapter Eight

Suvi

Ship children tend to be very mobile, moving from place to place with their families. Some may only attend school for a few days each year. Math, geography, and physical education are the most useful subjects to teach Ships.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

Suvi found she could get around with a cane, though her calf felt miserably sore. She limped into the dining room at breakfast. A cloud of residents immediately surrounded her, inquiring solicitously about her injury. Calaan hurried to her side, and pulled out her chair. Someone else brought her food on a tray.

She felt embarrassed by all this unwanted assistance. “Please go back to your meals, my friends.” Most drifted away but Calaan continued to hover, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

“Um... Miss, may I speak with you?”

Suvi patted the chair next to her. “Of course, Calaan. I wanted to talk to you as well — to find out how the salt expedition went.”

He smiled proudly. “We brought back two hundredweight sacks, and there is more to be had.” When Suvi gave him a pleased pat on the arm, his face colored a brilliant red, right to the roots of his hair.

She sighed, wondering what she would do about this childish worship. “And what did you want to ask me about?”

Calaan stared at his boot-tops. “I was wondering... Well, the thing is... I seen some of the lads in Jaarvik. Quite a few are hanging about on the streets, because the Grond blew up their houses. They need a place to live, and since you been so good to me I thought...”

“How many of your friends need shelter, Calaan? We have not much room here, at least until the south wing is made livable. I think we could not hold more than five more at the moment.”

“What do you know? Five’s exactly how many I seen, Miss.” He ticked a series of names on his fingers. “There’s Wix, Trap, Ringgu, Das, and Timmie. Would it be all right if they moved in here? Wouldn’t be for long, ’cause pretty soon all of us will get called to the front.”

Suvi looked at him in surprise. “But I thought you and your friends were Snakes?”

“Oh, we are, Miss. But so many Spears been killed it won’t be long before they take whoever they can get. You mark my words.”

“Did any of these boys work in the salt mines with you?”

“Yes, Ma’am, all of them. And I will get them working again. We can take the truck and bring back lots and lots of salt for you.”

Suvi smiled, pleased by his enthusiasm. “Very well, Calaan. Can you ride a motapede?”

He nodded.

“Then you may take my pede to Jaarvik and tell your friends they are welcome. But please remember, no more than five, all right?”

Calaan jumped up and hurried away, grinning broadly. “Thank you, Miss. Thank you so much.”

Marja, carrying a bowl of thin oatmeal, sat opposite Suvi. She looked almost as cheerful as Calaan. “Riku is feeling so much better this morning. It is difficult to keep him in bed, but Dr. Bennett says he mustn’t rise until tomorrow. I am so happy, Suvi.”

“I am happy too. How very lucky for us that Tom’s friend turned out to be a doctor.” Suvi stared into her own bowl of porridge, feeling a bit shy. “Do you know where he went, Marja? He told me he would be here when I got up.”

Marja nodded, her mouth full of porridge. “A message came for him early this morning, and he had to leave. But he told me to tell you that he would be back this afternoon to fix the windows.” She gave Suvi a measured look. “He seems very interested in you. But isn’t he wasting his time? A Rose wouldn’t stand a chance with a Harp.”

Suvi frowned, not really liking Marja’s inquisitiveness. “We are friends. And at Carina, as you know very well, anyone may be friends with anyone else.” She stood, as briskly as she could, and excused herself, heading for the schoolroom.

Teggr, the senior teacher, met her at the door. “Morning, Miss Suvi. Are you feeling better?”

“Just a little sore, Goodwife.” Suvi peered over Teggr’s shoulder. Twenty children sat quietly, writing on slates, supervised by some of the older girls and boys. The heavy curtains were open, letting in the brilliant sun. The back door to the schoolroom opened onto an enclosed yard. A few rubber balls and homemade wooden bats stood forlornly in the corner.

“Why not let them go outside for awhile? Too much sitting still will only make the children restless.”

“I’d like to, Suvi, but only one out of every five has a decent coat to wear. It wouldn’t be fair on the others, and with the wind whipping around it is too cold to let them go uncovered. They would all be down with the grippe. It’s a shame, but there you are. At least they have their lessons, and plenty to eat.”

Suvi nodded distractedly, already going over the columns of figures in her head to see if she could find the money for some coats. “Are there any seamstresses among us?”

The old woman squinted, deep in thought, and then began to count names off on her fingers. “Well, there is Goodwife Braad. She used to have a tailor shop on Veleem Svaate. And Goodwife Jiin, she worked at the milliner’s on Rikard Svaate. They each have a couple of girls who know their way with a needle.”

“So if I found us some woolen stuff, do you think they could sew some simple cloaks? We could keep them here in the schoolroom and the children could take turns using them.”

“That is a wonderful idea! I will ask them right away.”

“Let me see about the fabric first. It may be difficult to come by.”

“You will find it. If anyone can.”

Suvi limped back to the office, and unlocked her desk. Inside an old tin, shoved in the back of a drawer, she kept the operating capital for Carina. She shook it out on the desk top and counted the meager pile of coins and low denomination notes. Twenty-one pelaaks and a few centos. And that had to pay the rent on the building, the electricity bill and food staples they couldn’t scrounge.

No money remained for cloaks — or anything else.

Chelah sat on the desk, right in the middle of the pile of pelaaks.

Suvi scratched her ears. “How can I get some money, girl? The children need coats so that they can go outside.” Chelah hopped lightly from the desk and headed for the bed. She brushed against the yitar as she passed, sending it discordantly to the floor.

The instrument lay on its back, still humming slightly. Suvi crossed the room and picked it up. She stroked the mermaid lightly with her fingers, lost in the remembrance of her home on Lake Copaheg — of her mother at the spinet, of her father’s booming baritone. The song that Tom Finn had played for her returned, too, and its melody seemed to fill the room with sweetness.

Sighing, she replaced the money in the tin, and sat at the desk for a long time with her head in her hands. A need began to manifest itself, a need for solitude, for forgetfulness. She fought it, knowing many tasks needed her attention, until the pain in her calf destroyed what little resistance she had.

She got up and headed for the south wing. Calaan passed her, leading a group of five people. She studied them, somewhat surprised by their rough clothing. When he asked Suvi for shelter for his friends, she had naturally assumed they would be about his age, but most of these men looked to be in their twenties and thirties. One gave her an ill-disguised leer.

Suvi stopped them. “Get Goodman Bergr to help you raise a couple of the new parachutes that were delivered the other day. Your friends will have to share with you, three in each. Will that be all right?”

Calaan gave her an enthusiastic salute. “Yes ma’am. That will be just fine. As soon as they have moved in, me and the lads will head to the mines and get you some more salt.”

Suvi frowned at her earlier suspicions. Why shouldn’t Calaan have older friends? As long as they were willing to work, she would be happy to give them a home.

She let herself into the south wing, using the other key she kept on a chain around her neck. Someday soon they would have to clean this space, and add it to the shelter, but Suvi had been reluctant to do so. Rusty and cobwebbed machinery filled the floor from wall to wall. It must have been mothballed long before the war closed this plant. But it presented no obstacle that a hundred willing hands could not deal with.

The real reason lay at the end of the room, through another locked door, and down a flight of stone steps. Suvi had stumbled upon it when she first took over the abandoned factory. A place of darkness, and sudden magical light.

She unlocked the last door, and felt her way along the steps. At the bottom lay a trap door, and she had to cast around in the darkness for the metal handle. She raised it, and the plangent sound of running water filtered through the hole.

The sewers of Severnessa.

A very rusty and slick metal ladder led into darkness. It had taken all of Suvi’s courage, that first time, what with the skittering of the rats, and the splash of water, who knew how deep? It had been the other sounds that drove her onwards — snatches of conversation and music.

And the many-hued light that flickered and died and flickered again.

When Suvi reached the bottom of the ladder and stepped on to the slimy paving stones, she saw the source of that light. A glittering spray leaked from the corner, like shreds of a shattered rainbow locked deep underground. It was a gateway, and through that gateway she could see...

Everything. Strange mountains and high trees, silent stars and an endless expanse of windswept water. The scene changed, sometimes two or three pictures in a minute. Other times it would remain in one place for days and days. Sometimes she could see people, hear their talk and music. Suvi often felt drawn to these scenes, and longed to step through the window, away from the hellish winter war, and her responsibilities at Carina.

That she could do this she had no doubt. After she had been sitting quietly for a time, and the rats came out, she often saw an unwary one cross the threshold and disappear with a panicked squeak. Sometimes she would even see it on the other side.

Suvi felt the pull of this aperture even when she was not near — to the point that she had forbidden herself to visit more than once a week, lest she succumb to temptation.

Today she saw a wooded mountain in the distance, and a cloudless summer sky. She could almost feel the balminess of the breeze as it stirred a clump of yellow flowers. Bird calls rippled through the air, followed by a flash of tropical-hued wings. Suvi raised her hand, longing to plunge it through the window, to gather this beckoning warmth to her heart.

Then she saw something even more tempting. A prism of crystal, locked within a flimsy tracery of copper-colored metal. It sparkled in the sunlight, just beyond the window.

Suvi stretched out her hand, and then dropped it down again. “I shouldn’t. Probably dangerous, that thing, whatever it is.” But her arm rose again, seemingly of its own volition. The prism twinkled invitingly, drawing her trembling hand onwards...

From above, muffled thumps and shouts meant another dispute had broken out.

Suvi sighed, reluctantly withdrew her hand, and went back upstairs. After she had organized the location of the newest parachute tents, she sought out the kitchen to see what was left from lunch.

Brini pointed to a dented saucepan. “Just a little broth. But you are welcome to it.”

The thin soup tasted like dishwater flavored with cabbage. Suvi could not help wishing she could have something more substantial. She thought of Sunday roasts at her parent’s house, soup thick with dumplings and chunks of sausage, hearty stews with fish caught fresh from the lake.

With a sigh of frustration she threw down her spoon, just as Tom entered the kitchen. “What’s wrong? Not hungry?”

“Not for this. I wouldn’t care if I never saw another cabbage leaf as long as I live.” But she picked up her spoon and began to eat nonetheless. “I shouldn’t complain. Plenty of folk have less.”

Tom sat across from her at the table. “Let me take you out to dinner tonight. Somewhere nice. You deserve a treat for all your hard work.”

Suvi toyed with her soup, sorely tempted. “But it wouldn’t be fair to the others.”

“I can’t believe they would begrudge you one decent meal. Come on, what do you say?” Tom reached over, meaning to pat her hand, but his fingers somehow entangled with hers. Suvi raised her eyes to meet his, and two spots of color appeared on her cheeks, but she left her hand in his.

She gave him a shy smile. “Are you sure we can find a place to take a meal together? I thought the restaurants were all closed.”

“Leave that to me. And in the meantime, shouldn’t you be resting?”

* * * *

But Suvi had neither the time nor inclination to lie down. As soon as Tom left to get glass, boards and tools to repair the broken windows, she stuffed her yitar into a messenger bag and limped to her pede. She checked the gas gauge and found to her surprise that it stood almost on empty. It wasn’t that far to Jaarvik and back, but perhaps Calaan had gone somewhere else as well? She decided she could question him later.

Right now, she had a yitar to sell.

The Hockit occupied a crumbling building on the edge of town, close to Jaarvik. Suvi greeted the proprietor, Goodman Scaaf, cheerfully. He smiled in return. She was a familiar face in his shop, and a good customer. “Well, Miss Markku, have you come to buy or sell today?”

“Both, I hope. I need a bolt of woolen stuff, doesn’t matter what color. Do you have anything?”

He dug behind the long counter and produced a roll of loden cloth. “I have just the thing. Came in yesterday.” Suvi recognized it as the same material used to make the Harrier uniforms and wondered if Max Jalo had been engaging in a little extra commerce.

Such high-quality cloth would make excellent cloaks, but Suvi did not exhibit any enthusiasm. “Hmmm... It isn’t exactly what I am looking for, but it might do. How much?”

Scaaf did not hesitate. “Twenty pelaaks and not a cento less.”

“All right.” Suvi reached into her bag. “But I want fifty for this.” She handed over the yitar and then quickly turned away, so that Scaaf would not see the tears in her eyes.

“This yours?”

She nodded.

“Are you sure you want to sell it?”

Suvi turned back to face him and glared fiercely in his direction. “Of course I am sure, or I would not have come here. Now do we have a deal or—?”

He broke in gently. “You need the cloth for the shelter?”

“Yes, and so what?” Her resolve to sell the yitar came close to crumbling. “Can’t we just get on with it?”

“It’s just... I heard some gossip yesterday — from the same man who traded the cloth. Something maybe you should know before you get rid of anything so dear to you.” Suvi had to step quite close as he dropped his voice to a whisper. “He said they are going to shut you down. Separate everyone by Soli and send them to camps in the south.”

Her eyes went wide. “What? Who is they?”

“The Harriers. The person who told me works for Major Bennett, himself.”

“Jack Bennett?”

Scaaf nodded. “The same.”

Suvi stepped back, absolutely reeling. “No! I won’t let him. It isn’t going to happen. Severnessa needs Carina.” She flung herself forward and grabbed Scaaf by the shirt. “Did you hear anything else — like when it might happen?”

He shook his head and extricated himself from her grasp. “It is only a rumor, Suvi. I told you everything I know. Now, do you still want to sell the yitar? I can only give you forty pelaaks for it. Fancy things like this are hard to unload at the moment.”

She nodded. “But I want forty two, and... A bottle of poteen,” she added thoughtfully.

He slammed his hand on the counter. “Done! But don’t tell anyone how good I am to you, or I’d be ruined.”

Suvi waited while he wrapped the cloth and handed over her twenty-two pelaaks in change. When he gave her the poteen he joked, “I guess you’ll be wanting this to drown your sorrows, then.” She gave him a cynical smile, but did not reply.

* * * *

After dropping the cloth in to Teggr, Suvi went to her office and tried to work. The prism in the gateway hovered gently at the edges of everything she looked at, making concentration impossible. It called to her in a silky voice, seemingly made of light rather than sound. Suvi found she could not ignore it. Cursing softly, she broke her own rule and headed back to the sewers.

The prism lay exactly where it had been before, just on the other side of the window, half hidden by swaying yellow flowers.

Passing through the window felt like plunging her fingers into a cool, smooth gel.

When she grasped the crystal, she felt something like static electricity charge up her arm. It frightened her, but she did not let go. Slowly she withdrew it, wondering what would happen when it reached her world. Would it disappear, or explode in a fiery denunciation of her theft?

Nothing like that happened. It went in her pocket and lay there, cool and smooth and quiet. She didn’t look again until she reached the safety of the office and had locked the door. When she withdrew the prism, it felt much heavier than it ought to. The light from her desk lamp flickered mysteriously within its depths. Braided copper wire shrouded each end and reinforced the facets. Suvi traced the seams with her fingers, and discovered something like a switch halfway along one side. She did not dare press it.

Chelah, curious, jumped up on the desk with a low growl. She sniffed the prism delicately and then hissed. Suvi smiled at the degum’s comically swiveled ears. “What? Don’t you like it, girl? I think it is very pretty.” Suvi patted Chelah, but she scuttled away and disappeared under the bed.

After placing the prism in the drawer, she locked the desk again. Suvi felt sure she could probably sell such an unusual object for quite a bit of money, but she was equally sure she would never be able to part with it, even if meant losing Carina and everything in it.

* * * *

Suvi dressed carefully, in her least threadbare stockings and a tweed skirt. She pulled a box from under the bed, rummaged down to the bottom, and withdrew a soft sweater, made of finest dureg hair, creamy yellow in color. Other than the yitar, it was her most treasured possession. Thoughtfully, she slipped it on, hoping Tom would like it.

He picked her up at six o’clock, and took the road towards Schippendorff. Suvi sat quietly, her hands tucked within the sweater sleeves, thinking on Scaaf’s gossip and wondering what part her companion might play in the closing of Carina.

He glanced over towards her as he downshifted the truck through another patch of mud. “Are you all right?”

The moon caught his eyes, making them shine. Suvi saw only genuine kindness and concern. “Of course. Sorry, I guess I am just a little tired. I haven’t even thanked you for repairing my window. You must have worked very hard this afternoon.”

He gave her a charming grin, a twinkle of white under his moustache. “Doing favors for a pretty girl hardly counts as work in my book. Especially when she has agreed to step out with me for the evening. Speaking of which — here we are... The local provender palace — Stellaan’s.”

The truck ground to a halt in a gravel yard full of velos. A low building, shuttered and dark, lay alongside. Although it looked unwelcoming, as Tom crossed to open her door Suvi saw a curtain open a crack and a warm shaft of light beckoning.

The roadhouse was full of people. They found a table close to the back, and Tom ordered roast chicken for both of them. “It’s the best thing on the menu. And no cabbage whatsoever,” he added with a smile. Suvi smiled back and felt herself slipping into relaxation, and, more dangerously, into trust. And that would not do.

While the jukebox rattled away in the background, they drank beer and chatted. Suvi decided that she must not allow herself to get too comfortable with him. “Tell me about the place you come from — Litchfield, isn’t it?”

He stared at her, obviously disturbed by her question. “How did you know...”

“I heard you say the name to Katy. Maybe you thought I was sleeping.”

Tom ran his hand over the top of his crew cut, making his hair stand up like a brush. “I am from Schippendorff. A member of the Rose Soli. That is all I can tell you, officially.”

“And yet you and Katy Bennett went to medical school together.” Suvi raised her eyebrow. “How very strange.”

He looked more and more unhappy, but didn’t say anything.

“You are a doctor, aren’t you, Tom? That is how you knew what ailed Riku.”

Tom frowned, but was spared having to answer by the waitress, who bustled over with a platter of chicken and roasted potatoes. It smelled divine, and Suvi, who hadn’t seen food like this since she left her parent’s house, tucked in rather than pressing him further.

He watched her eat, leaving his own food almost untouched. Suvi paused between bites, feeling unexpected remorse. “Finish your dinner. I won’t ask you any more questions if you don’t want me to. Let’s talk about the weather or something.”

But though he picked up his fork, Tom only rearranged the pieces of chicken on his plate. “I shouldn’t be here with you. It is against every order I have been given. But I just wanted...” The waitress appeared again, and brought them more beer. Tom stared moodily at the bubbles rising in his glass and did not finish his sentence.

Now it was Suvi’s turn to look unhappy. “What did you want?” She kept her voice soft, only just above a whisper.

He met her eyes. His were melancholy. “I wanted to forget about the war, and sides and suspicion — just for tonight. And I thought... Maybe you were tired of it too, and that you would trust me. But I can’t force you to, if you won’t.” Tom put down his fork. “We should probably go.”

Suvi reached under the tablecloth and found his hand.

“Please forgive me, Tom. I had... some unfortunate news today, and it made me a little preoccupied. Honestly, I am not usually this rude.” She smiled at him, and squeezed his hand tightly. “Let’s say I believe you are a Rose mechanic who comes from Schippendorff — just for tonight. But will you tell me what it is like there? Because, truly, I have never seen it, not through your eyes, and I would very much like to know.”

He understood what she meant, and gave her a wry smile as he picked up his fork. “Schippendorff? Well, Schippendorff is very different from here. Dead flat, for one thing, and hundreds of miles from the ocean. Acres and acres of corn fields surround the town, stretching in all directions. As a young boy I used to ride my bike all day, and never leave those fields.”

“No forest? I don’t know if I would like a place without trees.”

Tom finished his first piece of chicken and started on the second. “Oh, there are bits of woodland, scattered about. Rayn’s Wood is where I first met...” He paused and looked at Suvi anxiously.

She gave him an encouraging smile. “Just for tonight, remember?”

He sighed and nodded his agreement. “It is where I met Katy, when she was sixteen. She was a... stranger to Schippendorff, and had no home. So Jack’s parents took her in, and became her guardians. Later she and I went to school together.”

“And Jack, was he your friend too?”

He scratched his head. “Well, I guess so. He and I played on the same baseball team before the war.” At Suvi’s baffled look, Tom explained. “Baseball is a sport they play in Schippendorff. Two teams, nine players on each side. One team hits a ball and runs the bases, and the other side tries to stop them from scoring.”

“Kind of like stick ball, then?” She named a game that the children often played outside in the enclosed yard, with a broom handle and an inflated bladder.

Tom grinned. “Kind of, but the ball is a lot harder. Once a grounder hit me in the face and broke my nose. Hurt like hell. After that I decided I liked being a catcher better — they get to wear a mask.”

One of the other patrons put a few centos in the jukebox and it began to play a waltz. Several couples got up to dance. Tom looked over at Suvi hopefully.

“I... I’d love to dance, Tom, but I don’t know if I can, what with my calf. I’ll probably just tread on your toes.”

He gave her a confident smile. “Don’t you worry. We’ll get along just fine.”

Tom stood and offered her his hand, and she took it, wondering if men from Litchfield knew anything at all about dancing.

She slipped her wrap from her shoulders and let him lead her to the floor. He placed an arm around her waist, pulled her close, then twined his fingers with hers and bent his arm so that her hand rested on his chest. They began to move in time to the music, and it did not take Suvi long to discover that Thommats Finn could dance very well indeed.

Suvi’s last misgivings melted in the warmth of the room, and as Tom spun and whirled her about the dance floor, she lost herself in the music and the intoxicating feeling of his arms close about her. He spoke in her ear, and she felt his moustache tickle her skin. “This is pure heaven, dancing with you, Suvi.”

“You too,” she whispered in return.

Suvi let her cheek fall onto his shoulder and rest there. He pulled her even closer. The song ended and another began, but neither noticed. The other couples who had shared the floor with them stopped dancing and simply watched. When the money ran out, and Tom and Suvi’s graceful turns stopped, the crowd applauded wildly.

Suvi blushed bright red, mortified by this unwanted attention. Tom kept his arm around her waist, and started to guide her back towards their table.

A short, thickset man wearing the uniform of a Harrier lurched over from the bar and blocked their way. “Want to dance with your girl. Ain’t never been close to a Harp before, but if she’ll dance with Rose scum she’ll dance with a Spear.” He grabbed Suvi’s arm, and tried to pull her away.

Tom thrust her behind him. “The lady is with me, friend. You’d best go back to your beer if you know what’s good for you.”

The muscles in the soldier’s neck swiftly bulged over his collar. “Well I guess I don’t. So how about I dance with you instead?” Moving with a speed that belied his drunkenness, he pulled a flick knife from his pocket and snapped it open.

Tom calmly guided Suvi to one side. “Get your things and wait for me in the truck.” He sidestepped the man’s first thrust easily. “The keys are in my coat pocket. Start the engine and lock the doors. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Suvi grabbed her wrap and purse and then backed towards the door, watching as Tom raised his hands. “Tom? Are you sure...?”

He smiled at her. “Go on. Don’t worry about me.”

She saw another soldier moving behind Tom, intending to blindside him with a cosh. “Tom, look out!” By the time she finished her warning he had already whirled gracefully and lashed out with his fist. The second soldier staggered back, clutching his nose, the blood streaming from between his fingers. Suvi went through the door as the barkeep pulled a sawed-off shotgun from behind the counter.

As she started the truck, Tom flew out the door and hurled himself into the passenger side, shouting, “Go! Go!”

The truck skidded off the gravel, just as twenty men poured into the lot, and hurried towards their velos. Enraged shouts and cranking engines filled the night air. Suvi tore along the back roads, and soon lost their pursuers. Tom gave an elated whoop. “Well done, Suvi.” He glanced sideways, his blue eyes blazing with merriment. “We make a great team, don’t you think?”

Suvi nodded, bemused by his high spirits. “Weren’t you even a little bit afraid? That soldier had a knife. I thought he was going to...”

He examined his grazed knuckles dispassionately. “No ma’am. It would take more than the likes of those idiots to get the better of Tom Finn. I was the Gold Gloves state champ three years running.”

“Well, I don’t know what gold gloves are,” Suvi said, laughing. “But I believe you like fighting even more than you like dancing, Dr. Finn.”

The light from the moon hit his face and Suvi caught a glimpse in Tom’s eyes of someone far older. “Quite possibly, my dear. You might very well be right.”

They pulled up to the door of the warehouse, and Suvi switched off the truck. The clicks and pops of the cooling engine filled the awkward silence between them. She gazed over at him nervously. “Would you... like to come in for a while? We can sit in the office and talk without disturbing the others.”

His surprised smile flashed in the darkness. “If you are sure you don’t mind, I would like that very much.”

She berated herself all the way back to her room. Waltzing with Tom had thrust her troubles gloriously to one side, but now they came rushing back. He had asked her to trust him, but how could she, knowing that he must play some part in Jack’s plan to close Carina?

Suvi remembered the liquor, and why she had insisted that Goodman Scaaf include it in the trade. “Would you care for a drink? I happen to have this poteen...”

An hour later, Tom leaned back in the desk chair and chuckled as he turned the empty bottle over his glass. “What the hell is this stuff? It kicks like a mule. I haven’t been this drunk since I graduated from med school.” He grinned lopsidedly. “You didn’t hear me say that, right?”

“Of course not.” Suvi’s voice was perfectly steady. “We agreed to trust each other, remember? But I am curious about something. Why did you and Katy come to Severnessa? Does it have something to do with the war?”

“I can’t tell you that. It’s a big, big secret. And Jack would be very, very, very angry if I did.” He leaned forward to emphasize his words and almost fell out of the chair.

“But he isn’t here, and I won’t tell him.” Suvi pressed him, feeling more guilty by the moment.

He straightened with difficulty and squinted at her. “Really? You promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Scout’s honor?” He inexplicably waved three fingers in her face.

“Sc... Scout’s honor.” Suvi wondered suddenly what she had become. Despite her words, she could find no honor at all in her actions this night. He opened his mouth, and she waved her hands. “Wait! Don’t tell me, Tom. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Are you sure? ’Cause I will, if you want. I trust you, baby.”

“You shouldn’t,” said Suvi dejectedly, under her breath.

Tom staggered to his feet and reached for his keys. “I better hit the road. Got an early meeting in the morning.”

Suvi snatched them away. “You aren’t going anywhere, not in the shape you are in.”

“I’m fine. Never better.” But he swayed as he said it.

Suvi took him by the arm and led him to the bed. “I think you had better stay here with me tonight.”

“OK, baby.” Tom hiccupped loudly. “Whatever you say.”

She lay next to him in the darkness, without touching, both of them fully clothed. Tom closed his eyes, feeling the disconcerting revolution of the bed, and trying to pretend he rode a ship across a gentle ocean. He turned his head so that he could see Suvi’s profile. “You are so good. You an’ Katy, both. I’m so lucky to have two such wonderful women to look after me.”

Suvi’s voice carried distantly across the waves, like the melancholy cry of a sea bird. “You love her, don’t you?”

His stomach roiled a little, and he belched. The liquor made him brutally honest. “Of course. I’ve loved her for years and years. But she chose Jack instead of me and she is too loyal to leave him.”

“I am sorry.”

Tom swallowed, and felt his mouth fill again rapidly. “Don’t be. I am used to it. And anyway....” He sat up suddenly. “She isn’t the only fish in the...”

Then he vomited all over the covers and onto the floor.

Suvi sighed guiltily and got up. After Tom’s stricken apologies she said, “It’s all right. You weren’t to know, were you? I should have stopped you.” Once she had dealt with the mess, she felt wide awake, too restless to sleep. She switched off the overhead light and sat down at the desk, thinking she might as well catch up on some paperwork.

When she reached for the lamp switch, she saw that some dim source of light already illuminated the desk top. It leaked from the edges of the locked drawer like a halo. Suvi removed the prism from its hiding place. Once it lay in her hands, the light suddenly blazed forth, making her clutch it to her chest protectively.

The blankets on her bed stirred a little and a mumbling came from beneath them. “Is it morning already?” Once she had doused the light Tom turned over, hiccupped a couple of times, and went back to sleep.

She could feel the burning pressure of the prism even through her heavy sweater. Abruptly, the light that had left red fringes on her cupped palms and fingers died.

No... it had only shifted, from the prism to her.

It nestled in her chest, warm and alive. Suvi knew she ought to be frightened, and yet she was not. Almost immediately, the feeling of the light inside her was as natural as her own heartbeat, her own breathing. Even the room seemed brighter and warmer than before.

She wondered if she ought to tell Tom. He came from off world — perhaps he understood such mysteries. A rumbling feeling in her chest warned against this. Suvi stretched out on the bed, and curled into the curve of Tom’s body and drifted off to sleep. Yellow flowers filled her dreams.

* * * *

When Tom woke, the pain in his head prevented almost any coherent thought. He looked at the ceiling, trying to remember where he was.

Images returned. Stellaan’s. Dancing. That innocuous-looking bottle. Suvi, taking his keys and then leading him to the bed. What had happened after that?

He turned his head, very slowly, with shamefaced remembrance. She had removed the sodden, smelly quilt and his shirt, and wrapped him in a clean woolen blanket. Then he had passed out as she went to fetch a mop and bucket to clean up his mess.

A sudden growl made him scramble from under the covers, despite the pounding in his temples. Chelah wound round his ankles in a friendly way. Tom regarded her with suspicion. “Where is your mistress?” Suvi’s pet ran to her bowl and mewled. Tom scratched his head. “Breakfast? All right, I will see what I can do.”

He straightened his slept-in clothes as best he could. His shirt, now somehow clean and dry, was draped over the desk chair. He put it on and then made his way to the dining room. Marja saw him and waved. “Tom! It is a surprise to see you here so early. Did you come to visit Suvi?”

He nodded, wishing she didn’t have to shout so over the murmur of voices. Marja’s expression looked chary, so he thought he had better come up with something plausible. “I... wanted to borrow her yitar, so I could practice for the dinner tonight.”

Teggr, who had been passing by with her breakfast, overheard. “She doesn’t have the yitar anymore.”

“What? Why not?”

“She sold it, at the Hockit, so the children could have cloaks to wear outside.” Teggr’s eyes narrowed. “But you didn’t hear that from me. She doesn’t want anyone to know.” The old woman sighed and continued to her seat.

Marja shook her head. “Poor Suvi. She loved that yitar. I guess that is why she seemed upset this morning. I saw her leaving on her pede, just after sunrise.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“No, only that she would be back before the noon meal. Are you all right, Tom? You don’t look too good.”

He went back to Suvi’s room, and dumped a few scraps in Chelah’s bowl. The corner formerly occupied by the yitar looked sadly bare. Tom sat on the bed, rubbed his aching forehead and checked his watch. Eight o’clock. Jack would be expecting him in fifteen minutes. If he hurried he could just make the briefing on time.

Tom went to his truck and started the engine, then stared pensively at the steering wheel. Her perfume lingered in the cab, and the sultry sound of her laughter. Tom had been in love before, with someone he couldn’t have. But this was different — he would make it so. With sudden resolve he pointed the truck towards Jaarvik and Scaaf’s Hockit.

By the time he made it back to the base with the yitar he was an hour and half late for his meeting with Jack. “Major Bennett will see you now,” the secretary purred, with an obliging smile. Tom ignored her. His head still hurt abominably, though he had taken some aspirin he found in the truck.

Jack sat behind his desk, writing furiously as Tom sauntered in. His pencil lead snapped, leaving a heavy black smudge against the paper. He stared at it. “You are late.”

“Sorry. I had something important to take care of.” Tom pulled over a chair.

“I didn’t give you permission to sit, Captain.” Jack finally raised his head and Tom saw smoldering fury in his grey eyes. “You will remain at attention until I have finished speaking.”

Tom unwillingly straightened his shoulders and raised his chin. “What’s eating you?”

Jack pushed the paper across the desk. “This is an account of a punch up at Stellaan’s last night. You want to tell me what happened?”

He tried bluffing. “Why should I know anything about it? Is my name anywhere on that piece of paper?”

Jack threw the pencil down. “Captain, when I hear that one man took on and licked four armed Harriers with his bare hands, I don’t have to be told his name. Do I?” He smacked his hand down hard, making all the paperweights on his desk jump. “Well, do I?”

Tom shrugged. “Ok, you win. It was me. But so what? They had it coming. One of those jerks tried to dance with...” He fell silent, finally understanding the source of Jack’s anger.

“Her name is on the paper,” Jack said softly. “She is well known in Schippendorff. Now, will you please explain why you were socializing with Suvi Markku?”

Tom pressed his lips together.

Jack stood, his fists clenched. “You disobeyed a direct order, Captain Finn. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you court-martialed right now.”

He grinned lazily. “Because I am the only one who can catch your knuckleball?”

“Be silent! You don’t get it, do you? This operation is far too important for you to screw up.” He pushed another sheet of paper over to Tom. “I am reassigning you to the Field Surgical Unit in Fareniis Narrows, effective immediately. Here are your orders.”

“What the hell?” Tom staggered, as though Jack had rabbit punched him. “You can’t do that.”

“I can and I have.” Jack’s angry expression softened. “You came to Severnessa to help. But you are in over your head, Tom. Leave the intelligence work to qualified people. Go and do what you are good at — doctoring. Katy says you are by far the best surgeon she has ever worked with. It is plain stupid to waste that talent.”

Tom’s lips trembled. “God damn you, Jack. How could you do this to me? You must know how I feel about Suvi.”

“Get your things packed. There is a transport leaving at 08:00 hours tomorrow. That is all, Captain.” Jack couldn’t bear to see the anguish on Tom’s face, so he turned towards the bank of metal cabinets that lined one wall, pretending to look for a file.

Tom stared at his back, pure loathing in his eyes. His hand slipped towards his boot-top, to the dagger concealed there.

Just then, Katy’s voice drifted in through the anteroom, as she made her way up the hall to her husband’s office. “Jack? Do you want some lunch?”

Slowly, unwillingly, Tom straightened up again. “You already have her. Isn’t that enough for you?” When Jack did not reply, Tom turned on his heel and left the office, slamming the door behind him.

Chapter Nine

Tessa

Only the winged warrior may ask the sky gods for wisdom.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tessa woke late and stumbled around the trailer, making instant coffee. The kitchen window looked east and as the sun rose, a finger of light blazed in, making her squint. She stared at the long valley, back the way she had come last night, wondering if she should stay.

“Why not?” she said out loud. “You might as well get some work done. Breakfast first, though. Wonder what they left me to eat?”

Tessa scrounged in the cupboards and found some dry three-minute noodles. She cooked and ate them without paying much attention, replaying instead the scene she had witnessed in the boathouse window.

“Jerk,” she muttered, and went to get her tools.

She stepped carefully over the network of string and stakes that marked off the various quadrants the students had been excavating. Tessa squatted in one hole and used her trowel to scrape off a thin layer of reddish clay. Several shards of dark pottery appeared, but she left them in place. She continued to work random squares, hoping to find something out of the ordinary. Something that would make the long trip to Anenoa worth it.

The sun climbed higher in a perfectly blue and cloudless sky. An hour of excavation had yielded nothing more interesting than some obsidian flakes, left by a flint knapper. Angry now, she picked one up and hurled it into the bushes, then gave a guilty shrug.

“Come now, Tessie,” she intoned, in a wicked imitation of Ted’s educated patter. “Aren’t we being somewhat unprofessional, my dear?”

She threw her trowel down and decided to go for a walk instead. Maybe, by the time she returned, Jane would be pulling up. Then she could admit defeat, and they could drive back to Franklin or Mercuryville, find a room in a comfortable bed and breakfast, and relax for a few days.

Tessa knew perfectly well that she could leave on her own, any time she liked. But she wouldn’t give Jakob Faircrow the satisfaction of thinking she could not look after herself.

She went inside for her backpack, filled a canteen, and then locked the cabin.

The path she chose snaked up the steep side of the ridge, before petering out at a natural overlook a thousand feet above the site.

After thirty minutes she rested and took a long pull from her canteen. “I should go back,” she said, trying to convince herself. “If I fell now, they wouldn’t find me for a hundred years.”

But some of the recklessness that had infected her the night before remained, so Tessa kept climbing. She felt breathless and sweaty by the time she reached the overlook. The Volvo, far below her, looked like a toy car, but standing next to it were two tiny but infinitely menacing dark suited figures. One raised his head, and Tessa saw the glint of field glasses.

Were they Polys or Rangers?

“Oh fuck,” she whispered, as they left the car and began to stride purposely towards the bottom of the trail. Tessa scanned the cliffs beyond the lookout. They provided little cover, except for the dark gash of a gully further round the prominence. She climbed over the barrier and dropped amongst the boulders. Tessa scrambled across a scree slope that filled her boots with grit. She tried to stay low while checking her pursuer’s progress. They were steadily making up ground.

“Come on!” she urged herself, knowing she had to reach the safety of the gully before they made use of the commanding view the lookout would offer.

She did, but only by a few seconds. The darkness under the trees provided no obstacle for her, and she climbed confidently, trying to reach the hindmost point of the gully. It ended in an almost vertical chimney, festooned with clinging vines and a tumbling rivulet of icy water, caught like a spray of diamonds in a shaft of sunlight. In less dire circumstances it would have been a place of rare beauty, but Tessa had no time for such niceties. She needed a place to hide.

As a breeze stirred, she saw a shadowy alcove behind the curtain of vegetation.

She thought the cave would be shallow, only a place to squat, trembling, as the Polys nosed around outside. But once she had squeezed her way through the crack, the chamber widened into a substantial vestibule. Beyond lay a tunnel that led back into the pitch-black bowels of the mountain. She waited just inside the entrance, every muscle tensed, straining to hear the Poly’s heavy tread on the scree. After fifteen minutes passed in silence, she relaxed, thinking they must have given up.

The frightened shriek of a bird brought her heart to her throat. After a breathless moment she heard the crunch of gravel somewhere in the near distance. Conversation too, though she could not make out any words.

Did the Polys ever talk? She thought back, but she couldn’t remember.

The sound built as they approached. Panic filled the back of her throat like a bubble, waiting to burst into a scream. She swallowed it as long as she could, and then turned and fled up the tunnel, into the featureless gloom.

Behind her she heard frantic shuffling as something tried to force its way through the fissure, until a sharp bend in the tunnel blocked all sound. The darkness grew thick, but she did not slow her pace. She ran on, with her hands thrust in front, feeling her way. When, after twenty minutes, she stumbled forward into a cavern, the dim light streaming through a crumbling crack in the ceiling almost blinded her.

Tessa tripped over her own feet and sprawled face down. She stayed there, gasping, sobbing, fully expecting to feel the Poly’s crushing grip upon her back.

Nothing happened.

After what seemed an eternity, she sat up and looked around her. The path had led her to an oddly circular cavern. Damp, but very clean sand covered the floor. The walls were plaster-smooth and daubed with bright-hued paint.

Tessa forgot the Polys, forgot her fear. Unsteadily, she got to her feet, and crossed the cave, almost unable to believe what she could see.

Before her, etched on the cave wall, lay the spare blue and grey rendering of a winged figure, frozen forever in the midst of ecstatic flight. He floated from a sunlit sky to touch the ochre colored men who stood with faces and hands uplifted.

Tessa blinked and blinked. “Oh Ted, you were right after all.”

She turned to her right. In the next painting, the figure stood with his arms outstretched, in the pose of someone imparting wisdom. To her left, he knelt beneath a tree, his noble face twisted with pain.

Tessa turned around, almost in a dream. Behind her, the figure lay on a pyre, the magnificent wings aflame. And beneath...

She caught her breath sharply, and raised a trembling hand to cover her mouth, but did not dare touch the carefully arranged collection of charred and broken bones. Amongst them she could easily recognize a furcula, and other specialized appendages for flight.

Her first thoughts ran to the purely practical. How could the department do an excavation if the Polys insisted on hanging around outside?

The remembrance of her stalkers made her shudder. She had to find another way out, so that she could get back to Cloudy Bay, tell Ted, get a team together to come back to Anenoa. As the discoverer of such a magnificent cache, they would have to give her tenure. She would be Professor Kivelson, at last.

But her very next discovery, close by the bones, destroyed this pipe dream.

A pair of modern shoeprints, wavy soled, showed that someone else had visited this sacred relic of the Irrakish before her. And the crushed cigarette butt lying in the sand indicated that they had not been at all reverent.

Tessa gave vent to her frustration as she picked up the offending butt and shoved it in her pocket. “Damn it!”

She started wildly as the echoes of her words played off the walls. The air turned liquid, rippling with noise, like heat waves on a black-tarred road. The racket intensified as wave reinforced wave, creating a resonance that brought her voice back to her in a cathedral choir of contrapuntal harmony.

It was harrowing and yet hauntingly beautiful.

Tessa closed her eyes and dropped to her knees. After what seemed like an hour, the echoes died away. But the door they had created remained.

When her eyes fluttered open, it was the first thing she saw. A star-filled mist, where once the cavern wall had been reassuringly solid. The edges wobbled and shook, as though it could not make up its mind whether to stay or go. She rose and approached it, wondering if the feral music had driven her mad. An unmistakable pull drew her closer, and Tessa quickly realized that it would drag her through if she did not dig her heels into the sand.

She could not even cry out, lest she once more trigger the cacophony that had opened the portal.

Two things happened almost simultaneously.

Tessa heard the echo of a rock falling, seemingly just outside her cave.

And the haze within the portal resolved into a brick-lined tunnel, complete with a channel of turbid water.

Though the scene looked dark and noisome, it seemed infinitely preferable to the menace at her back. Tessa threw herself forward, and felt a sickening moment of vertigo.

You have only to navigate between the worlds to go anywhen you want.

She remembered Jakob’s words and nervously considered where and when she might end up. In two seconds she was there.

* * * *

Jane Piper sat at her microscope, ostensibly looking for cancerous cells in a cervical smear. But worry about Tessa made any progress impossible.

Why did she go to the site on her own, when she knew of the danger?

She sighed, adjusted the focus and tried again to concentrate.

Why are all my calls going straight to her voicemail?

The cells in the microscope callously defied her attempts to use them as a distraction. She spoke for them. “Might as well give it up. You aren’t getting anywhere with this.” The phone chose to buzz at that moment and Jane almost ignored it. Then, with a guilty shrug, she answered.

“Dr. Piper here.”

Bettina, the temp receptionist who sometimes worked on Saturdays, spoke hesitantly. “Dr. Piper, Ma’am? There is someone here to see you.”

Jane sighed heavily. Why couldn’t they hire someone permanent who knew the weekend work rules? “Tell whoever it is I am busy. I don’t do consults on Saturday.”

Bettina’s voice sounded something like befuddlement with a dash of terror. “Um, he says it is really important. I think maybe you should come out here.”

“Just send him in. I don’t have time for this.” Jane muttered a curse and slammed down the phone. She bent her head back over the binocular eyepieces of the microscope and glared fiercely at the slide, intending to keep her visitor waiting until she finished. But when a shadow darkened the room she couldn’t help but look up.

He completely filled the doorway. Tall, blue eyes and endearingly messy blond hair, just as Tessa had described him. No pirate costume though. He had discarded that in favor of a flannel shirt and some blue jeans.

“Hello.” Jakob gave her an awkward smile. “I am sorry to bother you when you are working. I am a friend of Tessa Kivelson’s.”

Though he had not introduced himself, Jane had not a shadow of a doubt about her visitor’s identity. “I know who you are. Have you heard from her? Is she all right?”

He hovered by the door, looking acutely worried. “May I come in? I need to ask you something.”

Jane nodded and waved him over to the stool next to hers. He perched on the edge, making it look as though it belonged in a doll’s house. “I hope you aren’t going to tell me anything bad, Mr. Faircrow. I have been up all night as it is.” She smiled at him, hoping he would offer her some relief from her worries.

But Jakob only reached into his shirt pocket and retrieved a cheap prepaid mobile phone. “I got this contrivance from a shop in Cloudy Bay.” He stared at the phone, dwarfed by his big hands, and sighed.

Contrivance? Where is this guy from? Jane suppressed a smile and tried to pay attention, though the disquieting blueness of Jakob’s eyes made it difficult.

“Tessa gave me her number.” Here he dug into his pocket once again and produced a square memo-sized piece of paper. “She said I could use it to contact her, but when I do she apologizes for not answering and then goes away.” He looked at Jane beseechingly. “I know you are her friend, so I thought maybe you could help me.”

Jane shook her head. “I wish I could. But she does the same thing when I call her. I think maybe her... contrivance is out of range.” At his baffled expression she explained, “If someone goes far enough afield, then their phone won’t be able to pick up a signal.”

He frowned. “Where is she then? I told her to go and stay with her fiancé. That is not far away, is it?”

She raised an eyebrow at this. “That creep is the last person she needs to be with right now, believe me.” Jakob opened his mouth to argue, so Jane spoke quickly. “After she told me about the Polys, we decided the best thing might be to go to Anenoa State Park, to stay at the Lodge there. Tessa wanted to leave last night, but then I couldn’t get away from work.” Jane frowned. “About eight o’clock she called to say she planned to drive to Anenoa alone. She told me I should meet her there today.”

Jakob rose swiftly, with a look of anguish. “She went by herself? How could you let her do that? I thought you were her friend.”

Jane crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. “Listen, buddy. Tessa doesn’t listen to reason when she has her mind made up. And anyway, she said there would be lots of people at the site. I didn’t think she would be in any danger. In fact, I—”

“You do not know much about the Polys, if you believe that,” he broke in quietly. “They are very... patient. But you are right about one thing — Tessa can be a stubborn fool sometimes.”

She gazed at him worriedly. “When I got home last night I found a note that she must have written before she called me. It said she was going to Little Sardinia, to get her work boots — and to see you. Are you saying she never showed?”

His urgently voiced question was the only answer she got. “How can I get to this place — Anenoa?”

Jane switched off the scope and grabbed her purse. “I’ll take you in my car. Let’s go.”

* * * *

After he answered her first three questions with monosyllables, Jane gave up trying to make Jakob Faircrow talk. She turned on the radio and found the classic rock station. The squeal of a guitar filled the car with comforting noise.

Jakob peered at the lighted display with interest. “Where does that sound originate?”

“Don’t they have radio where you are from?” She shook her head in amazement.

He gave her a sly half-grin. “They might now, but they didn’t when I left.”

Jane’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Whatever. Go on being Mr. Mysterious, if you want.”

He fiddled with the knobs until he found a classical music broadcast, then left the radio alone. Jane opened her mouth, about to complain, until Jakob said pensively, “My father loved music. Especially singing. He often sang shanties when we went in the boat together, and he had a wonderful voice, very deep and strong.”

Sadness shaded this simple reminiscence, making Jane curious. She decided she would tolerate the violins if it would get him to talk about himself. “Is your father still alive?”

“No... Both my fathers died a long time ago, in the last turn of the Gyre.”

She ignored his last words and focused on the part she understood. “Both? Did your mother remarry after your father died?”

He shook his head. “My mother had two husbands at the same time.”

Jane glanced at the instrument panel to hide her surprise. The needle had crept to ninety. She eased back on the accelerator. “Is that a common practice in your home town?”

He gave her that humorless grin again. “I don’t think so. We got told not to talk about it, anyway.”

“Then why...”

“My mother said she loved them both. She was... very strong-willed.” More sadness, much more.

“And is she dead too?” He nodded, but gave no further information. Jane did not want to let the hard-won conversation die so she asked, “These people, who are menacing Tessa, where do they come from?”

He sighed. “The answer to that is very complicated. Are you sure you...”

“It’s another hour to Anenoa. And I would like to understand what we are up against.”

“Tessa is very lucky to have a friend like you. Not many people would be willing to take on the Polys.” A gentle smile gave his face an almost impossibly boyish appeal, like something from a glossy magazine ad. Jane found herself quietly wishing that she might have seen him first.

She pushed the thought aside with brutal thoroughness. “But you are. Why?”

“Because it is my job.”

“What, intergalactic space patrolman?” Jane muttered. “Tessa told me you were a fisherman.”

“A mariner. That isn’t quite the same thing. To answer your first question, I don’t know where they are made. But the Polys are not people.”

“They are not machines either! I examined the two boys they killed. The evidence I gathered tested organic.”

“I didn’t say they were machines, although they have many things in common with them. They have a single-minded purpose that makes them difficult to thwart.” His eyes took on a sudden predatory gleam. “But they can be killed — in various ways.”

“If they are made, as you say, then who is making them?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. My brother thinks it is an old enemy of ours, named Tristan. I thought I had rid the Gyre of him, but if he has returned to this world, we could be in for serious trouble.”

She ignored the unpleasantness of this prediction. “You have a brother?”

“A twin,” he growled, with dark menace in his eyes. “But we don’t get along very well.” He sat back hard in his seat and crossed his arms.

Jane nervously eyed the muscle working in his jaw. “OK. I got that. No more questions about the brother. So tell me more about the Polys. Are there very many of them? According to what I heard you have killed four since you came to Cloudy Bay. Is that right?”

He nodded. “A pair of them seem to arrive once a week or so. I don’t think there are ever more than that in one place.”

“Why not?”

“They are creatures removed from their natural chronology, like me. The time envelope will only stretch so far and then the way is closed.”

Jane gazed at him, wondering what he could possibly mean. “But I thought you told Tessa that time was an illusion!”

His hands sought the knot at the back of his head. As he reflexively braided his hair, he struggled to find the right words. “Time is... like the ocean. Waves travel through it, here and there, but the water remains unchanged. And you can only put so much into it before it overflows. Do you see?”

“No. Yes. Well, kind of...” Jane glanced at the speedometer again and noted it had crept to ninety-five. She was going to get a ticket at this rate. “Does that mean that we think of time as flowing, but actually it stays in the same place?”

“It doesn’t stay. It doesn’t go. It just fills the Gyre and holds everything within it. He peered at her, his blue eyes bright. “Are you hungry? I’m starving. Can we eat something before we get to Anenoa?”

She laughed ruefully. “Back to the land of the practical, thank god. Yes, we can stop at a drive-thru in Franklin.”

Later, she watched with undisguised amazement as he messily downed three triple burgers with everything, and two large fries. He had insisted on paying for the food and pulled a wad of cash from his pocket that looked like it contained three or four hundred dollars.

Jane eyed it suspiciously. “Where did you get all that money? I thought you didn’t have a job.”

Almost half a burger disappeared in one bite. Jakob spoke with his mouth full. “I robbed a bank.” Jane’s uneasy expression made him break into hoots of laughter. “You chicks sure are easy to mess with.”

She smiled thinly and sniffed, “Tessa said you could be a real jerk sometimes.”

“Did she?” Jakob seemed neither surprised nor particularly upset by this. He dug in the breast pocket of his shirt and removed a pack of Camels, then gave Jane an unhopeful sideways glance. “Mind if I smoke?”

“Yes I do. I won’t have that stench in my nice clean car. You and Tessa will have to practice your nasty habit somewhere else.” Jane sighed as her annoyance segued into worry. “Tessa! Goodness, I had almost forgotten about her. I hope she is all right. There hasn’t been enough time for another set of Polys to arrive, has there?”

He looked at the cigarettes with longing and then tucked them back in his pocket. “I hope not. I truly hope not.”

Chapter Ten

Suvi

Highest of the Dark clans, Wheat children are predominately well-behaved and eager learners. Some may even wish to be educated in higher subjects such as literature and algebra. This is to be discouraged as Wheat children must be prepared to accept positions in farms, animal husbandry, food preservation and preparation.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

When Suvi arrived back at Carina, preparations for the banquet were in full swing. Brini had an army of helpers in the kitchen making kaapjies, while the men busily set up extra trestle tables in the dining room. Suvi watched the work for a moment.

Goodman Billu passed her, lugging a piece of the wooden platform used as a stage for the entertainment. Suvi waved him to a stop. “Have you seen Calaan?”

Billu shrugged. “He came by the workshop early this morning. Said you had told him to get the truck and go to the mines. Had a bunch of other men with him. Didn’t like the looks of some of them, if you want the truth.”

Suvi frowned. She hadn’t exactly given Calaan permission to take the truck, but if he had gone for salt then it didn’t really matter, did it? Still, she could not quite dismiss her misgivings. “Tell him to find me, when he comes back. I need to speak with him urgently.”

She wandered away, thinking about Tom. When she left this morning for Ludde’s, he was sleeping soundly. But when she returned, he had gone, leaving a note to say he would be back in time for the dinner. She couldn’t suppress a little shiver of pleasure at the thought of dancing with him again. But first she would have to sit through several tedious hours of convocation meetings, in which the various groups and work details presented reports and aired grievances.

The creature inside her fretted, wanting another look at the window. Before she had taken the prism the view changed frequently, but now it just showed the same thing — a wide field of bright yellow flowers, nodding and bowing to a tree-clothed mountain. Home...

Fingering the key around her neck, she headed purposefully towards the south wing. She unlocked the door to the lower level, but as she started down the stairs she heard someone calling her.

“Suvi? Miss? Are you there?” The voice was Calaan’s. She rushed back up the stairs, more than a little annoyed that he had somehow followed almost to the heart of her sanctuary.

He met her at the door, his pale eyes darting past her shoulder into the darkness. “Where does that lead? I never seen that door before now.”

She shut the door firmly, blocking his view. “Nowhere important. Why are you here?”

His smile was guileless. “Billu said you wanted to see me, so I came looking for you. Where were you going if that door doesn’t lead anywhere?”

Suvi frowned, not liking his curiosity. “I was just... looking for some extra wood to make trestles with. But I didn’t find any, so come on.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the main wing. “How did the mining go today? Billu said you took the pantechnicon.”

“Yes ma’am. But we didn’t manage to find very much. Only a sack. We can try again tomorrow.”

“Calaan, I appreciate what you are doing, but next time you want to go to the mine you really should ask me first.” They had reached the main floor, and Calaan’s friends crowded close. Suvi remembered suddenly that she had not locked the downstairs door, but she could not go back now without drawing even more unwelcome attention to it.

Sighing, she excused herself and headed for the meeting hall.

* * * *

Tom had almost finished packing when Katy arrived at the bachelor officer’s quarters. She knocked on the door, which stood wide open in defiance of the cold. “Oh, it’s you,” Tom said tonelessly, and shut the lid to his suitcase with a soft click. “Come to say good-bye, have you?”

Katy shook her head. “I just wanted to make sure you were all right. Jack said you were pretty upset when you left his office.”

He sank on the bed and covered his face with his hand. “I wanted to kill him. I still want to. He had no right...”

Katy sat beside him, taking his hand in hers. Her voice was gentle. “He has every right, and you know it. And not just because he outranks you. Do you remember, back in Litchfield, when Lut came to see you out of the blue? He said he needed Jack’s help. Not ours, Tom.”

Tom nodded miserably.

“Now Jack is up to his eyeballs here, trying to run this war for people who don’t have an inkling what kind of enemy they are up against. We tagged along for the ride. And since then we have only gotten in the way.”

“Hang on a minute. I’ve been...”

“Playing at spies,” Katy broke in heartlessly, but she softened it with a grin. “And I’ve been immersed in my little clinic, wiping runny noses. The men at the front need us far more, Tom.”

He stared at her. “What do you mean by us?”

Her green eyes flashed as she defiantly raised her chin. “I am coming with you on the transport tomorrow. And before you say anything — no, Jack isn’t happy about it. But if he needs doctors desperately enough to send you into the thick of it, then I have to go too. It is only fair.”

Tom gave her a small, sad smile. “Katherine... dearest one, you don’t have to do that. Stay here with Jack. I will be much happier if I know you are safe.”

She leaned forward, bringing her mouth very close to his. “But I won’t be happy if you are facing danger alone.” Their eyes locked for the space of a heartbeat, then Tom stood abruptly and walked to the far end of the room, with his hands thrust in his pockets. Katy smiled and shook her head. “Anyway, there is no guarantee of safety, even here. Jack told me there have been two ground level bomb attacks in Severnessa in the last two days. Somehow the Grond have infiltrated the city.”

“He is probably blaming Suvi for that; am I right?”

“Well, witnesses placed a truck resembling the one they use at Carina at the scene of both bombings.” Tom frowned darkly and opened his mouth to argue. Katy cut him off. “Now don’t be angry with me. I don’t believe she is involved any more than you do. But there is something strange about that place, Carina. Haven’t you felt it?”

He shrugged. “Like a disturbance in the spheres? Maybe. But anyway, I am going there tonight.”

“Are you sure that is a good idea? Jack says...”

“I don’t give a shit what Jack says. I care for her, and I believe she cares for me. I won’t just disappear without saying good-bye.”

“All right, but you will be careful, won’t you? Don’t give anything else away, Tom. And remember, this war won’t last forever. When it is over, there will be nothing to stop you coming back for her.”

He laughed bitterly. “Nothing but all the leagues between the worlds. Nothing but that.”

Katy could think of nothing comforting to say to this. Instead she asked, “Want to come over to the Officer’s Club and get drunk with me? We have all afternoon.”

He shook his head, painfully recalling the poteen. “I have to learn a song on the yitar. Suvi’s going to sing it after the dinner tonight.”

“You really are the most incurable romantic, Tom Finn!” She gave him a fond smile. “What is it called?”

“Something about roses. I don’t have the words, only the music.” He took the instrument and bowed his head, then fingered the first haunting notes. Katy backed silently out the door and left him alone.

* * * *

Calaan called to his men once the dinner began in earnest. He could see Suvi, with her head bent close to the blond agent’s, and knew her attention lay elsewhere. She wouldn’t miss them for an hour, not until the entertainment started and they were due to perform.

They slipped out the side door and crept across the dimly lit south wing. He barked a command as one of the men tripped over a piece of rusty piping.

“Keep it down, you idiot.”

“Ya, Kepitan, sorry,” the offending Privat muttered.

They reached the door that Suvi had left unlocked. Calaan stepped up to the door, and silently eased it open. A short, high-pitched cry of alarm sent him groping for his sidearm, before he remembered that he couldn’t carry one — not in Carina. He stared in shock at the tall blond-haired boy who stood just on the other side of the doorway, his eyes wide with terror.

“Hist!” said Calaan, half in surprise and half in dismay. “Where the hell did you come from, child?”

The boy babbled in some unknown tongue. Calaan was proficient in several languages, but he knew nothing of this one.

“What shall we do, Kepitan?” Sjt. Timms asked. “This crazy kid is going to blow it for us. Someone has probably heard him already.”

Calaan frowned. “We had better take him back into the main room. The operation will have to wait awhile. But we have plenty of time yet.”

He grabbed the boy’s arm and dragged him, protesting, into the light of the south wing. The stranger continued to say things at intervals, and seemed resistant to the idea of coming with them.

“Stop fighting, fool. We won’t hurt you,” he said in Severnessan, but the boy looked even more confused.

Calaan pulled him along, studying his strange clothing and knapsack. He wore dungarees of blue, and heavy boots of a kind Calaan had never seen before. They looked expensive. He had a puffy jacket of some smooth fabric, very boldly colored in blue and orange. His face seemed quite girlishly pretty, with wide set eyes and a hairless chin. Calaan thought he might be sixteen years old, or perhaps a little older.

When they arrived back in the main hall, at least a hundred heads turned towards them. The boy saw long tables, with families clustered together, sharing food and drink. Cheap paper decorations festooned the ceiling. The cooks had spread a buffet supper on the pass through, and Brini supervised the serving of the kaapjies.

The boy turned back to Calaan, his eyes full of nervous questions. Perhaps his desperation spoke for him. Calaan said, “This is Carina, friend. You are safe here. For now, anyway.”

He seemed to understand the word Carina, for he said it again and again. Then he said, “Suvi? Suvi Markku?” Calaan nodded and pointed to the table where Suvi still sat close to Tom, looking and speaking to no one else.

Gradually the people went back to their conversations. Someone brought the boy a plate of food, and invited him to sit. He did, almost dreamily, and removed his jacket. Then Calaan did another surprised double take, for the boy was quite clearly now a young woman, with fine, pert breasts.

“Well, well, my lovely, and where did you come from?” he muttered to himself. But he had no chance to find out, for Suvi had left her table and now stood on the stage, with Tom Finn beside her.

She clapped her hands to draw their attention. “Friends! Welcome to the Carina winter banquet. I trust you are all happy with the delicious food prepared for us by Brini and her excellent staff of helpers?”

Wild applause followed her words. She smiled and waved her hands for silence. “Now Tom and I would like to begin the entertainment for the evening with a song.” At that moment Suvi caught sight of the strange face in the crowd. Suddenly she felt breathless and a little fearful. She whispered to Tom, “Who is that girl? I have never seen her before.”

Tom peered at her, and her odd clothing. Some shred of recognition flitted through his mind, of another time and place, but it was too distant to resolve into anything. He shrugged. “Maybe she smelled the kaapjies and came in off the street. Shall I begin the introduction?”

He and Suvi had not had time to practice. When he arrived at seven o’clock, bearing the yitar, she greeted him with such unrestrained joy that he hadn’t even had the heart to tell her he was leaving. Now, as he strummed the first chords of the song she had chosen, he wondered what her voice would be like.

She stepped forward, with her hands clasped nervously in front. An expectant hush fell over the crowd as she began to sing.

Suvi delivered each note in a pure, high treble that seemed to bring all the world to perfect stillness. Tom needed all his concentration not to let his trembling fingers falter on the strings, and at first he hardly listened to the words. Then she turned towards him, and met his eyes, and the room emptied save for the two of them.

Oh Rose, oh Rose, my love, he knows,
The secret deep within my heart.
Though far he goes, the tide still flows,
Twixt him and me, when we must part.

Oh Moon, oh Moon, my heart doth swoon,
With need, such need for his embrace.
Oh gentle June, return quite soon,
That I may see his handsome face.

Oh Sea, oh Sea, please bring to me,
His kiss, sweet bliss, to heal my pain.
Hear now my plea, and set him free,
So I might hold my love again.

Oh Rose, oh Rose, my love, he knows,
The secret kept within my heart.
Though far he goes, the tide still flows,
Twixt him and me, when we must part.

She held the last solemn note, low and clear, for a long, long time. Tom finished with a final arpeggio, and let the yitar’s strings vibrate until the sound died away into utter silence.

The hall broke into a roar of clapping and cheers. Suvi bowed self-consciously, and then held her hand out to Tom, so that he could step forward. He wiped his eyes quickly on his sleeve and waved to the crowd. Then they walked off together, as Billu took the stage with his washboard and jug band.

Tom took her arm, and bent his head close to her ear. “That was wonderful, Suvi. You have the most beautiful voice I have ever heard.” The clean fragrance of soap in her hair filled him with sudden bleak longing. “Do you think we could go somewhere quiet for a moment? I have something I must tell you.”

She turned back to him, and nodded gravely, as if she already knew what he had to say. Then her eyes widened at the sight of a lone figure, standing right at the back of the crowd. He had combed his bushy hair, and put on a reasonably clean pair of trousers, but Ludde still looked distinctly uncomfortable in the company of so many other people.

Suvi smiled and pointed. “Look, Tom. Ludde has come after all. I didn’t think he would, even though I made a special trip to his cottage this morning to ask him. I must go and say hello before he runs away.” She pulled Tom’s arm and he followed, wondering what business had brought Lut Armstrong to Carina.

They passed by the girl that Suvi had noticed from the stage. She sat quietly at one of the tables, watching everything with her amber-colored eyes. The people sitting near occasionally aimed a comment at her, and she would smile and shake her head. Tom had passed her by, following Suvi towards Lut, when he caught sight of her backpack, and the odd-looking red, white and blue patch on the pocket.

Tom caught Suvi’s arm. “Go and make Ludde welcome. I will join you in a moment.” He waited until she had passed out of earshot, then hurried over to the girl. “Come with me,” he hissed at her in English. “Don’t let on you know what I am saying.”

Her eyes went very wide, but she did as he ordered. Tom led her to Suvi’s office and shut the door firmly.

She gave a relieved sigh as she sank into the desk chair. “Thank god, someone who speaks English, at last! I was beginning to think...”

He broke in with angry questions. “Who are you? How the hell did you get here?”

“My name is Tessa Kivelson. And... I don’t know how I got here, not exactly. I went through a gateway, and I found myself at Carina.”

“You traveled the worlds between? Did you mean to come here?”

“Well no, not exactly, but I am very glad I did. The boy I met on the stairs told me the name of this place, but I think I would have recognized it from Suvi’s journal anyway. She was... Is...” Tessa threw up her hands in confusion. “Oh god, regular expressions really don’t apply here. The Suvi Markku you know becomes my grandmother — a long time from now.”

Tom Finn rubbed his crew cut worriedly. “Your home is a future place?”

Tessa shrugged. “I really don’t know what future and past mean anymore. Ever since I met Jakob...”

His frown grew deeper. “Lut’s brother, Jakob?”

“Yes, I guess so. He came to Cloudy Bay to protect me from the Polys.”

Tom stood and paced the narrow confines of the office. “Don’t tell me anything else! You don’t belong here, Tessa.”

She raised an eyebrow at this. “And you do? Where are you from — Ohio?”

He grinned sheepishly. “You pegged it exactly. Did my accent give me away? Jack, Katy and I live in Litchfield.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“About a year ago, Lut came to see us. He said he needed Jack’s help.”

Tessa looked mystified. “What for?”

“Lut had been tracking his mother’s killer. The trail was old, and cold, by the time he reached here, and he had almost given up. But then, just after he arrived, Severness was attacked by the Grond of Berengarth.”

“So what? It was none of his affair, was it?”

Tom shrugged. “Maybe not, but it seemed suspicious to him, when there is nothing in Severness worth taking. Berengarth had just undergone its own revolution, and had an ambitious ruler, the Imperial Commander. There were rumors of new soldiers — tall, pale and very strong.”

Tessa blanched. “Oh, now I get it.”

“The local militia didn’t have a clue how to win a war against such an enemy. Jack had been a decorated officer during World War II, and he knew how to lead men.”

“And you?”

“Katy and I are medical doctors. We thought we could make ourselves useful here.”

“Where is here, anyway?”

“Nunabind. This is another of the worlds between. But look — you’ve got to go back.”

She stood slowly, dragging her feet. “But what will you do when the war is over? What about Suvi?”

“I... I don’t know what you mean.”

“I saw the way she looked at you when she sang. She loves you. Don’t you love her too?”

He nodded, with desolate sureness, and then chewed on his moustache. “Tomorrow I have to leave for the front and I don’t know when I will be back. I can’t expect her to wait for me. Not when...”

A tap on the door silenced him. Suvi poked her head in the door and spoke anxiously to Tom, and he responded in her language. He must have reassured her, for she nodded and quickly withdrew. He turned back to Tessa. “You should leave now, before she starts asking more questions.”

Tessa twisted her hands together. “I don’t know if I can. What if the door I came through is closed? Or I get lost?”

He smiled at her fears. “You won’t need the door, not with me. Make a picture in your mind of the place you wish to go.” Tom held out his hand, and Tessa took it, wondering what would happen. She concentrated on the wooded area near the Volvo, hoping the Polys would have ended their pursuit.

After a sickening moment of vertigo, he had her there.

The upturned basin of sky brimmed with stars. Tom stood close beside her under the firs. “I don’t know how in the hell you did that, but thank you,” Tessa whispered. “I hope things work out for you and Suvi.” She laughed quietly at the irony of it all.

Tom smiled too. “When next you see Jakob, tell him we could use his help with the Grond.”

Tessa sighed. “I don’t know if he would come, not if his brother is there. He told me that Lut murdered his wife. Is that true?”

He shook his head with unmistakable sadness. “The answer is more complicated than that, but Jakob would rather blame Lut than admit his own part in her death. Now I had better be getting back. Farewell, Tessa.”

She shook his hand with both of hers. “Farewell, Tom. Thank you so much for bringing me back home.”

He turned away from her, and then paused, with a thoughtful expression. “There is a bond between us, from another time. I sensed it just now, when you took my hand. Do you feel it too?”

Tessa stared at his face, searchingly. Pictures formed and dissolved in her mind, of a wrinkled cheek, still-bright blue eyes, a flowing white beard. “More than friends,” she offered, after a moment. “I can see you as an old man, maybe...”

“Well that sounds encouraging.” But his eyes said he wasn’t convinced. “I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but I want to give you something.” Tom bent, and pulled a dagger from his boot, then held it up in the moonlight. “This weapon has been mine for many a turn of the Gyre. But I think you need it more than me, at least for now.”

Tessa took it from him. The knife had a finely worked hilt, with pearl inlays, and a round red jewel inset on the guard. “This is so beautiful, Tom. I couldn’t possibly... What would I use it for, anyway?”

“A current of disrupted time runs through this place. Others have come and gone, and there is a residue of darkness that disturbs me. I think you will be in danger as long as you stay here, Tessa.” He touched the knife reverently. “The Amaranthine forged this blade, long ago, and endowed it with great power. I hope it will lend you some protection.”

“What are the...”

He put his hand over her mouth and pointed towards the hut. Tessa saw someone crossing in front of the window. She walked to the edge of the trees, hoping to get a closer view. “It’s all right. That’s Jane’s Honda parked next to my Volvo. She must be inside.”

“Who is Jane?”

“Jane Piper. My best friend. She is a doctor, just like you.” Tessa looked at the weapon in her hand. “Are you truly sure you want me to take your knife?”

He didn’t respond. When she looked back, Tom had disappeared.

* * * *

She waited in the truck for him, for what seemed like a long time, wondering about the girl. That she had come from his world, Suvi had no doubt, but he had acted as though he didn’t know her. Why would he hide something like that? The only answer felt like it would hurt if she knew it.

Tom slipped into the seat beside her. “Did you see her home, Tom?” Suvi asked, softly.

“Yes. I’m sorry you had to wait out here in the cold for me.”

“I don’t mind. It helped clear my head. And anyway, I know you had a long way to go.”

He sighed. “You guessed already, didn’t you?”

“Did you know her? Before you came here, I mean?” She didn’t say anything else, just sat quietly and waited for the pain to start.

“No, I didn’t. She strayed here by accident, maybe — or maybe not. I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter now.” He took her hand and pressed the rough palm hard against his lips, then held it to his cheek. “This is what matters. You... matter.” He took a shallow ragged breath. “Suvi... Oh Suvi, I love you, and I need to know if you...”

Instead of pain, there was joy, and it felt very odd. “Yes,” said Suvi, before he had even finished, and again, “Yes, more than anything.”

He put his arms around her awkwardly in the confined space of the truck. “I have to...”

She put her mouth over his before he could say anything else, and kissed him until the ache building in her chest wouldn’t let her breathe. Then she asked, “When are you going?”

He sat back against the seat suddenly. “How did you know?”

“I could see it on your face when I sang tonight. You looked so unhappy. But it’s all right, Tom. I’ll wait for you. You know I will.”

Tom brought his mouth back down, kissing her with desperate longing. After a moment had passed this way, he whispered urgently, “Suvi... Beautiful Suvi. Listen to me. We can leave here, right now, and then neither of us will have to wait. Please...”

She drew away from him, just a little. “You want me to come to your world, Tom?” The light inside her woke suddenly, with a warning sparkle that felt like pins and needles in her chest.

He laughed, nervously, exuberantly, not caring now what she knew. “Anywhere. I can take you anywhere you want to go.”

Suvi thought of the mysteries she had seen from the gateway — the velvet of a tropical sky, the numberless stars, the bright inscrutability of the moon, the endless field of yellow blooms. He would give them all to her, if she said yes.

But she did not. Suvi sighed. “I can’t leave Carina, not while the war is on. And what of your duties? I thought you came here to heal people?”

“I did, I guess. But I would rather go somewhere else — with you. Don’t you want to be with me?”

“Of course I do. But I can’t just run away. Carina would fall apart if I wasn’t here to keep it going.”

His frustration made him thoughtless. “What difference does that make? Jack is going to...”

All right, but you will be careful, won’t you? Don’t give anything else away, Tom.

He mouthed a curse, but it was too late.

Suvi said sharply, “What is Jack going to do?” When he didn’t answer, she shook him. “Is he going to shut Carina? Why won’t you tell me?”

“Suvi, please don’t ask me anything else. If we leave here, it won’t matter.”

She slammed her hand into the dashboard. “No!” Suvi’s voice dropped to an unhappy whisper. “You know I love you, Tom, but I have to do what’s right.”

Satisfied, the thing in her chest settled again and slept.

“Fine.” He answered dully, without understanding her reasons at all. “Then I will be on the eight o’clock troop transport to Fareniis Narrows. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Oh, Tom.” She caught his face in her hands and kissed him again. “I will miss you so much.” Suvi held on to him silently, her head buried on his chest. Her shoulders trembled, and he knew she wept. Tom looked out the windscreen, into obscurity, trying to fathom fate’s little cruelties. Why wouldn’t she just leave?

Four figures, unconscious of the people in the truck, crept along the alleyway towards the back yard. Tom saw them and stiffened, but didn’t say anything. A few seconds later, Lut appeared, in silent pursuit. He passed right by the driver’s side, running in a crouch, and carried on round the corner.

Tom whispered to Suvi. “Go back inside and wait for me. I have to check on something.”

She raised her head, and stared at him, her eyes rough and red from crying. “What are you...?”

“Shhh... Please, baby, just do as I ask.” She went out the passenger side and he followed, leaving the door wide open. Once he had her safely out of the way, Tom scurried through the alley and stole up behind Lut. He gave the low bird call they used as a signal.

Lut stopped and waited for him. “There you are! I thought I might have to tackle these four miscreants on my own.”

Tom smiled in the darkness, knowing that Lut would have liked nothing more. “Who are they?”

Lut shrugged his wide shoulders. “A tallish blond fellow, and three others. I first saw them singing on the stage. Some vulgar Snake drinking song, by the sound of it. Got the crowd in a terrible temper, and pretty much broke up the party. Then, afterwards, they all assembled in the South wing. I watched as they headed towards a door in the back. It must have been locked, because I heard a lot of cursing.”

“What happened then?”

“The leader announced they would try to find another way into the cellars. And that is when I followed them here. Come on, or we may lose the scent.” The two men moved in unison, with an effortless silence borne of many such hunts together. Once they turned the corner, they saw that their quarry had broken into the garage where Billu kept the vehicles. A few moments later they left again, and now one man carried a long item wrapped in a cloth.

Tom signaled to Lut to continue, while he went over to examine the pantechnicon in the garage. Lut, bent low, disappeared out of sight behind the southern wall of the factory. Tom took a small flashlight, and poked amongst the untidy pile of sacks and tools in the truck bed. After a moment he gave a long, low whistle. Fourteen sticks of dynamite, along with fuses and blasting caps, lay hidden in a recess above the wheel well.

A horrible certainty settled over him like a cloud.

By the time he caught Lut, the men had attacked a locked ground level hatchway with a crowbar. Much whispered conversation ensued.

“They are from Berengarth, all right,” Lut muttered. “I know their filthy tongue when I hear it. Might be the same bunch that come and go on Ayedeen beach. That blond one looks familiar.”

Tom’s hands formed hard fists as he recognized Suvi’s young friend — the one who had been close beside her under the desk.He scrubbed the wetness from his eyes, not caring how much it hurt. “What do you suppose they are after in the basement?”

“Let’s find out.”

They had forced the doors outwards, revealing a set of steps. Tom and Lut, knowing they would be visible against the starlit sky, hugged the slimy brick walls as they made their way into the darkness. A long sloping passage led under the building, probably once used for coal truck deliveries.

Ahead, very dimly, they saw a single figure standing guard over an open trap door. Tom signaled with a gesture, and then saw the white flash of Lut’s teeth within his bushy beard. Suddenly he growled, and it sounded just like an angry dog.

The guard’s head whipped up. “Who is there?”

Lut’s dog imitation grew more convincing, with menacing snarls and barks.

The man whipped a pistol from his pocket and peered into the darkness. “Show yourself!”

Now the growling and snapping slowly faded away, though Lut did not move. Hoodwinked by this simple ruse, the guard followed the sound along the tunnel. Tom had him in hand before he even had a chance to cry out.

They left the dead man by the passage wall, and crept over to the trapdoor. Flickering lights and odd snatches of music seemed an odd accompaniment to the gurgle of sluggishly flowing water. Tom and Lut dropped, one at a time, into the sewers.

The Kepitan looked up at Tom’s awkward landing on the greasy brick. He barked an order to the privat, who hurried forward, still carrying the crowbar. Tom dodged his first swing, and then Lut fell squarely onto the privat’s back. He collapsed, with his neck oddly twisted, and moved no more.

“Marruck!” Calaan boomed, in a voice surprisingly large for his skinny frame.

Tom and Lut converged on the Serjent, who whipped out a pistol. A single shot whistled by Lut’s right ear, but did not slow his advance. Tom tackled him before he could fire again, and then Lut kicked in his teeth. Calaan watched all this with calm detachment. As Tom and Lut turned towards him, he spat, “So long, off-worlder pigs. The Grond triumphs over all.” Then he dove through the wavering window of light and disappeared.

They looked at each other in dismay. “Shall I go after him?” Lut asked.

Tom shook his head. “You don’t know where you might end up. And he will be back, there is nothing more sure.”

“Not through this rat hole. Why don’t you close it up?”

“It is way too big. I’d never keep the edges stitched. We are going to need more help.”

“I had better tell Jack then.” Lut turned to go back up the tunnel.

Tom laid a hand on his arm. “Not... Not tonight. Give me a chance to talk to her, please. Can’t it wait until the morning?”

Lut stared at him thoughtfully. “Aye.”

* * * *

She sat at the roll top desk in the office, with her face hidden in her hands. Chelah rubbed against her, trying to offer comfort, but Suvi pushed her away. When Tom came in and softly closed the door, Suvi wiped her eyes on her sleeve and turned to face him. He stared at her for a long moment, and then seemed to make up his mind.

Tom dropped to his knees and put his arms around her waist, then buried his head in her lap. “Suvi... Listen to me. I don’t care what you’ve done. It isn’t important. But you have to come with me — now, before it all comes crashing around your ears.”

She stared at him, without comprehension. “What I have done? I don’t know what you mean.”

He stood and threw up his hands, clearly angry now. “Stop playing the innocent with me. It won’t work any more. I know that you are harboring agents of the Grond here. I know you have stolen secrets for them. I know...”

“You know nothing, if you think that, Thommats Finn! If I have done wrong it has been for the good of Carina — for the good of people that no one else cares about. But I am no turncoat.”

He caught her arm and pulled her roughly to him, then kissed her. “I just told you I don’t care, and that makes me a traitor too. You don’t have to pretend any longer.”

She drew back and wiped her mouth vigorously with her hand. “Do you truly believe that I am a traitor?”

“I know you are.” She backed away from him, shaking her head again and again. He followed and stabbed her breastbone with his finger. “What have you been hiding under the basement of this place? Your little friend Calaan has seen it, but you didn’t tell me, did you? No wonder you didn’t want to leave. Jack was right about you all the long.” He raised his hand, incensed, almost ready to slap her.

Suvi felt her cheeks turn to flame. “You found my window? Oh, Tom. I... I didn’t hide it because I am a traitor. You must believe me. It wasn’t that at all.” She tucked her clenched fists close to her chest and let her tears fall freely. “Do you want the truth? I just wanted somewhere to hide from the bloody stink of cabbage. That’s why I kept the window a secret. It was mine, the only thing in this rotten shit hole that was mine.” She threw herself on her bed, sobbing brokenly.

Tom crossed the floor like a sleepwalker, and sat beside her. He stroked Suvi’s dark braids tenderly. “I am sorry. More than sorry. The things I saw tonight, they made me believe something very, very wrong. I shouldn’t have...”

She turned over to face him and her eyes, though red from crying, were hard and cold. “Go back to your boss! You have your report. There is no need to pretend you care for me anymore, Captain Finn.”

He sat back, stung by her accusation. “No! Suvi, it isn’t like that.”

She sat and wrapped her arms around her drawn up knees. “Isn’t it? Are you saying you didn’t come to Carina to spy? That you didn’t lie about being a Rose from Schippendorff?”

He sighed. “All right. I admit I did, at first. Jack sent me with your pede, and told me to take some pictures. But I came back for a different reason. Even after Jack ordered me to stay away, I couldn’t. Because you mean the world to me. More than my career and this idiotic war. I’d do anything for you, Suvi.”

“Someone who loved me would know I could never betray my country.”

“Suvi, please...”

Her lips trembled with the effort she made not to cry. “Just go. Go and tell him what you came here to learn.”

Tom stood, shaking his head sadly. “Jack will hear nothing from me. But, Suvi, listen — you must get everyone away from this place before the Grond come. Because they know about the discontinuity by now, and they will stop at nothing to take it for themselves.”

“How did they find out?”

“I told you — Calaan. He is an agent. And so are all his friends from Jaarvik. They used your truck to stage bomb attacks around the city, and tonight Lut and I caught them in the basement.”

“I don’t believe you. Calaan would never betray me like that, not after everything I have done for him.” But even as she said it she understood that he had. No one in the world could be trusted, even after she had tried so hard to be kind to them all. Suvi lay back down, with her face to the wall. “Good-bye, Tom. Take care of yourself.”

Chapter Eleven

Tessa

A warrior’s wound may heal and leave him bleeding within.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

She took a deep breath and opened the hut door. Jane’s eyes, red-rimmed from crying, went suddenly wide. “Tessa! My god. Are you OK?” She hurried across the floor, then threw her arms around her friend.

Tessa pushed her away gently, confused by this near hysteria. “It’s all right, Jane. I’m... all right. What on earth is the matter? Have you been waiting here all afternoon?”

She shook her head in confusion. “Afternoon? You have been missing for over twenty-four hours, Tessa. Jakob has been out all day checking the trails up the valley. I stayed here with the radio just in case you came back. I’d better call him.”

Tessa stared at the clock on the wall in disbelief. “My god, I had no idea. I’m so sorry...”

Ten minutes later Jakob flung the door wide, and stood on the step, with a face like thunder and lightning. “Where the fuck have you been?”

The memory of the scene in the boathouse window gave her voice a hard edge of sarcasm. “Hi Jakob. Nice to see you too.”

He strode across the floor and grabbed her arm, then shook her hard. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?”

Tessa snatched her arm away. “Leave me alone. I didn’t mean to be gone for so long. I got... lost.”

“You had better get on the radio and tell the Rangers we found her,” Jakob told Jane. “Meanwhile, Tessa can be explaining to us where she has been all this time.”

She frowned at him. “Why should I?”

Jane shook her gently. “Come on, Tessa. Jakob and I have been worried sick about you.”

“I know you were, and I feel very bad about that. But as for him...” She waved a dismissive hand in Jakob’s direction.

His eyes grew very dark. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Hers flashed amber fire. “What do you think it means, asshole?”

Jane hurriedly stepped between them. “Look, guys. We are all tired and stressed out, so let’s not say anything we might regret later.” She turned to Tessa. “Are you hungry, or thirsty? I went back into Franklin and got a lot of food.”

Tessa sighed guiltily. “Is that coffee? I’d love a cup.”

“Is that cawffee?” Jakob mocked in a falsetto voice. “I lost my way in the woods and I’m ever so thirsty.”

Tessa did not look amused. “Will you just shut the hell up?”

Jane made the call and then waved the radio at Tessa. “They want to talk to you.”

She slipped the headphones on and tried to answer the Ranger’s questions without giving too much away. “I stumbled in a cave, and hit my head. I guess it disoriented me, and... I couldn’t find my way out again. When I did, I came straight back here. I am really, really sorry I caused so much trouble.” She listened to a lecture, and rolled her eyes to Jane. “Yes, I realize I shouldn’t have gone out alone. I won’t do it again. OK, thanks, bye.” Tessa sighed and put the radio down. “I think I’m going to have to make a big donation to their retirement fund.”

“Now... How about telling us what really happened?” Jakob leaned back in his chair, folded his arms and waited expectantly.

Tessa had intended to, but this infuriating smugness made her change her mind. Instead she insisted, “That is the truth, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Well, I didn’t say anything about the Polys, of course. I went for a walk, and then I saw two of them, by the car, with field glasses. They spotted me and started to follow, so then I hid in the cave. After a while they must have given up and gone away.”

Jakob laughed so hard he almost overturned his chair.

Tessa’s cheeks went very red. “What in the hell is so funny?”

“I just can’t believe someone with as much schooling as you had could be so stupid.”

Jane turned on him. “Jakob! Tessa has been lost for most of the last two days. Stop being such a jerk.”

He stood and paced the floor, and spoke as though he was delivering a lecture to a class of slightly dim three year olds. “So I am being a jerk, am I? Ok, ladies. Let’s look at the facts. Fact number one, and try to remember this, because it is very, very important — Polys never, ever give up. Shall I repeat that?” He ticked the words off on his fingers. “Polys. Never. Ever. Give. Up.”

“What are you saying?”

Jakob wagged his finger at Tessa. “Fact number two. Polys don’t need to use field glasses. They have infrared vision that allows them to focus on the heat generated by the human body.” Tessa opened her mouth and he held up his hand again. “What you saw, Sweetie, were plain ordinary Park Rangers. And they were looking for you because Jane asked them to.”

Tessa turned to her. She shrugged. “He’s telling the truth. I called Park Headquarters on my mobile phone, after I found that they had closed the lodge for the winter. The head Ranger said they would send someone to the site to check on you.”

She glared at the two of them. “Ok, fine. So I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

But Jakob hadn’t finished. “Only one? How about coming here alone — after everything I warned you about? Was that a mistake too, or just more stupidity?”

“Just shut up. Like you care, anyway,” Tessa muttered.

The hut seemed suddenly airless. Jane cleared her throat. “I think I left something in my car. I’ll be right back.” She headed out the door, after a worried backwards glance.

Jakob lit a cigarette as soon as Jane shut the door, but didn’t offer one to Tessa. “What is that supposed to mean?”

The strangeness of her unexpected journey suddenly overwhelmed her, and Tessa felt her lower lip trembling. “You said... There hadn’t been anyone else. But I saw you, in the window.”

He looked absolutely mystified. “You saw me... what?”

“With a woman.” Tessa’s angry tears only made her feel more humiliated. “You had your arm around her.”

His eyes went blank as he thought back, and then he smiled. “Oh. You mean Annie. She’s a prostitute.”

Tessa found she couldn’t speak. Jakob went on, quite unperturbed. “I spent a lot of time hanging around the wharves when I first came to Cloudy Bay. Annie works the streets there, and we got to be friends. After I saw your phone, I asked her to go shopping and get me one. On her night off, she came to the boathouse and showed me how to use it. In return, I cooked dinner for her.”

Tessa rubbed her eyes furiously. “Dinner?”

“Yes. Dinner. So what?” He stared into the distance thoughtfully and then suddenly looked very, very amused. “I get it now. You thought I asked her there to have sex. Is that it?”

Tessa turned away, with her hand over her face. “God. You are so insufferable. I wish you’d go away and never come back.”

He snorted. “I’m insufferable? What about you? Who got in a jealous snit and decided to put herself and everyone else in danger?”

As if to reinforce his point, Jane chose that moment to scream.

Tessa tore over to the window. Black-suited figures crossed the graveled lot, converging on the Honda. They didn’t look anything like Rangers — not this time.

Jakob dug in a duffle bag by the wall and produced the sword.

Tessa looked on in horror. “Wait! There are four of them. You can’t fight them all. Not like that.”

“I have to. And don’t do anything else stupid tonight, like trying to help me.” He went out the door before she could respond. Tessa glued her face to the window. Two of the Polys were methodically destroying the Honda, trying to get to Jane. The other two turned towards Jakob.

She saw him behead the first one, and then the second bulled forward and kicked him in the groin. He went down hard, and this time she knew it was no ruse. Meanwhile, the remaining Polys had smashed the Honda’s windscreen. Tessa could see them groping inside. A horrible paralysis stole her breath, and made it feel as though her heart had stalled.

Jakob screamed as the Poly’s boot connected with his ribs, once and then again.

Tessa knew that he and Jane would likely die if she didn’t do something, but terror had robbed her of any useful action. “Help me!” she cried to the blank walls of the hut.

Tom’s earnest voice spoke, as though he stood beside her once more. The Amaranthine forged the blade, long ago, and endowed it with much power. I hope it will lend you some protection.

In the very bottom of her backpack, entangled with her scarf, she found the knife. Whoever the Amaranthine smiths were, they had created a weapon of uncommon fineness and beauty. When she took it into her hand the handle felt warm, and that warmth radiated through her arm like an electric shock, somehow calming her heart and her breathing.

With a perfectly steady grip, she opened the door and stepped outside into the night.The Poly kicking Jakob looked up, its face a brutally cool mask. Tessa called, “Come and get me, big boy. I am over here.” She charged down the steps towards it, the knife held high above her head.

Jakob groaned in agony. “Tessa, no! Go back inside. Don’t...” A final kick to the head silenced him. The Poly made to turn away. Tessa leapt high and clung to its back, then slashed at its throat. The blade parted the skin and bones with ease.

The Poly gave a horrible gurgling screech and slumped to the ground. Tessa landed squarely on her feet. “One down, two to go,” she muttered to Jakob’s fallen form. “See? I can help.”

The other two stepped away from the ruin of the car. They approached her shoulder to shoulder, hands extended. Tessa knew with utter certainty that she could not kill them both — not with only one knife, no matter how powerful. Slowly she backed away, until her shoulder blades touched the cold metal siding of the hut wall. The Polys followed, with leisurely menace.

As they passed Jakob, he somehow staggered to his feet, looking like bloody death. He tackled the left-hand Poly, just as Tessa thrust the blade upwards into the chest of the one on the right.

It crumpled, and the weight almost broke her wrist when she tried to keep her hold on the hilt of the knife. The other struggled with Jakob, as he shouted hoarsely to her, “Get Jane into your car and drive. Do as you are fucking told for once in your life.”

She ignored him, concentrating instead on wrenching the dagger free from the dead Poly. Then she waded back into the fray. Jakob cursed, swung wildly and knocked her away. Tom’s knife spun in the darkness and landed somewhere out of sight.

Tessa heard the sickening sound of snapping bone as the Poly twisted Jakob’s arm behind his back. She danced in and out, trying to get its attention. “Hey! Leave him alone. I’m the one you want.”

The Poly turned towards her, held up Jakob’s hand, and drew his thumb from the socket with a revolting pop. Tessa understood that it was playing with her, as a cat will do with its prey. Jakob howled as two more finger bones snapped and then spoke through gritted teeth. “You... will... be... next. Just go.”

Tessa scanned the ground desperately, looking for the knife, or anything she could use as a weapon. “No! I won’t leave you.”

A dark shadow on the edge of her vision made her wonder fearfully if she had somehow miscounted the number of Polys. Then someone pressed something hard and cold into her hand. Jane’s voice sounded high and terrified, hardly more than a squeak. “Tessa! Here... the knife, I found it.”

Tessa took it from Jane and stepped over the headless Poly. Jakob hung like a puppet from the meaty arms of the last. She plunged the knife into its back, twisting it with both hands. With a stuttering moan the last Poly collapsed into a formless heap, as though the blade had somehow unknit its will to fight. She stood over it, panting, as Jane dropped to her knees beside Jakob.

Tessa smiled triumphantly as she wiped the smoking blade against her thigh. “Three for me, one for bozo.”

* * * *

Jakob sat on the kitchen table while Jane carefully wrapped a compression bandage around his chest. “You have three broken ribs. Also a probable cracked left tibia, two broken fingers and a dislocated thumb, as well as several nasty gashes. All of which need proper medical attention. There is an ER in Franklin. We could have you there in forty-five minutes.”

“I’m fine.” Jakob grunted as she tightened the bandage. “No hospital. There are plenty of supplies in that medical kit, and you are a doctor. Just fix me as best you can.”

Jane shook her head in amazement. “I may be a doctor but I’m not the kind you need. You are nuts.”

Tessa passed Jane a cup of coffee. “Do you need any more boiling water for anything?”

“No, I’m almost done here. But Jakob would probably like some coffee too.”

“No thanks, Jane,” he said quickly, as Tessa turned her back and walked away.

Jane murmured as she stitched the jagged cut over his eye. “Look, you two. This not talking to each other is childish and just plain annoying.”

Tessa frowned. “Well why don’t you tell Jakob that if he hadn’t been such a jerk then I would be talking to him?”

“And tell your best friend that if she had stayed inside like I told her to, then none of this would have happened.”

She whirled and spat, “What do you mean? I saved your wimpy ass out there.”

“Like hell you did. I had everything under control.”

Jane stopped her careful suturing. “Hold still while I finish this, or you are going to be walking around with a permanently surprised expression for the rest of your life.” Tessa flopped on the bed with her back to the table. Jakob stared at her. Neither spoke until Jane tied off the last stitch. She sighed. “OK. Round two.”

Tessa smiled sweetly at him. “Now, let me get this straight. You were saying that even though the Poly had you on the ground while it kicked the shit out of you, everything was on schedule?”

“That’s right. I didn’t need your help.”

She shook her head in wonderment. “You just can’t stand it, can you?”

He rolled his eyes. “What is that, Tessa? Come on, I know you are just dying to tell me.”

“The idea that I don’t need you to come rushing to my rescue every five minutes, Hero Boy.”

Jane looked desperately from Jakob to Tessa, trying to forestall another argument. “Hey! Why don’t we talk about the fact that there were four of them tonight, even though they are only supposed to show up in pairs. What do you think that means?”

He shrugged. “Something must have happened to change the parameters.”

“Like... what?” Tessa fiddled with the teaspoon in her coffee, spinning the handle around the edge of the mug.

“Like someone creating a new path here by gap shifting — moving between the worlds.”

She thought again of Tom, and sent him a silent prayer of thanks. “So do you just think of the place you want to go, and then go there? Is that how gap shifting works?” Tessa kept her voice disinterested as she stared into her coffee.

“No. Of course not. If it was that easy then any idiot would be able to do it.”

Huh. Just shows what you know. “But aren’t there tunnels and things that an untrained person could use? Like worm holes?”

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why do you ask? You haven’t seen one, have you?”

Tessa stood suddenly and wandered over to the sink. “No, no. I just wondered, that’s all.”

“I guess the real question is, what are we going to do now?” Jane asked.

Jakob yawned. “Why don’t you ask your friend over there? She’s the one with all the bright ideas.”

“I need to get back to Cloudy Bay, right away. I’ll drive us in the Volvo. Jane’s car is going to need a tow truck anyway, and we can arrange it once we get there.”

“I thought it wasn’t safe for you.” Jane frowned. “Are you going to stay at Seadrift?”

“You can’t go there,” Jakob insisted. “That is the first place they are going to look. Get a hotel room in town or something.”

Tessa turned to him. “And you get a say in it — why?”

Jane helped him put on his shirt over the bandages, and did up the buttons. “Listen to him, Tessa. Jakob knows what he is talking about.”

“Does he? I haven’t seen much evidence of that.”

“You think you could do a better job of looking after yourself, then go right ahead,” he offered.

“Fine! I will. You can go to hell for all I care.”

“Tessa... don’t,” Jane pleaded with her.

He stood, glowering. “Guess I’ll take off then. If you don’t want my help any more, that is. So long, Jane. Thanks for everything.”

“Please don’t go like this. Tessa doesn’t mean it. Do you?”

Tessa stood with her arms crossed. “You have something that belongs to me. I want it back before you leave.”

Jakob turned to face her, and for a second she could see the battered haze of pain on his face — from both his wounds, and something far deeper. Then his expression locked tight. “You want me to give you back the mirror?”

Though she wasn’t at all sure she did, Tessa nodded her head.

He continued to stare at her. “Even though I told you that the mirror is what they want? You do remember me telling you that, don’t you?”

She held out her hand. “Don’t insult my intelligence. Of course I remember.”

Jane looked from one to the other. “What are you talking about?”

“The funny mirror I showed you. The one that belonged to Suvi.” She smiled mysteriously. “Did I ever tell you that she had the most amazing singing voice?” Jane shook her head distractedly, with her eyes on Jakob. She almost felt his pain as he bent to retrieve his duffle bag from the floor.

“May I speak to you outside for a moment?” Jakob asked Tessa, with almost menacing politeness. He draped the duffle bag carefully over his shoulder.

“If you wish.” She followed him out the door.

He stood well away from the trapezoid of light that shone from the hut, hugging his ribs close with his uninjured arm. Tessa waited for him to fumble for a cigarette, and then he handed her the pack and the lighter. He couldn’t light it one-handed, with the wind, so she leaned close and did it for him.

The tip described an arc in the darkness as he brought the cigarette to his mouth and inhaled deeply, then gave a little grunt of pain as his cracked ribs expanded. “Tessa...” Her name floated out with the smoke. “I’m no good with women — I know that. You aren’t the first one to call me a jerk and you won’t be the last. But don’t throw your life away just because we can’t get along with each other. Let me keep the mirror, and keep you safe. Please.”

The bodies of the dead Polys gleamed like a black and white vignette in the cold flat light of the moon. Tessa studied them before she answered. “What makes you think I’d be throwing my life away? I can take care of myself.”

Her words seemed to twist a knife hidden deep inside him. When he spoke, his voice sounded raw with anguish. “Can’t you admit that there are some things too big for you to deal with alone? There is no shame in it. I want to protect you. Why won’t you let me?”

“I appreciate everything you have done for me, Jakob, truly I do. But I can’t live my life running away from scary things in the dark. I want to go back to Seadrift, and pick up where I left off.”

“And when they come looking for you? What then, Tessa?”

“I’ll be ready. I took care of three of them tonight, and I can do it again. Now, may I please have the mirror?”

His face bore an expression of bleak hopelessness as he handed it to her.

Though it almost hurt to do so, she smiled. “Thank you. You know you are welcome to stay on at the boathouse, as long as you like.” Tessa half turned to go back inside, and he touched her shoulder gently.

She saw the tears on his cheeks as shining streaks of moonlight. He struggled to find the right words, but only a frayed whisper remained. “Si fenu, mi Tessa. Telluri mia. Telluri...” He brought his injured hand to brush against her lips.

Tessa turned and ran from him, up the steps into the hut, slamming the door behind her. He waited outside for a long, long time, cursing her, cursing himself, as the cold wind tore his broken ribs into strips of searing pain. When she did not come back, he shouldered the first of the lifeless Polys and stepped away.

An hour later, when Tessa finally ventured outside, nothing remained but the trampled and yellowed grass.

Chapter Twelve

Suvi

Birdling children are fiercely competitive with their betters. As the lowest of the Light clans, Birds often feel they have the most to prove. They should receive protection from bullying, especially from Spears. These children will do well to learn sewing and craftwork.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

Suvi climbed from her bed after a sleepless night spent with only her jumbled thoughts for company. She pulled on her robe, and sneaked to the kitchen to draw some hot water off the cast iron stove. Feeling slightly guilty, she took the last of the powdered kaffa, and made herself a cup. As she passed back alongside the long line of slumbering tents, Suvi considered whether Carina was worth the sacrifices she had made.

In the dark and cold, she couldn’t decide that it had been.

Chelah bumped her head against Suvi’s calf, and growled for breakfast. She found the last of Ludde’s dried pikken and crumbled it in the degum’s bowl, then sat at the desk and waited for the dawn.

When the weak winter sun peeped through the boarded-up windows that he had so painstakingly repaired for her, she wondered if Tom had been telling the truth.

“Maybe I got it wrong. Maybe I am just as bad as he was.”

She stared again at the windows — but it was his eyes she saw, his voice she heard.

Because you mean the world to me. More than my career and this idiotic war. I’d do anything for you, Suvi.

The uncertainty tore a ragged hole in her chest, leaving her suddenly cold. Suvi huddled into her robe, but it did not help. The elusive warmth of the gateway called, but she understood now that it hadn’t really been a sanctuary. Not for her, anyway.

But his arms had been warm too, and they were real.

Suvi scribbled a hasty note and left it on her desk. Then she threw on her thickest clothes, and went out to her pede. Hers was the only vehicle on the road to Ebbetsfeld.

* * * *

The chairs in the anteroom were covered in shiny dark green material that squeaked as Suvi shifted. The secretary looked up, and pursed her lips disapprovingly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back later, Miss? I don’t know how much longer the staff meeting will last, but it may be a while yet.”

“I’ll go on waiting, if you don’t mind.” The secretary’s expression said quite clearly that she did mind, but she went back to her typing. Suvi tried to make herself as small as possible. To pass the time, her eyes strayed to the pictures hanging on the wall. Most seemed to be stiff portraits of soldiers, with medal bedecked uniforms.

But there was one rather more unusual — of two men standing side by side in a sunny field of short-mown grass. The men wore uniforms too, of a sort, with pinstriped shirts and odd-looking short pants. Suvi stood and crossed the office so she could study the picture. Though he looked younger, she easily recognized Tom by the lazy half-grin on his face. The gapped front teeth meant the other man could only be Jack, without the bristling moustache he sported now.

He and I played on the same baseball team, for years and years.

Jack held a big brown glove and a ball, and Tom wore some kind of padded wire mask pushed back on his head. Both looked happy and carefree.

Suvi sat again and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Jack’s secretary cleared her throat and peered at the clock on the wall. Suvi paid no attention to her. She was thinking about Tom — and his boss, Major Bennett, and whether or not they were still on the same team.

The door to the inner office opened, and four men filed out. Suvi stood, nervously, as the secretary picked up the phone. “A Miss Markku to see you, sir. Shall I send her in?”

Suvi couldn’t hear what Jack said in return, but the secretary said, “Yes, sir. Right away,” very crisply. She looked at Suvi with sudden interest. “You may go in now.” Suvi felt her eyes drilling holes in her back all the way through the door.

Major Bennett sat behind a very large desk, overflowing with paper, maps, brown-ringed kaffa cups, and three different telephones.

He gestured distractedly, without raising his head. “Please take a seat. I will be with you in a moment.”

Four chairs had been pulled haphazardly to the front of the desk. Suvi chose one at random, settled in and crossed her ankles, prepared to wait as long as it took. A Prince and Poet board peeped from beneath a loose pile of papers. Someone had left the heavy stone pieces set for a game in progress. She nudged the papers so she could study the placements on the ten by ten grid of squares.

Jack scribbled his name several times, and then pushed the pile over to one side. He raised his head, and his grey eyes regarded her gravely. “Tricky game. You play?”

“A little. Is this your man here?” She touched the white Poet piece, almost surrounded by the bi-colored cubical tali.

“My wife had Poet. I played Prince. We didn’t have time to finish the game before...” He sighed and shook his head. “What can I do for you, Miss Markku?”

She boldly met his eyes. “I want to know if you plan to shut Carina.”

He took a sip of the drink at his side, and then made a face. “Stone cold. Would you like a cup?” She nodded, so he rang the secretary.

The silence grew uncomfortable as they waited for the kaffa. Jack cleared his throat. “What would your next move be?” When Suvi’s head came up sharply he added, “In the game, I mean.”

“Poet or Prince?”

“Either. You choose.”

She studied the board again. “Poet is in a difficult position, but I think the game may still be won.” Suvi took a talus and placed it white side up on the board, next to a black piece. “Swap,” she said softly, and then flipped the Prince’s man over, so that it became white. “Are you going to answer my question?”

“Perhaps. If you tell me how you came by the information.” Another black talus joined the white one she had positioned. “Safe.” Jack turned the piece on its side, so that both colors showed.

Suvi frowned, not liking this parry. “All right. I heard a rumor, from a very good friend, that you planned to separate everyone by Soli, and send them to camps in the south.” She moved her Poet back one square, and put a white talus close to his Prince. “Safe.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I certainly will have to find out your source. Would you be willing to tell me?” Another black talus joined the blockade. “Swap.”

Noting that he still hadn’t answered the question, Suvi remained silent. The secretary came in with the kaffa and poured two cups. Suvi took hers sweet and milky. Major Bennett drank his black. After she had placed another white talus, she said, “Safe.”

They sipped their kaffa for a moment, and then Jack asked, “What if I was going to shut Carina? Would you try and change my mind?” He tried to fence off her newly-positioned Poet from its defenders by adding a black talus between two whites. “Kill.”

She removed the left hand defender to a shallow depression on the side of the board and then answered his question. “Of course I would. Carina is home to many unfortunates. Where would they go otherwise?” Another white piece strayed north into the Prince’s territory. “Safe.”

He shrugged. “They could be given other homes. I don’t think that is much of an argument.” Though his Prince had begun to look slightly beleaguered, he left it in place. Jack chose to attack to the south.

She tried again. “You don’t understand! Carina is unique. People of all the Solis live and work together in peace.” White to the north. “Safe.”

“Indeed. I have heard much about your organizational skills.” The Prince remained fixed in place. Another black talus manned the blockade. “Swap.”

Suvi moved her Poet one square to the right and casually placed another white piece close to the Prince. “From Tom Finn? He acted as your agent, did he not?”

Jack did not speak for a moment, while he studied the board. He reached for one of the Prince’s defenders and placed it on Suvi’s side. Black. Kill. “Tom was... one of them, yes. There were others. Max Jalo. Willkie Biri. We have had our eye on you for quite some time, Miss Markku.”

She would not let him rattle her, though those last two names came as quite a shock. White. Her first kill. “Oh? I suppose I should be flattered that the commander of the Harriers should take such an interest in me. Would you mind telling me why?”

He spoke briskly as he finally moved his Prince a square to the right. “Yes, I would. Mind, that is.”

Suvi added a white Talus and changed tack. “Swap. Why did you send Tom away?”

Jack frowned as he saw the line that now menaced his Prince. He moved it again, and killed one of her attacking pieces. “He is a doctor. I assigned him to the field hospital at Fareniis.”

Now it was Suvi’s turn to pause. Her fingers hovered over the board for a full minute before she chose her rejoinder. White. Swap. “I didn’t think you wanted me to know that.”

Black. Kill. “Captain Finn’s involvement in your surveillance has been terminated, so it hardly matters now.”

She smiled thinly. “Challenge, Major. Your Prince is imperiled. Is that because Tom fell in love with me?”

She saw that this question, at least, had startled him. He peered at the board intently, and made a defensive move. “I am not at liberty to...”

Suvi pushed him as she added another talus, this one in a weak defending position. “I have some information — something that the Harriers would find very useful. In return, I would like your word that Carina may be relocated, intact, and I want Tom back here.”

Jack’s expression didn’t change. “What is the nature of this information? I can assure you that if it concerns Project Pincer, I am not interested. We planted those papers merely to implicate you. But they would still get you shot, if the right people found out.” He moved a piece onto the board. “Challenge to your Poet.”

A new threat. The game between them turned deadly serious. “Are you one of those people, Major?”

He didn’t answer her question.

Suvi moved the Poet to the safe place she had already prepared, then attacked strongly to the North. White. Kill. Challenge to the Prince. “It is not Project Pincer. Rather it involves the location of a certain window, which has a very interesting view.”

His strategy had failed him, that much seemed clear. Jack scrambled into defensive mode. Black. Safe. “Where is this window?”

Another white talus joined the swarm on his side of the board. “Swap. I won’t say anything else without some assurances on your part, Major Bennett.”

He moved the Prince again, and tried to restart his campaign to the south. Black. Swap. “Very well. It looks like you have me on the run here. I agree to your terms.”

She couldn’t decide if he was just talking about the game. Suvi put her last piece in place. “Final challenge to your Prince. I believe I have the victory, Major.” She sat back in the chair and stared at him. “Do you concede?”

Jack nodded as he removed his Prince from the board. “Good game. You came back from quite a disadvantage. May I have that information now?”

“Let me see you write out our agreement and sign it first.”

He scribbled a few terse sentences and pushed the paper across to her. “All right?”

She nodded. “The window lies within Carina. Until very recently I alone knew of it. Last night I believe an agent from the Grond may also have discovered its whereabouts.”

Jack got a bit ahead of himself. “Who is this agent? Did you see him?”

Suvi stared at him in sudden disgust. “I never told you the agent was a man. That means you already knew. You’ve been toying with me.”

Major Bennett casually picked up his phone. “Send them in, Stella.” He frowned at Suvi. “You are a very good Prince and Poet player, but war isn’t a game, young lady.”

The door opened behind her, and Suvi turned. Four Harrier policemen strode in, armed with pistols and truncheons. She felt suddenly sick.

Jack briskly gave the order. “Place this woman under arrest, and escort her to the brig. Put her in solitary confinement — no visitors. I will send the charges along later, when I have them written up.”

They had played a little game that she foolishly believed she had won. But the final triumph belonged to him. Suvi felt the handcuffs close around her wrists and then the men took her arms. She didn’t struggle, or even raise her voice. “Just answer one question for me, please.”

He had been busy with the papers on his desk, but he raised his head when she spoke. “What?”

“Did Tom tell you?”

His eyes seemed very far away. Finally he sighed and said, “Captain Finn left early this morning, on the transport. I had other... commitments, so I did not speak with him.”

Her voice cracked then, a little. “Who then? Who am I to thank for my betrayal?”

He looked over her shoulder to the provost marshal. “That is all, sergeant. Please report back to me when the prisoner has been processed.” They pulled her backwards and away, into the waiting room. And there, amongst the portraits and potted palms and stiffly uncomfortable chairs, stood the answer to her last question.

Ludde Armstrong — who wouldn’t meet her eyes.

Her fragile composure broke. “You! How could you? I thought you were my friend.” He offered no explanation, only turned away from her grief-stricken tears. Then Ludde went into Major Bennett’s office, and softly closed the door.

* * * *

They put her in a cell, both cleaner and warmer than the office at Carina. Suvi sat on the bed, then stared at her heavy wool skirt and patched tights. The Sergeant had said he would procure some prison-issue clothes, but they had never had a woman inmate before. She might have to wait a day or so.

Suvi did not care. Nothing mattered now that Tom had gone and Ludde had betrayed her. This prison made as good a home as any for a friendless traitor.

But they would still get you shot, if the right people found out.

Well, fine. Let them shoot her. What difference did it make?

A tray came, with lunch and kaffa. The food smelled better too, but Suvi hardly touched it. She worried about her degum. Who would see to her feeding? What would happen to Chelah when they shut Carina?

She could do nothing for Chelah. Nothing except sit on the bed and stare at the four concrete block walls surrounding her. They stared back, like expressionless dun-colored faces. A high barred window let in a little light, as did an even-smaller window in the heavy door. An open commode huddled in the corner, next to an empty desk with no chair. No pigeon holes full of paper, no schedule board. No nothing.

How long would it be before someone missed her? She had left a note, but only to say she planned to visit Ebbetsfeld. They might never know what had happened. Suvi had no doubt that Jack meant to keep her in prison for a long time. Final challenge to the Poet. She had lost, and lost badly.

Darkness. Dinner. She picked at the food, but drank the kaffa, and wished she had her pipe. The evening would stretch into eternity, with nothing to do, and no one to talk to. Suvi considered going to bed, but realized she had no nightgown or toothbrush.

She frowned at herself for this, thinking that other prisoners had suffered far worse.

Three raps on the door meant stand by the far wall. The guard had told her that when they put her in the cell this morning. She stood and moved slowly across the room, wondering who her visitor could be.

A tall figure filled the doorway.

“Good evening, Miss Markku. May I come in?”

She saw no need to be polite in return. “Your courtesy is hardly necessary, Major Bennett. I am your captive, after all. But by all means pretend that I am here as your guest if it pleases you.”

Her acrid response brought a frown. “It might be best to curb that tongue while you are in here. Not everyone would be as understanding as I am.” He stepped into the room, carrying a box, and signaled for the guard to lock the door behind him.

“I could care less. Are you going to shoot me?”

He seemed to find this amusing. “Maybe. But not this evening. I forgot to bring my gun with me. Actually, I just stopped by to make sure you were comfortable, and see if you needed anything.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Do you always take such a personal interest in your prisoners, Major?”

“Not at all. But you are a somewhat special case.” He put the box on the bed, and fished out a pack of cigarettes. “Sorry, I know you smoke a pipe, but I thought these would be better than nothing. If I can find time tomorrow, I will send someone to the shelter to get it for you, and any other personal items you require.”

He proffered the pack, and Suvi stared at it suspiciously. “What do you want in return?”

“Nothing. All the prisoners...” He smiled slyly. “I mean guests, are given cigarettes. So are you going to take them or not?” She did, and he held out a light. “Mind if I join you?”

Suvi shrugged. “I certainly can’t stop you. Help yourself.”

He dug in the box again, and withdrew a long flannel nightgown, then awkwardly tucked it under her pillow. “It’s Katy’s, but I think you are almost the same size. It gets kind of chilly in here at night.”

Suvi stared at him, almost speechless. “Why are you doing this?”

The last item in the box turned out to be the Prince and Poet board from his office. Jack put it on the desk before he spoke. “My wife is... away, so I don’t have anything planned for this evening. I thought maybe we could play another round? If you want to, that is.”

She nodded uncomprehendingly. After he took a critical look at the room, he called the guard and requested two chairs. “We don’t normally allow them in the cells because they could be used as a weapon. But I think in your case we might make an exception.” He dragged the table away from the wall and they sat facing each other.

“Do you want to be Poet again?” He pointed to the white talus.

She nodded. “I always do. And I bet you always choose Prince.”

That had made him smile.

This time, because she did not have to start at a disadvantage, Suvi roundly trounced him. He shook his head as his Prince once again left the field in ignominious defeat. “You are very good. Do you think you could give me some pointers sometime?”

“If you like. I’m not going anywhere,” Suvi answered dryly. “But perhaps baseball is more to your taste?”

“How did you know about that?”

“Tom told me. And anyway, I saw the picture in your office.”

He smiled. “That was the year Litchfield took the state championship. Tom hit a grand slam in the final game of the series.”

“Is a grand slam something good?”

“Very good. He won the trophy for us.”

Suvi gazed at him curiously. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You asked me. Now, may I ask you something too?”

Ah, thought Suvi, here comes the price for all this courtesy, but she nodded anyway. Inquisitive company was better than no company at all.

“Why did you ask me to bring Tom back to Severnessa?” He began to pack away the game, unhurriedly fitting each of the forty tali into the drawers on each side of the board. Suvi sat in stony silence. When a minute passed he added, “You don’t have to tell me, of course, but I wish you would.”

She got up and paced the floor of her cell. “I can’t imagine what difference my feelings might make to you or the war effort, Major Bennett. You certainly have shown them little regard up to now.”

Jack seemed almost offended. “Tom is my oldest friend. I have known him since kindergarten. So I do care, believe it or not.” He stood and straightened the chair, very precisely. “Being a commander is a tough job in wartime. I have to do what is needed, even when it might hurt people that I care about.”

Suvi found a surprising amount of sympathy growing within her. “I appreciate your taking the time to see me. If I seemed a little, you know, out of sorts earlier, well...”

“It’s all right. I don’t blame you for being upset. We didn’t exactly get off to the best start. But I will try to make that up to you, as much as I can, while you are here.”

She took a deep breath, unsure whether to trust him. In the end she couldn’t think of a single reason not to. “I love Tom, very much. But our parting was not a happy one, Major. I just wanted to tell him so, that’s all.”

He nodded. “Thank you for answering my question. Now I had better go. I have a briefing in a little while, about Grond movements to the north of Lake Copaheg. Looks like they are planning some kind of push. Fareniis might see some action soon.”

Suvi could see the anxiety darkening his eyes, almost to the color of ash. “Your wife is there, isn’t she? Did you send her with Tom?”

He smiled sadly. “No, I didn’t. But she went anyway.”

“I am sorry.” Suvi stared at the game board, not knowing what else to say.

“I’ll leave it with you, if you like. Not that you need the practice. But maybe, if I have time tomorrow night, I could come back for another game. Would you mind?”

Now that she at last understood his reasons, Suvi gave him a reassuring smile. “No. I would like that. Truly.” He nodded briefly at her and called for the guard. Once he left, the room seemed lifeless again.

Suvi went to bed wearing Katy Bennett’s nightgown, feeling very odd. She slept almost immediately, though she had thought her worries about Carina and Chelah would keep her awake for hours.

Shadows shrouded the room when some tiny noise disturbed her. Suvi turned over and blinked, but she was unable to find any familiar signposts in the dark landscape of sleep. Then she saw something that made her shrink back towards the unforgiving concrete wall of her cell. A tall figure stood at the side of her bed, dappled in shadow — a man, with blood-stained clothing. He swayed slightly, as though he were injured, or very, very tired. The stripes of light from the barred window revealed a watery blue eye, a red-blond moustache — small slices of a face drawn with sorrow and pain.

“Tom!” Suvi frantically tried to scrub the sleep from her eyes.

When she opened them again, he had gone.

“All right, Miss?” the night guard called.

“Yes... Just a dream. A bad dream.” But in the morning, when she woke, she could plainly see three rusty brown spots on the linoleum, where none had been before.

* * * *

Tom slammed his fist on the table, spilling the kaffa. “They have her in the brig. It isn’t good enough, Katy.”

She frowned in return. “Is that where you went when we finished that last round of surgery? You aren’t supposed to travel that way, not here.” Planes rumbled overhead, almost drowning the stuttering replies of an anti-aircraft battery.

Tom looked at the ceiling as the logs shivered, releasing a shower of earth. “I know.” He made a wry face. “What’s worse, I think she saw me.”

“Tom! You probably scared her to death, poor thing. What were you thinking?”

“Only that I had to see her.” His face grew hard. “I am going back to Ebbetsfeld tomorrow morning. Jack can’t keep her locked up. She hasn’t done anything wrong!”

Katy shook her head. “Don’t be a bigger idiot than you can help. Going AWOL isn’t going to fix anything. I asked Jack to make sure Suvi was safe. He must have known he couldn’t keep her from going back to Carina any other way. He put her there for her own protection.”

A shell screamed overhead, making Katy duck instinctively. “What’s happening?”

A second followed, landing somewhere close enough to make the walls of their shelter shudder, but Tom’s voice stayed calm. “We are under attack. Get out of here, Katy.”

“No! There will be casualties. You’ll need me. Anyway I...”

The rest of her words were lost in the roar that followed. He grabbed her and dove under the table as part of the ceiling collapsed. Another shell, landing very close, demolished the rest.

Up and down the trenches, snow fell, softly touching the faces of the dead and dying, like a mother’s soothing caress.

Chapter Thirteen

Tessa

Better to die of thirst than drink from a poisoned stream.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tessa said good-bye to Jane at her apartment, and once again refused her offer of hospitality. “I will be fine. All I want to do is go back to Seadrift and sleep for a week.”

Jane gazed at her worriedly. “I still think you should have let Jakob keep the mirror. What’s the big deal with it, anyway?”

Tessa’s mouth set stubbornly. “It belonged to Suvi and I don’t want to part with it. And I just can’t deal with Jakob — he is totally unpredictable.”

“I thought he was all right. A little rough around the edges maybe, but a nice guy underneath it all.”

Tessa raised an inquiring brow. “Oh really, Dr. Piper?” Jane blushed and fumbled for her keys. Tessa didn’t have the heart to tease her. “See you at Mama Rosa’s on Friday?”

“Yeah, sure. See you.” But Jane’s voice sounded less than hopeful.

Her house looked comfortingly solid. Tessa would have been more than happy to go inside and sleep as long as she had threatened to. She dug in her purse before she remembered. “Damn! Why didn’t I ask him for the key when I got the mirror?” She sighed, not really looking forward to another confrontation with Jakob Faircrow.

When she arrived at the boathouse, she noticed that he hadn’t opened the curtains, though it was well past midday. Tessa stood at the bottom of the stairs, remembering his injuries, and wondering if she should disturb his rest. The sound of his thumb ripping from its socket returned, making her feel a little queasy.

But he still had the key, and she needed to get in.

She put her foot on the bottom step. “Ahoy, Tessa!” a booming voice called.

“Captain Romine! I didn’t know you were back.”

“Aye, lass. Me and the Damsel got in last night. But how are you? Heard you’d gone missing in the forest. But I guess you must have been found, eh?” He stared at her with undisguised curiosity. Captain Romine stood a head shorter than Tessa, and was almost as wide as he was tall.

She felt her cheeks grow warm. “It turned out to be a misunderstanding, really.” Tessa decided to change the subject. “Have you seen my tenant anywhere?”

Captain Romine nodded as he patted his dungaree pockets. “Where did I put that? Ah...” Tessa’s heart skipped a little when he withdrew an envelope and a brass key. “That actor fella Faircrow came by this morning. Said he had to leave town. Told me to give you this.”

Tessa took the items, and held them tightly, so that Joe wouldn’t see her hands trembling. “Did he look all right? I heard he had an... accident.”

Joe pushed his fisherman’s hat back rakishly and scratched his iron-grey curls. “He looked like he’d gotten the short end of a long stick, tell you the truth. I tried to get him to stay with me for a few days, but he said he had to be moving on.”

You have three broken ribs. Also a probable cracked left radius, two broken fingers and a dislocated thumb, as well as several nasty gashes.

Tessa closed her eyes, trying to erase the picture. “Did he give you my house key?”

“Said he left it in the envelope with the rent. Too bad he had to leave so sudden. Seemed like a nice fella. He fixed the dory good and proper. And he knew his way around a boat real well. I’d like to take him fishing again sometime. Think he’ll come back?”

She couldn’t decide how she felt. “I... don’t know. You had better hold on to the key in case he does. Thanks, Captain. Guess I’ll see you later.” Tessa turned to go.

He fixed her with a blue-eyed squint. “Aye. Me and Ellie are having dinner tonight at my place. Got to cheer her up, somehow.”

“Why does she need cheering up? Is she sick?”

“No, but she seemed right attached to your tenant. Won’t be happy that he’s gone. Not at all. He used to make himself useful round her place — chopping wood and tidying the yard. Didn’t you ever see him over there?”

She felt suddenly and unaccountably guilty. “No. I haven’t been to visit Miss Rayne for ages. Work has been keeping me pretty busy.”

“Well, why don’t you join us tonight? I’ve a fine catch of white perch to cook.”

Tessa smiled. “All right. I will, thank you. Shall I bring something?”

He winked broadly. “A bottle of wine never hurt a broken heart. I’ll have things ready round six o’clock.”

Tessa walked back along the gravel path, kicking broken shells out of her way. Hadn’t she told him to go? Hadn’t she thought, over and over, that he was a jerk? Hadn’t she said she could take care of herself?

So where had this unhappiness come from?

“Who needs you anyway?” she muttered as she dug through the envelope for the key. It nestled under a couple of hundred dollars, far more than she had planned to charge him. She sorted through the crumpled currency, hoping to find a letter or at least a forwarding address. But Jakob seemed content to leave her life as mysteriously as he had entered it.

She tried her best to ignore the oppressive silence in the house.

Jakob had cleaned the glass off her bed, and put the sheets in a tidy pile in the corner. He had even repaired the broken panels in her bedroom door. Tessa could not fathom how someone so abrasive could also be so thoughtful.

After unpacking her bag, she tucked her clothes back into the wide welsh dresser that had been her grandmother’s. When she found the mirror she held it before her face. The creeping blackness around the edges threatened to swallow what little image remained.

She spoke to her cracked and hazed reflection as though it were Suvi she saw. “Why did you hide this? And why do they want it so much?” The warmth of her breath against the chill of the glass produced condensation. Tessa rubbed it away with her shirt, thinking that she could see something odd behind it.

Her mobile phone rang. She let voice mail pick up the call. It sounded again, almost immediately.

Tessa suddenly remembered that Jakob had bought a phone — that he had her number. She slammed the mirror on to the table and hurried across the room, hoping all the while. “Hello?”

The voice grated in her ear. “Tessie? Thank god you are all right. Where have you been? You said you would be back Sunday.”

“Um... Well, I went for a walk and got a little lost. So I had to stay another day. Sorry. I guess I should have let you know.”

He sounded peeved. “Sorry? I have been out of my mind with worry. Well, why didn’t you at least call me when you got back in town? I left you about ten messages.”

Tessa realized to her horror that she hadn’t given it the least thought. “I, uh... spent the night at Jane’s last night and my phone’s battery had gone totally flat. I just got back to Seadrift, and plugged it in a minute ago. I am sorry, Ted.”

“I want to see you, babe. Just to make sure you are OK.”

“I am fine. Honestly. But I need to catch up on some sleep.”

“Tessa. Please. I think we need to talk.” The despondency in his voice wrestled with her desire to go on avoiding the inevitable confrontation between them.

Despondency won. She sighed. “All right. I’ll come over tonight after dinner.”

Ted disconnected. Tessa held on to her phone, wondering if she should call Jakob. She brought up the missed calls listing, her finger hovering over the button. Then she closed the cover with a firm snap, and dropped it on the table. “If he wanted to hear from you, he would have left a note,” she said out loud. “So just forget it, Tessa.”

She lifted the mirror again. Now it reflected nothing but her own unhappy face.

In the hours before dinner, Tessa ignored the pile of unmarked papers on her desk and finished Suvi’s journal instead. The writing ended, quite abruptly, just after the police had arrested her grandmother for espionage. There must have been much more to the story. Tessa wondered if there might be another volume somewhere.

She hunted around on the bookshelves to no avail. It occurred to her that Miss Rayne might well know something of her grandmother’s later life — she had lived in Little Sardinia for thirty years or more. The clock showed 5:45 pm, so Tessa found a bottle of cheap Chianti in the pantry and walked over to Captain Romine’s.

His clapboard house had shingles of gently weathered grey. The sign on the door advertised Captain Romine’s charter fishing boat, the Damsel. Business must be good, judging by the new coat of bright blue paint on the window frames and shutters. Tessa could hear Joe’s deep bass rumble of laughter from inside.

She knocked on the screen door, and he called, “Door’s open. Come on in.”

He and Ellie sat in high ladder back chairs, sharing a pitcher of red wine laced with orange and lemon slices. A fan stirred the air lazily overhead. Tessa accepted a glass of the sangria and pulled over the third chair. Ellie smiled and patted her hand. “So nice to see you, Tessa.”

“Nice to see you too.” Tessa studied her face, thinking that despite Captain Romine’s words, Ellie looked very cheerful. She wore her usual outfit — a crinkled broomstick skirt and a crisp cotton blouse tied at the waist, both colored in jewel tones of pink and turquoise. Her white hair, as always, formed a perfect chignon. Tessa often told her friends that if she looked as beautiful as Ellie Rayne at eighty, she would be very pleased. The woman had ageless cheekbones.

After they had chatted for a few moments, Joe got up to check on the dinner. As he passed Tessa’s chair, he brushed against her purse and knocked it to the ground. Her pocketbook and Suvi’s mirror spilled out.

“Look at me! Drunk already.” He chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

Tessa bent to retrieve the fallen items. “Don’t worry. Nothing broken.”

When she straightened, Ellie’s sea green eyes rested upon her, but she did not speak until Joe had passed into the kitchen. “Where did you get that?”

Ellie had seen the mirror, and Tessa could think of no way to change the subject.  She kept her voice light, hoping her neighbor would lose interest. “What, this?” Tessa took the mirror from her purse and held it to the light. “My grandmother left it to me.”

“May I have a look?” She held out her hand, mottled with age spots, but surprisingly wrinkle free.

Tessa felt a strange reluctance as she passed it over to Ellie. “It’s very old. You can hardly see anything in it at all.”

Ellie raised a perfectly manicured brow as she examined the mirror. “Indeed. It is far older than you know. My grandmother gave it to me, in the last age of the world.”

Tessa stared at her, aghast. “You? But it belonged to my grandmother!”

“Suvi must have taken it. The mirror went missing a long time ago.”

“She wouldn’t have done that.” But her objection sounded half-hearted, at best. Tessa’s cheeks colored, wondering if Ellie would demand the mirror’s return.

She smiled gently. “I took something from her, too.” But what that thing was, Ellie Rayne would not say. “It is all ancient history now. The mirror has passed to you. But you must take great care with it, Tessa. Great care.”

Joe bustled back in, with plates and a big bowl of salad. Ellie put the mirror in her lap and asked brightly, “Need some help?”

He shook his head. “Just be another couple of minutes, ladies. The fish is almost done. Have some more wine.” He refilled their glasses, and went back to the kitchen.

Ellie gazed at Tessa. “Do you know of the mirror’s power? I suppose you must, or Suvi would not have given it to you.”

“I know that there are... people trying to take it from me, but I don’t know why and neither does Jakob. Are you saying that you do?”

Ellie’s voice was sharp. “Jakob knew you had it?” Then she smiled again, somewhat ruefully. “I am too old to be much help nowadays. I expect he thought he would spare me the worry.” She put the mirror on the table. “But he knows why the Polys are seeking the mirror — he knows very well.”

Tessa shook her head, absolutely thunderstruck. “You... know about the Polys? How?”

“I had a few turns with them — in my younger days.” Ellie sighed. “That Jakob! Always wants to do everything himself. He should have told you the truth long ago.”

“Tell me about it! I never met anyone so stubborn. But...” Tessa stared at Ellie thoughtfully. “You must know him pretty well. Joe said he’d spent a lot of time at your place.”

She smiled serenely and didn’t contest this. “Let me show you something.” Ellie lifted the mirror and exhaled on the glass. When the fog cleared she placed the mirror on the table between her and Tessa.

Instead of the expected blank reflection of the ceiling, Tessa looked upon a tiny vignette — a woman, pacing back and forth in a bare room. She bent over some kind of board, with pieces set up for a game.

Suvi...

Tessa rubbed her eyes, then squeezed them shut. “I am going crazy. This is just an old mirror, not some kind of video device. When I open my eyes I had better be able to see my face.” But she didn’t. The mirror now showed a snowy field, with many fallen trees. Pieces of machinery lay strewn about, as though tossed by some monstrous hand into great raw gashes of earth. There were many soldiers, scurrying, searching, bearing the wounded on stretchers.

And a tall, uniformed man standing forlornly apart, with a hand covering his eyes.

Suddenly Tessa understood just what the Polys wanted with her mirror. It was another window to the worlds between. Just like the one in the cave.

The glass grew dark. Tessa leaned forward, barely able to make out the latest scene — a man lying on the ground, covered with a grey blanket. He looked to be asleep or, more likely, ill. His cheekbones stood out prominently, almost painfully so, above a heavy growth of beard. Tessa stared and stared at his face, recognizing the curve of the jaw, the straight nose, the shaggy brows.

Jakob. Hurt. Alone.

She turned to Ellie and gripped her arm. “That was Jakob! I saw him. How did you make it do that?”

Ellie shook her head. “That wasn’t Jakob. Jakob is...”

Joe came in, bearing a huge platter of broiled fish, roasted corn and potatoes. “Let’s eat!”

But Ellie Rayne looked as though she had lost her appetite. She picked at her food and excused herself shortly afterwards. “I’ll take a plate with me, Joe, if you don’t mind. Looks like you’ll have a bit to spare.” He told her to help herself and she did, piling the plate high with fish and vegetables.

Ellie saw Tessa’s expression and shrugged. “I might get hungry later. You should come visit me sometime soon. Things are mighty quiet around here.”

Tessa agreed that she would, and Ellie went out the door.

“See?” Joe smiled, but his eyes were sad. “I told you she missed your tenant.”

Tessa nodded vaguely, thinking that Ellie had been fine until the moment she saw the image in the mirror. The image she said hadn’t been Jakob at all.

Tessa decided to try and find some answers. “What can you tell me about my parent’s deaths?”

His fork paused on the way to his mouth. “That’s an odd question to hear, after all this time.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I found out the other day that they might have died as a result of foul play, rather than a fishing accident. I just wondered...”

Joe frowned and laid his fork carefully across his plate. “Police came around, asking questions, but they couldn’t prove anything. Official story said engine trouble, and the ship breaking up on the rocks around Twilough. But Ben Kivelson was a grand seaman, one of the best — I don’t think it happened like that.”

She took a big gulp of wine. “What do you think happened?”

“Ben came to me, about a week before he disappeared. Said he had some trouble with the local syndicate — he had put up his boat to guarantee a loan and now they were leaning on him for the money. He looked mighty desperate.”

“Do you think they murdered him because he couldn’t pay?”

Joe shook his head. “Maybe I have no business telling you this, but... I think he faked the whole thing for the insurance money on the boat. Suvi and Jim used it to pay off the debt. Afterwards, they started buying bits of land here and there, until they had the whole of little Sardinia. I’d like to know where they got the cash to do that.”

“Are you saying you think my parents might still be alive somewhere?”

He shrugged. “It’s possible, I guess. But I never saw them again — not round here. Maybe you should ask Ellie. She and Suvi used to be good friends, until...” He looked at his plate, and gingerly picked some bones out of the perch with his fork.

“Until what?”

“You’d be best to ask her that. Now, how about some more wine? You’ve hardly touched this jug.”

* * * *

Tessa drove across town towards Ted’s house, wishing she hadn’t agreed to meet right after dinner. One thing at a time, she told herself sternly. First you break up with him, then you can go see Ellie and find out more about the mirror. The radio blared the heavy beat of some thrash metal band, but she paid little attention to the music. She glanced at her fingers, unconsciously drumming on the steering wheel. Ted’s ring wasn’t on her right hand any more.

She groaned and spoke out loud. “You can’t give it back if you can’t find it, stupid.”

Her purse lay on the passenger seat. She felt around inside, trying to avoid Tom’s knife. The ring lay in the bottom, amongst gum wrappers and crumbs of stale tobacco. She slipped it back on her right hand, just as she pulled up to the wide metal gate that blocked the main entrance to Ted’s subdivision.

Tessa entered the code and the gate slid smoothly across. The houses inside sat close together — lines of two story brick structures proudly marching along cul-de-sacs. Television screens gave each living room window an identical dead-blue glow. To Tessa, used to the vibrant disarray of little Sardinia, the neighborhood seemed as barren as an empty field.

Bancroft Street. Ted’s house, number 44, was surrounded by a high privacy fence. Several dinky trees drooped in the front garden. The developers had bulldozed the mature forest that had once flourished on this hill.

She walked along the flagstones and rang the bell. He greeted her with a hug and a kiss, then held her at arm’s length. “You do look a sight for sore eyes. Come on in. I want to hear about everything.”

“So do I,” muttered Tessa.

He had opened a bottle of wine, of course, and Tessa had to accept a glass, even though she had already drunk far more sangria than was prudent. “Well?” he urged, with a raised brow.

Tessa gazed at him, thinking that if eyes were a window to the soul, then his were filthy. Jakob’s, on the other hand, were just like stained glass. She came to a sudden decision. “You first.”

He studied the dregs of his wine. “Me first? What does that mean?”

“It means I want to know why you paid those two boys to mug me.”

Ted tried and failed to sound innocently surprised. “Who told you I did?”

“That doesn’t matter. Are you going to tell me, or am I going to walk, right now?” They had been standing by the breakfast bar, but at her threat he sighed and headed for the living room.

“You had better sit down first, Tessie.” He arranged himself carefully on the black leather sofa and patted the seat beside him. “But before I tell you, I just want you to know that everything I did was with our future in mind.” As Tessa joined him on the sofa he must have seen her skeptical expression. Ted pulled a pack of Camels from his shirt pocket and lit up with the fancy marble globe lighter on the coffee table. “That’s the truth, I swear it.” He offered her the pack but she gestured impatiently for him to begin.

Ted told her a carefully edited version of what had happened, beginning with the mysterious visitor to his office six months before. “This man, Daniel Redden, threatened you, babe. Said he had to have some mirror that your grandmother left at Seadrift. I argued with him, of course, but he had these friends, big guys, and I couldn’t hold out forever. So I tried to get it for him, so he would leave us alone.” He flicked his cigarette into an already overflowing ashtray, filled with tan-tipped butts.

Tessa wondered when Ted had become such a heavy smoker.

His eyes filled with very realistic tears. “I couldn’t find the mirror, and he is coming back at midnight tonight to get it from me. He is a real thug, Tessie, and I don’t know what he will do when he...”

Tessa dug in her purse and retrieved the mirror. “Is this what he wants?”

Ted’s head bobbed forlornly.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? Why did you try to steal it?”

“I... was just trying to keep you out of it. That is all I ever wanted. For you to be safe.” He seized her hand and held on to it. “I mean it, babe. I’m sorry. Truly, truly sorry.” Tessa heard this apology as a stinging rebuke. What had she wanted, the night she let Jakob make love to her?

She stared at the ring on her right hand. “It’s all right, Ted. I understand.”

“You do? Really?” He followed her eyes, and then gently took her hand. “Let’s put this where it belongs.” Slipping the ring from her finger, he placed it on the third finger of her opposite hand. “I don’t care who knows now, Tessie. You’ll soon be my wife, and I am damned proud to say so.”

Tessa opened her mouth, then shut it again, wondering how her plan to break up with him had gotten so far off course.  Ted stopped talking, obviously waiting for some sort of response from her. Tessa could only stutter, “What... What did you just say?”

“I said do you want to fly to Vegas this weekend and get married?”

The memory of what she had seen in the cave waylaid her doubts. “Oh Ted, we have far more important things to worry about. Getting married can wait.” She looked at him with shining eyes. “I found it! I found your flying man. At Anenoa.”

He stood, and quickly turned away from her. “What on earth? But... I thought you got lost.”

Tessa spoke breathlessly. “I did, sort of. But I ended up in a cave, behind a waterfall. That is where he is, along with some of the most amazing petroglyphs you have ever seen. We have to get a team together, go there.” She spoke to his back. “Aren’t you happy? It is the vindication of everything you believed. The sacred tomb of the winged man of the Irrakish.”

He faced her, his expression as lukewarm as his voice. “Of course you and I should take a look sometime, but we will have to tread very carefully. We can’t go stirring up the local population of natives, Tessie. If the site is a real burial ground, it must be given proper reverence. An excavation would probably be out of the question.” He sat next to her again, and exhaled a thin stream of smoke. “It is doubtful the bones you found are genuine anyway. Something like that would have been desecrated long ago by grave robbers.”

She tried to hide her disappointment. “You are right. I didn’t think... Of course we can’t run in there with our picks and shovels blazing. I do think the bones are genuine though.”

He patted her hand patronizingly. “Of course, babe. We’ll check it out real soon. Now, I want you to leave before that creep Redden gets here. Give me the mirror and I’ll get rid of him for good. Tomorrow night we can go to dinner and celebrate with the most expensive bottle of champagne we can find. All right?”

Tessa slowly removed the mirror from her purse and stared at it. Her wavy reflection stared back at her accusingly.

Let me keep the mirror, and keep you safe. Please...

She shut it all from her mind, and handed Ted the mirror. He took it with a relieved sigh. “Thank you. I’ll buy you a new one, babe, I promise. Dunno why anyone would want this old piece of crap anyway.”

I do, thought Tessa despairingly. I do...

Ted stood and grabbed Tessa’s purse and coat, then crossed the room to the front door. She had to hurry to catch him as he crossed the threshold and went back outside. “You will be careful on your way home, won’t you? And keep your mobile phone with you. That way I can call you when I...” He paused after Tessa abruptly stopped walking and turned back towards the house. She stared at the line of crisp footprints his dew-soaked loafers had left on the flagstones.

“Oh my god.” The moonlight picked out the distinctively wavy pattern on the soles. Tessa’s voice was a choked whisper. “It was you. You bastard. You’ve been lying to me all the long.”

He took a long drag off his cigarette and threw the butt on the grass. “What the hell?” Ted stepped forward and grabbed her arm, then spun her back around to face him. “What are you talking about?”

Tessa pushed him away violently. “Those were your footprints in there. You’ve already seen the cave and the bones. Haven’t you? That is why you pretended not to care just now. I can’t believe I...”

He tried to bluff again. “You saw some footprints in the cave? So what? They could be anyone’s, including yours! What makes you think...?”

She gave him a withering glance. “How many people do I know that wear five hundred dollar Giuseppe Cavalo loafers? No one but you. And anyway, there was a cigarette butt too. A Camel — just like that one!” She pointed at the ground between them, then spoke coldly. “You wanted to cheat me.”

Now his lips trembled, just a little. “I am the one who has been cheated, not you! That find belonged to me. He told me no one else knew the cave’s whereabouts.” Ted’s voice sounded almost pleading. “Don’t you realize how big something like this will be? It would be far too much for an inexperienced girl like you to handle. I can give this find the treatment it deserves. And afterwards, when I finish the book, I will give you credit for helping me. I promise, babe.”

“Give me credit for helping? God, you are absolutely sickening!”

“That bitch put you up to this, didn’t she? She has always hated me. Jane the Frigidaire queen can’t find a man of her own, and she wants to make sure you don’t have one either. She has been trying to break us up for years.”

Tessa stared at him with loathing. “Give me back my mirror. You can’t have it, slime ball. Not now.”

He started to back away, shaking his head. “No can do, babe.”

She followed, right in his face. “Give me the fucking mirror.”

Ted turned and sprinted back into the house, slammed the door and locked it. His voice came from just behind the panels. “I am sorry, Tessie, but I need that mirror. Why don’t you go home and relax for a while? Have a bath and a glass of wine. You’ll soon see I was right to keep the bones a secret. Both our careers depend on it. Now that I am HOD, I can make it happen for you. Whatever you want, I promise. We’ll work something out.”

Tessa pulled the ring from her finger and shoved it through the letter slot in the door. “Work this out, asshole. We are through. And if you give my mirror to anyone else, I’ll be back here with the police. See how a larceny charge will help your precious career!”

She didn’t cry until she had left the gate and his lifeless community far behind. Tessa pulled over on University Boulevard, just as the storm that had been threatening burst into a shower of hail. It drummed down on to the Volvo as Tessa pounded her fists against the steering wheel again and again. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why didn’t I see this coming?” The answer was as clear as the blinking hazard lights on the dashboard. Tessa had been flattered beyond belief when Ted had taken a personal interest in her. Jane had seen his faults, but Tessa had been blind.

After a few moments, she wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve and reached for her mobile phone. She tried Jakob first. “We’re sorry. This number has not yet set up a mail box for messages. Please try your call again later.”

Tessa slammed the phone shut in frustration. “Damn. I guess your little friend Annie didn’t teach you everything.”

She tried Jane’s number next.

“Dr. Piper speaking.”

“Jane? Oh, Jane. Thank god.”

Jane heard the tears in her voice. “Tessa? What is it? What’s happened?”

“I wentto see Ted. It was so awful. You were right about him. He knew about the bones, and the cave... He wanted to keep it all to himself. That dirtbag knew...”

Her voice cut it, sounding very confused. “What bones? What cave? Tessa, you aren’t making any sense.” The phone dropped away from Tessa’s ear as she remembered suddenly that she had never told Jane the truth about what happened at Anenoa.

The phone still buzzed in her hand, Jane’s voice indistinct. Tessa put it back to her ear.

“I... um, Jane. Listen, I need to talk to you. Can I come over?”

Jane sounded curiously ambivalent. “Do you mean right now?”

Tessa took it as a sign she had upset her. “Yes. Look, I am sorry. Obviously I have been less than honest with you, but I...”

“It’s OK, Tessa. Just give me fifteen minutes to take care of something. Where are you?”

“On University. It will take me that long to get across town anyway. See you in a while.” Tessa rang off. The violent thunderstorm had driven most of the traffic off the roads and Tessa made her way through the slickly shining streets quickly. She still had five minutes to spare as she drew up to Jane’s apartment building. The clouds bleached white as a streak of lightning split the sky.

The brightness revealed a taxi pulling away from the building. Another rain squall drenched Tessa as she walked to the door. She didn’t bother to hurry.

Jane answered, a bit curtly. “Hi. Tessa. You are a little early, aren’t you? But come on in. You look like the wreck of the Hesperus.” She turned away and whisked some items off the table, then shoved them beside the couch. “So... Do you want to explain what you were talking about on the phone?”

Tessa sat at the table, fiddling with some odd scraps of thread. Jane grabbed a couple of bottles of beer from the refrigerator and joined her. Four empty bottles stood on the counter. Tessa raised an eyebrow. “Sure you need any more, Dr. Piper?”

Jane shrugged. “I’m not on call. Why do you care anyway?”

“Um. I don’t. Listen, Jane. A very strange thing happened to me at Anenoa. I should have said something before now, but I didn’t want to tell Jakob and...”

Jane took a resigned pull of her beer. “Why not?”

“Because... Because, well, he’s a jerk and he probably would have gotten mad at me all over again.”

“He really isn’t that bad once you get to know him. Kind of forthright, I guess, but isn’t that an admirable quality? I mean, most of the guys you meet these days will say anything just to get on your good side, but he isn’t like that. He is... you know... sort of chivalrous.”

Tessa forgot about her story for the moment and focused on Jane, wondering what had gotten into her. “So are you saying you know him better than me? How is that possible?”

“I... didn’t say that.” Jane blushed violently and took a long swallow from the beer bottle. “I just think you are wrong about him, that’s all.” She put the beer back on the coaster and traced her finger though a wet ring on the table. “Now why don’t you get on with your story?”

Tessa launched into a description of the cave and the portal, and finished with her trip back with Tom. When she brought forth the knife he had given her, Jane gazed at it thoughtfully. “I wondered where this had come from. So did...” Abruptly she handed it back and then bolted the rest of her beer. “Want another?”

“No thanks. I’ll have to drive home soon. What were you about to say just then?”

“Just when?”

“You said ‘So did.’ Just now.”

“Did I? I don’t know. Are you sure you don’t want more beer?”

Tessa felt her patience slipping. “Look, just what is going on here? You have been acting weird ever since I arrived. Did I interrupt some special company or something?”

Jane’s expression spoke volumes, though she did not answer the question. “Got to pee. I’ll be right back.” She left the room with a nervous backwards glance. Following a sudden impulse, Tessa peered at the pile of things Jane had placed beside the couch. A plastic tray, some forceps, a pair of scissors. A couple of pieces of gauze, with a few spots of blood. The tiny scraps of thread on the table suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Jane! You cow. He was here, just a few minutes ago, wasn’t he?”

She came back in, with her head low, so that her dark hair hid her features. “Yes. He called this afternoon — wanted me to remove his stitches. I couldn’t say no... Not when he doesn’t have anyone else to help him. And then afterwards, he stayed around, and we had a few beers.” She looked very unhappy. “I’m sorry. But he asked me not to tell you.”

Tessa crossed the room and gave her a hug. “It’s all right, Jane. I’m not angry. But you only did those sutures yesterday. Surely they weren’t...”

“Well, yeah. That’s what I thought. But I couldn’t believe how much his wounds had healed.” Jane’s cheeks reddened slightly. “Physically he is in pretty good shape, except for the cracked ribs.”

Tessa listened without comment. “Did he say where he was staying? Because I kind of need to talk to him myself. To tell him about the mirror.” She shook her head ruefully. “You may think he is a nice guy, but he is going to blow his stack when he finds out I gave it to Ted. And for once, I won’t be able to blame him. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to trust that dirt bag.”

The color on Jane’s cheeks deepened. “I don’t know where he is now, but he said he would call me tomorrow. Do you want me to give him a message?”

Something woke inside Tessa and it burned like acid in her gut. “Sounds like the two of you are getting pretty chummy. Well I certainly won’t stand in your way. In fact I...”

She sounded miserable. “Don’t. It isn’t like that, and it isn’t going to be.”

Tessa carried on relentlessly. “Are you... in love with him? Because really, it would be OK with me. If you were, I mean.”

Jane peered through her tiny round eyeglasses at Tessa, as though trying to see through her face to whatever unknown country lay beyond. “It wouldn’t matter if I was. His kind isn’t for me, Tessa. Not plain Jane.”

“Stop feeling so sorry for yourself. That just isn’t true.”

She threw up her hands defiantly. “You want the truth? He spent the whole time talking about you, Tessa. About how infuriating, and stubborn, and exasperating, and annoying you are. Just like you talk about him.” Jane took off her eyeglasses then wiped her eyes vigorously. “Don’t you get it?”

She did. “I’m sorry, Jane. I shouldn’t have...” Jane did not look consoled, so Tessa plowed ahead, feeling more and more guilty. “Well, I guess I had better take off. I want to see Ellie Rayne tonight before I go home. Somehow she’s mixed up with this mirror business too.” Tessa tried one last time to salvage the remains of their friendship. “This weekend, do you want to come back to Anenoa with me? I’d like to show you the cave. It is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.”

Jane’s expression was as indifferent as her words. “Sure. That would be great. If I don’t have to work, I mean.”

“Would you tell Jakob to call me?” Tessa added, in a very small voice. “I’d be very grateful.”

“Of course. Bye, Tessa.” Jane turned away and gathered up the beer bottles, then threw them in the recycling bin. The crash of broken glass didn’t mask Tessa’s light step as she went out the door and closed it softly behind her.

Chapter Fourteen

Suvi

Because of their extremely disciplined home life, Spear children tend to fall in two categories. Those who thrive on challenge will become tomorrow’s Harrier officers, and should be encouraged to assume leadership roles within the class. But the child for whom authority is a chafing yoke will often act out in school, and may bully his or her peers. These children should be punished severely, preferably by other Spears, so that they may learn to take orders.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

Suvi sat in the uncomfortable desk chair, playing endless solitary games of Prince and Poet. Her legs felt numb and useless, as though they would hardly bear her weight. She checked the clock, high on the wall and out of reach. Almost lunchtime, and even that would be a welcome change from nothing.

The guard banged on the door, and then opened the small hatchway. He shoved a tray of food through. “Wait!” Suvi called, as the aperture began to shut. “Where is Major Bennett? He told me he would return three days ago.”

“The Major has gone north.” He slammed the hatch closed before she could ask another question.

Suvi picked up the tray and took it over to the desk. She slumped back in her chair, and eyed the food. This lunch was identical to the previous two lunches; a pukka meat sandwich, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, some soggy tiffruit, and a plain sweet biscuit, with a cup of lukewarm kaffa to drink. Unimaginative fare, but plentiful.

She dipped the biscuit in the kaffa and nibbled at it, feeling very lonely. After the hectic bustle of Carina, the brig seemed utterly lifeless. Ebbetsfeld, too, had grown eerily quiet. She had not heard a single plane take off in the last day and a half. The air raid sirens had ceased their raucous day and night calls. But no one would tell her why.

The rest of the day passed in the same dreary way. Suvi looked up hopefully each time she heard steps in the hallway outside her door, but other than the guard with the evening meal, she had no visitors. At ten o’clock she undressed and got into bed, then lay in the cold, wakeful darkness, hoping for something, anything, to happen. Perhaps, tonight, Tom would return...

But it was not Tom’s touch on her shoulder that jolted her awake some time in the deepest part of the night. She looked up with wide, frightened eyes.

“Ludde! How in the world did you...”

He looked haggard and in no mood for argument as he put his hand over her mouth and motioned for her to rise. She did as he instructed, letting their earlier friendship trump her suspicions over his recent betrayal. He used hand signals to indicate she should dress, and then turned away.

When she finished he took her hand and dragged her forward.

A reeling sense of movement caught her by surprise, though she instinctively understood that Ludde could travel in the same way that Tom did. As she opened her eyes she staggered a little. Ludde caught her arm and held her upright. They had come to an alleyway just off the main street of Wharfan Village. Suvi rubbed her eyes in confusion. Cars cut through the snowy streets with headlights blazing. Light poured from unshuttered windows. “So much light! Are they not afraid of an air raid?”

He shook his head sadly. “There will be no more raids. The war is over.”

A man passed them, weaving along the street. His expression and his drunken songs spoke not of victory, but of hopelessness. Sadness drifted through the air like ash from a long dead fire.

Ludde led her into a rundown drinking establishment, and they settled close to the fire. Other patrons at nearby tables sat silently, with their heads bent. The waiter came, looking as distraught as the rest. Ludde ordered a jug of hot tiffruit schnapps.

Suvi did not argue with his need for drink — not tonight. “What in the hell happened? Did we lose? We must have.”

He stared into his steaming cup. “There is peace. But the leaders of this country have cut out her heart to buy it. Severnessa, Ayedeen, Schippendorff, all of Fareniis and Lake Copaheg... It belongs now to Berengarth, and the people have but three days to leave their villages.”

Suvi put a hand to her mouth. Her home... Now lost to her, as though it had never existed. She could not comprehend such a loss, could not even begin to grieve. As Ludde continued to speak, she sat in numbed silence.

“Jack tried to prevent it. He served this country and her government well, kept her from defeat against an enemy of far superior numbers. But they would not listen to him — not when Berengarth came up with this cursed land for peace deal. And then, when he heard Katy was missing, he stopped arguing and went north.”

“Has she been found? And Tom? Is he all right?”

Ludde scratched the three-day growth of stubble on his chin. “Don’t know. Jack sent a message today, said I should get you out of the brig, in case one of the officers decided they should tidy up by shooting all the prisoners. But he said nothing about the search.”

“Why is Katy missing?”

“Three days ago the Grond began a push into Fareniis with men and artillery. There were heavy casualties when they breached the trenches. The rescuers have worked for the last forty-eight hours to dig out the survivors.”

She sought some shred of emotion — of grief or rage, but the loss of Lake Copaheg overtook all other feeling. Nothing remained but a dry well of despair to throw herself into. “But they did not find Tom — or Katy?”

Ludde shook his head. “Only some clothes belonging to the Captain. Nothing else.”

“Is it not possible they escaped in the same way that you and I left the brig today?”

He poured more schnapps for them both. “If they had, they would have come straight back here, but no one has seen them.”

His resignation abruptly woke her anger. “Why aren’t you looking for them? With your good friend Major Bennett.” She knocked back another glass of schnapps and poured herself another. “I thought I was your friend too, but I was wrong about that, was I not?”

Ludde’s expression did not change. “I told you all the long that you shouldn’t trust me. And I plan to join Jack as soon as I leave here.”

How could she argue with that? Suvi sighed. “How long have you known them — Tom and Katy and Jack?

He scratched his stubble. “Tom and Katy I knew from long ago.”

“So you must come from their world as well?”

“I passed through many worlds to reach theirs. It is nothing like mine.”

“How? How is it that you and Tom can travel without using a gateway like the one in the bottom of Carina?”

The waiter brought another jug. Ludde’s cheeks flushed as he filled their glasses yet again. “I inherited the ability to shift between the continua from my father. But I learned to navigate from one who has traveled the broad expanse of the Gyre many times — Elfair Ap Fyn.”

“Finn, as in Tom Finn? Why did you call him that?”

“Fyn used to be his name, once upon a long time ago.”

“You make it sound as though he is very old. But he isn’t...”

Ludde actually smiled. “Tom has many memories. Though he has only lived for twenty eight years in this life. Katy, too, remembers much of what she used to be, though it took her a long time.”

Suvi stared at him over the rim of her glass. “And Jack?”

He shrugged. “Despite what you think, I don’t know him that well.”

“Why did you spy for him then?”

His speech sounded a little slurred now. “That’s a long story, and I have to get you back to Carina.”

Suvi stood, suddenly remembering about Chelah. “Then tell me while we walk there.” He stood too, and swayed slightly, then gazed at her. “Never met a women who could hold her liquor like you, girl. How do you do it?”

She took his arm and led him to the door of the bar. “Practice. That must be it.” They walked out into the frigid street and turned south, along Rikard Svaate, traveling deserted sidewalks.

Ludde threw his head back and stared at the stars. “There is Carina — look...” He pointed to a constellation on the eastern horizon. “My father used to call her the ship that ferries the fallen to Skyre. Perhaps he steers her, even now.”

“Your father is dead?”

“Aye, and my mother too.” A cloud of frozen air evinced his deep sigh.

“How?”

“I used to blame my brother Jakob, but now...” They turned on to Wharfan Svaate. He didn’t finish the sentence.

They walked in silence until Suvi remembered something. She stared at Ludde’s tall shadow rather than looking to his face. “Did you really murder your brother’s wife?”

The shadow shrugged. “He says I did.”

“Why does he think so?”

“Because I hated him for what he did to me, and he thought I wanted revenge.”

His shadow shrank and then grew again as another car passed them. “And did you?”

“Yes, but not like that. His way — to punish the innocent with the guilty — was never my way.”

Her voice crackled with unexpected emotion. “You should find him. Find him and reach some understanding. Don’t you know how lucky you are to have some family left in the world?”

Ludde only grunted noncommittally.

She looked away from his shadow and into his eyes. The drink and her grief seemed to catch her at the same time. Her lips trembled. “I came from nothing and now I have nothing left. No one and no home. What will I do now? Sweet love of the realms, what will I do?”

They had almost reached the door of Carina. Ludde stopped and she did too. He put his arms around her awkwardly and stroked her hair as she cried, then bent his head so his whiskered jaw brushed against her ear. “Listen, girl. I have little enough, but if it would please you to share it, then you and I will marry. The sea belongs to no man or country, and neither do I. We will catch fish, and live well, whether Berengarth or Severness rule the rest.”

Her astonishment stopped her tears short. “Did you just say you wanted us to get married?”

“Aye.”

She shook her head at this. “But why? You don’t love me.”

His thumb came up to brush away a tear. It felt like sandpaper against her cheek. “Don’t I? But anyway, love is like the tide. It comes and goes.” His voice lost its gruffness and sounded almost tender. “You were a friend to me when no one else cared. Now let me be the same for you.”

Suvi buried her face in Ludde’s scratchy sweater as she considered her reply. Had the bombs of Berengarth truly caught Tom Finn? She couldn’t believe so, no matter how hard she tried. He would be too quick and too clever for such a clumsy adversary. Another far less satisfying picture presented itself — perhaps he had used the confusion after the raid to steal Katy away from Fareniis, so that they could be together.

I’ve loved her for years and years. But she chose Jack instead of me, and she is too loyal to leave him.

Yes, that seemed most likely, after all.

She took a deep breath. “All right. If you are sure you want me.”

He brought his head down and pressed his closed lips solemnly to hers for a long moment. Suvi waited, holding her breath, hoping to feel something — some spark of passion. But she didn’t. “Get your things and Chelah, and then ride to my place. Plenty of pikken to keep you and your beast for a few days. I will be up at Fareniis, but I will come home as soon as I may.” He smiled, and his blue eyes twinkled in the moonlight. “We’ll do fine together, girl, don’t you worry.”

She smiled back, thinking on the irony. “You’ve told me lots of times not to trust you, Ludde.”

“Aye,” he said thoughtfully, and kissed her again. “Farewell.” He stepped away from her and disappeared.

The uproar filled Carina to the top of its dusty rafters. People scurried about, dragging parachutes and possessions. Arguments over shared property broke out, frayed tempers bringing chaos rather than the cooperation that had once been the rule at Carina.

Suvi stood just inside the door, looking for a familiar face. Marja passed her, her arms full of boxes. She almost dropped them when Suvi called her name.

“Suvi, where have you been?” She caught her arm and dragged her into the office. “The MPs have been here twice looking for you. You had better stay out of sight.”

“I know. They arrested me. I’ve been in the brig at Ebbetsfeld. Where is Chelah? Is she...”

“Back in my tent. She is fine. But have you heard the news?”

Suvi nodded desolately. “Yes, Ludde told me. What is going to happen, Marja?”

She shrugged. “They said we had three days to leave. That was yesterday. Some folk have gone all ready.”

“Where did they go?”

“The Dogs left this morning, heading for their settlement outside of Brixaat.”

Suvi wandered over to her desk, and saw that someone had rifled through every drawer and strewn the contents over the floor of the office. She stooped to pick up an old heliotype of her mother and father, now torn and muddy. “Did they say when they would be back? The MPs, I mean.”

“No. So you shouldn’t stick around. But I expect you will be going with Tom anyway, won’t you?”

Suvi shook her head. “No... Not with Tom. He has... already left Severness. But don’t worry about me; I have a place to stay.” She shivered suddenly.

But Marja did look worried. “Where?”

“Ludde and I are getting married.” It sounded so absurd when she said it out loud that it made her forced smile suddenly genuine. “We will live in his house on the Ayedeen beach and catch pikken all day long.

Marja’s son came in the office, with Chelah in his arms. The degum growled happily when she saw her mistress. Suvi hurried over, smiling. “Chelah! I was so worried. Thank you for taking care of her, Riku.”

He frowned a little. “Oh. You came back. I didn’t think...”

“Riku! Give Chelah back to Suvi.” Marja turned back to Suvi and smiled apologetically. “I am sorry. Riku has gotten a bit attached to your degum.”

Suvi held out her arms and the boy handed Chelah to her, but his lip trembled. “We are going to my cousin’s house in Taasendale. She would have liked it there. Lots of trees to climb.”

A clear vision of Ludde’s cramped, untidy shack came to her. Suvi thought of the endless winters, the freezing fog off the sea, the wind howling down the chimney. It was bad enough that she had to go there. Why should Chelah have to suffer too?

With sudden determination, Suvi handed the degum back to Riku. “I think perhaps you had better keep her after all.”

His eyes shone. “Do you mean it? Truly?”

“If your mother says it is all right.”

Marja looked unsure. “Suvi, we can’t take your pet from you. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get another when I am settled.” She smiled at Riku as she passed over Chelah’s food dish. “Here, you should take this with you. Don’t forget to feed her some milk now and again. But not too often, or it will give her an upset stomach.” Then she had to turn away.

Riku ran from the room with the degum yowling plaintively in his arms. “Gosh, wait until I tell the others! Bye, Suvi. Thank you so much.”

Suvi looked at Marja, and frowned. “Are you really going all the way to Taasendale? That is hundreds of miles from here. How will you get there?”

She seemed a little uncomfortable with the question. “The Harriers are giving us trucks for transport. There are a lot of Sun folk there all ready. It is where we belong, Suvi. But listen, I think there is a Harp settlement close by. You could travel with us; find shelter amongst your own people. Ludde isn’t really the sort of man...”

Suvi threw her hands up in despair. “Haven’t you learned anything over the last six months? At Carina we all lived and worked together. Why should it change just because the War is at an end?” She grasped Marja’s hand. “Why don’t we stay here, all of us? We can make a better settlement — a whole town, in fact. There will be plenty of empty lands just on the other side of the border.”

Marja backed away from her. “You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

“Yes. So what? That doesn’t change what is right.”

“You aren’t making any sense.”

“Why should you Suns have to go so far away, to live with people you hardly know?”

“It isn’t just the Suns, Suvi. All the Solis are splitting up and finding their own folk in the South. It is what we have to do.”

“No! I won’t let it happen. I won’t!” Suvi pushed past her, and walked out into the main floor of the shelter. She clapped her hands loudly. “Meeting in the dining hall, right now.”

The frantic bustle ceased as the residents of Carina recognized her voice. They crowded around Suvi, but she would answer no questions. She pushed Teggr and the others towards the dining hall.

When they had assembled, and stood silently waiting, Suvi climbed on the table. She saw almost at once that the people before her had grouped themselves in little knots by their Soli. She sighed. “Thank you for taking time away from your packing. I will not keep you long. I have heard from Marja that many of you are going down South. Is this true?”

Brini spoke. “Well, we can’t stay here, Suvi. Severnessa will soon be on the wrong side of the border with that Berengarthen rubbish.”

Several people, all Wheat, spoke up in agreement.

“And where are you Wheat folk going?” Suvi asked.

“To Endeeren.”

“And will there be anyone to welcome you, after your three hundred mile journey?”

Brini shrugged. “Wheats have to stick together. We’ll find a place when we get there, I expect.”

Another group stood a little away from the rest. Billu waited at the fore. Suvi looked to him. “And you Ships? Do you also wish to go south?”

He took his wife’s hand. “There is work for us at Port Raaken. We will go there.”

She questioned each of the Soli in turn, and in each case their answer was the same.

Suvi paced back and forth along the table, trying to control her anger. “Listen to yourselves! Will you all run away South and hide, like frightened children? Have you forgotten everything we have been through? We learned to work together for the good of everyone. Ship and Bird and Rose and Snake...”

Teggr screeched, “Snake! Like that young lad, Calaan? The Harrier policeman told me that he had been spying on us — and all his friends too. I said we shouldn’t have taken them in, but no one...”

Suvi’s expression grew desperate. “Goodwife, please... Listen, everyone. Stay close to Severnessa, with your families. Your children were born and raised here. This is their home. We can make a new village — one where all are welcome — just like Carina. Wouldn’t that be better?”

They all looked down at their feet. No one spoke.

She stared at them. “Will none of you stay?”

One by one the residents of Carina shook their heads and then slipped away.

When the last of them had gone back to their packing, she went to the office, and stuffed her things carelessly into two tattered pikken sacks. A couple of heavy sweaters, two tweed skirts, a motley collection of pictures and books.

She left the yitar propped against the wall, for anyone to take.

The room looked empty and disheveled, without life. She wandered about, feeling lonely and sad, missing Chelah terribly. But she could not take back her gift to Riku, and anyway, she knew the degum would be better off without her.

Suvi left the office and headed for the south wing, ignoring the guarded stares of the former residents of Carina. Soon it would be time to ride to Ayedeen, but she would not leave without one last look through her window.

The sewer was silently frigid — too cold to stand still — far too cold to sit. Suvi inched her way across the slick stones, towards the cacophony of pastel lights and sounds that leaked from the gateway. For the first time in a long while she saw a different scene, shacks of weathered pinks and blues, potted geraniums hard against a white-capped bay. The sun shone in a cloudless sky, filling the sewer tunnel with inaccessible light and warmth.

It drew her, with an attraction stronger than any she had ever felt before. Suvi edged forward, closer and closer. Why should she stay in Severnessa? Across the divide was warmth and sunlight and freedom from the tyranny of Solis. The creature inside her woke, with a worried shiver.

A picture flowered inside her mind, of Ludde waiting for her, in his lonely shack by the ocean. She thought of Tom, of how much it had hurt when he left her behind without a farewell.

With a sigh, Suvi turned away, and climbed the rusty metal ladder. She crept out the side door, without saying goodbye to anyone, and slung her bags onto the back of the pede. Then she set off for Ayedeen — and Ludde.

* * * *

Lut peered into the snowy forest, searching for Jack. His skis made a quiet shushing sound as he continued on beneath the trees, following the bombed out bunker line. He reached the edge of the trees, and glided onto a solidly frozen lake.

Copaheg had seen some of the worst fighting of the war. Lut skied now between piles of grey-uniformed bodies, frozen in whatever grotesque position death had found them. The Harriers had been through and buried their own dead, but they left the men of the Grond unhallowed, amongst the burned shells of their armored vehicles.

In the middle of this wasteland of ice and carnage Lut could see a tall figure, standing alone. He skied level with him. “Jack. Come away from here.”

Jack’s moustache was solidly frozen, and his lips looked blue. He leaned on his ski poles drunkenly. It took Lut a few seconds to realize he had fallen asleep, standing up. He shook his shoulder gently. “Come, my friend. There is kaffa waiting at the field kitchen for you.”

Slowly, his eyes opened and blinked once, and again. “She is gone. Why in the gods’ names did I let her come here?” Lut took his arm and led him back across the ice. Jack skied stiffly, as though his body really only wanted to lie down and join the dead people surrounding them.

He stopped before the mangled carcass of a galeet, its horn crusted with frozen blood. “She would have hated to see this. Katy always felt pity for the animals caught up in a conflict, because they could not choose whether or not to fight.” He bent and brushed the snow away from the face of a fallen soldier who lay close by. “How old do you think he was, Lut? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

Lut shrugged, wishing they could hurry back to the warmth of the tents.

“Just like the galeet, he didn’t have a choice. The Grond called this lad up and told him to fight for his fatherland, or face a firing squad. Look, they didn’t even give him any gloves.” He pointed to the boy’s blue hands, frozen solidly around his rifle stock, and then turned away in bitter disgust. “The sad thing is, I don’t believe any of them even knew what they were fighting for.”

Lut growled. “But you and I know, don’t we? And the government gave it to the Grond on a silver platter, after all we did to prevent it.”

Jack stared at him bleakly. “I can’t make myself care anymore. They can have the portal and welcome to it.”

“No! Will you give them the ticket they need to leave here — to spread their death like a poison, through all the worlds? Listen to me, Jack. I know you are grieving. I am too. But we have to stop the Grond from using that discontinuity. Otherwise what will all this death mean?”

“How? We can’t close it. You said that Tom already tried. It is too big.” Jack shook his head hopelessly.

“We must demolish the warehouse that sits over top. Blow it sky high, and bury the gateway under tons of earth and rock. That way they will not be able to find it, even if they bring in heavy machinery.”

They had reached the tent. Lut slipped his boots from the bindings and stood his skis upright in the snow. Jack did the same and then they passed within. An old woman, unsmilingly ladling out kaffa and soup, handed them each a cup.

“All right.” Jack sighed as he sipped the steaming kaffa, and felt his moustache thaw. “Give me twenty-four more hours up here, and then I will come with you, I promise. But I am no munitions expert.”

Lut shrugged. “Nor I. But how hard can it be to destroy something?”

Chapter Fifteen

Tessa

The dog follows the hunters and eats the scraps.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Though ten o’clock had gone by the time Tessa drew up to Seadrift, Ellie’s lights still lit a square of shingle between their two houses. When she tapped on the door, Ellie answered, still dressed in her clothes from dinner.

“Um, hi. May I come in for a moment? If you aren’t about to go to bed, I mean.”

Ellie smiled warmly. “Of course. I am not as old as all that. Would you like some coffee?” Two mugs already lay on the table, next to the coffee pot and the plate of leftovers from Joe’s dinner.

“Yes, thanks. That would be great.” She followed Ellie to the table and examined the almost empty dish. “Guess you found your appetite.”

Ellie looked up and then whisked the plate away. “Indeed. Do you have milk and sugar?”

“Just milk.”

She wandered over to the sofa, where a ball of yarn and some knitting lay on the cushion. Tessa sat down beside it. Ellie handed her a cup, and then drew up the chair opposite.

“Now...” Ellie raised an inquiring eyebrow. “What is wrong?”

“How... How do you know something is?”

“You look upset, my dear.”

“Oh. For a minute there I thought you might have another...” Tessa’s eyes quickly filled with tears. “Oh, god, I feel like such an idiot. I need to talk to Jakob. Do you know how to get in touch with him?”

“Why?”

“Because I lost the mirror, after everything both of you said about keeping it safe. He is going to be so furious.”

Ellie patted her hand. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Tessa. We all make mistakes sometimes. Goodness knows that boy has made enough in his time. He will understand.”

She shook her head. “No, he won’t, but you know what? I don’t even care. I’d happily listen to a lecture and beg his forgiveness, if he would just come back again.”

The bedroom door flew open, and a tall figure stood just on the other side. He wore nothing but a pink flowered towel draped around his waist — and a smile. The effect was incongruous. “Really? Do you mean that, Tessa?”

Tessa stared and then squeaked, “You! Where the hell did you come from?”

“Go and put some clothes on, Jakob. You aren’t parading round my house dressed like that,” Ellie snapped at him.

“All right, grandmother. I will be right there, Tessa. Don’t go away.”

After the door had closed again, Tessa rubbed her face in disbelief. “How... I mean when...”

Ellie shrugged. “He’s been here since last night. Didn’t want to go on taking advantage of your hospitality when you were so angry with him.”

Tessa’s eyes went wide. “Jakob said the mirror had once belonged to his grandmother. I should have put two and two together. No wonder you are mixed up in this business with the Polys.”

Ellie nodded. “Now, you had better tell me what happened.”

Tessa had only just begun when Jakob came out again, dressed in jeans and another garish flannel shirt. He poured himself some coffee as she kept on with the story, and then came to sit beside her. She threw nervous glances in his direction as she described how she had given the mirror to Ted, but he seemed to take it all very calmly.

“When did he say the guy would be there?”

“Tonight. At midnight.”

Jakob checked the clock on the wall. “I had better move then.”

“I’m coming with you.”

He frowned for the first time and his mouth took on that familiar obstinate line. “No you are not. Stay here.”

“You don’t even know where Ted lives. I can take you in my car.”

Jakob opened his mouth, but Ellie spoke first. “For goodness sakes, Jakob! Stop being so stubborn. Let her help if she wants to.”

He rolled his eyes in obedient resignation. “All right. Wait a minute while I get something.” He disappeared into the bedroom and returned with the sword and scabbard.

Tessa looked shocked. “Surely you don’t think you will have to fight? I mean, you won’t do anything to... Ted, will you? He might be a jerk and a liar, but I wouldn’t want...”

Jakob shook his head. “I have a feeling when this guy Redden shows up, he will have company. So we had better be prepared.” He stared at Tessa. “Do you have the knife? We might need that as well.”

She nodded guiltily. “I guess I had better tell you the whole story on the way.”

After she had turned the Volvo, once again heading for Ted’s, Tessa described the cave and the sacred relic she had found within. “I know I should have told you and Jane before, but I was so upset that I just clammed up. But how do you think the bones got there?”

“It shouldn’t be possible. I know where those remains came from. My grandmother buried them on another world, many leagues away. Something brought them here, and created the discontinuity.

Tessa thought of Tom, and what he had said.

A current of disrupted time runs through this place. Others have come and gone, and there is a residue of darkness that disturbs me.

She held up the knife. “A man named Tom Finn gave me this. I met him in Severness.”

Jakob’s eyebrows shot skywards. “Severness? How in the hell did you get there? Did you see my brother?”

“No. Only Suvi and Tom.”

Jakob took the knife and studied it. “The Amaranthine made this. It is a mighty weapon, Tessa, maybe even more powerful than keth’fell. No wonder the Polys could not stand before it.”

“Keth... fell?” As she glanced towards him, his eyes flashed blue and then faded to black in the intermittent puddles of light from the street lamps.

He patted the scabbard that rested at his feet. “This sword belonged to my mother, Gwenn Faircrow. She was... very proficient with it. When she died, my father buried it in her grave. When he died, I dug it up again. She taught me much of her craft when I was growing up, so I wanted to keep keth’fell in remembrance of her.”

Tessa said, “I probably shouldn’t be asking you this but... Why aren’t you angry with me? I screwed everything up so badly.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I was the one who screwed up. Grandmother has been after me all day to call you and apologize. It’s just... Well, I have my pride, and I didn’t want to admit that I couldn’t do it alone.”

“Can we... work together this time, do you think?”

He grinned. “Maybe. If we don’t talk about it too much.”

Ted’s gate came into view. Tessa punched in the code. Jakob frowned. “Is this man such a coward that he must hide himself behind high walls?”

Tessa frowned too. “I think that might fall into the category of talking too much. Ted is not that bad. Just a little bit selfish.” She parked well down the street from Ted’s house, and they approached on foot, trying to keep to the shadows. Every time keth’fell glinted under the street lamps, Tessa’s heart quailed, sure that some overzealous neighborhood watchperson would call the police on them.

When they reached the house Tessa whispered, “I don’t have a key. But we can go round the back and peek in the window. Ted has vertical blinds in the kitchen.” She checked her watch. 11:45.

As they passed into the narrow alley between two fences, the next door neighbor’s dog burst into a torrent of barks. Jakob swore softly. “That stupid animal will give us away.”

Tessa pressed her lips to a crack in the fence. “Shh... Bruno. It’s only me. Tessa. You know me, so don’t bark, OK? Please...”

The dog quieted. Jakob grasped Tessa’s upper arm in a gentle gesture of appreciation, and she felt her heart ratchet up a notch. They scooted around the hot tub, faintly humming in the darkness of the side deck. She closed her eyes for a moment and shuddered, trying to drive away the memories it woke.

As they turned the corner, Tessa saw an ominously tall figure lounging by the back door. It looked up and then took a step towards them.

“I got this one,” Jakob whispered. “Once it starts to follow me, see what you can find out at the window.”

She nodded and then hugged the wall of the house as the Poly went for Jakob. He backed away, seemingly terrified, and the Poly dutifully followed. Once he had gone back around the corner, Tessa heard the familiar squishy thunk of a head hitting the ground.

Ted had drawn the vertical blinds carelessly, and once Tessa had crawled to the sill she could easily peer into the kitchen. He sat at the table, nervously sipping a glass of wine. Another man sat across from him — Daniel Redden, she guessed. She could hear them talking.

Redden spoke first. He sounded impatient. “Where is the mirror, Dr. Black?”

Ted sighed with studied carelessness and examined his fingernail. “I couldn’t get it from Tessa. I tried and tried, but she is a stubborn little bitch.”

Redden frowned. So did Tessa, outside the window. “I warned you what would happen next. My pets will have to do what you could not.”

He shrugged. “Obviously I don’t want her to get hurt. You’ll stop your boys before they get too far, won’t you?”

Bastard, mouthed Tessa, wishing she hadn’t defended him to Jakob before.

Redden also seemed unimpressed by Ted’s words. “It does not change the terms of our agreement. I gave you some information — privileged information — and I expected something in return. How do you plan to reimburse me?”

Ted spoke briskly. “I found the article you were after. The one about Ben Kivelson. This is the only remaining copy.” He pushed it across the table to Redden.

He picked it up and perused the faded newsprint. “A small consolation, at best, Dr. Black. Has she seen this?”

Ted shook his head in another smooth lie. Tessa’s jaw began to ache with the effort it took not to curse out loud. “Why do you care, anyway?”

Redden’s voice was sharp. “The girl has a weapon inside her, something that would best remain asleep.” His apprehensive expression smoothed itself as he tucked the clipping in the pocket of his suit. “I hardly think this is enough to repay your debt.”

Ted took another big gulp of wine as his mind worked frantically. “Uh... Of course I will also map out all the portals within the cave system, and allow your people free access during my excavation.”

He raised an eyebrow at this. “There is more than one portal? And how could my... people come and go, without being seen?”

Ted shrugged. “The cave has two entrances, and only one is even remotely accessible to the students. The location of the other is known only to myself.”

He seemed indifferent to this. “I have other ways of travel in mind, once I leave here. But I will not forget that you are in my debt.”

“Of course,” Ted smiled. “I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can. Would you care for some more wine, or do you need to be going? It is getting rather late.” He looked hopefully towards the bedrooms and yawned.

Jakob stole up silently beside Tessa. When he saw the scene within the kitchen he inhaled sharply.

Everything after that happened very quickly. Jakob rose and then threw himself at the door. The screen slowed him slightly, giving the men inside time to gain their feet before he burst through, with keth’fell drawn. Tessa followed in his wake, feeling like a useless comedy sidekick.

“Who the hell are you?” Ted yelped. His hands groped in his pocket as he spoke.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the idiot son of the Mariner.” Redden looked at Jakob in amusement. “Who on earth is your tailor, my dear boy?”

Jakob snarled as he raised keth’fell. “Go to hell, Uncle. Here is a present from my mother.”

Ted raised a gun and trained it on Tessa, who had stopped just inside the door. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

The sword lowered slightly. Redden spoke. “Well done, Dr. Black. Perhaps you might prove useful, after all.”

Without taking his eyes off his uncle, Jakob kicked sideways at a heavy oak dining chair. It hurtled towards Ted, catching him in the thigh. He cried out in pain and dropped the gun, but not before Daniel Redden took the opportunity to flee.

Jakob looked wildly between Tessa and the place Redden had been standing, then pointed down at Ted with the tip of keth’fell. “Can you deal with him? I won’t be long.” She bent slowly and picked up the gun, enjoying the firm coolness of the butt against her fingers. “Oh yes. I can deal with this lowlife. Absolutely.”

He stepped forward and a little to the left, leaving a wavering shadow that disappeared almost as quickly as he did.

Tessa walked over to Ted, who lay on the floor clutching his right kneecap, moaning in agony. “Get up.”

“I... can’t. My leg is broken. Truly, Tessie.”

“Don’t call me that! I always hated that nickname. Now get up, or... or... I’ll do something. I mean it.”

His voice sounded absolutely assured. “You won’t hurt me.”

“Won’t I? Even though you just tried to sell me out to that creep over the mirror?”

She glared at him so fiercely that he struggled to his knees and then found his feet, leaning heavily on the table. “Surely you see why I had to tell Redden that? I planned to use the mirror as a bargaining chip to keep you safe.”

Tessa gave him a withering look. “Shut up, Ted. Where is it?”

“In the bedroom. I hid it before he got here.”

She waved the weapon at him. “Go and get it. Now.”

He did not move. “I think we need to discuss this. Put the gun down and I promise I won’t press charges.”

Tessa shook her head incredulously. “You won’t press charges? Ted, you just pulled this gun on me!”

He smirked. “In self defense, against that blond ogre. He a friend of yours? Guess not, since he took off and left you behind.”

“He’ll be back.” She glanced doubtfully towards the broken chair. “Of course he will.”

“You sure about that, are you? I think he had his own agenda with Redden. Which only leaves you and me, babe. Let’s work out some sort of compromise. We can still come out of this deal smelling sweet. Once I write the book on the winged man...”

Tessa ignored the glazed look of greed in his eyes. “Ted, if you don’t hand me the mirror in ten seconds I am going to hurt you very badly.” She started to count. “One, two, three...”

His lip curled in a sneer. “You don’t have the guts.”

“Five, six, seven...” Tessa wondered to herself if he was right. Her hand tightened about the butt of the pistol. “Eight, nine...”

“Come on Tessie. Admit it. You still have feelings for me. Don’t throw away the best three years of your life.”

“Ten...” She took a wobbly pace forward, just as Redden reentered the kitchen from the hallway leading to the master bedroom. Tessa cried out in dismay when she saw that he held the mirror in one chubby fist.

He smiled unctuously. “Thank you so much for your help, young lady. Now if you will excuse me, I’ll be on my way again. Don’t fret, I will leave a couple of my pets behind to keep the party going.” A pair of threatening figures appeared behind him.

Ted backed away in alarm. “No! Please... Don’t leave them here. You have the mirror. Aren’t you happy now? I kept my end of the bargain.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. But I find your double dealing so very tedious, Dr. Black. This is one transaction you won’t be able to cheat your way out of. Farewell, my dears.”

The Polys moved forward, watching impassively as their master disappeared. Tessa slowly lowered the gun, as Ted’s voice, sounding high and terrified, echoed round the kitchen. “What in the fuck are you doing? Shoot! It’s our only chance.”

“Bullets won’t stop them,” she said quietly, and withdrew the knife from the back pocket of her jeans. “Get behind me, Ted.”

They came at her together. She moved sideways, trying to keep the table between them. Ted snatched the gun from her and emptied it into the nearest of the two Polys. It adopted an aggrieved expression that might have been comical if it hadn’t also been so deadly.

Ted took one last look and bolted through the screen door, calling back over his shoulder, “Wait here, I’ll... bring some help.” He disappeared into the darkness, leaving Tessa alone.

With a casual, one-fingered flip, the other Poly turned the table over and then stepped onto the underside. Tessa fled towards the front door, and scrabbled frantically with the handle. But Ted had not unlocked it after their earlier meeting, and he still had the key in his pocket.

Something tapped her softly on the shoulder.

She turned, and they were there, right in her face. Tessa struck with the knife, a deep slashing blow that shredded the suit and found flesh underneath. The first Poly staggered back towards the kitchen, but the second caught her wrist and squeezed. After the weapon fell from her utterly useless fingers, the Poly transferred its grip to her throat.

She struggled pointlessly, as black spots swam in her vision, like a swarm of viciously biting flies.

One of the side windows on the door exploded inwards and an arm shot through. Tessa screamed as it grabbed the Poly’s suit and yanked it back towards the door, as though trying to pull it through the tiny window. It didn’t release its hold on her, and she felt herself swinging in a wide arc. But once it had dragged her away from the door the hinges gave a horrible screaming whine. The door fell inwards, torn off its mountings by a savage kick.

Jakob swung keth’fell and severed the Poly’s arm with the sword. Tessa shuddered as she felt the dying fingers squirming against the skin of her neck. She grabbed the arm and flung it into the corner of the hallway, then dropped to her hands and knees, retching at the sour smell that filled her nose and mouth.

Jakob tried mightily to drag the Poly into the rear of the house, but it hung on to the door frame.

The sound of cracking timber brought Tessa’s head up. “Keep it busy. I need to find the knife.”

Jakob raised an eyebrow at her. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

He wrestled with the Poly, destroying several of Ted’s dainty hallway tables in the process. His antagonist stayed close, too close for Jakob to swing keth’fell.

The knife lay by the French doors into the living room. As Tessa retrieved it, Jakob and the Poly crashed through the glass, and landed on a fake Mies van de Rohe chair. Jakob seized a jagged shard and stabbed the Poly’s eye. Tessa finished it with the knife, plunging the blade straight down into its throat.

She staggered back, breathing hard. “You all right?”

Jakob stood too. Blood poured from a gaping wound on his hand and another on his forehead. Tessa tutted. “Jane isn’t going to be very happy about that.”

He ignored this comment. “What happened to the other one?”

“I cut it with the knife. Only once though. It went that way.” They passed back into the kitchen, following the trail of clear liquid that had left discolored etchings on the environmentally friendly bamboo flooring. The liquid led them through the back door. The Poly was nowhere in sight.

“Wait here. Shout if you see anything.” Jakob went back inside, and Tessa knew he had gone to dispose of the other Poly’s body.

Tessa peered into the darkness. “Ted... Ted, you can come out now.” Nothing moved in the shadowy spaces of the garden.

Jakob returned. “Where is the mirror? We should find it and get going before someone calls the police.”

Tessa frowned unhappily. “Redden came back right after you left. He must have heard Ted and me talking, because he went straight into the bedroom and took the mirror.”

Jakob stood in the middle of the patio, quietly bleeding. He opened his mouth and then closed it.

Tessa thought he looked very disappointed. “Do you want to go after him?”

“He killed my mother. Lut and I have been looking for him a long time.”

She swallowed her displeasure. “Well OK, then. You had better get going.”

The blood stung his eyes and he rubbed them wearily. “Are you sure you will be all right?”

“Fine,” she said, without much inflection. She raised her head and held it high. “I’ll be fine.” He stepped away without touching her, or saying good-bye.

Two seconds later, Ted appeared from behind the hot tub. He surveyed the damage to the kitchen, the overturned table, the burned floor. “You bitch. You’ll pay for this. I’ll lay a complaint with the cops so fast it will...”

For once, she didn’t argue. With a sigh, Tessa turned away and trudged back up the walk beside the house, wondering if he would follow. The dog, Bruno, barked enthusiastically, but this time she didn’t bother to quiet him. The noise effectively covered the sound of Ted’s horrified pleas for help as the second Poly, still very much alive, emerged from the guest bathroom, smelling sweetly of aftershave.

* * * *

She squinted when she reached the pavement and saw a dark figure leaning against the Volvo. “Shit, another one. Why me?” But then the wind stirred his long hair and Tessa broke into a run.

The streets were as quiet as the inside of the Volvo. Jakob rode with the seat back and his eyes closed.

Tessa glanced at him from time to time, wondering. “Why did you come back?”

He didn’t open his eyes. “I thought you might need my help. You hadn’t been doing all that well on your own.”

Displaced fury filled her. “I did all right. You just don’t...” Suddenly it didn’t seem worth it. “Look. You know what? Let’s just not talk at all.”

“Fine by me.”

She downshifted hard, going round a corner, and kept her hand on the gear shift. Jakob placed his uninjured hand on top of hers, as she shifted up again to join the empty highway.

Tessa looked over to the passenger side as she felt her hand lifted from the knob and travel upwards. “What are you doing?”

He gave her a curious half-smile. “No talking, remember?”

With infinite tenderness, he ran his lips over each of her knuckles, and let his teeth graze against them. Tessa clenched her jaw, trying hard not to let him see how much the feeling moved her. Jakob continued to kiss her fingers one by one and then let his tongue explore the sensitive ‘v’ of skin between them.

A flood of warmth began in her face and cascaded down, until it concentrated low in her belly. Tessa spoke, with difficulty. “Thank goodness there aren’t any other cars on this...”

“Shh...” he said, and then enveloped her little finger in the extravagant heat of his mouth and tongue.

She moaned then. She couldn’t help herself. “Jakob, I have to drive.”

“So, drive. Don’t mind me.” He slowly savored each finger, and then started on her thumb.

Tessa tried to concentrate on the road. The Volvo blew by the first exit to the Bay, and then she guided the car to the off ramp for the second. “I need my hand to change gears.”

He only tightened his grip on her wrist, and nibbled her thumbnail. “You have another one.”

Tessa found she could shift down with her left hand quite easily. Steering was a little trickier, but she managed. The warmth between her thighs ramped to an almost painful blaze.

He traced his tongue along her palm and the heel of her hand as Tessa guided the car along the darkened side streets, reduced to finding her way by instinct. By the time they reached the driveway, his tantalizing exploration had left her trembling with need. She stopped the car and removed the key from the ignition, then sat, with her eyes closed.

“Well,” he said, after a moment. “Don’t you want to go in the house?”

Tessa took a deep shaky breath. “Are you coming with me?”

He chuckled at this, very crudely. “I damn sure hope so.”

Somehow she got out of the driver’s side, keys in hand, and he met her in front of the car. Jakob threw his arms around her, and Tessa felt her feet leave the ground. He carried her easily down the stairs and continued to kiss her as her hands fumbled with the lock. The pressure of their bodies against the door caused it to burst open once she turned the handle.

“Don’t drop me,” she murmured, as he staggered through.

His arms tightened, but he didn’t say anything. A short, sharp struggle ensued, as they tried to remove many stubborn pieces of clothing. His shirt, her jeans. Shoes and socks. Everything ended up in an untidy heap just inside the door. Nothing ripped too badly.

The couch was closer than the bed. He laid her down, and buried his face between her breasts, breathing raggedly. She let her hands explore, and he groaned, not entirely in passion. “Watch out for that spot... Ow! There.” She tried again. “Not there, either. That’s where I...”

“Jakob, please... How can we...”

He raised her up so that she was on her knees, facing away from him. “Like this,” he said. “Let’s try like this.” He pressed himself very firmly against her back, and wound an arm around her belly. Tessa pushed her head into his shoulder, and drew his hair around her face and neck like a warm cloud.

The fire still raged and roared inside her. The instant he entered her, she came.

He slowed after a moment and then let her fall forwards. “Can I talk now?” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“As long as you keep on doing that.”

“This?”

“Mmm... yes. Yes.”

He whispered, “Si fenu, mi Tessa. Recana sol tinor ameth, tinor abne brist. Si net talla, talla solfu. Si fenu. Si... pelannu. Pelannu.”

The fire sprang to life again, so that she could hardly breathe. “What did you say, just then?”

He stopped moving within her, just for a moment. “That I need you. More than any useless revenge, or my stupid pride.” Then his hips could not stay still. “That I will never, never leave you again. That...” She felt something in him break wide. “That I love you.”

She extricated herself, and turned over, wanting to see his face. They started again, very slowly and carefully. Tessa kept talking, trying to make it last as long as possible. “I love you too. I didn’t know I did — not for ages. I kept on fighting it. But then Jane told me, and I knew. Oh, Jakob... Jakob...” Suddenly, as she twined her fingers in his hair, her words came from somewhere else. “Si fenus. Si... Si... pelanus. Merri tobus nar.”

That sent him over the edge. He seemed to fall for a long, long time.

Afterwards she cradled him in her arms, trying not to touch his ribs. He waited to speak, until his breathing and heart had slowed. Slowly he raised his head, and looked at her. His eyes were very blue. “You said something in my language, Dalvolk. I heard you, just now. How did you do that?”

Tessa shook her head. “I don’t know. I just got caught up in it, I suppose. I must have repeated the same things you said to me.”

“You didn’t. You said ‘I love you, until the end of all the worlds.’ I never said that.”

“Didn’t you?” she teased. “Why ever not?”

He frowned, clearly shaken. “Who are you?”

“You know that. Tessa.”

“Tessa?” his voice held an unspoken question. “Just Tessa?”

“Mmm hmm. Are we going to sleep here or in the bedroom?”

He settled down at her side, too tired to argue. “I’m not moving anywhere else tonight.”

But though she felt warm and sheltered in Jakob’s arms, Tessa found she could not fall asleep. The strange words she had spoken, and the vision that accompanied them, of a vast meadow studded with flowers, disturbed her far more than she let on.

After a moment she asked, “Who was that man, Daniel Redden? You called him Uncle.”

Jakob jerked awake. “He used to be my mother’s half-brother, Tristan Dinrhydan. I expect he has taken many names since then.”

“What happened after you left the first time? Couldn’t you find him?”

He shook his head. “Lut got all the tracking skills. I only got the strength.”

“From where?”

“Our father. He was a sort of a...”

“God?” asked Tessa, in a surprised voice. Suddenly she could see his face. His eyes were a different shade of blue than Jakob’s, but just as bright. “The Mariner?”

Jakob yawned cavernously. “Could we talk about this in the morning?”

“One more question,” Tessa insisted. “What will happen? Now that your Uncle Tristan has the mirror, I mean?”

He gave a sleepy snort. “I don’t know. Tomorrow we’ll go see Grandmother and ask her. Then...”

His eyelids drifted downwards and he slept, dreaming of yellow flowers.

Tessa stayed awake, listening to his breathing, feeling his muscles twitch as they threw off all the tensions of the day. At that moment she felt much more a part of him than she did of her own mysterious self.

Chapter Sixteen

Suvi

The Rose child will exhibit a lively curiosity, which must be encouraged. Sciences and math are paramount for the education of these future engineers, researchers and inventors.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

Suvi worked all day, trying to bring some order to Ludde’s cramped cottage. Once she had cleared some space on the floor by throwing a heap of rotting nets and fishing line outside, she began to sort through piles of moldy and mildewed papers and trash. After finding a few pieces of crumbling brick and a couple of boards, she put together a makeshift shelf for the books that Ludde had left in a heap by the fireplace.

Shaking the rugs outside seemed to return half a sand dune back to the beach.

His clothes were mostly a hopeless mess, but Suvi made a pile and began the long job of washing them. The wind from the sea helped her, and once she had half a dozen things dry, she settled by the fire to patch and darn Ludde’s threadbare socks and shirts.

The sun sank down behind the dunes, and she lit a lantern in the window. “Will you come home to me tonight?” she asked it, and the flame flickered mysteriously.

There was, as Ludde had said, plenty of pikken, and Suvi made a fine meal of dried fish, bread and jam. He had no kaffa, but she found a bottle of poteen under the bench and poured herself a shot. Another followed, as she wondered nervously about being married, and what Ludde might expect of her.

By midnight, she had finished half the bottle. Suvi stood and stretched, then eyed Lut’s untidy bed, wishing she had had time to wash the sheets. “Tomorrow,” she told herself.  “I have plenty of time before Ludde returns from Fareniis.  It might be several days yet.” The thought did not distress her.

Just then, over the sound of the waves, she heard the crunch of footsteps on the shingle. Suvi peered out the window, praying it was a fisherman, walking home along the beach. But there was no mistaking the voice that called her name.

“Suvi!” Ludde stopped just outside the door. “’Tis only me, girl. But I have to get these boots off before I come in.”

A second later he appeared, cheeks flushed from the cold, carrying a pair of very muddy boots. She met him at the door. “Did you find them?”

“We found nothing. Jack won’t give up though. He wants to stay another day before we...” Ludde frowned and did not finish that thought. He looked around the room. “Been cleaning, have you?”

She nodded, a little nervously.

“Looks fine. Do I get supper too?”

She stood, and wandered over to the stove. In the meantime, Ludde found the bottle. “Ach! Where in Od’s name has my drink gone?”

Her tone was unapologetic. “I had some of it. Did our agreement not extend to poteen?”

He took a pull from the bottle and smiled, but it did not seem altogether forgiving. “Share and share alike, girl. ’Tis the way with married folk, I’ve been told.”

“Have you ever been married before, Ludde?”

She heard him laugh, a deep and unfamiliar sound. “I was betrothed, once, but it didn’t work out. Jakob saw to that. Wanted the girl for himself.”

“What was she like?” Suvi threw bread and pikken into a frying pan with some eggs.

He frowned and took another drink. “Don’t remember now. ’Twas long ago.”

Suvi doubted this was true. “Well, her name then. You remember that?”

“Poppy.”

“Poppy? Like your boat?”

“Aye.” The way he said it brought the conversation to an end.

She placed the frying pan on the table, and Ludde dug his fork straight in before she could bring a plate. He ate quickly, without speaking, and finished the bottle with his meal.

Suvi sat at the table, staring down at the cracked and worn boards, wishing she was back at Carina. “Do you... think we could buy some kaffa tomorrow? It makes a fine drink for a cold night.”

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Suppose so. Expensive stuff, kaffa. Water is free.” Ludde made a face. “But Jack said I wasn’t to fuss about money.”

She raised her eyes. “Jack said?”

“Aye. I asked him what sort of things married folk need to know.”

“You asked him that today?” Suvi looked mortified. “But wasn’t he worried about Katy? I am surprised he would want to talk about anything else.”

“Wasn’t today I asked him. Was weeks ago.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you ask him?”

“Because I wanted to know.”

Suvi decided this was going nowhere. She yawned. “Guess I will get into bed.” Ludde stood up and carried the pan over to the sink, then rinsed it carelessly.

“You can leave that until the morning. I’ll wash it.”

“Done already.” He hung it up with the other pot and the greasy water droplets made a puddle on her carefully wiped bench. “Something else we need to do first.”

She paused in the middle of shedding her sweater. “What?”

“Said I’d marry you, didn’t I? Haven’t done that yet.” He dug in his pocket and produced a slender gold ring.

She stared at it, as though it was a poisonous insect. “Ludde, you don’t have to...”

He smiled and his blue eyes twinkled in the firelight. “Don’t have to, no. But I want to. Come here.”

When she reached him, he bent one knee and took her hand. Even like that, he was almost as tall as her. He intoned gravely, “I take you to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward.” Then he slipped the ring onto her finger.

Somehow, she managed a smile, and then choked out the same vow. Lut grunted, apparently satisfied that they had observed the niceties, and released her hand. She held her finger up to the light. “Where did this ring come from?”

“Was my mother’s. Only thing of hers I have.”

“Th— Thank you. I don’t deserve this kindness.”

He frowned. “I say you do.”

Suvi got under the covers and slipped off her clothes. She lay there, between the scratchy sheets, shivering, while Ludde pulled off his sweater and about four undershirts, each more grimy that the last. His chest was broad and muscular, deeply tanned in a ‘v’ that extended from his face and neck, but otherwise quite pale. When he turned to blow out the light, Suvi was very surprised to see a large, exotically colored dragon tattoo covering most of his back and curling around one hefty bicep.

The darkness hid Ludde as he removed his trousers and came to bed.

He brought warmth under the covers, which was welcome, but something else as well. “Hist!” Suvi said suddenly. “Ludde, you stink.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. Have you ever had a bath?”

He chuckled at this. “Not lately, no. Hasn’t been anyone to complain. Wait a minute.” Ludde got up, and by the flaring light of the fire she saw him cross the room. He pulled on his boots and stalked out the door, still naked.

Four minutes later he returned, blowing and snorting, dripping wet.

“Did you go for a swim?” Suvi asked incredulously. “In the ocean?”

“Aye.”

He dried with a rough scrap of towel and climbed back into bed. “Better?”

It wasn’t, but Suvi hardly felt she could ask him to do more, lest he contract pneumonia on her account. She wrapped her arms around him, and felt the chill slowly leave his skin. He kissed her clumsily and stroked her hair.

“Have you been with a man before? If you haven’t I can go slow for you.”

“Yes,” Suvi lied, wanting only to get it over with. The poteen made her incautious. “Lots of times.”

“Lots of times?” he repeated with an unexpected growl.

“Well no. Not really. Only twice.”

“With Tom, was it?”

Suvi sighed. “Not Tom, no. We didn’t get that far.” Speaking his name made her hurt inside. She wanted some other feeling to mask it, so Suvi pressed her mouth hard against Ludde’s. “Come on,” she whispered after a moment. “What are you waiting for?” She stroked his body, awkwardly trying to please him. He responded with almost pathetic eagerness. The moment, when it came, wasn’t as painful as she had feared, but neither did she feel anything resembling pleasure.

Afterwards, he rolled away and lay staring up at the ceiling. “I’d like a pipe now. How about you?”

“I suppose. Was that all right?” Suvi tried surreptitiously to wipe the uncomfortable stickiness from between her thighs with the sheets, thinking they could hardly get any dirtier.

He grunted. “’Twas good. Why wouldn’t it be?” Not waiting for her answer, he got out of bed and fetched his pipe.

“Did you get mine?” Suvi asked when he got back in bed.

“Don’t know where you keep it.”

She felt her jaw tighten. “Never mind then. I’ll go without.”

“You can share with me,” he offered, as he lit the tabac and took a puff.

“No. I’ve already shared enough with you tonight.” Suvi felt unreasoning anger welling inside her, warmed and fed by the poteen. Within a minute it had boiled over. “Is this what I have to look forward to?”

The bowl of the pipe flared red and then subsided. “What do you mean, girl?”

“This... Filthy sheets and filthy skin. Why don’t I just go roll in some galeet shit? Save you from having to take another bath.”

“Would have thought you’d be pleased. Have a roof over your head, after all.”

Suvi laughed unkindly as she stared up at the blackened, greasy ceiling, festooned with cobwebs and water stains. “Yes. What a roof.”

He sounded genuinely confused. “Will you not be happy, living here with me?”

All at once it didn’t seem worth arguing about. “Humph. I am going to sleep.”

“Suit yourself. Have to be up early, anyway.”

She turned away from him and lay in the darkness, every muscle tense. Ludde finished the pipe and knocked out the remains on the floor. Then he rolled over and tucked his body into the curve of hers. She felt the scratch of his whiskers against her cheek. “I love you, girl. Do you love me too?”

Pretending that she slept seemed the kindest reply.

The fire died down to blood-tinted ash. Suvi listened to the sound of Ludde’s peaceful snores, feeling nothing but despondency. He had been kind, even generous in his own gruff way. And what had she given him in return? Nothing. Not even her thanks.

The seeds of discontent she had planted earlier in the evening would grow and grow — until they blossomed into hatred. They would drink and fight and drink some more, both red-faced and forever angry, like Goodman and Goodwife Kopjick.

Carefully, she unwound his arm from about her chest, and tucked it back against his side. He exhaled heavily but did not wake. Suvi dressed in the darkness without making any sound and then slipped the ring from her finger. She left it on the mantelpiece.

When she went outside, the moon and stars presided over the night, like frost-hearted gods. She looked back to the ramshackle shadow of the house. “Good-bye, Ludde. Forgive me. I guess I was the one who shouldn’t be trusted, after all.”

Suvi felt sudden regret that she hadn’t left him a note, but the chill wind hurried her onwards. It took her a long time to push her pede back up the beach, but the effort warmed her. By the time she started the engine she was well down the road.

But the sound came winging back to the house like a bird in the icy air. It woke Ludde. He lay in the darkness, pretending to himself that he didn’t recognize it, though he had lain and listened for the same sound many times before. Finally, hopelessly, he patted the covers beside him, and felt the cold emptiness. Then he wept.

* * * *

Carina stood dark and deserted. As much as she wanted to, Suvi could not force her leaden feet through the south wing and down the ladder to the sewer. Exhaustion and distress seemed as real a barrier as the impenetrable darkness of the stairwell.

Instead, she stumbled her way into the office and optimistically flicked the light switch. Nothing happened. But her bed remained — she could see the metal gleaming dully in a finger of light from outside. Someone had taken her sheets and blankets. The yitar, too, had gone.

Suvi took the stub of a candle from her desk drawer and lit it, then felt in her pocket for her pipe and tabac. The moth eaten remains of a blanket provided some relief from the numbing cold. The building, now aloof and quiet, settled around her as she smoked, leaving her with nothing but her unhappy thoughts.

She looked at the carved galeet on the bowl and spoke. “Ludde is used to being alone. Probably happier like that anyway.” But she couldn’t disregard his whispered endearment and the devotion with which he had kissed her.

She tried again. “He’ll soon forget about me.” The galeet stared back at her with blank accusation in its eyes. “Stop it! I love Tom, not him. I can’t help that, can I?”

After finishing the pipe, she wished she had something to drink, but there was no point in looking in the kitchen. She knew the departing residents of Carina would have stripped it bare. Sighing, she stretched out on the bed, and tried to sleep.

“Should I travel south and find some Harps?” she asked the ceiling. Its blank face didn’t offer any advice worth having. After a time she slept.

In a dream she wandered a building much like the factory that had once housed Carina. She passed through many familiar spaces, looking for something — or someone. But there were no people, only a collection of random objects crowding the rooms; unlikely pieces of furniture, machinery, even dusty velos and pedes.

“Tom!” she called, again and again, and then listened to the failing echoes of her own voice.

At the far end of a long hallway, filled with portraits of miserable-looking faces, she saw a door. Shadows rose to meet her as she ran forward, and tugged upon her sleeve. She struggled, needing to reach the light that bled like a sore from around the door frame. When she pulled on the handle, the door flew open.

She looked on a landscape of gently rolling hills covered in yellow flowers. The beauty stole her breath away. Slowly, with infinite care, she stepped out into the world.

Suvi woke to the sun filtering in from the cracked boards across the windows. She stretched and wondered at the time, then decided it hardly mattered. After straightening her clothes, she hurried through the south wing.

The familiar stench greeted her as she unlocked the door. Suvi did not hesitate on the slippery ladder, though the voices seemed louder and far more present than usual. The lights were brighter too, and flickered like white fire on the wet walls of the sewer tunnel. The vision of the yellow flowers drew her downwards — her last chance to leave the misery and cold of winter behind forever.

The others crowding the space before the portal were just as surprised as she was when she stumbled into their midst.

* * * *

The searchers had left, packed up with their shovels and picks on galeet-drawn sledges. Equipment left by the Grond had been stripped and cannibalized, and the weapons hidden away for another day, another war. Major Jack Bennett wandered amongst the fallen bunkers, feeling more and more lost. But he would not leave.

The ice and snow had frozen his grief, left him anesthetized.

When he returned to Litchfield, summer would be in full swing — the baseball season would have started. But there would be no Katy to cheer from the stands. His pain would thaw into a raw, black ache. He shook his head, wondering how he could possibly go back to playing a game for a living.

And anyway, no one but Tom Finn had ever been able to catch his knuckleball properly.

It wasn’t easy to cry, not in these temperatures, because tears froze almost as soon as they formed and rimed the lashes with uncomfortable icy grit. But Jack did.

His aide de camp approached, and coughed diplomatically. “The truck is ready to move, sir. I held them as long as I could. Are you ready?”

Jack turned away from the lake and stepped between the ragged mounds that the bombs had carved across the frozen landscape. She might very well be amongst them, one of the many unidentifiable heaps of ash and bone. He would never know.

And that was the worst part, really.

“All right, Pierson, let’s go. Can you get the driver to drop me on the way to town? I have some business on the Ayedeen Road, close to the beach.”

Pierson looked at him worriedly. “Yes, sir. But shouldn’t you go back to the barracks first? You haven’t had anything to eat all day.”

Jack shook his head hopelessly. “I’m not hungry.”

“The men are sorry for your loss, sir. They asked me to tell you. Said you were the best commander they ever had, for all you were from offshore.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Jack said gravely. “It means a lot to me.”

With one last look at the wasteland, he followed Pierson to the truck. The drive back took hours. Jack dozed, though the frozen logging road gave the truck’s suspension hell. As his eyes opened and closed, the scene flickered and changed. Katy in a bed, covered smooth and white with a blanket, just like the sculpted hillocks of snow passing by the truck windows.

Her chestnut hair lay on the pillow, spread out like a fan. When he saw her face, he somehow knew he was dreaming. She looked at peace, though medical machines surrounded her, and an IV drip. Jack wanted to say something, anything, to wake her, to bring her back to him.

“Katy,” he whispered. “Katy love, where are you?”

A white uniformed woman leaned over and adjusted the pillows. Katy’s eyes fluttered open and then closed again.

The nurse spoke in reassurance, though she was not sure her patient could understand. “You’ve had an accident, Miss Doe. But you are in St. Luke’s hospital, and we are taking good care of you. You will be fine in a couple of days. Fine.” She patted her arm and left.

The truck slewed round a mud-filled corner and woke him.

“Katy!” Jack jerked up straight and looked around. The driver paid strict attention to the road, not wishing to embarrass his passenger. Jack turned away from him, tucking his arms into his sides, curling up in an effort to stop the pain. It didn’t help.

* * * *

Calaan recognized her first, and quickly drew his side arm. The other grey-uniformed men gazed at Suvi with undisguised interest.

She stared at his handsomely brocaded greatcoat and polished leather boots. “You! What are you doing with my window?”

He smiled, and suddenly looked much older than sixteen. “But Suvi, it is our window now. Your government ceded it to Berengarth, quite ‘fair and square’ as you people say.”

Suvi’s eyes rested on the barrel of the gun. “I gave you a home. You and all your friends. And you betrayed me, you mangy son of a dureg. How could you?”

Calaan’s associates murmured at this insult, and one stepped forward with his beefy fingers drawn into a fist. “Do not speak to the Kepitan so, whore!”

Calaan quickly stepped between them. “Leave it, Braxy. Bind her — gently please. When the Commander comes, we will ask him what to do.” He turned his back and holstered his weapon. His men tied her arms and legs, but not without a certain amount of groping and suggestive whispers.

“Take your hands off me, Grond scum.” She struggled with them furiously and one bloodied her lip in retaliation. Calaan whirled, caught the offender by the sleeve and pulled him away.

“Go and see if there is anyone else in the building. She might not have come here on her own. Take Jeri with you. And make sure that hatch at the top of the ladder is locked.” They saluted sullenly and departed.

He squatted and then wiped the blood from her chin with a clean handkerchief. “Sorry about that. The men in the ranks are tired of the cold weather. It makes them a little crazy sometimes.”

She frowned and spat a petal of bloody sputum at his feet. “I don’t want your stinking apology, traitor! I can’t believe I defended you in the dining room that first morning. Hist! You must have been laughing to yourself the whole time.”

His voice was surprisingly soft. “I know you will not believe me, but I truly appreciated what you did. There are few of your people who possess such courage, Suvi. Many times I... regretted the task my Kolonel had given me, but I must follow orders. Do you understand?”

“Of course. I understand perfectly. You took advantage of the food and shelter I gave you and your friends to plant bombs all over Severnessa.”

He shrugged. “Another order. What would you have me do?”

She closed her eyes and twisted her head so that he could not see her face. “Only what you did, Calaan. ’Twas just the right thing for a Snake.”

He touched her hand and kept his voice very low. “Come now, Suvi. You don’t believe in that Soli nonsense any more than I do. We in Berengarth disposed of that antiquated arrangement years ago, when the Imperial Commander took control of the government. Now a man — any man — may work in whatever field he wishes.”

Her eyelids parted a fraction. “And folk may live where they like?”

Calaan nodded proudly. “Take me, for example. My father was a shoemaker in Arkanjela, a very poor man. But I was clever — studied languages, became an agent when I joined the Grond. I make good gelder, far more than my father ever saw. Even managed to save quite a lot. Now that the war is over I want to buy some land up in Fareniis, close to Lake Copaheg.”

That brought sparks of amber fire to her eyes. She spat, “You filthy Berengarther. You would sully my birthplace? I loved it there.”

“I know...” He glanced quickly back over his shoulder. The others were occupied throwing bits of brick into the noisome water, watching the brown rings spread and intersect. His voice grew even softer, so that she had to strain to hear. “Why do you think I chose it? I want to give you a home — just as you did for me.”

This was totally unexpected. Tears doused the fire. “Calaan...”

“Shhh...” he hissed, catching sight of the others returning. “We can talk about it later.” His voice deepened and he spoke with scorn. “Why are you here, Miss?”

Suvi frowned, but played along. “I came back to Carina to use the portal. There is nothing left in Severness for me. Why won’t you let me go, pisscock?”

But the sharp eyed Serjent had already seen more than he thought proper. “What is this, Kepitan? Consorting with the enemy now? I don’t think the Kolonel would be very impressed.”

Calaan rose and then crisply straightened his cap. “I have no obligation to give account of my doings to you. But I was questioning her, that is all.”

“Timms said you had gotten a little bit too close. I have an obligation to include this in my report, unless...”

He scowled. “Unless what, Serjent?”

Braxy looked over to Suvi and gave a predatory smile. She shrank back, for though she did not speak his language, his intentions were clear. “Give us some time with her. Just turn your back for a while. The Commander won’t be here for several more hours. You can even have a go if you...”

With a furious roar Calaan decked the Serjent, and he flew backwards into the fetid sewer. The others crowded around him, and he came up with his knife drawn.

Calaan whipped out his pistol. “The next man who moves will die. Do I make myself clear?”

Braxy let his knife hand slowly fall, but only as a feint. A brick whistled from behind him, and hit Calaan in the temple. He staggered and dropped the gun. Suvi screamed his name and tried to gain her feet. Jeri held her down as the others surrounded the fallen man.

He struggled weakly as Braxy kicked him in the stomach and pounded his face with the brass knuckles. “So, Kepitan! How do you like this, eh? Who will die now, do you think? And when we have finished with you then we will have a lovely time with your girl over there...”

“No. Suvi...” He screamed as a heavy boot came down on his fingers and ground them into the brick.

The rending, cracking sounds made Suvi want to vomit. She screamed and screamed, though the man guarding her stifled her mercilessly in an effort to make her stop. “No! Leave him alone, you murderers.”

Calaan’s voice, in between his cries of agony, floated through the air, sounding childish and uncertain, just as it had when she first met him. “Sorry... Suvi... I was meant to... protect. Protect you... I failed.”

Braxy turned, and wiped his bloody hands on his shirt. “Now, little darling, I speak in your tongue because I want you to understand exactly what we have planned for you. The rest of our Company will be here in a little while, but we have plenty of time to play before then.”

Droplets began to fall from the coved brick ceiling. Drip... Drip... Drip...

She tried bluster. “You won’t get away with this. Killing your commanding officer is still punishable by a firing squad, even amongst you lawless Grond.”

Drip...

Braxy spoke with soft menace. “But we didn’t do it, did we? You did. We tried to stop you.”

“I will soon tell your precious Imperial Commander the truth when he arrives.”

Drip...

He laughed at this, a thoroughly unpleasant sound. “You had better pray you won’t be alive by then. Because if by some miracle you are, we’ll just cut your tongue out.”

She struggled uselessly against her bonds as they approached her. A shower of dust from the ceiling made them all look up.

“Let... her... go...” Calaan groaned. “That’s an order, you idiots. She’s too important...”

A second drip started.

“Shut your bloody face!” Jeri turned back with his knife raised high.

The drips came fast, in a staccato rhythm that sounded just like the beating of a heart.

* * * *

When Jack reached Lut’s shack, the sun had just peeped over the horizon. He climbed the unsafe steps, and banged on the door. No one answered. “Lut? Are you in there?”

He looked over the mist and into the rising sun. The Sweet Poppy bobbed prettily in the waves. The rowing dory lay on its oarlocks in the sand, above the high tide line. After trying the door again, his vigorous pounding forced it open.

Jack stood still for a moment, amazed. He had never seen Lut’s house so tidy before. But Lut himself had gone, leaving a note propped on the table. Jack read it and swore, both in jubilation and fear. There was nothing he could do but hurry back down the beach and towards the road, wishing he could travel the way the others did.

Luck was with him. A farmer in a truck saw his uniform and stopped. “I need to get to Ebbetsfeld right away. The back gate. Can you take me?”

The farmer ruminated on this for a moment. “Aye. But what’s your hurry? Thought it was all over, I did.”

“I did too,” said Jack, happily. “But I was wrong.”

Chapter Seventeen

Tessa

When the Beautiful One comes, the winged warrior must fight with his eyes closed.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

A shrill noise woke Tessa. She groaned and tried to extricate herself from Jakob’s arms. “What is it?” he mumbled, and pulled the quilt over his head.

“My phone. Let me up. I need to see who it is.”

The phone beeped again, insistently. Tessa groaned when she saw the clock on the wall — 6am. She struggled upright, stole one of the blankets wrapped around Jakob, and tottered over to the table.

“Jesus. It’s Jane. I had better call her back.” Tessa hit redial and waited.

“Dr. Piper.”

“Jane? What is it? What’s happened?”

Jane’s voice sounded strained. “You had better come down here. Right now.”

“Where’s here?”

“St. Luke’s.”

“Are you all right?”

“I can’t talk. Go to the third floor nursing station and ask for me.”

“Jane? Jane?” Tessa shut the phone and looked helplessly at the brushed metal cover. “She hung up on me. But she sounded pretty upset. I need to go to the hospital.”

Jakob’s head emerged. “What?”

She threw a cushion at him. “Go back to sleep. I’ll handle it.” Tessa pulled on her clothes from last night and grabbed her keys.

Jakob burrowed under the blankets for a few seconds and then sighed. He slid off the couch, dressed quickly and met Tessa outside as she climbed in the driver’s seat of the Volvo.

It started with a cough. Tessa rolled down her window. “Where are you off to so early?”

“Grandmother’s. I want to ask her about the mirror — and see if she will make me some breakfast,” he added, with a grin. “Be careful.”

He kissed her through the driver’s side window and ambled barefoot down the path to Ellie Rayne’s cottage. The gear box gave a protesting thunk as Tessa threw the Volvo into reverse and backed out of the drive.

She made it to the hospital in record time. It seemed quiet, and not in the grip of some otherworldly attack as she had feared. After leaving her car in the public lot, she sprinted the quarter mile to the main building. The lobby, dressed in soothing greens and browns, greeted her with a hiss of air-conditioned calm.

Tessa studied the information board, and then took the elevator to the third floor, which housed the general ward for ill and injured patients.

“I’m looking for Dr. Jane Piper, the pathologist,” Tessa said breathlessly to the nurse at the station. He finished the form he had been filling out, and then looked up. “Is she here? Is she... all right?”

He drawled in a bored voice. “As far as I know, Lady. You want to wait here a minute?” Another nurse passed by, staring at a clipboard. “Which suite is our Jane Doe in?”

“350B,” she answered, without looking up from the file.

Tessa squirmed impatiently. “Can I see Dr. Piper? Please...”

He picked up the phone, spoke for a moment, and then hung up. “She says to go on back. Down that hallway, and to the left. But it isn’t strictly visiting hours, so you can’t stay long.” Tessa waved her hand vaguely in his direction as she sprinted away. “And no running in the hospital!”

The door to Room 350B was closed. Tessa knocked once and pushed on the latch. She saw Jane, standing reassuringly upright next to a hospital bed. The woman in the bed stirred and sighed, but seemed to be unconscious. A drip and monitoring device screened most of someone sitting in a chair. A man with blond hair, cut close.

Jane turned, but it was the man who spoke, words thick with fatigue and fear. “She shouldn’t be in here.”

The voice belonged to Tom Finn.

Jane grabbed Tessa and dragged her from the room.

“Jane! What in the hell is going on?” Tessa shook her head in amazement. “That was Tom — the guy I told you about. From the past...”

“Shhh... Don’t say anything else. Come on. Let’s get some coffee. I’ll explain on the way.”

“But... But...” She had to run to catch Jane as she retreated down the hall.

Once they stood in the anonymity of the elevator, she spoke. “He brought her to my apartment late last night. At first I didn’t believe he knew you, but when his story checked out with yours I decided I had to help. We brought her here and I pulled a couple of strings to get her admitted as a Jane Doe.”

Tessa shook her head at Jane’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of favors. “Who... is it? In the bed. Is it Suvi?”

Jane shook her head. “I don’t think so. Tom won’t tell me her name, but she has red-brown hair and green eyes. She doesn’t look anything like the pictures I’ve seen of your grandmother.”

The elevator discharged them into the basement level cafeteria. Tessa found a quiet corner table, while Jane got the coffee.

“Is she going to be all right?”

Jane nodded as she polished the steam from her glasses with a napkin. “She had some serious internal bleeding, but we stabilized her last night. That guy Tom is an amazing surgeon.”

“So what happened?”

Jane looked up and waved. “Here he comes, you can ask him yourself.”

Tom pulled a chair up to the table and sat, then rubbed his crew cut wearily. “Hello, Tessa.”

She gave him a guarded greeting. “Tom... Why are you here?”

“I had to bring her somewhere. She got hurt in the shelling.”

“But why St. Luke’s, for god’s sake?”

“You told me your friend was a doctor, remember? I thought she could help.” He gave Jane a grateful smile. “And she did. She found an empty operating theatre and assisted with the anesthesia. We had to do everything very quickly and quietly.” He gulped down his steaming hot coffee and put the mug back on the table.

Tessa sat back in her chair. “Was that a good idea?”

Jane shrugged. “She almost certainly would have died, otherwise.”

She could only take Jane at her word. “Who is she, anyway?”

Tom stared down at the brown ring in the bottom of his empty mug. “Katy Bennett. She is ... a colleague of mine. I’m sorry if I caused any trouble. As soon as I can, I will take her back to Severnessa. Probably by tomorrow.”

“You can’t move her until she regains consciousness,” Jane said flatly.

Tessa frowned. “She hasn’t woken yet? That can’t be good.”

Jane shook her head. “She is still very weak, but it isn’t clear why.”

Tom stood, swaying slightly. “Katy will pull through. I know it.”

Jane gazed at him. “When is the last time you had some sleep, Tom? You can’t keep going on coffee and sweet rolls forever.”

“I don’t know. Maybe three days ago? It doesn’t matter. Right now, I have to go back to Severnessa and talk to Jack. I left a message with Lut, about Katy, but I didn’t have time to explain anything properly. You will take care of her, won’t you?”

Jane smiled. “Of course.”

After Tom left, Tessa said wryly, “You are taking this all very well, Dr. Piper.”

“What else am I supposed to do? I didn’t exactly get a choice. You dragged me into all this.” Despite her words, Jane actually looked quite pleased.

“I know, and I am sorry.” Tessa reached over and patted Jane’s hand. “I’ve been a rotten friend. Forgive me?”

Jane’s voice was brusque. “Nothing to forgive. You know I...” The sound of Tessa’s phone interrupted her.

Tessa took the call and listened for a moment. “OK. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She dropped the phone in her bag and dug for her car keys. “That was Jakob. He says there is something wrong with Ellie. I have to go. Keep in touch,” she called back over her shoulder. “I want to know when Katy wakes up.”

* * * *

When she reached Ellie’s cottage, Jakob met her at the door. “Grandmother is in bed,” he whispered. “She looks fine, like she is just asleep. But I’ve been trying for half an hour to wake her.”

Tessa followed him through to the bedroom. As he had said, Ellie lay on her back, breathing peacefully, with her eyes closed. Tessa shook her shoulder. “Ellie? Wake up.” She sighed, but did not stir. “Maybe she had a stroke in the night. We should call an ambulance.”

As they passed back into the kitchen, Jakob asked, “What did Jane want?”

“God. You won’t believe it. Tom Finn showed up at her door last night with some injured woman, named Katy. Apparently...”

Jakob stopped abruptly and put a hand to his forehead, as though it pained him. “Katy... Bennett?”

Tessa nodded as she picked up the phone, preparing to dial 911. He took the handset from her and placed it back in the cradle. “What are you doing? Ellie needs to go to the hospital.”

He shook his head. “We can’t take her any closer. Sweet Ods, this is bad. He couldn’t have known though.”

Tessa looked mystified. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Katherine Ella Bennett is my grandmother.”

“But you told me that Ellie Rayne was...” Tessa sat down abruptly. “My god, are you saying they are the same person?”

He nodded slowly.

“So now there are two of them — in Cloudy Bay?”

He nodded again. “That’s why we can’t wake her. The presence of this other has halved her anafireon — her life force. Ellie is in grave danger as long as her younger self remains here. Is my cousin Fyn at the hospital now? I have to talk to him.”

“Cousin?” Tessa shook her head. “One of these days you really must explain your family tree to me. But anyway, no, he isn’t. He said he had to go back to Severnessa.”

“Then I had better go too. Stay here with her. I’ll come back as soon as I can, but it may take me awhile. I’m nowhere near as good at navigation as Lut is.”

Tessa stood suddenly, and laid a hand on Jakob’s arm. “Yesterday at Joe’s, Ellie showed me what the mirror could do. Did she tell you that?” He shook his head quickly, impatient to be on his way. “She breathed on it, and then I saw a face I recognized. I thought it was you, but now... I think it must have been your brother.”

He frowned. “So?”

“He looked hurt — maybe badly. If he is in Severnessa, it might be dangerous. You need to be careful.”

Jakob pulled away, and spoke stiffly. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“I’m sorry. I guess I just forgot about it in all the excitement yesterday. Are you going to try and find him?”

“No. Why should I?” He stuffed his hands down into his jeans pockets and turned away from her.

She softly called him back. “Jakob... Tom told me something, the night I went to Severnessa. He said you blamed Lut for your wife’s death, but it wasn’t really his fault. Why would he say that?”

He whirled, eyes blazing, fists clenched. “What the hell? Was he saying it was my fault? Because it wasn’t. If she hadn’t been so stubborn...” Jakob covered his face with his hand. “I don’t want to talk about this now.” But when Tessa took his arm and led him to the couch, he came willingly enough.

“Tell me what happened. Jack and Tom can wait a few moments.”

“It happened just like I said. She went to Rythis and they were waiting.”

“Oh. And you are sure he set the whole thing up?”

“Yes!” He bent his head. “I guess. If she had just listened to me, then...”

He stopped talking, and ran his fingers through his hair. Tessa sat silently, waiting for him to continue. Eventually he did, in a very low voice. “She wanted to come with me, to hunt for Tristan. In some ways, Maia was a lot like you.”

Tessa gave him a surprised sideways glance. “Like me?”

He grinned humorlessly. “Plucky but daft. I told her to go home — back to Mornguard, but she wouldn’t listen. We argued, and she called me a brainless piece of shite. I’m sure you can sympathize.”

Tessa only nodded.

“We were passing close to Rythis, and she said she was going to stop there if I wouldn’t agree to her coming along with me.” He took a deep ragged breath and Tessa took his hand. “I let her go on alone, because I was angry. Lut had said it was a safe place, so I didn’t think...” His lips began to tremble. “I didn’t think she would be in any danger.” A sob escaped before he could stifle it. “I went back afterwards, and found what was left of her.”

“Oh Jakob. I am so sorry.”

“I know. And so am I. Very, very sorry.” He raised his head and gazed at her through tear-filled eyes. “Now do you understand why I wanted to keep you safe?”

Tessa kissed him rather than answer his question. “Go on now. Find your brother and help him. It is the only way you will ever truly be at peace with yourself.”

“All right. I’ll try. But Lut won’t accept any help from me, I promise you.”

* * * *

Tessa sat by Ellie’s bed, watching her sleep. The old-fashioned lilac colored chenille bedspread rose and fell, as though it held life as well as warmth within it. Probably been here since the forties, Tessa thought — much like Ellie herself. Where had she come from? And why had she changed her name? Tessa had quite a few questions to ask Ella Rayne, but they would have to wait until she woke.

If she woke.

She studied the woman’s pale hands. The veins stood out, carving the flesh into ridges and valleys, the contours of age. At that moment, Ellie looked very, very old.

Tessa’s mobile rang, a muffled sound by the time it reached the bedroom from the kitchen. Tessa rose, sighing, and crossed the floor, sliding her feet along the rough but perfectly clean pine planking. She stepped over a colorful rag rug that Ellie had woven.

Tessa put on the kettle, then checked the call log. Jane. Good, that meant Katy had woken — they could move her as soon as Tom returned.

But Jane’s voice, when she answered Tessa’s return call, sounded curt and worried. “We’ve got problems. Katy is going downhill, fast. Dr. Peters has just given the order to shift her to the ICU, but because she is a Jane Doe with no insurance, they want to move her to City General first. You had better let Tom know.”

Tessa sat down at the table. “I... don’t think I can. And Jakob has already gone. Is she going to be all right?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t look good though. I wish I knew what was wrong with her.”

Tessa sucked in a breath.

The presence of this other has halved her anafireon — her life force. Ellie is in grave danger as long as her younger self remains here.

She spoke quickly. “I think I do. And moving her to City General isn’t going to help one bit. We’ve got to get her back to her own time. Right now.”

“What? Are you crazy? How are we going to do that?”

She thought for a moment. “Which one of the ambulance drivers owes you a favor?”

* * * *

It had been easier than they thought to persuade St. Luke’s to let them take Jane Doe away. Dr. Piper convinced them she would be better off at the “private clinic” to which they planned to transport her. And the ambulance driver was all too happy to drive them to Anenoa State Park.

“After all,” Jane whispered, as they loaded Katy into the back, “I fudged the details of his uncle’s death a little. No mention of the position in which he was found, or the reading materials involved.”

Tessa shook her head. “You are amazing, Jane. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Jane dropped her eyes, peering through her hair like a curtain. “You’d be fine. After the way you took on those Polys, I believe you could do anything.”

“I don’t think so.” She patted Jane’s arm. “I still need my friends.”

They settled Katy in the back. Jane said, “You had better ride up front with Frank, and tell him the way. I’ll stay back here and keep an eye on her. If your theory is correct, then she may improve the further we get from Cloudy Bay.”

With the lights and siren blaring, the trip took under two hours. The driver gave Tessa a series of increasingly uncomprehending looks as they wound their way up the gravel roads to the site. “Are you sure?” he asked, when she pointed to a narrow, grass covered set of tire tracks. “This doesn’t look right.”

Tessa tried to project a confidence she didn’t feel. “Yes, we are almost there.”

She hadn’t settled on what she would do if the students had returned to the site. How would she explain a comatose woman on a litter? Some kind of Native American healing ceremony, Tessa decided, as they rounded the last bend.

At first she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the parking lot was empty. Then she saw the tail end of a car parked beyond the hut. A black Porsche 911.

Ted’s car.

Frank noticed Tessa’s alarmed expression. “Everything OK? Is this where you meant for me to drop you off? Where in the hell are you going from here?”

Tessa shrugged. “Yeah, everything’s fine. You can only reach the clinic on foot. We’ll need to borrow a stretcher, but Jane will get it back to you.”

“No problem.”

They opened the double doors in the back. Jane climbed out, blinking in the bright sunshine.

“How is she?”

“The same, pretty much. Her blood pressure stopped dropping once we left the city limits, but she hasn’t stirred.” Jane looked around. “Oh crap! Is that you-know-who’s car over there?”

Tessa nodded. “He’s probably in the cave. We’ll have to get past him.”

Jane looked troubled by this. “How? Didn’t you say he had a gun?”

Tessa withdrew the knife from her purse. “I have a weapon too, remember? And this time I won’t hesitate to hurt him if he gets in my way.”

Frank’s eyes went wide. “Uh, ladies, if you are through with my ambulance, I’d...”

“Sure thing,” Jane said. “But I need to borrow your trauma bag. Just in case.”

He eyed the knife. “Of course. You want something, you take it, Dr. Piper.”

The three of them moved Katy onto a lightweight stretcher. Then Tessa and Jane each took an end, and walked up the trail. The ambulance tires spat dusty gravel.

After five minutes, the climb had almost robbed their ability to speak. “This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” puffed Tessa.

“Just keep going. I don’t want to have to perform cardiac massage on her.”

“You may end up using it on me,” Tessa joked weakly. “My heart feels like it is about to burst.”

They had to stop four times to rest and catch their breath. Each time Katy Bennett’s face looked more ashen, and drove them to pick up the handles and continue. Tessa wiped the sweat from her eyes. “God, Jane. What if I was wrong? What if I’ve killed her by bringing her here?”

“Quit worrying. It is too late to back out now, anyway. I wonder if Ellie is doing any better?”

“I told Joe to get in touch if there was any change. He promised to call an ambulance once we left the city. I guess we won’t find out anything else until we get back.”

After an exhausting hour they reached the lookout at the top of the trail and laid Katy down carefully on the bench. Tessa rubbed her aching forearms. “I’m going ahead to scout out the cave. If Ted is in there, I would rather meet him when I am not attached to the end of a stretcher.” Tessa smiled. “Anyway, maybe I can persuade him to help us.”

Jane snorted. “Ha ha. And I will get back into those jeans I used to wear in high school.”

Tessa crossed the scree slope, wondering how the two of them would manage with the heavy burden they had to carry. She could see the gully ahead of her, the rocks almost blindingly white in the sunlight. Beyond, the shadow seemed impenetrable, two-dimensional and black.

Except for one drifting patch of darkness. Broad shouldered, and dressed in a suit.

“Damn,” Tessa whispered. “Where is your buddy?”

She spotted him, a moment later, carrying a limp bundle under one arm. A bundle dressed in new-looking jeans, and a black turtleneck. Tessa’s eyes involuntarily strayed downwards as something crunched under her foot. She stooped and retrieved a pair of oval tortoiseshell eyeglass frames, the lenses cracked and tinged with red.

Ted’s glasses.

Her eyes followed the path the Polys had taken. Rusty splashes decorated the gravel.

Ted’s blood.

She thought about running. The Polys hadn’t seen her, yet, and they were heading in the opposite direction. She and Jane could carry Katy back down, steal the Porsche and get the hell out of there.

But her conscience wouldn’t let her leave Ted, even though she had threatened only an hour ago to hurt him herself. “Oh, you are going to owe me big time for this, Dr. Black. Tenure... My own office... No eight o’clock classes...” Tessa’s list of demands grew and grew as she scrambled over the last of the bloodstained gravel. “Assuming he is still alive,” she warned herself realistically. “But dead people don’t bleed, do they?”

Jane, who could have answered the question, was safely back at the overlook.

By the time she reached the deep shade of the gully, the Polys and their wilted prisoner were nowhere in sight. She eyed the cave mouth. If an ambush lay ahead, that would be the perfect place to spring it. But the Polys, who stood six feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds, would have had difficulty squeezing through that crack themselves.

Then she remembered Ted’s words:

The cave has two entrances, and only one is even remotely accessible to the students. Only I know the other’s location.

She knelt and examined the ground outside the cave. The dim light did not reveal any signs of movement, or spots of blood. Tessa stood and backed away, trying to find the path the Polys had taken. After a few moments of diligent searching she found a faint trail that climbed beside and above the waterfall. With one last look back over her shoulder she started the ascent.

The second opening was actually easier to find. No overhanging vines disguised it. But it stood beyond a white-knuckle ledge that Tessa had to negotiate with nothing but finger and toe holds, without looking down. Once she reached the relatively flat vestibule she gave a sigh of relief, and hoped that she might be able to exit through the lower door. She paused only long enough to withdraw Tom’s knife from her pack.

Without further hesitation, Tessa plunged into the cool quiet of the cave. She could hear the filtered drip of water, and nothing else. Nothing to tell her which way she should go.

Tessa realized she could wander all day and never find Ted or the Polys. Meanwhile, Katy Bennett might well be dying outside in the cruel bright sun. She turned around, muttering. “Fine. First things first. You’ll just have to wait, Ted.”

Just then, a feeling — faint, indefinable, made her fingers tighten on the hilt of the knife. There was no sound, none at all, only a current of cold air that brushed against her cheek like frozen wing tip. Slowly, very slowly, Tessa looked back over her shoulder. She could see nothing and yet she knew, without hesitation, that the Polys had just passed that way.

Creeping now, she moved up the tunnel, wondering how far ahead they were. Faint moans reached her ears. She didn’t have time to wonder how or why the Polys had decided to keep Ted alive, but a part of her, a very small part, was glad that they had.

They weren’t bothering with anything like stealth. Tessa managed to slide to within striking distance before either of them heard her. She went for the unburdened one first, stabbing between the ribs, just under his shoulder blade. It staggered and fell, but its companion did not stop or look back.

After yanking the knife free, Tessa followed at a distance, waiting for a chance to rush the second Poly. Ted continued to groan pitifully at intervals. The Poly moved on confidently, though the tunnel was pitch-dark. Even Tessa, with her extraordinary night vision, found it difficult going. She tried to remember the passageway she had taken before to the cave with the remains and the portal. This path did not feel the same. It was wider, smoother, and seemed to be sloping uphill rather than down.

For the first time she wondered where the Poly was going and whether it was a good idea to be following.

The tunnel opened into a cavern, dimly lit from above. Tessa recoiled as she saw the human remains littering the floor — skulls, thigh bones and vertebrae all scattered like blocks in a child’s room.

The Poly dumped Ted unceremoniously onto the rocks and then turned around, obviously searching for something. Its eyes skimmed over Tessa and kept moving, in the way a snake sometimes unconsciously slithers over a hunter’s boot.

After tensing herself to fight, this non-reaction made her almost dizzy.

She walked towards it, still unbelieving. The Poly had chosen a place just beyond her left shoulder to fix its eyes. It stood stock still, waiting. Even when she cut its throat, it did not look down at her. The caustic blood splashed against her hand, and she swore.

“T... Tessie?” Her name came out in a thin, broken wheeze.

Ted still lay face down where the Poly had dropped him. She knelt by his side. “Yes. Can you walk?”

“Uh... I... Don’t know. Don’t think so.”

A skittering sound made her look up. Bats, or something worse? “You have to. Get up, Ted. Now.”

Tessa slipped her arms around his ribs and pulled him upwards. She couldn’t suppress a moan of horror when she saw what they had done to his face. “Ted, listen. There might be more on the way. We have to get out of here.”

“Go on. Leave me here. Not going to...”

His body shuddered, once.

Somehow she lifted him into a fireman’s carry, and staggered back up the tunnel. The light from the cavern died, but Tessa kept going, sensing her way in the darkness. She could feel Ted’s breath, heavy and wet on her cheek.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why... are you helping me?”

“Don’t know,” she gasped back. Ahead, the tunnel divided into two branches. She had no clue which one they had come through. “Need to rest for a minute.” Tessa lowered Ted to the ground as gently as she could. He whimpered a little and then lay still. She moved forward easily now, trying to figure out which path would take them back to the outside.

The glowing hands on her watch said she had been gone for fifteen minutes already. Jane would be getting anxious. “Tessie?”

She turned back towards Ted. “What?”

“How in hell can you see where you are going?”

“I have good night vision, I guess.”

“Uh-uh. I know damned well there is more to it than that.”

“Don’t be silly, Ted. It’s just a...”

“Then how did you kill those things back there?” he interrupted tiredly.

“That? Well, that was the knife, not me.”

Although Ted was still in a lot of pain, he warmed to the argument. “What about that weird language you talk in your sleep?”

“Do I? How come you never mentioned it before now?”

He struggled up on to one elbow and tried to find her face in the darkness, without success. “I never thought it was important, but now I do. Redden said something about a weapon...”

She frowned, not liking the direction Ted was taking. “I heard what he said.”

“Well, what did he mean? At first, I thought it was that bloody shiv you whipped out at my place, but it isn’t. You are one of them, aren’t you?”

“I don’t even know what they are. And neither do you. But even if what you said is true, which it isn’t, I don’t see how that helps us.”

“No,” he said, disappointed. “I guess not.”

“Do you want to try walking a little? You can lean on me.” She knelt beside him, and offered her arm. He couldn’t see, but found her by casting about with his hands.

Slowly he staggered to his feet and she put an arm around his waist. “Come on, I’m pretty sure we need to go this way. We’ll be out of here in no time.”

“Sure, babe,” agreed Ted faintly.

But the tunnel Tessa had chosen soon betrayed her optimism. The rocky roof lowered until they had to hobble with bent knees. Abruptly the ground fell away into a deep fissure. Ted would have walked straight into it if she hadn’t stopped him.

Tessa sighed explosively. “Shit. We are fucking lost.”

Ted collapsed like a folding umbrella by the side of the hole, too tired and injured to care much. “Why don’t you go back? I’ll stay here and...”

“No! I won’t leave you.” But a glance at the luminous hands of her watch showed half an hour had passed since she left Jane and Katy. Tessa sat down with her back to the wall, trying to fight down panic. “I don’t know the way. If only we could find one of those other portals. Do you...”

“There is only one. I lied.”

She groaned. “Of course you did. I should have known. Now we really are screwed.” But somehow, in the middle of this hopelessness, an idea came to Tessa — something so farfetched she hardly felt she could mention it.

You won’t need the door, not with me.

“I... There is something we could try. But it’s crazy. It won’t work.”

“What are you talking about?”

Make a picture in your mind of the place you wish to go.

“Stand up and I will show you. Think about the overlook outside the cave entrance.”

“What the hell? Why should I?”

She grabbed his arm, thinking that she was going to look like a complete ass when it didn’t work. “Just do it. Think hard.”

Tessa fiercely imagined the overlook, with Jane and Katy on the bench, then stepped forward and a little to the left, the same way Tom had.

Ted felt like a lead weight on her arm. Nothing happened.

She sighed her disappointment. “Ok, we’ll try it again. See if you can move with me this time. And think about the overlook.”

“I’ll think you are losing it — because you are,” Ted said acidly, but shifted when she did.

Seconds later, a roaring torrent of light swallowed them both.

Chapter Eighteen

Suvi

As members of the same Soli, many teachers struggle to remain impartial with their Cloud students.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

* * * *

The sewer ceiling caved in. Suvi screamed as the man who had been about to attack her disappeared under a pile of bricks and the substantial form of Ludde Armstrong. The others in Calaan’s patrol scattered in terror, running back up the sewer or through the portal.

Chasing them didn’t seem worth the bother, so he let them go. “All right?”

She nodded as he knelt to cut her bonds. “Ludde... Thank the saints. I am so happy to see you.”

He stood and backed away from her. “Are you?”

His bitterness was obvious, like a wall between them. Suvi got to her feet, rubbing her wrists to help the circulation return. “I’m sorry I ran away. But...”

“Don’t say anything,” he interrupted. “It doesn’t matter.” They stared at each other for a long moment, neither aware of the stealthy movement from beneath the pile of bricks. Calaan’s croaked warning caused Ludde to turn, but not soon enough. Braxy smashed Ludde’s cheek with the brass knuckles and then plunged the knife into his abdomen; he gave a strangled scream and collapsed.

Suvi hadn’t been idle. At Calaan’s urging she dug frantically through the bricks for his sidearm. She came up with it, just as Braxy raised the knife again, intending to finish off Ludde. The recoil almost flattened her as she fired. Braxy flew backwards almost as gracefully as a dancer, and landed in the water. His body was sucked beneath the greasy muck and did not reappear.

Frozen in place, she tried to decide what to do. Would the others be back? Could she help both Ludde and Calaan before then, and if not — how could she choose between them? Suvi decided, in the end, that whatever she did would probably be wrong.

She went to Calaan first. Blood loss had given his lips a suggestion of blue. But when he felt the coolness of her hand upon his face he opened his eyes. “Pretty Suvi. Won’t be able to build that house for you now.” He took a deep breath, trying to push the words out. “But I wanted to, even though I failed you. You must believe me...”

Suvi saw that he was shivering, so she removed her cardigan and tucked it around his shoulders. “I do... believe you. And I might have lived there, who knows? But now the Lemma birds on Lake Copaheg must call for others. I will never look upon its beauty again.”

“W... Why?”

Gently she wiped away the blood and spittle leaking from his mouth. “Because it would only bring me sadness, Calaan.”

“Not... my name, not really.” Somehow he smiled, and the sight of his broken and bloody teeth turned Suvi’s stomach. “My friends call me Yasha. You... can say that, can’t you?”

It seemed terribly important to him, so Suvi carefully repeated, “Yash-a.”

He clutched at her arm. “My treasure...”

She blushed, wondering if it was an endearment. “What? Ca... I mean, Yasha, what are you...?”

“Gelder, much gelder. I hid it, had to keep it safe. The others would have...” He took a deep, agonized breath. “Papa Kewil’s house. Hellenstrasse, in Arkanjela.”

Suvi sat back on her heels, thoroughly confused. “You hid some money at your father’s house in Arkanjela?”

His voice got softer and softer, fading into nothingness. “Did you know that the Lemmas carry the souls of dead soldiers to their rest? When you hear their piping you could think of me, sometimes. Think of...” Yasha twitched once, and then lay still. Suvi stared at his body, too numbed to cry.

“Suvi?” Ludde’s voice, low and agonized, dragged her from Yasha’s side. He had bunched his shirts over the gaping wound in his belly, but the blood continued to run in narrow rivulets across the floor before joining other less vital bodily fluids in the sewer.

She kept her eyes firmly on his face. “Ludde, I am here. I will stay with you now.”

He shook his head in frustration. “Tom is upstairs, waiting for Jack. Find him, but go carefully. There will be more of those Berengarthers. You heard what they said — the Imperial Commander is coming.” His eyes closed briefly as he gathered strength. “Ach, go on girl. What’s the use of sitting with another dying man?”

The tears that she had thought were ice-locked now burst forth. “No! You can’t die. I am going to take care of you. We will live together by the sea, just as you wanted. I’ll be happy — I swear it. Please...”

His voice was harsh. “Forget about me. You can’t go on doing for others your whole life.”

Inside her, like a perfect snowflake, lay the bleak awareness he was right. She got up and left his side. “I will find Tom and come back as soon as I can.”

He had closed his eyes, and didn’t speak in return. Suvi, somehow sure he would be dead by the time she returned, fell to her knees and kissed his mouth. “Goodbye, dear Ludde. I am sorry. Sorry for everything.” She turned from him and then scrubbed her lips vigorously with the back of her hand, trying to rid herself of the bitter taste of his blood.

Jeri had slid the rusty bolt home on the trapdoor, and Suvi could not budge it. Cursing, she slid back down the ladder and picked up one of the bricks. With this crude hammer she managed to break the door open, and climbed back to the basement level under the factory floor. She crossed towards the stairs, giving the crumbling hole a wide berth. Ludde had used a huge iron I-beam to break through the brick flooring, and then tossed it carelessly aside, as though it had been a crowbar.

Once inside the main room she peered into the shadows. “Tom?” she hissed. “Tom, where are you?” She heard nothing but her own heartbeat. Suvi kept to the perimeter of the room, and made for the kitchens. The departing Carinians had thoroughly ransacked them, as she expected. Nothing remained except the brick ovens, which had been too massive to remove.

Tears welled up again at the memories awoken by the faint smell of wood smoke, bread and cabbage. She stood in the middle of the floor, and tried to blink them away. Ludde came towards her from the dining room.

“Ludde! You are all right?” He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Suvi backed away fearfully, for she saw by his expression he did not understand her. He had become a ghost, already more than halfway on his journey to the land of Shadow.

“Lut?” the ghost asked urgently. “Lut?”

She belatedly noticed that his shirt looked different than the one Ludde had been wearing. It was clean, for one thing, and smelled of flowers. Another even more astonishing idea took hold. “Jay— cob?”

He nodded in surprise, and spoke more words she didn’t understand. Suddenly, Suvi remembered that Ludde might not have much time left. She grabbed Jakob’s hand and dragged him back across the warehouse to the ladder. They stopped above the trapdoor and Suvi pointed. “Down there,” she said, though she knew he couldn’t speak her tongue.

A voice, high-pitched, female, drifted upwards. Suvi’s eyebrows shot up. “He was alone when I left,” she whispered uselessly. “We had better...”

But Jakob pushed past her, plainly unafraid, and quickly negotiated the ladder.

She listened to their conversation long enough to realize that these off-worlders evidently knew one another, and then followed Jakob down. The new woman bent over Ludde, and Suvi could tell by the swift and competent motion of her hands that she must be a doctor. Already she had stanched the bleeding and was busy filling a syringe with some clear solution from an ampoule.

Jakob stood by her, wringing his hands with worry. He spoke anxiously, and the woman’s voice sounded soothing as she answered. Suvi understood nothing but the words ‘Tom’ and ‘Katy.’

Of course — this must be some friend of Tom’s. Another physician. Suvi found this inexplicable invasion of strangers in her sanctum distressing. She spoke to the others harshly. “What do you want with my window? Why are you here?”

Jakob looked to her and said a few terse words, but again she understood nothing. With a cry of frustrated anger, she scurried back up the ladder.

It didn’t take her long to find Tom and Katy. He had stayed upstairs with the stretcher in a small room close to the office. Suvi could plainly hear the murmur of their conversation as she peeped through the dusty glass panel next to the door frame. Tom’s back was to the window. He sat close to Katy, and held her hand. After a moment he raised it to his lips and held it there for a long time, and then said something. Though Suvi could not comprehend the words she could tell they were tender. Katy smiled sadly and nodded.

She had seen enough. Carefully, quietly, she backed away, and then went back to the kitchen. After swinging open the cast iron door, she climbed inside the largest of the brick ovens and shut herself away from it all.

* * * *

“Is he going to make it?” Jakob asked for the hundredth time.

“I hope so,” Jane answered. “But we need to get him to a hospital soon.”

Lut twitched as Jane applied another pressure dressing to the wound. Jakob hovered like an irresolute vulture. “Is he conscious? Can I speak to him?”

“No, I don’t think so. Probably just as well. He’d be in a lot of pain if he was.” She sighed and looked up at Jakob. “Where did Suvi run off to? She sounded pretty upset. Wish we could talk her language. She might be able to tell us what happened here.”

A deep voice called from above. “We are going to lower Katy down through the hole. Can you steady her?”

Jakob walked over to the pile of bricks on the floor and stared up through the hole in the ceiling. He recognized both Tom and the tall man with the bristling moustache. “Jack! When did you get here?”

“A moment ago. I had a long ride in a slow hay cart. Tom told me about Lut. How is he?”

“Getting better, I hope. Jane is seeing to him.”

He raised his arms as the stretcher, attached to a couple of ropes, swung its way down from the shattered roof. Gently, he guided it down to the floor. Jack and Tom appeared at his side a moment later. Jack had a wooden box perched on one shoulder. He lowered it down to the ground with a sigh.

Katy looked up from the stretcher and smiled. “Thank you, Jakob. It still amazes me how alike you and Lut are.”

Jakob shrugged, not knowing what to say. “I’m glad you are feeling better, Grandmother.”

Jane, hearing this, gave him a disbelieving look, and then focused her attention back to Lut. Jack gazed at her. “Is this little lady the other person I need to thank for saving Katy’s life?” He slapped Tom on the back, and Tom winced. “Besides my catcher here, I mean.”

Jakob nodded. “I guess so. But we have other things to worry about right now. There has been some kind of trouble down here, and I don’t think we should hang around. Lut can’t tell us anything, and Suvi seems to have run off...”

Tom’s voice was sharp. “Suvi was here?”

“Yeah, but she left a while ago. We couldn’t talk to her, but I think she was pretty upset.”

Jack and Tom exchanged glances and then looked at the box between them. “I have to find her before I get started,” Tom said softly.

Lut’s eyes fluttered open momentarily as he muttered, “Suvi... Where is my wife?” Jane gave him another injection and his face suddenly went slack.

Tom stared down at him, obviously disturbed. “What did he just say?”

Jane shrugged. “He is delirious. That’s all.”

“What’s in there?” Jakob asked, pointing to the box.

“Dynamite,” Jack answered. “We plan to blow this place up before the Grond can...”

“Not we... Me. You need to get Katy back to Litchfield, and into hospital.”

“Tom!” Katy protested. “We can’t leave you here to mop up everything.”

“Yes you can. I didn’t just travel halfway across the cosmos and back to see you getting hurt again.” He stood before Jack, glaring fiercely. “For the gods’ sake — take her and go, before anything else happens.”

Jack growled in mock seriousness. “Are you giving me an order, Captain Finn?”

Tom’s eyes flashed. He looked genuinely angry. “Yes. The war’s over. You have to listen to me now.”

Jack seemed oblivious. He grinned and enveloped Tom in a bear hug. “Of course. But you will come back when you are done here, won’t you?”

“Yes, come back,” Katy echoed. “Litchfield wouldn’t be the same without you, Tom. Who’ll be my dancing partner at the next Hunt Club ball?”

Tom stared at the hole in the ceiling thoughtfully. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

Jane spoke to Jack. “Can you leave me the stretcher? We are going to need it for Lut, I’m afraid.”

“Sure, Doc. And may I shake your hand before Katy and I go? Tom told me she wouldn’t have made it without your help.” Jane stood and stripped off the bloody latex gloves she had been wearing. Jack stuck out his hand, but then pulled her into an embrace. “I can never thank you enough for giving my life back to me,” he whispered to her.

Jane, completely flustered, could only murmur, “No problem. Any time.”

Jack released her and then gently gathered Katy up in his arms. “I left the detonator and wire upstairs in Suvi’s office. Good luck with it.” He looked at the portal with undisguised apprehension. “Are you sure this thing will work?”

Katy laughed, and then made a face at the soreness she felt. “We will get there, don’t worry! I’ll navigate.” She looked back towards Tom and met his eyes. “Go and find her. Don’t worry about me anymore.” She stared up at her husband’s face and smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

He nodded, almost unwillingly. “Farewell, Katy. Don’t forget what I told you.”

“I won’t. Good-bye, Tom. Good-bye, Jakob. Thank you, Dr. Piper. I hope Lut will soon be well.”

“Bye, all,” said Jack, with an easy smile. “If you are ever in Litchfield, Ohi...”

The portal swallowed his last words. Tom turned away and squatted before the box of dynamite, then fixedly studied the contents. It was a minute or more before he spoke. “You know anything about demolition?” he asked Jakob.

Jakob shook his head. “Less than nothing. But I’ll help if you want.”

“We need to get your brother out of here,” insisted Jane. “He’s hypovolemic, for sure. Needs oxygen, and a transfusion. God only knows if we can match his blood type, so you’ll have to be the donor. And anyway, what about Tessa? She is still wandering round the caves at Anenoa, looking for Ted.”

A sudden shower of dust made them all look up. A wreath of faces ringed the hole in the floor, looking down curiously on the scene below.

“Go!” said Tom. “Those are Grond soldiers. I’ll stay here and...”

“Now, now, dear boy. What is your hurry?” Tristan signaled with his hand and fourteen rifle barrels appeared through the hole with a crisp snap. “Everyone down on the floor.” He pointed to Jakob. “Throw that sword into the corner.”

The Serjent trained his rifle on Tom, who froze. “Shall we shoot, Commander?”

Jane looked up from her patient and pushed her glasses up her nose. “What’s going on? What do these men want?”

“Shhh... Jane.” Jakob drew keth’fell and tossed it beyond the pile of bricks. He stared at Tristan, now dressed in the uniform of the Berengarth High Command. “I might have known you would be behind all this. Why?”

Tristan shrugged. “Why not? I knew this backwater would be an excellent place to hide. It took your brother simply ages to catch up with me. And now I am ready to move again, I have the perfect method of taking my entire army along.” He waved his hand at the portal and smiled. “And the government just gave it to me!”

“Let the woman and this injured man go. They are locals who accidentally fell into the hole.” Tom tried to keep his tone reasonable. “Jakob and I can be your hostages.”

“I don’t need any hostages. This is all I need.” Tristan held up the mirror and waved it gleefully.

He followed five soldiers down the ladder. Two were very pale and very tall.

Theatrically, Tristan peered at his watch. “My, my. Look at the time.” He strolled towards the portal, his Polys in tow. After slipping back into Berengarthen, he began issuing orders. “When Branko arrives he will supervise the troop movement. We will meet at the next target in four hours.” Tristan shot a careless look back over his shoulder. “Shoot the prisoners once we are safely through the portal.”

Two things happened. Tom, who understood his words, flung himself at Tristan. Jakob, who didn’t, merely reacted to Tom’s movement. He coiled and then jumped high, catching hold of the edge of the crumbling hole. With an angry roar he pulled down most of the ceiling, showering the room with bricks and screaming Grond soldiers.

Upstairs, in the redolent darkness of the oven, Suvi felt the vibration and dried her tears. A feeling stole over her — a call that she could not ignore. She was needed.

* * * *

They stood on the deserted overlook. Tessa turned around in the bright sunlight, blinking and blinking, as though it was her vision’s fault that Jane and Katy had disappeared.

Ted was staring at her. “My god, do you see what this means?”

Unwillingly, she focused on him. “What this... means?”

“Yes! You are living proof that inter-dimensional travel is possible. See, this just goes to show...”

“Shut up, Ted. You aren’t going to tell anyone about this.”

“But...”

“I saved your life back there. You owe me.”

A disappointed frown creased his brow, but he quickly smothered it. “Fine. So what are you going to do now?”

She studied his face, noting that his injuries didn’t seem as bad as they had in the fearful darkness of the cave. “Can you get back down to the hut by yourself? I have to go... somewhere else. See if I can find Jane.”

He tried to look small and pitiful. “My glasses are gone. I can’t see without them. Will you walk back down to the car and get my spares?”

Tessa pulled the frames she had found out of her pocket. One of the lenses was mostly intact. “Here, you’ll be able to find your way well enough.” She handed over the glasses and the key to the hut. “There’s a radio inside. You can call the ranger station.” She glared at him. “And remember — you went for a walk and fell. If you say anything else then I’ll start talking too. And I won’t stop for a long time.”

He waved his hands. “Ok. Ok. I won’t breathe a word. I promise.” Ted watched as Tessa closed her eyes, obviously lost in thought. “What are you doing?”

They snapped open again, irritably. “Nothing. I have to go.” She turned and climbed over the railing, heading back towards the gully.

He gave her a ten minute head start, then Ted spoke cheerfully to the cliff side. “Sorry, babe. This is just too big to hide. I have to speak, in the name of science,” he added grandly. He scrambled back towards the cave, thinking he could easily remove some evidence from the first of the dead Polys, which he knew lay not far from the upper cave entrance. It might be hard to convince people at first, but once they know the truth, I will be famous... He pressed forward eagerly.

* * * *

Tessa had tried to form a coherent picture of the sewer that had first led her to Severnessa, but found she could not. She didn’t dare gap shift with such an indistinct image as her guide. But the portal remained — she had only to pass through it again.

“And anyway,” she said to herself as she ducked under the icy splash of the waterfall, “it’s possible Jane and Katy came this way as well.” But she could see no sign of anyone within the vestibule. “Jane? Are you in here?”

Nothing but echoes greeted her. Tessa moved confidently through the darkness, still calling for Jane. She stopped well before she reached the main cavern, disturbed by the noise she could hear within. Excited shouts and the sound of gunfire made her heart race in fear. She edged forward, until she caught sight of the portal — and the sewer beneath Carina. The roof had given way, and grey-uniformed men lurched and staggered across the flooded floor. Tom lay face down on the ground, unconscious or worse. Jakob swung wildly with a heavy beam of wood, trying to keep Tristan from escaping. Tristan screamed something unintelligible, and one of the soldiers raised his weapon right in Jakob’s face.

She didn’t wait to see what would happen next.

In all the confusion, no one saw her emerge from the window, but she had only seconds to regain her equilibrium before diving towards the man threatening Jakob. She caught hold of the barrel just as he fired, and shoved it aside. The round hit another soldier in the back, tearing a hole as big as a grapefruit in his chest. He collapsed with a surprised gurgle.

Jakob snatched the rifle away and quickly aimed at Tristan. “Don’t move anything but your mouth. Tell your men to throw down their weapons or I will blow your fucking head off.”

Tristan barked an order. The six remaining soldiers dropped their guns and herded themselves into a corner. Tessa squatted beside Jane, who looked dazed and dusty, but unhurt. The fallen beams had made a shelter, of sorts, from the worst of the violence. “How in the hell did you get here?”

“Tom. The hospital told him we had gone to Anenoa,” Jane answered, without taking her eyes off the rapidly spreading sewage. “We have got to shift Lut. If this filthy water gets in his wound he’s done for.”

Tessa got to her feet and eased over to Jakob. “Jane says we have to move your brother. Now.”

Jakob cut his eyes quickly over to the mass of brick and wood. “How can we? If I help with the beams then my uncle will escape.”

Tessa could see the dark stain oozing across the floor, creeping closer and closer to where Lut lay on the ground. “Tell your men to move the debris that is covering the injured man and blocking the sewer,” she ordered Tristan.

He gave a cunning smile. “If I do, will you let me go?”

Tessa nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Not a chance,” Jakob said simultaneously. They looked at each other in annoyance. “Can’t you leave well enough alone?”

“Lut will die!”

Jakob stared at his brother’s fallen form doubtfully. “Tessa... Lut wouldn’t want me to let our mother’s murderer run, even if it cost him his life.”

She shook her head angrily. “What kind of idiotic revenge could possibly be worth your brother’s life? Let him go. Please.”

“No. I can’t. You don’t know what terrible things this man has done. He has killed thousands of people.”

Tessa snorted. “And if you let Lut die, he will have killed one more! For God’s sake, Jakob.” He shook his head again, stubbornly, and Tessa threw up her hands in despair.

He stared down the gun barrel at Tristan as the water rose another half inch. It must have been the stench that made his eyes water. “Okay, fine. Give the order, Uncle.” Tristan did, and the soldiers went to work. Tessa picked up another of the rifles and covered them. The men finished quickly, then stood, huddled together with their heads down.

Soft footfalls crossed the ceiling above their heads. No one heard them.

Tom stirred and sat up, groaning. “What happened?”

Jakob answered. “You got hit with a couple bricks when I pulled the ceiling down.”

He rubbed the back of his head and winced. “Ow. Feels like it. What did I miss?”

Jakob frowned as Tessa held out her hand to Tristan. “You were just about to give me the mirror, weren’t you?”

Tristan shrugged. “I suppose you leave me no choice. But I will have to move in order to do that. So keep your finger away from the trigger, dear girl.”

Tessa watched him intently. “Okay. Just do it slowly. Put the mirror down and kick it across the floor to Jakob.”

Tom saw the sudden buoyancy in Tristan’s eyes. “Tessa, no! It’s a trick.” But Tristan moved more quickly. He stabbed his finger towards Jakob and glared at him with fierce concentration. The rifle fell from his numbed fingers.

A face appeared at the edge of the gaping hole in the ceiling. It looked angry — and alien. No one saw it.

One of the Grond soldiers disarmed Tessa. Tristan screamed, “Shoot them all,” and then threw himself towards the portal.

Another finger tightened on the mechanism of a prism-shaped crystal. It filled the room with swirling bands of light and color, like a rainbow locked in a thick-walled soda bottle.

“What is that?” Jakob murmured, and then closed his eyes.

Jane lay down next to Lut, with her head on his chest, smiling contentedly.

Tom wrestled with it, rubbing his eyes furiously, trying to fight the enchantment.

“Suvi?”

“Sleep, Tom,” she said softly, and he found he could fight no longer.

Only Tessa remained awake. She watched as Suvi came down the ladder and placed the prism on the floor. Suvi turned to her, and their eyes met.

The creature in each of them struggled, feeling the pull of their shared anafireon.

Suvi was the first to look away. There was much work to be done, and she had to do it quickly. The prism slowed time, made thought impossible, but it would not keep a man who had a stab wound in the belly from dying.

She moved amongst the soldiers of the Grond. Suvi had intended to slash their throats, given the chance, but she found she could not murder even her worst enemies while they slept. One by one, she led them to the portal, and then shoved them through. Each would wake in a different world — lost, but still alive.

But for the Polys there was no mercy. Suvi placed her hands on each beefy shoulder and pushed backwards. They did not struggle or make a sound as they landed in the sewer channel and sank out of sight.

“As for you...” she murmured, looking down at Tristan. He stared back, but his eyes looked blind. Suvi bent and extricated the mirror from his chubby fingers, then tucked it in her pocket. “You have brought death to many, but you will kill no one else.”

“Not even Fyn?” he asked, in a drowsy voice. “I really want to kill him.”

She frowned. “Were you not listening? No more deaths.”

“All right.”

“Now go. And trouble this world no more.”

He stood, like a sleepwalker, and wandered into the portal. The scene had shifted, and now showed a field of vivid yellow flowers. She watched for a long moment as the blooms parted in bright waves, allowing Tristan to move between them. He ran clumsily, frolicking like a child. Suvi sighed and turned away.

Only one thing remained to do. She picked up the prism and tossed it through the window. Bubbles of light flared forth, washing the dripping walls in a froth of pastel. A moment later, Suvi had gone. So had the portal. Tessa sat quietly, waiting for the others to wake.

Tom jumped to his feet first. “What in the hell just happened? Where is Tristan?”

Jakob shook his head. His mind felt like syrup. “Something made me sleep. Sweet Brigga! Look. The Mebbain is gone too.” He whirled. “Tessa?”

“Here,” she said softly. “I’m all right.” She stood and went over to Jakob, then put her arms around him. “Please don’t be angry. I shouldn’t have...”

Jane jumped up, blushing fiercely, and put two fingers against the pulse in Lut’s neck. “Save the soap opera. We need to get him out of here. Help me put him on the stretcher.”

They did. Jakob frowned. “How are we going to get back? I planned to use the portal.”

Tessa spoke up. “It’s OK. I can get us there.”

Jakob shook his head. “You? How could you possibly know...”

“I don’t know how I know, but I’ve done it before. All I have to do is make a picture in my mind.”

Tom stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Why not let her try? I believe she can do it.”

“Why?”

He ruffled Tessa’s blond hair and grinned. “It’s all in the blood. At least I hope so, anyway. And now... I really need to find Suvi.”

Chapter Nineteen

Suvi and Tessa

Harp children are the highest of the Bright realm, and the hope for the future of Severness. Almost all are privately taught by leading Cloud educators, as well as Harp musicians and artists. If a Harp child should be amongst your students, you must take utmost care with his or her education.

Know Your Students — a Junior Educator’s Handbook to the Soli, Severnessan Ministry of Stations

A common spiral shell has many hidden chambers.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tom moved through the building, placing dynamite next to what he hoped were the most important structural elements. He carefully connected a blasting cap to each taped bundle, crimping the wire with his teeth. While laying the charges, he spoke Suvi’s name, begging her to come out and talk to him, though he dared not raise his voice above a whisper.

She did not reply, nor did he see any sign of her in the raw desolation left by the fleeing Carinians. The warehouse was cavernously empty, and Tom felt his spirits, already low at Katy’s departure, sink even further.

He allowed himself one loud, desperate cry. “Suvi! Please... Where are you? We need to talk.”

You... talk... his voice echoed back. Talk...

An hour later, after he had finished the placement of the dynamite and run the wires, Tom went back into the sewer for one last search, hoping to find some clue to Suvi’s whereabouts. He poked around in the corners, wondering about the last glimpse he had had of her face, impassively lit by a swirling rainbow. The waterlogged floor squelched under his boots as he squatted before an indistinct lump lying well away from the collapsed roof. Tom inhaled sharply as he identified the mutilated face.

He gave a long, low whistle. “Looks like a first round knock-out, my friend.”

A curiously feminine object shrouded Calaan’s neck and chest, lying on top of his regulation officer’s greatcoat. Tom recognized it as Suvi’s cardigan — the one with the fancy silver buttons that she had worn on the night they went dancing together.

To find it here, tucked tenderly about the shoulders of the enemy, was more than Tom could bear. He snatched it up and buried his face in the sleeve, which still bore her scent amongst the softness. Lut’s mutterings returned to him...

Suvi... Where is my wife?

How was it possible she could have given herself both to Lut Armstrong and this spy in the three days he had been in Fareniis?

Tom’s jaw tightened as he dropped the cardigan into the mud and ground his heel into the delicate pearl buttons. The body before him twitched convulsively. Calaan’s eye opened a slit. His ruined mouth formed words out of blood and smashed teeth. “Help me... I want... Suvi...”

“Well, I wanted her too, pal. Looks like we are both out of luck, doesn’t it?”

Calaan tried to sit up, and failed. After his head had fallen back onto the bricks, he whispered, “Not your enemy. Cousin, listen...”

Blind rage brought murder into Tom’s eyes. “How dare you? You mangy piece of shit traitor. You are no cousin of mine.” He groped for his knife before he remembered that he had given it to Tessa. His sidearm was no use. If there were others in the building, a shot would draw them straight to him. With a whispered curse, he dug his boot under Calaan’s back, rolling him towards the sluggish brown water. By the time he hit the stream, with an oily splash, Tom was already halfway up the ladder. He did not look back.

When he returned upstairs, he no longer bothered to call Suvi’s name. He worked quickly, knowing that other Grond troops might be on their way. After he had spliced the wires and run the line well away from the building, he attached it to a hand-cranked generator.

He had only to create a spark, and Carina would be no more.

Tom hesitated, wondering if she could still be inside. The sound of vehicles and booted feet, moving slowly through the mud of Wharfan Svaate, brought his head up. Now or never, he told himself grimly. He wound the crank until the charge light shone green and placed his finger on the detonator.

* * * *

Jakob and Tessa sat together in a crowded waiting room just outside the surgical suite, holding hands. Occasionally Tessa would say something hopeful or comforting, but he seemed unable to see anything positive about the situation.

“Even if Lut survives...” he began, desolately.

Tessa tried to remain resolutely cheerful. “Which he will. Jane said so.”

“He is going to hate me even more for letting Tristan wriggle off the hook again.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you did — let him escape, I mean.”

Jakob snorted derisively, then lowered his head when another resident of the waiting area frowned in his direction. “Well, where did he go then?”

Tessa shrugged. “I don’t know. But Suvi had something to do with his disappearance. She was in the basement with us, carrying some sort of glowing crystal. I saw a field full of yellow flowers in the portal, and she made Tristan go through. Then Suvi threw the crystal and it disappeared. I think she shut him on the other side.”

He frowned. “Why weren’t you asleep like the rest of us?”

“I don’t know. But... I’ve seen those yellow flowers before.”

His hands clutched at the armrests of the uncomfortable waiting room chair. “So have I.” He hesitated, unsure how much more he should say. Just then, the double doors opened wide and Jane came through, wearing green surgical scrubs. Jakob stood and hurried across the waiting room. “Is he alright?”

Jane smiled. “Your brother will be fine. He got off pretty lightly, all things considered. The knife blade managed to miss his liver and a bunch of important blood vessels.”

Jakob closed his eyes, fighting back tears. “Thank you, Jane. If it wasn’t for you, he might have...”

She laughed wryly and shook her head. “All I did was watch. The surgeon did all the work. I think I have used up every favor I ever collected in this hospital. Good thing it’s all over.”

Tessa joined them. “May we see him?”

“He’ll be groggy, but sure. Follow me.” They went through another door, and down a long hallway. Jane pointed to a series of curtained alcoves on the left. “That is recovery, through there.” She stepped aside to let Jakob enter, then caught Tessa’s arm as she tried to follow. “Give them a few minutes on their own. Let’s get some coffee from the kitchen.”

Tessa watched Jakob bend his head as he went through the curtain and drew it shut behind him.

“Ok.” Tessa let Jane drag her down the hall.

The instant coffee tasted like burned cardboard, but at least it was hot. She leaned against the counter, feeling the exhaustion lingering in every muscle. “Do you really think it is over?”

Jane pushed up her glasses and gave Tessa a sideways glance. “Um... Well, there is one more thing.”

Tessa frowned. “Don’t tell me. I don’t think I can cope with anything else.”

Jane pretended not to hear her. “It’s about Ted. Apparently he’s missing.”

“He’s... missing? I left him on the overlook. His face was a little messed up, that’s all.” Tessa felt her lip begin to tremble. “Does anyone know what happened?”

Jane’s arm slipped over her shoulder and massaged her neck. “Search and Rescue found his glasses at the bottom of the gully, close to the entrance of the cave.”

She shook her head in confusion. “That would mean he was going in the opposite direction from his car. Maybe he got turned around, or came to look for me. I should have gone with him, like he asked me to. I bet the Polys...”

Jane broke in, ruthlessly practical, as always. “They will keep on searching for him. He’s probably just holed up somewhere.” She patted Tessa’s back. “I am sorry. Maybe I should have waited to tell you, but I really didn’t think you would be so upset.”

“Not upset? Jane, we were engaged for three years! Ted was once a big part of my future.”

“I know. But you have Jakob now...” Jane’s voice went suddenly quiet. “Don’t you?”

“Yes... I guess so. He was pretty angry at me, about Tristan, but I think worrying about Lut made him forget about it.” Tessa wiped her eyes. “Do you want to know something really strange? It has only been a couple of weeks since the night we walked back from Mama Rosa’s together.”

Jane shook her head. “I can’t believe it! Only two weeks? So much has happened.”

Tessa’s voice went very quiet. “Sometimes I feel like I have known Jakob forever. Longer than forever. But look, here he comes.”

Jakob’s long stride quickly brought him to the kitchen alcove, but he seemed in no hurry to speak. Instead, he studied the pattern woven into the industrial carpeting, until Jane noisily cleared her throat.

“Well, I talked to him,” he said, at last.

“How is he feeling?”

He scowled. “Angry. He insisted we should have let him die rather than giving Tristan a chance to escape. Same old Lut, in other words.”

Tessa sighed her disappointment. “Well, you tried your best. Maybe it just isn’t...”

His eyes remained fixed to the floor. He deflected her clumsy attempt at comfort. “I’m going back to Severnessa to see if I can pick up the trail. Maybe that portal has reappeared by now.”

Tessa’s irises became pieces of brittle amber, the pupils trapped like insects within. “What? Jakob, you can’t let him run your life like that!”

“It’s the only way the two of us are ever going to find any peace. Don’t you see?”

She shook her head stubbornly. “No. And anyway, wasn’t Tom going to blow up the building?”

Jakob looked grim. “I’ll have to stop him.”

Tessa opened her mouth to argue, but it was Jane who spoke as she headed back down the hall. “I’ll stay with Lut. If he isn’t here when you two return, then we will have moved him up to the third floor. OK?” Jakob didn’t say anything, so Tessa nodded for them both.

She came to a sudden decision. “You heard Jane. Let’s get started.”

He stared at her. Then, after a deep, sharp sigh, he said, “It might be dangerous.”

“So what? If you are going, then I am going with you.” They moved aside as a nurse came into the cramped kitchen and began making coffee. She stared pointedly at them as she leaned with her elbows against the countertop.

Jakob took Tessa’s arm and pulled her back into the hall. “Why do you have to make everything so difficult?”

She smiled serenely. “Because I love you.”

Jakob’s expression wavered between a grin and a frown, seemingly undecided. “And that is your excuse, is it?”

“Yep. The only one I need.”

The grin won. He threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine! I give in, now and forevermore. Let’s go. You drive.”

She took his hand, pulled him into the stairwell. They kissed for a long moment, then stepped away.

* * * *

A cold, hard object pressed into Tom’s cheek. “Lower that detonator. Keep your eyes straight ahead.”

He let his hands go slack and held his breath, expecting it to be his last. The men surrounding him were Grond and there were thirty or more of them. One frisked him roughly and removed his pistol.

“Shoot him,” another man suggested.

A deeper voice, used to command, said, “No! We need him to disarm the explosives. We have no sappers with us.”

Tom smiled grimly at this. He stood, and kept his hands raised high.

“You will show us the location of the dynamite. Disconnect this firing mechanism first.”

“Sure. Whatever you say.” Tom pulled the wires from the generator, and dropped it to the ground.

Someone shoved him in the back, towards the door. A pale flash in an upstairs window caught his eye, but when he looked more closely, it had gone.

Dusk had created deep shadow amongst the rusting heaps of machinery. He led them towards the back of the main room, close to the kitchen. As he walked, Tom thought hard about which of the four charges he should try to detonate — which one would take most of the building with it and kill his captors.

One by one, Tom disassembled the first three bundles. The men crowding close at his back smelled rankly of dirt, sweat, and fear. “Careful, pig!” one hissed, as he dropped the blasting cap casually to the ground.

“I know what I am doing. I don’t want to die any more than you do.” He stood and rubbed his back. “The last one is in the dining room. Will you let me go when I finish disarming it?”

“Of course, my friend,” said the Grond commander, with the shadow of a smile. He didn’t bother to disguise the insincerity in his voice.

Tom reached the fourth and largest charge, attached to a wide, load bearing pillar that stood like a tree in the middle of a brick and cast iron meadow. He slowly knelt before it, hunching his shoulders so the men behind him could not see his hands. It should be easy enough now to ram the sensitive blasting cap down into the main explosive charge and set it off.

A skittering sound above them made his guards mutter. Several raised their rifles.

The Commander squinted into the shadowy roof beams. “Keep your weapons down. It’s only a rette in the rafters.”

Exhaustion made Tom’s hands tremble. “Give me a minute. I have to get this one just right.” He lowered the charge and looked towards the stage that had been erected for the festival dinner. The people fleeing Carina had not bothered to dismantle it. He remembered the way she had looked at him when she sang — and the pure sweet timbre of her voice.

“Suvi...” he whispered, desolately.

“Get on with it!” One of the Grond men kicked him viciously in the ribs.

The pain made his ears ring. It was a beautiful, melodic sound that somehow formed itself into words.

Oh Rose, Oh Rose, my love, he knows,
The secret hid within my heart.
Though far he goes, the tide still flows,
Twixt him and me, when we must part.

Her voice floated down from above, as soft as snowflakes. Even his captors were momentarily entranced. Tom looked up sharply. “Suvi! Get out of here.”

She stood on the rickety gallery, high above their heads, holding a Grond rifle. “Drop your weapons. I have your leader covered.”

The Lance Serjent spoke. “Commander? Shall we obey?”

A bullet whistled down, and neatly removed his cap.

“Next time I won’t miss. Do as I say.”

The Commander dropped flat. “Get under cover,” he cried. “Head for the stairs.” Several men fired upwards, temporarily forcing Suvi away from the edge.

She shot three of the men as the rest scattered. Tom broke in the opposite direction, and ran for the office. A stinging pain made him stumble and clutch his thigh, but he made it through the door, locking it behind him.

The bullet had caught him in the left leg, and had buried itself deep in the muscle. Blood, fresh and bright, made his sock and foot suddenly warm and sticky. Suvi’s rifle continued to discharge at intervals, and he hoped she had plenty of ammunition. An occasional low-pitched cry testified to her accuracy with the weapon, but Tom knew she couldn’t hold out forever.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, he lurched forward and to the left.

* * * *

Jakob pushed Tessa down behind a low wall. “There are guns going off in there. You stay outside while I...”

“No! There is another entrance. We’ll go in together. This way.” She set off around the back, running almost in a crouch. He followed, quietly cursing her stubbornness.

The basement doors still swung freely on their broken hinges. “Down here. There are more rifles. We can use them.” She skirted the hole in the floor and scurried down the ladder into pitch darkness.

He counted to sixty, keeping time with the pulse beating in his neck. “Tessa?”

A rifle butt poked through the trap door, and then another. She sounded breathless. “Ok, let’s go. This flight of stone stairs leads up to the main level. There is a balcony around the main factory floor, accessed by a set of wooden steps.” Tessa closed her eyes, seeing the picture in her mind.

He caught her arm. “How do you know all that?”

“I’ve been here quite a while. I know this place like the back of my...”

She looked very surprised when he shook her. “The Tessa I know has never lived here. Who are you?”

“I... I don’t know why I said that. What does it matter, anyway? We need to get upstairs, find out what is happening. Tom and Suvi may be in danger.”

They crept along the south wing. The rifle fire had built into a thunderous climax a moment ago, but the subsequent silence seemed to echo far more. “What is that over there? Can you see anything?” Jakob’s broad back partially blocked her view, but she could see slumped forms in the darkness that looked like bodies.

“The fighting’s stopped. I think everyone is dead.”

A half a dozen men, wearing the grey uniforms of the Grond, sprawled messily on the floor. Blood had turned the dust into a viscous residue that clung to Tessa’s boots. Just as she looked down at them and shuddered, a roar shook the building to its foundation.

“The dynamite,” Jakob cried. “Get down!”

Tessa screamed as debris rained from above. The walls became a wave, rolling and breaking upon the floor in a deadly wash of bricks and rubble. The ceiling buckled and fell, bringing darkness, and then, blessed silence.

When she woke she was on the floor, with her knees drawn up tight to her chest. Tessa peered through a warm stickiness that made her eyes sting. She tried to sit up, but a sudden sharp pain in her head made her dizzy.

“Jakob?”

“I am here.” His voice, sounding oddly on edge, came from above her. “Are you hurt?”

She felt herself all over, because it was too dark to see. “Something hit me on the head. There is some blood. Are you?”

“No.” He didn’t say anything else. After a few seconds, a groan escaped through his clenched teeth.

The pain in her head increased a notch. “You are hurt!”

Somehow, she got to her knees. Jakob was right next to her, standing rigidly, as though at attention. A huge iron beam lay across one shoulder and he held on to it, with every muscle straining.

He spoke — very, very quietly. “I won’t be able to do this for much longer. Go now, and this time, for the love of the gods, don’t argue.”

But of course she did, even though the pain made the words hard to say. “I... can’t leave you like this.”

“Tessa, please...”

She saw curious halos of light, bobbing and dancing in rhythm with the pounding ache in her temples. “Too tired. Want to sleep.” Tessa’s voice trailed off to a confused mumble as she lay back down at his feet.

“Oh, Blessed Brigga, no. Wake up.” He inched his foot across and nudged her. She didn’t move. His arms trembled with exertion, but he knew it would be the knees that gave first. “Tessa... Tessa... Ach! Listen to me. You have to get out of here.” His legs buckled and he sank, feeling the joints pop as the beam settled. Somehow, he kept it off her. The raging pain in his shoulder gave him sudden clarity. “Eben din mi Tessa. Keppen ar jace?”

Tessa stirred and murmured, “Ember. Mi jacea Ember.”

The beam sank lower. Four more inches and it would crush her face. “Ember? Happen menna si Tessa? Palifis, palifis...”

“Ja. Adjö, mi Marinus.” She disappeared, but a whisper remained. “Si pelanus. Merri tobus nar.”

“Si pelannu dycka. Adjö, mi Tessa. Adjö.” His fingers, slick with sweat and blood, could no longer hold the beam. When it fell, it brought down the roof like a dark curtain.

* * * *

A chill wind, carrying ash from the burning hulk of Carina, stung Tom’s eyes. He rubbed them wearily. The pain from the bullet in his thigh made him feel lightheaded, but he could not rest — not yet. Other things remained to be settled, beyond the destruction of Carina. Suvi stood beside him, waiting for him to speak, watching the bricks and mortar of her former home crumble into dust.

“Did you really marry Lut?”

She nodded. “I thought you had left with Katy, and I had nowhere else to go. But then I realized I had made a mistake, so I ran away.” With brutal honesty, she added, “It made him very unhappy.”

“And Calaan?”

She shrugged. “He tried to save me from the others and they killed him for it.” She gave a brief, sour smile. “I don’t think he should have bothered.”

Tom found the bitterness in her voice distressing. “Why not?”

“I don’t much care about living. Not anymore.”

He touched her back, tentatively. “Because you lost Carina?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “No. Because I lost... you.”

“But you haven’t. Suvi...”

She took a step backwards and broke in hotly, “I saw you and Katy together in the store room. Don’t pretend there is anyone you love more in this world, Thommats Finn!”

He sighed and rubbed his eyes again. “I don’t deny I love her. But Suvi, listen to me. Katy and I... We go back a very long way. Sometimes the fates allow me to be with her, but it isn’t going to happen this time around.”

She raised an eyebrow. “This time around?”

He smiled sheepishly. “I wish I could explain it better. But it doesn’t matter, not really, because I found you. You make me happy.”

“I... I do?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “Very happy.”

“You didn’t seem so happy before.”

“I am sorry.” Tom sighed and stroked her hair. “Sorry I got everything so wrong. But when I saw your cardigan I thought...”

She put her hand to his lips. “It isn’t important. I got things wrong too, about you and Katy. I think we should just forget everything and start over, don’t you?”

He pulled her into an embrace. “Yes, my pretty Suvi. Provided it is somewhere far from here.” He looked suddenly worried. “You don’t mind, do you?”

She shook her head. “It’s all right, Tom. I don’t need Carina any more. And it doesn’t matter to me where we go, as long as we are together.”

“Do you think you would like Litchfield? I have a country practice there, in partnership with my father. We could have a big white house, next to the river. And in the evenings we could sit on the porch and you could sing. All my friends would...”

A vision of Katy Bennett, cool and beautiful in her chignon, made Suvi’s previous words suddenly untrue. “Maybe not... Litchfield,” she broke in tentatively. “I would miss the ocean too much. And I don’t want a fancy house, not at all. Isn’t there somewhere else we might go? Somewhere with a school. I’d like to study nursing. Then I could help you with your work.”

He thought of a sweeping bay, ringed with tiny rustic cottages, and smiled. “I know the perfect place... It has a good hospital and a University.”

“Where?” But Suvi thought she knew the answer already.

“Cloudy Bay.”

She sighed happily, thinking it already sounded like home. “Let’s go then. What are we waiting for?”

Just then, a ragged figure crawled from a dark cavity between two piles of rubble. “My Gods!” Tom pulled away from Suvi. “That is Tessa!” He limped over and caught her just as she fell forwards. “I’m so sorry. How the hell did you get back in there? I never would have set off the detonator if I had known...”

“Wear ne Jakob,” she groaned, and passed out again. He was too worried to notice that she had replied in Dalvolk instead of English.

Suvi felt the creature inside her chest scrabble madly, as though it could not breathe. “Tom... You have to take her back to her own time, quickly!” She focused on the one word she had understood. “I will get some men to help with Jakob.” She backed away from Tessa and set off, running unsteadily towards the main street.

Tom scratched his head in confusion. “Suvi... Wait! I don’t...”

Her voice floated to him on the rising wind. “I love you, Tom Finn. Hurry back! I’ll be waiting...”

Chapter Twenty

Tessa

To the warrior, trust and rest are the same word.

Powwaw Speak: Shamanic Wisdom of the Irrakish, Theodore Black, PhD

* * * *

Tessa listened to the drone of machines for a long time. A smell, sharp and antiseptic, helped to place her. People came and went, touching her with cool, efficient hands. Other people spoke quietly — asked questions, gave answers. Eventually the words resolved themselves into some sort of order. A voice — Jane’s — was blessedly familiar. Another, deep and strangely accented, was not.

“She’ll be all right?”

“Yes, just a nasty bump on the head, I believe. But you should get back into bed, love.”

Was that Jane saying love? Tessa thought she must have misunderstood. She opened one eye a tiny crack, just in time to see Jakob brush Jane’s hair away from her face and then kiss her forehead tenderly.

“It will be a dog sleep for me. Call us when she wakes, eh?”

Jane nodded and smiled. “Shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Okay. This must be a dream, because I didn’t just see what I thought I did. And anyway, Jakob’s voice is all wrong...

Her eyelid slipped down, and it did feel as though she must have been asleep. Some time later, she woke again. She lay in bed, drowsy, warm — trying and trying to picture how she got there. Her last clear memory was of the sulky nurse making coffee in the kitchen, and then Jakob talking to her in the hall.

He had been upset about something.

That funny dream returned, and made Tessa suddenly nervous. Was it possible, somehow, that Jakob had turned to Jane?

She opened both her eyes, wondering what she would see. The drab ceiling did not cause any distress, but neither did it give her any useful information. Exceedingly slowly, Tessa turned her head, and forced her blurry vision to focus. Hospital room, two beds. Ugly wall color, bland pictures. White metal table, plastic jug, box of tissues.

Someone stood abruptly, and Tessa could hear the sound of a magazine hitting the floor. “Tessa? Are you awake?”

A froth of questions bubbled free. “Jane... Is that you? Where am I? What happened?”

Jane stood by the side of the bed. “Yes, it’s me. And you are in St. Luke’s, recovering from a concussion. How do you feel?”

“Okay, I guess. My head hurts a little. How... How did I get here?”

She smiled. “Tom brought you. The hospital is going to have to offer him a staff position at this rate. He was hurt too, but I hardly had time to do anything before he said he had to get back again. Suvi was waiting for him.”

“What? When? I don’t remember seeing Tom.”

Jane dragged over a chair and sat down. “What do you remember?”

“Bringing Lut back here. You telling us he was going to be all right. A... weird dream.”

“What sort of dream?”

“Um. A man kissing you on the forehead.”

She watched as Jane’s face turned an incriminating shade of crimson. “I thought you were still out of it. God, this is so unprofessional. I didn’t want anyone to know until...”

Tessa struggled up to her elbows, absolutely furious. “Jane! I can’t believe you. You stole my boyfriend while I was unconscious?”

Jane’s mortified expression changed to one of surprise. “What? Tessa, calm down. It isn’t what you think. That was...”

Tessa shouted over her reassurances. “How could you? I know he was angry at me, over Tristan, but honestly... That’s why we had to go back to Severnessa, to try and catch up with...” She stopped, and took a deep breath. “My god. The building... It came down like a card palace. Jakob held the last beam up. He told me to leave him.” She started to cry as her memory sharpened. “Jakob... He must have been crushed.”

Jane handed her a tissue and then patted her back. “It’s all right, Tessa. He didn’t die. The roof fell in such a way that he had a little breathing space. Then when Tom got back, he and Suvi managed to get him out.”

“R... Really? You aren’t just saying that to cushion the blow for later?”

“Is my bedside that good?” Jane laughed. “If you don’t believe me, just wait a minute.” She picked up the phone by the bed and dialed. “She’s conscious.” There was a pause as she listened. “Okay, but give us a few moments to run some tests.”

Tessa stared at Jane, wondering why she looked so happy. The only answer she could think of was very worrisome. “Why did Jakob kiss you then?”

Jane blushed ferociously, and the sheen of sweat on her nose made her glasses slide down. “That wasn’t Jakob,” she said quietly, as she pushed them back up again. “It was Lut.”

* * * *

Jakob put the phone back in its cradle, and climbed stiffly from his bed. His brother lay on his side in the adjoining bed, pretending to nap. He shook his shoulder gently. “Tessa’s awake.” A pale blue robe lay at the bottom of the bed, and Jakob wound it round his hospital-issue pajamas and the sling that held his right arm close to his chest.

Lut sat up very slowly, wincing with pain. “Are you going to tell her what happened?”

He shook his head. “No. Not yet anyway. Not until I understand it myself.”

“You sure? That beast could be dangerous.”

Jakob frowned, remembering the conversation he had with the voice that had called itself Ember. “It sounded harmless to me.”

“You talked to it?”

“Not a long conversation, but yes I did — in Dalvolk. I said, ‘Creature living in Tessa, what is your name?’ And she said Ember. Then I asked if she could move Tessa quickly and she agreed.”

Lut fixed him with a piercing blue eye. “Is that all?”

Jakob shrugged, a little embarrassed. “She said she loved me. But that was probably Tessa talking. I think this Ember must be a stray piece of anafireon or something.” The one thing he didn’t mention was the most perplexing. Ember had called him Mariner.

“A stray piece of Anafireon who happens to speak Dalvolk? I don’t think so. You said yourself that your connection with Tessa is very strong. You’d best take care.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I think I’ll take my chances. There is one thing I don’t understand though — Tessa must have inherited her ability to gap shift from someone. Given her blond hair, I’d say that Tom must be her grandfather. What do you think?”

Lut turned his head and carefully poured himself a drink of water before he answered. “That is none of our affair, Jakob. It is all ancient history now. Like Ma’s death.”

Jakob sighed. “Lut... For what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry Tristan got away again.”

“Doesn’t matter. I reckon we can let it go for awhile.”

Jakob was surprised at this. “We... We can?”

“Aye. There will come a time when you and I go hunting for that field of yellow flowers. But not yet. I think we might just rest and mend our nets awhile, eh?”

Jakob thought about Tessa, and Suvi Markku’s snug cottage, Seadrift. “Yes,” he agreed softly. “I like that plan of yours.” He looked towards the door, and a passing white-clad nurse. “I’m going to see her. Are you coming with me?”

Lut stood and scratched his clean-shaven chin. “Wouldn’t miss a chance to visit my doctor lady, would I?” The brothers eyed one another and then broke into laughter.

Jakob placed his good arm over Lut’s shoulders and tugged his braid playfully. “I think she must be the best damned doctor in the world to be able to stitch a smile on your grumpy mug.”

“Aye,” said Lut, thoughtfully. “No arguments there.”

They waited outside the door until the neurologist had finished her business. Then Jakob crossed the room to Tessa’s bed and sat down by her side. “All right?”

“Yes. I’m going to be fine. Just a bump on the head.” Her eyes went wide as she noticed the sling. “But you?”

“Smashed collar bone. Takes ages to mend, apparently, even though they screwed a metal plate into it. Looks like I won’t be doing any fishing for a while. Do you think maybe I could stay with you?”

She grinned wickedly. “Of course. As long as you don’t talk too much. And maybe, when you are better, Joe will give you a job on the Damsel.”

Jakob looked to his brother and smiled. “If Lut doesn’t get it first. I think he might be hanging around Cloudy Bay as well.”

Lut and Jane sat side by side at the foot of the bed, close but not touching.

“Where shall we start?” Jane asked.

Tessa gave her a mock frown. “You first, Dr. Piper. You have some major explaining to do.”

Jane spoke to her fingernail as she chewed it. “Well, remember I said I’d go and sit with Lut while you went with Jakob? He had quite a few questions, once he was awake enough to ask them. So we talked, a lot, and some time during those conversations, we found that we...”

Lut chuckled broadly and took her hand. “...Both hate other people!”

“Well, yeah. Turns out we have quite a lot of stuff in common,” Jane corrected. “And Lut is going to teach me to sail.” He nodded. “I’ll probably be really awful.” Lut nodded again, more firmly. Jane laughed and slapped his arm. “I saved your life, so you had better be nice to me.”

“Ow! Gently, girl. Better me than Jakob. He will hold you upside down with your head over the stern if you don’t do what you are told.”

“That’s what you did to me when we were ten!” Jakob roared.

Tessa could hardly take it all in. She turned to Jakob. “But... But you said he was angry at you!”

He shrugged. “We made up.”

Tessa and Jane exchanged bemused glances, both sure there was quite a saga behind those three little words. “So... After Tom and Suvi got you out of the rubble, then what happened?”

“I stayed around long enough to help Tom finish demolishing Carina. He wanted to make sure the Portal stayed buried.”

Tessa frowned. “Was he with Suvi? Did they...”

Jakob, who had been watching his brother, broke in quickly. “I think so. Tom said they were coming to Cloudy Bay, but not our time, obviously. So I left them to it and came back here.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Two days,” Jane said briskly. “Ellie stayed with you practically the whole time as well. I should call and give her the good news.” She smiled at Lut. “Want to get some coffee? We should give these two some time to catch up.”

“Aye.” He turned back to Tessa. “You did well, girl.” Lut’s bright blue eyes had a merry twinkle. “Keeping up with that brother of mine can’t be easy.”

Tessa smiled. “Thank you. I am so pleased to finally meet my ghost.” She grinned at Jane. “But it seems like I’m not the one in love with him after all.”

Jane looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue as they left together. Tessa stared at the open doorway, shaking her head. Jane and Lut...

“What do you think?” she asked Jakob.

He shook his head. “I think she has her hands full. Lut isn’t the easiest person to get along with.”

“Unlike you,” Tessa said under her breath, but he heard her anyway, and burst into delighted laughter.

About the author

Suzanne Francis believes the inspiration for her writing lies in her chronic travel sickness as a child and young adult. While growing up, she happily participated in many family and school trips, though riding in the back seat of a car often left her suffering from nausea for hours on end. To help pass the time, she began telling herself stories, serialized over many days and weeks, often featuring the landscapes through which she was traveling. These imaginary adventures, along with an enduring love of books, sparked her interest in writing.

After earning her BA in Geography, Suzanne worked in many fields, from urban planning to migrant farm work, dishwashing, retail management and massage therapy. She has drawn on these experiences and a lifelong interest in travel to create the unique characters and settings of her novels.

Presently, Suzanne lives in rural Dunedin, New Zealand with her husband Michael and four children. She is the author of six fantasy/romance books, including the four volume series “Song of the Arkafina” and the two volumes of “Sons of the Mariner”.

Find out more at http://suzannefrancis.wordpress.com/

Books by the author

Song of the Arkafina

Heart of Hythea

Ketha’s Daughter

Dawnmaid

Beyond the Gyre

Sons of the Mariner

Wintermoon Ice

Summermoon Fire