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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: CONSEQUENCES

So, what are you two up to now? Huomeng said without words to his daughter.

He studied the console displays before him, but his mind wasn't aware of what he saw there. His Moshuguang co-pilot, Dahlmai, could do the watching, and then there was Mengjai, who seemed able to function in two worlds at the same time.

His son sat on the other side of Dahlmai from him, his fingers moving over a keyboard, eyes fixed on a screen showing their course, yet a part of him was with Yesui where she now spoke to them from the gong-shi-jie. Dahlmai was oblivious to their conversation.

As usual, Yesui was direct. I want to move your ship, she said.

Have you already practiced so much? asked Mengjai, continuing his work without a blink even though he and his father had long awaited this moment.

Enough. I've moved things much larger than you and found them intact again. The range of the wave goes as the brightness of the light I bring from the threads. I have a fair idea of the relationship between them now, but a big jump is easier than a short one. 

What's big? asked Huomeng.

Oh, a light year, or so, about the diameter of the cometary cloud. 

Shanji is a half-hour away by light, Yesui. I don't want us ending up at the outer edge of our system. Don't we have to worry about collisions during a jump? 

I did think about that, Father, she said petulantly. It doesn't seem to be important. I've moved ice-balls through the whole cloud, and they remain intact. It's like local space moves aside when the wave comes past, and then settles back as it was. 

Space-time inertia, said Mengjai, smiling to himself.

Whatever. There are no collisions, Father. I'm certain. 

Your mother would shriek at me if she knew I was even considering this, thought Huomeng.

I've told her I want to move your ship, but she just smiled and didn't take me seriously. 

I didn't either, until now, said Huomeng, but teasing her, for he and Mengjai had anticipated this event ever since Yesui's discovery of her space-time wave.

But now you do. 

Yes. 

You'll try it with me? 

A small one, as small as you can make it, and then back again. I don't have a lot of fuel to play with, Yesui. In fact, the more I think about this, the crazier it sounds. 

Do it fast, Yesui, said Mengjai, before he thinks too much. If I set a course at thirty-two degrees twenty hours forty minutes, Father, it'll take us past Shanji along a trajectory where there's only dust. If Yesui overshoots us by less than a light-hour, we'll still have the same travel distance to Shanji, but from the other side. See? 

So that was what he'd been doing at the keyboard. Huomeng stood up, went to Mengjai and looked over his shoulder at the screen.

This way, she won't have to jump us back and compound any errors, said Mengjai.

We'll lose antenna lock. Your mother will have fits when they lose contact with us. 

We'll lose it temporarily with any jump we make off course. Look, Father, we'll end up somewhere along this trajectory. Make a call and tell them to search these areas if they lose contact with us. Mengjai's finger moved over the screen. Tell them we're conducting an experiment on the way back. 

All this fuss, Yesui chimed in. You don't think I can do this accurately. Well, you're wrong!

You're not the one being moved, Yesui. We're just being cautious. 

Details, she said. Are we going to DO it? I have to get back to Lan-Sui! 

If we can wait an hour, you can wait a nanosecond! Make the call, son, said Huomeng.

Dahlmai watched them curiously, but silently, suspecting something was being plotted, and for the next hour they endured Yesui's mental mumblings about the pickiness of the scientific mind. The signal finally arrived, however, to verify without question a compliance with their request.

All right. We're ready, said Huomeng. Mengjai's hands were flying over the keyboard, putting in the positions of key stars in the direction of their intended trajectory.

You're sure? No other details to take care of? 

Get on with it, Yesui, before Father changes his mind, said Mengjai.

Very well, and she was gone.

"What now?" asked Huomeng, suddenly apprehensive.

"Sit down, relax, and enjoy the ride," said Mengjai, smiling. He gave the keyboard a final tap, and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

Huomeng sat down again as Dahlmai said, "What's up, sir?"

"We're doing an experiment, Dahlmai. Buckle up. We might experience some acceleration."

Dahlmai obeyed, but looked concerned. Huomeng looked at the observing screen and saw five stars there. One of those stars, bluish, was in fact Shanji, only a point of light at this distance.

Huomeng buckled up, leaned back and gripped the armrests hard with a sudden sense of doom. This is insane, he thought, and took a deep breath.

Before he could let it out, he suddenly felt heavy, and it was as if blood had been drained from his head, his vision blurring, a roaring in his ears.

He blinked once, then again, felt his heart pounding, then a brief nausea he suppressed by swallowing hard. His eyes were unfocused, everything a blur, but when he shook his head the nausea returned. He again swallowed hard, and just in time, for something burning like acid had surged upwards from his stomach.

Beside him, Dahlmai shook his head, hands like claws on his armrests. "What was that?" he gasped.

"Interesting," said Mengjai, opening his eyes and feeling everything within his father. "The brain uses visual cues to sense a temporal displacement. With your eyes closed, I think it would have been easier. Look, Father." He pointed to the observing screen.

An instant ago, there had been five stars there. Now, there were four.

Mengjai's fingers tapped on the keyboard. "Oh, my," he said, smiling.

Well? Is that close enough for you? It was Yesui, again.

"Just a moment," Mengjai said out-loud, and tapped on his keyboard again.

The stars showing on the observing screen moved left, and coming in from the lower right corner was a bright, blue ball the size of a small coin held at arm's length.

Huomeng gawked at the screen. "Shanji," he said softly.

"We're about twenty-two light seconds out," said Mengjai. Yesui, you're incredible! That was a jump of half a light-hour! 

Thank you, she said smugly, then added, It was easier to do because I had you there to target, Mengjai. 

My pleasure, said her brother.

Are you all right, Father? Yesui sounded concerned.

Some disorientation, a little nausea. Mengjai says I should have kept my eyes closed. I still can't believe my eyes. You did it! 

Hmph, she said. You're still surprised. That disappoints me, Father. 

No, no. You take everything you do as normal, and don't see how amazing it is to others. We can only imagine what you do!

I can do it again, if you want me to, she said.

Not just now, said Huomeng. My brain and stomach are still in different time zones. He laughed.

Hmmm. Maybe people should be sedated during a jump. We could— 

Suddenly, she was gone. Mengjai raised a hand towards his father, and listened.

"Yesugen's calling her. There's trouble on Lan-Sui."

Huomeng couldn't hear them, but Yesui was back quickly.

Gotta go. More asteroids headed towards the city. I'll be right back! 

Gone again.

"Can you tell me what's going on, sir?" asked Dahlmai. The man's face was ashen.

"Don't you feel well?" asked Huomeng.

"A little nausea, sir. What just happened? Is that really Shanji I see on the screen?"

Huomeng told him everything, and then called to check the rest of the crew aft. Two had experienced dizzyness, but no nausea. The other two had been in their bunks, and were still sleeping comfortably.

"No visual cues," said Mengjai, nodding sagely, then softly continued saying, "No ill-effects that can't be avoided, Father. We can go anywhere, now: Meng-shi-jie, the stars beyond, even our own galaxy. The whole universe is within our reach, as long as we have Yesui."

Back again, she chirped, and I heard you, brother. I'll take it as a compliment. 

It was. Asteroids gone? 

Flashed 'em to atoms. When we're finished here, I'm going back to remove the alpha ring from Lan-Sui. It's become a general nuisance. 

Huomeng laughed.

Was that amusing, Father? 

No, it's just that you're so matter-of-fact about removing an entire ring of debris from Lan-Sui. To this normal mortal, it's a miracle. 

You're not so normal, she said, and he laughed again.

Okay, where do we go from here? asked Huomeng. As close as we are to Shanji, I want to go home. I haven't seen your mother in over a year. For that matter, I haven't seen you, either. 

Nothing to see. I'm flopped on my bed. 

And your room is probably a mess, said Mengjai.

You can clean it up for me. I have time to eat, and that's it. I have to watch Lan-Sui, Mengjai. The temperature hasn't changed lately, but the surface is all boiling. I think something big is about to happen. 

When the compressional heat surfaces, you can expect a lot of evaporation until the new equilibrium temperature is reached, Yesui, and that could take years. 

Yes, but there are huge plumes growing beneath the city right now. How high can they get? Will they reach the city? 

Possibly, said Mengjai. There could be some turbulence. 

SOME turbulence? 

Well, a lot of it. 

EXCUSE ME! interrupted Huomeng. Getting back to my original question, when do we schedule more jump tests? 

Why? asked Yesui. We don't need any. 

One jump, and you're an expert? We need more trials. 

I don't think so, not as long as Mengjai is there for me to target. The rest is easy; targeting is the hardest part. When you're ready, why don't I jump you to Tengri-Nayon, and then you can bring Nokai back with you? 

Oho! said Mengjai.

No comments, please. 

Who's Nokai? asked Huomeng, confused again. And Tengri-Nayon is over two light-years out, now. 

I told you long jumps are easier than short ones, Father. Nokai is a close friend of mine in Lan-Sui City, and we want to see each other in person. 

Nokai is wonderful, said Mengjai.

Not funny, brother, but you still have my permission to clean up my room. I really have to go. Why don't you think about it, Father? Fill a freighter with cargo, and I can have it at Meng-shi-jie in a day. Very practical, don't you think? 

Of course, said Huomeng, but not right away. I've been gone too long as it is. Suddenly, he was yearning for Kati again.

Hmmm. Yes, I see. Well, I'll be in touch, and Nokai is waiting for me. Remember that room, Mengjai! 

Her presence was gone, as if a switch had been thrown.

Their little grunts, smiles and chuckles during the conversation had been noted by Dahlmai, who now looked uneasily at both of them.

"We were talking with my daughter," explained Huomeng, and then Dahlmai nodded with relief.

Huomeng looked over at Mengjai. "Who is this Nokai she mentioned?"

"Governor Wizera's son, an empath living in Lan-Sui City. Nice guy, but very deep and serious, and a little younger than Yesui." Mengjai raised an eyebrow. "Brace yourself, Father. Yesui is crazy in love with him."

"Aha!" said Huomeng.

 

There was light, and a humming sound. She was flat on her back, and her right side was numb, a dull pain in her left. She opened her eyes, and was looking straight up at a light panel in a white ceiling. The room had a sharp odor, like disinfectant. She tried moving her arms, and her left one responded. She raised a hand to her face, and found a polymer tube taped to her mouth, two smaller ones crammed up her nose.

Yesugen moaned, her left arm dropping back to her side, exhausted by a simple effort. Her right shoulder was a huge bulge of gauze and plastic, a tube connected to it from a bag of clear liquid hanging over her head, and there was no feeling in her right arm.

Her arm!

She scrabbled at the edge of covers pulled up to her neck, and jerked them down, straining for a look, then sighing in relief.

The right arm was there, but wrapped from wrist up with bandages.

She heard his feet scuffing the floor before the physician arrived to look down at her, a man her husband's age, with a kindly face. He put his hand on her forehead, and smiled.

"Awake at last," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Terrible," she said. "Groggy, and numb—over here." She nodded towards her right shoulder as the physician pulled her left arm down to her side and tucked the covers up under her chin again. "It's hard to talk with these things in my mouth and nose," she complained, feeling as if she'd been gagged.

"Now that you're awake, we can have you unplugged within a day, except for the shoulder, of course. You need the saline and medication flows for a few days yet," said the physician. "It was quite a mess when you came in. Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes." She saw that grinning, malevolent face, the flashes of blue as the man crouched there, aiming at her.

"Your husband and a guard were also hit as they shielded you. I've seen to both of them."

"Kabul?" she asked fearfully.

"Waiting outside, Madam. I'm sorry to say he's lost two fingers from his left hand, but he's been up and about for two days. I'll send him in shortly. He hasn't left your door for two days and a night."

"How long have I been here? And where am I?"

"Your flagship, Madam. You've been here nearly three days and nights, and I'm keeping you here another four. No arguments, please." He smiled again, and patted her left shoulder.

"Is it so bad?" she asked softly.

"Considerable muscle loss, as well as the lymph nodes. The scar is correctible, but much of the nerve damage is not. Within a year, you should have some feeling in the arm, and with physical therapy you should regain—"

"My child!" she gurgled loudly. How could she have forgotten it? She tried to sit up, but instantly fell back again. "I don't feel it!"

"Hush, hush," he said, and pressed gently on her left shoulder. "Your baby is fine, now, but she was certainly agitated when you were brought in to me. She didn't like her mother being shot."

"She? How do you know?" asked Yesugen.

"We did a scan, of course. Didn't you know?"

"No!" she said, but inside she was thrilled.

"When did you last see your physician, Madam?"

"It—it's over three months, I think."

The doctor scowled at her and shook his head. "You're my Empress, Madam, but I will not be patient with self-neglect. The health of you and your child must come before anything else in your life." He took her left hand, and patted it. "Would you like to see your husband, now?"

"Oh, yes," she gurgled past the tube in her mouth.

And a moment later, Kabul was gazing down at her, his left hand a ball of gauze and tape. "Yesugen," he said, and smiled.

"Oh, darling, your poor hand. I heard." She reached out an arm.

Kabul leaned over, embraced her tenderly, kissed her nose, forehead, cheeks, and nuzzled her throat as her arm went around his neck.

"I was so afraid," he whispered. "Your lips were blue when we were brought here, and I thought—"

"Shhh." She stroked his hair, pressed her cheek to his, and a little moan escaped her.

Kabul pulled back, looked down at her with narrowed eyes. "If it's any consolation, Kuril's remains were picked up with one scoop of a shovel and placed in a small bag," he said.

"Good," she said, then, "What's happened? I've been out for three days!"

"Gutien is occupied and the workers are back on the job. They've elected a new Steward, and now they're not so afraid of us. When we landed on Nan the workers met us with empty hands. They hadn't even armed themselves."

"So the moons are stable?" she asked.

"Yes, for the moment. Wizera has called several times to see how you are. He says he has a long-range plan for the moons that should keep peace here."

"Finally," she said. "And it appears Yesui removed the asteroid threat to the city."

"One bright flash of purple and blue. A couple of our pilots saw the thing. There's concern on the moons that some of the debris control ships might have been caught up in it. Nine of them are missing."

"I still remember Kati using the purple light against us. Now her daughter uses that same light as our ally."

"And much more, Yesugen. She came back this morning. We were scanning Lan-Sui's surface at the time, and watched everything she did. The alpha ring is gone. She destroyed every piece of it."

"I wish I could have seen that," said Yesugen.

"You will. We made a cube of everything we saw. I want you to rest, now. I'll come back in a few hours."

He touched her injured shoulder with his bandaged hand. "Two old warriors, and look at us, all shot up. I think we'd be wise to stay home in the future, and let younger people do the fighting."

"I'd like that," she said, and then, quite suddenly, the baby moved inside her. "Ohh," she gasped. "I've been waiting for that. I was so afraid I'd lost her."

Kabul smiled, took her hand in his. "I saw the scan. Your heiress is on the way. I wish we were home, Yesugen, right now. Niki must be missing us terribly, but I'm afraid we'll have to remain here awhile." He now seemed worried, brows knitted.

"We promised that to Wizera, dear," she said.

"It's more than you think. When I show you the tape, you'll see what is happening to Lan-Sui. It's frightening, Yesugen. It makes me realize that Yesui's powers are beyond my imagination. But now you rest, and get those tubes out. I want to kiss your lips when I come back." He squeezed her hand, and smiled.

"Me, too," she said, but her eyelids were suddenly heavy again as he left the room.

She slept a long, dreamless sleep, awakened once when they came to remove the tubes from her mouth and nose, a second time when Kabul's lips were softly on hers. He didn't say a word, and was holding her hand as she drifted off again.

When she awoke again, a nurse bathed her with a warm cloth, made her sit up, and fed her a tea that burned its way down inside her. "Tomorrow you walk, and we'll get you some solid food," said the woman.

The prospect of walking didn't excite her, and she wasn't hungry. She dozed again, while Kabul went out to feed himself, and awoke feeling better, clearer-headed. Her right arm remained numb.

Within an hour, she was bored. When Kabul returned, she asked to see the videocube of Lan-Sui, and he went away to get it. She asked that any calls for her be routed to her room, and it was done. When the tele-module arrived at her bedside, she punched at it with a finger to shut off the visual portion of transmission, and was still waiting for Kabul to return when Governor Wizera called again.

"I'm so relieved to hear your voice," said Wizera, "but we have a connection problem. I can't see you."

"I look the way I feel, Governor. There's no need for you to see it." Yesugen felt irritation at the sound of the man's voice: soft, gentle, and caring. Deep inside her, she resented the personal price she'd paid for his softness. "I'm mending as well as can be expected," she said.

"I certainly wish for your complete recovery, Mandughai, and I have some news that should please you."

That would be nice, for a change, she thought. "Oh?"

"I've decided to take control of Bator Corporation by making it publicly owned. Fifty-two percent of the stock will be distributed in equal shares to all citizens of Lan-Sui City and the moons. The rest comes to my government, in return for guaranteed subsidies of the moon operations. Gutien and Nan will have their own elected governing councils to handle those subsidies, and everyone shares the profits. So far, the response to my proposal has been quite positive, even from the moons. What do you think of it?"

At the moment, she really didn't care. "Well, it sounds better than what you've had up to now. I hope it's successful for you, and as long as Meng-shi-jie gets the fuels it needs, it's a workable plan for us."

"Good," said Wizera. "I—ah—do have another concern that's—ah—rather urgent, I think. Perhaps we can talk about it when you're feeling stronger? In a few days?"

Oh, no! What now? 

"I might as well hear it now, Governor. What new problem do you have?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice, but she made no effort to hide it.

"It's not new, Madam," said Wizera sharply, "and both of us have anticipated it."

Hmmm. A little more forceful, now. That's better. "Yes?"

"Lan-Sui itself is now a problem. I'm sure you've seen what's happening to it."

"Kabul has a recent videocube of the surface, but I haven't seen it yet," she said.

"The surface is suddenly quite violent, Madam, and new convective plumes have formed along concentric rings within the vortex directly beneath the city. They've been growing at a rate of twenty kilometers per day, and now they're about to reach us. We're already experiencing turbulence here, and there has been minor damage. Now I fear we'll be engulfed by these new plumes, and destroyed. We have to get out of here, Madam, and as soon as possible. We cannot stay here."

"You want an evacuation?" she asked.

"No. There aren't enough ships in our entire system to move all the people living here. I've called in our eleven remaining debris-control ships to begin moving the city to a higher orbit. Given time, they can do it, but I don't think we have much time. I'm asking for the loan of as many ships as you can spare to move the city to higher orbit and stabilize it there. It's quite urgent, Madam. My room is shaking even now, and it's going to be a lot worse within a day or two. If the plumes engulf us, we'll be shaken to pieces here."

Kabul had come back, and was listening with her. He pursed his lips, and shrugged, as if to say he found Wizera's request a reasonable thing. He loaded the cube he'd brought back, and turned on the monitor in her room. There was a slow scan across a planet now roiling everywhere with activity, a pattern of giant, convective cells north and south of the equator, and then there was a zoom in to look at the storm below the city. Towers of new clouds in blue and red reached out like fingers from concentric rings of boiling gases within the vortex.

"Are you still there, Mandughai?" asked Wizera.

"Yes. Kabul is playing me the cube. It looks bad," she said.

"Will you help us?"

Kabul spoke loud enough to be heard by the man. "Our troops will be on the ground for weeks at the minimum, Yesugen. We have three cruisers idling in orbit." He raised an eyebrow, his own decision made.

She decided he was correct. "Very well," she said. "I'll send three of our cruisers to you within the hour. That's all I can spare."

"Thank you, Mandughai," said Wizera. "It's more than adequate, in fact, unless, of course, there's a sudden surge in storm growth. We don't expect that, and my ships are already here, preparing to engage. When can we expect your help?"

"Around eight hours," said Kabul. "We need a frequency for contact with your ships."

Wizera gave it to them, thanked them again, and again, and was gone.

"One thing after another," said Yesugen, still staring at the violence on the video monitor, "but I suppose we're responsible. This is Yesui's doing, and we've supported it."

"Ah, Yesui," said Kabul. "We're coming to that."

A moment later, the camera view suddenly shifted left from Lan-Sui's surface to where the alpha ring curved beyond it. An intensely bright ball of purple light was there, intersecting the ring, but fixed in position, the millions of ring particles from grains to small mountains rushing in their orbits to meet it. Where they entered, there was the lovely ring in yellows, reds and blues.

At the exit point, there was nothing.

"Thirteen hours it took her," said Kabul, "and then the ring was gone." He smiled, and shook his head in awe.

"Call the pilots, and give them their new assignment," said Yesugen. "And while you're doing that, as lousy as I feel, I'm going to chase down Yesui and have a little chat with her about this new problem she's created for us."

Kabul left without a word, and Yesugen closed her eyes, returning for the first time in months to the gong-shi-jie, the place where she could most easily, and quickly, find the Mei-lai-gong.

 

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