The Space Between (26 page)

"Our gods say that the physical self dies
and the spiritual self goes on to another existence. The bodies of
the dead are just husks." The priest climbed quickly to his feet
and went to search through another box. He returned a short time
later with something that was quite obviously a vegetable. "An
apple. It has no soul."

Tuki took a bite of the apple. The cool
juices cleansed his mouth like the prayers and the water had not
been able.

"What does your Goddess tell you of the
body, lad?"

"Poti says that the spirit remains in the
body until the body is no more," Tuki replied, dribbling juices
down his chin. "And when the body is gone, returned to the world
from whence it came, then the spirit is set free to join the stars
in the heavens."

"A strange thought."

"No stranger than the teachings of your
gods. How can a spirit not be attached to the body in every hair
and organ and muscle?" He wondered where the thoughts had come
from. Should he compare gods with Sha Yukima? The priest was
obviously an intelligent man, far smarter than Tuki, so would he
believe in gods that didn't exist? Did all the gods live side by
side? Or were some people fooled into believing in false gods? And
if false gods existed, who was to say which were false and which
were real?

Tuki continued to chew on his apple. It was
a wonderful fruit, juicy and crisp and clean. He prayed silently
and thought about the existence of the gods.

* * *

Tuki watched Keyman Kuwisa suspiciously in
the shifting light of the torches. The man examined the skyglass
for a long time, twisting it this way and that in his hand as if it
would make a difference, twisting it as if it might catch the light
at a different angle and spring into life. Not once had the human
tried to speak to it. How could he expect to get any results at
all?

After several more minutes, Tuki rose
painfully to his feet and made his way toward the Keyman. It was a
slow journey conducted under the gaze of everyone in the long, low,
narrow room. He tried to ignore them: they were only men after all.
He stopped when the two other soldiers surged to their feet, long
knives in hand.

Tuki stared at the floor. "You must speak to
it," he said to Kuwisa between the tense forms of the other men.
"Ask questions, and it will answer."

"Answer?"

"Not in words, but you will receive an
answer."

"Show me."

Tuki looked at the man before drawing a
breath and walking forward. The soldiers parted to let him
through.

After sitting down on the cold stone floor,
Tuki reached out a shaking hand to take the skyglass. He could not
cover the last fraction of the distance, and his hand hovered
there. He concentrated on breathing once more as he shifted his
gaze to the Keyman's face. He turned his hand over, so the skyglass
could be given to him.

As soon as he touched it, the 'glass started
to warm and Kiva materialized.

Perhaps talking is not
enough,
he thought.
Perhaps you have to believe.

Tuki polished the surface for a moment,
enjoying the smooth, solid feel of it in his hands.

The blue dot representing the skyglass was
clearly visible with no yellow comet-dots nearby, though there were
still many all around the world.

"It is safe to go outside," he said, though
the thought of all of those monsters just out of sight over the
horizon scared him immensely.

"How do you know?"

Tuki kept his eyes on the ball, though he
felt the tension in Kuwisa as the other man considered rising.

"How do you know?" An angry spitting of
words, as if he did not want to admit the lack of knowledge in
himself.

"Because all the comets have gone. Moved on
to somewhere else." He showed him the dots.

"But does that mean the bats and monsters
have gone as well?"

"Poti would not lie." But, in truth, he
wasn't sure. "We cannot stay in here forever," he added, as if that
might make up for the lie.

"
You
can, as far as I'm
concerned."

Tuki didn't look up from the 'glass. He
didn't know why the humans hated him. Only Sha Yukima spoke to him
as if he were a man. "I did not ask to be given the skyglass,
Keyman Kuwisa," Tuki said. "I would rather it were the mo'min who
was here. But the Mother Blower chose me."

"I don't care about your Goddess, boy,"
Kuwisa said.

"And yet She sent me to help you."

"Sure She did."

"Are we to stay here? Or do we go back
outside?"

"You're staying here." The Keyman took the
skyglass. It died in his hand. He swore as he rose to his feet and
went to speak with the Councilor.

Tuki couldn't hear what the two men were
saying, and he didn't care. He was battered and bruised. His face
ached. It was swollen and tender. He almost thought he could feel
the blood throbbing beneath the skin. The Mother Blower had sent
him to the humans, and he'd done nothing to repay Her faith. He
didn't know what to do. He hadn't even had the chance to talk to
any women. All he could do was sit and wait, so that was what he
did.

After a few minutes of hushed discussion,
Keyman Kuwisa spoke to the group at large. "It has been decided
that we will stay here for a while longer and then go and see what
has happened."

Sha Yukima gave a bark of laughter in
response.

"What's so amusing, Sha?"

"Keyman, it is your duty to protect the
citizens of Payota. It is what you are paid for, and yet you argue
with Councilor Nasinwa to stay safely locked down here while the
citizens are above ground."

"You led the way down here, Sha."

"And today is the day you start listening to
a priest?"

"In times of crisis, we turn to Anas, Sha.
It has always been so."

"Yes, and you turn away as quickly
afterwards."

Tuki was shocked. "Keyman, you do not pay
homage to even your own gods?"

Kuwisa turned to look at him coldly.
"Praying doesn't save lives. In the end, it is always strong doors
or strong arms that do that."

"Perhaps," Tuki agreed,
"but it is always the Goddess, or gods, who make sure life
is
worth
living."

Councilor Nasinwa smiled. "There are three
strong sets of arms here that could have been helping above ground,
Kuwisa, instead of guarding some old men. And, if the threat has
now passed, then the Council should be up there to lead the
way."

"Very well, then. If you insist." Kuwisa
broke away from the rest of the group and made his way to the
stairs. He paused there and looked back over his shoulder.

"We can't stay here
forever, Keyman," Nasinwa said. He had the skyglass again but was
paying it no mind, tossing it absently from hand to hand as he
spoke. He was going to steal it. Though the human couldn't use it,
and probably would not know how to read the messages of the Goddess
if he
could
use
it, Nasinwa would keep the 'glass anyway.

"We could wait until morning," Kuwisa said.
"Just to be sure."

The Councilor didn't say anything, merely
glared, and the other man climbed the stairs to the stone door. A
moment later, the humans were all making their way back to ground
level, nervously following the soldiers into the daylight. Tuki
tried to follow as well but the door was slammed in his face. The
closing cut off angry words from Sha Yukima.

Tuki stayed where he was, listening as the
bolts were slipped into place. He sat on the bottom step to
wait.

The skyglass was gone.

18: More Trolls

Tuki sat on the step for a long time,
examining the comet tattoo on the back of his hand, before thinking
to try the door above him. He discovered that, with a little bit of
effort, he could make it move. It was not a door designed for
keeping people in.

It took only a moment for him to realize
that he could leave at any time, but considerably longer to decide
if he should.

Did the human men have the right to lock him
up without so much as a nod from the women? And if they had the
earthly authority in general, did they have the right in his case?
He'd done nothing wrong. He went through the events of the last few
days just to be sure, but they had said as much themselves: he was
being kept on the suspicion that he was a troll.

Eventually it was not a question of the
rights of the humans, or even his own rights, that decided him. It
was the skyglass. Councilor Nasinwa didn't know how to use the
'glass. He didn't understand its importance. As far as Tuki knew
there were but two skyglasses in the entire world — he could not
let one of those be lost through his own inaction. He gripped the
edge of the stone door and pulled. It protested, resisting, but
only for a moment.

Outside, the wall of the hallway sagged
dangerously, ready to fall at any minute. The rest of the building
was no better. It leaned at a crazy angle. Stone blocks were
scattered everywhere. Half the tiles from the roof had slipped down
to the ground.

The rest of the city was much the same. On
either side of the street a line of rubble, both timber and stone,
had taken the place of the buildings. They all looked the same now,
but it was hardly harmonious. Close to where he was, Tuki could
only see three structures still whole. Bodies lay everywhere,
strange cold worlds in the expanse of the street. Tuki tried not to
look.

Farther away, upright
structures were more regular and signs of life could be seen. A
thin man dragged a sack out of one house and into the next. A child
ran behind a dog. Or perhaps he was
with
the animal.

Tuki couldn't move. It seemed that while he
was underground another world had replaced the one he'd left just
hours before. The pain and humiliation that had been inflicted upon
him by the humans was completely understandable compared to the
destruction wrought by the strangers from the sky. Or perhaps it
was exactly the same thing — fear, confusion, misunderstanding — on
a much larger scale.

He stood where he was for a long time, eyes
turned to the sky so he could pray for the Mother Blower to bring
back the world he knew.

He eventually moved away from the tilting,
half collapsed remains that had sheltered him. There was not a lot
of difference between street and buildings, but at the next corner
Tuki went left and at the first standing wall, a hundred and eighty
meters from his starting position, paused to get his bearings. He
needed to find the skyglass but had no idea where he might start to
look. Councilor Nasinwa probably had it in his possession, but
where was the Councilor?

Away to the west was a river. A real river
filled with an unbelievable amount of water. And nearby, a large
group of people were congregating beside a small platform and a
tree. They milled about as if they had no idea why they were there,
beyond the fact that everyone else was there.

Tuki started down towards the river, because
everyone else was there.

Perhaps the Councilor has
found a woman to set things right.
He hoped
so, for he didn't want to be caught with only the men in
charge.

There were indeed women in the crowd, but
they appeared to be as confused as the men. They cried and shuffled
and waited for somebody else to tell them what needed to be
done.

Tuki watched from inside a wrecked
warehouse. One of the planks had fallen away from the wall, leaving
a gap through which he could watch without being seen. His heart
was racing. He set his hands against the old, grey timber to steady
their shaking.

Near the edges of the group, guards watched
silently. They had their big knives out and seemed eager to use
them. They prodded at anyone, women or men, who caused even the
slightest stir. They elicited startled shrieks and smiled amongst
themselves.

Just when Tuki was ready to move his search
to other areas, glad of any excuse to be on his way, the Councilor
stepped up onto the platform at the very edge of the river and held
up his hands for silence. He held his position for a long time
before he was satisfied.

"My good people, quiet, please."

Beside the platform were other elderly,
serious looking men and women. The Council, Tuki assumed, though
there were many more men than women and one wore similar clothes to
those worn by the soldiers.

"Some quiet, please."

The rumbling of the crowed died further.

"Thank you." Nasinwa lowered his arms. "We
have suffered grievously today. It has been terrible for all of us,
and we know not how any other cities in the area have faired. The
Priman has sent runners out to Assinabon and Sarsin and through
Salisha Valley to Klamoth, but they will probably not return for a
week at best. So we must assume we are on our own. We must work
together to make sure we have food and shelter. If we all put in
and help, we will make it through this."

A disbelieving grumble ran through the
gathering, but Nasinwa ignored it.

"There is food aplenty in the market yards.
Some of the livestock have escaped, but they will not go far. And
several of the warehouses remain untouched. This is a black day for
Payota, but we will go on."

Tuki continued to listen as the Councilor
organized the running of the city. He ordered men to prepare
suitable shelter and others to see to the livestock. Women were
directed to the warehouses to collect what they could. Children
were to scavenge, finding anything they thought might be useful and
passing it on to those older than they.

Some looked as if they might do as they had
been told, but the majority of people continued grumbling. Someone
shouted for Nasinwa to make shelters himself. Another said that if
anyone were hungry they could slaughter their own food.