Engor

Julien and the Nine Worlds

Book II
Julien the Emperor

Chapters 14-30

As usual it was still dark while they ate their breakfast. The noise of the blizzard seemed to have dropped an octave, suggesting that there might actually be a lull in the storm before too long. Dillik and Niil were obviously keen to find out what had happened between Julien and Ambar the previous evening, but neither made any attempt to raise the subject: they were happy to wait for Julien to offer an account – if, in fact, any was to be offered at all. They knew that Ambar would definitely not tell them anything.

As had been decided the previous day, after breakfast Julien transported Tannder to Zenn R'aal, into a chaotic landscape strewn with massive granite boulders that seemed to have been dropped haphazardly into a valley covered with low-growing vegetation. In this valley was a house occupied by an old man wearing his silver-grey hair in a style that had probably been out of date even before Tannder was born, he also had a neatly-trimmed moustache and goatee, which were rare enough in the Nine Worlds to be noteworthy. His dark eyes were surprisingly lively and offered a contrast to the wrinkles of age on his face, and his whole appearance radiated strength and character. If he found Julien's Imperial Marks surprising he gave no hint of it, offering only a courteous attention while Tannder made the introductions.

"My Lord," he said to Julien, "this is Master Dennkar of Meh Tchenn. Master, I'm sure you recognise your guest."

"Indeed," said the old man. "I'm glad to be able to confirm in person what I had heard. You've been absent for far too long."

"I'm sure you've also heard, Master," said Julien, "that I don't have a lot in common with the Yulmir you knew before. I've seen his image and I know that I don't look anything like him, and I can't remember anything about the life he lived. I wanted to make that clear from the start so that you don't find me too much of a disappointment."

"I'm sure I won't be disappointed," replied Dennkar, pointing to one corner of the room. "If your haptir over there is still loyal to you, I'm sure that nothing will prevent me from serving you too."

Julien was impressed: as far as he was aware this was the first time that anyone had seen past Xarax's amazing ability to camouflage himself and lurk inconspicuously in dark corners.

"The Honourable Tannder will explain why we're here," he said. "I hope you'll agree to help us."

Their host prepared some hot, nicely flavoured herbal tea, and while they drank it Tannder explained the whole situation in short, concise sentences.

"If I understand you correctly," said their host when he had finished, "you want me to come out of retirement to become a teacher to two boys."

"You could see it like that, yes."

"So what makes you think I might accept? Other than the fact that it's not easy to say no to the Emperor, of course."

"Well, it seems to me to be a terrible waste to leave you mouldering away in the exile the Council imposed on you."

"Ah, so you know about that?"

"It wasn't hard to guess. Logically you ought to be head of the Order by now, if it hadn't been for political intrigue resulting in getting you banished you here instead. Why do you think I chose to sign on with Aldegard instead of going after a headquarters post myself? You're not too old to serve, you're just too honest and too indifferent to power. Virtue is often anathema to those who don't possess it themselves."

"Did you explain that to His Lordship?"

"No. It's not my story to tell, and I wasn't prepared to talk about it without speaking to you first. Come with us, Dennkar – you'll like your pupils, and you'll also be able to offer advice to the Emperor without offending the Order. After all, what they don't know about can't annoy them."

"Someone will leak it, I'm sure."

"No, they won't. Our Council is very limited. We can't afford to share our secrets with the entire mechanism of government."

"And what does His Lordship think?"

"His Lordship thinks," replied Julien, "that – to quote a friend of ours – you can't really know a man until you've shared a bag of salt with him. And I'm sure you feel the same way. But if Tannder is vouching for you, I'm definitely ready to try to get to know you."

"That sounds honest."

"There's one other thing: 'His Lordship' prefers to be called Julien when we're not in public. I'm ready to do everything I can to put things right in the R'hinz, but I want to be allowed to be myself."

"And might I be so bold as to ask who, or what, you are?"

"I'm a thirteen-year-old boy who is in a world which isn't his own and in which everyone is trying either to use me or to kill me… well, all right, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. It's not quite everyone – I do still have some friends."

"If that's truly the case you're better off than most people who wield power. You're lucky."

"I'm starting to realise that. I don't know how Yulmir managed to live when he distrusted everyone. I certainly can't live like that."

"That's why it's a good thing that other people can do the distrusting for you. I'm sure Tannder is excellent at it."

"I honestly don't know what Tannder does. All I know is that Xarax trusts him and that I trust Xarax. Xarax is the Emperor's Haptir, and he's also my friend. Although, to be honest, the more I get to know Tannder, the more I think he isn't just helping me because I'm the Emperor."

"What makes you think that?"

"My father often says 'No man is a great man to his valet'. Tannder isn't my servant, but I'm sure he knows me better than my parents do. He knows my faults and he knows I'm not what people think I am. He also knows that I don't always do what people want me to. He's never tried to manipulate me, the way some people would, and he always speaks to me honestly like a friend. I know I make things really difficult for him sometimes – like when I insisted on keeping my friends with me – but he's never complained. He just tries to cope without it making things too difficult for me – or, like today, he tries to finds ways to strengthen our team."

"You flatter me."

"No. I don't go in for buttering people up. I might not really be the Emperor of the R'hinz, but I'm not stupid. You might be a great teacher, but we didn't need to come all this way to find someone to teach a couple of kids grammar or history – even though Tannder says appointing you is important for security."

"So why do you think I'm needed, then?"

"Maybe Yulmir would have known, but I don't yet. I can only suppose that Tannder thinks you're the kind of man we want, someone who won't only be thinking of himself. Of course there's a lot I don't know, and probably I don't need to know most of it. All I can say is, so far Tannder hasn't made any mistakes – or at least, none that really mattered – but I think he's afraid that it could happen and so he's looking for someone who could help him to see clearly. But he might have a different purpose altogether for all I know. Either way you should be aware that it's likely to be a dangerous job. Sometimes I feel as if I have a big target drawn on my chest."

"I'd more or less gathered that. But life here is a little too uneventful…"

"Does that mean you're prepared to come with us?"

"Of course. Is there some sort of oath I have to swear?"

"Definitely not. I prefer people to work for me of their own free will, not because they've sworn some stupid oath. Anyway, I'm sure there are plenty of traitors who haven't let a little thing like an oath stop them from stabbing someone in the back if they feel like it. However… you will have to let Xarax taste you. I'm not quite sure myself how that works, but he does insist on it."

Xarax jumped noiselessly onto Julien's shoulder.

I don't need to do that, he said inside Julien's head. I know Master Dennkar, even though he's got a bit older since we last met.

"Apparently he doesn't need to," said Julien. "So – welcome to the team, Master. I expect you've got a few things you need to sort out. When would you like me to come back to pick you up?"

"I live on my own," said Dennkar. "I just need to say a few words to the old companion who looks after the house, and after that we can leave at once. I always keep a trunk ready with some clothes and a few personal bits and pieces. We can go whenever you're ready."

***

Once they were back in Djang Kang, Dennkar expressed his surprise.

"I have to say, My Lord, that I wasn't expecting to be transported by the Emperor himself. Have the Guides withdrawn their service?"

"Not at all. It's just that we prefer to have as few people as possible know where we are. The only Guide who knows how to find me is my friend Aïn. He's very busy, and so if it's just a question of a straightforward journey that doesn't need any particular talent I deal with it myself. I've only lost one passenger so far."

This was a bit much even for a master of the stone face like Dennkar: he simply couldn't hide his shock at his host making such a monstrous admission.

"Don't look at me like that," said Julien, laughing. "It was a ghorr, the one that jumped us in Kardenang. Xarax told me where to take it – actually it was on Zenn R'aal. It was a sort of peak in the middle of a volcanic lake of acid. Tannder wasn't able to tell me who had the insane idea of installing a klirk in a place like that – or, indeed, how it could have been done in the first place. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?"

"I think that has to be Duktchenn Kortso. The peak in the centre of the lake is all that is left of a belvedere that was built to serve as an observatory for those who love that type of landscape."

Julien looked bewildered, and now it was Dennkar's turn to laugh.

"You'd be surprised how many people there are who are fascinated by that sort of thing. As you may know, Zenn R'aal is a fairly young world where volcanism is still very widespread. People love the volcanoes, even though a lot of people are scared by them, and there have always been pilgrimages, or more normal organised tours, for those who love to see nature at her most wild. Seeing a volcano close up offers you a glimpse of terrifying beauty. The soul is strengthened and the viewer regains a healthy sense of humility. Anyway, that peak – it's probably all that is left of a volcanic chimney – was once connected to the rim of the crater by a narrow isthmus which was destroyed over a long period by the elements and the corrosive fumes from the volcano. The platform was once a lot wider. It's been centuries since anyone went near it: nowadays they just contemplate the lake from the lip of the crater. I had no idea there was still a klirk there."

"There's now nothing there except a klirk," Julien told him. "There isn't room on it for more than one person, so I'm afraid I can't take you there for a personal visit."

"I think I can survive without one. And let me congratulate you again on a brilliant feat."

"It really wasn't down to me, you know. Xarax told me where to go. Without him I would certainly have been eaten. Anyway, now I'd like to introduce you to your students, and after that you can take a little time to get acclimatised. But don't get too settled: I suspect we'll be moving on before too long."

"I won't start redecorating my room, then."

***

"Julien," said Tannder, "if you don't mind, there's one more person I'd like to have join us."

"You know I'm happy to leave that sort of thing entirely up to you. So who were you thinking of?"

"Master Subadar."

Julien whistled softly. "I can think of one person who won't like the idea," he said, "and that's Subadar himself."

"I don't suppose he'll be the only one, either."

"Do you think he'll agree?"

"To be honest, I was relying on you being able to persuade him."

"Of course you were. So what will I have to offer him to get him to come?"

"I don't think anything you could offer would actually influence him one way or another. But the job of teaching…"

"You're joking! Do you really see Subadar teaching Dil… oh, hang on: it's me he's going to be teaching, isn't it?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. He has a great deal to teach you, and I should think he'll jump at the chance."

"But why does he have to stay here with us? I could go and pick him up every day easily enough."

"Because every time you do that there's more chance of someone finding out about it, and then he'd be in serious danger. So would you, come to that: I don't want you spending too much time away from wherever we end up staying – I can't protect you properly if you're for ever jumping about the R'hinz. I'd imagine that the first place they'll be watching out for you is Bakhtar Tower, but the Seat of the Order of the Major Arts is probably a close second."

"Then perhaps it would be safer for me not to go near him at all."

"My thoughts exactly. That's why I suggest you send Aïn to go and collect him and bring him back here where you can talk to him in safety."

"Yes, but he must have masses of things to do – I'm sure he can't just disappear from his normal work. He's still Grand Master of the Order, isn't he?"

"Well, obviously it'll have to be up to him, but I suspect that in this sort of situation day-to-day activities become a lot less important. I think you'll find that his duty calls him to make sure you get all the training necessary to be able to fulfil your duties to the R'hinz. Anything else will come second to that."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better – I mean, there's no pressure there at all, is there? Clearly I can just relax and stop worrying."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. Go and ask Aïn to go and fetch Subadar."

***

"Master Subadar," said Julien, "this wasn't my idea, but I can see the logic of it."

"Oh, it's definitely logical. I'm just surprised that you agreed to augment your team with someone who is going to take from you what little free time you still have left."

"Well, recently I've been spending my free time getting rid of ghorrs and trying not to get assassinated. That sort of free time I can manage without."

"I'd still like to submit a request, if I may?"

"I'm listening."

"I'd be most upset if I had to part with Yol. Even though he isn't quite the way he was, he's still my chenn da. I think you can understand what that means."

"He's my friend too, you know. I don't think Tannder will argue too much if that's all you want in return for joining us."

They stood above the wide bay and looked at the devastated landscape of Emm Talak. Here on the Tchenn Kang mountains they could see a vast plain below, on which were large bright areas that Julien had first thought were lakes until he had been told that they were actually stretches of ground that had been vitrified by some sort of energy weapon, and huge areas of wasteland where some sort of giant mildew – apparently the only surviving example of local flora – somehow managed to cling to life. Although it was around midday the light was gloomy at best due to the heavy layers of red-brown cloud floating, apparently permanently, two or three thousand metres above the ground. More than twenty millennia had passed since the catastrophe that had caused this desolation, but using powerful binoculars they could still glimpse the ruins of titanic structures, parts of which had somehow withstood the constant showers of acidic radioactive rain. No mammal could have lived out there for more than a few seconds, and the only reason that Julien and his party were still alive was that they were behind a wall of transparent alloy that formed the only opening towards the outside world.

"That looks really scary," commented Niil, expressing aloud what everyone was thinking.

"Well, at least we're unlikely to get many visitors," Julien pointed out. "And I suppose that's what you wanted, Tannder."

"Yes, My Lord. And I don't think anyone would be able to recruit accomplices among the local population, either. Furthermore, there are hundreds of refuges like this one, so even if they find out we're on Emm Talak it would take them a long time to find the one we're using. And there's another reason for coming here, too: these shelters were built to withstand virtually anything. They can't be penetrated by any form of energy, and it seems fairly certain that the enemy's transmitters won't be able to work in here either, if we do happen to have missed one. We can't be completely certain, obviously, but it does seem likely."

"Are we going to be stuck here for a long time?" asked Dillik anxiously.

"No," said Tannder. "It'll be our residence, but we certainly don't have to spend all day in here. You could have your lessons on a beach on Nüngen if you want, or anywhere else, come to that. But I must insist that everyone is here at certain times."

"So who built these shelters?" asked Julien.

"The Epsidanis. They were one of the two peoples who fought in the conflict that finally destroyed their entire world."

"And where did they go?"

"Nowhere. They all died. So did their enemies, the Tach'endilans."

"Were they part of the Nine Worlds?"

"No, it happened before the creation of the R'hinz. The Guides had only just discovered them. When the Guides realised what their civilisation was like they refused to transport them to other worlds and limited themselves to simply observing what was happening."

"Didn't the people here try to force the Guides to help them?"

"If you know how to force a Guide to transport someone I'd be interested to hear about it. In fact the Guides wipe the memories of everyone who comes into contact with them so efficiently that the people forget that the Guides even exist. But we can talk about that later. Right now we need to settle in."

***

None of the original furniture or decoration had survived: like every other aspect of the Epsidanis' culture and technology it had completely disappeared. All that remained was the basic structure and its energy supply, which was similar to that which powered the secret installations at the Emperor's Palace on Nüngen. The shelter appeared to have been used now and again, being progressively refitted according to the need and taste of whoever was occupying it at the time, and indeed Julien's party had also added to it: Aïn had arranged to transport everything they needed. However, it had not been felt necessary to bring the large, comfortable beds which Julien was now used to, and the sight of bunk beds in the first room he looked at had given him a nasty surprise. But then Tannder had showed him the room the boys were going to share, and here there was just a pile of normal-sized mattresses which could be arranged however the room's occupants wanted.

Of course there was no window in the room, but the ceiling gave off a light very close to that of a normal human world – or one that had not been devastated, anyway. Some lamps had also been brought from Nüngen, and these allowed them to reduce the lighting in the evenings to the soft light they were used to. Master Subadar said that it was essential to get the lighting right if everyone was to maintain a good mental and emotional balance during their stay here, especially if it was going to be a long one. It was quite a large chamber with plenty of rooms, and that meant that they had enough space to install any equipment that they might need.

There was one point which initially seemed a little worrying: the absence of a klirk that allowed anyone to enter the shelter. There had been one, established by the Guides after the destruction of the Epsidanis, but Aïn had destroyed it as soon as they arrived: it would be stupid, he said, to allow anyone direct access to their sanctuary. From now on the only way to enter or leave the shelter would be with the help of a Master Guide capable of navigating without klirks. When Tannder pointed out that Aïn was the only one who fitted that description, and that consequently if he had an accident everyone would be permanently stuck inside the shelter and thus the prisoner of a dead planet, Aïn said that he'd thought of that: the Honourable Guide Wakhann, Aïn's star pupil who was currently staying with Julien's parents, also knew how to reach the refuge. The two of them had arranged to meet every day so that Aïn could assure Wakhann that all was well. If Aïn failed to show up for one of these meetings Wakhann had orders to come to the refuge and do whatever he thought best.

However, Aïn was also hoping that Julien would work hard to become capable of the same feat: Aïn was sure he had the ability, he said, and in order to make the initial stage of the training a little easier Aïn had prepared a target-klirk for Julien. Nobody else would be able to use it: it had been prepared exclusively for Julien's use, carried his personal Mark and would be invisible to all other Guides – even Aïn would be unable to use it. But until Julien reached the necessary level Aïn would remain solely responsible for all movements to and from the refuge. Tannder still didn't seem too happy about it, so Julien decided to use his authority.

"If Aïn thinks we have to do it that way," he said, "that's what we'll do. I trust him – after all, he's the expert, and everyone I've met says that he's the best in the business. So we'll do as he says. And if he thinks I'll be able to do it too before very long I'll trust him on that too, and I'll do whatever it takes to get there."

***

So everyone arranged to spend as much time as possible away from the depressing environment on Emm Talak, only returning to the shelter for their communal evening meal and then bed. Dennkar offered advice in his unofficial role but spent most of his official duties as tutor helping Master Sandeark to ensure that Ambar and Dillik had no chance to fall a prey to the dreadful vice of sloth. Niil, true to his first resolution, made sure that he took every available chance to continue with his own interrupted education, and both of the official tutors, and even Master Subadar himself, did their best to encourage his laudable thirst for knowledge.

As for Julien himself, he was the object of Aïn's continuing drive to teach him everything about the Art of the Guides and to make him as good as he could be at it, although his time for that was limited by Subadar's efforts to instil in him the knowledge of those Major Arts which he would need to fulfil his function as Emperor. But Julien made sure that he also spent at least a quarter of an hour every day visiting Tenntchouk, who was slowly recovering from the injuries inflicted on him by the ghorr. Nobody was sure what the long term consequence of that terrible episode might be, but at least it now seemed certain that the venom that had contaminated his wounds wasn't going to prove fatal. Gradik, who remained constantly at his companion's side, was deeply moved by these daily visits, and seemed to find it hard to believe that the Emperor could offer such attention to them. Julien, on the other hand, found it perfectly natural – after all, Tenntchouk wasn't just a friend: he had saved Julien's life.

***

Julien had insisted that one day in every nine was to be reserved for leisure activities, as was the custom throughout the Nine Worlds. This generally gave them a chance to take a well-earned break in a place chosen for the beauty of its setting and the quality of its climate. Karik, who quite often came to spend the night with them in the shelter, would also sometimes come on these little pleasure trips. Of course, these weren't always completely relaxing, because Tannder was unable to resist the opportunity to teach them all a bit more about open-air martial arts.

Karik had also managed to uncover some information while working in Kardenang. He had discovered that one of the employees of the laundry that dealt with Mistress Nardik's inn had recently died: it seemed that his heart had simply stopped beating while he was sleeping in his kang. His boss was a bit annoyed because he had no idea who needed to be notified: the man had only been working there for three ninths, and nothing in his possessions gave any indication of where he had come from.

That was apparently a dead end, but Karik had also got into the habit of visiting the public bath house and had quickly made friends with the owner, whose name was End'alik. The man was delighted to find this boy among his patrons – a stranger, of course, but polite and friendly, and furthermore not one of the usual collections of pretty boys who made a living selling their charms to passing sailors. End'alik, who had once been moved by Julien just after he had returned from Earth, once again felt his heart melt when confronted by the dark eyes of Mistress Nardik's good-looking assistant, although certain other parts of his anatomy suffered from the opposite effect when Karik's other attributes came into view.

Karik said nothing about the liberties he had, or had not, permitted the bath-master to take with him every time he wrapped him and then dried him gently in a warm towel, but he did say that the man, as well as being the owner of a modest bath-house, was also a passable poet who composed little sonnets for the boy. These could be moving, imploring or comic, depending on his mood, and he would recite them to the boy whenever Karik agreed to share his supper. End'alik was also keeping him informed of whatever gossip was doing the rounds – for, like a barber, he usually found out most of what was happening by listening to his patrons' conversation. So, without even asking any questions, Karik learned of the existence of a couple of strangers who had apparently been most interested in finding out about Mistress Nardik's inn. They hadn't actually asked questions, but that was definitely the impression they left in the bath-master's perceptive mind. As to why they were interested in the inn, well, who could say?

Tannder, of course, was extremely interested in this piece of information, which he heard the day after Karik had learned it himself, and he even went so far as to disregard his usual rule by congratulating his pupil on the clever way he had obtained it.

Tannder thought that if the situation had been different he might have wondered about the ethics of abducting two people, with no legal grounds for doing so, simply because they had shown an interest in the activities of a provincial inn. Under the circumstances he decided to spare Julien the moral dilemma by simply going ahead without telling him, even though he knew that this was likely to give rise to criticism of his methods. He didn't tell Karik about it either, reasoning that that way the boy's conscience could remain clear. Instead he recruited a quartet of strong, silent comrades-in-arms to help him achieve this piece of skulduggery – they were among the most effective members of the security team who were supposed to be keeping a watchful eye on Mistress Nardik's establishment – although he did feel it appropriate to wonder aloud to them as to why he was paying a team of ultra-qualified veterans to do so when a barely adolescent kid seemed to be better at gathering intelligence than they were. This served to motivate his team into action, and they duly became shadows, melting away into the night in a way that was as silent, and almost as dangerous, as a hunting haptir.

Karik was himself a perfectionist, and so he had located the supposed spies' location before reporting to Tannder. In fairness that hadn't been very difficult because they weren't trying to hide, but by doing so he had spared Tannder the task, one which could easily have taken a whole day to achieve. The house the men were occupying was one of a small cluster of cottages laid out in rows. These were generally rented out to sailors who wanted to take a longer break between voyages, or to merchants who used them as a base of operations while they prospected the surrounding area and islands.

Obviously they couldn't just try to bash their way in, since that could easily lead to the destruction of compromising equipment or material. Instead Tannder had opted for a method which, while being short on martial glory, was likely to be a lot more effective: he was going to use a fast-acting incapacitating gas, the use of which would normally earn the culprit a one-way ticket to explore the lush forests and interesting fauna of Tandil. You could argue that it was a non-lethal weapon, but it was all the same technically an agent of chemical warfare, and the memory of what those could do had endured through several millennia without any diminution of its power. Tannder had no more right to use such a weapon than anyone else: he had obtained it illegally from the stock kept at one of the bases of his Order, where it was held purely for teaching purposes. In fact he wasn't even completely sure that it would still work, given how old it was, but he knew that those who had created it were perfectionists, and that made it highly likely that the contents of this little container would indeed be strong enough to incapacitate his targets.

Of course, simply possessing the canister was not enough: somehow he had to get it into the house. He didn't think he could just sneak into the garden and chuck it through a window, because he was fairly sure that there would be traps and warning devices outside the house. A particularly gifted Guide could have done it, but Tannder didn't think that Aïn, who was waiting for them at the inn, would agree to do something as illegal as this. So he had to resort to the use of a nag namdro, or blackwing, a sort of black bat about the size of a small flying fox. These had a certain level of intelligence and even a rudimentary language, and that made them excellent allies for those who needed a discreet pair of eyes.

Of course you couldn't just walk into a pet shop to pick up an intelligent creature like this, and that made their use quite rare. Instead you had to raise them yourself, and you could only do that if you were given the young blackwing by its own parents at a very early age. In other words you could only benefit from the services of these useful little allies if you had maintained a long relationship with one or several couples, and the handover of a line of nag namdros was one of the greatest marks of trust and esteem that a Master could give his disciple.

The blackwing Tannder intended to send was a direct offspring of one of the couples given to him by his late master, Habderim of Aleth. The animal had already carried out a reconnaissance and entered the house by means of an opening under the roof, making sure that it could access the rest of the house before returning to Tannder's side. Then he flew off into the night once more, carrying the fateful package in its claws. The weapon was primed: its simple, efficient mechanism involved a small lever which, once pressed, would start a clockwork device that, after a delay of a few seconds, would open a pressurised container containing the gas. This would fill the room and then the rest of the house with a small but effective concentration of an extremely active by-product of the sap of a carnivorous plant from Tandil.

Once the blackwing had reported the successful completion of its mission Tannder waited for some time, long enough for the gas – or that quantity which had not been inhaled by the inhabitants of the house – to lose its toxicity by simple oxidation. Then he and three of his men walked towards the house.

"What do you mean, disappeared?!!!"

It was a strange scene: Julien, wearing nothing but his Marks, dripping salt water and with his hair plastered to his head, stood blinking in the dazzling morning sunlight on the beach of a beautiful tropical lagoon on Nüngen's Eastern Ocean, trying to preserve a certain dignity in front of a tall, impressive-looking warrior who was almost looming over him. Aïn stood off to one side pretending not to be there.

"Well, My Lord… see, after a while, when he still hadn't come out, I went into the house to look for him."

"And?"

"There was nobody in the house at all. I looked everywhere – I even asked the blackwing to look for his master, but…"

"A blackwing?"

"Yes, My Lord. It's a small flying creature you send…"

"I know what a blackwing is. What I don't know is why there was one taking part in this operation. You haven't explained that bit yet."

The man was clearly uneasy, and it was obvious to Julien that he was trying to work out how much of the truth to tell him.

"Listen," said Julien, "I don't want to listen to a load of old rubbish. If either you or Tannder messed up somehow I want to know about it right now. All you've told me so far was that you were going after some spies, but I'm starting to get the feeling that there was more to it. Perhaps I should ask Aïn? That way you won't have to feel you've betrayed your boss…"

"My Lord, Aïn doesn't know anything. He just stayed at the inn like Tannder told him to."

The man didn't say anything else, and Julien became impatient.

"Look, we can't just stand here all day long," he said. "We've got to find Tannder, and the more time you send beating about the bush the more trouble he's going to be in. So think about that and then get ready to tell us the whole story. I'm going to go and fetch someone, and when I get back I want a proper, full report."

Julien ran about a hundred metres along the beach, where Master Dennkar was busy describing the fall of the Dzenn Arang Empire to three boys who didn't seem to mind in the slightest their lesson being interrupted.

"Dennkar," said Julien, "I think Tannder's in trouble. That Warrior back there came to tell me that he's disappeared, but I still haven't been able to get the full story from him. And I think I'm going to need your help if we're going to rescue Tannder."

Once they got back to where the Warrior was waiting Julien introduced Master Dennkar to him, and when he found out who he was going to be reporting to the Warrior looked even more nervous than he had in front of the Emperor himself. In his world Master Dennkar of Meh Tchenn was not just a run-of-the-mill Warrior, and the fact that he was retired did not in the least diminish the respect in which he was held. Doing his best to keep his voice steady the Warrior gave a full account of what had happened.

"One question," said Dennkar, once the recitation was over. "Who did you leave to guard the house?"

The guilty look on the Warrior's face was answer enough.

"Get back there immediately," ordered Dennkar. "Aïn will take you. I want a permanent watch on the place starting the moment you get back there."

He had barely finished speaking when the man vanished with scarcely a whisper. Aïn could be extremely efficient.

***

"Dennkar," said Julien, "I think you should be in charge of this operation. What do you think we should do?"

"First we need to make sure you're safe. As soon as Aïn gets back we'll move to somewhere you've never been before."

"Why not go back to the shelter on Emm Talak?"

"Because we have to assume that Tannder will have talked. And if he hasn't talked, he's sure to be probed."

"But there's no way in! There's no klirk there, or any other way to get inside! And Tannder doesn't even know exactly where it is – only Aïn and Wakhann know that."

"That's true, but it would still be safer to hide somewhere that Tannder has no knowledge of."

"All right, I'll let you decide where we go. We'd better tell the others. Karik isn't going to like it…"

"That's certainly true. And…"

"What?"

"Well, perhaps it would be better not to tell Karik that his master has been using nyi doug."

"What's that?"

"That's what we call the substance his blackwing carried into the house for him."

"Why shouldn't we tell him that?"

"Because it's an illegal weapon. Simply for possessing it a court could order Tannder to be exiled to Tandil. And, of course, he was using it to abduct people he didn't even know for sure were spies."

"But he was right, wasn't he?"

"It certainly looks like it. And really it's hard to criticise him for not playing by the rules when we're facing an enemy like this. But I still want this information restricted to just the two of us."

Karik took the news very badly. For the first time Julien saw him on the brink of tears, and it took several minutes to convince him that there would be no point in going back to Kardenang. But Julien did promise that he could take part in the rescue mission once Master Dennkar got one organised.

Aïn returned with Niil and Sandeark. They decided that everyone should leave straight away, and that their few possessions could be collected later, when and if they were needed. The transfers would be carried out by Aïn in three batches, because once again they were going somewhere that had no klirk.

***

All forests look much the same at night, but the Great Forest on Tandil was still somehow special. The insulating bubble over their heads was an efficient barrier against every life form, animal or vegetable, but not only was it transparent – at least when there was actually some light to be seen – it was also permeable to sound, and the air that passed through it also carried scents and smells, although the barrier filtered out those toxic elements expelled into the air by a wide variety of bizarre flora. The membrane of which the bubble was composed was the pinnacle of achievement of the Art of Life, an Art that only a tiny number of individuals had mastered.

So although at this moment it was impossible to see beyond the dimly-lit platform on which they were standing, they could hear an amazing variety of noises, quite a few of which seemed to indicate the unpleasant death of some creature not high enough up the particularly brutal food chain for which Tandil was notorious. The powerful smell of vegetative decay was periodically eclipsed by aromatic scents that suggested that several of the local flowers sent their messages by night.

"Are we going to be staying here?" asked Julien a little nervously.

"Yes, but further down. This is just the observation bubble. I thought that if we arrived here rather than in the underground shelter you'd get a better idea of where we are. We'll go down once everyone is here."

"I'm really impressed with Aïn's precision. I would never in a million years be able to target a platform ten metres wide in the middle of a forest without a klirk."

"It's even more impressive than you think. When day breaks you'll be able to see that the bubble is hanging just below the crown of a giant ching tchenn."

"What's one of those?"

"It's a tree. This one is roughly the same height as one of the Aleth towers."

"Wow! So how do you get up here if you start on the ground?"

"There's a hidden ladder up the trunk."

"Are you serious?"

"Oh, yes. This isn't a holiday resort – it's an ancient training venue for certain elite members of our Order. Actually, I'm now the only person who knows exactly where it is – me and two Guides, one of whom is Aïn. The other one is enjoying his retirement on Yaï Ho. I gather he spends most of his time in meditation, which is an excellent way to…"

He was interrupted by the arrival of Ambar, Dillik and Karik. Aïn went straight back to collect Niil, Master Sandeark and Master Subadar, whom he had left in his library, gathering reference books.

"Where are we?" asked Dillik.

"On Tandil," Julien told him.

"What?! But it's full of…"

"Dangerous things," completed Julien. "I know. So that's going to mean no gallivanting around, all right? Here we do exactly what Master Dennkar tells us to. Our situation is tricky enough without making it worse."

"All right, let's go down and leave some room on the platform," said Dennkar. "It's a lot easier to go down than to climb up," he added to Julien. "See that opening at the edge of the platform? It's the top of a tube which is part of the bubble. You just slip into it – feet first is best – and allow yourself to sink down. It feels a bit odd, but there's no risk of the air running out or of getting stuck."

Before Julien could reply Karik stepped between him and the opening.

"If it's all the same to you," he said, "I'll go first."

Julien almost protested that Karik didn't need to do that because he trusted Master Dennkar, but he managed to keep quiet. He realised that he had to allow Karik to show that he had taken on Tannder's mission to protect them, and that meant standing between Julien and any possible danger. So:

"Thank you," he said, stepping back. "We'll follow you down."

'Odd' was a poor word to describe the feeling: it was almost like being swallowed alive and sliding slowly down a huge oesophagus, propelled by muscular contractions. In daylight it might have been different, since the tube was transparent, but at night he could just as easily been slipping towards the stomach of a gigantic giraffe. But the process didn't last as long as he had feared, and in due course he landed with a slight bump in a softly-lit hemispherical room. Karik was waiting for him, trying to hide his anxiety behind a screen of martial readiness.

"We'll find him," Julien assured him.

Karik didn't think he could trust his voice, so he just nodded.

"He's our number one priority," said Julien.

He didn't have time to say anything else before Dillik arrived, followed by the rest of the party, including Niil, Sandeark and Aïn.

***

The base was a bit like what you might imagine a burrow to be like: the vaulted galleries lacked the regularity and precision you might have expected from a military order, or indeed from any other human building. Instead they wandered around in any old way, going up and down in places. The junctions were remarkable for the complete absence of right-angles.

They passed a number of doors and eventually came to quite a large room which might have served as a refectory – it held five tables with seats around them – and as a briefing room, because most of one wall was taken up by a writing-board. There was no decoration on the blue-green walls, and there was a fine layer of dust over everything, which clearly indicated that the place had been deserted for some time.

"This base hasn't been used for around fifteen cycles," Dennkar told them. "The installations are still working, but don't expect to find much in the way of comfort here. The stores are stocked with military rations and some other tinned food, but obviously there's nothing fresh. If we want to eat a proper diet we'll need to stock up. We can of course eat outside – by which I mean on other worlds – provided we don't set any pattern that an enemy could follow.

"There's also an airlock leading to the world outside. Don't even think about using it. This is Tandil, and without a lot of very thorough training you couldn't expect to last five minutes on the surface. If you want to see what's out there you can use the observation bubble – in fact I'd actively encourage it: as I was telling Julien, you get there by climbing a ladder, and it's excellent exercise. Up on the platform you'll be able to see for yourself what the local fauna is like. Now, I'd suggest we pick out our kangs, get settled in and then come back here to decide what we're going to do next."

The kangs turned out to be small rooms, each of which held two rather basic beds and little else. They were probably not a lot bigger than the average prison cell. But they were all too busy worrying about Tannder to give much thought to the comfort, or lack of it, of their surroundings.

It didn't take them long to 'settle in' because they had hardly any possessions with them – little more than the clothes they stood up in. There was a small chest at the foot of each bed to keep possessions in, but right now they contained only a set of sheets and a cover for each bed. Julien and Ambar agreed that Dillik should sleep with them: obviously Karik couldn't be left alone to brood on things, and Niil was clearly best placed to stay with him and comfort him. The only problem Julien and Ambar might have to face if they shared a room with Dillik would be a likely increase in the amount of intimate physical exercise that might be indulged in.

***

"For the time being," said Dennkar, once they had reassembled in the large room, "I want you all to stay here. I'm going to Kardenang to try to find out more about Tannder's disappearance."

"Master Dennkar," said Karik, "I want to go with you. I can be useful to you – for a start, I know the place. And, anyway, Julien promised that I could help you find my master."

Julien expected that to get a short answer, but Dennkar surprised him: he thought about it for a moment or two and then said "Very well. But you're the only one I'm going to take, and you'll be under my direct command. That means that you do exactly what I tell you and you obey nobody else. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"If your master has told our enemies what he knows, you could be in considerable danger. You do realise that?"

"Yes."

"Finally – and I'm being open with you here – I might well be tempted to use you as bait if I can't find any other way of reaching the enemy. If you want to be sure that you're safe from that sort of extreme action you might do better to stay here."

"I want to come. Master Tannder is my…"

He fell silent, unable to express exactly what Master Tannder was to him without breaking down.

"Then that's settled," said Dennkar. "We'll leave at once. Julien, I'll send Aïn to you as soon as I can, provided I can persuade Wenn Hyaï to leave his retirement to help us. In the meantime I urge you not to leave here, even though I know you could do so if you wanted to."

"Don't worry," said Julien, "I have no intention of going anywhere – at least, not yet. But if I don't hear from you, or if Aïn doesn't get back to us within one day, I'll move everyone somewhere else. Using the Orientation Table," he added, for Aïn's benefit. "I can transport everyone at once. Of course if I do that I won't be able to get back here – at least, I don't think so. And Xarax is assuring me right now that if I were to try he'd stop me."

When they arrived on Dvârinn it was still well before dawn. Aïn chose to take them, not to the inn, but to the path leading to the enemy's house. Before leaving Dennkar and Karik had dressed in the camouflage fatigues that were in plentiful supply at the Tandil base, and even the trained eye of the Guide found it hard to see them as they walked noiselessly towards the hedge that surrounded the house. However, even their best efforts to avoid detection were not sufficient to defeat the vigilance of Tannder's team: they were eager to show the illustrious Master Dennkar that they weren't completely useless, and they were more determined than ever not to be shown up again by an inexperienced juvenile.

The group leader stepped forward to make his report.

"Nobody has entered or left the house," he told them. "We sent the blackwing in again, but it says the house is empty. With your permission I'd like to send a man inside to check the place over."

"You do not have my permission. I'm confident that anyone who goes in there won't come out again. The whole place is a trap. The people behind it don't need to conceal that from us any longer. Tannder was deliberately lured into that house, and they used the boy to lay the snare – rather skilfully, in my opinion."

"But we have to know.."

"If you really want to gamble your life I won't get in your way. After all, I can understand people being keen to get to the Blissful Fields But I won't allow you to send anyone else on a suicide mission. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly, Gyalken."

"Good. Maintain a watch on the house. We'll station a Guide at the inn round the clock until we're sure the emergency is over."

As they walked back along the path Aïn came close and put himself into the 'communication' posture. Dennkar laid a hand on the Guide's neck.

If you're not going to enter the house, the Guide said, maybe I can look to see if there is any trace of a transfer. But if I'm going to do that we need to go and collect Wenn Hyaï first. We can't risk you being stuck here if anything happens to me.

Is what you're proposing to do dangerous, then?

Perhaps not dangerous, but certainly tricky.

Do you think you'll be able to talk Wenn Hyaï round? It won't be easy.

I know Wenn Hyaï. He won't refuse to help you, even if it does mean leaving his happy retirement. Just out of interest – you weren't really intending to use Karik as bait, were you?

Of course not! But suggesting it made him feel that he really could contribute something to his master's rescue. And the fact that I'm not going to use him that way in no way diminishes his courage and loyalty. I like this boy: Tannder was definitely right to rescue him from his previous situation.

***

Wenn Hyaï didn't refuse to help. Without a word of protest he left his little shack, which sat in the sort of landscape that a Taoist artist would have swooned over. His dark green fur had silver streaks in it here and there and his movements were a little more deliberate than Aïn's, but otherwise there was no indication of his age. Once they got back to the 'Blue kang' in the inn at Kardenang Dennkar issued his instructions.

"Karik," he said, "you are to stay with Master Wenn Hyaï at all times. You're to follow us back to the cluster of houses, but keep your distance and don't come any closer than is necessary to maintain a clear line of sight. If anything goes wrong and I can't issue any further orders I want you to go immediately to join the others on Tandil. The priority for Wenn Hyaï is to make sure that the Emperor still has an efficient travel and communication system. Karik's mission is to serve Master Wenn Hyaï and help him to fulfil his own mission."

***

Once they got outside they found that the first hint of an approaching dawn was visible in the sky. The temperature had fallen considerably, and the humidity of the sea was now condensing into a heavy dew which made everything unpleasantly damp. Karik shivered, pulling his camouflage smock tighter as he strove to keep Master Dennkar and Aïn in sight, which was far from easy: they were dark shadows in a dark night and were making no sound at all. Then he realised that his companion had moved close to him, and he automatically placed his hand on the Guide's neck.

My boy, said Wenn Hyaï, it looks as if we're going to be a team for a while, so… would you mind doing me a favour?

Of course not, Honourable Master Guide. What do you want from me?

Well… I've been living alone for a very long time now, and so there has been no member of your species on hand to scratch behind my ears…

Despite the seriousness of their situation Karik almost burst out laughing. He managed to suppress it, but his mirth was still like a whole battery of fireworks going off in his head, and of course the Guide was immediately aware of it. Suppressing his feelings he simply said, You can laugh if you want, boy, but I'd still like you to scratch me.

They could now make out the house ahead of them, so they stopped. Wenn Hyaï sat on the path and submitted to Karik's attentions, and since Karik already had a fair bit of practice at this art – he'd previously used it on Ugo – he was able to scratch away diligently while still keeping a careful watch on the silhouettes of Dennkar and Aïn.

***

Guides didn't usually linger in the Outside, staying there for no longer than was necessary to achieve the journey they were undertaking at the time. Time spent in the Outside could not be measured and in fact had only a purely subjective duration. In other words, as long as he didn't move on to another destination, a Guide could stay in the Outside for an hour and then return to his departure point without every having left it. The only limit to the stay was the Guide's own mental strength. It was extremely difficult to maintain the concentration necessary for cogent thought, and it was all too easy to go insane if he slipped up somehow. But Aïn was undoubtedly the best there was when it came to probing the Outside. He'd proved that by being able to follow the faint trail left by Julien when he returned to his native world, something which only one other had ever been able to achieve. That was of course Yol the Intrepid, now the dog Ugo, who had earned himself the title of 'Yol, Saviour of the Emperor.'

It only took Aïn a few seconds to find what he was looking for. The Outside, the very substance of the Universe, still bore the trace of a tear that no Guide could have caused. The best way to describe the image Aïn saw would be a great gash through the lines of force that had melted and welded them together randomly. He knew at once that no living being could have been responsible for this violent rape: only a machine could have done this. There were no such machines in the Nine Worlds, but it was thought that attempts had been made to build one on Emm Talak before the devastating war that had destroyed the planet. If someone had succeeded in securing one of those prototypes and had developed it, it would be very worrying indeed. However, there was one advantage here: whoever had used the machine apparently had no idea of the damage it was causing to the Outside, or of the trace it left afterwards, and consequently nothing had been done to try to conceal what had happened.

All the same, he knew he couldn't simply follow the trace back to its source. Quite apart from the fact that he had no idea where it went, he was suspicious enough to see that it might be a trap. Besides, even if he did follow it and found Tannder, he had to bear in mind that three of Tannder's men had vanished with him. That was more than he could transport on his own, and it might not be possible to make more than one journey. And that meant that, unless he was prepared to leave one of the men to his fate, he would have to get help from another Guide. They would also have to take a human with them, in case they needed to use tools or weapons. Ideally he could ask Julien to help, since he was both a Guide and a human, but he was pretty sure that Dennkar would never allow it. And so, since there was nothing further he could achieve alone, he decided to leave the Outside.

***

They held their council in the blue kang at the inn. They agreed to say nothing to Julien, because they knew that if they did he would insist on rushing to Tannder's aid, which would be both foolish and highly dangerous. They knew that he had to be kept in the dark, because if they lied to him or even told him what Aïn had found out it was a certainty that he would try to get involved – he might even try following the trace himself. So they decided not to speak to Julien at all. Nor could they take the risk of Dennkar being captured or killed: it was essential that Julien retain one adviser he could totally depend on.

The choice of the Guide was straightforward: they would ask Wakhann. He was already used to working with Aïn, and he was already part of the Emperor's inner circle.

"I want to go!" blurted Karik, having worked up the courage to speak.

Dennkar looked at him. Until now the discussion with the Guides had taken place mentally, but Karik had not been able to stop himself from speaking aloud. But instead of telling the boy off for his exclamation he simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I know I look like a kid," Karik said, "but I am fifteen. I can use a weapon – Master Tannder trained me himself. Master Aïn knows me and I know him, so I won't be afraid of travelling with him because I know he can get us out of any sticky situation. The rest of the guards are good, certainly, but they don't know Aïn like I do and so they won't be able to work with him as efficiently, and Master Tannder always says that teamwork is essential if a mission is to be successful. And… I can't stand just waiting around and not doing anything to help him."

Dennkar said nothing.

"Look," said Karik, "give me one of those illegal weapons. I'm better with them than anyone else I've seen practising with them. Even Master Tannder said so."

"Your Master wouldn't want you risking your life for him," said Dennkar.

"True, but he'd be even less happy about Aïn risking his – or anyone else, come to that. He'd say that if he'd been stupid enough to get himself into trouble, then nobody else should have to risk their skin to get him back."

Dennkar had to smile at that, because it was exactly the sort of thing that Tannder would say. He consulted briefly – mentally and privately – with his old friend Wenn Hyaï and then announced his decision.

"Master Aïn will go and collect his colleague," he said. "That won't take long, but while he's gone, think about it. After all, if Niil is old enough to be First Lord of the Ksantiris I think we have to consider you to be old enough to make up your own mind about risking your life, and that of others. Please consider this: if you aren't up to the situation the consequences might be severe, and not just for you. Aïn says he trusts you, but now you have to make your own decision. If you are still determined to go when Aïn gets back you have my permission to volunteer."

When Aïn got back with Wakhann Karik had not changed his mind. However, after a brief consultation the Guides announced that Wakhann would not take part in the mission. He'd been given the coordinates of the base on Tandil and would stay with Dennkar, and Wenn Hyaï would accompany Aïn and Karik instead. This was because Aïn and Wenn Hyaï thought it was unreasonable to send someone pregnant on a mission such as this: Wakhann had determined himself as female a few weeks previously and had now begun his gestation period.

Karik was issued with a knife and one of the strictly illegal hand weapons carried by the security team, and then, clinging to the fur of the Guides, he set off into the unknown.

***

He had no idea of the complexity of the feat undertaken by his companions, both veritable artists of the Outside, or of their arduous journey through the interstitial chaos that separates our reality from the apparently senseless environment beyond it. He simply found himself transported into a long corridor with light grey metallic walls. Two lines running just below the ceiling gave off a light similar to normal daylight, and the floor was covered in a yielding grey-green coating. Rectangles at regular intervals along both walls probably indicated doors. These carried large characters that could have been numbers, but there seemed to be no break in the walls to indicate an actual opening.

We seem to be in some sort of fortress or prison, said Wenn Hyaï. One of Tannder's men is beyond this wall. They are questioning him. I think you're going to have to use your weapon. You'll have to kill three men. Do you think you can do that?

Karik felt a sudden weakness and had to lean against the Guides. He'd prepared himself for the possible violence of a fight, but not for having to kill three total strangers in cold blood without even issuing a challenge.

If you don't think you can do that, said Wenn Hyaï, I'll take you back to the inn. There's no shame in it. I'll bring one of Tannder's men back instead. Now that I know how to get here it won't take very long.

No, just give me a moment. After all, someone is going to have to do it.

As you wish. But make sure you don't miss. If they get a chance to raise the alarm…

But Karik had pulled himself together by now. After all, the three men were probably probing or torturing a prisoner with no qualms about it, and there were likely to be others doing the same thing to Tannder and the other two members of his team. They had to put an end to it, and quickly: this was no time to pussyfoot around having second thoughts. He'd wanted to be involved in the rescue – well, now he was.

Take me inside and lie flat, he said. I'll do the rest.

Aïn will stay here, said Wenn Hyaï. There's no point in cluttering up your field of fire unnecessarily.

The boy took the strange weapon from its holster and fastened the lanyard to his wrist to make sure that he didn't lose the weapon even if he found himself in hand-to-hand combat. The weapon was of some black synthetic substance, quite small – no bigger than his hand – and it worked by firing at very high speed, using some sort of magnetic impulse, tiny grains of an extremely dense substance whose enormous kinetic energy was brutally dissipated when they hit anything. The results were devastating.

Let's go, he said. I'm ready.

Immediately he was in the room. While Wenn Hyaï lay flat on the floor Karik let his instincts take over and fired three times, once at each of the three clearly human figures who were standing around a table onto which a naked body was strapped. The weapon used no explosives but the supersonic speed of its missiles still caused three detonations to be heard in rapid succession. He'd practised on targets and even on dummies, but nothing could have prepared him for the horror of exploded torsos, walls sheeted with blood or, a few seconds later, the pungent smell of excrement. He dropped to his knees and was violently sick while Wenn Hyaï rushed to the table. He caught a brief glimpse of Aïn's blue fur as he materialised in the room and then he passed out.

***

He came to a moment later. Aïn was licking his face.

Wake up, boy said Aïn. We still have to free this poor man, because he's still alive. And, no, it isn't Tannder.

Karik stood up a little shakily and made his way to the table, trying not to look at the walls, down which little gobbets of flesh were still sliding. The Warrior on the table was conscious but his eyes were closed and he seemed to be absorbed in his communication with Wenn Hyaï, who had climbed up onto the table and put his paw on the man's forehead. Karik found the mechanism that released the straps of flexible metal that bound his ankles, wrists and neck. Then Aïn came and pressed against his leg.

We need to leave now, he said.

But… what about Tannder?

We'll come back for him. But we need information first.

And then they were back in the blue kang at the inn.

"We've got to go back to rescue Master Tannder!" declared Karik. "Right now!"

"Calm down, boy," said Dennkar, with no hint of impatience. "We have to wait for Wenn Hyaï to come back with some information."

"We don't have time to waste hanging around waiting!"

"We must. The Health Masters are going to stabilise the condition of the Warrior you rescued, and then Wenn Hyaï can find out from him whatever he knows. Wenn Hyaï knows what he's doing, and he might be able to get a lot more information than you might expect."

"But he might have been really close – in the next room, even!"

"No, he wasn't. Aïn says that he checked over the whole building before we left, and none of the others were there. Nor was there any trace of another jump being made from that place. So if they took the other prisoners somewhere else they did it by conventional means, and that means that the Guides can't track them."

"So what are we going to do?"

"First you have to calm down. You did a good job back there. Now we…"

"That's not true – I nearly made a complete mess of it. And then I fainted."

"Aïn told me what you did, and he says you did everything he could have asked of you. After that… well, it's normal to be a bit shaken – in fact it would have been quite worrying if you hadn't reacted like that. Violent death is never pleasant, and you never get used to it. If you do, it means that you're close to losing your soul. I'm just sorry you had to do something that should have been my responsibility."

"No, I'm glad I was able to do something towards finding Master Tannder. But I wish we could go on looking for him."

"That is what we are doing," said a voice from behind them.

Karik jumped and spun around – he'd never actually heard Wenn Hyaï speaking before. The Guide had appeared silently on the klirk that was a couple of metres behind the boy's back. He moved closer and then Aïn appeared as well.

They had taken the Warrior to Bakhtar Tower and the Health Masters had immediately set to work on him, but the Warrior had wanted to deliver his report first and so had completely opened his mind to the Guide, allowing him to explore and record the memory of the past few hours.

He had not understood exactly how it happened, but as soon as they entered the house they found themselves transported to a platform in a kind of large hall full of buzzing machines. He had reacted with the speed developed during a lifetime dedicated to the Art of Combat, but even as he tried to take up a defensive posture he had lost all control over his body and had fallen to the ground, unable to do anything except breathe. He was immediately surrounded by men and then placed on a metal trolley and wheeled away. Although he couldn't even move his eyes he was still able to hear, and even though most of what was being said was in a language he couldn't understand he could also hear noises that suggested that his colleagues were being treated exactly as he was. And then, just before his trolley left the hall, he heard someone saying in Tünnkeh, 'Well, Master Tannder, that was simple, wasn't it? We caught you as easily as a complete novice. I really wasn't expecting that!'

After that everything was a total nightmare. He'd been trained to resist pain and did so quite well to start with, but then they started using drugs, and those worked so well that his resistance had broken and he had told them everything he possibly could. Not that that ended his ordeal: once they had all the information he could give them he was handed over to a second group of interrogators, younger men who practised barbarous methods on him without even pretending to ask for information. As far as they were concerned he was no more than a test subject, and their aim seemed to be to try to discover how much pain they could inflict before he lost consciousness. He'd been in the depths of despair when he had been rescued from their grasp.

The Health Masters still hadn't discovered the extent of the damage to his body, and they were even more concerned about the effects on his sanity. However, although this terrifying report made Karik even more anxious about what might be happening to Tannder, at least it had the secondary effect of dispelling the feelings of guilt he was still experiencing, because it was now clear that instead of murdering three soldiers who were merely obeying orders, he had instead rid the universe of three much more unpleasant creatures. That thought at least helped him to begin to rebuild his self-esteem, which had taken a considerable knock.

But the most interesting thing about this story was the fact that Wenn Hyaï, with his meticulously trained Guide's memory, had succeeded in identifying the voice that had been taunting the unfortunate Tannder.

Wenn Hyaï, are you sure? asked Julien mentally.

Without any doubt, my Lord.

"We have to tell Aldegard," said Julien.

"We can't be sure that he isn't involved himself," Dennkar pointed out. "Don't forget that the Noble Lord Ajmer is his First Councillor as well as his cousin."

"If Ajmer really is the one Wenn Hyaï identified…"

I'm positive, My Lord. Trust me, there is no mistake.

"Well, if he's really working with the enemy I don't want you referring to him as 'Noble Lord'. All right, it's a minor point, but I insist. Do any of you have any suggestions – apart from kicking the crap out of him as soon as we catch him, that is?"

"It might be wise to keep the information to ourselves in the hope that we can gain some advantage from it later," said Dennkar. "On the other hand, maybe we shouldn't be listening to wisdom if we want to save Tannder and his men. Still, actually going to Aldegard and telling him what we know…"

"We could kidnap him," suggested Niil. "Ajmer, I mean. After all, he has to return home sooner or later, doesn't he? And if he's at home I'm pretty sure our Guide friends can take him for a ride. We can ask where he's been lately, and he'll have to come up with some sort of fairytale about visiting some place or other, and then at least we'll know for sure that he's in on it. Of course if Aldegard is in on it too it might get a bit more complicated…"

"Aïn?" asked Julien.

The Guides have a clear moral code: the only time you can transport someone against their will is if they have been convicted of a crime in a court of law.

"Bloody hell, the people we're fighting don't let scruples like that get in their way!" exclaimed Niil indignantly.

"That's the difference between us and them," said Master Subadar. "There are good reasons for the Code, believe me – and, anyway, any Guide who who tried to do that would immediately lose his Gift. That's why I don't think we can really ask the Guides to get involved in this business."

"Are you saying," asked Niil, "that any Guide who forcibly transports someone…"

"Not 'forcibly', but against his will and without a legal summons. After all, it's perfectly legal to transport a convict to Tandil, even if he doesn't want to go there."

"All right, but you're saying that if a Guide went against the Code he would lose his Gift? How can that happen?"

"It's something that is planted in their mind when the Gift is Opened. It's part of the whole process, and if you don't do it, you can't Open the Gift at all. If Aïn tried to transport you against your will he'd first feel a bit queasy, and then extremely sick, and if he did manage to do it all the same something would break in his mind and he'd lose the Gift."

"But Julien transported a ghorr, and I'm sure it didn't agree to that!"

"It was a ghorr. Creatures like that aren't natural and shouldn't exist at all – and indeed it cannot exist without those who create it, because – fortunately – ghorrs are sterile. But in those circumstances he could equally well have transported a human adversary, because once you attack a Guide the Code ceases to have any force. Some people in the past forgot about that and paid the price."

"Well, perhaps the rule doesn't apply to the Emperor," suggested Sandeark, who was sitting beside his favourite pupil, and in fact Julien had been starting to wonder about that himself, especially as Subadar didn't seem to have an immediate answer.

"It's possible," said Subadar, eventually. "But I wouldn't want to bet on it."

"We could try an experiment," suggested Sandeark. "Lord Julien could try moving me against my will."

"I don't think that would prove anything," said Subadar. "I don't think that you, or anyone else here, could put up a lot of real resistance. You'd only be able to resist properly if you truly believed that Julien was going to transport you to some awful fate, such as abandoning you on Tandil. I don't think anyone here could even start to convince himself that was going to happen."

"In other words," said Julien, "we won't know unless I actually try doing it. As far as I'm concerned I think we're going to have to risk trusting Aldegard, but… Dennkar, you're the Warrior: what do you think we should do? We can't afford any mistakes."

"Exactly, My Lord. Bear in mind that if Ajmer is the enemy's man his clothes will be stuffed with sensors and maybe even locating devices – even if we don't know yet whether locating devices actually exist. The only way to have a private chat with him would be to grab him while he's completely naked. I should think it's also likely that our enemy will have hidden sensors within Bakhtar Tower, and especially in rooms where Aldegard has council meetings or entertains guests. I wouldn't be too surprised if his clothes have been tampered with, too."

"Don't you think you're overestimating the enemy's ability?"

Maybe I am, but it's a lot better to overestimate their ability than to underestimate it."

"All right, then. How to do want us to proceed?"

***

"You want me to summon Lord Ajmer? At this time of night?"

"No, My Lord, I want you to go in person to his home and collect him from his bedroom."

"But, My Lord, that would be in complete violation of…"

"Aldegard, we're fairly sure that Ajmer has already done a whole heap of things which are in violation of his allegiances," said Julien. "I want you to understand that I'm offering him a tiny opportunity to save his House from complete obliteration. If you help us we might be able to give him a chance to rectify at least part of what he has done. Will you help us? I'll give you my personal apology if it turns out that we're wrong."

"Of course I'll help you. If I hadn't wanted to help I wouldn't have followed Master Dennkar here wearing nothing but this laï he gave me, along with your personally signed message. Actually I have no idea where we are."

"Neither have I. Only the Guides know, but I'm fairly sure we're somewhere where nobody is going to be able to find us in a hurry."

"If I had to guess I'd say it's a shelter from the Zarline wars, in which case we must be on Yrcadia."

"You could be right, but it doesn't matter because I'll be leaving as soon as you're on your way. We'll meet again somewhere else, and we're going to take the same precaution of moving around a lot until we find out more about what our enemy intends.

"So what you need to do is to pull your cousin out of bed without saying a word, and then give him this message. It warns him that saying even a single word which might reveal that something unusual is happening could be fatal. You must also make sure that he wears nothing except this laï. Then take him to Aïn, and he'll bring you both to me, wherever I am by then. The message also warns him not to resist the transportation. If he's sensible enough to remain silent and clever enough to work out that I'd prefer him to stay alive, and even that I might be magnanimous, provided he admits what he's done and offers us his help, I'll see to it that that his House does not suffer the consequences of his betrayal. As for him personally, his fate will depend on how fully he is prepared to cooperate with us. Is everything clear?"

"Yes, My Lord: I wake Ajmer up, I make sure he doesn't speak and I give him your message. I make sure that he wears nothing except this laï and I bring him back to you."

"You've got it."

"And, My Lord…"

"Yes?"

"I'd like you to promise me the opportunity to deal with him personally if he doesn't decide to cooperate."

"Aldegard, if we fail to rescue Tannder alive because of him, I will be very much indebted to you if you'd kill him for me."

Julien realised that he was shaking: it was the first time he'd realised just how furiously angry he was.

***

The prohibited weapons depot of Der Mang was certainly one of the most secure places in the whole of the R'hinz, and that is where Julien was waiting for Ajmer when he appeared together with Aldegard. He'd seen Ajmer a few times since they had together witnessed the ceremonial transfer of Niil's Marks to Ambar, but today the proud Bakhtar seemed to have lost most of his arrogance – in fact, dressed as he was in a simple white laï and looking rather ashamed he reminded Julien of a picture he'd seen in his history book at school depicting the Burghers of Calais surrendering to Edward III of England. Secure in the presence of not only Dennkar and Niil at his side, but also Master Subadar, he explained the position in a carefully planned way.

"Ajmer," he said, "You've acted like a moron. Now you have a choice: you can either admit immediately what you have done and help me to rescue the situation as far as is still possible, or you can convince me that I'm completely mistaken despite the evidence I have which says that I'm not. If indeed I am mistaken I shall apologise and make it up to you, but if you waste everyone's time by trying to weasel your way out when you are in fact guilty you can expect no leniency at all, either toward you personally or your House. Oh, and I assure you that you can speak freely here without being heard by those you have been working for. Decide."

Pulled from his bed in the middle of the night and confronted with accusers who were clearly sure of themselves, Ajmer was unable to gather the mental strength necessary to try to lie his way out. Instead he did the only thing left to him: he dropped to his knees.

"I have betrayed the Empire and Your Lordship," he said. "May the penalty for that fall not on my House but on myself alone."

"If you offer us your full cooperation," Julien told him, "you have my word that your House will not suffer as a result of your betrayal. As for your life, it depends on what happens to Master Tannder. The best thing you can do is to allow Master Aïn and Master Subadar to probe your mind. Obviously it can be done without your permission, but the results will be better if you cooperate with them. Are you prepared to do that?"

He was, and so he was immediately led to an antechamber where the probing could take place.

***

It turned out to be an old, old story: an otherwise highly intelligent man had allowed himself to be blinded by envy and ambition and led into doing something stupid. For some reason Ajmer had felt limited by his role as First Councillor to his Noble Cousin Aldegard. The problem lay with him and him alone: his wife Denndea, far from playing the role of Lady Macbeth, had reminded him, whenever he expressed dissatisfaction with his current role, that he already enjoyed a position of far greater power and influence that he might have expected, given his comparatively low birth. And in all probability her wisdom would have prevailed and things would have gone no further. But then, shortly after the return of the Emperor in the rather disappointing form of an ignorant off-world kid, he had happened to run into a man who introduced himself as the emissary of a mysterious Movement for the Restoration of the True Empire.

Ajmer wasn't stupid, and his first instinct was to warn Lord Aldegard and to send the militia to investigate the Movement. Aldegard had carried out the same sort of basic investigation he had done in the case of several similar groups, and when his men failed to find any trace of the emissary he'd decided that there was no real threat. He concluded that someone had simply tried to involve Ajmer in a plot of some sort in order to blackmail him, and it didn't seem to be in any way connected with the much larger threat aimed at the Emperor himself which dated right back to his first disappearance twelve cycles previously.

Shortly after the second disappearance and subsequent difficult reappearance of the alleged Emperor he was contacted again. This time the man made it clear that the Empire couldn't hope to last very long with an undisciplined child at the helm, particularly since it was clear that the kid was completely out of his depth and incapable of being what the people needed him to be. Furthermore, it was clear that the kid was being manipulated by people who cared far more about protecting their own status and privilege than about allowing other, more able, people to reach the positions that their abilities made them suitable for. In fact, the entire obsolete system by which the Nine Worlds were ruled prevented any sort of progress, under the pretext or protecting the Empire from purely hypothetical disasters. And now humans and the other intelligent species were being held back so as to preserve at the heart of government, not an Emperor who guaranteed the proper functioning of everything, but an imposter, a mere puppet whose strings were being pulled by the Council of Mirrors. And that simply could not be tolerated any longer.

Under normal circumstances Ajmer would probably have been able to muster plenty of arguments against this clearly one-sided point of view. But in fact he was already starting to have thoughts of a similar nature himself, and it didn't take much to persuade him that any argument against this interpretation of things would simply be the result of indoctrination from an early age and an education that sought to convince everyone that there was no alternative to the present order of things, even though a careful examination would show it to be both archaic and unfair.

The man also pointed out that the recent Ksantiri affair demonstrated clearly that others were also ready to rise up against the oppressor, and their failure simply showed that they had lacked the advice of a well-placed, sensible ally…

All the same, he had been on the point of reporting everything to Aldegard once more, but it seemed to him that Aldegard had started to keep him at arm's length, particularly in matters relating to the Emperor. He was just being left with the day-to-day running of the Bakhtar estates. He'd also developed a strong dislike for Tannder, whose frequent private interviews with the First Lord seemed to have begun at around the time Aldegard had started keeping his First Councillor in the dark about anything important.

Before too long he found himself in frequent contact with the Emissary and his colleagues. This consisted mostly of keeping them informed about the movements of Julien and his team and of affording them access to the Bakhtar apartments so that their agents – a different one each time – could plant sensors there.

But it came as a brutal shock to him when he discovered that his 'allies' were not in fact from any of the Nine Worlds: the secret base to which he had been transported, without the help of any Guide, for an 'interview' was actually situated on a satellite of a gas giant planet that was completely unknown to R'hinz astronomy. At that interview the gloves had come off and he was given a choice: either he could help with the conquest of first Nüngen and then the rest of the R'hinz, after which he would be rewarded with a position of power, or – should he suddenly be overcome by scruples – he could take the risk of angering their masters, who were not known for either gentleness of spirit or patience. Obviously he took the only choice open to him and offered, with as much feigned enthusiasm as he could muster, to collaborate in the conquest of the Nine Worlds.

On top of everything, his new masters had a final surprise for him: the appearance on the transfer platform of Tannder and three colleagues, who had instantly been immobilised by some sort of paralysing gas. As he was being closely watched he had no option but to pretend to be delighted by this, even though his real feelings were completely different despite his animosity towards the Warrior. Hence the exclamation, which he had thought would be heard by nobody except his new allies but which was also unfortunately heard by a man he had thought was unconscious. The Noble First Councillor had spent every moment from then until his subsequent arrest in a state of profound anxiety.

***

After listening with Julien to the report on the initial probing of Ajmer's mind Dennkar's expression became, if it were possible, even darker.

"There's nothing in there we can use," he said. "At least, nothing that offers the remotest clue as to where Tannder might be. Even if we tried attacking the base – which would be very difficult anyway – it wouldn't help very much. Aïn and Wenn Hyaï are both certain that he wasn't in the building when they left. I'm sorry, My Lord, but we might have to write Tannder off and assume he's dead."

"Try telling Karik that!" responded Julien. "And I'm not ready to give him up just yet either, and nor will I be until I actually see his dead body."

"Well, they're still probing Ajmer to see if there's anything they missed the first time around."

"Go and tell Subadar that will do for the time being and ask him and Aïn to come and join us."

"My Lord! I can't let you do something as stupid as that!"

"Dennkar, I'm the best qualified person for this. With Xarax with me I'll be able to pinpoint where they're holding Tannder. We just need to be on the same world."

"Xarax will only be able to tell you which direction he's in."

"Right, but it's still better than anyone else can do."

"Why don't you lend Xarax to me? He can tell me a direction as easily as he could you – and I'm trained for combat."

"True, but I am a Guide, so as soon as I see Tannder he'll be safe."

"Take me with you, then."

Julien thought about that.

"I'd like to," he said, "but it's not a question of numbers. We're not intending to lay siege to a fortress here. Aïn will take us to the base and I'll find out which direction from there will take us to Tannder. If his men are with him I'll bring them back too. If they're not, not even Xarax will be able to find them – he's sampled Tannder, but not the others."

"I'm coming!" said a voice behind him.

"Karik! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be sleeping!"

"I've been asleep for long enough. I'm coming with you. You can't deny me that – and you need someone who can use a weapon."

"But…"

"Be honest – you can't go on your own. As soon as you meet an enemy you'd either have to run or you'd get killed. You have to choose someone to come with you."

"But…"

"I'm as good as anyone else – I've already proved that. And I'm not the one telling you that you have to stay here, either – in fact if you want to risk your skin to save Tannder you'll get no argument from me. Everyone else will tell you that you're the Emperor and so you can't take the risk, but the only thing I'll say is that I can help you to get him back and protect you while you're doing it."

Niil looked to be on the point of interrupting, but Karik forestalled him. He'd obviously planned his arguments in advance.

"You're First Lord of the Ksantiris," he said, "and I'm pretty sure that Julien won't be happy about you leaving Ambar on his own if anything goes wrong. And in any case, I'm better with those little hand-guns than you are."

Niil opened his mouth, but this time Julien got in first.

"There's no need to get into an argument," he said. "I'm taking Karik. And we're leaving right now – we've lost enough time as it is."

Wenn Hyaï actually barked, adding "I cwom too!"

Then he leaned against Julien and added mentally, I'll team up with Karik and together we'll protect you. If we do that, you and Aïn can concentrate on finding Tannder.

"As you wish. I don't seem to making the decisions round here any more…"

Aïn and Wenn Hyaï had a fair idea of the way and Julien, unlike Karik, could actually see where they were going as they headed towards the unknown planet. So could Xarax, who recorded every aspect of the journey – at least, every one that he could follow – into his infallible memory. What he could not record, and what Julien himself was unaware of, was the way in which the two Guides carefully probed their destination before materialising into normal space. They had to be sure that they weren't going to find themselves surrounded by enemies as soon as they appeared.

They arrived a little way away from a very low building that was barely above ground level, thus suggesting that the bulk of it was below the surface. The air was cold but perfectly breathable, if a little thin, and that came as a relief: they hadn't been sure before they set out whether the building they had been in previously had its own artificial atmosphere. They were on the dark side of the satellite, but a good part of the sky was filled with the blue orb of the gas giant around which this moon was orbiting, and that acted as a mirror, reflecting a cold light that was so strong that it would have been possible to read the fine print of a telephone directory with no difficulty.

Without letting go of Karik's hand, which he had been holding since the start of the journey, Julien took a step towards a slightly flatter piece of ground, and at once he felt a disconcerting sensation that he couldn't immediately identify. But Xarax recognised it straight away.

It's gravity, he explained. It's a little weaker here than on the Nine Worlds, so you'll have to be careful if you need to run or fight. And Tannder is on this world, and he's still alive.

They had decided that whatever happened they would not split up and that this time Xarax wouldn't go scouting the way he had done when he and Julien had arrived on Dvârinn for the first time. Instead they travelled by a series of jumps, which required the two Guides to make maximum use of their skill – it was one thing to jump from one klirk to another through immense distances of space, but it was another thing altogether to try to travel across the surface of a world of which you had no prior knowledge and where you were unsure of the distance you had to go or the direction in which to travel. Had they got it wrong they could have spent hours going round and round in circles without ever finding what they were looking for.

Finally they were able to identify the area in which Tannder was being held. To get there they had made about ten jumps towards and then into the day side of the moon, and this had brought them to the shores of a sea over which a storm was raging, one which was particularly dangerous because the moon's low gravity allowed the sea to throw up huge waves which broke against the granite cliffs like a whole series of tsunamis. Low smoky clouds rushed across the sky, allowing only brief glimpses of the bright star whose direct radiation they thought it would be wise to avoid as much as possible. The only plant life here was a sort of red lichen which clung to the rocks, saturated with water like a sponge. However, although Xarax was sure they were in roughly the correct place, there was no building to be seen, and they had to call upon the Guides' expertise once more.

Eventually Wenn Hyaï located an enormous underground cavity, like a bubble that had formed during the cooling of the primordial magma, which now held installations of some sort, as well as a small number of people. There was undoubtedly an entrance hidden somewhere in the Dantesque landscape, but they didn't need to look for it: instead the Guides transported them into the corner of a large hall that looked a little to Julien like the engine room of a transatlantic liner – except that here there was an impressive silence, broken only by a faint pulsing sound that was barely audible. Huge masses of grey metal formed structures whose purpose Julien was unable to discern, but there was a clear suggestion of something immensely powerful at work within them. The temperature, in contrast with the damp cold outside, was pleasantly warm. A uniform bluish light was emitted from the ceiling, which was about thirty metres above their heads. The room was deserted, and that gave them a chance to relax a bit, to recover from the cold and to consult with each other.

Tannder is very close, said Wenn Hyaï, and he's alone. It shouldn't be too hard to pull him out. But we don't know if the other two are here. We'll have to search a little.

We must stick to the plan we've already chosen, said Aïn. Julien should take Tannder back straight away while the rest of us search for the others.

At that moment a clatter of rushing feet warned them that men were hurrying into the hall and would soon locate them – their arrival had been enough to trigger a silent alarm, and at the same time to cause the discharge of a knock-out gas. One by one they dropped, apparently affected by a neurotoxin that was absorbed through the skin without even needing to be breathed in. Four guards wearing heavy protective suits and gas masks ran towards them.

Karik's weapon produced four sharp reports in quick succession and the enemy guards' advance came to an abrupt and permanent stop, and at the same time the 'paralysed' quartet stood up and then disappeared like a puff of smoke. They had just bought themselves a few precious minutes.

The unfortunate experience of the Warrior they had rescued previously had given them vital information: they had learned how he and his colleagues had been captured, and that had allowed the armaments experts to prepare counter-measures. The filtering membrane used for the observation platform on Tandil could be used for other purposes, and one of those was to form an extremely flexible transparent container which could be adapted to fit a body and which would then offer a good defence against bacteriological or chemical attack. With it covering the mouth and nose there was no need for any additional mask to be worn. It wouldn't offer a defence against everything – it was no protection against radioactivity, for example – but it was certainly effective against the enemy's gas.

Tannder had been alone and unconscious in a room that looked like a cross between a torture chamber and an ultra-sophisticated operating theatre. Several tubes were connected to his body, carrying unidentifiable fluids. He bore the bloody marks of violent treatment – Julien preferred not to speculate about exactly what had been done to him.

He drew his nagtri and cut through everything that was attaching Tannder to this hellish place and then transported him to the Orientation Table and thence to the klirk of the Der Mang base, where a team of Health Masters were waiting for them. He then had to spend a long time in the decontamination room being thoroughly scrubbed down before he was able to shed his protective envelope. Dennkar came to join him just as he was putting on a clean laï and brought him up to date without waiting to be asked.

"Karik and the guides are back," he said. "They're just about to be decontaminated. The other two Warriors are both dead – they made sure of that before leaving. They placed their explosives in the hall but didn't wait for them to go off. With a bit of luck the enemy won't be able to work out what happened when they discover that that base doesn't respond to calls any longer."

"How's Tannder?"

"The Health Masters can't say yet. They've got to purge his body of whatever poisons have been injected into him. But I think we can count the operation a success."

"Half of our people died, Master Dennkar," said Julien. "If that's a success, I don't want to think about what will happen if we're defeated."

It looked as if it was going to be a bright, sunny day: light flooded the little private kang where Julien was taking breakfast with Ambar, Niil and Dillik. It was one of the very few places in the base that wasn't built to a functional, military design, and the boys were enjoying it all the more because they had no idea where they might find themselves the following day.

"Does anyone know how Tannder's getting on?" asked Dillik.

"Karik stayed with him all night," Julien told him. "The Health Masters reckon he'll recover, but they say he'll need a lot of rest."

"I gather that Karik excelled himself again," said Niil.

"Yes," said Julien. "I have to admit that he's scarily efficient. Tannder can certainly be proud of him."

Dennkar and Subadar entered the kang – and, unusually, they didn't bother knocking first.

"Sorry to interrupt your breakfast," said Dennkar, "but we've got something to tell you – and for once it's good news!"

"We're always happy to see you, regardless of time or circumstances," Julien assured him. "Although if your news is good we're doubly happy to see you."

"Well, you know how much of a perfectionist Aïn is? So he decided to go and see the result of your mission, and of course Wenn Hyaï went with him. I wasn't too keen on them going, to be honest, but nobody has yet invented a way to prevent a Guide doing what he wants and going wherever he wants to go. So they went and came back immediately – in fact I wasn't even aware that they'd left the room. But apparently they'd spent quite a while in the Outside, and according to them the gas giant is still there but the satellite the enemy base was on has completely disappeared: all that is left is a massive vortex in the Outside. They're almost certain that you caused a major catastrophe when you attacked their machines. They believe the damage will end with the satellite, but they think it possible that the gas giant might itself become unstable. We can only hope that the enemy doesn't have a second base that can be used against us. Aïn and Wenn Hyaï are planning to reconnoitre the whole system to try to find out."

"I suppose there's no point in telling them to be careful," said Julien.

"You're right," said Subadar. "I did try, but they weren't interested. They are determined to give the enemy no time to recover, and I have to admit that seems to be sensible. And I've got more good news, too: Tannder has recovered consciousness. He refuses to be sedated – instead he's insisting that the Order's analyst come and probe his mind straight away. Karik probably had to bite his tongue to stop himself from objecting, but I suppose he's happy enough to be allowed to stay at his master's side."

"We'll go and visit him as soon as the Health Masters say we can," said Julien. "Do they know yet if there are going to be any long-term effects?"

"It's too soon to be sure, but so far the Health Masters haven't found anything that can't be fixed by time and care."

"Dennkar… do you think this means that we've actually won?"

"I think we've done some considerable damage. We'll probably find out more once the Guides have finished their reconnaissance, but I don't think we really have enough information yet. In any case I certainly don't think we should let our guard down."

"That sounds sensible. Look, if it's all right with you I'd like to visit Tenntchouk and then I think we could do with spending a little while at Rüpel Gyamtso. It's a nice house – not to mention a nice beach – and it'll give us a chance to relax a bit while we decide what to do next. I'm fed up with hiding in holes like this."

"Well, until we're sure we've dealt with all the possible dangers I think we should stick to the current plan: you can spend the day wherever you like, but I want us all return to the base on Tandil at night."

Julien sighed, but he knew that Dennkar was talking sense. He turned to his other companions.

"Are you coming with me?" he asked.

"I'd like to," said Niil, "but there's a pile of work waiting for me on Dvârinn. I'm not on holiday, and I'm an important person there…"

Once Tenntchouk had been pulled out of his artificially-induced coma a comfortable little kang had been found for the two sailors. Gradik was still watching over his friend like a mother hen with an injured chick, always on the lookout for any sign of tiredness or discomfort, but in fact Tenntchouk seemed to be in relatively good shape despite the bandage which still covered his chest and stomach. There was a gash across his face, from his forehead down one cheek, and although it looked well on the way to complete healing it was still a wonder that he hadn't lost an eye during his brief fight with the ghorr. But he didn't seem worried about his wounds, and in fact when Julien arrived his face was full of joy.

"Laddie!" he cried. "Ye caan't know how happy Oi am as ye're here. Gradik says as how ye've caame by every day, even though ye maast have other troubles a-plenty. And the visits cheered him greatly. Oi've aalways said as how we can rely on you."

"And I'm really pleased to be able thank you properly for saving my skin. Without you I'd never have had time to react."

"'Tisn't worth taalking about."

"Well, all right, then. I also came by to let you know that my parents would be only too happy to have you stay with them while Tenntchouk is convalescing. I'd take them up on their offer if I were you: my father loves boats – he'll really enjoy listening to the story of your travels. And my mother will be delighted to have some guests to spoil. I expect she'll also tell you things about me that I'd prefer not to hear…"

"'Tis very koind o' them, laddie," said Gradik, "but really we caan't. We need to look aafter the boat. A boat, see, if'n ye don't look aafter her, she'll waste away, loike. So 'twould be better if'n we go baack to Kardenaang, as soon as Tenntchouk can waalk again."

"If you're worrying about being able to get back to the boat on a regular basis I can tell you that there's a Guide permanently stationed with my parents. I'm sure she'll be delighted to take you to Kardenang whenever you want. In any case, any time you need the services of a Guide you can always ask for one on my account. When I said that we were family I wasn't messing about, you know. Anyway, have a think about it and tell me tomorrow what you want to do. In the meantime I'm going to tell you a story: it's called 'The amazing feat of Karik and the two Master Guides'. Perhaps you can turn it into a ballad…"

However, instead of having fun with the lou tchenns in the lake of Rüpel Gyamtso as he had hoped, Julien found himself in an underground room of the Der Mang base, listening to Dennkar's most up-to-date report.

"Aïn and Wenn Hyaï have found what seems to be the enemy homeworld," he said. "As we'd expected, it's highly industrialised and very densely populated – too much so, in fact: conditions there seem far from ideal. It's too soon to be absolutely sure, but the Guides found no trace of the sort of energy emitted by machines capable of travelling through the Outside. It appears that the energy requirements of that type of machine were so vast that they had to find a separate world to house it on – in this case the now vanished moon of the gas giant you saw. These people do, however, possess the technology for interplanetary flight. Of course here in the Nine Worlds that technology was abandoned centuries ago, for the obvious reason that – unlike jumping through the Outside – it was useless for linking planets capable of supporting life – at least, life as we understand it. It wasn't even much use for exploring the universe – it has far too many limitations. And so we can probably assume that there is no further danger from that world, at least not in the short term. The Guides left a target-klirk behind so that we can keep an eye on them and check on what they're doing. Of course, we probably need to think about any of their agents who will have been cut off by the loss of their machine and stranded among us."

"In that case," said Julien, "do you think we can close up the prohibited weapons depot again? I really don't like it being accessible."

"Well, we opened it purely to deal with the threat which now seems to have disappeared, and so we can certainly close it again if you want. We've kept a careful record of which weapons are in use and in particular which have been issued to the elite units for training and security purposes."

"Very well. In that case we want them back again – all of them, including the hand-guns. I don't expect Karik or Niil will be very happy about that, but I don't want to make any exceptions. Once you're sure everything has been returned to the depot I'll close it up again and hand it back to the guardian Neh-kyong."

"Right, My Lord. I'll see to it personally that your orders are carried out."

"It might also be a good idea," said Master Subadar, "to continue our policy of keeping the population informed about what is happening. I'd suggest we issue a full and frank communiqué as soon as we can."

"Good idea," said Dennkar. "It could include a message to the enemy's spies, telling them that as they have no way of returning to their base they should contact the Mirror of whichever world they're trapped on. We could offer them full amnesty and immunity from prosecution in return for their cooperation in helping us to learn about their civilisation."

"Indeed," said Subadar. "It would certainly be interesting, especially if they still have any way of communicating with their home world. However, I do feel that I should say this again, Julien: we don't have all the facts. There is still a threat, and we still don't know all that much about it."

"I hope you're not suggesting that I spend the rest of my life in hiding!"

"Certainly not. But I do think it's vital that we continue with the program that will help you to recover the knowledge and aptitudes necessary to carry out the duties of the Emperor. We also need to do something about the Sleeping Bodies situation. Maybe we should think about getting the Palace back into use."

"That sounds suspiciously to me as if you don't think I should take any more holidays," said Julien.

"Well, let's just say that I'd hate you to get bored. That can so easily happen if you're living a life of leisure, you know."

"It's really kind of you to think about my welfare like that. Now can I go and visit Tannder?"

"I'm sure the Health Masters won't object to that."

Although he'd prepared himself a bit, Julien still got a shock when he saw Tannder: he looked about ten years older and his short hair had turned grey. It was deeply unsettling to realise how close this unshakable Warrior had come to death. Karik was sitting beside the bed, but he stood up when Julien entered the room. He was trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but the anguish in his face spoke far more clearly than any number of health bulletins. However, Tannder wasn't asleep, and when he opened his eyes his old determination was still visible in them.

"My Lord…" he began.

"Don't waste your energy," Julien told him. "Just get well as fast as you can. I need you."

"I made a mistake."

"Maybe, but if you hadn't we would never have found the enemy. And training Karik the way you did really helped, too: he was thoroughly worthy of you, and it's largely down to him that we actually won. Xarax says Karik is as brave as a haptir, and he's proud to consider him his friend."

"You put yourself at risk," said Tannder. "You shouldn't have done that."

"I wasn't in any danger. The only thing I did was to bring you home. Karik and the Guides did the real work. Now I just want you to rest. I'm sure Karik will be happy to keep you company. He's officially in charge of your safety and well-being, and I'm afraid that if you're not happy about that you'll just have to deal with it."

Tannder gave a weak smile. "I suppose my failings do deserve some punishment!" he said.

"Indeed. Once the Health Masters say you can leave this place I'd suggest you go and spend some time at the Rüpel Gyamtso house while you recuperate. Obviously that will mean that I have to come and visit you there quite frequently, which will be a bit of a nuisance, but I'm sure I can put up with a little inconvenience in the cause of your health and our friendship!"

'The Burrow', as they now called the Tandil base, couldn't offer quite the same level of comfort as some of His Lordship's other residencies, but it still offered the boys a place where they could be together and have fun, forgetting for a while the dangers which still threatened them. They had decided to spend the night up on the observation platform under the transparent bubble, where they could treat themselves to a safe adventure in the ultimate tree-house. To make their evening absolutely perfect they built a camp fire and cooked skewered meat on it, which reminded Julien, with a brief twinge of nostalgia, of his summer Scout camps with the Leopard Patrol. Actually being able to have fun with Niil and Ambar was a great improvement on singing camp-fire songs, though, and Dillik finally curled up like a kitten and went to sleep with his head on Julien's lap.

All around them things were flying and crawling through the night. They'd already seen quite a few of them over the past few evenings, and in fact they'd made a contest of it, seeing who could spot an animal that wasn't already on their rapidly-growing list. Dennkar apparently knew all about the local wildlife and was able to tell them all about the animals they had seen. It was amazing how many of them seemed to be equipped with hooks, barbs, stings and other protrusions, most of which were usually painfully deadly. And in this place it seemed that Nietzsche was wrong: what didn't kill you didn't make you stronger – instead it left you seriously injured or maimed and so far more likely to fall a prey to the next predator to come past.

The nastiest thing, Julien thought, wasn't the fact that monstrous beetles or hideous-looking centipedes turned out to be as deadly as they looked. Rather, it was the existence of monstrosities like the swarms of beautiful, multi-hued carnivorous butterflies which swarmed over their prey in a whirlwind of dazzling colours and dissolved them by spraying them with incredibly powerful digestive enzymes, which transformed them over a few ghastly minutes into easily-edible pulp. And then there was that beautiful climbing plant which had flowers and a scent like an orchid but which, if you were stupid enough to try picking it or even merely touching it, would inject you with a paralysing drug and then sink its rootlets through your skin to feast on your flesh.

Of course they would have loved to see a tak, the almost-mythical predator whose silvery hair was used to weave the supple and elegant kamdris which were traditionally worn with a ceremonial hatik, and whose horns were made of the only non-metallic substance which could be used as the sheath for a nagtri. But taks were far too clever to come anywhere near a place like this, full of the only predator able to inspire them with respect.

Instead they had watched birds with barbed wings, capable of beheading any other creature that got too close while still in flight, and a sort of leathery amoeba, as big as a doormat, which would drop onto anything that appeared to be edible.

However, in the last light of the setting sun they also saw a majestic vril bird in flight, its deep green plumage glittering like metal as his song seemed to travel directly from him to them, insignificant humans, mere dots amongst the lush surroundings of the great forest. Never before had they felt such an urge to fly, to soar above the forest and taste the vril's inebriating and total freedom, even though they knew it was impossible for them to do so. All of them were at that moment stricken by the inexpressible beauty that lay hidden within this terrible world, and something in them changed from that moment. They didn't realise it then, but a seed had been planted within them which would grow and fill them with an aching nostalgia for the Great Forest of Tandil.

Julien woke with a start: a lightning bolt had surely struck not far away and the torrential rain was drumming on the membrane of the bubble and the surrounding vegetation, making an infernal racket. Ambar had been snuggled between him and Niil, but now he was awake and staring wide-eyed and scared, and Niil himself was propped up on one elbow – the huge thunderclap had woken him up, too. But in the light of the dying fire they could see that Dillik was still fast asleep with Xarax coiled against his stomach. Julien was sure that the haptir was somehow responsible for Dillik's continuing peaceful sleep. Xarax himself was clearly awake, looking straight at Julien with his gleaming ruby eyes, and so Julien put his hand on the haptir's back.

Do you think we ought to go down? he asked.

The membrane is very strong and I'm sure the tree is protected against lightning. I don't think there is any danger.

Julien's gesture hadn't escaped Niil.

"What does he say?" he asked.

"He says there's no danger."

"So what are we going to do? Stay put?"

"What do you think, Ambar?" asked Julien.

"Let's stay here."

Clearly he had got over his initial fright, because he burrowed his way under the blanket he'd been sharing with Julien and grabbed hold of the part of him which he found the most interesting. If they were going to wait where they were until the storm abated he thought they might as well use the time in the most interesting way possible. A series of apocalyptic rolls of thunder failed to prevent him from giving a dazzling demonstration, not of some tedious theory but, rather, of his exceptional skill at causing such incredible sensations that Julien was scarcely even aware of where he was any longer. Of course he knew by now that when Ambar was in this mood resistance was not only futile but a bad idea in the first place. Better by far to lie back and allow him full rein as he demonstrated his superb ability to bring one of his friends to a point of ecstasy. It actually seemed that Ambar enjoyed feeling someone else's member responding to the attentions of his tongue at least as much as he enjoyed being on the receiving end himself. Ambar was a true gourmet as far as sex was concerned, and he was getting better all the time and connecting intimately with what his partner was feeling.

But from Julien's point of view something was different this time. Instead of his usual sensation of a body brutally trying to expel some non-existent fluid, he felt for the first time ever the irresistible escape of what was in fact the very essence of his body. A few drops of transparent fluid felt to him like a gushing flow, and it changed forever the nature of this perfect pleasure.

Ambar's spirit of adventure meant that he had of course experienced the taste of Karik's rather more substantial product, but although the flavour here was certainly weaker he recognised its characteristic taste straight away, and being conscious of the importance of the event to his partner he took a moment to make sure that he tasted every drop and then announced it to the whole world.

"It's happened!" he said. "Julien's 'Glorious Fountain of Life' has flowed!"

As his true friend Niil was first to congratulate him.

"Brilliant!" he said. "We'll have to have a party to celebrate tomorrow!"

"You taste better than Karik, too," added Ambar, the comment immediately being underscored by a tremendous thunderclap.

Almost as soon as Julien woke up the following morning Niil was clamouring for a chance to sample the famous elixir, and then it was Dillik's turn to insist on a chance to visit the new fountain and to taste its waters. Julien really wasn't looking forward to breakfast, because it was out of the question to keep such an important milestone in a boy's life a secret – indeed, it was the occasion for celebration in every household in the R'hinz. A boy's first ejaculation and a girl's first period were always celebrated with great enthusiasm. His only consolation was that at least nobody suggested telling his parents. Sandeark, the self-appointed Master of the Kitchen of the base, promised to organise a proper feast, provided that a Guide could be found to take him to Ksantir, where he knew a first-rate caterer.

Julien would have much preferred for the event to have passed unnoticed, but he felt that he couldn't really rain on his little team's parade – after all, there weren't a lot of excuses for a party at the moment, and he could remember his father telling him once that you should never deny others the chance of demonstrating that they cared about you.

The one person who seemed to be holding back a little from the general mood of celebration was Master Subadar, and so Julien, who rarely missed that sort of thing, took him off to one side for a private chat.

"You seem worried, Subadar," he commented. "Would I be right in thinking it's because of what has happened to me?"

"Absolutely not, My Lord!"

"I don't think you've ever lied to me," said Julien. "It would be a pity to start now, don't you think? What's bothering you?

"Well, My Lord, what it is… the Emperor isn't supposed to have any offspring."

It took Julien a few seconds to work out what this had to do with him, but eventually it dawned on him.

"Right," he said. "But I can promise you that I have absolutely no intention of fathering any children at the moment. I haven't begun to think about getting married, even."

"That's not the problem. The problem is that the Emperor isn't supposed to be able to procreate."

Julien instinctively clasped his hands over his groin, as one does when one thinks one's genitals are under threat.

"Do you mean that the Emperor hasn't got any…?" he asked. "Did they cut his… you know, off? No, they can't have – I've seen the Sleeping Bodies. They might have been dead, but they had all the bits we're supposed to have!"

"That's not what I meant, My Lord. The Emperor was perfctly formed. He was just sterile."

"Huh?"

"I mean that his semen doesn't contain the elements necessary to impregnate a woman. That's the only difference – in fact I can even assure you, if you want that sort of detail, that the taste of it remains the same. But the Emperor can never produce a child, and so nobody can claim kinship with him, for either material or political reasons. He can't start a dynasty which would be able to compete – with a massive advantage – with the Noble Families or the Clans of the Nine Worlds. You, on the other hand, have semen that is fertile, or which very soon will be."

"So what?"

"Sooner or later people are going to start asking questions, probably influential people, and I think it would be better to deal with the issues before someone else raises them."

"What issues, exactly?"

"Well, some people might start to suggest that you ought to take a body that would make you identical to the Emperor as we all knew him."

"But… I really don't want to do that! And in any case I can't, because the sleeping bodies are all dead. You know that!"

"Yes, I do know that, but it might not be a good idea to make it known to everyone. It wouldn't be the first time that people start to ask why we have an Emperor in the first place."

"Believe me, if that's what they really want, I'm quite happy to step back and let them have their Emperor-free R'hinz!"

"I know you're not interested in power. But I also know that what you're suggesting is impossible. You know that, too."

"All right. But what do you want me to do, then? I can absolutely guarantee that, whatever it is, nobody's removing my balls!"

Subadar laughed. "Nothing so extreme, I promise," he said. "It really would be a pity if it came to that. However, there is a sure-fire way to make sure that your semen never gets anyone pregnant. It's a simple operation and common enough, both with men who think they have enough children already and, if you'll forgive me mentioning it, among men who would prefer not to father a child with someone else's wife. In both cases we're talking about men who enjoy the pleasures of a shared bed. In other words, if you'll just let us perform this simple operation on you you'll be able to carry on enjoying the pleasures of…"

"Hang on," interrupted Julien. "An operation? What sort of operation?"

Subadar explained exactly how the local version of a vasectomy worked, assuring Julien that any Health Master would be able to do it quickly and painlessly, and without any danger at all. At least, he did his very best to sound convincing.

"And once you've had it done it can't be reversed?" asked Julien.

"No, My Lord."

"I'll have to think about it. I assume you're not going to insist on it being done right this minute?"

"Of course not. But it would obviously be a good thing if you could prove – were someone to ask you to do so – that your semen really is sterile."

"Why would anyone ask me that?"

"Well, you already thought it proper to change your appearance," Subadar pointed out. "I mean, nobody is going to be crass enough actually to challenge the fact that you are who you claim to be, but there are those who would use devious tricks to test you. That's why we have to be prepared."

"No problem there," said Julien. "I'm a Scout."

"My Lord?"

"Never mind. You're probably right, but I can't see that there's any rush – unless questions have already been asked?"

"Not as far as I know."

"What do you think, Ugo?"

The big black dog, who was now inseparable from Master Subadar, was pretending to be asleep in a corner of the room, but he opened an eye and offered his opinion.

"I think he's right," he said. "Now that we've disposed of the threat from outside the old mutterings are likely to start again. There have always been plenty of people who think they'd be happier without an Emperor. Of course it's up to you what you do about it. But it's certainly true that the Emperor shouldn't have children. If your parents want grand-kids they'll have to rely on the little brother or sister your mother is carrying at the moment."

"Xarax?"

The haptir emerged from beneath a low table and jumped onto his shoulder.

What they are saying is true, he said. If you don't go along with it things will get a lot more complicated.

"More complicated? Said Julien. "I didn't think they were all that simple right now!"

That is because you still don't realise the sort of twisted genius some people have when it comes to poisoning a situation.

"Thanks for the reassurance," said Julien. "I was afraid for a moment that life was going to get really boring. Nothing interesting ever seems to happen to me…"

"You can't take me to my trankenn?" queried Niil. "Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I'll wait for Aïn to come back. And you don't need to look like that!"

"No, Niil, you don't understand. I can't take you. I've lost the Gift."

"What?! That's impossible!"

"Well, it's happened. I wanted to go and visit Tannder a few minutes ago and I found I couldn't," said Julien, looking profoundly unhappy.

"What does Xarax say about it?" asked Niil.

The haptir was a little distance away, blending into the background and looking as inscrutable as ever.

"He doesn't know what's happening," said Julien. "He's never seen it happen before."

"Well, I know it's not me it's happening to, but it isn't really all that disastrous, is it? It's why we have Guides, after all."

"True, but surely you can see that's not really the issue?"

"All right, I'm not completely dim. I was just trying to cheer you up a bit."

"That's very kind of you, but it's not working. You'll have to try again."

"How many people know about it?"

"So far, just you and Xarax."

"Good. There's no point in scaring everyone. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Let's ask Aïn – he's our resident expert."

If you were the same species as me, My Lord, said Aïn, I'd tell you this is perfectly natural. It's true that our sexuality is a little more complicated than yours, but we still undergo the equivalent of your puberty, and more intensely, too, because we develop both male and female attributes. We only make a definitive choice as to which we are going to be when – or if – we decide to procreate. Anyway, there's no need to go into that sort of detail, but I can tell you that this part of our life is often quite difficult, not least because it often affects, in unpredictable ways, the exercise of one's Gift.

So how does it disturb the Gift? asked Julien.

It varies from one individual to another. Some, like you, find that they can't travel at all. Some arrive in a different place from the one they were trying to reach, although fortunately that only happens if they insist on trying to jump without using the Orientation Table. And a very small number find themselves trapped in the Outside, sometimes for a considerable period. Obviously that can be very dangerous. Some do survive that, but often they are so badly affected by the experience that they never again regain the balance necessary to exercise the Gift. Of course they are very young when it happens, and they don't have the experience or the knowledge to deal with it.

Whereas I am a seasoned veteran who has nothing to fear?

I'm sorry, Julien. I'm so used to thinking of you as an adult that… anyway, you're right: even if it happens a little later to your species than to mine, our young are already as developed as you in mental terms. But you have one major advantage: you have Xarax. He's already helped you once when you went back to your own world, and he would certainly be able to help you remain sane again even if you were to get stuck in the Outside. Obviously I must absolutely insist that you don't try travelling without him AT ALL while this problem lasts.

How long do these problems usually last?

For us, anything between three ninths and one and a half cycles. I think Master Subadar could give you a better idea of how long the process might take in your species.

Do you think I'll get the Gift back?

I'm sure you will, but until you do we'll make sure there's a Guide available for you at all times. We'll also help you check your progress on a regular basis – but please don't try experimenting unless there is a Guide with you.

Don't worry, Aïn, I'm not going to try anything unless you're with me.

I didn't mean…

Aïn, not only are you the best there is, but you're also my friend. If anyone can help me, you can.

"So, Master Subadar, how long do you think it'll last?"

"Oh, probably no more than a cycle, My Lord. But who knows…?"

"A whole cycle?!?"

"Probably less. You have to understand that nobody has had this problem before."

"So what you're saying is that you don't know? And this never happened before?"

"Not so far as I'm aware. You no doubt noticed that the Sleeping Bodies were well past the point of puberty."

"If you mean that they had hair everywhere, yes, I noticed. So I suppose that means that Yulmir never had this problem."

"That's correct."

"Actually, I think I prefer it like this."

"My Lord?"

"Well, I'm sure nobody is going to want to risk interfering with my gonads before I get the Gift back."

"It would be a bit reckless," Subadar agreed.

"And it might not be just my ability to travel that they'd be risking either. It might stop me being able to talk to the Neh-kyongs, or transmitting the Healing Gifts, like you were telling me about. And… don't take this the wrong way, but I'd like to talk to a Health Master. It's not that I don't trust you, I'd just like to consult a specialist. My mother always says that there's always a right person to talk to. You don't have to look like that – I'm really not trying to annoy you. It's just that we're talking about something… well, fundamental and personal here. I mean, I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone waving a knife about near your gonads…"

"To be honest, the issue has never come up. But then your position is unique."

"And I believe you when you say that if I do have the operation it won't change anything for me or for… well, it won't make any real difference. But you also said that we're going to need to produce new Sleeping Bodies. Well, won't I need… you know, what you think I shouldn't have?"

"To be honest I don't know exactly how that process works, but I do know that it has nothing to do with procreation. The idea is to create a duplicate organism, not a brand new one. As you know, a child is never an exact copy of his parents, but a Sleeping Body is an identical copy of the Emperor's body. I'm sure someone can give you a more detailed explanation later."

"Subadar, I can feel how uncomfortable this is making you, but… Subi!! Subi – that's what I used to call you, isn't it? Little Subi!"

"My Lord?"

"Just for a moment there I got a sort of flashback, and I saw you – and it was definitely you! You were about Ambar's age, and I was holding your hand."

Subadar went pale and clutched the back of the chair he was leaning against with both hands, while Julien, lost in the excitement of his discovery, went on describing the scene he had remembered.

"It was in the private library," he went on. "You know, the one where the klirk to the Narthex is? And you looked sort of scared. Wow, Subi! I liked you a lot – you were my best disciple, and really promising. Do you remember?"

Subadar made a visible effort to pull himself together.

"How could I ever forget?" he said. "It was the very first time that you took me with you. Does this mean that you have recovered all your memories, My Lord?"

"I don't think so – in fact right now that's the only thing I can remember. But it was weird: for a moment I felt as if I really was someone else, and I'm not sure that I like the feeling. But I definitely liked you. Of course, I also like you as you are now."

"Thank you, My Lord."

"So I suppose we must have known each other a very long time, then. Do you know how long?"

"Well, if we include the time you were missing, it's about eighty cycles, My Lord."

Julien gave a whistle.

"You really don't look that old," he said. "But… if we've known each other that long, how come you're acting so weird around me now? Were you scared of me back then?"

"Certainly not!"

"Well, are you scared of me now, then?"

"No, of course not, My Lord."

"It's Julien, remember? Please call me Julien. So what is the problem, then?"

"Julien, when's the last time you looked at yourself in a mirror?"

"This morning when I combed my hair. Why, are you still worrying about my hair being too long?

"There's nothing wrong with your hair. In fact, it's perfect. Just like the rest of you."

"Thank you. So, does that bother you?"

"If it was just that there wouldn't be a problem. But you're not just too handsome, you're also gentle, generous, funny, true, caring, clever… in fact, the word I want is probably 'lovable'."

"Oh, come on – you're flattering me! And I still can't see why it's a problem."

"Do I really have to spell it out to you?"

"Please."

"Very well. You love Ambar, don't you? Yes, I'm sure you do. Well, it would be really easy for me to love you the way you love Ambar."

"Ah…. that kind of thing happens here, then?"

"Yes, but that's not really the point."

"Even so. So does that mean that you like… I mean, that you're like Gradik and Tenntchouk?"

"You mean, am I a man who likes other men? No, I'm not – in fact I had two wives, and I only played around with boys until I discovered girls."

"Then I really can't see what the issue is."

"The issue is that this kind of thing has got nothing to do with what I might actually want. Since you got back to us I can't help… well, liking you rather too much."

"And that's wrong, is it?"

"I honestly don't know. But my feelings scare me. Sometimes I wish I was your age again and able to… You have to understand that I haven't had desires like this since I was about sixteen. And now here we are discussing the most intimate parts of your… life. It's really most disturbing."

"I think I'm starting to understand."

"And then you went and remembered me as I was when I was 'Little Subi', and just for an instant I think I would have given anything in the world to be that boy again."

"Is that so bad?"

"I'm the Grand Master of Major Arts! I'"m not supposed to go falling in love with boys at all, and when the boy in question is also the Emperor…"

"Right now I really don't feel very Imperial," said Julien. "And even if I did, it's not as if this is something you can really control, and it doesn't bother me anyway. I'm glad you're my friend, and if you're a little more than just a friend, I'm happy to take it as a compliment. Just as long as you're not going to jump all over me – I mean, you're not, are you?"

Subadar managed to smile.

"No," he said. "Even if I wish I could. But I can behave. At least, I hope so."

"Well, relax, then. You're not the jealous type, I hope?"

"No. Envious, maybe, but your friends have nothing to fear – in fact, I wish them nothing but the best. And I'll be perfectly happy if I can share in your friendship a little."

"You have my friendship, Subadar – all of it. It's something you can share without taking it away from other people. Just try not to get too doe-eyed at me when we're in company."

Subadar laughed again.

"Don't worry," he said. "I won't."

"And I'll make sure I keep my laï below my knees when you're in the vicinity. One shouldn't tempt the Devil, as they used to say on my world."

"Fine, but I don't want you getting all prudish, either."

"I won't. So, are you coming to our little party tonight?"

"Is that an invitation?"

"Of course it is! You're our friend, remember? Oh, and… just one more question: does Ugo know about how you feel?"

"Ugo is my chenn-da. You can't hide anything from your chenn-da."

The 'little party' actually included just about everyone who was connected to Julien with the notable exception of his father, who would certainly have been present for this celebration if Julien had been an ordinary boy of the Nine Worlds. But Julien had put his foot down. He was perfectly happy to please his friends by celebrating the Kouwa Djoung Neh, or 'Gushing of the Elixir of Life', but he flatly refused to share that sort of celebration with his parents. He loved them, certainly, but they had nonetheless spent a great deal of time, either intentionally or not, filling him with shame about anything at all to do with those parts of his anatomy that he usually kept hidden. He was absolutely determined to keep them away from his private life from now on.

Tenntchouk was there, and so was Tannder, each of them accompanied by a companion who was determined to watch out for their well-being. It now looked as if Tannder was going to recover more or less completely and would be able to return to his normal duties after a further ten days or so of rest. Tenntchouk would need a bit more time before he was able to sail again, but his morale was nonetheless good and he was clearly happy to be there.

Master Sandeark had done a tremendous job, so much so that Julien made a mental note to check with Dennkar that the mathematician hadn't been spending his own money on the feast. Every item of food had been chosen, as was traditional, because it chimed, either explicitly or indirectly, with the subject of the celebration. For example, a mildly alcoholic beverage that was served in crystal glasses had a pearly appearance that wasn't so very different from that of the famed 'Elixir of Life'. Large dishes of small sweet or salty items were served alongside little golden sausages. Some dishes looked innocent enough until you found out what they were called, which was invariably something replete with double-entendre. In fact there was not a single fruit or vegetable there which, either by its name, its shape or its supposed aphrodisiac properties, failed to evoke the happy event that they were celebrating. The finest (not to say most suggestive) products of the Art of Sweet and Pastry-makers were also there to be sampled and enjoyed.

In accordance with custom Karik, whose Kouwa Djoung Neh had been the last one before Julien's, was in the chair and had the job of offering and controlling the toasts and compliments. He performed this important duty with flair and charm, calling on each person in turn to say a few words about Julien's personal attributes or hidden charms, a process which the subject of their eulogies found deeply embarrassing. His mortification, and the hilarity of the other guests, reached its peak when Ambar, probably spurred on by the demon from the decanter, used his beautiful singing voice to offer a parody of a classic song, praising the reflection of the setting sun on the down which, like the auburn grass that surrounds the upright Stone of Ent'alem in the autumn, decorated the base of Julien's Wondrous Member.

"But," he concluded in his superb singing voice, "no nectar flows from the cold rock, no desire stirs the stone…"

And he followed the wonderful resonance of his final note with the incongruous spoken comment, "And the Stone is far too big, anyway."

At least his friends were kind enough to spare Julien some of the more physical aspects of this type of party: nobody asked him to season their cup with a few drops from the Sacred Spring, and nobody asked if they could try tasting it direct from the source. Their restraint was actually quite impressive, given that Julien had no idea that this sort of thing was virtually traditional: normally guests would certainly have succumbed to the positively priapic atmosphere by doing exactly that. Instead they kept the fun and games to what was acceptable to Julien, and even Ambar – who, like Dillik, was obviously wearing nothing beneath his laï – finished the evening without making a move on his virtue. Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't intending to stay awake long enough for something to happen once they were safely in bed and it was plain from the way Julien kept having to rearrange his own clothing that he would definitely be interested. And tonight Ambar had no intention of sharing him with anyone!

"Hey, Julien – it works! We can do it!"

Dillik's 'whisper' would have woken up a hibernating bear. The boys had chosen to spend the night with Tannder and Karik at the house on Rüpel Gyamtso lake, and Julien could tell from the grey light filtering through the curtains that the sun had not yet risen. He was tempted to turn his back on the boy and try to get back to sleep – he hadn't had much so far, even though there was a favourable two-hour time difference between here and the Burrow. But instead he turned his head and faced him.

"Quiet!" he said in a low voice. "Not so loud, or you'll wake everyone up! What's the matter?"

"Xarax and I can dream together!"

"Well, good for you. I'm sure it's fascinating."

"It's way better than that!"

"You can tell me about it later. I need some more sleep."

"Well…"

"All right, what else?" asked Julien with a sigh.

"Will you take me to have a pee?"

"You're having a laugh! Don't you ever think about anything else?"

"But it's normal, isn't it? I mean, what with the party last night… anyway, you promised!"

"What am I supposed to have promised?"

"That I could taste!"

"All right. I'd forgotten, that's all."

"Well, I haven't forgotten!"

"I will let you taste, but I didn't say when!"

"That's cheating!"

"You might as well go," said Ambar's voice from behind a pillow. "You know he won't leave you alone until you do."

Julien decided to give in gracefully, so he got up, brushed Dillik's nose with a kiss and led him off to the Imperial Villa's luxurious main bathroom.

Breakfast, which they shared with Tannder and Karik, was nice and late, so everyone was fully awake. The conversation was more or less monopolised by Dillik, who chatted away enthusiastically, not about the flavour of Julien's still fairly limited virile essence – Dillik was old enough to have a little discretion, after all – but about the incredible experience of a dream shared with his beloved Xarax.

"We've been trying since we first met!" he said. "Nobody had ever been able to do it before, but we didn't care, and Xarax was sure it was possible. Nobody believed him – I don't think even Julien really thought we could do it, even though if anyone could have thought it was possible it should have been him…"

Everyone knew the background, but nobody wanted to spoil the story or steal his thunder, and so everyone kept quiet and just looked at him attentively, while Julien tried to look contrite, like an unbeliever who has seen a miracle.

"Usually when he tries I wake up and I forget what I was dreaming about," Dillik told them. "Then he stays with me – in my head – until I fall asleep again, and then he tries to go to sleep himself. Just doing that is hard enough. But he said that the hardest thing of all has been becoming aware that I'm dreaming without it waking him up and then starting to dream himself. Eventually he managed to do that, but then he found that, like most people, he couldn't control what he was dreaming. So he was just dreaming on his own and so was I. It didn't work, so he got back out of my head and that usually woke me up. But tonight it worked!"

"So what was it like?" asked Niil.

"It was… it was fantastic! I was a haptir and a boy at the same time. But when I say 'a haptir' I don't just mean any haptir – I mean I was Xarax! And at the same time I was Xarax feeling that he was me… it's a bit hard to explain. But we were really happy. And we were dreaming, sort of together. First we dreamed one of his dreams – at least I think it must have been because I'd never seen anything like it. We went into a palace. I think it was the Emperor's Palace, only I can't be sure. Anyway, we flew along some corridors. Then we flew over mountains – that was really beautiful! And after a bit we sort of turned into me, I think – we were on Niil's trankenn and we were running through lots of passageways. Then I saw Julien and I think we must have become Xarax again because we were sitting on Julien's shoulders. And then I woke up. I know when I tell it like that it doesn't sound like much, but really it was…"

"Don't worry," said Tannder. "I think we all know how impossible it is to tell someone else about a really good dream. But I believe that Xarax did achieve something unique. Honourable Xarax," (the haptir was sitting quietly on Dillik's lap) "I think you just started exploring a completely new country. Let me be the first to congratulate you."

"He says he doesn't really deserve congratulations," said Dillik. "All he was doing was trying to find ways to get closer to his friend. He also says that he doesn't have the words to express his happiness. As for me, though, I can say that the best thing of all about dreaming with Xarax is that I can still remember everything clearly. Normally if I have a dream I've forgotten it by breakfast time."

"That does sound like a good thing," agreed Julien. "Just out of interest, can you remember what you were doing on my shoulder before you woke up?"

"Well… that's it, really: we just woke up."

A few days later, as Julien was getting reading to leave his beloved lakeside villa to return to the Burrow, Dennkar came to visit him.

"Good news, My Lord," he said. "We've got hold of one of the enemy's agents."

He looked satisfied but somehow surprised at the same time, as if he hadn't believed the operation could have had such a successful result.

"He gave himself up to Aldegard's people," he went on. "He says that if we keep our promise of an amnesty others will come forward and surrender, too. Apparently there are several hundred of them, split between Dvârinn and Nüngen."

"When you say 'An enemy agent', do you mean a traitor from within the Nine Worlds or someone who actually comes from their world?" asked Julien.

"Sorry, I didn't make it clear. It's someone from their world, which they call Sar Talak. And his story is most interesting, too."

"I can imagine. So what does he look like?"

"He looks just like everyone else, which is what makes it worrying. He scarcely has an accent at all and could easily have come from any of our human worlds."

"Then how can you be sure that he really is an outsider?"

"Because he had this."

Dennkar produced a small black object about the size of a cigarette lighter which, once Dennkar had pressed a small carved symbol, started to produce a flow of words in an unknown language. After a few seconds Dennkar switched it off again.

"It's a communication device," he explained. It's connected to a similar device on their world and is used to exchange information. The agent isn't a scientist and so has only a limited understanding of how it works, but the principle seems to be that each device carries a huge number of particles of energy. These particles are generated in pairs and then separated into two twin communicators, one of each pair of particles in each of the twins. It's nothing like the guidance systems we found in the Der Mang depot, the ones you call 'radio'. The agent says that with the twin system there are no limits of distance, and they would work even if they were at opposite ends of the universe.

"As far as I can make out, it works because when you change the state of one of the particles, the same change happens instantly to its twin particle in the other device. The device then interprets that change and transforms it into sound, after which that particle is destroyed. The only limit on its use is the number of particles available. It has a vast number, but once they've all been used the device becomes useless.

"Anyway, he translated some of the messages coming out of the device for me. Basically they're asking for news and telling him to stand by and await further orders. They haven't sent him a single word about their base being destroyed."

"I suppose we might have expected that," said Julien. "But it shows how little they trust their agents, doesn't it?"

"Exactly. Once he'd read our communiqué he asked his home base for information, but the man at the other end acted as if he had no idea what the agent was talking about. After a day or so the agent realised that we were telling the truth, accepted that he was basically stranded on Nüngen and decided to try his luck with us instead."

"Does he know where the other agents are?"

"No. He says he's only a low-level agent, and he never met anyone except his own immediate supervisor. They had regular meetings, but the supervisor failed to turn up for the last appointment, and the only thing his home base would tell him was to keep attending the rendezvous and to wait for further instructions."

"So what do you intend to do now?"

"Obviously I'd like to have him probed. If he volunteers it shouldn't be too hard on him. But I wanted to ask your permission first, because now we've closed the base and ended the state of emergency we can't probe anyone without a court order or permission from the Emperor."

"Couldn't you apply for a court order? I'm sure Aldegard could arrange that easily."

"Yes, I'm sure he could, but I want to keep it quiet. After all, there might be more people like Ajmer around, people who wouldn't want their own involvement in the affair to come to light. Maybe this agent doesn't know anything about that, but it would be better to involve as few people as possible to avoid scaring people who might react dangerously."

"All right, I can see what you mean, but I'm not sure that I can agree."

"I'm sorry?"

"Basically you're using me to get around the law. I understand why, and if I was in your place I'd probably do the same thing, but… well, I've been thinking for a while now about why I'm here, and I've decided that until I know everything I need to know I'm only going to do whatever I think is right."

"But I'm not asking you to do anything wrong!"

"It might not be wrong, but it still seems to be an attempt to bypass the Laws of the R'hinz. I don't want to be a dictator. Where I come from there are still a lot of them around, and I know where that sort of thing leads."

"But you're the Emperor!"

"If Yulmir went around doing whatever he wanted without listening to anyone else he probably wasn't a very nice man. But there is an alternative: bring the man to me and I'll ask if he's prepared to be probed. If he agrees it's problem solved."

"And if he refuses?"

"Then it'll be up to you. You can either apply to the courts, or you can manage without the probe."

"Yes, My Lord."

"Don't look at me like that, Dennkar. I like you a lot and I think you're doing an excellent job. You could easily have failed to mention that the State of Emergency had ended, and in that case I'd probably have given you the go-ahead. I'm glad you took the right line, and I hope you always will."

"Thank you, My Lord. And… the Emperor didn't do whatever he wanted without listening to people. Actually he'd have reacted exactly as you did. The only difference is that I would have known better than to ask him for permission in the first place. Please forgive an old man for treating you as something you are not."

"I don't know what you mean. And you're still in good shape – you're nothing like senile just yet! Anyway, please have the man brought here."

While he waited for Dennkar to come back Julien thought about what had just happened. He didn't entirely understand why he had chosen to resist a man whose natural authority was clear, but he had done so almost without thinking. Suddenly he had recognised that he couldn't bend the law to suit his own convenience and that it would be extremely dangerous to do so, and not just from the standpoint of abstract ethics, either. Not so very long ago he'd simply have gone along with what Dennkar wanted without arguing, but now he felt that to have done so would have been wrong on every level. And he'd felt that straight away: the various arguments he had deployed to support his decision had only come to him afterwards.

The man really was completely anonymous. He was in his thirties and wearing a nondescript blue-grey abba. He walked beside Dennkar, shooting the odd surprised glance at his surroundings. As he stopped in front of Julien he did his best not to stare too openly at this unusually attractive young boy who was sitting on a plain rattan chair and wearing the white Marks of the Imperial House.

"This is the man I told you about, Your Lordship," said Dennkar, breaking the silence.

"I imagine you have a name?" said Julien to the man.

"I'm Yakder… Your Lordship."

"Honourable Yakder, please sit down – and please stop looking at your feet, too! I can't kill with a glare, and I like to be able to talk face to face with people. You gave yourself up to Aldegard's forces of your own free will and you're ready to cooperate with us. Is that right?"

"Yes, Your Lordship."

"How long have you been living on Nüngen?"

"Eight cycles, Your Lordship."

"And I imagine that you were studying Tünnkeh and our customs for a lot longer than that."

"Indeed, Your Lordship. I was chosen for this mission when I was ten."

"Are you aware that the moon which served as a base for your operations and where your travel machines were located has now disappeared from the universe?"

"So they tell me, Your Lordship."

"Believe it. I was actually a part of that operation, so I know it to be true."

The man looked surprised.

"I'm not boasting here," Julien said. "I'm just telling you so that you know I'm not going to be trying to trick you or tell you lies. I'm going to tell you the truth, and I'd like you to do the same. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Lordship."

"Have you ever heard of a mental probe?"

The man went pale.

"Yes, Your Lordship," he said.

"It's a highly efficient process, although it can be unpleasant – certainly it has a bad reputation. But if it's done properly it doesn't always kill you, and if you offer genuine cooperation it won't even leave you brain-damaged. And again you can trust me on this, because I've been probed myself."

"You?! Why?!?"

"That's none of your business, but I swear it's true."

"Forgive me, Your Lordship."

"Now – tell me if you know about the methods used by your own intelligence service to obtain information from prisoners."

"I've never had anything to do with that sort of atrocity!"

"But clearly you do understand what I'm talking about. There's a man in this house, a good friend of mine, who survived a number of those disgusting sessions, and he only survived because we reached him just in time. One of his colleagues went on being tortured even though the interrogators knew he'd already told them everything he knew. And two others died under torture. So don't you think I have the right to send you to be probed? I can assure you, probing is a great deal less barbarous!"

The man said nothing.

"Answer me, please," insisted Julien. "Do I have the right to have you probed? Does it seem fair to you?"

"Your Lordship…"

"Yakder, I'm simply asking you a straightforward question. Please give me an answer."

"Then… yes, you have the right."

"Does it seem fair, though?"

"I don't know. I've never tortured anyone."

"I hope not. But there are others in your organisation who do so with no apparent problem."

"Then I suppose it's fair."

"Then you're wrong. Obviously those who trained you didn't tell you everything. We are in what we call the R'hinz ka aun li Nügen, the Domain of Perfect Equity. There are laws that govern the Nine Worlds, and I am the Keeper of those laws. Of course, if I ordered you to be probed nobody would raise any objections: nobody would dare to argue with the Emperor. But I know the law, and it forbids me from inflicting that sort of treatment on anyone who has not been tried and convicted by a court of law. That is why nobody has probed you so far.

"Now let me explain the situation as I see it. You've decided to cooperate with us, and I think you're sincere about that. I'm sure you've told us plenty of useful things already, but the fact is that you are also in possession of a vast amount of other vital information of which you're probably not even aware. That sort of information can only be obtained by a mental probe. Yes, it's absolutely true that the people of your world no longer have any way to reach us, at least not in the near future. Nor are we likely to need to fight them. But it's still essential for us to find out what happened and what your people were preparing to do. Furthermore, we know that a number of people here were ready to cooperate with your forces, and you can be certain that those traitors don't want us to know who they are. And they will definitely be prepared to kill in order to cover their tracks."

"But I don't know who they are, or anything about it!"

"You might be sure of that, but I doubt very much if our traitors will be prepared to risk leaving you alive if they think there's the remotest chance that you could betray them. Anyway, here's where we stand: we really need the information in your head, and I think a court would probably allow Master Dennkar here to go ahead and have you probed. However, that wouldn't do you any favours. First, a forced probe is far more likely to cause mental damage to the subject, and second, if a trial were to be held, no matter how discreet we try to be about it, it would alert the people we're after. They would probably try to kill you and then either disappear from view or maybe try something reckless and dangerous to everyone.

"So it seems to me that the best solution for both you and us would be this: you volunteer to be probed, and I put you under the protection of the Imperial House. It's obvious why this is your best course of action: instead of drawing attention to yourself in court and then undergoing a hostile probing you'll be safely out of the public eye and under my personal protection, which will make it impossible for anyone to kill you before you're probed. And obviously there'd be no point in killing you afterwards.

"As for me, I gain because I make sure you're kept safe, and I also get the information we need without having to bend or break the law which I'm supposed to defend. I also prefer this solution because I think you're basically a good man, and everyone will tell you that I don't like harming people who haven't harmed me. And finally, I hope it will demonstrate that this can be a good place for you to live, because it's a place where even the most powerful abide by the law and try to do the right thing.

"Now I have other matters to attend to, so I'll leave you with Master Dennkar. Have a think about my offer, and take as long as you need. If you decide you'd prefer to try your luck with the courts he won't try to stop you. And if you decide that you'll volunteer to be probed, I guarantee that it'll be done by the best experts we have, and also that they will be instructed to go gently and carefully, even if the process takes a bit longer that way. Dennkar, I know I can count on you to make sure that this man is treated well, whatever happens."

"Of course, Your Lordship. I'll keep you informed."

"Please tell Tannder what's happening, too. If he's not happy, tell him to come and talk to me. I'll be at the Burrow. See you later."

As he now did every time he travelled with Aïn Julien tried to reach the Orientation Table, but once again he was unsuccessful. He had stuck to his promise not to try unless the Master Guide was with him: he had no wish to find himself marooned in the Outside, even if Xarax was with him. He wasn't too worried about it: everyone he had spoken to about it so far agreed that he'd be able to travel on his own again before too much longer.

When they reached the Burrow Dillik greeted him with a big smile and handed him a document bearing a magnificent and very official-looking seal.

"It's from the Noble Lord Tahlil," he said.

Julien broke the seal and read the message, which was indeed a formal invitation from the Emperor's Mirror to attend the maiden voyage of the new First Trankenn of the Rent'haliks. Unable to contain his excitement Dillik started speaking again the moment Julien lifted his eyes from the invitation.

"You are going, aren't you?" he demanded. "My father will be in command! We went to look at the ship this afternoon with Niil, and she's a beauty! My father said that Lord Tahlil would really like you to be there, and he said he won't mind at all if I go with you, if you don't mind, of course. You will let me come with you, won't you? And obviously Niil and Ambar will want to come too…"

"Hello, Dillik! I'll need to talk to Niil about it, but I expect he'll make time for such an important occasion…"

"I already asked him, and he said…"

"Calm down, Dillik! This invitation is for ten days' time, and if you're going to go on and on about it like that for the next ten days I don't think I can take it. Xarax, can you do something?"

The haptir leapt on his young friend and soon Dillik was rolling about on the ground, his laï rucked up to his waist, trying unsuccessfully to ward off a bout of extreme tickling which was at least causing his excess of energy to be dissipated. That left Julien free to join Subadar, Niil, Ambar and Sandeark to tell them about his meeting with Yakder.

***

Once everyone had heard Julien's report, Subadar said, "Julien, I'm worried. I don't believe the danger is over. Maybe the off-worlders are stymied for now, but something tells me they are only part of the problem. I think we might have given up our new weapons a bit too soon."

"I know what you mean," said Julien. "On Earth we had to learn a Latin saying: Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war. That works perfectly well in theory. But in practice my world is up to its ears in those bloody weapons. And I'm not talking about bows and arrows, either. We kill each other at the drop of a hat and the strongest countries threaten to blow the planet apart. I have no wish to replay the Emm Talak story here! I've closed Pandora's box and I won't open it again unless there really is no alternative. They're probing that agent as we speak, and I promise that if there is the remotest possibility of them attacking us again I won't hesitate – in fact I'm ready to go and attack their world if we have to. But in the meantime our proud Warriors are going to have to manage with the same weapons they've been authorised to use for the past few thousand cycles."

"I wasn't just thinking about the off-worlders," said Subadar. "I'm becoming more and more certain that there's another enemy. Ghorrs don't grow on trees: they have to be produced and controlled by someone. That calls for a knowledge of the Dark Arts, and I don't think the off-worlders knew anything about that."

"Now there I agree with you," said Julien. "But it doesn't change anything as far as the weapons are concerned. If we're dealing with that kind of enemy they have to be allied with entities like the Neh-kyongs, don't they?"

"They do. With Drheh of some sort, anyway."

"And I don't suppose our forbidden weapons would be a lot of use against these Dhreh?"

"Well, probably not against Drheh. But against the humans using them… probably."

"We haven't reached that stage yet. Anyway, I've just received an invitation from Lord Tahlil to the maiden voyage of his trankenn. I imagine that Niil and Ambar will want to come with me, and you'd be very welcome too. And Master Sandeark – although I'm not going to twist anyone's arm to force them to come on a dream cruise around some beautiful islands…"

"I do have a lot of important matters to attend to," said Subadar, "but my sense of duty forbids me from leaving His Lordship to face the dangers of such a diplomatic journey without the support of my advice."

"As for me," said Sandeark, "I really can't allow my students to laze around for that long without being on hand to offer them something to keep their minds occupied."

"I'm sure your sacrifice will fill them with inspiration and happiness…"

Since Julien had started to produce his nectar he'd made a point of sharing it around fairly, and that made the usual fun and games a bit complicated as each of the three boys who shared the bed with him tried to grab as much of it as they could. It was getting a little more plentiful, and a bit thicker, too, but even so… Of course there are worse problems in life than having to learn how to control one's orgasms or finding ways to deal with one's friends' ever more cunning attempts to take advantage of one. At first he was minded to exclude Dillik from the game, on the specious and actually rather insulting pretext that he was too young, but nobody could have withstood the combination of Dillik's own tears and the clear indignation of a haptir who clearly believed that Dillik's cause was just.

Julien still flatly refused to plunge his Adamantine Sceptre into Dillik's Secret Entrance no matter how enthusiastically Dillik begged him to, but he did now allow the young sprite to satisfy his apparently unending thirst for the miraculous Elixir. Of course Ambar shared this thirst, and so, to a slightly lesser extent, did Niil, although given a choice between the available pleasures Niil would probably have chosen, after much indecision, a vigorous penetration of his Well of Delights.

He had by now declared himself entirely happy with Julien's dimensions and stamina, and Julien was secretly flattered by this, since it suggested that he was a more than adequate substitute for Karik, who only made occasional appearances with the boys, spending most of his time at his master's bedside and, as Niil sometimes hinted, in the bed as well. Nobody begrudged him that: it was a privilege that had been thoroughly well-earned, and it was felt that Tannder would have had to have a heart of stone to turn him away after such a demonstration of devotion and, indeed, love.

Anyway, this evening started out much the same as any other, with the four boys amusing themselves and each other in a series of sexual gymnastics designed to teach each of them how to postpone their final loss of control for as long as possible. In due course Julien found himself head to tail with Niil, while Ambar was using plenty of lubrication but little subtlety in his attempts to penetrate his secret entrance and Dillik was trying to do the same thing to Niil. They had all just about reached the moment of no return, and Julien, in whose mouth the still partly-grown but nonetheless respectable organ of his best friend was starting to quiver, suddenly got his first ever taste of the product of the two small eggs he was caressing. There wasn't very much, but it was nonetheless a pure distillation of Niil-ness.

He had to wait long enough to recover from his own orgasm, and of course he wanted to savour the taste of what was in his mouth for as long as possible. But once he'd finally got his breath back, and once Ambar had withdrawn his still thoroughly hard member from his nether entrance, Julien was able to announce his discovery to his friends.

"Guess what, everyone?" he said. "Now we can throw a party for Niil too!"

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