Maggie yearned for this child. Inadvertently, the dronon had given her a great gift: the memories of rearing hundreds of children. Because she’d been infected by the Inhuman, she’d be a better mother than someone who came to the task as a novice.
Maggie said, “All right. I’d drop the babe under a bush if you wanted. But after it’s born, we go back to civilization. I just spoke to the perfumer. On most worlds, scent therapists could change my aroma completely. We can have a new life. Four months, till the baby is born-that’s all we need.”
Gallen beamed at the news. “Great. I’ll look forward to it. But I don’t think you’ll bear our son while squatting under a bush. Wherever we land, this ship will serve as a better home than a lean-to.”
Maggie studied the ship’s ivory walls. Clean, smooth. Her home in Tihrglas had been more cramped. The couches and beds served well. If a world were nearly-terraformed with birds and beasts intact-Gallen could forage for food. It seemed an ideal dream-a cozy place without anyone to bother them.
Chapter 26
Zeus had Hera to comfort, and to offer comfort in return. They talked long into the night about Herm’s death, about the brevity of life, about how there were no longer any guarantees.
He expressed his anger at how she’d humiliated him, and Hera told him in turn how she felt humiliated by his infidelities. In an odd way, he felt relieved that she had deceived him, had lured him to stand naked before Lord Felph, Gallen, and Maggie. It was a powerful reminder of how much she loved him, how jealous she felt when he squandered his affection on lesser women. Hera was a great woman-cunning, crafty, devoted.
The cruel joke she’d played made him love her all the more deeply, yet he felt equally touched by her tenderness. The blow of seeing Herm’s corpse devastated Hera, as it did Zeus.
Even now, as he considered his loss, waves of grief washed through Zeus, battering him. Herm had been his constant companion, his support. Herm understood Zeus’s moods, laughed when he joked, arranged liaisons when he wanted a woman. He never judged, as Lord Felph and Arachne did.
So after Hera fell into an uneasy sleep when Lord Felph asked him to accompany Gallen on the hunting party, Zeus accepted.
Felph clapped Zeus on both shoulders, stared into his eyes, and said, “I send you on a man’s errand. Don’t fail me.”
“I won’t fail you-or Herm,” Zeus replied. The lights in the hallway shone dimly so late. Everything was perfectly quiet.
“I know,” Felph said. He looked down the corridor, to the darkened atrium just off the north wing, as if afraid someone might overhear. “Bring this Qualeewooh back, understand? I don’t trust Gallen O’Day. You’ve seen him. He may be efficient in his way, but he’s soft. I’ll not have him freeing the Qualeewooh that killed your brother. You remember that.”
“I’m not likely to forget,” Zeus had answered.
“Good. And remember,” Felph said, “Gallen works for us. You don’t work for him. I expect him to follow your orders.”
The coldness in Felph’s voice surprised Zeus. “If he doesn’t?”
“Take command of this expedition,” Felph said. “See that he does his job.”
“You expect trouble?” Zeus asked. “If I kill him, Maggie and the others will make trouble.”
“Kill him?” Felph said, shocked, as if the thought had never occurred to him. “Why would you even think of killing him? I need Gallen to get the Waters of Strength.”
Zeus’s thoughts had been traveling dangerous paths, and he’d imagined Felph’s had followed the same. Yet obviously his father had never considered the implications of what he asked.
“You expect me to force Gallen to concede to your wishes,” Zeus said. “I doubt he can be pushed so far.”
Felph shook his head, as if saddened by Zeus. “I only meant for you to take charge. I–I never thought of harming anyone. But you-you think killing him will gain anything?”
“You want this Qualeewooh, and you want the Waters of Strength,” Zeus said. “You want me to go with Gallen, because you’re afraid he’ll leave Ruin, depriving you of both. So you want me to force him to stay, to get the job done, but I know of no way to force him. The only path I can see clear is to replace him.”
Felph shook his head, dismayed. “Replace him? You can do that!”
“You don’t need Gallen,” Zeus said. “It’s his mantle you’re after. If I took it, you could be assured that the Qualeewooh would be caught, and then I could go into Teeawah!”
Felph nodded, speechless for a moment, studied Zeus’s eyes. “I should have known,” he said sadly. “It’s my fault, not yours. I made you to hunger after power. I crafted you to be strong. I should have known you’d try to grasp for glory the easy way.”
Felph turned, shaking his head. “I … I’m sorry. I’ll send Arachne or Hera with Gallen, convince him to return with the Qualeewooh, as agreed. If we can’t …” Felph shrugged, signifying he would do no more. “Then Gallen will leave.” After a long silence, “If he does, perhaps you should go with him.”
That final turning of the back, the tone of abandonment, spoke volumes. Felph wanted someone to convince Gallen peaceably, and if he could not, then nothing mattered.
Nothing mattered. Zeus could go his own way, wander the galaxy. Like a broken toy, unwanted, a thing formed for the delight of its creator, now deemed worthless.
Felph’s most cutting words were unspoken. I’ll let you die. You’re not worthy of more life. You matter not.
“All right.” Zeus spoke before Felph could walk away. “Of course you’re right. I’ll convince Gallen to do as you ask.”
Felph turned, querulous. “How? Speak up. You had better be persuasive, or I’ll send Arachne!”
“Please, Father,” Zeus said,” send me! Give me this honor. The problem is … you give me nothing to barter with. You want Gallen to concede to your wishes, but he only wants assurance you’ll be fair. He doesn’t know you as I do. I’ll convince him you are just.”
Felph watched Zeus. Zeus had been able to speak with an urgency, a compelling tone, that demanded Felph’s attention. “How will you do this?”
“I … don’t know, yet,” Zeus said. “But I have Maggie’s ear, and she has Gallen’s. She was willing to serve you to win our freedom. In spite of our Guides, you required little of us. I’ll let her know. As for Gallen, I’ll tell him you were angry last night, that you could think of little more than vengeance-but your wrath fades quickly.”
Felph eyed him a long moment. “Whatever you do, don’t whine and wheedle.” Zeus had to stifle the urge to sigh in relief at the acceptance of his offer. “I want you to be a statesman, a diplomat-not a beggar, nor a thug. Go convince Gallen to keep his bargain. If you do, you’ll make me proud.”
Felph left, his still-bloody robes flowing behind him as he strode down the corridor. Zeus let out his breath. Almost his father had abandoned him. Almost he’d doomed Zeus to mortality.
As Zeus went back into his room, to Hera’s arms, he lay the night, unable to sleep, thinking. He considered ways he might convince Gallen to bring the Qualeewooh back to the palace, but in his mind’s eye, he could not envision any plan working. Gallen did not trust Felph. Gallen must have recognized a certain lack of character in the man, and all Zeus’s impassioned pleas might not change Gallen’s mind.
Zeus wondered. If he had Arachne’s insight into the human mind, he might be able to persuade Gallen that Felph’s intentions were honorable. But the truth was, even Zeus doubted Felph.
Zeus thought, Or if I had Herm’s cunning tongue, I could have lied so sweetly, Gallen would never know the truth. Or even if I had Hera’s basic decency and cunning, or Athena’s quiet wisdom, I might have found a way to twist Gallen to my will.