And, I thought, because some of them repay the Idlewild hospitality, when they are rich and secure on Yellowstone, and they see the Mendicants as a means of gaining influence over newcomers.
But I only said, ‘No, that’s kind but not at all necessary. Best if I meet him in person, I think.’
She regarded me carefully before answering. ‘You’ll be wanting his address on the surface, then.’
I nodded. ‘I appreciate there are matters of confidentiality to be considered, but…’
‘He’ll be in Chasm City,’ Amelia said, as if the utterance itself was a heresy; as if the place was the vilest pit of degradation imaginable. ‘That’s our largest settlement; the oldest one.’
‘Yes; I’ve already heard of Chasm City. Can you narrow it down slightly?’ I did my best not to sound sarcastic. ‘A district would help.’
‘I can’t really help you very much — he didn’t tell us exactly where he was going. But you could start in the Canopy, I suppose.’
‘The Canopy?’
‘I’ve never been there. But they say you can’t miss it.’
I discharged myself the day after.
I wasn’t under any illusion that I was totally well, but I knew that if I waited any longer the chances of my picking up Reivich’s trail again would dwindle to zero. And while some parts of my memory had still not come back into absolutely sharp focus, there was enough there to function with; enough to let me get on with the job in hand.
I went back into the chalet to gather my things — the documents, the clothes they had given me and the pieces of the diamond gun — and once again found my attention drawn to the alcove in the wall which had so disturbed me upon waking. I’d managed to sleep in the chalet since then, and while I wouldn’t have described my dreams as restful, the images and thoughts that had raced through them were of Sky Haussmann. The blood on my sheets each morning testified to that. But when I woke, there was still something about the alcove that chilled me, and which was as irrational as ever. I thought of what Duscha had told me about the indoctrinal virus, and wondered if there was anything in my infection which could cause such a baseless phobia — the virally generated structures linking to the wrong brain centres, perhaps. But at the same time I wondered if the two things might not be connected at all.
Afterwards, Amelia met me and walked with me up the long, meandering trail which led to heaven, climbing higher and higher towards one of the habitat’s conic end-points. The gradient was so mild that walking was barely an effort, but there was a feeling of euphoric relief as my weight diminished and each step seemed to send me a little higher and further.
When we had walked in silence for ten or fifteen minutes, I said, ‘Is it true what you hinted at earlier, Amelia? That you were once one of us?’
‘A passenger, you mean? Yes, but I was just a child when it happened — I barely knew how to speak. The ship which brought us in had been damaged, and they’d lost most of the identifying records for their sleepers. They’d been picking up passengers in more than one system, too, so there was no real way to tell where I’d ever come from.’
‘You mean you don’t know what world you were born on?’
‘Oh, I can make a few guesses — not that it interests me greatly these days.’ The path steepened momentarily, and Amelia suddenly bounded ahead of me to take the rise. ‘This is my world now, Tanner. It’s a blessedly small place, but it isn’t a bad one, I think. Who else can say that they’ve seen all their world has to offer?’
‘That must make it very boring.’
‘Not at all. Things always change.’ She pointed across the curve of the habitat. ‘That waterfall wasn’t always there. Oh, and there was a little hamlet down there once, where we’ve made a lake now. It’s like that all the time. We keep having to change these paths to stop erosion — every year it’s like I have to remember the place anew. We have seasons, and years when our crops don’t grow as well as in other years. Some years we get a glut, too, God willing. And there’s always something to explore. We get new people coming through all the time, of course — and some of them do join the Order.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Thankfully, they’re not all like Brother Alexei.’
‘There’s always one bad apple.’
‘I know. And I shouldn’t say this… but after what you’ve taught me, I’m almost hoping Alexei tries it on again.’
I understood how she must have felt. ‘I doubt that he will, but I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes if he does.’
‘I’ll be gentle with him, don’t worry.’
There was an uncomfortable silence, during which we scaled the last slope towards the end of the cone. My weight had probably dropped to a tenth of what it had been in the chalet, but walking was still possible — it just felt like the ground was receding beneath each footfall. Ahead, discreetly veiled by a copse of trees which had grown haphazardly in the low gravity, was an armoured door leading out of the chamber.
‘You’re serious about leaving, aren’t you?’ Amelia said.
‘The sooner I get to Chasm City the better.’
‘It won’t be all that you’re expecting, Tanner. I wish you’d stay with us a little longer, just so that we could bring you up to speed…’ She trailed off, evidently realising that I was not going to be persuaded.
‘Don’t worry about me; I’ll catch up on my history.’ I smiled at her; hating myself at the same time for the way I had been forced to lie to her, but knowing there was no other way. ‘Thank you for your kindness, Amelia.’
‘It was my pleasure, Tanner.’
‘Actually…’ I looked around to see if anyone was observing us, but we were alone. ‘There’s something I’d be happy if you were to accept from me.’ I reached into the pocket of my trousers and pulled out the fully assembled clockwork gun. ‘It’s probably best if you don’t ask why I was carrying this, Amelia. It won’t do me much good to carry it any further, I think.’
‘I don’t think I should take that from you, Tanner.’
I pushed it into her palm. ‘Then confiscate it.’
‘I should, I suppose. Does it work?’
I nodded; there was no need to go into details. ‘It will do you some good if you ever get into real trouble.’
She slipped the gun away. ‘I’m confiscating it, that’s all.’
‘I understand.’
She reached out and shook my hand. ‘God go with you, Tanner. I hope you find your friend.’
I turned away before she could see my face.
NINE
I stepped through the armoured door.
Beyond lay a corridor walled in burnished steel, eradicating any lingering impression that Idlewild was a place, rather than an engineered human construct spinning in vacuum. Instead of the distant simmer of bonsai waterfalls, I heard the drone of circulation fans and power generators, The air had a medicinal smell it had lacked a moment earlier.
‘Mister Mirabel? We heard you were leaving. This way, please.’
The first of the two Mendicants who waited for me gestured that I should follow him along the corridor. We walked along it with springy steps. At the end was an elevator which carried us the short vertical distance to the true axis of rotation of Idlewild, followed by the considerably longer horizontal distance to the true endpoint of the discarded hull which formed this half of the structure. We rode the elevator in silence, which was fine by me. I imagined the Mendicants had long since exhausted every possible conversation with the revived; that there was no answer I could give them to any question which they would not have heard a hundred times previously. But what if they had asked me what my business was, and what if I had answered truthfully?