Dying of the Light Read online

  “Dead?” Dirk said.

  “Worlorn is full of dead things,” the old man said, “and people looking for dead things, and ghosts.” He mumbled something in Old Kavalar, something Dirk did not quite catch, and he began to move off slowly.

  Dirk watched him go. He glanced toward the distant horizon, obscured by a bank of blue-gray clouds. Somewhere in that direction was the spacefield, and—he was certain—Bretan Braith. “Ah, Jenny,” he said, talking to the whisperjewel. He flicked it out away from him, as a boy might skip a stone, and it went far and far before it began to fall. He thought for a moment of Gwen and Jaan, and for several moments of Garse.

  Then he turned back to the old man, and called out after his retreating figure. “Ghost!” he shouted. “Wait. A favor for me, one ghost to another!”

  The old man stopped.

  EPILOGUE

  It was a flat grassy place in the center of the Common, not very far from the spacefield. Once, in the days of the Festival, games had been held there, and athletes from eleven of the fourteen outworlds had competed for crowns of crystalline iron.

  Dirk and Kirak Redsteel were there long before the appointed time, waiting.

  When the hour drew near, Dirk began to worry. He needn’t have. The aircar with the snarling wolf’s-head canopy appeared in the sky just as predicted. It swept by once with its pulse tubes shrieking, a low pass to make sure that they were really there, and then came down for a landing.

  Bretan Braith walked toward them over the dead brown grass, his black boots trampling a host of faded flowers. It was nearly dusk. His eye was beginning to glow.

  “I was told the truth, then,” Bretan said to Dirk, with a touch of wonder in his rasping voice, the same voice that Dirk had heard so often in his nightmares, a voice several octaves too low and far too twisted for one as slim and straight as Bretan. “You are really here.” The Braith stood several meters away, looking at them, infinitely pure, dressed in white dueling finery with a purple wolf-mask embroidered above his heart. His black belt carried two side arms: a laser on his left side and a massive machine-pistol of blue-gray metal heavy on his right. His iron armlet was empty of glowstones. “I did not believe the ancient Redsteel, if truth be known,” he was saying. “Yet I thought, this place is so close, a check will do no harm. I can return to the port quickly enough should it prove a lie.”

  Kirak Redsteel got down on his knees and began to chalk a square out in the grass.

  “You presume that I will honor you in duel,” Bretan said. “I have no cause to do so.” He moved his right hand and suddenly Dirk was facing the barrel of his machine-pistol. “Why should I not kill you? Here and now?”

  Dirk shrugged. “Kill me if you like,” he said, “but answer some questions first.”

  Bretan stared and said nothing.

  “If I had come to you in Challenge,” Dirk said, “if I had come down into the basement, as you wanted, would you have dueled me then? Or killed me for a mockman?”

  Bretan slid his weapon back into its holster. “I would have dueled you. In Larteyn, in Challenge, here—it makes no difference. I would have dueled you. I do not believe in mockmen, t’Larien. I have never believed in mockmen. Only in Chell, who wore my bond and somehow did not care about my face.”

  “Yes,” Dirk said. Kirak Redsteel had the death-square half-complete. Dirk glanced up at the sky and wondered how much time was left. “And one other thing, Bretan Braith. How did you know to look for us in Challenge, in that one city out of all the others?”

  Bretan shrugged his awkward shrug. “The Kimdissi told me, for a price. All Kimdissi can be bought. He had planted a tracer in a coat he gave you. I believe he used such tracers in his work.”

  “What was the price?” Dirk asked. Three sides of the square were drawn, white lines on the grass.

  “I gave my honor-bond that I would do no harm to Gwen Delvano, and would protect her against all the others.” The last rays of sunlight were fading; the trailing yellow sun had joined the others below the mountains. “Now,” Bretan continued, “I have a question for you, t’Larien. Why have you come to me?”

  Dirk smiled. “Because I like you, Bretan Braith. You burned down Kryne Lamiya, didn’t you?”

  “In truth,” Bretan said. “I hoped to burn you as well, and Jaantony high-Ironjade, the outbonder. Does he still live?”

  Dirk did not answer that question.

  Kirak Redsteel rose and brushed the chalk from his hands, the square complete. He brought out the matched blades; straight sabers of Kavalar steel, with glowstones and jade set in the ornate pommels. Bretan chose one and tested it—it moved through the air with a song and a shriek—then stepped back, satisfied, to one corner of the square. He was very still as he waited; for an instant he appeared almost serene, a slim black figure leaning ever so slightly on his sword. Like the bargeman, Dirk thought, and despite himself he glanced wildly at the wolf-car to make certain it had not been transformed into a low barge. His heart was beating hard.

  He pushed the thought aside, took the other blade, and retreated in turn. Kirak Redsteel smiled at him. It will be easy, Dirk told himself. He tried to remember the advice that Garse Ironjade had given him so long ago. Take one blow and give one, that’s all, he said to himself. He was very frightened.

  Bretan tossed his side arms on the ground outside the death-square and moved the saber back and forth again, unlimbering his arm. Even across the seven meters that separated them Dirk could see the twitch of his face.

  Above Bretan’s right shoulder a star was rising. Blue-white and large and very close, creeping up the black velvet sky toward zenith. And beyond the zenith, Dirk thought, to Eshellin and ai-Emerel and the World of the Blackwine Ocean. He wished them luck.

  Kirak Cavis stepped outside the death-square and said a word in Old Kavalar. Bretan started forward, moving gracefully, light on his feet, very white, his eye glowing.

  Dirk grinned the way Garse would have grinned, tossed the hair back out of his eyes, and went to him. No starlight ran down his blade as he lifted it and reached out to touch Bretan’s. The wind was blowing. It was very cold.

  GLOSSARY

  ai. After interregnum.

  ai-Emerel. Human world on the Fringe, settled shortly after the interregnum (hence, ai-) by arcologites from Daronne. Emereli civilization is technologically advanced, cultured, pacifist, but static and somewhat regimented. Citizens live in kilometer-high tower-cities (arcologies) surrounded by farmland and wilderness, but most never leave the buildings they are born in. The discontented are allowed to serve in ai-Emerel’s merchant starfleet, but may not return to their home towers.

  Altered Men. Genetically altered humans of the world Prometheus. The Promethean surgeons experiment constantly; thus there are many varieties of Altered Men. In common parlance the term is often used to denote all Prometheans.

  Avalon. Human world in the jambles, colonized by Newholme during the first century of the Federal Empire. A sector capital during the Double War, Avalon never lost starflight and played a large role in ending the interregnum through its vigorous program of exploration, trade, and re-education. Afterwards it became a center of learning. The Academy of Human Knowledge and its many associated institutes are located on Avalon. Avalon is also an important commercial center, with the largest trading fleet in the jambles. Ships from Avalon often trade for knowledge as well as goods.

  Bakkalon. Deity worshiped by the Steel Angels, often depicted as a naked human infant holding a black sword; also called the pale child.

  Baldur. First-generation human colony settled directly from Earth in the earliest years of starflight. A sector capital during the Double War, now an important center of trade.

  banshee. Also known as black banshee; an aerial predator native to High Kavalaan.

  Bastion. Human world in the jambles, details of settlement unknown. Bastion was once a human colony, then taken by the Hrangans during the Double War, finally retaken by humans, and today ruled by t
he Steel Angels, who have made it their capital.

  betheyn. Kavalar term for a woman bonded to a man and under his protection; literally, heldwife.

  Blackwiner. Native of the World of the Blackwine Ocean.

  Braith. One of the four modern holdfast-coalitions of High Kavalaan. Braith is generally conceded to be the most traditional of the four. Also, any member of holdfast Braith.

  Braque. Human world near the Tempter’s Veil, on the outermost edge of the jambles. Braque is primitive and superstitious, ruled by a priesthood that strictly controls technology.

  Bronzefist. Extinct holdfast-coalition of High Kavalaan.

  Challenge. Festival city built on Worlorn by ai-Emerel. Challenge is an automated computer-operated self-contained arcology.

  chokers. Common species of Toberian tree.

  City in the Starless Pool. Festival city built on Worlorn, beneath the waters of an artificial lake, by the World of the Blackwine Ocean.

  collapse. The period in which the Federal Empire of Old Earth disintegrated and fell. Dates for the collapse are difficult to fix; war had made communications between worlds even more chaotic than usual, and each planet experienced the collapse in its own ways and in its own time. Most historians cite the revolt on Thor and the destruction of Wellington as the key events in the Federal Empire’s fall, but point out that the Empire had been a thin fiction for centuries before that as far as the more distant colonies were concerned.

  cro-betheyn. Kavalar term for a betheyn’s bond to her highbond’s teyn; literally, shared heldwife.

  dactyloids. Human term for a winged Hrangan slaverace employed as shock troops during the Double War, given to the creatures because of their vague likeness to pterodactyls of Old Earth pre-history. Dactyloids were savage, but small-brained and only semi-sentient.

  Darkdawn. Human world in the Fringe, close to the edge of intergalactic space. After Darkdawn there is nothing; winter skies are empty but for the light of the distant galaxies. Darkdawn is thinly populated, solitary, and haven to a number of strange religious cults. Weather control has been perfected to a fine art, but otherwise technology is de-emphasized.

  Darklings. Residents of Darkdawn.

  Daronne. Human world of the jambles, close to the Tempter’s Veil. Colonized at least three times by aliens and twice by humans, Daronne is a patchwork of esoteric cultures.

  Deep Coal Dwellings. Mythological holdfast-coalition of High Kavalaan, said to exist in ancient times. The folk of the Deep Coal Dwellings were cannibals who preyed on the other holdfasts until destroyed in war. They were alleged to be half-human, half-demon.

  Double War. Centuries-long conflict between the Federal Empire and two alien races, the Fyndii and the Hrangans. Also known as the Great War, the Fyndiin War, the Hrangan Conflict, the Thousand-Years War, or simply as the War. In many ways the Double War was in reality two conflicts; the enemies never had any contact with each other and were in no sense allies, though both were engaged in warfare against humanity. The Federal Empire occupied the space between the two enemies, and thus fought on two fronts; the Fyndii hordes were inward toward the Core, the so-called Hrangan Empire outward toward the galactic fringe. The war against the Fyndii began first, and was generally a shorter and cleaner conflict, finally resolved through negotiations and the intervention of a third alien race, the Damoosh. The Hrangans were considerably less understandable and much more inimicable to humanity. Hostilities never officially ended between Hranga and Earth; both civilizations collapsed. Humanity underwent the interregnum and recovered, although never again as a single political unit. The Hrangans suffered virtual genocide at the hands of their own slaveraces and human colonials.

  Earth Imperials. Originally, administrators sent out from Earth during the heyday of the Federal Empire. After the interregnum, commonly used to refer to any human who lived during the Empire period.

  Emereli. Natives of ai-Emerel.

  Erikan. Human world named after the religious leader Erika Stormjones, settled by her followers and dedicated to the precepts she espoused, notably immortality through cloning.

  Eshellin. Human world on the Fringe, settled by a migration from Daronne. Relatively primitive and sparsely populated.

  Esvoch. Festival city built by Eshellin.

  eyn-kethi. Kavalar term for the breeding women of a holdfast, who are sexually available to all men; literally, bonded-to-the-holdfast-brothers.

  Fat Satan. Red supergiant located beyond the Tempter’s Veil, notable for the six yellow suns that circle it in a Trojan relationship to each other; the entire system is called the Wheel of Fire. Some speculate that the Wheel was created by a race of vanished superbeings capable of moving suns. Fat Satan is also known as the Helleye and the Hub.

  Federal Empire. Political unit that ruled human space during the early centuries of starflight, colonized most of the first- and second-generation worlds and some of the third, and conducted the Double War, during the course of which it finally collapsed. The term itself was a convenient misnomer; the so-called empire was more correctly a democratic-socialist-cybernetic bureaucracy. The ultimate decision maker was the Chief Administrator, who was elected by and responsible to a tricameral legislature meeting in Geneva, Old Earth, but most of the day-to-day administration on Earth itself was conducted by the Artificial Intelligences, vast computer constructs. In the waning years of the Double War, the Federal Empire grew increasingly repressive and lost touch with its own colonies and even with its military arms.

  FTL. Faster than light.

  Fyndii. Alien race, and the first star-traveling sentients to make contact with humanity. The Fyndii were one of the enemies the Federal Empire faced in the Double War. Fyndii seem to feel almost no race loyalty; their societies are made up of empathically linked “hordes,” and each horde is a bitter rival of all the others. Mindmutes, incapable of linking, are friendless outcasts. The Fyndii rule approximately ninety worlds, generally inward from the worlds colonized by men.

  githyanki. Hrangan slaverace, often termed soulsucks by humans. Barely sentient, malevolent, and potent telepaths, the githyanki were capable of bending and twisting human minds, sending false visions, hallucinations, and dreams, strengthening the animal side of man and warping judgment and reason, all for the end of turning brother against sister.

  glowstone. Stone native to High Kavalaan, capable of storing light and emitting it in darkness. Glowstone is used for both building and jewelry, and is an important Kavalar export.

  Glowstone Mountain. One of the greatest holdfast-coalitions in Kavalar history, finally defeated and destroyed by its enemies, now abandoned.

  Great Black Sea. Outworld term for the space between the galaxies, where there are no stars.

  Haapala’s City. Festival city built by Wolfheim and named after Ingo Haapala, the Wolfman astronomer who first discovered that Worlorn would pass through the Wheel of Fire.

  Hellcrown. One name of the six yellow stars (collectively) that circle the red supergiant sometimes called the Helleye, and together with it form the Wheel of Fire. Also known as Satan’s Children, and the Trojan Suns. The six stars are virtually identical, and orbit in a Trojan relationship to each other.

  Helleye. See Fat Satan.

  High Kavalaan. Human world on the Fringe, colonized during the Double War by refugees and miners from Tara. Hrangan raids destroyed most of the original colony; survivors evolved modern Kavalar holdfast civilization. Kavalar society is regimented and individualistic at the same time; the culture places strong emphasis on both loyalty and personal honor. Close to barbaric when rediscovered by traders, the Kavalars are now industrializing rapidly, educating their young, and acquiring their own fleet of starships. High Kavalaan, which claims legal jurisdiction over the rogue planet Worlorn, was one of the driving forces in the Festival of the Fringe.

  holdfast. Basic social unit of High Kavalaan; an underground chamber or series of chambers, easily defensible from attack, that provides shelter for anywhere from six to
one hundred people. In ancient times each holdfast was an independent entity, a combination of family and nation. Soon, however, holdfasts began to make alliances and merge with other holdfasts, and even connect up underground; these were called holdfast-coalitions. In modern times the term holdfast is often used loosely to signify what might more properly be called a holdfast-coalition.

  Hrangans. Humanity’s great enemy during the Double War, the Hrangans were perhaps the most alien sentients ever encountered. Their social system was structured on the basis of a number of biological castes, most of whom seemed to belong to different species, so different were they. Of the Hrangan millions, only the so-called Minds were truly intelligent, and mankind never communicated successfully even with them. The Hrangans were bitterly xenophobic; prior to the Double War, they had enslaved a dozen less-advanced races, and there is evidence that they had exterminated others entirely. The war effectively destroyed the Hrangans, except on Old Hranga itself and a handful of their oldest colonies.