The Blood Solution (Approaching Infinity Book 3) (7 page)

She didn’t know anything beyond the camps or the indoctrinated hatred of the Kaplers, though this latter was strangely put aside and somehow not relevant now that she was within the Tower walls. That suited Jav just fine, though. Antagonism would serve no purpose and simply get in the way—of what exactly, Jav was not sure, but they talked easily enough. There was never anything of import to discuss. Their talk was casual, filled with little but pleasantries, but Jav felt a sort of progress nonetheless, an unconscious creeping movement, from that place where the cogs and gears of the universe turned. Something was coming. Something was filling Anis Lausden a little more each day, until eventually, Jav was somehow certain, she would be more fully aware of their connection than he was and answers would finally present themselves.

On the eve of the Vine’s arrival, he kissed her on the forehead, as he had taken to doing, and she told him he missed her lips, as she had taken to doing—but this was after she had taken his head in her hands to correct his faulty aim. He promised to see her soon, informing her that he would be away for a few days, helping to settle things with planetfall. She smiled as he left, knowing with a borrowed and still-faraway sense that she would never see him again.

The Viscain Tree shook the continent when it made planetfall. Thousands died from the resulting quakes and floods, but Kapler Tower yet stood tall, unmoved and untroubled by the shock. The poisons were already spreading out from the trunk, commingling with the heavy dust clouds that blotted out the dim rays of the sun.

This was the second landing Jav had witnessed firsthand. The first time he’d still been blood-drunk and unused to the power of the Ritual Mask. This time, with his faculties unimpeded, he was humbled by the power and scope of the Vine—the Emperor, in truth.

He’d watched it fall from the sky, judging its touchdown point at about fifty kilometers from Kapler Tower, and waited halfway between. With AI at his disposal, the shifting ground was nothing to Jav, and while Dark, there was little that the power of nature on this scale could do to harm him. Still, that Kapler Tower was unmoved by the resulting seismic activity was further testament to the family’s genius.

He approached the Root Palace, which was already growing, expanding, reaching down and out with myriad greedy tendrils to grip the whole of the planet, claiming it forever for the Empire. He stopped just below and before the main gate as walls of fresh, pulpy Vine fiber began their slow rise from the ground to later encircle what would become the new Palace courtyard. It would take several days for the walls to reach their full height, but it didn’t matter. The only possible threat was the Lightning Gun, and by now, Jav felt he knew Raus well enough to believe that he’d dealt in good faith and that he could be trusted. Jav looked up the length of the Vine, again marveling at its sheer scale, but something lower caught his eye.

From one of the wide tether launch bays two hundred meters up, he saw someone waving. Jav smiled when he realized who it was. He jumped, applying a bit of AI to ensure accuracy, and lighted upon the inner lip of the bay.

“It’s good to see you, Kalkin,” Jav said.

“And you, Jav,” Kalkin said, taking Jav’s offered hand. “Apologies for the rush, but Witchlan has set us a busy schedule.”

“Is something going on?” Jav asked.

Kalkin shrugged. “He wants you debriefed before we bring Kapler in. You’re to continue as our main point of contact which means there’s not much chance of you getting much rest over the next few days.”

“That’s okay. I’m all rested. Let’s get started.”

Tia Winn bowed low before the Emperor. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in his physical presence. It was almost always a projection or Witchlan who spoke to her, whether she was alone or with her fellows, and it had never been so soon after planetfall. The dark olive walls of corded resin rose up seemingly infinitely, while the Emperor himself towered above and before her, his carved features aglow from within with unnatural firelight. She could not tell where he ended and the cyclopean walls began.

She wore what she usually wore, which is to say not much. Her chalk white skin fairly shone in the gloom of the chamber, reflecting the Emperor’s inner light. Her breasts were nearly spilling from a blue and gray striped halter, and her Artifact, the Keepsake Cameo, peeked out from the start of her cleavage.

She would be glad when she was finished here. She’d heard that the locals were as big or bigger than both she and Wheeler Barson were. There might be some fun to be had before they were all exterminated.

“I won’t keep you long, Tia Winn.”

She swallowed hard. The words came a little too close to what she was thinking and every good psychic knew that a loose mind was a good way to
lose
your mind or your life. She snapped to mental attention and said nothing.

“I have a great many things to do in a short period of time,” he continued.

“Yes, Lord Emperor.”

“What we are about to discuss is of paramount importance and is to be kept in strict confidence.”

“Yes, Lord Emperor.”

“I know that you know something about the events on Planet 1397 that led to the awarding of the Ritual Mask, so you may understand
why
what I’m about ask of you is so important.”

Breaking protocol, Tia looked up in spite of herself, startled by the Emperor’s words. “Lord?” she said before correcting her breach of etiquette.

“You have nothing to fear, Tia Winn, so long as you guard your thoughts and do as you are told.”

“Yes, Lord Emperor.”

“Before Jav Holson was Jav Holson he had a woman; the very woman that led me to Planet 1397, in fact. Then on Planet 1287 he had another woman, in some ways very similar to the one before her. Do you know what happened when those women were killed?”

Almost afraid to speak, Tia shook her head with a nervous jerk to indicate that she didn’t.

A strange, wheezing chuckle escaped the Emperor. “The sky opened up and wept. The wormholes that so plagued us were both times the result of a woman’s death. In both cases, Jav Holson’s woman.

“There is another such woman on this planet and I fear that there will be more along the way to
The Place with Many Doors
.

“So far, I have not interfered with the state of Jav Holson’s memories, and I would keep it so. But I would have his mind on other things. His duty, another woman, some other distraction. It does not matter what.”

He paused for a moment, his features suddenly altered so that Tia could feel the weight of his gaze intensify upon the back of her bowed head. Her eyes went wide as she began to understand what she was being asked to do. Spinning truths and even outright lies to the Viscain people through Public Relations and Standards was one thing, directing her power at another Shade—for anything besides achieving her own physical pleasure—was something else entirely.

“Do you understand, Tia Winn?”

The question was like a stab, the tone almost mocking when considering its timing—the perfect length of his pause—in conjunction with her thoughts.

“Y-Yes, Lord Emperor.”

“Good. At your earliest convenience, then.”

“Yes, Lord Emperor.”

Planet 1026 was a long way from Sarsa—now Planet 1401—but the Emperor
was
the Vine and could direct his attention anywhere along its length at any time. Now he chose Planet 1026, where Salton Stoakes, the last of the 19th Generation Generals, made his home. Stoakes’s retirement planet had no artificial sun to light or warm it, but the sparkling sea of stars that shone down from all around still managed to produce shadows in the dark. A great, lone concrete cube kept the Vine company at a distance of about one kilometer. No other structures stood upon the land, at least as far as the horizon, in any direction. Stoakes lived here alone and rarely saw visitors. He was often out himself, though, visiting any of the hundreds of Imperial colony planets to pursue his own interests, but he made a point to stay close to the former Root Palaces—always the heart of colony world civilizations—and so did not miss the Emperor’s attempts at contact.

In the Emperor’s stark, high-ceilinged chambers, within the abandoned Root Palace on Planet 1026, a gourd budded and grew frighteningly fast, spilling from its bottom countless thin strands that lengthened and writhed with something like life, thickening to fat, fleshy proportions until finally the figure in the likeness of a man stood in the room. The Emperor flexed his new, temporary fingers. At this point along the Vine, there had been no Witchlan—no need of him in those simpler days—so this Palace was not as well-equipped to produce effective terminals. He ran his rough fibrous fingers along the stem that chained him to this Palace.

The Emperor thought back to the time when this planet was the frontier and how complacent he’d become by then. Complacency had been his only recourse after Pylas Crier had robbed him of so much so long ago on faraway Planet 1. But
The Place with Many Doors
would change everything. Eventually the Emperor would have freedom, true freedom, once again. Until then, he must accept limitation, but such was irrelevant now. Salton Stoakes would come when called. A physical manifestation was not, strictly speaking, even necessary, but the bargain was for Stoakes’s ears only, and the Emperor’s presence would confirm the seriousness of the request.

Salton Stoakes was not long in coming. He walked the long-dead, black corridors of the Palace until he reached the Emperor’s chamber, the doors open, the Emperor himself waiting within.

Stoakes immediately went down on one knee and bowed his head.

“Lord Emperor,” he said, his voice a soft and strangely not unpleasant rasp.

“Salton Stoakes, for what I am about to ask of you I would have you look upon me.”

Stoakes did as bid, and though the form was unknown to him, he knew it to be that of the Emperor without a doubt.

Stoakes was 55 when he’d received his Artifact, the Suicide Knife. He was clean-shaven and had close-cropped iron gray hair. He was not tall, standing at 165 centimeters, but he was solid with a broad chest and shoulders and a narrow waist. He wore soft clothes of charcoal gray, loose except for the forearms and lower legs, which were wrapped tight. His feet were wrapped in the same material, tied split-toe fashion. He wore no other footgear and, even without going Dark, could approach soundlessly, taking man and beast alike completely unaware.

“It has been a long time, Salton Stoakes. You are the last of your generation. I could not protect Isker Vays or Aila Schosser, but you should know that they died fighting and are not forgotten.”

“Yes, Lord Emperor.”

“I have asked you here to once again request your services, but some explanation is required. For centuries, and millennia even, I fed aimlessly, taking us to the next closest planet or system at hand. But over time I came to detect a pattern. There were always choices to make and as I examined those choices and their results, an image began to take shape, of
The Place with Many Doors
and the woman who would lead me there. I have developed techniques to find this woman, wherever she is along each step of the path.”

“I don’t understand, Lord Emperor,” Stoakes said with a frown.

“It’s not just one woman, but her echoes which populate the universe, each resonating more strongly the closer it is to the source. These are soul echoes, and I want you to kill them all. Well, I want you to end their lives
without
killing them, actually. I fear that as we continue, we will encounter these soul echoes with increasing regularity.

“Perhaps you know of Jav Holson. He replaced Karlan Farsal of the Plague Squad and remains on the remade Death Squad. Because of all that has happened to us lately, I am considering instituting the 21st Generation early and making him First General.”

“My Lord Emperor is generous,” Stoakes said.

“I am, but Holson is deserving, and I fear that Wheeler Barson may not make his retirement should I maintain the schedule. Tia Winn and Mefis Abanastar are excellent Shades, but Barson is our military strength now. He was hurt badly by Ty Karr and it would not do to have Barson, already weakened, fall without back-up in place. It is early, but they have served. This brings us back to Jav Holson.

“Holson is connected in some way to the woman or the echoes. If just an echo, the problem could potentially sort itself out. But I fear that his connection is with the source.

“I would have all future associations prevented.”

Stoakes nodded silently. “And why must her corpse live even if she does not? My blade can do a great many things, but I must know the stakes and the potential consequences. You know that I take the utmost pride in my work, but a surgeon who lances a boil one day and mends a pumping heart the next prepares differently and accordingly.”

“Just so. Each echo we have encountered so far has been killed, either on purpose or by accident. Perhaps you noticed.”

Stoakes shook his head.

“Oh, but I think you have, even this far out, at least the news of the worm holes has reached you.”

“The worm holes?” Stoakes furrowed his brow, concern beginning to stir in him.

“The worm holes. I believe that it is possible to accomplish our goal without bringing forth another brood of spatial anomalies. They are a nuisance and a hazard, but more than that, they are a signal. I don’t want Jav Holson meeting any more of these soul echoes nor do I want him alerted to their deaths.

“Each of these echoes is connected to the source by some means. This connection must be isolated and severed without directly resulting in the echo’s death.”

Stoakes nodded somberly.

“Was I wrong in my choice of agents for this duty?”

“No, Lord Emperor. You were not.”

“You have the skill and the means then?”

“I believe I do.”

“Then all that’s left to discuss is your fee.”

“My fee, Lord Emperor?”

“Indeed. This is not business that can be concluded anytime soon, though your first target is already waiting for you. This will take centuries, perhaps even millennia. You may also find yourself at odds with Jav Holson. There will be risk, and if you are discovered, there will be no support for you and I will disavow any knowledge of your activities. I ask all this of you, but do not expect something for nothing.”