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mouth hung open, and she stared. "First Mother showed you the great ship in orbit around Shanji," said Huomeng. "That one brought our ancestors here from Tengri-Nayon. The ships you see here are the ones that brought us down to the surface of the planet. They have no fuel left, but we will get some some day soon. They have been waiting here for an eternity of years for someone to use them again, and I'm going to be the one to do it." His voice was soft, reverent, and there was a light in his eyes she'd never seen before. The emotion in him was deep and roiling, and he made no effort to mask it from her. She was surprised to see he could feel such emotion, and was somehow drawn to him because of it. "They're so large ," was all she could say. "Magnetic lifters, and fusion drive. They each hold two hundred people comfortably. That's how many there were in the beginning, Kati; only four hundred people, and nobody was left on the mother ship in the end. She's been up there nearly two thousand years, quietly taking care of herself, waiting for our return." Page 90 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "You would fly one of these to the mother ship? And then what? Huomeng's eyes were those of a zealot. "I would fly between the stars, and find new worlds. I would not file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaublad...map/Glass,%20James%20 C%20-%20Shanji/0671577891___9.htm (6 of 16)5-1-2007 0:53:34 - Chapter 9 be confined to a single planet, especially this one. If I could, I would see all the universe there is to see. But even with the mother ship it isn't possible. This is one of the reasons I envy you so much. I was not born special, like you." "Me?" "Yes. You go to First Mother in the gong-shi-jie. I cannot do this. None of us can. You are special. You can travel anywhere in an instant. Time has no meaning for you; every star, every world is within your reach." "I've only seen the mother ship," Kati protested, for she keenly felt his envy, now. "There will be more. First Mother will show you. The way your abilities are growing you might even find a way to take me with you someday. In the meantime, I will dream my dreams." "Does Mengmoshu know about your dreams?" "Yes. We've talked a lot about this, and he's encouraged me. When I'm not with you I'm here, by his assignment. I have a little office up there on the third level." He pointed towards it. "There's not much to see. For the past two years, I've been learning all the systems on the mother ship. In another two, I should have them all down. The shuttles you see here were easy to learn, and I could fly one now. We could make the fuel. But the Moshuguang bides its time. It waits patiently, but I do not." "Waiting for what ?" asked Kati. Huomeng spoke in a near whisper, though nobody was near them. "I think there are things Mengmoshu does not tell me. There are plans being made; they involve me, and they involve you. No other people are being trained so intensely as you and I. I can understand it in your case. Your abilities are unique, and First Mother has claimed you as a student. But why me?" "I've heard Mengmoshu speak highly of you," said Kati. "He says your analytical skills are far advanced, and your memory cannot be matched." "I know that," said Huomeng, without arrogance. "Your own memory and logic is considerable. So why have I been assigned as your tutor since the first day you arrived here? The learning machine has been enough for you." "You've answered some questions and directed my studies, Huomeng. I've learned faster with your help." That pleased him, and she felt it. "Perhaps. But there's more to it than that. I think the Moshuguang has deliberately put us together for a purpose. You said First Mother wants her people back. We are somehow involved with that. Somehow, our skills are to be combined." file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaublad...map/Glass,%20James%20 C%20-%20Shanji/0671577891___9.htm (7 of 16)5-1-2007 0:53:34 - Chapter 9 "For what? To take the people back to Mandughai First Mother? To leave Shanji? The Emperor will not stand idly by and let this happen!" "No, he won't, but something is coming, and as for the Emperor he is already old and his son is a sickly boy with effeminate ways. I see no future for his throne." Huomeng nodded his head sagely. "A change is coming, Kati. I know it." "It is speculation," said Kati, and then she surprised herself by reaching out Page 91 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html and taking hold of his hand for just a moment. "Huomeng, who are the Moshuguang? Where do they come from? In some ways we're alike, you and I." "Yes," said Huomeng, giving her a wry smile. "There's no written history of us, but a story has been passed down. It's said that within three generations after First Mother's invasion of Shanji She sought to change the people by sending Her two eldest sons to selectively breed with them. Even their names are unknown, but the result was two new peoples on Shanji. The one is now called Moshuguang." He paused. "And the other?" Huomeng squeezed her hand. "It's said that your people, the Tumatsin, are cousins to the Moshuguang. This is why they've been so closely watched by us over the years." Kati felt suddenly excited. "Mandughai has told me I come from two of Her sons, not one. What can this mean?" Huomeng shook his head. "There must be Moshuguang blood somewhere in your ancestry. It's possible. Only the Emperor forbids relations between our people. There are no biological problems I'm aware of." Kati felt satisfied by his answer, and smiled, but then Huomeng tried to release her hand and she held on. "Huomeng thank you for telling me about your dreams. I think I understand you a lot better, now." Huomeng was not startled by her persistent touch. He smiled, and squeezed her hand gently before releasing it. "I thank you for listening to them. We'd better move on, now. There's one more important thing I want you to see today." They returned to the car and drove on in silence for minutes along a tunnel now featureless, staring at the lights. The car slowed as they came to an intersection with another tunnel, and Kati saw a car flash file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaublad...map/Glass,%20James%20 C%20-%20Shanji/0671577891___9.htm (8 of 16)5-1-2007 0:53:34 - Chapter 9 by, then another. Suddenly there were moving walkways filled with people, many of them women and children on both sides of the tunnel. The walls were solid with brightly lit windows of shops and stores with colorful, luminous signs advertising their wares. People crowded in the shops, and the air was filled with the odors of rice, vegetables and meat cooking in sweet and sour spices. The noise was a din, and Kati felt suddenly crowded in, a little claustrophobic. "The workers' village!" Huomeng shouted at her. "Their apartments are off to our left!" Cars were darting in and out of traffic from several tunnels on her left, people chatting amiably in them while the cars seemed to move according to their own minds. Kati grasped the arm rest on her seat, and hung on. And then the village was suddenly behind them. It was quiet again, and only one car was ahead of them. The car veered into a tunnel to the left; Huomeng touched something on his control panel and they also veered left to follow it. The tunnel followed the arc of a circle to a platform with cutouts in which cars were parked before a brightly lit window, and a sign advertising tea and honeycakes. They parked there, and went inside. Odors of tea, and honey. Many tables, mostly empty, a handful of people here and there, drinking tea and eating cakes, some reading, others watching them as they came inside. The furniture was black, tables covered with red cloth, and colorful lamps hung on long, bronze chains from a red ceiling. A mural on one wall showed a vast plain, with mountains beyond it, and birds flying. The room was quiet, and restful. A woman came up to Huomeng, and bowed. "We'd like a table outside," he said. Page 92 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |