Kinder des Schicksals 4 (Xeelee 9): Resplendent

time? Such notions were strange to him,
meaningless. He said, ’We have evidence that the science performed on
Callisto was only a cover - that many pharaohs fled there during the
chaotic period following the Qax withdrawal.’
    ’Only a handful. There only ever was a handful of us, you know.
And now that some have achieved a more fundamental escape, into
death, there are fewer than ever.’
    ’What do you want?’
    ’I want you to take us there.’
    ’To Callisto?’
    ’We will remain in your custody, you and your guards. You may
restrain us as you like. We will not try anything - heroic. All we
want is sanctuary. They will kill us, you see.’
    ’The Commission is not a mob.’
    She ignored that. ’I am not concerned for myself, but for my
daughter. Sarfi has nothing to do with this; she is no jasoft.’
    ’Then she will not be harmed.’
    Gemo just laughed.
    ’You are evading justice, Gemo Cana.’
    She leaned forward, resting her hands on the desk nonchalantly;
this really had once been her office, he realised. ’There is no
justice here,’ she hissed. ’How can there be? I am asking you to
spare my daughter’s life. Later, I will gladly return to face
whatever inquisition you choose to set up.’
    ’Why would this Reth help you?’
    ’His name is Reth Cana,’ she said. ’He is my brother. Do you
understand? Not my cadre sibling. My brother.’
    Gemo Cana; Reth Cana; Sarfi Cana. In the Qax world, families had
been a thing for ragamuffins and refugees, and human names had become
arbitrary labels; the coincidence of names had meant nothing to Hama.
But to these ancient survivors, a shared name was a badge of kinship.
He glanced at Gemo and Sarfi, uneasy in the presence of these close
primitive ties, of mother and brother and daughter.
    Abruptly the door opened. Nomi Ferrer walked in, reading from a
data slate. ’Hama, your ship is ready to go. But I think we have to -
’ She looked up, and took in the scene at a glance. In an instant she
was at Gemo’s side, with a laser pistol pressed against the pharaoh’s
throat. ’Gemo Cana,’ she hissed. ’How did you get in here?’
    Sarfi stepped towards Nomi, hands fluttering like birds.
    Hama held up his hand. ’Nomi, wait.’
    Nomi was angered. ’Wait for what? Standing orders, Hama. This is a
Category One jasoft who hasn’t presented herself to the Commission. I
should already have killed her.’
    Gemo smiled thinly. ’It isn’t so easy, is it, Hama Druz? You can
theorise all you want about justice and retribution. But here, in
this office, you must confront the reality of a mother and her
child.’
    Sarfi said to Hama, ’If your guard kills my mother, she kills me
too.’
    ’No,’ said Hama. ’We aren’t barbarians. You have nothing to fear -
’
    Sarfi reached out and swept her arm down at the desk - no, Hama
saw, startled; her arm passed through the desk, briefly breaking up
into a cloud of pixels, boxes of glowing colour.
    ’You’re a Virtual,’ he whispered.
    ’Yes. And do you want to know where I live?’ She stepped up to her
mother and pushed her hand into Gemo’s skull.
    Gemo observed his lack of comprehension. ’You don’t know much
about us, do you, even though you presume to judge us? Hama, pharaohs
rarely breed true.’
    ’Your daughter was mortal?’
    ’The Qax’s gift was ambiguous. We watched our children grow old
and die. That was our reward for serving the Qax; perhaps your
Commission will accept that historical truth. And when she died -
’
    ’When she died, you downloaded her into your head?’
    ’Nowhere else was safe,’ Gemo said. ’And I was glad to, um, make
room for her. I have lived a long time; there were memories I was
happy to shed.’
    Nomi said harshly, ’But she isn’t your daughter. She’s a
copy.’
    Gemo closed her eyes. ’But she’s all I have left.’
    Hama felt moved, and repelled, by this act of obsessive love.
    Sarfi looked away, as if ashamed.
    There was a low concussion. The floor shuddered. Hama could hear
running footsteps, cries.
    Nomi Ferrer understood immediately. ’Lethe. That was an
explosion.’
    The light dropped, as if some immense shadow were passing over the
sky. Hama ran to the window.
    All around the Conurbation, ships were lifting, hauled into the
sky by silent technology, an eerie rising. But they entered a sky
that was already crowded, darkened by the rolling, meaty bulk of a
Spline craft, from whose flanks fire spat.
    Hama cringed from the brute physical