Kinder des Schicksals 4 (Xeelee 9): Resplendent

The amphitheatre was
a pit, far below, but she had no fear of heights. The star-filled sky
beyond the dome was huge, inhuman. And, through the subtle glimmer of
the dome walls, she could see the tightly curving horizon of this
little world of ice.
    She closed her eyes, visualising the pattern of haloes, just as it
had been when Lieta had launched herself into space. And then she
jumped.
    Though she had no audience, she had the automated systems assess
her. She found the bars glowing an unbroken green. She had recorded a
perfect mark. If she had taken part in the competition, against these
kids half her age, she would have won.
    She had known what Luru was had been talking about. Of course she
had. Where others aged, even her own sister, she stayed young. It was
as simple as that. The trouble was, it was starting to show.
    And it was illegal.
     
    Home was a palace of metal and ice she shared with her extended
family. This place, one of the most select on Port Sol, had been
purchased with the riches Faya had made from her Dancing.
    Her mother was here. Spina Parz was over sixty; her grey, straying
hair was tied back in a stern bun.
    And, waiting for Faya, here was a Commissary, a representative of
the Commission for Historical Truth. Originally an agency for
ferreting out Qax collaborators, the Commission had evolved
seamlessly into the police force of the Coalition, government of Sol
system. This Commissary wore his head shaved, and a simple
ground-length robe.
    Everybody was frightened of Commissaries. It was only a couple of
generations since Coalition ships had come to take Port Sol into the
new government’s deadly embrace, by force. But somehow Faya wasn’t
surprised to see him; evidently today was the day everything
unravelled for her.
    The Commissary stood up and faced her. ’My name is Ank Sool.’
    ’I’m not ageing, am I?’
    He seemed taken aback by her bluntness. ’I can cure you. Don’t be
afraid.’
    Her mother Spina said wistfully, ’I knew you were special even
when you were very small, Faya. You were an immortal baby, born among
mortals. I could tell when I held you in my arms. And you were
beautiful. My heart sang because you were beautiful and you would
live for ever. You were wonderful.’
    ’Why didn’t you tell me?’
    Spina looked tired. ’Because I wanted you to figure it out for
yourself. On the other hand I never thought it would take you until
you were forty.’ She smiled. ’You never were the brightest crystal in
the snowflake, were you, dear?’
    Faya’s anger melted. She hugged her mother. ’The great family
secret…’
    ’I saw the truth, working its way through you. You always had
trouble with relationships with men. They kept growing too old for
you, didn’t they? When you’re young even a subtle distancing is
enough to spoil a relationship. And - ’
    ’And I haven’t had children.’
    ’You kept putting it off. Your body knew, love. And now your head
knows too.’
    Sool said earnestly, ’You must understand the situation.’
    ’I understand I’m in trouble. Immortality is illegal.’
    He shook his head. ’You are the victim of a crime - a crime
committed centuries ago.’
    It was all the fault of the Qax, as so many things were. During
their Occupation of Earth the Qax had rewarded those who had
collaborated with them with an anti-ageing treatment. The Qax,
masters of nanotechnological transformations, had rewired human
genomes.
    ’After the fall of the Qax the surviving collaborators and their
children were given the gift of mortality.’ The Commissary said this
without irony.
    ’But you evidently didn’t get us all,’ Faya said.
    Sool said, ’The genome cleansing was not perfect. After centuries
of Occupation we didn’t have the technology. In every generation
there are throwbacks.’
    ’Throwbacks. Immortals, born to mortal humans.’
    ’Yes.’
    Faya felt numb. It was as if he was talking about somebody else.
’My sister - ’
    Her mother said, ’Lieta is as mortal as I am, as your poor father
was. It’s only you, Faya.’
    ’We can cure you,’ Sool said, smiling. ’It will be quite
painless.’
    ’But I could stay young,’ Faya said rapidly. She turned to Sool.
’Once I was famous for my Dancing. They even knew my name on Earth.’
She waved a hand. ’Look around! I made a fortune. I was the best.
Grown men of twenty-five - your age, yes? - would follow me down the
street. You can’t know what that was like; you never saw their