Kinder des Schicksals 4 (Xeelee 9): Resplendent

not yet of the optimal spherical
form they would reach later. They clambered through tunnels, along
the shadowed floors of deep ravines, and swam under the sea, their
suits’ inertial control packs labouring to keep up with Swimmer’s
economical motions. When they stopped, while the humans tended their
blisters, Swimmer huddled in a gelatinous mass in any sunlight he
could find, or, if they were in the ocean, he discorporated with
exuberant relief. It was a mystery to Hex how the little shrimps and
algae and amphibians that made up his body knew when to come back,
and how to reintegrate.
    As they forged steadily north the sun slid down the sky, and the
shadows stretched long and deep. In the dimming sky Hex glimpsed
stars, and the single bright pinpoint, steadily tracking, that was
the Black Ghost’s habitat.
    At last they came to a place where the sun sat on the horizon,
glowing like hot coal. It looked as if it was about to set, but of
course it never would. Life was sparse at this high latitude. An
analogue of grass spread across the ground, though its native
photosynthetic chemicals made it black, not green. But nothing grew
in the long shadows, on this world where every shade was
permanent.
    Swimmer left them here. Unable to tolerate freezing temperatures,
he could go no further. ’Fight well for me,’ he said to them through
Hella’s translator box. Then he squirmed away, like rainwater
disappearing down a drain.
    Hex looked north into the darkness. She saw motion: palette-ships,
patrolling this boundary between day and night.
    Borno pointed. ’There are structures over that way.’
    ’Let’s get on with it,’ Hella said tautly.
    Following Borno’s lead, they walked into the night. Hex could
sense Jul’s fear, Hella’s tension, and Borno’s grim, bloody
determination.
    The sun disappeared altogether. They passed a few last trees, so
tall that their leaves blazed in sunlight while frost gathered on
their roots. ’Interesting bit of biomechanics,’ Jul said nervously.
’They must have evolved to exploit the temperature differences
between their crowns and their roots. And I guess these last trees
must be as tall as this stock can grow, otherwise - ’
    ’Shut up,’ Borno hissed.
    They came to a wall. It was just a heap of what looked like
sandbags, glowing silvery in the dim light. They crouched behind this
and cautiously peered at the structures that lay beyond.
    Hex saw a kind of city, spun out of silver and ice, resting on a
black velvet landscape. Necklaces swooped between cool globes,
frosted, icicles dangling. Sparks of light drifted between silvered
domes: Ghosts, or ur-Ghosts. The place had an organic look, as if it
had been grown here rather than planned. But there was nothing of
Swimmer’s vibrant, swarming physicality to be seen in this chill
place.
    This was a typical Ghost colony. Ghosts stayed away from the heat
of stars, but they had remained planet-dwellers; they tapped a
world’s geothermal heat for their energy, just as they evidently had
on this, their own freezing world. And their colonies always had this
tangled, unplanned look.
    There were anomalies, though. On a slim spire that towered over
the reef-city, a light pulsed steadily, brilliant electric blue. And
at the very centre of the township a squat cylinder brooded. Hex’s
suit sensors told her this was merely the upper level of a complex
dug deep into the ground, where thousands of Ghosts swarmed. This
fortress, very unlike Ghost architecture, was the work of the Black
Ghost, obvious even here, just inside the boundary of night.
    Borno tapped Hex on the shoulder and pointed.
    A handful of ur-Ghosts swarmed around a palette-ship on the
ground. The Ghosts’ forms were variants of parallelepipeds, like
slanted boxes. They were really quite beautiful, Hex thought, their
facets flashing like mirrors in the starlight as they worked.
    Borno whispered, ’Four of them, four of us. We can take them out.
And then we can grab that palette-ship and get to orbit.’
    Jul hissed, ’We only just crossed the terminator. Maybe we should
go further before - ’
    ’What’s the point? We came here to find a way off the planet.
There’s our opportunity.’ He raised his hand, holding a knife.
    Hex said, ’Borno is right. The longer we hang around the more
chance we have of getting caught. Let’s do this. There’s a blind side
over there, to their right. Borno, if you take Jul and head that way,
Hella and I can - ’
    Hella