Kinder des Schicksals 4 (Xeelee 9): Resplendent

cried, ’Look out!’
    The wall behind Hex’s back suddenly gave way, and she was tipped
onto the cold ground. When she looked up she saw that the ’sandbags’
were suspended in the thin air, heavy, rippling sacks swarming over
her head. There must have been fifty of them, more.
    This ’wall’ had a been a reef of ur-Ghosts, huddled together. She
should have known, she thought; she had seen their space-filling
antics in combat. What a stupid mistake.
    The ur-Ghosts descended.
    Borno screamed, ’Weapons!’ Snarling, his blade in his hand, he was
trying to get to his feet.
    Hex raised her arms. Her suit weapons powered up.
    ’Don’t fire.’
    The ur-Ghosts went limp, quivered, and fell. It was like having
sacks of water dropped on you from a height. Hex’s suit turned rigid
to protect her. Then the crew of the Spear fought their way out from
the heap, shoving the floppy sacks away with a whir of exoskeletal
multipliers.
    Beyond this chaotic scene a Ghost hovered, bobbing gently with a
delicacy that belied its mass. It was one of the modern kind, a
smooth, seamless sphere. Borno raised his blade, but Hex grabbed his
arm.
    ’You are the Ghost we met. The Integumentary. You’ve dogged us all
the way.’
    ’Yes. From one blunder to another. I am here to ensure the success
of the mission. I hoped I wouldn’t have to reveal myself; I hoped in
vain. I never believed you would be so stupid as to hide behind a
stack of warriors.’
    Jul looked around at the limp ur-Ghosts that lay like immense
raindrops on the ground. ’Why do they cluster like this? You
don’t.’
    ’Perhaps it’s a relic of their past,’ Hella said. ’Swimmer
congregated with his kind. These strange forms long to do the
same.’
    ’Now they know you are here,’ the Ghost said. ’The Black Ghost and
his hierarchy. They know I am here. You have little time. I suggest
you hurry to the transporter you chose.’
    They clambered past the heaps of fallen Ghosts and ran.
    The four ur-Ghosts who had been tending the palette-ship had
fallen like the others. When Borno reached the first of the ur-Ghosts
he raised his knife, preparing to cut into its hide.
    ’It is dead,’ the Integumentary said quickly. ’I had to kill it. I
had to kill them all.’ It hovered over the fallen ur-Ghosts, its
movements agitated.
    Borno, his knife still raised, laughed. ’You killed your own kind,
dozens of them, to aid an enemy that is determined to eradicate your
species. You really are screwed up, Ghost.’
    ’I serve a cause beyond your comprehension.’
    ’Oh, really? Comprehend this.’ Borno plunged his knife into Ghost
hide. A watery fluid, laced with red blood, spilled out onto the cold
ground.
    ’I told you it is dead,’ said the Integumentary.
    ’I know,’ Borno said. With an effort he ripped back the ur-Ghost’s
skin, exposing glistening muscles, organs. ’Pilot, we can ride this
ship up to orbit, but do you think the Black Ghost will let us just
sail in? We’ll wrap ourselves up in this stuff. Camouflage. Come on,
help me.’
    Jul said, ’That’s repulsive.’
    Borno shrugged and carried on cutting.
    Such an unsophisticated ploy would never work, Hex thought. But
maybe they could use a little psychology, let the Black Ghost think
it had won a victory. She stepped forward, chose an ur-Ghost of her
own, and took her knife from its sleeve on her leg. ’Let’s get it
over.’
    The Integumentary spun, agitated. ’You humans are beyond
understanding.’
    ’Which is why you hired us to do your dirty work,’ Borno snapped,
contemptuous.
    As she worked Hella said, ’Integumentary - what is that?’ She
pointed at the tower that rose from the Ghost city, with its
electric-blue light pulsing at its tip.
    The Ghost said, ’You understand where you are, what world this is.
In these times, my ancestors understood full well that it was the
pulsar that was destroying their sun. So they venerated it. They made
it a god. They called it - ’
    Hex’s translator unit stumbled, and offered her a range of
options. Hex selected Destroyer.
    Hella said, ’Fascinating. Humans have always worshipped gods who
they believed created the world. You worship the one that destroyed
it.’
    ’It is a higher power, if a destructive one. It is rational to try
to placate it. All intelligent creatures are shaped by the
circumstances of our origins.’
    Borno sneered. ’It’s terrible for you to be brought here, isn’t
it, Ghost? To confront the darkest time of