Sharon Shinn - Gateway

“And how do I get back to my own world? Is there a talisman for that?”

Ombri nodded. “Normally we would give you a small piece of rose quartz, a stone that is only found on your world, and send you through the gateway. You would arrive back on Earth in the place where you left, with no memory of your experience here-”

Daiyu blinked at him. “Wait. You mean I won’t remember any of this?”

Ombriwavedahand. His dark finger swere long and elegant. “One of the peculiar attributes of planet Earth is that it erases your memory of previous iterations. Every sojourner who goes there arrives with his mind blank of time spent anywhere else. Even the servants of the gods have trouble crossing to your iteration. We adjust, but the effort is immense. It is unlikely that you will remember anything more of your time here than an image or two, dreamlike indeed.”

“That’s not going to bother me,” Daiyu assured him. “So you’ll give me a piece of rose quartz and send me through the gate-”

“That is what we would normally do,” Ombri corrected. “But because we think it is possible you might be in danger when you confront Chenglei, we will craft a powerful talisman that will instantly transport you back to your world, no matter where you are in this one. You will not need to go through the gateway to activate it.”

“That sounds good,” Daiyu said, holding her hand out. “Let’s have it.”

“It’snotreadyyet. Aurora must shape it to the uniqu emake- up of your particular body. If you would entrust me with a few strands of your hair-”

Daiyu closed her eyes for a second. Now he was asking for DNA. It was getting more and more surreal. But… “Anything to be able to go home again,” she said, opening her eyes and quickly yanking out a couple of hairs. Ombri took them carefully and folded them into a piece of paper that he stowed in a pocket of his black pants. Daiyu said, “So where is this Aurora?”

“She’s working,” Kalen answered.

“If you’re really who you say you are, it seems odd that any of you would need a job,” Daiyu said.

Ombri gave her that serious smile. “We don’t need money,” he said. “We need entrée into the society that governs this particular city in this particular world. Aurora works for a childless woman who has great personal ambition. This will serve us well now that you have arrived.”

Daiyu leaned her elbows on the table. “Okay. I guess it’s time to talk about why exactly you brought me here. What you want me to do.”

“They want to send Chenglei back to where he belongs,” Kalen said.

“I heard that part already. How can I do anything about it?”

“First let me tell you a little about Shenglang, the city where you now reside,” Ombri said. He waved vaguely toward the windows, through which only darkness was now visible. But the coming of true night had cooled off the air a little, and Daiyu felt a welcome breeze tiptoe in. “Like your own St. Louis, Shenglang is located in the middle of a large continent. It is arguably the most important city in the nation. Chenglei has managed to get himself elected prime minister of Shenglang, and so he might be considered one of the most powerful men on the planet. He has used that power unwisely.”

“Some people like him,” Kalen said. “Mostly people with money.”

Ombrinodded.“He ha sdone a great deal to enrich the highest social class of the city and a great deal to destroy the precarious well-being of the poor,” Ombri said. “So far his scope has been fairly limited and local, but he will soon be signing pacts with neighbor nations on Jia that will extend his most onerous policies. There will be a great deal of suffering, and those who will suffer most are those who can least afford to sustain another loss.”

He could not have said anything more calculated to catch Daiyu’s interest. Maybe he knew that; maybe he had studied her life and her family before he found a way to get that dragon ring onto her finger. Oddly enough, that made her begin to distrust him, an emotion that resided uneasily beside her ongoing disbelief. “But what can I do to stop him?” she said.

“You merely need to place a bracelet on his wrist,” Ombri said.

Daiyu stared at him. It was the last thing she had expected him to say. “Couldn’t anybody do that?” she said.

“Nobody can get close to him,” Kalen muttered.

“A select few are admitted into his presence,” Ombri explained. “None of them are cangbai, like Kalen, or heiren , like me.”

Heiren,Daiyu thought. Mustmeanblack.

Ombri was still talking. “Chenglei only associates with Han-and Han of a certain social circle. If we can insinuate you into that circle, you will inevitably be introduced to him. You will place the bracelet on his wrist, and he will be flung back to the original template of the universe.”

“That doesn’t sound so hard,” Daiyu said. “So why do you think I might be in danger?”

“If Chenglei discovers who you are, he will be-displeased.”

Daiyu widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t really want a description of what Chenglei might do to her to express his displeasure. She guessed punishment and torture were pretty much the same from world to world.

“That is why we want you to have the talisman,” Ombri continued.“So that if you ever feel threatened, you can instantly transport yourself to home and safety. We would then look for some other sojourner who is young and Chinese and potentially able to introduce herself to Chenglei.”

“Is he Chinese?” she asked.

“Part Chinese, part cangbai ,” Ombri said. “Here on Jia, he pretends to be full-blooded Han.”

“When I came through the gate,” Daiyu said slowly, “everyone I saw was Han.”

Ombri nodded. “In this iteration, it is the Han who colonized the Western hemisphere, not the nations you know as Europe. The races are not absolutely identical from world to world, but you will fit in with the Han. You will be accepted. The language they speak will deviate a bit from what you understand as Chinese-”

“I don’t speak Chinese,” Daiyu said, putting up her fingers to rub her temples. Her head was beginning to swim; it was too much information to take in all at once. “I don’t think I can hear one more detail,” she said. “Is there someplace I can lie down? I’m so tired.”

“Of course. It was discourteous of me to talk so long,” Ombri said, rising to his feet. He gestured at Kalen, who jumped up. “It is difficult for any ordinary human being to make the transition between worlds-it takes a great physical toll, and exhaustion is commonplace. We have prepared a room against your arrival. Sleep as long as you like.”

She glanced around again, embarrassed to ask about a bathroom in front of two men. “Is there-a place to clean up first?”

“Of course. Kalen, please acquaint her with the amenities.”

The small room that Kalen showed her to looked enough like the facilities Daiyu was used to that he didn’t have to explain the faucets or the rather strange toilet, which was more like an open-bottomed throne contained behind a low enamel wall. It was quickly clear that there was no such thing as a toothbrush, but Kalen demonstrated how she should use her finger and some gritty paste to scrub her teeth, and the soap was completely familiar.

“ Aurora left you some clothes,” Kalen said al ittle awkwardly as he stepped out of the small room into the hallway. “She was just guessing what might fit you, but-Should I bring them in?”

“Is there something for me to sleep in?” Daiyu asked.

“A nightshirt. Let me get it.”

He disappeared and returned moments later with a voluminous blue shirt made of some soft, brushed material. “It’s kind of big,” he said with a grin, holding it up by the shoulders.