Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep

Tyrathect was losing the battle within herself. Oh, it wasn't near ended; better perhaps to say that the tide had turned. In the beginning there had been little triumphs, as when she let Amdijefri play alone with the commset without even the children guessing she was responsible. But such were many tendays past, and now… Some days she would be entirely in control of herself. Others — and these often seemed the happiest — would begin with her seeming in control.

It was not yet clear the sort of day today would be.

Tyrathect paced along the hoardings that topped the new castle's walls. The place was certainly new, but hardly yet a castle. Steel had built in panicky haste. The south and west walls were very thick, with embedded tunnels. But there were spots on the north side that were simply palisades backed by stony rubble. Nothing more could be done in the time that Steel had been given. She stopped for a moment, smelling fresh-sawn timber. The view down Starship Hill was as beautiful as she had ever seen it. The days were getting longer. Now there was only twilight between the setting and the rising of the sun. The local snow had retreated to its summer patches, leaving heather to turn green in the warmth. From here she could see miles, to where bluish sea haze clamped down on the offshore islands.

By the conventional wisdom, it would be suicide to attack the new castle — even in its present ramshackle state — with less than a horde. Tyrathect smiled bitterly to herself. Of course, Woodcarver would ignore that wisdom. Old Woodcarver thought she had a secret weapon that would breach these walls from hundreds of feet away. Even now Steel's spies were reporting that the Woodcarvers had taken the bait, that their small army and their crude cannon had begun the overland trek up the coast.

She descended the wall stairs to the yard. She heard faint thunder. Somewhere north of Streamsdell, Steel's own cannoneers were beginning their morning practice. When the air was just right, you could hear it. There was to be no testing near the farmlands, and none but high Servants and isolated workers knew of the weapons. But by now Steel had thirty of the devices and gunpowder to match. The greatest lack was gunners. Up close the noise of firing was hellish. Sustained firing could deafen. Ah, but the weapons themselves: They had a range of almost eight miles, three times as great as Woodcarver's. They could deliver gunpowder "bombs" that exploded on impact. There were places beyond the northern hills where the forest was gouged bare and slumping landslides showed naked rock — all from sustained barrages of gunfire.

And soon — perhaps today — the Flenserists would have radio, too.

God damn you, Woodcarver! Of course Tyrathect had never met the Woodcarver, but Flenser had known that pack well: Flenser was mostly Woodcarver's offspring. The "Gentle Woodcarver" had borne him and raised him to power. It had been Woodcarver who taught him about freedom of thought and experiment. Woodcarver should have known the pride that lived in Flenser, should have known that he would go to extremes his parent never dared. And when the new one's monstrous nature became clear, when his first "experiments" were discovered, Woodcarver should have had him killed — or at the very least, fragmented. Instead, Flenser had been allowed to take exile… to create things like Steel, and they to create their own monsters, ultimately to build this hierarchy of madness.

And now, a century overdue, Woodcarver was coming to correct her mistake. She came with her toy guns, as overconfident and idealistic as ever. She came into a trap of steel and fire that none of her people would survive. If only there were some way to warn the Woodcarver. Tyrathect's only reason for being here was the oath she had sworn herself to bring Flenser's Movement down. If Woodcarver knew what awaited her here, if she even knew of the traitors in her own camp… there might be a chance. Last fall, Tyrathect had come close to sending an anonymous message south. There were traders who visited through both kingdoms. Her Flenser memories told her which were likely independent. She almost passed one a note, a single piece of silkpaper, reporting the starship's landing and Jefri's survival. In that she had missed death by less than a day: Steel had shown her a report from the South, about the other human and Woodcarver's progress with the "dataset". There were things in the report that could only be known by someone at the top at Woodcarver's. Who? She didn't ask, but she guessed it was Vendacious; the Flenser in Tyrathect remembered that sibling pack well. They'd had… dealings. Vendacious had none of the raw genius of their joint parent, but there was a broad streak of opportunism in him.

Steel had shown her the report only to puff himself up, to prove to Tyrathect that he had succeeded in something that Flenser had never attempted. And it was a coup. Tyrathect had complimented Steel with more than usual sincerity… and quietly shelved her plans of warning. With a spy at the top at Woodcarver's, any message would be pointless suicide.

Now Tyrathect padded across the castle's outer yard. There was still plenty of construction going on, but the teams were smaller. Steel was building timber lodges all over the yard. Many were empty shells. Steel hoped to persuade Ravna to land at a special spot near the inner keep.

The inner keep. That was the only thing about this castle built to the standards of Hidden Island. It was a beautiful structure. It could really be what Steel told Amdijefri: a shrine to honor Jefri's ship and protect it from Woodcarver attack. The central dome was a smooth sweep of cantilevers and fitted stone as wide as the main meeting hall on Hidden Island. Tyrathect watched it with one pair of eyes as she trotted round it. Steel intended to face the dome with the finest pink marble. It would be visible for dozens of miles into the sky. The deadfalls built into its structure were the centerpiece of Steel's plan, even if the rescuers didn't land in his other trap.

Shreck and two other high Servants stood on the steps of the castle's meeting hall. They came to attention as she approached. The three backed quickly away, bellies scraping stone… but not as quickly as last fall. They knew that the other Flenser Fragments had been destroyed. As Tyrathect swept past them, she almost smiled. For all her weakness and all her problems, she knew she could best these ones.

Steel was already inside, alone. The most important meetings were all like this, just Steel and herself. She understood the relationship. In the beginning, Steel had been simply terrified of her — the one person he believed he could never kill. For tendays, he had teetered between grovelling before her and dismembering her. It was amusing to see the bonds Flenser had installed years before still having force. Then had come word of the death of the other Fragments. Tyrathect was no longer Flenser-in-Waiting. She had half expected death to come then. But in a way this made her safer. Now Steel was less afraid, and his need for intimate advice could be satisfied in ways he saw less threatening. She was his bottled demon: Flenser wisdom without the Flenser threat.

This afternoon he seemed almost relaxed, nodding casually to Tyrathect as she entered. She nodded back. In many ways Steel was her — Flenser's -finest creation. So much effort had been spent honing Steel. How many packs-worth of members had been sacrificed to get just the combination that was Steel. She — Flenser — had wanted brilliance, ruthlessness. As Tyrathect she could see the truth. With all the flensing, Flenser had created a poor, sad thing. It was strange, but… sometimes Steel seemed like Flenser's most pitiable victim.