Barry Longyear - Enemy Papers

V’Butaan on the planet Ditaar, named after the mountain city containing Uhe’s tomb. The Tsien Denvedah, Uhe’s front fighters of the same name, casting reluctant prisoners into the Madah. The terrorists on Amadeen taking on the venerable charge of the Mavedah, as well as its name.

And Joanne Nicole spoke Uhe’s last words out loud: "Aakva, in the name of your children, become a more perfect god."

"A futile, but ancient, wish." The voice was deep, resonant, and just a touch amused.

Nicole sat up. "Who are you?"

There was a low chuckle. "Who am I? Who am I? Your question is profound, Joanne Nicole; and it would take me many hours to answer it. My name, however, is Tora Soam. I am the First Master of the Talman Kovah. It was my third child, Sin Vidak, that you saved from the fire on Ditaar."

"You have finally come, then?"

"Yes. Pur Sonaan told me that you had wondered at my absence; and for that I apologize. But you were near death for so long; and recently the demands upon my time have been heavy."

The voice was enigmatic; difficult to read. "Tora Soam, what is to become of me?"

"Ah, another profound question!" It paused for another chuckle. "But you refer to your immediate future, do you not?"

"Yes."

"The paths open to you would appear to be few. You are still vemadah, despite my protection." It paused for a moment. "There is a good argument, Joanne Nicole, that can be made supporting a claim to you being vehivida."

Vehivida? Of the sixth. And Uhe said: "Their children will be sent to the Sixth Denve…"

"I am not a child, Tora Soam."

"No, but you are infirm."

"I do not serve the Drac cause."

"Joanne Nicole, you served the cause by providing the Tsien Denvedah with another soldier."

She felt her face flush. "I saved a child; no more."

"Emmmm. You divide motive, act, and responsibility. Had you not saved my child, the child would not have become a soldier. Does not that, then, make you responsible for the existence of the soldier?"

Tora Soam’s voice; it had an edge of humor in it. Tora Soam was playing games. "I saved a child. The child chose to become Tsien Denvedah."

"I see. And if you knew that the child would grow to become Tsien Denvedah, would you have refused to save it?"

"Drac, this game is getting quite tedious."

"Answer the question, Joanne Nicole. Would you have saved it, or would you have let it burn?"

Memories of that smoke-filled horror filled her mind. All of those dead children, the heat, the smell. She wiped her eyes as she shook her head. "I… I don’t know."

"I think you do, Joanne Nicole."

Nicole smacked her hand upon her thigh. "All right! I would have saved it! But I was saving a life, not a soldier for the Dracon Chamber!"

Nicole heard the rustle of the Drac’s robes as it stood up. "I apologize to you, Joanne Nicole. I did not mean to upset you. If you insist, you are vemadah."

"I insist!"

"Pur Sonaan has told me that, except for your vision, you will be well soon. As soon as you can leave the Chirn Kovah, I will have you brought to the Tora estate. The Madah is a social state, not a tract of land. You may stay at my home for as long as you wish-at least until you are fully recovered."

Nicole laughed and held her hands to her face. "My eyes. When will they be well?"

"Pur Sonaan is working hard on the problem-"

"Tora Soam, there are a great many USEF soldiers in the Madah right now."

"And?"

"While you would put me up in security, they will still be vemadah. I would rather count on them than on the charity of a Drac."

Tora Soam was silent for a moment, then Nicole felt it bend over the bed and pick up Pur Sonaan’s player. A click, a whiz, then another click. The Drac played the player on her lap. "Learn an old lesson, Joanne Nicole."

She heard its footsteps leaving as the voice from the player filled the room. It was the narration of Namndas, Shizumaat’s senior at the Temple of Uhe.

…the days passed, and by the time two new classes were formed, and my charges occupied the south end of the Madah Wall, Ebneh stood before the class to hear their recitations of Aakva, Rhada, Daultha, and Uhe.

When all had completed their recitations, Ebneh held out its hands. "We call the Story of Uhe the Koda Ovida; and what is the first truth?"

There are, of course, many truths within the first Koda. The student’s task is to draw from the story the greatest truth. The first student stood and spoke the accepted truth of the story: "That it is Aakva’s law that the servants of Aakva will speak the true wishes of Aakva."

Ebneh nodded, pleased. "And do you all agree?"

All of the students nodded, except for Shizumaat. Shizumaat stared through the columns at Uhe’s tomb until Ebneh called out. "Shizumaat, were you listening?"

Shizumaat’s eyes turned toward Ebneh. "I was listening."

"Do you agree with this student’s interpretation of the Koda Ovida?"

"No." Shizumaat looked back toward Uhe’s tomb.

Ebneh stood next to Shizumaat. "You will stand!" Shizumaat stood and looked at Ebneh. "What truth do you see in the Koda Ovida?"

"Ebneh, I see that a rule stood between the Mavedah and survival; I see that the rule was nothing sacred, but made by Sindie; and I see that Uhe saw this and cast the rule aside to save its people. The truth I see, then, is that rules are meant to serve the Sindie; the Sindie is not meant to serve rules."

Ebneh stared at Shizumaat for a long moment; and then it asked: "Then, Shizumaat, should we, or should we not, obey the wishes of Aakva handed down by the servants?"

"If the rule is good, it should be used; if it is not good, it should be cast aside."

Ebneh’s eyes narrowed, and those who sat near Shizumaat edged away. "Shizumaat, do you say that the laws of Aakva can be false?"

I closed my eyes. Ebneh was forcing Shizumaat into blasphemy. Shizumaat was smart enough to know this; it was too stubborn, however, to bow to the pain the servants would inflict on its body upon the admission of the blasphemy.

"Shizumaat spoke: "If the laws come from the servants, then the laws come from mortal, fallible creatures, and can be false."

Ebneh stood upright. "But if the laws come from Aakva?"

"Then Aakva can be and has been wrong. This I saw in the Story of Uhe."

A terrible silence came down upon the temple. I rushed up to Shizumaat and grabbed it by the arm. "Think, Shizumaat! Think upon what you say!"

Shizumaat pulled its arm away from my grasp. "I have thought upon it, Namndas. That is why I answered as I did."

Ebneh pushed me away from the student. "Do you know what you will suffer because of your words?"

Shizumaat smiled. "Yes, Ebneh. I know the rules."

"You know them, yet you scorn them?"

"I question them; I question their source; I question their validity. I know the servants will beat me for what I have said; but I ask you this: will beating me prove the existence of Aakva and the truth of its laws?"

Ebneh did not answer.

In the morning, with the Parent of All illuminating the eastern columns of the temple, I climbed the steps and found Shizumaat kneeling between the columns, facing Aakva.

Shizumaat’s face rested against the paving stones. The the stones were stained with the deep yellow of the student’s blood. Shizumaat’s eyes were closed, its chest heaving. Behind Shizumaat were two servants holding whipping rods. Ebneh stood to Shizumaat’s side and spoke: "Look up, Shizumaat. Look up!"

Shizumaat placed its hands upon the blood-stained stones and pushed until it sat back upon its heels, the morning light of Aakva showing the grey of Shizumaat’s face.