At first, the gong-shi-jie had been only a featureless, purple fog to her, but now it was much more. Everywhere she looked were the signatures of planets and stars, the little vortices of color from blue to red stretching as far as she could see in all directions. Everything seemed compressed in the gong-shijie, for Kati knew from her reading that the real-s.p.a.ce distances between these objects extended to limits beyond imagination, a great wheel of stars and dust across which light itself crawled at a snail's pace.

Even at her position, the boundary of the wheel was not visible in the gong-shi-jie, though she was halfway out from the center of it.

The stars were easiest to locate, their vortices large and colored green to deep red. The planets were most difficult, their signatures small, but Kati was slowly learning to distinguish the different shades of purple and blue that identified them by ma.s.s.

Mandughai beckoned to her and she followed, looking back to orient herself on the green vortex of Tengri-Khan, the light purple dimples that were the gaseous giants of its planetary system. Her own vortex burned brightly in deep purple, the way back to the sleeping body awaiting her return.

One alignment was sufficient, for they would only travel for minutes in real time.

But Mandughai first took her to the edge of the wheel.

Do not try to memorize the patterns. Just look, and trust me. I have gone this way many times.

Kati felt relief, for she was quickly confused by the pattern of vortices rushing by her, and so she concentrated on Mandughai's tutorial as they moved.

There. The yellow signature. A race of sentient birds lives there on a world covered with water. The sea provides their needs, and they have no technology to interest us. There are many such worlds.

The faint vortex, deep red; stay away from its center. The ma.s.s there is so great that light emitted by the star is red beyond red, and cannot be seen in real s.p.a.ce.

Is it dangerous?

Only near the center. The gong-shi-jie is so distorted there you might not be able to return from real s.p.a.ce. I have never dared to attempt it.

They drifted. Ahead of them, the pattern of vortices was gradually fading until there was only the gongshi-jie, but far beyond them were bright specks of light like distant stars. Mandughai pointed to them.

This is the edge of our universe. There's only dust and gas here, but out there are other universes. I've only been to the nearest one, and it's similar to ours. Perhaps there's life there. Each speck of light is a universe; they seem to go on forever. But it will take you a lifetime to explore the one we live in, and that is enough.

Mandughai. What is a lifetime?

It is relative, child. You might live a hundred years, or less. Mandughai has lived three thousand.

Then you aren't human, but a G.o.ddess.

I've told you I'm human, Kati, but my image is an illusion in your mind. I show you my ideal of a

beautiful Empress. In a few years, you will see me as I am. I'll be returning to Shanji for a short time.My people have been waiting for you thousands of years! They will be happy to be rid of the Emperor!Mandughai's lovely face was suddenly serious. They will not be so happy about my return, but there will be a new ruler on Shanji. These things will be revealed to you later, Kati. Now we must go back.

They moved even faster, now, vortices rushing by in a blur. It would take many lifetimes to learn all the patterns here, thought Kati. Mandughai has learned them all. How could she do that and still be human?

It seemed only seconds before they stopped at a vortex that was the green of Mandughai's eyes.

There is life here. Follow me closely, just to the right of center in the vortex.

They dipped into the swirling thing, Mandughai's image close. There was the usual flash as they entered real-s.p.a.ce, and behind them the vortex was a small, whirling disk of green.

A monstrous, orange flame rushed through the place she occupied as an ethereal apparition. She looked down, and saw they were close to the surface of an orange star, so close that one of its prominences had just reached out to where they were. The surface of the star roiled with turbulence: swirling storms, protuberances spouting like boiling mud, fans of fire reaching out everywhere from the surface. But it was the jets of matter being ejected from the poles of the star that brought back the memory of a lesson from the learning machine.

The star was Tengri-Nayon.

It's young, and still unpredictable. Life has been an adventure for my people here, but it gets better, and more stable.

Another flame pa.s.sed through them, carrying dust with it. There was no sense of heat, for there was no body with which to touch or feel.

It is the home star of your people, Kati. Would you like to take a little piece of it with you?

The idea seemed absurd. Even Mandughai was smiling when she said it.

I will hold the sight of it in my mind.

But your mind is here, Kati. It's as if you're in your room, and there are lit candles before you. You can make the flames move, Kati. You can make the flames come to you.

I extend my aura, and the flames come to it, Mandughai. I have no aura here.

Then you must imagine it. Think of it as a gloved hand. When a prominence comes by, reach out, grab a piece of it, and hold on. A piece of Tengri-Nayon to take back with you, even if it is only grains of dust. Try it.

Mandughai was still smiling. A game of imagination? Or a test? So many previous tests had seemed like games at the time. Still, Mandughai had made a request and Kati would honor it as usual. She imagined her own, golden aura surrounding her position and it was there, like a thing seen in a dream. She extended it outwards in a sheet, like a robe billowing in wind, and waited only seconds, for another flame was rushing towards them. She imagined the flame striking her aura, thinking them together as a person thinks a thrown ball going into the hand, and then it was there, a small globe of flame with particles of dust struggling within an aural prison that was only imagination.

I caught it!

Mandughai laughed, and clapped her hands without sound. She was delighted.

Hold tight! We're leaving, now. Keep your focus!

Another flash, and they were in the gong-shi-jie. But the aura was gone, and with it the little ball of gas and dust that was a piece of Tengri-Nayon.

Kati was painfully disappointed. It's gone! It didn't come through with me!

Mandughai smiled. No matter. It was only a game, and we will try it again. Perhaps the transition from real s.p.a.ce broke your concentration. But you had it, Kati! It was within your grasp!

Yes, but I lost it. I'm sorry, Mandughai.

The lesson you've learned is most important, dear. You see that your aura is truly with you wherever you go, even without the presence of your body. It is simply not visible to you.

So it had been a test, and that was the lesson to be learned. The use of her aura extended to all of real s.p.a.ce, not just to Shanji. And for a brief moment, she had held a piece of a star.

Now the pattern was familiar again: Tengri-Khan, the gaseous giants, the purple vortex leading to herself. The image of Mandughai hovered near it, pointing the way back.

Before you go, there is one more thing.

Yes, Mandughai.

You will go to Wanchou, and the people will ask who you are, and you will tell them you come from me, Kati. You are my emissary to them, for I care about all my people.

I will tell them, Mandughai.

There is more. Your skills are well developed, but now you must apply them. There is harshness in the lives of the people. Wherever you go, I ask you to rely on your instincts for goodness and compa.s.sion, and use your skills without inhibition to ease the life of the people. Mengmoshu knows my wishes and will support all that you do.

What am I to do?

You will see it, dear. Now go, with my love. I still think of you as my own daughter.

And you are my First Mother. Goodbye, Mandughai.

Sweet gra.s.s, incense, and the flickering flames of three candles; she was back in her rooms, and her back hurt. Her legs were cramped, and when she checked the time she discovered why. She'd been locked stiffly in meditative position for nearly half an hour while traveling the diameter of a galaxy.

She slept restlessly that night, awakened once by pain, and a dream she could not remember. The pain was in her mouth. She licked her lips, and tasted blood, then probed with her tongue around a sore spot inside her lower lip.

Sometime during the night, she'd bitten herself. And there was an unusually large hole there, still bleeding.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

THE PEOPLE.

Mengmoshu took Kati to meet Shanji's people only two months after her sixteenth birthday. For a week and a half, they were constantly together, and he grew close to her as a father to a daughter.

She was in the hands of First Mother, and her education and social training were the privilege of Huomeng, Lady Weimeng, and Sheyue. His only partic.i.p.ation in her upbringing had been those few precious times she'd come to his mind with a sorrow, concern or question, and he'd done what he could for her.

It was not enough. He wanted to do more. He was her father, watching others do for her what he should be doing. She did not even know who he was. And during the last few years, she had become a beautiful young woman without his fatherly presence beside her.

He had agreed with First Mother's decision not to tell the Moshuguang about his relationship to Kati, but taking her to Wanchou was a logical act for the Chancellor of the Moshuguang.

It was early morning when he met Kati at the monorail station by the landing field. She was sitting on a bench and stood up as he stepped from the car, a small valise at her feet. Her eyes changed from brown to amber when she saw him and smiled.

His own carrying case was heavy; within it his own change of clothes, recording devices, and the robe he would have her wear for the people. He plopped the case heavily before her. "How are you?" he asked.

"Excited. I thought we were never going to do this."

Her presence was striking: the long, chiseled face, finely arched nose, the magical eyes that seemed to be constantly changing color. A guard came to carry their luggage and they followed him through the gate to the mag-rail car awaiting them.

Mengmoshu punched in the second exit within the workers' city as their destination and put the car on auto-control as they entered the tunnel. Kati wanted to know the operation of the car, the route they were taking, the stops, everything. She was nervous, and apprehensive. Mengmoshu put an arm around her shoulders, squeezed gently, and that seemed to calm her. To use mental control on her was a waste of effort. They came to the smells and din of the workers' village, and took the first exit left. "Can we look in the shops on the way back?" asked Kati.

"Yes," said Mengmoshu, knowing that after her time in Wanchou the things she saw in those shops would clearly show her the relative ease of life for those who worked within the mountain.

The tracks looped towards the right, but they turned left to a platform with cutouts for parking. Two armed guards, escorts, were waiting there, a flight of stairs behind them brightly lit.

As they stepped from the car, the guards bowed stiffly to them, took their luggage and preceded them up the stairs to a long, empty hallway. They walked its length to the doors of an elevator which opened as they arrived. The guards entered with them and the elevator descended for several seconds before the doors opened again. Kati looked at him, her eyes now red; he felt the anxiety building within her.

The doors opened to a lavish suite with bare, red walls and thick carpet, bronze chandeliers, and a huge black table in the center. The guards went to two closed doors on one wall, beyond which were bedrooms. They placed Kati's valise in one, Mengmoshu's in the other, then returned silently to stand by the elevator. "We will change clothes here," he said, for Kati was looking horribly confused by this stop.

"Change?"

"I have something for you to wear, Kati. This visit to Wanchou is a formal thing and we have to dress for it." He went into his room to open his carrying case, and Kati followed him inside. "I thought we were just going to travel around and see how the people live."

"We are, but not just to look. You'll be meeting people and talking to them. Our guides are people of influence in Wanchou and they feel honored by this visit. They are entertaining the emissary of First Mother, something that has never happened before now."

"They know about me?"

"They know an emissary comes. I want you to wear this. You may wear your hair long, or in buns if you like." He withdrew a robe in deep purple from his case and handed it over to Kati.

"It's beautiful," she said, fondling the heavy cloth.

"The color is symbolic of the gong-shi-jie, where only you and First Mother travel. You are Her emissary and you must act the part for the people to see it."

She seemed to accept that, and nodded. "It will take me a while," she said, then left the room talking to herself under her breath, her mind masked from him.

Mengmoshu changed from his black robe into full, military armor, without sidearm, the red shizi emblem over his heart. He closed up his case and found it mercifully lighter, then carried it back to the elevator and waited there with the guards.

And waited. Time pa.s.sed, and the guards began to shift uneasily from foot to foot. It seemed forever before Kati finally appeared at the doorway.

Even Mengmoshu was struck dumb by the sight of her. One guard rushed to take the valise from her hand before she could even take a step. She followed him back as if floating.

She had formed her hair into two tails held together by gold rings near the head, and they fell across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, nearly to the waist. Lips rouged red, she'd also added a blush to cheekbones normally prominent, giving her face a triangular shape, and there were traces of purple sparkles around her eyes. She was happy about her appearance, for her always changing eyes were nearly leaf-green now, and she had enhanced the thickness of her long lashes. She carried a small gold fan in one hand, and when she reached him she snapped it open to cool herself delicately with it while coyly lowering her eyelashes.

"Well? Will I make an impression?"

Mengmoshu could not restrain a chuckle. "You are the vision of an Empress, Madam, and I'm honored as your escort. Please."

He offered an arm and she put her hand on it as they entered the elevator, the guards stumbling around with the luggage, trying hard not to look at her. "I tried to look like the image Mandughai shows me in the gong-shi-jie and it took me awhile to get it," she said. "I'm glad you like it."

She squeezed his arm and smiled, and Mengmoshu masked fiercely so she would not see the pride and love in him, or know why it was there.

They rode the elevator down for several seconds and stepped out into cool morning air within a cavern opening to the outside. A man in white uniform was there beside a small, windowed car hanging on two cables going out of the cavern opening, and down from it. The man took one look at Kati and bowed deeply to her, ignoring Mengmoshu.

"We will take two cable cars to Wanchou. This is the first, which goes to a checkpoint. There is heavy security on the mountain," he said, and helped her into the car.

"Huomeng told me. The people are not allowed to see what's here." Kati's eyes were now amber.

The car moved out and down at a forty-five degree angle along the rocky face of the mountain. Above them, the workers' village sprouted from rock, but Kati looked downwards to the sprawl of Wanchou far below. Soon, a road was drawing near, cut horizontally across the mountain with regularly s.p.a.ced stone huts behind a high fence of wire, and armed troopers were pacing the road, watching their descent. They came to a platform with a large hut, and their luggage was taken without inspection to a gate, beyond which a second car awaited them. They followed, past guards stiffly at attention, whose eyes shifted slightly to follow Kati's pa.s.sage past them.

The nearness of Wanchou was an illusion of size and they were on the second car half an hour before reaching the final cable towers and another compound swarming with troopers. The nearest buildings of Wanchou loomed beyond a high fence, and there was a paved road leading into a tunnel beneath it. A simple, unadorned spring wagon pulled by two horses sat there, surrounded by an escort of eight guards on horseback. Mengmoshu offered an arm to Kati, led her stately to the wagon and held her hand as she stepped into it. More ceremony. You're doing fine.

Mengmoshu took the reins and drove the wagon through the tunnel, guards on both sides. Remember who you are, and rely on your instincts. They came out in a garden of short trees, bushes with flowers, and b.u.t.terflies. A hemisphere of wire mesh covered the whole thing and there was still another gate, with a guardhouse. All around them, faces were pressed to the wire from the outside, hundreds of them, young and old, even children. He stopped the wagon at the guardhouse. Troopers scurried to take their luggage through the gate as he helped Kati down. "Go to the gate," he whispered. "I will walk behind you for a moment."

Kati nodded, eyes amber, and she walked slowly ahead of him. The crowds outside were shuffling around, pressing towards the gate, but several guards were there to press them back with their rifles. A small thin man awaited them, dressed in brown canvas. He bowed deeply as Kati came out of the gate, her eyes apparently on him. She seemed oblivious to the crowd straining to get a look at her. "I am Jinyao," said the man. "Welcome to our city." His voice shook nervously.