Descending Road - CONE COUNTRY by Dana W. Paxson

CONE COUNTRY

1544 4D

The mangled body of the big assailant was packed in a freezer aboard the train. Three days of investigation and interrogation of the locals resulted in nothing new; no one seemed to know this man or how he could have acted as he did.

It frustrated Mentrius and the other leads; they sent soldiers out on surprise scouting probes through the grasses at all hours, comm links active, no fewer than six in a group. Nothing came of it except that several patrols got lost in the grass, and found themselves being escorted back to the station by the local Novander men, who seemed amused by all the fruitless effort.

At last they embarked; the train began to move again, away from the City. Murmurs turned to a loud gabble of anxious conversation. Yuss came into Andrew‘s car and announced, “Time to let you all know — we’re heading west to Purusil City. That frozen body’s to be delivered there, and we’re all going to take very good care of getting it where it’s supposed to go.”

A fist went up. “Top Lead?”

“Yes?”

“Is that an alien we’ve killed?”

“What do you mean, soldier?”

“Is that body human?”

“It looks human to you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, but it sat up after--“

“We’re not here to guess about it,” Yuss cut him off. “That’s why it’s frozen, so somebody smart can check it out. Until then, don’t make a lot of wild guesses. Got that, everybody?” He looked around the car, from one soldier to another.

Nods mixed with rebellious murmurs. As Yuss headed into the next car, the guessing began. Hings-Wen left a knot of others to join Andrew and Alliji.

“Look,” Hings-Wen said, “I think it was like some of those virus problems the andros get.”

“You mean when they get the upgrade drugs?” Alliji asked. “That’s different. They just get bad headaches. They don’t try and kill people.”

Hings-Wen asked Andrew, “What about that woman your patrol shot at Abridor? She was andro, and she was fighting.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t sit up after she was dead,” Andrew said.

“Tell you what I heard,” a woman named Marande said, joining in, “I heard those andro upgrade viruses are jumping across.”

“What do you mean?” Alliji.

“Some humans are getting them.”

“Hey, Marr, that’s impossible,” Hings-Wen told her. “They engineered all that. It’s prob zero.”

“Don’t tell me,” she shot back, “tell the docs at the Aswal Narr medshop. They had to treat a blood-disease case, and one of them told me the guy showed andro oxy factors.”

“So what’s that got to do with this jumping corpse we’re hauling off to Purusil?” Andrew asked. He didn’t like the thought of andro gene changes getting loose.

Hings-Wen smirked. “That? They’ll be lucky to find anything, after Lead Mentrius got done blowing it to pieces.”

The discussion trailed off. Marande and Hings-Wen moved to another knot of debate, and Alliji and Andrew settled back and stared out the window.

The train sailed west again across Muathen, and the vastness finally lulled them; long thin clouds washed the sky, the sunlight shifted from gold to copper to wrought-iron night, and stars circled toward day again. A dip and sway in the train’s trajectory made Andrew look out the window into moonless shadows. A huge shape hulked near the barely-graying horizon.

“It’s a volcanic mountain,” Alliji said in his ear. “It’s dormant now, but it’s part of a long scatter of them. These ash cones straddle the western plains. Some are still active.”

“It looks like a sleeping animal,” Andrew said, stretching.

“The Novander Wye say there was an underground city like ours, out here among these volcanoes. But they said it was destroyed, flooded with lava, when the eruptions walked eastward, thousands of years ago.”

“The eruptions walked?”

“Yeah. That’s how the whole chain was formed in the first place, over many thousands of years. The Novander traditions say that a star giant named Uesh stands with his shining head at the center of Tarnus and his heavy feet near the surface. Some day, while he treads Tarnus from the inside, the force of his feet will squeeze molten stone into the City itself, and Monford, and all the other burrows of humankind, and destroy them.”

“Where do you get all this?” Andrew asked.

“I collect stories,” Alliji said. “I talked with those guys back at the last stop. Nurumin was a lot better at it, though.” He stopped talking and swallowed, and his eyes shone. “Damn, I wish I’d gone back with Nexi, so I could stand blood with him for…"

“Why didn’t you?” Andrew put an arm around Alliji‘s shoulder to comfort him.

“We needed the pay. We were all trying to save to get a good shop up near Aswar Tyrae. If I’d gone back too, we’d have gotten nothing except that short stack of coin for the death. At least this way…" He shook his head.

“Ah, shit, you’ve got me here, anyway,” Andrew said. “You’ll get to go home, Nexi will be there. At least we’re out of that hell in the mountains.”

A savage anger flared in him; for the first time he realized his rage at the enemies who had killed his friend, and he regretted giving Ti’Ann‘s datasheet to her lover after she had worked to kill Nurumin and so many others. Why had he hidden from himself this fury he felt now?

“Yes, but Nurumin…" A catch in Alliji‘s voice.

“We’re gonna make sure that kind of thing doesn’t get more of us. We can’t bring him back.” And they sat for a long time without moving, Andrew‘s arm around his friend, while he wondered at the terrible confusion of his own emotions.

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	CONE COUNTRY 1544 4D The mangled body of the big assailant was packed in a freezer aboard the train. Three days of investigation and interrogation of the locals resulted in nothing new; no one seemed to know this man or how he could have acted as he did. It frustrated Mentrius and the other leads; they sent soldiers out on surprise scouting probes through the grasses at all hours, comm links active, no fewer than six in a group. Nothing came of it except that several patrols got lost in the grass, and found themselves being escorted back to the station by the local Novander men, who seemed amused by all the fruitless effort. At last they embarked; the train began to move again, away from the City. Murmurs turned to a loud gabble of anxious conversation. Yuss came into Andrew‘s car and announced, “Time to let you all know — we’re heading west to Purusil City. That frozen body’s to be delivered there, and we’re all going to take very good care of getting it where it’s supposed to go.” A fist went up. “Top Lead?” “Yes?” “Is that an alien we’ve killed?” “What do you mean, soldier?” “Is that body human?” “It looks human to you, doesn’t it?” “Yes, but it sat up after--“ “We’re not here to guess about it,” Yuss cut him off. “That’s why it’s frozen, so somebody smart can check it out. Until then, don’t make a lot of wild guesses. Got that, everybody?” He looked around the car, from one soldier to another. Nods mixed with rebellious murmurs. As Yuss headed into the next car, the guessing began. Hings-Wen left a knot of others to join Andrew and Alliji. “Look,” Hings-Wen said, “I think it was like some of those virus problems the andros get.” “You mean when they get the upgrade drugs?” Alliji asked. “That’s different. They just get bad headaches. They don’t try and kill people.” Hings-Wen asked Andrew, “What about that woman your patrol shot at Abridor? She was andro, and she was fighting.” “Yeah, but she didn’t sit up after she was dead,” Andrew said. “Tell you what I heard,” a woman named Marande said, joining in, “I heard those andro upgrade viruses are jumping across.” “What do you mean?” Alliji. “Some humans are getting them.” “Hey, Marr, that’s impossible,” Hings-Wen told her. “They engineered all that. It’s prob zero.” “Don’t tell me,” she shot back, “tell the docs at the Aswal Narr medshop. They had to treat a blood-disease case, and one of them told me the guy showed andro oxy factors.” “So what’s that got to do with this jumping corpse we’re hauling off to Purusil?” Andrew asked. He didn’t like the thought of andro gene changes getting loose. Hings-Wen smirked. “That? They’ll be lucky to find anything, after Lead Mentrius got done blowing it to pieces.” The discussion trailed off. Marande and Hings-Wen moved to another knot of debate, and Alliji and Andrew settled back and stared out the window. The train sailed west again across Muathen, and the vastness finally lulled them; long thin clouds washed the sky, the sunlight shifted from gold to copper to wrought-iron night, and stars circled toward day again. A dip and sway in the train’s trajectory made Andrew look out the window into moonless shadows. A huge shape hulked near the barely-graying horizon. “It’s a volcanic mountain,” Alliji said in his ear. “It’s dormant now, but it’s part of a long scatter of them. These ash cones straddle the western plains. Some are still active.” “It looks like a sleeping animal,” Andrew said, stretching. “The Novander Wye say there was an underground city like ours, out here among these volcanoes. But they said it was destroyed, flooded with lava, when the eruptions walked eastward, thousands of years ago.” “The eruptions walked?” “Yeah. That’s how the whole chain was formed in the first place, over many thousands of years. The Novander traditions say that a star giant named Uesh stands with his shining head at the center of Tarnus and his heavy feet near the surface. Some day, while he treads Tarnus from the inside, the force of his feet will squeeze molten stone into the City itself, and Monford, and all the other burrows of humankind, and destroy them.” “Where do you get all this?” Andrew asked. “I collect stories,” Alliji said. “I talked with those guys back at the last stop. Nurumin was a lot better at it, though.” He stopped talking and swallowed, and his eyes shone. “Damn, I wish I’d gone back with Nexi, so I could stand blood with him for…" “Why didn’t you?” Andrew put an arm around Alliji‘s shoulder to comfort him. “We needed the pay. We were all trying to save to get a good shop up near Aswar Tyrae. If I’d gone back too, we’d have gotten nothing except that short stack of coin for the death. At least this way…" He shook his head. “Ah, shit, you’ve got me here, anyway,” Andrew said. “You’ll get to go home, Nexi will be there. At least we’re out of that hell in the mountains.” A savage anger flared in him; for the first time he realized his rage at the enemies who had killed his friend, and he regretted giving Ti’Ann‘s datasheet to her lover after she had worked to kill Nurumin and so many others. Why had he hidden from himself this fury he felt now? “Yes, but Nurumin…" A catch in Alliji‘s voice. “We’re gonna make sure that kind of thing doesn’t get more of us. We can’t bring him back.” And they sat for a long time without moving, Andrew‘s arm around his friend, while he wondered at the terrible confusion of his own emotions.