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Quantum Horse declines to visit him this time. Still, when Zuq rouses him he
resists at first, unable to believe that five hours have really elapsed. Find
your amusement elsewhere, lad!
But Zuq is both understanding and persistent. It s time to go, Ako i. Come
on, I m responsible for you. Come out of there and pack up.
There is a hasty meal of nuts and raisins and little flavored bits of dried
chicken, washed down with water that has begun to freeze in its bottles.
How much fartheris the summit? Bruno asks Radmer as the two of them stow
their gear aboard the treaders.
A couple of hours, if we hurry. The people of Highrock need to be warned; if
the enemy is here in Black Forest already, Tillspar will be a major target for
them, both strategically and materially.
A lot of metal, is it?
Wellstone, actually. And a lot of it, yes. More importantly, as the only
bridge across the Divide, it s a critical link between East Imbria and the
coastal cities. Without it, Manilus and Duran and Crossroad will be cut off.
That s a third of the republic, geographically speaking, and nearly a fifth of
its people.
The night has grown colder still, and there s a stiff breeze blowing, but at
least here there are no solar trees drinking in what little heat remains. The
men and the sole woman left among them saddle up and go, beneath the river of
the Milky Way and the watchful eyes of Orion. The stars, barely twinkling, are
as clear here as they would be on the surface of an ordinary planette. You d
need a space suit to get a better view. Murdered Earth is hidden by the
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mountains; only the glow of headlights interferes.
Still, it s slow going up here in the cold and thin, and they crest several
false summits which prove, to Bruno s sinking spirits, to have even higher,
steeper mountains behind them. Indeed, when they ve truly reached the top of
the pass, Bruno doesn t realize it until he sees the lights of a small town,
kilometers in the distance and slightly below their current position.
Is that Highrock? he calls out to Radmer, now several treaders away in the
pack.
Aye, Radmer confirms. If you look, you can even make out the bridge.
And it s true; past a sharp turn and a fork in the road, Bruno can see the
town nestling on either side of some dark expanse, and between them the
inverted, caternary arches of a suspension bridge, its cables strung up with
electric lights. It s a scene straight out of his childhood, and it brings
another pang of nostalgia. Oh, for those simpler days! But it s a false
longing and he knows it, for the simple life is never simple, nor safe. The
Queendom, for all its faults and programmed failures, was a place more worthy
of his pining.
That s a river, then? he asks Radmer.
And Radmer laughs. There is a river, yes, carrying meltwater westward to the
Imbrian Sea. On the other side it flows east to Tranquility, where the site of
Luna s first human visit lies submerged under eighty meters of briny ocean.
But there s more to the Divide than that.
How so?
You missed the Shattering, Ako i. It ll be easier to explain when we re
actually on Tillspar, looking down.
They ride onward, and at the outskirts of the village they encounter a
lighted guard shack, with a sort of vestigial gate blocking the road,
consisting of little more than a horizontal boom which can be pivoted up out
of the way.
Bestnight. What bin z, then? asks one of the two guards in the shack. But
the other one, recognizing Radmer in the pack, steps forward in surprise, then
finally moves to the doorway and walks out. Radmer! My God! I never thought
we d lay eyes onyou again!
Radmer chuckles at that. Oh, ye of little faith. You think a vanishing dot
in the sky is the last you ll see of me? I m harder to get rid of than that.
But we saw it hit the ground! That capsule of yours, a gleam of light in the
setting sun!
You saw it cross the horizon, Radmer corrects, at an altitude of ten
thousand kilometers and climbing. Really, Elmer, if the course was plotted by
the astronomer Rigby, and the capsule and catapult were overseen by no less
than Mika s Armory and the watchmaker Orange Mayhew, then it s Highrock s
reputation at stake more than my own sorry skin. Is this or is this not the
Artisans Pinnacle?
Aye, the guard agrees, yours was a finely crafted delusion. Wheels and
chains, bombs and hatches! A fitting tomb for such as you, big brass balls and
all. No offense to the men what built it, sir, but I m surprised to see you
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just the same.
Well, Radmer says, pulling out a set of travel orders to show off as a
formality, perhaps you could send word to the mayor, let her know I m here.
I ve rung the bell already, the guard assures him.
Soon, the other riders are shouldered aside and Radmer is surrounded by a
milling throng of villagers, talking over one another in a rapidly rising din.
How did that air filter work? Radmer? Radmer! Did the wheel springs seize at
all? Did the dinite charges hurt when they went off? Where did these Dolceti
come from?
It s the mayor herself who rescues him, striding along the cobblestone avenue
in a green robe, with some sort of golden ceremonial pendant dangling from her
neck.
So. How many livesdoes a scoundrel have?
Radmer looks up, suddenly pleased and sheepish, vaguely off balance. More
than he can count, Your Honor. I m pleased to see you again.
I should say the same to you. She clucks, looking him up and down. In one
piece, no less. That s good. Did you find what you were looking for up there?
I did, Radmer answers, presenting Bruno with a flourish.
Hmm. The mayor then turns her appraising eyes upon this even older Older,
who is immediately reminded of his wife. Tamra used to look at Bruno exactly
like that interested, curious, vaguely exasperated whenever things were just
starting to go askew. A couple of years ago, it seemed. A couple of hundred at
the very most. And is he worth your worldly fortune, General? We re living
quite well on the wages you paid us.
To which Radmer answers, If he s not, Your Honor, then you should spend the
money while you can. The Glimmer King has scouting patrols in this pass
already. I fear it won t be long before they re coming for Tillspar in force.
Her smile is vaguely condescending. The bridge has stood since the
Shattering itself, General. It was built, I understand, by the very architect
who crushed this world from the husk of a lifeless moon. Chairmain Kung of the
Gower Monopoly once struck it with a blitterstaff, if I recall the story
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