One day I will swim in your blood

[Scott of Hyperborea]

[To be read after Dispatches from the Discontinuity Logfile]

Just before the Avenger departed Concrete Island, a breathless priest ran onto the dock. "Wait!" he shouted. "Wait for me!"

"Kender Ly'Sakredoet?" asked Duke Nereus. "Kender! You're alive!"

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," said the Prelate. "Probably Yardistani propaganda to break Straylight morale. Sad, but it happens. You're about to leave?"

"Yes," said Nereus. "What are you doing here?" Concrete Island was a small spur a few hundred meters from Discontinuity that had served as a small military station. It was also where Nereus and several of his supporters had holed up to escape the crossfire between Icebreaker and the Yardistanis, not to mention possible assassination attempts by Icebreaker himself. So far, their presence here, and that of the Yardistanis who had been assigned to them as a bodyguard, had gone undetected.

"You told me you were going to be here, and now that the evacuation work is complete, I came to join you for the final project. Have you figured out where she is?"

"The Yardistanis captured Deep Trouble two days ago, and as part of the deal they gave my people full access to all Amara archives. I know where she is."

"Perfect," said Kender. "So where is she?"

"Full Circle," said Nereus. "Huge ducal construction program a few centuries ago, intended to be some sort of Cloud Nine levitating zeppelin-city, literally never got off the ground. All that's left of it is a huge geodesic sphere on the seafloor a few miles from Discontinuity. Everyone assumed it had rusted away or something. She must've been there for centuries. Under our noses the whole time. And defended like heck. Luckily, I've got teams of hackers in Backbone Site and Nordagaat who have managed to disable most of it from afar."

"What's the plan, then?"

"Well, we can't just blow the place sky-high because - get this, she's got among other things the bodies of several ancient Kaisers in there."

"Cedrism isn't especially concerned with the preservation of the dead," Kender told him, "and as a nonbeliever, I'm surprised you care about them at all."

"I said she had bodies," said Nereus. "No one said anything about them being dead. Besides, whatever she has in there is something we need to know about. We're sending ten very large Yardistani submersibles down - plus the Avenger; she can transform into a sub. Then we're going to send in the marines, arrest Morimoto, and confiscate whatever else we can find there. Bring them all back to Novi Nigrad while we wait for the political situation here to settle down."

There was a brief lurch as the Avenger set sail. "Transformation to submarine in forty minutes," said an overhead voice, presumably that of the captain. The burning towers of Discontinuity began to quickly fade into the distance. Another voice began to speak.

"This is Admiral Jaxtoraat of the Floating Leviathan of Total Invincibility. Straylight ship, identify yourself."

"This is Duke Rotenaard, Admiral. Duke Caruso has cleared us for transit into the Yardistani-occupied zone to take care of some unfinished business underwater."

"Confirmed, Duke Rotenaard. Enter Yardistani occupied zone, but steer clear of Iardix ships."

Nereus stared at the rapidly dwindling figure of Discontinuity. "That sanct has stood since the days before the Reconsolidation. And now it's burning. Sometimes I think this isn't worth it, not even to stop her scheming...but the flames are beautiful, in their own way."

"They are," agreed Kender. "Magical, even. After all these years, us finally taking out Morimoto. Straylight may suffer, but it will be a great day for Shireroth. And, like they say, you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs."

"Kender, you seem...out of character today."

"Surviving his own death will do that to a man."

"No," said Nereus. "I mean, out of character. GUARDS!"

Five burly men in the uniform of the Straylight Ducal guard materialized, seemingly out of nowhere. Nereus pointed his gun at Kender, and the guards did the same. Kender backed up a step, until he was directly against the railing of the ship.

"What in Balgurd are you doing, Nereus?"

"I've lived a long time," said Nereus, "and I've become pretty good at reading people. I don't know what's up, but I don't think I like it, and you're not stopping me from getting Maria, not when I'm this close."

Kender sighed, deeply. "What gave it away?"

"Oh, your facial expressions and conversational tics have been different ever since I saw you today, and I was doubtful that the Logfile would just make up that death story, but I wasn't sure until just now. You called the sight of Discontinuity burning 'magical'".

"I could have just meant it was pretty. Even prelates can't be compassionate all the time."

"No," said Nereus, "you called it magical. You're a Technomaezj, or, at least, Kender is. No technomaezj would use 'magical' to mean 'nice' or 'pretty'. Given all of those weird reflex things, I'm not even sure a technomaezj is biologically capable of saying the word 'magical' without clenching his teeth."

"Clever boy," said Kender. He was starting to look visibly different now, more animal.

"Who are you?" asked Nereus.

"Why should I tell?"

"I've got a gun aimed at your heart, and five guards have the same. You're on my boat, with nothing behind you but the deep blue sea. So one more time, Kender. Who are you?"

Kender snarled. "My name is Zhaki, and one day I will swim in your blood." Then he jumped over the side of the boat, turned into a dolphin, and dove beneath the waves.