5 reached it and he was the last thing it saw a young human with pale skin and gray eyes and hair so fair it was almost silver When Kean was sure the bird was dead he stroked the feathers of its neck and lifted it up How extraordinarily light it was for its size Wanderer lore held that it was unlucky to take anything from an albatross though Kean would have liked one long snowy feather as a keepsake from the only living thing that was capable of crossing the Big White itself The vultures were no lower in the sky which surprised him they would normally land by a victim before it had even died He looked around carefully reading the situa tion It was his eyes that had named him He sees keen and long it had been recognized and at last he had an identity So then What was bothering the vultures Was that tiny dark spot on the landscape a stand of acacia trees That meant at least a modicum of water and shade And shade and water could mean He began to run back the way he had come Not a trot this time but running with long strides O Terrible screams rang out in the Middle Chamber the most often used of the three immense public chambers built one above the other in the center of the Pyramid The slightly smaller arena above this one just below the plastics hot house was the Concert Hall only used on ceremonial
6 occasions or for public celebrations while beneath their feet was the Measureless Chamber In here young people thrashed around on the white floor squirming singly or together and shrieking at the top of their voices Some of the sports were organized the others were simple expres sions of chaos the only rule being that all must involve vio lent exertion wrestling Keep-Ball Tag Two or Die Members of the security force the Pacifiers stood in pairs at intervals around the walls For the policing of the mass hysteria of Mania they were without the actual elec tric pacifors All were large men over twenty-five years old with the dark star of justice stamped on their tunics They would interfere only if blood was spilled Essa saw that Veramus needed looking after Wriggling rather tamely on the floor and shouting as he was meant to he had been swept up in a game of Keep-Ball Three girls had stuffed the little round sack of beads down his tunic and had begun to use Veramus himself as the ball dragging him over to others in their squad Everywhere players were being grabbed and hurled aside but the action was naturally fiercest around Veramus Essa got to her feet and ran at the kidnappers making herself into a human battering ram The little pack of players stumbled and fell to the ground Essa reached into Veramus’s tunic plucked out the ball and flung it away from him One of the girls said That’s not fair Essa scrambled to her feet You’re not fair Leave him alone She was tall with dark hair and she looked danger ous the girl said nothing more When Essa walked away
7 she did not look back at Veramus He would be embar rassed by her intervention She had caught the eye of one of the security officers Unlike the others he stood alone a giant of a man whose uniform was less than spotless His gray hair was cut close to his heavy head and his face was bitter and scarred It was Grollat Commander of the Pacifiers The smallest twitch of his head summoned her and she went to him Name His whisper cut easily through the tumult Elessa of Bonix and also Marran Ah He looked down at her impassively Bonix Maintenance A citizen now Why wouldn’t he know Her father had some stature in Arcone these days Still Essa was impressed how Grollat could at once bring him to mind Yes she said wondering what she could have done wrong You have courage Oh That was it I don’t like to see people oppressed Better keep your eyes on the ground then Elessa There’s always someone who needs help He smiled cyni cally But he had not finished with her Would you say you have an independent spirit No Not at all she said quickly You wouldn’t say you have an independent spirit No Commander I would
8 Essa could not resist the urge of her questioning nature What are you doing here I’m sorry I didn’t mean He was untroubled by her rudeness Looking Looking for new recruits Shame you’re a girl Essa He gestured for her to leave him A hot flush came to Essa’s cheeks although she was warm enough already He knew her nickname Why She made herself start screaming again like all the oth ers and ran as far away from the Commander as she could O There at last a flash of reflected light the tent But so tiny in the distance Kean had been running for minutes It was becoming hard to breathe When the shrill bark ing came he couldn’t help but look back A single charjaw stood one paw raised pointing the way to him The others would be along soon They should pause to rip at the alba tross but there was not enough meat on it to hold them long How stupid he’d been where there were vultures you could expect charjaws to arrive sooner or later His imagi nation conjured up a closer image of the creature its huge head and balding body the incredibly broad mouth with the curved and ragged teeth that kept the beast’s mouth open at all times Those terrible teeth that were too big even for a charjaw’s skull It called again with more excitement a rapid series of yelps Kean ran on it had seen the others and was guar anteeing them a rich feast if they hurried Lengthening
