[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

place for herself.
"I think it would be good if we have time to change clothes and rest before
the reception," said
Mengmoshu.
"Of course," said Jin-yao. "We're only minutes away from the place, that
cooperative ahead, and left. It's an informal affair, Madam. I hope you don't
mind, but no nobles have been invited. The ladies of the cooperative have
prepared a buffet of everyday foods for you, and the guests were chosen by
lottery.
Tonight you dine with common people, and then there will be a tour of the
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underground shops."
"How wonderful," said Kati, suddenly back again.
Jin-yao smiled. "It was also a profitable fund-raiser for the cooperative," he
said. "Two thousand tickets sold for one hundred winners, and sixty-five of
them are women. You will not be burdened with talk of business and politics
this evening, Madam. It should be relaxing for you."
How thoughtful of them, Father.
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And informative
, said Mengmoshu.
There was no crowd to greet them, not even a single official. They stopped at
the back entrance of a building, where there was a playground and a pond, with
acres of green grass criss-crossed with beds of flowers and dotted with
Tysk
. Jin-yao led them inside and down some stairs to a basement, where there were
cooking odors that reminded Kati she was hungry. A long hallway, bare walls
painted white, had several numbered doors on both sides. "Guest rooms,"
explained Jin-yao. "We have three of them for your party, Madam. I will return
in two hours to take you to the reception. It is in the Common Room, nearby.
My nose tells me the ladies have already gone far with the cooking." He showed
them to their rooms, bowed, and left.
Two beds, a dresser, table and two chairs, a small bathroom with tub and sink,
an open closet with a rack for hanging clothes, the room was spartan and
simple, yet accomodating. Kati's security people were moved into rooms
flanking hers. There was no telephone, no radio, just soft light from ceiling
panels.
Quiet.
"I will bathe first," said Mengmoshu, "while you do what you've been thinking
about all afternoon." He went into the bathroom, and closed the door.
Kati quickly unpacked a change of clothes, then lay down on the bed and closed
her eyes. The purple matrix of stars was there, three of them pulsing
together, and she went to them, coming out so accurately she nearly melded
with her daughter's manifestation.
Good, you've arrived
, said Yesui.
I didn't even move, waiting here.
She sounded impatient.
They went quickly to the vortex of Tengri-Nayon, and Kati called out, Abagai,
it's Kati. I'm here now, if you still want to see me. Yesui's here with me.
No answer, no flash of green, or the familiar, smiling face.
Abagai, please. Yesui is worried about you, and so am I. Please come.
Nothing.
She just faded away when I was talking to her, and I was right in the middle
of something
, said
Yesui.
Her face disappeared first, and then her manifestation turned muddy, all brown
and yellowish. It flickered a couple of times, then dimmed to nothing. And
when I called again, she didn't answer.
Abagai! You're frightening us! Please answer!
The answer came not from Abagai, but her daughter.
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Kati? What's going on?
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We've been trying to reach your mother, Yesugen, but she doesn't respond, and
we're worried.
Kati concentrated hard, trying to sense a familiar presence, but felt nothing
there.
She was asleep when I looked in on her an hour ago, Kati. I'll go check her
again
She's asleep, and I can't rouse her. I'm calling her physician
Oh, Kati, she's in a coma! She's dying!
We're moving her to hospital
The machines are helping her breathing. I saw her eyelids flutter once, but
her heartbeat is so slow!
How much time has passed, Yesugen? I had an appointment in two hours when I
came here.
It's nearly that, now.
I must leave. Yesui will stay here and relay any message from you. I'm sorry,
Yesugen, very sorry.
I understand. I'm at her side, now.
Kati opened her eyes with a start, and burst into tears. Mengmoshu was sitting
on the edge of the bed, face grim, and held out his arms to her. He cuddled
her, stroked her hair until the sobbing began to subside. "There's nothing you
can do except wait, Kati. You cannot prevent what is natural, and she has
lived a long life."
"I know," sobbed Kati, "but she's like my own mother, and now I'm losing her."
"I will miss her, too, but Jin-yao waits for us in the hallway. He arrived
several minutes ago. What you're wearing will be fine for the reception. The
people wait for you, Kati."
She nodded, and sniffed, and wiped her eyes dry. "Once they waited for First
Mother, and now she's dying. What do I tell them, when it happens?"
"You tell them nothing. If there is a First Mother, it is not Abagai, or you,
or Yesui, but something else, a natural power beyond our comprehension. As
long as there is a universe, there is a First Mother, Kati.
Try to think of it that way, and it will be easier for you. First Mother has
always been, and always will be. She is everything there is, and we are a part
of Her."
Suddenly she felt comforted. A life, having been lived, ends, and the atoms of
the body are dispersed to form new things. The atoms of her own body had once
been parts of many stars, then clouds of dust and molecules, then planets,
then . . . Was this immortality? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]