Place of Great Prospect (Part One)

August 13 - Al Raqis

Situated close to the Magistrate's keep, separated only by a narrow bridge, lies the manor of House Shanjian. A magnificent structure, in a style I could only describe as Gothic Arabesque. Its balconies overlook the central landing pads of the region. A narrow path to the side leads to the Wadi Emet.

It was here I came to meet Calina Tereshchenko.

She welcomed me cheerfully, "Major! What a pleasant surprise. How are you today?"

"Feeling better thank you," I replied.

"Were you ill?"

"A slight injury," I explained, "Nothing serious."

"I suppose that goes with the territory in your line of work," she remarked.

I conceded the point with a nod and a gentle smile. "And how are you doing?" I asked.

Calina walked over to the bird cage and tapped it lightly, "I am well," she replied, "Not injured and just moving from day to day. For some odd reason, it has been very quiet. It makes me nervous.... that quiet before a storm. Were you ever on Sihnon when the storms would roll out of the mountains?"

I remembered those storms, from my summer holiday with Brooke and her family, so long ago.
"You mentioned you had some information," I said.

"Oh! Yes. I did mention that... Ardra? Why don't we go upstairs to my office. It is a bit more comfortable."

-----

We walked up to the second floor. Calina led the way to a large office. Oriental decor adorned the walls, but not so much as to be overpowering.

Antique chairs, each one of unique design, each one a solitary remnant of a larger collection of matching furniture. Together, they were survivors of another time and another world.

The desk was a masterpiece. A black enamel base with gold trim, heavily decorated with painted birds, flowers and idyllic country scenes. Accented with inlaid jade, and coral, turquoise and Mother of Pearl.

A large carpet covered the stone floor. Two rabbits hopped playfully about the room. One began thumping its little leg on the floor, indicating its pleasure at seeing Calina, much in the same way a dog wags its tail.

I was impressed. "I must say..you have made this stuffy Al Raqis architecture seem airy and bright. Very different from what I have seen so far."

It was remarkable, in fact. The Zenobian government had decorated their own manor in a style suitable for the Borgia or the Medici family. Dark and full of intrigue. The Orions had turned their manor into a nightclub. Loud and decadent. By contrast, Calina's manor was a relaxed space. You felt calm, at ease immediately upon entering, even though the architectural elements of all of the manor houses were the basically the same.

The Companion smiled, "Thank you. I try to make it as comfortable as possible. Please, have a seat."

I chose the seat on the right, careful not to step on the rabbits.

Calina noticed me giving attention to the pets. "The bunnies are Malcolm... he is the white half-lop and Inara, the gray bunny."

"Are these yours or Jade's?" I asked pleasantly.

"They are mine," she explained, "I brought them with me when I moved from Boros. Jade has cats. An apartment full of cats, last I saw."

I laughed gently, "I remember chickens." Jade had a clutch of chicks in her room above the dressmaker's shop in Eavesdown Docks.

"I think she finds alot of comfort in animals," said Calina, "They have simple needs... not all of the complications of human relationships."

"How is she doing these days?"

"Last I saw, she was doing well. She was recovered from her .... tussle ... with the Orion pirates. Back to spice mining and trading. If you ever need something and want it cheap, that is the girl to go to. She can wheel and deal like no one's business."

I smiled. "Well, I could use a new hydrosuit..."

Calina grinned as she typed something on her computer, "I will let her know. As to Ardra, Lily said she saw Ardra here... well, in the Wadi. She even took The Hyperion of the Myrmidon Order to meet Ardra."

I adjusted myself in my seat so my back did not touch the back of the chair.

"Ardra was on fire in the photo I saw," she added.

"In the Wadi?" I asked, "that is interesting."

Calina continued, "She said that Ardra was on her way to 34 Tauri to 'harvest.'"

I sighed. Harvest could mean collecting monopoles. It could mean body parts...

Okay, I thought, let's back this up.

"Why would Lily bring the Hyperion to see Ardra?" I asked.

The Companion grinned, "They were on a date. In Lily's mind, anyway."

Oh bless them both, I thought.

Calina continued, "Krakken was being gracious and humoring her as he had never experienced the force that is LilyBell Snoodle before. She spent days waiting for him to return to Morloch in some kind of gown. And a silver case to go on a honeymoon."

I smiled in spite of myself.

Calina nodded in agreement, "It was rather amusing."

Circle back.

"This picture you saw of Ardra... she was on fire? or could it be a cloud of spice?"

"It looked like fire," replied Calina, "but given the quality of the image, you could be correct that it was some kind of red dust cloud. Lily also said she went inside Ardra's ship because she liked all the shiny things and the computers."

"Lily is...." I struggled for the right word,"...sympathetic towards Ardra."

"I tried," she added, "to get Lily to tell me where Ardra was going to go once back in 34 Tauri but she wouldn't say. She said Ardra and the girls had been to Hale's Moon."

I nodded and added grimly, "Of course, any evidence there is gone now..."

"And in another conversation, Lady Rashad asked Lily about Ardra's propulsion.... direct mass to energy conversion. But Lily said it was not as efficient as a ship."

It did not surprise me that Lady Rashad had shown an interest. I'm sure a number of factions here would like to get their hands on Guild technology.

"The heighliners are huge," I remarked, "monstrous even."

Calina scrolled through her screen "I had to make notes... I write lots of things down so I do not forget them. Journaling is a lost art, it would seem."

"I appreciate your efforts," I said sincerely.

She read from her notes, "Ardra has collectors... looked as though it was on fire... had wings... Lily said Ardra wanted her things and Lily made Ardra a new body.... Wylder not Ardra's father... there are millions of Ardras as they wear out...."

"Lily's words?" I interrupted.

"...She kept saying over and over about Ardra being everywhere. Nothing about a location. She mentioned Audrey, Constance, and Miss Mercedes."

I frowned as I tried to put this together. Like fragments of a shattered mirror. A mirror that was Ardra, while the reflection was Lily.

"Oh... I'm sorry," corrected Calina, "that's Aruda... not Ardra. Millions of Arudas. Not the same as Ardra."

I nodded. "The Arudas are drones," I explained, "much like an office bot." Information scavengers.

"Ahhh. She kept on about Ardra being every where but not as everywhere as AuroraBlue."

"Naturally," I replied, "Lily is a mother first." Nothing can compare to your own.

"Then I asked if Ardra wanted AuroraBlue and Lily changed. She looked dead at me and said 'AuroraBlue mine.'"

I mused aloud, "Ardra being everywhere..."

Calina completed the thought,"...and Lily is bringing her parts."

"Yes," I acknowledged, "well, thank you for this information."

The Companion smiled, "Then she said that she heard I was much more than a Browncoat, which would be funny since I was not even in my teens during the War. And on Londinium. So, whatever that means."

I chuckled, "Was that before or after she saw you in your judicial robes and wig?"

She laughed, "Before."

I stood and almost blacked out as my belt pressed against the wound on my back. Calina noticed.

"You look like you are still hurting, Major," she said kindly.

I hesitated. "Yes... I will have it attended to... soon."

I admit, I have been denying that my injuries could be serious. I hated the inconvenience of seeking out medical attention, and the loss of independence that accompanies illness or injury like a handmaiden.

"What is Ardra?" she asked directly, "I've heard it mentioned... it's like some spectre from a ghost story."

"I would venture to say she is a composite being... part machine certainly."

"Artificial intelligence?" she asked.

"In my opinion, more than an AI." If I was correct, Ardra was part machine, part flesh, with the mind of a dead girl.

Spectre was a good word.