RAEFF (Jim Able: Offworld Book 6) by Ed Charlton (best books to read fiction .TXT) 📗

looked out at the rain. The early days had become weeks. Twice her Raeff had strayed, thinking of her as an object for his desires. It cut to the heart of all she was. She felt the weight of the tradition on her shoulders. For generations, the Luminants had guarded society by carefully carving the distinction between the roles of guide-companion and that of wife. Their virginity was the root of their power; without it, a Luminant would be just another courtier, just another ambitious female.

Her automatic and universal access to the Raeff would only remain unquestioned if their relationship was purely mystical. If it were ever anything else, she would be relegated to his personal time, a distraction from his work, a hobby. That would mean her true work could not be done. Only with her access could she monitor his mental state at all times. She had to be there whenever he needed her. Whenever the spirit spoke, she had to be there to hear, record, and interpret. She had to witness that secret interaction of the spirit with the mundane.

“To witness the flare of other-light. To witness the enlivenment of the dead. To witness the melting of the impenetrable barrier. To stand at the portal of the Almighty.”

She stood at the window and recited the sacred words of her calling. Nothing could compare to it; nothing would be allowed to endanger it.

“Luminant?”

“Yes? What is it?”

“May I speak with you a moment?”

“General Dol! You are well?”

He didn’t answer but gave her a sideways look that cut through the formalities.

“How is he?”

She paused before saying, “You see him in the briefings. You know he is well.”

“He is insane, as are you, as are we all.”

“If all are mad, there is none who can diagnose it.”

He gave a cold and sad laugh. “Indeed, who will tell us the truth?”

“What can I do for you, mad General Dol?” she said with a light laugh.

“How is he?”

She bowed her head briefly. “I have said.”

“Damn you. I need to know. We are following a series of orders that make no sense. It’s as if he has lost the great ambition that he had. He has lost sight of the true goal. He has changed us from a conquering army to a few raiding parties. It’s as if we are already holding off a defeat without a shot ever being fired. I need to know! We must understand what is happening to him!”

“The spirit has come to him several times. I...am not yet as skilled as my predecessor at interpreting the spirit in him. I guide as best I can. You cannot ask of me more than this.”

“I do ask, but I expect no better answer. Calna trusted me. I ask you to do the same. I don’t believe the spirit has brought us to the brink of victory to have us pull back and fail for lack of...”

“For lack of what, general?”

“Courage.”

“General, I think the spirit is one of wisdom. He speaks of changing priorities, not of fear or uncertainty. He is sure. He burns with a fire of clarity. This is why he is here. This is why he is Raeff. Trust him. Trust the spirit in him.”

“You are alone and new with him. You lack Calna’s experience. You should ask more of those who have known him longer.”

“You?”

“Before I was ‘General,’ I was Paun Mic Dol. I am a brother to the Raeff. I knew him before the spirit came to him.”

“The spirit was always there; it was yet to be found.”

The general snapped his jaws gently. “So you all say. I’ve heard it before: ‘That which is not seen is still present, undiscerned.’ He was different after the spirit came and continues to change. I worry that you may not see clearly enough to warn us if he is truly in difficulties.”

“There are no difficulties with which the spirit cannot deal, except perhaps lack of faith.” She smiled at him.

He did not return the smile. “That which is undiscerned may be illness and only seen over time.”

“General! Do not speak such things! If you know him so well, you should also know how blessed we have been in him! Is he not everything a Raeff should be? Is he not a wonder to his friends and a terror to his enemies?”

The general growled in frustration but nodded and stalked away.

She leaned back against the cold glass of the window, feeling the vibration of battering rain.

I hope I am right.

Her tutor’s voice was in her mind, reciting one of the holy sayings: If it is not the spirit that speaks in the Raeff, then we are all the greatest of fools.

Chapter Eight

“Now,” said Tamric, “our best approach is to fly as close to Tanna as we can and, then, to keep it behind us. Only solar astronomers will be looking our way.”

“From what we hear, I doubt there are any working right now. War preparations have a way of screwing academic budgets,” replied Jim.

Tamric nodded. Using the chemical thrusters, he steered them toward the star. Jim used the extra day of travel to examine more details of the two planets.

“They don’t come close very often, do they?” he said aloud while looking again over the map of the planetary system.

“No, I think not. I can’t imagine what the Guls must have thought when their neighbors made that first journey.”

“Did you meet Marhan?”

“No.”

“Hmm. If he is typical, the encounter gave them a permanent bad temper and feelings of inferiority.”

Tamric nodded and looked a little sad. “Envy is a corrosive sin for an individual; it must be devastating on a larger scale.”

Jim tilted his head and looked at the monk. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

Tamric smiled and took Jim’s words as a compliment.

As they neared the planet, Tamric began to adjust their course. “There are many orbiting objects; some of them are a long way out.”

“They may have observatories in the gravity-neutral areas.”

Tamric nodded. “Just so. But I see more than