Cannibal World (Wine of the Gods Book 30) Read online

  "Cut around Dallas and try to get over the Rockies. If we can't meet up with American troops, and convince them that we're friendly, and get through a Gate, I suspect we're going to see what a merged World looks like."

  "And we're going to be really unpopular, after that little episode back there." Melody was grinning, her eyed wild and bright.

  She was looking more like herself every day. Would they all get back to what they had once been?

  Chapter Ten

  14 Skirophorian 4721

  Helios Shadow Zone

  DoHelaos Nikostratos looked over the numbers again. Surely . . . No. Never lie to yourself, whatever else you do. We're in deep trouble.

  Senator Usirus had noticed as well. And spotted a solid platform from which to attack the ArcHelaos. "We need to delay the next merge. We need to send strike teams deep into the target and start capturing more Damos. When we have enough on hand, when we have merged everyone, every wife and child, then we take the next step."

  A futile action, so few would be captured, but should I try to publicly persuade the Archeleos and buy Usiris's trust?

  We ought to have moved all the young people out to a third world. We've gotten too fixed in our thoughts. I need to look to the army's loyalty for the future. But I think I'll start by sticking a digit in here.

  ArcHelaos Silouanus had regained something of his former intelligence, and was quickly fighting his way out of the web of meaningless decisions they'd surrounded him with. But he'd been sidelined too long. Everyone knew the real orders were coming from Usirus and Nikostratos.

  "I think Usirus has a good point. Let's at least send some teams out, and bring back some . . ."

  Silouanus glowered at him. "This is my decision, DoHelaos, not yours. We will extend the shadow zone as soon as the Army is in position. With the greater area, we can finally capture enough Damos, and may in fact find those they have evacuated from the early areas."

  "Yes . . . that's possible. But this next jump will cover so much area that we may not be able to stabilize it."

  "Bah. The future belongs to the bold. Be gone with your caution and worries."

  Nikostratos walked out, definitely taking his caution and worries with him.

  A tech manager fell in beside him, cleared his throat. "I have heard that, as our bodies are mostly water, that bathing in the unmerged water of the target, especially if enriched in minerals may be . . . unsatisfactory but a way to survive."

  Nikostratos stopped and eyed the man. His skin was a bit streaky and odd looking. "Indeed? You tried this yourself, didn't you?"

  "Yes, DoHelaos. Only fair to kill myself with a stupid idea. But we could have barrels of water and ashes of incinerated animals standing by."

  "As a reasonable precaution. Indeed. I believe I will speak to the army about this."

  "Get your children and your wives into the shadow zone. Start them drinking these, bathing in these. It may be their only chance."

  The men looked at the containers of unmerged water in their merged containers, the jars of powdered minerals.

  The officer swallowed and nodded. "Anubu spare us. Is it that bad?"

  "Possibly. So take those merged barrels out to the target and fill them with water. I am diverting supplements from the merge centers to here.

  "In five days we will either have another large jump, with a chance of finally capturing the evacuated civilians, or we'll hit the crucial portion of the World and it will go fast. So distribute this material to any family who is working in the zone, and get the rest into the zone. Bring them here to the warehouse."

  He walked out of the warehouse then, sickened by the necessity of what he'd just done. Those men would be his, heart and soul, if their families survived. If it didn't work, well. Perhaps they would realize that their families would have died anyway. Or perhaps they would come and kill him. There was no Kleos, no glory, without risk.

  ***

  DoTechnos Iokaste marched distastefully off the bus and followed the line of mag workers into the merge center. She really hated the three days of disorientation that always followed a merge, but there was nothing to do but get it over with. She was late, as it was. Rumors that they were having trouble catching natives were spreading. The merge expansions were a month behind schedule, and she'd been working in the merge zone for a day and a half. Dangerously long.

  She stripped in the prep room, left her bag, and had enough seniority to maneuver forward in line and get matched up with a young one. Thin and not much bosom, but that was better than a fat one. Their masses matched to within a few kilos, which was the important thing. They were hitting the native's right front cortex this time. She hoped it didn't cause her too much of a headache. The already merged orderlies lifted the limp body off the conveyor and she laid on the cold metal of the gurney. They laid the native down on top of her. She lay quiet, matching up her hands and fingers, feeling the pull, the crawling tissues as they tried to align with hers, the foggy half-anesthetized feeling of sharing head space with a comatose person. She blacked out, came to in one of the beds along the wall of the merge room. One of the medtechnos there led her back to the prep room and she sat gratefully, to pull on her clothes. She was a bit shaky, but it was nothing compared to how it felt without the native being pre-processed—brain damaged enough to erase the personality, without damaging too much. The merge covered up the damage, by and large. Thank Anubu they'd come up with the procedure. The first two mergers had been Hades on Helios. Even now there were problems.

  She'd worn roomy, comfortable things without complicated fasteners, but she still stared at the strip and had to think how it might seal her jacket. Oh yes, fine little hooks into the wooly side. Interesting. Heavy and awkward, she followed the staggering crowd through the quick check line. They were listened to, poked and prodded, given nutritious drinks and sent back to the barracks. They each had a tiny room, women on the fourth-floor, men occupying the remainder. Umm, handsome men.

  One of them staggered up. Tall, pants and sleeves amusingly short on the, umm, fairly well muscled figure. Office type, not a soldier or laborer.

  "I know you." He pulled her out of line. "Don't I?"

  Iokaste had never had much use for men, but this one was just yummy. She pulled his head down and kissed him, vaguely thinking that the three days of adjustment were usually full of this sort of thing. Two women's worth of hormones or some such, even though those chemicals ought to have merged as well. Other couples were moving off together and she allowed the man to guide her into a tiny room.

  Hormones, can't beat them.

  She pulled herself back awake, and remembered Adelphie in accounting. They'd lived together for three years, why was the memory so slippery and hard to grasp? The man, she didn't even know his name, ran a finger across her shoulder and down her arm. She shivered in pleasure or was it fever? She felt weak, hot. His hair was lighter than she remembered, a light brown rather than the nearly black she'd thought. Oh, right, still changing and adjusting. She probably was too. He put his hand on her forehead. "Merge 'flu. Drink this."

  Oh yes. Water, must drink lots of water. Some from Helio, some from the target. In different containers, of course. A bit chalky and salty. Whatever her body needed, it would take. She got up and staggered to the privy – wrong word, what was it called here? She felt really awful, and where was she anyway? A man led her to a bed and made her feel right at home. Did she know him?

  She wondered vaguely about a mirror, but the bed and the man were warm and a round of chills sent her shivering into his arms. He seemed to appreciate the warmth too. They slept between bouts of shivering and they both drank enormous amounts of the liquids the med techs were walking around handing out. In the morning, she felt so weak she nearly didn't make it to the privy. Pissed so dark it was almost black. Not a good sign. Shivering with chills now. She managed to get a good look at herself in the hallway mirror and frowned. She wasn't dominating the physical body as fast or as strongly as she had b
efore.

  A man crept out of another privy, visibly shivering. Right, this was the guy she been with, wasn't it? She met his eyes in the mirror. "This is my fifth merge. Are we losing our identities? I don't look like me any more. Have we finally gotten too dilute?" She leaned in and stared at her eyes. Dark, dark blue. Nearly black, with a rim of blue. Hard to see where pupil ended and iris started. The other people around didn't seem to be having the same problems adjusting. She walked, only a little shaky, back to the man's cubicle, and picked up her bag. She should go up to the women's floor now. Find . . . whatever her name is and tell her, reassure her . . . Is she here? Who?

  The man walked in behind her, spotted the bag and sighed. "Leaving already?" He leaned and kissed her. "I'm . . . I'm, umm." He shook his head in confusion. "Heliodoros. I'm Heliodoros. Anubu, I'm really not adjusting very fast, this time. I ache all over."

  She nodded. "Me neither. This is the worst merge flu I've ever had. I'm Iokaste . . . Ioquickos? Damn. This is going to be a rough transition. You married? Any kids?"

  He shook his head hesitantly. "I don't think I'm married . . . Want breakfast?"

  She left her bag and went with him to breakfast, the usual creamed grain that wouldn't upset their stomachs, and might supply some of the extra merging elements they needed. They continued to pick at memories, sitting in the temporary mess hall with other newly merged Helaos, most looking a lot more alert than she felt.

  She went back to Heliodoros's cubicle to retrieve her bag and wound up in bed with him.

  "I don't remember my name." She frowned, but she was too sleepy to worry long. She slept the day away and missed both lunch and dinner. And all the second day as well.

  It was dark when Quicksilver finally awoke. She'd taken the healing wine before being zapped so the brain damage must have healed quickly. And hopefully the spells were maintaining her genes and switching to her pattern any alien genes. Morphologically, she'd only had spells to maintain her brain's configuration. Keep the brain in good shape and she could fix the rest later. She opened her eyes and pondered the unusual situation of waking up cuddled up to a man. Some Cannibal stranger. Pity she couldn't remember any of it. Did it count? Fortunately the man was asleep. She slipped out of bed, took the bag with women's clothes overflowing from it, and searched for a privy.

  She felt shaky and weak. Hmm. Black pee. She rather vaguely thought that was bad.

  She showered and dressed, grabbed her bag and wandered around wondering which room she'd come from. Posted directions in a language she didn't remember ever learning sent her upstairs to the women's floor, and the list there had names against rooms designated by weird symbols. Numbers. Those were numbers. Her eyes drifted back to 'Iokaste'. That was the woman she'd merged with. Wasn't it? That cubicle was empty, so good enough.

  She sat on the floor and ran through her meditations and beginning magic exercises until dawn. Calmed herself down. She invoked a spell of general healing and another to cleanse the body of toxins. She checked the mirror, and forcibly lightened her hair to almost blonde and examined her peeling and bruised looking skin. She could hear other people stirring now, and stopped the magic. The rest would have to wait until she had more time.

  She showered again and changed into not-so-dirty clothes, located the laundry and loaded everything.

  And having run out of things to do, she had to face the question of whether her parents had survived the battle, or a merge, and if not, what she could do. And Xen. He was out here somewhere. Is. Nothing has happened to him.

  The very thought was enough to send her back to deep breathing and calming meditations.

  They were summoned. Surely they just popped back to wherever they'd been.

  She abandoned her wet laundry and trotted down to the mess hall. More nasty glop. More? When did I ever eat this stuff? There were lots of drink selections, she grabbed a glass that drew her hands. It must have something I need. She sipped, sampled the glop. Closed her eyes and opened her mind. :: Xen? ::

  :: Oh good. Mom and Dad are half frantic, and I was starting to panic at the thought of telling Mom and Dad I'd let you get killed. ::

  :: Let me! Ha! I can get killed perfectly well on my own. Oh. My. Aching. Head. I was me when I woke up this morning. But my memories are scrambled. I've got to get this stupid idiot out of my head. ::

  :: You merged? ::

  Quicksilver nodded. :: I think my Helaos is nearly gone. Although I seem to have the language down well enough. :: She took a drink, felt a bit better. She swapped to Hel. :: Do you need the language? Satan, you'd better be careful. I have a bad memory gap. I may not be trustworthy for a while. ::

  She could feel him absorbing the language. He must be close . . . walking in the door, in fact. Wearing an illusion over his clothing and face, but she could see through to the muddy rags and tired face. Not sleeping? Or merge sick?

  :: Water, ashes, smoke. Yuck. ::

  But alive. She grinned up at him. "Satan take it, I hate this amnesia. I have a few lingering memories of Iokaste being appalled at being matched with such a tall person, guaranteed bad merge flu. I guess she was medium tall and chubby. That's all I remember."

  He settled down then, and his arm looped around her shoulders. "You okay, Q?"

  "Yeah." She wondered how often and with whom Iokaste had done anything while she wasn't quite back yet. There had been a tall black-haired man, hadn't there? Then another with brown hair. Was either of them the man she woke up with this morning? She hadn't even tried to see his face. Bah. Relative to the importance of her brother surviving, it was nothing. "Right now I'm wondering if I have enough of Iokaste's memories to operate in her place."

  "Old Gods. I don't actually want to function in this place. Iokaste?"

  She smiled as his curse translated oddly. "Senior tech in . . . something to do with magnetics? Damn. I may have lost too much of her. Sounds like she's in a good position to sabotage something large."

  "Remember what Dad said about the original Gate? Super-cooled, super-conducting magnets."

  She sat up. "That's it. Damned if she isn't perfectly placed. These people are creating the merge. I don't know what will happen if I sabotage it with things all mixed up like this."

  Xen held his hand palm up, down in his lap. After a long moment little lights danced across it. "I merged with rain water, ashes, and salt. It's bound to have some nasty effects."

  She slid her glass and bowl across the table. He gulped and wolfed the lot. She got up and fetched more. He joined her, selecting a different drink.

  "Lousy security." Xen glanced around. "I suppose they think any of their victims would get sucked into a tree or something, before they got here."

  "I've been meditating and reviewing all morning." Quicksilver waved her healing and detox spells his direction. "I sure as hell hope all those other spells I put on myself are still working their way through this mess."

  "No kidding." He got up and she followed him out to the large mirror beside the communal showers.

  "Well, that's definitely me." Q said. "But not quite exactly." She darkened her hair a bit.

  Xen nodded, examining various scars. The one that circled his left upper arm looked pretty faint. "Weird. I must be half mud and ashes of incinerated rats. Doesn't seem to have messed up my head. But I feel weak. I'll have to fix that."

  "You better. Rael might find herself a new pet, otherwise. Iokaste was stacked. Huh. I think I may have swapped a bit of height for a lot of shape. I'll have to do something about that, eventually. I don't want anything of anybody's in me."

  He snorted, choked.

  "Men!"

  "Right." He snorted. "So, do I look about as smart as a mudhole?"

  She looked at him searchingly. "Hard to tell." They swapped grins. "Now I'm going to finish my laundry and probably sleep for another day and a half."

  She meditated too. Squashing anything of Iokaste's personality or self that she could find. But remembering Iokaste's job. So she knew where
to go to report for work once the medical processors had cleared her and she received an ID tag to hang around her neck that cleared her straight into the Main Maintenance Module.

  Xen followed, under a light warp.

  She cheerfully greeted by name three people, and had to check the tags of eight others before recognizing what was left of her co-workers.

  "Woo, Iokaste, you look terrific. Tan and young and fit!" The lumpy boy at the first simulator leered. Sotirios.

  "Ha. The privileges of seniority. I picked a good one this time. You must have found a kid. Now, how are you all doing at requalifications?"

  "Like always on the first day—horribly." A skinny old woman grimaced. "I think this Native must have been barely literate. I tried to pick a young, pretty one and all I got was stupid."

  "Mine was thirteen and fat. I feel weird." Sotirios scowled as his simulator chimed for his attention.

  "It beats waking up older." Q sat down at the fourth simulator and booted it. Thank the Old Gods for two worlds worth of computer training. She studied the alien keyboard, then worked carefully through the refamiliarization program, obviously designed for foggy brains. They have problems. Even with injuring the brains of the natives—or maybe because of it—they have to partially retrain with every merge. How many until they lose it altogether?

  :: Can we hope for this one? :: Xen stepped invisibly away as the fat boy lumbered up behind her.

  "Damn it Iokaste, how do you always pick things up so fast?" Sotirios whined.

  "Just work away at it. Get back in the groove. Repeated memories will help you stabilize." Probably true. She might just have troubles with Iokaste in the long run. She ran through the next level of the simulation, and the next. She was picking up the technical info very quickly, but it didn't feel like Iokaste. Picking brains? Whose?

  "Excellent DoTecno Iokaste. You always have come through well." She looked around. Didn't need to check the name.