Chapter Twenty-One

R egi's mother stood at the entrance to the temple sanctuary with its parkland and artificial sunlight designed to nurture both the sacred animals that chose to travel on Gavd ships and the Kowri who might choose the ship as their home.

"There she is," Vk whispered. "How big are these ships?" She eyed the huge door behind Minait. Through it, the verdant grasslands made the air smell of mint and dirt.

Regi had forgotten how expansive Kowri ships were compared to the limited space on Coalition ships. Of course, the Coalition adjusted for the paucity of entertainment and nature by granting the crew leave on stations that had these features. Stations competed for dock fees by installing swimming lagoons and virtual reality competition spaces and a wide variety of eateries that appealed to the species serving as crews.

However, extended leave was not a Kowri tradition. They expected their ship to provide all necessary functions for Kowri to have a happy, fulfilled life. Perhaps that was because the Empire did not need to account for so many different needs. All Kowri required was access to nature, places to leave offerings for sacred animals, space to honor the gods, and competitive games.

At least in public. In private, they required privacy both within family groups and from family members. Kowri ships provided that as well. At one point, his people had taken pride in expanding their borders; Poque ships explored in every direction, and Kowri raised families without ever leaving the protection of the Goddess of Wanderers. They had learned to make ships into homes.

"You came quickly," Minait said.

Vk touched his arm. "Should I accompany you or wait here?"

"You can wait here," Minait told her.

Vk's nose crumpled. "I do not acknowledge your right to make any decision regarding my actions. Regi may ask me to either accompany him or wait."

Regi's mother stiffened, and Regi could imagine the offensive comment she might make.

He rested his hand on Vk's arm. "Please wait for me here," he said. "Having outsiders in the temple proper will only aggravate the exalted, and I hope to save any political capital I may possess to convince them to continue our pursuit of the ship that took Dante and Ter."

Vk relaxed her nose. "Then I shall wait here for you." She put her back to the wall and made it clear she intended that statement literally. She would stand guard in this exact spot.

Regi's mother huffed, but she did not disparage Vk's choice. She led them into the temple. "The ship we pursue has changed course, and some are suggesting that the new course is too far out of our way to follow. They say we should abandon the pursuit."

Regi winced. "And they did not notify me of any debate, which suggests that is the more popular option."

"It is," his mother agreed. "I hope that if we work together we may dissuade them of that belief, but I am unsure if they are willing to be dissuaded."

"I refuse to abandon my crew members," Regi said.

His mother sighed. "Your devotion, while admirable, will not convince any Kowri of the correct course in this instance."

Regi understood that. In fact, he suspected some Kowri would be more likely to speak against pursuit because Regi spoke for it. He was not blind to his people's prejudices.

"What are the objections to the new course?" Regi asked as he followed his mother deeper into the temple. No Coalition ship would have such an expansive open area. A pebafri herd grazed in the distance, and he heard the chittering of dops, although he couldn't see any. Peewee had chosen to stay in the cabin today even though Regi would have appreciated the dop's weight on his shoulder.

"Their ship is heading into an area that is largely uninteresting with several navigational hazards that have prevented the Kowri from developing local planets."

"Why would Bekdi's ship travel to such a place?"

"That is the question," Regi's mother said, "and I am hoping that you will provide an answer that is capable of convincing these exalteds that seeking an answer would be wiser than returning to more traveled space."

She wanted him to say that Divashi was guiding them so the other exalteds would privilege Regi's opinion above those of any other exalted. In general, his mother had much more political influence than he did, so if she hoped he could provide the definitive argument, Divashi was the only logical explanation.

Regi wished she had come to his quarters and spoken to him. They could not discuss the issue freely while avoiding the ire of hostile exalteds. Even now, a Kowri moved toward them through the sacred parklands. His mother bowed her head at the ancient Kowri with gnarled joints.

"Minait a'Otutha," he said, his voice devoid of emotion.

Regi's mother inclined her head toward him and greeted him with an affectionate "Jeheni a'Gavd."

He sighed. "When you left, I thought you had chosen to recuse yourself from this debate."

"Recuse, an interesting verb. It implies that there is reason to doubt my ability to reach a fair judgment. Do you doubt me?"

For a second, Jeheni considered his answer. "Of course not," he said with a sharp smile. "Your goddess has always put great faith in you." In the past, Regi would have assumed the exalted meant that literally but knowing how his mother had chosen family over her goddess in such a significant way, he wondered if this exalted wasn't questioning her faith.

If he was, Minait handled the insults with far more aplomb than Regi could have. She smiled and inclined her head toward him. "My goddess chose me when I was very young and has never stopped placing her faith in me."

Jeheni scowled at her, but he didn't argue.

"Have the others rejoined the debate?" she asked.

"They have," Jeheni said. "I was not the only one to assume that your departure implied you were removing yourself from debate."

"Then you are not the only one who is wrong." She walked toward the meeting rooms where the debate would be taking place. "I chose to ask Regi a'Divashi to join us given that Divashi appears to be the god most involved in this issue."

Regi touched his thumbs to his temple and tried to feign a respect for Jeheni he did not feel. The old male had tried to hide the debate. That was not honorable.

"Oh?" Jeheni had on a mask of disinterest.

"Perhaps we can speak with the others," Regi said. He did not want to repeat his arguments nor did he wish to give Jeheni time to construct counter arguments by previewing his position.

Jeheni stared at him, but Regi did not react. He had endured years of Ter's disagreeable attitude, so a few minutes with a cranky exalted did not impress him.

After several silent moments, Jeheni walked through the double doors that led to the largest debate space on the ship. It was an enormous room with five corners.

In one corner, a life-sized statue of a pebafri represented Gavd, the god who sent his exalteds out into space. Another corner had the enormous freio from the harvest-season temple since Retav was the only other god to send Kowri out on ships. A third corner had a tree with dozens of growing-season animals carved into the trunk or among the branches.

The last two corners had no statues. One was decorated with brilliant yellow and gold crystals growing in the shape of a tree with a wide canopy and a trunk. During the debate, those who touched that section of the wall were voting in the affirmative. They agreed with the question and hoped to see it blossom into a prosperous future.

The other corner had dark blue crystals tapering to a point at the top but had a wide base resembling water flowing out. Those who disagreed with the proposition would move to that part of the room and touch the wall to signal they wished to pass by the proposition the way water would slide over the most stubborn of rocks.

When the three of them entered, voices quieted. Several of the exalteds touched their temples and offered respectful bows. Regi was certain those observances were for Jeheni. Not only did he have far more experience as an exalted than anyone else, but he was a permanent resident of the ship whereas Regi's mother had sought it out for transportation when she had learned Regi had reentered the Empire.

Few if any Kowri had deigned to speak to Regi.

"Exalteds, we should vote," Jeheni said in a strong voice. Every corner fell silent.

"I disagree," Regi's mother said. "It appears I missed the part of the discussion where we agreed on a statement for voting."

Regi gave a mirthless laugh. "It appears I have missed the discussion entirely. Perhaps my communicator is malfunctioning since I did not hear the call to debate."

Several exalteds shifted uncomfortably, although Regi was not sure whether that was their own discomfort at breaking the law by enforcing ignorance on a fellow exalted or whether they disliked the idea that Jeheni was choosing to manipulate the debate.

"You are here now," Jeheni said with a disingenuous smile. "We may move to the vote. Shall we abandon the pursuit of the other ship?"

Many Kowri began to move toward the yellow section of wall, but Regi moved to intercept them. "Interesting. I have not yet given my wisdom as an exalted, and I am the only one here capable of speaking for Divashi. Is she being silenced?"

An exalted Regi did not know scoffed at him. "This ship can make navigational decisions without the input of Divashi or her exalted."

"Are you rejecting the wisdom of Divashi's navigational choices or rejecting the goddess altogether? I would not have thought Kowri would reject a god, but after being targeted by monotheists, I acknowledge that I may be ignorant of such things."

Ears went back and hair went up across the room, but Regi did not retract his statement.

Jeheni banged his walking stick against the floor. "Do not assign their dishonor to us." Jeheni snarled, although it was difficult to feel threatened by such an elderly Kowri.

Regi spoke loudly enough to be heard across the room. "Then do not deny my goddess the right to be heard. When one speaks of disaster and opportunity, the disasters are amplified when the god whose hand is involved is the Lady Divashi. The Coalition ship on which I served was destroyed by Divashi's hand, and she gave us the pirate ship. The outsider we currently pursue, Dante a'Divashi, followed me into a radiation-poisoned area and the goddess shielded us. All this you know, and yet you deny Divashi the right to speak."

A young Kowri with jet black stripes stepped forward. "No one denies Divashi the right. However, no one can truly divine the will of the gods. You do not know for certain what she wants."

Regi tipped his head in acknowledgment. "Perhaps not, but I do know that if we guess wrong, she will destroy the navigation of this ship. She will place us at the mercy of a black hole. She will ensure that she gets her way no matter what."

Several of the exalteds shifted now. Divashi was known for being careless with how she moved Kowri about the universe. Her exalteds encountered significantly more disaster and significantly more opportunity than most.

"The part of space into which the other ship has veered is both more dangerous and less profitable than our normal route," Jeheni said.

"And yet the other ship has diverted onto it," Regi's mother countered. "If the route is more dangerous, what could inspire them to make such a change if it is not a god?"

Jeheni moved to a bench and sat. "You more than most know that the gods do not rule every part of our lives, Minait. We are sapient creatures who have the right to ignore the gods even as they hold us in the palm of their mighty hands. Someone on that ship could have chosen to change course. That is far more likely than the hand of a god."

Minait looked at him with amusement. "But that part of space is less profitable and more dangerous. You said as much. If that is true, then why would they detour into that space? Are you suggesting that the exalteds who live on that ship lack logic?"

"Of course not," Jeheni snapped. "But I will not be held hostage to what your son believes might be true when he has been an exalted for less time than my dinner has been digesting in my intestines."

Regi winced at the vividness of that metaphor.

A large male spoke, his low voice rumbling across the room. "It is not their normal route. They may require assistance. Regardless of whether a mechanical failure is caused by poor maintenance or a god, a mechanical failure this deep into space remains dangerous."

"Young Lyth transferred to that ship. If they are having some difficulty, they would be unable to reach any ship in a reasonable amount of time," another called.

Part of Regi resented that the exalteds were trying so hard to find any reason other than helping outsiders who were trapped.

"Some of us may choose to pursue the ship out of fear that Divashi has granted them too much challenge, and some of us may choose to pursue out of fear that they have suffered some mechanical failure which requires assistance," his mother said loudly. "Some of us may choose to pursue because we believe that the gods, specifically the Lady Divashi, has commanded it, and others have concerns for Kowri lives if the ship strays too far from assistance. There are many reasons to pursue that ship. But the only reason I hear to break off pursuit is to ensure greater profits. Do we serve the gods or profit? Do we value the lives of other Kowri or the expediency of reaching our destination quickly?"

His mother looked around the room, and one by one the other exalteds found interesting spots on the floor or the walls to study.

"Profit is a more honorable pursuit than assuming we understand the mind of Divashi," Jeheni said.

Regi's mother smiled at him. "Perhaps. But I do not think that profit is a more honorable pursuit than making sure that our fellow Kowri have not suffered some mechanical failure that requires our assistance." She walked over to the blue crystals and touched the wall so that they flashed. "I will always choose to vote in favor of helping my fellow Kowri."

There was an uncomfortable shifting and then Kowri moved. A few went to the yellow section, but far more followed his mother to the blue crystals, voting to let Jeheni's resolution flow past and continue with pursuit.

Regi hoped that meant they would soon catch up with the ship that had stolen Dante and Ter.

From Jeheni's glare, it was clear that the Kowri hoped Regi would soon drop dead. No matter. Regi had endured the distrust and hatred of far more powerful individuals. As long as the exalteds on the ship voted to continue the pursuit, he could ask for no better outcome.