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Back Beyond the Burn Line Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Copyright
  2. Contents
  3. Epigraph
  4. Part One
  5. 1.
  6. 2.
  7. 3.
  8. 4.
  9. 5.
  10. 6.
  11. 7.
  12. 8.
  13. 9.
  14. 10.
  15. 11.
  16. 12.
  17. 13.
  18. 14.
  19. 15.
  20. 16.
  21. 17.
  22. 18.
  23. 19.
  24. 20.
  25. 21.
  26. 22.
  27. 23.
  28. 24.
  29. 25.
  30. 26.
  31. 27.
  32. 28.
  33. 29.
  34. 30.
  35. 31.
  36. 32.
  37. Part Two
  38. 1.
  39. 2.
  40. 3.
  41. 4.
  42. 5.
  43. 6.
  44. 7.
  45. 8.
  46. 9.
  47. 10.
  48. 11.
  49. 12.
  50. 13.
  51. 14.
  52. 15.
  53. 16.
  54. 17.
  55. 18.
  56. 19.
  57. 20.
  58. 21.
  59. 22.
  60. 23.
  61. 24.
  62. 25.
  63. 26.
  64. 27.
  65. 28.
  66. By Paul McAuley:

They looked at the gap, at the panels on either side.

‘Perhaps it was moved,’ Ysbel said.

‘It should be here,’ Goodwill said again. ‘This exact spot.’

He knelt and ran a finger down the groove in the stone floor in which the slab should have been slotted, said that there was no dust. ‘Something was resting here until very recently,’ he said. ‘And someone has taken it.’

‘Or perhaps the slab is still down here, but was moved for some reason. Let’s look around,’ Ysbel said.

Goodwill followed her as she walked to the next pillar, studying every panel they passed. Philosopher bears studying the heavens, grouped around an anatomical dissection, collecting liquids from distillation ovens, harvesting fruit from vines growing in what looked like greenhouses, but nothing that resembled two figures standing beneath a fire star. When they reached an intersection Goodwill turned in a full circle and said, ‘One thing is clear: Clarity Forrester made no effort to check that the slab was still here. Strong words will be exchanged when we return to him.’

‘Before you leave, perhaps you could allow me to make a more thorough search,’ Zaquil said.

‘Why not?’ Ysbel said. She had forgotten that the helper – or a sliver of his true self, linked to her bot network – had been walking with them all along, a phantom in this graveyard of bear civilisation.

The mouth of her satchel puckered open and a handful of bots whirled up and scattered into the darkness beyond the little light of the lamp. Ysbel was still explaining to Goodwill what was happening when Zaquil presented her with images of possible hits from two different bots. One depicted a warrior king with a halo of flames around his head; the other a figure standing in a corn field, beneath a swirling cloud of what might be locusts.

‘Ignore the figures and look for a kind of comet,’ Ysbel said.

As she sketched the fire star in the air with her forefinger, Goodwill tugged at her sleeve, pointed down the shadowy perspectives of the aisle. A cluster of lights was bobbing through the darkness beyond the stream, moving steadily towards them.

12.

Humans and natives separated when they reached the vaulted entrance hall of the Library. A gang of city lawkeepers and Library officials led Goodwill Saltmire towards a stairway; Ysbel’s captors, a man about her age and an older woman, hustled her outside and shoved her into a runabout. Ysbel’s bots had been confiscated, her link had been forcibly shut down, silencing Zaquil, and the letter of introduction he had got up for her had been ignored. When she asked her captors why they had interfered with a legitimate investigation, they told her that they were working for the ultimate authority.

‘If you mean Mother, I’m working for her too,’ Ysbel said. ‘Someone somewhere has made a bad mistake.’

‘That would be you,’ the woman said.