BooksBarbecue
Back Excession
Chapters (108)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. 1 - Outside Context Problem
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. VI
  12. 2 - Not Invented Here
  13. I
  14. II
  15. III
  16. 3 - Uninvited Guests
  17. I
  18. II
  19. III
  20. IV
  21. 4 - Dependency Principle
  22. I
  23. II
  24. III
  25. IV
  26. V
  27. 5 - Kiss The Blade
  28. I
  29. II
  30. III
  31. IV
  32. V
  33. VI
  34. 6 - Pittance
  35. I
  36. II
  37. III
  38. IV
  39. V
  40. VI
  41. 7 - Tier
  42. I
  43. II
  44. III
  45. IV
  46. 8 - Killing Time
  47. I
  48. II
  49. III
  50. IV
  51. V
  52. VI
  53. VII
  54. VIII
  55. 9 - Unacceptable Behaviour
  56. I
  57. II
  58. III
  59. IV
  60. V
  61. VI
  62. VII
  63. VIII
  64. IX
  65. X
  66. XI
  67. XII
  68. XIII
  69. XIV
  70. 10 - Heavy Messing
  71. I
  72. II
  73. III
  74. IV
  75. V
  76. VI
  77. VII
  78. VIII
  79. IX
  80. X
  81. XI
  82. XII
  83. XIII
  84. XIV
  85. XV
  86. 11 - Regarding Gravious
  87. I
  88. II
  89. III
  90. IV
  91. V
  92. VI
  93. VII
  94. VIII
  95. IX
  96. X
  97. XI
  98. XII
  99. XIII
  100. XIV
  101. 12 - Faring Well
  102. I
  103. II
  104. III
  105. IV
  106. V
  107. VI
  108. Epilogue

She nodded her head politely to him. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said. Her voice was higher than Dajeil’s; more girlish, and with a quite different accent. ‘Though if we had met and you hadn’t altered in some way and I’d forgotten, certainly I’d be far too ashamed to admit it.’ She smiled. He did the same. She frowned. ‘Unless . . . do you live on Tier?’

‘Just passing through,’ he told her. A bomber, in flames, tore past just overhead and exploded in a burst of light behind the Sublimer building. On the street, the argument around the pondrosaur seemed to be getting more heated; the animal itself was staring intently at the Sintricate and its mahout was standing up on its neck, pointing the flaming mace at the darkly spiny being to emphasise whatever points he was making.

‘But I’ve been this way before,’ Genar-Hofoen said. ‘Perhaps we bumped into each other then.’

She nodded thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps,’ she conceded.

‘Oh, you two know each other?’ said the young Sublimer man she’d been talking to. ‘Well, many people find that Subliming in the company of a loved one or just somebody they know is--’

‘Do you play Calascenic Crasis?’ she asked, cutting across the young Sublimer. ‘You may have seen me at a game here.’ She put her head back, looking down that long nose at him. ‘If so, I’m disappointed you left it till now to say hello.’

‘Ah!’ the Sublimer lad said. ‘Games; an expression of the urge to enter into worlds beyond ourselves! Another--’

‘I’ve never even heard of the game,’ he confessed. ‘Do you recommend it?’

‘Oh yes,’ she said, and sounded ironic. ‘It benefits all who play.’

‘Well, I’m always willing to entertain some new experience. Perhaps you could teach me.’

‘Ah, now; the ultimate new experience--’ began the Sublimer lad.

Genar-Hofoen turned to him and said, ‘Oh, shut up!’ It had been an instinctive reaction, and for a moment he was worried he might have said the wrong thing, but she didn’t seem to be regarding the young Sublimer’s hurt look with any great degree of sympathy.

She looked back to him. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘You stand me my stake and I’ll teach you Crasis.’

He smiled, wondering if that had been too easy. ‘It’s a deal,’ he said. He waved the cloud cane under his nose and took a deep breath, then bowed. ‘My name’s Byr.’

‘Pleased to meet you.’ She nodded again. ‘Call me Flin,’ she said, and, taking hold of the cane, waved it under her own nose.