Memory Seed Read Online Free Page B

think I should do?’
    Graaff-lin took her into the pyuter workshop, where a large polythene screen was set up, attached to a customised rig shaped by growth into a knobbly gourd. ‘This screen will show us the information,’ she explained, her low, keening voice almost lost as a wind flurry made the roof shudder. ‘What’s your kit number?’
    ‘211,121.’ It was emblazoned on the leather.
    Graaff-lin tapped a pad. The pyuter had listened to Zinina and was already navigating the rickety data structures of the Citadel’s networks. ‘Found,’ it said.
    ‘Now,’ Graaff-lin continued, ‘I have to make one small alteration. It is a delicate matter.’ She tried to smile, but it was almost as if she was out of practice. Zinina noticed, however, that her teeth were pitted.
    Because the networks were convoluted and inept – rumour had it that one pyuter wilted somewhere inside the Citadel every time an electronic decision was made – it was half an hour before Zinina became an independent, complete with shiny crimson food card stamped with her name, class and kit number. She thanked Graaff-lin.
    ‘Not at all,’ came the reply.
    Graaff-lin had been right. A deserter stood out, even by the myopic standards of the Citadel. Becoming an independent granted her a certain amount of freedom, which she could exploit in the coming days and weeks. She eyed Graaff-lin, trying to decide whether her host was a fundamentalist or more enlightened. The fact that she had changed Zinina’s status made one thing clear: Graaff-lin was prepared to break the law.
    ~
    ‘Graaff-lin?’
    ‘Yes?’
    They were sitting in the study. Gazing at the faded prints hanging on the walls, Zinina thought how best to phrase her question. ‘Graaff-lin, you must be really wondering what’s going to happen to us all?’
    ‘I am a priestess of the Dodspaat – the Dead Spirits in common talk. We’re working on a translation of their plan.’
    ‘This is Kray’s last year.’
    Unruffled, Graaff-lin replied, ‘Thousands of Krayans would disagree. It is after all a matter of belief. I believe the Dodspaat communicate the ancient world’s wisdom to the faithful, from their homes in the afterlife, and we spread their message in order to save humanity. I work in the serpent department.’
    ‘The what?’
    ‘The serpents of Eastcity. Well, of our southerly quarters.’
    Zinina nodded. Everybody knew of the serpents, and that they were merely antiquated oddities. Only the priestesses of the Dodspaat believed that they divulged glimpses of the future in coded rhyme. As a child Zinina had gone east to listen to them, but that was all. ‘You’re seriously studying them?’ she asked.
    ‘It is part of my calling. Wisdom arrives from many sources, Zinina. It arrives from beyond the grave and from the future. The Dodspaat are wise. It is a matter of deep regret to me and my sisters that their tongue is so difficult to translate, for otherwise their thoughts would more clearly show how we can escape our predicament.’
    ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t be having with all that. This is the last year. Everyone knows it, though not everyone admits it.’
    Graaff-lin hesitated. ‘As an aamlon I have gifts as a manipulator of pyuters and pyuter networks. Why should I not use that skill to help save humanity?’
    Zinina sighed.
    ‘But you asked me if I wondered what might happen to Kray. Well, at the moment I don’t know the fate of the city.’
    ‘You’d like to though,’ said Zinina, knowingly. ‘Maybe... I can help.’
    ‘Only the serpents can foresee the future. Only they can help.’
    ‘Can we keep off serpents, eh?’
    Graaff-lin stood up. ‘I will take you to one. It will make a prophecy, and you can stay with me until that prophecy comes about. Then we shall see who is correct.’
    Zinina also stood, seeing the opportunity for a bit of fun. ‘It’s a deal.’
    The alleys between Onion Street and Pine Street were flooded, a daily hazard this close to