in which case the globe was useless. Each layer of glass was seamless and there was no way to take the device apart without breaking it.
Malien jabbed her in the ribs and Tiaan nearly dropped the globe. One or two people were giving her curious looks. She slid it into her bag and tried to concentrate on what the governor was saying.
‘… we will, of course, do all we can. But as you can see we are hard pressed ourselves …’
‘I’m not asking you to come to our aid,’ said Flydd in his best diplomatic tones. ‘Clearly that’s not possible. I’m asking that we all cooperate. Together we’re strong. Separately, nothing!’
‘Of course.’ The governor spread her arms. ‘But so far away … and skeets are so unreliable.’
‘We may soon have a better solution,’ said Flydd. ‘A faster, secret means of communicating.’
‘Oh?’ The governor half-rose to her feet, her eyes on him.
‘More of that when we have it. But in the meantime –’
Governor Zaeff stared at him, calculating. Even Tiaan could read her expression. What’s in it for me?
‘If you had a thapter, or two, it would make all the difference to your war,’ Flydd said, very quietly. ‘Not to mention the subsequent peace.’
Naked greed flashed in Governor Zaeff’s eyes this time. ‘You only have one, and you’re not giving it away.’ If she could have seized it with no danger to herself, she probably would have.
‘By winter’s end we expect to have several more,’ said Flydd, ‘enough to reward our most loyal allies.’
‘And none more loyal than Crandor,’ she said smoothly. ‘We’ve been friends with the west for two thousand years and that alliance is sacred to us.’
‘I’m delighted to hear it,’ said Flydd, ‘for it means just as much to us.’ Rising, he gave her his hands across the table. Everyone else did the same, to seal the agreement.
Tiaan, who was holding the globe again, didn’t know what to do when the man across the table extended his hands to her. She let it fall into the bag then took his hands, in her embarrassment not meeting his eyes. It was a minor breach of protocol, but forgivable in a foreigner. Everyone bowed to everyone else and they made their farewells.
‘Would you really give her a thapter?’ said Malien once they were safely in the air. ‘When the war is over, Governor Zaeff will use it to enrich herself immeasurably.’
‘Undoubtedly,’ said Flydd. ‘She’s as greedy as anyone I’ve ever met, and therefore a valuable ally. She’ll do everything in her power to protect her wealth, and no one could take better care of Crandor. It’s the richest nation in the world, and the strongest. She’s well armed, her troops well trained, her people well fed. Yulla Zaeff knows that the way to maintain her position is to keep everyone happy, and she does. I have great admiration for her, even though she’s like a sow in the trough. I’d give her a dozen thapters if I had them to spare.’
On they went, heading north-west across jungle, mountain, desert and the unimaginably vast canyons that led down to the bed of the Dry Sea. This terrain was unfamiliar even to Malien. Tiaan stared at the salt-covered desolation in wonder, for its nodes were unlike any others she’d seen.
That night, two-thirds of the way to Taranta, they camped in the drylands far from any habitation, and it was warm enough to sleep under the stars. Tiaan lay in her hammock, with the globe clutched to her chest, rocking gently in the warm breeze. What could be at the core of the globe that powered it and weighed so much?
Tiaan wondered if she might induce some aura in it with the amplimet, in the same way she’d once tested the failed hedrons back at the manufactory. That seemed a lifetime ago. Unfortunately she didn’t have the amplimet. Malien had taken to using it in her flight controller, and at other times it was always kept in the platinum box. Flydd was taking no chances with it, and perhaps not with her either.
The others were asleep, the night still, apart from the swish of wings as a colony of bats streamed in and out of caves in the escarpment just behind the thapter. The globe had been carefully designed and each layer must have a purpose. But how could she tell without seeing the details of each?
Tiaan brought to mind an image of the globe as she’d seen it earlier that day, in