Ashes of Candesce: Book Five of Virga

at the great central knot where the ships docked. The cables suspended houses and schools and factories and even short arcs of street; Jacoby pointed out one of these nearby, as it was hoisted up through the forest of buildings like a giant elevator.

'The tax situation is favorable,' he added as he watched faux Thavia hop down the long rope-suspended staircase. 'They spend no upkeep on a wheel since there's no wheel. Every household simply pays directly to maintain its own cable--and if you let yours deteriorate to the point that it breaks and falls on one of the lower houses, well, then, the rest of the town gets together and they lynch you! It's a simple system, very economical.'

'Fascinating,' said the actress, or spy, in a bored tone. 'I'm going to cut to the chase. I have no intention of remaining here one minute longer than it takes to clear this mess up. I hope you're taking us to see your masters?'

'Oh, I am, I am. Right this way.'

Wind was teasing his gray hair now as they entered more deeply into the city's rotation. Weight was increasing, too, and the staircase's steps became correspondingly shallower. The stairway cut through layers of city, brightly painted can-shaped buildings like giant pendulums, all thronged together and lashed to one another with catwalks and ladders. Vertical lines of cable, rigging, and rope dissected the view everywhere. Here in the thick middle of the necklace, you could only catch glimpses of blue sky to either side, while below was a chaos of rooftops. The docks had vanished above, hidden by the sparred undersides of higher dwellings.

'I suppose you can pick your level of gravity,' mused the male 'servant.' 'Put the schools on the outside where the kids will have to run in more than a g. Retire to somewhere with lower weight when you get old.'

'Maybe,' replied the female. Then she held up her hand to the ever-present wind that coursed through the maze of buildings. 'But what happens when your house catches fire?'

'The house cables all have release mechanisms,' Jacoby said, pointing. 'They're mounted above each roof, where the firemen can unlock and spring them in an emergency. They can either hoist a burning building up from above, or lower it below the rest of the city to let it burn out.'

'Why not just cut it loose and let it fall?'

He arched an eyebrow at her. 'What, through that?' She gave a startled nod as she realized that a burning house crashing down through its neighbors would be the ultimate nightmare here. 'You can't just let something go,' he added. 'You saw the cabling at the docks. Few of these buildings are actually anchored up top. That would put too much strain on the docking ring. Each cable has a house on either end, and they counterbalance one another. It's a cunning feature of the city, it allows them to add as many buildings as they can thread cables through the dock.'

She sniffed. 'Well, I can certainly see why there are no other towns like this.'

Oh, there was no doubt she'd met the real Venera. Five minutes with her would give any actress a lifetime's worth of repertoire.

They'd reached one of the staircase's many landings and now Jacoby left it for a long gangplank. They rounded the corner of a warehouse with the sigil of the cooper's guild on its wall, and ahead of them was one of Fracas's temporary streets. This was a long plank deck that could be winched up or down through the town's layers. Its owners could rent the street out as a market, processional route, or public thoroughfare. As per Jacoby's instructions, this one hadn't been joined to any gangways or other streets, but hung by itself in a canyon of facades. Bright pennants flew over the long tent that had been erected on it, and young men and women in livery were waiting to invite arriving visitors inside.

Aside from the Judgment, one other yacht had docked this morning. Its passenger was standing at the door to the tent now--and there was clearly trouble. Jacoby was just seconds too late to prevent the faux Thavia from seeing it as well, but it hardly mattered; this was a chance to gauge her reactions. She stopped suddenly, clapped her hand on the shoulder of her manservant, and pointed, just as the young nobleman outside the tent twitched his cape behind him to free up his sword arm. Then his sword was out. The pageboys retreated as he squared off against one of Jacoby's men.

They were still some distance away, but the youth's voice carried very well as he shouted, 'Lies!'

Jacoby's man on the spot was Palatin, and while he was a good con man, he was no swordsman. He wasn't even trying to defend himself, just talking in a low, reasonable, but inaudible voice to the youth.

'What is this?' demanded faux Thavia. 'What's going on here?'

Jacoby opened his mouth to say something plausible, but just then the young man yelled, 'No, it's a trick! We're not guests, we're hostages!'

'Ah,' said Jacoby--but some sound came from the entrance to the tent that made the youth turn. He lowered his sword and stepped back, just as a middle-aged woman in a regal gown stepped outside. She looked angry.

'How dare you question your father's wishes, Dorion!' she snapped at the youth. He gaped at her uncertainly. Jacoby nodded in approval; this was the boy's aunt, if he remembered right. Instinct and habit won out over suspicion, and young Dorion suffered her to walk right up to him, where she proceeded to deliver a lecture at him in an inaudible, but clearly intense, voice.

'I believe there's been a misunderstanding,' Jacoby said to faux Thavia. She raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

The youth began to lower his sword. The woman pretending to be Thavia's servant stepped up to faux her and murmured in a low voice, 'Come on. We can still get away.'

'I don't think so,' said the other with a frown. She nodded at the shadows beyond the catwalk, but her eyes were on Jacoby. 'I think it's been a while now since we could have done that.'

Her companions looked where she was indicating, and Jacoby saw them finally notice the men with rifles, standing in ones and twos on nearby rooftops and in the shadow of inset windows. The looks on his 'guest's' faces were really quite funny, Jacoby thought.

'You led us right into this!' the younger actress hissed at faux Thavia. 'I thought you knew what you were doing!'

'Silence,' she said with imperious calm. She looked down her nose at the woman, just like Venera would have. 'Follow my lead. --If you have the patience for that.'

'Oh!'