Memory Seed Read Online Free PDF Page A

the river. Zinina hesitated before leaving the safety of the porch and entering the rain – this was her first trip into the city since her rescue – but in moments her hood was up, her boots were squelching in mud, and she was wading with Graaff-lin down the alley. In some places the water was up to her waist. They noticed blue mats of algae, that Zinina knew to be infected, and these they avoided. Coming to a barrier of sandbags, they climbed over and splashed into a street suffering only from puddles, and this they followed, making south. ‘Mind the lavatory grubs,’ Zinina warned. ‘They can bite through leather. If you smell ammonia, jump away.’
    In Min Street, Graaff-lin stopped at an alcove in a stone wall. Zinina saw the chainmail serpent inside – a cobra – rise to a listening position, chinking like a purse of coins.
    ‘Good morning,’ Graaff-lin said. ‘I am Graaff-lin of the temple of the Dodspaat.’
    ‘Tamina, Graaff-lin,’ the serpent hissed.
    ‘Please speak in Krayan for the benefit of us all. Now, tell me, not what the future holds for me, but for the city.’
    Zinina nodded. The crafty aamlon was trying for the most general reply possible, the vaguest answer, in order to win the point. A minute passed. Rain droplets splashed into puddles. They heard the choking putter of a hang-glider engine. Then, ‘This is not easy, for people are small, Kray is big. On the other hand, people free will, Kray moves on.’ Interested despite her scepticism, Zinina listened as the serpent continued. ‘Free will for individuals, trends for societies.’
    Graaff-lin’s face grew excited. ‘What trends do you see, serpent?’
    ‘The solution is in the petals, just as the bee is in the hive.’
    ‘And?’
    But the cobra had seen its fill of the future, and remained silent.
    ‘Try another,’ Zinina suggested.
    At the lower end of the street, in a flooded portion, they saw a coral snake, no more than a foot above the waters, its alcove smothered in algae. Graaff-lin said, ‘Hello, I am Graaff-lin. Tell me what you see of the Portreeve’s plan for Kray.’
    Zinina gasped, taken aback by this audacity. Minutes passed. She thought she heard a faint ticking coming from the mouth of the snake, as of a clock heard at the end of a long tunnel. Then it said, ‘This is your prophecy. I see for you a green cushion falling upon a waif.’ No further words came and they turned away, but the snake had not finished. ‘The plan is a dwan,’ it said.
    Graaff-lin spun around. The snake did not move, or speak. ‘I want to go home,’ Graaff-lin told Zinina. ‘I’m feeling confused.’
    Zinina agreed. The trip had not gone as she had expected. ‘What does dwan mean?’ she asked.
    ‘I do not know. It is not an aamlon word.’
    ‘Sure ain’t a jannitta word. And it ain’t Krayan.’
    They trudged back. Entering the garden of Graaff-lin’s house, Zinina, walking just behind the aamlon, caught a movement through the rain. A shadow receding. Her senses, attuned better than most to the vicissitudes of street life, felt danger. She grabbed Graaff-lin’s wrist; pulled her back against the garden wall.
    ‘Someone there,’ she whispered.
    Graaff-lin had not understood. Zinina thrust her aside and with a yell ran at the side of the house, needle gun raised. She saw a figure dart off. By the time she was around the side the figure was gone, leaving a smashed pane of glass.
    Zinina stopped Graaff-lin by the window. ‘Stand there. I’ll deal with this.’ She examined the fragments and the sill, saying, ‘The woman didn’t get in. No wet prints inside. Strip of cotton here from a suit – tough, good quality. Maybe a defender suit. And look, little wires, nice ’n’ shiny. Them’s from heated gloves, them is. You were lucky, Graaff-lin, you were almost burgled by a real professional.’
    Graaff-lin only managed a querulous, ‘But who? And why?’
    They entered the house. Zinina went to sit in the study. Graaff-lin