The Best Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 2 by Neil Clarke

Author:Neil Clarke [Clarke, Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781597805896
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: 2017-03-22T21:00:00+00:00

They were given a room in the facility, while Merlin made his studies of the syrinx. The staff were as helpful as Baskin had promised, and Merlin soon had all the equipment and records he could have hoped for. Short of connecting the syrinx to Tyrant’s own diagnostic systems, he was able to run almost every test he could imagine, and the results and records quickly pointed to the same conclusion. The syrinx was the genuine article.

But Merlin did not need a whole day to arrive at that conclusion.

While Baskin kept Teal occupied with endless discussions in Main, learning all that he could from this living speaker, Merlin used the console to dig into Havergal’s history, and specifically the background and career of Baskin’s long-dead ancestor, King Curtal. He barely needed to access the private records; what was in the public domain was clear enough. Curtal had come to power within a decade of the Shrike’s visit to this system.

Merlin waited until they were alone in the evening, just before they were due to dine with Prince Baskin.

“You’ve been busy all day,” Teal said. “I take it you’ve reached a verdict by now?”

“The syrinx? Oh, that was no trouble at all. It’s real, just as Baskin promised. But I used my time profitably, Teal. I found out something else as well—and I think you’ll find it interesting. You were right about that portrait, you see.”

“I know you enjoy these games, Merlin. But if you want to get to the point . . . ”

“The man who became King Curtal began life called Tierce.” He watched her face for the flicker of a reaction that he knew she would not be able to conceal. The recognition of a name, across years or centuries, depending on the reckoning.

Merlin cleared his throat before continuing.

“Tierce was a high-ranking officer in the Havergal military command— assigned to the liaison group which dealt with the Shrike. He’d have had close contact with your crew during the whole time you were in-system.”

Her mouth moved a little before she found the words. “Tell me what happened to Tierce.”

“Nothing bad. But what you might not have known about Tierce was that he was also minor royalty. He probably played it down, trying to get ahead in his career on his own merits. And that was how things would have worked out, if it wasn’t for one of those craters. A Gaffurian long-range strike, unexpected and deadly, taking out the entire core of the royal family. They were all killed, Teal—barely a decade after you left the system. But they had to maintain continuity, then more than ever. The chain of succession led to Tierce, and he became King Curtal. The man you knew ended up as King.”

She looked at him for a long moment, perhaps measuring for herself the reasons Merlin might have had to lie about such a thing, and then finding none that were plausible, beyond tormenting her for the sake of it.

“Can you be sure?”

“The records are open.

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