Ammonite by Nicola Griffith Read Free Book Online

anyway.
    Banner’s dossier had not been at all what she had expected. This was no by-the-book career officer. Most startling had been the revelation that it had been the young Danner, on Jeep on her first tour of duty as a lieutenant, who was the mysterious Mirror of rumor—the one who had helped Courtivron circumvent SEC
    and Company corruption and bring the Jink and Oriyest v. Company case to court.

    Who are you, Danner? Can I trust you?
    She wondered how much Danner knew about the Kurst , and what advice Sara Hiam might give in this situation.
    She sat outside until it was dark. The heaving cloud blurred two moons to a soft silver glow; the third moon was too small to be visible through the overcast. The night was cool and silent—no insects. Two searchlights speared the grass outside the perimeter, and the unlit grass looked black. She wondered what the indigenous population thought of Port Central, and when she would get to see her first native.
    Her muscles ached, from the walking, from the gravity. She went inside where it was warm and went to bed.
    She dreamed that a native spoke to her, but she could not understand, and she stood by helplessly while the native rotted and died of some disease. She buried the pathetic thing, then found a Mirror kneeling by the grave. She knew it was Danner, but when the Mirror flipped up her visor, underneath there was no face.

    Danner agreed to see her before lunch the next day. Marghe dressed slowly and checked her pockets twice for the FN-17 before she left the mod.
    The cloud cover was heavy and multilayered, shades of slate blue and silver, pearl and charcoal, like a sketch washed with watercolor. The air was cool and spicy. She wondered how long it would take her to adjust to the smell, learn to filter it out of her awareness, just as the filters scrubbed it from the air in her mod. A long time, she hoped.
    Again, Danner served dap in handmade china. Marghe sipped at the hot tea. “On Earth I was promised full support from Company personnel in the field. However, I now understand that you’re seriously understaffed and underequipped. What can you offer me?”
    Danner leaned back in her chair. “Why don’t you tell me your plans.”
    “If there are clues to be found about the origins of these people, their common background, I need to find them. It might help with tracing the origins of this virus. It might also lead to some clues about how these women reproduce. Everything in Eagan’s notes points northward. To Ollfoss.”
    Danner looked down into the cup she held cradled in both hands, resting on her stomach. “One of your team already tried that. She’s believed to be dead.”
    “All the more reason to go up there and find out what happened.”
    Danner sighed. “At this time of year, the weather alone up there will be enough to kill you.”
    “I can’t wait for an improvement in the weather. I only have six months.”
    “You’ll be dealing with more than the weather. The north is isolated. The people you’ll meet there won’t give you any special treatment. They won’t know who you are.”

    “I’m aware of that.”
    Danner put her cup down on the table between them. “I’m not happy about you risking yourself like this. You’re being paid to see how well the vaccine performs, not to solve mysteries. If you get yourself killed, we’re no nearer to finding out if the vaccine works. No nearer to being home.”
    Marghe remained silent. This was Commander Danner now, not the young lieutenant of five years ago.
    Danner sipped from her cup. “I just don’t understand why you want to do this. I need you here. You could teach us so much about living with these people, what to do and what not to do. You could really help us, but instead you want to hare off north and get yourself killed.”
    “I don’t intend to die.”
    “But in all likelihood that’s what will happen.” Danner leaned forward. “I just want you to understand: I don’t want you to die