“Ahoy, Walrus! What do you be doing here?” Val shouted, as a long sleek vessel pulled into the harbour.

  “Bringing an academician home, sire. Three and a half weeks from Dahel! Might we ask what's made Tesk so popular?”

  “An old treaty, captain. Tie up alongside, you've got some news to catch up with. The good news do be we're not at war.”

  “That do be always good news, sire!”

  When the walrus had tied up, Val asked. “Academician Teng?”

  “Yes?”

  “I do be Val, king of the Isles.”

  “Your majesty!” Teng bowed. “Urm. The law against your presence?”

  “Has been revoked. The Isles supports your project, having heard all about it from Hal and Esme. But tell me about dum-semb.”

  “Dum-semb? It's a complete pack of lies, sire.”

  “Oh I know that. You've never had anything to do with it, then?”

  “I was asked to go to some meetings before I became an academician. This was years ago. The admin staff pretty much insisted. I went, I didn't pay much attention, I was asleep half the time, since I'd been up all night observing. Then they wanted me to give some kind of oath to it. I told the administrator that I'd given my oath to the academy, and the academy laws say no other oaths.

  He seemed quite put out by that.”

  “You'll need to testify before the high council about that, academician.”

  “The high council?”

  “Tesk has a high council again. Esmetherelda invited thirty politicians and thirty young women to a conference just before her wedding, some parents went too.

  "One of the mothers turned out to be a priestess of the doom-guard religion, which rather changed the agenda.”

  “The doom guard religion?” The captain of the Walrus asked, “Human sacrifices?”

  “That too. So, academician, you need to come up to the high council with me and some of the lads. There have been some people not very happy with me being here, so they're mostly for protection, you understand.”

  “I ought to consider myself under arrest again, you mean?”

  “Not quite. You just need to repeat what you said to me about dum-semb under oath to the high council. Bring your papers, too.”

  “Perjury before the council carries the death sentence,” Teng said. “Dum-semb is the doom-guard religion, isn't it? And you're a noble under the old order of the isles.”

  “True.”

  “How many deaths have there been?”

  “You'll have to ask the high council. Or the crabs and lobsters. That reminds me, captain, no catching fish, crabs or lobsters; they've all been eating doom-guard corpses. You won't want anyone to swim in the harbour either.”

  “The academician was going to be introducing these gentlemen from Dahel to the academy, majesty. Dahel has been making very good progress on the radio front.”

  “Well, we'll introduce them to the high council first. I'm sure the council will want to hear all about that.”

  “Is anyone sailing to Caneth, your majesty?” Teng asked, looking up from his paperwork, “I've got a message here for ambassador Hayeel.”

  “Don't send it to Caneth, then. She's up at the high council along with Hal and Esme. Tesk has been enjoying a real tourist boom this last week.”

  “What's that done to the price of food?”

  “Not much,” Val said, “The navies knew about the food-related problems, we've got plenty with us, and the men are under orders to only buy non-food local produce, unless they're staying in someone's spare room and food is always included in the room-rental. They can hire a local cook if they want to.”

  “What non-food local produce are you rich foreigners buying up then?”

  “Personally, I've not bought much except a blanket. I thought it was supposed to be warmer here than on Captita? Anyway, is everyone ready?”

  “I suppose so. Do I get manacles?”

  “No.” Val said, “Not even if you beg.”

  “Most honourable Lady Ambassador,” the chief technician said, bowing low, “We greet you in the name of imperial princess Naneela, whose communication prototype we bring with us. Sadly the device was broken before the Walrus departed, and there was not space on board anyway to use it or repair it, but we hope we can repair it quickly now the world is mostly still. I understand that any movement is just in our heads.”

  “I thank you for your greeting, but am sadly unaware of what you're talking about.”

  “A radio, most noble duchess, much like the one imperial prince Salay was intending to bring. We are under most strict instructions from her imperial highness, that should we happen to meet you we must see if the signal from here reaches to the princess at the heart of the empire. She wishes to talk to you.”

  “Talk? Not merely clicks as the transmitter here sends?”

  “The transmitter here is very powerful, duchess. Perhaps too powerful, we may need to ask them to turn it off. The imperial research centre have concentrated on receiver design. And princess Naneela, has designed... sorry, it is too complicated to explain.”

  “She has made it possible to talk?” Hayeel asked.

  “Yes, duchess.”

  “May the Lord God bless her in every way possible! But you say that crown prince Salay travels?”

  “He expected to leave for Caneth a few days after us. But the sailors on the Walrus were very proud of their ship's speed.”

  “Rightly so, but it is three days to Caneth, and you will have had those extra days coming. So I must leave for Caneth quickly.”

  “Hayeel, you're excited and worried at the same time. What is it?” Esme asked her friend.

  “These good men bring the parts of a radio for speech, which they hope can talk to Dahel, though they are not certain. Which is exciting. And my prince follows them, which is also exciting. But he was leaving only a few days after them.”

  “So you wish to go back to Caneth tonight,” Esme summarized.

  “I wish... I wish these good men could start putting together the radio now, so I do not need to leave before they have tried it... I wish to hear all their news of home. I wish to be in Caneth, ensuring that there is a suitable welcome for my prince. And so on. I cannot have everything.”

  “How long to put together the radio?” Esme asked.

  “We are not sure,” the technician said. “But where? It should be somewhere high, it should be somewhere not too close to the other transmitter, it should be protected, protected from rain, protected from curious people, protected from being knocked or rattled. There may be discussions, perhaps they will be private. There needs to be a long wire also. A flagpole or a tall tree?”

  “But not near the other transmitter?”

  “Unless they will turn it off, as far from the other transmitter as possible, and imagine shouting to Dahel or Caneth or the Isles. There should not be extra mountains or trees or buildings in the way.”

  When Hayeel had translated, Sashan said, “Come, perhaps we have a good room for you in this building. Certainly it is protected against strangers, and this is the highest point on the Island. It was built to watch the sea, the harbour and the city. But the only electricity is from the waterwheel below the physics laboratory, that's the other side of the city.”

  “Our radio uses different metals with acid,” the technician said, shrugging. Hayeel translated that too.

  “We call them batteries. But you must drain them quickly making sparks that way!” Sashan exclaimed.

  When Hayeel translated that there were exclamations of surprise and denial.

  “They still use sparks!” the technician exclaimed, “We have not used sparks for a long time.”

  “No wonder you make such a mess on our receivers!” one of the other technicans said.

  “Sorry, Sashan, they are not impressed.” Hayeel said.

  “Very impressed!” the technician said “You must have a huge generator, very impressive. With such a huge generator, a proper radio will be heard on the furthest planets!”

  Sashan laughed. “Then I long to see a proper radio, I will show you the room.

  King Val, I'm sorry we have monopolised the time talking of radios when you need to hear the academician's testimony. Academician, you should not hurry to the administration building in any case, or even the laboratory. There are barricades and pots of concentrated acid for the unwary.”

  “Really, we can use this room?” the interpreter asked.

  “No one else does, except sometimes to pray.” Sashan said, “There is a door there to a flagpole on the roof, but none of us have been brave enough to see if the ladder is still strong.”

  “They say it is perfect!” The interpreter said, “Perfect! But what happens at the Academy?”

  “It has been known for a long time that almost all of the administrators of the academy follow dum-semb. Recently we learned that is the religion of the doom-guard. That important fact was lost to us. So they must be put on trial, but will not come out, and we do not want to destroy the records that are held there. There are soldiers on watch around the building, those inside know that if they start destroying or burning, the soldiers go in, they know that if they don't surrender before the soldiers go in, then they cannot expect mercy. They don't come out, so we assume they don't expect mercy anyway.”

  “You need to make them want to leave,”

  “Yes. At the moment, we have a siege.”

  “With that generator, you could try noise,” the interpreter suggested.

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  “Noise?” Sashan asked.

  “This man, he says 'Noise so they cannot talk, noise so the cannot sleep, noise that drives them crazy', his friend says 'Noise and smoke, smoke that burns their eyes, and perhaps also stench, the stench of rotting flesh, even? Forced into the building with large bellows.'”

  “The chemists have tried smells. They open the windows.”

  “Archers?”

  “The building is that one there, that looks over the harbour. Perhaps a cannon shot could reach it, I don't know.”

  The translator said “Then you must decide if the law is more important or less important than the records. You have said you think they expect to die anyway.

  "You must expect that they might urinate on your records, or perhaps eat them if hungry enough. They must face certain death before they will choose a trial ending in uncertain death.”

  “That has been said before.”

  “But you do not choose to believe it.”

  “We — the high council — do not have the authority to decide it.”

  “Who does?”

  “The politicians, who are also being called on to testify concerning their involvement in dum-semb. Perhaps when they are cleansed, they will reach that decision, but the process is not very fast. When there is space in the cells, the next batch is called on to testify, and a record is made. Almost all have had some involvement, so they are sent to cells to wait for trial. The trials may be only fifteen minutes even less, sometimes, when there is hardly any involvement, or when it is an unrepentant novice who has neither a lot of knowledge of others nor many victims. Those are dealt with quickly.

  "But the average is two hours. There are twelve nobles who regularly try cases, but now that the army are not being tried, few judge all day every day. So the average now is that thirty people are tried per day. There are three hundred and fifty politicians, a hundred administrative staff, plus there are others: doctors, lawyers, judges, accused by the public. Some also come forward voluntarily, sorry for what they have been involved in. So about twenty five politicians are tried each day.”

  “And academician Teng will also be tried?” the interpreter asked.

  “Yes, he will have to be tried.” Sashan said, “That is the law, and that is the treaty of all nations.”

  “So. We will set up the radio for ambassador Hayeel, and to demonstrate to the scientists of the academy. And then we will help meet the Tesk Challenge. Hopefully, academician Teng will be free by then.”

  “King Val planned to hear the case,” Sashan said. “I expect that if what he said to King Val was no lie, he will be free for your demonstration.”

  “Good technicians, it is midnight!” Hayeel said. “Will you not rest?”

  “We are very close now, lady ambassador. Very very close.” the technician said. Looking around he asked the room in general “Where are the pliers?”

  “In your pocket.” Hayeel replied. “You said you were close an hour ago.”

  “We were close an hour ago, but we had forgotten to test a piece, and it needed replacing. It is not so late in Dahel. Heaters on.”

  “Receive tube is warming, yes, and transmit too.”

  The junior technician said, “How do we tune without a signal?”

  “Adjust the main coil and then adjust the filter to maximise the signal, and just keep trying that. And pray.”

  “Did I just hear some faint speech over the crackles?” Hayeel asked.

  “Unlikely, but possible, we must tune the antenna as well as the receiving coil, that makes it work better. Testing testing one two three... ratio seems good now.

  “Did I hear someone?” Naneela's voice asked.

  “Imperial highness. We call from Tesk, now at five percent power.”

  “You have arrived? Excellent! Try reducing power to one percent.”

  “We met lady ambassador Duchess Hayeel here.”

  “Salay, did you hear that?”

  “I heard you saying the technicians have arrived on Tesk. I did not hear if they said anything at one percent,” Salay said.

  “The technicians here have put their controls back to five and put this thing in front of me and gesture me to speak, my prince, I am Hayeel, I am on Tesk, but we leave for Caneth tomorrow.”

  “Did you hear that, Salay?”

  “There was some sound, but I didn't understand anything.”

  “Ah. Your Hayeel is currently on Tesk, but leaves for Caneth tomorrow.”

  “What's she doing there?”

  “The technicians have increased power to ten percent, I hope you can hear me, my prince. Please say if you do, and I will answer your question.”

  “I hear!” Salay said.

  “I am here confirming that the Treaty of All Nations for the eradication of human sacrifice is being applied, my prince. It is. Most of the people support the newly re-formed high council and the nobles, who by law are the only judges of corruption and dum-semb, the religion of the doom-guard. In the revolution, the counter-revolution, many of them were killed, and they hid from the rioters who shouted doom-guard slogans. But they no longer need to hide. Those who were involved with the illegal religion are being judged and the guilty are executed in the manner described in the law.

  "The crabs and other scavengers have all they can eat, and the water near the harbour is red, but riots have been avoided. And while I speak of nobles, the honourable captain of Gem of Karet may like to know that the widowed countess Elakart of Karet has need of some reliable captains and would like to talk to him.”

  “I will tell him that Hayeel, but why do you put yourself in danger?”

  “I have written, but that letter awaits you in Caneth, my prince. I unmasked a priestess of dum-semb among those from Tesk. The knowledge that the hateful religion of the doom-guard and the windward empire is called dum-semb has passed out of common knowledge here.”

  “I am not pleased to think of you taking needless risks, Hayeel. But I am pleased to hear your voice.”

  “I rejoice to hear your voice also, my prince. Do not be too angry, I beg you. I did not come on my own, I came with princess Esmetherelda, prince Hal and his mother and sisters, and we do not go onto the streets without bodyguards.”

  “Ah. I don't think I should be angry then. And is the academy happy to have Teng back?”

  “The academy are thinking of other things. The administrative staff are mostly followers of dum-semb, and have barricaded themselves into their offices. The army may be sent in to kill them all tomorrow or the next day if they keep on refusing to accept trial. Teng was also involved with dum-semb at one point in his career, but rejected much of it. He also wasn't entirely honest to to King Val about his involvement when questioned on arrival. But he is being truthful now, because he is being tried in front of the high council, where a lie under oath means death.”

  “How did things got so bad?” Salay asked.

  “Too much pride. Dum-semb is a religion that feeds off pride and all the attitudes that say it is OK to lie and cheat and steal because if you are caught then your friends who also lie and cheat and steal will help you as long as you lie and cheat and steel for them when they are in trouble. And then it builds that into a religion.”

  “A religion of corruption?” Naneela asked.

  “Exactly, imperial princess. A religion of corruption where taking the life of one who does not believe is a stepping-stone to advancement. May God purge it from the face of the planet, wherever it is.”

  “Amen.” Salay said. “Travel very safely, my Hayeel. The Walrus was fast but we left earlier than planned, and have also made good time. We reached the borders of the empire and Tew at mid-day, so if God sends us kind winds and the Tew navy do not stop us, we will be in Caneth in five days.”

  “Travel safely my prince. Did you hear that the war-like king of Tew died soon after his son? Queen Yalisa now reigns.”

  “I had not heard.”

  “As your ambassador, I took the initiative of sending condolences on your behalf, my prince. I hope I did well.”

  “You did very well, my ambassador. You also do well as ambassador to be in Tesk, my Hayeel.”

  “You mean that as your Ambassador I should be here, but as your Hayeel I should be avoiding all risk? My prince, I enjoy my role as ambassador and I rejoice in your concern for me, but perhaps we should have that conversation in private.

  Most noble princess, I thank you for your gift to Tesk and to the world.”

  Naneela laughed, “I am pleased it works, noble duchess, and well diverted. Salay, your Hayeel is wise to defer that discussion, is she not?”

  “I don't know, Naneela. I think that if she had you involved as well I would have no chance of winning the argument.”

  “Hayeel, I invite your comment if you wish to play in such dangerous water some more,” Naneela said.

  “I will simply say my mother always said it is better to never have an argument without leaving a man some chance to win. And of course, gentle reason and smiles are better than an argument.”

  “Which strategy to you plan to use on me on this topic, my Hayeel?” Salay asked foolishly.

  “I think, my prince, that the topic will re-occur every time you seek to protect me but take risks yourself over the next few decades, and I expect I will be using a mixture of strategies to help you choose the wisest choice if you are tempted to choose based on emotions. And I hope that you will use a mixture of strategies in reply when I wish to let my emotions overcome my sense.”

  “And Hayeel, can it be possible to fall in love with someone after a few letters and one short conversation over radio?”

  “My prince, I am sure that logic says it cannot be. But the radio part is something new. Perhaps we will need to discover if what I feel now is merely optimism, or being in love with the idea of being in love, and so just a false feeling, not worthy of the name I am tempted to give it. But I know I long to make that discovery.”

  “You say 'no' as beautifully as you write, my Hayeel, and I hope you do not mind me saying that I already love the way that you express things, and look forward to falling in love with you properly.”

  “I'm going to suggest that you save your batteries now, brother,” Naneela said. “Sorry, but you know father hopes to talk to you when you are safely in Caneth, and you are on your last battery plates.”

  “Highness, the Tesk transmitter uses sparks,” the technician said, “They have a powerful generator. We can surely recover our batteries and give duchess Hayeel some of the plates we have with us.”

  “An excellent idea, but still my brother should stop talking, as should you if you are still at ten percent. You know what high power does to it, save the equipment, otherwise Duchess Hayeel will soon learn how rich she is and offer to buy it and Tesk both.”

  “I have had some hints from my prince about the wealth associated with my title, highness. They bring with them some worries that would probably concern me far more if I had details and if I were actually in the Empire, as it is I merely rejoice that if something I did that might upset your most honourable father and his civil service, I need not merely say sorry but can also offer to make amends.”

  “Are you willing to tell me what you have done, Duchess Hayeel?”

  “I gave a countess here on Tesk who needs to avoid what they call grain here (which is very different to the grain at home) a certificate of accreditation as a favoured exporter of up to three standard boatloads of grain per year and two top quality Repink carpets per grain shipment.”

  “How favoured?”

  “Zero tariff on grain delivered to Tesk, and ten percent on the carpets as long as they are shipped to Tesk and then maybe onward to Caneth.”

  “I assume you had a reason?” Naneela said.

  “Food on Tesk consumes most of people's income, even when the harvest doesn't fail. When it does, people starve because they cannot afford imported grain from Caneth. No tax would make grain from home affordable, and hopefully stop prices rocketing as high if the harvests do fail. And, I don't think three standard ship-loads will entirely crash the market. As to the carpets, ships stop at Tesk on their way between Caneth and the Isles, or make a special trip from the Isles. The ones that are going to or from Caneth sell a bit, but don't expect to buy anything, except maybe some food, really they just use Tesk as a passenger destination or a harbour. The ones from the Isles might buy a certain type of fabric, but it's for a betrothal ritual shared by the Isles and Tesk, but not by the mainland. So yes, there's a demand, but it's fixed, once per lifetime. The opportunity is for Tesk to export fashion-wear, like it used to, but Tesk doesn't lead fashion now. If there were more ships going from Tesk to Caneth, then that might change. It's not that there are no designers on Tesk, just practically no one ever sees their work. Some regular traffic from Tesk to Caneth would change that, and the captains with the carpets will want to take something else or they'll be laughed at for making the journey with just a couple of carpets. Oh, also, the countess is a widow with a high sense of duty and connections in the shipping trade, but who has been feeling useless now that her daughter is happily married.”

  “Why, Duchess, do you think that such a well-motivated and selfless action might displease my father?” Naneela replied.

  “Because inspectors' salaries still need paying, highness, and a zero tariff involves not even a token payment.”

  A male voice replied, “The empire's finances will not suffer unduly for three boatloads, duchess. You will upset the inspectors because they cannot expect a bribe to reduce the tonnage on their reports, and even better, the capacity of the ships involved will be recorded truthfully for once, which should help future corruption investigations. So, I am in no way displeased. Hayeela and myself are almost as pleased to hear your voice as I expect our son is. Assure the people of Tesk that we will pray for them as they battle this old evil. And of course we will also pray for your safe return to Caneth, and look forward to welcoming you here.”

  “I, I humbly thank you for your kind words, imperial majesty,” Hayeel said, shocked to think that the emperor and empress had been listening in.

  When the captain had finished his observations the next dawn, Salay said, via his interpreter, “Captain, I have some news for you from Tesk,”

  “Through your wires and glass tubes?”

  “Yes. The Walrus arrived there sometime yesterday, I presume. I spoke to duchess Hayeel, who is visiting Tesk along with the royal family of the Isles and princess Esmetherelda. Tew's king and crown prince have died, and now queen Isthana rules. The High Council of Tesk are re-formed, and the nobles of Tesk are no longer hiding from the counter-revolution.”

  “Counter-revolution? Another one?” the captain interrupted.

  “Apparently that is the new term for what you might think of as the revolution. when nobles hid from rioters and their doom-guard slogans.”

  “Yes, yes, I see. The nobility aren't hiding and the King of the Isles visiting? Amazing, amazing! Praise God!”

  “The nobles are now being the judges they should be over cases of involvement in dum-semb, the religion of the doom-guard. Riots have been averted, but the sea near the harbour is apparently red. Hayeel also said that Countess Elakart of Karet is a widow and is in need of some reliable captains and would like to talk to you.”

  “Well! Ela wants to talk trade, eh? That's news at least. And a widow?”

  “His imperial highness's exact words were 'The now-widow countess Elakart of Karet'” the interpreter said, “And regarding the talk, I am not certain that the topic is trade. Allow me to check please,” that done, he said, “His imperial highness said Hayeel presented two pieces of information in an ambiguous way, it might be taken to mean that countess Elakart wants to talk to you as a reliable captain, or it might be that she wants to talk to you as someone trusted, about reliable captains, or it might be separate: she needs reliable captains, and she wants to talk to you.”

  “And the only way to find out which is to persuade young Hayeel to talk some more, I suppose?”

  “I will ask my sister if she knows any more. But Hayeel was due to leave for Caneth this morning.”

  “Ahoy in the crow's nest!” the captain shouted.

  “Ay, Captain?” the lookout answered.

  “Why do you want to go back to Tesk, lad?”

  “Want to give my mum some of my pay and let a girl there know I've not forgotten her, Captain!”

  “Sounds a good couple of reasons. Seems like the Gem is going to be welcomed, after all.”