The Emperor of Everything

Long ago, over a campfire on Line, a badly wounded and delirious Publius had told Ruiz his greatest secret — that he had been born in a Dilvermoon Holding Ark and was not, as he had claimed, the bastard of a noble Jahworld family. Ruiz had never completely understood the intensity with which Publius defended his pretentions, but he had realized their importance to Publius when the monster-maker tried to murder him, years later. In self-preservation, he had filed a posthumous memorandum, which would be broadcast over the public datastreams, in the event of his death or disappearance.

In later years, he had begun to worry that Publius had lived with the possibility of exposure for so long that it no longer gave Ruiz any leverage over him. “Truly, I wish you could convince me that my precautions are unnecessary.”

Publius grunted. He moved across the rug-covered floor of his public room, and took glasses and a decanter from a cabinet. He poured, offered a snifter of pale lilac liquor to Ruiz. “Well, at least you can drink with me without fear of poisoning. Few can, eh?”

Ruiz nodded and sipped.

“I’m such a bad boy,” said Publius, sitting on a deep-cushioned sofa and gesturing Ruiz to a nearby chair. “Now: escape. Where’s your expensive little starboat? The Vigia, isn’t it? My memory is a wonder!”

“Hidden on a faraway world. I arrived on Sook a stowaway.”

“Somehow that seems appropriate,” said Publius. His eyes had lost some of their customary fey brilliance; he seemed a more ordinary man, for the moment. “And what was your mission, if it’s no great secret?”

Ruiz shrugged. “Not anymore. I was hired to sniff out a poacher on a League Hardworld.”

“And did you succeed? No, a foolish question, eh? You never fail, do you?”

“I know who the poacher is,” said Ruiz.

“You see, I was right.” Publius took a mouthful of liquor and swilled it around noisily before swallowing. “So, let us suppose you get up to the Shard platforms — you then plan to take commercial transport?”

“Yes.”

“Ah. Well, as I said, the pirate lords are hysterical, at the moment. They’ve apparently stumbled across a big secret…. They don’t know what to do about it. Some argue for destruction, others for exploitation. Does it surprise you to learn that I know the secret too?”

Ruiz shook his head.

Publius laughed his odd laugh. “Nothing about me surprises you, does it? Perhaps that’s why I don’t squash you like the insignificant bug you are; you help me to maintain a certain perspective. I’m going to exploit the secret, of course, if I can get my hands on it. Tell me, how does this sound: Emperor Publius, the Emperor of Everything?”

Ruiz hardly knew what to say. “What’s the secret?” he asked, finally.

Publius giggled. “Why, it’s a secret; didn’t you hear me?”

“Oh.”

Publius adopted a businesslike expression. “Now, I don’t say it’s impossible to leave SeaStack now, but it’s exceedingly difficult. Expensive. Dangerous. I might be able to help you — but you must perform a service for me first. No, don’t bother to wave your terrible revelation at me. I no longer care; I’ve outgrown my origins by so vast a margin that it no longer matters what they were.” Publius smiled a rapacious smile. “Such a promising omen, that you should arrive after all these years, just as I need someone exactly like you.”

Ruiz grew suddenly weak with apprehension. “What,” he croaked, “do you want me to do?”

“The simplest thing, for a slayer like you,” Publius said. “I want you to kill a man.”

In the morning, Corean took Lensh and Marmo into SeaStack’s major auction pit — the proctors refused to allow the Moc inside, so she left it outside the security lock.

Flomel was being kept in one of the small independent pens adjacent to the pit, so she went there first, satisfied the ident processor that she was Flomel’s new owner, and opened the door to Flomel’s holding cell.

The conjuror was sitting on his narrow bunk, shoulders slumped in dejection, when the door moved aside. He glanced up, saw Corean.

A range of unexpected emotions slid across his face. She had expected to see terror and abasement, instead he appeared first astonished, then delighted.

“Noble Lady!” he said in glad tones. “I knew you would come.”

Corean was a bit taken aback. Either Flomel was much cleverer than she had supposed, or he had absolutely no grasp of the situation. In either case, she was willing to play along. “Did you?”

“Oh, yes. I knew you wouldn’t abandon me. The others were corrupted by that snake oil vagrant, but not me. I know Ruiz Aw for what he is, a casteless slayer, a thief, a troublemaker. I knew my faith would be rewarded… and here you are.”

Corean smiled. She was willing to accept his cooperation, though she had intended to punish Flomel — if not for any part he might have taken in the theft of her boat, then for his simple presence when the deed occurred. But she could be flexible, she could defer his punishment. She sat beside Flomel, patted his knee. “Tell me all about it,” she said.