A Seeker Betrayed

25. New in Thurinia

There was no sign of Sia Aya anywhere. Gamman left it to Lord Andyne to keep looking and spent the hours after their meeting getting his people together and reviewing the contract details for the PST system they were installing. On their long trip to the nearest airport, and on their short flight, he and Lord Durban went back and forth over the footage of the incident and made themselves familiar with the locale, and then at their destination they met up with Gamman's housekens, Hard and Sang.

There were many smaller ports along the coast, but the city of Shey'Her, laid out across the river delta in south central Thurinia, was one of the hubs for international shipping.

Their host wanted to meet them there on the coast, instead of further inland where the PST was being built. They landed before dawn, further inland, and were loaded onto a boat with their belongings. It was a pleasant ride; as the sun rose there was little traffic and they slipped past other moored vehicles in silence.

Gamman was pleased to note that there were several local rignodes and that they worked for him the same way as the ones did in the Jitae. Wherever he looked he could see with his own sight, or he could take on an altered view using the Tharig. And the Tharig was able to provide all kinds of details for him.

They were at the spot where the Et'Ria River met the ocean. The bay was engineered for shipping traffic and in the distance there were visible the masts and towers of many different types of merchant ships, even ones that looked like ancient sailing vessels. In the early morning it was eerily quiet and Gamman gazed up at the industrial cranes and vehicles perched along the edge of the piers as they moved silently past.

They entered one of the many deep canals in the area and he was fascinated by the way other waterways branched out from it. The Tharig informed him that much of what he was looking at was built upon small man-made islands that were entirely floating. He was curious about the submersibles they used in Thurinia, called 'narels,' but those were used mainly by the wealthy 'satza' class that owned everything and held the reins of government across the entire southern continent.

It was apparent that all transport was done by water vehicle. Already jet skis were streaming past and he observed docks full of narrow dayboats with people already moving among them, preparing to set out.

After about an hour they ascended from their boat in the old part of the city, up stone steps and onto a paved lane. The Tharig guided them to a tall stone structure that had a pink cast to it. The historical guide Gamman had looked at showed that the city was prone to flooding and the ancients had eventually imported special materials and updated the oldest structures with it. The pinkish stone was the final piece of a construction process that helped keep floodwaters out.

It was odd architecture - there were flared archways, pointed at the top, at each of the building's windows. But the windows themselves were rectangular. They had changed the shape while retrofitting for flood control. It was artfully done, but still strange.

They passed through the thick doorway and on the other side a friendly old man beckoned to them with a smile. "Come, come," he said, his voice thin and airy.

At that moment, with awful timing, A'Gahtay tapped at Gamman through the obomae.

Gamman had to ignore him. He let the others lead him along, while he called on Sur'ten, who should have gotten off of work by now. The Jitae was half a world away, and the sun would set there soon. Needing to put his full attention on the task at hand, he was quick to speak as soon as he knew he had Sur'ten's attention. A'Gahtay is looking for me. I cannot talk right now - would you check up on him for me. Please.

Without waiting for the reply, he cut the communication off and saw that they were entering a room with a long table and upright chairs - the foreign type of seating arrangement he had only ever encountered in specialized shops back home.