Page 119 of The Surviving Sky
“How do you know he is alive, Dhruv?”
The sungineer gave her a long look, his mouth drawing down in sadness. Then he reached into his pocket and withdrew what looked like the elephant-yaksha’s tracker.
“Iravan came to me before all this happened. We made an exchange, the spiralweed for the yaksha-tracker, but I’d made a backdoor earlier to the device, and I gave him a replica connected to this one.Histracker—it’sbeen sending a signal. It’s recharging where heis—”
She pressed his arm. “How do you know he’salive? How do you know it’s not just the tracker recharging because of Energy X?”
“The tracker still tracks,” Dhruv said miserably. “It’s recording data, just like the tracker on the elephant-yaksha did. Energy X is what powers it and recharges it, but there are circuits inside the tracker that capture information, and I’ve received vital signs from them.He’s—he’salive, Ahilya, but there is no way we can go to him, not with Nakshar like this.”
“And Energy X is charging your receiver somehow?”
“Yes. I know what you’rethinking—thatEnergy X is Ecstatic energy, but I don’t think there’s any architect in Ecstasy rightnow—”Dhruv disengaged her grip on him. “The councilors have been waiting for you to wake. They only left you alone so far because Tariya threatened she’d reveal information on some secret pact.”
“I’m awake now. Let’s go.”
“Ahilya, listen to me. I know why you want to talk to them. It’s not about the city, is it? Before you go and ask for something stupid, please knowthis—Naksharis running on critical energy. The city has no trajection to fly, let alone chase after Iravan. We’re bobbing in the sky, waiting for Reikshar to catch up to us. We’re ready to collapse into the earthrage ourselves. Iravanis—gone.”
“I—”
“And there’s no telling when his signal will die,” he went on. “What if the yaksha goes back to its habitat in the jungle where we get no signal? What if somehow thisreceiver”—hewaved the tracker in his hand—“stops working because our mysterious supply of Energy X runs out? There’s no certainty.He’s—Youhave to let him go.”
“You can take me to the council,” Ahilya said. “Or I will find my own way. But it’ll be faster if you help me. Please, Dhruv.Please.”
For a long moment, he stared at her. She thought that he would leave, ask her to figure it out herself. But then the sungineer withdrew a solarnote from his pocket and swiped through some images. “Maybe this will change your mind,” he mumbled. “Your scans from the infirmary.”
Ahilya stared at the glassy screen and was immediately nauseous.“I’m…Thisis…”
“Yes. You’re pregnant.” Dhruv took the tablet back. He didn’t congratulate her.
Ahilya pressed a hand to her stomach, dizzy. No wonder Dhruv had been so cagey, so relentless that she return to recover. Ahilya had known pregnancy was a possibility when she and Iravan had been intimate; it had been the perfect time, her body had been ripe for it, but for it to betray her now, at thismoment—
She staggered a little and held tightly to the railing. Her eyes closed and she breathed rapidly, hearing her own panic resounding in her ears.I want to be a father, Iravan had said.Why is that so hard to believe?Tears trickled down her closed eyes, unbidden, and she wiped them away hurriedly.I want you to be happy. I want our marriage back.
“Let me take you back to yourroom—”Dhruv began.
But Ahilya opened her eyes and dashed the tears away with a furious hand. “No,” she said, surprised to hear how calm her voice sounded. “No, Dhruv, take me down there to the councilors. I have news that will help them.”
The sungineer stared at her, unmoving for a second. Then his shoulders slumped in defeat. Perhaps he could see her stubbornness; he knew her well enough to know she would not back down. Dhruv turned toward the corridor they had come through. He tapped at his citizen ring and the bark wall split open. An elevator took them down in silence through the temple’s levels.
They emerged directly in the small courtyard at the bottom. Ahilya stumbled behind Dhruv, her mouth dropping open, her heart sinking in dismay. The rudra tree was shorter than she was, barely a sapling. Its leaves had darkened at the edges, scorched. The Architects’ Disc was no longer a Disc. Instead, one portion of the courtyard was cordoned off, a thin, leafy barricade rising from the floor. Blue-green light flickered behind it.
Dhruv headed to the other end of the courtyard, and Ahilya followed slowly. Never had the temple looked so cavernous or Nakshar so small. From down there, she couldn’t make out the hollows or railings in the structure at all. How many citizens had survived? How had the council decided who would live where? She swallowed and looked ahead, trying to focus on the one thing she wanted, the one thing shecouldstill change.
Far from the splendor of the council chambers, Nakshar’s council now sat on a circular bench, a small sungineering heater in the center. They looked a weary, bedraggled bunch, the two remaining Senior Architects and Sungineers, and their apprentices from the last emergency meeting. Ahilya’s stomach clenched. She had never liked the council, but she had never wanted them brought down this way. Whispered voices carried over, then Kiana noticed Dhruv, and all of them fell silent.
Airav straightened. “Ahilya-ve. It’s good to see you. How is your arm?”
The others shuffled on the circular bench, making way for her and Dhruv. Ahilya climbed over and sat down, facing them. Dhruv squeezed in beside her.
“You’ve been waiting for me,” she said.
Chaiyya glanced at Airav, but the bald, serious man had eyes only for Ahilya.
“Yes,” he said. “You’re the expert on yakshas.You—Thisattack—”Airav sighed. “You must know by now the situation we face. We need explanations that we can relay to the other ashrams. If yakshas are suddenly attacking us, then the skies are no longer safe, and the jungleis…well, the jungle has never been safe. Ahilya-ve, it’s probably no exaggeration to say that we are staring at an end to our species. Anything you can tell us will be helpful.”
“I have information that can help,” Ahilya said slowly. “Something that might sustain the ashram for a long time. Something that might even provide a new source of energy.”
Chaiyya sat up, her eyes wide. Kiana glanced at Dhruv, who was staring at his hands. Laksiya uttered a soft snort of skepticism. The others, Megha, Umit, and Reya, slapped each other on the backs, making sounds of relief. Only Airav remained quiet.
