The Mercy of Gods

The Carryx colony ships approach Anjiin. The emotionless half-mind of the ship analyzes the planet thoroughly to understand the biology of the resident species. They’re surprised that the species detects their approach but prepare for the conquest by sending a network of billions of nodes to circle the planet in a net.

The half-mind translates the human language but ignores messages of peace and threats of self-defense. One continent launches missiles, which the nodes easily destroy before also destroying the cities that launched them. The Carryx count every single human on the planet (more than three billion), divide the population into eighths, and send an order to the nodes. The Carryx then speak in a mechanical voice translated for the population, saying, “[Y]ou are, individually and collectively, under the authority of the Carryx. You have been measured, and your place with the moieties will now be determined” (80).

From their garden, Nol and Synnia watch the nearby military base explode. Else sends them a message that Campar will collect them and take them to her basement quarters. Then, a voice speaks from nowhere, calling itself the Carryx. It advises the humans to adapt quickly to reduce their own discomfort. To prove their authority, the Carryx will exterminate one-eighth of the population. The next second, something tiny and painful strikes Nol in the chest. He falls and dies.

Meanwhile, Campar drives toward Nol and Synnia’s apartment. He arrives to find Synnia sitting by Nol’s dead body. Campar drags her to the car. As they drive, Campar sees the first invaders. They’re tall and long, “with a hundred knifelike legs that undulat[e] as [they] move” (89). As explosions erupt around them, they abandon the car and run. Campar loses Synnia in the smoke and runs into a second group of invaders. He prepares to fight, but an alien hits him across the face, and he falls unconscious.

Dafyd lies on the pavement in the city plaza with hundreds of others. Around them, the furry Soft Lothark and the centipede-like Rak-Hund patrol and watch. Once or twice, Dafyd sees giant creatures that remind him of huge cockroaches. He suspects these are the Carryx. It has been five days since the invasion began.

Dafyd, Else, Tonner, and Irinna initially stayed hidden, but on the fourth day, the aliens found them. Dafyd hasn’t seen the others since. The Carryx corralled hundreds of humans here. Whenever a human tries to resist, a Rak-hund stomps them to death with its knife legs. Eventually, another alien that looks like a cross between a goat and a cuttlefish approaches Dafyd. It calls itself a Sinen and orders Dafyd to confirm his identity as research assistant Dafyd Alkhor.

Dafyd is horrified that the aliens have been watching them long enough to know his name and position. The Sinen tells him that his place within the moieties has been determined. The Sinen leads him to one of the Carryx vessels and places him in a chamber with other humans. Among the humans, Dafyd sees Campar.

Jessyn and Else sit in the crowded holding chamber together. When Else leaves to inspect a new group, a man approaches Jessyn, introducing himself as Urrys Ostencour from security. He recognizes her as part of Tonner’s team and speculates that the aliens are taking people who are the best in their fields: head of security forces, top research groups, members of a governmental organization. He adds that the aliens clearly want them to live, since they provided food and a large absorbent mat as a toilet.

He asks if she has any medical supplies. She lies and says no. When the aliens caught her, she was preparing to flee and shoved her medication in her pockets. However, she can’t share it, fearing she’ll lose her mind without it. Urrys leaves to check with others. Else returns, leading Synnia, Campar, and Dafyd.

Jessyn is upset that no one has seen Jellit but glad that the others are alive. Synnia says that Nol died. Dafyd and Else speculate that the Soft Lothark and Rak-Hund are pets or enslaved. The alien voice announces they’re about to launch.

The perspective shifts. The swarm has been caught by the enemy along with the humans. It must blend in so that the Carryx don’t find it. The remnants of Ameer feed the swarm’s knowledge so that it can behave correctly. It settles in and waits.

Jessyn loses track of time. She eats, sleeps, and at intervals sneaks a pill. The team huddles for warmth and comfort. Occasionally, people scream and panic. At one point, a door opens, and a Soft Lothark replaces the soiled absorbent mat.

Synnia is quiet, numb with grief. Campar is meditative. Dafyd and Else lie together and surreptitiously have sex in the cold darkness. Jessyn, momentarily outraged on Tonner’s behalf, concedes that humans have always sought physical comfort in times of distress, and they should take what they can get. Jessyn fears that she’ll run out of pills and her mind will “go rotten here” (117). They have been in the chamber for at least a month. Then Synnia announces that she, Urrys, and others have a plan to overpower the Soft Lothark and escape.

Urrys plans to attack the Soft Lothark when they enter to replace the soiled mat. Dafyd and others object. Dafyd says they’re no match for any of the aliens. Even if they overpowered one Soft Lothark, they’d still be trapped on a ship. Campar jokingly suggests that dying in a different room at least has appeal. Dafyd fears that the aliens will kill all the humans in retaliation. Else offers to speak with Urrys, and Dafyd trusts her to change his mind.

However, they underestimate Urrys’s resolve and Synnia’s need for revenge. The Soft Lothark enters to replace the mat. Urrys, Synnia, and several others attack it with knives as a crowd forms. Dafyd pushes through the crowd, hoping to intervene. The Soft Lothark’s body swells and explodes, showering those nearby with acidic blood, including Dafyd, Synnia, and Urrys. The blood makes them sick and delirious. Before passing out, Dafyd sees more Soft Lothark enter the chamber, eat the corpse, and then drag the remains from the room and leave.

Dafyd wakes to find Else by his side. She says they’ve all been taking turns keeping him clean and safe. Urrys and Synnia have also been violently ill. One of the other attackers died.

Dafyd realizes that he made the mistake of anthropomorphizing the aliens. This experience warns Dafyd about the limits of putting himself in “the other person’s place” (128), which is his pathological move. He always tries to imagine what he would do in someone’s place, to understand and anticipate what will happen. However, he can’t understand these aliens because they don’t think like humans.

The ship arrives at its destination. The chamber opens, and the aliens herd the humans onto a large platform. The air is cool, and the light is bright. In the distance, Dafyd sees ziggurats as large as mountains. Smaller buildings around the bases are full of red and gold light. The Soft Lothark lead the humans past the Carryx. One human screams and resists, and the Carryx kill her instantly. The others move without resistance after that. They’re led to one of the ziggurats. Dafyd laments that they never stood a chance against such power but concedes that it wouldn’t have mattered because even if they knew they would fight anyway.

Later, Jessyn lies down on the bed she claimed after the aliens led her, Campar, Synnia, Dafyd, and Else to a set of rooms. The rooms include a common area, a kitchen, and individual bedrooms. Everything is an approximation of what they had on Anjiin but the wrong shape or size, as if the Carryx had researched what humans needed but didn’t care enough to be precise.

The team gathers in the common room. Jessyn is shocked when Irinna and Tonner arrive next. They arrived on a different transport ship. Tonner puts an arm around Else’s waist, and Jessyn watches with pity as Dafyd backs up and looks away. One of the Carryx then appears in the doorway, bringing Rickar with it. It introduces itself as “Tkson of the cohort Malkal” and the “keeper-librarian” (146) of their moiety. It’s there to help the humans prove their usefulness and survive.