The Mercy of Gods

When Jessyn, Campar, and Rickar return to the destroyed lab to gather more equipment, the Night Drinkers attack again. Suddenly, something in Jessyn snaps, and her self-hatred shifts outward. She chases the Night Drinkers down the hallway with a makeshift crowbar. Stunned, Campar and Rickar follow.

They follow the Night Drinkers all the way back to their own home, a strange nest-like structure with a small hole to dive into. Jessyn calls out that she knows where they live now and leaves. Both teasing and serious, Campar calls Jessyn their “war leader” and says he would follow her into battle any time. She laughs as she realizes that this is the first time something has been afraid of humans since the Carryx attacked.

Dafyd continues to observe the Carryx. He visits Tkson again and asks for permission to visit so that he can learn more about the Carryx. He explains that by better understanding what the Carryx want, the humans have a better possibility of proving their usefulness. This infuriates Tkson, who responds that “possibility is irrelevant” and “an animal does not choose its […] essential nature and place in society” (244). Dafyd apologizes and leaves, still puzzled.

Back at their quarters, Tonner and the others have made progress on the microorganic farm. They teach it to replicate Jessyn’s medication. That night, Dafyd goes to his room and Else follows him. Dafyd is confused and asks about Tonner, but Else says that under the current circumstances she wants to hold onto things that give her joy, including him.

The swarm is conflicted. It says that it’s acting on Else’s feelings for Dafyd. Else insists that she was already dead the first time they kissed and isn’t to blame. The swarm knows that a change is coming, and the war may soon overtake them. It takes pleasure in the moment of comfort and calm with Dafyd.

Tonner tries to ignore the fact that Else now spends nights in Dafyd’s room. In the morning, Campar sits in the kitchen with him, trying to assuage his hurt feelings. Tonner shows him the experiment results. He has made medication for Jessyn.

Suddenly, the Night Drinkers burst through the door, throwing liquid-filled balloons, which burst, burning Tonner and Campar with acid. The others run to help fight off the Night Drinkers while Tonner and Campar rush to the showers.

Tonner emerges from the shower to see Jessyn and Rickar dissecting a Night Drinker they killed in the fight. Tonner is proud that the first thing they do is try to learn what they can from the incident. He believes this drive to understand will save them. He gives Jessyn the medication he made, which he protected during the attack. Tonner and Campar then realize that the Night Drinkers used the berries to make the acid balloons: The Night Drinkers made a chemical weapon from the berries, which means they can too.

Dafyd lies in bed with Else, trying again to make sense of the Carryx’s behavior. He doesn’t understand why Tkson was angry about his wanting to learn more about the Carryx so that the humans can be more useful. He tries to imagine a government that could successfully conquer and control so many worlds and imagines that they should be open to learning and teaching. However, the Carryx have no interest in either.

Meanwhile, Jessyn feels better after being back on her medication for several days. She knows it’s working when her “fantasies chang[e] from suicide to murder” (268). In the kitchen, Tonner, Rickar, and Campar reverse engineer the acid balloons that the Night Drinkers threw at them to create their own chemical weapon. Eventually, they succeed and decide to field-test it.

Jessyn suggests taking the fight to the Night Drinkers’ front door since she knows where their nest is. The men hesitate, but Jessyn’s revenge-fueled enthusiasm inspires them. They make dozens of balloons and carry them to the Night Drinkers’ nest. Jessyn has never been prone to violence, but now she anticipates it with joy and excitement. She knows that captivity and Irinna’s death have turned her into a weapon.

She throws a balloon through the hole, and the Night Drinkers panic. Tonner, Rickar, and Campar join in. The acid melts the walls of the nest and seems to hurt the Night Drinkers more than it hurts the humans. The Night Drinkers scurry and try to fight but finally retreat. When the humans run low on acid balloons, they leave. Jessyn feels the thrill of victory and domination.

They return to their quarters and tell Else and Dafyd about their adventure. Else is impressed. Dafyd is concerned that they’re playing the game the way the Carryx want them to, but the others glare at him, and he falls silent. That night, Jessyn sleeps well for the first time.

Ekur flees to Carryx-controlled space and its prisoners of war. It receives a message from its superior, a regulator-librarian who has orders from the Sovran herself. Ekur receives orders to escort its prisoners to “the keeping pens of low animals and oversee their interrogation” (281). The moment Ekur receives the orders, it feels its hormones and anatomy shifting to fit its new role as an interrogator-librarian. Though this is a lateral move in ranking rather than a demotion, Ekur is disappointed because it requires more direct contact with the animals.

In the ziggurat, the swarm walks with Synnia through the hallways, exploring, reminiscing, and looking for other human groups. It feels mental contact and recognizes a distress call from an ally.

Ekur uses Soft Lothark as intermediaries to interrogate its prisoners. The prisoners claim to have no home planet; rather, they were created as tools for the war. The beings that designed them are called the Aunjeli, who are “made from semi-stable plasma, and […] build their cities in the coronas of stars” (286). Ekur thinks this is a lie and punishes the prisoners.

The swarm wanders the hallways, following the sound of the distress call. When it’s close, the ally warns it not to approach because it has been captured and the swarm can’t risk exposure. Instead, the ally transfers everything it learned during the attack on Ayayeh and its interrogation so that the swarm can save the knowledge and send it out later.

Ekur’s subordinates catch the signal their prisoners send out, but think it was too weak to reach anyone. Ekur dismisses it as the prisoners’ reflexive response to physical pain.

Now that the team has accepted Rickar back in, he watches them closely. He feels haunted and overwhelmed, and he thinks the others feel the same way except for Dafyd. He didn’t like Dafyd on Anjiin but now realizes that he underestimated the younger man and suspects that being underestimated was always part of Dafyd’s strategy.

Again, the Night Drinkers approach. This time they scratch at the door rather than enter. When Dafyd opens the door, the Night Drinkers enter cautiously. One lays a severed Night Drinker head on the floor like an offering, placing one of the black box translators beside it. The Night Drinkers chatter. The translator says, “No more war. No more fighting” (295). Dafyd understands that they’re surrendering. The Night Drinkers run away and Dafyd picks up the translator excitedly.

Holding the translator, Dafyd rushes out into the halls to approach the first aliens he sees. He asks if they’ve seen other humans. Several hours later, Jellit sits nursing an injured leg in his quarters with Llaren Morse and others. He hears a knock at their door and a human voice. Shocked, Jellit opens the door to see Jessyn.