Free Poseidon's Wake by Alastair Reynolds Page B

forehead, the other dabbing a wet sponge around the elephant’s eye. Agrippa’s trunk lay limp as a hose on the ground, only the end twitching up as Goma approached.
    She knelt next to Ru. Ru had brought a pail of water and there was another sponge in the pail. Goma wrung most of the water from the sponge and then touched it gently to the end of Agrippa’s trunk.
    ‘When did this happen?’ she asked, keeping her voice low, as if there was a risk of the elephants understanding.
    ‘She was on her feet at dusk yesterday. Overnight, this.’
    Agrippa had been ailing for many seasons, slowly losing her strength. But she had retained her authority as matriarch, and Goma had allowed herself to think that the elephant would go on until at least after her departure, that her death was a problem she need not face.
    ‘Thank you for calling me.’
    ‘I knew you’d want to be here.’ Ru recharged her sponge, the water in the pail already turning dusty. ‘As soon as I saw how bad things were, I called you.’
    ‘There’s nothing we can do, is there?’
    It was a rhetorical question. She knew the answer as well as Ru.
    ‘Make things as easy as possible. Keep her eyes from drying, keep the sun off her. I should have told Tomas to send some blankets out with you.’
    ‘I think he did. The buggy was pretty well loaded.’
    ‘She’s been so strong,’ Ru said, pausing at a catch in her voice. ‘I thought she’d endure longer than this. Even when I knew she was ill, I didn’t think it would be so sudden.’
    ‘She was putting up a show of strength,’ Goma said. ‘For the sake of the herd.’
    ‘As always.’
    After a moment, it occurred to Goma to ask, ‘How long have you been here, Ru?’
    ‘You’re cross I didn’t call you sooner?’
    ‘No, I’m worried that you’ve been here hours and hours without thinking of yourself. You brought water for Agrippa, but I don’t see anything for you.’
    ‘There’s water in my buggy.’
    Goma had passed the other vehicle long before she reached the herd. She doubted Ru had been back to it since reaching the fallen matriarch. ‘Wait here,’ she said, risking placing a hand on Ru’s shoulder by way of comfort.
    She was as quick as she could be, but not so hasty that her movements would further disconcert the herd. In Ru’s buggy she found water flasks and a wide-brimmed hat. A little further back, where she had parked her own vehicle, she found a pair of survival blankets and a box of emergency rations. She bundled everything into the blankets and headed back to Ru.
    Ru took her flask distractedly at first, as if being reminded to drink were a nuisance. But after she had swallowed a mouthful, she gulped the rest in sudden thirst.
    ‘Thank you,’ she said, with a certain wariness, as if the words might put her in some unspecified debt to Goma.
    ‘It’s all right. I’ve got these blankets, too. They should keep her a little cooler.’
    The blankets only covered part of the elephant, but they did the best they could to make her comfortable. Goma opened the ration kit and showed Ru the contents, then tore the foil from an energy bar and bit into it.
    ‘I wonder if there’s more we should do,’ Ru said, wiping her mouth. ‘Then I wonder if we’re already doing too much. Prolonging something that shouldn’t be prolonged.’
    ‘You couldn’t just leave her,’ Goma said. ‘I know you. And this is a kindness, so don’t start doubting yourself. All you’re doing is easing things for her, not making it worse. Seriously, how long has it been?’
    ‘Seven hours. Maybe eight. I arrived just after sunrise.’
    ‘Then in a little while I want you to go back to the buildings. I bet you didn’t bring your medicines, did you?’
    ‘She’s what matters now.’
    ‘No, you matter, too – to me, anyway. You drive back and I’ll stay here. We can take turns holding vigil.’
    ‘I won’t leave her.’
    ‘She could be like this for days.’
    ‘I think it will be faster.