I had it, but it's gone again, just like before! It's not a case of being able to move mass. My aura seems to extend as far as I can imagine it! You saw the mass I dipped from Tengri-Nayon. It looked like a small sun when I brought it to me. The problem is the transition, Mandughai. It's just a flash to me. Something happens in the transition, and the mass is left behind!
It won't be easier if you're upset, Kati.
But I've failed again. I can't bring mass to the gong-shi-jie!
As long as you try, you haven't failed. I would help you if I could, but you're beyond me. I cannot move mass or energy like you do, and the transition is also just a flash to me. I think the mass must be converted to hot light before entering the gong-shi-jie, and time is required for that to happen. We must slow the transition, but I don't know how to do it.
I'm sorry, Mandughai. I've tried hard, but I don't think the power is in me.
We can't be sure of that. For now, we'll focus on moving even larger masses in real space. That could be quite useful in accelerating a ship to high velocity, though the travel time would still be long. I'd hoped, of course, we could move such a ship at infinite speed in the gong-shi-jie, but now I see a terrible complication. If mass has to be converted to hot light, then back again to mass, what horrible things could happen to that mass, and any humans within it? Each atom must be reassembled, and put in its proper place. I'm beginning to think the task is not achievable, even by you.
I can bring light in and out of the gong-shi-jie. Could that be useful?
Yes, it could. Maybe we should work on that. If you can transfer enough power, ships can be propelled by light, but the power required is more than that produced by all our worlds, and we'll still be traveling for long times in real space. But it's something to look at. You have a lifetime to work on these things, Kati.
Not if we wage war, Mandughai. I will fight with my people, for reasons you still haven't given me.
Mandughai looked sorrowfully at her from the face that was Kati's. There is risk to both of us, and we'll try to minimize it. I will tell you one thing, now. My own daughter will lead my soldiers, and there is risk to her as well, Kati. She will take my place one day, if she survives.
You have a daughter? You never told me!
Mandughai smiled. A daughter, and sons; grand-children and great-grandchildren. I'm old, Kati. I will not lead my soldiers, but I'll be there. My hope is that you and I, and my daughter, will be able to meet when it's over. You're surprised again?
Yes. Somehow, when we're here, I still don't think of you as a real person.
As real as you. I'm the thirty-fifth Mandughai of Tengri-Nayon, Kati. My daughter follows me. I want her reign to be as benevolent to the people as mine has been, and I fear it won't be. I do not want the cruelties of the first Mandughai and a few after her to be repeated, but I want all our people together in harmony. She knows my will, Kati, but she's difficult and has influence with my military people.
I've deliberately kept her from you to avoid any conflicts of personalities. She can be harsh and abrasive, and is jealous of the training I've given you. I do not trust her to move freely in the gong-shi-jie, and have only guided her here a few times. In many ways, she's different from you, and I think it's best that you first meet her on the field of battle. Her powers are less than mine, and she cannot move mass or energy. Your abilities concern her, Kati, because soon after you're Empress you will be dealing with her, not me. My reign is coming to an end, and the two of you must work together for the good of our people.
First we must fight each other. It seems a poor way to begin. Kati drifted closer to her own image. At least I now see who my true enemy is. It is your daughter.
No! I am Mandughai, and I am Empress here, not my daughter. We disagree only on the agenda for Shanji and the scale of the war, and you must be prepared for the very worst! Tumatsin and Hansui must come together against us if they're to survive my daughter's plans. But I am also involved. I still see no other way to persuade the Tumatsin they must not separate themselves from the rest of the people by believing in myths. A foreign threat by me is the only way. Do not hesitate to threaten them with my coming, Kati. Do not use my daughter to excuse my actions. This is important. I don't think they'll believe you, anyway. Their belief will come when the first ordus burn. They will fight to protect themselves, but it's your task to make them fight for all of Shanji. Lead them, Kati. Lead them as Empress!
I will do my best, but it's like fighting a war with my own mother, Mandughai. I feel badly about this.
So do I. I would feel blessed if you were my own daughter. We must come together as Mandughai, a foreign Empress, and Mengnu, the future Empress of Shanji. If we survive, you will know my true name, and that of my daughter. It's now time for us to be apart. I'll miss you, Kati. This must be our last meeting before I come to Shanji.
Mandughai! You said you'd always be with me!
The time will pass quickly, but it's necessary for us to distance ourselves from each other before the conflict. We are much too close to each other to do what will be necessary.
But what about our work here, in the place of creation?
It will wait. You're ready to work on your own, and I encourage you to do it, but your focus should now be on Shanji. Get your people ready, Kati. You'll be warned again about my coming — and it will be soon. Goodbye until then, dear. I love you.
The tearful image of Mandughai drifted away from her to the green vortex that was Tengri-Nayon. A flash, and She was gone, and Kati was alone in the gong-shi-jie. It wasn't sudden fear that she felt in this familiar place, but a terrible sense of loneliness. In the past, Mandughai had always been watching her, even when it seemed She wasn't there, but now She was truly gone.
Her own vortex seemed to be tugging at her, urging her back to the body sitting before the shrine in her room, but she resisted it. This place had become as much hers as Mandughai's. She traveled for a while, but not far, dipping in and out of real space to play with a prominence on Tengri-Nayon, a vortex of cooler material on the surface of Tengri-Khan, grasping, then releasing the hot gases with her aura. The third time in transition, she found herself near the great ship in orbit above Shanji, and resisted the temptation to push on it. Perhaps, one day, Huomeng would be on that ship, and she could help to hurry him along to wherever he wanted to go. Another dream, achievable only if she survived a war.
She gazed down at wispy clouds, the blue of the great sea, the mottled colors of land in the light of Tengri-Khan.
A beautiful world. Her world, and her people were there.
Shanji.