Book 3 - Ceremony by Glen Cook Page B

the larger they are, and fewer, till out in the
gulf you find the rare black giants.
    “Most of us do not worry about what they are or why. We
just use them. But there are those sisters, seekers after
knowledge, who have been debating about them for centuries. One
popular hypothesis about their distribution says that they feed
upon one another, like the creatures of the sea, larger upon
smaller, and the largest are least able to withstand the distortion
of space that occurs near large masses. The perceived size gradient
does run right down to the surface here, each ghost seemingly
pushing as close as it can. The feeding theory would say for safety
from larger ghosts and because if they get closer they might catch
something smaller.
    “I do not accept an ecological-feeding hypothesis myself.
I have been silth more years than you care to imagine and never
have I witnessed one ghost preying upon another. And I know for a
fact that the gradient, while generally true, will not hold up to
close examination. Among the several thousand forms ghosts take
there are those who refuse to follow theory. Even out near the big
black there are several different small forms. I have seen them.
Ones no bigger than my paw flashed about in swarms of millions.
    “The hypothesis of our age, perhaps growing out of
brethren disbelief in anything not subject to measurement and
physical analysis, not yet widely accepted but becoming more so, is
that they do not exist at all. This hypothesis says they exist only
mentally, as reflections of silth minds trying to impose patterns
upon the universe. The hypothesis makes of them nothing more than
symbols by which powers entirely of the mind are able to manipulate
the universe. This hypothesis would have it that silth trained that
way could do everything the rest of us can without ever summoning
those-who-dwell.”
    “No one actually has done that, though. Right?”
Marika asked. She like to believe she had an open mind, but she
could not see this. She had seen ghosts before she had heard of
silth or silth powers. Her very conception of them, as supernatural
entities, came from that time, when nothing else in her experience
could explain what she had sensed and experienced.
    “Silth tend to be conservative, as well you know. They
remain devoted to methods that work. From a purely pragmatic point
of view it does not matter if those-who-dwell are real or symbolic.
What counts is the result of the manipulation.”
    Marika reminded Kiljar, “I saw ghosts before I ever heard
of silth. I still recall the first instance vividly. It was right
after we found out that the nomads were watching our packstead. I
had developed a feeble grasp on the touch and was trying to track
my dam while she was out hunting them.”
    “That has been explained away as genetic imprinting, the
argument being that the touch itself is proof enough that we rely
on the powers of the mind. It has been pointed out that we never
summon those-who-dwell to make a touch, only to physically affect
our surroundings. And the summons itself is with the
touch.”
    “Mistress, we are entering an age when meth, even silth,
prefer explanations that are not mystical or magical. They will
search for new reasons. I am content to accept what is, without
explanation. If it works, I am satisfied. I do not need to know
how
it works. But, to change the subject, I believe I am
ready for my solo star flight. What do the Mistresses who have been
instructing me say?”
    “They agree with you. Almost. But you have yet to make a
supervised crossing to another star. It is a rule: The first time
you go you must take someone with you who has experience. Just in
case.”
    Marika was mildly irked, yet could not understand why she should
be. Kiljar made perfect sense. She supposed it was the rebellious
pup within her still, the pup with the overweening self-confidence.
“Very well. I will go do that. If I can find a Mistress
willing to go with me.”
    “Be careful,