by M J Dees
“What makes you sing this song? What does it mean?”
“Pay attention, he is gone,” Zarah continued to sing. “He is gone to the better place.”
“No, Zarah.”
“Pay attention, see his crystal dome,” she sang.
The President entered.
“See this, my partner,” said Ozli’s mother.
“Decorated with the sweetest petals,” Zarah sang. “To take to the Better Place.”
“How are you, Zarah?” asked the President.
“May the guardian reward you with the Better Place,” said Zarah. “Though we know that Sagbo was turned into a Taza when the Shoni Mori failed to give enough Lame to the V'Vani.”
“Enough talk of myths and legends, Zarah. Talk to me of your begetter.”
“Let’s not talk about my father. When they ask you about him, tell them this.”
She sang again.
“When the star rises again, it will be the day of Taru G'Zone. Early, I will be at your chambers to be your partner. Then he opened the entrance. Let in the partner that would be a partner for sure.”
“Zarah!” the President tried to interrupt.
“I will make an oath to New Phaeton and Asum, the young they are to blame. She said before you partnered me in a union you promised. He said: `and so I would have done had you not come.’”
“How long has she been like this?” the President asked Ozli’s mother.
“I hope everything will be okay,” said Zarah. “We should be patient, but I cannot avoid crying to think he will be in the Better Place. My co-begotton must know about it. Thank you for listening to me. Farewell.”
Zarah left the hall.
“Go with her,” the President ordered the attendant. “Monitor her.”
The attendant followed Zarah out of the hall.
“She is grieving deeply if all that results from her father’s death,” commented the President. “See, my partner when sorrow comes, it does not come on its own but in floods. Ozli killed her father and now he has gone, and she doesn't even know that he is responsible for his own banishment. It agitates the population of the Republic, although they know nothing about running a region. We have done our best to keep the death of Kellen quiet, but her brother is returning to Future and I imagine that he is considering many conspiracies and does not want to be bothered by the gossip that he must surely be hearing. Facts are leaking beyond the Republic. I hope he does not accuse me. We have already had too many deaths.”
“Do you hear that?” asked Ozli’s mother, moving to the window. She could hear a sound of disturbance from beyond the palace grounds where caves led to the rest of the city planet.
“It is coming from the caves,” said the President. “Where are my bowmen? Let them guard the palace!”
A bowman entered the hall.
“What’s the matter?” asked the President.
“There has been a battle in the caves,” said the Bowman. “They have breached the boundary. Fenris Kader has arrived with a squadron from Zistreotov. He overpowered the bowmen in the caves. He is on his way here to take the presidency by force and apparently if his coup were to succeed, they would consider it popular across the Republic.”
“The Republic is so fickle,” Ozli’s mother lamented. “What was that noise?”
“They have broken into the palace,” said the President. “They will be here at any moment.”
They could hear the sound of fighting in the corridor. The bowman went to defend the entrance and was immediately killed.
Fenris entered with a platoon of Zistreotovans. They all stopped when they saw the President with his partner.
“Leave us,” Fenris said to the Zistreotovans.
The platoon reluctantly left to wait in the corridor.
“Give me my begetter,” Fenris said to the President.
“Be calm, Fenris,” said Ozli’s mother.
“My reason and calm calls me a fool to be so trusting,” said Fenris.
“Fenris, why have you arrived here with what looks like a rebellion? Don’t worry my partner, truth is on my side,” said the President. “Acts of treason often cannot achieve what they set out to. Why are you so angry, Fenris? Speak.”
“Where is my begetter?”
“Dead,” said the President.
“But the President did not kill him,” said Ozli’s mother.
“Let Fenris speak.”
“How did he die?” asked Fenris. “At this moment I do not care whether I go to the better or the worse place. I don’t care what happens, but I will have my revenge.”
“What is holding you back?” asked the President.
“Nothing.”
“Fenris, I can see that you are committed to avenging the death of your begetter and who would gamble on you winning or losing?”
“Only his enemies.”
“You know who they are?”
“I will find out.”
“You are a good begotton, Fenris. I am not guilty of your begetter’s death and I am grieving for him too.”
There was a noise of a disturbance from the corridor.
“What is that?” Fenris asked.
Zarah entered past the Zistreotovan platoon.
“Oh, my co-beggoton, we will be revenged. Something is wrong. Is it just grief?”
“They took him to the Better Place,” Zarah sang. “La, la, la, la. He is in the Better Place.”
“Are you okay, Zarah?
“You must sing. Sing and see how the wheel of fortune turns.”
“Your nonsense almost makes sense.”
“Remember, Fenris. Remember and be sad.”
“You don’t seem well, Zarah.”
“I would give you splendid things, but they all went when my begetter died. They say he had a good end,” Zarah began singing again. “Sweet Trani is all my joy.”
“You are not well, my co-begotton.”
“And will not come again. And will not come again. No, no, he is dead. Go to the Better Place. Never to come back. He is gone. He is gone.”
“Do you see this?”
“Fenris,” said the President. “I share your grief. It is my right. Go and consult your wisest friends. If they find me guilty, I will give you the presidency. But if not, be patient and we will work with you to get the revenge you seek.”
“The way he died. The fact there was no formal service to send him to the better place. I must know why this happened.”
“And you will, Fenris. Let the guilty be punished. Come with me and I will explain everything.”
*
“What do you mean? We are going to be catapulted to Tomorrow?” asked Sevan.
“There is a portal from Future, almost directly to the space station Tomorrow. The portal takes us from here to Lysithea where there is a portal linked directly to wherever the space station Tomorrow is at that moment. They call it the catapult. They set it when my father was President so he and Barnes of the Corporation could meet in person whenever they needed.”
“Brace yourself,” said Tori. “We are about to pass through the first portal.”
“Where are Tafazolli and de Wijs?” asked Ozli.
“Too late,” said Ay-ttho. “We are almost in the portal. I hope wherever they are, they are sat down.”
Sevan checked his straps and, as he was doing so, the Mastery of the Stars entered the portal and it forced him back into his seat.
The transition was quick and soon the ship had emerged from the other side of the portal.
“There is Lysithea ahead,” said Ay-ttho. “The other portal is just on the other side.”
“I have detected a ship approaching,” said Ron.
“Did it come through the portal?” asked Tori.
“No, it was waiting on this side.”
“Can you identify it?”
“It is a Tenuils pirate ship.”
“Tenuils pirates?” asked Tori. “What are they doing this far from the outer regions?”
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br /> “They seem to be accelerating on a course to match ours,” said Ron.
“Speed up, Ron,” said Ay-ttho. “We must get to the other portal before them. They won`t dare follow us in there. Full power.”
“We are going as fast as possible,” said Ron. “They are still gaining on us though.”
“They are activating their weapons systems,” warned Tori. “Ron, activate ours.”
“All we need to do is get Lysithea between us and them and by the time they have us in their sights we should be at the other portal,” said Ozli.
“They are gaining too fast,” warned Ron. “They will be in weapons range before we reach Lysithea.”
“We have no choice but to try to fight,” said Tori. “Weapons almost in range.”
“Take us as close to Lysithea as you can, Ron,” said Ay-ttho. “We might get some cover.”
“They are firing,” said Ron.
“Deploy anti weapon defences,” said Tori. “I’m locking on target, prepare to fire.”
The Mastery of the Stars rocked as anti-weapon devices exploded nearby.
“Fire everything we have,” said Tori.
“Their weapons systems are superior to ours,” said Ron.
The Mastery of the Stars shook again as another explosion impacted the hull.
“We can’t keep fighting them off,” said Ay-ttho.
Another explosion shook the hull, and the bridge switched to emergency lighting.
“They have breached the hull,” said Ron. “Sealing off the bridge. We are losing power.”
The Mastery of the Stars lurched to one side.
“We have insufficient power to escape Lysithea’s gravitational pull,” said Ron. “We are being pulled into the atmosphere.”
“With insufficient power we cannot land,” said Ay-ttho. “Ron, prepare the escape shuttle.”
There was another shudder.
“Another hit?” asked Ay-ttho.
“No,” said Ron. “That was the escape shuttle ejecting.”
CHAPTER 9: DESPERATE ALLIES
The President was leading Fenris through the corridors of the palace.
“Now, you must be sure of my innocence,” said the President. “We should be friends, Fenris, now that you understand that he not only killed your begetter but wanted to kill me too.”
“That seems to be the case,” said Fenris. “But why did you not take action against him after he committed this crime? Such a serious crime.”
“There were two reasons, which you may consider weak, but to me they were powerful reasons. The first was his co-begetter. She is remarkably close to him. It is a blessing in some ways, but a terrible burden in other ways. We are so close that I could not live without her. My other motive was the opinion of the Republic. He is so well liked in the Republic that they would turn his vices into virtues. Anything I might have tried would have backfired.”
“I have lost my begetter, my co-begotton is being driven to insanity. My revenge will come.”
“Don’t lose sleep, Fenris. I am not so devoid of emotion that I think this matter is trivial. I will tell you more later. I loved Kellen, your begetter, I will not let these crimes go unpunished.”
*
Ay-ttho struggled to control the Mastery of the Stars as it descended into the atmosphere of Lysithea.
“How could the escape shuttle eject by itself?” she asked.
“It did not eject by itself,” said Ron. “My sensors detected life forms on board.”
“Who?”
“Tafazolli and de Wijs.”
“I’m sorry,” said Ozli. “I will make this right.”
“You won’t get a chance if I can’t land this thing,” said Ay-ttho.
“They are still following us,” said Tori. “Even if you land her, we’ll still have a battle to fight.”
The Mastery of the Stars rocked as Ay-ttho struggled to keep her steady. Sevan could see the mountainous terrain coming into view much faster than he would have liked. As the atmosphere thickened and Ron could restore some lost power, Ay-ttho gained some more control over the ship and could guide it away from the mountains towards a dry plain.
“Hold on,” she shouted as she prepared for an emergency landing. “This might be a little bumpy.”
Through the observation window, Sevan could see the barren landscape passing by at terrifying speed.
The Mastery of the Stars clipped the ground, and it threw the ship back into the air at a perilous angle until Ay-ttho could level her out and guide her down once more.
The hull of the ship dug into the barren landscape, throwing red rocks and dust high into the air. For a moment, Sevan worried that the Mastery of the Stars might somersault, but Ay-ttho kept her level and the ship skidded across the plain, lifting an immense cloud of dust into the air before eventually grinding to a halt.
“Damage report?” asked Ay-ttho.
“We are down to a fifth normal power, they breached the hull, weapons are compromised, and the pirate ship has followed us into the atmosphere,” said Ron.
“What?” said Tori. “Where are they now?”
“Coming into land,” said Ron.
Sevan unstrapped himself and went over to the observation window, through which he could see the heavily armoured pirate ship landing beside the Mastery of the Stars.
“You may be interested to know,” said Ron. “The escape shuttle is heading towards the second portal.”
“Take these weapons,” said Ay-ttho, handing out blasters.
“They will be useless against the pirates,” said Ozli. “I will negotiate.”
“Negotiate with Tenuils pirates?” laughed Ay-ttho. “You must be mad.”
“Maybe I am,” said Ozli, heading for the exit.
“You can’t go,” said Sevan. “They’ll murder you and then they’ll murder us.”
“Let’s see, shall we?” said Ozli. “Ron, would you open the door for me?”
The bridge door opened and Ozli drove his vehicle through.
“Ron, shut the door,” said Ay-ttho.
The door shut again.
“We can’t let him go,” Sevan protested. “They will kill him for sure.”
“What are we supposed to do?” asked Ay-ttho. “He does what he wants and anyway, maybe he can negotiate with them.”
Sevan rushed back over to the observation window. Ay-ttho and Tori joined him to see Ozli emerge from the Mastery of the Stars and cross the red dirt towards the pirate ship. They watched anxiously as the pirate ship lowered its gangway and Ozli entered; the doors shutting immediately behind him.
“All we can do now is wait,” said Tori.
“What do they look like?” asked Sevan.
“Who?”
“The pirates.”
“The Tenuils? They are hideous. They say that some have died by looking at them,” said Tori.
Sevan swallowed hard. He was at a loss what to do. He tried staring at the pirate ship for a while, but that only made him feel more worried. He would have left the bridge, but as they sealed it off from the rest of the ship, he didn’t feel like being separated from Ay-ttho and Tori by a safety door. He felt trapped and looked around the bridge for something to distract him but all he could see was control panels telling him how badly they had damaged the Mastery of the Stars, the weapons Ay-ttho had tried to hand out and the barren dust of Lysithea outside the observation windows.
He wondered what was happening to Ozli on board the pirate ship then he caught himself; he didn’t really want to know what horrors the Tenuils might try to inflict.
“Can you scan their ship?” he asked Ron.
“Sorry, Sevan,” the computer replied. “The hull appears to have a screening mechanism which is blocking my scanners.”
“Never mind,” said Ay-ttho. “The door is opening again.”
“Already?” asked Sevan, rushing over to the observation window and expecting the Tenuils to toss Ozli’s broken vehicle to the ground.
; “I don’t believe it,” said Tori.
The three of them watched in disbelief as Ozli, apparently intact, emerged through the doors and down the gangway before crossing the red dust back to the Mastery of the Stars.
“What happened?” asked Sevan, as Ozli drove onto the bridge before the safety door shut firmly behind him again.
“They will tow us back to Future,” said Ozli.
“What?” asked Ay-ttho. “Why would they do that?”
“I explained to them who I was, and that the President would pay a handsome reward for my rescue.”
“Will he?”
“Probably not, but I will ensure I suitably reward them. They wanted to kidnap me and charge a ransom but I pointed out that they do not want to draw the attention of the entire Republic guard and that, if they helped us to get the Mastery of the Stars back to Future, I would make it worth their while.”
“You negotiated with the Tenuils?” asked Tori.
“They are much more reasonable than you might imagine, and they don’t feed on gas, so I was confident they wouldn’t try to eat me.”
“What about us?” asked Sevan.
“I gave them the impression we were all the same species, so stay away from the windows.”
Sevan was the first to move to the safety of the centre of the bridge, Ay-ttho and Tori soon joined him.
“Do they not have scanners?” asked Tori.
“Or eyesight,” added Ay-ttho.
“Apparently not,” said Ozli. “They agreed to extend their gravitational manipulator to tow us back, and I see no reason to doubt them.”
“They could plan to tow us to their lair to eat us,” said Sevan.
“If they wanted to kill us, they would have already done it,” said Ozli. “When we get to the other side of the portal, I will send a message to Future to explain the situation.”
“What about Tomorrow?” asked Sevan. “What about Tafazolli and de Wijs?”
“There is more I need to tell you about them,” said Ozli. “But I will tell you later.”
*
The President and Fenris Kader were in the president’s control room on Future when a guard crackled into view on a screen.
“Yes? What is it?” asked the President irritably.
“We have received a message from the Mastery of the Stars,” said the guard.