by Drew Wagar
‘The high priestess. You saw her at Viresia. Her name is Nerina. It is she who has commanded the attack on Amar. She who controls the priestesses.’
‘Stop her? Stop the attack?’
‘Exactly,’ Kiri finished fastening her dress. ‘We can stop her, but she is powerful, very powerful. To do so I will need cooperation from others, from …’
She turned to look at him. Meru gasped.
‘You want Zoella to work with you to overcome this high priestess?’
Kiri stood tall. ‘We are royalty, we are the true heirs of Scallia. It is us, not the priestesses of Drayden who have the right. I’ve seen this, Meru. With Zoella and you, we can end all this conflict, we can heal the Obelisk, we can set things right.’
‘What about Taloon, the King?’
‘Leave him to me. I must speak to Zoella first. The priestesses are coming, we have to be ready for them. Will you take me to her?’
Meru thoughts were wrenched aside by a heartfelt mental cry.
Meru! Meru, can you hear me? Meru!
He looked at Kiri.
‘It’s her, it’s Zoella.’
Kiri nodded. ‘I know, I can hear her. You’d better answer her.’
Meru closed his eyes and concentrated.
Zoella! Yes, I can.
Meru! You’re alive, are you all right?
I’m fine … I was a little roughed up by the guards, but not hurt.
It’s so good to hear you, I thought you might have been …
What about you? Are you safe? Those guards …
They didn’t catch me. The girl rescued me, her name is Ira, Meru, there’s so much I need to tell you.
I need to tell you something too. Zoella … She’s here.
There was a pause in the mental connection between them.
Kiri?
Yes. She rescued me from the King’s guards under the pretence of extracting information from me. We’re safe for now, but we can’t stay here for long.
Where are you?
We’re in a room in one of the spires of the city palace.
In a … room?
Yes. We can escape, Kiri can get us past the guards … she … she wants to see you.
Me? Why?
I showed her the truth, Zoella. She knows the religion she’s been following is wrong, she heard from the Obelisk too, the same vision as you! I showed her what Caesar said. She wants to stop the priestesses from attacking Amar, but she needs your help.
And she believes you?
She’s still in shock, but her mind is made up. We can stop this battle, before it even starts. Kiri will help us!
Meru, we can’t trust her, not after all the things she’s done.
Zoella, I can prove she’s honest. There’s something else she needs to tell you, but it has to be in person …
Tell me now.
I can’t … but it’s so important, you must hear it from her.
I don’t understand, what are you talking about?
We need to see you, will you meet with her?
There was another long pause.
She must come alone, no one else but you. She must not lead anyone else here.
Meru opened his eyes for a moment and looked at Kiri. She nodded. Listening to the mental voice was easier now.
She will do as you say.
Meru, you’re asking me to trust you on this. There are lives at stake down here, if the guards find these children they will kill them …
I understand. We will be alone. I promise.
I will listen to what she has to say, nothing more. You remember what I said before?
I do. She won’t hurt you, I promise.
We will see. We are beneath the city. I don’t know how you get down here though. You’ll have to find your way yourselves. Once you’re in the hall with the plants wait there, we will come to you.
Kiri mouthed some words at him. ‘I know how to get below the city.’
Kiri says she knows how to get down there. Stay safe.
I think you’re the one who needs to be careful. Watch your back, Meru. I trust you, I don’t trust her …
The connection faded.
Meru took a deep breath.
‘She will see you,’ he whispered.
Kiri nodded.
‘And what about you?’ she asked. ‘Do you trust me?’
Meru stood up and walked over to her, taking her in his arms. He kissed her and she responded as forcefully as ever.
‘Does that answer you?’
She smiled, but said nothing.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Shadeward of Dynesia, Scallia and Amaris, Capital of Amar
Round 2307, Fifth pass
Mel had wasted no time in placing the tracking device on board the Mobilis. Caesar had given her instructions on connecting it into the ships ’tricity supply and was able to confirm it was working once she had finished.
‘What does it do?’ Coran asked.
‘It sends out some kind of beacon,’ Mel explained. ‘Tells the other vehicles where we are.’
The other vessels were a mix of different machinery. There were two more small flying machines like the one Zoella and Meru had taken sunward. These were small and manoeuvrable, designed to carry small numbers of people or cargo.
There were six wheeled vehicles. Four of them seemed to be ground-based transports. They had four rugged wheels apiece, and a cockpit similar to the flying machines. A further two were different, with a series of smaller tracked wheels and a variety of fierce looking drills on the forward mounts. Caesar explained that they were mining machines, able to burrow into the earth or rock as required.
The other vessels were much larger. The two personnel transports were precisely that; large vessels with accommodation, seats and a series of beds within. The medical transport was the same on the outside, but its internal structure was different. It contained a series of what Caesar called ‘autonomous operating and triage facilities’. These took the form of a series of alcoves within the vessel, each able to hold a person. There were six, three on each side. According to Caesar these could fix injuries from the minor all the way up to life threatening. There were a number of small cabins towards the rear which were named ‘recovery and recuperation facilities’.
Coran decided that it would be best to understand the alcoves in more detail, so he summoned the crew and asked the onboard systems to give a demonstration. Sandra, as Meru had named the disembodied voice that responded inside the vessels, obliged. They saw a series of delicate mechanical manipulators fold out of the alcoves; tiny knives, drills, tubes and all manner of wires and other devices. Above the alcove were more of the black panel screens that showed information about the occupant.
Ren volunteered to lie down in one and they saw the alcove scan his body, showing a representation of his bones and muscles, along with his heart rate and many other statistics that meant little to them.
‘Subject Ren is in excellent physiological condition,’ Sandra concluded. ‘No intervention is required.’
‘They really knew their stuff,’ Mel said, with a whistle. ‘Every time we discover more about our ancestors, the more impressive they seem.’
‘Yet they still were beaten by the flares it seems,’ Coran mused.
Ren got back up.
‘I won’t have some machine fiddling with my innards,’ Fitch grumbled as they watched the mechanism fold back into place.
‘I’ll remind you of that when your guts are hanging out over the gunwales,’ Coran jibed back. ‘Let’s hope we don’t need to use it.’
The final vessel was the biggest, dwarfing the others. It was empty within, it’s purpose to haul cargo and equipment. It featured a massive set of rear doors and a loading ramp, along with sliding doors at either side. All six of the ground vehicles could fit inside easily with room to spare.
When it first emerged, rolling forward on a wheeled undercarriage, the crew stared at it in awe; it was twice as wide as the Mobilis
and longer too.
‘No way can that fly,’ Coran murmured. ‘That’s impossible.’
‘All vessels other than ground transports are capable of self-sustained flight,’ Caesar answered. ‘Observe.’
With a rising hum that soon became a thunderous roar of power, the big vessels stirred. Air blasted across the crew, forcing them to stagger back, their clothing whipped tight by the force. Coran shielded his eyes and stared in astonishment as the behemoths majestically rose up hand by hand into the sky.
Fitch was shouting something, but he couldn’t hear it. Mel was gesturing at the vessels and Ren was jumping up and down in excitement.
Under Caesar’s control the ships descended back to the hangar floor, their mighty engines spun down and the sound faded away.
‘Wow,’ Coran said, his mouth hanging open.
Fitch came up alongside.
‘I don’t know about those scorchin’ witches,’ he said. ‘But seeing those things hanging in the air? Scared the living shades out of me!’
A stretch of testing had proved that the vessels were more than capable of following the Mobilis around. Coran, Daf and Creg had taken the ship down to the wide bay just shadeward of Dynesia, whilst Mel, Fitch and Ren had observed from the mainland.
When activated, the vessels rose from the hangar and flew sunwards, taking up a position to the stern of the Mobilis in a neat aerial formation. As the Mobilis moved, the ships followed half a mark behind, spread out in a phalanx.
‘Look at that,’ Mel said, watching the vessels turn in the air. ‘It’s … amazing.’
The ability of the ships to follow the Mobilis was only half the story though. Manoeuvring them to land upon their return was another. Caesar had volunteered to do it for them, but Mel had declined.
‘We won’t have your assistance over in Amar,’ she said. ‘We have to solve the problem ourselves.’
‘You may utilise the remote handsets,’ Caesar instructed.
The handsets were also as described. They were designed to be gripped by both hands, and featured controls which were ideally placed for fingers and thumbs. In between those controls was another black panel display which showed a view from the front of the selected vessel.
Fitch tried and was hopeless. Mel was better, able to laboriously coax the vessels towards the hangar. After badgering them for an entire spell, Mel allowed Ren to have a go at the controls on one of the small flying machines and he took to it, able to move the flying machine with great precision.
‘Looks like you were born to this,’ Mel said, after supervising him for a while and finding he was able to control the machines far better than her. ‘Can you bring them all in?’
Ren nodded and cheered. Mel continued to watch, but Ren brought each machine in via the handsets one after another and parked them in the hangar.
They were all parked and shut down by the time Coran, Daf and Creg returned.
‘We’re almost ready then,’ Coran said as Mel brought him up to date. ‘Nice work, Ren. Looks like you’ve been promoted to chief flying officer aboard the Mobilis!’
Ren beamed and then went on to demonstrate how the surface vehicles could also be remotely controlled by driving them up into the big transport one by one and then closing the hatch behind them.
‘Next stretch we depart,’ Coran said. ‘Get some rest now, it’s time to be getting home.’
The crew made for the quarters they had found scattered around the hangar.
‘We’ll look after them as best we can,’ Coran said, his fingers tapping on Caesar’s table. ‘Not sure when we might be able to return them.’
‘Hangar assets are at your disposal, Captain Coran,’ Caesar replied. ‘Approval has been authorised by Administrator Zoella.’
‘Yeah I know, but I still appreciate what you have done for us,’ Coran said. ‘Is there anything we can do for you?’
There was a pause before the machine answered.
‘This unit was created to act as an automated diagnostic, forensic, reference simulation and decision making aid, providing terraforming support to the colonists of Esurio,’ Caesar intoned. ‘Without the colonists this unit had no purpose for several hundred rounds. You now represent the colonists of Esurio and your presence has provided a renewed purpose. Their original aim was the peaceful settlement of this planet and to create a simple agrarian civilisation upon it. The original colonists eschewed religion and feudal hierarchical organisational structures. Judgement indicates that your culture, the people of Amar, is closest to their ideals based on available evidence. Your survival will be satisfactory reward for this unit.’
Coran blinked. He’d never heard Caesar give such a long speech before.
‘We’ll do our best. Once … once things are finished, we’ll bring the machines back here.’
‘That will be acceptable.’
Coran got to his feet.
‘Thanks again, Caesar, and goodbye … for now.’
‘Goodbye, Captain Coran.’
They were up early to load the Mobilis with supplies. The ship was ready to depart within a couple of spells. There was no further word from Meru and Zoella on the Mobilis’ radio. Mel scanned up and down the frequency band without luck at the time they had arranged to try to make contact.
‘Nothing new on the radio,’ she shouted down from the deck. Coran was below her in the hold.
‘They’re travelling directly away from us into the sunward,’ Coran said, looking up at her. ‘Perhaps it’s already too far. That thing was never reliable anyway.’
‘I have fixed it you know,’ Mel replied.
Coran chuckled. ‘Not blaming you, but I wouldn’t worry too much. They got their warning about the priestess through and they both know what they’ve got to do.’
‘Let’s hope they stick to it.’
She started hoisting the last set of crates down to him.
‘Zoella is the sensible one of the pair,’ Coran replied. ‘I’m happy she’s gone along with Meru. It’ll keep him grounded.’
‘She’s an interesting young woman,’ Mel said.
‘The same power as the priestesses,’ Coran mused. ‘Yeah. At least she’s using it in a good cause. Sounds like she’s had a rough ride thus far.’
‘She actually is an orphan. Has no idea who her parents are, and it seems the one man who did know something was killed just before he managed to tell her.’
‘When was this?’ Coran gestured for another crate.
‘Back in Drem, before we picked Meru, her and Ren up.’ Mel answered. ‘She faced off with that priestess girl.’
‘The one Meru has a thing for?’
‘Yeah, Kiri.’ Mel nodded. ‘She sounds like a proper bitch to me.’
‘Guess we’ll find out soon enough,’ Coran said. ‘Doubtless she’ll be amidst the priestesses who come for Amar, just like when they attacked Zoella’s city.’
‘We’ll have to keep an eye on Meru then.’
‘Yeah,’ Coran said, stopping for a moment, a crate in his hands. ‘You think his loyalty might still be split?’
Mel frowned and thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know. Zoella is closest to him. They were nearly scratching each other’s eyes out at one point, but they seemed to make it up before they left. But whatever is going on there isn’t resolved.’
The last crate was stowed.
‘Then Meru’s going to have to pick a side,’ Coran said. ‘Let’s hope he picks the right one.’
They climbed back to the wheelhouse.
‘All aboard who’s going aboard!’ Coran called.
‘As if there’s any of us who want to stay in this snuttin’ place,’ Fitch said. He’d been waiting for them.
‘We all set to go?’ Coran asked.
‘We’ve grabbed pretty much everything that wasn’t nailed down that we can bash a witch with,’ Fitch answered. ‘I’d say we’re as ready as we can be.’
‘Let’s get going then,’ Coran said and leant out of the window. ‘Daf
, Creg! Cast off.’
The two burly men were standing fore and aft. They untied the ships ropes and coiled them up on the decking.
‘Take us out,’ Coran said.
Mel adjusted the coil and accumulator controls and then pushed the throttles forward a notch. The Mobilis throbbed as its engines wound up to speed and began to move away from the quayside.
Within moments, they had left Caesar’s hangar and were swinging out in the river once more. Coran turned the Mobilis sunwards to follow the flow of the river back down towards the bay of Dynesia where they could turn sunright and head out into the open sea.
It took them only a spell to reach the bay. Coran executed the turn and the Mobilis was facing towards home once more. He pushed the throttles up to half power, the ship leaving a churning wake behind it.
‘Ren!’ he called. ‘Time to bring on the escort. Do your thing.’
Ren climbed on to a chair at the back of the deckhouse and began fiddling with the handset. His fingers were a blur over the controls.
‘Ships coming!’ he said, looking up for a brief moment, before turning back to his task.
‘There!’ Fitch called, looking back at the receding coastline of Scallia. The crew turned to look.
Above the horizon the six huge flying machines had come into view above the hills where Caesar’s hangar lay. They were growing larger.
‘Damn, that’s intimidating,’ Coran said, as he watched the ships turn and head towards them. ‘It’s going to give those priestesses pause when they see that!’
‘Only when we get some weapons aboard,’ Fitch grumbled. ‘Otherwise all they can do is fly around …’
It took less than half a spell for the six flying vessels to catch up to the Mobilis. Ren looked up from his controls as the machines adopted their phalanx posture above and behind the seagoing vessel.
Mel was grinning. Coran looked at her.
‘What?’
‘Looks like we should be calling you Admiral Coran of the Amaran defence fleet now.’
Coran grinned. Mel grabbed his arm and Fitch rolled his eyes.
‘You’ve done good,’ Mel said, giving his arm a squeeze before releasing it.
Coran pushed the throttles forwards to their stops and the Mobilis surged ahead out into the sea. The flying machines followed, tracking across the sky and casting huge shadows on the ocean.