Heroine of Zenina

by Giselle Marks

  Bromarsh came home in the morning again. Charles was amused that he was making a habit of it.

  “This is the man who was unhappy about bed-hopping. Less than three days in Zenina and he’s been bedded by seven different women. Not bad going!”

  Bromarsh bathed and went to bed. He planned to catch up on his missed sleep. Thinking of Bromarsh’s conquests reminded Charles he needed some exercise and not of the pulling weights kind. Marina had not contacted him since she transported to the hospital. He had tried this morning to contact her there, but they said she had left a few hours earlier. About Vellina they were more informative. She was unconscious but all vital signs were good.

  ***

  Princess Marina arrived at the Internal Security Department. She had put Riyal to bed, passing her hands over the bruises on his body before tucking him in. When he woke the bruises would be gone. He was sleeping quietly curled up like a baby; Marina was touched that he looked so innocent. It was not an involvement she sought, but she hoped he would want her again. She felt relaxed in spite of worrying about Vellina. The tension had been exorcised from her body.

  “I can believe he is part Zeninan; he is certainly excellent in bed, or out of it.”

  Handing over his blood and semen samples for analysis, wanting to know how close he was to change, his genetic break down and fertility status. She had left no note for him, nor discussed a future meeting. They uttered few sounds at all beyond each other’s names and a few gasps and sighs. Not bothering to discover his plans before exhausting him. Marina had felt too wound up to inflict mind link on an unsuspecting soul, wishing to not burden him with her problems.

  Shuffling through the reports piled on her desk, the finger-prints on the unknown Markaban woman matched Karella Cantansun, confirming her identity. Her arrival in Zenina was expected shortly. She glanced through the reports to discover their subject matter. Ga’Mishrin’s activities concerned her; he was planning something Zenina would not like. She believed the small scattered attacks and massacres were the presage of something much bigger. Many possible plans were postulated, but none fitted with the actions of Ga’Mishrin’s troops. Marina asked her computer for a predictive analysis taking his aims as a starting point to what he might be planning. These she considered were in order:-

  Keeping control of the Kurgian Empire.

  Getting control of more of the universe.

  Keeping his would be heirs at each other’s throats and not at his.

  Getting more of the universe’s trade and therefore increasing Kurgian wealth.

  Making life as difficult for any other planetary grouping as possible.

  Getting me back into his bed by any means.

  She added all the data on his, the various Princes and their minions’ activities to the data base. Flicking through the reports on Ga’Mushrang’s itineraries, she noticed he had been visiting Markaba regularly. What was he up to there? She looked up the latest reports on Markaba. There was unrest, strikes and demonstrations; violence had increased. A new radical movement of freedom fighters had emerged. Terrorism had increased tenfold with serious sabotage taking place. Government in Markaba was breaking down. She added that report to the data base.

  “Let’s see what the computer makes of that,” she said to herself.

  Doubting it would be more outrageous than the theories mooted by her experts. Then she set off to collect her hover-car which remained abandoned near Mermaid Square. As an after-thought she remembered Ga’Riyal. Turning to a Silver officer, she asked for Riyal’s space-craft to be delayed from leaving Hemithea until she had spoken with Captain Ga’Riyal. She left jogging to her hover-car without incident. Soon she was zooming to the hospital where she had been informed Vellina had awoken.

  The Silver officer carried out Marina’s orders very efficiently, too efficiently considering the circumstances of Marina’s request. There was a basic misunderstanding of why Marina was ordering the craft detained. The Silver knew Ga’Riyal was a pirate and presumed he had broken some Zeninan law or offended Marina, after all her Director of Internal Security wanted to interrogate him. So she set about finding supporting evidence for this hypothesis. A detachment of Internal Security personnel boarded the space-craft, arrested those aboard and searched it thoroughly. The findings of their search supported the Silver officer’s view this was what Marina required. So when Ga’Riyal arrived back at lunch-time intending to dine with a local merchant on his ship, he was met by an armed guard.

  “We haven’t broken any laws. Why are you harassing us?”

  “Your ship is detained on the orders of the Director of Internal Security and you are under arrest for her questioning.”

  No one mentioned Marina by name, because all Zeninans knew who the Director of Internal Security was. Riyal attempted resisting arrest, but was swiftly disarmed and taken handcuffed by two guards to Internal Security Headquarters. He was not at his best that morning. There he was stripped of his clothes and possessions, then placed in a bare cell to await the Director’s pleasure.

  No one informed Princess Marina of his arrest, they were following her orders after all. She would get round to seeing him when she had time. The report on the contents of Riyal’s ship was written up and placed on the ever increasing pile on her desk. Marina had issued so many orders over the past few weeks, the reports kept appearing.

  Riyal spent an uncomfortable afternoon, no lunch was forthcoming and there was nothing to do. The bunk was hard, but he was still tired so he slept on and off.

  “What will happen to me and my crew? My treatment implies it won’t be pleasant. Will the Zeninans hand me over to the Kurgians to curry favour? They searched my ship; our cargo was definitely contraband.”

  Riyal feared for his life. Zeninans did not hold with prison sentences, perhaps if he appealed to Marina, she might help. He was not confident. She had left no note and not asked to see him again. He assumed he was only a one night stand, not good enough for a repeat performance. He did not want to shame himself by begging for her help. At least, not until he knew his life depended on it. He tried not to imagine his impending execution but the fear would not leave him.

  He had never been so terrified before.

  Chapter Eleven - Final Unction

  Father O’Flaherty was summoned to the Golden Palace. The Royal Messenger insisted he should bring his paraphernalia to administer the last rites. He accompanied the messenger in one of the Queen’s hover-cars. On arriving he was ushered secretly into her majesty Queen Kerina’s private apartments.

  “Who is dying?”

  “You were summoned for me, Father Niall,” the Queen informed him.

  Father O’Flaherty did not understand.

  “There’s no reason to give you final unction, ma’am,” he said astounded, “You’re perfectly healthy!”

  “My death is close. It will be violent and thankfully quick. I fear there’ll be no later time available to put my soul in order. My affairs are settled, my will and tomb in readiness. Do you refuse to welcome me into your church? I’m ready for you to hear my confession, but it will take some time.”

  “Your majesty, if it is your wish to be accepted in the Holy Catholic church, I will joyfully hear your confession. Do you turn from evil to the sanctity of the Lord Jesus Christ? First you must learn the catechism and I’ll baptise and confirm you. Do you believe in God the Father?”

  “Is this doctrinal stuff really necessary? I wish to become a Catholic and receive the last rites. I wish you to conduct my funeral in the Royal Chapel, your St. Patrick’s. Everything must be ready. I know you cannot bury me unless I am baptised into your church and shriven. You must bury me, not the Fertility Cult. To that purpose I believe whatever I am supposed to believe and I’ll take my chances with your God from then on. I doubt your God will forgive my sins, but I’d welcome your prayers. I won’t strengthen Zadina’s hand by being buried by the Fertility Cult. My conversion to my daughter’s religion might assist my daughters. There
’s little else I can do to help them now, but this I will do. Will you assist me?”

  “Say after me the following words, your majesty...”

  Chapter Twelve - Making Progress

  Divak called for Ondiella at the hostel, taking her to the harbour and a trip in Divak’s speed boat. They were both exhilarated by the speed, but the baby cried when spray wet his face so Ondiella picked him up. They stopped at a hostelry down the coast and ate an excellent lunch, which Divak chose with Ondiella’s preferences in mind. He did not offer her alcohol, because the baby would be affected through her milk. So he soberly kept her company drinking berry juice and water, finishing with flavoured milk.

  After lunch they headed to the beach and he suggested a swim.

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t bring a swimming costume with me.”

  He laughed at the idea, “What is a swimming costume? Zeninans don’t wear them. I’ve brought towels, if we ask someone to watch the baby and leave him in the shade, he’ll be all right.”

  Ondiella was slowly convinced as other bathers sought the water wearing only their jewellery. A heavily pregnant Blue, reclining on the pink sand agreed to watch the unnamed child. Now they could swim.

  Divak swiftly undressed and ran to the water. He did not look back to see if Ondiella would follow. Somehow, she found courage, stripped and flung herself into the warm waters of the sea. Looking for Divak, she swam towards him. Turning towards her, he took her in his arms, kissing her. She was embarrassed but kissed him back. They embraced up to their shoulders in salt water. She could feel the heat of his body against her as he squeezed her tighter to him, feeling him throb against her belly hard and high.

  She pulled apart from him; she was not ready for that yet, but would have been disappointed if he had not been so. Divak did not press her. They swam for a while. Then they lay in the sun to dry. Even the baby seemed to enjoy the fresh sea air and slept though most of the afternoon. Divak wondered if Chilka was free that evening, perhaps she would babysit for them.

  ***

  Princess Marina went straight to Vellina’s bedroom. Vellina was sitting up in bed, or was it Carina? She was breathing normally. Tubes and wires were attached to various parts of her, but her face was a picture of happiness. Her head was bandaged. She was stretching her arms and hands in a series of isometric exercises to aid the blood flow through her new body.

  “I want to get up. I’ve not done my rounds,” she declared.

  “I’ll do them for you. You have the day off, Doctor’s orders. How do you feel?”

  “Stiff and this body aches all over; but it seems to be working all right.”

  “Do you have any noticeable problems? No paralysis or numbness? Blood clots? Is your mind clear of anaesthetic?”

  “I’m a little muzzy in the head but getting clearer. No other problems, you’ve done a good job, thank you.”

  “Will you want to change the face a little to personalise it?”

  “Not for the time being, I’ll let it wear in before I make a decision whether to alter it or not. I never thanked you for asking your friends to do this for me. I hope Carina would see the continuation of my work as my thank you to her. Now, can I get up?”

  “In an hour or so, are you hungry?”

  “Very!”

  “Well, if you eat lunch, I’ll let you try a few steps afterwards. I think some of this can come down now.”

  Marina proceeded methodically to detach wires and tubes and switch off the apparatus they were attached to. All the visible tubes were removed, but she left a pad attached to Vellina’s chest over her heart which was recording cardiac function on a small machine next to the bed.

  “You’re not to get out of bed Vellina, until I return, or I’ll have you restrained. I’ll pop around your patients now and bring back a report.”

  Vellina reluctantly did as she was told, but her feet fidgeted to be up and active. Obeying reluctantly as she would have given similar orders herself. Doctors are dreadful patients.

  Marina took nearly a dozen young doctors with her on Vellina’s rounds. They discussed each patient in turn together, including the patient in the conversation, if he or she was capable of understanding the problems. Many were making good progress and Marina discharged two. Some Marina held, two were completely healed by Marina’s touch and were sent home. The young Doctors marvelled at the force of her regenerative powers. For two other patients she altered their treatment and with one other she ordered more tests; as she was not in total agreement with Vellina’s diagnosis.

  Vellina ate well, better than Marina had expected and was waiting impatiently for her return. Marina reported her cures and the improvement of various patients. To which Vellina nodded. She advised her of her altered treatment of the two patients at which Vellina harrumphed, but admitted it could do no harm. They argued over the doubtful diagnosis finally agreeing to differ until the test results came through and proved one of them wrong.

  Marina then folded the covers off Vellina and helped her out of the bed, giving her time to move the body, not pulling her out. Vellina eased her feet to the floor. Marina stood beside her, holding her arm and armpit to support her as Vellina attempted to stand. She straightened up and swayed, sitting back down on the bed. She was dizzy for a while, but Marina waited without comment for her to try again. She stood again, more gradually this time, and found her head remained clear. She tried a few deep breaths and leaning on Marina took some tiny steps around the room. It was all she could manage and Marina picked up her fainting form, slipping her back into bed.

  “Go to sleep now, Vellina. You can try again in three hours’ time after the next meal.”

  Vellina harrumphed again but looked wan. She settled down to sleep. Marina was not complacent, setting two nurses to guard her until she returned.

  ***

  Neman had been busy. He had discovered illegal substances and weapons in various large caches. They had been brought into Zenina with trade goods in the Kurgian Mission. Zadina’s cultists had turned a blind eye to their import. One large cache of explosives and arms was held in the cellar of a house owned by a cult member close to an irrigation canal.

  Neman and his mermen travelled under water through the river into the network of irrigation canals, swimming among the water weeds to the rear of the house’s garden. The house was empty. The wall around the garden was high. There was a strong heavy door in the wall locked with complex, strong locks. These proved no obstruction to Neman. In seconds the door swung open.

  He and his mermen crawled into the garden, covering the short distance to the house staying close to the wall low down. The crawl tired them. Neman unlocked the back and cellar doors and they sought the hidden supply of arms and explosives. They were concealed behind a false wall covered in dust-encrusted bottles of wine. The explosive was transparent and pale green like a slab of gelatinous sweetmeat. It had no smell and could not be detected by x-ray or heat-sensitive equipment. It was not volatile, nor affected by water and was surprisingly light for its bulk and potency. Easily rolled or moulded into any shape, it was the ideal explosive. It would explode when in contact with fire, certain acids or with the use of an explosive detonator. The mermen put the explosive and weapons into dark waterproofed bags and carried them to the canal. The doors were re-locked behind them, their tracks erased and they slid silently back into the water.

  Other caches had been located, but most were too far from water for the sea-people to tackle. This cache might help Marina when the time came for her to fight. It would be stored out of reach of the Cult or the Kurgians. The only other cache they could reach was in the cellar of the Kurgian Embassy which was built by the river itself. They waited for nightfall to deal with it.

  They removed the explosives in that cache from their clear plastic wrappings and replaced them with a non-explosive material. It had taken some preparation to prepare the substitute. Slabs cut from the upper tentacles of the giant Zeninan jelly-fish and dipped in a clear varnis
h to remove the sea smell were a very good weight and colour match. These they rewrapped and placed under a few of the genuine article, hoping they would not be discovered for some time. The jelly-fish took several years decomposing, so was unlikely to be suspected before someone tried to use it.

  It had one other advantage, the varnish would not last long and the jelly-fish cruelly burned the hands of non-sea-people carrying it. The weapons they disabled fusing the internal workings together, so they would not function while appearing in order. Crown Prince Neman would do everything in his power to prevent Kurgian control of Zenina and he did not need Queen Kerina’s permission for his actions.

  Neither theft was discovered although Ga’Mikkal’s late return nearly revealed the slowest member of his team. Neman saw no reason to inform Kerina; she was now only an effigy of herself, plodding inexorably to her own doom, without will or means to alter her fate. Her time had come and nothing could change that. Princess Marina’s time was not yet here, but Neman prepared for her reign.

  To Marina’s Department certain information came. The information was anonymous but the allegations shocking. Large amounts of explosives and weapons had been smuggled into Zenina with the collusion of the Fertility Cult. Addresses where caches were stored were provided and some of the names of those involved. The Kurgians, their ambassador Ga’Zenzal and Prince Ga’Mikkal were implicated.

  The document ominously stated a large number of Kurgian ships and men waited beyond sight of Zeninan patrols. How anyone knew was unexplained. This report sat on Marina’s desk along with one on the contents of Ga’Riyal’s ship and an invitation to dinner at the Kurgian Embassy, forwarded from her house. The computer’s rationalization of Ga’Mishrin’s actions were finally completed and laid on top of the pile. It was a very thick report.