by Jo Zebedee
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Where to start? Every book had a lot of input, the first more than most. This one has had so much I can't possibly name everyone - for any omissions, my apologies.
First, my long-suffering family. My children, Becky and Holly, who cheer when it's needed, and hug when that's needed. My husband, Chris, for brainstorming, and keeping the house hygienic during writing bouts. One of us has to. My mum for putting up with me being more than a little obsessive. Also, Peter for hosting and building me a website, for interest and support. Linda, for an early beta. The support has been endless, from the wider family too. It is all so appreciated.
And then the writers. I can't mention everyone who has read Abendau although I thank you all. Suffice to say, the entire aspiring writing community at sffchronicles.com get a thank you - without their patience, support and cake, there would be no book. Some, though, need a special thanks: Jim Kane, for teaching me something about military leaders; Em Tett, who cheerled from the beginning and made me believe my characters had enough in them to keep going; Bryan Wigmore for great comments and help with cover musing and sundries. Special thanks go to my long, long suffering writers' group, the Hex-men: John J Brady for awkward, awkward questions that were the right ones to ask; Anna Dickinson for the most pearly sharp teeth; Suzanne Jackson for the eye for detail that makes a novel keep making sense. I am totally in your debt.
And the professionals. Gary Compton, for taking a gamble with a new writer. Sam Primeau for her wonderful copy-editing. Last and very not least, Teresa Edgerton, who is more than an editor but a mentor and inspiration, who knew what was needed, when, and what was absolutely not needed, where.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialog are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Jo Zebedee
Published by Tickety Boo Press
www.ticketyboopress.co.uk
Edited by Teresa Edgerton
www.teresaedgertoneditor.com
Copy-edited by Sam Primeau
www.primoediting.com
Cover Art by Gary Compton
Book Design by Big River Press Ltd
Abendau’s Heir
By Jo Zebedee
For Chris, Becky, and Holly. You are everything to me
Other Space Opera Books by Tickety Boo Press
Endeavour – A Sleeping Gods Novel
by Ralph Kern
A Prospect of War – An Age of Discord Novel
by Ian Sales
The Last War – The Noukari Trilogy
by Alex Davis
www.ticketyboopress.co.uk
PROLOGUE
Water dripped down the rock behind Ealyn. He strained, trying to turn his head to lick the wall, but his chains prevented him, the magnetic binding on his wrists too strong to be broken. His captors knew him well enough to use subtle things to torment him: the sound of water, so blessed on the hot, dry, Abendau; the prism on its thin chain catching sunlight from a small window and sending rainbows darting; the slow build of pain in muscles held firm, a pain that went deep, full of despair.
To hell with them: he was staying where he was, aware of who he was, even if his jaw ached from gritting his teeth and his hands had blistered from gripping his chains. Whatever she sent his way, whatever temptation, he’d take it and spit in her face. He closed his eyes against the dancing light.
Footsteps sounded, clipped, not the boots of the guards. He tried to move back, but there was nowhere to go; he was already tight against the wall. He tensed at the hiss of the cell opening. The footsteps stopped, right in front of him; he could feel her watching him.
Oh, gods. He waited, head down. Please let her leave. He clenched his fists, ears alert, his breathing shallow. She was coming so often now, not giving him time to build his strength.
“Tell me a vision of my future,” said the Empress. Her first touch whispered its way past his resolve and he whipped his head to the side, trying to force her away. Once he’d been strong enough, he was sure of it, but after his months held in the cell, this time she held firm. Pain built, deep in his head, a white pain that obscured his thoughts and left only the core of him: the power she wished to use.
“No.” His wrists jerked in their manacles, the magnets’ hard edges rubbing the broken skin beneath. The clean, sharp pain made his mind a little clearer. “No.”
“Tell me.” Her voice demanded obedience.
His eyes opened to a slit. He fought, willing them closed, but his eyelids were forced up. The prism’s light danced across the walls, inescapable, but he willed his focus away and back to the Empress. Her smile chilled him to the bone; she knew he was close to the end, that she was wearing him down. She knew and she enjoyed it, sadistic bitch that she was.
“Give me what I want,” she said, “and I’ll leave you in peace.”
He licked his lips, tongue rasping. She lied: she would come again. He knew better than any that the future was a drug, even for those who only heard it. He shook his head, the effort draining him, and whispered, “No.”
“Look at the prism, Ealyn-Seer.”
He couldn’t stop himself. The light caught his eyes and he fell into the future, moving from the cell, up, up, through the palace to the grand entrance hall. He tried to hold onto the reality of the cell, focus on the pain in his wrists, fill himself with the hatred and anger that had held him to this point, but found himself standing before a stone arch. On a dais to the side a woman and man stood, wearing long acolyte’s gowns, like those of the tribal people of the plains. He was forced to his knees before them. Their minds invaded his, their joint powers– greater than the Empress’, greater than his had ever been– took his thoughts for their own. Rebel, they said, close to him, echoing each other. He ducked his head, trying to hide. Seer, they said, mocking his attempt: rebel-seer-father.
“Look at them.” The Empress’ voice rang out, and he lifted his head. Their eyes were his green. The woman had the sharp chin and high cheekbones of the Empress, the man dark hair falling over a pale face that could be Ealyn’s own. Rebel-seer-father. He looked between them and, finally, sickeningly, knew why he’d been taken.
A wave of exultation ran from the Empress, and he could feel life within her, tiny, not even babies yet. She’d got what she wanted: children born of their combined powers, shaped and moulded to further her empire. Who knew how she’d done it, taken what she needed from him– he’d had a whole series of medical tests when he’d first been captured. It didn’t matter how, only what it might mean. He watched, helpless in his future, as his children pronounced judgement and sentenced him to the torture chambers of Omendegon.
The vision faded. His head sank forward, drained of all energy. Dimly, he was aware of the Empress leaving and the cell door closing, and could feel only relief. The light danced on the rock ground before him, pin-pricks of promise. It would be easy to focus on it, wander the paths ahead and release himself from the hot, dry cell. It was what the Empress wanted: to trap him, his sanity lost, fit only to give her the knowledge her own psyching couldn’t find. To hell with her; he might not be able to stop her, but he was damned if he’d make it easy.
A parrot’s screech startled him. The cell became dappled in warm sunlight. He tried to fight the vision but nothing worked: not pain, not the dripping water. He faded into the future, one where he stood on a jungle-encroached path. Holbec, he decided, near the Banned base. He drew in a sharp breath; if he was back with the Banned, there was a chance he’d get out of the cell. Something buzzed close to his cheek and he lif
ted his hand to swat it, but the chains of his past self stopped him. The sound of laughter drifted up the path. He turned a corner and two children walked ahead, dark heads together as they talked.
“Hey!” His words were croaked from thirst.
They turned, their green eyes meeting his, the girl’s smile wide, the boy’s fringe dark over his laughing eyes. Ealyn drew in a sharp breath, and spun out of the vision. His. They were his. Just as the cold adults in their acolyte’s gowns were. Two futures, not the same. Hope flared, from somewhere he’d been sure was too buried to come alive again.
Around him the rainbows danced. He could take another look to be sure. He closed his eyes, fighting temptation. That path, the Seer’s path, led to madness; he’d seen it often in others.
But the children had been happy in the jungle, not sad and used and cruel. Somewhere, there was a path to that future. It didn’t matter what it did to him; it didn’t matter if it drove him to his death or madness: he had to find it, not let the Empress ruin his lost children. Decided, he lifted his chin and focused on the prism, seeking the path he needed. And when he didn’t find it the first time, he looked again. And again, leaving the dry cell to walk the paths of time, hope carrying him where nothing else could have.
CHAPTER ONE
PART ONE: EALYN - EIGHT YEARS LATER
The cruiser came into Ealyn’s view. It stayed just beyond his Control range, making him sit forward and take notice. No one should know his ship was being piloted by a Controller: the skill was a rare one, even amongst psychers.
He drummed his fingers on the arm of his pilot’s chair. The cruiser was similar to the one in the port two days ago, seen during a supply run pre-arranged with the Banned. That run should have been secure. Even if the Empress knew he’d fled to the rebels after stealing the twins, the chain of communication ran from him to Darwin, and no one else. But he’d lasted this long because of a level of paranoia that ground at his insides, burned acid in his throat, and left his nerves shredded and jumpy. The Empress was still looking, covering every planet and sector of the empire. When he’d stolen her children– her heirs– he’d seen to that, and it wasn’t as if she could have any more, not after the horrific birth.
He cast out and let the sense of the space fill his senses, the knowledge of how things moved within it, the heat of the stars shaping in his mind. A small fleet of freighters, not far out and closing, moved in tandem with each other. If they were linked to the cruiser, they could easily close off his chance of escape. He took his time, assessing how they flew: nothing more than a Space Roamer convoy, judging by their formation and grace. In which case, they’d avoid him.
He sat straighter. The Roamers no longer flew in their painted ships, the proud planets and stars decals on their finials. They, too, were fugitives from the Empress, trawling space as discreetly as they were able, fighting to remain independent. He looked back at the cruiser, assessing. It had closed on him, its trajectory taking it into his vector. He checked its size and dimensions. It was the same ship that had been docked at the port, he was sure of it. He punched in a trajectory away from the cruiser. If it shifted course, he’d know for sure.
A moment later the bigger ship came round. Hell. Ealyn thrust to port. The cruiser was large enough to have a tractor beam and, if they did know it was him, that’s what they’d use. Not because they wanted him– he was under no illusions what awaited him in Abendau’s palace– but because of the twins. Speaking of which: he swung his seat round and shouted down the access corridor, “Kids! Strap in. It’s going to get rocky.”
An answering shout was all he needed; the twins were space veterans, they didn’t need their hands held like most seven year olds. Hell, they were more able than most adults.
He sent the ship streaking across space, relying not on his instruments but the feel of where he was. His ship banked at an angle no non-Controller would attempt, and he closed the gap between him and the Space Roamers. If there was an entity looking after desperate pilots, he needed the fleet to be Roamers, and to ensure they’d recognise his ship as the flotsam of a space fugitive and no threat to them.
The cruiser had picked up its speed, closing the distance easily. Its pilot was good– no Controller, by the pedestrian movement of the ship, but more than competent. He’d be lucky to pull this off. He sped up, twisting, darting, trying to ensure there was no rhythm to his escape, no easy trajectory to predict and cut him off along. He had only a few minutes’ lead now: not enough.
He gritted his teeth and increased speed. The engines whined, but he ignored them– where it mattered, in speed and endurance, the ship had more than enough. He thrust hard and something in the back of the ship crashed. He paid no heed, his eyes on the oncoming space fleet. The vector alarm sounded but he flew on. Let the Roamers pick up he was a Controller, let them trust him not to wipe out the fleet. He sent out the thought and picked up the tiniest pulse in return, the sense of the weak Roamer powers that allowed them to know space but nothing else.
He flew straight at the fleet. There was no room for his ship, no hope of anything other than a collision. Despite himself, he braced, muscles bunched, hands clenching. He had full control of the ship now, holding its pattern in his mind; no thruster could move the ship with the deftness he needed.
A bolt passed him. The cruiser, looking to disable him. He squinted, assessing the Roamer fleet, seeking its patterns. He had moments. He held his course, trusting to luck, trusting to anything that might keep him safe.
The fleet shifted at the last moment. He yelled as his ship scraped between two of the Roamers, flinched as another appeared, and banked obscenely hard to avoid it. He passed three more ships, each pilot connected to him, each holding the pure Control of space only a few psychers had, and then he was through the fleet to the other side, into clear space. He let out a whoop, punched the air and sped up, leaving the cruiser with a fleet to navigate through, too far behind to keep track of him.
“Take that, bitch,” he muttered. He swung his chair round, ready to tell the kids they could unstrap, but they already knew; they were standing in the doorway, calmer than he was at yet another attempt to take them. A brief spark of fear chased a shiver through him. What if today had been the day they were taken? That thought haunted his nights, his days, fuelled his paranoia: that he hadn’t done enough to protect them; that he never would.
“You slaughtered it, Dad,” said Kare.
Ealyn’s face broke into a smile, and the moment was gone, because they were still with him, still not taken. He went to the twins and embraced them, holding them close. He could feel how thin they were under their flying suits, the fragile bones of their spines. He tightened his arms and they hugged him back. His gaze drifted to the viewing port and space outside. The Empress could look, she could send whatever she had after him; he wasn’t going to give his children up, not knowing what she would do to them. He watched, alert, holding his children. Sooner or later, the cruiser would come again, or another one. The price on his head was too high to be passed up. He let the children go. “Go on, both of you, scoot.”
He brought up the nav-computer. Not that he needed it. He could feel the proximity of Calixta, the nearest star and system. Space here was remote, its planetary spread barely populated; any ship stood out too easily. He brought up a course for a shipping lane allocated to the Ferran system, imagining the change in space that would come as he neared its star, Ferrus, a bright pull in that sector of the cluster. Straddling the space between the remote outer systems and more populous middle three, its hub would provide easier camouflage. Decided, he punched in his course. He might not need the nav-computer, but the star drive did. The familiar whine as it started up told the kids to brace and, with a nauseating twist in his stomach and a jolt, the ship sped away, stars blurring into something too fast for even a Controller to track.
He leaned back in his seat, stretching. A shower and a shave would make him feel human, and he knew to seize the moment when he co
uld. He made his way along the ship's access corridor, his steps echoing off the metal floor, past his alleged cabin– he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept there– but a thud from the kids’ cabin stopped him.
“You pushed me!” Karia’s voice trickled into the corridor, high and insulted.
“I’m telling Dad!” Kare this time, just as insulted.
“If you do, I’ll tell him about the mice.”
Mice? What bloody mice? Ealyn pushed the door open. “I’m all ears.”
Both twins turned, their faces masks of guilt. Ealyn leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. “On a spaceship? As the pilot, I need to know.”
Kare’s eyes flicked from side to side. His face cleared. “Dice. We lost them.”
Karia nodded, too eager, making her hair fall over her eyes. “Yeah, we can’t find them anywhere.”
Ealyn scowled and looked around the tiny cabin. Even with only one bed pulled down– at seven, the twins could just about fit, sleeping end to end– it was cluttered and messy. How could it be otherwise? The cabin had been everything to the kids for two years– sleeping quarters, school and playroom unless they used the freezing hold. For a moment, he wanted to let them have their mice. Any other child was allowed a pet. But it was too dangerous; this ship was all that kept them safe. “Tell you what, I’ll help you look for the dice.”
Karia winced. “Dad, it’s okay, we’ll do it. Won’t we, Kare?”
“Very good of you both, but I’d like to help.” He opened a locker, ducked a pile of tumbling clothes, and cursed. He tensed at a definite squeak and raised an eyebrow. “Where are they, Karia?” She didn’t answer, just looked at her brother who went to say something, but Ealyn cut across him. “Now.”
“Over there.” Karia pointed at a pile of clothes bundled in the corner. Behind, artfully hidden, was a small cage. Nestled in some fabric, possibly the remains of an old t-shirt, were four– he counted again– no, five brown mice. No doubt brought on board during their last maintenance visit to the Banned base and hidden.