After the Blue fliers had paid their traditional respects to their Migraani, she had questioned them eagerly about developments in the outside world and especially at home in Eriju. By now Wilfred fancied himself quite fluent in Venusian, but to his chagrin he could scarcely pick out one word in three, gathering only that the Yellow House had at last entered the war on the rebels' side. This ought to have been an occasion for rejoicing, but when at last she rather curtly dismissed them she had all but run to her apartments, where he found her curled on the bed, weeping miserably. Unsure how to respond, he sat quietly beside her and waited.
'They have taken our daughters,' she sobbed at last. 'All of them — our future. Those who resisted were killed. Many, many were killed. It is I who have brought this upon them. How can I face them now?'
Chapter 23
The first attack came that night. Lightly armoured fighters descended the crater wall at its lowest point, some scrambling down its precipitous face, others sliding on ropes. This had been anticipated and the patrolling tzinid plucked many of them from the rocks before they could even finish their descent, hurling them to their deaths below. Those who escaped were seized by the militia and slaughtered to a man. It was too slight a force to do much harm and it was generally agreed they had been sent to capture the tower. Thereafter a permanent guard was mounted within and without the dome.
Corruption sets in quickly in the moist Venusian heat, and the bodies of the fallen were hastily buried. But no sooner had the last of them been laid to rest than a substantial force was discovered moving into the ravine. The defenders bombarded them with rocks from above, but the Purples refused to be dislodged, taking refuge by flattened themselves against the walls or holding over their heads their sturdy bronze shields.
'They will attack at first light,' predicted Veldo.
'We'll see about that,' said Wilfred.
The thaalid needed no persuading to give up a small section of one of their rafts, and on it he ordered to be mounted the four still-functioning ray guns remaining in the Torris Vergan arsenal. They would work for only a few seconds before they overheated, but that would be long enough for his purpose. Teams with ropes on either bank of the lake would guide the floating battery as it drifted silently towards the ravine entrance.
'Who will fire the guns?' asked Freddy.
'I will,' said Wilfred. 'There should be little danger.'
'You cannot operate all four at once,' said Veldo. 'I will come with you.'
'Can you swim?'
'Like a krit.'
As soon as darkness had fallen, they set off. The lake water glowed softly with night-time luminescence but the raft was no more than a dark shadow upon it, and Wilfred reasoned that no-one would be expecting a waterborne attack. When they had come as close as they dared, they locked the ray guns' triggers and hurled themselves into the water, Veldo giving an unexpected bloodcurdling war cry that echoed off the crater walls. There was scattered answering fire from the enemy, but they were too late. The four heavy weapons, set to their widest beam, swiftly reduced to ashes every combustible thing in the ravine before exploding in an awesome pyrotechnic display that briefly made night into day.
Wilfred found himself swept into the shallows on a wave of uncomfortably hot water. Of Veldo there was at first no sign, but then he heard frantic splashing and a spluttered cry for help. Plunging in again, he was just in time to grab the big man by the hair before he went down for the last time. 'I thought you said you could swim,' he grumbled as he dragged him ashore.
'Perhaps I need more practice,' admitted Veldo, coughing up lake water. Then lit by the flames from the blazing raft, his white teeth were revealed in a broad smile. 'But that was magnificent, was it not?'
'We might as well throw the switch on the ray guns now,' said Wilfred with grim satisfaction. 'I'll have to manage without mine.'
But they had earned only a brief respite. Two days later, an early-rising thaal heard a faint but all-too-familiar susurration from somewhere overhead and saw an indistinct grey shape descending through the morning mist. By a lucky chance that thaal was Iffy, who as a Dameefuan perfectly understood the gravity of the threat. Within minutes a runner had been dispatched to the palace, and tumbling sleepily from their hammocks the villagers prepared to fight for their lives. Creeping in a body along the lakeside, spear-paddles nervously in hand, they found the hakijuk in the process of disembarking the last of some hundred Purple ishtaarid. All around in heaps lay their weapons, tents and baggage. Clearly there would never be a better time to attack. At Iffy's urging they immediately did so, their desperate ferocity striking terror into the hearts of urban Venusians who had never met a thaal that was not a docile slave. Nevertheless the Purples fought back valiantly enough as the hakijuk unceremoniously took off in their midst, its landing ramp still down and men tumbling from it.
Before the last invader had been speared or beaten to death, many thaalid had also perished or been wounded, including Iffy, who carried home on a makeshift stretcher expired an hour or two later, his newly acquired mate weeping and keening over him.
In the palace yard, the war cabinet had constructed a map of sorts out of black volcanic sand. Rocks and pieces of wood stood for the tower, the lake and the villages.
Wilfred was drawing lines and prodding at features of importance with a stick. 'As far as we know they've landed eight hakijukid-full. One lot was rather efficiently dispatched by the thaalid, one was briefly engaged and put to flight, and the rest are apparently digging in here, here and here, the last being uncomfortably close. I suppose we've done quite well under the circumstances, but the fact remains, they've put us thoroughly on the back foot.'
'The ones who bunked off down the ravine will be lucky to survive the next flood,' observed Freddy, glancing at the louring sky, 'but it still leaves several hundred of them.'
'They are desperate, I think,' opined Veldo. 'What must they have paid the Hakiid that they give their machines in war? Never has it been known.'
'If they'll go to such lengths to attack us now, does it mean the Yellows are winning?' asked Simms.
'Perhaps,' said Veldo doubtfully. 'It is not a martial house, but it is the largest and has some good ships.'
'Well we clearly can't rely on the cavalry arriving in time,' said Wilfred. 'And though it pains me to say this, I think we should sacrifice the palace. It wasn't built for defence and we can be attacked from all sides here. We also need to consider the noncombatants, who will have nowhere to hide. What do you think Loris?'
Loris paused for a while before replying. 'You are right, of course. There are some caves about three taarid to the north, quite large. I suggest we move them there and set a small force to defend them. If we need to fall back, it is more easily defended.'
'And the rest shall engage the enemy,' said Veldo. 'It is a good plan.'
'And what then?' asked Simms. 'We can't kill them all. And if we did, wouldn't they just send more?'
'Talking of which,' said Freddy. 'Where are the prisoners? We don't appear to have acquired any yet.'
The Captain of ships looked surprised at the question. 'In battle we do not take prisoners, unless they have some value, perhaps as hostages. And the young women of course.'
'And the others?' frowned Wilfred. 'What about the children and old people?'
Veldo shrugged. 'It is war.'
'Can't say as I didn't prefer the Hun,' muttered Simms.
Soon after the rain, a small party of Purples was seen advancing along the lake edge under a flag of truce. Loris, Wilfred and Freddy went down to meet them. A vicious skirmish had been fought there, and all around was destruction, the crops trampled and the ground churned to mud. The smouldering ruins of a farmstead lay nearly and the blood of a partially eviscerated corpse mingled with the flood water that drained off the terraces.
'Looks like the brass,' observed Wilfred as they drew together.
'Why if it's not Ishtan Nigluundo!' declared Freddy. 'I'd know that litt
le beggar's ugly mug anywhere.'
They faced each other a few feet apart, the Torris Vergans tired and dishevelled, the Purples stiff and correct, albeit noticeably damp. Wilfred observed them with interest, for it was the closest he had yet come to the enemy. Nearest were Nigluundo and his presumed second-in-command, while at a little distance stood two armed ishtaarid. Unlike their officers, they had clearly seen action. Their bloodied swords hung at their sides and each wore on his left arm a battered and battle-stained shield. He wondered how long it had taken them to discover their guns didn't work.
'It is not good that we fight,' said the Ishtan. 'Give us the woman who calls herself the Queen-Goddess and we will leave.'
Wilfred and Freddy exchanged glances. 'She is the Queen-Goddess,' said Wilfred. She bears the Holy Mark.'
'She is a pretender. The Voorni is in Faluaan, where she should be.'
Loris drew himself up to his not inconsiderable height. 'True or false, the lady is under my protection. She will remain here.'
'Then you must accept the consequences,' snarled the Ishtan.
Wilfred strode into the Migraani's apartment, his face like thunder. The sub-queen was in her usual place at the window. Nearby stood Daphne, her hands clasped in front of her. He gestured angrily behind him.'Out there, frightened and hungry, are several thousand people who could die through no fault of their own. Tell me you weren't lying!'
'Pepseema is the Voorni,' said Veleema, a little unsteadily. 'There is no other.'
'You knew what he'd say?'
'Of course.' She turned to her servant. 'Kindly leave us, and see that we are not disturbed.'
'Do you wish me to leave too?' asked Daphne.
'No, you will stay.'
She looks awful, thought Wilfred. What has gone on here?
The Migraani went to the door, and firmly closed it. 'Please sit down,' she said.
'I will stand.'
Then I will also. You will have learned from Nigluundo that there is now another upon the throne in Faluaan. Her mother was Chopminta Haalijsu, but she is not the Voorni.'
'And how is that?'
'She does not have the Mark.'
'How do you know?' demanded Wilfred. 'Can you prove it?'
'I will explain,' said Veleema. 'Please be patient as it will take a little while. You are right to be angry, for I should have told you long ago. This, and much else. Many times I have formed the words in my mind but my lips would not make them.'
For a moment she paused and put a hand to her brow. Then, as if with renewed resolve, she continued.
'At the tenderest age I was sent by my parents to that den of depravity that is the Royal Palace. They had no choice; it is the only way to learn to be a migraani. I was very beautiful then, a beautiful child of not yet fourteen. Before long I caught the eye of a prince, a brother of the Queen. Princes of the blood must remain chaste, yet knowing this he dishonoured me and took me for his own. It was pointless to resist. If not him, it would have been another. Within a short while he had got me with child. I, a child, bore a child. I named her Pepseema.'
Wilfred was not entirely surprised – in his heart he had long suspected it – but the implications made his head spin. He glanced at Daphne but her face was empty of all expression. 'Why couldn't you tell me this before?' he asked, but more gently.
'Because I was frightened.'
'Why?'
She looked at him reproachfully. 'You know why.'
Wilfred nodded. The mist was at last beginning to clear. 'So when the Purples intercepted your ship, they didn't want their Queen-Goddess back as we all supposed; they wanted to apprehend someone they considered to be a dangerous pretender.'
'Yes. They will kill her if they can.'
'Why did they not learn of her when she was born?'
'Let me tell you how it was. On the command of the prince I bore her covertly, and when I found that she was marked I thought to kill her. You must remember that I was alone in that terrible place and I greatly feared the jalaapa. When my servant offered to dispose of her, I gladly gave her up, but something broke in me that day and thereafter I lived only to destroy the Purple house and everyone in it.
'Yet still I served them. I had no choice. The Queen liked to have youth and beauty around her, both boys and girls. I shall not tell you what she did to us or made us do, for I doubt you would believe it. She was a monster in human form and no-one deserved more to die. For some reason I became her favourite and she would scarcely let me leave her side. Perhaps she saw that I, too, had stone for a heart. Slowly I rose in the royal household until I became the Tantulaar, the First Lady of the Bedchamber. Each morning it was my duty secretly to stain her belly with the juice of berries. She was not the Voorni. There was no Voorni. Nor had there been for generations. I ached to denounce her or even kill her, which I could easily have done, but I knew that if I did, the thaalid might rebel and return to the jungle, or murder us all.
'At length my mother died. I became the Migraani of the Blue and was permitted to leave the Court to take up my duties. For the first time as an adult I grew to know my father. He found that he could trust me and told me that my child was not dead but had been delivered to him by my servant and that he and my mother had sent her to Earth, knowing she would be safe from discovery there.
'A few weeks after I bore Pepseema, the Queen was also delivered of a girl child, but she was unmarked. She was furious, and no-one was spared her wrath. Further attempts were made with pills and potions and the vilest sorts of miscegenation, but from that time on she bore only boys. Eventually it was decided, as so often in the past, that the girl would have to do. Now well grown, she was bundled off to Earth to be finished and to perfect her English. Also, of course, to be hidden from view until she came of age. It was a wonderful stroke of luck for us, for now we had a plan. We would arrange to have the Queen assassinated, fetch Pepseema back to Venus while the Princess was yet on Earth, and present her to the thaalid as the true Voorni, which of course she is. Though half of royal blood she would be under our control and the Purple house would never dare admit the truth. The rest you know.'
Wilfred began to speak, but Veleema raised a hand to silence him.
'There is more. Permit me to finish. My time in Faluaan had done me great harm. For many years I could not bear anyone even to touch me. I grew up in bitterness and wanted only revenge and to set Venus free. I had never known love, but when I came to Earth I discovered it. I expected to find an odious and scheming scion of the Purple house and instead I discovered a sweet and generous young woman who lit up any room with her presence. Since then she has become very dear to me, and though I do not deserve it, I humbly ask her forgiveness.'
She had begun visibly to shake now, always a sign with her of high emotion, and she turned yearningly towards her daughter.
But Daphne's previously blank expression had passed in an instant through incredulity to blackest rage. 'Dear to you?' she cried. 'How dare you say that? You've lied and lied and lied! You said I was the Queen of Venus and I'm not and never was. I was happy on Earth, just being myself. I had everything anyone could want and now I've got nothing and shall probably die in this ghastly place. You've ruined my life!'
Anticipating violence, Wilfred moved to place himself between the two women. But at that moment someone came barging into the room. It was Freddy, with Veleema's servant desperately trying to head him off.
'I don't care what she said, damn you,' he snapped. 'This is urgent! Wilfred, didn't you see Hafti? He has news of the drums. The Yellows are advancing everywhere and a ship is on its way to relieve us. Ludo has gone to the tower. He'll need to throw the switch to let it in.'
'When?' demanded Veleema. 'When is it coming?'
'I don't know, but it can scarcely be too soon. No-one has told Nigluundo and he's piling into our southern flank. We're taking casualties and they've overrun the redoubt on the lake road.'
'Wilfred, please listen,' cut in Veleema. 'Do not argue I beg yo
u. The Yellows are duplicitous inshekid. The greatest mistake I ever made was to trust them, and I do not trust them now. You must take Pepseema and flee this place. I give her into your care. Take her back into Dameefu. You must make her rally the thaalid and convince them that she is the true Voorni and not that counterfeit in Faluaan. It may be our only chance.'
'But I can't just abandon the others,' protested Wilfred. 'Besides, how would we leave?'
Veldo appeared, his head bandaged and his hair clotted with blood.
'I require the erijukid,' Veleema told him. 'Kindly have them ready. They must arrange for two passengers. Do not delay.'
The Captain of Ships glanced questioningly at Wilfred, then bowed. 'As you command, Migraani.'
'But what about you?' asked Wilfred.
'I must remain to meet the Yellows and try to influence events,' said Veleema. She turned to Freddy. 'Mr Carstairs, kindly stay a moment; I wish you to be a witness. Pepseema, please attend to me. It is true that I have lied to you, and to others, and it has troubled me much. But before your feelings or mine must come the good of Venus. Would you expect otherwise? You are the one true Voorni and if the Fates allow, you shall yet be Queen. But I am your mother and I have the right and responsibility to select for you a tuun. I have therefore chosen Wilfred. He will protect and care for you as no-one else can. I do not need your agreement but I need his. Wilfred, do you give it?'
There was an uncomfortable silence, save for Daphne's anguished sobbing, during which Freddy gazed in bewilderment from one to the other.
'I give it,' said Wilfred at last.
Daphne turned to him in astonishment. 'I can't believe you said that! I don't want you. You know I don't. I've told you often enough. I don't want anybody. And I don't want to be the bloody Voorni either. I want to go home!'
'You will do as you are told,' said Veleema, and turning on her heel she left the room.
'I hate you!' yelled Daphne.
The erijukid had been manhandled from their shelter and were waiting for the signal from the Professor in his eyrie at the top of the tower. Looking even smaller on the ground than when flying, they were not designed to carry passengers. It was a tight squeeze for Daphne, but when Wilfred had folded his six-foot frame into the tiny space behind the pilot's seat he was barely able to move. He'd been assigned to Soldo Pu, whose combat skills might be needed if the relentlessly circling Purple ship tried to intervene. The second flyer's job was to stop for nothing, only getting Daphne away as swiftly as possible. That of the third was to harry the enemy, should the need arise.
Storm on Venus Page 25