Valhai (The Ammonite Galaxy)

by Gillian Andrews

  “What is going to happen to us, Diva?” Grace asked.

  Diva considered. “I guess we will be interrogated . . .”

  “Again?” groaned Six.

  “. . . and then we might be thrown to the Tattula cats.”

  “Might?” snapped Six. “What do you mean, ‘might’?”

  “Probably will be?”

  “Tattula cats?” Six was disbelieving. “You still throw people to Tattula cats? I always did say Coriolis was a backward little planet.” He was scandalized. “Tattula cats!”

  There was a contemplative silence for a few minutes, and then Six swung back again to Diva. “Well, you had just better get us out of here, sunshine, because if you think I am going to become Tattula cat food two days before we find my sisters again you have got another think coming!” He snorted. “As if!”

  Grace saw Diva’s white face, and took pity on her. “Don’t worry, Diva, we will get out of here. Arcan will help us.”

  “No. I got us in here and I will get us out of here. I forbid you to sign Arcan asking him for help!” she said.

  “I have news for you, Diva,” said Six. “You don’t order me to do anything!”

  Diva stamped her foot. “Please, then. Whatever! Just give me a chance to get us out!”

  “Did you say please?” Six was incredulous.

  “And?” Diva snapped.

  “No, nothing. Just surprised, is all.”

  “Well don’t be!”

  “No, ma’am!” He brought his feet together with a click and stood to attention.

  “Children, children!” Grace felt very old. “Can we concentrate on getting out of this mess?”

  They both swung around on her. “What do you think we are doing?” they said in unison.

  Grace shrugged her shoulders. “My mistake,” she murmured. “Sorry.”

  Chapter 28

  INTERROGATION WAS NOT much fun. It turned out to be a chemical process. Grace was taken first, tied to a medical trolley, and then a white-coated figure came in to administer an injection. That was all she knew of her interrogation. Presumably she spoke while under the drug, but she could remember nothing. She felt ashamed when they took her back to the cell and she had to face her two friends.

  “I don’t know what I told them,” she said glumly, explaining the process.

  Diva laughed. “Everything,” she said. “They use extract of quenera root. You will have answered all their questions.”

  “What, no torture?” said Six.

  “We are not savages!” exclaimed Diva.

  “Excuse me? Tattula cats, remember?”

  “That is a tradition . . . an archaic custom.” Diva seemed to think that explained everything.

  “Oh fine. So much better to be eaten by an archaic custom, I find, don’t you Grace?”

  “You should know about archaic customs, being a Kwaidian,” said Diva.

  “Sure. But I wasn’t expecting to find them on your wonderful Coriolis.”

  Diva looked rather rueful. “As a matter of fact, neither was I!” she admitted. “I was a bit short-sighted.”

  “No sweat. You haven’t seen Kwaide yet. Kwaide makes this place look like a safe haven!”

  “Treat in store, then?”

  “Absolutely.” All three of them grinned, and Six got up almost eagerly to be taken to interrogation.

  Some three hours after Diva was brought back from interrogation, her father appeared outside the cell, flanked by five minions. He was dressed in somber, but rich robes. He took out a document, and began to read from it. It was written in boringly long and involved legalese, and Six lost interest until the man finally got to the end.

  “. . . tomorrow morning taken out and given to the Tattula cats.”

  The Elder finished on that happy note, rolled up the document with out more ado and then turned and disappeared again, still flanked by his minions.

  “Time for you to solve the problem!” Six told Diva.

  She bit her lip. “I know.”

  “Got a bubble to catch, places to go,” he said.

  “I got it, Six. No need to insist.”

  “You do know tomorrow morning is soon, don’t you?”

  “If you would shut up for a moment, I might be able to concentrate on finding a way out!”

  “Might isn’t going to stop Kwaide from falling into Lumina!” he retorted, stung, and then lapsed into silence.

  It was the middle of the night when they heard rustling near their cell. None of them was asleep, so they made their way quickly to the cell door. There was a rattling of keys, and then the door slid open.

  “Mother!” For a moment it seemed as if Diva might run into her mother’s arms, but then she contented herself with a respectful inclination of her head.

  “I will not let them feed my only daughter to the cats,” said her mother calmly. “It is not at all agreeable.”

  “Thank you, Mother.”

  “Do not think that this means I forgive you, because I don’t. You should have stayed where you were and fulfilled your sworn oath to the Sellites.”

  “I would be dead!”

  “Sacras is kind!” her mother intoned. “We are not permitted to know the ways of the gods.”

  Six raised his eyes to the ceiling.

  “You know,” said Diva slowly. “I never really looked at my society before. It is a bit . . . err . . .”

  “Backward?” suggested Six.

  Diva nodded, and then laughed. “It is a bit, isn’t it? I didn’t really notice when I was here, but now we have lived through all those things . . . well . . . it’s just that they could listen a bit more, couldn’t they? They could take terrific advantage of all the knowledge we have locked up in our heads, but they just aren’t interested.”

  “Thank Cian for that!” said Six. “Or we would have been lobotomized by now!”

  “In your case it would have been an improvement!”

  “In yours nobody would have noticed!” As usual, Six had to have the last word.

  “Come, quickly.” Diva’s mother signaled to three men who were waiting in the shadows behind her, and they stepped forward with dark cloaks, one for each of the three of them.

  They slipped the cloaks on, and Diva’s mother led them through many corridors until they were in a tiny antechamber. Here, she made Diva sit down in front of her, leaving Six and Grace to make themselves comfortable on a sofa against the wall. Six gave a meaningful look at Grace.

  Grace was amazed at the collected way both Coriolan women faced each other. There was no sign of emotion. Both were composed. They could have been complete strangers. She found the situation just now most curious. There was no sign of the passionate, sarcastic Diva that she herself knew.

  “Mother.” Diva inclined her head.

  “Daughter.” The rite was repeated. “I have set you free. I have no wish to see you dead. Your father . . .” she waved a dismissive hand, “. . . your father has his ways, and I respect them, as a good wife should. However in this instance I am not in accord with those ways, and so I have deemed it fitting to release you of your bonds.”

  “I am most grateful, Mother, but won’t there be repercussions?”

  “This misbehaviour on the part of a wife will lead your father to repudiate our marriage.” The woman nodded. “I am, nevertheless, quite prepared to accept this punishment. I have found myself tiring recently of your father.”

  “I would not wish to cause you discomfort, Mother.”

  “It will be a very great relief,” the woman said. “As he has become older his shape has altered most grossly, and his fine mind has recently dwelt only on libidinous matters. He has shown a lamentable proclivity for low-life haunts and, worst of all, he has recently proved recalcitrant to my recommendations on policy.”

  “Wow!” Six hissed. “Can’t say I’m surprised, if she speaks like that all the time. Never heard so many long words in the same breath.”

  “Shh!”

  “I have
therefore decided to go into retreat in Mount Palestron, accompanied only by these three guards and two personal dressers. They will provide all of my needs.” The look she exchanged with one of the guards made Six sit up suddenly.

  “I . . .”

  “Don’t even dream of saying it!” shushed Grace.

  “But I was going to tell you what I think!”

  “I know what you think. Shh!”

  Now it was Diva’s turn to speak. “In that case we will accept your generous act with gratitude for your sacrifice. May Sacras never flare!”

  “Some sacrifice!” scoffed Six. “If you ask me . . .”

  “We didn’t,” said Grace. “Do shut up, please.”

  The Kwaidian fell into an offended silence.

  “I have taken the liberty of transferring some adequate funding into an account in your name in the business centre, Daughter.” She passed over some documents to Diva. “There will be enough for your needs, I believe. Needless to say, you will now have nothing from your father in the future, nor when he dies. Be parsimonious with your funds, therefore. I can give you no more.”

  “You are more than munificent, Mother.”

  “I will have little need for so much in Mount Palestron. We will be living a retired life.” She looked again towards the three guards. “I am looking forward to it.”

  “Then I will wish you well, and remove my unworthy self from your sight.” Diva got to her feet.

  “Since you have been released by a Coriolan noblewoman your sentences will be commuted.” Her mother told her. “You may even visit with safety, but neither you nor your friends will ever be made welcome on Coriolis.”

  “What a surprise!” said Six.

  “Will you shut up!” said Grace.

  “Daughter. I wish you well.”

  “Mother. I will think of you often.”

  The two women touched cheeks, and then Diva signed to Grace and Six. They followed one of the guards, who led them furtively through corridor after corridor until they reached a back entrance to the palace. He opened the gate with an ornate key he wore around his neck, and ushered them out. The gate clanged to after them, and they were outside.

  “That went well!” said Six

  “She has made a great sacrifice for me.” Diva lowered her head.

  “Some sacrifice!”

  “You don’t understand. She will lose one of the most prestigious positions on the planet.”

  “Well, she doesn’t seem unhappy about it. Seems to me she was just leaping at the chance to get away to her Mount Whatever,” Six said.

  “She will have to forego many ostentations. I am amazed that she would do this altruistically. I am beholden.”

  “Yeah. Come down off that dictionary, will you. Grace can’t understand you.”

  “Speak for yourself!” Grace said.

  “Come on. Let’s get back to Arcan. There is a little matter of a trip to Kwaide awaiting us.” He thought for a moment. “And I sincerely hope my homecoming goes better than yours, Diva!”

  Chapter 29

  KWAIDE WAS MUCH cooler and wetter than Coriolis. Grace shivered as the bubble surrounding them vanished, leaving them exposed to the chill night air.

  “The uninhabitable zone!” said Six, happily. “Know it like the back of my hand.” He plunged into the undergrowth. “Just follow me!”

  The four remaining Kwaidian apprentices looked for a moment at the trail he had left, and then shook their heads. They clearly didn’t agree with the direction he had taken. The tallest managed to blurt out a goodbye to Diva and Grace, and then they were gone, taking a track in the opposite direction.

  “Thank Lumina for that!” said Diva. “They were really beginning to get on my nerves. You’d think they could have been a bit happier at having their miserable lives saved. Honestly, they were a pretty sad bunch.”

  Grace nodded. “We did put them through rather a lot, though.” She began to giggle. Diva looked at her, and then saw the funny side of it too, and joined in. “They were transported, attacked, nearly asphyxiated and nearly bombed.” She chuckled. “And then, to top it off they were instantaneously brought half-way across the system in a sentient bubble!” The two girls clutched each other.

  “I think he is just a little bit more than just a sentient bubble!” Six complained. That only made the two girls laugh even more.

  “Are you coming?” Six was not pleased at having had to track back to find them. “We are only about thirty kilometers from the place I left my sisters.”

  “Thirty kilometers?” wailed Grace.

  “Baby!” Six said. “I used to do that every day.”

  Diva gave Six a look.

  “So sorry, your highness,” he said, “but we use these long bendy things called legs in this part of the binary system.”

  Diva gave a sigh. “I should have guessed. Let’s go then.” She rolled her eyes at Grace and the two girls tramped off into the bushes in Six’s wake.

  Any remaining good humour had worn off long before they reached the hideaway Six had spoken of. They were tired, cold, hungry and thirsty, and for Grace the novelty of being able to breathe out of doors had worn off.

  “Are we nearly there?” she said, for the tenth time.

  “Yes.” Six gave the same answer each time, which wasn’t helping.

  “You always say that!” she wailed.

  “Well stop asking!” he said calmly.

  “Are you sure you know where you are?” asked Diva.

  “Well of course I do!” Six put his head on one side. “More or less.”

  “More or less!”

  “I must say, it has been a long time since I was last here,” he said, “and everything looks different. But I’m almost sure that if we keep going in a northerly direction we will get there in the next hour or so.”

  “Terrific!” said Diva. Not! she thought.

  There was a major crashing in the undergrowth and a huge pig-like creature with three horns erupted out of the bushes and charged past them. Grace gave a scream.

  “Now, that’s lucky,” said Six. “The famous Kwaidian warthog. Don’t see many of them about nowadays. I take that as a very good sign.”

  “It nearly spitted me!” Grace was indignant.

  “Don’t exaggerate, Grace. It was only being friendly! Look! It is coming back!”

  True enough, the grunting monstrosity was barreling towards them, the fearsome snout tight to the ground. It trundled right up to Grace and then stopped in front of her, snorting slightly.

  “Wha . . . what does it want?” she stammered.

  “Probably wants its back scratched.” Six was unconcerned. “Just pick up a twig and run it up and down the backbone. That’ll do it.”

  “It’s huge!” she said.

  “It won’t hurt you.”

  “It might.”

  “They are quite harmless. Girls!” he said, shaking his head.

  Diva walked over and scratched the monster’s back. It gave a heavy grunt of pleasure and rolled over. She dutifully scratched its belly too. It got up, shook enormously, and then trotted off.

  “Made a friend there, Diva,” said Six.

  “Why don’t you use them as pack animals?” she asked.

  “They’re protected!” He was shocked.

  “You mean they protect warthogs and throw children out in the uninhabitable zone?”

  “If you put it like that . . .”

  “. . . You are worth less than a warthog.”

  “Kwaidians rate warthogs very high,” he said defensively.

  “Sure. The literati of your society, perhaps?”

  He grinned. “Maybe. Don’t expect me to know. I am just a no-name, remember?”

  “I bet they name their warthogs.” Diva didn’t want to let it go.

  “That one was ‘Diva’,” he said, and laughed until she threw a stone at him.

  It was nearly nightfall when Six at last found himself on a track he knew for sure led to the hideawa
y, and had been dark for some time before they reached it.

  It was an abandoned stone dwelling, long left to the elements. There was no roof, and a tree the size of three Sell floors was growing inside the walls. Creepers were entwined in the stones, and there was an overgrown stone drinking trough, once used to tender to vaniven.

  There was nobody there. Nor had there been for some time. Six inspected every cranny by the light of Lumina, which happened to be full in the Kwaidian sky. The reflected sunlight from the huge planet bathed everything in ghostly silver.

  The girls went to collect wood, and then made a fire. There was no way they were going any further that night. They found an old forgotten can, fetched water from a nearby stream, and put the pot over the fire to boil.

  Six was desolated. “They are not here. There is no note.”

  “There will be.” Diva was certain. “We may be missing it in this half-light. We will look again in the morning. Isn’t there anything to eat?”

  Six disappeared for ten minutes, and then came back with his arms full of fruit. “That’s why this was such a good hideout,” he explained. “There was always plenty of fruit.” Diva raised one eyebrow. That would have told him what she thought of the hideout, if he had been looking in her direction.

  They made a belated picnic, and then lay down to sleep. It was even colder now, so they huddled together in the lee of one of the walls. It was not the best night that any of them had spent.

  The next morning they searched the whole ruin meticulously. It wasn’t until the very end of the search that they found anything. Scratched into one of the walls, through the moss, were some words which had been nearly covered by that year’s growth. Six tore the moss off the stones, until they could read the message.

  “Gone to Rexel. Eight sick.”

  Six had to sit down. He was shaking all over. Grace put her arms around him, and hugged him close to her. He shook his head, unable to speak.