Sunset in Silvana (Da'ark Nocturne Book 1)

by Paul Sims

  He returned to Tanya’s side and they waited, huddled close to the fire. Gradually, a little warmth crept into their bones, and they relaxed. Tanya’s eyes were beginning to close and Bartes was starting to doze in sympathy when she gave a little gasp.

  “What is it?” he asked with concern.

  “Talk to me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Talk to me. I was beginning to drift off into unconsciousness. That’s not a good thing to do when you’re in shock, particularly in this cold.”

  “Uh… What should I talk about?” His mind went momentarily blank, but soon the obvious hit him. “We’ve got to get away from here,” he began.

  “I know. I hope they find us – and soon.”

  “So do I, but I don’t mean here here – I mean this planet here. We’ve got to get back to Regni before something awful happens.”

  “What d’you think is going to happen?”

  “Whoever kidnapped us probably has substitutes masquerading as us. I don’t think we’re important enough for anyone to spend so much effort just to capture and reprogram us – no offence intended.”

  “None taken – but if my people, at least, knew I was missing, they’d be looking for me – and they’re quite resourceful.” Tanya frowned. “We’re such a close-knit group that replacing all of us would make discovery less likely than only swapping part of the team – though it must have been quite a complex operation. I think you must be right, but what d’you think our impersonators are planning to do?”

  “I don’t know,” Bartes exclaimed in frustration. “If I did, I wouldn’t feel so exasperated.”

  “But how can we escape? They’re watching our every move, and eavesdropping on our conversations.”

  Bartes put his tentative thoughts into words. “Joseph suggested this morning that we take a trip to Lake Kuraken, because they have hovercart races there this weekend. I’m not certain where this lake is, but I remember someone at work telling me about it. He’d been there on a skiing holiday, so it must be up in the mountains, and from his description, it’s pretty large, and surrounded by some very wild country. We stand a much better chance of getting away from our guards in a place like that.”

  “That’s all very well, but it won’t take us off-planet. We have to get home before your unknown disaster strikes – if it hasn’t already.”

  “True – but at least it’s a start. Have you any better ideas?”

  Tanya was silent for a while, long enough that Bartes looked down at her to check that she wasn’t losing consciousness. “Not really,” she said eventually. “Do you know how far it is from this lake to the Skyport?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t – but it’s up in the mountains, so it must be quite a distance. Are you thinking of stealing a spaceship?”

  “If we could reach the Skyport, perhaps we could locate John and undo his conditioning. He might be able to ‘borrow’ a shuttle, and arrange for us to be smuggled aboard an outgoing vessel. At the very least, I might be able to persuade someone to contact Mercy for me.”

  “That’s all very well, but how do we get to the Skyport?”

  Tanya’s forehead wrinkled. “Look, if we can get to this lake, and can somehow get hold of a map, we might be able steal a boat, sail to somewhere remote and make our way to the Skyport on foot. It would all take time, but it’s all I can think of at the moment, and it’s better than just waiting and hoping the security forces don’t find out we’ve broken their programming.”

  Bartes had a flash of inspiration. “We’ve got a boat – or at least RD has.”

  “But that one’s at Plune.”

  “I think my workmate mentioned that they had yacht racing on the lake. If we could only persuade Major Valentine to transport RD’s boat to the lake to take part...”

  “Seems a pretty long shot. And that’s if he’ll even let us go.”

  Bartes shrugged. “It’s worth a try…”

  As the sun was finally setting, they heard noises from the direction of the wrecked helicopter. Tanya dared not move, so Bartes staggered to his feet and called out. Neither of them cared by this point who their rescuers were, as long as they had more blankets and some hot drinks.

  The newcomers were a security team that had been searching for them, and Major Valentine was with them, along with a couple of paramedics. They had landed by the crashed helicopter, and were beginning to check through the wreckage when Bartes emerged from the edge of the forest and called for help.

  When he saw Bartes, Major Valentine cried out and ran towards him. “Comrade Boris, thank God you’re alive.” The Major looked genuinely relieved, but his expression changed to one of concern. “But where’s Comrade Talia?” He shone his torch to either side.

  “She’s been injured. She’s lying behind a fallen tree-trunk a few yards into the trees.”

  “What happened?”

  “The rebels who downed our helicopter were trying to kill us. We got out before they arrived, and reached the trees before they started shooting, but Talia was struck by a splinter from a tree that was hit by one of the bullets. Please, it’s lodged near her spine and she needs proper medical attention.”

  “I’ll see to it at once.” The Major sent one of the paramedics with a couple of his men to attend to Tanya, and escorted Bartes to his helicopter, where he was handed a mug of blessedly hot coffee. The Major gave him a few minutes to recover before asking, “Now, can you tell me what happened?”

  “I’m still a bit confused,” Bartes prevaricated. “I gather from what the co-pilot shouted that someone fired a missile at us.”

  “We saw that on our radar scopes.”

  “Well, the pilot managed to keep a degree of control even after we were hit, and we survived, even though he and his co-pilot didn’t make it. We got out of the wreck as soon as we could, and saw a number of armed people coming out of the trees. They were dressed for combat and had rifles, but weren’t soldiers or security troopers. They raised their guns so we ran for our lives.”

  “We found your bodyguards and Political Commissar Cheslenko with the wreckage. They’d been shot.”

  “I know. After we were certain the coast was clear, I went back and found them. I did what I could for them, but they were already dead. You call us heroes, but they were the true heroes, especially Commissar Tatiana. As we fled, I called to her to follow, but she insisted on staying to cover our retreat.”

  “You and Comrade Talia were lucky to escape, Comrade. Commissar Cheslenko was right to do what she did, but she paid for it with her life. I will see that she is suitably honoured.”

  Tanya had been stabilised and retrieved and now lay face down on a stretcher, sipping her own steaming mug of coffee. She sent to Bartes, :Not totally convincing, but it’ll have to do.: “The crew and our escort, too,” she said, “after all, they all gave their lives to save ours.”

  “Truly commendable,” the Major replied.

  “And if there’s anything we can do for their families –” she continued, “– to show our solidarity with them in their grief, we must do whatever we can.”

  “I agree,” the Major replied, “but why didn’t the rebels come after you?”

  “They did. We could hear them searching for us, but we kept quiet, and luck must have been with us.” Tanya’s look of wide-eyed innocence almost convinced Bartes!

  “It seems odd to have gone to so much trouble, but not to make sure of finishing the job…”

  It seemed like the Major would pursue his suspicions further, but at that point a medical transport helicopter arrived and the paramedics had Tanya and Bartes transferred across to it, releasing the Major to join his team scouring the forest for the long-departed rebels.

  Chapter 13

  “What seems to be the problem, Comrade Hero?”

  The voice broke into the reverie Tanya had slipped into when Bartes left to greet their rescuers. “Hmm?” she replied drowsily.

  “How can I help?”

  �
��Oh… oh, yes - I’ve got what feels like half a tree trunk lodged in my back. Actually, it doesn’t, because Bar – Boris injected it with local anaesthetic, but you know what I mean.” Tanya hoped her obvious confusion would cover her blunder.

  The medic shone his torch on her back. “I see… Can you move?”

  “Yes, but I think the splinter is pressing on a nerve, because if I do move, I get a jolt of pain down my leg.”

  “Tricky – I think I’d better immobilise you until the full medical team arrive.”

  “Good idea.”

  “First let’s get you off this frozen ground and onto the stretcher. You –” (he pointed to one of the soldiers who had accompanied him) “lift her legs, with one arm supporting her calves and one under her thighs. You –” (he pointed to the other) “use one arm to lift her shoulders and the other under the blanket supporting her head. I’ll lift her torso and we’ll move her gently onto the stretcher face down. One – two – three – lift!”

  It was smoothly and easily done, and Tanya felt nothing untoward. “Thank you,” she said as they began strapping her body down.

  “No problem.” The medic held Tanya’s hand to reassure her as she was lifted and transported to the rescue ’copter. Coffee had been brewed, and Tanya was handed a mug. She clutched it in her frozen hands and almost dropped it at the painful return of sensation. She splashed a little, but retained hold and forced a trickle of fiery liquid down her throat.

  Bartes was trying to explain why they were still alive, and Tanya was grateful that she was not the one being grilled. She breathed a figurative sigh of relief when they were transferred to the newly-arrived medical ’copter.

  Once they had taken off, a nurse removed Tanya’s shoes and Bartes’ boots and checked their feet. “You’re lucky, Comrade Heroes,” she said. “Neither of you have any signs of frostbite.”

  “I don’t think we were out there long enough – though it seemed like ages, especially when the rebels were searching for us.”

  She looked at Tanya’s hands, removed the bloody dressing from the gash, and gave a sharp intake of breath. “That’s nasty,” she said, “but it seems to have been cleaned up pretty well.” As she redressed it, she glanced over to where Bartes was now relaxing. “Did you suffer any injuries, Comrade Hero?”

  “None at all – I was very lucky,” he answered. He kept his injured hand in his pocket throughout the journey to maintain the fiction.

  Once the nurse had done the basics, she called the team’s doctor over to deal with the splinter in Tanya’s back. The doctor removed the blanket and the dressing and inspected the damage. “Hmmm – your splinter’s not as big as all that,” she said.

  “It’s not my splinter,” Tanya retorted.

  “You seem pretty attached to it,” the doctor replied dryly.

  “I’d as soon see the back of it.”

  “You make puns like that, I’m almost tempted to leave it there. Actually, it’s pretty deeply embedded, and you’re fortunate that it just missed your spine. Drink this – it’ll help deal with the pain as I remove it.”

  She poured some vodka into a plastic cup and handed it to Tanya. As her patient swallowed it, she cleaned the area around the wound yet again and administered some more local anaesthetic. She had a steady pair of hands, and cut the splinter out smoothly and cleanly, before cleaning the wound and sewing it up.

  “I wouldn’t to lie on it for a while,” she advised Tanya, “even padded, it’ll hurt once the anaesthetic wears off.”

  “Thanks.” Tanya smiled and made to sit up.

  “Oh no, no you don’t. You stay where you are.”

  “But –“

  Suddenly, the doctor’s eyes widened in recognition. “I know you.” Tanya sighed and waited for the expected request for her autograph, but she’d mistaken the doctor’s meaning. “You’re a Nurse Manager at the Restavic Down Medical Centre – Talia Something-or-other. I’ve seen you there a couple of times when I’ve brought in patients.” She shook her head and gave a wry grin. “No wonder you’re so difficult: nurses make the worst patients – apart from us doctors, that is.”

  Tanya laughed. “Hoist by my own petard,” she admitted. “You’re dead right. Okay – I’ll be good.”

  Tanya spent the rest of the journey back to the dacha helping to regenerate the damaged tissue psionically. By the time they had reached their destination and were landing she was able to struggle to her feet.

  “What did I tell you? Lie down again immediately,” the doctor told her.

  “I can’t,” the patient insisted. “If I’m carried in lying on my belly, I’ll never hear the end of it. Anyway, you did such a good job – it feels a thousand times better.”

  The doctor rolled her eyes and sighed. “Nurses! At least let me check the stitches before you go.”

  As she was doing so, they touched down and Tanya soon heard a familiar voice. “Talia! Oh, Talia, what happened to you?”

  “It was only a splinter, Anoushka. I’m going to be fine.”

  “But what happened? We heard that your helicopter had been shot down. I was so worried.”

  “Once we’ve got Talia into the dacha, we’ll give you the full story,” Bartes said.

  “Of course. I’m sorry, Talia.” With Anoushka and Bartes supporting her, Tanya carefully made her way from the helicopter into the dacha’s lounge and lowered herself gingerly into a padded chair. The others were desperate to know what had happened, but Bartes forestalled them until they were sat comfortably with large glasses of vodka in their hands.

  “We were flying back from the Medical Centre,” Bartes told them, “when we were shot down.”

  “Did you pick up Political Commissar Cheslenko?” RD said with a frown.

  Tanya sighed. “She was with us when we went down. She didn’t survive.”

  Anoushka gasped. “How – how did it happen?” she asked.

  “It wasn’t the crash,” Bartes said. “The pilot and co-pilot were killed when we hit the ground, but those of us in the passenger compartment were left shaken up, but alive – until the rebels arrived, at least. Our bodyguards and Commissar Tatiana gave their lives so that we could escape.”

  Anoushka and RD needed to know the truth of the matter, but with Iain, Joseph and Peter there, Tanya and Bartes realised that they had to be careful. As Bartes was answering the others’ questions, Tanya reached out mentally to Anoushka. :It wasn’t quite like that,: she sent.

  Anoushka’s gave a shiver, then she recovered her composure, glanced in Tanya’s direction and nodded imperceptibly. Tanya could ‘hear’ her consciously forming words in her mind. Sorry, Tanya, I’m not yet used to this.

  :We were captured by the rebels,: Tanya ‘told’ Anoushka. :We tried to tell them they were making a mistake, that we weren’t who they thought we were. They may even have believed us, but it looked like they were going to execute us anyway. Somehow Bartes managed to persuade our guard, a young girl called Maria who didn’t want to kill us, to let us escape.:

  Once the initial inquisition was over, Bartes invited RD into the kitchen, ostensibly to discuss dinner, but really to update him on his & Tanya’s adventures verbally.

  Tanya had lapsed into that strange feeling of post-traumatic euphoria when Major Valentine arrived. He seemed distracted.

  “Comrade Heroes, I beg your indulgence,” he began.

  “What can we do for you, Comrade Major?” Anoushka asked.

  He looked faintly embarrassed. “I apologise in advance, particularly to you, Comrade Talia, and to you, Comrade Boris. When your helicopter went down, the rebels broadcast a bulletin on their pirate radio station claiming that you had been killed in the crash, and they had ‘executed’ you as ‘traitors’.”

  A cold feeling ran down Tanya’s spine. They’d been oh-so-nearly correct. “But that’s not true. Surely you could issue a rebuttal?” she said.

  “We did, but lies like that spread quickly, and my superiors have suggested that you and Comr
ade Boris make a public appearance this evening to prove the rumour-mongers wrong. Tonight is the premiere of a new production of Comrade Jones at the State Opera House in honour of the President’s Birthday, and we have invitations for you all.”

  Tanya sighed. “To be honest, Major, I’m very unwilling to sit for hours in a theatre seat, given the state of my back.”

  “I know, Comrade Talia, and I can only apologise again. Alas, when my superiors ‘suggest’ something like this, it is unwise for me to ignore their suggestion – or you their ‘invitations’.” His voice had an ominous tone that would have made Tanya shiver, had she been able to do so without pain. “You will have your own box, and I will ensure that plenty of cushions are provided. At least there will be a sumptuous reception for the President and his guests as part of his Birthday Celebrations.”

  Bartes exchanged glances with Tanya. “Very well, Major, but there’s a favour we’d like in return,” he said.

  “And what’s that, Comrade Boris?”

  Bartes took a deep breath. “It’s becoming clear that our enemies will stop at nothing to kill us, and we are making it easy for them by doing the expected. I feel that we should move from this dacha to somewhere less predictable.”

  “That’s a very good idea, Comrade. You surprise me. I should have thought of that – I am, after all, supposed to be the expert in matters of security.”

  Bartes shrugged, but sent Tanya the succinct message :Oops.:

  “And where would you suggest we take you?” the Major added.

  “What about Lake Kuraken? Josef suggested we take a trip there to see the hovercart racing.” The young man in question nodded enthusiastically. “If nothing else, it might throw our enemies off-balance – and they would have to change any plans they have for other assassination attempts.”

  “That’s a good idea, Boris,” RD interjected. “Perhaps you could arrange for my catamaran to be transported there, too, Comrade Major? It’s boat-racing season, and I’d like to try my luck.”