They all considered. “I suppose they might want to go to Xiantha,” said Tallen.
Diva shook her head. “It would be too radiated, and too cold for them. That’s why the lost animas that were stranded on Xiantha had to develop a symbiotic relationship with the canths. They found they couldn’t survive on their own.”
“They could all choose a canth?” suggested Tallen.
“No. There aren’t that many canths anymore. The canth keeper told us that last year.”
Six explained to those who hadn’t been there about the Ammonites’ perfect planet, telling them what they had seen inside the diamond star on the dying Kintara. “But that will have to wait. First, we must find the planets which house the stopped light.” He indicated the map. “This, the Bat constellation, contained the wide binary star system that the Ammonites showed us, one star of which ejected Valhai. The other constellations which might house stopped light seem to be The Tarboloreum constellation, the Decipus constellation, the Aurica constellation and ... oh!”
“What is the matter, Six?” said Arcan.
“One of these ortholiquid lakes is in the Vanex constellation, within 100 light years of Dessia.” He turned towards Tallen. “That is where the Dessite homeworld is.”
“And? That still sounds a long way away, doesn’t it?” asked Tallen.
Six gave a long sigh. “It is next door, as far as the Dessites are concerned. The last thing we want is for the Dessites to find any ortholiquid. Now they know how powerful it is, they must be searching the whole galaxy for any signs of it.” He thought. “Perhaps we should leave that one until last.”
They all looked around at each other. There was a general nod of agreement. “We will all go,” said Diva. “When the morphics find the planets, I mean. All six of us.”
Grace nodded. “I hope Ledin has got rid of all the extra visitors by then. He is pretty fed up with Tartalus and his demands.”
That caused many raised eyebrows, so she had to explain what she had seen on the orbital station above Kwaide and all about Petra’s new mission for Mandalon.
“I was hoping she could come with us next time,” said her brother.
“She has to stay with Mandalon until the Second Valhai Votation,” Grace said. “She transferred the oath.”
Tallen was clearly disappointed, but he, better than anyone, knew what the blood oath entailed. He struggled with himself, and finally capitulated. “In that case ...”
“Then we are all in agreement?” asked Six, waiting until the nods told him that they were.
Arcan called the morphics over from Pictoria, where the trimorphs had been recuperating from their long ordeal. Both twins seemed to have recovered their habitual good humour when they flashed into existence above the lake. The visitor was still subdued.
Six explained everything to them. “Visitor, Trimorphs, you need to check out these four emplacements.”
The visitor flashed his understanding, and the twins spun excitedly about their axis. “We will let you know as soon as we find any uncharted ortholiquid in the area. Then you can take the New Independence over as soon as we give you the co-ordinates.”
“How long will that take?” asked Tallen.
The visitor shimmered. “I don’t know. Perhaps a couple of days?”
“Then, Arcan, could you take me back to the skyrise now, please?” The Namuri had brightened. “Now I know she is here I would like to see Petra right away.”
Grace stepped forwards. “I will ask Arcan to take me over to Kwaide. I think Ledin will want to know that you are back safely. I’ll go over in the New Independence and make sure that she is fully equipped for another trip. And somebody is going to have to talk to the Coriolans about their lost freight shuttle. They aren’t going to think very much of that. I suspect we will be made to pay for it.”
“Cheap at the price,” said Six. “Arcan will pay for it, won’t you?” The orthogel entity gave a reluctant shimmer, which Six took to be agreement.
“What will the rest of you do?”
Diva looked sideways at Six. “We are going to Xiantha,” she said. “Raven is due for a short introductory visit, and we want to make sure the canths are recovering from their ordeal on Kintara. We will take the canth keeper over with us if he has recovered enough to travel.”
“Then we will all be on our way,” said Arcan. “I will find all of you when the bimorph and the trimorph twins come back to me with possible co-ordinates for the lost planet.”
Chapter 15
ARCAN DROPPED TALLEN back on the 21st floor of the 256th skyrise on Valhai, but the Namuri didn’t plan to stay there for very long. He only took the time to change his clothes, before making his way over to the 1st skyrise in the ortholift.
As he stepped out of the lift, he was quickly surrounded by fifteen guards. He looked around at them suspiciously, noting that several of them bore witness to a recent fight. They were sporting deep cuts, and several of them had black bruises on their faces. His frown deepened. He may be only a Namuri, but he could tell in an instant who had been responsible for those particular wounds. He had practiced with her too often not to recognise his sister’s handiwork. His hand moved involuntarily towards his dagger, but he imposed his will, and stopped it. If these men had dared to go against his sister, working with them, then he would be insane to provoke them. He concentrated on breathing deeply.
“I would like to see the guard Petra,” he said, bowing low. “I am her brother.”
The guards looked around at each other. They were uncertain of their best move. At last their leader gave a curt nod. Tallen was ushered into a small anteroom and left there for nearly an hour. He thought that he might tear the place apart, he was so nervous. Instead, he concentrated on his clan’s history, reciting some of the verses which had been instilled in him since he was little. It was, he found, quite calming. The task of remembering past glories and past heroes of the Namuri tribe, made him determined not to let them down. When he died he wanted some young member of the clan to remember him, too. Would this adventure he was having next to the meritocrat ever get into the annals of his clan’s history, or was it doomed to be buried only in the memories of those who lived through it?
Tallen got to his feet and began to pace up and down. He was unaccustomed to having to wait; it didn’t match his personality. His face tightened as time passed.
Finally, one of them came to tell him that he would take him to see his sister. To Tallen’s great surprise he was led along to the staff area, and down a corridor to a small group of rooms.
“Where is my sister?” he demanded.
The young guard looked awkward. “She was found beaten, in the corridor.”
“And you have no idea who attacked her?”
The guard lowered his voice. “It is very obvious who attacked her, I think.” His eyes flickered over his fellow guards, some of whom were eyeing Tallen with distrust as he passed.
“I am surprised that they are still alive.”
“I believe she was greatly outnumbered.”
Tallen narrowed his eyes. “They may live to regret their actions.” He made it sound like a promise, one that he would savour.
They had reached one of the end rooms, and the young guard knocked gently on the door. A weak and rather quavery voice bid them to pass.
When she saw who it was, Petra had a hard time to stay still on her bed and look feeble. But as soon as the guard had backed out of the room, and closed the door, she leapt out of the bed and ran to her brother.
“Ouch! I shouldn’t try to hug people!”
Tallen examined his sister suspiciously. “What is going on, Namuri?” he asked. “Because if you expect me to believe you didn’t deliberately incite a riot, you have got another think coming.”
Petra grinned. “I did,” she admitted. “I needed to know which of the guards were the ones most likely to attack Mandalon. I can’t watch them all.”
“And did you find out?”
&nbs
p; “Naturally.”
“Was it worth it?”
She took him by the elbow and led him over to the small camping cot which served as a bed. “I am so glad to see you, Namuri. Are you all right? How did the journey go? Did you find the trimorphs? You must tell me all about it.”
“Yes, I will. But you need to explain yourself first, Sister.”
Petra gave a shrug. “It was obvious from the total inefficiency of the security measures in place that part of Mandalon’s personal bodyguard would be involved in some sort of a complot against him. The only way I could think of to draw them out into betraying themselves was to irritate them until they were rash enough to retaliate. And ...” she pointed to some of the bright bruises on her face, wincing as her finger grazed the skin, “... it worked very well.”
“I can see that!” Tallen looked his sister up and down. “They could have killed you!”
“I didn’t think they would. It would have altered things too much.”
“You mean you just lay there while they were kicking you, and hoped that they would be intelligent enough to stop?” Tallen sounded both shocked and admiring at the same time.
Petra grinned again. “You would have done the same, Brother.”
He tilted his head from side to side, considering. “Maybe. But I don’t like to think of those vaniven attacking my sister. I will make them remember it, one day.”
“You are as bad as Arcan. He insisted on giving me this orthogel bracelet.”
“Then promise me that you will use it!”
Petra touched him gently on the arm. “I can take care of it myself. You keep forgetting that I have grown up now. I don’t need anybody to look after me.”
“You are still younger than me.”
She laughed. “By one year – that’s nothing! And I will always be younger than you, but I am thirteen now, you know. I can take good care of myself.”
“You had better,” grumbled Tallen. “I don’t want to have to come back and sort this whole thing out myself.”
She hugged her brother, and ruffled his hair, which made him start back in horror. “What are you doing? Stop it!”
But all he got back was another hug. “Oh, I am glad to see you, Namuri!”
They sat chatting on the makeshift camping cot for nearly two hours before Petra pulled a face. “You have to go.”
“Why? You are not in a fit state to take up your duties again.”
“Of course I am. Vion fixed me up very well, although I am not going to admit it to the others here. It suits me better to have them think that I am no longer a threat to any of their plans.”
Tallen got to his feet. “I wish you could come with us on the quest for the lost planet.”
She stood up too, rather carefully, but without too much discomfort. “So do I,” she said, wistfully. “It sounds like a terrific adventure, and I miss you so much that it is almost a tangible pain, but I signed a blood oath to care for Mandalon 50 until the Second Valhai Votation, and I can’t go back on that. Besides, even though he is a meritocrat, he really is trying to change things here. Did you know that you can be put to death here for speaking to a foreigner in the Sell language? They have some really barbaric customs, almost as bad as the ones on Coriolis.” She rang a bell set into the wall to let the young guard know that her visitor was leaving.
Tallen bent to touch his cheek to hers. They both closed their eyes for a moment.
“May the blue namura stone protect you, my brother,” she whispered.
“And may the ancestors of the clan give you strength, little sister.”
They stood silently like that for a few moments, and then Tallen slipped out of the room, to find the guard waiting patiently outside. He was escorted solemnly back to the ortholift.
Petra was left staring at the door. She felt a strange tingling of uneasiness ripple through her, and touched the namura stone at her neck.
DIVA AND SIX lost no time visiting the medical skyrise, where they found the man who spoke to canths chatting with Vion 49. Both men smiled with pleasure at their appearance.
“We wondered if you would be fit to travel?” asked Diva.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Vion and the canth keeper stared at each other, and laughed.
“I suppose he could be moved,” said Vion unwillingly, “although I would have preferred to keep him here for another 48 hours.”
“I must get back to my canths.” The canth keeper struggled to raise himself slightly on his elbows. “The Valhais know how important this is.”
Six and Diva nodded. “If you tell us what needs to be done, Vion, then we will look after him for you, but he really is needed on Xiantha. Two of the canths require special attention.”
The Xianthan lay back on his pillow again, an expression of intense relief covering his face.
Vion gave a slow nod. “Very well, but you do realize he has only just come out of surgery? He will need careful nursing. Is there anybody at the canth farm who can take care of him?”
“Bennel is there at the moment, but if we have to leave, I believe the ticket collector still has a few more days there?” Six raised a querying eyebrow at the Xianthan, who nodded vehemently.
“I can ask him to stay on,” he hurried to say. “He will be only too pleased to help.”
“Good.” Diva smiled around at all of them. “Then perhaps we can go?”
Vion held up a hand. “Not quite so fast. You will need a few supplies, and some instructions. I am not going to risk infection in the wound.”
So Diva and Six had to sit while the doctor got together a pack of what he considered essential medical supplies.
Six eyed Vion with a touch of suspicion. “Seen Grace recently?” he asked.
Diva nudged him with her elbow, which he ignored completely.
“Only, we heard that she had been to see you.”
Diva gave him the look, which would have withered a lesser man. Six seemed not to notice.
Vion stopped what he was doing for a second, just a heartbeat, before carrying on. “Did you?” His voice was unconcerned. “Let me see ... Oh, yes, I believe I did talk to her a day or two ago. Why? Have you some sort of a message for her?”
Six’s brow wrinkled. “No,” he admitted. There was the briefest of silences before he went on, “I just wondered how Mercy was, you know. Your wife, I mean,” he explained kindly.
Vion regarded him steadily, a small smile playing across his face. He appeared to find something amusing. “Mercy is very well, thank you, Six. She and my son, Vion 50, are doing excellently. It is most agreeable of you to ask after them.”
“Yes, well ... you know, I am an agreeable sort of person.”
Diva made a muffled sound, and both men turned to her.
“Did you say something?” asked Vion.
She shook her head. “Sneeze,” she explained apologetically. Her eyes telegraphed something else to her husband, but he was idly examining one of the long syringes which Vion had set out with the rest of the material to take to Xiantha.
“I hope I don’t have to administer anything through that,” he said with a shocked voice. “It looks like something a vet would use on a vaniven!”
THEY ARRIVED BACK on Xiantha with Diva treating her husband to her opinion of his behaviour. Six tried to nip this in the bud in the time-honoured manner.
“Drop it, will you, Diva!”
“Because if you think Grace would like you to be poking around in ... I’m sorry?”
“So you should be. I suppose I will have to let it go, just this once.”
“What on Sacras do you mean, Kwaidian? Did you just tell me to shut up?”
Six sighed. “I know you’d like to change me into a prince, Diva, but we Kwaidians, as you have said yourself so often, have pretty thick skulls, so you are just going to have to put up with me as I am. I like to do things my way. Now, stop tongue-lashing me, will you?”
Her mouth fell open. “Me? Me?”
He grinned. “Yes, madam aristocrat ... you!”
Diva spluttered.
He softened. “It’s no good, you know. You can’t make a silk scarf out of vegetable fibre. Everybody knows that.” Six shook his head. Sometimes he actually felt sorry for her. He stood aside to let her pass first, but for some reason she ignored this new found gallantry, walking past him with a tight face. Six met the canth keeper’s gaze.
“Women!” he said, lifting his shoulders in a gesture universally understood by the rest of the male species in the binary system.
Diva tossed her head, but then her eyes met Six’s and they both began to smile. Neither of them seemed to want to look away.
“Your canths are recovering,” Bennel told the canth keeper, in answer to his worried question. “There is extensive lung damage, because they had to breathe in so much sulphurous air, but I have done exactly as you ordered, and they do seem to be progressing.”
The man who spoke to canths stretched to look out of his bedroom window, in the direction of the corrals. “I am hoping that a period of complete rest will enable them to repair some of the lost tissue. Of course, they will never be the same creatures they were before the journey to Kintara, but I think they may be able to live out the rest of your days in peace.”
“We had arranged to go to the Emerald Lake for a few days,” said Diva. “We were going to take Raven there. But I will contact the man who contrives children and ask for her to be brought here.”
The man who spoke to canths looked pained. “Please don’t alter your arrangements on my behalf. I would not wish to lose colour.”
Six shook his head. “We would rather stay with you. We can help with our canths, too.”
They both went to their canths. Diva was shocked at the state of them. Both of the equines were covered with scars; their hides were patched where their hair had been burnt away; and deep boils had formed in their skin where small pieces of volcanic tephra had seared the flesh. They must have lost a substantial proportion of their body weight in the mad dash, too, for their ribs were showing clearly under coats which had been dulled by their experiences near the supermassive black hole.
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