“Did you ever regret it?”
“Never.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and gave a long sigh. “I could only see her and our two children three or four times a year, of course. The meritocrats are not very partial to giving their companions time off, you know. But I did get two weeks a year to spend at home. Those were very precious times. I haven’t regretted one minute.”
“Yet you left Coriolis to come after the Valhais. You risked everything.”
“It was my duty. Lannie – that’s my wife’s name – would have been the first person to tell me to go. Even if it meant that the meritocrats would take away our house, our income, I had to follow the Valhais. I had been assigned that task. When you sign up as a companion, you know what the cost may be. I could not put my own family’s comfort before their safety. What sort of a companion would I have been? She understood that.”
Tallen studied Bennel, suddenly seeing the Coriolan in a different light. “And did they? Did the meritocrats take away your home?”
Now the sigh was longer. “They served her with an eviction notice. She had to take the children to the farm. My brother runs it now. He lets them stay in one of the outbuildings.”
“But what about her allergy?”
“She tells me not to worry. She says she will be all right.”
Tallen found himself coughing again, as the dead metazoans crept into his throat and lungs. “Why don’t you tell the Valhais? They would help.”
“I cannot tell the Valhais.” The companion sounded shocked. “I am a servant. My needs can be of no possible interest to them. How could you even suggest such a thing?”
“Well, why are you telling me?” The boy sounded faintly resentful, as if he didn’t really want to be the depository of such secrets.
Bennel looked sad. “I never knew how she felt until just now, when we changed our mask packs. I never knew what it felt like to struggle for enough oxygen in every breath. I never realized how frightened she must be. I have made her life very difficult.”
Tallen fiddled with the rope securing the laser to his back. “You could send her to the Namuri,” he said, his voice unusually hesitant. “There are no vaniven in the marshes.”
Bennel stared at him. “Would the Namuri accept her? I thought they valued their total isolation from the rest of Coriolis?”
“They do. But I don’t think they would turn anybody away. I suppose I could ask.”
“No. I don’t think she would want the children to grow up amongst ... err ...” His words trailed off.
“—the clan.” Tallen’s mouth turned into a thin line.
“I didn’t mean ... it is just ... well, you must see ...”
“I do. It is better to die rasping for breath than to be like us.”
Bennel stopped walking for a moment, and put one hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I am sorry, Namuri. I have offended you. I didn’t mean to.”
Tallen gave a fierce glare at the surrounding blackness of Yttrea. “I understand. I suppose our way of life seems very backward to somebody like you.”
“Your way of life, in some ways, seems admirable to me.”
Tallen looked up in surprise.
Bennel went on, “But I don’t think I could simply deposit my wife and children into something so strange to them, not if I were not there to be with them.”
Tallen gave a slow nod. “I suppose I can appreciate that. But what about your job? Have you lost that, too?”
“Of course. Namiba told me, before we left Coriolis, that my contract had been revoked. That means no more food for my family either, since we are paid in supplies for our families, not money. Luckily I can rely on my brother to ensure that my family has enough to eat. Food will not be plentiful, but they will not starve.”
“Then what will you do?”
“Do?”
“Where will you go?”
“I shall stay with the Valhais, of course. That is my duty. It can’t change, simply because I am not being paid any longer. I am not so fickle as that!”
“You must tell them.”
“I certainly must not! I would never do such a thing, and I’ll thank you to keep your mouth shut, too. It would sound as if I were begging! In any case – what would I do with money on Coriolis? Only meritocrats are allowed to buy and sell goods, so it wouldn’t help my family at all. No, I shall continue to guard the Valhais for as long as I am able. As if I would abandon my duty as easily as that! Especially after all we have seen. It is an honour simply to accompany them on their travels.”
Tallen suddenly began to laugh. Bennel stared.
Tallen indicated the dim black planet around them. “Not much of an honour to be on this particular planet, would you say?”
Bennel looked around him into the gloom, and began to chuckle too. “I can’t say Yttrea is the nicest spot in the galaxy!”
Their conversation ended in a joint paroxysm of coughing. They had to rest for quite five minutes before taking up the weight of the lasers again, and continuing on their way.
TALLEN WAS FEELING dizzy. He wasn’t getting enough oxygen into his lungs, and the light-headedness was becoming a problem. He took a surreptitious look at Bennel, who seemed to be managing, much to the Namuri’s irritation. A Namuri had far more stamina than a mere minion like Bennel! He wondered if he were imagining this tight, suffocating sensation.
Bennel looked sideways at the Namuri. He was feeling rather befuddled, and knew that the lack of oxygen to the lungs was beginning to affect his judgement, but he wasn’t about to let the boy know that. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to squeeze some steadiness into his mind, then took a deep breath, and continued to labour up the side of the crater they were traversing.
By the time they reached the last crater before the shuttle, Bennel was fighting inside his mask pack to suck enough air down into his lungs. He was seeing stars, and his head felt a long way away from the rest of his body. But he straightened his shoulders resolutely. He was a Coriolan companion, trained in body combat, and immune to such discomforts. All the same, he wished that the headache which was pounding at his temples would go away. It made opening his eyes painful, and it was difficult to be an efficient bodyguard like that. However, he grasped the rope which led to the laser on his back even more firmly and continued to struggle on. He was not about to be shown up by a teenage Namuri whose principal training had been in how to be a good pick-pocket.
Once at the top of the crater, they stopped for a moment, trying unsuccessfully to get their breath. Sweat was pouring down their faces, inside the protective mask packs, and they were both struggling to gasp down enough air.
Tallen nodded to Bennel, and between them they lowered the machines down to the floor of the crater. It felt good to at last be able to let the ropes go.
They began to descend the slope down to the shuttle, moving sideways with crab-like steps. Tallen stumbled, and Bennel’s hand shot out to try to stop him from falling. Then everything went ominously black.
Bennel was hallucinating. He could see his wife standing in front of him, and she was struggling to say something to him. Her mouth was opening and closing, but he could see that she couldn’t get enough oxygen in to inflate her lungs. Her eyes were wide and she was clutching at her chest, trying to force air inside it. His two children were standing close behind her and looking scared. “I know ...” he seemed to be saying to them, “... I know I have let you all down, and I am sorry. But I had to leave; I was bound to Valhai Six as his companion. And he trusted me to protect Valhai Diva. I couldn’t give up. I am sorry I failed you all. Forgive me. Forgive me.” He hung his head. Then something seemed to burn him, and burn him again and again until his family vanished and he was aware of still being on Yttrea.
He realized that the visitor was chivvying at him. He blinked. “Wha-wha ...”
“You are suffering from lack of oxygen,” said the bimorph crossly. “You have to get to the shuttle. Get him to the shuttle.” His voice was sharp with wor
ry, distraught.
Bennel looked aimlessly around him, and saw that there was a body lying in front of him. He blinked again, but was still only able to see through a thin white haze, and his own pulse was hammering in his ears. He bent down, towards the body, towards Tallen. As soon as he did, the pounding in his head doubled, and he felt as though an axe were cutting through it. The bimorph burnt him sharply again and he gasped.
“Don’t bend down. That is why he became unconscious. More remains of the metazoans got into his lungs. For some reason, it makes things worse.”
If he had been awake Bennel would have wondered how the visitor could get through the mask pack to hurt him, but he was in no condition to wonder about anything. All he knew was that he had to get the boy back to the shuttle.
He daren’t bend down again. So he reached out with one foot, and moved Tallen until he was perpendicular to the slope of the crater, then he balanced the prone shape on the edge of his boot, and tipped him abruptly down towards the centre of the crater.
The inert body poised for a moment, almost resisting his pressure, and then the boy toppled over and over, rolling down what was left of the crater, and landing only a couple of metres from the hatch to the shuttle.
Bennel squeezed his eyes again, and pushed away the fatigue which had been enticing him to lie down. He drew in huge, rasping breaths as he staggered down the rest of the slope, trying not to fall. Sweat was running into his eyes now, and he could feel the salt prickling at them. It made no difference to him.
He quickly pulled the two laser machines as close to the shuttle as he could, then he picked the Namuri up, tying the boy’s wrists together so that he could hook them over his head and use his own arms to climb.
“You are doing well. Come on!” The visitor was still by him. “I will get Ledin to help you.” He disappeared.
Bennel battled to drag the leaden Coriolan semi-upright, and manhandle him onto his back. It took long minutes until he was ready. The dead weight of the boy was almost too much for him. Sharp black daggers of agony pierced his head as he tried to go up, and he wavered.
He moved to the base of the steps, and began his grim ascent. Every rung was a mammoth task, a huge tearing of muscle in his legs, in his back. He forced himself to move on through the pain, to remember his duty.
The first rung.
The second.
Bennel lowered his head, and rested for a moment. He knew he couldn’t rest for long, because he was risking his own lapse into unconsciousness.
He battled on.
The third rung.
But on the fourth, he found himself having to stop. The signals his brain was sending down to his legs and arms were not arriving for some reason. He was frozen in place, unable to move.
Then he heard the welcome hiss of the shuttle hatch, and Ledin appeared, with a bodywrap on and a mask pack in place over his face. He made his way down to Bennel’s position, and placed himself behind the man, taking nearly all of the dead weight of the unconscious Tallen on his own shoulders.
Now they could push up a few rungs more. The veins stood out on Bennel’s forehead as he fought to compel his unresponsive body to obey his wishes.
At last they reached the final rung. Ledin moved past Bennel, to the hatch itself, and began to drag Tallen’s arms up. At last he was almost level with the hatch, and Ledin could begin to pull down on his arms, scrabble to haul the boy over the doorway, waiting for the moment that gravity would pull the rest of him in.
The morphics were glittering in triumph around their heads. Bennel gave one tremendous last push, and the body of the Namuri tumbled in over the hatch, knocking Ledin down with it, and they fell together inside. As Bennel pulled himself over the last rung and into the shuttle, Ledin leapt to close the shuttle hatch, and pulled off his own mask pack, and that of Tallen.
None of them were able to move for many minutes, but the air inside the shuttle killed all of the metazoans almost straight away, and the onboard filters which Ledin activated were able to eliminate the remains from the circulating air. It would take much longer to clear those that had reached their lungs, however. The two Coriolans were still fighting to get enough oxygen into their veins. They would need time to get back to their normal strength.
Ledin stood up. “Are you both all right?”
Tallen raised his head and winced. “I wouldn’t say all right, exactly.” He looked around. “But we are alive.” He pulled himself to a sitting position with a great effort, and held his arm out to Bennel.
“I thank you. I shall not forget.”
Bennel shook his head. “No need. Now we are even. You saved me in that chasm on Kintara, remember?”
Tallen extended his arm, and the two men briefly exchanged a strong forearm shake. Then they both smiled. Tallen found himself more in accord with Bennel than ever before.
Bennel explained the part that the bimorph had played, and Tallen turned to the hovering morphic. “Thank you all, too.”
The visitor spun. “My pleasure. But I think you should be getting back to the New Independence. This planet doesn’t seem to agree with you.”
“You could say that.” Bennel grinned.
Tallen tried to stand, and gave a wince. “What did you do? I feel as if I had been pushed down a flight of magmite stairs!”
“Yes, I had to let you fall down into the crater.”
“I am black and blue!”
Bennel grinned again. “I thought the Namuri could stand pain?”
Tallen glared. “We can, but you didn’t have to put it to the test, did you?”
“You’re welcome.”
Tallen tried to give a ferocious scowl, but even he had to acknowledge it was a small price to pay for his life. After all, there seemed to be no bones broken.
Finally they felt they might have the energy to finish the job. Bennel and Ledin stumbled back outside to haul the two laser machines, together with the box, up to the hatch and secure them in place inside the shuttle.
As they made their way through the hatch for the last time, Ledin waved a hand towards the planet. “I hope we never have to see it again.”
Tallen nodded, with feeling. “I hope nobody ever has to see it again!”
The dark planet was disturbed once more by the searing light of the shuttle engines before Yttrea could return to its former harsh isolation. The tiny lifeforms which had somehow scratched a foothold out of the hostile environment were left in peace again, struggling futilely to evolve on a planet which would soon become totally inanimate again.
Chapter 19
BACK ON VALHAI, Petra was beginning to feel better. Since the attack on her, very little had happened. But now the Second Valhai Votation was looming up in less than two weeks, and she knew that Mandalon’s enemies would have to make a move soon if they wanted to put an end to his innovations.
She looked around the huge Valhai Voting Dome. She had come here, together with several more of Mandalon’s private guards, to make checks on the security measures being put into place. But something was bothering her; she could feel a twinge of uncertainty which put her teeth on edge.
She had left Mandalon 50 in company of all his ministers, so he must be safe; that could not be the reason for her discomfort. No, it was something else, something nagging at the back of her mind, something which was stopping her from concentrating on the task at hand. She looked surreptitiously around at her fellow cohorts but they were engrossed in what they were doing.
Then she realized what it was. Her orthogel bracelet was missing. That meant that she couldn’t instantaneously contact Arcan. Petra stared down at her bare wrist for a second, her quick mind momentarily dulled and cumbersome.
Then her senses reacted, and she tensed instantly, ready for fight or flight. They were making their move, and she had to be prepared for them.
But the realization had come just a few milliseconds too late. She felt a pin-prick in her arm, and the whole world began to spin uncontrollably, her stomach
heaved, and then a forest of horizontal needles seemed to embed themselves in her brain. She fell to the floor almost silently, her eyes rolling upwards inside her head before she had time to finish the thought which recognized that she had been an utter fool.
The triumvirate of guards who had accompanied her rallied around the prone figure, triumph on their faces.
“She won’t be any trouble now,” said Volgorion, with a thin smile. “Get her down to the gate. She will make the perfect scapegoat; when they find her there it will be an easy matter to prove that she was responsible for the whole thing. But we must hurry; the plan must be finished before the orthogel entity thinks to check with either Mandalon or her. And don’t damage her; we want no outward signs of attack.”
The other two guards, both of whom looked more like tree-trunks than people, gave sniggers of enjoyment.
“Only a little bit of thing now she’s out for the count, isn’t she?” said Scurrion. “Seems strange she could have caused us so much trouble. But Zorion will be pleased.”
Volgorion nodded. “You will be well-rewarded. We all will, when Zorion takes his rightful place as head of all Sell. But first we have to complete our task. You two, get on with your part. And make sure nobody sees you as you take her down into the tunnels. The last thing we need is for somebody to guess exactly where they are. She won’t come around for over six hours, but here is some more of the concentrated clorohexanone. When you dump her, give her another injection. That should keep her under for twelve further hours, by which time it will be far too late for our great Namuri.” He laughed, and gave the inert body a kick. It landed with a satisfying crump of tissue. “She should have minded her own business.”
The third guard, Hebeton, nodded solemnly, and repeated his instructions, numbering them off on his fingers. He was not renowned for his quickness of mind. “Take to tunnels. Injection. Got it.”
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