The Queen of Quill

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The Queen of Quill Page 25

by Philip Hamm


  Post-script

  The cell was ten feet square. The walls were made of a flinty rock that glistened in the light of a single bulb in the ceiling. There was a bed, a tap above a hole in the stone floor and a thick door that never opened but had a flap at the bottom through which food and other items were passed. The bed was an iron frame with a thin mattress, stained pillow and a single blanket. The tap dripped and an abominable smell came out of the hole. A tray was lying by the flap with an empty plate and a mug on the top, waiting for the silent guard to take it away.

  On the bed, the prisoner nursed her baby. She stared down at his round face, her eyes on his as he stared back. She was dressed in a grey shift, wide at the neck. The hem stopped above her ankles and exposed her six toes. Her feet were cold but she didn’t notice. The baby was wrapped in a towel.

  She heard footsteps outside her cell. Occasionally, she heard screams too and the sounds of people being moved. Doors slammed and sometimes there was shouting. But most of the time there was just silence.

  The flap opened and a clawed hand reached in and dragged the tray out. A fresh set of towels for the baby was pushed inside along with a new bar of soap. Then the flap closed and the footsteps receded.

  Zizania didn’t move but stared at the face of the baby and started to hum a tune.

  Glossary

  People

  Acromion

  Head of Security on the Cissoid Corindon

  Branta

  Zizania’s bodyguard

  Calidris, ‘Clocks’

  The time-keeper and horologist on the QMM Apus and the oldest man on board

  Capella, ‘Cargo’

  The quarter-mistress on the QMM Apus

  Coumarin (Captain)

  Captain of the Corvus Corax

  Crake, ‘Boatman’

  Assistant engineer on the QMM Apus and the younger brother of Radio Crake

  Crake, ‘Radio’

  The radio operator on the QMM Apus, sister of Boatman Crake

  Crex

  Zizania’s bodyguard

  Dot (Dotterel)

  Nacyon and Tringa’s daughter

  Dunlin, ‘Chick’

  Pilot’s assistant and Dunlin’s son

  Dunlin, ‘Driver’

  The pilot of the QMM Apus

  Faam (Professor)

  Principal of the University of Panadawn

  Faux-Zizania

  A Rickobite clone

  Filemot (General)

  The son of King Tragacanth’s deceased eldest brother and responsible for the defence of Aphyllous

  Fuligo Axunge

  Leader of the Zamut Senate

  James Stone

  An Earthman who became Emperor of Panadawn

  Jylland (Captain)

  Captain of the Cissoid Corindon

  Kalmia

  Principal of the Cissoid Corindon

  Knot, ‘Rigger’

  The engineer in charge of the Pavonine generator on the QMM Apus

  Melanitta

  Zizania’s maid

  Naaman

  Rimmon’s bodyguard

  Nacyon

  The dispossessed Rao of Sapadilla and distant cousin to Quill Royal Household

  Plover, ‘Stuggy’

  The cook on the QMM Apus

  Quail

  Nacyon’s servant

  Quern, Rao of Nide

  Eldest of Tragacanth’s brothers

  Quillaia (Princess)

  One of the children of Tragacanth the Gold, educated on the Cissoid

  Quinia (Rani)

  Rani of Virgate

  Rhatany (Prince)

  Eldest of Tragacanth’s children and the most ambitious

  Rhus (Rani)

  Rani of Nandu and the youngest of Tragacanth’s sisters

  Rimmon

  A human working for the Rickobites

  Snipe

  Crewman on the QMM Apus, son of the captain

  Stilt

  Crew on the QMM Apus, twin of Stint and daughter of the captain

  Stint

  Crew on the QMM Apus, twin of Stilt and daughter of the captain

  Sylphid

  A student at the University of Panadawn

  Taylia

  Faam’s friend and bodyguard

  Tragacanth the Gold

  King of Quill

  Tragus (Rao)

  Rao of Rhizome and Tragacanth’s closest advisor from among his brothers

  Tringa (Captain)

  Captain of the QMM Apus

  Troolie (Rani)

  The Rani of Waratah and Tragacanth of Quill’s oldest surviving sister, she has spent much of her time helping to raise the royal children rather than managing the estates on Waratah

  Vade Mecum

  Kamia’s deputy principal and assistant

  Vanus (General)

  General of the Ninth Legion on Sapadilla charged with defending it against the Quill Empire. The least capable of all Zamut’s generals but with enormous influence in the Senate.

  Whimbrel, Wayfinder

  Second-in-command of the QMM Apus and the captain’s ex-husband

  Zivola, Queen

  Tragacanth’s wife and the mother of the current dynasty

  Zizania, Princess

  Princess of Quill, last-born of Tragacanth the Gold and therefore, under Quill law, the heir to the throne

  Places

  Agnatha

  A water-world in the Empire of Xramaria

  Aiseldur

  A Zamut world on the border with Quill

  Aphyllous

  A world devastated by war between Quill and Zamut, currently in Quill hands following Zamut’s wars against the Zarktek. It stands as a base for the Quill military in case Zamut should want it back. Under Zamut, the planet was known as Nimbus

  Arroba

  Centre of the Empire of Rickoby’s banks and commercial activities

  Barras

  Capital world of the Empire of Rickoby

  Dulla

  Capital of Kajawah and the main port for the Sa’ic Company in Xramarsis

  Ervil

  The shanty town outside Barras City in the West Rickoby Empire

  Florikan

  A world of quasi-human birds in the Saron Empire

  Gemote

  A world in the Tun Empire and the location of the first Council of Empires

  Hamose

  A world that was once part of the Junoptan Empire but now ruled by Rickoby

  Junopta

  An ultra-alien world in the Second Sphere populated by the bird-like species who created the quasi-human Quill to serve them

  Kaimakam

  A world in Quill that began as a Zlativan-Zarktek colony where many examples of their technology still remain

  Kajawah

  Capital world of the Xramarsis Empire

  Kakapo

  Quill world producing fruit for the Empire

  Kvike

  The world is a new acquisition for the Quill Empire and they are still in the process of building their colony

  Megaron

  A former Rickobite world now under Tun authority and the location of the main headquarters of the RBCC in the Southern Hemisphere

  Nandu

  Quill world where livestock is bred to supply meat to the Quill Empire and a source of leather for their famous shoe industry

  New Megaron City

  Built by the Tun Empire to replace the Zarktek cities elsewhere on the planet that were destroyed during the war

  Nide

  Quill world and centre for grain production in its empire

  Nidus

  Religious centre of the Quill Empire

  Ortolan

  A world of quasi-human birds in the Saron Empire

  Podagra

  A world of quasi-human spiders in the northwest corner of the Empire of Rickoby

  Redren

  A world that was once part of the Junoptan Empire but now ruled by Rickoby

&
nbsp; Rhipidat

  Quill world where the Empire builds its ships and supplies its conquistadors with weapons

  Rhizic

  Capital world of the Quill Empire

  Rhizome

  Core world of Quill’s manufacturing and food production, second oldest world in the New Quill Empire, founded during the collapse of the Junopta Empire. Also famous for its traditional lyrical ballads

  Sagan

  Home world of the Sagan people

  Sapadilla

  A world in the Zamut Empire coveted by Quill

  Ulupan

  Capital world of the Ulupan Empire, once ruled by the Junopta

  Varvels

  A world that was once part of the Junoptan Empire but now ruled by Rickoby

  Virgate

  Quill world and the oldest in its Empire. Colonised after the Junopta began losing territory to the Kilia, Virgate became the centre of the new Quill and began spreading across the Southern hemisphere from there. It is still a centre of technical skill combining Junoptan and other sciences to build new ships and equipment (especially weapons)

  Waratah

  Quill world specialising in rare plants and flowers for the court

  Things

  Cissoid Corindon

  Kalmia Allodium’s university ship for women, built by the Sa’ic Company of Xramarsis

  Chuprassy

  Quasi-human warriors who defend the Saron Empire

  Clearways

  The main routes across the Third Sphere

  Conquistadors

  Quill’s army

  Evigone

  The artificial constellation composed of three concentric spheres with six solar systems in the centre, 26 ultra-alien systems in the Second and 338 copies of the Earth and its sun in the Third Sphere

  Genetric, the Gene-splicers of

  Ultra-aliens responsible for making many of the quasi-species in the Third Sphere, including the Zarktek and the Sagan

  Golden Eyrie

  A sky platform above Nidus built to glorify the ancestors and Quill’s craftsmen as well as act as a lodging place for pilgrims

  Holy Nidus

  The place where effigies of the Quill gods are kept and where their monarchs are blessed

  Meros

  The road that crosses the equatorial region between the northern and southern hemispheres of the Third Sphere. It extends north as far as Podagra and as far as the Ouroboros Road between Jyntee and Sword to the south

  Meta-world

  The repository for the minds of the dead

  Nicol crystals

  The ultra-alien substance that powers Exarch disks

  Nicol Road

  The east-west Clearway in the northern hemisphere that links Xramarsis, Xramaria and the Rickoby Empire

  Ouroboros Road

  The Clearway that circles the asteroid field of the Sea of Saron

  Panadawn

  An ultra-alien ark from another galaxy

  Penti Empire

  The oldest of the ultra-alien empires in the Third Sphere, located around the equatorial region

  QMM

  Quill Merchant Marine

  QMM Apus

  Nacyon’s ship

  QRN

  Quill Royal Navy

  QRN Aquila

  Flagship of the Quill Fleet

  QRN Corvus Corax

  An eagle-class warship

  Quill Empire

  An empire of quasi-human birds

  Rickoby Empire

  A northern empire run by ultra-aliens and their hybrids

  Sa’ic Company

  The largest shipping company in Evigone

  Sagan people

  The quasi-human telepaths and warriors who served the Zarktek and then rebelled against them

  Saron Empire

  A human empire in the southern hemisphere

  Swiftlet

  A small boat used by the QRN as a scout

  Tun Empire

  Largest of the human empires

  Ulupan Empire

  The most powerful of the empires, located in the northern hemisphere, ruled by the ultra-alien Kilia and their quasi-alien creations, the Ulupans

  Xramaria

  A loose confederation of quasi-alien and human fish and invertebrates

  Xramarsis Empire

  A human empire in the northern hemisphere famed for its metal and mineral extracting industry

  Zamut Empire

  The most sophisticated of the human empires

  Zarktek

  The tsars of technology; created by Second Sphere ultra-aliens to rule the Third Sphere but defeated during the Hundred Year War

  Zircon Corporation

  A Podagran-owned shipping company based in Xramarsis but with connections to the Empire of Rickoby

  Zizan’s Platform

  On Virgate, the largest of Quill’s sky platforms where the early kings lived until they moved to Rhizic during the last expansion of the Quill Empire

 

 

 


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