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