The Swordsmen of Angetenar (Mastery of the Stars Book 5)

by M J Dees

  “Then give me Nadio and we will go.”

  “You are too late. By the time you return to your ship, the Republic will be here.”

  Ay-ttho contemplated her words for a moment and then ran back on board.

  “Ron, take us to Angetenar, now!” she shouted. “They must not follow us.”

  “What’s happening?” asked Sevan.

  “Nadio?” asked Nosliw.

  “The Republic is on their way, we will take Nosliw to Angetenar, and then I’ll come back for Nadio.”

  “What’s going on,” Tori ran onto the bridge. “Why are we moving?”

  “The Republic,” Ay-ttho explained. “Take the weapons chair.”

  “How did they find us?” Tori asked as he plugged himself into the terminals.

  “Rioch recognised me,” said Ay-ttho. “She used to work on Aitne.”

  The Mastery of the Stars sped off into the upper atmosphere and, using the new anti-matter modification, was soon long gone.

  “I have a friend on Angetenar,” said Ay-ttho. “Effeek’o, I did a favour for her once. She works at the temple of the Silver Marauders. They have a hospital there, they’ll take care of Nosliw.”

  On the way, they passed the large group of asteroids Ron had warned about.

  “Where are they heading?” asked Ay-ttho.

  “Not enough data,” said Ron.

  *

  When they arrived on Angetenar, they immediately sought the temple of the Silver Marauders and Effeek’o to find Nosliw medical attention.

  “Ay-tho! I can’t believe it’s you,” said Ekeek’o on seeing her. “How long has it been?”

  “Too long.”

  “You are right there. Ay-ttho saved my life,” she told the others. “What brings you to Angetenar?”

  “Nosliw is unwell, he needs medical treatment while we return to Sicheoyama for his offspring.”

  “Take care. That planet is as wild as they come. The Republic might not run it, but they would sell their own offspring for a credit.”

  “That’s what we are hoping,” said Tori.

  “I promise to return with Nadio,” said Ay-ttho to Nosliw, leaving him in the care of Effeek’o.

  “There is a message for you from Sicheoyama,” said Ron as soon as Ay-ttho returned to the Mastery of the Stars. “It is from Rioch.”

  “You may be interested to know,” said the holographic image of Rioch. “That the Republic has arrested an ex-corporation clone who, I must admit, looks remarkably similar to you. Well, you all look alike, don’t you? They have accused her of being you. She is denying it, of course, but then she would if she were you, wouldn’t she? So they don’t believe her and are going to have a sham of a trial here on Sicheoyama after the next planetary cycle, after which we will transport her to Aitne and she will end her rotations there, mining ore, even though she is innocent.”

  Rioch laughed, the image flickered and then disappeared.

  “I have to go back to Sicheoyama,” said Ay-ttho.

  “But the Republic is there. They’ll arrest you,” said Sevan.

  “They think they’ve already arrested me,” she replied. “She’s innocent and they are going to transport her. I can’t let that happen. And, anyway, I promised Nosliw that I would bring Nadio.”

  “You won’t be able to bring Nadio if you get yourself arrested,” said Tori.

  “Then come with me. We stand a better chance if there are three of us.”

  “Why do I always follow you on these stupid crusades?”

  “And me,” Sevan agreed. “But what about Nosliw?”

  “We’ll just have to leave him here. There’s nothing we can do to help.”

  Disguised as Flavia, the Mastery of the Stars returned to Sicheoyama where Republic patrol ships were waiting for them.

  As they landed, Ay-ttho could see Rioch at the front of a line of Republic troopers.

  “Wait here,” she told Tori and Sevan. “I’ll go out and speak with him alone. Be ready to leave quickly.”

  Rioch approached her as she descended from the ship.

  “Your friends wouldn’t be Tori and Sevan, would they?”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I’ve been checking out their old arrest warrants. They look pretty similar to me.”

  “You need more than that to arrest them. All their identity documents are in order.”

  “So were yours. And I’m guessing that this is the Mastery of the Stars.”

  “What do your scanners tell you?”

  “That the ship is Flavia.”

  “There you are then.”

  “But I know you can falsify footprints.”

  “I can?”

  “Of course you can.”

  “But that would be illegal.”

  “Wouldn’t it just. So, are you giving yourself up?”

  “No, I am collecting Nadio.”

  “And what about your compatriot, who we are about to send to Aitne in your place?”

  “When Nadio is safely aboard, I will testify.”

  “Testify, and then you will get Nadio.”

  “How can I trust you?”

  “I am a thug of my word.”

  “The word of a thug goes only as far as you can throw one, although I can throw a thug very far, I don’t trust their word travels with their body.”

  “I saw you throwing thugs outside D’Auria’s bar, that’s what got you into this mess.”

  Ay-ttho sighed.

  “Okay, what do I need to do for you to free this, so-called, compatriot of mine.”

  “She is being held by Republic guards in the settlement court building. Simply accompany me there and present yourself to the Republic officer. We will then release your compatriots and allow your friends to take Nadio.”

  “Lead on.”

  Ay-ttho followed Rioch through the settlement, flanked by the Republic troopers. As they passed the Blazing Light, a thug was leaving and through the opening door, Ay-ttho could see the figures dancing inside.

  Rioch led her into the court building and down to the cells, where Ay-ttho saw her doppelganger locked in a cage. Sat at a table was the Republic officer, who was clearly in charge.

  “So, this is the real Ay-ttho,” said the officer. “They look almost identical.”

  “Told you!” shouted the doppelganger.

  “Shut up!” The officer drew his hand-arm and shot the doppelganger in the head. “She was annoying me.”

  “That was not the deal!” Ay-ttho protested.

  “No?” the officer laughed.

  Ay-ttho turned to Rioch.

  “We have no intention of releasing Nadio either,” Rioch confirmed.

  Ay-ttho launched herself at the officer and wrestled with him, taking control of his hand-arm. Rioch fled from the basement as Ay-ttho clubbed the officer over the head with the hand-arm before shooting the rest of the startled guards.

  She sprinted up the stairs only to run headfirst into a hard object being swung by Rioch. She fell to the floor, dropping the hand-arm, which Rioch quickly recovered.

  Ay-ttho came to her senses in time to see the officer ascending the stairs, massaging the point where she had struck him.

  “Ay-ttho,” he spoke with venom. “For assaulting an officer of the Republic, I sentence you to death.”

  CHAPTER 4: GIFTS

  “You are very grumpy, this rotation,” President Kirkland told the Republic officer. “No, I’m sorry, I won’t let you carry out the death sentence.”

  “But she assaulted me,” the officer complained.

  “Isn’t that a shame? No, instead we will transport her to Aitne, where she will spend the rest of her life. Killing is too good for her.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “And make sure she gets to Aitne in excellent condition. If there are any accidents on the way, I’ll know where to come looking.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The image of the President fizzled and then disappeared.

 
“Well, Ay-ttho,” said Rioch, turning to face her. “The President has deemed to give you the gift of life. He must believe you to be very good at mining ore on asteroids.”

  She then turned to the officer.

  “All yours, you’d better make sure she gets to Aitne in one piece, hadn’t you?”

  “Take her away,” the officer scowled.

  They strapped Ay-ttho firmly into a Republic transport ship. Through an airlock window, she could see Sicheoyama disappear into the blackness of space.

  It was a long way to the first portal, which was a long way from Inic B’Campa. From there, they could get a portal back into Republic controlled space, close to the capitol planet, Future.

  It had always puzzled Ay-ttho why a prison colony would be so close to not one, but two portals, she imagined it must be so that they could easily transport the ore that the prisoners had mined. As the transport rotated for docking, Ay-ttho could see Aitne through the airlock window. It was not so much a planet as a large asteroid. Ay-ttho knew from her last visit that it had no atmosphere and very little gravity.

  Plumes of smoke, rocks and other debris floated away from the asteroid into a conical canopy which hovered above the surface.

  As the ship docked, Ay-ttho could see the silver sphere, like a moon where the guards lived.

  “I have a gift for you,” said a guard as she unstrapped Ay-ttho and forced her to climb into a survival suit.

  Ay-ttho felt violated as the guards had to connect the suit to her waste discharge parts. The suit would recycle her waste into water and nutrients to augment the meagre diet they would give her via additives, which they would mix with her recycled water. The worst thought was that another convict would have used the suit and may well have died in it. She hoped they had cleaned it well.

  The guard connected the breathing apparatus which would recycle her breaths. She was suddenly aware of her own breathing, a sound that would accompany her for the rest of her time on Aitne.

  “You only leave this suit when you die,” said the guard. “Get up.”

  Ay-ttho felt the familiar weight of the boots and as she disembarked, she could see the rotating cylinder where she would sleep.

  In the other direction, she could see a huge freighter collecting the ore.

  They marched her into a hall.

  “Welcome to Aitne,” said another guard. “Here you will spend the rest of your life mining metals, non-metals, minerals and volatiles. That period may be long or it may be short, it makes a negligible difference to us, we are happy to replace unproductive prisoners with productive ones.”

  Ay-ttho had heard it all before.

  “This will be your first tool,” said the guard, handing Ay-ttho a machine which looked heavy but which she knew was easy to manipulate in the low gravity. “The grinders are at the front of the tube, the material passes along the tube to this cylinder which expels the dirt and separates the metal using magnets. Once full, you exchange your full tool for an empty one. A word of warning. Be careful not to push yourself off the surface. It is not economic to send a shuttle after you, even to retrieve the suit. If you perform well using this tool, you may progress to some larger equipment.”

  “I know I’ve been here before.”

  The guard consulted a device.

  “Oh yes, I hope you have sorted out your sleeping, or rather waking up problems.”

  “No.”

  “Oh dear, then we are going to have problems, aren’t we?”

  The guards led Ay-ttho out of the hall to the surface of the asteroid. They led her to a crater occupied by thousands of other prisoners, whose machines were pushing great clouds of material which drifted up towards the canopy.

  They showed her to a vacant section of the crater and her machine switched on. Ay-ttho could see the grinding teeth rotating and dust being sucked into the end. She pressed the end into the crater floor and it sucked up debris.

  The work was simple, but it was dull and monotonous. She waited as long as she could before taking a sip of the recycled liquid. It tasted disgusting.

  Ay-ttho had filled two machines by the time she was told her shift was over. She followed the rest of the convicts on her shift back to the rotating cylinder. They led the others up an iron staircase to the platforms where their hammocks were situated.

  “Not you,” said a guard, singling her out. “You come with me.”

  Rather than being allocated a hammock, they strapped Ay-ttho to a frame and injected her with something which made her immediately fall asleep.

  She awoke to find another guard leaning over her, having administered another injection.

  “There, that seemed to work,” said the guard, unstrapping Ay-ttho. “Get up, you are working on the bigger machines this rotation.”

  The guard led Ay-ttho to a much larger version of the machine she had used on her previous shift.

  It was in an area where other workers had already cleared the surface.

  “These are the controls,” said the guard. “It works on exactly the same principle, only much bigger. You switch it on like this.”

  The gigantic machine shuddered into action, the large grinding teeth turning and then picking up speed.

  “This dial controls the speed of the grinding teeth, and that’s about it.”

  The guard pressed the button to switch it off again, but nothing happened. The grinders continued to turn.

  “Hold on, that’s not right, let me just try to fix this.”

  The guard bent down to check the wiring behind the control panel and, as she did so, the strap from her weapon got caught on one of the grinding teeth and began pulling her towards it, she tried to free it and then to free herself from the weapon but it was already too tight.

  “Help!” she shrieked.

  Ay-ttho got to the control panel and found she too could not turn off the machine. She turned the grinding speed dial to the lowest setting.

  The guard, trying to wriggle free of the weapon, had almost succeeded, but the strap had wrapped around her leg and she was being dragged ever closer to the teeth which consumed the weapon itself, which popped and fizzed with tiny explosions.

  Ay-ttho looked around for something to jam the grinders. In the machine’s silo was a lump of ore. She thrust it into the teeth, which just devoured it with the same ease it was devouring the screaming guard’s foot.

  Ay-ttho noticed how much difficulty the teeth had in consuming the guard’s boot. This gave her an idea. She lay next to the guard and forced her own booted feet into the space at the guards’ slowly crushing boot.

  The machine had struggled with one boot, but three were too many. With a whining complaint the machine overheated and something, either the control panel or the motor exploded in a shower of sparks. The teeth stopped, with only the guard’s foot trapped inside.

  “Why didn’t you let me die?” asked the guard.

  “My gift to you,” said Ayttho.

  By this time, help had arrived. They took Ay-ttho back to the rotating dormitory and placed her in a holding cell while they extricated the guard from the machine.

  “So you tried to kill a guard,” said an officer, arriving to interrogate her.

  “No,” Ay-ttho protested. “It was an accident. Ask the guard. I was trying to help her.”

  “I will ask the guard, don’t worry. We don’t take kindly to guard killers.”

  The officer left and Ay-ttho was alone, contemplating her new predicament for some time. Eventually, the officer returned.

  “It seems there is some truth in your story,” the officer admitted. “There are even those who feel we should release you because of your actions. Unfortunately, that is not how things work here on Aitne. You are here for the rest of your life and, in a moment, another guard will arrive to take you to your machine.”

  While she waited, Ay-ttho had plenty of time to contemplate what the rest of her life mining on Aitne might be like. She knew that when her creator, Barnes, had designed her, he
had edited her genes so that her cells would not age. The only way she would die would be if someone intentionally killed her, or if she had a fatal accident, or possibly a lethal disease. As long as they fed and watered her, she could theoretically live forever. Forever on Aitne seemed an awfully long time, and she was already bored, waiting for the guard.

  Finally, the guard came and led her to another gigantic machine, one that did work, and Ay-ttho began her shift.

  As she worked, she contemplated alternatives to spending the rest of her potentially very long life grinding rocks. She thought that anything must be better than this. She took a sip of the foul nutrient liquid that was being recycled from her excrement. She felt her breath going in and out of her recycling unit. She looked up at the stars, and then she looked at the thousands of workers lining the surrounding crater.

  Ayttho switched off her machine and stepped away from it. A guard approached her. Ayttho could see the guard shouting at her but couldn’t hear anything. She bent her legs and launched herself upward. Despite the weight of her boots, she could easily escape the gravity of the asteroid and was floating off into the emptiness of space long before any guard could reach her.

  As she floated away into the void, she considered the possibility of living out what life she had left, drinking her recycled faeces and breathing her recycled air. She thought it couldn’t be as bad as doing exactly the same thing and mine ore and get shouted at by the guards.

  She floated in the vacuum and waited to die.

  Republic guards on Aitne reported Ay-ttho dead and her body lost.

  CHAPTER 5: THE SLAVE

  Ay-ttho floated silently, surrounded by silence and darkness. Her suit recycled her breath and her waste products providing her with nutrients which, without the additional supplements, were of ever diminishing value to her. She grew weaker and weaker until she lost consciousness.

  When she awoke, she was in the sick bay of the Mastery of the Stars. Gradually the visage of Tori, and then Sevan, came into focus. She smiled.

  “You didn’t think we would leave you floating in space, did you?” said Tori.

  “How did you find me?” she asked.