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

by M J Dees

  CHAPTER 8: VICTORY AND TRAGEDY

  Scotmax and Tsruhwed positioned themselves outside the room where D’Auria and her partner were staying. She could see them both through the window. She looked around the street but couldn’t see any sight of Early Dawn or Ay-ttho.

  “Thank you for finding Rioch for me,” Scotmax told Tsruhwed.

  “That’s okay, you know I would do anything for you, Scotmax.”

  “I know.”

  “No, I mean I would do anything for you.”

  “I know.”

  “No, Scotmax, what I’m trying to say is that I love you.”

  “And I love you too, Tsruhwed.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course, I love you as if you were my own co-begotten.”

  “Oh, no, I don’t mean it like that, Scotmax. I love you, I want to have your offspring.”

  “Oh, I see. That’s awkward. I never really saw you in that way, Tsruhwed.”

  “But maybe you could, if you tried.”

  “I’m afraid not, you see...”

  “There’s someone else, isn’t there?”

  “Well, there is someone who has recently come into my life.”

  “It’s that bruncun, Nadio, isn’t it?”

  “Don’t call him that.”

  “I knew it, as soon as I saw that ulxod dance in here, I knew he would steal you away from me.”

  “Where did you learn language like that?”

  Tsruhwed ran away, leaving Scotmax bemused but determined to maintain his vigilance on the room.

  Then she saw D’Auria move to the door and open it. Ay-ttho stood in the doorway, this time without Nadio. She entered the room and Scotmax could see her discussing something with D’Auria. Scotmax took the beacon Rioch gave her and activated it.

  No sooner had she done this than the door to D’Auria’s room burst open and three creatures entered.

  “What happened to the other one?” D’Auria asked.

  “She just picked up a date,” the big one laughed.

  Scotmax recognised them as three of Early Dawn. She didn’t know what to do; she wanted to help Ay-ttho, but her duty to her begetter bound her to help D’Auria.

  She watched Ay-ttho make a run for the window, but they caught her and tied her up. Scotmax moved closer to the window so that she could hear what was going on inside.

  “I want 200,000 credits,” said D’Auria.

  “I don’t carry that amount of credits on me, you dumb thug.”

  “Send a message to Nadio to come here. We will keep her safe until you get the credits. Even better, my partner will fetch Nadio and bring her here, give me the address.”

  “Very well,” said Ay-ttho, and shared an address with D’Auria.

  Scotmax watched D’Auria’s partner leave and wondered what was taking Rioch so long. She wanted nothing bad to happen to Ay-ttho or D’Auria but she especially didn’t want Nadio involved. She felt paralysed, unable to do anything. She looked at the three imposing figures of Early Dawn and knew she wouldn’t be able to take them on without help. She wondered whether Rioch had gone to bring help; she hoped so.

  After a while, D’Auria’s partner returned.

  “Ay-ttho lied to us,” he said. “The address was just an old boarding house. The manager said someone fitting their description had stayed there, but there had been trouble and they owe him for a broken door and sign.”

  While all this was going on, Ay-ttho must have been working herself free from her bindings, because she leapt up and made a bid to escape.

  “Kill her!” D’Auria shouted.

  In a panic, Scotmax banged on the window and shouted: “Law enforcement is here, run!”

  It had the desired effect, D’Auria, her partner and Early Dawn all panicked and went to escape, but when they opened the door, Rioch stood there pointing her weapon at them.

  Ay-ttho burst through the window by Scotmax’s head.

  Rioch entered the room with a platoon of local law enforcers and placed D’Auria, her partner, and the three members of Early Dawn under arrest. The masked one broke free and fled the room, pursued by some law enforcers, but the platoon held the large one and the translucent one securely and led them away.

  Scotmax returned to the temple where he found Ay-ttho and Nadio explaining what had happened to Sevan, Tori, Quigley, Nnam and Effeek’o.

  “Nadio? Would you do me the honour of walking with me in the garden once more?” she asked.

  The others exchanged glances.

  “Yes, I would like that,” he said, and they left together.

  “Stop it,” said Tori to Ayttho, who looked like she wanted to murder Scotmax.

  “Would you excuse me?” asked Quigley, who left through the front gate.

  “What’s wrong with her?” asked Sevan.

  “This business with her begetter is troubling her,” explained Effeek’o.

  “But I thought she didn’t like her begetter?”

  “She says she doesn’t, but I have had many discussions with her and she says D’Auria couldn’t afford to keep them and sent them here because she thought they would have a better chance of survival here than on Sicheoyama.”

  “Sounds harsh.”

  “Doesn’t sound like D’Auria either,” said Ay-ttho.

  “Well, maybe, but I would wager that she has gone to check on her father’s welfare.”

  In the garden, Scotmax and Nadio were walking together. Nadio was telling her what had happened when he went with Ay-ttho to see D’Auria and she confessed she had been spying on them and explained what had happened after he left.

  “I have to tell you something, Nadio,” she said. “Ever since the first time I met you, I have been completely besotted with you. I know you have not quite reached maturity yet, but you are about to in a matter of units and, when you do, you will start thinking about making a partnership. It would be a dream come true for me if you would consider sharing your maturity with me.”

  “Scotmax, I don’t know what to say. I have to admit that ever since we first met, your presence has evoked strange feelings within me I found difficult to explain but as I approach maturity, which may even be only sub-units away, I understand these feelings are because I too desire to couple with you.”

  “Oh, Nadio, you make me the happiest thug on Angetenar, possibly in the entire region.”

  “That is not possible, Scotmax, because I believe it is I you have made the happiest thug in the galaxy.”

  They faced each other, and both extended long thin probes which attached to each other using a sucker at the end of each proboscis. Both stood enraptured in ecstasy.

  *

  D’Auria and her partner sat in the police cell together with the large and the transparent one from Early Dawn, plus an inmate who had been there when they arrived. The inmate looked young, and D’Auria thought she looked confused all the time. She would spend long periods just staring out of the window.

  “D’Auria, you have a visitor,” said a guard, leading Quigley in. The guard left the room.

  “Quigley, my offspring!” D’Auria exclaimed. “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”

  “It is against my better judgement. I should leave you both to rot in here after abandoning me as an immature offspring.”

  “We didn’t abandon you, we set you free to pursue opportunities you couldn’t have had on Sicheoyama. We couldn’t keep you there. Your only hope was to come here.”

  “Maybe. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt by coming here to help you.”

  “Help us? How do you propose to do that?”

  “I’ll help you get out of here.”

  “How?”

  “I was thinking I could blow up that wall.”

  “That would do it.”

  “If he doesn’t kill us all,” said the transparent one.

  “Do you have a better plan?” asked D’Auria.

  “Right,” said Quigley. “I’ll get the explosives. Be ready when
the night is at its midpoint. Guard!”

  The guard came and showed Quigley out.

  The inmates of the cell waited until the midpoint of the night and then moved as far away from the outside wall as the cell would allow.

  They waited and waited.

  “He’s not coming,” said D’Auria’s partner.

  A tremendous explosion punctuated his words. The cell rocked and a portion of the wall fell away. They were about to run through the gap when they realised the remaining section of the wall was about to collapse.

  The large one ran into the gap and supported the wall to allow the others to run through the gap to where Quigley was waiting for them.

  As they were escaping, guards burst into the room and began firing. They only hit the large one, holding up the wall.

  The large one crumbled to the ground, and the wall came crashing down on him.

  The escapees ran off as the side of the building came crashing down into the street.

  Quigley led D’Auria, her partner, the transparent one, and the confused one through the streets towards the temple.

  When they arrived, they found Tsruhwed at the gate.

  “Let us past, Tsruhwed,” said Quigley.

  “Never. Leave here now or I will bring every law enforcer in Angetenar down on you.”

  “He doesn’t mean it,” D’Auria dismissed the threat.

  “He does,” said Quigley. “It’s not worth it. Let’s go.”

  Inside the temple, Ay-ttho, Sevan and Tori were having a discussion.

  “We should leave now,” said Tori.

  “I agree,” said Sevan.

  “It’s still too early,” said Ay-ttho. “Another thousand units.”

  “Five hundred,” said Sevan.

  “Two fifty,” said Tori. “It’s almost more dangerous staying here than it is taking our chances with the Republic.”

  “Agreed,” said Sevan.

  “Okay,” Ay-ttho conceded. “Two fifty it is.”

  “How long is that?” Sevan asked.

  “Ten rotations.”

  “Is that an Angetenar rotation or a doomed planet rotation?” asked Sevan.

  “Angetenar, obviously.”

  “Right. How long is the rotation here?”

  “It’s almost the same as the Doomed Planet.”

  “Ten, right, got it. And Nadio?”

  “We take him, obviously.”

  “Obviously.”

  They were unaware that Nadio was secretly listening to them. As soon as he heard they were planning to take him away from Angetenar, he ran off to find Scotmax.

  “They’re planning to take me away,” he blurted out when he found her.

  “Oh, no. They can’t.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know we’ll think of something.”

  In the morning, Ay-ttho, Sevan and Tori went into the city to get supplies to prepare for leaving.

  “I think we’re being followed,” said Ay-ttho.

  “How do you know?” Tori asked.

  “I could have sworn I’ve seen D’Auria, twice.”

  “Are you sure? Almost everyone on Angetenar is a thug.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Get out!” Ay-ttho heard the voice while they were browsing supplies in a shop. She turned around in time to see a transparent figure slip outside.

  “I’m worried about Nadio, I think we should move out of the temple,” Ay-ttho confessed to the others. “Tsruhwed told me D’Auria knows where we are.”

  “How?” asked Tori.

  “Quigley told them.”

  “The uxlod!”

  “But where will we go?” asked Sevan.

  “Effeek’o knows a place. I’ve already spoken to her.”

  They returned to the temple and Ay-ttho found Nadio.

  “Pack your things,” Ay-ttho told him. “We are moving somewhere else for a while and then we’ll be leaving Angetenar.”

  “But I don’t want to go.”

  “Nadio, you might have reached biological maturity but you don’t have the maturity or the means to look after yourself, you are coming with us.”

  “Quigley and Tsruhwed managed it.”

  “Against all the odds, and if they’d had an alternative like you, they would have taken it. Ask them.”

  “I will.”

  Nadio stormed out of the room.

  CHAPTER 9: MEETING ON HERSE

  Scotmax had travelled to the nearby Herse system to meet her begetter’s co-begetter, Yor.

  She arrived at the extravagant complex that Yor called home with a mixture of nostalgia, because the place had provided her with many happy memories of her youth, but also disgust because the opulence of Yor’s abode represented the Republic’s centuries long exploitation of the system within its reach.

  “Scotmax, my favourite offspring of my offspring, it is so good to see you. I know we have our differences, but you shouldn’t be such a stranger. Why is it you haven’t been to visit me?”

  “I have been very busy on Angetenar.”

  “Your generation seems to have lost the ability to live life to the fullest, to enjoy all the pleasures that life offers.”

  “I think that’s because we worry more about the consequences of our pleasures on those whom we have exploited to provide them.”

  “There you go again, you’ve filled this revolutionary movement of yours with scoundrels. They are nothing but a bunch of brigands.”

  “If you love the Republic so much, why do you live in the Outer Regions?”

  “When I was born, Herse was part of the Republic. I fought in the Republic wars and in the battle of Penrewei.”

  “You were in the battle of Penrewei? You never told me that.”

  “Oh yes, I was a hero. You could learn a thing or two from the old Republic, I should never have let your begetter pollute your mind with these dangerous modern ideas, may Phemtarr, God Of Vengeance protect his soul.”

  “I haven’t come to argue with you about politics this time. My begetter asked me to help a thug on Angetenar who saved his life in the battle of Genzuihines.”

  “A mere skirmish compared to Penrewei.”

  “While on Angetenar, I have met someone, I wish to partner with him.”

  “A thug? Absolutely not.”

  “Why?”

  “A thug is way below someone of your status, Scotmax, your heritage merits a noble match. Take this thug as your toy but for the sake of Zedstus, God Of The Stars, I forbid you to make it your partner.”

  “He, not an ‘it’.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion.”

  “Really? You are unbearable, I don’t know why I came here.”

  “You came here because you don’t want to lose your inheritance, which you will if you make this thug your partner.”

  “I wouldn’t want to inherit anything from someone who has no concern for my happiness.”

  “It is exactly because I am concerned for your happiness that I do not want you to make this terrible decision.”

  “I am sorry that my decisions do not please you, but I cannot stay here while you insult my choice of partner.”

  “But you’ve only just got here.”

  “And as quickly I arrived, I will leave. I had only come because I hoped you would pray with me to Ruthos, God Of Hope to bless our marriage. But, as that is clearly not going to happen, I will collect some things I left here and leave. Watch Angetenar, you may see the beginning of the end for your beloved Republic.”

  “What are you planning, Scotmax? Do nothing stupid. We may not agree, but you are still my offspring’s offspring.”

  “Much is the pity.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Scotmax. I really don’t understand this petty squabble you have with me and the Republic.”

  “No, you don’t, do you?”

  “Then explain it to me, Scotmax, why do you hate the Republic?”

  “Well, for a start, it’s not really a republ
ic, we do not elect the President.”

  Yor laughed.

  “Why, in the name of Areyar, God Of Knowledge, would you want to elect the President? The population of the galaxy isn’t qualified to choose a president. If they did, they would just elect popularists unable to deliver the promises they made.”

  “It doesn’t matter who they elect, if those who live in the Republic get to choose who represents them, then maybe the Presidents would be interested in improving our lives if they relied on our votes.”

  “The system works fine as it is.”

  “It works for you and the rest of the minority who benefit from the system, but if you came with me to Angetenar and saw the poverty and destitution, you would see differently.”

  “Angetenar is not even in the Republic.”

  “No, but it is still a victim of the Republic’s predatory trading policies.”

  “And what do you intend to do about it?”

  “There is a group of us, we call ourselves the Swordsmen of Angetenar and we intend to enlighten the population that they don’t have to tolerate this oppression.”

  “You always enjoyed playing with toy soldiers.”

  “This is not a game, Yor, this is people’s lives. So we will overthrow the Republic and I will take Nadio as my partner and no-one will stop me. “

  “Then you are no offspring of my offspring.”

  *

  The Swordsmen of Angetenar headed into the city, mobilising the population for an armed march on the provincial administration building.

  As they were marching, Quigley spotted Rioch in the crowd and went straight to Nnam.

  “You see that thug, over there,” she said. “He’s a law enforcer, he’s here as a spy.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just know.”

  Nnam and Quigley went over to Rioch and grabbed her, pointing their weapons at her head.

  “We know you are a law enforcer,” said Nnam. “We know you are a spy.”

  “It’s true, I am a law enforcer. The local force asked me to spy because they thought you wouldn’t recognise me. I guess they were wrong.”

  “Tie her up,” Nnam ordered.

  When Scotmax arrived on Angetenar, she unloaded her hover bike, strapped all her equipment to it, and rode straight to the temple to find Nadio.