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

by M J Dees

  “It’s not that bad,” said Sevan.

  “It is,” Yor insisted. “She was going to take the pledge in the ceremony to give up, legally, Nadio to Scotmax.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Tori. “We can ask Effeek’o. She’s ordained.”

  “It’s a good job you broke your arm,” Tori smiled at Ay-ttho when everyone else had left.

  “Because if you had given away Nadio as Ysteb, the partnership would not be legal.”

  “Come on, let’s get ready.”

  *

  The partnership ceremony began with a procession into and through the city. Everyone was dressed in their finest suits, except for Ay-ttho who had to wear her missionary robes.

  As they approached the city, they heard a large commotion.

  “What is it?” asked Sevan.

  “In the name of Cevemis, God Of Marriage,” exclaimed Yor. “I forgot that this rotation is the festival for Khetstus, God Of Fortune. The city will be packed with revellers.”

  Sure enough, when the partnership procession met with a carnival procession, everything ground to a halt.

  The revellers all wore masks of Khetstus, and Ay-ttho felt that she was being stared at by a couple of them.

  In all the confusion it took them a while to reach the partnership office, but once there Nadio and Scotmax were delighted to complete, finally, the partnership proceedings.

  “I have hired a banquet hall to celebrate,” announced Yor. “Follow me.”

  They had decorated the hall with spitfire harlequins, the most beautiful flower on Angetenar, lights of all colours and musicians playing on the stassia, the tufe and the cirgeo.

  “What is this music called?” Sevan asked Tori.

  “It’s called Precious Foundry by Underworld Operators, it’s a classic. You’ve never heard it before?”

  “We got little outside music on The Doomed Planet. Where’s Ay-ttho?”

  “She went back to the ship.”

  “I would like to propose a toast,” said Yor, raising her glass of wet blossom. “Thank you for being here to share this special moment with us this rotation. We are here to give thanks for the union of Nadio and Scotmax. May their lives be filled with joy. It seems like only the last rotation that Scotmax was a newborn offspring, and I am proud of the fully grown creature he has become. Right now, I must be the happiest co-begetter of an offspring’s offspring alive and just a word of advice for Scotmax, Nadio is always right. To Nadio and Scotmax.”

  Everyone toasted their health.

  “It’s not bad, this wet blossom,” said Sevan. “But give me a glass of pish, any rotation.”

  Ay-ttho paused a little outside of the banquet hall to listen to the party and then walked back to the Mastery of the Stars.

  In the empty ship, she went to her quarters and removed the sling from her perfectly good arm. In the room’s corner, she saw the imagi-knit she bought for Nadio. She threw herself on her bed and burst into floods of tears.

  “Are you okay?” Sevan asked Ay-ttho when he returned from the party early the next rotation.

  “Nadio thinks I am Ysteb, the righteous and principled missionary who saved him from his life as an abused slave when his begetter died. He knows nothing of Ay-ttho, the escaped clone and criminal who is being hunted by the Republic. He does not know that my gift to them is the proceeds of ill-got gains. Would he want to have anything to do with me if he knew?”

  “I’m sure he would.”

  Ay-ttho got up and put on her robes.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to see Scotmax.”

  Ay-ttho walked into the city and went straight to the rooms that Yor had rented for Scotmax and Nadio.

  “Ysteb!” Scotmax said warmly on seeing Ay-ttho. “Please come in and make yourself comfortable.”

  “My name is Ay-ttho and I am an ex-convict wanted by the Republic. Look, I did not break my arm. I only pretended because if I had given Nadio away as Ysteb, your partnership would not have been legal.”

  “I don’t believe it. This is terrible, tell me more.”

  “I was a Corporation clone, but I escaped and lived a life of crime as a thief and a smuggler. I supported the rebellion against the Corporation alliance and helped the Republic to defeat it. My involvement brought me close to President Mann and his offspring, Ozli, and we were on Future when they were murdered. They blamed their deaths on us and, although they commuted our sentences, our status as ex-convicts remained which excludes us from certain systems, so we bought false identities.”

  “But how did you find Nadio?”

  “It seems I could not leave my criminal urges behind and stole a faster than light drive. That put the Republic hot on our antennae again, so we hid on Sicheoyama. It was while we were there that we met Nadio and his begetter, who gave us permission to take Nadio before he died. The 600,000 credits are the proceeds of my life of crime.”

  “Why are you telling me all this now?”

  “I cannot bear the idea that you and Nadio would remember me as someone I am not. Others must despise me so that I can respect myself.”

  “I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed by these revelations, but I thank you for your honesty.”

  Nadio entered the room and hugged Ay-ttho.

  “Please don’t tell Nadio anything we have discussed just yet,” Ay-ttho asked Scotmax.

  “I’m intrigued now,” said Nadio. “What were you talking about?”

  “Nothing, my darling,” said Scotmax. “I’ll tell you later. I’m sorry to ask, but would you mind getting some wet blossom for Ysteb and myself?”

  “Please don’t tell him,” said Ayttho when Nadio had left the room

  “Why not? I thought you wanted us to know so that you could respect yourself.”

  “That was before I saw Nadio’s look when he saw me. I would hate to destroy the idea he has of me, it would devastate him.”

  “I will keep it from him, and I will manage the credits well.”

  Ay-ttho had to sit down.

  “I can’t take this anymore.”

  “Perhaps it would be better if you don’t see Nadio for a while.”

  “I try to only visit occasionally,” Ay-ttho conceded.

  Scotmax thought about Ay-ttho’s past and remembered how she executed Rioch at the barricades. She wondered how Nadio could have been so unaffected by contact with such evil, and wondered whether he should do something about Ay-ttho.

  CHAPTER 13: THE GREAT ICE PLAGUE

  “Nadio is here to see you, Ay-ttho,” said Ron.

  “Send him to my quarters,” said Ay-ttho.

  Nadio arrived in Ay-ttho’s room to discover that she had reorganised the room so that two chairs were set up some distance apart.

  “Ysteb. You left quickly when you visited us on the last rotation.”

  He walked towards Ay-ttho, expecting her to get up and give her a hug, but Ay-ttho remained seated.

  “Good to see you Nadio, please take a seat.”

  “Will you join us in the city to eat with us?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Are you feeling okay, Ysteb?”

  Ay-ttho remained silent.

  “Don’t be like this, Ysteb. Why can’t you be like you were before? You are being very mean.”

  “I’m sorry, Nadio.”

  “Does that mean you will come?”

  “No, but thank you for asking.”

  “Oh, well. Suit yourself. You know where I am if you change your mind.”

  “Is Ysteb okay?” he asked Sevan and Tori before he left the ship.

  “Ah, you know Ysteb,” said Tori. “She’s just being Ysteb.”

  *

  “You haven’t seen Nadio in a while,” Sevan commented to Ay-ttho some rotations later.

  “Yes, he has been very busy with social engagements now that Scotmax is his partner. Perhaps it is safe to visit him again.”

  Ay-ttho took the long walk into the city and Nadio’s acco
mmodation.

  “Co-begetter! Er... I mean... Ysteb,” Nadio blurted when he saw Ay-ttho.

  Nadio’s slip brought tears to Ay-ttho’s eyes. But the verbal slip was the only sign of the affection that they used to enjoy. Nadio was clearly very occupied with his new life with Scotmax.

  “How is Scotmax?” Ay-ttho asked.

  “I’ve heard she is doing very well. She told me we have enough to live on with her income alone, we won’t be needing your 600,000 credits.”

  Nadio’s communicator buzzed.

  “That’s Scotmax, I must go. Thank you for coming to visit me.”

  “Yes, no problem.”

  Ay-ttho left and wandered the district in a daze. She took a long look at Nadio’s building and her eyes filled with tears again.

  Over the following rotations, Ay-ttho went for walks into the city. Each rotation, the walks became shorter.

  Occasionally, Scotmax saw Ay-ttho walking past the building. She saw it as her duty as Nadio’s partner to protect him from the ex-convict Ay-ttho.

  On one rotation, Scotmax was watching Ay-ttho from the window when Nadio entered the room.

  “I was thinking of visiting Ysteb,” he said.

  “She’s not on the ship,” Scotmax half lied.

  “Oh, really? Where is she?”

  Scotmax looked out the window again. Ay-ttho had gone.

  “I don’t know. Perhaps she has gone to get supplies.”

  The next rotation, Ay-ttho left the ship but just sat on a nearby rock before returning to the ship. The rotation after that, Ay-ttho didn’t leave her quarters and for the next few rotations she didn’t leave her bed.

  “What are we going to do about Ay-ttho?” Sevan asked Tori.

  “I don’t know. She really misses Nadio.

  *

  Scotmax answered the door and saw a heavily disguised, D’Auria.

  “Do you know who I am?” D’Auria asked.

  “I know who you are.”

  “I need your help. I need to leave Angetenar. I need a ship. If you help me, I will give you some information which you may find interesting.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “Ysteb is not really Ysteb the Saturnian missionary, she is an ex-corporation security clone, a smuggler, thief, and the Republic wants her. Her credits come from her life of crime.”

  “I know all this already, and I’ve done some research of my own. You are D’Auria from Sicheoyama where you ran a bar with your partner and abused Nadio.”

  D’Auria protested.

  “I haven’t finished yet. You served the Republic at the ambush of the Alliance armada at Genzuihines. My begetter thought you saved his life. You were looting bodies and saving my begetter was just an accident.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Nevermind about my sources, my father’s last order was to help you, so here are 500 credits and I have discharged my duty.”

  “For your information, Ay-ttho is also a murderer. She killed Rioch.”

  “This I also knew.”

  “She has murdered another. She carried the body through the sewer. She had stolen the victim’s credits and was disposing of the body. She met a fugitive who had a key for the grate. The fugitive tore off a piece of the victim’s clothing.”

  D’Auria produced the piece of black suit and threw it at Scotmax’s feet.

  “Wait here,” said Scotmax.

  She left the room and returned a few moments later with a torn suit. The piece fitted perfectly into the torn section.

  “You are the criminal,” Scotmax shouted at D’Auria. “You even tried to kill Ay-ttho using Early Dawn here on Angetenar. I witnessed everything. I will give you 4,500 credits now and 20,000 on the next rotation if you leave Angetenar and never return.”

  “Agreed,” D’Auria left.

  “Nadio!” Scotmax shouted. “Come quick, we need to see Ysteb.”

  “What? Why?” Nadio appeared, wondering what all the panic was about.

  “Let’s get a hover taxi, come on.”

  “But what is it?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  In the hover taxi, Scotmax explained to Nadio that Ay-ttho wasn’t Ysteb and took pleasure in explaining how she had saved her life.

  As they approached, they saw that the Mastery of the Stars was emerging from the cave, preparing for takeoff.

  “Steer where they can see us,” Scotmax ordered the pilot, who swerved around towards the front of the freighter.

  “There is a hover taxi approaching,” Ron announced to the bridge.

  “Let’s go,” said Ay-ttho.

  “No, wait,” said Tori. “Let’s see who it is first.”

  Ron landed the Mastery of the Stars by the entrance to the cave.

  The pilot pulled the hover taxi up to the freighter.

  Scotmax and Nadio got out.

  Through the observation window on the bridge, Ay-ttho saw them and rushed to the entrance.

  Nadio rushed up the gangway and embraced Ay-ttho. Scotmax followed shortly behind.

  “Thank you, co-begetter,” said Nadio.

  “Yes, thank you, co-begetter.” said Scotmax.

  Ay-ttho cried with joy.

  “Were you trying to sneak off?” asked Nadio reproachfully.

  “I cannot describe how grateful I am that you saved me that day in the sewers,” said Scotmax. “We have come here to take you back. We insist you stay with us.”

  “We will have a wonderful life together,” said Nadio. “It will be amazing.”

  “It sounds wonderful,” Ay-ttho agreed with tears in her eyes. “But I can’t go with you, I must leave.”

  “No, you can’t,” said Scotmax.

  “You must stay,” said Nadio.

  “Unfortunately, I cannot. You are going to have a wonderful life together, you don’t need me, you’ve already found happiness.”

  “Help us,” Nadio pleaded to Sevan and Tori.

  “Once Ay-ttho has made her mind up to do something, there is no changing her marbles,” said Tori.

  “I hate to break up this happy family gathering,” said Ron. “You remember that group of asteroids? It seems they are going to clash with Angetenar.”

  “When are they expected to impact?” asked Tori.

  “Any minute.”

  “Could you not have told us before?”

  “Sorry, I got distracted and forgot about them.”

  “You said there was a 300,000 to one chance that it would hit Angetenar.”

  “It turns out it’s the one.”

  “What is the prognosis, will it break up in the atmosphere?”

  “Unfortunately, no, there is a high likelihood that it will destroy the city.”

  “We must warn everyone,” said Ay-ttho. “Scotmax, tell Yor, I will find Effeek’o.”

  Ron called two hover taxis. One for Nadio and Scotmax to go into the city and the other for Ay-ttho to go to the temple.

  “Promise me you’ll keep my secret,” Ay-ttho asked Scotmax.

  “Of course, your secret is safe with us.”

  *

  “Have you heard the news,” said Yor when she opened the door to Scotmax.

  “Yes, that is why we are here, we need to go.”

  “Go? Go where? He’s invading Zistreotov, not Angetenar. We are perfectly safe here.”

  “We are not, the city is about to be destroyed.”

  “My dear Scotmax, it is Zistreotov which is about to be destroyed, relax.”

  “What are you talking about?” Scotmax asked his begetter’s co-beggetter.

  “Kirkland. He’s invaded Zistreotov.”

  “Never mind Kirkland, we’ve more to worry about than the President, a group of asteroids are about to hit the planet.”

  “What?”

  “Take us to your ship, you’ll see.”

  Ay-ttho arrived at the temple and found Effeek’o.

  “You must listen to me,” she said. “There are asteroids heading for Ang
etenar, you need to come with us.”

  “I can’t leave my work here.”

  “There will be no work here, the asteroids are going to destroy everything.”

  “What about the patients, the students, the staff? What about the poor in the city? We have a small ship, but it cannot take everyone.”

  “The Mastery of the Stars is a freighter, we have space in the cargo bays but we don’t have space for the entire city and we can’t feed them.”

  “Then we shall tell everyone to bring as much non-perishable food as they can carry.”

  “Can we land the Mastery of the Stars here?”

  “No, we will have to send everyone to the cave.”

  “Then hurry, we have little time. I’ll tell Sevan and Tori to prepare the cargo holds, Tell them to bring something to sleep on as well.”

  When Ay-ttho left the temple of the Silver Marauders, she could see the ships of the wealthy already abandoning the planet.

  Crowds were already flooding out of the city and making their way to the temple. There was no hope of a hover taxi, so Ay-ttho walked back to the Mastery of the Stars and sent a message to Ron, explaining they would need to prepare the ship.

  As she approached, Yor was landing his long range shuttle by the freighter. Ay-ttho invited them all onto The Mastery of Stars to explain his conversation with Effeek’o.

  “I think we should leave them all here,” said Yor. “I don’t want any of that scum on my vessel.”

  “That’s fine,” said Ay-ttho. “I don’t expect you to take any passengers other than Scotmax and Nadio. But please act as an escort until we reach our destination.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’m not sure. It could be Herse or it could be another planet with a suitable atmosphere. Ron is searching for options.”

  Yor looked like he didn’t like the idea of Herse, even though that would be his eventual destination.

  Effeek’o arrived in what was only a small medical ship. Ay-ttho went to greet her and found the ship already crammed with patients from the hospital.

  “Let’s transfer some of these to our own sick bay,” she said. “Can you spare medical staff to look after them?”

  “Yes,” said Effeek’o. “These are just the patients. I organised some hover taxis for the students, they should arrive soon.”

  Sure enough, a few moments later a fleet of hover taxis appeared and deposited the students close to the ships. The hover pilots abandoned their vehicles and joined the queue for The Mastery of the Stars.