Vontaura

by James C. Dunn

  Berenguer sat up, bent over, still just like the old man, in body at least. He was not the general he once was.

  ‘You are proposing an alliance, High Lord?’

  ‘That is why I came. You are the only man I know with the strength to fight them. You’re the only good man I know.’

  ‘But I . . . I killed your sister.’

  ‘My uncle killed my sister. Malizar killed my sister. You pulled the trigger, but I can’t blame you anymore. Wivartha is moving through Accentaurib. He has found the Enusti exodus hiding there once already. We have to move now. He is so close to finding them again.’

  ‘But Maxim—’

  ‘We will return for her. But we have no time. We must head to Samos.’

  ‘You are sure there’s a fleet hidden there?’

  ‘Yes. I sent it there.’

  Berenguer sat back down in the mud. ‘I gave up my lifelong mission. I am no longer a general.’

  ‘But you are a man,’ Yux said. ‘A strong and a brave man. Help me to defeat my uncle and I promise you, we will save Titan. And your family.’

  FORTY-SEVEN

  THE BLUE AND green world hovered in the middle of the vault. Anna stood and watched, arms folded, in the far corner.

  ‘Earth. Will I ever go there?’

  The Accentaurian did not answer.

  ‘Have you ever been there?’

  Still no answer.

  ‘Are you waiting for me there?’

  Nothing.

  ‘Uncle Ruben? Is it you?’

  Silence.

  She closed her eyes and had the original message play again. She walked back and forth until it finished, the light, pleasant voice of the Accentaurian stopped.

  ‘You say a darkness is coming. Where does the darkness come from?’

  ‘You know where from . . .’

  Always the same answer.

  ‘But I don’t!’ She held her head in her hands. ‘I don’t!’

  ‘The darkness,’ he said. ‘The silence. But after night comes the dawn. Change comes eventually. I promise you that.’

  ‘Darkness. It isn’t coming. Darkness is here. Now there is nothing but silence. Everywhere is so much quieter now.’

  The Accentaurian continued, ‘A great silence is coming . . . and an eternal darkness. It won’t be long now. No amount of training will help you fight what has found you. But there is a way. Four ways, in fact. And it is you who must find them.’

  Anna knew what the four ways were. She knew what the Accentaurian wanted. But what he asked was impossible.

  ‘Tell me again, what are the four ways?’

  ‘Four items, Anna Berenguer. Four ways to save this race.’

  ‘The first?’

  ‘The private journal of Edgar Mokrikov of Rotavar.’

  You could ask Callista, she thought. You’ve put it off for long enough.

  ‘The second item,’ he continued, ‘is the vital research which took place beneath the asteroid Erebus. I know of it, yes. I know more than anyone does. Bring me the research.’

  ‘How?’

  No response was made for that question.

  ‘The third item?’ she said.

  ‘The third, Anna Berenguer, is this message. The diary, the research, and this message. Store my communication on a disk and keep it safe.’

  Anna’s heart thumped faster now. She knew what was next.

  ‘The fourth, and by far the most important way, is the one you expect most . . . and least.’

  ‘What is the fourth way?’

  ‘You must bring me the Gilaxiad.’

  ‘How? How do I do that?’

  ‘The messengers will come.’

  ‘Anna!’

  She paused.

  ‘Anna?’

  ‘Callista, is that you?’

  ‘Anna, what’re you doing in here?’ Callista emerged from around the corner and hobbled down the corridor into the vault. ‘Who are you talking to? How did you get in here?’

  Anna rushed to switch the recorded message off. ‘Nobody. Nothing!’

  Callista gazed around the room, seemingly in shock. She smiled and shook her head. ‘Who were you talking to? Tell me now.’

  ‘I was talking to my uncle,’ she said. ‘It helps me to carry on, imagining he’s still out there . . . somewhere . . . fighting for me. For us.’

  ‘Anna,’ the old woman said, tilting her head back sadly.

  ‘I know. But it helps.’ She walked forward and held Callista close.

  ‘How long have you known about this place, Anna?’

  ‘Since we arrived back. Did you know it was here?’

  ‘No, child. Are any of the communication links active?’

  ‘Yes, but they’re only internal. You can see images all over the city. You can hear some things, sometimes. But that’s all you can do. Watch and listen.’ She rested her head in her hands.

  ‘What is it?’ Callista asked.

  Anna thought for a moment, then sat down at the table. ‘The silver diary,’ she said. ‘The diary from Rotavar.’

  ‘Edgar Mokrikov’s diary, yes.’

  ‘Where is it?’

  Callista shuffled across the room to sit beside the young girl. She cleared her throat. ‘I don’t have it.’

  ‘You don’t? What happened to it?’

  ‘I don’t know. After we arrived back here I woke up in a cell. They had taken everything but my clothes from me. If I hadn’t read it before that then we would never have known of Marrak Malizar’s continued existence. And just knowing that he is the one in control keeps me focused. His foundation is upon Earth, and it is there the greatest challenge will be faced.’

  ‘But Callista, don’t you worry about Antal? He’s gone to Earth. He’s gone to the very place Malizar is strongest. How can he help?’

  Callista placed a cold hand on her arm. ‘Something tells me, Anna, that even when absent Peter Marx labours on. He sent Justus there. Malizar is strong. But I don’t for a second doubt that Justus will do everything in his power to stop him.’

  FORTY-EIGHT

  THERE WAS A plan.

  Anna had to act. She had given up waiting for somebody else to do something. She was in control of her own fate now. She knew she had to forget about the diary. The second item the Accentaurian told her to gather was the research amassed on Erebus. Anna really didn’t want to see that vile professor, so perhaps the woman, Ketrass, could help.

  When everybody was asleep that night, she headed through the vault and descended into Titan’s streets. She waited at her parents’ graves, hidden in the nearby shrubbery, for three hours. When Gordian did not show, she headed home.

  Anna returned the next night, and the night after that. Still Gordian did not appear. After one week she gave up waiting for him to come to her, and planned her move for the following night. On her journeys back to the apartment she encountered several more tunnels leading into different areas of the Twelve Cities. Upon returning to the vault, she searched for plans to reveal where each led to. Only one mattered now.

  The following evening Anna knelt on one knee in a shadowed tunnel opening. She wore a dark combat suit covered in armoured lagging, with legs and arms encased in ballistic plates. They too were patterned black, with golden-laid edgings she had, for the most part, removed. Hidden in the shadows of the tunnel verge, she was almost invisible.

  Gordian was late. She had found the plans to the southern section of Central City, and so headed for the place he was meant to be dwelling. For almost an hour she had waited. When at last he emerged from a side street, his muscular shape unmistakable in the silver glow, Anna crept from her hiding place and rushed towards him. No one else was about, so she followed him to the vehicle he was headed for.

  When he opened the vehicle door, Anna jumped in front of him. She had expected a response. A sudden strike, at the very least. But he simply shut the door on her and climbed in the other side.

  ‘I won’t ask how you made it here without being caught,
Anna.’ His door slammed shut.

  ‘You’re not even a little curious?’ She grinned, strangely comfortable with the Crilshan: a man she had once called a monster, now the only one she could truly talk to openly.

  ‘Strap yourself in, girl. I’m taking you back.’

  ‘No, you’re not.’

  He turned to her. His eyes were dark and brutal. But she was not afraid of him anymore.

  ‘I need your help, Gordian.’

  ‘You have no idea of the danger—’

  ‘And you have no idea how important this is. I have to do something.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘About what? The occupation of my home, perhaps?’

  ‘What on Titan can any of us do?’

  ‘I need to know something. I need to see Avéne Ketrass.’

  He raised his eyebrows at the name, and seemed to relax all of a sudden.

  ‘Is she all right, Gordian?’

  ‘You mean is she still alive?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He nodded. ‘But to see her would be impossible. I’m sorry, Anna, but you will never have the chance to speak with her privately. And if it isn’t private, then it isn’t possible.’

  She hung her head, crushed.

  ‘But,’ he said, and waited a moment for her to look him in the eye, ‘I can take you to the professor.’

  ‘To Kramer? How?’

  ‘He’s in solitary detention. Due for execution like so many others.’

  ‘That’s wonderful!’ She paused, rubbed her hands together. ‘I mean . . . you know what I mean.’

  Gordian activated the vehicle and set off through the city. They passed tensely through three checkpoints before he spoke again.

  ‘You realise, Anna, that this is the second and last time we can meet. It’s too dangerous now. I will take you where you want, if it is as important as you say. But then no more.’

  ‘I understand. Take me.’

  ‘You must be quick,’ he said as they approached the Martial City’s prison complex, centred in the most northern of the domes and surrounded by what used to be the Titanese barracks. Anna had been here twice before with her uncle. Now the outer structures appeared ominous in the shallow light, used by a greater part of the Crilshan force while the old prisons now held the Titanese Guard.

  ‘Hurry,’ he said, handing her a pair of heavy goggles and a black uniform. ‘Put them on quickly and follow me. Don’t linger, and say nothing.’

  He led her from the vehicle, through the military buildings, and down towards the prison. It was a circular building, surrounded by concentric rings of barracks, almost maze-like in their design. Then again, escape wasn’t really on the cards, she imagined. Her heart lurched when she thought of Ferranti, who had spent all these months here. Was he even alive? She would have asked Gordian, but she bore in mind just why she was here and exactly what they were both risking. She kept to his rule and said nothing.

  They were not stopped and it took several minutes to arrive inside the building. Both strode fast and Anna realised that Gordian was taking her through the longest way, in a bid to avoid as much security as they could. After some time they reached a series of locked doors. The Crilshan gained access with his key fob, and hurried Anna through. They passed several Crilshans along the way. She used Gordian as a shield, but attempted to appear strong and stern as she walked. She knew she actually appeared neither. When she caught one of the Crilshans looking at her, her heart thumped in her throat. Her eyes watered. But she remained focused, reminding herself that they could not see her eyes through the goggles.

  Her uncle would be proud of her – or shocked to death – seeing her now. She would have given anything to have him with her. Anything.

  At last they walked along a dark corridor which reeked of rancid decay.

  ‘In here,’ he said and he opened a door to his right. ‘Five minutes. I’ll be out here. I mean it now, five minutes and no more. We cannot come back.’

  Anna nodded and walked in. Gordian shut the door behind her and locked it. She removed the goggles and took a single step forward. It was pitch black. Cold. The sound of steady breathing somewhere just ahead.

  ‘Where are you, Kramer?’ she said. ‘Where are you hiding?’

  ‘Hiding? Hiding?’ A rusty voice spoke, followed by a fit of coughing. ‘A Crilshan would have little need to search me out.’ The sound of him finding his feet. ‘Anna Berenguer . . . little girl . . . to what do I owe the delight?’

  ‘You can see me,’ she said. ‘I can’t see you.’

  Another fit of coughing, and a light appeared above, dim and constantly flickering. Gordian must have triggered it. At once Anna could make out a table in the centre of the small cell. On the other side of the table, sat upon a chair and staring straight at her, was Xerin Kramer. Even in the low light she could see how thin he had become, having grown a lengthy beard and an even fowler smell than she remembered. And, as she remembered, one eye was green, the other as black as Crilshan day, bearing a glowing red dot in the centre.

  ‘Come,’ he said, standing, though not without difficulty. ‘Sit down.’

  ‘I’ll stand. You look like you need the rest more.’

  Even in this place Kramer managed a laugh. ‘Nonsense! Even a monster like me can summon enough manners. Besides, you’re the first welcome guest I’ve had down here.’ He moved slowly around the table and Anna moved in the opposite direction, keeping the table between them. She sat.

  ‘Why have you come?’

  She looked him up and down, and placed the dark goggles onto the table before her. ‘You knew my father.’

  ‘Plenty did. I’m not the only one. Why me?’ When she said nothing he continued, ‘Oh, I see.’ He rested his only hand on the table to lean in. ‘You think I’m responsible for his death.’

  ‘You don’t think you are?’

  ‘Perhaps. I did what I thought was necessary at the time. Would I have used him if I’d known he had a daughter, little less that she’d eventually turn up there?’ His lip curled. ‘Possibly.’

  Anna felt herself filling with anger. ‘What you did caused more than simply my father’s death.’

  ‘You speak of the death of Peter Marx, and yet you didn’t know him.’

  ‘And thanks to you I never will.’

  This was going nowhere. She had to show him how serious this was. Her arm lay on the table. She pulled the sleeve up.

  ‘See this bracelet?’

  ‘Quite stunning.’

  ‘Only, it’s not a bracelet. You see, I found this inside Erebus. I put it on. It’s what activated the moon, connected it to the planet below. Connected it to me. You may not believe me. But it’s true.’

  Kramer’s head shot up. His hand left the table edge and alarmed eyes met with hers, wide with interest. He swallowed, again with difficulty, as he looked around the empty room and took a deep breath. ‘What is it you want? You wish to know about your father?’

  ‘I already know everything I need to,’ she said. ‘He was brave and good, and he loved me. But right now I need to know what happened to the research from Erebus. Where is it?’

  Kramer frowned. ‘Upon Erebus. We salvaged nothing. Events favoured us in no way. No research made it off the lightning planet after we crashed down there.’

  ‘You’re lying.’

  ‘Look where I am,’ he said, soullessly. ‘Why would I lie?’

  ‘Because you’re not a coward. Because you’re intelligent. And because I think you believe you’re going to get out of here.’

  ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘It is an impossible situation.’ He walked around the table and sat upon it, watching her intensely. ‘Before I was born, my mother – a Crilshan, pure and untainted – was captured, having conceived me, an impure aberration. She was placed in a cell, just like this one, and treated like an animal. Raped and tortured and beaten, day and night. They act like animals.’ Anna said nothing. ‘Hers was an impossible situation. She escaped in the en
d.’

  A sharp rap on the door told her time was up. She stood and walked to the door, before turning. ‘You don’t have the research?’

  Kramer shook his head.

  Another knock on the door.

  She sighed. ‘A darkness is coming. A darkness and silence.’

  ‘Coming from where?’

  Anna swallowed. ‘You know where.’

  Kramer fell into his seat. Anna rapped on the door. It opened and Gordian pulled her out. He slammed the door closed again and took her firmly, dragging her down the corridor.

  ‘Someone’s coming!’ he hissed. ‘Quickly, this way. Put on your covering.’

  It hit her. ‘Oh, no.’ She had left the goggles in the cell!

  ‘You don’t have them?’ She shook her head. ‘Hide then!’ He pointed away from the approaching voices. ‘Go that way! Higher security cells. Most are empty. No one but me and a few others can get down there. You shouldn’t run into anyone. Take my pass fob. I’ll make sure they don’t follow, then come and find you. Go!’

  Anna grasped his fob and took off running down the dark passageway, down several steps and a dozen corners, sprinting from the voices behind. Right. Left. Right again. Until her feet throbbed and lungs ached.

  Once she was happy she was out of immediate danger, she leant against the cold wall and waited for Gordian to find her. As her heart found its natural pace again, the reality slowly hit her. She had failed. The very reason for coming here had been to discover where the research from Erebus was. But the task the Accentaurian had asked of her was nothing short of impossible. No diary. No research. No Gilaxiad. Hopeless.

  After several minutes of wallowing in her own disappointment, Anna tread slowly back the way she had come. All was now silent. Perhaps she had hidden a little too well. She turned left. Or maybe it should have been right. She swore under her breath and stopped, not sure where she was at all.

  Then a deep shuddering shook through her. She felt her arm vibrate and she looked down. The dark metal band wrapped around her wrist shook and she scraped at it, attempting to remove it. What was happening? She was nowhere near ultimatter, was she?