Ammonite Stars (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #4-5 (56 page)

Diva turned to him, hesitated, and then offered the Namuri her palms too. “We are both hot-headed, Namuri, and I often find I do not like what you say, but I have come to realize that some criticism of the meritocrats is justified, so I, at least, will try to change.”

Six widened his eyes deliberately. “Get that in writing, Tallen. She will forget before long.”

Tallen, after a slight pause, pressed his own hands against Diva’s, although his expression was still fierce. “It may be that not all meritocrats are completely corrupted. Yet. Perhaps there can be hope.”

They examined each other warily, the beginning of a grudging approval manifesting itself in the smallest of cautious smiles.

Six pointed upwards. “I think, while you two are waiting to get used to each other, we should make tracks, don’t you?”

There was a general sigh, and a moment of sadness as they looked back at the waterfall, realizing that they would be the last people alive to see that sight, in some way wanting to recognize the sacrifice of the small threads of life still behind that curtain, due to be extinguished very shortly. They lowered their heads, and were silent for a long moment to show their respect. Then the small group made its way to the first slab of stone set into the rock face. It had been hard enough coming down. It would be a nightmare going back up.

PETRA AND MANDALON glared at each other across the magmite floor. It was an impasse.

“You cannot allow those guards attending the Second Votation entry to the dome without being searched,” she said in a flat tone which clearly expected no argument from her emptor. The blue namura stone flashed at her neck.

“Those attending the Votation are all the most trusted Sellite bodyguards,” Mandalon pointed out.

Her lip curled. “Precisely. That is the problem.”

There was a rumble of discontent from the burly Sellite guards surrounding the leader of Sell. One or two of them made a step forwards, in Petra’s direction. She was unimpressed.

“One of your own guards tried to kill you, not so long ago,” she said, in a cool voice which rang through the family chamber of the 50th level of the 1st skyrise. “This is only a natural precaution. Guards should be searched before they come on duty. Why has this not been scheduled before?”

The head guard stepped forwards, an expression of intense dislike running across his stolid face. “It was not thought to be necessary, Mandalon.” He addressed only his head of house, ignoring the Namuri girl quite deliberately.

Petra stamped her foot, which was now clad in a sensible white running shoe instead of the heeled pump she had initially been issued. “Who thought it to be unnecessary, pray?”

Mandalon raised one eyebrow at the Sellite, clearly expecting an answer to be forthcoming.

The man faltered. “Well ... it ... that is ... naturally nobody would expect ...”

The young leader of Sell dipped his head. “I think we should make sure that all bodyguards set an example,” he said. “See that it is implemented at once.”

The man bowed, promised revenge by a quick hard glance in Petra’s direction, and then withdrew.

“You are not making yourself popular,” said Mandalon 50, rather amused. “You do realize that they will now insist on searching you, too?”

She lifted her chin. “Let them try!”

Mandalon raised an eyebrow. “Then I predict some interesting scenes. I hope you can look after yourself.”

The girl looked scornful. “I can.”

“You may have to.”

“I may have to look after you, meritocrat!”

“And as your emptor, I sincerely hope that you can!”

“I will protect you with my life.”

Mandalon 50 sighed, and looked heavenwards. “Let us hope that such a sacrifice will not be necessary.”

“Your guards are sloppy and overconfident, and I see signs of corruption in them. I do not, however, perceive the same level of threat that you do.”

“There are too many Sellites anxious to prevent the Second Votation. One or many of them will act. I don’t know when or how, but I am sure that they will act.”

“Do you still have the orthogel fragment which Arcan gave you?”

Mandalon nodded.

“Then it is hard to see how they can harm you. Arcan will know where you are at any one time, and I can alert him instantly through any orthogel tube on Valhai.”

The leader of the Sellites looked uncomfortable. “I know. Yet I have had this insistent conviction for several weeks now. Just as Atheron plotted to have my father killed, I am sure that somebody on this planet is plotting my demise at this very moment.” He gave a shiver. “Someone seems to be walking over my grave.” He looked down at the ground sheepishly. “I suppose you think I am imagining it.”

Petra examined him thoughtfully. “You did not imagine the previous attack against your person, and there are many good reasons why one of your fellow Sellites might want to eliminate you.”

“You don’t have to sound so cold about it!”

Her gaze was clear. “You can hardly expect your subjects to love you when they know you are proposing to abolish the genetic manipulation which has maintained the status quo for so long in your society. It seems quite logical to expect an assassination attempt.”

“You do believe me.”

“Of course.”

“When do you think they will act?”

“I think they will want to make their move soon. If they leave it much longer they must know that I will have time to discover them. They will not want that to happen.” She fingered the blue stone at her neck. “They know that I am here to prevent anything happening to you.”

“They will not believe that a girl like you can do anything.”

“Then that ...” she straightened right up, “... will be their greatest mistake.”

“Are all your clan as proud as you are?”

“We have much to be proud of!”

“You are famous for stealing from the Coriolan meritocrats. That would not make me proud.”

The blue stone flashed again in the light. “It is
hard
to steal from the meritocrats! We train from an early age to become good thieves!”

“You and your brother were caught,” he pointed out mildly, “I am not sure how apt the word ‘good’ is in your case.”

Her mouth opened and closed like a puffer eel in outer space. “How ... how dare you! My brother and I were excellent thieves! And we don’t call it thieving, either. We are experts in repositioning wealth as social disobedience.”

“I just said you didn’t seem very successful at it. Perhaps you make a better guard.” Mandalon looked away.

“Just wait and see, Meritocrat, just wait and see!” Petra turned on her heel and stumped out of his presence, her face white and set with anger. How dare he suggest that Tallen and she had failed in their task! Who on Sacras did he think he was?

THE GUARDS WERE waiting for her as she made her way back to the small quarters which had been assigned to her. There were four of them, and they were lurking on either side of the corridor, so that she would have to stop or push past them to get to her room.

Petra tensed. She knew what was coming, and also knew that it was inevitable. She spared a thought for Tallen, hoping that he was having an easy journey with the
Valhais
, and then surreptitiously drew the temaris stick she carried secreted about her tunic. She couldn’t and wouldn’t draw steel on these men, but she certainly intended to do as much damage as she could before their sheer numbers overwhelmed her.

“You talk too much, Namuri,” the head guard said, his eyes small glittering points of black in his face.

“And you are too overconfident, Volgorion!”

He lifted a huge hand to bring it down on the crown of her head, and she applied a vigorous use of the temaris stick. He doubled over with a whoosh of expelled air, and sank to the ground.

The other guards closed in furiously, and Petra was only able to get in three good blows to the face before they were on her. After that, there was little she could do except take the punishment that was coming. She closed her eyes, and thought of her clan and the blue namura stone about her neck as the blows rained down on her. In her head, she was planning the retribution which would come to these Sellites. For now, it was time to lie still.

Even so, it was impossible not to cry out as their blows connected. She tried to take it in silence, but could not. That made her feel ashamed of her lack of fortitude. She bit her lip over and over again. She didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much they were hurting her.

As she put up with the heavy blows she felt her mind traveling somewhere far away. Through the closed lids and through the sharp pain, she saw a different planet, shining with a mystic, silvery light under a sky with a huge dark star, which had wisps of light flowing from it in opposite directions in the sky. As if she were standing on the planet, she sensed heat on her face, and turned towards its source. A small volcano was erupting close by. She turned more, and then smiled, for she had suddenly caught sight of her brother, seated behind someone on one of the canths, being carried towards the foothills at a tremendous gait. The impression was so strong that for one small moment she forgot where she was.

After about two further minutes of torture, the guards got to their feet. “That is enough,” one of them told the others. “That will teach her to mind her own business.”

Volgorion was now at last able to scramble to his feet. He stared down at Petra, who was lying curled up in the fetal position on the floor, and then he gave a vicious smile. He pulled one of his feet as far back as he could, and then aimed a kick at her belly. The metal point of his boot connected with the soft tissue she had been trying to protect, and Petra found that she couldn’t breathe.

As she watched the guards walk away, she was aware of a dim blackness creeping up through her lungs, up her throat and into her eyes. When it finally reached them, she tipped thankfully over into unconsciousness.

SHE WOKE UP quite some time later. She was still lying in the corridor of the 1st skyrise, and nearly all of her ached unbearably.

With some difficulty, she managed to drag herself into her quarters, and pulled herself upright under the shower. Turning the water to the hottest she could, she stood swaying under the water.

When she got out she examined her body. She was pretty sure there were one or two broken ribs, and that her wrist was fractured too. She stumbled over to the nearest ortholift, and, once inside, pushed her fingers at the wall in the way she had been shown. There was an immediate reaction as Arcan appeared.

“What happened to you?” The orthogel entity darkened.

“I met a few brick walls.”

“Do you require medical treatment?”

Petra grimaced as she tried to breathe. “I think so.”

Arcan transported her over to the 1st floor of the medical skyrise, and brought Vion 49 over from Coriolis at the same time.

The doctor was outraged when he saw her injuries. “You should report this, Petra. Nobody should suffer injuries like this on Valhai. It is outrageous!”

She shook her head. “They think they have put me out of action. What I need is for you to patch me up well enough for me to be able to function normally. That is all. Can you do it?”

Vion pursed his lips. “Hmm. Let me see.” Gentle fingers examined her injuries, and then he followed up the preliminary examination with a quantum scanner. “Yes. You have three broken ribs; the wrist is fractured in two places, and you have severe bruising to the spleen. You were very lucky that it didn’t rupture. That could have killed you.”

“Can you fix me up so that I can do my job?”

He sighed. “I can bond the ribs and the wrist by synthesizing false temporary bone along the breaks. Those areas will be weaker than usual until the real bone grows back as the synthesized implant melds with it, but you should be able to function normally. The spleen is more difficult. I will give you an injection, and such injuries normally heal well, but you need to stay away from blunt force trauma in that area for several weeks, possibly much longer.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your help. Can you do all that as fast as possible, please? I am concerned about the welfare of Mandalon. They may attack while they think I am lying unconscious in my quarters.”

Arcan darkened. “I have been monitoring him while you were undergoing surgery. He is quite all right.”

“All the same, I should be getting back to the 1st skyrise. Now I know which guards to watch, my life should be that much easier.”

Vion stared at her. “You provoked this on purpose?”

Petra gave a smile, and then gasped as the effort hurt her ribs. “I thought it would be interesting to find out if there were subgroups within the 1st skyrise guards, yes.”

Vion looked at her with renewed interest. “You take your job very seriously, don’t you?”

“You have no idea, Sellite.”