Ammonite Stars (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #4-5 (65 page)

“Look who’s talking!”

“Exactly my point,” he said, with a rueful smile. “Neither of us is likely to become a saint anytime soon. We can’t expect things to be all sweetfruits and honey when we are more pepper and spice, now can we? In any case ... I can hardly see you settling down in a house to be a good wife.”

Diva looked suddenly so utterly horrified that he began to laugh again. “Neither of us is suited to a peaceful existence, Lady Divina Senate Magmus of Coriolis, and you know it. I never expected things to suddenly snap into place. Not with your character, anyway.”

“What is wrong with my character, no-name?”

“You are feisty and difficult and bad-tempered. Hardly the settle-down-and-live-happily-ever-after type, are you?”

“No! You won’t try to stop me from being me, will you?”

“Perish the thought. I love you for your strength and determination. I wouldn’t want you to lost that, certainly not because of me.”

“You won’t try to change me?” Her clear eyes challenged him.

He grinned at her. “Not unless you continue to henpeck me, I won’t.”

She gave him a push, and he pretended to rebound off the bulkhead. Diva began to tussle with him.

“Is this another prelude to sex?” the visitor’s tones made them jump apart, almost guiltily.

“No! We were fighting.” Six realized how that sounded. “I mean, we were training for combat.”

“Carry on. Don’t mind me. Only the others sent me to find you.”

“We are coming. And we are not about to have sex.” The Kwaidian struggled unsuccessfully to correct the slight wistfulness in his voice.

The visitor looked disappointed too. “Never mind, it is not at all important.”

Six sighed. “Not at all.”

THE OTHERS WERE still waiting for them, and the visitor lost no time in explaining the next planet of the three.

“It is a very cold planet, and very dark. It must have migrated outwards from its sun since the Ammonites calculated its evolution. It is in the region of space known as the Decipus constellation, and, since the star is catalogued as being in the Yttrean system, we decided to refer to the planet as Yttrea.” They showed the others a mental picture of the planet.

“Why does it have that greenish tinge to the black?” Diva asked.

“There is a small amount of methane in the atmosphere, and it is absorbing what little light is reflected in the red.”

Ledin gave a whistle. “Even the sensors won’t be able to penetrate that atmosphere. Whoever takes the shuttle in is going to have to be a good pilot.”

Diva nodded. “Bringing the shuttle down in that is going to be tricky.”

“Yes,” said Grace, “but at least the chances of meeting anything alive down there are pretty slim.”

“There is that. Though you never know.”

Ledin looked over at the three morphics.

The visitor spun, but said that there were no visible lifeforms down on Yttrea. “We did find bacteria, but we can see no sign of anything else that might be alive. There is no vegetation at all, just solid rock and a lot of impact craters. The ortholiquid was in a small depression when the Ammonites sent the animas there, but over time it has cut its way through the crust, so it is now in a steep dip. I don’t think you will be able to get down.”

“We won’t have to. We can use the lasers from up above. A bit of a drop will make no difference.”

The visitor flashed. “We will have to try to guide you down to the surface when you reach Yttrea. That way we will be able let you know if you are coming down in a flat area or not.”

The picture in their minds suddenly changed, and showed them the last planet of the three. “Pyraklion,” said one of the twins. “The fourth planet in the Pyraklies system, part of the Vanex constellation, according to Sellite star maps. It is a much more habitable planet, though even so it has not evolved into the place the Ammonites called Enara, and we don’t think the lost animas will be able to live on it. The ortholiquid is half-way down a cliff.”

Six and Ledin glanced at each other. There wasn’t much doubt in their minds who would be liberating those animas.

“Right!” Arcan, having made up his mind, was eager to get started. “Where shall I take you first?”

“Let’s take them in that same order,” suggested Six. “First the ice planet, err ... what was it called ...?”

“Tarboleus,” said the visitor with a suggestion of pity in his voice. “You don’t have much recall, do you?”

Six ignored him. “Then the dark planet ... err ...”

“Yttrea.” The visitor made a sort of mental shiver, which they all took to be a further comment on Six’s ability to remember names.

“Then, finally, Pyraklete.”

“Pyraklion,” corrected the bimorph.

“Like I said.” Six smiled around at them. “Are we all ready?”

Ledin scratched at his head. “Well, we really could do with adding a few more stores, now that we know what the planets will be like, but I suppose ...”

“Good,” said Arcan, “The ice planet, then.” The familiar space around the orbital station blinked out.

IT WAS NOT until the next morning that Diva, Six and Tallen managed to fit themselves and the machines into the shuttle, to make their way down to the surface of the planet, with Diva piloting. The morphics had returned the previous evening to the planet’s surface, with the promise to be waiting for them down by the ortholiquid lake, which was situated in a small basin on a tiny craterous island in the middle of the floating blocks of ice. It was about a kilometre away from the nearest possible solid ground that the shuttle could land on.

They had decided to split into groups for this task of releasing the trapped animas. There had seemed little point in them all going down to each planet. Diva and Six had expressed a desire to see Tarboleus and Tallen had volunteered to go with them. Grace had seemed quite happy to stay as pilot on the New Independence. Bennel had taken one look at the temperatures on the planet, given a slight shiver, and decided to volunteer his services on Yttrea, rather than this inhospitable place. Ledin was looking forward to spending more time with his wife, and had seemed equally unenthusiastic about the ice planet.

They stocked up the shuttle with enough material to make a sort of sled. It took them almost three hours to put the parts together, and to place the machines which the Ammonites had given them carefully in the centre. Six made sure that they were lashed tightly in place, added one of the small boxes, and then he extended two more ropes, one to Tallen and one to Diva.

“We need to be roped up,” he said. “If Diva slips, and falls into the water, she won’t be able to get out on her own.”

“Speak for yourself, no-name!”

Tallen was looking extremely dubious. “What happens if the sled falls into the water?”

Six was grim. “It can’t. If we lose the machines we have no way to bring the lost animas back to life.”

“That’s your answer? Just that it can’t?”

“We have to keep the machines safe, at all costs. We are going to need them again later.”

Tallen pointed to the icy waste in front of them. “Have you seen this place?” he asked.

Six stared in the direction the Namuri was pointing. From a distance it looked perfectly safe; it could have been a road paved with oddly shaped rocks, each fitting together. You really couldn’t see that the rocks weren’t rocks, but ice, and that the underlying layer beneath the ice was water, and not the solid dirt which made safe roads. His heart sank. It was going to be a nightmare to cross this expanse.

“We can do it,” he said. “We just need to keep the ropes taut at all times. I will go first, pulling the sled forwards. Diva, you and Tallen need to be situated towards the rear, but each of you to one side. Try to make an angle of 120º with each other, and with me. The sled is quite light, so if it looks as if it might overturn, we will just have to all pull, and hope that we can keep it from falling through the pack ice.”

Diva smiled at him, and he could see that she was looking forward to the trip. Tallen, however, was less convinced. “Surely we could at least have dropped the two laser machines nearer the ortholiquid?” he grumbled.

Six shook his head. “I would have if we could have,” he said. “But it would have to have been from over fifty feet, and at that distance we could either have broken the machines, fried them in the thrust, or they might have landed in the water instead of on the small island which houses the ortholiquid. I’m afraid there was no choice.”

Tallen looked again, reluctantly, at the lumps of ice floating on the dark water, and sighed. “In that case,” he said, “there seems to be no alternative.”

Diva grinned. “Ready, Namuri?”

The boy straightened up to his full height. “Whenever you are, Merit ... that is ...
Valhai
.”

“Then let’s find some ortholiquid.” And Diva stepped fearlessly out onto the first piece of ice, which dipped alarmingly towards the water, causing her to teeter. She stretched out her hands to keep her balance and hastily moved to the centre of the block.

She turned her face back towards them. “Easy,” she shouted. “It just takes a bit of getting used to. The water has a strange sort of green luminescence. I think there must be banks of krill under us.”

Tallen made a face, but embarked on a lateral block of ice, and tightened his hold on the sled. Between them, he and Diva dragged it onto a larger block in the middle, and slowly started to manhandle it onto the icy surface, facing towards the small atoll which they could just see in the distance. The rest of the surface was uninterrupted, simply miles and miles of pack ice, disappearing off into the horizon nearly all around them. Only the solid ground behind them, where they had landed the shuttle, seemed in the least bit hospitable.

Six now made his way gingerly onto the ice, edged past the others to take the front position and took up the strain. He immediately found that it was not a pleasant way to travel. Although the bodywrap kept his feet isolated from the wet ice and insulated his flesh from the freezing cold, he felt that outer space would have been more comfortable. At least there, there was no chance of falling into a sea which was cold enough to make long term survival a challenge, even if in a bodywrap. For once, he felt lucky to be Kwaidian; his people’s genes had adapted over the centuries to cold conditions.

They had now traveled about fifty metres across the frigid sea, and seemed to have found their stride. The trick was to stay on the largest of the blocks of ice; these moved far less than the smaller ones, and gave at least the illusion of stability.

Tallen was thinking about his clan. It was hard to see things in the same perspective when you were exploring a planet thousands of light years away. He still felt rage against the meritocrats, but he was finding it hard to understand why the Namuri clan had only used limited tactics against their oppressors. Why had they never openly taken up arms against the meritocrats? There weren’t that many of the pampered tyrants; it would have been easy to drum up enough support to dethrone them. Why had his clan allowed hundreds of their people to be encased alive in rexelene blocks and then have their dead bodies exhibited for the local populace to see? With distance, he could see that there were grave faults in his own education.

It was all very well to say that the clan didn’t believe in violent changes to government, that they resorted only to civil disobedience, and repositioning of wealth, but they did allow many of their group to be put to death by the meritocrats. Surely that was tantamount to murder by omission?

One of the slabs of ice suddenly tilted, and Tallen scrabbled to keep his foothold. He felt fiercely against his own clan. They could have done so much more to equalize the system on Coriolis. He swore to himself that, if he ever got the chance, he would do more, and then looked around him, feeling happier. He had never questioned his upbringing, until now, but now that he had, he knew that there could be no going back. It felt good.

Diva was enjoying herself on the ice. She felt more alive than ever, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins was making her blood fizz. She threw her head back and laughed. This was where she should be. She looked at Six’s back as he solidly tramped across the blocks of ice, and she felt a sudden rush of warmth in her heart to see him there. He was right; there was nobody else she would rather step onto a strange planet with.

IT TOOK THEM over four hours to reach the tiny islet that hosted the small pool of ortholiquid on the planet, and by the time they did they were all absolutely exhausted. Their muscles were complaining, pulling their spirits down, and demanding instant relaxation.

But there was no time to waste; they didn’t want to be trapped out on the ice when darkness came. They unpacked the two lasers very carefully from the special covers which the Ammonites had made for them, and set them up at right angles to each other, but with both machines facing the ortholiquid. Ice had formed on top of the warmer pool of dark liquid underneath, but Six ruthlessly broke through that ice, and widened a hole large enough for both rays to penetrate into the dark pool underneath.

As they were setting up the apparatus, the morphics popped up through the new hole in the ice.

“That’s better!” said one of the twins. “We can come straight out now, instead of transporting. Have you met any of the local fauna?”

Tallen looked around warily. “No. Where are they?”

“They live underwater,” explained the visitor. “There don’t seem to be any air-breathing animals on Tarboleus. The atmosphere is not appropriate, it seems.”

“Well, not many people like too much nitrogen and carbon dioxide,” suggested Diva.

“No kidding,” said Six feelingly. “I took an unsuspecting gulp of the air here last time I changed my mask pack, and it was ghastly. Nearly choked me.”

“You knew you couldn’t breathe it!” Diva was cross. “So why did you?”

“Felt like trying it.”

Diva looked heavenwards. “Felt like trying it! Really Six, I give up. You don’t seem to think like other people.”

“Well, of course I don’t. Anyway, if you want to know, I thought it would be nice to see what Tarboleus smelt like.”

“And?”

He looked confused. “And what?”

“And what does it smell like?”

He whistled. “You don’t want to know, believe me. It would put you off eating for at least a week.”

“You are lucky it didn’t put you unconscious.”

“Nah. No problem. I only tried a little. You have to live, sometimes, don’t you?”

She stared at him. There were some things about Kwaidians that she thought she would never understand. However, the comment Six had made the day before about being henpecked still stuck in her mind, so she compressed her lips and managed to hold her tongue. Six raised one eyebrow at her in surprise, and then bowed his head with an understanding glint of amusement in his eyes. Diva struggled even more not to say anything. She grabbed one of the lasers, and stomped over to the other side of the bowl, setting up the machine with rather jerky movements.

Six did the same with the other machine. Finally, he signalled to her, and they both switched them on.

The lights shone with a bluish tinge in the grey penumbra of the ice planet, and met some distance below the surface of the ortholiquid. There was a moment of doubt, and then, where the two lasers met, the ortholiquid began to shine. The two beams crossed, and the junction glowed until it became incandescent.

They stared, entranced, as the light began to grow bigger and bigger. As it did, they could see that it was in fact made of a mass of intertwined lights, each curling around the rest, weaving in and out of the other flashing forms.

The pattern grew larger and larger, until they were able to see that it was, in fact, stellate in shape. A shimmering diamond star similar to the one which they had seen on Kintara was materializing in front of them.

“See? We were right. They were here!” Six nodded at Diva to turn her laser off. Whatever happened, the machines had clearly served their purpose.

The diamond star continued to grow until they could actually discern the individual beings in the shape, each one a tiny luminescent form, buzzing with life. The aura expanded until it encompassed the whole of the ortholiquid pond.

The forms shone white against the dull background of the planet, but not a dim white. It was a blinding, mind-numbing brilliant white which seared Six’s eyes and seemed to penetrate his soul.

He could tell how very old they were, despite their tiny size. They seemed curious, venturing as close as they dared to see exactly what sort of beings had liberated them from their self-enforced hibernation inside the ortholiquid. They pulsed with energy, and Six had the strange sensation that they were examining him intently. He hoped that he would meet their approval.

Then the diamond star moved, and the animas were inside his mind, merging him with Diva and Tallen in the same way as they had back on Kintara.

But this time the transfer of information was in the reverse direction. Six was aware that his memories were somehow being accessed, and it felt as if it were a violation. He tried to draw back, but a steel grasp seemed to maintain its hold on his mind, and all ability to move had been taken away from him. His consciousness flared in response, and his mood blackened. He could feel Diva and Tallen struggling mentally too, but the creatures which had been trapped for so long were implacable. They took them back to the landing on Kintara, to the long journey with the canths, to the meeting with the Kintaran animas, the explanations, the presentation of the lasers, the map, and the boxes, and then led them to relive the end of the planet, and the struggle to escape.