Juno of Taris (28 page)

Oban didn’t leave the stage and his voice rang above the noise of speculation and quietened it. ‘My people, think for a moment. Lenna says Vima has gone against all our values. But I say this to you: the values we’ve believed in until now are as false as our history.’ He paused and when he spoke again it sent shivers down my back. ‘If it is agreed that Vima must die, then know this. I will fight to the death to protect her.’

‘And I,’ Kalta called from his guard post beside Creen.

‘And I.’ Creen didn’t lift her eyes from Vima.

One after the other, Vima’s stratum pledged their lives for hers.

Hilto stood, glared at Oban and asked, ‘If our new leader will permit?’ he gestured at the microphone.

Oban merely nodded and moved aside.

‘My people,’ Hilto began, his voice cracking with the effort of appearing calm and rational. I felt a seething mass of hatred from him and I huddled down closer to Paz and Silvern. ‘I ask you to consider this young woman’s history. We know for a fact that she started the trouble over our hair. We know for a fact that she’s consorted with a man outside marriage. We know for a fact that she’s been a bad influence on Juno.’ He spat my name.

I sprang to my feet. ‘Lies! Don’t let him twist the past again. He’s telling only part of the truth.’

‘Silence, troublemaker!’ Majool spat at me.

Oban walked to Fisa and spoke to her. She lifted both arms and stood like that until the shouting stopped. ‘Oban will tell us what has happened to Vima.’

‘Vima was attacked tonight.’ He stopped as a wave of horrified disbelief shook the people.

Majool took advantage of the pause. ‘Rubbish! The girl’s been depressed. It was a suicide attempt – anyone can see that.’

Oban didn’t acknowledge Majool’s words. ‘Her arm was slashed with a knife. She tried to stop the bleeding. She called for help.’

Nobody asked how. That would come later.

Lenna stood up, fluttering her hands in a shushing motion. ‘You’re making too much of this, but it’s obvious to me that Vima needs to be in hospital. You must take her there immediately.’ Majool and Hilto got up too, murder in their faces.

‘No!’ The four of us shouted as if we’d rehearsed it.

‘We have a story to tell!’ Silvern added, staring at Marba, urging him to make us heard.

He called out, ‘Let them speak! We will hear their story!’ He repeated it, others joining him so that all in the arena heard.

Fisa stepped forward. She turned and said something to Majool and Hilto. They glared at her, but she stood still and didn’t drop her gaze. They shuffled back to their seats. When she turned back to look at us, her people, it was a different woman we saw. She’d become shrunken and old before our eyes. But she still had dignity. She still had presence. ‘Who will speak?’

Silvern pushed me forward. ‘Juno will. It’s her story.’

‘Thanks a bundle,’ I muttered. I walked to the steps, then stopped.

‘What now?’ Fisa sighed. ‘Things are never easy with you, are they Juno?’

I was too tired to be embarrassed. ‘I’m scared of them.’ I pointed to Lenna, Hilto and Majool. ‘I don’t want to tell the story with them sitting behind me.’

Majool rose in his seat, shook his fist and hissed. Hilto’s hate battered me. But Fisa just said, ‘She has a point. We’ll all move.’ She led them down the stairs. I stepped back as they passed.

The stage was empty. It was mine. The time had come to tell everything.

I set a foot on the first step, and then Dad was beside me, hugging me. He pressed Irian’s letter into my hand. ‘We thought you might need this. Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.’

I climbed the steps and discovered that Silvern and Paz were behind me. I felt comforted. They dragged chairs up so they could sit beside the podium.

‘My people, I have much to tell you that will grieve you. I will start with Irian.’

The intake of breath should have left us all in a vacuum. I held up the letter. ‘He charged Heskith to give me this. He wrote it in the old script. Listen, while I read it to you.’

Hilto bellowed, ‘Nobody can read the old script! She’s making it up. Don’t listen to her.’

‘How many of you can read the old script?’ I asked.

Everyone over the age of about forty raised their hands.

‘Read it, Juno.’

I complied, and when I read the truth of Ibis’s death, Fisa and Camnoon stared at Majool, shocked beyond words. The revelation didn’t surprise Lenna or Hilto. As I read the last word, Majool was on his feet and waving his stick. ‘Utter rubbish. He was old. His mind was gone. I refuse to listen to such lies.’

‘Sit down!’ my grandparents called. ‘Sit down and listen.’

Majool made a further attempt to stop the story he knew was coming. ‘Let’s deal with basic values first. Who is the father of Vima’s baby? Eh?’ he pointed a finger at me. ‘Juno knows. Tell us, troublemaker!’

‘It’s not my story to tell,’ I said.

Oban shouted, ‘This is a diversion! Let Juno tell the real story.’

Majool wouldn’t be silenced. ‘I accuse you, Oban. You knew you wouldn’t get permission to have a genetic child …’

‘I am the father.’ Jov’s voice cut the hubbub dead.

I tried not to look at Sina but couldn’t help it. She held her head high. He’d told her already.

‘Continue with the story, Juno,’ he said. Sina took his hand. Some people withdrew, turning away. Most sat paralysed apart from a slight swaying as if they were absorbing this new blow.

I gathered my strength. I just wanted it all to be over, and I wanted Vima to live and be well.

I told of losing Hera and of finding the path. I told them how Lenna had come and made me carry Hera home by myself and how I’d been frightened.

‘Bad ’enna,’ Hera shouted. ‘Bad!’

The people laughed and the laughter released a buzz of questions.
The path – did you know about the
path? Don’t we know every square centimetre of this
island?

‘Where does it go?’ Tonu called above the clamour.

I turned to Silvern. ‘You tell them.’ I couldn’t do any more.

We swapped places. She looked out at the people, waiting for their attention. ‘It leads nearly to the top of the mountain. It’s where we found Vima. We think she’d gone up there to check out the building.’

‘What building?’ Nixie shouted.

Silvern waited, her head bent. She was a better performer even than Fisa. She waited for complete silence and only then lifted her head. ‘We think it was a communication centre. We think it’s where the Governance Companions – our
trusted
Governance Companions – went to communicate with Outside.’

There was a gasp and a beat of silence before the questions erupted. Above it, Majool, Hilto and Lenna yelled their denials. Fisa and Camnoon said nothing. Fisa climbed back onto the stage, held up her hand and silence fell. ‘Let Silvern continue,’ was all she said. She brought a chair and sat beside me. I wasn’t afraid.

‘There are aerials up there,’ Silvern said. ‘We couldn’t see very well. It was dark and they were high up – maybe built to extend through the dome of the island.’

‘But what else?’ Aspa called. ‘The transmission equipment – what’s it like?’

A ripple shivered through the tiers as people leaned forward to hear. Again Silvern waited for silence. ‘It’s shattered into a million pieces.’

Like our hopes. The roar of five hundred voices battered my ears, but I heard Fisa beside me say, ‘No! Oh, no!’

Hilto stood up. He shook his fists and bellowed at me, but worse than that, his hate seared my mind. ‘Bitch goddess! This is all your fault.’ He whipped a hand to his belt and I saw the sharp shine of metal. His knife! He ran towards the steps, stabbing the air all the time and yelling, ‘Juno, bitch goddess!’

Fisa shouted, ‘Sit down!’

He kept coming but people began to scramble towards him. He glanced around, his face wild with madness. He drew back his arm and flicked the knife through the air straight at me. Before I could move, Fisa jumped in front of me and the knife thudded into her throat. She went down without a sound.

I collapsed onto the floor beside her, reaching out to stop the bleeding. Silvern was there too, and Paz. Our hands hovered above the gushing wound and Fisa didn’t move.

‘Should we take the knife out?’ I whispered, but there was so much blood. Somewhere beyond us people were running and shouting but we were apart from it, shocked and useless. Then Trebe was there. We moved to give her room. She took one look at Fisa, the blood and the wound, and felt for a pulse. Then she laid her ear over Fisa’s heart. We watched without breathing until she straightened, and gently closed Fisa’s eyes. She sat back on her heels for a moment while she took several deep breaths.

We stared at each other. Fisa was dead? Could we have saved her? And underneath those thoughts came the knowledge that she’d saved my life. She hadn’t stopped for rational thought, and now she lay dead with a knife in her throat that had been meant for me. Silvern and Paz wrapped their arms around me.

Trebe got to her feet and stumbled to the podium. She stood there waiting and gathering her strength without asking for silence. But our long years of discipline took over and the tumult faded.

‘My people …’ She choked and stumbled on. ‘My people, Fisa is dead.’

B
ut I did not know my name was spoken on the pathways, for I went with Vima to the hospital. Silvern, Paz and I trudged after the procession of Vima and her family, Trebe, Creen and their husbands. My family followed and I felt their love, but they did not burden me with questions.

While Trebe attended to Vima, Creen took charge of me, Silvern and Paz. She wanted to take us to another room to sleep, but we wouldn’t leave Vima until we knew she would live.

Trebe broke across the argument. ‘We’ll all move to the big room. And you three will lie down and rest. We’ll tell you the instant there’s any change in Vima.’

In truth, I was glad to lie down. The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes and it was dusk.

‘You’re so lazy,’ Vima said. Then, ‘For the love of Taris – don’t go crying on me!’

‘You’re alive!’ It was all I could manage.

‘Yeah,’ she said and pulled a face. ‘And some people will definitely think that’s something to cry about.’

‘You know, then?’ I sat up and pushed my hair away from my face. Her parents frowned at me, and Creen made shushing motions with her hands, but I knew Vima – she would rather know sooner than later.

‘What,’ she demanded. ‘There’s more?’

I wrapped my arms around my knees. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her, but she had to know. ‘Hera toddled up to you when you were lying in the arena. She put her hand on your stomach and said
baby
.’

She closed her eyes for a second. ‘I bet that let the maggots out of the bag.’

I didn’t look at any of the others. I would tell her the rest. ‘Jov stood up and said he was the father. But he kept his arm around Sina and she held her head high.’

Vima threw her free arm across her face and sobbed. Creen hovered, doing her best to calm her.

Her parents looked as though at last they understood. ‘Let her cry,’ her mother said.

We sat with her, not speaking but not trying to comfort her, either. Eventually she sniffed and said, ‘Need a handkerchief.’ Creen gave her one. ‘Can’t flaming blow my nose properly with one hand.’

Her mother helped her, and said, ‘It’s lucky you’ve still got two, then.’ She stroked Vima’s face. ‘This baby – I hope it’s as lively as you.’

That made the tears leak again. ‘I’ve made life difficult for you.’

‘You are our daughter,’ said her father. ‘And your child is our grandchild.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

Creen bustled over to me. ‘How are you feeling, Juno? Silvern and Paz woke a couple of hours ago. They left a message for you.’ She smiled at me.

I held up a hand. ‘Don’t tell me! They said I was lazy.’

She smiled. ‘Exactly right. But I’m guessing you’re hungry as well?’

It didn’t seem right to be hungry. It was too trivial compared to Vima’s anguish and Fisa … my mind shied away. ‘I’m starving,’ I said.

‘Try intravenous,’ Vima said. ‘So tasty.’

I smiled at her and raised my eyebrows in a question.

She pulled a face. ‘I’ll be okay. Not brilliant, but okay.’

I didn’t speak to her of Oban, who had saved her and pledged his life for hers.

The door opened and it was Mother, carrying a bowl of soup and a platter of bread and meat. ‘Eat up, my daughter. There’s a meeting in half an hour.’ She settled the tray on my lap then dropped a kiss on my forehead.

I ate while Vima argued with Trebe and Creen about being allowed to go to the meeting too.

‘Out of the question,’ Trebe said.

‘You’ll make yourself ill and endanger the baby,’ Creen said.

‘I’ll be sicker if I have to wait here wondering what’s happening and who’s going to trot up to finish me off,’ she retorted.

Her father looked at Trebe. ‘She’s probably right, you know. Even though we would stay and guard her, she’d fret herself into a fine old state.’

Trebe threw up her hands. ‘Very well. But we’ll be monitoring you, and at the first sign of anything untoward, we’re whipping you out of there.’

‘Thank you,’ Vima said. She smiled at her father, and wiped her eyes with her good arm.

While I ate, Mother told me the news of the day: Hilto was restrained by ropes and guarded. Tonight we would decide his fate.

I shivered. I’d hoped that he would die while I slept. ‘Why does he say it’s my fault?’ I whispered.

‘We’ll ask him that tonight.’ Mother’s face was determined. ‘That comes before we decide his fate.’

I ate my food and turned my mind away from Hilto. Mother continued with the events of the day. Fisa’s body had been cremated and we would scatter her ashes on the mountain tomorrow.