The Darkness at the Edge of Noon: a Thalassia novel

by Patrick McClafferty

  “Yes? How can I help you?”

  “Is this your house? How did you bring us all here? I’ve never seen...”

  “This is my house.” A cool feminine voice said behind her. “Miss?”

  “Nunan. Caera Nunan. And you are?” The voice was cold, cataloguing.

  Logan smiled. “Miss Nunan, I have the great pleasure of introducing you to the Goddess Rhiannon.”

  “Well, I don’t believe in all the stories of those gods and goddesses. They’re just plain foolishness they’re...”

  Rhiannon wasn’t paying any attention to the ranting teacher. She was stalking toward Logan, and her face was like thunder. The rest of the squad, being smart professional soldiers, beat a hasty retreat.

  “I am displeased with you, Logan MacKennit.” She intoned from a distance of no more than two feet, perhaps a bit closer. “Very displeased.”

  From the corner of his eye Logan saw Aileen repacking her medical supplies, and watching them—a mysterious little smile playing with the corner of her mouth. He, on the other hand, seemed to be having a problem catching his breath.

  “Aileen, could you...”

  “I’ll take care of everything, Goddess. I know where the kitchen and bathing facilities are, and the dorms.”

  “Thank you.” Rhiannon had not once taken her eyes off of Logan. She helped him unsnap the releases on his armor, and he was unsurprised to see the silver of her crescent moon shining from the skin of his own chest. He touched his glowing flesh. Like the rest, it was warm. The crescent moon wasn’t tattooed, or glued on or embedded in; it was simply a part of him now. “Let’s go get you fixed up.” She put her arm around him to help him stand. They didn’t walk out of the room, they simply disappeared.

  Logan was gone for three days, and when he returned Medic Cronin’s first reaction was to frown when she saw him. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was different about Logan MacKennit. It took her three hours before she had it. Logan probably wasn’t even aware yet, and the very thought made her laugh. They had fixed his beakish nose. He still had a forthright, more than masculine nose, but it didn’t looked like it belonged on a rodent anymore. She studied the face some more, fascinated by the subtle change that one small alteration brought. Logan wouldn’t ever be what she would call handsome, but now his face seemed rugged rather than just plain ugly. She blinked in surprise as her eyes played over the rest of his body. His pants and shirt appeared two inches too short, and somewhat tight around the chest. Aileen saw Selene’s subtle hand in all of this. Smiling, she picked up her medical bags, and headed for the kitchen. She foresaw a monumental explosion when Logan finally found out what had happened. She almost made it to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Rhiannon was standing beside her.

  The medic glanced at the goddess, and then looked away. “You didn’t tell him, did you?” She whispered, glancing at Logan.

  “Of course not. He’s a man. He’ll never figure it out.”

  “Hi, Mister Logan.” The voice of a young girl cut across the murmur of talking in the big room.

  Logan turned and smiled. “Hello, Silvie. How have you been?”

  The girl ran up, beaming. Her face was clean, her long dark hair brushed to a high gloss and her clothes were new. “I’ve been great. This is a wonderful place, Mister Logan. There are so many rooms that...” She stopped, and studied his face intently. “Your nose is smaller, Mister Logan.” Her young face became serious. “You musta lost part of it in the fighting. You were busted up mighty bad the last time we saw you.”

  Logan fingered his nose thoughtfully. He paused his probing to stare at the two inches of wrist that stuck out of his shirt cuff. “You could be right, Silvie.” He replied softly, looking across the room at the goddess. “And my clothes seem to have shrunk too.” Rhiannon’s face turned white. “I’m lucky to be alive, Silvie. If the people who healed me felt that my nose needed to be rebuilt, perhaps a bit smaller, then I can’t complain. The shrunk clothes will take some getting used to, don’t you think?” The question was directed at the young girl, but his eyes were on the wide-eyed goddess.

  “I think you’re right, Mister Logan.” She glanced at his cuff. “You might ask Nan or Selene about your clothes. They’re awfully clever. They could probably fix them if you asked nice.”

  A touch of a smirk flickered across Logan’s face. “They are indeed clever at fixing things, Silvie.”

  Aileen’s face held a wry smile. “I’m sorry, Goddess. You were saying something about men?”

  It was midafternoon, but you really couldn’t tell, the clouds were so heavy. The shadows under the canopy of leaves were deep and black, and the soggy forest floor absorbed the sound of their feet. The squad was back in the jungle, ghosting along in roughly the same place they had been on the previous foray. Their armor was better this time. The three PFC’s carried short, heavy bladed thrusting spears, with shields on their left forearms to replace their vambraces. They also carried a heavy short sword. The corporals carried their light crossbows and a long dirk. The only sergeant carried a shield and short sword, along with her medical supplies. Grady and Logan carried a long sword and shield. All of the helmets had been reinforced and strengthened, but illogically they seemed lighter.

  There was a trembling in the bushes to the right, and Logan held up a closed fist, bringing the group to a halt. Bel stepped out of a bush, Tiana out of another. Logan made a choppy motion with one hand. REST. They all sank to the ground.

  “What do you have?” Logan kept his voice low.

  “You’re about at the edge of the forest. The locals have twenty or so men guarding some others who are repairing the sprung doorway. No sigh of Zzzkntti.” Bel said.

  “Idiots.” He growled. “I’d hoped we could sneak right in, but it looks as though we’ll have to announce ourselves. Bel, you and Tiana stay on the flanks. If things turn ugly you know what to do.”

  The woman nodded slowly. “I don’t like the idea of killing our own kind.”

  “I know, Bel.” He leaned back on his heels. “But at the same time I don’t want to die.” He stood and stretched. “Let’s go.”

  The squad was halfway across the open meadow before the guards even noticed them. They had covered half the remaining distance before the city dwelling defenders could mount even the most rudimentary defense. The workers were clustered around the broken doorway in fear.

  Logan held up his hand and the others stopped. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see his scouts stop, squat and remove their crossbows. He put a hand on Grady’s shoulder, and then stepped forward and removed his helmet in front of the City Guards.

  Jade’s voice was light and teasing, meant to reduce his tension.

 

  Jade was chuckling.

  A big man had stepped forward from the formation of city guards, and also removed his helmet, displaying black hair, clipped short to fit under his armor. His hand rested on his sword hilt, so he must be a captain.

  “That will be far enough.” His voice was harsh, demanding. “Who are you?”

  “We were here the other night. We might have expected a slightly warmer reception.” Logan’s voice was equally hard.

  “That was you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Where is the rest of your company?” The man was staring at the jungle.

  “This is it.”

  “You killed a full half the monsters with just five men?” He frowned at the scouts. “ Seven men?”

  “Seven men and women.”

  A rough voice laughed from the front rank. “We know what good women are in combat. No good at ...”

  Logan raised two fingers and pointed them toward the ground at the loudmouth’s feet. The damp air rang with two soft chunks, and
two bolts grew from the soil between his feet. “Bel and Tiana are the best scouts and the best shots I have ever seen in my life. You might want to reconsider what you just said, as soon as you apologize to them.” The braggart opened and closed his mouth twice, but no sound emerged. A trickle of something running down the youth’s leg caught his eye, and soon came the sharp smell of ammonia. Logan sighed. “Ladies, he just wet himself. I think that might serve as a sufficient apology.” Two light laughs drifted across from the scouts. “Well, Captain. Why don’t we just relax a little and...”

  “Nooo!” The embarrassed youth drew his sword and lunged in one swift movement. I’ll kill you and show you...”

  The sound was a high pitched ting, and the blade of the youth’s ceramic sword spun out into the middle of the field. The boy stood staring at the stump of a blade sticking an inch out of the handle of his sword. Logan’s gleaming steel blade came back to a stop, pointing at the captain’s chest.

  “No one has been hurt so far, Captain. It doesn’t have to go further.”

  The officer, keeping his hands well clear of his own sword slowly turned to face the stunned youth holding the sword hilt.

  “It was my da’s sword, an he broke it, Captain. He broke it.” The boy held up the hilt as sorry proof.

  “It was a piece of shit.” The captain growled. The backhanded strike with his gauntleted fist knocked the youth through both ranks of lined guardsmen and into the open doorway, where he disappeared in a clattering crash.

  “But, Captain ...” Another voice called out from the ranks.

  “Shut it, you fool.” The captain was angry now. “These people are soldiers. REAL soldiers. Look at the weapons and the armor. They killed half the monster horde by themselves. We killed three. They could chew us up and spit us out if they wished to. We lost thirty-two guardsmen and seventeen wounded, in addition to eight civilians. They lost, what? Two or three?” He turned to Logan.

  “One injured.” The captain’s eyes seemed to bug out of his head.

  “You won’t have any more problems from us. Hell, we owe you our lives.” Logan raised a hand and made a curt signal. The scouts grabbed their crossbows and ran, forming up with the rest of the squad at rigid attention. A look of awe crossed the captain’s face. “Just what the hell are you people?”

  Logan turned to face the squad, a tight smile on his face. “Squad, tell the gentleman what you are.”

  “We are Marines, sir!” Six voices shouted.

  “Sound off, Marines.”

  “Ooh-rah!”

  He turned back. “Does that answer your question?”

  “No.” The captain chuckled. “But it will have to do. Welcome to the city of Ballinasloe, ladies and gentlemen.”

  Chapter 6

  It was a long walk through a dreary depressing tunnel. After a while they came on the place where they had fought the creatures. Green ichor still pooled on the floor, and the smell made Logan want to gag. He stopped and glanced down the hallway toward the library.

  “It looks as though you were fighting in there, also.” The captain commented, following his look. “We lost three of our civilians there. We assume that they have been ...”

  “We took them to safety.”

  The captain stopped. “What? You took them to safety? How? There was fighting all around.”

  Logan just smiled. “Are the young ones important then? The children of a minister perhaps?”

  “The teacher is important. She is the daughter of the First Minister himself, and he is very worried. Where is she, if I might ask?”

  Logan turned back to the hallway. “She’s safe. And the children, what of them?”

  “Oh, they’re orphans.” He said it in a tone of voice that might have been saying oh, they’re chickens, or, oh, they’re rocks. Logan ground his teeth.

  “Do you have so many people here that you can disregard two children?”

  “We support three hundred people down here. We could handle more, but we had a major cave-in a few years back. We lost over half our living space and livestock.”

  “Why didn’t you dig it out?”

  The captain let out a long, mournful sigh. “Oh, the council didn’t want to appropriate the manpower. They would much rather stick with the current status quo. Use the manpower to make the current quarters more comfortable. We even have a casino.” The man exclaimed with a note of pride.

  Logan opened his mouth to tell the obnoxious captain just what he thought of his vaunted system, when he noticed two of the city guards, young recruits by the looks and from their positions at the far rear of the ranks, shaking their heads furiously—trying to get his attention. He caught the taller soldier’s eye and nodded with a microscopic dip of his head. Logan saw the lad’s shoulders sag in relief.

  “We’ve been in the jungle for quite some time, Captain.” Logan looked down his nose at the hovels they were passing, and the dirty hungry children playing in the street. Anger welled up inside him. Staring eyes, wide with fear, followed the group of soldiers in their black armor. “Is there perhaps some place that we could freshen up?” Logan gestured negligently at the two young men who had been signaling him earlier. “Would it inconvenience you if we borrowed those two to show us our way?”

  The captain glanced at the two lads, and grimaced. “Oh, take them, please. They are just troublemakers. Have them bring you back to the central meeting hall when you have finished. Is that adequate?”

  “Perfectly, Captain. It shouldn’t take us long.” Logan turned to his squad, and the two appropriated guides. “Well?” He tried to look coldly aristocratic, but had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. “Let’s go then. We don’t want to keep the council waiting.”

  Jade was still laughing in the back of his mind, when they arrived at a small room set with benches. An icy stream flowed out of a crack in the wall into a large deep pool.

  Logan set his black helmet with the dark plume on the bench and sat down with a sigh of relief. “Spill it, guys.” He grinned at their surprised look. “What’s wrong with your captain?”

  The taller fair haired youth laughed. “We thought you were like—him.” He nodded at the entrance, the way they had come. “He’s such an ass. He’s on the High Council. That’s why I stopped you. He’s one of the ones who voted not to dig out the collapsed areas. If you had chewed him out you wouldn’t have gotten any further help from the man, and he can be a formidable enemy.”

  “Smart thinking.” Logan looked from one youth to the other. “Brothers?”

  “Yes, sir.” The shorter, heavily set youth answered in a slow, lazy drawl. “I’m Lucas, and he’s Max.” He grinned broadly, running his fingers through his short fair hair, suddenly looking like he was thirteen. “He’s the tall one, I’m the bright one.”

  “Are not.” Max retorted hotly.

  Logan studied the two brothers. “Are you two really troublemakers?”

  “Nah.” Lucas replied grandly. “We just get tired of seeing all the waste while others go hungry. Sometimes we say something.” He shrugged his wide shoulders. “Then we get into trouble.”

  “Do you both have a happy life here?” The question was simple, but Logan watched them intently.

  Max got a faraway look. “Our parents died in the cave-in. We were raised by the city, and they enlisted us into the army as soon as possible. We’ll be in the army until we die, which may not be too far off, if I can trust the things I’m seeing.”

  “Why would you say that?” His eyes never shifted from the boys.

  Max glanced at his brother, who shrugged his shoulders and nodded slowly. The tall boy looked at the ground, never meeting Logan’s stare. “It was a while after the cave-in; Lucas and I were about twelve, and I was talking to a city engineer, who had studied the collapse. He’d had a few drinks too many, and said a few things that should have been kept secret. It seems that the engineers who were studying the accident, and looking for survivors, found several dead monsters in the rubble. The
monsters had what looked to be shovels. The cave-in was no accident, just as the attack the other day was no fluke.” He finally looked up at Logan. “We’ll all be dead inside a year.”

  Logan stood, picked up his black helmet, and tucked it under his arm. His face was grim. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  “I’m afraid that sealing the tunnel is totally out of the question.” The High Councilor’s emaciated, pasty skinned secretary said in a high simpering voice. Perhaps if we complete a study we will find that we can assign a few more guards to the position, but seal it?” He laughed in Logan’s face.

  “And just where is the High Councilor, right now?”

  The thin secretary’s eyes involuntarily flicked to a closed door. “I wouldn’t know. He could be out all day.” Logan made a brief motion and hands pulled the thin man out of his chair. “You can’t go in there. The Councilor is having a very important meeting. He...” A hand clamped over the man’s mouth.

  Logan’s boot opened the door with a resounding crash, and a young blond haired girl of no more than fifteen, lifted her head from the High Councilor’s lap. She squeaked in fright as she staggered to her feet. Logan jerked his thumb at the shattered door, and she ran.

  The High Councilor’s face was an interesting shade of puce, as he fumbled with the fastening of his fly. “Who are you? You can’t just come smashing in here like this! I’ll have you arrested, I’ll have you ...”

  Logan ignored the ranting man as he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t want to be disturbed.” Grady grinned and nodded. Logan shifted his eyes to the two young city guards, who stood at the back of his squad. “I won’t have any problems with the two of you, will I?”

  “We wouldn’t think of it.” Lucas was trying, and failing, to keep a straight face.