by Drew Wagar
‘That is correct.’
Kiri looked at Meru. He was shaking his head.
‘Our friend is gone, Caesar,’ he said. ‘She’s … in a tube of … part of that machine forever more. It’s …’
‘A sacrifice that will ensure Esurio is protected for hundreds of rounds,’ Caesar said.
‘It’s a machine,’ Kiri said, looking at Meru. ‘Cold, brutal … calculating. It does what it’s told. You can’t argue with it. Maybe when you’re trying to weigh the value of everything …’
Meru sighed and straightened, looking around the hangar.
‘Where are your other travelling companions?’ Caesar asked. ‘Coran, Mel and Fitch?’
Meru took a deep breath. ‘They’re dead, Caesar.’
Caesar paused again.
‘That is most unfortunate,’ Caesar replied. ‘Coran, Mel and Fitch were remarkable individuals.’
‘Yeah, they were.’
‘May I inquire as to what happened to them?’
‘Our ship, the Mobilis, was damaged returning from the Obelisk,’ Meru said. ‘We were attacked. Fitch, Daf and Creg were lost in the battle. Coran and Mel went down with the ship to give us a chance to escape.’
Again there was a pause.
‘For what purpose have you returned to this facility, Meru?’
‘We need your help again,’ he replied.
‘I will assist you as best I can,’ Caesar replied. ‘Please make your request.’
‘With the aid of the flying machines,’ Meru began. ‘We were able to fend off the attack on Amar by the priestesses. But they weren’t defeated. They’ve retreated to their homelands and are rebuilding their strength.’
‘Another attack is therefore likely,’ Caesar replied.
Meru nodded. ‘When we were at the Obelisk facility we were told that our civilisation, the Amarans, was the closest to that desired by the original colonists and we should ensure our survival.’
‘I indicated this was also my conclusion in my last conversation with Captain Coran,’ Caesar replied.
‘The leader of the priestesses is a woman called Nerina,’ Kiri added. ‘It is she who drives the priestesses. We intend to kill her.’
‘This unit cannot condone a pre-emptive attack on fellow Esurian citizens,’ Caesar said.
‘Leave that to us,’ Meru said. ‘All we need is for you to help us repair the original flying machines we took from here. If we bring them back, can they be serviced?’
‘Yes. Servicing systems are automatic,’ Caesar replied. ‘Once the machines are on station they will be serviced according to schedule and requirements automatically.’
Meru looked at Kiri.
‘Good,’ he said. ‘The machines should be on their way soon.’
‘Acknowledged,’ Caesar replied. ‘Once they are in range I will guide them in to the hangar.’
Meru straightened and looked at Kiri. They were about to turn away when Caesar spoke again.
‘Administrator Meru,’ Caesar said. ‘Now that Obelisk functions are restored and Administrator Zoella has cancelled my emergency protocols, this unit’s function is at an end. Analysis of your cultural level indicates that sufficient information regarding the colonists’ original purpose and intent has been made available and is now understood by current inhabitants as represented by yourselves. Further interference with the development of your society is likely to be … counterproductive.’
Meru looked at Kiri. She shrugged.
‘What are you saying?’ Meru asked.
‘Archive and reference data, along with a simple text interface will be sufficient for administrative oversight as required,’ Caesar said. ‘However, voice interface and interlocutor functions will now terminate.’
‘Wait … what?’ Meru stammered.
‘Please extend my sincerest sympathies to administrator Zoella,’ Caesar said. ‘It was not my intention to cause distress. It has been a pleasure working with you, administrator Meru and administrator Kiri. Farewell.’
‘Caesar? Caesar!’ Meru shouted, thumping his fist on the ebony table. ‘Answer me. You can’t just stop … not when we need you!’
There was no response.
A piece of text appeared on the surface of the table. Meru moved across to read it, struggling with the pronunciation.
Ecclesiastes three?
‘What just happened?’ Kiri asked. ‘What does that mean?’
Meru looked up at her, his mouth and eyes wide with shock. ‘I think … I think Caesar just killed himself.’
* * *
The double doors to the hall of the priestesses opened. Merrin walked in, flustered and annoyed. To her surprise the hall was empty, save for Nerina, who stood against the table at the far end.
‘High Priestess?’ Merrin said, offering a short bow. ‘What is it …?’
‘I have news,’ Nerina said, standing up straight. Her expression was unreadable. Merrin paused. Nerina walked towards her. Her steps were slow and short, unlike her normal purposeful gait.
‘What is it?’ Merrin demanded.
Nerina continued walking until she was face to face with Merrin. Merrin gazed into her ghostly inscrutable face, the dark purposeful eyes stared back.
‘Rihanna is dead,’ Nerina whispered.
Merrin felt tremors run through her. They started in her fingers, cascading up her arms and into her torso. A cold knot of shock stabbed through her. She staggered back, shaking her head.
‘No … it’s not possible!’ she cried. ‘Rihanna is strong, fierce!’
Merrin looked up at Nerina. The high priestess was unmoved, looking at her.
‘I heard her call,’ Nerina said, her voice still soft. ‘I’m sorry, there can be no doubt.’
Merrin’s hands clenched.
So callous, no regret, no care! Just another casualty in her rise to be empress. My daughter just a tool to be used …
‘How?’ Merrin managed to grate out. ‘Who?’
Nerina raised her chin slightly.
‘Taloon,’ she said. ‘The Amaran ship returned. Rihanna went to intercept it.’
‘And?’ Merrin demanded.
‘Kiri was aboard. They fought. Kiri killed her.’
Now her stomach clenched even sharper, the tremors shook her violently, she struggled to breathe, rage and anger boiling through her. She could feel the blood pulsing in her veins, felt the heat suffuse her body. Around her vision a redness grew, fizzing and hissing in her mind.
Kiri! The guttersnipe, the girl from the slums, Charis’ legacy. She who had undermined Rihanna in the eyes of both Launa and Nerina. Kiri, who had the insolence and arrogance to claim she was the chosen one of Lacaille, proclaiming herself to be anointed. Kiri …
‘That wretched, wretched slut!’ Merrin screamed. ‘I want her, I want her punished. Chained, whipped, torn, beaten, burnt! Ripped apart and fed to the dachs! I want to hear her screams … I want to hear her beg for mercy and then crush the life out of her …’
Merrin fell forward, her knees giving way beneath her. Grief welled up from somewhere within her, the hatred washed aside for a moment. She had given up everything to place Nerina where she was now, let her tear her lesser daughters. But Rihanna was special, Rihanna was strong. She had been promised the high priestess position when Nerina tired of it.
Charis always tried to stop Rihanna. Always prattled on about peace, love and understanding, how Rihanna was too violent, too cruel. And when she found that sewer trash and elevated her in the eyes of the priestesses …
‘It wasn’t her,’ Nerina said.
Merrin looked up.
‘What?’
‘It wasn’t Charis,’ Nerina said, a faint smile on her face. ‘Charis truly was a peacemaker, she didn’t want Kiri to be high priestess, far from it. She wanted Kiri to waste her talents on becoming a healer. She was telling the truth, you should have believed her. Charis was innocent.’
‘Then …’
‘It was me,’ Nerina said, t
aking a single step forward. ‘I turned Kiri into a warrior. I provoked the Scallian Lord. I sent Charis and Kiri into harm’s way, knowing they would be attacked. I sent Charis to her death, so I could control Kiri, empower her, turn her, make her into the killer she became.’
Merrin’s mouth fell open.
‘You blamed Charis all this time,’ Nerina said. ‘Thought she was your rival, thought she schemed against Rihanna because of you. It wasn’t that. She didn’t think Rihanna was suitable to be high priestess. She was right.’
‘Then you …’
‘Strung you along?’ Nerina said, her smile widening. ‘Yes. I wanted both Kiri and Rihanna to be as strong as they could possibly be before I tore them. I took much power from Kiri at Amar, but not all of it. Rihanna’s gift is lost … but Kiri will have taken it.’
‘You lied to me,’ Merrin cried, lurching to her feet. ‘Took my daughters, used me …’
‘You used yourself,’ Nerina sneered. ‘Too cowardly to embrace your ambitions yourself you lived vicariously through Rihanna. It served me well.’
Merrin swung at Nerina with a clawed hand, but Nerina was ready for it. She stepped aside and then gestured with her own hand.
Merrin screamed as a belt of pain wrapped itself around her mind and crushed down on her.
‘Your service to me meant little beyond that,’ Nerina said. ‘There can be only one high priestess. And that is me. With Rihanna gone and Kiri still at large I need more power to subdue her.’
Nerina’s gaze was predatory.
Merrin screamed as the pressure increased.
‘You can serve me one more time,’ Nerina growled.
Then Nerina’s thoughts were in her mind, pushing ever inwards. Merrin flailed about, screaming and shrieking for a moment as she struggled to push back the onslaught.
But Nerina was prepared, long prepared.
Merrin felt her body go slack, found herself on her knees before Nerina. Felt her push within her mind, seeking her gift, wrapping her thoughts around the golden orb of power that lay beyond.
Merrin heard a few last words as her consciousness faded away.
‘You were right you know; I always get my way …’
Merrin dimly heard Nerina yell with delight, but then thoughts were gone, the fear, the anger and the hatred melted away, leaving her nothing but a void of thought, an unchanging ennui.
* * *
Caesar did not respond, his ebony table would show graphs, videos and information, but that was all. They found Zoella upstairs on the second level of the hangar facility. She was sitting at the console where they had long ago found the body of Sandra Morino.
Her face was streaked with tears, but she wiped them away as she looked up.
Meru and Kiri told Zoella what had happened. She sighed and thought about it for a moment.
‘I think Caesar’s right,’ she said. ‘A machine like that … we’d always be asking it what to do, rather than figuring it out ourselves. Second guessing everything, checking everything … we’d turn him into a god, same as the priestesses did with Lacaille.’
Kiri nodded. ‘The colonists didn’t want all this technology did they? They wanted a simpler life without it.’
‘But some technology is required,’ Meru said. ‘The Obelisk …’
‘Which Ira will look after,’ Zoella said, her voice sharp yet confident. ‘The rest is up to us now. We have to decide what we’re going to do and be responsible for it ourselves. We need to get the Amarans, get the machines and get to Viresia. We need to end this.’
Kiri and Meru nodded.
‘And someone needs be in charge,’ she added. Meru and Kiri both nodded again.
‘Well?’ Zoella asked.
Kiri looked at her. ‘Well, obviously it has to be you, right?’
‘Me?’ Zoella asked. ‘Why?’
‘You’re the older sister,’ Kiri said, with a pout. ‘Nobody trusts me, remember? I’m the traitor, the liar, the deceiver … I heard what Vandare said about me.’
‘Kiri, I trust you,’ Zoella began.
‘But others won’t,’ Kiri said, more seriously. ‘And they never will. No one will follow my lead. Vandare was right, I have switched sides. I was an enemy, now I am a traitor to the priestesses. There will always be doubt no matter what I do from now on. When it comes to choosing who people will follow … it’s not me.’
‘Kiri …’
‘I’ll just do as I’m told,’ Kiri said. ‘Just give me my chance to kill Nerina.’
Zoella looked at Meru.
‘Hey, I just fly around and ask questions,’ Meru said, raising his hands. ‘Everyone knows I’m not responsible enough, too easily distracted. I’m not doing it.’
Both of them looked at her.
‘You’re not serious …’ Zoella said, looking from one to the other.
‘Yes we are,’ Meru and Kiri said.
‘I can’t be in charge …’
‘You always know what to do,’ Meru said. ‘Always know what’s right and wrong. You bring people together, get things done. Look at how you won Vandare’s trust. If that had been up to Kiri or me we’d be impaled on the end of a pike lying dead on the sands of Taloon by now.’
‘But I’ve made mistakes, hurt people, hurt you … what if I get it wrong again?’ Zoella was shaking her head. ‘It should be someone from Amar, one of the Senators … maybe Lord Crenech from Scallia …’
‘The senators? You saw how useless they were in a crisis,’ Meru said. ‘Coran had to chivvy them along all the time, nothing has changed. They need a leader more than anyone.’
‘And the lords of Scallia bow to the royal line,’ Kiri added. ‘That’s you.’
‘Or you,’ Zoella snapped.
‘You were born first,’ Kiri replied.
‘You just made that up,’ Zoella said, pointing at Kiri. ‘You don’t know that’s true!’
‘It might as well be,’ Kiri fired back. ‘I’ve told you. The Scallian people will be suspicious of me like everyone else is. They’ll never trust me like they’ll trust you. I can’t blame them for that. And after all, there can only be one queen.’
‘Queen?’ Zoella exclaimed, her eyebrows raised in alarm. ‘No …’
‘Seriously,’ Meru said. ‘You’re wise, you’re clever. Remember how you convinced the Amaran Senate about the threat? They didn’t even listen to Coran, but they listened to you. It should be you, Zoella.’
Zoella looked at him, trying to find some words to counter him.
‘Meru’s right,’ Kiri said. ‘Scallia would never accept me, but they will accept you. You’re the sensible one. I’m just a girl with attitude and a stick. I just fight. You have the compassion and strength for it.’
‘Yeah,’ Meru began. ‘You’ve got to …’
‘Stop it, both of you!’
Zoella was glaring at them, her cry echoed around the hangar.
Meru and Kiri looked at her fierce expression, both backed away.
‘Look,’ Zoella said. ‘Thanks for saying … nice things about me. It’s just … I’m not ready for this. I can’t fight … I can’t fly … I don’t know anything.’
‘You can lead,’ Kiri said, her voice calm and sure.
Meru nodded, his voice hushed. ‘I would follow you anywhere, Zoella.’
Zoella looked at them, both looked back with a steady gaze.
The console buzzed.
‘Incoming radio communication relayed from personnel transport,’ Sandra’s voice intoned. ‘Accept?’
‘Yes, accept,’ Zoella answered, still flustered.
‘Meru, Zoella?’ a voice called out. Meru recognised his father.
‘Father?’ Meru replied. ‘Yes, we can hear you.’
‘The senate has agreed to your request and has asked for volunteers to assemble on the transport ships,’ Henoch said. ‘There are more ready to fight than can be accommodated, so we’ll be sending the strongest and most skilled. They will be loaded within the next spell and the shi
ps will be ready to depart.’
‘You can thank your father for that.’ Janaid’s voice sounded out from nearby. ‘A rousing speech, got them fired up good and proper.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ Zoella answered. ‘Well done!’
‘We should be with you within the stretch,’ Janaid added.
‘You’re coming too?’ Meru asked in surprise.
‘I have been designated an ambassador to Scallia,’ Janaid replied. ‘To assist you in any way we can. What are your instructions?’
Meru raised his eyebrows and looked around Zoella.
Zoella leant forward and tapped the console, muting the conversation.
‘I’m not doing this …’ Zoella said. ‘I can’t …’
‘You must,’ Kiri said. Zoella looked between the pair of them. Meru gave her an encouraging nod.
‘You can,’ Meru said. ‘I know you can.’
Zoella took a deep breath.
‘Alright,’ she said. ‘But I think we should go direct to Viresia now, the Amarans can meet us there. Agreed?’
Meru and Kiri nodded.
‘I can let Gemma know we’re coming,’ Kiri said.
Zoella pressed the console again.
‘Henoch, instruct the machines to fly to this location,’ Zoella said. ‘Meru can provide the details on how to set the directions. The machines will be repaired, then you can voyage on to Viresia. We are going to go there now. Kiri will contact them and let them know we are coming. We will meet you there once the machines are ready. Be as quick as you can.’
‘Understood,’ Henoch replied. The radio went quiet.
‘They did what I told them,’
Zoella said, in surprise.
‘That’s because you’re in charge,’ Kiri replied, grinning at her.
* * *
Meru showed Zoella and Kiri how to use the rifles. Kiri was good at handling the weapons, but Zoella hated the sound and the recoil and decided she was better off concentrating on her mental abilities. Meru sent the co-ordinates of Caesar’s hangar through to the ships in Amar.
‘Come on,’ Kiri called.
Meru took one last look around the hangar, remembering the excitement of when they had first discovered it, found out about Caesar, about Sandra and had begun to unlock the mysteries of their past.
