‘What’s done?’ asked Balbao.
Thales stared at Balbao. ‘We’ve started the sequence to close the shift sphere. In a few days no one will be able to leave Scolar station.’
‘And now we have to get out of here,’ said Fariss with feeling. ‘Every red robe on the station is coming our way.’
‘Commander Farr’s ship is close,’ said Balbao.
Fariss looked to Thales and nodded. ‘Let’s go.’
TRIN
They reached the beach before dawn when the darkness became a pearly grey. As Randall had predicted, two enormous biozoons were set deep in the wet sand of the shallows. The survivors waited in the treeline, watching as three figures emerged from inside one of the creatures. The three climbed down the roughened side of their craft and stepped into the shallows. One of them waded across to the other biozoon while the other two headed up onto the beach.
Even from a distance Trin recognised the two approaching the shore: Randall’s man Josef had returned and – Trin’s heart contracted into a tight fist – Mira Fedor.
‘Mira,’ croaked Cass Mulravey. The woman broke from shelter and ran down to the beach, arms outstretched.
‘It’s Mira!’ This came from Djeserit, at his side.
‘Wait!’ said Trin.
But, like Mulravey, Djes was already moving.
Along the line of watchers, calls went out to each other.
‘The Baronessa is back.’
‘She’s come for us!’ cried Josefia Genarro.
‘It’s her! Mira Fedor is here!’
Trin wanted them all to stop, wanted to take control, wanted to speak to Mira before anyone else, but their excitement wasn’t to be contained, even by him.
They spilled down onto the beach, leaving Trin alone with the two mercenaries, Randall and Catchut.
Both stared keenly at the new arrivals.
‘It’s Rasterovich, Capo,’ said Catchut.
‘I got eyes, Cat.’ Randall turned to Trin. ‘Don’t seem as thrilled as the rest, Pellegrini?’ Even in the dull light he could see her expression hardening. ‘Don’t you wanna be saved today? You maybe enjoyin’ this cock-o’-the-walk thing you got goin’ here.’
Mira Fedor. His saviour? The idea was repugnant. He’d sent her away in the hope that she would find help from OLOSS. He had not expected she would come back herself. And where was the baby he’d impregnated her with? He saw no signs of pregnancy in her thin straight physique. Had she lost the babe? Miscarried it? Or had it removed? Eccentric as her morals were, surely she would not have aborted her own child.
Panic streaked through him. He must speak with her alone before she said things that might damage the balance of things here, things that could undermine his authority.
He started forward but Randall tripped him.
He fell flat and a weight descended on his back, pinning him there. Thighs gripped his head, pushing his face into the sand. ‘Not so quick, Pellegrini. I’m thinkin’ your flock might need to have a confab with the Baronessa without you breathin’ down their necks.’
Randall shifted around on top of him as if making herself comfortable. ‘We’ll just wait a little before we go and join them. Have a bit of a confab ourselves. What you say to that?’
MIRA
Mira saw Cass first, heard the hoarse call and recognised the thin ragged shape running down to meet them. Her heart leapt in her chest and she let go of Josef’s hand to wade out of the water.
They met in the sand above the water line in a tight and emotional embrace. No words came immediately, just relief and heartfelt joy.
‘He said you’d run out on us. I knew it was a lie,’ whispered Cass after a moment.
Mira stiffened for an instant. ‘Trinder?’
Cass stepped back so she could look at her. ‘We need to talk, you and I, alone. But not now. Not in front of the rest.’
Mira nodded. ‘There’s not much time. I have to go soon. We’ll leave one of the biozoons for you.’
‘Go?’
‘Something important I have to do. Cass, the Post-Species are controlling the Saqr. And now they’re overrunning Orion.’
‘We feared something like that,’ said Cass. ‘Mira, if you have to leave, take Vito.’
Mira gripped her arm. ‘Vito’s alive?’
Cass nodded, tears beginning to fall without check. ‘I fed him what I could, but we’ve had little enough to eat.’
Mira faced the rest of the advancing survivors. She picked out Josefia Genarro among them, who carried a small thin ’bino. ‘But Josef …’ Mira swung back to Josef, who had stopped behind her. ‘You said he’d died!’
He looked confused. ‘I saw a boy killed with a spear. Happened as we got here.’
Cass’s fist went to her lips. She ground her knuckles against her teeth before replying. ‘Not your ’bino, Mira. Mine. Both gone now. Both of them.’
‘Chanee? And your ragazzo?’ Mira saw the pain on Cass’s face. She wasn’t just starved and exhausted, her spirit was in tatters.
Mira hugged her again, more fiercely this time, not knowing how else to give comfort.
They stood together as the survivors surrounded them. But at the sight of Josefia with Vito, Mira let her go of Cass and reached for her adopted child. She lifted him into her arms. To her distress, he didn’t feel much heavier than Nova. Nor did he seem to know her.
‘Vito.’
He blinked his solemn eyes at the sound of her voice.
She leaned forward and gently kissed his forehead, aware of the tension in the little body.
He reached out for Cass Mulravey, who shook her head. ‘Mama, Vito. This is your mama.’
The survivors watched silently.
‘Vito.’ Mira said his name again and traced her finger down his bare legs. ‘Mira. It’s Mira.’
There was some jostling in the group and the korm pushed its way through. It whistled to her and bowed its tall frame, until its head was close to hers. ‘M’ra.’
‘Korm!’ The tears she had kept at bay while comforting Cass Mulravey sprang freely to her eyes. The alien ragazzo was a scarecrow, barely recognisable save for its size and fur.
She reached up and fondled its crest. It chittered softly.
Copying Mira’s action, Vito lifted his thin arm and put his fingers to Mira’s cheek.
She turned her head and kissed his fingers, hardly daring to breathe.
Suddenly Vito smiled and brought his other hand up to link around her neck. ‘M’ra.’
Mira hugged him to her. ‘He’s speaking,’ she said ecstatically.
‘A few words only. Not much for us to say to each other these last months,’ said Cass.
A ripple of emotion passed through the group.
Mira felt it keenly, just as she felt her own elation, and relief, and despair. She should have been quicker with help. They were barely alive. And where was Trin Pellegrini?
Before she could ask Cass about the young Principe, the silence broke.
‘What’s happening out there?’ asked someone.
‘Have you come for us?’ Another ’esque.
Questions flew at her and voices rose to such a pitch that she could barely hear one from the other.
‘Quiet!’ Josef stepped in front of her, arms outstretched.
Surprisingly, they responded to his firm order.
‘Back up,’ he said to the first line of people.
They complied, creating room around Mira and Cass. Though Josef was much thinner than Mira remembered him, he looked strong and capable alongside the starved survivors.
‘Yes, we’ve come for you. And yes, we’ll tell you everything we know. But it’s only a short time until daylight,’ he said. ‘We will need to take cover.’
‘It’s too far back to the caves,’ said Cass Mulravey. ‘We’ll rest in the bushes above the beach.’
Jo-Jo nodded and looked to the lightening night sky. ‘Then we should get there now.’
As the group began to mo
ve back up the beach, Mira noticed a slight figure standing off to one side under the waning moonlight. ‘Djes?’ she called softly. ‘Djes?’
The young girl she had rescued from the ruins of Villa Fedor came towards her hesitantly.
As she got closer, Mira held out her hand to her, and suddenly Djes was in her arms as Cass Mulravey had been, clinging to her with relief and disbelief.
‘Mira.’
Djes’s body felt muscular and lean and tense with emotion, and she smelt of the sea. As Josef hustled them along, she threaded her arm through Mira’s and they walked together behind the rest.
‘Why did you leave so suddenly? Trin said that you’d deserted us but I didn’t want to think that.’
‘Trinder bends the truth, Djes,’ said Mira bluntly. ‘He told me to leave. When I refused, his carabinere forced me.’
‘Forced you? I don’t understand? But perhaps his decision was for the best? You’ve come back for us now.’
‘His decision was selfish. Djes, I have birthed a ’bino while I have been searching for help, a babe, born early, sired by Trin Pellegrini the night he sent me away. I was the last crown aristo alive. He feared that his bloodline would die out, so he raped me and forced me to leave. To protect his progeny.’
‘No!’ Djes pulled away from her. ‘That’s not true!’
Mira wished there was more time to explain gently, but she must leave again within a few hours. It was important that Djes knew the truth. ‘My baby is aboard Insignia, my biozoon. Her name is Nova.’
Djes stopped and took several steps away from Mira. Then she turned and ran down the beach.
Josef dropped back to speak with Mira. ‘Bad news?’
Mira sighed. ‘The truth. I’ve hurt her, but she must know what he is.’
‘Rast Randall told me some of it. I worked the rest out for myself. He’s Nova’s father.’
‘Her sire, not her father,’ Mira corrected.
Josef stopped her. ‘I will try speaking to Djes. I promised Bethany I would.’
Mira hesitated then nodded. She moved forward to catch up with the rest of the group.
As they reached the crest of the beach, the survivors halted and divided. In front of the stunted trees stood Rast Randall, her man Catchut and Trin Pellegrini.
The gratification Mira felt on seeing Randall alive diminished at the sight of the Principe. From his tense, wary expression, she knew he’d seen Djeserit leave.
Suddenly Mira wished that Josef had stayed with her. Wished she could reach for the comfort of his hand. But he was not. And this she had to face alone.
She stepped forward.
JO-JO RASTEROVICH
He caught up with her as she was about to dive into the sea.
‘Jess. Wait!’ Deliberately he used Bethany’s pronounciation of her name.
It stopped her short. ‘What do you want?’ She’d been crying, he thought.
Jo-Jo sank onto the wet sand above the waterline. ‘To talk. To tell you things. Please.’
She didn’t come any closer to him, nor did she move.
He took that as consent, so he told her what he knew of her mother – how she’d tried to follow her daughter to Araldis but had been put in detention on Dowl station.
He told her about their escape from Dowl and how brave and smart and resourceful Bethany was, and how she’d saved him.
When Djes didn’t respond, he talked more, about Lasper Farr and how Bethany had feared him; the power that Farr wielded and Bethany’s desire to distance herself from her brother’s fanaticism. And finally how her mother had helped Mira.
Only when the sun came close to cresting the horizon did he stop.
‘Come back,’ he said. ‘Some things need to be faced. Mira tells the truth.’
He got up and walked up the beach to the closest tree cover and waited. She stood facing the ocean as the light grew more intense, and he began to fear that she’d choose neither the sea nor returning, but simply perish right there in the sunlight.
Then, in an oddly final gesture, she scooped water in her hands and splashed it over her face.
TRIN
Mira had changed little, save for new age lines which he didn’t see until she came closer and her calm expression. With each step she took towards him Trin felt the pain of his past decisions and the weight of his future. What had she said to Djes? What would she say to his people?
He waited, more fearful of her than the Saqr. And the ’bino … there was no sign of pregnancy? What had gone wrong?
‘Fedor.’ The mercenary next to him strode forward and lifted the Baronessa from her feet to embrace her. Just as quickly, she set Mira down and stepped aside. ‘Never figured to see you alive again,’ she drawled. ‘Never figured to be so pleased to see you alive again. Looks like I’ll be owin’ you again.’
Mira seemed flustered, her composure deserting her for a moment. ‘I would say the same thing to you, Rast Randall. We are both fortunate, it seems.’
Trin saw his opportunity; the mercenary’s unexpected greeting had rattled her. ‘Mira Fedor,’ he said loudly, ‘your biozoons are a welcome sight.’
His rebuke, couched in an innocent greeting, didn’t slip past her though, and as quickly as she’d become ruffled, her face regained its mask. ‘As are your people.’
The moment hung between them, filled with tension and anger. She’d gained confidence, he thought. Despite her fragile appearance, her will projected fiercely upon him.
‘I have little time before I must leave again and there is much to tell.’ She looked around the group. ‘Please sit, all of you, and I will begin.’
Many of them glanced to the Principe, who nodded.
Once they had settled Mira told them of the Post-Species invasion across OLOSS.
‘The satellites in the skies?’ asked Cass.
‘Geni-carriers, which are gradually being dispersed all over Orion. Millions have been murdered. Systems reduced to dust.’
‘How many are there?’ asked Juno Genarro. ‘The lights have diminished over recent nights.’
‘Thousands,’ said Mira. ‘Perhaps more.’
The survivors moaned with one voice.
‘There is something I can do to arrest the destruction of our species but it is complicated to tell and not a certainty. I will be going at dusk, but will leave you the hybrid biozoon. It is space-worthy, though it needs some days bathing in sea minerals to replenish its amino acids. It has been treated cruelly.’
‘But where would we go?’ this came from Jilda.
‘Principessa,’ Mira acknowledged Trin’s mother with a tiny bow of her head. ‘The Post-Species are preparing to leave here. They’ve transformed their ship into an organic lifeform, a gigantic Saqr which continues to grow as we sit here. Its genesis is inexplicable. I cannot tell you how it happened, other than it grew from within the old ship. And it smelled of ligs.’
Ligs. Mira’s story jolted Trin. ‘There are ligs on this island, huge ligs that attacked us near the spring.’
‘You believe the giant ligs are linked to the Saqr, Principe?’ said Juno frowning.
‘When I searched for water alone, I found a grove of trees. Bigger, stronger, more developed than these.’ He waved his hands at the stunted bushes under which they’d taken cover. ‘I rested there and broke off a branch to help me walk. The ligs came in while I was there, swarming after the sap. It’s the sap, I think, that has made them grow so large. Perhaps the Post-Species have used the same sap to grow their organic ship?’
‘Possibly the sap is in other places,’ said Mira thoughtfully. ‘Or they have harvested the ligs themselves. In which case, the quixite is only their fortification, the external protection against space travel. The ligs have been used to grow the Saqr. If so, then Araldis had everything they needed.’
‘Dandy!’ interceded Randall. ‘But how does that change anything? I say we go load up the hybrid and I’ll take us the hell out of here.’
‘I will be the one to make tha
t decision,’ said Trin. ‘And I believe it safer to stay here until the Post-Species have left.’ He glared at Randall until the moment was broken by another voice.
‘Neither of you’ll decide for anyone else.’
Heads turned to see Djes and the third mercenary, Josef Rasterovich, in the bushes behind them.
The pair crawled forward to the front of the circle.
‘The hybrid is mine by law, and I have given it to Djeserit Ionil. She’ll choose her pilot, her route and when she’ll leave. Those who don’t like this arrangement can, as your Principe suggests, stay right here.’
Trin’s heart, which had contracted into a tight fist, relaxed. Djes would never leave him. ‘At dark we should return to the caves for food—’
‘I will leave in three nights,’ said Djeserit, cutting across him. ‘Long enough for the biozoon to replenish and for those to who wish to, to return to the caves and collect berries and roots.’
‘Djes—’ But Trin was cut off again.
‘Where will you go?’ asked Cass.
‘To the Biozoon Pod. I’ll ask for their protection.’ She crawled out of the circle and moved to a thick bush at the side. ‘I’ll speak now with those who want to come with me.’
After a moment of silence, most of the survivors moved over to be near her, including Cass Mulravey, Joe and Tivi Scali, and Jilda.
‘Madre,’ said Trin hoarsely.
Jilda clutched at Cass Mulravey’s arm. ‘She has been kind to me.’
Only Juno Genarro, Josefia and Tina Galiotto stayed near Trin. Innis Mulravey’s woman, Liesl, crawled away into the bushes.
Trin suppressed a moan. Everything he’d tried to preserve for the renewal of his world had just disintegrated before him.
‘It’s decided,’ said Mira Fedor, with open satisfaction. ‘I wish you all to be safe.’
Djeserit left him before dark, when Leah had dipped and left only her indirect glow to light the beach. Mira Fedor and Josef Rasterovich had gone before her, taking the ’bino, Vito.
Trin and Mira had not said goodbye.
Djes came to him though, for a brief moment. He wanted to hold her in his arms and prevent her leaving but Rast Randall hovered close.
Transformation Space Page 28
