Snark's Quest

by Timothy Ellis

  She turned to the person next to her at the table on the other side. It was Mac, and she hadn’t noticed him sitting down there.

  "Anna, so lovely ye could come!"

  "I, err, yes," she stammered.

  "My mother would like to meet ye."

  He reached out his arm, and she got up and fell into step with him.

  "She seems very interested. Come and entertain her, while I lead the dancing."

  It was more like an order than a request, but done so politely, there wasn’t much she could do.

  Once she was seated at the top table, next to the white-haired woman, a waiter soon served a course of food, and filled a wine glass.

  "So, you’re the mysterious Anna," started the woman, gazing at her keenly. "I’m Maraid. I think we have a lot in common, don’t ye?"

  The Scots lilt was light.

  "I don’t know what you mean!"

  Anna didn’t want to be rude, but the woman seemed too intense, too direct, and straightforward. How could they have anything in common? She laughed nervously.

  "You’re very young."

  "I don’t know, old enough," she laughed again, and took a sip of the wine.

  "Well when you get to my age," said the old woman, "you know what’s what, and who’s who. But when you’re young, well, you’re just learning, if you have any one to properly teach you."

  Anna took another sip of wine. It was rather good. But Mac’s mother wasn’t making a lot of sense.

  "How long have you had the sight?"

  Anna choked on her wine, and coughed.

  "What?"

  The woman next to her smiled, and took her hand.

  "As you age, you don’t beat around the bush as much. Sorry to startle you, but I call a shovel a bloody spade when I see one." She turned Anna’s hand over so the palm showed up. "And I see," she frowned and closed Anna’s fingers into a fist, "perhaps too much. Of course you have the Sight, as I do, but you haven’t been well trained." She took a sip of water. "Best admit it, and we can get on." She gazed away out over the heads of the people in the room. "You are Seeking, a Stone…"

  "How could you know that?"

  "…the Stone of Destiny!"

  The old woman’s eyes opened wide with shock.

  A scream echoed through the room, as a knot of dancers swirled apart to reveal two men wrestling together. A knife flashed, was gone, and one of the figures fell to the floor.

  The music raggedly finished as the room hushed. No-one moved.

  Then a man in light blue tartan ran up to the man left standing. It was Mac Himself. They exchanged some words, and the man in blue turned and collected several bystanders, men and women, who moved through the room, and beyond.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen." Himself spoke calmly to the guests. "There seems to have been an unfortunate accident. I’m sorry the night will need to finish early. I’m hoping we can do this again soon though, obviously not with, this." He indicated the body. "My sincere apologies."

  Thirteen

  "You brought the bloody Brotherhood here?"

  Mac’s voice was cold with controlled anger.

  Snark flinched back. They were gathered in the family’s private suite. Most of the guests had gone, apart from close family, and several armed staff and guests who were checking for other threats. Guards had found a tell-tale tattoo on the body of the assassin, the mark of the Brotherhood.

  "No!" Snark hissed.

  He was scared and confused, but he was ready for a fight if needs be. His tail swished back and forth, and his claws were unsheathed.

  "We can’t have."

  Anna spoke up from where she was sitting with Maraid on a long couch. She saw their blank looks and explained.

  "We don’t know for sure the Brotherhood was at Farside Gamma. And they could not have followed us if they were. I checked to make sure we were not followed to the edge of our scanner range, and the way we headed away from the station debris would have given them no clue as to where we were headed next. Nor have I spotted the same ship since."

  "It still doesn’t explain how a member of the Brotherhood had infiltrated this planet, this household, and tried to kill me tonight!"

  Maraid spoke up, looking at Anna and Snark.

  "Perhaps they didn’t have to follow you?"

  "What do you mean?" asked Mac.

  "Where else would you have gone next?"

  Mac interjected, before anyone could answer her.

  "But why me? Why not attack Anna or Puss?"

  "I don’t know," stated his mother.

  She didn’t need to finish the sentence. The assassin was dead, and wouldn’t be telling them anything any time soon.

  Snark was trying to keep up. Things seemed to be unravelling very quickly.

  Maraid spoke again.

  "There is something coming. Something very dangerous, something sinister, something out of the realm of our understanding."

  "Yes," said Mac. "The Human Federation."

  "No, something else. I’ve seen it. In the scrying pool." She looked at Anna and took her hand. "And you’ve seen it too my dear, haven't you?"

  "Yes," sighed Anna reluctantly. "But only just tonight. Usually it’s just about the…" She cut herself off.

  "The Stone."

  "Yes." She shook her head. "But it’s the Destiny Stone. Not the Stone of Destiny!"

  Maraid smiled, but said nothing.

  "That’s just a myth." Mac strode over to a cabinet, and poured himself a drink. "A Scots myth."

  "A Russian myth, and, and it’s not a myth!" cried Anna.

  The door crashed open, and a young man appeared, slightly out of breath and dishevelled. He wore a light blue kilt, and held a pistol at the ready. He spoke directly to Mac.

  "We’ve searched all over. There doesn’t seem to be anything else amiss." He nodded belatedly to the group. "We’ve taken care of the, err, the…"

  "Yes, thank you Jamie. Off you go."

  Jamie nodded and left. Mac turned to his mother.

  "Mother, you know I’ve learned to believe what you say. But this is a bit nebulous, even for you!"

  "Cole, it’s not a flight of fancy. It’s real. You should know me by now. When have I been wrong?"

  Mac sighed.

  "It’s late. We’ll start this again tomorrow."

  He looked across at Anna and Snark.

  "You’re welcome to stay here tonight, rather than return to the Spaceport. It might be wise, given the circumstances."

  Snark and Anna agreed.

  Snark’s mind was racing. It was obvious a member of the Brotherhood had infiltrated the Scots planet and city, recruiting a human as a member. He must have had instructions to kill, but why Mac? How would it lead them to the Stone? And was it just a myth? Was he on a wild Peekin’ chase? Were there other reasons they would want Mac dead? Well obviously he was the head of any force on this world, the only humans in this part of the galaxy. Yet. Perhaps this was more about the imminent arrival of humans into the galaxy proper, and the resulting imbalance in the balance of power. Or was it balancing the imbalance? He needed some sleep. He always thought better after a nap. He curled up tight in the makeshift cat bed, and dropped off to sleep.

  Anna couldn’t sleep. Had she brought the Brotherhood here? Obviously, they had a human recruit already established, but had their orders come this far? What was the Stone of Destiny, and how did it relate to the Destiny Stone?

  It couldn’t just be a myth. She had seen it. Well not it exactly, but she had Seen. Or was this some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy? She’d been fed the stories all her life, so perhaps whatever she saw, she interpreted in the light of that?

  But she knew, she just knew.

  Although doubt was creeping in.

  Mac didn’t sleep either, although his wife was fast asleep next to him. She snored gently, snuffled, and turned over.

  He knew Puss, and Puss hadn’t brought the Brotherhood to him, it was already here. They were everywhere l
ike the purple plague. He had prided himself on the isolationist policy which had protected them from the rest of the galaxy, but he knew this was coming to an end.

  What had sparked the attempt tonight? Normally the Brotherhood weren’t so clumsy, and he knew he’d escaped almost too easily. There were too many pieces of the puzzle missing. And this Stone myth. Bollocks! Ancient history, and iffy at that.

  He rolled over and hugged his wife to him. But he’d be glad to see the back of Anna and Puss.

  Jamie couldn’t sleep. He’d never seen such a girl before. Totally unlike the girls he knew. Ok, she wasn’t classically beautiful, actually her nose was too long, and the funny lopsided smile, but her eyes! With all the excitement tonight, he’d only caught a few glimpses of her, but she must be important if she was with the family tonight. Where had she come from? Everyone knew everyone. Perhaps it was one of the outlying Highland clans? But she didn’t dress like a highlander, so where had she come from?

  Maraid swept back her white hair and stared into the fire. It was a complete folly of hers to have this fireplace when they had perfectly good heating like anyone else, but she missed her fire in the woods. Being close to the elements of the universe was important for her and for her art. She needed to know more, but nothing was coming out of the flames. Fake of course. Which was why it wasn’t working.

  She was concerned at the events of the evening, but not worried because she didn’t have all of the information she needed, yet. The girl was an enigma. An untrained Seer. Dangerous. But she was delightful, if young and naïve. And poor Snark. Yes, we knew him as Puss, but Snark was a much better name! Totally out of his depth. She liked Snark.

  Time for sleep. A few hours would do her. Plenty of time to deal with it all tomorrow.

  Fourteen

  Anna woke early. Restless, she quickly called up a coverall from her suit belt menu, and slipped out of her room. The manor house was a labyrinth of corridors, stately hallways, and at every turn, portraits of what? Ancestors? Stern faces and poses in a wide array of styles of clothing, some quite outlandish, gazed out or down at her. It was rather daunting in the grey light of dawn.

  She found a staircase and followed it down to the hall. More pictures here she hadn’t noticed the night before, and goodness, tapestries hung covering the stone walls. There must be a kitchen somewhere. She could do with something to eat.

  As she passed into the dining room from the hall, a picture caught her eye. It was a landscape rather than a portrait. She stopped to see it more clearly. The light was too dim in here. She put the light function on her tablet on, and shone it on the picture.

  She gasped. It was from her Seeing!

  The same landscape, from the same view point. What was it doing here? She shone the torch over the details of the picture. Yes, the same in every way, except, there was some writing at the bottom of the frame. She couldn’t make it out, as the writing was fancy. Meredith, Munroamin, Moncrieff?

  She could hear footsteps, and she turned off the torch. The footsteps came closer. For a moment she felt like hiding, but that was ridiculous. She was a just a guest waking early, and exploring the house.

  A shape came into the room, and she could see more clearly as it came closer. Maraid! The old woman saw her and came over.

  "Anna, my dear. You’re up early. Good morning."

  Maraid clasped her hands, and kissed her on both cheeks.

  "Good morning, Maraid."

  "Ah, I see you’re looking at our pictures."

  She stopped as she saw the picture in question. Her piercing blue eyes quickly focused back on Anna.

  "Interesting. Do you like it?"

  "It's, lovely!" Anna stammered lamely.

  The picture wasn’t pretty or enchanting. It was a strange view of a waterfall seen through a large archway of stone. The light was odd, pinkish, and the waterfall was made up of three water courses falling into one. The pool they fell into was a bright green colour, almost luminescent. She hadn’t remembered it in her Seeing. It was as alien a view as anything in this part of the galaxy.

  "I’m not sure the artist has captured it well," said Maraid, "but it is intriguing."

  "Who was the artist?"

  Maraid paused.

  "My grandmother," she said, and turned away from the painting. She took Anna’s arm and steered her away. "I’m sure you’re hungry. We’ll see what we can find, and the cook is probably up by now."

  Anna followed her, looking back briefly at the picture.

  Snark was also hungry, but he didn’t know if they would have anything he really wanted to eat. Perhaps he could always go hunting for Peekin’? He followed the scents and smells wafting from the kitchen, and was sitting at the table with a bowl of porridge flavoured with herring to make it at least edible, when Anna and Maraid appeared.

  They exchanged greetings and sat down to porridge, this time, flavoured with honey. They were soon joined by Mac.

  "I see ye’re all up early!"

  He seemed quite convivial and in good humour. Snark was slightly relieved.

  "Once ye’re finished, we’ll meet back in the drawing room."

  He helped himself to a hot roll the cook had just pulled out of the oven.

  A short time later, Maraid and Anna sat back on the same couch as before, and Snark perched up on an armchair. Mac stood by a false fireplace. He cleared his throat.

  "Ok, let’s work this out. From what I understand, Anna here is a long-lost Russian Princess, who is searching for the Destiny Stone, which has some kind of power which is valuable to the likes of Bhatet and the Brotherhood." Anna nodded. "It’s some kind of family quest which has been going for generations. You meet up with Puss, and together you come here via Farside Gamma station, which just happens to be destroyed after you get there, probably by the Brotherhood on behalf of Bhatet. You make your way here, for trade ostensibly," he looked sternly at Snark, "and then we have this incident last night. Meanwhile, my mother has visions of some kind of sinister force which is threatening the galaxy as a whole, and us in particular." He looked at the others. "That it?"

  There were nods and grunts of acknowledgement.

  "Bollocks! Ye’re all mad!" scoffed Mac at last.

  "Don’t swear, Cole, it doesn’t help," scolded Maraid.

  "I’ve had it too. The vision." Anna spoke quietly. "The cold evil is coming. And I am a Russian Princess. And it’s the Destiny Stone. I don’t know what the Stone of Destiny is, but it’s not the same thing." She realised she’d contradicted herself, and added, "Well I’m sure when I find out what it is, it won’t be the same."

  Bloody mop heads, Snark told himself. It all sounded unbelievable when laid out matter of factly like this. It was time for him to put himself first, and get the hell out. The Brotherhood and Bhatet! He must be mad.

  Mac sat down in a chair by the fireplace.

  "OK, tell me about the Destiny Stone."

  Anna seemed reluctant to say. But she really had no choice. She needed their help.

  "The Stone," she started quietly. "No-one knows what it looks like, but we know it exists. It has great power, and those who possess it gain that power. It’s very valuable as a result. Not in monetary terms, but in terms of what it can do for the owner. It was taken from my family, centuries ago. I now know it came through to this galaxy. I’ve Seen it. It’s a true Seeing. I just know, like my mother before me, and hers in a long line. It’s important it comes back into the family. And it’s important it doesn’t fall into the hands of those who would misuse its power."

  "Well, the Stone of Destiny is a Scots myth. To do with a stone the Kings of Scotland would sit on to be crowned the true king." Mac paused. "It sounds the same…"

  "It can’t be!" Anna was quite adamant. "Our research is impeccable. It’s not Scots, its Russian, and it exists. We have to find it. Before someone else does."

  "And this cold evil whatever?" Mac changed the subject.

  Maraid nodded seemingly to herself. She closed he
r eyes.

  She’s gone Fey on me, thought Mac.

  She opened her eyes suddenly and turned to him and smiled.

  "Mac, ye’ve always been a wee bit too practical for me." Then she frowned. "I don’t know what it is, where it is, or when it's coming, but it is coming. And it’s evil." She shuddered.

  "That’s something I can work on," said Mac sarcastically. He signed. "I’m sure ye’ll give me a few updates along the way."

  He turned to Snark.

  "Ye’ve been quiet m’ wee cat. I could say something now which would be a great pun, but I won’t out of respect, ye understand."

  Snark had been deep in thought. A wild Peekin’ chase it was. All of this feyness, wild divinations of evil forces, and powerful stones. He was out of his depth. He thought the stone had a monetary value, something he could trade or convert or have a cut in its sale. At heart he was just a trader who wanted to, what? Go home? Well go home in style, with respect. Saving the galaxy, which is what seemed to be needed to be done, maybe in dreams after too much catnip weed.

  He was about to open his mouth when the door to the drawing room, a heavy wooden door, was flung open and crashed against the wall. Jamie burst through.

  "Mac!" he cried, running into the room, obviously still armed. "There’s ships coming into the system and they’re headed this way."

  "Ye could have just rung, ever the dramatist!"

  Mac was already pushing a button as he spoke. A whole section of wall slid aside to reveal a control panel and coms station. He soon had a view of the system and the blip of ships, and bloody hell! The Brotherhood, or Bhatet himself? How many? Hostile?

  Anna jumped to her feet and joined him, Snark close behind, and Jamie bringing up the rear.

  "Raiders, I think. Only three of them. It's hard to say who, perhaps when they’re closer". He turned to the others. "You certainly come bringing excitement, and really wild things." He shook his head. "Things are hotting up, and with the Owls defeated, and the humans coming, who knows who is taking advantage of the vacuum? There’ll be more chaos before anything settles down again, if it ever does."