Snark's Quest

by Timothy Ellis

  Meanwhile, Patters was gathering intelligence. She was plying traders with drinks, and hoping they could give her information on what was happening with Bhatet, and any prisoners just delivered.

  Snark knew Sissness had been working night and day to pinpoint any information she could which would help them. Nothing so far, but he was hopeful. At the end of the day though, he was worried. Had he miscalculated? They didn’t know which ship Anna was on. They didn’t know if she was here yet or not.

  What would get him the information he needed? Were they too late?

  Anna felt the ship dock. She could feel it through the ship’s plates, and the engine noise slowing and stopping. Mash looked at her in the bright light of the cell. His tentacles waved in sympathy. They were both scared and sad.

  "Well, this is it," stated Mash simply. "Good luck."

  "You too."

  Anna was lost for words. She was terrified of what would happen next.

  The door opened. They were transferred off the ship, and onto the station through some dark and dank corridors, to another holding pen. That was all Anna could call it. It was full of a mass of stinking, suppurating, cringing, battling, beings. They were trying to do deals, get help from, entreat, and bully, the people on the outside of the cage. She hesitated before the entrance, but was pushed roughly in, Mash following her.

  Anna fought her way to a space at the side of the cage, where at least she could get some air. Other beings grabbed her, pushed and grappled with her, trying to see if she had anything to eat or trade.

  Mash followed as much as he could. They ended up in a small group of two trying to protect what little space they had from others.

  The day passed, with the occupants of the cage being called forward, and disappearing through the door. They didn’t come back. A steady stream of beings of all kinds went out of the cage, and more replaced them.

  The beings outside of the cage were sometimes friends and relatives, but more often than not, traders who would sell food, clothes, or other services to the inmates.

  Anna was starving, but had nothing to trade for food. Mash sold his lighter, and was given a bowl of some kind of porridge. He offered it to Anna. She shook her head.

  "You must eat," Mash said.

  Anna nodded, and scooped up some of the porridge with her fingers. It was tasteless, but was warm and filling. She scooped up some more. Mash also ate some.

  They waited.

  Finally, Mash was called forward. The guards came into the pen, and pulled him from the cage by his tentacles. There was no time to say goodbye. He was gone.

  Anna was alone.

  Snark had met a trader, who knew someone else who knew Bhatet’s head chef. This was not getting him where he really wanted to go, but at least it was somewhere. The head chef was evidently very interested, and they had a time and place to meet. He was just sitting down to some rodent stew, when he got a call from Patters.

  "A ship’s docked, it’s one of the bat ships. It has to be!"

  "How can you be sure?"

  "I listened to the gossip. They said word’s gone around there was a human on board, a prisoner." She paused. "Everyone wanted to know when she’d be coming before Bhatet, so they could be there."

  Snark hissed to himself. Were they too early, or too late? He wasn’t where he’d hoped to be, and she was here.

  "Thanks. Keep going. We need to know more."

  He pushed away the stew. He didn’t feel hungry any more.

  Sissness was sifting through the information from the Owl’s data chip. It was heavy going. There was no summary document which might give her insight into what he was thinking, and what he’d known.

  She was looking for anything which might help them with the current mission. Anything about Bhatet and the Brotherhood. He’d basically said he wouldn’t be taken by them, and he’d been true to his word. But why? And what did he know?

  It was infuriatingly slow work. And they didn’t have a lot of time.

  Snark met the Head Chef, and was completely taken aback. It was a cat. A Cat of the Plains cat. And even more surprising, female.

  Brindle, the Head Chef, also did a double take.

  Luckily, Brindle didn’t know Snark, and Snark introduced himself by his trader friend’s name, Furrnett. Brindle got to the point.

  "I hear you have a cargo of Bhatet’s favourite delicacy."

  "Yes. Difficult to get hold of these days."

  "Oh not really."

  "Really? Then maybe I’m talking to the wrong being."

  Snark started to stand up.

  "Sit down," conceded Brindle. "Of course, it has to be top quality."

  "I only deal in the best!"

  They haggled a bit. Snark made some arrangements, and then made his next move.

  "As part of the deal, I’d like an audience with Bhatet. I’d like to offer him more trade in this, and other hard to get commodities."

  "Are you suicidal? You can safely deal with me for the food items. I can get you contacts for the other stuff."

  "It’s an audience, or no deal."

  Brindle shrugged.

  "It’s your head. But it’d be a pity if I didn’t have access to the goods in the future."

  "I can look after myself."

  Brindle laughed and purred.

  "Furrnett, you’re a funny fellow. I like you. So, I’ll let you into a little secret. When Bhatet is about to get homicidal, his left eye twitches."

  "Is that it?"

  "It's enough to get yourself out of his way if it’s possible. And another thing."

  Snark looked enquiringly at her.

  "He doesn’t like cats at the moment. Ever since that incident at the Cat Homeworld, when he sees a cat, it reminds him of it. He doesn’t like to lose."

  "Great." Snark felt his stomach fall. "How do you manage?"

  "I keep him fed. He has a soft spot for me."

  "I bet. Just out of curiosity, how did you end up here?"

  "I’m a chef to all of the greats," Brindle bridled.

  "Of course. But Bhatet?"

  Brindle hesitated.

  "It’s a long story. But once in Bhatet’s employment, you never leave. Alive that is."

  Snark hissed.

  "It’s a living," said Brindle. "Of sorts."

  They touched noses on the deal, and Snark made arrangements for the transfer, and for getting in contact about the audience.

  "I’ll get you a sample today, so Bhatet knows you, and I of course, have the goods in stock. Make sure you serve it up so he enjoys it."

  "He always does. Of course my cooking only enhances it."

  Snark agreed and left.

  Seventy One

  Sissness had finally found something. She ran into the bridge with her tablet.

  Jamie was making calculations about several different rescue scenarios involving the Seasprite. None of them came out successfully. Most ended in destruction of the ship.

  Without him knowing, Seasprite's AI had been feeding him variables designed to make all his scenarios hopeless. Before leaving with Snark, Warspite had emphasised the necessity of Seasprite being here when Snark returned. The last thing they needed was Jamie going off half-cocked, and Snark jumping back in here to find the ship gone.

  There was still no news from Snark. They had a regular time for coms so Jamie could be in the loop. He knew if either Patters or Snark didn’t contact him at the agreed times, he was to plan another rescue. Hence his simulations. What he didn’t know was Warspite was constantly feeding Seasprite the current situation, and they were nowhere near needing another plan.

  He was still feeling guilty about Anna. He was also conflicted. He loved her, he knew. He didn’t know why. She wasn’t particularly nice to him, and had never given him hope she liked him especially even. He just knew he couldn’t let anything happen to her. And he was stuck here.

  "I’ve found something!"

  Jamie immediately shut off the simulation he’d been working
on, somewhat relieved to not see the ship explode once again.

  "What?"

  Sissness caught her breath.

  "It’s not much, but it’s a start," she said excitedly. "Old Hootsmoon had been several things when he was younger, and one was a trader. That’s how he met Bhatet. Bhatet was a small time crook, who was trading in illegal substances, including the purple weed. Hootsmoon wouldn’t have anything to do with the poisonous drug, and they had a big falling out."

  Jamie was disappointed.

  "How does that help us?"

  Sissness could read his frustration.

  "That’s just background. Hootsmoon didn’t like his own kind much, and gave up trading when he saw what Bhatet was up to. Hootsmoon got to know Bhatet well though. Bhatet is a hybrid of several species. He has the strengths but also weaknesses of them as well. It’s his squid and octopus heritage which makes him vulnerable to a certain kind of toxin. It’s fatal in even minute doses."

  Jamie was finally interested.

  "What is it?"

  Sissness smiled.

  "Caffeine. What you find in human coffee, and a lot of species sugar drinks."

  Once she'd found the reference and the cat translation, not knowing it herself, she'd cross referenced the human database to find out what it was. She'd been surprised to find it in cat drinks, but it accounted for why few cats had died of the addiction. Most of them drank something with the cat version of caffeine in it.

  "What?"

  "The same basic substance which cures the purple weed addiction is poisonous to him. He was immune from the effects of the drug, but…"

  "Vulnerable to its cure?"

  "…so when Queen Jane found the cure, which the Owls had more or less been drinking all this time, and spread it widely through sector ten, and outwards…"

  "Bhatet had to be careful."

  "Not just that. Hootsmoon knew about it. Hootsmoon had tried to kill Bhatet at one point with it, but failed. Hootsmoon knew if he was ever captured by Bhatet, his life wouldn’t be worth living."

  "You’re right," admitted Jamie. "It’s not much, but it’s something to consider."

  "Bhatet has effectively banned caffeine, and anything remotely close to it, from the systems he controls, which means the rate of addiction is still high in those areas, but also means anything caffeine like, is ironically a black market drug behind his own black market, and is also traded by crime syndicates and the like, behind his back."

  Sissness grinned, and licked her paw.

  "We’ve got to let Snark know."

  Sissness paused in her licking.

  "Next call in, we can tell him. But I’m not sure how he can use this information. First he has to get some, and then he has to get Bhatet to drink it."

  "Hmmm. Getting it isn’t a problem. He carries some of the cure around with him."

  "And also, it might not help Anna if Bhatet is out of the way. Someone else will just take over the Empire. She’d still be a prisoner."

  Jamie’s heart fell. He had to think of something. He turned back to Sissness.

  "Great work!" he said. "Keep looking though, keep looking."

  Sissness nodded, and turned to go.

  Seventy Two

  Patters had become friends with a prison guard called Brackett. He was a solid barrel of a shape, being a hippo being. She’d bumped into him in a bar, and rather than pick a fight, he'd seen she was a cat, and started talking instead. He was a garrulous individual, who seemed to want to take Patters under 'his wing', and show her 'the ropes' of the station.

  She steered the conversation around to prisoners, which wasn’t too hard, given his profession.

  "We’ve got a bit of a coup, you know," he said proudly. "A human!" He flicked his eyes back and forth to see if anyone was listening. "Puny looking things, though. Wouldn’t last two seconds in a fight."

  "Never seen a human," Patters lied happily.

  "Would you like to?"

  Patters didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic.

  "Wouldn’t mind."

  "I can organise it," Brackett said proudly.

  He led her down to the prison levels, the lowest on the station. There was a guard blocking the way to the holding pen, but he saw Brackett and waved them through.

  Patters was shocked when she saw the cage. The smell was enough to put anyone off. Locking beings up was something she herself could never do, and probably wouldn’t survive, but this was like caging animals, rather than intelligent beings.

  She couldn’t see Anna at first, but Brackett pointed her out.

  Patters was appalled. The Anna she knew was defiant, but this Anna seemed broken. She was still clothed in clean garments, but the rest of her was a mess. Hair lank and hanging in tangles, her face downcast and pale, with a livid red scar on her cheek. She looked emaciated.

  Brackett was laughing, and Patters had to steal herself not to hit him.

  "See! Skinny little thing."

  Anna looked up at that moment, and saw them. Patters distracted Brackett long enough, so the look of recognition which passed across Anna’s face was gone before he could look back. Anna looked quickly down again. Patters kept her emotions from showing on her face.

  "You’re right, not very impressive. How is it they’ve taken over part of the galaxy?"

  "No idea."

  The hippo was genuinely surprised, and wondering about how something so vulnerable looking, could be so powerful. They left after that. Patters wanted to tear into the cage, and rescue Anna there and then. But she knew she'd never be able to do it, given the number of guards.

  But she knew where Anna was, and maybe could get her some food, a message, some hope. And they could plan knowing about this.

  Anna saw Patters with the burly guard, and couldn’t help the shock registering on her face. She quickly looked down. When she looked up again, they were gone.

  They were here. Somehow, they would try to help her. She smiled, and for the first time felt some hope. Then she felt afraid. They couldn’t possibly rescue her. It was impossible. They might be killed. All because of her, and her stupid Seeking.

  For the first time in her life, Anna stopped thinking about the Destiny Stone. Suddenly it wasn’t important at all, put beside the safety of her friends. And she realised this was what they were. Friends. She’d never really had them. Apart from Eddie and Zema, and they’d been lost to her. She didn’t want it to happen again.

  If they were killed because of her, she couldn’t bear it. She had to stop being a victim, and start thinking, planning. She needed to be strong.

  A prisoner pushed her, and she pushed back roughly, knocking one into another. They avoided her.

  She wasn’t going to give in without a fight.

  "Human!" called the guard, not the hippo she’d seen with Patters, but a large not-croc.

  She stepped forward, ready.

  He pulled her roughly out of the cage, and she shook him off. She looked at him defiantly, and started walking. He almost ran to catch up with her, and another guard fell into step in front of her. They put her in a cell, a white sterile room, on her own, and locked her in.

  She desperately needed a clean. She tried to comb her hair with her fingers, and tied it into a knot. What would happen next? She hoped Patters would know where she’d been taken.

  Patters was sitting with Snark in a dark bar. They were not together, but sitting at different tables, but back to back. Patters had filled him in about Anna.

  He didn’t reply immediately. He was thinking of a thousand different ways they could exploit the knowledge, but none were feasible.

  It was time to report in. He sent a message to Jamie. And immediately received a reply. He spent a short while decoding it, and smiled.

  "Caffeine!" he said under his breath.

  "What?" said Patters quietly.

  He filled her in, and they quietly exchanged thoughts.

  After a while, Patters left. Snark waited a bit, finished his drink, and
left.

  Seventy Three

  Snark entered into the great hall, and looked around curiously.

  The usual mix of entertainments, trading, nefarious business, and loitering was under way. He’d been admitted by the guard, who’d looked carefully at his credentials on Snark’s old tablet, and then checked against his own.

  Brindle the chef had been as good as her word. He was in.

  He wandered around the hall, pretending interested in some of the wares for sale, some of the entertainment, a group of weasel-looking tumblers, and some of the groups of traders. Drinks were on offer from a stall, and he bought a Samovian beer to look as if he fit in.

  He was wearing his red suit, mainly because it covered his grazes and scratches, not because he wanted to appear in sartorial splendour. But it did have the effect of giving him some confidence.

  He was attracting curious glances and some flat-out stares. Several groups elbowed each other, and laughed. Yes he was a cat. A Cat of the Plains. A Cat of the Plains on a mission. A Cat of the Plains in bright red.

  Suddenly Bhatet appeared from a door at the back of the Hall, and sat in his throne on a raised platform. Snark noticed everyone had stopped what they were doing to pay attention. There were no fanfares, trumpets, or drum rolls. Everyone knew when Bhatet was present, and were suddenly on their guard.

  Snark looked at him curiously. He knew Bhatet’s origins, but nothing prepared him for the combined effect. Very ugly indeed.

  Guards appeared, pulling a tentacle'd creature along behind them. They deposited him in the space in front of Bhatet, and stood either side of him.

  Bhatet laughed.

  "So, Mash!"

  "We meet again, Bhatet," the beings voice sounding cracked and broken, but oddly sarcastic.

  "Thought you could cheat me?"

  "Well, it seemed too easy to pass up."

  Bhatet jumped to his feet and roared.

  "No-one cheats me and gets away with it!"

  Beings around the room flinched. He subsided a bit, and sat back down, although he looked anything but comfortable.