Prosperine: The Adventures of the Space Heroine Hickory Lace: Books 1, 2 & 3 (The Prosperine Trilogy)

by PJ McDermott

  Hickory awoke the next morning to find her daily meal had been delivered while she slept. Alongside her porridge lay a damp cloth and a small jar of ointment. Crying softly, she thanked her benefactor, wiped the blood and grime from her face, and smeared on the ointment as best she could with her broken fingers. The healing properties of the salve relieved the incessant itching she had borne and she was able to think more clearly about her situation.

  She wondered whether the torture would stop, even if she told Sequana the truth, but she knew Tѐkan loved her work and Sasha too much for her to stop now. She decided that the next time they took her to Sasha, she would crush the little creature with her teeth until it was dead. She would see how much Tѐkan liked that.

  The guards did not come for her in the evening as they usually did, so she fell asleep on the cell floor. She woke with a thin shaft of light playing on her from the window high on one wall. From this, she judged it must be morning. Her body shook from a fever, and her hands and feet were bound. They must have done this while I slept. But why?

  She struggled to release the ropes, but the knots were too tight. Something wasn’t right. It felt too quiet. Soldiers should have been on the parade ground, but the usual sounds of clashing swords and lances were absent. The chieftains should be shouting encouragement to their charges by now. Perhaps they had been called to the cavern for some reason.

  She crawled across the floor on her elbows to protect her broken fingers until her back reached the wall and then forced herself to her feet. She hopped to the cell door and pressed an ear against the wood. Nothing. Were the guards asleep, or were they at a meeting too? She shouted as loudly as she could, but there was no response.

  Hickory searched carefully around the cell but found neither food nor water, and she was starving and parched. She slid to the floor and closed her eyes. All she could do was wait for the return of her jailers. When she woke again, it was dark, and there was still no sign of the Pharlaxians. Her face felt a little less painful, thanks to the ointment. She thought about that. Had the one who left the medication known everyone would be called away? It seemed likely, given the jar and cloth had been left in plain sight.

  She felt hot tears trail down her cheeks. Surely, they must have left someone to guard the prisoners? She called until she was hoarse, becoming more desperate as the minutes passed. She realized no one would come. The fighters had gone, the guards had gone, and the other prisoners had gone, too. Hickory had been abandoned, left here to die.

  “Help me, help me!” she croaked, hoping her amulet was still transmitting. She knew it was unlikely it would work in this stone complex, but even if it did her father wouldn’t come for her.

  He can’t interfere. He won’t interfere. His precious duty won’t let him.

  He had never come when she needed him. He had always left her to her own resources, pretending it was for her own good, to make her strong, to shape her into being able to handle what life threw at her without having to depend on anyone else.

  Bullshit!

  He was just plain selfish. Only interested in his career. He had room in his busy schedule for only one child. His precious, sycophantic son—sucking up to him to extract a morsel of consideration, panting after him like a puppy, dependent on his approval, always seeking some sign of love. Not she! She had no problem admitting the Admiral didn’t love her. That’s how she thought of him these days. The Admiral, with a capital A. It was more fitting than “father.” The only act of fatherhood he’d ever performed was to plant the seed of life in her mother’s belly.

  I’m going to die here. I’m going to freeze or starve to death or die of thirst.

  Unbidden, the face of the Teacher swam into her vision. Is he truly the Son of God, the Messiah come to save us all? Now she would never know. She giggled crazily. Unless I meet him when I die, and he’s sitting across from me at the right hand of the Father. Would he appear to her like Jesus or like Kar? She laughed out loud, then forced herself to concentrate. He was unusual. The strangest and at the same time the most giving, gentlest person she had ever met. Hickory recalled how she’d felt when Kar had touched her shoulder. Peace. Beautiful, all-encompassing peace. And love, unfettered love, for all … for her.

  Abruptly, her father’s image came to her once more. She would never see him again. She wouldn’t be able to tell him how she felt. There was an ache in her heart and a piece missing from her soul, and it was his fault. She had hoped for years that he would return, walk into her life again and fill it with light, and she would have welcomed him—she knew that. Even now. The Teacher had shown her she could still love him—did still love him, she realized with a shock. It hurt, yes, terribly, searingly, no matter how hard she tried to push it away. But he had caused the pain.

  I wish I’d done something more. Too late now.

  She could feel the cold seep into her bones, and the lethargy overcoming her will. Her head drooped.

  I forgive you, Dad. I love you, Dad.

  She woke to the tickle of a spider crawling up her arm. She shook it away, shivering and yelling in fear as it scurried into some hidden cranny. Ever since her mission in Aquarius, she had held an irrational terror of spiders.

  A sound in the corridor outside broke through her fear, causing her heart to surge with hope. Someone or something was nearby. She heard a murmur of voices. “Help me!” It came out as a croak. “Help!” she repeated, stronger this time. She saw the door at the end of the corridor open.

  “Hickory! Thank God!” Jess ran to her cell with Mack at her back. They unlocked and pushed the bars aside. Jess knelt and held a water bag to her cracked lips then loosened her bonds.

  Hickory stared, wide-eyed. Is this another illusion? Her voice broke as she saw her friend leaning over her. “Jess? Good old Jess. Good old, reliable Jess. Have you come to rescue me?” Her swollen lips formed a faint smile.

  Jess looked into her eyes and felt her forehead. “She’s burning up,” she said anxiously.

  “I’ll get the meds from the saddlebag,” said Mack, as he hurried from the cell.

  Hickory gulped greedily and grasped Jess’s arm, afraid she would disappear. Jess wept at the bloody mess her hands and face were in.

  “How did you find me? Did my father—”

  “Kar-sѐr-Sephiryth,” Jess said. “We’d almost reached the gates of Ezekan when we saw a crowd of Avanauri gathered around him. He was shocked to see us. When we sorted out our stories and realized you must still be here, we came straight back. I haven’t spoken with your father since we left the city, four weeks ago.”

  “It would have been kind of funny if you’d arrived and I’d already gone.” Or maybe not so funny if I was dead. Hickory shivered.

  Mack returned with a blanket and wrapped it around her. He took a pouch from his saddlebag, measured some of the contents into a bowl and pounded them with the handle of his knife to release a thick, milky liquid. He combined the extract with some water and forced her to swallow it.

  “Drink up, Hickory. This brew doesn’t smell too great, but the Teacher said if you have any injuries, this will help you heal more quickly. He seemed to think it might come in handy.”

  Hickory swallowed the potion. It tasted vile, but Mack insisted she finish it.

  “We got held up along the way. There’s a large force of rebel troops heading for the city. We stayed long enough to get a count and then gave them a wide berth. If we had known you were in such a bad way, we wouldn’t have dawdled. I’m sorry.”

  She wasn’t sure whether he was sorry for arriving late or for forcing her to drink the disgusting medicine. Jess wore a guilty look on her face. She flushed and couldn’t meet Hickory’s eyes. Hickory glanced at Mack, then back to Jess. The rebel army wasn’t the only thing that delayed them. “It’s all right, Jess. I don’t blame you for anything. You deserve whatever happiness you can get after the awful time you’ve had in the last few years. I’m happy for you both—honestly, I am. And the Intel you have on Sequa
na will be vital. Help me up. I need food and drink—lots of drink.”

  Jess and Mack filled her in while she ate. Perhaps it was the concoction Mack had prepared, but the dry bread and rations tasted like a sumptuous feast, and she had to force herself to concentrate on what they were saying.

  “We estimated five-and-a-half thousand Avanauri soldiers, most armed with swords and knives, but about fifty carrying assault rifles—Bikashi assault rifles. The Bikashi were in the vanguard—a company of around a hundred—armed to the teeth but wearing only light body armor. They’re not expecting too much opposition.”

  Hickory was dismayed. A hundred fully armed Bikashi soldiers? If they fought the Ezekan army in the field, it would be a massacre. Then again, if he had any sense, the High Reeve wouldn’t send many, if any, of his troops into direct combat. Much better to defend the city from behind its walls.

  Mack filled in some of the missing pieces. “Agency intelligence places the number of government forces at around two thousand regular troops inside the city walls and probably another six thousand or so volunteers. But they all carry traditional weapons, including fixed crossbows on the walls—easy pickings for the Bikashi and the assault soldiers amongst the insurgents. But that’s not the worst part.” He paused, looking at Jess to continue.

  “Go on, Jess,” said Hickory. “Give me the whole story and then we can get out of here.”

  “Look at your face and hands. My God, what did they do to you? We’re not going anywhere until you get some sleep and feel a bit stronger. I’m not having you dying on me.”

  Hickory swore. She was sore and weary, but things were moving fast and she had to get to Ezekan if she was going to be able to change anything. The IA and the Avanaurean administration needed to know what they were up against. “Tell me now, Jess. I can sleep on the road.”

  Jess’s face colored. “Sorry—I’m worried about you, but of course you’re right. We need to get to Ezekan quickly.” She drew breath. “The rebels are bringing up siege engines with them. That’s why they’re moving so slowly. There has to be at least twenty of those monsters—battering rams on slings, catapults, towers, ballistae, trebuchets, and some I’ve never seen in the history books, more like demolition balls, all being pulled along by teams of yarraks. I reckon the city is in trouble. They’ll have to engage them in the field or they will be destroyed.”

  It was a disaster in the making. If it weren’t for the Bikashi, the IA would have been forced to stand aside and watch because of their policy of non-interference, but her father wouldn’t stand by as the nonaligned stripped the planet of its crynidium. The Bikashi might well prevail before the admiral realized what was happening. She needed to get this Intel to him.

  Return to Ezekan

  Jess did what she could to make Hickory comfortable in the back of the cart, but every rock and rut along the way felt like she was in the hands of her torturer once more. Outside Tontine, they killed and roasted a wild lupus, thinking the meat would give Hickory strength. She ate ravenously, apologizing to the others for her appetite, then promptly threw up. She drank more of the Teacher’s mixture and was amazed by its medicinal properties.

  Hickory’s health improved dramatically; the cuts and welts on her face developed thick scabs and the swelling of her fingers subsided. Each day, she insisted on exercising, testing her body to the limit.

  Six days passed. A column of black smoke appeared on the horizon. They pushed on past dusk and arrived at the small village of Hartlepool as the aurora faded. It lay in ruins, its houses, only hotel, and temple reduced to smoking rubble. Corpses littered the streets. They searched amongst the wreckage looking for survivors, and found one, barely alive.

  “So many…” Oridanke-sèr-Frenchin was the holy man of Hartlepool. He had fallen into a ditch after being shot through the lungs with an arrow during the initial attack. “So many,” he repeated, red froth bubbling at his mouth. “They are a plague of insects darkening the sun. And he … he is evil incarnate.” Jess covered his shivering body with a blanket. “There was no reason,” he said. The priest raised his head a few inches, desperate to explain. “He needed an example to show the world—and he chose our community.” His eyes strayed from Jess to the heavens, and he sank back to the ground.

  They returned the priest to the earth and journeyed throughout the night, and just before the sun came up they saw, on the horizon, trails of smoke from the revolutionaries’ campfires. At the crest of a hill, they looked down into the valley.

  A large military encampment spread out before them: hundreds of tents, dozens of flags and war machines, thousands of soldiers and followers, and almost as many yarraks. The camp was already awake. Some soldiers wore the skins of Violators and other beasts with heads still attached. Many busied themselves at the stockade, preparing their charges for battle. Others stoked up smoking night fires to cook the morning meal.

  “Look,” said Hickory, pointing to the pavilion at the center of the camp.

  “Sequana. He looks mightily pleased with himself,” said Mack, focusing his spyglass on the Pharlaxian leader. Sequana wore a battle vest etched with the Pharlaxian infinity symbol over black silk, calf-length robes trimmed with chrome. The rebel leader stood with his hands on his hips while two servants laced up his knee-length boots. He was talking to the Bikashi commander, Vogel, who was clearly agitated, waving his hands to encompass the camp.

  “What’s his problem?” said Jess.

  “Hard to tell from here, but he’s angry. I think it’s because the army should be ready to march on the city,” Mack said, looking grim. “Sequana may be the leader, but he hasn’t much idea how to conduct a war. Have a look at Vogel’s men. They’re ready to go.”

  Thank God for small mercies. “We’re going to have to skirt the army to reach the city,” said Hickory. “The admiral probably knows the worst by now, but we still need to brief him, and I have an idea that might help.”

  “What’s that over there?” said Jess, pointing. “On the far side. Is that the Teacher?”

  “How the hell did he get caught this time?” said Mack, passing his spyglass to Hickory.

  Hickory looked through the glass. “Yes, it’s him all right. He’s strapped to a post in a wagon.” He doesn’t seem to make any effort to avoid his enemies. It’s almost as though it’s all part of his plan.

  “I don’t like the look of it,” said Jess. “There’s a load of straw piled up around his feet.”

  A squad of soldiers marched to the cart in which the Teacher stood and pushed it to the army’s front line. Shouts of derision and abuse and coarse jokes and laughter followed them. The Teacher’s gaze never strayed from the path ahead.

  “We’ve got to do something,” said Jess. “We can’t just stand by and watch him die.”

  “Watch him die?” echoed Hickory. Her eyes flicked here and there, looking for inspiration. “We must get to the city. They have to be warned.” Her shoulders slumped. Maybe he’ll be all right. He’s escaped from them before now. She thought back to her conversation with the Teacher the last time they’d met.

  She stood up. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. We can’t leave him here alone so one of us will stay. The other two will go to the city, raise the alarm and get back here as quickly as possible. With a bit of luck, they’ll keep him alive to show off in front of the city gates.”

  Mack pulled Jess close and said to Hickory. “You and Jess head for the Agency. I’m going to get as near as I can to Kar-sѐr-Sephiryth. Maybe I can do something. At the least, I won’t let these guys burn him.”

  Hickory nodded. An arrow to the heart would be a better fate.

  Mack smiled into Jess’s upturned face. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. You be careful, too.” He kissed her, then started down the hill towards the camp.

  Hickory and Jess boarded the wagon and turned Brutus’s head away from the rebel army. When they looked back, Mack had already disappeared. They took a wide berth, to make sure they would avoid
any outriders scouting along the flank.

  Ezekan was in turmoil when they arrived. The guards were closing the city gates. Refugees from outlying towns and villages had been pouring in all day because of the government decree that the city would be closed before the enemy arrived. Families were being turned away and those still outside the gates had become ugly. Hartlepool was common knowledge. No one wanted to be left to the mercy of Sequana.

  Hickory and Jess tried to drive the cart through the densely packed crowd but the throng closed around them, and they found themselves stuck. Desperate, they climbed onto the yarak's back and unhitched him from the cart. They urged him forward, forcing the angry crowd aside. A squad of reinforcements arrived from inside the city to bolster the guards just as Brutus squeezed his way between the closing doors.

  They ran to the administration building and climbed the stairs. At the third level, they were met by two armed soldiers standing guard outside the High Reeve’s offices.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” said the first.

  “We must see the High Reeve immediately. We have vital information for him,” said Hickory.

  The guard looked Hickory up and down and smirked. “He’s busy. Unless you have an appointment, you cannot enter.”

  “We’ve just come from the Pharlaxian camp. We must see the High Reeve,” argued Hickory.

  The second soldier raised his spear threateningly. “Not unless you have an appointment. Those are our orders.”

  Frustrated, Jess tried to force her way through, and the soldier pushed her roughly away.

  “Another move like that and I’ll skewer you, Castilie.” He pointed the spear at Jess’s chest.

  Hickory lost patience. She seized the spear by the shaft and wrested it from his hands, then forced the naur against the wall with the point at his neck.