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 move 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 pronunciation 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 that 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.
‘It’s not as Mira told you,’ said Trin.
‘You raped her,’ said Djes.
‘It was my right to sire a bambino. It has always been the way among our people.’
‘Then your way is wrong,’ she said simply.
He fell silent, unable to find the right words to defend himself. ‘I love you,’ he said softly.
Her mouth softened as if she was weakening, but then she spun on her bare feet and walked away.
As he watched her go, he became aware of Tina Galiotto’s presence at his elbow.
‘She does not understand our ways, Principe,’ said Tina.
Trin’s sore heart eased a little, and he took solace in the truth. Djes wasn’t one of his kind; she didn’t truly understand his beliefs. Tina was right. But there were still those with him that did.
Perhaps that was enough.
MIRA
Mira carried Vito along Insignia’s strata to the buccal, myriad things playing on her mind.
‘Trust me. Nourish the biozoon. Clean it. Then it will carry you away from here,’ she’d told Djeserit as she left.
‘What do you have to do?’ Djes had asked.
‘Something no one else can.’
Vito didn’t look back when she and Josef left the island to go aboard Insignia.
Now, as she entered the buccal, she kissed the ‘bino again, and felt him cling closer to her. To her relief, Nova lay in Primo, just as she’d left her, nourished and peaceful.
You have my fratella. Nova opened her eyes and smiled at her mother and Vito. We must go now.
Mira sat Vito on the edge of the vein and scooped Nova into her arms. She held them close, inhaling their scent and revelling in the touch of their skin. She could not remember ever feeling such aching joy. She would not leave her baby, or Vito, again.
Ever.
‘What’s her name?’ asked Josef Rasterovich as he came in behind her.
‘Nova,’ said Mira.
Josef moved closer, his face flushed. ‘She’s beautiful.’
Nova reached out and caught his finger. He is sweet, Mama, can I go with him? Secondo vein will care for us, and you can carry Vito.
Mira laughed. ‘She likes you. You should hold her for a while.’
Jo-Jo took Nova carefully from her, as if the child might disintegrate under his touch. ‘Where are we going?’
‘To Semantic.’
‘The bigger moon?’
Mira nodded. ‘Nova told me that she would like to travel there with you—in the Secondo vein.’
His mouth fell open. ‘She told you that?’
‘Si,’ said Mira as she lay herself and Vito down in Primo. ‘Nova knows what she likes.’
THALES
‘Thales!’
Thales stared at the person entering the command brief chamber on Lasper Farr’s ship. Bethany Ionil looked exhausted, but her embrace was fierce and full of relief.
Behind her, Thales saw Samuelle and the old fellow that Thales had met on Edo, Jelly Hob. Three other ‘esques followed them in, and they gravitated straight over to Balbao.
With Petalu Mau, the Feohte injured leader and several of Lasper’s mutinous soldiers, the chamber was suddenly full. One of the soldiers passed around rehyd-tubes and some jerky.
After they’d drunk and eaten a little, Bethany sent the soldiers out. She identified each remaining person for the benefit of them all and told everyone to sit. Then she took up a position in the centre and encompassed them all with her gaze.
Thales thought she looked older, more worn, but there was a tautness to her body, a resolution that comes with assuming responsibility. He’d seen it before in Lasper Farr, and the mercenary Rast Randall. And now he saw it in Bethany Ionil.
‘You’ve closed the sphere?’ she said to Fariss and Thales.
‘Yeah,’ said Farris. ‘And you’ve taken command of the ship.’
Samuelle moved next to her. ‘Not just the ship. Consilience too. Some of our ships have survived. We’ll rendezvous with them soon.’
‘My brother was a brilliant man but he risked too much for personal ambition,’ said Beth wearily, and that was all.
Thales could see how close she was to tears but she kept them at bay. ‘We’re prepping to leave, an hour at most. Word’s out that the sphere is closing. Things will get worse. Will you come with us?’
Thales couldn’t bear to look at Farris as he shook his head. ‘I’ll stay here. The virus has spread among the Sophos. I must find a way to right things.’
‘With the sphere shut you’ll be cut off from the rest of Orion. Possibly for ever,’ said Beth.
Before Thales could respond, Balbao spoke up. ‘Would this be a virus that affects humanesque behaviour? One that alters the processes in the orbito-frontal lobe?’
Thales stared at him, astonished. ‘You know of
it?’
Balbao’s thick-skinned face became unreadable. ‘Not only do I know of it, but I can introduce you to the person who developed it and can, no doubt, negate its affects.’ He gestured at the female tyro.
‘You!’ exclaimed Bethany. ‘Do you realise what misery you’ve caused?’
Thales touched his scarred skin.
The tyro, a fleshy female with trembling lips who’d identified herself as Miranda Seeward, opened her mouth and shut it again. ‘I needed lucre for my research, so I sold it,’ she said finally. ‘I never expected it to... You must understand that what we were doing was very important. I needed funds.’
Bethany’s face set in a grim expression reminiscent of her dead brother. ‘If your intention was not malicious then you’ll have no qualms accompanying Thales back to Scolar to reverse what you’ve done. Janne will... escort you.’
The injured Feohte leader shifted closer to Miranda.
Seeward grasped the hand of the male tyro next to her and nodded mutely.
Bethany looked to Jelly Hob. ‘Jeremiah, can you go to helm? I would be happier if you were there. Leaving here will be fraught.’
Jelly Hob’s old face lit with pleasure. Before he left he shook hands with Thales and then Balbao. ‘Farewell,’ he said with feeling, and left.
Bethany surveyed the rest of them. ‘Those of you staying on Scolar must leave now. Petalu Mau will show you off-ship.’
The teranu waved his arm meaning that they should move. Janne, Miranda Seeward and Jise went first. But the other tyro held back. He looked at Bethany almost shyly, Thales thought.
‘I would stay if I could, Captain Ionil.’
She regarded him with curious eyes. ‘Why would you do that? We will be on the run.’
Labile Connit licked his lips.
‘Cos he’s your nephew, Beth. Mebbe he thinks some family’s better than none,’ piped up Samuelle.
Bethany stared at him in shock. ‘You’re Lasper’s son? I never believed the rumours.’
Connit couldn’t meet her gaze. ‘I never knew him, but I am genetically his son. That is all,’ he added quietly. He waited then as if fearing a death sentence.
The Sentients of Orion Page 118
