Andromeda Day and the Black Hole

by Charlie Jackson

  “He took me by surprise,” Clios said. She sat on the floor, rubbing her temple.

  Andi rushed over to her. “What happened?”

  “He caught me before I could duck.”

  Deneb held out a hand. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine.” Clios’s tone was curt, suggesting the truth was otherwise, but she struggled to her feet and brushed her clothes. “Come on, let’s hurry up and get this over with.”

  They continued down the corridor, more cautiously this time. These deeper levels were warmer than the tunnels above, in spite of the ventilation fans, and the air quality was very poor. Andi had only been down there for a few minutes when she started to feel light-headed. After a complicated pattern of tunnels and junctions, they eventually came to another computer station which Andi was sure was the center for the cells in which Lydia was housed. This time it was Clios who knocked out the guard, her anger from being surprised by the other jailer making her so swift that the Hoshaen barely had time to make a noise before her fist connected with his face.

  “Where now?” Deneb whispered, looking around at the cell doors.

  Andi walked along them, reading the symbols above. “Here,” she said, finally stopping.

  Clios’s eyes were bright. “Is this it?”

  “She should be here, according to the computer.” Andi slid the card through the slot on the door, breathless with anticipation. The red light turned green, and the door opened.

  Chapter Seven

  Clios slipped through the door. “Lydia?” she called softly.

  A figure sat up in one of the bunks. “Yes?” came the wary reply.

  “Lydia, it’s Clios.”

  “Clios?” The figure stood up and came forward into the dull light from the tunnel outside. The Ruvalian’s eyes open wide. “It is you!” The two young women threw their arms around each other, hugging tightly. Deneb squeezed Andi’s hand where they watched from the doorway.

  Clios eventually stepped back from the embrace and held Lydia by the shoulders. “Are you… well?”

  “I am fine,” Lydia said, smiling. “A little tired, that is all.”

  “We should go,” Deneb said from the door.

  Lydia turned to look at the other two people in the room. She frowned as she looked at Andi. “I don’t recognize you. Which city are you from?”

  “It’s a long story,” Andi said wryly. “I’m not actually a Ruvalian. My name’s Andi and this is Deneb. My father and I came here with Clios to rescue you. Can you tell us, do you have the Golden Star? Is it safe?”

  The two Ruvalian females exchanged a glance, which Andi was unable to decipher. Clios said quickly, “I said you had probably hidden it before you were taken.”

  Lydia nodded. “That’s right. I was able to find a hiding place for it before they brought me to the Black Hole. I can show you where I put it—if you get me out of here.”

  “Good, then let us go,” Deneb said. “I feel twitchy but not know why.”

  “It’s just the waiting,” Clios said, pulling Lydia after her and joining the other two in the tunnel. They walked quietly back to the computer station. “Now we need to make our way to the elevators.”

  “Not so fast.”

  The four of them stopped with a gasp at the voice. A guard sprang up from behind the computer station. Another appeared from the tunnel opposite the one down which they had passed, and yet another came out from the tunnel they had just exited. He must have been hiding further along from the cell, she thought in dismay. The first guard smiled nastily. Keeping his rifle trained on them, he lifted a receiver on the computer station and spoke into it. “We’ve got them.” He listened for a moment, then said: “Yes, sir,” before replacing it.

  Andi glared at him. “To whom are you speaking?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  The three guards motioned for the four of them to stand in a line. They did so, casting angry glances at each other. Andi could see that both Clios and Deneb wanted to spring the guards, but each time they twitched, the rifles would lock onto them and they would freeze in their steps.

  It wasn’t long before the person that the guard had been speaking to appeared. Andi had already guessed who it might be, but the sight of him still made her mouth go dry.

  It was Sphere.

  “You!” It was Deneb who said the words. Andi stared at him in shock, realizing that her father had, indeed, met the Hoshaen general on his way into the prison.

  Sphere gave a very nasty smile. He returned Deneb’s gaze evenly, then looked at Lydia, before turning his gaze back to Andi and Clios. “So this is whom you have come to rescue?” he asked the two young women. “I wonder why?”

  “We’re not telling you anything,” Clios spat. She was so angry that Andi feared she might throw herself at the guards and get killed, but she remained by Lydia’s side, automatically placing herself between the other Ruvalian woman and the guards’ rifles.

  “Oh, you’ll tell me,” Sphere said silkily. “You don’t have to worry about that. Or have you forgotten that I can read minds?” He walked slowly in front of them, stopping before Deneb. His hand came up to touch the small scar on his own face. “I have not forgotten that you did this,” he said softly. “I promised you that you would pay for it, and I always keep my promises.”

  Andi looked up at her father in surprise. Deneb had given him the scar? She felt a surge of respect and pride for him. But no wonder he had been beaten! He was lucky, she thought, that the Hoshaen general hadn’t killed him on the spot.

  “Keep talking,” Deneb said, his Hoshaen sounding harsh to Andi’s ears. “All you’re good at.”

  Sphere twitched, but he didn’t rise to the bait. His eyes, however, were filled with a dark hatred. He stepped forward until his nose was almost touching Deneb’s. “Brave talk,” he said. “But we’ll see how brave you are when faced with my hot irons. They spill a man’s words as easy as his guts.”

  Deneb said nothing—he just continued to stare boldly at the Hoshaen. However, Andi felt his hand twitch involuntarily in her own. Sphere’s words had shaken him. Her stomach clenched at the thought of her father being tortured. She would find a way to escape, she thought desperately. She would not let Sphere hurt him.

  However, that option seemed very far away at that moment. Sphere continued to walk along the line until he stood in front of Clios. The Ruvalian girl glared at him, her anger and hate overriding her fear of him.

  “I’ve had you watched since you came into the prison,” he said. “I knew that you were up to something. For two Ruvalian warriors, you gave yourselves up too quickly, too easily. Your hate burns at a level that I have rarely encountered amongst your people—and that is saying something.” He seemed amused at the thought that everyone hated him so much. “I know that I killed your parents. I could read the memory in your mind. Although I do not remember it.” He seemed disappointed at that. Clios bristled at the thought that he did not remember destroying her childhood, but he didn’t seem to notice. “And you did not mention it. That seemed suspicious to me.”

  He turned suddenly to Andi. Her breath caught in her throat as his bright green gaze fixed on her. “And there is also the matter of your ‘Ruvalian’ friend here. I knew that there was something suspicious about you, but it did not come to me until the Praxim had departed.” He stepped a little closer to her. “Do you know how I realized that you are not Ruvalian?”

  She stared up at him, trying not to show her fear. “No,” she said, pleased that her voice sounded strong, and didn’t reflect the wobble in her knees.

  “Your disguise is very good. I doubt that I would have noticed if I hadn’t been standing so close to you.” His hand came up, as it had before, and brushed her face. “It is your eyes,” he said with fascination. “They’re blue.”

  “Get away from her,” Deneb yelled, lunging for the Hoshaen general. Sphere turned swiftly, however, and plunged his fist into Deneb’s stomach. Deneb doubled ove
r, winded. Sphere motioned to one of the guards, who came forward and stuck his rifle under Deneb’s chin.

  “One more move,” said Sphere, “and he’ll shoot.”

  “It’s all right Dad,” Andi said calmly, in Earth-coalition. “I don’t think he’ll hurt me. He’s just intrigued because he can’t read my brain.”

  Sphere listened to her talk, his brow furrowed in a frown. “What language is this?” he asked. He looked across at Deneb, then back at Andi. “Oh, I see. I guessed that you are not Ruvalian, but I didn’t connect you to this off-worlder. Is your skin the same color as his beneath the green dye?”

  Andi said nothing. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him. Sphere came closer to her again. “You are both off-worlders,” he murmured. “I was right. And from Earth, if my memory of our first contact with the planet is correct. But why are you here?”

  “We came looking for artifacts,” Andi said, thinking that maybe honesty was the best policy. “We have a museum on board our ship. We buy things from other civilizations to show in our exhibits.”

  “That sounds plausible,” he said, walking around her. “But that doesn’t explain why you are down here.”

  “To rescue my father,” Andi said.

  “Oh yes.” He walked back to Deneb. “But then why did you come here, on your own?”

  “Did you not read him?” Andi asked, trying to divert Sphere’s attention from her father.

  Sphere thought about it. “No,” he said, in some surprise. “I don’t read everyone—there are far too many prisoners here for me to see them all. Of course I would usually read a prisoner who was an off-worlder.” He glared at Deneb. “But your father’s appearance was… how shall we say it? Disturbing.”

  “I started a rebellion,” Deneb said to Andi. “I tried to get the Ruvalians to attack their guards. I damn near succeeded as well.”

  Sphere gripped Deneb’s face hard. Deneb struggled for a moment, but then the guard pressed his rifle against Deneb’s head, and he stopped moving. For a moment the two men stood there, gazes locked.

  “Oh,” said Sphere. And for the first time he looked across at Lydia.

  “No…” But Andi said it under her breath. There was nothing she could do but watch as the Hoshaen general turned and walked over to Lydia.

  The young Ruvalian woman was breathing quickly, but she raised her chin in bold defiance as he stood before her. He grabbed her chin, as he had done Deneb’s, and stared into her eyes. “Why did they rescue you?” he murmured. His fingers brushed the large piece of Indigo Quartz that hung around his neck. “Why are you so important?” There was a moment of silence in the room as he searched her mind. Then, softly, he said, “Aah. I see. At last!”

  He turned around, and Andi could see the triumphant light in his eyes. Her heart sank. He knew that Lydia was the Keeper of the Golden Star. And therefore he also knew where she had hidden it.

  “The Golden Star,” he breathed. He laughed. “Once I’ve destroyed that, I will have destroyed the Ruvalians for good!”

  “No!” Lydia screamed and flew at Sphere, her fingers like claws. “I won’t let you.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” the Hoshaen replied coolly as one of the guards restrained her. She sank to the floor sobbing. He looked at her dispassionately.

  Andi was watching Sphere talking to Lydia when she suddenly felt something being pressed into her hand. She looked down to see that Clios had removed the piece of Indigo Quartz that she wore around her neck, and had slipped it into her palm. She looked up at Clios, confused. The Ruvalian girl gave her a little smile, and shook her head in a small negative movement, begging her not to say anything. Still frowning, Andi tucked the pendant up her sleeve.

  Sphere had not noticed the communication. He was talking to the guard about Lydia. “Take her up to the interrogation rooms,” he ordered. “And these two as well.” He gestured to Andi and Deneb. “I’m still interested in her, and him…” His eyes darkened as he met Deneb’s gaze. “We have unfinished business.”

  “What about this one?” the guard asked, pushing Clios.

  Sphere barely even looked at her. “I have no further use for her. Take her down to the mines.”

  Andi watched in horror as the guard grasped Clios’s arm and pulled her down the corridor. “Let me go!” Clios yelled, kicking at his shin. Unconcernedly, the guard lifted up his rifle and knocked her—almost gently it seemed—on the chin. She crumpled like a river reed into his arms. He picked her up and continued down the corridor with her, disappearing into the gloom.

  Andi felt the cold, hard metal of a rifle between her shoulder blades. It pushed her forward, none too gently, propelling her up the tunnel towards the central cavern. She turned to see Deneb following her. He was watching one guard half-drag, half-carry Lydia after them. He turned back and caught Andi’s gaze. He had an angry, feral look in his eyes, and she could see that he was close to losing it, that he could quite easily snap and try to break out, probably killing himself—if not them all—in the process. She shook her head softly. We’ll find another way, she mouthed.

  She wished she could believe her own words. But, as she stumbled through the half-lit tunnels, always conscious of the cold metal barrel prodding her back, she began to despair that they’d ever see daylight again.

  Andi and Deneb, with Lydia stumbling along behind, wound their way back through the maze of tunnels to the elevators. Here the guard pushed Andi so hard into the metal room that she sprawled onto the floor. Deneb was there immediately, grasping her under the arm and pulling her to her feet.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” She’d hurt her wrist in the fall, but she ignored the pain, lifting her chin and glaring at the guard who had pushed her. She saw Deneb give her a quizzical look. “What?” she demanded crossly.

  “I’m surprised, that’s all. You came all the way back to Thoume on your own, found Clios and persuaded her to help you, got captured and taken down here, escaped from your cell, rescued me… And you’re still so brave. My little Andromeda. You seem so grown up.”

  Andi bit her lip. This was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? Respect from Deneb, and realization that she wasn’t his little girl any more. She was growing into a woman, and she had wanted him to acknowledge this.

  And yet, all of sudden, what she wanted to do more than anything was collapse into his arms and sob into his shoulder.

  She didn’t, though. She smiled bravely, rubbing her wrist, and nodded towards Lydia, who had been dropped onto the floor of the elevator on the other side. “Is she okay?”

  “She doesn’t look too well. I wonder if she is sick.” The young Ruvalian woman’s green skin had paled to a whitish-green hue, and sweat beaded on her forehead. She sat curled up on the floor, as if she had a pain in her stomach.

  Andi sighed. “I hope Clios is all right.”

  “So do I.” Deneb touched his forehead briefly, obviously thinking of the way she had healed his wound.

  The elevator ascended slowly, the gears creaking and clanking below them. Andi bent down once to try and make sure that Lydia was all right, but the guard growled at her to stay where she was, and so she retreated to the wall, scowling at him.

  Eventually the elevator ground to a halt. The doors slid open, and yet again they found themselves in the central cavern.

  The guard led them out, carrying the now unconscious Lydia, and gestured for them to go over to the far side of the cavern. They crossed the busy floor, dodging the wagons of Indigo Quartz, which looked like black pieces of coal in the bottom of the carts, and then followed the guard’s instructions to enter a long corridor that consisted of a line of closed doors. The guard slid his card through the control box to one of them, and the door opened. He thrust Deneb inside with a hard push. Deneb turned round angrily to complain, but the guard shut the door in his face before he could reach him. Andi heard a loud thump from inside, presumably from Deneb smashing his fist against the door.

&nbs
p; A little scared now she was separated from her father, she walked in front of the guard until he barked for her to stop. He then opened another door and thrust her into it. The door slammed behind her.

  Andi stared at it for a moment, her arms wrapped around her body. She shook a little, and unshed tears pricked behind her eyes. She was tired, so very tired, and disappointed to the core of her being that her attempts to escape had failed. There was no lock on the inside of this cell for her to pick, and anyway, she’d left the bra behind in the cell she’d shared with Clios.

  Andi turned around, seeing that the windowless room had only a small table with two chairs in the center. She sat heavily on one chair, thinking about her friend. Slowly, she let the piece of Indigo Quartz slip from her sleeve until she held it in her hand. She looked at it through blurred eyes. Clios had agreed to come with her to the Black Hole because she had believed Andi when she said she could rescue both Deneb and Lydia. And now look what had happened. Not only was Deneb still a prisoner, and not only was Andi herself captured, but Clios had been taken to work in the mines. And Sphere now knew that Lydia was the Keeper of the Golden Star. Once he had his hands on the artifact, the Ruvalians would be finished for good.

  As if he had read her thoughts—which was entirely possible, she thought humorlessly—the door suddenly clicked open, making her jump, and Sphere stood in the doorway, almost filling the space with his height and huge frame. He paused for a moment as if to make a theatrical entrance, and then came into the room. He ignored the other chair and sat instead on the table in front of her, so that she had to look up at him.

  Andi’s mouth went dry. Here, alone with him, he suddenly looked much bigger and more frightening than she remembered. His skin glowed with the deep green phosphorescent hue, and his plait of hair hung thick and glossy down his back. She looked at his huge hands, thinking that he could easily snap her neck with them. Trying to swallow, she looked up into his bright eyes, green as emeralds.

  He was watching her. His gaze, she was relieved to see, did not appear to hold anger, but was filled with curiosity. “How did you get out of the cell?” he asked.