by Philip Hamm
Fratris asked, “Did the Zamut Senate send anyone?”
“Not a senator but they did have an ambassador on Rhizic who took charge of the Zamut students. I suspect your uncle would have volunteered but you were both on your way to Sagan by then.”
Fengtai asked Fratris, “Why were you on your way there?”
He replied, “Quill’s attack caused a riot in the Senate and they appointed a tyrant to take control.”
“What’s a ‘tyrant’?”
“It’s a temporary post created to deal with emergencies,” said Faam.
“My uncle was against the idea and would have been arrested if we hadn’t escaped.”
“But why Sagan?”
“Uncle Frim wanted to warn them about the danger they were in; a tyrant has the power to do anything to defend the Empire.”
Fengtai looked confused, “But what has the invasion by Quill got to do with Sagan?”
Faam said, “The tyrant, Fuligo Axunge, believed the Zarktek were involved and as the former soldiers of the tsars, he thought the Sagan might be helping the Quill. He ordered the deadliest of Zamut’s weapons, its nuclear arsenal, to be prepared and sent to Sagan; Frim wanted to get there first to warn them.”
Crotal said, “But the Sagan weren’t helping the Quill, were they?”
“Not at all,” Faam agreed. “Ironically, Quern and Rhatany were worried the opposite might be true, that Zamut had persuaded the Sagan to send an army to Sapadilla and the other worlds they had invaded; if that had happened, it wouldn’t have mattered how many conquistadors Quill had landed, they would have been massacred.”
“But were the Zarktek involved?”
“Ah,” she said. “That’s where the story gets really complicated.”
*
As the Apus drew closer to Rhizic, Nacyon went down to Zizania's cabin to give her the news about Quill’s invasion of Zamut and Saron. She was neither interested nor concerned.
“If my uncle and brother want to play with their little boats, that’s their business,” she said. “Melanitta,” she shouted. “Where are my new shoes?”
The maid was packing in the bedroom and pretended not to hear. Zizania shouted again and this time Melanitta brought them to her.
“But as Queen,” Nacyon said, trying not to get angry. “It’s your business now.”
“If they’ve already started, how am I to stop them?”
It was a reasonable point and one, no doubt, Quern and Rhatany had banked on; the flocks had risen from the fields, they were whirling around in the sky. How were they going to be coaxed to the ground again?
“But Your Highness, this war will be a disaster for our people. Zamut will strike back; their navy is vast and highly sophisticated. If they choose to retaliate against our home worlds, we could lose more than just our ships...”
“I’m sure Uncle Quern knows what he’s doing. And I think you’re being rather hard on our navy; didn’t you say they had new weapons? Aren’t you the one who provided them?”
“For defence, Your Highness; I never expected them to be used against both of our neighbours.”
“But you’ll be Rao of Sapadilla in more than name; isn’t that what you wanted?”
He was surprised by her comment. She’d never called him ‘Rao’ or taken any interest in him as a person and yet she seemed aware of his history. Perhaps she wasn’t quite as ignorant as he’d thought. Perhaps her apparent stupidity was just a ruse.
She put her shoes on and wiggled her feet about. She took a few steps and frowned.
“Your Highness,” Nacyon persisted, “Whatever I desired in the distant past, it has no bearing on what is happening today or will happen in the future. You must order Rao Quern to withdraw the navy and send somebody like Rani Rhus to negotiate with the Zamut Senate. I’m sure we can come to a resolution…”
“It will sort itself out,” she answered, sounding bored. “Either we’ll win or we’ll lose and that will be the end of it. Melanitta - these shoes are very uncomfortable. I won’t be able to walk two yards without blistering my toes…” She took one off and threw it across the cabin, breaking a mirror that was hanging on the wall.
He changed his mind about her not being stupid.
*
On Rhizic, Zizania transferred to the Corvus Corax and continued her journey to Nidus in the relative luxury of Captain Coumarin’s cabin. As she left the Apus, she didn’t bother to thank Nacyon or the crew. She didn’t even look back.
Boatman Crake, discarded like her shoes, felt humiliated and ashamed. He locked himself in his cabin and neither Stint nor his sister could induce him to come out again.
The crew was loyal to the Quill Empire and they revered the Royal Household along with rest of Quill’s people; their kings and queens were the chosen of Pater and Mater and should be beyond reproach. They had pictures of Tragacanth and Zivola in every room. They had objected strongly to all of Nacyon’s suggestions that Zizania was less than holy and they still found it difficult to blame the princess directly. Despite being presented with the evidence, they chose to believe a malign influence had come over her and they looked for others to blame.
In the mess, Stuggy Plover came out of her galley and said, “It was that Cissoid Corindon; it’s nothing but a training house for whores.”
Cargo Capella agreed with her, “They poisoned her mind.”
“They hooked her on unnatural pleasures,” said Clocks. “Like a drug...”
But Nacyon knew better, “I’m afraid she was always flighty. That’s why the King and Queen sent her away; they hoped the experience would improve her but it just gave her more opportunities to misbehave.”
“She raped my Boatman,” wailed Stint, her eyes raw with crying. “She used him like a stick to scratch an itch and then threw him away when she’d finished.”
Captain Tringa called for calm, “There’s no denying what she did was wrong but she’s still our Queen and you’ll keep your opinions to yourselves. If anyone else heard us talking like this, they’d tear the Apus apart. It’s one thing to know she’s addled, but another to say it in public. Keep quiet,” she warned. “Say nothing to anyone; it won’t do our family much good if we do.”
Radio said, “But what about Boatman? He deserves better than to have the whole affair thrown to the clouds...?”
“He does,” Tringa agreed. “But what else can we do except help him as much as we can?”
Snipe, the captain’s son, said, “And how are we meant to do that?”
Chick Dunlin agreed. To begin with, they had both felt mildly jealous that Zizania had picked Boatman instead of either of them. But as they witnessed the repercussions of her choice, to Stint, to the family and to Boatman himself, they felt guilty for their original thoughts.
“He didn’t have a choice,” said Nacyon. “You have to make that clear to him. It was not his fault and if he’d refused, the Queen would have punished us all.”
“Couldn’t you have talked her out of it?” said Stint’s sister, Stilt. “You’re related to her...”
“Only distantly,” he said.
“But you could have done something...”
“She’s the Queen,” said Tringa, slapping her hand down on the table. “There is no higher law except that of the ancestors and they told us to procreate. Maybe in her mind, as wrong as it seems to us, she was fulfilling her duty to Mater Quill.”
Just as Nacyon had realised, the women were struck by what that might mean. They looked at each other and shook their heads. The men took a moment longer to arrive at the same conclusion.
Wayfinder said, “Could she be pregnant with Boatman’s child?”
“They spent twelve days together,” said Rigger. “Unless Boatman’s boat isn’t fully-loaded, there’s a pretty good chance he’s moored one inside her.”
Stilt and Snipe had to hold their sister as Stint wailed even louder. “But I wanted to have his first,” she sobbed.
“People,” said Tringa, growing imp
atient. “This is getting us nowhere.” She looked at Nacyon, “Tell us where you want us to go next.”
Nacyon looked around at the faces of his family. He loved them all and with a shock even greater than discovering Quill was at war, he realised, now Zizania was Queen, she could order him to stand by her side for the rest of his life. His time on the Apus might be drawing to a close.
“To Nidus,” he said with a sinking heart. “To attend the coronation...”
*
Eventually, Boatman did reappear – but only because the captain kicked his door open and dragged him out. “There’s proper work to be done,” she told him. “You did your duty to the Queen and we’re all very proud but you can’t spend the rest of your life lying on your back. You’ve got batteries to check and the pumps are making a row like you’d never believe. Get up and get to work.”
“I didn’t want to do it,” he said quietly.
“We know you didn’t,” she replied. “But now you’ve had some practise, maybe you’ll give my daughter what she wants.”
“How can she even look at me?”
“It might be hard – she’s been crying that much she’s nearly blind. But whatever she saw in you before, she’ll see it again. Don’t let your brush with Royalty give you the wrong ideas. Now, get washed, get dressed and get back to work.”
Reluctantly, Boatman followed her out of his cabin, across the open deck and into the mess. Everyone was waiting for him. They didn’t make a great fuss but Stuggy brought him a dish of his favourite soup and the twins sat protectively beside him.
Nacyon watched as the crew cared for Boatman and felt his heart break. Stilt had been right; he should have done more to protect him from Zizania’s selfish lust, even at the risk of his own life.
*
When the Apus arrived at the platform of the Golden Eyrie above the surface of the planet Nidus, Nacyon found Rimmon waiting for him. Dignitaries from around the Third Sphere were gathering for the coronation and the place was full of foreign colours and accents. Rimmon stood out among them like a bald-headed crow.
After the Rickobite been shown aboard the Apus and they were sitting together in Nacyon’s lounge, he asked, “And how was your trip from Xramarsis with your new Queen?”
“Not good,” Nacyon replied. “Zizania was up to her old tricks and most of us were ready to throttle her by the time we reached Rhizic.”
“Do you believe she will be an adequate replacement for Tragacanth?”
“In time, perhaps – maybe thirty or forty years in the future...”
Rimmon smiled, “You do realise what you’re saying could be interpreted as treason? I’m sure your people would be very upset if they heard you insulting their Queen.”
“I’ve spent the last six years going backwards and forwards to Agnatha just to listen to other people complain about her. If my people knew what she was really like, we’d have a democracy like Zamut’s by the end of the week.”
“I’m not sure a democracy would save your immediate problem.”
“No,” Nacyon agreed. “Quern and Rhatany have pushed us off the cliff with nothing but a feather to save us.”
“You’re not doing too badly, so far. The Senate has appointed Fuligo Axunge to be tyrant for the duration but he’s a politician not a general; he’ll look for a simple way out rather than an extension of the war.”
“I don’t think the IZN will sit back and let our ships humiliate them without some kind of revenge.”
“General Vanus was in charge of defending Sapadilla but he scuttled back to Curia as soon as the attack happened. Axunge will probably give him the task of counter-attacking but the admirals will vote against his appointment because they think he’s nothing more than another politician too. I’d say you’ve got at least another month to consolidate your position on the ground before Zamut actually gets its act together.”
“What about Damocles and Exitine?”
“Zamut doesn’t really care about them, to be honest. They were never more than dumping grounds for all the prisoners they took after the Hundred Year War; I expect most of the inmates are dead by now. They’re not colony worlds like Sapadilla.”
“Our attack is still an affront to their dignity.”
“Have you ever met Fuligo Axunge?”
“No,” he admitted.
“His dignity travels as far as he needs it to; he’ll make peace with you if he can. And I wouldn’t worry about Saron either – they don’t have the resources to throw you off Falk and will ask for compensation instead.”
“I hope you’re right. But why are you here?”
“We have an interest in Damocles and Exitine. If any of the prisoners have survived, they might be of value to my empire.”
“Are they Zarktek?”
Rimmon shrugged, “Of course – that’s why they were sent there.”
“Not the seven princes...?”
He shook his head quickly and smiled, “No, not them – just minor figures from the past.”
“What possible value to you could they be?”
“A great deal of wealth and materiel was hidden before the end of the war; some of it belonged to my masters and they would like it back. We know Zagan of Megaron was sent to Exitine and he’d be a particularly knowledgeable source.”
“He’s hardly a ‘minor’ figure in the history of the war...”
“He was not found guilty of crimes against humanity – he was just a banker.”
“And you’re here to negotiate with Quern and Rhatany for his release...?”
“I’m here to help in any way I can,” he smiled.
“Can you change Zizania into a decent Queen?”
“I can,” he said and grinned broadly.
*
Fengtai said, “Is this where the clone comes in?”
“Yes,” Faam nodded. “Rimmon told Nacyon about faux-Zizania, about how she had been trained from birth to be a proper princess and how she would make an infinitely better queen – not least because she was gentle and sweet.”
“Did Nacyon believe him?”
“I think he wanted to.”
“Did he tell the crew?”
“He had to – he needed their help.”
“And they agreed…?”
“They discussed it together and took a vote. But after Boatman’s experience, most of the women believed the real Zizania wasn’t fit to be the leader of their people. Cargo Capella, as the most religious among them, argued against because she thought Pater Junopta and Mater Quill might punish them – but for Boatman’s sake, she didn’t object very loudly. On the male side, Clocks was the most loyal to the Royal Household but even he doubted whether Zizania’s family would complain too loudly if she suddenly changed for the better.”
Fratris said, “But how did they know the fake would be nicer? They hadn’t met her and, as she’d been raised by the Rickobites, she could have been worse…?”
“I know – it was a huge risk. All they knew for certain was the real Queen had raped their friend and brother. I suspect if she hadn’t done that, none of what followed would have happened.”
Crotal said, “But wasn’t switching the real queen for the fake very dangerous?”
“Yes - if they were caught, it would have meant exile at best and grounding at worst.”
“What does ‘grounding’ mean?” asked Fengtai.
“To be sent to a mine deep beneath the surface, to never see the sky again – the worst possible punishment for a Quill.”
“Why don’t they just execute traitors?” said Fratris. “It’s what we would do.”
“That would be against the laws the Junopta created; remember, they wanted the Quill to procreate and multiply and to take away life was heresy.”
“Except when it’s human,” said Crotal, thinking about his people on Falk.
“Even then, they would rather capture an enemy than kill them.”
Fengtai asked, “Had Rimmon brought the clone with him?”
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“Yes – she was on the Tax Collector that had brought him and other representatives from the Empire of Rickoby.”
Impatiently, Fratris said, “But how were they going to switch the real Zizania for the fake one?”
“If you’ll give me chance,” Faam smiled, “I’ll tell you…”
*
Nacyon told the crew, “We can’t make the exchange until the last possible moment.”
Wayfinder asked, “Why not?”
“If we move too soon, there’s a chance Kalmia Allodium and the Cissoid students will spot the fake. They know what Zizania is like. Her family won’t care; all they’ll see is a nicer version of their daughter, niece or sister, one that will declare she’s seen the error of her ways and wants to change. It’s what they want to hear and they’ll just be happy to accept the new version without question. After all, I’ve been telling them for years that she’s been improving. But Kalmia will know immediately that it’s not the same woman and she might try to stop the coronation.”
“How could she do that?” said Clocks. “She’s just a foreigner...?”
“They have a powerful radio on their ship,” Radio Crake pointed out. “Kalmia could broadcast a warning to the whole of the Quill Empire and there would be nothing we could do to stop her.”
Nacyon nodded, “That’s my fear. However, once Kalmia and her students are on the Golden Eyrie, she won’t be able to contact the Cissoid until the coronation is over. Afterwards, if she tries to tell anyone the Queen is false, nobody will believe her and she’ll risk being attacked by our people. But if we make the switch too soon, and Kalmia asks to meet her, she’ll realise what we’ve done and she might find a way to get back to the Cissoid and broadcast the truth.”
“People still won’t believe her,” said Stuggy. “It sounds too much like a fable. An exact likeness of the Queen – whoever heard of such a thing?”
