Andromeda Day and the Black Hole (12 page)

“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.

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 over, 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.