Andromeda Day and the Black Hole (9 page)

She watched as Clios spent a few moments
saying goodbye to her compatriots. The Ruvalian captain put her arms around
Jarl. They stood together for a moment, wrapped in their embrace, and then
kissed passionately, their affection for each other so intimate to Andi that
she averted her gaze, blushing a little. They spoke for a while after that, he
stroking her hair as she whispered softly to him. Andi heard him try to protest
at something she said, but she silenced him by putting a finger across his
lips, then kissing him again. Andi watched his hands clench into fists as she
finally strode away, and wondered what Clios had said.

Jarl finally looked over at her. His green
eyes burned with anger and resentment at Clios’s departure.

“You must be very angry with me for taking
her away,” Andi said softly.

He sighed and shook his head. “Clios makes
up her own mind,” he said, somewhat grudgingly. “Nobody can make her do
anything she doesn’t want to do. And she knows as well as I that our time here
is limited. It will not be long before the Hoshaens root us out, and finish us
once and for all. Our only chance will be for her to recover the Golden Star.”

“Still, you don’t want to let her go.” Andi
frowned. “Will you not come with us?”

“She has asked me to stay and hold out for
as long as I can. And I will respect her wishes.” He smiled at her. “Look after
each other.” Then he turned away and disappeared into the forest to deal with
his own grief.

Andi sighed, looking over her shoulder and
seeing that Clios had already set off for the eastern fringes of the wood, and
jogged behind her to catch her up, realizing that there weren’t going to be any
long goodbyes. Together they began to head for the fallen Ruvalian city.

They walked through the trees quickly and
quietly. Andi looked across at her comrade, feeling strange at the thought that
they looked very similar. “Are we to say that we are related?” she asked
softly, stepping over a fallen branch.

“Yes, we shall say we are sisters.”

“How old are you, Clios?”

“Eighteen summers.”

Eighteen—not that much older than herself,
Andi thought. “I saw you kiss Jarl,” she said, hoping that she wasn’t
intruding. It was dark in the woods, and Andi could not see Clios’s face.

“He is my carlar.” she explained. The word
was unfamiliar to Andi but she guessed that it meant ‘betrothed’. “Before the
war, we were promised to each other. But then the Hoshaens came and put an end
to any wedding that might have taken place.”

“Will you marry when the war is over?” Andi
asked.

Clios looked across at her. “Maybe.” She
smiled sadly, and Andi read defeat in her eyes. Clios did not think that the
Ruvalians would take back their lands, she realized. She did not think that
they would make it back from the prison. That was why Jarl had got angry.

They walked in silence for a while. Then
Clios said: “Do you have a betrothed on your home planet?”

“No. We can’t go back to Earth or Deneb
will be put in prison.” Andi blushed. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, either on
Earth or on board the
Antiquarian
. Once they find out that I have a
computer brain, boys somehow seem to go off me.”

Clios frowned. “But you are a bright and
beautiful young woman, regardless of the computer in your head. Any young man
would be lucky to have you.”

“That’s what I always tell myself, but
sometimes it doesn’t ring true.”

The Ruvalian was about to answer when she
dropped to her knees suddenly as they came to the edge of the wood and Andi did
the same, only yards from her. “I heard something,” Clios whispered.

“Yes, you did,” came a silky voice from
behind them, and Andi felt the cold metal of a rifle touch her neck.

Andi spun around, but froze on the spot as
she saw the figure standing before her. Taller even than Deneb, who was the
tallest man that Andi knew, he towered above her in the darkness, maybe six
feet eight of bulging muscle. His green skin was of a darker, dirtier hue than
that of the Ruvalians, and his hair was a greenish-black and thick, grown long
and plaited to hang down between his huge shoulders. His eyes were vivid and
bright as emeralds.

“Hoshaens,” Clios spat as another figure
appeared from the trees in front of them.

“Yes, little Ruvalians,” the enemy said
with a sinister smile. His language was similar enough to Ruvalian that the
clip could pick it up. The rifle lifted to point at Andi’s face. “How nice to
meet you.”

Andi swallowed, fear turning her mouth dry
as paper. Clios moved towards her and, behind her back, Andi felt her clasp her
hand. She watched Clios lift her chin and stare defiantly at their captors. “What
are you going to do with us?”

The first Hoshaen studied them thoughtfully.
“An interesting question.” His voice was low and raspy, as if his throat was
made of sandpaper. “We have several options.” His rifle lifted until the tip
touched Andi’s chin, and he ran the cold metal up her jawbone to her ear. She
could not contain a shiver of fright at the feel of the weapon touching her
face. To her shame, he laughed softly at her fear, enjoying his control of her
emotions.

The second Hoshaen came out of the shadows.
“We should take them to the command center,” he said tersely. “Sphere will want
to interrogate them.” He started to remove the weapons from Clios’s belt.

The rifle caressed Andi’s hairline, and
then dropped. “You are right,” the first Hoshaen said reluctantly. “But it is
not as much fun.” He gestured to Clios. “You take this one to Sphere—she is
older, she might know something of the Ruvalian plans. I’ll bring this one
along… later.”

At the mention of the Hoshaen general,
Clios’s hand gripped Andi’s so tightly that she nearly cried out. However, she
took some comfort from the fact that Clios was determined not to be parted from
her. “We are sisters,” Clios said firmly. “We must stay together.”

The second Hoshaen nodded. “Sphere will
want to see both of you.” He glared at the first guard. “You stay here and keep
watch on the perimeter. I’ll take them both back.” He prodded them in front of
him.

Clios cast a glance over her shoulder as
they walked. Andi followed her gaze, relieved to see that the first Hoshaen had
remained behind, prowling the edge of the forest. She looked at the second
guard, who now walked silently behind them, his large frame bending
occasionally under low branches. He, too, was tall and well-muscled, his thick,
black-green hair intricately braided to fall between his shoulders.

“Thank you,” Andi said softly, relieved
that the aggressive guard had remained behind.

He said nothing, grunting something
unintelligible, but he stopped prodding them with his rifle, and merely
gestured to them which way to go.

Clios still gripped her hand. Andi felt
comforted that they were together. Who knew what might have happened to her,
had she stumbled onto the first guard alone?

They came to the edge of the forest and,
across the fields in the dim light of the two Thoume moons, Andi saw the faint
outline of the Ruvalian city walls. She gave Clios’s hand a little squeeze, and
Clios squeezed back. They crossed the field of yellowcorn, which was now waist
high and ready for harvesting, although Andi doubted that this year would see
it sheathed and lying in bales ready for the barns. The city wall was heavily
patrolled by Hoshaen guards, who opened the door as they approached to allow
them entry into the city interior.

 Their own guard accompanied them through
and led them down the street that Andi recognized as the one she had first
walked along when she and Deneb entered the city. How long ago that seemed now.
As they passed the demolished houses, she let her mind wander, thinking about
her father and wondering how he was faring in the depths of the Black Hole. Was
he still alive? She liked to think that she would know if he was dead, that
there was some part of her deep inside that would be able to tell if he was no
longer alive, but she couldn’t be sure of that. What if she made it all the way
to the prison, only to find that he had been killed on the day he arrived
there? The thought upset her too much, however, and so she turned her attention
instead to their journey through the city, trying to put Deneb to the back of
her mind. He was still alive. He was. And she was going to rescue him.

She noticed as they walked that the
Hoshaens had cleared the roads of the rubble and detritus that had fallen there
throughout the war. Heavy Hoshaen vehicles now trundled through the streets:
large machines built of metal with four retractable legs that looked a bit like
Earth turtles. The ground was covered with black ash and there was a sickly
sweet smell in the air, and the sky was tinged with red, although the sun had
not yet risen. Andi guessed that they were burning down all the buildings in
the area, putting their stamp on the Ruvalian territory.

Clios—as much as it was possible with her
bright skin—had grown pale at the sight of the enemy in her city. Andi tried to
imagine how she would feel if invaders came onto the
Antiquarian
. She
tried to think of enemies handling and breaking the objects in the museum,
sleeping in her quarters, taking over the bridge. Her stomach muscles clenched
and churned with sickness, and she realized that this was how Clios must be
feeling.

They came to the end of the street and
turned to enter the large town square, and here Clios stopped in her tracks,
breathing in deeply, her hand leaving Andi’s to come up to cover her mouth. Andi,
too, stopped and stared at the sight before them.

The Hoshaens had moved all the Ruvalian
dead into one big pile in the middle of the square, and set fire to them. The
green skin of the arms and legs that Andi could see had turned black, and the
fire leaped over the emerald hair and clothing, enjoying its meal.

That was the sickly sweet smell in the air.
The smell of burning flesh.

Clios turned to one side and promptly
vomited onto the ground. Andi felt like doing the same, but she swallowed hard
to keep it down, realizing that Clios needed her now. She stroked the girl’s
hair and put her cool hands on the back of her neck, then gave her the water
bottle from her belt to rinse her mouth out. When she finally stood, Andi
turned Clios around to face her. “Don’t look,” she said firmly. “Don’t look at
them, Clios. Look at me.”

“We didn’t have time to bury them.” Clios’s
voice was almost inaudible. “It is part of our religion, Andi—they will not
pass onto the Hlayodon unless they are returned to the ground.” She didn’t
elaborate, but Andi guessed that it was their form of Heaven.

“Ssh,” she said as the Hoshaen prompted
them to walk forward to the main Hall. She stroked Clios’s hair, putting her
arm around her and making sure that the other girl was turned away from the
sight of the burning bodies. “All good people pass on to their afterlife,
Clios. All civilizations have their rituals and beliefs, but when it comes down
to it, you can’t change the fact that when we die, we all pass onto better
things.”

Clios gave a small smile and touched Andi’s
face gently. “You are wise for all your youth,” she said softly. A tear left
her eye and ran down her face to her mouth. “I hope you are right.”

“Here,” said the Hoshaen as they reached
the base of the steps. He reached out a hand to stop them from climbing up. For
a moment he seemed lost for words, then, to their surprise, he said, “I’m
sorry.”

Clios’s eyes burned, a hint of her former
passion returning. “It’s a bit late for that,” she snapped.

“I know. I’m still sorry.”

Andi met his gaze. He was actually very
young, probably not much older than herself. He seemed genuinely ashamed that
they had had to see what the Hoshaen had done to the city, and the bodies. It
made her think as they continued to climb the steps to the Hall. It was so easy
to think of an enemy as just a faceless evil where there were no individuals
and where everyone acted as one. It was a naïve assumption, just a way to make
war understandable, that it was right against wrong, good against bad. But it
wasn’t as simple as that.

At the top of the steps they passed under
the huge columns and into the hall, and here Andi saw that it had changed
little, only this time Hoshaens surrounded the table, large, broad-shouldered
figures, all with their distinctive black-green hair plaited intricately.

“Are there any females here?” Andi asked
Clios softly, realizing that she had made the assumption, as she had with the
Ruvalian, that they were all males.

Clios nodded. “Those with the braids pinned
up are the females.”

Andi stared in surprise at the figures that
Clios had indicated. Apart from the way the hair was braided, there was no
difference in build between the males and females. It felt very strange to her,
because she came from a civilization where the two sexes were very distinctive.
Although there was more equality for women now on Earth than there had ever
been, there was still no doubt that the men felt some need to protect them. That
was obviously not the case here, she thought, seeing some of the injuries that
the Hoshaen women had received: a lost limb, deep wounds, facial scars. She
remembered the way that Jarl had said goodbye to Clios—he hadn’t begged her not
to go, or demanded that he go in her place. She wondered how she would feel if
Deneb acted like that, if he treated her as if she were a boy, encouraging her
to go on missions with him, to stand up for herself. There was a certain sense
of freedom, she thought, a liberation at being treated so equal. And yet, would
she miss his protection? His need to look after her?

Their guard prompted them to walk forward
and they proceeded across the hall, stopping just a few meters from the central
table. Here one of the figures detached himself from the others and came over
to see them.

“We found them wandering through the
forest,” the guard said. “They are sisters.”

The new Hoshaen male nodded, and Andi heard
Clios give a little gasp from beside her. He was as tall as the others, and as
broad, his black uniform clinging tightly to his powerful arms and legs. He
wore a gold ribbon in one of his braids, however, and Andi thought that this
could mean he was their leader. He also wore a chain around his neck, and on
the end was a large, dark piece of Indigo Quartz.

“I am Sphere,” he said, looking them up and
down. “What are your names?”

“I am Clios,” said Clios, lifting her chin.
“And this is Andi.”

Sphere studied them carefully. Andi could
feel her legs quivering, and tried to concentrate on studying him in return. His
eyes, she noticed, were bright green like the Hoshaen guard’s, much brighter
than Clios’s. His features were strong and well defined, his nose broad and
long, the planes of his face flat and hard. He had a small, fresh scar on his
cheek. She thought that he was probably regarded as quite handsome amongst the
Hoshaens, although then she thought that maybe she wasn’t the best judge of
that, considering what the women were like! She bit her lip, trying to quell
the hysterical laughter that bubbled in her throat.

“Where are you from?” he asked. His voice
was hypnotically deep.

“We escaped when you first broke through
the walls of the city,” Clios said. Her voice held all of the animosity that
she felt. “We fled into the forest. We have lived there for several days, and
then your men found us.”

Sphere studied her carefully. Andi sensed
that he didn’t believe her. His eyes had narrowed, and he seemed to be thinking
about how he could make her admit the truth. To Andi’s surprise, the other girl
suddenly dropped her gaze and stared at the floor. It was such a submissive
gesture that it made Andi frown.

Then she remembered. Of course, Sphere
could read minds. The thought made her metal heart leap in her chest. She
watched him study Clios carefully.

“There is a lot of hate in you,” he
observed. “And it is all directed at me. Tell me, what have I done to earn this
accolade?”

Clios looked up then, her full gaze open to
him, her eyes blazing.

“Oh,” he said softly. “I see.” He seemed to
find her anger amusing, and Andi saw that there was no regret on his features
at the thought that he had killed her parents. He was a psychopath, a
cold-hearted killer.

Seemingly bored with Clios, Sphere turned
his gaze onto Andi. There was no point in looking away, and she tried to meet
his eyes boldly, ignoring the churning in her stomach that gave her true
feelings away.

His emerald eyes scrutinized her so carefully
that Andi was suddenly sure he could tell she wasn’t really a Ruvalian. She
shivered, unable to tear her gaze away from his. She could almost feel his mind
probing her thoughts. To her horror the image of her father jumped into her
head, and she had the sudden thought that maybe this Hoshaen had seen Deneb,
perhaps had even interrogated him. She tried to brush the image away, afraid
that he would realize Deneb was her father.