Hollow Moon (24 page)

The car sped along the wide boulevard that ran the length
of the harbour wall, weaving in and out of the heavy traffic on its way to the
seafront hotel on the far side of the harbour. The open-top car left its
passengers pleasantly exposed to the elements, for while the tiny sun above
seemed weak and incredibly distant, it was a warm day and there was a gentle
sea breeze to temper the humid atmosphere typical of terraformed worlds.

The streets of Hemakuta bustled with people surging from
one moment to the next; many rode in hoverchairs, while those on foot moved
with an odd lolloping motion that came more naturally in gravity barely a
quarter of Earth’s. Even before the dome was dismantled Hemakuta had somehow
avoided the usual fate of far-flung outposts, which often slipped back several
generations in technological prowess during the initial struggle to establish
food supplies, power and shelter. Instead, the city had become the epitome of
the ultra-modern spirit of colonisation: a confusion of high-rise towers of
carbon-fibre and green glass that splayed and twisted in a very organic way, an
idea reinforced by the gossamer hanging walkways that linked many of the
buildings to its neighbour.

The Pampa Palace hotel was a huge edifice of five towers
that rose from carbon-brick ramparts. Above the portico entrance, a colossal
holovid screen alternately switched between a newsreel on the peace conference
and a static display of the hotel’s name in a flamboyant yet regal lettering
several metres high.

The main political speakers were not due to appear until
the day after tomorrow, though preliminary talks had begun. A throng of
journalists and holovid crews had congregated outside, along with a crowd of
spectators who seemed ready to burst over the walls of the harbour and into the
sea at a moment’s notice. As they approached, this thought drew Ravana’s gaze
to the nearby beach and with a pang of jealousy she saw that some people were
indeed swimming and surfing in the warm waters of the bay.

“The Pampa Palace,” Miss Clymene observed. She was
clearly impressed. “This is the venue for the peace conference.”

“The most exclusive hotel on all of Daode,” Fenris added.

Their car turned off the boulevard and began threading
its way through the crowd. As they pulled to a halt outside the grand entrance
to the hotel, a stream of attendants swept through the doors, eager to greet
them and collect their luggage.

“We’re staying here?” remarked Ostara, surprised.

“Oh yes,” replied Fenris smugly. “The Maharani insists on
only the best.”

“So how come she hired you?” asked Quirinus irritably.

By now some members of the nearby crowd had started
cheering, perhaps mistaking the occupants of the ground car for visiting
dignitaries, though a journalist who managed to grab a few words with Endymion
was not at all impressed when she learned they were from the Barnard’s Star
system. Leaving the car, the travellers turned their back on the crowd and
trooped apprehensively into the cathedral-like surroundings of the hotel lobby.

Waiting to greet them was a tall, grey-haired Indian man
who was the epitome of casual confidence. With him was a severe-looking Chinese
woman, whose dark tresses were bundled up and tightly pinned. Both wore blue
corporate suits with a militaristic flair, which made the faded flight suits
worn by the crew and passengers of the
Platypus
look positively dowdy in comparison. The man gave Fenris a broad smile
and held out a hand.

“Welcome to the Pampa Palace!” he boomed, in
perfectly-modulated English. “Governor Atman at your service, executive
facilitator of the conference.”

“I am Fenris,” greeted Fenris, taking the man’s hand and
shaking it firmly. “This is Quirinus, captain of the
Platypus
; Rosanna, who is here with her music students to
represent the city of Newbrum; and finally Ostara, who is our err… head of
security.”

Atman nodded to each in turn, then indicated his
colleague. “This is Agent Dana, who has joined us from Ayodhya to help with
security arrangements.”

“So you are Fenris,” said Dana, speaking carefully. “We
have been expecting you.”

“I am here on behalf of Maharani Uma,” Fenris replied
smoothly. His confident manner surprised Ravana, especially after his obvious
nervousness upon meeting Administrator Verdandi at Newbrum spaceport. “As you
are no doubt aware, young Raja Surya has gone missing and I am on my way to
Yuanshi to see for myself what the authorities are doing to find the Maharani’s
son.”

“A sorry business,” acknowledged Dana. “I am sure
Governor Jaggarneth will tell you he is eager to facilitate a
mutually-agreeable docking, or some other gobbledegook.”

“So you’re here from Ascension!” exclaimed Atman, turning
to Miss Clymene. “This peace conference is indeed a marvellous opportunity to
meet all sorts of wonderful people from across the five systems. Of course,” he
added conspiratorially, “my security staff do not like it when the Governor of
Daode goes out and about in public, but I do think the personal touch is so
very important. Don’t you?”

Miss Clymene looked startled. “Err… yes. Definitely.”

“And you are entering the music competition? Such an
inspired way to bring the conference to a close. Bringing harmony to our worlds
with the music of youth.”

“Indeed we are,” replied Miss Clymene, recovering her
composure. Gathering her musicians together, she introduced each in turn.
“These are the Newbrum school players; Bellona, Endymion, Philyra, Ravana and
Zotz.”

Philyra, Bellona and Endymion gave a hesitant wave of
their hands, leaving Zotz lost in his own stunned silence. Ravana had a
terrible headache but managed a weak smile.

“And this?” asked Dana, indicating Surya’s clone. “Is it
what I think it is?”

“The Raja’s cyberclone,” replied Fenris. “Here to assist
in my negotiations.”

“Try not to parade it too conspicuously,” Atman said.
“The conference has an exclusive deal with Rent-a-Clone’s remote VR service for
delegates unable to be here in person and I’d hate to create any upset.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you both,” said Quirinus. “You
must excuse us. We’ve had a long flight and have not yet checked into our
rooms. I’m sure we will meet again soon.”

“Of course,” said Atman and smiled. “I do hope you enjoy
your stay.”

“I’m sure we will,” murmured Ostara, transfixed by their
ornate surroundings.

Ravana lay upon the bed, feeling her headache worsening
by the minute. She was sharing a hotel room with Bellona and Philyra, who were
currently standing on the balcony, pointing and shrieking excitedly at the
various sights and scenes of the city below. Endymion and Zotz soon joined them
from their own room next door and Endymion’s own loud exclamations did not help
at all.

The room itself was incredibly lavish with solid
furniture, thick carpeting and heavy wall drapes. The huge holovid unit had
turned itself on as she entered the room, only to promptly shut itself off
again after she gave it an angry glare. Yet the bed was comfy and the sea air
wafting through the window was a luxury in itself, carrying with it a natural
freshness that the life-support systems of the
Platypus
or even the
Dandridge Cole
could never hope to match.

There was a knock at the door and Ostara bustled in, not
waiting to be invited.

“Zotz!” she called urgently. “I need your help.”

“My help?” Zotz asked, turning away from the window.
“What with?”

“Fenris has gone downstairs to make a holovid call,” she
said, speaking as if it were some sort of crime. “Do you have anything in your
bag of tricks I can use to listen in?”

Zotz looked shocked. “You want me to help you spy on
Fenris?”

“If you put it like that, then yes.”

Zotz shrugged. “Fair enough. Network hacking isn’t really
my thing, though.”

Endymion, who was listening, beamed.

“Leave it to me!” he exclaimed. He glanced towards the
girls on the balcony. “Shall we go somewhere a bit quieter?”

Ravana watched as Ostara furtively bundled Endymion and
Zotz through the door and out of sight. She wondered if there was any chance of
another intervention to relieve her of the excitable Bellona and Philyra.

“Perhaps you two could go shopping?” she suggested
wearily.

Philyra turned to Bellona, her eyes wide. “Shopping!
Shall we?”

Bellona looked uncertain. “Let’s ask Miss Clymene.”

Moments later they had gone. With a sigh of relief, Ravana
settled back into bed, then smiled as her cat emerged from where it had been
hiding in her luggage and jumped up beside her. Right now she and her headache
were badly in need of some peace and quiet.

Quirinus sat down inside the holovid booth, well aware
that Fenris and Surya’s cyberclone had followed him downstairs. He had received
an urgent message on his wristpad from Professor Wak asking him to call, so
upon making the connection it came as somewhat of a surprise to see Maharani
Uma and not Wak staring at him from the screen. He was just about to make some
grumpy remark when he noticed her nervous expression.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked cautiously.

“I’m sorry for commandeering the holovid like this, but I
must speak with you,” she said quickly. The jumble of laboratory equipment in
the background confirmed she was speaking from Wak’s workshop in Dockside,
which in itself was a surprise as it meant she had left her palace hideaway
twice in one week. “I need to warn you about Fenris.”

“It’s not the first time you’ve hijacked what’s not
yours,” murmured Quirinus.

“Please!” The Maharani looked at him with pleading eyes.
“This is important!”

Quirinus returned her gaze, startled. He had never seen
her look so worried.

“What about Fenris?” he asked. “I should mention that
he’s outside, waiting to use the booth and probably listening to everything we
say. Not that I care,” he added. “What has he done that would make me trust him
even less than I do already?”

“I sense there are few people you do trust,” the Maharani
said softly. Behind her, Quirinus saw Wak move into view, then awkwardly
shuffle away again. “Including myself. Yet you are happy enough to ignore all
that when the price is right. Did you not deliver a consignment to the palace
just a few months ago?”

“That was a one-off,” retorted Quirinus. “We all have
mouths to feed.”

“You have good reason to hate me and my family. I will
not ask you to put that aside and trust me now. Yet you need to believe that I
trust you, especially in a matter like this.”

“A matter like what?”

“Faith,” she said simply. “The power of belief. You and I
have both seen on Earth and Yuanshi how such a power can corrupt. For a while I
hoped Fenris’ own commitment was pure. Now I am sure it is not.”

Quirinus opened his mouth to protest against what seemed
an unfair attack against religion, then remembered his own tirade against
Fenris at Newbrum.

“In his absence I searched my son’s quarters and found a
device, hidden beneath his bed, that Professor Wak thinks is some sort of mind
probe,” the Maharani told him. “I also found a slate loaded with a disgusting
selection of scantily-clad young women on holovid, but that’s young boys for
you. The point is I think Fenris is trying to brainwash my son! I can’t help
thinking he had some part to play in poor Surya’s kidnap!”

Quirinus could not help but be moved by her anguish. “I’m
sure the authorities are doing all they can to find your son,” he said, in what
he hoped was a reassuring tone. “There’s little I can do other than keep an eye
on Fenris.”

“There’s no need. Surya’s cyberclone is with Fenris
specifically so that it can report his movements back to me,” she confided. “I
am frightened about what may happen but I trust that, if need be, you will do
the right thing. I just needed you to know that.”

Without another word, Maharani Uma stood up and walked
away from the holovid cameras, leaving him staring dumbstruck at an empty seat.
When Wak appeared on screen moments later, it took Quirinus a while to register
that what Wak was now telling him was totally unrelated to the Maharani’s
revelations.

The professor’s own concerns were over the worsening
condition of the
Dandridge Cole
’s power
supply. Neither Wak nor Quirinus had witnessed the unprecedented faltering of
the artificial sun, but Ravana had mentioned it and many others had seen it and
voiced their fears. The
Indra
,
the pilot-less fuel tanker that travelled between the hollow moon and the
cloud-mining facility orbiting the gas giant Thunor, had just returned to the
Dandridge
Cole
. Faced with potential crop failures
and the prospect of freezing to death in the dark, a growing number of
residents were petitioning the Symposium to allow the tanker to be made ready
to carry the population to safety. The irony that the hydrogen and helium-three
carried by the
Indra
was the only
thing keeping the power generation systems running was lost to those now faced
with the possibility that the hollow moon may have to be evacuated. Such fears
were not entirely unjustified; whatever was draining power had caused the
artificial sun to shut down twice more since, each time longer than the last.

Quirinus was sure Wak would find a solution. Nonetheless,
he left the booth wearing a thoughtful expression, though did remember to pull
a face at Fenris as he passed.