Hollow Moon (28 page)

“The Maharani does still have a great deal of influence
in this system,” Quirinus told Ostara, as she opened her mouth to protest. He
spoke as if it was himself he was trying to convince. “A friendly doctor may be
just what we need. Ravana, do you want me to take you to see someone? Just to
check that everything’s okay?”

“Can he get this thing out of my head?” asked Ravana,
bitterly.

She threw back the sheets with a grim determination.
Whoever put her to bed had removed her boots but left her still wearing her now
very crumpled flight suit. After recovering her footwear, Ravana picked up her
cat and came to her father’s side, though refused to meet his gaze. Fenris gave
her electric pet a disapproving glance but said nothing.

“You can take us there now?” asked Quirinus.

“Of course,” Fenris replied. “There is really no need for
you to come with us,” he added coolly when Ostara made as if to follow.

“Fine!” she snapped. “I’ll wait here.”

Leaving Ostara sulking in the hotel room, Fenris quickly
led Quirinus and Ravana to the lift at the end of the corridor. Once they
reached the ground floor lobby, he directed them not to the main entrance but
instead past the dining hall and on towards the pleasure garden.

“Is this the right way?” asked Quirinus.

“The hotel has a rear entrance,” Fenris replied. “It will
save us a few minutes.”

The garden was an oasis of green. The stone path they
followed wound past immaculate lawns, bright flower beds and a mini orchard
before arriving at a small fish pond. Overlooking the pond was an ornamental
wooden pagoda in the Chinese style, with an open doorway leading into a
darkened interior. Fenris led Ravana and her father towards the pagoda, then
upon reaching the door indicated for them to step inside.

“In there?” asked Quirinus, puzzled. “Why?”

Fenris reached into his pocket, withdrew a dark object
and pointed it at Quirinus’ chest. Ravana looked down at the plasma pistol in
the man’s hand and stifled a scream.

“I’m afraid I must insist,” Fenris replied coldly. He
waggled the gun barrel towards the doorway. “Inside, now.”

Taking Ravana’s hand, Quirinus stepped into the dimly-lit
pagoda. To their surprise, waiting in the shadows was the unlikely duo of Agent
Dana and Surya’s cyberclone, but any hope that the clone may be of help was
quickly dashed by the pistol in its hand, which meant its usual Asimov safety
protocols had been disengaged. Ravana had seen similar plasma-bolt weapons at
Lan-Tlanto and knew they could easily knock someone off their feet without the
risk of leaving inconvenient holes in a spacecraft’s hull.

“What is this?” demanded Quirinus. “What’s going on?”

“Quirinus O’Brien!” declared Dana. She held up her
agent’s warrant, then slipped it back into a concealed pocket before either
Ravana or her father could get a good look at it. “You are under arrest for the
aiding and abetting of Maharani Uma of Ayodhya, wanted for terrorism offences
on Yuanshi. You do not have to say anything, but any statement may be recorded
and used in evidence against you.”

“You’re arresting me?” Quirinus exclaimed. “Don’t be
absurd!”

“I don’t understand,” cried Ravana. “Fenris works for the
Maharani, not my father!”

“Agent Fenris is a Que Qiao operative who has been
collecting intelligence on the renegade Maharani for some time,” Dana informed
them. “It is he who identified O’Brien as the man wanted for helping Maharani
Uma and Raja Surya flee Ayodhya nine years ago. Your father is an enemy of the
state and must be brought to trial.”

“No!” protested Ravana, hugging her cat tightly. Today
was going from bad to worse.

“You slimy son of a…” began Quirinus.

Fenris raised his gun. “Do you deny the charge?”

“My ship was hijacked!” retorted Quirinus. “I was forced
to take the Maharani and her cronies off Yuanshi! You were pointing the gun
back then too, as I recall.”

“Funny how history repeats itself,” mused Fenris. “Here I
am, once more holding you to account and fittingly it is to Yuanshi that we are
now to return. Did I mention I am once again commandeering your ship? We have a
car waiting to take us to the spaceport.”

“You can’t let this happen!” Ravana cried, appealing to
Surya’s cyberclone.

“I have my orders,” the clone replied, keeping its pistol
trained on Quirinus.

With Dana and the clone close behind, Fenris led Ravana
and Quirinus out of the pagoda and across a secluded section of the garden
towards a nearby gate. This opened into a deserted service street where a
ground car in police livery was waiting. Dana motioned to Quirinus and Ravana
to join the two black-clad security guards already inside the car. As Ravana
took her seat, nervously clutching her cat to her chest, she tried not to look
at the plasma rifles resting nonchalantly upon their laps.

Sirens wailing, the police car sped through the busy
streets of Hemakuta. The heavy drone of its turbines somehow made the hush
within the vehicle unbearably intense.

They reached the spaceport in a matter of minutes. When
Quirinus and Ravana saw the fuel tanker being decoupled from the
Platypus
they knew Fenris had not acted on the spur of the
moment.

“If you get a chance, run back to Ostara,” he whispered.
Ravana nodded.

The police car slipped smoothly past the departing tanker
and lurched to a stop next to the open airlock of the
Platypus
. The cyberclone followed Quirinus and Ravana out of
the car, keeping them at gunpoint.

Fenris led the way into the freighter’s cargo bay and up
the ladder towards the flight deck. Dana was behind them and the scowl she wore
as she led the guards into the airlock made it clear that Quirinus and Ravana
had little choice but to comply. As Ravana followed her father she kept a firm
hold of her cat, not trusting it to be roaming loose in a ship bristling with
plasma weaponry.

Ravana followed her father out of the crawl tunnel and up
onto the flight deck. Quirinus gave the waiting Fenris a frosty glare. Someone
had removed a maintenance panel to gain access to the AI unit, but it seemed
any attempt to bypass the security system had failed. The strange tendrils had
multiplied considerably in their absence.

“Ship!” Quirinus called. “Status report.”

“Dock safety protocols engaged, awaiting further orders,”
confirmed the melodious tones of the
Platypus
. “Access to all systems remain restricted to registered crew only.”

Fenris scowled. Behind Ravana came Dana and Surya’s
cyberclone, Dana by now having relieved the clone of the pistol. Ravana guessed
that even if she or her father could somehow get past Dana, the guards in the
cargo bay would be waiting.

“My word,” murmured Dana. She looked around the flight
deck with the air of someone distinctly unimpressed. “This thing brought you
from Barnard’s Star?”

“We have refuelled your ship,” Fenris told Quirinus. He
raised his pistol and aimed it squarely at the pilot’s head. “All you have to
do is fly us to Ayodhya.”

“What if I refuse?” retorted Quirinus. Just for an
instant, he darted his gaze towards the floor near Ravana, then returned his
stare to Fenris. “What then?”

“I presume registered crew includes your daughter,”
Fenris replied coldly. “If you do not cooperate, I will shoot you and persuade
Ravana to do my bidding instead.”

“You’re mad,” Quirinus told him. He settled resignedly
into his seat.

Moving slowly so as not to attract attention, Ravana
turned her head to see where her father’s glance had been directed, then
mentally kicked herself for missing something so obvious. Apart from the cargo
bay door and the docking ring in the roof, there was another way in and out of
the
Platypus
. Near where she stood was
an airtight hatch in the floor of the flight deck that led to the maintenance
bay below. This was where they kept a single-seat extra-vehicular pod used to
perform repairs in deep space, but more importantly the bay had a wide door
that opened out beneath the beak-like nose of the ship. All she needed was a
suitable distraction. On cue, the cat in her arms wriggled and purred.

“Forgive me cat,” whispered Ravana. “You know I wouldn’t
do this to a real animal.”

Quirinus activated the navigation console, all too aware
that Fenris and Dana both had their guns trained on him. Ravana caught his
glance and shuffled towards the floor hatch in readiness for an attempt to
escape.

“Ship, run pre-flight checks,” ordered Quirinus. “Prepare
primary systems for a short interplanetary hop, coordinates to follow. Confirm
main cargo bay airlock closed and sealed. While you’re at it, override dock
protocols and open the EV pod door.”

“Confirmed,” said the AI. “Glad to be of service.”

“What was that last order?” demanded Dana.

“Catch!” yelled Ravana.

Dana spun around and shrieked as the ball of black fur
hurtled towards her, the reluctant missile hissing violently as it pawed the
air with outstretched claws. Ravana had already dropped to the floor and was
slipping through the open hatch by the time Dana pulled the screeching cat from
her face. Fenris whirled around and aimed his outstretched gun at the fleeing
Ravana, but the cyberclone stepped forward to try and intercept the flying pet
and instead caught the full force of Fenris’ swing across its face.

“Reboot me!” the clone burbled, falling to the floor.

“Run!” shouted Quirinus.

“Stop her!” yelled Dana.

Ravana dropped down the short ladder into the maintenance
bay. She landed heavily, centimetres away from the folded manipulator claws of
the giant metallic lobster that was the EV pod. The exterior door was open,
leaving the way clear for her to slide across the floor and drop off the edge
to the concrete runway two metres below. She fell awkwardly and was just
clambering to her feet again when a black shape dropped from above and into her
arms. A small furry face looked up at her and gave a weak meow.

“Hullo cat,” murmured Ravana. “Glad to have you back.”

Angry shouts filled the flight deck but the EV pod door
was already closing. Quirinus risked a glance through the windscreen and to his
relief saw Ravana put down her head and run as fast as she could across the
runway, not daring to look behind.

Fenris turned away from the
Platypus
flight-deck windows and glared venomously at
Quirinus. Dana looked equally displeased, but the claw marks on her face gave
her good reason to be. Surya’s cyberclone lay on the floor, burbling quietly to
itself.

“Try anything like that again and I will shoot you,”
growled Fenris. He raised his gun to Quirinus’ face. “Get this thing in the air
now!”

Ravana ran through the entrance of the small terminal
building, not daring to stop as she hurtled on past the queues of bemused
travellers until finally she could run no more. Exhausted, she staggered into
the washroom facilities, found an empty toilet cubicle and dropped heavily onto
the seat. Only then did she break down and cry, lost in despair, her tears
falling heavily upon the electric cat clutched tightly to her chest until she
could weep no more.

When she finally plucked up courage to emerge and make
for a window overlooking the apron, glancing furtively around for any sign of
pursuit as she did so, a gap in the row of parked spacecraft confirmed her
fears. The
Platypus
and her father had
gone.

She slumped into a nearby seat, totally at a loss,
leaving her cat to wander. Whilst in the washroom she had managed to get her
wristpad working long enough to send a message to Ostara and Zotz, but now the
screen was dead and she had no idea if they were on their way. On the far side
of the arrivals lounge a group of Arab dignitaries were making their way towards
her, amongst whom she suddenly spotted the familiar figure of Governor Atman.
As they approached, Ravana rose to her feet and gave a hesitant wave.

“Governor?” she called.

“Hello!” he greeted. “You’re one of the Barnard’s Star
contingent, are you not?”

“I need help,” pleaded Ravana. “My father has been
arrested by Dana and I don’t know what to do! Fenris threatened to shoot him
unless he took them to Yuanshi!”

“Slow down!” said Atman. “Agent Dana, you say? I confess
that I’ve had little direct input on security arrangements but I’m sure there’s
nothing to worry about.”

“But…” protested Ravana.

“I must dash, my dear,” the governor interrupted. “These
people have come all the way from Aram and we’re already very late for dinner!”

Dejected, Ravana watched as Atman and the delegates
walked on towards the large ground car parked near the main entrance. Moments
later a couple of figures bustled through from outside, who upon seeing Ravana
quickly rushed towards her.

“Zotz!” called Ravana, almost crying with relief.
“Ostara! You came!”

Ostara ran up and gave her a hug. Zotz looked equally
anxious, so after Ostara had released her embrace Ravana gave him a quick hug
also.

“What is happening on this crazy moon?” asked Ostara.
“Your message had bits missing but it sounded like Fenris has gone mad!”

“He tricked us,” Ravana told her, close to tears. “Fenris
has taken the
Platypus
and forced my
father to fly him to Ayodhya. Agent Dana was in on it, too. She arrested him
for helping the Maharani escape all those years ago.”

“Dana arrested Fenris?” asked Ostara, confused.