Hollow Moon (30 page)

“What is this place?” murmured Zotz wonderingly.

“It reminds me of the banana plantations near Lanka,”
Ravana remarked. “They grow them inside big tents to keep pests and poachers
out.”

“Whatever it is they’re growing here, it isn’t bananas,”
muttered Ostara. “This is very creepy. Any chance of some light?”

Ravana thought the request was directed at her, but was
saved from having to hunt for a light switch using her implant by Zotz, who
quickly rummaged through his bag and withdrew a small sphere with twin rotor
blades on top. After pressing a switch on the base, he threw the globe with its
now-spinning rotors high into the air. A split second later the hovering sphere
blazed into life. The jungle shadows were instantly banished as the globe
illuminated the tent and Zotz’s triumphant grin with a stark and blinding white
light.

“Neat,” admitted Ravana, shading her eyes. “One of your
inventions?”

Zotz nodded. “The fuel cell is only good for ten minutes
though.”

The bright light transformed the scene before them,
revealing the jungle as a twisted, chaotic explosion of vegetation that showed
no signs of being an orderly crop plantation of any kind. The dark foliage was
the characteristic myrtle green of plants native to Yuanshi and Ravana was
instantly reminded of the ancient forest near her childhood home. For a moment
she thought she saw a grey shape deep in the undergrowth, then it was gone.

“Did you see that?” whispered Ostara. “It looked… alien.”

“Yuanshi’s own flora and fauna,” said Ravana, her voice
filled with awe. She took a few steps along a narrow gravel path leading into
the jungle and then paused. “A lot of the native plants and animals are deadly
to humans and were deliberately destroyed when Earth crops were introduced.
This could be some sort of nature reserve.”

Intrigued, she walked on, her senses primed to the sights
and sounds of the plantation. As she moved further from the gate, Ravana felt
the eyes of countless hidden watchers upon her and twice more saw a brief blur
of grey as a shadowy creature moved through the bushes ahead. At one point her
mysterious guide seemed ready to emerge into the open, then abruptly
disappeared when Ostara and Zotz crashed noisily through the undergrowth behind
with such a commotion that even Ravana jumped. All this time her cat continued
to act very oddly and squirm in her arms, its electric gaze darting back and
forth as if it expected to be leapt upon and eaten by a fierce jungle beast at
any moment.

The path ended abruptly at the edge of a circular pit in
the ground, several metres in diameter and more than a metre deep. Arranged
neatly inside the earthen hollow was one of the strangest sights Ravana had
ever seen: row upon row of large greyish-green spheres, each half a metre wide
and covered with silken threads. As she stared, her cat wriggled free from her
arms, jumped to the floor and cautiously sniffed the edge of the pit.

“My word!” exclaimed Ostara, as she and Zotz came up
behind her. “Look at the size of those, all covered in webs! Is this the nest
of a giant spider?”

Ravana shuddered. “Don’t say things like that!”

“They look like eggs,” Zotz murmured. “Giant alien eggs.”

“They can’t be!” protested Ravana. “There’s nothing on
Yuanshi that lays eggs like that. All the big native animals died out when
people arrived and started terraforming.”

“Those are definitely alien eggs,” Zotz declared.
“Probably ready to explode and spew out some face-sucking creature at any
moment. Have you never seen the
Alien
films?”
he asked, seeing Ravana’s confused and rather horrified expression. “
Alien
versus Godzilla III
was added to the
Dandridge
Cole
holovid library just a few months
ago.”

“I don’t watch horror films,” Ravana said firmly.

Zotz was flabbergasted. “But the
Alien
holovids are classics! They go all the way back to
the old-style movies of the twentieth century!”

“What about
Alien: The Opera
? You must have heard of that one,” interjected
Ostara. “Remember Administrator Verdandi at Newbrum? Her mother is a famous
diva who played Ripley in the recent revival. Your father took me to Bradbury
Heights Opera House to see it.”

Ravana blinked. “I don’t remember that.”

Zotz nodded eagerly and to Ravana’s amazement suddenly
broke into song:

Ravana stared at him. “I’m almost lost for words,” she
said. “Is that why you call my cat Jones? After some moggy in a horror film?”

“It’s more science-fiction than horror,” Zotz protested
weakly. “In the original movie, Jones is the only crew member to survive other
than Ripley. In
Alien and the Terrorclones
,
the cat mutates into tiger cyborg and saves Ripley from the Mechanoraptor.”

“I’m obviously missing some class entertainment,”
muttered Ravana.

“Can we forget
Alien
for
the time being?” interrupted Ostara, sounding exasperated. “We’re supposed to
be trying to get to Ayodhya to rescue your father, yet here we are standing
next to a pit of alien eggs in the middle of nowhere, debating the merits of
science-fiction horror films! We need a plan!”

“The light from my lantern won’t last much longer,” added
Zotz.

He jumped and gave a shriek. For a moment, Ravana thought
she saw an indistinct grey face in the undergrowth peering up at them, then
frowned and decided it was a trick of the shadows. A split second later, the
light from Zotz’s hovering globe failed and they were promptly plunged into
darkness, then heard a faint crash as the powerless sphere fell to the ground.
Now they were away from the canvas walls and deep in the jungle, the darkness
was complete. Ravana could not even see her hand as she reached out to find
Ostara.

“An alien!” exclaimed Zotz. “Anyone got a light?”

Out of nowhere, the beam of a torch pierced the gloom.
Startled, Ravana, Ostara and Zotz turned and were instantly blinded by the
light.

“Who’s there?” demanded Ostara. The words of her brave
challenge trembled.

“I was hoping you three would run away once we landed,”
grumbled a male voice. “That at least would have saved me the bother of
wondering what to do with you.”

The beam changed into a gentler, more diffuse glow,
revealing the stern but roguish features of Hanuman, the pilot of the
Sun
Wukong
. The lantern was in his left hand,
leaving his right free to linger cautiously upon the butt of the plasma pistol
holstered at his waist.

“You!” Ravana cried, picking up her cat. “What is this
place?”

“And where could we go?” asked Ostara. “We’re miles from
anywhere!”

“Actually, on the other side of the forest is the main
road to Anjayaneya,” Hanuman pointed out. He acted annoyed, then relented and
gave Ostara a wink. “I’m sure you could have flagged down some friendly trucker
willing to take you back to civilisation. How did you get in here? These
plantations are supposed to be secure.”

“I really did see an alien!” insisted Zotz.

“I opened the gate,” Ravana told him, ignoring Zotz. “I
used my implant.”

“Never had you down as a military spy,” Hanuman admitted,
not noticing her look of confusion. “On that note, we should go before we all
get into trouble. Are you hungry?”

Ravana glanced at Ostara, who seemed equally surprised by
his apparent show of concern. Ostara nodded, for none of them had eaten since
leaving the hotel. Beside her, Zotz’s stomach had decided it was an opportune
moment to start rumbling audibly.

“Good,” said Hanuman, smiling properly for the first
time. “Ganesa’s cooking up one of her specials and it’s been a while since
we’ve had guests.”

“You’re very kind,” said Ostara meekly.

“It’s more an invitation to an informal interrogation,”
he said solemnly and tapped his pistol. “I do hope you’re not spies. It would
be such a shame to shoot you.”

Ganesa was waiting for them at a cabin on the edge of the
forest clearing, well away from the strange plantation. The ten-metre hut was a
camouflaged pre-fabricated habitation module as used by the military when
establishing temporary command bases in the field. This one had home-made
curtains at the windows and other homely attempts to soften the hard lines of
the utilitarian metal shell, though none succeeded quite as well as the
pleasant aroma of cooking that greeted Hanuman, Ostara, Ravana and Zotz as they
drew near.

It was a warm night and Ganesa had set up a table and
chairs beneath the canopy overhanging the front of the cabin. A large pot of
stew sat in the middle of the table and when Ravana saw the five dishes and
associated tableware laid out for them she realised Hanuman had deliberately set
out to find them. Ganesa herself was already seated at the table, visible in
the pale illumination spilling from the open cabin door. As they approached,
she looked up and gave a friendly wave.

“Our stowaways had broken into the compound,” Hanuman
told her with a wry grin. “I thought I’d better bring them back here before
they caused any more trouble.”

Ganesa looked impressed. “I’ve never been inside. What
did you find?”

“Alien eggs,” stated Zotz. He did not mention the grey
face. “A big nest of them.”

“Is that what they harvest in there?” she remarked.
“Well, I can’t promise you egg, but there’s plenty of stew if you’re hungry.
Please, take a seat, all of you.”

Ravana and Zotz were ravenous and eagerly helped
themselves to a large bowlful each, almost forgetting that Ostara, Hanuman and
Ganesa were waiting to follow suit. Ravana ate hungrily, amazed by the stew’s
rich flavours.

“This tastes wonderful!” Ostara told Ganesa, after
finally getting to the pot. “You must give me the settings for this.”

Ganesa smiled. “We have no food molecularisor here. When
you rely on zero-gravity rations as much as we do it becomes a pleasure to cook
something the old-fashioned way.”

“You didn’t use a ’risor?” Ostara looked astounded.

Hanuman retrieved a bottle of liquor from inside the
cabin and poured a generous measure for Ostara, Ganesa and himself. Ostara
politely declined, for she had found upon the table a pot of wonder in the
shape of freshly-brewed Yuanshi tea. Hanuman offered the glass instead to
Ravana, who cautiously sipped at the clear sweet beverage and instantly felt a
warm buzz from the alcohol within. Her father permitted her to drink wine
sometimes but she had never tasted anything like this.

“A local speciality,” Hanuman told her with a grin. “The
fruit of the deggdra.”

“Dead Horse Gin!” exclaimed Ravana, recognising the
ingredient as being that of her father’s favourite tipple. “Aren’t deggdra
berries poisonous?”

“I wouldn’t eat them raw,” Hanuman advised.

“Can I have some?” asked Zotz, eyeing the bottle hopefully.

“You’re too young,” Ostara told him.

Ganesa pushed aside her empty bowl and reached for her
own glass.

“We should acquaint ourselves properly,” she said. “If
Hanuman hasn’t told you already, I am Ganesa, co-pilot of the
Sun Wukong
. Hanuman and I are what you might call independent
traders, as far as that is possible in this star system. I’m curious why you
three chose to flee Hemakuta by hiding aboard our ship. Are you on the run?”

“We’re trying to get to Ayodhya,” Ostara told her. “I’m
Ostara, head of security on the
Dandridge Cole
and this is Ravana and her friend Zotz. Ravana’s father has been
arrested and his ship hijacked, all thanks to a slimy, double-crossing
acquaintance of ours!”

Upon hearing the name of the hollow moon, Hanuman and
Ganesa visibly stiffened and a hush fell upon the table. Ostara appeared not to
notice, but Ravana caught their awkward expressions and gave Hanuman a
questioning stare.

“So you must be Ravana,” he said, breaking the
uncomfortable silence. “Complete with some sort of electric pet, I see. Where
have I heard your name recently?”

“Yaksha mentioned someone called Ravana when we were at
Kubera. She asked the young Raja if he knew anyone by that name,” interjected
Ganesa. She gave an apologetic grin in response to Hanuman’s glare. “Whoops!
I’ve said too much.”

“The Raja!” cried Ravana. “The Maharani’s kidnapped son?”

“The holovid call,” Zotz murmured to Ostara. “Taranis
mentioned their ship.”

“That’s right!” Ostara declared, looking at Hanuman. “We
listened in on a conversation between Fenris and someone called Taranis. We
know you were delivering equipment to Hemakuta for them. How do you know the
Raja?”

“I’m supposed to be asking the questions!” he retorted.
“Why are you so interested?”

“Fenris pulled a gun on my father and forced him to fly
the
Platypus
to Ayodhya!” Ravana said
bluntly. “All I want to do is find my father and go home.”

“The
Platypus
?”
Hanuman looked startled. “You’re O’Brien’s daughter?”

“You know my father?” Ravana asked, hardly able to
believe it.

Ganesa rolled her eyes. “This galaxy is getting smaller
by the day.”

“We know Quirinus and the
Platypus
of old,” said Hanuman. “We’ve shared a Dead Horse Gin
or two in many a trading post around the five systems. I had no idea he was
involved in this stupid plot Taranis and Kartikeya have cooked up for the
conference.”