Hollow Moon (31 page)

“Bit of a coincidence, you knowing her father,” Ostara
said doubtfully.

“It’s hard not to remember someone who flies a ship
called
Platypus
!” Hanuman said with a
smile. “Besides, we’re in the same trade and there’s not many of us independent
flyers around. He’s a good man, Ravana. I am so sorry you’re caught up in all
of this.”

He spoke with a genuine fondness. Ganesa reached out to
Ravana, pushed aside a lock of the girl’s hair and gently touched the scar on
her face. Her smile wore a sadness that suggested she knew what had happened to
Ravana and her family all those years ago.

“Zotz and I came to Daode to play with the Newbrum band
at the peace conference,” Ravana said and sighed. “We thought Fenris asked to
come along so he could talk to the Raja’s kidnappers. Nothing seems to make
sense anymore.”

“I agree with that,” murmured Ganesa.

“I don’t know the full story myself,” Hanuman admitted.
“What I do know is that we’re finding it increasingly difficult to tell one
side from another in this crazy war.”

Hanuman’s story was a familiar tale. The Que Qiao
Corporation had long grown beyond the point where its president and board of
governors could claim to have full control. Yuanshi was a long way from the
corporation’s headquarters in Shanghai and shareholders on Earth did not want
to hear about a war on some far-flung moon. Governor Jaggarneth in Ayodhya had
been left to manage the situation, on the understanding no questions would be
asked as long as profits continued to roll. Yuanshi was otherwise of great
interest to the corporation, for Hanuman and Ganesa had learned that the moon
was home to a valuable resource used in the commercial manufacture of AI units.

Jaggarneth long ago decided to use the civil war as an
excuse to run Yuanshi as a police state under a corporate version of martial
law. The self-proclaimed freedom fighters of Lanka were badly organised,
ill-equipped and had not had a strong leader since the death of Surya’s father
years before. When the priest Taranis reappeared on the scene and the plot to
restore a Maharaja to the throne of Yuanshi was discovered, Jaggarneth set his
agents to work to ensure that whatever happened, the war would continue.

“What about the peace conference?” asked Ravana. “Is that
all just for show?”

Ganesa shook her head. “The conference is Governor
Atman’s idea,” she said. “He’s really sweet and genuinely wants to bring peace
to Yuanshi. He doesn’t understand that it’s only Jaggarneth’s meddling that is
keeping the war going in the first place.”

Zotz looked confused. “I don’t understand.”

“Commander Kartikeya and his royalists are a useless
bunch of misfits who are more likely to injure themselves than anyone else,”
Hanuman said flatly, making Ganesa smile. “Namtar and Inari, who carried out
the kidnapping of the Raja, were secretly helped by Jaggarneth every step of
the way. Que Qiao agents found a suitable ship and delivered it to where it
could be conveniently stolen, while Fenris provided plans to the
Dandridge
Cole
and arranged it so one of the airlocks
could be opened from outside.”

“Fenris is a Que Qiao agent?” asked Ostara. “Isn’t he
working for Taranis?”

“This is where it gets confusing,” admitted Ganesa. “As
far as Kartikeya is aware, Fenris is a double agent whose true loyalty lies
with the royalists. I’m not so sure.”

“What about you?” asked Zotz. “You said you’ve met the
Raja and you seem to know all about the kidnapping. Are you double agents as
well?”

Ganesa looked at Hanuman, then shrugged. “We’re free
agents,” she replied. “Mercenaries. We work for anyone as long as the price is
right.”

“Who are you working for at the moment?” Ravana asked,
eyeing Hanuman carefully. She had yet to make up her mind about whether to
trust him and Ganesa.

Hanuman smiled. “Right now we have an empty cargo bay and
are open to offers!”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“The farm supplies we brought here were a Que Qiao
consignment,” he told her. “Before that, we were in Hemakuta delivering
equipment for Kartikeya. And in case you hadn’t guessed, it was our ship that
collected Namtar, Inari and the Raja from Ascension and took them to Lanka. I
suppose we have a preference for working for Kartikeya and his rebels; the
pay’s good and the kitchens at Kubera serve only the best the system has to
offer!”

“What was the equipment you took to Hemakuta?” asked
Zotz.

“No idea!” said Hanuman. “The crate was sealed and I
didn’t ask questions.”

“You really are a class act,” murmured Ostara. “No morals
at all.”

“That’s not fair!” protested Hanuman. “Que Qiao
frequently threatens to impound the
Sun Wukong
and throw us in Feng Du unless we agree to play by their rules now and
again,” he said. They had all heard of Feng Du, an infamous penal colony on
Taotie.

“If you’re in his good books, Hanuman is as loyal as they
come,” added Ganesa.

“That’s right!” said Hanuman. “I’ve never let you down,
have I?”

Ganesa hesitated. “Well…”

“We’re getting off the point,” Ostara hastily
interrupted. “Governor Jaggarneth and Que Qiao helped the rebels kidnap the
Raja? Why would they do that?”

“Jaggarneth wants the peace conference to end in chaos,”
Hanuman explained. “Partly to enflame the civil war, but also to discredit
Atman. Jaggarneth hopes to persuade his superiors that he, not Atman, should be
governor of Daode. It’s a more prestigious job.”

“Politics is mind-boggling,” said Ostara and sighed. It
was getting too much for Ravana and Zotz, who although interested were tired
and on the verge of falling asleep at the table. “One thing you never
explained. Why is Yuanshi so important to Que Qiao?”

Hanuman smiled. “You’ve already seen it for yourself,” he
replied. “The top secret plantation you somehow managed to enter is in the
middle of nowhere for a very good reason. Inside is something very precious
indeed.”

Ostara stared at him. “The eggs?”

Hanuman smiled. “And much, much more.”

A short while later they found themselves once again at
the entrance to the covered plantation. Ostara ventured that they had forgotten
to retrieve Zotz’s flying lantern, which if discovered could get Hanuman and
Ganesa into a lot of trouble. Hanuman appeared to have other concerns and
alongside his plasma pistol now also carried a holovid camera. He had been most
tactful when asking Ravana whether she could open the gate again.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked her. They had already
found that the gate and electronic defences had automatically locked and reset
in their absence.

Ravana nodded. The picture of the red square and jagged
symbol had come back into her head when she stepped up to the gate and it was a
simple matter to manipulate the mental image exactly as she had done before. A
loud clunk drifted across the night as the two halves of the gate unlocked and
began to roll open.

“That’s amazing,” murmured Ganesa. She had already
confessed to be more curious than anyone to see what lay inside. “I also have
an implant,” she confided to Ravana. “But I’ve never detected any remote
circuits in this area. How did you do that?”

Ravana shrugged. “I just prodded the picture in my head.”

“You have an implant?” Zotz asked Ganesa.

“It doesn’t seem to have the same capabilities as
Ravana’s, but yes,” she replied. “I was born in Ayodhya the year Que Qiao
started the implant programme.”

“When was that? Forty, fifty years ago?” joked Hanuman.

Ganesa gave him a playful punch. “Don’t be horrible! I’m
thirty-two.”

Hanuman grinned. Ahead, the gate rattled to a halt.
Holding his lamp high, he stepped into the jungle beyond. Close behind were
Ravana and Zotz, with Ostara and Ganesa bringing up the rear with the aid of a
second lantern. Ravana and Zotz had jumped at the chance of another adventure
in the plantation. Ostara, after mumbling something about her comfy Pampa
Palace hotel room and her foolishness in not taking a relaxing bath when she had
the chance, needed a little more convincing. Ravana once again carried her cat,
which still acted most strangely and tried to scrabble up her leg whenever she
put it down.

They retraced their earlier steps in no time and arrived
back at the edge of the circular pit. Ganesa was fascinated by the grey
spheres; although well-versed in the native flora and fauna of Yuanshi, she too
had not seen anything like them before. A faint heat rose from the pit and
Ravana was convinced the eggs trembled slightly. Zotz had found his fallen
lamp, its rotors now dented, but continued to peer into the surrounding jungle
as if expecting to see something else. Hanuman took out his holovid camera and
spent a few moments recording the scene, slowly panning from left to right as
he did so.

“Are they really alien?” asked Ostara. “What lays eggs
like that?”

“A massive spider!” said Zotz gleefully. Ravana grimaced
in horror.

“The red-crested thunderworm,” Hanuman told them. “A
species native to Yuanshi.”

Ravana shook her head. “No way. Thunderworms do not grow
that big!”

“Genetically engineered ones do,” Hanuman told her,
lowering the camera. “It’s unusual to see a hatchery out here in the open, but
this isn’t what I wanted to show you. Everyone knows about egg.”

“Do they?” asked Ostara, looking wary. Ravana shrugged.

Ganesa seemed surprised. “You’ve never heard of egg?”

“Alien or chicken?” asked Zotz.

Ravana remembered a curious phrase Maia had used at the
floating market, seemingly as an insult. “The girl from Bradbury Heights asked
Endymion if he was on egg,” she mused. “Is ‘egg’ the nickname for some sort of
drug?”

“The Administrator said something similar at Newbrum
spaceport,” recalled Ostara.

Hanuman laughed. “You’ve never heard the phrase ‘egg
head’?”

As one, Ostara, Ravana and Zotz shook their heads.

“How do you stay so sweet and innocent in this day and
age?” asked Hanuman and grinned. “Thunderworm eggs are the main ingredient in a
street drug known as egg: a fine yellow powder that people mix into drinks for
the ultimate mellow experience. It leaves you blissfully happy, without a care
in the world,” he added wistfully. “Egg heads tend to stumble around in a daze,
grinning at everyone and being far too laid-back for their own good.”

“That does sound like Endymion,” admitted Ravana.
“Perhaps I should try feeding some to Jones. It’s been a bag of nerves ever
since we got off the ship. Do you want some egg?” she asked her pet, motioning
towards the hollow. The cat looked at her in disgust.

“Drugs made from worm eggs?” Zotz was astounded.

“Que Qiao has whole plantations dedicated to it here on
Yuanshi,” Hanuman told them. “Yet egg is illegal and banned across the five
systems. You can be arrested and thrown in jail if caught in possession of even
the tiniest amount.”

“Que Qiao is both police and pushers,” Ganesa said
bitterly. “By being part of the drug trade they can control the supply and keep
certain elements of society in check.”

“I don’t believe it,” retorted Ravana.

“This is nothing,” Hanuman told her. “Wait until you see
the big secret!”

“If this place is so secret, how do you know about it?”
asked Ostara.

“Que Qiao use outsiders to deliver to this research
facility because officially it doesn’t exist,” he explained. “If the wider
world ever got to know about it, Que Qiao agents would happily shoot everyone
involved, burn the place to the ground, then moan about having to make an
expenses claim for shiny new suits to replace the ones covered in soot and
blood.”

Ravana looked at Ostara and gulped. Hanuman stepped
forward once more and urged them to follow, leading them around the edge of the
pit and deeper into the plantation. After a few minutes, they caught sight of a
low windowless building nestled in a small clearing and surrounded by a
barbed-wire fence. Hanuman led them towards a gate in the fence and the
unmistakeable hum of an electrified fence.

Hanuman paused before the gate and turned to Ravana. “Can
you open this one?”

“Is that all I am to you?” she asked warily. “A bunch of
keys?”

“How provincial. No one uses actual keys anymore, do
they?”

Ravana recalled that locksmith was still a valid trade in
some of the more backwards communities of the hollow moon. An image of the gate
had already popped into her mind. With a quick mental flex, she released the
lock as easily as before. The gate swung open.

“Happy now?” she asked.

Hanuman bowed. “You are most kind, my lady.”

The sunken building ahead was as big as a spacecraft
hanger. The concrete bunker was entirely featureless apart from a recessed
steel door and a sinister-looking chimney stack disappearing into the gloom.
Behind the building was what looked like a small power station. Hanuman walked
briskly down the narrow cutting towards the door and gestured impatiently for
the others to follow.

“Note the fusion power plant,” he remarked. “You need a
tremendous amount of power to run a cloning facility. Ravana, can you get us
inside?”

She came to his side and concentrated upon the picture of
the door in her head.

“This one’s tricky,” she told him. “There’s three
separate locks, plus some other device I’m not sure about.”

“A booby trap?” suggested Hanuman.

Ganesa gave him a worried stare. “Is that likely?”