Morgan's Choice (28 page)

“Orionar.” Unwyn muttered the word. He gazed,
enthralled, at the images.

“These are your people?” Ravindra said to
Morgan.

“
They sure look like my people,
yes.”

“
These images must be five thousand years
old. Part of our oldest history.” A question gleamed in Unwyn’s
blue eyes. “If your people are the Orionar, how could your world be
kept so far apart from the manesan mainstream for so
long?”

Ravindra spoke into the silence. “I think
perhaps we owe the Professor some explanation. She is not manesan.
The spaceship she was in malfunctioned and was taken on board my
flagship,
Vidhvansaka.
The
similarities between Morgan and Jones and our people were of
interest to everybody, rest assured, but their arrival was kept top
secret. We disseminated stories to explain their unusual appearance
and their strange ship.”

Unwyn’s jaw flapped. “But… where do you come
from? What are you?”

She took a deep breath. “I come from
somewhere far away. I don’t know how I got here and I don’t know
how to get home. I expect I’m much more like the Orionar than like
you. So maybe I am an Orionar.
”

She stopped and looked at Ravindra. How much
to say?

He took over. “But right now is not the time
to delve into ancient history.”

“
I don’t much like the notion of being used
by
Bunyada
to
justify their murderous revolution, either,” Morgan
added.

“
I see that. No wonder you have no time
for
Bunyada
,” Unwyn
said.

“
Oh,
Bunyada
doesn’t worry me. I’m sorry, Admiral, but I can’t see why
people can’t rule themselves. I just hate being used to trick
people. It’s funny, really, that maybe by accident we’ve stumbled
on a truth that was right here under their noses.”

Unwyn chewed at his lip. “You’ve given me a
lot to think about.” He lifted a bag off his shoulders. “I
collected a flask and some food before I came down. “Let’s at least
have a hot drink and a bite to eat.”

“Good idea,” Ravindra said.

They sat together on the floor and Unwyn
shared out
charb
and
biscuits.

“Who is the woman who came down here?”
Ravindra said after he’d wolfed down a biscuit.

“Devagnam’s daughter, Lakshmi. The spoilt
only child,” Morgan said. “Asbarthi’s intended. She doesn’t think
much of me. Mind you, the feeling’s mutual.”

“They had a son, but he died,” Unwyn said.
“Make no mistake, she’s a highly competent woman. She’s virtually
taken over running the family interests, no mean feat for a
woman.”

“No, indeed,” Ravindra said. “And she is her
father’s heir.”

“
Yes. Asbarthi scored quite a catch with
her.” Unwyn reached for another biscuit. “Devagnam himself is one
of the most influential
Hai Sura
on the planet, so having his support for this revolt was
important.”

“You know her?” Morgan said to Ravindra.

“I know of her,” Ravindra replied. “I was
briefed on Asbarthi and his friends. She has gone?”

“No,” said Unwyn. “She arrived with Asbarthi.
But he couldn’t see much point in coming here, you could tell. He
stayed in the copter and told her to hurry. He left in one of the
copters, she’s still here with the second one.”

“How many men?” Ravindra said.

“Six. All armed and wide awake.”

“
Where?” He finished the
charb
and set the mug
down.

Unwyn pointed up. “In the tent.”

Morgan, huddled in the blanket over Unwyn’s
borrowed jacket, chewed on the last biscuit. Her clothes were
drying and she was finally starting to feel a bit warmer. She
stared up at the ceiling, at the darkness beyond the lights. “Can
we rush them when we get out?”

“Risky,” Ravindra said, looking up at the
ladder. “Even if we can take out the men, if one stays in the
copter it has its own weapons. Is there any other way out of
here?”

The light gleamed in Unwyn’s eyes. “There is
an alternative.”

The way he said that. A worm of apprehension
began to uncoil in her gut.

“That is?” Ravindra said.

“When we mapped this place out, I noticed a
tunnel from the cellars. I followed it for a ways then decided I
had more to do here. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it leads to where the
river port used to be, below the waterfall in the jungle. Down
there.” Unwyn pointed at the ground.

“Pretty sure?” Morgan gulped. The worm
uncurled a little more, sending a tendril of fear up her spine.

“Yes. I found a sign chiseled into the rock,
written in archaic script.”

“And you want us to follow some moldy,
root-filled hole in the ground for how far?”

“No, not moldy and root-filled. It goes
through rock.”

A journey through darkness. Or face Lakshmi
and her goons at the top of the ladder.

“And when we reach the end?” Ravindra
said.

“There’s a tiny settlement further down the
river, not much more than a fishing village. It doesn’t even appear
on all the maps. I was there six months or so ago, to take a look
at some ruins in the jungle. We can maybe get a vehicle there and
carry on toward the base. Apart from anything else, we’ll have
disappeared for a while.”

“Approach the base from the river.” Ravindra
gave a nod of approval. “Yes. No one would expect that.”

Morgan picked up the beaker next to her
hand. It was empty. She put it down again.
Face your fear or try your luck
against six armed men
.
It’s just darkness
. Darkness creeping behind her, ready to pounce. Her
stomach knotted. Not as dark as space. But in space there are
stars, said the little voice in her head.

“I have lanterns,” Unwyn said, his voice
gentle.

“And you won’t be alone,” Ravindra added.

“Well,” Morgan said, standing. She let the
blanket drop. “We’d better get moving.”

Chapter
Thirty-Two

“If Unwyn dares to defy me, I’ll have his
balls on an open fire.” Lakshmi leaned into the copter’s open door,
arms folded.

Asbarthi shook his head slowly. “I thought
you quite fancied him. And please don’t bother with the Hasta
nonsense, Lakshmi. I’m talking about lust, not life partners.”

Why deny it? Of course she would have. He
certainly wouldn’t have been the first. “A harmless fling on the
side. Would it have worried you?”

“Not really. I have no illusions about you,
my dearest. You’ll be a wonderful consort. Well, come on; get in. I
want to get to Zaffra Bay.”

Lakshmi turned to glower at the tent. How
Unwyn could possibly prefer that… that freak to her was… absurd.
And yet that seemed to be the case. The more she thought about it
the more certain she was the woman would turn up here. “You go on.
I’m not convinced. I’ll stay here with the other copter.”

He sighed. “All right, Lakshmi. I suppose it
covers two possibilities.”

“She’s crossed me. Bitch.” She’d be
sorry.

“As you wish. I must go. Join me soon, hm? We
can celebrate our victory together.”

The copter soared away, quickly lost in the
darkness. It began to rain again and she scampered for the shelter
of the other copter.

****

Asbarthi let out a sigh of relief when his
copter finally landed in the base’s main square. He never wanted to
endure such a rocky ride, ever again. He climbed out, his legs just
a little bit shaky. An officer stepped forward and bowed.

“
Welcome to Zaffra Bay,
Sur
Asbarthi. I am Commander Iniman, now commanding
officer of this facility.”

The man’s smile was twisted, nasty. He’d
obviously enjoyed himself. And why not? He would enjoy himself when
he got back to Ravindra. The thought brought a smile to his face.
“I trust you didn’t have too much trouble, Commander?”

“I confess, more than I would have liked.
Some of the garrison tried a counter-attack. But as you can see, it
was unsuccessful. I have some of the remaining Mirka officers under
guard in the cells. Including Admiral Gamesh.”

“Gamesh. Yes,” Asbarthi drawled. “I remember
him. He suppressed a popular uprising on Chapsa five years ago, as
I recall. Oh, the least I can do is say hello.” Yes, he remembered
him very well. He’d been at Chapsa himself, in the background of
course, helping to direct matters. If the Mirka hadn’t waded in,
Chapsa would have been his. He’d only just managed to slip out. It
was all a learning experience. He wouldn’t fail this time.

He accompanied Iniman along a neat road to
the grey-walled detention block. Inside, they passed through a gate
into an echoing passage lined with cells. Iniman stopped in front
of one and opened a spy hole.

Asbarthi peered through. Five officers were
crowded together with barely enough room to sit on the bare floor.
How very suitable. “Fetch the Admiral for me.”

They dragged him out, a short man with bright
yellow eyes and defiant stance. “Asbarthi. Back for another
try?”

So they knew. He hadn’t realized. Ah well.
More fool them. “You mean Chapsa, don’t you? You’ve saved me the
bother of explaining why I feel some need to rid myself of you. I
learnt some lessons. We won’t fail this time.” He turned to Iniman.
“Take them out and execute them. All of them. Perhaps you could
have them dig their own burial pit first. To save you some
trouble.”

Iniman grinned. He was Vesha, of course, a
logistics expert who would never ordinarily be allowed to command a
base such as this. Which was why he’d been so easy to recruit.
“Best save the Admiral’s shoulder boards, though. You’ve just
received a field promotion… Admiral Iniman.”

The man swelled. “Remove his shoulder
boards.”

A soldier stepped forward, unfastened the
boards from Gamesh’s uniform and handed them to Iniman, who stared
at the two silver stars with avaricious delight. So easy to reward
underlings like Iniman.

“Enjoy your time in the top job, Iniman,”
said Gamesh. “You won’t have it long.”

Iniman swept his left hand around and struck
the Admiral a searing back-handed blow across his cheek. Gamesh
swayed, recovered, and snarling his contempt spat full in Iniman’s
face.

“Get him out of here,” snapped the new
commander of Zaffra Base, wiping the spittle with his fingers.

Two men shoved Gamesh out the door. The rest
were herded out, prodded with rifle barrels. Asbarthi watched with
satisfaction as one officer received a rifle butt to his belly, a
reward for obstinacy. He collapsed to the floor and his jailers
dragged him outside.

“What about their women?” Asbarthi asked the
new Admiral.

Iniman looked up from the shoulder boards he
held, the stars gleaming in the light. “They’re all in the mess
hall, under guard.”

Asbarthi looked up from inspecting his
fingernails. “Best to be rid of them, too, don’t you think? We
don’t want any insurgency.”

“You mean… kill them?” His Adam’s apple
bobbed.

“It’s best, I feel, Admiral. For the greater
good. Not an easy decision, I grant you but the sort of difficult
choices a leader must make.”

Iniman’s hand closed over the shoulder
boards. “I’ll see to it.”

“But quietly, you understand?”

Chapter
Thirty-Three

Unwyn led the way down a wide passage.
Plaster broken away from the stone littered the ground and crunched
beneath their feet. No echoes here; the darkness beyond the beam of
light cast by their lanterns seemed to absorb their footfalls. They
passed a doorway, then another. Morgan flashed the light he’d given
her into each before she scurried past in spite of Ravindra’s soft
tread behind her.

“This corridor goes through the living
quarters. It would have led outside, once.” Unwyn, quite
unperturbed, pointed to a pile of rubble where the wall had
collapsed. He skirted around and went to the right.

At the end of the passage they stepped into
what had been the kitchens. Even Morgan could see that. The basic
framework was still recognizable; benches for preparation, sinks,
the remains of a stove. Most of the oven doors had joined the
litter on the floor but one hung on still, demonstrating the
durability of materials from an earlier time.

Unwyn hesitated. “We’ve done some work here,
collecting shards and material. But there’s years of effort left.
Tread a little carefully, please?”

She nodded. Strange to think this place had
last been used as a kitchen thousands of years ago. It would have
been busy with cooks and scullery hands, the clatter of dishes,
shouted orders. She trod carefully in Unwyn’s wake. “Was it a
technologically advanced society?”

“It depends what you mean. Here in the
kitchen they had fireplaces for cooking, but also other devices
which must have used some other power source. We think solar power
is the most likely explanation. So they certainly had that form of
technology.”

Unwyn had crossed the room by now and stood
at the top of stairs that led down. “This goes into the cellars.
Are you okay?”

“Yes.” As long as she had that light in her
hand it kept the dark at bay, and she had Ravindra behind her. Fear
hovered just beyond the reach of the lantern, followed her,
waiting. “It’s not as dark as space,” she lied.

Stone steps descended into a vaulted
chamber, cool and musty. She played her lantern around, motes
swirling in the beam of light. Dust lay thick on broken shelves,
tarnished containers, round tubs. Something scurried. She shoved
down the spurt of adrenalin. Of course there would be insects or
rodents here.