Part 10 (1/2)

The Superior rubbed her chin and thought furiously. When she got to her feet a moment later, she was ready to command decisively again. 'I want a dozen people sent to the Miracle's surface.' She waved her subordinate's protest aside. 'I know it's blasphemous, but I can't believe Enros would want us to sit by whilst this planet dies.'

Darnak did lose a lot of guards last night, ma'am.'

'Then send some of the captured rebels instead. They're more expendable anyway. Also, I want the battles.h.i.+p Morningstar Morningstar brought on-line and ready to scramble.' brought on-line and ready to scramble.'

Merrioc bowed obsequiously. 'I doubt we have the power reserves available for such an operation, Superior. Should I divert it from the lower castes' grid?'

'Oh, absolutely,' she confirmed. 'This is for their own good, after all. I want you to see to that yourself, Merrioc.'

'And the rebels?'

She sighed. 'I suppose even Darnak couldn't make too much of a mess of that simple task.'

Chris woke, to a more pleasant scenario this time. He lay on something soft, his forehead soothed by a wet cloth. But his chest felt tight and he had pins and needles in both hands and feet. For a while, he didn't dare move lest the light was to a.s.sault him again. Then gentle fingers fondled his hair and he opened his eyes with caution.

'Oh!' exclaimed the young woman who knelt by his bed. She pulled back, a little scared.

'h.e.l.lo?' Chris said, squinting to see her although the room was dark. His head ached and his throat was dry.

'h.e.l.lo,' she returned uncertainly.

Chris sat up, his eyes adjusting. He focused on a barred door, set into a stone wall. A cell. Vague memories of the interrogation seeped into his mind.

'My name's Kat'lanna,' the girl said. She was about eighteen 81 in Earth terms, he judged. Her skin was black, but a deep, rich black not found on his home planet even amongst the pure-bred families like Roz's. She had no hair - not even eyebrows - which made her head shape seem unusual and, to Chris, strangely fascinating. She wore a purple bodysuit, which accentuated her delightful curves. She regarded him through curious brown eyes which didn't blink.

'I'm Chris Cwej,' he said.

'Kriskw'dge?'

'No. It's two names. Chris - Cwej.'

'Why do you have two names?'

'Just call me . . . well, Christopher will do.' He normally preferred 'Chris'.

'Kat,' she said, smiling.

'Where are we?'

'In prison.'

'I guessed that. Which planet?' Kat stared. 'No one seems to want to tell me,' Chris added lamely.

'Detrios.' She seemed to have decided he was friendly enough. She moved over and sat beside him. Chris rubbed his arms; the numbness seemed to be spreading.

'What is it like being pink?' Kat asked him, perfectly seriously, reaching out to stroke his hair again. 'And this . . .

this yellowish thing on your head. What is it?'

Chris didn't know what to say, but he couldn't help smiling. Kat giggled and pulled away. 'It's nice,' she said. He liked her laugh.

'Are you my cellmate then?'

Kat shrugged. For now. They'll split us up when they can find room. Right now, they're having to double up. The security forces have just rounded up a lot of rebels. Me included.'

Chris frowned. 'Rebels against what?'

'The Ruling Family.'

He felt a surge of disappointment. 'Oh. You're a criminal.'

Kat's nostrils flared. 'Why should we put up with them?

They're not elected! They just arrange things so that they keep all the money and power whilst we get poorer.'

'Well, maybe it seems like that.'

82.'”Seems” nothing!' Kat snorted. 'Our planet is in ruins and the Ruling Family are too busy with their squabbling to do anything.' She fixed Chris with a glare, defying him to argue.

'This morning, they wiped out ninety per cent of an intelligent race, just because they looked different.'

Chris recoiled. 'You're joking!'

'You don't really think so,' Kat said. She looked away, then turned back a moment later, as though a new thought had occurred to her. 'But you could help us, couldn't you? You're an alien. Don't you have any powers? An armada of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps or something?'

'Hardly,' Chris said. His voice came out hoa.r.s.e. He coughed and put a hand to his burning throat. 'I'm not even sure I can stay awake. It feels like something hot is burrowing its way round my body.'

'That'll be a truth drug.'

'Great! So that's why they gave up on the interrogation. Not because they believed me or anything; they're just waiting for this thing to take effect.'

'Security are big on chemicals at the moment. Don't worry, they haven't found any side-effects to this one yet.'

Chris blinked and tried to shake the fuzzy feeling in his head.

His mind latched onto something that Kat'lanna had said earlier. 'Why is your planet in ruins?'

'We lost our sun. But our ancestors predicted it. They moved underground and constructed grids which gave us centuries of power. We were supposed to use that time to find a permanent solution. The Ruling Family wasted it. If it wasn't for the Miracle, we might already be dead.'

'The Miracle?'

'It came from nowhere. The astronomers saw strange lights in the sky and sent a s.h.i.+p to investigate. They found that a great big crystal had formed up there.'

'Crystal?' Chris echoed. He was beginning to feel sick - and not only because of the truth drug.

'It provided light and oxygen, and a bit of heat. It was safe to go out onto the surface again. We were able to start rebuilding 83 and to drain solar power from the Miracle to recharge our grids.