A ray of sunlight shone through the large, high windows, cutting through the dust in the air. Nadalia blinked in its light, and yawned.

“Tired, Nads?” asked Mari.

Nadalia looked sideways at her best friend in the world. “I’d forgotten how dull this guy made his lessons,” she whispered.

“Something you’d like to share, girls?” called the lecturer, his dry voice echoing through the hall.

“Erm… we were just… er…” Nadalia fidgeted on the hard wooden bench.

“Discussing the possibility that the hemsepans might not be extinct, sir,” said Mari with a glance at her friend.

“Well, there have been some theories on that, most of them utter nonsense of course, but a couple…”

“Nice save, Mari,” Nadalia whispered.

“Thanks. Any idea what’s up next?” Mari made a quick scribble on her notepad. She was lucky to belong to a species that had evolved thumbs. Nadalia was stuck with using a recording device.

“I think it’s something on current politics. Probably nothing we don’t get on the radio anyway, I was going to head for the pool when we’re done here. You?”

Being feline, Mari couldn’t stand large amounts of water, so she hardly ever went to any of the communal pools Nadalia frequented.

“I’m off to V Zero, Black Kat are playing there tomorrow and I want to get a ticket. Want me to get you one? Call it a ‘new housemate’ gift.”

“Sounds great, yeah. Best shush before he hears us talking again though.”

The lecturer droned on. Anyone else might have made the subject a bit more interesting, but this guy just made most of the class want to sleep. The ancient hemsepans, or ‘fool’s race’, had wiped themselves out about ten thousand years ago using their ‘sun weapons’. Many other species had died along with them, and the beings who evolved from the few species that had survived still regretted the loss of so many lives.

After another hour of making intermittent recordings from the lecture, Nadalia and Mari agreed to meet back at their new place in the green district of Region Three that evening, and went their separate ways.

* * * * *

At the communal pool a bit later, Nadalia dived down to the bottom to see what plants were growing this time. It was quite a shallow pool, and very busy at this time of day with members of several species. She got talking to one of its permanent cephalopod residents, Leniya, who mentioned that the world leader Korian would be making his re-acceptance speech tonight after an almost unanimous global vote for him to stay in the position.

“He’s easily one of the best we’ve had,” Leniya enthused, “second longest running, too, eight years already!”

“I know,” replied Nadalia. “If he can hang on to popularity he’ll be in for longer than old Artaxiad, what was it, eleven years he had?” She brushed past a weed that was growing out of the side of the pool, and turned to examine it for a moment. She had not come across one of that type before; yellowish leaves with bright red flowers.

“Twelve, remember he went a bit odd in his last year? Anyway, I don’t see Korian losing votes anytime soon. His ‘peace, understanding and equality’ thing is the best political idea ever, and he’s got the decency to carry it through properly.”

Nadalia, half in a dream world as she continued swimming easily through the water, said partly to herself; “He’s really attractive, too.”

“Ooh, you fancy him!” Leniya squealed.

“Little bit, yeah. You don’t?”

“Nah, not my type. Dinyar, though, up in region one… he is one hot politician. Nice, long, sexy tentacles…”

Nadalia tried and failed to keep a straight face at this remark. “I can’t say I’ve considered the attractiveness of tentacles before, each to their own though. Right, I’m gonna go see if Mari got those Black Kat tickets yet.”

“Okay, see you round, Nadalia.”

“Laters!” Nadalia called as she left the water.

* * * * *

Korian dived deep into his private pool. He enjoyed the few hours he got to himself, to relax and swim about like this. Thanks to his long distant ancestors, he could stay down in the depths for several minutes before needing to come up for air. He was admiring an unusual water plant when he heard his assistant calling from the surface. I suppose he wants to remind me about my speech later, Korian thought as he swam slowly upwards through the cool, clear water.

“Yes, Alaric?” he said, popping his head above the water line to speak to his feline assistant who waited on the wooden walkway that ran alongside the pool.

“You have a message from your nephew, sir. He says it’s important.” Alaric stepped back further, being cautious of getting splashed again. Korian was a kind man, but had an awful sense of humour at times.

“Has he fallen out with his mother again?”

“I’m not entirely sure, sir. He did seem rather agitated when I spoke to him.”

Korian rolled his dark blue eyes and climbed out of the water. “Okay, I’ll invite him to stay for a few days, then call my sister and try to find out what’s going on before my speech in two hours.”

Being world leader was good, making a difference and improving peoples’ lives an excellent thing to do, but sometimes it was far too much trouble to deal with alone. Korian wanted a partner before this year was over.

* * * * *

“Got the tickets Nads! Front row, how’s that sound?” Mari was leaping up and down on the squashy old sofa shouting excitably. Black Kat were her favourite band, and it had been almost five years since they last played live. She had their first album blaring out of the radio, so loud that it was trying to bounce off the mantel where it rested.

“Great! Hey, since you got me the ticket, I got you this. I dropped by V Zero after the pool and, well…” Nadalia handed Mari a small box.

Mari gasped. “Is it their first demo recording? You know I’ve been trying to find it, how did you get hold of it?”

“Why don’t you have a listen? There’s a little surprise on there too,” Nadalia said cryptically.

Mari nudged the old picture of herself and her parents aside and pressed the cube into the slot at the side of the radio. The heavy, rumbling bass line of ‘Show Me Your Tail’ came thudding out of Mari’s brand new speakers. The demo played through four tracks, finishing on the only love song Black Kat ever wrote, ‘Curl Up With Me Tonight’. At the very end, a hidden track consisted of only a few words:

“Hi Mari, it’s Elvira here, inviting you to come backstage and party with us after tomorrow’s show at V Zero! See you there!” Elvira was the singer in Black Kat, and Mari’s idol.

Mari stared at the radio. “I get to meet them?” she said in disbelief. “Did you organise this today?”

“Yep, I couldn’t think what to get you for your birthday next week, and I thought you’d enjoy…”

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Mari flung her arms round Nadalia in a fit of excitement. “I’m going to tell everyone I know! Then I’m going to colour my fur, and sort out some accessories…” she walked upstairs mumbling to herself.

Nadalia switched the radio back to ‘incoming’ and smiled to herself. Most people agreed it was an odd friendship they had, not least because they were two such contrasting species, Mari detesting water and the cetacean Nadalia needing to swim for at least six hours a day to keep healthy. However, nobody who met them could deny how close they were. They had met at a Black Kat show about ten years before, and had usually ended up revisiting the story after any Kat show since.

Once she’d fetched herself a drink and got comfy, Korian’s speech was just about to be broadcast. Nadalia settled down on the sofa that her mother had left her to listen, and as the leader’s soft, musical voice swept over her, she thought – what a perfect end to a great day.

2: Chapter Two

They arrived at V Zero just in time for Black Kat’s first song, their classic ‘Declawed’. Elvira purred like an angel, the bassist Ovsanna was on top form, Ulfilas and Aleyn (drummer and guitarist) played brilliantly and the audience loved every minute. The old favourites ‘Wet Kitty’ and ‘Hiss’ raised the roof, and two new songs, ‘Rough Tom’ and ‘Bring Me Mice’ hinted at a new album. At the end of the set, Elvira called Mari up on to the stage to join in with live favourite ‘Take That Box And Shove It (Schrödinger)’, which sometimes led to a short explanation of who Schrödinger was and why he should shove his damn box.

Nadalia was going to wait outside for Mari, but Mari asked her to go backstage too. They all squeezed into the tiny back room, and found space on the worn old sofas. Elvira switched on the battered old radio in the corner, tuning it to a music station. After a few drinks, Aleyn asked Mari “So how did you two get to be friends?”

“We met at one of your shows, actually,” replied Mari. “It’s a weird little story, goes back before you had much interspecies appeal.”

“Yeah, I think it was about ten years back,” Nadalia interjected, “you were moaning about having to sit right at the back, remember?”

“At the back and next to a part time fish, as I recall. Wasn’t it your first time out of the blue district?” Until recently, any species that needed a lot of water around them to survive had been mostly confined to the blue districts in each region. “You were so worried about dripping on anyone you hardly moved,” said Mari.

“Anyway, we’d both had a bit to drink, and for some reason, when we got out, Mari thought it would be fun to try swimming, didn’t you?”

Mari cringed. “I still blame the drink.”

“So she was splashing about panicking, no one else seemed to know what to do, so I jumped in and shoved her out.”

“Didn’t you also say something like ‘what did you do that for, you stupid furball’?”

“Probably, but it was a little stupid, how often do cats voluntarily leap into pools?”

At this point, the club owner came in to kick everyone out so he could close up. The band wished Mari a happy birthday and went to pick up their equipment, and Nadalia and Mari set off for home.

* * * * *

Listening to the official broadcast a few months later, Nadalia heard an announcement that Korian would be making a speech in the area, details to come after the main news about a politician called Saphrax.

“Recently voted out as governor of Region Two, Saphrax hasn’t had much success in politics for the last few years,” said the news reader, Tsoline. “For those of you unfamiliar with his career so far, here’s a quick review;

“Fifteen years ago, on the major landmass Primus, Saphrax was voted Representative of the South Quarter. He held the position for five years before losing popularity with some controversial policies, at which point he moved across the continent to begin a campaign in the west.

“He enjoyed moderate success, though never reached such a powerful position as before. After another seven years of moving between regions in the West Quarter, Saphrax headed over to our island, reaching the position of Region Governor last year in Region Two.

“We caught up with him earlier and persuaded him to pop in for an interview. So Saphrax, it must have been awful to hear you’d been voted out so soon.”

“It’s certainly a setback, I can’t deny that, however I’m hoping to regain popularity quite quickly so I can begin to implement some of my slightly, was it ‘controversial policies’ you called them? You see most people only think of the short-term implications, and don’t see any of the long-term benefits I hope to achieve by…”

What a load of rubbish, thought Nadalia. This guy just likes hearing himself talk, he hasn’t really said anything yet.

“Can I just ask about a couple of your more, er, radical policies?” The newsreader had managed to squeeze a word in. “Your idea to restart visual transmissions, for one. Surely that can’t be a good plan, it’s been proven that they cause severe psychological damage with repeated exposure.”

“Well firstly, I don’t buy into all the mad theories about brainwashing and falling intelligence, it just sounds like some paranoid scientists coming up with a lot of waffle – “

Of course, you would be an expert on waffle, thought Nadalia.

“ – and secondly, I think that if people want to waste their time staring at a screen, then that’s their choice, isn’t it?” said Saphrax, with the impatient tone of someone talking to a complete idiot.

“Anyway, before we run out of time I wanted to ask about your ‘a place for everyone’ policy. Many people have said that it sounds like an attempt to reinstate the species separation of centuries ago. How do you respond to these accusations?”

“As I said earlier, people only think in the short-term. Admittedly, there would be a certain amount of inconvenience to begin with, but after a few years people would settle in and be far more comfortable in a more natural environment. Primates like myself, for example, would likely be better off in a forest type surrounding, the aquatic and semi-aquatic species would be better off in lakes and the oceans.”

“Okay, that’s all we’ve got time for on this. A quick word on the weather now, then some details of Korian’s upcoming speech in Region Three.”

Mari called from the next room “Who was the obnoxious sounding bloke?”

“Politician called Saphrax. Stuck in the dark ages, from what he was saying.”

The newsreader came back on and announced that Korian’s speech on reptile rights would be next week, in the central white district of Region Three. Anyone wishing to attend in person should add their name to the list at their Region Governor’s office as per usual.

“I assume you’re off to the governor’s office in a few minutes then, Nads?” Mari said as she came in the room.

“Yep,” Nadalia looked at Mari. “You look fantastic, going somewhere?” she asked.

“Erm… there’s a science lecture on in a little while, thought I might look in on it.”

“And you’re dressed up because?”

“Oh, alright,” said Mari. “I’m meeting Elvira, she’s invited me to a party. Apparently she thinks I’m very interesting.”

“Nice one,” Nadalia said appreciatively. “You have fun, I won’t wait up. Will you be wanting hangover tablets left on the table for the morning?” she asked.

“That would be a great idea. I’ll probably see you some time tomorrow then.”

“Okay Mari, just remember not to go swimming this time!”

Mari’s response was pulling a face and closing the door.

* * * * *

“… I mean, all right, I don’t always do things right away, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do them at all, does it? Why can’t she understand that? And another thing…”

“Drystan, please! I will talk to your mother later,” Korian interrupted his nephew’s monologue about how annoying his mother was. “Right now, I need to practise my speech, which is in ten minutes time.” He glanced up at the old portrait of his many times great grandmother, Sarinda, and wondered if her sister had had to put up with this kind of thing when she had been World Leader decades ago.

Drystan sighed as he leant back in the cushioned chair. “Sorry to moan so much uncle, mum just really gets to me sometimes.” Sunlight streamed in through the large window and illuminated his face.

“I know, Nazeli can be a little difficult at times, she was the same growing up. Losing your father was very hard on her though, and I know she sees a lot of him in you. Try to understand that, and I’ll see if I can get her off your back about things.” Korian smiled across his desk at the young boy.

“Alright,” Drystan reluctantly agreed. “Can I go hang out with Zenobia now?”

Almost as though I’ve been making him stay here, thought Korian. I don’t think I’ll ever understand this boy. “Sure you can. Back by midnight though, okay?”

Drystan mumbled something that might have been ‘okay’ as he ran across the thick blue carpet and out the door.

* * * * *

Nadalia couldn’t help wondering about the guy next to her in the crowd. Why anyone would wear such a thick, heavy coat in the height of the hot season seemed totally incomprehensible. Then again, she thought, it could be one of these weird fashion trends. Primates have the strangest ideas about clothing sometimes.

As Korian walked to the podium and began his speech, the crowd fell silent and many gazed in open admiration at the charismatic leader. He had a knack of seeming to speak to every member of his audience personally, even though there were over a thousand people there, of several different species.

With Korian in full flow about equal rights and opportunities for lizards, and the audience captivated by his speech, Nadalia was the only one who noticed heavy coat guy fidgeting. If he’s that uncomfortable, she thought, why doesn’t he take the stupid thing off? Just as she thought this, the guy elbowed her in the side. She turned to ask him to keep still and saw him taking aim with a shocker pistol through a gap in the crowd… straight at Korian! Without really thinking, Nadalia flung herself sideways and knocked the guy to the floor. The bolt of electricity flew wildly over everyone’s heads, and the crowd erupted into shouting and screaming.

“You achieved nothing,” the guy said. “Others will succeed where I have failed, Saphrax will reign!”

With that, he put the shocker to his own chest and fired. Nadalia was thrown backwards by the electric shock, and lay dazed on the ground a little way off.

“Are you alright?” said a pleasant voice close by.

“I think so,” Nadalia replied, attempting to sit up and watching everything blur out of focus. “Is Korian okay?”

“Thanks to you, I’m fine,” the voice said.

Nadalia blinked, and the fuzzy thing in front of her resolved itself into the leader’s handsome face.

“Can I get you a coffee? There’s a nice little place just over there,” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said nervously, “yeah, okay.”

3: Chapter Three

“Just like that? Korian, the guy in charge of the whole world, asked you for coffee?” Mari looked up at her friend from the sofa, where she was sprawled in front of the radio listening to a live music broadcast.

“Yes,” Nadalia answered. “What’s so hard to believe about that?”

“Nothing, I just kind of expected something a bit more impressive than a cup of coffee. You did save his life, after all,” said Mari.

“Well, does a trip around the world with him sound a bit more impressive?” Nadalia asked smugly.

Mari stared. “No way!” she exclaimed. “You’ve only known him three days and he’s invited you on his world tour?” Since becoming world leader, Korian had taken a trip around the globe about halfway through each year.

“Yeah, we really clicked,” said Nadalia reminiscently. Shaking her head a little, she continued “Anyway, he gave me these things so you and me can keep in touch while I’m off with him. They’re a bit like two-way radios, I think, except more private and they’ve got a longer range.” She handed Mari a little device with a few buttons on it.

“Really? How do they work then?”

“I think you press this button twice, then this one,” Nadalia demonstrated, “then it sends a signal to mine, which makes a noise… there it goes… and then we can talk to each other. It works the other way round too, so if yours makes a noise just press this one.” She pointed to another button on the device. “They’re called personal communication devices, apparently they’re really new so not many people have got one.”

“Nice. Say thanks for me, won’t you? So when are you leaving, next week?” Mari asked.

“Tomorrow, actually. It’s all been kind of sudden, really,” Nadalia said.

“So I’m going to be left all on my own,“ Mari said with a mock pout. “You’d better be taking me out somewhere nice tonight to make up for it.”

“Thought you were seeing Elvira again tonight?”

“No, she ditched me for some scruffy old tomcat.”

“Aw, that sucks. Yeah, we’ll go out and have a good time,” Nadalia said. “If you like, I’m sure I could find someone to keep you company for the next few months…”

“Don’t you dare,” Mari interrupted. “The last time you set me up with someone she turned out to be a right weirdo. And don’t even think of suggesting a bloke you know from somewhere, if I want a man I’ll pick him out myself,” she said.

“Okay, okay,” Nadalia said, nearly giggling. “Just a thought. I’m sure you’ll be just fine without me. Come on, let’s go get ready, then we can go find somewhere fun to spend the night.”

* * * * *

Saphrax raised his eyebrows. “You’re putting the back up plan into action so soon?” he enquired. “I thought we agreed to wait at least a month before trying again, Melicia.” He stood and walked around his heavy, carved desk to watch her.

“I know, but since this is a far more subtle approach it will take a lot longer to come to fruition. Starting now, if everything is done properly, means you will be in power by this time next year. Besides,” continued the lithe young woman as she leant back in her chair, “if Korian is killed at the same time as your family have their accident, it could attract unwanted attention from certain quarters.”

“You’re right, as usual, my love,” Saphrax answered with a sigh. “The only other problem I can see is Elvira. Are you absolutely certain we can rely on her?”

Melicia winked. “Don’t worry, she has no idea who she’s really working for. And I have someone else lined up to take over if she does let us down, someone whom I can guarantee loyalty from.”

“Good. Then everything is in place,” Saphrax stated as he walked across to the narrow window, threw aside the thick curtains and looked down at the busy street. “Just think, if I hadn’t got that amateur to try it first, I’d be ruling this place now.”

Melicia stood and embraced her lover. “I can assure you, dear, I am no amateur.”

* * * * *

Nadalia and Korian swam ahead of the small boat carrying their belongings, completely ignoring Alaric’s cursing about the large splash he got as they dived off the side. They were about halfway around the globe; on the way to Secundus on the opposite side of the world, and were thoroughly enjoying being together.

“You’ll have to introduce me to Mari sometime, Nads. She sounds interesting, to say the least,” said Korian.

“She is that,” Nadalia replied. “That reminds me, I’ve got to call her in a bit. How far did you say it is to land?”

“Another day’s travel, but if we go through the night we should be there by tomorrow midday. I’ll check with Alaric if we can do that, see if we can’t speed this journey up a little.” He gazed into the sunset for a few seconds before turning back to Nadalia. “You fancy a dive? Bet I can go deeper than you,” as he disappeared beneath the surface.

“You’re on!” cried Nadalia as she followed him down.

Back on the boat a while later, Nadalia called Mari for a chat. “You okay, Mari? You sound a bit out of the ordinary,” she asked.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Hey, you’ll never guess what happened the other day. I was hanging out at V Zero, Elvira walks right up to me and starts going on and on about some mad conspiracy theory. I didn’t understand most of it, something about these two guys who keep following her, and a crazy chimp who wants to kill a load of people.”

Nadalia frowned. “That sounds pretty bizarre.”

“It was. Anyway, I just told her to sod off. She ditched me, why should I put up with her insane conspiracy crap?”

“Good for you, Mari.”

“How are things with you, anyhow? Where in the world are you, and how is your relationship with our illustrious leader?” Mari asked, putting on a pompous voice.

Nadalia laughed. “You sound hilarious when you talk like that, you know. Everything’s going brilliant, we’re nearly on the other side of the world from where you are. If all goes well over here we should be back home in two months,” she said. “Things are going well with Korian, too. He wants to introduce me to his sister when we get back.”

“Sounds serious. When’s the joining ceremony?”

“Mari, we’re not thinking that far ahead yet!”

Chuckles came pouring down the signal. “I’m joking, Nads. I’ll see you in a few months then, talk to you again soon.”

“Yeah, you furry little wind up. Talk soon.”

* * * * *

As the boat pulled alongside the docking platform, a massive crowd of people was waiting both in and beside the water. Unused to the attention, Nadalia was a little nervous to suddenly find herself in the midst of a crowd of live radio reporters, and moved closer to Korian. He placed a flipper across her shoulders and smiled reassuringly as the reporters pressed in, shouting all kinds of questions at them both:

“Korian, when will your official returning speech be?”

“What do you think of the uprising of several small religious groups?”

“Have you heard about the recent appointment of a new governor in Region Three?”

“Is your relationship serious?”

“Nadalia, where do you get your clothes?”

“What were you thinking when you pushed the assassin to the ground five months ago?”

Korian raised a short, finger-like digit for silence. Within a few minutes, the only sounds to be heard were the small splashes of disturbed water, and Alaric’s quiet grumbling at being left to sort out the boat by himself.

“Since you’ve all taken the time to come out here, I think I can answer a few questions for you,” he said with a lopsided smile. “My official returning speech is tomorrow morning, so anything I can’t answer now you can ask again then. Region Three, white district. I have heard about the new governor in three, and I’m certainly looking forward to meeting him or her. As for the upsurge in religious activity, I don’t really see a problem there. It seems to go in and out of popularity like everything else, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Now, there were a couple of questions for my partner, weren’t there? Nads, do you mind talking to this bunch?”

“I suppose not,” Nadalia replied with a wink. She had noticed Korian’s deliberate avoidance of the question about their relationship, and intended to do the same thing herself. “To answer the question I heard about my clothes, I get the material from a friend and make them myself. As for what I thought when I pushed the assassin over, well, I wasn’t really thinking at all. I’m very glad I did it though,” she said with a quick smile at Korian.

The reporters started to call out more questions, but Alaric came over to help disperse the crowd and get Korian and Nadalia into their private transport to meet the new Region Governor. Once they were on the way to the new governor’s house in the green district of three, Nadalia suggested they could go and see Mari when they were done meeting the governor, since they lived in the same area. Korian agreed, and told Alaric (who was piloting the small solar-powered craft) the address they wanted to visit after they were done.

“That’s the address we’re heading for now, sir. Who did you want to see, if I might ask?” Alaric said enquiringly.

“Nads’ friend Mari,” Korian replied. “She wouldn’t have moved while you were gone, would she?” he asked Nadalia.

Before Nadalia could answer, Alaric responded, “Actually, sir, Mari is the new governor’s name. It’s likely to be the same person.”

“That would be a little strange,” Nadalia interjected. “Mari can’t stand politics, I can’t see her accepting the position.”

Korian shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone got elected who didn’t want to be. Remember Eberwolf and Phyre? Neither of them was interested in politics, but they both got elected world leaders somehow. I think Phyre was still a Region Governor somewhere until recently, too.”

“Fair point,” said Nadalia. “Looks like we’ll find out in a minute, anyway. We’re nearly there.”

They got out of the transport as soon as Alaric pulled up, and the first thing they heard was Mari shouting from the front of the house, “Hey Nads, great to see you back! Did you hear, I’ve been elected Region Governor! Can you believe it? Me, in politics!”

“It’s good to see you again too, Mari. Honestly, I wouldn’t have believed it in a thousand years, when did you get into politics?”

“Oh, not long after you left. I started listening to the official broadcasts a bit more than usual, and it turns out politics is a lot more interesting than I thought it was, so I decided to get involved,” Mari replied a little evasively.

“You didn’t say anything on the communicator.”

Mari was definitely not meeting Nadalia’s eyes as she said, “I… just thought I’d surprise you.” With an abrupt change back to her usual manner, she continued, “by the way, your boyfriend Korian is supposed to be coming round anytime now to…” Mari stopped mid-sentence as she finally noticed who exactly was standing next to Nadalia. “Erm, hi,” she said to Korian.

“Hi Mari. It’s nice to meet you, Nads has told me a lot about you.”

“Really?” Mari spun back round to face Nadalia. “You’ve told him about my swimming lesson, haven’t you?”

Stifling a laugh, Nadalia replied, “no, I didn’t mention it, I thought I’d let you tell that story.”

“Swimming lesson?” Korian looked puzzled. “But, she’s a cat.”

Mari shut her eyes and twitched her tail in embarrassment. “If you’d like to come in, I can make drinks and tell you about the time Nads tried to climb a tree as well.”

Nadalia groaned as Korian burst out laughing. “If you want to talk to either of us after tonight, it’ll be a miracle. Come on, I think we’ve got biscuits in there too,” she said as they walked into the house.

4: Chapter Four

A few weeks later, Nadalia found herself at a bit of a loose end. Korian was busy with some ant ambassadors from Insectus, Mari was working on her next speech, and most of the other people she knew were either staying in out of the cold, or had gone on holidays somewhere warm. She decided to go and visit her father, so she caught a public transport over to the purple district of Region Four. When she got off, she noticed that a lot had changed since last time she visited. About a year ago now, she thought, I really must come and see dad a bit more often. As she turned into the street where her dad lived, and where she’d grown up, Nadalia saw the park where she used to play had been turned into some kind of scrapyard for old electrical stuff. Dad must be pleased, he loves pulling old gadgets to bits, she thought as she knocked on the door.

“Hang on, I’ve got my hands full of wires!”

Same old dad, thought Nadalia. “No rush dad, it’s just me,” she called through the door.

“Naddy? Door’s unlocked; you can come in. Mind the boxes on the floor, I’m in the back room if you want to come through.”

Nadalia opened the door and immediately wondered why she had chosen to wear a long, flowing diaphanous robe today. Her dad’s house, by itself, was quite spacious and open. There were no walls dividing the rooms, only thin wooden screens. However, since she had left home and her mother had passed on, her father had gradually filled most of the floor space with boxes and various bits of electrical junk. She made her way down the tiny gap between boxes with no small amount of difficulty, and found her father in the back room, with his head stuck in the back of a visual receiver.

“Hi Naddy, I found this in the scrap the other day.” He pulled his head out, along with a bunch more wires. “I’m going to see if I can fix it up,” he said, eyes lit up like stars.

“That’s great, but you realise even if you fix it, it still won’t work. Visual transmissions stopped years ago, dad.”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” he said dismissively. “The important thing is that I will have fixed it. By the way, I have your birthday present in the other room. I know it’s a bit late, but since you were off round the world…”

“Did Mari tell you about me and Korian then?” Nadalia interrupted.

“That little furball you hang around with? No, I heard on the radio. There have been all sorts of crazy rumours about it, I’m loath to believe most of them. Anyway, come through,” the old man said as he led the way back through the boxes.

In the front room, a portable radio transmitter sat on the table with a bit of ribbon tied around it. “Fixed it up specially for you, Naddy.”

“Wow, thanks dad!” Nadalia hugged her dad before going to examine her present. “What frequencies does it cover?” she asked.

“It covers both mid and short wave, I improved the range of it as well, so it should broadcast across a larger area. I was just about to get some food in, if you like I can get enough for two and I can show you how it works?”

“Sounds good to me,” Nadalia replied.

* * * * *

When she got back home that evening, Nadalia found Mari listening intently to an emergency news broadcast. Mari was completely still, in contrast to the jumping shadows cast by the fire that had been lit in the hearth.

“…the cause of the crash is still unknown,” the news reader was saying, “however the death toll currently stands at fifteen, with eight more seriously injured.”

“Death toll? Mari, what’s happened?”

Mari jumped at her friend’s voice. “Nads, there you are, I was getting really worried. There’s been a massive crash on the road between regions two and three, apparently they’ve been pulling people out of the wrecks for hours.” She fell silent as the news reader continued:

“Many of the victims remain unidentified, though we can reveal that two of the deceased are the wife and daughter of politician Saphrax. The whereabouts of his twin sons is unknown at this moment, as it has been confirmed that they were not in the vehicle when it crashed.

“For those of you just tuning in, the main news - probably the only news – tonight is the major accident on the main road connecting regions two and three earlier this afternoon. Investigators at the scene are still uncertain of the root cause of the accident, but a general picture of events seems to be emerging from witnesses and the less grievously injured victims. We’ll go live to the scene via two-way link now. Investigator Rusarth, can you give us an idea of what happened?”

“I certainly can, Tsoline.” The investigator’s voice crackled slightly over the link. “The vehicle believed to have initiated the accident, which we’re calling car A for simplicity, was travelling north in the left hand lane. According to witnesses, it suddenly accelerated and then swerved across the road. A second car in the right hand lane, car B, managed to brake in time to avoid car A as it crossed the lane, but was clipped by the car behind it, car C. Cars B and C were then forced in opposite directions, B heading left and C heading right, into the southbound lanes. Car A, still going, was hit by another vehicle, car D, in the right hand southbound lane, and flipped onto its roof as it slid across to the next lane. Car D was forced into a head-on collision with car C, causing vast amounts of devastation to both vehicles. Car A, meanwhile, was hit in the side by car E in the left hand southbound lane. Another car, travelling behind car E, braked just before hitting cars A and E, but was rear-ended by the car behind it and propelled into the wreckage. I’m sure your listeners can imagine the damage caused here, considering average speeds on this road can reach over two hundred miles an hour.”

“Thank you, Rusarth, for that description. Is there anything else you can tell us before you go?” asked Tsoline the news reader.

“Not much, unfortunately. We’re working on the assumption that there was a problem with the first vehicle’s on-board computer, but until it’s safe to retrieve it we can’t say what or why.”

“Okay, well, thank you for your time. That was Investigator Rusarth at the scene of the crash on the main road linking regions two and three. If you’re just joining us, the main story tonight…”

Nadalia let out the breath she’d been holding while the investigator gave his report. “That sounded terrible,” she said. “Mari? You okay?”

Mari was staring at the patch of wall just above the radio, apparently transfixed. “What? Yeah, I’m fine. It could have been a lot worse,” she said, gesturing towards the radio. “You know how fast people go on the main roads, how busy they get, in a way it’s lucky that more people weren’t involved.”

“I guess so,” Nadalia replied slowly, with a concerned look at her friend. Mari is definitely acting out of sorts lately, she thought. It wasn’t so much what she’d said, it was true that the accident could have been much worse, but the way she’d said it. Detached, almost cold. Mari, as Nadalia had known her for almost eleven years now, would have been shaken by the news. Instead, she seemed completely dispassionate and uncaring about the whole thing. What could possibly have changed her so much in such a short time?

“The real question is, what could have caused the problem in the first place?”

Mari’s rhetorical question seemed to hang in the air between them, as if an answer were about to fly in the window and attach to it.

* * * * *

“Damn it Melicia, stop making excuses! You screwed up, and that’s that!” Saphrax flung himself into a fussy, overly decorated chair and glared at her. “Why must you be so bloody impatient?”

“Because I got sick of waiting, sick of having to share you with that withered old hag!” Melicia shouted, glaring back over folded arms. She stepped forwards, so that her face was up lit by the single lamp that sat on the table.

“And that’s what caused you to completely abandon the plan? You were supposed to have the car veer off the road and hit a tree, on a minor road, with no-one else about! What happened to ‘not attracting attention’?” he asked pointedly. “Fifteen dead, eight more seriously injured. People are asking awkward questions already! What do you think will happen when they analyse the computer, find it’s been reprogrammed to control the car instead of assist the driver?” He leant forwards, staring at her across the dark room.

“Alright, I messed up!” Melicia admitted. “But I covered my tracks well enough, they won’t be able to trace any of it back to you or me. Besides, now your family are out the way we can carry on with the plan without interference. Hell, I make one mistake…”

“Two.”

“What?”

“Two mistakes, Melicia. The boys weren’t in the car when it crashed, according to the news.”

Melicia looked nonplussed. “The reporters must have got it wrong. They were in the car when it set off, I know they were. I was watching.”

“Then maybe they stopped along the way, and the twins got out for some reason.” Saphrax thought for a few minutes before a cruel glint came to his eye. “We need to contact the media. The twins will know I’m behind this, and the investigators will soon know the car’s computer was tampered with, even if they can’t trace you. If I can plant the suggestion that the boys had something to do with this, any accusations they make against us will be discredited,” he said with a twisted smile. “That clears up both loose ends at once. With a little luck, I should be able to turn this to our advantage.”

Melicia smiled maliciously. “Brilliant plan, my love. I’ll tell Valamir to get in touch with the news stations immediately.”

* * * * *

Korian stepped back from the rickety old worktable that had once belonged to his grandfather. He examined his work critically. The faces still weren’t quite right, but if he did any more it would start looking messy. Besides, slight imperfections were part of the charm, he thought. A hand-made figurine of the two of them seemed ideal for a token of proposal. He was sure Nadalia would love it. Just as he reached for his communicator to call her, Alaric came bursting in.

“Korian, sir, I have the information you asked for on Saphrax, and some of his secret plans my agent obtained from inside his base. Did you want to go through it all now?” he asked, tail twitching animatedly.

“Not right now, Alaric, I’m in the middle of something important. Tell you what, leave the recordings on my desk and I’ll listen to them in a few hours.” Korian replied, distracted by his own thoughts. He glanced out of the panoramic window at the sunset, wondering how long his assistant was going to keep him.

“Sir, they’re not using recordings,” Alaric responded, whiskers quivering as he tried to keep his excitement in check. “They’re using written communication.”

“Written communication? That’s unusual,” Korian said, noticing his assistant was far more animated than usual. “Secret plans, you say? Most intelligent beings can read, even if they lack the opposable digits to be able to write. Are they using some sort of code? Come on, tell me what’s got you so excited.”

Alaric took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down a little. “I think they might be using an ancient language, possibly one used by the hemsepans.”

Korian was stunned. There were very few beings in the world who understood the ancient languages, and all of those who did were part of the religious hierarchy. “So that means…”

“Saphrax has at least one religious elder working for him,” Alaric interrupted. “There could be more to the recent uprising of religious groups than we first thought.”

“Alaric, I know you love mysterious historical stuff, but before you get carried away I want you to check and double check that writing. Make sure you’re right about it being ancient language. Besides, if it is, we’ll need someone to translate it for us so we know what Saphrax is up to. Go sort that out while I finish up here, we can talk about it later.”

Alaric agreed and practically flew out of the room to find an expert. Korian sighed and picked up his communicator to call Nadalia.

“Hi Nads, it’s me.”

“Hi Korian, what’s up?”

“Could you come over?” he asked. “I’ve got something really important to talk to you about.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in about half an hour.”

A little while later, Korian let Nadalia in and took her upstairs to his study. The setting sun cast long shadows through the room, making the pastel blues on the walls and carpets look darker. Before she could say anything, he knelt on the floor in front of her and held up the figurine.

“Nadalia, I love you. Will you accept this token as a symbol of proposal, and do me the honour of becoming my partner?”

Nadalia stood in shocked silence for a few seconds before accepting the figurine. “Of course I will,” she almost whispered, smiling as Korian stood and embraced her.

5: Chapter Five

Nadalia and Korian spent the next few months organising the ceremony, sending invitations out to family and friends, and practising the traditional joining dance. Nadalia had practically moved in with Korian at this point, but a week before the joining she went back to the house she shared with Mari. Tradition said that a couple shouldn’t see each other during the week before they became lifelong partners, supposedly to have time to reflect on the coming ceremony and prepare for the commitment, but usually so they could go out and celebrate their last few days of being single.

“Hey Nads,” Mari said when Nadalia knocked on the door. “Looking forward to the big day?”

Nadalia grinned. “Of course I am, only a week to go now,” she said.

“I know, I can hardly believe it. I always thought you and me would stay single and get old together. Be the mad spinster aunts to everyone,” Mari joked. “Still, at least when you’ve moved in with Korian permanently I can turn your old room into a giant wardrobe or something.”

“You mean you haven’t already? Mari, you’re slipping, I thought you’d have filled it up by now,” Nadalia quipped as she dumped her small bag in her old room. She looked around at the underwater themed murals she had painted when they first moved in. “I should imagine you’ll be redecorating in here as well.”

“I figured I’d wait until you’d officially moved out before I did anything drastic in here. Anyway, you’re going to love the week I’ve got lined up for you. I’ve hired V Zero for the whole night tomorrow, and I’ve got all your friends coming along. Even the ones who can’t leave the water,” she said with a smile.

“How did you manage that? “ Nadalia asked incredulously.

“Mobile pool. I’ve got some blokes to install it in the centre of the main room, so you’ll be able to go swimming with Leniya and your dad, and anyone else who wants to.”

“Wow, thanks Mari. Hey, any idea who you’re going to the ceremony with yet?”

“There is a guy I met a while ago…”

“Guy? Unusual for you, he must be either very good looking or very interesting,” Nadalia interjected. “So, tell, who’s the lucky man?”

Mari smiled. “He’s called Valamir. I met him a few months back, we were working on a campaign event together and we kinda got talking.”

“Lucky you, maybe I’ll be going to your joining soon then.”

“Nads!”

Nadalia laughed. “Joking, Mari. So, sounds like we’ve got a fun week lined up. Anything planned for tonight?”

“I was thinking we could have a nice quiet night in tonight, since I’ve lined up some pretty hectic parties for the rest of the week.”

“Okay by me, I’ll go make some drinks then.”

* * * * *

The day before the ceremony, Nadalia was wandering around the blue district after a nice long swim with Leniya. She noticed a new coffee bar and decided to pop in for a quick bit of cake before heading home. It was pretty quiet, so Nadalia could hear the news on their radio, and she sat and listened while she had her slice of cake. The newsreader was saying something about the accident that had happened a few months back.

“Investigators are looking for Nazar and Levon, two young male chimpanzees who are believed to have had some connection with the car that initiated the accident. If anyone has any information on their whereabouts, please report it to your local authorities.

“In other news, the rock star Elvira was found dead in her house yesterday. Initial reports indicate suicide, however a full inquiry will be undertaken. Fans of her band, Black Kat, have been leaving tributes outside her house.”

Oh no, Nadalia thought. I wonder if Mari’s heard this? The news reader continued talking to some Black Kat fans who had left tributes. She then cut to a previously recorded interview with the rest of the band.

“Yeah, its awful. I don’t know why she would have done it,” the guitarist Aleyn was saying. “I mean, she wasn’t having any problems that we knew of.”

“We were almost done recording our new album, and had a massive tour coming up.” Ovsanna piped up. “We’re still releasing the album, as a tribute to Elvira. But we don’t know what we’re going to do about the tour. It’s far too soon to get someone else in.”

“We’d also like to thank everyone who sent tributes and condolences to us, we really appreciate it,” said Ulfilas.

Nadalia had finished her cake by then, and thought she’d head home and talk to Mari.

* * * * *

“Mari, I’m back!” Nadalia called when she got in the door. “Have you heard the news?”

No answer. She’s probably out somewhere, Nadalia thought to herself. Maybe she has heard and gone to leave flowers or something. I’ll see her tonight.

Mari, unknown to Nadalia, was actually inside a car just across the street. She was sitting between two large and very intimidating gorillas, and wondering who the shadowy figure on the opposite seat was. “What’s going on? Who are you people?” she demanded.

The figure opposite her snickered. “Mari, after seven months you don’t recognise your own boss? I suppose I shouldn’t really be surprised,” said Saphrax, leaning forward. “After all, I did ask them not to tell you anything. Couldn’t have you running off and spreading rumours like poor Elvira did, could we?”

Mari stared for almost a minute. “Elvira was working with you? Wait, did you have her killed?”

Saphrax gave her a cold smile. “Don’t concern yourself with that. She failed, that’s why she was… dismissed. You have worked well so far. Don’t disappoint me, and you could be doing very well for yourself in a few years. So, are you in or out? Let’s go, Melicia,” he said to the woman in the front.

As the craft gathered speed, Mari sat in silence, staring at her paws and considering. This man has probably been controlling my political career from the start, she thought. He’s as good as admitted to having Elvira killed, and she’s probably not the first one. I know about some of his dodgy policies, and from what I’ve heard he wants to send everyone back to the dark ages, with himself in charge. But, perhaps on some things he does have a point. And considering how Elvira treated people, maybe she’s not such a great loss after all. I certainly don’t miss her that much. She looked up to see Saphrax watching her intently. Their eyes met, and in that instant Mari knew that if Saphrax was heading for the top, she was going with him. “Alright,” she said. “I’m in.”

Saphrax’s eyes glittered like shards of ice. “I’m very pleased to hear that, Mari. Actually, you could do something for me right now. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Korian’s joining is taking place tomorrow. You wouldn’t happen to know where it is, would you?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I was invited,” she answered.

“Because of your position as Region Governor?”

Mari hesitated for a split second before replying. “Yes,” she said. She was playing with fire, she knew that. Whatever happened to her, she still cared about Nadalia and didn’t want to drag her into anything if she could avoid it.

Thankfully, Saphrax didn’t seem to notice her slight delay in answering. “Excellent. Well, I want you to make some excuse for not attending. I don’t want you suspected of being involved,” he said before going on to tell her what he was planning to do. “You see, I have other plans for you, and they can’t be done properly if people think you’ve had something to do with it.”

“Ah, I see. And his partner, what are you planning for her?”

Saphrax shrugged noncommittally. “Depends how much she knows, and whether she’ll cause trouble afterwards. Any particular reason?”

Mari spoke casually. “Not really, just curious. You hadn’t mentioned her when you said what you were going to be doing.”

“Fair enough. Anyway, once we get back to base you need to look up Vasag. He’s my language expert, he’ll teach you what you need to know for when you’re writing up any reports for me.”

“Writing?”

“Yes, I make sure all my operatives can write, in the language we use. It stops just anyone working out what our plans are,” he explained.

Mari thought for a second. “Okay, I’m sure I can pick it up fairly quickly.”

* * * * *

Nadalia fretted all the way to the pool, where the ceremony was taking place. Mari had been out all night, and still hadn’t shown up. Maybe she decided to head straight there, she thought. I hope she’s okay. They arrived at the pool a few minutes early, so Nadalia got out and started looking around the crowd for Mari. There were several guests milling around the large paved area at the edge of the pool, and a few splashing about in the clear, weed-free water. She found Nazeli, Korian’s sister, and they spoke for a little while. Her son Drystan had gone off with some of his friends, but was probably going to turn up for the party afterwards. Nobody had seen Mari though, and about half an hour after the ceremony should have started, nobody had seen Korian either. Nadalia was really starting to panic at this point.

“He’s probably just got caught up in traffic or something,” Nazeli tried to reassure her.

After an hour, Alaric came running up to the pool. Nadalia was relieved to see him for a second, until she noticed his expression. “Alaric, what’s happening?” she cried.

“Nadalia… Nazeli… you’ve got… to run,” he was completely out of breath and looked terrified of something. “I’m sorry… Korian’s been poisoned… Saphrax… he’s coming here… you’ve got to go… hide…”

“Poisoned? He’s dead?” Nazeli asked in disbelief.

Alaric nodded. “You two have to run… Saphrax wants to capture you both…” Suddenly, he collapsed, a dart sticking out of his back. The crowd parted in confusion, and Nadalia could see several big primates heading for her and Nazeli.

“Come on, this way,” she said, pulling Korian’s sister along. They walked quickly past the guests and jumped into the pool, diving straight to the bottom and swimming through one of the underwater passages to another pool. Once they had surfaced, in a pool on the other side of the district, Nadalia broke down crying. It had taken several minutes for Alaric’s news to sink in, and part of her still refused to believe it. Nazeli tried to comfort her, but she was crying too.

“What should we do? We can’t just run off and hide, can we?” Nadalia said when she’d calmed herself a little.

Nazeli looked at her. “I don’t know. I have to find Drystan, make sure they haven’t got to him. After that, I really don’t know what to do.”

Nadalia blinked repeatedly, to clear her eyes. “I can’t just run away. This Saphrax has killed Korian. I bet he’s going to somehow get himself elected in Korian’s place, we can’t let him take over. I’m going to do something about it. I don’t know what yet, but I’ve got to do something.” She turned to Nazeli. “I hope you find Drystan, keep yourself safe.”

“I will. You look after yourself too, Nadalia.”

The two women separated, one to find her son, the other to begin a campaign against the man who had killed her true love.

6: Chapter Six

A few weeks after what should have been her joining ceremony, Nadalia was lying low at her dad’s place. She had returned to the house she had been sharing with Mari, grabbed what few clothes she had there, the figurine Korian had given her, and the portable transmitter she got from her dad, and she’d run before Saphrax’s people arrived. Her dad had agreed to hide her while she thought of a plan, and help in any way he could. She’d heard nothing from Mari, and was beginning to think that maybe she’d been caught by Saphrax too. Nadalia was getting a little paranoid about Saphrax at this point, and it had only been made worse two days after Korian had been killed. People had woken up in the morning to discover that the sky had gone black. No-one knew what was going on, until a general broadcast was made across all wavelengths. It had said something like this:

“Dear citizens of the world. This is your new leader, Saphrax. You have probably noticed by now that thick black clouds have blocked out the sky. This was organised by me, to prevent you all getting free energy from the sun. However, I am not completely unfair. I am willing to provide you all with electricity, to run your radios and cars, and whatever else you have, on the condition you accept my leadership and obey my laws without question. You have… well, I suppose you have until your local battery storage runs out to respond. Bye for now!”

Less than a day later, the Region Governors and Representatives had agreed to Saphrax’s terms. In doing so, they relinquished their say in anything that happened next. Saphrax had abolished the global system of politics, and placed his own ‘enforcers’ in every district. All citizens were required to report to the enforcers for ‘chipping’, which meant they got a coloured disc placed in their hands (or species equivalent of hands) according to which district they were supposed to be in. The system wasn’t as strict as Nadalia thought it would have been, species were allowed to mingle in the central districts during the daytime, but had to return to their own districts at night. Nadalia had managed to avoid being chipped so far, but if they caught her she had more to worry about than a little coloured disc.

She was using her portable transmitter to send out broadcasts asking Mari to contact her, if she could. She had to be careful though, because Saphrax had outlawed all frequencies except the highest band, used for his own official transmissions. She had been listening to the lower bands though, and there were several groups of rebels who were trying to incite uprisings, to get people to reject Saphrax and his laws. Nadalia thought of a plan, both to help deal with Saphrax and to find Mari easier.

“Dad, I’ve thought of something. And you can help, I think,” she said to her father when he came out of his workroom.

“Okay. What’s the plan then, Naddy?”

Nadalia held up her portable transmitter. “Can you increase the power on this, so it can reach across most of this island? Or further, if that’s possible?”

He tilted his head to the side, as he always did when he was thinking about something. “I don’t see why not,” he said thoughtfully. “It might take me a week or so, though. Can you wait that long?”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’ll find me here for a while yet. Take as long as you need, dad.”

“Okay, I’ll go and start tinkering with it now. How come you want it upgraded so much, if I might ask?”

Nadalia took a deep breath. “I’m going to start doing rebel broadcasts, like the groups on mid wave and long wave. Only I’m going to be trying to contact Mari, too. So that she can tell it’s me, I’m going to use the in-joke we had, about the old Black Kat song ‘Thirteen Kats’, and call myself the Thirteenth Kat. Since Saphrax and his lot are still after me, I’ll be needing some sort of code name, won’t I?” she said as her father looked disapproving of her shedding her name.

“I suppose, if you’re doing something like that you would need a false name. Don’t forget your real one though, your mother gave you that name,” he said.

Nadalia rolled her eyes. “Dad, I’m not going to forget my name. Who forgets their own name?”

“I know it sounds silly, Naddy, but it has happened before. Remember your grandpa? He forgot his name, kept calling himself Mr Flibbertigibbet.”

“Yes dad, but grandpa was crazy. I’m not.”

“Alright. Just don’t get yourself caught. I hate to think what’s going to happen to some of those groups if they get caught.”

* * * * *

As it turned out, Nadalia’s dad was right to worry about the consequences for rebel groups who got caught. Only a few days after Nadalia had come up with her plan, an official news broadcast said that most members of a group calling themselves The Skull Children had been caught and detained in a secure facility. However, rumours were flying around that the group’s members had been tortured and executed, though why Saphrax had supposedly tortured them was a mystery. It seemed to be common knowledge, however, that Korian’s assistant Alaric was being held captive. Saphrax was apparently trying to find out the location of Korian’s family and close friends. None of this put Nadalia off her plan, though, and she made her first transmission the same day as her dad finished boosting her transmitter. She decided she would play music as well as making her point against Saphrax and his enforcers, so she opened with the song she was taking her name from.

 

            ‘The thirteen kats stood in a line,

            United, brave and calm.

            They knew they were about to die,

            For crimes they had not done.

            But still they stood there, in that line

            Protecting each other til the end.’

 

The soft, haunting ballad seemed appropriate. It told the story, from feline myth, about a group of cats who had been accused of treason against the cat ruler at the time. One of the thirteen was guilty, but they had all covered for each other, making it impossible to prove which one it was. The ruler in question had been cruel and unjust, so had ordered all thirteen to be killed. The group, according to the story, had stoically accepted their fate, and stood united until the very end. The story had always been a favourite of Mari’s, and when Nadalia had first heard the song the lyrics had stuck in her head. The song ended, and Nadalia began her broadcast:

“Good evening listeners. I am the Thirteenth Kat, and I have a few things to say about the new leader, Saphrax…”

She made several points about the unfair curfew laws that were imposed, species restriction and the over zealous enforcers that were operating in many regions. She talked about Korian, and revealed something that nobody had previously said on the radio by telling everyone who was listening that Saphrax had had him killed. She mentioned the rebels that had been caught, and asked anyone who knew anything definite about their conditions to get on the airwaves and let the truth be known. She finished by telling everyone listening to do whatever they could to disrupt Saphrax’s enforcers and stop his plans. By the time she switched off the transmitter, her throat was sore.

“I thought you might need a drink of water, Naddy,” her father had crept into the room while she was turning off her equipment. “I heard some of what you said, about Korian. Did Saphrax really have him poisoned?”

Nadalia nodded and took the cup. “Dad, do you think any of this will make a difference?”

“I don’t know. I hope so, but something I do know is that you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if you didn’t try.” He sat next to her and hugged her tightly.

* * * * *

Mari stood nervously in front of Saphrax’s desk. She had just given him her first progress report, and was waiting for him to tell her the next step of the plan. To stop herself fidgeting while he read it, she stared at his desk. There was a lot to stare at. The edges and legs were carved to resemble some sort of trailing plant, and there were flashes of gilt embedded in the surface. It matched in with the black and gold embroidered cushions that were scattered across the chairs that lined the sides of the room. She was wondering why he had chosen to have everything made out of such dark wood, when she heard paper rustling. She looked up at her boss.

“Quite impressive, Mari,” he said as he looked up from her report. “You seem to have a talent for media work. Anyway, the next thing I want you to do is get in touch with some of my undercover people. Valamir will tell you exactly who to contact. Get onto that now, and send Melicia in on your way out.”

Relieved, Mari crossed the dark stone floor, pushed open one of the heavy doors and said to Melicia that she could go in. Melicia struggled out of her chair and entered the office. She had recently been given an important task to oversee, and it was in its final stages. Saphrax had put her in a supervisory position, out of harm’s way, since she had informed him of her condition. Melicia was pregnant, carrying Saphrax’s child.

“I assume you want the latest on the surveillance devices?” she said as she approached the desk. Without waiting for a reply, she continued. “We’ve managed to have them placed in all new light fittings and bulbs. However, we have had some difficulty getting them into some existing fixtures. It may be easier to simply wait until people replace broken bulbs with new ones, which will have devices in.”

Saphrax considered this for a moment. “I think we can wait. In the meantime, have we gained anymore information from our guests?”

“You mean the rebels we captured? There’s not much more they know, besides some rumours that seem to be circulating about Korian’s partner. Apparently she knew more than we thought, and has managed to avoid being chipped.”

“Very well. Have them taken out of the main chamber and put in the lower cells with the other ones. We can deal with them at our leisure then. Also, would you have Korian’s assistant taken to the interrogation room? I wish to, ah, speak with him personally.”

A small grimace twisted Melicia’s mouth. “Would you like him taken there now, or later?”

“As soon as possible, Melicia. I want to know where he told the relatives to hide.”

* * * * *

Valamir signalled to the other two enforcers. The low house with the open balcony above it looked much the same as several others in the street, but they’d been told that rebel broadcasts were being transmitted from this location, and it was their job to go and check it out. They approached the front door quietly, then kicked it down.

“Enforcers!” Valamir shouted as he and the other two ran into the house. “Drop whatever you’re holding and get on the floor, this is a raid!”

They were expecting a bunch of young men and women, but instead they found one elderly cetacean at the back of the house. “What’s this about? What are you doing here?” he asked as they burst into the room and started rummaging through the junk all over the place. It looks like some kind of workroom, thought Valamir. I bet someone screwed up the location and all we’ve found is some mad old tinkerer.

“We have reason to believe that illegal transmissions have been sent from this location. If you’re innocent you’ll have nothing to hide, so you won’t mind us looking through your house,” Valamir responded. It was the official spiel, they said it every time they raided somewhere.

“Look all you like, there’s nothing illegal in my house,” said the old guy. Just don’t go out in the shed at the other end of the garden, he thought, that’s where she’s hiding.

The enforcers spent almost four hours turning the house inside out, but they couldn’t find anything to suggest rebel activity. They left, giving the old cetacean a warning to report anything suspicious, because anyone found helping rebel groups would be severely punished.

Once he’d made sure they were gone, he went down to the end of the patch of land at the back of the house that he referred to as a garden, though it was more like a dumping ground for all the stuff he had no room for in the house. When he reached the shed, he knocked three times and called through the door. “Naddy, it’s me. They’re gone, you can come out now.”

Nadalia emerged, clutching her radio transmitter. “That was close. Thanks dad.”

“How did they find you? Do you think they managed to trace the frequency?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, I think the rumours about them watching people somehow are true. But how could they get surveillance so widely spread in people’s homes without us knowing?”

“Light.”

Nadalia looked at her father curiously. “Light? What do you mean?”

“I mean that they would need to put devices in things that everyone has, but no-one would think to look at too closely. I think they’ve put surveillance devices in the lights, somehow.”

“Of course, who checks their light fittings?” Nadalia cried. “And outside they’ve got the enforcers and cameras, along with…”

“The streetlamps,” her dad interrupted. “Come on, I want to check out this theory. I can remove one of the bulbs and bring it out here, and then smash it open in the shed to see what’s in there. You wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

He disappeared back into the house for a few moments, and came back with a bulb. “Now, let’s see how they’re watching us.”

The two of them went back into the shed and shut the door. Nadalia’s father picked up a heavy tool and hit the fragile bulb. It broke open to reveal a tiny, virtually invisible device, that seemed to be flashing on and off.

“That’s it, it’s got to be,” Nadalia said, looking over her dad’s shoulder at the little thing. “I’ve got to mention this in my next broadcast, people need to know about these.”

“I should say so,” the old man replied. “Are you doing it now?”

Nadalia looked at her dad. “Not yet, dad. I need to find somewhere else to do it from, I can’t ask you to go through raids every other week.”

“Naddy, you don’t have to go anywhere. If we stop using electric light and use candles instead, they probably won’t find you again so easily,” he implored, trying to get her to stay where he could look after her.

“Dad, listen. I’m a fugitive now, and they’ll find some other way to track me down eventually. Besides, I’ve heard what they do to people who aid and abet rebels. I’m not going to have them put you through that if I can help it.”

He didn’t like it much, but he saw the reason behind her thinking. If she kept on the move, it would be much harder for the enforcers to trace her. He’d raised a sensible, intelligent daughter really, but he still worried about her. “Alright, but you look after yourself. I don’t want to hear about you getting caught and… whatever it is they do to people they catch.”

“Don’t worry dad. I’ll be careful, and when I can I’ll try and send you messages so you know I’m okay.” She hugged her dad and snuck through the hedge at the end of the garden.

7: Chapter Seven

Nadalia had been moving from place to place for six months, avoiding the enforcers and trying to keep up with the news. Saphrax had tightened curfews, so anyone caught outside their species district was arrested, and people were only permitted five hours a day in the central districts. Most people had discovered the surveillance bugs in the lights and had gone over to using candles. This resulted in candles being banned, along with two-way radios and personal communicators. Most of the rebel groups had been caught by this time, and the lucky ones were executed. Nadalia was still broadcasting, along with two other small groups who also kept on the move. The other groups were completely different from each other, but because they shared a common cause they seemed to get along quite well over the airwaves. There was the group calling themselves the Rabble Rowsers, who were mostly young party people. Most of their broadcasts seemed to focus on how dull and unfair the new regime was, since they couldn’t have fun anymore. Then there was the religious group, calling themselves the Disciples of the Silver X. When they first formed they would go out and paint silver X’s on any official buildings they could, as the X had always been a symbol of religious unity. Nadalia and the other two groups would often discuss things via their transmissions, so it was inevitable that they would all eventually decide to organise a meeting. The Rowsers had already mentioned the possibility, and Nadalia thought of a way to get the message out without letting any enforcers know anything.

“My dad once told me about this really odd show that used to be broadcast on visual, before it was banned,” she said in one of her transmissions. “It was called something like… ‘The Weird Adventures of Andy’, does anyone else know it? I remember one episode, dad said Andy had to decipher some code, and I was just wondering the other day if any of you could recall what it was… Listen to me, rambling on pointlessly. I’m signing off now, taking a wander down to the lake… Fish for tea, for me, tonight!” Hopefully they’ll get it, Nadalia thought. She remembered that particular story well, it had been one of her favourites when she was little.

As luck would have it several of the Disciples were of an age to have seen the series before visual transmissions were banned, and a couple of the Rowsers had heard their parents talking about it. In the episode Nadalia had mentioned, ‘fish for tea’, ‘rambling’ and ‘lake’ had been code words for a time and place, translating to the real world as the end of the week, in an old storage building in the central district of Region Two. Both the other groups sent coded messages in their next transmissions agreeing to the meeting, so Nadalia made her way to Region Two over the next few days.

* * * * *

Nadalia arrived at the meeting place a few minutes before the agreed time, and found two men inside. One was a chimpanzee, and the other was a lizard. She entered the dingy, fusty-smelling building cautiously, fairly sure they were rebels but wanting to check before she revealed herself completely.

“S’up there, you guys?” she called, making the ‘you’ longer than usual. It sounded ridiculous, but it was a phrase often used in the ‘Andy’ series, and they had agreed on it as an identification phrase.

The two men glanced at each other. “Okay here. S’up over there?” the lizard called the agreed reply. Nadalia sighed in relief and went over to them. “I’m Eznik, this is Yeranos,” said the lizard when Nadalia got closer. “We’re with the Disciples. You?”

“I’m Nadalia, also the Thirteenth Kat. It’s nice to meet you,” Nadalia replied. Another few people crept in the door and called out the same phrase Nadalia had. Yeranos responded this time, and the others came over and introduced themselves.

“Hi, I’m Tsolag,” said a young, rather skinny looking gorilla. “This is Zenobia and Rehan, we’re with the Rowsers.” He indicated the two female chimps who had come in with him. Unfortunately, none of them had time to do much more than introduce themselves before the door opened again.

“Erm, hi, have we come to the right place?” someone asked. “We’re, erm…”

“We’re looking for the meeting, but we can’t remember the entry phrase,” a similar but more confident voice cut in. “I think it’s something like ‘s’up guys’?”

Nadalia and the others looked at each other. “Any idea who these two are?” she asked quietly.

“Not a clue, they’re not with us,” Rehan whispered.

Yeranos shook his head. “They’re not part of our group. Enforcers, you think?”

“I don’t think enforcers would have asked questions. But I don’t think we should completely trust them either.” Nadalia thought for a moment. “What do you lot reckon?”

“Since we’re here, we might as well do what we came to do.” Eznik said decisively. “But I think we should all agree on a common frequency to organise another meeting on soon, I suggest frequency 189. And I don’t think we should discuss anything important here.” Nadalia and the Rowsers agreed, and they called the two newcomers over.

As they entered the small circle of light cast by the rebels’ lamps, the others could see they were two young male chimps, probably twins. The more confident-sounding one spoke first. “I’m Levon, this is my brother Nazar. We wanted to come along, because we’re against Saphrax as well but we can’t find a way to send out rebel broadcasts. Mind if we join in the resistance?”

Zenobia smiled at them. “Course not. We’re just kinda getting to know each other this time round, why we’re against him, stuff like that.”

“Before we start talking, I think we should have someone as lookout in case any enforcers do show up,” Nadalia suggested. “Then we should be able to get away quickly if we need to.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll go, if anyone comes I’ll shout through the door,” said Tsolag, and he went back outside.

Eznik stepped forward. “Okay, shall we start with you two?” he pointed to the twins. “Besides the obvious political reasons, how come you’re against Saphrax and his regime?”

“Personal reasons mostly,” Nazar said. “A while ago he had our family killed, for no particular reason. We want him out because he’s a nasty piece of work, and doesn’t care about the people’s interests.”

“As good a reason as any,” said Rehan. “We’ve got similar reasons. Nobody can enjoy themselves anymore; all his policies are unbelievably restrictive. Besides, since he took over all we’ve had is rain. It’s those clouds he filled the sky with, they’re making the whole world miserable. What about you Disciples?”

“That depends which of our group you’re talking to,” Yeranos explained. “The more devout of us believe that Saphrax is an agent of evil, and should be sent back where he came from. Most of us just think that he’s gone too far with his policies and is dragging the world down into a new dark age. Nadalia, what are you against him for?”

“Personal and political. I knew the old leader Korian very well, and I’m sure you’re all aware that Saphrax had him killed. Also, a friend of mine has been missing for months now, and I think she’s being held captive.”

Suddenly Tsolag shouted from outside, and ran in. “Enforcers are on the way, we’ve got about five minutes, maybe less.”

The two Disciples looked at each other and turned to accuse the twins. “You two are spies! You led them here, that’s how they found us!”

Levon started to argue, but Zenobia interrupted. “We haven’t got time for this, just run! If we get away we can talk about it later,” she said as she and Rehan pulled the others outside. Nadalia left by the second door at the back of the storage building, and disappeared through a passageway heading for the yellow district.

* * * * *

Nadalia was being followed. She could hear people behind her, and when she turned a corner she caught a glimpse of what looked like the twins from the meeting. I’ll head away from my hideout, she thought, I might be able to lose them if they’re after me. She turned down a side street and sped up. After an hour they were still behind her, so she turned another corner and hid in a doorway. As the twins walked past, Nadalia jumped out.

“Why are you two following me?” she asked.

“Ah, I know how this looks, but we’re not after you or anything,” Levon said.

“We figured you’d be heading somewhere safe, and we need a new hideout,” Nazar interjected. “And if somewhere is safe for you to hide, it’ll be okay for us, since they don’t know about us yet.”

Nadalia considered them for a moment. “Well, I’m looking for a new place to hide myself. Maybe…”

“And what are you three doing out here?” Two enforcers had come round on patrol and caught them all. “You are aware that primates and cetaceans are not permitted in the yellow district?”

“Yes, but… we’re not regular citizens. We’re doing undercover work,” Nadalia said quickly, hoping they’d fall for it and go away.

“Really?” The enforcers looked dubious. “Show us your chips.”

Nadalia couldn’t think of anything to say, and since she didn’t have a chip she knew she was in trouble. Before anyone had a chance to do much more than blink, however, Nazar had taken something out of his jacket and pointed it at the enforcers. There were two incredibly loud bangs, and the enforcers dropped to the ground. Nadalia looked and saw blood everywhere. “What…?” she began to ask, but lights started coming on in the houses nearby and the twins pulled her away before anyone came to see what the noise was about.

They ran until they came to an abandoned house on the border of the blue and yellow districts. They couldn’t see anyone around, so they went in. The front door was hanging off its hinges, and all the windows were boarded up. It was a very old house, built at least two centuries ago. They could tell from the style of architecture, because back then most houses were built in the same style: two floors, three rooms across and two rooms deep. The style hadn’t been used since, and the house had clearly fallen into disrepair a long time ago. They went straight through to one of the back rooms, and sat down on the dusty floor.

Nadalia turned to Nazar to ask the question she’d started to ask before. “What was that thing you used back there?”

“I’m not sure what it’s called exactly,” Nazar replied. “I found one a long time ago. That one didn’t work, but I managed to figure out how it should have worked, and I made a copy.” He took it out again and showed Nadalia. “I think it’s some sort of antique weapon, a bit like the shocker pistols we have today, except it uses bits of metal propelled by a tiny bit of explosive instead of electricity.”

“He’s always been into rebuilding historical stuff,” Levon said to no-one in particular. He had gone round to check the doors and windows in the room, but was still listening to the conversation.

Nadalia was staring at the small weapon in Nazar’s hand. “Worried about me using it on you?” he asked her.

“Not really, if you were going to you’d probably have done it already. I was just wondering what it looks like inside, exactly how it works. Then it occurred to me how much like my dad I’m getting,” she answered with a laugh.

Nazar smiled. “If you like I could show you exactly how it works sometime,” he said.

“You know, this place would be ideal for a resistance base,” Levon interrupted them. “You could send a message to the other groups and let them know, Nadalia.”

“I could, except I don’t have my transmitter here. I wasn’t expecting to have to run off so quick, I left it at my old hideout. I can go pick it up tomorrow,” she replied. She still wasn’t completely sure about trusting these two, but after they helped her get away from the enforcers she was a little more inclined to believe them.

“Okay, we can spend the night here,” said Nazar. “Should one of us go with you to pick it up? Just to make sure you don’t get caught or anything. I’ll go if you like, since I’ve got this.” He waved the antique-style weapon.

“That sounds like a good plan,” Nadalia replied. “So, since we’ve got a few hours, what’s the story with you two?”

The two of them exchanged looks before beginning their story. “It’s like we said at the meeting, Saphrax had our mum and little sister killed for no real reason,” Levon said. “There’s not much else to tell really.”

“We had to keep moving around a lot when we were younger,” Nazar picked up. At a look from his brother he said “well, we might as well start at the beginning. See, our dad was in politics, but he wasn’t very good at it. He’d manage to get elected, but then the people would vote him out again really quickly. He had these weird ideas that people didn’t like very much. Then we came over here, same thing happened, except he kinda wandered off after getting voted out. We don’t know what happened to him after that,” he said sadly. “What about you, you said you knew Korian well, what’s the story there?”

Nadalia got the impression that Nazar had left something out of his story, but decided not to press him on it. “I was in a relationship with him. It was pretty serious, he’d proposed to me a few months before he was poisoned. And the friend I mentioned, she’s been missing since the day before the joining ceremony. Something tells me Saphrax has got her, though I’ve got no proof of that.”

They continued exchanging stories from the past until Levon fell asleep, then Nazar leant forward and whispered to Nadalia. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked. “You’ve probably figured it out already, but Levon doesn’t want to tell anyone. Saphrax is our dad; he arranged the accident that our mum and sister died in. We were supposed to be in the car too, but we’d had an argument with mum and we got out. I can’t even remember what it was about now. He’s been trying to blame it on us since then, and we’ve been hiding from him and his enforcers. But we’ve decided to stop running and start fighting back.”

* * * * *

Saphrax lifted the baby carefully. It had been a long time since he’d held a child, and he wasn’t entirely sure he remembered how to do it properly. The infant looked up at him and waved a tiny arm. A worker dimmed the overhead lights a little, to make it easier on the newborn’s eyes.

“She likes you,” said a rather dishevelled looking Melicia from the large bed she had laboured in for several hours. It had been a difficult birth, but seeing the newborn with her father had made it worthwhile.

“She’s got your eyes, Melicia.” Saphrax was overjoyed to see his child healthy, but the occasion was tinged with regret. For the first time since arranging it, he was sorry he’d had his other daughter killed. He decided to tell his enforcers to stop looking for his twin sons, and resolved to take better care of this child. “What should we call her?”

“I was thinking Viviane, after my great aunt. Unless you have any suggestions, love?”

Saphrax considered the name. “No, Viviane sounds perfect.” There was a knock on the door. “Can’t it wait? I’m with my family,” he shouted through the door. The baby started crying at the loud noise.

“Not really, this is urgent. It’s about the surviving rebel groups,” Valamir called through.

“Oh fine,” Saphrax muttered as he handed the bawling infant back to Melicia. “This shouldn’t take too long, dear. What about the rebels, Valamir?” he asked irritably as he left the room.

“They organised some sort of meeting tonight, we were only informed of the location a few hours ago,” Valamir told his boss. “We raided the place, of course, but most of them got away. We managed to capture two of them though, they’re awaiting interrogation in the cells.”

Saphrax sighed. He’d told his enforcers to leave off any questioning until he had a chance to see any prisoners himself, which seemed to be turning out to be a bad plan. “Fine, I’ll go and talk to them now. Then use the standard methods on them.”

They reached the cells where the new prisoners were being held, only to find that both of them had died. Valamir swore. “They were alive when they were brought in, I saw them!”

“Of course they were. If they were part of that nut job Rabble bunch, I should think they had suicide pills on them. I’ve told you not to leave new prisoners alone until they’ve been thoroughly searched, Valamir.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time I encounter some suicidal head cases,” Valamir said through gritted teeth as Saphrax went back to his wife and newborn child.

8: Chapter Eight

Nadalia woke up the next morning in the middle of an argument.

“What did you have to tell her for? She’s only going to tell the rest of them, then we’ve got no chance of getting back at him!”

“Oh come on, Lev, she’s not stupid. She’d have worked it out eventually anyway. Besides, now she knows we’ve got a personal stake in seeing him overthrown.”

“Erm, guys?” Nadalia hated jumping into the middle of other people’s disputes, but this time it seemed necessary. “If you’re worried about me telling the other groups, I wasn’t going to say anything. I don’t have a problem with who your dad is, and it’s not really any of their business. Or mine, come to think of it.”

“See? She’s alright, Lev.”

Levon turned to look at Nadalia. “Okay, just promise you won’t mention it to the others. It’d only turn them against us.”

“I promise,” Nadalia said. “Now, we were going to pick up my transmission equipment in the morning.”

The twins looked relieved. “Yeah, we were,” said Nazar. “Where did you leave it?”

“Region Three, red district. There’s a little shed near a clump of trees, I was using that as a hideout before. I’m useless at directions, but I can remember exactly where it is, once I get close.”

 “Alright, let’s head off then. No point waiting.”

Nadalia and Nazar crept down the border into the central district and caught a public transport in to the centre of Region Three. They managed to find a transport to take them from there out to the red district, and Nadalia led the way from there to her old hiding place. It took them a while to get there, since they had to keep dodging patrols, but they found the place eventually. As they approached the door, they saw that it was slightly open.

“Looks like someone’s been here before us,” Nazar muttered. “I’ll go in first, check they haven’t left anything behind.” It was common for enforcers to leave traps behind when they raided an empty house.

Nadalia waited outside for a few minutes, and as she looked around she noticed a written note left under a stone near the door. She picked it up and read:

            ‘Nadalia, it’s Mari. I just wanted to let you know, I’m okay.

            I’ve been hiding too, it’s been horrible. If it’s alright with you,

            can we meet up by the river between Region Two and Three

            tonight, about midnight? Hope you’re safe.’

“It’s clear, but they’ve obviously gone through all the stuff in here,” Nazar called from inside.

Nadalia went in and found the contents of the shed strewn everywhere. Most of it was junk that had been there when Nadalia found the place, but she had a few things there that she wanted to check hadn’t been taken or moved. The transmitter was still under the floorboard in the corner, where she’d hidden it, and the bag and few clothes she had were still there, albeit thrown haphazardly across the floor. The figurine of herself and Korian was missing, though.

“They must have taken it,” she said to Nazar. “Everything else is still here though. We’d better grab the transmitter and go, they might still be watching the place.”

Nadalia threw her stuff into her bag, picked up the transmitter and left with Nazar. She decided not to mention the note from Mari until she’d worked out whether she was going to meet her or not. They made their way back to the central district and caught a transport back to Region Two, then snuck back to the old house where they were staying.

They went in and found Levon had been busy while they were out. He’d fixed the front door to an alarm system, so they would know if anyone tried to get in. All the bulbs had been removed from the light fittings, in case someone had put in surveillance devices, and all the windows had been blocked up properly. He’d also found a door leading down to a basement, which he thought might be useful at some point. Nadalia set up her transmitter while the twins went to explore the basement and check for any quick escape routes. She checked the mutual frequency the other groups had agreed on, and it was clear, so she sent out a quick message to the rebels.

“Hello, this is the Thirteenth Kat. Just letting you all know I’m safe, and the twins are with me. If anyone is receiving, please broadcast back on this frequency. Hoping you’re all okay.”

A few minutes later, the Disciples sent a message back: “Disciples here, glad you’re alright Thirteen. You’re the first we’ve heard from, our people got back fine but we haven’t heard from the Rowsers yet. Do you know what’s going on with those twins, are they on our side or not? Disciples out.”

Nadalia waited a while before transmitting back. She was fairly certain about the twins now, and wanted to let the others know they were safe.

“Thirteenth Kat again, pleased to hear your people are okay. I haven’t heard from the Rowsers either, but I’ll keep listening out for them on here and their usual frequency. The twins are alright, everything they said last night was true. They also helped me get away from a couple of enforcers that caught us on patrol.” Nadalia heard someone calling her from the basement at this point, so she finished off her broadcast saying she’d keep listening for any word from the Rowsers and headed down to see what they wanted.

* * * * *

Alaric flinched as the cell door opened. Surely they’ve got everything they can out of me, he thought. I don’t know anything else, I can’t take any more pain.

“You can stay in here. Someone will come round with food later,” he heard a guard say as another prisoner was pushed into the cell.

The new prisoner started banging on the door as soon as it shut. “You can’t keep me in here much longer!” she yelled through the door. “I’ve got friends outside, they know what you’re doing to people here and they won’t stand for it anymore!”

“There’s no point shouting, even if they’re listening they won’t pay attention,” Alaric said.

The new girl jumped and turned round. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Alaric, I used to be Korian’s assistant. I’m guessing you’re one of the rebels they captured?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I used to be with The Skull Children. Name’s Katayun, most people just call me Yuni though. Korian’s assistant you say?”

“Yep. That’s why they wanted me in here, they seem to think I know where his friends and family are hiding.”

The door opened again, and a female guard came in with a tray of food. “You two alright in here? I’ve got some news about the rebels still going, if you’re interested.”

Katayun looked confused until Alaric explained. “This is Nyneve, she’s sort of on the rebels side. She tries to pass on news of the surviving groups, and she’s helped a couple of prisoners escape.”

“That’s right,” Nyneve said quietly. “Try and keep it quiet though. Anyway, I’ve just heard that some groups have started organising a united rebellion. There’s two groups and someone called the Thirteenth Kat. Also, Valamir says he’s found where Korian’s partner has been hiding, he brought in a little model of him and her. She hasn’t been caught yet though. I’ll let you know when I hear more if I can, I’d better go now though. If I stay too long the other guards will suspect something’s wrong.”

“Alright. Thanks for the news,” Alaric said as Nyneve left the cell. “I hope Nads is alright.”

“Nads?” Katayun asked as she pulled the tray of food towards her.

“Korian’s partner. She managed to get away from them at the joining ceremony, and they’ve been trying to get me to tell them where she’s hiding. Only I couldn’t tell them, because I don’t know where she is. They’ve more or less given up on me now, though they still drag me in for questioning every so often.”

“Sucks. Hey, do you have any idea who the Thirteenth Kat is? I’ve heard rumours that she’s actually Saphrax’s wife, she didn’t die in that crash but she knew who was behind it, and now she’s speaking out against him.”

Alaric shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it. But whoever she is, she’s extremely clever. Saphrax and his bunch have been running round in circles trying to find her for months, and they haven’t found a trace of her. If she’s involved in this organised rebellion, I think Saphrax is in big trouble.”

* * * * *

“Where do you reckon it goes?” Nadalia asked Levon. The twins had found a round metal door behind some rotted away wood panels, leading down to what looked like some sort of underground passage in the basement, and they’d called her down to have a look at it.

“I don’t know. Maybe a sub-basement, or it could be some sort of escape tunnel. I was going to check it out, but I need some candles so I can see where I’m going,” Levon replied. “It could be useful, at any rate. Somewhere to hide or an easy way out if we get raided.”

“Could certainly be useful,” Nadalia said. “I’ll get out some candles for you and wait by the entrance. Nazar, could you go upstairs and check the radio, we’re still waiting to hear from the Rowsers.”

“Sure, I’ll come down and let you know if I hear anything,” he said and went back upstairs.

Nadalia found some candles in a box and gave them to Levon, then sat by the entrance to the passage as he vanished into the gloom. As he headed down the passage, Levon left a couple of candles behind him whenever the tunnels branched off. It seemed to be a natural cave system, with several tunnels leading in separate directions. Levon took the largest tunnel every time, and eventually came to a massive cavern, full of crates. He opened one and found it was full of antique weapons, similar to the one Nazar had found and copied. A few crates were placed separately to the rest, and they had strange markings on the side that looked a bit like ancient writing. He decided to head back and let Nadalia and his brother know what he’d found. Besides, he thought, a massive load of weapons like that would be useful for the resistance.

While Levon was exploring the caves, Nazar had heard a message from the Rowsers and passed it on to Nadalia. “They said only one of their people got back last night, they’re assuming the others are gone. They’ve asked who else got away, and they want to know about us, they say they recognise our names from an investigation a while back,” he said, meaning himself and Levon. “Do you want me to sit and wait for Lev so you can go and respond?”

“No, that’s okay. Just keep listening and I’ll be up as soon as he gets back,” Nadalia said.

Levon got back from the caves after another half hour, and told Nadalia he had something big to tell both of them. They headed back up to talk to Nazar.

“Hey you two. There’s been a few more messages from the other groups, shall I tell you before you send anything out?”

“Okay, what’s been happening?” said Nadalia.

Nazar took a deep breath. “Well, the Disciples came on after the message from the Rowsers I told you about, they said they were sorry to hear about the Rowsers’ people. They said they’d heard from you, passed on what you’d said earlier, and asked what we’re doing now. The Rowsers came back after a few minutes and said they’re having a memorial party on their frequency later, asked the Disciples if they still blame us for the enforcers showing up and said they should wait to hear from you before they organise anything. So did you find anything in the passage?”

“I found something alright. I think the other groups should know about it as well though,” Levon said. “Are you going to send a message back to them, Nadalia?”

“Yeah, I can send out a message now. You want to tell them about whatever it is you’ve found?”

Levon nodded and Nadalia switched on the transmitter. “Hello again, Thirteenth Kat here, with a quick message. I’d like to pass on condolences to the Rowsers, very sorry to hear about your people. The twins are here with me, and Levon says he’s found something here that should be useful. Levon, would you like to tell us what you’ve found?”

“I would. We found a cave system under where we’re hiding, and I’ve been down there exploring it. What I’ve found is a lot of crates full of antique weapons, which I think we could make good use of. Also, there were a couple of crates marked with what looks like ancient writing, can anyone interpret it for us?”

They signed off after that and waited for the other groups to respond. They didn’t have long to wait, since the Rowsers got back on the airwaves almost straight away.

“Rabble Rowsers are on the air, and those weapons sound awesome. We haven’t got a clue on ancient writing, but maybe the Disciples would? So, you guys are invited to listen in on our party later in memory of the fallen. Our usual frequency, we’re starting when sunset should be and carrying on til late. We’ll tune in to your frequencies too, so we can all chat properly. Catch you later!”

Shortly afterwards the Disciples sent out a transmission. They were a little more long-winded than the Rowsers, but got to the main points eventually.

“Yes, a few people in our group have studied ancient texts and should be able to interpret the writing, so long as we can get an accurate copy of it. It sounds like you twins really are on our side, and I’d like to apologise on behalf of the rest of the group for accusing you both. So, to repeat our earlier question, what’s the plan now?”

Nadalia switched back on and began another transmission. “I think we need to meet up again, and we need a new code, since the last one seems to have been cracked.”

“Or we need a different, more private way to communicate between ourselves,” Nazar interrupted. “Levon and I are pretty good at making stuff, I’m sure we could put together some personal communicators for each group. We could probably get them done by tomorrow if we can get hold of the bits, so why don’t we meet up somewhere tomorrow?”

“That’s not a bad idea, if you can make them that quick. How about somewhere central, Region Three white district? It’s easy enough to get to, and they can’t get us for being in the wrong district if we’re careful about getting there,” Nadalia suggested. “What do you guys think?” She cut off there to see what the other groups thought.

“Sounds good to us,” the Rowsers broadcast guy said after a few minutes break. “There’s a little café there we could go to, one of our people runs it so we should be safe. And if you guys have the communicators by then you could hand them out there.”

The Disciples came on a minute after the Rowsers. “Can we suggest that we meet up at midday? It would be easier for us all to blend in to the crowds, and I doubt the enforcers would be expecting rebels to meet up in a public place in the middle of the day. They wouldn’t really be looking out for us,” the Disciples broadcaster said.

Everyone agreed to the plan, and Nazar went out to get hold of some bits to make personal communicators. Nadalia stayed by the radio to check for any news, and Levon went back down to the caves to copy the writing on the crates.

9: Chapter Nine

Mari wondered if she was doing the right thing. She’d been working with a group of people whose job it was to listen in to rebel broadcasts, and she’d helped uncover a meeting between some groups. She was sure she recognised one of the voices though, and she felt that the ‘Thirteenth Kat’ ought to be familiar. She tried talking to Valamir about it, but he just told her not to ask too many questions. He’d been acting very cold towards her lately. When she really thought about it, she was sure she remembered a friend, who she used to live with, but the details were all hazy. Since she had spoken to the news reader though, things were becoming a bit clearer.

“Hey Mari, we’ve got a new prisoner you might want to talk to,” Valamir had told her earlier. “Remember that news reader you were working with a while back? She’s been brought in for questioning about some connection with a rebel group.”

So Mari had gone to the cells and spoken to the prisoner. “Tsoline?”

“Mari? You’re working for this jerk?” Tsoline had been a popular unofficial news reader before Saphrax took over, and had ended up having to broadcast illegally afterwards. Mari had worked with her for a while on assignment from Saphrax. “Don’t tell me your friend is here too.”

Mari was puzzled. “What friend?”

“The friend you told me about when you were working at my station, what was her name? Nadalie?”

“I don’t know who you mean,” Mari said uneasily. She’d been getting fragments of memory surfacing in her mind for a while, and they seemed to involve living with a cetacean called Nadalia. She had been trying to pass them off as vaguely remembered dreams, but Tsoline seemed to know about them too.

“You must do, you’re the one who told me about her. Don’t you remember?” Tsoline said. “You even told me how you met, at a rock concert.”

Mari sat down on the floor next to Tsoline. “I don’t remember anything about it. Not really,” she said. “I keep getting these, like little flickers of things, though. Could you tell me everything I told you?”

Tsoline shrugged. “Sure,” she agreed, and began telling Mari everything she had said about her old friend.

“So if all that’s true, why can’t I remember any of it properly?” Mari wondered aloud when Tsoline had finished.

“Beats me, maybe they’ve got you on memory pills or something. I wouldn’t put it past Saphrax.”

“Memory pills? Don’t be stupid, there’s no such thing.”

“Mari, this is the guy planning to bring back visual transmissions,” Tsoline explained. “I know he says he doesn’t believe in brainwashing, but he’s also said he doesn’t execute people or watch what the public are doing. He’s a lying, cheating scumbag, and a clever one at that. You need to watch your back, and don’t eat or drink anything they give you here. You don’t know what they might’ve invented and put in the water here.”

Mari considered this for a moment. “Alright. You might have a point there. Oh, and I think I’m supposed to have been getting some information out of you, anything you know that I can pass off as useful?”

“I’m not sure,” Tsoline thought for a bit. “Ah, there’s something that seems to be common knowledge outside. You know the rebel the Thirteenth Kat? Most people seem to think that she’s got some connection with either Saphrax or Korian. No-one’s sure which one, though.”

“Thanks. And I think I’ll take your advice about the other stuff too.” Mari left the cell to pass on the ‘news’ to Saphrax.

* * * * *

While Levon and Nazar were off doing other things, Nadalia thought she should check the official news frequency. She usually tuned in to it once a week, to see what Saphrax was up to and whether the enforcers were on her trail or not. She found the broadcast and turned up the volume a little.

“… are still searching for the escaped prisoners Demile and Aleyn, who have been described as ‘unstable and dangerous’. In the yellow district of Region Two, two enforcers were brutally murdered last night. The weapon used is unfamiliar, but the perpetrator is believed to be the insurgent known as the Thirteenth Kat. A confidential source has been assisting enforcers to track down the suspect, and they are close to making an arrest.”

Nadalia didn’t hear the rest of the transmission, as she had switched off the radio and practically run down to the caves to find Levon. She expected to have to call him to find her way there, but he had relit the candles in the tunnels to light his way back. It didn’t take her long to get there.

“They think it was me!” she shouted as soon as she got into the cave, making Levon jump and smudge the copy he was making. “They think I killed those two enforcers last night.”

“What? How can they think it was you? Nobody saw any of us,” Levon replied. “Unless they’re just trying to pin it on you. Saphrax tried to pin our mum and sister’s deaths on us.”

Nadalia sat down on a crate. “That could be it,” she said slowly. “But they said they were close to making an arrest, that doesn’t make sense.”

“It might. Have you had any weird messages or spoken to anyone suspicious recently?”

“No… wait, yes,” Nadalia said. “There was a note from my friend Mari outside the hut when we picked up my stuff. She wanted me to meet her by the river tonight… now I think about it, it was a bit odd.”

Levon put the unfinished copy down and went to sit next to Nadalia. “How so?”

“Well, Mari’s feline, so why would she want to meet me near water? At the beginning of the note she’s put ‘Nadalia’. She never calls me that, she calls me Nads like most people do. Besides, it says she’s been hiding, but why wouldn’t she have got in touch before now?”

“Sounds a bit peculiar to me. Might be a trap, if she’s been held captive like you said before. If you decide to go meet her, you should take someone with you, just in case.”

Nadalia nodded. “Right. I haven’t decided yet, I’ll let you know when I do.” She looked over at the crates marked with writing. “So what do you reckon might be in there?”

“No idea,” Levon answered. “Should we open one and have a look? If we know what whatever it is looks like, it might help with the interpretation,” he suggested.

Nadalia agreed, and they found a flat bit of metal they could use to get the top off one of the crates. Once it was open, they found it was full of brightly coloured tubes, discs and cones, all with bits of string trailing from the ends. Levon reached in and picked one up.

“What do you think they are?” he asked.

Nadalia was mystified. “I haven’t got a clue, I’ve never seen anything like them,” she said. “Anyway, Nazar’s probably back by now, I’ll let you finish copying that writing and see if he found anything.”

* * * * *

Nadalia had just come out of the basement and switched the radio back on when Nazar got in. He had managed to scavenge several components that they could use to make communicators.

“Lev still down in the caves?” he asked. Nadalia nodded distractedly while she retuned the radio receiver. “I was thinking while I was out, maybe we should explore the rest of the caves too. If there’s more stuff down there, it might be useful to know about. Looking for something?”

“Nothing specific, just checking the other groups’ frequencies. You think there might be more weapons down there?” Nadalia asked him, turning away from the receiver.

“Maybe, but I was thinking of other stuff, that might help us figure out exactly how old those weapons are. Besides, I’m interested in who hid those crates in a deep cave, so I’m going exploring when Lev gets back. You coming with?”

“Sure, why not? It’ll be more interesting than sitting around up here,” she replied.

A few minutes later, Levon came in. “Hey Naz, you got the parts?”

“Yep,” Nazar handed the bag full of stuff to his brother. “Should be enough for at least six in there, maybe seven.”

Levon gave the electrical components an approving glance. “Nice. I’ll get started,” he said. “What are you two planning to do?”

“We were thinking of going down to check out some of the other tunnels you mentioned, see what else might be hidden in there,” replied Nazar. “Think you could keep an ear on the radio for a while?”

“No problem. Don’t be down there too long though, the Rowsers’ party is kicking off soon.”

“Okay, I don’t think it’ll take long to have a look around. Come on Nads,” Nazar led the way down to the basement and the entrance to the caves.

* * * * *

Valamir was extremely pleased with his orders. He had to follow Mari to the river in Region Two and watch for anyone coming to meet her. His assignment from the beginning had been to get close to Mari, insinuate himself in her confidence, and gather as much information as he could about her friend Nadalia, who was Korian’s intended partner. Mari, of course, hadn’t known who he worked for to start with, and was perfectly willing to talk about her best friend. Slowly, he had built up a large cache of information about Nadalia, and had delivered it to Saphrax just a few days ago. Saphrax had instructed him to find her latest hideout and leave a note from ‘Mari’ asking to meet somewhere. He decided on a river running between Regions Two and Three, and Mari had been told earlier that she was supposed to be picking up her next mission there tonight. Valamir had been told to arrest Nadalia when she turned up, along with anyone else who came along with her.

Mari’s got no idea she’s about to see the friend she hardly remembers, he thought as he walked down the street to his own small house. She doesn’t even know how much she’s told me. Saphrax is really on to something with these visuals, they really do screw up people’s heads. Valamir smirked to himself as he opened a tin of synthesised meat. If we can make people all but forget their best friends, we can do anything. When mass transmission starts next month, people are going to think whatever we want them to think, and no-one will be able to do a damn thing about it, he thought gleefully. Not even that blasted Thirteenth Kat would be able to resist, if we put in messages telling her to give herself up.

“Oh, I love my work!” Valamir exclaimed to himself as he sat down in front of his own visual receiver to check on the latest test transmissions.

10: Chapter Ten

Nadalia picked up another box of candles before entering the caves. “We’ll need these, unless you want to poke around in the dark?” she called to Nazar, who had already started down the passage.

“Erm, yeah. Good thinking, Nads,” Nazar muttered embarrassedly. In his enthusiasm and haste, he hadn’t thought about the general lack of light in caves. “So, what do you think we might find down there?”

“No idea, but it should be interesting to find out,” Nadalia replied.

They went down a few different tunnels, reaching dead ends or looping back on themselves for the first few tries. One of the tunnels seemed to open out into a small cavern, with various odd-looking artefacts in it.

“Hey Naz, what do you make of this?” Nadalia held up a strange object. “It looks like a hairier version of you, but it’s all green and spotty!”

Nazar looked at the thing in bewilderment. “That is the second weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. The weirdest thing is this,” he said, holding up a shiny piece of paper, showing a picture of something large, furry and wet standing in a big white basin. “Now what do you suppose this might be?”

“I haven’t the faintest clue. Take it up with us, someone might know what it is,” she said.

Further into the cave they found what looked like models of hairless primates, and several strangely shaped pieces of metal and plastic. Neither of them had any idea what they were for, so they left them alone and continued exploring some of the other tunnels. Heading deeper, they found a massive cavern, bigger than the one where Levon had found the weapons. This one was full of shelves, boxes and piles of flexible rectangular objects.

“What the… what are all these things?” Nazar wondered aloud.

“I don’t know, but they’re full of what looks like ancient writing,” Nadalia replied, opening a couple of them. “You think the Disciples might be able to interpret some of it?”

“Probably. Grab some and we can take them back up when we go.”

Nadalia picked up a few of them and they proceeded to head deeper into the cave system. They hadn’t gone much further when they found another tunnel that led to a similar sized area, with similar shelves in it. These shelves were full of slightly thinner, firmer rectangles, that seemed to contain thin silver discs.

“They look like the storage discs we used to use before what’s-his-name invented recording cubes,” Nazar said when they found the discs. “Mostly used to store visual stuff, they fell out of use several decades back. There’s probably something in here that can access them, we can come back and look properly sometime.”

“Okay. Any idea how late it is?” Nadalia asked.

“Not sure. Probably about time for the Rowsers party by now though. You want to head back up?”

“Not just yet, I think we’ve got time to check out one more passage before people miss us,” Nadalia said.

They headed out of the disc cave and found another tunnel that seemed to lead steeply downwards. Nazar lit an extra candle and led the way down the slope. As the tunnel seemed to level out, they found their way blocked by a large rock, which had clearly been put there deliberately, and the gaps around the edges had been sealed with some sort of gummy substance.

Nazar glanced sideways at Nadalia. “Should we open it? Someone obviously wanted it closed well.”

“I think it’s been sealed for a long time,” Nadalia replied. “Judging by the rest of the stuff we’ve found, whoever hid it all down here is probably long gone by now. I don’t think opening it will do any harm,” she said as she looked around for a way to break the seal.

Nazar joined her search. “What about this thing? It looks a bit like a handle,” he said after a few minutes. “You reckon it’ll move the rock out the way?”

Nadalia shrugged. “Might do. Let’s try it,” she said. They turned the handle and heard clicking and whirring coming from something in the walls of the passage.

Stale, fetid air hit them as the seal broke, and for a moment they could hardly breathe. Once they regained their senses, they could see that the rock had rolled aside into a hidden recess. The cave had been artificially fashioned, and furnished in antiquated styles. They could see openings into other ‘rooms’, and were heading towards one when something caught Nadalia’s eye.

“Nazar, I don’t think we should be in here.” She pointed to one of the chairs. There were bones on it, arranged as though the person they had belonged to had been sitting there when they died. “There are probably others in the rest of the rooms, I don’t think we should disturb them,” she whispered, not quite knowing why.

Nazar nodded. “You’re right. Let’s go back upstairs,” he whispered back.

They left the cave and rolled the boulder into place. “Who do you think they were?” Nadalia asked once they were back in the basement of the house.

“Well, I’m no expert on ancient history, but I think we might have found the remnants of the last few hemsepans. I guess some of them tried to hide underground before the end, and took some relics with them.”

* * * * *

“You two took your time,” Levon said when they came out of the basement. “The party’s started without you. What’s up?”

Nadalia and Nazar looked at each other. “You explain,” Nadalia said. “I’ll get on the air and see what the Disciples think of those flexible things we found.”

While Nazar told Levon about all the stuff they had found in the caves, Nadalia switched on her transmitter and sent through greetings on her usual frequency. “It’s a bit weird hearing myself echo back on your frequency guys, great sounding party though! Disciples, got a quick question for you. We’ve been exploring some more of the caves, and found some flexible rectangular objects, that are full of ancient writing, we think. Could you take a look at them sometime?”

The Disciples responded fairly quickly. “Hello Thirteen. Those ‘flexible rectangular things’ are called books, they’re what the ancient fools used to store information and opinions. I think we could have a look at some, if you bring them along to the meeting tomorrow. Maybe we could teach you guys to read a little of it too, then you wouldn’t need to pester us for translations,” their broadcaster said jokingly.

“Sounds like a plan,” Nadalia replied. “We found some other stuff too, we’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”

They spent the next few hours enjoying the radio party. Nazar found some drinks and started doing silly dances in the middle of the room. Levon had almost finished making the personal communicators, and once five of them were done he asked Nadalia:

“So have you decided whether to meet your friend? It’s only two hours to midnight.”

“I’m going. I can find myself a transport somewhere, quick getaway if anything goes wrong.”

Levon nodded. “Give me half an hour, I’m coming with you. I’ll go get a couple of those weapons though, just in case.” He stood up and headed down to the basement.

“Where’s he off to?” Nazar asked.

“There’s something I need to go sort out, Levon’s decided to come with me,” Nadalia said. “Would you be okay to stay here, look after the place?”

“Sure. Don’t be gone too long though.”

Levon was back quickly, and the two of them set off. Nadalia found an unlocked transport just round the corner, and got it started with minimal effort. “How did you do that?” Levon asked her as they moved off.

“It’s not the first time I’ve done this. Though it’ll be the first time I’ve returned one,” she said.

They pulled up by the river with a few minutes to spare. Levon showed Nadalia how to operate the pistol he’d given her, and went to hide in the bushes by the riverside to watch. Nadalia waited by the water, and Mari turned up at exactly midnight.

“Nadalia… Nads? What’s going… what are you doing here?” Mari seemed rather confused, but pleased to see her friend. She’d been thinking about the things Tsoline had told her, and was beginning to remember some of it more clearly.

“I’m here to meet you, you left a note by my door,” Nadalia thought something odd was going on, but didn’t want to press the situation.

Mari looked even more confused. “I don’t remember leaving you a note. I’m not saying I didn’t, but I don’t remember it. Nads, they’ve been messing with my head. I couldn’t remember who you were last week, never mind leaving you notes asking to meet up.”

Screw it, I’m pressing the situation, Nadalia thought. “Mari, what’s been going on? The note said you’d been hiding, but now you’re saying they’ve been doing things to you. Have you been held captive?” she asked.

Mari looked uncomfortable. “No, not held captive. Nads, I’ve been…”

Before Mari could finish her sentence, the bushes rustled and an enforcer stepped out, holding Levon, who looked semi-conscious. Mari seemed to recognise him, she hissed something at him and disappeared into the trees. Nadalia raised her pistol and pointed it at the enforcer.

“Let him go,” she said, attempting to sound forceful instead of scared.

The enforcer sneered at her. “You don’t know how to use that thing, girly. Why don’t you put it down and come quietly, I might be nice to you on the way to the cells,” he taunted.

Nadalia aimed just above his head and pulled the trigger. “One more time, let my friend go!” she shouted above the ringing noise in her ears.

The enforcer jumped and dropped Levon, who staggered and fell. Nadalia helped him up, keeping an eye on the enforcer. He recovered from the shock of being shot at surprisingly quickly, and pulled out a shocker. Nadalia aimed just to the right, intending to miss again, but she hadn’t quite got the hang of aiming properly yet.

The enforcer dropped his shocker pistol and yelled in pain. Nadalia didn’t hang around to hear him cursing and swearing vengeance though, as she had turned and run back to the stolen transport, dragging Levon with her.

* * * * *

“What do you mean, she shot you?”

“I mean she shot me! Look!” Valamir held out his roughly bandaged arm. “I don’t know what she used, but it wasn’t a normal shocker pistol.”

“Let me see the wound,” Saphrax strode across the room to take a closer look at his enforcer’s arm. Valamir pulled back the bandage and exposed the bleeding hole.

“You’re sure it was Nadalia?”

“Yes.”

“Mari’s friend? Korian’s partner?” Saphrax enquired, still staring at the wound.

Valamir sighed. “Yes, definitely. Mari recognised her. By the way, did you want me to get her back on the visual trials? The effects seem to be lifting,” he asked.

Ignoring Valamir’s question about Mari, Saphrax called Nyneve into the office. “Nyneve, would you say this is similar to the wounds on the enforcers that were killed in Region Two a few days ago?” he asked her. Nyneve was the one in charge of the investigation into that case.

“Superficially, yes, although I’d say this was caused by a larger weapon,” she said. “Do you think it was the same person?”

“I don’t know, but if it was then we know exactly who is responsible,” Saphrax said. “Who is the main suspect for the murders?”

Nyneve considered. “We don’t actually have a suspect at the moment, but I believe you’ve said in the official broadcasts that it was the Thirteenth Kat.”

“And that was just a ploy to try and get someone to turn her in,” Valamir added. “Melicia’s been following her transmissions for months, we know she wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something like that.”

“Alright, alright!” Saphrax was getting frustrated. His investigations were going nowhere, and one of his best enforcers had just screwed up in a big way. “Thank you Nyneve, you can go. You, however, can stay for a bit,” he said to Valamir as Nyneve left.

Oh crap, Valamir thought as the door closed. I’m in for it now. Not only did I fail to catch Nadalia, but I got myself injured and lost a shocker pistol.

“The next time I ask you to capture someone, I want you to do it. Don’t talk to them, don’t try and persuade them to come along quietly, just stun them and drag them in, got it? Mind you, you couldn’t even do that properly. You said you had one of them drugged and you let him go? What were you thinking? No, don’t answer, that was rhetorical. And you’re to break off your relationship with Mari, you’ve done your job there. Now, go home and take some time off, let that arm heal.”

“Sir, what about Mari? Like I said, the effects of the visual trials seem to be wearing off. She won’t keep working for us once she gets her mind back.”

“I will deal with that. Now go.”

Apparently dismissed, Valamir stalked out of the office and went home grumbling to himself. Won’t even let me put my recruit back on the visual trials, he thought. A little voice seemed to remind him that it was Elvira who first mentioned Mari to the boss, but he ignored it. I was the one who got her involved, he thought, that makes her my recruit. Well, I’ll show him. I’ll show all of them, I can do things properly. First, I’m going to get that Nadalia bitch back, then I’m going to find out who the Thirteenth Kat is and catch her.

* * * * *

By the time Nadalia had taken the long route and got the transport back to where she had found it, Levon had recovered from most of the effects of whatever the enforcer had drugged him with. They walked the short distance back to the house together.

“There you are, I was getting… Why are you both covered in dirt?” Nazar asked when they got in.

Nadalia and Levon explained what had happened and where they’d been for most of the night. “We weren’t going to be that long, but I thought I should go round the houses a bit to lose anyone that might have been following us.”

Nazar shook his head. “You know what? I think you’re both idiots; that was such an obvious trap! At least you both got out alive though.”

The radio party was winding down at this point, most people seemed to have disappeared from the airwaves. Levon decided to try and finish the last communicator before he went to sleep, so Nadalia and Nazar shared out the remaining drink and sat talking about the stuff in the caves.

“So what do you think we should do with it all? Once Saphrax is dealt with, I mean,” pondered Nazar.

Nadalia thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I don’t think the weapons would be much use after all this is over, but maybe there’s some useful information in the books and discs. You think we could learn anything from the ancients?”

“There’s plenty we could learn from them,” Nazar answered. “We could learn how to kill each other more efficiently, for starters. The question is, do we want to learn anything from the ancients?”

“They can’t all have been murderous nutcases,” Nadalia said. “Maybe there’s some useful stuff in there as well, it’s just a case of finding it.”

“Nads, even if they did know anything useful or important, look what they ended up doing to the planet, and themselves,” Nazar replied. “If we use any of their ideas, who’s to say we won’t end up following them into oblivion?”

11: Chapter Eleven

Nadalia was rudely awoken the next morning by having a cushion dropped on her.

“Come on you two, you can’t sleep all day,” Levon said as he threw another cushion at Nazar. “We’ve got a meeting to get to, remember?”

Nazar groaned. “Why did I drink that stuff last night?”

Nadalia sat up and stretched. “Because it was the only alcohol you could find? What was in it anyway, do you know?” she asked.

“I have no idea, but I feel like death. You mind if I stay here? I’d probably only do something stupid if I went to the meeting in this state,” he asked.

Levon looked over at his twin. “Sure, just make sure you hide the transmitter if you hear anyone coming. Nads, we’d better get to the transport station if we’re going to get there on time.”

“Alright, just let me have a quick splash of water before we go.”

Levon and Nadalia managed to catch a public transport into Region Three and arrived a few minutes early. They found the café they were supposed to be meeting at, and found the two Disciples from the last meeting already waiting. They’d picked a discreet table in a corner, and waved Nadalia and Levon over.

“This table should be safe. I know the Rowsers say one of their people runs this place, but there’s still several other people about. Anyone could be listening in,” said Eznik once they had sat down. “We’re expecting another member of our group to arrive, she won’t be here for a while though. She’s the one who wants to look at the books and writing you found.”

Rehan arrived just after Nadalia and Levon, along with two other members of the Rowsers. “Hey you guys, this is Ziazan and Drystan. They’re part of our group,” she said, introducing the gorilla and cetacean with her.

Levon spoke first. “Before we get interrupted and have to run again, I’ve got the personal communicators here.” He handed two to the Disciples and two to the Rowsers. “You know how to use them, yes?”

Everyone nodded in affirmation as a waitress came over to take their orders. “Hi, I’m Araksi, how is everyone today? Don’t worry about any secrets you might be trading, by the way. I’m with the Rabble Rowsers,” she whispered. “So, what would you all like?”

They all ordered drinks and waited for them to arrive before continuing. “So, what’s this other stuff you mentioned finding in the caves, Thirteen?” Yeranos asked.

“Well, we think we’ve found a whole stash of ancient hemsepans artefacts,” Nadalia said. “There’s a massive cavern full of books, and another one full of old storage discs.”

“There was also a few smaller areas with odd looking models and pictures in,” Levon interpolated. “Nazar found this one, he wondered if any of you knew what it is.” He showed them the bizarre picture Nazar had found the day before.

Eznik peered closely at the image. “I believe it’s a picture of a wet dog,” he said. “Canines were among the first few species that died alongside the hemsepans, so you may be right in supposing the objects are ancient relics.”

“What’s this about ancient relics?” the Disciples’ third member had arrived. “Hi, I’m Ovsanna. You’re Nadalia, right? I’m not sure who everyone else is though,” she said, initiating several introductions around the table.

“Weren’t you the bass player in Black Kat?” Ziazan asked once Ovsanna had sat down.

“Yep. Technically I still am, but the band is on hiatus again since all the other members are either dead or on the run,” she replied. “Did you guys hear about Aleyn escaping a while back?”

“This isn’t the time to gossip,” Yeranos cut in. “Can you take a look at this writing, see if you can translate any of it for Nadalia and Levon?” he asked.

Ovsanna took the books and copy of the writing on the crates. “Well I can tell you what this says straight away, though it doesn’t make any sense,” she said, handing the copied crate writing back to Levon. “It says ‘Fire Works’. I’ll look through these books, and see if I can make a start on translations. If it’s okay, can I come back with you two and see the rest of them?” she asked Nadalia.

“Sure,” Nadalia answered. “There’s a lot to go through though, it’ll probably take you a while.”

“That’s fine, I’m sure the group can survive without me for a while,” Ovsanna said as she opened the first book. “Yeranos can take these back to Mihran when everyone’s done here.” She settled down to read while the others carried on discussing the other artefacts.

“I wouldn’t mind examining some of the other things you found myself,” Eznik was saying. “I have a special interest in ancient history.”

Drystan spoke for the first time since arriving. “One of our group is into history as well, he’d probably want to have a look too. His name’s Loras,” he said to Levon.

Levon and Drystan arranged a time and place for someone to meet Loras, and Eznik asked if he could meet up there as well. With the meeting arranged, Nadalia asked Levon quietly if they should mention the remains they had found in the deepest cave.

“They’ll find it for themselves if they go down there,” Levon said.

“I guess. But it’s really creepy if you just walk into it. I think we should tell them.” Raising her voice slightly so the others could hear her, she continued. “Guys, there was something else we found. It’s not exactly relevant, but if you’re interested…”

* * * * *

Saphrax wasn’t sure about the latest information. Rebel groups meeting up at night, in an abandoned storage building, he could visualise. But rebel groups meeting in a public café, in the middle of the day? It seemed a bit strange, and he said as much to his informer.

“I know it seems strange, that’s why they’re doing it,” explained Vasag. “See, their thinking is that no-one would expect rebels to meet in public during the day, so no-one will be looking out for them. Luckily, you’ve got me to pass you inside information,” he told Saphrax.

“That does make some kind of sense. Alright, you’ve given me good information so far. Even though we didn’t get anything from the first meeting they had, you still gave me the right location and time. It’s not your fault that Valamir and his crew messed up the raid,” Saphrax said. “So exactly where is this meeting, and when?”

“It’s happening today, probably about now,” Vasag said. “Central district of Region Three. There’s a small café near Korian’s old house, they’re meeting there. I would have told you sooner, but I couldn’t get away from the Disciples’ hideout until early this morning.”

“That’s fine, I can get some enforcers there fairly quickly.” Saphrax said as he fiddled with some buttons on a panel in his desk. “Can you tell me anything else, Vasag?”

“There are a few things I’ve found out recently. The Thirteenth Kat has acquired two friends, twin brothers, apparently. They’re all hiding together. And she seems to have found a cave system near her hiding place, or possibly she’s hiding in the caves, and a large stash of ancient weapons and hemsepans relics. She has asked my group if they can translate some ancient writing, though I’m not certain what for,” he said.

“Alright. Thank you for the information,” Saphrax said as things started beeping on the panel. “Looks like my enforcers are on their way to catch some rebels.”

* * * * *

“That’s impossible!” Rehan and Ziazan cried simultaneously. “The fools died out on the surface, thousands of years ago, how could their remains be in a deep cave?”

Nadalia was about to respond when Eznik answered the question for her. “Actually, it could be possible. Some accounts suggest that a few hemsepans did attempt to hide themselves in deep caves, believing it would protect them from the fatal effects of their sun weapons. Nadalia and Nazar may have found one such refuge. If that is the case, I would certainly be interested in examining these caves some time,” he said to Nadalia.

With most important subjects covered, the group began discussing other topics. Levon began a heated religious debate with Yeranos and Eznik, while Ovsanna finally got her head out of the books and chatted with Ziazan about music.

“Nadalia?” Drystan had moved his chair around the table so he was next to her. “You were Korian’s partner, right?” he asked, almost shyly.

“Yes, we were supposed to be joined the day he was killed. Did you know him too?” she asked.

“He was my uncle. You were talking to my mum at the ceremony,” he answered. “Did you really save him from an assassin?”

Nadalia nodded. “I did, that’s how we met.”

“Awesome. You know, he talked about you a lot. He told me once that meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to him, and not just because you saved his life,” Drystan told her. “I was going to go over to his old house when everyone’s done here, do you want to come with?”

“Sure. We could probably go now, I don’t think they’ll miss us,” Nadalia said, as Levon and the Disciples’ debate continued, and Rehan joined the music discussion. The two of them wandered out of the café and across to Korian’s old house. It had been left empty, since nobody was permitted to live in the central districts any more. The place looked unguarded, and there were no enforcers around, so Nadalia and Drystan crept up to the front door and went inside.

They wandered around the house for a while, generally reminiscing and swapping stories about the old leader. They reached his study, and decided to poke around to see if there was anything left that might help them find out what Saphrax was planning.

“Hey Nads, look at all this,” Drystan called. “Looks like uncle was investigating Saphrax before he died.” He had found a bundle of papers, some copies of ancient writing, some translation notes.

“ ’Saphrax’s secret plans’? This lot will definitely be useful,” Nadalia said.

They heard a commotion outside, and ran to the window. The café they had held the meeting at had been invaded by what looked like a small army of enforcers. Nadalia dashed outside, closely followed by Drystan. They could see Rehan and Ziazan running away from the scene, apparently not pursued. Eznik was in the crowd, attempting to look inconspicuous, but Levon, Ovsanna and Yeranos were nowhere to be seen. They edged closer to the crowds, hoping to find out what was happening without attracting attention to themselves.

“Eznik, what’s happening?” Drystan asked as they got to the edge of the crowd where Eznik was standing. “Did someone spill about the meeting?”

“Obviously they did,” Eznik replied. “Yeranos has been taken, Levon and Ovsanna are still inside. Where did you two get to anyway?” he asked.

“We went to visit my uncle’s house,” Drystan said. As he spoke, Levon came running out of the café, pulling Ovsanna behind him. He ran straight through the crowd, enforcers chasing after, and went down a narrow passageway. “I know where that leads, come on,” he told Eznik and Nadalia, and the three of them headed off down a side street.

They came out near a public pool, which seemed to be unusually deserted. Drystan jumped straight in, and Nadalia was about to follow when she remembered Eznik. Being a non-aquatic lizard, he wouldn’t be able to hold his breath for long enough to get through one of the connecting passages between pools.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll just head back to the rest of the group. You follow him, I’ll be in touch later on the communicator.” With that, Eznik turned round and headed back the way they’d come.

Nadalia dived into the pool and caught up with Drystan. They surfaced in a pool near the transport station, and saw Levon and Ovsanna emerging from an alleyway. They jumped out of the pool and caught up with the other two as they ran past.

“Back to the base?” Nadalia enquired as they ran towards the nearest transport.

“That’s the plan,” Levon panted. “Drystan coming with us, is he?”

Nadalia looked at Drystan, who was still beside her. “Sure, why not?” he said as they leapt on the vehicle just before it moved off.

12: Chapter Twelve

When the four of them finally got back to the house they were using as a base, they found Nazar sitting by the basement door holding a pistol.

“I’m so glad you guys are back, there’s been loads of weird noises coming from down there,” he exclaimed when he saw Levon and Nadalia. “Who are these two?”

“This is Drystan and Ovsanna,” Levon said, indicating the other two. “What do you mean ‘weird noises’?”

Nazar stood up and nodded in greeting to the new residents. “I mean weird noises like someone moving around down there. I was looking around the cave with the discs in, trying to find something to access them,” he said, “and I could hear other people moving around too. So I came back up and sat here watching the entrance, in case anything came out. I think there’s other people down there, maybe someone lives down there!”

Levon was sceptical. “You probably just heard your own movements echoing around, that happens in caves.”

“I don’t know, maybe it was other people,” Drystan said. “If someone else has found the caves, maybe we should check it out.”

“I think he’s got a point,” Nadalia piped up. “Naz, you want to head down and see if we can find where these noises are coming from?”

Ovsanna stepped forward. “If you don’t mind, I’ll come down too. I can have a good look at these books you found.”

So the three of them headed into the caves, leaving Levon and Drystan to keep checking the radio upstairs. When they reached the passage leading to the books, Ovsanna left and Nazar led Nadalia on to the disc cave. They could hear some very strange sounds that seemed to be coming from below them. Some of it almost sounded like someone speaking.

“Sounds like it’s coming from deeper down. You want to try and find whatever’s making the noises?” Nadalia asked.

Nazar lit another candle. “Let’s go,” he said. They continued deeper into the cave system, following the sounds down the steeply sloping passage they had discovered before. As they walked slowly down the passage, they could hear the noises getting louder. The speaking noises stopped as they reached the big rock, but they could still hear something shuffling about. Nazar and Nadalia stared at each other in open disbelief.

Nadalia was the first to speak. “You don’t think…? Could it…?” she whispered.

“It can’t be… It’s not possible, they all died out,” Nazar replied quietly.

“There have been theories,” Nadalia said, “but nobody seriously believed them, they were all disproved.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Nazar said with a sudden burst of courage, and he turned the handle to move the boulder aside. The rock rolled into its’ recess, and they peered into the cave beyond. At first, they could see what looked like the back of a young female primate, but when she turned round they could see the face was all wrong. Everyone stared at each other for a moment in silence, then the female screamed. Nazar turned and ran, Nadalia following half a step behind, neither of them stopping until they reached the basement.

* * * * *

While Nadalia and Nazar were off chasing noises, Ovsanna had been busy studying some of the ancient books in the cave. She had found a few thick, heavy volumes, which were quite complex, so she had decided to leave them until she had either better light or some help. Preferably both, she thought. If I’d known there would be this many I’d have got Mihran to come along too. She was quite enjoying going through ancient texts that weren’t faded, fragmented or otherwise ruined, though, and she had put a couple of books aside to take upstairs with her. She was especially enjoying the books on a shelf marked ‘fiction’, and she assumed the unfamiliar word meant ‘made up story’, since some of them involved thoroughly unrealistic things like magic and demons. They made excellent reading though, and she was getting engrossed in a story about a pair of wizards who were on a quest to save a kingdom from an evil sorcerer. She had just got to what she thought would be the final showdown, when she heard Nadalia and Nazar running past screaming and yelling, so she picked up the book she was reading and ran after them.

They had reached the basement of the house and were about to close the trapdoor on her, so she called out. “Hey, what’s the rush? Don’t shut me in here.”

“Quick, hurry up!” Nazar called back. “It might be following us!”

Ovsanna climbed out, still clutching her book. “What might be following you? The thing making the noises you heard?”

Nazar nodded frantically. “It was… it couldn’t have been, but it was… I know what I saw!”

Nadalia was nodding in agreement with Nazar. Neither of them is making any sense, thought Ovsanna. “Let’s get upstairs, you can tell the other two as well then,” she said, hoping Levon would have some clue what his brother was on about.

* * * * *

“So mum said I should go and start a rebel group with my friends, try to overthrow Saphrax, and see if I could find out exactly why he had my uncle killed,” Drystan said. He had been explaining to Levon how the Rabble Rowsers had formed while everyone else was down in the caves.

“So the Rowsers is really your group?” Levon asked.

Drystan shrugged. “I guess. It doesn’t really make much difference though, since we’re all in it together. There are only six of us left now anyway, since Tsolag and Zenobia died.”

“So who’s left in your group?”

“There’s me, obviously, then there’s Rehan and Ziazan, you met them earlier. Loras you’re meeting tomorrow,” Drystan said. “Then we’ve got Niketas, he usually does our transmissions, and Xarmen. She’s interested in learning to read, I’ve got to remember to mention it to Ovsanna later.”

Levon was about to respond, when Nazar and Nadalia came rushing up the stairs, followed by Ovsanna. “What’s happened?” he asked, whatever he was going to say to Drystan completely forgotten.

“They found something down there, but I can’t make sense of what they’re saying,” Ovsanna said.

Nazar started to explain. “You remember I told you about the hemsepans remains? They’re not just remains, there was one of them alive down there. It looked at us and it screamed,” he said, close to panic. Everyone knew of the hemsepans predilection for violence and senseless killing, so it was understandable that a living one would inspire panic and fear.

“We followed the noises Naz heard, and they led us to the cave we told you about,” Nadalia said. “It sounded like someone talking until we got right up to the big rock.”

Ovsanna and Drystan were concerned, but Levon simply refused to believe it. “Living hemsepans? Rubbish. It was probably just flickering candle light, and your imaginations ran wild. Come on, I’ll go back down with you and show you there’s nothing down there except some bones and a lot of dust.”

* * * * *

Levon led the way back down to the caves. Ovsanna and Drystan had decided to stay upstairs by the radio, and to keep out the way of whatever was down there. The other three headed straight down to the deepest cave, and stopped when they reached the boulder.

“Well something was here. The rock’s been put back, we left it open,” Nazar said.

Levon sighed. “Let’s have a look, then we can all go back upstairs and stop panicking.” He turned the handle and the rock rolled aside to reveal a couple of chairs. “There, you see? Nothing here but a few bits of furniture. Now can you two please calm…”

“If there’s nothing in here, then what just moved in the corner?” Nadalia asked.

Levon stepped forward and held up the candle. “Who’s there?” he called.

Something shuffled forwards into the light. “Hi, erm, it’s okay, don’t worry.” It was a rat. “I’m Meb. I live down here with my family. Do you live down here too?”

Nazar was so relieved he almost started laughing. “No, we live upstairs. Were you in here earlier?”

Meb shook her head. “No, we don’t come in here much. It’s a bad place. I only came in because I heard something moving.”

Levon looked at the other two. “You realise you probably just heard Meb and her family scuffling about earlier, and then you came in here and started seeing things?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to Meb. “Do you want to come up with us?”

Meb frowned and looked at the floor. “I don’t know. We try to keep out the way of surface people, because we’re not very clever like you all are. We talk to the six legs people mostly,” she said.

“Six legs people… do you mean insects?” Levon asked incredulously. “I thought they were all sent back to Insectus when Saphrax took over.”

“They said they were amsba… abmasser… somethings, from there. They didn’t have a chance to get home before the bad man started being really mean,” Meb said. She couldn’t quite find the words for what she wanted to say, but she was trying her best to explain properly. “They might want to talk to you, if you like I can take you to them.”

“That would be great, Meb,” Levon said. “There’s something we’re doing that they might like to hear about. Maybe you and your family could help out, too.”

“How?”

“Tell you what, I’ll explain on the way. You two,” Levon said, turning back to Nadalia and Nazar, “can head back up, and tell the other two that it’s safe to come down if they want to.”

Levon followed Meb down a very narrow tunnel, and Nadalia and Nazar went back upstairs. Once they got back up to the house, they told Ovsanna it was safe to go back down to the books, and she disappeared almost straight away. Drystan decided to go out and have a swim, so Nadalia and Nazar sat by the radio equipment and talked about what they had seen in the cave the first time.

“I know what I saw. It was definitely a hemsepans,” Nazar declared.

Nadalia wasn’t quite so sure. “Naz, you know that’s impossible. We saw something, something very weird, but it can’t have been one of them.”

“Who are you trying to convince, Nads? You saw the same thing I did.”

“Okay, so how did a member of an extinct species suddenly appear in a cave, scare the life out of us, then vanish when someone else went to look?”

“I don’t know how, but I know what it was. I think we should go back down later tonight and see if we can find it. This time, I’ll take some of those old weapons.”

“Nazar! What for?”

“In case it’s armed.”

Nadalia rolled her eyes. “Alright, I’ll come with you. Just to make sure you don’t do anything silly, like shoot one of Meb’s friends.”

They waited for a little while longer. Drystan got back just before Nadalia made her regular transmission, and Ovsanna came back from the caves just after. Levon took much longer to return, and Ovsanna thought it would be a constructive use of the time to teach the others to read a little bit of ancient writing, using the books she’d brought up. Levon eventually came back from the caves, just as everyone was thinking of going to sleep. He’d brought a few friends with him, too.

“Guys, we’ve got some help for the revolution. Naz, Nads, you already met Meb. These other two are Rup and Nim, they’ve said they can help with preparations and stuff. And we have some help from two ants. Meet our spies, Parvona and Antrias. They’ve agreed to sneak in to Saphrax’s base and report back about anything they find,” Levon said, stepping carefully to one side and allowing the two small insects to move forwards and greet everyone.

They were all pleased to have gained some more allies in their rebellion. “We’ve got a real revolution going on here now,” Nazar said.

13: Chapter Thirteen

Once the rats and ants had found a room in the house they liked, and everyone had gone to bed, Nazar and Nadalia quietly made their way down into the caves. They headed straight for the sealed cave, forgetting to pick up any weapons. When they got inside the first ‘room’ was empty, except for the bones and furniture.

“Should we try through there?” Nadalia whispered, pointing to a short tunnel that seemed to lead into another area.

Nazar nodded and led the way through the tunnel. They emerged in a small ‘room’ that had seven boxes in, that seemed to be made of glass and metal. The boxes were all empty, and when Nadalia touched one it was very cold. They were taking a closer look at one of the boxes when they heard a noise behind them, so they span round to see two male hemsepans blocking the entrance, both holding bits of wood as crude weapons.

Nadalia made a funny squeaking sound, and Nazar muttered “We’re going to die…” as they instinctively moved closer together. There was no way out, except the tunnel the two hemsepans were blocking. Unexpectedly, one of them lowered his bit of wood and said something to the other one. Both of them put their weapons on the floor, and one of them left. The one that had spoken stayed.

“What was that about?” Nadalia murmured to Levon.

“I have no idea,” he replied, “but one of them is better than two.”

* * * * *

“They’ve gone in the suspension room,” David told his companion. “Should we go in and surprise them?”

Ryan nodded. “We’d better take something with us though, in case they’re not friendly.” He picked up two bits of old wood from the floor. “These will do.”

The two men walked into the room where the two unknown beings had gone, and raised their improvised clubs. The two strange looking creatures turned round, and when they saw David and Ryan, looks of abject fear crossed their faces. David lowered his bit of wood.

“I don’t think they’re dangerous.” He looked at them a little closer. Strange, but… they reminded him of animals that had been around before the bombs went off. “Ryan, go get my dad. I think he’ll be very interested in these two.”

They both put the wood on the floor, and Ryan left to get David’s father. I wonder, thought David, are they intelligent? They seem to be able to communicate with each other, but they’re obviously different species. I’ll try talking to them.

“It’s alright,” he said slowly. “Don’t be frightened. My name is David.” He pointed at himself and repeated his name.

“They’ve gone in the suspension room,” David told his companion. “Should we go in and surprise them?”

Ryan nodded. “We’d better take something with us though, in case they’re not friendly.” He picked up two bits of old wood from the floor. “These will do.”

The two men walked into the room where the two unknown beings had gone, and raised their improvised clubs. The two strange looking creatures turned round, and when they saw David and Ryan, looks of abject fear crossed their faces. David lowered his bit of wood.

“I don’t think they’re dangerous.” He looked at them a little closer. Strange, but… they reminded him of animals that had been around before the bombs went off. “Ryan, go get my dad. I think he’ll be very interested in these two.”

They both put the wood on the floor, and Ryan left to get David’s father. I wonder, thought David, are they intelligent? They seem to be able to communicate with each other, but they’re obviously different species. I’ll try talking to them.

“It’s alright,” he said slowly. “Don’t be frightened. My name is David.” He pointed at himself and repeated his name.

* * * * *

Nadalia and Nazar couldn’t understand what the hemsepans was saying, but it sounded sort of reassuring. He repeated the last word he’d said, while pointing at himself. It sounded a bit like ‘day-vid’.

Something clicked in Nadalia’s head. “Nazar, I think he’s trying to tell us his name.”

“Let’s tell him ours then.” Nazar pointed at himself and spoke very clearly. “Nay-zarr.”

Nadalia did the same. “Nads,” she said. The hemsepans watched them both, talking quietly to himself. Nadalia and Nazar looked at each other.

“Nads, I think we should figure out some way to communicate properly,” Nazar said. “You think we could teach him a bit of our language?”

Nadalia considered, watching the hemsepans. “I don’t know if we could, we don’t know his language,” she said. “Maybe Ovsanna could talk to him? Since she can read and write their language, maybe she’ll be able to understand speech?”

“Not much chance, but it’s the best shot we’ve got. You think we should go and bring her down here? Or would it be easier to try and take him up?”

“I think it would be easier to bring Ovsanna down here. Should we both go up, you think?” Nadalia asked.

Nazar thought quickly. “If both of us go, he might go and hide somewhere. I think you should stay here, and I can go up and get Ovsanna.”

Nadalia was about to protest at being left alone in a cave with the hemsepans, but before she could say anything the young male who had left returned, followed by an older male. The three of them began to talk amongst themselves, the one who had stayed getting quite animated. Nazar and Nadalia heard their names, but beyond that they couldn’t understand a word.

* * * * *

“Dad, it’s incredible! I think they’re intelligent, both of them! They seemed to understand when I told them my name, and I think they told me theirs. The primate said something like ‘Nayzarr’, and the other one said ‘Naddz’,” David told his father Chris excitedly.

Chris was intrigued. “You spoke to them? What else did they say?”

“I’m not sure, their language is completely different to anything I’ve heard before. I only know they were saying their names because they pointed at themselves as they said it.”

Ryan chimed in. “You think they’re aliens or something, David?”

“No, I think they’re from this planet. I think they evolved from the creatures that survived when we blew ourselves up,” David replied.

“And that’s why you thought I’d want to see them, since it’s my field of expertise,” Chris said. “I’ll see if I can communicate with them,” he said, turning to face the strange beings and slowly edging forward. “Dad, it’s incredible! I think they’re intelligent, both of them! They seemed to understand when I told them my name, and I think they told me theirs. The primate said something like ‘Nayzarr’, and the other one said ‘Naddz’,” David told his father Chris excitedly.

Chris was intrigued. “You spoke to them? What else did they say?”

“I’m not sure, their language is completely different to anything I’ve heard before. I only know they were saying their names because they pointed at themselves as they said it.”

Ryan chimed in. “You think they’re aliens or something, David?”

“No, I think they’re from this planet. I think they evolved from the creatures that survived when we blew ourselves up,” David replied.

“And that’s why you thought I’d want to see them, since it’s my field of expertise,” Chris said. “I’ll see if I can communicate with them,” he said, turning to face the strange beings and slowly edging forward.

* * * * *

The older one was approaching them slowly, hands extended in a universal gesture of reassurance. He was speaking very softly, and seemed to be trying to make eye contact with them. Nadalia met his eye, and stepped forward tentatively.

“Nads, what the hell are you doing?” Nazar hissed behind her.

“I think this one’s okay,” she said quietly. “Don’t worry, I’m still keeping an eye on the younger ones.”

Nadalia and the older hemsepans met half way across the room. They stared at each other with intense curiosity, almost examining each other. “Amazing,” they both said, though neither could understand the other. However, they had no chance to attempt communication, because Levon and Drystan chose that moment to burst in waving two large weapons about.

* * * * *

Mari had been doing some serious thinking since seeing Nadalia at the river. She could remember most of what she had forgotten, and several things simply did not add up. Why had she thought working with Saphrax would help her political career? Why had she decided to pursue a political career to begin with? It had all seemed to start when she met Valamir, and they had gone to some kind of trial broadcast together. Since then, everything had seemed a little disjointed, as though she hadn’t really been in control of her life. But now, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She was on her way down to the cells to talk to Tsoline, and see if she could help her get out.

“Hey Mari,” Tsoline said as Mari entered the cell. “What’s up? You look happier than last time you were in here.”

Mari smiled. “I’ve remembered a lot of stuff since then. And I took your advice, too. They’re not using drugs or chemicals, but it’s best to be safe.”

Tsoline looked surprised. “So how are they wiping people’s memories then?” she asked.

“Saphrax is using visual broadcasts to brainwash some of his agents. But luckily, the effects start wearing off after a few weeks without watching transmissions, so I’ve managed to clear my head,” Mari said. “I’m going to pretend I’m still affected though, and work against him from the inside. The first thing I want to do is let some prisoners out.”

“And you’re here to help me escape?” Tsoline asked hopefully.

Mari nodded. “I managed to copy the keys a few days ago, so I can undo your chains.” She began unlocking the shackles attaching Tsoline to the wall. She had undone the chains and the two of them were at the door when a guard appeared on the other side.

“What’s going on?” the guard called through the bars.

They both froze, unable to think of a reasonable response. The guard went into the cell, checked that no-one else was around, and turned to look at the two of them.

“You’re Mari, right? What are you doing down here?” she asked.

Mari thought quickly. “I heard banging, and I came down to investigate. When I got here Tsoline had somehow got out of her restraints and was trying to break out of the door,” she said, hoping it sounded more plausible to the guard than it did to her.

The guard raised her eyebrows. “And how did you get into the cell? There’s only two keys to the doors, I’ve got one and Saphrax keeps the other with him.” Mari looked sheepish and glanced at Tsoline. “You were trying to get her out, weren’t you?”

Mari nodded, aware that she probably wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of it.

“You could have planned it a little better,” Nyneve scolded. “Find out when the patrols are, for starters. And think up a convincing cover story before you start breaking prisoners out, rather than coming up with something on the spot. You’re lucky it was me who caught you.”

Mari and Tsoline stared in shock. “What?… Are you working against him too?” Mari asked.

“Yes, but keep it quiet. I’ve helped a few people get out already, and no-one suspects me.” Nyneve thought for a moment. “If you want, we could plan something to get Tsoline here out. It would take a couple of days though.”

Mari and Tsoline looked at each other. “I can wait a few days, it’s not that long,” Tsoline said.

“Alright,” Mari said to Nyneve, “let’s work together to bring Saphrax down.”

* * * * *

“Will you two put those down?” Nadalia shouted at Levon and Drystan. “There’s no need to shoot anyone, they’re not doing anything.”

“How did you know we were down here anyway?” Nazar asked, as the other two slowly lowered their weapons.

Levon answered. “A couple of Meb’s friends saw you coming down, they came up and told us,” he said. “What were you thinking? You could have been killed.”

“Considering you didn’t believe that anything was down here, how come you were so concerned?” Nazar retorted.

The three hemsepans began to talk amongst themselves, occasionally looking over at the four of them. Levon decided to ignore the question, not wanting to admit to being scared. “Well, you obviously found what you were looking for. So what are we going to do about them?” he enquired, indicating the hemsepans.

“We were thinking of getting Ovsanna to try and communicate with them somehow,” said Nadalia. “They don’t seem to be much like the ones we’ve heard about from ancient history.”

“You mean because they haven’t tried to kill or eat you yet?” Levon said sarcastically.

Drystan spoke up. “Actually, Nads might have a point. They don’t seem inclined to murder us all, at least not for the moment, and it might be a good idea to be able to talk to them.”

“Thank you Drystan.”

Levon exhaled sharply. “Alright, if you want to take them up then let’s take them up. Just don’t blame me if it all goes wrong.”

So Nadalia and Nazar began gesturing upward, pointing at themselves and the hemsepans, and eventually they got the message. One of the younger ones stayed behind, but the older one and the one called ‘day-vid’ went up with the others.

Once they had reached the basement, Nazar went ahead, calling to Ovsanna. “Don’t panic, but we’re going to need your communication skills.”

The two hemsepans emerged from the basement, followed by Nadalia, Drystan and Levon. Ovsanna jumped back in alarm, and Meb and Pon, who had come to see what was happening, turned and fled upstairs.

“What… how…?” Ovsanna stuttered, caught between panic and disbelief.

Nazar attempted to reassure her. “Don’t worry, they’re safe. We think. Well, they haven’t done anything to us yet, so we should be okay.”

Nadalia rolled her eyes. “You’re not helping, Naz. Ovsanna, do you think you could talk to them, or communicate somehow?”

“I can try,” Ovsanna said nervously. “I don’t think I could speak their language, but if I had some paper I could write a message…”

“Here,” Nazar handed her some paper and the pencil she had been using to make notes on the books from the caves.

She wrote ‘hello’ on the paper and handed it and the pencil to the older hemsepans. He looked surprised, but wrote something back. Ovsanna read it aloud to the others. “Hello, my name is ch-riss.”

Ovsanna wrote back, beginning a simple written communication with the hemsepans. They continued writing to each other for several minutes before Ovsanna put the paper and pencil aside to tell the others what had been said.

“Apparently there’s six of them down there,” she began. “Most of them are scientists of some kind. Chris here is an evolutionary biologist, he says he’d like to know more about our history sometime. David is an inventor, and Chris’s son. There’s someone called Susan, who is Chris’s partner, and Lucy, who is David’s sister. She’s the one you saw when you first went in after hearing those noises, Nazar,” she said.

“The young female? Right. Did they tell you anything else?” Nazar asked.

Ovsanna continued. “Yes. There’s also two others called Ryan and Annie, they’re partners of David and Lucy. They were all hiding underground in the cave system after the sun weapons went off, along with some stuff they had been told to hide to preserve their culture. David had invented some suspension devices that they all… sort of froze themselves in, and when you first went in you broke the seal around the entrance, which completed a circuit that unfroze them. I’ve told them a bit about what’s going on up here, and Chris doesn’t think they’d be able to help much.”

While Ovsanna had been talking to the others, the two hemsepans had been discussing something between themselves. The younger one, David, picked up the paper and wrote something down. Ovsanna read it out to everyone. “’I think we could help, since we’re supposed to be extinct it might be like dinosaurs showing up in our time’. What do you guys think?”

Levon stretched his shoulders back. “I think everyone’s tired, and it might be better to talk about this in the morning. That way we can all concentrate better, and it gives these two a chance to talk to the other hemsepans.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Ovsanna said as she wrote something back. The hemsepans read it and nodded before heading back down to the caves for the night. Everyone bade each other goodnight, and went to find somewhere to sleep.

14: Chapter Fourteen

“Come on Isolde, I know you know who she is. Just tell me and I’ll let you go.”

Isolde looked up at Vasag, blood running down her cheek. “I’m not telling you anything, traitor. You might as well kill me now and have done with it.”

Vasag sighed in exasperation. He’d brought Isolde in straight from the Disciples’ hideout, and for the last two hours she’d stubbornly refused to tell him anything he didn’t already know. “You’re going to tell me eventually. You might as well save yourself a lot of pain and misery by telling me now, rather than later. Who is the Thirteenth Kat?”

Isolde spat in Vasag’s face. He wiped it away and raised his knife again. “Very well. Have it your way,” he said, slashing her face again.

After another hour, Isolde had kept her silence, and received several wounds doing so. She had been dragged out of the interrogation chamber by two guards and thrown into a cell, where she lay on the floor in silence for several minutes before hearing a voice in the shadows.

“Locations or names?” the voice asked.

“What?” she asked shakily.

“Were they trying to get locations out of you, or names? It’s usually one or the other.” A tall, slim feline crept forwards. “I’ve been here for a while now. They tend to leave me alone now, but they did all this to me months back. I’m Tsoline, by the way.”

Isolde sat up and introduced herself. “They wanted me to tell them who the Thirteenth Kat is. I’m with the Disciples of the Silver X, you see, and we’re working with her and another group.”

“You know who she is?” Tsoline asked.

“Not exactly. I know a bit more about her than most people, but probably nothing Vasag hasn’t told them already,” Isolde said. “He’s part of our group, but he’s been working with Saphrax too. I don’t know how long for.”

Tsoline was quiet for a moment. “Saphrax isn’t the only one with double agents. I’m assuming you can keep a secret,” she said, deciding to tell Isolde about Mari and Nyneve’s plan.

 * * * * *

“Right, we’re off to meet the other two. We shouldn’t be long,” Levon told his brother as he and Drystan got ready to meet Loras and Eznik. “Parvona and Antrias are coming with us, they’re going to head for Saphrax’s base.”

Nazar nodded. “See you in a bit then, and good luck. I’ll probably be down in the caves, I want to check over those weapons before we use them, make sure they’re in working order.”

Nadalia and Ovsanna were still eating breakfast. “I’ll head down with you Naz, I want to have a look around the disc cave for an access device,” Nadalia said around a mouthful of eggs.

“Nads, don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s disgusting,” Ovsanna said as Levon and Drystan closed the door. “Anyway, I think I’ll stay up here and study the books I brought up. I’ll see if I can work out how the words might have sounded.”

Nadalia and Nazar nodded in acknowledgement. Once the girls had finished eating Nadalia and Nazar headed down to the caves. Ovsanna began poring through the ancient books she had brought upstairs the day before, and trying out sounds to see if they fitted the writing.

Nazar began opening crates and dismantling weapons as soon as he reached the cave. He was looking forward to the challenge of deciphering the inner workings of so many different artefacts, and figuring out how to use them.

Nadalia, meanwhile, was searching the disc cave for something that could access them. She had been through most of the boxes when she found a large flat box near the back of the cave. She opened it up and found a plastic device. It looked a bit like the old visual receiver she had seen her dad working on several months ago, and for a moment she wondered what it was doing there. Then she remembered Nazar telling her that the discs were mostly used to store visual recordings, so it made sense. She couldn’t work out how to operate it though, so she looked in the box again and found a smaller plastic device with lots of buttons on it. Examining the larger device more closely, she noticed a slot in the side and a wire coming out of the back of it. She decided to take both bits upstairs and see if Ovsanna would be able to ask the hemsepans about it.

Drystan and Levon had reached the meeting point and found Loras and Eznik. They were catching up on the latest gossip, and Loras had something quite surprising to tell them all.

“Have you heard the latest? Apparently Saphrax and his girlfriend have had a baby! I feel sorry for the kid, considering what happened to his other children.”

Levon wasn’t sure how to respond. “Really? I erm… no, I hadn’t heard about that.”

Drystan cut in. “Never mind that, we’ve got something really amazing to show you. You’ll love it, come on, let’s get back!”

* * * * *

“So I’ll set up a distraction by setting off the fire alarms, while you open the cell doors and get the rebels into the transport that should be waiting by the back gates,” Nyneve told Mari. They were going over the plan one last time before putting it into action. “Only half an hour before the guards change shifts, nobody will be very alert. You know which cells to open, yes?”

Mari nodded. “Let Katayun out, those three unchipped primates, and Tsoline’s cell. Hey, I heard Tsoline got a new cellmate this morning, are we letting her out too?” she asked.

Nyneve thought for a second. “Yes, we might as well. Ready to go?”

“Yep.” They set off in opposite directions, Mari taking the cell keys with her. She waited at the end of the first corridor until she heard the fire bells ring, then she dashed to the first cell door she had to open. “Come on, we haven’t got much time,” she called to the three young primates huddled in the corner. They followed her out of the cell and down the next corridor to let Katayun out.

“Yuni, time to go,” Mari said as she opened the door. “What…?”

Katayun looked over at Mari. “I think I’d better stay here. Someone needs to look after him,” she said. She was kneeling on the floor next to Alaric, trying to get him to drink some water. “He’s not well. I think Saphrax has done something to him, but he won’t tell me anything. You go, get the others out.”

Mari looked down at Alaric, who was getting very thin, and his fur very scraggy. “Alright. See if you can find out what happened, maybe I can help when I’ve got this lot out.”

Katayun nodded as Mari left the cell. “Just Tsoline and her friend to pick up then,” she said to the nearest of the three primates, who didn’t respond. Mari shrugged and led them back up the corridor. She reached Tsoline’s door and heard two people arguing about something, though she couldn’t make out what it was about over the racket the alarms were now making.

“What is going on in here?!” she shouted as she opened the door.

Tsoline span round. “Mari, there you are! Please tell this religious nutcase that I have no desire whatsoever to be converted!”

“I wasn’t trying to convert you, you asked about my beliefs and I was trying to explain them to you!” Isolde yelled back.

Mari shook her head. “Listen you two, you can argue over religion all you like once you get out of here. But first you need to get away, because…” the alarms suddenly cut out, leaving a ringing noise in everyone’s ears. “Because we’ve got less than five minutes to get you into the transport and away before someone notices that prisoners have gone missing. Now follow me, quickly and quietly.”

They crept out of the cell complex and towards the back gates, where they could see a small non-descript transport waiting. Nyneve joined them at the edge of the building. “Okay, is everyone here? No, where’s Katayun?”

“She decided to stay and look after Alaric, he’s ill,” Mari said. “What now? There’s a guard watching the gates.”

Nyneve stepped out of the shadows. “Leave him to me,” she whispered to Mari. “Hey, what was that over there?” she called to the guard, pointing over to the other side of the yard. As he turned to see what she meant, Nyneve hit him in the head with her shocker pistol.

Mari and the five escaped prisoners ran over to the gate. “Nice one,” Mari said as Nyneve opened the gates. The rebels jumped into the transport and drove off.

“You’d best get out of here Mari,” Nyneve said. “You’re supposed to be doing some research into the rebel alliance, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Can you try and help Alaric, see if you can find out what’s happened to him?” Mari asked.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

* * * * *

“So the wire goes into a ‘socket’ in the wall, which supplies the device with electricity?” Nadalia asked Ryan, through Ovsanna’s writing skills. Ryan nodded after reading the translated message. Ovsanna hadn’t been confident enough to try verbal communication with them, so they were back to writing messages to each other. David and Chris had come back up, bringing Ryan. They had been trying to teach Ovsanna how to speak their language, and Ryan had explained how to use the device Nadalia had found.

“What’s this big surprise then, Drystan?” they heard an unfamiliar voice ask as the front door opened.

“You’ll see,” Drystan responded cryptically. “They’ll probably be up by now.”

Levon entered the room first, followed by Eznik and a long-tailed, very furry primate, who Nadalia presumed was Loras. “Here they are,” said Levon. “Naz still down in the caves?” he asked the two girls, who nodded.

Eznik stared at the three hemsepans, caught between apprehension and disbelief. Loras, however, seemed to know no fear, and walked straight over to Chris.

“This is absolutely incredible!” Loras stared at Chris in amazement. “When did you find them? And where?”

“Nazar and me found them in the caves. We saw one a couple of days ago, then we went back down and found this lot yesterday,” Nadalia said, watching David write something down and hand the paper to Ovsanna.

“He’s asked if you two are scientists,” she told Eznik and Loras. “Eznik, relax, they’re not going to eat you.”

Eznik approached the hemsepans slowly and sat down facing them. “Tell them that we’re not exactly scientists, but we have both spent a lot of time studying what is known about their culture,” he said. “And that we’re very interested to learn more.” Ovsanna translated quickly, and Chris began to write a reply.

Just then, the radio crackled. “I’ll take that in the other room,” Nadalia said quietly, taking the receiver into the next room.

“Naddy, its dad. How are you doing?” said the voice on the radio. “Everything’s fine here. I just thought I’d tune in and wish you a happy birthday. I managed to get hold of an old transmitter, it’s not as good as the one you have, but I managed to fix it up so I could get in touch with you as well, rather than just listening out for your messages. Have a good day, anyway, and we’ll talk soon.”

Nadalia was about to reply when Drystan came in. “Hey Nads, the twins and me are going outside to see what those ‘fire works’ things do, you want to come and see?”

“Sure, it could be interesting,” she answered. “I’ll be out in a second, just let me send a reply to dad.”

Out in the garden behind the house, Nazar had brought up a couple of objects from the crates. “So what do you think ‘fire works’ means?” Nazar asked.

After a few minutes thought, Levon replied. “It doesn’t make any sense in normal language. Maybe it’s some sort of code, like ‘these things work when you apply fire’, so ‘fire works’.”

Drystan shrugged. “Seems a little far-fetched, but I can’t think of anything better.”

They were just deliberating where exactly they should apply fire when Nadalia came out. “Have you tested them yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Drystan said. “Levon thinks ‘fire works’ might be a sort of code, so we’re trying to decide where to put the fire to make them work. Any ideas?”

Nadalia looked at the strange objects. “How about the string coming out of the end?” she suggested. “It seems the most obvious place to start.”

Nazar nodded. “Okay. I’ll light the string, then I think we should leave it on the ground, since we don’t know what’s going to happen.” He picked up one of the cylinders and lit the string, then put it back on the ground. The string burned down to the edge of the cylinder, then there was a split second pause. Suddenly, the cylinder shot off into a bush whistling, then exploded with a very loud bang, setting the shrubbery on fire.

“What the…?!” Levon exclaimed. “It blew up!”

“The hedge is on fire!” Drystan cried.

Nazar was jumping up and down. “Put it out, put it out!” he shrieked.

Nadalia ran inside to get a bowl of water, then threw it over the burning bush. “Is that all of it? Did it light anything else?” she asked.

Drystan shook his head. “I don’t think anything else caught. They must be bombs or something,” he said.

“Must be. They’ll be very useful when we move against Saphrax,” Levon replied.

The six that were still indoors came rushing outside. “What’s going on? We heard an explosion,” Eznik asked.

Nazar responded. “We were testing those ‘fire works’ things. We think they’re bombs of some kind, we lit one and it blew up the bushes over there,” he said, indicating the smouldering greenery.

Ryan had walked over to the bush and picked up the blackened tube. He looked at it for a moment and then turned to the other two hemsepans with a smile.

* * * * *

“Looks like they’ve found the fireworks, David,” said Ryan with a smile.

David and Chris looked at each other in concern. “It looks like they’re serious about taking this dictator down.”

15: Chapter Fifteen

A few days later, Nadalia was on her way back to the base from the nearest pool. She was taking the back roads to avoid being spotted, so it was quite a surprise when someone jumped out from behind a tree.

“Do you know where I can find Ovsanna?” the stranger asked. She seemed uneasy about something, and Nadalia wondered if she was asking on behalf of someone else. “Only, someone told me that she’d be able to help us.”

“Who is ‘us’, if you don’t mind me asking?” Nadalia enquired.

“Myself and a friend. We’re looking for… shelter,” the mature reptile said.

Nadalia thought for a moment. The stranger seemed to be choosing her words very carefully, which probably meant she was looking for the rebels; either to join them, or to hand them over to the enforcers. “I know how to contact her. If you follow me, I’ll show you a safe place to wait. Then I’ll get her to come and meet you there.”

The stranger looked doubtful for a second, then nodded. “Should I bring my friend along? He’s waiting just over there.”

Nadalia nodded, and waited as the reptile went back into the trees to get her friend. She was a little shocked to see Aleyn, Ovsanna’s old band mate.

“I recognise you…” he said slowly. “ Nads, right? You brought your friend backstage to hang out with us at a gig last year.”

“That’s right. I’m surprised you remember though, you must meet a lot of fans,” Nadalia said, beginning to walk.

“Yes, but not many of them are cetaceans who gave swimming lessons to their feline friend,” Aleyn replied sardonically. “You two kind of stood out. What happened to Mari in the end, is she still with you?”

“No. I’m not entirely sure where she is, actually. I saw her a while ago, but she seemed very odd. Odder than usual, I mean.” Suddenly remembering something she had heard on the official news several weeks ago, she continued. “Hang on, you two were held captive, but you escaped. I heard it on the news. You’re Demile, yes?”

The reptile nodded. “I was captured at the same time as Aleyn here. After they’d finished questioning us, they put us both in the same cell.”

“They seemed to think I had information about where the Disciples were broadcasting from,” Aleyn said. “Since Ovsanna and I used to play together, I suppose they thought we’d be part of the same rebel group.”

“I was part of another group called the Blue Pad Bits, but we all got caught fairly quickly. I never did find out what happened to the rest of them,” Demile said sadly.

Nadalia had been planning to take them to a small park close to the house and have them wait there, but their stories made sense and fitted in with what she knew. “Slight change of plan, I’ll take you straight to the house. I’m sure Ovsanna will be delighted to see you again,” she told Aleyn.

Back at the house, Loras and Eznik were trying to work out how to mimic the hemsepans speech. It was proving a lot more difficult than they had anticipated.

“Well I thought it sounded alright.”

Eznik sighed in exasperation with the younger scholar. “Obviously it wasn’t alright, since David didn’t understand anything you said. Let me try.”

* * * * *

David was attempting to work out what these creatures’ strange language meant, and was trying to learn some of it so they could all communicate a little easier. He wasn’t having much luck. Thankfully, the two creatures he had met a few days ago seemed to be trying to learn some of his language too, so maybe they could work something out using the fragments of speech each side had picked up from the other.

“Pencil,” he said clearly, picking up the pencil they had on the floor.

“Pnnn- sell,” the lizard-like creature replied.

Better than before, David thought, smiling and nodding.

* * * * *

“We’ll be here forever if we carry on at this rate,” Loras said.

“At least what I said sounded a bit like what he said,” Eznik snapped back. They had been up since the crack of dawn doing this, and had been able to comprehensibly speak a total of four words of the hemsepans language in the eight hours since.

Nadalia walked in just in time to hear this less than friendly exchange. “Having problems, you two? You should probably take a break, you’ve been at this for hours.”

Loras sighed. “Maybe you’re right, Nads. I’ll go and make some lunch for everyone. Nazar and Levon are down in the caves, by the way. I think Ovsanna is upstairs somewhere,” he said, wandering off towards the kitchen.

“Great, I’ll go and find her. We’ve got some new friends, Eznik, they’re the two escaped prisoners who were on the news a few weeks ago.” Nadalia headed back to the front door, where Demile and Aleyn were waiting. “Come on, she’s upstairs somewhere,” she said, leading them up the narrow staircase. She had asked them to wait by the door, partly because she didn’t want them to know too much until everyone was sure they could be completely trusted, but also because she had a feeling that the hemsepans would still be wandering about in the main rooms. She didn’t know how nervous the two newcomers would be, and walking into a room to see one of them was still quite unnerving for the rebels that lived there.

“Ovsanna,” Nadalia called when she reached the top of the stairs. “There’s someone here to see you.”

Ovsanna stuck her head out of the door on the right. “What… Aleyn! I didn’t expect to see you again so soon!” she gave her friend a hug. “And who’s this?”

Demile introduced herself. “We’ve come to join the resistance, if you’ll have us,” she said.

Ovsanna smiled. “Of course. We’re going to need all the help we can get.” She looked at Nadalia. “Have you introduced them to our extinct friends yet, Thirteen?”

“Not yet, I was going to wait until they’d settled in a bit,” Nadalia said before being interrupted by Demile.

“Thirteen? Hang on, I knew I recognised your voice! You’re the Thirteenth Kat!”

* * * * *

Melicia quieted the baby as Saphrax made the final few checks before switching on the transmitters. It had taken almost a year of work, but they were finally ready to begin visual transmissions to the public.

“Check receivers,” he said to one of his workers. “Aerials ok? Good. I think we’re ready to go. Melicia, would you care to join me for the first transmission?”

“Certainly,” Melicia replied. She put Viviane down on the floor and went to stand next to Saphrax. The cameras were ready to roll, the visual receivers had been distributed as ‘free gifts’ to the population, and all the transmitters were in place.

The reptile working the camera signalled they were transmitting. “Good evening citizens. I hope you’re all watching on your brand new visual receivers,” Saphrax began. “There are two very important things I’d like to talk to you about tonight, so I’ll start with the least pleasant topic.

“I know there are still some of you out there resisting the changes I have made. Now, I understand that some things will take a while to get used to, and it may seem unfair to begin with. But I have done all of these things for the greater good of the population of the planet as a whole, surely you can see that. So I am asking you now, give up this pointless rebellion. I promise to be lenient with all of you; in fact I will let you all go free if you give me the one calling herself the Thirteenth Kat. She is more than a rebel, she is a criminal. Hand her over to me, and everything will be forgiven.

“Now, to the second topic. I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Melicia and I have had a baby. I think it’s about time you all saw our beautiful daughter. Melicia, would you be kind enough to get her?”

Melicia fetched Viviane from the other side of the room and carried her back to the desk.

“Say hello to the people, Viviane,” Melicia said, lifting the girl’s arm and waving it gently towards the camera.

“May I introduce my daughter Viviane and my partner Melicia,” Saphrax said, putting his arm across Melicia’s shoulders and smiling at his child. Turning to Melicia, he continued, “my dear, we’ve been together a long time now. Would you like to make it official?”

Melicia looked at him with a strange expression. After a second’s hesitation, she replied. “Alright then,” she said, careful to keep her tone light. They had agreed when they first began their affair that neither of them would ask for any commitment. She wasn’t sure what her lover was up to, but she didn’t want to make waves on the air. She would talk to him later, when the cameras were out of the way.

* * * * *

Over the next few weeks, the rest of the group members slowly made their way to the base. Mihran and Shakrem, the two remaining Disciples, arrived first. They brought their transmitter, so both Nadalia and the Disciples could still make their broadcasts. Rehan and Ziazan were next, bringing some rather unpleasant rumours that had begun circulating.

“Have you heard the latest? Apparently Alaric’s died! Some prisoners escaped a couple of weeks ago, and they said he died in a cell,” Rehan exclaimed when she got to the base.

“That’s Korian’s old assistant, isn’t it? Any idea how it happened?” Levon asked.

Rehan shook her head. “I don’t know, I don’t even know if it’s really true. But there’s no way to find out, is there?”

“Actually, there might be,” Nadalia said. “We were going to wait until everyone was here, but we might as well tell you now. We have two spies inside Saphrax’s base. They’re a couple of ants, we found them living in the caves, and they agreed to help us.”

“Brilliant!” Ziazan cried. “So they’ll be able to find out whether Alaric’s alive, and tell us next time they talk to us.”

A few days after receiving this news, Niketas, Araksi and Xarmen arrived with the Rowsers broadcasting equipment. They also had some interesting news to report.

“You know the prisoners that escaped a while back? Apparently one of them was a member of your group,” Niketas said to Eznik. “Isolde, is she one of yours?”

“Yes, but she went missing along with Vasag several weeks ago. We assumed they had been caught,” Eznik replied. “They’ve escaped then?”

“Isolde has. And she’s been telling people something very strange. Vasag was the one who captured her, or so she says.”

Eznik frowned. “Really? We should try to contact her, find out what’s been going on.”

“If Vasag has switched sides, it would explain a lot,” Mihran chimed in. “Like how the enforcers always seemed to be watching our hideouts but never raided us.”

“It would,” Eznik agreed. “Let’s get the facts first before we jump to conclusions, though. We’ll send out a message to Isolde later tonight.”

While Eznik was greeting the new arrivals, Nadalia and the others were busy outlining the plan to infiltrate Saphrax’s base and overthrow his regime.

“So if we go in through this gate here,” Levon poked the map they had found in Korian’s office several months ago, “then create a diversion somehow, attract the guards’ attention, that should draw them away from the other gate over there.”

Rehan nodded. “That means we should be able to get in that gate and into the building complex,” she said. “Once we’re in we can start looking for… what are we taking out first?”

Nazar tapped the map. “Get the surveillance rooms. That way the rest of us can get in without having to worry about cameras or light bulbs, we can just avoid the enforcers and get down to the cells, start breaking people out.”

“After the cameras are down and Nazar’s group are at the cells, Drystan and I can head in with the hemsepans, assuming they agree to help. If everything has gone to plan, we shouldn’t run in to any guards until we reach Saphrax’s quarters,” Nadalia said.

Drystan cut in. “We should be able to hold there until you lot catch up with us.”

“Sounds like a good plan so far,” said Xarmen. “So what do we do once we’ve all met up outside Saphrax’s rooms?”

“We’re probably just going to wing it from there,” Levon replied. “We can’t guarantee that some of us won’t be caught, so we haven’t done any details. The basic idea is we get into his rooms, find Saphrax, and lock him up in one of his own cells. Exactly how we do it doesn’t matter.”

Eznik brought the three latest arrivals into the main room. “You’ve been formulating a plan, I see.”

Nadalia stood up and stretched. “Yeah, we’ve got a good idea of what we’re going to do now. There are a couple of things we need to clear with David and the others though, could you talk to them tomorrow?”

“Sure. We can sort that out in the morning,” he replied. “I think everyone’s here now, besides a couple from our group. Isolde has escaped, by the way,” Eznik said to the rest of the Disciples.

“Really? Any idea when?” Ovsanna enquired.

“Sometime last week,” Ziazan answered. “We heard about it on our way here.”

Mihran interrupted. “We were going to try and contact her later. Apparently there was a little more to her capture than we thought. Once we’ve found out what’s been going on we’ll tell everyone the facts rather than spreading more rumours.”

Levon nodded. “Fair enough. Anyway, Naz and I are going back down to the caves, we need to take a closer look at some of those old weapons.”

“I’ll head down with you,” Eznik said. “I’ve been studying some of the visual discs you found down there and they’ve given me an idea of how the hemsepans language sounded.” The three of them disappeared downstairs, and the others all wandered off to do their own thing.

“You fancy a late night swim, Nads?” Drystan asked.

“Sure, why not?” she replied, and they both headed out to the nearest pool.

* * * * *

Noyemi squirmed. “You’ve got the wrong person! Let me go!”

“You think I’m that stupid? Just admit that you’re the Thirteenth Kat! I know it’s you!” Valamir shouted. He had been tracking this young woman for a while, and was utterly convinced she was part of the rebel alliance. He was also getting a little desperate for results, so he could go back to Saphrax with a triumphant capture to show him.

“It’s not me!” she shouted back, straining against her bonds. Valamir had tied her to a table, quite firmly, and she had been arguing with him for the last hour. “I can prove I’m not her. Just bring a radio here and I’ll find her transmission. She usually does one about now, if I’ve got the time right.”

“And how do you know when she makes her transmissions? Listen to her often, do you?” he asked. Maybe I can at least get her to admit to something, he thought.

Noyemi wasn’t sure how to respond. She did listen to the rebel broadcasts, and more often than not she picked the Thirteenth Kat’s transmissions. Mostly because she liked the music she played. “I’ve listened to her a few times. Only because I’m interested in other points of view besides the official news,” she added hastily.

Valamir sighed. “I suppose I don’t have anything to lose. I’ll go and get a radio, then you can tell me which frequency to tune in to.” He went upstairs and got his radio receiver. As he walked back down the stairs to his basement he said “you realise these won’t be around much longer. Visual transmissions are back, and these are going to be obsolete within a few years. So, which frequency do I need?”

“Frequency 216,” Noyemi said, barely holding back a sigh of relief. Once this overzealous idiot hears the Kat’s broadcast on there, he’ll realise it can’t possibly be me doing it since I’m tied up down here. “You got it?”

Valamir fiddled with the dials on the radio. “ I’ve got the frequency, but I don’t hear anyone broadcasting.”

“What time is it? I know it’s her usual day, it’s mid-evening, right?” Noyemi asked, a note of panic creeping into her voice. What if she wasn’t transmitting today for some reason?

Valamir switched off the radio and glared at Noyemi. “You’re just trying to distract me, aren’t you? More water, I think,” he taunted, knowing the young feline would loathe being doused again.

“Don’t you dare!” she screamed, trying to break the ropes before the hose began spraying again. Too late. “I hate you, I hate you!” she yelled at Valamir as he turned his back and left her to get soaked for a while.

16: Chapter Sixteen

Mari checked again that nobody was watching her. She had crept out of her quarters at dawn and was following Nyneve’s directions to a place where she could find a radio transmitter, so she could start trying to contact Nadalia. She had managed to get what little information she could find about where her friend might be, and she hoped to be able to find out what Nads had been up to since the last time they spoke. She approached the dilapidated old hut and knocked.

“Who’s there?” a croaky voice called from inside.

“Mari. I’m here about the cookie,” Mari called through the door. Nyneve had told her the people inside would know what that meant.

The door opened. “Well, come in then.” Mari entered and found a very old cetacean waiting by a trapdoor. She was dressed in rags, but she had a bright sparkle in her eyes that suggested she did not usually live in these conditions. “Nyneve told us you were coming. The cookie is down here,” she said.

Mari went down the narrow staircase under the trapdoor. The tunnel she found had been dug recently, as the earth around her still looked fresh. She crawled along it until she found another staircase leading upwards, so she headed up and emerged in what looked like a wooden box, with no doors. She looked around and immediately saw three others in the room, sitting around a battered transmitter. The nearest one turned to greet her.

“Mari, yes? I’m Droxshanda, Alaric’s mother. This is Dzovag, my partner, and Korian’s sister Nazeli.” The other two nodded in greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Mari said. “I wanted to try and contact a friend of mine, Nadalia. Would it be possible to use your transmitter?”

Nazeli answered. “Of course. I suggest you use the frequency it’s already set to, she’s more likely to be tuned in to that one,” she said with a smirk.

With a quizzical look at the others, Mari walked across and looked at the transmitter. “216? That’s the Thirteenth Kat’s frequency, isn’t it?” She got no response beyond more odd-looking smiles, so she switched on the transmitter and sent out a quick message. “Nads, I don’t know if you’re listening, but it’s Mari. I’ve been sorting myself out, and I need to explain a few things. Can you get a message to me?”

“Now all we need to do is wait,” said Alaric’s dad. “She’ll be in touch soon.”

* * * * *

Valamir waited. He had finally coaxed a confession out of Noyemi, although it wasn’t exactly what he had hoped to hear. After securing her back on the table, he had returned to his boss, hoping to impress Saphrax enough to be given his job back. However, Saphrax seemed less than pleased to find out he had been operating independently. He was waiting outside the office while Saphrax discussed something with Melicia.

“Whatever you’re playing at, I refuse to get involved. Things were a lot simpler before you proposed on live broadcast,” Melicia said as she stormed out of the room. “And your screw-up enforcer is waiting out here,” she called over her shoulder.

Saphrax gave an aggravated sigh. “Fine, Valamir, you can come in.” He waited as the nervous enforcer crept into the room and approached the desk. “You say you’ve captured someone who you believe is the Thirteenth Kat?”

“I’m certain that she is, though she refuses to confess to it. She has confessed to being a rebel sympathiser though,” he said in an attempt to gain a little approval.

“Ignoring for a moment that you chose to arrest her without anyone’s authority, what exactly makes you think she is the Thirteenth Kat?” Saphrax asked. He knew Valamir’s prisoner wasn’t that particular rebel, since the rest of his enforcers were still tracing her transmissions.

Valamir thought hard. He couldn’t remember exactly what had made him think it, but he knew he was right. “She had a transmitter in her house, and it was set to frequency 207. I found other things too, a recording of some songs she uses in her broadcasts, and…”

Saphrax held up his hand. “Valamir, you have not caught the Thirteenth Kat. You may have caught yet another sympathiser, but we are wasting far too much time and effort on them. The frequency was wrong, the Kat uses 216, not 207. Recordings of songs are no proof of anything except that someone likes music. And the Kat is still transmitting, even though you think you have her tied up in your basement.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. So, now that is out the way, you can release this girl when you get back. Before you leave though,” he said, raising his voice as he spoke, “I want you to go down to the cells, find Grenilek, and have him flog you for a while. Because I do not appreciate people going against my orders and imprisoning random citizens for no reason! It ruins my image! Now get out of my sight and don’t come back here until I ask you to!”

Valamir turned tail and ran to the cells. Next time, he thought as he ran, I need to make sure I get the right person. And come in when he’s in a better mood.

* * * * *

While Mari and the others waited for Nadalia to reply, they chatted about what each of them had been doing to help the rebels.

“I’ve been helping Nyneve, letting prisoners escape and passing messages between cells,” Mari told the others. “Also, I’m assigned to research the rebel alliance between the Disciples, the Rowsers and the Kat, so I’ve been passing false information to Saphrax.”

“Nice work,” Nazeli said approvingly. “I’ve been helping the Rowsers mostly, my son’s a member…” the radio receiver interrupted her.

“Mari, are you there?” it said. Mari switched the transmitter back on and sent her reply.

“Hi Nads.” She paused for a moment, unsure how to continue. “It’s good to know you’re okay. I’ve been thinking about a lot of things since meeting you at the river, and there’s a few things I’d rather not explain over the radio, but I want you to know I’m alright now. I’ve been doing some things to help the rebels, and I’d really like to see you again. Also, could you explain why we’re using the Thirteenth Kat’s frequency?” she asked before signing off again to wait for a reply. Instead of a radio message though, her old personal communicator began beeping.

“Nads, that you?” she asked once she had answered it.

“It’s me. I thought it’d be better to talk on here than through the radio. You might have worked out that frequency is being monitored,” Nadalia said. “Anyway, I’m glad you’ve got yourself sorted out now. I’d like to see you, we can catch up on everything properly then. Whereabouts are you?”

Mari thought. “I’m somewhere in the purple district, Region Three. I’m not sure exactly where, I had to go through a sort of tunnel to get here. What about you?”

“Region Two, district borderline. So what were you trying to say last time I saw you?”

“That I was very confused, and I’d been working for Saphrax. I’ve worked it out now. He’s using visual transmissions to brainwash people, I saw a test transmission over a year ago and got – I don’t know, hypnotised or something. The effects have worn off now, but there’s something you need to know. He’s gone live, everyone got a visual receiver delivered to them. Nads, he’s trying to get everyone to look for you, and hand you in.”

Nadalia was silent for a few minutes. “Alright. Thanks for telling me, but I won’t worry too much. I’ve got a few friends here, if anyone comes to get me they’ll have trouble on their hands,” she said, and Mari could almost hear her winking.

“Really? Would some of these friends be inclined towards religion, by any chance?” Mari asked, finally beginning to work out why the Thirteenth Kat had sounded so familiar to her.

Nadalia said something away from the communicator. “Yes, a few of them are religious. And I think you’ve just worked out why we were using the Kat’s frequency,” she told Mari. “So, are we meeting up?”

“Definitely. Can you make it to Region Three blue district later today? I’ll meet you by that old carving of Rion, you know the one.”

“Sure, but won’t you get done for being in the wrong district?” Nadalia asked.

Mari smiled. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you there,” she said, and disconnected. “Right then, I’d best head off to meet Nads. Thanks for letting me use your equipment,” she said to the others as she headed back through the tunnel to the old woman’s hut.

A while later, Mari was waiting by the carving for Nadalia. She was watching the nearby pool, expecting her friend to pop out of there, but she got a surprise when Nadalia came around the corner accompanied by a young, long-tailed primate and someone hiding under a long, dark cloak.

“Hello Mari. So how have you been?” she asked, smiling.

“Pretty good,” Mari replied, wondering who the person under the cloak was. “Who are your friends?” she asked.

“This is Loras,” she said, indicating the primate, “and my other friend would prefer to stay hidden for a while. Shall we head over to the white district? We’ll attract a bit less attention there,” Nadalia suggested, noticing the strange looks they were getting from passers-by.

They found a transport to the central district and went to the café the rebels had met at before. Loras, taking the cloaked stranger with him, ordered food and drinks while Nadalia and Mari went to find a secluded table.

“So, are you?” Mari asked, knowing Nadalia would understand the question.

Nadalia nodded. “Loras and his friends are helping me. So, you said you were working with Saphrax?”

“Yes. I’m not anymore, but he still thinks I am. It’s a bit complicated,” she said, and explained as best she could about what had been happening. “So I’m working with someone else, an enforcer called Nyneve, and we’ve been doing little things to try and destabilise him. We can help you and the others get in, when you’re ready,” she said as Loras and the other one sat down.

“So, you’re Mari? We’ve heard a bit about you, but not much,” Loras said. “Are you coming to join us?”

“Not exactly. She’s going to be our inside agent,” Nadalia said. “There’s someone else she’s working with, too. The enforcer Demile told us about, I think.”

Loras nodded. “Ah, right. So it turns out we didn’t need to bring Ryan, then?”

“I guess not. Better safe than sorry though, last time I came to meet you it was a trap,” Nadalia said to Mari.

Mari was puzzled. “Ryan? Who’s Ryan?” she asked. What an odd name, she thought.

Nadalia and Loras looked at each other. “She did ask,” Nadalia said. Loras spoke to the person in the cloak in a very strange language. He seemed to stumble on a few words, but the stranger obviously understood. He pulled his hood back a little so Mari could see his face. She jumped, nudging her chair backwards, eyes wide.

“Don’t panic, he’s not like the ones we learned about in history lectures,” Nadalia reassured her friend.

Mari stared, caught between anxiety and incredulity. “This has got to be some kind of trick. There’s no way…” Ryan covered his face again as the waiter came over with their food. “Okay Nads, please explain how you and the others managed to resurrect the hemsepans.”

* * * * *

Later that night, when Nadalia and the other two got back to the base, they found their two spies in the middle of reporting some news. Ryan took off his cloak and quietly headed upstairs, where David and Chris had been staying for a few days, while the other two stayed to listen.

“The first transmission went out a few days ago,” Parvona was saying. “From what we have seen so far, he is trying to make every person look for all of you. Perhaps he is even hoping some of you will see these messages yourselves and hand yourselves in.”

“Right, so we need to avoid anywhere with a visual receiver,” Nazar said. “Anything else you’ve found out?”

Antrias stepped forwards. “We are sorry to report a death. Your friend Yeranos, who was taken, he was tortured and killed. He did not tell them anything of importance before death. Saphrax was most frustrated.”

The Disciples made signs of respect. “Any other news?” Mihran asked after a moment of silence.

“Yes, one other thing has happened. There is a disgraced enforcer, called Valamir, who has been capturing people without Saphrax knowing,” Antrias told them. “He caught someone he thinks is the Thirteenth Kat, but he is wrong. His prisoner is called Noyemi, she is held but not killed yet. He is hoping to gain approval by catching her.”

Nadalia didn’t like the sound of that. “He’s holding someone he thinks is me? Did you find out where?” she asked. If I can find out where she’s being held, I can try and get her out somehow, she thought.

Parvona replied. “Sadly no, we did not hear that part. We will attempt to find out for you.”

“While you’re at it, could you find out something else for us?” Rehan asked. “We heard some rumours a few days ago, that Alaric had died. Can you let us know if it’s true?”

“Also, there may be someone there called Vasag. Could you tell us what his situation is?” asked Eznik.

“Yes, we will find these things out for you.” Parvona turned to Antrias. “We must now leave here to return there by next day, brother.”

Antrias agreed. “We must be going. We will report back in when we have more things to tell you,” the small insect said, and they both scuttled off through a gap under the door.

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Shakrem and Mihran went to make the Disciples’ transmission, and Nazar suddenly remembered why Nadalia and Loras had been gone all day. “Hey, how did it go with Mari? Has she come to her senses yet?”

Nadalia looked at Loras. “I’ll explain to everyone else, if you want to finish talking with David and Ryan.” Loras nodded and disappeared upstairs. “Mari has come to her senses, as you put it,” she said, relaying what Mari had told her earlier. “So she’s going to be working against Saphrax from the inside, along with an enforcer called Nyneve.”

“That’s the one we told you about,” Demile interrupted. “The one who helped us escape.”

“I thought so, the name sounded familiar when Mari said it. Anyway, she’s agreed to help us get in, so we might need to modify our plan a bit. Have you had a chance to get a decision out of the hemsepans yet, Loras?” Nadalia asked, hearing someone come down the stairs.

Loras entered the room, followed by David, Ryan and the young female called Lucy. “They’ve agreed to help us,” he announced to the room at large. “And they’ve also agreed to work with us to learn about each other’s history when this is all over,” he said to Eznik and Ovsanna.

“Brilliant,” Xarmen exclaimed. “So what’s the refined plan, do we need to change much?”

Levon shook his head. “I don’t think so. It would be helpful if Mari and Nyneve could help us get into the complex, maybe you could talk to her Nads?”

“I can ask her, she said she’d be willing to help.”

“If they can get one of the gates clear of guards, then we wouldn’t need to distract them anywhere,” Levon continued. “That would leave more of us free to get down to the cells and free prisoners, or take out the surveillance equipment.”

Loras translated the plan for the hemsepans. ”Then we go ahead with what we already decided?” he asked.

“Yep. Since you’ve agreed to help us out with this,” Nazar said, looking at David, “it should all go pretty well. By the way, I’ve finished checking those weapons over. Most of them are in working condition, but there are a few I’m not sure about. I think I can repair them, but I might need some help. Do any of you know anything about them?”

The hemsepans listened to Loras’ translation, and replied. “Not really, but there might be some books about it somewhere in the caves, apparently. Ryan says he’ll go down and have a look tomorrow,” Loras said, stifling a yawn. “I’m off to bed. See you lot in the morning.”

Xarmen stood up and stretched. “Ovsanna, I’ve been meaning to ask you something for a while. Would you teach me to read those books? I’ve always wanted to learn but never found anyone willing to teach me,” she said, indicating the ancient books Ovsanna had brought up from the caves.

“Sure, we can start now if you’re not tired,” she responded, and the two of them retreated into a corner with some books.

Levon and Rehan disappeared upstairs together, and everyone else either went to find somewhere to sleep, or found something to do.

17: Chapter Seventeen

“What are you up to, Nads?”

Nadalia looked up from the radio receiver. “Just scrolling round a few frequencies, see if there’s anyone on the air this morning.” She had been awake all night, unable to get memories of Korian out of her head long enough to fall asleep. “How come you’re up so early, Lev?”

Levon shrugged. “I woke up. Didn’t see the point of staying in bed, so I thought I’d come down. You want some food?”

Nadalia nodded distractedly and Levon shuffled off to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. She was having difficulty concentrating on anything. It was a year to the day since Korian had been assassinated, and Nadalia was remembering the figure he had given her when he proposed. She thought it would be nice to get it back, if Saphrax and his lot hadn’t thrown it away. A voice on the radio pulled her out of her reverie.

“Good morning listeners, this is Tsoline back on the airwaves after an extended stay in those wonderful cells of Saphrax’s. I’ll be talking about that later, but first, I have a message for any of the rebels who might be listening.

“I’m backing you all the way guys, and if there’s anything I can do to help out then message me on my usual frequency. Also, I’m staying with a friend of yours for the moment, and she’d like to get back to you all as soon as. Okay then, so who out there wants to hear about the lovely conditions Saphrax keeps his guests in?”

Nadalia went to tell Levon about the message. “Hey Lev, you remember Tsoline?”

“The news girl? Sure, she got captured a while back, didn’t she,” Levon said, glancing up from the pancakes he was cooking. “Has she escaped?”

“I assume so. She’s on the radio, saying she’s behind us all the way. She said something about a friend of ours who would like to get back to us, and if she can help we should message her. You reckon she means another escaped prisoner?” Nadalia asked.

Levon shrugged. “Possibly. Didn’t one of the Disciples’ group escape a few weeks ago? Could be who she’s talking about,” he said, expertly flipping the pancake over. “Bet I couldn’t do that again.”

“Might be. I’ll ask them when they wake up,” Nadalia replied, becoming lost in her own thoughts again.

“Nads, you okay?” Levon asked, flipping the pancake again and missing the pan entirely. “You seem a bit odd today. Something bugging you?”

“No. Yes, maybe.” She blinked. “It’s a year today since Korian was…”

Levon forgot about the pancake and hugged Nadalia. “We could have some sort of memorial thing tonight, if you want,” he suggested after a few moments of silence.

Nadalia sniffed. “That would be nice. I think everyone would appreciate it, after all he was the world leader.”

Levon was suddenly aware of something very hot to his left. He looked and saw the pan he had left on had caught fire. “Oh bugger!” he cried, seeking something he could use to put the flames out. “Assuming I don’t burn the place down with my lousy cooking skills first, anyway. Nads, it’s not funny,” he scolded, as Nadalia cracked up laughing.

“I’ll do this, go on. See if you can get a message back to Tsoline, her frequency is 81,” she said, throwing away the blackened pancake and starting to make another one.

* * * * *

“Melicia, there’s something we picked up last week I think you need to hear.”

“What?” Melicia walked over to the recording station. “More of the Kat’s transmissions?”

The worker shook his head. “Same frequency, but it wasn’t the Thirteenth Kat broadcasting. Listen to this,” he pressed play and Mari’s voice came out of the speakers.

“Hi Nads.” The recording crackled for a second. “It’s good to know you’re okay. I’ve been thinking about a lot of things since meeting you at the river, and there’s a few things I’d rather not explain over the radio, but I want you to know I’m alright now. I’ve been doing some things to help the rebels, and I’d really like to see you again. Also, could you explain why we’re using the Thirteenth Kat’s frequency?”

The worker pressed stop and turned to his superior. “What do you think? Is it genuine or part of a plan?”

Melicia thought for a while before responding. She wasn’t in on everything her lover did with his operatives, not anymore, and the recording could easily be explained in several ways. “I’m not sure. Give me the recording, I’ll deal with it,” she said, and took the cube from the machine.

Saphrax, meanwhile, was reading a report from an enforcer in the yellow district of Region Two. Apparently there had been a few ‘suspicious characters’ wandering around over the last few months, and he wanted some reinforcements to investigate further. The enforcer in question, however, was a very paranoid lizard. He had also been known to submit reports of live hemsepans walking around, which was utterly ridiculous. Saphrax was about halfway through the report when his reading was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in… Vasag, this is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you back for another week.”

“I wasn’t expecting to be back, but I have no group left. The Disciples have gone,” Vasag said, clearly confused.

Saphrax frowned. “Gone? What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

“I mean they have all disappeared. Vanished. Evanesced. The Disciples are no longer at their hideout, nor are they at any other hideout I know of. They are gone.”

“But where? And why?” Saphrax paused. “Never mind. I’ll put someone on that in a little while. Did you have anything else to tell me?”

“Yes. It’s about your sons,” Vasag said. “I haven’t found out where they are, but I have discovered that they are working with the rebels. I listened to several old recordings of transmissions, and pieced together the little bits of information I could glean. It’s most likely they are staying with the Thirteenth Kat.”

Saphrax was stunned. “Alright Vasag. Thank you for telling me. Go and see Yeva about getting some quarters, since the Disciples have disappeared there’s not much point sending you back out yet. Come and see me tomorrow, I’ll get you working on something else,” he said as Vasag turned and left. Working with the Kat? They wouldn’t be… then again, I can see why they might be working with the rebels. I’ll have to try and contact them sometime soon, he thought, returning to the paranoid lizard’s report.

* * * * *

Tsoline waited impatiently. “They should have been here by now,” she muttered to Isolde. They had arranged to meet up with a couple of the rebels near a clothing shop in Region Two, but they seemed to be running late. “If they’re not here in another five minutes, let’s go. We’re attracting too much attention as it is.”

“They’ll be here, stop worrying.” Isolde sat calmly on the edge of a wall. As she spoke, two people crept round the corner opposite where they waited. “See, that’s probably them now.”

Levon and Rehan double checked there were no enforcers watching, and ran over to the two women. “Sorry we’re so late,” Rehan said when they stopped. “We had to ditch a couple of people who were following us. It was probably nothing, but it’s best to be sure.”

“I’m Levon, by the way. This is Rehan, she’s with the Rowsers.” Levon paused. “We should probably find somewhere more private to talk, I don’t like being out in the open like this for too long.”

Everyone present agreed, so they headed towards a nearby lecture hall. There were no lectures on, so the place was more or less deserted. They found themselves a small study room and shut themselves in before anyone spoke again.

“So you two escaped with help from Nyneve?” Rehan asked while Levon double checked the window and removed the light bulb.

Isolde nodded. “Nyneve and Mari. I’ve got something to tell the rest of my group, too. Would it be possible to go back with you two?”

“Sure, that was the plan anyway. We were going to head off when we get the signal from Mihran that it’s safe to move,” Levon said. He was staring out the window, watching for something.

“While we’re waiting, do you know anything about how Alaric is?” Rehan asked. “Only, we’ve heard some rumours that he’s dead.”

Tsoline answered. “He’s not dead, or at least he wasn’t a few weeks ago when we escaped. He’s seriously ill though, I’m not sure what’s wrong but…”

“That’s the signal!” Levon interrupted, obviously seeing something out the window. “Let’s go, quickly!”

They all ran outside, heading for the transport station. Once they got out of the hall, they could see several broken shop fronts down a side street, and someone with a flaming torch in their hand running away from the scene. Several enforcers were following the fleeing figure, leaving the immediate area unsupervised for a while. “That’s a distraction we set up,” Rehan said, noticing the other two were watching what was happening. “Mihran’s the one with the torch, he’ll ditch it when he gets round the corner. Come on, while they’re dealing with that they won’t be watching us.” She sped up to catch Levon, who had run ahead.

They caught the transport without incident, and reached the rebel base fairly quickly. Mihran was already back when they got there.

“How did you manage that?” Levon asked him as Rehan went to get the rest of the Disciples.

Mihran grinned. “It wasn’t me with the torch. I found someone else willing to do it, and came straight back. I figured I’d be more useful here than in a cell,” he said, indicating the ever-increasing pile of books in the next room. “It would take Ovsanna forever to get through all those books alone. Hey Isolde,” he greeted the cetacean still standing in the doorway.

“Hey Mihran. Are all the others here too?” she asked. “There’s something you should know about Vasag.”

Mihran nodded. “They’re through here. Tsoline, I think Thirteen wants to talk to you about something. She’s down in the caves, Levon could probably find her for you,” he said, taking Isolde into the main room.

“Looks like I’m escorting you downstairs then,” Levon said to the confused Tsoline.

“What caves?” she wondered aloud, following Levon into a basement. “Why do I get the feeling there’s a lot more going on here than Saphrax suspects?”

“Because there is,” Levon replied with a smirk. “Here, you’ll need a candle. It’s dark down there, and if she’s where I think she is, we’ll be needing a lot of light.”

They found Nadalia in the visual disc cave, watching a recording of lots of hemsepans shooting at each other. “Hey Nads, Tsoline’s here,” Levon called through to her. “She’s been watching a lot of these over the last week or so. I think she’s planning something, but I’m not sure what yet.”

Nadalia switched the recording off and stretched. “Hi Tsoline. Let’s go somewhere a bit more comfortable, I want to ask you a few things. How much do you know about visual transmissions?” she asked, leading the other two back upstairs.

Before they reached the basement, they heard cursing from upstairs. “That treacherous bastard!” Eznik shouted. A few more indistinguishable words, then “… strangle that git when I get my hands on him!”

“Sounds like Isolde’s told them about Vasag,” Tsoline said, climbing through the access hole back into the basement. “He’s the one who dragged her in for questioning and tortured her.”

Levon blinked dust out of his eyes. “We’d heard some rumours about it, but we weren’t sure what to believe. The Disciples thought they’d try and find out some more information before making assumptions.”

Zeb, another of the rats from the caves, came running downstairs on all fours. He saw Levon and Nadalia and stood up. “Them Disciples aren’t happy. Someone’s been really nasty to them and told all their secrets. I’m going to get out the way of the shouting,” he said, and ran past them into the caves.

Nadalia exchanged a glance with Levon. “Zeb has a point. We should go straight upstairs and let them sort out this treachery thing amongst their own group before we go interfering. Come on Tsoline, we can talk upstairs. There are a couple of other people I need to introduce you to as well.”

* * * * *

“I think I’ve got it right,” Nazar said uncertainly. After a very convoluted route, he had got the information he needed to repair some of the ancient weapons in the caves. First David had looked through the books to find the ones that could help, then Mihran and Ovsanna had translated them. There were several parts they weren’t sure about, so Loras had tried to translate them verbally after David and Ryan read parts aloud for him. And after all those translations and revisions, it was likely the information had been altered a bit. He had done the best he could with the knowledge provided, and his own intuition of how things should work, but he couldn’t guarantee anything.

“I’ll put it with the others,” Levon said. “You need any help at all? I don’t mind giving you a hand,” he offered for the twentieth time.

His brother glanced up from his seat at a makeshift desk. “Thanks Lev, but I know you’re more comfortable with electronic repairs than stuff like this. I’ll be fine, it’ll just take a while.”

Levon headed upstairs. “We’ve got another one ready. Naz still won’t accept any help though. Do you know anyone who might be able to convince him we need to get them fixed quicker? The longer we stay here, the more risk there is of being found out. That lizard is getting very suspicious already,” he said to the rebels gathered in the kitchen.

“My dad’s good with fixing stuff, and he can be very persuasive,” Nadalia said. “I’m sending him a message later today anyway, you want me to ask him to come and help out?”

Levon agreed. “If you think he’ll be able to help, that would be great. We need to get moving soon.”

Nadalia disappeared to send her father a message, and Levon took her seat at the table. Mihran looked up from the book he was reading. “Ovsanna’s on to something with these ‘fiction’ books. They might be utter nonsense at times, but they do make good reading.”

Levon smiled. “I’ll take your word for it. Maybe when this is all over you could translate a few so everyone can enjoy them,” he suggested.

Mihran considered. “I might just do that. I could write down some of the old verbal stories as well, so they don’t get forgotten in years to come,” he said thoughtfully, and lost himself in contemplation.

Nadalia was upstairs on the radio. “I’ve got the plan pretty much figured out now, we just need to put it into action,” she said. “We’ve had a development here as well, do you think you could make it here to help out? We can finalise our plan then too. Message me as soon as you can.” She sat back and waited for her dad to reply. She only had to wait a few minutes.

“Naddy, it’s me. I’ll come over tonight, I’ll take the waterways and be there about midnight. I’m glad you’ve got the plan sorted, we can talk about that later too. I’ve got a bit of gossip for you as well, you won’t believe it when you hear it! Anyway, I’ll see you later,” he said, and cut off the transmission.

Nadalia went back downstairs. She bumped into Eznik on the way into the kitchen, who was still fuming over the discovery of Vasag’s treachery. “I can’t believe I let that little upstart trick me. I swear, when I find him…” Eznik wandered off into the lounge muttering.

“My dad’ll be here at midnight. He says he’s heard some gossip we might be interested in,” Nadalia said to everyone.

“Any idea what sort of gossip?” Demile asked as she poured drinks.

“Not sure. Anyway, we’ll find out later,” she said, getting a drink and roll for herself.

18: Chapter Eighteen

Vasag looked up from his desk at the knock. “Who is it?” he called.

“Valamir. Can I talk to you in private?”

Vasag opened the door a little. “That depends. What do you want to talk about?” he asked. He was perfectly aware that Valamir had been suspended from duty for subverting orders, and most people were of the opinion that he had gone a little mad.

“I know who the Thirteenth Kat is,” Valamir replied in a whisper. “I worked it out, but I can’t tell anyone because they won’t believe me. Can we go somewhere else?”

Vasag reluctantly agreed, and they went out to one of the less used storage sheds.

“So who do you think it is now, Valamir?” Vasag asked, remembering the last time Valamir thought he knew who the Kat was.

Valamir glared at Vasag. “I don’t think it’s anyone. I know who it is. You know the rumours about her having something to do with Korian?” Vasag nodded. “They’re right. The Kat is really Korian’s sister, Nazeli. All that stuff in her first transmission about Korian, and how close they were. And how else would she know Saphrax ordered Korian killed? The only people who knew that other than our people were the people who heard Alaric saying it at the ceremony. I’m telling you, I’m right about this,” he insisted.

“I’m not so sure. There are several people it could be on that evidence. What about his partner, Nadalia?” Vasag suggested.

Valamir blinked uncertainly. “I hadn’t thought of her. But we found where she was hiding a while ago, and there was no transmission equipment or anything. Just some crappy clothes and the proposal figurine,” he said. “No, I think it’s the sister. We haven’t traced her at all, and she’s older. More experienced. She’d have a better idea of how to keep out of sight.”

Vasag wasn’t entirely convinced, but the argument sounded more plausible than the other nonsense he’d been coming up with until now. “Okay, say you’re right. What do you intend to do about it? You’ve been suspended,” he pointed out.

“Maybe so, but you haven’t. I know who she is now, and once I trace her transmissions I’ll know where she is. If you and I work together, I can get all the information and you can bring the stuff we’ll need to capture her. What do you think?” Valamir asked, knowing Vasag wouldn’t pass up a chance to catch the Kat.

Vasag thought for a second. “Alright, I’ll help you. But if you get caught again, you keep my name out of it. Get all the information first, and don’t go rushing into anything. Got it?”

“Got it. I’ll contact you when I know more,” Valamir said before sneaking out of the shed, leaving Vasag alone in the dark.

* * * * *

“I think we’ve got it,” Loras exclaimed. Eznik, Mihran, Ovsanna and himself had been working with the hemsepans to figure out a quick, reliable method of learning each other’s languages. They had come up with something that seemed to work, similar to the method used centuries ago when the interspecies language was being developed.

“Let’s give it a go then,” Mihran said, re-reading the rules of pronunciation they had devised and trying a few simple sentences.

“Hello David, my name is Mihran. How are you falling?”

David chuckled. “Good, but the last word is ‘feeling’, not ‘falling’. And I’m fine, thank you.”

Mihran nodded. “Feeling. Eee. That’s a strange sound, we don’t have anything like that.”

“We’ve noticed,” said Ryan. Everyone was speaking fairly slowly, to help prevent misunderstandings. “Let me try something in your language,” he said, consulting the rules they had.

“We are in a large house, there are six of us in this room.”

Eznik looked delighted. “That was perfect,” he said. “We can finally start learning from each other.”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Ovsanna said, standing up.

She opened the door to find an elderly cetacean on the doorstep. “Hello, you must be one of Naddy’s friends. I’m her dad, I said I’d be coming round tonight. Is she about?”

“Erm, yeah, she’s in the back somewhere. Come in, I’ll go and get her,” Ovsanna said, standing back to let the old man in. “Nads, your dad’s here!” she called through the door into the back room they were using as a bedroom.

“Hi dad,” Nadalia said, sticking her head out the door. “Come through here, Ovsanna and the others are working on something in there.”

She led her father through to the back room, where most of the rebels were talking or playing games. Demile looked up when he came in. “Hey, you must be Nads’ father. Let me introduce everyone,” she said, naming everyone in the room.

“So what’s this gossip you mentioned?” Xarmen asked eagerly.

The old man sat down before starting. “I’ve found out where Korian’s family is hiding,” he announced. “His mother contacted me a couple of weeks ago, and told me Mari had been to visit and used their transmitter to get back in touch with Naddy.”

Nadalia interrupted. “How long have you been in touch with them?”

“Not long. She says Alaric’s parents are there too, they’ve all been hiding out together since Saphrax took over.” He paused as Ziazan brought him a glass of water. “Thank you dear. Anyway, she wanted me to tell you all that they’re all supporting you, and Nazeli – that’s Korian’s sister – wants to meet you sometime to help depose Saphrax.”

“Mum’s coming to help?” Drystan cried. “Can you let her know we’ll be moving out as soon as Nazar finishes fixing the weapons in the caves?”

“That’s what we need you to help with, by the way,” Nadalia told her dad. “He’s doing alright, but we need to move faster. I’ll take you down there in a minute.”

“Okay, I’ll finish my drink and we can head down.”

On the way to the caves, Nadalia explained her plan to her dad. “So do you think that would be possible?” she concluded.

“I don’t see why not,” he said thoughtfully. “It would take some time to set up, but I think I could do it. I’ll start working on it as soon as I finish helping your friend… Nazar, was it?”

“Yes. He’s somewhere in there,” Nadalia replied, stopping outside the entrance to the weapons cave. “You want me to go and find him?”

The old man shook his head. “It’s fine, I’ll find him. Give us that box, we’ll be needing lots of spare candles,” he said, taking the box of candles Nadalia had brought down. “We’ll be up later for dinner.”

Nadalia watched her father disappear into the cave, then turned and headed back up. This ought to mess up Saphrax’s precious plans, she thought. If he can send out subliminal visual messages, well so can we. Dad should be able to get control of their transmitters, with a little luck; and he can send out that video I’ve been working on. Just a simple voiceover of – what did David call it? ‘War footage’, that was it. War footage, and a voiceover telling people that this is what Saphrax is trying to incite. Should get people to side with us more openly, at least.

* * * * *

Levon glanced across the room. He thought he’d heard Nadalia’s radio receiver crackling. Probably nothing, he thought. I’ve been awake all night listening to the thing, I’m probably hearing things. It crackled again.

He went over to the transmitter and switched it on. “Hello? Is someone there?” he said quietly.

“Who is this?” a voice said. It sounded familiar, but Levon couldn’t quite place it yet.

“Who are you?” Levon asked.

“Someone who wants to speak to his sons,” said the voice, slurring slightly. “I want them to know I’m sorry, and if I could take back what I did I would.”

Levon waited, but the voice didn’t say anything else. He suddenly got an inkling of who it might be, and was unsure how to respond. “Is there anything else you want to say to them?” he asked. “Perhaps I can pass on a message.”

“Yes. I want them to come back to me, and meet their baby sister. She’s growing up so fast, she’s four months old already.” The voice paused, and Levon debated running to wake Nazar. “I need their help to get the rebels under control, too. I know they’ve been staying with the Thirteenth Kat, and I think they could help me out a lot. Do you know where to find them?”

Levon waited before answering. He and his brother had renounced any ties they had with Saphrax when he arranged for their mother and sister to die, but he needed a way to be absolutely certain that the voice on the radio belonged to their father. “What’s their sister’s name? I can find them for you, but I need to know who’s looking for them first,” he said, hoping it would work.

“The baby is called Viviane, I’ve told her all about her big brothers,” the voice said, the slurring more pronounced this time round. Levon didn’t stay to listen to the rest of Saphrax’s babbling, but went to wake his brother and tell him that their father was trying to get back in touch with them.

“Naz, wake up. Naz,” he whispered, nudging Nazar awake.

“What? What’s going on?” Nazar said sleepily.

Levon motioned for quiet and led him away from the other sleeping figures in the room. “It’s Saphrax. He’s on the radio trying to contact us.”

Nazar looked confused. “Why? Wait, what exactly is he saying? Does he know where we are?”

“I don’t think so, but he’s found out we’re working with Nads and the others somehow. I think he’s a bit drunk, too,” Levon replied, thinking of how slurred the voice had sounded.

Nazar cursed. “What does he want, after this long? Is he still on air?”

“I don’t know. You want to come down?”

The two of them crept back downstairs, trying not to wake anyone else. The radio had gone quiet, with nothing but static issuing from the speakers. “Obviously not,” Levon said in response to Nazar’s earlier question.

“So what else did he say?” Nazar asked, a little curious about what was going on.

Levon repeated the transmissions to his brother. “I think he just had a few drinks and started feeling sorry for himself. Or maybe it’s some devious plan to get us back on his side,” he said, remembering it was Saphrax they were talking about.

“Either way, I’m not interested,” Nazar said, shrugging. “After what he’s done to everyone, he can burn in hell for all I care. I’m going to make breakfast, the others will be waking up soon,” he said, walking into the kitchen.

* * * * *

A few weeks later, the rebels were in a state of high anticipation. Nazar and Nadalia’s dad had almost finished repairing the weapons, and had gone over the few Nazar had done alone. Once they were finished, they would move out and start heading towards Saphrax’s base on the island in Region Five. Nadalia was also looking forward to putting her own plan into action; she had finally finished splicing her audio with the visual, and put the resulting five-minute clip onto a disc. They were waiting for Nazar to come up from the caves when Parvona and Antrias came in.

“We have much important news for you to hear,” Antrias announced. “We have discovered the identity of the one who killed the leader Korian.”

Everyone gathered as close as they could. “Who was it?” Drystan asked.

“Saphrax gave the order, as you already are aware. The one who carried out the action was his lover, called Melicia,” Parvona said. “She placed the poison into his drink.”

Nadalia and Drystan looked at each other across the table. Now they could throw Melicia into a cell, along with Saphrax.

“You said you had much news,” Ziazan said. “What else have you found out?”

“We have found out the one you called Vasag is indeed working for Saphrax. He has no idea where you have gone, and is residing within Saphrax’s house,” Parvona said. “He has recently been contacting the disgraced enforcer Valamir, though we have not found what they talk about.”

Antrias stepped forward. “You asked us to discover the status of the prisoner Alaric,” he said. “We have found he is not killed, but has become very ill. He suffers a wasting disease, possibly caused by small food. He is cared for by another prisoner in his cell called Katayun, she is a good person.”

“Anything else? Are there any new prisoners at all?” Aleyn asked. He had recently heard that Ulfilas might have been captured, and wanted to check if his ex-band mate was being held captive.

“There have been some new additions to the cells,” Parvona replied, listing a few names. “Also, one called Ulfilas, who is captive but plans to escape soon. He is healthy, hardly questioned. We have heard Saphrax saying that he is bait, to catch friends called Ovsanna and Aleyn.”

Ovsanna pulled a face. “I guess we should have expected something like this. We’ll be able to get him out soon, along with all the others in there. Was there anything else?”

The two ants looked at each other before continuing. “One other thing, though it may be of no great importance. The lovers Saphrax and Melicia have not been friendly together for a while. From what we have heard, they have fallen out over a proposal gone wrong, and are now keeping secrets away from each other. They maintain good public appearance,” Antrias said, “but are constantly arguing with each other when they think no person can hear them.”

Rehan nodded. “Right. We might be able to use that, or at least it’ll keep them otherwise occupied.”

“We shall return there now, to keep listening for things you might find useful,” Parvona said, and they scuttled back out of the room through a gap in the window frame.

19: Chapter Nineteen

“We’ve finished!” Nazar cried in celebration as he burst into the lounge. “All the weapons are in working order, and we’ve laid them out so everyone can pick which ones they want.”

There was a general outcry of glee from the rebels who were in the room, and Demile practically ran upstairs to let everyone else know. Niketas, Xarmen, Mihran and Rehan went straight down to the cave to pick their weapons.

Nadalia heard from the kitchen and came rushing through. “You’ve finished already? I thought you’d be another week, at least. We can start moving tonight,” she said. “Dad, have you got a second?”

“Sure,” the old man said, and went through to the back room with his daughter. “This is about the other plan, I assume?”

Nadalia nodded. “I’ve found out where one of the main transmitters is, if you can get into that one, just set my clip running on a loop; there should be some way to get it out through others as well. It’s on the border between Regions Three and Four,” she said quietly.

“If I head out with you tonight, I should be able to get close enough to infiltrate their airwaves by the time you reach Saphrax,” her dad suggested. “I’ll get on the air and let Nazeli know you’re ready to go, whereabouts do you want to meet up with her?”

“Somewhere in Region Three, I think. We’ll probably be heading through Three, straight for the south coast. Anywhere she feels comfortable,” Nadalia told him. “I’d better get in touch with Mari, tell her to get ready to put the plan in action,” she said, and disappeared to call her friend.

Down in the caves, Levon and Drystan were admiring Nazar’s work. “Any chance we can practice aiming with these before we use them for real?” Drystan asked.

Levon answered. “They’re much the same as shocker pistols, really.” Then he realised not many of the rebels had practice with shocker pistols either. “I suppose a bit of target practice would be a good idea though. I’ll set something up outside,” he said, taking a couple of weapons and a crate lid upstairs.

Rehan was looking at the ‘Fire Works’ crates. “Are we taking any of these things?” They had all heard what happened when Levon and the others had tested one of them.

“Yeah, we’ll take some of those. I’ll get a bag, we can put some in there,” Nazar said, picking up another crate lid and heading up.

Several hours later, when the crate lids were full of holes where they had been used as targets, the rebels left the house they had been staying in for so many months. They had left their belongings and broadcast equipment in the care of Meb and her family, who were also going to be running the weapons through old sewers and tunnels to an agreed on meeting place, so they had nothing to weigh them down as they moved across the regions.

“Right, we’ll have to be careful when we travel. Too large a group will attract attention,” Levon said as they left. “Why don’t we split into our groups now, then we can meet up again when we collect the weapons?”

Xarmen cut in. “How about we go with the original groups we decided on? Five people travelling together looks less suspicious than seven or eight,” she said. Since they had altered their plan to account for Mari and Nyneve dealing with the guards, the group who were going to distract them had decided on other tasks.

Levon agreed. “Right then, Niketas, Xarmen and Tsoline with me. We’ll take the long way and catch public transports.”

“We’ll get ourselves a private transport and go round the purple districts,” said Nazar, before leading Mihran, Demile, Aleyn and Isolde off down a side street.

Drystan spoke next. “We’ll take the water, Nads and I can swim and Loras can take David, Ryan and Lucy in a boat,” he said, indicating the three hemsepans dressed once again in concealing cloaks.

“So that leaves us lot getting private transport and heading down the main roads,” said Rehan. “Where exactly are we meeting Nazeli again?”

“Same place as we’re meeting up with each other,” Drystan replied. “We’ll see you lot in a few days, then.”

“I’ll tag along with you until you reach the coast of Region Four,” Nadalia’s dad said as they all separated. “It’ll be nice to have some company on my way home.”

* * * * *

Mari opened the door. She had managed to sneak an extra bowl of soup out of the kitchens to bring to Alaric, and was hoping to get it to him before it went cold.

“Yuni, is he awake?” she asked the young primate who shared his cell.

Katayun nodded. “He’s awake, but he’s getting worse every day. I don’t know how much longer he’ll last,” she said, looking worried.

“Alaric? I brought you some soup. You want to try a little bit?” Mari knelt on the floor next to him.

Alaric focused with difficulty. “Alright.” Mari raised his head and spooned a tiny bit of chicken-flavour soup into his mouth. “That’s nice,” he said.

“Here, you’ve been looking after him all this time, it only seems right you should be doing this,” Mari said quietly, handing the soup to Katayun. “I think I’ve worked out what’s wrong with him,” she told her.

“What?” Katayun asked.

“One of the workers in the prison kitchens has been tampering with Alaric’s food,” Mari explained as Katayun continued to feed Alaric small mouthfuls of soup. “I looked into it, and the meals Alaric’s been getting are modified to contain almost no nutrients at all. They’re basically starving him slowly.”

Katayun almost dropped the bowl. “That’s horrible! Why would they do that?” she exclaimed.

“Shhh!” Mari looked frantically at the door. “They don’t know I’m down here, if I get caught we’ll all be in trouble. I don’t know exactly why, but I’ve got an idea. Let me look into it, and I’ll get back to you.”

“So where did you get this soup from?” Katayun asked.

“The kitchens upstairs, they think it’s for me,” Mari replied. “I’ll try to bring extra food down when I can. But hopefully you won’t be in here much longer. The rebels are moving,” she whispered.

“Nads,” Alaric said, trying to sit up.

“Stay there, you’re still sick,” Katayun told him, holding his paw. “You can talk lying down.”

Mari leant forward slightly. “Nads is fine, Alaric. She’s on her way here, with some friends. They’re going to help everyone get out of here.”

Alaric nodded weakly. “That’s good. I’m glad they haven’t caught her. Is she with the Kat? I think the two of them would get along very well.”

“I don’t think she’ll mind me telling you now,” Mari said. “She is the Kat. She’s bringing all the rebels down here, along with some secret weapons that I’m really not allowed to talk about. They should be here within a week,” she told them.

“That’s great!” Katayun whispered excitedly. “We’ll be out of here soon.”

* * * * *

Saphrax was in his office reviewing the reports from Regions Two and Three over the last couple of days. A lot of them mentioned unusual activity or groups of people travelling through the areas. There was a report from his coastal enforcers about three cetaceans escorting a boat carrying three ‘highly suspicious characters’ wearing long dark cloaks. He had a feeling that they were all connected somehow, and was giving himself a headache trying to piece it all together.

“What am I missing here?” he muttered to himself. “What has been going on that I can’t see? What?” he called through the door at the knock.

Nyneve walked in. “I’ve been asked to pass you a message from Melicia,” she said, clearly annoyed at being used as a messenger. “She wants to talk to you about the proposal you made a few months ago, and pass on a recording that she came across.”

“Right now, or later?” Saphrax asked. Much as he was hoping to make up with Melicia, he wanted to figure out the strange reports before doing anything else.

“She said this evening, after she puts your daughter to bed. Did you want me to say anything to her?”

“Would you let her know I’ll be happy to talk to her later? That’s all.” He waved Nyneve out of the room and returned to his reports. “Maybe if I put them in order of when they were written…” he mumbled as the door closed. He shuffled the papers around on his desk until they were in date order.

They all seem to correspond with each other, he thought to himself. This one mentions two felines, a primate and a lizard travelling together on public transport at the same time as this one about the three primates, cat and lizard travelling together down the main roads. It looks like all these groups mentioned are going in the same direction, except the cetaceans and the boat. What do they have to do with anything? I wonder…

“Vasag, would you come to my office? I’d like to ask you about something,” he said into his two-way radio. Just because the public weren’t allowed to have them didn’t mean he couldn’t. If this is what I think it is, I’ll be needing his help to sort out the rebels once and for all, thought Saphrax.

* * * * *

Shakrem watched. He and the rest of Rehan’s group had arrived at the meeting place the day before, and found Nadalia, Drystan, Loras and the hemsepans waiting. He was keeping watch for any patrolling enforcers, but it seemed that nobody ever visited the area. He was about to go back inside the warehouse to switch places with Ziazan when he saw something move in the shadow of the next building.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” someone whispered. “I’m looking for Drystan, I made cookies for him.”

Shakrem sighed in relief. “We’re in here, Nazeli. I’ll send him out,” he whispered back, and went to tell Drystan his mother had arrived.

“Mum, get in here! Someone might see you!” Drystan called quietly from the door.

Nazeli slipped into the building and closed the door. “Is this everyone?” she said, looking around. “I thought there’d be a few more of us.”

“Nazar and Levon are still making their way here with their groups,” Nadalia said. “It’s good to see you again, Nazeli.”

“I’m glad to see you’ve been keeping out of trouble, Nadalia,” Nazeli said with a smile. “So, would you mind explaining the plan to me? Drystan only gave me the basic outline last time we spoke. Understandable, of course, but if I’m taking part then a few details would be appreciated.”

“Sure,” Nadalia agreed. “Though, I should probably warn you, there’s something very unusual about our plan. It involves an extinct species.”

Nazeli looked perplexed. “What exactly do you mean by ‘extinct species’?”

Nadalia smiled. “I’ll show you. Loras, could you help me explain things to Nazeli?” The two women went over to the corner where Loras sat with the three cloaked hemsepans.

“Don’t panic when you see them. They’re not like the ones we’ve all learned about from history,” Loras reassured the older cetacean as she approached.

Rehan came running in from her watch post. “Drystan, Nazar’s group are here. They’re just heading over now, they look like they ran into some trouble on the way though.”

“Alright, I’ll see what the problem was. Wait, do you think they might have been followed?” he asked.

“I don’t think so. If they were being tracked they wouldn’t have come and led the enforcers here,” Rehan said, as she led Drystan outside to talk to Nazar.

Nazar came running up to Drystan as soon as he got outside. “Demile’s been hurt. We ran into some enforcers, they tried to capture us but we managed to get away. I don’t know where Aleyn is though, I think they might have got him,” he said quickly. “Who’s here? She needs help.”

Mihran and Isolde approached, practically carrying Demile between them. “There’s us and Rehan’s group. I don’t know if anyone knows anything about medicine though,” Drystan replied, opening the door so they could get through easier.

“What happened?” Ovsanna asked, noticing Demile’s condition as the group entered the building.

“Demile’s been hurt and Aleyn’s missing,” Mihran told her. “Is there anywhere we can put her down? Her leg’s broken.”

“Yeah, over here,” Ovsanna responded, indicating a corner where some old cushions had been piled up to serve as a sleeping area. “Nazeli’s arrived, by the way. She’s meeting the hemsepans at the moment.”

“Of course, mum’s here!” Drystan said, looking exasperated with himself. “I’ll go get her, she might be able to help Demile.” He headed over to the corner where Loras and Nadalia were explaining everything to his mother.

Ovsanna looked at Mihran. “Did you say Aleyn is missing? What happened to you all?” she asked him.

“We got pulled over by some enforcers,” Nazar answered her, flopping down onto the cushions next to Demile. “They wanted to know what we were doing driving around at night. Then they recognised Aleyn and Demile, and decided to try and arrest us all. We scattered, and I heard Aleyn shout, but when I got to where I’d heard him from he wasn’t there. The transport had gone, too, so we had to find another one. That’s why it’s taken so long for us to get here.”

“So how did Demile hurt her leg?” Ovsanna asked.

“I tripped over a rock when we were running around in the dark, trying to get away from the enforcers,” Demile answered. “And I don’t think it’s broken, it’s just twisted or something. It’s not serious,” she told Mihran.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” declared Nazeli. “Let me have a look and see if there’s anything I can do.”

Demile twitched as Nazeli examined her leg. “I’m sure I’ve only twisted my ankle or something. It doesn’t feel broken or anything.”

“No, it’s not broken, but I think you’ve pulled your knee somehow,” Nazeli said. “You’ll have to rest it for a couple of days before you go storming Saphrax’s base. I’ll get you something for the pain.”

“Thanks mum,” said Drystan, who had been watching. “Looks like we’ve got a couple of days delay, everyone,” he called to the others in the room.

Ziazan came rushing in a few hours later. “I’ve just spotted Levon and the others. They’re heading this way, should be with us in a couple of minutes.”

Sure enough, Levon and his group came in a few minutes later, soaked to the bone. “It’s raining out there,” said Tsoline sulkily, shaking her fur all over the place and drenching the people nearest her.

“Right, we’re all here. The rats should be arriving at the meeting point with our equipment tomorrow morning. I’ll see if someone can get a message to them, ask them to stay there for a bit. It’s not far to Saphrax’s base from there,” Nazar told his brother. “We’ve got to wait a couple of days, Demile injured herself, but we should be there by the end of the week. It’ll be good to finally get him back for everything.”

20: Chapter Twenty

“What are we doing here?” Valamir asked. “I thought we were going after the Kat, not raiding some abandoned industrial park.”

Vasag kicked a stone to distract himself from the overwhelming desire to strangle the irritating little primate next to him. “As I’ve already told you, Valamir, we are here to find the rebels. Saphrax has information that puts them in this area, and he has ordered me to check it out.”

“So why did you bring me along?”

“Because, you idiot, the Thirteenth Kat is part of the rebel alliance. If the rest of them are here, she’s likely to be with them.”

Comprehension dawned on Valamir’s face. “And you want my help when you find her. So where should we start?”

Vasag pointed. “Over there. I’ve seen a couple of shadows moving about in that little hut, it’s probably some of them. Let’s go,” he said, moving across to the small building he had indicated. “There’s someone in there, I can hear them talking. I can’t make out what they’re saying though,” he said, listening at the door.

“Well, what are we waiting for? We’ll run in there and get them, and then we can make them tell us where the rest of the rebels are.” Valamir prepared to kick the door in.

“Not yet! They might be armed, let me listen for a few minutes to see if I can figure anything out,” Vasag whispered furiously.

Inside the shed, Loras and Eznik were talking to Ryan and Lucy, practising using the hemsepans language.

“So you were part of a conservation group, Lucy?” Loras enquired.

Lucy nodded. “We were trying to get a reserve built near Birmingham – I think that would have been somewhere near your Region Four - for several endangered species, but the government weren’t interested. We had a big protest planned, but then the war started and things went a bit crazy. I think David had some idea of what was going to happen, because he started working on the suspension devices almost straight away…”

“Did you hear that?” Eznik interrupted. “Sounded like someone talking outside.”

They all stopped talking and looked at the door. Ryan stood up silently and walked across the room. He opened the door and a thin feline fell into the hut. A short, stocky gorilla stood just outside.

Vasag looked up at the strange creature above him. A second later, recognition dawned and he screamed at Valamir “Shoot it, shoot it!” He scrambled backwards away from it, not realising there were others in the room.

Suddenly confronted with a vision from ancient history, Valamir stared in shock for a few seconds before reacting. Luckily for Ryan, that gave him a few seconds to duck out of the way before Valamir fired at him. He grabbed what looked like an old bit of wood and swung at the short gorilla as he recharged his shocker pistol, catching him on the head. Valamir fell to the floor instantly.

“Come on, we need to get help,” Loras said, rushing past Ryan. “The other one’s having a heart attack or something,” he pointed back to indicate Vasag lying on the floor clutching his chest.

“Why do you want to help him? He told the gorilla to shoot us,” Ryan asked, running along behind Loras.

Loras stared in disbelief. “Is life really that cheap to you people? We can’t just let him die without at least trying to help him.”

Back in the shed, Eznik looked down at Vasag. “Finally getting your reward for turning traitor, aren’t you?” he said quietly, so Lucy wouldn’t hear. He knelt down next to the dying cat. “I think I’d better make sure they’re too late to help you.” He took a short knife out of his sleeve, where he’d been keeping it for emergencies, and on the pretence of checking Vasag’s pulse, cut open his wrist. He pressed the knife into Vasag’s other hand, and waited.

A few minutes later, Loras and Ryan returned with Nazeli and Ovsanna. “What’s happened here? There wasn’t any blood on the floor when we left,” Loras asked.

“He had a knife, when you two left he killed himself with it. There was nothing we could do to stop him,” Eznik answered. “What about the other guy, can we bring him round?”

Nazeli examined Valamir quickly. “I don’t think so. Someone’s cracked his skull open. How did he end up on the floor?”

Ryan looked sheepish. “That was me. He was shooting at us, so I hit him with something. I thought it was just a bit of rotten wood, I didn’t mean to hit him so hard,” he said.

Eznik shook his head. “I’m glad you’re on our side. I don’t know about that guy,” he said, indicating Valamir, “but this is Vasag. He’s the one who was passing information to Saphrax. I’m assuming the other one was an enforcer or something. We’d better go and tell the others, then we can bury them properly.”

* * * * *

Alaric blinked. “I’m feeling a lot better now. I think I could handle a proper meal rather than soup next time,” he told Mari. “Fried eggs would be nice,” he hinted.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Mari said, smiling. “You think you’ll be able to escape with everyone else? Nads and the others should be here any day now.”

“I think so. I’m sure Yuni can help me,” he said, looking over at the attractive young primate who shared his cell. “She’s been wonderful, looking after me since I got sick.”

Katayun smiled back at him. “It was no problem. I’m just glad you’re okay now, and that we’ll be getting out of here soon.”

Mari noticed the look that passed between them. “Are you two… you know, together?”

“I know inter-species relationships are usually considered weird, but yes. We’re together,” Alaric said.

Mari smiled. “Nothing weird about it. So long as you’re both happy, that’s all that matters. Besides, I’ve had a few inter-species dalliances myself,” she said, thinking of Valamir. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two in peace and see what I can do about those fried eggs.”

“And string beans. I like string beans,” Alaric called as Mari left the cell.

* * * * *

Melicia rushed into the office. She’d been checking on the visual equipment, and discovered something extremely disturbing.

“What’s the rush, darling?” Saphrax asked her.

Melicia took a moment to catch her breath. “The visual transmitters have been hijacked. All over the place, at least seven of the main transmitters. They’re all showing a short clip of… well, there seem to be a lot of hemsepans trying to kill each other in the video part. But the audio is the Kat, and someone else; they’re talking about how you’re trying to incite a war, and make us more like them. I don’t know how they’ve done it, I really don’t.”

Saphrax cursed. “Have someone find out what’s gone wrong, and fix it as quickly as possible. Put Vasag on it, if he’s available.”

“Vasag’s off the board at the moment. Nobody seems to know where he’s gone, and we can’t contact him,” Melicia said. “He disappeared just after he found the rebels current hideout, along with Valamir.”

“Find them both and drag their sorry asses back here, then. I need that report on the rebels’ movements.” He thought for a second. “Hang on, what was Valamir doing with him? He’s supposed to be suspended. Never mind, have him report as well. I might as well use any information I can get.”

“I’ll send someone out to look for them now.” Melicia turned to leave. “By the way, have you decided what to do about Mari yet? I’ve had reports that she’s been spending a lot of time in the cells with Alaric.”

“I’m still thinking. It might be worth getting her back on side, she probably knows a lot of useful information now. Let me get back to you on that.” Saphrax paused. “Actually, get her on the transmitters, see if she can find out what happened. Watch her carefully though, she might know something already and try to cover it up.”

* * * * *

“Right, how are we going to get across with out attracting too much attention?” Nazar asked. The rebels had reached the port that would take them across to the island district in Region Five. With there being twenty of them, they made quite a large group, so they wanted to avoid suspicion as much as possible.

“Drystan, Isolde, Nads and I can swim across and wait for you on the other side,” Nazeli suggested. “That’s four less for you to worry about. If you take separate boats, that could spread us out a little. Smaller groups could pass themselves off as tourists.”

Loras nodded in agreement. “Eznik and I can take the hemsepans, we’ve already worked out a cover story for their cloaks,” he told the others. “Plus we have that private boat we came here on anyway. We can take that across.”

“We can go together,” Rehan said, indicating Levon and Nazar. “We can be on a family trip. That leaves you eight. You could go into two groups of four,” she suggested.

“Not a bad idea,” Ovsanna said. The others shuffled about into separate groups. “Let’s go then, there’s one leaving in a few minutes. Some of us can catch that one, and the rest can wait for the next one.”

“We’ll get going now,” Nadalia said, and the four cetaceans jumped into the water and started swimming. A couple of hours and three boat trips later, the rebels had all reached the island and begun looking for a place to stay for the night.

“This’ll do. It doesn’t look like the sort of place that would ask too many questions,” Nazar said, stopping in front of a rather run down hostel. “I’ll run and let the others know while you two get us some rooms,” he said, and jogged off to find the other groups. Levon and Rehan glanced at each other, and headed up the steps to the front door.

“Excuse me, we’d like to get a couple of rooms,” Levon said to the burly gorilla at the desk. “We’re here with a few friends, they should be here in a few minutes.”

The gorilla stared at them for a moment. “How many of you?” he asked in a hostile tone.

“Twenty altogether. We can share, though; we’ve been staying together for a while. We’re on a… trip,” Rehan said timidly.

“That’ll be four rooms then. Here’s the keys, you’re on the third floor.” He handed a bunch of keys to them and gestured up the stairs. “Room numbers are on the doors. I’ll send your friends up when they arrive.”

Levon and Rehan headed upstairs quickly; glad to get away from the guy. “He was a bit surly, wasn’t he?” Rehan commented as they unlocked one of the rooms. “You think he’ll report us?”

“I doubt it,” Levon replied. “People like that don’t usually like anyone prying into their business. I’m willing to bet he’s got loads of dodgy stuff going down here, he won’t be too concerned about a bunch of people staying for one night.”

Nazar led the others up shortly after. “Bloke on the desk’s got a nasty disposition, hasn’t he? I’m glad we’re only here for tonight.”

“Right everyone, we’d best get some sleep. We’ll get out of here first thing in the morning, and head into Saphrax’s base.” Nadalia unfolded a map of the district as she spoke. “Meb and her family are meeting us here, by these woods. They’ll have everything we need, then we go straight from there, through the woods to Saphrax’s base in the centre of the island. Mari and Nyneve should be waiting by the back gate for us. I’ll send them a message now.”

Everyone nodded. “Then we go with the plan,” Drystan said excitedly. “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this.”

“Get some sleep, you. It’s a long day tomorrow,” Nazeli scolded her son. “That goes for the rest of us too. Good night, everyone.”

21: Chapter Twenty-One

Lak shuffled about nervously. “Why aren’t they here already?”

“They said they’d come today, so they’re coming,” Meb answered.

“I don’t like being outside,” Lak whined for the thirtieth time. “I want to go home.”

Meb comforted her daughter. “It won’t be long. Look, there’s some people now.”

Nadalia arrived just ahead of the others. “Thanks for waiting. Did you manage to bring everything?” she asked.

“Yes yes, everything’s under the trees over here.” Meb led the rebels over to the small pile of weapons under the trees. “Are we going to take it all back when you finish?” she asked politely.

“I think we can take it from here,” Nazar said. “Thanks a lot Meb, you’ve been a great help.”

The two rats said their goodbyes and scurried back to the tunnels where they felt more comfortable. Everyone picked up their weapons and the three hemsepans discarded their cloaks.

“Right, everyone ready?” Levon asked. “Saphrax’s base is just through those trees. We should be able to get straight in, if Mari and Nyneve have got themselves on the right gate.”

The rebels headed through the trees and came out a short distance from a gate. Mari looked out at them and waved them forwards. “We’ve got about four minutes until the next patrol comes past here, get in quickly,” she said, unlocking the gate and allowing the rebels in.

Drystan nodded. “Four minutes is all we need here. Groups everyone,” he said. Everyone split into their groups.

“Nyneve, could you come down to the cells with us?” Nazar asked. “And if Mari could go with Levon and Rehan’s group. They’re taking out the surveillance equipment, so we won’t need to worry about cameras watching us.”

“No problem,” Nyneve said.

“Okay, we’ll see you on the top floor in twenty minutes,” Nadalia said. “Good luck everyone.”

* * * * *

“This way,” Nyneve called, leading the group down to the cells. “I’ve got the keys copied, if we do this in pairs we can let them all out faster.”

“Good thinking. Are there any guards patrolling down here?” Demile asked, running along behind her.

Nyneve skidded to a halt. “Damn! Yes, there are.”

“Okay. We can take care of them,” Nazar said. “Remember, aim for the limbs, people. We only need to wound them,” he reminded the rest of his group as they cautiously entered the dungeons.

They didn’t see any enforcers for the first few corridors, and let out the prisoners without too much difficulty. “If you head for the back gate it should be open,” Nyneve told them as they were freed. “Make sure you avoid the patrols though, and pull it to when you’re through.”

They had just gone down a level when they ran into a couple of guards. “Nyneve? What’s going… what are they doing here?” one of them asked.

Niketas and Mihran raised their weapons as one and took both guards’ legs out. “We’ll just put you two in here for now,” Mihran said, dragging one of them into an open cell. “Here’s a med kit, sort yourselves out. We’ll release you when we’re done here.” Niketas put the other guard in and shut the door.

“Onwards, then,” Xarmen said, opening up the next cell. “Come on you two, time to escape.”

Alaric stretched. “Thank you. Come on Yuni,” he said, holding out his paw to his cellmate.

“Thanks Nyneve. And could you thank Mari for us when you see her?” Katayun asked as they ran past.

“I will,” Nyneve replied. “There shouldn’t be too many more in here now,” she began, but was interrupted by a loud explosion from upstairs.

“Sounds like the cameras are down,” Isolde shouted over the noise of shouting and falling rubble. “I think they used those explosives you found.”

“Probably. Let’s get everyone out then, while the enforcers are worrying about that,” Nazar said, rushing to the next lot of occupied cells.

After letting all the prisoners go, the rebels headed back up the stairs towards the top floor. “You think Saphrax knows there’s something going on yet?” Tsoline asked as they headed past the floor where the surveillance rooms had been.

Glancing at the damage, Nazar replied. “I think he might have noticed, yeah. Let’s get up there.”

* * * * *

Rehan stopped for a moment. “It should be around here…” she mumbled, looking around to get her bearings. “Yeah, down here,” she said, turning down a corridor to the left and opening a door.

There were a lot of screens and a large, flashing computer bank. There was also an enforcer sat in the middle of the room, who looked up when he heard the door open. “What the…?” he said, reaching for a button on the computer in front of him.

Levon fired, sending a shot neatly into the guy’s head. “Sorry. Right, anyone know how we can disable this lot quickly? Preferably without getting caught,” he added.

“Let me have a look,” Mari said. “I worked with this stuff for a while.” She fiddled with the computer for a few minutes.

“Mari, could you do that a bit quicker?” Shakrem asked. “Only, there’s a couple of enforcers heading this way. I think someone heard you shoot that guy, Lev.”

“Bastards,” Levon snapped. “Alright, we’d better stop them getting in here until the cameras are offline.” He took up a position near the door alongside Shakrem and Ziazan.

“Shoot to wound?” Ziazan asked as the enforcers got closer.

Ovsanna piped up. “Screw that, kill the bastards,” she cried. “They’d kill us if we gave them the chance.”

The others looked at each other. “She’s got a point,” Nazeli said. “And they do work for the man who had my brother killed.”

“Headshots it is then,” Shakrem said, turning to face the enforcers. The rebels made short work of the two enforcers, leaving them lying dead on the floor.

Levon turned to Mari. “How much longer?” he asked, hearing people running about downstairs. “It sounds like the others have released most of the captives.”

Mari shook her head in frustration. “There’s some sort of access code. I can’t get in to do anything. The only other way to take the cameras out would be to destroy the machine, but I don’t think…”

“That’s it!” Rehan shouted. “We can use the fire works things! Blow up the computer, that should do it,” she said, pulling the bag of explosives off her back.

“Nice thinking, love,” Levon said appreciatively. “Mari, Ovsanna, can you help set them up while we keep an eye out for more guards?” The three of them set to work getting the fireworks in position while the others kept watch on the door.

“Done,” Ovsanna said a few minutes later. “We pulled the strings out of some to make longer fuses, which we’ve tied together. That way we’ve only got one to light, and more time to get out of here before it blows up,” she told Levon.

“What about the ones you took the fuses out of?” Ziazan asked.

Ovsanna glanced at the bag she was holding. “They’ll still go off, I think, but they’ll go as soon as the heat touches them. We were going to leave them in here, so hopefully they’ll go when the rest do.”

Rehan nodded. “Okay, everyone else out so I can light it. Once it’s lit, we need to start running, because there’s going to be one hell of a big bang.” She bent to light the fuse while the others hurriedly left the room. As soon as the fuse caught, she ran, the rest of the group following close behind.

After about a minute, they stopped to catch their breath. “We should be far enough away by now,” Levon said just before they heard an almighty explosion. A wave of air hit them a few seconds later, carrying a substantial amount of dust from the outer wall.

“I’d say that destroyed the computer banks,” Mari said into a shocked silence. “Come on, we’d better go and meet up with the others,” she said, turning towards the stairs at the other end of the passage.

* * * * *

Drystan peered round the corner. “Okay, there’s a patrol up ahead. They’re moving away, you want to wait until they’re gone or rush them now?” he asked the others.

“Let’s just go. The quicker this is over the better,” Nadalia said. They ran out and charged at the enforcers, who seemed to decide they would rather run away than deal with the approaching rebels and hemsepans.

“Well that was easy,” Loras commented. “I hope the rest are like that.”

As the group moved up through the building, they encountered several more patrolling guards. A few ran off, screaming like frightened children, but most of them weren’t so easily scared.

“Damn, that guy didn’t want to go down,” Drystan said after a confrontation with a pair of particularly obstinate enforcers. “How close are we?”

Eznik answered. “If I remember the maps right, we should be pretty close. There should be a set of stairs at…” A very loud explosion from the next floor down interrupted him. “What the hell was that?”

“I’m going to guess Levon’s group decided to blow up the surveillance equipment,” Nadalia said.

David shook his head. “I was hoping this kind of thing would have stopped after all the humans were gone.”

“Trust me, it doesn’t happen that often,” Loras told him. “In fact, I don’t think anything like this has happened for a few centuries.”

“Can we just get up there?” Drystan said impatiently. “You can do the history lessons later.”

They ran up the stairs and reached the door into Saphrax’s private wing. “Okay, now we just need to wait for the others,” Nadalia said, catching her breath. “They shouldn’t be long.”

Sure enough, Levon and Rehan came running over to them after a few minutes. “Cameras are down. I’m guessing you heard the fireworks go off?” Levon asked. Everyone else nodded. “Naz should be up in a minute, we heard people running out from the cells.”

Once Nazar and his group had arrived, they opened the door and immediately dropped to the floor to avoid getting killed. “I think they were expecting us,” Rehan shouted over the crackling noise of about thirty shocker pistols being fired at once.

22: Chapter Twenty-Two

Once the bolts of electricity had dissipated, the rebels stood before the enforcers could recharge and fire at them again. “You lot stand at the back, we’ll need you when we reach Saphrax,” Shakrem told the hemsepans, positioning himself at the front and opening fire on the enforcers. Ziazan and Niketas joined him, and between them they managed to take out the majority of the guards before they ran out of shots.

The remaining enforcers saw their opportunity and took it. “Damn you!” Levon shouted as Niketas fell to the floor. He and his brother shot the rest of the enforcers and turned to the others. “Nads, Drystan, Loras, Eznik, you take the hemsepans and get to Saphrax. We’ll deal with any other guards that are hiding and join you there,” Nazar said.

“We’d better go with them, in case they run into anyone on the way,” said Demile, indicating Ovsanna and herself. The rebels separated once again, wondering exactly how many guards they would encounter before getting to where they needed to be.

“Should be in here,” Nadalia said, turning a corner and noticing an ornate door.

“Right, I’ve had an idea,” Loras told everyone. “If you three can wait here, and run in when we shout ‘now’ that should give us an element of surprise. Eznik, could you wait with them?” Eznik nodded.

“Okay then, let’s get in there,” Drystan said, pushing open the door. “What… hey, get off me!” he cried, struggling against the enforcer who had grabbed him as he entered the room.

“So, you’re the ones who have blown a hole in the side of my building,” Saphrax said. “I must admit, I wasn’t expecting such a resourceful group of extremists. Though I suppose you have managed to evade my patrols for over a year. And here’s the rest of you,” he said as Nadalia, Loras, Ovsanna and Demile were dragged in. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Nadalia. Or do you prefer to be called the Thirteenth Kat?”

* * * * *

Rehan slumped against a wall. “I think that’s all of them. At least on this floor, anyway.” She looked across the room at Levon. “There’s someone we should be looking for,” she told him.

“Right. Can we leave you lot to get to Nads and the others? We’ve got to go and find our spies, get them out of here,” he called to the rest of the group.

Nazar nodded and led the remaining rebels down a corridor towards Saphrax’s personal rooms. They reached the corner where Eznik and the hemsepans stood waiting, and stopped.

“What’s happening?” Mari asked. “Are they in there?”

Eznik motioned for quiet. “They went in a few minutes ago. Saphrax has some enforcers in there; they’re all being restrained,” he whispered. “I don’t know what’s going on exactly, I’m just waiting for them to signal so we can rush in and scare the living daylights out of everyone.”

“Well I’m not waiting,” Mari said, taking a weapon from someone and heading in.

“Mari, hold on! Oh for crying out loud,” Nazar said, running after her.

Lucy glanced around at the rest of the group. “Anyone else fancy running in there?” she enquired.

“I think we’d do better to stay out here,” Mihran answered her. “We don’t need any more enforcers than they already have in there.” They all took up defensive positions along the corridor.

* * * * *

Nadalia stared across the room. “How long have you known?”

“Not long,” Saphrax told her. “Only since yesterday, really. Your dad gave you away, can you believe that? I thought there’d be some family loyalty there–”

“What did you do to him?” she asked heatedly. “He wouldn’t have told you anything unless you forced it out of him.”

Saphrax shook his head. “Is that really what you think of me?”

“Yes,” chorused the assembled rebels.

A cruel laugh came from the corner. “For your information, he didn’t lay a finger on your daddy,” Melicia cackled, stepping forward. “I did. I made him squeal like a little girl before he died.”

Before Nadalia could respond, the door burst open again. “Let my friend go, you bastard,” Mari shouted, aiming carefully at Saphrax.

“Mari, such a shame. You were doing so well, too,” Saphrax signalled one of the enforcers, who pulled Mari’s weapon away and picked her up by the scruff of the neck. “I’ll deal with you in a minute,” he said, noticing who had entered behind her.

“That’s enough, dad. We’re not going to stand for this anymore,” Nazar said firmly.

Saphrax sighed. “Not the conditions I was hoping for, but I suppose it’s the best reunion we can expect. I assume Levon is here, too?”

“Wait, he’s your dad?” Drystan asked incredulously. “What…?”

“I can explain everything later,” Nazar interrupted what was likely to be a tedious list of questions. “There’s a few things I want to clear up before this waste of space gets locked away. I was in your cells earlier, and there were a few people missing that I was expecting to see. Where are Aleyn and Ulfilas?” he asked coldly.

“Ulfilas was caught trying to escape, he died in the attempt. Aleyn was recaptured a few days ago, and it seems my enforcers were a little too enthusiastic. He died on the way back here,” Saphrax said, matching his son’s tone. “You should pick some less defiant friends next time,” he said.

“You’re not even sorry, are you?” Demile cried, wrenching her arm out of the enforcer’s grip and running at Saphrax.

Melicia shot her down before she had taken two steps. “You should listen to your father, Nazar. This lot are dropping like flies,” she scorned. “Dear, shouldn’t you be dealing with that traitor there?” she said, pointing at Mari.

“You’re right, of course. Mari, you really made the wrong decision there. You could have been so much more,” he said, faking regret as he took Melicia’s shocker and shot Mari. “You look upset, Nadalia,” he said, looking at her.

Nadalia only just heard him over the pounding noise in her ears. “Of course I’m upset,” she muttered through clenched jaws. “You’ve killed everyone I care about, you evil shit!” she screamed, pulling away from the enforcers holding her. She ducked under Melicia’s shocker bolt, picked Mari’s weapon off the floor and emptied it into Saphrax’s head.

Then, several things happened at once. Loras shouted for Eznik, Nazar dragged Nadalia out of the way as the enforcers reached for their pistols, Drystan seemed to fly across the room to attack Melicia, and everyone started screaming as the presence of three hemsepans registered with the enforcers.

“Stay down!” Nazar shouted at Nadalia, pushing her under the desk and standing up to join the fight. Nadalia crouched on the floor, hearing but not really listening to the mayhem in the room. I killed him, she thought over and over. What am I going to do now?

“Die, bitches!” Ovsanna shouted, firing at the enforcers that were left. “I can see why your kind used to enjoy this,” she called to Ryan as the enforcers began to drop.

Melicia screamed as Drystan jumped on top of her, knocking her to the floor. She fired her shocker indiscriminately, hitting someone but neither of them could tell who at the time. “Nads got your boyfriend, but you’re mine,” he shouted at her, twisting her arm and making her drop the pistol.

Loras caught Nyneve as she fell. “Hang in there, we’ll get you out of here,” he said, noticing she had been hit by a shocker bolt that flew out of nowhere. “Try not to move,” he admonished, laying her down out of the way.

It was all over reasonably quickly. Once the room was clear of enforcers, Nazar brought Nadalia out from under the desk. “Nads, it’s over. We did it,” he said gently, helping her up. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Lev and Rehan should be waiting for us,” he said, stepping over Saphrax’s body.

* * * * *

Levon crept forwards. “It’s clear,” he called back to Rehan and the two ants. They walked quickly across the hall, and had almost reached the stairs when they heard a baby crying.

“What’s that?” Rehan asked. “Why would there be a crying baby up here?”

“Saphrax and Melicia had a baby, remember? Sounds like they’ve left her alone in there,” Levon said, nodding towards an open door.

Rehan stared at the door. “Let’s go and get her. She’s just a baby, she hasn’t done anything wrong.” She headed into the nursery to pick up the child.

Viviane was sitting up in her cot, wondering where everyone was. She didn’t like the noise, and wanted her mummy. She saw a younger lady come in, who wasn’t her mummy but looked nice.

“Shhh, it’s okay sweetie. I’ll look after you,” Rehan said, lifting Viviane out of the cot. “Let’s get out of here,” she said to Levon, who was waiting at the door.

They ran back down to the gate with the baby and the ants, to wait for their friends.

“What’s going on in there?” Alaric asked when they reached the gate. “We heard an explosion, so we thought we’d wait here. Is everyone okay?”

“Well, I can’t speak for the enforcers, but most of our side were okay when I left. Shakrem, Niketas and Ziazan are gone though,” Levon answered.

“They should be out soon,” Rehan said, gently bouncing the infant in her arms. “We said we’d wait for them back here, if you like you can wait with us,” she suggested.

After about half an hour, a considerably smaller but triumphant group left the deserted base. Nazar seemed to be leading Nadalia, who looked like she was in a state of shock. Mihran was supporting Isolde, who was bleeding heavily. The first thing Levon looked for, though, was any sign of pursuit by enforcers.

“It’s just us,” Nazar called to his brother. “I doubt there’s any enforcers left alive in there. If there are they’re keeping well out the way of these guys,” he said wryly, gesturing at the hemsepans trailing behind the group.

“Saphrax?” Levon asked, knowing Nazar would understand.

“Dead. Nads did it, though I don’t think she wants to accept it yet,” Nazar told his brother quietly.

Rehan cut in. “Who else is gone? There’s several of us missing,” she said, concerned.

“Mari, Demile and Nyneve. Aleyn and Ulfilas are gone, too. Saphrax told us,” Ovsanna said. “We need to get Isolde and Nads to a medical centre, Isolde got hit by a stray shot and Nads is in shock.”

Alaric nodded. “I’ve got a transport waiting, I thought we might need it one way or the other. Let’s get them in, there’s a hospital just down the road,” he said, helping Mihran carry Isolde into the waiting vehicle.

23: Chapter Twenty-Three

A few months later, Loras went to check up on Nadalia. He had been talking to Ryan about everything, and wanted to reassure Nadalia that she had only done what was necessary.

“Hey Loras,” she said when she opened the door. She looked as though she hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Hey Nads. Mind if I come in?” he asked.

“Sure.” Nadalia stood back and let Loras in. “How’s Isolde doing?”

“Better. They reckon she can come home next week,” Loras replied. Isolde had taken a while to recover from her injuries, but seemed to have got over the worst of it. “Levon and Rehan have announced their joining, too. We’re all invited once they set a date for the ceremony.”

Nadalia smiled half-heartedly. “That’s nice. I’m glad they’ve got together. What about Alaric? Did he get elected?”

“You mean you didn’t hear?” Loras said, disbelieving. “It’s been all over the radio the last few days, he got in with pretty much everyone’s vote. Yuni’s pleased,” he said with a grin.

“I bet she is. Nazar was here the other day,” Nadalia said, changing the subject. “He says you and Eznik have been trying to educate the hemsepans.”

“Yeah,” Loras nodded. “It’s going to take a while, but I think we’ll get there eventually. Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, Nads. I’ve been talking things through with Ryan, and…”

“I only did what I had to, I shouldn’t blame myself for anything that happened at Saphrax’s base,” Nadalia cut in. “Eznik told me the same thing last week. I’m not concerned so much about what I did, I know it was necessary. What worries me is how I felt at the time.” She took a deep breath. “I… a part of me enjoyed it, Loras.”

Loras looked sympathetic. “Nads, that’s what I was talking to Ryan about. He says it’s probably part of a natural feeling. The guy killed your partner, your dad, your best friend, and a whole bunch of other people besides. But I think you need to talk to someone. Come back with me, I’ll introduce you to Susan. She’s a sort of mind doctor, she might be able to help you through this.”

Nadalia sighed wearily. “Alright.”

* * * * *

Alaric looked around his new home. He’d moved in to Korian’s old place, partly because it was a nice, central location, but mostly because it seemed right. After being elected, he had made a promise to fix everything Saphrax had messed up and continue what Korian had started. It would be hard work, but he knew he could do it. Especially while I’m sitting in this chair, he thought, dropping into the cushioned seat and purring in utter contentment.

“Al, sweetie, Tsoline’s here. She wants an exclusive interview,” Katayun called.

“Okay, tell her I’ll be there in a minute.” Alaric stood and looked around the office. He headed down the stairs, smiling to himself.

“Here she is, recorder and all,” Katayun said and headed off to the kitchen.

Tsoline waved enthusiastically when she saw him. “Hey Alaric, how are you? Enjoying your new position?”

“Most definitely. It’s certainly an improvement over my last abode,” he said with a wink. “Who’s your friend?” he asked, noticing the shy young feline next to Tsoline.

“This is Noyemi, she’s working as my assistant,” Tsoline said, introducing the girl. “Apparently, she was held prisoner as well, weren’t you?”

Noyemi nodded. “Valamir held me captive. He seemed to think I was the Thirteenth Kat, which I wasn’t. Who was she, do any of you know?”

“Korian’s partner, Nadalia. That reminds me, I’ve got to call her soon. Anyway, shall we get this interview started?” Alaric said.

Tsoline nodded. “Of course.” She switched her recorder on. “So, you’ve told us all that you’re planning to carry on with Korian’s plans?”

“That’s right. The first thing I want to do is to get rid of that awful edifice Saphrax had built in Region Five. I’m hoping to replace it with a contemplation garden, or something of the sort. I’m also going to rebuild the large pool that used to be there,” Alaric replied. “Then I plan to take a trip out to Insectus, to try and repair the damage done to our relations out there.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Tsoline said approvingly. “But enough politics for now. Everyone is asking about your relationship with Katayun, and the biggest question seems to be when are you two making it official?”

Katayun heard and poked her head back through the door. “We’re not in a rush. We just want to take things slow, and let it happen naturally, don’t we Al?”

Alaric stifled a laugh. “Something like that. I was planning to surprise her with a proposal next week,” he whispered to Noyemi. “Don’t let on though.”

“Right. Our little secret,” she said. “So, are you still in touch with any of the rebels who helped you escape? Besides Nadalia, I mean.”

“Actually, yes. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours about the hemsepans,” he said, talking normally again. “I’d like to clarify a few points there. It’s true that the rebels found hemsepans in a state of suspension, and convinced them to help in overthrowing Saphrax. However, it’s not true that once Saphrax was dealt with the hemsepans killed and ate everybody in sight. I’ve met them, they’re actually quite pleasant,” Alaric told both of them.

Tsoline nodded. “I met them too. Well, some of them, and they seemed okay. Do you think our history could be wrong, Alaric?”

Alaric shrugged. “Who knows? I do think we’ve generalised their species a little. If we based our history on people like Saphrax, we’d come across as a lot worse than we are. I know some historians are working with the hemsepans at the moment, so we should get a much clearer picture of the facts in the near future.”

* * * * *

Levon and Nazar sat staring at each other. “I know you think I’m crazy, Naz, but we’re his kids too. We turned out alright,” Levon said. “Rehan and I are going to raise the girl properly. She’ll be just like any other normal kid.”

Nazar sighed in exasperation. “Lev, you and I have our mum’s genes too. Viviane has Melicia’s genes, and Melicia was a psychopathic bitch. That kind of stuff runs in families,” he told his twin brother. “I’m not saying you should give her away or anything, I’m just saying you’ll need to watch her as she gets older.”

“Can I say something here?” Rehan asked. Both brothers turned to look at her. “I don’t see why her birth parents are such a big deal. What matters is that she’s got two big brothers who care about her, and are going to look after her. Besides, she was barely five months old when we took her in. I doubt she’ll remember anything about either Saphrax or Melicia.”

“Precisely. You’re just being paranoid, Naz. Come on, come and see her. She’s just learning to walk, it’s so cute to watch,” Levon said, leading Nazar into the next room.

“Ahh,” went Nazar when he saw the little girl tottering around the room holding the furniture. “Okay, you’ve got me. She is adorable,” he said with a big, silly smile across his face.

Rehan gave him a funny look. “You want one now, don’t you?” she asked shrewdly.

“No,” Nazar said, not quite convincingly. “I would like to come and babysit her though.”

Levon laughed. “I’m sure we can arrange that. Hey, have you heard from Parvona and Antrias? Did they manage to get back to Insectus okay?” he asked, suddenly curious about the fate of their ex-spies.

“Yeah, they got back last week. Get this, they took Meb and her family with them!” Nazar exclaimed. “They feel a lot more comfortable over there, apparently. Meb and her lot, that is.”

“Good for them. You reckon we’ll see them again?” Levon asked. “I wouldn’t mind thanking them properly for helping us.”

Nazar shrugged. “Maybe. We might be able to go over there and visit them sometime, Alaric’s planning to go over and sort out the political mess Saphrax caused when he threatened all their ambassadors with death unless they left.”

“Sounds like a good idea, brother.”

* * * * *

Nadalia fidgeted in the chair. “Is this going to take much longer?” she asked the hemsepans called Susan.

Loras translated Susan’s answer. “Not long now. She wants you to describe exactly what you thought and felt when you pulled the trigger,” he said.

Nadalia thought for a moment. “I was thinking about Mari, and Korian, and my dad. About all the people he’d hurt and killed, all the things he’d ordered done. I just felt so angry, like he was never going to change, and the only way to stop him hurting everyone was to kill him.” She waited for Loras to catch up with the translation before continuing. “When I did it, I was pleased, and relieved that he wouldn’t be able to do any of it anymore. Is that normal?” she asked nervously.

Susan spoke, and Nadalia could tell she was reassuring her before Loras translated. “It’s perfectly natural. Susan says your feelings at the time were normal, if not entirely rational, and the remorse you’re feeling now is natural too. She says she’d be more concerned if you weren’t beating yourself up over it,” Loras told Nadalia.

“So it doesn’t make me a bad person, that I was glad he died?” Nadalia asked hopefully.

Susan shook her head. “You want talk again, you come me,” she said, using the fragmented speech she had picked up so far.

“Thank you, I feel a lot better now,” Nadalia said, smiling properly for the first time in months. “I might take you up on another… session, did you call it?”

Loras translated for Susan. “Session, yeah. So, what are you going to do now you’re feeling better?” Loras asked her as they left the room.

Nadalia looked up at the sky. The dark clouds Saphrax had seeded up there were beginning to clear, and sunlight was leaking through again. “I think I’ll go for a swim with Nazeli and Drystan. Maybe see if I can find Leniya,” she said. “I haven’t spoken to her in ages. Say hi to everyone else for me.”

“I will. Eznik’s going to be pleased you’re okay again,” Loras told her. “He’s been worried about you.”

“There you are, Loras,” Ovsanna said, popping out of the lounge. “Can you come and help us with some of these books, Mihran and I are going to start translating them… Oh hi Nads, how are you doing?”

“Much better now, thanks to Susan. I was just going for a swim. How are you doing?” Nadalia asked in return.

Ovsanna shrugged. “You know, distracting myself with my reading. Annoyed because I don’t have a band anymore,” she said with half a smile. “Still, I can always become a music teacher. Lucy has some very strange songs on a little box, they sound like they could be interesting to try and play.”

“Hey Nads, you want to come swimming with us?” Drystan asked, coming out to see why everyone seemed to be gathering in the hallway.

Nadalia nodded. “Yes I do. I’ll race you there,” she said. “See you guys later,” she called over her shoulder to the others as she ran to catch up with Drystan.

Nazeli came out behind them. “What a pair of kids,” she commented. “I suppose I’d better go and keep them out of trouble. Bye, everyone.”

 

The End