Ammonite Stars (Omnibus): Ammonite Galaxy #4-5 by Gillian Andrews
Authors: Gillian Andrews
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much,” said Arcan. “Once your mask packs run out you would only be able to put up with the conditions down there for a couple of hours, at most.”
Six gave a nod. “Hmm. Not much fun. And we will be on our own. Arcan, you mustn’t come down under any circumstances. They know all about you, and they would keep you forever trapped on their rotten planet.”
“I will not risk myself, I promise. With so much carbon nanographite around, I mustn’t.”
“Even if we don’t come back?”
Arcan hesitated. He didn’t like the conclusion he was being forced to come to. “No. I will stay here – whatever happens.”
“Stay here, no. You must take the visitor back to Pictoria.”
There was a long pause. “Very well,” Arcan said finally, although they could all hear the reluctance in his voice.
“Good. Then we had better get kitted up, hadn’t we? And we will take as many mask packs as we can.”
Chapter 7
ARCAN TRANSPORTED THE space shuttle to a couple of metres off the surface of Dessia, leaving it to fall the rest of the way. He simply did not dare to touch down physically on the planet himself, in case he got caught up by the same compound which had trapped the visitor.
The shuttle landed with a stiff jerk which rattled Grace’s teeth inside her skull. She winced.
“Right then,” said Six happily, unsheathing his kris – the Kwaidian sword he always carried. “Let’s go!”
He and Diva were so eager to get started that they both tried to squeeze through the hatch at the same time, causing a bottleneck. There was a moment of eye-to-eye challenge, before Six waved Diva in front of him, rolling his eyes at Grace so that she knew it was not what he would have chosen. She giggled and glanced towards Ledin, who was taking all this in with one raised eyebrow and a small shake of his head.
The shuttle had come down on the main island – an extension of perhaps two square miles floating in the middle of an ocean which covered the whole of the water-world of Dessia. They were right on the edge of the ocean; Arcan had brought them to a shelf of rock half-way up the cliff which led from the sea up to the built-up area. Grace stared around her. The rocks were grey, streaked with patches of black which lit them up rather eerily. Rain was dousing everything in water, and visibility was limited through the impenetrable drizzle. It was like trying to see through a cloud, and gave the whole landscape a surreal feeling. She looked up. Diva was already half-way up the cliff, with Six hot on her heels, obviously determined not to let her get to the top first. She sighed, and looked down at her own hands.
“We will let a rope down for you, Grace,” said Ledin. “There is no way you can scale that on your own.”
A sensation of heaviness settled in her heart. She was slowing them down already. “I know,” she forced herself to answer lightly. “I will wait here then, until you get a rope down to me.”
Ledin gently touched the discoloured spot on the tip of her nose with his finger, and then turned to the cliff. Within seconds, he was already metres up the rock face, making as good a time as Six. They must have both spend a lot of their childhood shinning up and down cliffs, she mused to herself. She watched until he disappeared into the misty downpour, and then settled back to wait. It seemed only seconds later that a rope uncoiled, and snaked its way back down to her. She tied a mariner’s knot with some difficulty, passed the rope through that to make a harness, and fitted it around her bodywrap. Then she began to make her way up the cliff face, using her hands and feet, but held firmly by four strong arms higher up.
With the support of the rope, it didn’t take her very long to make her way up the cliff. She arrived at the top with some slight bleeding from the scars on her fingers, but shut Ledin up with a look when he opened his mouth to comment on them. He closed his lips with such a hasty snap
Six gave a nod. “Hmm. Not much fun. And we will be on our own. Arcan, you mustn’t come down under any circumstances. They know all about you, and they would keep you forever trapped on their rotten planet.”
“I will not risk myself, I promise. With so much carbon nanographite around, I mustn’t.”
“Even if we don’t come back?”
Arcan hesitated. He didn’t like the conclusion he was being forced to come to. “No. I will stay here – whatever happens.”
“Stay here, no. You must take the visitor back to Pictoria.”
There was a long pause. “Very well,” Arcan said finally, although they could all hear the reluctance in his voice.
“Good. Then we had better get kitted up, hadn’t we? And we will take as many mask packs as we can.”
Chapter 7
ARCAN TRANSPORTED THE space shuttle to a couple of metres off the surface of Dessia, leaving it to fall the rest of the way. He simply did not dare to touch down physically on the planet himself, in case he got caught up by the same compound which had trapped the visitor.
The shuttle landed with a stiff jerk which rattled Grace’s teeth inside her skull. She winced.
“Right then,” said Six happily, unsheathing his kris – the Kwaidian sword he always carried. “Let’s go!”
He and Diva were so eager to get started that they both tried to squeeze through the hatch at the same time, causing a bottleneck. There was a moment of eye-to-eye challenge, before Six waved Diva in front of him, rolling his eyes at Grace so that she knew it was not what he would have chosen. She giggled and glanced towards Ledin, who was taking all this in with one raised eyebrow and a small shake of his head.
The shuttle had come down on the main island – an extension of perhaps two square miles floating in the middle of an ocean which covered the whole of the water-world of Dessia. They were right on the edge of the ocean; Arcan had brought them to a shelf of rock half-way up the cliff which led from the sea up to the built-up area. Grace stared around her. The rocks were grey, streaked with patches of black which lit them up rather eerily. Rain was dousing everything in water, and visibility was limited through the impenetrable drizzle. It was like trying to see through a cloud, and gave the whole landscape a surreal feeling. She looked up. Diva was already half-way up the cliff, with Six hot on her heels, obviously determined not to let her get to the top first. She sighed, and looked down at her own hands.
“We will let a rope down for you, Grace,” said Ledin. “There is no way you can scale that on your own.”
A sensation of heaviness settled in her heart. She was slowing them down already. “I know,” she forced herself to answer lightly. “I will wait here then, until you get a rope down to me.”
Ledin gently touched the discoloured spot on the tip of her nose with his finger, and then turned to the cliff. Within seconds, he was already metres up the rock face, making as good a time as Six. They must have both spend a lot of their childhood shinning up and down cliffs, she mused to herself. She watched until he disappeared into the misty downpour, and then settled back to wait. It seemed only seconds later that a rope uncoiled, and snaked its way back down to her. She tied a mariner’s knot with some difficulty, passed the rope through that to make a harness, and fitted it around her bodywrap. Then she began to make her way up the cliff face, using her hands and feet, but held firmly by four strong arms higher up.
With the support of the rope, it didn’t take her very long to make her way up the cliff. She arrived at the top with some slight bleeding from the scars on her fingers, but shut Ledin up with a look when he opened his mouth to comment on them. He closed his lips with such a hasty snap
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