painfully into Chris’s forearm. ‘It’s not all right at all. Mother. You must take a message to Mother.’
‘I will,’ Chris promised. ‘We can take it together when they let us out of here.’
The Major shook his head. ‘No. They won’t let me go. Disorderly house and all that. No bail for the likes of me. You must do it for me.’
The message the Major gave him didn’t make any sense to Chris, but he committed it to memory anyway. The Major’s moment of coherence was lost and he lay back against the cell wall, muttering and shaking his head.
Chris watched him for a few minutes, before curling up to try to get some rest himself. His lungs still ached from the fire and his clothes and hair reeked of bitter smoke. He’d drunk far more than he usually did and his mouth felt thick and swollen. He lay on the uncomfortable bench, thinking about the strange events of the evening. He found himself thinking about Patsy, the way it had felt when her thoughts had slipped into his mind. It had been a pleasant feeling, warm and reassuring, like the first sip of hot coffee after being out in the cold. It reminded him just how caught up in his own thoughts and feelings he’d been over the last month. How alone he’d been.
He hugged himself to try to keep warm in the cold cell. He drifted off to sleep, his thoughts full of the strange people he’d met that evening.
55
Interlude
Gilliam’s Story
The royal barge, the Jewelled Sword , floated quietly in the skies above the capital city of Kr’on Tep. The queen’s shuttle, tiny against the bulk of the enormous interstellar craft, detached itself and dropped away from the curved underbelly of the barge and headed towards the planet below.
The pilot of the shuttle was the queen herself. Her hands moved expertly over the instruments which controlled the craft. After she punched the course information, the automatics took over and the queen tugged the release of the seat’s harness and slipped down on to the deck.
She was going to get into trouble for this. Her schedule had been carefully arranged for the next two years. Glancing at the time she realized that she had already missed two engagements – one of which was with the Thordon ambassador itself. There would be an uproar. Particularly when her husband found out.
Well that was just too bad. This time she’d had enough. Queen Gilliam dressed in her cabin, exchanging her silk robes for a pair of rough canvas trousers and one of her husband’s old shirts. She tied her shoulder length blonde hair back into a ponytail, and pulled on the heavy boots she had shamelessly stolen from one of her bodyguards.
One of the many problems with being queen was that no one would let you wear anything remotely practical. On more formal occasions, her clothing was so intricate and unwieldy that two handmaidens were required just to allow her to be seated. The suffocating constraints of royal clothing was only a reflection of the tight organization of a queen’s life. Gilham’s day began shortly before sunrise and royal business was rarely finished before the sun had set. In addition to being the nominal Queen of Kr’on Tep and its Seven Systems, she was personally the Governor of seven worlds, as well as the director of several health and education initiatives on the planet below. The concept of a ‘holiday’ was unknown to the royal courts of Kr’on Tep.
Until now.
Queen Gilliam tossed the last of her equipment into a holdall, threw some underwear on top of the assorted instruments and headed for the airlock.
She arrived just as the shuttle’s engines were powering down. The craft had 57
brought her to its programmed destination. After a few short moments, she was standing on the hot surface of the planet of which she was queen. It was the first time she had been alone in the open air in more than twenty years. A wicked grin snuck across her face; they would be going crazy up on the barge.
The shuttle had
‘I will,’ Chris promised. ‘We can take it together when they let us out of here.’
The Major shook his head. ‘No. They won’t let me go. Disorderly house and all that. No bail for the likes of me. You must do it for me.’
The message the Major gave him didn’t make any sense to Chris, but he committed it to memory anyway. The Major’s moment of coherence was lost and he lay back against the cell wall, muttering and shaking his head.
Chris watched him for a few minutes, before curling up to try to get some rest himself. His lungs still ached from the fire and his clothes and hair reeked of bitter smoke. He’d drunk far more than he usually did and his mouth felt thick and swollen. He lay on the uncomfortable bench, thinking about the strange events of the evening. He found himself thinking about Patsy, the way it had felt when her thoughts had slipped into his mind. It had been a pleasant feeling, warm and reassuring, like the first sip of hot coffee after being out in the cold. It reminded him just how caught up in his own thoughts and feelings he’d been over the last month. How alone he’d been.
He hugged himself to try to keep warm in the cold cell. He drifted off to sleep, his thoughts full of the strange people he’d met that evening.
55
Interlude
Gilliam’s Story
The royal barge, the Jewelled Sword , floated quietly in the skies above the capital city of Kr’on Tep. The queen’s shuttle, tiny against the bulk of the enormous interstellar craft, detached itself and dropped away from the curved underbelly of the barge and headed towards the planet below.
The pilot of the shuttle was the queen herself. Her hands moved expertly over the instruments which controlled the craft. After she punched the course information, the automatics took over and the queen tugged the release of the seat’s harness and slipped down on to the deck.
She was going to get into trouble for this. Her schedule had been carefully arranged for the next two years. Glancing at the time she realized that she had already missed two engagements – one of which was with the Thordon ambassador itself. There would be an uproar. Particularly when her husband found out.
Well that was just too bad. This time she’d had enough. Queen Gilliam dressed in her cabin, exchanging her silk robes for a pair of rough canvas trousers and one of her husband’s old shirts. She tied her shoulder length blonde hair back into a ponytail, and pulled on the heavy boots she had shamelessly stolen from one of her bodyguards.
One of the many problems with being queen was that no one would let you wear anything remotely practical. On more formal occasions, her clothing was so intricate and unwieldy that two handmaidens were required just to allow her to be seated. The suffocating constraints of royal clothing was only a reflection of the tight organization of a queen’s life. Gilham’s day began shortly before sunrise and royal business was rarely finished before the sun had set. In addition to being the nominal Queen of Kr’on Tep and its Seven Systems, she was personally the Governor of seven worlds, as well as the director of several health and education initiatives on the planet below. The concept of a ‘holiday’ was unknown to the royal courts of Kr’on Tep.
Until now.
Queen Gilliam tossed the last of her equipment into a holdall, threw some underwear on top of the assorted instruments and headed for the airlock.
She arrived just as the shuttle’s engines were powering down. The craft had 57
brought her to its programmed destination. After a few short moments, she was standing on the hot surface of the planet of which she was queen. It was the first time she had been alone in the open air in more than twenty years. A wicked grin snuck across her face; they would be going crazy up on the barge.
The shuttle had
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