start with, a tactic to
make Elena feel a little less anxious about the consequences.
“Captain
Forster said ”
“I told you
before that you do not take your orders from Forster. Now, try a
little harder to answer my question. Why did you spy on us?”
“One of our own killed
the embryos and stole the blood. There is also some connection
between this incident and Ziemia. The person who is doing these
wicked things may be one of us here now on Ziemia, or even one of
the Council. We did not know who we could trust, and ”
“We we! ‘We’ means you and Forster, I suppose?” Barrow’s
voice rose. “I warned you not to get too cosy with Forster.”
“Yes, we sought to
gain an advantage over the traitor by knowing your plan, the plan
of the Council, in advance.”
“It is an outrage that
you could suspect one of the Council, but the greater crime that
you have committed is invading the privacy, the sacredness of the
Council itself. There is only one punishment appropriate for your
crime. You will be a sacrificed to the gods.”
Elena snivelled.
“At sunset I will take
you from the ship and find a place to kill you. You will be
sacrificed in the same way that the Karavec embryos were killed butchered. Do you understand?”
Elena tried to be
brave. “Yes, Lord Barrow,” she said. “I understand.”
“In the meantime your
hands will be tied, and you are not permitted to leave this room,
or to communicate with the others.”
When evening came,
Barrow led Elena from the ship, using a back entrance so that no
one else would know what was happening, or ask any difficult
questions. He needed to deal with Elena swiftly and
efficiently.
He took her to
the seclusion of the rocks, close to where Forster had met with
Jesse and the others the day before. She lay down on a flat rock,
and awaited her fate. Barrow removed a knife from a sheaf on his
belt, and held it poised above her prostrate body; then he began
chanting the familiar prayer to the gods. He entered into a trance,
a semi-conscious state that temporarily interrupted his ability to
use his gnaris to observe his surroundings. “Oh, mighty gods,” he
said, “hear us from across the great darkness. You dwell far away
in another galaxy ”
At that
moment, Barrow felt a searing pain when something cracked into his
skull. He tottered forwards, and landed in a heap on top of
Elena.
“What
the ” Elena didn’t finish her sentence.
She felt something being placed over her head. It felt quite soft,
but was heavy and smelt vile a mixture
of stale lanolin and rotting animal flesh. She had difficulty
breathing, and the stench almost made her vomit. She felt a pair of
hands lift her up, and then she had the sensation of being carried
on the bony shoulder of someone, or some two-legged animal.
The creature
that had captured her walked for what seemed like an hour, but was
probably much less, before tossing her body to the ground. She lay
still for several minutes, not daring to move, every part of her
body aching and bruised. When she finally found the courage to
investigate where she was, she tossed the heavy smelly animal skin
to one side. She could not see a thing. She used gnaris to feel her
way around her prison. It seemed that its walls consisted of solid
rock, and she could detect no way out except for one small crack
that served as an entrance to her prison.
She felt
another presence in the darkness. From her sitting position, she
edged her way over to the unconscious form of the Great Savant. She
heard his shallow breathing, and thanked the gods that he was not
dead. Just a few minutes earlier he had been prepared to kill her,
but she could not have borne the burden of knowing that he might
die instead of her. He was the Great Savant. He could not die.
She shook him.
“Lord Barrow, wake up,” she whispered. He groaned, but did not
stir.
She searched
his belt to try to locate the knife that he had intended to use
against
make Elena feel a little less anxious about the consequences.
“Captain
Forster said ”
“I told you
before that you do not take your orders from Forster. Now, try a
little harder to answer my question. Why did you spy on us?”
“One of our own killed
the embryos and stole the blood. There is also some connection
between this incident and Ziemia. The person who is doing these
wicked things may be one of us here now on Ziemia, or even one of
the Council. We did not know who we could trust, and ”
“We we! ‘We’ means you and Forster, I suppose?” Barrow’s
voice rose. “I warned you not to get too cosy with Forster.”
“Yes, we sought to
gain an advantage over the traitor by knowing your plan, the plan
of the Council, in advance.”
“It is an outrage that
you could suspect one of the Council, but the greater crime that
you have committed is invading the privacy, the sacredness of the
Council itself. There is only one punishment appropriate for your
crime. You will be a sacrificed to the gods.”
Elena snivelled.
“At sunset I will take
you from the ship and find a place to kill you. You will be
sacrificed in the same way that the Karavec embryos were killed butchered. Do you understand?”
Elena tried to be
brave. “Yes, Lord Barrow,” she said. “I understand.”
“In the meantime your
hands will be tied, and you are not permitted to leave this room,
or to communicate with the others.”
When evening came,
Barrow led Elena from the ship, using a back entrance so that no
one else would know what was happening, or ask any difficult
questions. He needed to deal with Elena swiftly and
efficiently.
He took her to
the seclusion of the rocks, close to where Forster had met with
Jesse and the others the day before. She lay down on a flat rock,
and awaited her fate. Barrow removed a knife from a sheaf on his
belt, and held it poised above her prostrate body; then he began
chanting the familiar prayer to the gods. He entered into a trance,
a semi-conscious state that temporarily interrupted his ability to
use his gnaris to observe his surroundings. “Oh, mighty gods,” he
said, “hear us from across the great darkness. You dwell far away
in another galaxy ”
At that
moment, Barrow felt a searing pain when something cracked into his
skull. He tottered forwards, and landed in a heap on top of
Elena.
“What
the ” Elena didn’t finish her sentence.
She felt something being placed over her head. It felt quite soft,
but was heavy and smelt vile a mixture
of stale lanolin and rotting animal flesh. She had difficulty
breathing, and the stench almost made her vomit. She felt a pair of
hands lift her up, and then she had the sensation of being carried
on the bony shoulder of someone, or some two-legged animal.
The creature
that had captured her walked for what seemed like an hour, but was
probably much less, before tossing her body to the ground. She lay
still for several minutes, not daring to move, every part of her
body aching and bruised. When she finally found the courage to
investigate where she was, she tossed the heavy smelly animal skin
to one side. She could not see a thing. She used gnaris to feel her
way around her prison. It seemed that its walls consisted of solid
rock, and she could detect no way out except for one small crack
that served as an entrance to her prison.
She felt
another presence in the darkness. From her sitting position, she
edged her way over to the unconscious form of the Great Savant. She
heard his shallow breathing, and thanked the gods that he was not
dead. Just a few minutes earlier he had been prepared to kill her,
but she could not have borne the burden of knowing that he might
die instead of her. He was the Great Savant. He could not die.
She shook him.
“Lord Barrow, wake up,” she whispered. He groaned, but did not
stir.
She searched
his belt to try to locate the knife that he had intended to use
against
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