2.14
Kssh-Thll was not having a good day.
He’d been Steward Intendent of Lsh-Lff for three orbits, since before the Concealment. He’d had a vote, as one of the Civic Trustees, when the decision was made to hide the city. Not an easy decision; much anguish would be caused in the rest of Dskt when the news of Lsh-Lff ’s ‘destruction’ got out. And within the walls, many who had family in other regions had protested against the necessity of allowing their relatives to believe them lost, to mourn and grieve while all the time their loved ones lived on, hidden beneath the optical shield.
When the invasion of Mlml had failed, or been repulsed, or whatever it was that had happened across the narrow strip of ocean (no one in Lsh-Lff was entirely sure how the G’grk’s campaign had been stalled; some bizarre rumours flew around involving aliens and strange tonal chanting, but no one believed a word of that) and the G’grk began to withdraw their troops back to the Central Plains, another dilemma had arisen: should the city reveal itself, safe and intact? Was the G’grk retreat a ploy? Would Lsh-Lff, having spent all that time hidden, be overrun as soon as it was exposed?
Surely, the Trustees thought, if the ceasefire held, if the truce were genuine, help would come. Wouldn’t Dskt’s national government, once reinstalled in the great capital city Hff, send troops and engineers to rebuild the city? They would come, with their tools and machines, ready to demolish the ruins and start again – only to find the city and its people safe and sound! The joy of that reunion! The relief ! The jubilation!
No help came.
The G’grk withdrawal
MUST
have been a ploy. The country was
NOT
free and safe.
In fact, the government in Hff had decided not to rebuild Lsh-Lff, but to leave the ruins standing as a permanent, sombre memorial to those who had fallen during the war. Of course, no one told the people of Lsh-Lff about this; as far as anyone knew, there was nobody to tell.
The city remained hidden. No one was allowed to go beyond the city walls. No transmissions to the lands outside the city walls were allowed. No one had ever found them. No one was ever supposed to find them.
Especially not a pair of aliens.
- I don’t suppose there’s a British consulate, is there?
Billy smiled weakly. Terra glowered at him.
Kssh-Thll rubbed his temples. He had one of those headaches that only Fnrrns get coming on. He looked across his desk at the two bizarre creatures who had been brought to his bureau. Even once he had got used to the garish, ruddy skin colouring and the horrid fibrous excrescences on their heads, there remained the ridiculous attire and the clanging accents (although to be fair, everyone from Mlml sounded like that to Kssh-Thll). He decided to try again.
- So, you say that you have come here looking for some friends – friends who have fled the tyranny in Mlml. You have walked into a city that the whole of Fnrr thinks is a dead ruin, and you think your friends are here. Why?
Terra stared at the floor. Billy nudged her.
- Tell him,
he said.
- It sounds stupid when you say it out loud,
she muttered.
- Please, young Ymn,
said Kssh-Thll,
indulge me.
Terra sighed.
- We came here because . . . because . . .
- Because it came to her in a dream!
said a familiar ebullient voice.
Terra and Billy wheeled round. Terra’s face lit up like a supernova. She didn’t care if she was under arrest – she
didn’t even know if she was under arrest – she’d never been so pleased to see anyone in her life.
-
FTHFTH
!
she shouted, and ran to her friend.
Terra flung her arms around the young Fnrrn so hard that for a moment she was worried she’d injured her.
- You look weird,
said Fthfth when she’d got her breath back.
- You look bigger!
replied Terra.
- I
AM
bigger. And so are you.
MUCH
bigger.
- Not THAT much bigger,
protested Terra with a smile.
- Yes, you are.
MUCH MUCH
bigger. You’re
ENORMOUS
. What have you been eating?
- Almost nothing since I got back,
said Terra.
- Erm . . .
came a quiet voice,
I’m here too you know.
Terra turned.
-
PKTK
!
she said, and gave him almost as fierce a hug as the one she’d given Fthfth. That done, she turned straight back to Fthfth.
- How’s Lyceum?
- If I might beg your pardon,
said Kssh-Thll stiffly, suspecting that they’d quite forgotten that he was there, never mind that they were still in his bureau.
- Oh yes!
said Fthfth, who had quite forgotten that Kssh-Thll was still there and that they were still in his bureau.
Thank you, Steward Intendent. I have here –
she handed him a shard of crystal on which was engraved an insignia –
the crest of the ArchRector of Lsh-Lff Polynasium.
These Ymns are members of Preceptor Shm’s party and are to be treated as guests of the ArchRector.
Kssh-Thll studied the shard.
- I think you’ll find it’s quite in order,
said Fthfth.
Kssh-Thll had no idea if this was indeed the crest of the ArchRector of Lsh-Lff Polynasium, or if crystal shards were considered a proper form of documentation; he wasn’t even entirely sure he’d ever
HEARD
of Lsh-Lff Polynasium. But it looked like these two Ymn interlopers were about to become officially someone else’s responsibility, and that was good enough for him.
- Of course it is.
Kssh-Thll smiled.
Have a pleasant stay.
He handed the shard back to Fthfth, sat back at his desk and tried to look busy. As they turned to go, Terra and Fthfth’s conversation resumed without missing a beat.
- I’m nearly in orbit four now! Actually they said I might skip orbit four altogether and go straight to five. Of course that was before all this Gfjk-Whatsit nonsense started. But never mind that, tell me all about Rrth.
Billy and Pktk caught each other’s eye.
- I’m Billy,
said Billy. He extended a hand for Pktk to shake.
Pktk stared at the hand for a moment, then said,
- I’m Pktk.
- Right,
said Billy, withdrawing the hand.
For a moment, they stood wordlessly as their female counterparts chatted excitedly. Then, as Terra and Fthfth trotted away happily, the two young males shared a knowing look and followed them. Interesting, thought Billy, that the ‘let’s leave the girls to get on with it’ face was truly universally understood.
* * *
- So why here? Why Lsh-Lff ?
asked Terra, as they passed out into the street.
- Safest place to hide is a place that no one even thinks is a place.
Fthfth smiled.
- But how did YOU find it?
Terra persisted.
- Er, that was me actually,
said Pktk, shuffling up behind them.
I found Lsh-Lff. Or rather I figured out that it was still here.
Terra could tell that Pktk was dying to say how he’d done this but was far too modest – even now, after all he’d done to save his friends during the invasion – to volunteer the information. So she asked him.
- Well,
said Pktk happily,
I’ve been writing an account of the invasion for the Preceptorate archives.
Terra nodded; she remembered Pktk’s fondness for military history. No doubt the opportunity to record some military history that he’d actually played a part in himself had been irresistible.
Pktk went on.
-
I’d been interviewing refugees from Dskt who’d ended up in Mlml about their experiences of the G’grk occupation – pretty heavy stuff actually. You can read it if you like, but I’ll warn you it’s not very . . . Erm. Yes, so anyway, I made lists of where all the refugees had come from, and when I sorted them all out, there weren’t
ANY
from Lsh-Lff. Not one. It just didn’t seem possible. There’s never been a city attacked and
NOBODY
got away. I’ve been reading the histories of wars on other planets and it’s
NEVER
happened. Even when a city’s been wiped out with one of those massive bomb-things like they have on Rrth
(at this Terra and Billy exchanged sheepish glances),
SOMEBODY’S
got out in time. It just struck me as odd.
While Billy was listening, he was trying to make sense of it in his head. So Terra’s home country was Mlml, this was Dskt, the previous bad guys were the G’grk. The new bad guy is the Gfjk-something. If only I had an idea how to spell any of this, Billy thought sadly, it’d be so much easier to understand.
- So, anyway,
Pktk continued,
I looked at images of the city taken from orbit, and sure enough, it was burned out and deserted, but when I looked at
ENERGY
readings taken from space, there’s a
MASSIVE
energy field being generated, right in the centre of the city. The fusion stations here are working permanently at full capacity to maintain the camouflage field. I don’t think they’ll be able to keep it up for ever.
- Why ARE they keeping it up?
asked Terra.
They do know the war is over, right?
- They do since we got here,
said Fthfth importantly,
but now that the Gfjk-Stupid-Thingy-Face has taken over back home, they’re as scared of him as they were of the G’grk. I don’t think they’ll be switching the field off just yet.
Pktk coughed. He hadn’t quite finished his story.
- So after I told Preceptor Shm that Lsh-Lff was probably not destroyed after all, he managed to get a message to ArchRector Qss-Jff at the Polynasium. They’re old friends.
- Used to play gshkth together apparently,
said Fthfth matter-of-factly. Terra boggled at the idea of stiff old Preceptor Shm playing gshkth, and shuddered at the memory of what gshkth had become back in Hrrng. She looked around at the blithe, bustling streets of Lsh-Lff and felt envious on Hrrng’s behalf.
- The ArchRector invited Preceptor Shm and his closest advisers—
began Pktk.
- Which these days includes US,
interjected Fthfth proudly.
- To stay here, at the Polynasium, so we can work on ways to beat the Gfjk-Hhh and take Mlml back,
said Pktk.
And there it is!
He pointed to a grand, colonnaded temple-like structure a few hundred metres ahead of them.
- Impressive,
said Terra.
So what’s Lbbp been doing all this time?
A leaden silence. Fthfth and Pktk stopped walking, glanced sorrowfully at each other and then lowered their eyes. Billy sensed Terra’s sudden alarm and panic.
- Fthfth? Pktk?
Terra said, with just the faintest tremor in her voice.
Where’s Lbbp?
2.15
Lbbp looked through the doorway.
He looked into the main room of his apartment in Hrrng.
Someone was there.
Sitting on the bench seat, gazing out of the window as the orange evening sun streamed into the room.
- Bsht?
She turned and smiled.
- Bsht,
said Lbbp.
Oh, Bsht, I’m so sorry. I looked everywhere for you – the refugee centres, the nosocomia . . . I checked the casualty lists; I even looked through pictures of the unidentified dead . . . Where have you been?
She raised a hand and touched his face.
- Where are you now, Lbbp?
- I’m . . . what do you mean, where am—? I’m here, aren’t I?
Lbbp looked around the room.
- I can’t be here. I’m not here, am I?
He looked sadly at Bsht.
And neither are you.
He slumped onto the seat beside her and plunged his face into his hands.
- He’s won. He’s won, hasn’t he? He’s finally driven me out of my mind.
She put an arm gently across his shoulder.
- No, silly,
she said,
he hasn’t won. He hasn’t won at all. And you’ll see why. But first you have to go.
He turned to her imploringly.
- No, not yet, please . . .
Bsht smiled in that exasperated, understanding way she used to smile at him.
- It’s time, Lbbp. It’s time to—
-
WAKE UP
!
Lbbp sat up with a nerve-jangling start. He felt hard stone beneath him.
A custodian – one he’d not seen before – was hammering on the crystal.
- Breakfast,
the custodian said simply. He opened a tiny flap at the bottom of the crystal barrier and pushed the hexagonal dish of grey slop through the open slot. He then closed the transparent flap, and the slot sealed itself.
- Might as well eat it,
said the custodian.
He’s in a weird mood. You’ll need your strength.
Lbbp stared at the dish of slop. He would probably eat it in due course, but it didn’t interest him. He had too much to think about.
I was dreaming, wasn’t I? he thought. Like a baby . . . Like a Ymn.
He got up and stretched. Had the Gfjk-Hhh finally driven him insane?
No, he was certain that wasn’t it. Lbbp began to pace, and think.
Prolonged isolation . . . sensory deprivation . . . Fnrrns don’t dream past infancy, but I haven’t been
LIVING
like a Fnrrn. Sleeping on a hard floor instead of weightless in a sleep-well . . . darkness and silence instead of the constant bombardment of information . . .
My brain isn’t broken, concluded Lbbp, it’s restarting itself. Those parts of the mind that years of comfort and convenience have rendered inert and silent, they’re all coming back to life because I need them now – I need them like no Fnrrn has needed them for eras.
Lbbp smiled.
He began to eat the slop. It was disgusting, but he needed some fuel. Fuel for his starving body and his racing mind.
Come on then, he thought. Come and play with your favourite toy. Because your favourite toy has just figured out how he’s going to beat you. Even from inside this box, thought Lbbp, I can beat you.