Kwaide (The Ammonite Galaxy Series, Book 2)

Chapter Eight

Chapter 8

SIX OPENED BLEARY eyes and hoped beyond hope that the scene in front of him would have changed. It hadn’t. He twisted on the end of the chains like a longfish on a hook. The conjunction of stars and planets were clearly not in his favour just at the moment, he thought savagely. Then he pulled himself up with a mental rebuke. Come on! You can do better than this. You always think of something. 

Not true. Grace was the one who always came up with something, and Diva the one who wouldn’t give up, come what may. Six narrowed his eyes as he thought of the Coriolan girl. There was simply no way he was going to spend any longer being dandled on the end of these chains. Diva would certainly have done something about her situation, and he was not going to be less than her. Kwaidian nomuses may not be renowned in the system for their inspiring feats, but here was a chance to put the records straight. There was nobody – nobody – who could beat him when it came to bravery. And it was about time he pulled himself together and showed her mulchiness just how nifty his best could be.

Six began to examine his situation from all angles. He was suspended from unbreakable chains, inside a starship which was somewhere near Nomus – an inhospitable environment which could allow nobody to survive. He knew that Atheron was also on board, plus the two guards, and he had to assume there would be at least one other Sellite manning the spacecraft.

Easy, he thought. All I have to do is break free of the chains, take over control of the ship and head it back to Valhai with Atheron and his cronies locked up firmly. He gazed around him, hoping to spot something to make all that come true. Come on! What would Diva have done? Where is that insignificant little something which was going to make all the difference between success and failure? 

At least they haven’t put you into stasis, he thought feelingly. He had no wish to repeat that experience. He looked at the stasis pods in front of him, noticing a very slight frosting around the top valve on one of the pods. Suddenly a thought came into his mind. He tilted his head and half-closed his eyes in concentration. It might – just might – work. Yes, if the luck of Sacras was with him, it might. 

He gave an angry shake to the chains binding him to the rings. But what if it didn’t? He would be risking his life.

No, there could be no doubts, he decided. Diva would simply go right ahead and execute the plan. So would he. If it worked, all would be well. If it didn’t – well, he would be as dead as the proverbial lost animas of Xiantha. Way to go, he thought. At least he would be choosing the how and the when – better than hanging around here waiting on Atheron’s whim. Certainly better than giving away any more secrets under the influence of the quenera root.

The decision taken at last, the Kwaidian chin came up and out, and the owner of the chin began to swing to and fro, gradually increasing the rhythm of each swing. After a couple of minutes his feet were describing an arc through the air of several metres to each side of the pivot. He had made himself into a human pendulum. 

Finally he found that he was able to touch one of the stasis pods on the side of the ship with the tips of his toes. He used this to push hard away from the metal to try to gain even more impetus. The effort was straining his arms, and the rings were biting into his hands viciously, causing him go white with the pain. He felt the taste of blood in his mouth – he had bitten his lip.

It must have taken over ten minutes, swinging ignominiously to and fro, but at last he was able to hook his legs over one of the stasis pods lined up along the sides of the hold; the one with the sheen of frosting. The sudden jolt as the pendulum was forced into immobility nearly pulled both of his arms right out of their sockets, but he still managed to keep silent. Anchoring himself with one foot, he struggled a little to extricate the other, and then began to use it to batter at the tube leading up to the faulty top valve on the exterior of the stasis pod.