crispina kemp

Chapter Twenty-Four of my current wip. As before, all and any comments very much appreciated

Please note: This is a weekly post

The flier hovered over the fly-port. No sign of Canipse lurking, waiting, spying. Not that Jess would have aborted his return to base, but he preferred not to encounter him yet. He wanted to speak with Kookka before anything else, but Kookka was on fly duty. What now to do to fill the time until his return? Well, for a start he could land the flier. He brought it down slowly, to settle precisely in the centre of its pad.

He had a visitor, a red suited textile worker standing out against the grey walls of Hive One.

The pull-screen door was down. Armar not in? But no, gentle harp music coupled with laughter rippled across the base’s barren centre – from Hive Four. That would be Armar and Joel, musician and poet naturally partnered. Jess envied them their companionship on a day when Kookka wasn’t available for him.

“Dorsin?” Jess greeted his visitor. “You’re a day early. I’ve scheduled the start of the training for tomorrow. You’ll have good company, several of my observers aren’t yet proficient.”

“That wasn’t what I wanted to see you about. It’s our textiles farm, Hive Seven.”

“I know it, I’ve visited.” He swallowed the rising lump that threatened to choke him. He had told Cela-Byi he couldn’t bring her back to their base, that it would be dangerous for her. She’d accepted that, confusing his base with the hill-top farm. But that was good. That would keep her away from Poalt. But where was she to go?

“I have a cave. I share it with my spirit-kin, the Byi.”

A dragon’s cave? Horror and care for her filled him. Seeing his reaction, she laughed. “Only small ones, biters, not stranglers. We’re kin, they won’t hurt me.”

Her kin, not his. But that was good. Although he had held her, pressing bodies till not a gasp could get between them, wanting, urgent, demanding to be skin-to-skin and to slip in, yet when she’d said about the dragon’s cave he had happily parted from her, his hard-cocked fast-maturing part obediently collapsing. But that situation couldn’t last.

Now he asked Dorsin, “What is it about the farm?”

“It’s…it’s not the farm. Eulal and Niapse are able workers. Our overseer, Guul, never complains of them. It’s the domestic, Poalt.”

To be rid of the prickles racing down his back, Jess straightened to his full height. Poalt had been within sighting distance of Cela-Byi. His hands rose, as in prayer fashion. To pray to whom? Cela-Byi’s star-spirits? He forced his hands down, relaxed by his sides. “What has Poalt done?”

“I heard Guul telling Canipse – the catering overseer, you know him?”

Jess was the zem, overseer of the entire clutch, it was his duty to know everyone. And Canipse had made his presence known. He nodded to Dorsin, to encourage him to say on, fighting the urge to ball his fingers into fists. He had to work to calm his breathing too, for surely he sounded like a water-bull ready to charge.

“Poalt is Azal’s operative, but Azal…” Dorsin twitched a shoulder “Azal wasn’t there when Guul was saying, and I’m in the next hive to the overseers, I couldn’t help but hear.”

“And what was Guul saying?” As soon as Dorsin confirmed his fears he’d be straight back out with that flier and Poalt would be dead. Dead? That wasn’t something a Monza knew how to do, not deliberately anyway. Yet of late, thoughts of killing Canipse had increasingly blossomed. In the absence of the Techs?

“Guul says that Poalt has built a new hive. Small, he says, like one sleeper small. And since early yesterday morning, he’s kept a female Sanki in there. Tied up in there. Her screams alerted Eulal and Niapse, but Guul says Poalt has gagged her now.”

Jess gritted his teeth and wagged his head in exasperated disbelief. Yet that was coupled with his relief. By the timing, that female Sanki wasn’t Cela-Byi. Another then. Not an Itamakku from Toki-dow either, since he’d have heard about that. From a hill-dow? As with the hunter-warriors he had encountered. Or maybe even the Banmakka, head-hunters, apparently with a hunting range to north of the Itamakku. That did seem likely with where that farm was situated.

He thanked Dorsin for bringing this news. But why hadn’t Canipse mentioned it? No matter. Jess was the zem, he must sort it. “We’ll see you in the morning for training.”

And how long might it take to have all his observers plus the eager Dorsin aloft and flying? But it made no difference how many of the clutch were able. They’d still have only three fliers.

“Beautiful music, apologies to interrupt,” he said at the open door to Hive Four. He scanned inside. “No Shelek?”

“Obs duty,” Joel and Armar chorused.

“Ah.” That meant he’d have a flier out beyond Hive Eight, covering the hill-dows. “Might I come in?”

“You’re zem, you’re in.” Joel nudged Armar to shuffle along the deeply padded sofa-seat.

Jess sat.

“What’s it about?” Armar asked.

“Poalt, the domestic across at Hive Seven. Apparently he has himself a female. That’s bad enough, but he has her tied and gagged – he’s keeping her in a hut. She might be one of Shelek’s skein. Or she might belong to the Banmakka, a more northerly range. In which case everyone at that farm’s in danger. They’re head-hunters – and they like to skin their prey.”

And what was he to do? Armar asked him the same question.

Jess flopped his head back, eyes staring blankly at the hive’s vaulted ceiling. Sometimes being a zem meant doing things you’d rather not. He bit his lip until it drew pain, then sat up again. “I need obs to come with me. And in case of trouble, stun-guns. And I’d suggest anything else we can find to use in defence. But Canipse has this same information, and if Canipse can stir up a shit-pit, we know that’s what Canipse will do. So, we must leave enough obs here on base. Kookka, Shelek and Miax are currently out on duty, but you’ll have them when they return. Would you say you need more?”

“We’ll have the operatives here,” Armar said. “That’s plenty. You really do anticipate trouble?”

“I hope not. But only a fool would underestimate Canipse. At the very least he’ll take the opportunity to agitate. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but since we’ve been Tech-less there’s a growing dissatisfaction amongst the operatives.”

“Bristling,” Armar agreed. “Easily irritated. That wouldn’t be possible if we still had Techs.”

“Music soothes,” Joel quickly put in.

“From what I’ve seen,” Jess said, “Canipse’s favoured buddies prefer games of chance. Anyway, that’s Joel, Zeke, Saker and Brib with me. If you’re up for it, Joel.”

Armar rose from the shared seat. “What do you intend to do?”

Jess grimaced, sighed and huffed. He didn’t need this, neither Canipse’s quibbles nor Poalt’s abducted female. It wasn’t a situation he’d ever encountered. He doubted the Techs had encountered that latter either, unless it was on Urgula Teth. “That female has to be returned to her skein, whether Itamakku or Banmakka. And I’m thinking Poalt’s not going to allow it.”

“Banmakka? Where’d you get that name from?” Armar asked, now heading with Jess back to Hive One, harp in hand. “You’ve had more contact.”

“Doomed. But I shall resist. The safety of this clutch is my sole concern.”

To be continued next week

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