The Broken Kingdom (50 page)

‘I’ve noticed Ellis’s ability with
languages. Can he speak valkar?’

‘No, he can’t speak or understand it.’
Taelid shook his head. ‘Our language comes from the same place our…
otherness comes from. You have only to look at him to see he lacks
that. He looks human. We managed to give them language though, it
was an experiment. It has worked well.’ His eyes flicked to Riley.
‘But I see she does not look human, yet she is not valkar.’

‘That’s what we wanted to ask you about.
Ellis says he will live hundreds of years, Riley will only live
thirty or forty, at best. Can you extend her lifespan?’ Aerlid
asked bluntly.

Taelid frowned as he gazed at her intently.
Then, without asking, he grabbed her arm, lifted it up and down.
Surprised, Riley withstood it. He poked and prodded her, circling
her as he did.

Then suddenly he said in exasperation,
‘you’ve done it all wrong.’ he shook his head.

Aerlid muttered, ‘that’s very
subjective.’

Taelid ignored him, instead looking around,
he picked up a stick from the ground. ‘Here, this is the humans.’
He drew a line on the ground that went up a little and then down,
it was mostly flat. ‘They live about eighty years, if they’re
healthy. This is Ellis, and the half breeds we made.’ The line
started at the same place, but it went up much higher, the human
curve was tiny underneath it. The line kept going, over twice as
long as the human line, then it came down again. ‘They are much
stronger than the humans, but nowhere near the valkar. They live
longer, and there is not much change in their power over their
lifetime. This is what you’ve done.’ And he made another line. It
started at the same place, then it shot up, far higher than the
other two. Then it crashed back down at around the halfway point of
the human line. ‘A fast improvement, followed by a sudden
decline.’

‘And now you want me to fix her.’ Taelid
frowned. ‘She is about here.’ And he circled the top of the peak,
with space on either side. ‘I’d have to examine her more closely,
and I think I’d need help. But at best, this is what I could do.’
And he rubbed out part of Riley’s line, starting just below the
peak. He redrew it as a vertical line down. It flattened out
somewhere between the human and Ellis curve, then it continued at
that level before ending. ‘I can’t say how long she’d last or how
weak she’d become, though certainly improvements could be made. The
sooner it’s done the better.’

Vann looked at Riley. He didn’t say
anything, he didn’t have to.

‘I can’t right now.’ was all Riley said,
‘Vann, we’ll talk about this later. But you know I can’t right now,
not yet.’

‘We’ll talk about it.’ he agreed.

‘I’ll have to examine you, I sense you have
been terribly injured in the past which may complicate things.’
Taelid repeated. ‘And I’d require an assistant, who I can explain
the procedure to.’

‘Aela perhaps could help.’ Rose said.

‘You must explain all this to me anyway.’
Aerlid said, ‘I couldn’t help, but I know how she was… put
together. I may be able to offer some insights.’

Vann took Riley’s hand and led her away.
Ellis ran after them.

He smiled, ‘Taelid knows this stuff better
than anyone. You can trust him.’

‘Thank you,’ Riley replied. ‘Why does he
call you a different name?’

Ellis shrugged self-consciously, ‘I’ve
always preferred Ellis, that’s all.’

Riley nodded her understanding. And then
Vann was quickly tugging her away to have a rather serious
conversation.

Riley sighed heavily, the discussion finally
ended for the time being.

She started walking away from the tent,
needing some space. She had not gotten very far when Ellis ran up
to her.

‘You look like you need someone to talk
to.’

Riley hesitated. The talk with Vann had been
rather personal. Though Ellis was slowly becoming a friend, she
wasn’t sure she wanted to share this with him. So she shook her
head. ‘No thanks, I don’t really want to talk about it.’

‘Alright. Let me take your mind off it
then.’

‘Hmm?’

‘I’ve heard you’re an excellent hunter,
among other things. Honestly, everyone here thinks you’re the best
at everything.’

‘Only important things.’ Riley replied
confidently.

Ellis laughed at that. When he saw she
wasn’t laughing he suddenly stopped. ‘That wasn’t a joke?’

Riley shook her head, though she was holding
back a smile. ‘You want me to teach you how to hunt?’ Riley
asked.

‘I know how to hunt. I was thinking more of
a competition. Or…’ his smile faded. ‘I know the valkar don’t like
that sort of thing. Maybe something else, a race? I doubt anyone
here could challenge you, except the valkar.’

‘And you think you could?’

‘I’m much faster without my armour, are you
ever going to give that back by the way?’

‘I’ll think about it.’

‘Let’s have a little competition.’ he smiled
deviously. ‘If I win, I get back one piece of my armour.’

‘And when I win?’ Riley wondered then if
this was his plan, make friends to get his armour back.

‘Hah! Like that’ll happen. What do you want
from me?’

Riley shrugged. ‘It wouldn’t be fair, I am
the Master after all. Alright. Let’s see how you go without all
that armour on.’

Riley won.

She’d had fun though, the other gemengs did
not challenge her nearly as much as he did.

She gave back the armour anyway. She already
knew she could beat him easily when he wore it, and at least she’d
know he wasn’t being friends simply to get it back.

He was surprised and pleased. And nothing
between them changed.

And so Riley was happy too.

Chapter 62

W
hen Commander Reista
heard the news over the radio he did not say anything for a long
while. He sat back in his chair, looking out his window to the
ocean beyond, and thought.

After thinking long and hard, he got up and
began the walk down to the docks.

Zap Zap’s pleasure at his arrival was
gratifying. His reaction was better than that of any of his
subordinates, who seemed to think he lived in his office and never
left.

‘Vann’s leader, Vann’s leader!’ the slimy,
seaweedy creature greeted him excitedly.

‘Hello, Zap Zap.’ Reista said, sitting down
on the docks with a sigh. ‘Try not to splash me this time.’

Zap Zap nodded, and settled down into the
water, til only his eyes were visible.

‘And how are your people today?’ Reista
asked. His eyes flicked over the waves, looking for any of the
other fish people. Usually, the others stayed away. He’d met their
leader, when he first arrived. Zap Zap had happily, and with a lot
of energy, translated for them. Reista couldn’t help feeling a
little sympathy for the leader, his reserved, and calm, yet
long-suffering, attitude in the face of impossible, brave young men
reminded Reista of himself.

‘Safe here, in Vann’s home. Outside,
hunting, dangerous.’ Zap Zap answered, his tone unusually serious.
It was strange, how easily he’d learnt to read the fish peoples’
inhuman faces.

Reista nodded, Zap Zap’s tone reflecting his
own feelings. The bay was still mostly safe, as there were few
ocean ehlkrid. The problem was
outside
the bay, where the
fish people, and the people of Coastside fished, and where the
submariners protected the supply ships. Zap Zap had suggested they
help each other fish, because they all needed to eat. The fish
people located the fish in areas that were safe, and directed the
fishermen, who would then share their catch with the fish people.
There had been a few fishermen unwilling to work with the gemengs,
but despite that, it was working surprisingly well. The fishermen
had always been more vulnerable to regular gemengs than the
submarines, and so the fish people’s assistance greatly reduced
that danger.

It’s the supply ships that are the real
problems.
They, and the submarines, went far further from the
bay than the fishermen. While there were few ehlkrid around, it
took only one to mess up the supply lines for weeks, destroying
submarines and ships and sending his submariners to their
deaths.

Something had to change. Reista had spoken
frequently with the council in Astar, but they were unwilling to
lead an attack against the ehlkrid, or consider changing the supply
routes.
I should at least be pleased they’re sending Predators
out to map the extent of the ehlkrid invasion! They never would
have found him otherwise… We need to rethink how to deal with the
ehlkrid, what worked with the gemengs doesn’t work with them. We
need to consider whether it is worth keeping all the supply lines
open, whether we should conserve the men and submarines we have and
actually respond intelligently to the crisis at hand.
But Astar
wasn’t even willing to discuss the issue, and he couldn’t interfere
with the supply routes without their say so. Doing so would mean
breaking with Astar. It was a thought that had occurred to him, but
only briefly. Such an act, and when they were in such danger… the
people of Coastside would not support such a move, not yet. Now,
more than any other time, they needed to work together.
One day
though, that may change.

‘Is Lart ok?’

Reista snapped out his thoughts, realizing
he’d been clenching his teeth. ‘Lart now is it? That’s very
familiar?’

Zap Zap splashed his tail, sending spray in
Reista’s direction.

‘Had frowny face.’

‘You can call me Commander Reista, if you
like.’

‘Lart, or Vann’s boss.’ Zap Zap said, and
Reista got the distinct feeling he was smiling.

Reista harrumphed. ‘Good thing none of my
submariners are here.’

Zap Zap looked like he was laughing.

‘I heard some interesting news today.’
Reista said, coming to his real reason for coming down here.

Zap Zap watched him curiously.

‘Apparently, Vann is very much alive.’

Zap Zap’s face exploded into a grin. ‘Vann
safe, Vann safe!’

‘Mmm, and he’s with the gemeng girl, Riley
Meilis. Now, for some reason, I have the distinct feeling you
already knew this.’

Zap Zap subsided into the water.

‘Did Vann tell you not to tell me?’

Zap Zap hesitated, and then he nodded. ‘Yes.
Vann asked. Zap Zap wasn’t sure, because you missed him-‘

‘I did no such thing.’

‘But Vann said not to tell, not to trust
humans anymore.’

Reista sighed. ‘Yes, well I can see why he
might have said that. I’m wondering though, Zap Zap, what he’s up
to with the gemeng. Do you know their plans?’

Zap Zap shook his head. ‘Took Vann to Riley,
left him there.’

‘Hrm… that’s disappointing. I’d hoped they
were planning on killing the ehlkrid for us, since we’re doing such
a poor job.’